Roads of Destiny Part One

         Saigith walked into his room, exhausted from his day. Protecting the princess during a war isn't the easiest thing to do. Especially if the princess insisted on fighting with the other warriors. He dropped his opal armor on the floor and went in to take a shower. Upon walking out, he found his armor cleaned and set perfectly on his couch. Instantly alert, he creeped over to his armor and drew his matching sword. It was a powerful magical item that housed a divine magic. Some say it was forged with the tears of the Goddess herself stored within it. Whatever. Right now, he just wanted a weapon in his hands against a possible intruder.
         "In the name of the queen, reveal yourself!" Saigith roared into the house. Nothing moved in the entire building. A knock came on his door. Tiptoeing to the door, he jerked it open and brought up his bladetip. Only it was to the princess's neck.
         "Saigith, do you need a calming potion? I can whip you up one right now," she offered, not moving with the blade against her jugular. Saigith lowered his sword and backed up.
         "My apologies, Princess Auroura. Please, come in." He put away his sword with his armor. "To what do I owe this pleasure?" Auroura came up close, running her hands along his body.
         "I think you know why I'm here." She trailed her hands off of his body and went into the bathroom. The sound of water running started when Saigith spied a white feather on the floor. His wings were sunset glass and the princess had one wing of red feathers and the other wing of white scales. Someone had violated Saigith's private space. A scream pierced the still air from the bathroom. Saigith rushed the bathroom to find Princess Auroura wrapped in the torn-down shower curtain and a man with white-feathered wings kneeling naked before the princess.
         "I am sorry, my queen. I didn't mean to scare you," the man clamoured over the racket Auroura was causing. "I am sorry."
         "Auroura! Are you harmed? You, sir. Who are you?" The man turned, still knelling, towards Saigith.
         "Maximillion!" he called in shock. "What are you doing here?!" Saigith was shellshocked. He hadn't heard that name in over two hundred years. It was the name he had when he was living. To know your living name was extreme intimace. Not even the princess, his secret fiance, knew it yet. Who was this guy to know something like that about himself? Saigith's sword flew to his hand and he brought it to the man's neck. Auroura quit her noisemaking for this exchange, loosing her deathgrip on the shower curtain around her.
         "I asked you before. Who are you?" Saigith growled menacingly. The man bowed his head to Saigith.
         "My apologies. I am General Angeles, 2nd squad. I was sent by Queen Auroura to find the one who caused the fall of the kingdom in her 225th year of afterlife. The time I left from was the 15th year of her reign and the 240th year of her afterlife. I am in my 16th year of afterlife and 4th year of service." Auroura let go of her shower curtain in shock.
         "I'm in my 224th year of afterlife and, in a week, it's my 225th. The kingdom's going to fall in the next week?!" Saigith and Angeles looked over to see the naked princess, who was utterly oblivious to her present state.
         "I see why you liked her once," Angeles said quietly. Auroura looked down, blushed, and recovered herself. "Please, my queen. I meant no disrespect. In fact, most of your future court you allow to work in nothing. You said yourself that it's more comfortable when you're naked and comfortable people work better." Saigith turned to Angeles.
         "What do you mean 'once', General Angeles?" Saigith asked in his scary voice. Angeles blushed and bowed his head again. Guess he said something he wasn't meant to. He was still kneeling to both people. "You can rise, Angeles. Kneeling is not neccecary to a Commander and the Princess." Angeles rose to his feet but kept his head bowed.
         "My apologies but Auroura is Queen in the time I'm from. She finally perfected her time-jump magic spell and used me as the test subject. But," Angeles scuffed his foot, "she asked my permission first. No disrespect but it was uncalled for to ask an underling permission to do something to them." Auroura stepped over, not caring about the curtain now. She dropped it on purpose this time as she lifted Angeles's face to look at her.
         "I don't work that way. I have no 'underlings' to order. I have equals to ask. It wasn't uncalled for by my future self." The manner Auroura spoke exuded quiet strength that calmed the blush on Angeles's face. "Now, do you know who caused the kingdom to fall?" she asked.
         "No, my queen. Just it'll happen in three weeks time from when I was suppose to arrive."
         "And when was that?"
         "Two weeks ago. I've been watching over Max... Saigith's house like I do in the future until I could be in contact with you. I'm to get you away from the battle if I can't stop the traitor because you're seriously maimed in the fighting you'll join in on to save the already fallen kingdom. You lost your left arm and all features to the right side of your face." Auroura recoiled at the horrifing news of her future self's appearance. To her, unlike her living self, she looked good now and took good care of that small fact in her afterlife.
         "But her left arm helps wield the divine magic in her blood," Saigith said in quiet sorrow. The loss of Hope to a battle-loving princess not knowing when to turn tail and run. Now that was hopeless.
         "If both of you don't mind," Angeles's voice broke through Saigith's mini-depression, "I would like to keep post in Saigith's house for the duration of my stay here. I can monitor what happens best from here." Auroura shrugged and looked at Saigith. He sighed and looked over at Auroura, then Angeles.
         "Alright. You can stay here. But from now on, don't mess with my armor."
         "But I re-stengthened your protections on it as well as cleaned the caked blood off of it so you wouldn't have to. That way it would be sooner that you would relax after the day." Auroura went over to the shining armor and inspected it.
         "He's telling the truth. I've never seen the protection spells so strong and healthy on here. And it's mirror-shined to utilize the blinding effect of the material. He did a damn better job than you normally do," she concluded, ruffling her wings in approval. "What about the Love Blade?"
         "I never clean that. Saigith told me before that he felt he has a closer connection to the magic within it if he cleaned it himself." Saigith's expression clouded. He had always felt that way about his sword but never told anyone about it. Who was this Angeles in connection to his future self? Auroura came over and pulled on her clothes, hiding the long, jagged scar on her chest. She had told him before that she had lost someone so close to her in life that it had permanently scarred her soul. As if her heart had been cut out of her. And maybe it had been. She was, after all, only a half soul. The other half of her soul worked for the Dark Kingdom and looked identical to her but for reversed wings and red eyes. Maybe...
         "Saigith, make sure you report early tomorrow. I want to go out on the front," Auroura said as she walked out the door. Saigith and Angeles looked at each other.
         "I guess I'll need to find a place for you to bunk up here then," Saigith said, scratching his head. All of a sudden, the almost mansion-sized house seemed too small for both of them to co-exist in it. "I've got an open guest room this way." He lead Angeles to a bedroom as far from his personal room as possible without seeming rude. "This is where you'll be staying until you leave. Or until killed. Whichever comes first." Angeles blushed and walked into the room, closing the door behind himself. Saigith left him alone. The guy really had him uneasy but if he could stop the collapse of balance in the living world and the Light Kingdom here, Saigith was just going to have to accept him.
         Saigith awoke to an odd feeling to check in on Angeles. Silencing the door, he walked in to see Angeles still naked but covered in cum. This time looking at him, Saigith paid attention to his features. His wings were so white, they made the cum on them appear gray. His hair was an endless black, silky obsidian splashed around his head as a dark halo. Closer inspection showed there were streaks of sapphire blue in the darkness. He was well-toned, probably from keeping the queen alive in the future. He had a tan tone to his skin, as if he was asian, indian, or latin descent. Splayed across his chest was a very intricate Tree of Trinity Knowledge celtic knot that appeared to be tattooed there, probably something important to him when he was alive. But the most distracting feature was his lips. They were a lot like his own but more colored to Angeles's tone. Saigith bent down a little, enthralled with the curiousity of how it would feel to kiss those lips. A sudden swell of panic rose in his chest and he straightened up, blushing deeply with what he was about to do. He was quite happy with Princess Auroura, who reminded him of the lover he left behind when he died. Her name had been Elaine, a brown-haired, hazel-eyed girl who had been his high school sweetheart. She may have had a major inferiority complex and some serious mental problems but she tried to be sweet with all her heart. Saigith felt a twinge of  remorse. He wished he hadn't been in that accident with her. He still remembers seeing her blood-and-tearstreaked face begging him not to leave her. He was only allowed to watch her for three months afterwards. She had suffered such extensive injuries that she finally just slipped into a comatose state not long after his death. He didn't know when she died but it was after his three months were up. A tear rolled down his cheek at the memory and fell in the middle of Angeles's celtic knot. The "tattoo" started glowing and suddenly, he was in a hospital room. A priest was performing the last rites over a lifeless body, a brown-haired girl with a half-crushed face.
         "Doctor, didn't this one lose her husband six months ago?" a nurse asked.
         "You're right. I used to know this woman in school. She and I used to be friends until she moved away. She met her husband in high school and married him a few years later. I got invited and we stayed in touch. Now," the doctor bowed his head. "It's a shame. We always thought she'd do great things and she settled for being a housewife. Guess love makes you do weird things. Okay, time of death-8:47 p.m. central time. Let's get her open. She's an organ donor. Now, the heart might still be useable..." Everything faded out as Saigith found himself back in Angeles's room, tears flooding down his face. Angeles opened his eyes and looked at Saigith leaning over him. The deep emerald swirled in his eyes.
         "You saw Elaine, didn't you? It's the only time you look that sad," Angeles said solemnly. Saigith cracked him one in the face.
         "How dare you speak that name?!" Saigith bellowed in rage. He gripped Angeles and threw him to the other side of the room. "You have no right to know that name!" He advanced on Angeles, murder in his eyes. Out of nowhere, Angeles jumped up and kissed Saigith on the lips. Saigith stopped, stunned at the action. He felt something wet on his cheeks and reached up. It was tears, his and Angeles's mixed together. Saigith relaxed and fell to the petal-soft embrace of those haunting lips.
         Saigith woke up in an unfamiliar room. It took him a moment to realize he was in Angeles's room. Then the night before came flooding back to him.
         "Oh dear Goddess," he muttered, rolling over to see a cum-free Angeles. He still was unsure about the current situation. He had enjoyed what he experienced last night with Angeles but loved Auroura. Or did he? All she ever was to him was a problem, a royal brat bent on battles that could kill her. And he was just a MasterKnight to the princess's elite guard. She was untouchable for him. He had a better chance with Angeles than with Auroura. Careful not to wake Angeles, Saigith crawled out of bed and went to the palace for duty.

         The next week brought more unbelievable nights with Angeles, bloodier battles with Auroura, briefings from the queen, preparations for the Princess Auroura's 225th celebration, and a growing sense of darkness on the horizon. Saigith walked into the house the night before the week was up to find an empty house.
         "Angeles? Angeles, where are you hiding?" Saigith called out playfully, ready to start early tonight. "A quick game of hide and seek before...we...begin?" Saigith picked up the note he found on the table.
Saigith,

I decided to stay the night at the palace to watch over the princess. I will see you tomorrow during the party.
Angeles

         Saigith shook his head and flew back over to the palace. A guard hollared down from the outer wall.
         "State identity and purpose," came the order.
         "MasterKnight Saigith to visit the royal family and stay at the palace as protection for the princess."
         "Proceed, MasterKnight." The gate swung open to a meticulously-kept rose garden. The scent of fruit punch waffed through the air as a breeze fingered through Saigith's hair. Auroura was on her knees pruning the roses, a trickle of magic going into the plants to strengthen the scent. She was singing softly an old tune that haunted Saigith's memory. It was the one Elaine used to sing. He could almost see her there in the roses, the lyrics seeming to come for from everywhere. He walked towards his daydream.
         "In the quiet misty morning, when the moon has gone to bed; when the sparrows stop thier singing, and the sky is clear and red. When the summer cease its gleaming and the morning's past its prime; when adventure's lost its meaning, I'll be homeward bound in time." Saigith reached Auroura and petted her hair.
         "You always sang beautifully, Elaine," he said quietly. "It never stops to amaze me that you kept your voice after all these years." Auroura looked at Saigith like he lost his mind.
         "Saigith, I'm Auroura," she said pointedly. "You need to come back to reality, hun. And quit petting my hair." Saigith blinked, a deer in headlights. Blushing, he took back his hand and stood at attention.
         "My apologies, princess. I forgot my place. I ask forgivness for my transgression." Auroura nodded and returned her attention to her roses.
         "Did you have someone? When you were alive?" she asked quietly. "I don't remember all my life from before I died. But I know bits and pieces."
         "Yes, I did. She was...was...amazing." he said at last. "A truely rare find. So many problems, yet a beautiful personality. She was an angel who fell into my arms on earth." Saigith sighed, longing to hold that remarkably beautiful girl again. Tears pattered down his cheeks as Auroura moved away from him to another rosebush.
         "It sounds like you really loved her. Did she love you the same as you loved her?" Auroura asked, snipping off a half-opened rosebud. Blowing gently on it, it folded open in full glory. "Did it bloom like a late rose, trying to see the leaves paint thier fall color across the world?" Auroura blew again and frost coated the petals as they darkened and dried up. "Or did it wither like early frost upon the delicate petals of said late rose?"
         "It bloomed and never was touched by the frost," Saigith replied, wary of the fact Auroura was talking in similes and metaphors. She was dangerous when she spoke like that. There was no telling how she would she would wield her magic. The only way to keep her "happy" was to reply in metaphors.
         "That's always good. I wish I could remember if I was in love." All the roses around her started to wither in reaction to the meloncholy-laced power she was exuding.
         "Princess, your roses." Auroura looked around herself.
         "There is a time for everything to die," she sighed. "Try as we might to hold on to what we love, we will always lose it in the end. And all we have left is our memories, if we're lucky." She pulled back her power and the roses perked right back up. She got up and glided into the palace with Saigith in tow. People bowed as Auroura went by them on her path to the throne room. Saigith stopped short of the throne room, before the princess opened the doors.
         "Princess Auroura," he said, kneeling in the hallway, "I cannot proceed through those doors. I'm not allowed to."
         "It's time you followed me inside. Now rise, MasterKnight Saigith, and follow your protective charge." Saigith obeyed and followed in to be blinded by a bright light. "Mother, please be so kind as to reign in your power so my MasterKnight may see your face."
         "Your MasterKnight? Alright." The light faded to show a quiet girl. She had sparkling hazel eyes and soft brown hair. She looked no older than Elaine had been when she died. "Greetings, Max. It's been awhile."
         "My queen," he said, bowwing low to avoid looking at that haunting face. Elaine's face. "It is an honor to be in your presence." Footsteps and two bare feet were before Saigith's face.
         "Please, Max. You don't have to talk like that. Please, Auroura, leave us for a moment. Your party starts soon." The sound of the retreating princess was puncuated by a slammed door. "Will you please look at me, Max?" Saigith looked up at the queen's face. "It seems even your light couldn't mask over my mixture and our daughter inherited my weakness." She turned around to show a vivid tattoo of wings exactly like Auroura's. "When I ascended, I lost my wings and gained this tattoo to remind me. Max, it really is me, Elaine. Please, do something." Tears appeared to well in her eyes as she looked at Saigith.
         "I apologize if this sounds harsh but I need you to tell me something only Elaine would know that I know," Saigith said quietly, afraid to hurt the fragile hope of this really being Elaine.
         "My mother worried more about your youngest sister's condition than your mother's condition when she was born. I thought as long as both were alright, what hospital they were in didn't matter. She, on the other haand, thought I didn't care about your mother because I didn't care what hospital she was in." Tears ran down Saigith's face as he scrambled to his feet to embrace the love he missed for so long. "Shhh, it's alright."
         "I thought you were Auroura. I missed you so bad," he sobbed into her hair.
         "I know. We've been dead for over 250 years. I grieved not being able to go to your side for so long. All I was able to do was watch over you." A tinkling sound broke through the silence. Saigith looked to see diamonds scattered on the floor. He looked at Elaine to see her face was dry. "See, I can't even cry normal as Goddess." Elaine cried more, diamonds cascading from her eyes. "Look at me. I'm still a freak." Saigith embraced her again. Anything to make her stop crying.
         "I'm here now. It's going to be okay." The doors swept open, sending Saigith flying into the wall with a sickening thud.
         "Not anymore," came a voice so drowned in darkness, the very room fell to twilight. Saigith forced his eyes open to see a figure cloaked in shadow. One that looked like Elaine.
         "The Dark One," he groaned, attempting to get to his feet. But the pressure from both powers made it unbearable to even sit up. "Elaine, run."
         "No, Max. It ends between the halves of my soul here and now." Saigith could see the magic charge and crackle between the two symbols of light and dark, lightning from a clear sky. Light sliced through the room as a perfectly dark void engulfed everyone from the inside out.
         "Elaine!" Saigith cried out as he felt the darkness eat away at his very soul. It lasted only for a moment but it felt like a lifetime of a depressing, heartbreaking void of life. Finally, light gradually filled the room to paint a portrait of blood and carnage. Saigith crawled on his hands and knees, sifting through the wasted bodies in search of his refound love. Finally, he spotted a small movement under a marble pillar that had collapsed to the floor. He scrambled over to find Elaine was trapped under it, hovering on the threshold of death. "Please, Elaine. Don't go. I can't lose you again." Tears streamed down her face as Saigith tried in vain to pull the crumbled marble off of her.
         "Max, my time is over here. You need to protect our daughter. Please, GO!" she cried, gold blood pooling beneath her and trickling from her mouth. "You have a new love. It's time to let go of the past. 250 years is long enough to hold such regret."
         "No, no, no. I'll get Auroura and combine the divine light magics and make you better. I promise." He finally unburied Elaine and pulled her onto his back. "Let's get you healed."
         "Don't make promises you can't keep," Elaine moaned, in exruciating pain from being moved. "You know, I may have been a masacist but this doesn't help my mood."
         "See, you'll make it. You're still able to make jokes," Saigith laughed uneasily. Going slowly, he went out into the main hall to find a slaughterfest in progress. The sea of warring bodies made it nearly impossible to find Auroura. Until lightning struck from the ceiling. Grinning to himself, he made his way carefully to the strike spot. He finally reached Auroura, coated in gold and red blood, without his armor or weapon, and worried that Elaine was quietly slipping away. "Princess, we need to get out of her and heal your mother."
         "Why? I'm fighting...DUCK!" Saigith hit the floor as a column of green fire sprayed from Auroura's hands, "right now."
         "Auroura, child born living to death, obey your father," Elaine said. Auroura froze in place. She finally turned her full attention to Saigith.
         "Dad?" Saigith shrugged as best as he could with Elaine on his back.
         "That's what she tells me. We were lovers and had an accident in her first trimester. I always thought the baby miscarraged when she went comatose."
         "I was a preemie. Only seven months into it when they cut me out. No...living...parents..." She looked at both of them. "You are my parents from the living world." Out of nowhere, searing black energy raced over Auroura's body. She pulled it off herself, for the most part. The original contact point, the right side of her face, was charred beyond features. Angeles's future was upon them.
         "Enough talk. Move! Now!" Saigith snapped, in protective soldier and father mode now. He created a field around all three of them. Magic flew through the air around them as they pushed out of the main hall. Blood splattered through the shield and painted the three of them crimson as they progressed. Eventually, they made it to the guard's post at the gate. A ran-through Angeles lay in a pool of his own blood. No breath rose his chest and the color was leaving his skin to be replaced with the sickly pallor of death. Saigith felt Elaine use her power to create a link between thier minds.
         He was the traitor. He never knew Auroura had a dark half and let her in under the pretense that it was Auroura with some last-minute guests. That was the fall of our way of life. The innocence of those without experience, Saigith heard Elaine say in his mind. In the end, it is the fall of us all.
         No, innocence is the blessing to us all. You were always so pessimistic, Saigith replied through the link. It is the reason we live, die, and after-live. Saigith squatted down and solemnly closed Angeles's terror-filled open eyes. He got back up as someone came flying out of the hall. A black mage descended upon them, causing Saigith to drop Elaine and have to fight. Pulling on his reserves, blue flames raced to the mage, who splashed water on them and put the out. Gritting his teeth and focusing, his sword appeared in his hands. Tracing a design in the air, he slashed outward to fire off a powerful light magic spell. The black mage never had a chance. His smoldering robe lay crumpled on the ground where he once stood. Gently retrieving Elaine after making his sword vanish, they made it to the mansion without further incident. After laying Elaine on the near-by couch, he couldn't bring himself to even get his sword again. All he could do was fall to his knees and cry his heart out over what was happening. "Why now? I find my heart again but start to have my world crumble about me. Why?" Elaine rolled off the couch and screamed. Ignoring Auroura hovering over her to return her to the couch, she painstakingly crawled over to Saigith and hugged him.
         "Honey, you have to two options. Let me die slowly or kill me quickly." Saigith looked at her in horror. "If I live, the Dark One lives. The only way for our kingdom to have a fighting chance is for the old regime to perish. Please, you must pick one." Saigith held her close, careful not to cause anymore damage. Tears cascaded down his face at the mere thought of having to make such a choice.
         "I can't do that to you. I won't. Please don't make me. I promised I'd help you survive. I promised." Elaine let him go and started crawling to the middle of the room where it was empty. A vortex of power surrounded Elaine and Saigith's Love Blade appeared above her head.
         "If you can't see past your needs to the needs of two realms of life, then I must show you," she said, calmly cold in her manner. The vortex caught the hilt and started spinning the sword, bringing it closer to Elaine. Before Saigith could move, Auroura reached in to grab it. But she didn't grab it quick enough. Instead, it sliced through her left arm and immediately stopped the bleeding in the stump. She hit the floor in pain, cradling her severed limb.
         "Elaine! Stop! You just hurt your own daughter! This is madness!" Saigith got a hold of the violent blade. It trembled in his hands, called by the power Elaine was wielding.
         "Maximillion! Release that sword at once!" Power slammed his chest and almost caused him to let go of the sword. But he managed to keep his grip. The vortex died as Elaine slumped onto the floor.
         "No, Elaine. I'll end it myself." Saigith walked over, sword firmly gripped in his shaking hands. Ready to strike, he knocked the hilt against the soft spot on her head and knocked her unconscious. "By ending your foolishness. Sleep for now. We WILL help you survive." He went to a hidden room and brought back a white orb. Cutting his hand on his sword and smeering the blood along the blade, he backed up from the orb after placing it on the floor. "What rage hath sealed, love unleashes!" he cried, bringing the sword with shattering force onto the orb. It split into two perfect halves and a mightly white dragon issued forth from within.
         "Well, Saigith. I'm grateful you finally released me from that prison. I take it you want your favor now?" the dragon asked, flicking its tail back and forth. He nodded.
         "Allow her to live," he says, pointing to Elaine's unconscious form. "Hope and Love are at your disposal for doing so." The dragon leaned down and sniffed at the body.
         "She is beyond my powers. You would have to go before Fate herself to keep her with you." With that, the dragon vanished from the room. "You may call me another time for your favor." Saigith cursed at the empty air. How was he to get an audience with Fate, an entity that only showed up to be a royal pain and bear bad news?
         "Damn Fate to hell and back!" he screamed, stabbing his sword into the floor.
         "Why damn me for a bigger picture?" came a calm voice from the front door. Saigith looked to see a young girl, maybe 10 years old, walk towards him. "I see it as a better beginning for the future. Why can't you look beyond yourself?"
         "Please, let her live. I beg you to," he sniffled, tears running down his face.
         "I can't do that. I need her in the living realm for bigger events in the future. But I can send you along to accompany her. Will you accept that instead?" Saigith looked over at Elaine. He walked over and woke her up.
         "I accept your terms, Fate. But please, do it quickly." He held Elaine close as Fate drew Saigith's sword from the floor. "We never did like our first names, did we, Josephine?" Elaine looked at Saigith, the sadness evident in her eyes. She smiled weakly.
         "We never did, Mathew." Both felt no pain, just cold steel slicing through thier bodies in each other's arms.
         But this isn't goodbye, Saigith thought as everything went black.