Chapter 10
The Nightwatcher
It had been a quiet day for Lavie and especially long as well. Bed rest naturally didn't agree with her. She had always kept busy, not because she had to, but because she liked to. It had always been an easy way to keep her mind off of things. So now that she was stuck stationary with nothing better to do than stare at the ceiling she felt utterly useless.
She was desperate for something to do, something to keep her mind off of the fact that she had injured herself. This state of extreme boredom continued throughout the day until sundown. So her excitement soared when she heard a roar of commotion come from the kitchen.
"Don't let him in here! He's one of them!" Dunya shouted. "No! Alvis you keep away from him!"
"No!" She heard Claus reply. "He's our friend. He wouldn't hurt anyone."
Their voices had become muffled from the walls but soon cleared as she heard footsteps approaching her door.
"We can put him in my bed." Claus said.
"He's so heavy." Tatiana grunted.
"Well he's unconscious!" Dunya scolded.
"We're almost there." Claus replied.
The handle to the door jiggled and Lavie watched in eager anticipation as Claus stumbled in with Tatiana.
They carried a haggard looking young man on their shoulders. His hair was tinged gray from filth while his white clothes were stained to match.
"Claus!" Lavie called out, hoping that he would explain to her just exactly what was going on. But before she could go on she caught a glance of the young stranger's face. There were markings about his pale face, on his forehead and eyelids. Gold markings: golden markings borne only by members of the Guild.
"Claus." Lavie murmured as she watched him and Tatiana lay the boy down on the bed. "It's…it's."
"It's Dio." Claus finished for her as he stood up, quite relieved from the weight. "Dio is the nightwatcher. He's the one that's walking around the fields. The night vision from his flying suit gave him that green glow." He said.
Dunya then peered in from outside biting her nails anxiously. She had never known Dio, nor any other member of the Guild for that matter. She had been brought up to loathe them as it was only natural to detest one's enemies.
Alvis peeked from behind Dunya skirts, desperately hugging the small yak as if it was the only thing in the world that could comfort her.
"But I thought he was dead." Lavie went on. "Claus we saw him…he just went flying out of his cockpit! Right into the Grand Stream!"
"He must have wound up on Exile then." Tatiana replied. "The winds in the Grand Stream are that powerful, they could have easily carried him somehow."
"I'm sure we'll find out everything." Claus replied. "We've just got to wait for him to wake up."
Moran then appeared, trying to coax his wife away from the door. "It's alright." He said gently. "I know Dio, he's a good friend of ours. He won't hurt any of us."
Dunya looked at him, with an expression that Lavie could not make out from her angle, and left as quietly as she had appeared.
Moran shrugged his shoulders. "She's fine. She just doesn't trust the Guild. After everything they've done who could blame her? She doesn't know Dio like we do."
"Of course." Said Tatiana as she crossed her arms and stared at Dio.
Lavie could barely take it all in as she stared at Dio from across the room. He had always been impeccably clean all of the time on the Silvana, so now that he was so filthy, he was hardly recognizable. His tangled hair hung about him in dreadfully knotted clumps while the decorative ornament that was always clasped to his hair was missing. His once decadent robes were tattered and seemed nothing more than rags now.
"Dio." She murmured softly.
Lavie had always questioned her relationship with Dio. He had always been friendly to nearly everyone he met but it was always in a distant way. He never seemed to get too close to anyone.
"Lavie," Claus said as he turned to her. "It's alright if he stays here? In our room, right?"
"I don't mind." Lavie said softly. "But what about Al? It's her room too. How does she feel about all this?"
"Al?" Claus called as he looked by the door.
Alvis quickly turned away from the door, hiding her from sight.
"She can sleep in my room." Tatiana replied. "I don't think she'd want to spend the night with Maestro Delphine's brother."
"Yeah." Claus replied. "Especially after what we saw when we went to the Guild together."
"I should be going." Tatiana said as she made her way towards the door. "Are you coming to dinner, Claus?"
Lavie instantly tensed up. She didn't want Claus to leave her alone with Dio. She hardly knew him.
"I think I'll stay." Claus replied. "I can always eat later."
"I'll have Dunya save a plate for you." Tatiana smiled.
Lavie was captivated by her smile. It seemed so unnatural for Tatiana to do such a thing.
"Should I do the same for you, Lavie?" Tatiana then asked.
"Uh," Lavie had been too busy staring at Tatiana's rare smile to be actively paying attention. "No. Dunya's already bringing me my dinner."
"Oh." Tatiana said, nodding her head in acknowledgement. "Are you feeling better?"
Lavie frowned at her. "My leg is split in half, how do you think I feel?"
"I hope you feel better." Tatiana then said and then quickly left.
Claus was quiet throughout the whole ordeal. He knew better than to come between two fighting women. But what truly bothered him was the state that it left Lavie in.
A frown marked her pretty face while her arms were stiffly crossed at her waist.
"I brought your bag back for you." Claus then said, taking her knapsack off from around his shoulder.
"I'm so glad you remembered!" Lavie exclaimed as she took the bag from him and began rummaging through it. "Everything's here, thank goodness." She then looked up and smiled. "Thanks Claus."
Claus smiled.
Dio shifted in the bed across the room.
"Dio." Lavie said softly suddenly remembering his presence. "I can't believe it. How did you find him?"
"He found us." Claus replied.
"Us?" Lavie asked. "You mean Tatiana was with you?"
"Y-yes." Claus answered nervously.
"So that's where she was." Lavie grumbled.
"She just came to keep me company." Claus replied. "Anyways," trying his best to steer clear of that potent subject, "we were on our way back when the green light started chasing us. But it somehow got in front of us and we ran right into him. That's when we knew. It was Dio with his night vision on."
"Unbelievable." Lavie replied. "So what do you think of folklore now?"
"Come on." Claus rolled his eyes.
Lavie chuckled, but stopped short as her injured ribs shot pain up her spine.
"Are you feeling any better at all?" Claus asked.
"I'm fine." Lavie replied briskly.
"You can tell me." He encouraged her.
"Don't make me think about it."
"All right then." Claus shrugged.
Lavie lay back on the soft coverlets of her bed. "Claus." She said as she snuggled up against the pillows.
"Yeah." He said as he took off his boots.
"What happened to you and Al when you were at the Guild?" She asked.
Claus stopped untying his laces in a dramatic sort of pause. The bitter memories washed over him, leaving him in a troubles state. "I don't want to say." He said softly.
"That bad, huh?" Lavie pressed him. "You can tell me, maybe you'll feel better."
"Someday I will. But it's not right to say it now, not with Dio here and all." He answered solemnly.
"Fine." Lavie rolled her eyes. "Be that way."
Lavie slept fitfully that night, too preoccupied with the fact that Dio was only a few feet away from her. Countless times she wished she'd taken her mattress like Al had and gone to another room. No one could predict what Dio would do upon waking. The fact that Claus slept on the floor between her and Dio was a slightly comforting fact but still, what was Dio like now?
The last time she had seen Dio he had been mad; piloting through the Grand Stream with no navigator. Claus had mentioned something about Dio's dramatic change, when he came back from the Guild, but not enough information to secure her thoughts on Dio.
On the other hand, Claus had no trouble sleeping at all. His sleep was virtually seamless until he was roughly awakened by Lavie.
"Claus!" She tugged at his sleeve, the only part of him she could reach without falling out of bed. "Claus! Wake up!"
He grumbled and did his best to ignore her but of course she persisted, he wouldn't expect anything less.
"Claus!" Lavie shook him vigorously.
"I'm up!" Claus sat up and rubbed his eyes. It was early, earlier than even Lavie's wake up calls.
"Dio's gone!" She said.
"What?" Claus's eyes shot open.
"He's gone!" Lavie said as she pointed to the bottom bunk.
"Gone!"
"Gone." Lavie replied as she bit her nails.
"Where did he go?" Claus asked as he got to his feet.
"How am I supposed to know?" Lavie crossed her arms. "No one else is up. Nobody will know!"
"I'll have to go get him." Claus said as he put on his boots.
"Go get him?" Lavie's eyes widened.
"Yeah." Claus replied. "He probably hasn't wandered too far off yet."
"Okay." Lavie said slowly. She was sad she couldn't go with him. All she could do was scold him at her bedside.
"I'll be back." Claus replied.
"Be careful, Claus." Lavie said as she watched him approach the door. "You don't know what Dio's like now."
Claus smiled. "I'll be okay. I'll be back as soon as I can. I promise."
Lavie smiled. "Okay."
Claus hadn't even set foot outside the front door when he sighed with relief upon finding Dio sitting alone on the porch.
"Lucciola?" His soft voice called. He turned around to glance at Claus and then quickly looked away.
"Dio." Claus said as he slowly approached him.
"Where is he?" Dio asked aloud. "He's never been gone this long before."
"I don't know." Claus answered even though he knew quite well that Lucciola had to be dead.
"I've been looking for him day and night but I still haven't found him." Dio went on.
"Why don't you come inside." Claus said gently. He knew more than anyone just how disoriented Dio was, as he had experienced his uneventful transformation first hand.
Dio paused a moment then at length nodded. "Alright." He answered.
Lavie was sitting up, waiting for Claus, when her returned. The moment her eyes met Dio's pale ones her hands clenches the sheets. Her icy white knuckles gave away her fear.
"Hello." Dio said blankly to her.
"H-hi." Lavie stumbled in her return. She wasn't quite sure that he actually recognized her. To her, he seemed more than just a little bewildered.
"Why don't you go to sleep, Dio?" Claus suggested nicely. "You've still got a while before morning comes."
Dio stared at him. "But I haven't found him yet. I can't rest until I've found him."
"Who? Lucciola?" Claus asked.
"You've found him?" Dio's eyes lit up with intense interest.
"No. Dio just go back to sleep. We'll talk about it later." Claus yawned and crawled back to his mess of blankets scattered on the floor.
But Lavie watched in vain as Dio lay back in bed and stared up at the empty bunk above him, his eyes wide open.
She was afraid to sleep under Dio's uncomfortable vigil and so she found herself lying quietly in bed until the sun came up.
The sun rose a reddish pink through the small square window and blazed a small square of light on the floor of the room. She watched sleepily as the brilliant square slowly crept towards Claus with the rise of the sun.
Lavie watched with a kind of dazed delight as it first illuminated the strands of his blonde hair into what looked like spun gold. It then slowly snuck down his fair skin towards his eyebrows and eyelashes. She stifled a chuckle as his eyelids shut tighter with the sudden brightness upon them.
He was a beautiful boy, Lavie knew this more than anyone. When she was younger, she was always teased for her friendship with Claus. The village girls would banter her, saying she wasn't 'good enough' for a noble like Claus. Their acidity continued even after the death of Lavie's father making it even easier to pick on Lavie to the point of tears.
Claus had been her only friend throughout those tough times. Often he would find her crying by her father's grave and would attempt to comfort her, but he was young and shy, thus most of the time he would end up simply sitting beside her silently.
It wasn't much, but it was all that Lavie needed. She smiled at him, sleeping silently next to her bed: he was always there when she needed him. Of course this relationship was put to the test upon the lofty walls of the Silvana but now that was behind them. They could go back to the way they were before the war, a regression both of them wanted. Slowly their relationship was repairing itself.
It wasn't until the sun had fully illuminated Claus's face that he began to stir with signs of life. At length he woke up and stretched out along the floorboards.
"Good." He mumbled. "He's asleep."
Lavie quickly looked over at Dio and saw that he had indeed fallen asleep. She then breathed a sigh of relief.
Claus sat up in his cluster of blankets and yawned rather loudly.
"Shh!" Lavie hissed.
Claus chuckled. "Don't worry. He won't wake up for a while."
"You can't be so sure!" Said Lavie.
Claus shrugged his shoulders. "Oh well." He then proceeded to reach under his bed and pull out his boots. "I think I'll work on the roof again today."
"Now?" Lavie asked.
"Yeah." Claus replied.
"Claus," Lavie began, trying as hard as she could to hide how desperately she didn't want him to leave her alone with Dio. "You're just going to get up and leave me here with him?"
Claus chuckled. "It's Dio! What harm can he cause?"
"That's easy for you to say! You won't be stuck with him all day!" Lavie replied. "Come on, just wait until the others wake up."
Claus analyzed her pretty face, twisted by her undeniable nervous energy. She didn't want to be alone with Dio, that was obvious, but there was something in her voice that suggested that she just didn't want Claus go, that she wanted him to spend the day with her.
"Do you want me to stay with you today?" Claus asked quietly.
"Uh-" Lavie blurted out. Her cheeks flushed a rosy pink.
"It's okay." Claus said warmly. "I don't have to go if you don't want me to."
"No." Lavie turned away. "I want you to work. You'll be bored all day if you don't."
"Lavie." Claus slowly walked over to her bedside and sat down at the edge of her bed. "It's alright. I don't mind." It was true, he didn't. Claus rather enjoyed the feeling that she wanted him there with her. Most of the time he felt that he was always getting in her way. So it was nice to feel wanted.
"Do you really want to sit in this room all day with me?" Lavie crossed her arms.
"If it's what you want." Claus replied.
Lavie smiled affectionately at him. It warmed her heart that Claus would throw the day away just to be with her. "Just go." She then said quietly. "You've got to get your work done."
"Are you sure?" Claus asked as he got to his feet.
"Yes!" Said Lavie. "I've got plenty of tracing to do now that my map bag is back. Now hurry before I change my mind!"
"Okay." Claus replied and gathered his weathered bag of tools. "I'll be back soon."
"Bye." Lavie watched him shut the door behind him.
She grimaced as soon as he had left. No matter what, Lavie always found a way to push Claus away whenever he tried to get close. She hated that about herself, as it was a trait that she still could never rid herself of. And now because of her loathed trait, she was alone in the room with Dio.
She quickly glanced over and sighed with relief as she found him fast asleep in Claus's bed. She wondered at just how easily Claus gave up his bed for Dio. He had always been kind, Lavie knew that most of all. He was almost too good sometimes. But his goodness always seemed to get them into difficult situations.
The thought of Dio soon re entered her mind and she quickly regained consciousness of her surroundings. So to pass the time, and to get her mind off of Dio, she took up her map tools and began tracing maps again.
She had many more to finish, as the demand was quite a bit higher than the supply. Nonetheless she was more than happy to re copy, as the money intake was well worth the hard work.
Her tracing was soon interrupted by a rustle of coverlets that sent chills up Lavie's spine. Dio was awake.
She peeped over her parchment to find Dio standing up beside the bed.
"Have you seen Lucciola?" He asked bluntly.
"I-uh." Lavie searched for words. "Lucciola. No."
Then as if a mute stupor, he turned away and left the room.
"Dio!" Lavie called out after him. She would have run after him if she had the wellbeing to do so, but her mangle leg forced her to stay put.
"Dunya!" Lavie then called into the hallway.
"It's all right!" Lavie heard Tatiana call back from the kitchen. "We've got him."
Lavie then watched as Tatiana guided him back into the room and sat him on Claus's bed.
"We can't have you wandering around aimlessly, Dio." Tatiana said to him, sternly crossing her arms. "You've done enough of that already."
The look upon Dio's face looked as though he hadn't heard a word Tatiana had said. His lurid eyes were wide yet seemed empty, as if no life were inside. This dull trance seemed to encompass his entire body as he seemed languid as a whole.
"Shouldn't we get him a doctor or something?" Lavie asked quietly. "I mean, look at him!"
Tatiana looked over at her. "That's what I was thinking at first, but now that I see the problem I don't think it's necessary."
"So what's the problem?" Lavie asked skeptically.
"Shock." Tatiana replied. "He's in a state of pure shock."
"How are you so sure?"
"Because I lost plenty of good pilots to it." Tatiana then turned to face her. "It was always the younger pilots too. Their minds too fragile to handle the emotional stress of war…to see people falling out of the sky…to their death…it's a little too much. That's why I was so hesitant to let you and Claus fly together for the Silvana." She sighed. "I thought you couldn't handle it."
Lavie smirked.
"And I was very wrong." Tatiana replied solemnly. "Very, very wrong."
Lavie looked away. As much as she hated it, she was beginning to slightly warm up to Tatiana.
Even now she still seemed so stern with her black clothes and icy eyes but to hear her speak so kindly was astounding.
"Something happened to Dio that greatly disturbed him emotionally." Tatiana went on as she retied her cream colored kerchief. "Do you have any idea what?"
"No." Lavie answered.
"Has he done anything strange?" Tatiana continued to question her.
"Not really," Lavie answered after some thought, "well he keeps asking for Lucciola. I don't know if that's really strange or not, seeing as though they were so close and all."
"Lucciola's dead." Tatiana said abruptly.
"What?"
"He died." Tatiana said again.
Lavie quickly glanced at Dio, to see if he had heard Tatiana speak so roughly about such a tender subject. Thankfully he had not moved from his trancelike state.
"He died?" Lavie mouthed softly. "How do you know?"
"Claus told me. It happened while he and Al were captives at the Guild." Tatiana replied swiftly.
"Oh." Lavie said softly, slightly jealous that Claus had told Tatiana and not her. Instantly everything she remembered about her last encounter with Dio came together. The reason he was so disoriented, the reason he seemed so lost, the reason he flew without a navigator. It all made sense: Dio was in denial of Lucciola's death.
"This stupor he's in must be some kind of coping mechanism." Tatiana said. "I've got a lesson soon." She sighed. "You don't mind keeping an eye on him?"
"No." Lavie answered. Now that she knew of Lucciola's fate, a part of her sympathized with poor Dio.
"Thank you." Tatiana smiled and left the room quietly.
And so once again Lavie was left alone in the room with Dio.
She looked over at him, still sitting on the bed, positioned the way Tatiana had left him. He was like a living rag doll.
The only movement Lavie could make out was the slight rise and fall of his shoulders with his shallow breathing.
"Um, Dio." Lavie called out to him quietly. "Are you tired? You can lay down again if you want. Maybe even sleep."
Dio's sunken eyes slowly rose to meet Lavie's.
He slowly looked away from her and then towards the window.
"No." He said softly. "I'm not tired."
"Oh." Lavie replied, startled as she actually received a vocal response from him.
He continued to sit at the edge of the bed with his constant blank stare.
"Um," Lavie continued the conversation. "Dio?" She asked hesitantly.
She of course received no response.
"Dio?" She asked again. "Do you know who I am?"
No reply came.
"Do you remember me at all?" Lavie pressed him further.
Dio was silent, something she expected, then turned his pale face to the sunlight streaming through the window. Lavie watched as his porcelain skin was bleached out by the sunlight, turning him into a living ghost.
"I…" Dio began. "I'm…"
"Yes." Lavie gently urged him on.
"I'm so…lost." Dio said softly. "I can't find him anywhere."
"Oh, Dio. I know." Lavie suddenly felt sorry for him. "I know how you feel."
He then looked at her skeptically.
"Really, I do." Lavie replied softly. Her cheeks then grew flushed. "I'm sure I've said this before, and I know it's silly, but I feel that way whenever Claus is away. We're like each other's compass, a guiding force, so whenever we're separated we each become a bit lost ourselves."
Dio then lay back on the bed. "A compass." He repeated. "So that's what it is then."
"Yeah." Lavie nodded.
He then slowly laid back on the bed, his pale hair lay slack across his face. "You're wrong." He said slowly.
"Huh?" Lavie replied. "About what?"
"Of course I remember you." He replied softly.
Lavie was silenced. "Oh." She replied quickly. "Well then…" She quickly went back to sketching, trying to avoid awkward conversation with him.
After a long session of sketching and tracing, Lavie had finished yet another duplicate of her precious map. She fell back onto her pillows and sighed with satisfaction: another product of her hard work.
Long thoughts filled her mind with all the possibilities of having a new house. Like how she could always have the mechanic garage she'd always wanted. With the long workbenches full of tools, new tools of course, new air tanks, only the best of everything would do. High shelves to hold all of her new manuals she would write.
The moment she thought of shelves she cringed. "Damn shelves." Lavie grumbled as she sat up to start another copy.
Her heart stopped the moment she saw that Dio had gone missing again.
"Dunya!" Lavie shouted. "Dunya! He's gone again!"
"What!?" She shrieked from the kitchen. "But I've kept an eye on the door." Her voice gradually grew nearer as she approached her room. "There's no way he could have gotten out!"
"Well he's gone!" Lavie answered. "I know Dio, he's clever like that."
"He couldn't have gotten far." Dunya said as she quickly left the room. "I'll be right back. Don't move!"
Lavie rolled her eyes. "Don't move?"
"Sorry!" Dunya called back in embarrassment, realizing her foolish error.
A tense five minutes later, Dunya pushed Dio back into the room.
Lavie watched as Dunya pushed Dio rather forcefully back onto the bed. She sighed heavily and turned to Lavie. "Please Lavie," She said as she put a hand to her head. "don't let him leave your sight! I can't have this monster wandering around aimlessly here!"
"Dunya." Lavie replied softly. "He's starting to come around. He can hear you."
"I don't care!" Dunya replied. "I don't want that thing near me!" She then quickly whirled around and stomped out of the room.
Lavie winced at her harshness. It would take a great deal to allow Dunya to accept Dio into her life.
"I'm sorry." Lavie said to Dio softly. "She just doesn't know you."
"It's alright." He said as he reached into his pocket and drew out a small stem flecked with small purple flowers.
She then watched as he reached a pale hand towards her desk and grabbed the mortar and pestle she used to grind up pigments.
"What are you doing?" She asked.
She watched as he ground up the plant and then sprinkled the bits into her water canteen.
"Hey! Stop it!" She said, flailing her hands. "That's my water you're polluting!"
He then looked at her, his dull eyes holding the smallest bit of life in them. "It's for the pain." He said quietly, gesturing at her leg.
"Oh." Lavie answered. "I've already got something for that.
He then went to her and gave her the canteen. "This is better."
"Okay." She hesitated, then cautiously took a drink.
"Thanks." Lavie replied slowly. She then began to wonder, maybe this Dio was the same kindhearted Dio they had known. Maybe he wasn't the monster they had made him out to be.