"Don't be afraid."

The voice was laced with his usual devilish tenderness. It provided exactly the kind of rough smoothing that it needed in order to spare the other of the sight that laid bare before them on this desolate field. Very soon the rain would come, it would come and wash away the only visible stains that were left.

He could feel the presence with him right now, the words that he had been desperate to hear had been laid bare. It was something to cling to as this began, anything that could put his heavy, labored breathing to rest.

The constriction began to lessen, he could feel a choked gasp die in the throat as the other sought to find his voice. "I... I don't want to be."

There was a pause.

He didn't like it. He didn't like it when there was just silence like this. Not even any crickets were chirping. He had given his reply, he should be saying something right now. He always had something to say, he always knew what to say. And say something he would

"That's good." It was his voice again. It helped to ease the breath that he had been holding. When he talked, when he was the one who was speaking, it always put the other more at ease. What an annoyance it was. "If you want to hold true to that, do not look up. You know what you'll see if you do."

There would be that face staring right back at them, the light forever gone from the eyes to leave an empty reflection staring back at them. How many were there? Just the one? No, more than that. A few, just a few. And red.

So much red.

"It's over then... isn't it?" he kept his eyes downcast, heeding the order from the other. "We're safe now. We - er, you, you did it!" his voice began to regain some of what had been lost. He could feel his head tilting up. "Those guys were they-,"

"What did I say!?" His tone could barb the end of any whip.

The other instantly lowered his gaze, the comforting choke on his head taking its place to ensure that he would not defy that command again. It was the smart thing to do. He knew if he could, the other would rather face the red of his eyes than the pools of what lay just ahead from where he was crouched.

Fully sensing the agitation he had provoked, the other offered up a simple, "I'm sorry."

The intimidation trickled away, moving faster than the twin rivers of red running along the now charred ground. "I know. But even you must understand what this means."

He didn't want to know what it meant. Things had not been perfect before, but there was nothing wrong, not with them and not with anyone else. But, they were safe now.

Those were the thoughts left unsaid by the other, but so plain for him to read.

"Are you not going to answer me now?" His voice was low but still echoed in the other's ears and all throughout his head. "That would be a first. Unless..." he could tell the other felt the disapproval building. "Do you still cling to that childish notion of yours?"

"It isn't."

"It is. And you would do well to remember that."

The clouds had darkened overhead, the static was building, he could feel it as his hair stood on ends. The silence was back.

"It's going to rain," the other simply said. "Should we go find someplace safe?" If they left now, they would be away from here, from what lay just beyond his line of sight.

"Safe from the storm?" he asked in disgruntled curiosity. "We can find shelter anywhere to keep us safe from the storm. But know and understand this one simple thing: safety is not guaranteed - not now, not ever."

"But, we are strong!" the other sought to appease what he knew. "That is what you always said to me. Just now when they... you knew exactly what to do."

There was another pause, but this one was less uncomfortable than the first. The other could tell his words had stuck - if only a little.

"You would only be half right." Yes, he guessed that was true. It was just the same as the phrase he had always been told: "it is a sin to not use what is naturally given." He remembered.

The first drop had fallen. His hair felt the assault. His voice continued.

"We should be off." They were leaving. They were leaving!

Again, the unspoken was so very evident.

"Yes!" he agreed wholeheartedly. "We should. We should be going!" he turned himself around from his crouched position, ignoring the warm stream that was meandering around his fingers. The rain would wash that away for him. "Do you know of a place where they won't come looking?"

"I believe there was a settlement of sorts not far from this clearing."

"What kind of shelter? A house, a barn?"

"It would be the same anywhere. This will be no different." He knew that it was true.

Hazarding a look upwards, the dark purplish hues of the clouds were rolling in. Just the sight of it let him know it would rage all night. But come the morning, dawn would have cleared the eye. It would be quite the view.

"The eye..." the other trailed. He could almost feel a-,

"Do not turn the head. Do not look back." While the tone of voice had softened, the warning was all the same.

"I'm sorry," he apologized yet again. "I just felt that we were being watched."

There was nothing behind him but pairs of glassy orbs that saw every bit of nothing now. So the other had picked up on that feeling as well.

"Tch!" the sound of the snarling snicker had not changed. He hadn't expected his reply to be, "We probably are."

There was much more than just static in the air as the first bolt of lightning cut two paths along the weighted sky.

"I don't like it. What do you think, M-?"

"Stop," his voice ended the other's completely as it took over. "That name does not belong to just one." His reply was bound to confuse the other, maybe instill a different kind of anxiety.

"But then... what should I call you?" he had always called him by that given name before.

A single bolt arced across the skyscape.

That moment was but one in a sea of fragmented wholes. Complete in their perfect disharmony. And being inconsequential to both distance and time, it would be seen. For now, it was naught but one of a disjointed dream. But for the present reality, it was a perfect crux.

His voice answered.

"I will be Kal. It is I who will be king."

And in the year 724 DD, a person by the name of Marik Kaiser awakened.