It's been awhile. I know. I know. I'm really horrible! I've been busy in school and with my social life. And you can blame Mizaya for the THIRD fic that I've been using my spare time to write in my spare time. *hugs mizaya.* But at any rate, this story is not forgotten and this author humbly begs the forgiveness of readers as she returns to it. T_T Please forgive me!
Evermore
Chapter 14
By Zapenstap
Tohru stumbled as she ran, her short legs carrying her at an awkward lope at Kyo's side, blinded by the hand he kept clasped over her eyes. A brush of cool air against her cheeks and the scent of growing grass under her feet told her that she was outside. With Kyo's hand over her eyes, she ought to have been afraid of running into something, of tripping and falling and hurting herself, but she wasn't thinking of anything like that. Kyo was with her and she felt safer blind with him than she had alone in a prison cell when her senses had worked too well. More than anything, she knew she just had to keep running, to flee with all her strength until she collapsed far away from where she had been.
It had been horrible locked up in a cell. Every once and awhile she had heard voices speaking a language she could not understand, guards passing by her prison with the clank of armor and the jingle of steel weapons. She had never been so scared or felt so powerless in all her life. For a long time she had simply laid on the floor with her cheeks in the dirt, clutching her backpack and crying quietly as she thought of her friends and all the Sohmas trapped in a place like this. She had told herself to be brave and tried not to let her imagination run away with her, but it was difficult.
And then the door had opened.
The magician—if that's what he was—seemed youthful, younger than Azaren, at least, but there was something about him that was different. Perhaps she had just been desperate to be freed, but he seemed like an angel to her, or at least before he spoke. He shared with the Sohmas a physical beauty that had to do with symmetrical features more than any particularly stunning trait, and at first she had thought he had come to help her. But her illusions that he was some messenger from above soon vanished. He told her to stand in a voice that commanded obedience and she stood, though her knees shook. He asked her to speak and she responded promptly, stuttering her answers. When she tried to introduce herself, he told her to be silent unless spoken to. His ill-tempered disposition made her behave at her most clumsy as she tried to please him, but the direct commands he issued left no room for acknowledging each other as human being or equal in any other way. By the time he left she felt small and weak, like a discarded object.
After he was gone, she realized that whatever he had done (for a minute in his presence she had felt strangely woozy) allowed her to understand the conversation of the guards that passed her prison every now and then. For awhile she just listened to their calls and conversation, trying to make sense of the strange new place she was in, hoping to hear something about the Sohmas… her friends…anything…
She fell asleep and awoke to the sounds of fighting. It had terrified her, the screaming and the stomping and the sickening sounds of what her horrified mind imagined to be the sound of bodies breaking and bleeding just behind the wall. She had never heard anything like it. If it was anyone she knew coming to rescue her… She couldn't bear the thought, and hated herself for wishing to see them. Huddled on her knees, she had plugged her ears and tried not to hear anything. And then the sounds of fighting stopped and her prison door flung open to let the ruddy torchlight shine through, but it was not anyone she knew.
Men garbed in armor and bright blue cloaks opened her cell door and told her that they would take her to Prince Yuki if she would give her name. Amazed, she did, and when they heard her say "Tohru Honda" in a quivering, bewildered voice, they bowed to her, called her a princess and offered themselves as an escort. Confused but hopeful, she allowed herself to be helped to her feet and led deeper underground, shielded from the carnage of whatever battle had taken place by the bodies of the men who guarded her, until she found herself looking down into a cave of utter darkness. Only one man—Ranok—was left to escort her down the stairs. But she resisted, for though Ranok's face was kindly, she found herself wondering suddenly if it wasn't some trick and berating herself for not thinking about that sooner. But then she heard voices calling her name, voices she recognized, and somehow found herself in Hana's arms, and Yuki and Kyo were there, and Uo and Shigure, Kagura, Ayame and… Akito.
She hadn't seen Belduine at first. With Kyo and Yuki on either side of her and the other Sohmas racing up the stairs toward her from a dark pit, she had been deaf and dumb to anything else until Kyo pulled her by the arm to get her moving. She hadn't seen Belduine until she saw the guard at the door and watched as the small boy darted past Yuki's slender body brandishing a shaft of wood topped with a wicked steal blade. Behind her, Kyo's body stiffened and his hand clapped suddenly over the upper half of her face. But somehow she knew what had happened, and when she realized it, she didn't protest as Kyo bore her out of the prison and across a field of grass and soft earth.
Her lungs were burning when Kyo finally stopped running. She could scarcely breathe. Her chest was all on fire. She slumped to the ground right where Kyo allowed her to stop, sinking dizzily to the earth. Her heart was pounding much too fast, beating erratically in her chest and ears.
"Keep moving," Kyo said in a weakened, straining voice that lacked the sharp rebuke he might otherwise have intended. She felt his hand grab her wrist and hull her to her feat, strangely gentle. "Your heart might stop or something if you just sit down. Walk a little."
She walked, stumbling along beside him in a daze, staring at the ground beneath her feet as grass gave way to dirt and undergrowth. Leaning wearily against Kyo's arm, feeling drained of energy, she only slowly became aware that they had entered a forest. Trees rose up on all side of them, the spreading foliage reaching into the sky to blot out patches of strange stars. Looking behind her, Tohru saw the field that they had fled across, five hundred meters in length, a long way for her to dash at the speed they did without a warm-up, water or food. Her lungs burned and her muscles ached.
Far on the other side of the field, a heavy, blockish building ate away part of the horizon. It was the upper level of the prison they had escaped from, and beyond it lights twinkled in the windows and houses of a nearby town. Nothing looked so welcoming to Tohru as those soft yellow lights and the thought that there must be families sitting down to dinner at this time, even in a strange world such as this, but she knew they could not go back that way. There were other lights too, ruddy flames thrown into the sky from fires set near the prison and perhaps even in the town. Distantly, shouts could still be heard, and the ringing of steel as whatever skirmish had taken place outside her cell earlier spilled into the streets. Or maybe it had started outside and worked its way in. Tohru didn't know. This was a strange place, foreign even as aspects of it were familiar. There were stars for example, but they were different stars. She looked at the familiar things anyway, at the stars and the grass and the trees around her, things she recognized. The only place to run was into the wilderness.
Other figures on the field caught Tohru's attention as she and Kyo slowed to a stop and turned to look back, their throats and lungs burning from breathing the cold night air too rapidly, but their heartbeats calmer. It was a relief when she was able to make out the features of Uo and Hana, each supporting the other. Tohru tried to imagine Saki Hanajima or Arisa Uotani running across an open plain in fear of danger but couldn't do it. She wondered if they got started early and walked. When they entered the forest, ducking under the branches of the first trees, Tohru walked back a few paces to meet them, emotions welling up from somewhere deep inside, her body trembling from so many causes, she could not clearly identify them. Her two dearest friends smiled, each more anxious over her than she was over them. Tohru fought to keep her tears from flooding out of her eyes as Arisa touched her hair and then pulled her into a rough embrace.
"Oh, Tohru, we were so worried about you," her blonde friend murmured with an assured, confident smile that made Tohru feel suddenly like everything was going to be okay.
"Yes," Saki intoned with her hands clasped in front of her legs. "We were very worried."
Behind Arisa and Saki came Kagura, walking into the forest with a wondering expression on her face as she stared up and around at the trees and strange stars. She gravitated toward Kyo, her cheeks flushed with exertion, but looked back before she had neared her mark.
They all waited just inside the cover of the trees for everyone to catch up. Kyo stood a little ahead of the group, where he and Tohru had stopped, not meeting anyone's eye, especially when Ayame finally escorted Akito into the circle. Akito ignored Kyo, ignored them all, even shrugging Ayame off as soon as they were beneath the cover of the trees. And yet, his hunched presence somehow managed to draw all eyes, demanding attention as he stood dejected and alone in the center of the circle. Tohru opened her mouth to say something, having no idea what, except that she wanted to ease the Juunishi God somehow because she knew he must be feeling wretched, but he noticed her lips trembling open, and one sharp look silenced her. The hate in his eyes took her aback; it was hate of her pity, or perhaps just of her. After a moment he slumped in on himself, pulling his robes around his shoulders. He reached for Ayame, clawing at his sleeve, and began immediately to complain of cold and hunger and thirst and many other things that dissatisfied him, demanding things that he had to know none of them could do anything about.
Tohru was thirsty too. She was also hungry and cold and tired, but predominantly thirsty, and not just from the run. She felt withered inside, and light-headed, like a flower wilting in a pot from neglect. The others looked uncomfortably away and licked their lips when Akito requested water, but nobody said anything or offered any solutions. Only Kyo looked around the wilderness with anything close to familiarity, eyes gazing into the distance where the forest marched up into the foothills and into the unknown.
"Maybe we'll find a stream," Kagura said in a low tone, following Kyo's gaze.
Yuki arrived as Kagura spoke, looking pale even with a face flushed from the exertion of running. Tohru's breath caught at the sight of him, happy tears threatening at her eyes. Despite his habitual countenance, his expression seemed as dazed and shocked as the rest of them, his eyes slightly glassy as he looked around, but even with that, he was beautiful, silvery hair and pale skin giving off a faint gleam in the moonlight, his form and posture trim and smooth and elegant. Tohru opened her mouth to say something, but was distracted when Belduine ducked in under the trees, his spear still in hand, clean and sharp despite what Tohru instinctively knew it had been used for.
All conversation that might have followed Yuki's arrival ceased. There was a silence even heavier than the one that had followed Akito's arrival, a change in the way they regarded Belduine, not judgmental or afraid, but different from the way they had seen him before. He didn't look like either a child or a spy anymore, but something altogether unidentifiable; he was someone who stole unconsciously, had broken out of prison twice in less than a day, had killed a stranger in the same easy way he talked to strangers without fear, and seemed unaware of any transgression. If he was aware of the change in attitude toward him, he made no sign of it. Only Hana seemed unsurprised, her expression carefully blank as always.
"Everybody here?" Belduine asked in a voice that was unaffected and undaunted by anything that had happened. He seemed nervous, but it was more like the sort of alertness that came to animal that knew it was being hunted. By the way he kept looking around them at the trees and the hills and the paths that led into the wilderness, his thought were on the future; it was like he had already forgotten about the past. "We can't stop yet. I want to get as far away from here as possible. Prince Temien's people are withdrawing and once they get organized they might send search parties looking for us. If they can't find us quickly, they'll probably think we've taken the road, or gone with Prince Temien himself."
"You killed someone," Kagura breathed.
"Yeah, I know," Belduine said.
"Where's Shigure?" Kyo asked.
Belduine's tone remained casual. "He's not coming. Tohru, do you still have those riceballs in your bag?"
Tohru jumped, having forgotten that she was even wearing her backpack. "Huh? Oh!" she said, and swung her bag off her shoulder in a daze. She had hugged the thing to her when she was alone in her cell, too upset and scared to attempt eating then, but now that she was out in the forest with everyone—all of them ravenous!—she had forgotten all about it! Well, she was glad that all the food she had packed was still there, at least. Her mind tried to focus on feeding everyone, trying not to think of anything else.
"What do you mean he's not coming?" Kyo's voice rang in her ears. "What happened to him?"
There weren't that many riceballs all together, perhaps just enough for everyone to have two. If she had known they would be traveling into the wilderness, she would have packed more! Momentary panic settled on her at the thought. Should she have thought of that?!?!
"He wanted to stay with the others," Belduine said. "It's probably better. He can assure them what happened to the rest of us."
"If he survives!" Kyo shouted angrily. "If any of them survive!"
Tohru's hands shook as she tried to open the zipper on her bag. For some reason, she couldn't see very well. Perhaps thirst was making her dizzy.
"Shut up, you stupid cat."
Kyo's strangled response was the result of Arisa's interference, though Tohru did not look up to see what her friend did. All she heard was Uo's threatening voice saying very coolly, "have a little faith, Orange-Top, or I'll…"
Kneeling in the dirt, her hands clutching her backback, Tohru tried to orientate herself to a task.
"Miss Honda?"
Face reddening, she looked up blankly as Yuki knelt by her side, smiling reassuringly. "I…I'm fine. Is anyone hungry?" Slowly, her heart stopped fluttering. It wasn't her fault. Of course not. How silly. Kneeling on the ground beside Yuki, Tohru opened her bag and gathered the onigiri in her arms, apologizing for the way the riceballs had been squashed since she had packed them. Wrapped in plastic, they had been kept fresh enough and would tide them over for a few hours, but it wasn't a full meal and she fretted that everyone would still be hungry. But at least it was better than nothing, and everyone seemed grateful as Yuki helped her pass them around.
"Why didn't they take our backpacks away?" Arisa mused aloud as she tossed a riceball to Hana.
"Policy is that no one that belongs to the Esper is to be despoiled until he or she is safely in the Holdings," Belduine explained. He was standing on a ledge at the top of the trail, peering into the darkness. "Sometimes the Esper is interested in the objects her collections bring with them. Sometimes they carry things that are of value to her. Cursed objects. Magic charms. Like Kyo's bracelet."
Kyo blanched, one hand going to his wrist. Everyone but Tohru glanced away, trying not to look at him, staring uncomfortably or pointedly at anything else. Tohru watched Kyo worriedly as he closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath of cool night air. When he opened them, his eyes caught hers and his cheeks reddened. Looking away, from her and everyone else, he stared into the forest as if he'd rather be other alone among the trees than with any of them. Tohru bit her lip. But he seemed all right… at least for now.
"Come on," Belduine said, ignoring the silence as he began walking past them. Yuki helped Tohru rise slowly to her feet, open backpack still in hand.
"But…" she protested. "Not everyone has finished." Akito had just taken another one of Tohru's riceballs from Ayame, face expressionless and eyes glittering hatefully.
"You can eat as you walk," Belduine said. "We have to keep moving."
"I think we should have a full explanation," Yuki suggested. "You need to tell us where we are and what we're up against."
"Okay," Belduine said. "But not now. We're too close. Walk."
Yuki subsided into a stony science. Akito was glaring at Belduine balefully.
As they walked, Tohru passed the rest of her provisions around to the Sohmas and her friends. Beludine had darted ahead of the group, but they knew they were following him by the sounds of his spear thwacking against the bushes and tree trunks, blazing a trail out of the undergrowth even Ayame could follow. They ate in silence, too ravenous and tired to engage in conversation. Tohru's nerves were still on end, her body shaking as she tried to walk uphill and eat at the same time, and all too soon the riceballs were gone and so was the distraction that came from the pleasure of eating them. Tohru was once again reminded how thirsty and tired she was. She fought for energy as she forced herself to follow the others uphill and into a forest that closed in thicker and darker around them.
No one said anything. Even Akito stopped complaining, all of them trying to conserve breath, to not think about those they had left behind. Tohru reminded herself that at least she was free, and so were Hana and Uo, Yuki and Kyo, Ayame and Akito and Kagura…. Rather than all of them being locked in a cell, some of them were walking through a dry forest. It was dense in places, but for the majority, the trees were tall and straight and the pathways negotiable. They would not die here, or be trapped forever. Not all was lost. They would make it through this…this horrible dark dream.
A twig snagged in her hair and she yelped, twisting around to withdraw the stick from her braid.
"Tohru, you okay?" Arisa asked her, and she held still as her friend untangled the tree from Tohru's head. "Watch where you're going," she said with Uo's gruff fondness. "Sometimes you make me worry."
"Yeah, um, I guess I wasn't paying attention." Tohru's eyes drank in the night, her ears picking up the familiar sounds of chirping crickets and the rustle of leaves made by small animals and their own movements. For the first time, she really looked at the scenery around her, felt the wind against her skin, the bark and hard earth under her shoes. This place, wherever it was, was real. This forest was not a tunnel that would lead her home once she got through the darkness, but a forest, and for all she knew it went on forever.
"Tohru?" Arisa asked her. "Are you sure you're okay?"
Tohru nodded dumbly.
They lost sight of Belduine, though they were able to follow the path he made for them. Tired and thirsty as she was, climbing uphill was difficult, especially when the undergrowth became less manageable and the hills grew steeper. Akito had to be half supported. Tohru didn't know if he really needed help or simply pretended he did, but his flailing forced either Ayame or Yuki or both to walk beside him at all times. Kagura walked in the lead with a somber Kyo, but she kept casting glances back at the others, her gray eyes soft with worry. All of the Juunishi were strangely quiet.
As time drew on, Tohru began to feel increasingly dizzy, not sure how far she had walked or how long they were going to. Cabadan seemed so far away and down below, and she felt so lost, that she could scarcely conceive of any immediate danger anymore, not of being followed anyway. Tohru tried her best not to think about other concerns, but she couldn't help wondering what they were going to do now, and where Belduine was leading them. Lifting her eyes from the ground, she saw the others climbing a steep slope to the top of a ridge where there was a gap in the trees. The silhouette of Kyo's head and shoulders was outlined by a starry sky, the top of Kagura's head just barely visible beside him. Both of them had stopped walking. Tohru dug her toes into the soft earth, hands scrambling sometimes for something to hold on to as she made her way after Arisa and Saki. Somehow Saki made it look easy. For herself, Tohru wasn't sure she had ever been this emotionally and physically tired in all her life.
Belduine had stopped to wait for them at the top of the rise, standing on a fallen log with his back to her as he stared out at something Tohru couldn't see yet. Kyo and Kagura were now resting where he had stopped, Kagura collapsed on the ground and Kyo on his knees, both of them looking wearily at something beyond Belduine with expressionless faces. The others followed behind, scrambling up the slope until they managed to pull themselves to the top of the hill. No one dared to break the silence and most of them were too out of breath to speak anyway. As Tohru climbed the last few feet to level ground, she saw why Beludine had chosen to stop here and wait for them.
At the top of the hill, through the gaps between trees that rose around them on all sides, was a spectacular view of the land.
"Oh my God," Arisa murmured in a soft, stunned tone, the wind blowing her blonde hair away from her face.
Tohru felt her stomach flutter and her heart sink with a mixture of awe and fear. Nestled in the bluish-black shades of night, miles of miles of wilderness landscape stretched out like a green blanket before them, the spiky tops of trees where the forest sprawled growing smaller as they curved around the earth and disappeared from view beyond the horizon. There were no roads, no power lines, nothing to divide them from the vastness of nature. To her left, the hills climbed higher, the trees penetrating the sky until, far in the distance, the jagged slopes of mountains loomed in the shadow of the night. To her right, below where they stood, the forest thinned out over the slopes of lower foothills that abruptly leveled out into a treeless, highland plain that stretched into the distance. When the wind picked up, Tohru shivered, not from the cold but because it was as if some spirit was whispering into her skin.
"That's where we're headed," Belduine said quietly when everyone was close enough to hear, and gestured into the distance with his spear.
It was difficult to see clearly, but Tohru thought she saw smoke rising from the other side of the high plain, just beyond where her eyes could reach.
"What is it?" Tohru said, startled by the way her voice seemed to disturb the silence around them. The sounds of insects and wind and forest animals rustling in the bushes did not have the same harsh ring of human voices. In this place, all of her problems seemed to shrink, swallowed up by a scene her vision could not encompass all at once. She was afraid of the vastness before them, of the millions of trees marching over the hills like an army of still, silent soldiers. Nothing here cared about them, and yet the feel of a presence was all around. When the wind picked up, Tohru shivered, not from the cold but because it was if some spirit was whispering into her skin.
"Is somebody burning something?" Yuki said. He stood tall, one arm supporting a weak and sickly-looking Akito. As the wilderness pushed in around them, Akito leaned against Yuki, clinging to his arm as if his own body was about to break. He refused to acknowledge the view.
"You can't see it through the trees, but there's a road that travels through the forest just under the shadow of the hills," Belduine explained, pointing to their far right. "It leads to the town you were just in and is a merchant trail into the city."
"A city?" Tohru asked, half afraid and half hopeful.
He smiled at her. "Not a large city. Nothing like what you're used to, and it's a good ways from here. The smoke you see is from a wayside haven, a sort of resting place for travelers. It's tended by a monk I've met a few times before and it's a safe place for anyone seeking shelter, but we won't get there tonight. Perhaps tomorrow. After that, it's a few days traveling by foot to Feria."
"What about the others?" Kagura whispered. "Are they going to this city too? When can we free them and go home?"
Belduine didn't answer her immediately, looking thoughtfully over the distance they had to travel. "They're going another way," he said after a moment of silence.
"Where exactly are they going?" Kyo asked. "And where the hell are we for that matter? You said you'd give us an explanation. Where is Evermore? Is that what you call this place? This world?"
"No," Belduine said. "Evermore is the forest behind those mountains." He pointed to their left, where the forested hills rose into the night under the shadows. "It's only a small bit of the larger forest we've been traveling through, but…." His face was strangely serious, somber and reflective, "it's the part of the forest that the seasons don't touch, where winter never comes and nothing ever dies."
Akito glanced up. He had been standing unnoticed with his robes wrapped tightly around him, glowering at the trees and the plain and the mountains as if they were enemies that threatened him, but now his expression lifted, his eyes darting to the corners to listen without turning his head or appearing interested.
"Why doesn't anything change in Evermore?" Arisa asked.
"Because the Esper is a true fairy," Belduine said. "She's immortal and her magic seeps into the things around her so that they come to reflect her nature."
"What interest does she have in us?" Yuki asked. "And our curse?"
Tohru noticed Akito glance at Yuki askance, but he said nothing as Belduine explained.
"Legend has it that when the Esper came to this world she was a true fairy, something more like a spirit than a human, but that when she settled in the forest and gathered followers around her she took on a material shape."
"What does she look like?" Kyo asked.
"A girl," Belduine said. "A girl strangely illuminated and forever youthful. Her appearance changes, the specifics of her physical features, I mean, but she's always a youthful girl."
"When you say illuminated…" Arisa muttered.
"She glows," Belduine said. "A golden color like the sun, like there's light shining just under her skin."
"That sounds very beautiful," Tohru whispered, trying to imagine what she must look like. "So fairies look like young girls? How tall is she?"
Belduine smiled at her. "Not always, and the Esper is a different kind of fairy. She's as tall as you are, Tohru, though sometimes she looks smaller because everything about her is youthful and timeless. The kind of fairy that is tiny is a different sort, with a different nature. Many kinds of things are called fairies. You could say that any creature composed of magic is Fairy."
"And? What does she want with the Sohams?" Yuki demanded. "I still don't understand."
"Not everything that is beautiful is also friendly," Belduine said. "Maybe she was once, I don't know. Her powers are of the enchanting sort. She puts a spell over those who approach her and it's very difficult to resist her will. And there are other things she can do. Because she's a fairy, she can use magic in ways mortals can't. It sustains her existence, for example, and in some ways obeys her will. The magicians here depend on her for their power. It doesn't come from inside them. Without her they would be much lesser magicians, more like shamans or wise men; they would not have the aggressive powers they wield now. She controls them and through them she has a power over the lands around her."
"So people in this area are afraid of her and her magicians," Arisa murmured. "Little chit."
Belduine grinned and Tohru had the impression that Belduine liked Arisa. "They say that when she first came here, the Esper was like an Oracle that people came to for inspiration and advice and sometimes for healing. There are four princedoms bordering Evermore. At first relations were friendly. She was like a goddess and the princes were pleased to present her with the land she made her home as a gift, what is now called Evermore, along with gifts of other kinds. Jewels, carpets, incense, etc, but also servants, handmaidens to wait on her and soldiers to protect her borders."
"So what went wrong?" Arisa asked.
"I don't know," Belduine said. "Perhaps none of it ever meant anything to her. All I know for sure is that what she's really interested in are curses and some other kinds of dark magic. The wizards who flocked to her took over the governing of Evermore, and the princes are now forced to tithe to the Esper, especially in handmaidens or other kinds of servants, but also in what which she really desires."
"So the Sohmas…" Tohru stammered.
"That's right," Belduine said. "Evermore has become something of a slave society. The Esper is immortal, powerful, beautiful, but with a blackened, jaded soul. She desires to surround herself with misery, but it has to be magical, and the more miserable the better. She feeds off the negative energy. It's tangible to her, so the princes tithe in that too. If someone is rumored to be cursed, even if it's only a suspicion or a rumor, they are bundled up and shipped off to Evermore. If it turns out they are not cursed, sometimes they are released and sometimes they are forced into other kinds of service. But it's the cursed that she wants, and she goes to extreme lengths to find that which feeds her fetish. She uses her powers and a magic Key to search through other worlds. That's how she discovered the Sohma family. She cares nothing for the worlds themselves, only those who are cursed. She wants them. Fourteen people under one curse is like a banquet for her. It was worth the risk to investigate it, and to send in so many of her magicians to capture you."
"But…" Tohru said. "The others won't be harmed, will they? She won't hurt them?"
"No," Belduine said. "As long as they are near her she's content. At most she will question them, or force them to be near her until she grows tired of their company. Physically hurting them would be meaningless. The material world doesn't mean that much to her. But it's important for those of you who are free to keep safe. Azaren will present those he has in captivity to her as soon as he can, but she'll want all of you because the potency of your curse depends in part on your proximity to one another. If she gets all of you together, I'm not sure there will be much hope for you."
"We need to rescue the others, though!" Tohru said, and couldn't stop her hands from balling into fists or her lip from trembling. "Just because it's difficult doesn't mean we can give up!"
"Whoa, easy," Belduine said, waving his hands and smiling. "I'm just saying we can't go the short way, princess. The pass through the mountains that Azaren will take is heavily guarded. We can't go that way without being caught, so we'll have to go around. It's longer, but safer, and it will give us time to think up a plan."
Tohru didn't say anything, but she felt uneasy. They had left the others behind and were going a different way, but it felt like they were abandoning them.
"They'll be okay," Belduine assured her. "Evermore isn't like the prison of Cabadan and they should be reunited there. There will be more freedom, though they won't be able to leave the compound. But it doesn't matter. We can't go back and rescue them in Cabadan now, and anyway, I'm sure Azaren is moving them even as we speak. Ranlath will have finished and I imagine that's all they were waiting for."
"Ah, of course," Saki said as if she suddenly understood something.
"Who's Ranlath?" Arisa asked.
Kyo eyed Saki as if she were something altogether creepy and dangerous. "Is that the guy that asked all those funny questions?" he asked.
Belduine titled his head to one side. "Was he funny?"
"Uh, not on purpose, I don't think," Kyo muttered, scratching his head. "I meant weird."
"He was very strange," Saki murmured, but her eyes glowed. "The strangest waves I've ever felt." She seemed enraptured by the memory. "Almost… inhuman."
Belduine considered her for a moment in silence. "Well he's a powerful magician," he said at last. "Very powerful. He's the one who made it possible for me to communicate with the lot of you. You said before that I was speaking Jabanese?"
"Japanese," Arisa corrected.
"Yeah," Belduine said. "Well, I'm not really. If you listen closely you'll realize I'm not speaking a language you understand, but you can still understand me and I can understand you. I'm not really sure how he does it, but it's Ranlath's spell. The others don't know how it's done either. The Esper's Magicians, I mean, like Azaren and the rest of them."
"What do you mean?" Kyo said. "This Ranlath guy is not one of the Esper's magicians?"
"Not exactly. He's in her service and should technically be under the authority of the Arch Wizard—Azaren, if you remember—but none of the magicians know where he came from. He just showed up one day, not too long ago, spoke to the Esper privately and entered into her service. No one is even sure what he wants or why he's here. He keeps to himself for the most part. He doesn't even allow visitors into his rooms. But he does what the Esper asks him to do, and he does it better and faster than even Azaren can."
"But if he's a magician," Arisa pressed, "surely they must know who he is or where he learned to do what he does. I mean, how do you become a magician? Isn't there some kind of degree program or something?"
Belduine sighed. "You have to be trained, yeah, and they have schools in the East, where its rumored Azaren had perhaps the greatest potential in a century or more. But Ranlath didn't come from there. No one had ever heard of him before he showed up."
"Did the Esper know who he was?" Kyo muttered.
"I don't know," Belduine said, and refused to say more.
Tohru looked back and forth between Belduine and the faces of the Sohmas, listening with only half an ear because she didn't understand clearly what was being discussed or what she was supposed to do with the information. Yuki's expression was strangely dark as he looked at Belduine from the side of his eye.
"Anyway," Belduine said with a shrug, "tomorrow we'll have to cross that plain," he pointed below them, where the foothills became less pronounced and the trees began to thin. "We have a bit of a way left to go before we're out of the forest, and hopefully we'll find a stream coming down from the mountains where we can rest for what remains of the night. I know you all must be thirsty and tired."
Tohru actually felt dizzy from dehydration and renewed hunger and general weakness, but she didn't want to complain, and she was sure the others weren't doing much better. Those riceballs had helped, but they had been walking a long time and had farther to go without any real rest. She tried not to think about it.
Belduine jumped off the log and trotted ahead of them, guiding them down the other side of the hill they had climbed, Tohru and the others following more slowly.
"What do you think?" Arisa muttered in Yuki's direction when he was out of ear shot.
"I don't know," Yuki replied with a sigh. "I feel like he's not telling us something, maybe a lot of things."
"But that doesn't mean anything!" Tohru interjected. "I mean, he's doing so much for us and there's a lot we don't know about this place! He can't tell us everything all at once, right?"
"That's true," Arisa mused, "but still…"
"It's like he's holding something back," Yuki intoned, and then added more kindly, "I'm not saying he's going to betray us. I think he means to help us, but I don't entirely trust him. I guess we'll just have to be careful. Are you okay, Miss Honda? You look pale."
"Huh?" she said, blinking. "Oh. No! I'm fine! Please don't worry about me. I lived in the woods by myself in tent, remember? I'm used to this! It's not hard for me at all. Please don't trouble yourself!"
He smiled at her, and she blushed, freezing stock still as he reached out to touch a lock of her hair, almost absently. His fingers caressed her face. "That wasn't what I meant, but I am glad to hear it." Not seeming to notice the way Tohru had ceased to breathe, he turned his gaze from her to where Akito shuffled along at the back of the group, Ayame hovering like a worried mother hen at his shoulder. Tohru's heart lurched back into motion. "Akito?" Yuki called out. "Are you all right?"
Akito didn't answer, but looking at him, Tohru wondered herself. He didn't even seem to notice Yuki talking to Tohru. The hem of his robes dragged through the dirt and bracken and his skin looked pale, even paler than usual. Tohru realized that even Ayame had been quiet since their escape. Maybe he was worried. But, of course, there were lots of things to be worried about, things she was trying not to think of. Everyone had been acting strangely. It occurred to her how frightened everyone must be.
"Come on!" Belduine called ahead of them. "And watch your step. It's dark this way."
"Doesn't he ever get tired?" Kyo muttered. "It's so annoying! He sounds like Momiji sometimes."
"I hope Momiji is okay," Kagura muttered, and started off after Belduine without answering Kyo's question. The rest followed in silence.
They followed their small, secretive guide on a winding trail that at first seemed to take them back the way they came, but then took to a darker trail. Tohru was quickly lost. The trees thickened around them, the foliage covering up the view of the sky until they were stumbling in blankness, walking slowly to avoid tripping on roots and stones and tumbling into one another. When the darkness grew deeper, Tohru took deep breaths to steady herself, trying to widen her eyes so as to soak in the small seepage of light that glinted through the gaps in the leaves overhead. The ascent had not been so troublesome and she just kept telling herself that it was only for a little while, just long enough to get down the hill. The forest might get even thicker as it rose higher into the mountains and she should be thankful that they would be crossing a plain tomorrow instead. Even so, she didn't like thinking what might be watching her in this place. She didn't want to admit how frightened she was. There was nothing out here… nothing for miles. And she couldn't see a thing.
Don't be afraid. Be strong! Mom would have wanted you to be brave!
But anything could happen in a place like this.
Kagura's voice from somewhere ahead snapped her out of darker thoughts.
"Kyo, hold my hand!"
"No."
"But I can't see!"
"Yeah, and if you trip, you'll pull me down too!"
Tohru smiled then, relieved to hear the bickering and complaining that was as dear to her as her own happiness. She wanted her family to be happy, and when they acted like themselves, she knew that everything was okay. Even if she couldn't see, even when she was lost in a dark forest, with the ones around her that she loved, it wasn't so scary. Someone would catch her if she fell.
It was a surprise when she felt someone grasp her hand from behind, and more of a surprise when she turned to look over her shoulder to barely make out Yuki's large, beautiful eyes gleaming at her warmly and reassuringly. "Watch your step, Miss Honda."
She smiled back, grasping his hand as they walked. She was conscious of her other hand being empty because Kyo was pacing somewhere up ahead, but she gripped Yuki's hand in hers and marched forward with a braver heart.
"I really can't see anything," Arisa muttered from somewhere behind. "Hana, is that you?"
"No."
"Who else has hair this long?" Arisa muttered.
"It's me!" Ayame exclaimed with exuberant glee. "Please don't touch me so provocatively, Miss Uotani. I'm afraid you're a bit young, legally speaking at least—not that we have to tell anybody! But then, it might be a bit much at your age to experience the wonders of my amazing body and infamous talent..."
"Yeah, sure," Arisa interrupted. "What do you turn into, anyway?"
"A snake!"
"Figures."
"Hey, what's that?" Yuki whispered from beside Tohru, and the way he said it made her look.
Tohru peered ahead, her eyes drawn immediately to what looked like a round green light no larger than her fingernail, floating in the darkness some yards ahead.
"It's pretty," Tohru said, not sure what to make of it. The group became silent as they approached the light, its tiny glow illuminating their faces to one another and making their pathway easier to navigate. As Ayame escorted Akito over a fallen log, the Juunishi God paused to stare at a second light that rose up from the ground to float near his face.
"Is Belduine doing this?" Arisa whispered. "Can anyone see him?"
"No, not yet," Yuki replied, then caught his breath. "What in the world?"
A second light was followed by a third, appearing just beneath a branch as if it had dripped from a leaf to float languidly in the air just in front of Tohru's eyes, wavering like a suspended feather. And then a fourth. A fifth. Tohru's heart beat loudly in her chest. She turned on her toes in a circle, mouth opening in amazement as the forest trail erupted in a wash of green light from a hundred specks materializing out of thin air, like tiny Christmas lights suspended from nothing. Tohru lost count as tiny orbs of glowing green light drifted around them. They seemed to float on breaths of air, but her hands passed through them rather than knocking them about. She watched as Akito lifted a hand to catch one, but when he opened his hand, the light was gone, as if distinguished by his touch. Ayame was staring around him in genuine amazement.
"Is this more magic?" Arisa murmured.
"I confess, I've never seen anything like it," Ayame said.
"You make it sound like we should have expected you had!" Yuki said with clear irritation.
"Ha ha ha ha ha!"
"Over here, you guys!" they heard Kagura's voice beckon them from somewhere ahead.
Tohru released Yuki's hand as she walked easily along a trail now illuminated by softly glowing sparkles, looking around her with wide, enchanted eyes, her fatigue and thirst momentarily forgotten. Ahead of them, Belduine was sitting on a large rock, legs swinging above the ground with Kagura by his side and Kyo at his shoulder, holding something in his hand.
Tohru moved to stand beside Kyo, looking down at what appeared to be a butterfly made entirely out of the same green light as the specks, its wings moving very slowly as it perched on Belduine's palm.
"What is it?" Tohru asked.
Belduine smiled. "Nothing," he said. "It's an illusion, made from magic. Here." He grabbed Kagura's hand and turned her palm over. Very carefully, just as if it were a real butterfly, he transferred the creature to Kagura's fingers.
"It feels real," Kagura whispered. "I can even feel its feet."
"I don't get it," Kyo said blatantly. "Are you doing this so we can see or something?"
"Isn't that kind of thinking a bit too practical?" Arisa muttered. "Come on, Orange-top." She smiled, looking up and around her. "Learn to just appreciate something."
"It's not me," Belduine said. "This is magic residue that was stored in the forest. They call dribbles of leftover magic that responds this way 'fairy lights.' It might be drawn to me, or maybe to your curse, or EC's waves, and that's why it appears, but it's nothing more than bits of a spell that was cast here a long time ago and reacting to its own. I turned this bit into a butterfly, though."
"Fairy lights?" Tohru whispered.
Belduine smiled at her. "Do you want to see a fairy, Tohru? Since the Esper probably isn't like you might have imagined?"
Tohru beamed. For some reason, Kyo glowered at Belduine, his fists on his hips and his expression surly.
Belduine covered a bit of glowing light over a leaf as if it were a small flame he meant to shelter from the wind. When he lifted his hand, Tohru saw what looked like a tiny person standing on the edge of a leaf, a winged person with long flowing hair that covered a body made entirely of light. She was so small, not even an inch tall, that Tohru could barely make out the details, but the details were delicate and exact and beautiful.
"Is she real?" she whispered.
"It looks stupid," said Kyo, though his eyes were glued to it.
The fairy took a few prancing steps, smiling mischievously as she shook sparkles from her wings. Tohru was convinced she must be real, but Belduine shook his head. "No, it's an illusion, and I'm afraid I can't make it very big for you. These are fairy lights, you see, not fairies. It's the ideas people have about magic that give it shapes like this. Belief is a very powerful thing. It guides energy like a river is guided by a bank."
"But not just anybody can do it, right?"
It was Arisa, standing a little ways back with Hana, who was smiling as she waved a hand through a flurry of green sparks, silent and content.
"The magic has to run through the wielder already," Belduine said with a nod. "I'm talking about giving it direction, and this magic is already here. In this world you don't have to be born with magic to become a magician either, though most magicians are born of advanced families as the expense and commitment is not light. So not just anybody can even try for it, but technically they can teach it to anyone who has the right capacity to learn and understand it."
"Like learning a craft?" Kagura asked. "The way you read books or go to school or practice an instrument?"
"Sort of, but not exactly. You have to absorb magic into your body from reservoirs such as these in order to use it, to train your body to be a kind of conductor. It's possible for anyone, but it can be dangerous. It's not for everybody."
"So that means you've been to this school then?" Arisa asked. "And undergone these procedures? Since you can do magic?"
Belduine didn't respond at first. He brushed a finger against the fairy and she dissolved, the light that had produced her melting into the leaf upon which she had been standing. She smiled and winked as she vanished. "Oh. Um. My situation is a little different," he replied. "I was born with it, actually, though not much of it. It's just… it's not a common thing. No, I haven't been to the school."
This was met with a silence broken by Yuki coming toward them from where he had been talking to Akito, or rather, being talked to. "Belduine?" Yuki said politely. "Are we almost to a resting place?"
Belduine glanced beyond those huddled around him to where Akito leaned against a tree as if dizzy, though he seemed to be watching the lights moving around him with interest, turning his slender hands over as if hoping they would alight on his skin. Whenever one did, a small smile crept across his face. Even so, he looked unsteady, his eyes shadowed and his skin sallow.
"Why? Kyo demanded. "What did he say?"
Yuki's eyes narrowed in Kyo's direction, but his answer was directed at the others. "Maybe he's faking, but then again, he's never been outside like this before, or walked for so long without rest and nourishment. He's obviously tired and overwhelmed, but whether or not it's more than that, we need to rest soon. His health is not good. And to be honest, I don't feel so well either."
"Okay," Belduine said. "We're almost there. We'll keep moving so we can stop sooner."
"Is there a doctor that can maybe help him?" Tohru asked anxiously. "Akito? I mean, I know that this is a strange place, but there must be people who can take care of the sick!"
"Probably not in the forest, Tohru," Saki murmured.
"Yeah, they don't live under rocks," Arisa said.
Kyo scoffed. "Ah, hell. Don't worry about it. Akito's never been without someone to pamper him. I think he's in no worse shape than the rest of us. He's just being a baby."
"Kyo…" Kagura said, looking up from her butterfly. "Hatori is a real doctor. If he says Akito is sick sometimes, then he's really sick."
Belduine frowned. "I'm not sure you want to trust a doctor from anywhere around here with Akito's kind of illness, but there might be something in the city. I'll look into it when we get there. For now we'll just have to take it easy and go slowly." He smiled at Kagura. "Don't worry, beautiful. Everything will be fine." He gestured to the butterfly that was now perched on her thumb. "Can I have that back?" She proffered her hands and he took the butterfly from her gently, tilting her hands with his until the creature alighted onto his fingers. As Belduine extended his arm, it flapped its wings rapidly, faster and faster until the light of its green body glowed brighter, its energy expanding until, in a shower of illuminating sparks, it suddenly burst apart. Kagura gasped, her eyes wide and mournful, but Belduine's smiling never altered. Watching the space where the fairy light had been, Tohru felt as if the butterfly hadn't died, but had somehow been released, its energy clinging to the natural world where it had been born.
"Okay," Belduine said. "Let's go." Hopping off his rock, he grabbed his spear from where he had leaned it against a tree and took to the trail again.
Yuki and Ayame helped Akito move away from the tree, holding his arms as he swayed dizzily, blinking at them and then smiling slyly. Tohru watched with concern until Akito noticed her stare and turned a hateful glare on her. She looked away, flushing with hurt and embarrassment, though she was not sure why he made her feel so horrid and useless with just a glance.
Belduine led all of them down a steep slope, the green lights illuminating their trail as they passed and winking out behind them. Even so, at a point or two, Tohru almost lost her balance and barely avoided a tumble down the hill. The trail down was longer than Tohru had anticipated, and she wondered idly how long they had been traveling and what time it was. It felt like the middle of the night. Her head was swimming, and the fairy lights, though enchantingly beautiful, now made her feel as if she were stumbling through a dream world.
"Watch your step," Kyo's voice came from behind her. She felt his hand grasp her arm, steadying her. A moment later, Yuki's fingers curled around her other arm.
"Miss Honda? Are you sure you're okay?"
"What?" she mumbled, trying to focus her eyes enough to see them both clearly. "Oh, I'm fine. Please don't worry about me…" She smiled and tried to walk forward, but somehow her feet got tangled and she tripped, the ground rushing up to meet her. She heard Yuki and Kyo make an exclamation simultaneously, their hands catching her before she fell. She couldn't manage to see properly.
Next thing she clearly remembered, someone was lifting her head gently and tilting her face toward something wet and cold and wonderful.
"Here. Drink."
Tohru eyes shifted to look at Saki Hanajima kneeling beside her, holding her head to a cup from her backpack filled with water. Closing her eyes, Tohru drank greedily, sputtering, but swallowing the cool liquid gratefully, not worrying if it was sanitary or filtered of anything like that, not in a place like this. Her head still swam, but she felt better almost immediately.
When she laid her head back down, she could see stars. They glimmered high overhead, winking between the long, thin branches of trees reaching across the sky like the spidery hands of monsters. She realized she was lying on the ground with a blanket thrown over her chest and torso and was staring up into a sky that was not blotted out by a trees. Sitting up slowly, she looked around.
The Sohmas were making camp. A hundred paces away she could see the end of the forest and the beginning of the plain they had all seen from higher up. Here the trees were thin and spread out, many of them not tall enough to compete with their brothers higher in the foothills. Leaves were scattered along the forest floor, the dirt hard and dry and dusty, perfect for a campsite. But what really caught her attention was the sound of running water. She glanced at a little gully that ran at the bottom of the steep hill they had climbed down, a gurgling stream that probably came down from the mountains at some point, though she could not say where.
"Hana?" she whispered. "How did I get here?"
"Oh, Tohru. You should have said something if you were so sick. You were incoherent and almost passed out. We had to carry you the rest of the way down."
"Oh! I'll bet that was awkward!" Tohru gasped, thinking of the curse and imagining Yuki and Kyo having to sling her between them, or perhaps Arisa carrying her on her back. "I'm so sorry to have troubled you!"
Hana smiled at her. "It's all right. It wasn't much further and it didn't take us long to find this stream."
"Kagura, stand back, I mean it!" Kyo's voice roared from not too far away. "If you knock the tent down again, I'm really going to maul you this time!"
"Oh, really?" Kagura shouted back. "Because I'd really like to see you try!"
"Both of you be quiet!" Yuki snapped from where he was kneeling beside a sleeping Akito, or at least an Akito who appeared to be asleep. Tohru wondered.
"Shut up, you damn rat! I didn't do anything! Stop pretending you're in charge around here!"
Tohru smiled, though the way Kyo and Yuki were facing off, she feared they were going to get into a fight. "Hey," you guys?" she said as loud as she could, though the rasping sound in her throat wasn't very loud at all.
They turned at the sound of her voice, concern replacing anger in an instant.
"Oh, Tohru!" Ayame exclaimed. "Our little flower is awake! Isn't it wonderful? You naughty naughty boys probably woke her up with your detestable racket!" We waggled an admonishing finger at them.
"Like you're one to talk!" Kyo shouted, pointing an accusatory finger back at Ayame. Ayame gasped in mock outrage.
Tohru wrapped her arms around her knees. Their campsite wasn't much. Kagura, Yuki and Kyo had made something like a tent out of some long sticks and a large blanket Arisa had stuffed in her backpack. There was nothing to eat, but everyone had had plenty of water from the stream and though the night was nearer to morning now than night, Tohru hoped they would all be able to sleep soon. She was dreadfully tired, and she could tell the others were too, from their tempers if nothing else.
Belduine appeared from the edge of the forest, trotting toward the group. "I think we're safe," he announced. "We can sleep here for the rest of the night."
"What are we going to eat?" Arisa asked. "I'm starving. I've been starving."
"Nothing tonight," Belduine said. "Tomorrow… Well I think I can find us something, but for now let's just sleep."
"I'm okay with that," Kyo muttered. "I'm too tired to eat anyway, though some of Tohru's baked codfish would be really nice."
"Shut up, you stupid cat," Yuki muttered wearily, seemingly for no reason this time. Tohru knew they were both really grouchy, not to mention they both had other reasons to be upset, but she wished they didn't take it out on each other. She was afraid that Kyo would transform, and she didn't want him to.
Arisa, Uo and Tohru made a bed for themselves in the leaves, and after a harsh denial from Kyo and a warm beckoning from Tohru, Kagura joined them. Hana had a few thin blankets in her backpack that she passed around to everybody and they all settled down where they were able, trying to get as comfortable as possible. Akito slept a little distant from everyone else, refusing to be too close to anyone. Tohru worried about his health, hoping that there wasn't something really wrong with him and wondering what they would do if there was. Everyone except Tohru seemed to fall asleep immediately, and it was only because she was worrying so hard. Belduine did not lie down right away, instead running about their campsite, moving like a shadow. Tohru was too tired to even try and figure out what he was doing or why. She didn't see if he ever did lie down, but though it didn't register with any meaning right away, she heard him whisper to himself as her eyes closed.
"I can't do this. What was he thinking?" He paused, moving again through the leaves and out of her hearing. After awhile he cursed, though she didn't understand the meaning of what he said. Perhaps it was in another language. As she drifted off to sleep, not quite sure if she was dreaming or not, she heard him mutter soberly under his breath. "I think we are being followed."
TBC (really!)
To Reviewers: (you guys still out there….?) It's been so long you probably don't remember what you wrote me, but I will thank you all anyway!!!
Mizaya: You are so cute! I am sorry about Haru not being rescued. You will see him soon enough, though! You might even get his POV. ^_~ I'm off to read your newest updates now!
Grrl N: I'm glad you liked the way I portrayed Shigure in the last chapter (however long ago you read it *chagrin*) I'm trying to stick to the characters as much as possible and it's really difficult to juggle so many, so I appreciate the analysis! Thank you very much!
Miaka Mouse: Thank you for reviewing again! You know I love it when you do and I'm glad you got it to work. It's so frustrating to think that there are people who want to review but can't b.c FF.net has glitches. Please don't let that stop you, guys!
Tc-3: Yeah, it was a hell of a long chapter! This one feels really long too, but I don't think as long as the last one. I'm not sure because it's been a long time. Lol. As for Yukiru/Kyoru, I have my preferences but I haven't determined the exact outcome of this story and I don't want to say in any case! There will be romance, though!
Tri: exactly what I was thinking with Momiji and Shigure. But Momiji really couldn't travel anyway. However, I will be returning to all the people left behind, so you will hear more about it later. ^_^ Momiji is def. something special!
Nonsequitur: Sorry for making you wait so long!!! And thank you so much for your continued interested and long, insightful reviews. They mean a lot! Arisa and Kureno will be dealt with in due time, but I don't want to tell you too much about it right now. ^^ Thank you so much for your adept analysis of what I'm doing here. It helps me know what I'm doing right and what might need more work. You will get more of the other characters later so please stay tuned! Thank you so much!
Calendar: yes, our poor innocent Tohru shouldn't see killing, though she's strong in her own way. ^_~ Thank you so much for reading and I hope you haven't decided I've abandoned the story and come back!
Sarlinia: O_O wow. What an amazing review! I'm unworthy! Thank you so much. ^^ I hope that my writing will improve to the point where I can publish original works some day. Until then I'm practicing and thinking and creating things. It means so much to me that you help my dreams by reviewing my work. Thank you! It would take too much to go through what I think of all the characters in this story, but I'm very pleased that you understand my take on things so very well! I will keep trying to do a good job and I hope you continue to like it.
SAL-chan: It's okay! Momiji and Haru and Hatori and others will all be in the story and their part will be just as interesting! As for what Shigure's going to do… well it'll be something, but I can't tell you what. ^_^ As for Belduine, I'm glad you had that reaction b.c it wasn't supposed to be something that was expected.
Merei-chan: T_T Thank you for reviewing this time even if you couldn't last time. I am so happy now!!! Of course I like reviews every chapter. Every author does! But I hope more that you keep reading and enjoying the story and possibly sharing it with other people who might enjoy it. So glad you reviewed! Thank you very much! As for Tohru taking a risk/chance for the Sohmas, something like that just might happen *wink* but you'll have to keep reading!
R Junkie: Ah, yes, Akito didn't ask about Kureno for a reason, but I haven't explained that yet. You'll hear more about Kureno later. As for Yuki, it's difficult to write every reaction every character has for every other character. You're right. Yuki would def. be worried about Haru, but then, there's nothing much he can do for Haru and Tohru was in more danger. I hope that satisfies you!
Kyra Rivers: I'm sorry I worried you! I am continuing the story. I've just been very very busy and I'm trying to write WAY too many stories when I do have free time. Wheel of Time is awesome and I like Perrin too, lol. *reaction to review* HA ha ha! I love reading your reviews. Lol. Yes, Belduine does keep them on task, at least while they're confused and in a strange place. Things will (hopefully) continue to get more interesting, though! I know there was a lot of information in this chapter and I'm concerned that it's not very understandable at the moment, but I hope some of your questions were answered. I also hope some curiosity was perked. Lol. Anyway, sorry for the long wait and thank you for the reviews!
Niana Kuonji: Whoo-hoo! I finally got another one out. Wow. It's SOOO overdue. _ This is my fault, I know. I'm sorry. Is it "you can't turn cream into cheese?" I'll have to watch it again, heh. I can't remember. I was thinking of how you anybody can turn cream into butter basically by shaking it really hard. Lol. The people still in Evermore will have a very interesting storyline, but your comments might give me ideas so keep 'em coming! As for Akito, he's a little out of it right now, but more will be happening with him when things settle a bit.
Mirtle: You reviewed again! Yay! I'm glad you like the little side plot with Prince Temien. Of course that will important later so keep an eye on it. ^_^
Rei Asakura: So glad you reviewed! Thank you so very much! I hope you keep reading.
Melinda-chan: I hope you are feeling better! I've felt bad about not updating. O_O And thank you too for the break down. It actually helps me when I'm counting the characters. They're so hard to keep track of! Lol. I like your worries over the characters. You are right on some things, but I don't want to spoil the fun of it!
Tefkomikk: Ooh! A new reviewer. Thank you so much and I'm really happy that you're reading. I definitely hope you return, though (with my own behavior) I probably shouldn't count my chickens! Anyway, thank you very much for the compliment and please return! I really appreciate your readership. ^_^
Phasera: woah, another new reviewer. I'm so ecstatic! And what compliments! I'm trying really hard to produce something that is original and interesting as well as IC here, so I really appreciate the feedback! Thank you very much!
SageWriting: Lol. An official movie? Well I hope I write my own original stories someday! That quite a compliment. Thank you. I really hope you keep reviewing this story as it takes so much out of me. Thank you—seriously—very much for the comments. They really mean a lot.
Demeter1: Thank you! Akito has an important place in this story, though he's kinda hanging around the sidelines at the moment. Please keep reading because I intend to do more with him. Let me know what you want to see too ^_^
Daemonchan: HA HA! Yes, Akito might become something of a burden, lol. ^_~ I'm really happy to receive your review. Thank you so very much! It's definitely a compliment if someone says they couldn't stop reading!
Rashaka: Hey thanks! I'm glad to see that not updating for a long time at least brought in such a good reviewer! I'm glad you like EC and don't worry about Kyoru. There will definitely be more of it. I hope you continue reading. I really appreciate the feedback!
