These days I've been busier working on my own stories with my own characters, but this Idea just grabbed a hold of me. I hope you enjoy.
I don't own Rave Master.
I remember the first time I saw her. I'll always remember the first time I saw her. I'll probably remember it when I've grown so old I've forgotten everything else. Even today it feels almost real to me sometimes I close my eyes and imagine it, as though it's happening at this very moment. That's how vivid my memory of it is.
It was such a warm summer night that I choose to sleep outside in the grass instead of going back to the barracks. Even if it weren't, I probably wouldn't have gone back. I was mulling over leaving the army and going home. I only decided to become a solider for my friend, but it wasn't the life for me. I thought it could be. I thought that since I was the best swordsman in my hometown that the role would fit me perfect. I was good at fighting, better than a lot of other guys in my regiment, but I just didn't fit in. My commander was always on my case for my lack of teamwork or some other such BS. I didn't care. I was sure that it would be my last night in Symphonia.
I was sprawled out on the soft grass in the park about to close my eyes for the night when I caught the sight of her. She was just dancing. No music, no one around, just moving her body in sway with whatever song was going through her head.
At first I was confused. A street performer? It couldn't be. Not this late at night and with no one else around. Was she drunk? As I continued to watch her however I stopped asking questions. I stopped almost all train of thought actually. My mind could only focus on her dance. It was if I was hypnotized or something. I couldn't look away. I had never seen anything like it. It was like no other dance I had ever seen before. Graceful didn't even begin to describe it. For a moment, when the light of the moon hit her just right, I had a vision of a goddess, but only for a moment. When I snapped out of it I realized she was just a normal girl. A normal girl with an incredible amount of grace and elegance, but still normal.
She was around the age of 15 maybe, only slightly short for her age, but not tiny. Her long hair whipped around her as she moved. It was the color of honey. Her skin was without blemishes and her body was toned in the way an experienced dancer would be toned. Maybe not a vision of a goddess, but I would definitely call her a vision of loveliness.
I was only able to take my eyes away when her dog startled me. I was so taken back by the sight of him because I wasn't sure if he was a dog at first. He looked like a tiny snowman. It came right up to me with a big, black beetle in its paw, almost as though it wanted to share what it found with me. While I was freaking out, she came up behind me.
"I think my dog likes you. His name is Plue." She told me in a cheery voice.
Honestly if she hadn't told me that it was a dog, I never would have guessed. Even she commented that it looked more like an insect. I didn't agree with that but I didn't say so out loud.
Instead I told her that I liked her dance. She smiled genuinely and thanked me. Noticing my uniform she asked, "Are you a soldier? Why are you out here this late?"
"Well, kind of." Considering I wasn't sure whether or not I would be a soldier anymore I didn't want to get into the complicated details with some I had just met. Instead I replied by asking "What's a girl like you doing in the park alone after midnight?"
Her eyes widened. "Is it after midnight? I've lost track of time! I need to get back before they find out I'm not there! Come on, Plue!"
She motioned toward her dog as she began to run off, but suddenly she stopped herself and turned on her heels to face me once more. "What's your name?"
"Me? I'm Shiba Roses of the 24th unit"
"Okay, I'll see you soon Shiba!" She left in a hurry before I got the chance to ask her, her name. I didn't know what she meant by 'see you soon' at the time. I didn't really give it that much thought until the next day.
The next day, as expected, my commanding officer chewed me out for staying out all night and then showing up late the next morning. Originally I was just going to get my things and leave but before I could get the chance to quit he reassigned me. It struck me out of nowhere. I thought I was on thin ice but instead I was told I would be working directly in the palace as a bodyguard for a VIP from now on. When I asked why he told me that this VIP asked for my name specifically. How that happened I had no idea. I didn't know anyone that important in Symphonia. Instead of being shoved out on the battlefield I would be in the palace babysitting someone. Sounded like an easy deal but knowing my luck this person would just be some upper crust spoiled brat to deal with, but then again, maybe this was the change of scenery I was looking for, so I took the job that very day.
If that wasn't a big enough surprise I found out that I would be working along side the knights of the blue sky, the true elites. They were the pride of the kingdom, known for their bravery, strength, and honor. Deerhound, Alpine, Maltese, and Dalmatian. Anyone kid who dreamed of becoming a knight wanted to be one of these four, the best of the best.
If I was to be working with these four than the person I was to be guarding had to be important. Maybe it would be the king himself. At this point, I was sure that I had seen everything, that there was nothing that could top that news. But the universe seemed to love sending me for a loop on that day because the surprises just kept coming one after another.
An unveiling ceremony was to take place. She was to be officially presented to the entire kingdom. Her name was Resha. Resha Valentine, and they said she was the most powerful enchantress in the world.
The way it was explained to me was like this: This girl was born with more magic than any other magic user in history. Her power was known as Etherion. It could potentially create something from pure light, or destroy a chunk of the world down to its bare molecules depending on what the user commanded it to do. Apparently His majesty consulted a fortuneteller who could sense such great magic and alerted the king to find the Etherion holder at once. He found her in an unlikely spot. She was alone, a traveling dancer with no home. The king offered her a place to live in the palace where she would be treated as the king's personal guest and in return she used her magic in service to his country.
Until now, this story was nothing more than a rumor in the city. A fantasy to tell children of a magical girl who got to live like a princess because she was special. The king had no reason to unveil this girl. His majesty was a modest man who did not want to show off what he had to others, especially if other nations heard of her and became jealous and tried to steal her away, and She deserved her privacy, so the story was left as simple speculation amongst the people. Now however, the kingdom was at war and the people needed to be reassured that Symphonia did indeed have the power to stop our enemies from the conquest of our nation.
Now when you imagine powerful magic users, what normally springs to mind is an elderly wise person with flowing robes and white hair. That's what I was imagining when I was told about this woman, so you can imagine my surprise when the lady that stepped out onto the palace balcony to address the people down bellow was none other than the pretty, young dancer I had met the night prior. I was completely shell shocked.
She was dressed up well. She wore a gown fit for a queen, but the way she spoke and waved to the crowd down bellow her with Plue in her arms let me know she was just the same cheery girl I had met yesterday.
After her official unveiling I was taken aside by Sir Alpine and told my assignment. Resha was working hard with her Etherion to create a powerful weapon to combat the magic that the enemy was using. It had to be perfect however and such a large order could not be completed in a day. Because she was the key to winning the war she must be under constant protection at all times.
That's where I came in. We were all to be taking turns as to who would be looking after her. I drew the short end of the stick and was assigned to guard her between the hours of 9:00 PM to 2:00 AM.
'So basically I was in charge of bed time?,' I thought. Babysitting a little sorceress was not what I was expecting out of this job, but whatever, a job was a job, It couldn't be anymore of a slog to get trough than having to deal with the other morons from my previous regiment right? So I just said 'yes sir' without complaint and at 9:00 PM I went to greet Symphonia's "Savior".
The first night I was only meant to stand by the door while she slept. It started pretty damn awkwardly. I mean I was supposed to stand by and watch a 15-year-old girl sleep in the bed on the other side of the room for the next five hours. It goes without saying how uncomfortable it all was. I think she felt the same way because she didn't even try to sleep, she sat up in bed and tried to start a conversation with me. She'd ask me questions like where I was from, how did I like it here in Symphonia, stuff like that.
"I was told, you spent the day working, aren't you tired?" I asked her. She seemed pretty wired.
"A little" she answered, "But I don't feel like sleeping. They used to have a guard posted outside my bedroom. They're tightening up security because someone made an attempt on my life last week."
"Someone tried to kill you?" I asked raising my eyebrows at the very idea. She seemed like such a sweet girl. While I understood why, it was war after all, it was still difficult to imagine.
"I guess. The whole affair is kind of fuzzy I don't recall it well."
I rolled my eyes at that, either the whole event was blown out of proportion, or she was just a big space case if she didn't even think that hard about someone trying to kill her. My guess was both. I didn't know back then why she forgot things so quickly.
"Hey, let's go out." She said, getting out of bed. She headed to her wardrobe and looked for proper clothes to change into and out of the nightgown she was wearing.
"Wait, right now? Um, are we allowed to do that?"
"So long as we don't get caught." She replied cheekily. "All we have to do is get beyond the castle walls. If someone catches us before that I'll just tell them I got lost looking for the bathroom. I'm allowed to leave my bedroom; I'm not a prisoner."
"I don't know." I replied thoughtfully. I wasn't in the mood to get chewed out on my first night on the job if caught, although it would certainly be better than just standing here all night, trying to convince her to go to sleep and then just watch her.
"Come on. I recommended you as my bodyguard because Plue could sense that you'd be a great person to have around and he's never wrong about people. He's the best judge of character I know."
So she was the one to recommend me to bodyguard duty. Now it all makes sense.
Well it didn't take long to convince me, I had nothing to loose, what's the worst thing that could happen? I get fired and sent home? I was already thinking about doing that the day before.
It didn't take us long to sneak out. She had left the palace in the middle of the night many times before, and with a person like me helping her climb over walls, we were out in half the time it usually took her.
That actually became out routine for the next few weeks. Every night during my shift we'd sneak out and have some fun.
I remembered one night I told her that something I missed about my hometown was stargazing. You couldn't see the stars in a big city like Symphonia's capitol. She came up with the idea to show me the city lights instead. We climbed to the tallest church in the city and went to the roof where the stone gargoyles were to get a good lay of the land. As she climbed up a big gargoyle in her long skirt, I warned her to be careful. It looked as if she was going to trip and fall, but by putting too much focus on her, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and I slipped and nearly fell off the roof. It was Resha who ended up saving me by grabbing my hand in time just before I fell backwards. It was a little embarrassing.
The City lights really were beautiful, not as beautiful as starlight, but still it was a great view. I commented that next time we come up here we should bring some beers and just bull shit the night away. She confessed to me that she had never drunk beer before. She had sipped some champagne one time during a charity function the king held at the palace, but that was the most she had ever drank in her life. That gave me an idea for another adventure.
We went to a tavern another night and I was going to bye the girl her first beer. She seemed to have liked it just fine, but I had forgotten her age and size, mixed in with the fact that she wasn't used to drinking would probably mean she wouldn't have handled her it too well. Well she didn't really get drunk so to say, just a bit tipsy, only enough to cause a slight change in her, but she did seem to get a touch more flirty and two bigger guys took notice. Long story short: the night ended in a bar brawl with fists flying and chairs smashing into people every which way. I ended up throwing the giggling girl over my shoulder and running out of there with her yelling "We had a great time!" as she waved goodbye. That was the first time I actually felt like a bodyguard.
That wouldn't be the only night where I would end up smashing heads. One night it was too unseasonably chilly to hang out outside so we went to see a play instead. While we were about to get in line to buy tickets someone actually recognized Resha. A loud, obnoxious fan of her's from back when she was a full time dancer. He got right in her face and began shaking her hand. The fool was gushing over how much he loved her dancing. He was so loud I knew he was going to blow our cover, so with one quick blow to the back of the head and he was out cold.
Resha gave me a stern look and berated me for hurting a guy who wasn't doing anything wrong.
The unconscious man was wearing a cloak to keep out the cold. I took it right off of him and draped it over the girl so there wouldn't be anyone else to recognize her. I asked her, "Well would you rather he make a scene and have the knights back at the castle find out about our late night inner city escapades?"
She didn't argue with me, but she pouted like child, she certainly didn't like it. It was at this point I didn't want to loose my job anymore. I liked it now.
The thing we did more than anything else though, was go back to the park where we first met and she would dance. We did that almost every night. Sometimes we would start there and go do something else after a little while, and other nights we'd be there until we had to get back before my shift ended. She told me how she'd love to dance by that big fountain. Back when she was a traveling dancer this was her favorite spot to perform. She still liked to perform there the best even though these days I was her only audience.
I would just lie back in the grass and watch her move in fluid, hypnotic ways. The graceful silhouette of a sweet, dancing Resha in front a fountain that sparkled as the light of the moon hit the water just right was beyond words. She kept a rhythm with the crickets chirping or the occasional horse clopping by from the streets above us as the only music for her, that or whatever was going on through her head. The expression on her face was complete bliss. I know because I could feel it too. Just watching her had become one of the greatest little pleasures of life. I wish more than anything else that those days would last forever.
Unfortunately it was not meant to be. After several weeks of this routine, Sir Alpine told me that my shift would be changed from 9:00 PM – 2:00 AM to 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM during the day. That meant no more sneaking out at night, and I'd have to adjust my sleeping schedule.
When I asked why he responded "The king has ordered that Resha perform her magic duties every day now instead of every other day, so for that reason she'll probably need more rest. We can't have you taking her out at night anymore."
I shrugged and looked away sheepishly. I thought we had been discreet enough that no one had noticed. It was foolish of me to think no one had seen us.
"It is only because we understand why Resha desires some fun in her life that we have allowed your little escapades. With the hard work that she puts in she needs some time to enjoy herself and you have indeed done a good job at making certain she gets back home safely every night, but our need for her to finish making the weapon has become direr. We need her to work more and so we can't allow her the option of having so many late nights, it will ruin her health. So we are putting an end to it. From now on you will guard her while she is working on making her magic stones."
Well that sucked, I thought. The fun times were over, but I supposed Resha's hopeful attitude was rubbing off on me because I began to consider the bright side. I would be baring witness to one of the most powerful magic users on the planet perform her spells. How many people could say they've done that? I'd finally get to see this Etherion in action and get to see what the big deal was. I had bet it was going to be incredible.
We were in a large basement section of the palace; there were no windows, or furniture, just stonewalls on all four sides of us. Resha stood in the middle while me and a few other guards and a few nurses were off to the sides. I stood near the door of course so I would be there in case anyone should unexpectedly enter. There must be no distractions for the young enchantress as she did her work. Although I wondered why there were nurses there.
She inhaled deeply and closed her eyes. She put her hands together and there was a glow, subtle at first but the light intensified more and more until it looked as though she was holding a star in her hands. I couldn't look directly at it, but I saw her hands move slightly as though she was trying to compress and shape the light to make something solid out of it.
It was amazing at first, like nothing I had ever seen, but as the moments ticked away I began to notice something else. She was sweating heavily and she began to grind her teeth a little. Her forehead, wrinkled in pain and she began to grow pale. Her breathing became labored. She no longer stood still and calm. The girl struggled to stay on her feet. It was like gravity was boring down on her.
"Hey, maybe that's enough." I took a few steps closer and reached a hand out to her, but I was stopped by one of the nurses.
"Hush" the older woman said. "She is trying to concentrate."
This went on for almost 40 minutes until out of nowhere it seemed Resha just dispelled the light. "That's it…. For now… I'll get farther tomorrow…." Her breathing was heavy and she could hardly stand up right. She put her hands on her knees to steady herself but her whole body trembled. I had never seen her like this before. Was this was her work was like?
The women dressed as nurses surrounded her. They held her up straight while one of them patted her pale face down with a wet washcloth and another offered her some cold water from a canteen. The eldest of the nurses, who berated me for trying to interrupt, asked Resha questions about what hurt and how much.
They helped her back into her room and I followed silently behind. When they got to her dormitory they gently deposited her down on a large, comfy chair, and asked if she needed anything else before they were shoed them away. She told them she just wanted to rest. They left me alone to watch her.
"Are you alright?" I asked, sitting down on the couch next to where she was sitting. She was still breathing heavily and her face was pale. She turned her head to face me and with tired, half lidded, brown eyes she looked directly into my intensely worried green eyes and gave me a small smile.
"Just give me five more minutes and I'll be good as new." She slurred.
I had no idea the magic process was anything like this.
My shift went by so quick I didn't know where the time had gone. The next thing I knew I heard a knock at the door. I opened it to find Maltese scowling at me.
Maltese and I never really got along. She beat me once in a duel, (Pretty badly, embarrassing to admit) and she was pretty mistrustful of me with Resha. I had a feeling she was one of the people who knew about our late night escapades and she wasn't too fond of them.
"My turn" she pushed right by me and went right up to Resha. Softening her expression she got down to her level where the young magic user was sitting and asked if she needed anything.
"Already?" I asked. Resha's 5 minutes stretched on a lot longer, without either of us noticing.
"Lets have some fun next time." Resha said turning to me.
Maltese rolled her eyes and turned from Resha to give me a nasty look "I can only guess what his version of fun is. Taking a girl out of her home in the middle of the night to do God knows what."
"It's not like that!" I insisted. "I bet it's more fun than what you do when you're alone with her!"
"Clea is fun." Resha chimed in. She called Maltese by her first name. Resha was one of the few people to get away with doing that. "She took me hiking in the back woods last summer. We found a stream with a waterfall to play in and we made a lunch out of all the berries we picked along the way. Clea knows how to do all sorts of fun camping things like that."
"I'll take you camping once the war is over and we won't have to work so hard." Maltese happily offered the girl. "I'll show you all kinds of things I used to do when I was a troop leader for the girl scouts."
I couldn't suppress my laughter. "You were a girl scout?"
"And what's wrong with the girl scouts?" The female knight asked defensively. "I got to mentor young women in outdoor survival. The Scouts are all about teaching young people about teamwork and inspiring creativity. Maybe if you were a scout Shiba you wouldn't be such a little punk!"
"Well it certainly explains why you're such a goody two shoes." I remarked. I suppose it also explained why she treated Resha the way she did, having so much experience mentoring and taking care of young girls and all.
"Is that why you know so much about camping stuff?" Resha asked the female knight.
Maltese turned back to the girl. She had a hopeful yet sad look on her face. "…. I've… Told you about my experiences lots of times before…. Remember?" The knight almost seemed desperate for a certain answer from the younger girl.
"I don't think so." Resha replied trying to remember if that were true or not.
"Oh… well… yeah… Let me tell you about this one time a few years back I was taking my troop hiking up a mountain." I ended up staying to talk with them some more long after my shift had ended. At least the poor girl had managed to perk up a little bit.
Unfortunately things did not get any easier. As days went by I hoped that I would watch her get more used to using her magic to the point where the pain she got from using it would slowly fade away and she would become some seasoned pro at it, but instead it seemed like the effects were worsening. Every headache that she got would last longer and longer each time and began to affect her even when her work was long over for the day.
Her memory was on the fritz. Sometimes it would be little things. She'd order food to eat and then forget she did so only 10 minutes after ordering it. She'd walk down a flight of stairs or down a hall way, stop and then look around confused asking "I was just upstairs, how did get here?" Other times it would be big things. I once asked her when her birthday, just so I'd know when we could celebrate it. I hoped it was soon; it would be an excuse to stop working so hard and celebrate. I watched as the joy left her eyes. She was thinking about how to answer it, but after a moment of silence she slunk back into her chair and murmured. "I don't know."
"Don't you remember, Mi'lady? It's January first." Maltese corrected.
"Oh… That's right…. I was a New Years baby…." She gave a sweet smile, but I could tell that it hurt her that she couldn't remember on her own. I mentally kicked myself for even bringing it up.
Nurse Perchit, the eldest nurse who took care of Resha didn't much care for me. She was a stern old bat, with graying hair tied back in a bun so tight I wondered if she pulled some of it out every day when she fixed it up. Maybe it was because she was an old fashioned woman who didn't like the idea of a young man getting so close to a well respected young lady while she was in a vulnerable state.
I remembered once when Resha was brought back to her room, I Just wanted to help her somehow so I took a wet washcloth and put it over her hot forehead to cool her down, like what my mother had done for me when I was a boy and I'd get a fever. Nurse Perchit snatched it right off of her and gave me a cold glare.
"This is not your job, young man! Go watch by the door!" She then proceeded to put the washcloth right back on her forehead just as I had it. Maybe she just didn't like anyone doing her job for her. She came across as a controlling woman who would accept nothing unless it was done herself or under her supervision. I was about to argue with her when there was a new knock at the door. Before anyone could react Alpine let himself in.
"Thank you for your services, Nurse Perchit. We will see you tomorrow." He told the old woman in a tone of voice that let everyone know he did not want her here anymore.
"Humph! Well I never!" The Nurse held her nose high in the air as she and her assistants exited past the knights out of the room.
Alpine then turned to me and said "I switched my shift with lady Maltese. I will look after Lady Resha now. You are free to go, Sir Shiba."
"Um, that's alright I think I'll stick around for-"
He cut me off. "This time would be best spent sharpening your skills as a swordsman. Why don't you head down to the training grounds and practice for a while? You would like to remain useful to our cause, yes?" He spoke politely, but in a tone of voice that let me know he was not up for debating this. He clearly wanted to be alone with the girl.
"I'll see you later." I waved goodbye to my friend. She gave me a sweet smile from the big armchair she was reclining in and I left the room.
I did not go far though. I was too curious to know what Alpine was up to, so I left the door slightly ajar so that I could peak inside. If Alpine wasn't so concerned with the young lady, he might have noticed me, but all eyes were on her.
Resha sat up in her chair. "What's wrong?" She asked the knight. Even she could sense there was something amiss with him.
"Mi'lady" He began. "I have done something disrespectful towards my king. I have listened in on a conversation that was meant to be privet and as a result, I have heard some troubling news.
Resha said nothing but listened intently.
"You know of the profit the king often consults yes?"
The enchantress nodded yes "Saga Pendragon. I still know of him. I haven't forgotten him yet."
"He has visited the palace recently. He had spoken to the king. They were speaking of my future." The knight looked near distraught as he spoke. He could hardly look the young woman in the eye. Whatever was coming for him, must have been awful to make the great Alpine look so forlorn.
"Sir Alpine." Resha spoke seriously, using his proper title. "Tell me. What is it? What's to happen?"
Alpine forced himself to make eye contact with the lady. He got down on one knee and placed his hand on top of hers.
"Mi'lady." He said, "When your magic stones are completed I know that only one person may be able to use their power. I beg of you. Choose me. Let me be your champion."
"What?", was her only response.
"I know you and the king have discussed it before. To make sure that the stone's power cannot be used by just anyone, only one incorruptible person of great worth will be able to command them as the master. I AM worthy, mi'lady. Please. I beg of you. Let me fight for you. Let me be that person." He begged. His voice sounded desperate.
"Where is this coming from? What does this have to do with the profit? What is to happen in the future that makes you say this?" She asked.
"It is a terrible fate that befalls me. Please. I believe that if you give me the chance I can use the stones power to forge a different path than what is to come. I will lay down my life. I will prove to you my commitment. I will do anything, Mi'lady, I beseech you."
"Tell me Alpine, what happens in the future? Do you die?"
" No. It is not death I fear mi'lady." He replied.
"Do you loose something? Are you maimed or tortured by the enemy? Please, what is to happen to you?" Now she sounded really worried.
"No, no, Mi'lady. Nothing like that.
"Then what is it? Tell me!"
"I live without you!" He finally exploded.
"What?"
"Saga Pendragon has predicted that I will outlive all of my comrades! By many years! I cannot stand for that Mi'lady! Please! Do not let me have a future where I will live and all the people I have dedicated my life to protect will perish. I could not live with myself like that. This is my life! I cannot go on knowing that they did not. Grant me the power to protect them! Please!"
I did not hear Resha's response to Alpine's pleas because it was at this point I was spotted eavesdropping by the door by a guardsman walking by. He loudly called me out and I knew my cover had been blown. Resha and Alpine had to have heard me. I cursed as I ran away, knowing that Alpine wouldn't be happy with me.
I expected him to curse me out the next time I saw him, but he did not. He was devastatingly silent as though he did not care. He didn't even spare me a passing glance as he walked by. He just had a depressed air about him.
The next opportunity I got I tried to ask Resha about her and Alpine's conversation, but she only looked at me as if she had no idea what I was talking about. The memory had already been wiped clean from her mind. I will never know how she responded to Alpine. What she said to him to make him look the way he did, but later on I did find out what her answer was as to whether or not she'd grant his request to be the master of her stones.
Resha got worse as the days went by and so did Nurse Perchit's attitude. She was a very controlling woman. Her assistant nurses were the only ones she would allow to help her and even then they all had to do exactly as she said down to the letter. While no one really liked her, we all acknowledged she was efficient at her job. Resha was always well taken care of and the nurses never missed anything. But because of how nasty the old nurse was, all she had to do was go too far just once before we all demanded she be fired.
Resha's headaches had gotten so bad it seemed like there was never a time when she wasn't holding her head. Nurse Perchit put her on a new pain medication. It did work. She no longer felt intense pain, but it was a wonder if she felt anything at all.
The new meds numbed her to not only the pain but practically to everything. She didn't speak anymore, at most she mumbled. She had no motivation to do anything. If we didn't set food down in front of her and ask her to eat, I bet she would have starved to death. The thought terrified me. She was practically a zombie.
I remembered escorting her to her basement workroom where she would normally use her magic. "How are you feeling?" I tried to probe her.
"Mnnn… Fine…" She murmured. She didn't even look at me. She kept her dull listless eyes down on her feet.
I just wanted that cheery, funny girl I used to know back so bad. I practically ached for her. I do anything to see her joyful again.
I feigned a happy face as I tried to begin a conversation with her. "Hey. Maltese was telling me a funny story earlier. She and Deerhound were hanging out at this tavern the other night…"
I trailed off and gave up. She wasn't listening. I couldn't stand this. I hated to see her like this. Absolutely HATED it. As wonderful as life was with her before, that's how awful it had become. She was just listlessly going through motions. She wasn't living. How long had it been since she was happy?
After my shift was over I was going to demand to see the king. I know it wasn't my place, but damn it all, if Perchit wasn't going to listen, I would go over her head. Whatever pain meds Resha was on, had to go away.
When I got to the throne room however I found Dalmatian was already there speaking with the king. Nurse Perchit was there too. They were arguing.
"Would you rather she be in excruciating pain?" The old Nurse accused.
"What you have her on and the dosage are not necessary. There are other options of helping her through than just doping her to the point of complete numbness." Dalmatian argued back.
"Oh, you mean your ridiculous witch craft? Magic is not a proper substitute for real medicine!"
"Yes!" The knight insisted. He turned to the king to beseech him. "Your majesty, you know my history. I come from a long line witch doctors. Magic can be used to heal the Lady's pain or at least lessen it and it will not have the side effects that the pain meds Nurse Perchit has prescribed for her. You know of how I used my craft to heal the soldiers under my care. Fewer brave men and women have died under my supervision than any other commander, and it is because of my healing magic."
The old nurse wasn't having any of that. "She is under MY care and she will take what I have prescribed for her! You are a knight! Know your place!"
"Enough!" The king commanded both be silent. "Dalmatian, do you believe you can help the young lady in any way?"
"Absolutely." He replied without hesitation. "I may not be the most skilled magic user in the world when it comes to healing, but I'm more than certain I can do this for her."
"I have spoken with the young Lady Resha only yesterday. I do believe that a change to her pain relief would better benefit her. Dalmatian you are now in charge of taking care of her medical needs." The king declared.
The Old nurse stomped her feet and wailed as she stormed out of sight. "Fine! Do as you will! Allow the little girl to wallow in pain and die for all I care. You will be sorry, but don't come crying to me when she's long gone!"
Good riddance. I wouldn't miss her. After that the king dismissed Dalmatian. I hid so that they wouldn't see me. I was already getting quite the reputation of eavesdropping and I didn't want to make it worse, but Dalmatian saw me on his way out anyway.
"You seems to be making it a habit of being in places others would rather you not be, Sir Shiba." He remarked.
I scratched the back of my head feeling a bit embarrassed. "I swear I just came here to talk with the king. I didn't mean to be nosy."
He raised an eyebrow at me. "And what did you want to talk with the king about?"
"About what you were just talking to him about. I wanted to help Resha. I just wasn't sure how. I'm glad you had a plan. "
Dalmatian was silent for a moment. He was known for being a rather methodical man. I'm not sure what he was thinking about but if I had to guess it would be about the challenge he was undertaking to cure Resha of her headaches.
"Worry not Shiba. I am confident in my healing skills. She will be just fine. I'll make sure of it."
Because of Dalmatian's magic, Resha's headaches did lessen, but not by much, and he could do nothing to help her failing memories. The task seemed to be doing little to help her bad health and doing a lot more to harm Dalmatian's health. He was stressed and loosing sleep over her. There was just so little that was working. I think he worried over the young lady more than anyone. Second to me that is.
If there was one day that hit me just how bad Resha's memory loss was it was the day Deerhound volunteered to guard her along side me. He would stay for my entire shift and come back and do his own later.
Deerhound and Resha had a very interesting relationship from what I had seen of it back when she was healthy. She called him "Kuma" as a nickname. I don't know where it came from but whenever they saw each other they'd address each other by exclaiming "Kuma's here!"
Deerhound would come back from long missions on the battlefield and surprise her. He'd enter her room and yell "Kuma's here!" Resha would be startled for a moment, turn to face him, and run right up to him for a big hug. With a big smile on her face She'd yell it right back; "Kuma's here!" He'd ruffle her hair like a kid; she'd smile and ask how he's been. It was very much like an older brother/ baby sister relationship.
To everyone else in the world Deerhound could be as dangerous as a grizzly bear. To one young enchantress however he was a teddy bear.
But during that day, the day when he was with me, as her bodyguard it all shattered.
She was compressing her magic to form a solid, trying to create something from nothing but her magic and her bare hands, when right in the middle of it all she just collapsed and fainted onto the floor.
Everyone ran to her aide. Deerhound was there first. He held her upper torso in his arms as a young nurse (under Dalmatian's orders at that point) waved some smelling salts in her flushed face. He patted her cheek to snap her out of it and slowly she started to come around. Her eyes fluttered open and she blearily stared at Deerhound for a moment.
"Hey." He said in a quiet tone of voice that was not at all like his usual one. "Kuma's here."
She blinked at him with drowsy eyes and slurred out the question that made all our hearts skip a beat.
"… Who are you? …"
"I… I-it's me, kiddo… Kuma… You know… Deerhound…."
Absolutely no signs of recognition lit up her eyes. She sluggishly shook her head 'no'. Her memory of him was gone. Not just little things about him like his quirks, or the things he'd said to her before. She had zero memory of the knight known as Sir Deerhound what so ever. He was a stranger to her now.
His eyes threatened to spill over with tears at any second now. "Sure you know me…. Resha… You're just tired… I-It'll come to you… Just… Just… Give it a second… come on… It's me. I-It's…"
It was no use. One look in her eyes and you'd know. She saw him as a stranger. And just like that an entire relationship, a bond between two good friends was gone. Never to be what it used to be, not ever again.
"Sh- Shiba…" He addressed me. Take her to her room, okay?"
"Y- yeah." Was all I could manage to say. It was dumb, I know, but I didn't know what else to say. I picked the limp girl up into my arms and began to walk away with her to her room so she could rest awhile. I looked back only once before leaving Resha's workroom. Deerhound stood in the middle of the room alone, his back to me. His shoulders violently shook as he tried to suppress the sobs that threatened to take hold of his body, but I could still hear the feint whimpers of the heartbroken man trying to hold it in.
I'll tell you the day when I broke. I was working the night shift again. But it was very different from the last time. We couldn't go out. She was too ill. I sat in a chair next to her bed while she lay down, looking weak and pitiful. I just wanted to make her old smile come back so bad. I wanted it more than anything.
I had heard she was almost finished. She had never been this close to completing the stones before. It would just be another day, maybe two at the most. If she could survive that I thought we'd all be all right. Things would go back to the way they were before. If she could just hold on a little bit more. The finish line was almost there. I was hopeful. But as high as my hopes were they were about to fall three times as low.
I gave her a gentle smile and tried making some conversation with her. "When this is over, I'll take you dancing just like old times. I don't even care if we might get caught. It'll be worth it."
She gave me a confused looked and asked the question that made me loose it. My heart couldn't sink any quicker or any deeper if you had tired an anchor to it and threw it into the deepest ocean.
"… What are you talking about? I've never gone dancing before, have I? …"
I just stared into her deep confused brown eyes for a minute. The whole world seemed to have shattered at that moment.
No…. no!... Just… Just NO! I got up from my chair and began pacing around the bed. I ran my hands through my hair, tempted to just pull it out from the anger and frustration I suddenly felt. I wanted to scream.
No! She could not loose that! Anything but that! Dancing gave her more joy than anything! This stupid power of her's had already taken so much from her! Too much! FROM EVERYONE! It just kept on taking and taking, and now it had stolen away her greatest joy, the thing that gave her the comfort she needed! How Dare it! HOW DARE IT!
That's when I realized the truth. She was dying. The most precious girl in this entire world to me was dying! That whole "one more day thing", How could anyone trust that? Even if we were being generous and the stones would be completed by tomorrow, the war wouldn't be over! They'd probably force her to create more things with her magic. That was why she was here after all, why we were protecting her. The kingdom needed her to make things with her magic. It was clear to me now. It was never going to stop. Her responsibility to the kingdom was just going to keep taking, and taking from her and then leave her for dead or worse, as some kind of mindless vegetable with no memories of being person.
I wouldn't have it! I refuse! I don't care what kind of trouble I'll get into. I don't care about anything now but her. Before that moment I had fantasized about running away with her, but now, I was sure of what I needed to do. We'd leave Symphonia. I would take her home with me back to Garage Island. She won't have to use her magic ever again and her memories will stop fading away. She'd get better and I could take care of her. We'd be far away where the war wouldn't affect us.
I looked back at her. She had fallen asleep. It didn't surprise me. She was constantly exhausted during those days. Carefully I removed the covers off of her and slowly picked her up off the bed. I would carry her piggyback ride all the way to the harbor if I had to. Once there, We'd take the soonest ship out of Symphonia, Even if it wasn't a ship directly to Garage, we'd still take it, we'll just get off wherever it took us and then find a ship to transfer us to Garage Island. It would throw off anyone who was looking for us too.
Each of these thoughts made me feel bolder. 'We're really doing this', I thought to myself.
We actually got pretty far. I knew how to sneak out of the palace at this point relatively easily. The streets were empty at that hour so no one saw us. We made it a few blocks into town before the young lady stirred.
"… Shiba… ?" I heard her mutter.
I didn't stop. I just whispered to her, "Go back to sleep, Resha. You need your rest."
She gave a quick glance at her surroundings, trying to figure out where she was. Then a sad look overtook her face. "I don't remember what we did today. The last thing I remember was falling asleep in my bed with you next to me. I don't remember how we got here or what we just did."
"That was the last thing you did." I corrected her. "You fell asleep and I took you out of the palace."
"I don't understand.", was her only response. "Where are we going?"
"We're going home." I told her.
She looked back. The palace was easily seen from where we were and we were walking away from it. "Home is that way." She stated simply while motioning to the opposite direction.
"I'm mean I'm taking you to my home, on Garage Island. We'll catch the next ship out."
"What?" She looked at me like I was crazy. "Shiba I can't go now. I'm needed here to help with the war effort."
"You're dying!" I flat out told her. It was a harsh thing to say but I had to convince her this was for the best. "Listen to me Resha, if you keep doing what you're doing, you'll die with no part of your memory left. You cannot keep this up!"
"I have to." She refuted.
"No! You don't! You don't have to!"
"Shiba…." She looked at me sadly.
"I'll take care of you. " I Insisted. "It won't be a palace, but all my friends will welcome you to the island. They'll love you, and it's a beautiful island. There will be lots of great places for you to dance, and have fun, and the war won't hurt us!"
"Shiba! I can't!" She shut me off.
"WHY NOT!" I shouted. I wasn't even thinking about whether or not someone could hear me. "YOU'VE GIVIN MORE FOR THIS CAUSE THAN ANYONE! FORGET ABOUT LETTING THEM DOWN! THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU WANT FOR A CHANGE! AFTER ALL YOU'VE DONE, YOU DESERVE TO BE HAPPY! "
"Shiba!"
"WHY WON'T YOU LET ME DO THIS FOR YOU, RESHA! I CAN DO THIS! WE CAN BE HAPPY TOGETHER! WHY CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND!? I LOVE YOU TOO MUCH TO-… to…."
I stopped walking. Everything seemed to go still, My breath was caught in my throat. Even my tears latched on to the corners of my eyes and refused to fall. I didn't know if that was the right thing to say. Maybe I shouldn't have blurted it out loud but it's what I felt. I could feel her visibly stiffen on my back. It certainly sent her for a loop.
After a few moments of silence, she spoke.
"….. Put me down… Please… I'm tired…"
I was tired too. I gently let her off my back and she sat down on the sidewalk, leaning against a brick wall. I sat down beside her.
"I was having a conversation with his majesty the other day." She told me. " He came to see me just before I went to work on the stones to tell me something important. I don't know how long I'll be able to remember what he said, but since he told me the news I've been thinking about it a lot."
I said nothing. I just listened intently to what she had to say.
"The Queen is with child."
"What?" I wasn't expecting to hear that.
"He wanted to me to be one of the first to know about it. People were starting to wonder if the Glory family line would die out. The Queen is almost 40 years old and his majesty is nearly 50, but it's finally happening. We're going to have a new prince or princess Shiba. Isn't that exciting?"
She let out a chuckle at the thought. "They've even picked out a name. Gale. It's gender neutral so it'll be fine. If it's a boy his name will be spelt G-a-l-e, and if it's a girl her name will be spelt G-a-i-l. But the best part is, they want me to be godmother. Can you believe it? Me!"
A genuine smile graced her lips at the thought. It was a small one, but it was real.
"It seemed like only yesterday I was all alone but now I have you, and the knights looking after me as friends and with the royal family it's almost like I have a real family again. I'll be like a big sister to little Gale. Can you imagine? Me as a big sister role model for someone? For a prince or princess no less? Usually it's everyone else that sees ME as the little sister. It'll be wonderful!"
She looked deep into my eyes. She looked like she was going to cry but she smiled anyway. "I want to have a family with the Glory family. I want to have my friends nearby always, but most of all I want to live in a world peaceful enough to enjoy it all. Those are the things I want more than anything, Shiba. That's what would make me the happiest person who ever lived. And I want you to know just how far I'm willing to push myself in order to see that happen. Everything that I'm doing now, all that I've sacrificed, it WILL be worth it Shiba. That's what I'm working for. That's the face I've given to my cause."
"The face you've given to your cause?" I asked what she meant by that.
To bring about a peaceful world I've thought about one aspect of that peaceful world that I want to see come to pass. Instead of thinking about millions of faces of people I don't know that I would be saving with my power, I find that it's a better motivator to think about a specific person, thing, or idea that you do know very well to save.
You should try it Shiba. I know you. You care so deeply. If you can channel those feelings you could accomplish anything. Isn't there one thing you want to see that would happen as a result of saving the world?"
I knew right away what the answer to that was for me.
I let out a sigh. She won. "Alright. I'll do it." I said as I rose to my feet.
"Do what?" She asked.
"I'll be your champion. If you want to win this war so badly, you're going to need some fighters, and you're looking at the best of the best." I said feeling cocky. "I'll make you're dream come true, because to see that happen is what I'D be willing to save the whole world for. You're the face I've given to my cause."
She stared at me; a little struck by my words. A heavy coat of blush colored her cheeks. I wish I had gotten he chance to tell her that I loved her more than one time. I don't know if she felt it back, but to be honest, it didn't matter that much to me. The relationship that we had was just fine.
Resha Valentine, To this day I still love you so much.
She stood up but I knew she was in no condition to be walking so I picked her up again, not on piggyback, this time in my arms and I headed for the palace in the direction we just came from. She needed to get home and rest.
She gently wrapped her arms around my neck and smirked at me. "Are you going to carry me like a princess the whole way back?"
"Why not? You know everyone thinks of you as a princess anyway, although I don't know why. You're nothing like a princess. You're not elegant at all." I teased. She pouted childishly at me in response.
We talked a little while on the way home, until it looked like she was about to fall asleep. When we got to the palace the other knights were already at the front gate waiting for me. They looked stern and angry, unhappy with my little kidnapping stunt. I wonder why they didn't come after me. I guess they knew even before I did that I wouldn't go all the way with it so they decided to wait for me to come back instead. Still, I wasn't going to get away with it. I knew that.
Man, was I going to get cursed out for this one. If I was lucky that would be the only punishment for me.
"Shiba." She whispered in my ear. "Do you remember the place we first met?"
"Do you?" I asked in return.
"Tomorrow I want you to wait there. I'm going to have someone deliver something to you. Promise to wait there for it. It's important and I really think you should have it."
"What is it?" I ask.
"You'll know tomorrow. Just promise me."
"I promise."
Alpine walked up to me and held out his arms motioning me to hand her over to him. "Mi'lady are you alright? We've been worried."
She just smiled as she unwrapped her arms from around me and wrapped them around Alpine instead. "Yeah. I was just getting some fresh air. " She joked.
I watched them walk away with her. She looked over Alpine's shoulder and gave me soft, tired smile and waved goodbye to me.
I smiled and waved back…...
...… I never saw Resha Again. I was told she died the next morning because creating the stones was too much for her…...