I don't own Gundam Seed (although I wish it was).

It's just that I was bored and wrote this story in my mind and decided to put it online. This is an AsuCaga fanfic and for the first time I'm using Lacus as an antagonist.

I'm not really a good writer so thank you for motivating me with the review and all

Note:

I'm so sorry. For the late updates

I've been so busy with a lot of school stuff lately

Thanks for the reviews and pls. do continue coz they motivate me a lot

So that's it enjoy reading: D

"Your highness, you shouldn't really do this", the priestess stated in every bit of insistence that she could muster as the man kneeling in front of her, who seem deaf and uncaring, continued on what he had been doing for the some time now. Halca had brought what Elliot had ordered, bandages, a basin of warm water and was bound to start on her duties but what the young knight did next was all very surprising.

"Sir, I told you already, please this is-"

"Be still!" she heard him order her as he held and washed her bleeding foot ignoring her plea. She was already begging him now. Not to do something as awkward as washing another person's foot. For it was not his duty and so unlikely of how the people knew him as. It was just all unappealing to her, especially if their reunion wasn't even a very fine one to consider.

"My lord!" she begs once more as he continues to brush his palms against the skin of her foot. Despite, her pleads and even Halca's, he still wouldn't budge and ignored everything that she has to say. And at that very moment, when she came to realize that her voice was no match for his ego, she surrendered without him having to say another word, and she found how everything ended with her engulfing every bit of awkwardness that this moment has to bring for the both of them. And without anything to find amusement on she found her eyes following the knight's every move.

Without her voice, the room was filled with nothing but silence. She noticed how his palms would create a disturbance on the calm waters from the basin and its weak yet persevering attempt to let it reach the soles of her foot. And he would do it with such likeness, without even a sign of halting at the moment. His eyes were staring, focused at her bleeding soles. Somehow, she found jealousy at what he had been doing. There was an unknown feeling to wish that her eyes could also share the same attention his emerald orbs were giving at her feet. Every time his palms and her skin would make contact the warmth he brings had that calming effect that remains until his palms would make contact once again. At a certain moment she got confused, whether the warmth came from the water or from him. There was a smile that came unnoticed and she was too late to realize that it came from her lips.

"Have you grown tired of retaliating, that you suddenly decided to torture me by finding amusement of what I am doing?" his words struck her, suddenly making her smile turn into a grimace. So he noticed what she was doing after all, staring at him that is. Her cheeks tinted a shade of red as she realized what she has been doing and how uncanny it was to be done in front of the person you're supposed to loath so much.

"I-I was just looking, there's nothing to it. Please don't misunderstand" It was now his turn to smile when she started to coil and deny. His smile was something new to her, one that seemed to be stranger for the past fifteen years that they have not seen each other. In the end it was something to irk her, for she knew that it was sign of defeat from a new born banter he seemed to create amidst the pain he knew she felt. But seeing his smile seemed like a reward for her. it showed itself to her, making her hope that nothing had changed between them, That he was still capable of being who he was back then in front of her. Maybe they were no longer those children, but maybe, just maybe they could be better than being told as enemies.

"I'm sorry" her words struck his motions to a pause.

"What for?" Without even looking at her, he asked in the same old seriousness he bears and resumed his previous actions

"For being like this"

"For being a priestess?" his reply came so fast, and she was all too surprised to hear him speak of it.

"No, of course not. I'm sorry for acting so childish, for being rude to you back there"

"I came to realize how I should reflect towards my actions. The young Lord, came out of his way to rescue such an odd priestess and my anger towards you got in the way" she tried her best to hold her words and make them remain on her mind. But when she opened her mouth everything she held came rushing out of her lips. Really, there was so much embarrassment on the humility that she has been showing right now. And to even show it to a person such as Elliot would certainly increase the awkwardness that has been raising itself since they were alone on her room.

"Childish and rude. I don't think you should apologize for that my lady". He was just responding for everything she has to say. Their eyes never met for he never raised his head but his soft voice all came as an assurance that he was speaking to her not as a debate or an argument but as a normal conversation shared between people, between friends.

"And may I ask the knight's reason for this?" she was all too curious to know more of his reply

"You've been like that way back from when we first met." He replied, as he raised his head to face her carrying that glee in his eyes and with so much confidence. Their past was never gone. He was able to carve it in his very mind. Imprint it to his very soul. He knew the vulnerability of revealing to her that he remembered her, but he has to tell her, So that the past would come back and shatter the very resilience that restrains her from him. It may have been painful or it may have meant nothing to her but she has to educe it.

"You don't follow the rules, you easily get mad whenever you lose to me in every feasible game that you yourself thought of and you even dare blame me for being taller than you are. You may have aged and people may now call you as the priestess, but it must be taken for a fact that you're still a child." She did those things when they were still children. He remembered the pieces that she wasn't able to recall. Fate made her forget those tiny memoirs of who she is and his voice was starting to wake her up. She was supposed to be mad at how rude his reply was. To describe a priestess like some child and to mock her of immaturity was something no one would even dare. But she saw nothing of those, especially when she knew the meaning behind his smile. Right in front of her very eyes, was a proof of that part that hid itself under the title of a priestess. She was a child that turned into a lady yet still carrying the immaturity no one ever knew but him.

"I was not! "She challenged his words with such playful tease that children used to say. Making her smile grow more and more while his remain imprinted on his lips. She denies everything she was aware was true. For some time, she felt the lightness of conversing with him., Because he might have made her feel it so.

"Oh really, then pray tell me what was the first thing you did when I was able to outrun you in a race during that afternoon in Bartos?" He accepted the challenge and the river of memories have started to flow unbeknownst to the both of them. Rushing at full pace, destroying that barrier that made them strangers of the present time.

"Well, They made me wear a skirt back then, how am I supposed to win in a game where the lower limbs are to be considered?" she defended without losing the child-like tone she never knew she still had. And in which he was all too happy to hear from her.

"You were the one who thought of that game" he declared revealing how she couldn't win in a game of wits with him with a laughter that could light up the whole room despite the darkness brought by the curtains. Although she already realized that all aces are up on his side, the pride of the priestess especially in front of her childhood playmate would never bend to his every mockery. And with her last attempt to keep her childish pride intact; her reply came and established another challenge.

"If I were wearing pants or even a pair of loose trousers, I could easily win against you anytime"

Another statement musters up another laugh from the other. They were no strangers. They knew each other and that was the only sure thing despite the stories they declare and refute against each other. She was happy for something she doesn't know. For the time being she would not admit to it and neither would she search the reason for it. The present was all that's important but unknown to her, the present was the one that killed every humanity left from the person in front of her. She was happy and yet she doesn't know anything because he was also laughing. She may have known that laugh but the rest was left for her to ignore, for now.

"Haha…I'm not sure if you'd finally gain victor. But seeing a priestess get all giddy and run around the town wearing a man's apparel would surely be a sight to see"

###

She could hear their laughter. Everything could be felt and it was all too scorching painful for her. Hearing that laughter that is entangled with another familiar chuckle blinds her of all rational thoughts. She doesn't want to declare it, she will never admit to it. She loved the both of them, her sister and her lover. But the things that were brewing in her mind whenever their distance decrease by an inch would surely cause the death of her.

She was left to be stared at back there at the entrance hall. Her fiancé arrived carrying her wounded sister and was ignored by her own lover. Her pride trampled all over the place. For she could not do anything against Elliot's will. She was his prisoner from her very heart and soul, she offers everything to him. And yet he held them like some other gem he already had. She fell in love and her mind persisted on the thought that she was loved back. But the reality was too much for her, all her defenses, the imagery that she creates to relieve her sanity of any disturbance brought by jealousy would crack bit by bit whenever his eyes look away to glance up those amber ones that her sister had.

She hated seeing them together, she loathes to see them conversing, arguing and even accidentally looking at each other. That was the only truth, and the only thing she conceals under the depths of her emotions. Her sister was not to blame and neither was Elliot. It was just her, and her mind playing tricks on her. There was no way a priestess could fall in love isn't it? For she is no longer human and her heart was not hers to hold anymore.

Nearer and nearer she comes closer to that room. The laughter was getting louder, their conversation becoming clearer to cause the emotions stir inside her. From a door left ajar she could hear them. Her body acted on impulse, causing her to silence her breathing, pause the steps she was creating in order not to reveal herself. She was just listening, awaiting for the right moment, carrying the fear that she might discover that unknown threat that her heart tells her so when she finally looks at the both of them.

###

"Hahaha, and there was also the time when your father was so enraged that you slipped in a pool of mud and we went home looking a mess!"

"And how great of you not to help me back there"

"I tried, didn't I?"

"You were laughing like a dolt back then"

She stood there, waiting for her chance. She knew the both of them but it seemed she was a stranger they never knew. And at last, she was once again alone. It doesn't matter if she sees their faces or not for it would only magnify that vexing emotion inside her. She loved her sister, and it was a truth that she could vouch her whole life to. She wanted to, she begs her own heart to love her very own sister the way she loved her when they were still children. The past has been more beautiful now that she tends to look back. Her innocence and the love that she felt was untainted and never questioning. But now, now that everything has changed. That she was no longer destined to be the priestess and she has concluded to accept her fate with a man that would cherish her, why it is that peace couldn't even sympathize and calm her rumbling emotions.

"I told you didn't I, it wasn't my fault. You were rushing me…"

"Don't even jest about it, we both knew you were asking for a race"

"Haha…I was not!"

How could he, how could he even remember those memoirs of being with her. They talk about it as if it was never gone in their mind. They were friends back then, and that is all there is. They were supposed to be strangers by now. The casualty he was in was supposed to make him forget about everything about her sister. It was Lacus, not Cagalli. And he accepted it, she believed he already did. They were still talking and it was that painful to hear the both of them.

"You could stop now your highness"

"It doesn't really fit to be called as such, especially when there's just the two us"

"It's only rightful-"

"It's Athrun."

"Athrun" and at last the stranger cannot bear to fulfill her silent role anymore.

###

There was silence and their laughter suddenly fading. He heard his name but not from the rightful voice that he was waiting for. It came from her sister. It was lacus, not Cagalli. Both were startled upon her arrival, not even a single knock was heard before her coming. Maybe she was too indulged in reminiscing that both of them failed to notice but every thought to show guilt for it was too late now that her sister already appeared before them.

"Lacus" she called for her as she remained standing at the doorstep. She was asking for her to come inside but she was motionless and just stared at the both of them. For once, Cagalli felt she did something wrong to her sister. Her face showed it but the Priestess was uncertain about the reason for it. Was she also upset about her escaping, or was it something more. She never knew what was it that made the atmosphere change when it was not even supposed to. She wanted to say another word but…

"Your sister's fine now" she saw how Elliot smile vanished as he stood to face his fiancée. Once again he became how he used to be, Appalled and pensive. The water had been calm in the absence of his motions. Cagalli felt that fine line of threat being formed among the three of them. One more wrong move, a single word could cause something she would hate to see. And so, she no longer desired to intercede.

"Why ascend and halt from what you have been currently doing, did I cause any disturbance?" Her sister asks and the slight insult was never missed by the azure knight. She watched as he gulped that invisible load in his mouth. Staring, she watched as the two individuals in front of her look at each other, cautiously, with her older sister gaining lead. There was a message that she failed to understand and now, she was left to wait until she gains full comprehension of what was going on.

"Lacus, that's not true you're not-" she tried her best to present herself and avoid an argument that was slightly presenting itself. She shadows her true emotions with a smile but the three of them knew how unnatural it might have felt for her. She tried to create a calm and ordinary bearing but Elliot was not someone who'll chase her lead of pretend.

"Yes, you do" her eyes opened as wide as they could have been upon hearing his interjection.

"On what propriety, would you be arriving here?" he said as he was trying to return her sarcasm.

"I wanted to see you" she replied to him as she became more and more upset in front of Freedert's eyes.

"Me? You went on your wounded sister's quarters, just to see me?" he questioned that remark of selfishness she just managed to utter in front of her younger sister. For indeed it was true. He pretended to repeat what she has just said but Lacus completely understood what he was insinuating. Both of them saw through it and yet, Cagalli was the one who didn't mind.

"I don't care what you think of" she remained her stature as she spoke.

"Do you even know what I'm thinking of?" but he only interjected in her words. And for her, it was an insult in which she was all too surprised to hear from him. For situations like these does not occur when they were in Arc Aile. It never did.

"Don't insult me" she replied to him ordering him to stop his remarks with each word in emphasis.

"I'm not" he replied unshaken by her anger. He has always been this way, Cagalli thought to herself as she witnessed the both of them. It doesn't matter what reasoning a person has against him, for he would always stand up gaining victor in the end. He was a smart man, Cagalli realized, he was that witty that she saw the mystery in him and she ought to be cautious whenever he's around. For this was not child's play anymore. He turned out to be a man that must not be disputed and no one should block his way. And even her sister, couldn't do anything about it.

Finally, realizing how she could not win against his reasoning, she glanced at the sudden movement that caught her vision behind Elliot. Her sister's bleeding foot remained submerged in a basin with warm water while he still held the cloth which she believed he used to wipe the blood off the priestess' foot. How proud he was to still hold on such a small piece of cloth, was he even planning on continuing what he had been doing after she gets out? The wounds of her sister might have been worse than what she thought but he wound her as well, right now at his very words.

"This isn't your job-"she pointed out what she saw he had been doing in the room

"Then I'll make it mine" he cleared.

"Let the maids do it" she ordered him, begging that he would atleast ensue on her word.

"Is that an order?"

"Athrun!" the sight of them bantering is something a younger sister could not take anymore. All throughout their conversation, she never understood anything, even the reason why their argument started. All she knew was, her role played a part on all of these and the guilt of seeing them was too much for her to handle. She had enough seeing nothing but arguments and fights for today. But what she didn't realize is that the very word the she spoke wound ignite that anger in Lacus' heart.

"It's Elliot" Lacus pointed out to her sister without even looking at her. She realized what she did and that strange feeling of having spoken that name in such a long time. And yet, it was all too disrespectful to be told. She calmed her voice before calling out again.

"My Lord, I appreciate the good deed of –of saving me. And I…am well now. You could go back to your tasks which I interrupted. And I do believe my sister needs you. Please feel free to go whenever you need to." He hated her for saying his name and pulling back her words. The walls around started to pile up once again and she now, addresses him as the stranger he has been. How awful it was to feel that the person you wish to embrace feels fine with the thought of you going away. The more he wishes to stay beside her and bide the time, the more that she's in pain. He looked at her and saw the guilt of having his real name spoken. He doesn't want to go. Not yet. When she finally showed proof of how human she could be and how he wished to converse more with her. But the situation was eating her up. Bit by bit she weakens from it.

"You can go now. My sister needs you. Please" she never dared look at him while his eyes remained attached to her sitting form. She would somehow look back at him, but as she confirms for herself that his eyes were still on hers, she would then look away. And her current expression finally made him concede to go.

"Is that the truth?" he spoke to her with such softness in his voice that made her look up at him. For whatever reason it was, she wanted to see the expression he was carrying upon saying those words.

"Y-yes, I'll ask for one of the handmaids if I need anything, you should go, if you really must" she assured him.

She was not fine. And the three of them knew that as clear the waters that flow in Neo-Verona and there's nothing that means more to him than her. She was still bleeding yet she has to do something to stop what was currently occurring on her very room. Lacus watched as the man in front of her finally let go of the cloth with so much unwillingness. As if he was forced to do so. Eyeing his movements, he turned around nearing to her side farther from her sister. Every step he made was a sign of victor for the songstress not until…

"Uhm…I-"she heard her younger sister's voice reach him and she watched as he suddenly looked back. The moment he hears her speak, his façade changes and his movement pause to await her speak. She never saw that of him. He might have smiled in front of her but it was different compared to what her sister got and saw in him. His movements stopped he waited for her words.

"Thank you" her words meant everything for him, making him completely forget the stature they both bear. The sight her trying to stand up and pay gratitude to what he had done, forced a smile on his face, which he could never hide now that she has given him a reason to. It doesn't matter if her sister becomes more jealous or angry, for the only thing that mattered was her words.

"What for?" he asked as if trying to clear what she had been paying her gratitude for. He knew it so well but he just wanted to speak to her. Just a little bit more of everything, her time and even her attention. He was a selfish man because he wanted what the world owns.

"For…For the sky ride with the Pegasus" she spoke and suddenly his familiar smile appeared to fade ones again. He told her how he would be glad to accompany her once again when the time comes. Turning back, walking pass where her sister stood and he was finally gone and both of her eyes could do nothing but witness the smile all over his face.

###

"How's your wound?" her sister asked as she finally nears to her side, imitating what Elliot did awhile ago. She knelt and eyed her foot.

"The wounds heal by themselves, you shouldn't really worry about it" she assured her sister, for she had known that a long time immortal such as a priestess could have her wound healed without even a single treatment being done. Her life is a spell that cannot be broken by death or even the slightest bruise. She was meant to live a life that was unharmed and without pain. When everyone dies, she lives to see them perish.

"The vantage of being priestess isn't it?" the pain was increasing, her fingers press firmly on her wounded ankle. She watched as her sister eyed her foot with an emotion she never saw from her. She saw the difference on how she held her foot compared to what Elliot did. She felt in front of her and seeing her actions. Her tone remained unchanged but the very persona in front of her created a threat to her heart. She retreated her foot from her sister's fingers and she suddenly let go.

"I'm sorry" it was the only thing that the songstress could utter as she realized what she just did.

"What for?" Freedert asked as she felt her body become cautious of the person in front of her. She eyed her older sister, feeling the fear surge into her every vein.

"Nothing, it's just that I was worried for your safety" she replied with a smile towards Freedert

"Oh is that so," Cagalli spoke as she tries to bury her every word in her mind. She saw her sister motion to sit beside her. suddenly, her mood came to a change. A smile already painted on her older sister's lips and she showed a different face, one that is more familiar to her than what she had when she her with Elliot.

"Oh my dear sister, even castle guards couldn't control your every whim to go outside. Such playfulness"

May I know the reason as to why you left the castle gates without orders this time?" she asked with a playful grin on her face, almost like what a sister could ask, making her forget that awful façade that registered on her face a while ago. The mood became lighter, speaking became easier.

"I wanted to find a flower" she declared with a sigh of retreat that Lacus didn't fail to notice.

"A flower? What for?" an inquiry to answer her back

"A flower that could cure Mirialllia, she's very important friend to me and I was afraid that she might not regain her strength so I decided to find the Savia" she narrated

"A Savia, well, were you able to find it then?"

"Regrettably, Rogues came and took it from me even if it took both of my palms to bleed just to obtain it and if Elliot didn't come to save me, I would have been killed by one of them by now" her voice weakens to every word. Lacus was taken aback as she tells her how they managed to return barely safe to the castle. She worries for her and it became that undeniable whenever she sees her wounded and with such lamentable expression.

"A flower is no match for the worth you have as the priestess of this continent. I would have dreaded that flower if it cost my sister's life, your life just so you could get It." She felt her sister's palm rest over hers. The regret of not being able to obtain such flower weakens her every single time she thinks of it. Somehow, she was glad to her hear sister say those words. To feel the concern coming from Lacus was able to lighten up the guilt. She blinded herself and chose to forget what had transpired earlier. She chose to believe that the person appearing before her was her real sister and not the one who chose to stand by the doorway. She concluded the sincerity that she didn't even see in Lacus' eyes and pretended that she could sense it. She would never doubt her sister and she would not do anything to hurt her neither to betray her. For this is the truth between blood bounds, they must trust each other and that si what she would do, for they are sisters and that is reason enough.

"Miriallia would be fine, give her a few more days. You should rest as well" she lifted herself, walking farther away from Cagalli. Cagalli realized that she was about to depart and end their conversation. She never looked back at her. But as he movements came to a pause, there came those words, that foretold a storm was about to come.

"Cagalli, I love Elliot as much as he loves me"

"Lacus, why speak of something I'm already knowledgeable of? You are his to marry in the future. It's only proper that love must exist between the both of you" she said in wonder of why would her sister came to speak of such to her.

There was only sincerity in her words, no schemes and nothing more but it only filled the room with silence once again. It took a long time before the older came up with a reply. Her sister's words were proof enough that she should not to anything to betray Lacus. But every word she said felt like sarcasm. Love, In her mind it exists but in reality in never did. She would hate to come up with that conclusion and she would dread it even more if she knew that Cagalli was the reason for it, for it has always been her, who took it all away from her. But for one last time, she would not let go of him, whether her sister felt something for him or not.

"Lacus, Is there something wrong?"

"…"

"Nothing, I just wish that I could marry him in front of my loving sister. That's all"

"You would see us through it. Won't you, Cagalli?"

"Of course!" she could sense the regret of what she just said. There was something within her that told her not to agree with her sister. But she loved Lacus, and she would do anything for her. She would be happy to see her get married and live peacefully with a man that loves her. She believes that Elliot could be the right men for her sister, she always thought so and she would see the day that they could be as one if that is what he sister wants. And after that, there was no one left in the room but her.

###

"You're still drinking"

"And you're still here, Lacus"

The night came forth and soon it possessed light as if it never came to exist. The sky had been kind for it carried those so-called stars that light the way and allure those mortals' eyes. It was a calm, silent sky in which he came to sit under with a glass of bourbon one after the other. It was a habit since he came to the country. Somehow it was the only thing he found that could make him cling to his sanity, something that could prevent him from shattering this peaceful world for just a little more time. He was drunk, not of alcohol but of emotions and misery. He came so close and yet everything was ruined when her wretched sister came. He drowns himself into his own thoughts that lingers whenever he refuse to think of them. The act of forgetting could only make someone realize that the thing is of existence and could not be forgotten anymore. He wanted the peace that a normal human had the pleasure of owning, but it would never happen, for that wretched sister decided to take it from him.

"That's the fourth glass" her voice rang up the silence inside the room.

"It was? I haven't been keeping count" he replied with that appalling gesture he had in him whenever conversations never interest him. He looked at him once and then returned his attention towards the open balcony where he had been admiring before she came to his room.

"You should stop" she went nearer, finally making him let go of the alcohol in his hands. He allowed her to do so, for the alcohol was just the same as the woman in front of him. Something that was never important from the very beginning, only enough to make you forget for a while. She had been one of the things that had been useful for him. A woman full of hatred, one that could feed the demon inside him. Her anger, wrath, jealousy, lust, every bit of her was something that he needs; Rayearth needs to gain its power and finally finish off the people of this continent. When the time comes, she would no longer be of use, and when that time comes he would let her go, empty and drained. Just like the glass the held awhile ago.

"Go to bed, Lacus. We have too many things to attend to in the morning" he said as he stood up and walked passed her. He was about to open the doors for her, when suddenly, her arms and the whole of her body embraced him from his back. She held him so tight but he never dared to look back and even show pity on what he himself had made her become.

"Tell me…tell me, Elliot. What have I done to upset you" her words came forth with the tears that fell from her orbs. She wanted him to look back and assure her that everything would be fine between the both of them. Tell her that he loves her, kiss her and hold her through the night. She wanted him, that's why she holds on to him, for it was the fear that her sister might take away once again the thing that was destined to be hers. The past was proof enough and she would not let it happen once again. His arms slid and loosened her arms from his body. He looked back, looked at her in the eyes and said…

"Your sister, Is the priestess of Neo-Verona" his voice was cold and soon her arms in which he held were now embracing its owners body, as Lacus pushed herself away from him after his words. Suddenly, there was distance between them and the feeling of wanting to be near him vanished into thin air. His words made her shiver, unable to look at him in the eyes.

"Why-why are you talking ab-" she wanted to deny what they were both aware was true. His words came as an introduction of an endless confrontation of the truth that they both see in their eyes. Her acts, her emotions, they never came unnoticed to him. He knew her jealousy, and for him to bring it up in front of her was an insult for the songstress

"Because what is in your mind at this very moment is demented" he interjected and came to prove what he had just said.

"No, it's not! She…she will take you away, Elliot! Everything I own, she takes! "She exclaimed shoving the bottle of bourbon from the table, crying and frustrated just to make him realize that she was the victim of this circumstance. That it was only rightful to be jealous because another person is trying to take away what was yours. She retaliated and there was absence of calmness in her voice.

The bottle and even the glass broke the moment they came in contact with the floor. It stained those silk curtains that blew as the wind lurks inside the room. Her tears never ceased but he just stood there and watched as she unravels everything. He never feels anything but for his plans he will be forced to sympathize for now.

"I…I was the older one. They made me become the priestess. I was taught, raised to act like one and yet…they chose her" she weakens for every word and yet she still continues, picking up the remnants of those broken memories she never failed to forget.

"It was Escalus' decision" he spoke in between her words. They were both broken, he realized. He could maintain a fake façade of calmness and she and him were never different. Just because of a single decision, the lives of the three of them changed. Just because of a single continent they were forced to live the misery they never expected to be that painful.

"Yes, it was…maybe that's why that immortal girl in the crystal never showed herself to me. I was never the one. And after that…everyone kneeled before her like a pack of stray dogs waiting for her orders. She lived the life she doesn't deserve, Elliot" with such confidence she told him.

"But then I met you…you told me that I serve a different purpose. That you would love me for who I am and everything about me…and I believed in you"

Believe me; you serve your purpose well for my goal. I want you mad, your wrath and all of it. I will love no one but her but I will surely treasure the fact that her sister could give the power that I need. If your sister lived the life she didn't deserve, you certainly don't deserve what you are in now. For I cannot love you, up until the ends of time, I cannot. And if there's any remuneration for your deeds, you will soon realize the truth, that no one has loved you.

His arms encircled her body with a promise of affection to be spent the whole night. She wanted to feel loved but he could only make her feel numb and thoughtless. Because that's how he feels, dead. He couldn't give what he doesn't have for her. They kissed until both of them runs out of their breathe. He touched her like he owned her everything, and she was grateful for it. His touch sent her mewling with so much desire, No clothing, to cover their very skin, there was no one but the two them but there was nothing to it all, not even love which should have a given between people who call themselves lovers.

###

Beneath the very castle grounds, the priestess went to Escalus with every intention to pray. She treaded with an injured limb that made her feel as if the floors were made up of needles. Cold winds rushed through her cloak that night. The air bids a message as she grows nearer to her destination. It was a cold dark night, as the moon settles to its highest peak in the sky that took her attention, giving her the last chance not to enter the unbidden room, right before she could proceed and open the doors.

"Where have you been?"

She could feel her. And she felt her heart pound in fear as she walks towards the famed crystal.

"Tell me Freedert, where have you been"

"Escalus" her body began to tremble in wonderment. Her voice seems to ask out of concern and affection but that wasn't the truth. It was said out of rage and the priestess remains clueless on how it came to be. She wanted to run, her feet were willing to do so but her mind remains righteous. For running would not solve anything and not remaining would mean she's guilty of something. She stood and watched as the frozen hand of time shimmer and light up the room. But compared to the past, the child encaged in it was not pleased to see her, for once, she was thankful that Escalus was the one in it.

"I – I was only trying to get a Savia" she could her voice trembling.

"I told you not to go, didn't I? My lovely Freedert" her eyes looked at her with so much rage. In this room there was nothing that could protect her and she could only establish the distance she made out of fear from Escalus' anger. She never felt more alone, suddenly, she felt unsafe to remain in this room with a caged child that seems to do no harm.

"But Miriallia's life was –"Her breathing that paces faster as time goes by came to halt to what had reached her ears.

"Neo-Verona will not fall for the life of a meek imbecile!"

"But Miriallia's my friend she has always been there for me. I could have-"

"Your duty is to live forever, your friend will die eventually and all that you love as well."

Her voice reached her like a spell. It was the truth that never came to her. It was an open revelation that she never pictured how it will present itself. She will end up alone and it is a future that could never be altered. Not through time, and not by anyone and that is reason enough to cause the tears to one by one flow from her amber Orbs.

"Don't tell me it never crossed your mind, my child? Or do tell me you went to that forest because you wanted to know the truth?" her words were both hinting sarcasm and judgement at the same time. She could no longer look directly straight into Escalus' eyes. The realization took her mind and made her feel miserable for it.

"What truth? I only went there to-"in an attempt to wipe her tears, she spoke.

"Lies! You wanted to ask her didn't you?!" Her voice roared throughout the room in anger. She grew more impatient. She wanted her suspicions to be confirmed.

"Who? I only went there to get the Savia" she began to reason out as Cagalli Herself wonders what kind of things is Escalus speaking of. There was fear in her eyes much of what she had a while ago, but the one that Escalus bears is much deeper, one that bids to remain untouched.

"A Savia? A flower growing from vengeful deaths does not exist in this continent, Freedert. Enough with the lies!"

"But I saw them with my own eyes!" she turned the tables with her own her words.

"I saw them! And these marks in my own hands are proof enough that I was able to touch them!" she raised her bruised hands with a proud remark that she was the one telling the truth. She saw how Escalus was taken aback by her actions, there was something that she was not telling her and she somehow understands that the forest where Escalus cannot reach her soul has the answer to it. For it also came as a mystery to her, as to how she could separate her soul from Escalus as she entered that forest and as to who was the woman she saw at the place of the savias.

"You lie-"

"Then tell me! If you really see what I see and you really feel and think as one with me, search my heart and tell me if thy mouth accuses me of the truth" her dignity as she looked at her could not be broken. She didn't go to the forest to unravel a truth that she did not know of. She never lied; it came as a pact when she became a priestess and the people was witness enough of her deeds. She stared at the child in front of her. More and more she grew more suspicious of her words. There was something beneath that façade. She felt that the world was hiding something. One that is deep enough not to be touched…

"Freedert! Your words are enough to make me believe you" it was all too cunning to see her smile after her rage. Both of them know that none of her words could change her mind right now.

"Is that the truth?" with amber orbs that would not budge, she dared to inquire.

"Of course, my love! After all, I'm the only one who'll remain by your side, just as you will be to me. That's the happiest ending fit for a priestess, don't you think?"

"No matter what happens, never go back in that forest, never ask questions that I can never answer and never ever stray from the path I built for you"

"Should a princess just affirm to your every word?" those words felt like poison rushing through her veins. It stings so much, that she also remains unsure if her words should be on par hurtful or should just bow down to what she has been ordered to. She loathes her smile. More and more it felt like she was the one imprisoned and not Escalus.

"Freedert…you should know better than anyone else…"

"Forever is a gift. Freedom has a price"

She found herself staring at the moon that night. She couldn't remember what they've talked about after Escalus spoke and was certain that she doesn't want to hear more from her anymore. She raised her head to stare at the full moon with and it's light graced her melancholic face. A series of people flash through her mind, all of them were laughing, merry about something she doesn't know. The reason for other's happiness never crossed her mind but for every smile she could think of, a tear would fall from her eyes. Her tears flowed so much that night because all she saw was the happy people of the continent. How ironic could it possibly be that they were all happy and she was the only one crying in the entire continent?

###

"Were you able to obtain it?"

"Some of my men were killed for a mere flower"

"Just give me the Savia!"

In the darkest hour of the night, two individuals remain awake. A familiar woman pierced her finger through the thorn of one familiar flower and watched as her blood turns its purity to crimson.

"I got the flower white and pure and you turned it into poison. What is wrong with you?!"

"Who knew that the myths in this continent were true…" trailing her eyes at the blood red bud.

"I still wonder how that priestess could obtain such in a continent famed for its glorious people"

"Glorious people? Let's see how glorious those vermins can be after they all experience an endless winter, shall we?"

"Halca, you-"

"This continent boasts too much, because it has too much. Taking the life of a single individual wouldn't be too much don't you think?"

Again SORRY for the late updates. Pls. do read and review. and feel free to say anything you want about the story so far. Thank you so much for the support. Love you all and MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR!