Bags fell to the ground in disgust and relief as Hoi stretched his aching back. When had been the last time he traveled through North Sparrow Pass? Must have been a year ago, with that kid...with Jowy. Still, he'd been a better traveling partner than Zecks...least Jowy spoke more than three words.

Not that Hoi could complain about his new partner. The meager amount of monsters they'd encountered on their way into Highland were usually easily cut down by Zecks's sword. Hoi didn't even have an opportunity to try his father's broadsword.

The blade in question now lay before him on the one solitary bed in his and Zecks's room. The inn they were at now, a small affair in the outskirts of the Highland capital L'Renouille, only had one room available when they arrived. Since they were both tired from the journey, it didn't really matter where or under what circumstances, so long as they had a place to sleep and a roof over their heads.

Zecks was now in a chair next to the bed, sprawled sideways, waist length red hair loose and going absolutely everywhere. He actually looked quite comical, which was opposite his usual dark demeanor. His mouth hung open and he snored quite loudly. Hoi prayed he wasn't going to be like this tonight...

It had actually been quite an interesting journey, no matter what Hoi may think about the companionship. They had ended up in Kyaro like they set out to, but something happened to Jowy or his dad or something, and now Jowy was the head of his household. It was weird...they couldn't even get in to see him. They'd figured they'd try their luck and head on to L'Renouille...but neither expected it to take so long.

Gently, Hoi nudged Zecks's shoulder. When it looked like he'd gotten the ex-bandit awake enough, he said, "I'm going out for a bit."

After he'd deciphered the series of sleepy grunts Zecks replied with as acknowledgment, Hoi left the inn and went for a walk.

The High Priest watched the skies as birds flew by. They swooped and bobbed with the ease that only a fellow bird could match. Were they fleeing? But from what? From L'Renouille, the City of the Damned, where all one could find was death? He could nearly smell the blood of this place... the city's hunger for blood was almost insatiable, and could easily be attributed to its citizens and ruler, along with his son.

Will I ever be called into the war? Sasalai thought. The prince and his generals begin to fight, but I am left behind. Does he consider me unworthy of fighting, or does he have a higher purpose in mind? Long, slender fingers gently grasped the beautifully-sculpted ivory chess piece, shaped like a horse's head; he moved it to the spot a darker-colored pawn sat in, and with a quick pull from his other hand, the pawn was removed from the board, which signified its lack of life. Life? There is no life... no life without a challenge. Agares, you constantly grasp, hoping to keep your mad son in check, but you are doomed. Ruka, you are no better. You reach for the horizon, where your enemies lay, but it will be too late... they are like ants. One ant does nothing, but many can carry a victory certain. There are more than what you think out there.

The game bored him. All games bored him. No challenge to conquer. Jess thought he could threaten him, but his words were just leaves in the wind. Agares hoped to use him, but he was too blind to his own ambitions. Ruka was the greatest threat, but he would be eliminated; the Reaper would come for one so fond of its employ. The chess game was a game against himself; likewise, the game he lived in had the same qualities. He needed to focus. Without focus, there was no victory. Losing victory was more important than losing challenge, though it would hold his interest more if there was no lack of that.

L'Renouille. What an incredible city...certainly not like any Hoi had been to before. Not even Muse was this big, or this grand. There were so many people...people everywhere. Hoi felt a bit conspicuous, but he still enjoyed it.

A call from the sky pulled Hoi's attention up to the clouds. Birds danced and spun in their innate patterns in the heavens, as if proclaiming this city to be the best place to be. It was hard to believe that such murderers could sprout from so glorious a setting.

Hoi shook his head and threw that thought aside. While this was where his family's murderers resided, it wasn't the common people who were responsible. No...it was someone who lived in that tall grey castle on the hill. Who exactly, Hoi wasn't sure, but he would fulfill his promise to his parents. Justice would be had.

The street he was on opened into a large, lush park on the left side. Tables lined the walk, and people of all types sat at these tables, talking and doing various other things. Most everyone had someone to talk to...save one person. He couldn't have been older than sixteen, dressed in formal-looking blue robes, and wearing the most absolutely ridiculous hat Hoi'd ever seen on a live human being. He felt instant pity for him, and immediately took up the obvious cause of cheering up the depressed-looking lonely boy. With a purpose, Hoi marched up to the lad and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Excuse me...anyone sitting there?" Hoi beamed.

I so rule, Hoi thought proudly to himself.

Just as the High Priest started another meditation exercise to help clear his head, he suddenly felt a sharp tap on his shoulder as a voice called, "Excuse me... anyone sitting there?"

Sasalai turned around slightly to see an ugly boy, larger and likely older than himself, staring at him with a smile. He blinked. What in heaven...

"What do you think you're staring at?" he asked with an annoyed glare.

The boy blinked. "Just asking if I could sit with you. Do you mind?"

"Feel free to, if that's what you like."

"Thanks!" He took a seat across from Sasalai, grinning, then studied the chessboard. "Interesting... what's this?"

"What?" The question caught Sasalai off-guard. "You've never seen a chessboard before?" What kind of stupid bumpkin...

"Well, no... a chessboard, you say? Must be a game, then...how do you play?"

Sasalai sighed, exasperated. "Okay... um, where should I begin?"

"Um... how about... what are all these little things?" He raised a hand, pointing to the chess pieces.

"Okay... just let me put back the pieces." He quickly placed the pieces back into their proper position. "Do you see the front line from both of the sides?"

"Yeah... the little ones?" He lowered his head, staring at the board.

"Yes, that's correct. Those are called pawns. They can move forward two spaces on their first turn. After that, they can only move one forward. They jump pieces by going one space diagonally forward."

"Okay..."

"Behind them are all the other pieces. We'll start with the rooks. They're the ones shaped like castles. They can move forward, backward, and from side to side, and they jump the same way as they move."

"Got it..."

"Next are the knights. They look like horses' heads. The way they move is kind of strange; they move two spaces either forward, backward, or to the side, then one space to the left or right of the direction they were moving in."

"Weird... okay."

Sasalai shook his head, trying to clear it up. "Then there are the bishops. They're the pointy pieces. They move diagonally."

The boy shot a glance at Sasalai, then he looked back to the board. What was that all about? he thought. "Okay."

"Then there are the king and the queen. The queen is the most powerful piece on the board; she can move like a rook and a bishop combined."

"Right... she's important."

"The king is taller than the queen, but he's weak. He can move like the queen, only one space at a time. But if he is captured, then the game ends." The game ends when the king is captured. What about the prince? Does the game end then, or do the rules simply change?

"Better remember that..."

"When you put your opponent's king in danger of being captured, then you say check, unless there's no way out of it, then you say checkmate. Then the game is over."

"Check... checkmate. Okay."

"Any other questions?"

"I don't think so..." he replied, smiling. He certainly does smile a lot...

"Okay."

"Um, so... is it okay if I play with you? You'll probably beat me, but..." The boy laughed; the emotion expressed was nervousness.

"If you wish." He gave the boy a rather icy and haughty glance.

"Um... you go first."

Sasalai took the pawn guarding the king on E2 and moved it to E4, two spaces in front of its original position. The boy countered this by taking his pawn on E7 and moving it to E5. Foolish move, he thought, then he moved his bishop on F1 to C4. His opponent deliberated for a moment; he then clutched the pawn which sat on A7 and placed it on A6. Sasalai smirked, then slid his queen from D1 to F3. Victory now seemed certain, unless the boy could counter... which he couldn't, proved as he moved another pawn from D7 to D6. Finishing the game, he moved his queen from F3 to F7, capturing the pawn which sat there. "Checkmate," he announced.

The boy blinked. "Already?" He reached his hand to the back of his head and laughed, obviously embarrassed. "Well... looks that way."

"Of course I won." Did you really think you had a chance?

"Well... interesting game... but obviously, not my thing." He smiled again. Sasalai shivered slightly. Something about that gave him the creeps...

"Look, why are you here? Why didn't the guards catch you?"

"Guards?" he asked, blinking. "I just... walked in. Just got here from Kyaro and decided to go for a walk. Why, did I do something wrong?"

"No... you didn't, but no one except for castle personnel is supposed to be out here."

"Castle...? Ah, no, that wouldn't be me." His face suddenly took on a hard, angry set, but he tried to hide it with some success. "Should I go, then? I didn't mean to cause trouble."

"No, you needn't. I won't tell them about your arrival. They're fools here, anyway."

"Okay, then." He paused, almost regarding Sasalai with suspicion. "What do you mean by fools?"

"They're idiots. The prince is insane, the king has his head in the clouds, and the only member of the royal family with any sort of intelligence is missing for some reason."

"Sounds... interesting, to say the least."

"Yes... so, you're from Kyaro? You don't look like a Highlander..."

"I'm not. I'm from Harmonia. Kanakan." Sasalai blinked, surprised. He's a Harmonian?

"Wow... really? So am I."

"You are? Wow... imagine that. Why're you in Highland?"

"I should ask the same. Why are you?"

"My family moved to Ryube a year ago. They're... they're all dead now, and I'm trying to find the people responsible. We ended up here."

Sasalai could no longer give the boy eye contact, so he bowed his head. "I see..."

"Do... do you know something about it?"

Sasalai swallowed quickly, deciding to give him an explanation. "The one you seek is Ruka Bright, prince of Highland. But you can't stop him. He's a madman, a monster."

"Ruka Bright? Prince of Highland?" He turned his head away, perhaps from reflex. "So... it really was Highland..." He looked up again, staring into Sasalai's eyes. "It... it doesn't matter who he is. My family... my whole family... they all burned alive. I have to do something, right? I can't just sit and let them die uselessly."

Sasalai sighed. "Perhaps... but you've never seen his power. He's killed so many people... he fights like a demon. He's big and strong, and almost nothing can kill him. I wouldn't be surprised if an evil force grants him the powers he has. You wouldn't be able to stop him. He'd eat you alive, then use those sticks on your back to pick his teeth with."

The boy gave him an indignant glare. "They're not sticks! They're..." He sighed heavily. "What does it matter? I guess I'll fail my family again..." He laughed once, sharply and bitterly. "Life's so funny sometimes."

Sasalai raised his head again. "That's too bad..."

"Yeah..." He stared off to the castle, almost like he was lost.

"Yes..."

"Oh, by the way... I didn't catch your name-"

"His Holiness Sasalai, High Priest of Harmonia," a new voice stated. Sasalai turned and saw an angry red-headed man, clad in white and blue, glaring at him hatefully. The boy gave Sasalai a wide-eyed stare.

"Well, well, well," Sasalai said, rising to his feet and returning the man's hate with mere curiosity. "What have we here? Zecks Matiste, the dropout."

Zecks' eyes narrowed and his jaw set, giving him an even angrier appearance. He tilted his head slightly. "I see time's been good to you, Sasalai."

"And I see it's been rather poor to you. I suppose it's the fate of one who gives up their chances so easily, though," he said with an arrogant smile.

He tried to hide it, but the words clearly hit their mark. "My destiny laid on a different path than the ones your oh-so-helpful priests planned out for me." He crossed his arms and laughed quietly, shaking his head. "It's a shame, though...to see you like this. Arrogant... full of himself... I thought you were different from the other Harmonian trash." Who does he think he is?

"Harmonian trash, you say? If we're all trash, then you must be the worst kind. You lost your chances at actually being something, then you lower yourself to call me trash? Who's the worse, the supposed trash or the accusing party who delivered his own fate? I didn't stop you from accomplishing anything; there's no need to carry a grudge for an act which never happened. You'd be a sound judge of trash."

Zecks did not raise his head. "You don't know me.... you don't know who I am. Don't dare presume you can judge me on the hideously small amount of facts you know of me." He lifted his head, giving Sasalai a hateful look. "And they are facts you will not know until the day you die. That's a promise."

"Zecks...?" Apparently the boy finally found the strength to speak.

"We're leaving, Hoi." He turned to leave, not wishing to converse with the High Priest any longer than he had to. So that's his name?

"Goodbye Hoi, Zecks. I pray safe journey for the both of you. Oh, and Zecks?"

Hoi started to leave as well, but as soon as Zecks turned around again, so did he.

"Yes, Your Worship?"

"Don't forget to write." He smiled slightly.

"Don't worry." He walked away, the boy... Hoi... following.

That certainly proved to be informative. He sat back down, allowing himself to slip away into the recesses of his mind, where no pests, such as that Zecks man, lurked.

But there was a monster.

Hoi was hard-pressed to keep up with his red-haired companion. Zecks stormed back down the street, hands curled in fists as he swung them. "Zecks?" he repeated.

"How dare he...he doesn't know me!" Zecks growled. "Trash indeed...he should talk!"

"Zecks, what was he talking about? Dropout? What's going on?"

Zecks didn't reply immediately. He looked as if he was weighing the consequences of telling Hoi what he wanted to know. "It's nothing...don't concern yourself with it." Obviously, the consequences had been too much.

Hoi sighed, beginning to think he'd gotten into more than he bargained for.

Thoughts were swirling in chaos in Zecks' head. He hadn't expected to find Sasalai in L'Renouille...or did he? It almost...it almost had been an affirmation of his suspicions when he found Hoi with him. Had he known? How was that possible?

Slowly, bit by bit, the anger that had swelled in Zecks' chest died away, leaving in its absence a sad emptiness. His wide angry gait slowed and shortened until he was barely walking at all. Hoi slowed to match him, but Zecks didn't look up.

Sasalai...

He remembered him very vividly, even though it had been so long ago. Sasalai had made an impression on Zecks that was still with him today. His quiet, reserved demeanor, his incredible ability at magic, and the strength and poise he carried himself with had always intrigued him. Zecks stood in antipode to everything Sasalai was. Completely unsure of himself, with a tendency to lash out unexpectedly, and there was always something keeping him from mastering the lessons his priest teachers taught him. Sasalai was everything good he was not. There was a time when Zecks aspired to be just like him.

Now...he seemed different. The boy Zecks had known, the one who he'd so greatly admired, had disappeared, and left this man in its wake. The haughty smile Sasalai had given him cut him deeper than any of his words did. If there was one person...one person that he would have spared...he would have begged it to be Sasalai. Now...perhaps this made things easier.

It sure had seemed easier when he first saw Sasalai. The old anger and hatred came bubbling back immediately, as if my some unseen force. Zecks had been consumed with it in those few moments...now it emptied from him like a leak. What happened? Why did he act that way to him? He'd never harbored feelings like that before for Sasalai. Why start now? It didn't make sense.

Zecks came to a stop and turned behind to see Sasalai in the distance, still sitting at the table, mind elsewhere and hand idly playing with the finely carved black king.

His hand came up to his face...to his left eye. He gently touched the scar that lanced over it.

Father...your avenging angel...he's tarnished by innocent blood.

Hoi's voice cut through Zecks' inner musings gently. "So...that's High Priest Sasalai?

"Yeah," Zecks replied.

"Well...that would explain that hat."