Disclaimer: I am SOOOO unlucky, I don't own Esca...
A/N: YOU LIKE ME! YOU REALLY LIKE ME!!!! * Jumps up and down in excitement, then crashes and looks very dazed @_@ * THANKS! WOW! I HAVE OVER 50 REVIEWS!!! YAY!!! Well, thanks for all your support; I'll keep annoying you by never ending this fic... And to think this all started one day after I had finished reading great V/H romance... * cough Phantom Angel's cough * And I decided to write my own, I hoped for a couple of good reviews, and had intended for it to be about 10 chapters long... That sure changed a lot, ne? Well enjoy, R&R! ^_^
Vocab:
Shinda: They died?
Wadoka da?: Where is...
Baka: Moron, idiot, etc...
Chan: Used after a person's name means dear, etc...
Chapter 35: Why?
"Why? What a stupid question? Why does anyone do anything?"
Daren scratched his head, he had no idea.
"You blubbering fool, it's destiny. Destiny is so cruel as to have stolen from me my family and my world... I will control destiny, just as my master, Lord Dornkirk, Emperor of all of what you see before you did!"
"Some kingdom." Daren sarcastically replied, eyeing the dirt and filth of the dungeons.
"Shut up you insolent fool!" She commanded, as he foamed at the mouth, eyes glazed over.
"So how did you, my little sister, become ruler of all of this?" He mockingly asked after he recovered.
"Well, it was quite simple really... You know when Hope and I left for the Mystic Moon, we never got there..." She spat out the word 'Hope' in disgust.
"Well that's obvious..." He replied.
"We were walking through the forest when some soldiers came upon us and asked us where we were going. Naturally, we didn't tell them. They seized us, knocking us out and taking us to their lord's castle. When we awoke a few hours later, there was a man staring at us, he seemed quite curious. Being the older sister, I protected Hope who was cowering behind me. He told us that his name was Lord Turo, Emperor of Zaibach. He said that our Atlantean heritage would help him in his quest to create a perfect future for Gaea. I was intrigued by his proposition, but Hope wouldn't even give it a thought. He took us to our own room and gave us some new clothing, for we had been pillaged by thieves and the frocks we were wearing at the moment were not at all flattering, if you know what I mean. We emerged a while later into a splendid room where several men sat around a table. I hated to admit it, but they were all dashingly handsome. One in particular caught my eye, he had bright blue eyes dark brown hair, he seemed to be staring at me, although I cannot be sure about that..." She blushed at this before continuing.
"'What is your name?' Lord Turo asked.
'Memory, Sir. Memory Kanzaki of the Mystic Moon. And this is my sister Hope.' I replied, still looking at the man with the blue eyes.
'What bizarre names. Couldn't your parents come up with something more original?' He asked mockingly.
'Our parents are dead, sir.'
'How did you get here?'
'We traveled from Fanelia.'
'Fanelia? I thought you said you were from the Mystic Moon!' He screamed in frustration.
'True we are FROM the Mystic Moon milord, but we have lived our entire lives in Fanelia since we were quite small. We were on our way back to the Mystic Moon when your MEN rudely interrupted our quest!" I said angrily, not appreciating his nosiness.
'And when you free us, we'll be continuing on our mission...'
'Don't bother.' He coolly replied.
'And why not sir?' I asked in disgust at his rudeness.
'There's nothing left...'
'W-What do you mean?' I stuttered, stumbling backwards.
'Just what I said. There's nothing left...'
'B-But how?' I asked in bewilderment.
'The Mystic Moon was destroyed. The whole planet and her people, gone, nothing left except their records in our history books. Somehow, something in it's core reacted and it just blew up I guess.'
'This can't be happening...' I whimpered, tears trickling down my cheeks.
'Oh but my dear, it IS happening...' He said, in a cold monotonous voice, emphasizing the word 'is.'
I fell to my knees, clutching Hope to my chest as we burst into heart wrenching sobs.
'It's all right. Everything will be OK.' The man with the blue eyes said, as he put his hand on my shoulder, trying to comfort me.
'My family, they're gone. I have no one, I have nothing left...' I muttered.
'Stay with us.' Lord Turo said.
'Become Princess of the Zaibach empire. You can marry my son, you have spirit girl, I like that...' The Emperor replied, looking at Hope, waiting for her answer.
'Who?' I began.
'Allow me to introduce myself. I am Urano Retu de Zai, Prince of Zaibach.' Said the blue eyed man, bowing to the unrevealed princess.
'And you, dear Hope, may marry my younger son, Varu...' He said, as a blonde haired man, with the same blue eyes as Prince Urano stepped forward. Hope sat on the ground, blinking, not uttering a word. She always was a stupid girl...
'Of course I will...' I screamed in joy, jumping into Urano's arms as he twirled me around.
'Good, the wedding will be in one week...'
That night Hope and I were sitting in our room looking out the window.
'Sister?' Hope asked me.
'What is it Hope?' I asked, displeased to be disturbed, thinking of my fiancé, Urano.
'I think we should go home.' She replied thoughtfully.
'Don't you remember Hope? We have no home, Lord Turo said so.'
'I mean our home with Daren and Varomi, and Mom and Dad...' She said wistfully.
'Have you forgotten? Aunt Hitomi and Uncle Van AREN'T our parents Hope-chan! Our parents are dead. They're dead, you hear me? DEAD!" I screamed, shattering objects that I threw from my nightstand.
'But Mem, they love us, and... I miss them.' My sister said with tears in her blazing blue eyes.
'We don't belong there. We just get in the way. Our true calling is with Urano and Varu. This is our fate.' I replied.
'Remember what Aunt Hitomi said, that thing about asking the stars, that your wishes will always come true... The power of the stars...' Hope sighed.
'Aunt Hitomi just talked a lot of nonsense, you believed too much of it.' I said, snorting at my sister's obvious stupidity.
'I have faith in Aunt Hitomi, that's all... I have faith...' She said, before falling asleep.
'Hope, you are quite a lot like your name...' I thought as I too fell asleep.
The next morning I awoke to a servant girl shaking me.
'Milady! Milady! Lady Hope, she has disappeared. Gone she is. Oh Lady Memory, what do we do?' She asked in concern, clutching her cap, her knuckles white.
'If Hope doesn't want to stay here, and wants to be foolish, then fine. Let her go off and die for all I care.' I replied, turning back to my slumber.
They found the wretched girl eventually, caked in mud, eyes wide in disbelief at her capture.
'I can't believe you'd hunt me down like dogs! You filthy sons of the devil!" She screamed as she kicked the guards restraining her.
'Hope, why are you so foolish?' I asked, rolling over on one side so I could see my bedraggled sister in her rage.
'Why are you so content to throw away your life to be with that Zaibach scum?!' She screamed in rage as she was led to a separate room to be cleaned up.
Hope tried to escape many times after that, always being caught and brought back, but still she was determined to return to you guys. I was married and from then on, I was called Memoria Kanzaki de Zai, Princess of Zaibach. Hope was to marry Varu later that week, but..." Unconsciously, a tear sprang to Memoria's eye.
"The foolish girl got herself killed in Dragon's forest. We found her body, a dragon nearby with blood on his tail from where he speared her. I was very happy with Urano; later that year, his father died and we became the rulers of this blessed land, saved by Lord Dornkirk. He went into battle to help an ally country, but, he was killed in battle. Damn you wretches, who killed my love, my Urano..." She screamed at him as he collapsed on the floor again.
"You bakas are the ones who started this whole thing!" He muttered as he slowly got up again.
"HA! We started it? If your damn parents hadn't ruined our ideals in the first place, this whole thing wouldn't have happened!" She screamed back at him.
"Well sorrrrrry." He said sarcastically.
"Nureia wadoka da?" The bearded catman asked again, interrupting the sibling's conversation.
"Shut up you old fool! Nureia died! She's gone, and there's nothing you can do about it!" She screamed at the grieving man.
"How can you be so cruel?" Daren asked, looking sadly upon the broken man, who still hadn't grasped that he was a widower.
"That wretched beastman won't tell me the secret of Atlantis!" She said coldly.
"How would he know?" Daren asked indignantly, wondering if Memoria was slowly losing all saneness.
"He's from Alkazar, of course he knows... Those beastmen are the keepers of Atlantis's secrets..." She said darkly.
"Alkazar?" Daren asked in confusion.
"Yes Alkazar. A village of catpeople who live by the waters of the river Matatui. They know all the secrets of Atlantis. We captured this man and his wife when we burned Alkazar to the ground."
"Cadira wadoka da?" The beastman asked, in a whimpering tone.
"Yes, your young daughter is dead too!" She impatiently yelled at the catman.
"Shinda?" He asked in confusion.
"SHINDA!" He screamed as he fell to the stone floor, tears rolling down his cheeks.
"His daughter died with the rest of his cursed people, his wife died a while ago. She stabbed herself to death." Memoria continued talking to Daren.
"We've tortured him, murdered his family and village, starved him, yet still he won't tell us the secret!" She screamed in rage, kicking the beastman.
"The power of Atlantis, is the power of the heart." The catman whispered.
"I loved Nureia and Cadira. I loved them with all of my heart..."
"Daren!" The catman said, clutching Daren by his bloodstained shirt.
"Tell my family, tell them Daren. Tell my mother; tell Ria, that... I'm sorry..." He whispered. His grip loosened, and he fell dead on the floor.
"RUVAN!"
"RUVAN!" Daren screamed, trying to shake his friend awake.
"Ruvan, no... Ruvan..." He muttered, as Ruvan's blood dripped on the cold floor.
"I thought he'd never die, troublesome beastman..." Memoria muttered.
"How can you be so cold?" Daren screamed.
"Ruvan was my friend, he was your friend, but you murdered him in cold blood..."
"The gods will never forgive you for this my sister, never..." He said.
"Well, I'll bide my time with the gods, right now I need to figure out another way to get the secret of Atlantis now that this baka's dead." She said, kicking the lifeless body.
"Ruvan, my friend, Ruvan..." Daren whispered, cradling his friend's body as the iron door shut, once again confining him in the dark, dreary room...
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: I know that was really violent... Believe me, it hurt me to kill two of my characters, but it was for the plot of the story, that's why I never really tried to develop Hope and Ruvan... It really hurts me to do this, but this is just how it will be I guess... But I'll figure out something, this just keeps coming into my head; I don't know where it's going, although I do have a faint idea... Another depressing chapter * sigh * maybe the next one won't get everyone down so much... Sorry again, please don't stop reading, I just had to make it dramatic, it will get happier, I promise... Arigatou my friends, and Sionara... * Sadly walks away *
~Trunks Gal~
A/N: YOU LIKE ME! YOU REALLY LIKE ME!!!! * Jumps up and down in excitement, then crashes and looks very dazed @_@ * THANKS! WOW! I HAVE OVER 50 REVIEWS!!! YAY!!! Well, thanks for all your support; I'll keep annoying you by never ending this fic... And to think this all started one day after I had finished reading great V/H romance... * cough Phantom Angel's cough * And I decided to write my own, I hoped for a couple of good reviews, and had intended for it to be about 10 chapters long... That sure changed a lot, ne? Well enjoy, R&R! ^_^
Vocab:
Shinda: They died?
Wadoka da?: Where is...
Baka: Moron, idiot, etc...
Chan: Used after a person's name means dear, etc...
Chapter 35: Why?
"Why? What a stupid question? Why does anyone do anything?"
Daren scratched his head, he had no idea.
"You blubbering fool, it's destiny. Destiny is so cruel as to have stolen from me my family and my world... I will control destiny, just as my master, Lord Dornkirk, Emperor of all of what you see before you did!"
"Some kingdom." Daren sarcastically replied, eyeing the dirt and filth of the dungeons.
"Shut up you insolent fool!" She commanded, as he foamed at the mouth, eyes glazed over.
"So how did you, my little sister, become ruler of all of this?" He mockingly asked after he recovered.
"Well, it was quite simple really... You know when Hope and I left for the Mystic Moon, we never got there..." She spat out the word 'Hope' in disgust.
"Well that's obvious..." He replied.
"We were walking through the forest when some soldiers came upon us and asked us where we were going. Naturally, we didn't tell them. They seized us, knocking us out and taking us to their lord's castle. When we awoke a few hours later, there was a man staring at us, he seemed quite curious. Being the older sister, I protected Hope who was cowering behind me. He told us that his name was Lord Turo, Emperor of Zaibach. He said that our Atlantean heritage would help him in his quest to create a perfect future for Gaea. I was intrigued by his proposition, but Hope wouldn't even give it a thought. He took us to our own room and gave us some new clothing, for we had been pillaged by thieves and the frocks we were wearing at the moment were not at all flattering, if you know what I mean. We emerged a while later into a splendid room where several men sat around a table. I hated to admit it, but they were all dashingly handsome. One in particular caught my eye, he had bright blue eyes dark brown hair, he seemed to be staring at me, although I cannot be sure about that..." She blushed at this before continuing.
"'What is your name?' Lord Turo asked.
'Memory, Sir. Memory Kanzaki of the Mystic Moon. And this is my sister Hope.' I replied, still looking at the man with the blue eyes.
'What bizarre names. Couldn't your parents come up with something more original?' He asked mockingly.
'Our parents are dead, sir.'
'How did you get here?'
'We traveled from Fanelia.'
'Fanelia? I thought you said you were from the Mystic Moon!' He screamed in frustration.
'True we are FROM the Mystic Moon milord, but we have lived our entire lives in Fanelia since we were quite small. We were on our way back to the Mystic Moon when your MEN rudely interrupted our quest!" I said angrily, not appreciating his nosiness.
'And when you free us, we'll be continuing on our mission...'
'Don't bother.' He coolly replied.
'And why not sir?' I asked in disgust at his rudeness.
'There's nothing left...'
'W-What do you mean?' I stuttered, stumbling backwards.
'Just what I said. There's nothing left...'
'B-But how?' I asked in bewilderment.
'The Mystic Moon was destroyed. The whole planet and her people, gone, nothing left except their records in our history books. Somehow, something in it's core reacted and it just blew up I guess.'
'This can't be happening...' I whimpered, tears trickling down my cheeks.
'Oh but my dear, it IS happening...' He said, in a cold monotonous voice, emphasizing the word 'is.'
I fell to my knees, clutching Hope to my chest as we burst into heart wrenching sobs.
'It's all right. Everything will be OK.' The man with the blue eyes said, as he put his hand on my shoulder, trying to comfort me.
'My family, they're gone. I have no one, I have nothing left...' I muttered.
'Stay with us.' Lord Turo said.
'Become Princess of the Zaibach empire. You can marry my son, you have spirit girl, I like that...' The Emperor replied, looking at Hope, waiting for her answer.
'Who?' I began.
'Allow me to introduce myself. I am Urano Retu de Zai, Prince of Zaibach.' Said the blue eyed man, bowing to the unrevealed princess.
'And you, dear Hope, may marry my younger son, Varu...' He said, as a blonde haired man, with the same blue eyes as Prince Urano stepped forward. Hope sat on the ground, blinking, not uttering a word. She always was a stupid girl...
'Of course I will...' I screamed in joy, jumping into Urano's arms as he twirled me around.
'Good, the wedding will be in one week...'
That night Hope and I were sitting in our room looking out the window.
'Sister?' Hope asked me.
'What is it Hope?' I asked, displeased to be disturbed, thinking of my fiancé, Urano.
'I think we should go home.' She replied thoughtfully.
'Don't you remember Hope? We have no home, Lord Turo said so.'
'I mean our home with Daren and Varomi, and Mom and Dad...' She said wistfully.
'Have you forgotten? Aunt Hitomi and Uncle Van AREN'T our parents Hope-chan! Our parents are dead. They're dead, you hear me? DEAD!" I screamed, shattering objects that I threw from my nightstand.
'But Mem, they love us, and... I miss them.' My sister said with tears in her blazing blue eyes.
'We don't belong there. We just get in the way. Our true calling is with Urano and Varu. This is our fate.' I replied.
'Remember what Aunt Hitomi said, that thing about asking the stars, that your wishes will always come true... The power of the stars...' Hope sighed.
'Aunt Hitomi just talked a lot of nonsense, you believed too much of it.' I said, snorting at my sister's obvious stupidity.
'I have faith in Aunt Hitomi, that's all... I have faith...' She said, before falling asleep.
'Hope, you are quite a lot like your name...' I thought as I too fell asleep.
The next morning I awoke to a servant girl shaking me.
'Milady! Milady! Lady Hope, she has disappeared. Gone she is. Oh Lady Memory, what do we do?' She asked in concern, clutching her cap, her knuckles white.
'If Hope doesn't want to stay here, and wants to be foolish, then fine. Let her go off and die for all I care.' I replied, turning back to my slumber.
They found the wretched girl eventually, caked in mud, eyes wide in disbelief at her capture.
'I can't believe you'd hunt me down like dogs! You filthy sons of the devil!" She screamed as she kicked the guards restraining her.
'Hope, why are you so foolish?' I asked, rolling over on one side so I could see my bedraggled sister in her rage.
'Why are you so content to throw away your life to be with that Zaibach scum?!' She screamed in rage as she was led to a separate room to be cleaned up.
Hope tried to escape many times after that, always being caught and brought back, but still she was determined to return to you guys. I was married and from then on, I was called Memoria Kanzaki de Zai, Princess of Zaibach. Hope was to marry Varu later that week, but..." Unconsciously, a tear sprang to Memoria's eye.
"The foolish girl got herself killed in Dragon's forest. We found her body, a dragon nearby with blood on his tail from where he speared her. I was very happy with Urano; later that year, his father died and we became the rulers of this blessed land, saved by Lord Dornkirk. He went into battle to help an ally country, but, he was killed in battle. Damn you wretches, who killed my love, my Urano..." She screamed at him as he collapsed on the floor again.
"You bakas are the ones who started this whole thing!" He muttered as he slowly got up again.
"HA! We started it? If your damn parents hadn't ruined our ideals in the first place, this whole thing wouldn't have happened!" She screamed back at him.
"Well sorrrrrry." He said sarcastically.
"Nureia wadoka da?" The bearded catman asked again, interrupting the sibling's conversation.
"Shut up you old fool! Nureia died! She's gone, and there's nothing you can do about it!" She screamed at the grieving man.
"How can you be so cruel?" Daren asked, looking sadly upon the broken man, who still hadn't grasped that he was a widower.
"That wretched beastman won't tell me the secret of Atlantis!" She said coldly.
"How would he know?" Daren asked indignantly, wondering if Memoria was slowly losing all saneness.
"He's from Alkazar, of course he knows... Those beastmen are the keepers of Atlantis's secrets..." She said darkly.
"Alkazar?" Daren asked in confusion.
"Yes Alkazar. A village of catpeople who live by the waters of the river Matatui. They know all the secrets of Atlantis. We captured this man and his wife when we burned Alkazar to the ground."
"Cadira wadoka da?" The beastman asked, in a whimpering tone.
"Yes, your young daughter is dead too!" She impatiently yelled at the catman.
"Shinda?" He asked in confusion.
"SHINDA!" He screamed as he fell to the stone floor, tears rolling down his cheeks.
"His daughter died with the rest of his cursed people, his wife died a while ago. She stabbed herself to death." Memoria continued talking to Daren.
"We've tortured him, murdered his family and village, starved him, yet still he won't tell us the secret!" She screamed in rage, kicking the beastman.
"The power of Atlantis, is the power of the heart." The catman whispered.
"I loved Nureia and Cadira. I loved them with all of my heart..."
"Daren!" The catman said, clutching Daren by his bloodstained shirt.
"Tell my family, tell them Daren. Tell my mother; tell Ria, that... I'm sorry..." He whispered. His grip loosened, and he fell dead on the floor.
"RUVAN!"
"RUVAN!" Daren screamed, trying to shake his friend awake.
"Ruvan, no... Ruvan..." He muttered, as Ruvan's blood dripped on the cold floor.
"I thought he'd never die, troublesome beastman..." Memoria muttered.
"How can you be so cold?" Daren screamed.
"Ruvan was my friend, he was your friend, but you murdered him in cold blood..."
"The gods will never forgive you for this my sister, never..." He said.
"Well, I'll bide my time with the gods, right now I need to figure out another way to get the secret of Atlantis now that this baka's dead." She said, kicking the lifeless body.
"Ruvan, my friend, Ruvan..." Daren whispered, cradling his friend's body as the iron door shut, once again confining him in the dark, dreary room...
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: I know that was really violent... Believe me, it hurt me to kill two of my characters, but it was for the plot of the story, that's why I never really tried to develop Hope and Ruvan... It really hurts me to do this, but this is just how it will be I guess... But I'll figure out something, this just keeps coming into my head; I don't know where it's going, although I do have a faint idea... Another depressing chapter * sigh * maybe the next one won't get everyone down so much... Sorry again, please don't stop reading, I just had to make it dramatic, it will get happier, I promise... Arigatou my friends, and Sionara... * Sadly walks away *
~Trunks Gal~