Well... here it is...
Doesn't quite seem like it's done. Well, there's always the epilogue, right? Right.
Hope you all enjoy. Please review... this part was a lot harder to write than you'd think.
Not mine.
-------------------
In Dreams
-------------------
Once she knew where to look, it was frighteningly easy.
Her Instructor's license opened the placement files for her without murmur or protest. Once she was in the database, a wash of knowledge flooded her screen, and she had to close her eyes for a moment to fight the urge to curse or cry, she knew not which. So easy, and it had been there all along. Hidden for the sake of a test. Hyne help her, the knowledge that lay before her could have done so much, if she'd had it. If she'd known. She could have rewritten the history texts that lay classified before her.
But there they were, stark in cream text on a dark blue page, and the SeeD colors served only to mock her as she sat defeated in the dim half-light of curfew.
She shuffled past endless battles, dissertations of Lihallan strategy, searching for where she fell in history. Centuries slipped between her fingers as she typed rapidly through the rises and falls of a fading Empire's fortunes. Towards the end, she saw, it hadn't deserved the title, its colonies liberated, its subject nations gaining independence. For the last few decades it had been called an Empire out of convenience and courtesy, an old habit appended to an old culture, both finding themselves rapidly left behind.
A shiver ran up her spine as she located the placement test and lay it against the sketchy timeline. It wasn't nearly as complete as she could have wished, and she nearly screamed with frustration: this timeline showed no dates, no names of rulers, only generals and locations. And the names of battles. It had no historical benchmarks; it did not even tell her how far apart battles that lay side by side had occurred in time. Her fragmented memories of her Ancient Cultures course reminded her that two fights separated only by a minor skirmish on the list had occurred three hundred years apart. The Lihallan Empire had lasted a long time, and from that span of aeons Garden teachers had with cool ruthlessness chosen only the battles suited to their purposes in training the minds of tomorrow. /Didn't it occur to them that tomorrow is useless without the past and doomed without today?/ Apparently not.
The last battle she remembered was next to last on the list.
With a trembling finger she touched the screen over the only battle listed chronologically after it. It had no name, and its description was a single line: [This battle ended in the destruction of the Lihallan Empire.] No more- no battle plans, no names, no places. The tactics had been deemed to bland for inclusion in standard teachings; its presence on this list was a concession to the culture from which they'd gleaned the knowledge: the only pinpoint in time, and useless to her. The dates of the two could be days apart or decades. From this list it was impossible to tell. Were no other battles between them because, after that, Syran had started listening to himself or to her and successfully and uneventfully driven back the Galbariands? Or was it because they had been utterly destroyed?
Search as she might, there were no answers there for her.
///////////////////
Gunfire, in the distance.
Naltaeri knew enough to recognize it, though she could not remember how and why that knowledge had come about. It was frightening to her, both what she could not understand and what she did. Painted together, they made a frightening picture.
Gunfire and cannonry in the distance.
The blankets were heavy against her, red brocade on thick down-filled comforters. They did not comfort her, though the weight lent an illusory feeling of safety, of being cared for.
It served only to strengthen her instinct that something was wrong.
She sat up in bed, covers pooling in her lap. The curtains were drawn back, unobstructing her view of the room. Empty. Nothing was changed.
But the sounds of battle echoed through the stone.
A closer sound made her jump, stone against stone, heart against chest. Syran entered the room, barring the door behind him, leaning against it and closing his eyes, fatigue etched across his face.
"Syran?"
Jade eyes opened to focus on her. "I'd hoped you still slept."
"I was awakened." Horrible suspicion began to dawn on her. "Outside..."
He bowed his head. "They've reached the castle. We're under siege."
Numbness crept up her spine. "So close? So soon? How is that possible?"
Self-mockery. "I lied to you, Naltaeri. Things are a lot worse than you knew."
She stared down at her hands, twisted together in a crumpled pile of blankets. "What... does this mean?"
He came over then, sitting on the edge of the bed and drawing her into his arms. "Our defenses are... limited. The servants and minor nobles have already been sent away."
"The army?"
His breath was warm on her neck, harsh contrast to the chill reality of his words. "If there were enough left to hold them off, they never would have gotten this far. The palace guard is trying. They will fail."
She closed her eyes. "How long?" The words had to be forced from her lips. So brutal, so hard. Somehow she'd never thought it would come to this.
"Hours."
Her breath caught in her throat. "Elaisha!" She started to swing her legs over the side of the bed. Syran's hand caught her, held her in place.
"Hours gone, with Lykouleon. If no one else could get out..."
"Yes." Naltaeri uncoiled back against the sheets. A terrible sense of loss rose up inside her, words escaping without meaning or understanding. "You should have listened."
Syran seemed frozen, gazing down at her, and a thousand emotions she could not name passed through his eyes. "What did you say?"
"I..." She pressed her head against the pillows, frightened. "I don't know." Seconds missing from memory, a terrifying gap of blank fog.
"No." Jade eyes on sapphire. "Say it again."
"You should have listened." Frozen for a moment; then her body comes unhinged, huddling against the pillows. Again, nothingness where memory should be.
"So." Syran falls against the pillows. "In my pride I thought I was the only one who could save us; in such was I defeated."
"Don't say that."
"It's true."
"It's not!" She rose up to her elbow, staring down at him with wonder and fear and love all intertwined. "You have done all that you could."
"Yes," he says softly. "All... *I* could."
She had never before heard defeat in his voice, and it frightened her more than all the thunder of cannons could. "What more could you have done?" Naltaeri demanded of Syran. "Which of those other foolish /akh'I/ could have lead our army better? You have not won the war, but I am still not convinced it was ever within your power. What you have done is be clever. You outmaneuvered the Galbariands, fought them, tricked them. We will never know how many of our people you have saved, to live in other lands."
"The empire will still fall."
She sank down beside him, and reaching up she touched his face. "An empire is its people. If they live, then you have done your duty, both to Lihalla and to me."
"I have failed my people," he says bitterly, "and I have never brought you anything but grief."
She threw her head back proudly. "If you have saved my people, you have brought me joy and hope. No more could I ask of any man."
He reached out for her, too, caressing her cheek. "You say that now, but I know you must have been lonely, and I was not there."
"You are here now."
Bitterness, in his eyes. "For how long?"
"Long enough." She drew closer to him, tilted her face up to his. "Stay with me."
He wrapped his arms around her. "I will."
Together they lay there, and waited for the end.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
[The End]
...please don't kill me. I swear that's the story exactly as I was told it, and it's unchangeable. It's history already, after all.
The epilogue will be out in a few days... i /think/.
Pierson: Glad to know you're sticking around. So... *winces* what did you think?
Quistis88: Heh... suspense... I hope this lived up to expectations.
Ripley: Well... thanks for the compliment... but it was less a knack for timing and more a "Lyaka woke up one day and felt really really guilty" sort of thing. Still ^^ if that's my story, I'll stick to it! And I'm glad I'm working your brain... Like I said at the beginning of this ficcy, /I/ don't quite understand this. Naltaeri is an interesting muse, to put it mildly.
dreamergirl277: All /right!/ *does a happy dance* I did it! I did it! I wrote a good dream-fic! Yay! :) Seriously, that makes me so happy to know that I succeeded in my stated goal, and accomplished something besides tension, angst and really weird cliffhangers. ^^ Thanks so much! Hope you liked the ending!
L[a]Dy^P[a]R[a]No[i]d: Awesome handle, btw... i'm glad you liked me. Sorry in a way this one is ending, but I can't keep it going forever, and this is what it's supposed to do, so... i'll just have to write a new fic after this. Any suggestions? I'm looking for a challenge, and I might do that Zuu fic yet. :)
Tennyo Tears: Suspense! Suspense! Sorry ^^;;; I hope this was as good as you hoped... and I hope it was worth the wait. You showed remarkable forebearance, btw. I'm happy :) I'm blushing... what are you going to do if you keep on complimenting me and I get a big head, hmmm? *hugs* hang around! more to come!
And that is indeed that... tune in in a few days for the epilogue, where we take a fun metaphysical romp through time and space. Bathrobes, anyone?
Lyaka ^^
Doesn't quite seem like it's done. Well, there's always the epilogue, right? Right.
Hope you all enjoy. Please review... this part was a lot harder to write than you'd think.
Not mine.
-------------------
In Dreams
-------------------
Once she knew where to look, it was frighteningly easy.
Her Instructor's license opened the placement files for her without murmur or protest. Once she was in the database, a wash of knowledge flooded her screen, and she had to close her eyes for a moment to fight the urge to curse or cry, she knew not which. So easy, and it had been there all along. Hidden for the sake of a test. Hyne help her, the knowledge that lay before her could have done so much, if she'd had it. If she'd known. She could have rewritten the history texts that lay classified before her.
But there they were, stark in cream text on a dark blue page, and the SeeD colors served only to mock her as she sat defeated in the dim half-light of curfew.
She shuffled past endless battles, dissertations of Lihallan strategy, searching for where she fell in history. Centuries slipped between her fingers as she typed rapidly through the rises and falls of a fading Empire's fortunes. Towards the end, she saw, it hadn't deserved the title, its colonies liberated, its subject nations gaining independence. For the last few decades it had been called an Empire out of convenience and courtesy, an old habit appended to an old culture, both finding themselves rapidly left behind.
A shiver ran up her spine as she located the placement test and lay it against the sketchy timeline. It wasn't nearly as complete as she could have wished, and she nearly screamed with frustration: this timeline showed no dates, no names of rulers, only generals and locations. And the names of battles. It had no historical benchmarks; it did not even tell her how far apart battles that lay side by side had occurred in time. Her fragmented memories of her Ancient Cultures course reminded her that two fights separated only by a minor skirmish on the list had occurred three hundred years apart. The Lihallan Empire had lasted a long time, and from that span of aeons Garden teachers had with cool ruthlessness chosen only the battles suited to their purposes in training the minds of tomorrow. /Didn't it occur to them that tomorrow is useless without the past and doomed without today?/ Apparently not.
The last battle she remembered was next to last on the list.
With a trembling finger she touched the screen over the only battle listed chronologically after it. It had no name, and its description was a single line: [This battle ended in the destruction of the Lihallan Empire.] No more- no battle plans, no names, no places. The tactics had been deemed to bland for inclusion in standard teachings; its presence on this list was a concession to the culture from which they'd gleaned the knowledge: the only pinpoint in time, and useless to her. The dates of the two could be days apart or decades. From this list it was impossible to tell. Were no other battles between them because, after that, Syran had started listening to himself or to her and successfully and uneventfully driven back the Galbariands? Or was it because they had been utterly destroyed?
Search as she might, there were no answers there for her.
///////////////////
Gunfire, in the distance.
Naltaeri knew enough to recognize it, though she could not remember how and why that knowledge had come about. It was frightening to her, both what she could not understand and what she did. Painted together, they made a frightening picture.
Gunfire and cannonry in the distance.
The blankets were heavy against her, red brocade on thick down-filled comforters. They did not comfort her, though the weight lent an illusory feeling of safety, of being cared for.
It served only to strengthen her instinct that something was wrong.
She sat up in bed, covers pooling in her lap. The curtains were drawn back, unobstructing her view of the room. Empty. Nothing was changed.
But the sounds of battle echoed through the stone.
A closer sound made her jump, stone against stone, heart against chest. Syran entered the room, barring the door behind him, leaning against it and closing his eyes, fatigue etched across his face.
"Syran?"
Jade eyes opened to focus on her. "I'd hoped you still slept."
"I was awakened." Horrible suspicion began to dawn on her. "Outside..."
He bowed his head. "They've reached the castle. We're under siege."
Numbness crept up her spine. "So close? So soon? How is that possible?"
Self-mockery. "I lied to you, Naltaeri. Things are a lot worse than you knew."
She stared down at her hands, twisted together in a crumpled pile of blankets. "What... does this mean?"
He came over then, sitting on the edge of the bed and drawing her into his arms. "Our defenses are... limited. The servants and minor nobles have already been sent away."
"The army?"
His breath was warm on her neck, harsh contrast to the chill reality of his words. "If there were enough left to hold them off, they never would have gotten this far. The palace guard is trying. They will fail."
She closed her eyes. "How long?" The words had to be forced from her lips. So brutal, so hard. Somehow she'd never thought it would come to this.
"Hours."
Her breath caught in her throat. "Elaisha!" She started to swing her legs over the side of the bed. Syran's hand caught her, held her in place.
"Hours gone, with Lykouleon. If no one else could get out..."
"Yes." Naltaeri uncoiled back against the sheets. A terrible sense of loss rose up inside her, words escaping without meaning or understanding. "You should have listened."
Syran seemed frozen, gazing down at her, and a thousand emotions she could not name passed through his eyes. "What did you say?"
"I..." She pressed her head against the pillows, frightened. "I don't know." Seconds missing from memory, a terrifying gap of blank fog.
"No." Jade eyes on sapphire. "Say it again."
"You should have listened." Frozen for a moment; then her body comes unhinged, huddling against the pillows. Again, nothingness where memory should be.
"So." Syran falls against the pillows. "In my pride I thought I was the only one who could save us; in such was I defeated."
"Don't say that."
"It's true."
"It's not!" She rose up to her elbow, staring down at him with wonder and fear and love all intertwined. "You have done all that you could."
"Yes," he says softly. "All... *I* could."
She had never before heard defeat in his voice, and it frightened her more than all the thunder of cannons could. "What more could you have done?" Naltaeri demanded of Syran. "Which of those other foolish /akh'I/ could have lead our army better? You have not won the war, but I am still not convinced it was ever within your power. What you have done is be clever. You outmaneuvered the Galbariands, fought them, tricked them. We will never know how many of our people you have saved, to live in other lands."
"The empire will still fall."
She sank down beside him, and reaching up she touched his face. "An empire is its people. If they live, then you have done your duty, both to Lihalla and to me."
"I have failed my people," he says bitterly, "and I have never brought you anything but grief."
She threw her head back proudly. "If you have saved my people, you have brought me joy and hope. No more could I ask of any man."
He reached out for her, too, caressing her cheek. "You say that now, but I know you must have been lonely, and I was not there."
"You are here now."
Bitterness, in his eyes. "For how long?"
"Long enough." She drew closer to him, tilted her face up to his. "Stay with me."
He wrapped his arms around her. "I will."
Together they lay there, and waited for the end.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
[The End]
...please don't kill me. I swear that's the story exactly as I was told it, and it's unchangeable. It's history already, after all.
The epilogue will be out in a few days... i /think/.
Pierson: Glad to know you're sticking around. So... *winces* what did you think?
Quistis88: Heh... suspense... I hope this lived up to expectations.
Ripley: Well... thanks for the compliment... but it was less a knack for timing and more a "Lyaka woke up one day and felt really really guilty" sort of thing. Still ^^ if that's my story, I'll stick to it! And I'm glad I'm working your brain... Like I said at the beginning of this ficcy, /I/ don't quite understand this. Naltaeri is an interesting muse, to put it mildly.
dreamergirl277: All /right!/ *does a happy dance* I did it! I did it! I wrote a good dream-fic! Yay! :) Seriously, that makes me so happy to know that I succeeded in my stated goal, and accomplished something besides tension, angst and really weird cliffhangers. ^^ Thanks so much! Hope you liked the ending!
L[a]Dy^P[a]R[a]No[i]d: Awesome handle, btw... i'm glad you liked me. Sorry in a way this one is ending, but I can't keep it going forever, and this is what it's supposed to do, so... i'll just have to write a new fic after this. Any suggestions? I'm looking for a challenge, and I might do that Zuu fic yet. :)
Tennyo Tears: Suspense! Suspense! Sorry ^^;;; I hope this was as good as you hoped... and I hope it was worth the wait. You showed remarkable forebearance, btw. I'm happy :) I'm blushing... what are you going to do if you keep on complimenting me and I get a big head, hmmm? *hugs* hang around! more to come!
And that is indeed that... tune in in a few days for the epilogue, where we take a fun metaphysical romp through time and space. Bathrobes, anyone?
Lyaka ^^