Twilight

by Asurahime

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Disclaimer: SaGa Frontier does not belong to me and it never will. This is just another view of what could have happened during the time after White Rose was sentenced into the Dark Labyrinth. Slight Ildon x Asellus warning!! Please do not say I didn't warn you.

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The land spread out about her like a patternless sea of color and life, intertwining and meshing against itself like waves. Not once does it ever look the same as it did a moment before. The night clambered on like a mist beginning to besiege a land, hiding what things truly are and weaving a blanket of illusion. A mirage which foretell the suffering and guilt which has occurred because of the loss of a beloved companion to the inexorable claws of the enemy. Although, the haze won't last, and the sun will shine again--but to a day of happiness, or a day of grief?

A flash of pure white light and visions of white rose petals dissipating as if they were nothing more than an illusion faded like the coming of dusk. The inevitable had come, though unexpectedly. Falling to her knees, the lone half-mystic in all the regions remained speechless as her best friend's voice waned along with her hope. White Rose was gone, to be eternally trapped within the twisted chaos which is the Dark Labyrinth for the sake of the one she wanted to protect.

A single white rose appeared where the princess once stood... a painful replacement? Or a memory from the past which cannot be revived? It matters not to Lady Asellus, who picked up the flower with the greatest of care.

Ildon, the brash Zozma, and the strange Red Turnip from the Labyrinth had already spoken to her, but none of what they have said could erase the sorrow which is slowly rending her soul with much more agony than a creature of reality could. Ildon once again appeared in front of Asellus, but the girl did not seem to acknowledge his presence, for her emerald hair hid her face from the rest of the world. The Black Wing did not have to see to know that her heart has been grief-stricken by the sudden loss of the only person who tried to understand her, but he had to try once more to convince her out of her self-misery. "Lady Asellus, we must go."

"White Rose..." whispered the girl, as if trying to hold on to the White Princess who had been her beloved sister. She couldn't care less about anything anymore. The only things left which Asellus knew was hers were her name and her will..... if those were ever hers.... and if Orlouge would not wish to have her stripped of those as well.

Sighing in regret, Ildon walked to Asellus and placed a firm but gentle hand on her shoulder to try and bring her back to the present. "I am afraid that she is lost, my lady."

"..... Go back to Facinaturu, Ildon. You have nothing left keeping you here.... please, I do not want to be responsible for you as well." Asellus looked at Asura on her hand and she felt the edge of her vision blur as tears threatened to fall.

"No Asellus, I am still your teacher. The worst is still not over and I shall not stand to see you face whatever path you take alone. I have not been traveling with you or your companions for as long as Princess White Rose has, but I have a mission to fulfill to a good friend. I stay to protect you." replied the young man, holding on to her hands and bringing the girl up to her feet.

Asellus took a couple of moments to register to what he said and quickly broke from his grasp with the involuntary coming of sparkling rage. "Ildon, do you not even try to understand what I am saying!? White Rose tried to protect me, and now see what has become of her! I don't want anything to happen to anyone else because of me!" cried the half-mystic, shedding crystal tears which she had been trying to keep back.

She was hoping that that would stop him from thinking about such nonsense, but unfortunately, Asellus saw that the expression on Ildon's face has changed in the way she did not expect. It was patronizing and filled with pity which she has never seen before. Of all the times she has ever observed the dark knight, the half-mystic had not viewed a trace of emotion on his face... but now... No longer able to keep back her anguish and self-hatred, the crimson-eyed girl did the only thing that she was capable of doing at the moment....

She turned and ran.

Ildon was surprised at what the girl had done. He was expecting her to keep on telling him to go back to Facinaturu, or even start attacking him... but instead, she showed a weakness by running. "Asellus, why are you doing this to yourself?"

The green-haired boy wandered up the path which his student had taken. The garden of Kyo was beautiful in the half-darkness, but the evil which tainted the day could not bring him to enjoy the scenery. He had to find Asellus... and make her comprehend what is before her.

The pale, crystal moon was the only light which illuminated her path, and the inconstant wind was her only animate companion as the half-mystic ran on. The girl wanted nothing more, these ethereal and untouchable beings are the only attendants she wanted; for they are the only ones who would be willing to listen to her unconditionally, the only ones who could understand her current situation. One could easily have figured out that everything has been turned upside-down in her life, but not even a god would know the extent of which grief residing in her heart lies.

Stopping at a bridge overlooking a stream, Asellus stopped and looked at her reflection. Is this really her? The last time she has looked into a mirror of water, White Rose told her about water-mystics... a lost one just like Asellus. "Never again will that happen..... never.... " murmured Asellus, lowering her face as a single drop of the most precious crystal dropped upon her hand to separate itself into a hundred shards of diamond. Bringing her hands up, Asellus tried to suppress the twin rivers of silver crystal from two pools of crimson which joined with the waters of the stream.

"What would you do if the only person who could make you stop crying is the person who makes you cry?" asked a voice in the wind.

Asellus looked up in surprise and saw Ildon walking towards her. "....... I wouldn't know what to do in that situation. Just like I do not know what I should do know... I don't know who to turn to, who to trust in fear that they would be taken away from me."

"My lady, it does not always have to be that complicated.... you are still young and new as a mystic. And no mystic has ever cried..." said Ildon, dropping to his knees beside Asellus and wiping the tears away from her face. He doesn't know what he is turning into. At first, he didn't like the thought of having to teach a half-mystic cretin about how to live up to a full-mystic like the rest of them; but when he got used to it, he saw a spark of life within Asellus which he has not seen in any other. Now, he would willingly disobey his Lord with or without Rastaban's asking so that this vulnerable girl would have a chance for her freedom. -Forgive me, Rastaban... but I must do this.- "Asellus, which would you prefer? To stay here and mourn your life away, or do something to right what has been done? What would Princess White Rose say if she saw you right now?"

".........." The half-mystic turned away and started walking away from her teacher once again, but this time, she was stopped. She turned to fix a smoldering stare at Ildon. "Let me go."

Ildon returned her glare with feigned detachment. "What are you afraid of, Asellus? Are you terrified that the next person you start to care about will be stripped away from you as well?"

"................ It is not important, Ildon." replied Asellus, who freed her hand from his grasp and started off once more.

Starting after the girl, Ildon said the phrase which made her stop better than physical force could ever do. "At your situation, the greatest challenge of your life should to find someone who knows your flaws and differences and yet still willingly cares about you for who you are."

Asellus stopped in mid-stride and pivoted to face the winged prince. Sometimes, what he says does not actually go with what he appears to be. "I can't do anything to change your mind, can I?" asked Asellus, sheathing Asura to her scabbard with great hesitation. "You're just so stubborn."

"I can certainly say the same about you, Asellus." said Ildon.

Wiping the last traces of tears from her face, the girl walked towards the port once more with the Black Wing following after her. Her heart remained heavy with grief, but her mind was starting to clear from the unexpected talk with the normally reserved Prince of Darkness. She has been brought into this world with a purpose, and now, she is about to fulfill it.

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To be continued in: "Dusk"