The fight was… way out of hand. It had spread to quite a few places in the palace. There was one fool in particular who had literally been dragged through the hall by the brawling mob.
He became angered and lashed out at the first person he saw… which happened to be Eclipse.

 

Eclipse easily dodged the clumsy punch, grabbed the person's arm and tossed him over the rail all in one swift move. He watched with annoyed satisfaction as the man fell into the crowd, going down and taking a good number of people with him.

By the feel of the fabric on the man's arm when he had grabbed it, he had probably been someone quite important too. All the better. Putting him in his place now would just save him effort later.

It had all happened so fast amidst the chaos that he wasn't worried about people seeing, or caring. If they did, he could 'fix' that, later.

 

 

 

Drake grabbed a sword and got up, out from under the table. He leapt up onto a railing, spinning the sword in one hand, testing the weight.

“If we’re going to fight, let’s fight.”

He noticed Pricilla and a few other people leaving quickly, and noticed Brahne screaming at them not to… it was actually fun. Drake noticed Brahne look over and see him.

This was going to be really fun.

 

Zidane grabbed a sword and followed Drake onto the railing. The sword fight really wasn’t fair… Drake had a lot of practice with them, and was not going very easy on Zidane. He let up some, so as not to cause an actual threat, but he couldn’t help but show off a bit.

A time came when both swords locked, and Drake pushed his sword up, accidentally forcing the sword from Zidane’s hands.
Zidane’s sword spun in the air before falling and Drake caught it, somewhat surprised by the event.
Then he just found it funny, and decided not to give the sword back.

“That’s hardly fair,” Zidane stated.

Drake gave a slight sideways nod, “As is life.”

“Why not fight fair?” Zidane growled.

“I did. You lost.” Drake advanced forward, spinning one of the blades.

Zidane backed up, searching for a weapon; he found a knife on a nearby table and snatched it up. “You give up now, I’ll let you go!”

Drake raised an eyebrow, “You must be joking.”

“Fine then. Say goodbye—!”

“To your vows, life, loves, choices, and dreams!” Drake interrupted.

Zidane growled. “Till the end!”

“The end may be sooner than you like.”

“What is it with you freaks?” Zidane snarled. “Why are you out to kill me?”

“Oh, it’s not just me. You’ve doomed yourself as well as a man who drinks a flask of cyanide.” Drake stated, slinking forward. “Trapped yourself in a tomb full of people who hate you… smart choice.”

Zidane seemed to catch that in his mind as recognition of that fact enveloped his thoughts.
“… This is a trap.”

Drake heard Brahne scream. He was sure people in Shivel could hear that scream.

“I think that’s your cue to leave.” He said, quieter as the crowd swelled up and blocked his view of the panicking Queen.

He knew exactly where they were, though, and motioned toward the front door exit from the palace.

 

Zidane nodded and darted toward it. He had no idea how many people were going to see, or if they would do anything about it, so he went for speed over subtlety this time. He open the door and rushed out, not closing it behind him.

 

Drake ran after Zidane, partially to put off getting in trouble, and partially to make sure he actually made it outside. Drake grabbed the door as he ran out, pulling it shut.

He ran after Zidane for a while and began to notice that there was no set direction in which they were headed.

“What are you, lost?”

 

“I'm not lost!” Zidane objected. “I just... don't know where we are going...”

He had never been to the palace before, just the main library and they'd hav an airship then! Seeing it from the air hadn't been that useful, because he couldn't even see if there was a dock and hadn't evere used it on his trips to Daguerreo during their mission to save the world.

 

Drake grabbed Zidane’s arm and stopped moving.

“The dock is that way down the cliff.” He said, pointing. “There is a boat there waiting for your use, if you choose. However, if you continue in the direction you are going you can avoid the stairs and fall straight off the cliff. A much faster method, but I don’t suggest it.”

 

“What? No elevator?” Zidane asked, acting insulted.

 

“Well, there is one… but it’s brand new and has the tendency to free fall from now and then. Plus, you’d have to go back in there.” Drake motioned back in the direction of the palace, where screams could still be heard despite how far they were from the door. “…If I had your option, I’d take the stairs and the boat.”

 

“Yeah, I would probably have to find a stick to make it work anyway...” Zidane decided and started off in that direction, but paused after a few steps. “What about you?”

 

Drake looked at him and his eyes narrowed for a moment. “Oh yeah… you’re the one who fixed it that one time…” He shook his head and started toward the dock. “What about me? I destroy the stick.”

 

There was a part of Zidane that wondered why Drake would want to vandalize his own palace, and yet another part that wanted to throttle him for making him and his friends spend over an hour walking around that library, looking for a way to get to that weapon shop that didn't sell anything good anyway. Nevertheless, despite this, he shook his head.

“Not that. I mean, won't you be in trouble for starting a fight and letting me get away?” He asked.

Drake stopped at that, looking at Zidane in a sideways glance. “Trouble?” You have no idea how much trouble… you don’t know the meaning of ‘trouble’ as I do, and I have a feeling this event will break the record… “I’m a prince, Zidane. What do you think?” He smirked and continued down the path toward the dock, “Don’t trouble your tiny little mind. Why on Gaia would I risk anything to get you out of danger?”

 

“You tell me,” Zidane replied simply. He had a strong feeling that Drake was still hiding things. Well, he practically knew so. Drake still hadn't given him a reason for why he was helping in the first place. The Prince was harder to get straight answers from than a Lindblum air cab timetable.

 

Drake sighed and kept walking, “The only person you need to worry about is yourself right now. You’re the one they’re hunting, not I. So, either hurry up, or give up.”

 

“You keep avoiding that question,” Zidane pointed out without looking over to him. It wasn't really in Zidane's nature to just worry about himself, and even if he wanted to, it wasn't as simple as that. So, despite the trouble Drake had caused him in the past, he still wanted to help him. To return the favor, as it were.

He also wanted to know what was going on. Things were falling apart around him, and he still wasn't sure why.

 

Drake sighed and stopped walking, turning on his heels back to face Zidane. He crossed his arms, trying to show his impatience toward this topic. “The question on if I will get into trouble for this? I answered. The question on why I am helping you? Why ask? Why not just accept the help, you need it and you know it.”

 

“How am I supposed to be able to trust you if you won't tell me the reason you are helping me?” Zidane questioned, “After all, you probably would profit if you went along with their plan.”

Drake stared at Zidane for a while. He didn’t think being helpful would be this difficult.
“… Alright. Fine.” He sighed, rolling his eyes. “I’m helping because I realized I was going to be ruining and destroying lives for the benefit of people who just want power. I was forced to realize that my life is messed up, and that a voluminous amount of that mess which is my life was caused by a very traumatic event my mind completely blocked out until recently when I started having dreams about the event and other things I logically should not know about, but do because of what I am.” He ranted, speaking as swiftly as possible in the hopes of getting this over with. “Upon this remembrance, I discovered my Advisor, Eclipse, was a vile creature who murders people to get what he’s after. I do not want to become that thus I am helping you in an effort for redemption and to get revenge for those whom he has killed while looking for me.” Drake leaned forward a bit, staring straight at Zidane’s eyes. “… All right?”

 

“...Oh,” Zidane answered after a slight pause, as he tried to work out what Drake had actually said. He had a similar feeling to when you accidentally turn two pages in a book, and suddenly have no idea what is going on. Only this book was already complicated, badly written and had lots of spelling errors as it was.

Maybe he should have just dropped it. But part of him knew that understanding what Drake meant about Eclipse was key to figuring out why everything since he found out Brahne was alive had happened, why everything had gone so wrong.

 

“Grand. Now,” Drake motioned toward the dock. “You really, really should be gone before they have a chance to catch you.”

 

“Fine, fine” Zidane responded almost irritably as he climbed into the first relatively seaworthy-looking craft they came to. He chanced a glance up the many steps they had just descended to get to the dock, and was relieved to see no one coming.

“If you have a chance, try and get Brahne to take that shortcut we talked about earlier.” He added.

 

“Sure thing… Leaving so soon?” Drake grinned.

“Yeah, I may be crazy but it hasn’t seemed like the nicest visit!”

“Well you are crazy. Must agree, though.” Drake waved, “You should hurry home to hide.”

“Gee, thanks for that brilliant advice!” Zidane snarled.

“Come now, I’m being reasonable, I’m giving you a head start.” Drake said, his smile never faltering.

He gave a slight bow as Zidane sailed off, and watched the ship sail away. There were a few airships leaving, but he doubted they would notice the little boat.

 

 

Drake took the LONG way back to the palace… for some reason, he wasn’t very eager to get home.

Brahne was the first to greet him.

“Why?” She snapped as she stormed over to him

Drake looked at her and raised an eyebrow. “Why? Why what?”

“Why did you do that?” Brahne yelled.

“Fun.” Drake replied, easily.

“What?” Queen Brahne shrieked.

“You should be quiet, your highness. You’re causing a scene.” Drake warned, his voice was cold.

Brahne stared at him. “… You killed him?” she whispered, afraid of the answer.

Drake smirked, not answering for a bit. He let her wait, wonder. “No, I didn’t.”

“Then you just purposely let him get away?” The queen snarled.

“Yes.”

“We had this all worked out, we had a plan! He was going to be captured—,”

“And held, and forced to open the door, and then killed. I know. No fun at all, that’s why I let him go. All he’d do is spend weeks refusing to open the door until he either escaped or died. You don’t have enough ammunition to use against him.” Drake circled around her, making her to turn so she wouldn’t lose sight of him, and he knew she feared having him at her back. “You’re little plan was dumb, dull, and unplanned, just like you. So I told him what it was, and then I let him leave.”

“Why?” Queen Brahne screamed.

Drake narrowed his eyes, giving her a warning stare as a reminder that he’d told her to quiet down, “I told you.” he hissed, voice low… “I like to hunt.”

Brahne looked furious, but Drake stared her down. It didn’t take as long as he thought it would. Brahne was easy to intimidate. She grumbled a few more insults; he hissed at her, she marched off to complain to the guards she’d brought. After that, she left, headed for Shivel to convince Pricilla to change her mind.

 

Drake stood by the airship dock, smirking as he watched all the ships fly away.

Eclipse was somewhat less pleased. Though there was no irreparable damage done to the plans, he was mostly angry at what Drake had done. He knew that Drake could have avoided the fight if he had tried, not to mention the blunder of letting the genome get away when he had him cornered.

He approached Drake from behind, staying in the shadows, but making no attempt to mask his footsteps.

 

Run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run! Drake looked down over the edge of the dock, seriously debating just jumping. He tried to tell himself everything would be fine… but he didn’t believe it. Jumping was looking more and more like the smartest option, if you ignored that it would simply put off whatever was going to happen, and might anger Eclipse even more…

Grounded or sent to Shivel. Both survivable…
Drake decided to just do his best to act like he normally would. He turned and smirked, “That meeting ended fast. You would think people weren’t having a good time. I sure did.”

 

“I'm so glad that you enjoyed yourself,” Eclipse replied in a suspiciously civil tone. Out of the robed man's mouth, it just sounded foreign and dangerous.

He took a step closer, still managing to remain in the shade. “So much so that you forgot the simplest of instructions.” He added, his tone darkening slightly.

 

Drake had to fight hard to hide his fear toward this situation. He wanted to run; that’s what his mind kept telling him to do. Run, hide, get out of there.

“I was getting bored…” Drake explained, shrugging. “My way is more fun, so I went with it.”

 

The shadows that Eclipse was standing in became less noticeable as a thick bank of clouds that hadn't seemed to be there a moment before, moved to block out the sun. Eclipse stepped forward, closer to Drake, once the whole dock had darkened.

“So being bored was a good reason to disobey me?” The tall, pale man asked dangerously.

 

Drake backed up a step, unable to force himself to stand still.
“… Maybe not a good reason. But it was a reason.” Drake shrugged, glancing around.
No one else was on the dock… probably why there weren’t many comments about the sudden change in the clouds.

 

“There was no good reason, then?” Eclipse reiterated the question, closing the gap with another slow, deliberate step forward.

 

“Isn’t the important part that I had reason?” Drake asked.

 

“The important thing is that you disobeyed me!” Eclipse hissed. Then, in the blink of an eye, Eclipse's arm lashed out, and his partially transformed hand connected hard with the side of Drake’s face, knocking him back and leaving five claw-like gashes on his cheek. The gashes smoked slightly, and widened as if strong, burning acid had been left behind; burning further into the flesh.

Drake screaming in pain and reeled as far backward as he could go, then he went to the left, still not sure what all had happened. It burned! The right side of his face burned like a snakebite that had torn off half his face, and somehow acid got mixed in with the poison. He brought his hand up to the gashes, but that seemed to just make the burning worse. When Drake pulled his hand back, it was covered in blood.
It took him a bit to realize what had happened.

Eclipse had raised his voice and then pain… pain and blood.

Drake snarled and prepared to attack.

 

Eclipse just narrowed his eyes warningly in response, and held his ground. The look both said; 'I really wouldn’t do that, if I was you.', and conveyed warnings of what would happen if Drake didn't back down.

This was to show Drake what to expect if he only disobeyed him, Eclipse could promise the punishment for trying to fight him would be much, much worse. He hoped that Drake would be smart enough to realize it.

 

Drake was mad. Extremely mad, but he wasn’t insanely stupid… to fight meant to die. Eclipse had backhanded him and it felt like someone had stabbed him with shard of ice that were somehow dripping poison. It hurt just keeping his right eye open.

Had it really gotten to the point where Eclipse could do this without any fear of someone noticing? Drake was already having second thoughts about this plan—being caught had always been a fear, but that fear had just become a much more prominent thought on his mind.

Drake backed down, taking a few steps away from Eclipse.

 

Eclipse wasn't the type of person to idly waste words, or ramble on needlessly. So he regarded Drake with a piercing stare for several seconds, before he started to walk away.

He could have told Drake that it would be worse next time and that he had better start taking orders more seriously. However, he didn't, the stinging pain and blood said all that and more. As he walked, the clouds overhead started to clear, slowly.

 

Drake went back to his room. He didn’t want anyone to see the cuts… and he wanted to see if the damage really was as bad as it felt.
Drake almost screamed when he saw the damage in the mirror. It was not as bad as it felt, but it was bad enough.

Great… just what I needed. More scars…