Chapter 3
Guard Down
The next few weeks went by quickly for Lavie, as her days were filled mostly with navigating and mapmaking. Life seemed a blur of dry parchment paper and dusty black charcoal. Nonetheless, her dedication was rather astounding; she would work with all the daylight given her and when the sun set beneath the horizon, she'd continue on into the night with dim candlelight until every feature she'd captured in flight was properly sketched down. She'd go through candles almost as easily as she went through a pitcher of fresh water.
As the days passed Claus and Alvis grew quite accustomed to sleeping with the flickering candlelight in their faces. Lavie's hard work ethic carried persisted through the chilly spring into the first balmy beginnings of the summer months.
"Claus." Said a harsh voice, calling Claus out of sleep. "Claus!" It called again. "Wake up sleepyhead!"
"Lavie?" He asked as he rubbed his eyes awake from their deep slumber. He opened his eyes and saw Lavie looking over him in with naught but candlelight to light the room. He sat up and scrunched his nose in uncertainty. "You want us to leave now? It's not even morning yet." He said softly.
"Don't you think I know that?" Lavie rolled her eyes. "Look." She said as she held the flimsy map before his eyes.
"I finished it." She said softly.
"You finished!" He exclaimed as he gingerly took the wilted paper. He squinted to see the handiwork but quickly hopped out of bed and sat at Lavie's desk, still lit by the most recent dying candle.
"Careful now!" Lavie hissed. "Don't wake up Al."
"I won't." Claus answered politely as he spread out the broad sheet over the slightly lumpy surface of Lavie's wax laden desk and set the paperweights in place.
"Wow!" Claus murmured with enthusiasm.
Lavie marveled at his stamina. "Funny that you're wide awake now if I wake you up in the middle of the night, but come morning you're as sleepy as ever." She stood back with her arms akimbo, leaning against the bunk bed post with a smug smile on her face.
"Well, it's exciting news." Claus yawned as he scratched his head. His eyes squinted to examine every bit of the paper.
"Look," said Lavie as she bent over him and traced over the fine dark lines, "there's the town. I drew that last night, see the wells in the hills? See all that shading? That's the ocean, and I drew EXILE on its banks."
"I recognize it!" Claus exclaimed as he gazed with wonder at Lavie's intricate sketches.
"There's the cliff." Lavie added quietly. "I made sure not to leave that out."
Claus was silent a moment. He knew that she had meant the cliff that now housed the bodies of their long lost fathers; in a noble tomb high above the blue sea.
"Yeah." Claus replied as his hands followed Lavie's around the map, following her lead. "You've worked very hard."
"I know." Lavie sighed. "But it will be worth it, I'm sure of it. Ever since Dunya mentioned selling it I've worked harder and harder. I wanted to do this for us. So we could have the money to do the things we want to. We've always had problems with money." She said sadly. "We've always been saving and saving just to stay poor. I want us to be rich for once."
"Money doesn't matter to me Lavie." Claus answered as he looked up at her from the map.
"I know that, but don't you want that fish dinner? And those new tools we saw at the town hardware store for vanship repair? If this map sells, then we can have all those things." She went on.
"You've done a great job, Lavie." Said Claus as he looked up her.
She was smiling with pride down upon the map. "Do you really think so?" She asked gently. Her softer side gently prevailed.
"Yeah." Claus replied with a grin. "You should get some rest. I bet you'll sleep better knowing that your work is finished."
"I wish!" Lavie sighed. "It's only just beginning. I've got to copy it over and over again. That's the real work."
"But you'll have Alistia to help you. She promised she'd help you." Said Claus as he stood up and yawned rather loudly.
"Yeah, but I'd rather do it myself." Lavie answered.
"Yourself? That's a lot of work, Lavie." Said Claus as he got back into his bed.
"I know." Said Lavie as she blew out the solitary candle. "But I'd feel better knowing that the every map was my own work." She said as she got into her own bed.
"I understand." Claus replied. "But if you ever get worn out, I'm sure Alistia would be happy to help."
"I know!" Lavie grumbled.
"Okay." Claus yawned. "Goodnight, Lavie."
"Night."
The next morning Lavie rose early, just as the sun was peeping over the horizon, and went to town to purchase the cheapest tracing paper she could find. The town paper mill was more than happy to donate supplies for Lavie's helpful cause and thus made it quite easy on her dwindling supply of money.
She returned at noon with a huge stack of paper in her arms and her messenger bag full of charcoal and freshly made candlesticks. She was more than prepared for the long days and nights that would drag on until the tedious trace-work was finally finished.
Everyone greeted her kindly when she returned but she quickly snuck past the dwindling conversations to the quiet of her own room. There she set down her new purchases on her bed and proceeded to take up a small metal spatula and scrape her desk free of the hardened wax.
"Got to have a smooth surface to get the job done right." She muttered under her breath as she ran the metal scraper over the lumpy surface and caused the laden wax to scatter about the floor like dried snowflakes.
At long last, Lavie had cleared a space smooth enough for tracing her countless maps. She replaced her paperweights, spread out the fragile map, and placed the thin tracing paper on top of it. She then opened up her box of fresh charcoal and began tracing over the thin black lines that shone vaguely through the opaque paper.
Lavie traced for hours: starting first in the upper right corner and gingerly working her was towards the bottom left. She had nearly made it to the middle when a soft knock at the door startled her out of her concentration.
"What?" She blurted out in surprise.
The door slowly opened and two pale eyes peered in framed by long mousy brown hair. It was Alistia.
"Lavie?" She asked quietly.
"Yeah?" Lavie replied in her own loud voice.
"I'm sorry I didn't come sooner." She smiled with shyness. "I've been out with Tatiana all day…I only heard just now that you had begun tracing."
"Yeah." Lavie replied. "So?"
"Do you need any help?" Asked Alistia.
"No." Lavie answered quickly. "I'm fine."
"Alright." She replied with a nod. "In that case I want you to have these." She said as she opened the door wider and placed a small worn box on Lavie's desk.
Lavie stared at the small box. It was stained a beautifully vibrant red and had intricate carvings inlaid on its surface.
"It's my old mapmaking box. I kept it on the vanship just in case I ever needed it. I forgot that I had it until this morning. Funny, right?" Alistia chuckled with a smile.
"Yeah." Lavie replied, not quite sharing in the amusement as she was still fascinated by the box. "Thank you." She said.
"You're welcome." Alistia replied and then was gone.
Lavie sat in silence a moment, staring at the little red box. Then she finally took up her worn utensil and her sketching soon ensued.
But soon enough she put down her charcoal and rested her head in her hands as the thought of tracing another map haunted her mind. "If you ever get worn out, I'm sure Alistia would be happy to help." Claus's kind voice echoed through her mind as she rubbed her eyes. The constant straining was beginning to take its effect.
Of all the people in the new world, Lavie was the last to surrender her pride. So when she realized that this was a task she couldn't handle on her own, Lavie found it quite difficult to succumb to such a disappointment.
Lavie took a deep breath and rose up from her seat. She opened up the door and peered out to find Alistia still making her way down the hallway.
"Alis?" She called out.
Alistia whirled around and faced her in surprise.
"Alis wait! Come back." Said Lavie sighing out the last flame of her pride. "I…I… do need help."
Alistia was stationary at first; standing still in an awkward silence then at length cocked her head and smiled.
"I'm happy to help, Lavie." Alistia replied as she went into Lavie's room. "I hope you know that." She said as Lavie shut the door behind her.
"I know." Lavie replied as she stood with her back against the door a moment.
"I wish you wouldn't be so ashamed to ask for help. That's what friends are for!" Alistia said as she took a good look at the map. She looked up towards Lavie and smiled. "This is really good work." She said with her constant gentle kindness.
"Thanks." Lavie replied.
"I'm glad you asked for me." Alistia went on as she re-knotted her hair in its long dwindling braid. "It really is too much work for one person."
"It's a pretty box." Lavie said, changing the subject as swiftly as it was brought up.
"Thank you." Alistia replied. "My mother gave it to me before I went off to the Academy. It used to be really beautiful but after all these years I've really done a lot of damage to it." She said as she ran her fingertips over the lightly sanded edges.
Lavie watched intently as Alistia opened the box with immeasurable intricacy. Her delicate hands moved like fragile white doves about the creaking edges of the boxes. She then began to bring fourth delicate and expensive tools Lavie had never dreamed of working with: a beautiful silver compass, a protractor to match, an aged ruler, a soft pliable eraser, and numerous writing utensils; some of which the lead was dyed beautiful bright colors.
"Wow." Lavie gawked. "These must have been really expensive."
Alistia looked up from her box and noticed Lavie eying her precious indigo pencil. "They were. A shame we won't need them now, seeing as though everything is in black and white these days." Alistia replied. "But my family bought them for me anyways. We were nobles then, and nothing was out of reach"
"Nobles, huh?" Lavie said as she replaced the pencil in the cylindrical bunch bounded by twine.
"Yes." Alistia replied. "Till my father threw all our money away. He was an adamant gambler."
"Oh." Lavie said quietly. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be." Alistia said with a sight smile. "It wasn't your fault."
Lavie always thought it was funny how Alistia always squinted her eyes whenever she smiled. It was a prominent characteristic on Alistia's short list of noticeable traits. But now that Lavie was speaking with her so intimately, she soon forgot the comical look of Alistia's peeping eyes.
Alistia then grew quite red as she looked at Lavie. "I don't think I've ever told anyone that before." She said with a smile.
Lavie smiled. She had never heard Alistia speak so much before. She was always such a quiet girl that just one full sentence was probably the most speech one would ever hear out of her.
"Do you mind if I go ahead?" Alistia asked as she took up one of Lavie's sharpened pieces of charcoal.
"Go." Lavie said between grit teeth as she looked away from the desk. "Just go ahead and do it."
"Are you alright?" Alistia asked as she noticed Lavie's distress.
"I can't stand it!" Lavie grimaced, still facing away. "I feel like I'm giving up!"
"Lavie!" Alistia said in a singsong voice, revealing her dissatisfaction. "You're not giving up. You've done a whole lot of work as it is and you shouldn't cut yourself short like this." She chuckled. "You sound like Tatiana, she's hard on herself too."
Lavie huffed and crossed her arms. "Of course I'm hard on myself." She replied sharply. "It's the way I've always had to be!"
"I understand." Alistia replied to Lavie's personal confession and regained her quiet nature. Instead they sat in silence together, tracing from separate copies.
"It wasn't easy." Lavie suddenly spoke as she sat down on her bed to get more comfortable. The old bed springs groaned with her weight. "Growing up, I mean."
Alistia looked up from her work over to the small red head. She had put away her work was sitting on her bed with her knees curled up, her flexed feet resting on the edge. She was turned away but the tenor of her voice indicated the seriousness of her mood.
"Claus and I were just kids when our fathers died." Lavie went on softly. "We had to live on our own at six and seven."
"At least you had Claus to depend on." Alistia replied.
"Claus?" Lavie chuckled. "More like he depended on me. He was always getting sick, always getting hurt, always getting in trouble for something. He could never get anything done right." She smiled demurely. "He always tried though."
"You two must care a lot about each other." Alistia smiled.
"Yeah." Lavie smiled her eyes held a distant gleam as if her mind lingered in other places. "But I haven't seen the Claus I'm used to in a long time. Ever since the Silvana, he's turned into this completely different person. But slowly he's coming back again." She bowed her head. "I'm sorry, I'm sure I've said this before."
"I don't mind." Alistia said kindly. She was actually quite touched that Lavie was opening up to her. "War brings out different sides in people. Like with Tatiana," said Alistia, "she's very disciplined when it comes to wartime measures but off the battle field she's one of the kindest people I know."
"I don't care what she's like." Lavie snapped.
"Oh." Alistia replied uneasily. "I know you don't like Tatiana, Lavie. But that's only because you've only seen that one side of her." Alistia stated. "I promise if you just give her a chance, you'll learn to like her too." She then paused a moment, debating what to say next. Then she added modestly: "I know Claus has."
"He doesn't like her!" Lavie snapped. She put her hands to her head and they quickly became fair skinned fists as strands of her scarlet hair scrunched between her fingers.
"Lavie?" Alistia breathed in shock.
"It's because of her that Claus is acting the way that he is! Ever since they came back from Disith he's never been the same! I just now got him back to normal and I don't plan on losing him again. And she was wearing his clothes when they came back. The clothes that I patched myself! The clothes I had to mend with a dull needle. The clothes that even have a stain of my blood on them where I stuck myself with that stupid needle trying to fix them. And she was wearing them! She was wearing them and I'll never forgive her for it!"
"Lavie." Alistia said in sorrow. "I'm sorry. They didn't…you know…if that's what you're thinking."
She obviously knew that she was dancing the line of a catalytic subject. She then regained her quiet nature and ceased to speak and thus from then on they worked in silence.
Every now and then Lavie would look up from her work and watch Alistia, sitting with her back against her bed, as she silently worked on her own tracing paper on top of a small sketch board. Lavie was fascinated by the delicacy of Alistia's work as her hands moved with elegance over the thin paper. She moved so gracefully that not even the heaviest pressure on the charcoal produced sound. The Academy had trained her well.
Much to the duo's surprise they finished a total of twelve maps together that day. It seemed as though their silent teamwork paid off, as they were stunned at their results.
As the days progressed, Lavie threw herself into her work as her hands tinged a dark black from the charcoal. Indentions began to form in her fingers from where she tightly gripped the charcoal while her neck grew accustomed to a constant bowed over position.
Alistia somehow remained unscathed during the entire ordeal. Though she was gone quite often giving vanship lessons to eager village children, Alistia always made time to help no matter how pressed she was for time. It was remarkable how perfectly she mimicked Lavie's hand in sketching over the faint thin lines through the tracing paper. Yet, she too shared Lavie's symptoms of mapmaking: blackened hands and writer's bumps.
Their competitive spirit did not wane as the days stretched on. Lavie and Alistia slowly turned into hermits as they stayed locked in the same room for days at a time. Claus and Alvis sometimes found themselves sleeping in the hallway just to relieve themselves of the constant scribbling and dull candlelight. By the end of the week they had completed nearly fifty maps: a decent quota to begin selling.
Everyone applauded Alistia upon hearing the news at dinner but Lavie was absent for the announcement as she had skipped dinner.
After the meal, Claus and Alvis left the table early to congratulate Lavie.
"Why do you think Lavie skipped dinner, Claus?" Asked Alvis as they walked down the narrow hallway together, her little mouth puckered into a small 'o'.
"I don't know, Al. But we'll find out, right?" He grinned.
"Uh huh." Alvis nodded and pushed open the door.
"Hey La-" Claus stopped in mid sentence as he found Lavie curled up on her bed sleeping soundly.
It seemed as though she had meant to take only a nap, as she was lying fully dressed, shoes and all, on top of the coverlets.
"She's asleep." Alvis said in disappointment. She had been ready to applaud Lavie for her labor. "Should we wake her up?"
Claus looked down upon his sleeping friend and smiled. "No. This is the first time I've seen her sleep in a while. I know she needs it." He whispered. "We can tell her tomorrow morning. I'm sure she won't mind."
"Okay." Alvis replied as she turned towards the doorway. She noticed that Claus wasn't following her. "Aren't you coming back Claus?" She asked. "I made dessert."
"Yeah!" Claus replied with a smile. "I'll be there in a minute."
"Okay." Alvis grinned then scampered down the hallway.
Claus tip toed to Lavie's desk and looked at the thick stack of parchment that covered the entire surface area. Stray pieces of charcoal littered the desk while another candle burned its way down to the metal candleholder.
Claus picked up one of the thin papers and looked upon each elegant line. The graceful forms of wheat fields, rolling hills, and the great eastern ocean danced before his steely blue eyes.
He placed the map back down and looked over at Lavie, still sound asleep. Her hands were stained a filmy gray and dark circles had become prominent on the pale skin beneath her eyes. Though Alistia had helped her, he knew that Lavie had thrown every bit of her being into finishing those maps. While Alistia was out teaching lessons or casually enjoying a meal, Lavie was still locked up in her room slaving away.
Claus smiled with pride at his childhood friend. He then took the blanket off his own bed and covered her up, tucking it gently beneath her shoulders. He then blew out the lonely candle and quietly shut the door behind him.
Alvis had baked a sugary cake for dessert, almost too sweet to the taste; so much that barely a sliver of the overly frosted treat could satisfy even the most intense of sugar cravings.
Claus knew it would be difficult to get to sleep with all the sugar pulsing in his veins but nonetheless he and Alvis retired together. Lavie was still sound asleep when they returned so their goodnights were barely above a whisper.
Claus's sugar rush was quite evident as he tossed and turned for the first hour of sleep and then finally dozed for a couple hours. He woke in the middle of the night and noticed that his blanket had been returned. He sat up slowly rubbing his eyes of sleep and noticed that Lavie's bed was empty.
"Lavie?" He whispered, as if hoping to find her hiding in the shadows somewhere.
No answer came.
Claus then got to his feet and checked to see if Alvis was still in her own bed. Indeed she was; snuggled up next to Lavie's old stuffed yak.
Curious, and partially concerned, Claus left his room in search of Lavie. He peered out into the tapered wooden hallway. Claus saw a faint light shining from the end of the hallway where the kitchen was. Like an insect he was drawn to the light and he slowly made his way towards the kitchen.
He then sighed with relief as he found Lavie dining alone with a solitary candle to illuminate her plate. The candlelight revealed her exhaustion as it highlighted the darkened circles beneath her eyes.
"Claus?" She asked as she looked up from her meal. "I'm sorry." She replied softly. "Is the candlelight too bright?"
"No." He replied. "I woke up on my own."
"Oh." Lavie answered and went back to eating the cold vegetables and salted meat. "I was hungry." She added quietly.
He noticed that she had taken a slice of Alvis's cake and set it aside for her dessert.
"You slept through dinner." Claus said as he took a seat across from her.
"That's why I'm here now." Lavie answered. "My stomach woke me up." She seemed surprised at the fact that he sat down with her.
"You can go back to bed if you want." She said as she took another bite of her meal. "I know how much you need your rest, sleepyhead." She smiled slyly.
Claus chuckled. "I'm sure you don't want to eat alone out here by yourself." Lavie's sudden calmness was a sure sign of her exhaustion; she didn't even have the energy to be witty for him.
"Suit yourself." Lavie replied as she drank deeply from her glass of water. "Thanks Claus."
"I don't mind." Claus replied.
"No," Lavie interrupted, "I mean thanks for the blanket." Lavie said as she munched on her dinner. "I was really only going to take a nap." She went on. "But I guess it lasted a lot longer than that."
"Lavie," Claus began, "you've really outdone yourself this time. I've never seen you work so hard before."
A slight blush highlighted Lavie's cheeks. "Thanks Claus." She looked up and smiled at him. "Now stop flattering me." She scolded him lightly.
Claus was surprised to see tears glistening in her eyes. "Lavie." He murmured in surprise.
"Sorry." She wiped away the gathering liquid with her dirty fingertips. "Little things really get to me when I'm this tired."
"It's alright." Claus said kindly.
"You know," Said Lavie as she regained her composure, "we could start selling them as soon as tomorrow if you want. I was thinking maybe ten Claudia a map. We'd get a pretty good profit that way."
"Yeah." Claus answered.
"We'll go first thing tomorrow."
"Let Al and me do it for you." Said Claus.
"You don't want me to help?" Asked Lavie. She then took yet another bite of her meal as if trying to hide her disappointment.
"Of course you can." Claus replied. "I just want to help you. You've made the map, you've made most of the copies, now you want to sell them yourself!" He chuckled. "You're making me feel useless, Lavie." He said with a grin.
Lavie smiled arrogantly. "I guess we've switched places then."
"Switched places?" Claus repeated her words and was puzzled by them. "What do you mean by that?"
"On the Silvana you were always up to something. On some new adventure or out flying without me." Said Lavie. "I know I made the choice to be your mechanic but I didn't realize how stationary I would be. I really did feel useless to you, like you didn't need me anymore."
"You've never been useless Lavie. Ever." Claus said with a smile. "I'm sorry that I made you feel that way."
"Thanks Claus." Lavie blushed and finished the last of her meal. She was happy to be speaking with Claus like this. They were beginning to repair their friendship together.
She then pushed aside the dinner plate and set a slice of Alvis's cake in its place. "Hey!" She exclaimed. Her lips parted into a playful smile. "This looks a lot like Dio's birthday cake. Remember?" Lavie said. Once again her eyes began to water and she did her best to hide her sadness but one stray tear escaped and trickled down her face. "Poor Dio."
Claus didn't reply, but the grim expression on his face was enough to display exactly what emotion he was feeling. Dio had perished before their very eyes and his death had cut a lasting scar into both Claus and Lavie's memories.
Lavie, acting more in character, quickly ate the large slice of cake and gulped down the rest of her water. "It's really late, Claus." Said Lavie as she looked out at the pitch-black windows. "I should go to bed. I'll never get up in the morning." She laughed. "You just might be waking me up tomorrow sleepy head."
Claus smiled. "I'll wait for you Lavie."
"You mean you don't want to bang that scrap metal in my face for once?" Lavie laughed as she cleared her plate and placed it among the other dirty dishes on the counter.
"No!" Claus shuddered.
"It's not like I had a choice!" She defended her actions. "It was the only thing that would wake you up in the morning!" She then picked up the candle off the kitchen table. "You slept like you were dead." She added quietly.
With a grimy hand cupped around the small flame, Lavie illuminated the way back down the hallway to their small room. The flickering light danced across the light pine walls with a dull glow while Lavie's hand shone blood red as the candlelight glowed through the blockade of her skin.
As soon as they reached their door, Lavie blew out the candle letting the thin curls of smoke die out in the hallway like gray skinned serpents. The small window let in enough moonlight for them to find the way to their own respective bed. They murmured their goodnights so not to wake Alvis, who slept soundly in the top bunk, and soon enjoyed a pleasant sleep of their own.