Chapter 1 ~ Misty Eyes
A rumble shook the stone floor of the room. The man, dressed in the same familiar black cloak took another one of his potions, carefully placing it back on the shelf. He didn't even raise his eyes from his tome when the big wooden door flung open like so many times before.
"Father, they're coming!" his daughter yelled as she burst into the room.
"Patience child! All will be answered in time." The man said calmly.
"But father! We must get away while we still can. The emperor's army, it's almost here!" she screamed coming closer to him.
"No, my darling daughter, I am much too old, and much too famous to go anywhere. It is you who must leave." The man put his hand on the girl's cheek, wiping away the tears that had begun to flow. "Please go, I shall send you randomly about the world, and once you're out of danger, open this." He handed her a sealed letter.
"Papa, please don't do this! It's not worth it! I want to stay here! I want to stay here!" she cried, but it was too late. The bluish veil of the transporter bubble wrapped around her, and she disappeared, not before helplessly hitting the impermeable walls.
"Go in peace my daughter, I am only sorry I have not been able to teach you more." he said, and then went back to his tome.
He took his staff in hand, and mumbled a few words – all the lab equipment disappeared. The rumble was getting closer. He just stood there, with a tired expression crossing his face. He wasn't old, but rather very tired. So tired, that his features seemed ancient. He stood there, looking at the open door, mumbling more of his incantations. Hurried footsteps echoed in the hall, and soon after, the soldier whom they belonged to, appeared in the doorway. In a flash, the giant brute sliced the man apart. He fell to the floor, his lips not stopping from the tremor they engaged in.
Thunder reaped through the window, throwing its eerie light across the gruesome sight.
~~~~
"Nooo!" Grey Fanel de Salazar jumped out of his bed, beads of sweat falling off his brow. He groaned in exasperation, as he let himself fall back onto the soft pillow. "Not again!" he said as he smoothed his hair back. It had been the second rotation, this same month that he had had this dream. Always with the same ending. Never showing any detail, never telling him more. Always it was the old man who died, always it was the girl who escaped, always the lightning. "What does it mean?" he asked himself as he got out of bed, and walked to the stone window. He stared out at the brightly glowing moon. "Full moon." He whispered to himself. The dream always came on nights when the moon was full. Always. For two rotations, peaceful eerie nights such at this one had been haunted by that dream/vision. Whatever it was, it wasn't pleasant. With an angry snort, Grey dressed, took his sword and walked out of the room. He went outside, in the back gardens, and he began to practice his sword fighting combos.
"Master Grey, what are you doing here?" a gruff voice asked from behind him.
"Nothing, I couldn't sleep, Ryan." Grey answered.
"It's not good for you to be out here." Ryan told him.
Grey turned around, and eyed Ryan with his serious brown eyes. "I'm not little anymore. I do whatever I want." He said seriously and then turned back to his sword.
"I know that Master Grey, but you should accept some good advice from your old friend." Ryan said as he sat down beside a large oak tree.
Grey stopped what he was doing, and he came to sit down besides the old man. Ryan had been his companion ever since he could remember. Right after his nanny had left him, Ryan had been with Grey. Those were the orders of his father, who thought that his son needed a more masculine influence. Ryan had been Grey's true father, although not by blood lineage. Together they spent countless afternoons, lounging around, and having fun, until Grey grew older and had to go to his tutors. A king's younger son needed education. Even then, he and Ryan would find time to spend at least a few hours a day together.
Ramond de Salazar was the king of the Upper Lands, a prosperous country right in the middle of Gaea. He had one elder child, who would inherit his throne, and Grey, whom he planned on making the ruler or some smaller division. Since the brothers were nine years apart, Ramond spent most of his time with his older child, while "exiling" Grey to the west wing of the palace. During his reign as the king of the Upper Lands, Ramond had been ruthless with the people of his northern estates. In his 35 years on the throne, he had plunged his country into two civil wars, and many other confrontations. Neglecting his younger son, Ramond put all his efforts into giving his older child the education he did not have, so that when the power shifted, his country would not fall prey to economic chaos and destruction. Grey had grown up mostly alone, with scarce visits from mother. He had taken up sword fighting, and different exercises of the mind that he thought necessary for his own good. His passions didn't lay in listening to his tutors talk about nonsensical information, and he had often caused trouble by defying their laws. Thus, the black sheep of the royal family, his father had exiled him even more, almost not acknowledging his existence. Ryan was one of his few friends, whom had managed to get past the walls and defenses built around the tall dark haired seventeen rotation old boy.
"I'm sorry Ryan. I haven't been myself lately." Grey apologized. He knew his father did not look lightly on his nocturnal watches.
"The dreams again?" Ryan asked.
Grey was silent. Ryan was the only one who knew about his dreams. The others might think he was crazy if he told them that for the past two rotations, on every night with a full moon he dreamt a crazy dream about a girl disappearing and a man being killed.
"What do you think it means?" Ryan asked him.
"If I knew, I wouldn't be here tonight. I'd be in my bed sleeping like a baby. I don't know, and I don't care!" Grey said madly. He then got up to stand.
"Anger's not the way to deal with this." Ryan told him.
Grey didn't say a thing, he just ran out of the man's sight, wanting to be left alone.
~~~~
The next morning a knock came from outside Grey's wooden door.
"Hey, Grey, you in there?" a person's voice came from outside.
"Yeah, come in Neero." Grey answered.
The door opened, and a cat-boy walked in. He looked about Grey's age, with black cat-like hair, with a few white dots here and there.
"What happened to you?" Neero asked when he saw Grey's ruffled hair and overall tired look.
"I couldn't sleep." Grey told him.
"Did Etana* visit you?" he asked him smiling.
"Are you still a little child? I stopped believing in Etana when I was 7 rotations old. Come on let's go." Grey said and took his sword and cloak. Although it was summer, he still liked to take his cloak in the marketplace. It made him harder to recognize.
"Well, no, but by the look on your face, it was like the gods of the underworld visited you." Neero observed.
"Something like that." Grey muttered.
"My friend, maybe we should stay around the gardens today. I'm sure we're not needed anywhere." Neero insisted.
"Are you nuts? I'd rather go anywhere but stay here. I have history lessons with old Elrood." Grey told him.
"Makes me happy just to be a stable boy." Neero laughed. His statement wasn't quite correct. He was the son of the stable master. His father was very good with horses, thus he and his family (his wife, daughter and son) had been granted quarters in the palace. Neero and Grey had grown up together since Grey was only a few months older than Neero. Now that they were older, they liked going about the marketplace just to help out the locals.
"I don't plan on attending anyhow." Grey told him smiling.
"Ooh, a dangerous game you play. If Elrood tells you father, you might be in trouble."
"My father? I don't have a father. That old delusional fool hasn't spoken to me in more than two rotations. Let him come to me with any complaints, I'll give him a whole list. I'm not going back to tutoring lessons until Leon comes back." Grey told him firmly.
"Whatever my friend, I'm not here to argue with you. Let's just get going. It's already getting late. I was thinking we might help out at the orphanage." Neero motioned him to get up, and walk out the door.
"Yeah, anything's good with me." Grey said.
Together, the two boys sneaked out of the castle by carefully climbing over the tall walls of the castle.
It was a crowded day in the marketplace. A lot of people were stepping on other's feet, and the loud voices of the loud store owners echoed through the plaza as each of them was trying to attract more customers. The sun shined grandly on everything.
Down in the mob, Grey and Neero were trying to make their way through the smelly crowd so that they could get to the orphanage, which was conveniently located on the other side.
"Hey, stop for a second!" Grey told Neero.
"Why?" Neero asked.
"Well, I was thinking about poor Leon, stuck in bed with a cold for almost a week. I should go visit, and I want to buy him a "get well" gift." Grey said.
"Well yeah, but what does the old monk could possibly want. You know that men like him have little value for earthly possessions."
"Yeah, but I also happen to know that Leon collects small jade figurines of different monks. He says that they all stand for something, and that once he has them all, bad fortunes will not stop at his doorstep."
"So what's you point?" Neero, who was obviously confused by Grey's explanation asked.
"Well, my point is, that he'll like one of those, and if I'm not mistaken, that merchant is selling one." He pointed over to a stand where a merchant was indeed selling small jade figurines.
"Well, let's make our way through the mob, and go get it." Neero said.
They slowly began their traverse through the mob. It was as bad as molasses in winter, but they finally made it. Grey accidentally bumped into another cloaked person that was making his way through the mob, reaching for the same stand.
"Why don't you watch where you're going?" he heard a muffled voice from under the cloak.
"Sorry sir, but it's quite hard to make precise stops when you're travelling a mob as bad as this one." Grey apologized.
"Well next time watch it, all right? Hey, did you call me "sir"?" the figure asked him slowly rubbing his hurt stomach.
Grey looked down on cloaked figure. The person was almost a head shorter than him and he was draped in a long, black cotton cloak. Nothing but two misty eyes could be seen from the darkness. They were the most intriguing eyes Grey had ever seen. They looked like a constantly moving storm of different shades of gray, mixed in with some green, and even a little bit of blue shot through them. All swirled into a cloud that was now thundering at him.
"Yes I did." Grey answered.
"All of you are pig headed idiots. First you bump into me, now you insult me, what's gonna be next, you're gonna want to buy the same thing I will. Well get out of my way I'm in a hurry." The man said grumpily. However, by the tones of his voice, Grey guessed that it was the melodic voice of a young woman hidden beneath the cloak.
"I'm sorry madam, you can go in front of me." He said trying to be polite.
The misty eyes looked at him again, more angrier than ever. "Listen, I don't need your chivalry. I just want you to leave me alone. I've had enough of everyone." She said and then just got in front of him.
Grey looked at Neero puzzled.
"It must be one of those people that got up on the wrong side of the bed." Neero said.
"I would like this particular jade figurine." She said and she pointed at a very beautiful jade man.
"Hey, no, I wanted that one!" Grey jumped up and grabbed it from her hand.
"I'm sorry, but that is mine. How much for it?" she asked, still not revealing anything but her beautiful eyes.
"Double that!" Grey jumped in.
The merchant looked at them wide-eyed.
"Done!" she said and grabbed the figurine from Grey's hand, then dashed out into the crowd.
"You little thief! Come back here! Hey! Someone stop her! Stop that thief!" Grey called out. He scanned the crowd for her, yet the dark cloaked woman was nowhere to be seen.
"I'm sorry sir, but you're going to have to pay for that." The merchant told him.
"Fine, I want this one too." Grey said pointing at another jade figurine.
"That would be 30 golds." The merchant said.
"30 golds? 30 golds? Are you insane?!" Grey exclaimed wide-eyed.
"No sir, the figurine she wanted was 10 golds, double that, that's 20. The one you want is 10, so that makes 30 golds." The merchant said calmly.
Grey growled and reached into his money pouch and dropped the gold pieces on the counter.
"I got to admit my friend. You've got a way with women." Neero said after they left.
"That little wench. If I catch her, I'm throwing her in the dungeon." Grey growled, an angry look crossing his face.
"Hey, cheer up, at least you got something for Leon." Neero said.
Grey just walked furiously though the crowd. "Why do I feel like I know her? Those eyes, I've never seen something like them. If I catch her…" Grey thought furiously.
~~~~
Later in the afternoon, having put the incident in the market behind him, Grey knocked on the door of his monk teacher. Leon had been sick in bed with flu for a week, and ever since then, Grey had stopped attending his history classes. Monday an excuse, Tuesday an excuse, and now it was down to just plain not showing up. The door opened, and what Grey saw made him see red in front of his eyes.
Gwenneth el Alcatrez opened the door and found herself face to face with the stranger from the market. In the second before he would probably jump to her throat, she got the chance to take a closer look at him. He was almost one head taller than she, with jet black hair, and brown eyes. His eyes, they showed a tormented cloud, of she guessed emotion, frustration, whatever problems he had. They were the mirror to his soul, and as an Apprentice Keeper, she had learned to distinguish between looks. His was a tormented one, but beneath all that, she could see a good soul of a kind person.
"What are you doing here?" she asked clearly, her melodic voice showing frustration.
As soon as Grey recovered from the initial shock, of discovering her again, he began to examine her features. She was not wearing the black cloak that hid her whole body. She had straight long red hair that she kept in a braided tail hanging to her mid back. Her eyes stood out like before, but he could also see her soft womanly features, along with her cheery lips. She was tall for a woman, and as much as Grey wanted to deny it, she had very well formed curves. As his gaze traveled past her features, it regained its steel mercilessness.
"I want back my 20 golds, and I want you out of Leon's house." He said in a firm tone.
"Too bad, you're not getting either. Now what do you want?" she asked him, her voice icy.
"I want to see my tutor that's what. Who're you?" he asked.
"None of your business," she bit back.
"Get out of my way, I have nothing with you, servant girl. After I finish talking to Leon, I better have my money back." He said.
"Leon's tired. He doesn't want to be disturbed. Come back another time, meanwhile I'll tell him you passed by." She said in a very detached tone.
"I don't trust you wench. I want to talk to Leon." He demanded.
Her eyes narrowed dangerously, and she was preparing to apply a healthy slap to the boy's cheek, when an old voice echoed behind her.
"That's quite all right. I'd like to see him." Leon said.
"But Leon, I thought you wanted rest." She argued. "Plus we were discussing something…" her voice trailed off.
"That's all right. You can go ahead as planned. Now I'd like to talk to him." He said in a tone of dismissal.
The girl was silent.
"Come in Grey." Leon invited him to enter and take a seat on one of the two existing straw chairs in the living room.
"Hey Leon, how are you doing? Here I brought you this." Grey greeted his teacher and handed him the figurine.
"Oh goodie, two in a day, now why are you here Grey?" Leon asked.
"I just wanted to see how you were doing. I can't wait until you come back." Grey said honestly.
"You do know that as the Prince of the Upper Lands you should have more patience. I don't like you skipping Elrood's classes." Leon said sitting down in the second chair.
"You know the whole story. The man hates me. One hour of his classes and I'm ready to commit suicide. I have better things to do in the village by helping others." Grey said.
"As the Prince you should…" Leon began.
"You can cut this prince business. We both know how things are. My father just wants to give me enough schooling so that I can run a smaller district. He wants me out of his hair as soon as possible. Why should I comply with his wishes? We both know that I'm a good strategist, and I don't need this whole political horse shit. I do what I'm good at. Period." Grey told him.
"Good, but it's still all very important. I shall be back next week, so just go to Elrood's classes ok? Then we can switch to something else. You said you like exercises of the mind. I shall see what I can arrange." Leon said. "Now go, I am tired." He dismissed the boy.
"Do you need anything?" Grey asked.
"No, just rest, go now!" Leon insisted.
Grey didn't argue with his teacher. He just took his stuff and left. Hopefully he could get to his room without arousing Elrood's anger. After all, it was the fourth time that week when he didn't show up. As Grey stepped into the stone hall, he struggled not to make any noise. His soft boots carefully stepped on the rock. As soon as he took about three steps, he felt something creep up behind him. In a flash, Grey drew his sword, spun around and threatened his assaulter.
"Grey Fanel de Salazar, is this any way to greet your teacher?" Elrood asked.
"Don't sneak up on me." Grey hissed.
"Right, and where were you today? This is the fourth class you've missed." Elrood stated.
"I didn't know you kept count." Grey said coldly.
"I keep count of everything." Elrood told him.
"That doesn't surprise me." Grey said. "What do you want?" he asked.
"Your father wants a word with you in the grand hall." Elrood announced him.
"Oh yeah? It's been two rotations since that geezer called me anywhere official. What does he want now?" Grey asked raising an eyebrow.
"I don't know. But he said he wanted to see you as soon as you got in. I suggest you go to him this instant." He told Grey.
"What if I don't want to?" Grey asked.
"He is your father! You cannot defy him!" Elrood gasped.
"Right, just like he hasn't spoken to me in over two rotations." Grey said sarcastically.
"He seemed preoccupied. Go to him this instant." Elrood insisted.
"Anything to get you off my hair." Grey muttered and headed to the east wing of the palace, where his family lived. For two rotations, he hadn't stepped inside that part. He hadn't attended any balls, any social gatherings, nothing. Ever since they moved his chambers to the west wing. No one but simple folk and servants lived there. Of course there were quality rooms there, but that was his family's way of nicely telling him to stay out of their lives. Which was fine with Grey. He liked his privacy, and he liked the people in the west wing. They were all very hearty folk, and he didn't miss all the false polite gestures of royalty. He had two rotations of peace, where he could persuade things he wanted to persuade. All he had to do is stand his tutors for a few hours, and then he was free to do anything. It was the way he liked it. Secluded and private. And now, after two rotations, his father decided to worry about the black sheep of the family. "Gee, what changed his mind?" Grey wondered.
"Welcome son, it took you a while." His father's impermeable strong voice echoed across the throne room.
"What is it father?" Grey asked bluntly. He hated it when his parents tried to pamper him with praise in order to get him to do something.
"Blunt as ever. I called you here, because I have heard of your exquisite sword fighting achievements." His father's voice boomed at him.
"So? What's the big deal about that?" he asked.
"I called you here, because I want you to be the companion of a very important person. You must be her guard for a while, until we can find a way out of the problem. Her father was the great sorcerer Vincent el Alcatrez. We owe a lot to him – you do not know him, he passed away – and as a favor to him, we must protect his only daughter.
"So why me?" Grey asked.
"Well, she shall stay here at the palace for a while, and some guards aren't trustworthy. They might talk about her whereabouts. Since you are trained well, and of royal blood, the favor we own Vincent is passed on to you, thus you shall keep your mouth shut. You're to protect her at all costs, she shall be staying with you in the west wing. We've set up quarters for her." His father explained.
"Protect her from what?" Grey asked.
"I'm sure she shall tell you the story better. I'll let you two get acquainted. Gwenneth, come here!" he called for the girl.
As she graciously stepped out from behind his throne, Grey took a step back and gasped in surprise. The red haired girl was walking towards him, the storm in her misty eyes calm and docile.
*Etana is the Gaean goddess of bad dreams.
*One Rotation is equal to one earth year.
*Author's Note*
Hello, welcome to yet another esca fic. However, this does not have a strong of a connection as the other ones. It's 500 years before van and hitomi, in a time where strong magic existed. It just gives some background to the history of gaea, as well as the creation of fanelia, with a twist of love. It also involves the creation of the ispano guymelef. Hehe, all with a twist of luv. Can't ever get rid of luv. I know things look really muddy now, but they shall clear up, and everything will be good in the end. If you have the patience to stick with me that is. Please review. I know this isn't your average esca fic. It's actually a response to the challenge Selene Belyea issued quite a while back. I haven't got around to it except now. Hehe, what's gonna happen to our heroes. Who exactly is the misty eyed girl, and how will she mend/crash Grey's life. Please tell me if I should continue this!!!!! It's very important, or else I'll just drop it and never try it again!!!!