Leviathan's Daughter
GoldenEagle
Author's Note: I figured out why I didn't like the last chapter! Too many charectors. I have a hard time knowing what to do with them, so I struggled with more than I enjoyed that chapter, merely because I'm only used to one to three people in one scene. In these chapters, it's nothing too special to me. We see some of Millerna and Allen, and a final decision by Persephone. Hopefully, the next chapters will hold more interest. I plan on having some charecter hang time in the next few chapters before closing the story with the final climaxes. Anyways, I'm saying too much. Read and Review! Toodles!
Chapter Thirty
"I'm gone for one day on business, and you're already getting into trouble? My gods, Allen, you would think that a knight with such a reputation as yours could hold it together for a few hours." Millerna muttered, her quick and powerful strides keeping a good pace for the knight at her side. "Where are Van and Hitomi and that cat girl?" She asked as they turned a corner, heading towards the cell where the strange girl was being kept in on Allen's ship, the Crusader.
"Van and Merle are with Hitomi. We've cleaned the wound in her leg, but you are going to need to stitch it up." Allen replied calmly.
Millerna waved her hand dissmissively. "First I'd like to meet this prisoner of yours, Allen. I'm very curious in seeing who and how he is." They approached a thick steel door, a guard standing outside of it. He gave a jerky bow to the princess and the knight, although his face held a grin that didn't quite go with it. Millerna frowned.
"How do you do, Princess?"
"Fine, fine." She waved away his politeness. "How's the boy doing?"
"She's awake, but not responsive."
"*She*?!"
"Oh, I must have forgotten to mention that small fact..." Allen muttered, the ghost of an amused smile on his face.
"Don't play your games with me, Allen Schezar." Millerna said disapprovingly as they walked through the doors. She surveyed the dark room, a strong set of bars rising up before her, deep shadows on the other side. Besides the two men on the inside who had just risen to greet them, there was no one in the room. Millerna turned, hands on her hips. "What? Another trick of yours? And I suppose this *invisible* little girl of yours struck Hitomi with an *invisible* sword. I should just go back to Austuria, if this is all the respect I get-"
Allen placed two soft fingers over her mouth as he pushed by her, making her face redden and her mouth go silent, even as they slid back away. The knight was frowning now. "Where is she?" He asked.
One of the men smiled. "You have to look real close for her, boss. She likes to hide in the shadows." Allen raised a delicate eyebrow at this before grabbing a flaming torch from the wall and stepping closer to the bars, but he was stopped by a heavy hand on his shoulders. The man who had just spoken stared back at him when he turned his head. "I wouldn't get too close, if I were you. She seems to be quite unpredictable."
Allen shrugged him off before stepping forward once more, his eyes and ears more alert. The flame of the torch swept through the darkness, and in the corner, huddled against the wall, he saw a small form, curled into a protective ball. She reminded him of a small child, terrified and hiding. "Why, she's just a child." Millerna said from right behind him. Not a second had passed after her words left her lips when there was a flash of movement and she was pulled against the bars. "Allen!" She cried out in fear as her face pressed against the cold steel, inches away from two flaming eyes.
His hand shot forward and gripped one of the girl's wrists tightly, the torch hitting the metal floor and going out. A warning signal lighted in his eyes. Two flaming orbs met his and it was all he could do to meet her gaze without turning away. Within those depths was pain and bitterness, loss and defeat. Those emotions threatened to tie him down, destroy his confidence.
"My gods, child." Millerna finally muttered. The captive's gaze flashed back to its original position, meeting the princess's eyes once more. "What happened? You're shaking like a leaf!" Allen glanced from Millerna to the girl and he suddenly realized she was right. The red haired girl was shaking to the point that she almost couldn't stand, her face deathly pale besides a fevered blush in her cheeks, a cold coating of sweat across her skin. Millerna's face softened. "Let me help you-"
The other girl jerked away quickly, letting go of the princess, pulling from Allen's grasp. She looked down, stumbling backwards and pressing herself against the wall as she slid down, her quaking forcing her to the steel floor. Her eyes could suddenly be seen again, the fire gone, replaced with a refreshing, blue color. "There's nothing you can do for me." She whispered out through chattering teeth. "It- It will pass. I just need a li-little ti-ime." She looked up at Allen after the silence had gone on for a few more moments. "The le-letter. Where's my letter?" The knight paused a moment before pulling the blood stained paper from his shirt. "You haven't re-read it, have you?" She stuttered.
"No. It's yours, and only yours to read." He replied calmly. He held the object out, his hand reaching though the bars. She looked at him hesitantly before dashing forward, grabbing the letter from his grasp, and disappearing into the shadows once more, again invisible to all of those on the outside.
****************
Persephone couldn't stop the shaking, the cold waves of ice that consumed her. She just stared down, in the shadows, her eyes, which were beyond human, cutting through the darkness easily. The note lay before her, unopened. But how could she read? How could she read when her thoughts were in a million different places? Her guilt hanging over a boy's body, a body that would have grown old, had a long life to live. Her joy a momentary spark, her soul too soaked with tears to be caught ablaze by that strange fire. And her heart? She smiled bitterly at this, but the twitching in her face twisted it and jerked about her features. She let it slip without a fight. Her heart, that strange thing that she had forgotten she had for so long, was hanging in the grasps of a strategist far away, who was planning out the entire death of Gaea. She didn't want to open the letter. Leviathan's accusation were rushing through her. *~...And your Folken, your perfect lover, stayed behind with them instead of escaping with you?! What affection is this? What sort of blackened love does your lover give you?!~'
'No, no, no...' her mind moaned. 'It wasn't, wasn't his fault. He had to stay. He'll return. He has to. I think he loves me... I think...' She felt dead already, everything piling on her. She remembered back to that night she left, him crying for her, but refusing to try to stop her. 'But he had... He was too strong to say the words, or too weak, perhaps, but he felt them.'
'How can you be so sure?' her mind asked her. The doubt plagued her.
'He came to rescue me.' A memory of his kisses on her face, his hands in her hair.
'Rescue you! Ha! And where was he the first time? Did he come in search of you then? Did he feel you scream at their touches, and do nothing? You felt when he lost his arm, but he felt nothing when you lost your innocence? What love is this?!' Persephone's shaking increased, another wave of cold sweat crashing over her.
'He- he sent someone out here, to speak to me...' Her being said reluctantly, doubtfully. Her mind flashed on the dead boy's features, his words of his loyalty.
'But he did not come himself? Let the child take his place, let the child die a lover's death, let the child spill the blood that should have been his-'
'All the things I've done, no matter how good the intention was, all leads to this death. To this meaningless and crushing slaughter. All these people's blood, all of your tears, all are on my hands...' she muttered through her soul weakly the words she had once spoke to Folken.
'Yet he continues to lead the slaughter. He's a monster! He once loved Fanalia, and it is now in flames. He claims to love you. Will he destroy you in the end, too-'
'No!' Her mind cried. 'No! I love him! And just as I love Dillandau, despite the fact that he will kill me, I will love him. Whether it is returned or not, it matters little. I love him! I love him!' And with that, she broke from her mind, her body shaking worse than before. She reached forward and ripped open the letter, desperate to find words that would revive her soul. Desperate to grasp what little hope she had left before she lost complete sanity.
Chapter Thirty-One
Even though the letter lay open, it took Persephone a while to gain the courage to read it. Several times she had to squint down at it to make out the words in the fine, delicate handwriting through the bold and screaming crimson of Langer's blood.
**************
Hey, Perseph.
If you're reading this, then it means that Langer has accomplished his mission. I've grown fond of the boy, but don't tell him so. I'm afraid he'd be a little overwhelmed. He has a kind spirit and is a small light among the darkness that seems to reign here. Speaking of Zaibach, things are speeding up. Conquest is making us stronger. Dillandau has become obsessed with my brother, wishing him only to have a slow, painful death. Stay away from Dillandau under all circumstances. Even I cannot hope to save you if you fall into his clutches.
As for my brother... I'm not quite sure what has befallen him. I have spoken with him many times. You were right. He hates me. I can't help but grasp desperately at the hope that Zaibach's purpose is not as twisted and poisoned as it truly is. Our goal is for peace over all Gaea, but I don't understand how we can accomplish such a thing by using the methods that pollute our planet. We can't fight fire with fire. My only hope is that my brother, Van, will join me. Perhaps we can help lead Zaibach to its true cause.
And I know you know I'm merely lying to myself.
The cause has been lost. I want to see you again, feel you again. Despite my acknowledgment that Zaibach is truly lost, I can't turn back. As you said, it is my destiny. I can't help but try. If you were here, I'd be stronger. If you were here, I'd see the truth. But if you were here, you would die, slowly, as I feel the very same thing happening to me. You once said, back before the Battle of Corinth, that we should get out sometime, away from Zaibach for a few days, just the two of us. And now you're gone, and I'm here, and I can't leave, but I can't let go. I promised I wouldn't try to stop you, but in a since, I lied. Come back. Just as hope desperately for Zaibach to be something that it's not, I hope vainly for your return though I know you will not come back to me. I feel like, now, when there is so much to say, I'm rendered mute, silent. I can't find the words. Will you forgive me for being a fool? Will you forgive me for being weak? I'd like to say that I love you, but the words are bitter. I feel like a hypocrite, torn between my true love and my sure end, and choosing the one that will lead to my destruction. But I need you to believe in me. Don't lose faith in me, Persephone. You're the only person I have, even though you're no longer with me.
With all my love,
Folken Strategos
******************
After Allen and Millerna had left the room, one of the guards had been relieved of duty. Only one stood behind, his head jerking up ever so often as he woke himself. It was the frustrated yell, much like a roar, really, that woke him fully nearly an hour later. He stood quickly, drawing his sword.
The honesty of the note hurt Persephone, stung her, cut into her like no blade of metal could. A cry issued her lips as she gripped the paper, her fingernails digging into it, crumpling it. But she couldn't completely destroy it, just as she couldn't dismiss the truths. And yet, with the painful confrontation over, a strength of independence, a strength she had lost when she had first opened to Folken, returned. It was colder, a thing that ate at her soul, but it made her feel more stable, less emotional. He wouldn't come back to her. He had chosen a slow death over her love. And the name he used at the end: Strategos. Another sign among many, all of the pointers suggesting the same thing. She had truly lost him. He loved her? What did it matter? Love was not enough in times like these. A person could have love and still fall, yet have hate and stand strong. Persephone had to stand strong. She had to. She was the last of her kind, the ultimate turning point in the fate of Gaea. Love alone is nothing without the right components. There was no turning back now, no fairy tale endings. There was only fire and tears and blood. There was only war and strength. Nothing else mattered in times such as these. Not faith, not hope, not even love.
"Ma'am, are you all right?" The guard from outside the bars asked. Persephone looked up, her tremors now gone. Instead within her eyes there was that fire, though it held a colder note to it. The man backed up slowly as he sensed her intentions.
"I'm fine." She replied calmly. "Just a little tired of being cramped up in here." With that she gave a lithe stretch, her back popping. With a simple command of will, the fire of Atlantis that burnt within her came forth, melting metal and steel before her, sending the man screaming and yelping out of the room in search of his superior.
Author's Note: Please review! And, answering a question from one of my reviews, Persephone's only like twenty-one or twenty-two at this point. I messed up a bit and Folken's younger than he is in the series. Oops. But she's a year younger than him in this writing. If I kind of give the impression that she's a child in some of these chapters, it's mostly to show her instability and vulnerability at the time...
GoldenEagle
Author's Note: I figured out why I didn't like the last chapter! Too many charectors. I have a hard time knowing what to do with them, so I struggled with more than I enjoyed that chapter, merely because I'm only used to one to three people in one scene. In these chapters, it's nothing too special to me. We see some of Millerna and Allen, and a final decision by Persephone. Hopefully, the next chapters will hold more interest. I plan on having some charecter hang time in the next few chapters before closing the story with the final climaxes. Anyways, I'm saying too much. Read and Review! Toodles!
Chapter Thirty
"I'm gone for one day on business, and you're already getting into trouble? My gods, Allen, you would think that a knight with such a reputation as yours could hold it together for a few hours." Millerna muttered, her quick and powerful strides keeping a good pace for the knight at her side. "Where are Van and Hitomi and that cat girl?" She asked as they turned a corner, heading towards the cell where the strange girl was being kept in on Allen's ship, the Crusader.
"Van and Merle are with Hitomi. We've cleaned the wound in her leg, but you are going to need to stitch it up." Allen replied calmly.
Millerna waved her hand dissmissively. "First I'd like to meet this prisoner of yours, Allen. I'm very curious in seeing who and how he is." They approached a thick steel door, a guard standing outside of it. He gave a jerky bow to the princess and the knight, although his face held a grin that didn't quite go with it. Millerna frowned.
"How do you do, Princess?"
"Fine, fine." She waved away his politeness. "How's the boy doing?"
"She's awake, but not responsive."
"*She*?!"
"Oh, I must have forgotten to mention that small fact..." Allen muttered, the ghost of an amused smile on his face.
"Don't play your games with me, Allen Schezar." Millerna said disapprovingly as they walked through the doors. She surveyed the dark room, a strong set of bars rising up before her, deep shadows on the other side. Besides the two men on the inside who had just risen to greet them, there was no one in the room. Millerna turned, hands on her hips. "What? Another trick of yours? And I suppose this *invisible* little girl of yours struck Hitomi with an *invisible* sword. I should just go back to Austuria, if this is all the respect I get-"
Allen placed two soft fingers over her mouth as he pushed by her, making her face redden and her mouth go silent, even as they slid back away. The knight was frowning now. "Where is she?" He asked.
One of the men smiled. "You have to look real close for her, boss. She likes to hide in the shadows." Allen raised a delicate eyebrow at this before grabbing a flaming torch from the wall and stepping closer to the bars, but he was stopped by a heavy hand on his shoulders. The man who had just spoken stared back at him when he turned his head. "I wouldn't get too close, if I were you. She seems to be quite unpredictable."
Allen shrugged him off before stepping forward once more, his eyes and ears more alert. The flame of the torch swept through the darkness, and in the corner, huddled against the wall, he saw a small form, curled into a protective ball. She reminded him of a small child, terrified and hiding. "Why, she's just a child." Millerna said from right behind him. Not a second had passed after her words left her lips when there was a flash of movement and she was pulled against the bars. "Allen!" She cried out in fear as her face pressed against the cold steel, inches away from two flaming eyes.
His hand shot forward and gripped one of the girl's wrists tightly, the torch hitting the metal floor and going out. A warning signal lighted in his eyes. Two flaming orbs met his and it was all he could do to meet her gaze without turning away. Within those depths was pain and bitterness, loss and defeat. Those emotions threatened to tie him down, destroy his confidence.
"My gods, child." Millerna finally muttered. The captive's gaze flashed back to its original position, meeting the princess's eyes once more. "What happened? You're shaking like a leaf!" Allen glanced from Millerna to the girl and he suddenly realized she was right. The red haired girl was shaking to the point that she almost couldn't stand, her face deathly pale besides a fevered blush in her cheeks, a cold coating of sweat across her skin. Millerna's face softened. "Let me help you-"
The other girl jerked away quickly, letting go of the princess, pulling from Allen's grasp. She looked down, stumbling backwards and pressing herself against the wall as she slid down, her quaking forcing her to the steel floor. Her eyes could suddenly be seen again, the fire gone, replaced with a refreshing, blue color. "There's nothing you can do for me." She whispered out through chattering teeth. "It- It will pass. I just need a li-little ti-ime." She looked up at Allen after the silence had gone on for a few more moments. "The le-letter. Where's my letter?" The knight paused a moment before pulling the blood stained paper from his shirt. "You haven't re-read it, have you?" She stuttered.
"No. It's yours, and only yours to read." He replied calmly. He held the object out, his hand reaching though the bars. She looked at him hesitantly before dashing forward, grabbing the letter from his grasp, and disappearing into the shadows once more, again invisible to all of those on the outside.
****************
Persephone couldn't stop the shaking, the cold waves of ice that consumed her. She just stared down, in the shadows, her eyes, which were beyond human, cutting through the darkness easily. The note lay before her, unopened. But how could she read? How could she read when her thoughts were in a million different places? Her guilt hanging over a boy's body, a body that would have grown old, had a long life to live. Her joy a momentary spark, her soul too soaked with tears to be caught ablaze by that strange fire. And her heart? She smiled bitterly at this, but the twitching in her face twisted it and jerked about her features. She let it slip without a fight. Her heart, that strange thing that she had forgotten she had for so long, was hanging in the grasps of a strategist far away, who was planning out the entire death of Gaea. She didn't want to open the letter. Leviathan's accusation were rushing through her. *~...And your Folken, your perfect lover, stayed behind with them instead of escaping with you?! What affection is this? What sort of blackened love does your lover give you?!~'
'No, no, no...' her mind moaned. 'It wasn't, wasn't his fault. He had to stay. He'll return. He has to. I think he loves me... I think...' She felt dead already, everything piling on her. She remembered back to that night she left, him crying for her, but refusing to try to stop her. 'But he had... He was too strong to say the words, or too weak, perhaps, but he felt them.'
'How can you be so sure?' her mind asked her. The doubt plagued her.
'He came to rescue me.' A memory of his kisses on her face, his hands in her hair.
'Rescue you! Ha! And where was he the first time? Did he come in search of you then? Did he feel you scream at their touches, and do nothing? You felt when he lost his arm, but he felt nothing when you lost your innocence? What love is this?!' Persephone's shaking increased, another wave of cold sweat crashing over her.
'He- he sent someone out here, to speak to me...' Her being said reluctantly, doubtfully. Her mind flashed on the dead boy's features, his words of his loyalty.
'But he did not come himself? Let the child take his place, let the child die a lover's death, let the child spill the blood that should have been his-'
'All the things I've done, no matter how good the intention was, all leads to this death. To this meaningless and crushing slaughter. All these people's blood, all of your tears, all are on my hands...' she muttered through her soul weakly the words she had once spoke to Folken.
'Yet he continues to lead the slaughter. He's a monster! He once loved Fanalia, and it is now in flames. He claims to love you. Will he destroy you in the end, too-'
'No!' Her mind cried. 'No! I love him! And just as I love Dillandau, despite the fact that he will kill me, I will love him. Whether it is returned or not, it matters little. I love him! I love him!' And with that, she broke from her mind, her body shaking worse than before. She reached forward and ripped open the letter, desperate to find words that would revive her soul. Desperate to grasp what little hope she had left before she lost complete sanity.
Chapter Thirty-One
Even though the letter lay open, it took Persephone a while to gain the courage to read it. Several times she had to squint down at it to make out the words in the fine, delicate handwriting through the bold and screaming crimson of Langer's blood.
**************
Hey, Perseph.
If you're reading this, then it means that Langer has accomplished his mission. I've grown fond of the boy, but don't tell him so. I'm afraid he'd be a little overwhelmed. He has a kind spirit and is a small light among the darkness that seems to reign here. Speaking of Zaibach, things are speeding up. Conquest is making us stronger. Dillandau has become obsessed with my brother, wishing him only to have a slow, painful death. Stay away from Dillandau under all circumstances. Even I cannot hope to save you if you fall into his clutches.
As for my brother... I'm not quite sure what has befallen him. I have spoken with him many times. You were right. He hates me. I can't help but grasp desperately at the hope that Zaibach's purpose is not as twisted and poisoned as it truly is. Our goal is for peace over all Gaea, but I don't understand how we can accomplish such a thing by using the methods that pollute our planet. We can't fight fire with fire. My only hope is that my brother, Van, will join me. Perhaps we can help lead Zaibach to its true cause.
And I know you know I'm merely lying to myself.
The cause has been lost. I want to see you again, feel you again. Despite my acknowledgment that Zaibach is truly lost, I can't turn back. As you said, it is my destiny. I can't help but try. If you were here, I'd be stronger. If you were here, I'd see the truth. But if you were here, you would die, slowly, as I feel the very same thing happening to me. You once said, back before the Battle of Corinth, that we should get out sometime, away from Zaibach for a few days, just the two of us. And now you're gone, and I'm here, and I can't leave, but I can't let go. I promised I wouldn't try to stop you, but in a since, I lied. Come back. Just as hope desperately for Zaibach to be something that it's not, I hope vainly for your return though I know you will not come back to me. I feel like, now, when there is so much to say, I'm rendered mute, silent. I can't find the words. Will you forgive me for being a fool? Will you forgive me for being weak? I'd like to say that I love you, but the words are bitter. I feel like a hypocrite, torn between my true love and my sure end, and choosing the one that will lead to my destruction. But I need you to believe in me. Don't lose faith in me, Persephone. You're the only person I have, even though you're no longer with me.
With all my love,
Folken Strategos
******************
After Allen and Millerna had left the room, one of the guards had been relieved of duty. Only one stood behind, his head jerking up ever so often as he woke himself. It was the frustrated yell, much like a roar, really, that woke him fully nearly an hour later. He stood quickly, drawing his sword.
The honesty of the note hurt Persephone, stung her, cut into her like no blade of metal could. A cry issued her lips as she gripped the paper, her fingernails digging into it, crumpling it. But she couldn't completely destroy it, just as she couldn't dismiss the truths. And yet, with the painful confrontation over, a strength of independence, a strength she had lost when she had first opened to Folken, returned. It was colder, a thing that ate at her soul, but it made her feel more stable, less emotional. He wouldn't come back to her. He had chosen a slow death over her love. And the name he used at the end: Strategos. Another sign among many, all of the pointers suggesting the same thing. She had truly lost him. He loved her? What did it matter? Love was not enough in times like these. A person could have love and still fall, yet have hate and stand strong. Persephone had to stand strong. She had to. She was the last of her kind, the ultimate turning point in the fate of Gaea. Love alone is nothing without the right components. There was no turning back now, no fairy tale endings. There was only fire and tears and blood. There was only war and strength. Nothing else mattered in times such as these. Not faith, not hope, not even love.
"Ma'am, are you all right?" The guard from outside the bars asked. Persephone looked up, her tremors now gone. Instead within her eyes there was that fire, though it held a colder note to it. The man backed up slowly as he sensed her intentions.
"I'm fine." She replied calmly. "Just a little tired of being cramped up in here." With that she gave a lithe stretch, her back popping. With a simple command of will, the fire of Atlantis that burnt within her came forth, melting metal and steel before her, sending the man screaming and yelping out of the room in search of his superior.
Author's Note: Please review! And, answering a question from one of my reviews, Persephone's only like twenty-one or twenty-two at this point. I messed up a bit and Folken's younger than he is in the series. Oops. But she's a year younger than him in this writing. If I kind of give the impression that she's a child in some of these chapters, it's mostly to show her instability and vulnerability at the time...