Author's note: It's been several years since I last touched the Vesperia game. I wonder if I can still do the characters justice? I remember that I loved them all very much. Most of all, I wanted Estelle and Yuri to find a place for themselves. I wonder if they can have that?
Here we go then, once more into the breach...
-Kero (5/12/11)
Chapter 11: Into the Fire
Rita wrinkled her nose at the sour smelling concoction that coughed up bubbles at her now and then as she tried to concentrate on keeping her spell going. She needed to keep the heat constant at the base of the glass beaker and was using one of her own fire spells for the task.
"Wow. You're the first person I've ever met who creates her own spells," said Thomas thoughtfully. "I'm impressed." As he leaned over to examine the color of the liquid Rita realized how close his face was to hers. She forcefully looked towards the opposite wall. In the back of her mind, Rita was wondering if he had ulterior motives for dropping praise in her direction all morning. The fact that he was actually handsome upon closer inspection was unnerving.
"How much longer?" she asked nonchalantly.
"Not long," he replied. "This is the base chemical we will use to do the blood analysis. It will soon be colorless and odorless."
"Is this your invention?" she asked.
"Well, a collaborative effort," smiled Thomas. "We had a brilliant chemist working for us a few years back. She put together the concoction through research for something else entirely. I was the one who came up with a use for it."
"So she doesn't work for you anymore?" asked Rita curiously.
"No. Elise decided to get married. She lives in Halure now, with her husband and children." His smile faded a little at the sound of her name. There was a history there, Rita was certain.
"It's nice when you have collaborators to split the work. But personally I do all my research myself. People have an innate talent for stabbing each other in the back, letting pettiness get in the way of trust, or abandoning each other. I work alone because I don't like people." she said simply.
"The voice of a true cynic," laughed Thomas. "Yet here you are, helping your friend cure her cousin so she can be free. You are a walking contradiction."
"Hmph," grunted Rita. "Estelle is perhaps my one and only true friend. She expects nothing and doesn't judge. I just want to make sure she keeps smiling."
"She is lucky to have your friendship," smiled Thomas, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'm a little envious." Rita felt her face flush.
"Hey Rita," said Raven, his head suddenly popping into view from an open window. Rita jumped a little and nearly charred the edge of the tablecloth at his sudden appearance. Thomas immediately went in search of a wet cloth to put out the embers.
"What is it with you people and your unannounced entrances?" she demanded.
"If you're done with collaborative cooking in here, we need you to accompany Estelle to the assembly hall," he smirked. "Unless you'd like to stay and flirt a little more."
"Shut up, you old pervert. You're the only person I know who flirts indiscriminately. I was merely exercising my conversational skills."
"The day you improve your conversational skills is the day I shave my head and become a monk." Raven picked his teeth with his small finger to fish out the remnants of his lunch. "So, what have you learned while hobnobbing with the rich and obnoxious around the castle?"
"Aside from what they tell me of your sordid history?" she grinned.
"Keep me out of it," he responded shortly.
"Well, the Commandant's men are still interviewing the royal household to see if they can root out the culprit. Everyone's looking forward to the Coronation in two days. I overheard one of the butlers mentioning that a lot of the newer staff were just hired to cover the guests' needs for the Coronation. A lot of them were not properly screened."
"That would mean our culprit is most likely a new member of the castle household," said Raven rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
"There are over a hundred of them," she lamented.
"If I were the perpetrator, I would start getting bolder. The Commandant will sniff him out sooner or later, and security around the princess will be tripled on the Coronation day," added Thomas as he returned to the room.
"I would strike while there was still an opportunity," said Raven. "Once she's crowned Empress, she'll be untouchable."
"Incidentally, where's Estelle?" asked Rita.
"Judy n' Yuri are with her. Ioder's not doing well at all and she's spending a lot of energy trying to delay the inevitable," said Raven solemnly.
"That's just going to exhaust her. At that rate, she wouldn't be able to put up a fight even if she were attacked," Rita frowned.
"You try tellin' her to stop," sighed Raven. Rita scratched her head in frustration.
"By the time I finish the blood analysis, the prince may be dead," said Thomas pursing his lips and tapping his fingers absently on the table. "If only I had a dark star gem. If ground into a fine powder the gem's particles added to the base elixir will bond with antibodies quickly and they become easier to extract from the blood sample. That would speed the analysis greatly."
"That's brilliant but where the hell are we going to find one of the rarest gems ever to be found in the world? How many times did we go fishing in the ocean for one only to come up empty handed? I don't suppose you know anyone who just carries it in his pocket and is willing to donate it to our experiment?" asked Rita letting out an exasperated sigh.
"Well I'll be damned," said Raven letting out a little laugh. "That Kowz kid finally traded something we could use." At that, Raven dug into his pocket and produced the item in question.
"You're kidding, right?" asked Rita, staring at the gem he was offering through the window.
"Fortune smiles upon Brave Vesperia," grinned Raven.
-000-
"Yaaaaawn," said Karol as he stretched his arms out to release the tension in his back. Being a page in the castle was no easy task. After assisting Estelle with her morning meetings, he was sent off to deliver a few messages to nobles living in the royal quarter. After that, he caught the attention of a head steward while attempting to loaf around and avoid any actual work and was sent to the kitchen to deliver lunches to a ministry meeting. Delivering the sandwiches then led to him serving them wine throughout their meeting. Now, finally done with his tasks, Karol clutched his velvet, feathered cap in one hand and headed off to hide in the garden where he could nap behind a shrub or something before dinner.
He had just spotted the perfect stone bench when he heart footsteps approaching. Wary that it might actually be someone in a position to give him more orders, Karol hid behind a tall line of potted pines. He observed an old butler looking around the garden suspiciously, as if looking to see if he was followed.
As the old butler moved closer to Karol, he let out a little bird call and waited for a response.
"I'm here, Sebastian," said a young lady dressed neatly like a chambermaid. Karol thought she looked vaguely familiar. The girl's wavy hair was tied up in a loose bun at the nape of her neck and the haughty look that made her stare down her nose at everything made Karol suspect that she was not a chambermaid.
"Will everything be ready before the coronation?" asked the girl.
"Yes, ma'am," replied the butler with a slight bow.
"Good. Hide the goods where we previously discussed. You are certain that he will be with her at the time?"
"He hardly leaves her side," the old man reported.
"Excellent. I doubt they will all keep together on that day. They are more likely to spread out and guard her from differing vantage points. I will need you to determine who will be where, but I suspect the old captain will be aloft, since he is logistically competent with projectiles. The spell caster will most likely mingling among the nobles in the crowd. He and the tall lancer will most likely keep closest to her. I doubt the dog or the boy will be much trouble. We will need to get rid of the old captain first, after disabling the boy and the dog. The spell caster needs to be distracted and I think our little blastia mechanism will be the perfect red herring. While it goes off, you will take the lancer and I will bring the fiery hammer of Justice down upon my opponent. Not even he can stop me."
"How will we escape, My Lady?" asked the butler.
"There won't be a need. If all goes as planned and my enemy is slain, I would gladly sit in prison until I die."
"As you wish, Mistress," said the old butler with a slight bow from the waist.
Karol knew they were discussing how to dispatch the members of Brave Vesperia at the coronation. The fact that they did not consider him a threat made his blood boil and his teeth clench. Regardless, he had happened upon the perpetrators everyone was looking for and it was time to stop all this so Estelle could be safe. As leader of Brave Vesperia, he had a duty to see it through. Karol stepped out from his hiding place and pointed at the two of them accusingly.
"You there! Your plotting has been exposed. If you wish to do harm upon the Princess then you will have to answer to me, first!" he proclaimed. Karol drew his hammer from his belt. Rita had placed an enchantment on it to shrink it's size when not in use so that it did not seem very threatening and was unassuming in the size of a real hammer. But when necessary, it would reshape into the weapon Karol needed.
"Well, well," smirked the girl, also drawing a rapier from the folds of her dress. "It seems we will be able to take care of this one in advance. We didn't even have to look for him. Less work for us," she shrugged. Karol saw that she wore a strange converted blastia on her wrist. Karol had no blastia. He steadied his footing.
"There is no need for an all out battle right now," said the butler, looking around to see that they were still alone. "Let's just settle this before someone discovers us, My Lady." He pulled out a velvet black satchel from his pocket, opened it, and threw it over Karol's head. The satchel emptied out some of its contents into the air and sprinkled onto Karol. Almost instantly, the purplish powder took effect and Karol felt the strength flowing out of his body. His vision blurred and his knees gave way. His weapon landed on the trimmed grass with a slight "clank" and everything went black.
-000-
As dusk's light faded from behind the stained glass windows of Prince Ioder's bedchamber, Estelle was vaguely aware of the servant's presence as they lit the lamps in the room. She was concentrating so intently on shifting her life's energy in a constant flow through her body, channeling into the hand that clasped her cousin's, and into his own body. The energy flowed into the prince and circulated throughout to combat the effects of the poison wreaking havoc on almost every cell in his system.
A small drop of perspiration dripped down to her eyebrow. Estelle's face twitched a bit and she resisted the urge to wipe it away. Just then, a gentle handkerchief wiped her brow dry.
"You don't have to keep doing that," said Estelle, with a smile curling the corner of her lip. Yuri tucked her handkerchief back into his breast pocket.
"Just call me the Crown Princess's Personal Handkerchief Bearer," he said wryly. In a more serious tone, he placed a hand on her shoulder. "You're getting more pale. You need to take a break."
"Maybe you're right," she sighed warily, and let go of her cousin's hand. She looked up at Yuri and gave him a tired smile. "You look like you haven't slept well for days. Maybe you should make use of the couch outside." Estelle knew that Yuri, in addition to being her near constant bodyguard throughout the day, also took his turn and patrolled the vicinity outside her quarters for suspicious activity and to further investigate any evidence left behind by the perpetrator or perpetrators that Flynn's staff may have overlooked. In fact, Estelle noticed that most of her friends looked a little worse for wear being on constant alert for her safety. A twinge of guilt passed through her heart. Brave Vesperia had already named its price for their services and she had paid them in full, but Estelle knew that their friendship kept them ever vigilant and would do so even if she had not paid them. Their friendship was priceless. But if Estelle ascended to the throne, she would have to leave them behind, perhaps never having an opportunity to be as relaxed and easy going as she was now when they were with her. Perhaps she would not see them again. The thought of never being able to be with Yuri again made her feel even more lonely, even though he was still standing there by her side.
Perhaps he saw the reflection of turmoil in her silent expression and his hand squeezed her shoulder a bit more firmly. "Just say the word, Estelle, and I'll 'kidnap' you and take you far away from here." She let out a little laugh in spite of herself.
"I don't think I could live with myself afterwards if I did that. I can't just abandon everything," she said, gazing over Ioder's still form. She squeezed Yuri's hand. "But thank you," she said wholeheartedly, "for offering."
"Well then at least let me help you with keeping Ioder alive. I may not know how to heal but you can at least tap into my energy to propel the process."
"Yuri," she said, slightly shocked.
"It's better than watching you use your own strength while standing here like an idiot," he smiled. "Brave Vesperia stands with its client and fights for the client's goals to the last man, but this is personal. Don't get me wrong, I hate the Empire. I have nothing against Ioder but I don't owe him anything either. I would only be doing it for you."
Estelle couldn't help blushing. Her body moved on its own accord and she stood up to embrace him tightly. Her legs staggered a bit from the sudden change in position after sitting for so long, but Yuri's arms caught her and the ending was still the same. She squeezed him tightly and breathed him in deeply.
Suddenly there were footsteps at the open doorway and they were not the only ones alone with Ioder any longer.
"Okay, lovebirds. I just ate, so please keep that stuff down to a minimum," said Rita as she marched into the room without a second glance at them. Both of them were bright red and their arms dropped immediately. Yuri ignored Raven's chuckles and Judith's hidden smile. Estelle felt Flynn's eyeing her and had to look away.
A few doctors entered and drew the prince's blood in a small glass vial. Thomas was also present to mix the vial's contents with his elixir and placed a cork firmly at the opening.
"Now what, geniuses?" asked Raven, looking at Rita and Thomas standing next to one another.
"A little flame please, to hasten the chemical bonding," suggested Thomas. Rita lit a small flame under the vial while Thomas mixed the contents in a circular motion.
"And we are doing...what now?" asked Yuri, puzzled at everyone's actions.
"This is an experiment," explained Flynn. "A very important one. Mr. Kaufman has synthesized an elixir that can isolate markers in the prince's blood to let us know what type of poison was used. Once he knows the identity of the poison, he can create an antidote. I have posted extra guards around the prince's quarters to ensure that they are not disturbed.
"I am here to relieve Yuri of his post as it is my turn to guard you, Estelle," said Judith cheerfully. She directed a judgmental look in his direction. "And you do look terrible. You should get some rest."
"Thanks," shrugged Yuri.
"I'm just here looking for Karol. Has anyone seen him?" asked Raven scratching his already messy nest of hair.
"Perhaps he is still running pages errands?" suggested Estelle.
"We'll stay here until the experiment is finished," said Rita. "The servants will be bringing Thomas' work table in here so we can immediately start on the antidote. We'll call you Estelle, if we need you, but for now get some rest and leave this to us," she winked. Estelle gave them all a grateful smile.
"I shall do that. Thank you, everyone," she said. As she exited with Judy, Yuri and Flynn, Raven accompanied them to fill them in on the next step.
"From here, the plan can go two ways. One, Ioder survives long enough for Thomas and Rita to fix him and they postpone the coronation until he feels up to it. Two, Ioder doesn't survive and the coronation takes place in two days for Estelle. We will not alert anyone that the coronation may be moved, we will proceed as if Estelle will be the one crowned. This will lure our culprit out to finish Estelle off, one way or another. In private, Karol will be watching over everything Estelle eats and drinks that day. Luckily, Estelle will be fasting on the day of, and therefore only drinking water and eating flatbread blessed by the priests. Thomas made sure that everything she tastes and touches will be tested for poison. From bread to undergarments, we've got it covered. So we can only assume that the culprit will make an straightforward, outward strike.
In a huge crowd like that, it's the best opportunity to strike from afar, like an assassin. However, all the turrets and towers will be occupied and heavily guarded. It will be a challenge to find a spot to finish her off from afar, and there is no guarantee of accuracy. Besides, I've asked Rita to set protective charms around the throne dais, which will be impervious to projectiles. Rita will stay in the ceremonial circle monitoring her charms as a lady-in-waiting. Our perpetrator may have anticipated that already.
But, we will also need to be hyper-vigilant at Estelle's side, as I anticipate the opponent also has a 'plan B'. If I were to attempt to take Estelle's life, I would anticipate that she would be heavily guarded on the day of the coronation. If I can't strike while she's asleep, I would need to know her schedule. I would need to know when she will not be guarded as heavily. That's where we leave an opening for the perpetrator. We will let all the household servants know the princess' schedule that day. We will purposefully leave a spot open, and we have to make it look like it isn't a trap. The only time I would suggest is right before the coronation, when Estelle will be sent to the royal chapel alone to collect her thoughts and pray. This is also part of the ceremony and traditionally, all prior rulers did this alone before the crowning ceremony. But she will not be alone. I will be somewhere watching over her, as will Judith and Yuri. There is a secret entrance to the chapel, the Commandant tells me, so all of us will be entering through there before Estelle comes. Karol and Repede will be hidden outside, keeping distant watch just beyond the door, in case the culprit tries to make a run for it. All of us will stay out of sight. " Raven took a deep sigh. "So that's the plan, what d'yall think?"
"You have put much thought into this," complimented Flynn. "But are you certain you don't need any additional manpower?"
"No offense, Flynn, but your knights would just be in the way. Anyone can hear and smell them from a mile away. If they don't come out and take a swing at Estelle, we will never catch him," said Yuri.
"But you're making her be the bait," insisted Flynn. "Somehow...that feels wrong."
"I realize it looks like we're tossing Estelle into the fire, but that's just your knight-in-shining-armor sensibilities, Commandant, it will pass," said Raven, waving it aside.
"It's the only thing I can do now," insisted Estelle. "This has to end, one way or another."
"You've really changed," said Flynn with a smile. Estelle looked up at him and thought she heard a little wistfulness in his tone. While the others continued discussing the scenario, both Flynn and Estelle exchanged the silent recollection of a quiet Spring morning, long ago. Estelle had brought him lunch and they sat together under a blossoming tree in the grass. In the dancing sunlight they happily chatted about their day when a sudden gust of wind picked up Estelle's handkerchief. It came to rest on a higher branch of the tree and Flynn offered to retrieve it. When he brought it back to her, Estelle gave him the brightest, warmest smile and thanked him. To this day, he never forgot her words.
"I can always rely on you, my knight in shining armor!"
The young woman in front of him was so different from the Estelle in his memory. She was independent, and her mind and thoughts were broader now, having seen the world and suffered in it. The Estelle standing in front of him did not look at him the same way anymore. He often wondered, had he not taken off on his quest and remained by her side, whether the outcome would have been different. That bright, warm smile was now reserved for another, and he felt a brief sensation as if his heart were being pulled in opposite directions. But the moment passed, just as the memory faded, and he let it all go in a slow, steady exhale.
