Letter Bee Tales
'Missing Bee'
The desert was one place most Letter Bees dreaded to travel through, as the desert houses many dangerous Gaichuu monsters. However, there isn't always an alternative route to take lest the Bees prefer swimming in highly dangerous waters, which would definitely be a one-way ticket to Death's welcoming arms.
In the desert, a trio of Letter Bees were tasked to deliver a mountain of letters that had piled up in the Bee Hive for a few years to a distant town that had been reopened recently to trading routes and delivery routes. They were riding in a carriage pulled by one horse, ironically pink in colour, and a little too small to haul to load it's carrying.
"We're not far off from Chesedalma!" Connor announced. He acted as the horseman throughout the whole ride, driving the little carriage through the Bee Hive, through charming little towns and quiet villages, and through this huge desert-like field named Fallon Fields. "Once we're done with our delivery, let's go and grab some food! I heard that the cheesecakes in Chesedalma are the best."
The Letter Bee beside Connor elbowed him with such force Connor jerked a little off balance. "Do you only think about food?" She demanded, crossing her arms sarcastically. "Humph..."
Lag knew better than to stop her from probing any further as she was more of a fighter than he is. Furthermore, if she had attempted to tackle him, Niche would knock Zazie out, and that wouldn't be a pretty picture. Trying his best to ignore the continued ramblings in front, he stared into the given map blankly. His gaze moved towards the huge exclamation mark on the top of the map, just below Chesedalma, labelled 'Fallon Field'.
"Hey, guys?" Lag nudged the two in front of him. "The map says we're in Gaichuu territory." He continued, scanning the surroundings as if expecting one to pop out from under the earth suddenly. "But… We've never seen one, even though we've been travelling here for an hour."
Niche woke up from her sleep, turned her head around for a few moments and fell back into soundless sleep again. Steak followed her actions.
"I wonder…" Zazie added, focusing her view on the small patch of white lights ahead: The town of Chesedalma.
Once at Chesedalma, the young Bees wasted no time delivering the letters that each contained the 'Heart' of the senders. House to house they visited, until the three bags of letters were all delivered to the receivers. Soon, the letters disappeared, leaving only signed forms. They returned to their carriage, tired and weary, but glad to have their job done. Knowing that the residents here appreciate Letter Bees made them feel better.
"The job's finally done!" Zazie announced, stretching her arms. "Now we can- Eh?" She put her hand to the underneath of the carriage's seat and pulled out a yellowing letter. She read the words out loud: "Esther Zaire, Number 34 in the Main Street…"
"Is that a letter?" Connor huffed, carrying his dingo Gus on his back. The huge brown dog just lazed ignorantly on its master's back. "Whose letter is it?"
"Let's go deliver it, and then let's have some food. After hearing what Connor said, I really want to try the cheesecakes, too!" Lag suggested, obviously eager to either deliver the letter or to have a go at the cakes. "Right, Niche?"
Lag's Dingo merely nodded at her master and then continued sniffing around. She seemed to have found something nice smelling and ran off. The trio had to run in order to keep up with Niche. "Wait up, Niche!" Lag panted, stopping for a few quick breaths. "WAIT!"
After running through a few streets, Niche stopped at the door of a small shop near the town plaza with the signboard 'Chesedalma Bakery'. Behind her, only two Letter Bees managed to catch up, leaving Connor a few streets behind.
"This place… This is where the letter is addressed to…" Lag breathed. He knocked on the door eagerly. "Is anyone in? We have a letter for you!"
The door opened with a soft creak, and a woman stepped out: mahogany hair, a pale face distinguished by sparkling emerald eyes and a uniform that suggested that her profession is a baker.
"Are you Letter Bees?" She muttered, her expression confused and a little worried.
All three Letter Bees were treated to delicious cakes and hot tea as they rested in Esther Zaire's warm shop-cottage. The room was illuminated by a warm fire in the fireplace that gave off a cosy glow. A huge white wolf lay in a corner, sleeping. Wasiolka, Zazie's dingo, had been curious at the wolf for quite some time. Both animals ended up sharing the same spot near the fireplace. Niche, Gus and Steak had also decided to snuggle with them, evidently forming a small Dingo-only spot with the wolf.
"It's been five long years since any Letter Bees came into this town. I'm glad that you're all unscathed." Esther said, taking a polite sip of tea. Lag put his cup down and stared at Esther.
"Why so?" He asked.
Esther sighed. "Years ago, Chesedalma was a town famous for its agriculture. Everyone was happy." She paused for a while. Her expression changed slowly into hate. "Then, Gaichuu came. They destroyed Chesedalma and killed many people."
There was a moment of silence, but Zazie broke it by putting her tea cup down, causing a clear sound of porcelain against porcelain. "Yeah, and then the Government decided to close off this route because all Letter Bees that were sent here all died." She said. Lag thought Zazie sounded a lot like a Grim Reaper when she said that.
"But, those letters! Is that why it's all piled up in the Bee Hive?" Lag exclaimed, jumping up so suddenly. The white wolf growled at him, flashing its murderous yellow eyes. Lag sat down again, trying his best to ignore the growling of the wolf.
"Now, now, Richter, settle down." Esther said softly. The wolf responded to its name 'Richter' and put its head down near Wasiolka.
"The letters are piled up because the Government wouldn't let any more Letter Bees die in here." Connor contributed. "If I remember correctly, a group of Letter Bees from Akatsuki were once sent in here. Since they returned safely, the Bee Hive in Yuusari also sent in Letter Bees. This time, however, no one survived."
Lag looked a little taken aback from Connor's speech. He had never imagined that Chesedalma would be this dangerous.
"Well, it's safer now, because the Government has confirmed less and less Gaichuu activity in Chesedalma." Esther said cheerfully. "But you're wrong on one thing, Connor. There is one Letter Bee that survived. Richter is her Dingo."
Esther pointed to the wolf, which raised its head up as a little response. "She couldn't go back, because a letter from her brother and the Bee Hive came- when Richter attempted to go back and ask of backup. Her brother's letter said that she must come back alive, but the Bee Hive's letter said that she was dead and no longer a Bee."
"Where is she?" Zazie asked nonchalantly.
The door to the stairs opened, and Zazie's question was answered: a woman dressed in Letter Bee uniform came out, holding a huge box of letters.
"My name is Arle Villette, and I'm a Letter Bee from Yuusari." She announced, flicking her strawberry blonde hair. "And these are the letters from the citizens who live here."
Esther smiled gently. "Arle saved the rest of the town from succumbing to the Gaichuu. She's now waiting for Letter Bees to come and take her back to the Bee Hive."
Arle put down the letters and marched right up to Zazie, who sat in the chair closest to where she stood. Arle got close enough and stared into Zazie's brown eyes. "My, you're all so young…"
"Whoa! Don't come that close!" Zazie screeched, backing away. "I'm 14, and that's not young!"
"What? I'm 19 already!" Arle snapped back. She stood up nevertheless, and moved her attention to Niche. "Are you a Dingo?" Arle continued, stroking Niche's golden hair. "Soft and lovely hair…"
Zazie huffed indignantly. "You're 14 when you first arrived, too…"
"Anyway," Connor announced; his mouth still full of cheesecake. "We've got to return to the Bee Hive now. We still have more deliveries."
Arle smiled and picked up the box filled with letters. She had a Heart Bullet Gun fastened on her belt. "Well then, goodbye, Esther. I'll miss you."
"Make sure to send those letters, Arle. Farewell, you four…" Esther than turned to the Dingo group. "And all of you…"
After leaving Chesedalma, the quartet travelled in Connor's carriage through Fallon Fields once again. Since the carriage only had space for four (plus the Letter-filled box), Niche ended up travelling by jumping up and down repeatedly, while Richter and Wasiolka raced each other on foot- or paw.
"This is Gaichuu territory." Arle explained, looking around cautiously. "Madeiras attack in packs here."
"Madeiras- That kind of monsters- attacking in packs? You've got to be kidding me!" Lag stiffened so suddenly, the others thought that he had been petrified.
"I'm not kidding." Arle said grimly. "Madeiras were the ones that killed my teammates, Danny and Vincent… It cost an arm and a leg to get them out of being crushed top tiny bits so that they can get a proper funeral."
Lag silenced and stared blankly at the Heart Bullet Gun which once belonged to Gauche. He waited for a moment… And then, the ground started to shake violently. A huge purple wing stuck up from the cliff below them, followed by a lot more in various places.
"It's the Madeira! Watch your footing!" Arle screamed, but her voice was somehow drowned by the deafening crack of rocks splitting, crumbling into small pieces, and the emerging of huge Dragonfly-like Gaichuu, Madeiras. The carriage impaled itself in between two boulders, locking it in its place. Niche grabbed Lag with her sword-hair and put him to safety, while Connor and Gus struggled to get out of the stuck carriage.
Wasiolka instinctively pushed the letter box deeper underneath the carriage so that it would be secured there, and then bought Zazie out of the carriage. Since Arle was the one who was experienced in combat like these, she jumped out of the carriage with ease, and then used her scarf to hang on a strong branch. Her other hand reached for the Heart Bullet Gun.
"It's huge…" She breathed silently.
"Heart bullet, loaded! Aotoge!" Zazie yelled from above. A flash of blue light erupted from her Heart Bullet Gun, and then spilt itself before striking harmlessly at the Madeiras. The armour of the Gaichuu creaked a little, but still, the gap hasn't been found. Zazie gritted her teeth.
The Madeira responded immediately, flapping its huge purple wings to send out wind gusts strong enough to send medium-sized boulders skidding along the ground. Arle let go off her scarf and slipped, but Richter saved her as easily as catching a falling balloon. The white dingo set its master down gently on a stable cliff.
"Thank you, Richter!" Arle huffed, trying to stand up. Niche and Lag were already set in action, releasing Steak to climb on a Madeira while Niche used her hair to steady the Madeira's movements.
The Kapellmeister ran upwards as fast as it could, and found a gap: Right in the middle of the Madeira's huge protruding purple eyes, as big as a human; but it only opened whenever its mouth was wide open, too. The chink proved to be a very tricky target, which must be why so many Letter Bees lost their lives fighting them.
"Lag, now!" Niche called out, tightening her grip on the Madeira's huge metal needle-like mouth. Lag pulled the Nocturne #12 and aimed it at the chink.
"Heart bullet, loaded… Akabari!" Lag screamed the last word out as hard as it could, forcing the red blast out of his gun. It made its way directly into the Madeira's gap, causing it to explode in a shower of fireworks.
"One Madeira down, keep it up, Lag!" Zazie cheered on, and then immediately turning her attention to Madeira. "Wasiolka, distract it! Get it to open its mouth!"
Wasiolka jumped up and down, making the Madeira strike repeatedly with its mouth open in attempt to crush Wasiolka. Zazie took the change and clicked on her own Heart Bullet Gun. "Heart bullet, loaded! Aotoge!" Two blue blasts were fired and it paralyzed the Madeira temporarily while the last one hit the Madeira square in the gap, destroying it. "There's too many! Connor, use your Heart Bullet!" Zazie commanded.
"Okay!" Connor replied, finally free from the carriage. Arle watched in silence from the highest cliff. "Is teamwork what makes them so strong?" Arle said to no one in particular. Her hands moved automatically to the Heart Bullet Gun fastened on her belt. "Let's do this Richter!" She said enthusiastically, loading a barrel of Heart Bullets into her gun. Richter howled in response.
"Heart Bullet, loaded! Shiryuusei!" Arle yelled. She released three purple blasts simultaneously, the first one knocking a Madeira on its mouth, causing it to open up the chink, the second one weakening the Madeira further before the last one destroyed it completely.
"Whoa, Arle, that's so cool!" Lag complimented- but quickly lost his voice again the moment another Madeira opened its metal mouth wide, threatening to finish Arle off. Lag instinctively pulled his gun faster than he could think, and then fired.
"Akabari!" Lag forced the bullet out, sending it zooming towards the chink, zooming beside Arle and then causing the Madeira to explode immediately. In the shower of sparkling stars, a picture, blurry, and then slowly became clear. A man: Gauche Suede was talking to another, a young man who looked a lot like Arle.
"What is this, Ion Villette?" Gauche stroked the shining silver locket gingerly. "Is it Black Jack?"
"No, you douche! It's real Spirit Amber fragment." Ion laughed, snatching the locket from Gauche. "I intend to give this to my younger sister. You see, once she returns from Chesedalma, she'll have completed her 100th Delivery."
"You celebrate weird things, you know." Gauche said dreamily. "You don't celebrate your own birthdays, yet you celebrate the day you caught a white wolf…"
"Its' rare, you know! A real Fenette Wolf! " Ion protested, tucking the locket safely in his pockets. "It became Arle's dingo, too!"
Gauche sighed helplessly, looking at the overly cheerful shadow of his colleague dancing on the wall. Then, the scene changed, where Gauche was fighting a Gaichuu Cider with Ion. The black blast Gauche fired managed to finish off the Gaichuu, but Ion wasn't in a very good shape. There was red blood all over him.
"Ion Villette, are you okay?" Gauche said, shaking Ion's head a little. Ion opened those lavender eyes that resembled Arle's so much, it could've bee hers. He smiled a little, and it would've been heartening if he hadn't had so much blood on his face.
"Give this to… Arle… Don't tell her I…" Ion coughed up a little more blood. "Please, Gauche…"
Those beautiful lavender eyes closed and Ion was still, the ghost of his gentle smile still imprinted on his face. Wet tears fell on Ion's pale face, and soon, the wet tears disappeared as icy rainwater washed off all the blood and tears on Ion's face.
The scene changed again, this time into the Bee Hive, home to all Letter Bees, a scene where both Aria, Gauche and Largo were present. Aria was holding three letters, inclusive of Ion's letter to Arle, a grim look on her face.
"I see… Both the Villette siblings are dead?" She said bitterly. Gauche nodded. Just then, the glass windows broke, and out jumped a beautiful white wolf: Richter. It jumped agilely and grabbed the letters on Aria's left hand, the one that contained Arle's news of death and Ion's 'Heart' filled letter. Richter then jumped out of the window again.
"Come back, Richter!" Aria screamed, and then the final scene showed a physically hurt yet content Arle holding the locket gently. "My brother's so thoughtful. It's really… beautiful."
The pictures faded and there were tears all over Lag and Arle's face. "Brother…" Arle repeated to herself silently. "You…"
Lag's thoughts were filled with Gauche, however. So Gauche had been friends with Arle's brother, Ion. He thought about Gauche saving him from the Gaichuu, but then Zazie's warning cry forced Lag to stop thinking.
"En guard, Lag, don't space out! Don't just stand there, damn you!" Zazie yelled, firing a Heart Bullet at the Madeira directly above Lag. "You can't die here!"
Niche pulled Lag out of the way of falling armour pieces, while Richter did the same to Arle. Just that moment, a yellow explosion occurred between them and another Madeira. The cloud of yellow smoke lingered for moments before huge golden tongues busted out of the smoke, grabbing the unsuspecting Arle, tossing her in midair before the tongues coiled itself around Arle.
"Arle, Arle, can you respond?" Lag screamed at the forming cocoon. Something wet and warm fell on his face: Arle's tears.
"Crap, it's still guarding!" Zazie screamed in frustration. She loaded her gun, but did not fire. The blue spirit amber glowed faintly, threatening to die out at any moment. Niche jumped forward with her sword-hair extended, and then slashed repeatedly at the fragile looking strings holding Arle. It did not break; it did not even suffer from a little scratch.
"Lag, it's not working." Niche reported, landing on the ground. Zazie stopped aiming her heart bullet gun and screamed up at Lag.
"Lag," Zazie yelled, "The gap is opening! Fire when more tongues come out! You're the closest to it!"
"I got it!" Lag screamed in response. He held up the gun, aiming it at the Madeira's head. "Heart bullet, load-"
Before Lag could fire, the Madeira suddenly flapped its wings so hard Lag was blown off his feet. Zazie and Connor barely managed to stand still. Even while flying, all Lag could think of was Arle- dying, and worse: losing her heart and all precious memories that resided in it.
"No… Arle… All those memories…" Lag muttered.
Inside the cocoon, Arle's thoughts were running wild. She knew that her brother was dead. So… what would she do without him? She didn't have to live anymore; her existence was already erased…
Why was she here again?
"Arle, please respond!" Lag screamed, hoping that Arle would hear him. "Don't die! Ion- Ion's friends still worry about you! We're all your friends!"
Who?
Lag was about to yell again, but Zazie pushed him out of the way. "I don't care if you die, Arle." Zazie scoffed.
"Zazie, you're being inconsiderate!" Lag mumbled, trying to stop Zazie from saying anything more.
"Think twice before you really give up, Arle." Zazie continued. "Because when your heart gets eaten, the people whom you love and love you will feel the endless hopeless feeling, the heart-wrenching sorrow of waiting for you to return, wishing that a miracle would happen. But it never does happen; it destroys people's hearts furthermore, just because you were selfish enough to not hold on any longer."
"I'm sure you felt it too, when you cared for Danny and Vincent."
Arle woke up a little. Yes… If she could just fire her Heart Bullet Gun… She wasn't completely wrapped up, too…
"Heart Bullet Gun Optima Astral Zero, the bullet I shoot is a fragment of my love… Heart bullet loaded. Resound, Shiryuusei!" The last word came out as a roar, and then all three remaining bullets were released, the purple light sweeping through the desert air and then entering the huge gap one by one. The Gaichuu exploded before anyone could react. Richter jumped up, caught its master and landed gracefully beside Wasiolka.
"Arle, are you okay?" Lag called, jumping down from the cliff rocks. The last step wasn't so smooth, however, and Lag fell flat on his face.
"Deary, Lag, you're so funny!" Arle laughed, slapping Lag lightly on the back. Zazie and Connor joined in the laughing. "Anyway, thank you, Lag, Zazie."
"No need." Zazie snapped. "Let's go back now! No more Gaichuu left to exterminate!"
Lag helped Arle up, and then they spent quite some time pulling the carriage out, and even more trying to piece it back as well as they could. The quartet managed it in the end, and had a swift Gaichuu-free ride back to the Yuusari Bee Hive. Since it had been five years that Arle had not returned to Nocturne Hood, it had changed quite a bit more from what she had remembered.
"I'm back!" Arle announced cheerfully, in the Director's office. Both Aria and Largo Lloyd looked up from whatever paperwork they were doing.
"Arle Villette?" Aria repeated to herself silently. "Aren't you… dead?"
"There's no proof." Largo clapped his hands. "Welcome back, Arle Villette."
"Yeah…" Arle smiled. The smile, so strikingly similar to Ion's smile, seemed like a warm fire melting icy snow in the room. Everyone was suddenly glad, glad to have another Bee back, and happier to have more memories to share.
That's what having a heart is about.
Please do not argue with me about Zazie's sexuality. In the Manga, Connor had told Lag that Zazie is indeed a female. So, please do not waste your time typing 'Zazie is a boy' or 'the way you spell Zazie's name is wrong', because there are no official translations on the matter yet. The same goes for Wasiolka, Zazie's huge cat Dingo. The panther belongs to the cat family too, you know.
The Madeira is named after liquor like the Gaichuu Cider and the Gaichuu Absinthe. I hate dragonflies, as a matter of fact, but this Madeira bears no resemblance to the Cabernet which appeared during the 'Rebirth'.
Arle's Heart Bullet, Shiryuusei (紫流星，Shiryūusei), means 'Purple Meteor'. At least, that's what I managed to translate, because I'm not Japanese. I'm Chinese.
Well, enjoy anyways.
-Lilith Li