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The Winding Stairs
Chapter 2
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The atmosphere was somber. No one had spoken as the Gate spell gradually wore off, as the scenery shifted from one of crumbling candy canes to the dimly-lit walls of Koorong's largest restaurant, as the frightful cries faded into the stuffy silence of an empty room. Only the pitter-patter of massive raindrops hitting the misty window panes filled the air, the storm that had gathered outside raging with all its furious glory. Pity the fool who was caught in such weather.
Nevertheless, Silence would have given anything to be out there rather than in here. The intense emotions running throughout the room, bouncing off the yellow-colored walls almost audibly were more than enough to rival anything the storm had to dish out, attacking his sharpened senses like nothing before. What only worsened the situation was that no one did anything about it. Liza took a seat at the counter, turned away from the group. Gen stood up, gingerly rubbing at the bruised spot on his chest, eyes cast downwards upon the stain-covered floor. The rest simply stood, not able to move from their rigid positions. Or maybe, not wanting to move.
Because one little movement may be all that was needed to send everyone running after their leader's throat. Even though Silence could see that urge oh-so-clearly evident in Lute's eyes -- the feeling was practically flooding Gen's entire demeanor -- obviously none wanted an early demonstration of Blue's newly-acquired Space magic. They were all beaten enough after the battle against the Kylin; another run-in with such power was surely more than enough to send them straight to hell.
Silence shook his head, subtly, as those thoughts ran rampant within his age-old mind. It seemed incredulous to think that Blue would attack the very people he had come to trust as teammates.
Then again, he had just witnessed the younger mage cast a spell on a swordsman who'd saved them all one time too many. Granted, it had been just a low-level spell...but it had happened, just the same.
The click of a door being closed sounded like a gunshot in the all-too-quiet room. Breaking out of his reverie, Silence noticed that the mage in question was no longer with them. Apparently, even Blue had his own issues to work out. Breathing a sigh of relief -- for the tension, while still there, seemed to lessen considerably with the leaving of its cause -- Silence took a seat at an empty table, resting his forehead against the cool marble.
The feeling was nice. It helped quench the rising headache that threatened to overwhelm him, his inability to speak only limiting his ability to express himself. He had never had such a problem when with Doll or Fuse -- both knew enough about sign language to be able to communicate normally with him. His new comrades didn't have a clue, though, and he honestly didn't feel up to writing down the barrage of emotions that were running through his mind and soul at that very moment.
It was times like these that made him truly curse his inability to speak.
A pale, slender hand rested on his shoulder, causing Silence to look up. Nusakan's crimson eyes had dulled to a passive burgundy, silently asking about his condition. Silence nodded; he was fine, no need to worry. It wasn't as if he hadn't dealt with such emotional -- and moral -- baggage before. A seemingly lifetime's years of working with IRPO did that to you.
The nod was enough, and the mystic doctor removed his hand, turning to face the rest of the group. As no one else spoke, he cleared his throat before addressing them in a typical, nonchalant fashion, "Anyone up for dinner?"
"I can't believe it..." Lute murmured, his ruffled indigo hair shifting from side to side as he shook his head. It reminded Silence of the jelly buildings that had shook -- from side to side, left to right -- before eventually crashing down to the sickeningly-sweet floor below.
"Just can't believe it," he continued, looking up forlornly at the rest of the group, "So it ends like that, huh? We went in, stole the gift, killed the lord and the children along with it...then we grab dinner. That's it?"
"We didn't steal the gift. It was earned."
"Oh, come on, Doc!" Lute burst out in exasperation, training flashing prussian eyes upon the stoic doctor, "You saw the blood littering the damned floor! Heck, you even helped spread some of it yourself! How is that not killing, huh? It looked like that to me!"
"How strange that killing didn't seem to effect you as much when we battled Suzaku," Nusakan replied coolly, seemingly unaffected by Lute's words, "Is there a double standard for monsters who can and cannot talk?"
"The hell--"
"Lute!" Liza's stern voice rang clearly amidst the tumultuous background of incessant raindrops and raging emotions, enough to stop the emotional musician from lunging at his companion. She had turned back from the counter, had watched the exchange between the two men, had felt the blush tinge her cheeks as Nusakan's words rang some truth in her ears. They hadn't thought twice about fighting Suzaku, but going up against the Kylin...
Lute did stop himself in time, staring for a moment at the older woman before throwing himself upon the seat of yet another empty table. Moments passed in unease, his windswept hair covering a large portion of his face, shielding it from scrutiny. He could feel Nusakan's eyes on him, as with the rest of the group's, but he didn't care. All he could care about was the cries of children still ringing loudly in his ears, every syllable tearing at his emotional heart, making him hate himself more and more for being so damned useless.
It seemed that the only way to make up for this failure was to pound Blue to dust. Yet even that, he wasn't entirely sure he could do.
The mystic doctor folded his arms, shifting his gaze from Lute to the entire room's occupants. "It's not about Kylin," he stated, although his voice seemed slightly gentler than before, succeeding in even getting Gen's attention, "Not so much about it, anyway. It's about the children. The innocent, unmindful children -- because they weren't in any way even connected to this. So it seems unfair for them to become the victims as well."
Although no one reacted, all seemed to silently agree. Sacrifices on the battlefield were nothing new to any of them -- however, the sacrifice of innocents was another matter entirely.
"...You know..."
Everyone's attention shifted to the quiet musician, the thoughtfulness of this voice. He had always come across as just another country hick before. This sudden change demanded attention.
"...I have a brother, in Yorkland. Blue and I -- we met him, once, when heading to get the Grail Card. Everyone else was scattered around at that time, so it was just...Blue and I," Lute shook his head, aware he was drifting off course, "Anyway, that brother -- I care about him. A lot. He calls me 'Big bro' all the time, even though he's like, a hundred times taller than me. Heh. But I was still his big bro. Still am.
"Those kids...when I first saw them, they reminded me of him. If it wasn't for the height, or the race, then...then they would have been exactly the same. All trusting and naive and stuff. Maybe I'm being stupid -- god knows I don't hafta try hard to do that -- but when I saw them, I just...I just wanted to protect them. Be their big bro. I-I mean, they're kids, for god's sake! With no parents or anyone else, just a magic-casting monster to take care of them! I...I guess, it's part of being a brother."
"...And the thought that I didn't protect them...left them to die...It's just sick," he paused, trying vainly to conceal a shudder, repeating softly, "Sick."
The word hung loftily in the air, embedding itself within their minds and thoughts. That's right. It was about the children. It was sick. That was the problem.
"I wonder what Blue thinks about that."
The disembodied, electronic voice drew everyone's attention to the quietest member of the group. Silence. He raised the electronic notepad, showing what he just typed, looking questioningly at everyone in the eye. When no one answered, the mystic shook his head slightly before typing once more. The voice rang out once again after he was done.
"I have only traveled to the Magic Kingdom once or twice -- IRPO has many qualms about dealing with those mages; Fuse considers them much too freaky for him. And after traveling with everyone for so long, I understand what he was saying: compared to everyone I know, even compared to certain other mystics I know, Blue seems too disconnected from our world. Maybe even from reality. I do not doubt that he does not regret what he did to Kylin, or the children."
At this, the shuffling of feet and Gen's muffled snort could be heard. Nevertheless, no one argued after Silence gave them a warning glance. He wanted to get his message across.
"I do not know if you, Gen -- or Lute, or Liza -- I do not know if you noticed this while you were all arguing at the courtyard, but all I could gather from Blue's reaction to your anger was puzzlement. He had no idea what caused your reactions. He wasn't faking confusion; he was truly lost. To him, leaving the children made sense because, and let us face it, the Region Map can only hold so many people. It was a choice of sacrificing his teammates, or not."
More muffled shuffling. A cough sounded.
"Even though in IRPO, the lives of civilians come first...Blue is not IRPO. He is not on a quest for justice, nor is he out to do good in the world. He is only out on a quest for himself. We chose to help him not to make the world a better place, but to help him gather magic."
At this, Silence glanced pointedly at Gen. To him, the swordsman's earlier remark had been very much uncalled for.
"It is not like he does not have a brother of his own. Do not forget that."
The words seemed to hit exactly where Silence intended. No one could look him in the eye after that. Suddenly, everything else became a whole lot more interesting: the wine stain on Liza's counter; the misty covering upon the window panes; even the small tear on one of the table cloths.
"That's one thing I don't understand...this whole 'kill your brother' deal," Liza muttered, running an idle finger along the edge of the bar, a distant part of her mind reminding herself to wipe up the stains from last night. Obviously, Annie had once again forgotten her share of the cleaning up. "Why is Blue pursuing such an inane thing? Such a stupid, inane thing? Who would even come up with such a quest, anyway?"
"To quote Fuse, 'Those fancy-sounding mages are just sickos with bad fashion.'"
Even Nusakan had to chuckle at that. Liza tried to frown, although the small smile at the edge of her lips took away most of its severity. Trust Silence to pull a smile out of her even in these moments. She sighed, continuing, "Still, it's shocking when you think about it. We're actually helping Blue to kill--" she paused, trying to remember the brother's name.
It was then she realized that Blue had never told her, nor anyone else, the identity of his mysterious sibling.
"--his brother. Just as..." She trailed off, eyes cast downwards, back to the counter.
Just as how they helped kill those children and the Kylin as well. But such a statement need not be said; all of the gathered teammates could finish it off themselves.
A chair was overturned as Gen struggled to stand up from his seated position on the floor, momentarily wobbling at the effects the spell still had on him. For the first, and briefest moment in his life, he really did pity the monsters who got a full dose of it -- because damn it, the stun side effect really HURT! Gritting his teeth stubbornly, he shuffled silently towards the door leading upstairs.
"Gen?" Lute questioned, eyes trailing the swordsman's back, "Where...?"
"Upstairs."
"Need any help?"
"Alone," the older man answered, before giving the group a grim smile, "Got some issues to settle. That's all."
"Oh."
Silence arched an elegant eyebrow at that. Part of him told him to get up, stop Gen from aggravating the young mage even further than he did earlier. Yet another part of him told him that Gen wasn't stupid enough to go up against a full-powered Space Lord with his current injuries. Granted, everyone had their own share of cuts and bruises from the battle, but Gen and Lute had suffered the most, what with both of them being the direct hitters.
Nusakan once again placed a comforting hand on Silence's shoulder. A touch of a smirk graced the doctor's lips, as he said softly, "Don't worry. The effects of Energy Chain will stun his mind -- and foul mouth -- for a while." The passive expression turned wry. "Besides, even Gen is not so stupid."
"Oi, doc vampire! I heard that!" Gen's miffed voice floated into room from the other side of the door, before he closed it.
Nusakan merely shook his head, looking amused.
***
