Original Stories Fan Fiction / Fables/Fairytales Fan Fiction ❯ Revenge of the Descent ❯ Three - Lord Kyros ( Chapter 3 )

Captain Skyler frowned, setting his pen down to rub his forehead. He sighed wistfully, thinking, I wish Ilias was here. All this paperwork just makes me…'

 

“Excuse me?” called a servant, hesitantly peeking into the Captain's office. Captain Skyler absently waved him inside. The servant stepped in the room but took no more than a step towards the Captain's desk. “There's a man here to see you.”

 

Captain Skyler sat up straight, his eyes filled with hope. “Hurry, Gaen,” he said, getting up to usher the boy out to bring in his guest. “Ah, finally. I'm so pent up I just…”

 

“Why, hello there, Captain Skyler,” said an unfamiliar voice. Brows knit, Skyler turned around from the window and was surprised that his guest wasn't Ilias as he had expected it to be.

 

Shaking his head, he asked, “Who are you?” The man smiled, taking a few steps towards the Captain's desk.

 

Now that he was a little closer, Skyler could make out the man's features almost perfectly. He had rich olive skin, his elegant purple-colored hair resting gently down his back. His eyes were a deep moss green and held an unfathomable secret behind them.

 

What's more, the man wore royal clothing. He had on a silky blue button-up shirt tucked neatly in his well-tailored black trousers. Over this he wore an equally silky royal sapphire colored cape, covering part of his shiny black dress shoes. Lastly, on his head rested a well-polished silver circlet with a ruby in the middle.

 

“I am Lord Kyros of the Fire Kingdom,” he said, bowing his head a little. “I've only recently become of age, and considering my parents haven't kicked the bucket yet, I'm still just a prince. But I've decided I would like to help the Elementalists in finding the force that wishes to bring Lady Rika back to power…” His eyes flickered, something strange hiding behind them.

 

Captain Skyler regarded the prince's request skeptically, watching him closely. He cleared his throat, replying, “I'm sorry, Lord Kyros, but I am not entitled to assign a stranger who just appeared out of nowhere on a very important mission.” He stared at the man, determined to win no matter how much he would have to argue.

 

The prince frowned. “But Captain, surely you can speak to the Ministry's Board about it,” he offered, his eyes clearly showing his irritation. “As you may know, Captain, one of the Elementalists—Candis, was it?—lived outside of the Fire Kingdom in her earlier years, and I often played with her as a child before she left. When she returned after she burned down the village with her uncontrollable true powers, I only briefly had the chance to talk with her. Indeed, it has been a while since then, but I'm sure she'll remember me.” He gave the Captain a suspicious grin.

 

Skyler sighed and shook his head. “No. There isn't anything I could do, and even if there was, you could be a spy for—”

 

“Skyler—Oh, you have company…?” inquired a curious Ilias, stepping into the room. Skyler sighed, relieved. “My word… Is that you, Kyros?”

 

The prince, Kyros, gaped at Ilias, his eyes widening slightly. “Uncle Ilias?”

 

Captain Skyler quirked a brow, confused. “You know this kid?” he asked Ilias incredulously. Ilias chuckled, nodding.

 

“Yes, I've talked to him many times on my trips to the Fire Kingdom when I first entered the Ministry,” he replied, grinning to himself. “You've grown quite a bit since we last met,” he added.

 

Kyros nodded, smiling at Ilias. “Yes, and soon I'll become King of the Fire Kingdom! At least, when father trusts me enough,” he grunted. “But anyway, how do you know Ilias, Captain?”

 

Skyler threw a dangerous look at the boy, replying, “That's none of your business, my Lord.” Kyros flinched, backing off. “Ilias, this boy wants to help us with… the mission.” Ilias looked from Skyler to Kyros, noting the apparent tension between the two.

 

“Well… Why not?” He shrugged, walking over to the couch to sit down. “He is royalty, so he has connections that we don't. He'd be a valuable tool. No offense,” he added, smiling apologetically.

 

Kyros shook his head and grinned triumphantly at Skyler. The Captain grunted something to himself, turning to leave the room.

 

“What's his problem?” asked Kyros, crossing his arms as he stuck his tongue out at Skyler's retreating figure. Ilias laughed.

 

“He's probably jealous,” he answered, leaning against the soft brown leather of the couch. “That and he doesn't like younger people much.” He chuckled, looking thoughtfully out the window.

 

 

Kai groaned as she made her way downstairs. It had been three days since her birthday party, and she hadn't had more than three hours of sleep each night. Dammit, she thought, angrily searching through her cabinets for something to eat. Sighing, she gave up and sat down at the table. Great, I don't even have any food left.

 

She sat there a few moments, laying her head on the table. She sighed again, closing her eyes to block out the morning sun. This is nice, she thought, drifting off as her thoughts dissipated. I'm almost…

 

“Now's no time for sleep,” said a deep, male voice from the corner of the kitchen. Kai whined, reluctantly sitting up to glare at the intruder. “You know, if I was a spy I could have had you killed by now.”

 

She glared harder, standing up and walking out into the living room. “Well you're not a spy, now, are you?” she retorted, flopping over onto the sofa and covering her head with a small pillow. “What do you want anyway?”

 

Guren smirked, coming out of the kitchen and standing over her lazy figure on the sofa. “Ilias sent me to get you and the others. There's some kid he wants you to meet. Apparently he's a prince, and he's going to help us with the mission.”

 

Kai rolled her eyes, slowly sitting up. “A kid who's a prince?” she asked. “At this time of day? …Morning,” she corrected herself, yawning.

 

Guren chuckled, replying, “He's not that young. If I'm not mistaken, he's your age.”

 

Kai considered this thoughtfully, resting her chin in her palm and staring at nothing in particular. “What the hell,” she said, “the more the merrier.” She lay down on her back, staring blankly at the ceiling.

 

Guren snorted. “As if. He's a cocky player, and that's all he is.” He stared hard out the window, the sun briskly making its way above the horizon. “He's only going to be `helping' us because Ilias convinced Skyler that he has outside connections that we otherwise wouldn't be able to get to.”

 

Kai shrugged, nodding. “Whatever, as long as we get more help. If that Cassiel chick is still out there, I'd hate to have to fight her with just us. We were enough to just barely defeat Gilead, but this girl's the descendant of a thousand-year-old evil guy.”

 

Guren nodded in agreement. “Yes, although he's not very likeable, it's probably better to gain more allies with these `connections' he has just in case.”

 

The two sat in silence for a while, Kai drifting in and out of sleep and Guren staring out the window. Finally, Kai said rather timidly, “Shouldn't you be getting the others?”

 

Guren laughed, quietly murmuring, “And here I thought you'd want me to stay.” Shaking his head, he pushed himself off the wall and headed towards the door.

 

“What?!” Kai abruptly sat up, her eyes wide and her cheeks clearly red. “Why… Why would you think that?” she asked, hugging the pillow to her chest as she avoided his gaze.

 

Guren smirked, chuckling. “I can feel it, remember?”

 

Kai blushed harder and turned away from him, her back now facing his figure. Guren smiled slightly, then walked out the door.

 

 

“Oh my God,” muttered Candis, slowing down as the group approached the Ministry headquarters.

 

Chi turned to her, a puzzled look on her face. “What is it?” she asked.

 

Candis shook her head, pointing at the figures coming toward them. The girls looked, seeing Ilias, Skyler, and an unfamiliar figure. “Oh, that must be Prince Kyros,” said Feng.

 

Candis groaned in annoyance. “Yeah, the same Prince Kyros I knew when I lived near the Fire Kingdom,” she cried. “He's more arrogant than two Eryk's and a player to boot.”

 

So he is cocky and a player like Guren said, thought Kai, turning to look at the boy. Barely fifteen feet from them, he called out, “Candis! Long time no see, eh?”

 

Candis groaned, obviously annoyed, but started forward again nonetheless. “Yeah, long time no see,” she replied nonchalantly.

 

Prince Kyros took her hand and attempted to kiss it, though Eryk smacked his hand away before he got the chance. “Ow! Who is he?” he asked, rubbing his reddening hand.

 

Eryk glared back, putting an arm around Candis. “Keep your hands off her,” he said possessively. Kyros smirked.

 

“Oh? Why should I? She doesn't belong to you,” he countered. Eryk snarled, but Kyros pushed no further. “Well, I'm assuming you three are the remaining of the Four…?”

 

Kai rolled her eyes, muttering, “No shit, buddy.” Kyros smirked, turning towards her.

 

“Lovely to make your acquaintance, Lady of Water,” he said, taking her hand and kissing it lightly. She blushed, snatching it away. Kyros pouted. “You're all so shy.”

 

“Whatever, let's just get on with this,” said an irritated Skyler. Ilias frowned, following the man back towards the Ministry.

 

 

“Skyler,” called Ilias, hurrying to catch up with the man. “Skyler!”

 

The Captain stopped, waiting for Ilias to catch up. He looked away when the man tried to make eye contact with him. “Skyler, why don't you like Kyros?”

 

Skyler sighed, fumbling with his keys to find the right one to his office. “I don't know,” he answered.

 

Ilias's frown deepened. “Skyler.” The Captain tried his hardest not to give in, but eventually he decided he couldn't.

He finally found the right key, unlocking the door and locking it again when Ilias was in. The Captain sighed again, running a hand through his hair as he paced about. “I just have a very bad gut feeling about this,” he admitted, though he knew he himself was unsure of his words. “There's something about him that makes me not trust him.”

 

Ilias drew his brows together, not understanding what Skyler had just said. “But what is it that makes you not trust him? I've known him for a few years, and he doesn't seem too bad. He is a player as nearly everyone knows, and he's quite cocky for a sorcerer his age—”

 

“What?!” exclaimed Skyler, throwing a dubious look at Ilias. “That boy's a sorcerer?” he repeated.

 

Ilias nodded, slightly surprised. “You couldn't tell?” Skyler shook his head. “Ah… Maybe that's it,” he said, thoughtfully stroking his chin. The Captain let his shoulders ease, the tension slowly dispersing.

 

He shook his head again, walking over to Ilias and sitting next to him on the couch. “I still don't think he's trustworthy,” he said, wrapping his arms around Ilias and resting his head on his shoulder. Ilias chuckled.

 

“Of course you don't,” he said matter-of-factly.