Hidden Roses

Chapter 4 – Zoma's Recovery Plan

Whee Sabel =D I just had to have him in here n.n Looks like a lot of the cast is going to be in here…and looks like this fic might be more than a romance o.O Well, still some time before I actually get to the actual romance part…Sigh. I was planning to have it occur by now…but oh well. Things change xD Zoma's going to be one hyper kid at some points xD Ah well, he is a kid . Dangit, and I keep typing 'Delete' rather than 'Delte' xDDD And I did it then, too xDDD

"Itadakimasu!!"

"KITCHEL! GALABA IS NOT FOOD!!" Sabel shouted frantically as he quickly snatched the wandering Galaba away from Kitchel's chopsticks.

Kitchel smirked. "I wasn't aiming for him, I was aiming for that trout over there," she said as she picked up the piece of fish. She felt a sense of triumph as she watched the yokai's face turn in a ghastly pale.

"Aniki!" Zoma said excitedly as he tugged on Sabel's sleeve. "Can I tell them what happened today?"

Sabel blinked as he looked over to the young boy sitting next to him, slightly thrown out by the new name ('older brother') Zoma had given him. With a hesitant nod, he assented. "Yeah, you can."

"'Aniki', eh?" Kitchel smirked as she leaned over and elbowed him. She grinned as she saw the peeved look he was giving her.

"Well, Zoma, what all did you do?" Delte said as she took a sip from her tea.

"We went outside!" he said excitedly as he threw his hands into the air, accidentally knocking into Sabel, which made the yokai start to choke on his food.

"Outside?" Kitchel inquired as she glanced at the coughing yokai. "Where to?"

"We went to that lake that's not too far away." Zoma was almost jumping in his seat from excitement of telling them their adventure. "And that's where Galaba came from! But he was HUGE!! Like almost bigger than this whole room!!"

"What? This little guy?" Kitchel said incredulously, staring at the small fish creature swim-flying hurriedly around the now recovering yokai.

"Y-Yeah," Sabel managed to say as he gave one last hearty beat to the chest and one last mighty cough before taking a drink of his water. "After a certain person almost trampled on him," he paused to give Kitchel a glare, "I sent him to that lake to calm his nerves. He hyperventilates easily and can get jumpy. And this is just his traveling and visiting size."

"…Wow," Kitchel said in slight awe as she looked again at the fish now resting atop Sabel's head. "But…he's so cute!!" she exclaimed as she clasped her hands and stared at the small fish starry-eyed.

Sabel leaned back away from the girl sitting next to him a bit. "…Have you Dragons…ever seen something like Galaba…?"

The foursome shook their heads. "And I'm a faerie elf," Delte said with slight resentment. Zoma just quickly went back to his food.

"Er…sorry," Sabel said hastily.

"Continue Zoma," Cesia said quickly as she glanced at the tense look on Delte's face.

"Huh?" they boy said with his mouth full. "Oh yeah! After Galaba appeared, Sabel let me ride him!"

"WHAT?!" the three girls shouted as they stared at Sabel, making him lean back even farther away from the table.

"It was fun," Zoma said hurriedly, "and Sabel was with me the whole time! I felt like I was riding…riding…I don't know, maybe a whale or something! It was great!!"

"But how did you feel afterwards?" Delte asked in a worried tone. "Did you feel tired? Sick? Hurt?"

"I was a little tired," the boy admitted, "but it was only because of the great fun I was having! I mean…after the incident…"

A sudden hush quickly followed as everyone looked down to his or her plate.

Except Sabel.

"Okay, I've heard of talk of this 'incident' but I don't know what the hell it is," he said confused. "Could someone explain it to me?"

The three girls glanced at one another before Delte spoke. "It was a while back…well, first I'm sure you could tell that he was yokai."

Sabel blinked. "Well…yeah… There are a lot of yokai here now in Draqueen."

Delte nodded. "One of the reasons why I grabbed you when you came…anyway, a while back, Zoma used to be a normal boy, perfectly healthy. Until one day, his bird was found missing."

Well that's an oxymoron, the yokai thought silently before asking, "His bird?"

"Yes, his bird," Kitchel picked up. "You see, like you have Galaba…kind of…except he depended on his bird. Like Cesia, his element is the wind and air. When he had his bird, he was able to even fly around a little. Of course, he was still practicing that," she said with a rueful smile, glancing only briefly at the silent boy sitting at the table, his head down slightly.

"After one of his practices, I noticed someone watching," Cesia interceded, glancing at Kitchel who gave her a nod. "When I came back from searching, I discovered Zoma collapsed on the ground, black and white feathers spread about him…" She shook slightly before recomposing herself. "I immediately called Delte and Kitchel and we took him to a doctor who could treat yokai."

"…And?" Sabel said softly.

Delte shook her head as she took her turn of the tale. "She told us that without his bird, he would have an unstable health and life. He would be able to move around, but there would be a limit. He could grow weak and sick and he'll be more susceptible to illnesses now. He becomes exhausted very easily. Sometimes even the task of walking up and down the stairs makes him lose his breath…"

Once more silence overcame the table as everyone stared down at the now cold food lying before them. After a minute of thought, Sabel looked up at Galaba. But… He could not make sense of it. Whenever Zoma was directly with Galaba, he was perfectly fine. But when Galaba was away from him after a period of time, Zoma became weaker and sick again. A thought struck him and he glanced around at the boy sitting beside him. He looked healthier than before, no signs of weakness showing yet.

"…I have an idea," Sabel said suddenly, causing everyone to look up. "I know some specialists who might know something about how to heal Zoma so that he could be able to live successfully without the aide of another yokai animal."

"Another yokai animal?" Kitchel repeated. "But I thought Zoma specifically needed his bird."

Sabel hesitated as he slowly said aloud his thoughts. "I've been observing…that whenever Galaba is around Zoma, he looks, and I think, feels stronger. When he was riding Galaba earlier, he showed no signs of fatigue or anything. In fact, he showed the complete opposite. He was glowing with perfect health." He glanced up at Galaba, the fish peering over the top of Sabel's head to look back with curious eyes. "But I want to know if it's just Galaba or if it really is just the necessity of having a yokai animal, or aide."

"And where can we find these specialists?" Kitchel asked skeptically.

"I can take you to them," the yokai said but paused as he cringed slightly. "Though…I hate meeting with them…"

"Why's that?" Zoma asked curiously. "Are they…scary?"

"…" Sabel gave a small smile and ruffled the boy's hair. "Only if you show fear. But they can be creepy."

"Then how can we trust you?" Delte asked as she looked worriedly at the boy across from her.

"We can trust him," Cesia said. "If he had wanted to do harm to Zoma he would have done so while everyone was gone. Yet you had placed that trust in him, Delte," she added as she looked at the faerie elf. "Why, that is still a mystery to me."

"…Yes…I did…" Delte slowly admitted. "…All right. Tomorrow then?" she asked quickly, obviously ignoring Cesia's half questioned statement.

Sabel nodded. "But…there's one condition." He looked at them hard. "Only one other can come with him. They don't really like a lot of people…"

"I'll go," Cesia said firmly, looking at the other two as if daring them to go against her.

Kitchel stared at her before relaxing slightly and leaned back in her chair. "Well, I guess it can't be helped," she sighed and closed her eyes. "Out of us three, you care the most about Zoma-kun." She opened one eye and trained it on Zoma. "And out of us three, I would think Zoma-kun would rather Cesia-chan, right?"

"I-I would want ALL of us!!" Zoma said in a rushed voice, his face reddening slightly.

Sabel noted the expression and glanced at Delte. "And you? Do you affirm this?"

…Change of tone…I was right. The faerie elf looked at Sabel for a moment before nodding. "I can trust Cesia with my life, and I know that if anything should happen she would protect him with her life." She gave Cesia a hard look. "Or else."

For the third time that night in that house, a sweat bead formed on Cesia's head. "H-Hai…"

"Then it's settled!" Sabel said, his voice once again cheerful. "Tomorrow morning it is." Something caught his eye from the window and he stood up from the table, pushing in his chair. "I know it seems kinna sudden, but it's getting late and Zoma shouldn't be staying past his bedtime," he said grinning at the boy.

"Awww, do you have to go?" Zoma pouted.

"Hey, I'm coming back tomorrow!!" the yokai exclaimed in a slightly desperate voice. "We'll see each other again."

"…And where are you staying?" Kitchel asked with an eyebrow raised. "If I recall…you were intending to ask us directions…?"

Sabel irked slightly and quickly recomposed himself. "Ah, it's all right, I had found a place to stay earlier just in case something happened…"

They all filed out of the dining room and Cesia placed her hands on Zoma's shoulders as Sabel strapped into his boots and grabbed his jacket. Cesia wondered how she never noticed these things before. I guess I was in such a rush…

The water yokai and Galaba waved after opening the door. "Tomorrow morning! And don't sleep in! I don't like to be kept waiting," he grinned. "Ja ne!"

"Bye!" they called back as he closed the door firmly behind him.

Sabel gave a quick backward glance. From the shadows from the window he could tell that they were now retiring to their rooms. He let out a sigh and started to walk forward when a voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Playing it a little close…ne, Sabel-chan?"

Feeling his blood starting to boil, the yokai narrowed his eyes as he turned toward the direction of the voice. "What do you want, Fedelta?"

A slim figure dressed completely in black except for a dark red badge pinned to his chest appeared from around the house and walked up to the slightly annoyed yokai standing under the streetlamp. "Just wondering where you were. You didn't arrive on time…so unlike you."

"I ran into a few…difficulties."

Fedelta smirked. "I see. Just be glad that the Lord favors you."

"He has no favorites," Sabel retorted. "Anyway, it's late. Tell the Lord that I'll see him tomorrow…and I have to ask their help."

Fedelta raised an eyebrow. "Getting serious, are we? What happened to that carefree always thought life as his playground Sabel I used to know?"

"Things change," he scoffed as he started to walk off. "Just give him the message all right?"

"You've been away too long, Sabel-chan," Fedelta said coolly. "…Did you experience hardships during your travels?"

"SHUT UP!" Two jets of water suddenly flew at Fedelta, the fire yokai only barely dodging. Sabel just stood there with his shaking arms still outstretched, his eyes wide as thoughts returned to his mind. Galaba, who had still been on top of Sabel's head, gave a startled squeak as he flew off from his resting place and floated in the air.

Fedelta stared at the small droplets of water evaporating off his clothing. "…I take that as a yes. Oh well, they come to everyone." He gave Sabel one final glance before smoke and fire started to envelop him. "I'll tell the Lord. Just don't hurt your heart too much now, hm? Can't have another unstable yokai around…" And with that, Fedelta disappeared within a whirlwind of smoke and ash.

Sabel dropped to his knees, his hands clutching his head as Galaba frantically swam in the air around him. The fish suddenly stopped as he heard the soft sobbing sounds coming from his master and slowly swam closer to him. With shaking hands, the veins visible on his hands now a glowing dark red, Sabel gently took Galaba and held him close to his chest, rain slowly starting to fall alongside the tears that came from the water yokai's painful past.

Awwww Sabel-chan T.T Well obviously his personality changed a bit. Or a lot. Kinna hard to work with a character you don't know really know much about yet ;; Oh well, I'm making a lot of stuff up anyway xP

BTW, I have a lot of the chapters already written but I'm being...strictly limited from the internet --; so...I'm technically writing the stuff just not updated . And I'm still on strike with the DK Fairy Tales.