Nights_into_dreams
08-25-2005, 04:18 PM
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is Kasho II of my love story Aishiteru (I Love You).
WARNING, THERE IS ADULT MATERIAL IN THIS KASHO! DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE LIKELY TO BE OFFENDED.
More soon!
*****
Kasho II- Kodoku (Solitude)
***
Aki X: Kousen
***
For some reason, my mind only latched onto the part most affecting me.
"Wha?...a court martial?..."
I blinked a couple of times, not believing what I was hearing.
The guard on the left nodded once.
"You need to accompany us to the Archduke’s private chambers now. Your lady friend may stay here in Jeuno’s care until she is fit to be released." He gestured towards the doctor who had just reentered the room carrying a satchel that took me half a second to realize was the small sack that I had carried at my side a few when I had made that fateful trip into the Necropolis.
Numbly, I pulled away from Hitomi’s hands, and stepped away from her side back over to my bed. There, I picked up the sack and tied it with a couple loose pieces of leather on my belt to my waist.
Court martial?...
How...
How could he have known?...
I stepped in between the gaurds, and started to lead the way out of the infirmy’s wooden door into the streets of Upper Jeuno.
It was then that I realized what he had just said.
"Wait. The beastmen are attacking?!" I paused as my eyes grew wide as the reality of the statement hit me.
The soldier on the right nodded this time.
"Yes sir, last night the beastmen attacked the Kingdom of San D’ Oria, the Federation of Windurst, and the Republic of Bastok in a sudden and surprising offense. The troops of those nations were only able to hold them at bay, but at great cost. The number of casulties are still coming in...but the death toll is estimated to be in the thousands."
I hung my head in sorrow as I stood there stunned for a moment.
I could have sworn that I heard a couple soft sniffling sounds in the infirmry as the news of the beastmen’s attack was told to me.
"All right...let’s go." I said quietly.
It wasn’t until much later that...
I realized that Hitomi was crying.
[/i]–fin Aki X: Kousen[/i]
***
Chapter XI: Banishment
***
"You are in quite an interesting position Commander."
His thin lips curled upwards into a smile as he then sipped from his Windurstian tea and let out a relaxed sigh.
"You disobeyed a direct order from me, something few of my Ducal Guard have ever done. But lucky for you, the beastmen have decided to attempt to wage war at the same time."
I was in the Archduke’s private chambers, just adjacent to the main palace itself. It was an elaborately decorated room, with gold-laden tapestries adorning the walls, and crystal chandeliers hanging from the arched room. I was sitting on the edge of a wooden seat opposite of the Archduke of the Grand Duchy of Jeuno, who had draped himself alongside a sofa.
"I am aware of this sir." I replied, not knowing quite what else to say.
He gave me a slow nod, the smile becoming bigger.
"And of course...there is that small matter of that girl you were found with. Was she why you chose to disobey my direct command to not interfere with whatever might be happening in the bowels of the Necropolis?"
My breath froze in my lungs, and I felt a creeping fear slide down into my soul.
My face must have betrayed my emotions as the Archduke after a moment slowly closed his eyes and said "Ah...I can see that what I said was true. Tell me Commander...were you planning to bring her in for the attempt on my life a few weeks ago? Or were you simply going to 'forget' that little bit of trivia?"
His words cut deep into me, all the more so because he could guess how I felt.
I stumbled over a couple of syllables before the Archduke waved them off with a backwards flick of his right wrist.
"Whatever, its not important. Just know...very little gets past me these days Commander. You would be wise to not try to hide things from me in the future, especially of this sort of matters that pertain to my well being."
I nodded dumbly.
He set his tea down on the marble sidetable next to the sofa, being careful to place it on a wicker coaster. He licked his lips with the small pink tip of his tongue to catch any stray drops of tea left there, before focusing his attention on me fully.
"Did you know that yesterday thirteen thousand, four hundred and sixty nine children of Altana perished at the hands of the beastmen in their initial attacks upon the cities? This sort of carnage places me in a very difficult position. You see, it is normal practice in normal times to have a court matial for a soldier that happens to disobey a direct order."
He paused.
"However these are anything but normal times. For one, the world is at war."
"Therefore", the Archduke continued, "I am going to forgo the court martial, and simply dishonorably discharge you from the Ducal Guard, and hereby ban you from ever re-entering the Grand Duchy of Jeuno."
I got up out of my sitting position and stood up in front of the Archduke, the pit of my stomach dropping out into the ocean below.
"B-but my lor-"
"I have made my decision civilian. You disobeyed my orders, and you have to suffer the consequences for your actions. You have twenty four hours to vacate your mog house before I personally send out the Ducal Guard to forcibly remove and execute you from the Grand Duchy."
With that proclimation, he turned around and walked out of the room before I could utter one word of protest.
-fin Chapter XI: Banishment
***
Aki XII: Ame
***
"Sir, we are here to escort you out of the city." I turned to the door to my mog house, only to see two members of the Ducal guard standing there, dripping water into my doorway.
I allowed a bare fifth carbon copy of a smile to cross my face. "I take it that it is time for me to take my leave of Jeuno?" The idea of going outside in this rain didn’t thrill me all too much.
Off in the distance, I could see the crack of lighting falled almost instantly by the rolling of the thunder that only served to highten the two paladins.
"Yes sir. Our orders are to get you out of here...one way or another." said the one on the left with a malice tone in her voice that suggested that she would much rather prefer I make it the 'another' way. She then jerked her thumb over her shoulder towards the gloomy streets outside.
"Out. Now."
I picked up my bags carefully, stuffing a couple under my arms and slowly shuffled my way out. Passing my Moogle who was floating in the middle of the room, I felt him tug on the back of my shirt, to try to convince me to let him come along.
"Tebeal, we have been through this already. You can’t come a long. And 'sides, I need someone to stay here to take care of my place till I can come back. My mule can’t do everything himself after all, right?" I gave him a reassuring pat on the head with my one free hand and then moved past him.
"Kupo..."
I closed my ears to his plea.
I had to leave him.
I had no choice.
Walking out into the rain, I felt my entire body soaked instantly.
"Move it Demitri!" One of the two guards shouted over the cracking of the storm as he poked me in the small of my back with the edge of his sword, cutting into my flesh a bit.
I squinted my eyes against the pain and trudged forward through the streets of Lower Jeuno until we finally arrived at the town gates.
The female gaurd gave me one last hard shove with her sword while her partner looked impassively on.
"Get out. And if I ever see you again, I’ll kill you."
And who approved these people to join Jeuno’s elite?...
Wait...that was me...
I sighed gently at that thought as I pushed my way through the town gate and into the rolling hills of Rolanberry Fields. My feet started to kick up some mud from where the passage of Chocobos across the years had torn away the grass, and therefore making it somewhat hard for me to move with my luggage blindly away from the town.
After a few minutes, I thought I saw the outline of a figure racing down a hill towards me, her path being traced for her by brief flashes of lighting. The figure almost seemed to slip and fall down a couple of times, yet managed to catch his or her balance perfectly until the figure reached me.
In the darkness and the rain, I didn’t recognize her until I heard her voice.
"Sumimasen..." she said faintly.
I felt anger shoot up through me.
"Leave me alone. You are the reason I am exiled from Jeuno." I said to her in a stern voice, refusing to look at her as I continued determinedly onwards.
"Demitri-chan..."
With that, she tugged on my shirt sleeve, trying to get me to stop, and after the fifteen tug, I finally stopped and turned around towards her.
"You ruined my life! Leave me alone!" I shouted at her. "I almost didn’t stop to save you in Necropolis, and now I am regretting that I did! The world is at war against the beastmen, and I now am going to have a very difficult time reaching safety...all because of you." I felt my gaze pierce her, and I knew that she could understand what I was saying, even if she didn’t know the words.
"I should have known you were trouble when I first met you..."
"Eeii...Demitri-chan...kudasai..."
With that she stopped and her eyes filled up with tears. Closing my heart to her, I turned away and continued onwards to the next hill, and the next one after that, and the next one after that...
Leaving her to stand there alone in the rain.
-fin Aki XII: Ame
***
Chapter XIII: Waterfall
***
After two days of traveling, I finally arrived at the outskirts of Northern Gustaberg...
And I was horrified with what I saw.
The ground everywhere was littered with bodies, galka and beastmen. Casting a quick eye around, I saw that there were very few humes whose corpses were starting to be bloated with worms underneath the hot morning sun. The ground was thick with these bodies, and the smell of death and davastation lingered everywhere and over everything...from the broken beastmen signa staffs etched with tattered Ensigna signs to the once proudly waved flags proclaiming the Republic of Bastok upon them.
Numbing myself unwillingly to the carnage, I picked my way through the battlefield, being careful to not step on anyone’s body if I could help it.
War...
Is this the end result of it?
But what I saw before was nothing when I got to where the bridge was supposed to be according to my map for me to be able to cross into Southern Gustaberg.
Or rather, would be if it still existed. Examining the shattered remains of the posts that held the bridges ends up, it quickly became apparent that either beastmen or Bastokian had burned and then destroyed it sometime during the conflict.
It was then that I noticed a fine red mist setting its way down on all over me.
I turned and looked over to my left, and saw the waterfall, easily one of the most beautiful things about Vana’diel...
Running red.
The arc of dark blood and body parts mixing itself into the crystal blue waters that normally flowed, and then forcing itself over the edge and crashed down into the rocks below, the bones making crisp snapping sounds while the blood was thrown up everywhere, including where the bridge I was wanting to cross used to stand.
I fell down to my hands and knees on the ground with my body and soul quaking, my eyes closed.
Why...
Why would anyone ever...
It was then that I opened my eyes slightly, and I saw a half decayed skull of a decapitated galka staring back at me, the maggots enjoying what used to be his eyes, slithering through the dead galka’s mouth and ears. It was easy to see that the galka had died a painful death, his agony prolonged for as long as possible.
Unwilling to stare at it, I knocked the head away carelessly over the cliff’s edge with the back of my hand, and then I began to throw up uncontrollably.
I felt the death in the air infect me, creep into my eyes my ears mouth every opening of my body to tear away at my soul like I was nothing nothing but a horrible child of the goddess who had to be punished HAD to be punished for the crimes of his fellow siblings-
The vomit rushed out of my body and into the river below as I heaved over the cliffside.
Eventually, finally, when my stomach had emptied itself I dragged myself back away from the cliff edge on my elbows away from the red mist...
And I passed out, just one more body among the thousands more here.
-fin Chapter XIII: Waterfall
***
Interlude I: Ouji (Prince)
***
"I came from far away."
"...I know we will meet again..."
The sun started to set on top of what I recognized as the Cradle of Life on what must have been the top of the world.
Turning away from that strange man, the first one that I bothered to interact with since I awoke from my dream.
My hair starting to whip up around me, I crossed my arms in an ‘x’ position, and started to say the words that I knew would take me away from here.
"Take me home."
The blackness lit up around me, and took me away from that piece of infinity, away to my adoptive home.
"How far away, I do not know."
Two years passed, and I saw him again in Tavnazia.
He destroyed my carefully laid plan, and saved that wretched Archduke from harm.
By all rights...I should have killed him. People who can stop you once from achieving your goals, can stop you again.
But instead...
But instead I gave him one of my most prized possessions, a snow lily flower.
"My name is Hitomi."
And then...in the Necropolis.
I thought I was dead.
Even now, in my nightmares I can see that dark elvaan standing over me, its twisted smile baring against my soul as its sword flashes down towards me.
Only...to be stopped by that mysterious paladin.
Who stepped between the two of us, and was willing to lay his life on the line for me despite all the trouble I had caused him in Tavnazia.
Who then carried my dying body out of that place...like a prince carrying the princess out from the top of the tower where she was locked away by the evil red mage in all of those fairy tales...
"...It means beautiful eyes."
The small lizard I was talking to took no note of my words, or even seemed to care about them. Instead, its small green body scurried along the dirt, leaving behind a faint wavy path from where its tail dragged along the ground. It reached a small hole created by two rocks leaning against each other and slipped inside instantly, away from my sight.
I got up from my half crouch, and made sure that Demitri was not aware that I was following him.
"From how he reacted to when he saw me in Rolanberry Fields, it was clear that he wanted nothing to do with me. Yet...I can’t leave him." I said to noone in particular.
Something awoke within me when I was being carried out in his arms.
Something that I didn’t know existed in me.
When I was sure he didn’t know I was right behind him, I got up and trekked my way forward a bit more, being sure to not make any noise.
Keeping pace with him, but just a little bit behind.
We traveled like that through all of Rolanberry Fields, the marshlands, and the highlands. During the nights, I would stand guard and protect him from the beastmen that were threatening to descend into areas.
What is this thing...this emotion...awakening within me?
I was not prepared for the destruction when we got to Gustaberg though.
All the loss of life...
With my heart in my throat, I realized sickeningly that I was right...what I had guessed that had happened back at the clinic was true...
That what I had wanted to prevent had happened.
Could this emotion be...Love?
But Love was an emotion removed from my people a long time ago...
My lords said that the tattoo burned into my skin on my breast showed to the world that I cannot Love, or ever be Loved.
They said that Love was a dangerous thing, that can bring incredible sorrow to all people across the world, and it interefered with a person’s thinking, making him or her do incredibly crazy things.
And that was why we were all forbidden to feel it.
But this feeling doesn't feel sad or horrible or like I am going insane...
It feels nice. Warm. Like an old blanket wrapped around me, enveloping my body and soul.
I watched him reach the bridge, and after a moment kneel over and throw up before he fell down to the ground and did not move.
"Demitri-chan!!!" I screamed. A sense of panic started to overwhelm me as I ran over to him, tripping constantly over the dead.
When I finally got to his body, I hastily turned him over and watched his chest carefully.
He was still breathing...
He was okay.
"Sorry...but I have to help you now. I can’t stay hidden any longer..." I whispered to him as I carefully picked up his body and his bags, and slowly trudged my way to the alternate bridge that I knew existed a bit further down the cliff-side. From there, it would be easy to leave him at the gates of Bastok where I knew the gate guards would find him.
No one will get you tonight. Not as long as I am there to protect you Demitri-chan.
After a couple hours, we finally arrived at a beaten path that I knew the guards undoubtedly walked along every so often in patrol.
Carefully, I laid him and his bags down, trying to make him as comfortable as possible.
Then...
Almost as an afterthought, I slipped another flower into one of his bags before I stepped back and hid out of sight.
From my hiding spot I watched until he was found and carried into the city.
-fin Interlude I: Ouji (Prince)
***
Aki XIV: Tsuki
***
"What’s your name sunny boy?" A gruff voice asked.
I rapidly blinked my eyes a couple of times, clearing them of the darkness.
"Wha...where am I..." I muttered, allowing my mind to sharpen. If I had been found by beastmen or bandits, may Altana save their souls when I could just...move...my limbs...
"You are in Bastok. A patrol found you at the town gates. Now, I will ask you one last time. Who in Mordion's Goal are you?!" With this, a person who I presumed to be one of the town guards tapped my chest with the tip of his blade, nearly cutting through the cloth that I wore.
"My name is Demitri...former commander of the Ducal Guard..." I said faintly, my mind catching up to speed.
Why was I here? The guards don’t go out that far on patrol, most certainly not after a major battle just took place.
"Ducal Guard, eh? I remember reading about you in the Vana’diel Times. You were convicted on treason by the Archduke of Jeuno...but I can’t help but wonder on what grounds..."
The guard touched his index finger to his chin for a moment and turned his head skywards, pretending to think for a moment about it.
"How about...providing aid and comfort to the enemy?..." He finally spills out slowly. "You are working for the beastmen, and so you knocked yourself out at the town gates in order to get into the Bastok proper in order to let those damnable beastmen in, didn’t you…well your plan won’t work traitor!"
He raised his sword up above my helpless body, and I saw it glint a fine shade of red in the midday sunlight.
"Die you bastard...I only wish that you could suffer like my family and everyone else did on Northern Gustaberg at the hands of the beastmen..."
"STOP!" A girl just out of my range of vision shouted, her voice full of authority. “He is not a traitor to the Republic of Bastok, anymore than you are Servius. Lay your weapon aside."
I could see the look in Servius’ eyes, debating whether or not to betray the woman’s order. After what seemed to be forever, he swung his sword downwards with all his strength…
And allowed it to embed itself next to where my head was in the dirt.
"Consider that a lesson…and remember…if you are an agent of the beastmen, I will personally hunt you down and kill you myself. Bastard." he muttered at me as I heard the girl’s footfalls come closer and closer to where I laid.
"Demitri...are you okay?..." Her face finally moved into my vision. She was petite with wavy, short dirty-blonde hair that seemed to bound around her face constantly. She had green eyes, and oh-so-kissable lips that only accented the radiant glow of her skin that seemed to penetrate what I was quickly recognizing as a dark fog that hung over the city.
I tried to move my hands and legs and found that they finally worked, even if they felt like they were on pins and needles. Slowly, jerkingly, I finally managed to sit up. A couple minutes later, I had worked my hands around well enough that I was able to prop my upper torso up with my outstretched arms. After a moment or two I finally stood up, even if it was a bit unsteadily.
"Yes, I’m fine miss. Thank you..." I said as she then linked her left arm unasked beneath my right, and started to guide me away from the guard post. We made a slow gambit down the broken roadway, and it was then that I finally took my surroundings into my mind.
The Republic of Bastok had obviously seen better days. Walking down the streets, I found that the various inhabitants in down shied away from my presence, ducking away into the doorways and shadows whenever I and the mysterious girl started to pass by them. The air was dark with soot and fog, making even the shine of the midday sun seem like a murky yellow beacon only barely able to penetrate the darkness. Peering through this murky cloud, I could see that there were patrols out everywhere in the town who seemed constantly on edge about every little thing that moved, ready to kill if even so much of a hint of unruliness errupted from any of the buildings.
It was then that I looked down, and I saw the cobblestones underfoot were stained with blood.
"I thought the beastmen didn’t get into Bastok..." I said quietly, my head spinning at all that the once free and proud republic had become as I gestured at the pathway underfoot.
"They didn’t..." she replied, just as quietly. "The blood that you see is our own…from the troops that retreated with severe wounds back into the town...and of those that committed suicide at the loss of their entire family." She waved her free hand overhead at the sky. "I’m not worried though…when the moon comes, it will wipe all of this away."
"The moon always does." I replied, that line tugging at some old memory of mine...
Some faint, elusive memory…
I tried to grasp it in my fingertips, but it just simply floated away, becoming that much more elusive to catch. Frustrated, I let it drift away and then thrusted it to the back part of my mind. Hopefully, pushing it that far away would cause its pressure to redouble, and force it to the forefront of my mind quickly.
We turned into a small side street. Looking up at the street sign on the corner, I could just barely make out the letters "Go d S r et". The rest of the letters looked like something acidic had been poured on it, melting them away in a very sloppy fashion. We passed by what I instantly recognized as the goldsmith guild and then a couple of unfamiliar unremarkable places before finally stopping in front of a house.
"This is where I live now, Demitri. Care to come in?" She asked of me, not giving me a real choice.
I nodded, and started to go in, then hesitated at the doorstep for a moment.
"What about my belongings?..." I asked quietly. "I would like to have my things before I go anywhere."
She chuckled a bit and then busted out into a full laugh. "Your bags? The moogle has already gone out and fetched them here for you. You needn’t concern yourself about them."
Not quite willing to trust a stranger’s word, but finding I had no real choice, I relented and went inside.
Upon entering, I was treated to quite a sight…there were relics of the Goddess everywhere. There were paintings of Her, golden statues of various sizes scattered around the room, and in the middle of it all, on top of a pedestal, was the holy book itself, which I knew contained the liturgy of Her wisdom.
I navigated my way across the room, and finally found a couch that I could sit down on once I pushed off a bunch of the scrolls laying on top of it.
"Tell me...what is your name?...You seem to have quite the advantage over me here." I started to laugh mirthfully.
She didn’t pause taking off her coat to talk to me. "I had been wondering where you wound up at, since you were forced out of the Ducal Guard." She let the coat fall to the floor without so much a thought. “Never thought you would wind up here though.”
She then made her way over next to the couch, and settled in the cushion right next to me. I detected a faint smell of melon pie about her, and I realized all the sudden I was hungry. My hand went briefly to my stomach, as if to somehow quell its desire. The way her eyes suddenly were drawn downwards, I realized that my little gesture had not gone unnoticed by my host also.
"You hungry? Here, let me get some food. I don’t have much…not with all the rationing that has been doing on since the President declared a ‘state of emergency’ in Bastok since the beastmen struck so suddenly a few days ago." She got up quickly, and winded her way around to what I assumed was the kitchen.
"By the way, my name is Elayne." She called out to me over her shoulder as I started to hear her open and close cabinets.
Elayne…
I heard a fire crystal become ignited, the familiar whoosh filling my ears as it started to bind various materials together into a finished product. With a final crack, the room went silent, and a couple moments later I saw her come back into the room baring a tray baring some choice items on it.
"I hope you like meat mithkabobs and grilled hare...with a small cup of parsikos au Lait to drink." she said, slightly nervous as she came back over to the couch and sat down on it again.
I looked down at the food, and saw that even though it was slightly burnt, it still looked pretty good. I picked up a leg of mithkabob, and tore into it vicariously.
"Its delicious...thank you..." I said with my mouth full.
She smiled at me as she picked up her small glass of au Lait, and sipped at it.
"I’m glad you like it Demitri."
We then ate in silence for a bit, before I started to stretch and get tired.
"Miss...would you mind if I stayed the night? I can sleep on this couch if need be. Just long enough till morning, where I can then find myself a job and a rent-a-room for me to stay at. Once I get a bit of money, I’ll be sure to send some here to pay you for the room and food." I said, trying to rationalize my begging into what I hoped sounded like a normal proposal.
If she refused...I knew I would have nowhere to go but the streets...
"Silly, of course you can stay here! And no, don’t even think about paying me for the night and the food. It’s a gift to a great hero of the Grand Duchy..." she trailed off slowly.
A smile split across my face. "Thank you!" I said, with sincere gratitude in my voice. I bowed my head a bit, allowing my black hair to fall into my eyes.
She got up, and led me to a small side room, just off the main hallway. "I’m sorry it’s small," she said, "but hopefully the bed should be big enough." She then pushed open the door, exposing what was indeed a small room, with barely enough space to fit a bed, three dressers, a window, and a bookshelf in. "Your belongings should be here in the morning...my moogle must have had trouble getting past the gate guards again...Kakalo has that sort of problem, ever since she painted one of the musketeer’s swords a dull blue for girl’s festival a few years back." She paused for a moment.
"If you need anything...just let me know."
With that, she turned around and slowly left the room, letting the door close with a soft click.
I shook my head a couple of times feeling quite content about everything.
Not bad…I really lucked out.
But...how did I get to town? I don’t remember walking here.
Something told me, that for now at least, I wouldn’t be getting an answer to my question.
I emptied my mind, and stripped my clothes off before climbing into the bed.
Within seconds, I was instantly asleep.
___
Click.
I awoke instantly to that sound, and froze in place while a shadowy figure entered into the room.
The person treaded carefully, her footfalls barely making a sound in the carpeting as he or she drew closer and closer. It was only when the person stepped past the window and became awashed in the moonlight that I realized who it was.
She was clad only in a small silky triangle of peach colored mesh around her waist, the rest of her body standing proudly in the faded light.
She saw me sit up in the bed a bit, and blink my eyes a couple of times to sweep the sleepiness away from them.
She giggled a bit nervously, and hooked her thumbs around the edges of the small piece of material she was clad in, and tugged it loose until it dropped down to her ankles.
It was then that I saw what she had hidden away from the world, to only be seen possibly by her true love.
If she had that...that could only mean...
"Its you..." I broke out in a whisper, not believing my eyes.
I pointed a bit waveringly at the etching of a phoenix that had only moments before been partially hidden by her panties.
"I remember when you got that..." I said in disbelief.
She stepped closer to me, her body shining all the more brightly in the moonlight. She glided her way to the foot of the bed, and placed her hands on the smooth mahogany. I found that my eyes were unable to tear themselves away from the tattoo.
"We were so young...and foolish. Demitri...I’m sorry for painting the moon black for you that night..." She said quietly, bowing her head as she spread her hands out away from her body. "I am here before you now, defenseless. If you want to take your revenge on me...then do so. For all the pain I put you through, I deserve to die." Letting her left hand fall and then trail the wooden bed frame, she came over to the side of my bed, and leaned into my face. She drew closer and closer in, until barely any space separated our lips.
"Demitri..."
I shook my head.
"I’m sorr-" I started to say, but it was then that she laid herself down on top of my body, and gently kissed my lips.
"Please...let me make up for the past...and make your search for those beautiful eyes end..." She said into my mouth, her warm breath rolling down my chest. She picked up my right hand and then placed it upon her left breast, pushing her nipple in between my index and middle fingers.
So tempting...
I moved in a bit to kiss her, and lifted up my blanket’s edge to invite her into my arms.
So easy...
Demitri-chan…
My eyes opened up in wide reflex, expecting to see Hitomi, possibly standing over my bed. After quickly scanning over the room, I realized that it must have only been in my head.
Slowly, I closed my eyes again and kissed Elayne back softly, holding it for a brief moment. She then drew her knees up to my hips, and slid downwards so that our bodies could slowly become one.
"You know Demitri...I never stopped loving you..." she said as she started to slip her hands down and around my back.
Demitri-chan!
"Hitomi..." I said quietly as Elayne started to kiss underneath my chin.
Wha-...why am I thinking of Hitomi right here, right now?...
"I...I...It was over between us a long time ago...when you handed my heart back to me, and then I gazed deep into your eyes...and didn’t find true love there." I spoke quietly, carefully into her right ear.
She paused for a moment, and then kissed my shoulder and nibbled at the flesh a bit with her teeth. "That’s okay Demitri...even if you don’t love me...we can still do this..."
I shook my head sadly, and pushed her off of me and onto the carpeted floor.
"No...We can’t..." I said a bit hesitantly, the words partially freezing in my throat.
She looked up at me with tears floating away from her eyes, her body quivering a bit.
"Demitri..." she pleaded.
"No.", I said, more firmly this time. "Go back to your room...and I will see you in the morning. Good night Elayne."
Without a word, she left as quickly as she could, and letting the door close with a soft click.
It was then that I turned over in my bed, and tried too go back to sleep as best as I could...
...with an odd sense of guilt slowly settling its weight down upon me.
-fin Aki XIV: Tsuki
***
Chapter XV: Daffodil
***
We sat down to breakfast the next morning in quiet silence.
After a few minutes, I finally spoke up. "Elayne..." I said quietly.
She looked up at me quietly, and I could see that there was fear in her eyes at what I might say, flashing my mind back to what I had seen in Hitomi’s eyes when I told her to stay away from me back on Rolanberry Fields. Inwardly I sighed gently, and hid away the anger that I had felt, and quelled the words that I was about to say. Instead, I fished inside the robe’s pockets that I had found hanging on a hanger from the edge of dresser in my room when I woke up this morning. After a moment, I pulled something out, and held it up for all to see.
She gasped quickly, and then snatched her silk panties from my hand and quickly hid them away beneath the table.
"Dimitri!" she exclaimed at me with a slight exasperation and a frown grew upon her face.
"Yes?..." I said with a trace of a smile crossing my lips.
The frown quickly melted away, leaving behind only a secret grin. She then shook her head a couple of times and I knew her eyes were twinkling down upon me, as we both realized that everything was going to be alright between us.
Everything was gonna be okay.
"Come Dimitri...I found you a job this morning, before you got up."
My eyebrows shot up at this. "What?...A job?...Where, how?!" I said with more than just a minor amount of excitement in my voice.
She stuck her tongue out at me, and wagged her finger a couple of times at me. "Nope, no details. Not till you say you will stay here with me while you are in Bastok. You and I both know that there is no place to house anyone right now, because of the war."
That was the first time I had heard someone call this conflict that...the war.
The impact of those two words felt uncomfortable to me.
She giggled for a moment. "And if you are worried about me coming into your bedroom at night, then you don’t have to worry at all. I know that I am going to win your heart eventually, so I am just gonna wait for you to come to me!"
I rubbed my forehead a bit in frustration at this comment of hers, and then I sighed softly. I knew that I had no real other choice but to accept her invitation to live here...the war would make all available housing disappear in less than a heartbeat, and jobs would be even scarcer.
"Okay...I accept your terms."
With that we finished our breakfast cheerfully, and parted ways for the next hour or so get ready to go out. I wondered my way back into my room, marveling all along the way at how religious Elayne had become since she had broken up with me so long ago...
When I was in my room, I started to unzip and unpack my bags looking for something that could pass off as "nice" for me to wear to what I assumed would be a job interview.
Eventually, all of the bags save one small one were unpacked of my clothing, which were scattered around in the various drawers in the room. I took that last bag, and set it on top of my bed with a slight grunt and began to unzip it.
And out tumbled a small yellow flower against the blue covers of my bed.
"What’s a daffodil doing here?..." I quietly mused to myself. "I didn’t pick one, and I couldn’t imagine Elayne hiding one in my bag for me, for its too subtle for her..."
I picked up the daffodil carefully between two fingers, and examined it. The flower had obviously seen better days, as it was slightly squished and partially dried out. I noticed that the tips had started to turn a delicate brown color and curl in on themselves as I turned the flower over and over.
"Did you come from the person who brought me to the town gates?" I asked the flower suddenly, the dots connecting. "That might mean that that person might still be around here somewhere if that is true."
I laid the daffodil out next to the snow lily that I had gotten so long ago from Hitomi way back in Tavnazia on my bedside table.
Hitomi...
Was it her voice that I really heard last night?...What’s wrong with me? I had never been one to turn away free sex before, especially from someone as beautiful and skilled as Elayne.
I wonder...how Hitomi is doing...I hope she is okay...
Beh, she probably hasn’t cared at all if I was alive or not when I left her standing there at Rolanberry.
My eyes focused back on the two flowers that were existing side by side.
Yellow and white...not too bad looking together.
Turning away from them for the moment, I shrugged my robe off onto the floor as I picked a fairly nice shirt and pants from one of my dresser drawers, and then put them on. Smoothing out any obvious wrinkles as best as I could with my hands, I then shook my head a couple times to get my hair to lay flat as best as it could be without any water or a comb.
Finally satisfied, I strolled out of my bedroom to the entarance where Elayne was waiting for me, fully dressed also. With that, we went outside and down three buildings to the goldsmithing guild.
-fin Chapter XV: Daffodil
***
Aki XVI: Kagurabue
***
When we stepped outside, the first thing I noticed was a fine cloud of mist hung over everything. People were waking up and then starting to go outside to help clean up the devastation, that even now, hung in the streets. Everyone and everything had a surreal morning glow to it, as if this tiny corner of the world was emerging from a horrible storm that they wouldn’t have to weather for quite some time again.
Looking down as Elayne and I trekked down the short path to the goldsmith guild, I couldn’t help but to comment.
"The moon really did wipe the blood off of the streets...just like you said it would..."
She just turned her head and smiled at me.
"I know. The light of Altana can do wondrous things to help heal our world after the children of Promathia seek to destroy it."
I must have looked confused, for Elayne shook her head a couple of times, letting her wavy hair fall into her eyes. "We, the Mithras, the Humes, the Elvaans, the TaruTarus..and yes, even the Galkas...are all born from Altana’s tears that She shed when all seemed lost for Vana’diel."
We stopped for a moment to let a small kid scamper across the road, carrying a small bucketful of water to his neighbor. She didn’t notice us, her pigtails floating in the breeze that was just starting to pick up, but instead was bent on completing what her mother had asked her to do.
"The beastmen though..." Elayne continued, "The beastmen are the children of Promathia much like we are Altana’s children. And because of...the past...we are damned to conflict with each other. The beastmen try to destroy, and we rebuild."
"Oh..." I said blinking my eyes a couple of times quickly in the gentle rosy-pink light of the sky. "I never knew any of that. I have never been what I guess you can call a religious man by any means of the definition."
We finally arrived at the goldsmithing guild, and I held the door open for Elayne and then followed her inside. The first thing I noticed wasn’t something that I saw...but so much as what I heard. All throughout the guild was a soft flute playing, a infinitely looping, infinitely complex...yet delicately simple tune to it.
The music tempted to lift my soul up, and carry it away with it into the furthest reaches of the world. I closed my eyes for a moment, letting it wash its way over me.
"Pretty, isn’t it?" The voice came from a stranger who had just entered the room from a side door. He tugged off his golden-shaded glasses, and stuck them in a pocket next to what I recognized as a fire crystal. His face then split into a smile as he saw Elayne, and he briskly walked up to her and embraced her in a hug for a moment before breaking away to turn to me.
"You must be Dimitri, right? Well, my name is Ellard, Senior. I am the Goldsmithing’s Union Representative to the other guilds, and I am also one of the best crafters here," he said unabashedly, "If you have worn a Conte Zucchetto helmet recently, or proposed marriage to someone with an Angel Ring, then you most like have used one of my creations."
He then outstretched his hand, and I shook it I noticed that there were gold flakes beneath his fingernails.
"It is also a pleasure to meet you Ellard. But tell me..." -I held up a finger, and then swirled it around in the air a couple of times- "What’s with the music? Don’t you crafters need absolute silence to be able to work?..."
He smiled, and I could see the faintest glimmer of gold in his teeth.
These people sure do know how to use gold.
"Dimitri...When you craft, you are shaping a crystal in your hands to do what you want, to meld it into some sort of form of your own design. Goldsmithing is more than just making a weapon, or some piece of jewelry...at its heart and essence, goldsmithing is all about making art."
He waved his hand over towards a wall that was on the other side of us.
"Just beyond that wall is a bard who plays his flute constantly, his tunes carried all over the guild. He plays the music to inspire us, to tease out muses into creating ever finer and finer pieces of art for the world. Without him, we would be lost with goldsmithing more than we already are."
I nodded, understanding coming over me.
"If you don’t mind me asking...who was the greatest crafter of all time?" I inquired, for no particular reason.
Before Ellard could reply, Elayne jumped in and started to speak in a reverent sort of tone. "That would have to be...the one person who was said to have broken the secret of the crystals..."
"Who?" I replied my interest finally peaked.
"An Elvaan by the name of Eruntalon...he was said to have solved the mystery of the crystals, and could create the finest weapons and items to be seen anywhere in Vana’diel. Unfortunately, the secrets of the crystals died out with him...and no one has been able to replicate his work since." Ellard finished. He then fished out his golden shades out of this pocket, and put them on, and then turned around.
"Dimitri, I am afraid I must get back to my work, well for the time being at least. If you and Elayne wouldn’t mind waiting out here for a few minutes, I will send someone out here to take care of you both and to show Dimitri around the guild." He threw up a hand in farewell before disappearing behind another door.
I turned to Elayne, who only stood there, bouncing up and down a bit on the balls of her feet. "He’s a good friend of mine Dimitri, but not my lover or anything!" she giggled out at me.
I walked my way over to a bronze chair and sat down in it, the metal feeling cool against my body.
"Elayne?..."
"Hmmm?" she replied to me.
"Elayne...when did you become so religious? That doesn’t sound all that much like you, well the Elayne I used to know," I added.
She just laughed softly for a moment, then came over to me and sat down next to me.
"You remember that tattoo I got so long ago?...Right before I broke up with you? Well, I found out what that bird was..." She started off airily, drawing with her fingertip in the air. "It was the fiery bird of resurrection, Phoenix. Once I realized was a stupid move I made breaking up with the one I loved...I decided to become like the Phoenix, and become reborn."
"Ah..." I said, not being able to think of anything else to say to her.
"And the reborn Elayne you see here...is who I really am now," she finished quietly.
It was then that another door opened, and a young lady walked in.
"My name is Momiji. I am the operator of this establishment while my husband is away." She said, a wistful tone of voice carrying her voice. "Here, let me show you around and then we can start your training tomorrow."
That comment caught me off guard. "Training? For what?"
She just stared at me for a moment, as if I was insane.
"To be a crafter my dear..."
-fin Aki XVI: Kagurabue
***
Chapter XVII: Lotion
***
The fire crystal shattered into thousands of fine glittering red pieces, and fell down to the concrete flooring from my hands.
"No...no..." Momiji told me in a very teacher-like voice.
"You are attempting to exert your own will upon the crystal too much. You have to let your muse take over, guide your motions. If you don’t, you will attempt to mold the fire crystal too much and it will then break on you."
It was my first full day at work.
She then picked up another fire crystal from the stack set up in the corner of my workroom and held it up to the light, when then caught it and prismed out a red rainbow across the plaster-white wall opposite of us. She pulled her own pair of shades out of her pocket, and put them on one handed as she started to kneel on the ground. She then pulled a couple iron ingots, a silver ingot, a log of ash lumber, a chunk of cermet, and a small sample each of raptor’s skin, something called a Tama-Hagana ingot, and some silver thread out from their respective boxes, and tucked them tightly between her legs.
"Watch me, Dimitri." She said as she started to close her eyes. She began to pace her breathing, slowly drawing in and then expelling each breath. As she did this, I could see her body become limper and more at peace, as if she was achieving some sort of spiritual purity not brought by the Goddess.
It was then that the crystal started to light up with a whoosh sound.
I saw Momiji’s’s young fingers glide up and down the crystal’s length, gently stroking its sides in an intricate pattern that seemed to have no rhyme or rhythm to it. As I looked down at the materials, to my amazement, they were coming together and combining in tune with how she was manipulating the crystal. As she would gingerly swirl one side, the raptor’s skin would melt with the silver thread and the cermet, and as Momiji’s tapped the top of the crystal, I could easily see some sort of metal blade being tempered from the fused ingots. And with every move she made on the crystal, drawing its power further and further out of it, the crystal dimmed just a bit more until it finally went out.
Momiji’s then stood up with a slight wince at having been on her knees so long, then pointed down at the freshly crafted object as she chucked the now useless drained crystal into a waste bin next to me.
"This is a Hosodachi sword. These swords have quite a long history with the samurai in the Far East, and are normally made by their masters. However, due to the war...the Far East is preparing themselves for a possible invasion of their homeland should the forces of Vana’diel fail." She then picked up the sword and delicately laid it in an open velvet case on a nearby table. "However, the demand outstrips the amount of people that can make them, so we were hired to make them a few dozen swords." The case snapped shut with a click, and she then lugged it over to a cart where six were already stacked up, ready to be sent back to the empire.
"You, Dimitri...you will be crafting these swords. Elayne said you were quite good with your hands, so I don’t think it will be too hard for you to get the hang of. Just relax, and let your muse take over. I have to go now...but I will expect that there be fifty of these swords made by closing time." She paused for a moment then took off her shades and handed them to me. "You will need these, if you are going to attempt to make the best swords possible. These glasses allow you to see the energy that the crystal throws off onto the base sword materials, and will help guide you to making them properly."
I put the glasses on, and immediately the world was changed into a warm golden tint. I could then see the heat radiating off of Momiji’s and my own body in wavy strips. I turned my head and I was then nearly blinded when I looked over at the stack of fire crystals and saw their energy.
"GAH!" I shouted as I tore the glasses off, and started to rub my watering eyes.
"Oh yeah, and do be careful while wearing them, they can make you blind if you look at something with too much natural energy in it." She chuckled.
"Yeah yeah...I got it..." I muttered, feeling like quite the idiot.
She nodded self-satisfactory once, and then turned around.
"Remember, the end of the day Dimitri." she said as she exited the room and shut the door.
Being careful to not put on my glasses first this time, I grabbed a fire crystal and an armful of materials which I then dropped onto the floor in a big pile. I knelt down, put on my shades, and then tried to relax like Momiji’s did, and then I started to synth.
Whoosh
The fire crystal started to crackle, and I could feel a warmth spread through my hands. I closed my eyes, and let my muse take over to shape the crystal as it will and in turn, the various materials beneath it.
After a few moments of synthing, I felt the crystal burn itself out and I opened my eyes expecting to find a masterpiece...
But instead, I found a messy lump of metal and skin laying there.
"Oh. That sucks." I said, refusing to give up hope.
I gathered more materials and crystals, and attempted it again.
And failed again.
And again.
And again.
And again...
After the tenth failed synth, I sighed in deep frustration. I realized with a startling clarity that my first full day on the job...and I would most likely be fired.
Not exactly a comforting realization.
It was then that I heard the door open softly behind me. I started to turn around to see who it was, praying that it wasn’t Momiji’s to check up on my progress so far.
But all I could see was some figure shrouded in a black cloak, whose fingers quickly jerked around into what I knew w as a sleep spell.
"Momij-" I started to shout, before the spell went off, hitting me square in the chest and throwing me down against the ground among my many failures. I then felt my arms and legs get extremely tired. I tried to fight the urge to just give in and go to sleep, but my body refused to cooperate with my mind.
I guess this is it...
Were my last thought as I then fell into oblivion.
___
"Dimitri! Wake up!" I tried to push the button of my alarm clock, and was responded with a shocking "OW!".
My eyes suddenly fluttered open when I remembered where I was, and I realized what I had just attempted to push.
Ellard’s face.
"Ellard..." I mumbled, desperately trying to come up with an excuse, any excuse as to why none of the swords were made, "About the swords..." I began.
He cut me off with a sharp wave of his hand as he rubbed his sore face with his other hand. "None of that. When I came in here, I was positive that you were just sleeping on the job and had accomplished very little." He then smiled at me, and offered me a hand to stand back up. I took it, and was up wobbling on my feet in an instant. "Then when I saw the velvet boxes full with what is easily some of the best work to have ever come out of this guild...I knew that I was wrong."
He slapped me on the back, and nearly sent me sprawling back to the ground.
"So anyway...thank you. That will be all for today, just be sure to go home and get some rest." He picked up the cart’s handle, and started to roll it out of the room with him to the shipping department. He was nearly outside the room when he turned around to me and said almost as an after thought.
"Oh, and Dimitri...go easy on the rolanberry scented lotion in the future okay? I’m not one to judge you, but others...wellll..." he broke off with a slight grimace.
My eyes went wide at that, and I suddenly found myself at a loss for words.
"Ummm...sure..." I stammered out as the door then closed again, leaving me alone. I then sniffed the air, and surely enough...there was the scent of rolanberries hanging in the air. It was light, almost undetectable, but one could tell it was there.
Rolanberries?
I don’t wear rolanberry lotion...or any type of lotion for that matter.
Do I know anyone who wears that scent?...
My eyes suddenly went wide, and I bowed my head as I then softly laughed.
"Hitomi..." I said quietly, "I can tell that you are still here...somewhere..."
-fin Chapter XVII: Lotion
***
After that first day, crafting slowly got easier for me in the few weeks that passed. I was eventually able to make all sorts of things from pricey shields to oriculcum necklaces, with the greatest of ease. My fingernails had started to glow because of all the gold dust that got into them, but I didn’t care.
Elayne and I started to slowly rebuild our friendship also.
She stopped persuing me, well for now at least. She always seemed confidant that I would come back to her heart one day, and that we would live happily ever after.
Some things aren’t just meant to be.
***
Aki XVIII: Tusma
***
"Dimitri, you are gonna be late for work if you don’t hurry up and eat!" Elayne’s voice came screeching into my ears from across our little pad.
Two months had passed.
Hurrying over to the table, I shoved a fistful of cockatrice strips into my mouth and washed it down with a couple hasty swigs of orange juice. The mixture slid down my throat in a thick mixture, before settling uneasily in my stomach.
And in those two months, Elayne had not gotten any better at cooking.
Inwardly, I sighed and grabbed my coat as I then ran out the door and down the street to the guild. Along the way, I faintly noticed that the destruction and devastation that had began when I first came to Bastok was pretty much cleaned up and gone. It was like that the war that the whole world was involved in had managed to miss this piece of the world, and everything was rather...normal.
I opened the smooth, curved door handle to the guild and was immediately assaulted by Momiji the second I entered.
"Dimitri! You are exactly three minutes late. Tardiness will not be tolerated here, as well you should know by now. One more such incident like this, and you will be fired. Do I make myself clear?" She barked out at me, her hands flapping at her waists like an angry hen.
"Yes Momiji..." I replied with a slight mumble in my voice.
Why does she treat me this way? Why does she hate me?...
Two weeks ago, I had found out that the swords she wanted me to craft on my first day were in actuality a VERY advanced form of goldsmithing, something most goldsmiths don’t even think about attempting until they have a decade or two of practice under their belts first.
She was trying to force me out of the guild that day, but failed.
I watched as she stormed off back to her office in the back corner of the building, and I shook my head a couple of times.
Whatever...
Entering my workstation, I grabbed the clipboard that detailed exactly what I was to be synthing that day off of the wooden peg in the wall, and scanned its contents quickly.
"Let’s see...one dozen silver hairpins...and two Poet’s Circlets....mmmk..." I muttered out to myself as I put on my golden shades. I set the clipboard back on its post, and then started to gather all the materials that I would need that day.
Taking into account my failure rates...I’ll need fourteen wind crystals, two fire crystal, fifteen silver ingots, two mythril ingots, and three copper ingots.
I walked over then to my personal supply bins, and started to load the materials onto a handy nearby cart. Once that was done, I rolled the whole mess over to my synthing table and unstacked it into very neat piles so that I could grab what I needed without ever opening my eyes.
I relaxed myself, closed my eyes, and then started to synth.
Whoosh.
I was half way through my synth when I heard an all too familiar sound.
BAM! BAM BAM BAM!!!
Click
It was then that the exterior wall exploded into my workspace. I threw up my hand trying to starve off the flying dust as I dropped my now-forgotten synth down to the ground as I immediately began to try to draw my sword out of pure reflex.
Keyword there...tried.
As the small squad of beastmen started to storm in through their impromptu door, I realized all too late that I had no weapon to stand up against Musketeer-class guns. So I turned around and did the only thing that I could.
I ran for my life.
As I started to run, I could see that the entire building was under assault because of the smoke being emitted from the guns of the beastmen that were beginning to pour in through newly made holes in the walls like crawlers through a ash-wood house.
Fighting my way through the haze, I finally bursted free of the guild, and out into the sweet fresh air, and into a whole crowd of people that I recognized as having worked at the guild. Instantly, my military training took over and I started to assess the people present. I knew that without working weapons it would be foolish to attack the beastmen, but I had to at the very least make sure everyone was present and accounted for.
My lips counted off the heads present, and very quickly I established everyone was here.
Save one.
Momiji!
I bunched my eyes up for a moment, and then dived back into the building. Being very careful to avoid the wondering beastmen, I worked my way to Momiji’s office. As I stood outside the door trying to best figure out how to get in without bringing down the wrath of the whole beastmen group here upon me, I started to hear voices from inside.
"I said...where is he? You are not the one we want. Where is your husband? Tell us now, or I will be forced to destroy your pitiful guild hume." I recognized the voice instantly as that of a beastmen.
"I...I...I don’t know!!!" Momiji’s voice came through the door loud and clear in a very frightened tone of voice.
"Oh really...perhaps this should change your mind?" The beastman replied, his harsh voice clear even through the wooden door.
Snap.
Momiji screamed at that, and I realized to my horror that the beastman had just snapped someone’s neck, killing him or her instantly.
"I DON’T KNOW! PLEASE BELIEVE ME!!!...please..." Momiji cried out.
It was then that the room went quiet for a moment.
"All right...I believe you. But we will find your husband, and we will get what we want out of him. I promise you that hume," the beastmen sneered at her. I then heard a couple of shuffling sounds, and then I realized that warp spells were being cast in the room to take the beastmen away.
Five minutes later, I dared to enter the room.
"Momiji?..." I called out softly.
I saw her behind her desk sobbing her eyes out...
...and then I saw Elayne’s body sprawled out next to it.
Dead.
Her limbs were spread out at unnatural angles, a look of pure horror frozen for all eternity on her face, backed up by her wavy hair.
This had got to be a dream.
"Momiji...what happened??! And who in Mordion Goal is your husband and what does he know that would make the beastmen dare to make such a raid upon this place?!" I shouted out at her, my mind numbing over Elayne’s death.
Momiji looked up at me, and smiled in such a way that chilled me to my bones.
"My husband?...You should know him. After all...it was you who placed him on death row in the Grand Duchy." She paused for a moment, then got up and walked unsteadily over to me.
She then cocked her hand back and hit me as hard as she could.
-fin Aki XVIII: Tsuma
-fin Kasho II- Kodoku (Solitude)
WARNING, THERE IS ADULT MATERIAL IN THIS KASHO! DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE LIKELY TO BE OFFENDED.
More soon!
*****
Kasho II- Kodoku (Solitude)
***
Aki X: Kousen
***
For some reason, my mind only latched onto the part most affecting me.
"Wha?...a court martial?..."
I blinked a couple of times, not believing what I was hearing.
The guard on the left nodded once.
"You need to accompany us to the Archduke’s private chambers now. Your lady friend may stay here in Jeuno’s care until she is fit to be released." He gestured towards the doctor who had just reentered the room carrying a satchel that took me half a second to realize was the small sack that I had carried at my side a few when I had made that fateful trip into the Necropolis.
Numbly, I pulled away from Hitomi’s hands, and stepped away from her side back over to my bed. There, I picked up the sack and tied it with a couple loose pieces of leather on my belt to my waist.
Court martial?...
How...
How could he have known?...
I stepped in between the gaurds, and started to lead the way out of the infirmy’s wooden door into the streets of Upper Jeuno.
It was then that I realized what he had just said.
"Wait. The beastmen are attacking?!" I paused as my eyes grew wide as the reality of the statement hit me.
The soldier on the right nodded this time.
"Yes sir, last night the beastmen attacked the Kingdom of San D’ Oria, the Federation of Windurst, and the Republic of Bastok in a sudden and surprising offense. The troops of those nations were only able to hold them at bay, but at great cost. The number of casulties are still coming in...but the death toll is estimated to be in the thousands."
I hung my head in sorrow as I stood there stunned for a moment.
I could have sworn that I heard a couple soft sniffling sounds in the infirmry as the news of the beastmen’s attack was told to me.
"All right...let’s go." I said quietly.
It wasn’t until much later that...
I realized that Hitomi was crying.
[/i]–fin Aki X: Kousen[/i]
***
Chapter XI: Banishment
***
"You are in quite an interesting position Commander."
His thin lips curled upwards into a smile as he then sipped from his Windurstian tea and let out a relaxed sigh.
"You disobeyed a direct order from me, something few of my Ducal Guard have ever done. But lucky for you, the beastmen have decided to attempt to wage war at the same time."
I was in the Archduke’s private chambers, just adjacent to the main palace itself. It was an elaborately decorated room, with gold-laden tapestries adorning the walls, and crystal chandeliers hanging from the arched room. I was sitting on the edge of a wooden seat opposite of the Archduke of the Grand Duchy of Jeuno, who had draped himself alongside a sofa.
"I am aware of this sir." I replied, not knowing quite what else to say.
He gave me a slow nod, the smile becoming bigger.
"And of course...there is that small matter of that girl you were found with. Was she why you chose to disobey my direct command to not interfere with whatever might be happening in the bowels of the Necropolis?"
My breath froze in my lungs, and I felt a creeping fear slide down into my soul.
My face must have betrayed my emotions as the Archduke after a moment slowly closed his eyes and said "Ah...I can see that what I said was true. Tell me Commander...were you planning to bring her in for the attempt on my life a few weeks ago? Or were you simply going to 'forget' that little bit of trivia?"
His words cut deep into me, all the more so because he could guess how I felt.
I stumbled over a couple of syllables before the Archduke waved them off with a backwards flick of his right wrist.
"Whatever, its not important. Just know...very little gets past me these days Commander. You would be wise to not try to hide things from me in the future, especially of this sort of matters that pertain to my well being."
I nodded dumbly.
He set his tea down on the marble sidetable next to the sofa, being careful to place it on a wicker coaster. He licked his lips with the small pink tip of his tongue to catch any stray drops of tea left there, before focusing his attention on me fully.
"Did you know that yesterday thirteen thousand, four hundred and sixty nine children of Altana perished at the hands of the beastmen in their initial attacks upon the cities? This sort of carnage places me in a very difficult position. You see, it is normal practice in normal times to have a court matial for a soldier that happens to disobey a direct order."
He paused.
"However these are anything but normal times. For one, the world is at war."
"Therefore", the Archduke continued, "I am going to forgo the court martial, and simply dishonorably discharge you from the Ducal Guard, and hereby ban you from ever re-entering the Grand Duchy of Jeuno."
I got up out of my sitting position and stood up in front of the Archduke, the pit of my stomach dropping out into the ocean below.
"B-but my lor-"
"I have made my decision civilian. You disobeyed my orders, and you have to suffer the consequences for your actions. You have twenty four hours to vacate your mog house before I personally send out the Ducal Guard to forcibly remove and execute you from the Grand Duchy."
With that proclimation, he turned around and walked out of the room before I could utter one word of protest.
-fin Chapter XI: Banishment
***
Aki XII: Ame
***
"Sir, we are here to escort you out of the city." I turned to the door to my mog house, only to see two members of the Ducal guard standing there, dripping water into my doorway.
I allowed a bare fifth carbon copy of a smile to cross my face. "I take it that it is time for me to take my leave of Jeuno?" The idea of going outside in this rain didn’t thrill me all too much.
Off in the distance, I could see the crack of lighting falled almost instantly by the rolling of the thunder that only served to highten the two paladins.
"Yes sir. Our orders are to get you out of here...one way or another." said the one on the left with a malice tone in her voice that suggested that she would much rather prefer I make it the 'another' way. She then jerked her thumb over her shoulder towards the gloomy streets outside.
"Out. Now."
I picked up my bags carefully, stuffing a couple under my arms and slowly shuffled my way out. Passing my Moogle who was floating in the middle of the room, I felt him tug on the back of my shirt, to try to convince me to let him come along.
"Tebeal, we have been through this already. You can’t come a long. And 'sides, I need someone to stay here to take care of my place till I can come back. My mule can’t do everything himself after all, right?" I gave him a reassuring pat on the head with my one free hand and then moved past him.
"Kupo..."
I closed my ears to his plea.
I had to leave him.
I had no choice.
Walking out into the rain, I felt my entire body soaked instantly.
"Move it Demitri!" One of the two guards shouted over the cracking of the storm as he poked me in the small of my back with the edge of his sword, cutting into my flesh a bit.
I squinted my eyes against the pain and trudged forward through the streets of Lower Jeuno until we finally arrived at the town gates.
The female gaurd gave me one last hard shove with her sword while her partner looked impassively on.
"Get out. And if I ever see you again, I’ll kill you."
And who approved these people to join Jeuno’s elite?...
Wait...that was me...
I sighed gently at that thought as I pushed my way through the town gate and into the rolling hills of Rolanberry Fields. My feet started to kick up some mud from where the passage of Chocobos across the years had torn away the grass, and therefore making it somewhat hard for me to move with my luggage blindly away from the town.
After a few minutes, I thought I saw the outline of a figure racing down a hill towards me, her path being traced for her by brief flashes of lighting. The figure almost seemed to slip and fall down a couple of times, yet managed to catch his or her balance perfectly until the figure reached me.
In the darkness and the rain, I didn’t recognize her until I heard her voice.
"Sumimasen..." she said faintly.
I felt anger shoot up through me.
"Leave me alone. You are the reason I am exiled from Jeuno." I said to her in a stern voice, refusing to look at her as I continued determinedly onwards.
"Demitri-chan..."
With that, she tugged on my shirt sleeve, trying to get me to stop, and after the fifteen tug, I finally stopped and turned around towards her.
"You ruined my life! Leave me alone!" I shouted at her. "I almost didn’t stop to save you in Necropolis, and now I am regretting that I did! The world is at war against the beastmen, and I now am going to have a very difficult time reaching safety...all because of you." I felt my gaze pierce her, and I knew that she could understand what I was saying, even if she didn’t know the words.
"I should have known you were trouble when I first met you..."
"Eeii...Demitri-chan...kudasai..."
With that she stopped and her eyes filled up with tears. Closing my heart to her, I turned away and continued onwards to the next hill, and the next one after that, and the next one after that...
Leaving her to stand there alone in the rain.
-fin Aki XII: Ame
***
Chapter XIII: Waterfall
***
After two days of traveling, I finally arrived at the outskirts of Northern Gustaberg...
And I was horrified with what I saw.
The ground everywhere was littered with bodies, galka and beastmen. Casting a quick eye around, I saw that there were very few humes whose corpses were starting to be bloated with worms underneath the hot morning sun. The ground was thick with these bodies, and the smell of death and davastation lingered everywhere and over everything...from the broken beastmen signa staffs etched with tattered Ensigna signs to the once proudly waved flags proclaiming the Republic of Bastok upon them.
Numbing myself unwillingly to the carnage, I picked my way through the battlefield, being careful to not step on anyone’s body if I could help it.
War...
Is this the end result of it?
But what I saw before was nothing when I got to where the bridge was supposed to be according to my map for me to be able to cross into Southern Gustaberg.
Or rather, would be if it still existed. Examining the shattered remains of the posts that held the bridges ends up, it quickly became apparent that either beastmen or Bastokian had burned and then destroyed it sometime during the conflict.
It was then that I noticed a fine red mist setting its way down on all over me.
I turned and looked over to my left, and saw the waterfall, easily one of the most beautiful things about Vana’diel...
Running red.
The arc of dark blood and body parts mixing itself into the crystal blue waters that normally flowed, and then forcing itself over the edge and crashed down into the rocks below, the bones making crisp snapping sounds while the blood was thrown up everywhere, including where the bridge I was wanting to cross used to stand.
I fell down to my hands and knees on the ground with my body and soul quaking, my eyes closed.
Why...
Why would anyone ever...
It was then that I opened my eyes slightly, and I saw a half decayed skull of a decapitated galka staring back at me, the maggots enjoying what used to be his eyes, slithering through the dead galka’s mouth and ears. It was easy to see that the galka had died a painful death, his agony prolonged for as long as possible.
Unwilling to stare at it, I knocked the head away carelessly over the cliff’s edge with the back of my hand, and then I began to throw up uncontrollably.
I felt the death in the air infect me, creep into my eyes my ears mouth every opening of my body to tear away at my soul like I was nothing nothing but a horrible child of the goddess who had to be punished HAD to be punished for the crimes of his fellow siblings-
The vomit rushed out of my body and into the river below as I heaved over the cliffside.
Eventually, finally, when my stomach had emptied itself I dragged myself back away from the cliff edge on my elbows away from the red mist...
And I passed out, just one more body among the thousands more here.
-fin Chapter XIII: Waterfall
***
Interlude I: Ouji (Prince)
***
"I came from far away."
"...I know we will meet again..."
The sun started to set on top of what I recognized as the Cradle of Life on what must have been the top of the world.
Turning away from that strange man, the first one that I bothered to interact with since I awoke from my dream.
My hair starting to whip up around me, I crossed my arms in an ‘x’ position, and started to say the words that I knew would take me away from here.
"Take me home."
The blackness lit up around me, and took me away from that piece of infinity, away to my adoptive home.
"How far away, I do not know."
Two years passed, and I saw him again in Tavnazia.
He destroyed my carefully laid plan, and saved that wretched Archduke from harm.
By all rights...I should have killed him. People who can stop you once from achieving your goals, can stop you again.
But instead...
But instead I gave him one of my most prized possessions, a snow lily flower.
"My name is Hitomi."
And then...in the Necropolis.
I thought I was dead.
Even now, in my nightmares I can see that dark elvaan standing over me, its twisted smile baring against my soul as its sword flashes down towards me.
Only...to be stopped by that mysterious paladin.
Who stepped between the two of us, and was willing to lay his life on the line for me despite all the trouble I had caused him in Tavnazia.
Who then carried my dying body out of that place...like a prince carrying the princess out from the top of the tower where she was locked away by the evil red mage in all of those fairy tales...
"...It means beautiful eyes."
The small lizard I was talking to took no note of my words, or even seemed to care about them. Instead, its small green body scurried along the dirt, leaving behind a faint wavy path from where its tail dragged along the ground. It reached a small hole created by two rocks leaning against each other and slipped inside instantly, away from my sight.
I got up from my half crouch, and made sure that Demitri was not aware that I was following him.
"From how he reacted to when he saw me in Rolanberry Fields, it was clear that he wanted nothing to do with me. Yet...I can’t leave him." I said to noone in particular.
Something awoke within me when I was being carried out in his arms.
Something that I didn’t know existed in me.
When I was sure he didn’t know I was right behind him, I got up and trekked my way forward a bit more, being sure to not make any noise.
Keeping pace with him, but just a little bit behind.
We traveled like that through all of Rolanberry Fields, the marshlands, and the highlands. During the nights, I would stand guard and protect him from the beastmen that were threatening to descend into areas.
What is this thing...this emotion...awakening within me?
I was not prepared for the destruction when we got to Gustaberg though.
All the loss of life...
With my heart in my throat, I realized sickeningly that I was right...what I had guessed that had happened back at the clinic was true...
That what I had wanted to prevent had happened.
Could this emotion be...Love?
But Love was an emotion removed from my people a long time ago...
My lords said that the tattoo burned into my skin on my breast showed to the world that I cannot Love, or ever be Loved.
They said that Love was a dangerous thing, that can bring incredible sorrow to all people across the world, and it interefered with a person’s thinking, making him or her do incredibly crazy things.
And that was why we were all forbidden to feel it.
But this feeling doesn't feel sad or horrible or like I am going insane...
It feels nice. Warm. Like an old blanket wrapped around me, enveloping my body and soul.
I watched him reach the bridge, and after a moment kneel over and throw up before he fell down to the ground and did not move.
"Demitri-chan!!!" I screamed. A sense of panic started to overwhelm me as I ran over to him, tripping constantly over the dead.
When I finally got to his body, I hastily turned him over and watched his chest carefully.
He was still breathing...
He was okay.
"Sorry...but I have to help you now. I can’t stay hidden any longer..." I whispered to him as I carefully picked up his body and his bags, and slowly trudged my way to the alternate bridge that I knew existed a bit further down the cliff-side. From there, it would be easy to leave him at the gates of Bastok where I knew the gate guards would find him.
No one will get you tonight. Not as long as I am there to protect you Demitri-chan.
After a couple hours, we finally arrived at a beaten path that I knew the guards undoubtedly walked along every so often in patrol.
Carefully, I laid him and his bags down, trying to make him as comfortable as possible.
Then...
Almost as an afterthought, I slipped another flower into one of his bags before I stepped back and hid out of sight.
From my hiding spot I watched until he was found and carried into the city.
-fin Interlude I: Ouji (Prince)
***
Aki XIV: Tsuki
***
"What’s your name sunny boy?" A gruff voice asked.
I rapidly blinked my eyes a couple of times, clearing them of the darkness.
"Wha...where am I..." I muttered, allowing my mind to sharpen. If I had been found by beastmen or bandits, may Altana save their souls when I could just...move...my limbs...
"You are in Bastok. A patrol found you at the town gates. Now, I will ask you one last time. Who in Mordion's Goal are you?!" With this, a person who I presumed to be one of the town guards tapped my chest with the tip of his blade, nearly cutting through the cloth that I wore.
"My name is Demitri...former commander of the Ducal Guard..." I said faintly, my mind catching up to speed.
Why was I here? The guards don’t go out that far on patrol, most certainly not after a major battle just took place.
"Ducal Guard, eh? I remember reading about you in the Vana’diel Times. You were convicted on treason by the Archduke of Jeuno...but I can’t help but wonder on what grounds..."
The guard touched his index finger to his chin for a moment and turned his head skywards, pretending to think for a moment about it.
"How about...providing aid and comfort to the enemy?..." He finally spills out slowly. "You are working for the beastmen, and so you knocked yourself out at the town gates in order to get into the Bastok proper in order to let those damnable beastmen in, didn’t you…well your plan won’t work traitor!"
He raised his sword up above my helpless body, and I saw it glint a fine shade of red in the midday sunlight.
"Die you bastard...I only wish that you could suffer like my family and everyone else did on Northern Gustaberg at the hands of the beastmen..."
"STOP!" A girl just out of my range of vision shouted, her voice full of authority. “He is not a traitor to the Republic of Bastok, anymore than you are Servius. Lay your weapon aside."
I could see the look in Servius’ eyes, debating whether or not to betray the woman’s order. After what seemed to be forever, he swung his sword downwards with all his strength…
And allowed it to embed itself next to where my head was in the dirt.
"Consider that a lesson…and remember…if you are an agent of the beastmen, I will personally hunt you down and kill you myself. Bastard." he muttered at me as I heard the girl’s footfalls come closer and closer to where I laid.
"Demitri...are you okay?..." Her face finally moved into my vision. She was petite with wavy, short dirty-blonde hair that seemed to bound around her face constantly. She had green eyes, and oh-so-kissable lips that only accented the radiant glow of her skin that seemed to penetrate what I was quickly recognizing as a dark fog that hung over the city.
I tried to move my hands and legs and found that they finally worked, even if they felt like they were on pins and needles. Slowly, jerkingly, I finally managed to sit up. A couple minutes later, I had worked my hands around well enough that I was able to prop my upper torso up with my outstretched arms. After a moment or two I finally stood up, even if it was a bit unsteadily.
"Yes, I’m fine miss. Thank you..." I said as she then linked her left arm unasked beneath my right, and started to guide me away from the guard post. We made a slow gambit down the broken roadway, and it was then that I finally took my surroundings into my mind.
The Republic of Bastok had obviously seen better days. Walking down the streets, I found that the various inhabitants in down shied away from my presence, ducking away into the doorways and shadows whenever I and the mysterious girl started to pass by them. The air was dark with soot and fog, making even the shine of the midday sun seem like a murky yellow beacon only barely able to penetrate the darkness. Peering through this murky cloud, I could see that there were patrols out everywhere in the town who seemed constantly on edge about every little thing that moved, ready to kill if even so much of a hint of unruliness errupted from any of the buildings.
It was then that I looked down, and I saw the cobblestones underfoot were stained with blood.
"I thought the beastmen didn’t get into Bastok..." I said quietly, my head spinning at all that the once free and proud republic had become as I gestured at the pathway underfoot.
"They didn’t..." she replied, just as quietly. "The blood that you see is our own…from the troops that retreated with severe wounds back into the town...and of those that committed suicide at the loss of their entire family." She waved her free hand overhead at the sky. "I’m not worried though…when the moon comes, it will wipe all of this away."
"The moon always does." I replied, that line tugging at some old memory of mine...
Some faint, elusive memory…
I tried to grasp it in my fingertips, but it just simply floated away, becoming that much more elusive to catch. Frustrated, I let it drift away and then thrusted it to the back part of my mind. Hopefully, pushing it that far away would cause its pressure to redouble, and force it to the forefront of my mind quickly.
We turned into a small side street. Looking up at the street sign on the corner, I could just barely make out the letters "Go d S r et". The rest of the letters looked like something acidic had been poured on it, melting them away in a very sloppy fashion. We passed by what I instantly recognized as the goldsmith guild and then a couple of unfamiliar unremarkable places before finally stopping in front of a house.
"This is where I live now, Demitri. Care to come in?" She asked of me, not giving me a real choice.
I nodded, and started to go in, then hesitated at the doorstep for a moment.
"What about my belongings?..." I asked quietly. "I would like to have my things before I go anywhere."
She chuckled a bit and then busted out into a full laugh. "Your bags? The moogle has already gone out and fetched them here for you. You needn’t concern yourself about them."
Not quite willing to trust a stranger’s word, but finding I had no real choice, I relented and went inside.
Upon entering, I was treated to quite a sight…there were relics of the Goddess everywhere. There were paintings of Her, golden statues of various sizes scattered around the room, and in the middle of it all, on top of a pedestal, was the holy book itself, which I knew contained the liturgy of Her wisdom.
I navigated my way across the room, and finally found a couch that I could sit down on once I pushed off a bunch of the scrolls laying on top of it.
"Tell me...what is your name?...You seem to have quite the advantage over me here." I started to laugh mirthfully.
She didn’t pause taking off her coat to talk to me. "I had been wondering where you wound up at, since you were forced out of the Ducal Guard." She let the coat fall to the floor without so much a thought. “Never thought you would wind up here though.”
She then made her way over next to the couch, and settled in the cushion right next to me. I detected a faint smell of melon pie about her, and I realized all the sudden I was hungry. My hand went briefly to my stomach, as if to somehow quell its desire. The way her eyes suddenly were drawn downwards, I realized that my little gesture had not gone unnoticed by my host also.
"You hungry? Here, let me get some food. I don’t have much…not with all the rationing that has been doing on since the President declared a ‘state of emergency’ in Bastok since the beastmen struck so suddenly a few days ago." She got up quickly, and winded her way around to what I assumed was the kitchen.
"By the way, my name is Elayne." She called out to me over her shoulder as I started to hear her open and close cabinets.
Elayne…
I heard a fire crystal become ignited, the familiar whoosh filling my ears as it started to bind various materials together into a finished product. With a final crack, the room went silent, and a couple moments later I saw her come back into the room baring a tray baring some choice items on it.
"I hope you like meat mithkabobs and grilled hare...with a small cup of parsikos au Lait to drink." she said, slightly nervous as she came back over to the couch and sat down on it again.
I looked down at the food, and saw that even though it was slightly burnt, it still looked pretty good. I picked up a leg of mithkabob, and tore into it vicariously.
"Its delicious...thank you..." I said with my mouth full.
She smiled at me as she picked up her small glass of au Lait, and sipped at it.
"I’m glad you like it Demitri."
We then ate in silence for a bit, before I started to stretch and get tired.
"Miss...would you mind if I stayed the night? I can sleep on this couch if need be. Just long enough till morning, where I can then find myself a job and a rent-a-room for me to stay at. Once I get a bit of money, I’ll be sure to send some here to pay you for the room and food." I said, trying to rationalize my begging into what I hoped sounded like a normal proposal.
If she refused...I knew I would have nowhere to go but the streets...
"Silly, of course you can stay here! And no, don’t even think about paying me for the night and the food. It’s a gift to a great hero of the Grand Duchy..." she trailed off slowly.
A smile split across my face. "Thank you!" I said, with sincere gratitude in my voice. I bowed my head a bit, allowing my black hair to fall into my eyes.
She got up, and led me to a small side room, just off the main hallway. "I’m sorry it’s small," she said, "but hopefully the bed should be big enough." She then pushed open the door, exposing what was indeed a small room, with barely enough space to fit a bed, three dressers, a window, and a bookshelf in. "Your belongings should be here in the morning...my moogle must have had trouble getting past the gate guards again...Kakalo has that sort of problem, ever since she painted one of the musketeer’s swords a dull blue for girl’s festival a few years back." She paused for a moment.
"If you need anything...just let me know."
With that, she turned around and slowly left the room, letting the door close with a soft click.
I shook my head a couple of times feeling quite content about everything.
Not bad…I really lucked out.
But...how did I get to town? I don’t remember walking here.
Something told me, that for now at least, I wouldn’t be getting an answer to my question.
I emptied my mind, and stripped my clothes off before climbing into the bed.
Within seconds, I was instantly asleep.
___
Click.
I awoke instantly to that sound, and froze in place while a shadowy figure entered into the room.
The person treaded carefully, her footfalls barely making a sound in the carpeting as he or she drew closer and closer. It was only when the person stepped past the window and became awashed in the moonlight that I realized who it was.
She was clad only in a small silky triangle of peach colored mesh around her waist, the rest of her body standing proudly in the faded light.
She saw me sit up in the bed a bit, and blink my eyes a couple of times to sweep the sleepiness away from them.
She giggled a bit nervously, and hooked her thumbs around the edges of the small piece of material she was clad in, and tugged it loose until it dropped down to her ankles.
It was then that I saw what she had hidden away from the world, to only be seen possibly by her true love.
If she had that...that could only mean...
"Its you..." I broke out in a whisper, not believing my eyes.
I pointed a bit waveringly at the etching of a phoenix that had only moments before been partially hidden by her panties.
"I remember when you got that..." I said in disbelief.
She stepped closer to me, her body shining all the more brightly in the moonlight. She glided her way to the foot of the bed, and placed her hands on the smooth mahogany. I found that my eyes were unable to tear themselves away from the tattoo.
"We were so young...and foolish. Demitri...I’m sorry for painting the moon black for you that night..." She said quietly, bowing her head as she spread her hands out away from her body. "I am here before you now, defenseless. If you want to take your revenge on me...then do so. For all the pain I put you through, I deserve to die." Letting her left hand fall and then trail the wooden bed frame, she came over to the side of my bed, and leaned into my face. She drew closer and closer in, until barely any space separated our lips.
"Demitri..."
I shook my head.
"I’m sorr-" I started to say, but it was then that she laid herself down on top of my body, and gently kissed my lips.
"Please...let me make up for the past...and make your search for those beautiful eyes end..." She said into my mouth, her warm breath rolling down my chest. She picked up my right hand and then placed it upon her left breast, pushing her nipple in between my index and middle fingers.
So tempting...
I moved in a bit to kiss her, and lifted up my blanket’s edge to invite her into my arms.
So easy...
Demitri-chan…
My eyes opened up in wide reflex, expecting to see Hitomi, possibly standing over my bed. After quickly scanning over the room, I realized that it must have only been in my head.
Slowly, I closed my eyes again and kissed Elayne back softly, holding it for a brief moment. She then drew her knees up to my hips, and slid downwards so that our bodies could slowly become one.
"You know Demitri...I never stopped loving you..." she said as she started to slip her hands down and around my back.
Demitri-chan!
"Hitomi..." I said quietly as Elayne started to kiss underneath my chin.
Wha-...why am I thinking of Hitomi right here, right now?...
"I...I...It was over between us a long time ago...when you handed my heart back to me, and then I gazed deep into your eyes...and didn’t find true love there." I spoke quietly, carefully into her right ear.
She paused for a moment, and then kissed my shoulder and nibbled at the flesh a bit with her teeth. "That’s okay Demitri...even if you don’t love me...we can still do this..."
I shook my head sadly, and pushed her off of me and onto the carpeted floor.
"No...We can’t..." I said a bit hesitantly, the words partially freezing in my throat.
She looked up at me with tears floating away from her eyes, her body quivering a bit.
"Demitri..." she pleaded.
"No.", I said, more firmly this time. "Go back to your room...and I will see you in the morning. Good night Elayne."
Without a word, she left as quickly as she could, and letting the door close with a soft click.
It was then that I turned over in my bed, and tried too go back to sleep as best as I could...
...with an odd sense of guilt slowly settling its weight down upon me.
-fin Aki XIV: Tsuki
***
Chapter XV: Daffodil
***
We sat down to breakfast the next morning in quiet silence.
After a few minutes, I finally spoke up. "Elayne..." I said quietly.
She looked up at me quietly, and I could see that there was fear in her eyes at what I might say, flashing my mind back to what I had seen in Hitomi’s eyes when I told her to stay away from me back on Rolanberry Fields. Inwardly I sighed gently, and hid away the anger that I had felt, and quelled the words that I was about to say. Instead, I fished inside the robe’s pockets that I had found hanging on a hanger from the edge of dresser in my room when I woke up this morning. After a moment, I pulled something out, and held it up for all to see.
She gasped quickly, and then snatched her silk panties from my hand and quickly hid them away beneath the table.
"Dimitri!" she exclaimed at me with a slight exasperation and a frown grew upon her face.
"Yes?..." I said with a trace of a smile crossing my lips.
The frown quickly melted away, leaving behind only a secret grin. She then shook her head a couple of times and I knew her eyes were twinkling down upon me, as we both realized that everything was going to be alright between us.
Everything was gonna be okay.
"Come Dimitri...I found you a job this morning, before you got up."
My eyebrows shot up at this. "What?...A job?...Where, how?!" I said with more than just a minor amount of excitement in my voice.
She stuck her tongue out at me, and wagged her finger a couple of times at me. "Nope, no details. Not till you say you will stay here with me while you are in Bastok. You and I both know that there is no place to house anyone right now, because of the war."
That was the first time I had heard someone call this conflict that...the war.
The impact of those two words felt uncomfortable to me.
She giggled for a moment. "And if you are worried about me coming into your bedroom at night, then you don’t have to worry at all. I know that I am going to win your heart eventually, so I am just gonna wait for you to come to me!"
I rubbed my forehead a bit in frustration at this comment of hers, and then I sighed softly. I knew that I had no real other choice but to accept her invitation to live here...the war would make all available housing disappear in less than a heartbeat, and jobs would be even scarcer.
"Okay...I accept your terms."
With that we finished our breakfast cheerfully, and parted ways for the next hour or so get ready to go out. I wondered my way back into my room, marveling all along the way at how religious Elayne had become since she had broken up with me so long ago...
When I was in my room, I started to unzip and unpack my bags looking for something that could pass off as "nice" for me to wear to what I assumed would be a job interview.
Eventually, all of the bags save one small one were unpacked of my clothing, which were scattered around in the various drawers in the room. I took that last bag, and set it on top of my bed with a slight grunt and began to unzip it.
And out tumbled a small yellow flower against the blue covers of my bed.
"What’s a daffodil doing here?..." I quietly mused to myself. "I didn’t pick one, and I couldn’t imagine Elayne hiding one in my bag for me, for its too subtle for her..."
I picked up the daffodil carefully between two fingers, and examined it. The flower had obviously seen better days, as it was slightly squished and partially dried out. I noticed that the tips had started to turn a delicate brown color and curl in on themselves as I turned the flower over and over.
"Did you come from the person who brought me to the town gates?" I asked the flower suddenly, the dots connecting. "That might mean that that person might still be around here somewhere if that is true."
I laid the daffodil out next to the snow lily that I had gotten so long ago from Hitomi way back in Tavnazia on my bedside table.
Hitomi...
Was it her voice that I really heard last night?...What’s wrong with me? I had never been one to turn away free sex before, especially from someone as beautiful and skilled as Elayne.
I wonder...how Hitomi is doing...I hope she is okay...
Beh, she probably hasn’t cared at all if I was alive or not when I left her standing there at Rolanberry.
My eyes focused back on the two flowers that were existing side by side.
Yellow and white...not too bad looking together.
Turning away from them for the moment, I shrugged my robe off onto the floor as I picked a fairly nice shirt and pants from one of my dresser drawers, and then put them on. Smoothing out any obvious wrinkles as best as I could with my hands, I then shook my head a couple times to get my hair to lay flat as best as it could be without any water or a comb.
Finally satisfied, I strolled out of my bedroom to the entarance where Elayne was waiting for me, fully dressed also. With that, we went outside and down three buildings to the goldsmithing guild.
-fin Chapter XV: Daffodil
***
Aki XVI: Kagurabue
***
When we stepped outside, the first thing I noticed was a fine cloud of mist hung over everything. People were waking up and then starting to go outside to help clean up the devastation, that even now, hung in the streets. Everyone and everything had a surreal morning glow to it, as if this tiny corner of the world was emerging from a horrible storm that they wouldn’t have to weather for quite some time again.
Looking down as Elayne and I trekked down the short path to the goldsmith guild, I couldn’t help but to comment.
"The moon really did wipe the blood off of the streets...just like you said it would..."
She just turned her head and smiled at me.
"I know. The light of Altana can do wondrous things to help heal our world after the children of Promathia seek to destroy it."
I must have looked confused, for Elayne shook her head a couple of times, letting her wavy hair fall into her eyes. "We, the Mithras, the Humes, the Elvaans, the TaruTarus..and yes, even the Galkas...are all born from Altana’s tears that She shed when all seemed lost for Vana’diel."
We stopped for a moment to let a small kid scamper across the road, carrying a small bucketful of water to his neighbor. She didn’t notice us, her pigtails floating in the breeze that was just starting to pick up, but instead was bent on completing what her mother had asked her to do.
"The beastmen though..." Elayne continued, "The beastmen are the children of Promathia much like we are Altana’s children. And because of...the past...we are damned to conflict with each other. The beastmen try to destroy, and we rebuild."
"Oh..." I said blinking my eyes a couple of times quickly in the gentle rosy-pink light of the sky. "I never knew any of that. I have never been what I guess you can call a religious man by any means of the definition."
We finally arrived at the goldsmithing guild, and I held the door open for Elayne and then followed her inside. The first thing I noticed wasn’t something that I saw...but so much as what I heard. All throughout the guild was a soft flute playing, a infinitely looping, infinitely complex...yet delicately simple tune to it.
The music tempted to lift my soul up, and carry it away with it into the furthest reaches of the world. I closed my eyes for a moment, letting it wash its way over me.
"Pretty, isn’t it?" The voice came from a stranger who had just entered the room from a side door. He tugged off his golden-shaded glasses, and stuck them in a pocket next to what I recognized as a fire crystal. His face then split into a smile as he saw Elayne, and he briskly walked up to her and embraced her in a hug for a moment before breaking away to turn to me.
"You must be Dimitri, right? Well, my name is Ellard, Senior. I am the Goldsmithing’s Union Representative to the other guilds, and I am also one of the best crafters here," he said unabashedly, "If you have worn a Conte Zucchetto helmet recently, or proposed marriage to someone with an Angel Ring, then you most like have used one of my creations."
He then outstretched his hand, and I shook it I noticed that there were gold flakes beneath his fingernails.
"It is also a pleasure to meet you Ellard. But tell me..." -I held up a finger, and then swirled it around in the air a couple of times- "What’s with the music? Don’t you crafters need absolute silence to be able to work?..."
He smiled, and I could see the faintest glimmer of gold in his teeth.
These people sure do know how to use gold.
"Dimitri...When you craft, you are shaping a crystal in your hands to do what you want, to meld it into some sort of form of your own design. Goldsmithing is more than just making a weapon, or some piece of jewelry...at its heart and essence, goldsmithing is all about making art."
He waved his hand over towards a wall that was on the other side of us.
"Just beyond that wall is a bard who plays his flute constantly, his tunes carried all over the guild. He plays the music to inspire us, to tease out muses into creating ever finer and finer pieces of art for the world. Without him, we would be lost with goldsmithing more than we already are."
I nodded, understanding coming over me.
"If you don’t mind me asking...who was the greatest crafter of all time?" I inquired, for no particular reason.
Before Ellard could reply, Elayne jumped in and started to speak in a reverent sort of tone. "That would have to be...the one person who was said to have broken the secret of the crystals..."
"Who?" I replied my interest finally peaked.
"An Elvaan by the name of Eruntalon...he was said to have solved the mystery of the crystals, and could create the finest weapons and items to be seen anywhere in Vana’diel. Unfortunately, the secrets of the crystals died out with him...and no one has been able to replicate his work since." Ellard finished. He then fished out his golden shades out of this pocket, and put them on, and then turned around.
"Dimitri, I am afraid I must get back to my work, well for the time being at least. If you and Elayne wouldn’t mind waiting out here for a few minutes, I will send someone out here to take care of you both and to show Dimitri around the guild." He threw up a hand in farewell before disappearing behind another door.
I turned to Elayne, who only stood there, bouncing up and down a bit on the balls of her feet. "He’s a good friend of mine Dimitri, but not my lover or anything!" she giggled out at me.
I walked my way over to a bronze chair and sat down in it, the metal feeling cool against my body.
"Elayne?..."
"Hmmm?" she replied to me.
"Elayne...when did you become so religious? That doesn’t sound all that much like you, well the Elayne I used to know," I added.
She just laughed softly for a moment, then came over to me and sat down next to me.
"You remember that tattoo I got so long ago?...Right before I broke up with you? Well, I found out what that bird was..." She started off airily, drawing with her fingertip in the air. "It was the fiery bird of resurrection, Phoenix. Once I realized was a stupid move I made breaking up with the one I loved...I decided to become like the Phoenix, and become reborn."
"Ah..." I said, not being able to think of anything else to say to her.
"And the reborn Elayne you see here...is who I really am now," she finished quietly.
It was then that another door opened, and a young lady walked in.
"My name is Momiji. I am the operator of this establishment while my husband is away." She said, a wistful tone of voice carrying her voice. "Here, let me show you around and then we can start your training tomorrow."
That comment caught me off guard. "Training? For what?"
She just stared at me for a moment, as if I was insane.
"To be a crafter my dear..."
-fin Aki XVI: Kagurabue
***
Chapter XVII: Lotion
***
The fire crystal shattered into thousands of fine glittering red pieces, and fell down to the concrete flooring from my hands.
"No...no..." Momiji told me in a very teacher-like voice.
"You are attempting to exert your own will upon the crystal too much. You have to let your muse take over, guide your motions. If you don’t, you will attempt to mold the fire crystal too much and it will then break on you."
It was my first full day at work.
She then picked up another fire crystal from the stack set up in the corner of my workroom and held it up to the light, when then caught it and prismed out a red rainbow across the plaster-white wall opposite of us. She pulled her own pair of shades out of her pocket, and put them on one handed as she started to kneel on the ground. She then pulled a couple iron ingots, a silver ingot, a log of ash lumber, a chunk of cermet, and a small sample each of raptor’s skin, something called a Tama-Hagana ingot, and some silver thread out from their respective boxes, and tucked them tightly between her legs.
"Watch me, Dimitri." She said as she started to close her eyes. She began to pace her breathing, slowly drawing in and then expelling each breath. As she did this, I could see her body become limper and more at peace, as if she was achieving some sort of spiritual purity not brought by the Goddess.
It was then that the crystal started to light up with a whoosh sound.
I saw Momiji’s’s young fingers glide up and down the crystal’s length, gently stroking its sides in an intricate pattern that seemed to have no rhyme or rhythm to it. As I looked down at the materials, to my amazement, they were coming together and combining in tune with how she was manipulating the crystal. As she would gingerly swirl one side, the raptor’s skin would melt with the silver thread and the cermet, and as Momiji’s tapped the top of the crystal, I could easily see some sort of metal blade being tempered from the fused ingots. And with every move she made on the crystal, drawing its power further and further out of it, the crystal dimmed just a bit more until it finally went out.
Momiji’s then stood up with a slight wince at having been on her knees so long, then pointed down at the freshly crafted object as she chucked the now useless drained crystal into a waste bin next to me.
"This is a Hosodachi sword. These swords have quite a long history with the samurai in the Far East, and are normally made by their masters. However, due to the war...the Far East is preparing themselves for a possible invasion of their homeland should the forces of Vana’diel fail." She then picked up the sword and delicately laid it in an open velvet case on a nearby table. "However, the demand outstrips the amount of people that can make them, so we were hired to make them a few dozen swords." The case snapped shut with a click, and she then lugged it over to a cart where six were already stacked up, ready to be sent back to the empire.
"You, Dimitri...you will be crafting these swords. Elayne said you were quite good with your hands, so I don’t think it will be too hard for you to get the hang of. Just relax, and let your muse take over. I have to go now...but I will expect that there be fifty of these swords made by closing time." She paused for a moment then took off her shades and handed them to me. "You will need these, if you are going to attempt to make the best swords possible. These glasses allow you to see the energy that the crystal throws off onto the base sword materials, and will help guide you to making them properly."
I put the glasses on, and immediately the world was changed into a warm golden tint. I could then see the heat radiating off of Momiji’s and my own body in wavy strips. I turned my head and I was then nearly blinded when I looked over at the stack of fire crystals and saw their energy.
"GAH!" I shouted as I tore the glasses off, and started to rub my watering eyes.
"Oh yeah, and do be careful while wearing them, they can make you blind if you look at something with too much natural energy in it." She chuckled.
"Yeah yeah...I got it..." I muttered, feeling like quite the idiot.
She nodded self-satisfactory once, and then turned around.
"Remember, the end of the day Dimitri." she said as she exited the room and shut the door.
Being careful to not put on my glasses first this time, I grabbed a fire crystal and an armful of materials which I then dropped onto the floor in a big pile. I knelt down, put on my shades, and then tried to relax like Momiji’s did, and then I started to synth.
Whoosh
The fire crystal started to crackle, and I could feel a warmth spread through my hands. I closed my eyes, and let my muse take over to shape the crystal as it will and in turn, the various materials beneath it.
After a few moments of synthing, I felt the crystal burn itself out and I opened my eyes expecting to find a masterpiece...
But instead, I found a messy lump of metal and skin laying there.
"Oh. That sucks." I said, refusing to give up hope.
I gathered more materials and crystals, and attempted it again.
And failed again.
And again.
And again.
And again...
After the tenth failed synth, I sighed in deep frustration. I realized with a startling clarity that my first full day on the job...and I would most likely be fired.
Not exactly a comforting realization.
It was then that I heard the door open softly behind me. I started to turn around to see who it was, praying that it wasn’t Momiji’s to check up on my progress so far.
But all I could see was some figure shrouded in a black cloak, whose fingers quickly jerked around into what I knew w as a sleep spell.
"Momij-" I started to shout, before the spell went off, hitting me square in the chest and throwing me down against the ground among my many failures. I then felt my arms and legs get extremely tired. I tried to fight the urge to just give in and go to sleep, but my body refused to cooperate with my mind.
I guess this is it...
Were my last thought as I then fell into oblivion.
___
"Dimitri! Wake up!" I tried to push the button of my alarm clock, and was responded with a shocking "OW!".
My eyes suddenly fluttered open when I remembered where I was, and I realized what I had just attempted to push.
Ellard’s face.
"Ellard..." I mumbled, desperately trying to come up with an excuse, any excuse as to why none of the swords were made, "About the swords..." I began.
He cut me off with a sharp wave of his hand as he rubbed his sore face with his other hand. "None of that. When I came in here, I was positive that you were just sleeping on the job and had accomplished very little." He then smiled at me, and offered me a hand to stand back up. I took it, and was up wobbling on my feet in an instant. "Then when I saw the velvet boxes full with what is easily some of the best work to have ever come out of this guild...I knew that I was wrong."
He slapped me on the back, and nearly sent me sprawling back to the ground.
"So anyway...thank you. That will be all for today, just be sure to go home and get some rest." He picked up the cart’s handle, and started to roll it out of the room with him to the shipping department. He was nearly outside the room when he turned around to me and said almost as an after thought.
"Oh, and Dimitri...go easy on the rolanberry scented lotion in the future okay? I’m not one to judge you, but others...wellll..." he broke off with a slight grimace.
My eyes went wide at that, and I suddenly found myself at a loss for words.
"Ummm...sure..." I stammered out as the door then closed again, leaving me alone. I then sniffed the air, and surely enough...there was the scent of rolanberries hanging in the air. It was light, almost undetectable, but one could tell it was there.
Rolanberries?
I don’t wear rolanberry lotion...or any type of lotion for that matter.
Do I know anyone who wears that scent?...
My eyes suddenly went wide, and I bowed my head as I then softly laughed.
"Hitomi..." I said quietly, "I can tell that you are still here...somewhere..."
-fin Chapter XVII: Lotion
***
After that first day, crafting slowly got easier for me in the few weeks that passed. I was eventually able to make all sorts of things from pricey shields to oriculcum necklaces, with the greatest of ease. My fingernails had started to glow because of all the gold dust that got into them, but I didn’t care.
Elayne and I started to slowly rebuild our friendship also.
She stopped persuing me, well for now at least. She always seemed confidant that I would come back to her heart one day, and that we would live happily ever after.
Some things aren’t just meant to be.
***
Aki XVIII: Tusma
***
"Dimitri, you are gonna be late for work if you don’t hurry up and eat!" Elayne’s voice came screeching into my ears from across our little pad.
Two months had passed.
Hurrying over to the table, I shoved a fistful of cockatrice strips into my mouth and washed it down with a couple hasty swigs of orange juice. The mixture slid down my throat in a thick mixture, before settling uneasily in my stomach.
And in those two months, Elayne had not gotten any better at cooking.
Inwardly, I sighed and grabbed my coat as I then ran out the door and down the street to the guild. Along the way, I faintly noticed that the destruction and devastation that had began when I first came to Bastok was pretty much cleaned up and gone. It was like that the war that the whole world was involved in had managed to miss this piece of the world, and everything was rather...normal.
I opened the smooth, curved door handle to the guild and was immediately assaulted by Momiji the second I entered.
"Dimitri! You are exactly three minutes late. Tardiness will not be tolerated here, as well you should know by now. One more such incident like this, and you will be fired. Do I make myself clear?" She barked out at me, her hands flapping at her waists like an angry hen.
"Yes Momiji..." I replied with a slight mumble in my voice.
Why does she treat me this way? Why does she hate me?...
Two weeks ago, I had found out that the swords she wanted me to craft on my first day were in actuality a VERY advanced form of goldsmithing, something most goldsmiths don’t even think about attempting until they have a decade or two of practice under their belts first.
She was trying to force me out of the guild that day, but failed.
I watched as she stormed off back to her office in the back corner of the building, and I shook my head a couple of times.
Whatever...
Entering my workstation, I grabbed the clipboard that detailed exactly what I was to be synthing that day off of the wooden peg in the wall, and scanned its contents quickly.
"Let’s see...one dozen silver hairpins...and two Poet’s Circlets....mmmk..." I muttered out to myself as I put on my golden shades. I set the clipboard back on its post, and then started to gather all the materials that I would need that day.
Taking into account my failure rates...I’ll need fourteen wind crystals, two fire crystal, fifteen silver ingots, two mythril ingots, and three copper ingots.
I walked over then to my personal supply bins, and started to load the materials onto a handy nearby cart. Once that was done, I rolled the whole mess over to my synthing table and unstacked it into very neat piles so that I could grab what I needed without ever opening my eyes.
I relaxed myself, closed my eyes, and then started to synth.
Whoosh.
I was half way through my synth when I heard an all too familiar sound.
BAM! BAM BAM BAM!!!
Click
It was then that the exterior wall exploded into my workspace. I threw up my hand trying to starve off the flying dust as I dropped my now-forgotten synth down to the ground as I immediately began to try to draw my sword out of pure reflex.
Keyword there...tried.
As the small squad of beastmen started to storm in through their impromptu door, I realized all too late that I had no weapon to stand up against Musketeer-class guns. So I turned around and did the only thing that I could.
I ran for my life.
As I started to run, I could see that the entire building was under assault because of the smoke being emitted from the guns of the beastmen that were beginning to pour in through newly made holes in the walls like crawlers through a ash-wood house.
Fighting my way through the haze, I finally bursted free of the guild, and out into the sweet fresh air, and into a whole crowd of people that I recognized as having worked at the guild. Instantly, my military training took over and I started to assess the people present. I knew that without working weapons it would be foolish to attack the beastmen, but I had to at the very least make sure everyone was present and accounted for.
My lips counted off the heads present, and very quickly I established everyone was here.
Save one.
Momiji!
I bunched my eyes up for a moment, and then dived back into the building. Being very careful to avoid the wondering beastmen, I worked my way to Momiji’s office. As I stood outside the door trying to best figure out how to get in without bringing down the wrath of the whole beastmen group here upon me, I started to hear voices from inside.
"I said...where is he? You are not the one we want. Where is your husband? Tell us now, or I will be forced to destroy your pitiful guild hume." I recognized the voice instantly as that of a beastmen.
"I...I...I don’t know!!!" Momiji’s voice came through the door loud and clear in a very frightened tone of voice.
"Oh really...perhaps this should change your mind?" The beastman replied, his harsh voice clear even through the wooden door.
Snap.
Momiji screamed at that, and I realized to my horror that the beastman had just snapped someone’s neck, killing him or her instantly.
"I DON’T KNOW! PLEASE BELIEVE ME!!!...please..." Momiji cried out.
It was then that the room went quiet for a moment.
"All right...I believe you. But we will find your husband, and we will get what we want out of him. I promise you that hume," the beastmen sneered at her. I then heard a couple of shuffling sounds, and then I realized that warp spells were being cast in the room to take the beastmen away.
Five minutes later, I dared to enter the room.
"Momiji?..." I called out softly.
I saw her behind her desk sobbing her eyes out...
...and then I saw Elayne’s body sprawled out next to it.
Dead.
Her limbs were spread out at unnatural angles, a look of pure horror frozen for all eternity on her face, backed up by her wavy hair.
This had got to be a dream.
"Momiji...what happened??! And who in Mordion Goal is your husband and what does he know that would make the beastmen dare to make such a raid upon this place?!" I shouted out at her, my mind numbing over Elayne’s death.
Momiji looked up at me, and smiled in such a way that chilled me to my bones.
"My husband?...You should know him. After all...it was you who placed him on death row in the Grand Duchy." She paused for a moment, then got up and walked unsteadily over to me.
She then cocked her hand back and hit me as hard as she could.
-fin Aki XVIII: Tsuma
-fin Kasho II- Kodoku (Solitude)