I don't own Skies of Arcadia
Vyse found Enrique in the gardens a few days later. Enrique was looking up into the sky, his face a mask of stoicism. Vyse suddenly felt deep sadness for his friend. Vyse walked up to Enrique and stared up at the stars with him.
"She's not here," Enrique whispered.
Vyse understood that that she he was referring to was Moegi. Vyse hadn't expected Moegi to be here. With reports the from Lindsi, Alan, and Jimmy about Moegi meeting up with Aika, he knew that Moegi went wherever Aika was.
Vyse continued to watch the stars in silence, feeling more than knowing that he had to remain silent. He knew, from experience, that there was a good time to talk and a good time to just listen. Now was a time for listening.
"Why did she leave? Why didn't she tell me?" Enrique almost pleaded with the sky. He had thrown up his arms for the moment, but after receiving no reply, he let his arms hang limply at his sides. "Why, Vyse? It doesn't make sense to me. She used to tell me everything."
Vyse watched a small blue star twinkle at him before he replied, "She knew it wouldn't help in any matters, Enrique. You were busy with holding down the military coup while maintaining peace with the other nations and rebuilding Valua. She didn't want to add to your worries with her pain."
Was that why Aika hadn't told him a thing? Did she not want to add to his worries? Was this what she was feeling now?
"But I could have helped, Vyse."
"Then you would have had to turn away from your country. She knew that the country needed you and you needed the country."
Did Aika feel this way too? Did she think that his adventures out in the sky were things that he needed and vice versa? Didn't she know that sailing the skies wouldn't be the same without her by his side?
Didn't she?
Had he ever even told her?
Had he ever said to her how much he always needed her at his side?
No, he hadn't. He had never said it, always taking his best friend for granted.
Enrique dropped his gaze to the ground below him. "I guess you're right. She was probably thinking that…" He shook his head, never finishing what he was going to say. He offered Vyse a half smile and said, "Thanks."
Enrique quickly turned on his heel and left Vyse to contemplate the new thoughts roaming around in his head.
Docking wouldn't be easy. With half of Valua knowing who Moegi, Marco, Lilly, Belle, Nara, and Aika, herself, looked like, sneaking in would be a slight challenge, something that Aika had trouble backing away from.
All she knew was that on the other end of the city, her treasure was lying either with Fina or with Vyse up in the castle. Luckily, she had Moegi and Marco with her and Moegi knew the entire layout of the new castle and Marco knew the guard's working hours
Currently, they had tried to disguise themselves by trading in their normally bright clothes to darker robes with hoods. They walked, in pairs, casually down the rather crowded streets of Valua trying to look as inconspicuous as possible.
"The underground entrance to the castle," Marco whispered to Aika as they stared at a large woman who was yelling at her child, "will be guarded. At the midnight hour, however, they have a changing of the guards. At that point, we have about thirty seconds to sneak through."
"Do you think we can make it?" Aika asked him. Who would know about sneaking around a large guarded city better than an ex-street rat?
"Easy. We just need to make sure that those cackling hyenas -" he was referring to Belle, Nara, and Lilly "- are quiet."
Aika turned back to Moegi. Both of them had discussed where the whereabouts of the freaking dagger would be. Aika assumed that it was either on Vyse or Fina or in one of their rooms. Moegi, knowing Enrique too well, had pointed out in which room Vyse and Fina were most likely staying at.
So, all she needed was to attack at four places and make sure they were so confused that they didn't know what hit them. How in the world was she going to pull this off, she had no idea.
"Alright, this is what's going to happen. Marco and Belle, you two have the pleasure of searching Fina for the dagger. Nara and Lilly will take Fina's room. Moegi, you'll take Vyse - if I know him well enough, he'll probably be in some high place right now, thinking - and I'll take his room." Maybe, if they were in smaller groups, it would be hard for people to come and chase them. It would also give each group a flexibility that couldn't be had with a large number of people. "When you're done with your task, head back to the Delphinus and we'll meet each other there."
Moegi and the others nodded at their instructions.
Fina found herself at the front of Domingo's bedroom. She was a little shocked to find herself anywhere near him, seeing as how she hadn't known him very well at first, but when she was sitting in her room, with only Cupil as company, she felt as if she were going to go insane.
It's not that she didn't love Cupil. The fact was, she could only have a one way conversation for so long. She wanted to talk to someone who could offer feedback, who could tell her that she wasn't a bad person for feeling what she did feel. She needed someone who could make her smile again.
So, she found herself standing in front of Domingo's door with her hand poised in the air as if to knock. It was only as her hand slowly rammed toward the door that she thought this was a mistake and stopped her action. She turned to leave, but ran into something rather hard. She would have fallen backward if strong hands hadn't grabbed her wrists to steady her.
She looked up and her face went scarlet.
Domingo smiled down at her. "Funny seeing you here," he said.
Fina could only stagger backward quickly and bow. "I'm sorry to bother you."
Domingo leaned against the walls of the hallway, shoving his hands in his pockets, and looked at Fina, rather amused. She straightened up and tried to smile, but failed in the process. "You aren't bothering me," he said after a moment. "What're you doing up in this neck of the woods?"
Fina tried to gather her quickly dwindling courage. She had come to his room with a purpose, but now it seemed rather stupid. She just wanted to talk to someone and for some reason, she thought Domingo was a rather good idea…then again, that was some hours ago when she was in a delirious state of mind.
"I--uh--I," was all she could splutter before she bowed again and cried out, "Never mind." She quickly rushed passed him, wondering what was wrong with her. Maybe she was in a delirious state of mind right now.
As she passed him, Domingo found his hand darting out in front of him and grabbing onto her shoulder to stop her. "Wait, Fina." She stopped and turned her head to glance at him. "Would you like to go for a walk? I could show you the outside of the castle grounds and the streets if you'd like."
Fina looked away from him. For some unknown reason, this decision was the most difficult one that she'd ever had to make. Well, not the most, but it was up there. She bit her lip slightly, lost in thought.
Domingo watched these minute actions rather closely. He could tell something was bugging her, but he didn't know what. He was curious, as he was with his business. He found that his curiosity was what propelled him to be a man who searched for discoveries and later a man who enjoyed working in the Valua's Intelligence Agency.
However, discoveries and intelligence were different from people. He could find any object or information and it would stay the same over the years. But, a person was more complicated. Their emotions were constantly changing and their views were always evolving. It was something of an interest of his to try and discover human emotion, especially Fina's who's moods were changing even now.
Before, when he had known her as part of Vyse's crew, he had seen the love she had for Vyse, singing out through her eyes. She had been full of wonder and her face practically shined. Now, on the other hand, her face was void of emotion. Her eyes were dull, empty, and sad whenever she thought that no one was looking at her. He knew that there was something wrong and that she was trying to hide it.
His curiosity was sparking and he wanted to find out. He wanted to find out everything about her, to make those eyes shine once again.
He held out an arm for her in hopes that she would take it.
Hesitantly, Fina took a step toward Domingo and wound her hand around the crook of his arm. She smiled slightly and let him lead her out of the castle.
Vyse walked back into the castle and slowly went up the stairs. He thought about going to his room, but didn't really feel like going to sleep any time soon. So, he continued climbing the stairs. Finally, he found a door at the very top. He opened it and peered outside.
He smiled.
He climbed out of the door and sat at the very top of a parapet. It felt like he was sitting up in the crows nest of his ship or the lookout point at Pirate Isle. It felt like going home again.
He remembered climbing up to the lookout point so many times, just because it felt like he was in his own little world up there. He constantly dragged Aika up there with him, and that was the place where they shared their moments together, away from the world, away from the responsibility. It was just a place where they could be themselves.
He missed her.
Marco went through a list of expletives as they sat outside of the hidden entrance of the castle. He was cold, tired, and a little annoyed by the situation. If Aika would just go over there and tell everyone that she wanted the knife, this all would be less of a hassle.
Alas, she wanted to do everything the hard way.
Belle hit him upside the head and frowned. "Quit cursing, you dolt!"
"It's the only thing that keeps my face from freezing," he muttered back, rubbing the back of his head.
"Quiet, the both of you," Moegi commanded. "It's almost midnight."
They each stared at the entrance and watched the guards talk to one another. For about two minutes, absolutely nothing happened. Then, two people emerged. Aika gasped slightly at the appearance of the two people.
She watched, curiously, as Fina and Domingo walked out, each with their head close together as if discussing something very important. What could it be about and when in the world did Domingo reappear?
Aika crawled over to Marco and Belle. "Follow them," she hissed.
Marco nodded and grabbed Belle's hand. "You best not mess this up, Clumsy," he said to Belle as they took off down one direction.
Aika returned to her position and watched the guards. Soon, they started walking down one direction. Aika felt Moegi's hurried taps on her shoulder and the remainder of the group bolted down toward the entrance as fast as they could. Aika could already hear the new guards coming. She quickly slammed her body against a crevice in the wall and pulled Moegi, Nara, and Lilly with her.
When the other girls looked at Aika, she held a finger to her lips. Slowly, she peered over the crevice and looked at the guards who were talking so loudly to one another that it seemed that Aika could scream "bloody murder" and they wouldn't notice. She seriously contemplated the move, but decided at the last second not to. She couldn't risk Vyse knowing that she was in Valua.
Aika nodded to her crew and they all snuck toward the castle, careful not to make noise.
Domingo pointed to a statue and said, "That was created by a young girl who used to live in the lower parts of Valua. She was only fifteen when she created this masterpiece. She said it was in dedication to her father, who she had never met."
Fina stared at it in wonder. It was a beautiful sculpture of a man with a soft smile on his face. "It's amazing," she said, her attention fully on the image before her. It looked so real that she reached out a hand to touch it and waited to see if it would move. She heard Domingo's warm chuckle from behind her and blushed.
"I used to do that to," he admitted as he led her to another area of Valua.
They continued to walk in comfortable silence when Domingo got an odd look on his face. "What is it?" Fina asked. "You look like you're about to explode."
"Do I?" He shook his head, a grin lighting his face. "I was just thinking. I hope I don't look like that every time I think, though."
Fina laughed as they turned the corner of a street. Her eyes were greeted with several buildings, beautifully made. Enrique, she admitted, did a splendid job with the new Valua. All the buildings had a slight flair that spoke of new beginnings and a Golden Age that had yet to come.
"So, what were you thinking about?" Fina asked, feeling a bit bubbly at the moment.
"You," he replied.
Fina looked up quickly to see if he was jesting, but the look on his face told her that he wasn't. Fina felt herself blush once more. She wished that she didn't blush so easily. It made her feel just a little childish. "Really?"
"I hope I'm not prying, Fina, but something's been bugging me." Domingo rubbed the back of his neck. "I was wondering why you looked so sad lately."
"Oh. You could tell?"
Only when he looked at her. "Trust me. It's hard trying to hide something from someone who's trained to find things. Did you want to talk about it?"
She could feel her insides crumble at his suggestion. She wanted so bad to talk to someone, but she barely knew Domingo. And, what would he think if he found out the real emotions that she tried to keep locked away from everyone? Would he still be this kind when he found out what kind of bad person she was?
Then again, she felt that if she didn't say anything, she would lose her mentality once and for all. She might as well tell this complete stranger and hope for the best. It was all she had. "Actually, that was the reason I was standing outside your room. I hope you don't mind if I tell you," Fina whispered.
He shook his head. "I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want you to talk."
And before Fina knew it, her anxieties fell out of her mouth in one gigantic wave. She told of her feelings about Vyse, how she loved him more than the man would ever know. She talked about her jealousy of Aika, knowing that the red head loved Vyse as well, then the guilt for feeling that jealousy because Aika had always been kind to her. She brushed over the fact that she was going to drop the dagger over the edge of a ship so Vyse would never find Aika. She talked about her pain, her torment, her knowledge that Vyse didn't feel the same way about her. She continued talking and talking, and babbling and babbling, all the while feeling Domingo's comforting presence as he urged her to empty out her worries.
She was grateful to him for just listening and for understanding.
"Your human," he said. "You have a right to feel those emotions. As long as you don't do something stupid about it, and it sounds like you didn't."
"But I almost sabotaged the only clue we had to finding Aika," Fina protested.
Domingo grinned and draped a comforting arm around Fina's shoulders. "The key word there is almost. You almost sabotaged, but you didn't."
Fina grinned slightly, feeling the weight of the world leaving her once at for all. She felt lighter than she had ever felt in ten long and painful years. "You always look at those little things, don't you."
Domingo shrugged. "It's those little things that make the most difference. Oh, you'll like this painting."
Domingo took off and Fina ran after him, a smile lighting her face.
Belle was in awe. "That was the most romantic thing I've ever seen," she said.
"Don't you start," Marco said warningly. "Right now, we have to see if Fina has the dagger."
Belle frowned. "And how are you going to do that?"
Marco rubbed his hands and stood. "I used to be a street rat, Miss Prissy. Just you watch how it's done."
Before Belle could stop him, Marco was off, racing down several streets like an expert. Belle followed as best as she could.
Domingo stopped in front of a large mural that spanned two buildings. Fina's eyes widened in pure disbelief. "When…when did this happen?" she asked after a moment of silence.
"Enrique had it painted to commemorate the saviors of our time."
Fina stared at the colossal picture of Vyse, Aika, and herself staring off into the distance. Behind them stood the rest of the crew, all in various positions. In the background, there was a massive ship battle…it was just too breathtaking to comprehend all at once and Fina could only stand there in awe.
"It…it's…"
"I know," Domingo replied, watching Fina very closely. For a second, it appeared as if all her troubles had vanished and the old Fina he knew was coming back to life.
She glanced at Domingo and smiled. "I can't believe it."
Fina walked up to the wall, but as she did, someone came out from the darkness and accidentally bumped into her. The figure turned around slightly and whispered an apology, but kept on running. Something, a smaller and slower figure came running after the first one.
Domingo saw it all, and due to his quick eyes, he saw something more. He saw that the first person had a bit of red hair sticking awkwardly out of their hood and spoke with a rough, Valuan accent. He also noticed that the first person, had, in actuality, felt Fina up as if looking for something.
Domingo walked over and helped Fina stand. She dusted herself off and looked at the two disappearing people. "What was that about?" she asked.
Domingo smirked. "Do you have Cupil close by?"
Fina nodded.
"We need to get a message to Vyse. Aika and her crew are here already."
Fina paled considerably. Domingo noticed this and wrapped his hands around her wrists. "Fina. Look at me." Fina did as she was told. "You aren't a bad person. You can't help falling for the person you love--of course, I understand why you picked Vyse. He has a nice back side." Fina cracked a small smile and Domingo felt as if he should push forward. "You're a good person, Fina, and I know you love Aika and Vyse. You'll help them in any way possible, even at your expense."
He let go of her wrists and mussed up her hair. "And I know it may not seem like it right now, but something good will come out of this. I can feel it."
Fina could only trust Domingo at his word.
Marco glanced at Belle who was slowly catching up. Right before she reached him, she tripped. Marco darted forward and broke Belle's fall.
"Are you getting heavier?" he gasped as he pushed Belle off of him.
"Shut it, jerk. Did you get the dagger?"
"S'not on her. Probably somewhere else. Let's just go back to the Delphinus. Maybe everyone else'll have better luck than us."
Vyse was just sitting on the parapet when something circular bounced on top of his head. He glared at the silver object as his eyebrows furrowed. It was Cupl, as happy as could be.
"What are you doing here?" Vyse asked.
Cupil merely hopped up and down before opening it's mouth and revealing a small letter. Vyse picked it up and stared at it. Written in Domingo's quick scrawl were the words:She's here.
Vyse grinned and ran downstairs to get ready.
Moegi led them deeper into the castle than Aika would have expected. Apparently, Enrique kept his good and trustworthy friends near his own chambers which was in the keep. More times than naught, they had to cram themselves into a shadow as guards, servants, or idle wanderers passed them by.
Finally, Moegi slithered up to a long tapestry, blue in color, that stretched from the ceiling, almost five stories high, and to the ground. She pushed it aside, revealing several stones. She pushed one and then another, then the stones began to sink into the wall. Slowly, it revealed a hidden passageway that they would use to travel about the castle.
Moegi ushered everyone within, then went inside herself. Once they were safely in the passageway, she let the tapestry drop, pressed a few more stones, and watched the doors close. They were bathed in darkness as soon as they heard the click of the doors.
"Well, now what?" Lilly asked.
"Hush," Moegi responded.
They couldn't see what she was doing, but after a few clicks and curses in a different tongue, a light shone bright in the hidden passageway.
It was indeed a strange sight. Carpet lined the floor while blue flamed candles hung along the walls. Cobwebs drooped over their heads and ran along the ceiling as spiders scurried to and fro. Cracks were imbedded into the walls, making it look as if the hallway would crumble at any second.
"Beautiful," Aika muttered sarcastically.
"Let's go this way," Moegi said taking the lead once more. She turned down one passageway then another, leading the girls through a labyrinth. Once in awhile, she pointed to little scratches along the various doorways that she picked and explained, "These little scratches tell you where you are." She made them memorize the scratches as they went so they would be able to find their own way out.
When Aika felt as if had been turned inside out thanks to this little expedition, they stopped in front of a large archway, filled with rock. "This," Moegi whispered, "would be Fina's room." She stepped back slightly and waved her arm across opening. The rock vanished and suddenly they could see inside the dimly lit room. Luckily, Fina wasn't there.
"All you have to do," she told Nara and Lilly, "is to walk through the passage. When you're done, wave your hand over this place again and whisper 'Tadaima.' The entrance to this passageway will reveal itself to you and you can leave."
Nara and Lilly nodded. Both of them grinned as they stepped through the archway. Once they turned around to look back at Aika and Moegi, they saw that the opening had reverted back into a wall. Sighing, the two girls went to work, searching.
Meanwhile, Moegi and Aika were left alone. Moegi sighed.
"It's been a long day, hasn't it?" Aika said as they walked down the tunnel.
"Very long," Moegi agreed.
"How're you faring?" Aika asked. "And, Your Highness, if you answer 'fine' then I'm going to have to murder you for lying."
"Then I best find a more suitable answer," Moegi replied. Finally, after a long walk of silence, she said, "I feel as if I'm being stretched to my limit. I don't know how long I can keep this up, Aika. It just hurts all the time."
Aika wrapped a comforting arm over Moegi's shoulders. "It'll be over soon, I promise. You will be running across the planes toward Enrique's arms in a few days time."
"And you?" Moegi asked.
Aika grinned. "I'll be playing a stupid love song on a fiddle while you run."
Nara and Lilly were just finishing up when they paused momentarily in their movements. They weren't sure, but they thought they had heard something. Both girls looked about them, but found that nothing, save themselves, had disturbed the room. Shrugging, they started to put items back in place.
"Found you," a soft voice whispered into Nara's ear.
The girl jumped up and whirled around. "Who the heck--"
A boy stood behind her. He quickly dove and grabbed her arms.
Behind Nara, something similar was happening to Lilly. Another boy, dressed in green, had lassoed Lilly.
"Tie them up, Lindsi," the boy who was holding Nara said with a wide grin.
"I'm coming," the girl called Lindsi replied. "You know, Jimmy, you could have just gotten her with the rope in the first place--And you, Alan, quit gloating in front of that poor girl. Vyse didn't want this to occur this way. We're supposed to bring them to the library the second we find them."
"You guys knew?" Nara squealed, but she was completely ignored by the three assailants.
Jimmy pouted as he let go of Nara so that Lindsi could tie her up. "You're no fun, Lin. What happened to the girl who used to hogtie Alan that I knew so well?"
Alan frowned. "That was you?" he asked with a note of disdain his voice.
Lindsi swatted at Jimmy. "You promised you wouldn't say anything!"
Nara and Lilly merely looked at each other and rolled their eyes. "If your planning to take us prisoner, could you please hurry up?" Lilly asked.
Jimmy bowed before the both of the girls. "As you wish, my lady."
It was Lindsi's turn to roll her eyes as they led Nara and Lilly out of the room.
Moegi showed Aika Vyse's room. It was dark within and she could barely see anything save a rather lumpy bed, a desk, and a bookcase. Aika walked in and bade Moegi a "good luck" before she entered the room.
Moegi shut the door behind Aika and prepared herself to go to the highest parapet, after Aika had bet anything that was where Vyse was. She was about to go down one hallway when she stared at the scratches along the walls. One path led to the room of the King.
Moegi bit her lip. Surely one look at Enrique wouldn't hurt her. Making up her mind, she turned down the path that led to her husband's room and walked down quickly. When she reached the room, she opened the archway and walked through.
She found her husband laying in their bed, fast asleep, a troubled look on his face. She walked up to him and sat by him, her hand stroking his soft hair away from his face.
"I love you," she whispered.
She bent down and kissed him lightly on the lips then slowly pulled away. Suddenly, she felt a warm hand on her head, pulling her back down for another kiss and another. Finally, the pressure on her head lessened and sat back up, her heart pounding at the realization that she had been caught.
Enrique pushed himself into a sitting position and looked at Moegi. "I love you, too."
Moegi felt the pressure all around her, the love, the surprise, the stress… It was accumulating so much and growing out of her control. She forced a smile on her face and touched Enrique lightly on the face. "I'm glad," she whispered before she fell into a faint.
Aika walked to the desk and found a soft lamp. She was about to click it on when she felt the hair at the back of her neck standing straight up. She wondered what had brought on this feeling of curiosity. She only got like this when she was nervous, like the time she had her first battle or whenever Vyse was by her side.
Vyse!
His breath stirred against the back of her neck as he whispered, "Welcome back, Aika."
Thank you to everyone who reviewed! You guys make me so happy!
