The Three Dark Angels

Mrs. Marie Stapleton was just about the epitome of what an average middle aged brunette should look like, including her reading glasses which she was currently wearing as she focused on whatever papers were in her hand. Her brown eyes rose to Sabrina as she approached, and her face shifted to concern.

"Sabrina? What's wrong, you look pale, really pale." Marie said as she dropped her papers on her desk and stood.

"Really? Is it that bad?" Sabrina asked as Marie walked around her desk and stood before Sabrina.

"Tell me it's not something with Benjamin is it? He hasn't left his room since you had put him to bed and no one has been up since."

Sabrina shook her head. "No...it's, it's Aegis."

Fury lit up in Marie's eyes. "What did he do? He'd better not have done something to you. I don't give a shit if he's eighty feet tall, I'll flatten his ass in minutes."

"N-no, it's not that, he didn't do anything to me at all. But...at the Tournament tonight...something happened, and I don't know what exactly it was. All I heard is that he and Angelus both went crazy and almost killed people tonight. I just-I have to see and hear it directly from them. I mean...the Grand Dragoon supposedly had to step in to stop the two of them, and that's..." Saying it all at once like that had shaken Sabrina up, and tears were now in her eyes threatening to spill out.

Marie put her hands on Sabrina's shoulders. "Go do what you gotta do. You're a mess right now, so go find out what's going on. Leslie's working tonight, right? I'm sure she'll be happy to look after Benjamin, and I'll keep an eye on him as well."

Sabrina smiled slightly. "Leslie already offered, it was she who practically forced me to come see you."

"She's a good girl, and she's right. That story sounds pretty serious, especially if the Grand Dragoon had to get involved, so go find out what's going on, and let me know if it's serious enough that you won't be able to come in. I'll understand."

'Sure, that lifeless bastard isn't doing anything to hurt this poor girl, not at all.' Marie thought to herself as Sabrina threw her arms around Marie.

"Thank you, thank you so much!"

Marie returned the gesture and patted Sabrina on the head. "Get going, and I hope things work out."

"Thanks, you're the best!" Sabrina said as she practically ran out into the night.

Although it was a cold night out, the cold was the least of Sabrina's concerns as she walked at a furious pace, her thoughts dwelling on a past that she had thought was behind her, behind them. Sure, sparks of that side emerged from time to time over the years, but it was never anything serious, and she had never seen those eyes again in any of them.

But she knew, she just knew that tonight, those eyes had surfaced from the dark depths of whatever it was that was hidden within them, and in the complete open during the Graduate Tournament! Those men were right, if that had been taken over and they had not been stopped...Sabrina didn't want to think about that.

With that Palace so far out, however, Sabrina knew she was going to have plenty of time to dwell, despite how much she didn't want to. Instead, she thought about what Aegis would tell her if he was standing next to her.

He would say something along the lines of 'don't jump to conclusions', and 'the best way to deal with life's problems is to keep walking forward, no matter how difficult it seems'. Even if it is a worst case scenario, no matter what it is, it didn't mean that Benjamin's life would stop. There will still be a tomorrow for him, and Sabrina needed to be there for him so that he would not be forced to live the kind of life that herself and the boys and been forced to live. She needed to protect him from that.

And step one was getting answers. She couldn't make any decision about anything without solid answers. What's done has been done, so it can't be changed. But, there could be something to learn, something new and important to understand. That would be how Aegis would do things, and that is how Sabrina is going to do this.

The deep past came back to haunt Sabrina during her walk to the Palace, and the pain and misery that was her existence back then. And how Aegis had saved her, pulling her from the dark depths of her prison and gave her a life again. It was during that time that she had seen those eyes.

The first night, her memory of that night was fuzzy at best (as was most of her memory during that time) but somehow, the sight of those eyes was something she had clearly remembered, and that it was she who had stopped Aegis from killing that guy. It was that night that their life together had more or less begun, even though neither of them had really realized it at that time.

The second time was more clear, and it was an image she could replay in her head perfectly. The way Aegis stared at Tristan with the knife at Tristan's throat. The way his eyes widened, almost as though he would transform into some monster, and the way the red flooded into his eyes like a poison. Then his expression changed, changed drastically. So drastically that she had actually thought for a moment that Aegis had changed into something else with that...hungry look he had possessed. Hungry for life, ready to devour it right there. But when he had looked at her, his expression had changed back to the real Aegis. She had somehow called him back a second time, and that monster had vanished back into the depths.

She was sure it had happened a third time as well, but, she had not been there to witness it. But that had been the last time. Not since then had it surfaced, and that was almost five years ago in all three of them, and she had learned of the other incidents as well.

It had actually been a major topic of discussion before they had left, and was one of the reasons why they had been trying so hard to dodge being drafted into either the Conscripts or the Dragoons for years. Neither of them were sure just how something like that would go with something like this just hanging over their heads, ready to strike at a moment's notice. Unfortunately, they had finally been cornered and they had been forced to choose. Ironically, it was Angelus who made the suggestion that they join the Dragoons, and Aegis agreed based on the idea that the Dragoons' training could help them learn better control of their inner demons.

When they left, it had been very difficult first few weeks for Sabrina, stressful days and sleepless nights, and a good portion of that time crying and worrying about them. But the letters from Aegis always came in on time, informing her that everything was fine and that she had been worrying over nothing and she adjusted to life without the boys. Truth be told, Benjamin considerably helped her make that adjustment, since Benjamin, in a way, filled the void that the boys had left.

Sabrina would end up reliving most of her past life two to three times before she had finally had walked past the fields and the Palace of Ascendance really started coming into view. It never ceased to amaze her with it's sheer size, and she stared in awe as she approached it. It was strange, being so small when compared to something that was built by human hands rather than it being a natural formation of some kind. She wondered just how many people helped build this place through it's time, and how those people would feel upon seeing it as it is today. It was nothing less than breathtaking.

"Excuse me, miss?" A strange voice cut in and broke her from her trance, not realizing that she had been approaching the first arch where a few Conscripts had gathered in front of her, with one separate one standing before her.

"Oh, oh! I'm sorry, here uh...just give me a second." Sabrina began searching for her pass in her hand bag.

"I'm sorry, even if you have your badge, we cannot let you in tonight, the Palace is on lock down."

"What!?" Sabrina shouted as her eyes rose to the Conscript before her. "B-but-"

"I'm sorry, but because of what happened at the Graduate Tournament-"

"I know what fucking happened! That's why I'm here!"

"Miss, please calm down-"

"I can't fucking calm down! I don't know what the fuck happened to Aegis or what they're going to do with him! How the fuck am I supposed to keep calm when you're telling me that I have to wait until fucking I don't even fucking know when to find out what's going to happen to them!?" Sabrina was now shouting and crying at the same time.

"Excuse me but, did you say Aegis, as in the Graduate Aegis who was taken in this evening?"

"Yes! He's...he's very important to me, no matter what you people say, and I want to know what is happening with Aegis right now!" Sabrina shouted, stomping her foot for good measure, though her tears slowed down.

The Conscript looked at the others behind him with an awkward look, not really sure what to do until he shrugged his shoulders and turned back to Sabrina.

"Look, I'll escort you in. I can't promise that you'll see Aegis, but I'll try to find out as much as I can okay?"

"(sniffle) Okay..."

"Before that though, I'd like to see your badge, okay?"

"Okay, um, sure, and thank you so much." Sabrina said as she reached into her bag once more, this time pulling out her badge. The badge was little more than a copper type coin that fits in the palm of a hand. On both sides was the crest of the Dragoons, a dragon that was in a complete circle and gripping it's tail with it's teeth, signifying the eternal life of the Dragons since it could fully complete the circle of life. Birth, death, then reborn once more, reincarnating into even more supreme beings until this world could no longer contain them, and they departed to join the stars.

This was also how they were coded. The dragons on both sides of the coin were two different colors, red and orange, and the color of the coin was blue, and these were changed once a year.

Mass stores of the badges were kept at the Palace, deep in it's recesses and carefully guarded to prevent theft. When it was time for the yearly switch, the next color was decided, sent out to where ever the Dragoons and their families were stationed, and all family members related to the Dragoons were expected to come and switch badges, which started tonight on the new year, and the thirty day grace period to change the badge would last until the first of Aprilis, which was next month.

The Conscript nodded at the badge. "Okay, you're good. Oh, while you're here, you might be able to get your badge changed tonight since the new ones should be available starting tonight."

"Oh yes, thank you, that's right, I can do that too. Thanks so much for reminding me of that, and for doing this. This won't cause any trouble will it? I mean, I don't want to be thrown into Confinement, now that I think about it." She said as the two of them began walking together.

The Conscript shook his head. "Nah, they won't do anything to you. Now me on the other hand, I'll probably face some heat for this."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. I just feel bad for you, that's all. From the way you are acting, it seems like Graduate Aegis isn't the type to do what we heard him do tonight."

"No, he isn't. But I wasn't there, so I don't know what exactly happened. That's why I wanted to see him. I wanted to make sure it's okay and hear from him what had happened tonight."

The Conscript remained silent, and Sabrina turned to him. "Did you see what happened?"

"No, but..."

"But what? What is it?"

"...we saw and heard it all the way out here. The fireball explosion, we didn't actually see it, but we did hear a little echo of it. But, when Aegis had used Fury of the Skies, we both saw and felt that all the way out here."

"...all the way out here?" Sabrina asked, and the Conscript nodded.

"...that's pretty powerful." Sabrina commented blandly, not wanting to say the obvious burning truth. For that to have been felt all the way out here, yes, it was very possible that Aegis could have killed hundreds in a flash tonight.

Regardless of the darkened and silent mood that fell over Sabrina as she and the Conscript approached the Palace, she could not stop herself but stare in awe several moments once she had entered the Palace for the first time in her life. And the first question that came to mind was how the fuck did it seem so much bigger from the inside?

The Conscript led Sabrina through the giant hall, yet another long and silent walk, and Sabrina was thankful that the Conscript had respected her desire for the silence. The double doors at the end were also magnificently white, with gold handles and the crest of the Dragoons in shining gold on each door. The Conscript opened the doors to something Sabrina had been expecting. It was a smaller reception/office area, with a reception desk directly in front of him and a middle aged woman wearing a yellow Dragoon robe, the rank of Adept, the next rank above Graduate, sitting behind the reception desk. The woman's eyes rose to see both the Conscript and Sabrina, and raised an eyebrow.

"You do know the Palace is on lock down, so why is this woman here?" She asked the Conscript, and Sabrina found herself immediately disliking this woman based on that tone that she spoke with.

"She's involved with Graduate Aegis." The Conscript answered, and the woman's eyes shifted to Sabrina. The Adept regarded her for a moment before speaking.

"Badge?" She asked, and Sabrina showed it to her.

"...The Grand Dragoon and Master Phoenix took him, along with Graduate Azreal and Graduate Angelus, upstairs to the Grand Dragoon's office. Master Phineas and Master Rubadron also went up there just a little while ago, and I have not seen or heard from any of them since." The Adept explained, and Sabrina hung her head.

The Adept sighed. "While you're here and waiting, give me your badge and you can get the new one tonight. I'll have someone go get one for you. While you wait you can sit on that couch against the wall over there, or even take a nap if you wish. And don't worry, you won't get into trouble while you're here, since I will be accepting full responsibility."

Sabrina nodded, handing over her badge. "Sure, and thank you."

"You're welcome. Just remember that you're in the Palace, so please stay out of trouble."

Sabrina nodded, then turned to the Conscript. "And thanks for all of your help." She said to him, and he nodded.

"You're welcome, and I hope things work out. If you'll excuse me." He said as he turned and walked through the double doors.

Sabrina did a double take of the area as she walked over to the couch. Perhaps the most surprising part about this particular area was how...normal sized it looked. Sabrina felt like she was now inside a building, and that giant hall just outside the double doors was actually the outside world. The ceiling was normal height, as was this reception area, and along the sides of the walls were a number of doors which seem to lead to simple single room offices. Directly behind the reception desk was the staircase which led upstairs, and that was all there was to see.

Sabrina sat down on the couch, and upon realizing how comfortable it was, suddenly grew tired and laid down on the couch. Sabrina's eye lids also suddenly felt heavy, as though weights were pulling them close, and fell asleep almost instantly.



Azreal could have sworn that this was the absolute longest period of time that he has ever gone without speaking his entire life. Then again, he never had such a fear of speaking before in his entire life.

The Grand Dragoon and Master Phoenix had led the way here, making small talk the entire time, and all of the guards that they had passed along the way had given them strange looks, some curious, and some fearful. But no one said a word, and there was little more than silence as they walked by.

After climbing two flights of stairs and navigation which the Grand Dragoon had memorized, they made their way to the office of the Grand Dragoon, and upon seeing it, the general first impression was that it was so...simple.

There was a desk, a giant engraving of the crest of the Dragoons behind the desk, two chairs up against either side of the wall, some cabinets behind the desk at the corners of the wall, and a couch which was in front of the desk, with built in wall candles which were scattered about, and all of them were lit.

The Grand Dragoon had instructed them to sit on the couch and patiently wait, and though he didn't say that they couldn't talk, he didn't try to encourage it either. So the three of them waited in silence while The Grand Dragoon and Phoenix talked. Some time later, Master Rubadron, and later Master Phineas joined them. It was here that the Grand Dragoon sat everyone down, having his masters pull up the chairs in the room on either side of his desk facing the three Graduates almost as though they were judges, Aegis noted to himself. Angelus and Azreal both thought the same thing.

"I would like to begin with this. Not a single word of this conversation is to take place outside this room unless I or one of the Masters present directly says otherwise. Is that clear?" The Grand Dragoon asked, to which the three Graduates nodded.

"Yes, Grand Dragoon." Was the unified response.

"Good. Now, my first question to you is that does the name Balnakaru mean anything to you?"

The eyes of the four Masters that were present widened immediately and they turned to the Grand Dragoon in surprise, wondering why he had pulled that name out of the hat.

Azreal and Angelus shook their heads, but Aegis' eyes narrowed. "I think so sir, it seems to ring a bell, but that was when were at Overlook over ten years ago."

"You lived in Overlook?" The Grand Dragoon asked.

Aegis nodded. "We weren't there the day that Overlook was burned. We had been sent out somewhere. I believe it was for survival training, but that is not clear. In any case, once we saw that Overlook was no more, we departed and did not look back."

"What else do you remember during your time in Overlook?"

Aegis shook his head. "Little more than that. I do recall that we were being trained in some way...but for what, I don't know."

The Grand Dragoon's eyes narrowed. "Actually, I think you do, because I have an interesting fact to point out to you. Yours is not the first 'blood eyes' I have seen, as I have come to call it."

The three Graduates blinked at this.

"I'll start from the beginning and help put the pieces together. Forty or so years ago, when I had first joined the Dragoons in the 1990s, an individual named Balnakaru had also joined and the two of us were in the same Candidate Class. He was a NoName back then, just as he is today. No family, no lineage, and no background. But, he was also extraordinarily gifted, and many questioned what his background was, but Balnakaru never spoke of it. He performed his duties as a Dragoon with exceptional quality, without complaint, and he remained distant and withdrawn. Since he had never caused trouble, no one had any complaints and virtually no one paid attention to what he was doing. The closest thing he had to a friend is myself at the time, for a number of reasons. Regardless, we ended up in the same unit after our Graduation and were friends during our first few years."

"Fast forward five to ten years later, it was discovered that he was performing some sort of horrific experiment on humans, and when I first witnessed it, my first thought was this was something that didn't belong in this world. I myself was an Adept at the time waiting for my promotion for Junior, hadn't spoken to Balnakaru for around two years after the two of us were reassigned, had no business to see what I had seen, and the only reason I had been summoned was because of my past connection to Balnakaru."