Reason for Attraction
Story (c) JustSnapCrackle
Grand Chase (c) KOG Studios

Chapter 2

"Sieghart, you are to get your ass to Kaze'Aze's Castle for another patrol to make sure there are no funny businesses happening around there!"

Sieghart groaned at the voice of the Knightmaster echoing in his head. It was already bad enough that he was suddenly kicked out of Serdin Castle after getting orders screamed at him just when he woke up from a nightmare. And now he had to go to some faraway land that takes more than enough of his energy that he had been working hard to conserve for a special occasion (running away from a red haired knight when she's in her mood swings) to reach and with the person who was involved in the nightmare he had suffered from.

The gladiator took a peek to his back and saw a sturdy, male demon with elven ears and an enigmatic mask. Zero Zephyrum was his name. And like his name, Sieghart had zero insight on the demon other than the fact that he had a talking sword that only converses to his wielder and seemed to have communicated with one of his great grandsons, which lead to a similarity to the Sieghart family style of attacks that the demon possessed. Okay, maybe there were a lot more little things that he knew but it didn't matter now for the aesthetic sake of the chapter's opening.

So what did the wanderer do to him? Well, nothing much. He only appeared in the gladiator's dream, that's all. Wasn't to harmful, right?

Actually, it was what happened in the dream that made the gladiator so restless.

He could remember it like it had happened yesterday. He asked Zero if he could take a nap just next to him, under the shade. He remembered clearly why he approached Zero of all people – the man was like his surname, a silent and calming zephyr - but just when he felt comfortable lying down on his jacket, he felt a slight brush of the demon's fingers. Not to say it was bad or anything, but unexpected.

An unexplainable chain of events occurred one after the other and Sieghart found himself enjoying the unrefined kiss of the wanderer. Hell, it was one of the most pleasurable kisses he had ever gotten, but the toll was equally heavy. Not only did he realize that he had felt excited over a mere kiss, a male demon of all people had made him feel that way. And to add fuel to the fire, everyone else knew that Sieghart had kissed the man.

Nevertheless, Sieghart was happy knowing it was simply those stupid random nightmares that prevented any man getting a morning wood and thought that it would never come true. Besides, Zero was behaving perfectly normal when they met up at the gates of the castle, ready to move out. No signs of desire or attraction towards the immortal. Nothing at all.

It was only then, did the gladiator's mood turned for the worse. A certain summoner just happened to float by with her butler carrying all these random human stuffs that she thought would be of interest to her to play with and destroy later when she got bored of them.

"Oh.. How romantic. Immediately, after your confessions, the both of you are going to slip out and have a wonderful getaway lovey-dovey trip for two."

She laughed as she floated away, giving her congratulations and waving them her goodbyes. Sieghart, however, stared at her with utter shock. To him, it meant that the incident that happened yesterday was never a nightmare but was a horrid reality. He hesitated at first, but took the courage to face the wanderer and ask him of this.

"Yes, Sieghart. Yesterday was not a dream. I do feel attracted to you all this time."

'Fuck!' Sieghart thought. 'Why wasn't it a nightmare?! It would become a happy ending in reality instead! And now I have to put up with him attracted to me?! This is insane! This is-'

"Sieghart?"

"Wh-what?!"

He stuttered in surprise at the call of his name by that voice. That particularly deep voice of the wanderer. He had unintentionally stepped away when he noticed how near the voice was, but purposely took another when he saw that the wanderer was a meter range from him.

"We're done in this dungeon… Let's go to the next," said the wanderer as he heaved his enormous demon sword onto his back. Yet he did nothing more than to just stare at the gladiator. It took Sieghart a while to notice that awkward silence between them and their stares was that him waiting for a reply. When Sieghart did give a slightly hesitant agreement, the wanderer nodded. And he continued to stare at the gladiator.

Zero sensed the discomfort the gladiator expressed. His feet were itching to leap a thousand miles away from the wanderer. His fingers were twitching lightly, ready to grip onto his gladius for any suspicious move the wanderer would make. His eyes were shifty and alert, growing aware of the wanderer's presence. Had he become much of a bother to the man? All he did was express what he felt. Then again, he knew that the rest of the chasers, Sieghart included, were not used to an expressive Zero.

Or is it because the fact that it was Zero who had told him of his attraction to the man? The wanderer was reluctant, but he could see last night's events play out pretty well in his mind. It pretty much involved only him and his ever so scornful sword, Grandark.

'Zero… What the fuck was that?!' The sword yowled at him the moment he had settled down in his room. It was a small near-to-empty wooden room that had been provided to each Grand Chase individual and only customizable when they wanted to.

"Grandark, I just wished to clear my mind of some problems and I did." Zero replied back, setting the sword at a corner of the room, one where it had both the view of the outside world beyond the window pane and the door which had served as the entrance of the wanderer's room.

'What fucking problem is that?! It looks more like you made more problems!'

'Granda-'

'You were made by that old bastard for one reason! ONE! And that was to wield ME! And what the hell is my purpose?! To counter off Duel who's got both Transcendence and Eclipse and end this bloody demon war! That makes it your purpose as well since you're my wielder!'

"So that makes it two reasons…" He said, only to silence himself when he saw the sword's eye glower at him dangerously. "Sorry, Grandark. I know." He replied immediately, gradually feeling conscious of the heavy chains that bounded him to his fate. Yet the wielder left those chains alone, letting them pull him down further. He had no rights to break away from those restraints. He knew he was the only one capable in defeating the insane demon, Duel, and reclaim the swords. And he had to take responsibility or every world would've suffered.

'So why the fuck are you saying you have this pathetic feeling towards that imbecile who refuses to die like the mongrel he is?!' Grandark lashed out furiously, 'That emotion you call attraction is simply another fool's insolent curiosity! That is unnecessary for our mission and so is he! He is no more than some nuisance that will keep you from your goal! Didn't I tell you to just ignore him?! Like I've told you to ignore all those other shit?!'

"Grandark. Sieghart's jus-"

'You dare to speak up against me?!' The sword immediately interrupted at the mere sound of his wielder's voice. Zero stifled, expecting Grandark to continue on scolding him. But instead, he blinked in surprise when he heard a sigh.

'You must end this thing you're doing, Zero Zephyrum. Even if I allowed you to pursue whatever you wish, it will end in naught. You are quite aware that the imbecile won't look at you. He's a foolish old human. He'd rather pick some random slut in the red-light district than you.' Grandark's snorted, piercing a sharp dagger through his wielder's chest.

All that the sword had said, it was all so true. It was by human nature that Sieghart would fancy a lass (not to be mistaken with the thief we all know and love and want to trap in the cellar wit- let's stop there….) who's pretty, cute and kind all the time and naughty whenever alone with him. A matching fiery personality would've fit in as the immortal's lover.

On the other hand, Zero knew he had no such traits worthy of the man's attention. He was muscular and well-built, neither pretty nor cute. And he knew that his personality could be easily mistaken as a standoffish, stoic person. Clearly a personality that isn't attractive to a man's point of view.

And naughty whenever alone? How could he act so vulgarly?

The wanderer knew he did not fit in that position. He knew he would never be like that.

So Grandark had a point. Which man would crave for another man? In all his time wandering around the world of Aernas, he had grown to understand it was unexplainably human nature for a man to be attracted to a woman and likewise. Even demons had a similar nature, having the major difference of the fact that most demons were open to any sort of gender to enjoy the lustful aspect of their early lives before they really settle down with a long term partner of the opposite sex for the sake of their clans. So it wasn't surprising to see Sieghart grow awkward towards this development of the wanderer's feelings towards him.

Zero felt pained however, that Sieghart had also developed a fear for his existence. The gladiator wasn't great at concealing his reactions to sudden changes (of which he have yet to seen in his immortal life of course), so it had been obvious to notice how he was desperately trying to avoid the wanderer at all cost. Zero sighed to himself silently. It if were possible, Zero would rather the option of never speaking of it at all and simply carried on their days in their unrecognized yet harmonic relationship.

But he was Zero after all. He was an innocent and curious soul, despite the exterior enigmatic persona he had developed. If he were not bounded to his destiny or Grandark, he would have gone wandering around the world, probably seeking for his reason of his existence, but also to explore how everything in the world worked so pleasantly. Even now, the unanswered things around him stir his soul ever so lightly, prodding him to move and discover it fully. But he knew he could never go for something as redundant as those wishful adventures. He was, after all, created for a purpose. And it wasn't to 'live'.

"Sieghart… I won't do anything to offend you." Zero sighed, hoping that it would at least loosen the tension hanging around them in the time they had to cooperate for the mission. The demon tried to ignore the scowl of the sword strapped on his back, waiting for any little hint of practically anything, ranging from something as great as a decent reply or as worse as a disgusted look. At least, he thought, he knew what Sieghart wanted and tried to accommodate to a situation where both of them would feel less disturbed than they already were. 'It's better than nothing…'

The immortal was, at first, continued to turn away, heading towards the next dungeon. But he managed to make a curt nod before he completely went on ahead. Zero, relieved, followed after.

Sieghart cursed to himself mutely. Was it obvious that he was avoiding the wanderer as much as possible? Well, the wanderer had always been exceptionally great in observation. And he made it clear he won't do any harm to the gladiator whatsoever. Sieghart was reassured, yes, but he still felt the need to avoid the wanderer.

This was because of that incident (he did not want to even name it, let alone remember it and so he had simply called it 'that'). That had made Sieghart, our very own legend of Kanavan, the highlander the gods favoured, so clueless of the one and only wanderer of the Grand Chase, the vagabond demon knight, Zero Zephyrum. The demon had, on that day, proclaimed his attraction towards the immortal. Well, that was partially his own fault for having no control over himself but Sieghart rather not remember that fact (he would kill himself if he had the option, knowing he had assaulted a male demon).

That's one reason down.

The other reason was the fact that Zero was attracted to him. Him of all people!

Why, he asks. Why was it him?

Why was he the one getting the attention? Of course, he was flattered (in a strange way that he enjoyed it as well as felt disturbed), but Sieghart knew that Zero was a decent – he admits that there are a few decent demons as there was an enormous contrast in personality between Zero and Dio, Ley and Rufus – quiet demon who was capable of defending himself and more, capable of doing countless things, whether good or bad. And of all the people the demon could choose, he just had to choose him. He, Sieghart, who was just a mere human who was revived as an immortal prime knight and – he admits unwittingly – an irresponsible, carefree and immature person. And not only was he was more than 600 years old, he was a freaking man!

'Not to be mistaken to like demons - I still find them creepy - but', Sieghart thought, 'the guy deserves more than me… Even if I'm all that legendary and awesome…'

Without even taking a glance behind him, he knew Zero was looking at him. It sent a chill running down his spine. Was that demon staring at him with lust? Had his thirst for desire that had remained dormant finally awakened? And to add to that note, he had tasted its sweet sensation and he actually craved for more? Though, as much as he believed that it was possibly true - Zero was still a demon whose nature is to do all those nasty, devilish things - Sieghart had to repeatedly cross out that theory whenever it came to mind.

"Zero… A lusty demon? Yeah right. That's like saying Dio can be innocent as an angel… Urgh…" He muttered to himself as he shivered at the thought of the stygian, dressed up in white robes with fluffy wings, prancing around like some goddess. But the point was that he already knew that Zero wasn't like most demons that'd go wild so easily.

Actually, now that he thought about it, he had always seen the demon restrain him and only act on the benefits of his ambition to defeat Duel. He had mentioned once that his only intention to join the Chase in the first place was to strengthen himself with the missions given and hasten his search for Duel with the large Intel the Chase possessed. He had control over every will, emotions, desires, and yet the demon had freely proclaimed his attraction towards the immortal.

'Dear Lords of Aernas! I am that attractive to break Zero's control over himself!' Normally, Sieghart laughed haughtily, with pride at what he had achieved. But in this situation, he laughed dryly, with colours draining out of his face. 'But I didn't intend it to be this way!'

"SIEGHART! BEHIND YOU!"

The immortal was dumbfounded when his name was suddenly called out but reacted instantly at the command given to him. He lashed out his gladius and oversaw the fact that the monster that had pounced on him was slashed away. Zero had already launched himself towards the monster and gave it not a single second more of daylight.

Sieghart let out a sigh of relief. Had it not been Zero's warning, he would be on the ground and tackling that beast for a while, attracting the rest of its kin and they had to ultimately end up dealing with a horde of monsters instead. He was quite grateful that the demon would always trail after someone, or stay at the back of the party. Most of the time, it seemed like he enjoyed observing people, as well as the world around him, so the back of the line was perfect to do so. But to Sieghart, it was as if Zero was watching over them to ensure the success rate of the mission was kept high as well as the amount of casualties low. Of course it was for the sake of his ambitions, Sieghart thought.

Yet, it always assured him to see that the wanderer was at the very back. In these passing centuries, he knew that he had grown careless since the day he became an immortal. His reaction rate are sometimes too slow at some point that he'd just let the monsters attack him for a while before he'd just slam them to their deaths. Though, he'll never admit to that fact and 'train' a bit in secret. And because he was immortal, he unconsciously became the vanguard to any party he was associated with. He had always done the defending against thousands for the sake of others.

Having Zero behind his made him not just ready, but safe as well, despite knowing he'll never die.

"Are you alright?" The wanderer asked softly as he approached towards the raven haired gladiator. Zero only stopped when he saw the slight hesitation of the gladiator from making that usual silly smile of his and his thanks. Instead, Sieghart had simply nodded and turned back to where he was heading to.

"I'm fine. I can't die, you know," the man snorted back harshly as he shuffled away quickly. Since when had he grown used to the demon's presence to the point he saw Zero as more than a typical comrade in arms and make reassuring grins to him that he was alright. Besides, the demon of all people should know that he could take care of himself. He wasn't weak or stupid to be unable of to take care of himself. He was freaking immortal!

Yet Zero treated him like an ordinary person. Not in a way that the man's power was undermined but instead, he saw past that stupid glory of his being a Kanavan hero and an undying prime knight and all that crap. Then again, no demon cared about human status. But he just treated Sieghart like he would with anyone. Normally. And it does feel light to the man's heart to have someone treat you like everyone else once in a while. He didn't have to get reminded on how he was responsible for thousands of lives, how he had to suffer the burden of being immortal, how he was a hero with the fame and strength, and so on and so forth.

It felt somewhat…

Sieghart shook his head. There was no way that demon would actually treat him 'special' at all. He himself was special enough to be left to take care of his own well-being. Zero had treated the rest of the chasers like that anyways. Hell, there was no way he would act so differently from his usual façade. That 'attraction' of his must have been some sort of misunderstanding.

The immortal drag his feet away and hastened his pace. Zero simply stared at him walk by.

'Pheh. I bet you he's finally disgusted at that mess you've made. There is no way that idiot would want to spare another glance to you.' A growl pulled his gaze away from the distancing immortal. The demon looked over his shoulder to see that his sword, Grandark, was glaring at him with an intense amount of irk. 'You were better off not even involving yourself with him. There's no benefits in being in such an idiotic relationship with him, let alone even get aquatinted with him. Why the fuck did you even think you could be attracted to that imbecile in the first place? He is unworthy for all I care.'

'You say everyone is unworthy to you Grandark…'

'Of course! They cannot wield me! Me, who is the most fearsome, destructive demon sword of any world,' Grandark laughed haughtily. 'So you should consider yourself lucky that I had acknowledged you to become my wielder, despite being unworthy.'

The wanderer couldn't help but groan silently to himself. He had heard of this story multiple times as the sword enjoyed boasting how significantly powerful he was which was incomparable with others.

'But it does not mean I don't know your worth.' Grandark continued with a snort, much to Zero's surprise. He did not expect such an arrogant and prideful sword mention something like that, let alone say it to solely him. The astonishment of the wanderer, though amusing to the sword at some point, because he looked like a poor innocent dog, sitting in front of you, looking at you with its surprised eyes as it sees a lump of meat in front of it and asking 'is this really for me?'. Well, since this was Grandark we're talking about, the sword didn't fail to feel irk at the sight of it as well. 'Don't think you can feel so cocky after I've said that! You're worth is still nothing in comparison to myself!'

Immediately, Zero's hope of having the demon sword act (just a little) kinder was destroyed as he gave back his usual grunt.

'But you're better than any other living bastards around… Which is why it's not worth the shit to play this fool's game of attention. It isn't even real anyways… All of it, an illusion…'

The rest of the mission was agonizingly silent for both the Grand Chasers. Not that being quiet wasn't a usual thing. In fact, whenever Sieghart was on a mission with Zero, he'd actually enjoy the peace. With the exceptional small remark or a haughty boast here and there from the immortal and the demon, in return, would make a soft hum, a sort of acknowledgement to the immortal's strength (which amused Sieghart). Sometimes, they'd go all out and trade little opinions on the random things in life. Even then, it always seemed to fall into sweet silence.

However, in the situation they were in, Sieghart didn't even make a single grunt of pain whenever he was hit accidentally or such. He just kept his mouth shut and went on with his way. Even if the immortal was alone, he'd at least laugh at how pathetic the enemy could be. It had become clear to Zero, for anyone, that he was really avoiding any form of contact with him.

Normally such an attitude from anyone was a normal thing for the wanderer. But when it came from Sieghart, there was an uncomfortable pang inside him.

Even when the mission was over, the only best thing was when Sieghart said, "Let's head back."

And the rest of the journey back home was in dead quietness.

On the other hand, Sieghart had been feeling… Rather Awkward. Especially when he was trying his best not to capture any attention whatsoever after growing conscious of how the wanderer would take a small peek towards him. So he had thought that in doing so, the wanderer would stop stealing glances over him yet instead the wanderer had increased the number of glances he took because of how hard he had been desperately acting like he wasn't around. Then again, Sieghart had never played as the side character so he wouldn't know how he should've acted to decrease his ability to catch anyone's attention. And maybe it was because he was finally noticing how the wanderer always seemed to have watched over his back.

Nah... That can't be... But if it was, since when had he been watching over the immortal... Sieghart immediately snorted to throw out those kind of thoughts.

'Damn it… I liked the old times…' Sieghart sighed weakly. Zero and Sieghart didn't really go to missions together much, seeing as Zero could easily deal with it by himself as he was once a vagabond knight and Sieghart was immortal; nothing would really kill him in battle. The gladiator was usually paired up with the younger inexperienced chasers so he can keep an eye on them (which sometimes ends up the other way around) and the wanderer had gone with the other demons as there was still a slight discomfort between the races of the chase.

But when both the wanderer and gladiator were put in the same one, Zero would simply nod without any coldness. And sometimes, he'd even commented that he'll look forward to learning from the gladiator (which actually pleased Sieghart as he was seen as an experienced person to be respected, especially when it didn't feel like another gesture and it was genuine). In journey, Sieghart talks the most, despite it being quiet the majority of the time. But Zero would always listen. And when he talked, Sieghart found the wanderer's opinions thought provoking, almost amusing.

There was this simple chemistry between them that Sieghart enjoyed, despite knowing that they were complete opposites. And he felt the need to blame himself for disrupting that synchronization. After all, it was Zero whom had initially noticed his own attraction towards the immortal.

But whilst doing so, he did come to realize something. He hadn't concluded to an answer to why Zero had come to grow attracted to him. Assuming that lust was never- NEVER the answer, he thought of other things that might have made the demon feel attracted to him.

Power was the first thing that came to mind. And Sieghart shook it out of his head immediately. True, even if Zero didn't do much interaction with the others, it always looked like he was eager to test his strengths amongst the rest and to see if he was in par, or much stronger than expected. Besides, neither he nor Zero had ever engaged in a proper spar, especially when the immortal was always occupied with sleep, running from his great granddaughter or picking fights with that damned chieftain.

Then again, wouldn't Zero, being an observant character, simply watch the way he fought to learn? To add to that, he'd actually ask for a spar instead of waiting restlessly on the side-lines for a chance to fight. Or simply attack a fellow warrior as an invitation for a match (remembering their first meeting in Wrym's Maw?)

So power was crossed out. What was next?

Friendship? That was a random motive. They were already teammates for the same cause. There was no need for any sappy bromance or anything like that. Moreover, Sieghart didn't really care for such a thing. Whoever wanted to be so-called close buddies with him were always pushed to the other guys( strictly speaking they were Ronan, Ryan and Jin) because he found it a pain to put up with. He liked friends, yes, but not to the point where it became crucial to keep the friendship tight and sticking to them 24/7. There were actual limits to being an extrovert.

Frankly, being an immortal may have made him quite an introvert at some point. It was the only solution he had to put up with the loneliness. But this side of his remains as the minor of his basic persona.

Although, there was the exceptional Elesis, but she was his great granddaughter, and Mari, but she was someone he knew he had to put a close eye on for saving-the-world reasons.

However, Zero was a demon. And do demons really want to befriend humans? So far, he had learnt that demons wanted to kill humans (thanks to Dio), they wanted to enslave humans (thanks to Ley) and they wanted to dehumanize them into tools for their personal gain (thanks to Rufus). Then again, most of the time, it's because they didn't like Sieghart to the extent they wanted to do something that humiliated him. However, those speculations were solely based on the immortal's experience with demons. He was aware of the possibility of exceptions.

So friendship might be something he would consider the wanderer wanted, but Zero had a sort of 'buddy' thing with Dio, didn't he? They'd actually have normal conversations with one another (it had been quite a surprise at first but everyone got used to the fact that Zero and Dio had an unhealthy friendship thing, with Dio mostly being the one who takes too much advantage and making it more one-sided on his part). So wasn't that stygian enough? Sieghart might probably treat him nearly the same way anyways (maybe).

Fame was easily crossed out. They were the Grand Chase anyways. Plus, Zero already stood out as the enigmatic one with a mysterious charm. Money was crossed out as well since the wanderer didn't seem very materialistic at all. The only thing (Sieghart tried to remember) that Zero seemed to buy were battle support items – equipment, potions, even pet food for their little (mostly fluffy) army of pets. The man mumbled to himself, trying to figure out what exactly the demon wanted so badly from him that he had proclaimed his attraction.

Then a dark thought came into mind.

To betray him? Get him to like him back so he'd get crushed when he's found out it was all just a joke? Sieghart knew he made enemies and a hefty number as well. To use something as precious as a relationship to crush someone was like a risky bet. But the aftermath was usually fulfilling. You would stay the same twisted evil self while you wear a fake mask to create a bond so close that shattering it would prove mass destruction to the other party.

'No way… Zero would never betray me… That kind of method is more of Ley's taste… Besides, he….'

….

When did he have so much trust in the wanderer that he'd know Zero wouldn't betray the gladiator? Sure, they always had each other's back in battle, especially Zero's firm and prepared movements could sync quite well with Sieghart's brutal recklessness, making a sort of dysfunctional yet perfect harmony with one another. However, that had always been something that was required of the two main vanguards of the Grand Chase. They protected the others and made sure piercing through enemy front lines was a piece of cake for the others. To add to that, Zero needed to be part of the Grand Chase to get closer to Duel, his ultimate enemy, so he was practically forced to work with Sieghart without question.

The man took a small glance back to see the wanderer walking after him. 'At least he's walking behind me… That didn't change.' Sieghart thought. He knew that Zero would always trail after someone, or stay at the back of the party. Everyone was visible in his line of sight, under his protection. 'Then again… Knightmaster probably got him to follow me because she doesn't trust me to do any missions alone…'

Sieghart later admitted that Knightmaster had done the right thing. Sieghart knew himself well enough to know he'll go off sleeping at some random spot and leaving the mission to a pause until it was at a critical point, to which he'll use all force to eliminate the problem. It was effective, yes, but at the same time demoralizing for the people living in the area. As well as expensive…

The problem probably lies in the choice of people she sent. In this case, Zero.

But then, it always assured him to see that the wanderer was at the very back. In these passing centuries, he knew that he had grown careless since the day he became an immortal. With Zero alongside him, he felt quite 'protected' and 'reassured'. It was a nostalgic feeling that he hadn't felt for centuries. It felt like he was still a normal knight, enjoying in what used to seem like endless days of fun-filled adventures and challenges with his old comrades. Sieghart would get battered and wounded, but it was those battle scars he received made him feel proud for they were the signs of his loyalty and trust to the friends he treasured and protected. Now as an immortal, all those wounds and injuries healed at a rapid state, leaving not a single mark of how much he would sacrifice the Grand Chase.

And yet, he found himself thinking that no one else would go their way to make sure an immortal's back was covered except...

He then found the calm demon staring back at him. Sieghart instantly turned front after the very small eye contact, feeling quite flustered.

No… There was no way….

It can't be 'that' kind of attraction.

He had to stop all this.

Alas, he sighed at the thought of the only person who might be of help to him.

As they reached Serdin's castle, Sieghart immediately ran towards the one place he could find this person, leaving Zero to deal with reports and Knightmaster on his own. "Dear Highlanders, give me strength…" He whispered to himself.

Behind the running gladiator, Zero stared at him. '….. He must…. Really hate me now….'

'If I'm not mistaken, in today's afternoon,' Sieghart thought as he slinked around the enormous library of books that wasn't touched by anyone except for a certain rune caster, magician and two surprising characters, 'He's usually around here….'

This man he spoke of happens to be one of the two most surprising characters to be found in the haven of knowledge. One of these surprising characters was Zero (well, he's always doing something efficient with his time so it doesn't really seem surprising to the immortal). But the demon only comes by when it was raining as he couldn't spend it on training outside (and unfortunately, Sieghart had just realized he too comes to nap in the library when it rains…).

The other character happens to sit just meters away from a rune caster whom was quietly reading a book that seemed like it came from a pile that she had collected to be studied in this afternoon. His violet eyes were glued onto his own book with full concentration, uncaring of how his demonic presence seemed very out of place in the solitude of knowledge.

When the Sieghart got closer, he found himself frowning in irk. The said person was still reading those books about immortality and what not. Sieghart assumed he picked it up to find out on how to take away the immortality of a person so he could finally kill the person (and predictably, the person was him, being the only immortal around).

"Dio, just give it up. You'll never find anything to kill me you know." The chieftain perked up and immediately glowered at him, recognizing his voice anywhere.

"Well, who knows? Considering, you're an awfully reckless dickhead, it won't take long until I do find something. So what the bloody hell do you want?" He growled back as he stood to prepare for battle, only to cease when a glow of blue light shone above them. The rune caster's mechanism had floated above them with its laser guns ready to fire.

"If the both of you are going to engage in battle, then I suggest a change in location as well as the lack of presence of the book you hold, Dio." She, Mari, had no fear whatsoever against these two overpowered men, and could care less if they were in thirst for blood. She wanted to live a quiet studious life whilst she wasn't on missions or on duty and would do anything for it. "Or I might have to expel you from this library forever."

"Tch… Fine…" Surprisingly enough, Dio backed down and sat back on his chair, still holding on to his book. Such actions mused the immortal. Then again, the chieftain loved the library – it was where he could hide from the summoner's bitching and his butler's naggings. Besides, the book he held onto seemed like the biology of humans, which had already made Sieghart frown (and that alone was enough to make Dio enjoy books).

Dio had a deep interest in human biology, as well as human psychology and human forbidden magic because for whatever reason, he is willing to do anything to acquire any new information that could be proven to be useful for him to use against the immortal. And if possible, remove that bloody immortal trait of his and rid him of this world once and for all. Sieghart could remember that in one of their battles, he had nearly paralyzed the immortal by hitting him by the backbone harshly. The immortal prayed a silent thanks for the fact that Dio had miscalculated immortal's height by a single inch.

"Well, ignoring her, what could this soon-to-be-dead immortal possibly want from the likes of a high-grade demon like me?" Dio sneered at the immortal, seeing as it was he who approached him.

The man merely glared at him at first. He dared not to show his losing side so Sieghart took a chair and sat in front of the stygian, facing death head on like his usual self. "I want to know how to get rid of him."

"What? Can't you get rid of someone yourself? Aren't you the legendary Sieghart? So weak to the point you'd actually come to me for help?" Sarcasm filled his words as Dio continued to jeer the man. The immortal merely glowered.

"Well, this person happens to be that friend of yours. You know, the one with the funny pointed ears sticking out of his head and a mask that covers his face." The raven haired snapped back, only to be hushed immediately by the rune caster, reminding him of their current location. Sieghart smirked. "Though, I guess not even you can get rid of him. I'd say he's much stro-"

"Taunting won't work on me, bastard. And in any case, I'm never helping you to do that." The stygian bluntly interrupted, much to the gladiator's surprise. Mostly because this said pointed eared, masked man was his friend and Sieghart believed that he'd help him bring him back to the right path, instead of chasing another man.

Besides, wouldn't Dio be against the whole attraction thing? His best friend had the hots for his arch-nemesis! The thought of that incident sent chills inside the gladiator that rushed into his stomach. He tried to push the memory back, and if possible, delete it. Because for every time he remembered it, he felt the need to do it.

As much as he hated it, he had to confess. He enjoyed savouring the heat of the wanderer. And it was something he had to stop before things got worse.

"Why won't you help me, brat?! It's not like I want him dead or anything! I just want him to stop feeling attracted to me!" The man suddenly tugged the chieftain's horn, making an agonized yelp seep from the purple haired. In exchange, a book landed smack onto the immortal's face. Letting go of Dio, whose rake hand was close to destroying the table in front of him, he soon discovered it was the hetero eyed woman who had thrown a book at him. Mari then glowered to the both of them and continued to read her book and making her awfully complex scribbles in her grimmoire.

The chieftain sighed as he pressed his temple lightly with his non-rake hand, forcing himself to be calm and stood. "I do fucking hate you." He first said to the immortal. "But that ain't the only reason I ain't helping you with this. It's a waste of my time to deal myself with human matters."

Before Sieghart could argue, the chieftain had used his teleportation tricks and disappeared into thin air, leaving specks of his black magic floating into nothingness and the book he was once holding.

The gladiator was baffled. Well, it was normal that Dio would never help him, let alone acknowledge his problems. The stygian hated him anyways – he hated everyone for that matter. However, Zero was a different matter (and probably Alfred). But for some reason, he had just become conscious that the stygian could make such a sour face at the mentioning of the wanderer.

Ley sighed as she floated around the dining hall. She usually spent her lunch and dinner either alone in her room, around Mari's Laboratory or Amy's Studio, or when she wanted away time from Jeeves, the dining hall. And well, that pretty much explained why the summoner had the nerve to step into the messy human dining hall. Besides, there was always company there to muse her, such as the other Grand Chasers.

To her surprise, she found herself floating towards the one member that she never expected her to associate with. Zero.

Truthfully, the summoner didn't like Zero because of his lack of 'demon spirit' in him. You know, the usual mischievous and malicious attitude with some dominance on the side. But there was no such thing in Zero and she was rather uncomfortable. She'd blame it on her pride as a demon and her dislike for those whom had no shred in their own demon pride. But Ley disliked blaming herself. So she blamed the Grandark.

The Grandark was an egotistical thing which she definitely approved if it wasn't a sword. Its total domination over Zero's ego was worth her respect, but that was just it. Anything else about Grandark literally pissed her off for whatever reason she couldn't clearly point out.

But the Grandark wasn't really near to Zero, which increased her surprise - that may have explained why she found herself approaching Zero in the first place. Yet it doesn't explain why Zero was there in the dining hall in his own little world. Ley noticed just a few tables away; there was the stygian and the bounty hunter, yowling to one another's ears in anger. Knowing the relationship between the demons, Ley assumed that Dio and Zero would be together and Rufus would just sit in the corner, enjoying his aloneness. Something was up with Dio as well.

'Well, one thing at a time,'' she sighed.

"Ley," Zero said without even moving an inch of his head, acknowledging Ley's presence. The summoner wasn't too surprise. After all, she had already approved his abilities to simply sense things around him a long time ago.

"You didn't bring that overpowered bastard of a sword?"

"You would never seem comfortable if I brought him near you," Zero muttered as he glanced towards the female demon. He watched the summoner seating herself comfortably next to him. He rarely talked to Ley but he knew well enough that the summoner always had her guard up around Grandark. She would never accept anything so easily unless all threats were erased.

Ley stared at the wanderer. To her, it had been awfully difficult for her to look at him directly into his eyes - that is, if he had them. The thought of Zero having no eyes made Ley shiver so she immediately disregarded that theory. Nevertheless, she tried to look at him in the eyes. "I'm flattered that you took notice in that. But why would the wanderer of the Grand Chase, the stoic and mysterious one, would want my presence? Or have you finally noticed my greatness over the imbeciles around you?"

Zero shook his head. "Nothing too explicit as that."

"Is that so? Hmph… Well, I'll accept the rejection since you defined me as explicit instead of how that dickhead of a chieftain rejects me…" Ley grumbled in irk before she continued. "So, what is the problem then?"

"What does it mean to be attracted to someone?" Zero suddenly asked her out of the blue that the summoner nearly lost her balance. She stared at him in bewilderment. The overpowered demon sword wasn't around so the wanderer was taking this opportunity to ask such a question to her. It excited her in some way – to aid in pouring oil to the fire, she wonders whether she could be an arsonist at times.

"Well, Zero." Ley hummed. "Why not ask Grandark? He seems like an old wise sword thingy."

"I… Have noticed you are always gazing at the girls of the Grand Chase in a different manner compared to how you look at everyone else." He stated cool-like, "And… I don't think Gran would give me a proper answer since he's upset about me asking this topic…"

"Aww… The sword's actually acting as a proper overprotective daddy who won't let his daughter go meet other boys. How cute." The summoner giggled. She could care less if Zero understood not any of her jokes. "Well, I must say, Zero. You've noticed things that should definitely be kept quiet."

The woman took a glance over to the side, towards where a stygian and a bounty hunter were at. They had been in their own world, ignoring what else happened. Zero took notice of that and nodded to her. He knew that if word spread out, the stygian might leak her sexual preference to their home town and it might trouble her and her family, as well as relations with other demon clans deeply. On the other hand, the bounty hunter would use it against her and sort some sort of devious plan that could destroy her reputation amongst the female Grand Chasers.

"… Yes. I did." He stated simply, expecting Ley to reply to his initial answer. He usually didn't use such cunning methods, but it was out of mere coincidence that those other two demons were present in the castle grounds, let alone in the same room as them.

Ley sighed before she stared at the wanderer. "First of all, there are numerous kinds of attractions. There's platonic attraction, like Elesis' and Arme's friendship. There's aesthetic attraction, like how guys like looking at Lire's beauty. There's also romantic attraction, much like Jin wants to flirt, kiss and hold hands Amy…" The vagabond clearly heard the demon lady growl at Jin's name. "And then there's also sexual attraction. Where you just want to reach out to his pants and rip it apart so you can eat him mercilessly all day long."

The grey haired demon stopped all his movements, realizing that she had used him as an example to the last kind of attraction. And 'him' had referred to Sieghart. He lifted up his head and looked back at the woman. "I don't think I'm suited for something so vulgar, Ley..."

"I'm just teasing you." She chuckled lightly. "Well, it could happen. Then again, I didn't expect much from you… But tell me, whenever you see that immortal, what do you want to share- no. What do you crave from him?"

"Excuse me?"

"Do you want him to spoil you? Do you want to spoil him instead? Do you want to hold his hand? Protect him? Kiss him? Have sex with him? Rape him? Lock him up in a room and enslave hi-"

"You don't need to elaborate further …" Zero instantly groaned, lightly waving his hand to cease the woman from speaking anything too vulgar. But now that he thought about it, what does he want from Sieghart?

He couldn't think of anything he wanted from the man. He didn't really need any special attention in particular nor did he felt any want to get more. In truth, he was very content with what they both already had.

At the same, he hadn't really given any thought in the other aspect of the problem. What did he want to do to Sieghart? Spoil the man, she said? The demon knew that doing so would encourage the immortal to grow lazier and a bit more demanding. And he was already used to getting ordered around, especially when he had that sword of his. What difference does another immortal make?

But he didn't really mind letting Sieghart have his way. He'd be able to see more and more of the man's true character that he had been concealing. Maybe that was one thing that he would want from Sieghart. But such a thing can't really be demanded really as the other sides of Sieghart couldn't just be forced out anyways.

Though, he did admit he grew a sort of fondness towards the sight of the immortal in his field of vision. He was accustomed to the presence of the man's happy-go-lucky aura he emitted when he was playing around or his simply peaceful mood that he makes whenever he was dreaming or just resting quietly. Zero even missed the sight of him growling in anger whenever he and the stygian crossed paths and his killing aura that radiated furiously in battle.

Just being near him gave him enough satisfaction, he thought. Though his thoughts trailed on to what would happen if they did stuck around long enough and it was inevitable that the memory of Sieghart pushing him down, slowly drowning in pleasure of his touch, came to mind.

Zero recalled that craving which could only be satisfied by the immortal's desires.

"I'm guessing with that silence, you're thinking of a lot of things you'd love that would involve that guy…" Ley purred, floating above him now, bored of Zero's gaze and seeking out for any group of girls teasing one another.

"… It is a good guess…"

And a good guess indeed. The tang of sweetness never did leave the mouth of the wanderer. It wasn't as sweet as caramel but enough to hunger for more. The inhumane grip over him was fading away but he fancied the burn that desperately held him. His slate grey eyes were in pure lust, begging for him. Wanting him.

Was it that he only wanted Sieghart to desire him?

Ley simply hummed as she looked down to the wanderer. "I read a book in the library once. Humans will feel attracted to another, regardless of whether it was pure or immoral, when the three main factors have been triggered; lust, obsession and attachment. How about you consider those things?"

Zero stared back at her "… Are you implying that I am human?"

"Well, I've never seen any demon like you. You may as well be a bit human somewhere if you've got elven ears already." Ley joked before she cleared her throat. "But definitely, you might want to wonder about it..." She let out a small giggle, slightly proud of the petty pun she had made. "Master Sieghart obviously has something towards you. Who knows what it exactly is, but it certainly isn't anything negative. Different than the norm perhaps. Although, it doesn't change the fact that he's a complete idiot to only be conscious about it now. You'll have to either tell him straight out again until the whole thing stays in his head or force the idea into him- My recommendation is to rape him in his sleep."

Zero did not nod as the second idea was a little too much. Nevertheless, he still accepted the advice, partially. Sieghart couldn't be that much of a complete idiot to unconsciously feel attracted to someone. Yet the demon remembered that his great granddaughter was no better and that there might be a reason she was a blockhead at most times as well.

"Oh, by the way…" Ley stood, muttering slightly that the wanderer would know how to deal with it, and looked at him. She then shrugged, thinking that this was Zero that she was talking to. He would pull it off miraculously somehow. "You see, I've dealt with people like Master Sieghart before. You're better off worrying about yourself instead of thinking about Master Sieghart. After all, a double-edged sword has never made anyone truly safe."

At first, Zero just stared at her, a little disbelieved. For one thing, the Ley of the Crimson Rivers clan had directly warned him. And that was rare of the summoner since she had always been notorious for all that was havoc – thus the title of her second job, the Harbinger- instead of preventing it. Plus it was not by her usual nature to help anyone...

"You seem quite enthusiastic with this, Ley. There is something that'll benefit you, isn't there….?" Zero questioned and the summoner blinked. She paused for a moment; with thoughts of what exact reply should she give to the wanderer. And then Ley shrugged.

"I don't know what you're talking about…"

Before Zero could ask more, the summoner had floated off, with a growth of interest in speaking with the dancer who had just entered the dining hall. But Zero could tell she was not done talking as her whimsical whispers were still heard by him.

'A double-edged sword…'

[Chapter 2 - End]
Chapter word count : 8,877
Total word count: 17,661

A/N:
For those who have faithfully waited for this chapter, I apologise and thank you for doing so. I am also ecstatic to know that there are still people who reread this story and that keeps me motivated.

Again, thank you very much!

-Hishin