"Supreme Commander."

This is just asking for death, no!

The gaunt - faced man spun around, the decorations on his uniform jingling, his crimson eyes locking directly into Argentius' own amethyst ones. For several long seconds, the Supreme Commander was silent, yet he did not turn his gaze away.

"What is it, Commodore?"

"Who exactly am I?"

Am I your soldier, an officer of the Armada? Or am I the loyal creation of the Templar Grandmaster Atticus Mercilus...?

Kane the Second was silent. The only hint of what was going on through his mind was the way that the Supreme Commander's hands suddenly tightened into fists at his side, the way he suddenly took a single step toward him so he stood no more than a few inches away from him, his breathing suddenly harsh and ragged as if he had sprinted for several miles without stopping -

A gasp tore itself out of Argentius' throat.

The Supreme Commander's thin fingers wrapped around his neck, clamping down with frightening strength, just short of cutting off his air supply.

"Did you not pay attention to me when I last spoke with you, Commodore Septimus?"

You must leave him, leave him or else he will take drastic steps to -

"Answer me, Commodore."

His face was merely a few inches away from Argentius' own, one of his gloved hands tracing along the silver corona around his eyes, his eyes of amethyst and opal: then coming down and pinching his chin, preventing the Commodore from looking away.

"Answer me."

Slender fingers tightened around his throat, forcing a gasp from his lips, only for the vice-like grip to abruptly loosen again. Argentius was quite certain that it would leave behind at least a few bruises: one of his hands rubbing at the flesh of his throat before he could force himself to look into the eyes of the Supreme Commander.

Those eyes always terrified him.

They were the color of blood, fresh blood, with tiny capillaries branching out of the red irises and into the whites around them. It was quite evident that he had deprived himself of many days of sleep, something Argentius would not have put past him. But this was not what scared him, no, it was the way that those eyes seemed to pierce through him, the way that his pupils had shrunk down to tiny pinpricks.

"Supreme Commander, I - "

Argentius' sentence cut off there. He truly did not know how to continue from here, and it was all too late to continue when he realized how foolish of a move it was.

The hand on his neck slipped down to grip onto the collar of his uniform coat, and the Supreme Commander flung the Commodore onto his massive mahogany desk in the room: Ulysses' body pressing against his to pin him on top of it, so close that Argentius swore he could feel the beating heart within the Supreme Commander's chest against his own torso.

"You will remember this, Argentius, I and I alone am your Commander."

Kane the Second hissed out the words, spitting each syllable out as though they were sour within his mouth.

"And as your Commander, you belong to me."

Tsing.

Out of the corner of his eye, Argentius caught a glimpse of the razor sharp blade that had extended from the Supreme Commander's sleeve, the tip of it just barely pressed into his skin, directly over one of the main arteries in his neck: one twitch, one twitch of his wrist would be enough to terminate him.

"And you will remember this, Argentius."

A hand reached out, twisting Argentius' face around to look into his eyes.

Argentius was certain, if he had a human's heart, it would have stopped right then and there.

Kane the Second's eyes were unnaturally wide, and his thin lips were twisted into a grin that was almost far too wide to be considered normal.

"I will not let you return to that bastard, because you belong to me."

The blade on his neck carved downwards, cutting a gash that sent drops of scarlet blood trickling down his throat, staining the Armada Commodore's collar, and Argentius felt his own panic skyrocket -

I am to be terminated right here...?

And just as fast as it had happened, it was over.

The Supreme Commander had stepped back, retracting the blade into the depth of his sleeve; his other hand snatching up the mask he had placed on the table and once again placing it over his gaunt face. This was enough to remind Argentius once more of the time that he had spent locked in the dungeons of the Armada, shortly before he was released by the Supreme Commander as Armada Commodore Argentius Septimus.

It was just the same.

Like then, he had pressed the tip of his blade into the skin of his throat, until he could draw out the blood that was coursing through his veins. Like then, the Supreme Commander had made sure it was just short of puncturing the vein in his neck, but enough for only a single twitch of his blade was needed to rip the vein right open and leave him bleeding to death.

And like then, his attitude had changed entirely as quickly as it had happened.

Argentius forced himself to stand back up, miraculously managing to mute the tremors that ran through his frame as he looked upon the now masked face of the Commander of the Armada.

"Do you ever wonder why I cannot permit you to return to him?"

Argentius wished nothing more than to be able to look away, away from the void - like eyes set into the mask of the Supreme Commander, the Emperor and ruler of the Valencian Empire: one of his hands reaching up and brushing over the wound carved into his neck, prodding at the streams of blood that no doubt still colored the flesh of his pale throat.

But he couldn't, not when the Commander had not yet given him permission to.

"Remember this, Commodore: Mercilus had taken everything, everything I have ever valued from me."

You are your creator's soldier, therefore permit no one to talk ill of him - !

You are a soldier of the Armada, you serve the Supreme Commander.

"I won't let him have you, no, no - "

The battle raged on within him, loud and clear and overwhelming. It drowned out everything around him, even the voice of the Lord of the Valencian Empire. He could think of nothing else in that moment, it was impossible amidst this battle which raged within him, metaphorically ripping him apart in two different directions.

"Do you understand?"

Kane II's hand from before had clamped down on his throat again, this time tightening to a horrifying degree that sent black spots dancing in front of his vision and an alert signal flashing through his processor, even though it could not have lasted for more than a few seconds before Septimus' grip slackened enough for the Armada Commodore to twitch away from the Supreme Commander and his piercing gaze.

"Yes, Commander."

How he had managed to speak without a tremor in his voice was truly beyond Argentius' understanding.

"And - " a single ghosting touch across the Commodore's uniform clad torso -

"What is it that brought you here?"

As if his hand had a mind of its own accord, Argentius produced the map piece from his uniform coat pocket, the folded piece of parchment that would have appeared as nothing important to an unsuspecting outsider; presenting it to the Supreme Commander of the Armada.

"The second to last map piece."

The mask may have modified his voice, removing any and all traces of emotion from it, but it still did nothing to prevent the slight tremble in his words, the excitement that Kane the Second no doubt felt: the Commander's gaze turning from the unfolded map piece to lock upon Argentius' own.

"You have done well, Commodore, and I had expected nothing less."

Let me leave, please just let me leave...

The courage he had felt before when the Armada Commodore had been in Grizzleheim was gone, it had fled far far away away from him and left him with that infernal snake known as fear writhing within his core. And it left him with this man, who was supposed to be his superior whom he served.

"You are dismissed."

It had taken all of Argentius' own control, all of his militaristic discipline, not to bolt out of the chamber upon being dismissed by the Supreme Commander: nearly slamming the door behind him once he had returned to his own quarters.

Then, and only then, did the Armada Commodore permit himself to slump down on the floor, one of his hands brushing against the long gash in his throat, over the dried blood still coating his skin.

A hallucination.

But what of the blood currently staining the collar of his uniform and parts of his pale flesh?

Argentius brought his gloved hand back before his own two eyes. His fingertips were stained crimson, a darker shade of crimson than the blood of humans. This was his blood.

Turn away from him, he will only pose a danger to your function! Return to your previous commander!

Self preservation, or serve the commander whom a large part of his programming dictated that he must obey...?

Or perhaps, a voice seemed to speak within his processor, you can escape back to your original commander. After all, he did not bind you down with chains as he did in the beginning when he had you trapped in his own dungeon.

Argentius literally had to force himself to stand back up.

Betrayal was one of the most hated crimes by the Armada, one of the worst, and only punishable by the worst punishment of it all, which was torture and then execution by the method of crucifixion. But there was also a chance of him being able to succeed and then perhaps topple the Supreme Commander Kane from his throne -

His eyes widened impossibly so, more than Argentius ever thought he ever could.

He was thinking of toppling the supreme ruler of the Valencian Empire from his throne. He was thinking of turning against the Supreme Commander of the Armada whom he served -

You are the soldier of the Templar Order, remember?

While it certainly was impossible to address Mercilus, even internally, as commander, the Armada Commodore's deepest ingrained programming, he could sense it, and he refused to give up attempting to call him by that title in the present tense.

Ulysses is very possessive and jealous when he needs to be, and that is not a good thing when Argentius is around. Though if anyone here thinks that this is already the worst he can be, think again, this will get a lot worse in the future (evil grin), meine freunde, a lot worse.

Reviews are much appreciated :D later!

-Hades