Two chapters in less than a month? Trust me, I'm as surprised as you are.
Almost immediately, it seemed, Luke regretted his decision. Choral Castle was an even longer walk than to the border crossing, and he spent the whole time quiet, tripping over his own feet, and shaking. It was clear that his condition made the others think that he wouldn't be of much help in fights on the road, but the truth was actually to the contrary - brief encounters with monsters and bandits gave him something else to focus on, for a little while, and he threw himself into the fights with perhaps too much relish, judging from how often he was the recipient of Tear's healing artes.
And then they were at the gates. In spite of his dread, Luke didn't really have clear memories of most of the place, including the front door. So even knowing the castle had been abandoned for years, he was as surprised as the rest at the state of the entry with its crumbling stone arches.
"It's really a mess," Guy was saying behind him. "I'm surprised House Fabre hasn't sent someone to clean it up once in a while."
"Do you think there's ghosts?" Anise asked loudly. Luke rolled his eyes slightly. Ghosts were the least of the things he was worried about.
"I hope not," Tear said quietly, after a brief hesitation. Jade stepped past her, his eyes on the path that veered around a fallen hunk of arch.
"At the very least, there's the God-Generals inside," he said. "They weren't especially careful in hiding their tracks."
And just like that, Luke was shaking again. He forced his way past Jade and marched down the path to the doors, which he flung inwards as soon as he reached them -
And immediately found himself face to face with an odd, fat statue. He had just long enough to think That's odd, why would they put a statue directly in the entry door? before the thing spun on its base, its long, extended arms slapping him in the face and knocking him back onto the ground.
"Luke!" Guy's shout from behind him was followed by the sound of casting artes. Luke rubbed at his face, blood from his nose smearing the back of his hand, and kicked upward hard from his fallen position when the thing came close enough. He'd hoped to knock it over or at least off balance, but all he succeeded in doing was knocking the stand out from under it and dropping it onto his feet.
Fortunately, it was not as heavy as it would have appeared - the stone exterior had to be false, and the inside hollow, otherwise he legs would have been utterly crushed. Fortunately, that was the point when Jade and Anise unleashed their artes - the rush of Fifth and Sixth fonons made the hair on his neck stand up, but the only thing harmed was the doll, which cracked up one slide, one of its arms falling off with a chunk of the torso and sliding down over Luke's leg.
He sighed heavily, then pushed himself backwards to slide his legs out from under the thing. There was a nasty bruise already developing in his right leg. Fortunately, Tear was there immediately, a healing arte on her lips. It didn't pull all the pain, but at least he wouldn't have trouble walking. "That was foolish," she said, as he slowly stood up and wiped the blood from his nose on a handkerchief.
"Next time, no charging," Jade agreed as he stepped past, spear vanishing as he bent down to have a look at the guardian. Luke sighed, not wanting to admit that they had a point. He just wanted to get this over with.
"Something interesting there, Jade?" Guy asked, with what Luke could recognize as the most impatience he ever showed, even if none of the others could. With Jade bent to examine the ex-statue, there was no room for any of the rest of them to get through the door.
"This is a more recent model than I would have expected," was all Jade said as he stood up and stepped easily over the scraps as if they weren't even there. Luke decided to ignore the mysterious comment; it was clear that whatever was going through Jade's head wasn't something the man was going to share, and Luke had enough anxieties without adding that one.
He did kick the doll as he went past, though, under cover of clearing the path a bit more for Ion and Tear. Stupid thing.
As it turned out, Choral Castle was haunted, at least for some value of it, and chasing down half-physical ghosts for fonic keys was at least a way to get his mind off things as they progressed deeper into the castle. The whole time, there was no obvious sign of the God-Generals.
They were descending stone stairs when Luke heard it. The quiet, easily missed sound of water, flowing into the depths of the basement through sea caves leading to the outside. He froze on the steps, shivering, before forcing himself forward. It was just a basement. Just a basement, and he wasn't a child anymore. He could get out, if he had to, and he wasn't alone. Guy wouldn't let anything happen to him.
His resolve lasted until the stairs turned a sharp corner, and brought the machine into view. Luke had never seen it from this angle - had never seen it from any angle beyond being the subject of its use - but he recognized it instantly as though he had seen it from every possible angle. He stumbled immediately, only avoiding falling down the stairs because his head went into the wall instead, smacking his skull hard enough that he would have been dizzy anyway. It didn't help to make the things that began happening around him to make sense. After all, why else would there be a man in a flying armchair just beyond the reach of the stairway?
The man's voice, loud and high-pitched, only added to the way the world swirled around Luke - about all he could make of the conversation was that it wasn't directed at him, at least from the way Jade shot banter back off the staircase. Vaguely he was aware of hands on his shoulders - Guy's, maybe - trying to tug him back up to a standing position, but the world continued to wobble, and every time Luke lifted his head, the machine was there, staring at him, watching him. It even still glowed with the faint green hum of activity, as though seven years hadn't passed at all.
The burst of an arte, aimed at the floating noisemaker when Jade grew tired of him, almost brought Luke back to himself. He looked up and around, for a moment - it was Guy shaking his shoulders, the only one without artes that could be used at range, for the others were engaged in battle with some mechanical contraption that made too much noise and not enough sense.
A gunshot, better to be called a cannon for its size, fired and sprayed scraps of stone down across their heads. The sound was enough to make Luke respond, though not with any sense - he wrapped his hands over his aching head and whined wordlessly. "Retreat!" he heard Jade snap, distantly, the first word that had made any sense in some time. Guy tried again to pull on Luke's shoulder, to no avail.
A black shape dropped down from the stairway above, small and slight, with a kick that forced Guy back away from Luke. There was shouting as the rest of the group was forced back away from Luke - when he realized it, it drove him to action, forcing him to stand up, sword in his hand as he charged at the figure between him and the others. They couldn't be separated - he couldn't be separated from them...
With an expression that might have been pity somewhere behind the mask, Sync sidestepped gracefully and flung a kick at the back of Luke's neck. It landed soundly, and he knew no more.
"Be careful with him, I don't want the concussion screwing up the data."
"He'll be fine. They've got a healer with them, and Van will show up any moment."
The words were fuzzy; though Luke understood them individually, they didn't seem to attach to anything in the world. The voices were both almost-familiar, but neither attached to anyone in his memory, which didn't help.
"Suit yourself. I doubt Ember would forgive even you if something happened to him." There was a strange noise, somewhere below him - it made Luke aware of which direction below even was. He was stretched out on his back on something hard.
"Keep your nose out of it. We know all you want is the data." The second voice sounded annoyed. The first one laughed in response, almost a giggle.
"You know me too well! To think, after so long looking for a way to create perfect isofons, there was one sitting under my nose all this time..."
The platform beneath Luke started to hum. A light began to glow somewhere on the other side of his eyelids - when Luke slowly cracked his eyes open, it was green. Something about it filled him with fear.
"He's waking up. Make it quick." That voice was nearby, practically within Luke's reach if he could make his body cooperate.
"Don't rush me," the voice below snapped. The humming beneath Luke seemed to move into his body, slowly changing vibration until it was almost a part of him. It was strangely warm, like a distant sun and moon were both shining on him. "There. It's done. I'll be taking the data now."
"Whatever. Let's just get out of here." The warmth faded, triggering something deep in Luke's memory. He didn't have his thoughts together to put words to it, but it sent his heart racing again.
"Oh no you don't!" A new voice, one Luke immediately recognized - Guy! Guy had come for him! He tried to move, but all he could do was turn his head, seeing a slice of Guy charging at a small figure on the other side of the green light. That figure was familiar, too, he could almost put a name to it...
A male voice, deep, chanting an arte - Master Van! The healing arte fused fonons into Luke's skull, clearing his thoughts significantly as Van turned his attention to the small God-General held at bay by Guy's sword. "Sync! What is the meaning of this?"
Sync only answered with a hmph. "Time for me to get out of here." He leapt away, out of Luke's vision, and there was the sound of rapid footsteps on the stone below. Guy moved as though to pursue, but a hand fell on his shoulder, Van stopping the blond before he went more than a step or two.
"Admirable, but you won't catch up to Sync in a chase." Van turned from Guy to Luke, kneeling a bit so that his face was visible. "Are you alright, Luke?"
All Luke could do - literally - was nod slightly. Van smiled - Luke saw, behind the man, Jade pass by to the stairs on the far side of the machine. "We'll have you out of there in a moment," Van said, and Luke exhaled gratefully. They had come for him. He was safe.
Sure enough, a moment later the light dimmed, and Luke was able to sit up, his head still aching. "What happened?" he asked, as Tear, Anise, and Ion gathered around the machine as well. Only Jade remained where he was, looking at the machinery below.
"You freaked out!" Anise said, a little too loudly for Luke's comfort. "Then you tripped and hit your head, and then Dist showed up, lording it over us that we couldn't fight him from the stairs, ugh, and then Sync dropped out of nowhere and they captured you!" She had her fists balled up and seemed to shake from anger alone. "Ugh! I thought they were after Ion!"
It made sense with the things Luke could hazily remember, at least. He moved to slide off the platform he was on - and promptly almost fell again, realizing where he had been. On that machine again, just like before...
It was Van who gave him a hand to help steady himself, and Luke used it as a reminder - he hadn't been abandoned. People had come for him, this time, long before anything horrific happened. "They said from the beginning that both were targets," he said mildly. "Coming here was foolish, Luke."
"I know," he said. "I know, but I couldn't just..." His coming seemed especially foolish, now. He stepped away from Van, now that he had his balance back.
Support came from an unexpected corner. "You can't expect him to simply abandon his people," Tear said, from behind Ion. "Luke came in here even though he was terrified. I thought it was very admirable." Luke found himself flushing slightly. He thought he had been at least a little better at disguising his fear.
"Admirable and foolish are not mutually exclusive," Van said with a sigh. "Regardless, Arietta is still somewhere further ahead. The rest of you should return to Kaitzur and allow me to deal with her." Luke had no objection to that, so he just nodded.
"Please don't hurt her too badly," Ion said. "I don't know why she's done this, but she should stand trial in Daath for it, rather than simply being punished." He sounded really concerned about her, which Luke found irritated him a bit. Arietta had done nothing but cause problems. A glance at Anise showed that she predictably had a similar opinion of the matter, though she was clearly not going to say anything against Ion.
"I'll do my best, Fon Master," Van said respectfully before he turned to go, down the stairs and out the path that Sync must have taken. Luke watched him go, before flicking his attention to Jade, who was still bent over the controls. Indeed, the whole group seemed to have turned their attention to the colonel.
"Find something interesting down there, Jade?" Guy called out, which at least finally made the man look up. For a brief moment, Luke thought he could almost see something of what the man was thinking, before the typical smile slid back into place.
"Just a fon disc. The rest of the data's been erased, it seems." Jade lifted the disk in question before coming up the stairs. Luke frowned. The person taking the data - who must have been Dist the Reaper, the last God-General they hadn't encountered - hadn't said anything about erasing it that Luke could remember. And Jade had certainly been down there long enough...
Ugh. Well, if Jade was going to erase whatever data they had taken from him, Luke wouldn't complain. Guy took the disc delicately from Jade and put it safely away.
"There might be an analyzer in Kaitzur," Tear said.
"If not, I'm certain Astor in Chesedonia has one we can use," Ion provided. "We'll have to stay there overnight anyway to catch the ship to Baticul."
"Speaking of staying overnight," Anise interrupted, "are you guys planning to stay here all night? It'll be dark by the time we get back to the port if we don't leave soon!"
Luke shuddered immediately. He definitely had no fondness for the idea of staying the night at Choral Castle. In fact, he thoroughly intended to never come back here again, and to sell the place off to the highest bidder as soon as he inherited it. "She's right," he said. "Master Van can take care of himself. Let's go."
He didn't wait up for the others before turning for the stairs out. Only Jade had the poor taste to comment on it - "Charging off again, I see."
Luke resolutely ignored him.
Luke was in a much better mood throughout the return trip - his spirits lifted practically as soon as they were beyond the castle gates, really. He stuck close to Guy in particular, grateful for how willing Guy had been to rush after Sync for his sake. They arrived back at the port about half an hour before nightfall, which left Luke just enough time to frantically scrub the road dust off himself in order to be presentable for dinner with Count Almandine, who was in command of the area.
Ion, Anise, and Jade also attended, the latter two giving the distinct impression that they were guarding the former even though only one of them was required to. Luke formally introduced Jade - ignoring the Count's surprise at the colonel's infamy - and Ion before requesting a carrier pigeon. After being assured one would be found for him after dinner, they ate a somewhat stiff meal. Luke was surprised at how easy it was to put on his court face and fake his way through pleasantries, after the day he'd had. It helped that Anise made faces at almost everything - the Count, the guards, the food, the pigeon in its cage brought between the main course and dessert - when she thought no one would see.
Luke, for his part, scribbled a message to his parents and Natalia while the meal was winding down, finding that he couldn't tell them anything much of what had happened. It was all still too much to put to paper. Instead, he just gave them the best warning he could about the political maelstrom that was due to erupt as soon as he returned to court, their expected arrival date, and his love, as much as he could fit into the tiny strip of paper destined for the bird's leg.
Once the pigeon was gone and they had extracted themselves from the house - Jade after several shots of brandy that didn't seem to affect him in the slightest, Anise after only a single glass of fizzy juice that seemed to affect her far too much - Luke practically collapsed into bed, staying awake only long enough to hear from Guy that Van had indeed returned and was keeping Arietta under personal guard.
He didn't sleep well that night, but he had hardly expected to sleep at all. The feeling of being bound down in that machine haunted his senses and kept him from lying still for long enough to sleep for much of the night, and when he did finally pass out, far enough past midnight that it was closer to dawn, he woke up from a familiar nightmare. Knowing it was pointless to try and sleep any more after that, he rose in the dim light and went down to the streets to watch the sun rise over the distant mountains.
Amazingly, he wasn't the only one there. Ion was seated on a small bench, which worried Luke at first until he glanced around and realized just how many of the Kimlascan guard were standing nearby. Without Arietta's monsters, the God-Generals wouldn't try to snatch up the Fon Master here. With a relieved sigh, Luke went and sat next to the boy, who looked up at him with a smile.
"Good morning, Luke," he said cheerfully. "I suppose it's not surprising that you couldn't sleep, is it?"
"I slept a little," Luke said, a bit defensively, before relaxing. It wasn't Ion's fault. He'd pleaded with Luke to go, sure, but Luke had ultimately made the decision on his own.
"I'm sorry," Ion said. "I hadn't realized it would affect you so strongly. If I had known, I wouldn't have asked you to go." The Fon Master folded his hands in his lap.
"It's okay," Luke said, meaning it. He looked out at where the pinks were starting to develop against the horizon, the sun still hidden in the peaks. "You didn't leave me. That means a lot."
It meant everything, but that wasn't something Luke was comfortable saying out loud. Even after travelling together, they were still strangers, really, though Luke liked a great deal of what he had seen of Ion and was glad that the Fon Master for the foreseeable future was someone he could work with so easily. When it came to politics, he knew it was more than worth it to make allies, but at least Ion wasn't someone Luke had to force himself to put up with like so many of the nobility.
"I'm glad," Ion said, and when Luke glanced in his direction he found that the Fon Master too had turned his face towards the rising sun. "Even if I can't do very much by myself, I'm glad I was able to do that for you."
"No one can do much by themselves," Luke pointed out, trying to dispel some of the melancholy that seemed to hang around that statement. "You're doing as much as or more than the rest of us to end this war. That's what important - that you try as much as you can within your own ability."
"Thank you," Ion said, more quietly. "I feel guilty sometimes, making all of you protect me - "
"Well, don't," Luke said. "We all need protecting sometimes." He shut his mouth at that point, feeling like he had said too much, and turned his attention back to where the reddish sun was just starting to peek over the mountain.
Ion didn't say anything more, but when Luke glanced at him again, he was smiling, not the same smile that he wore acting at the Fon Master, but one that seemed to be more for himself. Neither said anything until the sun was well above the horizon and Anise sprinted down across the street to them, already lecturing Ion about leaving without her before she had even come to a stop. By then, Ion's smile was back to normal, and the quiet of the docks was gone as the rescued engineer and his crew got to work repairing the ferry.
Luke stood up, and looked at the ship which would hopefully be underway sometime late in the morning. He'd be home soon. That was what mattered.
