The Way Things Were Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Esca, but I envy the people who do.

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In a distant somewhere on Earth, a man with a dark coat walked into a small tavern and ordered a drink. His features were bold, easily recognizable. His red hair was cut short, neatly trimmed but slightly spiked at the top, giving it the impression of a flame. His grey eyes were like a cat's, cold and very watchful. Under his right eye, a small tattoo of a blood-red tear was visible. He stared unseeingly at the fire crackling happily in the hearth, and only looked up when the bartender handed him his drink. He sipped slowly at his mulled ale, feeling it warm him up. After he was finished, he left his money on the counter for the bartender to pick up, and headed back out into the chilly evening air of winter. The snow was falling gently, and it covered everything in a thick blanket of white. The man slipped his hand into his coat pocket, and pulled out a pocket watch with a gold chain. It was not an ordinary watch; there were all sorts of intricate astrological symbols where the numbers should be, and instead of two hands of a clock there were nine arrows. The watch seemed to make sense to the man, and after a quick glance at it, he started walking further into the forest. Natural sounds of the night could be heard along with the heavy footsteps of the man. He stopped walking when he believed that he was far enough from any surrounding abodes on the isolated hilltop, and once again consulted his watch. He waited; the arrows of the clock seemed to all be moving in a different directions and had their own pace and movement pattern. He stood in a small clearing in the dense mountainous forest, totally unafraid of the many pairs of animal eyes watching him from behind the trees. He smirked slightly, as the arrows met where the North point on a compass should be, and a blinding pillar of light came down to envelope him.

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"Uh…" Varie could only stare at those mesmerizing eyes. She knew she'd seen them before, but she had no idea who she was staring at. She had to admit he was very handsome, and judging from his clothes he had to be of royalty. Then she knew he had to be another one of those annoying princes who kept sending her proposal letters, even after she had declined. That made her decide not to be nice to this man.

"Are you alright, princess?" he asked, sounding quite concerned.

"It was a mere fall. I'm perfectly alright, thank you," she answered curtly. She was about to ask him his name, but figured it would be rude of her if she had met him before and didn't remember him, even if she didn't want to be nice to him. So she'd stayed quiet, and took the arm he offered to take her to the dining hall. The guards there bowed their respect, and opened the grand arched doors to the dining room. Everyone stopped eating and turned to look as the two entered, and even though she was used to being in the spotlight by now, Varie felt her cheeks warm and knew she must be blushing. She glanced around the room, and saw the all-familiar faces: her father's personal advisor Lord Eronai, the members of the counsel, her sword master and Captain of the Imperial Castle Samurai Lord Remus, her father and mother, King Allen and Queen Millerna—

King Allen and Queen Millerna?!?! She almost tripped on the trim of her gown. The King and Queen of Asturia were present, and she still thought they were probably somewhere in the middle of the forest travelling. She thought that her father would definitely be mad at her for not being there to greet the royal guests, but then figured that that was probably what his 'urgent business' was. The Asturian royals weren't due for another day; they came to Fanelia to take part in the celebrations of Varie's birthday. She was surprised that Gabriel wasn't there; when she was younger, the Asturians used to visit them often, but at the age of 13 Gabriel had gone off with his sword master and they traveled around Gaea, before settling to stay on a secluded island for the past 5 years. Gabriel had returned home not too many moons prior, and had been busy catching up on the latest hearsay about Gaea. She wondered how much he had changed since she last saw him seven years ago, if he was still the immature little monster who loved burning the tips of her hair and publicly embarrassing her. Her escort bowed to her before leaving her and went to stand beside King Allen. When the King saw her, her got up and came to give her a friendly hug.

"Oh, my dear, how beautiful you look," he said, taking her hand and lightly touched his lips to it. "I see you two have already gotten reacquainted," he smiled, half musing.

Varie was more than a little lost. What did he mean, 'reacquainted?' she wondered.

Her thoughts must have appeared on her face because the King merely smiled and asked, "You remember Gabriel, don't you Princess?"

She gasped, but it was so soft that no one heard it. So that was who he was! No wonder she thought she knew him; she had spent most of her childhood playing with him. He walked up and claimed her hand once again, lightly kissing it just as his father had. He flashed her a brilliant smile, and Varie felt the warmth return to her cheeks. He hadn't let go of her hand, and proceeded to accompany her to her seat. She complied, amazed that the 'little brat' she had once known had grown up to be quite the gentleman. As he pulled out her chair for her, and as she was about to sit down, he whispered softly in her ear.

"You look astounding, Princess. I do hope to get reacquainted with you." And after he had pushed her chair back in, he returned to his own seat across from hers and everyone started eating again. Varie made it seem like there was something interesting in her plate besides from the delicious-looking food. She could sense that Gabriel was staring at her, and although she was very flattered, she felt it uncomfortable to eat her food when someone was watching the entire time. She listened in to the political conversation between her father and King Allen, but found that it was almost the same as the talks she had to listen to during counsel meetings. Needing a distraction, she looked over at the others eating at the table. She locked eyes with Lord Remus, and he winked at her. Feeling a little more at ease, she decided she'd better eat, whether she was being watched or not.

Dinner ended an uneventful hour later. Varie was exhausted, the corners of her mouth, which she had to force up to hold a smile, felt sore and strangely numb. She walked half blindly to her room, not even taking notice of the guards who bowed to her. The climb up the wide stone stairs seemed longer than usual, and the different coloured tapestry contrasting against the grey-black stone of the walls seemed to make her woozy. She fought to keep her eyelids open, jerking her head back violently every time she felt she was dozing off. Finally she reached her room, where she walked right up to her bed, collapsed on it, and instantly fell asleep.

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The blinding blue column of light disappeared around the man, and he looked up to see two beautiful moons in the sky; those moons told him that he was home. Breathing in the scent of Gaean surroundings, the man took off his cloak to reveal navy blue trousers and armour crested with the symbol of his organization complete with a finely made sword hanging loosely at his hip. He retrieved the golden watch for the third time, and studied it intently. This time, all the arrows pointed in a different direction before spinning wildly and lining up to point North East. The man moved in that direction, before stopping and placing the watch on the ground in front of him. The arrows spun faster, and out of nowhere a gigantic fortress appeared. The man grinned, picked up the watch, and headed through the doors to where his master was waiting.

"You're back early," his chief stated, but he knew what the underlying meaning was.

"Things are running smoothly, sir. Victory shall be ours," the redheaded man stated.

"Good. That's what I like to hear. We mustn't fail; many people depend on us."

"Understood." And with a salute to his master's back, he walked out, shutting the door behind him.

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Author's Notes: Yes, I know, I'm evil. I haven't updated in such a long time. You can thank my teachers for all the tests I have to study for and all my homework. I hope this chapter wasn't too disappointing, and even if it was please review and tell me how to make it better. And for all those people who are wondering when I will update Heart of a Knight, I'm gonna start working on the next chapter right now. Oh and BTW, can somebody please R&R my fic Restraints? I'd really appreciate it!

That's all for now.

~Seeress

P.S. If there are any typos or grammar mistakes, it's cause I was in a hurry to get this chapter up. I'll edit this later.