From:
Date: Mon Dec 18, 2000 10:01am
Subject: Escaflowne: Leavetakings Part 13 - 15
Again, still unedited:
All these files can be found at: http://kuskus.org/ibun/project/lt/
for easy download!
Escaflowne: Leavetakings
Plot: Jeremy Bunyard
Style: Jacqueline Teng with Jeremy Bunyard
"Hitomi? What's wrong?" Terra asked, worried because her friend had
suddenly gone distant in the midst of preparing their campfire,
which had dwindled to little more than coals overnight while they
slept.
There was a moment of pregnant silence, long enough that Terra felt a
shiver of foreboding along her spine. Then, "A coming convergence,"
Hitomi intoned, sounding as if she was reciting something from
memory, her eyes far away. "The Phantom Moon, symbol of misfortune,
shall cast its light on Gaea more brightly than at any other time in
history, save one."
"Hitomi?" Terra asked, fear for her friend and herself alike putting
a desperate edge to her voice. Here she was stuck in some strange
world, with a _cat_ of all things for a companion, and her one
bastion of
stability, Hitomi, who said she'd been here before, was starting to
crumble.
Merle bounced up with her usual inexhaustible energy, her expression
innocently curious as she waved her hand in front of Hitomi's eyes
frenetically. "Hitooooooooomi," she whined with an upward lilt, in
that
particular way of hers that let any listeners know beyond a doubt
that she didn't think Hitomi would be answering--the girl being the
silly thing that she was. Sniffing and settling back on her haunches,
Merle
closed her eyes and tilted her nose up haughtily. "She's at it again
already," the cat-girl sighed.
"At what?" Terra wondered, since Hitomi had never managed to finish
her story the previous night. They had decided to wait until dawn
to head towards town, rather than risk trying to travel with the
injured Hitomi
at night, especially since all three were exhausted.
"Telling the future," Merle muttered, bristling slightly and casting
an evil eye toward the preternaturally still girl from the Phantom
Moon. "So she's gonna be the center of attention _again_."
Hitomi may as well have been back on earth, for all the attention she
paid Merle's by-play. "In time of need," she continued in the same,
disturbingly 'dead' voice, "from the Phantom Moon will come, a force
of
Order--or a force of Chaos. Of Creation or Destruction--who will be
bound with the fate of the world itself. So it has been before, and
so it may be again."
"You mean she's done this before?" Terra murmured, frowning. Was
there any way to snap her friend out of it? The blankness on
Hitomi's face was bad enough, but the flat voice was even more
frightening, as if
something long dead--or something that should be--was speaking
through her, using her like a--a puppet, or a telephone, for heaven's
sake!
"Those who were not created by Atlantis must play their role--"
She should try to do something...this can't be good for her...but
would bringing her out of it violently be any better?
"--in the course of the Fate of those who were..."
She'd had enough of all the abstract philosophical drivel. What was
she going to do with all that, anyway? She was getting her friend
back, right now! "Hitomi!" Terra shouted, shaking her
friend. "_Hitomi!_"
"Hm..hmm?" Hitomi murmured, blinking up at Terra in blank
incomprehension. Realization slowly seeped into her green-brown eyes
as she focused on her friend, and for one unguarded moment, Terra saw
a depth of sadness in her high school companion that she never
thought someone who wasn't at least four decades old could
feel.
Then Hitomi smiled, trying to reassure her, but Terra could tell how
much it cost her. What had she seen? Before she could ask, though, or
even formulate a question, Hitomi had turned to Merle. "Give Van my
love, Merle," she whispered.
Terra stiffened, feeling like she'd just been dunked into an ice-cold
pond. Merle looked incensed--or pretended to be. For all that she and
Hitomi had been rivals for Van's affection, the young cat-girl
considered Hitomi a friend. Most importantly, Hitomi was someone who
made Van happy, and for that alone the girl should be kept in good
condition. "What's with the attitude?" she said roughly. "Don't try
digging for more sympathy. You're not hurt nearly that badly. Tell
him yourself!" As she'd talked, her voice had steadily risen, until
the last was more a command than a petulant refusal.
Hitomi appeared unfazed in the face of the cat-girl's obvious
pique. "I can't." Her voice was soft, at odds with Merle's harsh
words, but carrying the same affection that had been less obvious in
the cat-girl's
declarations. "I have to leave, and I won't be able to come back
again. Ever."
Merle peered at her with suspicious eyes, looking for something--and
apparently finding it. "You're serious!" she not quite questioned,
exchanging astonished looks with Terra.
"You can't leave me here!" the latter exploded.
"I'm sorry," Hitomi whispered, dropping her gaze. "But it's not up to
me. It never was. This is _your_ trip to Gaea. I was just the
gateway, because of my gift, and because of--because of Van, and the
pendant that I
gave to him. Our feelings for each other...they connect us, connect
the Earth and Gaea, and the pendant only strengthens it."
"Please believe me, that part of me wants to stay here very badly.
But that decision was made the last time." Lifting her head, she met
their eyes and smiled tremulously. "Don't worry, it'll all work out.
Believe. I
know you'll do just fine. You can tell me all about your adventures
when I see you back on Earth..."
It began as the faintest of sparkles in the air, a splash of wind-
blown sparks that glowed white-blue instead of the red-gold of
fire...faint enough that they would have thought it their imagination
if they hadn't seen
the phenomenon before. The precursor didn't disappoint them, as the
sparks grew, and coalesced, building with its own bone-thrumming roar
to slowly engulf Hitomi--then shoot off into the sky, straighter and
brighter
than any laser or spotlight yet invented. The column of light slowly
grew steadier from the wild flickerings of its initial establishment,
and began to lift Hitomi off the ground.
"I...I'll tell Van-sama! I promise!" Merle suddenly shouted, as if
just waking up. Just waking up to the fact that her former rival was
leaving--and taking Van's happiness with her. Better that Hitomi
stayed, by far,
because while them being together might not be what Merle wanted,
deep down she knew it was best for Van--and anything that was good
for Van, was good enough for her.
************
The pendant flared brightly, and Van awoke with a start.
_Hitomi!_ She'd...gone...
He hadn't even had the chance to hold her close, just one more time.
Now she was once again on the Phantom Moon, where she belonged--no
matter that she was also needed _here_...needed by _him_.
He pulled his knees to his chest and hid his face in them, tears that
he'd sparingly shed throughout a life of tragedies threatening once
again. So close...
The sun was just starting to peer over the horizon, so it would be
several hours yet until they got to where Hitomi was--_had been,_ he
corrected himself. It was not starting off to be a good day...
************
Somewhere, beneath the earth, in a place that even the mightiest
nations of Gaea did not know existed, the elder frowned.
This...feeling, again. Just like last time, when the destruction of
Gaea had been thwarted by the a king with no nation and a slip of a
girl from the Phantom Moon. The same power was once again at
work.
His people were in position, just as they should be. They had
infiltrated the shattered remnants of the Zaibach resistance, had
insinuated themselves into the capital city of Zaibach where the
Madoushi, the Sorcerers, had managed to hang on to a tiny dominion,
ruling it with as much desperation as determination. Times were hard
for the remnants of the Zaibach empire in the aftermath of war, and
anything less than the Madouhshi's merciless tyranny would find the
supposed leaders quickly trampled. But there were other
ways to power and control--less strenuous and obvious ways. His
people had also infiltrated Asturia, Fanelia, and one was close to
the Pharaoh himself. Everything was just as it should be. A massive
orgy of blood and death was looming over the horizon despite the
peace that had settled over the land after the Zaibach War--a future
perhaps only he could see, but that made it no less real, less
imminent. And all of it was due to the efforts of one
individual.
"To live in war, and to die in war," the elder repeated the adage.
That was the fate of his people, the ones called 'Deceptants', among
other, less civil names by the patronizing humans. That was the fate
the
humans had set upon his people, long, long ago--and, embracing that
fate whole-heartedly, the elder had guided his people carefully for
over three centuries to make sure that fate came to be. Had he not
been
responsible for turning Isaac from savior to destroyer? He and his
people _would_ live in war, and they _would_ die in war. But they
would not die _alone_, oh no, they would take all of Gaea with them.
Someone from the Phantom Moon was here, and that person would be the
key, just as the last time. He would make sure that the key opened
the door to Armageddon...
End Ch 13
The Assassin
Note: This part of the story takes place while Dilandau and
Allen are still in Asturia.
Dilandau sat chained in perhaps the dankest and foulest hole in the
Asturian castle. There was no way out of this one. The revelations
of the day still rang inside his head. His entire unit was gone. He
was a prisoner. And Allen Schezar was completely out of his mind.
At least he got to kill someone� The thought of it brought a vicious
grin to his face. However, for some reason he didn't really get as
much of a rush as he used to. It even felt slightly wrong� He didn't
understand what was happening to him.
The cell he was in was heavily guarded. At least six men had been
set to watch the lone prisoner at all times. Pity though, they had
no idea of what they would soon face.
Dressed a servant the assassin infiltrated the royal Asturian
castle. On his shoulder rested a cask of vintage wine. His
destination was the wine cellar in the royal kitchen. He was among
the finest of his sort Gaia had ever seen. The man had retired from
the game of just killing important people. He, like other
professionals, sought to expand his field of work. That meant all
sorts of interesting jobs. This one had been remarkably fun thus far
and ever so interesting. He put down the wine cask and walked out of
the vast kitchens. He had been informed that other people would try
for the same goal that day. This was going to be fun, but all the
same, he was going to be wary.
* * *
The assassin jerked his short-sword out from the rib cage of
the last guard. The five other bodies lay about the area. Three had
poisoned darts sticking from their necks. Another fell victim to a
good old knife in the back. The last two had been rapidly dispatched
with blade work few could equal. The assassin removed his 'borrowed'
cap and threw it on a corpse. Longish stringy black hair spilled
down his neck. He chucked as he realized none of the guards had the
key to the cell.
"Smart move. I would have done the same," he whispered to
himself.
He pulled out a small kit and went to work on the lock. Soon
the lock clicked and the door swung open.
The assassin smiled at the lad with silver hair.
"Commander Dilandau Albatou, I trust?"
The one time leader of the Dragon Slayers looked up at the
man in the doorway. He didn't recognize the assassin.
"Ah, I should introduce myself," the dark-haired man made a
sweeping bow, "I am known as the Black Hammer. It was a title given
to me. I'll explain later."
Dilandau's eyes widened. "You! I've heard of you! You're
the one that did a lot of work for us during the two last major
campaigns! I heard you were the best."
"That remains to be seen. There is always someone better.
Or luckier. I've heard of you, too. I must say I am impressed by
your 'dedication' to your work. You have personally seen to the
razing of Fanelia and the outpost manned by Allen Schezar. Your
units have gone up against some pretty impressive foes. Valgus being
one of them. I couldn't ever beat him."
He laughed softly, "I've some lovely scars to show you some time.
But alas, time is exactly what we lack."
He started to pick the manacles worn by the younger warrior.
"Someone has paid me quite a handsome sum of money to 'remove' you
from captivity and return you to your empire."
Dilandau's narrowed, "How do I know you're telling the truth?"
The assassin grinned at him. "You don't."
Then he put his face to the bound warrior's ear. "And that's half
the fun," he whispered. Dilandau pulled away as the assassin freed
him.
"Come. We must set a trap for some people."
The Guymelef pilot massaged his wrists and stepped out into the
hall. He saw the dead bodies lying on the floor. He couldn't help
but smile.
"Impressive work."
"Yes, isn't it? Well, just remember this: The second you try
anything funny is the second your life becomes forfeit. If you know
anything about my promises, you know I mean it."
The soldier knew enough about him to know the truth of the
statement.
"Strip that soldier in the corner and put on his armor and uniform.
You will then drag the bodies into the cell while I prepare a rather
explosive surprise�"
The part of Dilandau that lusted for destruction and fire felt
anticipation. He went about his mission eagerly.
* * *
When the explosion rocked the cell block most of the guard
came running down to the dungeon in search for survivors and found
two guards waiting for them.
The larger guard held his comrade in his arms and was trying
to walk out when they met the first wave. The arriving soldiers felt
a twang of compassion for the sight of the two. One man was ignoring
his own injuries so he could help his comrade. An act of high
valor. Both faces were bloody, especially the smaller one the less
wounded guard carried. Their identities could not be readily
told.
An officer ran up to them.
"What happened?" he roared.
"Zaibach terrorists, sir!" the standing man yelled over the din. "I
heard some yelling and came running! When I got here I they were gone
and before I knew it the room exploded!"
"I see! You two help them!" He motioned at two uninjured
soldiers.
"The rest of you get the prisoners out of their cells and out of
here! Seal off the lower levels! I want engineers down here to
repair the damage immediately!"
The path before them cleared. One man took the gravely wounded man
and another helped the other to get upstairs.
The four moved on through the halls until no one else was in
sight. The assassin struck first. The man-at-arms he leaned on, got
a dagger in the ribs. Next he swept the remaining guard's feet out
from under him. Dilandau landed on top and slit his throat. They
quickly pulled the bodies out of sight and put on new disguises that
the assassin had stashed nearby.
Within ten minutes, two servants walked out through the
loading doors and headed for the docks. The assassin smiled as he
looked back. His work tonight would be nothing in comparison to what
he soon would be capable of. Once he had the money�
* * *
The Hammer and Dilandau walked down the streets of Asturia.
Both wore yet another set of new disguises to hide them from prying
eyes. The taller assassin motioned to a darkened inn. Dilandau
understood and went in first, dagger in hand under his cloak. The
two fugitives stood inside the inn. Only moonlight lit the inside of
the dusty broken place. Sitting on the stairs was Kor, the
metamorph.
Hammer pulled back his hood, nudging Dilandau to do the
same. The metamorph knelt before the Zaibach commander.
"Greetings, sir," he uttered. The Zaibach soldier
snorted.
The deadly assassin grinned. "And greetings to you,
changeling," Hammer offered.
"You were quite right in not trusting that Seith fellow. I
know his sort. They give assassins a good name," he added. The
black-haired man looked over on a table where his gear sat ready for
him. He trotted over and changed clothes.
The changeling looked at him. "Your payment will be in the
usual place."
"Excellent. Always a pleasure doing business with you,
Kor."
"Yes," he stopped for a moment and quietly stood up, "What if
I said that I have another small job?"
The assassin strapped on his weapon belt and turned
around.
"You have my attention."
"There is a man-"
"Murdering is boring," the Hammer snapped, "And I've no time
to be playing. I have several places to go."
"What if I said that the payment is the use of one of our
airships?"
That stopped the assassin cold in his tracks. He glared at
sub-human with his ice-crystal blue eyes.
"If you are toying wi-," he started to warn.
Dilandau remained silent in the background, not fully
understanding what they were talking about.
"No. I would never do that. You and I are too alike."
The assassin snorted loudly.
"In profession only," the metamorph quickly added.
"Are you offering me and my 'cargo' a ride to the
Ispano?"
"Yes," Kor replied.
"What is that you require of me?" the killer asked.
* * *
The Asturian castle:
Since the explosion, Allen Schezar had been removed to a
guestroom in the palace. Four guards stood at the exits. He had no
will to try to get away. He would stand trail like an honorable man
should. If it came down to it, he would die with honor. Still, he
had other concerns.
He walked up to a guard. "Is there any news about Ser-uh-I
mean Dilandau?"
"I'm sorry there is nothing I can say, sir."
The guards remembered Allen as being a hero and still treated
him with respect.
"Is he hurt?"
"I'm SORRY, sir. I don't know anything."
Allen sighed and walked over to a seat. He plopped down and
put his head in his hands. He felt nauseous from worry.
But, then he heard a knock at the door.
The soldier nearest opened the door. "Yes?" he called out as he
looked into the hall. Seeing nothing, he stepped out further. Allen
felt a gust of air. The man behind him must have opened the
window.
The soldier sighed and closed the door. Allen closed his eyes in
thought. Four grunts echoed through the large chamber. Allen's eyes
popped open just in time to see the guard by the door slump down and
hit the floor. He instantly stood up, ready for battle.
"Easy, my friend," voice called out. Allen looked around.
"We're not here to hurt you," Anthony said as he pulled back
the hood of his stealth mantle. Three others did the same.
The young noble looked at the Kanaphrian warrior and shook
his head smiling.
"I can go no where. Doing so would only prove my guilt to
the rest of Asturia. I will remain here and stand trial."
"That's a pity, considering Dilandau."
"What about my sister!" the blonde fighter roared.
"Kidnapped by an agent of the Zaibach. They wish to take him
back to the empire. If you wish to help him, I suggest you come with
us."
Allen sighed. It didn't like it, but he knew where his duty
lay. With his family.
* * *
"You must kill a man."
"Who?"
"A man named Anthony."
The Hammer laughed. "Hmm, the personal bodyguard and all
around lackey of his highness, King Seith. I've heard he's pretty
good."
"Oh, yes. He would be a formidable opponent for you."
"Well� I suppose so. Oh, well. I accept. But, first I
must show you something." The assassin smiled at Dilandau. "You are
going to like this."
No one felt the breeze in the inn.
* * *
Allen and Anthony stood on the deck of the Mantu. A young
man raced up from the dockside and up to Anthony.
"Sir, we found them! We've men following them now."
"Excellent! You will take us to them." Anthony smiled and
put a hand on Allen's shoulder. "Put your mantle back on. I will
need you there to calm your friend."
* * *
Kor looked around at his surroundings. The storm drain areas
of the city were quite large. The tunnels were at least ten feet
wide and almost 7 feet tall. But this room� Was huge. It was all
of one hundred feet in length and sixty feet in height.
The Hammer saw the metamorph's reaction. "It was built long
ago as a shelter in case of air attack. Most of these tunnels were
made for that purpose. After the city got built up, they converted
it into a sewer system for the wealthier folks." He then pointed to
a large tunnel toward the rear. That's the main flush tunnel. Leads
out to the beach. They've a big iron gate to discourage dragons from
trying to take up residence under the city."
The darkly garbed man finished lighting the torches that hung
from the walls. Leaning against the forward wall on a huge sled was
some large object covered with an enormous tarp.
"So, this is why you drug us down in this hole. Well then,
let's see it!" spat the impatient Dilandau.
The Hammer walked up to cover and with a strong yank he
pulled the tarp off.
The two Zaibach soldiers stared up in amazement at the
strange Guymelef. It was unlike any other type either had seen
before. The machine lacked the heavy armor plating of most Guymelefs
and it was several feet shorter too. The most striking feature was a
huge black onyx gemstone slightly center on the machine. Like the
Escaflowne the gem was the heart of the machine.
Kor's strange face grew a smile. "So, the rumors were true�
The Great Assassin exists," he said in awe.
"Yes, this is the Heart of Darkness. The Assassin
Guymelef."
Dilandau studied the black machine with awe. The stone was
the point where it stopped being similar to the Dragon. The
Escaflowne looked like a giant armored knight, the Heart of Darkness
looked more like a human. Dilandau knew that it was designed for
speed and that the lack of heavy armor allowed for a full range of
movement. It also lacked the cape that Escaflowne had. However, it
appeared to have a hood-like black metal overhang above the pilot
visor. He looked at the Black Hammer and looked back at the machine.
They even looked alike. He approached the machine and noted that the
structure was not intact. "It's been heavily damaged," the troubled
youth pointed out.
The assassin nodded solemnly. "Yes, the result of battle
that occurred over 300 years ago. Ironically, with your bane: the
Escaflowne. Even with an energist, it cannot move. The damage is
just too great."
The assassin walked up to the scarred machine and touched
it.
"The Assassins' Guild has been saving money to have it fully repaired
for the last hundred years."
"Where are the weapons?" asked Kor.
"It has two short-swords, similar to my own although they are
hidden in the rear."
"Why are you showing us this," Dilandau asked
suspiciously.
The dark-haired man snorted, "And here I thought we were
buddies�" He jumped up to the knee of the silent Guymelef.
"The reasons for my revealing this are simple. For one: Your
people are going to transport this to the Ispano for repairs.
Secondly�" He motioned at the Guymelef. "This is your ally."
The dexterous killer hopped down from his perch. "Since the Zaibach
Empire will have aided us in, you will be fully supported by the
Guild. That means you will have the finest network of spies and
killers at your disposal."
The assassin walked back to Dilandau. "And you� Perhaps we will
fight side-by-side. If not for your temper, you'd make a fine
assassin!"
Dilandau's eyes narrowed and he yelled, "Leave me be assassin! I am
getting tired of your games!"
"Don't worry. You don't have to anymore," a voice said from
behind the trio.
"Kor!" the assassin yelled as he spun around drawing his two
short-swords. He saw nothing. He turned back to the changeling.
Kor stood motionless with a blood strained sword poking through his
chest.
Dilandau had his dagger out and was backing up when he felt
hands on his arms forcing him down. He screamed and raged,
desparatly trying to break free.
The Hammer felt a slight breeze, like someone walking by. He
went to his knees and threw three long poison-tipped needles to his
side. He heard a scream and the sound of a man hitting the ground.
The assassin's poisons were fast acting and very lethal. The
assassin looked at Dilandau fighting on the floor. The young warrior
managed to knock one of the attackers' hood off. The Hammer watched
with horror, as a Kanaphrian warrior became visible.
He gasped.
"Well, done," the voice said again. Anthony pulled back his
hood. The eight other soldiers followed suit. The assassin noted
that he was surrounded. Oh, well. He could take the peons easy.
Their leader would cause a few problems. Then Allen Schezar pulled
off his hood and rushed over to calm Dilandau who had two men
literally sitting on him. Allen kicked the two men off of
his 'sister' and grabbed the young man.
The assassin felt his blood run cold. The appearance of
Allen Schezar changed everything. There was no way he could take on
two fighters of Anthony's and Allen's skill AND the lackeys!
Anthony casually glanced at the 'Heart of Darkness.'
"Nice Guymelef. A bit damaged, but still an Ispano is a
Ispano. We'll take it back with us. It may be of some use to
us."
Soldiers cautiously closed in on the Hammer. His face became
contorted with rage.
"You have just ordered your own death! And those of your
countrymen!"
He quickly sheathed one of his blades.
"That's not going to help you," Anthony stated.
"Oh, yeah?" he assassin flashed an evil smile. Then with his
free hand he threw down a smoke bomb. The floor became filled with
gray smoke. Even as it burst, he reached into his pouch and produced
a handful of caltrops. He threw them to the floor and rushed to the
nearest opening. Once they stepped into the smoke in pursuit,
several of the soldiers dropped to the ground in pain as the sharp
points dug into their feet. One soldier was in his way. A poison
needle flashed out, catching him in the eye. He too fell in pain
before the poison silenced his cries. The assassin bounded down a
passageway.
The remaining troops stood their ground waiting for the smoke to
reveal the painful little devices.
They soon heard a scream.
"We got him!" one soldier cried from next to Dilandau and
Allen.
They then heard another scream.
"Wrong. He got them," Anthony replied sternly, "Do not pursue that
one. You will only die."
The Guardian looked at the black Guymelef and then at
Dilandau, who had been bound. _Four men for an Ispano. An
acceptable loss._ he mused. _I think his highness will be interested
at this latest development._
* * *
Eventually the sky began to lighten as dawn approached. The
air-ship, Lovely Lady sat in the shallow water of one of Asturia's
beaches. A large number of men and two industrial Melefs moved a
large object under a tarp into the hold of the waiting vessel. They
would soon be gone and the proper people bribed to keep their mouths
shut.
Above this sat a lone man dressed in black and a blue cloak.
He watched the activity. Too many to deal with, the assassin
reasoned. He felt his rage build within him once more. He fought
the urge and pushed the anger inside himself. To be in his line of
work, one had to have self-control. The Black Hammer would
eventually pull the rage back out and use it to give him strength.
He noted the lightening sky and adjusted his black forester's cap(the
same sort that Robin Hood wears[sans feather]). He pulled out a long
dagger and stared into the reflection of his own eyes. They were icy-
blue eyes. Not cold eyes, but glittering piercing eyes. He wondered
briefly what his life would be like if he had been born into
different circumstances. Would the emptiness inside him be filled
with love or friendship? He stood up and shook his head.
Assassins didn't need compassion. Even though they ache� But that
was his lot. That was an assassin's lot.
He replaced the dagger and turned around to walk back to town.
Already, he had paid a visit to the wealthy merchant that was the
Guild's Master for the town. Reinforcements would be waiting for him
in Exodus and an air-ship ticket had been secured. The Guildmaster
was particularly worried about the stealth mantles. An assassin's
bread and butter was his or her stealth. A device such as the man-
sized stealth mantle could prove disastrous for the Guild. He
thought of the day's events once more. Something was bugging him
about it all. He would have to be cautious in his quest. As the
first light of day crested over the horizon, the assassin named Tolby
faded into the shadows.
* * *
The same night as Terra and Hitomi's arrival in Gaia:
Owen Thrimble lay watching the night sky of Gaia. It was a
common sort of thing for him to do. He dearly loved to gaze at the
place he once knew as home.
he
thought.
However, such was the price of his meddling with what he did
not understand. Such was the price of using magic. The tall man
sighed deeply. It had been five years since he crossed over from
Earth to Gaia. He had simply misunderstood the purpose of the rite.
Rather than solve a rather unfortunate drawback to using magic, it
had cast him into a strange world. He had almost died.
Almost.
After he recovered, Owen certainly did not feel good when he
found out that the book that contained the rite had been either
destroyed or left back on earth. That made him invariably
stuck.
He slowly became aware of movement. He could just barely
make out a vast shadowy bulk under the cover of the dense dark
woods.
"Care to join me old friend?" he called out casually.
From edges of his vision he saw the great brown dragon move
out into the light. The old creature's scales glinted under the
starry sky like gemstones. The huge dragon walked over next to him
and plopped down no more than ten feet from the dwarfed human.
"I trust you are doing well?" Owen asked.
The beast gave a lazy snort. He had just fed, and fairly
well at that.
The two of them were unlikely friends. A dragon and a mage.
Well, a dragon and an apprentice. Four years before, Owen had moved
to the area. There had been an old cottage that Owen fixed up,
despite warnings that a dragon lurked in the lowlands and rocky hills
nearby. The two eventually met while the young man was out scouting
the land. Fortunately, Owen knew a minor spell that would allow them
to touch minds briefly. It had worked. As it had turned out nether
of them wanted to fight. The dragon was very old, very intelligent,
wise in the world, and thought that battles with humans were better
left to younger and more impulsive dragons. And Owen certainly
didn't want to fight something so much larger and more powerful.
With only a spear he could never have hoped to live and any magic
powerful enough to harm a dragon would drain him beyond what his body
could offer.
The dragon snorted again and shifted his weight. His body
language could tell Owen his thoughts. He wished to know why the
human was on the edge of his territory.
"Just looking at my home, big guy."
The dragon rumbled slightly and collapsed into sleep.
Question: Where does a multi-ton brown dragon sleep? Anywhere he
damn well wants to.
The two had worked out a mutual respect for each other at the
end of their first encounter. Eventually it became an odd sort of
friendship. Whenever, they met out abroad they would walk together
for a while, enjoying at little intelligent company for a
change.
"Still, as much I'd like to go back, this is my home now," he
yawned. The dragon snored loudly. He watched the skies a bit longer
before drifting into slumber.
The two slept for a long time until they were awakened in a
most unexpected way� Despite his inability to use the more powerful
magiks, Owen was still attuned to magic. And it was magic that
pulled him and dragon from sleep. The two them shot up, rising to
their feet.
The dragon hissed, being a creature of magic as well he could
feel things even more acutely than the human.
"I know� What the hell is it? I remember feeling this
before� It happened several times last year� But this�"
The dragon roared.
the young man thought.
"You want to check it out, don't you?"
The huge brown head turned towards him.
"Yeah, I do to. But, we have no way of knowing where the
site of this is," he stated.
The dragon roared and waddled off eastwards a few
paces.
"So, Lassie? That's where Timmy has fallen into the
well?"
The dragon sighed and sort of shook its head. He often
considered the human an idiot.
"Well�" Owen knelt down and rolled up his bedroll and slipped it into
his pack. "Let's go," he said as he slung the pack on his
shoulders. He reached over and plucked his spear from the soft
earth.
"Oh, wait�" he muttered. He looked in the direction the dragon
stood. It dawned on him that the point of magical origin was rather
distant. He looked at the dragon and the dragon looked at him.
"Tell, you what� You remember that big boar in the pen at my house?
If you give me a ride, he's yours."
If dragons could smile, this one would be doing so. He loved pork.
It had been years since he had a good pig to eat. He had loved them
so much that he had eaten all the wild ones decades ago. Actually,
his mate had eaten many of them, too. The dragon's heart felt heavy
when he thought about his mate. There were so very few dragons
around, and females were rare enough as it was�
The dragon quickly snapped his thoughts back to reality and
lowered himself to allow the human to clamber up to his neck.
"Yah! Dragon, yah!" he exclaimed. The dragon was not amused,
and shot him a glare that read 'not funny.'
"Ok. I'm sorry," Owen apologized, "Please, can we go
now?"
The dragon grunted and quickly entered the dense woods.
* * *
One day later:
Owen and his large friend approached the place that had drawn
them. The powerful magic used intrigued both of them. It was now
noon as they came upon Hitomi, Terra, and Merle.
Once the dragon had caught wind of a campfire, Owen had
wisely cast a spell to keep their scents and the sounds of their
movements hidden. However, it caused him to feel achy and sick.
Such was another price of even minor magiks. They required a bit of
the caster's own life-force. Using too much magic could easy kill a
man. The two soon found the small party. Mostly, because of the
dragon's acute senses. Owen could make out three forms, but lacked
the ability to see any detail. He looked up at the massive head
hanging in midair. The dragon looked down at him and comically
blinked his reptilian eyes.
"I can't make much out, but you can. Do you mind if I do a
mind-touch?" he asked the four-legged monster.
The dragon stared at him. He didn't know what to make of the
peoples and was curious, two of them had strange smells. The land-
dragon bobbed his head in agreement.
"Thank you," Owen whispered. The young man began to chant
softly. Soon, he felt his mind expand and enter the dragon's.
It was a strange place, a dragon's mind. It was filled with
a bizarre mixture of animal instinct and remarkable intelligence.
This dragon was not your average land dragon either. He caught an
image of the three individuals clearly. He locked on the that and
hastily exited the dragon's mind.
What he saw forced his heart to leap into his throat. He
knew at once that two were not native to Gaia. The clothes, were a
dead give away. He had not seen such clothes in five long years.
The appearance of the short-haired girl marked her as Asian. The
other looked like a westerner. The third was a cat-like human
creature. He had met one of them before he moved out into the
woods.
The fact of the matter was that there were people from Earth!
Somehow, they had made the crossing! But how? Owen desperately
wanted to leap out and run to them, but he resisted. He could scare
them. No telling what sort of shape they were in. Would three
females trust a large strange man with a spear? Besides, what were
they doing with the cat-person? Perhaps he needed to observe them
some more.
The dragon started breathing down his neck. Owen almost
yelped.
"Oh, yeah," he whispered as he turned around, "You want to
know what's up, huh?"
The beast snorted. Hot smelly dragon breath.
"Did anyone ever tell you had bad breath?"
Snort. More hot smelly dragon breath. Ick!
"Okay. Okay. One's a cat-girl, but you know what those are.
The two humans are from the Mystic Moon, my world. That's why they
smell odd. The magic of the crossover is what we felt."
The dragon gave a satisfied huff and looked at mageling,
questionably.
"Yeah, you don't care anymore do you?"
The big land dragon bobbed his head in agreement.
"And you want to go home?"
The same reaction.
"Well, go on back. I gotta stay here. And when you get
back, just the boar mind you! Wait� I doubt I'll be back anytime
soon, you can eat the sow, too."
The dragon started to salivate. Big thick ropes of dragon
drool, almost hitting Owen.
"Oh, yuck� Hey, knock off the waterworks," he growled.
The big creature was already headed in the other direction.
He ambled up the hill and snaked through the trees
effortlessly.
"Later, big guy."
The dragon paid him no attention whatsoever and continued on
silently.
he thought to himself.
At the same moment the dragon thought,
He shook his head and continued to watch the three girls. He
had to know how two girls from his world managed to cross over.
* * *
Owen dreamt strange dreams. He continually dreamt of a
pillar of light from the heaven and the image of a girl inside of
it. His mind didn't understand the meaning of the dream. It seemed
all very familiar still.
The young man awoke with a start. He still remained at the
edge of the forest, hidden in the undergrowth. He was getting a very
bad feeling about things. A feeling that he was forgetting something
and of dread. Something was about to happen, something unexpected.
Owen righted himself and looked at the small campfire of the three
girls. He knew that he was no seer, but when you lived with the
magic as he had, you develop a sixth sense when dealing with
it.
"Something is very wrong," he whispered to himself in an
attempt to comfort his growing anxiety. He didn't have to wait long
for answers. He saw his quarry talking about something. For some
reason, it just occurred to him to cast an aura spell. With an aura
spell, one could see magical energy in objects or building such as
for a spell.
He chanted the Matara and drew series of complex letters in
the air. His vision went white, but soon the light fade and the
magic around him was opened to his sight. He looked down at his
hand. It glowed with a blue aura, edged in white. The aura of a
mage. Next, he stood up and glazed out at the campfire.
His eyes widened as beautiful orange, blue, and gold swirls
gathered in the center of trio. His own auraed hand reached out as a
stream of magical energy passed him and joined the others. The magic
was gathering. For what?! Then he saw the auras of the three in the
center of this event. The cat-girl's was unremarkable. However, the
two earth girls' were incredible. They were absolutely stunning. He
had never seen such a wondrous sight. A thousand shades of blue that
seemed to be shimmered like light through water, surrounded the two
purest auras he had ever seen. He was close to the point of tears.
He didn't know if they were the result of the gathering energy or
natural. He didn't really care. He was so taken by spectacle that
he failed to see that the focal point of the energy was the short-
haired girl.
By then Owen realized that the sparks of magic had become
visible. They brightened and built up around Hitomi. This too was
beautiful, even greater than before. Then Hitomi was slowly engulfed
by the column of light. It was similar to the one that Owen had
inadvertently summoned, and brought him to Gaia.
"No!" he gasped. His hand shot out as it to stop the
transfer as the light shot into the night sky. He was filled with
horror knowing that the girl was going to return to earth and he
wasn't.
His eyes filled with tears. "Oh, God no� I was so close�" he
said as he fell to his knees, fighting to keep control.
* * *
Page 15 (Stories)
By: Gilbert Lin
Coauthored by Jason Sullivan
It had been quite some time since the assassin had left
Austria. He had
left an hour after midday and now darkness had claimed the lands. The
Hammer stared outside his window at the land below. The ground
rushed by a
frantic pace. He looked up at his surroundings: a small cabin set-
aside
for special passengers. There were no other people in the cabin, only
the fearsome killer. Few would have recognized him in his 'traveling'
clothes. He wore brown breeches, a fine white shirt ruffled in the
front,
boots over his knees, and in the next seat sat a rather foppish
plumed hat.
At his waist hung only one short-sword. He still had several darts
and
long poisoned needles hidden as well as a long dagger hanging in his
belt.
He was not uncomfortable in his attire. He often assumed the
identity of
Geard Lendau in his travels. When he wished, the Hammer could clean
up
rather well. His assumed attitude was that of a rakish adventurer, a
suave
man that could make many a lady blush. He had come a long way from
the
young runaway he had once been.
The talented assassin's thoughts soon turned to his
precarious situation.
The Guild was not happy at all about his losing the guymelf, 'Heart of
Darkness.' However, he had confirmed the existence
of man-sized stealth mantles. That was a serious threat to the
Guild's
power and such information got him off the hook. He would have to
get the
'Heart' back. And soon. The Guild was at a major turning point.
All knew war was certain any time now. They needed the Great
Assassin to
secure their power in the coming tides.
The problems of the Guild were not the only items on his
mind. There was
also the reason for the King of Kanaphra freeing Allen Schezar, who
was up
on charges of treason and the feared Zaibach commander, Dilandau
Albatou.
It did not make sense. Why would Seith risk war just for two men?
And
just what was the link between Schezar and Albatou? Why did the
blonde
warrior seem so concerned with the insane guymelf pilot in
the 'Heart's
hiding place? He had heard that Dilandau had personally led the
attack on
Schezar's outpost during the beginnings of the war. His sources had
confirmed this fact as well. Why protect him?
The powerful assassin sighed and shifted his position. There
were far too many secrets. Secrets that he wanted to know. Aside
from the thrill of
combat and pushing his abilities to the limit, the Hammer
enjoyed the intrigue of his profession. Assassins often found out a
lot of
interesting stuff and he loved finding out secrets. It kept his mind
occupied.
The man known as the Black Hammer glanced out the window
again. His gaze focused on the larger of the two moons in Gaea's
sky. His mouth widened into an amused smile.
"Mystic Moon�" he whispered, "What secrets do you hide?"
---
It had been a long and tiring day for Hitomi, even though all
she really
did was lie in bed. She was brought into the UCSD medical center
after she
was found on the sidewalk where she was shot, and was shuffled
straight to
the Emergency room. After a somewhat long examination and numerous
questions about her past health, the trauma team scanned the wound and
found that the bullet passed right through her leg, and was healing
relatively well for an untreated bullet wound. They downgraded her
emergency trauma status, placed her in her own room, and was
scheduled be
released to Terra's parents tomorrow afternoon. Soon after the
examination, a police officer came in, and wanted her to describe
what she
remembered about the shooting. Hitomi described in as much detail as
her
English would provide how John drove up to them, drunk, and his offer
to
take a ride in his car. She described Terra's reaction to John's
attempt
to force them into her car, and how he pulled the gun and shot her.
After
telling up to that point, however, she quickly stated that she lost
consciousness, and that she doesn't know where Terra is. The
policeman
then told her that John died in a collision with a telephone pole
while he
was being chased by the police. He was going around 90 miles/hour and
wasn't wearing his seatbelt when he crashed. He died at the scene.
Before
he died, he told the paramedics something about Terra passing through
a
white gateway. This left the police dumfounded since they could not
find
Terra's body. Hitomi knew where she was, but she kept that
information to
herself. After all, who would believe that Terra was on some other
planet
named Gaea?
She closed the Time magazine she was struggling to read, and
slightly
leaned over to put it aside. Her leg was still bugging her, although
the
pain was not quite as intense as she remembered. She then turned her
head
to face the window. Peering through, she saw the moon in all of its
silent
glory, and her thoughts went to Gaea, the friends that she left
behind, the
adventures she had there, and the feelings that accompanied them. To
say
that her resent visions and her trip to Gaea didn't affect her would
be
false. In fact, being on Gaea, even for less than a day, shook her
confidence surrounding her ability to control her own life and
brought up
old questions she thought she answered just over a year ago. A large
part
of her wished she could be back on Gaea, with Allen, Millerna, Van,
Terra,
and even Merle.
Still, there was a tinge of feeling in her heart. There would always
be a
little regret, of course. She never will return to those days, when
she
viewed the present from the future. One of the most important
lessons she
learned from her adventure on Gaea was that seeing the future was not
a
blessing. It was a curse, because by seeing the most likely future
and
knowing what the most likely outcome will be, hope, one of the
greatest
gifts to humans, is diminished severely. Hitomi was lucky, to have
been
able to change the future as often as she did. She saved Van's life
many
times, but there were many other people, people with faces, names, and
lives, that she failed to save through that same special gift. She
has
never picked up the Tarot since that adventure.
Turning her head a little to her left, she eyed her Tarot
cards, lying
peacefully next to her bedside lamp. She may not have used them
since the
adventure, but they are still one of her most cherished possessions
she
owns, not only because of their involvement during her adventure, but
also
because they reminded her of her late Grandmother.
On an impulse, Hitomi reached for her cards. She picked them
up, and she
noticed that they were warm and grainy to the touch. A few of the
edges
began to suffer from wear and tear, and the colorful symbols and
pictures
of her Merlin tarot have begun to fade. The cards were Hitomi's
constant
companions since her Grandmother bought them for her. The other item
from
her Grandmother, her pendent, she gave to Van on her departure from
Gaea.
Still holding her precious cards, she returned her gaze to
the open
window, and she felt that little bit of regret in her heart grow a
little
more. What were all of her friends doing at that time? She could
only
speculate.
Of course, Hitomi had a better idea of
what
Terra and Merle was doing. They would be in a forest, finding a way
to the
nearest town, and figuring out what to do.
she thought to herself,
Hitomi sighed, and turned her head from the window.
Hitomi
decided,
Hitomi's hands tingled oddly at that thought, and they caught
her
attention. Still fingering her tarot cards, she felt their seemingly
inner
warmth, and they beckoned her to use them. Hitomi smiled, and gave
in to
the temptation.
Hitomi reasoned.
Turning the cards over, she rummaged through the many
different cards.
Carefully, she picked out cards that most represented her friends.
Van was
an obvious choice. Bold, courageous, enthusiastic. He was the Ace of
Serpents. The next card after she took the ace out of the deck and
placed
it on her lap was a King: the King of Fish, who was wise, calm, and
tolerant. It represented Allen perfectly. She took that card and
gave it
an honored place on Hitomi's lap. Fingering through the cards, she
searched for a card that would represent Millerna. Millerna was
always
warm, outgoing, and sincere. The Queen of Serpents popped out at
her, and
was pulled out. Merle, was a very young annoyance for Hitomi, but
nevertheless was a good, trustworthy, and helpful friend. She
deserved the
Page of Beasts. Finally, there was Terra, she was tough, because of
her
unusual temper. Hitomi finally decided on the Queen of Birds. The
majestic predator bird flew against dark clouds, but she was wise,
proud,
and had great self determination.
Hitomi reshuffled her deck several times, made a quick cut,
and put a card
face down next to each card representing her friends. She put the
rest of
her cards to the side, on the nightstand. Then she turned over the
face-down card next to the Ace of Serpents. It was the Three of
Birds, the
card of sudden, lost love.
Hitomi thought. She turned her eyes to the
window, and talked to the sky.
"Van, be strong. I have not forgotten you. Do what you
believe is right. I love you�"
---
The Kanaphrian palace could be said to be one of the most
marvelous pieces
of modern architecture in Gaea. Lying on a moderate plateau and
surrounded
by the equally impressive port city of Exodius, one can see kilometers
around the palace. From the bright blue sea stretching to the
horizon,
into the golden brown adobe city below, from the large river that runs
along next to the city, to the desert that surrounds the city for
kilometers around. If one's eyesight follows the river, it is
possible to
see the main reason why Exodius is so prosperous: the Dragon
Wastelands and
its stockpile of the valuable energist. The palace itself was not
large.
In fact, the highest tower was not more than 5 stories, and many other
royal palaces and castles on Gaea dwarfed the Kanaphrian palace in
size.
In addition, the exterior was rather blocky, so box looking that
there was
not one round surface visible in the exterior of the castle. The
palace,
though, was still pleasing to the eye, since it had numerous square
fountains in and around the palace filled with drinkable water that
was
pumped from the river, as well as numerous exotic plants planted
within
it's grounds. In addition, each of its 5 towers held what seemed to
be a
brown statue of a large armored knight.
Despite its appearance, however, the Kanaphrian palace is one
of the most
secure compounds from an attack. The palace is surrounded by shear
cliffs
on three sides that descend into the sea, so it could only be
attacked in
one direction by land, and any intruders approaching Exodius by land,
sea,
or air would be spotted by the people in the towers long before anyone
could attack. The only other way to attack the palace was by air, but
Kanaphra had invested large amounts of money in building several
airships,
the flagship of these being the Montu, which was capable of holding 8
guymelfs alone. Catapults could be readied at a moments notice, and
the
underground hanger for the Guymelfs held several guymelfs that were
based
on Zaibach technology. Even it's architecture is deceiving, for
underneath
the stone walls that would normally be crushed by enemy guymelfs lies
reinforced steel, capable of withstanding constant barrages. Although
useless against a guymelf, which would jump over it, it would be a
hindrance to any normal ground based unit trying to breech the
walls. And
the large brown statues atop of each of the ten towers of the palace
is
actually an old, disguised, flight capable Guymelf, capable of
lifting off
to intercept an attacker at a moment's notice.
And on one of the tower balconies that overlooked the horizon
stood one
young man. He was alone, leaning over the edge of the rail. From a
distance, one would speculate that he was admiring the beautiful sea
as it
sparkled under the sunlight. If one approached him, however, you
could see
a swinging pendent held by one hand as well as the numerous tears on
his
face that sparkled as brilliant as the surrounding sea.
The pendent swung back and forth; its swing's constant, never-
ending. Van
watched its motion, mystified with each swing, and admiring the
pendant's
beauty. His eyes stayed with the pendulum, his mouth was counting the
passing seconds, but his mind was with his pain.
he asked himself.
But he had no answer. He never realized how much he missed
Hitomi until
now. He had dreamed that he would be able to see Hitomi again, to
hear her
laugh, her voice. To feel her young, smooth skin, and her delicate,
short,
straight, soft hair. Oh, it was so easy to dream, to hope. He
thought
that that dream would come true that day. But fate offered the dream
with
one hand and snatched it away with another.
Just after Hitomi returned to the moon, his next stages of
life were
crystal clear: rebuild Fanelia, recover from the war, and serve his
people.
But now, Fanelia was mostly rebuilt and was well on its way to
recovery.
He kept the peace for over a year now, kept his people happy.
There was always something missing during the last year, but
only now did
he realize what it was. It was someone he could talk to. There was
no one
to share his triumphs, and no one to help him with his
disappointments.
Before the war, after her mother died, he had Valgus to lean on for
support. He was not only his teacher and mentor, but he was also a
friend.
To Van, he was a miracle worker. Not only did he have the time to
teach
Van how to use the sword, not only did he run the country following
his
brother's disappearance, but he also found the time to listen to him,
to
share in his joy and his pain. Following his death, Hitomi, and
later his
other friends were there to listen to him.
But then, Hitomi left.
After the war, the heroes each went their separate ways.
Allen became
consumed in taking care of his sister, and until recently, stayed in
Austria. Millerna also returned to Austria, to help her father run
her
country. Van would visit them from time to time, but those visits
were
short, few, and far between.
And Merle, well, was Merle. Oh, she would make him laugh
when he was
down, he could talk to her about his issues, and he loved her very
much.
But he loved her as a little sister, who would always listen to him,
but he
was sure she never understood. Hitomi, on the other hand,
often did
understand his emotions.
Hitomi's return and exit from Gaea surfaced many questions
about life to the forefront of Van's mind. What should he do now?
What is to become of his life? What is to become of his friends?
What is to become of Hitomi?
"Isn't the scenery beautiful this time of day?"
Van didn't turn around in order to hide his tears. He knew that
Seith was
only a few meters behind him. Under his best diplomatic tone, Van
spoke.
"I'm sorry King Seith, but I'm not feeling well. Perhaps we can talk
some
other time."
Not fooled, Seith responded, "I don't think this is exactly
the time for
politics Van. From my view, you don't exactly have many close
friends at
the moment, especially since Allen is constantly calming down
Dilandau. So
I would like to offer my services as a friend."
Van said nothing. The pendent continued swinging back and
forth.
"You know, Van, that many are not as fortunate as you. In
fact, I envy
you. Sasha was my sister, yes, but I fell under romantic love with
her
ever since that day she treated my wounds. I swore that day that she
would
one day be my queen."
A pause, to reflect his own words. "Now, she lies in a coma,
and
stubbornly refuses to awaken. Both our loves are where we can't get
at
them, but there is one important difference. At least you have many
fond
memories of your love. Me, I never really got close to her after
that one
night. I know it is not much comfort, but you should count your
blessings,
King of Fanelia."
More silence, but Seith knew Van was listening.
"What would Hitomi say to you now?"
Van instantly stopped the pendant's motion with his other
hand, grasping
it protectively. Releasing the chain, he slowly brought the pendent
up to
his chest, feeling its warmth in his hand. Van could feel Hitomi,
beside
him, around him, in the very air he breathed. He could hear her
love, her
scolding, and her advice.
Wiping off the tears from his face using his tunic, Van gently
placed the
Atlantian artifact back around his neck. He then turned and faced the
Pharaoh.
"She would say, 'I will always love you, but you need to put
the past
behind. Be responsible, be strong, and have faith for the future.'"
He
paused, to quickly meditate. "King Seith, I have a request for you.
I
require Airship transport to Austria as soon as possible, in order to
stop
the war that is brewing before it starts."
Van noticed Seith's eyebrows slightly narrow from some sort
of concern.
"Of course. I will order the 'Lucky Lady' to transport you to
Austria as
soon as possible.
Van smiled. "Thank you, my friend."
---
Hitomi brooded on Van once more for a little while, and
gently set the
mixed feelings aside for another time. Moving on, she turned over the
Hanged Man card that sat next to the King of Fishes. Hitomi had the
feeling that Allen was now finally accepting a new situation.
---
Allen was feeling lightheaded and hungry after that long
flight on board
the Montu. Allen was not too picky with his food, but the food he
found
aboard the Montu was several days old and much too salty.
The palace kitchen was abnormally small for such an important
room, Allen
decided. It was only one half the size of the kitchen in the Austrian
castle. But it was so much the better. He quickly found the bread,
meat,
and vegetables he was looking for in the room, and was on his way
back to
Dilandau's room with his sandwich.
he thought while he was chewing on his food,
He tripped on those thoughts, and nearly dumped his sandwich
on the floor.
Allen sighed, and found a conveniently empty guest room to enter.
He sat
down on a wooden chair, and began to face the facts.
He was now a fugitive from Austria. Until now, it has not
dawned on him
that no matter how much he wanted to, he could never return without
facing
execution. Facing his trial was no longer an option, as no one would
care
for Dilandau. Perhaps Seith would, but Allen was a good judge of
character. Seith was a trustworthy friend, willing to sacrifice much
for
their friendship, perhaps even his life, but after a few
conversations with
him it became clear that he was shrewd, very ambitious, and would
also not
hesitate to manipulate anyone, including his friends, to achieve his
goals.
Allen knew he was being manipulated. Seith once hinted that he
knew a
possible "cure" for Dilandau's condition, and that when he had the
time, he
would discuss the "cure" with him. Seith wanted Allen with him as
long as
possible, but the chance to finally cure his sister, Allen reasoned,
was
too good of a chance to miss. He won't take any action right now,
and just
ride with the flow of fate.
Finally, there was Hitomi's sudden return and disappearance
from Gaea.
Why did she return, especially in the middle of nowhere, if not to
see Van?
Her quick but felt presence on Gaea disturbed him. Something was
going to
happen, and soon.
Thoughts still disturbed him, but Dilandau would soon wake up
from his
sleep. Unless Allen was there, he would likely tear up the palace.
Sighing, he stood, took another bite, and began the walk to
Dilandau's room
once again.
A servant shot by him. The servant appeared to come right
out of nowhere,
and darted past him without a sound. Allen took a quick look at him
before
he turned one of the many sharp corners in the palace. He was
dressed in
the standard Kanaphrian servant cloths, which were too loose fitting
for
Allen's taste. Still, something disturbed him about the way he
moved. His
style of walking was not that of a native Kanaphrian, nor the speed or
agility of the way he silently moved past him marked him as a normal
servant. Curious, he ate the last remaining piece of his sandwich and
began to follow the servant.
---
The deadly assassin mentally cursed himself as Allen Schzar
began to
follow him. He had been confident of his disguise and busy creating a
mental map of the castle's layout. Thusly, he had reverted to his
normal
predatory stride without realizing it. The Guild's Master of Stealth
had
warned him about it before. Plus, the last thing he wanted was a
fight
with a swordsman of the likes of Allen Schzar. The battle fought
against
the mentor of both Allen and Van gave him a great measure of respect
for
anyone trained by Valgus. He rapidly ducked down a side corridor,
hoping to
knock Allen off the trail. Unfortunately, Allen's years of service
at the
outpost fort had given him some good tracking skills and Allen kept
after
the Hammer. The Hammer quickly realized that no matter what he did,
there
was going to be a confrontation. The assassin moved toward an
unguarded
room that had multiple exits. He preferred to fight on his own
terms, but
he would settle for equal footing in a pinch.
By then, Allen had realized that his quarry was aware of
him. He steeled himself for what was coming. The blonde fighter saw
the servant duck into another room. He followed, ready for an ambush
that never came.
The Hammer stood facing him, motionless. His hands near his
hidden
weapons. His current disguise allowed him only one short sword. A
dagger
would have to do.
Allen's hand went to his sword, but he didn't draw it. The two men
eyed
each other. Then Allen saw his eyes. Those glittering ice-blue eyes.
"So, you are the assassin we encountered in Austria," he
stated calmly.
The assassin smiled and bowed, never taking his eyes from
Allen. "I'm
honored that you remembered me," the master killer replied. he added silently. "Allow me to introduce myself,
I am
known as the Black Hammer."
The tension was terrible. Both men were desperately
searching for a hole in the other's defense-for some weakness to
exploit, but neither could find one.
"Your name is known to me. As it is known by most of the
nobles in Austria."
"I am that famous?" the Hammer asked sarcastically.
"More like infamous."
The assassin just gave an evil smile. He had made quite a
name for
himself during the last decade working mainly for the Zaibach.
The assassin broke the silence, "Isn't it ironic? Here we
have two polar opposites: An honorable Heavenly Knight and a wicked
Master Assassin."
It was indeed. Before Allen, stood a man that stood against
almost
everything that he held dear. "I take it that you are after the
guymelf?"
Allen asked, hoping that the assassin had no further interest in
Dilandau.
"Correct," replied the Hammer.
"I've no quarrel with you," Allen stated grimly, "But, I can
not allow you to harm anyone here."
"Neither do I with you. And I only kill in necessity. That
is the
assassin's way." Allen snorted at his remark.
"Don't be so quick to judge me," the Hammer spat. "Your
friend, Seith, is not the holiest man either."
The tall blonde fighter's eyes narrowed.
Seeing this reaction, the Hammer smiled.
"So, you are not a naive as most of your sort have proven.
Very well, I will tell you a few secrets about your 'friend'."
Allen didn't trust the assassin, and suspected that the
conversation was a clever ploy to divert his attention.
Nevertheless, he was interested.
"The Guild knows much of the plots and plans of kings and
kingdoms. This kingdom has been quite busy. Quite a lot of energist
is exported from
here. That, of course, makes Kapharia quite wealthy."
The Heavenly Knight wondered what the assassin was getting
at.
"That is very obvious, but what isn't is the level of
energist quarrying that is actually done."
The younger fighter raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, there are twice as many crews out as there than
energist being
exported. And quite a bit of it is exported mind you.
"Stockpiling energist is no crime," Allen responded.
"Oh, yes. They are indeed stockpiling much of it, but what
happens to the rest is most interesting."
"Rest?"
"Of course," the assassin replied, "If they kept it all, they
would have enough energist to power their army for the next seventy
years if not longer."
The tall young warrior remained quiet, but was getting more
and more
curious by the minute. The Hammer smiled and continued, "For the last
several months there have been increasingly larger amounts of energist
found in the black markets of various nations. It seems that much of
it
has been used to purchase guymelf parts scavenged by various groups
after
the war. With Gaea at peace, such parts are of little use to these
parties. Thusly they are sold."
Allen felt a cold feeling sink into his belly as he realized
what the
assassin was getting at. The army of Kanaphra was already large and
powerful with a considerable number of war machines and airships.
Stockpiles of energist and guymelf parts could mean only one thing:
Seith
was gearing up for war.
The Hammer kept smiling. Allen was playing into his plan
perfectly. In reality, he spoke the truth about Kanaphra arms build-
up. In addition to
parts and energist, they had been grabbing repair equipment, training
technicians, and developing new weapons. The assassin knew that their
research and development people were no doubt itching to study a
certain
Ispano, piece by piece. The assassin had to muster every ounce of
willpower to keep from shuddering.
His will won out, and he prepared the final dialogue.
"And I have a little info about your little friend Dilandau,"
the Hammer replied slyly.
A thousand thoughts still swirling around in his head, Allen
quickly
focused on his opponent.
"What about he- er him?"
The assassin dropped his smile, forcing himself to appear
tense and nervous.
"Dilandau has�" he said as if the fate of Gaea would be
determined by his words.
Allen waited anxiously.
"A dragon up his ass!"
The assassin closed his eyes as Allen dumbly replied, "What?"
Before he could even finish, a flash bomb exploded at the
blond man's
feet. Blinded, Allen grunted and pulled his sword out anyway.
Simultaneously, the Hammer tossed a smoke bomb down the hall behind
Allen
and soundlessly retreated down the opposite corridor.
Now, it was Allen's turn to curse himself silently. How
could he have
been suckered so easily? He sighed, knowing that the assassin was
gone.
Still, he had to do something.
"Guards!" he roared. "Assassin!"
The Hammer continued on his path. He heard shouts and a
group of guards rushed into view. He quickly switched to the
Kanaphrian tongue and became a scared servant.
"An assassin is fighting Lord Schzar!" he shouted to them,
his voice
filled with fear. "They are down the hall! Please, hurry!" He
motioned
behind him.
The lead guard motioned to one of his men, "You, go alert the
captain
and-" he pointed to the assassin, "Take this man with you."
"The rest of you come with me. Come!"
As the main group hurried down the hall, the remaining
warrior looked down
at the disguised killer with open contempt. No matter where you were,
elite palace guards were arrogant beyond words to non-warriors. It
was a
fatal flaw that the Hammer had exploited many times.
The guard snorted, "Well, coward. Because of you, I have
missed an
opportunity for honor."
, the Hammer mused as he
was roughly shoved ahead. He barely managed to keep his self-
restraint. "When this is over," the fool continued, "I'll-"
He was cut off by a spinning kick to his jaw. The guard
tumbled against the wall, dazed. Before he could muster any defense,
the Hammer darted forward and pinned him down.
The assassin smiled at the helpless man.
"-beg for the sweet release of death."
---
Millerna was not really enjoying herself, but she felt
relieved to be away
from her father's presence. She had just changed her clothing into
something more comfortable for the evening, and simply stared out of
the
open window looking at numerous birds flying about while she was
waiting
for lunch to be prepared. International relations were not going
well.
Her father was obsessed over the Energist bomb issue, and refused to
let go
of it. The issue consumed him, ever since the first bomb was dropped
in
the middle of the battlefield, killing Austrian as well as Zaibachian
soldiers. He wanted to create an international ban on the Energist
bomb,
but the country of Basram, the creators of the bomb, wouldn't agree,
and
continued their research on the bomb. The Basramian leaders knew
when they
had found power, and would neither share their new technology nor stop
research on it.
Millerna wanted to do something about the situation, but she
couldn't see any action she could take. She firmly believed in her
father's convictions, but she couldn't bring herself to believe that
war, should negotiations fail, is the only recourse. She could still
remember her father's words very lucidly that morning:
"Millerna, of all the nations that agree with our position, we are the
strongest at the moment. If negotiations fail and there are no
restrictions on that new weapon, then I can predict that there will
be a
new Gaea that will be ruled by tyranny and fear. This can't be
allowed to
happen. We must kill this dangerous beast while it is still young
and not
very strong."
Millerna thought.
As if she heard Millerna, Eries answered, "Perhaps there is
still a chance for peace sister."
Millerna spun around, shocked to see that the door to her
room was open, Eries standing at the foot of the opening.
"You should be more careful about your room Millerna. Some
servant may one day sneak into your room to sneak a peak at you while
you are dressing. May I come in sister?" Eries asked.
Blushing, Millerna nodded, then turned around once again to
look out the window. Eries entered, closing the door behind her, and
walked to the
window as well. Together they stared up into the clouded sky.
"The Basramian government has voted to restart negotiations
with us next week."
"Is that so?" Millerna began. "Then perhaps we have a chance
to avoid the war after all. Where will it be held?"
"Father wanted the talks to occur here, but Basram demanded that the
negotiations take place in a neutral country. It will probably be
Fanelia."
Brief silence. "Did you see it last night?" Millerna asked.
"The pillar?" Eries responded.
"Yes. You think Hitomi came back, after so much time?"
"It would not surprise me if she came to see the king of
Fanelia, but the pillar was for a different purpose. When I was
watching the event, someone wasn't coming in. Someone was going
OUT," responded Eries.
"But then what does that mean? A bad omen?"
"I don't know."
Millerna turned her head, and noticed that Eries was staring
out into the sky, as if she didn't hear her words.
"You are thinking about Allen," Millerna voiced.
"Yes." Eries said. "I have. Have you heard any word from him?"
"I have not heard any news about him since he escaped,"
Millerna responded.
"Do you know that Father has ordered his immediate execution
if he ever steps foot on Austria soil?" Eries asked.
"Yes, I did."
"Then you also know that public opinion of him has taken a
turn for the worse. Father would not have been compelled to do such
an order if Seith's soldiers didn't kill anyone during Dilandau's
escape."
Millerna didn't respond. She just continued to stare at the
nine birds flying about in the cloudy sky.
---
Hitomi was distraught at seeing the Nine of birds next to
Millerna's Queen of Dragons, and could feel the negative emotions of
despair emanating from he card. But she quickly moved on, deciding
not to invoke too much
thought on such a negative card. She turned over Terra's action
card, the
moon�
---
Terra was in her morning meditative trance, attempting to
calm herself
down. It was slowly working. Her anger, that was still abundant
from last
night, was becoming a dull ache, and her rational mind slowly
digesting the
fact that she was now on a different world. She absorbed her
surroundings,
and put her current scenery in the back of her mind.
"Hello! Terra!" After receiving no response, Merle decided
to poke Terra with her cat fingers. Are you going to predict the
future like Hitomi did?"
Terra snapped, both out of the trance and out of her mind.
She opened her eyes, and seeing
Merle
crouched directly in front of her, grabbed the cat girl's arm. Merle
gave
a quick yelp, and started resisting Terra, trying to get away. Terra
was
ready to give Merle a good beat down, and then she saw the look in her
eyes. An image flashed before her eyes, a different face, but the
same
look. She recognized that look, the look of fear, the look that
burned
itself into her mind from THAT TIME. Disgusted at herself and her
situation, she let go of the cat girl, got up, and rushed to a nearby
tree,
punching, screaming, and kicking it repeatedly, all the while
imagining
that it was Hitomi, her X-friend. She ignored the physical pain, and
relished seeing tiny, rough chunks of bark flying off to the side, and
indentations being made in the living tree. A waterfall of tears
streamed
down her eyes as she finally collapsed, spent, broken, and knuckles
bleeding.
Merle said nothing while Terra systematically bruised both
the tree and herself, and for some reason, the fear for her own life
suddenly took a
back step in order to allow courage to walk forward. Carefully, she
walked
up to the broken teenager and sat down next to her.
For a second, no word was said between the two. Merle
finally broke the silence with the words, "I'm sorry."
More silence.
"Why didn't she take me back with her?" Terra quietly
questioned. I don't want to be here. I don't know this place."
Adverting her eyes, she
instead focused on her bleeding knuckles. The pain in her knuckles,
however, did not hurt as much as the pain in her psyche.
"I don't know why she couldn't take you, but I know someone
who might be able to return you to the Moon.
"Who?"
"King Van of Fanelia." Merle answered.
"Do you know each other?" Terra asked, her hope slightly rising.
"Yes."
"Will you take me to him?"
"No. At least not yet. After we rescue Allen, I will take
you to Fanelia afterwards."
For another moment, the only sound that could be heard was a
slight
breeze, rustling through the local vegetation. Merle looked down, at
the
ring that she wanted to tear off so badly, but couldn't. Even under
the
blue moonlight, the jewel still sparkled a light yellow color, and as
if
the jewel was imparting some knowledge, Merle realized something
important.
"You know, I get the feeling that Hitomi did not want to go
back to the Mystic Moon," Merle commented.
"How can you say that?" Terra questioned.
"Lets just say that the first time she was here, she left
some unfinished business around." Merle stared up to the blue
moon. "And even if I did what she wanted me to do, I can't really
finish that business for her."
A slight sent, something like the smell of dragons, reached
Merle's nose, then faded. She had the impression that they were
being watched, but after that quick sent, she smelled nothing out of
the ordinary.
Merle thought to herself.
Neither of them noticed the faint rustle of moving shrubs in
the distance.
---
The moon. At first, Hitomi felt like smiling at the
description, since
she knew it was a very good description of what Terra would be
feeling at
that moment. The feeling lasted less than a second, because she
suddenly
realized what she had done by leaving Terra on Gaea. In her mind,
Hitomi
went back in time to the very first day she entered the world of Gaea
through the pillar of light. Misunderstanding, confusion, and worry
all
entered her mind when she first went to Gaea. All of these qualities
were
shown in that one card. When she was there, her only guide to that
world
was Van. Hitomi could only hope that Merle would be able to help
Terra
through her ordeal.
she said to herself. Turning it
over, she saw a new beginning. For the Page of Beasts was a Fool.
---
Owen was careful not to lose them and still not be noticed.
Terra and Merle had kept up a brisk pace through the forest and to
the town. Now
that they were in town, he didn't have to waste his energy hiding
anymore.
He let the magic that covered his scent and sound drop, knowing that
the
smells and odors of other people nearby will mask his scent to any
human,
and followed them around in the semi-busy market place, watching them
buy
miscellaneous supplies, mostly food.
After a while, however, the pair stopped in the middle of the
market. Owen
stopped also, not knowing what they were discussing, and he
approached a
fruit stand and pretended to be interested in a large piece of local
fruit.
After a few seconds, they separated. Owen decided to follow the
westerner, since she was the important one. She held the key to his
future
happiness. She took a slow pace, first walking to a stand and buying
some
more food, and then she turned into an alley.
Owen thought. Still, he
had no
choice to follow her. He moved into the alley, and just barely saw
Terra
move behind another corner.
He moved faster.
Owen felt someone poke him from the back, just as he
approached the
corner. He spun around, placing his spear in an awkward guarding
position
ready for the attack from behind, and saw the cat girl, who had
silently
approached him from behind.
"Hello! Why are you following us?" Merle innocently said.
But Owen was not able to finish the thought. Another pair of
hands
swiftly grabbed the spear he was holding from behind, and was yanked
from
him. Owen once again spun around to face his attacker, only to be
forcefully shoved against the wall from a feminine shoulder.
Involuntarily, he shut his eyes, as his head impacted against a
stone wall.
When he opened them again, he felt a hard blunt object impacting
with his
midsection. He collapsed on all fours, the wind severely knocked out
of him.
"Now I suggest that you be cooperative, because I have had a
very, very bad day. No scratch that. I have had a horrible week.
Now, if you are good, you can leave this scene with only a sore
stomach and a bruised ego. Now here are the rules. We question, you
answer. Simple enough for you to understand." Terra stated. "Now,
why are you following us?"
Unfortunately, Owen didn't understand even half of what Terra
just said, once again wishing he had completed his first year of
Japanese in college. Whispering, he stated something in his own
language. "Don't hurt me anymore. I need your help."
Merle stood dumfounded. She didn't understand a word the
stranger said. "Hey old man! Why don't you speak common?"
But Terra understood. She understood every word. She
narrowed her eyes, and her guard raised. Terra stopped thinking in
Japanese, and also began to speak English."Who are you?"
Owen was finally able to catch his breath, and sat against
the wall. He felt sick inside. He coughed, and said, "My name is
Owen, and the only
thing I want is to go home."
By now, Merle realized that the two humans were speaking the
same
language, and that she was being left out of the conversation. She
didn't
really like that. Merle began poking Terra at her waist.
"Where is home?" Terra asked.
"Earth."
Light shock passed through Terra. She thought that she was
the only
person from Earth stuck on Gaea. "How did you get here?"
"It is a long story," Owen replied.
"It had better be a good story too."
Owen took as deep a breath as he could manage, given his
condition, and started his story.
---
"Five years ago," Owen confessed to Terra, "Alex Lungren, my
grandfather, died of a heart attack."
Owen remembered the funeral. It took place on a grassy field, behind
a
large, wondrous house, on the east cost of the U.S. It was a rich
neighborhood. Apple trees, his grandfather's favorite, were planted
randomly in the large backyard. The funeral was simple and elegant,
even though a large number of people came to see him. Many of them
were amateur and professional magicians. Others were close friends
during his younger days. But the only family members that were
present were Alex's younger brother Andrew, and Owen's family.
Owen had very few memories of his grandfather. Most of those
memories occurred while he was very young and involved doing simple
magic coin tricks with him, as well as other slight of hand items.
Owen became extremely delighted with those magic tricks that he asked
his grandfather one day to teach him. So the magic lessons started.
Owen's grandfather began teaching him the art of palming objects, how
to do slight of hand, and how to distract an audience from what you
are really doing. Alex soon became Owen's childhood hero, who taught
him how stage magic works.
"He was proficient at sleight of hand, and he taught me just
about everything I know on how to become a stage magician."
Then, one day, he stopped teaching him. Owen remembered that day
clearly as well. It started innocently enough. It was just after
school, and Owen had already finished his homework. His grandfather
made it a strict rule that he would not teach him any magic tricks if
his homework was not done, and Owen lived for stage magic. But on
that day, he found his grandfather reading a large, old book. It
held weird writing, but Owen didn't care at the time. He wanted his
grandfather to teach him magic. However, he told him that he was
busy reading. He would teach him later. This continued to happen
over and over.
He disappeared soon afterwards. When he asked his father where he
was, he responded, "I don't know."
"When my grandfather died, one of the things that I inherited
was a book. He was only fair at stage magic, and was never good at
gaining an audience, but there were a few tricks that he could do
that no other magician, no matter how famous or experienced, could
ever recreate. The book I inherited was my grandfather's book of
magic, a book that was supposedly written several hundred years ago,
at a mythical place called Atlantis."
In fact, it was the exact same book that originally took his
grandfather away from him in the first place. The book had changed
slightly; his grandfather's notes were written all over the book. It
came with another portfolio, which were more notes, as well as a
complete translation into English of the important sections of the
entire book. The portfolio, Owen found out, was addressed to him.
In it, Alex apologized for abandoning him, but at the time when he
abandoned him, he had nothing else to teach him, so he went off to
learn more about stage magic. He stumbled on this book, and found
out that it was truly a book of magic.
"Naturally, I was skeptical of the magic book, but after a
while I learned that what my grandfather had written down was true.
It really was a book of magic. Not stage magic, REAL magic. When I
learned that, I began to learn every spell in that book by heart."
Owen at first resented that his grandfather did not share this magic
with him earlier.. However, eventually he forgot his resentment, and
began learning all the spells he could. He learned several important
things from his grandfather's notes. Using magic that was too
powerful or using magic too often could kill the wielder, since
casting magic drains the caster's life force. So Owen started small,
and learned this magic with the same fervor that he studied sleight
of hand.
"Soon, I was as better at the magic than my grandfather ever
was. At least that was what everyone said, including several famous
magicians. They begged me and tried to bribe me to teach them, but I
resisted. But soon, I reached a frustrating barrier. I couldn't
cast the more powerful spells. They would use up all of my life
force when I would cast them, and would kill me. I searched for an
answer for my dilemma, and I soon I thought I found one. The book
had what I thought was a spell that would allow the caster to obtain
a talisman to lower the energy costs of each spell.
Casting the spell took an elaborate effort, and was one of the few
spells that he couldn't memorize. He had to construct a magic circle
using special chalk and buy relatively exotic items for the spell.
Eventually, he finished the setup, all with his bare hands. He was
outdoors, in a remote corner of a grassy park. No one was around to
disturb him. It was perfect. The small disk he held in his hand,
the object he thought he could enchant, was rough with the carvings
the book had instructed to create. He grabbed the disk with both
hands, stepped into the circle, and began his chant.
"I foolishly cast it, not caring to read all of the spell
information. I was too blinded by my lust to learn more, and I soon
fainted from using too much of my energy."
The incantation complete, Owen waited in his standing position, still
clutching the engraved disk. At first, nothing happened. The disk
then began to glow, and the marking on the disk began to shimmer a
pale white. Owen thought the incantation was working, until the
pillar of light came from the sky, directly over the magic circle.
Owen tried to release the disk, and leave the circle, but found out
that he couldn't control his muscles. Owen than began to feel woozy,
and unable to think rationally. He could only stand there, as the
light engulfed him, eventually lifting him off the ground, carrying
up into the sky.
"When I woke up, I was on this world. I no longer have the
book of magic that my grandfather gave to me, with its precious
instructions on how to undo the spell, and I was stuck here ever
since, unable to return home."
Home�
---
"Real magic? Get serious."
Owen blinked at Terra. "And what do you suppose brought you
here?" Owen countered.
Terra scowled. "Fine. I'll accept magic for now. Why are
you following us?" Terra felt more poking at her waist.
"Terra, what is he saying?" Merle questioned.
"Because I think you know how to return to Earth. I want you
to take me with you."
Finally, Merle, frustrated at being left out of the
conversation, began yelling at Terra. "Terra! What are you two
saying?!"
"Be quiet!" Terra yelled in Japanese. "Let me finish with
him and then I'll tell you!" Terra turned her head back to Owen, and
brought down her guard. "As for your request, I hate to disappoint
you, but I'm not exactly sure how I'm supposed to get home either,
although I have a relatively good lead. Merle here says she knows of
someone on this world who can access the beam of light, but she says
she needs to do something first. So me and my companion are headed
to Palas, wherever that is." Terra turned away. "I'm sorry."
"Can I come with you? You are my best hope so far of returning."
Terra sighed. "Come on Merle, let's go to the inn." Terra stated in
Japanese.
"Terra, I still want to know what he said!"
As they walked away, Owen sighed. He felt his
hopes plummet.
"Hey Owen!"
Owen lifted his head, and saw Terra standing at the end of
the alley, with a jumping Merle still nagging her. "Are you coming
with us or not?"
Owen's hopes suddenly rose ten feet. He grabbed his spear
with one hand, clutched his aching stomach with the other, and limped
over to the pair.
---
Anthony looked down at the forest below, and then studied the
map he was given.
The Mystic had landed in the general area where Van said
Hitomi was, made more accurate with the pillar of light that the
ship's crew saw last night.
Still, there was no Hitomi around. Anthony expected that. Common
sense would be to look for other people for directions. On the map,
he saw three towns nearby, and he sent scouts to locate them.
"Richard!" Anthony summoned.
The helmsman, fully awake and alert at his post, even though
the Mystic was not moving, rushed to his captain's side. "Sir?"
"I'm going to my quarters. Please send the first scout that
returns immediately to my room. You have the bridge."
"Yes sir."
Satisfied, Anthony left the bridge to go to his quarters,
just down the hall. Opening the solid metal door, he quietly entered
his room, and closed the door behind him. A nice, friendly smile
entered his face, as he surveyed the cabin around him. He then
approached his comfortable blue bed, took off his sword, and laid
down.
When Anthony was little, he never wanted to become a
swordsman. He wanted to become a captain of an airship. He devoted
his entire life around learning the airship. How it works, all the
theoretical tricks that could be done on it, its use in combat,
proper etiquette in the airship, etc. He told himself that one day,
he would captain his own airship.
But his father disapproved, and he was strict. He told
Anthony to learn how to use the sword, and learn he did. It did not
stop him from wanting his own ship, but because of his status as a
low commoner, it was unlikely that anyone would take him in. So
Anthony grudgingly accepted his father's advice, and joined the
Kanaphrian military, as a normal foot soldier. It was not so bad.
He got to fly around in an airship once in a while, and the job did
pay enough to support him and his family.
Then, came Zaibach, and the destruction that followed.
Zaibach only sent three Guymelfs, but it only needed three to destroy
the entire city of Exodus.
During the attack, he found a youth, lying on the floor
unconscious, surrounded by a chaotic circle of white feathers. The
youth's cloths were shredded and there were burn marks all over his
exposed skin. Knowing he couldn't fight the rampaging Guymelfs,
Anthony abandoned his post, and took the wounded man to safety. That
wounded man turned out to be prince Seith.
After that encounter, Anthony became Seith's closest friend,
and soon, Seith had convinced him to execute guerrilla warfare on
Zaibach. During that war, they ended up interfering a lot of
Zaibach's plans, and became such a nuisance that they even sent a few
assassins after him. He managed to evade them all, often killing the
would be assassins.
When the war was over, Seith rose not only as the rightful
heir of Kanaphrian, but also a hero. Anthony's fame was nearly as
equal, at least to the Kanaphrian people. On the day of the
coronation, Seith, just after he was crowned Pharaoh of Kapharia,
offered Anthony anything he wanted that he could give. Anthony knew
what he wanted. Seith smiled upon hearing his request, and his first
act as the new Pharaoh was to order the construction of a new
airship: the Mystic.
The Mystic was Anthony's most prized possession. It was more
valuable than his sword, as well as his personal Guymelf. It neither
as big nor as majestic as the Montu, but it had a certain style of
its own. It was still one of the most sophisticated airships ever
built, and manned by Anthony's hand picked crew. It was a crew that
was efficient as it was capable, and whose obedience to Anthony could
never be questioned.
Anthony was still admiring his prized possession when he
dozed off.
---
A knock on the door. Anthony woke up, his dreams quickly
escaping him. The knocking continued. Anthony groggily stood up, and
opened the door. It was time to get back to business.
"Sir. I have a location of the girl from the mystic moon.
She was last seen heading towards Palas."
"Palas? Again? Hmm� The capital of Austria is getting more
and more important by the day. Are you the first one back?"
"Yes sir. The other two men you sent out to scout the
surrounding area for them are not due back here for another hour."
Anthony smiled. "Please inform the helmsman to prepare the
Mystic for departure to Palas. As soon as our other men arrive, I
want to be up in the air and in Palas as quickly as possible.
"Yes sir." He bowed, and walked towards the bridge.
---
"How much is this?" Millerna asked as she pointed to a pile
of vegetables.
Millerna loved shopping in the market. It was her time to be alone,
mingle with the peasants, and to not be bothered being proper
royalty. It was her time to be herself. Tonight, the royal cooks
were going to make a dish that she didn't particularly like, and so
on days like this, she cooked for herself. Nothing fancy, but better
than what they would be serving to her father and sister.
The farmer gave his answer.
"WHAT?!"
Even though fresh vegetables were relatively scarce this time
of year, food was generally priced not as high as the farmer asked
for. Austria's location near the ocean gave Austria a year round
temperate climate, and food was generally abundant. Millerna could
easily afford what the farmer was asking for, of course, but the high
prices was still disturbing. Was everyone paying this price for food?
"Why is the food priced so high?" Millerna asked the farmer.
"You have not heard? Our king has begun to stockpile food.
He has taken much of my crop and has not adequately paid
compensation. I hear it is the same for all of the local farmers.
We all have to charge higher in order to live."
Millerna thought,
Millerna haggled with the farmer some more, and bought the
vegetables. Next, she wanted to go to the dolphin man's shop, and
see if he had any small fish.
The path to the shop was not crowded at all. If it was,
Millerna would have paid more attention to what was going around
her. While thinking about his father's recent actions, she stepped
into the path of a royal messenger who was apparently late in
delivering a message.
They collided. Vegetables tumbled onto the cobblestone
pavement, as well as Millerna herself. The runner, not realizing who
he had collided into, shouted, "Sorry!" as he continued down the path
he was traveling, having been able to keep his balance during the
collision.
But Millerna didn't really hear him. On the floor, the world
seemed to spin around her. It took her a few seconds for her view to
stop spinning, and realize she was on the floor and that a young
foreign woman was offering her hand. Grateful, Millerna accepted the
foreign woman's help, and was helped up.
"Men. Such pests sometimes. Don't you agree?" the stranger said.
Millerna could only smile. She then took a step back to look
at the foreigner. She wore a dress of a style Millerna had never
seen before, although it seemed vaguely familiar. Her hair was
unkempt, and her clothes looked as though they were well worn and was
not cleaned for a day or more.
Millerna could tell she was rich, however. She did carry a large
sack of coins around her belt. The other item of interest was her
silver staff, that she held comfortably with one hand.
Turning away from her, Millerna began to pick up her vegetables.
"Here, let me help you," the foreigner offered. Together,
they picked up the spilled vegetables quickly, and they were once
again placed in Millerna's sack.
"Um� Thank you very much." Millerna offered. "What is your name?"
"I'm Terra. What's yours?"
"I am Millerna."
"Well, Millerna, nice to meet you."
"Likewise. You seem to be new here. What is your purpose
here? Are you looking for anything?"
Terra smiled. "Actually, yes, I am." Terra pulled out a
piece of folded paper, and handed it to Millerna. "I'm looking for
people with a tattoo like that."
Curious, Millerna unfolded the paper, and gasped slightly.
It was an accurate drawing of the mark of the slave guild.
"What do you want with the slave guild?"
"Ah, so you do know where I could find one of them."
"No," Millerna replied, "I don't know. But that is beside
the point. I'll ask again," Millerna said in a sterner voice, "what
do you want with the slave guild?"
"Pushy, aren't we? Well, a friend of mine said that there is
supposed to be a slave auction here in Palas. We are going to raid
it."
Millerna thought,
"Are you sure? Who and where is your friend?" Millerna questioned.
"You want to meet her?"
"Yes."
"Will you help us locate them?"
"If this is true, not only will I help you find them, I'll go
and help shut it down myself!"
"Heh. I'd like to see you try that." Terra said with a tinge of
sarcasm in her voice. "Come on. Time to introduce you to my
companion."
It was only two blocks to the inn where Terra was staying
at. After climbing the stairs to the second floor of the inn, Terra
knocked on the door. Owen answered it, and in his non-fluent and
heavily accented Japanese invited both of them inside.
"Hey Merle!" Terra called out as she entered. "I found
someone who says she will help us search for them!"
"Eh? Who?" Merle asked. Then she saw Millerna. "Idiot!
Of all the people you find to help, you find HER?!" Merle yelled.
Shaken and startled at the sudden outburst, Terra took a step
back. "What?"
Owen, also startled at the young feline's reaction, said to
Terra in English, "Um� I think I'll go downstairs and see how good
the liquor is around here," and left the room. Although she couldn't
understand
anything, Millerna noticed that he was speaking a language similar to
one of the ancient languages that Dryden knew.
"Terra! She is one of the people I told you I was trying to
avoid! She is Millerna. Princess Millerna!"
"Her? A princess? No way!" the astonished Terra said.
Redirecting her attention, Terra asked Millerna, "Why didn't you tell
me?"
"Well, being royal isn't everything, you know." Millerna
said. "Merle! Where have you been? You have made Van really
worried!"
"I had to have some time for myself."
"What?"
"I would� rather not talk about it right now," Merle stated
downwardly. "In any case," she continued in a more urgent voice, "I
need to find Allen!"
"Allen? Allen Schzar?" Millerna said in a hopeful voice.
"Um� No. His name is Allen Borealis. I was captured by a
slave trader, and I met him while we were both being transported to
Palas to be auctioned. He set me free. I'm here to repay him."
"Oh." Millerna said.
Then something clicked in Millerna's mind, like pieces of a
puzzle falling together. A language that normally only Dryden would
know. Terra's unusual cloths. A pillar of white light, streaching
infinately into the sky...
"Wait a second! You are from the Mystic Moon, arn't you?"
"What? Well, yes I am. Do you kno.."
The sounds of running footsteps on wood were heard from
outside the room, and Owen burst through the door. "Terra!" Owen
said. "I found one! He is drinking downstairs!"
"What!?" Terra exclaimed. Terra stepped outside of the room,
and saw him. It was the man clothed in black she had taken her staff
from. He was talking to another man, who looked like a
soldier. "Them?" Terra whispered to Owen.
"Yeah. I got a peak at his neck accidentally. He has the mark."
Terra grinned. "This should be interesting. Now, all we
need to do to get this trip over with is to find out where the
auction is and rescue Allen." Terra paused, thinking. "You said you
know real magic, right? Time to prove it. Any way we can hear what
they are saying?"
"Um� Yeah. Wait up. Eh� Don't be alarmed if I touch you? Okay?"
Owen closed his eyes, and said a few mystic words, and
touched Terra's cheek with his hands.
"IEEE! That's cold!" Terra exclaimed as Owen touched her.
Owen wasn't really listening however. The spell was more
advanced than one he would normally use, and he felt the large drain
on his body. However, it did get the job done.
Suddenly, Terra felt her senses sharpen immeasurably.
Before, the touch of the air and cloths surrounding her body seemed
imperceptible. Now, she suddenly noticed each and every fiber of
cloth that her skin touched, and she felt the air lightly circulating
around her. Her eyesight, improved, noticed the immeasurable amount
of colors, and she could focus on the neck of the man in black, and
could faintly see the outline of the slave trader mark underneath the
thin black cloth, and saw the flash of light reflected off the rose-
colored bracelet he wore. The air now seemed alive with exotic
smells: sweet, dry, faint, sharp, hot� amazing. But most
importantly, however, her hearing senses were magnified, and if she
concentrated enough, she could filter out all the other noise she
picked up and could listen to the pair talking as if she was sitting
at the same table with them.
"�are made."
"Good. I will have the guards I require?" The slave trader spoke.
"Yes. Six men, all trustworthy enough to keep this secret.
Our lord wanted me to express his satisfaction to our deal."
"He should be. Now that we have a shelter to freely do our
slave
auctioning, we can spend our funds elsewhere. Tell your lord that as
long as we are not disturbed, we will hold up on our end of the
deal. No slaves will be of Austrian nationality, and he will receive
his share of the profit."
"Very well. I believe that concludes our business."
"Yes, it does. Remember. The six guards need to report in
one hour from now at the Pier 8 Warehouse this evening."
"Heh. Don't worry. They are�"
The spell quit right about then, and Terra felt some
dissatisfaction at the loss of the amazing mystical rush. It didn't
really matter though. Terra had a location for the auction.
---
---
The group of four, at the urgency of Merle, left the inn
immediately in order to find the warehouse. Terra agreed with Merle,
and hoped that they could free Allen from his confinement before the
auction began. The less people that they had to deal with, the
better. The weather changed quickly a little while ago, and it begun
to rain lightly. It also seemed to Terra that everyone except
herself seemed to be fairly comfortable in this
weather. Merle bought herself some warm cloths and Owen and
Millerna's
clothing seemed to be made of water-resistant fabric. Terra, not
really
dressed for this weather, felt chilly from the rain and the cold,
salty
wind that blew from the ocean.
Terra thought to herself,
The warehouse was not too difficult to locate with Millerna
guiding the group. The Pier 8 Warehouse, according to Millerna, was
a building that is normally used for holding a pair of industrial
Guymelfs. However, the
large doors into the warehouse were wide open, allowing the little
light
that was available to show the people within the building. No
guymelfs
stood within the warehouse. A small, wooden platform took their
place,
anchoring itself in a corner of the building. Aside from the large,
main
doors, there was another entrance into the room, right next to the
platform. When they got to their hiding places, they saw at least 15
bounded men, woman, and children of different races standing next to
the
door. And of course, there was the usual number of men with swords,
hanging just inside of the building to avoid the rain.
"I count four men. That leaves at least two other guards somewhere
else."
Terra stated as she was peaking over the wooden crate she was hiding
behind. "I might be good at fighting, but I would rather not risk my
life
fighting at those odds. Hey Owen! Got any more useful tricks up your
sleeve?"
Owen, who for some reason was panting ever since he had cast
the enhanced senses spell on Terra, gave the evil eye to Terra. "Are
you kidding?" He silently shouted. "That last spell almost caused me
to pass out! Using magic really eats up your energy really fast! I
need time to recover."
"Wait a minute!" exclaimed Millerna, "Those are not ordinary
soldiers,
Those are Austrian royal guards! What are they doing here?"
As if in chorus, Merle, Terra, and Owen whispered, "What?!"
"Those are royal guards! See that insignia on their
breastplates? That is their symbol! I even recognize one of them!
What are they doing?"
As if in answer, The black clothed slave trader exited the side door,
and
began to shout instructions to the guards. The guards nodded in
response.
"Looks like things in the Austrian palace is not all as it
seems, eh?"
Merle joked.
"Be quiet! This is no joke! I was going to go get some
royal guardsmen now that I know that this slave auction is occurring
in Austria, but now it seems that I can't trust them." Millerna
sternly voiced.
"You are right," Terra said, "but right now, I don't
particularly care. All I want to do is to free this Allen character
so that Merle can get Owen and me back home."
"You can't be serious! You saw those people! We can't just
free one and leave the rest to be sold!" Millerna whispered,
astonished.
"Look princess! Have you noticed the odds? There are at
least six
well-trained armed men, probably more in there. What do we have? A
tabby
cat, a tired, untrained man with a spear who thinks he is good at
magic, a
princess, and me. There is no chance in hell that we, by ourselves,
could
take them all out if we went in there to fight all by ourselves! If
you
want to free them, how about getting us some reinforcements?"
Millerna only shook her head. "We can't trust the royal
guards. But we still need to try. If you won't help everybody, I
will."
Terra sighed.
"Fine. You win." Terra stated, not bothering to hide the
resentment in her voice. "But I still can't for the life of me
figure out any way past
those guards. If we could take out those four without alerting
anyone else
that we were there specifically to crash their party, we might pull
what
your Royal Highness wills us to do."
Before Millerna could respond to that insulting remark,
another voice
interrupted. "Um� If they are royal guards, you think they would try
to
protect royalty as long as they could keep their secret?" Merle
asked.
Terra stood dumfounded. "Anyone have a knife?"
Everyone shook their heads in response, all except Owen, who
didn't
understand.
"Hey Owen!" Terra whispered in English, "You got a knife?"
"Um� yeah. Here," Owen responded after digging through his pockets
for a
large Swiss army knife.
Terra thought to herself.
"Ok Millerna, it's crunch time," Terra whispered. "Do you
think you could trust me with your life?"
---
"Help! Help!"
The four royal guardsmen rushed out of their positions, and
found
themselves in an emergency situation. Princess Millerna was
confronting a
woman, a woman that was wielding a knife.
"Princess Millerna!" One of them yelled out.
"Hey! You! Stop right there!" another yelled as they drew
their swords and running up to rescue the princess.
Terra, noticing the guards, quickly closed the gap between
Millerna and quickly got behind her, placing the knife at Millerna's
throat. "Hold it! Or I kill her!"
The guards stopped their advance, but still held on to their swords.
"Drop them!"
Three guards dropped their swords. One of them, however, did
not.
Instead, he took a step forward.
"I said stop right there!" Terra shouted. She repositioned
her knife
along Millerna's neck. Millerna winced, and a single drop of blood
fell
from Millerna's neck. "Sorry," Terra whispered in Millerna's ear.
The last guard dropped his sword, and took a step back.
"Kick those swords away," Terra ordered. The guards complied.
"Good." Terra said, and then she nodded.
And while Merle sneaked by the guard's backs, Terra motioned
to the guards to move against a wall.
---
Merle sneaked in without being noticed by the guards, and was
in the
warehouse quickly. The slaves quickly took notice of her, and started
whispering to themselves and pointing to her. Merle motioned to them
to
stop. She didn't want to get any attention.
There was only one guard, and he was fast asleep. He was not
armored, and wore tattered cloths. The only thing that distinguished
him from the
slaves was the lack of rope, the sword lying at his feet and the
tattoo on
his neck.
"Merle?"
Following the voice, Merle found him. "Allen! I've come to
rescue you!" Merle whispered. She half ran, half tiptoed up to him.
Unfortunately, he was bound up by chains. Merle looked around her
surroundings for a key, but found none.
Allen only smiled when he realized what she was looking for,
and promptly snapped the chains in two. "How were you able to sneak
past the guards?"
"I got friends. Come on! We need to free the other slaves and leave!"
The side door suddenly opened, and the black clothed man
stepped through, and spotted Merle and Allen. "Ben! What are you
doing! Wake up! We have intruders!" he shouted. Guards!"
Allen rushed to Ben, the slave trader, who just woke up, and
thew an
overhead punch. Ben's skull crunching was audible to everyone
nearby, and
the man took another nap. Allen turned his attention back to the
other
man, but all Allen saw were black clothing exiting the door, and two
other
armored men approaching. Allen slammed the door behind him, and put
his
weight against it. The door then began to shake against Allen, as
the two
guards tried to bash the door in. "Merle! Hurry and free everyone
else!"
Thankfully, everyone else was bound by rope. Merle began to
untie
everyone else. The door was still shaking, and the sound of metal
hitting
metal was heard outside. Merle worked quickly, and the slaves, once
freed,
began to untie each other. Within a minute, there were fifteen freed
slaves, but the door continued vibrating.
"Quickly! Follow me!" a voice called out. The voice was
Millerna's. The slaves quickly ran towards her, and she led them
out.
When the slaves all left, Allen let the door go, and he and
Merle made a mad dash to the main entrance, to follow the escaping
slaves, with two
royal guards hot in pursuit. Owen, now looking pale and using his
spear to
lean on, appeared in front of them from around the corner, and started
chanting something. Owen pointed at the two pursuing guards and Merle
noticed in shock that the guards suddenly collapsed, unconscious.
Owen
would have collapsed as well, had Allen not caught him. Allen slung
the
unconscious apprentice over his shoulder with one hand and then
picked up
his spear.
"Go and follow the others! I'll catch up with Terra!" Merle
yelled.
Allen only nodded, and carried the unconscious 24 year old to
safety.
The first thing that Merle noticed after she turned her
attention away
from Allen was the number of unconscious bodies around. Four guards
were
quietly snoring away in a pile against the wall, most likely from the
result of Owen's spell casting, and another one, with a small bump on
his
head, laid down on the wet stone ground. Terra was engaged in another
fight. She was panting heavily, despite the wet, chilly weather, as
there
were two men fighting her: The black clothed man, and another Austrian
royal guard. Merle watched in fascination as she skillfully held
both of
the sword wielding men off with her staff.
Then, the black slave trader fell, dropped his sword, and
clutched his
broken leg. Terra had given him a blow in his legs from the staff.
The
attack, however, had been costly.
The other swordsman hit Terra in the jaw with his sword fist
and Terra
also collapsed, her staff knocked away. Terra down, the Austrian
guard
raised his sword and�
Without thinking, Merle jumped up behind the guard, and
covered his eyes. She held on for what seemed like minutes, but was
in reality just a few seconds, ignoring the pinkish light that came
from the Black slave trader's right hand as it was grasping his own
leg. The guard gave an oath, dropped his sword, and wrenched Merle
off his body. Merle was slammed onto the ground hard, and became
momentarily dazed. The Austrian picked up the
sword, and prepared to strike at Merle.
Instead of reaching out for the iron shod staff, which lay
nearby the
downed black slave trader, Terra rose and did a powerful thrust kick
at the
Austrian's unprotected head while his back was turned. The Austrian
was
stunned and dropped his sword, but turned around to face the threat.
Terra
continued the attack. A one-two punch to the jaw, followed by a
quick hip
throw. The Austrian immediately lost consciousness.
"Thanks," Terra simply stated.
"No, thank you." Merle responded while standing up.
Then, from out of nowhere, a blur shot out at Terra's head,
and now it was Terra's turn to loose consciousness and collapse to
the ground with a
groan. The slave trader rose, clutching the iron staff, his leg
fully healed.
Merle, knowing that she couldn't fight him effectively,
decided to run for help.
---
Merle finally caught up with the escaped group at the
predetermined
meeting point: A large, public market square. Fifteen assorted
tattered
men, woman, and children stood shivering in the rain, but safe from
the
slave traders. Millerna, Allen, and the barely standing Owen were
patiently waiting for her.
"Millerna! Allen! Owen! Terra was captured!"
"What?" Millerna stated. "Come on! We need to help her!"
Frowning, Allen shook his head. "I'm sorry princess, but you
are needed elsewhere. You have to make sure that all of these people
reach their families, and investigate this issue of those guards."
"Allen is right Millerna," Merle agreed. "Someone needs to
make sure that these people get home."
Millerna didn't really want to do it, but Merle and Allen did
have a
point. It would be inhumane to leave the ex-slaves now.
"Owen, how much of common do you understand? Can you
understand me? You already did your job. Go to the inn and rest.
Allen and I will go back
for Terra. Don't you worry. Once we get Terra back, we can head for
Fanelia."
It took a few seconds, but Owen eventually pieced together
what the young cat was saying. Owen, too tired to speak, only nodded
his head, and he lumbered off down the street with Millerna's help,
leaning on his spear
like an old man.
"Come on Allen, let's go."
---
When the pair got back, there was already an encounter
occurring between one lone man and several soldiers which Merle
identified as Kanaphrian. Merle and Allen hid, and watch as the event
played out. Four men were facing the slave trader, wielding what was
once Terra's staff, now his again. For a moment, it almost appeared
that the lone man was ready to
fight. The slave trader, however, decided the best part of valor was
retreat, and ran for his life, the red bracelet gleaming as he turned
the
corner and fled.
"Let him go," Anthony stated, "we got what we came for."
Anthony thought,
"Pick her up, wrap her in a stealth cloak, and let's get out
of here,"
Anthony ordered.
Merle, startled at this recent turn of events began to rise
out of her
hiding place, but Allen gently but firmly laid his hand on her small
shoulder, shaking his head.
So Merle, to her dismay, did nothing, as she watched Terra
disappear from view, followed by the other soldiers.
---
The hallway doors burst open, and a determined Millerna
marched through.
She had already given care of the slaves to her lady in waiting, and
told
her to give them all money so that they can obtain food and gain
transport
back to wherever they were from. She would check up on them later.
Behind
her was a pair of royal guards, who repeatedly said that her father
was
having an important meeting, and left specific instructions not to be
disturbed. They were about to grab Millerna just before she reached
the
large double doors leading to the throne room and drag her back when
she
turned around. One look at her, and both guards found themselves
looking
at a very angry princess, and felt themselves shy away.
The next pair of doors opened, and Millerna now found himself
face to face with her father, who was talking to none other than the
black robe slave trader.
Millerna's eyes widened, as she suddenly put two and two
together.
"Father! What is the meaning of this! How can you make a deal with
these
monsters?"
"What are you talking about, daughter?"
"You know exactly what I mean! I helped stop the slave
auction today! I saw the royal guards! And now I see you with HIM!"
The chubby king turned his attention to his partner. Before
anyone could react, a loud strike was heard, as the king's flesh
impacted with the cheek of the black man. "Fool! Why didn't you
tell me my daughter got
involved!" Before he could reply, the king returned his attention to
his
youngest daughter. "Now, what are you going to do about it?"
Millerna asked herself. Then an idea grabbed her. "I'm going to
announce it to the
public. This is not right. The public deserves to know!" Millerna
began
to walk away.
"Guards!" the king shouted.
The guards, waiting outside, of the doors, rushed in.
"My daughter here is under house arrest. Escort her to her
room. She is not to have any visitors and not to be let out of her
room until further
notice."
Millerna swirled around, rage and grief holding her at the
same time.
"You are not my father! You talk about preventing tyranny and fear
on a
global scale, and yet you support tyranny of the individual. My
father
would never be such a hypocrite, and you know it!"
The king's face lost its anger suddenly, and became
expressionless. "My daughter, many bad, wrong things occur in war.
We need the slave guild's support if Austria is to survive the coming
war."
"So now you know there will be a war?" Millerna questioned.
Pausing to stare one last moment, the king waved his hand and
said, "Take her away."
And the once proud Austrian royal guards escorted Millerna to
her room.
---
"I'm going to Kanaphra to rescue Terra." Merle explained to
Allen. "You are free now. You don't need to come with me."
"One of the lovely things about not being a slave: The
freedom of choice. I will choose to follow you, Merle, and if I am
able, help you remove your ring."
Merle looked again at her ring. For some reason, the ring
didn't bother her as much as it used to.
"Thank you Allen," was all Merle could respond.
Merle turned to the body lying on the bed. Owen was fast
asleep. Before he went to sleep, he had insisted through his limited
communication skills that he was determined to stay with her. Merle
and Terra were, after all, his only leads home.
Merle went to the window, noticed the fuzziness as little
droplets of
water poured down from the sky and splashed onto the window. She
looked up
to the sky, and for a quick moment, she saw the Mystic moon's rays
peak
through the clouds.
A knock on the door brought Merle out of her trance. Allen,
closer to the door, went to it, and pulled the door open.
"Hello. Is a young girl by the name of Merle in residence?"
Allen nodded, and let the aging white furred cat man pass.
Merle's ring flashed a brilliant yellow for a second, and
Merle suddenly felt as if this old timer, who she had never met
before, was familiar.
"Hello Merle," Manus greeted.
---
Sighing once again, Hitomi once again wished she was back on Gaea.
Hitomi thought to herself. She looked around for a familiar
face, any
friendly face that could understand, but found none. She was alone
in the
room.
Finding a small piece of paper, she jotted down each card
that she chose and drew for future reference, and shuffled the used
tarot cards back into her deck. Finished, she placed the cards once
again next to her bedside lamp, and decided to try to go to sleep.
The door opened just then, and a nurse walked in, carrying a
glass of
water. She placed the glass of water on the bedside table, and
fumbled
through one of her pockets, drawing out a small packet of Tylenol.
She
opened the package, and handed the tablets to Hitomi, but as the nurse
reached to pick up the glass of water to hand to her, she accidentally
pushed the cards over the table. Cards went flying everywhere in the
room.
But only two cards landed on Hitomi's bed. The nurse gave a sincere
apology in English as well as a stifled curse directed to herself, and
began to pick up the cards on the floor. But Hitomi was staring at
the two
cards that did land on her bed, biting back the astonished yelp that
wanted
to escape.
One of the cards was the card that symbolized herself, when
she did Tarot readings on a regular basis: The queen of Fish.
And the other card, was the Devil, the card of bondage and ignorance.
After a few seconds, the nurse finished cleaning her own mess,
administered the painkillers to her patient, and left the room,
suggesting
that Hitomi try to sleep. But Hitomi continued staring out of the
window, wondering about her future to come in silence.
Chapter 15(Stories) End