Lahan
"Elly? Do you know where I left my fine paintbrush?" Fei poked his head out of his 'studio'
where he had been busy painting a picture of Timothy and Alice. In a way, it was Fei's attempt to
apologise to his friends, and, with his good memory, he had a near-perfect image of his two friends.
"Sorry, Fei. I have no clue where you left it. Still working on that painting?" Elly smiled at her
husband, then gasped lightly as she felt a faint kick from inside her body. Fei smiled as he noticed Elly's
squeak of surprise, then ducked back into the studio. A few moments later, he found the paintbrush, and
chuckled to himself over where he had left it. Continuing with the painting, Fei finished the detail work
on Alice's wedding dress, and stepped back to look at the painting.
The painting was a relatively small work, but the detail in it was immense. Fei had spent the
better part of three months on the painting, and he was finally satisfied with the work. The painting
showed every person who had died in the attack on Lahan, with Timothy and Alice featured in the
centre, clothed in their wedding attire. "Looks nice. Where are you going to put it?"
Fei looked up at the voice, and smiled as he ruffled Dan's hair. "I don't know, Dan. Well,
actually, I'm thinking that maybe you should have it. After all, they were more your family than mine."
Fei frowned when he remembered the events that had started with Elly's escape in Weltall from a Kislev
research facility, which had ended in the cataclysmic battle that had killed Deus and allowed the Zohar
Modifier to return to its own plane of existence.
Dan had grown up in the interim, filling out and stretching to Fei's own height. The two
occasionally sparred, but more often they could be found tilling a field or helping rebuild a collapsed
wall in the ongoing efforts to completely rebuild the small village. Just to the north by a few kloms,
Doctor Citan Uzuki still lived with his wife, Yui, and his daughter, Midori, who was more talkative than
ever, even though she only opened her mouth for the intake of food. Her mental speech was becoming
more articulate with practice, though she usually 'spoke' in feelings or colours, corresponding to her
mood.
The only being Midori could not speak to was Emeralda, which was unsurprising, as the sentient
nanomachine colony didn't have anything recognisable as a brain, much less internal organs. Fei paused
as he thought of the mysterious being that had once thought of him as her 'father', and had known him
as Kim. Oddly, though she had been created as a being of peace, Emeralda was arguably the most
formidable combatant in the original group, having an intuitive grasp of elemental control over ether
energy, as well as the ability to control and shift her body into just about any weapon she desired.
Fei smiled ruefully as he remembered the first time Emeralda had summoned the Dark Beast.
Considering that she had accidentally summoned the thing in the middle of a camp, it was not well
received at the time. Billy had been especially peeved, as the Beast had tried to eat him, but they had
forgiven Emeralda for the incident, especially as she managed to acquire control over the creature in an
extremely short time.
For the subsequent three months, the group members would almost invariably find their shoes
or boots chewed into scrap, and even more often, said footwear had been immersed in a puddle of acidic
goo. Bart had made the mistake of trying to touch the goo once, and nearly lost a finger as a result. Bart
still had a black patch on his finger from where the goo had eaten right through his glove. It was only
after Fei had given Em a very stern talking to that she had given up on the pranks, though once in a
while he would find his shoes stuffed with papers.
Once, just after the group had entered the ruins underneath the lighthouse for the first time, and
Emeralda had literally 'grown up', Fei had found her standing on the conning tower of the Yggdrasil.
She was probably more confused than everyone else, as she had virtually aged eight years in eight
seconds, but Fei could bet that he was running a close second. He had leaned against the railing next to
her, neither of them speaking a word for nearly three hours, until Emeralda turned and hugged Fei.
Even now, five years later, he could remember her question. "Kim? What you do after?"
"After? I don't know." Fei thought for a second, chewing on his lip as he looked at the slightly
shorter female. "I think I'll go home, begin rebuilding it. It's been nearly a year, and I think I can
convince some people to help me out. Hopefully, Elly'll be with me too."
Emeralda paused, looking at Fei for a few seconds with her uniquely luminous eyes. "She be
there. I help."
Fei smiled and gently combed his fingers through Emeralda's hair. "Thank you. If you want,
you could come with me after this is all over."
Emeralda smiled, looking like a happy child as her eyes sparkled in the moonlight. "I... maybe.
Want learn about world. First, we fight. Ready?"
Fei nodded, deciphering Emeralda's broken speech with a little difficulty. She was learning the
language, but her voice was unnaturally harsh from damage attained when she was under the 'care' of
Bishop Stone and Krelian. "I'm ready. We'll end this, one way or another."
Shortly after that, the Exodus had occurred, and Emeralda disappeared not long afterwards. Fei
sighed, pulling himself out of memory lane as Elly called for him. "Well, time to see if the baby's
kicking her where it's not supposed to. So, do you want the painting, Dan?"
Dan nodded, and reached out to try and touch the face of his long-dead sister. Almost instantly,
his knuckles were whacked, with the paintbrush, telling him that the painting wasn't dry yet. "You can
come back in a day or two. I'll have framed it by then. Now, let's see what Elly's hollering about."
The two men left the small studio, and, not seeing Elly inside the house, they walked outside.
Elly was smiling as she looked up at Citan's house, still up on the mountain. "Well, we're going to have
guests in a few hours."
Fei nodded as he noticed the unmistakable form of the Yggdrasil III hovering just above Citan's
home. Shading his eyes, Fei saw a thin line dangling down to the house, and chuckled. "They're going
to be busy, at least for a little while. We'll see them down here in a few hours."
Elly nodded, then looked at her husband. "Do you think they found her?"
Fei shook his head. "I don't know. I hope she's reappeared, but I doubt we'll be lucky enough
to see her for a long time. Still, I hope so."
They stood there, looking at the darkened durasteel hull of the old ship, still hovering easily,
then turned back into their home to get ready for the expected onslaught of friends.
"Elly? Do you know where I left my fine paintbrush?" Fei poked his head out of his 'studio'
where he had been busy painting a picture of Timothy and Alice. In a way, it was Fei's attempt to
apologise to his friends, and, with his good memory, he had a near-perfect image of his two friends.
"Sorry, Fei. I have no clue where you left it. Still working on that painting?" Elly smiled at her
husband, then gasped lightly as she felt a faint kick from inside her body. Fei smiled as he noticed Elly's
squeak of surprise, then ducked back into the studio. A few moments later, he found the paintbrush, and
chuckled to himself over where he had left it. Continuing with the painting, Fei finished the detail work
on Alice's wedding dress, and stepped back to look at the painting.
The painting was a relatively small work, but the detail in it was immense. Fei had spent the
better part of three months on the painting, and he was finally satisfied with the work. The painting
showed every person who had died in the attack on Lahan, with Timothy and Alice featured in the
centre, clothed in their wedding attire. "Looks nice. Where are you going to put it?"
Fei looked up at the voice, and smiled as he ruffled Dan's hair. "I don't know, Dan. Well,
actually, I'm thinking that maybe you should have it. After all, they were more your family than mine."
Fei frowned when he remembered the events that had started with Elly's escape in Weltall from a Kislev
research facility, which had ended in the cataclysmic battle that had killed Deus and allowed the Zohar
Modifier to return to its own plane of existence.
Dan had grown up in the interim, filling out and stretching to Fei's own height. The two
occasionally sparred, but more often they could be found tilling a field or helping rebuild a collapsed
wall in the ongoing efforts to completely rebuild the small village. Just to the north by a few kloms,
Doctor Citan Uzuki still lived with his wife, Yui, and his daughter, Midori, who was more talkative than
ever, even though she only opened her mouth for the intake of food. Her mental speech was becoming
more articulate with practice, though she usually 'spoke' in feelings or colours, corresponding to her
mood.
The only being Midori could not speak to was Emeralda, which was unsurprising, as the sentient
nanomachine colony didn't have anything recognisable as a brain, much less internal organs. Fei paused
as he thought of the mysterious being that had once thought of him as her 'father', and had known him
as Kim. Oddly, though she had been created as a being of peace, Emeralda was arguably the most
formidable combatant in the original group, having an intuitive grasp of elemental control over ether
energy, as well as the ability to control and shift her body into just about any weapon she desired.
Fei smiled ruefully as he remembered the first time Emeralda had summoned the Dark Beast.
Considering that she had accidentally summoned the thing in the middle of a camp, it was not well
received at the time. Billy had been especially peeved, as the Beast had tried to eat him, but they had
forgiven Emeralda for the incident, especially as she managed to acquire control over the creature in an
extremely short time.
For the subsequent three months, the group members would almost invariably find their shoes
or boots chewed into scrap, and even more often, said footwear had been immersed in a puddle of acidic
goo. Bart had made the mistake of trying to touch the goo once, and nearly lost a finger as a result. Bart
still had a black patch on his finger from where the goo had eaten right through his glove. It was only
after Fei had given Em a very stern talking to that she had given up on the pranks, though once in a
while he would find his shoes stuffed with papers.
Once, just after the group had entered the ruins underneath the lighthouse for the first time, and
Emeralda had literally 'grown up', Fei had found her standing on the conning tower of the Yggdrasil.
She was probably more confused than everyone else, as she had virtually aged eight years in eight
seconds, but Fei could bet that he was running a close second. He had leaned against the railing next to
her, neither of them speaking a word for nearly three hours, until Emeralda turned and hugged Fei.
Even now, five years later, he could remember her question. "Kim? What you do after?"
"After? I don't know." Fei thought for a second, chewing on his lip as he looked at the slightly
shorter female. "I think I'll go home, begin rebuilding it. It's been nearly a year, and I think I can
convince some people to help me out. Hopefully, Elly'll be with me too."
Emeralda paused, looking at Fei for a few seconds with her uniquely luminous eyes. "She be
there. I help."
Fei smiled and gently combed his fingers through Emeralda's hair. "Thank you. If you want,
you could come with me after this is all over."
Emeralda smiled, looking like a happy child as her eyes sparkled in the moonlight. "I... maybe.
Want learn about world. First, we fight. Ready?"
Fei nodded, deciphering Emeralda's broken speech with a little difficulty. She was learning the
language, but her voice was unnaturally harsh from damage attained when she was under the 'care' of
Bishop Stone and Krelian. "I'm ready. We'll end this, one way or another."
Shortly after that, the Exodus had occurred, and Emeralda disappeared not long afterwards. Fei
sighed, pulling himself out of memory lane as Elly called for him. "Well, time to see if the baby's
kicking her where it's not supposed to. So, do you want the painting, Dan?"
Dan nodded, and reached out to try and touch the face of his long-dead sister. Almost instantly,
his knuckles were whacked, with the paintbrush, telling him that the painting wasn't dry yet. "You can
come back in a day or two. I'll have framed it by then. Now, let's see what Elly's hollering about."
The two men left the small studio, and, not seeing Elly inside the house, they walked outside.
Elly was smiling as she looked up at Citan's house, still up on the mountain. "Well, we're going to have
guests in a few hours."
Fei nodded as he noticed the unmistakable form of the Yggdrasil III hovering just above Citan's
home. Shading his eyes, Fei saw a thin line dangling down to the house, and chuckled. "They're going
to be busy, at least for a little while. We'll see them down here in a few hours."
Elly nodded, then looked at her husband. "Do you think they found her?"
Fei shook his head. "I don't know. I hope she's reappeared, but I doubt we'll be lucky enough
to see her for a long time. Still, I hope so."
They stood there, looking at the darkened durasteel hull of the old ship, still hovering easily,
then turned back into their home to get ready for the expected onslaught of friends.