Nine Hundred Years Too Soon
Chapter One
The world was a haze of red as one man struggled to survive. His steps were unsteady and each breath he took was agony. He wished for a quicker death, but there was nothing to grant him that. He'd been split off from his friends and now was subject to whatever cruel fate awaited him. As he collapsed to his knees, he saw a brilliant light, and hoped that the end was near for him.
"Finally…………………..the pain will stop………………" the man thought, as he allowed the light to surround him.
Marian sighed as she drove home from work. Her life was worse than dull and her luck was worse than mediocre. For the fifth time that year, she was without a boyfriend.
"At least work seems to be going good." Marian thought, as she started to round a corner. She slammed on the breaks when she saw something appear from nowhere right in front of her.
"Holy shit!" Marian screamed, as she brought her car to a screeching halt. Cautiously, she got out of the vehicle and approached whatever had come out into the road. She gasped when she saw that a man lay unconscious on the pavement.
"Hey! Are you all right? I didn't hit you or anything did I?" Marian asked, as she kneeled down and checked the man's pulse. He groaned when she touched him, but otherwise didn't say anything.
"Well, now what do I do? I can't just leave him here." Marian muttered, as she eyed the man. Then, with a sigh of resignation, she dragged him to the car, ever mindful of the possibility of wounds. After she had gotten him situated, Marian got back into the car and continued her drive home. Once there, she dragged him inside and put him on one of the extra beds. With the added light, Marian could see what she was up against. The man wore a long, black cloak that had a red collar. A gold skull and crossbones clasped the neck of the garment into place. He also wore a black and gold semi-skintight uniform that came complete with boots. Emblazoned across the tunic was a white skull and crossbones. At his waist were two belts, each had a gold skull and crossbones buckle. On one belt was a rapier type sword (or what Marian assumed was a sword) and on his left leg was a revolver type gun. Then Marian looked at the man's face. She could almost guess at the man's ethnicity by his high cheekbones and strong jaw. A scar graced his left cheek and stopped just short of the other side of his nose. A black velvet patch covered his right eye.
"Cripes, what are you? Some kind of pirate?" Marian muttered, as she started working the clasp on the cape loose. At the mention of the word 'pirate' Marian could have sworn that she'd seen the man twitch. When she had gotten the cape and tunic off, she took a look at the man's chest. She shook her head when she saw what condition his chest was in.
"Got yourself into a fight, didn't you?" Marian said, as she took in the sight of bruises upon bruises. Then she looked at his arms. One of the arms had an ugly cut near the shoulder that had gotten infected.
"You sure don't know how to take care of yourself." Marian said, as she dabbed at the wound with a washcloth. After she'd finished getting the wounds tended to, she pulled the man's boots off and tucked him in. she had to admit, he wasn't very hard to look at. Despite the scars he had, he was very handsome.
"With my luck, he's probably some nutcase who thinks he's a pirate." Marian thought, as she turned out the lights and let the man sleep.
Marian was awakened bright and early the next morning by a familiar wet nose prodding her hand.
"Okay, Kiyu, I'm awake." Marian muttered, as she reluctantly got up and got dressed. This was the start to her vacation, so she really didn't have any need to be up so early. Then thoughts of the previous night came back. Silently, she cracked open the door to see if her new 'house guest' had awakened yet and sighed when Kiyu barged past her into the room. Being the inquisitive dog that she was, Kiyu immediately noticed that there was a new person in the room and trotted over to investigate.
"Kiyu!" Marian said, keeping her voice down because she didn't want to wake the man up. Kiyu, of course, didn't listen, and proceeded to nudge the man's hand in the same fashion as she had her mistress'. Marian watched as the man's eyelid fluttered, then opened, to reveal a cool, silvery gray eye. At first the eye was glazed and had a confused look in it; then the man shook his head and cleared it. He looked bemusedly at the dog, then seemed to notice that Marian was still standing there, watching. For a long moment, the man lay where he was and watched Marian, his expression undeniably one of questioning. When he spoke, Marian nearly jumped out of her skin.
"Why did you save me?" the man asked, in a quiet, yet resonant, voice.
"What do you mean? I had to! I couldn't very well leave you on the road! I mean, by now, you'd probably be street pizza!" Marian said, noticing when the man gave her an odd look.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Marian asked.
"You say you found me on a road?" the man asked, quietly, ignoring Marian's question.
"Yes." Marian replied.
"But the last thing I remember was being on a battlefield. Are you sure you found me on a road?" the man asked, as he painfully sat up.
"I'm not questioning my sanity. Yes I am quite sure I found you on the road last night." Marian said, as she leaned back on a wall and looked at the man.
"Are you implying that I am insane?" the man asked, arching an eyebrow when he said that.
"No." Marian lied. The man gave her a skeptical look.
"What is your name?" the man asked, willing enough to change the subject.
"My name's Marian. What's yours?" Marian asked, nonchalantly.
"My name is Harlock." The man replied, coolly.
"So, I guessed right about you last night." Marian said.
"I beg your pardon?" Harlock asked, his expression not changing in the slightest.
"I thought you looked German by the way your face and body are built. Hearing your name really brings it all together. Harlock is a German surname." Marian said, as she watched different expressions flicker across the scarred face of her guest.
"My ancestors are from Arcadia, near Germany." Harlock said, as he watched the woman closely.
"I see. So, are you hungry?" Marian asked. Harlock nodded.
"I'll be right back." Marian said, as she exited the room, leaving Kiyu with Harlock. When Marian returned, she smiled when she saw Harlock scratching Kiyu's ears and noticed the almost sad look in his remaining eye.
"So, I see that Kiyu has taken a liking to you." Marian said, as she entered, carrying a tray with Harlock's breakfast on it.
"It seems that way." Harlock said, with a sigh as the tray was placed in front of him. With a casual air, he eyed the breakfast he'd been given, then started eating.
"You know, for someone that was dressed as a pirate, you sure have good table manners." Marian said, getting a somewhat long-suffering look from Harlock for that remark.
"Not all pirates are sloppy ruffians." Harlock retorted, with a somewhat insulted look on his face.
"Sorry, didn't mean to be insulting." Marian said, with a chuckle.
"Huh, sure you are." Harlock replied, sarcastically.
"Hey, now!" Marian jabbed, good-naturedly.
"What?" Harlock asked, trying to sound innocent.
"You're hopeless. Okay, do you have a pirate ship somewhere?" Marian asked.
"You're not being sarcastic, are you?" Harlock asked, with an eyebrow raised as he finished his breakfast and put the tray aside.
"No! I want to know if you have a ship." Marian said, leaning forward, eager to learn more about her guest.
"I have a ship. Her name is Arcadia." Harlock replied, his expression going deadpan when Marian started laughing.
"What's so funny?" Harlock asked, as Marian wiped tears of mirth from her eyes.
"You named your ship after your birthplace! What happened? Did you get homesick or something?" Marian asked. She was startled when Harlock got up and put his tunic and boots back on, then started rummaging around for his cloak and weapons.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?! Your ribs haven't healed yet!" Marian exclaimed, standing when Harlock leaned on the door frame.
"Why should I explain anything to you? You are obviously ignorant of what the Illumidas Fleet did to the earth and to me. I'm a banished man. I bid you farewell." Harlock said, with a barely contained anger in his voice as he walked out of the room.
"What?! What do you mean by 'Illumidas Fleet'? What're you talking about?" Marian asked, but the man was already out of earshot.
"Damn it." Marian cursed, as she ran out of the room in an effort to follow him. When she got to the kitchen, she could hear him swearing in three different languages; German, Japanese, and English. Then, abruptly, the swearing stopped, and was followed by an uneasy silence.
"Now what?" Marian wondered, as she tiptoed into the kitchen and looked at the 'pirate'. He stood frozen where he was, staring at a small day-by-day calendar that hung by the refrigerator.
"This can't be………………..It just can't be…………There's no way…………." Harlock muttered, as Marian peeked around him in order to try to see what he was getting so worked up about.
"What's the matter? Found out that it's too early for Halloween?" Marian asked. She saw Harlock draw back his single gray eye filled with disbelief.
"No………….I'm nine hundred years in the past……………somehow I have been thrown back in time……" Harlock muttered, as he sank into a kitchen chair with a disbelieving look on his face.
"Nine hundred years in the past? Are you trying to tell me that you're from the thirtieth century?" Marian asked, not believing what she had just heard. Harlock did not answer her, but merely stared at the calendar. All he could think of was that his friends didn't exist, his ship didn't exist, and that he wasn't supposed to exist. At least, not yet anyway. Marian's heart melted when she saw that the tough 'pirate' was trembling at implications she knew nothing about. With a sigh, she gently embraced him from behind and looked at the calendar. The date was Tuesday, September 10, 2002; nine hundred years too soon.