Crystal Points
Emania, Land of Infinite Gods
I shall gather myself into myself again,
I shall take my scattered selves and make them one,
Fusing them into a polished crystal ball
Where I can see the moon and the flashing sun.
I shall sit like a sybil, hour after hour intent,
Watching the future come and the present go,
And the little shifting pictures of people rushing
In restless self-importance to and fro.
-Sara Teasdale, “The Crystal Gazer”
Episode 5: Rei-chan finds the way? The Wealthy City on the River!
Blackness was mingled with moonlight, shining from more orbs in the sky
than the Earth would ever see, the current number being three, though still
waxing. Into the darkness, six figures slipped, familiar in the sense that
there were six, five female, one male. Yet only four of these were pretty
soldiers, though the man among them was warrior enough, and the remaining
female a princess. With efficient precision they slipped though the shadows,
the gates and the castle, escaping what lay behind them, and the threat it
carried.
They spoke little as they pressed forward, and within an hour there came
blasts from behind them, trumpet blasts, echoing through the valley, sending
the alarm that something had happened, and that soldiers were being deployed
from the castle.
Two little figures flew up though the branches, skimming the treetops and
using keen eyes to watch for pursers. Through the night they pressed
forward, edging their horses to a gallop and trusting the sharp eyes of the
little dragonets above. No words were needed in their flight. Balan led the
way, knowing the paths better than princess or stranger. Back trails,
weaving their way though the tapestry of forest, knitting around rock and
giant tree, though thickets and underbrush.
Back and forth across a running creek, losing the scent from baying hounds
in the distance. Thoughout the day, the feeling of distance began to catch
up with them, and they relaxed somewhat, and explanations were dealt out,
the reasoning behind their flight, and the betrayal of Caradoc from his kind
to demon armies. Why, they didn’t understand, but it mattered little. They
had to leave. Towards the setting sun, to the west, and far west. Mountains
rose up beyond them, jagged peaks high, shrouded in clouds and valleys
dipping low in mist.
Lands beyond their own. Worlds, even, and broken though by the four
travelers, summoned by magic spell. It seemed incredible, and it was.
Foretold, though little believed, save for the sorcerers who lived on the
Fire Mountain.
It was again growing dark, and they traveled without rest.
“....I can hardly believe Caradoc would want to destroy the Points....”
Rory murmured, half to herself. Then, louder, “And you from another
world...Balan, I can’t believe you didn’t tell me this....”
From where he had taken point, Balan looked back at the chain of women
behind him, looking at the tired faces. He had set a punishing pace, and
they were unused to such traveling. “It was their right to say anything. I
guessed, that’s all,” he answered, then turned back to the front, alert to
pursuit.
“Minna,” Rei wondered aloud, “I was thinking. Why is the Caradoc guy
looking for the Points themselves? I mean, Lenora summoned us here to find
them and to use them, ne? I was kind of assuming we were the only ones to be
able to do that.”
It was Ami who replied, “Hai, Rei-chan, I’ve been thinking about that too.
There’s something we’re missing about it all. But...we can’t assume. This
thing about us, princesses and soldiers...it’s a myth. A fairy tale, ne?”
She looked at Balan and then Rory for confirmation, and received it after a
moment. Then she continued, “Even in our world, fairy tales...they aren’t
believed very often. Even religions. Some people believe in one god, others
many. Some not at all. Some people even take on delusions of grandeur.
Stories aren’t usually taken at face value, regardless of the source. It
seems we are a self-fulfilling prophecy, making it up as we go. There don’t
seem to be any rules....”
The group was quiet for awhile, thinking about this, the only sounds the
empty plod of the horses on the trail.
Rory yawned, and wobbled in the saddle a little from weariness. Minako
watched her rub her eyes, and yawn a second time, gripping hard the reins in
her hands, trying to stay awake.
“Ah...minna,” Minako began, looking up the column of riders, subtly angling
her horse closer to Rory’s, to grab her if she teetered out of the saddle.
At Minako’s words, the line of heads swiveled around, waiting to hear her
speak. Exaggeratedly, Minako yawned, arching her back in a dramatic stretch.
“Minna, I’m so sleepy. We’ve put a lot of distance between us and Ansur.”
She glanced over at the creek running not to far away. The dip down to it
could be seen, and the babble of water over stone heard in the air, which
was faintly filled with the sounds of evening birds chirping. “I’m getting
hungry too. We really should stop and sleep.”
As she spoke, they slowed and stopped, looking around as though unsure of
the spot. But no one wanted to argue. A full night and day of adrenaline and
running away was catching up to them, and even the dragons looked tired,
draped on the shoulders of their mistresses.
“I agree,” Makoto said, and was seconded by Balan, and nods from Ami and
Rei. Slanting red twilight streaked though the trees, and a moth fluttered
though the dusty air. It was a flat, dry area just above the creekbed. The
quiet was filled with the sounds of groaning, four of them very unaccustomed
to riding in the saddle, stretching out cramped thighs. “Oh my god....”
Makoto groaned as she tried to move her knees together, and succeeded in
lurching forward uncomfortably. “Ow....”
Rubbing her backside, Rei looked around, frowning. “We need to get food.
And we didn’t exactly bring anything with....”
*There are fish in the creek. They would be good to eat.*
“Lagu-chan says that there are fish in the creek.”
There were a few nods of agreement at Ami’s suggestion, and Rei commented,
“Good. Who knows how to fish?”
*I do.*
“Lagu-chan, we don’t have any fishing poles, or nets, or....”
“Then we don’t use nets,” Balan said with a shrug. He held up his hands,
and grinned slightly. “We just grab them.”
“I can cook them....” Makoto said as she considered the area around them.
There was plenty of ground litter, leaves and sticks. She kicked some of the
fallen flora away, revealing a large stone. She looked up through the
branches, examining the largish leaves. “Anyone know how to start a fire?”
Then she blinked, looking at Rei, who was putting her hand into the air, and
opening her mouth to shout her henshin phrase. Amending, Makoto added
hurriedly, “Ah, without probably setting the woods on fire?”
Rei looked a little disappointed.
“Balan, didn’t you bring tinder, or flint?” Rory was drawing out a cloak,
wrapping it around her shoulders. She hugged it tightly, the folds falling
long to the ground. “It’s going to get cold tonight.”
*You are all stupid.*
“Hey!” Rei snapped, twisting her head to look at the dragon perched on her
shoulder, with his nose in the air. Everyone else stared as Rei glared at
Ken, who archly examined his talon.
*You are all stupid.*
“How am I stupid?”
To demonstrate, Ken lifted his sinewy neck, and breathed a perfect, needle
thin gout of flame, only a few inches long, curling and smokeless.
*I am the Element of Fire. You need to even think about where to get
tinder? It is my power itself. *
Ken looked smug as he settled back onto Rei’s arm, curling his tail around
the length of her hair as he settled his head on his claws. “I guess that
answers that question,” Rei sighed as she absently petted Ken’s head. He was
right after all.
“Then let’s go fishing!” Minako grinned, grabbing Ami’s arm and dragging
her and Lagu down the small slope to the creek. “This is so cool! Like out
of one of those old American adventure movies in the Old West...!”
Balan was shaking his head as the two girls disappeared, Lagu drifting
slowly after them. “I’d better go rescue Ami before Minako drowns her.”
“I’ll come too...” Rei began, but was interrupted by a shrill shriek from
Ken. “Nani? Ken-chan? Ow!” She flinched as Ken’s sharp claws sank into her
skin, and he began flapping wildly around her head in a furious panic.
*Stupid! I won’t go in the water! Fire! I’m Fire! Lagu is Water! Do you
think I want to get into the water? I hate water!*
“Okay, okay! Calm down! I didn’t know you were afraid of the water. No
one’s forcing you!” Rei grabbed the irate dragonet off her before she got
whacked in the head again with a wing. “Calm down, Ken-chan! We won’t go
into the damn water!”
After a moment, the red dragon began to relax, eyes still whirling fiercely
as Rei tried to console him. “Everything all right, Rei?” She sighed as Rory
looked concerned.
“Hai. We’re going to...I don’t know. Firewood collecting okay with you,
Ken-chan?”
*Yes.*
“We’ll get some wood for the fire. Ken-chan doesn’t like the water much.
I’ll take a look around too, see if there’s any berries or whatever. Plain
fish...no rice or anything....” she sighed, and returned Ken to his usual
perch, heading off into the trees, still visible to the camp, but heading
out of earshot.
“Your friends are such characters, Makoto,” Rory commented as she joined
Mako over at the horses, rummaging through their saddlebags. “What are you
looking for?”
With a sigh, Makoto buckled the bag closed again. “Nothing, apparently.
Just trying to figure out how to cook without pots and pans.”
Rory laughed lightly, shaking her head. Over the course of the day, she had
bound her blonde hair up on her head, though much of it had now fallen
messily out of its braid. “Princesses cooking...things must be so different
in your world. I never have to cook.”
“Well, princess I may be, but we haven’t told you the whole story behind us
yet. Don’t worry, we will!” Makoto added as Rory looked at her, startled.
“It’s a long one.”
From the stream, they heard a shriek of triumph out of Minako’s mouth, and
the two girls turned, peering, to see the red ribboned one brandishing a
squirming fish in her hands. Within a moment, it had wriggled free, and was
splashing back into the water, Minako falling on her face with a splash a
moment later, laughing hysterically as she spluttered back up, soaking wet.
Balan splashed his way over, offering a hand, which was accepted. Though a
moment later, Minako pitched forward on a wet rock, and they both ended up
in the creek.
Makoto and Rory giggled a little, watching the display. “You’re all close
to each other, aren’t you, Makoto?”
“Hm? Oh, yes. It’s been a long two years.” Makoto’s smile withdrew a bit,
as she noticed a slight sadness pass over Rory’s face. “Nan ja, Rory-hime?”
“Oh...nothing.... Won’t anyone miss you, while you’re gone? It’s been a
more than a week, at least, since you and Minako met Balan and I...won’t
your families worry?”
Makoto bit her lip, watching the continued fishing experience happening
just beyond them. Ami was standing in the water now as well, eyes on the
current, hands under the surface. She made a flinching motion, and suddenly
a shining silver fish was in her hands, then flung onto the bank, where it
flapped wildly on the grey rocks. Lagu was circling around Ami, and within a
moment, dove, talons sinking into the water, and when she drew again into
the air, she was laden with a fish as large as she was. Lagu’s catch joined
Ami’s.
“Ami-chan’s mother will, probably...her dad left a long time ago.
Minako-chan’s family too.... But we can’t let the Silence come here. We’ve
all fought before. We will again.” Makoto continued, turning away from the
scene below to find a clear spot on the ground, where they would build a
fire. Already the light was fading, and she could see Rei’s shadow moving
among the branches, stooping every so often for another stick or log. Her
arms were already becoming full, and even Ken was holding kindling in his
claws. “Rei-chan has her grandpa, and Yuuichirou-san...” she laughed a
little, thinking of Yuuichirou’s somewhat obsessive dedication to Rei.
“What?”
“Yuuichirou. He’s so in love with her.”
“Her...ah...betrothed?”
Makoto burst into laughter at that, and Rei’s head perked up, hearing it in
the distance. After a moment, she returned to her work, and Makoto
continued, “He wishes he was her boyfriend! Rei-chan likes to play hard to
get.”
“Oh...” Rory said, a little confused as to why Makoto found this so funny.
She looked at Makoto and asked, “What about you? Your family?”
Makoto looked a little saddened, the laughter dying away. “They died when I
was little, in a plane crash. I don’t have anyone, other than Ami-chan,
Rei-chan, Minako-chan and Usagi-chan...not really.”
“No...boyfriend?” Rory asked, looking quietly at the noisy fishing
expedition in the creek. Balan had managed to catch one as well, and Minako
was still casting around in the water in her own attempt to get dinner.
Balan was shaking his head at her futile efforts, kicking up too much water
and chasing away any fish that may be around her feet. “No one?”
“No.... Is everything okay, Rory-hime?”
“Yes, just fine,” she replied, turning away quickly and smiling as Makoto
stood, being joined by Rei, who was returning.
“Here,” she dumped her armload of branches onto the clear spot. “Ken-chan
has the kindling....” Unceremoniously, the scarlet dragonet dumped his pile
of sticks on top of Rei’s contribution.
*Arrange the wood, so I can start it.*
Rei repeated this, giving Ken a small glare for rudeness. Then they
organized the pile, separating out the largest branches to be added later.
Ken crouched close, then breathed a tiny flame into the kindling and dry
leaves in the center, setting them to a small glow. Smoke curled blackly up
into the dying daylight, and the twigs began to crackle as fire consumed
them.
As soon as this was completed, Ken took off into the air, circling once as
he said something to Rei, then swooped into the trees. “He says he doesn’t
like fish, and he’s going to go hunt. He’ll be back soon.”
“Minna! I caught one!” Minako was shrieking as she held up a small fish by
the gills, its mouth agape. “Ew! It’s so gross too!” She didn’t seem
particularly disturbed by that fact, but was saying it anyway. Balan and
Minako were both soaking wet, drenched from Minako’s earlier spill into the
creek. Lagu was again riding on Ami’s shoulder, looking pleased with herself
as she serenely cleaned off her talons, fresh from catching some of the fish
Ami was bringing with her.
The following process of cleaning and gutting the fish resulted in a mess,
scales and bones everywhere as Balan desperately tried to give Minako and
Rory instructions. Rei eventually gave up with it, irritated, at about the
same time Ken came gliding back in, some blood still fresh on his muzzle
from his own dinner. Rei busied herself with cleaning him up instead.
But eventually, the smell of roasting fish filled the glen, wrapped up in
the leaves of a nearby tree, baking in the coals of the fire.
As they sat in a ring around the low fire, Balan peeled back the wide leaf
around his fish, and sliced off a piece of the fillet, using his knife to
slip it into his mouth. He grinned, “This is good,” and continued to chew,
leaving Minako to smile devilishly as Makoto thanked him for the compliment.
“So, where do we go from here?” Ami asked as she took her own portion from
the baked fish. “I know we’ve been heading west, but what is in that
direction?”
“Yeah,” Minako continued. “I’d like to know where we’re going.”
“Aren’t we looking for your Crystal Points?” Rory asked, looking surprised.
“Balan and I will help you find them, and we’ll save Emania.”
“No,” Balan countered immediately, frowning. “Princess, I know you’re happy
getting away from Ansur, but....”
“I am perfectly capable of joining you in the quest,” Rory argued. “I can
fight perfectly well. Minako, you remember, when we met, don’t you?”
Minako nodded slowly, slightly reluctant to allow this. It was true that
Rory had been the one to kick that goblin though the roof, but still...she
wasn’t a senshi. It would be too easy to slip into the trap of thinking of
her as an Usagi. Rory couldn’t henshin into Sailor-anything.
“I fought off that goblin. I protected myself. Balan, you know I can
fight.”
He was frowning thoughtfully. “Princess, you know that you’ve never
actually been in the field....”
“Balan, don’t be stupid! This is my chance to fight for real!” Eyes wide,
she was looking between Balan and the senshi, hoping for some help. She
received none, their eyes not meeting hers. “None of you? Not one? Minako?”
Silence.
“Rei?”
Eyes shifted away.
She looked defiant for a moment, then slowly mastered it, face loosing its
ferocity as she realized that alone, she was going to lose. Defeated, she
relaxed back into a sitting position, and stared at the slice of fish in her
hands. There was the quiet sound of fire as Rory settled herself, and then,
with a slightly irritated, or maybe disappointed tone, asked, “Then I’d like
to know where we’re going, too.”
There was another pause, though shorter. Then, from Rei, “What lies to the
west?”
They looked to Balan, since Rory was idly nibbling on her dinner, not
wanting to add to the conversation. “The Western Kingdom, of course. But we
don’t have any allies there....the royal family has become reclusive,
segregating themselves from the rest of Emania for the last five years. They
won’t help us.”
“Then where do we go?” That from Makoto, who was passing around a waterbag,
offering it to Rei, who sat beside her. “We can’t go back. Where would be
the safest place for you to hide?”
Balan blinked at her, startled at her comment. You to hide. Makoto was
finishing passing the water to Ami, who was taking it. “Fire Mountain,” he
said as he recovered. “It is a place of sanctuary. All are accepted there.”
“But we’d need to pass though Northern lands to get back there...” Rei
estimated, charting their path in her head. “It took several days. We’ve
passed the outermost ring of regular guards, right?” There was a nod from
Balan, as Rei mentioned a stone marker they passed that morning, and in the
distance they had seen a lone tower rising above the trees. They were on the
outskirts of the Northland, in its wilds. “We can’t go back that way. It’d
take too long, and we’d be sure to be found.”
Balan nodded in agreement. “The king is going to have men out looking for
his daughter. We’ll have to keep a lookout constantly. But there is one
place I can think of. Probably best anyway. We’ll have to be careful with
our money, or hope to find some when we get there...do you four know how
Emania is laid out?”
The senshi shook their heads. All they knew was what they had seen. Balan
explained, drawing with a finger in the dirt. “Fire Mountain is about here,”
he made a dot in front of him. “North, South, East, Western Kingdoms, lie in
these directions.... Ansur is here. The Lagu runs this way...the river, not
the dragon,” he grinned, as Lagu lifted her head at her name, drowsily. She
chirruped, then curled back up to doze in the firelight, Ken beside her, the
glow picking up the orange tones of his scales, and reflecting the
multi-colored pastels of Lagu’s.
“There are other rivers, that run into the Lagu. This creek will widen up
in about a half day’s travel, and empty into another river, which will
eventually flow into the Lagu...the Lagu is the main river thoughout Emania.
Most of the trade routes run though it or its tributaries. It snakes around
the different lands, and runs....” he drew a line very close to the Fire
Mountain. “About two days travel west of the Mountain, before it enters the
South.”
“Then we make for the river,” Ami said, her mini-computer on her lap as she
tapped the data in for safe keeping. “I wish we had some sort of key for
distance....” The computer drew in statistical information, and a three
dimensional image spun into the monitor. “Here. Is that fairly accurate?”
She turned the computer around, and though her sister senshi didn’t seem
surprised, Balan and Rory stared openly, mouths dropped. “More illusions?”
“Oh! No! This is...ah, something else. See?” She turned to Rory and showed
her the keyboard. “Here. Tap that one.” She pointed at the ‘enter’ key, and
Rory tentatively touched it, sending the screen’s images into a virtual
setting.
“Oh!” Rory leapt back a bit in surprise, then, fascinated, leaned forward
again as Ami laughed lightly at her interest. “My....”
“So then we go...where?”
“Aerial,” Balan said, “the Western trading city. It sits on the Lagu, and
even the separation edicts haven’t been able to keep it closed. It’s too
important, especially with the recent food production increase in the North
running though it. It’s a port city. I was there once, years ago. It’s
supposed to have grown a lot since then.”
“Then we’ll be able to hide there pretty well,” Minako decided, polishing
off her fillet and wiping her greasy fingers on her pant leg. Of them, only
Rory had remained in skirts, though they were plain and simple ones. “The
more people, the better. And you can catch a boat back towards the Fire
Mountain.”
Ami considered, “There will be patrols, looking for us. The back roads will
be very slow though, and it may allow pursuers to catch up. Should we try
the main roads?”
Balan thought a moment. “We’ll have to. The path we’re on now will end up
at a logging village, where this breaks off and empties into another river.
We’ve gotten a small head start, and we have to keep it. We’ll cut across
the river tomorrow. It’ll be dangerous, but it’s our best bet. We’ll just
have to hope that Caradoc doesn’t have his own spies out looking for us. I
don’t like it, but we may not have any other choice.”
“That brings us back to the same question,” Rei commented, finishing her
dinner as well. “How are we going to find the next two Points?”
*How many times must I call you stupid before you ask me important
questions?*
When Rei suddenly glared at her dragonet, everyone knew Ken was commenting
on their intelligence again. The dragons had roused themselves a bit,
slender necks held high, though they were still curled up on the ground.
“Now what, Ken-chan?”
*They are our brother and sister.*
“And?” Rei prompted, frowning.
Ken snorted and tossed his head, a curl of flame licking his lips.
*They are, as Ken said, our brother and sister. Of course we know where
they are. Ken knew where I was.*
Ami blinked, then repeated what Lagu had just told her. “And that makes
sense. I never really thought about it. Rei-chan, Ken brought you to us,
didn’t he?”
“Yeah,” Rei agreed grumpily, not happy that she hadn’t thought of it. “So
you can lead us to the other two?”
*Of course.*
She sighed. “He says they can.”
“Well, that makes things a lot easier,” said Makoto as she tightened her
cloak. The chill of the night was settling in, and it was growing cold.
Noticing her movement, Balan leaned back and grabbed one of the small logs
Rei had collected, adding it to their campfire. The light from it was small,
but bright, and it cast long yellow and grey shadows in the trees, the night
clear above them.
“So, then tomorrow we set out for...Aerial City?”
“Yes...” came the responsive murmur among them, as they yawned.
“Minna,” Minako began, looking at the ghostly trees. “We’ve been followed
for awhile... shouldn’t we keep a watch or something?”
“Yes, we should,” Balan agreed. “I’ll take first watch. You get some rest.
Tomorrow’s going to be a long day.”
“Hai....”
“I’ll take second,” Rory offered as she yawned again. “Give me a little
time, and I’ll be better. All right?”
Balan looked at her, and reluctantly nodded, which left Rory feeling a
little more satisfied. She didn’t like to think that she was holding them
all back. Castle life was never a thing she wished for, and now that she was
free...more or less...on the run, at least....she wanted to live as she had
dreamed. Free. But the fact that she was accustomed to palace life was
catching up quickly, and as she huddled into a tangle of tree roots, her
eyes closed, and she was asleep within moments, head lolling.
“She sleeps like Usagi-chan,” Rei grumbled, but went to Rory’s horse,
pulling out Rory’s discarded cloak and wrapping it over the sleeping
princess. “Falls asleep just as fast, too.”
“Ah, Rei-chan, you know you miss Usagi-chan,” Ami teased lightly as her
fiery friend gathered up her own cloak. “It’s strange not having her around,
ne?”
“Who is this Usagi person you all keep talking about?” Balan asked as he
repositioned himself at the fire, settling in for his shift of watch.
“Our Princess,” Makoto told him, smiling. “And our friend. We were very
surprised she wasn’t called here. We’ll have to tell you more about her
tomorrow.”
Balan agreed to that, though wasn’t sure how four princesses could have a
princess over them. He shrugged internally, not worrying. There were many
strange things about these four, and that was the least of them. One with
her hair cropped indecently short and illusions, one incredibly
temperamental, one who liked to make a spectacle of herself, and one who
cooked. And cooked very well, in his modest opinion. Stranger and stranger.
But it certainly kept things interesting.
Ami and Rei copied Rory’s example, settling themselves under the branches
of an oak tree, joined by their dragonets, who made little beds for
themselves in their mistress’s arms and cloaks. Minako took a tree of her
own, and eventually Makoto did as well, her head pillowed on her arm, hair
trailing loosely over her shoulder.
An umbrella of stars opened above them, tiny, constant lights that paled
slightly against the overwhelming light cast by the moons. They were growing
fuller, waxing, one waning again, the swiftest of these. Balan felt the
warmth of the fire dim against his skin, and he placed another log on. Eyes
turned to the stars, he charted their position and the time. Over the course
of dinner he had dried out from his earlier forced swim with Minako, but his
hair was still slightly damp. He knew when his watch was over, though he did
not wake Rory. He considered it. But in the end, he decided that he would
rather weather her anger at not being given a share than have her fall over
with exhaustion the next day. She wasn’t weak, it wasn’t that he thought
that...but having been her protector for so long, he didn’t want to give it
up.
From Rory, he looked at Makoto, eyes closed, breathing steady as she
dreamed, eyes fluttering slightly in the stages of sleep. To protect her,
too, he decided. But she, like he, was a soldier as well as nobility. No,
Makoto he could wake. He wanted to speak to her anyway, and with the quiet
of everyone sleeping, it was as private as he could hope for. Another shift
passed, and the trail weariness was catching up to him. If he didn’t wake
her soon, he would be useless in the morning. And though the girls and the
strange ‘map’ in Ami’s boxlike thing would lead them to the city, they would
have no idea how to survive in the wilderness. He stood, and gently shook
Makoto awake.
Her eyes opened to see him silhouetted darkly by firelight and moonlight,
smiling faintly down at her. “Nan ja...? Balan? But...” she sat up, and
looked around the fire, seeing Rory still sleeping, now on her side, head
against a tree root. “Wasn’t Rory supposed to go after you....?”
“I took her shift. She needs the rest.”
“She won’t be happy about that in the morning.”
“I can live with that.” He offered a hand to her, and helped her up.
“But you can wake me up, huh?”
Balan grinned. “Guess so, Lady Lightning.”
“It’s Makoto, you know,” she replied, with mock anger. He had been calling
her that since the day they met, and it had become a bit of a joke between
them. She didn’t mind it, not really.
“I know,” he said, then grew more serious. “We’re going to part, at Aerial,
aren’t we? After the Princess and I find a boat downriver.”
She looked at the fire, then the stars, and he saw the light reflected in
her face. She was the strongest looking, of the four from another world. But
in the moonlight and darkness, it made her look far more delicate. He
noticed the rose earrings in her ears. Of them, though she was the most
athletic, he noticed, she was also the most feminine. It was an odd
contrast, and it fascinated him.
“We’ll have to,” she said after a moment, returning her gaze to the fire,
then to him. “Balan...I can’t stay in Emania, after we help your people.”
He had been afraid of that, and was careful not to react.
“I know.”
She made a sad laugh, ponytail shaking at the movement. The two little
beads that held her hair up had been replaced by a thin, dark pink bow. “You
know...people were afraid of me,” she told him after a moment.
“Afraid of you?”
“Yeah. When I first moved to Juuban. I got kicked out of my old school. For
fighting. Everyone at Juuban was scared of me. Usagi-chan wasn’t. And then
Ami-chan and Rei-chan, and eventually we met Minako-chan. And Chibiusa-chan.
And then Haruka-san, Michiru-san, Setsuna-san and Hotaru-chan. I can’t stay
here. It’s my duty. My destiny.”
“You’re crying.”
“Nani?” She started, looking at him. After a moment, he moved closer, and
wiped a tear off her cheek. “Oh....”
“It’s all right, Lady Lightning.”
“Gomen nasai, Balan-kun.”
He just nodded, and Makoto felt his arms around her. She resisted a moment,
then relaxed again, breathing in his scent, faintly of smoke. The wind
picked up, whispered though the trees, and leaves rustled faintly as she
turned her cheek against his chest, feeling him rest his chin on the top of
her head. That made her smile. She was always the tall one.
“What?” Balan asked as he felt her giggling suddenly.
“Nothing...you’re taller than me, that’s all. I’m being silly. Gomen ne,”
she tried not to laugh, and after a moment, brought herself to seriousness
again. “Balan-kun....”
“It’s all right. I’ll never get over it,” he tried to joke, “but I’ll live.
Let’s just try to enjoy the little time we have, shall we?”
Makoto’s eyes widened as he kissed her, very lightly, on her mouth, tilting
her chin up with one hand. It was as if all the air around her had vanished,
swept away into the vacuum of space. For one who always wished for a fairy
tale romance, it was a very different feeling experiencing it instead of
reading it. So close. He was so close. And warm....
Rei sat on the ledge of rock overlooking the creekbed. It was still dark,
though the first tinges of false dawn were staining the eastern sky with
faintly purple hues, letting the stars dim slightly in the oncoming
brilliance of the day.
*That is good. You are doing better now. See how you improve, when you
listen to me?*
Rei gave Ken a sour look, but in the end, she smiled. She had ended up last
for watch duty, Ami having shook her awake more than an hour ago. She was
still tired, and cramped from sleeping on the dirt, but felt better. At the
moment, she was listening to Ken tutor her in the ways of fire, her palms
open on her lap. On the fingertips of her right hand, a small flame
flickered steadily, red with a orange center, and burning steadily. She kept
herself focused on that flame, and at her mental command, it leapt in a neat
arch.
*Now, aim.*
Rei lifted a finger into the air, and watched the perfect line of fire
flash into the air straight above her head, the darkness around her
withdrawing but a moment, then pouring back in.
*Listen well, and I will show you more. It is fun, having this power, isn’t
it?*
“Hai,” Rei agreed, grinning at her hands thoughtfully.
*Hai. Yes, it is. But remember it is dangerous as well. Fire is an unsteady
Element. As is Water. In that, we are alike.*
Rei blinked at her dragon, holding him in her lap and idly scratching his
neck, letting him preen as she scratched under his wings. She smiled at Ken,
who curled up languorously, stretching then resting, turning his head to
look out across the creek a length below.
It was still dark, in the sky, though with each moment, new light was
dawning, sending a splash of color across the distant treetops. In a few
minutes, Rei would lose the quiet around her, ended in the noise of waking
everyone up.
“Ken-chan, do you really think we’ll make it to Aerial safely?”
*That is for you to decide, not me. Why?*
“I don’t know. Just worried, I guess.” She cast a glance over her shoulder,
at the sleeping lumps of her friends on the ground and around the trees.
“Someone has to watch out for them.”
*Rei, look.*
“Hm?” She looked up, following Ken’s gaze. He didn’t seem alarmed, and so
she didn’t jump up worriedly. Tilting her head, she smiled faintly as she
saw the first rays of light break through the branches of the trees,
glittering freshly on the strings of a spiderweb across the stream. In her
violet eyes, tiny drops of dew caught the prisms of sunlight, and it made
her smile. “It is pretty, ne, Ken-chan? The spider must have spent all night
making it. We didn’t even see her.”
Even as they watched in the growing light, a tiny black form was racing up
and down her lines, the web formed perfectly between the trunk and upraised
arm of a tree, a thin strand touching the ground below.
“Actually, she only spent about an hour or so,” a little voice commented
from about an armslength above her. “Arachne spins very quickly, when she’s
hungry!”
At that, Rei did jump, and looked up, seeing a tiny figure hovering, not
looking at her, but the webbing. A tiny creature, wearing white flower
petals, stitched with a rose’s thorn, barefoot and winged with the
translucent, yellow wings of a butterfly. “Nani...?”
*It’s just a fairy. Don’t be afraid.*
“A...fairy?”
The little creature turned, smiling down at Rei, long brown hair falling
over her tiny, pointed ears. “What, has it gotten so bad that you don’t even
know what I am anymore?”
“Ah...no...gomen ne, I’ve just...never seen one of you before.”
The fairy girl seemed to consider that a moment, sadly. “Ohhh,” she moaned
mournfully, “that’s too bad. It’s gotten difficult in the cities. You are
from a city, since you couldn’t ride yesterday.”
“You watched us?”
“This is my glen. Of course I did.”
To that, Rei looked at the dragonet in her arms, who was still half asleep.
“Ken-chan, did you know that?”
*Of course. Why are you upset now?*
“Because we didn’t know!”
Rei groaned, then sighed, shaking her head and looking at the bemused fairy
girl, who had come to hovering a little lower, wings flickering in the air
as she smiled. “That’s one of the Elements, isn’t it?”
She drew closer, and Ken turned to look at her. After a moment, the girl’s
tiny fingers reached out and touched Ken’s nose, and he pushed against her
lightly, accepting the caress. Then the girl laughed.
“Ah! I knew it! And the other one too! I’m so glad!”
Their visitor clapped her hands in delight, and sat herself on Rei’s knee.
Rei felt oddly fine with this, not really knowing what to do. It wasn’t
everyday you hold a dragon, and have a fairy talk to you. “My name is Rei.”
“Prilla,” the fairy told her, sitting and smiling brightly and
straightening up. “You’re off to save Emania, aren’t you?”
“You know about us?”
“All of us do. We all hope you help. Things have been bad for us, and they
keep getting worse. We keep disappearing.”
Rei was a little startled at that comment, blinking. “Disa...disappearing?”
“Yeah,” Prilla said a little sadly, turning and letting her feet kick off
the end of Rei’s knee, and she turned her eyes to the ground, tiny tears in
her eyes as she tried not to show her sadness. “People come and clear away
the ground for the...agri..agri....”
“Agriculture?”
“Yeah! That!” Prilla pricked up again brightly, grinning that Rei had
supplied the word for her. “Agriculture. And the towns and places like
that....and all that’s left are the goblins and things....”
Rei smiled at the little girl, and if she hadn’t been so tiny, would have
tried to give her a hug. A little light flickered around the girl, pretty
pink and purple colors, warm and soft like a blanket. “Don’t worry, we’ll
stop them. That’s why Ken-chan and Lagu-chan woke up. We’ll seal away all
the bad things, and they won’t ever come back.”
Prilla looked at Rei sadly again, shaking her head. “You don’t understand.”
“Don’t understand? Nani? What don’t I understand?”
The fairy girl sighed and shook her head, long hair shaking around her
shoulders as she moved to stand. “People are bringing the goblins.”
“What! That’s not possible!”
“It’s not? Oh....” Prilla paused, and scratched her head a bit in
consideration. “I’m sorry. I’m only a couple hundred years old, so I’m still
young. Maybe I just don’t understand it yet.” Prilla shrugged, and Rei
realized she was trying to make a polite excuse. The girl flickered open her
wings again, taking off into the air.
“Wait...”
“Yes?” Prilla looked over her shoulder, and Rei held out a palm for her to
stand on. The fairy considered this, and smiled again, stepping into Rei’s
hand. “What?”
“Is there a better way out of the woods? It’s not very safe for us...we
want to help. Really. If you could.....”
*Be quiet, and listen to her instead.*
“Ken-chan?”
Prilla giggled a little, a hand to her mouth as her shoulders shook with
merriment, her whole body filling the gentle motion. “You seem to think
we’re not even friends! There are many paths in the forest. Look for them.”
She turned to leave again, and Rei again stopped her. “Wait! Please...how?
The one we’re on...it’ll be watched....what’s the safest way?”
Prilla hesitated, shaking her head. “I just told you. There are many paths.
Look.”
“But....”
“Look!” Prilla demanded, stamping her foot in a tiny display of irritation.
“Have things really gotten so bad that you can’t even see the trails in the
forest? Look!” She pointed, and Rei tried to follow the angle of her finger.
“I don’t....”
*The Great Fire you mentioned, Rei.*
Somewhere, inside Rei’s mind, a memory surfaced, flying to the front of her
thoughts and occupying them. Many times she had knelt before the fire in
the temple, hands folded in prayer, searching for answers to her questions.
So many times. Each time she was answered, sometimes quickly, other
times...not so quickly. In this world of illusion and shadow, fire lit the
way, casting shadows of it’s own, even as it brought light to the darkness.
*See clearly, though the illusion that the world presents to you. All you
have to lose is the illusion you think is real.*
In the shadows of the forest across the stream, the darkness shifted and
warped, mingling with distorted mist and a lightened path. In Rei’s eyes
reflected the shifting shadow, the clarity of vision though the illusion.
She didn’t understand, but as her eyes opened, she began to understand
something. It was faint and small, and she could not grasp it. But it was
there.
There was a little laugh from Prilla, who was again airborne. “Oh! I’m so
glad you can see it! Just watch out, that one leads though the marshes, and
there’s bound to be mosquitoes this time of year! Bloodsucking little
things. Be careful!”
And with that, the fairy flitted back into the obscurity of the cathedral
of trees above.
Rei stood, eyes still locked on the opposite bank, afraid that if she
stopped looking, the path would vanish from her vision. She closed her eyes,
forcing herself to turn away, then look back again. It was still there.
“Ami-chan! Minako-chan! Wake up and have a look at this! Mako-chan!
Ami-chan!”
The trail they traveled coursed though hollow hills and wetland, with the
strangeness of a sunrise sky pouring across them as though only a morning
passed, and not some three days. Their journey should have taken longer. In
fact, much longer, more than a week, but this was a road of shadow and
light, and not made by the hands of men, but of forgotten gods of the mind.
Too much beauty lay in their path, the delicacy of a butterfly resting on a
cattail in the marsh. There were no mosquitoes to harass them, but fireflies
danced in the humidity, swarming in a ballet of graceful blinking. Ducks
swam in their hidden nests, and the travelers were careful not to
accidentally step on their eggs. These places were untouched by humans, left
wild, and to walk there a person was among strong magic.
Three days. Just three days, and that according to the carefully clocked
minutes of Ami’s computer, telling them the time of day and their location,
charting their course along, despite the bizarre readings that displayed
themselves across the screen. How could they walk but five minutes, yet
travel twelve miles? On a train perhaps, or an airplane. Or if Haruka was
driving, maybe. But on horseback? Ami gave up trying to understand it.
Food, too, was provided. As they decided to break and hunt or fish, it
always seemed as though one of them would also discover some plants, roots
or submerged flora that was edible, almost as though left for them, though
it took such things time to grow.
In the middle of their third day of traveling the hidden road, they crested
a hill, having come out of the marshes that had somehow appeared in the
middle of the forest. Now they found themselves in the middle of the day
again, and sunny light penetrated though the leaves above them and the tree
trunks before them.
And in a sudden rush forward, they stood at the break of the treeline, and
there lay a long slope before them, the mass of the city on the river
sprawling out across the river valley. Ami glanced suspiciously behind them,
and saw that Rei too was looking for their path. As they quickly realized,
it was gone, and only the thickness of the forest remained behind them. But
it mattered little. They had arrived, and it would take only a few minutes
now to reach the outskirts of the city.
“Look at the size of it,” Rory breathed in amazement, hands clasping at the
folds of her skirt. “There must be...eight...no, nine...or even ten thousand
people down there!” Balan, too, seemed impressed at the size of the city,
though none of the senshi seemed so. Emania had no cities like Tokyo, and
Aerial would seem very large to a native. It was rare for too many people to
gather in such cities, most being the capital of the land, such as Ansur.
The four senshi looked down, and saw both a splendid little city, and also
the huddled slums that were forming at the far reaches of Aerial, lumps of
darkness shrouding a city of light. Though the east of the city ran the
Lagu, the expanse of river coiling though the streets, mastered by a network
of bridges, spanning it. As the foreigners traveled, Ami turned her eyes
around, watching carefully. People rushed back and forth, paying little
attention to the newcomers. Strangers were nothing new here. And she noted
several things, the first being that this city had no walls, and in fact no
castle, as Ansur had. Tall buildings did stack up, the highest she could see
being about four stories tall, made of baked brick, dun brown in the
daylight, with steps running outside the houses to the ground, people
scurrying like mice up and down them.
Exotic spices reached her, and filled her senses with powerful smells of
markets from foreign lands, spicy and sweet, incense and perfume and
cologne, heady as wine. Women talked and laughed loudly, men hawked wares as
they passed through a market, and children screamed in play or cried in
hunger. A woman stepped out and began to shake out a woven rug, dust flying
down onto Ami’s once again illusionary long hair. A baker emerged from a
kitchen, a giant tray of sticky pastries balanced in one giant palm, and
the scent of hot raspberries wafted, making mouths water for the treat. Heat
swelled up and the stink of red hot iron wavered into the air, a forge
nearby, the clanging of metal being shaped adding to the noise and furious
concert of sound and smell, a slightly metallic tang mingling with the
sweetness of pastries, slowly overriding it.
The day was cool, and that was good, since it was also cloudless and the
sun beat down, reflecting against the paved cobblestones of the roads and
plazas, reflecting up the heat even as they absorbed it, warmth vibrating
around them from the ground, the people and the air.
Minako was delighted to find something she kept repeatedly calling ‘fish
and chips’- chunks of fried fish and potato, though she seemed a bit
disappointed that there was no newspaper to wrap it up in. After her first
bite, she realized that the cook had baked a horseradish sauce into the fish
batter, and her eyes filled up with tears as she tried to eat the hot food.
Rory seemed to like the extra flavoring, and the others ate with slightly
less gusto since they were more careful.
That was lunch, sitting on the dock of the waterway. They had found an inn
fairly quickly, not too far from the river, and the smell of fish was strong
on the wind. But the innkeeper swore that they had the best fish stew in the
city, and the prices were low enough for the six of them, and their mounts.
The horses safely stabled, they began to move up and down the docks, moving
among the forest of empty sails and riverboat captains. Ami and Rei had gone
off in their own group, and Minako had managed to drag Rory along with her,
so that they could cover as much ground as possible, leaving Makoto and
Balan to explore their own way among the riverboats.
Crossing bridges back and forth, there would be times that they would have
to stop, just to look. The two senshi, water and fire, with their dragons on
their shoulders, would pause to see the action on the river, looking down
from a bridge to see the bay below and the different boats that raced across
the blue water, rowers dipping their oars as they pulled along quickly. Tiny
fleets of merchant ships huddled at their ropes, tethered there, some
manned, others empty, others loading provisions. If rain fell in torrents,
the river would swell and surge upward, reaching and sometimes flooding the
nearest buildings on the docks. But it was the wrong time of year of that.
Though Aerial was not large in comparison to Tokyo, it took the whole day
to speak to the captains, searching for passage downriver, stopping near to
the Fire Mountain. To their surprise and disappointment, it seemed that few
wanted to go that way. Rifts were tearing their way along the river, many to
the south, where the Fire Mountain rested. Rumors were flying that the
numbers of the monsters were infinite, and growing daily. But such things
didn’t disrupt the daily lives of the people here. They had lives to lead,
things to trade and sell and buy.
“You wouldn’t believe what Galaxia looked like!” Minako was laughing as she
told the tale. It was now late evening, the sun fully down, and only the
faintest breaths of light on the horizon. Clouds had swept in as the evening
dropped, and there was the sound of thunder in the distance, rumbling with
discontent. “All black armor instead of the bronze we saw her in. And wings
like a bat! And a big sword!”
Eventually, they had admitted defeat for the day. Still, there was almost
half of the boats to try. Surely two passengers wouldn’t be too difficult.
They would go back tomorrow, after a full dinner and breakfast, bellies full
and content with the fact that they were safely hidden. There was no sign of
pursuit, since they entered the magical path, and they were far ahead of
anyone not traveling it. It was easy to be relieved, and the six now sat a
large table in the corner of the dining room of their chosen inn.
Minako was regaling Rory and Balan of their adventures back home, and was
currently nearing the end of the story of Sailor Galaxia and the Animates.
She kept her voice low despite her exclamations, and in the reddish light of
the fireplace and the room’s candles, she was fully in the guise of a
storyteller. “Chibi Chibi-chan told Usagi-chan what to do, and became a
sword for her to use against Galaxia and Chaos....” The other three senshi
were idly eating, spooning in chunks of what was very good fish stew into
their mouths. They knew what happened, and though Minako was doing a great
job in telling, they were tired of listening to her go on...since she had
gone though pretty much their whole times together since her time as Sailor
V, and her arrival with the other senshi. All in one day. Which was a lot.
Balan and Rory, however, were hanging on every word.
Minako banged her fist down on the table, causing the silverware to jump,
and she dramatically paused, a finger in the air. Most of the room was
oblivious to her story, busy with their own conversations and meals. “Then
Princess Serenity’s sword shattered!”
Rory gasped audibly, and Balan set down his spoon, waiting for Minako to
finish.
“Galaxia was laughing horribly, the Chaos within her controlling her mind
completely! But Usagi-chan wasn’t done yet. No, she drew upon the source of
her power, the Silver Imperium Crystal!”
Rei groaned softly, realizing she was done with her food. She placed her
chin in her hand, and glanced at Makoto, who was boredly stirring her stew,
examining the chunks of fish, spice and potato. Ami was still finishing, and
swallowed, she smiled a little at Rei’s boredom, and leaned back in her
chair.
“She still had her wings. And the Crystal unfolded like a flower, releasing
its energy and light. Princess Serenity lit up the whole galaxy with that
light, and it shattered the sword Galaxia held. Serenity forgave Galaxia.
And she took her hand, and all the darkness returned to where it belonged,
as did the Light of Hope.”
“Where?” Rory asked, eyes wide, her voice a soft whisper of wonder.
“We all have a Light of Hope within us. And Chaos. Galaxia and the Star
Seeds disappeared, and the seeds became human. Us.” Minako smiled and sat
back with a satisfied smile on her face, her tale told and with a captive
audience of two. She ignored the bored senshi.
“So you four...you’ve died?” Balan stated, looking at the girls with him.
He looked, and could hardly believe it. But if they could travel between
worlds, how could this be as impossible?
Behind them, one of the groups of men let out a loud roar, and a tall man
stood from among them, a harp in his hand. This man, a bard, sat on a bench
near the fire and began to sing a quick song, long fingers plucking easily
at the graceful strings as he sang:
“When owls call the breathless moon,
In the blue veil of the night
The shadows of the trees appear
Amidst the lantern light....”
The sets of eyes of the senshi returned to their table, and Makoto replied
to Balan’s question, “Yes.”
His eyes widened a bit, and they looked at Makoto with questions, but he
said none of them, since she did not meet his gaze.
“To defy death itself....” Rory managed, unsure. “Such power. Amazing. Such
adventures you have had....”
“It hasn’t exactly been the glamour trip Minako-chan makes it sound like,”
Rei commented sourly. “Dying isn’t exactly fun.” Absently, she touched the
place where the flower had unfurled, her bright red Star Seed appearing and
being removed. For the sake of Sailor Moon, and the Starlights. She
remembered those last moments, and Sailor Moon’s teary face.
“Well, we came back to life,” Minako grinned. “No one ever dies! It’s some
sort of cosmic rule. And what would happen to Usagi-chan without us?”
There was a silence as Minako realized what she said, then amended, “Any of
us. The Outers will be with Usagi-chan day and night by now! I’m sure
Usagi-chan is just thrilled to have Mamoru-san hanging around all the time,
too. And Pluto is probably looking for us. Don’t worry. We haven’t had an
enemy in over a year! Crystal Tokyo is on the way. Soon Chibiusa, and
everything! And we were there in the future. Remember?”
That brought weak smiles to her friends faces, which wavered into stronger
ones.
The harper at the fire was joined by a friend with a fiddle, drawing his
bow across the strings with precision, and soon the table was tapping along
with the beat. A barmaid appeared with trays filled with mugs of frothing
beer, which she settled onto the table.
“We’ve been rambling all the night,
And some time of this day.
Now returning back again,
We bring a garland gay....”
There was laughter all around them, and the sounds of merchants at rest,
and sailors and boatmen, the smell of fish and water rampant, though without
the salty smell of the sea or ocean. It was a good evening, filled with the
light of lanterns on the water, and moons in the sky speckled with stars.
Warm and full, they were getting sleepy, and the idea of a bed, however
small and cramped, was inviting. The inn was the same as any other in town,
having only a room or two that were private, and were much too expensive for
the six travelers and their limited budget. So it was the common room they
paid for, narrow pallets on the floor, and far more public than any of them
would have liked. They were used to each other, but having strangers snoring
an armslength away wasn’t exactly an inviting image. But sleep was calling
them, regardless.
“I’m heading upstairs,” Ami announced first as she pushed her plate away.
“I just hope it won’t get too loud down here,” she smiled a little at the
small band assembling with the bard, the music filling the room more than
the chatter and laughing, and the clatter of dishes. “We have to finish
searching tomorrow, remember?”
“Hai,” came the response, and Rei stood with Ami, also done. Minako still
had plenty of food left, her talking slowing her down. Makoto was also
finished, but Balan wasn’t, and over the last couple days, it was obvious
that Makoto was quietly angling herself closer to him. Minako was more than
delighted to help out with that, often dragging Rory reluctantly away.
“I’ll come with you,” Rory announced, standing. She picked up the remaining
slice of bread, and began to stuff it into her mouth without worrying about
manners. During their journey, Rory had quickly slipped into certain
mannerisms, trying to mimic the other girls with her. She failed in most
parts, her training and habit as a royal shining though. But she tried, as
she was now, to act like a peasant. Talking with her mouth full, she
managed, “Come on,” and began to head to the stairs, where she hiked up her
skirt and stomped up.
Ami and Rei sighed, shaking their heads. Minako giggled at her attempts.
Balan and Makoto were already talking about where they should search
tomorrow. “Come on, Ami-chan,” Rei said and they followed Rory. As they
left, they could still hear the final words of the song, sung now by many
voices, though the bard’s cut though most clearly.
“And so they linked their hands and danced,
Round in circles and in rows.
And so the journey of the night descends,
When all the shades are gone....”
In reality, Rory wasn’t tired in the least.
She lay awake, near the shadows that cut across the wooden floor. It was
late when more footsteps echoed emptily on the floorboards. The first were
light, and she peered out from the edge of her covers to see Minako appear,
yawning as she settled herself in not far from Ami and Rei. More footsteps,
heavier. A merchant, a sailor. More footsteps, more men she did not know.
Lit up the galaxy.
A Princess, just like her.
She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to force the thoughts out, into the
darkness, into the shadows, into the moonlight that shone though the drafty
windows. The stories of the adventures had filled her with amazement,
stories of princesses, just like her. Princesses with magic and who could
fight. Who had ever heard of such things? Adventure wasn’t exactly something
princesses could do daily. Oh, there were always princesses in legends, in
fairy tales. But in reality, it was a life in a box, then a marriage and the
burden of children. When Aurora looked out from the balcony in her chambers,
she wanted to be just plain Rory. Fine, maybe she didn’t want to be a
peasant exactly. That work in the field looked hard, and tithing practically
all of it away wasn’t exactly appealing. But she did want to go riding, just
as she had been. And to fight, just like she should get to. So many things
she wanted to do. Ruling a kingdom wasn’t exactly near the top of her list.
Lit up the galaxy.
A Princess, just like her.
She was restless, and the steady breathing of the others wasn’t helping.
Especially not the loud snuffling snore coming from one brawny man in an
opposing corner. At long last, she heard softer steps, and two figures
emerged from the stairway, the woman holding the stub of a candle. It was
Makoto, her other hand trailing behind her, twined with Balan’s. Rory
winced, then closed her eyes lightly, steadying her breathing. She sensed
their closeness, and heard the shifting as they settled into their own
pallets, the rustling of straw as it took on the weight of a body. The light
from the candle snuffed out, the brightness against her eyelids vanishing.
Before long, their breathing steadied too, and she knew they dreamed. To
that, she rolled onto her back, and stared at the dark ceiling above her.
“I can’t sleep,” she told it, as though it would answer. She rubbed her
eyes with the back of her hand, and felt the grit there. She didn’t like the
dirt. Tomorrow she would take a trip to the showers in the basement. They
were communal, one for men, one for women, but a shower was a shower.
Cleanliness was good. Rory sighed, turning her head to look at the lumps
that were her friends and companions. Soon it would be just her and Balan
again. She would miss them, and their friendship. She didn’t really have
friends at the palace. And she never could get Balan to call her ‘Rory’
instead of ‘Princess.’ Only those four called her Rory. To everyone else, it
was ‘Aurora,’ ‘Princess,’ or some other title she despised. She loved them
for that, and was glad she had told them to call her that at the beginning.
They hadn’t even asked why. They just did, Minako and Makoto. In the
darkness, she smiled. Then she slowly stood.
“Fresh air,” she decided, as though telling the sleeping bodies. Just some
fresh air, a walk along the docks, then back again in a bit. She wasn’t sure
where she would go, really, so not too far. But far enough to stretch her
legs, and get the inn out of her sight. Adventurous, but not too much.
Rory was very quiet when she wanted to be, and the boards underfoot didn’t
even groan at her weight. Just a short walk, under the light of the moons
and stars, along a river in a city. No one to know who she was. Just Rory.
And into the silence she slipped, nodding politely to a bartender as she
headed outside.
Quietly into the starry night, two figures emerged in the silence of a side
street. An alleyway, used for the dumping of water and garbage in the day.
But by night, it was empty, save perhaps the muffled flapping white sheets
of laundry that hung on clothespins from wires, stretched across the street.
It was a dead end alley, and the faint smell of the wastes from the
adjoining homes tinged the air. These two figures frowned in distaste at the
smell and the poorness of their surroundings, but then again, it was for the
best.
One a man, long black hair and light armor under his cloak, the other a
woman, white hair like silk to her knees, ignoring the cool kiss of the
night air. “You’re sure they’re here?” Caradoc asked as he frowned, casting
a disapproving glance behind him. The air still tingled with Daeva’s magic,
and though he had seen her power many times, it was still unnerving. “This
doesn’t look like a good neighborhood.”
“Not right here, silly,” she chided, playfully, then, thoughtfully looking
around, “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t like traveling like that.”
“Whyever not? It’s so much faster.”
He stepped up beside her, trying to understand what she saw in the puddle
of dirty water at her feet. His lip curled in distaste and disgust. “Is that
how you normally travel?”
“If you have such a repugnance for it, we won’t anymore. All better?” She
asked him sweetly, and Caradoc got the feeling she was teasing him. It
hadn’t taken Daeva long to locate the runaway princess. But that wasn’t the
main reason for them traveling one of Daeva’s dark roads to Aerial. It was
apparent that Aurora had run off with her guardian, and it was said that
four strange newcomers, friends of the princess, were missing as well.
Caradoc had not taken long to figure out the connection, and the time of
their disappearance coinciding with his arrival at Ansur.
“Let’s get this over with. We have work to do.” Caradoc looked at the slim
figure of Daeva, who was now posing with a finger to her lips, looking up at
the rows of drying laundry. “What is so interesting about this alley? We
need to get moving. If they’re around here, we’ll need a head start before
they leave.”
Daeva didn’t listen to him, but did, however, turn around and close her
eyes, folding her hands into a prayer. Caradoc watched with a sense of awe
as she summoned her power, and with the faintly inhuman glow she cloaked
around her, saw again the terrifying beauty that Daeva called her own. She
became a statue of bronze, as inhuman as she was, perfect and cold, though
still living flesh. This was a sorcery he had never seen her use before, and
on many levels, he understood that. She was so secretive about her origin,
though he suspected it was beyond the Seal. Little did he care.
She opened her eyes suddenly, and stretched out a hand as the nebulous
irises of her eyes expanded, turning their pupils into a haze of ink black.
As she lifted her hands, he was forced to leap back. The hard cobbles
underfoot broke apart, and he found himself pressed against the outer wall
of the house for support. From the torn stone and cement, he saw figures
arise, and the deep voice of Daeva grew cold and metallic. “Buried under
weight of rock, I call for those who guarded this place. Spirits of earth,
hurt and bruised, I command you. Answer my summons.”
From the broken stone, sickly creatures emerged, their butterfly wings cut
and bent, drained of color and magic. Tiny bodies, blackened and battered,
flapped newly freed wings, freed from an empty shell. There were four of
them, small and pathetic creatures, no more than a shadow of the brightness
they had once been. Haggard and wasted. It was as if a fist had clamped
itself around Caradoc’s heart. He knew now what they were, and what was to
become of them. The little demons that were his army, goblins and orcs and
things of the dark. Little fairies. Sick, corrupted, trampled and
ignored...fairies.
How...appropriate.
They would take vengeance for themselves. Maybe.
Daeva was smiling now, standing there in the mingled colors of the
moonlight and shadow, darkness and brightness. The contrast played out
before her, as the remaining spirits of the pixies were cocooned in shadow,
and the emerging insects were instead creatures of darkness.
“You still want to have your princess dead, do you not?”
Caradoc heard the coolness in her voice, and was cautious. When in this
kind of mood, Daeva could be slightly...unpredictable. To say the least,
unpredictable.
“Yes.”
“Go,” she said softly to her new creations. “Go hunt for a princess. And
see that you do not return if you fail.”
Two of the ghostly figures solidified, growing tall and elegant, robed in
black. Silently they slipped away, merging with the shadows from whence they
came.
Caradoc moved to the side of Daeva, taking her up in his arms, as the
effect of the power began to wan. She closed her eyes lightly, lashes
resting against her cheeks as she sighed. “You are right,” she agreed after
a moment. “We should get moving. A gift, to you, my love. For the pretty
comb,” she touched it lightly with a finger, where it rested in her hair.
She did not turn to face him, but instead looked at her creations. “Pretty
things, aren’t they? All shadow and illusion.”
“They are,” he agreed, and felt her pull away from him. “There is much
ground to cover. Are you well enough?”
“Perfect. If we run into trouble later,” she gestured at the remaining
shadows. “This area is ripe with weakened magic. It will be more difficult,
when we get there. Let’s go.”
And, silently, he followed her.
This was a very bad night for a particular young thief.
She had a rotten day...nearly getting caught but the town guards for, well,
stealing, what else? She was hungry, having lost her chance at food, running
all over to escape. Damn guards were so fussy lately, with those attacks
further south. You would think they would have better things to do than
chase her. No profits, either. Stealing was her job, and hitting the pawn
shops carefully, returning her goods though ‘legal’ avenues. Good, clean
money meant the occasionally good, filling meal, and nice, soft bed in a
nice, warm tavern. She’d been in Aerial for two months, and it was getting
to be time to leave again. Lots of people, but eventually, you become a
little too well known.
There was no official network of people such as her, but they did have a
tendency to look out for one another. So long as it didn’t hurt themselves,
of course. Honor was very important. Sadly, though, with the guard on her
tail all day, she couldn’t run to any friends. She’d never hope to have help
then, ratting out on the hiding places.
So, here she was, stuck in the dump end of the city, sleeping on the
dizzyingly high third story of a broken down, unswept and unclean house.
There was an expulsion edict nailed to the front door. No people. That was
good. She tore it down. Having given the guards the slip, for the time being
at least, she was safe, and had burrowed herself into the corner of the top
level, wrapped up in her scarlet cloak.
Imagine her surprise to hear voices in the alley below...and it wasn’t the
singing of drunken idiots.
One was a man’s, she got that immediately.
The guards? Shit, at this time of the night? Didn’t they ever go home?
She was careful, of course, to approach slowly, peering cautiously around
the windowframe that let in only the barest light. It was hard to see what
was going on, though the angle and the blowing sheets and shirts out to dry.
She sighed in relief, at first. Obviously not the guard, and even if it
were, they would be out after the night ladies and their men, not her. She
wrinkled her nose. No respect, that kind.
But the sound that had awakened her had also been the sound of crunching,
like stone breaking under a hammer. She could just make out the splintered
rock, and the smoky things that emanated up out of it. She blinked a few
times, rubbing her eyes.
“Dreamin’ Chas, dreamin’....” she shook her head. What, was she nuts now?
Magic, around here? Yeah, right. Most of the wizards and such had left
Aerial ages ago, with the influx of merchant goods and the business on the
river. Not ‘quiet enough’ for them to study and to do their stupid
divinations. At least, that was what she heard.
She couldn’t deny, however, the fact that it seemed amazingly...real. It
scared her, though she was loathe to admit it. Of course she knew about
fairies, and how they lived in the forest and the land. Tales told when she
was a little girl were remembered, and hard to forget. And then to see these
same creatures turn black...it was creepy. The thief frowned, and felt
nervous. Part of her wanted to be adult, to shake it off as a bad dream. It
didn’t concern her. They didn’t see her, or know she was there. Why should
they? They didn’t see you, they didn’t hurt you, why bother with them?
Turning around, she began to return to her cold huddle in the corner. But
then the woman with white hair commanded them to go, and her curiosity was
again piqued. “Shit,” she mumbled, and looked out again, to see two of these
dark creatures float away into the night. “Shit, shit....” she repeated, as
though this would make it go away. “Why the hell do I always get up? Damn it
anyway....” She rolled her eyes, but stopped a defeated sigh.
Then she turned and darted out though a loose board in the wall, sliding
down onto an overhang on the building’s front, landing with practiced
agility, silently. The two shades were swiftly moving along. She considered
sticking with the man and woman...they were much more interesting. But if
there was going to be a death that night, she might as well be there to pick
any pockets that amassed for the discovery.
Nothing like some profit.
************************************************************************
Ah, another chapter down.
I rather like Daeva. What do you think? Please, don’t forget to mail...I
love feedback. Anyway, Daeva surprised me...the entire thing with her
summoning the youma from the ground...out of the blue, even for me, and I
tend to plan everything. Daeva herself, even. I was having problems figuring
out how Caradoc knew the locations of the Points as he went. Then in popped
Daeva to my mind, waving and asking for a villianess part. She fit in pretty
well, ne?
Well, the song sung at dinner is Loreena McKennitt’s ‘The Mummer’s
Dance’....it’s a FANTASTIC song...I love Loreena’s music. It fit the scene
much better than Enya, in that case.
I’m also having a lot of fun with the dragons...They are such
characters...I love writing in Ken’s comments. Everything is
stupid...lol...far too much fun. He reminds me of Wufei from Gundam Wing.
‘It is stupid’ instead of ‘it is weak’. I don’t know....
What do you think of Makoto and Balan? Good match? Bad? No opinion? I’m not
sure yet as to how that will work out...should be interesting. I’m letting
‘Crystal Points’ carry me along this time. It’s taking me awhile because I
just downloaded a graphics program, and I’m playing with that instead of
writing...gomen nasai!!
I’ll let you go now.
Ja ne!
-Queen
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