Author's Notes: Righto, here it is, the long awaited fourth part of the three part arc! My New Year's present to you. I'll be expecting gifts in return, you know…
Makes a lot of sense, ne?
Disclaimers: Since They still haven't put WK on ebay, I don't got it. Even if they did, I still kind of have to go to bleeding college…tuition ain't cheap.
Warnings: Same as the last three times. You don't know it, go back and read them. Otherwise, if you can't figure out what the M is for, then you shouldn't be reading this anyway.
1
/You're quiet/
/Haven't said anything for hours, are you all right?/
/Farfarello?/
I turned over and pretended I was asleep, my ears alert for the storm coming.
I only heard him sigh and the sheets shuffle as he turned on his side and pressed his back against mine to sleep.
Something deep within me was screaming, its voice ragged from the length of its airless cry, never stopping, like a terrifying wind. My eyes were constantly on the verge or tearing and I had no idea how I'd managed to crawl out of bed and into my clothes.
We had to leave. We had to get Nagi and get out of there…
We were neither armed nor healthy, as good as walking dead, as good as little Nagi's life in that horrible place.
In other words, no good at all…
Schuldig's hand on my shoulder startled me and I turned to glare at him, silently demanding to know what he wanted. His face was so open, pale. I could see new wrinkles around his eyes and the corners of his mouth are turned down naturally with despair. They never used to do that.
He kneeled beside me when I got back to pulling on my shoes (also stolen).
/We can't go back. We'd be dead in a second. Nagi's young and strong, he can survive in there, he has before. He knows their tricks better than any of us, I'm sure. We, you and me, have to get out of here, regroup, make a better attack/
I shook my head and his hand off my shoulder. Slowly, I got to my feet and moved around the room, searching through some of the still sleeping students' stuff for anything we might've needed. I took a bag and a change of socks for each of us, food and as much money as I could get. I took a couple of coats and threw one at Schuldig, then made for the door before anyone could wake up and stop us. We are out on the Paris streets a moment later, the quiet of the early morning around us, thick as the smell of baking bread pouring from a nearby bakery. My mouth watered. I didn't remember food.
No, no…I needed to think, gather some information, then get in contact with Nox. Schuldig was right, we couldn't go back on our own. We needed backup, we needed to get out of the country and hide.
Did the Elders ever fight their own fights, after all? No, and neither shall we. That was Crawford's mistake. The Elders seemed immortal and unbeatable because they themselves never went out of fight, sent their little toys instead. If they had gone themselves, as they had the day they died, the way we went at Esset, they were just as easy to kill as anyone else.
We needed to rethink this, and because our leader was dead, there was only us left, me and Schuldig…and Nagi if we ever got him back.
Schuldig was begging me to talk to him now, them to let him into my mind because I had blocked him. He wasn't letting me think. I turned on him sharply, eye furious enough to silence him. I handed him some money and ordered him to get some goddamn food while I thought about our next move.
I asked a passing Frenchman the date and time and quickly calculated how long we'd been in the faculty.
From July to September…Three months…We'd been gone three months! What happened to our movement against Esset? Had we lost, had we won? Had we reached a stalemate? I needed to know what was going on, immediately, and went in search for a public telephone.
I shoved coins in and dialed Japan, Nox's personal line, surprised that I'd remembered it at all and quietly begging the mouthpiece for him to answer.
Three rings, four rings, and the line picked up, a soft male voice greeting me, English purr welcome enough to make me cry, right there in public, "Hello?"
"Nox!" I whispered with a rush of thankful air, "It's Farfarello."
"I thought you were dead! How are you, where are you? Is the team there? What's going on?"
"I don't know if there is much time. Schwartz was captured by Esset. Schuldig and I got out, but Brad and Nagi are still in the faculty. We're in Paris, but we need to get out of here as soon as we can. Can you send for us?"
"I'll get Dementia on it right away and have you two on a plane here as soon as we can manage."
"Make sure it doesn't compromise your position."
"Not to worry, Esset couldn't come at us even if they knew. We've got them on a run."
"That's the best news I've heard in a long time…"
"Are you on a pay phone?"
"Yes."
"Righto, so go to the nearest airport and call me there. We can get you onto a plane from there and call you back. Make sure it is as away from the open as possible. You aren't armed, are you?"
"We will be soon."
"Godspeed, then."
I hung up, my heart sagging with relief. I knew I could trust him, he'd said our safe word. I knew he was telling the truth about Esset from the pride in his voice. I actually smiled when Schuldig came along, a heavy bag of bread and sausages in his arm.
"You called Nox?"
I nodded and dug around for the bread, ripped off a piece and shoved it in my mouth, motioning for him to follow me.
"We're going to the closest airport, and he's sending a plane there. We're going back to Japan."
"And you know he's safe, how?"
"'Godspeed'."
I heard him sigh and smiled at him.
"Thank God…we'll be okay then?"
"We need to worry about Nagi now," I said softly as we walked, ignoring all the sights other tourists would be clicking cameras at. Paris was far from romantic for us. "We're the new Elders now..."
We were on the plane now and the silent screaming in my chest was growing with every mile that took us away from Nagi. It was night, black outside the window, and neither Schuldig nor I could sleep in the tiny private plane. The stewardess was doing her very best, but we couldn't get comfortable. We were too restless and I was feeling claustrophobic in the smaller than usual cabin.
Schuldig was resting against my side, his arms curled around on of mine as I stared out the window into the dark. His face was pressed into my shoulder and I couldn't tell if he was crying, though I felt him shivering. He seemed to always be shivering since we'd left the faculty not a day ago. It didn't matter, not yet. What mattered was getting the hell away as fast as we could.
I felt Schuldig's mind slip into mine, very shyly, and pictures flashed behind my eyes without his willing it.
Their questioning escalating to violence, then threats of murder. Staring into a mirror as she shaved off his beautiful hair, one long stripe of pink in the mass of orange, one after another until the orange was gone. Forced over a table, trying to fight but unable to as they raped him, laughing.
I shuttered and shut my eye, pulling him close. I pressed my nose against his head, into the soft, greasy stubble.
"I'm sorry, Schuldig…that I didn't come sooner…"
"You came, that is enough. You're taking me away from there and that is enough…"
A moment of quiet, the two of us drawn close for warmth and solace, mourning so many things now dead.
"You remember when you tried to link us, just us especially?"
"Yes."
"It's okay now. Please, do it if you are up to it."
Schuldig pulled away and looked at me, eyes curious and wide, then his lips coming up in a smile. My heart fluttered at the smile, happy that he could even manage it now and doubly so when I felt a tendril of thought wind around mine, strong as steel and twice as permanent. It was simple, so easy, painless and quick and he was there, a constant presence in my head.
/It may help your episodes, make them less frequent or violent,/ he said.
I doubt it. If it doesn't, the both of us are going to need to tied down.
A mental laugh and he leaned into my arms again, finally relaxing, finally falling asleep. I knew without looking because I could feel it. I could feel everything, even the twinge of sharp pain where someone had cut his leg.
For the first time in my life, I felt pain. It is a far greater gift than anything anyone else could give me, and I loved him for it.
Of course, by now and a long time before now, I loved him, not just for the pain…for him…
Fin Chapter 1
Please Review
Author's Notes: What could be that inner screaming? Is Brad really dead? Can Farfarello pick the lint out from between his toes with his tongue?
None of these questions will be answered in the next chapter (and hopefully the one about lint will remain a secret longer than that anyway), but read it! Why?
Because we know you love crazy Irishmen. That guy, Steven from Braveheart? You loved him just as you love your Farfarello…
Laters.