Here was where it all began. This town...it had changed his life forever. Why was he always inexplicably drawn to it? And only when he felt his lowest? What had occurred that day had been the lowest of the low. It still made Solon sick to think about it. Was he the only one left with morals? With high notions of honor and valor? Was this what Highland was now...a bunch of power-hungry mongrels tearing apart the weak and innocent so as to feel the thin veil of further imaginary power?

That fortress hadn't been a threat to Highland. That was evident in the pitifully small amount of soldiers they took with them this day. Those grassy fields were now stained with the blood of innocents from both sides. He knew the fortress was destroyed. He also knew that there wasn't only soldiers in those wooden walls...

One wouldn't normally describe a soldier as being innocent. They're made and trained into fighting machines, ready to fight and die at a moment's notice. Still...when they go into battle expecting to win, and the cards have already been placed against them by the hands of their own commanders...

The chair creaked under his weight as he shifted again, the metal of his armor clanking as he leaned back. A goblet of wine sat untouched in front of him, it's dark liquid shifting slightly as his movement disturbed the table. Solon's attention was held fast by the crimson liquid, rolling slowly over itself as it settled back to rest. A goblet of wine...a goblet of blood...they would be undistinguishable next to each other. So, when Solon drank from the glass, would it be wine or would it be blood? It seemed as if he sipped from the bloody chalice on a daily basis...he wondered briefly what it would be like to sip wine, just once...

A soldier entering the inn brought Solon from his trance. The boy looked about, then saw the massive Highland general and headed toward him. He saluted, then handed Solon a piece of paper.

"Message for you, sir. From Lieutenant Triste," the boy crisply said.

Solon carefully tore the seal with his massive fingers and read the contents. It seemed only a courtesy message, telling the general that they'd returned to L'Renouille safely, and it also told of the final casualty count...and told of their victory.

A hastily added bit was at the end. It sounded more as a concerned friend than second-in-command.

"Lord Jhee, Prince Ruka's asking about you. I can't hold him off forever. Please, return quickly.

-Sano"

"Sir, I'm to escort you back to L'Renouille," the boy said. At Solon's malicious glance, he shrank back slightly and added, "At your convenience, of course, my Lord..."

Solon folded the message, then quietly said, "I'm going to finish my wine. Wait outside."

The boy gave a hasty salute, then dashed from the room. Solon sighed and let the paper fall to the table. "Lord Ruka wishes to see me," he muttered to himself. "Can't live a moment without the eternal focus of humiliation."

"General Solon Jhee?"

Solon sighed angrily. "I thought I told you-" He looked up and realized that it wasn't the soldier he'd sent outside. "Excuse me...can I help you?"

"General Jhee," the boy began. "I'm Marco Atreides. May I tempt you for a drink? My treat."

Solon leaned back slightly. "No thank you...my wine is enough. Is there something you need?"

The young Atreides helped himself to a nearby chair. "Being a high-ranking Highland General such as yourself, surely you must have heard the going-ons in this quaint village. Especially such as to do with the Atreides Clan."

Solon paused. "What I have heard is sketchy at best, and probably fairly old. I've been...busy...as of late."

"Well..." Marco continued, "the head of the Atreides Clan had died, and now Jowy Atreides is the new leader." He leaned over to discretely whisper in Solon's ear. "But just between you and me, I heard he was planning to spend funds to aid Jowston."

The Highland General leaned over, lowering his voice as well. "Aid Jowston? Why would he do such a thing?" He paused. "Though I must say, it's a bit suspicious that a member of the Atreides clan would be reporting on their own leader...what's your story?"

"As a member of the Atreides Clan, and one who has truly pledged allegiance to Highland, I am genuinely concerned." Marco paraded on. "After the death of his best friend in the Unicorn Brigade, my brother trusts Highland no longer. Thus, he plans to aid Jowston over Highland. Who knows? Perhaps me may turn against King Agares himself."

Marco gave Solon a sly look to check the reaction. Sure enough, the Highland General was acting in his favor. "Aid Jowston?" Solon said gravely with another pause, "I can't allow that...more innocent lives could be lost."

'Fwahaha, the poor peasant is eating right out of my hands.' Marco grinned snidely to himself. Placing a hand on Solon's armored shoulder, he stood. "I'll tell you what. My sources say the current head Atreides is headed this way. See what you can do."

Giving a two-finger salute, the younger Atreides left. Solon pursed his lips, muttering quietly to himself, "All the lives lost...all the blood that's been spilled...and he wants to continue the war by funding the other side? I cannot allow this..." He gripped his sword handle. "Let him come and we'll see if I can't change his mind."

Jowy looked at the letter again. "Please come to the bar at the inn. Someone is waiting for you." he read to himself. He had a bad feeling about this - too obvious a trap setup. A letter written in Marco's handwriting given by an anonymous person. Still, Jowy had nothing better to do, and he was half curious to know what Marco was up to. At half best, Jowy could apologize to the person Marco manipulated.

He entered the bar. The place seemed less crowded than usual, being away from prime hours and all. Only the local drunks were still around. To the back, however, sat a gray-haired man dressed in regal stone-grey armor. From the looks of him, he was definitely a high-ranked Highland General - no, Solon Jhee himself. What was he doing here? Jowy looked at the letter once more.

"The letter says... table closest to the back wall." he repeated quietly. That was that. He approached Solon, albeit cautiously. "May I help you?"

An irrational red haze had fallen over Solon's mind. All intelligent thought was wiped clean from his head, replaced with the anger at the allegations. Did this boy not know how many lives rode on this "contribution" of his? "Are you the leader of the Atreides clan, Jowy Atreides?" Solon asked in a low tone.

Jowy braced a mental shield. From the tone of Solon's voice, he was not too pleased. "Yes I am. And you are?"

"General Solon Jhee of Highland." Solon stood, hand near his sword. "I've heard some distressing things about you, Sir Atreides. Things that need to be corrected."

'He's arming himself…' Jowy thought. He backed up at a somewhat safer distance. After all, the younger boy was unarmed. "...I don't understand what you're talking about."

"Don't play the fool to me, boy." Solon drew his sword very slowly, pointing it at Jowy's head. "I'll teach you the error of your ways..."

Does he not know that his money will only kill more innocents? Damn him! I'll beat the very thought out of him!

Jowy backed up some more. He was confused - apparently he did something wrong, but from all the recent events he couldn't imagine what exactly. "I still don't understand, what do you mean by error of my ways?"

The people in the bar now watched Solon and Jowy with great intent. They had no intentions on joining in the fight for they were too frightened to tangle with a Highland General. Solon moved only slightly, accompanied by his heavy breathing. Jowy watched the masses, yet kept the corner of his eye reserved for Solon should he pounce.

'He's serious...' Jowy resolved. Quickly, he glanced around for any sort of makeshift weapon in case Solon does strike. Behind him was a broomstick. Perfect. He slowly inched away, then snapped the stick away from the broom. Twirling the staff like a baton, near effortlessly, he snapped it behind him in his fighting stance. He realized by now that words would fail in piercing Solon's anger. But still, it would be good to know why Solon was angry in the first place. "Does this have to do with the Unicorn Brigade?"

Solon, as well, went into a more serious fighting stance, seeing that Jowy was now armed. "In part...but not wholly. This has to do with everyone in Highland!"

The Highland General lunged at Jowy with a forceful, precise side swipe. Jowy dodged, but Solon quickly followed up with a forward slash, giving the blond boy barely enough time to leap away. Solon hopped upwards slightly, then came down with a slanted thrust. With his natural dexterity, Jowy blocked the strike by tipping over the flat of Solon's sword, but barely.

"Did you think such an action wouldn't be noticed?" Solon continued, "You disrespect the many who've fallen to create this country for you!"

Along with his voice, his attack intensified. Solon feinted a handle strike, to which Jowy noticed, then struck low. Jowy parried by blocking Solon's hand. With a growl, Solon shoved his sword upwards, then thrust his weapon downwards. Jowy shoved the makeshift staff upwards at Solon's sword hilt to block. He winced - Solon was much stronger physically and Jowy could barely contain the blow.

'I can't keep this up much longer…' Jowy cringed, quickly thinking of how to end this senseless battle. 'He's too angry to listen to reason. Perhaps just one more try...' "Tell me what I did wrong so I can amend my mistakes!"

"Traitor! How could you dare to say you'll amend, when the funding you'd give to Jowston would destroy lives that cannot be fixed!" With a yell, Solon exerted his force to shove his sword downwards, snapping the broomstick in two.

Luckily, the broomstick caused Solon's blow to barely miss Jowy's chest, but at the cost of its life. Jowy dropped the pieces and stood in place. Now he understood…somewhat. Funding for Jowston, where did those ideas come from? Nevertheless, this is what Solon believed, and it was Jowy's responsibility to try and meet in the middle. He was not going to run anymore. "...So that's what this is about. I have no intentions on aiding any side's war efforts, or creating more bloodshed..."

"What of your friend in the Unicorn Brigade?" Solon snapped, interrupted, his words biting.

"…He's dead."

"And with that knowledge, you'd try to slip your way out of the truth. You... contemptuous hypocrite!" Solon cried.

All rational thought ceased to be. Only the red rage of indignation, of hatred for himself and the very idea of what the boy wanted to do, the guilt and shame of the past few days...it all crashed into one moment and literally drove Solon mad for that brief instant. With his final statement, he pulled his arm back and started forward, ready to slash down with a heavy stroke.

Then, the instant passed. Having regained himself, Solon watched in terrified awe as his arm swung down, aiming for the boy's head. What had he done, in fact? Was there any proof? How was he to know this wasn't an elaborate hoax? What the HELL am I doing?!

From pure instinct, nothing else, Jowy felt himself raise his left hand, summoning a mysterious force from his right hand, through his body, to the left. An image of a jagged black sword, outlined in red, shone. Then, a black light engulfed Jowy and inflated. Larger and larger, made of pure dark energy.

Solon felt a tingling sensation as the spell was cast. He realized too late what was going on - too late to summon his Mother Earth Rune…

Then, everything exploded.

When the dust settled, Jowy's heavy pants could be heard. Sweat trickled down the side of his head. Not sweat from exhaustion, more from fear.

"What was… that…?" the young man wondered aloud.

The bar was near totally destroyed. The damage was close to irreplaceable. The wood furniture had shattered into a combination of debris and splinters. The floor had caved in. And in the midst of that crater was Solon. He stirred slightly. "Powerful…" he muttered raspily, spurting a few wet coughs.

Marco peered in through a newly made window and surveyed the damage. 'This is not good... I wasn't expecting this to happen. Nonetheless, I can use this situation to my advantage.' He left before anyone noticed his presence.

The Highland General struggled until he sat up, then fell over onto his hands and knees. Jowy walked over to the fallen general and went on one knee. "Please let me help you now."

Damn...everyone wants a piece of my pride today... Solon swiped at him with an arm, driving him away, and fell further forward in the process. He coughed again, and this time blood dripped on the floor beneath him. "I...don't need your help. Ever. Just get away from me." The pain of shame and the literal pain screaming in every nuance of his body weighted down his voice, but he wouldn't allow himself to have complete humiliation. He would walk out of here on his own power. He struggled to his knees, his breath heaving gasps.

"…………"

Solon struggled to his feet, leaning heavily on his sword, and slowly made his way to the door, leaning on whatever's available. He wiped his chin before going through the door, determined to keep his image. He never looked back.

The sky was growing dark. Sano stood in the gardens at the front of L'Renouille castle, hoping maybe to avoid notice amongst the greenery. He was angry with Solon for leaving so suddenly, and doubly angry that he had to make excuses for his commander. What was he thinking, leaving like that? Prince Ruka's probably furious at him. Still...I don't think Lord Jhee cares anymore about what Prince Ruka thinks.

A commotion at the castle' s entrance broke into Sano's thoughts. He watched as the guards opened the wrought-iron gates and saluted. At first, it seemed they'd opened it to a ghost, since no one came through for a while...then someone did. A large man on horseback...but the man was stooped over in seemingly horrible pain, and the horse barely moved forward in an effort not to injure its master further.

Sano hurried through the foliage to meet the horseman. What the hell happened? "Lord Jhee, what took you? Are you alright?"

It took all of Sano's reserve not to gasp as Solon slowly lifted his head. He regarded his second with glassy eyes, then coughed again, blood running anew from his mouth. In the dwindling light, Sano could see the man's chest was covered with red, as well as his saddle. He'd been this way for quite a while...

"Lord Jhee, let me help you-"

"NO!"

Sano stopped abruptly at Solon's sudden emphatic response. "But, sir..."

"It's...nothing. Just leave...me...alone..."

"Sir--"

"I said, leave me alone!" Solon swung out at Sano, making the young man jump back. The general slowly and painfully dismounted, then began a slow walk inside the castle. Despite his previous "orders," Sano followed close behind. A trail of blood marked their inexorable trek through the castle.

Sano quickly assessed Solon' s condition. I can' t see any visible wounds, but who could wound him with all that armor he wears anyway? So, it must be magic. Must have been some very powerful magic to hurt him this bad, despite his Mother Earth Rune...

Suddenly, Sano's thoughts connected. The weight...that weight he was carrying...it finally broke him...

They were about to reach Solon' s private quarters, and thankfully no one had seen them. The great man reached for the door handle, but was suddenly overcome by another coughing spell...this one much worse. It didn't stop, either.

Solon fell to one knee, one hand grasping the door handle, while the other was pressed on the floor, giving him support. Blood pooled beneath him as he coughed it up. Finally, as the fit subsided, Solon opened his eyes and looked at the floor...into his own blood.

A man Solon didn't know looked back at him in the reflection.

Bloody chalice...

The reflection was broken up by something... Ripples flowed through the glassy surface, then quieted, showing the face once more. Something flashed as it slipped off the cheek of the man and broke the surface again.

It was blood...

Solon's vision started growing dark as he fell forward to the floorstones, his head resting in the reflection. Dimly, he heard Sano call his name from somewhere far away.

I want to sip the wine...just once...

The world went black.

It took all of Sano's strength to pull his commanding officer into his chambers and onto the bed. The gray paleness of the man's features worried Sano to no end, not to mention the wet, rasping breathing that faintly echoed from his gaping mouth. He knew he had to do something quickly.

The second's gaze fell onto the shimmering blue Rune on the back of his hand. It may not be enough...but at least it's something. He raised his hand and called upon all the power the Rune could give, willing it to heal the man he looked up to, earnestly wishing it could mend his broken spirit as it mended his broken body.

After long, tiresome minutes, Sano's hand fell. The Rune was spent. Thankfully, the general looked to now be sleeping peacefully, the wet gurgling sound in his breathing finally gone.

Another few minutes, and Solon's heavy plate armor sat in a pile next to the bed. Sano moved to the door, pausing one last time to look behind him at his commanding officer.

Please, Solon...whatever it takes...please find the peace you long for.

The door shut with a soft click.

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"Jowy", "Solon" and "Suikoden 2" are (C) Konami, 1999. This chapter was posted on December 3, 2000