I don't own Skies of Arcadia
===
Rain was surprised to hear the roar of an engine so close to her house. She quickly put the dishes she had been washing away and grabbed a towel to dry her hands. When she was done, she dropped the towel by the sink and made her way to the outside.
Smiling softly, she noted the large wooden ship hovering closer as well as the blue flag that flew prominently in the wind. She let out a small sigh and made her way to the docking island ready to see her son for the first time in many months.
Several children who were playing in the center of the village with a little dog seemed to stop in their games of tag or hide and seek, Rain wasn't really sure not having played either game in a long time. She could hear one of them yell, "Vyse, Aika, and Fina are back! Let's go see them!"
The children scurried past her, following the ship and waving their hands frantically at it, hoping that Vyse would peek over and smile at them. However, there wish wasn't granted and Rain had a distinct feeling that something was wrong. As a matter of fact, the second that the ship docked, Vyse had been the first to exit without Fina nor Aika by his side.
Rain stepped up to her son and gave him a warm hug and a reassuring smile. He returned the smile, although forcefully she noted, and said, "I'll be right back. I'll just go and greet Dad."
Rain nodded at her son and he hurried away, not waiting for his traveling companions. At this point, Rain cocked an eyebrow. What was going on? This wasn't like her son at all.
"Fina! Aika!" The children chanted as the two women slipped off board. They sauntered closer to the group, Fina carrying tons of toys for them, and Aika following close behind her. Aika had a determined way that described tribulations in her which made Rain nearly catch her breath. It was like looking at Lake on that day, so long ago…
Rain walked over to Fina and relieved the younger woman of all the packages. "You must be tired," she said with a warm grin. "Go and take a rest. There's a cake back at my house, if you want."
Fina bowed. "Thank you very much, but I would wish to play with these children for a little while. It's been so long since I've seen any of them."
Rain nodded quickly. "Sure. If you get tired, don't hesitate to come to my home." Rain then turned her eyes to Aika, searching for something, anything, to tell her of the odd behavior that both Aika and Vyse were showing. "Aika, would you help me, please?"
Aika suddenly flinched as if she had been suddenly brought back into reality. She looked at Rain and grinned smoothly, all the tension and troubles that she looked to have harbored, vanished. Rain was suddenly reminded of Raven and his easy grins and smooth appeal. Aika was definitely her father's daughter. "Of course. You don't need to ask me~!" she sang and reached for the packages. "Back to the old house then?"
Rain nodded, following Aika at a much slower pace. Something wasn't right and she wanted to find out what the problem was, now.
--
Vyse forced the old door open, hearing the annoying creak of the wooden door. He had promised his father that he would fix it on his last arrival, but had completely forgotten about it. When he stepped into the office, everything looked as if he had never left. The book shelf, still on the far side of the door, tittered unsteadily as wind blew past it from the back. The desk, on Vyse's left, was still wide and majestic in the dimly lit room. Sitting at the desk, his father, Dyne, was looking at maps.
Dyne looked up momentarily before glancing back at the maps. "Vyse," Dyne regarded setting down one of the old maps. He leaned back in his chair and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb. "What brings you back here?"
Vyse's throat suddenly constricted. How could he tell his father that he wanted him to watch over Aika for now? It was hard enough as it was to admit that he didn't want this to occur, and sure enough his dad would ask him questions, tough questions that Vyse wasn't ready to face--
"Vyse?" Dyne questioned, this time turning his alert eyes onto his son. "Is there something on your mind?"
Vyse felt like a little boy again, under his father's watchful gaze. He wanted to shrink away, deny that there was anything wrong, but, no. He was Vyse the freaking Legend. He had courage enough to defy someone as powerful as the Armada fleet, had fought large monstrosities, had witnessed destruction but still fought on. Of course he was strong enough to tell his father such simple words…so why wouldn't his mouth work?
"Look, Vyse. You're obviously on some drugs right now. Do I have to lecture you on the effects--"
"No," Vyse croaked, ignoring his father's wide smile. "It's not that. Dad, I don't want Aika on my crew anymore. Please watch over for her duration on Sailor's Isle."
Dyne cocked an eyebrow and pushed himself up. He walked around his desk until he was in the front of the long table, then leaned against it. He crossed his arms and looked thoughtful for a moment. "If you two had a fight, this isn't the way to handle it."
"It's not that, Dad. I--" Vyse took a deep breath and told his father everything. He told him about the journal that belonged to Raven, Lake, Dyne, and Rain. He told them about the prophecy, how he and Aika were involved, and of course, about his need to keep his best friend out of trouble.
Dyne just shook his head in utter disbelief. "Are you telling me that you're unwilling to fight? This doesn't sound like you."
Vyse suddenly grew angry. He took a dangerous step forward and snarled, "This isn't just some fancy fight with a monster. I'm talking about Aika's life. Aika's life! I don't want anything to happen to her--Dad, I love her too much to have her jeopardize her life!"
"Well, at least you admitted something to yourself," Dyne said thoughtfully and looked at his son with such tired eyes that it drained all the anger away from Vyse. "How do you think Aika will take this sudden news that she's off your crew? Lying down? I doubt it."
"Look what happened with Aika's parents. I don't want the same thing to happen to her," Vyse whispered quietly. "And I know I can't really do anything to prevent it from coming into existence, but I can sure as hell try something."
Vyse took a deep breath trying to clear his thoughts. "Just knowing she's okay is all I need to keep me going. If she were more like mom and stayed at home--"
"Then you wouldn't like her as much as you do now," Dyne interrupted. He pushed himself away from the table and went to his bookshelf. On one of the top shelves, he pulled out a thick book, an old one by the looks of it, and opened it. Inside, the pages had been scraped out to reveal a secret compartment with a loqua bottle within. Dyne withdrew the loqua bottle and tossed it as his son. "Before I hit twelve, Aika's father and I found that in here. Around the same age, you and Aika wandered in here and found it--and drank a lot of it. Your mother nearly tore my ear off with her nagging. She told me to throw it away, but I told her that one day, you'd come to me with a problem, and we'd need this to sort through it. This baby's got 80 percent alcohol in it."
Vyse's eyebrows shot up. Out of all the things he was expecting, this was the last. He unscrewed the top of the loqua bottle and took a shot. It felt like fire burning down his esophagus as he drank.
After the initial shot, he threw the bottle back and his dad who in turn took a drink. Dyne nodded as he wiped his lips with his sleeve. "Vyse, do you remember the day Raven and Lake left?"
Vyse was about to answer, but stopped at the lost look in his father's eyes. Vyse could tell he was remembering the past, dredging up memories he had long suppressed.
"Those damned Black Pirates were out for revenge that day, coming at our Island, showing us their power by blasting parts of Shrine Island. If you didn't know, when Raven, Lake, and I went to save our parents, I sorta went ballestic and killed tons of people in one of the rooms--I killed a lot of old men, one of them was Lorenzo the Gloom's father.
"After Lorenzo found out that I killed his father, he came after our Island, intent on killing everything in site, including all those I held dear: Your mother, you, my friends, and Pirate Isle."
===
Dyne watched the destruction with a keen eye. For all that he knew, he was leading his friends into their death. He glanced up at Raven and Lake who held on to their daughter like there was no tomorrow. They each kissed her chubby face and whispered words of love and encouragement. Raven, especially, had a hard time of letting his little daughter go with Rain and Vyse underground to where it was safer.
Aika whispered something then that made Dyne want to force Raven and Lake back. She held out her arms to her mom and dad and said, "But you'll be back soon, right? You promised that we could go on an adventure together."
Vyse hit Aika on the shoulder with a fist and said, "Don't worry. I'll always take you on adventures with me!"
Aika frowned and crossed her arms. "I'd prefer my parents over you!"
The two began to squabble once again and Rain gave a sigh of hopelessness as she led the two children into the underground. Rain turned back once to look at Lake one last time and say, "I'll see you back in no time, kay?"
Lake nodded and turned to Dyne. "So, Captain, when are we off? The sooner we're done, the sooner I can see my baby girl again."
===
"You made a promise, Vyse. You said you'd always take Aika on adventures with you."
Vyse had grown quiet at his father's words. "A promise made long ago. You can't honestly tell me that you always keep your promises, Dad."
Dyne's eyebrows shot up at those words and he looked just a little agitated. "Actually, I do. I've been keeping one for ten years now."
"What do you mean?"
"Another story for another time," Dyne replied as he motioned to the bottle of loqua. "Right now, we have to discuss Aika."
===
Aika smiled at Vyse's mother, wondering why the elder woman had wanted her to stay. They sat in the kitchen--well, Vyse's mother was chopping on vegetables and Aika was sitting on the counter, watching.
Suddenly, Aika felt a little brash. She had come onto Pirate Isle for a reason and now was the best time to ask. "Mrs. Dyne…er…Vyse's Mom…no." Aika bit the side of her cheek and shook her head. This wasn't going as planned and she had no way of redeeming herself after that. However, she already stuck herself this deep in the mud, she might as well plunge in deeper. "I was wondering--do you know how my parents really died?"
Rain dropped the knife she held, her hand too shaky to control the heavy hbject. Grabbing a towel and wiping her hands clean, Rain turned to look at Aika's curious face before she said, "What brought this on?"
Aika explained about the entire journal and how Vyse was trying to protect her by making her stay put. As Aika said those words, Rain's face became red and she looked about ready to yell. "That son of mine! Sometimes he can be as dimwitted as his father!"
"Look, Aika, I know it may look like your parents died because of some stupid prophecy, but I can assure you that that wasn't the case."
"So, what was the case?"
Rain bit the bottom of her lip. "Aika…I guess you only have a right to know." Rain took a deep breath and another one. "There's no easy way to say this, honey. You know that your parents loved you very much and would do nothing to hurt you intentionally."
Aika was tired of this nonsense. She wanted answers and it sounded like Rain was beating around the bush. "Look, if you're not going to tell me, then--"
Rain placed her hands on Aika's knees and gave them a reassuring squeeze. "Aika, your parents…they chose to die."
===
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! CLIFF!!!!!!!!!!!!
No worries, the last part will be up in two or three days.
