BATICUL
As dawn splashed the sky with orange and yellow, Lorelei woke. It felt nothing like when he was conceived, less fresh and more burdened by everything that he knew.
The manor minimized his world to the boring essentials, though he was determined to make the best of it for the time being. He got the feeling Guy wouldn't like it, either. Maids wandered everywhere. Every time they saw him, they greeted him as "Master Luke", but he couldn't help noticing their puzzled looks as they swept away on graceful legs. Being treated like royalty made him feel worse; everyone knew it was just an act. Lorelei gazed out the window only to have his eyes stung by sunlight glinting off the rooftops. Having a home should satisfy him, but he had stolen someone's life. The guilt coiled inside him, making him more desperate to draw Luke's answer out of him.
Soft bedsheets cradled his body as he sat up. The broken fragments of himself that belonged to Luke felt enormous. He pictured the boy, off on another search. The memories came with almost every step he took, but when he actually reached for them, they felt like secrets buried deeper than his own skin. Maybe that was it- he had to allow contact to come on its own time.
Why, Jade? Lorelei thought the man had honor behind that harsh tongue of his. Then he disappeared. He wasn't certain if social standards would consider demanding an answer from Jade rude, but it surely wasn't worse than how the Necromancer acted, especially brushing him off two days ago. He had no choice, for Tear's sake.
That was part of the problem too. The others hadn't given him means of contacting them. He hadn't thought to ask them when they mumbled hasty goodbyes and left. He rounded the manor twice looking for them, running the gauntlet around questioning knights and servants. Tear cared about Luke, if not him, so why would she just abandon him?
Suddenly, a slip of paper fluttered in through his open window.
A mechanical buzz rang out as Lorelei hopped off the bed, bending over to catch it. A bird-sized fon machine with gray, gear-shaped wings perched on the windowsill. Vibrating once, it flew off.
Curvy, flowing handwriting covered the side of the paper he unfolded. It was a letter addressed to him.
Dear Lorelei,
This is Tear. I'm sending this letter via one of Guy's fon machines. It's his first solo project with constructing fontech, and he couldn't find out how to program it to wait around after delivering you the letter, so you'll have to ask someone to send your response to us. He, Natalia, and I are currently staying together in Daath. We will see you when we escort Natalia back to Baticul next Remday.
We received word from Jade. He says he's sorry for taking off like that, but he had no choice. It's his sister, Nephry. People often get sick in Keterburg due to the weather, but her condition goes beyond the common symptoms. We're not sure if she's dying, but he wants you to come to Keterburg, as he may be there a while.
He says he has other reasons, too. Apparently, if you were Luke, you would have chased after him. It was something about a consciousness wanting to stay near those it knows, hence Lorelei (the other one) coming back to Tataroo Valley for Yulia Jue. I'm sorry if a lot of what I'm writing is going over your head. Jade can explain any questions you have. Please write back to tell us your decision.
All my best,
Tear Grants
Sighing, Lorelei walked to his end table, fishing a pen out of the clutter. His brain spun on what to say, on his criticizing thoughts directed at Jade that he now regretted, but he had already made his decision. He flipped over the letter and scribbled:
Tear- Thank you. I'm going to Keterburg. Sorry to hear about Nephry. I'll do whatever I can.
As ready as he was to leave, Lorelei knew he couldn't do it with empty pockets. He gathered the clothes Duke Fabre had given him and wrestled 50 Gald coins out of a drawer- not his, but he had rights to it now. Possessions shouldn't matter, but having so little made him that much less significant.
He wandered down the hall until he found a maid. When she turned her cheerful, rosy face to his, he showed her the letter. Her perky smile fell like a mask as she scanned the words.
She leaned close to him, so short that she almost had to stand on her tiptoes to reach to his ear. Her light brown curls of hair bounced at her shoulders. "Duke Fabre isn't allowing you to leave the manor again."
"Again?" he asked.
She rolled her eyes. "Oh, I'll drop the act. I know you're not Luke." She rushed her sentences. "But you're to be treated as him, and, well, when Luke left, he never came back. I think the Duke's kind of paranoid."
Lorelei's heart sank. "Then I'll just tell him I'm not going on a dangerous mission."
"I don't think it'd make any difference. Luke lied to him plenty of times, he'll think you are too."
"But this isn't for me. It's for a friend."
"That won't matter to him either," the maid said.
"So I can't go." Lorelei held out a hand for the letter.
The maid whisked it away.
"Hey-"
She only smiled with half her mouth, but she didn't need a full grin; her bright gray eyes contained the rest of it in their mischievous glimmer. "I never said that. Who says you have to go by Duke Fabre's rules?" She held out her empty hand. "I'm Misty. And your name?"
He could practically see her mind brimming with plans he would never have dared executed. Was she really doing this for him? "Lorelei."
"Hm. Fitting. You have him inside you's what I hear."
"It's true. I feel like he would mind the least about me taking his name."
"I think you're right." She yanked the green bow out of her hair, stuffing it in her deep pocket. "You going to let me help you or not?"
"I guess I will," he said.
"Good. Come on, let's run through plans." She strode ahead. Lorelei struggled to catch up. "I could say my own sister had died, but she lives in Baticul, and everyone would think I was kidnapping you, or wonder why I was taking you with me, so that totally obvious idea's out. We'll go with the things Luke tried."
"Luke tried to escape?" asked Lorelei.
"And failed," said Misty. "But he definitely had less brains than either of us. Hiding in a bag inside a wagon, climbing the fence, or dressing up as a White Knight? Take your pick."
"Which one's the most foolproof?"
"Come on, it's no fun if you don't choose it yourself."
Lorelei racked his brains. "A wagon would be my first choice, but there isn't one around. How about the fence?"
"Good. The fence almost worked." Misty veered toward the nearest door, blasting them with the fresh air of the courtyard.
"We're doing it now?" he whispered.
"Well, as soon as the guards switch shifts. It's in maybe twenty minutes."
Misty ducked behind a bush. Lorelei followed, accidentally rustling the leaves as he sat down. She didn't scold him, so he figured the guards were out of earshot. "How do you know all this stuff? It's not, like, part of maid training, is it?"
"Nope. I'm one of a kind," she said. "I've been studying fonic artes since I was a kid, and when I gave up on ever being a fonist, let alone a powerful one, I learned how to fight with knives. I've been going around Baticul since I got permission from Duke Fabre four years ago, taking requests from the people and patrolling the grasslands by Engeve to keep passerby from being attacked by monsters. It gets to be repetitive, but it's the best I'll ever have."
"You must feel so useful," he said.
"Well, I would've been useful here, but serving people food is nothing when I could be out there. It's not my style, you know?"
What was Lorelei's "style"? He would prefer being out in the world too, despite all the danger, to feel like more of a help. The manor was too self-contained and restraining. Knowing Luke and Asch would choose the same reassured him that they weren't completely gone, just aspects of his personality. But he wasn't completely himself, and never would be.
"Someone's coming," Misty hissed.
Lorelei belatedly picked up the hasty click of footsteps. He lowered himself, hand brushing against a pastel pink rose hidden among the leaves. A wet droplet slithered onto his finger. The gardener must have watered the bushes recently.
The gardener.
The drop trailed off Lorelei's finger.
Peering around the tangled leaves, he could see an old man with balding hair and round glasses carrying his shears past without glancing at them. So many people trapped here, he thought. I wish I had a chance to thank you, Duke Fabre. But this isn't my home, and I'm not your son.
Misty kept sneaking glances at him as if monitoring his reactions. Finally, she raised a hand, and Lorelei heard movement, louder but farther away.
"The gardener still there?" asked Misty.
Lorelei checked. "Yeah."
"I'll act like I'm coming from the door. I'll tell him the Duke wants to see him."
"But he doesn't-"
Misty put a finger to her lips and approached the gardener.
A few minutes later, he followed the guards inside and she returned. Lorelei was grateful to stand and stretch his cramped feet as he ran to catch up with her.
"We don't have much time now. I had no choice- Pere would only answer the Duke's summons immediately, with anyone else he takes his damn time."
No wonder Luke failed to escape. The fence was made of solid iron interconnected links, a painful task to perform with only hands as tools.
He gripped the thin iron of the fence and started up. With every step, his feet trembled, unaccustomed to balancing on more than solid stone.
"Faster, someone's gonna see us!" Misty called.
"You think this is easy?" Lorelei glanced behind him, making sure he didn't misplace his foot. But then his anger and guilt and fear melted, replaced by the thrill of actually doing something, and a laugh whistled out of his throat. Adrenaline tightening in his veins, he pulled himself up the next few rungs. Red patches marked his stinging palms. Not giving himself any time to feel the ache in his chest, he swung his legs over the top of the fence and climbed down the other side.
Misty glared at her skirt like it had offended her personally and tucked its hem beneath her shirt. The ample muscles in her legs made Lorelei wonder if she had escaped before. That wasn't the only evidence. Her movements were fluid, as brisk as her walk, and she made little noise. She reached the top with ease. Not wanting her to notice him staring, Lorelei averted his eyes and listened to the click of her limbs against iron.
"Damn!"
Misty's nimble feet had finally given out, and the air dragged her down. She landed on one foot, but it swayed and she fell on top of it.
"Misty!" He crouched next to her. "Are you okay?"
"I think." She shifted her leg, trying to sit up, and grunted in pain. "No...no. Go ahead without me, they might find us-"
"Let me see that." Lorelei pushed her ruffled, bloodstained skirt away. A cut snaked across her ankle from where an iron bar must have scraped her. Her leg lay at a crooked angle like a snapped branch.
"There's no time," she protested.
Lorelei ignored her. Instinctively, he raised his palm above the wound, calling on all his energy. A white glow pulsed at his fingertips. Misty's eyes widened. He closed his eyes, he imagined the cut healing, blood evaporating like water, her legs able to move again. When he opened them, he was staring at her unmarred skin. Energy depleted, he leaned back.
"You didn't tell me you were a Seventh Fonist," said Misty.
"What's that?" he asked.
"Means you can control the Seventh Fonon of sound, and heal, in your case. You're better at it than anyone I've ever seen. No one else can do it that fast."
Lorelei stood, pulling her up. She wobbled, but regained her balance and walked beside him. With a pang of sadness, he realized this was the first time someone had touched him since Tear's arm brushed his in Tataroo Valley.
Misty's stormy eyes traveled over him. "It makes sense. You have the real Lorelei inside you, don't you?"
He nodded. "Do I have the same abilities as Luke and Asch, then?"
"I don't know. What could they do?"
A bright flash lanced across his eyelids like the burn of sunlight. A memory. "Hyperresonance was one thing. They could do it on their own."
"Well, I don't know if you should try that," she advised. "Those are powerful and dangerous."
"How would you know?" he said. "Can you cause hyperresonance?"
"No way." The silence built up, but it soon seemed too much for her. "I'm sorry about all this. It isn't fun being cooped up there. Duke thinks he's doing the best thing for you, but he's really taking away your freedom. I think that was what broke Luke."
"He didn't have a happy life?"
"You didn't know?" said Misty. "He was rude as hell, and like I said, not too bright. He had it in him, though. He worked out for months to get those abs of steel. I guess he had to have something to be driven about, because otherwise he was so lazy, and he'd seen it all. Deep down, I could tell he was just...sad. More than anyone I'd ever seen."
You're very observant, Lorelei thought, but the idea of complimenting her made him suddenly shy. "So why did everyone I met think so highly of him? I don't remember any of that."
"Tear and the others, you mean? Yeah, I still overhear a lot about them. See, he changed. He realized what he was like, I guess, and he didn't want to stay in some position where everyone would hate him."
"And then..." Lorelei couldn't bring himself to finish. He didn't need to.
"Just another sad story," she said.
His life was the same; just another sad story, a face blending into the masses. "I wish his life had been better."
"Well, you're him now, right?" Misty asked. "You can make his life better."
"I guess that's the best I can do."
"Hey." Her words were soft, but they sliced him all the same, and he knew she meant the hidden blade to be there."You got this opportunity, you better give it your all."
"Of course," he said.
The walkway ended. Baticul stood before them. A majestic castle overlooked the city, topped by a halo of clouds. Two staircases spiraled around the lowest entrance. Multicolored flags streamed in the breeze. Everything was in tones of beige and tan. People milled around, not giving anything a second glance. The signposts directing him toward the port led to the cable cars zooming overhead.
A little boy leaned over the edge of the platform. "I can see everything up here! Dad, do you think I can see the battle from here?"
"Battle?" Misty whispered.
"Dad?" The boy turned swiftly- and pitched forward.
A scream unfolded from his lungs. Lorelei rushed after him, catching his hand, but the child was heavy- Lorelei slid and grabbed the railing next to him. Misty took his hand, steadying him. He pulled the boy up, and he got to his feet, eyes lined with tears.
"Thank you..." he started.
"You need to be careful around places like that." Misty sounded almost maternal, carrying an underlying tone of protectiveness Lorelei had never expected to hear from her. He wasn't sure whether to back her up or not. It seemed kind of harsh, having just rescued the kid.
"Yes, ma'am." He looked away.
"Wait. What battle did you mean?" she asked.
"My dad told me. It's across the sea. He said the people were coming to fight today."
"The soldiers?"
He nodded. "But I don't know where he is now."
Misty glanced around."When did you last see him?"
"Minutes ago."
"Maybe he's just in the market square?" She looked about to send him off alone, but thought better of it. "I'll help you look, and I'm taking care of my little sister here, I'll send her out to ask around." The boy muttered affirmation, wiping at his eyes. Misty turned to Lorelei. "I can't delay you any more. You go ahead, I'll take this as a request."
"What?" His confidence drained away. Suddenly, traveling alone seemed daunting. "But-"
"You can do it." She winked at him. "See you when you get back! I hope you find this Colonel guy. I gotta get going. Oh, and watch out for that battle. It shouldn't be in your way, but be careful."
She gave the boy's hand a comforting squeeze and led him away. She turned, waving with a huge grin. Her eyes closed to shine out the regret swimming in them. Just his luck- the person he had grown closest to was leaving. He hadn't known her for even a day, but he could feel the loss like she had known her for years. Trading her warmness for judging stares wasn't something he was looking forward to. He promised himself he would find her again.
He waved back, hoping his attempt at a smile passed.
This had better work out.