NOTE: There are no BK spoilers in this fic. However, there ARE spoilers in the intro/thing. They are in the second paragraph. If you have not reached the Fifth End Magnus at the least, skip the second paragraph of the intro/thing. Having finished BK would be better, although of the spoilers revealed towards the end of BK are not stated explicitly. They are, however, implied, but only in that one paragraph. I would recommend skipping it if you have not finished the game.
Well, this strange little thing has an odd backstory. It started as a Kalas and Melodia centric piece, centered around when they were both kids, that I started writing in class while procrastinating on my English assignment. Then I decided that it would work better in a series of connected drabbles, but had difficulty getting anything I wrote to work (as it always is when you're trying to write something in particular ). A few days ago, my muse decided to be nice to me and I wrote the first two parts of what you see here. I was going to simply connect what I'd already written to what I'd just finished when I realized that, due to how I'd written the first piece, it would need several editing attacks before the whole thing would flow together. So I decided to simply write another section. A few of the elements are the same, but a whole chunk of dialog in the original piece never got converted to the second. So it goes XD. This was also the first time, oddly enough, that I've used music to break through a mini writer's block. Specifically, countless repeats of the song Your Hand In Mine by Explosions in the Sky XD. It's an amazing song and really reminded me of Kalas and Melodia's relationship (or at least how I interpret their relationship XD). Not to mention it works well for any extremely close relationship and is now officially my Best Song To Write To song XD. (other notable songs are Tifa's piano theme from FF VII: Advent Children and Eyes on Me from FFVIII, although I have really no idea why the last one fit, but it did)
Anyway, this is essentially how I interpret Kalas and Melodia's pre-BK relationship. In my personal opinion, I think that Kalas and Melodia had to be childhood friends, simply because Kalas doesn't like people. Or trust them. And regardless of the tempting offer of power for revenge, he would not trust some random albino girl he'd never met after his brother and grandfather had just been killed by people he'd never met. Granted, I may be wrong, but I think he would be much more responsive to someone he knew who had been worried about him and then introduced the idea of bonding with a spirit after he'd mentioned revenge. Also, everyone in Mira that you meet pretty much loves Melodia and says she's really sweet and caring and everything, so before her parents' deaths and the influence of Malpercio she must have been genuinely kind. Not to mention that I believe the theory that Sagi and Milly are her parents, so she was probably much more energetic earlier in her life. Oh, and I used a mix of canon ages and what I decided because I didn't like the canon ages. So, in this fic, Kalas is 13, Melodia is 10 (the plague will occur when she is 12), and Fee is 9. I have a feeling that Fee is actually two years younger than Kalas as opposed to four years, but a four year difference worked better for this fic. Oh, and Melli/Mel are nicknames for Melodia, just in case anyone's confused.
A middle aged man sat at a worktable, carefully inspecting the inside of a small clock. Frowning at the dust covering its inner workings, he blew harshly into it, then choked on the debris.
"Gets me every time," he muttered to himself, coughing. Again he peered into the clock, only to grimace and shove a pair of glasses onto his face. There! Much clearer.
"Gramps! Gramps, I'm home!" Georg sighed and gently put down the clock before exiting to the front room, where a blond haired boy around the age of nine was disposing of a bag that seemed overly heavy for a fourth grader.
"Fee, how was school? And…" Georg glanced outside. "Fee, where's your brother?" he asked in a slightly worried tone. The last time Kalas had come home by himself, Melodia's father had brought him home a few hours later covered in bruises, scrapes, and with a broken arm.
"Oh, right!" Fee's slightly embarrassed look at having forgotten something went a long way towards easing Georg's nerves. "We ran into Melli on the way home. She was leaving the library and Kalas went with her back to her house." That was good, as long as the two managed to stay out of any fights on the way to Melodia's home. Most boys might be unwilling to hit a girl, especially Duke Calbren's granddaughter, but Melodia had no such qualms when someone important to her had been insulted. He sincerely hoped that they would make it through the day without incident. "Oh yeah, and Melli's mother is with them," Fee added as an afterthought, head slightly tipped to one side. Georg let out a breath and relaxed. Milliarde might have been more volatile than her daughter, but no one would dare say anything about Kalas while she was in sight.
"That's good," he said with a small smile. "Did he say when he'd be back?" Another memory rose up of the time several years earlier Kalas had been forced to sprint all the way from Trill's house in the dark while escaping several drunks who had decided to do something about the "freak". After that, Melodia's parents had interfered, either escorting him back or somehow –Georg had no idea how, Kalas was one of the most stubborn kids he'd ever met- persuading him to stay the night. Still, it would be less worrisome if he knew an approximate time.
"Nah," Fee said, digging through a cabinet for a snack. Georg sighed again and thought to himself, does he ever?
"All right, you two!" Melodia's mother shouted as the two children raced towards the door of the house. She valued her dignity too much to chase after them. "Do what you want, but don't get into trouble!" Her words went unnoticed as two voices began to rise in argument directly in front of the door. A young man let out a quiet laugh as he approached her from the side.
"Are they arguing over who won again?" Sagi asked as he approached her. She smiled and linked her arm through his.
"It would appear so," Milly said with a faint note of exasperation as the volume of the argument increased.
"Reminds you of Tik and Wacho, doesn't it?" She snorted, remembering the squabbles between the two that were the bane of her husband's existence whenever they visited Sheratan. "Steal each other's cake and everything."
Milly rolled her eyes in a manner unfitting to the image she usually tried to project. "Kalas! Melodia! Stop yelling this instant!" she hollered down the drive.
"You yell!" Kalas shouted back.
"I'm older!" she shouted, her tone of voice brooking no further argument. The boy appeared to mutter something under his breath before he and Melodia picked up their school bags and went inside. "Finally," she muttered at her normal volume. Her husband shook his head until she glared at him. He quickly raised his arms in protection. Milly huffed and kept walking.
Slowly and warily, Sagi lowered his arms from their position in front of his face. When no bad-tempered punch came his way, he jogged the next few steps until he was even with his wife again.
"To be fair," he began, ready to run for it if Milly objected to "being fair", "they are a bit better than Tik and Wacho. After all, those two usually have to be bribed to forgive each other."
"What would we bribe them with if it was necessary?" Milly said with a slight snarl. "The only effective bribe I can think of is food, and the two of them just steal it from the kitchen."
"Point." Sagi nodded his head in acknowledgement as he opened the door for his wife. "Maybe-" He was cut off by a distinct and sadly familiar sound; that of two children squealing and running away from an annoyed servant. Sure enough, two small blurs soon shot past him, laughing, followed by one of the cooks who looked more amused than annoyed. Milly, on the other hand, was nearly vibrating with annoyance.
"Is chasing them really necessary?" Sagi asked the cook in a deceptively neutral voice.
"No," the young man responded with a grin. "But it brightens all our days." At this, Milly made a sound that was remarkably similar to that of a tea kettle. The cook took his cue and fled back to the safety of the kitchen, leaving Sagi stranded with a woman barely restraining the urge to abandon all dignity to chase down the two children and lock them in room where they couldn't cause any trouble.
Sagi sighed. Why, he wondered, was he always in the middle of these things?
Already far from her enraged mother, Melodia and Kalas picked their way through the gardens all the way to the low wall that marked the edge of Duke Calbren's property.
"Dang, your mom was pissed this time," Kalas said with a snort, leaping lightly on top of the wall. He pulled two apples out of his pocket –spoils from the kitchen- and tossed one down to Melodia before taking a large bite out of the other. "Good thing your dad's so level headed, otherwise we'd be dead."
"He gets pissed," she corrected. "He simply doesn't see any harm in the two of us stealing food from the kitchen. If we were to do something stupid such as leaving the city bounds by ourselves, then he would get pissed."
"In the mean time, he's on our side."
Melodia allowed a slightly evil grin to spread over her face. "Exactly," she said, and bit into her own apple. Lodging her teeth into the apple, she lifted herself onto the wall. Kalas looked down at her and smirked.
"Weak!"
"You're taller! And older!" she snapped, her characteristic educated –well, educated for a ten year old- words fleeing at the insult.
"Doesn't make you not weak!"
"Just because I don't have experience-" The good humor fled the boy's face as it twisted into a bitter scowl. He stared out down the road leading away from Balancoire. Melodia looked down at her hands. "I'm sorry, Kalas," she said awkwardly. "I didn't mean it like that."
He took a deep breath, then sat down next to her as he exhaled. "S'alright," he said, still not looking at her.
"Kalas, I truly am-"
"Yeah, yeah," he responded without the caustic tone he usually said those words in. "It was an accident." Melodia couldn't tell if she had been forgiven or not.
"Sorry…"
"Mel." He put a hand on her shoulder and she looked up. "I know you. It was an accident." She nodded, still feeling guilty. "Now cheer up and stop apologizing. You're such a dork." He gently knocked his fist against the side of her head.
"Hey!" she objected, accepting his attempt to turn to the conversation to lighter topics. "My being three years younger than you and smarter than you doesn't make me a dork!"
"No, it makes you crazy," he said with a grin. "Especially when you use all those long words like…" He paused.
Melodia crowed in an extremely unladylike fashion. "You can't remember any of them!" she said, laughing.
"Oi!" He knocked his fist against her head again, then decided on a better course of action and started messing up her hair. She shrieked, more out of habit than out of any annoyance.
"Kalas!" She flailed, pushing his arms away from her head. "What was that for?" she protested, although the sting was taken out of it by her laughter. His trademark cocky grin found its way onto his face and she resisted the urge to elbow him.
"No reason. Just wanted to annoy you," Kalas said with a smirk.
"Ugh!" Melodia gave into the urge and elbowed her best friend in the side. He yelped, though it didn't stop him from laughing. She rolled her eyes. "You're hopeless," she remarked to the boy still chuckling quietly. His response was to poke her in the side, causing her to squeak even she knew he was doing it.
"So are you," he said, his grin more careless than arrogant. Good thing, too, or she would have elbowed him again. They both fell silent, or as silent as two people who are still laughing about something can be. Soon, though, even the laughter faded as both devoted their attention to their respective apples.
"Oh, yeah," Kalas said through a mouthful of apple. Silently, Melodia congratulated herself on being able to understand him. It had been a slow coming talent, but at least it had come. "How's that library thing going? Didn't your mom say that your grandfather was rebuilding it or something?"
"Expanding it, although they are rebuilding parts." She took a bite out of her apple, chewed, and swallowed before she continued. "It's going well. The new floor needs to be decorated and furnished and there are a few other sections that are still under construction, but it's almost done. You should visit with us sometime," she added at the end, unable to resist needling Kalas on his dislike of academic institutions. He made a gagging sound.
"Think I'll pass on that."
"Oh, really?" she said with an impudent whine to her voice. "We'll be importing so many new books." She suppressed a snicker when he glared at her.
"Definitely passing on that," he said, disgusted. Melodia giggled. "Did I ever mention you are the strangest ten-year-old I know?"
"Yes, you did. I believe the latest time was yesterday." A grin spread over her face as a new thought came to mind. "You know, your brother will probably want to visit once it's finished." He nodded, suspicious. "He's still young, so your grandfather will probably want you to go with him." Kalas's look of shock and horror nearly made her fall off the wall with laughter.
"If you ever suggest that to him, I will dunk you in the fountain," he said darkly.
"Hmm…It might be worth it," she said mildly, then burst into laughter as Kalas's glare darkened. "Don't worry; I won't say anything," she assured him, although he didn't appear to believe her much.
"You better not," he grumbled. Melodia gave him a dazzling, innocent-seeming smile. Kalas opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by a gardener approaching through the bushes.
"There you are!" the man said with a relieved smile. A very relieved smile. The two children glanced at each other. "Lady Milliarde is looking for the two of you." Kalas immediately swore under his breath and Melodia quickly put a hand over his mouth to keep him quiet.
"Did Mother state why?" she asked the servant in as neutral a voice as she could muster.
"No, miss." The two children glanced at each other again. If she hadn't said why she wanted them, then that meant she was probably annoyed with them about something. Which meant it wasn't safe to be anywhere near her mother until her father managed to calm her down.
"Could you inform her that we will be in shortly? I would appreciate it," Melodia said innocently, a charming smile on her face. The gardener nodded and turned back to the manor. Melodia allowed herself to feel a moment of pity for the man before turning back to Kalas.
"Where should we hide?" she whispered.
"Trill's house? If she finds us and we're helping Trish's mom, she might not kill us as much," he offered.
"Good idea. Let's go before she comes looking for us." Melodia hopped off the wall and hid her apple core under a large bush. Kalas followed suit, then snuck closer to the house and peered over a wall of bushes before turning back to her, slightly pale. "He's almost in the house, isn't he?" she asked anxiously.
Kalas nodded. "We have to hurry. Race you!" He took off towards the city. Melodia grinned slightly and followed him.
"Nothing like a competition to make you go faster, right?" she asked once she caught up.
"'Course," he responded as he jumped over an inconveniently placed rock. "Loser takes the blame for all this?"
"Deal." Kalas bobbed his head in acknowledgement before putting on speed and she laughed breathlessly before doing the same.
Like it? Hate it? Want to offer your own opinions? Then review! XD Reviews would be greatly appreciated, especially if you tell me what you liked and what you didn't. Thanks for reading! -TJdork
