Still job searching as of yet... The Tabito bio is complete on the web page...
Aside from that, nothing new here.
This chapter's a little more lighthearted than the past few, just because I know it's straining to simply read straight through one tragedy after another.
~Enjoy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yama yaku no akari ni kudaru yobune kana
{It appears that in the light of the mountain burn, a night boat has launched.}
(a haiku by Issa, translated by myself)
The dark sky seemed to swallow all the light of the city, giving none back. It was always like this in the city that rested in the shadow of the mountain, but never slept. Night never fell. Night never lifted. It just was upon the city that illuminated itself so brightly as to make mud, granite, and broken shingles visible to the eye of the passerby. White things were quite conspicuous here.
"Remind me again," muttered Seraphim as he pulled a hat further down over his eyes, "why did we have to come here?"
"Simply to pick up some deposits in Hoosick's account, my dear mage," Shido answered, sounding most delighted.
"I should have known," the albino snorted. "What's with you and money, anyway?"
"Money is power," Shido smiled patronizingly. The other merely cocked a milky white eyebrow in his direction.
"Oh? I have no money," said he as he examined the clawed tips of his gloves.
"And that it why you must hide your face in a dangerous place such as Treno," the nobleman finished with a smirk. Seraphim did not hide his annoyance very well, but he said nothing. As they continued to walk, they did not notice the beings following them in the shadows. Presently, Shido made to enter a large, sandstone building, but stopped when he saw that the red mage had stopped several paces behind him.
"What are you dawdling around for?" he called, sounding annoyed.
"I'm not going in there," Seraphim replied without looking at him.
"Oh, for the love of Leviathan," Shido tore at the little hair he had.
"I am going to go arrange my ship," the albino mage ignored his outburst. "Should I wait for you to catch up?"
"Fine, if you must," Shido sighed in exasperation. "And yes, wait for me. Although depending on how things heat up, I may be going back to Lindblum."
"Whatever," the other shrugged and, pulling his hat further over his eyes, went back the way that they had come. Perhaps it was his hat that prevented him from seeing the two tails he had picked up.
"They're splitting up!" Ashley whispered hoarsely to her counterpart. "Hurry, go after the white guy, and I'll see what this guy is doing in the exchange house."
"Hm?" Roy seemed to snap back into reality. "Oh, go after the one in red, and I'll run and see if I can get us a boat."
"Did you even listen to a word I—hey! Why are you telling me what to do?!"
"What?" Roy blinked his emerald green eyes at her.
"We need to split up, or we'll lose them, idiot!" she scolded.
"But… if we split up, we'll lose each other…" he thought aloud.
"Ooh, they're decreasing the forces to make them more prone to attack," Ashley's eyes narrowed. "Clever."
"What?" Roy's eyes widened. "You think they're onto us?!"
"Could be…" she stroked her chin thoughtfully. "If we both follow one to the meeting place, we can over power him, and than wait there for the other and defeat him too!"
"But, what about rescuing the prince?" he asked dumbly.
"Moron!" Ashley scorned. "They'll lead us to the place where he's being held!"
"Well, yeah, eventually," Roy nodded. "But we'll have to follow them for a while…"
"Yes," she nodded patiently. "Let's go after the old ugly guy."
"But what about the one that's getting the ship?"
"He's just a lackey," Ashley rolled her eyes. "He's not important. The fat one's the real bad guy."
"How can you tell?"
"Well, the other guy's kind of sinister, but he's way too cute to be the real villain, duh. The other one is as ugly as sin, though. He's sure to lead us to Tabito!"
"But… he's just going to Lindblum," the tall redhead scratched his head.
"So?" she asked. Man, thought Roy, that would really suck if he's in Lindblum, cause then I couldn't go in there…
"Well, that's a little too obvious a place to hide a prince that everyone's looking for, isn't it?" he pointed out.
"True…"
"The white-haired guy is probably going to where they're really holding him."
"Right," she nodded. "He's the lackey, so he does the dirty work. And with the way he dresses… ack! He's probably gay and abusive! My poor Tabito!"
"Um… huh?" Roy struggled for words as he watched the girl's dark eyes fill with tears.
"We haven't any time to lose! We must catch that scoundrel!" And with that the brunette started after the mage, who was by now well out of sight.
"But I was thinking—"
"Come along!" she called. "Now isn't the time for that!"
"But if he's getting a ship, shouldn't we get one too?!" Roy nearly shouted.
"Of course," Ashley nodded. "I'll get one now."
"I thought you would go after the lackey guy while I could scare us up a boat or something—"
"No, I should get the ship," she shook her head. "This is my home town after all."
"Hey, it's mine too."
"Well, it's been mine longer."
"……" Roy found himself unable to say anything.
"Anyway, as the daughter of Peter de Granville, I am heir to one sixteenth of this entire city."
"Excuse me," Shido Mart shoved between them and kept walking, calling, "you kids shouldn't block the road like that." He didn't notice that both of them were staring at his retreating back as he went.
"Well then, you shouldn't get lost," Roy whispered quickly. "Hurry after him and find out where they're docked, then meet me in front of the Card Stadium. Hurry!"
"Sheesh, you don't need to tell me twice," she sniffed, flicking her wrist at him. "Bye!" And then she was off. Huh, thought she, with my tracking skills, those two stick out like a sore thumb on a slender hand!
~~~~~
Roy sneaked into his parent's house and made his way toward the kitchen, thinking he'd get some provisions before he set out to sea. He'd probably get hungry, after all. He shortly became so engrossed with the food that he did not hear his father come in.
"What do you think you're doing?" Amarant asked gruffly of the teenager who was rapidly stuffing food in a sack.
"I'm packing provisions for a trip I'm taking, duh," Roy rolled his eyes, as if it were obvious.
"Again?" Amarant sounded rather annoyed.
"Yeah."
"Hmph," the taller redhead snorted and leaned against the counter while he folded his arms. "Always in and out. Why should we feed you when you're not helping out around here?"
"I'm doing something important," Roy protested.
"And what could possibly be more important than helping out around here?" Lani remarked as she stormed into the room, wiping her hands on her apron. Roy groaned when he saw that she was wearing her cleaning rags. Lani always got incredibly irritable when she cleaned the house, and would tend to snap at Amarant when he got home from his security job, from which he'd be considerably irritable. And the anger would normally rise from there. It seemed to him that the only time the two hotheads ever agreed was when they were both mad at him.
"Well," Roy fumbled with his bag, "it's kind of a secret." A glare from Amarant brought it out. "I'm tracking the people who kidnapped Prince Tabito."
"Bonehead," Amarant muttered. "Tabito wasn't kidnapped. He fled to New Bran Bal."
"Ooh, look who knows so much," Roy smirked.
"It's true," Lani cocked an eyebrow. "Mikoto announced this morning her intentions to harbor him. Everyone's been talking about it all day. Now quit fooling around and help me!"
"That can't be…" Roy stammered as he considered what they said.
"It is, so help your mom," Amarant scowled.
"No, you don't understand," Roy shook his head. "I was in Alexandria at the time. And I'm with this chick who saw these two guys invade the castle with Hoosick. She never saw Tabito leave. We're trailing those two guys now."
"Moron," Lani snapped. "Of course you didn't see him leave. He sneaked past those guys, didn't he? Now quit this nonsense and help me!"
"Help momma, idiot!" agreed his little sister, Newt, who'd just walked in.
"All right, you know what?" Roy scowled. "Screw you all. You'll be sorry when I rescue the Prince and get a huge reward, because I won't be sharing it with you all, so there!"
"Not when you're taking my food will you threaten me!" Lani shouted.
"Fine," Roy shouted back, "I'll reimburse you!" And thus he marched out the door.
"Red, why didn't you teach your kid to respect me?" the disgruntled mother groused. Amarant, however, was lost in thought. He suddenly stood and towards the door. "Red!" she yelled at him. "Where do you think you're going?
"I'm gonna go complain about that idiot son of yours to someone who needs to hear it," he answered.
"So now he's my kid?" Lani griped, but he was already out the door. She whirled around and humphed.
"Momma?" Newt tugged on the dirty apron. "Why is dad such an ass?" Lani simply sighed.
"I still haven't figured that out."
~~~~~
Beatrix swirled the scotch around in her mug as she stared at the wall. The bar was too loud, but elsewhere would be to quiet. Besides, this was where the alcohol was. She sipped at it as she overheard stuff she didn't really want to here.
"I'm telling ya, those monkey people are out to get us all! You see how that bitch threw it all back in the Regent's face?"
Beatrix sighed. At least it was a little better than normal. It almost had something to pertain to her and what she was looking for. Yes, pubs are an excellent source of information, she thought. Just not the information you want.
"Still drowning your sorrows, I see," said a gruff male voice as a large male form dropped itself beside her and ordered "the usual" from the bartender.
"I don't like how you said 'still,'" said she as she turned her good eye on him.
"I can't blame you," Amarant chuckled. "If my world was going to hell the way yours is, I would've killed someone by now."
"What makes you think I haven't," she asked as she took another sip.
"I was going to credit you for that, but oh well then," he shrugged.
"Pardon me," she dipped her head slightly. "I am partially drunk."
"Partially?"
"I don't like how you said 'partially'," she looked at him again.
"Bad mood, I see," he shrugged again. "Still no luck then, I take it."
"What of it?" she stared down at the counter. "Would it make a difference if I had?"
"From the way you were talking yesterday, it sounded as if everything would be better if you found the queen," he stopped to take a gulp of his ale.
"Things are rapidly becoming unable to be mended," she sighed deeply. "As am I rapidly being stripped of the ability to do anything." Amarant didn't say anything, so Beatrix continued as her grip tightened around her mug, "I don't know what that son of mine is thinking, but I'm going to follow Tabito until the end. It's the only thing I can do."
"Sounds like someone I knew," Amarant observed. Beatrix bit her lip when she heard this. "Anyway, my kid's all messed up too. Get this: he says he's following people that invaded the castle with that Hoosick guy. Thinks they're going someplace far away, from what I could tell." The general's good eye widened as she met his meaningful glance. "The kid's an idiot, but you know what they say: no plan is foolproof."
"Where'd he go?" she finally gasped.
"Dunno yet," Amarant shrugged and took another swig of his ale. "I'm comin' along, though. He's in over his head, and Lani'll never let me hear the end of it if I let something happen to him."
"Then what're you waiting for?" Beatrix asked as she stood up.
"You to pay your tab," he smirked. "Besides, I'm not done with my ale yet."
~~~~~
Eiko sighed as she watched the angry nobles glare at the Terran messenger, who seemed to be getting consistently smaller. What on earth are you thinking, Mikoto? she wondered. You're not making this easier for anyone, well, except Tabito, possibly…
"If your mistress wanted to fight so badly she could have saved those clever insults," Frederick de Granville, the hotheaded Count of Treno sneered at the Terran.
"And why does she think so highly of herself as to not deliver them in person?" added the calmer Erkette la Salle, a distinguished noblewoman of Lindblum.
"Lady Mikoto is overseeing a government on another continent," he replied in a small voice, closing his bright blue eyes and bowing his head. "It would have been difficult for her to make it here today. However, I was here in Lindblum, already, so she asked me to represent, since our representative Zidane is still missing. Please understand that I report all that goes on here to her, so please treat me as you would her."
His words held more truth then most of the assembled caught on, and the messenger was not the only one who felt like sinking through the floor. Tabito stood further back as Mikoto's advisors crowded around her monitor.
"In all truthfulness," Eiko interrupted, "I cannot blame the prince for his actions. He is quite correct; I failed to protect his country against this attack."
"Attack?" someone asked. "The Alexandrian guard attacked Hoosick's investigation force. They started the battle and even used cannons!"
"And says he did so because Hoosick used warships, of which we could find no evidence of him ever owning!"
"And what was that about an all-powerful mage?" the count added to the general hubbub. "How can you trust a boy who killed his own mother? Knowing all that, what does Mikoto think she represents by harboring him? I would have killed him myself."
"That's why he didn't go to you for help," Eiko replied, annoyed.
"Thanks a lot, Eiko," muttered Tabito. Zeru glanced back at him with a sympathetic expression on his face.
"Tough crowd," Geomo muttered.
"Really," Zeru added, "You're only seventeen, Tabito. Don't take all this blame they're heaping on you. It's not even true."
"It's my burden," the prince replied, "whether or not I can bare it."
"Mikoto will not change her mind," the Terran messenger shook his head slowly.
"It's apparent then!" the count shouted.
"Slow down," Eiko demanded. "Just because Mikoto does not trust us to deal fairly with the prince of Alexandria does not mean that she wants war with us." A groan of exasperation arose from many points of the table.
"I can assure you that Regent Eiko is correct in her assumptions," the Terran added quickly.
"Nice choice of language, Yuki," Geomo scuffed the floor with his shoe.
"Give him a break," chided Ketto. "It's his second language."
"Do all of you want peace or not?" Eiko returned the exasperated tones.
"Yes," the count stood up. "The peace of not living under the shadow of these scoundrels." And with that he grabbed the Terran, Yuki, by the throat. A murmur of approval arose from most of the assembled.
"Yuki, get out of there." Mikoto spoke for the first time.
"Iiya," the broken gasp came through the connection. The four Terrans all lowered their chins and sighed, awaiting the worst as they respected Yuki's courage. The half-Terran, however, would not stand for it.
"That was an order from your Governess, Yuki!" he shouted as he shoved straight for the monitor. "There is no honor in disobedience!" He stopped when Mikoto rested a hand on his shoulder.
"That is enough, Tabito," said she.
"Oba-san…" he pleaded. "I will not allow any more people to die on my behalf."
"Then don't," she said simply. Anxiously, Tabito glanced back at the screen to see Eiko manage to calm the assembly enough that Yuki's life was no longer in immediate danger. Then he turned back to his aunt.
"Your people are in danger, Oba-san," he whispered. "What are you trying to do?" Her deep green eyes caught his as she answered:
"I'm trying to get to the bottom of all this."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please review! Thanks. n__n
This chapter's a little more lighthearted than the past few, just because I know it's straining to simply read straight through one tragedy after another.
~Enjoy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yama yaku no akari ni kudaru yobune kana
{It appears that in the light of the mountain burn, a night boat has launched.}
(a haiku by Issa, translated by myself)
The dark sky seemed to swallow all the light of the city, giving none back. It was always like this in the city that rested in the shadow of the mountain, but never slept. Night never fell. Night never lifted. It just was upon the city that illuminated itself so brightly as to make mud, granite, and broken shingles visible to the eye of the passerby. White things were quite conspicuous here.
"Remind me again," muttered Seraphim as he pulled a hat further down over his eyes, "why did we have to come here?"
"Simply to pick up some deposits in Hoosick's account, my dear mage," Shido answered, sounding most delighted.
"I should have known," the albino snorted. "What's with you and money, anyway?"
"Money is power," Shido smiled patronizingly. The other merely cocked a milky white eyebrow in his direction.
"Oh? I have no money," said he as he examined the clawed tips of his gloves.
"And that it why you must hide your face in a dangerous place such as Treno," the nobleman finished with a smirk. Seraphim did not hide his annoyance very well, but he said nothing. As they continued to walk, they did not notice the beings following them in the shadows. Presently, Shido made to enter a large, sandstone building, but stopped when he saw that the red mage had stopped several paces behind him.
"What are you dawdling around for?" he called, sounding annoyed.
"I'm not going in there," Seraphim replied without looking at him.
"Oh, for the love of Leviathan," Shido tore at the little hair he had.
"I am going to go arrange my ship," the albino mage ignored his outburst. "Should I wait for you to catch up?"
"Fine, if you must," Shido sighed in exasperation. "And yes, wait for me. Although depending on how things heat up, I may be going back to Lindblum."
"Whatever," the other shrugged and, pulling his hat further over his eyes, went back the way that they had come. Perhaps it was his hat that prevented him from seeing the two tails he had picked up.
"They're splitting up!" Ashley whispered hoarsely to her counterpart. "Hurry, go after the white guy, and I'll see what this guy is doing in the exchange house."
"Hm?" Roy seemed to snap back into reality. "Oh, go after the one in red, and I'll run and see if I can get us a boat."
"Did you even listen to a word I—hey! Why are you telling me what to do?!"
"What?" Roy blinked his emerald green eyes at her.
"We need to split up, or we'll lose them, idiot!" she scolded.
"But… if we split up, we'll lose each other…" he thought aloud.
"Ooh, they're decreasing the forces to make them more prone to attack," Ashley's eyes narrowed. "Clever."
"What?" Roy's eyes widened. "You think they're onto us?!"
"Could be…" she stroked her chin thoughtfully. "If we both follow one to the meeting place, we can over power him, and than wait there for the other and defeat him too!"
"But, what about rescuing the prince?" he asked dumbly.
"Moron!" Ashley scorned. "They'll lead us to the place where he's being held!"
"Well, yeah, eventually," Roy nodded. "But we'll have to follow them for a while…"
"Yes," she nodded patiently. "Let's go after the old ugly guy."
"But what about the one that's getting the ship?"
"He's just a lackey," Ashley rolled her eyes. "He's not important. The fat one's the real bad guy."
"How can you tell?"
"Well, the other guy's kind of sinister, but he's way too cute to be the real villain, duh. The other one is as ugly as sin, though. He's sure to lead us to Tabito!"
"But… he's just going to Lindblum," the tall redhead scratched his head.
"So?" she asked. Man, thought Roy, that would really suck if he's in Lindblum, cause then I couldn't go in there…
"Well, that's a little too obvious a place to hide a prince that everyone's looking for, isn't it?" he pointed out.
"True…"
"The white-haired guy is probably going to where they're really holding him."
"Right," she nodded. "He's the lackey, so he does the dirty work. And with the way he dresses… ack! He's probably gay and abusive! My poor Tabito!"
"Um… huh?" Roy struggled for words as he watched the girl's dark eyes fill with tears.
"We haven't any time to lose! We must catch that scoundrel!" And with that the brunette started after the mage, who was by now well out of sight.
"But I was thinking—"
"Come along!" she called. "Now isn't the time for that!"
"But if he's getting a ship, shouldn't we get one too?!" Roy nearly shouted.
"Of course," Ashley nodded. "I'll get one now."
"I thought you would go after the lackey guy while I could scare us up a boat or something—"
"No, I should get the ship," she shook her head. "This is my home town after all."
"Hey, it's mine too."
"Well, it's been mine longer."
"……" Roy found himself unable to say anything.
"Anyway, as the daughter of Peter de Granville, I am heir to one sixteenth of this entire city."
"Excuse me," Shido Mart shoved between them and kept walking, calling, "you kids shouldn't block the road like that." He didn't notice that both of them were staring at his retreating back as he went.
"Well then, you shouldn't get lost," Roy whispered quickly. "Hurry after him and find out where they're docked, then meet me in front of the Card Stadium. Hurry!"
"Sheesh, you don't need to tell me twice," she sniffed, flicking her wrist at him. "Bye!" And then she was off. Huh, thought she, with my tracking skills, those two stick out like a sore thumb on a slender hand!
Roy sneaked into his parent's house and made his way toward the kitchen, thinking he'd get some provisions before he set out to sea. He'd probably get hungry, after all. He shortly became so engrossed with the food that he did not hear his father come in.
"What do you think you're doing?" Amarant asked gruffly of the teenager who was rapidly stuffing food in a sack.
"I'm packing provisions for a trip I'm taking, duh," Roy rolled his eyes, as if it were obvious.
"Again?" Amarant sounded rather annoyed.
"Yeah."
"Hmph," the taller redhead snorted and leaned against the counter while he folded his arms. "Always in and out. Why should we feed you when you're not helping out around here?"
"I'm doing something important," Roy protested.
"And what could possibly be more important than helping out around here?" Lani remarked as she stormed into the room, wiping her hands on her apron. Roy groaned when he saw that she was wearing her cleaning rags. Lani always got incredibly irritable when she cleaned the house, and would tend to snap at Amarant when he got home from his security job, from which he'd be considerably irritable. And the anger would normally rise from there. It seemed to him that the only time the two hotheads ever agreed was when they were both mad at him.
"Well," Roy fumbled with his bag, "it's kind of a secret." A glare from Amarant brought it out. "I'm tracking the people who kidnapped Prince Tabito."
"Bonehead," Amarant muttered. "Tabito wasn't kidnapped. He fled to New Bran Bal."
"Ooh, look who knows so much," Roy smirked.
"It's true," Lani cocked an eyebrow. "Mikoto announced this morning her intentions to harbor him. Everyone's been talking about it all day. Now quit fooling around and help me!"
"That can't be…" Roy stammered as he considered what they said.
"It is, so help your mom," Amarant scowled.
"No, you don't understand," Roy shook his head. "I was in Alexandria at the time. And I'm with this chick who saw these two guys invade the castle with Hoosick. She never saw Tabito leave. We're trailing those two guys now."
"Moron," Lani snapped. "Of course you didn't see him leave. He sneaked past those guys, didn't he? Now quit this nonsense and help me!"
"Help momma, idiot!" agreed his little sister, Newt, who'd just walked in.
"All right, you know what?" Roy scowled. "Screw you all. You'll be sorry when I rescue the Prince and get a huge reward, because I won't be sharing it with you all, so there!"
"Not when you're taking my food will you threaten me!" Lani shouted.
"Fine," Roy shouted back, "I'll reimburse you!" And thus he marched out the door.
"Red, why didn't you teach your kid to respect me?" the disgruntled mother groused. Amarant, however, was lost in thought. He suddenly stood and towards the door. "Red!" she yelled at him. "Where do you think you're going?
"I'm gonna go complain about that idiot son of yours to someone who needs to hear it," he answered.
"So now he's my kid?" Lani griped, but he was already out the door. She whirled around and humphed.
"Momma?" Newt tugged on the dirty apron. "Why is dad such an ass?" Lani simply sighed.
"I still haven't figured that out."
Beatrix swirled the scotch around in her mug as she stared at the wall. The bar was too loud, but elsewhere would be to quiet. Besides, this was where the alcohol was. She sipped at it as she overheard stuff she didn't really want to here.
"I'm telling ya, those monkey people are out to get us all! You see how that bitch threw it all back in the Regent's face?"
Beatrix sighed. At least it was a little better than normal. It almost had something to pertain to her and what she was looking for. Yes, pubs are an excellent source of information, she thought. Just not the information you want.
"Still drowning your sorrows, I see," said a gruff male voice as a large male form dropped itself beside her and ordered "the usual" from the bartender.
"I don't like how you said 'still,'" said she as she turned her good eye on him.
"I can't blame you," Amarant chuckled. "If my world was going to hell the way yours is, I would've killed someone by now."
"What makes you think I haven't," she asked as she took another sip.
"I was going to credit you for that, but oh well then," he shrugged.
"Pardon me," she dipped her head slightly. "I am partially drunk."
"Partially?"
"I don't like how you said 'partially'," she looked at him again.
"Bad mood, I see," he shrugged again. "Still no luck then, I take it."
"What of it?" she stared down at the counter. "Would it make a difference if I had?"
"From the way you were talking yesterday, it sounded as if everything would be better if you found the queen," he stopped to take a gulp of his ale.
"Things are rapidly becoming unable to be mended," she sighed deeply. "As am I rapidly being stripped of the ability to do anything." Amarant didn't say anything, so Beatrix continued as her grip tightened around her mug, "I don't know what that son of mine is thinking, but I'm going to follow Tabito until the end. It's the only thing I can do."
"Sounds like someone I knew," Amarant observed. Beatrix bit her lip when she heard this. "Anyway, my kid's all messed up too. Get this: he says he's following people that invaded the castle with that Hoosick guy. Thinks they're going someplace far away, from what I could tell." The general's good eye widened as she met his meaningful glance. "The kid's an idiot, but you know what they say: no plan is foolproof."
"Where'd he go?" she finally gasped.
"Dunno yet," Amarant shrugged and took another swig of his ale. "I'm comin' along, though. He's in over his head, and Lani'll never let me hear the end of it if I let something happen to him."
"Then what're you waiting for?" Beatrix asked as she stood up.
"You to pay your tab," he smirked. "Besides, I'm not done with my ale yet."
Eiko sighed as she watched the angry nobles glare at the Terran messenger, who seemed to be getting consistently smaller. What on earth are you thinking, Mikoto? she wondered. You're not making this easier for anyone, well, except Tabito, possibly…
"If your mistress wanted to fight so badly she could have saved those clever insults," Frederick de Granville, the hotheaded Count of Treno sneered at the Terran.
"And why does she think so highly of herself as to not deliver them in person?" added the calmer Erkette la Salle, a distinguished noblewoman of Lindblum.
"Lady Mikoto is overseeing a government on another continent," he replied in a small voice, closing his bright blue eyes and bowing his head. "It would have been difficult for her to make it here today. However, I was here in Lindblum, already, so she asked me to represent, since our representative Zidane is still missing. Please understand that I report all that goes on here to her, so please treat me as you would her."
His words held more truth then most of the assembled caught on, and the messenger was not the only one who felt like sinking through the floor. Tabito stood further back as Mikoto's advisors crowded around her monitor.
"In all truthfulness," Eiko interrupted, "I cannot blame the prince for his actions. He is quite correct; I failed to protect his country against this attack."
"Attack?" someone asked. "The Alexandrian guard attacked Hoosick's investigation force. They started the battle and even used cannons!"
"And says he did so because Hoosick used warships, of which we could find no evidence of him ever owning!"
"And what was that about an all-powerful mage?" the count added to the general hubbub. "How can you trust a boy who killed his own mother? Knowing all that, what does Mikoto think she represents by harboring him? I would have killed him myself."
"That's why he didn't go to you for help," Eiko replied, annoyed.
"Thanks a lot, Eiko," muttered Tabito. Zeru glanced back at him with a sympathetic expression on his face.
"Tough crowd," Geomo muttered.
"Really," Zeru added, "You're only seventeen, Tabito. Don't take all this blame they're heaping on you. It's not even true."
"It's my burden," the prince replied, "whether or not I can bare it."
"Mikoto will not change her mind," the Terran messenger shook his head slowly.
"It's apparent then!" the count shouted.
"Slow down," Eiko demanded. "Just because Mikoto does not trust us to deal fairly with the prince of Alexandria does not mean that she wants war with us." A groan of exasperation arose from many points of the table.
"I can assure you that Regent Eiko is correct in her assumptions," the Terran added quickly.
"Nice choice of language, Yuki," Geomo scuffed the floor with his shoe.
"Give him a break," chided Ketto. "It's his second language."
"Do all of you want peace or not?" Eiko returned the exasperated tones.
"Yes," the count stood up. "The peace of not living under the shadow of these scoundrels." And with that he grabbed the Terran, Yuki, by the throat. A murmur of approval arose from most of the assembled.
"Yuki, get out of there." Mikoto spoke for the first time.
"Iiya," the broken gasp came through the connection. The four Terrans all lowered their chins and sighed, awaiting the worst as they respected Yuki's courage. The half-Terran, however, would not stand for it.
"That was an order from your Governess, Yuki!" he shouted as he shoved straight for the monitor. "There is no honor in disobedience!" He stopped when Mikoto rested a hand on his shoulder.
"That is enough, Tabito," said she.
"Oba-san…" he pleaded. "I will not allow any more people to die on my behalf."
"Then don't," she said simply. Anxiously, Tabito glanced back at the screen to see Eiko manage to calm the assembly enough that Yuki's life was no longer in immediate danger. Then he turned back to his aunt.
"Your people are in danger, Oba-san," he whispered. "What are you trying to do?" Her deep green eyes caught his as she answered:
"I'm trying to get to the bottom of all this."
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