Chapter 6: Home Of Harker, Coming Of Carol
Harker muttered to himself absently as he scratched lines onto a piece of papyrus with a shard of coal, fingers tarnished black. Beside him was a small bowl of many other scraps of coal, papers piling up, both used and not. It was late night and there were only the fires of the castle to illuminate the white man's work, a hush falling over the town as even the moon had abandoned the sky for its day of rest.
"Harker?" Milanun called gently, stirred awake by the cold of the bed. "What are you doing all the way over there?"
The Australian didn't answer, too consumed by his task. The Haitian princess rubbed her eyes before swinging her feet off the edge of the bed, standing and padding softly over to the other. She kneeled behind him and carefully draped her arms over his pale shoulders, peering over to see just what he was doing.
"What's that?" Milanun asked.
This called Harker's attention, the warm skin over his night chilled alabaster a startling contrast to awaken his senses. He blinked brilliant labradorite before calming as the familiar scented oils reached his nose, Milanun registering in his mind.
"I'm drawing places from my home." He answered gently, the atmosphere a soft one that demanded soothing notes.
Fingers of pearl grazed over amateur depictions of outlandish and impossible architecture, feats of familiar engineering scratched in coal.
"I'm worried that I'll forget what my home looks like, so I'll put it down on paper before that happens." Harker admitted, thumbing the curve of a wiry structure.
Milanun's heart cracked at the soft weakness in her saviour's voice, her arms coming to hold him closer to her chest in a show of comfort. Earthy brown eyes turned on the sheets of papyrus scattered about their floor, taking in the great scapes of another land, almost nothing familiar to her Haitian heart.
"We can find your home." She whispered, hugging her companion. "Surely we can, my brother can give us a boat if need be."
"No…" Harker sighed, closing his eyes from the world. "No, we can't Milanun. My home isn't somewhere we can reach by foot, boat, or even sky."
By sky? Harker's home was in a place even the overarching blue of the horizon could not reach? Could Ra not find it in his endless travels?
Leaning forwards, the princess regarded the works, her head tilting in interest as she watched lines craft themselves into memories and places of untouchables.
"What is that?" She asked, touching the great semicircle of architecture.
"That's the Sydney Harbour Bridge." He responded, following her finger. "It's next to the Opera House."
With those words, the Westerner brought her attention to another piece of paper, a strange building with large, sail-like structures.
"Which is just next to Lunar Park!"
She was then showed a huge being who's mouth was contorted into a macabre smile, the shaky silhouettes of people swarming to enter it's gaping maw.
"That looks like some kind of demon!" Milanun blurted, getting a hearty laugh out of her beloved.
"Haha, I can see that!" He snorted, words throaty with humour.
The Haitian princess cuddled unto the alabaster plains of the Westerner's back as he built her a map of his home, sketching out scenery of vast deserts and endless beaches, tall mountains thick with fog and greenery, mythological animals of twisted appearance and biology.
As he spoke, the tension in his shoulders seeped away, tone growing lighter in joy and humour, nostalgia thick in his voice as he drew the shaky figures of three women and a man.
"That's Priti, my friend, her mum, this is my mum and this is my dad." He explained, tapping each person.
Milanun parted her lips as she took in the people, before pausing.
"Why haven't you drawn your father's face?" She asked, glancing at the pale being before her.
She watched petal lips press together in a moment of tension, before he reached out, thumb gently caressing the stained papyrus. Then he pushed, and smudged the thick layer of coal.
"I never knew the man." Harker hummed absently. "But it doesn't matter, my mum did a good job on her own, if I do say so myself."
Milanun smiled at his words, hearing his devotion to his mother. She tightened her hold on his frame and rested her brow on his shoulder, the man reaching up to brush her tanned cheek in a friendly manner.
"Come," She hummed, "I think it's time we go to bed."
"Okay." He nodded, allowing the woman to pull him from the floor
()()()
The desert sun beat down on pale skin as the Westerner sank sharp shards of pearl into red fruits, sweet nectar dripping from his chin as he tried to avoid being forcefully fed by the Pharaoh.
"Dude, jeez, I can feed myself!" He exclaimed, dodging the dark hands of the young king.
"You need to eat more!" Menfuisu snapped, trying to reach for druzy sweat skin.
"I'm not hungry!" The Australian stressed, grabbing the tanned wrists and forcing them away from him, their skins sticky.
The two grappled for moments, the servants and nobles who surrounded their little island of untouchability and transcendence, looking on in confusion and worry. Harker used his larger form to push the king back before yelping as he toppled atop the young Ancient.
"Fuckin- Shit, you right?" Harker spluttered in heavily accented English, getting to his hands and pulling himself off of Menfuisu, hovering over him carefully.
The Pharaoh gazed up at glistening druzy sweat that framed pools of liquid sky, strands of precious metal catching sunshine and threatening to blind his dark eyes with the brilliance of the celestial. The otherworldly lilts that fell from his tongue hypnotized his ears and doused his senses in a kind of breeze that engulfed him undeniably.
"Ah, sorry, are you okay?" He corrected quickly, going back to allow the Pharaoh up.
"Yes, I'm fine." Menfuisu uttered, an almost distracted quality to his voice.
Harker raised an eyebrow at him, before shaking his head and taking the fruit from the king's hand, making a show of biting into it to stop the pestering.
"How is the search for Carol?" He asked the group before them, derailing the heavy silence.
"Why has nobody found her!?" Menfuisu snapped, getting back to his usual habits.
"The Nile is large my Pharaoh, it is hard to recover a single girl from its grasp."
"But we're trying, we'll find her soon, we swear to you."
The explanations and pleas fell on deaf ears as the Ancient shattered a cup against the floor, startling the room and making the Australian recoil. In an instant, labradorite eyes snapped up, drawing attention to the creature.
"Harker?" Minue asked, watching as he stood from the lush chair and made his way over to the edge of the pillared palace.
"Harker, who said you coul-"
"Hush." Was the harsh silencer, pearl hands coming to raise and quiet the Pharaoh. "Can't you hear that?"
The nobles looked to each other in confusion, straining their ears to try and catch even a wisp of what the figure of alabaster was speaking, only to come short.
"...I have no time for this." Menfuisu hissed finally, frustration boiling in his belly as he turned on his heel and stormed from the room. "Find me when you find Carol, and no sooner!"
General Minue watched after the kind helplessly, knowing that the rise in temper was from the unattainability of the Golden Set, their habits strange and their behaviours extraordinary.
"General," The call dragged him from his musing and he turned to face the approaching Westerner. They were alone now, with everyone else having filtered out of the room. "Could I bother you with a request?"
"Depends on what it is." He responded, with no little amount of friendly humour.
Harker seemed to appreciate the tone, his tension seeping into a friendly smile.
"If you could, try and search the Western shore of the Nile- or just try and keep closer to that side when you sail."
Dark eyes blinked when the words came, confusion surfacing when he saw the Australian glance over his shoulder again, as if he were hearing the noise again.
"If you don't mind answering my question in return."
Sky blue, bright with caution struck him in a moment, their gazes locked as petal lips curled in a deceptively kind manner.
"Depends on what it is."
The General laughed lightly at that, before he matched the smile.
"What are you hearing? I won't deny, I cannot quite make it out."
The Westerner relaxed at the question, loosening his muscles and closing his eyes as he inhaled deeply. When blue were cracked open again, they were cast to the side, gazing off in the same direction as before.
"I think...I think I'm hearing Carol."
()()()
Harker murmured to himself as the light of the morning sun abused his eyes, waking him from his sleep. He groaned and bowed to smother his face into the dusty brown hair of the Haitian who curled in his arms and buried her nose in his pale clavicle. The two tightened their hold on each other as they mutually awoke the other, moans of aggravation sounding quietly as they blinked blearily in the new dawn.
Milanun smiled as she watched the other slowly rouse himself, an adamant refusal obvious as he tried to hide from the light in her chest, strong arms wrapping around her with sleepy strength.
"Harker." She cooed, running her hand along his bicep. "You need to wake up."
"No." He whined, making her head swim with glee as he cuddled into her.
"Oh, come now, prince." Milanun breathed quietly, "You need to go, or someone will come for you instead."
Harker groaned before rolling onto his back, allowing for the Haitian to see the plains of his chest that glistened with a nighttime of sweat. She reached over and draped her arm over him as she rested her head on his shoulder, enjoying the contrasts of their shades.
Milanun gasped when the Australian sat up suddenly, his gaze snapping around the room in a chaotic focus.
"Where is that coming from?" He breathed, lunging from the bed to stand at the window and strain his ears.
"Harker, sir!" A little servant called into the room, making the two turn quickly and Milanun to duck under the sheets. "General Minue found 'er! He found the golden girl!"
"They've found Carol?" Harker asked, stepping forwards.
"Yes! Yes! She's in the lobby!"
Blue eyes widened before Harker launched himself from the window and took off into the palace, uncaring of how the hot stone abused his bare feet as he scrambled into the lobby, people making way for the excitable celestial.
"Carol!?"
The Nile river contained in two orbs turned on him, glistening with tears of panic before they widened with familiarity.
"Harker!"
The Australian paid no mind to the shout that left the Pharaoh as he grabbed the younger Westerner out of his hands and lifted her into the air, laughs of relief escaping him before he wrapped her up in the tightest hug, her own smaller arms coming to coil around him as well.
"Shit mate, I thought you were dead for sure!" He exclaimed, drawing her back to check over her for damage, only to find her wet from the Nile. "You were gone for ten days!"
"Ten days? Was it really that long?" The American whispered, still keeping her hold on the man of similar colouring.
"Yes, you little galah! You had me sick with worry!"
Harker became quiet after he laughed that, pausing as he took in her clothes. He took a step back and regarded her fully without the lense of euphoria, finally seeing how badly she stood out amongst the scene.
"You were called home." He stated, the ancient tongue falling from him and making the room ripple with question.
"Yes!" She perked, closing their gap, pleated skirt shifting. "Harker, I got home somehow! Escape to our home is a possibility!"
"How? Why can't you remember how?!"
"It all happened too fast, and I was unconscious for most of it, but it can happen! The Nile, the Nile is important to us!"
"But Carol," He breathed, brow pinching in stress. "The Nile isn't how I came here. There is no Nile in Australia."
The happiness that once painted her expression tapered at his words, and the noise of the room finally reached them, the plague of confusion a contagious one for the nobles and servants who watched their broken exchange.
"...I'm sorry." She muttered, gathering her hands in front of her as she lowered her gaze. "I would have taken you with me. You'd at least be safer where I was."
Harker pinched his eyes shut before giving a harsh exhale, his teeth coming to bare as he caped his emotions quickly, knowing it best not to make any more of an unnecessary scene. Instead, he opened his arms to the Western girl, and she wasted no time in collecting herself in them, her face pressed to his clavicle as his arms wrapped around her shoulders.
"I'm glad your safe, Carol." He muttered into her ear.
"You too, Hark."
The nobles watched on as the two ethereal beings embraced one another in the light of the new dawn, the sun making their skin shine like white sandstone and their hair a halo of gold. Harker let the young celestial cuddle into his alabaster flesh as he reached for the edges of the white cape that clasped his shoulder, using it to engulf their forms like wings and protect their sacramental selves from lower eyes. Carol sighed a quiet note as she wrapped her arms around his golden drizzled neck, her skin blending just a shade lighter than the man's as they held each other in an impermeable suspension from the rest of the room.
"And so, the Golden Set has been completed again, my Pharaoh." Minue hummed to the king who gazed at the two in a bitter devotion.
"As it should be."
