1 Prologue~When You Looked Up in the Sky
…rain…
…walking…in the dark…through stone hallways…metal corridors… late
"Kanzaki-san?"
The man bent over his co-worker who had subsequently dozed off over his work pile. When his friend barely stirred, he called his name again, this time shaking him slightly.
…opening the door, light pours into my room…weapons aimed…arms holding me back…
"Kanzaki-san…"
…death is coming…beyond that ledge…where did the moons go?…
"Kanzaki-san…" he reached out.
…no I want to see you…
With the sudden touch, the young man jerked himself awake almost falling out of his desk chair. Putting out both hands on the desk in front of him to steady himself, he looked up at his friend, eyes wide. "Was I asleep??"
"Yeah, but don't worry, we're now only 3 days behind instead of a week. We got ya covered, Kanzaki!" The man patted his stunned friend on the back as he shared a laugh with his co-workers. Kanzaki-san sat there, taking their jokes at him in good nature, with a smirk on his face.
Glancing at the clock on the wall, Kanzaki-san remembered something…important. The numbers on the wall struck a familiar chord with him and he cringed inwardly when he recalled what they were for exactly. "Damn…" he said quietly to himself.
His friends sobered up a bit. "What's wrong? It's not like you're late or anything. I mean, we're only going to the bar for a few," one friend assured him.
"Actually, I am late," he sighed. "I was supposed to meet my wife at 7:30 tonight for dinner. Seeing that it's 7:08, I don't think I'll make it." He quickly began gathering up his belongings to make a break for the stifling office.
"Heh heh, looks like you're in trouble tonight then! Only way you could get home now is to sprout wings or something! Ha ha!" His friends took a laugh at his own expense, noting the discomfort the last comment gave him.
"Y-yeah," he agreed uncomfortably. "Well, until next week." He waved to his friends as he walked towards the hall to the elevator. While trying to juggle the many papers in his arms, he pressed the button on the elevator to take him to the ground floor.
*********************
Keys in hand, the young man paused at the door to his apartment. It was now 8:15, clearly too late for any previously made plans. With silent resignation he opened the door in front of him to reveal the dark hallway of the apartment. Taking off his shoes, he sighed.
"Tadaima," he called out to no one. His voice traveled through the modest dwelling. He turned on the hallway light and made his way through the apartment, discarding his papers on the kitchen table. He opened the fridge, looking for nothing in particular. His back was starting to ache again, probably from falling asleep at his desk. Shutting the fridge, he went to look in the cabinets above for a pain reliever. Grabbing a bottle, he popped two pills in his mouth, without a gulp of water, and swallowed. He looked again at the clock on the wall. 'I hope she's not mad…'
A sudden blink attracted his attention. Perched on the wall, the phone's message light was glowing off and on. He reached over, picked up the phone and pressed the message button.
"First, new message, received today at 10:34 a. m." the monotone voice droned.
"Good afternoon, Kanzaki-san, we would like to offer—." Erase.
"Second, new message, received today at 1:52 p. m." the machine continued.
"Hey, it's Yukari! What's going on with you and V—." Save for later.
"Third, new message, received today at 4:18 p. m."
"Hitomi, its your mother. Just letting you know that I was cleaning your old room today and found some of your things from when you were in high school. I dropped them off at your apartment and left them in the living room. Call me when you get home." Save.
"Fourth, new message, received today at 7:29 p. m."
"Hey, its me." He stopped and removed his hand from the message pad. "I'm sorry I couldn't meet you at dinner, things got so hectic here, I just couldn't leave. I'll be home soon and I'll bring dinner too. Bye." The dial tone resumed as the caller hung up abruptly.
"To repeat this message, press 1. To save this message, press 2. To erase…"
He quickly pressed 2 on the keypad and hung up the receiver. He breathed a sigh of relief. "Well at least I wasn't the only one to miss dinner," he said to no one. To kill some time, he went into the living room and turned on the television. Remote in hand, he switched the many channels methodically, not really watching any of them. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw an unfamiliar looking box in under the glass top of the coffee table. 'That must be what Mother dropped off…' he thought. It was an old shoebox, most likely from an old pair of his wife's running shoes, he thought. He lifted the lid. There were old papers, report cards, some little trinkets, a picture of his wife as a junior high student with her best friend, common, everyday things. He was about to get to the bottom of the box when he heard the lock of the front door begin to move.
The door opened and closed. He could hear the rustling of plastic bags and the distinct sound of someone kicking off their high heels. He rose from the couch, expectantly looking towards the hallway.
"Tadaima…"called a light voice. Soft, but certain, footsteps headed towards him. Hitomi turned the corner to face Van in the living room. She smiled.
"O-kaeri nasai," and Van smiled back at his wife.
Hitomi smiled back at her husband.
********
Hitomi raised the two bags in her hand. "Well, since we couldn't get out for dinner tonight, I just brought dinner to us." She looked at her husband. "Did you get my message?" she asked, uncertainly.
Van nodded. "Yeah, I did. Don't worry about anything. I only just got home at 8:15." He went to take the bags from her hand and continued walking right into the kitchen, while Hitomi followed him.
"You know something? I think we should take a vacation soon." Hitomi looked to her husband to see if he agreed. "I mean, we're still really young; we shouldn't be working like this yet, right?"
"When did you come up with this idea?" Van stopped, removing the take out food from the bags and looked at her. "Didn't we agree that we have to save our money? And you just got this job a few months ago. Do you really think they'll want to give you time off already?" He went back to checking out the food. "Oh, I am so hungry and this smells so good!"
Hitomi turned away to get some plates from the cupboard. "I know, but…" She knew he was right, to an extent. She was lucky to have the job that she did. "I don't know, it just seems like there's more out there than work all day, everyday." Handing a plate to Van, who began dishing up some rice and vegetables, she began fixing her own dinner. "Oh well, tomorrow is Saturday, we have the day off. We can do something then." She sat down next to where Van had sat at the table, and began to eat.
"Oh Yukari called. I saved the message for later."
"Thanks."
"Your mom called too. Said she left something here for you. Its in a box on the couch," Van continued.
"Oh really? Hmmmm, I wonder what kind of stuff?" Hitomi put down her chopsticks.
"Ah, its just stuff from when you were a kid, like ten years ago or something."
Hitomi looked at her husband disdainfully. "I'm not that old you know!" She swatted him playfully. He smiled at her obvious annoyance. She stared at him while he continued to shovel food in his mouth. "Where would you like to go for a vacation?" she began, immediately changing the subject. He glanced at her in a sarcastic manner. "No, really. I want to know. We could go to Australia? Or India. Someplace exotic, where we'd have lots of fun and no worries about anything."
"How would we get there?" Van asked skeptically.
"Well…." Hitomi began gently. "We could fly…."
"Hitomi…"
"Oh flying in a plane wouldn't be so bad! You know you could do it," Hitomi started. Van stared at his bowl with a look on his face that had growing dislike for the current subject. "You should try to get over your fear of flying."
"Flying has nothing to do with it. I just don't like heights, you know that," Van replied indignantly. He looked imploringly at his wife. "I am perfectly comfortable being in a plane."
"Yeah, sure, if its on the ground," Hitomi finished flatly. "You know, I don't even know how you got such a horrifying fear of heights in the first place." Getting up, she took her empty bowl to the sink and let it drop. The clanging noise told Van it was time to jump ship and get off the subject.
"You know, maybe we could…" he began, turning in his seat to face the back of his wife standing near the sink.
"No. Don't worry about it, Van," Hitomi said quietly. "I mean, if it's that bad, really, we don't have to do that." She smiled at him. Staring at her green eyes, he smiled back.
Turning back to his meal, he picked up the bowl and twisted in his seat once more. While rising at an odd angle, he halted and his face grimaced. Hitomi immediately reached out for the bowl with one hand and Van with the other. She dropped the bowl into the sink and turned her attentions back to Van.
"What's wrong? Is it your back again?"
Van sighed, straightening his back cautiously. Moving his shoulders up and down, he managed a smile to reassure his wife. "Yeah, yeah, it's ok. I think I just got up too fast or something."
"Maybe you should see a doctor about it." Van shook his head.
"No I'll be fine, really. I'll just—just go take a bath. That'll make it feel better," he reasoned. He stared down at his wife face, framed by light brown layers of hair and bangs. Leaning into her, he brushed his lips against hers. He felt her hand rise up from his side to caress his cheek. He drew his arms ever so gently around his wife as they shared this one quiet moment from their hectic days.
After a moment, Hitomi backed away ever so carefully. "Mmm," she sighed looking up to him. "You should save some of that for later. Now go take a bath!"
"Alright, alright, I'm going." With that Van turned and walked down the hallway towards the bathroom, one hand rubbing his lower back.
Watching him go Hitomi put the rest of the food away. Then, taking a can of soda, she made her way into the living room. About to drop onto the couch, she noticed the old shoebox near the coffee table. She bent down to pick it up and settled back onto the couch. Placing the box on her lap she lifted the cover.
Inside was her adolescence. Little trinkets, keychains and pins, given to her by her friends, a report card with mostly good grades, a picture of herself, her friends Yukari and Susumu Amano, who were married now, only they all wore their high school track uniforms. Hitomi smiled as she remembered their friendship back then. Life seemed so easy in those days, she thought wistfully. She sifted through some other items that brought back memories for her, things that she hadn't thought of for quite some time.
At the bottom of the box was a deck of cards.
They were larger than a normal deck of playing cards, with an intricate design on the back. They were bound with an old elastic band that cut into the sides of the forgotten cards. Hitomi stared at them with faint recognition. 'These are…my…' She reached into the box and gingerly took hold of the tarot cards that she had given up so long ago. A slow smile spread across her face as she started to remember all of the readings she would give her friends in junior and high school. Whenever there were doubts about love or luck, people would head for Hitomi, to hear of where fate would take them.
Of course, it was just a silly hobby, a game, really, she had always reasoned.
Hitomi carefully took off the elastic that bound the cards together and she turned over the first card.
The Lovers. Hitomi couldn't help but smile at that. How many times had she seen that card come up for one of her friends? It was always fun to see how happy she could make people just by picking the right card. She placed the card on the table in front of her. She drew the next card.
The Tower. Her smile disappeared as the card stared back at her, mocking the fact that she had picked it.
"Now I know why I gave this stuff up! Stupid things give me the creeps," she said out loud, to herself. With all the intensity of studying for her high school entrance exams, Hitomi had decided to give up on the tarot reading. It really had never been that important to her to begin with. "Stupid cards…" She took the card with the crumbling tower and placed it back on the deck, with the card of the lovers to follow. Taking the elastic to rebind them, she was about to shove them back in the box rather carelessly when she saw one last item out of the corner of her eye, in the box. She began to reach in to see what it was while she placed the cards beside her on the cushion.
It was a feather. One white, perfect feather lying on the old cardboard bottom.
It seemed as if Hitomi's heart skipped a beat. Her breath caught in her throat, she drew her hand back as if the feather would contaminate her somehow. The feather did not appear to have been in the box for very long. Hitomi could have sworn that it hadn't been there a moment ago. She tentatively reached in to brush her fingertips with the airy texture of the feather. A strange sense of calmness seemed to come over her, letting her forget of the uneasiness the tarot cards had caused her. She delicately picked the feather up between her finger and thumb and drew it out of the box, being ever so careful as if it would disintegrate at any moment.
Hitomi felt strange. Since holding the feather, the surroundings of her apartment vanished. She found herself staring up into the sky at night. I'm in the country? she thought. All around her was nothing but grass. In the distance were great mountains and forests. It was the sky that continued to hold her attention. She could see the Earth in the sky. With the moon. Both, together.
Where the hell is this?
Suddenly, all around her was a shower of feathers, like the one that she held in her hand. Looking up, she felt the ground beneath her give way, hearing loud cracks as the earth beneath her crumbled away. She screamed as she began falling into nothingness. Her hands reached out to something instinctually, waiting for something to take hold. She could see in the distance someone reaching out to her….
…someone with wings…an angel? With wings so bright and strong.
From behind her, Hitomi heard a sharp noise and something hit the being that was trying to save her. She watched helplessly as the angel was hit in the chest, the wings flailing, trying to work, but faltering. The image of the angel suddenly burst in a torrent of bloodied white feathers.
Hitomi realized that she was no longer falling. In fact, she was being held from behind, in a very careful and firm grip. She could feel the hot breath from the person behind her on her neck. Looking down, she saw two hands encased in black gloves holding on to her. Tentatively, she turned her head around to get a look at the person who saved her from falling, but also killed the other. She sucked in her breath.
It was her husband, Van, gazing at her hard with his amber eyes. Why? Why you? She looked down to her hand that held the cause of what she was seeing.
The feather she had held was now spoiled with blood. Hitomi gasped, and a strangled cry escaped her throat…
…and she found herself back in her living room, sitting on her couch, just as it was before. Yet, now she held no feather at all. All that she held were her tarot cards, in a tight grasp; she was making her knuckles become white with the hard grip. She found herself drawing in shaky breaths as she glanced around her apartment, verifying that she indeed was there and never left. Closing her eyes with a quiet whimper, she put a hand to cover her mouth to drown out any noises that might worry her husband. That was the last thing she wanted to do. She needed to calm down.
Why? Why am I seeing things? she screamed inside her head.
Because these are things that need to be seen.
Hitomi jerked her head up and looked around the room. She was still alone. She was hearing things now. I must be working harder than I thought, Hitomi began to rationalize. "Maybe Van and I should take a vacation." She took in a few more deep breaths.
"This is crazy." Standing up and still holding the tarot cards tightly, she walked towards the sliding glass door that led to the balcony. Van had never liked it much, but she did. She needed some air to help relax before she went to bed. Hitomi pushed aside the curtain and slid the door open. Before she had even placed one foot onto the concrete balcony, a cold gust of wind had swept up with a flurry of white, shining feathers, wrapping themselves around Hitomi's body. In an instance of pure shock, she shut her eyes until she felt the wind stop momentarily. Warily, she opened her eyes. As the ground around her was littered with white feathers, Hitomi looked up into the sky. Her knees began to shake, threatening to give out at any moment, and let her hit the concrete of the balcony floor.
The sky held not one moon, but two.
1.1 Just like on…
"NO! Not there! I won't!" she screamed to no one. Hitomi felt her knees hit the ground, as her hands found their way to her ears as if to block out some horrific noise.
…like in that place…
"Please!!" she cried desperately to anyone. "I left! It's done!"
Gaea.
"STOP IT!"
Suddenly, Hitomi felt strong arms pull at her from behind. She found herself seated on the couch, with Van hurriedly closing the sliding door. Once closed, he quickly went to her side. Trying to take her hands away from her face, Van began trying to calm his wife. Hitomi stared at nothing, while taking in ragged breaths.
"What was that about, huh?" Van pried. His gentle demeanor concerned looked made Hitomi focus on his expression. Her brows knit together in confusion, as she stared at Van. He tried again. "What did you leave? What did you finish?" repeating what he had heard her scream outside.
What was I talking about? "I-I don't know. It was just…" she started. "It-" she stopped. Her changed gaze made Van feel as if she were looking at some strange creature with no explanation. Studying Van closely, she pulled her hands out of his grasp. "Where did you come from?"
"What?" What the hell is she thinking about now? Now it was Van's turn to stare questioningly.
"Where are you from?" she repeated. "You aren't from Japan. Why can't I remember?"
Van still stared at her questioningly, cocking his head to one side and raising an eyebrow. Hitomi began to feel ridiculous. "I'm sorry," she said, eyes closing and shaking her head while rising from the stylish couch. "I sound so stupid."
"Hitomi…" Van began imploringly, as he watched Hitomi head for the kitchen. "Don't be like that."
She stopped and turned around to face him. Looking at him, with his back to the windows, he looked, for a split second, unearthly.
Looking uncomfortable, Van coughed. "Don't you remember? I met you when you were in university."
"But you didn't go to college, ever. Why were you there?" she pressed.
Why is she questioning me like this? "What do you mean, why was I there? I was there because…" Van stopped. His answer was not going to make sense. Realization set in as he figured he could not remember their exact meeting and the circumstances that surrounded it.
Seeing the confusion in his eyes Hitomi kept on the subject. "You can't remember either!" she accused.
"So? What does it matter? Huh?" Van exclaimed, aggravated with the situation. "It happened, so what? It's done, it doesn't matter now. It doesn't matter if we can't remember the little details."
"But.."
"The past doesn't matter to me, Hitomi."
"Van—"
"No, I don't want to hear it!" Van was getting incessantly frustrated with this conversation, which was odd for him.
"Well, I do!" Hitomi exclaimed. Van was never confrontational like this, for as long as she could remember. He usually was very passive and shied away from confrontations. 'Just forget about it, okay?' was his usual response, except for now, although Hitomi could tell he was doing his best to forget about this sudden altercation.
It was quiet between the two of them for a moment. "Van," Hitomi began again.
His shoulders sagging as if under some great weight, Van sighed. "What?" he prompted apathetically.
"I saw two of them."
"Two what?"
"Two moons," she replied, watching his face for any signs. "Like--" she struggled to find the word she wanted. That place, when you looked up in the sky--
Van turned suddenly and went to the sliding door window. "There's only one moon out there that I can see Hitomi."
Hitomi sighed. She had a headache. "Forget it. I'm just tired." She rubbed her temples.
Van turned back to her and crossed the room. "That's probably the best thing to do. We have tomorrow off. We can relax then." Hitomi nodded in tired agreement and allowed Van to lead her to their bedroom.
***********
The cold gust of wind caused Eries to look up suddenly from her writing at the window that had been blown open. Odd, she thought, it should have been locked already. Rising from her desk, the Royal Advisor to the Queen stoically walked to the open window. Reaching out, beyond the sill, to grab the swinging window, she caught sight of the Mystic Moon hanging in the sky. It looked beautiful as always. Why she should notice it tonight she was not sure. But it made her think of him. Then again everything seemed to make her think of him.
Where are you?
After staring for a moment too long, Eries closed the window and made sure it was locked tight. Sighing, she realized it was far too late and her bed was looking far more comfortable than the straight-backed desk chair. Once her writing was put away, she undressed for bed. Grabbing a brush from her vanity she began to pull it through her now shoulder length hair a few times; it was growing in nicely over the last year. With the weight of her longer locks gone, Eries felt as if half her problems had gone with it. Then again, a whole new set of difficulties had emerged.
Laying her head on her pillow, she tried to think of another important person, instead of the usual one.
How is she doing on that ship of hers…?
***********
Celena stood on the head of the Crusade, somewhere on the borders of Asturia and Basram. The ship's low humming noise comforted her as she gazed over the treetops to the mountains in the faraway distance. She so enjoyed this part of the travelling. Being alone, feeling as if on the tip of the world, with nothing holding her back but for the railing. She did not stir from her position as she heard the approach of her second in command behind her.
He cleared his throat. "You should come to bed inside," he paused. "Captain."
Without moving she responded. "I know."
A moment of silence passed between them before she spoke again. "Are the guymelefs secure?"
"Yes."
"The rest of the men as well?"
"Yes. If I may, why do you ask, when you already know the answers? These men know exactly what needs to be done, when and where."
"I know," Celena smiled. "Maybe I just like to hear you talk." She turned around to face her second in command, placing a hand on her hip, with a slight smile on her face. The two moons suspended in the night sky illuminated around her body.
Gaddes walked up to her and his arm found his way around her waist. "I shoulda guessed it." He bent his head down to meet Celena's curved lips. She gladly complied.
After a moment, they parted and began to make their way inside the main cabin of the levi ship. "When will we arrive in Fanelia, Gaddes?" Celena asked quietly, while her eyes carried the slightest image of melancholy.
"Ah, most likely by tomorrow night, I'll bet," he replied, stretching as he did. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure he's there, that's what they said in that pub in Basram, right?" Noticing the rolling of the eyes he received from his Captain, he snickered. "C'mon, I know they weren't the most reliable sort, but they had more leads than some of the other places. Besides, you can't find someone who doesn't want to be found," he finished seriously.
"I know, but it's not for me, it's for—" Celena had begun before she stopped short. Once passing a window in the cabin, she had caught a glimpse of something whip past the window's field of view. Feathers? What for? She made her way over to the window to look out. All she saw was the view of the sky holding up the two moons, nothing else. Dragons. Distrust began to creep into her normally fearless countenance. Celena hated dragons.
"What is it?"
Celena pursed her lips together in frustration. "Must be nothing." She turned back to Gaddes. "I guess I should just go to bed, right?"
Gaddes gave her a lopsided grin. He held out his hand and led her to their quarters.
***********
On the outskirts of the Fanelian palace, Allen Schezar stood guard atop his horse. Making the rounds of the evening, he checked over the points of protection and safeguarding for the palace. As he neared the end of his rounds, he made his way back to the stable to put his horse in for the night. Handing the reigns over to the stable hand, he bid the help good night. His last duty of the shift was to check the guards of the royal suites. The safety of the Fanelian monarch was always the first and last obligation of his nocturnal duty. While there were soldiers guarding the royal chambers, both the King and his new Royal Advisor wished that Allen would observe that all the proper precautions were being taken to provide both privacy and peace of mind. As a knight, Allen did what was asked, no questions.
Allen made his way through the corridors of Fanelia's recently reconstructed palace. It was built to be grander than what it had been initially before the Great War, and yet it still held bits and pieces of the country charm that made Fanelia what it was. Allen had not been in the country as part of its army for the Reconstruction Period, but had heard of the great things that the young King was planning for his country. True to his ambitions, the King had been able to bring the shattered people back to their home and restore some semblance of their former lives. Now Allen had taken the vow to protect the people of Fanelia and their monarch.
Staring straight ahead with an unreadable expression, Allen turned onto the hallway with the royal suites. Near the end of the hallway was a double door, with two guards placed outside. Once the guards saw him, they immediately stood up straight and poised to impress their captain. The captain approached them indifferently and nodded their acknowledgement.
"The King has retired for the evening?"
"Yes, Captain!" the two of them answered simultaneously.
"All points secure?"
"Yes, Captain!"
Allen paused for a moment to listen beyond the door to the royal chamber. His training told him that there was more than one person in the room beyond.
"The King, he is not alone?" he asked of the guards.
The two guards cautiously looked at one another with glances to the side, questioning each other silently as to how to answer. The officer on the left spoke up.
"Sir! The King has a companion with him in his chambers."
The very slightest look of distaste came into the Captain's expression. To a close friend, his abhorrence at the idea would be clear, but the two guards simply saw no indication of feeling from their commanding officer. "I see," he said finally. "Was the companion deemed safe?"
"Yessir," they answered once again in unison. "She was one of the ladies of the court." From beyond the doors, Allen could now make out an undeniably female voice joining the voice of the King, giggling and squealing with what Allen imagined was the King's drunken advances.
"Very well," he sighed, showing his weariness. "Keep watch."
"Yes, Captain!"
Allen Schezar turned away from the guards and began the walk to his own chambers. He would ignore this instance of the King's indiscretion and promiscuity, as he did all the other times. 'So much has changed with him…' he thought. He turned the corner at the end of the hallway and descended down stairs to the corridor below. 'Have I stayed the same though?' he wondered. Thinking of the past events that led him to accept Fanelia's knighthood darkened his expression. 'No,' he sighed, 'I most definitely have not.'
Allen came to the door of his room. "After all," he muttered derisively, "Knights are chivalrous."
**********
He stood over his bed, staring down at her. The King glared at the naked girl lying in his bed. She was sprawled across the sheets in a very unlady- like manner; she was even snoring slightly. A look of loathing played across his features. "How disgusting…" he muttered under his breath. Fastening the tie of his pants, he turned and walked over to the large window of his room and shoved the drapes aside to let the ethereal light of the moons pour over him. Taking a step back, the King lowered his body into a chair and continued to stare at the moons, while toying with the rose colored pendant that hung around his neck. The forlorn look on his face only hardened into a scowl when he kept staring at the glow of the Mystic Moon.
"Why can't I be happy without you?" he asked in a low imploring voice to no one able to hear. The stone of the pendent in his fingers felt hot and awkward around his neck. "Why can't you finally leave my thoughts!"
The only answer he received was a light snore from the bed.
King Van of Fanelia gave a depressed sigh as passing night clouds obscured his view of the moons. "As much as I want to get on with my life, I can't even manage to remove this damned pendant from my neck." Gripping the necklace tightly he became even more frustrated with himself.
"Dammit Hitomi!" His fist came down hard on the wooden tabletop. "Why can't you be with me?"
**********
On Earth, Kanzaki Van, half-asleep, draped his arm around his wife, further assuring himself that she had not left him alone.
…rain…
…walking…in the dark…through stone hallways…metal corridors… late
"Kanzaki-san?"
The man bent over his co-worker who had subsequently dozed off over his work pile. When his friend barely stirred, he called his name again, this time shaking him slightly.
…opening the door, light pours into my room…weapons aimed…arms holding me back…
"Kanzaki-san…"
…death is coming…beyond that ledge…where did the moons go?…
"Kanzaki-san…" he reached out.
…no I want to see you…
With the sudden touch, the young man jerked himself awake almost falling out of his desk chair. Putting out both hands on the desk in front of him to steady himself, he looked up at his friend, eyes wide. "Was I asleep??"
"Yeah, but don't worry, we're now only 3 days behind instead of a week. We got ya covered, Kanzaki!" The man patted his stunned friend on the back as he shared a laugh with his co-workers. Kanzaki-san sat there, taking their jokes at him in good nature, with a smirk on his face.
Glancing at the clock on the wall, Kanzaki-san remembered something…important. The numbers on the wall struck a familiar chord with him and he cringed inwardly when he recalled what they were for exactly. "Damn…" he said quietly to himself.
His friends sobered up a bit. "What's wrong? It's not like you're late or anything. I mean, we're only going to the bar for a few," one friend assured him.
"Actually, I am late," he sighed. "I was supposed to meet my wife at 7:30 tonight for dinner. Seeing that it's 7:08, I don't think I'll make it." He quickly began gathering up his belongings to make a break for the stifling office.
"Heh heh, looks like you're in trouble tonight then! Only way you could get home now is to sprout wings or something! Ha ha!" His friends took a laugh at his own expense, noting the discomfort the last comment gave him.
"Y-yeah," he agreed uncomfortably. "Well, until next week." He waved to his friends as he walked towards the hall to the elevator. While trying to juggle the many papers in his arms, he pressed the button on the elevator to take him to the ground floor.
*********************
Keys in hand, the young man paused at the door to his apartment. It was now 8:15, clearly too late for any previously made plans. With silent resignation he opened the door in front of him to reveal the dark hallway of the apartment. Taking off his shoes, he sighed.
"Tadaima," he called out to no one. His voice traveled through the modest dwelling. He turned on the hallway light and made his way through the apartment, discarding his papers on the kitchen table. He opened the fridge, looking for nothing in particular. His back was starting to ache again, probably from falling asleep at his desk. Shutting the fridge, he went to look in the cabinets above for a pain reliever. Grabbing a bottle, he popped two pills in his mouth, without a gulp of water, and swallowed. He looked again at the clock on the wall. 'I hope she's not mad…'
A sudden blink attracted his attention. Perched on the wall, the phone's message light was glowing off and on. He reached over, picked up the phone and pressed the message button.
"First, new message, received today at 10:34 a. m." the monotone voice droned.
"Good afternoon, Kanzaki-san, we would like to offer—." Erase.
"Second, new message, received today at 1:52 p. m." the machine continued.
"Hey, it's Yukari! What's going on with you and V—." Save for later.
"Third, new message, received today at 4:18 p. m."
"Hitomi, its your mother. Just letting you know that I was cleaning your old room today and found some of your things from when you were in high school. I dropped them off at your apartment and left them in the living room. Call me when you get home." Save.
"Fourth, new message, received today at 7:29 p. m."
"Hey, its me." He stopped and removed his hand from the message pad. "I'm sorry I couldn't meet you at dinner, things got so hectic here, I just couldn't leave. I'll be home soon and I'll bring dinner too. Bye." The dial tone resumed as the caller hung up abruptly.
"To repeat this message, press 1. To save this message, press 2. To erase…"
He quickly pressed 2 on the keypad and hung up the receiver. He breathed a sigh of relief. "Well at least I wasn't the only one to miss dinner," he said to no one. To kill some time, he went into the living room and turned on the television. Remote in hand, he switched the many channels methodically, not really watching any of them. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw an unfamiliar looking box in under the glass top of the coffee table. 'That must be what Mother dropped off…' he thought. It was an old shoebox, most likely from an old pair of his wife's running shoes, he thought. He lifted the lid. There were old papers, report cards, some little trinkets, a picture of his wife as a junior high student with her best friend, common, everyday things. He was about to get to the bottom of the box when he heard the lock of the front door begin to move.
The door opened and closed. He could hear the rustling of plastic bags and the distinct sound of someone kicking off their high heels. He rose from the couch, expectantly looking towards the hallway.
"Tadaima…"called a light voice. Soft, but certain, footsteps headed towards him. Hitomi turned the corner to face Van in the living room. She smiled.
"O-kaeri nasai," and Van smiled back at his wife.
Hitomi smiled back at her husband.
********
Hitomi raised the two bags in her hand. "Well, since we couldn't get out for dinner tonight, I just brought dinner to us." She looked at her husband. "Did you get my message?" she asked, uncertainly.
Van nodded. "Yeah, I did. Don't worry about anything. I only just got home at 8:15." He went to take the bags from her hand and continued walking right into the kitchen, while Hitomi followed him.
"You know something? I think we should take a vacation soon." Hitomi looked to her husband to see if he agreed. "I mean, we're still really young; we shouldn't be working like this yet, right?"
"When did you come up with this idea?" Van stopped, removing the take out food from the bags and looked at her. "Didn't we agree that we have to save our money? And you just got this job a few months ago. Do you really think they'll want to give you time off already?" He went back to checking out the food. "Oh, I am so hungry and this smells so good!"
Hitomi turned away to get some plates from the cupboard. "I know, but…" She knew he was right, to an extent. She was lucky to have the job that she did. "I don't know, it just seems like there's more out there than work all day, everyday." Handing a plate to Van, who began dishing up some rice and vegetables, she began fixing her own dinner. "Oh well, tomorrow is Saturday, we have the day off. We can do something then." She sat down next to where Van had sat at the table, and began to eat.
"Oh Yukari called. I saved the message for later."
"Thanks."
"Your mom called too. Said she left something here for you. Its in a box on the couch," Van continued.
"Oh really? Hmmmm, I wonder what kind of stuff?" Hitomi put down her chopsticks.
"Ah, its just stuff from when you were a kid, like ten years ago or something."
Hitomi looked at her husband disdainfully. "I'm not that old you know!" She swatted him playfully. He smiled at her obvious annoyance. She stared at him while he continued to shovel food in his mouth. "Where would you like to go for a vacation?" she began, immediately changing the subject. He glanced at her in a sarcastic manner. "No, really. I want to know. We could go to Australia? Or India. Someplace exotic, where we'd have lots of fun and no worries about anything."
"How would we get there?" Van asked skeptically.
"Well…." Hitomi began gently. "We could fly…."
"Hitomi…"
"Oh flying in a plane wouldn't be so bad! You know you could do it," Hitomi started. Van stared at his bowl with a look on his face that had growing dislike for the current subject. "You should try to get over your fear of flying."
"Flying has nothing to do with it. I just don't like heights, you know that," Van replied indignantly. He looked imploringly at his wife. "I am perfectly comfortable being in a plane."
"Yeah, sure, if its on the ground," Hitomi finished flatly. "You know, I don't even know how you got such a horrifying fear of heights in the first place." Getting up, she took her empty bowl to the sink and let it drop. The clanging noise told Van it was time to jump ship and get off the subject.
"You know, maybe we could…" he began, turning in his seat to face the back of his wife standing near the sink.
"No. Don't worry about it, Van," Hitomi said quietly. "I mean, if it's that bad, really, we don't have to do that." She smiled at him. Staring at her green eyes, he smiled back.
Turning back to his meal, he picked up the bowl and twisted in his seat once more. While rising at an odd angle, he halted and his face grimaced. Hitomi immediately reached out for the bowl with one hand and Van with the other. She dropped the bowl into the sink and turned her attentions back to Van.
"What's wrong? Is it your back again?"
Van sighed, straightening his back cautiously. Moving his shoulders up and down, he managed a smile to reassure his wife. "Yeah, yeah, it's ok. I think I just got up too fast or something."
"Maybe you should see a doctor about it." Van shook his head.
"No I'll be fine, really. I'll just—just go take a bath. That'll make it feel better," he reasoned. He stared down at his wife face, framed by light brown layers of hair and bangs. Leaning into her, he brushed his lips against hers. He felt her hand rise up from his side to caress his cheek. He drew his arms ever so gently around his wife as they shared this one quiet moment from their hectic days.
After a moment, Hitomi backed away ever so carefully. "Mmm," she sighed looking up to him. "You should save some of that for later. Now go take a bath!"
"Alright, alright, I'm going." With that Van turned and walked down the hallway towards the bathroom, one hand rubbing his lower back.
Watching him go Hitomi put the rest of the food away. Then, taking a can of soda, she made her way into the living room. About to drop onto the couch, she noticed the old shoebox near the coffee table. She bent down to pick it up and settled back onto the couch. Placing the box on her lap she lifted the cover.
Inside was her adolescence. Little trinkets, keychains and pins, given to her by her friends, a report card with mostly good grades, a picture of herself, her friends Yukari and Susumu Amano, who were married now, only they all wore their high school track uniforms. Hitomi smiled as she remembered their friendship back then. Life seemed so easy in those days, she thought wistfully. She sifted through some other items that brought back memories for her, things that she hadn't thought of for quite some time.
At the bottom of the box was a deck of cards.
They were larger than a normal deck of playing cards, with an intricate design on the back. They were bound with an old elastic band that cut into the sides of the forgotten cards. Hitomi stared at them with faint recognition. 'These are…my…' She reached into the box and gingerly took hold of the tarot cards that she had given up so long ago. A slow smile spread across her face as she started to remember all of the readings she would give her friends in junior and high school. Whenever there were doubts about love or luck, people would head for Hitomi, to hear of where fate would take them.
Of course, it was just a silly hobby, a game, really, she had always reasoned.
Hitomi carefully took off the elastic that bound the cards together and she turned over the first card.
The Lovers. Hitomi couldn't help but smile at that. How many times had she seen that card come up for one of her friends? It was always fun to see how happy she could make people just by picking the right card. She placed the card on the table in front of her. She drew the next card.
The Tower. Her smile disappeared as the card stared back at her, mocking the fact that she had picked it.
"Now I know why I gave this stuff up! Stupid things give me the creeps," she said out loud, to herself. With all the intensity of studying for her high school entrance exams, Hitomi had decided to give up on the tarot reading. It really had never been that important to her to begin with. "Stupid cards…" She took the card with the crumbling tower and placed it back on the deck, with the card of the lovers to follow. Taking the elastic to rebind them, she was about to shove them back in the box rather carelessly when she saw one last item out of the corner of her eye, in the box. She began to reach in to see what it was while she placed the cards beside her on the cushion.
It was a feather. One white, perfect feather lying on the old cardboard bottom.
It seemed as if Hitomi's heart skipped a beat. Her breath caught in her throat, she drew her hand back as if the feather would contaminate her somehow. The feather did not appear to have been in the box for very long. Hitomi could have sworn that it hadn't been there a moment ago. She tentatively reached in to brush her fingertips with the airy texture of the feather. A strange sense of calmness seemed to come over her, letting her forget of the uneasiness the tarot cards had caused her. She delicately picked the feather up between her finger and thumb and drew it out of the box, being ever so careful as if it would disintegrate at any moment.
Hitomi felt strange. Since holding the feather, the surroundings of her apartment vanished. She found herself staring up into the sky at night. I'm in the country? she thought. All around her was nothing but grass. In the distance were great mountains and forests. It was the sky that continued to hold her attention. She could see the Earth in the sky. With the moon. Both, together.
Where the hell is this?
Suddenly, all around her was a shower of feathers, like the one that she held in her hand. Looking up, she felt the ground beneath her give way, hearing loud cracks as the earth beneath her crumbled away. She screamed as she began falling into nothingness. Her hands reached out to something instinctually, waiting for something to take hold. She could see in the distance someone reaching out to her….
…someone with wings…an angel? With wings so bright and strong.
From behind her, Hitomi heard a sharp noise and something hit the being that was trying to save her. She watched helplessly as the angel was hit in the chest, the wings flailing, trying to work, but faltering. The image of the angel suddenly burst in a torrent of bloodied white feathers.
Hitomi realized that she was no longer falling. In fact, she was being held from behind, in a very careful and firm grip. She could feel the hot breath from the person behind her on her neck. Looking down, she saw two hands encased in black gloves holding on to her. Tentatively, she turned her head around to get a look at the person who saved her from falling, but also killed the other. She sucked in her breath.
It was her husband, Van, gazing at her hard with his amber eyes. Why? Why you? She looked down to her hand that held the cause of what she was seeing.
The feather she had held was now spoiled with blood. Hitomi gasped, and a strangled cry escaped her throat…
…and she found herself back in her living room, sitting on her couch, just as it was before. Yet, now she held no feather at all. All that she held were her tarot cards, in a tight grasp; she was making her knuckles become white with the hard grip. She found herself drawing in shaky breaths as she glanced around her apartment, verifying that she indeed was there and never left. Closing her eyes with a quiet whimper, she put a hand to cover her mouth to drown out any noises that might worry her husband. That was the last thing she wanted to do. She needed to calm down.
Why? Why am I seeing things? she screamed inside her head.
Because these are things that need to be seen.
Hitomi jerked her head up and looked around the room. She was still alone. She was hearing things now. I must be working harder than I thought, Hitomi began to rationalize. "Maybe Van and I should take a vacation." She took in a few more deep breaths.
"This is crazy." Standing up and still holding the tarot cards tightly, she walked towards the sliding glass door that led to the balcony. Van had never liked it much, but she did. She needed some air to help relax before she went to bed. Hitomi pushed aside the curtain and slid the door open. Before she had even placed one foot onto the concrete balcony, a cold gust of wind had swept up with a flurry of white, shining feathers, wrapping themselves around Hitomi's body. In an instance of pure shock, she shut her eyes until she felt the wind stop momentarily. Warily, she opened her eyes. As the ground around her was littered with white feathers, Hitomi looked up into the sky. Her knees began to shake, threatening to give out at any moment, and let her hit the concrete of the balcony floor.
The sky held not one moon, but two.
1.1 Just like on…
"NO! Not there! I won't!" she screamed to no one. Hitomi felt her knees hit the ground, as her hands found their way to her ears as if to block out some horrific noise.
…like in that place…
"Please!!" she cried desperately to anyone. "I left! It's done!"
Gaea.
"STOP IT!"
Suddenly, Hitomi felt strong arms pull at her from behind. She found herself seated on the couch, with Van hurriedly closing the sliding door. Once closed, he quickly went to her side. Trying to take her hands away from her face, Van began trying to calm his wife. Hitomi stared at nothing, while taking in ragged breaths.
"What was that about, huh?" Van pried. His gentle demeanor concerned looked made Hitomi focus on his expression. Her brows knit together in confusion, as she stared at Van. He tried again. "What did you leave? What did you finish?" repeating what he had heard her scream outside.
What was I talking about? "I-I don't know. It was just…" she started. "It-" she stopped. Her changed gaze made Van feel as if she were looking at some strange creature with no explanation. Studying Van closely, she pulled her hands out of his grasp. "Where did you come from?"
"What?" What the hell is she thinking about now? Now it was Van's turn to stare questioningly.
"Where are you from?" she repeated. "You aren't from Japan. Why can't I remember?"
Van still stared at her questioningly, cocking his head to one side and raising an eyebrow. Hitomi began to feel ridiculous. "I'm sorry," she said, eyes closing and shaking her head while rising from the stylish couch. "I sound so stupid."
"Hitomi…" Van began imploringly, as he watched Hitomi head for the kitchen. "Don't be like that."
She stopped and turned around to face him. Looking at him, with his back to the windows, he looked, for a split second, unearthly.
Looking uncomfortable, Van coughed. "Don't you remember? I met you when you were in university."
"But you didn't go to college, ever. Why were you there?" she pressed.
Why is she questioning me like this? "What do you mean, why was I there? I was there because…" Van stopped. His answer was not going to make sense. Realization set in as he figured he could not remember their exact meeting and the circumstances that surrounded it.
Seeing the confusion in his eyes Hitomi kept on the subject. "You can't remember either!" she accused.
"So? What does it matter? Huh?" Van exclaimed, aggravated with the situation. "It happened, so what? It's done, it doesn't matter now. It doesn't matter if we can't remember the little details."
"But.."
"The past doesn't matter to me, Hitomi."
"Van—"
"No, I don't want to hear it!" Van was getting incessantly frustrated with this conversation, which was odd for him.
"Well, I do!" Hitomi exclaimed. Van was never confrontational like this, for as long as she could remember. He usually was very passive and shied away from confrontations. 'Just forget about it, okay?' was his usual response, except for now, although Hitomi could tell he was doing his best to forget about this sudden altercation.
It was quiet between the two of them for a moment. "Van," Hitomi began again.
His shoulders sagging as if under some great weight, Van sighed. "What?" he prompted apathetically.
"I saw two of them."
"Two what?"
"Two moons," she replied, watching his face for any signs. "Like--" she struggled to find the word she wanted. That place, when you looked up in the sky--
Van turned suddenly and went to the sliding door window. "There's only one moon out there that I can see Hitomi."
Hitomi sighed. She had a headache. "Forget it. I'm just tired." She rubbed her temples.
Van turned back to her and crossed the room. "That's probably the best thing to do. We have tomorrow off. We can relax then." Hitomi nodded in tired agreement and allowed Van to lead her to their bedroom.
***********
The cold gust of wind caused Eries to look up suddenly from her writing at the window that had been blown open. Odd, she thought, it should have been locked already. Rising from her desk, the Royal Advisor to the Queen stoically walked to the open window. Reaching out, beyond the sill, to grab the swinging window, she caught sight of the Mystic Moon hanging in the sky. It looked beautiful as always. Why she should notice it tonight she was not sure. But it made her think of him. Then again everything seemed to make her think of him.
Where are you?
After staring for a moment too long, Eries closed the window and made sure it was locked tight. Sighing, she realized it was far too late and her bed was looking far more comfortable than the straight-backed desk chair. Once her writing was put away, she undressed for bed. Grabbing a brush from her vanity she began to pull it through her now shoulder length hair a few times; it was growing in nicely over the last year. With the weight of her longer locks gone, Eries felt as if half her problems had gone with it. Then again, a whole new set of difficulties had emerged.
Laying her head on her pillow, she tried to think of another important person, instead of the usual one.
How is she doing on that ship of hers…?
***********
Celena stood on the head of the Crusade, somewhere on the borders of Asturia and Basram. The ship's low humming noise comforted her as she gazed over the treetops to the mountains in the faraway distance. She so enjoyed this part of the travelling. Being alone, feeling as if on the tip of the world, with nothing holding her back but for the railing. She did not stir from her position as she heard the approach of her second in command behind her.
He cleared his throat. "You should come to bed inside," he paused. "Captain."
Without moving she responded. "I know."
A moment of silence passed between them before she spoke again. "Are the guymelefs secure?"
"Yes."
"The rest of the men as well?"
"Yes. If I may, why do you ask, when you already know the answers? These men know exactly what needs to be done, when and where."
"I know," Celena smiled. "Maybe I just like to hear you talk." She turned around to face her second in command, placing a hand on her hip, with a slight smile on her face. The two moons suspended in the night sky illuminated around her body.
Gaddes walked up to her and his arm found his way around her waist. "I shoulda guessed it." He bent his head down to meet Celena's curved lips. She gladly complied.
After a moment, they parted and began to make their way inside the main cabin of the levi ship. "When will we arrive in Fanelia, Gaddes?" Celena asked quietly, while her eyes carried the slightest image of melancholy.
"Ah, most likely by tomorrow night, I'll bet," he replied, stretching as he did. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure he's there, that's what they said in that pub in Basram, right?" Noticing the rolling of the eyes he received from his Captain, he snickered. "C'mon, I know they weren't the most reliable sort, but they had more leads than some of the other places. Besides, you can't find someone who doesn't want to be found," he finished seriously.
"I know, but it's not for me, it's for—" Celena had begun before she stopped short. Once passing a window in the cabin, she had caught a glimpse of something whip past the window's field of view. Feathers? What for? She made her way over to the window to look out. All she saw was the view of the sky holding up the two moons, nothing else. Dragons. Distrust began to creep into her normally fearless countenance. Celena hated dragons.
"What is it?"
Celena pursed her lips together in frustration. "Must be nothing." She turned back to Gaddes. "I guess I should just go to bed, right?"
Gaddes gave her a lopsided grin. He held out his hand and led her to their quarters.
***********
On the outskirts of the Fanelian palace, Allen Schezar stood guard atop his horse. Making the rounds of the evening, he checked over the points of protection and safeguarding for the palace. As he neared the end of his rounds, he made his way back to the stable to put his horse in for the night. Handing the reigns over to the stable hand, he bid the help good night. His last duty of the shift was to check the guards of the royal suites. The safety of the Fanelian monarch was always the first and last obligation of his nocturnal duty. While there were soldiers guarding the royal chambers, both the King and his new Royal Advisor wished that Allen would observe that all the proper precautions were being taken to provide both privacy and peace of mind. As a knight, Allen did what was asked, no questions.
Allen made his way through the corridors of Fanelia's recently reconstructed palace. It was built to be grander than what it had been initially before the Great War, and yet it still held bits and pieces of the country charm that made Fanelia what it was. Allen had not been in the country as part of its army for the Reconstruction Period, but had heard of the great things that the young King was planning for his country. True to his ambitions, the King had been able to bring the shattered people back to their home and restore some semblance of their former lives. Now Allen had taken the vow to protect the people of Fanelia and their monarch.
Staring straight ahead with an unreadable expression, Allen turned onto the hallway with the royal suites. Near the end of the hallway was a double door, with two guards placed outside. Once the guards saw him, they immediately stood up straight and poised to impress their captain. The captain approached them indifferently and nodded their acknowledgement.
"The King has retired for the evening?"
"Yes, Captain!" the two of them answered simultaneously.
"All points secure?"
"Yes, Captain!"
Allen paused for a moment to listen beyond the door to the royal chamber. His training told him that there was more than one person in the room beyond.
"The King, he is not alone?" he asked of the guards.
The two guards cautiously looked at one another with glances to the side, questioning each other silently as to how to answer. The officer on the left spoke up.
"Sir! The King has a companion with him in his chambers."
The very slightest look of distaste came into the Captain's expression. To a close friend, his abhorrence at the idea would be clear, but the two guards simply saw no indication of feeling from their commanding officer. "I see," he said finally. "Was the companion deemed safe?"
"Yessir," they answered once again in unison. "She was one of the ladies of the court." From beyond the doors, Allen could now make out an undeniably female voice joining the voice of the King, giggling and squealing with what Allen imagined was the King's drunken advances.
"Very well," he sighed, showing his weariness. "Keep watch."
"Yes, Captain!"
Allen Schezar turned away from the guards and began the walk to his own chambers. He would ignore this instance of the King's indiscretion and promiscuity, as he did all the other times. 'So much has changed with him…' he thought. He turned the corner at the end of the hallway and descended down stairs to the corridor below. 'Have I stayed the same though?' he wondered. Thinking of the past events that led him to accept Fanelia's knighthood darkened his expression. 'No,' he sighed, 'I most definitely have not.'
Allen came to the door of his room. "After all," he muttered derisively, "Knights are chivalrous."
**********
He stood over his bed, staring down at her. The King glared at the naked girl lying in his bed. She was sprawled across the sheets in a very unlady- like manner; she was even snoring slightly. A look of loathing played across his features. "How disgusting…" he muttered under his breath. Fastening the tie of his pants, he turned and walked over to the large window of his room and shoved the drapes aside to let the ethereal light of the moons pour over him. Taking a step back, the King lowered his body into a chair and continued to stare at the moons, while toying with the rose colored pendant that hung around his neck. The forlorn look on his face only hardened into a scowl when he kept staring at the glow of the Mystic Moon.
"Why can't I be happy without you?" he asked in a low imploring voice to no one able to hear. The stone of the pendent in his fingers felt hot and awkward around his neck. "Why can't you finally leave my thoughts!"
The only answer he received was a light snore from the bed.
King Van of Fanelia gave a depressed sigh as passing night clouds obscured his view of the moons. "As much as I want to get on with my life, I can't even manage to remove this damned pendant from my neck." Gripping the necklace tightly he became even more frustrated with himself.
"Dammit Hitomi!" His fist came down hard on the wooden tabletop. "Why can't you be with me?"
**********
On Earth, Kanzaki Van, half-asleep, draped his arm around his wife, further assuring himself that she had not left him alone.