Prescript: Humm. So this is an AU story that I came up with the idea for when I was laying in bed staring at the ceiling. Yes. Any of you who were reading "Call Me by Name" can pretty much forget about it... I got extremely bored with that story and stopped writing it.

Setting: Aquios and a bit of Airyglyph later on.

Warnings: This is a malexmale story. If you don't like it, DON'T READ IT. Also, you'll want to watch for my lovely overuse of "bad words," and my fascination with blood.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Ocean: Til the End of Time or anything therein. And that sucks. But oh well.

X (In Love and War: Prologue) X

Tough times are ravaging the continent of Gaitt.

The winter season has brought a shortage of food and many livestock creatures are freezing to death in their snow-covered pastures. Illnesses spread through the population like wildfire; many children and elderly citizens have died, unable to be cured in time. Worst of all, however, is a war between the nations of Aquaria and Airyglyph. Soldiers live in poor conditions, are short in supplies, and are in low spirits. The fight has been going on for so long, even the national leaders cannot remember what started it. Since the illness is reaping so many young lives, the two militaries are mainly composed of middle-aged adults that are too busy grieving the loss of their children to care much for battles.

The Aquarians are at the lower end of the scale, being short in runologists, and not having the ability to obtain supplies for weapons. Yet, despite that Aquaria is losing the war, Airyglyph has its own set of difficulties. The heavy snowfall hinders them, causes famines, freezes anyone who is not well-prepared for the weather. Soldiers in heavy armor are brought to a stand-still, the links in their armor freezing solid. Even the three captains: Duke Vox, Woltar, and Albel Nox of the Dragon, Storm, and Black Brigades respectively are having difficulty this season (especially Nox, considering his outlandish attire). They get an encouraging, "Keep at it, men," from their king when he ventures out to make his rounds, but other than that, their spirits are just as low as their enemies'.

Despite the hardships that threatened to end life as they know it, the people of the city attempted to proceed as normal. A family in Aquios that had been there for many generations -- the Leingods -- had a son of nineteen. He wasn't much for the military, and he preferred to stay at home and help his parents. He, as well as his friend that he knew so long he considered her a cousin -- Sophia Esteed -- spent their winter days growing up playing together, blissfully unaware of their country's plight. As they grew older, they began to realize the danger they and their loved ones were in, and developed their own ideas about how to deal with the problem. The boy Fayt insisted that there was no reason to fight, and was frustrated when no one accepted his ideals.

One evening as the boy was returning from his trip to the fields to forage for food among the frozen roots, he discovered the bodies of not only his parents but of Sophia and her family in the street outside their homes, among many others. Since he had no other relatives, Fayt had no choice but to go on alone. After some time, he made the acquaintances of two people who dwelled in castle Aquaria: Nel Zelpher and Dion Landers, as well as a young man by the name of Evia. The three often came to check up on him, and to help with whatever chores they could provided they had enough time.

Most of the time, it was young Evia who looked out for Fayt, and he did so morning and night. It is on one such commonplace morning that our story takes place: there had been a recent battle between Aquarian and Glyphian soldiers just outside Aquois resulting in an Aquarian victory. Many soldiers, survivors, and citizens ran rampant in the streets, leaving all kinds of valuables in their wake. Often, needy folk would venture out to collect what they could find; Fayt among them. But today, the boy had found much more than he bargained for...