He stayed a few days, and Zidane left again… Garnet was panicking about that; trying to think up something to do.
Drake found her pacing over a balcony just inside the castle and he couldn't just stand back and watch anymore… Eclipse wasn’t there to stop him and no one else was around.
Drake had been carrying around that ring for weeks. Waiting for the perfect moment. There were only six days before the next meeting, the one where Garnet would have to announce… something. At the moment she had nothing to say at that meeting.

He had the solution to that, though. She couldn’t marry Zidane- none of the world leaders would let that happen- not with Brahne putting up such a fight.
They’d banish Zidane from Alexandria if he had no purpose there—if he were a distraction. If Garnet didn’t think up a way to let him stay… he’d lose everything and then they’d force him to open the doors.

There was something she could announce, though…
An engagement, a proper one. One that the world leaders would not argue against—at least… none but Pricilla.
It would give them something else to focus on, give her something to declare…
So, he approached her on the balcony. He followed all the steps he'd planned, even though explaining it as being a way to help Zidane wasn't favorable. He got down on one knee, he swore to protect her and he gave her the ring that had seemed to gain weight as he carried it around. When she took it, it felt as if a bolder had been removed from his hands instead of a diamond. And she accepted.
He proposed, and she accepted.
That should have been the end of all his problems; should have been his happily ever after, dream come true. She accepted, thinking it was a backup, though... but what did it matter? The point was, she accepted. Zidane loses, he wins, the end.

… However, that wasn’t the end of it.

She hit him. He’d been trying to be funny, she seemed to like funny, and she hit him; screamed at him, and then the Terran had gotten in the way and ruined everything. Drake could admit to himself he got on the defence too quickly... He'd been so shocked by her reaction that he got hostile and that was a poor sign. He'd never hurt her... he wasn't used to this. She'd been so happy with him when he proposed. He'd seen it in her eyes, a part of her that could see the happily ever after that the fairytales said the prince and princess gets as a reward for all the mess they have to put up with. She wanted he, he knew, and it was fine untill Zidane ruined it! He made some stupid comment and Garnet got all worried... Zidane took off again. Night comes, morning comes, Drake wanted to cheer her up while he was checking in on her and she hits him!?
He over-reacted to it... it was that constant thought that was driving him mad. Was it his fault?
How could this happen? It wasn’t fair! All he’d been through, all he was doing; he’d been promised this! He deserved it...
He hired a private pilot, as Alexandria didn’t have many airships available and he didn't want to deal with the regal hassle of calling for one. He returned home… not at all happy.

 

 

To say Eclipse almost missed the arrival of the beaten up old airship that Drake had managed to hire, would be an overstatement. To say the pilot had barely managed to miss crashing into the tower would be more accurate. Papers, glass ornaments and light bits of furniture had been knocked over and scattered as the ship tore past the open balcony doors.

A very disgruntled Eclipse charged onto the balcony to see who had dared mess up his room, and he watched as the airship 'landed'. Though it was closer to a test of how well the airship ports emergency measures worked. The ones that were designed to stop airships missing their landing and crashing into the palace.

Eclipse picked up his telescope from inside, and used it to see who was disembarking from the broken down old ship that was apparently flown by a rabid monkey. He quickly spotted the Prince, and snapped the telescope shut again.

He charged out of the room, heading for the airship dock. Half of him was just angry, and the other half was wondering what reason Drake would have for coming back in such desperation. What had that little bastard done to screw up the plan!?

 

Drake was happy now. Happy to be alive. “Liar! You said you could fly!”

“I can… you never said how far.” The pilot reasoned, “… Am I going to be reimbursed for the damage to my ship?”

The pilot suddenly found himself on fire.

Drake had wanted to get home quietly… mainly because he hadn’t really discussed visiting Alexandria in the first place and hadn’t bothered to contact anyone after he got there… but also because he was in a bad mood and wanted to see if his dreams had come true and Pricilla had died out in the forest…

Or sleep, he could sleep. He could sleep for a few years; that might be nice. Just not wake up, not have to deal with the world.

The pilot wouldn’t have to become BBQ for a passing dragon… which would be a good distraction.
“Come on, dragon…”

 

That was when Eclipse's hand grabbed Drake's shoulder firmly, and without warning. It would be easy to miss someone's footsteps with all the commotion around. A flaming and quite distressed pilot, shouts of dockworkers, and the thundering of the ship's still running, clanky engines. However, it still seemed like Eclipse had tried to sneak up on Drake intentionally. Apparently, Eclipse intended to expiate his mistake of letting Drake out of his sight.

 

… Wrong dragon. Drake noted, after the initial shock was over.
He hissed as a response, trying to make it clear that he didn’t want to talk.

Eclipse spun Drake around to face him with surprising force. Making it clear that he didn't care.

 

Drake growled. “I get it, I’m grounded, get out of my face.”

Had he retained any logic or common sense before it had been replaced by pure anger, Drake never would have said that. He would probably not even think it loudly. He was already hot headed and his rage blinded him from everything else.

 

Eclipse hit the pilot with his forearm, knocking him into the air and over the side of the walkway. He fell into the water reservoir, which served as a convenient way to fill airship water tanks, as well as wash them, and provide something for them to fall into that wouldn't totally wreck their hulls and it helped remove the fire from the pilot. Though, helping the man wasn't what Eclipse had in mind.

He hissed and grabbed Drake by the throat, his teeth becoming slight fangs and claws on his fingers dug into Drake's neck. Eclipse stared icily into Drakes demonic red eyes with his cold, wicked, cruel silver eyes that now had predatory slits in them. The rest of Eclipse remained normal, human, as he lifted Drake off the ground.

The noise around the dock had suddenly disappeared, every single dockworker there had fallen to the ground where they had stood, eyes open, as if dead. However, they were merely in a catatonic trance, completely unaware of the world around them.

 

That was more than enough to snap the sanity back into Drake’s mind. His hands instinctively flew up to try and pry away the ones that held him, his feet kicked, already missing the ground.

 

Eclipse just held Drake out at the full length of his long arm to avoid the kicks. He tightened his grip further, and further.
There was a cracking sound as a sheet of ice that had spontaneously formed over the water below them shattered, and steam started to rise all around them.

Then, apparently deciding that Drake had learned to remember that it wasn't himself in charge, not by a long way, Eclipse used both arms to throw him hard at the ship, and through a closed cabin door. At the same moment, there was a loud crack of thunder. It was sudden, and faded away slowly like the deep-throated growl of a giant beast.

 

Any remaining fury that might have risen and caused Drake to retaliate was destroyed by a brand new fear.
First, the fear that the cracking he heard was actually the bones and tubes in his throat. Second, the fear that the cracking soon would be the original fear as the steam rose. He’d never made Eclipse this mad.

As he hit the cabin door, he didn’t think anymore. He wasn’t sure if he blacked out, but the next thing he could think about was wondering why he was on the floor and wondering if he could get up. His upper back had hit the door, his shoulders still stung from the impact. Drake was fairly sure that feeling something was good… but couldn’t, for the life of him, remember why.

This was the second time… it was far worse than the first time, and proved that the first incident had not been a mistake. The headaches he’d gotten used to, being threatened, sent to Shivel, other little things he could handle. This intentional physical pain was new. He’d been hurt before, of course. Practices, weapon training, even while hunting. Pain was usually nothing to fear, just something to deal with. This… only inspired fear.

The punishments only got worse, which would tell any normal person that they shouldn’t risk it anymore.
However, Drake, as he had always known even if he couldn’t justify exactly why, wasn’t normal.
The new threat told him many things, but the main one was simply the decision that his careless ways would just have to end. From now on… he needed to be more careful, sneakier, stealthier. He didn't want more scars... but he wouldn't just give in to his fears. Though, perhaps acting as if he had would be wise.
He couldn’t get up— he really almost feared moving at all, but he got over it when the desire to find out if he could move became unbearable.
Drake sat up slowly, just relieved to be able to. Shakily, he got to his feet.

 

Eclipse watched. His partially transformed face completely devoid of emotion while he gazed icily until Drake had climbed to his feet. Then he turned to the side, and started walking.

There was a loud hiss, and the steam rose in a thick cloud, obscuring the man in blood-red robes from sight. When it had cleared, he was gone, leaving only a dead silence in his wake.

The steam vanished, and the water became still again. The ice had already melted away and there was no evidence that it had ever been there. Elsewhere, the people scattered around the dock started to slowly wake up from their trance. The first noises to break the silence were the gasps and splashes of an eyebrow-less pilot trying to get out of the water.

 

Drake decided to spend a few hours outside. Far, far away from the tower. Mainly because of Eclipse, but also because walking hurt right now.
When it got dark, he went into the palace. Problem was that the part furthest from the tower was closest to his parents…
He snuck into the parlor and laid down on the couch with a new book.
If I’m lucky they saw the crash and think I’ve died.

 

“You!!” Bellowed someone from the doorway, the voice belonging to a tall, short brown haired boy. The boy looked rather annoyed, and had several half-healed cuts on his face and arms, along with others that were presumably hidden by his clothes.

 

“Hello, Ryan.” Drake turned the page of the book, not looking up.

 

“You complete bastard!” Ryan growled. “You dragged me out of bed, and left me in the middle of the forest, lost, with that evil hag!”

 

“You’ve followed me into that forest before. It was just a bit further than last time.” Drake reasoned, “Now stop making me talk.”

 

Ryan disregarded the request without even a second thought. “Drake! You. Left. Us. Out. There. We could have died! And with that girl, too! What the hell did I do to deserve that!?” He ranted, his face going red with anger.

 

“I left you right next to a trail. And a lake. With fish. You wouldn’t have died. Pricilla would have died… she hates most fish. You would have been fine. And see! You’re alive! Now stop making me talk or you won’t be alive.” Drake warned, putting the book down.

 

“What's wrong with you?” Ryan asked, finally noticing that Drake seemed in an even sourer mood than usual, mostly because of the threat.

 

“My advisor is evil, I was in a ship wreck, my fiancée hates me, but has no problem keeping the ring I gave her… I’m forced to stay in the palace where my parents might pass by, I can’t go check on my raptors and I think I broke things in my body that are most defiantly not supposed to break.” Drake looked at Ryan, “Satisfied?’

 

“Yeah... I guess. I think Pricilla will be downstairs soon too.” Ryan lied. It sounded like Drake's luck was pretty down. However, Pricilla being gone was lucky for both of them. Didn't mean Ryan couldn't get some revenge, though.

 

“You are a jerk and a liar. I should have you killed. In fact, GUARDS!” Drake yelled.

 

“Fine, I'm going!” Ryan snapped, and stormed out of the room before the guards could get there.

 

“Bye,” Drake yawned.

The guards… he highly doubted would come. They were more for appearance sake anyway, there could be a major fight and the guards would probably stand there confused… Which he’d never thought about before, but might come in handy.
Once he was sure people weren’t going to be coming into the parlor anytime soon, Drake went to sleep.

 

When Eclipse came down the next morning, he acted like nothing had happened. Which was pretty much what he wanted people to think.

 

Chaucer was heading toward breakfast and passed through the parlor.

“… Dr— Dracula? Dracula? Dracula, are you asleep?”

“… Said my name three times, how could I possibly still be asleep?” Drake grumbled.

“Well, you are lying there with your eyes shut, thus I assumed you were asleep.” Chaucer rationalized, logically.

“Then why did you wake me up?” Drake opened his eyes and stared at Chaucer.

“Why are you here?” Chaucer asked.

Drake stretched and got up. “Do you want the sarcastic ‘I live here’ comment, or the sarcastic ‘that’s between you and Marina’ comment?”

“I’d prefer the sarcastic ‘reason for being asleep on the couch’ response,” Chaucer stated.

“Okay, but I’m not sure I can make it sarcastic… I am here for I choose to be here by the logic, which I know, but that you do not know thus you ask thus I reply that I am here on my own free will...” Drake smirked. “In short, I didn’t want to go to the tower.”

 

“… Why?” Chaucer asked.

 

“Mmm…” Drake considered that for a minute. There was this voice in his head, one he couldn’t remember hearing before, telling him to tell Chaucer exactly what had happened. However, the idea of confiding in Chaucer was foreign and strange to him. He didn’t trust the man entirely… “Why did you hire Eclipse?”

 

“You know why, Dracula.”

 

“Humor me.” Drake’s eyes narrowed, watching the king.

 

“We could not… your powers… We needed… I do not know what you want me to say, Dracula. We needed help; we didn’t know what we were getting ourselves into. We needed someone who could control you.” Chaucer said, looking toward the door like he wanted to leave.

 

“… You needed someone to control me.” Drake didn’t like that at all… what Eclipse had done seemed very wrong, but… Drake didn’t know what to do about it.

“… Hm.” Chaucer walked out, getting back to his busy day.

Drake sighed and slunk out of the parlor. He probably could have stayed in the palace all day, but he really needed to check on Vanda… so he started toward the tower.

 

Eclipse was just coming out of the tower as Drake approached it. He smirked internally as he thought about how the boy hadn't dared come back to the tower after the lesson at the dock.

He needed to speak to the boy, but that could wait until later. He had other business first. Therefore, he just walked right past him, giving him a very short, but very pointed glance.

 

Drake grit his teeth and headed up to his room, locking the door behind him. He walked to the hawk keep after making sure his balcony doors had stayed shut during the eventful landing.
Directly after that, he went into the hawk keep. “Sorry, Vanda. Miss me?” Drake fed them and opened their cages so they could move around. They never fought with each other, so letting them out at the same time wasn't an issue.
Vanda, as always, chose to stay by Drake. Luna and Tobias liked to fly, and usually spent their time flying around the keep or he’d send them out.
Celestina often joined them or stayed by herself, quietly.

 

 

Sometime later, Eclipse came back up the tower and headed all the way to Drake's room at the top. He knocked on the door, as he was pretty sure he could hear the birds flying around in there and was in no way interested in getting attacked by them. Waiting gave the prince time to come to his senses and put them back in their cages.

 

Drake glared at the door. “Yeah, right.”

 

Eclipse knocked again a few seconds later. He had subtle ways of getting what he wanted. He wasn't going to go mad that easily, and smash the door down. That would just get him a face full of disgusting and evil birds. No, he'd give the boy a chance to be reasonable. But not two.

 

Drake was not happy, but lost on what to do about it… Eclipse wouldn’t break down the door—Eclipse didn’t need to. He’d find another way.
“Tobias, Luna, go rest...” He sighed.

Luna flew into her cage but Tobias took his time getting there.
Celestina was by the balcony… she was fine.

“Vanda, you too.”
Vanda screeched her argument, but did fly to her cage.
Drake walked to the door and unlocked it… and heated up the door handle so it was hot, but just cool enough for the metal not to change color.
It sometimes happened when he touched metal objects, he could easily claim it as an accident.

 

Eclipse took the door handle, and was a little shocked. Instead of the slightly less than room temperature he had been expecting, it was very hot. Enough to burn and make any of the guards scream, even through their gloves.

The man in the red robes smirked at Drake's attempt to get back at him, and slowly ran his fingertips over the slowly cooling, but still burning hot metal. Then he took it firmly and opened the door, in no hurry.

 

Drake went to the balcony where Celestina was and sat down by her, hoping he’d just blend into the curtains.
Celestina didn’t seem to care, she was watching some dragons flying around outside.

 

“Tell me,” started Eclipse once he was in the center of the room; not far from the balcony. “What happened to make you come home in such a manner?”

The interest was purely to see if it interfered with his plans, not Drake's well being. His tone made that obvious

 

“… Not a lot.” Drake replied, petting Celestina... “Princess Garnet and the Terran are still trying to come up with a plan.”

 

“And that was reason enough to come rushing back here with a dangerous pilot and an unguarded ship?” Eclipse asked dubiously. There had to be more to it than that; especially taking into account the boy's foul mood.

 

“I hate guarded ships.” Drake conceded, “and dying could be helpful.”

 

Not while I still have use for you, you won’t. You’re too important to let die. Eclipse thought, while outwardly, he just glared. If Drake seriously became suicidal, that would make his job and plans extremely complicated and might force him to alter things drastically.

“So, you won’t mind if we head back there right now?” The intimidating man asked, just daring Drake to make a response. He knew Drake well, even if Drake didn’t want to admit it.

 

Drake glared back. “I’d mind,” he replied through gritted teeth. “And there wouldn't be much of a welcome...”

 

“And why would that be?” Eclipse asked, his tone more pleasant than the look in his eyes would suggest.

 

Any answer I give is going to get me in trouble… “We’re not exactly friends anymore.” Drake grumbled, figuring that the best answer since Eclipse hated Drake considering them his ‘friends’ anyway.
He decided saying ‘I proposed and she said yes, but it didn’t work out’ would be a bad response, a possibly fatal response, so he dodged that as much as possible without lying.

 

Eclipse gave a short sigh. “How?” He asked, but it was more of an exasperated demand. His plans had started to take Drake's friendship with Zidane and Garnet as a given, for the time being. This would mean changes, more drastic methods, and he wanted to know why.

 

Trapped… if I lie he’ll know it, if I don’t answer I’ll be punished. So… he decided to just get it over with as fast as possible… literally.
“IproposedandshesaidyesbutthenZidanesawandgotmadandshesuddenlychangedhermind
whichIdidn’tconsiderveryfairandIfiguredshewasjustembarrassedZidanesawsoItriedtomakeajoke
butsheapparentlydidn’tseeitasoneandIgotmadandshegotmadandthenZidanegotreallymadand
whenitallendeditreallyendedandnowIdon’tthinktheywantmebacktherewhichforthemomentisokay
sinceIdon’twanttogobackthere.”

 

Eclipse stared at the boy for a long moment. His words had been too jumbled and too fast for him to catch every one, but he did catch 'proposed' and 'got mad' a few times, and started to piece together what had happened from that.

“You proposed?” He asked, gritting his teeth together slightly.

 

Dracu… that would be the word he hears. Drake internally pouted. “… Yes.”

 

“When did that become part of the plan?” Eclipse asked in a hiss. It was a rhetorical question, merely to point out to Drake that he had failed to follow simple instructions. Eclipse thought it highly unlikely that the boy had a good and valid reason that he would accept.

 

Drake turned to face away from the room and sat on the ledge, looking over. He vaguely wondered if he could fly faster than Eclipse could. If he used his fire, he bet it could give him even more speed. He was more agile, but Eclipse could summon storms outside… and there was that blasted barrier.

 

Eclipse moved closer to the balcony but remained inside. Perhaps he should change his tactics. Threats didn't seem to be working as well as usual in getting Drake's cooperation.

“Do you still want the Princess?” Eclipse asked, almost dangerously.

 

“Of course.” Drake answered, “She’s perfect.”

 

Eclipse could have vomited right then and there, but he managed to restrain himself to just rolling his eyes out of Drake's sight.

“Well then, if you do exactly as I say, from now on, in the end... she'll be yours.” Eclipse assured the prince. It was a new method. The Princess obviously motivated Drake, so why not use that? … Though truth be told, he was getting sick of all these girls.

 

Drake looked back at Eclipse, trying to somehow tell if he was being serious. “… Really?”

 

“Of course,” Eclipse answered almost immediately. “In the end, what other choice will she have?”

 

Death. Though… she doesn’t seem like the type of girl who would pull a Juliet. “… Okay. I’ll do whatever you say.”

 

The way it should be... Eclipse thought to himself, however, aloud he only said, “Good.”

There was silence for a long moment before Eclipse spoke again. “Alright, in a few days we will head back to Alexandria for the next meeting. This time you won’t have to say anything, so no worries there, as long as you remember not to say anything. Even if it doesn't go to plan.”

 

Drake was about to argue that, but decided against it. “… Not a word,” he agreed.

 

Eclipse, apparently satisfied by Drake's assurances, left.

 

 

Over the next four days, he took the opportunity to remind Drake several times that while he was a prince, it would be a mistake to think himself above Eclipse. That could never be allowed to happen… It would take time; years, perhaps even decades… but Drake would get strong; very strong. He had Cináed’s spirit, his power, inside him; it was who he was…

 

Eclipse was powerful; the most powerful of all his species now… but even he would not chance a fight with a dragon god… He knew now just as he always had that he needed to assert himself as the ruling force above all. The prince, despite what local customs might declare, was practically a baby still. For the Occultations, Drake was an infant, if that.

 

Yet, he was perfect for Eclipse who had never, ever been able to handle even the thought of dealing with young children for long… waiting the many decades it would take them to even get to what Drake’s current level was, just was not something Eclipse could do.

 

No, this was better… he had noticed Drake wasn’t aging as fast as the human children his age, but they did not notice and that was wonderful. They wouldn’t suspect anything wrong, but Eclipse hadn’t seen much change in the boy in about a year… that and the fact that he had stopped changing after he fit into his TF displayed to Eclipse that he might stop aging altogether soon, if he already hadn’t. It would be hard to tell… and Eclipse was confident his plan would be fulfilled before anyone else noticed.

 

… Though, that did mean he was stuck with a 15 - 16 year old baby dragon spirit who was really starting to act out a great deal…

 

He’d have to stop it, that was all. So long as the boy didn’t die, Eclipse did not much care what it took to get Drake to understand he didn’t stand a chance against Eclipse. Overall, nothing interesting happened, though. Which was almost disappointing. He almost wished Drake would try to fight back; at his current age even if he had a well thought out plan and an advantage, Eclipse knew the prince did not have a prayer against him.

Eclipse was much too powerful, still. He only amused the thought only because if Drake did attack now the result would most likely be enough to never, ever allow him to even consider the idea again…

 

The bashed up old airship that had made a crash landing at the dock had required less repairs than the dock itself to get it going again. Apparently, it was more rugged than it looked. So was the pilot, who was actually well enough to fly it, despite being caught in-between Drake and Eclipse’s argument.
Eclipse had made it a point to not be in the tower when the pilot had left, just in case.

Now, the Veşnic Viaţă sat in the dock. Looking clean and sleek. Its engines purred loudly as they idled. A strong contrast. While the bashed up old cargo ship that had crashed there might fill you with dread if you were told you had to fly in it, the Veşnic Viaţă still looked far more sinister.

That was not just coincidental either. Eclipse had played a part in 'convincing' the King to have the airship designed in a similar gothic style to the palace. He had also made some 'suggestions' to the airship designer.
The airship designer had been a man that was supposed to rival Cid when it came to airships, but they both had their differences.

Cid was known to focus more on the mechanics of an airship. Not caring what it looked like, as long as it was innovative, and the latest technology working as well as he could make it.
The Veşnic Viaţă designer was much more geared to appearances. It was rumored he had designed the Red Rose as well, but that was kept a secret by Alexandria.

Eclipse was pleased with it. One day it would be his ship, so he'd wanted to make sure it suited him. This ship commanded the fear and respect he wanted when he was in charge. The kind of ship that sent a shiver down your spine before you even knew who owned it. Dark and ominous.

 

Eclipse stopped admiring the ship when he noticed the clock tower of the palace in the distance. Drake was late...
He could send Ellipsis to find him, but it hardly seemed worth it. Therefore, Eclipse sighed, turned away from his precious ship, and headed toward the palace.

Drake was going as fast as possible, he was trying so hard to keep from being late; he wasn't paying enough attention as he tore around a corner.

 

“Oof!” Gasped Eclipse. He stumbled back a step, having lost his balance at the unexpected hit, but realizing it was Drake and not killing him for it was the real challenge. “Drake!” Eclipse barked, his eyes flashing dangerously.

 

Drake back peddled. A part of him was amused that he was still standing and fine while Eclipse showed some signs that he’d felt the hit, but he wasn’t stupid enough to do anything to show that amusement. The flash in Eclipse’s eyes was a good enough warning for that.

“… Noticed I was late.”

 

“What do you want? A medal?!” Eclipse hissed venomously. “Get moving!”

 

“I was moving—yes, sir!” Drake took off again, thanking the gods that he was fast, ran onto the airship before he started laughing, and made sure to stop before Eclipse could get there.

 

Eclipse waltzed onto the ship a moment later. He glared at Drake as he came in, warning him silently that he better watch what he was doing in future, or it could be very, very bad for him. After that, he walked to the bridge and informed the pilot and the rest of the crew that they were ready to leave.

 

“… ooooh, I’m in trooouble,” Drake cracked up.