by She-Ronin
Prologue: Understand
"We came out of the deep
To help and understand but not to kill
It takes many lives till we succeed
To clear the debts
Of many, many hundred years..."
--Enigma, "Second Chapter"
If there was one thing the former Golden Dragoon was forced to admit, it was the fact that an eternity in the afterlife was far more pleasant than an eternity spent as a specter. He'd 'lived' over eleven thousand years as a spirit, and in all that time, he never would have anticipated Eternity would assume the form of the city of Vellweb. It wasn't so surprising now-Paradise, when you came right down to it, was happiness. Belzac had mixed feelings about the settlement where he'd lived his life on Endiness, but he couldn't deny that he had been happy there.
Happiness, he mused absently, gnawing on his lower lip as he leaned forward in the plush chair he was sitting in. Pale eyes narrowed at the misty white orb floating in front of him. It seems so fleeting down there.
"Giganto?"
Ah, well, while he was focused on fleeting happiness, one might as well consider his own. Belzac's cheek twitched at the sound of that aggravating voice. I had eleven thousand years of peace and quiet, and now I can't get a single minute alone with my thoughts.
The low, uncouth voice sounded almost like cannon fire in a room that had been so quiet moments ago, and the tone that was used to speak his 'name' made it quite clear that the speaker was rather happy to disturb him. "Gi-Gan-to."
He heaved a great sigh and straightened, crossing his arms over his chest as he surveyed the man standing in the doorway. The auburn-haired newcomer was slight, sharp-faced, and didn't seem the slightest bit concerned that he had intruded upon Belzac's privacy. "What is it, Kanzas?" he demanded, exasperated.
Kanzas peered at the foggy sphere in front of Belzac's chair, eyebrows raised. "Aha," he proclaimed.
"What do you mean, 'aha'?"
The Giganto really did spend far too much time cooped up in that damned stuffy tower of his. It didn't concern Kanzas all that much, as the two of them had never really gotten on well when they were still alive, and being dead hadn't changed that. However, Shirley was concerned that her old friend was spending too much time alone, dwelling on the living; and when Shirley was worried, she was unhappy.
When his wife was unhappy, he was unhappy.
An unhappy Kanzas was not a pleasant man.
With a grand, sweeping gesture, the thunder elemental motioned towards the seeing-orb that was so often the focus of Belzac's attention. "'Aha' means 'aha', you dolt," he growled. "Just because you're dead doesn't mean you don't have a life. You spend way too much time with that thing." Said 'thing' received an accusing glare. The orb merely shimmered on, it's ethereal glow illuminating the shadowed room like artificial moonlight.
Those blunt words rang true, but he couldn't bring himself to care all that much. It wasn't that he found the world of the living so fascinating-not really. He'd had his time, however brief it might have been and he had few regrets about his life. No, what currently interested the half-breed man was one simple concept that he couldn't seem to banish from his mind. Belonging. Friendship. Happiness. These were supposed to be such simple ideas and yet they somehow managed to be infinitely complicated. "Come here and look at this, would you? I want to show you something."
"No, thank y-"
Kanzas' reply was cut off when Belzac lurched from his chair and stormed over towards him, closing one huge hand around the assassin's considerably smaller wrist. The redhead yelped as he was literally dragged over towards the orb. Briefly, he considered striking out at Belzac, but the idea was quickly dismissed. One thing he had to admit about the normally soft-spoken man-when he set his mind on something, come Hell or high water he would have his way. Easier just to go along with it, he thought grumpily, not protesting when he was shoved down into the plush chair. "All right, fine. Show me."
The opalescent surface of the sphere flared brightly for one brief moment. Kanzas squinted his eyes against the brilliance of it, yet leaned forward in spite of himself to try and make out the blurry image within its center. What is it that's got the Giganto's tights bunched so tightly anyway?
The woman was a tall, willowy creature with bright hair whipped violently around her face by the chill, biting wind. There was something familiar about her that caused Kanzas to frown; he wasn't like the others who paid such attention to the living and their faces always seemed to melt together. Still, if the sight of her struck a chord, then he must have seen her at some point in the recent past. No matter how hard he reflected on the blonde, he couldn't seem to place her. "Got yourself a living girlfriend?"
Belzac gave him a withering look. "It's Miranda."
Silence.
"The White-Silver Dragoon."
"Ah, I see how it is, then. You couldn't get my wife, so you're trying to get the-"
"It's not like that!" He took a few deep breaths and counted to ten in a valiant attempt to keep from backhanding his rival into the wall. What had he been thinking, anyway? How could Kanzas of all people understand? "I like to check in on them all from time to time." Perhaps he was playing the overprotective father to his 'children', the newest bearers of the Dragoon spirits. They had proven themselves time and time again, even going so far as to defy the will of Soa Herself. However, he couldn't help but worry about them and periodically gaze into the world of the living to see how they fared. "They pulled our spirits from the gates of Hell. If they hadn't freed us, you know where we would be now, Kanzas. Now wipe that smug look off of your face and listen for once."
Huh! Well, he had to admit that the Giganto had a point; Rose and the brats had literally pulled their arses out of the fire… Kanzas lost the amused smirk and sighed, flopping back into the chair. "You've got my attention, Belzac. What is it that you find so utterly compelling?"
"Queen Theresa of Mille Seseau is dying."