A/N: I know, it's been FOREVER. Frack, school is KILLING me. Not to mention the step-father doesn't like letting me on the computer. grumble Aaaaanywho, time for the third installment of what I hope will be a great fic.

Disclaimer: I don't own them, so you can't sue me. Huzzah!

And, as reply to NoahBluze, we can totally share 'im!

-----Souls and Iron - Chapter 3: Dark Realizations

"I'm back from Hell, you worthless excuse for a maggot, and I'll make sure I take you and your pathetic lackey's back with me to see the King of the Dead!"

Arzhei glared down at the possessed form of his son, now controlled by Albel's spirit.

"What have you done to my son, wretched beast!" The King's fists were shaking with barely controlled rage.

The possessed boy sneered. "To be brutally honest, I have no idea how I got here. But I do know one thing. You left the wrong man to rot and die on that post."

Fayt was panicked. While Albel would normally never hurt the King he had sworn loyalty to, he had suffered a horrible punishment commanded by that same man and was now out for revenge. He was about to step forward when Cliff's arm blocked him.

The blue-haired man turned to the older Klausian. "Just wait, bud. Look."

Fayt's attention turned back to the possessed form of Allen. The white-haired youth's body was trembling, and beads of sweat were rolling down his face. But what caught Fayt's attention most were his eyes. They flickered from red to blue, and back again. After a few seconds, his eyes remained solid blue, and the boy collapsed to the floor. Quickly, Fayt ran to his side. "Albel?"

"W-what...where?" The voice that answered was light and weary, and the older warrior's eyes widened in shock. This was the true Allen, in control of himself again. But what happened to Albel?

The Prince sat up slowly and immediately clutched at the stump of his mutilated arm. Looking down in confusion at the missing limb, Fayt noticed how the boy's body tensed.

And then the Prince screamed.

---

It was sometime later and Fayt and the others sat quietly in the King's study. It had taken considerable effort to calm Allen, and then came the painful task of relating his mother's death, and Albel's execution. Upon hearing of the death of the warrior, he had been frantic, and it was obvious that he had no memory of being possessed. When told of how Albel had been convicted and executed, the Prince was livid.

"Lord Albel would never hurt me, and besides, the thing that attacked us looked nothing like him."

The others sat in shocked silence, and the color quickly drained from the King's face. "What...what do you mean, my son?"

Allen turned cool eyes towards his father, and the others were reminded of the looks Albel would give to those he felt were beneath him. Such open disgust on the usually calm boy's face made Fayt briefly wonder if he was again possessed.

"The creature that attacked us did have a human shape and did wield a sword, but the claw that was used to attack us was not metal, but flesh and blood. As you were well aware, father, Albel's claw was useless to him, because of the effects of many years of bearing it's weight. He could barely curl his false fingers into a fist, yet you were still so eager to believe him the culprit. He wasn't even in the Royal City."

Fayt and the others looked pained at the news. It must have been incredibly difficult for Abel to admit such a weakness to anyone, let alone the ones he was supposed to protect.

"Which reminds me, father. What ever happened to Lord Albel's claw? Lord Fayt said that it appeared to have been...ripped off."

Arzhei nodded shakily. "That was Lord Elric's doing. The remaining bones in Albel's left arm broke in the fight to capture him, and Elric later ripped it the rest of the way off, as the beginning of his punishment."

Everyone else in the room stared aghast at the King. How could they have done something so savage! And for Albel, losing that limb was more than punishment, it was a reminder of the first time he had failed someone close to him.

"If that limb is still serviceable, I want it cleaned and repaired, and I want the kingdom's best runologists here so that they may attach it to my own arm."

For the first time since the meeting, the aged Woltar spoke. "Are you sure, My Lord? It is a very painful procedure, and if even the slightest error is made-"

"I know the risks, Woltar. I will go through with it."

Fayt thought back to the torn body he had seen in the courtyard. "That must have been so painful for Albel to go through."

"Oh, believe me, Leingod. It was."

Everyone in the room turned to Allen. The voice he had spoken with was rich and deep, and his sky blue eyes were once again the color of blood.

Oh crap. Here we go again.

---

Unknown to those inside, a shadowy form watched them from outside one of the many huge palace windows. The strange creature was perched on the windowsill, a point of yellow light indicating it's right eye as it watched, the other eye hidden beneath the fall of it's matted black hair. It was in the shape of a young man, with long hair and finely pointed ears. It's feet, though, were in the shape of claws, the skin a dark hardened black. A pair of mismatched wings were on it's back, one birdlike and the other like that of a bat. A long tail twitched nervously behind it.

The most interesting features, perhaps, were it's arms. While the one that held on to the window sill was a normal human arm, the other was in the shape of a wicked black claw.

------End Chapter Three----

A/N: Sorry this was so short! Man, getting this started is hard. Later, after all the beginning crap is over, it should get easier.

Same drill, peeps. Read and Review.