Author: Ari
E-Mail: AnimeFoxx@aol.com
It was around three in the morning when Selena stole out of the castle, using the servants' corridors that ran through the back. She didn't know where she was going or why, but moving away from wherever she was seemed like a good idea. Dilandau whispered to her within the din of her frayed mind, claiming all sorts of impossible things, reciting lines of military tactics, holding a conversation with a dead friend. Her mind echoed back at him and herself at once, making her believe there were three entities in her head.
Down a staircase, through the narrow hall, a left turn and another. Her sense of direction had been shot down with the rest of her, leaving her lost even without a destination. She walked, then ran, then walked a bit more. Fast or slow, speed, caution, speed, leisure. Was she running from something? To something? She didn't know. Tears dripped down her cheeks. Tears of joy? Sorrow? It made no sense. Why was she running, anyway? To where? From where? For what? Oh, so many unanswered questions. ::You in there,:: she thought hopelessly to the other within her head. ::Help me, hold me. Show me the way:: Dilandau hissed back something about a pendant and seeing what could not be seen with sight. He could not help her.
Fresh air, cool and crisp flew against her face. She had made it outside. ::When did I get out?:: she pondered with great concentration. ::Was I ever in? In where?:: It all seemed completely muddled. Dilandau piqued to attention as the fresh scent of plants and night air struck him through her mind. ::Run, run:: he told her. ::Run or the Dragon will get you! He's here with his sword, coming to cut you. Cut us:: there was a long pause filled with meandering thoughts of her own, uncomprehensible. Then he spoke again. ::His hair is raven dark, eyes warm brown, too warm. Hot eyes, dangerous. The dragon.. .:: So she ran, flying over the grassy landscape, a trained runner, taking from Dilandau's training, fleeing toward the snow.
The steep mountain trail cut her feet, stiff plants scraping against her bare ankles, where the nightshirt did not reach. There were some trees along the path, gnarled but heavy with leaves, casting pitch black shadows in her wake. She jumped over the shadows, lest they gobble her up. She ran for hours, chest heaving, throat tight and legs aching, until she reached the tree line. She slowed a little as the path turned from gravelly dirt to cold snow, allowing herself a slower pace to avoid slipping. The wan sun peeked over the far horizon, sending a misting of grey light over the path. As the sun reached out with yellow orange rays, Selena was at the mountain's summit.
Wind whipped around the barren top plateau, smoothing the snow over as it created flurries that made it hard to see ahead. Dilandau was quiet now, sleeping uneasily within her. He had been awake for several days, giving her no rest until now. Running into the night, confusion making his blood sing within imaginary veins, made him concede to rest. Even though he technically did not need sleep, the habit carried over from his earlier life. As he receded into the background, reality came crashing down on Selena instantly. Thoughts that were fragmented when Dilandau was at the forefront came together, their clarity sharp. Thoughts crystalized reality returned with such magnitude that it made her dizzy. She looked down at her torn nightclothes, scratched ankles and deeply cut feet, realizing her error in leaving the castle. There was an instant urge to rail at Dilandau for forcing her out, but part of her knew it wasn't just him. She was messed up beyond repair it seemed and she finally knew it. Allen tried to help, the doctors tried to help, everyone tried. It was no good, she was stuck.
She fell to her knees heavily, hands clutching at the snow beneath them as the cold wetness soaked into her night gown, wetting her bleeding legs. "Help me. . ." she said, a dry whisper on the frozen plateau.
The wind howled around her and the snow beat itself against her, but no answer came to her. It was a silent doom and she did not know how to escape. For the rest of her life she would be someone else, and no one else at the same time. She would go crazy, if she wasn't already, and unwillingly torture the brother she loved so dearly. She could feel the helpless yell of anguish working up through her throat.
She took a few quick, deep breaths, feeling angry and depressed and utterly at the mercy of everything and everyone. "Help me!!" She howled, to the wind, to the snow, to the sky. "Damn you, whoever you are! Help me!!" Sobs and wails lifted skyward as she tilted her hear to stare at the grey sky above; it wasn't even blue. "Someone help me! I beg you, please!! I can't live like this! There's two of me inside. I just want to be Selena Schezar! Free me from this. Kill me! I don't care. Just. . .please. . ."
In the grey sky high above where she sat, more miserable than she had ever been, a light sparkled for an instant, then was gone. Her eye caught is as it twinkled a second time, turning to a constant shimmer before seeming to explode downward, landing in front of her. The ground shook at the impact, but did not disturb the snow. Selena watched in fascination as it spread outward from a single strand, until the magenta colored light covered a circle of about three feet diameter.
Then as quickly as it had come, the light faded, leaving behind a slight glow on the being curled on its side in the center. Selena leaned forward to see what it was. A girl, nothing more, nothing less, lay before her. Plain, was the first word that came to mind. The girl was not strikingly beautiful, nor was she ugly. Her hair was long and dark, tied back with a band at the nape of her neck. With skin several shades darker than herself, Selena guessed she was foreign. The girl's clothes made that apparent beyond doubt: loose black pants and a long sleeved green shirt with complex, fire colored patterns swirling around the cuffs and neck.
At first Selena was at a complete loss. One moment she was railing at whatever would listen for permanent peace and quiet inside her own head, the next she was staring at a strange girl who had fallen from the sky. ::The Gods have lousy jokes, ne?:: Dilandau chuckled drowsily, disappearing from her thoughts as silently as he had come.
Selena looked at the odd arrival for several minutes after that, pondering her connection to her own situation. All in all Selena thought she looked quite harmless, incapable of saving her from whatever hardship lay ahead. ::Hitomi. . .:: Allen had mentioned her on more than one occasion as 'The girl from the Mystic Moon,' and 'The card reader,'. Could this girl be of a similar caliber? Did she hold the key to her salvation? Or was she a cruel joke wrought by some higher force? Selena didn't know, but she had to admit that when she asked for help, this time, there was not utter silence. "She holds the key," she said out loud, even though her main audience was the sleeping soldier in her mind. Dilandau let out no indication he heard her, but he subconsciously felt his prison shrink around him.