"It is difficult to love someone who loves you, but easy to hate someone who loves you, and love someone who hates you."
-Xamdú
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"Up. Up above, far into the sky... The heavens sing. The earth cries. Can you see? There is much beauty there. Never do they see a day of winter or much suffering as we have."
Karos looked to the dull, gray sky. His eyes narrowed and his lips pursed. He never looked to the skies these days.
When there was sun, he glanced away. As a fire started, his back turned. Everything blue and warm reminded him of something he lost. All he felt was bitterness. With the cold, chilling air of winter, that bitterness became sadness.
"Dragons are demons born from the fires of the deepest realms of hell."
"And why is that?" Karos questioned causing his father to stare at him with the same set of glaring, green eyes.
"The Relic states it. What is written is as so."
"Whether it is a book or fairytales told to scare or warn you, I do not believe in them. I am tired of your tales and lies," Karos said with an abruptness that took his father by surprise. The disdain in his voice was quite apparent and he made no attempt at hiding it from him.
"Lies? You think The Relic is a book of lies now? Has your whore of a mother been spouting more nonsense to you?"
"She is dead. She is dead because of you. I would be as well if you had it your way."
"Nonsense." He put up his hand a shooed the idea away. "Such nonsense."
"A demon of hell, as you would say, had saved me from your 'said' heaven."
Karos rose with a fire in his eyes now.
"You had lied to me. You had lied to everyone!"
"...So you had seen one in human form, had you?"
Karos flicked his eyes back onto his father who sat comfortably, quite calm and relaxed. He hated that most about him. His disposition was fitting for his place of power, but not for a father.
"You said it had saved your life? It would not have done it out of kindness... You had something it was in need of. That was the only way you could have ever survived an encounter with them in human form."
Karos stayed silent.
"That is when they are the most deadliest."
"And how would you know?" Karos inquired. "Why would you allow us to kill such people? They live and breathe just as us! They think, they feel, and, yet, you passed them off as creatures who mindlessly set fire to our towns and terrorize us."
His father rose from his cushioned chair and walked towards the window.
"Let me tell you a story..." His father's voice was low, barely above a whisper which made Karos sharpen his ears and steel his resolve.
"A story from long, long ago... Because in the beginning, it was not always like this." Karos saw a faint, glimmer of a smile form on his lips.
"We were once friends, lovers, even...the dragons and humans...we are the sole reason why they possess such forms. You and I. Our blood. We began this."
Karos' lips parted.
"A dragon fell in love with a human. Our ancestor. That is all that it took to cause the world to burn and sink into depravity and chaos."
"Because, you see, the human heart knows no bounds. Soon, it turned to greed, then power, then hate and war, and death. We butchered them like animals stole their blood to cure our ailments, their skin for armor to fight our wars. Their stones...for power."
"Father-"
"And it seems as if history is repeating itself." His father turned and looked at him.
"The Gods are real. Now, here, there is one lurking these very halls as we speak."
"This is madness," Karos interjected. His heart was hammering out of his chest now.
"Leave now. Go far, far away from this place and do not ever come back. Leave this to me. If I shall die, this will pass onto you. So for now, run."
"I cannot!"
"I know you thought of murder as you came into these palace walls. You reeked of it and it attracted her. But now is not the time. There are reasons I had not told you this and there is still many things I had not told you."
"Father..."
"If you go south..." His eyes met Karos' once more. "South to Eunal, you will meet an ancient one named Alastar. He will tell you all you need to know and more." He walked closer Karos and pressed his hand onto his shoulder.
"I know of Ake and his importance and I also know you hold his gem."
Karos' eyes narrowed. He did not know how he knew so much of his travels and he would not like to know either.
"Go to him. I am sure... he will give you all the aid you need to win this war with the gods. And I know... you would like to see him for many other reasons."
His father laughed with a small smile.
"All this time, I thought your preference had lain with women and I thought it was to incite my anger." Karos muscled down the heat rising to his cheeks.
"It matters not to me, man or woman, human or dragon... I am sure he feels the same. So go to him."
"It is like that, is it not?" Karos' father's voice was soft as he asked.
As a response, Karos backed away from his father and nodded his head.
"I only ask this of you. Do not let your feelings get into the way of what must be done. This place, our people, they must be protected. They must be put first, among other things. Take the prince with you."
"Why would I ever take a person such as him along with me? He will only complicate things even further!"
"Take him." His father demanded.
"Father--no!"
"He had been asking for you and we cannot keep him here. The King and I..."
Karos shrugged his arm away from him in disgust.
"He is not my brother just because you go on and decide to take the king as your personal whore."
"Karos, give me your blessing on this as I had given you mine."
His eyes fell then.
"This may be the last time I see of you... Do not let us part with such malice rotting in our hearts. You are my son, my only son... You had grown up without me in your younger years and when I had heard of you, you were self-sufficient. You had no need of me. But now, you do."
"If he dies then so be it. I had warned you."
Just as Karos had slammed the door shut, he saw an amber-colored hair man fall on the floor. His shirt and pants were white and navy blue of royalty. It had the embellishments of the royal seal, a golden griffin, embroidered all around the edges causing Karos' lips to purse.
"Baastian."
The man gave out a nervous laugh before his eyes fell away from Karos'.
"It is rude to listen on a conversation between father and son," Karos growled.
"I thought Fariel had been in there... Truly, I did not mean to listen."
Karos gave him one, last lingering look before walking away. Soon, Baastian picked himself up from the tiled floor and rushed over to his side.
"So you are in love, is it?"
Karos stopped in his tracks with wide eyes before they narrowed in disdain.
"With a dragon," he finished.
His utterance caused Karos to grab him by his throat and push him up against the palace walls.
"As you are as well," Karos snuffed.
Baastian let out a scoff of response before laughing, his grey eyes crinkling into a smile.
"Fariel is not anything less than human and I am not in love with him. He is just rather remarkable in the-"
"I do not care to know."
"Do not be so coy with these matters of love. After all, we are like brothers. You know, since my father decided to go on and fuck your father like some common whore."
He pressed his hands onto the hand Karos was using to keep him pinned to the wall and tapped it. "Unhand me before some of the palace guards sees you. It will be hard to explain your actions against me."
Karos was quick to let go as Baastian let out a small chuckle.
"I was smitten with you for all those years and all you had ever told me was I was of the wrong sex, never mind gender. You would not even consider the thought or idea simply because you found it so appalling, disgusting. Remember?"
Karos' eyes found his, and soon, Karos tucked in his lips trying to hide a shy smile threatening to show on his face.
"It seems as though I was right, as I always am. Sex or gender has nothing to do with love. All that matters is the person... or rather...dragon."
He paused.
"Maybe if you had listened to me then, you would have fallen in love with me. Instead of us, our fathers have."
"Let us not talk of matters or love, Bash. What we need to speak of is war and dragons and gods. Malicious Gods."
"And fire-breathing dragons," Bash added with a hint of amusement.
Karos knew he would take every advantage of his new found information. He would be relentless like a spurned lover.
"You take my words lightly only because you had not seen the horrors I had witnessed. There are these creatures with long talons. Their skin green and splotched with browns and blacks as if their very skin is decaying." Karos eyed Bash.
"And there are phoenixes. And griffins. We are at the losing end of a war we had not known had begun."
"Malice, Mercy, and Miracles... I had studied much about them... and the forms they take and possess. They were not always so bad, Karos. They very much still favor the dragons." Bash flicked his wrist and continued on ahead.
"Well, for now," Bash smiled then.
"You will cause your lover to fall out of the grace of the gods. If he loves you, as I think he does, he will decide to do something foolish as intervening and aiding us mere, little humans."
Karos' eyes widened.
"What a selfish thing you are. You have not changed a single bit. But I suppose love makes you become like that."
"Stop speaking of it."
"I cannot speak of war and The Gods without speaking of love. After all, it is how they began. We began."
Karos closed his eyes before turning away from him.
"You are coming with us."
"What? To where?"
"Eunal."
"Eunal? Eunal! Are you insane? They will slaughter us like animals."
"Well, let us try to prevent that shall we?"
"Karos! I am a prince. Had you forgotten? " he screamed, but Karos only smiled.
"It is best if we keep that to ourselves. It would be terrible if one were to find out."
"You wish death upon me," he said with his lips curled.
"No, I am giving you mercy. Malice lurks these halls. Soon, she will be coming...as well as the others."
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[A/N]
Sorry, it took so long for this update! But man oh man, you learned some valuable information here. Anything ringing any bells? AND Karos, finally, somewhat, admitted his true feelings for Ake. I mean you could tell just by the way he would describe him. He is utterly smitten and is drowning in love.
Baastian! Isn't he a sassy one?
~Tell me your feels~ You know I love to read them! :3