Dee, her eyes beginning to water, asked her captors again, "May I
please have something to drink? It's been days and I'll die soon if I
don't! Please don't kill me!" Her pleas seemed to be falling on deaf
ears. The two just looked back at each other, too afraid to do anything.
The older one appeared to be asking his companion something. As he spoke, the words 'you' and 'sure' gently passed Dee's ears.
Dee blinked, her tears rolling down her cheeks. She had understood some of what the man had said to his companion. It sounded almost as if their language had originated from the Latin language on Earth. Dee tried to remember some of her Latin lessons from high school, but the closest language she could still remember was English.
Carefully finding the right words, she begged, "Water... Please... Water..."
The elder's head quickly jerked back towards her. He took a few steps back, apparently shocked that he had understood her request. "Water?"
Dee's face brightened. Finally, they understood each other. Now all she had to do was explain that she was not an enemy...
"No." The younger man approached the older one and began tugging at his shirt, trying to get him away from the thing bound in the center of the room. He continued with an excuse, which Dee could not understand. The elder finally acknowledged the words of the younger and turned with him, leaving Dee bound to the rock.
Dee cried after them, tugging on the chains as hard as she could, "No! Don't leave me, dammit!" She stopped tugging for a moment, surprised at her own use of the word. Never had she even considered saying such things, but this experience was not bringing the best out of her.
Resting her head back on the rock, Dee resigned herself to another night without food or drink. If this kept up a few more days, she knew she would be dead. She would have begun to cry, but her tear ducts were finally too dry to permit any more than a small trickle to escape. She closed her eyes and prepared for another restless night.
The soft patter of feet awoke her from her light sleep.
As Dee looked up, she could just make out the figure of the man from earlier. He carried a small vessel that he held up to her lips and slowly poured without saying a word.
Dee drank eagerly; suppressing a coughing fit until after the vessel had been removed from her parched lips. She smiled at the man, who had simply turned and was exiting the room.
As he ducked to leave out the flap, he began speaking in his strange tongue. Most of the words Dee could not understand, but some of his final words sounded like 'Adome' and 'Elev'. Finished with his monologue, he left her alone.
Dee's face had visibly paled. She wasn't sure why, but something deep inside her recognized those words. It was as if they should have held some particular meaning to Dee, but she could not place it. She pondered their meaning silently for untold hours before finally drifting off to sleep.
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Zinv: "Remember."
"Zinv?"
Zinv: "Remember, Kumu."
"Remember what?"
With a flash, dead men and boys surrounded Dee. The scene was hauntingly familiar to her. Wading through the bodies, her tear-filled eyes focused on one of the young men at her feet.
"Earu!"
The bodies disappeared and she was suddenly on a strange ship. Looking around, she began realized it was the artifact battleship the Rara Army was once based out of. People she had never met, mostly men, passed by her, saluting or just smiling and giving her a friendly hello.
Dee winced and grabbed her right arm with her left hand. It instantly felt heavy and ached severely. As she feel to the floor, the men continued to pass by her, their words becoming less and less muddled. Full sentences began forming around her.
"We're out of Elev space."
"We did it!"
"We would not have succeeded if it weren't for you..."
Dee removed her hand from her arm. Slowly, a hole opened. A strange gas began spreading from the open wound, its aroma acrid. The passers by began to choke, grasping at their throats in vain as they dropped one by one to the floor.
The sole remaining man crawled towards her, grabbing her shoulders. "Why? Why do this to us?"
Dee was crying, truly pitying those that surrounded her. Unable to answer, her instincts kicked in and replied for her, "I-I-I didn't know. I thought I was different. I'm sorry."
Accepting this answer, the man let go of Dee and slumped over, his body going limp.
Dee rose in horror, backing away from all of bodies that lay around her.
Zinv: "Remember."
"No!" Dee's eyes shot open, the nightmare fully awakening her. As she looked around, she noticed the sun's rays creeping in from underneath the flap before her.
Soon, she would most likely have visitors. She wasn't sure how she knew this, but she did. Attempting to clear her eyes, she tried to wipe them on her shoulder, again to no avail. Sighing heavily, she awaited the guests she knew would arrive shortly.
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AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
The dust from the surrounding area caused a large yellow cloud to form around the core robot as it landed, its exterior color blending in to it perfectly. The small crowd that had gathered to witness its arrival muttered nervously as it disappeared from sight, but applauded as the dust settled and its ancient form was revealed.
It slowly turned and began walking towards the crowd. Everyone, including the small children, stared in awe at its massive hull, a look of joy upon their faces. Where this robot tread, no evil would fall.
It kneeled before the masses; it's crest-covered chest mere meters from the sand dune they were waiting with anticipation upon. As the crest parted, a hiss of pressurized air escaped from within. The doors slid open, revealing the core robot's occupants to the crowd, who cheered and welcomed their guests with open arms.
The pilot removed his helmet, smiling and waiving to the children below him. "If only the Elev would great us so warmly," he commented to his companion, who was simply looking out over the crowd.
As the elder man carefully removed his helmet, the crowd fell silent.
His one remaining eye glared over them. Why were they rejoicing so? Were they not aware of the terror in their midst? His gaze removed some of the levity of their attitude from the assembled people.
"Must you always do that?"
The elder simply bowed his head towards the younger pilot. The young had a tendency to not appreciate the seriousness of situations. Secretly, he admired this facet of their being, but he would never tell them this.
Looking back over the crowd, his stern tone rang forth from the core robot's chest plate, "A healer was summoned. I have come. Where is the abomination?"
A large man, apparently the leader of the group, stepped forward nervously, pointing off into the distance. "Our camp is a few maheds in that direction."
Nodding, the healer stepped back into the cockpit, motioning for his pilot to follow. He replied to the man below as the cockpit sealed shut, "Take us there."
Obediently, the crowd began hiking towards their camp. The core robot cautiously followed behind the crowd, the pilot watching for small children the entire time. Children were rare for the Adome and each one was a valuable commodity, almost as much as a functioning core robot without a limiter was.
The encampment was well developed for a desert tribe. The healer could make out numerous small tents and structures, some even constructed in part with metal. The bright reflections caused his one good eye to squint as they approached.
The in-cockpit speaker crackled as the leader informed the two men of their arrival. Wiggling his finger in his ear, the pilot muttered, "Damn... I thought they had fixed that. Sounds worse than it was before the last battle."
The healer smirked, "You know that we have little knowledge of the ancient technology. We're lucky this unit can walk, let alone fight. Count your blessings."
The pilot nodded, kneeling once more and opening the cockpit's doors. The two tossed ropes over the sides and rappelled down to the desert below them, the elder huffing the entire time, but fully capable of hauling himself down. In his better days, he could mount or dismount a core robot in under a minute. Oh how he missed those times.
"This way, this way," members of the crowd chanted, waiving the healer towards a nearby tent. A couple of them stepped forward and held the flaps open, allowing him and his assistant access to the injured pilot within.
The first thing that struck him was the uniform. It was neither Adome nor Elev in origin. The healer had never seen anything like it. His face seemed different as well. It looked like theirs, but some of the features were unlike any on this world. Approaching cautiously, he removed one of the few functioning medical scanning devices on the planet from his belt and waived it over his right arm.
"Healer," the anxious tone of the camp leader's voice let the healer know that his concern was shared.
Closing the device, he smiled slightly. "There is no sign of Liquidators in his body. He's clean."
They all collectively sighed in relief. At least this one would not be harmful to their camp. Continuing with his scans, the healer attempted to place his area of origin, but could not find anything on file that directly matched him. Internally, they were very much the same, but there were minuet details that were different. He'd never seen an Adome like him before. As for his reported symptoms of thrashing around and muttering incoherently, the healer assigned these to a high fever that must have broken before he could arrive.
Turning to the camp leader, he put away the delicate device. "I hope you have room for him. He'll be up and about in less than two conords."
The leader nodded, turning to one of his assistants and ordering him to prepare a tent. He faced the healer again and asked, "So, you know their story, what do you think?"
The healer shook his head, resting his ancient body on a nearby stool. "I am uncertain, but I think he was being captured by the Daughter of Kumu that you mentioned in your message," he held up the piece of animal hide that had writing scrawled all over it. "We'll scan it as well and see if it's already deployed its Liquidator or not. If it has not, we'll have to move it immediately to a safe distance, kill it, and burn the remains. It's the only way to ensure our safety. If it has, we'll perform the normal duties whenever a Daughter of Kumu is captured by one of their victims: We'll allow this young man to kill it," he motioned towards the pilot lying before them.
"I suggest," the healer rose from the stool, leaning on his pilot's arm for a few moments until his balance could be regained, "That you have your people make preparations for either scenario. Now, take me to it. We'll go ahead and confirm the level of threat it poses us." He hobbled out of the room, following the leader to the retaining tent where the less reputable members of society spent time for their various deeds.
Holding the flap open, the leader motioned for the healer to enter, his apprehension at even being in the same space as the thing that lay within most apparent. The sight of the grown man cowering in fear caused the healer to chuckle as he entered, unafraid.
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AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Dee squinted as the light hit her eyes.
"Ok, this is seriously old, people! You could at least warn me before you open the flap!"
An old man entered, eyeing her cautiously. As he approached, his hobble reminded her of Reika and how she used to walk around the Academy grounds. She missed those simpler days and longed for a time when she could see Reika, Yayoi, and her remaining friends on Earth again.
The elderly man stepped towards her, opening her right eye and then her left one fully and studying their reactions to light. Dee felt various pokes and prods throughout her body as he continued to study her. Thankfully, he stayed away from her more sensitive areas or he'd have been pulling back a bloody nub. He then removed a familiar-looking device from his belt and began scanning her right arm.
"Hey! Enough of this already! I want to know what I did to deserve this treatment!"
The healer glanced at the subject, intrigued by the new language he had never encountered before. Shrugging after a moment's consideration, he continued his scanning, a strange look spreading across his face. It reminded Dee of Dr. Sanada whenever he was faced with a perplexing problem. He'd study it, run numerous scans, and study some more all with a similar look on his face. He ran the scanner over her arm a few more times before closing it and shaking his head.
He stared into her eyes and began speaking in the foreign tongue Dee had grown accustomed to. She picked out words here and there, but couldn't put them into a tangible sentence structure.
Fed up with the constant torture she was undergoing, Dee glared at the old man and stated in her broken English, "Go to hell, you jerk."
A wide grin appeared on his face. Whatever meaning that had been lost in the translation was picked up through the sheer tone of her voice. Chuckling to himself, he exited the tent, leaving Dee to ponder what had just happened.
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AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
As the tent flapped closed, his grin disappeared.
His assistant approached him, whispering so that the other people going about their business would not overhear them, "Grandfather, what did you find?"
The healer scowled at the question, reminding his grandson, "I told you not to call me that here. I don't want anyone to think you're receiving special treatment."
He lowered his head in shame, "I apologize."
The old man continued, "As for the Daughter of Kumu, it is an oddity. There is no Liquidator in its body. What's more, its right arm, where the Liquidator containment vessel should be stored, has signs of regeneration. It's almost as if it lost its right arm and a new one was attached. Its body also shows signs of extreme stress and age, but its overall health is that of any other young Elev. If it weren't a Daughter of Kumu, I would have liked to study it more in depth. However, its very nature requires an immediate death sentence; we cannot delay this. Once the young pilot awakens, it will die."
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Zinv: "No! Stay away!"
"Zinv? Is that you?"
Zinv: "Help me, Kumu! Save me!"
"Zinv! Where are you?"
Zinv: "Save me!"
Kazuki shot straight up out of the cot-like apparatus. His eyes shifted wildly around the strange surroundings, attempting to lock onto one object that was familiar. Unable to locate anything, he threw his legs over the side of his cot, holding his aching head and moaning slightly.
The ground shifted underneath his feet. Looking down, he noticed the strange texture of the flooring. As the world around him began breaking through his pounding headache, he realized he wasn't on the artifact ship. Trying to recall what had happened, he could only remember Hera kissing Zinv. Everything after that was a blur.
He pushed off the rickety surface, noticing how it descended slightly into the desert sand. How did he end up here? Where were Mitsuki-chan and the others? For that matter, where was Ms. Ra? His head pounded with greater intensity as these problems presented themselves with no clear answer. Grabbing his skull, he winced, not noticing the arrival of a woman until she spoke.
"Yo eieo's jopx wou awake. How do you feel," the words she spoke, which at first sounded as mere gibberish, quickly formed into words Kazuki could understand. It wasn't that her language changed, it was more that some how, deep in his soul, he knew these words and their meaning.
As he pondered this new addition to his worries, he realized it was the same language Zinv had been shouting at him during the kiss. Another brief memory of floating in space struck him, causing Kazuki to lean against a small stand next to his cot.
"Are you alright," the woman moved towards him, a look of concern conveyed through her slightly aged facial features and deep purple eyes.
Kazuki had his first good look at the woman. Gasping, he stated, "Dee! You've grown up! How... How did this happen?" He took a step towards her, inspecting her carefully.
The woman took a step back, fearful that his delusions still had him in their grasp. "My name is Dau. I do not know of this 'Dee'. Was he a friend?"
Kazuki stopped and stared at the woman. She looked a lot like Dee. Maybe she was a relative or something. Shaking his head, he halted his approach and replied, "She and yes, she is my friend."
The woman frowned at him slightly, brushing aside a stray brownish-green hair from her face. "Surely you can't mean that thing that was with you..."
Kazuki cocked his head. "That thing? What thing?"
"The Daughter of Kumu. Don't you remember it capturing you?"
Kazuki froze at the mention of the name Kumu. Images of that strange orb floating in the Rara Army's artifact battleship passed through his mind. If it or another like it were in this place, he was in serious trouble.
He needed to find Zinv fast.
Kazuki cleared the distance between him and the woman in a flash, grasping her shoulders. "Where's Dr. Sanada? Where's Mitsuki? I demand to know!"
Clearly frightened, she stuttered a response, "I-I-I kn-n-now none of those people. You must calm yourself and rest. You've been through a lot," she calmly removed his hands from her shoulders and began guiding him back towards the cot. "You need not fear the Daughter of Kumu, it has been restrained. Soon, we will let you claim justice."
Kazuki froze, turning to face Dau who was gently pushing him towards his original locale. "What does that mean, 'justice'? And what's a daughter of Kumu?"
Dau shook her head, clucking slightly under her breath. "You must have been injured very badly to not remember such things. You will remember in time, however," she smiled and started to push him back towards the cot.
Kazuki stopped her hands from reaching his chest, an annoyed look beginning to cross his face. "No, tell me now. Where am I? Where are my friends? What is a daughter of Kumu?"
Realizing the patient would not calm down until he received answers, Dau nodded and sat on the edge of the cot, motioning for Kazuki to follow. "Before we begin, do you even remember your name?"
Kazuki nodded and quickly replied, "Kazuki."
"Well, K-K-Kazuki," she attempted his pronunciation of his name a few times before getting the basics of it, then continued, "You are on Edenora, home of the Adome, your people and mine."
"My people?"
"Yes. You are Adome, are you not?"
"I'm from Earth! I'm a human!"
Dau's eyes widened. She leapt off of the cot and stared at him for a moment, a look of shock burned into her face. "Earth?"
"Yes. Have you heard of it?"
She nodded, the words unable to reach her lips. Dau slowly backed out of the tent, the shocked gaze never leaving Kazuki. He slowly rose to follow, but by the time he reached the flap, she had disappeared.
Left to his own devices, Kazuki shrugged off the strange encounter that had been cut short. Wincing slightly from his headache as he lifted the flap, Kazuki glanced out and noticed the sun's rays slowly sliding behind a large sand dune. With no one else around, he began walking through what he soon realized was similar to a nomad camp from his home planet.
Most of the tents appeared battered and well used. Few of the materials appeared to be any younger than him. The lack of people in the camp surprised and disturbed Kazuki. He determined that if the camp had been abandoned, it had to have been recently, but there was no sign as to why it was empty. He wondered where Dau could have disappeared to and called her name several times, but received no response.
As the few remaining solar rays disappeared, Kazuki decided he needed to find someone in charge of the camp, if there was anyone remaining, and find out more about where he and his friends were.
Finally discovering a centrally located tent that was larger than the rest, Kazuki assumed that it was the tent of the officials. His pace quickened as he approached. Kazuki threw open the flap, shouting, "Where am I? Where are my friends? I demand answers, now!"
He heard some shifting in the dark that sounded like chains dragging against a hard surface. He also heard the sound of scurrying and something filled with water sloshing around. "Who's there," Kazuki demanded, squinting in part due to the poor light and in part because of the head- splitting headache.
"S-S-S-So, you're awake," the unsteady male voice responded from the dark.
"Yes, I am awake. Who are you? Show yourself!"
The young man stepped towards the flap slowly, a water vessel in his hands. "I am Gan," he paused momentarily, a look of shame slowly spreading across his face. "I know it did horrible things to you and it's the enemy, but it was pleading and it sounded so awful even though I had no idea what it was saying and I just had to help it! Please don't tell the others I was giving it water! I beg you! I'd become an outcast for sure!"
Kazuki, his headache getting the better of him, glared at the young man, "What the hell are you talking about? I asked you where I was and where my friends were!" Kazuki lunged towards the young man who appeared only slightly older than Dee and grabbed his shirt, pulling him closer. "I want answers, dammit!"
Gan dropped the pitcher, spilling the precious water across the desert sand. His response slowly stuttered out, "I-I-I-I..."
"Kazuki?"
The weak voice cried from the darkness, barely reaching Kazuki's ears. "Who's there?"
"Kazuki... Is that you?"
"Who is it?" Releasing Gan, Kazuki cautiously stepped into the darkness, allowing his eyes to adjust. He noticed a large structure towards the center of the otherwise bare room and headed towards it. The chains rattled as he approached.
"Kazuki... I thought you were dead! I'm so happy you're alive!"
The soft voice was instantly recognizable to Kazuki. Sprinting across the remaining distance he fell on one knee at Dee's side. "Dee! What the hell did they do to you? Are you ok?"
Dee coughed before raising her face towards Kazuki's. Her small smile was just barely visible in the waning light from outside. "I'm alive. I've felt better, though. Can we go home now?"
Kazuki shook his head. Others would have gone down the list of hardships that Dee had obviously experienced, but not her. "I wish we could, but I have no idea where we are. Do you know?"
"Yes. No. Well, I do... But I don't." Dee's face frowned for a moment. Kazuki and the crew of the artifact ship had learned that this was the look she made when a buried memory was close to the surface. Given time, it might surface fully, but forcing her to remember never worked, so Kazuki left the subject alone.
"Dee, where are the others?"
She shook her head. "I don't know. All I know is Zinv is far away," Dee rested her head on Kazuki's nearby shoulder, closing her eyes.
Kazuki rubbed his temples. From his cursory inspection of the restraints, he knew he wouldn't be able to free Dee on his own. "Why did they do this to you, Dee? Did you say or do something wrong?"
"I don't know. I can't even understand what they're saying to me. All I know is they hate me," Dee sniffled softly, burying her face in Kazuki's shoulder. She continued in a distant tone, "I'm so hungry... Do you think they will let me eat?"
Kazuki, his anger boiling just beneath the his surface, replied coolly, "I don't care if they'll 'let' you. You will eat and you will be released. Immediately." He rose and turned towards the fearful young man who was still standing by the tent flap, his face expressing his awe over the entire situation.
"Y-y-you touched it! Do you not fear the Liquidator? Or, are you a sympathizer," Gan's tone became accusatory, despite his fear of the stranger.
Kazuki cold stare fell upon Gan as he slowly cleared the distance between the two. He glared into the younger man's eyes, attempting to ascertain the reason he was being so cruel to his sister-in-law. Unable to find a reason visually, Kazuki finally responded in a tone that did not betray the fire burning within, "You will release her immediately. You will then find, allocate, and provide her with food and shelter. Neglect to do any of these things and I fear for your safety. Do you understand?"
"But the elders will--"
Kazuki's rage burst. His glare intensified as he came within inches of Gan's face. He shouted, "Do you understand?"
"Yes... I do. May the maker take pity on me for the acts I am about to commit," Gan, after saying this little prayer, approached the opposite side of the rock Dee was attached to. Waiving his hand over the lock, an unseen code was entered, causing the chains to immediately fall to the ground.
Dee attempted to rise, bracing against the rock. She stumbled and began to fall, but Kazuki swiftly caught her and helped her regain her balance.
"Are you alright?"
Dee nodded, giving Kazuki a half-smile, "I suppose I am. Are we leaving now?"
Kazuki sighed. Without knowing where the others were, it would be close to impossible for them to escape. He had honestly not thought this plan out beyond freeing Dee.
The opening of the tent flap informed Kazuki that he didn't need to plan any further that evening.
The older man looked directly at Dee, his eyes widening as he saw her free. "What is the meaning of this? Why is that thing unbound?"
Dee frowned and whispered to Kazuki, "What's he saying?"
Kazuki glanced at Dee. Couldn't she understand what he was saying?
Shaking the confusion off, he whispered back to Dee, "Not right now," before raising his voice to address Dee's former captor, "I have a mind to ask you the same question, sir. Why did you lock Dee to this rock? Why haven't you been feeding her? Where are my companions? Where's Zinv?"
The man's eyes narrowed, mainly to adjust to the poor lighting but also to identify the speaker. Two men and the woman who had introduced herself as Dau were entering the tent slowly, halting behind the man who had addressed the escapees.
The man, who was obviously their leader, spoke, "I am Auth, leader of this tribe. Before I answer any more of your questions, I must ask: Are you a sympathizer?" The tone of his voice told Kazuki that the wrong answer would have unpleasant consequences.
"Sympathizer for whom?"
"The Elev."
Kazuki shrugged with his free shoulder. "I've never heard of them, so I guess I'm not."
"Never heard of them," the false shock pervaded Auth's response. "I find this hard to believe, seeing as one is presently wrapped around your right side as we speak!"
Kazuki looked at Dee. What was this Elev that Auth spoke of? What ties did Dee have with them? Could they be the people she originated from?
"We're from Earth! We've never heard of the Elev! I assure you that we both mean you no harm," Kazuki attempted to talk reason into the man, shifting Dee slightly as his arm began to fall asleep.
Auth grunted as the others accompanying him gasped in amazement. "Yes, so I've heard... If you are from Earth, then I'm a Daughter of Kumu... Just like your friend."
Kazuki winced as the words were spoken again. They were beginning to have some meaning to him, but he could not place it with any tangible thought. Calmly, he inquired, "That is the second time I've heard that term used. What does it mean? Who was Kumu?"
Auth raised an eyebrow at the young man before him. Was he really that injured or was he just stalling until an escape route presented itself? Deciding to play along for the time being, Auth replied, "I suppose you 'Earth-people' would not know of Kumu, the Elev, and their atrocities... Kumu single-handedly plotted against the Adome and used her daughters to destroy most of old Edenora. The survivors were herded like cattle into a village. Thinking they were safe, they slept peacefully until Kumu sent forces that came from the heavens and destroyed their final refuge. The few Adome who survived this horror escaped in the spacecraft the Elev had used to attack. Some of the ships made it to this solar system and, their vessels out of fuel, crash-landed on this world that they called new Edenora. The Elev who pursued them, dishonored in the eyes of Kumu for their failure to finish off the Adome, were banished to this world as well. Their punishment is to hunt us until there is no remaining Adome on this world. Once this mission is complete, they will be allowed to ascend to the heavens once more."
The story was a lot for Kazuki to take in. Dee had to listen to it as well, unable to understand all but a few words. After the silence had proceeded for a few minutes, Dee whispered to Kazuki, "So, uh... What just happened? Did he say we could eat?"
Auth glared at the atrocity before him. "It speaks a foreign tongue, but that means nothing. It is still a Daughter of Kumu and its crimes cannot be over-looked. By law, any such creature that is captured is to be killed by one of its direct victims or their surviving family. If you are not a sympathizer, you will perform this task now," Auth approached Kazuki, placing a knife-like blade in his free hand. "If you are, we shall kill you both."
The older one appeared to be asking his companion something. As he spoke, the words 'you' and 'sure' gently passed Dee's ears.
Dee blinked, her tears rolling down her cheeks. She had understood some of what the man had said to his companion. It sounded almost as if their language had originated from the Latin language on Earth. Dee tried to remember some of her Latin lessons from high school, but the closest language she could still remember was English.
Carefully finding the right words, she begged, "Water... Please... Water..."
The elder's head quickly jerked back towards her. He took a few steps back, apparently shocked that he had understood her request. "Water?"
Dee's face brightened. Finally, they understood each other. Now all she had to do was explain that she was not an enemy...
"No." The younger man approached the older one and began tugging at his shirt, trying to get him away from the thing bound in the center of the room. He continued with an excuse, which Dee could not understand. The elder finally acknowledged the words of the younger and turned with him, leaving Dee bound to the rock.
Dee cried after them, tugging on the chains as hard as she could, "No! Don't leave me, dammit!" She stopped tugging for a moment, surprised at her own use of the word. Never had she even considered saying such things, but this experience was not bringing the best out of her.
Resting her head back on the rock, Dee resigned herself to another night without food or drink. If this kept up a few more days, she knew she would be dead. She would have begun to cry, but her tear ducts were finally too dry to permit any more than a small trickle to escape. She closed her eyes and prepared for another restless night.
The soft patter of feet awoke her from her light sleep.
As Dee looked up, she could just make out the figure of the man from earlier. He carried a small vessel that he held up to her lips and slowly poured without saying a word.
Dee drank eagerly; suppressing a coughing fit until after the vessel had been removed from her parched lips. She smiled at the man, who had simply turned and was exiting the room.
As he ducked to leave out the flap, he began speaking in his strange tongue. Most of the words Dee could not understand, but some of his final words sounded like 'Adome' and 'Elev'. Finished with his monologue, he left her alone.
Dee's face had visibly paled. She wasn't sure why, but something deep inside her recognized those words. It was as if they should have held some particular meaning to Dee, but she could not place it. She pondered their meaning silently for untold hours before finally drifting off to sleep.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Zinv: "Remember."
"Zinv?"
Zinv: "Remember, Kumu."
"Remember what?"
With a flash, dead men and boys surrounded Dee. The scene was hauntingly familiar to her. Wading through the bodies, her tear-filled eyes focused on one of the young men at her feet.
"Earu!"
The bodies disappeared and she was suddenly on a strange ship. Looking around, she began realized it was the artifact battleship the Rara Army was once based out of. People she had never met, mostly men, passed by her, saluting or just smiling and giving her a friendly hello.
Dee winced and grabbed her right arm with her left hand. It instantly felt heavy and ached severely. As she feel to the floor, the men continued to pass by her, their words becoming less and less muddled. Full sentences began forming around her.
"We're out of Elev space."
"We did it!"
"We would not have succeeded if it weren't for you..."
Dee removed her hand from her arm. Slowly, a hole opened. A strange gas began spreading from the open wound, its aroma acrid. The passers by began to choke, grasping at their throats in vain as they dropped one by one to the floor.
The sole remaining man crawled towards her, grabbing her shoulders. "Why? Why do this to us?"
Dee was crying, truly pitying those that surrounded her. Unable to answer, her instincts kicked in and replied for her, "I-I-I didn't know. I thought I was different. I'm sorry."
Accepting this answer, the man let go of Dee and slumped over, his body going limp.
Dee rose in horror, backing away from all of bodies that lay around her.
Zinv: "Remember."
"No!" Dee's eyes shot open, the nightmare fully awakening her. As she looked around, she noticed the sun's rays creeping in from underneath the flap before her.
Soon, she would most likely have visitors. She wasn't sure how she knew this, but she did. Attempting to clear her eyes, she tried to wipe them on her shoulder, again to no avail. Sighing heavily, she awaited the guests she knew would arrive shortly.
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The dust from the surrounding area caused a large yellow cloud to form around the core robot as it landed, its exterior color blending in to it perfectly. The small crowd that had gathered to witness its arrival muttered nervously as it disappeared from sight, but applauded as the dust settled and its ancient form was revealed.
It slowly turned and began walking towards the crowd. Everyone, including the small children, stared in awe at its massive hull, a look of joy upon their faces. Where this robot tread, no evil would fall.
It kneeled before the masses; it's crest-covered chest mere meters from the sand dune they were waiting with anticipation upon. As the crest parted, a hiss of pressurized air escaped from within. The doors slid open, revealing the core robot's occupants to the crowd, who cheered and welcomed their guests with open arms.
The pilot removed his helmet, smiling and waiving to the children below him. "If only the Elev would great us so warmly," he commented to his companion, who was simply looking out over the crowd.
As the elder man carefully removed his helmet, the crowd fell silent.
His one remaining eye glared over them. Why were they rejoicing so? Were they not aware of the terror in their midst? His gaze removed some of the levity of their attitude from the assembled people.
"Must you always do that?"
The elder simply bowed his head towards the younger pilot. The young had a tendency to not appreciate the seriousness of situations. Secretly, he admired this facet of their being, but he would never tell them this.
Looking back over the crowd, his stern tone rang forth from the core robot's chest plate, "A healer was summoned. I have come. Where is the abomination?"
A large man, apparently the leader of the group, stepped forward nervously, pointing off into the distance. "Our camp is a few maheds in that direction."
Nodding, the healer stepped back into the cockpit, motioning for his pilot to follow. He replied to the man below as the cockpit sealed shut, "Take us there."
Obediently, the crowd began hiking towards their camp. The core robot cautiously followed behind the crowd, the pilot watching for small children the entire time. Children were rare for the Adome and each one was a valuable commodity, almost as much as a functioning core robot without a limiter was.
The encampment was well developed for a desert tribe. The healer could make out numerous small tents and structures, some even constructed in part with metal. The bright reflections caused his one good eye to squint as they approached.
The in-cockpit speaker crackled as the leader informed the two men of their arrival. Wiggling his finger in his ear, the pilot muttered, "Damn... I thought they had fixed that. Sounds worse than it was before the last battle."
The healer smirked, "You know that we have little knowledge of the ancient technology. We're lucky this unit can walk, let alone fight. Count your blessings."
The pilot nodded, kneeling once more and opening the cockpit's doors. The two tossed ropes over the sides and rappelled down to the desert below them, the elder huffing the entire time, but fully capable of hauling himself down. In his better days, he could mount or dismount a core robot in under a minute. Oh how he missed those times.
"This way, this way," members of the crowd chanted, waiving the healer towards a nearby tent. A couple of them stepped forward and held the flaps open, allowing him and his assistant access to the injured pilot within.
The first thing that struck him was the uniform. It was neither Adome nor Elev in origin. The healer had never seen anything like it. His face seemed different as well. It looked like theirs, but some of the features were unlike any on this world. Approaching cautiously, he removed one of the few functioning medical scanning devices on the planet from his belt and waived it over his right arm.
"Healer," the anxious tone of the camp leader's voice let the healer know that his concern was shared.
Closing the device, he smiled slightly. "There is no sign of Liquidators in his body. He's clean."
They all collectively sighed in relief. At least this one would not be harmful to their camp. Continuing with his scans, the healer attempted to place his area of origin, but could not find anything on file that directly matched him. Internally, they were very much the same, but there were minuet details that were different. He'd never seen an Adome like him before. As for his reported symptoms of thrashing around and muttering incoherently, the healer assigned these to a high fever that must have broken before he could arrive.
Turning to the camp leader, he put away the delicate device. "I hope you have room for him. He'll be up and about in less than two conords."
The leader nodded, turning to one of his assistants and ordering him to prepare a tent. He faced the healer again and asked, "So, you know their story, what do you think?"
The healer shook his head, resting his ancient body on a nearby stool. "I am uncertain, but I think he was being captured by the Daughter of Kumu that you mentioned in your message," he held up the piece of animal hide that had writing scrawled all over it. "We'll scan it as well and see if it's already deployed its Liquidator or not. If it has not, we'll have to move it immediately to a safe distance, kill it, and burn the remains. It's the only way to ensure our safety. If it has, we'll perform the normal duties whenever a Daughter of Kumu is captured by one of their victims: We'll allow this young man to kill it," he motioned towards the pilot lying before them.
"I suggest," the healer rose from the stool, leaning on his pilot's arm for a few moments until his balance could be regained, "That you have your people make preparations for either scenario. Now, take me to it. We'll go ahead and confirm the level of threat it poses us." He hobbled out of the room, following the leader to the retaining tent where the less reputable members of society spent time for their various deeds.
Holding the flap open, the leader motioned for the healer to enter, his apprehension at even being in the same space as the thing that lay within most apparent. The sight of the grown man cowering in fear caused the healer to chuckle as he entered, unafraid.
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Dee squinted as the light hit her eyes.
"Ok, this is seriously old, people! You could at least warn me before you open the flap!"
An old man entered, eyeing her cautiously. As he approached, his hobble reminded her of Reika and how she used to walk around the Academy grounds. She missed those simpler days and longed for a time when she could see Reika, Yayoi, and her remaining friends on Earth again.
The elderly man stepped towards her, opening her right eye and then her left one fully and studying their reactions to light. Dee felt various pokes and prods throughout her body as he continued to study her. Thankfully, he stayed away from her more sensitive areas or he'd have been pulling back a bloody nub. He then removed a familiar-looking device from his belt and began scanning her right arm.
"Hey! Enough of this already! I want to know what I did to deserve this treatment!"
The healer glanced at the subject, intrigued by the new language he had never encountered before. Shrugging after a moment's consideration, he continued his scanning, a strange look spreading across his face. It reminded Dee of Dr. Sanada whenever he was faced with a perplexing problem. He'd study it, run numerous scans, and study some more all with a similar look on his face. He ran the scanner over her arm a few more times before closing it and shaking his head.
He stared into her eyes and began speaking in the foreign tongue Dee had grown accustomed to. She picked out words here and there, but couldn't put them into a tangible sentence structure.
Fed up with the constant torture she was undergoing, Dee glared at the old man and stated in her broken English, "Go to hell, you jerk."
A wide grin appeared on his face. Whatever meaning that had been lost in the translation was picked up through the sheer tone of her voice. Chuckling to himself, he exited the tent, leaving Dee to ponder what had just happened.
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As the tent flapped closed, his grin disappeared.
His assistant approached him, whispering so that the other people going about their business would not overhear them, "Grandfather, what did you find?"
The healer scowled at the question, reminding his grandson, "I told you not to call me that here. I don't want anyone to think you're receiving special treatment."
He lowered his head in shame, "I apologize."
The old man continued, "As for the Daughter of Kumu, it is an oddity. There is no Liquidator in its body. What's more, its right arm, where the Liquidator containment vessel should be stored, has signs of regeneration. It's almost as if it lost its right arm and a new one was attached. Its body also shows signs of extreme stress and age, but its overall health is that of any other young Elev. If it weren't a Daughter of Kumu, I would have liked to study it more in depth. However, its very nature requires an immediate death sentence; we cannot delay this. Once the young pilot awakens, it will die."
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Zinv: "No! Stay away!"
"Zinv? Is that you?"
Zinv: "Help me, Kumu! Save me!"
"Zinv! Where are you?"
Zinv: "Save me!"
Kazuki shot straight up out of the cot-like apparatus. His eyes shifted wildly around the strange surroundings, attempting to lock onto one object that was familiar. Unable to locate anything, he threw his legs over the side of his cot, holding his aching head and moaning slightly.
The ground shifted underneath his feet. Looking down, he noticed the strange texture of the flooring. As the world around him began breaking through his pounding headache, he realized he wasn't on the artifact ship. Trying to recall what had happened, he could only remember Hera kissing Zinv. Everything after that was a blur.
He pushed off the rickety surface, noticing how it descended slightly into the desert sand. How did he end up here? Where were Mitsuki-chan and the others? For that matter, where was Ms. Ra? His head pounded with greater intensity as these problems presented themselves with no clear answer. Grabbing his skull, he winced, not noticing the arrival of a woman until she spoke.
"Yo eieo's jopx wou awake. How do you feel," the words she spoke, which at first sounded as mere gibberish, quickly formed into words Kazuki could understand. It wasn't that her language changed, it was more that some how, deep in his soul, he knew these words and their meaning.
As he pondered this new addition to his worries, he realized it was the same language Zinv had been shouting at him during the kiss. Another brief memory of floating in space struck him, causing Kazuki to lean against a small stand next to his cot.
"Are you alright," the woman moved towards him, a look of concern conveyed through her slightly aged facial features and deep purple eyes.
Kazuki had his first good look at the woman. Gasping, he stated, "Dee! You've grown up! How... How did this happen?" He took a step towards her, inspecting her carefully.
The woman took a step back, fearful that his delusions still had him in their grasp. "My name is Dau. I do not know of this 'Dee'. Was he a friend?"
Kazuki stopped and stared at the woman. She looked a lot like Dee. Maybe she was a relative or something. Shaking his head, he halted his approach and replied, "She and yes, she is my friend."
The woman frowned at him slightly, brushing aside a stray brownish-green hair from her face. "Surely you can't mean that thing that was with you..."
Kazuki cocked his head. "That thing? What thing?"
"The Daughter of Kumu. Don't you remember it capturing you?"
Kazuki froze at the mention of the name Kumu. Images of that strange orb floating in the Rara Army's artifact battleship passed through his mind. If it or another like it were in this place, he was in serious trouble.
He needed to find Zinv fast.
Kazuki cleared the distance between him and the woman in a flash, grasping her shoulders. "Where's Dr. Sanada? Where's Mitsuki? I demand to know!"
Clearly frightened, she stuttered a response, "I-I-I kn-n-now none of those people. You must calm yourself and rest. You've been through a lot," she calmly removed his hands from her shoulders and began guiding him back towards the cot. "You need not fear the Daughter of Kumu, it has been restrained. Soon, we will let you claim justice."
Kazuki froze, turning to face Dau who was gently pushing him towards his original locale. "What does that mean, 'justice'? And what's a daughter of Kumu?"
Dau shook her head, clucking slightly under her breath. "You must have been injured very badly to not remember such things. You will remember in time, however," she smiled and started to push him back towards the cot.
Kazuki stopped her hands from reaching his chest, an annoyed look beginning to cross his face. "No, tell me now. Where am I? Where are my friends? What is a daughter of Kumu?"
Realizing the patient would not calm down until he received answers, Dau nodded and sat on the edge of the cot, motioning for Kazuki to follow. "Before we begin, do you even remember your name?"
Kazuki nodded and quickly replied, "Kazuki."
"Well, K-K-Kazuki," she attempted his pronunciation of his name a few times before getting the basics of it, then continued, "You are on Edenora, home of the Adome, your people and mine."
"My people?"
"Yes. You are Adome, are you not?"
"I'm from Earth! I'm a human!"
Dau's eyes widened. She leapt off of the cot and stared at him for a moment, a look of shock burned into her face. "Earth?"
"Yes. Have you heard of it?"
She nodded, the words unable to reach her lips. Dau slowly backed out of the tent, the shocked gaze never leaving Kazuki. He slowly rose to follow, but by the time he reached the flap, she had disappeared.
Left to his own devices, Kazuki shrugged off the strange encounter that had been cut short. Wincing slightly from his headache as he lifted the flap, Kazuki glanced out and noticed the sun's rays slowly sliding behind a large sand dune. With no one else around, he began walking through what he soon realized was similar to a nomad camp from his home planet.
Most of the tents appeared battered and well used. Few of the materials appeared to be any younger than him. The lack of people in the camp surprised and disturbed Kazuki. He determined that if the camp had been abandoned, it had to have been recently, but there was no sign as to why it was empty. He wondered where Dau could have disappeared to and called her name several times, but received no response.
As the few remaining solar rays disappeared, Kazuki decided he needed to find someone in charge of the camp, if there was anyone remaining, and find out more about where he and his friends were.
Finally discovering a centrally located tent that was larger than the rest, Kazuki assumed that it was the tent of the officials. His pace quickened as he approached. Kazuki threw open the flap, shouting, "Where am I? Where are my friends? I demand answers, now!"
He heard some shifting in the dark that sounded like chains dragging against a hard surface. He also heard the sound of scurrying and something filled with water sloshing around. "Who's there," Kazuki demanded, squinting in part due to the poor light and in part because of the head- splitting headache.
"S-S-S-So, you're awake," the unsteady male voice responded from the dark.
"Yes, I am awake. Who are you? Show yourself!"
The young man stepped towards the flap slowly, a water vessel in his hands. "I am Gan," he paused momentarily, a look of shame slowly spreading across his face. "I know it did horrible things to you and it's the enemy, but it was pleading and it sounded so awful even though I had no idea what it was saying and I just had to help it! Please don't tell the others I was giving it water! I beg you! I'd become an outcast for sure!"
Kazuki, his headache getting the better of him, glared at the young man, "What the hell are you talking about? I asked you where I was and where my friends were!" Kazuki lunged towards the young man who appeared only slightly older than Dee and grabbed his shirt, pulling him closer. "I want answers, dammit!"
Gan dropped the pitcher, spilling the precious water across the desert sand. His response slowly stuttered out, "I-I-I-I..."
"Kazuki?"
The weak voice cried from the darkness, barely reaching Kazuki's ears. "Who's there?"
"Kazuki... Is that you?"
"Who is it?" Releasing Gan, Kazuki cautiously stepped into the darkness, allowing his eyes to adjust. He noticed a large structure towards the center of the otherwise bare room and headed towards it. The chains rattled as he approached.
"Kazuki... I thought you were dead! I'm so happy you're alive!"
The soft voice was instantly recognizable to Kazuki. Sprinting across the remaining distance he fell on one knee at Dee's side. "Dee! What the hell did they do to you? Are you ok?"
Dee coughed before raising her face towards Kazuki's. Her small smile was just barely visible in the waning light from outside. "I'm alive. I've felt better, though. Can we go home now?"
Kazuki shook his head. Others would have gone down the list of hardships that Dee had obviously experienced, but not her. "I wish we could, but I have no idea where we are. Do you know?"
"Yes. No. Well, I do... But I don't." Dee's face frowned for a moment. Kazuki and the crew of the artifact ship had learned that this was the look she made when a buried memory was close to the surface. Given time, it might surface fully, but forcing her to remember never worked, so Kazuki left the subject alone.
"Dee, where are the others?"
She shook her head. "I don't know. All I know is Zinv is far away," Dee rested her head on Kazuki's nearby shoulder, closing her eyes.
Kazuki rubbed his temples. From his cursory inspection of the restraints, he knew he wouldn't be able to free Dee on his own. "Why did they do this to you, Dee? Did you say or do something wrong?"
"I don't know. I can't even understand what they're saying to me. All I know is they hate me," Dee sniffled softly, burying her face in Kazuki's shoulder. She continued in a distant tone, "I'm so hungry... Do you think they will let me eat?"
Kazuki, his anger boiling just beneath the his surface, replied coolly, "I don't care if they'll 'let' you. You will eat and you will be released. Immediately." He rose and turned towards the fearful young man who was still standing by the tent flap, his face expressing his awe over the entire situation.
"Y-y-you touched it! Do you not fear the Liquidator? Or, are you a sympathizer," Gan's tone became accusatory, despite his fear of the stranger.
Kazuki cold stare fell upon Gan as he slowly cleared the distance between the two. He glared into the younger man's eyes, attempting to ascertain the reason he was being so cruel to his sister-in-law. Unable to find a reason visually, Kazuki finally responded in a tone that did not betray the fire burning within, "You will release her immediately. You will then find, allocate, and provide her with food and shelter. Neglect to do any of these things and I fear for your safety. Do you understand?"
"But the elders will--"
Kazuki's rage burst. His glare intensified as he came within inches of Gan's face. He shouted, "Do you understand?"
"Yes... I do. May the maker take pity on me for the acts I am about to commit," Gan, after saying this little prayer, approached the opposite side of the rock Dee was attached to. Waiving his hand over the lock, an unseen code was entered, causing the chains to immediately fall to the ground.
Dee attempted to rise, bracing against the rock. She stumbled and began to fall, but Kazuki swiftly caught her and helped her regain her balance.
"Are you alright?"
Dee nodded, giving Kazuki a half-smile, "I suppose I am. Are we leaving now?"
Kazuki sighed. Without knowing where the others were, it would be close to impossible for them to escape. He had honestly not thought this plan out beyond freeing Dee.
The opening of the tent flap informed Kazuki that he didn't need to plan any further that evening.
The older man looked directly at Dee, his eyes widening as he saw her free. "What is the meaning of this? Why is that thing unbound?"
Dee frowned and whispered to Kazuki, "What's he saying?"
Kazuki glanced at Dee. Couldn't she understand what he was saying?
Shaking the confusion off, he whispered back to Dee, "Not right now," before raising his voice to address Dee's former captor, "I have a mind to ask you the same question, sir. Why did you lock Dee to this rock? Why haven't you been feeding her? Where are my companions? Where's Zinv?"
The man's eyes narrowed, mainly to adjust to the poor lighting but also to identify the speaker. Two men and the woman who had introduced herself as Dau were entering the tent slowly, halting behind the man who had addressed the escapees.
The man, who was obviously their leader, spoke, "I am Auth, leader of this tribe. Before I answer any more of your questions, I must ask: Are you a sympathizer?" The tone of his voice told Kazuki that the wrong answer would have unpleasant consequences.
"Sympathizer for whom?"
"The Elev."
Kazuki shrugged with his free shoulder. "I've never heard of them, so I guess I'm not."
"Never heard of them," the false shock pervaded Auth's response. "I find this hard to believe, seeing as one is presently wrapped around your right side as we speak!"
Kazuki looked at Dee. What was this Elev that Auth spoke of? What ties did Dee have with them? Could they be the people she originated from?
"We're from Earth! We've never heard of the Elev! I assure you that we both mean you no harm," Kazuki attempted to talk reason into the man, shifting Dee slightly as his arm began to fall asleep.
Auth grunted as the others accompanying him gasped in amazement. "Yes, so I've heard... If you are from Earth, then I'm a Daughter of Kumu... Just like your friend."
Kazuki winced as the words were spoken again. They were beginning to have some meaning to him, but he could not place it with any tangible thought. Calmly, he inquired, "That is the second time I've heard that term used. What does it mean? Who was Kumu?"
Auth raised an eyebrow at the young man before him. Was he really that injured or was he just stalling until an escape route presented itself? Deciding to play along for the time being, Auth replied, "I suppose you 'Earth-people' would not know of Kumu, the Elev, and their atrocities... Kumu single-handedly plotted against the Adome and used her daughters to destroy most of old Edenora. The survivors were herded like cattle into a village. Thinking they were safe, they slept peacefully until Kumu sent forces that came from the heavens and destroyed their final refuge. The few Adome who survived this horror escaped in the spacecraft the Elev had used to attack. Some of the ships made it to this solar system and, their vessels out of fuel, crash-landed on this world that they called new Edenora. The Elev who pursued them, dishonored in the eyes of Kumu for their failure to finish off the Adome, were banished to this world as well. Their punishment is to hunt us until there is no remaining Adome on this world. Once this mission is complete, they will be allowed to ascend to the heavens once more."
The story was a lot for Kazuki to take in. Dee had to listen to it as well, unable to understand all but a few words. After the silence had proceeded for a few minutes, Dee whispered to Kazuki, "So, uh... What just happened? Did he say we could eat?"
Auth glared at the atrocity before him. "It speaks a foreign tongue, but that means nothing. It is still a Daughter of Kumu and its crimes cannot be over-looked. By law, any such creature that is captured is to be killed by one of its direct victims or their surviving family. If you are not a sympathizer, you will perform this task now," Auth approached Kazuki, placing a knife-like blade in his free hand. "If you are, we shall kill you both."