The soft rhythm of hooves pounding against the tall grass barely drowned out the sound of rumbling thunder.
Hitomi ignored the situation of an upcoming storm. She pulled the reigns of the pearl white horse, dragging the beauty behind her. She glanced at the dark horse nearby, smaller than hers, being pulled by an anxious child. Neither of them seemed to notice the dreary atmosphere.
"I like riding horses," Ty said with a bright smile. "When can we go again?"
Hitomi nodded towards the sky. "As soon as the weather clears up."
Ty frowned. "It's been like this for days! –Non stop!"
"I know how you feel, bud. I don't like this weather any more than you do." She forced a livening smile. "We just need to be patient."
They continued through the gardens, nearing the stables. Ty caught a glimpse of numerous archers well behind the stable practising with much accuracy. He watched with interest.
"I wanna learn to use a bow and arrow," he said cheerfully.
"I know someone who could teach you…" Hitomi said, her voice fading with every word.
Ty looked up. "What's the matter?"
"Nothing," she responded quickly. "We should put the horses away before it rains."
"Okay." Ty jogged in front of the young horse, pulling it gingerly towards the stables. Hitomi stayed at a walking pace.
"Van…" her voice trembled. She closed her eyes, and aimed her face at the ground. Her eyes squinted with concentration, and finally she shook her head. "No matter what I do, I can't even see your face." She wiped the tears that began to form around her eyes. "I promise I'll find you, Van," she whispered.
The horse pounded its feet as tiny droplets of water fell from the sky and onto its mane. Hitomi looked up. The clouds were still dark, as they were days before. And thunder still filled the air, along side with the flashing lightning that roared over the mountains.
However, with the similarities of a long period, the clouds appeared to have a more active approach. They did not slowly hover closer to the liveliness of the city, but instead, swirled in many directions, cycloning around the vast sky. The wind picked up and shook the branches of the young evergreen trees.
Hitomi grabbed the reigns, and pulled the horse towards the stable.
* * *
"Merle, where can I find a dress to wear?"
"I'm glad you asked, Hitomi." She stretched open the wide doors of the wardrobe. "Take your pick. We had more sewn for you."
"Thanks."
Merle titled her head to the side as the worry line in her forehead deepened. "Are you alright?"
"Why do you ask?" Hitomi asked quietly.
"I don't know, you aren't as…as giddy. It isn't like you."
"Well, I don't exactly feel like myself."
Merle sat down on the quilted bed beside her. "You're scared, aren't you?"
Hitomi didn't answer.
"I think we're all scared. It's just that nobody wants to show it." She looked at Hitomi.
Tears began to run down her cheek. Merle wrapped her arms around her, holding Hitomi in a tight grasp. Hitomi returned the response.
"I don't want to be scared anymore. I want him to come back," she cried. "I don't think I can be strong, or get by without him." She buried her head in Merle's shoulder, squeezing her eyes shut to stop the endless roll of tears. "I've never missed him so much."
Merle closed her eyes too, knowing all that she could do was comfort Hitomi, while at the same time, trying not to cry along with her.
"It'll be over soon." Reluctantly, she let her eyes drown with the tears. "We'll all make it through."
* * *
She craned her neck in every direction. For a
moment, everything was dark, and empty, and lifeless.
A bright light glared far back
into the darkness. She ran towards the light, not knowing why, or even thinking
of a consequence. With every step, she got closer, and closer, and closer,
until she could see a figure engulfed in the light.
The young woman's eyes were
wide open. Her body lay motionless, her chestnut hair a tangled mess. Not even
a light breath escaped her lips. Her beauty and stillness brought awestruck
suspicions.
The once healed scar on her
neck dripped red. The streaming drops of blood glowed, and stained the pureness
of her white robes. A black feather drifted from nowhere, and floated onto the
white cloth.
She gasped, and stepped away.
Hallandia.
She was dead.
Hitomi sat upright, eyes wide and dilated. Sweat drenched her face and neck, matting down her long blonde hair.
She instantly got to her feet, slipping off the large red quilt with the Fanelian motif. She stumbled quickly out of the room, feeling the weariness of her legs. Tightly grasping the wall, she dragged herself down the evening lit hall.
The door was closed. Beyond the door, the silent rustle could be heard. Hitomi turned the knob without hesitating.
"Hallandia," she said and walked towards the young woman under the covers. "Hallandia, you've got to be okay," she whispered hopefully. She leaned over the bed. Hallandia's face was drained and sweaty.
Two weak eyes stared up at her, almost in expectancy. Hallandia blinked slowly, and her hand came out from under the blanket.
Hitomi took her hand.
"Hitomi," she began weakly, "I have done all in my power to keep you safe. You do not need me. Gaea does not need me. But she needs you." She opened her hand, and revealed the pendant.
Hitomi let her place it in her reach. They closed their palms in a tight grasp.
"You have the power to stop this." Her voice was a harsh whisper, and she tried to make her speech clear. "The third key," she started, "find the third key. Bring peace to Gaea. Atlantis is watching over you. I will be watching over you." She closed her eyes, and her body went limp.
Hitomi breathed hard. She looked down at her hand, enclosed around the gold chain of the red ruby. She failed to blink with ever motion of her body.
She grasped her fingers shut, and looked at Hallandia's lifeless body. She stared at the scar on her neck, glowing under the layer of sweat.
A strange fire inside burned ferociously. She could feel the scorching power taking over every thought and every instinct. She closed her fists around the jewel that pierced the palm of her hand. As she stared at the beauty, her eyes narrowed, and she walked with a quick pace back out into the black halls.
Amazing forces surrounded her as the fury grew. The darkness meant nothing without a worry of shattering, loneliness, or injury. Even the blindness of her sight was overwritten. Every step led to a positive field.
Through the darkness, she could see a tall, slim, female figure moving in her direction. Long, dark red hair, almost black through the shadows, streamed down the back of rough armour.
"Verona."
The figure stopped.
"Yeah?"
"Where's Allen?"
"In his room, sleeping, where he's supposed to be," Verona answered, almost judging Hitomi's intelligence.
Hitomi ignored her response.
"Wake him, and both of you, meet me in the study."
"Is this really worth losing precious sleep time?" she wined, but by the time of her complaint, Hitomi disappeared into the blackness without a trace of even passing by in Verona's direction.
Hitomi continued through the halls, dodging corners she could barely see, missing decorative furniture below every burning torch. She stopped in result of a queezy jump in her stomach.
Leaning over with the support of the wall, she clenched her stomach, squeezing her eyes tight. Her breath gradualling changed from normal to gruelling.
She opened her eyes wide, and watched as her surroundings ahead flashed in vibrant colours that were awkward for the original atmosphere.
Her breathing slowed, and her frame relaxed. She closed her eyes once more.
She could feel the bitter cold in the air. The ground was blanketed in dark soil and burned ashes; remains of a lush palm forest. The deserted ridges passed below her as if she were soaring over the land. With a quick glimpse ahead, the elevation rose high above the surface. As soon as the solid brown peak was discovered, she was soaring above the clouds, until the horizon was clear from her distance. But what caught her eye had a different point of attracting attention. A gigantic crater-like mountain with a hallow center peaked out from the highest points of the clouds. Like the ground it sat upon, the mountain was brown, and on the verge of dilapidation.
The ruins of the Fortona Temple, she thought. A large black feather crossed her eye's view, and dissolved everything around her, including the sandy mound.
She slowly opened her eyes and stared ahead. What she had seen was the answer to all her worries.
Taking a step forward, she began her trailing pattern through the thin corridors, a stroke of determination in the gleam of her eyes. She found Van.
***
Hitomi was seated calmly behind the oak desk as Verona walked in with Allen at her side. She looked around with an awkward expression, studying the emptiness. She stopped, and gazed around without turning her neck. She crossed her arms, and raised an eyebrow.
"This can't be worth losing sleep time," she said in disbelief.
"Sit down," Hitomi said.
Verona sneered, and reluctantly took the last available chair. She crossed her arms and waited with an attentive, yet stubborn, face. Allen occupied the last of the two chairs in front of the desk.
Hitomi sighed. "I don't know how to start."
Verona yawned. Allen nudged her. She let out a small wail.
"Hitomi, if this is truly important, you should speak up immediately.
She nodded, and took in a whiff of air. "Hallandia is dead. We were took late…"
An awkward silence filled the room. Hitomi lifted her tight fist and released the pendant between her fingers.
"Hallandia's going to help us. She'll be guiding us, watching over us as we save what's ours."
Verona sighed. "We can't save anything, or anybody. Lord Van-"
"Van is in Freid."
"You're so sure?" Allen asked.
Hitomi nodded. "Fortona, the temple in Freid hidden in the vast deserts; that's where he is."
She continued as she realized she was receiving attentive gazes.
"Fortona was where the power of Atlantis was first revealed to us all. The destructive power could have demolished everything, but the dark rivals of Atlantis had a weak power than their blood enemies."
"And Fortona is abandoned. It was well destroyed during the war, and Freid has no use for it," Allen added, already understanding. "Anyone, anything, can trespass on the territory. To the people of Freid, it's a cursed place. To the Draconians we wish to find, it's the only site with the strongest of Atlantis' power before it had faded away. It's a perfect outpost."
Verona exchanged glances back and forth between the two, wishing she understood as quickly as Allen caught on.
"…So, what…? We go to Freid and fight the bastards?"
Allen laughed. "Wouldn't you like that!"?
Verona grinned.
"Well, what other options do we have?"
Verona and Allen stared at Hitomi in disbelief.
"You're kidding," Verona said.
"Hitomi, we can't take on the Draconians in a battle! Not even with Fanelia and Asturia's combined forces!"
"Couldn't we try?"
"It isn't worth sacrificing lives so easily. Besides, I doubt if the Asturian legions could make it here on time. We may only be able to take a few scouts of ours, but that's about it. We aren't prepared for another battle. Not after what the Draconians did to all the soldiers when they last invaded Fanelia," Verona explained.
Allen nodded in agreement to Asturia's possible timing.
Hitomi leaned back in the tall seat, thinking in silence.
"Then I suppose we'll have to face them alone."
"What?!" Verona exclaimed.
"Hitomi, we must have some sort of protection! Don't ever doubt that we don't have available forces for that purpose!"
"Why does there need to be any bloodshed?"
"Why not?!" Verona cut in. "These monsters took the King of Fanelia and destroyed innocent lives along the peace of the country. As long as I'm concerned, there's no way I will let them slip through my fingers!"
"But, Verona-"
"You might be second in command after His Majesty, but I'm first in command over all the decisions made in this country! And if I say sword-on-sword contact is necessary, hell, it's necessary!"
Hitomi didn't reply. Neither did Allen. Verona calmed herself slowly.
"We're taking the remains of our soldiers and the majority of our scouts. We'll leave before sunrise." She rose to her feet and left into the darkness of the hall.
Allen made the first move after the long silence.
"I'll inform Merle of our departure in the morning. –"
"Don't worry about Ty," she whispered. "He gets up before the birds anyway."
Allen smiled. "Of course. You get some sleep, now."
He left the room and disappeared in the opposite direction as Verona.
Hitomi lifted herself from the chair and took small, tiresome steps into the hallway. The light of torches dimmed her face as she passed many of them, until she reached the room with the wide open door. All was black inside.
She fixed her gaze to the bed, empty except for wrinkled sheets where the lifeless body would be. A massive spread of shimmering dust glittered over the empty crevice, then descended above the roof.
Hitomi smiled calmly, and attached the pendant around her neck.
"Stay with me," she whispered.
***
Better, I hope…? J Next chapter soon to come!!! Review pleaz!