Chapter 2

Pale blue sky

The ring was made out of finely polished gold, with a square sapphire set in the middle and two shining rubies at each side.

"The colours of the ring are the colours of the Kingdom's crest," the young King of Baron started to explain. "The blue symbolizes the BaronianSea, but also the freedom of-- "

Golbez interrupted him with a bored snort. "My dear brother, is it the duty of a king to memorize such banal lines and repeat them as often as possible? Humans always search for a meaning, a greater wisdom even in the smallest of things. I thought you, as a Half-Lunarian like me, knew better... Do you really care for such unnecessary things like 'this colour means this and that'?"

Cecil took a deep breath and managed a smile again, although nothing could hide the weariness the constant teasing of his brother had inflicted on his face. "Golbez, the only thing I care about at the moment is your safety. Though I hope that you will stay here in Baron as long as possible, I cannot stop you if you want to go. So please take this. If you ever need help it can open for you many doors."

"If you say so... I think most doors will close again as soon as the people realize who the owner of the ring is. But I'll accept your gift because it seems to make you happy. But does Rosa know that you're giving the Royal Treasures away?" Golbez chuckled.

He turned to go away, as otherwise he would have felt compelled to apologize to his little brother for the last remark. As always, there had been no real need for such words--Cecil had only wanted to be kind to his brother. The point was that Golbez was under the opinion that kindness was definitely nothing he deserved and he constantly tried to convince the other of this by being as cynical and unsociable as possible. However, his efforts proved to be fruitless as Cecil would always react on Golbez's provocations with ignorance or only a patient smile.

This time, however, maybe because the day full of the duties of a ruler had worn out the young King's nerves, Cecil had decided to 'pay back' his brother's mockery.

"Say, Golbez, I was wondering why you always wear black. Wouldn't any colour be good if colours are not important to you?" he called after him. His tone was earnest; it struck Golbez that Cecil wouldn't be able to manage a real cynical tone even if his life depended on it.

He turned around. "Trying to be astute, Cecil, are we? I see your point. But I'm no bauble like this ring and this is not merely a colour. It is part of me," he said, and each word was sharp and aimed at Cecil's tongue to silence him.

For a moment it seemed to have worked, as the Paladin studied Golbez wordlessly and calmly with his blue eyes. Then, for a moment the weariness in his face disappeared and with the matter-of-factness only a man who had overcome his own darkness could possess, Cecil said, "But like this "bauble" your colour might become iridescent if held into the light. Remember this."

Golbez looked at the ring on his black gloved hand and moved it slightly so that the rays of the winter sun were caught in the facets of the jewels, making the colours shimmer and change with each movement. He raised his gaze into the dark blue sky and looked into the light until his eyes hurt so much that he had to close them.

His sight still slightly blurred from looking too long into the sun, Golbez took one last look at the ring before he pulled it off, and stored it away safely in his dark cloak.

"No matter how long I walked in the light, my black hasn't become iridescent, little brother. It has just been bleached…"

Just three days ago, Golbez had left Baron castle, much to the dismay of his brother, Cecil. Golbez was very well aware that the young King of Baron had hoped that he would feel more at ease in the castle, but starting from the moment Golbez had set foot on the Blue Planet, he had known that he couldnever call this place "home". Even more so as most of the people surrounding him had made it very clear that he should disappear back to where he came from as soon as possible. While walking, Golbez remembered once more the incident with the two boys…

"You have killed many people…"

Yes, it was true and he had even enjoyed it. His days under Zeromus had been an endless time of dark deeds committed with red desire for power and blood; deeds that had been planned with an icy cold, emotionless and cruel mind.

"Desire, then again absolute coldness... So opposite, yet both were in my soul..."

He had solely existed for and through these emotions and although the defeat of Zemus had freed him, it had also taken every purpose for living from him. What now reigned the hollow space inside of him was cold logic, maybe cynicism, a heavy guilt he felt with every step he took and a disgust against life in general, but mostly against himself.

"I was not merely a pawn, like Cecil wants to believe. Zeromus had found everything he wished for in my soul... And maybe what he had searched for is still there, somewhere in the ruins of my heart..."

Cecil would always tell others that Golbez had changed, but then why did the people still fear him?

"Useless questions... They know what I did and there's nothing I can do that would bring back the dead or 'make things better again' like so many humans jovially put it… All that is left for me is to live with the guilt and finally die with it," he brooded bitterly, like he had done so many countless times before.

Still, since he had unwillingly been awakened from his slumber on the moon and had been sent to the Blue Planet, too many things had happened to let him just rest in Baron and indulge the loathing of the people. Too many questions were nagging him and he was searching for the one person, who could maybe answer them all… Then, with his thirst for answers quenched, he needed to find a way to rest…forever.

He stopped for a moment, catching his breath, as his thoughts had made him walk faster in fury, and looked up to the sky. There it still towered, icy, calm and nearly unnatural: The Lunarian moon, his former home.

"My home? No…my exile… But also my chance to escape this nightmare of my own existence. If I could just return there and continue my slumber, things would be better for everyone..." He frowned, and then added mentally, "Maybe not for Cecil... He would probably miss me and I..."

He decided to let things rest now before the thought of someone worrying about him made him feel too comfortable, as happiness was a thing he didn't deserve--and did not need.

"Cecil is a fool ifhe would miss me… It must have something to do with this entire Paladin and brother thing that I told himI would return to Baron one day. And that is something that most likely will not happen..."

He felt a sting of guilt at the thought that he had lied to his brother and for a moment the wave of self disgust that swept over him made him feel nauseous.

"Why do things that concern him concern me as well?" It was a fact that otherwise Golbez was rather emotionless--the constant disdain of others around him had become so familiar to him and he himself was constantly filled with so much loathing that every inappropriate mockery he utteredand every insult he received from others seemed natural to him. After all, these situations only proved what he was and what he deserved. However, now and then something still seemed to touch him--much to his dismay.

"I should have known that my brother would give his best to spoil me with needless human emotions... However, she..."

His thoughts were broken by the loud and excited scream of a woman. Golbez raised an eyebrow. This could only mean that he had come close to the gates of the little fishing hamlet and that some citizens of the town had already spotted him. Setting up his best mocking expression, he approached the entrance of town and with it a group of maybe fifteen people, who were looking at him with hostility. Even before he had reached them, though, the people backed away and made place for him to walk through their midst...

As he strode though the lane of people, still the mocking smile on his lips, his boots cracking with a harsh sound on the snow below, he could feel their gazes on him, some hateful, others afraid or confused. A little girl whispered something and was hushed by her mother, while an elderly man mumbled some curses under his breath and a bearded farmer gripped the pitchfork he was holding in his hand more tightly. Finally, Golbez had passed the "welcome committee" and behind him, the people started to chatter loudly. Then, a voice could be heard:

"Best leave this town as soon as possible! We don't want your kind here!"

Golbez stopped and turned around slowly; in the short span of asecond, not one of the people from before was to be seen. Shaking his head slightly, Golbez turned around again and took a moment to check his surroundings. With these few houses it was no problem to spot the tavern which he approached promptly--after all, in there the people couldn't run away from him, could they?

As he entered the sticky, smoky and warm room only a few customers interrupted their discussion to eye the newcomer. The alcohol level of the other ones was that high that they probably wouldn't have noticed the roof breaking down on them, Golbez mused.

Still, he surveyed the room carefully, trying to sense the general atmosphere--now and then some people always came up with the bad idea of attacking him and he wasn't keen on provoking a fight here… However, most customers were probably fishermen and either too drunk or too exhausted to tend to suicidal actions, so Golbez could mainly feel fear or slight aggression and--what was that?

Curiosity?

His gaze went to a young man who had been enthralled in a game of dice with two others and had stopped the game to now watchGolbez with sly eyes and a boyish, but in no respect, innocent smile. Not even Golbez's emotionless stare back was enough to makehim drop his gaze. After a while, he resumed his game.

"Strange fellows exist here… He probably is too drunk to recognize me…" Although the man had appeared sober...

Golbez approached the counter and sat down, not bothering to take off his snow covered cloak. He ordered a beer--not that he was much in the mood for the drink, but it seemed to be the custom of humans that trust often came only in exchange for moneyand since he wanted information he needed to build up some with theformer. At first the barkeeper, a man with lines as deep as the chasm on Mt. Ordeals upon his face, seemed to hesitate to fulfill his order, but as Golbez threw some coins on the table with the words "I'll pay right away", the sense for business won over every shred ofskepticism.

Upon the sound of the coins, the young man from before turned his head in Golbez's direction. Just now Golbez noticed that he and the others were enthralled in a game of not only dice, but also money…

"I wonder if it is illegal… Sounds like something my little brother would forbid." Suddenly, Golbez wondered if in his time as a Dark Knight, Cecil had not liked to play a game of dice and money with the other soldiers, as well. "Why am I thinking so much about him? I'll not see him again, anyway, so best to forget about him right away and concentrate on the task at hand..."

"Here." A mug of beer that had been prepared without proper care was put before him.

"Thank you very much," Golbez said with false politeness. "I also have a question: I need a ship and--"

"Ask in the Town of Baron," the barkeeper murmured and tried to hurry away. He did not go far, though, as Golbez's slender fingers had grabbed his arm lightly, but also firmly enough to hold him back.

"I happen to come from the town of Baron, my good man. I'm searching for a ship passage to Mysidia from here on. You do have a harbour, don't you? Or else where wouldall of the fishermen come from?" He motioned towards the other customers. The barkeeper looked alternately at the fingers around his arm and into Golbez's mocking but calm expression, though he looked less fearful than Golbez might have expected. "He's probably used to strange guys and criminals…"

"Just answer my question and I'm out ofhere…" Golbez added to hasten the decision of the barkeeper.

"We do have a harbour, but I'm pretty sure that no one will give you passage. It might not even be possible, as the sudden cold and the snow made long passages to Mysidia impossible."

"Thank you…" Golbez released the man, smiled slightly and took a sip of the beer.

"Of course… how stupid--a town as little as this has no ships that could withstand the rough sea and the cold winds of a voyage to Mysidia. Maybe they can't even fish… It would explain the crowded tavern," he mused and the sour taste of the flat beer in his mouth did not makehis problems less heavy. "I could return to Baron, but then--"

"You swindler! For that I'll trash your sorry hide!" An angry shout echoed through the room, followed by the sound of glass smashing onto the floor and embarrassed laughter from the young man who had been playing dice.

"What's the matter, matey? Can't lose?"

"Can't lose? I would have won if you hadn't tricked us all! Look at this dice, it has only--"

"What dice?" the young man grinned mischievously.

"This little clown has hid them, but I'll find them well enough. Come here you dirty--"

"Don't touch me!"

It was then that a classical tavern fight began and that Golbez decided that his stay in this establishment had been long enough. Silently and unnoticed, as all eyes were directed on the brawl, he stood up and made his way towards the door, trying to go around the scene of the fight as best as he could. On his way, he effortlessly dodged a chair that someone had thrown at him accidentally, as well as some bottles and glasses and did not even flinch as he saw out of the corner of his eye that the young man had 'rescued' himself on one of the tables near him. Only a second later a body crashed against Golbez's side, making him stumble. Golbez only spared one short, slightly annoyed look down onto the flaxen haired man at his feet, then turned around to open the door--but was held back by two hands grabbing at his clock. He pulled, but the grip around the fabric became even stronger.

"Would you mind helping a person in need?" the man at Golbez's feet asked surprisingly cheerfully.

Golbez only snorted and opened the door, letting the cold air into the room.

"You want to go to Mysidia, right? I can help you!" The clear, boyish voice of the man tried to lure him.

"Of course…" Golbez murmured disdainfully. "As if a little swindler could help me with anything--"

"Careful!" The young man interrupted him and Golbez felt something hard and sharp being broken on the back of his head. With astonishing speed he whirled around, causing the young man hanging on his cloak to let go of it and he grabbed the wrist of the burly man who had attacked him, twisting it slightly. With a little cry, the man let go of the broken bottle in his hand and paled visibly.

"Don’t do this again. You might hurt someone," Golbez noted dryly and released the man, who was staring at him with an open mouth.

The little incident had also attracted the attention of the other customers and most people were looking at the black haired wizard, who, despite the attack of the burly man, was still standing.

"Time to go!" the young flaxen haired man laughed nervously and scurried quickly like some kind of animal on all fours through the door outside, in passing pulling at Golbez's cloak. "What are you waiting for?"

Golbez complied wordlessly, glad to finally be leavingthe tavern. The sticky air in there had made his head hurt. However, the cold awaiting him outside was more biting than before and did not help to lessen the pain. Then, the world became suddenly black before his eyes…