First off, I'm going to start off by saying that this is an RP written together with a friend of mine. All ideas and concepts are a co-operative work, and deserve credit to Ayaji as well as me. Also, because this is an RP, it does jump around from perspective to perspective quite a bit, but it should hopefully be reasonably easy to follow.
The rating of will be going up at a certain point of this RP. I'm just warning you so…well, you can watch out for it. XD
Character division starts out as:
Ayaji: Tear, Jade, Noelle
Rydia: Judas, Natalia, Guy, Luke
OCs are added in later, for storyline purposes only, I promise, and will be added to that list at that time. Also, Judas may seem like an OC, but he is not. Have fun guessing~
Erm…that's about it, for now. Enjoy! And please, feel free to comment. Might get you faster updates. XD
Disclaimer: All characters and settings are property of Namco, save for a small handful of OCs to be added later.
Warnings: Spoilers for all of the game. Language, violence, and mature scenes in the future.
Tangled Fates
Chapter One: Cataclysm
"When a plane becomes unstable, it will draw into itself things from another plane to stabilize the material existence. However, this is unnatural and will result in further chaos. When such irregularities are detected, the guardians of the void are dispatched to destroy those things which are unnatural."
Tear snapped the book she was reading shut, realizing by the slant of the sunlight across her lap that she was going to be late for her lunch appointment if she dallied in the library much longer. She returned the strange book she had found to the shelf and hurried toward the library's exit. On the steps of the library, Tear paused, shading her eyes with one hand as she tried to determine how late it was. She hadn't meant to take so long, but somehow she always seemed to get distracted when she had free time in a library. The book on parallel dimensions had been sitting open on one of the tables, and she had intended to merely glance through it and return it to the shelf it belonged on. However, the contents had proved rather interesting. The concept of alternate universes was always a subject that had fascinated Tear, although she knew there was no evidence that any plane of existence but her own existed.
Making her way down the stairs, Tear noticed an unfamiliar dark-haired man lingering near one of the archive buildings. He looked rather out of place, and she was rather certain she had never seen him before, which was odd considering the amount of time she spent in this area of the city. While it was true that Baticul was a large city and it would be impossible to know everyone, she had thought that she at least recognized all the regulars to this section of town. Only people of a certain rank had access to the archive areas in particular, so Tear was surprised by the unfamiliar face, especially one as unforgettable as the young man she was now eying curiously. He was quite good looking, and she saw that other young women were giving him surreptitious glances as well when they thought he wasn't looking. However, she didn't have time to be distracted by mysterious strangers, no matter how attractive they might happen to be.
Tear tore her gaze away from the strange young man and continued toward the royal quarters. She could already picture Natalia's disproving gaze at her late arrival, especially since she had assured the royal couple this morning that she wouldn't forget their meeting time. Making her way up the steps toward the gardens where they had arranged to meet, Tear flashed her identification at the guards. Most of them recognized her on sight anyway, but it never hurt to remind them of her rank. She saw Luke and Natalia relaxing on a shaded terrace ahead and picked up her pace a bit.
"I'm sorry I'm late!" she called as she got close enough to speak to them. As usual, Luke's warm, welcoming smile sent a small pang of regret through her heart. If she had spoken of her feelings to him, would things have turned out differently? Would she be the one sitting at his side now, instead of Natalia? Tear quickly brushed such thoughts from her mind, as she always had, smiling back at Luke and Natalia. "I hope you weren't waiting too long," she added, taking a seat across from the pair. A servant appeared as if by magic, offering her a cool glass of water garnished with a thin slice of lemon. Tear accepted it gratefully, taking a sip as she waited for the other two to answer.
The black-haired young man was wandering about Baticul, more-or-less lost. He could not remember his way around the city at all. Then again, he had no idea if he had ever even been to this city before. In fact, he did not know much about anything. Not even himself.
Still, he freely recognised that sitting around and pouting or sulking was not going to help him in any way. So instead he was wandering world in an effort to figure himself out. Any stimulus that would trigger something in him. At the very least, he had learned that he was an excellent swordsman. Wandering from city-to-city over the past few months had taught him that.
As best he could recall, he had awoken in a small, rundown harbour village about three months before, with only a sword and the clothes on his back to his name-a name he also did not have. In light of that, he had chosen the name 'Judas'. He thought it fit himself, if nothing else.
After waking in the small town, he had tried to pinpoint his location, and then to go from there. He had decided that travelling was as good a way as any to try and figure out his own life. So that was what he did. He had spent the past three months making his way from Kaitzur-he thought that was the name-up to the capital, Baticul. It was proving futile, though.
Since his search was going so poorly, he had decided to give up on it for the time being. He was going to start carving a place in the world for himself. He was taking that quite literally. He had survived so far by fighting monsters, so he figured if he displayed his skills well enough in the coliseum then maybe he could work as a sell-sword; a mercenary.
Only he could not find the coliseum. In the course of searching for it, he had ended up here...wherever 'here' was. Looking around in an effort to tag some sort of landmark, he could not help but notice a pretty brunette staring at him. The woman, with hair down to her waist, longer than even his own, was quite attractive, he noted absently. Yet she quickly moved on, clearly in a hurry.
Pushing it from his mind, he wandered off. Maybe he could find a soldier to ask directions from.
Luke nodded his thanks as a serving woman set a tall class of chilled water down in front of him, yet his thoughts were far too occupied by the news he had to relay to Tear to really acknowledge what had happened. The very thought of the news he and Natalia were to lay on the girl distressed him. If only he had just gotten up the nerve to...
No, what was done was done, and there was nothing fretting over it was going to do.
With a soft sigh, the redhead picked up his fork and fiddled with it idly. He was glad Tear was running late. It gave him longer to think about what exactly he was going to say.
"Oh, Luke, do sit still," Natalia scolded, a frown marring her refined features. Truth be told, the young princess wanted to fidget herself, yet she was far too in control of herself to do so.
The whole situation would have been so much easier had Asch still been around, yet her engagement to the son of Duke Fabre still stood, and that was what the people cared about. They wanted security in the royal family, which meant that someday the princess would have to wed.
That day was just coming sooner than expected.
"Sorry, Natalia," Luke murmured in reply, setting the fork down as he spoke. "I'm just...nervous." Talk about an understatement. He wanted to run as far away as he could as fast as he could.
Natalia was about to reply when Tear arrived, looking somewhat flustered from what was apparently a hurried trip to their meeting site.
At Tear's hurried apology, the young woman sent her a gentle smile and a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry about it, Tear. You weren't that late, we only just got her ourselves." While not exactly true, it was always best to be polite.
Luke greeted Tear with a weak smile.
"Hey, Tear."
Tear sensed that Luke seemed a bit out of sorts today, but she pretended not to notice. Instead, she took another sip of her water as servants began to appear with the appetizers for their meal. A lunch on the terrace like this was a nice thing to do once in a while, although Tear had to admit that she felt a bit like a third wheel today. It would have been more comfortable for her if someone else had joined them, perhaps Jade or Guy. She hadn't seen the Necromancer in months due to his habit of taking mysterious assignments and vanishing without a word to anyone, only to turn up unannounced when people least expected him. Guy, on the other hand, often spent time with the royal couple. She was surprised that he wasn't around today, but perhaps he had more pressing matters to attend to. It was also possible that he had been invited and was merely running even later than she had been.
A servant set a plate of some sort of salad in front of her and Tear eyed it half-heartedly. The fact that the meal was being served already indicated that Guy probably wasn't coming. She picked up her fork and poked around among the lettuce a bit, not particularly in the mood for salad. The dressing looked especially unappetizing, although she usually enjoyed vinaigrette dressing. Poking the lettuce some more, she found her gaze idly drifting toward Luke, where it often tended to wind up when she spent time with the redhead. He seemed less than interested in his salad as well, eating even less of it that she had of her own. Tear wondered what was on his mind. At that moment, she realized that Natalia had said something.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?" she asked, a slight flush tinting her cheeks in embarrassment at being so rude. She dragged her attention away from Luke and focused instead on the blond across the table from her. She really had nothing against Natalia. The princess was a great person, but Tear still had a small feeling of residual jealousy that Natalia got to be with Luke. Even so, she was determined not to let that show, and she tried to look interested in whatever it was Natalia had said.
Natalia sent the songstress a soft smile at her abrupt inquiry. She could tell that, like Luke, Tear was not completely there. Sure, she was there physically, yet the brunette's mind was clearly off elsewhere. It was a common occurrence of late. Natalia was at least mostly certain that Luke and Tear had had feelings for one another at one point, yet that was in the past now. It had to be. That fact certainly did not mean that no residual feelings lingered, however. It was that worry, in fact, that made the princess nervous herself. She really did not want this news to tear apart the group.
Still, there really was nothing for it but to go on. Fretting it would certainly solve nothing.
"Oh, that's quite alright, Tear," she reassured, setting aside her fork. "I was just saying that Luke and I have some wonderful news." No matter how worrisome the situation, Natalia had been raised to always put on a strong face for her people, exactly as she was doing now. "Luke, if you would?"
Luke could not stop a wince as Natalia's attention was turned to him. That really was never a good thing in his book. In this case it was even less of one. They-Natalia-had decided that it would be best for him to deliver the news, and that was exactly what she was expecting him to do now.
Dropping his fork, still loaded down with its first piece of lettuce, back to his bowl-he did not think he could have eaten had the salad been Guy's famous tuna salad, and that was saying something. Well, exempting the rare times it came out either soggy or slimy, of course. Or burnt. He dared not question that one too far-Luke inhaled deeply before looking up to meet Tear's eyes.
"Tear..." he began before pausing, trying to organise his thoughts."I...well, that is, we...Natalia and I..." he paused again to take a deep breath in an effort to calm his racing heart. He really did not know how to word what he had to tell her. The fact that he did not want to say it did not help, either.
At least he had the small comfort of knowing Tear did not return his feelings. It would make it easier on her.
"Natalia and I are going to be getting married next month," he finally blurted out in one breath, quickly dropping his eyes to the tabletop. "N-Natalia, and me, too; we were hoping you would b-be willing to help with the ceremony."
Tear felt as though time had suddenly ground to a halt. Her fingers had turned to ice and she blinked a few times, turning the words over in her mind. Luke and Natalia were getting married? She supposed it had been inevitable that this day would eventually come, but she hadn't anticipated it so soon. Although she felt as though her insides had been filled with lead or perhaps something heavier, Tear carefully arranged a smile on her face.
"You're getting married? Congratulations!" she said. The words sounded false and hollow to her, and she hoped the other two wouldn't pick up on that. "Of course I will help with the ceremony." She would rather run to the other side of the planet, or perhaps leave the planet entirely if that was possible. If anything, she wanted nothing to do with this wedding, but she wasn't going to let them down for feelings that she had never even bothered to voice. "When will the ceremony be?" Tear asked, her voice still full of false cheer.
Natalia, being the naive princess that she was, smiled brightly when Tear agreed to help them out. She had been almost afraid the brunette would refuse, due to the fact that there clearly had been a time when she had liked Luke. Yet it seemed the songstress was mature enough to see past that.
"That's fantastic, Tear!" she said, nodding. "Luke and I will so appreciate your help with the ceremony. The wedding is going to be the end of next month. We don't have a whole lot of time to prepare, so would you be able to come to the castle tomorrow morning to help with the plans?"
Luke winced at the smile on Tear's face, his heart almost seeming to sink into the depths of his chest. Some part of him, a very small part, had been hoping that Tear would refuse. That she would be upset. That she would claim him for herself. Anything but this! Yet there she was, plain as day, smiling and agreeing to help arrange it. Perhaps he really should have spoken sooner.
Tear didn't miss the small wince on Luke's face, but she didn't have time to think about what it might mean. She forced herself to focus on Natalia, knowing that if she looked at Luke too long she would lose her resolve. The princess wanted her to start helping with plans tomorrow? That was so soon! There wasn't even any time for her to feel miserable about the situation. However, perhaps that was for the best.
"Tomorrow morning? I'll try to be on time this time," she said, trying to lighten her own mood with a half-hearted joke. The smile on her face was strained, and she knew that there was no way she would be able to eat any more of the lunch they had planned for. "I suppose you already have some of the plans underway if the ceremony is only one month away." She grasped about for some sort of conversation to focus on so that she wouldn't sink into depression. Although the wedding was not exactly the sort of topic she would prefer to think about, it was better than the awkward silence she was sure would rise between them if she didn't say something.
"Oh, yes," Natalia agreed instantly, nodding. "They have actually been underway for some time, yet with you out of town there was no way to tell you. There are still a lot of finer details that we must see to, however. That is where we hope you will be willing to help out."
Natalia was completely oblivious to the negative emotions all but seeping from the other two. She had been raised to see to her duty, and that was precisely what she was doing at the moment. The fact that she was utterly naive did not hurt, either.
Luke was not quite so dense as Natalia. He could see that something was bothering Tear, yet he was not exactly sure what it might be. Perhaps they had asked her to be ready too soon? Yes, that had to be it.
Leaning over, Luke whispered into his soon-to-be wife's ear, "Natalia, do you think we should let Tear go home and get ready? She might have stuff to do while she's here," he mumbled, although not really all that quietly. "We are dropping this on her."
Tear hadn't really thought about the fact that she had been relatively unavailable as of late. She had been taking assignments that kept her away from Baticul intentionally to avoid spending too much time with Luke. She knew that eventually she would have to just get over herself and seal away her feelings for him. That day had just come much sooner than she had thought it would. Noticing Luke lean over to whisper to Natalia, Tear quickly averted her eyes and glanced aimlessly around the garden. The colors seemed strangely duller than they had been when she first arrived.
"I'll help you out where I can," she said, her gaze fixated on a small bird as it searched for insect in the grass nearby. "I suppose we'll be going over the details of what exactly you'll need my help for tomorrow morning?" It was more of a statement then a question, but Tear wanted affirmation anyway to know exactly what she was getting herself into. She risked glancing back at the other two, or rather at Natalia. Luke had returned to his original place and was no longer in her direct line of sight. Looking at him right now was pointlessly painful.
Natalia frowned as Luke leaned over, right in front of their guest, and began whispering in her ear. Honestly, how rude could he be? Asch would never have done that...
No, there was no use dwelling on the past. He was dead and gone, that was all there was to it. Her thoughts were interrupted quite suddenly, however, as Tear began speaking once more. Quickly turning her attention back to her guest, Natalia sent the brunette a small nod. "Of course, Tear. We can go over everything in the morning when you're better rested. You've been so busy lately that you must be exhausted."
As she was speaking, Natalia noticed that Tear really did look tired. The songstress had not looked nearly so bad when she had first arrived, of that Natalia was certain, but perhaps Luke was right. Maybe Tear really did need a break.
"Goodness, Tear. You do not look well. Are you tired from your trip home? Why don't you go and take it easy for today? I can meet with you tomorrow."
Luke was relieved when Natalia apparently took his advice to let Tear go. It wasn't that he wanted to get away from Tear...except that was it exactly. Looking at her right now was almost physically painful. Besides that, Tear really did look run-down. Perhaps a night to herself would renew the girl's fiery spirit that he so loved.
Tear felt as though a physical weight had been lifted from her as the two of them gave her an escape route. She still felt terrible about the whole situation she had agreed to entangle herself in, but at least now she could get away and have some time to think for a moment. She gave the couple a grateful smile.
"Actually, I am a bit tired from traveling" she lied as she stood up. "I hope you don't mind me excusing myself then. Sorry that I will not be staying for the rest of lunch. I hope you two enjoy yourselves." Giving the two of them a respectful half-bow, Tear turned away, trying not to walk too fast. She wanted to run as far and as fast as her feet would carry her, but she knew that was out of the question. As soon as she left the royal quarters though, she was at a bit of a loss as to where to turn next. She didn't want to go home just yet, but she didn't particularly feel up to visiting anywhere else either.
Lost in thought, she didn't notice the young man she had seen by the library earlier until she ran straight into him. The impact was rather jarring for both of them, as Tear had unconsciously been almost running in her desire to get away from the sad smile Luke had given her as she had left. She hadn't meant to look at him, but some idiot part of her had decided that it would be all right to look directly into the red-head's eyes as she said goodbye. The words had felt so final that she had barely managed to stop tears from welling up in her eyes at the chances that she had never taken that were now gone forever. Stumbling back, Tear did feel a bit of dampness on her cheeks as she looked up into the dark eyes of the man she had just ploughed into.
"I…I'm sorry…" she said, quickly wiping away the tears she hadn't even felt forming. "I wasn't watching where I was going…" For some reason, there was an odd sort of comfortable feeling emanating from the young man. Tear felt a strange urge to cling to him, but quickly brushed it aside as lingering feelings over Luke's announcement.
As Tear all but scurried away, Luke had taken the moment to meet her eyes, however momentarily, and the result of that mistake sent a stab of pain through his heart. Maybe this was not as clear-cut as he had thought. Every fibre of his body wanted to latch onto the girl before him and never let her go.
Yet what did he do? He said goodbye, that was what. Then he watched the girl he loved walk away for what felt like it would be the last time...
