The Day the Moon Shines
By: deep.Indigo
(The Memories I Was Pursuing Will Also Probably Return to You Someday)
The next morning, once the Delphinus had been fully repaired and its crewmembers had eaten breakfast, Vyse and everyone set sail for the Dark Rift. Although tension was high, so were their spirits, and even Ramirez, with a certain resignation about him, had no protests to make. The ship pulled near to the swirling black clouds that was the rift, and in a heartbeat, crossed the boundary, plunging into the darkness.
The effect was almost instantaneous. Warning signals blazed within the ship as the navigation system went haywire, trying futilely to regain its bearings until Fina shut it and the alarm systems down.
At the back of the control room, Ramirez sighed. It was very likely they would meet an untimely end in the Dark Rift, but Vyse simply continued to pilot the ship, undaunted by the lack of navigation. Ramirez wanted to ask Vyse if he had any idea what he was doing, but he bit his tongue. There was no use asking when the answer was obvious.
He shook his head. /Idiot./ The word had become almost a nickname for Vyse. But in all honesty, there wasn't any word that described him better. Well, Ramirez supposed it was all part of being a captive, being forced to die in such a manner; however, that still didn't make it any less pathetic.
/I had always thought that I would die in battle, not lost in a void that can't be navigated.../ He sighed again, this time due to boredom more than anything. /I'll die of boredom at this rate.../ he mused.
"Ramirez?" Fina called over to him. "Are you all right?"
He raised an eyebrow at the query. "Hmm?" the young silver-haired man said in non-reply.
"You're just standing there by yourself, so I wondered if..." She trailed off, not knowing quite what to say.
Ramirez half shrugged, not making eye contact. "I'm all right," he replied, not wishing to convey any sentiment that would draw unwanted sympathy.
"You bored?" Vyse called over his shoulder. "If you want, I can give you some work!"
Ramirez made a face. "You can't have gotten the bathroom so dirty again already."
Vyse had to laugh at that. "No, no... Would you mind checking to see if the cannons are in working order? I really don't know what kind of things live in here, and it's always best to be prepared."
Ramirez blinked, mildly surprised, and nodded. "All right," he conceded. "I'll be back shortly, provided I don't run into any trouble." With that, he immediately left the control room.
Aika, Fina and Enrique watched him leave, then turned to Vyse.
"Are you sure it's okay to let him go off on his own, Vyse?" Aika queried, one orange eyebrow raised.
Vyse shrugged slightly. He thought briefly of the previous night's events, and smiled. "I think it'll be okay," he reassured her.
"You sound confident," Enrique noted. "What makes you so sure?"
"Call it sailor's intuition," he replied simply.
Fina, Aika and Enrique sweatdropped
in unison.
"Uh huh..."
Vyse sighed. "Besides, we have all
the weapons up
here with us,"
he reminded them.
Enrique nodded thoughtfully. "That
is true," he
agreed. "Ramirez
is still unarmed; he would be hard put to endanger anyone on this ship."
"That doesn't make him any less
dangerous—or any
less crazy!" Aika
disputed hotly.
"Aika!" Fina chided, her own
feelings hurt by the
(most likely
true) accusation made towards her friend.
Vyse shook his head at that, and
returned his
attention to
steering the ship. Getting distracted could prove to be fatal here.
Ramirez walked to the deck without
hurrying but
without meandering
either. Although he had no desire to do any sort of work sloppily,
neither did
he want Vyse getting the impression that he was becoming part of the
crew. He
supposed the reason he was even doing this at all was due to boredom.
He'd
rather do anything but stand there, in the same room as Vyse. The
previous
night had been unnerving, and he needed time to himself to think about
it. Even
though, and Ramirez reluctantly admitted this as he resisted the urge
to bite
his lip, he didn't really want to think about it.
It had been frightening...he had
left himself
totally vulnerable
to the Blue Rogue. If Vyse hadn't been as gentle as he had been, the
entire
event would have left Ramirez feeling sick and humiliated. As it was,
the young
Silvite was still quite unsettled. The jade-eyed Admiral leaned against
a wall
and sighed. He wasn't even sure how he viewed the pirate anymore. It
didn't
matter how he viewed him, though, Ramirez was quick to remind himself.
No
matter how his opinion might change, Vyse would always be the enemy.
What he needed, though, was some
way to justify
to himself his
presence on the ship. Why, indeed, didn't he just run away? There were
always
the most obvious excuses: he had no weapon, and he had no boat of any
kind with
which to return to Valua, to Lord Galcian. But these reasons were
transparent
at best; having been delegated to Vyse's quarters, and with Vyse
growing more
and more complacent around him, Ramirez could easily still his weapons
and make
off with them. In addition, once he had those weapons, he could, with
his
power, conceivably take over the Delphinus—or, if he preferred not to
get
caught up in unnecessary conflict, steal one of the lifeboats and
quietly
escape before Vyse's quickly cooling body was found. So why hadn't he
done
that, then? Was he truly developing...no. He cut that thought
off,
disgusted. That couldn't be the reason. There had to be some
advantage
to his staying with them.
Realizing suddenly he had stopped
walking to
ponder his situation,
Ramirez began walking again, this time more quickly to make up for lost
time.
Soon, he reached the cannon deck,
and began his
task of checking
them. They were in good enough condition; there weren't, at least, any
monsters
crawling in through the ducts and clogging them up, in any case. He
also
checked to see if they were loaded, which they were. There were no
problems,
which was good for him, he supposed. He didn't particularly relish the
idea of
dying in this place. Although, he mused, regardless of whether they won
all the
battles they got into, they would probably die here regardless.
"This is what
happens," he
murmured aloud, "when the captain is an idealistic fool..."
Yes, Vyse was a complete fool,
trying to make his
way through the
Dark Rift. Ramirez sighed and rolled his eyes towards the ceiling; that
sort of
fallacy seemed common among humans.
Ramirez shook those thoughts aside,
for now, and
made his way back
to the control room. Just before he arrived, though, he hesitated. It
sounded
as if Fina and the other girl were having an argument...an argument
about him.
He lingered, behind the door, wondering if he should just walk in, or
stay and
listen for a moment first. He decided to wait a moment and listen to
the
exchange between the two girls, momentarily interested in what the
current view
was of him.
"...not so bad, I
know he
seems abrasive at first, but he and I have been together for all our
lives, so, please, Aika, I'm sure he'll eventually calm down and—"
"Fina, are you just
clueless about him? I don't mean to insult you, but this whole
childhood friend
thing you have with him is totally blinding you! I don't know what kind
of
person Ramirez used to be, but he's completely hostile and he's already
said
he's going to kill Vyse! How can you tell us to give a person who wants
us dead
a chance?!"
Ramirez shrugged at this
description of himself.
The redhead
certainly had a good head on her shoulders...
/If they are so insistent on
trusting me,/ he
slowly smirked as a plan began to form in his mind, /then I have no
choice but
to use that trust against them./
"Jeez, just calm down, Aika.
There's no point in
spending our time
wondering if Ramirez is gonna betray us. If he does, we'll just deal
with that
when the time comes. If not, well...that's one less thing we'll have to
worry
about," Vyse's voice cut in to the argument.
Ramirez leaned against the door and
shook his
head, still
smirking. /Idiot./
"I agree," Enrique
spoke
up. "Although it's probably unwise to completely trust Ramirez, he has
no
weapons and no means of returning to Valua, so at least for the moment,
I think
we don't have to worry about him too much."
"Am I the only one
who sees
Ramirez for what he really is?!" Aika snapped, on the verge of throwing
a fit.
"A depraved, heartless, murderous PSYCHOPATH?!!?"
Ramirez blinked,
surprised at her vehemence. /...The
redhead could be trouble unless I do something,/ he mused, and then
abruptly opened the door to the control room.
"Now that's
just being cruel," he said to the
stunned party
members.
Aika's face abruptly went crimson.
"...how long
have you been
there?" she asked in a quiet voice.
"Not too
long. I was just about to come in when I
heard you
yelling about me," the young Admiral replied calmly.
Aika made a
face and said hotly, "Vyse and Fina
and Enrique might
think you're harmless, but I know different! I'm gonna be watching you,
Ramirez, and if you try anything funny, I'm gonna kick your butt clear
over the
Moons!!"
Ramirez
regarded her with a coolly raised
eyebrow. "Are you aware
that you talk too much?" he queried dryly.
Aika
twitched, and in exasperation turned her
attention away from
him, as if monitoring the fuel had become the most interesting thing in
the
world all of a sudden.
Vyse grinned
at the banter between the two, but
his mirth didn't
last long, because for the moment that he'd taken his attention away
from
navigating through the treacherous Dark Rift, the ship had gone
slightly off
course.
With a
wrenching shock, the side of the Delphinus
hit something
with such force that it threw everyone to the floor.
Vyse pulled himself up from the
floor, calling to
Fina who was
doing likewise. "Fina, status report!"
"It seems..."
she
started,
"that the ship sideswiped something out there. There's no critical
damage, and
the Delphinus is still intact but..." Fina looked up. "Should we check
out what
we hit?"
"Sure..." Vyse
replied,
relieved that there was no major damage to the ship. "I wonder what we
could
have hit in here, anyway?"
"There are a lot of
ships
wrecked in here," Enrique pointed out. "It's possible what we hit was
one of
them..."
"It doesn't look like that!" Aika
said, peering
into the darkness
through the windows. "It looks more like we hit some kind of floating
black
rock."
Vyse blinked, confused. "...I
wonder what..." he
trailed off. "I'm
gonna go take a closer look," he said without finishing his previous
thought,
and headed towards the exit.
With a sigh, Ramirez got up to
follow him.
"Woah, where
are you going?" Aika demanded,
eyeing him
suspiciously.
The silver-haired young man glared
at her.
"Making sure he doesn't
get himself killed," he snapped with only the barest hint of sarcasm.
"Or you'll
kill him..." Aika muttered to herself as the two
young men left, heading up to the deck.
"Wow," Vyse muttered, staring at the giant black
boulder that was
only a few feet away from the railing of the Delphinus. He turned to
the
green-eyed man, asking, "Hey, Ramirez, do you know what this thing is?"
Frowning, the
young Admiral shook his head. "It
seems somewhat
familiar, though..." he replied as he reached out his left hand to
touch it.
As his fingers grazed
the surface, though, a sudden
explosion of silvery light erupted beneath his hand, and for a second
he could
have sworn he felt a heartbeat emanate from the rock. Such thoughts
didn't
last, though, as Ramirez was blasted back from the force of the
reaction and
almost collided against the Delphinus.
"What the hell?!" Vyse rushed over
to the
verdure-eyed Silvite's
side. "You okay, Ramirez?"
Brushing off
the Air Pirate's concern, he stood
and regarded the
black stone, which was now glowing slightly but still eerily.
Vyse stared
at Ramirez, then the mysterious
boulder, then back at
Ramirez. "What happened?" he finally asked.
"....I don't know," the Silvite
replied simply, sweat beading on his forehead.
"Is your hand
okay?" the Blue Rogue queried,
reaching for
Ramirez's left hand as he spoke.
The proud Admiral snatched his hand
away before Vyse could
hold it. "I'm
fine. It's fine," he stated coldly, glaring at the other man.
Vyse made a
face at the green-eyed young man.
"Let me see," he
insisted. "You're just the type of person to say it's all right when
it's
really not."
Ramirez
sighed and reluctantly let the Blue Rogue see his
hand.
Vyse smiled at him and took
Ramirez's gloved hand
into his own.
There didn't seem to be any burns or anything, at least not on the
glove,
but... "It looks fine, but if something weird shows up later, be sure
to let me
know, okay?"
The Silvite Admiral removed his
hand from Vyse's and did not
reply.
The captain of the Delphinus looked
down at Ramirez for a moment before
finally asking,
"You aren't going to tell me anything, are you?"
Ramirez turned away from Vyse, and
began to head
back to the
interior of the ship.
"Hey!" the
young rogue protested,
walking after him. "You could at least say something!"
Still
ignoring him, Ramirez opened the door, and
entered the ship.
Irritated,
Vyse started to follow, but something
made him pause.
He glanced behind him at the massive black rock; was it his
imagination, or had
he seen it...pulse? He peered at it through the misty light of the Dark
Rift,
but it didn't seem to do anything else, so the young pirate shrugged it
off as
a trick of the strange light and ran inside to catch up with Ramirez.
Vyse caught up with Ramirez in the
hallway,
placing a hand on one
shoulder to stop him. "What's going on?" he asked the suddenly taciturn
Silvite.
The young Admiral glanced back at
him, frowning.
"What do you
mean?" he finally deigned to mutter.
"You've been
ignoring me. Are you sure you're
okay?" Vyse replied.
Ramirez
rubbed his left hand a bit. "I'm fine,"
he stated flatly.
Noticing that
last action, Vyse commented, "That
hand hurts,
doesn't it? I knew you had to have hurt it."
Ramirez
scowled. "I said I'm fine!"
The brunet rogue sighed. "Just calm
down, okay?"
The silver-haired man turned his
head away. He certainly wasn't
going to admit
it, but after touching the black rock, he had become woozy; it took all
of his
concentration and discipline not to give it away.
Vyse walked past him, opening the
door to the
control room. Before
he entered the room, though, he turn and said to Ramirez, "If you just
want to
be left alone, tell me. Don't give me the silent treatment."
The pale swordsman blinked and
looked up at him, studying
the brunet pirate
but saying nothing. He recalled at that moment how Vyse had said last
night
that he wanted to be his friend...that had been the first time in his
life that
anyone had ever said such a thing to him, particularly a human.
Finally, he
muttered, "You'd just stick your nose in my business, anyway."
The brown-eyed youth didn't seem to
hear his reply, though, as he
had already
entered the room. With a resigned sigh, Ramirez followed him in.
Enrique and the girls looked up
upon their
entrance. "What did you
find out?" the flaxen-haired Prince of Valua queried.
Vyse opened his mouth
to answer, but before he could say anything, Ramirez cut in, "Nothing to find out. It's just a boulder."
The young captain of
the Delphinus stared at his companion for a moment. Even if it seemed
that
way,
considering what just happened to him, that thing couldn't be
considered just
a boulder! Still, what just happened couldn't be explained, and nothing
wrong
seemed to have happened, so there wasn't much point in arguing about it
in
front of everyone else.
"That true, Vyse?" Aika
asked
suspiciously, her eyes on her childhood friend.
"Uh, yeah," he replied,
looking over at her. "Doesn't seem to be anything special. It's just
floating
there, like everything else in this weird place. We should still avoid
it,
though." Moving back to his station in front of the wheel, Vyse began
to call
out orders to the others, and as they began to ease away and go into
motion
again, the incident was mostly forgotten.
Still, though Vyse was much
more careful after that, they had no idea where they were going or how
to get
out. So, they continued to wander through the engulfing darkness that
was the
Dark Rift. After several hours of roaming the inky blackness, Vyse
decided to
call it a day. His growing frustration at being so lost was bound
impact his
ability to pilot the ship, and he wanted to avoid any further mistakes.
The
next one could be fatal...
"All right, everybody!" Vyse
called to his teammates, bringing the Delphinus to a halt. "It's
getting late,
and there doesn't seem to be any end to this maze, so let's call it
quits for
today, get some sleep, and try again tomorrow."
/Provided we
don't die first,/ Ramirez thought
darkly, but he was
prudent enough not to voice this.
"Let's just drop anchor
first,
to keep from drifting," the brunet captain added. "That way we'll know
where we
are when we wake up."
"Um..." Fina began. "Which way
should I drop the anchor?"
Vyse blinked and stared.
"What?"
"Well...there's ground above
us and below us...and the islands around us seem to be upside-down...
It's a
little confusing..."
"Er..." Vyse shrugged. "Drop
to the ground below."
"Why is
there ground in here, anyway?" Aika cut
in. "I thought this
planet was mostly air!"
Vyse shrugged helplessly.
"Damned if I know."
"I remember hearing a myth
that the Dark Rift was the product of the destruction of a legendary
seventh
moon," Enrique added thoughtfully. "Supposedly that moon was black. But
thousands of years ago, it was destroyed—the myth didn't state how, or
why—and
its fragments dropped to the earth and created the floating continents.
The
magic left behind in its wake created the Dark Rift, which separated
the western
world from the eastern world." He shrugged. "Well, it's just a myth,
after all.
It might be entirely made-up."
"Still, it's pretty
interesting," Vyse commented, frowning thoughtfully. "You know anything
about
it, Ramirez? Fina?"
"No," the silver-haired
Admiral stated flatly, and did not clarify.
Fina just shrugged demurely,
shaking her head.
"Ahh, it doesn't matter,"
Aika
said impatiently, waving a hand. "It's just a myth, and there's no way
we could
ever know for real. Let's just concentrate on getting through and out
of here."
"Yeah, point," Vyse agreed. "I
just don't want a repeat of that accident earlier. Let's get this ship
anchored
and settle down for the, er, night."
There was no way to tell the
difference between night and day in the Dark Rift.
Once all preparations had been
completed, Vyse, Aika, Fina, Enrique, Ramirez and the other crew
members of the Delphinus retired to their respective
quarters.
Ramirez had been ominously quiet ever since his monosyllabic
contribution to
the black moon myth conversation, and Vyse had a sinking feeling he
knew why.
The two reached Vyse's room in silence and prepared for bed in silence,
until Vyse
couldn't stand it anymore.
"Ramirez, what's eating you?"
The Silvite blinked and
stared at the Blue Rogue, his internal monologue interrupted. "Excuse
me?"
Vyse stared at him levelly,
crossing his arms. "What's wrong? You've been quiet this entire trip."
Ramirez shut his eyes, the
only sign of his annoyance a slight twitch of the eyebrow, and
shrugged.
"Nothing."
"Bull," he countered. "Between
what happened with your hand and the fact that you always
have a complaint about how I do things, there must be something
bothering you."
The silver-haired Silvite
chuckled dryly, opening his eyes again. "Are you giving me leave to
complain
freely, 'Captain'?" he inquired with a faint but distinct undertone of
sarcasm.
Vyse sighed, rolling his
eyes
as he removed his glass eye patch. "Whatever makes you happy."
Ramirez narrowed his eyes.
"You're grossly incompetent," he stated, not bothering to soften his
words or
tone. "It's all well and good for you to satisfy your own wanderlust,
but to
endanger the lives of your so-called friends as well? And you're trying
to
convince me that you're different from other self-serving humans?
You're
nothing but a hypocrite."
Vyse flinched, then shrugged
it off. "Everyone on this ship knew the risks," he replied. "They came
along
willingly."
"I didn't
come along willingly."
"You had your chance to run
off and rejoin 'Lord' Galcian when Gregorio showed up," Vyse said,
getting
irritated. "I never said you couldn't leave."
"And I was supposed to
assume
this how?" Ramirez demanded, emerald
eyes flashing. "You never said I couldn't leave, but you also never
said I could leave!"
"And how would I have
stopped
you if you'd really wanted to leave, if you're as strong as you'd like
everyone
to believe?"
Ramirez was silent.
Inside, Vyse cheered. /Awesome! I win another argument!!/
However, he diplomatically
realized that if he wanted to befriend Ramirez, he shouldn't be a jerk,
so he
gently said, "The truth is that you wanted to come, isn't it?"
"Don't assume my reasons,"
Ramirez snapped, eyes flashing dangerously.
"Then what are
your reasons?"
"They're none of your
business."
Vyse made a face and took a
step forward towards him, causing Ramirez to instinctively take a step
back.
"How's your hand?" Vyse
queried, reaching for it. Ramirez, however, pulled it out of reach. "Is
it
better?"
"It's fine, and I wish you
wouldn't ask such things," Ramirez growled, glaring at the Air Pirate.
"Oh, stop being an ass,"
Vyse
snapped before shooting out and snatching Ramirez's left hand into his
own and
pulling it close for inspection.
"What in the Moons do you
think
you're doing?!" Ramirez demanded, blushing, but beyond that doing
nothing as
Vyse peeled off his glove.
"Quit whining, you're a man.
Does this hurt?" the brunet inquired as he pressed his thumb to
Ramirez's palm.
"...No," the Silvite
muttered
sullenly.
"How about this?" Vyse asked
again, changing the place of applied pressure.
"No."
"Here?"
"No! Will you stop it?"
Ramirez snapped, finally pulling his hand away and retreating several
steps,
glaring at the Blue Rogue.
"Well, excuse me for caring
about your well-being!" Vyse said, glaring back. "Well, forget it. If
you're so
adamant about being fine, then I'll just believe you. Good night!" And
with
that, he turned his back to the Valuan Admiral, got into his bed and
pulled the
sheets and blanket over his body, grumbling to himself.
Ramirez regarded him,
sullen,
and holding his left hand to his chest, he laid down on his bedding and
drew
the blankets over his thin body. He nervously fingered his shirt; for
reasons
he didn't care to explore, much less admit, the entire episode had left
him
slightly unnerved.
"...Vyse?"
Vyse turned over, slightly
surprised that Ramirez was addressing him after their disagreement.
"What?"
"Why do you care? Don't you
think it's strange?" the young Silvite inquired softly.
Vyse frowned, looking down
at
him. "What's strange?"
"Being so concerned about an
enemy," Ramirez replied, his eyes fixed on the ceiling through the
darkness.
"Why do you care if an enemy gets hurt?"
The Blue Rogue stared,
honestly surprised. "Why shouldn't I
care?"
"Your kindness may be your
undoing one day. People will take advantage of it," he said quietly.
Vyse shrugged. "I guess
there
are some low-lifes who'd do that," he conceded. "But there are a lot of
people
who deserve kindness. If you act bitter and reject everybody just
because of a
small handful of jerks, then you really miss out on what all the decent
people
have to offer."
Ramirez turned his gaze to
the
Blue Rogue. "Offer?"
"Things like friendship.
Trust. Loyalty. Love," Vyse listed with the hope that his companion
intended to listen, sitting up.
The young Silvite redirected
his verdure gaze back into the darkness, feeling his cheeks burn. "Is
that
so..."
"Yeah! I mean," Vyse
continued, "whatever your reasons for it, you trust Galcian, right? So
you know
that there's at least one decent person in this world, right?"
"There's only
one decent person in this world,"
Ramirez stated flatly, again donning his usual mask.
"No, now you're being
illogical," Vyse argued. "There's a lot of people in the world. I don't
know
what happened to you when you first came down to this world, but you
can't shut
off your heart just because of a few initial bad experiences. That's
not fair
to everyone who wants to be your friend."
Ramirez snorted. "Do you
realize how insipid you sound?"
"Yeah, well...being corny
doesn't make it less true."
There were a few long
moments
of silence before Vyes cleared his throat. "Uh...if you don't mind my
asking..." he began hesitantly, "...what did
happen to you when you came down here?"
"I don't want to talk about
it," Ramirez stated in a guarded tone.
"That bad, huh?" The traces
of
sympathy in Vyse's voice were unmistakable, and Ramirez clenched his
teeth in
anger.
"And I don't
want your pity."
Vyse sighed and turned his
back to the Admiral once again. "Yeah, I know. And you don't want to
talk about
it. Sorry I ever asked. G'night."
"...Good night," Ramirez
murmured, greeting the rogue's back with his own.
The two didn't speak to each
other again that night. Vyse quickly fell asleep, his breathing
reflecting his
change in brain waves, but Ramirez, who never slept well, remained
awake.
/I am in
complete control of my emotions... So why
did my pulse quicken
when he touched me like that?/ he brooded. /There was
nothing to it. He was just foolishly trying to see if I was
injured./ His left hand fisted around his blanket. The wooziness
from
earlier had worn off, and he felt physically fine, though somewhat
unsettled. /But...but... No, I can't think that. It's
wrong and appalling, and a sin. I am in complete control of my
emotions; I can
stop these feelings anytime I please./
Ramirez sat up and glared
over
at the slumbering Air Pirate who had engendered these unwelcome
emotions. "It's
all your fault," he muttered darkly as he made his way over to the bed,
glowering down at Vyse's somnolent form. "You're doing this to me..."
Vyse shifted in his sleep,
and
his bangs fell into his peacefully shut eyes. Ramirez, out of reaction,
raised
a hand, then hesitated, and reached slowly to his face.
/If he wakes up
now, I'll be mortified.../ he
thought as he stroked
the rogue's face, brushing the strands of hair away. Vyse remained
asleep,
though, and Ramirez, feeling embarrassed by the slight touch, drew away
and
retreated to his bedding again.
/...Why did I do
that...?/
He pondered the question
several hours into the night, but received no answer.
The next morning, Aika and
Fina awoke earlier than usual, and going down to the kitchen together
to help themselves
to breakfast, their conversation turned once again to the heated
subject of
yesterday.
"I just don't understand him,"
Aika grumbled, simultaneously frying scrambled eggs and sausage links.
"He was
kind of spacey all yesterday, after he walked in on our last argument.
It
doesn't seem in his character."
"He's more sensitive than you
might think," Fina replied quietly as she set the table. There was no
need to
ask of whom Aika was speaking; the young Silvite lady already knew. "He
must
have been through some terrible ordeals while here in Arcadia.
It's so awful... For a long time, it was his dream to come down here...
I'm
almost certain his cold mien is his way of protecting himself from
being hurt
further."
"Hmm..." Aika considered that
for a moment. "It makes sense, I guess. You know I'm not going to
understand
fully until I know what he used to be like, though."
Fina had to smile; that was
as
close to subtle as the brash redheaded rogue ever came. "I don't know
that I
should speak of him..." she said, though. "He did ask
me not to talk about him."
Aika snorted as she lifted
the
waffle iron and pulled out the freshly made waffles onto a large plate.
"He
doesn't have any right to talk to you like that!" she argued, adding
the
scrambled eggs and sausage to the plate and carrying it over to the
table. "If
he wants you to respect his wishes, then he should respect your
wishes! I hate men who think they can get away with pulling
that kind of crap just because they're men, or just because they're
dealing
with a woman!"
"No, Ramirez isn't like
that,"
Fina protested quickly as Aika served her. "He's always been very kind
to me,
very gentle..."
"Well, he isn't now."
The platinum blonde-haired
young woman flinched. "He's..." she murmured, gazing sadly down at the
food on
her plate. "He's in a disadvantageous situation. That's one thing about
him
that hasn't changed; he always acted hostile when he was on the
defensive."
"What about him did
change?" Aika queried after
her
first bite of waffles, watching her extraterrestrial friend.
Fina sighed and decided to
give in to her friend's inquiries. "A lot," she confessed. "He seems to
have
lost his spirit, his passion for exploring... He used to have a
collection of
maps, and he built miniatures of ships, and was always looking down at
the blue
skies of Arcadia. He was
always
fascinated with how much more...alive
it seemed than...than the place where we lived."
"Where did you live?"
the female Air Pirate queried, cutting up her sausages
and
munching on them thoughtfully.
Fina shook her head, beginning
to eat her own food. "It's a bit complicated,"
she explained. "Let's just say that it's...a long distance away, and
very high up...so much so that it was...practically not on this planet."
Chewing on
a mouthful of sausage, Aika nodded her acceptance of this, not aware of
how truthful Fina was being.
"So as I was saying, Ramirez
had changed from how everything was
here where non-Silvites live,"
the pale-blonde Silvite continued. "Let's see... Ramirez was
enthralled by how
diverse the life is on Arcadia; there aren't
many living things where we live...along
with geography and cartography, biology was one of his favorite
subjects. And,
although he was naturally talented at it, and did have some
interest in it, swordsmanship didn't captivate him as much as
these things. But now..."
"But now, it looks like
that's
all he's doing with himself?" Aika suggested when her friend fell
silent.
Fina nodded. "That's how it
seems," she murmured despondently. "I wish I knew what happened to him.
He used
to believe in the inherent goodness of humanity."
Aika spat out her scrambled
eggs. "Sorry, sorry," she said, blushing, when Fina stared. "But that
really
surprised me. Ramirez? Believe in the
goodness of humanity??"
The green-eyed young lady
nodded. "The Elders taught us," she said dejectedly, "that the humans
of Arcadia
were petty and thoughtless, and it was their own greed and selfishness
that
caused them to hate each other and kill each other and lay waste to the
earth.
But Ramirez always rejected these ideas, saying that people who live on
such a
beautiful planet can't be all bad, and reasoning that it had been a
thousand
years since the Silvites had last contacted the humans, so any records
of those
humans could be inaccurate now. I was always impressed by how he stood
up for
his own beliefs, even though he knew he would get punished...I wouldn't
have
ever dared to defy the Elders, despite that I secretly agreed with him."
Aika thoughtfully took all
this in, finishing the end of her meal. "That's...just amazing," she
commented.
"Really amazing. You were saying he was always headstrong and getting
punished?"
"Yes," Fina nodded, "though it was only until..."
She hesitated, a shadow of sorrow crossing her lovely face. "Something
happened when he was twelve, and after that, he became much more
demure."
"Hmmm..." the redhead murmured.
The Silvite girl shook her head and continued, "But before then,
Ramirez
would, for example, deliberately get into long, drawn-out arguments
with Elder Prime.
I'm not
sure Elder Prime entirely disapproved of this; debates served to
sharpen the
intellect, I recall him once saying. But it was disrespect nonetheless,
and win
or lose, Ramirez would end up getting punished. Usually he was made to
stay in
his room."
"That's kind of a lame
punishment."
"...For twenty-four hours,
without any contact with anyone."
Aika dropped her fork and her
jaw. "Twenty-four—a whole frickin' day?!"
she gasped, horrified. "He was
just a kid!! How can anybody lock up a kid for a whole day?! Without
seeing or
hearing anyone else?! And just for having a mind of his own, too!!"
Fina shrugged her tattooed
shoulders sadly. "Ramirez was always so stubborn," she murmured. "He
would
never apologize. And the Elders were extremely strict; they never let
him out
before the twenty-four hours were over. He was given food and drink, of
course,
and he was allowed a chamber pot; he just wasn't allowed to see or
speak to
anyone. I always felt so sorry for him, but there wasn't anything I
could do to
help..." She sighed unhappily. "I wonder if he ever blames me for not
being
stronger..."
"He'd better not! It's not
your fault his life was awful!" the enflamed redhead growled.
The blonde-haired young
woman
shook her head emphatically. "His life wasn't awful," she protested.
"And
neither was mine. It was just...lonely sometimes. He...he never knew
his
parents, you know...but that was all right. I still had my mother, and
we would
play with her sometimes. My mother was sickly ever since giving birth
to me,
though, and couldn't do much...but she was still kind and gentle,
regardless,
and we all loved each other dearly. I think perhaps that Ramirez, whose
own
mother died at his birth, may have loved her more than I did... He took
her...death...much more harshly than I did, in any case. That's the
thing that happened when he was twelve to cause his introversion."
Aika gazed at Fina
compassionately. "Your mom's dead? I'm really sorry..." she said. "I
can
sympathize, though. I never really knew my parents either... They both
died
when I was a little kid. I heard it was because of a boating accident,
but
nobody ever told me the details. I guess I don't really want to know,
either. I
was more or less raised by Vyse's parents...I still lived at my
parents' house,
but they were the ones that made sure I was fed and clothed and clean
and
stuff. And Vyse has been my best friend since forever...I owe them a
lot, really.
I guess," she added suddenly, eyes wide with revelation, "you and I had
a
pretty similar childhood, Fina. Except maybe I'm a little more
well-adjusted."
Fina stared, and Aika grinned
back mischievously. Finally, the young Silvite lady smiled as well and
laughed.
"If only we could say that
about our respective 'big brothers'," she added.
"Oh yeah. Vyse would be so
totally lost without me," Aika smirked, crossing her arms. "He likes to
pretend
he's a big boy, but he's really just a hopeless case."
"Who's a hopeless case?" a
voice called down to them. The girls looked up and saw Enrique, yawning
into
one hand and walking down the stairs. "And I hope you made enough
breakfast for
me."
"Sorry, Enrique," Aika
grinned
sheepishly. "If you want, I'll make you some."
"That's all right," he
smiled.
"I can do it myself."
"You sure? Do you know how
to
cook?"
"...Er, no. Not really," the
young Prince confessed as he reached the bottom of the staircase. "But
it can't
be that difficult, right?"
Fina and Aika exchanged a
glance, and the latter got to her feet. "Let me cook for you. Besides,
you
might be feeling all right now, but later the ship's gonna be moving
again, and
you're going to need something easy on your stomach."
Enrique made a face. "Yes,
you
are right..." he conceded. "I'm sorry to trouble you, Aika."
The carrot-haired Blue Rogue
waved a hand impatiently. "People help each other," she dismissed it.
"That's
life."
Fina smiled up at her friend.
"Aika, you like helping others, don't you?"
She shrugged, smiling. "It's
my way of showing the world I care."
The flaxen-haired Prince sat
next to Fina as Aika started up the kitchen again. "So, what were you
two
talking about, if I may ask?" he queried, loudly enough to carry to
them both.
"Ohohohoho...this and that,"
Aika called back, grinning. "Don't worry, we weren't bad-mouthing you."
Enrique smiled nervously.
"Ah...right."
Fina giggled into her hand.
"We were talking about Vyse, actually," she told him. "And...Ramirez."
The Prince of Valua nodded
somberly, recognizing the sensitivity of that subject. "Should I
inquire after
the details, or leave it be?"
"Well...I suppose, if you
don't tell Ramirez what I told you, it would be all right," Fina
decided, and
she relayed to Enrique what she had conveyed to Aika.
"…I see…" he said, after she
had finished. After a moment of thought, he asked, "Pardon me, for I
realize
this to be a very sensitive subject, but...and please, if you don't
want to
answer, please don't feel compelled to...but…how did you three feel
about each
other? Also, what happened to your father, or Ramirez's parents?"
Fina
was quiet for a moment, then responded, "No... It's all right. I don't
mind
talking about it.
"I do not know who my father
was, or who Ramirez's parents were... Ramirez is older than myself, so
I'm
unaware of many of the details. But Ramirez and I were the only
children born,
as our respective mothers were the two remaining female Silvites...he
and I are
our entire generation. My mother, though, raised us two as if we were
both her
children, even though my birth left her bedridden. She would sing to
us, and
tell us stories...she also loved Arcadia,
possibly even more than Ramirez did. She yearned to go there someday,
to see
what the people there were like. I suppose perhaps it's because of that
that my
mother and Ramirez had the special bond that they did. Do you remember
that
song I sang for you a few days ago, Enrique?"
He nodded. "It was very
beautiful. Thank you for singing it for me."
Fina blushed and nodded,
smiling, and continued, "Well, that song, 'The
Midday Moon', is an ancient Silvite folksong. It even goes back a
thousand
years, from the past Rains of Destruction. I remember, once, Ramirez
and my
mother had a discussion on the possibility that the song had originated
in Arcadia...
But in any case, that was one of several songs that Hahaue sang to us.
She even
wrote and composed many of her own songs...she did so love music. She
once told
me that...let me think... 'Song is a way to convey the feelings that
you cannot
speak.'"
Enrique smiled. "That
philosophy sort of reminds me of a Valuan songstress I've heard," he
commented.
"If I ever get the chance, I'll have to let you hear some of her
music...but
please go on."
"Yes..." Fina sighed. "In
any
case, Hahaue raised Ramirez and me, and after he was punished, Hahaue
would
always comfort him... I think perhaps not having his own biological
mother made
him value Hahaue even more. And so...when she died..." She cast her
eyes
downward. "It wasn't a big shock," she murmured. "Except perhaps to us,
her
'children'. She had been in poor health for years, and the Elders were
astonished that she had managed to live up until my thirteenth year,
but...
Death took her in the end. And although I wept bitterly, it was for my
own
sake; my mother, having been crippled and most likely in pain for
thirteen
years, must have felt immense relief when the Grim Reaper set her
spirit free.
"Ramirez,
however...Ramirez...was quiet. He was never quiet as a child, you
see...always
asking questions, getting into things, learning something new, getting
into
trouble. But when Hahaue died...he was quiet. He didn't say anything
for days;
he didn't cause any trouble at all... It was like, when she died, part
of him
had died as well. After I came to terms with and accepted Hahaue's
death, I
began to seriously worry for Ramirez...it wasn't like him to let his
spirits be
dampened. But when I tried to talk to him, he would just act stoic and
pretend
like nothing was wrong... He's become a quiet person ever since then,
actually.
Quiet and reserved...and always hiding his true feelings..."
Fina wiped a hand across her
eyes then, and Enrique and Aika, who had finished cooking Enrique's
breakfast
and brought it over by then, prudently did not comment on how that hand
came
away wet.
Many hours passed as the crew
of the Delphinus attempted to make their way out of the Dark Rift once
again.
Enrique, whose stomach wasn't bothering him as much that day, couldn't
help but
get bored; the monsters from yesterday seemed nonexistent today. He
wasn't sure
if that was a good sign or a bad sign, but it did give him plenty of
time to
muse over what Fina had told him. Careful to be discreet, Enrique
watched
Ramirez and Vyse out of the corner of his eye. He hadn't been present
when it
had been decided that Ramirez would share Vyse's room (a fact which
still made
him slightly guilty; he would have been happy to share, especially
since he and
Ramirez bore no animosity towards each other), so he only knew of the
details
indirectly. However, from what he'd been told, neither party had been
overly
thrilled with the decision. In addition, Ramirez had openly threatened
to kill
Vyse; Enrique couldn't understand how Vyse managed to sleep at night,
knowing
that possible death was resting a few feet away. The tension fluctuated
constantly between the two; sometimes it was as if Vyse were completely
at ease
with the Silvite Admiral, and at other times, it seemed as if he
couldn't get
far enough away. Ramirez, on the other hand, was sometimes as easy to
read as
an illuminated sign; but other times, such as now, his emotions and
expressions
were impenetrable.
Enrique frowned slightly as he
glanced back at the male Silvite. His expression was neutral—blank and
unfocused, as if he were staring at something that was not there. The
young
Prince had to wonder if he was paying attention at all, or if he were
daydreaming.
Enrique smiled to himself. The
thought of Ramirez daydreaming was, despite the situation, unmistakably
amusing.
He redirected his gaze to
Vyse
and the girls. The captain of the Delphinus was quietly steering the
ship, eyes
bright as he scanned the scene. Fina and Aika, however, having little
to do
since most of the controls were malfunctioning, looked just as bored as
he
felt. Hoping that Vyse, who was technically doing all the work,
wouldn't mind,
Enrique crossed the room and joined the two.
"How are you doing?" he
queried.
"Not so hot. There's not much
to do except watch the compass go haywire," Aika replied with a slight
shrug.
"Poor Vyse. He's still busy, busy, busy."
"Actually, he looks kind of
happy to me..." Fina commented, her eyes on the young Blue Rogue.
Vyse did indeed look in high
spirits, his brown eyes shining as they searched the darkness. It was a
distinct upturn from yesterday, when he had been becoming disgruntled
from the
fruitlessness of the search.
"That's Vyse for you," Aika
laughed. "He's best off when in the thick of things. He's kind of
ignoring us,
though..."
Enrique grinned and lowered
his voice, saying, "At least this way he won't crash into anything."
Aika laughed and said, "That
reminds me, how's your stomach?"
The young Prince grimaced;
the
sailing had been smooth so far, and not thinking about his airsickness
had been
keeping it at a level he could tolerate. But now that it had been
brought up again... "It was
all
right until you mentioned it," he murmured, leaning against the control
panel.
"Ugh..."
Aika grinned nervously,
patting his back. "Heh heh...sorry about that, Enrique..."
Fina smiled and rubbed
Enrique's back. "There, there," she consoled him, "you'll get used to
it
eventually..."
"I hope so..." Enrique
groaned. "I really hate this..."
The young Silvite lady
abruptly glanced over at Ramirez, who was still paying none of them any
heed. /He's gotten so good at making himself
indecipherable,/ she thought. /I
wonder if he's not paying attention or just pretending./ Both
thoughts were
equally unsettling. If he were indeed paying attention, then he was
probably listening
in on their conversation. And if someone were to slip about what they
had
spoken of that morning, then he would certainly be very angry with her.
But if
he wasn't paying attention…then something had to be deeply troubling
him. As a
soldier, being caught off-guard could mean death; even Fina understood
that.
Enrique, troubled though he
was by his sickness, noticed her sudden silence, as well as the
direction of
her gaze, and came to some quick conclusions. In a low voiced, he
addressed
her, "You're worried about him?"
Fina shifted her gaze to the
floor and didn't answer. She didn't have to. Enrique glanced over at
Aika, and
shared a nod before the Prince of Valua got to his feet, and walked
over to the
silver-haired man.
"Ramirez?"
"Yes?"
Enrique blinked, somewhat
stunned. He hadn't expected such a prompt reply. From his expression,
though,
Ramirez seemed as if he hadn't heard anything at all; nothing about it
had
changed.
"...Are you feeling all
right?" the young Prince inquired hesitantly.
Ramirez was silent for a
moment. Finally, he replied in a neutral tone, "There is no reason for
you to
worry about me."
Enrique looked over his
shoulder at the girls, who both shrugged helplessly, and turned back.
Choosing
his words carefully, the Prince of Valua spoke, "Ramirez, I understand
that
you...have led a difficult life. Perhaps you have grown used
to...looking out
for yourself, since no one else would. However, that is not necessary
on this
ship. We bear you no ill will, truly; you needn't maintain your
personal
shields against us."
"If those are words of
friendship, you're speaking them quite formally," Ramirez noted.
The young Prince
acknowledged that this
was true with some chagrin. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "I was trying
to be
polite, and I suppose I overdid it."
Ramirez's jade-green eyes
shifted over to Enrique, the first alteration in his expression for
hours.
"Prince Enrique, you don't have to feel as if you need to be friendly
with me,"
he said in a cool tone. "No matter what anyone has said about me."
Enrique, Aika and Fina
simultaneously blushed.
Ramirez narrowed his eyes
slightly. So his guess had been
correct, after all... "Fina," he called over to his childhood friend,
his voice
considerably colder, "what did you say about me, and how much?"
Fina's blush deepened, and she
began to reply when Aika cut in, "It's none of your business!"
Ramirez's expression
darkened,
and he turned towards the redheaded rogue. "It is entirely my
business," he
said, his tone glacial, "for she was speaking of me without my
knowledge after
I expressly told her not to."
"Whine, whine, whine!" Aika
snapped, her arms akimbo. "You want respect, you have to give it, you
great big
jerk!!"
Any forthcoming argument was
cut off by a whoop of joy from Vyse. The crew members, surprised,
turned to
him, and he grinned back at them, pointing at a spot of light
surrounded by a
somewhat brighter patch of darkness amidst the gloom.
"Check it out, guys! It's the
exit!" he cheered.
More staring.
"How can you be sure it's
the
exit?" Ramirez questioned skeptically.
"'Cause it's brighter! That
means we're almost out into the sunlight!" was Vyse's impeccable logic.
Turning
back to it, he added, "...And there's a giant monster coming out of it!
What
else would it be there for, if not to guard the exit?!"
The others now stared at each
other, bewildered.
"Hey! What are you just
looking at each other for?!" Vyse demanded. "Battle
stations, NOW!"
Aika, Fina and Enrique
quickly
manned their respective stations and began preparations for battle as
the
Delphinus engaged the serpentine monster emerging from the light patch
of
darkness. Ramirez regarded them all, hanging back; he supposed he would
act as
spectator to another of Vyse's battles. Although it ill-suited him,
perhaps it
was for the best; after all, it wouldn't do to act as if he were part
of the
crew.
"Hey! Ramirez!"
The malachite green-eyed
Admiral
blinked and looked over at Vyse, who was grinning at him over his
shoulder.
"What?"
"Don't just stand there! Come
here and help!"
Ramirez blinked again.
"What?"
Vyse's grin widened. "You're
fighting too this time!"
The young Silvite blinked a
third time, then shrugged and swiftly joined Enrique on the left side
of the
control room. As he began his own preparations, Ramirez glanced
furtively back
at Vyse, who looked beside himself with delight.
"This is it, everyone!" he
cried, pointing at the giant eel. "We just need to beat this thing and
then
we're home free!!"
Ramirez had no idea where the
Air Pirate's insane optimism came from, but for once, he hoped he was
right.
NOTES: We own nothing except our ideas. Don't take our ideas. All
properties of Skies of Arcadia/Eternal Arcadia [Legends]
belong to everyone it is to
whom they belong.
Aika: "I'm gonna be watching you, Ramirez, and if you try anything funny, I'm gonna kick your butt clear over the Moons!!"
Ianthe: Yay for Chrono Cross references.
Ayu: Yeah, in this chapter, we decided to focus a little more on the characters who are quickly becoming minor key, because there's only so much you can do with Ramirez angsting and Vyse not getting it before it all gets old. And, since we did that, there wasn't much in the way of plot advancement or action...but at least we now have a clearer picture of Ramirez and Fina's lives on the Great Silver Shrine. Or you do, rather. We made it up, so of course we already know.
Ayu: The title of this chapter is a line from an image duet from the CD drama Chrono Crusade, Castle In The Air. Full lyrics can be found at my lyrics site, Campus Lyrics!, the link to which you can find below.
Contact deep.Indigo: deep.Indigo@negativenergy.zzn.com
Contact Ianthe of d.I: ianthefira@rangersgrove.zzn.com (URL: Ranger's Grove (rangersgrove.tripod.com))
Contact Ayu of d.I: ensoph@goddess.zzn.com (URL: ~ T H E : E T E R N A L : M I N D ~ (theeternalmind.sterlingsylver.net))
