Unlikely Friends

A shiver went down Kyros' spine as he looked in Tullos' eyes. He heard him clearly when he confessed to his murder in a previous life. Although, was it actually a murder what he did back then? Only him and Sky could tell what was the actual truth. In a way it was strange that only Kyros didn't know the whole story or more like, for now, he wasn't allowed to hear it. On the other hand Sky was quite content with the current situation, despite the fact that she disliked the idea of putting her own soul mate through the emotional turmoil of not knowing how and why he had harmed others in his previous life.

Right now they were all standing face to face: the killer, the captive, and the murdered. Unanswered questions and suspicions started to take shape in their minds and hearts. What was going to happen to them next? Would Tullos be killed by Sky, now that she had a reason to do so? Would Kyros ask for revenge for a life he could not even remember properly? These questions loomed in on their minds in one form or another as they were all looking at each other with an intense look in their eyes. Still, only the demoness seemed to seek the chaos and pain that could result from this whole situation, that's why she remained silent.

As a matter of fact, the frightening demoness that killed Frederique and who with a single spoken mental word could cause pain to their minds was currently sitting right there, floating in the air calmly, peacefully, and simply looking at the two of them with a smirk on her lips. She clearly enjoyed thinking about the possibilities this situation could unfold into and the one she was opting for was one in which Tullos was submitted to a painful death by her or Kyros' hands.

While she was thinking about more morbid stuff, Tullos and Kyros experienced something new. They were more aware of each other's presence and despite what had happened until now, none of them appeared to be bothered in the slightest by the demoness being so close to them. They knew or rather they felt like they were not going to be harmed by her, at least for now.

“You...” said suddenly Tullos as he pointed at Kyros “You really don't remember me? How you died and why?” he asked with a serious look in his eyes.

“I do not.” Kyros was surprised by his sudden question, but he replied calmly.

Tullos looked at him right in the eyes as if trying to spot that hint of a lie, but there was none. He then turned his gaze upon the demoness and asked her with the same serious tone in his voice:

“Sky was it? You won't tell him? Why?”

The demoness suddenly glared at him. She looked him right in the eyes. She appeared so dangerous at first sight, mad even, but she was actually quite calm and composed. She knew the answer. She knew the missing parts of the puzzle that bothered them both, but she was unwilling to tell them a single thing. Her glare faded quickly.

No, I do not know or remember. she said calmly with a smirk on the corner of her lips. She intentionally lied and she couldn't be more obvious than that.

“You lie.” said Tullos as he squinted his eyes at her.

Why would little ol' me lie? You have no proof to further such... delightful accusations. said Sky as she was probably the only one who could think in such a way.

The two of them looked each other in the eyes, fighting it off in a staring contest. Tullos knew Sky was lying and that she had no intention of telling the truth, while the demoness was finding the reincarnated dragon way too much fun to tease this way.

Kyros on the other hand was confused. He didn't know why Tullos and Sky acted like this. He was not able to understand their adversity and most of all he couldn't really understand why Tullos acted so fearlessly and brave now. Just a few moments ago he was trembling in his pants just by being in the same room as Sky and now he was in a glaring contest with her? Kyros wondered if Tullos' transformation after recovering some of his past memories actually changed him that much. Then again, the one who asked these very questions was someone who just a little while ago was nothing more than a humble and obedient slave child and now, now he was an entity with angel wings made of divine energy, emanating a calm and divine light. He was the soul mate of the demon they had found trapped in this ancient room for centuries. Mentally speaking, Kyros had changed a lot thanks to his past memories.

“I will never forgive you Sky... You did something unthinkable to me!” Tullos suddenly shouted as he waved a fist in the air and threatened the demoness.

The moment he raised his voice Sky got chills on her back and sadistically grinned at him. She was so happy that she managed to make him angry and mad. Now he was just one more step away from actually making something turn bloody. Of course, since she didn't want to ruin the fun of the moment she wasn't reading his or Kyros' mind.

“Are you talking about the reason of my death? The reason why you had Sky imprisoned here? Tell me... what is it...” asked Kyros with a trembling tone in his voice. He wanted to know, but at the same time he was afraid of what he might find out.

Tullos was downright glaring at Sky and ignoring Kyros.

“How could...” he started to speak again with a clear sign of anger in his voice.

Kyros gulped and took a step back. The boy did not know how these two were going to react. Sky seemed to be enjoying this though.

“How could you, you fiendish demon!” Tullos shouted and Kyros flinched.

How could I what? asked the demoness with a suave tone in her voice. She felt at peace with so much anger pointed at her.

Kyros was looking at Tullos and could see how the anger was taking over him. He had no idea how this started and why he was reacting like this. What did he remember? The young boy with the soul of an angel started to worry about him, his wings folding a bit and trying to emanate a peaceful and relaxing light in an attempt to calm him down.

Let it out mortal! Let that anger consume and control you! said the demoness as she tempted him, almost entirely canceling out Kyros' light with her own demonic presence. Remember the past! Remember what happened and let your hate grow like a venomous flower inside your heart! she shouted in their minds, but her words were without the usual demonic screech, without the pain. Partially it was due to Kyros' presence canceling out the effect, the other reason was that Sky saw no reason in using that ability for now, especially on her own soul mate.

“Tullos! Don't let her words fool you! Whatever it is, you can't let it consume you like this!” shouted Kyros, trying to reason with the boy he considered a friend or at the very least tried to.

His words however seemed to have no effect on the him, and neither did the calming angelic energy. He still looked towards the demoness with anger in his eyes.

“No!” said Tullos as he shook his head. “That vile demon did something unforgivable to me today!”

These sudden words made both Kyros and Sky stop for a moment and look at him a bit confused.

Today? asked Sky.

Tullos nodded and then pointed at the demoness “I can't forgive you for what you did to me today!” he shouted.

“What did she do... today?” asked Kyros surprised and confused at the same time by this sudden turn of events.

Yes, what? Besides mentally torturing you, killing your servant and friend right before your very eyes, threatening and even attempting to kill you in a most painful and excruciating way? asked Sky, who intentionally named all the horrible things she did to him, all the while smirking sadistically. She wanted to irk him and dig deep in that anger of his to stir it up a bit more.

“It has nothing to do with those little things!” retorted Tullos.

Little? asked Sky who now was surprised and completely confused. Did she actually do something so evil that even she wasn't aware of? Was she that good? These thoughts made her ponder for a bit, but she was still reluctant with the idea of probing his mind. She wanted to see this through the end. It was fun.

Kyros was even more confused than Sky. What happened to him after his transformation that made him believe those were little things? And also what was that thing that made him so mad and angry? It had to be something of incredible importance for him to react like this, because when Kyros first heard Tullos, he thought that he was mad because of Frederique's death or maybe the mental torture.

“How dare you! How dare you vile demon! Beast of Hell that you are!” shouted in anger Tullos, but Sky felt right at home with those beautiful 'compliments'. “How dare you steal my first kiss!” said the dragon as he finally let it out, shouting at the top of his lungs.

This was not exactly what either Sky or Tullos were expecting. They both looked at him for a long moment. They were stunned by his words. Maybe they heard it wrong, but then Tullos said it again:

“How dare you steal my first kiss demon?!”

Sky couldn't abstain. She burst into a loud laughter that echoed in their minds. She was so amused by this that she couldn't help herself. The bad part was that her dead body was trying to copy her and only resulted in scary horking sounds being heard on top of her mental laughter. It was as amusing as it was confusing for her. She couldn't understand what went through the boy's mind when he said something like that and with such conviction and emotion put into his words.

Kyros was equally surprised and dumbfounded by this sudden revelation. Apparently Tullos' first kiss was much more important than the death of Frederique, his mental torture, and above all threat to be killed.

“What's so funny? This is a serious matter!” said Tullos as he glared at Sky with such a seriousness in his eyes that the demoness could not abstain from bursting into another loud laughter.

BUHAHA! Serious he says! Serious! BUHAHA!

“Tullos...” said Kyros and this caught the boy's attention. “I thought for a moment that you were angry at me, at Sky, at the reason for my death and whatever else happened between us in our previous lives... I thought you remembered...” he said as he looked down, but his voice showed a lack of energy and a confused tone.

Tullos looked seriously at Kyros for a long moment. The look in his eyes proved that it wasn't like that and he actually knew the truth, although it was still a question about how much he actually did know.

Letting out a sigh to escape his lips, Tullos lifted his hands up and then placed them on the back of his head, turning from an angry looking serious child to a carefree one.

“Actually, I do remember the whole thing...” he suddenly confessed.

Kyros in that moment looked up at him and he could feel as the threads of fear started to make their way into his heart. He wondered now if the boy was going to stay with the motives he had in his previous life and attempt once more to finish him of or not. He wondered if he was going to attack. However, in the next moment, Tullos managed to remove all such thoughts from his mind with the following words:

“But why should I? All of that is in the past, hundreds of years ago. Honestly, I'd be surprised if there were still people around that remembered what happened back then.” He shrugged, a bit indifferent to the current situation.

You don't care even if you remember it like it was yesterday? The deaths, the pain, the horror we have caused? asked Sky as she looked at the boy, trying to stir him up and break that calm appearance he was giving off. What could she say? She liked to see others suffer as if being cast down into the pits of Hell.

Tullos however didn't even flinch at her words. His gaze remained as calm and serious as before she spoke. He knew all too well what it meant to live a life of revenge. After what happened to him in the past, he had to admit that he didn't really enjoy wasting his years like that.

The boy's expression changed into a smile which revealed his relaxed attitude towards this situation. He shrugged like he had no connection to this and then replied to Sky:

“What's the use of spending my new life trapped in the chains of revenge? Since you spent your time locked up in this forgotten hole and your lover got what he deserved at that time, I believe you both have received your punishment for what you did. Besides, as much as I'd like to deny it, I don't feel the need to slay you for a sin committed in another life. I would just be stirring up old wounds for nothing. It just doesn't seem right, so it's better to forgive you and start anew. Of course this doesn't mean I'll forgive you for stealing my first kiss you vile stinking demon!” said Tullos with a gentle smile as he looked up at Sky. He was certainly not going to let that one go too easily.

Ho? Thank you for the compliment, but are you not worried that I will kill you later? I have all the reasons to do so and I don't see why I shouldn't do it. After all, I still do remember that moment when you stabbed my dear Kyros through the chest with your cursed blade. said Sky as she looked at the dragon, spitting venom through her words.

Tullos looked up at her. His gaze showed complete indifference to her words, but he knew that she spoke the truth. She had no reason to back off, especially since she was the most powerful entity out of all of them. Last time when Sky went on an all out war against everyone, it took an impressive effort from a couple of different species and some substantial firepower to capture her. Tullos knew that he needed a new plan if he wanted to somehow stop her from repeating history, but how?

His eyes then fell on Kyros, who was looking at the two of them with a worried expression on his face. A thought crossed Tullos' mind and he wondered if just maybe that was the right solution.

Looking back at the demoness, he told her as simply as he could: “No.”

The demoness blinked surprised and then clicked her tongue, or at least made the equivalent mental sound of it:

Tch! You will regret it!

“Tullos” said Kyros all of a sudden and both the dragon and the demon looked over at the angel “I can't remember what Sky and I did to you in the past and for what reason... I can't even tell if I need to be sorry or not. I...” he said trying his best to apologize, but the words didn't want to roll off his tongue, or more like he did not know what words to say. If he had human eyes, he would have been crying, but instead his aura showed the sadness he was carrying.

Ugh... even Sky was affected by him, since she felt her soul mate's sadness clenching around her own heart. It irked her in a way, but even if she tried she didn't know what to say or do to keep him from feeling this way. The demoness thus remained silent.

“Don't worry Kyros!” said Tullos with a smirk on his lips “It's in the past and I really don't care if you remember or not. A lot of people forgot those events and I have not intention of being mad at them, so I won't be mad at you either. You can cheer up and if you do remember in the future, only your actions and words from then on will determine your path. If you will seek out revenge and will wish to cross swords with me once more, then so be it! Meanwhile, I'm just a twelve years old kid who's hungry, tired, and soon to be bored if we don't escape this place! And I still need to find an excuse for my father! Having Frederique suddenly killed by a kiss snatching demon and all of a sudden gaining dragon eyes and memories won't fall well on his primitive mind!” he said with a sigh, right before he started to stretch his hands to show that he was indeed tired.

His carefree and easygoing attitude in this sort of situation was something of the total opposite the Tullos of a few hours ago would have had. Tullos was certainly not frightened or tensed about what was happening around him. He seemed almost at ease about these things, especially with the idea of being in the same room with two of his once sworn enemies, but this was only because he knew his place and power. Tullos knew that it would have been useless to panic or cry like some weakling human, not to mention attempt to lie his way out in front of a demon and angel.

In his memories he was still a dragon, although his current dragon eyes were certainly adding to his ego a bit, and because of this he retained a certain pride that wouldn't allow him to lower himself to many of the deeds usually committed by humans, including cowering in front of an impressive adversary. As for how Tullos knew about his eyes when normally one shouldn't be able to tell how they looked like without looking in a mirror? Well Tullos remembered how it was to see through dragon eyes and knew how it was to see without them. Right now only one of the two types matched his current vision. If there were other visible changes, that remained to be seen.

“I'm sorry. Please forgive me. I thank you and I love you.” said Kyros with a low voice and a soft smile on his lips.

“What was that?” asked Tullos as he looked over at him. He didn't quite catch what he said. He might have had a dragon's vision but not their hearing, at least for now.

“Nothing! Nothing at all!” said Kyros as he slowly shook his head dismissing his words as nothing of importance.

After a long moment of silence in which Tullos pondered what they should be doing to get out of here, Kyros approached him and then smiling softly he said:

“Tullos, thank you.”

The boy blinked and looked a bit surprised. He was not expecting to be thanked for something, especially since he had no idea what he did to deserve it.

“You're welcomed?” he replied.

Kyros nodded and then continued to speak “In one of our past lives it seems we were enemies. I do not know the reason and like you said I do not believe it is right to dwell on it for too long. That's why, if it is possible, what I would really like is if the two of us could start off in this new life as friends.” he then extended his hand for a handshake like the human adults did back in the village. “In the past mortal enemies, in the present friends. What do you say?” he asked with a soft smile on his lips.

Tullos looked at Kyros as he spoke those words, those words he never thought he would hear coming from him in this or any other lifetime. If he hadn't said them, then Tullos would had certainly tried to do it, since he believed that only by becoming friends and forgiving each other of their past could they hope to erase the bad blood between them and continue towards a new future. Thus, even if Kyros remembered everything, they would not return to their old battles.

With a wide happy grin on his face, Tullos grabbed Kyros' hand and then said to him:
“Friends! Let the past be past and the future to bring us hope! And anyway, with you as my friend that rotten kiss stealing demoness over there won't try to rip my gut open! Hahaha!”

Tullos laughed loudly and Kyros joined in with a giggle, while Sky simply rolled her eyes. The two children laughed at this weird situation in which after centuries they had found a friend in a former enemy.

The moment he changes his mind, you are dead kid! warned Sky with an evil smirk on the tip of her lips.

Tullos smirked back at her. He wasn't going to let Kyros change his mind. He didn't want to fight again, especially not against someone he now considered as friend.