FSE

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The air was thin, biting, as Teya breathed sleepily in the green glow of the dungeon. She blacked out the minute that she and that terrible Grimlock character teleported from the area. Around her she could hear nothing, save for some small chattering coming from the opposite wall. She assumed they were mice, but when she heard English words like snake and dead...well then she was a bit nervous being around talking mice. Her eyes shot open and darted from corner to corner.

The room was barren, plain stonework with torches burning brilliantly with green fire. There were a few cages hanging from the ceiling, and another few strewn across the dungeon floor. Teya looked across the way to see those talking mice. She could see two shapes, hiding in a darkened little corner behind a cluster of boxes.

"Hello?" she called. "Is anyone there?"

There was a hoarse whisper and a few more chatters, but no response. Teya could make out one sentence though: "See I told you she wasn't dead!"

"Hello? I'm not dead!" Teya tried to reassure whoever was hiding. "I'm ok; I'm not going to hurt you..."

"Yea, that's what the other guy said," a defiant, male voice rang out from behind the crates. Out hopped a small male lizard-looking creature. He was a light brown, with a long red line that ran down his sides and wore a tattered black tunic. His eyes were a familiar light blue. Teya almost immediately recognized him, even though they hadn't met a day in their lives.

"You're Dameon's son..." she whispered. The lizard scoffed.

"You too?! What is it with all this 'son' stuff?" the young reptile seemed insulted and annoyed. "I mean, mom told us this story about us having a dad...but whatever he's gone..."

"Not as gone as you might think," Teya said with a smile. The lizard squinted at her suspiciously.

"What are you saying?" he asked. From behind the crate, another shape moved into the light behind the young male.

"Maybe we should let her explain," a female voice asked nervously. Then there stood from the shadows a smaller female of the same coloration, although slightly darker than her brother. She lacked his distinctive red line, but wore the same tattered rag as clothes.

"She means what she says," a deep voice resonated from the doorway to the dungeon. All of them looked over to see Grimlock's darkened face and glowing eyes in the shade of the arch. "Your father is very much alive."

"I'm tired of your lies," the young male snarled.

"What incentive would I have to lie to you?" Grimlock laughed and kneeled down. There was a flap of wings and on his shoulder landed that ever-present demonic crow, eyes ablaze with red malice.

"You have every incentive to lie to everyone," Teya muttered. Grimlock laughed.

"You are quite mistaken! I only seek the truth, contrary to popular belief," Grimlock said, standing up again and looking down at his captives again before turning and beginning to walk away. "Anyway, if you'd rather not know..."

"Wait!" the female called to him. He stopped and turned his head, a grim smile playing across his black-tattooed cheeks.

The vixen overlooked the city, watching its hustle and bustle. It was a daily chore.

Her red hair blew in the high-altitude winds as her fur was ruffled. Tonight was different though...

She had just lost some of her best men and she realized without a doubt that this battle just became a million times more difficult. She held her picture in her cold paws, dangling it over the balcony precariously and watching the moonlight flash over the faces of those behind the glass. Her lipstick mark still stuck to the face of the young lizard.

"Marcus..." she whispered.

Her memories were fogged, but she remembered that night clearer than the air in front of her...

Her family's house was off the beaten trail, out in the woods just like her father had wanted. He was the kind of man who disliked the closeness of the city, a fox who appreciated the isolation of nature and values that grew from a close-knit family.

Her mother was the more outspoken kind of vixen. While she agreed with her husband most of the time, she was unafraid to quietly protest his rulings when she saw them as unfit or unfair. If her husband had been a cruel man, he would have never even acknowledged his wife, let alone listen to her. But he was a loving and caring creature, open to suggestion and open-minded. They loved their daughter with all their hearts, they took only the best care of her, gave her all of their love...but yet they were incomplete.

They had wanted another. They had wanted two.

They had wanted a full family, but it would appear that fate would have no such thing planned. Kyasha's mother became terribly ill during their second pregnancy, contracting a uterine cancer in the second trimester. They had gone to every doctor they could find, some even out of the country, but they all said the same: neither of them would survive the birth; it was either she alone lives...or both of them die...

In the end, they had decided to agree to a radical hysterectomy, leaving Kyasha's mother infertile but alive...

At first, their household seemed like a graveyard. Kyasha saw her parents do the same thing every single day, the same routine for weeks...then something unforgettable happened.

A knock on the door late at night. Her father sleepily answering it to find nothing but a basket...a crying basket.

Inside there was a child.

He was a reptile, although no doctor could say exactly what kind! He had remnants of multiple species rolled into one! Doctors called him a mix-breed, and declared him fully healthy.

Her parents were overjoyed. As though an answer to their prayers, they received a perfectly healthy child to add to their family. They called him Marcus. He was a smiley boy, always being able to cheer anyone up whenever they needed it, an invaluable quality as Kyasha's naturally adventurous personality lead her to a number of tear-filled moments and scars she still bore to this day. These moments even still provided greater advantage to Marcus, as his interests turned more and more to medicine and science. He was always talking about how he would be the best doctor in the world one day; he would even save the bugs! She loved her brother like there was no difference in his birth, and he returned every kindness she gave him with a greater kindness.

Children made fun of him, called him a mutant and a doorstep baby...but he never once let his smile fade.

It was night time now. The trees blew whispered warnings across the darkened sky, but the family paid them no heed, unaware of the nightmare that stormed their way.

Kyasha was in bed. She had her head under her pillow, as her little brother liked to keep the light on when he fell asleep to avoid having to deal with monsters in the dark. Kyasha at first didn't like it, but then became more and more accustomed to it...she still must sleep under a pillow...

She was awoken by a rude jostling on her shoulder. She groaned and rolled over, peeking her head out from under her pillow to see his little red face looking at her happily. She heard her mother calling from downstairs, calling for her younger brother to be in bed.

"What is it Mark?" she asked.

"I got something to show you!" he said happily. She picked herself up, looking at him groggily.

"And what might that be?" she asked with a sympathetic smile. The young reptile grinned and held out his claw. Clenched inside was a small silver necklace. Kyasha's mouth dropped open in surprise.

"Marcus...where did you get this?" she asked in surprise.

"I made it!" the lizard smiled proudly. Kyasha was suspicious.

"Mark are you lying? That's a very nice necklace..." Kyasha tried to persuade him to reveal the necklace's true origins. Marcus shook his head.

"It took me like twenty minutes, but I made it from mom's old jewelry," Marcus smiled again. Kyasha looked shocked again and smiled, taking the necklace and snapping it on around her neck. The two of them locked eyes.

Then there was a heavy thump from downstairs...

A crash rang through the house and a scream from downstairs...mother...

She and her brother botled for the door, but then her memory ends...

Nothing...she didn't remember anything that happened that night. She awoke hours later in a dark room surrounded by torches...

"Hello child," a deep, mechanical voice growled at her. It was then that she met Lord Swade, sitting in a chair next to her bed. She was told that Dameon had saved her, but from what she didn't remember. After she had heard about his abandonment of the Behaku she had completely lost faith in him...he was a coward...

Then her life moved on from there.

She opened her eyes and exhaled slowly through her mouth. The chilling breeze cut through her fur and drove itself like needles into her bones. She shivered intensely for a moment then turned around and walked back into her office, eyes cast at the picture. She reached up to her collarbone and pulled a small, silver necklace from under her armor. It seemed so much bigger when they were children...

She smiled and then turned to walk to the warrior's quarters where she slept every night. Her men's victory was the only reward she could want...she knew her men were willing to die for her, and she was no better than they were. So she stayed there with them to prove that she was no queen. She was only a fanatic, a planner and a schemer. They would have looked at her no differently had she worn a crown.

It had been hours since Bezimen and Dameon had entered Bezimen's workshop. Almost the entire group was asleep and the only two awake might have been slightly dead from worry, boredom, or a combination of the two.

"Jesus how much longer will this take?" Kane said impatiently. Holi laughed and sat down next to him, snuggling into his feathers. Kane was rather surprised at her overly friendly move, but they both knew that Holi was just doing her best to keep him consoled about Teya.

"Well what's your fastest time on synthesizing a self-destructive biomechanical organism's biological and artificial life-support systems powered primarily by prestidigitation for no less than 100,000 years?" Holi asked. Kane looked absolutely baffled and his ears sank sheepishly. Holi giggled. "Mine's around twenty-five minutes if you know what I mean..."

She winked at him and then curled back up on the cushion to get some well-deserved rest. Kane blushed for a moment then was immensely glad that everyone else was asleep. Then he sank into the cushion and decided to get some sleep of his own.

Eve tossed and turned in his light slumber. Bezimen's cushions were all very comfortable, and he couldn't pass up the opportunity to catch an hour or two's sleep. His dreams were heavy, thick like he was stuck under a layer of gelatin. He heard a voice.

"Eveser Dimonis, Vessel of Bahamut," the voice rang out. "You have great power, yet you do not use it."

"Great power? What do you mean?" he asked his voice quiet and soft.

"You are the Vessel for the brightest light in the universe," the voice said mysteriously.

"Wait, I don't understand..." Eve called out. "What power? Brightest light? What do you mean?!"

"In time Eveser Dimonis, in time," the voice faded.

Eve's eyes shot open and he looked around warily. His friends were all still sleeping; Cyllea curled up against him, Kane and Holi-that's odd-curled up together on a cushion, and Darrow in an armchair by himself with his hat over his eyes. He breathed a sigh of relief and stood up, heading towards the nearby window. He peered out into the night, gazing up at the moon.

"Bahamut..." he said quietly, talking to the glass panes. He turned around when he heard the rumbling of Bezimen's workshop door slowly opening. A small bit of steam escaped from between the door and the floor looking rather cliché.

Everyone grumbled awake, Holi and Kane quickly jumping away from eachother to ensure Dameon wouldn't misinterpret her act of friendship as something different. Bezimen and Dameon appeared as silhouettes in front of the orange light of the furnace. They stepped forwards, Dameon leaning on Bezimen slightly for support.

"He is very weak now, even more than before...but this time it will pass," Bezimen said with a smile. Everyone ran up and hugged Dameon, with the exceptions (of course) of Darrow and Kane. Dameon's eyes flared and he groaned painfully.

"Gently..." he choked out. Everyone backed up, but the smiles didn't leave their faces for a second. Eve turned to Bezimen.

"What did you do?" he asked happily.

"Well, trying to completely explain it to you would take hours...but Bezimen will be brief," the insectoid said with a quiet, chittering laugh. "Everything that Bezimen could fix was fixed. His skull is padded to prevent brain trauma, now he needn't even worry about bad memory! As a matter of fact, he might actually become much more clear-headed, less angry even! As for the rest of his systems, it was much more difficult. The lubricant that ran through his heart had turned it black and poisoned it, so Bezimen first had to flush it out and do my best to mend the damage done. Once Bezimen did the best Bezimen could, Bezimen created an entirely new system for the lubricant to flow through for his mechanical organs and another special system for his heart. He has a real cardiovascular system now. Bezimen made artificial marrow for his bones so his heart will require only a finite amount of energy to heal once he is rid of the bracelet. Once that's done he will no longer be forced to regenerate it, his powers will no longer be required to regenerate himself," Bezimen said happily. Eve looked slightly uneasy...

"Are we sure we even WANT a 100% powered Dameon Swade in this world?" Eve asked both himself and Bezimen.

"Trust in your friend, Eveser," Bezimen assured. "We spoke during the process...he has much hate and anger stored in his heart, but much love as well. He has the capacity for incredible good, or abominable evil...it will revolve around his closest friends to decide what he will become."

Eve smiled, putting his hand on Bezimen's shoulder. Then a thought came to mind...

"Bezimen? Have you ever heard the name Bahamut before?" Eve asked. Bezimen shook his head slowly.

"No, the name is not familiar," he said. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason," Eve said, looking back at Dameon who was now sitting on the fluffiest cushion the others could find for him.

"Ahhh, I feel like a Lord again," Dameon said happily. Eve chuckled as he walked over.

"So how long until you think you'll be ready to move?" he asked. Dameon shrugged.

"What day is it?" he asked, making Eve smile.

"Good to have you back, pal," Eve said and patted his shoulder. Dameon winced.

"Still sore," he said painfully. Then his head slumped back against the cushion and his pupils retracted into his skull. Eve smiled and walked away. Holi cuddled up next to him gently and closed her eyes as well. Everyone else sat down in a circle and started talking. Talking about battle plans, about strategy, about morality, about where Teya might be...so many questions and presumably so little time to answer them all...