Chapter 9 - Twilight
The minutes dragged by like hours. At last, a thread of light shot from below the horizon, splashing parts of the sky with a dull red color. Kari leaned on the railing, staring blankly towards the city, shedding occasional tears. Kael leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed and head bowed, occasionally glancing at the back of Kari's head, the wind swaying gently through her hair.
It had taken her a long while before she managed to let him go, and when the time came, managed to make it through the Great Flight, when the soul spread into the winds and shimmered as it vanished.
He sighed to himself, wishing he had been able to do more. More so, he wished he hadn't killed the only two people he had managed to apprehend who could've had useful information, but what it was, he wasn't sure. All he knew was that they were unable to do so anymore, and one of the assassins was already reporting to his employer, if he was a hired one.
"Kael," Kari mumbled.
"Yes?" he replied quickly, looking up at her.
"What do I do now?" she asked with a hoarse and barely legible voice, turning her head to look at him. Her eyes were slightly red and had circles under them, a tear line running down her cheek, making him feel even worse.
"I don't know," was all he could think of saying. Kari sniffed, turned all the way around, and walked back indoors. Wishing he were better with words, he followed her.
When he found her again, she was in her room, staring blankly at her mother's blood stained bed, her body missing. She blinked once, then moved hastily over to her rucksack, leaned over into a crouch next to it, and began throwing nearby things into it. Kael watched her curiously.
"Er…what're you doing?" he asked carefully. She turned on him. Her expression had changed dramatically; instead of sadness, he saw anger in her eyes.
"I'm going, you don't have to," she said sharply, returning to tossing more things and food into the bag.
"Where?" he asked, unconcerned about her tone.
"I don't know! Anywhere! Whoever did it will get killed!" she shouted, not turning around but shaking her head. Kael grimaced.
"They're still out there! And secondly, do you even have any idea of who it was? I thought at first they just worked for the bangaa, but I seriously doubt a sheep thief would send assassins for you and your mother."
"SO WHAT!" she shouted, standing up suddenly. Her hand was shaking, her mouth was half opened, and her ears were pinned slightly backward. Another stream of tears burst forth and, although she started hyperventilating slightly, shouted, "I DON'T HAVE ANYONE ANY MORE!"
Kael stood still, keeping a sharp eye contact with her. She shook her head at him then returned to packing. He opened his mouth to say something, but couldn't find anything. I probably would've done the same, he thought, but still…
"So you'd go on a bloody hunt for whoever is doing this, without even knowing who it is or where to start? And throw your life away so frickin' easily!" he shouted.
"Just shut your mouth and leave me alone!" she bellowed back. Kael narrowed his eyes, scowling. He opened his mouth to retort, but stopped when he saw her expression change. More tears streamed forth from her eyes, her lip trembled, and she bawled again, covering her mouth with a fisted hand, looking at her mother's bed. Kael immediately relaxed his expression. "I…have…no one anymo..more," she said, hiccupping once.
"Bah, stop kidding yourself!" Kael blurted out, loudly but not shouting. She looked back to him and eyed him curiously. "Remember what I said when I decided to follow you around? A stalker, eh? Well, I'll tell you what. If you'd really like to not have anyone, just tell me to go, and I'll go! Where though, I don't know. But until you say so, I think I'd like to stick around and protect you, if you don't mind!" Kael was breathing heavily, stunned at what he had escaped from his vocal cords. Kari was staring at him, but he couldn't determine what she was thinking with her slightly shocked expression.
After a long silence, she grinned, but stopped for a moment to wipe away a tear. Her lip trembled again before she launched herself toward Kael. Herecoiled slightly as she embraced him, her arms wrapped tightly around him. Kael blinked down at the top of her head, still surprised.
"Your right," she said. "I'm sorry."
Kael grinned at her when she released. "No need," he said. nodding and grinning warmly. "So what do we do now? You never did answer my question."
"Huh?"
"Any idea of who it was?"
After a pause, Kari nodded. "I think so, but it's not likely."
"Anything is good, as far as I know."
Kari returned to packing her things. He really knew that her decision to leave was exactly what most others would do, but it was just the haste in which she did it that concerned him, but not anymore.
"My mother used to serve as an archer under the Royal Family, specifically a noble. It…it wasn't good," she explained. Kael nodded as she closed the back and slung it over her shoulder.
"Well, he served the family well. And then, when there was news about a crystal that had powers over almost all life…he wanted it. Badly."
Kari paused and picked up her bag, and motioned for the door. They left outside into the already-crowded streets. The sun disappeared behind large clouds, casting a dark-gray color around most of the city, and the air was cold but dry.
"He betrayed the family, and killed many for that crystal," she continued. weaving in and out of people. "My…my father tried to reason with him, but he didn't change anything, despite how much I heard he had tried. Luckily, he didn't punish him," she said, sighing and pausing for a brief moment. Kael nodded, urging her to go on.
"In the same month…Ithalos—the noble—massacred Sprohm, believing it was there, but the knights stationed there refused him to search for the crystal. Over a thousand died…" she sucked in her breath. "When he didn't find it, all that came out of it was moreincentive to find it, for some reason. My dad…he didn't like it, and realized that he was going mad about finding such a rumored object. After long thought, he organized a mutiny...well, assassination attempt...on him with others who shared his opinion…he…he had to kill people with his own hands because he was ordered too, and so was mom… It was sabotaged."
Kael raised an eyebrow. "By who?"
"My brother," Kari replied in a hushed voice.
"What!" Kaelshouted loudly.
"I…I hate him," she said, looking away.
They walked silently for the next hour, Kael following her through the streets, wondering where she was going. "I thought we were going to the pub for the clan?" Kael asked finally.
"No, we can't drag others into this. Even if we could use the help," Kari said simply. Thunder rumbled far off in the distance, and the clouds grew more omnimous and dark. Kael shrugged and interested himself in small kiosks spread in the streets with scrambling Moogles behind them trying to take orders. He still found the mix of more races to be much more colorful than a Hume-only world.
They reached the gates of the city, but Kari didn't exit through them. Instead, they turned and walked alongside it. "So, where are we going?" he asked her. She grinned.
"A friend of mine. A sky pirate."
"Pirate, huh?" Kael asked, nodding. Then it hit him and he widened his eyes. "PIRATE! Sky pirate?"
"That's right…what, did your world not have airships? They're so common," she said, looking at him. Kael shook his head.
"No, but I haven't seen anything that can fly here. But, then again, I've never seen magic before either so…"
"There's no magic in your world? How do you get power?"
"Electricity…" he acknowledged her curios look, but couldn't find a way to explain it, so ignored it. "So, those crystals on the buildings are magic?"
"Yep, but they get charged every so often by Black Mages. The only thing the power is used for though is for powering airships and data storage."
"Black…Mages?" Kael asked, blinking. "That sounds evil."
"Oh, Black Magic isn't evil, but it's an offensive type of magic, not curative. So, for whatever reason, we call offensive magic 'black'."
"Oh."
They turned down another street, and left through a huge gap in the wall downhill on a path made of red clay. At its base, a flat plain with tall yellow grass on either side of the path was swaying roughly in the building strength of the wind. At a far end was a small run-down building with rusting sides. At the top, Kael recognized the curve of what seemed to be a dome made of glass, but the rest of it was rather square. Near the right of the building was a giant patch of closely cut grass with markings that suggested it was a make-shift landing pad, but nowhere to be seen was an airship of any kind or even a hangar door that led to the inside.
"This place looks abandoned," Kael said, looking gloomily at the building and the dark clouds. Kari smiled.
"That's the idea. Did I forget to mention the word 'pirate'?"
Kael frowned. "I was hoping it was just an expression."
"That'd be boring, though. I wonder if he's home…"
"So, he's…literally a pirate?"
"Pretty much, yup."
Kael raised an eyebrow, sweat dropping. "Isn't that dangerous."
"Oh, stop being such a bloody pain in the arse, it's fun for him. Get your sky legs, matey!" Kari said, using the same stereotypical pirate voice that he recognized, laughing afterward. Kael smiled, but just because he was glad to see her in a somewhat happy mood.
"But he's a pirate, he steals and stuff," Kael said.
"Sometimes, but all the time? Nah, he's not like those kinds. 'Pirate' doesn't always have to mean they board ships to take money and kill people for the fun of it. He's more of a mercenary now."
"Oh, I see…"
Kari suddenly stopped. Kael walked a few steps ahead of her before stopping. He turned around to look at her.
"Hey, what's up? Huh?" Her right leg was in front of her left as though she was walking, but frozen with a normal expression on her face. The world around them slowly turned a dark orange color. Everything, including the leaves in the air, froze. Kael blinked once, waving an arm in front of her face. No response.
"Uhh…" His voice echoed many times before fading. A sharp gust of wind behind him made his hair fly forward briefly. He turned around and searched—to find the face of a little girl, standing to the side of the path in the tall grass.
Her hair was a shocking pink that looked natural, long enough to hover barely inches over the ground. She was staring at him with wide, dull-green eyes, her pupil barely visible. Her skin was pale, and she wore a small dress, holding a teddy bear in her arms. She looked no older than ten.
Kael approached her slowly, feeling a chill as she continued to stare. Her head cocked slightly to the side. "You are afraid? Do you hate? Silly humans, so predictable in emotion. The blue moon shines and bathes horrid memories, although I've lost that ability to see the past and the present…it's so…boring. Will you change that, please?" she asked, her tone constant and casual with a certain creepiness to it.
The words echoed around him, but before he could answer, everything swung back into motion. He blinked as he heard the thunder roar overhead.
"Kael?" Kari called. "How'd you get up there so fast?"
"Huh?" Kael turned to her again, breathing slightly deeper.
"You just appeared up there! How'd you do that? Can you do Haste?" she asked.
Kael looked around. The girl was gone. A steady rain began to fall, and Kari jogged up to him.
"I don't know…" he said, still searching. Kari looked from side to side, seemingly helping him.
"Uhhh…?"
"Did you see a little girl around here just now?" Kael asked slowly. She looked around and, not seeing anything, shook her head.
"Nooo…did you see a girl?"
"Yeah," he said. When he didn't see her again either, he shook his head. "Never mind." He shook the thought from his head. Who was that girl? And what was that all about? And I'm sure it sounded like nonsensical ranting to her. Whatever.
"Riiight," Kari said, grinning slightly. "I think someone's getting dillusional."
"Hmm…" Kael took one last look, then shook his head. "I could've sworn…" Kari stopped grinning and examined him. "Forget it," hesaid quickly. She narrowed her eyes quizzically but then shrugged, starting for the hangar again. Kael quickly followed, feeling awkward and giddy.