The ancient castle known as Pandemonium was silent although there were demons all around, fixing the castle and making it more suitable for its new purpose. With the Photosphere gone, this castle was to become their new headquarters along with the Gate Generator.

Zeikfried looked around in the quarters he had chosen, thoughtful. With Mother gone, they could proceed to take over Filgaia and turn it into a new home for the demons. There were a couple of minor obstacles in the way, and that was why the demon leader sat in his room, considering things by a table which he had ordered to be brought in for strategy meetings. Plans were needed, and he had a feeling something hadn't gone as well as expected.

Someone teleported into the room without bothering to inform Zeikfried about his arrival and stopped behind the Quarter Knight's chair. Zeikfried didn't turn around or show any reaction to that, however; there was only one demon who had the guts to enter like that.

"What is it, Boomerang?"

The bounty hunter didn't answer right away; instead, he removed his helmet and placed it on the table in front of the other demon. Zeikfried's eyes caught movement from the side, but he ignored it. Luceid always followed the other Quarter Knight, and he had gotten used to the Guardian's presence by now.

"Lady Harken ran into some problems at the shrine," Boomerang finally answered as he moved to take a seat next to the other demon. "It seems the Dream Chasers got there at the same time... and that lizard proved to be more of a problem than we thought. I'm not sure exactly what happened back there, but Harken was unable to eliminate them even though that was her intention. She said she could have won, but the dragon interfered."

Zeikfried frowned. "The Sea Guardian? Hmm. Should've known they would try something, but..." He slammed his fist on the table, swearing silently. "If only there was a way to get rid of them... The Guardians are being more annoying than they're supposed to. Now that dragon, too. Who else do they have on their side?"

"Luceid said she isn't absolutely sure," the bounty hunter said, glancing at the large wolf. "She did mention something about the elemental ones, and apparently the ones that guarded Mother had enough power left to join them as well. But I didn't expect this to happen either. I thought Lucadia wasn't powerful enough to do this anymore, but I guess I was wrong then. Can't be helped now."

The demon leader stood then stopped to stare at a map which covered most of the table. "A minor inconvenience, if a very annoying one."

"At least the lizard's existence makes sure Mother's out of the picture. Being the Guardian of the Seas, I'm certain Lucadia will take care of whatever remained in Photosphere."

Zeikfried turned to look at Boomerang. "Splendid. Working for our benefit, even though they surely wouldn't want to help us. What about the others?"

The other Quarter Knight turned to look at Luceid. "I wouldn't know. They're probably scattered all over the world. Luceid doesn't know everything, you know. The other Guardians apparently avoid letting her notice any signs of their power remaining."

"At least the big ones are gone."

Boomerang shrugged. "Somewhat. Luceid hasn't said anything about the High Guardians. She's quite sure she'd notice if they were around."

"Then what can they do, really?" Zeikfried said, smirking. "Even with all of them together, the Guardians aren't much of a threat. If we just keep distracting their energy, they are and will stay as a minor, if annoying, obstacle. The sea dragon is just one more weak, old creature standing in our way. With the power we have, we can deal with them. Would've been better if Harken had finished off the stupid lizard, but they are, after all, stuck with the Dream Chasers. Eliminate them and you eliminate the threat. Those three are the only ones who can summon them anyway."

"I like them," the other Quarter Knight commented. "So much potential. They're good fighters. I'll have them the next time we meet..."

Zeikfried placed his hand casually on the demon's shoulder. "I'm sure," he said, his smirk turning into a sadistic grin as he noticed Luceid watching them curiously. "However, we need them dead, " he continued and suddenly leaned closer. He grabbed Boomerang by the jaw with his free hand, pulling his head up. "Have patience. You'll get your turn fighting them again... If they live that long."

"I sure hope they do," Boomerang answered as Zeikfried's hand moved down from his shoulder and proceeded to work on removing the armor and tunic the bounty hunter was wearing. "It would be a pity if they died too soon. I'll have to be thankful for the dragon interfering; otherwise, Lady Harken might've gotten the pleasure of killing them..."

"You and your desires," the demon leader commented as he pulled Boomerang up from the chair and finished half-stripping the demon. "You won't be satisfied until you kill them, hmm?"

The bounty hunter smirked. "No. But I'm sure you'll keep me busy until then..."

Zeikfried didn't bother answering as he dragged the other demon to the bed in the room next to his office, leaving Luceid by the desk where the Guardian stayed, watching. She wasn't too worried about the Sea Dragon's reappearance though she had felt Lucadia's power for some time now.

She was more interested in Boomerang's desires being fulfilled.

Author's notes:

Felt like writing a WA snippet once, so told a friend of mine the pairing and told her to give me one word for a theme. The word was "Dragon." This obviously is what I came up with that. Yep.

- Lady Harken (June, 2004)