MysticShadowWanderer
Disclaimer: FUCKING PSYCHIC MONKEYS:ahem:
Chapter Eight: Meian
For several long moments that could very well have been an eternity or two –it was plausible, considering the fact that there was the possibility of my being dead– I lay silent, staring at the rough texture of the ceiling, which, I noted, matched the rest of the shack with a brown, monochrome dullness. I decided not to mention my distaste for my current surroundings. The Elder was looking down on me with those deep eyes , waiting in a patient way that can only come from countless years of experience. As I continued my glaring match with a particularly nasty looking crack in the roof, she took it upon herself to breach the quiet.
"So what's your name, doll?"
I blanked for a moment, and feigned confusion and a possible head injury as I considered my options. Clearly giving her my real name would not be in my best interests, since she'd expressed such hatred for me as the ruling faction, and I was currently unable to move and hadn't tested any of my darkening of yet; an alias seemed more appropriate in the given situation. I was briefly at a loss; in my arrogance, well-deserved arrogance I might add, I had never foreseen the need to have a prepared name in case of such an emergency. What a pity to have been so unwise. I simply gave her the first name that floated through my still slightly hazy mind.
"Kenshin. Did you happen to say that I might be dead?"
"Kenshin... that's an odd name. Yes, there's always the possibility that you've passed on. Hence your ability to be visitin' this place."
"I'm sorry, but I still really haven't the faintest idea of what you're saying."
The wrinkles over her eyes, if possible, furrowed even deeper as she lost herself in though, hopefully in pursuit of the best way to help me reach understanding. I had no desire to remain so perplexed for much longer.
"You see, my dear, only lost souls can come here. I guess that's sayin' that you either have to have no other choice or have to be dead."
My head positively swam; I apparently had not yet fully recovered from my order with the Time.
"I'm just going to... take your word on that..." I trailed off, realizing that I didn't know the woman's name.
"Oh, I'm frightful sorry! I never properly introduced myself! I guess you can't shake my hand... ah well. I am called Dignitas."
Luckily I couldn't move, or I would have raised an eyebrow skeptically. I had no idea how I'd gotten here, or where here was, but at that moment I knew that I could not be in more of a hurry to return to my home, not to mention my woman.
"Tell me... Dignitas... is there any way to tell whether or not I am or am not deceased? It would be a terrible inconvenience to have gone through all that trouble just to have died, it really would."
The old woman chuckled in a most irritating way; the gentle happiness in the sound grated on my nerves. "Well now, there are a few ways." With a swiftness that belied her age, she reached out and smacked me over the head with a sheaf of papers that I hadn't even noticed she was holding. I winced involuntarily and swore loudly.
"What in the hell was that for!" I fairly shouted, though I attempted to control my temper.
Her previous chuckling exploded into full laughter. "Yup, you're still kickin'!"
At that point, I was absolutely lost to what was going on, and when she offered no explanation, I groaned and closed my eyes in a sudden wave of somnolence. Still, I could practically hear her smile as she watched me.
"You'll be needin' your rest to recover fully. Don't worry, love, I'll be takin' good care of you, and you'll be out and about before you know it."
I cursed under my breath as I lifted the axe over my shoulder and let it fall almost lazily. Despite my lack of attention to my task, the log split perfectly down the center. Dignitas had warned me against using any sort of darkening in the Khasma, but I firmly ignored the half-suggestion, half-command and sped through the work with languid ease.
"Damn that woman, damn this place, damn it all!" I hadn't been aware that "out and about" would mean "slaving away over a primitive, outdated form of fuel in the blistering heat after having only been able to be out of bed for a single day." On top of my dismay at my current position, I still had no idea how I'd gotten to this place or how I was going to find my way back home.
Dignitas had said something about finding me near some sort of a Sign, but I clearly remembered seeing nothing but unreachable horizon. Had I somehow slipped into a type of distortion of space and time? That seemed very unlikely, considering what I'd learned from my trials; mainly, that Time didn't even exist. So there had to be a reason I was here. Was this where everyone that didn't return from the Time ended up? So far I hadn't seen a single soul besides myself and Dignitas. I refused to let panic of any sort set in. There had to be a way out of this.
"Kenshin!" her voice was quiet yet powerful. "When you're done with the firewood, I've made you something to eat!"
While I harbored an intense hatred for the work that the woman was putting me to –I only did it out of a sense of obligation; she was, after all, feeding and housing me– I had to admit that her food was more than amazing. If only Licentia could learn to cook that way. Then again, that's what the kitchens were for, was it not? Still... there were qualities of Dignitas that I was learning very quickly to have the proper respect for.
"There's got to be a way to get you home, boy." Dignitas had apparently taken me on as her personal project, which was just as well, since there was next to no activity in this place.
I merely nodded and mumbled assent around a mouthful of some sort of food that I couldn't identify. It ceased to matter what it was that she fixed, I'd discovered, so long as she made ample amounts of it. Never in my life had I eaten more than I was eating while I stayed with the Elder.
"I know you must be missin' whoever you've got back there. Probably a pretty little girl's waitin' for you, cryin' her eyes out 'cause you've been gone so long."
The smirk that rose to my face at the thought of Licentia lying around, useless and weeping, was wiped away when I remembered her scent and how long it had been since I held her in my arms. How much longer could I be away from her without going insane?
"I think maybe I know someone who could help you..."
I was panting, just slightly, in the heat that Dignitas appeared to be used to. As soon as I'd woken in the morning, she had insisted that we were to "get up and get to gettin'," which I had to take a moment to comprehend. There was one thing to be said about this woman, cooking aside, when she set her mind to something, it was completely quickly and efficiently. I could admire that.
"Now it's not much further."
It would have been appropriate timing for a snide remark, but I was so grateful that our long trek through what looked like completely uninhabited desert was drawing to a close that I decided to keep my mouth shut about how she'd been saying the exact same thing for roughly an hour and a half, judging by the number of steps I'd taken. Counting, in this case, was not making Time pass any faster, and I sighed with that thought. Of course it wasn't, Time didn't exist. I was beginning to regret this whole process, just because some parts of it seemed to have left my brain permanently bent in places; I was, to put it in humble terms, quite displeased.
"So this is the boy you've brought me, Dignitas?"
I recognized that voice, and a shudder ran down my spine.
"Do you know who he is?"
This could not be happening.
"He deserves to die where he stands."
Oh fuck.
A/N: Haha, this chapter amused me so much. I wanted this story to be all dark, but I'm in the goofiest mood... God knows why. Probably because it's 5.30AM and I haven't slept in 17 hours or something like that. I'd also like to thank Rabsi-Babsy (did I get that right?) for inspiring my to get off my lazy ass and write some more of this story. I realized I was neglecting you guys! Oh, also... I've been having some trouble with my email. Here's the deal (and I really do hate to inconvenience anyone, but alas): If you want the lemon and haven't gotten it yet, even if you emailed/left your email in a review, please please email me and I will send it ASAP! If you left your email in a review, I'm sorry, unless you were signed in and it told me what it was, I can't read the address. And for anyone that emailed/reviewed about it earlier, well... let's just say that the viruses have left my inbox a mess and I simply don't have the time to deal with it, what with transferring schools and looking at colleges. Thanks you guys, for all the reviews and everything, you all rock my freaking world.
Translations:
"meian" - "light and darkness"
"Dignitas" - Latin; "worthiness, beauty" (root of "dainty")