He learned many interesting things about the young prince while he was there. He heard that the prince he origonally been opposed to the experiments, and had even protested them by threatening to take his own life. But now something had changed and he obediently guarded the laboratory, which was why Xion had run into him while looking for his answers. Besides that, little was known about the prince except that he was seldom seen without his bodyguard. It was said that they were good friends and the prince trusted him with his life despite a bit of teasing between them.
I must see this bodyguard for myself, he thought, beginning to feel a bit jealous. After all this man had a relationship of some sort with the prince, which was certainly more than Xion had at the moment. He snuck around the palace looking for them for hours, but came up with nothing. Finally he took a break and rested out in the royal gardens, that was where he found them. The bodyguard was not at all what Xion had expected, although he admitted that he should have known better.
He was a thick and tall man, also very fat. He was built like a sumo wrestler, although his skin was as dark as the princes was and his hair was also white. He wore more indian-looking clothes and what seemed to be a large, golden-metal gong hung over his chest. What is his realtion to this man I wonder? Xion thought. Perhaps he is like an Uncle or something? Well, no matter. This bodyguard is certainly no threat to me. He had half a mind to go up them right then and there, but decided against it. What the prince needs is a little time. Maybe I'll drop by tomorrow morning...
He got out to the palace fairly early, certain the prince would be up. He started out walking leisurely through the royal gardens, hoping to find him there. He searched the outer areas first and then worked his way inwards. Finally, after seeing no sign of Cronos he walked back towards the palace. Upon nearing the entrance he was surprised to find the young man leaning over a balcony all alone, gazing down over what would soon enough be his kingdom. This is my chance! Xion thought, smiling. Hopefully I can get a moment with him before that fat oaf shows up to kick me out. He walked quietly up behind the prince untill he was only a few yards away and then stopped, deciding that if he got too close it would startle him. He looked him over curiously for a moment, wondering what he should say. Cronos let out a melancholy sigh and titlted his head towards the ground. Now that's no way for a prince to act, Xion thought. I wonder what's bothering him?
"Good morning, your Royal Highness."
"Good mor-" Cronos began, turning to face him. "Oh, it's you. What are you doing here? Didn't I request that you leave me be. I have no interest in you."
"I only want to talk. I'm not going to molest you or anything." the prince raised an eyebrow, questioning the statement. "Please, your Highness? Just talk to me for a few minutes and if you don't like me then you can still have your bodyguard kick me out when he gets here."
"I suppose I have no choice." he reluctantly agreed. "But please, just call me Cronos. I grow so tired of being called by my formal titles."
"Whatever you say, Cronos." He turned back towards the balcony, leaning on edge and looking out over the palace gardens and on to his kingdom. "So... may I ask what troubles you one this fine day?"
"You may." he replied, "Although I may or may not answer." Another melancholy sigh escaped his lips. "I am worried for my subjects, of course. I think this entire tournament was a bad idea, the experiments too."
"Yes, I've heard as much."
"My father says that the experiments are the only way Humans and Zoanthropes will ever live in peace. I think he's wrong, but... I cannot defy him any longer. I am powerless to stop them." Xion walked a little closer to the prince, putting one hand on his shoulder to comfort him. "Anyway, I won't have anyone hurting him. I will guard the experiments and make sure nothing happens..."
"Even though you would have given your life to stop them?"
"Yes... How did you know that!?!"
"Well... I have been doing a little snooping around the palace."
"You're really beginning to scare me."
"Don't be afraid of me, Cronos. I'm not out to hurt you."
"Then what are you doing? It seems like you're stalking me."
"You know, I'm not entirely sure of that myself." Xion answered. He usually wasn't this obsessed with other people. In fact, the only thing he'd been obsessed with before coming here, was finding his answers. Things are different now. "I suppose that battle with you made quite an impression on me." he admitted. "You came closer to defeating me than anyone else ever had... except for one man..."
"Oh. Is that all?"
"Well, I admit I did enjoy looking at you in that containment tube."
"Ugh..." the prince groaned, making a face.
"I'm not a complete pervert though."
"I think I'll come to my own conclusions about that."
"Well, if it makes you feel any better I don't usually like anyone very much."
"How is that supposed to make me feel better when I've got someone creeping around the palace and stalking me?"
"What I'm trying to say is, I'm not the type of person who becomes easilly obsessed with people." Xion explained. "I was trying to pay you a compliment."
"Oh... sorry." Cronos apologized, truly regretting his defensive behavior. "I'm just so used to being stalked..."
"Yes, I can see why so many people are attracted to you."
"It's just because I'm a prince. If I weren't a prince then no one would care about me."
"I would."
"You would? Why?"
"Because I like you. And not just because you're a prince."
"Somehow that doesn't comfort me."
"You need to learn to relax." Cronos sighed in annoyance and turned back towards the balcony, looking over his kingdom. Xion walked up next to him and leaned on the railing. "Still worried?"
"I can't help it."
"These things have a way of resolving themselves, don't fret, sweet prince."
"But don't you agree with them?" Cronos protested. "You were willing to fight me to get the results of the experiments. Why did you want them so badly?"
"Well..." Xion trailed off, gathering his thoughts. He wasn't really sure if he wanted to answer the prince's question. He did want to talk with him and get closer to him, but... this was personal. How much of himself did he want to reveal? Did he really want Cronos to know what kind of a killer he had been while under his sister's control?
"Xion? You did come here to talk didn't you? Well, you know about my problems. Please tell me something of yourself."
"I was looking for the answers to why Zoanthropes are how they are." he admitted. "I wanted to know how they worked, because I thought... If only I could understand why things are the way they are..." he trailed off. I don't really care so much about all Zoanthropes, what I really want to understand is myself. "I thought that maybe I could understand why I am the way I am." But my reasons for wanting that... can I really tell you? I feel so empty inside, so barren, worthless. I was looking for a reason for Zoanthropes to exist just as I search for a reason why I should still exist. "Maybe I could find a reason... to keep on living." Cronos gasped, shocked by the other's sincerity.
"You mean... you don't think you have a reason to live?" Xion was too chocked up to answer. He felt terrible inside. Yes, it is true, he admitted to himself. There is no reason for the world to need someone like me. He hated confessing to it, even in his mind. Revealing his inner most feelings in such a way made him feel so weak and vulnerable. And he was still so hurt inside, he felt almost as though he would cry. Then something happened that he never would have expected, Cronos came up and wrapped his arms around him, hugging him tightly. Xion was shocked, and the feel of the young man's warm body and soft skin agains his cheek was too much. He broke down and cried, a single tear falling down one cheek.
"There, there now." Cronos said, patting his back. "You musn't say such things, you know? There is a place for everyone in this world, even you."
"But... I thought... you were scared of me. I thought you were afraid that I was some kind of pervert who was stalking you. You don't even know me!" Xion losened himself from Cronos's grasp and pushed him away.
"That may be true..." Cronos admitted, looking a bit startled by Xion's sudden change in attitude towards him. "But no one deserves to feel so unwanted."
"How can you be so nice to me? You don't even know how many horrible things I've done! You wouldn't say that if you knew..."
"Tell me then." the prince requested, taking one graceful step towards him and grabbing his hand. "I could help you. It would help you to talk wouldn't it? Forgive me... I'm being so selfish. But I am a prince. I'm supposed to be helping people... and yet, I can do nothing for my own subjects. Please, allow me to help you, if it is within my power. It would mean so much to me." Cronos glanced at him with a pleading look in his eyes that Xion couldn't resist. So he brought one hand up to touch the young man's face. He couldn't help but think how alike they both were at that moment, both searching so desperately for something to make them feel better, to make them feel needed in this cruel, hatefull world.
I think I'm in love... Xion thought. Yes, love at first sight. Fate has brought us together, we are truly destined for each other! He slid his hand down under Cronos's jaw, exploring the soft, smooth skin of his neck. Then he cupped it around the back of his neck, pulling him closer to stared into his peaceful blue-green eyes. They are so beautifull, almost grey-looking today. A slight blush appeared on the prince's cheeks, betraying his embarrasment at being so close to him. A smile played at the edges of Xion's mouth. He so terribly wanted to pull him closer for a kiss, but decided that maybe it was a bit early for that. Finally he let go, and stepped back just a little.
"I don't really want to talk about it just now, if you don't mind. Thank you for wanting to help me, but... perhaps some other time."
"Oh. Alright." Cronos agreed. He turned back towards the balcony for a moment, as though giving it a final, parting glance, and then turned back towards Xion. "I don't suppose that worrying over things so much will change anything. It is waste of time."
"Very true." Xion agreed. "I have wasted so much of my life looking for something that wasn't even there."
"You know what's ironic? Everyone breaks into the lab for the results of our experiments thinking that they'll find all these answers. But we haven't answered anything at all, only found more questions. So even if you had suceeded, you never would have found what you were looking for."
"I guess it's well enough that I was stopped then." Cronos nodded in agreement, his gaze drifting idly around the balcony as if he were seeing it for the first time. Yet, he was not paying any attention to it and his thoughts seemed to be turned on something else. "Cronos?"
"My father thinks that the experiments are the only thing that will bring peace between Humans and Zoanthropes." he answered. "And I understand that the answers that we seek could be invaluable, but... at what cost are we doing this? How many more lives will have to be sacrificed before we find a single answer? If only there were a better way."
"What if there was a better way?" Xion asked, curiously. He toyed with the idea of mentioning Long's plan to the prince. The idea would obviously appeal to him, to be able to find the answers he seeks without harming Zoanthropes. Still it is only an idea, a hope at best. Who am I to say that it could be done? But the real question was, would the prince be interested in merely finding out if there was a better way to conduct experiments. Afterall he had opposed them fiercely, as many Humans and Zoanthropes did. And what if we find out that harmless experiments really aren't possible? That the only way to find the answers requires a sacrifice of life. Maybe it is best to wait.
"I would fully embrace any effort that did not involve such a horrible sacrifice of life." the prince replied. "But there is no better way. It's all just a hope, a dream... It will never be real. Sometimes, I think the same about peace. The world is such a quarrelsome place. How can Humans ever learn to accept us? Even if we did find those answers, would they be enough?"
"Who knows. I'm certainly not interested in answering those questions. The world doesn't concern me... All that concerns me is finding those answers."
"And you seem very confident that you will do so." Cronos noticed. "But like my father and all the others, you are all too willing to let others pay the price for your discoveries, aren't you?"
"I was." he admitted. "But not anymore... How about I let you in on a little secret? Now, to the best of your knowledge, has anyone ever thought about trying to make the experiments less harmfull to the subjects? Has anyone ever tried it before?"
"Uh... not that I know of, but I don't know everything... I'm sure that if there was a way to do it then someone would know of it. Such terrible suffering wouldn't be inflicted if there were a better way. I'm sure that if no one knows of it then it doesn't exist."
"What if no one ever looked before, Cronos? Did your father even bother to research whether experiments could be done without pain before starting them?"
"I doubt it." the prince admitted glumly. "No one seems to care. Either it's no experiments at all or sacrifice a few people in the name of science."
"Ah, well... I'm tired of all this beating around the bush. I'll put it to you plain and simple Cronos. A friend of mine seems to be pretty confident that experiments can be done without causing pain. He has it in his head that no one ever thought to find out if this is so, and he is bent on finding out for himself. He approached me with the matter, asking for my help. He persuaded me that it would be better to find a more non-violent way of seeking my answers, so I accepted. The plan is to search through every resource we can find looking for the answer. I thought you would be interested."
"I am, very much." Cronos assured him, a hopeful look on his face. Nevertheless he wasn't one to jump to any conclusions, and he had questions of his own. "But what if we don't find an answer? What if, after all that work we come up with nothing?"
"Well he's got some other plan after that, although he didn't really tell me anything specific about it."
"Does this friend of yours have a name?"
"His name is Long."
"That's alright, I'll try and remember it anyway."
"What?"
"Huh?"
"Long is his name, Cronos." Xion rephrased.
"Oh, you mean his name is Long? I thought you were saying that his name was long. How silly of me."
"It is an annoying name, isn't it?"
"Well, it's resemblance to the English word is rather annoying. But as for the name it's self I would say it's just as good as any other name."
"So there you are, Cronos!" a deep, joyfull voice greeted from the other side of the balcony. The prince's bodyguard, Ganesha came walking over from behind a corner, he patted his stomach contentedly. "I've just finished the most delightful breakfast of..." then he spotted Xion. "who is that?"
"This is my new friend Xion." Cronos replied, bowing slightly and motioning to him. "Xion, this is my bodyguard Ganesha."
"Xion?" the rotund bodyguard repeated. "Isn't that the name of the fellow who beat you up the other day, Cronos?"
"It's alright Ganesha, he's no longer a threat to me..." Ganesha interrupted the prince by pulling him aside, so that he could speak with him privately for a minute.
"I really don't think you ought to be associating with such people, your Royal Highness."
"But Ganesha, he's harmless, really!"
"I highly doubt that! Besides, I heard from one of the doctors that he was spying on you while you were in the healing tube the other day!"
"Uh, well... that's true, but..."
"But nothing! Surely your father the King would not have you associating with such ruffians!"
"But Ganesha, he's..."
"Now, now, enough of that. You don't mean to say that you actually like this fellow, do you?"
"There's more to him than meets the eye Ganesha!" Cronos insisted. "Besides, he knows of a way to find a solution to some of my problems."
"Oh? And what is that?"
"I'll have him explain it, Xion!"
"Ugh..." Ganesha groaned, unwilling to have anything further to do with the pervert. Xion walked up to them cautiously, watching the bodyguard's disgruntled face to make sure he wasn't about to be kicked out. Of course, he probably could take the bodyguard on any day, but that was besides the point. He didn't want to be forced to fight off the bodyguard in order to get to Cronos, it would probably only scare him and drive him away. "Please Xion, explain to Ganesha about the plan you were telling me about."
"Very simply, a friend and I are going to do some reasearch in order to find out whether experiments can be done on Zoanthropes without causing them harm." he said.
"What is the point?" Ganesha asked. "We all know that experiments are always painful."
"But what if they don't have to be, Ganesha?" Cronos argued. "I have to know this, I have to join them! Xion, when is the next time you're going to see this person? Could you find a time to introduce me to him?"
"I suppose." he agreed. "I'm meeting him at the public library at three o' clock this afternoon. If you'd like to be there I'll introduce him, I'm sure he'd be happy to have your help."
Long walked into the library around 2:30 in the afternoon that day, straight past the children's section and on to the non-fiction. He had a pencil and a piece of paper in his hands, and on it was a long list of books that he was looking for. He had done a bit of searching the day before, in preparation for what lay ahead. He had searched the library's endless inventory of books for hours, scribbling down the titles, authors and numbers of all books that could possibly have anything to do with experimentations on Zoanthropes. He found a few of the books right away, and took them off the shelves, checking them off of his list. Once he had a pile of about eight books in his arms he chose a large, square wooden table located inconspicuously at the back of the room and deposited the books at one of it's ends before going to get more. He made a several more trips untill he had every book he could find on the list, then he checked the library's records to make sure the few missing ones were checked out and not simply misplaced.
He finally finished his work about 25 minutes later, so he sat down on the desk and opened one of the books, searching it's contents dilligently. It was around this time that Xion entered the place with both Cronos and his bodyguard trailing behind. They walked straight into the place and looked around a bit before Xion spied Long sitting amid a few tall stacks of books. Deja vu. he thought. I must have looked much the same way during my own search. At first Long didn't notice them at all, too absorbed in his study of the text before him. They walked straight up to him untill they were only a few yards away. He noticed them then, and looked up from the book to give Xion a quizzical glance, asking him why the others were there.
"This is prince Cronos," Xion introduced, nodding towards them as their names were mentioned. "and his bodyguard, Ganesha. Ganesha, Cronos, this is Jin Long."
"I am very pleased to meet you." Cronos said, walking up to the table and bending down a bit to offer the other his hand. Long rose from his seat in one swift and effortless motion, taking the other's hand, shaking it gently and nodding courteously.
"For what reason am I granted the pleasure of making your aquaintance, Royal Highness?"
"I wish to join your cause and help you in your research." the prince replied eagerly. "You must know how much it would mean to my kingdom if we could discover a way to conduct the experiments without harm. Please, allow me to join you."
"I would be honored to accept your help, your Royal Highness."
"Oh, and please, do call me Cronos."
"But, Royal Highness..." Ganesha objected.
"Oh, hush! I despise being constantly referred to by tittle! Surely the people that I work closely with may be excepted from participation in this annoying ritual?"
"As you wish, Cronos." his bodyguard relented.
"Well, as you all can see I have taken the liberty of selecting a few titles that may contain information relative to our research." Long began. Cronos, Xion and Ganesha nodded, glancing over the piles of books sitting on the table. "So, it is my request that we begin with searching these books. Select whichever titles you wish, if you find any usefull information then put the book in the middle of the table, if not, set it at the other end." That said, he nodded to the others before sitting down and resuming his work. Xion nodded back, sat down across from him and picked out a book, taking a pen and little bit of notepaper from one of his pockets. Cronos and Ganesha stood around looking confused for a moment before the prince sat down and took one of the books in his hand.
"So, uh... Long?" the prince asked.
"Yes?" he replied.
"What is it we're looking for exactly?"
"Any information reguarding experiments done on Zoanthrope subjects."
"So, how should I go about finding it exactly? Should I just start reading the book at the beginning?"
"Well, it's generally a good idea to read over the index first and note what each chapter of the book is about. If you see anything pertaining to the experiments in particular then feel free to turn to the page and read it. If not, then simply skim through the entire book thoroughly, careful not to skip any information that may be important."
"It's also a good idea to check the glossary." Xion interupted. "If the word Zoanthrope is used in the book it is usually there, and you can find which pages it is mentioned in specifically."
"A very good point." Long agreed, nodding his head. "I knew it was a good idea to ask for your help."
"Ah well, after devoting so much time to research one learns a few tricks." Xion replied, before burying himself back in the book. Cronos sighed and opened up his own book. This really wasn't his idea of a good time, he had been forced to study so many books for his royal education that he was exhuasted at the thought of more work. But he realized that he had to do it because his country and all it's people were depending on him. If there was anything that could even give them the smallest hope of stopping the pain of the experiments then he owed it to them, as well as to himself. So he swallowed down his discomfort of the work and opened the book, scanning the index.