Chapter Five: Saving A Heart
Running through the mass of trees, following a small girl who was pretty spry for a puppet, Ryu was suddenly overcome with the eerie feeling that they were traveling much faster than, not that they should, but that they could; the trees seemed to be flying past and his feet were barely grazing the ground, but he made no comment to Tsuki about it. As long as they made it to where they were headed in time, he couldn't care less if they flew there.
However, Tsuki was a smart girl, and she was just as observant as he was, more so about some things... She could see that their speed was out of sync with the pace they were setting; but, after a single glance at Ryu's face, she decided to question their sudden benefit later.
. The brother and sister ran as fast as they had been made to after the puppet-girl in front of them, following the steady sound of her drumming as she darted through the trees with an almost cat-like grace and they found themselves wondering if, had they no unaccountable speed and steady footing, they would be able to keep up with the fast paced child.
"Are you sure this is the right way?" Ryu shouted, one hand never leaving his pocket, even as he ran. They could not bear to lose the gem inside, for it was no ordinary stone. "Didn't you just say that you didn't know where they were? How are you sure we aren't running away from them?"
"Fakir always came here to talk to Ahiru-zura," The tap-tap-tap was starting up again, this time in synchronization with her speech, "If he's not at home then this is where he should be."
"How do you know he's not home?" Ryu asked, dodging a tree that decided to jump up in front of him and hearing Tsuki curse softly as she narrowly avoided getting hit by one as well.
Tap-tat-tap. Their was a definite note of smugness in Uzura's voice as she replied, "I just came from Fakir's home-zura."
Ryu nodded, ignoring the giggle to his right as he checked that the item was still safe in his trouser's pocket. Feeling the warmth and seeing the ruby red glow as he snuck a quick glance at it, Ryu unconsciously increased his pace, fighting off the sudden feeling that they weren't going to get there in time.
"We will make it, we will save him, we will make it..." Apparently, Tsuki was fighting the same feeling as well, for her muttering had reached a pitch that Ryu could hear as she increased her faster-than-normal pace.
"Yes, we will," Ryu whispered in agreement, his grip increasing on the item until its heat almost seared his skin. "We have to..."
"We're here!" Jumping at the sudden cry, the pair entered the clearing at an less then graceful way, Ryu's hand flying out of his pocket and the oh-so-precious stone skidding across the ground...
The groups had come together...
Both good and foul...
Friend and foe...
Come together were it all started...
But the obstacles were not over...
For the knight was defeated...
The villain was in power...
And the stone was lost...
Ahiru could not believe what her stubborn knight was doing; true, her attempt to dance with Autor and find out what was troubling him that way had failed, but that didn't mean that they couldn't try talking to him some more, try one more time to reason with him. Maybe if she had returned as Princess Tutu as well as Ahiru-the-girl, she would have been able to help Autor...
Fakir had finally confessed that he felt the same way she had, had been wounded defending her from Autor's rage, allowed her to try to dance with Autor as Ahiru-the-girl, and was now throwing his life away in order to save hers, leaving himself defenseless so she could live.
Wrapping her arms tightly around Fakir's kneeling, trembling form, a fresh wave of tears began to fall like rain at the thought that she had dragged him into her her failings as well, dragged him down along with her. At least, this way, they would be together in the end.
A sudden shout brought Ahiru out of her morbid thoughts as a familiar glitter of ruby flashed in the corner of her eye, bringing with it a surge of hope as sudden as the shout had been.
As Ahiru jumped out from behind Fakir, not stopping when she heard his fear-filled cry, to snatch up the precious stone; three things happened at the same time, three things that would change her life forever:
First was a familiar voice crying out, "Ahiru-zura! Fakir-zura!" as Uzura also leapt across the clearing, her intent focused entirely on her two friends, ignoring the boy with the sword in her single minded glee.
Second was an unfamiliar voice crying out, "The heart piece!" that drew Ahiru's attention for only a few seconds; just long enough to spot a boy with ebony hair being held back by a girl with ember hair as he also tried to grab a hold of the gem just inches from Ahiru's fingertips.
"It's 'forgiveness', Ahiru!" The boy cried, his friend's grip on him slacking not a whit, "It will make everything alright again, but you need to put it back where it belongs! Do it, do it now!"
"Hurry, Ahiru!" The girl cried, her voice full of equal parts pain and fear, "I can't hold him back much longer! You must do it now!"
It was right as Ahiru was snatching up the elusive heart piece, wondering distractedly at how those odd strangers knew her name, that the final and most important act decided to occur.
Fakir had been thrown to the ground as Ahiru had dived for the heart piece, the wound in his side being hit by a stray root as he fell. The pain prevented him from rising back up again, but it gave him a front row view to the horror of Autor sweeping his sword back up before aiming it at Ahiru's unprotected back.
Two voices rose up as one; one in love, the other in hate:
"Ahiru, behind you!"
"Quit dodging and receive your punishment, false princess!"
Then the entirety of the forest held it's breath as the blade dived home.
Was the princess too late...?
Did the followers not come in time...?
Had the villain won...?
The world waited...
Waited and watched...
And read...
Charon dropped the few pages he was holding and wearily closed his eyes, suddenly afraid to read another sentence. "This is too much, much too much for my poor old heart..."
He knew he shouldn't have picked up Fakir's manuscript, shouldn't have touched something so important that Fakir had spent weeks working on, but from the very first word he had been entrapped and unable to stop, caught up in the story that had put Fakir's life in a spin. Now, he was deathly afraid to start up again, lest his 'poor old heart' would break...
He hadn't been much of a reader in his time, he could count the books he read on one hand; but never, in all his years, had he ever read something so full of love and heartbreak, hope and despair. It made him want to cry, laugh, shout and whimper all at the same time as the story had progressed, pulling him in with every syllable, every little pen stroke.
The parts that had touched him the most were of when Fakir had written of his 'princess'. It was evident in every word that he had wrote that his 'son' cared for her very much, it also filled Charon with the whisper of familiarity, as if he had meet her once before... a long time ago.
He hated the strange, ominous writings that had squeezed between Fakir's beautiful words; for every time that had been a moment when the story would turn out happy, those words had made it filled to the brim with sorrow, when a moment of peace would come along, the next was one of chaos and heartbreak. Charon, simply reading the story, could hardly stand it; he could only imagine how the people living it were feeling...
Still leaning ever so slightly back with his eyes closed, Charon tightened his fist angrily around the papers that were still in his hand, not caring if he wrinkled them as much as he would have if it had been only Fakir's work alone, only Fakir's thoughts he held. He made a quiet, simple vow; a vow no one heard save he, he and the ancestor of his writer son.
I will find the one who changed this, find him and make him pay for trying to hurt my son...
He stayed like that for a few minutes, acutely aware that someone had heard him, someone heard him and was going to help him make that vow come true. Satisfied, Caron turned is mind to other matters, matters of just as much import.
For now, all that mattered was what to come, if he had the strength to finish what he started. Could he stand just sitting here, simply reading what was happening only a few miles away? Would he even make it if he decided to leave now and help his son?
Sighing once and bracing himself for what was to come, Charon opened his eyes, unclenched is fist, and smoothed out the pages in his hand as he began to read again, hoping against hope that Fakir's writing was stronger than the stranger's...
It was a single moment...
One misdirected act...
One thing spoken wrongly...
And all would end in sorrow...
Fakir had to take a few minutes to remember how to breathe, the pain in his chest a reminder that oxygen was essential to his survival. No one in the clearing could really blame him for not daring to breathe for so long, for the sight in front of them looked as if one wrong gust of wind would send it toppling down.
At Fakir's shout, Ahiru had turned to meet Autor's falling blade and, in either an instinct to protect herself or to stop the sword, she had thrown her hands up in defense. Hands that held a piece of Autor's heart, the piece that could stop this whole mess from happening...
Autor, however, had seen the ruby-red glow coming for him and had stopped his downward motion before he inadvertently received the heart piece, Ahiru's fingertips brushing his shirt, the tip of his blade millimeters from her chest.
For either to move meant either death or salvation for the other, so they were locked in a stalemate, a silent battle of wills; Ahiru's wide eyes pleading for Autor to relent and make is heart whole again while Autor's eyes showed ever-so-clearly the inner struggle he had of accepting Ahiru's silent request or of plunging his blade that last inch and ending her life.
"What are you waiting for?" The complete silence of clearing let Fakir hear the newcomer's whispered demand, as well as his friend shushing him, even though they were several feet away, "Just do it, you foolish girl!"
Although Fakir did agree with the boy's line of thought, he knew that Ahiru would never force her own will on someone else, even if it meant she could save them or herself. She would either talk their ear off in an attempt to get them to change their mind or try to dance the solution to the problem out of them, like she tried to do before all this happened.
"Damn it all!" The boy growled again, trying to pry himself from the girl's grasp, but she wasn't making it any more easier on him."If you don't do it soon, by Kami, I'll go over there and shove-"
"Quiet!" Fakir hissed, his voice leaving no room for argument as he gathered a confused Uzura into his arms, "I will kill you if your interfering causes Autor to end Ahiru's life!"
His vicious statement threw everyone into a morbid silence and now they waited, waited to see whose will was stronger, what path Autor would take...
Even energetic Uzura was silent, her constant drum tapping grew still as her gaze kept darting between the two newcomers, Ahiru and Autor's silent battle, and Fakir's fear stricken face as he came to the realization that there was nothing he could do or say without hurting the one he loved.
Nothing save sit there, his heart beating its painful way up his throat, as the mental battle finally came to a conclusion and Autor decided Ahiru's fate.
The puppet had made it's choice...
His blade felt a life-beat at its tip...
Would it plunge forward...?
End the beat in its rhythm...?
Or would it move away...?
High pitched screams of animalistic rage and frustration echoed throughout the entirety of Karasu Manor, making all inhabitants shiver and cower in fright. It resounded off stone and mortar, beam and ply, sounding as if a symphony of ghost were raising voice to past wrongs.
One individual, more brave than the rest, made her way to her Master's chambers, intent on finding out why he was screaming with such fever. Opening the door just in time for a vase to be smashed against the frame, she fixed the enraged inhabitant with a stern gaze.
"My Lord-"
"Get out!" He screamed, throwing another vase, causing the maid to duck in order to avoid being hit this time. "Get out and take all your posturing, self importance with you! This is no concern of yours, you meddling twit!"
Only many years of faithful service kept the irritated maid in her place, even going as far as catching the next thing thrown as she calmly stated, "You are scaring the servants, sir."
"Let them cower, the sniveling worms!" The last of the vases, a commemorative plate and a glass figure were saved as his tirade went on, "Wait until I find those back-stabbing, worthless children of mine! I'll give them plenty of things be afraid of, those no good pieces of..."
As his mutterings went on, the maid noticed something odd about the room she was in; the last time someone had dared to venture in there, the frightened maid had claimed that a 'hellish, unearthly glow' was coming from a pillar in the dead center of the Master's camber. All she saw of the pillar now was broken pieces scattered all along the floor, the largest resting in front of an ornate mirror half covered by a heavy, knitted drape.
"Sir, what-"
Faster than she could ever possibly imagine, her Master's ranting was cut short as he pulled the drape forward so that the mirror was fully covered and halted the maid's outstretched hand with a half-crazed gaze that completely terrified her, much more than his earlier screams had.
"Never," he hissed, voice hoarse with suppressed anger and his shouting fit from before, "never, ever touch this mirror, no matter how curious you are. It is worth more than both our lives combined and if you crack it even an inch, I will end your miserable life. Do you understand me?"
Nodding shakily, the maid finally came to the realization that the rest of the household had come to many days ago; their Master had lost his mind. Edging slowly away lest the insanity overcome her as well, she was nevertheless brought up short by his softly spoken order.
"I'm going to need another 'student' to teach, Maid." Daring to glance behind her, the maid saw that her Master had removed the drape so that an edge of the mysterious mirror was showing through one more, allowing him to run a finger along it's gilded frame. Distorted shadows casted from a light that seemed to come from inside the mirror threw his face in shadow as a twisted smile overtook his features.
"The last one failed at his lesson. Pray that you find me someone more adept this time."
Nodding hurriedly, the maid exited, praying to all the spirits she knew she never had to enter that room again.
Hidden plans were again made...
The villain put another scheme in motion...
Another plot to end the story...
For it seemed the last one failed...
She was holding him as he wept, sword lying forgotten beside him, an ugly reminder of what he had almost done. Holding him when he didn't even deserve such a loving embrace, when only minutes ago he had threatened to end her meddling, end her life. Now, here he was, wrapped up in her arms as if he was her lost child that had finally come home.
"I-I'm s-s-s-" he tried to say it, tried to make the right words come out, but they felt so inadequate, so hollow, compared to the depth of the emotions he was feeling; the self disgust at the fact that he had been used as a silly puppet in some sick game, the absolute horror that he had almost ended another's life, whether intentional or no, and the complete distress that he would never be able to tell them just how truly, deeply ashamed he was of his actions.
"Shh, shh, my friend" she whispered, softly stroking his hair in comfort, but only making him feel even more disgusted with himself, even more ashamed. He didn't deserve this embrace, didn't deserve it at all... "It's alright now, everything is back to normal, don't worry..."
Everything was not 'alright', couldn't she see that? Didn't she know how close she came to death? How hard he had to fight himself to keep from plunging his blade into her heart? The easy way she had forgiven him of his horrendous actions was just making the whole thing that much harder...
Pulling out of her arms, he stood, turning away from her confused gaze and began to make his way out of the clearing and away from those who had sacrificed so much, put so much of themselves on the line, and almost had it torn away by his selfishness and pointless greed.
Walking hurriedly past the ex-knight, he was suddenly stopped in his tracks by a hand on his shoulder. Making no move, he readied himself for whatever the writer would throw at him. He did not, however, expect the words that came forth from the older boy.
"Ahiru forgives you, and that means I forgive you as well; even though I was ready to kill you for what you were about to do, your heart piece missing meant that you were not in charge of your actions, that all of this wasn't your fault."
"B-but-"
"Tell me one thing, and then I'll release you..." The ex-knight turned him so that they were face to face, forest green eyes boring into golden brown, "Would you have tried to kill Ahiru if you had your whole heart?"
Shaking his head in denial, Autor pulled away from Fakir's hand and ran away from Ahiru's protests that he'd return. He dodged the hand the boy raised and pushed by the girl, who took a more upfront way of stopping him.
Crashing through the woods he had entered only moments before, Autor ignored the shouts and cries of frustration behind him as he put as much distance between himself and the group behind him.
He knew that Ahiru had forgiven him, he believed that she truly meant it, but it would be a long time before Autor could forgive himself.
-----0-----0-----0-----0-----
And so our story ends for today. What awaits us tomorrow? A sad ending? A happy ending? Or maybe...?
-----0-----0-----0-----0-----
A/N: -hides behind couch to avoid livid readers- Now, I know you guys want to kill me, not that I really blame you, but I have a legitimate excuse for the delay in an update:
My power cord snapped; a seventy dollar piece of metal snapped when the children I baby-sit decided to play with my laptop. (Needless to say, I was very vexed with them).
Then I got into a fight with the youngest of my sisters after I finally acquired a new power cord and my laptop screen was busted. (This is why I love my family! -sarcasm heavily applied here-).
Finally, I got the momentousness of a cold/flus that had been floating around my house for the past couple of weeks and I didn't want to write when I'm feeling so icky, cause then most, if not all, of the characters would have died because I was in such a nasty mood.
So, I hope that this chapter was worth the wait I put you guys through. If not, please don't give up on me just yet!