Yuri Falls
"'The Adephagos disappeared into the void.' Yeah well, guess they didn't really say that they destroyed that thing. They just went off and left this piece of crap remnant behind."
Metal sheets clinked together behind him, dragging Yuri out of his bitter thoughts. He turned around to see who stood behind him.
"Flynn?"
A reflection of light betrayed the flash of red hair that ducked through Yuri's peripheral. The sharp tip of a dagger pierced through the flesh of his stomach, like a key slipping into a lock. Above all else, above the numbing that sedated his mind, above the blood that oozed from the tear in his stomach, above the howl of the wind as he stumbled off the summit of the ring…was that look of utter horror on the knight's face as she watched him fall.
"If you're…willing to…dirty your hands…don't look at me as if…you regret it…."
He honestly didn't even realize those words left his mouth or that Sodia heard them. For all he knew, they were the last of his thoughts as his vision blacked out. Even the screech was just a figment of his imagination. There was just no way that dragon from the Weasand of Cados could be here...
Sodia peered over the edge of the platform, watched as Yuri plummeted towards the shallow pool of water just inside the column of pointed spires surrounding Zaude. He wouldn't survive such a fall….
Her hands shook with the remnant feeling of resistance as her dagger punctured him, and a bout of nausea almost dropped her to her knees when she remembered that important piece of evidence. The dagger…. Sodia inclined her head to stare at the mocking weapon before her, its blade slick with fresh blood.
"Yuri!"
She lifted her gaze to the settling cloud of dust, her blood roaring in her ears as she heard other cries growing nearer. Her breathing quickened, and she looked from the distant figures to the dagger to the edge of the platform as panic ensnared her mind. If they saw what she'd done... Her foot swept out to knock the dagger over the edge of the platform. Not too soon either, for when she redirected her attention to the nearing voices, she found herself surrounded, peering into the worried eyes of Yuri's comrades. But all she saw beneath their concern was suspicion.
"Um…Sodia."
Estelle's voice shattered the resolve she had built up for this very instant. Something wet slipped down her cheeks. What had she done?
"Where's Yuri?"
Sodia's legs buckled beneath her. She sat on them and wiped the foreign tears from her eyes. She really tried to kill him…. The reality of it all now settled into her cluttered thoughts. She, an upstanding citizen of the empire and one who always looked down upon the common crimal, had become one of those criminals she despised so much. Flynn would surely punish her for this. She stabbed his best friend and watched him drop toward the surface of the sea and...
"H-He…fell…"
The silence that engulfed everyone crushed her. Surely they wouldn't accept such a weak answer from her.
"Hey, c'mon. You're kidding, right?" Karol asked, breaking silence. Desperation leaked into his voice.
"I don't think so, kid. Doesn't seem like she's the jokin' type," Raven said.
"Because of the danger Ba'ul chose to stay close to land, so he didn't even see where Yuri could have fallen," Judith added. "But he is most certainly no longer up here."
"No, he can't..." be dead. "We must get down from here! We have to tell Flynn so he can send out ships and search for Yuri!" Estelle cried.
"You're not serious?" Sodia asked. She pushed herself into a shaky stand. "You don't think he would have survived such a fall, do you?"
"But we can't just give up on him!" Estelle argued. "What if he's still alive and injured? I know Flynn will find him."
Sodia, bewildered, fixated her focus solely on Estelle. Her persistence was amazing, but it just wasn't possible. She saw Yuri fall…felt the dagger dig into his flesh, heard the words he uttered, watched as he stepped back, missed the platform floor...plummeted toward the waters. The reel wouldn't stop...and along with it played Flynn's warning to her. That's right; hadn't Flynn warned her about this? That getting caught up in a situation emotionally would detract from thinking wholistically?
The dog's one-eyed glare and low growl, which caused her to shift uncomfortably, dragged her out of her reverie and allowed her to break her eyes away from Estelle's. For just that brief moment, she could have sworn the mutt knew what she'd done, but that wasn't possible, right? Still, she could feel his eye piercing straight through her, and an involuntary shudder weaved its way through her spine and into her core.
"Rita, are you okay? You've been awfully quiet," Karol said, breaking the uncomfortable silence. He needed a distraction, anything to get his mind off of... No, Yuri wasn't dead. He was too cool to die from...from a fall.
"I-I'm fine. I just can't see how you all can be so optimistic. I mean, if Yuri hit such a shallow body of water from this height…. I-It's not like I'm saying he's dead, but not even he can survive from this height. A-Anyway, it's not like we can do much until we get down from here. I'm going to look around for a mechanism that will lower this platform." Her voice sounded flustered, strained almost, like she tried her best to soften the truth everyone already knew.
Estelle sent a look of longing to the edge of the platform before she shook her head and followed after Rita. "I'm coming, too."
"Well, I don't see why we all can't have a look around," Judith said.
"Yeah…" Karol whispered, the last of the group to leave Sodia where she stood. "Yuri…." She caught his last mutter and felt irritation boil within her.
Why? Why did this group of people care so much for an outlaw? Even her commander acted differently whenever Yuri Lowell decided to show his face. He always created unnecessary trouble for Flynn, so why did they all care for him so much? And why did she feel like the enemy?
"Sodia, ain't it?"
She looked up at the one who addressed her, watched as his pinky cleaned out the inner part of his ear.
"Captain Schwa-"
"Nope, never heard of the guy. The name's Raven. Pleased ta meet'cha."
Sodia grimaced and lowered her head to stare at the much more interesting floor. If the designs didn't distinguish the floor, she would have thought she stood suspended in air.
"I don't suppose ya know what really happened? I'm not one ta pry into other's businesses, but…ah, well…I guess ya could say these kids softened up ol' Raven's heart. Enough ta make me concerned."
"He fell," Sodia reiterated her earlier statement. Her voice was steadier than before, more controlled, almost like she herself believed that was all that happened. "The shockwave of the falling blastia knocked him off-balance, and he tumbled over the edge."
"Then ya wouldn't mind my askin' about the blood on the floor."
Sodia's eyes widened, her shoulders tense while her gaze traveled from her boots to the blood stain just within her line of vision. Understandable the others would miss it, but to a trained eye or nose like that of Schwann's or Repede's it was a dead give away to what she'd done.
"Well, I'm sure ya had yer reasons. Good ol' Repede here doesn't seem too worried either, which leads me ta believe he's still alive. I don't think he'd be so forgivin' if you up and killed his master."
Repede barked and inclined his head to look up at Raven, who returned the bark with a smile.
"Captain Scha-" The sudden but rather loud clearing of Raven's throat interrupted Sodia, forcing her to correct herself. "Raven…I should have expected that someone who made captain within the Imperial Knights would be so perceptive."
"Don't know what yer talkin' about. Anyway, ya don't have ta worry 'bout me tellin' anyone what's happened. Not my place ta do so. I'm sure he'll take it up with ya sooner or later."
"You really think he's alive." A statement rather than a question.
"Of course I do! Ya kiddin' me? He wouldn't miss this next baddie for the world. C'mon, ya see that monster waitin' ta devour us? Guarantee ya Yuri'd come back from the dead just ta slay that beast."
Silence swallowed the two as Sodia turned to the edge of the platform.
"It's probably his laid-back attitude that's kept us goin' fer so long. It's 'cause of his faith in us that everyone places their faith in him. But what am I talkin' about? I'm just an ol' man prattlin' on like a sap. I'll never hear the end of it if Yuri were ta find out 'bout this conversation, so how 'bout we keep it a secret between us."
Sodia nodded once, curt and precise. She stared out the horizon, felt the searing heat of the high sun through her uniform. Perhaps it was the adrenaline that heightened her sense of discomfort….
The platform groaned, lurched, then creaked as it lowered to where Flynn stood with a hand over his wounded shoulder.
"Captain!" Sodia called, her hand on her sword as she darted forward to meet her commanding officer. "Why haven't you received help for your injury yet?"
"I'm fine, Sodia. Thank you for your concern," Flynn replied, a weary smile gracing his lips.
"Flynn!" Estelle called.
She stopped before him, a hand on her chest to catch her breath. "What is it, Lady Estellise?" Flynn asked, but he quickly forgot his question when he observed the battle-worn group before him. One vital member was missing… "What happened to Yuri?"
"That's just it, Flynn. Yuri fell off the platform when the blastia fell!"
Sodia watched Flynn's blood freeze with this bit of unwanted information. Whatever resolve she'd garnered to admit to her actions and accept whatever punishment he dished out to her crumpled then and there at the dark horror apparent in his expression.
"What? Sodia, is this true?"
He was hoping for a denial from her, but it was something she couldn't provide him...
"I-It's true, Captain."
"Flynn, please! We need to take ships out and search for him! I'm sure he's out there somewhere."
She clasped her hands in front of her and concentrated on the wound in Flynn's shoulder after she spoke. In just a few seconds she managed to seal the injury.
"Thank you, Lady Estellise. Let's return to the ships for now and organize a search party."
"Y-Yes sir."
She breathed a silent sigh of relief when Flynn turned his back to her. She managed to hold up a decent front before her commanding officer, but Witcher's curious glance made her berate herself. A shake of the head, however, was enough to silence his forming questions.
"Flynn," Estelle called again. She ran to catch up to him. "We'll follow you to your ship, but if Judith will let us, we can take Ba'ul and search from the sky."She glanced back at Judith to confirm her offer and was met with a nod from the Krityan warrior.
"It would be much safer if Your Highness would just return to the capital."
"But Flynn-"
"We'll split our separate ways once we've had a look around. Is that acceptable?" Judith asked. "I believe Yuri's our friend as well. It wouldn't be right for us to just leave everything to you without taking a look around ourselves first."
Flynn fell into silence while the group of wary fighters trekked their way back to the entrance of Zaude.
"All right, but Lady Estellise, please return to the capital after you've scoured the area. I vow to continue our search until we've found Yuri or a clue as to where he could be."
"Thank you, Flynn!"
Disclaimer: No, I don't own Vesperia.
Also, I'm rusty on writing, so bear with me. Might make edits, might not.