The Way Things Were
Standard disclaimer applies©Seeress 2003
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The Way Things Were
Chapter 10
Duchess Celena stood in her thin nightgown and robe, staring out of the foggy windows of the Contender, watching the wispy clouds and twinkling stars that were outside. She couldn't believe the events that had happened in merely an hour; one minute, she was having the time of her life, dancing the night away; the next, the party is broken by a dying messenger who brings news of an attack on her brother's country and they race back to defend it. And here she was, being sent home so that she could be kept safe. For once, she didn't want to be treated like such a child. Her place was by Allen's side, giving him encouragement and support. Yet she was being carted away again, back home and far from danger. Why didn't Allen trust her? What was it that she didn't know?
She knew somehow that his attitude of being overly protective had spawned from the period of time that was blank in her memory. Her earliest childhood memory, the one with her Mother and Allen in the field of flowers, was clear and vivid in her mind. If she closed her eyes, she could still feel the breeze running through her hair and the smell of the flowers dancing on air. Her one and only childhood memory was in that field, because she remembered nothing for the next ten years. The only recollections of that missing decade was the jade necklace that hung around her neck and the vague memory of the word 'Jajuka.' Who or what 'Jajuka' was, she didn't know, but since she seemed to recall kind eyes, she assumed 'Jajuka' was a person. Sometimes, she had nightmares to which she awoke in a cold sweat. When she closed her eyes, red, bloodthirsty orbs would fill her vision, and they would be accompanied by a manic, blood-chilling laugh.
Sighing as she shook the image out of her head, lackadaisically playing with the chain around her neck, she continued to watch the dark clouds roll by. It was very late in the night, and she was weary beyond belief, but even her nightmare-filled sleep would not be granted to her. She turned when she heard the sound of approaching footsteps, wondering who could be up so late, and came face to face with none other than Gaddess.
"Duchess," he said with a slight tilt of his head. "It seems to be a habit of yours to roam the ship at ungodly hours."
He had said it in a light tone, and she knew it was intended to be a joke, but she found that she couldn't laugh when he had that look in his eyes,
"I couldn't sleep," she replied, managing a half-smile and turning slightly towards him. "You?"
"I haven't tried to sleep yet," he said, moving closer to her and laying a hand on the glass. "But I don't think I'll have much luck either." He stared out at the night sky, and she took time to study his profile. She tore her gaze away as he turned to look at her, and shivered slightly at the chill.
"You're cold," Gaddess said automatically, grabbing her gently by the shoulders and rubbing her arms with both his hands, pulling her closer as he did so. She had wrapped her arms about herself to keep warm, and she looked questioningly up at him as he went about warming her up. That force inside her was starting to stir.
After a while, she stopped shivering, standing almost literally in his arms. He seemed to notice but made no attempt to move away, which she took as a good sign. Smiling faintly, she reached up to brush a stray strand of hair out of his eyes. Her hand lingered as their gazes met and locked, and she saw with happiness that his eyes no longer held that look. Battling the force inside herself, she was almost on the verge of being steered away from him when he reached up and took hold of her hand, entwining his fingers with her own. Then, looking at her as if nothing else in the world mattered, he leaned in and gently pressed his lips to hers.
A few things happened in rapid succession just as the two were sharing their moment of intimacy.
A loud bang echoed through the empty hallway as the ceiling to the leviship shook and the dim lights flickered briefly. Immediately following that, the whole ship suddenly slanted to one side, throwing the startled pair hurtling from the window to slam into the opposite wall and to fall crumpled onto the ground. Then there came a dreadful creaking and wrenching sound from above, as if someone were trying to pry the roof off with giant hands.
Gaddess had wrapped his arms around her and shielded her with his body as they crashed into the wall, taking the brunt of the force. As soon as the awful wrenching had ceased, he raised his head hesitantly off the ground and loosened his hold on her.
"Celena," he called to her softly. "Celena, are you alright?"
Her eyes fluttered open slowly, and she had to blink several times to clear her vision. She raised her hand slowly to the throbbing lump on her head. She knew she was bleeding when her fingers came into contact with a sticky liquid. Focussing her vision on Gaddess's face, she saw that his eyes held concern.
"Gaddess…" she murmured softly, closing her eyes again as the world started to spin.
"Celena!" he called to her urgently. "Celena, don't fall asleep. I'll get help, and you'll be all right again in no time, ok?"
Her eyes snapped open. "You called me Celena," she said, trying her best to smile. "You haven't called me that in a long time…"
He smiled at her reassuringly, and she tried to keep her eyes open so that she could see that smile forever. Her head was throbbing painfully, and drowsiness swept over her. She faintly felt Gaddess lift her up and carry her in his arms.
No! she thought in despair. Gaddess wants me to stay awake… I have to stay awake… awake…
All of a sudden, the glass of the window broke as a long, sharp metal beam shot through it. The sound of the impact snapped her awake again, as well as the shard of glass that pierced the skin of her ankle. She saw that a large shard had embedded itself in Gaddess's arm, and he staggered slightly, unable to support the weight of two people. She saw a guymelef materialise out of thin air outside the broken window, and it reached an arm out towards them. Gaddess put her down beside the wall and drew his sword, ready to fight against the intruder. But he had only his sword, and the hand of the melef brushed him aside as if he were an insect, sending him into the wall for the second time. Fully awake by now, Celena quickly rushed over to her fallen lover, her concern more dominant than her common sense.
"Gaddess?" she asked timidly, shaking his shoulder to wake him. "Gaddess, please wake up. Gad—ahhhhh!"
Just as he was starting to stir, the hand of the guymelef had reached through the broken glass and seized a hold of her body. Clinging on desperately to anything solid, she grasped Gaddess's arm as the melef was pulling her away.
"NO!" she heard him cry, as she lost her grip on his arm just as he was reaching out to grab her. Instead, his hand managed to snatch the smooth jade necklace, and he jerked the chain off her neck.
The last thing she heard as she was carried away into the night was his echoing cry of anguish.
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All faces at the table turned to face her as she entered. Feeling slightly self-conscious but determined, she walked purposefully to the end of the table, and took the vacant seat beside her father. Van had jumped out of his chair as soon as the doors had opened, anxious to see his daughter after Eronai had reported what had happened to her. His fears were slightly eased at the sight of her serenity and lack of visible wounds. The lords and generals around the table had also risen and inclined their heads respectfully as she passed.
"Are you alright?" he whispered to her softly, so that only she could hear. Her response was an almost imperceptible nod of her head.
Only after she had taken her seat did everyone else return to theirs. Then, in a ringing voice that was steely and uncharacteristically cold, she asked,
"So, what are our plans?"
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No longer did drowsiness cloud her mind. The evening air was cool and moist, and she soon began to shiver. Her eveningwear provided no protection from the lashing of the wind, and tears stung at the corners of her eyes. Her head was throbbing painfully, but as far as she could tell the bleeding had stopped. She had pulled the glass out of her ankle, and had wrapped it tightly with a piece of her dress that she had torn off. Earlier, she had tried to get a sense of where she was being taken, but the guymelefs had taken high into the sky and there was nothing on which she could base her observations. She gave up on the attempt completely when the melefs had donned their invisibility cloaks and obscured her vision, but that had given away their identity.
Zaibach.
To which she was trying to figure out the reason for their unprompted attack. There had been peace on Gaea for two decades; uneasy peace, admittedly, but what agreement did not have its strains? They had been airborne for a long time, and just as she thought she really would lose consciousness, the melef holding her landed with an abrupt thud and she had to cling onto one of the machine's gigantic fingers to keep from falling. The invisibility cloaks were drawn aside, revealing armed escorts that had been waiting for them. Feeling slightly nervous, she drew her robe more securely around her shoulders, and folded her arms protectively around her chest.
Blindfolded, she was led through a maze of never-ending corridors, her ankle throbbing painfully with every step. Right, left, left again, another right, through a door, right, down some stairs, one more door… she tried to memorize the path, but it became too difficult. She was nervous enough walking without seeing where she was going and having the tip of a sword poke her in the back and urge her to go faster. Finally, after what seemed like countless hours of walking, someone shouted a harsh command and she could hear a door being jerked open creakily. Someone grabbed her head roughly and undid the blindfold, but a moment later she wished they hadn't.
It wasn't so much a room as it was a great pit. There was no floor, and the bottom of the colossal crater must've been at least ten or fifteen stories down. She had never seen anything so large! There were torches lit and set at intervals high up on the walls, but they didn't provide enough light to illuminate the base of the pit, which was pitch black. From where she was standing, there was only a narrow wooden bridge leading to a large circular cage, much like that of a bird's, except large enough for a human to fit into. The sword once again prodded her and she turned around to see the face of her capture twisted into a sick smile.
What were her chances of knocking the sword from his hand and pushing him into the pit? She thought better against it. Even if she did somehow manage to disarm her captor and push him in, there were undoubtedly other guards around and she had no idea how to get out. It would only anger the guard if she tried and failed, and she had no reservations in thinking that he would have no hesitation killing her. So, gulping down the lump in her throat and taking in a deep breath, she put one unsteady foot onto the creaky boards of the bridge.
It was when she was about halfway along when she chanced a glance down into the blackness beneath her that she caught sight of two yellow orbs staring back at her. Stifling a scream, she squinted further down and tried to make out what it was that was there. If she'd thought that there was nothing worse than the void underneath, she was clearly wrong. In the dim firelight, she had been able to discern a huge shape: long tail, expansive lungs, sharp teeth, glinting scales. It was undoubtedly a dragon. Praying to any religious beings she could think of and hoping to anything that it was a land dragon, she threw caution to the wind and practically sprinted the rest of the way there. Once inside, the cage door closed behind her of its own accord and the bridge was lifted. The door in which she had entered also closed and cut off the strongest supply of light, blending indiscernibly with the wall.
Only after a few moments did she realize that she was not alone in her cell. Furthest away from her and up against the bars of the cage was another person. She was sure it was a man, and she walked closer to him slowly, cautious of what she might find. He was bundled up in thick clothes, and his hair was dirty and matted.
"Hey," she said softly, trying to get his attention. "Can you hear me?" she asked, taking another step forward. "Are you awake?"
Scared now that he was already dead, she took a few quick steps and closed the distance between them. Not wanting to touch him, she tentatively put two fingers under his chin and tilted his head up. His face was bloodied and dirty, but she was relieved to see that he was still breathing. She studied him more closely, his face seeming so familiar to her, and his identity finally struck her full in the face.
She let out a gasp of surprise.
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Lucky the messenger got there early, Allen thought to himself. It gave us time to get back and mount a defence.
The King of Asturia stood waiting for the Contender to return from its trip to deliver the Duke and Duchess safely home. He needed to send the ship to warn the other nations, and to deliver a special message to Van in Fanelia. As the ship came into view, he could tell that something was wrong. It was barely flying, the left wing had been torn, and one of the engines was badly damaged. He felt his heart constrict with fear.
Celena…The Contender landed brokenly on the docks of Asturia. Up close, the leviship looked even worse than it did in the sky. As soon as the doors had opened, Dryden sprang out, looking ashen-faced and shaken. It confirmed his worst fear.
"They—they took her," he whispered quietly, meeting Allen's eyes but not quite seeing him. Looking past his shaken brother-in-law, he saw that someone was being carried out on a stretcher.
"Gaddess!" he cried, and brushed past the still-shocked Dryden to reach his best friend. Gaddess wasn't in much better shape than the ship.
"Gaddess," he said again, reaching his friend's side.
"A-Allen…" Gaddess managed to croak through his parched lips, opening his eyes a crack to see his friend's face. "I'm sor-sorry… I-I tried… to stop them…bu-but…"
"Save your strength," Allen said gently. "I know you did your best. We'll get her back."
He watched guiltily as Gaddess was carted away. It should've been me who had to fight to save Celena. It was never his responsibility. Little sister, I've let you down again…
"Your Majesty!"
He was snapped from his thoughts with an insistent call. "Your Majesty!"
A messenger was riding hard towards him, out of breath and looking frightened. What now? He thought to himself, but turned and signalled for the messenger to step forward.
"Urgent news, sire," he said, bowing as he did so. "A few days ago, Duke Chid of Freid was kidnapped."
To be continued…