Okay! Let's run this up the flag pole and see who salutes! Not that I'm holding my breath...
Disclaimer: THIS-PART-IS-STUPID-AND-POINTLESS
Ch.8 Shadow Substitute
A gentle hand stroked her head, softly calling Zari from her dreamless slumber. She opened her eyes but stayed curled up; the emotional hurricane had left her mind and body weak. A voice hummed quietly. Fear, anguish, hatred, and sorrow made her shake when the melody struck a familiar chord. That was the same song her mother had sung... the moment before Zari was hurled into Agi's safe arms. The last moment with her mother when she knew Swuari was happy in motherhood. She clenched her fists and teeth.
"Shh... Easy..."
"How dare you touch me," Zari growled.
The hand reverted. "Despite how I know you will spit, I have to say I regret that you could not pass the time as your heart desired. I much more enjoy crushing my opponents when they're at their peak."
She pushed herself up on her arms and glared into Desdelona's deep green eyes. As much as she was shocked to find empathy in her enemies' eyes, Zari didn't let it show.
Desdelona sighed as she took in Zari's physical condition. She shook her head, "Why did you let yourself slide so far? As the last of the Amethyst I was going to give you an honorable end. So tell me. How would you like to die?"
"Checha!" Zari hissed. "You're a disgrace!"
"And you? The only Jewel Light still with her virginity? What soul have you lead into its final rest? What one duty of our bloodlines have you undertaken?"
"I see to it that those whose time has yet to come are not taken prematurely."
Again she shook her head, "You were blinded by love in his case."
"What makes you think he was the only one?"
"What makes you believe you know when it is time for a soul to move on?"
Zari didn't have an answer.
"You are a martyr Amethyst. There is no mistake." She stood and walked to the stone window. "And for such a soul," her voice was still soft, "I have the perfect gift." With that, she disappeared.
Damn, Zari thought. Now what? A thought flashed through her mind when the breeze came in the window through the curtains: I will die tonight.
Talme heard the door slam. Zari had run to the room and collapsed. Looking down at her plate, she pushed it away.
"Will she be alright?" Phikel asked.
Talme didn't answer for a moment. She swallowed and crossed her arms. Had it been the right move? To keep Kibitoshin away from Zari? To not let them at least speak to each other. His voice was the same. Ledena knew that would do wonders for Zari's health, just to hear him. Talme didn't recognize the mark that Shin had branded Zari with. So only Shin knew what the mark was and, more importantly, how to remove it.
She'd have to talk to Shin, soon. There were things she had to know if she was going to help Zari.
"She'll be fine," Talme said flatly. She got up without another word and walked toward Zari's room. Sorry Zari… Her eyes flashed a soft magenta and a portal rained down from the ceiling of the hallway. Its mirror center filled the void just before Talme stepped through.
Zari winced and clutched her chest. Suddenly she was short of breath and exhausted. "Talme…?" she whispered. She fell on her side on the bed and sleep took her.
Talme coughed when she came through the other side. Her knees wobbled. Zari was probably unconscious, but she had to stay alert, or at least coherent. Looking up, she smiled. Shin had reconstructed Zari's former home with meticulous care. From where she stood at the base of the hill, she could vaguely see his fusion form sitting reverently beneath the balcony. She took a step. Whatever energy she had fled from her body and she collapsed. Okay, I'll just rest here for a minute.
"Who's there?" he called.
It's just me.
"Talme?! Where are you?"
She raised her arm at the elbow then let it flop down to the ground. She could hear his feet as he hurried down the hill.
"What happened Talme? How did you-" He stopped cold, a blank look coming across his face before hurt, anger, and grief swirled in his eyes. He grit his teeth and gripped her shirt collar. "What happened back there Talme??" he demanded. "Why'd you keep her from me? The least you could have done would be to let me see her! Dammit Talme! Why did you do that? Why??"
I did you a favor. Do you know what she looks like now? Talme's eyes also burned in ire. She was sickly, weak, pale, and practically lifeless. You wouldn't have recognized her save for a corpse! I didn't let you touch her for her sake. I didn't know what would happen.
"Nothing would have happened!"
You don't know that, do you? Do you know what the parameters for your banishment mark are? Or did you forge it on the spot?
He swallowed.
In which case you don't know what would happen… So which is it?
"I don't know what the mark is," he whispered. "But I know I can't take it back so long as I'm a fusion."
Talme's eyes widened, then she closed her eyes and let her head roll away from him. Then we're all in a bit of a predicament.
"What do you mean?"
Desdelona is already circumnavigating our hideaway. She may already be there now while I'm here. She grabbed Kibitoshin's surcoat when he tried to get up and leave, to protect his Kalila. I'd know though! Zari and I are spiritually linked. If she's in danger I'd know. My life force is tied to her strength. Which still presents a problem…
"What?"
Talme took a breath and wet her lips. "Zari is the last Jewel Light of the Amethyst line. She and Desdelona are the only remaining Jewel Lights. There is a legend among their lineages: if all five combine into one, the powers therein are both ultimate Creation and Destruction."
"So?"
"Desdelona is on the hunt for Zari's light, but Zari's not the only Amethyst."
Kibitoshin knew from Talme's expression that she had said something serious, but he couldn't tell what. "I still don't understand."
"You, Shin."
"What does Shin have to do with this?"
Talme raised an eyebrow. "Oh, I forgot that you speak of yourself in the third person since you're a fusion. Okay. Shin and Zari are bound together."
Kibitoshin's heart jumped in his throat. "How?"
"Shin died in his second confrontation with Buu seven thousand years ago. Zari returned his soul to his body before he fully crossed over using part of her spirit, her "soul crystal" so to speak." She paused to see if he got it. Recognition slowly slid over the fusion's face as his internal half came to understand. "You have part of her soul in you. That makes you part of the Amethyst line. The One can never be complete unless all parts of the Five are collected. Even the tiniest shard can't be missed."
"So Desdelona will come after me too?" he mused, dwelling more on his newfound connection to his Kalila. He snapped out of his daze and looked at Talme. "Why are you here?"
"To make you promise not to see her physically just yet. If you promise me that, I won't have to hide her and you can speak to her mentally as much as you like." She paused. "She needs to hear your voice. It hasn't changed much, so she'd still recognize you. Will you swear on your love that you will do what's best until we can figure out another plan of action? Will you stay away from her?"
"Do you have any idea how hard it is for me to say yes?"
"Do you swear?"
"… Yes. I swear."
Talme smiled. "She's on my retirement home planet. She may be asleep, but you can speak to her in her dreams." When she tried to sit up to leave, all Talme could do was raise the back of her head off the ground. She grunted when she had to lie still again.
"If I gave you my strength, would it pass to her too?"
Probably.
Kibitoshin closed his eyes and held both hands out over Talme's body. Orange circles rained down on her and her body soon glowed with the energy coursing through her. The energy grew and grew until Talme thought she would burst. Then, suddenly, the pressure dispersed, like a bubble popping and she could feel the energy traveling out of her and across space. Kibitoshin continued to push energy into her body until his body turned on the safety switch and he could give no more. Talme sat up and he pretended not to be fatigued as he laid back on the hill, but Talme could tell.
"I'll leave you to speak with her in private," she said. "I'm going to say hello to Agi."
Kibitoshin smiled softly and closed his eyes. He tried to think of what to say but his fatigue dragged him into sleep.
"Amethyst," a voice whispered. Zari could tell, even in sleep, from the hissing constants that the voice belonged to Desdelona. "Amethyst, wake up. I've brought you a gift. He's waiting in the courtyard."
Zari bolted upright, alert and wide awake. Desdelona wasn't anywhere in the room. The courtyard… Now what tricks did that serpent witch have planned? Staying in the room wasn't an option. Whatever Desdelona had waiting for her outside would undoubtedly come in pursuit, eventually. That would endanger Talme and the pixie lovers. Not an option. She reached for the walking cane she had been using and gasped. Drawing her hand back toward her, she examined it. Her color had returned to what it once was, seven millennia ago. Her forearms were still thin but the muscles weren't starved for energy. Her limbs were gaunt but not sickly. She looked down at her legs. Again, her color was back to normal and her muscles seemed to have enough energy and power to run at least half of her former full speed.
"Talk about a good night's sleep," she mused, very confused. Getting to her feet, she walked twice around the room, waiting for the dream to end and for her knees to hit the ground. They didn't. She pinched her arm to the point of her fingernails drawing blood. Still nothing changed. "Hey Talme!" she called. No answer. "Talme?" She walked back to the dining room. The dishes had been left for later and the seats were empty. "Talme," she called again. No answer.
She could feel the timer ticking down to the last few seconds. She'd have to leave for the courtyard soon.
"Well," she said to herself as she walked back toward her room. "If I am going to die tonight, I might as well be ready for anything." Quickly, she changed into an airy shirt and pants. She tied a sash around her waist and took off her necklace to examine it. The chain was black with grime and the links dented from countless nights of restless sleep on rubble. The pendant remained in fairly good condition. One of the silver petals had long since been snapped off, but the amethyst stone was unblemished. Closing the necklace in her hands, she breathed in through a hole between her fingers. Soft, white light made her hands glow. Opening her hands, she blew across her palms. Twinkling lights scattered like fireflies before fading into nothing. The necklace in her hand had been restored. She slipped it sadly over her head and tucked it in under her shirt. "Forgive me Kalilo," she whispered. "But I will see you soon… for a time."
She turned toward the Eosye, but left it where it sat and left for the courtyard.
As she descended the short flight from the entrance to the gardens, she thought of anything and everything Desdelona could have possibly pitted against her. She thought she heard movement from the fountains, so she pointed her feet toward them. When she entered the layers of mists creeping out of the basins of the fountains, she saw what must have been Desdelona's gift. Drawing from her anger, toward Desdelona and some other, deeper anguish, she formed a sword and stalked toward the silhouette in the mist.
It was a person, of that she was sure. Slightly taller than she was, with something on its head that made it appear taller. If she had to guess at the gender from the width of the shoulders, she would have guessed male. No other features became clear until she was within close range. His silhouette wasn't ominous or menacing, but she could feel that he wasn't an ordinary being.
She stopped five feet from the figure, clouds refusing to let the moonlight illuminate his face. "Desdelona sent you," she said. "Of that I'm sure."
"Milady," his voice said lowly, "I was sent by no one."
The voice shook her. Her grip loosened on her sword but didn't fall from her fingers. She swallowed. "Then what business has summoned you here?"
He turned his head, to face her no doubt, and what light the thin clouds let through reflected on the yellow orbs dangling just below his earlobes. The light grew and she could make out the shape of his jaw. "I'm afraid it is a very urgent errand I am on."
Tears clung on the edge of her eyelid. "How may I be of assistance?"
"As a matter of fact, my errand concerns you directly, milady."
Her sword slipped off her fingertips and clattered at her feet. Only one man had ever called her "milady." The clouds continued to thin. Tears rolled from her eyes as his facial features became clearer. The clouds moved away from the moons and bathed the landscape in nocturnal sunlight, revealing his face.
Zari fell to her knees, bringing a confused look to his face, one of genuine concern and surprise. He has no soul… she thought. He has Kalilo's face… but this is not my Kalilo.
"Milady? Are you alright?"
Zari wavered on her heels and stared at his face, the conscious look in her eyes waning. To see but never touch.
"I died tonight…"
I know this isn't one of my more popular stories... but no one's reviewed for Quest for the Ardoneh so I thought I'd put up a chapter of something else to let people know I'm still alive...
