EREN & FALDREY.

"Thank you." Eren held his hands together above his chest, interlocking his fingers.

"What for?" Faldrey released his hands which he'd folded behind him, leaving them to swing freely by his side now. He'd gone back to standing like a servant should, after he successfully killed his chuckle.

"For that chuckle. It was musical." Eren complimented, causing blood to shoot back up into Faldrey's face, once again tinging it red.

"Thank you." He muttered, nervously scratching the back of his head, automatically fixing the bow knot of his ribbon.

He felt even hotter when he noticed Eren watching him fix his hair. He was dressed up, and luckily he wasn't wearing any make up today. He quickly withdrew his hand from his hair and brought it to hang beside him.

"I know my sister forced you to always put on a dress, you don't have to be shy about it. She is, and I'm not sorry to say this, cruel at times. If not all the time." He mumbled the last part to himself.

"No, you're mistaken. My Mistress is lovely." He forced that combination of words out of his mouth.

Eren scoffed.

"I assure you I'm not a telltale, whatever you say is safe with me." He chortled. "I'm not trying to force you to tell me anything or put words into your mouth, feel free. And I understand if you don't trust me, we're only just talking for the first time anyway." He found himself almost rambling again. "Why don't we take a seat, please?" He pleaded, "we can't keep standing. I'm getting tired." He added, taking a seat on one of the long benches.

They were all lustred and made of only the finest of woods.

Faldrey cautiously walked over and joined him on the bench. Sitting at the other far end of the bench, creating a safe distance between them.

"I've gotten quite used to standing and lots of other things I wasn't used to." Faldrey spoke as he sat down, with a hint of sadness in his voice.

Eren desisted from probing in that direction, it was only their first conversation and it was finally going well. He didn't want to ruin it.

"I wasn't actually tired of standing, you realise I'm a warrior. I train." He brought up his hand, pulling the long sleeve of his robe up to his shoulders, baring his arm. Eren flexed his muscles for Faldrey to see.

Faldrey couldn't get his eyes off the muscled pretty pecan brown-skinned arm of Eren. The strong desire to reach out and feel, hold, or at least touch flowed right through him but he tore his eyes away and set his gaze on his laps. Avoiding Eren's gaze and hiding his face.

"I used to train back in my village. My father even got me extra lessons with my Stoichi master." He replied.

"Strict one, huh?" He asked casually, not probing. Pulling his sleeve back down. "I have seen my own share of strict parenting. Believe me when I say this."

"I loved my father." Faldrey muttered almost inaudibly.

Eren took note of the tense he used, concluding for himself that his father was dead. Hell, he was here in the Tal Dane's castle, all alone. Even if his father wasn't dead they were better off dead now because there was no hope of him going back. Eren did not want to ruin the moment. He didn't want the first time they shared together to end in unmemorable sadness.

"You know I still haven't gotten the opportunity to ask for your name. I don't want to refer to you as the male maid servant or the Crescent Moon boy," Eren quickly changed the topic, "I want to call you by your given name."

"Byron. My name's Byron." Faldrey blurted out before giving his brain a chance to reconsider.

"That's a beautiful Crescent Moon name," he complimented, "I don't think we've so many beautiful Blazing Sun names."

"Your name is beautiful." Faldrey surprised himself with what he'd just said. Turning to meet the glimmering eyes of Eren.

They held eye contact for a long while, the strong emotions they had for each other almost tangible.

"I'm the Tal Dane's son and heir to the Throne of Fire after all. I need to have a good name so the Infernal Hymns don't sound like shite." Eren joked causing the both of them to laugh.

For the first time in months someone other than Aphrodite had put a smile on Faldrey's face. Faldrey ignored the small voice urging him to tell Eren his real name, there was no Faldrey anymore. But something about Eren made him want to bare himself to him, realistically and figuratively.

They sat there until Aphrodite came skipping to fetch him, his Mistress had summoned for him. That wasn't a surprise, he knew their time together would finally come to an end.

It was an interesting paradox to him; one sibling brought him pain and misery, while the other had him swooning and flourishing in the red heat of an inferno of ecstasy.

EREN

It had been a complete week since the last time they spoke. No day had passed without Eren strolling down to the kitchen grounds, where he would watch Byron work and go about his activities, he found him so graceful. Then they would meet up in the Green House, spending a great deal of time getting to know each other.

Eren couldn't put his happiness into words. To him there were no words that could explain how at peace he felt around Byron, the way Byron laughed whenever he made a joke, the way he always grumbled something new about his Mistress whenever she cut their time together short by summoning him. Eren soon came to realise that behind his straight-faced facade was a once cheerful and free spirited boy who he'd managed to dig out from the trenches, gracing the world with his ever so musical laughter which the birds harmonized to.

But something strange had started to happen. Something that was way beyond Eren's understanding. Just like a telepathic connection, he could sometimes feel emotions that weren't his, remember the delicious taste of meals he'd never even seen, let alone tasted. All of these emotions and memories belonged to someone else, they all belonged to Byron.

He had also noticed that he could just follow the soft chiming in his head and it would lead him directly to Byron. The first time he heard these astral chimes he ignored them, thinking he wasn't the only one who heard them. But a few days ago he followed the soft chiming sound of gracious bells as they grew louder and more frequent, and he ended up right in front of the door to his sister's chamber-room. Snapping out of the trance, he quickly sped back, rubbing his temples and wondering if he had been cursed by Goliath.

Eren was laying on his back, facing the overdone golden paintings on the ceiling of his chambers. He'd sorted himself out, he'd figured out the reason behind the soft chimes. They came with the thought of Byron. Whenever his mind wandered towards the long haired boy, then came the chimes and he could tell exactly where they came from. He hadn't mentioned this to Byron, fearing it might leave him unhinged.

Sighing and rolling to his side, his mind unconsciously wandered. Seeking, reaching, searching before finding the only person that had been on his minds these past few days. Then came the chimes. It wasn't the usual musical chime of about four bells, they sounded just as sporadic as they did whenever he was in his sister's chambers, only this time it wasn't coming from his sister's chambers.

The sound astrally got to him from the castle's fish ponds, which was surrounded by the castle orchard, set far away from any main castle buildings. Wondering what could be making him so tensed at an isolated place, Eren shot up from his bed. Without thinking he quickly tied his mask around his face and sped out of his chambers without throwing on his richly embellished cloak over his tunic and leggings.

Accelerating with every step, the inharmonic chiming of the bells in his head grew louder and louder. He hightailed past the orchard, heading straight for the ponds. On getting there he saw a Byron down on his haunches in front of a pond, transfixed. Staring at the back of the boy's head he quietly, yet not sneakily, approached him.

Byron had his hands in the water, the ripple his hand created in the water was glowing a preternatural blue. The fishes seemed to be attracted to the blue light as they circled and sometimes placed kisses on Byron's hand.

EREN & BYRON

Eren had gotten to where he knelt, noticing his eyes were closed and his brows furrowed in concentration, he didn't want to interrupt whatever Byron was doing. It seemed to soothe him. He got down on his knees beside Byron, watching as the fishes circled the boy's delicate, gleaming hands in awe. That was his first time of seeing a water Stoichi Dakyre perform.

"This is so beautiful," Eren silently muttered, bringing Byron out his head.

He scurried backwards, shooting up from the floor and staring at Eren with wide eyes.

"I wasn't practicing water Stoichi, I promise." Byron apologised hastily, languidly waving his limp wrists beside him to get his hands dry.

Eren's heart ached when he saw the fear in his eyes, slowly getting up from the floor and dusting his knees.

"You're not terrified of me, are you?" He asked with so much hope in his voice.

"No, I'm not. I couldn't be even if you tried to make me fear you." The knot in Eren's chest loosened, his expression softening as he fought back tears of joy.

"You sounded scared."

"I didn't hear footsteps, but all of a sudden I heard the voice of a person beside me. Coupled by the fact that servants are not allowed to use their gifts, of course I was scared, but that was until I found out it was you."

"I didn't mean to creep up on you or anything, I just didn't want to distract you from whatever you were doing. What were you doing?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I wasn't practicing water Stoichi like I said," Byron pleaded with his eyes before taking them away from Eren's, "I was just healing."

"You don't have to explain yourself to me," Eren closed the distance between them, taking Byron's hand into his. "You don't have to at all, okay maybe sometimes you might have to because I'm the Young Tal Dane and I handle servant affairs at times, but asides that you don't have to feel compelled to explain your actions to me."  Eren squeezed his hands gently, causing Byron to flinch in pain. "What's wrong? What were you healing?" Eren examined Faldrey's palms only to find out they were scalded and tiny blisters were starting to form. "What happened to your hands?" His voice grew protective.

"Nothing, just hot tea." Byron gently withdrew his hands from Eren's grip.

"How did you get a hot tea burn all over your hands?"

"I made Metsumi's tea in the way she didn't like it, so she punished me." Byron stated.

Eren fell silent. This was what Byron had to go through being Metsumi's maid. First he had to wear a dress, then for the first time in his life, make tea and serve someone else. Back in his Tribe he had everything done for him, he was cared for by his mother and sisters. But this was what he had to go through now.

What hurt Eren the most was the fact that he couldn't do anything to help Byron. His powerlessness made him hate himself.

"I'm really sorry about my sister," he murmured softly, "when did this happen?"

"Two days ago."

"How come I didn't see it?" Eren puckered his brows at Byron.

"Because I'm quite good at hiding my pain." Byron forced a smile.

Eren couldn't hold eye contact anymore. It hurt way too much seeing the person he so wanted to protect go through so much misery in the hands of his family. Silence fell like a sheer veil between them before Eren spoke.

"Why hasn't it healed completely?" He took Byron's hand back into his, tracing his fingers across the edges of the scald, "you said you were such a good healer."

"I was, back in my Tribe." He emphasised on the fact that he wasn't so sure anymore.

"What happened to your healing abilities?" Eren asked with inquisitive eyes.

"I-I-I don't know, I don't even understand it myself." He said with a teary voice, going back down and resuming his position before Eren came along.

Eren joined him on the ground, watching him as he leisurely dipped his hand back into the water. Recreating the blue light and once again attracting the fishes.

"This is all I can do now, I can only soothe my wounds. I can't heal myself completely." He demonstrated, smiling down at the fishes as they circled him compassionately.

"Perhaps, being at the brink of death drained you of Stoichi and it's taking so much time for you to absorb natural energy because you're not on your island, surrounded by the water sprites and vast seas." Eren suggested.

Byron was silent for a while, considering. But he had strong doubts about that being the case.

"Perhaps," he sighed. His hand still in the water, soothing his wound.

"You sound unsure," Eren didn't fail to catch the tone in his voice. "Is there something else?"

"During the raid, there was this Mage who cast a spell on me. Since then I've not been able to cause more than just a ripple in a cup of water. I feel her spell suppressed my Stoichi and my gift." He voiced his fears.

"Can you remember what the Mage looked like?"

"I didn't quite have the luxury of looking at her face, but she had long red hair."

"Oh," Eren mumbled to himself.

He couldn't remember any Mages with red hair among all the Mages the westerners came with. Even if he did, there was no way he could get her to lift the curse because they'd all returned to the west.

"I'm really sorry you had to go through all that. I was strongly against the raid but I couldn't get my father to reason with me. I was too weak and childish." He apologised, with a handful of bitterness.

"You can't blame yourself, and you shouldn't blame your father either. People are bound to be scared of what they don't understand. The raids date back almost to the beginning of time." Faldrey consoled, with a smile on his face.

"No one knows who these Westies are, all we know about them is that they come from the west. Same with the Mages." Eren sighed, "we control the four elements while they control the element of surprise, which has proven to be a very strong element."

"If only the Dakyres of Ao were still around."

Eren scoffed. "You also believe in the myth? The aether Stoichi Tribe never existed. I find it very hard to believe that there was a time Dakyres had an affinity for all the elements. If that was true we'd all be extinct by now, killing each other off for more power," he chuckled.

"Hence the reason Zaal split them into the four Tribes we know now." Byron supported his point, but it only made Eren laugh even more.

"I'm sorry," he apologised, muffling his laughter, "it's just beautiful how you believe in children bedtime stories."

Byron puckered his lips into a pout.

"And there, that pout," he pointed at his face, "I yearn for it everyday." He looked right into Byron's eyes and the wave of emotions that rushed over him transcended the limits of words. Byron's emotions got to him through thought transference. An ability Dakyres shouldn't be capable of.

He felt everything; Byron's strong feelings for him, his love for his mother who told him all the legend stories he knew, and his strong hope and believe in Zaal.

They spent a few minutes staring at each other, locked in an intense, affectionate eye contact laced with unspoken words.

"I've something to tell you, Byron." Eren spoke, snapping him out of his trance. "Promise me you won't freak out."

"Nothing freaks me out anymore," he joked.

Except the thought of losing you.

Eren heard Byron's thoughts loud and clear, rubbing his temples he started.

"I can hear your thoughts…" he paused, "well not hear, hear. I can't hear all of them just the really strong ones. Ever since the first day we talked I could tell when you were sad, angry, happy or just blank. Void of emotions. I could just feel it, emotions that weren't mine."

Byron was silent, ogling at Eren and blinking rapidly.

"You promised not to freak out," Eren shifted nervously.

Byron took another second to process what he'd just heard, before he spoke.

"Do you hear chimes sometimes?" He arched a brow.

"How did you know that." Eren turned abruptly to face the beauty kneeling beside him. His nerves tensing up.

"My mother once told me about a legend—"

"Oh here we go again, another legend." Eren chuckled and eased up. It was just another one of his mother's legend stories.

"No, no listen to this one. It's a good one and probably the only logical explanation to why you can feel what I feel and hear chimes that lead you to me. Dakyres aren't capable of this, unless you want to believe you're a Mage, like that scary old Westie."

Eren stared at Byron for sometime, looking past just his eyes and right into his head, hearing and feeling. He took notice of Byron's cold sober and decided to not make a joke about this one.

"Okay then, I'll hear. Tell me about this one of your mother's legend stories."

Byron smiled, but fear was welling up within him. If the legend he was about to say was true and applied to the both of them, then the situation was an added obstacle to their already long list of obstacles.

"There's a legend of two antediluvian aether Stoichi Dakyres who were from enemy villages of the Tribe, during the Great War between the Dakyres of Ao. One was the lover and the other one was the beloved. The lover could hear the thoughts of the beloved, feel their pain or ecstasy. But then the lover was killed by a family member of the beloved, which caused the beloved to take their own life, hoping to be reunited with their other half in the Otherrealm. They've long been reincarnated since then, going through with the same cursed cycle in every lifetime." Byron kept his gaze fixed on Eren's wide eyes as he spoke.

Eren stared at Byron, transfixed. Blood draining from his face, and sweat forming on his palms. He swallowed the breath he'd been holding. The stab of fear he was getting off Byron only made things worse.

"You jest," he chortled nervously.

"I wish I was." Byron took his eyes down to his hand which was still in the pond.

"I could be like the fiftieth Dakyre who feels the emotions of the one he's in love with."

The one he's in love with.

It echoed through Byron's head over a zillion times. He couldn't believe the Young Tal Dane, a fire Dakyre loved him. That wasn't what left his head full of holes, the astonishing part was that he loved him too.

The tension between them seemed to drop as they just indirectly confessed their love for each other. Eren felt the strong wave of emotions that came over Byron when he confessed his love for him, he heard his own indistinct confession in his head.

"If the legend is true, there can only be one reincarnation for each of these lovers." Byron stated.

"So what then? We are the reincarnations of these lovers?" Eren chuckled.

"I don't know. But that's the only explanation for your ability to get into my head, unless you want to ask the Mage for answers?" A smirk formed on Byron's lip and he raised an eyebrow at Eren.

"Over my flayed dead body," he spat. Taking a deep breath and letting it all out in a rush, he adjusted so he could face Byron properly. "So hold on a minute, I'm the lover and you're the beloved?" He gestured with his hands, "and on a side note that's completely fine by me." He finished with a chuckle.

"It's likely so."

"But we're both boys, your legend didn't say the aether Dakyres were both men." Eren argued.

"It didn't state that they were both women, or a man and a woman either. My mother wasn't gender specific when she told me the legend."

"Oh." Eren muttered under his breath looking out at the far end of the pond before bringing his eyes to look at Byron's side view. "Believing in fairytales and legends is so fun. Now I know why you hold on to your mother's stories. It lets you escape this awful realm that is our reality."

"Her stories are my last memories of her. I'll forever hold on to them." He whispered down at the water.

Eren dipped his hands into the water, putting them over Byron's. The pale blue light seemed to rise more than a couple lumens, tripling, no, quadrupling in intensity and almost lighting the entire pond.

"I can't heal you, but I can always be here with you." He whispered, looking right into Byron's refulgent hazel eyes. "And sadly all your family members are dead, no one is going to kill me, and no one is going to kill you. If the legend is true, the cursed cycle has already been broken."

Eren spoke so calmly and reassuringly, Byron just wanted to believe him and accept the fairytale life he was trying to paint for the both of them. But that was a luxury Byron knew he couldn't afford. He knew all the obstacles in their relationship were too significant to be ignored.

"You do realise I'm just a walking replenishment for the Mage. All foreign Dakyres on the red sands of the Red Stoichi Tribe are all walking replenishment for that nefarious looking Mage." He stated the obvious, but Eren wasn't going to let the mood die.

He'd have to be dead before the Mage drains Byron of his lifeforce.

"You will never be given to Goliath. Not when I am alive, I'll make sure of that."

"But you're just the Young Tal Dane, your father's decision is supreme."

"I feel like a terrible person for saying this, but there are other Dakyres Goliath would have to drain before you. He wouldn't need your lifeforce until fifteen to twenty years, by then I should be ready to become the Tal Dane and I will do something about Goliath so no other foreign Dakyre in our lands would end up as a life supplement for the foreigner." Eren smiled hearteningly, his hands still over Byron's in a tender touch.

"Thank you." Byron whispered, returning the smile. The only difference was that his smile looked like a thousand glittering stars on a beautiful clear night, Eren was mesmerized by his beauty.

"I want to see you more often," he stated. "How about we meet at the  abandoned castle watchtower close to the rear wall, every night." He suggested.

Byron loved the idea. He was way beyond delighted by the idea. He had been praying for a way to spend more time with Eren and his prayers just got answered.

"How will I know when and on what night to meet you?" He inquired.

"Anytime you see a flaming butterfly by your window, just know it's the messenger of my burning love for you." The glow in his eyes was the only thing Byron cared about at that particular moment.

(Play the song.)