The Hardest Path

A/N: I'm so sorry this update took so long! I moved, moved again, been busy with work....Yeesh. Anyway, I rewrote this chapter totally. So, apologies to anyone who read the sucky first version. This is the nifty redone version. It are betters. Enjoy!

Shaking himself out of his memories, Eurus smiled tenderly at Aster, mismatched eyes bright. "I remember what you did for me, after I got cursed. You're very kind, Aster."

The golden haired swordsman gave Eurus a sharp frown, shaking his head in denial of the compliment. "What was I supposed to do," he began irritably, "Sit there and let you eventually kill yourself? Not to mention probably kill everyone else."

Eurus shook his head, half sitting up to look at Aster more closely. "You didn't have to do anything. We both know that, Aster."

"Yes, I did." Aster sighed, stretching out in the chair as he remembered how fresh the guilt had been that day. The guilt he still felt was nothing compared to what he'd felt back then.


-Aster's face betrayed nothing as he watched blood drip down onto Eurus's shirt, but inside, the swordsman was frantic. He'd known about the curse, certainly, but he'd never encountered anyone who actually had it. The knowledge he had came from books, not actual life experience.

"Clean up your nose and go to your room," the blond said as he stood up, already turning to dig around in his dresser. That was where he kept the books he'd gotten over the years, which, between them, would contain everything he needed to know about his swords. Including how to fight Misery's curse. He heard, rather than saw the taller male leave, not bothering to look up. There was a loud crash from outside Aster's door, telling him that Eurus had most likely just tripped and fallen, or broken something. All the more reason for Aster to find answers, and find them quickly.

"Ah, here we are," he said as he triumphantly held a book over his head. The motion was silly and over dramatic, and even though there was no one there to see him, Aster lowered his arms and cleared his throat. If his father had seen that, no doubt he'd be getting a lecture right now.

Placing the book on his desk, Aster returned to the dresser and pulled out several more, stacking them. He then moved around the room and put his swords safely away, pausing when he felt the little hum of satisfaction from Misery. The sword was truly evil, no doubt about it.

Seating himself at his plain wooden desk, Aster touched the first book again. It was old, leather bound with thick pages that were yellowing around the edges. When he carefully pushed it open, it rustled quietly, making him feel for all the world like an old world scholar, learning the secrets of life from his books.

This book, however, contained only the secrets of the old swords. He slowly went through it, until he found a small section about Misery, hidden near the back.

Just as Aster had thought, there were ways to fight the curse, though they weren't detailed in this particular book. There was no way to break it, not until Aster himself had died. And he wasn't about to give up his life, not yet. Not when he still had so many things he needed to do.

It took him hours to find the information he needed, collecting bits and pieces from each book until he'd assembled a general idea of what he needed to do. One of the books had a few hand drawn pictures in it, showing certain symbols that were thought to counteract the curse's luck. But, the book warned, the symbols would only be effective under certain circumstances. It failed to mention what those circumstances were, exactly. The closest reference Aster could find said that the symbols would only take effect if the user was in distress before trying to use them.

Aster frowned, leaning back in his chair as he thought. Before trying to use them? Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of having them? Obviously, one wouldn't be distressed before something bad happened to them, not usually. Eurus especially seemed carefree to the point of being an airhead. He was hardly a good candidate for being distressed.

A new thought occurred to Aster. Everyone felt some form of distress in a fight, or just before it. Even the most seasoned warriors felt some nervous anticipation before battle, didn't they? So, logically speaking, the symbols would be triggered if Eurus was in a fight.

"I have to put the symbols on a weapon," Aster said to himself, smiling a bit now that he'd managed to puzzle out the mystery.

Rising from his chair with his book in hand, Aster swept down the hallway like a force of nature, intent on helping the newest guard. He knocked on Eurus's door, not waiting for an answer before barging in. Luckily, the man in question was lying on his bed with his eyes closed, looking just as miserable as he should have, given the situation.

Aster approached the bed. "What's your weapon of choice, Eurus?"

The mismatched eyes didn't open. "I don't know. I'm good with staffs, I guess. I never really got a chance to improve, and now I probably never will." He rolled over onto his side, facing away from Aster.

Irritated, Aster reached over and pinched one of the taller man's lean thighs as hard as he could. "This is no time for self pity, boy! Keep your head up, and I can help you get through this. I swear it."

The words reassured Eurus, and he finally glanced up, hope shining in his eyes. "Really?"

Aster nodded. "Yes. I'm going to make something to help you." He left the room on that note, striding downstairs and out to the training yard. For what he was going to make, he would need supplies from the Toy Box.

There was a small area toward the back of the Box where they kept different types of wood, in different lengths and thicknesses. These were kept there so that the Guards could fashion their own weapons, if they so chose.

Searching through the different piles of wood, Aster came upon a long, almost cylindrical piece of nearly black wood. It was thick, and when he picked it up, Aster could feel the hearty weight of it. Standing, the wood was almost as tall as he was, meaning it would be the perfect height for Eurus to use. Experimentally, he struck the wall of the shed with it, intentionally putting serious strength into the hit. To his pleased surprise, the wood didn't bend or break, and Aster barely felt the impact where he was holding it.

Asteros worked on that wood for hours, carving it into a more perfect staff, and sanding it smooth. By the time he was finished preparing the wood, he was exhausted, and had so many splinters in his hands that he'd lost count already. Each time he moved his fingers, they stung and ached, but he couldn't stop yet. There was still more work to be done on this weapon.

A staff alone was usually not a killing weapon, not when it really counted. Yes, you could beat someone senseless with it, but it would fall short if one wanted to end the fight quickly. Spears were nice, but a bit too primitive for Aster's taste. Aster quickly decided to make this simple staff into a deadly scythe.

The Toy Box offered a wide array of blades, arranged neatly on a line of shelves against a wall. Only one of them looked as if it would work for what Aster was planning. Thin, sharp, and slightly curved, this blade was just long enough to look right in combination with the staff. It was at least a foot long, probably longer, and it was perfect.

The next search Aster went on turned up a wood burning pen, some lost remnant from a wood burning kit someone had bought and left in the Toy Box. Flipping open the book, Aster began to burn the symbols into the wood, following the pattern that the book indicated. He drew the pattern over and over, two thirds of the way up the staff.

Now, all he had to do was attach the blade. With a tired sigh, Aster reached for the gleaming piece of metal.

------------------

By the time Aster had finished the scythe and dragged himself back into the house, his hands were both full of splinters and badly cut, and he was shaking in a mixture of pain, exhaustion, and hunger. Without realizing it, he'd spent almost two days in the Toy Box. By now, the other members of the Guard knew better than to disturb him for any reason other than a mission, so he'd been left alone.

It was the middle of the night, but since this was so important, Aster knocked on Eurus's door, waiting to be let in.

A very sleepy Eurus pulled the door open, then immediately turned and shuffled back to his bed, curling up in the blankets. "Hey, Aster. Where have you been, we've been worried..."

The only one who'd been worried was probably Eurus, but Aster didn't comment on that. Instead, he said, "I made you a scythe." He offered the painstakingly made weapon to Eurus, who climbed back out of bed with a look of wonder on his face.

"What's all that writing?" Eurus asked, reaching out for the scythe automatically. The blade seemed to be growing out of the wood itself, but upon closer examination, Eurus saw that it was actually embedded in the wood, pounded down inside it until it was firmly lodged.

"Good luck symbols," Aster replied. "I know it sounds cheesy, but they should protect you. Unfortunately, it will only work in a fight. Basically, if you need protecting." As the taller of the two took the scythe, Aster held up a hand. "To test it, I'm going to punch you as hard as I possibly can, right in the face. Now, if the scythe is working, you'll be able to stop me. If not, I'll break your nose, and we get to go to the hospital. Ready?"

Nodding, Eurus braced himself for yet another injury, anxiety uncurling in his stomach and making him tense up. Aster's fist came in a blur, flying toward Eurus's face. The symbols on the wood of the staff began to glow unearthly silver, though only Aster noticed. Unthinkingly, Eurus reached out with the hand that wasn't holding the scythe, easily blocking the punch. Grinning like a fool, Eurus looked at the golden haired man, ecstatic with his success. "Oh my goodness! You fixed me, Aster! Thank you!" In his excitement, Eurus let the scythe fall to the bed, and he got up to hug Aster. He took a step, then tripped and fell, elbow cracking painfully against the hard floor.

"Remember," Aster said gently as he helped Eurus stand. "It only works when you're actually holding it, and even then, only when you're in trouble."

Eurus smiled at his own overeager nature and picked up the scythe again. "I'll start practicing with her tomorrow, then."

As Aster turned to leave, he looked back over his shoulder. "I took the liberty of naming her Composure. Feel free to change it, of course."

"No, I think that suits this beautiful weapon perfectly. And, Aster...thank you so much. I really appreciate this."

Uncomfortable with the gratitude, Aster silently exited the room. -


"I couldn't let you suffer for something that was really my fault," Aster insisted. "I shouldn't have even had Misery out, where anyone could get at her."

"And I shouldn't have touched a weapon that wasn't mine. We're both at fault, Aster, so stop beating yourself up." Eurus rose carefully from the bed and moved toward Aster's chair, leaning over the swordsman. "Let go of the guilt, Asteros," Eurus whispered before pressing a petal-soft kiss to the unhappy line of the other man's lips.

Aster stiffened, golden eyes wide. As soon as Eurus had straightened up, Aster rose and shoved his way past him, slamming his way out of the room.

Eurus sighed. It was going to take a lot of work to break down the walls Aster had around himself, but Eurus was more than up to the challenge.

A/N: So, that's how Eurus got his weapon. And of course, we'll go into a little more detail later, with some more things about Eurus and Aster. But next, we'll return to Andrei and Nic. And what the hell happened to Rhett? We'll find out!

cfweber1b: Well....Nic will be alright in the future. Believe in that.

violetstorm: And there you have it! I hope the explanation was alright.

Breet: D< Ask questions like that in private, Breet. Don't talk about things that only you know about here, since you'll raise questions for everyone else. But, in answer to your question, I changed it to Euterpe because she was the muse of music. Made sense to me.

Wynja: I know, bad curse. Damn sword. And yeah, I laugh at Eurus too. He's just so cute, and so unlucky. It's hilarious!

Dahlias: Yeah, Telin's a pervert. Please believe, he gets much worse than that.