Note from the Authors: We apologize thoroughly for how convoluted the story gets from here. While there are important things that happen, we'd like to remind our audience – you meager few – that this was in fact a roleplay session (a really long one) and we just wanted to throw different situations in the way of the characters without really thinking of a good plot. It does get a bit better from here. But we leave that decision up to you. To those of you who have actually decided to read this story, thank you very much for you compliments. We're very glad this story is entertaining for *someone*.

I'm mostly speaking to Kenta D. Very kind of you to write so many reviews for us. Thank you. If you have any suggestions, please let us know. ^.^

 

Darkness in the Twilight

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

By Psycho Ferret and LunarCrystal

Braille 101 / Kiss and Make up

Chris was busy working on resumes on the computer in Ethan's room.  He'd heard Celena come home but didn't think anything of it until much later when he actually left his cave and noticed that Allen was no where to be found. Knocking softly on his own bedroom door where Celena and the knight were staying, he got no reply and so opened the door.

"Celena," he said, speaking to the girl curled up on his bed with her back to him. There was no reply and at first he thought she was asleep. He could suddenly hear the music pumping from her earphones - from where he stood across the room. Heaving a frustrated sigh, he went and pulled one earphone out of her ear.

"Celena, where's your brother?" he asked frankly. Celena turned to look at Chris, something of a scowl on her face.

"How should I know?" she pouted, yanking back the earphone and popping it back in. Another frustrated growl from Chris and he stalked after Ethan, pulling him out of the kitchen and towards the front door.

"Come on. We've got a knight that's missing." he said.

Ethan eeped, just barely having gotten home from the band practice.  He blinked, looking at his brother, slightly confused.  "Eh?  Where's Allen?"  The boy pouted, looking slightly worried.  "He was with Celena, wasn't he?  What happened?"

Allen rested beneath a tree, leaning against the trunk gently.  First he'd gotten into a vicious fight with his sister... then he was nearly accused to touching that young boy.  What a day.

Chris and Ethan quickly made their way over to the beach front, Chris having to explain the details of his suggestion for them to communicate and have some fresh air. Apparently it'd taken a turn for the worse, and now the searched frantically along the beach for a glimpse of the blind knight. Finally spotting him beneath a palm, Chris ran over first, looking over his new friend for any sign of harm.

 "Allen, are you alright? What happened between you and your sister?" he asked frantically.

Allen lifted his head slightly, standing and turning towards them.  He arched a brow a little at the worried tone, then smiled softly.  He seemed pretty fine, really.  "Ah?  Yes, I'm fine..."

Ah, yes, that business with Celena.  "There was a bit of an argument, I'm afraid.  And, well... it should be obvious enough that I was left here.  Granted, it was stupid of myself to, in my anger, tell her to go."

"Man," Chris said with a shake of his head, "You guys really have some issues about solving your problems."

"Mm... indeed, we do."  Allen smiled softly, nodding a little.  It was true enough, he wouldn't bother denying that.  "I assume she's still rather irritated, hm?"

"Well, a little." admitted the older man. He gently took Allen's hand and placed it to grab his upper arm. "We know about your appointment at the library though. Did you still want to go?"

"Mm?  Actually, yes.  It might be good to give Celena a little more time to calm down."  Allen nodded slightly, lightly grasping Chris' upper arm, Ethan at his other side.

Chris looked at Ethan, "I guess we're walking to the Library from here."

"Ah..."  Ethan grinned a little, nodding.  "Yeah, I guess so.  We didn't think to bring the car, we were just wanting to find you."

Without much else to be said, the two brothers escorted Allen along the sidewalks again, making sure to go slowly - just for the sake of company, because it seemed to Chris that the knight needed some sort of companionship before being deposited with yet another stranger. As they approached the Library, Chris asked, "Do you remember who you were supposed to meet?"

Allen appreciated the gesture.  He knew they could have gone faster and he understood why they didn't.  Very appreciated.  Allen turned his head towards Chris, nodding slightly,  faint smile on his lips.  "Sarah Mills."  The name was unfamiliar spoken by him, the words... he wasn't used to speaking names like that.  Ethan grinned a bit. 

"You're doing better than I would have.  I'd have forgotten by now."

"You forget things 10 minutes after someone says it to you," mused Chris to his brother. He grinned, entering the cool indoors of the Library and leading the knight inside passed the security panels. "Alright, we're inside. Do you want us to help you find her or do you think you can handle it from here?"

Ethan nudged Chris, pouting a little, though not really offended.  "Neh... that was mean, Chris."

Allen arched a brow, then smiled slightly.  "It might be best if, since this is the first time I've been here, you aid me in finding her, if it's not too much trouble."

"Oh, pff, it's not like we have lives or anything.  We're not doing anything important."

"Except trying to find a job," said Chris bitterly, "I hate making resumes. But anyway, okay, we'll help you find her. Come on, Ethan. Keep up." He tugged Allen along slowly through the library, down the isles of books and to the back where there were cubicles for group and individual study. Only one person sat there on a nice summer day like this, and it was a woman. "Ah . . . I think we found her."

Ethan grinned a little, walking with them, looking around.  He peeked over Allen's shoulder, nodding.  "Yeah, let's hope it is, eh?"

They led Allen over to her and Ethan spoke up when they neared her.  "Um... excuse me, are you Sarah Mills?"  The boy smiled a little, looking at the woman expectantly.

The woman looked up slightly, moving her hands away from the Braille book she'd been reading. She couldn't have been older than thirty years old, fine shoulder length hair of a ginger color left loosely about her head. "Yes, I am." She took a moment to turn her head from side to side, smiling, "Is one of you my new student?"

"Ah, yes.  Allen is," said Ethan, tugging the blonde forward.  He put Allen's hand on the woman's, a smile on his lips.  "He is, right there."

"Ah, afternoon, ma'am," he murmured softly, smiling a little.  Ethan grinned.  He always had to be a gentleman, didn't he?  It was amusing, really.  There were so few, after all.

"Oh, good afternoon," she smiled, impressed with such etiquette. "Well, find a seat and we can start."

Chris smiled, taking his brother's sleeve and tugging him away, but not before pressing his cell phone into Allen's hand. "Here's my cell. To call Nikki's phone, just press and hold down the first button and it should automatically start dialing. Got it?"

Allen smiled a little, taking a seat as he had been bidden.  He nodded to Chris' instruction.  "Thank you, Chris."  He turned his head towards the woman as he heard the two boys begin to head off.  "Thank you for taking part of your time with this, I thoroughly appreciate it."

Ethan grinned fiendishly as he walked out with his brother.

"Of course," said Sarah kindly, smiling. "And you're name is Allen, right?"

Allen smiled a little, inclining his head.  "It is, yes."

"Okay, and you know that my name is Sarah. You can just call me by my first name." she said, "Have you ever felt Braille before?"

"Very well," he murmured, nodding his head slightly.  "Well... there was a book my sister borrowed from here with it, so I've felt it.  But other than just how it feels, I know nothing about it."

Sarah smiled kindly again, "That's not a problem. Just starting with the very basics today anyway." She carefully moved next to Allen, taking a seat and scooting her books in Braille in front of them. "Just want to make sure, you don't feel odd about someone else touching you, do you?"

"Hm?  No, by now, I'm used to it."  Allen smiled softly, nodding to her.  Between Gaddes, Celena, and now Ethan, Chris and Nikki, he was definitely used to it.

"Okay, good. 'Cause otherwise we'd have a problem." She laughed a bit, reaching out and finding his shoulder, and slowly following that toward his right hand. "Okay, here we go. I'm just going to show you the alphabet for now. When we're done, you can take the card home and practice. I'll even give you an easy book to try until we meet again next week. Okay?"

Allen chuckled a little.  "Yes, that sounds rather good."  He let her guide his hand over the bumps on the card.  It felt odd to know that these were letters he was learning, these bumps.

Sarah went over each of the letters a few times with him, careful not to obstruct his fingertip from the line of letters. She made him repeat each letter out loud and before long, she was quizzing him on each symbol. After working at it for an hour and a half, he'd already nearly memorized it - but she knew that he would forget if he didn't practice.

"You're doing really well for your first time. You sister told me that you're new to all of this," she said conversationally, releasing his hand and sitting back.

"Well... I lost might sight about a year ago, so I've gotten used to being so.  But reading was always a passion of mine.  I suppose that's one reason why I'm picking it up a little quickly."  Just the prospect of being able to read again... it was utterly fascinating.  He rested his hands lightly on his thighs, head slightly bowed.

Sarah hummed kindly, enjoying the sound of his voice. "I understand exactly how you feel. I love to read. Mystery and science fiction, really. But if there's a new book out there, I'm probably the first one to buy it in Braille." She giggled slightly, showing her youth.

Allen smiled a bit, inclining his head.  "I've always been a fan of histories."  And battle tactics, but he wouldn't talk about that.  Their military was likely to be far too different from the one he was used to.  "And philosophy. especially when I was younger."

"Philosophy and history is heavy stuff," she said, closing her books and stacking them on the table, "When you were younger? How old are you?"

"Ah?  I'm in my twenty-fourth year, now.  Not very old, I know."  Allen smiled sheepishly, shaking his head.  "I was really into philosophy when I was around... twelve or thirteen, I think."

"My goodness. You must be the studious type then." she grinned, fingering through the stack of books and feeling for titles which might interest him. "Oh, here's one you might like." She pulled it out and set it gently in front of him. "Celestine Prophecy. Or if you want, I have some fictional stories that might interest you."

"Mm?  I suppose.  I was raised on being intellectual."  Allen cocked his head to the side slightly, giving a soft smile, resting a hand on the book.  "Thank you... what is it about?"  The blonde just smiled, even if she couldn't see it.  Ah, yes... someone who understood what a loss it was to not be able to read...

Sarah smiled, "The Celestine Prophecy consists of nine insights on the spiritual awakening of the human race and its purpose on the planet. Like I said, philosophical stuff you might like. New Age literature."

"Mm... definitely sounds interesting.  Thank you, I appreciate it."  Allen smiled softly, chuckling a little.

"Here, take this one too. It's a simpler read, almost a children's book really. But it's just for practice." She smiled as she spoke, letting it show in her voice. Reaching for his arm, she asked, "Do you need help finding your way out, Allen?"

Allen turned his head slightly towards her, smiling softly, nodding.  "It would be appreciated.  Ah, yes... I should call Nikki first, too."  The blonde rifled around for the cell phone.  First button... he traced his thumb carefully over them, holding down the first button as he'd been told.  Then... cautiously lifted it to his ear.

After a few moments of ringing, the other end picked up with, "City Morgue!" It was Nikki, of course, with her ever drab and cynical tone of voice.

"Ah... Nikki?" he asked hesitantly.  Allen blinked, a little confused.  Hey, at least she wasn't yelling.

"Oh, it's you. Ready to be picked up? Ethan or Chris will come by to get you. Just wait out front." she said it all very swiftly, before hanging up the phone.

Allen blinked, hanging up the phone.  He then smiled softly, nodding to Sarah, even if she couldn't see it.  "Ah... thank you for waiting."

"Oh, sure." she said, bringing up her cane and her bag over one shoulder. She felt around the air a bit before finding his arm. Deftly, she moved her cane hand to affix his hand on her own upper arm so that she was the leader. "Alright, where to?"

"Ah, just outside, actually.  Ethan or Chris are going to come by to lead me back home."

"Oh, good. Okay, here we go," She started off slowly down one of the isles of books, remembering that there were computer stations at the end. Her cane was long, so she was able to move faster through the library. The doors opened and a slight warm breeze indicated that they'd just stepped outside. "And we're here."

Allen smiled, sighing a little at the soft breeze outside.  It was nice, really, and rather interesting to know that here they were, two blind citizens, walking about as if there was nothing wrong, really.  "Ah?  Thank you, again, I really do appreciate this."

"No problem." she adjusted the pack over her shoulder again, removing herself from Allen's grasp tactfully and fixing her grip on the cane, "I walk home from here. Don't forget, come next week. And study the alphabet." Again, she was smiling as she spoke.

"I'll be sure to.  The quicker a get and keep a grasp on it, the better."  Allen just smiled softly.  He was pleased at this arrangement, it was obvious.

~

When Ethan brought Allen back home, Nikki was just getting off the phone with her other brother. She could tell that Allen was really pleased with himself, and automatically assumed that the Braille lessons had done some good. She went up to him and actually grinned, "Learning how to read then?"

"Mm?  Ah, yes.  It's exciting, really.  I always enjoyed reading... and here I am, getting the chance to get that back."  Allen smiled a bit, sitting lightly on the couch. 

Ethan grinned.  "It was great, he couldn't stop talking about it.  His instructor's blind, too."

"Well, the word 'duh' comes to mind." she said sarcastically. "Anyway, I'm glad you're learning how to read. I just got off the phone with Chris. He's at this place and he's trying to get some docs for our guests. Birth certificates and stuff, based on the info you've given us. Birthdays, weight, height - all that stuff's documented and kept on record," she explained.

"So you keep close watch on your citizenry, then?"  Allen arched a brow a bit.  That seemed almost like it was a bit much, really.

"Yeah, the government sucks. Referred to as 'The Man' . . . since it's a patriarchal society. I won't go into the details, but it's almost freakish how closely they watch you, your relatives, your jobs, your *pets* even have records."

Allen frowned a bit.  "That seems a bit excessive.  But I suppose they have it for a reason."

"I wouldn't bother getting her started on the government."

"Yeah, I can go on for days about how much the government blows." Nikki admitted. Footsteps were heard coming down the stairs, and Nikki twisted around in her chair to see Celena coming down. She didn't say a word, however, and neither did the other girl. Allen's sister merely glanced at her brother before going into the kitchen and trying to find a snack.

Ethan bit down lightly on his bottom lip with the silence that passed between the siblings.  Then he spoke up.  "Um... I don't think he knows what you're talking about when you say something 'blows,' Nikki." 

The younger brother paused, then blinked.  "Actually, he probably doesn't want to, nevermind."

"Right," agreed Nikki, "So, um . . . what's for dinner? Anyone want pizza? Or Chinese?"

Allen stayed quiet, though if it was from Celena's reaction or from his ignorance on what either of those dishes were, it was hard to tell. 

"Um... pizza sounds good.  We might want to wait for Chris, though."

"Hey," she said to Allen, registering Celena looking up briefly from the kitchen, "Do you want to try some pizza?"

"Honestly, I've got no idea what it is."  Allen smiled a little sheepishly, turning his head towards her.

Ethan piped up, looking over at Celena.  "Hey, Celena?  You want to have pizza tonight?"

Celena slammed the door to the refrigerator, turning and taking a moment to find an adequate answer. "Is - *he* - coming with us?"

Ethan balanced slightly, starting to reply, but Allen beat him to it.

Allen arched a brow a bit, irritated.  "No, if you'd rather." 

Celena harrumphed, turned her head away and crossing her arms petulantly, "There's nothing to eat here." she admitted.

"Well... are we gonna go there or get it brought back here?"  Ethan glanced over at Nikki, arching a brow a bit.

Nikki grinned wickedly, "Let's go out. I feel like dancing."

"Ah...?"  Allen blinked slightly.  "What does eating have to do with, well... dancing?"  The blonde looked slightly confused.

"There's a pizza place that has a dance floor," explained the goth chick, who sometimes had her strange dance music streaks in her, "It's fun. You can eat pizza, play music, dance, play video games. . . Right, Ethan?"

Ethan rubbed the back of his neck lightly, nodding.  "Yeah, yeah.  Though Chris and I have a tendency to meander over to the videogames instead of dancing.  We have skinny white boy rhythm, it's embarrassing."

Chris finally came through the door, bearing a plump brown envelop in the crook of his arm. "Hey, guys." He held up the envelop and dropped it on the coffee table before sitting next to Allen with a huff of exhaustion, "Finally got those papers. Took forever. Over two weeks."

"We appreciate this, you know," murmured Allen softly a small smile on his lips.  Of course, they appreciated pretty much all of what they'd done for them.  Or at least Allen did.

"Oh, sure. No problem. I'll ask you to pay me back later." said Chris with a certain amount of cheek. Celena came over from the kitchen and took the envelop, looking through its contents.

"What's in here?" She asked, rifling through papers.

"Ah, birth certificates, residential alien cards - I mentioned that you would be from Italy or something, also got you . . . " Celena held up a nice white card with her picture on it, little reflecting images all across the front. "Yeah, a driver's license. Guess one of us will have to teach her eventually."

"Chris," said Nikki evenly, "With all due respect to you as my older brother, but are you nuts?"

Ethan blinked a bit.  "Um... are you sure that's alright?  I mean, she still gets scared of cars sometimes.  But to get her to drive one?"  He shook his head slightly, sighing a little.  "Oh, well... she can at least use it as an identification card, too.  But Chris... you get to teach her to drive.  I'm not doing it.  I'm skittish driving as it is."

The younger brother rubbed the back of his neck slightly.

Allen arched a brow.  "Is that really necessary...?  That amount of identification?"  It really did seem like it was a bit excessive.

"Sucks, kinda. Doesn't it?" said Chris, understand where the knight's mind was. The older brother assumed that the system of government where these two came from was much simpler than their republic democracy.

Celena wasn't really listening, "I get to drive a car?" she asked excitedly, her voice nearly squealing. Nikki stood up and took the card from her to put back in the envelope.

"For now, we're driving. Pizza and dancing. And I'm getting hungry. What about you Ethan?"

Allen nodded slightly, sighing.  "I don't even think the royal family demands to know of the children born within the country, much less keep records on so many things."  The knight pursed his lips slightly, thoughtfully.

Ethan blinked a bit, then nodded, grinning.  "Yeah... I'm starving, let's head out.  You good to go, Chris?"

"Yeah, I'm good." he said, standing. He gathered his coat and handed Nikki the keys to their only car, while he took the liberty of helping Allen into the backseat. "Hey, Nikki, take it easy for now. They've never been in the car before."

 "Yeah, yeah," she waved at him absently, waiting for Celena to sit in the back beside her brother and close the door. Once everyone was inside, she started the engine. Celena jumped slightly.

Ethan caught sight of Allen's reaction.  A slow quirking of his brow.  It was... sort of like being inside a melef.  Only quieter... more closed in.  And far more roomy. 

 The younger brother grinned a little, making sure both the siblings were buckled up before he settled back.

On the way there, Celena's head inadvertently found itself leaning towards Allen's shoulder - as it was such a habit for her to do so. Chris noticed this but said nothing. Nikki was too occupied with changing the music on the car stereo.

 "Would you just *pick* one?" said Chris annoyedly. Nikki huffed, and settled on more ye olde Linkin Park, grinning into the rear view mirror at Celena - she knew the girl liked them.

Allen was silent, meanwhile tracing his thumb over the Braille card he had in hand.  A soft smile tugged at his lips.  He'd be able to read again.

 Ethan groaned a little.  "Honestly, can we listen to something different for once?  Like... just maybe the 2nd album?  Or a different band?"

Despite all the harsh words they had exchanged earlier that day, Celena pushed it passed her - or tried to. Her favorite band from this world wasn't too loud so that they couldn't hear the comfortable muffled silence within the car. It was soothing to her. Slowly, her heart clenching, she placed her hand on Allen's.

"You know, I'm gonna have to agree with Ethan this time. Put on Rob Zombie or at least something else." said Chris. Nikki snorted and began working the CD changer, much to her chagrin.

"Flogging Molly!"  Ethan waved his arms a bit, grinning fiendishly.  "C'mon!  They're awesome!"

Allen smiled a little, the movement of his thumb pausing.  Well, at least she wasn't hitting him or screaming at him all over again.  The knight sighed softly, but didn't bother to say anything.

So the Schezars were finally introduced to the wonders of Pizza, sitting at a large table where two delicious steaming flat bread pies were placed, covered in melted cheese, onions, mushrooms, and sausage. The other was plain pepperoni and cheese. The music was loud but happy, the kinds of beat that really make you want to get up and dance. But for the most part, all five of them stayed content with their pizza.

Celena actually seemed sociable again, having served Allen a couple slices of the strange cuisine - one of each kind so that he could try them both. She was already half-way through one slice of the onions and mushrooms, having to talk around a mouthful of food. "Thif if so goo . . ." she tried. Chris laughed and ate his own pizza. Nikki just sat there nibbling and looking sardonic.

Allen nodded slightly.  "It's definitely far different from what we're used to.  It is rather good, I must admit."  A slight smile lingered on his lips.

Ethan grinned a bit.  "It's great when you want something fast.  Refrigerate it and eat it cold... ah, that's when it's the best!  Cold pizza is, like... a delicacy!"  The younger brother laughed a little, shaking his head.

The music was uplifted, and soon all the demons of the day had been forgotten for the younger Schezar. Not too long after she'd finished her second slice and swallowed, that she began to nudge at Allen playfully.

Nikki got up, having waited for everyone else to finish before being annoying again. "Come on! Dancing time!" she pulled on her younger brother's arm - because she knew he was the most easy to convince, as he was the youngest.

Allen turned his head towards his sister at her insistent nudging.  "Hm?" he asked questioningly.

Ethan whined quietly.  "Nyoo... not dancing!  You want me to make a fool out of myself, I don't want to!"

Nikki successfully dragged him out of the booth, all the way to the floor complete with his whining. She ignored him, and only continued to grin as she braced her arms around him like a vice so that he couldn't go anywhere.

Ethan whined, pouting over at her.  "Unfair," he murmured.

Celena whispered into Allen's ear, "Can we dance too?"

Allen arched a brow.  "I've never been one for it..."  Her brother turned his head towards her, blinking a little.  He'd never really liked those balls.  And he avoided dancing when he could.

"Please," she said softly against his lobe, tickling his ear with her breath, "will you dance with me? A slow dance?" Chris only rolled his eyes, waiting for the opportune moment if Allen wasn't going to chance it.

Allen sighed softly, resting a hand on her upper arm.  "I'm sure there are others who would rather dance with you.  I've just never been up for dancing, really.  I'm not very good at it."

Chris arched his eyebrow, taking the ponytail out of his delightfully brown curls and moving out of the booth, "I'll dance with you, Celena." He smiled at her, sweetly too - which was unusual.

Celena looked up at him, then back to her brother, who continued to stare ahead at nothing with a set look on his face. She sighed slightly, and accepted Chris' hand. As she was led to the dance floor, she kept looking back at Allen, longingly.

"Thank you, Chris." She said softly, looking down at her feet while they danced to the slowish song.

"My pleasure," he said, smiling. His smile was very lovely, Celena had to admit. It only made her heart ache, though. Still, she tried to mirror his intentions all the same.

Allen sighed softly, bowing his head a little.  He hadn't wished to dance.  And on top of that, he'd wanted to test out the Braille more.  He knew she wanted to dance with him, and the reasoning behind it, but he couldn't help it.  He couldn't dance horribly well and when he did, he rarely enjoyed it.

 Sliding his fingers over the card in his hand, Allen let a small smile linger on his lips.  He'd be able to read again.  The thrill of that thought flickered through him gleefully, leaving him nothing short of excited.