This fic has now been edited! I've gone through it with a fine toothcomb, looking for mistakes and adding bits to existing scenes, so please let me know if you spot a mistake I missed. Flamers, don't bother reviewing if you don't properly explain what it is you don't like, and most importantly, WHY you don't like it. I can't improve it if you don't explain what you think is wrong.
On a side note, all previous fics that still need to be continued are on temporary hiatus, mostly from lack of inspiration for them. Chasing Shadows might be discontinued or rewritten, depending on if I can rewrite it to my satisfaction, because my characterisation and reasoning really needs some work in that fic.
Disclaimer: Kirara doesn't own The Last Remnant, or any of it's wonderful characters. The only thing she does own is a fussy rat who thinks he's human, and many, many plot bunnies of various sizes and degrees of madness.
P.S - R.I.P Gabriel, who passed in his sleep at the ripe old age of three in 2011.
February 2013 – Ch.1 rewrite complete!
November 2014 – Ch.1 recheck complete!
Unexpected Events
It was night and David Nassau, the young Lord of Athlum was wandering the halls of Athlum castle, clad in only a night-shirt and dressing gown. Moonlight slanting in through the windows painted everything in silver and black, the shadows stretching out, cold and uninviting.
In the glow of the full moon David seemed transformed, more like a ghost than a man with bronze skin bleached milk-white, golden hair gilded in silver and eyes hollow pits of weariness. His bare feet made no sound as they sank into the plush carpet, carrying their owner in his aimless walk.
Shuffling down the long corridor David's shoulders drooped, head tilted towards the ground in contemplation and sleepless exhaustion. Even now in the dead of night, his thoughts still plagued him.
The lingering pain of Emma's ultimately futile death resurfaced in his nightmares, driving away any chance at restful sleep. Even in daylight hours her absence hurt, part of him still expecting to see her sparring with Torgal, hear that hint of motherly affection when she thought he'd been working too long and needed a break.
Another common theme that disturbed his sleep was the last moment of Wilfred Hermeien's life. A once proud arrogant man transformed into a snivelling coward before the cruel, merciless gaze of the Conqueror. The almost casual way the monster had crushed Hermeien's skull still send a shiver of fear down his spine. The memory of the Conqueror's crimson power ripping Hermeien's body into an unrecognisable fleshy mess haunted David's nightmares.
Often the dream would continue past that point, warping David's memories and producing violent images of his companions deaths, some so horrific he'd wake in a cold sweat with barely enough time to reach his water closet.
His conscience had also taken a beating in the last few weeks, for he'd been unable to send aid to Nagapur due to the Conqueror's army cutting off trade routes. David had seen the level of destruction inflicted upon Nagapur and he could only imagine the suffering her people were going through. In truth there had been nothing he could have done anyway, his people barely getting away from the city with the Conqueror's troops combing the countryside behind them.
More recently the group had been summoned to Undelwalt, which had been a revealing experience to put it mildly. David could still barely comprehend the existence of a living, breathing Remnant, never mind that it bore the appearance of a Mitra!
On the return route they were escorted all the way back by a unit of the God Emperor's personal guards, which gave them safe passage through the blockades. Without them they would have had to rely on Rush's knowledge of the new (and dangerous) trade route through the Gaslin caves to the Sandsea.
Having sent messengers to the Lords upon his return bearing the Emperor's decree David worried about whether the nobles would actively seek to uphold it, a potentially crippling blow to any move against the Conqueror.
Marina Sykes meanwhile was looking for another Ark to get them safely to the Sacred Lands, where rumour said the Conqueror was staying but so far had no luck. The last message she'd sent hinted at her investigating an outlying section of the Siebenbur paths.
How the woman was able to slip past the Conqueror's blockades was a mystery, but David wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. All they could do in the mean time was wait, and this delay was very trying on everyone's patience.
David knew they only had a limited window of opportunity to stop the Conqueror before his plans were complete and though they didn't know what those plans were, they were sure to be bad news for everyone.
Worse still, ever since the Koenigsdorf bases David's Remnant had been acting up, not appearing when he called her and sometimes forcing him to summon her when there was no need.
Sinking claws into his brain she would scream to be let out, the ex machina forming in his hand involuntarily against the most innocuous foes. After such episodes he felt terribly drained, weakness he couldn't afford.
Acting as though nothing was wrong became a tedious chore, but a necessary one in such troubling times. The near continuous headache certainly didn't help.
With such a busy mind it was no surprise he couldn't sleep at night.
Pulling out of his thoughts before they could drown him, David focused tired eyes on the door in front of him, and frowned as he realised he had no idea where he'd wandered to.
He was obviously still in the residential wing of the castle, the décor around him attested to that, but as to whose door he was standing in front of like an idiot? He didn't have a clue.
About to turn and head back to his own cold and uninviting bed, he stopped when he noticed a band of light extending from under the door. It wasn't moonlight, so that must mean someone else was awake at this ungodly hour.
Studying the line of light with an intensity only the sleep deprived could manage, he frowned. He didn't want to get caught spying, but there was just something very odd about that light.
It didn't flicker like candlelight, nor was it a steady glow like the phosphorescent crystal lamps found in most rooms. Instead it seemed to ripple like water, changing colour slightly as he watched.
Curiosity winning over possible embarrassment at getting caught, David twisted the handle and eased open the door as quietly as he could, coming upon a scene that would have been more at home in a fairytale.
The whole room was filled with a soft glow, golden-white light rippling along the walls and ceiling. The room was also much warmer than the corridor behind him, causing him to shiver as he realised just how cold he was.
Stepping further into the room, the warm air enveloped his form like an invisible blanket. Too curious to leave, David looked to the source of the light and it left him speechless with shock.
He knew whose room he had stumbled upon now.
Lying curled up in bed sound asleep was Rush, the talisman on his bedside table dark and silent. Despite being partly buried beneath a thick duvet, David could easily see the outline of the teen's body, for he was the source.
Rush's skin was luminous, a pearlescent white-gold light which shone straight through the boy's thin nightshirt, shimmering over his whole body.
It wasn't all white though, as thin ripples of colour periodically appeared and dispersed, flickering in and out as they followed the contours of his body. The ripples were prismatic, a hypnotic display of colour.
Like an opal catching the light, the colour would gleam for one brilliant instant before vanishing once more. Green, lilac, blue, pink, all those and more, of every shade imaginable ghosted over the boy's skin as he slept on, oblivious.
As if they had a mind of their own David's feet moved towards the bed, the light playing softly over his features. Halting beside the bed David lifted one hand as though to reach out and touch but stopped himself, a shiver of unease travelling down his spine. Looking closer, he could vaguely make out the faint outline of strangely familiar runes shifting just under his friend's skin.
Shocked as David was he didn't realise the significance of what he was seeing. He was still stuck on the fact his friend was glowing, which was a highly unusual occurrence when Rush wasn't using the talisman.
At least as far as David was aware.
Staring at Rush's face, he was struck by how eerily beautiful he looked with that light rippling under his skin, but it wasn't the sort of beauty you would normally associate with a person.
The luminescent skin and shining hair just made him seem… inhuman, perfect in the way one might expect from a slumbering deity rather than a simple boy. It sent a chill down his spine even as the light and warmth seemed to soothe his weary body.
It didn't look right to David and wanting to reassure himself that this was his Rush, that the light wasn't hurting his friend he reached out and touched the teen's bare shoulder, meaning to shake him awake.
ooooooooooooooooo
In retrospect it was a silly thing to do, a mistake he would never have made had he been rested and calm. However at the time he was anything but, shock and lack of sleep clouding his common sense.
The moment his fingers contacted bare skin he had to choke back a cry, biting pain shooting up his arm, his hand feeling as though he'd just put it in a pot of boiling water. He tried to jerk away but was unable to move, frozen as the pain flooded through his nerves, spreading through his whole body.
Feeling as though he'd been dropped into a vat of boiling oil, starbursts of golden light exploded before his eyes as heat and power clawed at his skin, dragging him into their core.
To David, it seemed like the world in front of him became enveloped in darkness, the floor tilting sickeningly before vanishing from under his feet as he was swept away on a tide of power.
Overcome by the surge of raw invasive power, his body was unable to cope with the sheer volume of sensation and shut down to try and spare itself anymore pain.
Had anyone else been in the room, they would have been unable to explain the Marquise sudden loss of consciousness. One moment he was touching Rush's shoulder and the next he was a crumpled heap on the floor, the muscles of his hand twitching slightly as residual energy still scorched through his nerves.
Had they looked closer, they would have seen the light from the sleeping boy sweep up David's arm and diffuse into his body in a split second, eyes clouding with a green tint before he collapsed. The boy in the bed didn't even shift in reaction to the touch, couldn't shift caught as he was in an unnatural sleep.
ooooooooooooooooo
Reviews are always appreciated because it lets me improve as a writer. That, and if you don't, I think my mutant plot bunny might try and eat you. He looks very hungry…