‘I need you here.’
The words rang in his head as he stared at Aeleus. Was it really something that his brother would be so willing to admit so easily like that? If it was something that he needed to hear, yes. Aeleus wouldn’t lie to him without reason.
But this was his brother he was talking about here. This was the man who had his back no matter what happened. The guard he had trained with for years together, they knew how the other fought. The one who they could exchange a glance and know what the other was thinking. Or at least they used to. They hardly exchanged words nowadays it seemed. After nearly a decade of missions and emotionless brainwashing it was more of a miracle the two were so close once again.
Dilan stared back into those bright blue eyes. They were like the sky on a cloudless day. So clear. Aeleus had no trouble knowing where he stood or what would happen. That was one of his better qualities. He could see where the line should be drawn and then choose a side. It was so simple for him. And it should be simple for the lancer and yet….
“He needs me too,” he said softly. Dilan’s mouth felt dry and his arm ached as the pain slowly returned from the potion’s healing magic. He swallowed and turned his gaze away. He couldn’t look him knowing he would break if he did. But from what? Knowing he was abandoning the position he was sworn into all those years ago? He was going through the trouble of trying to put this town and castle back together, it must mean something to him.
This world was important to him. He wanted to see it whole and complete once again. Maybe that is what he wanted more than anything. But it wouldn’t be enough. Something was missing. He couldn’t rest until he knew what it was.
“I… I will be here for the battle.” Slowly he turned his gaze back to his brother-in-arms. He picked his words carefully, no matter what he said Aeleus would still think on them for hours on end. “But once it is done, whatever the outcome, I shall be gone.” To Kingdom Hearts or another World or somewhere in between, he didn’t know yet. But he couldn’t call Radiant Garden home forever.
Was it unclear to him? Aeleus wondered, looking on rather helplessly as Dilan's eyes clouded heavily with thought. Had he somehow misspoken? No, he couldn't have possibly been any more plain with him and yet, the decision seemed to weigh on his fellow guard.
Eons of conditioning, he supposed. The years of anger over a misunderstanding, the blood of battles which they had never wished to fight, the weightless, guiltless title of 'strongest of the Organization' which they had passed back and forth heedlessly, only to discover the repercussions of their actions once their hearts returned and the bloodbath became all too real. Neither had cared for it. Neither had cared for one another. To be entirely truthful, they had been enemies at that time, as much as an emotionless monster of destruction can be. Xaldin had been part of the group that had ensured their first downfall, Lexaeus had been sure of it.
What he hadn't quite realized at that time was that all of them had ensured their downfall. They dug their own graves without even realizing it.
When Even's hunger for knowledge drove him past morality, when Ienzo's overwhelming imagination became a greedy grab for power, when the mischievous glint in Braig's eye became something much more malicious and sadistic. When had the darkness set in for Dilan and Aeleus then? Had Dilan been consumed when Braig swayed him into seeing his own isolation, his quiet and bitter despair? And Aeleus's sin still evaded his memory, no matter how he tried. What had he done wrong? Was he doing it again now? Was this what drove Dilan away in the first place?
He was not foolish enough to ask the meaning behind Dilan's words. For the first time in a while, he was not simply silent, he was struck dumb. The questions that should have been plaguing him, demanding answers were terrifyingly silent while in the darkness of his mind, he could hear it, feel it rattling within his bones like a calling: traitor, weak, destroy. It thrummed like a heartbeat, so subtle, so gut-wrenchingly natural he wanted to scream.
“I want to save him. We’re the last hope he has-” Aeleus began to explain, but he forced himself to stop. He recognized a futile effort when he heard one. The guardian looked away, not because he could no longer stand to gaze at Dilan, but that he could not keep his mind from traveling to dark places as the situation's despair. "Lets get you healed." He said after a moment, shaking his head as though warding away the thoughts, offering his hand to assist once again.















