Disclaimer: Mediaworld's stuff belongs to them. No copyright infringement is intended. No animals were harmed in the making of this fanfic.
Legend of the Promised One
Demons in From Every Side
The storm had blown itself out that night and Neri and Jobah spent the next day roaming the island and the sky and helping the fliers repair their town, which had been damaged on their day of madness and worse in the storm. The fliers were starting to reappear. Shema had come to the palace to apologize, then vanished again. Neri had seen friends she knew, but not Mita or Ruki and she was a little worried. Emilee was still verbally sniping at Miya whenever they were in the same room. Miya was still gracefully ignoring her.
This day had been spent with her uncle, making like a princess. Jobah and Neanda had holed up in the library studying the legend and trying to think what they should do next against Galiel. Now it was finally evening and Neri and Jobah were sitting together eating and talking.
"Look at Miya, she's being a waitress today."
"What's a waitress?" Neri asked, "No, I know. A person who brings drinks. I think she helped the cooks today too."
"Figured her out yet?"
"Not a clue." Neri put down her empty plate and sat back. Soon someone else would come to talk to the princess and they'd have to stop the silly banter.
Jobah stood and stretched, and took the clip out of his hair so he could retie it. He looked down at Neri, "I really like it here. I like knowing you and Neanda."
Surprised, Neri could only say, "I'm glad. I like knowing you too."
Since he was up, Jobah went to put their plates away.
Neri sat thinking. She had burned the map, hating to destroy something so old and precious but unable to let it remain. If Galiel couldn't find the crystal his way, the map was another choice for him. Now Neri was the only person who knew.
"Tea?" Miya offered. Jobah was following her, already holding his cup.
"Sure, thanks." Neri's first sip left a bitter taste in her mouth, and she drank more to cover it.
Quiet spread across the room. Neri turned to see what was wrong. Time stretched and it seemed to take hours.
Jobah said, "Oh God." And Neri heard his cup hit the floor. People were falling down all over the room. What was going on?
"Miya? What's... happening..?" She fell back in her chair, felt Miya's hand under her chin and a cup held to her lips. With Miya holding her neck she had no choice but to drink and moments later everything faded to black.
Neri dreamed of drowning and had one of the worst awakenings of her life. Her head pounded and her eyes wouldn't clear. She stood, fell back again with a groan, and tried again.
Someone was watching. Neri's blurred eyes saw a galaxy in front of her, a beautiful spiral of stars. As she reached for it her head cleared and she jolted into lucidity.
The three crystals, one clear, one smoky, one almost black, spun in the air before her.
Beyond them Galiel sat calmly on her uncle's throne. He looked like a monster, like a corpse, age-stained skin falling in over bones. Mad violet eyes watched her from a face set in permanent sour lines.
"Galiel." Neri tasted the name. A person's name, unsuited to his face.
"Princess Neri."
"What have you done to everyone?"
"They will recover."
"Why... why are you doing this?" On the last word she saw Miya, sitting at Galiel's feet just as she'd sat at Neri's. She didn't look up.
"I need the fourth crystal. Will you get it for me?"
Neri felt a warm living hand curl around hers. Jobah said, "The answer is no, right?"
"Right!" Neri was glad to have him, but wished she knew where Neanda was and could hardly keep herself from shouting to Miya.
Galiel didn't answer, only looked pointedly over their heads. People and monsters were crowded there, all still, looking dazed. They were changing, from person to beast. Neri couldn't stand it. "Uncle? Neanda? Neanda!" She broke away from Jobah and ran toward the crowd, shouting her friend's name. Nothing mattered more than finding her people. Why hadn't Neanda answered? He always answered her, always. Her friend, her knight, the other half of her heart... "Neanda!"
Dark bulk loomed over her. She saw the red eyes and tusks of a monster. Then she saw the features behind them and fell back. "No." She was backing up and the creature that had been Neanda followed.
"Are you sure you won't help me?" The desiccated voice sounded almost amused.
"I'm sure. You took Laziah's life... Neanda's... you can't have Oceanna!"
"I see." Galiel said, then louder, "Kill her."
The monster's red eyes narrowed. Neri realized she was going to die, right here, torn apart by her best friend. She stopped and stood straight, holding out her arms, forgiving, almost glad.
She closed her eyes and waited.
But the next thing she felt was the warm pressure of arms around her waist and satiny hair brushing her arm.
"No." Miya said simply, "Please. No."
Neri rested one hand on Miya's hair and held out the other. "Neanda."
The red eyes flickered, blinked, and opened deep brown. Neanda laid his hand gently on Neri's.
"Neri," Miya whispered, "Your friend is changing. There is nothing we can do. But if the last crystal is brought-the four of them together-might be able to save him."
Neri could feel Galiel's eyes on them. She shoved Miya away. "Don't touch me! I'll get the crystal."
"No, you shouldn't!"
"No, Neri." Neanda growled.
Couldn't they see she didn't have a choice? "Neanda, please... just stay alive until I come back. Until we know if there's hope or not. All right?"
"All right."
Neri could only hope. She turned back to Galiel. "I'll get the crystal, if I can go. And you have to do one more thing. Tell me who Miya is."
The corpse eyes looked at her for a long moment. "Come here, princess. This form is not so hideous you cannot look at it."
Neri went to him, leaving her friends standing around the room and Miya on the floor, sitting where Neri had pushed her in a tangle of satin skirts. Neri glanced at her and felt sorry, then looked up to meet Galiel's eyes. A person's eyes, but for the unearthly color and fever light. He had four arms, Neri realized, real arms that hung useless and metal built-arms that moved. Neri almost asked if it was worth living the way he was. She almost, simply, asked if it was painful. But she had no time to pity him. "Tell me."
"Your Miya is the princess of Bandor. Didn't her brother guess?"
"She isn't!" Jobah said.
"I'm not!"
Galiel ignored both of them. "She was badly hurt when Bandor's palace collapsed, and was years recovering. Healing and time changed her looks I suppose, and my best efforts could not restore her memory."
Miya's face was paler than Neri had ever seen it and her eyes were totally blank. She was hearing this for the first time.
"But why? Why save her? Why take her?" Neri demanded, not sure which question was right.
"A hundred reasons princess! I am not such a monster I could not care for a brave nameless girl!"
"I see. Thank you for saving her. I'll go now, but it will take a few days to fly to the island and back. Wait for me." Galiel watched her expressionless; Neanda wouldn't look at her.
"I'm coming with you." Jobah said.
Galiel waved them to go, and the two of them walked out.
In the hallway, free from the stare of those violet eyes, Neri realized her hands were shaking. All the symptoms of fear swept over her like a tide and she stumbled.
"Neri..?"
"No! I'm not all right! He's killing Neanda, he'll kill everyone!"
Jobah put an arm around her for comfort. "He won't. Get hold of yourself and we'll find a way to stop it."
Neri breathed and tried to get over her fear. She was still alive, they were all still alive. They weren't helpless.
Footsteps ran behind them and a voice called, "Neri?"
"Miya..." Neri murmured as the girl in white appeared.
"Neri doesn't want to see you. Go away."
But Neri couldn't ignore the awful lost look on Miya's face. "Don't go away. Talk to me."
"C-can I come with you? Please?"
Neri sighed. "Of course."
"Have you forgotten she's been Galiel's spy all this time? She stole the crystals for him and she drugged us-and everybody else-last night!"
At the mention of time all three of them turned to look out the windows and see what time it was. It was still dark.
"I didn't forget and I don't forgive her, but she's hurt too."
"I doubt it. She's begging so sweetly so she can make sure we do just what that monster says and nothing else."
"He's not a monster!" Miya cried, "He's been kind to me, all my life!"
"And now he's trying to destroy this planet, Neri, and everyone else. You'd better have a good think about which side you want to be on!"
Neri let them be and walked outside, where the sky was beginning to lighten. It didn't feel like dawn, didn't feel like any time at all. The people in the other cities, on the other islands, on the continent, they didn't know anything was wrong. For them it was only morning.
"Neri?" Jobah said quietly, "I still have my gun. I could put an end to this."
"No."
"Your choice. But if it comes to defending one of us I will shoot him."
"All right. Let's wait until it gets light; I don't trust myself to fly in the dark without hitting anything." Neri leaned on the bronze wall and slid down to sit on the floor.
"Where are we going?"
"An island, half again as far as from here to the continent. I don't know what makes it different from the hundred other islands in the chain, but... that's where the crystal is."
Miya smiled, "Whatever made it different from the other mountains in the range it was before the tide." Then she dropped her eyes, "I don't know anything."
"Were you finding the crystals for Galiel?" Neri asked.
"Yes. If you had known would you have let me drown?"
Neri thought about that. "No. I liked you, I really did, even if the sacred whale hadn't told me to take care of you. Should we call you Mera now?"
"I'll keep the name you gave me."
"I gave you?"
"You said my name should be the girl at the gate so I named myself Himemiya... it means about the same, I think."
Jobah said, "I think it does. It's one of the languages we use on Bandor but I can't translate without a dictionary."
"Then you called me Miya."
"Your real name is Princess Mera. I didn't know the right name then. And you have a mother and father who love you and a brother who came all the way across the stars to find you."
Jobah gave her an ironic little smile. Miya didn't answer.
Looking out at the water, Neri could see clearly the spires of the palace. Clouds in the east were sparkling pink. She stood up. "Let's go."
Minutes later they were jetting out low over the water. When the sun warmed the ocean there would be better winds. Miya rode with Neri, arms around her waist, head tucked against Neri's back.
"Wait for me." Neri whispered, looking back. She had so little hope, and no plan, and Neanda thought this was going to be the destruction of all Oceanna.
Legend of the Promised One
Demons in From Every Side
The storm had blown itself out that night and Neri and Jobah spent the next day roaming the island and the sky and helping the fliers repair their town, which had been damaged on their day of madness and worse in the storm. The fliers were starting to reappear. Shema had come to the palace to apologize, then vanished again. Neri had seen friends she knew, but not Mita or Ruki and she was a little worried. Emilee was still verbally sniping at Miya whenever they were in the same room. Miya was still gracefully ignoring her.
This day had been spent with her uncle, making like a princess. Jobah and Neanda had holed up in the library studying the legend and trying to think what they should do next against Galiel. Now it was finally evening and Neri and Jobah were sitting together eating and talking.
"Look at Miya, she's being a waitress today."
"What's a waitress?" Neri asked, "No, I know. A person who brings drinks. I think she helped the cooks today too."
"Figured her out yet?"
"Not a clue." Neri put down her empty plate and sat back. Soon someone else would come to talk to the princess and they'd have to stop the silly banter.
Jobah stood and stretched, and took the clip out of his hair so he could retie it. He looked down at Neri, "I really like it here. I like knowing you and Neanda."
Surprised, Neri could only say, "I'm glad. I like knowing you too."
Since he was up, Jobah went to put their plates away.
Neri sat thinking. She had burned the map, hating to destroy something so old and precious but unable to let it remain. If Galiel couldn't find the crystal his way, the map was another choice for him. Now Neri was the only person who knew.
"Tea?" Miya offered. Jobah was following her, already holding his cup.
"Sure, thanks." Neri's first sip left a bitter taste in her mouth, and she drank more to cover it.
Quiet spread across the room. Neri turned to see what was wrong. Time stretched and it seemed to take hours.
Jobah said, "Oh God." And Neri heard his cup hit the floor. People were falling down all over the room. What was going on?
"Miya? What's... happening..?" She fell back in her chair, felt Miya's hand under her chin and a cup held to her lips. With Miya holding her neck she had no choice but to drink and moments later everything faded to black.
Neri dreamed of drowning and had one of the worst awakenings of her life. Her head pounded and her eyes wouldn't clear. She stood, fell back again with a groan, and tried again.
Someone was watching. Neri's blurred eyes saw a galaxy in front of her, a beautiful spiral of stars. As she reached for it her head cleared and she jolted into lucidity.
The three crystals, one clear, one smoky, one almost black, spun in the air before her.
Beyond them Galiel sat calmly on her uncle's throne. He looked like a monster, like a corpse, age-stained skin falling in over bones. Mad violet eyes watched her from a face set in permanent sour lines.
"Galiel." Neri tasted the name. A person's name, unsuited to his face.
"Princess Neri."
"What have you done to everyone?"
"They will recover."
"Why... why are you doing this?" On the last word she saw Miya, sitting at Galiel's feet just as she'd sat at Neri's. She didn't look up.
"I need the fourth crystal. Will you get it for me?"
Neri felt a warm living hand curl around hers. Jobah said, "The answer is no, right?"
"Right!" Neri was glad to have him, but wished she knew where Neanda was and could hardly keep herself from shouting to Miya.
Galiel didn't answer, only looked pointedly over their heads. People and monsters were crowded there, all still, looking dazed. They were changing, from person to beast. Neri couldn't stand it. "Uncle? Neanda? Neanda!" She broke away from Jobah and ran toward the crowd, shouting her friend's name. Nothing mattered more than finding her people. Why hadn't Neanda answered? He always answered her, always. Her friend, her knight, the other half of her heart... "Neanda!"
Dark bulk loomed over her. She saw the red eyes and tusks of a monster. Then she saw the features behind them and fell back. "No." She was backing up and the creature that had been Neanda followed.
"Are you sure you won't help me?" The desiccated voice sounded almost amused.
"I'm sure. You took Laziah's life... Neanda's... you can't have Oceanna!"
"I see." Galiel said, then louder, "Kill her."
The monster's red eyes narrowed. Neri realized she was going to die, right here, torn apart by her best friend. She stopped and stood straight, holding out her arms, forgiving, almost glad.
She closed her eyes and waited.
But the next thing she felt was the warm pressure of arms around her waist and satiny hair brushing her arm.
"No." Miya said simply, "Please. No."
Neri rested one hand on Miya's hair and held out the other. "Neanda."
The red eyes flickered, blinked, and opened deep brown. Neanda laid his hand gently on Neri's.
"Neri," Miya whispered, "Your friend is changing. There is nothing we can do. But if the last crystal is brought-the four of them together-might be able to save him."
Neri could feel Galiel's eyes on them. She shoved Miya away. "Don't touch me! I'll get the crystal."
"No, you shouldn't!"
"No, Neri." Neanda growled.
Couldn't they see she didn't have a choice? "Neanda, please... just stay alive until I come back. Until we know if there's hope or not. All right?"
"All right."
Neri could only hope. She turned back to Galiel. "I'll get the crystal, if I can go. And you have to do one more thing. Tell me who Miya is."
The corpse eyes looked at her for a long moment. "Come here, princess. This form is not so hideous you cannot look at it."
Neri went to him, leaving her friends standing around the room and Miya on the floor, sitting where Neri had pushed her in a tangle of satin skirts. Neri glanced at her and felt sorry, then looked up to meet Galiel's eyes. A person's eyes, but for the unearthly color and fever light. He had four arms, Neri realized, real arms that hung useless and metal built-arms that moved. Neri almost asked if it was worth living the way he was. She almost, simply, asked if it was painful. But she had no time to pity him. "Tell me."
"Your Miya is the princess of Bandor. Didn't her brother guess?"
"She isn't!" Jobah said.
"I'm not!"
Galiel ignored both of them. "She was badly hurt when Bandor's palace collapsed, and was years recovering. Healing and time changed her looks I suppose, and my best efforts could not restore her memory."
Miya's face was paler than Neri had ever seen it and her eyes were totally blank. She was hearing this for the first time.
"But why? Why save her? Why take her?" Neri demanded, not sure which question was right.
"A hundred reasons princess! I am not such a monster I could not care for a brave nameless girl!"
"I see. Thank you for saving her. I'll go now, but it will take a few days to fly to the island and back. Wait for me." Galiel watched her expressionless; Neanda wouldn't look at her.
"I'm coming with you." Jobah said.
Galiel waved them to go, and the two of them walked out.
In the hallway, free from the stare of those violet eyes, Neri realized her hands were shaking. All the symptoms of fear swept over her like a tide and she stumbled.
"Neri..?"
"No! I'm not all right! He's killing Neanda, he'll kill everyone!"
Jobah put an arm around her for comfort. "He won't. Get hold of yourself and we'll find a way to stop it."
Neri breathed and tried to get over her fear. She was still alive, they were all still alive. They weren't helpless.
Footsteps ran behind them and a voice called, "Neri?"
"Miya..." Neri murmured as the girl in white appeared.
"Neri doesn't want to see you. Go away."
But Neri couldn't ignore the awful lost look on Miya's face. "Don't go away. Talk to me."
"C-can I come with you? Please?"
Neri sighed. "Of course."
"Have you forgotten she's been Galiel's spy all this time? She stole the crystals for him and she drugged us-and everybody else-last night!"
At the mention of time all three of them turned to look out the windows and see what time it was. It was still dark.
"I didn't forget and I don't forgive her, but she's hurt too."
"I doubt it. She's begging so sweetly so she can make sure we do just what that monster says and nothing else."
"He's not a monster!" Miya cried, "He's been kind to me, all my life!"
"And now he's trying to destroy this planet, Neri, and everyone else. You'd better have a good think about which side you want to be on!"
Neri let them be and walked outside, where the sky was beginning to lighten. It didn't feel like dawn, didn't feel like any time at all. The people in the other cities, on the other islands, on the continent, they didn't know anything was wrong. For them it was only morning.
"Neri?" Jobah said quietly, "I still have my gun. I could put an end to this."
"No."
"Your choice. But if it comes to defending one of us I will shoot him."
"All right. Let's wait until it gets light; I don't trust myself to fly in the dark without hitting anything." Neri leaned on the bronze wall and slid down to sit on the floor.
"Where are we going?"
"An island, half again as far as from here to the continent. I don't know what makes it different from the hundred other islands in the chain, but... that's where the crystal is."
Miya smiled, "Whatever made it different from the other mountains in the range it was before the tide." Then she dropped her eyes, "I don't know anything."
"Were you finding the crystals for Galiel?" Neri asked.
"Yes. If you had known would you have let me drown?"
Neri thought about that. "No. I liked you, I really did, even if the sacred whale hadn't told me to take care of you. Should we call you Mera now?"
"I'll keep the name you gave me."
"I gave you?"
"You said my name should be the girl at the gate so I named myself Himemiya... it means about the same, I think."
Jobah said, "I think it does. It's one of the languages we use on Bandor but I can't translate without a dictionary."
"Then you called me Miya."
"Your real name is Princess Mera. I didn't know the right name then. And you have a mother and father who love you and a brother who came all the way across the stars to find you."
Jobah gave her an ironic little smile. Miya didn't answer.
Looking out at the water, Neri could see clearly the spires of the palace. Clouds in the east were sparkling pink. She stood up. "Let's go."
Minutes later they were jetting out low over the water. When the sun warmed the ocean there would be better winds. Miya rode with Neri, arms around her waist, head tucked against Neri's back.
"Wait for me." Neri whispered, looking back. She had so little hope, and no plan, and Neanda thought this was going to be the destruction of all Oceanna.