The Third Duty
Spoilers for the events in the Sea of Eden three years ago; spoilers for Karsh and Dario's side-quest, and slight spoilers for Serge's *ahem* body adventure. If you know what I'm talking about or don't mind being spoiled, you're safe. If you get spoiled, don't whine in the reviews. Thank you.
Glenn stared blankly out at the waters of Guldove, their night-darkened blue reflected by his empty eyes. One hand floated lightly in the pond; the other rested on his knee, gripping the handle of the Einlanzer. The water cast eery shadows on his normally-amiable face, making him seem like a stranger.
Karsh watched him from a short distance. He knew Glenn knew he was there; any Dragoon worth his blades would have. Marcy had told him Glenn came out here a lot--whenever they came here, as a matter of fact--and that she thought it was a little weird, the way he didn't respond to anybody when they were here. Norris had also expressed his concern, but of course, Karsh had told him off for being a busybody. The Porre soldier was a little miffed at him now. Karsh smirked, but the smile quickly faded when he turned his attention back to Glenn; they'd been here for ten minutes now, and not once had the younger boy moved.
Karsh had never been very good at waiting. Without thinking it over, he kicked off his sandals, walked over to Glenn, and plopped down next to him. He put his feet in the pond and released a deep, heart-felt sigh as the cool water soaked his feet.
"Damn, that feels good," he exhaled, stretching his arms over his head. He glanced over at Glenn. "Hey, you're looking like you might bust some brain cells," he said jokingly. "Can't sleep?"
Glenn shrugged.
Karsh frowned and looked down at the pond. He saw his reflection mirrored in it, saw his own features ripple in the water--his scowl, his heavy-set brows, his long hair. He made a face. "I oughta cut this," he mused aloud, speaking more to himself than to Glenn. "Always gets in the way."
"You shouldn't," Glenn said, surprising him. "You've been growing it out since we were kids, haven't you?"
"Well, yeah." Karsh tossed an earlock over his shoulder. "Shouldn't let sentiment get in the way of practicality, though. I mean, I don't wanna end up dead someday because I didn't wanna cut my hair."
"Still...." Glenn looked over at him and smiled ever so slightly. "I still don't think you should."
"I didn't realize you liked it so much," Karsh said flippantly.
Glenn flushed and looked down at his hands. "It reminds me of better times," he said in a low voice.
Karsh winced. "Glenn...."
Glenn shook his head, moonlight glinting off his pale hair. "You didn't even tell me," he said. "You didn't have enough respect to tell me you killed him yourself. God, Karsh!" He looked back at Karsh, angry. "Why couldn't you have told me that? Why?"
"I didn't think...." This time it was Karsh who looked away, an uncomfortable flush creeping up his neck. "Is that what you really would have wanted? To know that I killed Dario?"
"It wasn't about me and you know it," said Glenn. "It was about you. You didn't want to tell me."
That was the truth, and even Karsh had to admit it. "All right," he snapped, shame making him angry. "All right, you're right, I didn't want to tell you. That so bad? I didn't want you to hate me, okay?"
Glenn pursed his lips and looked down at the water. Karsh took a deep breath to calm himself and reached down, dipping his hands in the water this time, willing his temper to subside. More than a few times his sharp tongue had ruined relationships, and though he'd never before had to fear that happening with Glenn and Dario--after all, they were like brothers to him, and brothers knew and forgave your faults--he thought he might be careful now, just this once. Glenn deserved to be angry at him, to hate him. Damned if Karsh would get mad at him for doing so.
"I'm sorry," he said to Glenn, and meant it.
"No," Glenn said quietly. "I am. You did what you had to, Karsh, and you know... still... it didn't turn out all so terribly." He gave a shaky laugh. "Serge's world's Dario is still alive, after all." He ran a gloved hand across his face, but not before Karsh saw the tears standing out starkly in his eyes.
Shit. Of course. Riddel had gone back to be with Dario; the two of them were happy now, and Karsh had accepted that. He'd made his peace with Dario, back on that small island. But Glenn... Dario'd barely glanced at him, barely talked to him. That had to hurt. It would have been like... like if he had ignored Home's Zappa, just because he wasn't really his father. Zappa, who hadn't seen his own Karsh in years. What the hell was Dario thinking? Sure, he and Riddel had hurt after losing their Dario. They'd hurt a lot. But Glenn... who'd lost mother, father, brother... how could Dario not notice what he was doing to him?
He didn't say anything. He'd have plenty to say later--to Dario. So he just sat there, silent, with Glenn, until the sun was just beginning to rise and the water was beginning to warm. Then they both went inside, and Karsh pulled Serge aside for permissiont to go to Viper's Manor.
Karsh peeled his sweat-sticky gloves off his hands and stuffed them into his pockets with a grimace. It almost never got this hot on El Nido, but when it did, it made the most modest person want to strip down and skinnydip. Just thinking about water made him break out in more sweat, and he hurried up the steps to the Manor, nodding at the Dragoons he passed.
He saw the faint outlines of his two best friends up ahead; Riddel was lying down on a sunchair and talking animatedly to one of Viper's architectural designers, while Dario sat beside her and fanned himself, a vaguely bored expression on his face. Karsh bounded up the rest of the steps, calling out to them.
"Oi, Dario! Lady Riddel!"
They both looked up at the sound of his voice. With a welcoming smile, Riddel said something to the designer, who bowed and walked away. Dario leapt up from his chair and met Karsh halfway with an exuberant embrace.
"Karsh!" the younger man exclaimed when they let each other go, smiling brightly. "What brings you here? No, wait, first--how are you? How are Serge and the others?"
"Whoa, hold on, hold on," Karsh laughed, taking Dario by the elbow and leading him back to Riddel. Riddel held out both hands to Karsh, and he took them, feeling graced as always by the warmth and openness of her touch.
"Hello, Karsh," she said. "You look wonderful."
"Thanks, Lady Riddel." Karsh sat down by Dario, who offered him a drink. "Well--I'm great, as you can see, and everything's going fine--it's relatively peaceful right now. We're looking for all the Dragons."
"The Dragons?" Dario frowned. "That has to be a rather arduous task. How goes it?"
"Slowly," Karsh sighed, leaning against the back of the chair. "Dragons seem to be kinda reclusive. A lot of us are just sitting back cooling our heels, which sucks."
Riddel laughed. "I can imagine. I kind of miss those adventurous times... but if I can be here with Dario..." They exchanged a loving glance, and Dario reached out to take Riddel's hand in his.
Yeah, Karsh thought gloomily, people in love can be really inconsiderate. Almost immediately he kicked himself for that thought. Shut up, Karsh, and don't you dare act bitter towards Lady Riddel and Dario. "Anyways," he said, "enough about me. What's up with you two?"
"Construction on the manor is slower than we had hoped," Riddel said with a slight frown. "It's so hot, the workers are beginning to get a bit discouraged. I hope it cools down soon."
Dario nodded. "When it does, the work rate should increase significantly. Until then...." He shrugged helplessly. "Until then, we're cooling our heels, as well."
"That's too bad. This heat is kind of weird." Karsh ran a hand through his damp hair and wished that he was still in the habit of keeping it in a ponytail, as he'd done when he was younger. "The world's been messed up lately, that's for sure. I feel sorry for Junior--er, Serge."
"How is Serge?" Dario and Riddel asked at the same time.
Karsh rolled his eyes. Humanitarians. "Discouraged. He's a lot quieter lately--I mean, hell, he wasn't ever a talkative kid, but since he went through that little body-switching ordeal, he's just been sort of different." He shrugged. "It's hard to explain the difference. I mean, he acts pretty much the same. But I know Junior. Things have got him down."
"That's terrible," Riddel murmured. "He's so young to have so much resting on his shoulders."
Dario nodded somberly. "I wish there was something we could to help. But I fear I--" He hesitated. "--have only been detrimental to him."
"Forget it, Dario," Karsh told him. "Junior doesn't give a crap about that. He knows you weren't yourself. So do I." Yeah, I know all too well what the Masamune does to a person.
Dario smiled tentatively. "Thank you, Karsh." His eyes brightened. "Speaking of which, how is Glenn? Is he well?"
"Uh..." Karsh said. "Actually, that's what I came to talk about."
Dario paled. "Is something wrong?" he asked anxiously. "Has he been injured?"
"No, no, nothing like that. He's fine. It's just...." Karsh scratched the back of his head, uncomfortable. "Um, Lady Riddel, do you think you could leave us alone?" he asked.
She looked startled, but smoothed it over with a smile. "Of course, Karsh," she said. She stood, dropping a kiss on Dario's forehead. "Come speak with me later," she said, and walked off toward the manor's entrance.
Karsh watched her go, but Dario cleared his throat, distracting him. Oh, yeah. "So what is this about, Karsh?" Dario said.
How the hell do I say this? What do I want to say, anyway? I'm no good at this kind of stuff. Karsh shifted on the chair, feeling like he was ten years old again and in trouble with Zappa for running off and getting lost. Without permission, to boot! The beatings he'd gotten.... "About Glenn," he said, and felt foolish after he had. Of course this was about Glenn. Who else would it be about? "You... didn't talk to him after you were free of the Masamune's influence, did you?"
Dario's brows furrowed. "Of course I did. I said... hello, and I asked him how he was doing. I should have said more, perhaps, but it was... odd. He's my brother, but he's... not my brother."
"That didn't seem to be a problem with Lady Riddel."
Dario winced. "That is different, Karsh."
"'Different'?" Karsh threw his hands up in the air, exasperated. "How's talking to your kid brother any different than talking to your fiancee? Dragoon's blades, that kid worships you, Dario, and it was pretty damn cold of you to treat him like he barely existed!"
He regretted being so harsh, for he saw true regret in Dario's eyes before the other Deva looked away. "You're right, I know," Dario said in a low murmur. "And I'm making excuses for myself, I know that as well. But..." He ran a hand over his face. "I felt too guilty to speak with him."
"Guilty?" Karsh repeated.
Dario nodded. "Guilty. This is silly, I know, but... when we were children, right after our father died--well, our mother was already dead then, as you know. We'd just gone to live with you and your family. How old was he then? Eight? Nine?" He paused for a second, then continued. "Young, at any rate. He asked me... he asked me if I would leave him next. What could I say? I told him that I would never leave him, that I would always be with him. I know that my joining the Devas worried him, but he never said anything, just kept knocking at that little wood dummy of his. He said he wanted to be strong, like me.
"Karsh... do you know what the last thing I thought about was, when I was being washed out to sea? I thought about him. Not about my own fiancee, or you, or my parents or anyone else--I thought about how I'd broken my promise to him. I'd never done that before. So, on that island, when I saw him--he hadn't changed much, but he was just a bit taller, a bit tougher-looking. I thought, I missed all that. And your world's Dario will never see him again. I wanted to speak with him, I really did--I wanted to ask him if he had a girlfriend, how far along in the ranks he was, how he'd done after my other self had died--but I just sort of froze. You're right, I was cruel. But all I could think about was how I'd broken my promise."
Karsh was silent. Glenn, I wish you could have heard all that. He thought about how, in his own way, he'd broken his promise to Glenn too, a promise made long ago when he had been a fresh-faced new Dragoon and Glenn had still been a kid, wide-eyed at his and Dario's successes. A promise that they would always be loyal to each other, that they would never let anyone else get in the way of their friendship and their principles. Maybe promises like that weren't meant to be kept. But damned if he hadn't seen a light shining in Glenn's eyes that night, when they'd made that promise. The light of security, and trust. So... so in his own way, Karsh was just as guilty as Dario.
"He doesn't have a girlfriend," he said, and Dario looked at him, startled. "He's a private now, but I think he's due for a promotion--hell, I wouldn't be surprised if he's made a Deva soon. He's good, especially with those Einlanzers of his. After you died... well, he really started training hard. We didn't talk much--he talked to Lady Riddel more than he did to me. Maybe... maybe he sensed how guilty I was." He forced a laugh. "He's a perceptive kid."
"He is," Dario agreed quietly.
"You should talk to him."
Dario looked up at the sky, and smiled slowly. "I should."
Glenn sat on the deck of Fargo's ship, carefully sharpening his swords. Serge had just left, taking Leah and Nikki with him, and he figured now was as good a time as any to make sure that his blades received proper treatment. He'd been out here for over half an hour now; the sun was just beginning to rise higher in the sky and a fine sheen of sweat was building on his skin, but he sat still, patient, and sharpened, only pausing when a shadow fell over him. Glenn blinked. He hadn't even heard anybody approaching him. Slow, Glenn, he reproached himself. You're getting lax.
He looked up, but the cordial greeting that was on the tip of his tongue died when he saw who stood in front of him, shadowed by the sun. His grip loosened on the Einlanzer, and it slid down and struck the floor of the deck.
"D... Dario."
"Glenn," his--well, whatever this Dario was to him--replied. Dario moved out of the sunlight with an apologetic smile. "Sorry about that." He gestured to the chair beside Glenn. "Do you mind if I have a seat?"
"Um, n-no." Glenn watched, confused, as Dario sat down and faced him, a serious expression on his face. Sudden embarrassment and a sense of discomfiture brought blood to his cheeks in a hot flush, and, not wanting Dario to see it, he leaned down to pick up the Einlanzer from where it'd fallen. He returned it to his lap and held onto it tightly as Dario began speaking.
"Glenn..." Here he paused, as if considering his words carefully. "I... we've never really... talked."
Startled, Glenn looked up. Dario was staring at him, and to his surprise, his brother looked the most vulnerable that Glenn had ever seen him. What could he possibly be feeling hesitant over? "Oh...." he said, falsely lightly, "that's all right. I understand. You and Lady Riddel are very busy with Viper Manor and all that...." He broke off and cursed himself. 'All that'? Yes, you sound really concerned about their hard work there, Glenn. Nice going.
But Dario was smiling, and he looked more relaxed. "Thank you, Glenn. I knew you'd understand. But still." Dario's eyes flickered out to sea, where the sun bounced off the waters and turned the ocean colors a bright blue-green. "A man has three duties in life, Glenn. One of them, of course, is his duty to his lord, the man or the profession that he serves. His second duty is to his love, to protect and nourish it and see that it is never endangered. But the third duty... do you know what the third duty is?"
"Um...." Glenn hesitated, trying to think of what it could be. "To the people?" he ventured.
Dario shook his head. "No, that goes along with being loyal to your lord, for if you serve a deserving man, you will also be serving the people. The third duty is to one's family. To care for your mother and father as they cared for you when you were young and helpless. And if you have a sibling--then one of your most solemn and cherished duties is to care for that sibling. For the bonds of family are unique; they cannot be broken by anger and shouted words or by misunderstandings, or even by betrayal. And they certainly can't be broken by death." He looked at Glenn, eyes fierce.
"I have broken my third duty, Glenn. I didn't care for you as I should have; I was too busy advancing my career, and lately, I have been too busy nurturing my love when it was clear that it needed no more nurturing. A garden that is given too much water will die. But likewise, a garden that is given no water will also die. Riddel and Karsh tell me how loyal you were to me after I died, but I didn't need them to tell me that, because I knew that loyalty is second nature to you. But I--I have been lax in my duty to you, and I am ashamed because of that. I don't deserve someone like you, Glenn; I shall try harder to honor that third duty. Because if I lost you because of my own foolishness, I would never forgive myself." Hesitantly Dario reached out and touched Glenn's shoulders, and when Glenn, stunned and staring at him, didn't move away, he took his brother in his arms and held him.
Glenn sat still within the embrace of Dario's arms. His mind was still trying to comprehend what his brother had said. His lips parted in shock as he heard Dario's voice in his mind--I have been lax in my duty. Dario, the perfect knight, Viper's prized Deva--the person he had striven all his life to emulate, considered himself a failure because--because what? Because he had failed Glenn? Why should that matter to Dario?
Well, why would it matter to Dario if he failed Lady Riddel? Or Karsh? Because... the thought made him instinctively shy away, he had closed himself off from it so much, but he thought about it, and then said it to himself. Dario loved him. This man from another world, who had lived when his own brother had died, didn't consider him a stranger. And he had finally spoken the words Glenn had been waiting all his life, without knowing that he had been waiting, to hear. Glenn smiled and rested his head on Dario's shoulder.
"Dario," he murmured, "you take an awfully roundabout way of apologizing to me."
His brother was silent for a few seconds, but then he heard a low chuckle, and Dario's shoulders began to shake underneath him.
"I suppose I do," his brother said ruefully.
"But, you know, you never needed to apologize to me...."
"Yes, I know that," Dario replied. "Well, and you might think that. But the truth of it is, you did need to hear it, and I needed to speak it. I only wish I had said it sooner." He gave another chuckle, louder this time. "It is truly ironic... my brother is dead in my world, and your brother is dead in your world. How fortunate that we were able to find each other."
Glenn felt a pang of guilt--he'd forgotten that his other self had been killed in the Sea of Eden. "I'm sorry--my other self...."
Dario shrugged. "It's best not to speak of it. If even one of you lives, I am happy."
Glenn nodded slowly, agreeing. "And I am glad that you lived, as well."
Dario leaned back so that they could see each other, then reached up and ruffled Glenn's hair with a smile. "Then let no separate dimensions keep us from being family," he said, tone serious in spite of his expression. "You are my brother, and would be even if I had to cross fifty dimensions to find you."
Glenn smiled back. "And you are the only family I've ever needed," he said. "You were mother and father to me. But, I am glad that you didn't have to cross fifty dimensions to find me, because Serge would probably be a little tired when we were through."
From underneath the deck, Karsh and Marcy looked up as they heard Dario laughing. Marcy looked at Karsh.
"I guess they've finally had a talk, huh?" she said, sipping a drink Janice had given her and swinging her heels idly. "Like, what took them so long, anyways?"
Karsh leaned against the bar and smirked at her. "You'll understand when you're older, Marcy."
He barely managed to duck her fist before it got him in the gut.
Author's Notes
You know something? I hate writing dialogue for Glenn and Dario. It always comes out sounding so pretentious. But really, that's the way they speak in video games and anime; they're always trying to teach you a life lesson, and so they sound like that. The fact that Glenn and Dario speak so formally just add to it.
Well, anyway, it's short--shorter than I originally intended--and sweet, hopefully. I always hated the lack of development given to Glenn and Dario, orphaned brothers for God's sake, and a friend requested this fic, so *shrug* here it is. And now I'm on a CC fic-writing craze after hanging out at the CC Gamefaqs board. Groan. Serge is NOT Janus, damn you all. How do you get 544 posts on this insane topic?!
Ahem. Pardon me.
Good night.
Keruri.
August 19, 2001.
1:45 a.m.