Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, I don't own Shadow Hearts or any of the characters. So sue me. Wait…
**
"It started the day before the reunion," Yuri started. Everyone--except for Joshua and Sharon, who were sleeping--was paying close attention. "Alice and I both had dreams about a woman. I'm pretty sure it was the same woman now."
"The woman we saw in the ruins," Alice said. She had known the moment she saw her.
Yuri sighed. "Yeah. Now, I don't believe her at all, but she's under the impression that you did something--bizarre to me. Crazy witch," he muttered under his breath. "So, she told me to meet with her in the ruins, so she could show me proof."
"If you did not believe her, why meet with her?" Keith asked.
"Well, um…the girl from the park, the summoner works for her. She blackmailed me pretty much."
"With your fusion souls?" Margarete said. Yuri nodded and she exploded. "So we got attacked, innocent people got attacked, because you were being an idiot?"
"How was I supposed to know she was going to do that?" he demanded. "I didn't know if she was real or just some bizarre dream!"
"So you were forced to come," Keith interrupted, stopping the argument before it could start. "Why didn't you tell us-oh. She told you to come alone?"
"Yeah. She also said to bring the Flare Brooch." Yuri stopped and looked around. "By the way, where is it? It's not still in the ruins is it?"
"You mean you don't know where it is?" Alice asked nervously.
Yuri had a questioning expression. "Why would I ask if I knew?"
"Look down," Zhuzhen advised.
Yuri looked down and instantly noticed the glow of red against his skin. Almost like the Flare Brooch--it was coming from inside of him? "It's in my chest?"
"Yes."
"Oh." Yuri continued to look down at his chest. It was a very calm reaction, and most were relieved until-- "You are joking, right?"
"No."
"I have a brooch in my chest."
"Yep."
"And I'm not dead?"
"You're fine," Halley confirmed.
He was given a glare that could have made plants wilt. "Fine? I'm fine? How the hell is having a stupid idiotic brooch in my chest fine? I'm going to kill Regina!"
"Wait. Regina? She's a Fire class, right?" Keith asked.
The Harmonixer nodded shortly, still very cross. When I get my hands on her, I'm going to… "The same as on the brooch's crest. I'd show you, but I guess that's kind of impossible now."
Keith shook his head. That was impossible. He was sure it was impossible.
"Do you know something, Keith?" Alice asked, seeing his thoughtfulness.
He looked up at everyone. "Some of the members in my clan have spoken of a Regina. She was the last ruler of the Fire clan."
"Fire clan?" Halley asked.
"There are six clans, one for each element," Keith explained. "Although I do not know where the other clans are…but from what I have heard, she was trapped within the tower where the Fire clan lived by one of the Light clan quite some time ago."
"She told me the same thing," Yuri said. Except she didn't say who did it.
Margarete thought it over. The man then--how confusing it had been in the ruins, but now it made sense. She had been being channeled through the man. "So these clans--they're all of the same element?"
Keith nodded. "All of the Earth clan are Earth class, all of the Light clan light class, yes."
"What would happen if one of them had a child with someone of a different class?" she pressed.
Keith looked thoughtful. "I'm not sure what would happen if the parents were of two different clans. I do know that if one of the Earth clan has a child with a mortal, the child will automatically be of the Earth class."
Alice was surprised by his answer. "You just said 'mortal'. What's that supposed to mean? Are you immortal?"
"In a sense. Those of the Earth clan no longer age upon reaching adulthood. We can die of other things, just not old age. I was under the impression it was the same for other clans, and if Regina is still alive, it must be. After all, she was imprisoned roughly two thousand years ago."
Yuri's eyes bugged out. Two thousand years. "She sure doesn't look like it," he said weakly.
Keith shrugged. "As I said. We age normally until adulthood, but we do not age past that. She would look like she's in her twenties."
Roger Bacon laughed at everyone else's bewildered expressions. "See? There are people even older than I am!"
"Yeah, but…" Halley shook his head. "That's just…wow." That accurately summed up their reactions of disbelief and amazement.
Koudelka was the first to get back to business. As amazing as Regina's age was, that had nothing to do with what they were discussing. "That's fine, but what does she want with Yuri?"
"She…I don't know. I don't remember her at all, but the way she talks sometimes…it's like…we were in love. She does seem really jealous of Alice, so that might be it. But I don't remember her at all." Yuri hesitated, and then said, "she does seem familiar in a way, but I don't know why." He shook his head and looked at Alice. "You said a while ago she seemed familiar when I described her. Did you see her in the ruins?"
"Yes." Alice nervously reached up to her cross, and said, "I think I have met her somewhere. She did seem familiar. And that hatred…that was also familiar," she finished more quietly.
"Wait, wait a second," Margarete said. "Okay, whoever had déjà vu when we saw her, raise your hand." She raised her own. Four hands came up to join her.
Yuri stared at his friends. "All of you got de-de-"
"Déjà vu," Alice said, putting her hand down.
"Yeah, whatever. But all of you got that feeling." Yuri thought about this and then said, "Well at least we know we couldn't have met her in China then."
"It has to have been recently, between when I joined you guys and when we split up," Halley said. It didn't make sense though. He couldn't remember a woman who had looked like that.
"Can't any of you remember?" Roger Bacon asked curiously, seeing how hard they were concentrating.
Margarete threw up her hands impatiently. "Nothing." Keith shook his head. Halley still looked blank.
"Of course," Koudelka said softly.
"What?"
"Nothing Chris," she said.
Zhuzhen shook his head slowly. "How strange. So she seems familiar to all of us, but none of us can remember her."
Yuri growled. "This is frustrating as hell. Maybe she's trying to make it seem like that on purpose."
"But how would she do that?" Alice asked.
Yuri shook his head. The thought had just come to him that maybe it was intentional. But Alice was right, how would she manage to make all of them think that?
She does seem like the kind of person to play that kind of trick though…
"Might I suggest something?" Roger Bacon said, gaining their attention. "There might be some mentions of her in here," he said, looking around the dusty books in the library. "You might want to look. Myself, I am going to go back to reading. Oh yes, just that section," he said, pointing to the last bookcase. "Don't bother. I haven't been able to translate those." He moved over to a mess of books that Margarete had shoved off the table so that Keith could have placed Yuri down on the table and picked one up. "Messy. You really don't know how to appreciate books…"
Margarete looked embarrassed. "Yeah, yeah," she muttered, walking over to the nearest bookcase. "So do these books have an index?" she asked, immediately flipping to the back of one particularly thick book.
"No."
She nearly dropped the book on her foot, but managed to grab it. "Well alright then, Bacon, how are we supposed to find her in all these massive books?"
"It's called reading," came the sardonic answer; Roger was already immersed in a small black book. "There's six of you aren't there?"
"There's hundred of books," Alice observed, looking around, but she went to the bookshelves, looking for likely titles. Luckily for her and Keith, both of them could read the Latin that many of the books' titles were in. The others weren't so lucky, but usually a few paragraphs (translated into English by Roger) and they could tell what subject the book was on. It was still very frustrating since they didn't know much about Regina, and at twenty minutes both Margarete and Halley had given up, already having headaches from the tiny text size.
Yuri felt ready to quit too. After all, if those clans were so well known to be in books and all, wouldn't they have heard more about them before? But when he looked over at Alice, she was still earnestly scanning through each promising book, sometimes twice before putting it back on the shelf. She's always so willing to help, he thought to himself. I'm the one in trouble here, and she's doing more than I am. I'll keep going until she gets tired of this, he decided, and went back to the books.
**
"How was that!" Kain said, hitting his knee with his hand. "They really thought I was Hyuga."
"Mortals see what they wish to see," Syth answered, not bothering to look at him as he continued eating his rather late dinner.
"Yeah, but there was one of the Earth clan…"
"What difference is there?" Syth said, now looking up at him. "They chose to live with mortals. In spirit, they have become the same."
"That's giving them too much credit," Kain said. The illusionist closed his blue eyes, leaning back in his seat. "Honestly, look at what they've done. Sleeping away their lives, like Pers says…"
"Um…"
Both men looked towards the doorway to see Persephone standing there. "Finally out of your room, eh?" Kain asked. "Took you long enough."
She turned red now, embarrassed at having it pointed out. The boy had been fine after all; she'd seen him in the ruins. It was a relief, but still…she wished she wasn't so weak. She knew what most of the others thought of mortals. She knew she shouldn't feel pity for them.
But it was so hard…especially considering what she was…
"Um…I was wondering if I could ask both of you a question," she said shyly, sounding like an eight-year-old, instead of the fourteen she was. "That is, if you don't mind…"
"Go ahead," Kain said.
"I don't think Regina would be comfortable if I asked," she explained. "That is…why was the first Hyuga banished?"
"You don't know?" Kain's eyebrows shot up. "Wow. Someone needs a history lesson on their own clan. This is new."
Persephone could not help but feel both embarrassed and irritated. Why did Kain always have to get on her case like this? He always pointed out what was wrong. How could she help that she knew next to nothing about the clan of Darkness? They had rejected her…
Seeing her dejected expression, Kain decided to lighten up on her. It wasn't her fault, after all. "Well, it did happen a long time ago. I suppose the main reason was because his uncle and his sons wanted to rule over the clan. Had Hyuga not been banished, he would have been the next choice to rule," he pointed out. "But of course, you can't kick someone out just 'cause you want to rule. So they pointed out his parentage."
"His parentage? But his mother was a summoner of the Darkness. No matter what clan his father was, the Darkness took in him. That's all that matters." Persephone had heard of this before. Succession wasn't nearly as confusing as the mortals made it out to be. "Or was his father a mortal?" That wasn't very common; usually it was that the father was the immortal and the mother the mortal, though sometimes it was the opposite.
In her case, her mother had been the mortal. A wonderful mother, but all the same…mortal. His father hadn't even known she'd been born until four years ago and hadn't cared then, instead giving her to Pan as a servant. Her nails bit into her hands as she tried to not show the pain she felt. Luckily, the men didn't notice.
"The problem was that his mother had been insane," Kain said. "His uncle used it as reasoning that the boy might turn out insane as well. And…there was a lot of prejudice against Hyuga, not just in your clan, but in others as well."
"But why?" Persephone asked.
"At his birth…"
**
Keith was now out with a genuine migraine, and Yuri felt like joining him. Whoever these authors were, they did not like being concise. He had to read pages just to figure out what the book was on, and then he had to scan through it, and it was hard reading Roger's translations, written between lines of characters. He felt like ramming his head against the bookcases as Raging Bull, but he didn't think that would help his headache.
How the hell can they read so freakin' much? Yuri wondered, glancing to see Alice and Zhuzhen still absorbed in their books. Forget this. Alice might be planning to keep reading, but he'd suggest to her that there wasn't much chance of finding Regina in here. She'd probably stop then. It is getting pretty late…she's probably pretty tired…
What would they do tomorrow? I just hope Regina holds off a day on the Graveyard visits. My brain needs a break. Alice needed to return home. After all, she had told her mother it'd only be a short trip. But where could they go tomorrow?
Keith did seem to know more about Regina than anyone else did. Maybe his clan would have something to go on.
Better than reading all these books.
"Something in there?" Alice asked, startling him out of his reverie. "Or are you getting bored?" she said with a little smile, noticing how his head had jerked.
"Yeah, a little," he admitted sheepishly, closing the book. "Have you found anything?"
She shook her head. "Nothing good. I wonder why." Alice laughed a little and said, "You know, from before she was imprisoned. You'd think she must have caused quite a stir to be imprisoned like that."
"Yeah. I was thinking maybe we-I should go with Keith and ask if anyone in his clan knows more about her."
Alice had noticed his sudden correction and tilted her head questioningly. "I think everyone's willing to help you out, Yuri. And Zhuzhen's pretty interested, it seems," she said, looking at the Adept.
"I think you should go back home, Alice."
Her head snapped back to him, her blue eyes wide with questions. "But why? Why should I go back home? It seems like you might be in big trouble."
"You promised your mother you'd be back soon," Yuri pointed out.
Alice shook her head. "So I'll write her a letter. If you're in trouble Yuri, I want to help." Her tone was stubborn. Yuri could tell he better explain himself now.
"It's not just you Alice. It's just…she only seems interested in me. And you've seen some of the stuff she's done. I figure, the less people, the better. No one else has to get involved in this."
Alice didn't like this logic. There was safety in numbers. "I'm coming. And it's not like you can stop the others from coming with you. Besides…all of us recognize her from somewhere. So all of us are already involved."
Yuri sighed, realizing that her tone meant the subject was over. "Alright. Just…uh…you need to start training then, you haven't been fighting in a while."
Alice smiled, interpreting that to mean 'I don't want you to get hurt'. "I'll be fine. I have my Light magic," she said, starting to walk upstairs. "I'll tell Keith about your idea."
Boy, she's persuasive, Yuri thought, watching her walk upstairs. It's impossible to say 'no' to her. Well…Alice was right. She could take care of herself, and the others. As long as she'd been practicing her magic…although Yuri thought she might need some brushing up.
He shook his head and started to put the book away, when one further down on the right caught his eye. It was a small book with a white cover, and curiously he picked it up. The cover was blank, which he supposed what made it stick out in the first place. Too many of the damn books were covered with words of too many different languages. They were pretty confusing.
Yuri opened the book up and his brow furrowed as he looked at the writings. The book was written in a fine hand--it looked a bit like cursive, except none of the characters were from English, or any other language he knew.
Where was the translation? Yuri tried looking for it, but couldn't find it. Then he looked up and realized he'd chosen a book from the set that hadn't been translated. Nice.
He looked back down. He'd never seen anything like this and he couldn't read it at all…might as well put it back. He snapped it closed and was about to put it back when he noticed a small yellow corner sticking out of the pages. Yuri pulled it out and found an old, torn piece of paper. One of Roger's bookmarks, or notes? Oops. Yuri was about to stick it back into the book when he realized the note wasn't in English, but in Japanese.
Why would Bacon have this? he wondered. Curiously, he held it out and began reading.
~
-follies of youth.
All is over for me. There is no one left alive that I
care for. This war has killed many of all the clans. It is a
shame that it was begun by one descended from my clan.
But the greatest shame is that I have failed all I
swore to protect. Sarah is dead. She is the last martyr.
I will follow her last request and send myself to the
grave after her. There is nothing more for me to do.
~
A suicide note? Yuri shook his head. Whoever had written this had killed themselves because they couldn't protect Sarah…that's what he called Alice in the dream…Sarah…and the note mentions a clans…a war that hurt every clan…
"Hey, Roger," he called, walking over to the alchemist. "Where'd you find this note?"
The alchemist looked curiously at him, then at the note. He scanned its contents and shook his head. "I didn't realize I had a note like this."
"Then where'd you find this book?" Yuri asked, showing him the white book he'd found. This time he noticed that the cover was exactly blank--there were small, very faint stains. If he wasn't mistaken, they were bloodstains.
Roger looked through the book and nodded. "Hmm…I think I found this one in a monastery. I'm not sure. Why?"
"Mind if I take it?" Yuri asked. He felt the cover, feeling the metal in there. He hadn't been sure before, but now he was pretty sure that the book was meant as a weapon. The bloodstains, the metal--definitely not just for armchair reading.
"Doesn't Alice have her own book?" Roger asked.
"Yeah…but I think this might be useful," Yuri said. "Besides, it's no use to you," he said suddenly. He didn't know why, but he just had a feeling that Roger would never be able to translate it.
Roger was puzzled by his words but handed over the book. "Alright, then go give it to her. Might as well go up, you're the last one down here."
"Thanks." Yuri took the book and the note, bringing them upstairs. After looking down at himself, he realized he should get his coat on at least. He slid the book next to Alice's head--she was already sleeping--and went over to his place on the floor.
"So, we're going to Blue Castle tomorrow?" Zhuzhen asked.
Yuri nodded. "I guess, if Keith said okay. It's going to take a few days, but we'll get there." He yawned, his mouth opening wide. "I'm going to sleep now," he announced, covering himself with his coat. He was too sleepy to put on a shirt and in a minute he was asleep. Zhuzhen shook his head in amusement and went to sleep himself.
**
"You understand now?" Kain said.
Persephone looked shocked from what she had heard, but she nodded. "Yes…but I never realized that was possible…"
"Our power can take many different forms," Syth said. "You must realize that by now. It's unpredictable what a child's powers will be…"
"Yeah, like Regina…" Kain said, but Syth suddenly stared at him coldly. The look made the illusionist very uncomfortable. "Well…you better be getting to sleep Pers. It's way past your bedtime."
"I don't have a bedtime," Persephone said irritably. Still, she knew they didn't want her here and she got up to leave.
"Wait, Pers…" She stopped and looked at Syth. He looked uncomfortable, but finally he said, "I…I hope your father's blood takes in you."
She was surprised. Syth actually caring about something. "Well…thank you," she said finally. "Good night."
**
Alice woke up. Bacon's house was dark, so she guessed that everyone was asleep still. Sleepily she pushed herself up, and her hand brushed against a book. Her book? She thought she'd put it away earlier…
She picked it up and felt it, realizing that it couldn't be her book. It was too small. She stood up and walked over to the vending machine, which was still lit up with its many lights. Looking at the book now, she saw it was a white book, small but a bit heavy for its size. Because of the metal, she guessed when she opened the cover.
She frowned at the writing inside. It wasn't Latin, or any language she knew. But still, it seemed familiar…
"Can you read?" she offered the book to him and he looked at it scornfully.
"Of course I can. What damn idiot can't read?"
She knew then that he was lying. Who would have taught him? Instead of pointing out the lie though, she simply began reading.
"God, our eternal Father…"
After a few lines, she felt him standing next to her, growing curious. She was pointing out the characters as she read; pretending it was for herself but knowing that that he was following along.
"I only know these people's language," he finally admitted. "I can't read. They never taught me." He took the book and she let him look at it. "Interesting idea though…knowledge as a weapon…"
"Do you always think of fighting?" she asked.
He didn't bother looking up. "Existence itself is a struggle, from womb to grave."
"Weren't you listening to what I said before?" she asked desperately. "Fighting isn't necessary. We can stop this war, both of us."
"What if I don't want to?" he asked, snapping the book closed. "All I care about is getting what I want."
"You're not like that," she argued.
He looked at her with those strange eyes, hidden in darkness. "Are you sure about that?"
"Sarah…are you sure we can trust him? I don't like this…"
"Please, Sarah. I'm sure he'll keep his word."
"Sarah, I…"
"Sarah…"
"Alice!"
"Come on, Alice! Up and at 'em!"
Alice's eyes fluttered open and she looked at Zhuzhen and Yuri, both standing over her. I fell asleep, she realized. What an odd dream…that book was really odd.
"I see you found the book," Yuri said, looking down. She did as well and saw the book lying open in her lap. "Hey," he whispered, kneeling beside her, "Can you read that?"
She looked at the book and its strange language. "Of course not," she said, whispering as well.
Yuri sighed. "Ah, darn. For some reason I thought you might know it. Oh well, Roger lent it and I think it makes a pretty good weapon. It can be a backup."
"Oh…alright." Alice looked at it again, this does look like it could be a good weapon…
"But…you need to kind of move," Yuri said. "You're blocking the vending machine and I need to get supplies."
"Oh!" She quickly scooted out of the way and then stood up. She walked next to Zhuzhen and quietly asked, "Are you sure he should be the one buying?"
The Adept shrugged, "Well he is the best with those Judgment Rings and we all brought our Guild cards, so…"
"But…you remember what happened last time?"
"The machine's fixed, isn't it?"
**
Reviewers:
Delka: Yes, the hyperbolic time chamber is good. But their sagas are way too freakin' long. ::Glares at tv:: Will you just kill Majin Buu or whatever his name is already?! Come on!
Dragon Wolf: Good luck! Hope the war ends soon. And when you do come back…
UPDATE YOUR FANFIC!!!
Poopooplatter: Exams are the utmost evil. Glad you're back!
The Emerald Guardian: Thanks! I know there's probably some confusion with this fic, but things will eventually be explained in later chapters. If it's something with my writing style that's making you confused or you think I'm neglecting something, please tell me!
Tiger5913: Well, I can't beat Yuri up…but I can ask Regina to discipline him.
Alice: You did what?
Don't worry, you'll get him back…she's just having a little fun with him.
Regina: Ohoho! ::drags a tied-up Yuri on the floor::
Okay, maybe a little too much fun…but he tied me up. That's how I'm getting revenge.
Nights Mistress: Hmm…maybe it was a good thing that Yuri gagged me then… ::glances over to where Regina is 'having fun' with him:: …she can have him for a few more minutes…::grins::
Neko-Kelcie: Thanks for the review!
Gutterfiend: A novelization, huh? Hope you can get that up soon. And yeah, I set my goal of weekly updates for the abandonment reason too (two fanfics went down the drain that way!)
Greyfriars: Thanks! Sometimes I get worried about whether or not my characters are believable, or if I'm totally wrecking them.
Um…I believe Yuri's getting his punishment right now for his smart aleck comments ^^.
Alice: That woman is going to scar him for life…
Actually, I tried looking at the Burning Monkey Solitaire, but I couldn't get to it. Probably a good thing…my computer hates downloads (to everyone who sent me something, sorry but I can't get into it!)
The Matriarch Mavina: Well, I tried not to spoil too much, so it'd be hard to get anything out of it.
**
Author's Note:
Um…I know I added on an extra level to Bacon's house. That was just added partly because it seemed like he would have a library and um…bit of a plot device. ::sweatdrop:: But hey, no one's complained yet.
And this chapter was…ugh. Blah. I hated writing this one.
Just a warning for future chapters. If all goes as planned, some of these chapters might turn out really weird. I'm not sure, but just…this is a warning.
Um…that's pretty much it for that…
By the way, if you were wondering what the little conversation between Alice and Zhuzhen was about, here's a little section I wrote. It seemed a little too ridiculous to be included with the chapter, but I thought it was kind of funny. Just my take on how you get discounts (^^).
**
"Come on baby, forty off! Forty…"
"That looks hard," Joshua commented, looking at the narrow rings.
"OHHHH YEEEAAAAHHHH!!!!"
"He's on drugs," Margarete said flatly, watching as Yuri celebrated in front of the flashing vending machine. "He has to be. There's just no other explanation."
"I don't think we should have let him buy," Keith said.
"Come on baby, fifty off! Fifty…"
"This is going to turn nasty," Halley predicted.
"Is it really that fun?" Sharon asked.
"NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Bacon, this stupid %^%*&^ machine is rigged!"
BAMBAMBAMBAM--
"Would you stop that?!"
"And it's broken again," Alice observed as a stream of miscellaneous roots rushed out.
"OHHHH YEEEAAAAHHHH!!!!"