| Phase 36 � Leave me alone!� Bart, glaring hatefully at Stein, came over to me and touched my shoulder, instantly jerking his arm back and hissing. � Ow! Damn!� Stein chuckled. � Be careful, Krista-Lyn. You�re broadcasting your pain. You don�t want to injure any of your friends, do you? Now be a good girl and come with me. Krelian has put his experiments on hold just for you.� � I won�t go!� The agony intensified. I fell to my knees, clutching my head tightly. Another part of me pushed itself into consciousness. *>*<* There was a flash, like the shine on a glass bubble, and Kris disappeared. In the next second there was another flash like the first and she was back. However, she now had the dragon�s wings and her hair was black. But the most startling difference was her eyes, which were now a hard steel grey. � Uh oh . . .� Citan murmured. Jesiah backed up a step. Bart took several steps back to give her some room. Billy frowned in confusion. Stein frowned as well, but he was not confused. � You . . .� The girl snarled like a dragon, revealing extended canines. {~||~} Finally. I was wondering when she�d give up and let me take care of this. I think, really, that she could have fought back, but she was too busy trying to dull the pain from that Chip. Well, I have no such hindrances. � You . . .� Stein trailed. I snarled. � Yes, me. You remember me, don�t you? I�m the one you always liked to poke at when Krelian was running his tests. Well guess what? I�m loose now and I still remember everything you said to me.� I lunged for him and got in a good punch that broke his nose. � That was for your words.� I arched back, fists clasped over my head--� And this is for Racquel!� --then slammed them down on him. He fell and the dragon wings pumped slowly, holding me in the air just above him. � You can�t . . .� � Can�t what? Kill you? Think again!� � How did you know?� � About Racquel?� I grinned widely, cruelly. � Your sins are easily read. You do not hide them. I had no trouble.� He looked scared, but then pointed at me. � Kill her!� The assassins leapt for me, but I just looked at each one, throwing them back into the wall and snapping their skinny necks. When I looked for Stein, I found him gone. Jesiah had apparently gone after him and Bartholomew grabbed my ankle and gave it a tug as he ran past. � Come on! We�re going after him!� I followed him into the next room, where Jesiah was cursing loudly. � Just missed him.� I could see everything shaking slightly beneath me and flew into the glass. I stopped and shook my head, somewhat surprised that it hadn�t given as easily as I�d predicted. �. . .� � Do not go after him!� I turned. � Shut up, Hyuga. I will not let him get away with what he did, no matter what it takes.� � It is not worth killing yourself for!� � Sure it is. He can�t hurt me in a Gear!� His Gear rose up into the sky. � The Alkanshel will crush you if you fight it!� � What do you know, Hyuga? The Alkanshel is only metal. Everything has a weak spot and it won�t be hard to find a structural weakness in something made by Solaris.� I turned back to the glass and placed my hand a little ways away from it. � Kris!� I turned again. � Kris can�t be conscious right now, but if you�d like to leave a message, let me know and I�ll deliver it myself.� � Come here.� I lifted an eyebrow. � Why?� � Just come here!� � Young One . . .� Hyuga warned. I glided over to Bartholomew and stopped in front of him. � What?� � Don�t go,� he begged. � Please. We�ll catch up to Stein again and you can kill him then, all right?� I considered it. � Promise?� � Promise.� � The very next time? Even if he runs like the coward he is?� � Even if,� was the reply. � . . . Okay.� He sighed. � Good. Let�s get back to the ship.� � Are we going to follow him?� � We�re going to try.� I hugged him. � Making deals with you is fun.� � . . . That�s a compliment, right?� � Don�t be silly. Of course it is!� I felt a soft, timid tingle in the back of my head. � Well, my time�s up! But that doesn�t mean you don�t have to keep your promise! I�m going to let Kris know!� I looked at Hyuga and Jesiah. � See you two later!� I blew them a kiss and offered command to Kris. {~||~} I fell a small distance to the floor and my knees gave. Bart caught me and held me. � Kris?� I looked up. � Yeah? What�s wrong?� He squeezed me in a hug. � I was worried . . .� I tried to breathe, but my lungs wouldn�t expand. � Princeling . . . let me . . . go! . . . Please!� � Oh. Sorry.� He released me, but kept his hands on my shoulders. � We�re going after him, aren�t we?� � Yes, come on.� He picked me up and ran out of the room. � Man, Kris. You need to put on a little weight. You don�t weigh as much as before.� � I haven�t lost any weight,� I snapped. � You�re just stronger. You nearly broke my ribs!� � Sorry.� We got back to the Yggdrasil just as another ship was reported. �It�s about two thousand sharls.� � That�s gigantic,� Billy said. � Where�s it going?� Bart asked. � . . . Southwest. Right for the Thames.� � Then we�re going after it.� We gave chase, but by the time we got there, everything had calmed down. We were told that a large Gear leading a giant �fishbowl� had gone to an old mine, though there was supposed to be nothing there. � If Stein�s gone there, then something has to be there,� I said. Citan agreed with a single nod. � We should follow him.� So we made sure damage control for the Thames wasn�t overwhelmed, then headed off for the �abandoned� excavation site. I demanded to be allowed to go along even though Bart pleaded with me to stay. � I�m going to kill him!� I shouted. � And that�s final! You can�t make me stay here!� � Kris, your strength is low---� � It�ll be fine soon enough!� He sighed defeatedly. � All right . . .� *>*<* Citan cleared his throat quietly. � �She� made an appearance.� Sigurd turned. � Why?� � Stein activated the Chip and Kris gave up.� � Kris doesn�t give up.� � I did not mean it in that sense.� � I see. So how many times is that now? Three? Four?� � Four.� � Worse than �him�.� � But at least �she� is under control.� � Yeah. A psycho�s control.� � She has not killed an ally yet. I would say that is much better than �him�.� � You have a point. Do you think �she� will show up again?� � Undoubtedly. Stein was the trigger. Until he is dead or completely gone from the area, �she� could return at any time.� � Great. That�s just what I need. She nearly cut the ship in half in her normal temperament while fighting a stupid Wels; I hate to see what �she� would do with a human being who helped run experiments on her.� � Then let us hope that she never meets up with Krelian.� � Right. The end of the world nears . . .� *>*<* Bart joined me on the deck. � So what do you plan on doing once this adventure is over?� I shrugged. � Haven�t given it much thought. I suppose I�ll spend the rest of my life in the Black Moon Forest and/or the desert. Away from civilization, where it�s quiet. That was my initial plan.� He looked at me, panicked. � No! You can�t!� � Why?� � You promised you�d stay with me!� � I�ve been thinking about that. What am I going to do here? I know nothing about everything. I�m a leech.� � But you�re a good leech!� he insisted. � When you have kids, you won�t need me around to take up your time. They will do that on their own. You�ll be tied up with them; you won�t need me.� � I�m not gonna have kids!� he wailed. � Yes you will. When the right girl comes along, it�ll happen. You�ll fall for her as soon as you see her. She�ll probably be some noble�s daughter who you haven�t seen since you were a kid. She�ll be disguised in regular civilian clothes, but she�ll still look stunning to you and you�ll ask yourself why you never bothered to notice her before. Since you don�t rush into anything except fights, you�ll hang out as a friend with the ones you like the best, then choose the one you want and pop the question. The rest, as they say, will be history.� He was staring at me, open-mouthed. � Kris . . .� � What? That�s what�ll happen. I can predict these things.� � But all the nobles are dead.� � Get real, Bart. You think there isn�t a girl or two at some boarding school half a world away that has some noble blood in her? Besides, even if there weren�t, Maison and the others would push you to marry Margie.� He lifted his chin a little and his face scrunched up. His eyes were glassy, as if he was about to cry. � You said you�d stand by me.� � I will.� � Well, I love Margie, but . . .� I waited, and when he didn�t continue, prompted, � But . . .?� � But not in the way that I�d want to marry her.� His face scrunched up like it had before and I could tell he really was going to cry if something drastic (from me) didn�t happen. � Princeling . . .� I sighed. � If I can�t marry you then I don�t want to be King!� He suddenly stopped, as though just realizing what he said, then turned and went to the upper level to stand by the ship�s wheel there. I stared after him. Had he just said what I thought he had? I followed him to the upper level and touched his arm. � Princeling?� He shook his head violently. Letting my hand run down his arm, I briefly laced my fingers with his and then went inside to my room. I flopped on my bed and gazed up at the ceiling for as long as I could stand it. Then I rolled onto my side and closed my eyes. //� If I can�t marry you then I don�t want to be King!�// Was he being serious? Would he give up everything that was rightfully his for me? He had to have been joking, yet . . . He never would have acted like that if he�d been joking . . . //� If I can�t marry you then I don�t want to be King!�// I got up and went up the hall one room and curled up on the bed there. And then, unbidden and unwanted, the tears came. Princeling . . . <--Phase 35 Phase 37--> |