Disclaimer: Don't own any of the healing items/ summons/ jobs, those are Squaresofts. This is non-profit fun.
AN: Look! No Violence! Rejoice! Or if you are like SOME people I know, be very disappointed (You know who you are). Hehe, hope you like this one!
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Black.
Gravity? Ha!
Feeling? No.
Nothing.
Am I dead?
Humming, quiet and gentle. A lilting tune.
The air is scented, incense. Sweet, probably jasmine.
Slight pressure, something cold and wet. It's gone now.
Wake up!
Sluggish eye lids open half way. If he wasn't dead he sure
felt close to it. His eyes, despite the blurred picture, followed
the humming to a blob of white nearest to him. It was actually a
person covered in what looked like a white sheet. The white
figure dipped a cloth into a bowl then came back to dab his head.
He could make out a hand through the sheet-like covering.
Mustering the strength he had, he grabbed its wrist.
The humming stopped, replaced by a light feminine gasp; the damp
cloth dropped from it's hand. His hand consumed the tiny
wrist as he applied pressure to it; a warning. If he could, he
would break it to show he was force to be reckoned with, but he
hadn't the strength. But instead of screaming or trying to
tear away from his weak grip, another gentle cloth sheltered hand
covered his. It was warm applying a pressure of its own, but not
threateningly, it was caring and assuring.
However, the action did not calm him, instead it confused him.
Suddenly, a sweet voice drifted into his ears. The song from
earlier, but this time in the form of a wordless melody.
Weariness washed over him disabling his strength to take back his
hand as the singing stranger continued to hold it in a warm
embrace. The lilting tune echoed in his head as unwanted sleep
over took him.
The last remnants of some intangible dream faded away as Ashen
opened his eyes. He jolted a bit at the unrecognizable
surroundings, but the aroma in the room jogged his memory. Though
he still didn't know where he was, but figured it was
nothing he would have to worry too much about.
Gingerly he sat up; he could still feel the weariness in his
muscles. A sharp pain in his back quickly followed an attempt at
a stretch. Thankfully the momentary pain went as quickly as it
came, but he made a mental note not to do that again.
"Oh, good, you're awake!" Ashen's eyes
snapped to a white cloth cover person on the other side of the
small beige room. "I was beginning to fear the worst."
"Where are my clothes?" he asked without
acknowledging what she had said.
"Oh, forgive us, we had them washed and repaired.
They're on the edge of the bed," she replied bubbly,
"And I just finished fixing your vest."
He pushed the lavender quilt off of him and placed his bare feet
on a cold stone floor. Slowly he stood up, a little wobbly, but
he wouldn't fall.
"Oh-oh" she stuttered awkwardly. Ashen
saw her turn away quickly, well as quickly as one could covered
head to floor in a large white veil. He continued on to his
clothes paying no heed to the fact that he was naked; growing up
with scientists always examining him, his nudity became second
nature. Though he noted the girl's embarrassment, figuring
that she was young and probably never seen a man naked before.
He, of course, hadn't time for such modesty.
"How long have I been out for?" he asked while
dressing.
"A-About three days I guess," She added, "Two of
the monks found you washed up beside the river."
"Monks?" he paused briefly before pulling his shirt
over his head.
"Yes, this is a monastery where priestesses and monks of
Holy God reside."
"Vest?"
"What?" she was caught off guard by the question,
"Oh, your vesthere."
She finally let herself turn about, the black vest folded in her
covered hands. He took it without so much as a thank you,
slipping it on. But for some reason she giggled at this, Ashen
noticed though ignored it stating mentally that little girls with
little minds find little things amusing.
Suddenly, a knock sounded on the wooden door; both Ashen and the
white shrouded figure shifted their sights to it.
"Oh, come in," she rose her voice slightly.
The door opened slowly to reveal a honey-skinned woman dressed in
ivory and red. Her mahogany colored hair sprung out from
underneath the hood that covered her head. "My lady, I heard
voices in here. Is everything alright?"
"Oh yes Nara, it is! See, our guest has finally
awoken," The girl in the cloth chirped.
"Ah, so I see. I am glad to hear of it," Turning her
face briefly to Ashen, enough for him to see her deep amber eyes
and a red teardrop jewel between her eyebrows. "However,
I'm afraid I must tear you away from your patient."
"Oh, no one's hurt are they?" concern in her
voice.
"No, this is another matter of concern," the older
woman's voice carried authority to it.
"Alright," the shorter white covered girl faced Ashen,
"You should get some more rest, but I'm sure you
don't want to. If you're hungry, just tell the monk
outside and if you want to take a walk I'm sure he'll
give you a tour of the monastery. I'll come back to check on
you later."
She gave a light bow and left the room with the red headed woman.
Ashen focused on finishing dressing, but his mind seemed to
wander. I shouldn't be here. I should be dead. Why am I
still alive? A sudden knock at the door broke him from his
thoughts.
"Hello? Sir? Can I come in?" asked a male voice muffled
by the door.
Ashen thought about it for a moment then reluctantly answered,
"Go ahead."
The door slowly creaked open revealing a man in his mid twenties.
He wore a red sarong tied into pants and a white sash that cover
half of his upper body. His skin was lightly tanned like Ashen
and he was mostly bald save for long brown tendrils hanging from
the sides of his ears and a short ponytail at the back of his
head.
He was cheery and smiled at Ashen, "Hi. I was outside and
figured you'd be hungry. So I came to see if you'd like
me to show you the meal room?"
Ashen would have said no out of spite. He didn't like being
here or having these people fawn over him. Yet he felt the hunger
slowly creep into his stomach, soon it would be growling if he
didn't do something. He nodded to the young man; he learned
long ago never to argue with his own body. A lesson learned
through his summoning abilities.
Kazu, the name of the young monk, continued to talk at the low
wood table as Ashen picked at his bowl of cold oatmeal. Half way
through the one sided conversation Ashen decided that Kazu talked
way to much, the young monk would continue on and on complaining
about another monk name Sesshin, then went into bouts about how
much he loved to hear Nara sing the Sanc. Ashen drowned him out,
here and there picking up on the conversation's current
topic to see if it had any importance to him.
" We as monk have to look out for all life,' he
says! Can you believe it?! This is the same guy who was a bounty
hunter out here in the free lands before he became a monk! That
Sesshin is SUCH a hypocrite and he says I need to let go of the
silly child within me and become a REAL monk!" he continued,
" Gah! I've been here ten years to his five! Anyway,
that's when we came to the river and found you."
Found me? Ashen looked up, the conversation suddenly became
interesting to him.
"We thought you dead originally. We were going to perform
last rights then give you a proper burial, but when we picked you
up you were breathingbarely. So we brought you back here.
Man, are you lucky!" he smiled with a cheerful face.
"Luckywhatever," Ashen stood up. Kazu watched
blankly while he walked to the doorway then remembered he was in
charge of the injured youth.
"Hey, wait up!" Kazu shouted after him, hopping from
his cushion to jog after the youth.
Outside, it was warm and smelt like spring. The sound of the
birds chirping and the wind in the leaves was heavenly to hear.
The curvaceous and simple architecture of the monastery gave a
peaceful feeling to those who walked its open halls.
Ashen walked faster trying to lose the talkative monk, but to no
avail. Kazu was just as fast on his feet as he was with his
words. Ashen's eyes bugged out slightly when he felt a light
smack on his shoulder, turning to see Kazu's beaming smile.
If only the monk knew that he'd maimed men for less then
that.
Luckily for him, Ashen opted to continue walking. However, the
young monk decided to continue talking as the moved through the
hall.
A light giggle echoed down the hallway followed by a sweet
familiar voice, "You really should be more careful,
Sesshin."
Unconsciously, Ashen stopped. He turned his head to a little
scene near a bench surrounded by green bushes with pink flowers.
The older redheaded woman from earlier was standing next to a
tall, older monk with a stern look on his face. A younger monk
crouched on the ground before the bench, his bleeding hand in the
gentle palm of a teen aged girl.
She looked different then many of the people he had seen so far.
Most of her short and scrawny form was covered by an iridescent
cloth, though it hung loosely around her bare shoulders letting
the little violet dress with the intricate gold lines about the
high neck be seen. A golden shawl was wrapped around her lithe
waist dangling little tassels with each loop. Resting on her
small bosom was a large gold pendant: a ring in between two out
stretched wings.
A young, pale monk said meekly, "I'm sorry, my
lady."
She giggled again, "Oh don't be Sesshin, it
happens."
"And quite frequently, I might add," Kazu whispered to
Ashen dryly, "Sesshin probably hurt himself in sparring.
Don't tell anyone, but sometimes he does it on purpose just to
see the High Priestess. He says it's cause she reminds him
of his little sister, I say it's cause he's a
pedophile."
Suddenly, the girl looked up noticing Ashen's presence. Her
pale face brightened, "Oh!"
She gave Sesshin back his hand and hopped over to where Ashen
stood the golden waves of her hair bounced around her waist as
she did. She looked up to him with big emerald eyes, a beaming
smile on her rosy lips, "I'm so glad to see you up and
about!"
Ashen gazed down at her a little confused.
"It's so much better now that I can talk to you without
that silly sheet over me. It would have been easier to work if I
didn't have to wear that, but I couldn't very well be
alone in a room with a naked man without a covering. Yukai would
have a fit!" She giggled, only to interrupt herself with a
sudden gasp. "Oh, I'm sorry, I've never introduced
myself. My name's Aleura Goddhart, I'm the High
Priestess of this monastery."
Bowing her head and touching her dotted hairline briefly in a
form of religious greeting, she then continued smiling up at him.
"What's your name?"
"Ashen Maave." He let out, groaning inwardly at
her talkative nature. Were they all like that here?
"Ah! So you are from Ghri," She exclaimed, taking hold
of Ashen's arm, "And such an unique Ghri name too. What
does it mean?"
He fidgeted uncomfortably while she led him to the bench, "I
wouldn't know."
"Well that's okay. So did you live in the big city?
I've never seen a city before, what's it like? You must
tell me all about it," her words seemingly faster as they
sat on the stone bench.
A light cough gained Aleura's attention; she looked to the
tall strong looking older monk. "Aleura" he
scowled under his thick gray mustache.
Her eyes lit up with awareness; "Oh!" she turned to
Ashen suddenly meek, "I'm sorry, sometimes I go kinda
overboard."
"It happens," Ashen's mind continued,
children often do'.
Her facial expression changed to something unreadable she turned
back to face the older monk, "Yukai?"
"Yes my lady?"
"Could I be left alone with Ashen for awhile?"
The older man's eyebrow raised his voice rather serious,
"Alone?"
"Mmm-Hmm," she smiled sweetly to him. At which he
turned and gave a look to Nara who shrugged slightly. "I
mean, not all alone. Kazu's been assigned to attend to him
for the day and Sesshin's injury will keeping from training
the rest of the day. I'm sure they can work together for the
remainder of the day?"
As if on cue, Sesshin popped up bowing his head respectfully to
his master. Kazu rolled his eyes knowing what was coming next.
"Master, with your permission I would like to attend the
lady for the day?!" He asked dramatically with a hint of
excitement.
Ashen looked at them all curiously, wondering if this was one of
those crazy moon cults.
"I'm satisfied with that," Nara intervened in a
nonchalant tone. She met Yukai's gaze calmly, though the
look on his face said so you're against me too, are
you?'
Reluctantly, he sigh aloud, "If our lady wishes it, so let
it be."
She beamed up at the large monk, "Thank you, Yukai."
"Yes, thank you Master, I will neither fail you, nor the
lady," Sesshin bowed dramatically. Kazu was going to roll
his eyes again when he noticed Yukai look at him sternly; he
quickly joined Sesshin in his bowing.
"My lady," Yukai said with a bow to Aleura then turned
to the two still bowing monks, "Sesshin? Kazu? I'll see
you in training tomorrow."
Yes, Master Yukai," they both said in unison as he walked
back to the hallway.
Shortly thereafter, he entered the hallway, Nara began to follow,
but not before she gave a look to the two now risen monks,
"Behave you two."
"Yes, Priestess Nara," They chirped in unison as she
left.
Once the two older figures were out of sight, Aleura gave a
slight cough. It alerted everyone's attention back to her.
"EhSesshin?" she asked
"Yes, my lady?" All she had to do was say jump and
he'd do it. Kazu could have smacked his forehead if they
weren't in the presence of the lady.
"I'm kinda thirstycould you get me some
water?" She smiled despite her coy behavior.
"Of course, my lady," he gave another dramatic bow and
grabbed onto Kazu's arm, "Come, Kazu!"
"Hey! She said for to you get it, not me!" Kazu cried
while he was being dragged down the hall.
"Yes, but you are a monk of the Holy and as such should jump
at any opportunity to serve her Holiness," Sesshin retorted
as they continued.
"But it's just a glass of water!" Was the last
thing Ashen could hear of Kazu though the argument continued on
down the halls the distance was to great between them to hear
now.
Aleura let out a relieved sigh when they were long out of sight,
"Whew! I thought that would never work."
Ashen stared blankly at the girl to his right who met him with a
beaming smile.
"I love them all, but sometimes I need a break," She
giggled, "Besides, I can actually do what I've been
wanting to do now that you're conscious and I'm not
wearing that silly sheet."
He eyed her curiously, what the hell did she mean by that?
"Hold still," She smiled and lifted both of her
delicate hands. The mendi on her hands laced about her fingers
like gold circuits in a computer chip. Before he could do
anything about it, her light fingertips touched on both of his
temples.
Immediately, a rush of energy rummaged through his brain,
reminding him of the impulses that the summons used to send him.
He saw flashes of images, his memories, but he was not the one
bringing them up. He was not fully aware of what was happening,
but he knew he didn't like it.
Forcing her hands away, he shot back several feet from the girl.
Even after falling off the bench he continued to back up. His red
eyes wide with alarm and confusion, holding himself protectively
on the ground, his breath ragged.
Aleura looked at him confused and concerned, "Are you okay?
I didn't hurt you did I? It not supposed too"
"What the hell did you do to me?!" he barked at her,
his voice sounding both angry and confused.
She was taken aback, no one's ever spoken to her like that
before. "I'm sorry. I was only trying to help. I
thought that if I could scan your memories I could understand how
to be of better help to you. I didn't see anything, if
you're worried about that?" her voice meek and
innocent.
Scan memories? More like mind rape! In all his days of with
Dynasty, even with scientist who tested him and examined him
every which way, never did they do anything like what she did to
him. At least not to his knowledge.
Ashen continued to stare up at her dangerously, "Just stay
the hell out of my head, got it?!" His composure returned to
him, "Besides" He stood up, "I won't be
here long enough for you to worry about what's in
there."
Shock enveloped her face, "What?" she hopped off the
bench and scurried over to him, "You can't leave!
You're still recovering from your injuries!"
He took a step towards the hallway, "I'm
fin" No sooner then when he said this did his legs
gave way beneath him.
Aleura intercepted him before he fell, keeping him up by acting
as a human crutch. Ashen looked down at the girl trying to help
and scowled at her attempts. He pushed her away roughly, not
caring if he fell; though he didn't fall. "Get off! I
don't need your help," He told her coldly.
Dejected and confused, Aleura looked at him. All she was doing
was trying to help, why was he being this way to her? He began to
walk away from her, "Wait!" She cried to him.
His red eyes flashed once more, "I'm leaving
now"
"I know and I have no intention of keeping you here
against your will. But please rest here a few more days, you are
not well enough to brave the Frontier yet. If you give us a few
more days we can prepare supplies for your journey."
"I don't need your charity"
"I knowbut please accept it?" a hint of strength
resided in her sweet voice.
He stared at her coldly for a moment. What she said did make
sense, his injuries could still be a hindrance to him and without
supplies he wouldn't last long. He sighed in defeat,
"FineI'll rest here for a few more days."
A relieved smile graced her rosy lips, "That's all I
ask of you."
