By a Twist of Fate
Chapter One: Wish Away from Pain
Everything was wrong. This room, and the people in it. They were only there to tell you everything was wrong. Yet they were also hope; the hope that could once again make her complete.
"Ms. Giaku," a man said softly, his shadow falling over her as he stood in the light. It didn't matter; she was already shrouded in darkness. Still, the girl did not move.
"Ms. Giaku," he repeated, a little more loudly. The girl looked up slowly, staring at the man in blue uniform dully. Emerald green eyes were backed by blood shot, tearstains streaming down her face. Her fragile frame was shaking; long, light brown hair disheveled, clinging to her face where tears were spilled.
"Y-Yes?" she asked meekly.
The man stared at her sadly. He knew it was his duty as a police officer to tell her the truth, but it hurt so much to see people's hearts shatter in front of him. Especially when they were only fourteen.
"Your father is dead," he said flatly. "And there are no leads about who kidnapped your mother."
He could just see her heart burst in her chest as the tears streamed down her cheeks. She looked so helpless sitting in that chair, hands covering her face. The police officer sat next to her and patted her on the shoulder.
"We'll find your mother, Nozomi," he said quietly.
"Just leave me alone!" she whimpered as the scenes replayed in her mind . . .
*Flashback*
The window was busted open, shards of glass scattered around the living room. The whole first floor was ransacked as if a herd of buffalo had stamped through it. And yet she was helpless, huddling on the steps upstairs, watching her mother defend herself with a knife in hand. It made an odd picture; her mother fighting with a knife. Her emerald green eyes were ablaze with determination, short honey-blond hair clinging to her face from sweat, with every muscle tense. But it wasn't the time to admire her; it was time for help.
"I'll call father," Nozomi whispered, scampering to her room with a cordless phone and locking the door. Breathlessly, she dialed her father's cell phone number with shaky fingers. Holding it to her ear it began to ring. Suddenly, an odd voice came over the other end.
"Hell-o," Jaken Giaku said, slowly and slurred.
"Dad!" Nozomi cried on the other end. "You have to help mother—"
"Sweetie, I'm kinda busy right now," Jaken said, still slurred and out of place. His brown hair was disheveled, his tie askew, and dress shirt not tucked in. A young woman was sitting on his lap on a couch; kissing Jaken's opposite ear.
Tears streamed down Nozomi's face. Mother had been right; he wasn't going to a business meeting. It wasn't even close. He was at a party, drunk, and cheating on his wife, just as her mother had told her. But then wasn't the time to think about it, as Nozomi sat there helplessly while her mother was downstairs being who-knows-what. By now, it might be too late.
"Dad!" Nozomi choked, fighting back tears. "You have to help mother! You have to!"
On the other end she heard a low moan as Jaken pulled away from kissing the woman on his lap. "Alright, I'll help Hitomi out this time . . . I don't know what you're getting so worked up about, sweetie."
"Just shut up and get home!" Nozomi exclaimed, hanging up on him. From downstairs, she heard things crashing all about. What was happening to her mother? And why was she so helpless?
She dialed 911 frantically. It was apparent that her father wouldn't be much help. After what seemed like forever a female voice came on. "Yes?"
"You have to help, my mother—" Nozomi spoke, cut off by a dull ringing coming from the phone. Retracting it from her ear slowly she stared at it, the 'charge battery' button flashing. 'Oh my god . . .'
Unlocking the door, she peeped out of her room. No one was there, but she could see the shadows dance on the wall from the stairs. Quietly, she crept over to the top of the stairs. Tears rolled down her face at the scene below her. There was her mother, bound and gagged, being stuffed into a bag with tiny air holes. (A/N: DT: Grape bag! SZ: Eh, I couldn't think of anything!) The knife, which she'd been using to protect herself, lay discarded on the ground. Five men stood around her, sniggering in delight at their catch.
Nozomi held her hand over her mouth to stop the screams. Why was the phone dead now? Why was father away now? Why was her mother being tortured like this? Just, WHY?
The men, wearing black hooded cloaks, picked up her mother, who was completely stuffed in the bag, and quickly shuffled out the door. Nozomi sat at the top of the stairs, eyes shut tight so she didn't have to watch. When everything was quiet, she slowly walked downstairs, sniffling. The living room was completely trashed, the door slightly ajar. Outside, she saw a car with tinted windows drive away from the house slowly. But she was too far away to read the license plate.
Collapsing, Nozomi cried silently to herself. It was completely silent except for her soft sobs. She had to go to the police and tell them . . . but she just didn't have the strength.
Breaking the silence, sirens blared, getting closer. Nozomi looked up in time to see six cop cars pull up to her house. The first officer to run into the house just stared at the trashed living room, shocked. And there, in the middle of the room, sat a sobbing fourteen-year-old girl.
"Oh dear god . . ." the man muttered.
******
"A severe car crash has left one man dead, another injured," the reporter on the television stated. Nozomi sat in the police station, just getting out of questioning. Police were scampering about, leaving her to watch a small television.
Over the reporters shoulder appeared a picture of the accident. A tractor –trailer was blocking all three northbound lanes, a car completely smashed against its back end. Nozomi's eyes widened in horror. She knew that car . . . it was her father. "The driver of the car was pronounced dead at the scene, but police are investigating whether alcohol was involved, or the driver was just being careless. The driver's name is not yet released."
A policewoman gazed at Nozomi who was on the brink of a new set of tears. Now, it was her job to break it to the teen that it was indeed her father who was dead.
She merely said, "Ms. Giaku, I'm so sorry . . ."
*End Flashback*
Now, sitting in the police station, the memories played in a never-ending loop of horror in her mind.
******
Shadows played in the moonlight as the trees swayed with the wind. Owls hooted against the night sky, warning the small critters of their impending doom. Crickets chirped happily, playing with each other as they hopped about. Everything was perfect, even the temperature.
A twig snapped under one man's foot, seemingly making the woods tense and everything freeze. Other men followed, faces clouded by the shadows the moon cast. One stopped, tapping the man quietly.
"We must be quiet," he hissed under his breath, "you know Prince Yuuyami, he's a clever one. And who knows, maybe the fiends who kidnapped Lord Van are lurking somewhere here-abouts."
Hidden by brush sat another man, this one younger and more appropriately dressed for the climate. His intense auburn eyes glared at the two men who were searching ultimately for him. Well, they could search until they could stand no more, but he was determined that they never find him. At least, not until his task was complete.
"Oh, Prince Yuuyami is always doing these sorts of things," one of the men said, sighing. "But who's to blame him? His father is out there, somewhere, hopefully still breathing, while Prince Yuuyami can do nothing about it."
"Yes," the other man said, as they started to walk in the direction of the other searchers, his voice fading as they walked farther. "Prince Yuuyami always adored his father much more then his mother, and they look so much alike too. It's apparent that he is more like his father rather then his mother. He, and all of Fanelia, can only pray that Lord Van is alright."
The young man in the bushes let out a sigh of relief as the two men disappeared into the night. Relaxing, he crawled over to a tree, positioning himself comfortably against its trunk. He brushed a strand of hair out of his eyes absentmindedly, staring at its odd color. It appeared black at a mere glance, but when studied harder you could see the hints of red streaked throughout. Apparently, his genes didn't know which parent's hair color they wanted, so they settled on a mixture of both to create a very unique hair color.
But, as he stared at his hair and hands, the memory of earlier that day floated back into his mind . . .
*Flashback*
"He's nowhere to be found, Lady Yokoshima," a soldier reported.
"Oh dear . . ." Yokoshima said worriedly. She twiddled with her long, red hair nervously. "Where could he have gone?"
"I-I'm not sure, Lady Yokoshima," the soldier stammered, all things imaginable running through is head.
"You don't think father was—" a young man in a short sleeve blue shirt stammered.
"Hush, Yuuyami," Yokoshima snapped at her son hastily, brushing imaginary dust from her red dress. "Do not think like that."
"But what if he was captured?!" Yuuyami cried, eyes alive with worry and anger. "He's been gone for the whole day practically and no one can find him!"
"It's your father's own fault for not taking along a few soldiers," Yokoshima said huffily.
"Maybe if you'd let me go—" Yuuyami growled at his mother. He hated her right then, a little more than usually.
"Yuuyami, leave!" his mother hissed icily.
"Fine!" Yuuyami exclaimed, outraged. Pushing the soldier out of the way, he opened the door roughly. As he stamped out of the room, he made note to slam the door.
"He truly is his father's son," Yokoshima stated as the soldier gazed past his shoulder at the door.
******
As the sun went down behind the hills and walls Fanelians started to go home. Shop owners packed up their things for the day and restaurant owners paid their workers and left. Seamstresses finished their projects, then put everything back neatly. Fewer people crowded the streets, and nothing could be seen quiet so clearly.
Managing to escape from his mother and a few 'body-guards', Yuuyami slipped quietly out of the castle, taking note that none of the guards noticed. Wearing a light cloak, none left in the street noticed who he was. As he passed them, their conversations floated to his ears, making his heart grow ever tighter.
"Did you hear about how they can't find Lord Van?" they would say.
"Yeah, I heard. They're sending out search parties to look for him."
"They'll never find him, unless one person was stupid enough to capture Lord Van on their own."
"Na, if it were only one person Lord Van would have beat them. I'd have to imagine it was quite a few people."
"Well, I say some kingdom is behind this."
Similar conversations floated around the as the young prince walked towards the outskirts. Slowly he shut out all of their babble; thinking rather of how long it would take for his mother to discover he wasn't there. She would find out soon enough, when he didn't come to dinner, or maybe even when she found the soldiers laying on the floor unconscious . . .
"I'm coming for you, father . . ."
*
End Flashback*"And I will find you, wherever you are, father . . ."
******
Upset and distressed by the day's events, Nozomi sat outside the police station to get some fresh air. She stared up at the stars, as if they would make her wishes come true. But they wouldn't, she'd given up on wishes within a few hours. Dreams and wishes didn't appeal to her anymore, only reality was to be trusted.
But, despite herself, she found herself wishing to be somewhere else, as if that would erase the memories of that day. Even though there was hope for finding her mother, she didn't have her now. She could only wait for local relatives to pick her up so that they could take care of her. This wasn't suppose to happen to her life, she was only fourteen.
"I don't want to be here anymore," Nozomi sobbed quietly. "I want to be somewhere else!"
A blinding white column enveloped her, penetrating the night sky as it took her upward, disappearing moments later . . .
******
The warmth tingled his chest, waking him from unconsciousness. Instantly he wished he hadn't woken up, his muscles sore. The memories of earlier that day floated back into his mind instantly, as he got up slowly. Lethargically, he took the source of the warmth from under his sleeveless red shirt, revealing a pink pendant on a golden chain. His maroon eyes widened as he stared at it.
"Hitomi . . ."
******
"Mm . . . So tired, can't sleep . . ." Yuuyami said groggily to himself. The soporific music of the woods was making him tired, even though he fought sleep.
Eyes drooping slowly, he mumbled, "Find father . . . in the morning . . ."
No sooner had his eyes closed when a blinding column of pure white light landed in front of him. Shielding his eyes from the light shining through even as he clenched them tight, he remained that way until the column disappeared moments later . . .
A/N:
SZ: So, how was that?
DT: Grape bag!
SZ: QUIET YOU!!
DT: Names that we threw out (gotta love'em!):
Kyuukai - long, cherished hope
Sokia: cherished hope
seikeishujutsu] orthopedic or plastic surgery
[shinzoubenmakushou] (n) valvular disease of the heart
SZ note: all names were found by DT, tehehehehe
[dokufu] (n) evil woman
Sorry about the ghetto title, but the rest were worse, TRUST US!
Till next chapter!
DragonTamer9741//Spirit0