Chapter 35: Of Silence and Sleeping Monks
Genis crept out of the room and went across the hall. Inside his room, Athan was stretched out on the bed, blanket pulled up to his chest, eyes closed, breathing regularly. Exactly as he'd been when they'd put him in the bed.
Genis shut the door. Really, the bandages were rudimentary, the basics of what he'd learned from Raine, but despite the half-healed scabs and wounds, Athan seemed to be stable. He'd just been sleeping hard for almost sixteen hours.
The half-elf's feet found their way to outside the inn, to the edge of the gorge. He sat down, letting his feet swing. In the predawn light, everything was quiet. Genis could use the quiet right then.
After, to him, an indefinable amount of time, he heard footsteps behind him. He knew who it was. She always had a faint scent around her, from her hair. Besides, she was the only other conscious person in the entire town.
Presea sat by him, not saying anything.
Finally, Genis said, "I'm sorry."
"For what?" she asked, perplexed.
"That…thing, yesterday…it wanted me to slash you. It was an order, and I had to resist. It wanted me to…to kill you."
"But you didn't." Presea said logically.
Genis shuddered at the memory of that mind. He'd woken up repeatedly with the sweats from that memory. Presea put an arm around his shoulders.
"Thanks," he muttered. "I'm still just…freaked out by that guy and that weapon."
"You did very well against him," Presea said.
"So did you. So did Athan." He looked at her, as she turned her gray eyes on him. "I'm a bit worried about him."
"I am, as well." Presea gave a rare smile. "I like him. He has an enviable attitude towards life."
Genis was taken aback. It was rare for her to express a personal opinion, which made becoming her official boyfriend a tricky and delicate business. He sighed.
She patted his shoulder. "The view around this city is incredible."
"It is," came the glum response.
"Is something wrong?" Presea asked, tilting her head.
"Nothing." The half-elf scooted back from the ledge and stood, offering her a hand. "Come on. What do you want for breakfast?"
"Mmm…how about those little breakfast pastry things you make with the apple filling? They're delicious…" Presea's smile was wide and genuine.
His mood brightened, Genis walked back to the inn.
Athan muzzily opened his eyes. There were cool sheets. He took that as an improvement on his usual sleeping arrangements and settled in. He raised his head to look around the empty room.
By rights, Athan thought, he should be getting up, going through some light exercises, checking what yesterday's damage was, and finding out what the kids were up to. But Athan had lived most of his life under in near proximity to Master Brodelaw, who was a morning person and didn't understand why anyone else should wake up much later than him. The big man held Views on laziness in general and sleeping late in particular, and so, after about twenty years of being up before dawn even on the weekends, Athan leaned back and closed his eyes, asleep in a moment.
Genis happily worked in the kitchen of the Cool Breeze inn. He decided he liked this room. Low-ceilinged but wide, it was everything a kitchen should be: efficient, attractive, functional, and—his eyes lit up—well-stocked. While looking for a mixing spoon, he found a scrap of paper, and ran his eyes down it. Sugar, flour, brown sugar, milk, eggs, onions, tomatoes…He ran his eye down to the bottom. At the bottom was a signature—it looked like J. Ettir, and below that was written, "By the order of Lord Damian."
Genis stared at the sad little piece of paper for a long while, then folded it up and pocketed it. He found the spoon and continued working thoughtfully. In fairly short order, the smell of cooking dough and filling wafted through the inn.
Presea was lured in by the smell, an almost dreamy smile on her face. Genis poured them both a glass of water from the pump, and sat on a stool after pulling out for her.
She took a drink. "I looked in on Athan. He's moved a bit."
Genis swallowed. "Good."
They sat for a while, listening to the silence and drinking their water. Genis thought, she's beautiful. Presea thought, This is good water. And I love Genis's cooking…he's amazingly talented.
She held her cup out to Genis. Seemingly without thinking about it, he got up, refilled both hers and his, and sat back down.
Later that morning, Lloyd and his friends (plus Yuan), landed in front of the town. They noticed the recently built and even more recently broken gate. They noticed the broken stonework and the streaks and spots where the stone had been inexplicably etched. The cracked spots on the stairs led them up to the dais, where Raine went white.
One column was in danger of collapsing, so large a notch had been taken out of its side. The previously smooth surface was streaked and spotted with black char marks.
"Who did this?" she demanded of the world in general. The others drew up together, leaving her to work through her grief.
Lloyd surveyed the damage. "Looks like a hell of a fight."
Sheena looked around. "I think the fracture marks are Presea. She had to be desperate to break up pieces of the dais."
Zelos looked at her. "What about the burn marks?"
On the dais itself, Raine was past denial and well into acceptance.
"Couldn't say for certain," Sheena said. "But they look like spilled or sprayed liquid."
"Okay, acid," Elpida said. "But where are they? Where is…well, everybody?"
Lloyd turned and looked around. "I don't know." He bit his lip, suddenly worried
"But they should be in town. I mean, there are inns, baths, food, kitchens, everything they need to wait for us in comfort."
Sheena nodded, "So we should look for them. Athan's practical, and Presea would want to stay here because it's the logical place to wait, and Genis would want to stay with Presea."
On the dais, Raine's progress through the grieving process had been remarkably accelerated by the etching patterns of the streaks, and the realization that the exposed core of the column was of a different material than the exterior.
Lloyd was already walking down towards the steps.
As it happened, Zelos went to the Cool Breeze inn. He pushed through the door, and had the pleasure of being greeted by the smell of baked goods. He sniffed. Apple pastries. He sauntered into the kitchen, and found a plate with three or four of them. Sampling one, he discovered it was still warm. He wandered back into the lobby, and up the stairs. In the second-floor hall, He heard voices. Hurriedly finishing his pastry and licking his fingers, he moved over to a door, and listened to Genis and Presea.
"Mmm…that's so good, Genis…You're a lot better at it than I am."
Zelos raised his eyebrows.
"Thanks. You have to flip it just right."
"I know, but it never works when I do it…"
Zelos grinned.
"Can you get another? That filling was delicious."
Zelos sighed, and hurriedly padded back to the staircase, and was walking back down the hall when Genis came up.
"Hey! It's the brat!" the red-haired Chosen said cheerfully.
Genis jumped a mile! "Wh-what are you--?"
"We're looking for all of you! How was the trip? Have fun? Get to spend time alone with Miss Rose?"
Genis gave him a suspicious look. "What are you doing?"
"I'm being nosy. I'm allowed, right? Besides, you're one of my best friends! Can't I be glad to see you?" Zelos came forward as if to hug Genis.
Presea came out of the room. "Hello, Zelos."
He gave a bow. "Hello, Miss Rosebu—well, I can't call you that anymore, can I?"
"ZELOS! SHUT UP!"
The roar had came from a closed door. Genis immediately opened it, and the other two leaned in behind him. Athan was sitting up, glaring.
"I'm trying to sleep, loudmouth! Can you take the reunion downstairs and put a lid on it?"
None of them had ever seen Athan actually angry before. They stared.
Athan was setting a leg on the floor and beginning to stand up. "Shut that door! Don't make me get out of this bed!"
Zelos, struck by a horrific recollection of how much Athan resembled his sister in an incandescent rage, disappeared from view. He stumbled on the carpet, recovered by sheer momentum, and accelerated down, his run sped by the realization that Athan bore a frightening resemblance to Sheena in an incandescent rage, and the monk could hit much, much harder than his baby sister.
And Presea and Genis weren't far behind him, either.