Laguna watched quietly as Dr. Odine wrung his hands nervously, and paced the floor.
"Ve vill, of course," he said to Laguna, "have to find a way to vork together in zis endeavor."
Laguna glared at him.
"She's here," Ellone said suddenly, as she stood between the two men. "The air feels funny."
Laguna looked at her sharply, and Dr. Odine went as white as his lab coat.
"Ward and Kiros," Elle whispered to Laguna.
"Are they hurt?" he asked, starting toward the door.
"On the rooftop," she said. "She's after me, but... she's trying to get something else first. I don't understand!"
Laguna was torn between leaving Ellone with Dr. Odine, on the chance that the sorceress made her way to the lab before he found her, and going to help his friends.
"I don't understand," Elle repeated, her face twisting with confusion. "She wants something from him, from Kiros... something grown up. Uncle Laguna! Go!"
Going only on Elle's certainty that at the moment the sorceress was more interested in Kiros than in her, Laguna ran for the door.
He was halfway up the stairs to the roof when he heard the unmistakable sound of Ward running down them. The concrete steps trembled slightly. "Ward!" he called out, partly to let him know he was coming up, to avoid a collision.
In a moment, Ward was in sight, with Kiros draped over his shoulder.
"What's going on?" Laguna asked, but Ward swept him along by the arm as he ran past. "Ward! Is Kiros alright?" he called out as he ran, or rather, was dragged, behind Ward. He had never wished so badly that Ward could speak.
Ward almost ran past the door that led to the floor where Elle and Dr. Odine were, but Laguna pulled him back quickly. "Elle's here, we have to get out. Is the sorceress up there?"
Ward nodded hurriedly as they fled through the doorway, back into the room where the other two were waiting.
Ellone and Dr. Odine both jumped when they came charging through the door. Laguna was relieved to see Kiros squirm out of Ward's grasp and stand shakily next to him. "Airship," he said softly.
"Is ze sorceress truly here?" Odine asked fearfully.
"YES!" Laguna, Kiros and Ellone all screamed at him.
"Zen ve must go! Follow me to ze ground floor, ve vill find immediate transport!"
They were out the door of the lab when Dr. Odine slowed to a stop, and turned back wistfully. "It is a shame," he said, almost under his breath, "zat ve cannot study zis specimen."
"She's NOT a specimen!" Ellone shouted, stopping as well. Laguna picked her up and kept walking to the stairs. "She's not a specimen Dr. Odine!" Ellone shouted over Laguna's shoulder, suddenly furious. "She's just a lady and she can't help what she became!"
"Leave him there!" Laguna said harshly, running down the stairs still carrying Ellone, followed by Kiros and Ward.
But the doctor seemed to change his mind at the last minute, and followed.
------------------------
"What does it mean to be a knight?" Ellone asked sleepily, as she lay down in the back of the van. Laguna sat next to her on the long seat, which stretched from the back of the front seat, almost to the back door.
They passed under a street light, and for a moment it illuminated the faces of everyone in the car. In the rear view mirror, Ward saw Laguna frown. "I thought you were sleeping," he said quietly.
Suddenly Kiros, who had been sleeping on the long seat across from them, moved up slowly, so that he was half reclining on the seat. He was still holding the shabby blanket around his shoulders. Since he was directly behind the driver's seat, Ward couldn't see his face, but he seemed suddenly interested in Ellone.
The car was warm, much too warm for Ward's comfort, but he knew Kiros was still cold. And Kiros hated being cold. The steady hum of the van was comforting, but it made him tired. In a few minutes he would ask Laguna to switch with him and drive for a while.
Dr. Odine, who was sitting in the passenger seat next to Ward, turned around in the seat so that he could speak with Ellone.
"To be a knight," he mused in his heavy accent, in an almost dreamlike tone that Ward would have never expected to hear from him. "It means so many, many things," he answered. "Some time ago, to be a knight meant to defend and protect royalty, and zere land. To uphold its honor."
Laguna snorted and shook his head. "What would you know about honor?" he asked sharply.
Ward heard Dr. Odine sigh softly. "I know zat it drives men to do irrational things, and to not use zere heads. I know it has been ze downfall of many men who only think zey are doing vat is right, when vat zey are really doing, is blindly following an ideal, or a person. Zat if zey would take a moment to think for themselves, to look at things through an impartial eye, zey might see if zey are being led astray."
Ellone sat up sleepily and looked at Dr. Odine. The streetlight briefly lit up her young, curious face in the rear view mirror, before the car was dark once again. "So is it bad to be someone's knight?"
Kiros sat all the way up too, and watched Elle intently.
"No," Odine answered firmly. "Not all ze time. Zere is good and bad to everything, Elle. A right and wrong vay to deal vith all of zese ideas. When you idealize a person, or an idea, zen you are blind, here..." he pointed to his head, "and here as vell." He pointed to his heart, as the car passed under another light. "But, if a knight can remain true to vat he knows is ze right choice, to vat vill bring good, even if it is not ze most desirable vay, zen he vill be an honorable man."
Ellone regarded him solemnly, and Ward found himself surprised at the easy understanding Odine seemed to have with Ellone. In a million years, he never would have guessed that they spoke to each other conversationally. Ellone seemed perfectly comfortable with him.
"Can a woman have a knight all to herself?" she asked.
They passed under another light, during which Ward glanced at Laguna, and saw that he, too, was carefully watching the interplay between Ellone and Odine. Kiros leaned forward far enough in the seat so that Ward could see his face. His eyes were fixed on Ellone.
Suddenly Odine sighed in exaggerated exasperation. "Vat gives you zese ideas?" he scoffed. "For a child to be asking such questions! Vy not read a book instead?"
"Oh, bite me," Ellone muttered.
Instead of scolding her, Laguna broke into laughter.
