I decided the rewrite this since somebody (thank you by the way XD) pointed out a few mistakes in the original. Plus, I like the idea of it being a one-two shot. X3 Some parts shall stay the same though.
Warnings: Can't think of anything right off hand, but if you know me well enough, you should know by now what they are. :D
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Ocean: The Last Hope. Square Enix does. :D And Masa belongs to Yumi~ *Heart*
[xXx]
Darkness enveloped the palace of Queen Masa, stars littering the sky, the moon Nitid* amongst them. The young queen herself, along with two guards, was walking out along the nearest riverbank, her kind, silver eyes watching as the water flowed over the eroding rocks with a gentle ease. She lifted the skirt of her violet dress to kneel, rolling up her lilac sleeve so it wouldn't get wet. Inserting her slender hand below the rushing surface, she closed her eyes. The water felt cold against her skin as the palm of her hand flattened against the bottom of the riverbank. A frown made its way to her lips.
"Oh, my," Masa whispered into the air, "The river is much more shallow than the week passed." She pulled her hand out of the water, drying it with her control of the wind. Standing, her frown deepened. "Stars in the night sky vanishing without a trace at an alarming rate… Ellai's** presence next to her sister moon late… Nights being colder than the coldest ita*** day… Days being hotter than the hottest shigu**** day… The rivers beginning to run dry faster than geographically possible…" The young queen began to try her hardest to piece everything together, but the pieces did not fall together. She had come up with nothing.
Her guards looked at her in worry, but they said nothing. They had been raised to speak only when spoken to. It was plainly obvious that the queen wasn't talking to them, but instead, to herself.
Looking to the heavens above, Masa pressed her hands together in a small prayer as her plea escaped silently beyond her lips: "Please, all-mighty and all-powerful Muah, send your child unto me. I fear that the prophecy of which was uttered by that of elder's tongue is coming true. The world as we, your loyal worshippers and adopted children, know it to be is falling into nothing but ashen sand beneath our very feet. The ominous signs prove to me the imminent demise. Please, I want to be able to protect Shamalay and her people, no matter what the cost."
Her hands fell to her side, her eyes falling downcast. She was telling the truth. She was the queen everyone on her home planet wanted: Kind, smart, and sweet. She was beyond that of her peers' great expectations…
A sound caught her attention. The snapping of a tree branch. She spun around and held up her hands in a defensive motion, her eyes narrowing dangerously as her hands were enveloped in bitterly cold air. "Who is there? Reveal that of yourself!"
A blond man appeared, his grass green eyes calm and relaxed, relieved even. "We come in peace," he said. He even removed the blade that was sheathed on his lower back, lowering it to the ground and sliding it towards her. His eyes fell dim and dead. He looked exhausted, depressed, and rather… disgruntled now.
Masa lowered her hands, but kept the wind just in case. "Who are you, Son of Adam?"
The man looked slightly surprised that she knew his descent, but he replied none-the-less, "My name is Edge Maverick."
"You said 'we'. Who else is with you?"
"Friends. They are not here in person because they are back in a safe haven. I was tasked with searching for food and shelter while our… haven… is being repaired."
Masa relaxed completely. "Well, Edge of Maverick," she said with authority in her voice, "This is Shamalian ground you are on, now. You follow the laws and words of the kindgom, do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Then let us go retrieve these 'friends' of yours. I am sure that the palace will offer you food and shelter." She bent over and picked up the blade. "And keep this at your side at all times. Animals are everywhere here and they are not afraid to attack without mercy." She smiled sweetly. "After all, this world is governed by the Muan beliefs."
"Muan…?" Edge whispered to himself as he took the blade from the noirette, sheathing it as he began to think.
"Yes, Muan," said one of the two guards, instantly being smacked upside the head by her partner. She continued on. "The Muah are our gods. They give us all that we need to survive. I just hope that they heard our lady's prayers on this night…"
"What do you mean?" he asked meekly, a brow raising in curiousity.
"You will see," the woman replied dryly and with mourning.
[xXx]
The southern plains of Kinai were barren, unnatural in comparison to the rest of the planet's surface. They were nothing but sand, not a thing living there. It was ungodly cold, the crew members staying inside of the SRF-003 Calnus, little Lymle Lemuri Phi huddled against Faize Sheifa Beleth, albeit reluctantly, as she slept. Reimi Saionji was in the Item Creation room baking cookies and some soup for when Edge returned with a report.
They had been waiting three hours for their captain, all of them worn out. They had been working on repairing the ship while he had been gone, but a lot of that time had been consumed by the mere fact that both Reimi and Faize had to work on pinpointing the problem within the Calnus. There had been a leakage in the fuel line somewhere and they could not, for the life of them, figure out where. It had been a rather bored Cerberus, summoned to play with Lymle while the other two worked, who had discovered the problem's exact location.
They were low on steel, but the crew was sure that with some help, Edge would be able to forge a sheet of the metal to cover the leakage so that they could be on their way.
The doors to the outside opened and Faize perked, having become rather stiff thanks to sitting in a single position to support Lymle's body for so long. He shook awake the little child and told her, "Edge is back."
And someone was obviously with him.
"Would you like to come in?" offered Edge's voice to someone outside. "It's warmer inside here than it is outside."
"No, no, we have grown quite accustomed to the harsh climate of the outdoors," smiled a soft, gentle voice in response.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Just retrieve your 'crew' and we shall escort you to the palace so that we may ask the queen if she can shelter you for the time being that you are here."
"Alright, if you're sure…" Edge then appeared inside, noticing Faize and Lymle looking at him with baffled expressions. He smiled, seeing that he needed to talk alone with the Eldarian to explain the situation a little. "Lym, can you go get Reimi? I found someone who can help us."
Lymle nodded and jumped from her seat, going in search of the brunette Earthling.
Faize stood, walking over to Edge and asking him, "Edge, why did you bring the locals to our ship?"
"Well, I wouldn't have been able to lead us to the kingdom, now would I?" the blond shrugged. "Besides, I would have gotten lost trying to find them if I had asked them to stay where they had been."
Faize frowned slightly then shook his head, dismissing the entire thing now as Lymle and Reimi came up behind them.
"Let's go people," Edge smiled, leading them outside to introduce them to the guards and the queen. Ironically enough, they did not know of Masa's status, merely thinking her a type of noble or something else of the sort.
Masa bowed, her black hair falling over her shoulders gracefully. She was dressed in medieval garb, a noble's get-up. She wore an elegant dress with silver lining that was a variety of purples, a hood up over the crown of her head to cover her idenity. That was all they could see of the woman in the darkness.
"Thank you for helping us," Edge bowed in respect. The others followed suit.
"Oh, nonsense," smiled Masa. "You also have the Muah to thank. They brought you to me, after all."
A small gasp was heard from Reimi who looked away quickly, her face panicked.
Edge offered a kind smile. "And them as well."
"Now come, all of you," beckoned the noirette, turning away. "Unless you want to stand there and freeze to death." Her voice was teasing, warm. It made them smile with the exception of Reimi.
Edge nodded at his Japanese friend, joining the others as they followed Masa. Reimi swallowed and began to follow. She stopped when she felt something against her throat. A blade, perhaps? No… there was nobody there… Nobody at all. She shook her head and ran off to join her friends.
It was nothing.
[xXx]
Nitid and Ellai – Twin moons. Yumi told me about them. :D
Ita and shigu – Winter and summer.
It wasn't as long as I was hoping it would have been but whatever. :3 The next chapter will be longer, I promise!
Love you, Yumi-chan! *Heart*
~Grimmolina