Eyeana
Eyeana
Chapter One
by Vincent Seyuri

The garden was overgrown with weeds and the various bushes had become the kings of the ground. A cracked stone fountain stood far away in a distant corner, and it fitted his purposes perfectly. With relative ease the man jumped over the gate and cleared way through the growth. He stopped at the fountain and looked at it longingly.
"Such a beauty it must have been in the golden days." he murmured and sat down on the overgrown bench placed on the side of it. Then he frowned, now a bit irritated.
"Where are you, Gabriel?"

Gabriel himself looked solemnly at the closed iron gates.
"How the hell had you thought I was to get over those?" he said out loud to himself, part of him screaming to leave this frightening place.
"Oh well, here goes..."
With a deep breath he squeezed himself between the bars. He yelped as he fell to the ground on the other side.
"Now look what you've done, Gabe, you must have cracked a rib!"
Without warning, a firm hand was placed on his back and dragged him up on his feet. Gabe fumbled after the talisman around his neck but couldn't get hold of it. His feet were unsteady and he toppled backwards, falling into the arms of this unknown person.
"Easy, Gabe!" the voice said and Gabriel relaxed a little, he knew this voice anywhere. "It's only me."
He let himself be picked up and dusted off, while he leaned against the iron bars.
"You caught me a little off hand there," he said when he relied on his voice again. "Please, don't do that any more."
The man laughed and put an arm around Gabriels shoulders to support him.
"Okay, I won't."
"Why on earth did you want to meet me here, Wrath?"
Wrath raised his eyebrows.
"I felt it a good place to be. I forgot that you don't like these surroundings, sorry. But doesn't it resemble Schloss Ritter? Just a little?" he said and threw out his hand to point at the house.
"Not a bit. It's to small," Gabriel grumbled and shook off Wrath's hand. "I can stand on my own now, thank you."
The man sighed, a little hurt, but let go instantly.
"Was there anything specific? Or did you only want to speak of old times?" Gabriel spat out the last words.
"What's with you Gabe? You seem so angry." Wrath murmured with a frown. Then, a little realization dawned on him. "Oh, you've been fighting with Gracie again, haven't you?"
"Shut up, will you?!" Gabriel snapped and looked furiously at the man. "Grace is just being such a disaster on humanity! Can you believe that she is actually painting the walls of my bookstore yellow! She said it was 'to gothic for her liking'!"
Wrath was silent while Gabriel continued to go on about how much money Grace spent on buying clothes for him, clothes that he didn't even touch.
"And she actually though I would..."
"You really love her, don't you." Wrath interrupted his tirade of words.
Gabriel looked as if fallen from the stars.
"What did you say?"
"You really love her."
"Is this some kind of thing Gracie made you to say while she's recording it?" he asked suspiciously.
Wrath looked at him with a soft smile and Gabriel sighed a bit shakily.
"I don't know, I don't know."
He clutched his head in his hands and a dull sound emerged, Wrath managed to decode it as a sob. He hugged Gabriel hard and the shattenjaeger returned it, crying loudly into his black leather trenchcoat.
"I'm sorry," Gabriel finally said. "It's not just Gracie, it's..."
"I know, Gabe, I know. Wolfgang and everything else. I know. It's hard to see your loved ones die."
Gabriel looked up into his face and Wrath finally saw the endless pain in his eyes. He couldn't do anything but look away sadly.
"You do?"
"Yes I do, and it is terrible."
Gabriel swallowed and wiped away his tears a little shamefully.
"Who, who was it that died from you?" he asked silently.
Wrath smiled sadly at the question.
"Every person I had ever loved. They were all killed, sooner or later."
"But why?"
"Because somebody felt it was necessary to do it. And that person took them away from me."
The thought was terrifying for Gabriel and without thinking about it, he clutched the talisman. It spread warmth through his hand, soothing calm to aid its master. Before he could do anything, Wrath spoke again.
"So take care of them, Gabe, of those you love. Like Gracie."
Gabriels mind flooded with light and the image of Grace made him smile. The young Japanese woman smiled back. Was it love, or just deep friendship? As if he had read his mind, the man said;
"That's for you to decide."
And he was alone again. Gabriel looked around for a trace of his friend, but he had disappeared without a sound. Still holding the talisman he went for the gates. The medallion around his neck warmed him a little, but the air was damp and he felt that he really needed something warm to drink.
Gracie... he thought and his smile reappeared and stuck to his face the whole way home.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Copyright © 2001 Vincent Seyuri. All rights reserved.

Characters Gabriel Knight, Grace Nakimura, Merle and Emmet Smith belong originally to Sierra. All other characters are works of fiction created by the author and belong originally to me. No copyright infringement was intended in the creation of this fanfiction.