Far Gone

See disclaimer in the Prologue

The submarine of the Comodeen's Flying Water expedition, Jane, had just landed on a small island that marked roughly the three-quarter point of their journey.

Cid, the pilot, hopped out of the cockpit with a yawn and sigh. "We've been able to travel for quite some time now without the Ocean Puzzle shifting and forcing us to take another challenge," he said cheerily. "Back at Gaudium, they must still be trying to figure out what happened last time when that immense explosion blew up one of their cubes!"

Knave, the middle-aged leader of the organization, nodded gravely and toyed with his cigar. "We should be safe here for the time being," he told his crew. "Let's disembark; all hands will have two hours of free time. Use it to relax as you will."

Everyone took the news well, especially the small group of travelers among them who weren't of the Comodeen's ranks.

"Fresh air and open skies," Yu Hayakawa said to no one in particular, stepping off the ladder. "It's just what you've been asking for, Sis... for a really long time now."

His twin sister, Ai Hayakawa, was silent as she looked around. While several days ago she might have been commenting loudly about the state of the tiny island, which was slightly shabby, now she was content to scrutinize the surroundings with a faint look of ennui on her face.

Lisa Pacifist, who was looking after the two of them as they searched for their missing parents throughout Wonderland, smiled and shook her head. "It doesn't look like that guy is coming out here at all," she observed, trying to break Ai out of her silence.

Yu, just realizing that fact himself, started to look around. "You're right... I wonder where he is?"

Ai put her hands on her hips and made a face. "Mister's prob'ly just sitting around in the submarine! That's all he ever does, just sit there and ignore everybody!"

Lisa's smile grew--for once, one of her plans had worked. "I'll go see if I can't persuade him that the sun won't hurt him," she said softly, joking. "Why don't you two go on a walk with Chobi-chan? Just make sure you don't get too far away from the Comodeen; I'll catch up to you later."

"Okay." The twins headed off towards the forest that covered most of the island with their pet chocobo, Chobi, trailing behind them.

Lisa, still smiling, shook her head. She was glad to see them happy for once--Yu was starting to despair that he'd ever see his mother and father again, and the latest incident in Pist's Ocean Puzzle had left Ai unusually thoughtful and quiet. It wouldn't do for them to lose hope now that they actually had a chance to accomplish what they'd set out to do.

Reminded of her intention by that thought, Lisa hurried back up the ladder to the submarine's interior in order to find their taciturn ally Kaze and drag him outside. Fresh air would do him some good as well.

---

Just as Ai and Yu reached the edge of the forest, Chobi let out a loud squawk. About to find out what was the matter with him, they both caught sight of what he had.

A streak of white was falling from the sky at an alarming rate. While the twins tried to discern what in the world it was, it fell past the treeline and crashed with a thud and crack audible even as far away as they were.

"Let's go," Yu said after the shock had worn off.

"Yu!" his sister protested. "It could be dangerous! We shouldn't go unless somebody's with us!"

"There's a path," Yu argued, unwilling to give up. "And, Sis... I think that was a person. They could be really hurt after falling like that! We can't just stand by when somebody's in trouble!"

Ai pouted, but just as she opened her mouth to give another protest, Chobi took off into the trees, following the tiny path that led to whatever had crashed.

The twins exchanged helpless looks and ran after him. There was nothing they could do about the decision now. The chocobo, of all people, had decided it for them.

After a short chase, the two of them caught up with Chobi, who had paused a few yards away from a very strange sight.

The large tree that he stood before seemed to have been half-crushed; most of its branches had apparently been ripped off by an impact of some sort, like a lightning strike. The dead branches, leaves still attached, lay among the roots of the giant denizen of the forest, and beneath the whole mess lay a broken figure in pale clothing.

Yu's eyes widened, and after a short pause taken to steel himself, he slowly and carefully walked forward, kneeling beside the pile and removing a few of the heavy branches. After he'd gotten them off, he let out a cry of disbelief.

"Sis! It's that guy from the city of clouds--Makenshi!"

Ai crept over to her brother's side. "D'you think he's dead...?"

The swordsman in white was half-buried beneath the pile of branches, what part of his body they could see covered in scratches and bruises, his clothing torn, his hair a mess, and a look of suffering on his face. The twins and Chobi hovered, unsure of what to do, for several minutes.

"What now?" Ai asked at last, turning to Yu for answers.

The brown-haired boy carefully reached forward, but shied at actually touching the unconscious swordsman. "I don't know," he said after a pause. "Take Chobi and go find Lisa! She'll think of something! The only thing I'm sure of is that we can't just leave him here, so GO!"

Normally, Ai might have argued, but for once she just nodded and headed back down the path with Chobi at her heels.

Yu turned back to the mess of snarled tree branches and wounded young man. After another helpless pause, he pulled a few more branches off the pile. As he was going back for the next, a faint sound made him stop dead--Makenshi, still in uncertain condition, had let out a weak moan and seemed to be waking up.

Only his parents' teaching that the wounded must always be helped made Yu kneel next to the white-clad swordsman, and even so, the attacks that Makenshi had made on the Comodeen were on a constant replay in his mind's eye. Although he honestly wanted to help, he couldn't forget that this "victim" could be truly dangerous.

"Hey..." he said softly, hesitantly. "Can you hear me? Are you okay?"

The young man moaned softly a second time, and his liquid jadeine eyes half-opened. To Yu, they seemed vague and uncertain, yet somehow wary.

"Are you okay?" he asked again, a little louder. "Are you hurt?" Stupid question, but still, he had to know. "Are you in much pain? What happened?"

He reached out to touch Makenshi's shoulder, but as soon as his hand got close, the sword-summoner flinched away, shrinking back towards the ground. His eyes, now open wide, were fixed on Yu's umber-brown ones, huge with a terrible fear. "Don't..." The word escaped the young man's lips as a whisper, but even so, Yu could tell that his voice was shaking with terror. "Please don't..."

He's afraid... of me...? Instantly, Yu's wariness melted into pity. "It's okay," he said as soothingly as he could. "Nobody's going to hurt you now. It's over. It's over." He continued to repeat the soft mantra until Makenshi started to relax. He must really be out of it if he's this afraid of me. I hope Lisa can do something... Still talking on and on as he might to a wounded animal, Yu placed his hand on Makenshi's shoulder. Now that he'd touched the swordsman, he could feel that the white-haired man's whole body was trembling uncontrollably. "It's okay now. Rest, just rest..."

After about another minute of Yu talking continuously, Makenshi finally drifted back out of consciousness. The young boy leaned back and flopped down into a sitting position, sighing out of sheer relief.

"What could have happened to make him act like this?" he wondered aloud. "What on earth happened?"

---

"Lisa! LISA!"

The young woman looked up, confused, to see Ai and Chobi tearing down the path out of the forest, both gasping for breath.

"Lisa! Come quick! We need help fast!"

"Slow down. What is it?" Lisa asked, putting her hands on Ai's shoulders once the twelve-year-old had stopped to catch her wind. "What's happened?"

"It's... that guy!" Ai cried, waving her arms frantically. "That guy who attacked the Comodeen before...!"

Lisa blinked, then stared. "Wait... Makenshi! Here? What's he planning on doing now?"

"He's hurt!" Ai went on, not letting Lisa finish the thought. "Really really hurt! We don't know what to do but we've gotta do SOMETHING or else he's gonna die!"

Still confused, Lisa shook her head. "Well then... I think I'd better come see this..."

"Come ON!" Ai was already down at the path. "We've got to go!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming..."

And so the two of them went, with Chobi still running circles around them, squawking frantically.

---

Upon seeing the pitiful broken body beside the great tree, Lisa felt her world tilt.

Yu had managed to get most of the branches away from Makenshi, and was now sitting next to the unconscious swordsman, looking worried. Ai ran to her brother and joined him in staring at the pale bloodied form of the one they'd both thought was an enemy.

Lisa hurried over and knelt at the swordsman's side, looking back and forth between the wounds which, to her, told a disturbing story. Makenshi's face was bruised with patches of dark blue and violet, overlapping a few lighter-colored marks, and there were clear hand marks on his throat. There were other cuts and bruises all over his body, but some of them looked old while others were obviously fresh. A fine ribbon of blood was coursing from his slightly parted lips, and darker blood was pooling beneath his hips, welling--or so it seemed--from between his legs. Lisa dug her nails into her palm to keep from crying out. Although she already knew, she couldn't stop asking herself what had happened here. What was even more important was who had done it and why. Now that she had seen, there was no question of it--she was going to get him help. Now. No matter what those of the Comodeen said. She knew a victim of abuse when she saw one, and Makenshi was one if nobody else ever had been.

"He woke up a few times while you were still coming here," Yu was saying. "Each time, he really seemed out of it... he looked almost like he was afraid of me... he kept giving me these big scared eyes... something's really wrong with him, Lisa..."

Frowning, Lisa levered the last branches off the body, then carefully, gently lifted it into her arms. For a moment, she was surprised at how light Makenshi was--he had to weigh less than she did, for all that he was so much taller than her. Shaking it off, she looked back at the twins. "I'm going to take him back to the submarine," she told them. "Don't let anybody protest, and especially don't let Kaze anywhere near him. Once everyone sees what condition he's in, they shouldn't complain about it. Someone or something's been beating this young man." And that's just the half of it, but I can't tell you that. "I'm not going to let him leave until he's received some proper medical treatment." And with that, she turned back towards the others, taking Makenshi with her.

---

Lisa was true to her word.

Upon seeing the bizarre spectacle of their "enemy" helpless and wounded, most members of the Comodeen adamantly refused him shelter. They were too wary that all this might be some clever ruse, and in any case, they didn't really care if Makenshi lived or died.

Lisa didn't like that.

"Just look at him!" she snapped. "Do you expect me to abandon him when I know that we have the resources to take care of him! How about you? Would you be okay with having no one to take care of you if you were in his state! How can you be so callous! This is your fellow living creature, he is suffering, and I am going to put a stop to that pain, whether you like it or not!"

Cid scratched his head, looking awkward. "Well... I suppose that when he wakes up, it would be a good time to find out what in Wonderland has been going on," he admitted.

"You could be right," Knave agreed with a sigh. "Fine, so be it. You can keep him here until he's well enough to leave, but only until then."

Lisa sighed in relief, looking down at Makenshi, who she still had cradled in her arms, his long slim frame spilling out of her hold. In truth, she wasn't exactly sure about any of this either, but she did know that she couldn't just leave the swordsman to suffer and die alone. She wouldn't compromise her moral code for the sake of convenience--doing so would mean sinking to the level of the Earl and his Deathlords, the Comodeen's sworn enemies.

"I'm going to take care of you," she whispered to the fluff-haired, badly bruised face resting against her shoulder. "You're going to be okay now, I promise."

As she headed towards the infirmary, she did not notice the pair of angry, accusing cerulean eyes that followed her down the submarine's corridors.

(TBC)