DISCLAIMER: I don't own MKR, CLAMP does. Am just one crazy fan. And all of these stuff I had written or will write is a product of my imagination and my imagination only....Yada...yada...Don't sue me.

DESTINED TO BE

Chapter 3

Lantis opened the door to his terrace and went outside.  As he looked up at the star-filled sky, he remembered the times when he and his brother would pretend to be asleep and then sneak out afterwards to watch the stars.

"Life had not been fair to you, Brother," Lantis said. "I remember how you smiled at me with those sad eyes and told me everything was going to be all right before you left to fulfill Mother's dying wish and became a priest. Those same sad eyes you had when you faced the guillotine for a crime you did not commit yet had admitted to have done…all in the name of Love."

---

He almost did not recognize the man lying down on the floor of the prison cell. Lantis found himself speechless. He watched the man in front of him---who was panting and coughing in an almost alternate pattern---put his arms around himself for some warmth. The man's robe was covered in dirt and dried blood---its back torn, revealing a bruised and wounded flesh.

Finally, after recovering from the sight that he had not been expecting to see, Lantis was able to speak. "Brother?" he called in a soft voice.

"Lantis! Is that you?"

The prison guard beside Lantis opened the cell and let him enter. "Just call me once you are through."

Lantis nodded and then walked towards his brother. "Zagato…" Lantis hurriedly went to Zagato's side to aid him when his brother failed in his pitiful effort to rise from his position. He finally realized that his brother's difficulty was due to the fact that his brother must have suffered from frequent flogging.

"Come, let me see you…My…how you have grown! How did you find out I was here? Is Father with you?"

"Uncle Conrad helped me find you. Father…he had died a few months ago." 

The room became silent for a few minutes after Lantis had said this. "I see…So you are now the earl."

"The title was meant to be yours."

"The moment I had become a priest I had renounced the right to the title and material possessions of the Solville family. You know that very well."

"I had been looking for you since Father died. At first, Uncle Conrad did not approve of this but you are aware of the fact that I will not let myself be stopped."

"That is true."

"But what happened? They said horrid things about you." Zagato just smiled sadly at Lantis. "Please tell me the truth brother. I want to help you."

Zagato took a deep breath and then said, "I am here on my own free will. It is my choice to die in the name of Love."

"I do not understand…"

"One day, my brother, you will meet someone to whom you would be willing to give up everything…everything…"

                            

"That is nonsense! I'll get you out of here. I'll…"

"It is too late, Lantis. Listen to me, at four o'clock this afternoon I will face the guillotine."

"This should not be! I have not heard of any trial for your defense!"

"That is true. The Church would no allow such a thing. It would have been a great disgrace if the public knew of this. Nevertheless, the sentence had been released: I am to be executed this afternoon."

"But Brother…"

"I have one favor to ask you, please do not deny me…In the village of Ellionet, north of this city, lives a woman named Cecille. It is just a small village so you can just ask around and they will tell you where to find her. Introduce yourself as the brother of the priest Zagato…Are you listening to me?"

"Yes…yes brother…"

"Give her this letter. Tell her you have come for the woman and the child. Please take them back with you, brother. Will you do this for me?"

"Yes. But will you at least tell me the reason for all this?"

"Have you heard of Emeraude of Syph?"

"Yes."

"I have never seen a soul as pure as hers. That was what had deeply attracted me to her."

"Is she the woman that they said you have ruined?"

"I was a confessor at the convent. We were both young and lonely and eventually our hearts became close. We knew our love was doomed from the start but our feelings for each other were just too strong. She ended up carrying my child.

We were able to hide it for months. The swelling of her womb was not obvious, you see---We had it all planned. She was to leave the convent to manage an orphanage, which was supposed to be financed by some anonymous sponsor. I, in turn, would leave for the reason that I was to have a pilgrimage somewhere far away. I almost had everything arranged for the birth of our child, but one of the nuns was able to notice her condition earlier than we had expected.

This nun had noticed the unusual closeness between Emeraude and me. She had accused Emeraude for breaking her vows. 'No other sin would be as great as the sin of two holy servants surrendering to the call of the flesh,' she had said. And the child out of such union is considered an abomination. They had locked her in her chamber and forbid her to see anyone…

Before anything else drastic could be done to her and my child, I had decided to bring all the blame on me by writing a forged letter, supposed to be from Emeraude. Then I had Cecille, a woman both Emeraude and I had trusted, to deliberately give it to the head of the convent, telling them that it was Emeraude who had asked to give her the letter. It was stated in that letter that it was I who ruined Emeraude despite of her protests…and the reason that I was always by her side was to make sure that she told no one of what was going on."

 

"Brother…"

"Since Emeraude had no fault, they decided to send her away. She had no place in the convent because she had been stained…that was what they told her and nothing more. It was Cecille who took her in after that. Emeraude had no idea of what I had done. I was flogged, excommunicated then was sent here, sentenced to die like a criminal.

To know that both my Emeraude and our child would be in safe hands would really make me glad. It makes my death easier to accept." Again, Zagato smiled. "I really do apologize that our reunion was not as happy as we both had thought it would have been little brother…"

---

Lantis did manage to keep his promise. Cecille had told him that Emeraude only learnt of Zagato's sacrifice after she had given birth to the lovely baby Mira. The people at the convent never mentioned the incident since it was considered to be a disgrace to the Church. "After learning the truth, Emeraude, at her very weak state, went into a deep depression and eventually died from a broken heart," Cecille had said.

With the help of his uncle and grand-aunt, he had managed to move both his brother's and Emeraude's remains to a burial place he had built for them just a few distances away from the mansion itself. That couldn't be done without serious bribing to the authority involved---an act he had utterly despised. But to appease his brother's soul, he would do anything.

His uncle and grandaunt also helped him with the legalities regarding the guardianship of his niece. They had made it appear that the child was an orphaned daughter of a relative to prevent any more rumors to spread out.

A strong gust of wind blew his way, as if his brother was making his presence felt. Indeed if the concept of spirits were true, Lantis would have believed that his brother was trying to comfort him. "You said you had done all of it in the name of Love…but still I cannot understand. I know that you are happier now and yet I still could not convince myself to feel happy for you. Tell me brother, am I wrong for feeling this way?"

But the wind did not answer him. Instead, it just gradually faded away…

*          *          *

"Where am I?" Hikaru blinked as she found herself surrounded by complete darkness. Clad with nothing but her nightgown, the chill in the air made her shiver. "What am I doing here?"

Thinking that staying where she was would get her nowhere, she decided to maybe feel her way as she walked through the darkness. It might be dangerous. Nevertheless, she was determined to leave the place…wherever this place was.

She took the first step, holding her hands out to "feel" any huge obstruction she might encounter. There was suddenly a flash of light that came out of nowhere and blinded Hikaru for a few seconds. As soon as she was able to, she slowly opened her eyes and let them adjust to the light.

She was greeted by a soft draft of sea breeze. She found herself at the edge of a cliff overlooking the vast ocean. A familiar ship caught her eye however, making her gasp out in surprise.

'No…It cannot be!' She immediately rubbed her eyes and again looked at the ship slowly approaching. Indeed there was no mistake---It was Undine, the ship that was said to have sunk, causing the death of her father and her brothers.

She could feel her heart beat twice as fast and tears of happiness started to flow from her eyes---'They are alive!'

She did not pay attention to the sharp stones and pebbles that her bare feet had to step on. Nor did she pay attention to the difficulty her long nightgown had made her suffer as she ran down the narrow path towards the shore.

Her happiness did not last for long for the solid land she was running on, in some mysterious way, started to disappear, making her fall straight into the water below her.

She found that part of the ocean unusually deep. It was as if she really was not close to the shore at all. She started to panic, and forced herself to swim upwards but to no avail. She realized that something was actually pulling her down. She then looked below her to see what it was…

It didn't take her long to see that there was a hand clutching tightly on her leg…A hand that belonged to the rotting corpse of her father.

*          *          *

Lantis' silent solitude was suddenly interrupted by a disturbing scream coming from the mansion. "Hikaru!"

He quickly ran inside the house and towards Hikaru's room. Inside he found Marilyn coaxing Hikaru to sip fro the glass of water the maid held near her lips. "What happened here?"

"M'Lady 'ad a nightmare, m'Lord," the maid answered. His gaze shifted to Hikaru, who was awfully pale and obviously still in shock.

"Hikaru…"

"I…I am sorry for disturbing your sleep. I'll be alright now; you need not worry about me."

"You did not disturb anything." Lantis then turned to Marilyn and said, "You will have to stay awake and watch over her for tonight. Lady Hikaru might need company in case such…incident happens again."

"Aye m'Lord."

"Aunt Hikaru!" they heard Mira say as she entered the room. The child then ran towards Hikaru's bed and then said, "I heard you scream, Auntie. What happened?"

"Your Aunt Hikaru had a nightmare, Mira."

"I am fine now, Mira," Hikaru said, forcing a smile.

"Marilyn. Go get the things you might need to stay awake…Mira and I will keep Hikaru company in the meantime."

"Aye m'Lord." The maid then quickly left the room.

"You are not really scared now, are you?" Mira asked Hikaru.

"No, Mira."

"Uncle Lantis can make the nightmares not come anymore," the child said.

"Really?"

"Really! Whenever I have nightmares, Uncle Lantis comes and kiss me here…" Mira said pointing at the middle of her forehead. "…and the nightmares don't come anymore."

"Oh…" Hikaru blushed.

"I think you should let Uncle Lantis to kiss you there too…"

"I do not think it will work on her case, Mira," Lantis said, his face also slightly coloring up.

"Why not? It always does for me…"

"Well…you see…It doesn't usually work with an adult Mira," Hikaru managed to explain.

"Why are you your faces all red?" Mira asked.

Lantis and Hikaru were saved from the question by the knocking on the bedroom door. "Come in!" Marilyn then entered the room. "Ah…here's Marilyn. Come Mira, you should go back to sleep now. It's too late for you to be still awake."

"But Uncle! I want to stay!"

"Aunt Hikaru needs some rest Mira. And you do too. Hurry now…Say goodnight to your Aunt Hikaru."

"Oh well…alright…Goodnight Aunt Hikaru."

"Goodnight Mira."

"Goodnight Hikaru."

"Goodnight Lantis."

"Aren't you going to try to make her nightmare go away?"

"Mira!"

---(@)---

AUTHOR'S NOTES: WAAAIIII!!! Sorry to keep you all waiting… Here it is…I repeat…It is an AU fic…