Welcome back after a really long and unforgivable break. I feel like I've been saying that a lot lately. Anyway, here's chapter ten. I'm going to take a brief moment to dance about my first multi-chap with double-digit chapters. Okay, back from dancing. It was only a few shakes, I'm exhausted.
I'm actually really happy I got this out, because I sure as hell wouldn't have been able to this week and get AGS out on time (I should be officially back on schedule soon, considering I have few finals). Uh, yeah. Here we go.
Chapter 10: City of Marvels Part 2
"We're completely ridiculous, you know that right? We're on a date at the library, of all places," Himi remarked, glancing around at the thousands of tomes in the vast collection.
"Pffff. Libraries are the best," Karis replied distantly, her eyes pouring through layer after layer of information. To call her a speed reader was an insult; Karis loved reading, and that love had only blossomed more and more as her age had grown. Even before she, Tyrell, and Matthew had departed to secure the feather, she had gathered immense information regarding the rest of the world. As such, she would routinely point out things she remembered from her reading… leading Tyrell to accuse her of being more of an encyclopedia than their actual encyclopedia.
If he had been trying to insult her, it had failed. "Knowledge is power, Himi…"Karis muttered, having already covered ten pages in the minute since she had spoken. "And we need both in bunches."
"I suppose," Himi replied, as she also shared a love for information and reading. Just not to Karis's degree. Finding nothing she was interested in on the shelf immediately in front of her, Himi turned to Karis, and for the first time took in how fast Karis was speeding through the information. "Wow… you're really burning through that," Himi said in awe, then giggled as she took a closer look. "Oh… never mind, it's a picture book!"
Karis broke eye contact with the book to give Himi a light glare, and muttered, "If you want to get embarrassed, go ahead and ask me to a reading contest. See how it works out for you." Himi giggled again, and Karis smiled as well. "Anyway, look at this page and this picture; I think I've found something important." Karis pointed to an illustration of a purple gem on the book's page.
"…The Echo Gem," Himi read, slightly intrigued. Something about the stone was very… mystical to her.
"You know the two Sanan Royals, Hou Ju and Ryu Kou, we mentioned while talking to Lord Unan?" Karis asked, and Himi nodded. "Well, Ryu Kou had a gem strapped to his waist that looked exactly like this one. Read the inscription as to what it is."
Himi complied, and read aloud, "The Echo Gems are rare Sanan treasures that are inexplicably linked. As such, the Echo Gems will always point toward its sibling, meaning that one can use the Echo Gems to always know the location of someone close to them, or something along those lines. They have traditionally been used within Sanan Royalty to maintain a sense of connection and knowledge of location amongst family."
Himi stopped reading, her eyes wide with realization. "Oh! So, if Ryu Kou has one…"
"Then we just need to find its sister gem," Karis replied, a faint but utterly satisfied smile across her lips. Nothing was more rewarding to her than finding exactly what she needed due to diligence. "So, how about libraries now, huh? And knowledge? And reading? Ready to admit I was right?" Karis said in mock haughtiness.
"I can't believe I ever doubted you," Himi replied with just as much sarcasm. Karis chucked as she heaved the heavy tome back into its shelf, and then turned to her girlfriend.
"Well? Let's check out the palace!" Karis said enthusiastically, and Himi nodded. They exited the library, and made their way to the palace. As they approached, they noticed the guard, Ano, straighten his back and eye them wearily. It was only when they reached him that he sighed and became more relaxed.
"Surprised to see us?" Karis asked with a bit of bite; she hadn't forgotten their less-than-pleasant encounter from earlier that day.
"Hey, as long as it's JUST you two," Ano replied with relief, and Karis grimaced.
"I understand that you're bitter about the death of your father, but she lost BOTH her parents," Karis said calmly, eyeing Ano. "And now, her brother may be gone as well. She can read hearts, and heard what you thought about her. Your father and her family died for no reason, and it's up to us to make sure no Sanans or Beastpeople ever have to again."
"I'm not here to get lectured," Ano grumbled, and the other guard rolled his eyes.
"You're not going to get much sympathy from him, I'm afraid. Do you need to re-enter the place?" The other guard asked, and Karis nodded, her eyes still glaring at Ano, who could not meet her gaze. "Then go on in," The other guard said, and Himi and Karis did so, the latter with a bit more gravity and purpose.
"You really have it out for him, huh?" Himi asked, and Karis shrugged.
"Sveta's a beautiful person, Himi," The Jupiter Adept replied after a few moments of silence, and her voice cracking as she spoke. "One of the kindest, gentlest people I've ever known. I know you don't know her as well… but all this anger you've seen from her, all this supposed hatred is simply pain. Beastpeople feel differently from us, have different feelings for certain relations and ideals.
"To them, family is above all. As a people, they are incredibly close knit, but a Beastperson's family is bound together by ties that never break. Regardless of if you're angry with your sibling, or even hate something about them, in the end that is trumped by the fact that they are your blood. So when Sana took her family from her, it wounded Sveta in the deepest way possible. And while they never truly took Volechek, that war changed him, and for that she also rightfully blamed Sana. If you kill a Beastperson's family, they are bound to utterly despise the murderer.
"She struggles with it. She doesn't want to hate them, but they've taken so much from her. She feels pain differently from us as well, and… it's hard to explain, but it hurts her more than we could imagine. And so, being here, around them, all she feels is that pain. All she expects is to feel terror and helplessness again. All she expects is to see Matthew or I struck down by Sana. She's not herself here, she's constantly hit by wave after wave of pain and irrational fear. At least Unan is a good man, but I still worry."
"…I had no idea," Himi replied quietly, somewhat stunned by Karis's explanation. "Are you the only person she's talked to about this?"
"Yes," Karis said, directing Himi to a door on their left as she spoke. "Our relationship blossomed because she needed someone to talk to about her life… she's repressed those feelings for so long. Hopefully, she'll talk to Matthew about them at some point. I used to think I was the best suited to comfort her, but now I'm not so sure."
Himi raised an eyebrow, but before she could ask the Jupiter Adept what she meant, Karis coughed and hastily continued. "Since Ryu Kou has the Echo Gem now, it makes sense that Lord Kuan had it to begin with. So, Lady Hinechou would most likely have the sister gem. I researched the Sanan palace in some text while we were in the library in the hope I might find some other secrets regarding the Umbra Map and Grave Eclipse, and as such I know where to go to find Lady Hinechou. She's in the Western Tower. Speaking of which… ta-da!"
Sure enough, they had emerged at said tower, and Himi glanced at it with determination. "So, er, where should this gem be?" Himi asked, and Karis shrugged.
"Probably with Lady Hinechou… I don't know how we're going to get it though," Karis replied, shrugging. "We'll figure out something. We always do." Without another word, they entered the tower, and seeing a spiraling stair-case, began to climb.
As they reached the top, they came across a sad sight; a well garbed woman, who Himi assumed was Lady Hinechou, turned to them, and for the briefest of moments her eyes buzzed with great passion and excitement upon glancing at the Venus Adept. Then, realization set in, and she turned away, scarcely able to hold back her tears. Himi blinked in surprise, and turned to Karis, who was wearing a grimace.
"She thought you were Hou Ju," Karis whispered bluntly, and Himi bit her lip, her head falling toward the ground.
"Who are you, and why are you disturbing Lady Hinechou in her suffering?" A blustery man standing in front of a regal dresser asked, and Karis stepped forward.
"Hello! We're Adepts out to stop the Grave Eclipse, and," Karis paused briefly as the man in front of her rolled his eyes, but then swallowed and continued, "We were wondering if we could borrow the Echo Gem, it you have it."
"The Echo Gem? Are you insane? A priceless Sanan artifact, and you expect us to give it out to you just like that," The man shouted in outraged, and Karis winced. "All of you 'Adepts' looking out to help stop the Grave Eclipse are just looters out to try to steal from us!"
"No! We are trying to get the Echo Gem to find Lady Hinechou's children!" Himi interjected, causing the man to spit and glare.
"…How dare you!" He shouted once more. "Ryo Kou and Hou Ju are both lost to us, and you have the nerve to bring them up in front of our lady? Besides, Lord Kuan had the Echo Gem's sister gem… you are nothing but thieves, leave us now!" Himi opened her mouth to argue, but Karis grasped her hand and turned her around.
"Well, that way isn't going to work," The Jupiter Adept whispered as she dragged Himi down the stairs.
"Then what do we do?" Himi asked, and Karis glanced around to make sure no one was looking.
"That angry guy was in front of that dresser, and he looked almost like he was guarding it. If I had to bet money on it, I'd bet that's where the Echo Gem is. We just need to get to it," Karis mused, looking over their surroundings as they exited back into the outside walkway. "So, we need to get them out of there…" Karis's eyes settled on the war bell, and she frowned. "If only we had Sveta."
"Oh, the bell?" Himi asked, and Karis nodded. "Psssh," Himi sounded, raising her hand and pulling a rock from the rock garden at the front of the palace to her. With a solid push, she sent it careening into the bell, which made an un-godly loud clang. A second of silence, and then…
"THE WAR BELL! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!"
Karis sent a brilliant smile towards Himi, and whispered, "I love you so much right now." Himi's blush perfectly matched her eyes. "Well… I mean, they'll be out of the top room, but where the hell do we go now? I mean… they'll be right in the bottom room." Karis bit her lip and glance upward. Answering her own question, Karis shrugged, and stuck her hand through the door to the tower, muttering, "Sleep." She peaked her head in, and with a nod they both dashed in.
After they had scaled the stairs, Karis quickly flung the top drawer of the dresser open, then the second, both to no avail. Swallowing, she slowly creaked open the third, and heaved a sigh of relief when she spied the purple gem lying inside. "Okay, let's run down—"
"Oh my! They've all fainted! Quick, check the upstairs!" They suddenly heard from below, and Karis smiled sheepishly. "First rule of being a Jupiter Adept: always prepare jumping out of a building as a last resort." Himi didn't even question what was about to happen, although she was none too pleased by it.
Karis grabbed the Venus Adept by the shoulders, and quickly darted to the window, throwing both of them out of it. Thankfully, even diving in mid-air Karis had fantastic accuracy, and they crashed into the water. Himi did her best to cling onto Karis as she felt the older girl squeeze tightly and then begin to swim.
After a minute of no breath, in which Karis, very sweetly, at one point pressed her lips to Himi's and gave her more air, they finally came to a far enough area at which Karis surfaced, and they both took in great gulps of oxygen.
Seeing shore, Karis dragged both of them out of the water, and they sat there, soaking wet and panting for a few good minutes. "W-Why can't anything ever go as planned?" Himi asked as she stood shakily. She had never swam much, and as such was slightly uneasy at the dive they had just taken.
"Hey, at least we got it," Karis replied, already beginning to shake off. "Well… we better dry off before someone asks why we're wet." And without warning, Karis cast a large whirlwind which, in a few moments, had nearly completely dried them off.
Himi blinked as the unexpected gust ended, and turned with a straight face towards Karis. "You are bad for my health," Was all she said before beginning to march back towards the city, leaving an amused Karis to laugh heartily for a good minute before running to catch up with the still-soggy Venus Adept.
"My, my, I can't believe Obaba is still alive," Kraden said as the awkward threesome walked through Tonfon, looking for nothing is particular. To Rief's relief, the discussions had been completely focused on Champa and Eoleo's past, rather than Mia.
"Yeah. She's still pretty feisty too," Eoleo replied, smiling as he thought of his great-grandmother. "I keep asking her when she's going to croak, and her answer is always as soon as she gets to meet her great-great-great-grandkid… so I guess I should get busy." Kraden chuckled, while Rief winced. While it didn't bother him nearly as much as it did Amiti, it was still disconcerting to hear sex joke after sex joke. Especially when this was coming from the man who apparently was madly in love with his mother.
"Oh ho ho… Obaba was quite charming when we met her. I was a little hot and bothered to be honest," Kraden replied with a wink, and Eoleo burst out laughing.
"Better make your move then. I'm sure she'd appreciate it… pirates don't exactly have the longest life span," Eoleo said, in good spirits until the last few words, where his face fell. He quickly picked his cheer back up though, and smiled. "So, we've been wandering doing nothing… what do you guys want to do?"
"Well, we have found some things…" Rief muttered, pulling numerous objects out of his pack. "But I agree, there has to be something better to do than walking around."
"Oh, nonsense, conversing is one of life's greatest joys!" Kraden said jovially, and Rief smiled and rolled his eyes. If there was one thing Kraden loved, it definitely was conversing. "On the topic of relationships, there have certainly been a lot of them going around the ship," Kraden continued, and Rief gulped. He didn't like where this was going.
"What about you, Eoleo? Any special ladies back home? Despite being tasked with teaching Rief, I can't help him much in that regard, and romance is a very important lesson after all."
Eoleo's eyes became wide with anticipation, and Rief groaned. It was coming. "Well…" Eoleo said, putting his hands behind his back, and grinning widely. "There IS one special little lady I met once upon a time… but sadly, she's out of my reach."
"Oh! How terrible! Well, I suppose there are other fish in the sea, and since you spend so much time on it, you should be all set," Kraden replied, but Eoleo shook his head.
"No sir," Eoleo said with a firm shake of his head. "Nobody else for me out there. She's the most pristine and beautiful thing my eyes will ever see, and I'm sorry to say no one else will measure up. Her hair, her eyes, her cheery misdemeanor, her—"
"Okay, she sounds great, let's move on," Rief grumbled in annoyance, drawing a guilty look from Eoleo and a confused one from Kraden.
"Now, Rief, there's no need to be rude… Eoleo was just describing his past ventures with us," Kraden said slowly, somewhat surprised as his usually docile students comments. "Anyway, what was her name, Eoleo?"
"Oh… uh… well…" Eoleo stuttered, glancing at Rief with an unsure countenance. Rief rolled his eyes, and threw out a sigh.
"It's Mia. My Mom. He crashed into Imil at some point and fell in love with my Mom," Rief said, throwing his arms up as he finished. There was a pause as Kraden shifted his bespectacled eyes between Eoleo and Rief, to seemingly gauge the credibility of such an unexpected, and frankly ridiculous statement. When both Adepts failed to meet his eyes, Eoleo rubbing his arm awkwardly and Rief simply staring at the ground wishing he had stayed back on the ship, Kraden gasped.
Then, a moment later, he burst out laughing. "Oh, oh my… well, Eoleo, I hate to say it, but you won't have much luck there. I don't know if Rief told you, but Mia isn't exactly… keen on males."
"Yes, I'm aware," Eoleo replied bluntly, Rief blushing heavily as he desperately wished that this terrible conversation would end.
"It was quite cute, really… she had quite a flair for Jenna back in the day," Kraden said with a smile, and Rief's head turned on a swivel to stare at his mentor.
"My Mom had a thing for Matthew's mom?" Rief asked quietly, and Kraden burst into another fit of chuckles.
"Oh, yes… it was adorable. Poor Jenna was stuck between Isaac and Mia for quite a while, but Mia, being Mia, didn't want to get in the way once she realized how strong Isaac's feeling were," Kraden replied. "Since, er, you exist Rief, I take it she also gave men a shot later down the road, but I think she truly had her heart set on a woman."
"…Yeah, that's about it," Rief replied wearingly. "I had a hard time coming to terms with it, but… hopefully she finds someone eventually."
"I'm sure she will," Eoleo said with a nod. "She's really too wonderful not to."
"Anyway," Kraden interjected, sensing Rief's desire to switch to another subject. "I think I may have spotted something of interest to us; how about that little orange fellow camping on top of that rooftop." Rief and Eoleo followed the sage's arm as he outstretched it, and sure enough there sat a Mars Djinn, hopping up and down.
"Oh hell yes," Eoleo whispered with intense hunger. "Tyrell will be so pissed, I'll finally have one more than him… how are we getting it?"
"Er… Rief muttered, glancing around their vicinity. His eyes came across a large gap between the rooftop the Djinn sat on and another rooftop that he noticed could be reached quite easily. Scanning further, a barge further down the waterway caught his eye; if they could just move the barge, then they could—
"Happy flying!" Eoleo shouted, and Rief briefly felt his body lift off the ground lightly, before he suddenly found himself flying through the air—and straight towards the Mars Djinn.
"…Oh, poppycock," The Djinn exclaimed as Rief crashed into it, both of them slamming into the wall adjacent to the roof. "I say, was that really necessary? If you had wanted me to join your cause, there was no need to stampede over me. I would have done so willingly." The Djinn spoke, and Rief rubbed the back of his friend sheepishly.
"My apologies, my friend decided to convert me into a missile," Rief replied innocently, and he had a feeling that if Djinn could roll their eyes, the one in front of him would be doing so.
"Well, at any rate, should I make my home inside you now?" The elemental asked, but Rief shook his head, and pointed off of the roof.
"Actually, my friend Eoleo wanted you," Rief stated, and the Mars Djinn peered over the roof and seemed to shudder.
"…Bit of a brute, eh old chap?" The Djinn said with some hesitancy, before sighing. "But, I guess I have little choice."
"Ah, don't worry… Eoleo's a nice guy. A little crazy, but the kind of guy you wouldn't mind dating your mother if she wasn't gay," Rief replied, before his eyes widened at what he has just said.
Before the flustered Mercury Adept could correct himself or take back his words, the Mars Djinn, raising an eyebrow Rief hadn't realized it had, said dryly, "You've got quite an interesting party, huh?"
Rief shook his head and chuckled at that. "You don't know the half of it. What's your name, by the way?"
"Tinder, charmed I'm sure," The Mars Djinn replied, bobbing his head slightly. "I am used it battle to revive party members once they have taken crushing blows. And none of that 'will it or won't it work' hogwash. When I'm used, I work. It's part of my warranty."
"…Alright then," Rief replied, completely unsure of what to make of this knew Djinn. "Well, let's get you down to Eoleo." After a few worried glances, Rief jumped down and, completely unscathed, handed Tinder to Eoleo.
"Nice to have you aboard, Tinder," Eoleo said out loud as the elemental flew into him. "You'll get plenty of time to roam free, and I'll try to use you only when I need to. I run a tight ship, but all your mates are well behaved, so you shant worry about any quarrels or the like."
"…Er, Eoleo?" Rief asked, and Eoleo turned to him and nodded. "Do all your Djinn sound like that?"
"Nah, Mars Djinn are a little nuts," Eoleo replied, drawing out a few "heys!" of protest from within his body. "Aww, quit your bellyachin'! You see, Mars Djinn are just like Mars Adepts. Bipolar as all hell. Really like to do different things. So, they all have different accents and such. One of mine refuses to do anything else but whistle. Drives me insane, I threatened to kick him to the curb once, but no good; he just kept whistling."
"…Right," Rief replied, slightly sorry he asked. At the least, they had gotten a new Djinn. "I think that's a good time to call it quits… want to head back to the ship?"
"Aye. Been a good few hours since I've had some rum. I might stop back in Tonfon for the nightlife, though," Eoleo replied, and Rief raised an eyebrow.
"Nightlife?" The young Mercury Adept asked, and Eoleo coughed.
"Er… forget I said it. Just… there aren't really any women on board our ship, if you catch my drift. Only young girls. And hell, less than half of them like men, so a pirate has to do what a pirate has to do," Eoleo said, a smile growing on his face as he spoke. "Plunder some booty."
Rief immediately shut his mouth, mentally deciding to not open it again until they got back to the ship. For the first time in a good while, he was very happy his mother wasn't interested in men, especially in this case Eoleo. Nightlife indeed. Hmph.
"I truly apologize for all the hardships you've faced in our city," Tano said, pouring piping hot tea as he spoke. Sveta and Matthew sat motionless at the elderly man's table inside his home. Matthew had spent the last five minutes of awkward silence, where Tano had gone to fetch the tea, sending concerned glance after concerned glance at Sveta, who was having none of it. After the third minute she had finally met his eyes, and her message couldn't have been clearer: "leave me alone".
And so, as worried as he was that they were with Tano, considering he was Sanan, he was glad they were finally outside the view of the city and doing some form of resting. Besides, as far as Sanans go, Sveta seemed much more fond of Tano than anyone else in the city… well, maybe fond wasn't the right word, but she certainly seemed at least somewhat at ease around him.
"But… hopefully, you will learn to see that there are good people as well in Sana," Tano continued, but Sveta remained mute. Matthew cleared his throat, and turned to the elderly man.
"Thank you very much for inviting us inside your home," Matthew replied kindly, bowing slightly. Sveta nodded, and then raised her head.
"Why don't you hate me?" Sveta asked bluntly, drawing a bitter smile from Tano. "How can you look at me without feeling the same anger I hold toward your people?"
"Sveta, what are you talking about?" Matthew asked, and she turned to him and narrowed her eyes.
"This man, Tano, is the grandfather of Ano, the guard I had that quarrel with," Sveta responded coldly, and Matthew's eyes widened. "So, that means he lost his son to the war. And I want to know how he can stare at me and actually treat me kindly, when all I can feel towards nearly every Sanan I meet is anger and pain."
"It is hard," Tano interjected, sighing as he stared down into his tea. "But, I know that the Beastmen did not want to kill my son. Morgal is a strong and proud country, and Sana got what it asked for by invading and abusing the Beastmen for no reason. I prayed my son would stay safe, but obviously that didn't happen…"
"I'm so sorry…" Matthew whispered, hanging his head low.
"So am I…" Sveta whispered, raising herself from the table, having not even taken a sip of her tea. "I can't stay here. I'm sorry." Without another word, she ran out of the room, her pigtails and a few stray tears streaming from behind her.
Matthew felt his throat tighter, but resisted the urge to chase after her, until Tano said, "Go. I wish I had told my son to stay… it's hard to talk to the people we love when they want to shut us out. But, that is when they need us most." Matthew hesitated one more moment, but then nodded.
"Thank you," The Venus Adept said hastily, turning and charging out of the house. When he reached the street, he glanced both ways, realizing he had no way of knowing where Sveta had gone. If only he had the Track Psynergy.
Dejectedly resolving to pick a direction to try, he froze as he heard a light sniffle, and followed the sound until he came to a thin alleyway. Sure enough, he found Sveta crouched down on the ground and leaning against a wall, her arms wrapped around her body and covering her face.
"Leave me alone. There's nothing you can do," Sveta whimpered. Matthew winced, but swallowed and moved forward, dropping down to her level. One of her green eyes peered out from between her arms. It glistened and shook as it seemed to pierce him, but he looked her straight in the eyes.
"I know you want to help, Matthew," Sveta whispered, and he sensed the Sveta was reading his spirit. "But this isn't something you should be put through."
"Karis helped you with this, didn't she?" Matthew asked suddenly, and Sveta's eye widened in surprise before shrinking back down.
"…Yes. I would talk to her," Sveta murmured, and Matthew pressed his hand on her shoulder.
"Well, I have a feeling that you didn't go to her at first about it, and that she had to coax you into talking to her," Matthew continued, giving her shoulder a squeeze. "Because Karis is nosy like that. I'm not… but I'm willing to do whatever you need me to do. And if that means pushing more than I normally would, then so be it."
"You're certainly right about her making me talk about it," Sveta said, lifting her head out of her arms and resting her chin on them. "I get quiet whenever I think about Sana and my parents, and she picked up on it quickly and wouldn't let it go."
"Then talk to me," Matthew whispered, and he felt her entire body shake. Still, for a few more seconds there was silence, and he could almost feel her soul arguing with itself. And then, she let out a sharp cry.
"I hate him so much." Sveta broke, and Matthew, scared out of his mind that he was well past his comfort zone, threw out his arms around her as she collapsed into his chest. Her tears poured onto him, and within a minute his shirt was very damp; but he said nothing, simply stroking her back and trying to whisper soothing things into her ears.
"All I could see was my Mom and Dad d-dead," Sveta whispered, her voice brimming with such pain Matthew nearly felt like he was going to be sick. "I know he didn't kill D-Dad, but he's all I've seen in my nightmares… standing over her body, slice, after slice, after slice…" Sveta erupted into another fit of tears were her words were too garbled to comprehend.
"Everyone I love dies," She whispered again, squeezing his body tightly. "In front of me. In front of my face. And I can never do anything. I hate it, Matthew. I hate him, I hate them, I hate them all, and I hate myself for hating them! That man, Tano, and Unan, and all the others Sanas who have never hurt me, who have never done anything wrong… I hate them, and it's terrible."
"You don't hate them," Matthew said quietly, pulling her in even tighter. "Look at me Sveta." She did so, and he gently stroked her cheek. "You don't hate anyone, you're just afraid. And that fear leads to the old pain, and you feel defensive and angry. But it's not your hatred. It's your sadness. You had the chance to strike down that bastard, and you didn't."
"I wanted to," She piped in timidly, but Matthew shook his head.
"No, you wanted to stop the pain, and seeing him brought it rushing into you," Matthew said softly. "Don't hate yourself for your sadness, Sveta, and don't turn it into something it's not. It's your love for your family and your people, and the pain the loss of those has caused. You need to let it out, as hard as it is."
"I've tried," Sveta squeaked, her green eyes once again finding his. "But it's so hard. I want to help my people, but all I ever wanted was my Mom and Dad and my Brother and to live with them. And I'll never have that again. And no matter how hard I try, anything even remotely related to Sana just springs that into my mind, and I can't get it out."
"Sveta, I know it's hard to hear this," Matthew said calmly, trying to think of the best way to lessen her hurt. "But that's the past. You need to let go of your past."
"I know," She replied quickly with a nod, as if to reinforce the idea to herself. "But it's… I… I know I can't change the past, but I'm so scared for the future." She paused, and drew in a mighty, broken breath. "I don't want to lose you, Matthew. I love you."
Her words choked in her throat as the ones she had spoken reverberated in the air. Matthew felt his heart beat fast; her words had felt deep feeling and deep meaning. He was fond of Sveta, and he knew she was fond of him, but he had no idea…
"I'm so sorry," Sveta sputtered, and Matthew turned to her, his mind still in shock. To his surprise, he felt her squirming from under him. "I k-know you love Karis. It was unfair of me to ever, ever try to put myself between you two, but she found out how much I cared and, and, I—"
"Shut up," Matthew said firmly, and Sveta gasped. He felt his eyes start to well, but said firmly, "That's the biggest bullshit I've ever heard. After everything you've been through today, there's no way in hell you owe me any apology for letting me know and be with someone as kind as wonderful as you. I won't hear it."
Sveta's ears perked up slightly, and he felt his heart warm. "…But, I…"
"No buts," Matthew replied, lightly pushing the beastgirl's hair out of her face. "You… obviously know I care for Karis, but if anyone's being unfair here, it's me. I should have made it clear from the beginning that I'm not simply with you because I promised Himi she could be with Karis. I'm with you because I like you, and because I want to be there for you. Because… I love you."
As funny as he thought the words might sound, they rolled off this tongue effortlessly, and Sveta smiled brightly. "I want you to know that," Matthew continued. "So, don't be afraid to tell me how you really feel. I know… that I can't understand what you've gone through." He frowned. "But I want to be her for you whenever you need someone to talk to."
Sveta nodded, and gently laid her head down upon his chest. After two minutes of steady breathing and no speech, he thought she may have fallen asleep, when Sveta whispered, "You would have liked Volechek. You're a lot like him. Whenever I was sad about anything, I would cry to him, and no matter what he would cheer me up."
"…Sveta, I know he's out there, waiting for us to end the Eclipse," Matthew whispered, and she nodded.
"…Matthew? Do you think it's my fault?" Sveta whispered a moment later, gripping him tightly once more. "That I bring this pain to those around me? I just want to protect the people I love… and as stupid as this sounds, will you promise me not to die?"
"I don't think it's your fault," Matthew replied. "And… yes, I promise."
Her face beamed, so much so that her little pointed teeth were visible. The smile meant more than he knew she could put into words, but that didn't stop her from trying. "I'm glad."
I originally had no idea how to write Himi/Karis, but I feel like I've gotten somewhat of a rhythm with them going. I enjoyed writing a lot of their banter, and trying to come up with some kind of logical explanation as to why the party would end up with the Echo Game.
Poor Rief. He gets really ragged on in this story at times. I actually had a kick writing Kraden in here (There's definitely going to be some Kraden/Obaba later on), because he was slightly ridiculous but still loveable and sagely. And I always love writing Eoleo. Always. I have no idea why I gave the Djinn an old-timey accent/style of speech, it just happened. I really love the phrase, "Oh Poppycock" and it went from there.
Finally, the last part… one of the things I think that is understated about Dark Dawn is the emotional distress Sveta must go through each battle and in the more dangerous moment leading up to the Apollo Lens. Whether or not it is under the assumption of Spirit Shipping, it is clear that she is close to Matthew, and living in constant fear of him dying must be hard to deal with. Poor thing. Thankfully, we're getting to the point where she starts to feel a bit better :)
I had to edit the Matt/Sveta scene in here a few times to get it where I wanted it, but I felt like overall it was pretty good. Anyway. The next chapter will be Himi/Karis/Tyrell/Amiti, and then a double date between both Jupiter/Venus couples. It should be fun. So, I can barely keep my eyes open (legitimately), so I'm going to sleep. Night!
Edit: Oh, forgot to mention one thing. If anyone noticed the possible A Gentler Steam reference in here, that was intentional, and I'm not sure whether or not I'm going to play with it or not. It's certainly an interesting prospect.