Dragon Knights Fan Fiction ❯ Emerging ❯ Together ( Chapter 2 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
Disclaimer: I still don't own Dragon Knights. Mineko Ohkami does. But I do own a horse. His name is Ernest. But that's beside the point.
Rating: T. Still because I said so. Still probably not.
Emerging
Chapter Two: Together
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Cesia threw herself onto her bed in tears. She knew that Rath hated her, and she wished she could hate him back. But she couldn't. For some reason she actually liked the annoying Fire Knight...Future Dragon Lord. But to get married? That was too much. She didn't want to get married to someone she knew would never love her. They were always fighting. How could they run a kingdom together? This was stupid, she decided. If the future of the Dragon Kingdom relied on their marriage, it was doomed. The Dragon Kingdom should just fall apart right now and save itself the trouble.
Not only was Rath a stupid, spoiled brat, but she was sure he cared less about the kingdom than what Thatz ate for breakfast! He wouldn't keep it safe. He wouldn't even try. She knew that he hated the Dragon Tribe as much as he hated the Dragon Lord. Why would he run their kingdom? The Yokai-turned-Dragon-Knight obviously wasn't happy about the fact that he had to rule the kingdom, though he was happy about the current ruler's illness. Knowing Rath, he would abandon the Kingdom when he got into trouble. Or he would use his new power to the wrong ends. She couldn't let that happen.
But could she keep him in line? If they had to get married, wouldn't she have some power to? She could help keep the kingdom from falling apart. She actually cared enough to do so. The Dragon Lord had saved her. She owed him that much. Cesia sighed and got up from the bed, drying her eyes. She needed to find Rath. They needed to talk about this before anything else happened.
----
Rune was sitting under a tree serenely, watching Rath pace nearby with Fire perched on his head. To him, it was obvious that Rath and Cesia cared for each other more than either let on. Neither seemed to think that their feelings were reciprocated, so all rune could do was sit back and hope they admitted it eventually. With an impending wedding, now seemed like a good time to him. But Rath had a tendency to be unreasonable and Cesia had a habit of being...stubborn.
Rath stopped suddenly and turned toward Rune. "You know what the problem is, Rune?" The Water Knight shook his head. "It's not that I don't want to marry Cesia..." he explained, sitting down next to his attentive friend, "It's that she's annoyed by me. And that annoys me. And it's not even just that..." Rath sighed and Rune motioned for him to continue. "I don't want to rule the kingdom. I don't really care about it. Honestly. On one level, I'm glad to be rid of the old man...on another, I wish he'd get better so I wasn't forced into doing this..." Rath concluded slowly. Fire sighed slightly, looking up at the tree.
Rune sighed again, looking over at Rath. "Look. rath. Even if you don't care about the kingdom, Cesia does. Marrying her gives you a Queen. You wouldn't have to make decisions on your own. I'm sure she'd be willing to help..."
"She probably doesn't think I can do it..."
"That's not what I said. I said she'd probably willing to help you. If you stop being such an ass to her."
"My pride won't allow it."
"Won't allow what? You to stop being an ass?" Rath glared. "You wouldn't allow her to help you make decisions?"
"No. She couldn't do any better."
"If you act like this, then you won't stay happily married for long..." Rune warned.
Rath sighed. "I don't think 'happily' belongs in a sentence describing my impending wedding."
"Lady Rasalene is happy for you."
Rath grinned at Rune. "'Course she is. She wants to dress Cesia up. Like a doll or something. That is something worth seeing..."
"I'm sure it will be quite the sight..." Rune laughed, shaking his head. It was true that Lady Rasalene loved dressing Cesia up. Rune hoped that she would get to for the wedding...if Rath didn't run away before it could happen.
----
When Cesia found Rath, he and Rune were laughing about something underneath a tree. Cesia wondered what they were talking about as she walking up. "Rath?" she asked. Rath turned to her while Rune continued to smile to himself about something. "Can I talk to you?"
Rath glanced at Rune, who shrugged back, just as clueless as he was, and got up to go find Thatz. Rath looked back up at Cesia and patted Rune's vacated spot, inviting her to sit down. "'Bout what?" he questioned, shooing Fire off of his head as Cesia sat down. The dragon went to sit in Cesia's lap instead, curling up to sleep.
Cesia pet the dragon absentmindedly as she avoided looking at Rath. "Well...I just want to get a few things straight..."
"Continue..."
"First, you're the heir to the throne?" she questioned, wondering why she hadn't known that before.
"Sadly."
"How'd that happen?" she wondered out loud.
"Long story..."
Cesia glanced over at him skeptically while Fire raised his head drearily.
"Technically...I'm his blood brother," he replied, straightforward. Cesia hoped that would continue for the rest of their conversation.
"How?"
"Like I said, long story."
"Will you tell me?"
"Maybe later."
"Maybe?"
"Um...no. Never will."
Cesia blinked. At least he was being honest. "Oh...okay then..."
Rath caught her disappointment and sighed. "Just ask Ruwalk." Fire nodded emphatically.
"Okay..." Cesia replied, smiling at the dragon as she made a mental note to do so. "Second. You don't actually want to rule, correct?
"Correct."
"Then why are you taking the throne?"
"No other heirs," Rath replied simply, looking up to the darkening sky.
"Oh. Why?"
"Rasalene can't have children. Nadil cast a spell on her," Rath replied bluntly.
Cesia was a bit taken aback, but quickly got over it, glad she hadn't been yelled at yet by the temperamental Fire Dragon Knight for sticking her nose in his business. "I see...so, third. I'm the next Dragon Queen?"
"Yes. You have the Dragon Eyes," Rath replied, looking over at her.
She looked back at him. "Which means I have to marry you."
"Only because I'm the heir."
"Right," Cesia nodded, "Last...do you want to get married to me?"
Rath blinked at her, "The idea is bothersome..." he replied simply.
"Oh," she replied.
"...but I think I'll get used to it..."
"Really?"
"Well, yeah. Eventually. It's gonna happen either way..." Rath explained with a sigh, "Besides. I can't wait to see what Rasalene dresses you up in!" he continued with a devilish grin.
Cesia laughed. "I'm a bit worried about that..."
"You probably should be..." Rath responded with a laugh, looking back up at the sky, "but I'm sure you'll look beautiful..." he added in a whisper, standing up and stretching before picking Fire up from Cesia's lap. Cesia blinked at him, wondering what he had just said. "Cesia? You coming to the castle for dinner?" Rath questioned, bringing her back to reality.
"Oh! Yes," she replied as he offered a hand to help her up. She took it and stood up, brushing off her skirts before following him to the castle's dining room.
----
After dinner, Cesia followed Ruwalk back to the Dragon Lord's office. She still needed to ask him how Rath became the heir to the kingdom's throne. "Ruwalk?"
"Yes, Cesia?" came his tired reply as he sat behind the desk with a heavy sigh.
She decided she should get straight to the point and hope for the best. "How did Rath become the Dragon Lord's heir?"
"It's a long story..."
"That's what Rath said!"
"You asked him?!"
"Yes. Of course I did! I want to know! Should I not have?"
"It's a touchy subject for those who know," Ruwalk replied vaguely.
"Which includes...?"
"Lyokeon, Rasalene, Alfeegi, Kai-Stern, Tetheus, myself, and Rath, of course."
"But two of those people aren't even alive anymore..." Cesia replied slowly.
"Yes. We try not to let people know. Especially Rune. So, if I tell you, you must keep it from him. At all costs."
"Why?" she questioned, confused. Why couldn't Rune know? Wasn't something like this important?
"You'll understand after I explain. Do you want to hear the story?"
"Yes. I'd like to know."
Ruwalk sighed, rubbing his temples. "Okay then. When Rasalene was saved from Nadil, Illuser died."
"I knew that."
"Well, after that a creature started ravaging the empire, killing everything. It's largely responsible for the fairy massacre, including the Fairy Elder, Rune's Mentor..."
"Oh..." She hadn't known about that.
"So, Lyokeon and the Dragon Officers went to stop the monster. During the fight, the monster drank some of the Dragon Lord's blood and lived..."
Something clicked in Cesia's brain. Rath had said he was technically Lyokeon's blood brother. "Wait! Rath was that demon?"
Ruwalk nodded, "Let me continue. So, Lyokeon placed a spell on him and gave him the Light Dragon Amulet, much like yours. Without it, Rath becomes unconscious, leaving him susceptible to the old demon coming back out. It's a safety device."
"Oh," Cesia grabbed her own Amulet, "So, Rath has the Dragon Lord's blood inside him? And that makes him the only eligible heir?"
"Yes."
"Wow...so...I'm marrying an evil demon...?" she replied, blinking at Ruwalk.
He laughed nervously, "I guess you could put it that way, but Rath wouldn't like it. He cares for people, and the kingdom, more than he lets on."
"So...if he's a demon, what's with the demon hunting obsession?"
Ruwalk chuckled. He would like to know the answer to that question as well. "Kai-Stern was the only person he talked to..." he answered with a shrug
"Oh. Well, thanks for explaining to me."
"You're welcome," Ruwalk replied with a smile.
Cesia nodded and walked out of Ruwalk's office. Rath was a demon like her...that was new, a little. She hadsuspected something when she had found the amulet, but nothing like that. Rath had single-handed killed off most of the fairy population in the kingdom. Cesia sighed and wandered outside to do some thinking under the stars.
----
Rath was sitting in a tree talking to Fire when Cesia wandered out. 'Look! There she is!'Fire exclaimed when he caught sight of her from his perch in the tree. Indeed, the two had just been talking about Cesia. Fire had been telling Rath all the things he liked about her while Rath was complaining about what he had dubbed 'Doomsday'. Rath looked down from the tree, watching Cesia as she walked past his tree. "What's wrong?" he asked suddenly, noticing the thoughtful look on her face.
Cesia jumped, startled at the sudden question. "Rath? Is that you?" she asked, peering up into the tree when Fire hopped down onto her shoulder.
"Who else could it be?" he replied, jumping down from the perch on his tree branch and landing in front of her.
She rolled her eye at him. "Many people," she replied. Fire nodded emphatically from her shoulder.
Rath ignored them. "Whatcha thinkin' about?" he questioned, sounding like a small child.
"Um...nothing..." she replied uncomfortably, not eager to discuss Rath's past with him. Fire and his master exchanged a look.
"You talked to Ruwalk, didn't you?"
She nodded silently, looking away from him.
"It bothers you, doesn't it? You hate me now..." he replied, looking down at the ground.
"No! I don't hate you Rath! I mean...I always figured you were hiding something..." she replied, glancing at Fire for help. The dragon shrugged at her.
Rath looked back up at her. "You don't hate me?" he questioned again.
"No, of course not..." she replied. Fire grinned at Rath, giving him an 'I-told-you-so' look.
"Please don't tell Rue...he'll hate me..." Rath mumbled, looking back at the ground.
"I won't tell him. Promise." Cesia assured. Rath grinned up at her.
"Good. Now let's not talk about this anymore. Ever." he replied, sitting down against the tree. Fire hopped down and curled up in his lap. Rath scratched the dragon's head as Cesia sat next to him.
"Is there anything else I need to know?"
"How to rule the Dragon Kingdom."
Cesia glared. "That's your job."
"I don't want to..." Rath whined back, "you should help. Besides. You don't really trust me to do it myself, do you?"
Cesia glared at him. Damn him for being right. "No. I guess not..." she sighed, defeated.
"Then you need to know how to do it!" Rath replied with a grin, thinking of ways to pile all of his work onto her instead.
Cesia rolled her eyes at him, looking up at the stars. She yawned loudly. She hadn't realized how tired she was.
Rath was surprised when Cesia's head hit his shoulder. He looked over at her, raising an eyebrow at Fire. 'She's asleep,'the dragon proclaimed. Rath sighed. Why did she have to use him as a pillow? He carefully slipped out, picking up the sleeping girl and carrying her back to her room.
Fire followed his master back to his room with a smile before curling up next to him on the bed for a good night's sleep.
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Well, a second, somewhat revised chapter. This chapter is the last of the already-written segments of the story. The rest will come off the top of my head. Yay! ^^"
I still have some summer classes to do, though, so updates might be a bit slow because of varying workload.
Please Review!!
Thanks, FantasyStar.