(Parts of this chapter may not be appropriate to readers under 14 as it is highly focused on… well, Hell.
It is based on dreams I used to have when I was still forced to live at my father’s house before the police took me away.
It has been altered to fit Drake and is no longer from my point of view, but of the villain in the dreams, with other alterations to fit this story. It is not a crucial element to the story, so those who are under 14 or simply have no desire to read such things, skip from the lines:
He was just so exhausted, it got the better of him. to “Almost there.” Zidane answered. Thank you, enjoy the chapter!)

Drake headed for the palace, carrying those burdens and the intense pain in his neck. He wasn’t naïve or uneducated. He knew he should be dead right now. His neck had snapped. That was something Eclipse had never done before. Such an action should have left him paralyzed at least. He felt only a slight restriction in movement now and it was simply caused by the pain, not an inability to connect with those muscles any longer.

… It should have killed him. It should have severed the connection between his brain and his heart, instantly stopping the beats and making a swift end to his life. If he were fully recovered, the pain wouldn’t be radiating through him now. It wasn’t possible that he had healed instantly from an attack. Not one from Eclipse. … So was it possible that he could survive without a heartbeat? … He hadn’t died, that was certain. His heart had skipped… he could feel that much. So…

Don’t… not another “am I immortal or just cursed” debate. Obviously, you can die or they wouldn’t ever need to worry. Why didn’t this kill you? Well… apparently Eclipse knew what he was doing to prevent death. Learn from it. Don’t let it happen again and move on. Drake’s internal lecture was interrupted as his mind latched on to the end of a call.

“Drake!”

Drake looked at Garnet before walking over, shoving the thought into a dark corner to hopefully be forgotten.

“I was worried…” Garnet admitted, “Were there problems?”

Drake’s shrug ended in a wince he managed to hide, “Nothing to worry about.”

“Oh…” Garnet looked around. “After the lights went out, I couldn’t find you.”

“Yes,” Drake stopped by Garnet. “Sorry… In the confusion…”

“Ah, yes… I understand. I thought, for a moment… Oh, never mind.”

Thought we’d ended it. Thought we won. That way you get your boyfriend back. Drake tightened up, hating that thought.

“Are you alright?” Garnet asked.

Me? Fine. What could be wrong? I mean, I love you to the extent that I’m now collecting scars trying to keep your boyfriend safe because you still, inexplainably, care for the alien monkey and the idea of you being sad causing me such physical pain the acid burns that caused these scars cannot rival the agony I feel when you cry.
I get torn apart trying to keep you, your friends and your Hero-Complex boyfriend safe on what is becoming a regular basis; my last ploy did enough damage that it still hurts to breathe deeply and pull at the wounds on my chest.
I have the constant fear in my mind that my attempt at redemption will fail and I’ll be forced to suffer the rest of my existence in whatever Hell Eclipse manages to think up for me, and the worry that even if I do succeed I may end up immortal and completely alone. Despite the knowledge that my parents may have been under Eclipse’s control for most of my life and that their actions may have been his doing, I still cannot stand being in the same palace as them.
I have a nausea that hasn’t dissipated for weeks since I learned that my advisor is even more demonic than I had ever thought and that I am the catalyst for hundreds of murders and destroyed lives, and I am plagued with the fear that no matter what I do… you’ll find out what I am. I discovered tonight that I will be unable to defeat Eclipse without using my True Form and your boytoy will see and… and in that form— … in any form… I look like a monster. He’ll see and no matter what I do, he’ll tell you. Unless I destroy him and that would hurt you so I cannot. I will die for you; I have proven it and I try to continue to… You know I love you. You know that these scars are for you, gotten while trying to protect you, and I know you know and yet… tonight you let me lead you through my dark world only because of the promise to meet him!
But something wrong? No! However, if you’ll excuse me, I think you forgot to give me back my heart after you so kindly ripped it out!!!

“… Truly nothing to worry about.”

He was staying the night. That wasn’t planned… they were supposed to be back in Daguerreo since Eclipse had a meeting in the morning, but Drake didn’t care. Garnet was here and he was just so much happier when she was nearby… he’d hold on to that as long as possible.

It wasn’t Eclipse who came to remind Drake that they needed to head back… if it had been, he might have lost his nerve. Ellipsis was the one who came and Drake had little problem denying him what he wanted.

Pricilla was there… he really wished she’d just die already. Choke on something, trip off a tall balcony, drown in the moat… any option was more than acceptable, but he honestly would settle for an allergic reaction or an aneurysm. Luckily, Garnet seemed to sense his distaste for the girl and had no problem helping him avoid her. Despite how playful she was, Drake always tried his best to keep a level of professionalism and dignity in his actions while around her, especially in the palace. He wanted to show that he fully understood how they needed to behave in the public eye, and that he deeply respected her enough to be dignified while in any amount of public, for the sake of her reputation if nothing else.

… Doubtful she even noticed.

Ellipsis slowly walked back to the airship… what was he supposed to tell Eclipse? Did that stupid kid want to die?! First, he attacks Eclipse, runs off, and disobeying again? So soon? How stupid! He was going to get himself slaughtered… and Ellipsis knew that if Drake died, his use would be over, too… the chances of Dragon re-spawning while he was still alive? Slim to none. Eclipse would kill Ellipsis and take a new identity to continue his search while leaving minimal proof that this had ever happened.

Drake needed to learn. He wasn’t free to do as he liked. He wasn’t going to have the wonderful life he had to act like he had… He should know better by now, yet here he was. Once again, putting his health and safety on the line to be with the prissy little princess.

So what do I do? I can’t tell Eclipse he’s misbehaving… But Eclipse is not going to stay here all night. It was a frustrating dilemma. If he told on him, Drake would be in a great deal of trouble with Eclipse, but it also made Ellipsis look incompetent and unable to do even simple tasks… He’d have to drag him back here… and he knew of a way.

“You didn’t see it! My body wouldn’t let me attack!” Zidane shouted, trying to explain what he’d seen to Kuja.

It was embarrassing how difficult it was just to explain what happened… Kuja seemed amused, though, so at least he was getting some entertainment out of it all.

Kuja was, indeed, intrigued by this. His brother really was upset about this. “Ah, but now you have an advantage.”

Zidane just eyed him. “Terror is an advantage?”

Kuja did a flourished sigh, “It does not have the element of surprise. You already know why you should fear this thing, now you have to come up with a way to scare it.”

Zidane groaned, rubbing his eyes. “How am I supposed to do that?”

Kuja saw his opening. “I think you know how, Zidane.”

“… The door.” Kuja saw it lingering in Zidane’s eyes. The possibilities there… asking himself why he hadn’t thought of it before and if it would be possible.

“The door.”

Zidane saw Eclipse in his head. That horrible monster of a man… opening the Secrets of Terra may very well be their only chance, but… “… I don’t want that power …” It was the honest truth. He had no desire to become all-powerful. He didn’t want that responsibility, that… burden. There had to be a balance. There could not be one super power, it just did not work!

“One way or another, Zidane. Sooner of later. This battle will happen. You can either use what you have and pray you survive, or you can use the power your destiny gave you and have a fighting chance. The end decision is yours.” Kuja edged, trying to press in the though. Open it! Open it and let me see what’s inside! Let me see what Garland deemed too important for me to have!

Zidane was thinking it through, that much Kuja could see. If he knew what Zidane was thinking, though, he wouldn’t be so eager for an answer…

I can’t go there alone… that’s for sure. I can’t just hope for the best when I open the door… what if Eclipse follows? What if I get ambushed? What if it’s something I have to concentrate on and I’m left open for an attack? … And I don’t want to do this alone… He thought about bringing Garnet, but he had to reject that idea… whatever was in there… it might hurt her? Steiner? No… no one from the old team. It would put them in danger and out them for being on his side should Eclipse see. He couldn’t bring Kuja… not when Kuja was practically drooling at the very idea that the door might be open.

So what was he going to do? Split up that power, if it could be done. Then there would be no Superpower. Eclipse was so strong and it just made him greedy and dangerous. Kuja had been so strong… even Zidane himself admitted he used to try things on his own far too often, when he should have gone with a group. He thought he was strong enough.

No, that power needed to be split up to that there would be no way for someone to be as strong as Garland described. What good would it do for him to be all mighty if he died anyway? What if he couldn’t handle it, couldn’t control it? What if Eclipse struck while he was trying to figure it out…? … It was all to beat Eclipse. All or this was. He never would even be considering that door had it not been for the fact that he was so sure he didn’t stand a chance against Eclipse without it. … … So there was only one option, really. Only one smart one. He did not want to chance that he would get there and decide to take it all for himself, to come up with some other battles… or to let the power make him do something he’d regret. He needed to remember the objective and the reason for opening that door, and what better way than to bring it?

Drake… Drake was strong enough to handle anything that came up; Zidane was sure. He’d be able to be defense if that is what was needed, they could split up if the need arose… and he doubted Drake would let him lose focus on what was the goal. It would even everything out! It was the best option! They would split the power and they would both end up stronger! Then the chance that they would defeat Eclipse would be even greater, and neither of them would be burdened by such power!

“Alright… I’ll open it…”

“Excellent!”

“… I’d feel better about this if you didn’t seem so excited.”

“That’s a real shame, dear brother! Shall we go now? Zidane? That’s not the way to the jet. Oh, you silly goose, get back here. How strange, it seems like you’re speeding up. I can speed up too, how fun! Oh, is it a race? To the jet? To the door? Wrong way, brother! HEY!”

“I REGRET THIS ALREADY!”

Ellipsis had no idea why the General and the Captain Knight seemed to be following his young prince… the captain was very apparently doing so, even when Drake wasn’t with the princess… it was something of interest, but not enough to keep him from moving on to his task. He wandered outside to wait.

Drake was so careful… so afraid of making another mistake. So afraid of offending her and having her leave forever. So utterly terrified that she might reject him again, and what would he do? He still needed her… she was a drug. So intoxicating was this princess that he lost focus yet again. He drank a cup of tea without properly inspecting it for poisons, and when she left him in the garden… all he could do was stare in at where she had been. He felt depressed for a moment, before he felt stupid for the feeling. Imagining some dark cloud above his head that shouted “angst” with every thunderclap and zigzag lightning bolt. He hated that. A level of angst so deep he could see it, realize he was in it, and want to kick his own ass for being a whinny little pansy. He switched the sadness he felt into anger, an easy enough task, and stewed in that until he heard that clanking armor approaching from that stupid, stocky knight!

It was while he was running that Drake noticed a problem. His legs felt heavy. It wasn’t as if his muscles were tired, it was more like his limbs were somehow being filled with warm sand. It didn’t frighten him… he didn’t want to stop, but his body did. It felt like… nothing. He could never describe it; there was no feeling about the event. Then there was the feeling of being watched… there was no way that stupid Knight had caught up, was there? … How slow had he been going to let that moron catch up? He was dragging his feet, forcing himself to move… until he reached the center of the garden, where he finally stopped. The fog covered his tracks and surrounded him as if planning to entomb him. There were people around… he had heard them, and could smell them… but now their voices seemed muted. His stomach became upset. He felt queasy for a moment and wrote it off as worry…till his vision faded.

Ellipsis watched. He wasn’t as fast as the prince was, but Drake wasn’t moving as he usually did. Something was indeed wrong, but Ellipsis wasn’t concerned by it. He had more important things on his mind than what would cause the prince to act in such a way. Ellipsis stayed as quiet as possible… waiting for the right moment. He saw Drake stop in the center of the garden and was surprised the boy didn’t notice him… no matter how hard Ellipsis tried, Drake and Eclipse usually knew when he was around… they were predators, they always knew when they were being watched. This time, the boy didn’t seem to notice and Ellipsis was going to use that. His plan was to wait a bit longer, but he heard the clanking of armor and knew that stupid knight was coming, so he needed to act.
It wasn’t a whisper… Drake could ignore those. Ellipsis’s power went under the radar. There was no use trying to trick or demand a predator do anything, Ellipsis knew. Temporary mind control didn’t work on a being that was so familiar with it. No, for a predator, you have to stop reason and use force. Rather than hypnosis, Ellipsis’s abilities struck at organs. It would have been easier to poison the prince, but Eclipse had forced the boy to build up a resistance to most sleeping toxins... so much so, that Ellipsis was simply not educated enough in that area to be able to come up with a dosage that would work without causing the boy some form of damage. Last thing he needed was to force an overdose that might affect the boys liver or give him brain damage… he was damaged in that area enough.
Ellipsis’s magick would strike out against Drake’s heart. Cause it to slow. Slower and slower, till his body would be forced to slow down. Not enough oxygen fueling the fire; not enough energy to keep the body going. He saw the results almost instantly, which surprised him. Ellipsis did not know about the poisons coursing through Drake’s body… the deadly toxin already had a firm hold on his heart and was doing the same thing Ellipsis’s magick was set out to do.
Slow him down. Slow him down till his body shut down in a survival instinct. An Emergency Response system set up to prevent death. Anything not needing that precious oxygen was stopped. The body was forced to sleep as a method to prevent decay to the brain. It was why drowning victims, usually in colder water, would still have brain activity for around fifteen minutes before ceasing completely. By then, the damage was already done… they may survive, but they would suffer from the decay the brain went through from lack of oxygen.
Had Ellipsis known that there were two forces out to stop that dark heart, he might not have use his power, but instead he silently congratulated himself for, apparently, being powerful enough to bring down the dark prince so quickly. Drake’s eyes shut before he even started to fall, causing an almost comical appearance. It was as if the boy was attempting to see without using his eyes. He moves his head as if he had taken no notice that his eyes had shut… seeking any light, any vision and being unable to find it.
Then one hand came up toward his face, as if trying to figure out, once and for all, if his eyes were closed or not, but his hand dropped and the rest of him collapsed just as Ellipsis broke out of the surrounding fog.

“Gotcha.” He whispered, grabbing the prince before he hit the ground.

Ellipsis picked the boy up, pulling him over his shoulder, before hurrying toward the dock.

“Ah!” Ellipsis looked over to see one of Drake’s guards running over, panting and looking rather afraid. “He—,”

“Got away from you, again.” Ellipsis finished, giving a half-hearted smirk and a shrug. “It happens. Get everyone, we’re leaving now. And do it quietly.”

The guard nodded and hurried off to his task. They did not question anything anymore... which was useful. They just tried to obey. Those guards all knew that their jobs were on the line. They never kept up with Drake, they had yet to stop him from leaving and he was stronger than they were. In short, they were rather useless and knew it. They would smile and agree to anything so long as it meant they would be able to support themselves and/or their families and keep their jobs, and Eclipse liked that it forced Drake to learn how to avoid them if he wanted to be left alone…

… Drake complained about that a lot…. “Leave me alone.” Over and over. He wanted his solitude so bad, maybe he should get it. Maybe he would learn something. Maybe, or maybe not. Regardless, it could work. No matter what, Drake was not going to be happy when he realized he was not with the princess. It would be best to put him somewhere so that he would need to calm down before running into Eclipse; that would be the best for both of them… Ellipsis did not want to get into trouble. So, down to the dungeon he went.

Ellipsis couldn’t remember why Eclipse has this build. A brig, on a royal ship. In case they ran into pirates? It had never been used… well, till now. It was perfect for Ellipsis’s causes. So much of this ship was fireproof, and the brig was no exception. Thick stone and steel. That should hold him. It was cold down there, too… He wasn’t sure why. So far from the sun or heating systems… it was something Ellipsis noted as he selected a cell and walked in, putting Drake down on the floor. It sent a shiver down his spine, but Ellipsis was unsure if it was caused by the cold or the atmosphere.
No bother… he’d come back in a few hours and check on the boy. What could happen in that time?
With one final glance around the room, Ellipsis turned and walked out.

Drake woke up shortly after the airship took off. He was angry once he discovered his situation. Locked up in a box, in some cell! … And he worried about Garnet. Had this happened to her? Was she okay? … Why did he care? Why was he so stuck on her? He could rant for hours about how unfair this was… no lie; he had done it… but why keep doing this to himself? Why rely on her? Why be selfish enough to seek company simply to ease the pain? Cowardly… this girl wasn’t an option. This girl made him lose focus. This girl could never know what he really was. This girl was no safe haven of confidant, so why did he strive to be near her? … He knew she suspected why. He knew Zidane thought he knew… but the truth was that and more.

She made the voices go away.

The constant… screaming. The whispers in the darkness— he could never find the source! Why? Where were they?!? Why couldn’t he find them!?!

They were so real, and they scared him. They were so real and so close, but he couldn’t find them! When he was awake they were there, haunting him… even when he slept! They wouldn’t let him have peace! They scared him, why couldn’t that be enough!? Why… Why follow him here? He was already scared. Even when Ellipsis came and Drake realized what had happened, even when he’d gotten to fight about how he would get revenge once he was free, even when Ellipsis said he’d be back… what if it was a lie?

What if Eclipse had found out their plan? Or… what if Ellipsis had and this was his way of dealing with it? It was so cold in here; his whole body ached. They could be taking him back to that… place. That island.

That’s what the voices chattered about. The Island was their current topic. Would it be the horror that his dreams showed? Would it be worse? Could it be worse…? Would he survive there or go completely insane?

What was he going to do? He was trapped. He couldn’t get over that. Drake hated all of this! He hated the pain, the cold, the fear that just wouldn’t dissipate! So he did the only thing he knew that would make it stop.

Drake held out his hand and lit a small, white flame in the center of his palm. Fire was safe. Fire could never hurt him, but it kept everything else away. He may be a creature of darkness, but he had this light. He had it and they didn’t. This was his… and it was safety where nothing else was. It was warmth, it was power, it was his argument against the whispers. He could concentrate on that friendly little flame and ignore the rest. The whispers didn’t matter, as long as he could have his fire. It was something he could control and a form of protection. It gave him power. With power came the feeling that you were unstoppable. While anyone else might see a single flame, he saw determination. This little flame would inspire fear in many hearts… It was exotic and wild! It was powerful, deadly and all his! It was… safety. It was all he needed to get through this. If he put it out… he was slightly concerned he wouldn’t be able to get it back. It was rather cold and he hadn’t dressed for such a chill. As long as he had this fire, though, things would be fine. They wouldn’t be able to touch him and their pathetic efforts would be in vein; turning into a regrettable offence, he’d make sure.

Though… it forced him to see his surroundings, but only till he got lost in the flame and the silent thoughts it brought. His first thought was to just keep it going until someone showed up to let him go, or he killed them with it, but this light also brought sight and that sight was of the smoke forming around the ceiling.

… As much of an annoyance as it was; he did still need to breathe. Fire needed oxygen to survive and the same was true for him.

Without a word or another thought, the dark prince let his eyelids drop and end the vision. He closed his hand; instantly killing the fire.

… Then the voices came back. And the images. Flash backs from a life that wasn’t his. He was doing his best, why wouldn’t those faces leave him alone? The screaming faces of the people Eclipse killed, the howls of the people who had helped Eclipse and suffered for it. So many guilty faces, why did he need to see them? Why should he care about them? They were monsters, too. Guilty! They were criminals! They did not deserve his pity and did nothing to fuel his path for redemption, so why was he forced to see their agony, too? Why… Why did he have to sit here in the cold, watching hallucinations of demons and animated corpses and other things that shouldn’t exist in this world.

He saw things that just weren’t there… grinning faces from things that he couldn’t label as anything other than demons! Not Occultations, not anthros, not humans, not monsters, just… evil beings that seemed to follow him. They climbed up walls and shattered windows, but later no proof would exist that they were there. He saw them around the camp’s edge when he went hunting. Peering in, waiting for the lights to go out. In this box there was no flame to keep them at bay. It was up to him to watch and wait and hope he was strong enough to keep them at bay.

Why was he so afraid of this? Why!? It was an unacceptable emotion! He wasn’t supposed to show fear! He wasn’t supposed to be afraid of something so trivial? He was so used to the voices by now, and the hallucinations… Why did they bother him so much now? Why was he so afraid!? Why couldn’t he be over this? Why couldn’t he be stronger? … What was he going to do? He was strong, but… not strong enough. He could kill Zidane, so there was absolutely no question that, which meant Eclipse would wipe the floor with the monkey...
Which meant they would lose. Drake had a lot of time to think about that while he was locked up. A lot of time in the darkness and the cold to wonder what was going to happen. To wonder if they were going back to Daguerreo and this was just some joke Ellipsis thought up, or if he’d have to be ready for that door to open and see those monsters standing there.

Eventually, Eclipse found Drake and let him out, which was a relief given what he was again of. Drake followed him up on deck before switching courses.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to kill Ellipsi—.”

“There isn’t time for that now!”

Sure, but there’s always time for the shit you wanna do, hu? I have to follow you around like a dog listening to you rant about your brilliant plans... answering stupid questions you already have the answers to. I don’t get it, is this to make sure I’m listening or do you just like hearing someone agree with you? … You should have got a parrot, if that’s what you wanted. You can train them to say whatever you like! Or, hell, you’ve got Ellipsis, why do you talk to me? I do appreciate it, however, and I’m sure he will, too, once I tell him you plan on arresting his friends. Hehe, yes, keep talking, the second I’m sure you’re gone, I’m getting on my phone and calling the alien monkey… It’s not like he has anything better to do right now.

“You boys are jerks.” Mikoto sulked as she thundered her way back to the village.

“You, Madam, are a poor sport!” Kuja called after her.

Zidane got up and walked over. “Wow, you were right. She did flip out.”

“Of course I was.” Kuja grinned, looking back at Zidane. “I am rarely wrong, you know.”

“Whatever. What was that thing, anyway?”

“Terra Slug.”

“Hehe, no, really.”

“Really.”

“… No one knows how to name things anymore.” Zidane decided, shaking his head.

“I named it Darkness.”

“You’re sick! You name things before they die?” Zidane gagged.

“Of course, otherwise I can’t rant about it later. Rather than “yes, that slug was killed” I get to say “Oh yes, I remember when Darkness was slaughtered." Sounds much more enjoyable.”

“… You scare me.”

“Good! Now let’s go open the door!”

“Would you stop with that?” Zidane shook his head, walking toward his room.

“You have to open it some time! The sooner the better.”

“For who?”

“Me. Why would it be anyone else?”

Zidane rolled his eyes. “Excuse me for assuming…”

“Why would I care about anyone else?”

“I can’t imagine.”

“Nor can I, dear brother, you really should stop assuming things and go open the door.”

“Off it— oh, Drake’s calling.”

“Commenting!”

Zidane slammed the door shut and walked over to the panel, flicking it on. “Drake?”

“…”

Zidane stared hard at the blank screen… it was a marvel they had managed to get this orb to pick up Drake’s cell phone signal, let alone a way for Drake to call! What if someone had accidentally figured it out? “… … … … … Drake?”

Again, was only silence as a reply. “…”

“… … E…Eclipse…?”

“That would be interesting.”

Zidane sighed. “Why the hell didn’t you speak up, Drake?”

“You answered with such a questioned, I was thinking about what would happen if anyone else were calling.”

“A real riot… You should totally hang out with my friends in Tan—.”

“Your friends are about to be arrested.”

Drake’s voice was so monotone that Zidane couldn’t tell if it was a joke... “What?”

“Mh. Eclipse’s new genius plan.”

“Well, wait, are they alright?”

“Mm hm. Just got back to Daguerreo— well… that’s not entirely true. I got back earlier, but it took me fifteen minutes to get Ruxy saddled and swear on everything I care about that I’d be back in fifteen minutes with some potion I’m supposed to get in the Market… can’t for the life of me remember what it was…”

“But my friends are okay?”

“We’re going back to Alexandria in the morning. Eclipse has a meeting, so we’ll be leaving afterward… about fourteen hours from now.”

“So I have lots of time to kill… And my fr—.”

“Your friends are fine, Eclipse still has to retell his plan to Brahne who won’t get it and then he has to gather people too actually act upon this idea.”

Zidane let out a sigh of relief. “I… Need to talk to you.”

“You are talking to me.”

“This is important… I decided what to do about the door— The Secrets of Terra.”

“I thought you’d decided to leave it sealed? Going to destroy the access points?”

“Not exactly. I found another way to make sure no one else is ever going to be able to touch it.”

“What does that have to do with me?”

“You’ll be pleased to hear that I need your help again.”

“You overestimate my ego.”

“I need help. This is going to leave me vulnerable…”

“So bring the knight or the general. They seem deathly loyal; chased after us last night. Or bring your brother and leave him somewhere full of sharp insects.”

“That idea has crossed my mind… the sharp insect part. But they’re not strong enough for this, this is major.”

“Well find someone. I can’t go.”

“What? Why not?”

Drake seemed a bit annoyed by that question. “I’ve got a lot going on, as you know. You want me to run off again when Eclipse is already pissed?”

“Yeah… I’ve been meaning to ask about that… Your neck sna—.”

“I’m fine. He knew I’d be fine. I don’t break easy, Zidane, you know this.”

“Didn’t think anything—one, anyone could survive that.”

“Anything…”

“I didn’t mean it that way. I need your help, Drake, because you’re the strongest person I know and I’m… I’m going to need all the help I can get.”

“What exactly are you doing?”

“I’m opening the door.”

Zidane heard a horse whiny and then the thunderous stomp as its hooves slammed into the ground. There was a bit of a commotion that Zidane couldn’t make out, but he was fairly sure Drake had been shocked enough by the news it had somehow startled that monster of a horse.

“Woah! Ruxy, easy girl!” Zidane could barely make out the words; the phone must have been at Drake’s side. The horses hooves could be heard pounding down the road… either hard, compacted dirt or worn out stone, Zidane couldn’t tell in the muffled sound coming from the orb.

“You can’t be serious!”

“Talking to me?” Zidane asked.

“Dobitoc! You can’t open that door!”

“… I’m not sure what that one word means… but you’ve called Brahne it before, so I’m going to be offended.”

“You can’t open that door!”

“I have to, it’s the only way to keep anyone else from using that power.”

“What if someone follows you?”

“That’s why I need you there, Drake. You’re strong enough to take out anything that tries to get whatever is inside before I can.”

“Unless Eclipse finds out.”

“That’s the other thing; you’re the only one who can be sure where he is. You’re the only one who can help with this, Drake.”

Drake growls and hissed a few words Zidane was sure were curses, if by the tone alone. He had been worried about how Drake would take this news… if he was over anxious, Zidane would have been worried about why… but this reaction he hadn’t prepared for. Drake was mad. Zidane couldn’t understand most of what he was saying, but he was definitely upset. Zidane heard Eclipse’s name mentioned and the term “vulg beat mort ca un nebun!” Which… Zidane partially knew. Pissed something Mad.

“Eclipse wants the door open.” Zidane reminded, gently.

“A prefer! He wants to be the one! He wants to choose when!”

“Exactly. So if we act first, he’ll he left in a stupor.”

“… Yes, but…”

“You’re the one who can do this. You know where he’ll be and when. Just meet up with me somewhere, we’ll go and you just make sure I don’t get killed while I’m out there.”

“Mmmm…”

“I need the help, and I know Garnet would appreciate it.”

“Garnet…” Zidane could hear the polar shift in Drake’s tone. From snarling anger and annoyance to a sort of dreamy thoughtfulness.

“She’d be upset if I did this alone. And she trusts you, Drake.”

“… … … …”

“D—.”

“I must be in Alexandria in twelve hours, so if you want to do this then hurry up and get me.” Without another word, Drake hung up, ending the conversation.

Zidane felt anxious as he walked out of his room to see Kuja waiting in the hall.

“Alright, I’m going—.”

“To open the door?”

“No, outside.”

“Awww…”

Zidane walked outside and spotted Mikoto casting him a death glare. He was half-sure numbers would pop up above his head and a countdown would begin. He climbed up a tree and watched her from a distance.

He sat on a branch of the gnarly tree. The branch he was on went up for a while then curved and circled down. Kuja was leaning against the trunk, looking over his nails.

Mikoto walked by and glared.

“… She’s going to get back at us, you know.”

Kuja gave a combination between a nod and a shrug. “I know… I am just not sure how she is going to do it.”

“Well we need to figure it out before she does it.” Zidane stated, watching the girl walk into ‘town’.

“I understand that, but she’s not giving anything away…” Kuja glanced at Mikoto suspiciously. “She could be thinking up any number of things, really.”

“Young, bored, without supervision and with nothing better to do… This is getting dangerous.”

“You know what we could do? Open the door.”

“Shut up, already!” Zidane glared, and then headed for his jet.

“Going?” Kuja called after him.

“Well, I’m sure as hell not waiting around for Mikoto to get her revenge.” Zidane gave a shudder, glancing back.

Kuja ran to catch up with him.

“And what are you doing?” Zidane asked, opening the Chariot.

Kuja climbed in the other side, sitting in the passenger seat. “Oh, I’m going with you, dear brother.”

Zidane crossed his arms. “Not this time, Kuja.”

“So you’d leave me hear to face Mikoto’s wrath?”

“Hell yes.”

“Too bad, I’m coming. You’ll get lost and die without me. Regardless of anything else, also, I’m not getting out of the jet.”

“… You’re that desperate to find out what’s in there?”

“Yes. It… It wasn’t fair. I had to hear about everything else, why wasn’t I important enough to know about this?”

Zidane sighed, climbing into the jet. “Fine… but I guarantee you’re going to be mad.”

“Why would I be mad?”

Drake rode back to the stables where he handed off Ruxandra’s reigns to a stable hand.

“Short ride tonight, sir?”

“I feel like hunting. Her hooves are too heavy for my stalker approach.”

“Very well, your Royal Highness.”

Drake walked out, grabbing his Destiny bow and his Legacy whip as he went. He sprinted away from the palace, heading for the guardhouse he and Zidane had destroyed on their last practice. It wasn’t a set meeting place, but he figured it was as good as any… had enough room for the Chariot, and was surrounded by a dense forest that would block the view.

It took him a while to get there, and he didn’t slow the entire way. No rest for the wicked, no sleep for the damned. Work to be done. He feverishly scanned the area, looking for any hint of a threat. Luckily, they were downwind of the palace during this season, which should not have mattered at such a distance, but he always worried.

Where was Eclipse? That was the big question; where was Eclipse? Last Drake had heard; Eclipse was going to sleep. He’d ordered Drake out of the tower because apparently he made too much noise while others were trying to sleep… Fine, whatever, it worked in his favor now. When he had dropped of Ruxandra he took the short time to check and make sure that both Eclipse and Ellipsis were in the tower.

Of course they were. He could sense them and smell them right away. Still, he searched. The whole way here, he hadn’t noticed anyone… everyone in the kingdom was on their way to their beds, or they already were there. Lucky bastards. No one wanted to be out in this cold night when the wind was beginning to pick up, catching the chill from the ocean and dragging it up the mountain. He wished he could be in his room, lying in his bed with the fireplace lit, under the covers where it was soft and warm. Wished he could shut his eyes and be transported to a place where time was meaningless. Where hours and even days could pass as if they were seconds, and he could disappear for as long as he could be permitted. Just close his eyes and lie there till everything just faded away…

… It wouldn’t work, though. Not when he had such worry on his mind. The voices that were flooding his mind even now would swoop in for the crushing blow. The tower held no peace for him anymore, and the palace never had. It was almost ironic, the way things had become. He so craved solitude, yet the voices only dissipated if he were surrounded. They didn’t often bother him when he was stuck in Shivel… they never bothered him in Alexandria, and only brisk assaults while on Terra.

Solitude was required right now. Ignore the cold, ignore the pain, ignore it all and just make sure there is no way anyone will see the jet. No one out hunting in the woods? No. Any stragglers still in the market? All home for the night. The cemetery? Any teenage daredevils performing rituals they shouldn’t do? Any disrespectful child trying to scare another? Not a soul. The headache barrier wasn’t up, Eclipse was asleep in the tower. No predators out tonight…

The jet flew into the clearing like a whisper in the dark night. Drake turned toward it, but was careful to stay at the side this time… he didn’t want his eyes violated by the bright beams again. Spotlights…cursed things.

The top slid back and Zidane got out to stand on the wing.

“Oh,” Drake slowed a faint bit when he recognized the voice. “What’s why I’ll be mad…”

Drake looked at Zidane, wondering if he was serious about this.

“I had to bring him,” Zidane insisted. “He wouldn’t get out of the jet!”

“Why am I going, then?” Drake grumbled.

“Did you bring enough weapons?” Kuja asked. “A sword, a whip, and a bow… Are you stocking up for a party?”

Zidane pulled Drake onto the wing of the jet as if making sure the prince wouldn’t turn around and write them off as a lost cause. Drake got into the back as Zidane returned to the pilot seat.

“We’re a team on this, guys. No fighting.”

“No promises.” Kuja smirked, wickedly.

Drake glared daggers at the both of them, then rolled his eyes and leaned back in the seat, glancing around. The seats had been altered. The pilot and passenger seat were as they had been, but the seats in the back were gone; replaced with two bench seats along either side. One of which, Drake was currently on. The center was empty; obviously Zidane had tried to plan for anything he would find after opening the door.

However, that seemed to be there the preparation ended. Zidane got the jet in the air, but rather than the breakneck speed his jet was designed for, they traveled at a much more casual pace. Zidane seemed to be more interesting and arguing with hit brother than increasing their speed. Apparently it took too much effort to control the jet at full speed and fight at the same time.

Gods… Drake sat lengthwise on the bench seat, facing the front of the ship rather than the side. He rested his head back against the wall with his back on the armrest and pulled his feet up. This big, important event isn’t as important as bitching at each other. Wonderful. He shut his eyes before even thinking about it. He was just so exhausted, it got the better of him.

It was so dark out; it was always so dark in his world. Drake was so drowsy, he wasn’t paying much attention until he was slammed up against the wall.

“I didn’t mean it!” The man holding him there screamed.

It… wasn’t a man. At least, not anymore. What it was now was difficult to tell. He had was covered in lesions and tumors. His skin was a grayish yellow that made his entire body look like one big infection. His eyes, which Drake could see clearly as they were but two or three inches from his own, were bloodshot and dry, the pupils were so large it was impossible to see what color his eyes were. His teeth were black and yellow, rotting and broken. His tongue was little more than a shriveled piece of jerky, with open sores still plaguing it and his breath… ugh, it matched his appearance.

The ‘man’ reached up with hands that were a mess of skin that was so dry it cracked and bled even with the slightest move. His fingernails were broken so far back he might as well not had any, but with those bloody stubs, he grabbed Drake around his throat, squeezing tighter than something that looked like that should be able to. Uncanny strength for a man who looked so starved and beaten…

“It wasn’t supposed to end that way!”

Drake punched, kicked, did anything he could think of to get away, but it was as if the man didn’t even feel it. The floor was strange, too… it felt so odd under his boots, and at times he was sure it was moving under him. “Let me go!”

“You don’t understand! No one understands! I tried…” the man sobbed, shaking with tears streaming down his cracked skin, causing his eyes to puff our and become even more bloodshot. He shook his head. “I tried to explain…”

Drake couldn’t breathe, he was choking. He focused his escape attempts on desires to get air. “O-okay! I believe you!”

“They wouldn’t let me explain. They wouldn’t let me explain, but I tried! I tried to explain!”

“I believe you, just let me go!”

“You won’t listen... either!”

“I will! I’ll listen, but you have to let me go!”

“It was so well planned out…”

They weren’t alone anymore. Drake could feel the wall behind him… the sharp, jagged rock… There was light now. Drake wasn’t sure how he could see the man so clearly when there hadn’t been any light source at all, even his night vision needed at least a small light source, but now it was clear. The red-hot light from the lava… The blue robed figures slinking toward them… The whispers in the shadows, the screams from somewhere below them—no… no, that’s why the ground was so uneven, why it moved… it wasn’t the ground, it was them. People buried up to their necks making a path as if their skulls were the cobblestone. There wasn’t even a way to avoid stepping on someone! Their faces were covered in open wounds from where they had been trampled on and they screamed out about why they didn’t deserve to be there… Drake lost track of all the things they screamed. From a demand that they had been walked on their entire lives and didn’t need it here, to pleas for mercy that someone would just kill them and let this be over with… off in the distance, they were decaying. You could visible see that the first victims must have been put far from this point, and the fresh ones were here… and endless path of suffering and decay in its every stage.

“Let me go! I want out of here!”

“They put me here. They wouldn’t listen! The judged me as guilty before the truth was out!”

They were coming. Those blue robes… getting closer! “Let go! Let me go!”

“I’m trapped! Why should you be free! You’re just like the rest of them!”

“No! I believe you, but you have to let me go!”

“We had it all planned! Easy in, easy out, but things got in the way!”

“Let go! Let me out!” The instant Drake shouted, he choked on his worlds… Let me out… that’s what the voices screamed here, too. He was… one of them now? He was trapped in this hell with them? … No! He didn’t want to be trapped here! “Let go of me! I don’t belong here—!”

“You think I do!? You are like the rest of them! It wasn’t my fault!!!”

“I believe you, now let me go!”

“I’d like to see any of them manage to resist! She called to me!”

“Okay, fine!”

“Wasn’t my fault, it wasn’t my fault! They had so much and we just wanted some of it!”

I have such luck with thieves… Drake hissed to himself. “Everyone feels that way sometimes! I agree! Now please! They’re coming!”

“Damn right! Damn right! We wanted some of it; we decided to take it! Everything was going perfect! They answered the door… opened it right up for us! It was an open invitation…” The man’s bloodshot eyes seemed to glaze over in some memory…

Drake tried to look at the ceiling, the walls weren’t safe anymore… there were people and… parts of people… chained, nailed, staked or some other way bound to it. The stench of old blood filled this place and was even enough to overpower the smell of decay and waste.

“Took that invitation! Can’t say it was wrong!”

“No.”

“RIGHT!” The clawed grip around Drake’s throat decreased and he pulled desperately at the man’s bloody hands, trying to pry them off the test of the way, but it was useless… “It was a quick job! We’d done it before, no problems! Go in, show a little muscle, cause a little pain and they let you take anything you want! Easy!”

“Easy, sure.” Again, the iron grip decreased a little.

“We were just doing our rounds, and things were great! The loot was amazing! It as all going fine…”

“Fine, right, fine is good! They’re coming! They’re getting closer, let me go!”

Again, Drake was rewarded for his agreement by the grip lessening, he could almost get free.

“Down the hall, door was closed. But she was perfect and I wanted her!”

Drake blinked a bit at the ceiling. “… She…?”

“I told them! I told them all! It wasn’t supposed to end that way! Her fault! Don’t struggle, I told her, just stop and she wouldn’t! It wasn’t my fault she died, it was hers!”

Drake looked down from the ceiling and at the man. “You… killed a girl…?”

“Yes, but it was her doing! You see!?”

“No,” Instantly the man’s hands clamped down like a vice.

“They all blamed me, too! We left, lived it up for a few months… years…? I CAN’T REMEMBER! Walking down the street… came out of nowhere! Pain, then nothing… cold. Phantoms… out of the shadows!!! They judged me!! They dragged me here!!! But it was all her doing!! All her fault!! You see it now!?”

Drake struggled to be able to get air enough to speak. “I see… you’re a…monster…”

“They’re all monsters here.”

That voice… he knew that voice!

Eclipse stepped forward, out of the shadows. “But who are you to judge, Dragon?” The man screamed, his body was sweltering hot and it was quickly apparent as to why… Through the open wounds lava started pouring out as if he were some sort or rock, but that deception quickly ended and he stopped screaming as his lungs burned away… melting from the magma, inside to out in a sizzling, boiling, popping mess of torment! And suddenly Eclipse was standing right where he had been.

“Ah!”

Eclipse smirked. “After all… you’re a monster too, Drake… Drake! Almost time, Drake!”

Drake opened his eyes, swiftly glancing around the jet before sitting up. “What?”

“Almost there.” Zidane answered, “Are you alright? I think you fell asleep.”

“Fine.” Drake leaned back again, looking out the window. Just fine… just the same old dreams with different faces. A new murderer to add to the list.

Kuja stared hard at the boy. Trying not to be openly apparent about it. Something indeed was wrong with that one… Zidane didn’t see it, but he wouldn’t. The young angel was too trusting toward life in general and he hadn’t trained his mind reading abilities as well as Kuja had. Dreams were difficult, but so very easy to access when the person wasn’t aware they were asleep… except for this boy.

Drake had spent days at a time on Terra practicing with Zidane. He always had guards up around his mind. Obviously a learned trait from being around someone with mind reading abilities. He never let them falter, even when he slept. The only bits Kuja was sure of was that the prince wasn’t a threat to them, and even that had taken a lot of effort to obtain… But just now, the guards had dropped enough that Kuja got a reading of distress.

A dream…? Dreams were so difficult to watch, ordinarily. They were slow. While hours could pass in the woken world, only seconds would pass in the dream world. This… wasn’t a dream. It wasn’t something the boy was doing, either. This wasn’t a fantasy or a hallucination… no forced memory or story… it was hard to tell what it was, exactly.

He’d always known there was something strange about the Dark Prince. Kuja had learned so much about souls from Garland and Terra’s studies. He had learned how to read them, how to see what they knew… it was how he found out Garnet was a summoner, how Brahne was a wicked woman buried deep under all that blubber, how Vivi was a strong mage… Drake’s soul was something Kuja had never come across… it was… fresh. New. He called him “the baby vampire” in the hopes that it would show him more.

All it showed Kuja was that his dear brother was dense enough not to understand the meaning to that and that Drake had a bit of a temper… which was fun to play with… and he had a bit of a twisted sense of humor. Neither of them seemed to get what Kuja was talking about, which… could be a good sign. This boy either didn’t fully understand what he was, or he was very good at hiding it… or, it was possible that he simply assumed there would be no way Kuja would know.

“What the hell?” Zidane asked.

Kuja looked at him. “What?”

“If you keep staring like that, he’s going to torch you.”

“Oh, shhh, he doesn’t know.” Kuja smirked, “So what of it?”

“It’s creeping me out.”

Oh, dear brother… that boy has a direct link to Hell and its prisoners are screaming to him… I’m not the one who should be scaring you. “Heeheehee, well—!”

“We’re landing now?” Drake asked, causing Kuja to look around, taking notice that they were, indeed, landing.

“Yeah.” Zidane answered, gliding the jet to a safe stop behind a rather large dirt clod and opening the hatch. “All un-aboard!”

Drake gave a sickened stare. “… Un-aboard?”

“Well, we’re already aboard…so…”

“Dear brother, you may be lost because this is not Oeilvert.”

Zidane got up, stepping onto the wings of the Chariot. “No, I’d rather have the jet parked here than right out front.”

“… It’ll take hours to get there from here!” Kuja insisted.

“Exactly, they won’t expect that. I’d rather anyone who sees my Chariot spend a few hours trying to figure out if the door is here before running off to check Oeilvert and finding us. They won’t think we’d actually run all the way there.”

Kuja gave a sigh. He would have argued that explanation be it not for the fact that he was willing to do just about anything to get that door opened… He got up and carefully stepped out of the jet on his side.

Drake hated this idea. He was less than excited to run halfway across a continent… He was tempted to say “Have fun, call if you need me…” and let them run off. He’d heard about Oeilvert… it meant Green Eye, held old Terra information… so the door was there? Figured. He got up and put one foot over the side before he noticed the sharp look Zidane was giving him…

Zidane gave a quick, short twist of his head. And Drake tipped his own to the side, questioning.
Zidane glanced at Kuja, then back at Drake… and grinned.
Kuja jumped down, rubbing his hands together as if dusting them off and walking, slowly, in the direction they needed to go. “So the plan is to walk, or are you going to call one of those giant chicken birds—.” He was confused when he heard the jet take off, and spun around to see what was going on. Neither Drake or Zidane were behind him and the jet was indeed in the air above him… for about a second before it blasted off toward Oeilvert…

“What… Oh, no!”

Kuja started running. He knew there was absolutely no way he was going to beat them there. He wouldn’t even come close! But with any luck his foolish little brother would get lost or something. I want it… I want what’s inside, I do! I… … Oh, clever boy. That was… probably why Zidane had left him. Perhaps his dear brother wasn’t as unperceptive as he thought. He must have known Kuja had no intentions of just letting him have whatever was in there. He no longer had anything against his little brother, but he had wanted that power for far too long to just stand by now.
There was another reason, still. If he was right about what was behind the door… it was dangerous. Zidane hadn’t come of age yet and Garland had always suggested the power was meant for him after he had come of age.

Don’t open it… Just don’t open it yet!

“So… How much time between thinking to do that and actually acting it out was there?”

“About two minutes… I knew I couldn’t actually take him, but I had no idea what I was gonna say to keep him from going in with us. When I saw that spot the idea just hit me.” Zidane snickered, landing as close as he could get to Oeilvert before he got out.

Drake followed suit, jumping down and looking around.

Zidane marched inside. “Now for the grand tour?”

“I’d prefer to stick to the main event. I don’t have a lot of time.” Drake replied, walking in and looking around.

“Right, just give me a mi—… or leave, that’s fine, too.” Before Zidane had even finished his sentence, Drake had run off at an amazing speed… no footsteps, either. Zidane rubbed the back of his head. “I guess this gives me time to try and remember where it is…”

Drake did patrols. He scouted the area for any possible threats. Any monsters he encountered were destroyed, any possible threat was investigated. When Drake walked back over to Zidane it was with the confidence that no one else besides the two of them was in this place.

“Where’d you go?” Zidane asked.

Drake blinked twice, staring at the Terran. “… If I’m going to play Guard Dog, I thought it best to actually act like it. You don’t scout?”

“… No, I usually just go in and hope not to die.”

“… … Can I go home yet?”

“Nope, come on.” Zidane walked to the room with the spiraling platform, walking over to the wall and reaching up as high as he could, putting his hand on it.

And nothing happened.

“… Idiot pose?”

“I think this is the wrong wall…” Zidane had to jump to get higher, trying to reach where Kuja had touched the wall.

“Or you’re just too short?”

“You’re shorter than I am, Drake.”

Drake’s mind carefully searched for a snappy comeback. He got a lot, but he’d used them all before. “… Yes, but it doesn’t matter because I’m better looking.” Was what he decided on for sheer time constraint.

“Kuja has said that exact same thing.”

“I don’t know if I should be offended and gag or just go ‘see, there’s a whole club’… I’m really unsure of which one.”

Zidane jumped again and managed to tag the wall in the right place. The wall glowed and another spiral platform appeared along with a narrow walkway leading to it. “Ta-dah!”

“I’m not going to applaud.”

“Damn.” Zidane got on the platform, followed by Drake and it slid its way down.

Once it landed on the lowest level, Zidane stepped off. He watched Drake, trying to see what reaction the Prince would give to seeing this underground city— this Terran palace. The Prince showed nothing, though. He looked around, but it seemed more as if he were checking for threats than anything else.

“There won’t be monsters down here.” Zidane informed, smiling.

Drake sighed. “Then why did you bring me? Only Angels can get down here, right?”

“I think so, but... Eclipse has wings.”

“Mh.” Drake saw the point there… falling this far really wasn’t a problem for Eclipse.

Zidane led the way and Drake followed. Ever diligent in his actions, always on guard and at the ready should something unexpected show up… and something unexpected did.

“You’re lost.”

“No I’m not.”

Drake rolled his eyes. “We’ve passed this statue…” he tapped it, “eight times.”

“… Seen a Zoo, yet? It was after a Zoo…”

“Ugh.” Drake sat down as Zidane wondered off, down a path. The Angel didn’t even notice… Drake always walked quietly, and he’d made sure to not even leave footprints as they walked here. It wasn’t an easy task, given how much dust there was, but he had managed. Zidane’s heavy attire was doing a bang-up job of leaving tracks, though. His footprints outside sunk in so much they’d probably remain for days. They were just lucky Drake hadn’t sensed any threats in the area.

“They deserved it!”

Not here. You’re not here and I’m awake. Go away! Drake growled.

“There has to be a method. Piece by piece. Has to be or it’s no good. All the blood has to be drained out, first. It’s not hard to do… The colder it is, the slower their blood flows and it’s easier to control. Hang them upside down. Then you go for an artery that’s on a joint, preferably the wrist. They drain so perfectly… all white. So lovely… they look like dolls, because they are dolls. Bloodless dolls like any child’s toy. Slice them up into nice little meat cubes. Nothing more to it. It just takes so long, though… people aren’t patient, that isn’t my fault.”

Stop it! I don’t want to hear this! I believe you, now shut up!

“That’s what I regret the most… They stopped me right in the middle! I still crave it. I have to finish; I have to! Don’t they understand that?”

Stop…

“That’s the real torture, you know… that they didn’t let me finish. Far worse than anything I ever did.”

“Wha?” Zidane gasped. “When did you stop following me?” He looked behind him as if that would aid him.

Drake looked at him. “… I told you, you’re lost.”

“So you chanced that I’d walk in a circle?”

“… Chanced?”

“Hmm…” Zidane walked There was a zoo… then a path, then the palace… He wondered over one way and stared down a path, scratching his head.

Drake got up and climbed the statue before leaping up, his wings spread once he was high enough to chance growing them without alerting the stupid monkey, then he pushed himself higher and higher before letting the wings burn away. Before be started to fall, Drake spun in a circle, looking in all directions. When he landed again, he knew which way to go.

“Oh, Angel? There’s a giant sparkly building this way that I’m going to assume is the palace.”

Zidane turned, looking back at Drake. “Sounds like it… How do you know where it is?”

“I climbed the stature and I looked.”

“Oh…”

Once they made it to the palace, Zidane knew exactly where to go. They walked through the palace and Drake again seemed more interested in seeking out threats. Zidane would have thought that someone who was from a kingdom dedicated to knowledge would be more excited to be in a place like this… but Drake was a mystery.

They walked down the hall and into a rather unimpressive room with an armless chair and a hallway leading to stairs.

“This is it.”

Drake looked around, then at the door in the room. “… Not what I pictured.”

“That’s what I said, too.”

“Mh.” Drake looked around, noticing the stairs. “And that?”

“Leads out. Once the door opens, it unlocks.”

“I see… Alright.” Drake gave a nod, heading for the stairs. If they were to be attacked, it would be from there.

Zidane rubbed the back of his head. “I need another favor…”

“What’s that?”

“… I’m not opening this door alone.”

Drake turned back to look at him, slowly.

“This power… it’s too much. I don’t want it.”

“You should have said something before we came down here, then.”

“I know the door has to open, but I don’t want the responsibility of whatever’s in their. That much power shouldn’t belong to one person.” Zidane explained, “I’m not that greedy. And I know my limits, because I’ve crossed them too many times. I need to know I’m not the strongest in the world.”

“There’s no guarantee you will be.” Drake reminded, “You have no proof!”

“There’s that, too. If I’m not, then opening this door won’t do any good anyway. Will it help us beat Eclipse? I think we have a better shot if we share this. We’ll both have something new that he won’t know about.”

Drake pulled a hand through his hair. It was a nervous gesture that was hard to tell where he had learned it; neither Eclipse or Ellipsis had such a habit. “It might not work that way…”

“I think it will… if I’m right about what it is, I think it was originally designed for two people.”

“What?”

“It’s said to be both Darkness and Light… I think that’s just it, right there. I think the sources told us what it really was from the start. Those can’t be contained within one person without that person dying. Come on, Drake… I don’t want all that power.”

What makes you think I do? Drake crossed his arms, shaking his head. More power… pros and cons.

“I know springing it on you at the last minute was stupid, but I was afraid you’d say no.”

Drake looked back at him. “… You thought I’d say no?”

“I don’t think of you the way I’m betting you think I do. You’re not as demonic as people try to imply. You’re no more power hungry than I am, you just have a goal that’s worth reaching. I think this is the only way to get to it. After what I saw…” Zidane gave a shudder. “There’s no denying you’re strong, but Eclipse is… well he’s the real evil here. We’re going to need all the help we can get.”

“Yes… we will.”

“You’ve given me everything you had to offer. It’s my turn. This is what I have.”

Drake felt guilty about that. Zidane was offering the greatest secret his entire planet had to offer and Drake… had lied. Zidane assumed Drake was giving up everything he could… It was the guilt alone that forced the Dark Prince to nod.

“Alright.” He said in a voice that was barely above a whisper, “Open the door before I change my mind.”