Title: Tale of A Story
Author: DnKS - giRLs
Rating: G to PG
Pairing: So many of them…count yourselves
Warning: Major OOCness, trans-gender (some), rambling, and plot less, over- romantic (again, blame all those verses), mention them all…
Disclaimers: …(don't want to write 'em)…
Chapter 8 – The Wizard
For the first few miles of their journey, Fuji did nothing else than adorning the silent sight given to him. It reminded him of how long had he been under the power of sleep when he observed gleefully over the surrounding. Fresh blades of grass were flowing around their horse's feet, matched well with their galloping paces. The sun that shone so brightly but never so bright illuminated everything it laid its frivolous eyes of rays upon. The weather could not be more attractive than what they had that time and the air too never felt so appealing to him if he considered that he had been in nothing but a cold room of stone for some hundreds years in recent time, though he could not say that he was even the slightest bit awake about that.
Those things were enough to drive Fuji into the happy smile that he graciously let his lips to display. He took a deep breath and silently thanked every holy entity for giving him a chance to chase after his dream. He thanked the sun for giving them its shining guidance; he thanked the meadow for giving them such enchanting view; he thanked the air for its freshness to satiate their heart.
And it did seem to him that they all heard his silent prayer and answered it by giving him even the more better part of each in its own way. He smiled wider as he remembered how he loved riding back then when he was still a prince with his father stern but caring gaze always came into his field of view. He remembered how he loved the soothing breeze to blow over him as he rode swift and fast across every field until finally he would end up standing proudly on his favourite place, the shore. The shore on which he once had found his beloved one, the shore on which once he had seen his same beloved go away from him.
As swift as the thought dared to enter his mind, Fuji dismissed it entirely. Needed not, he repeated to himself, for him thinking about that matter in a melancholic way at that time when he was all about to get what once was his love to be his again.
His riding partner seemed to notice the flash of sadness that he unconsciously must have let to pass over his façade for the person in talk gazed at him intensely and asked carefully, "Is there something that matters, Your Excellency?"
Hearing that, Fuji smiled.
"There is something I believe, dear Ryoma," he said. "I believe I have asked you not to call me 'Your Excellency' ever again, have I not?"
Ryoma laughed a little, "It is a hard task to do, if one may be honest about that."
"What is the difficulty of addressing me with my name if I may know?" Fuji asked. "I think every normal people possess a name will be called with his or her own name without anything near to trouble."
"It's because you are hardly a normal people, Sire," Ryoma answered.
"Shall I take that as an insult or a compliment instead?" Fuji inquired.
"Your Excellency," Ryoma said indisputably. "I will by a hair's breadth try something as insult you when I still have my right mind with me."
"Then call me with my given name, Ryoma, my dear or else I'll think that you are indeed trying to insult me in one way or another," Fuji cheerfully said.
Ryoma smiled at that, "Is that an order?"
"Merely a request in my opinion," Fuji answered.
"And what am I if I cannot even grant your request, Fuji?" said Ryoma with a smirk. "If you want it, you shall have it."
They looked into each other's eyes and laughed merrily. Even their horses seemed to share their masters' good mood and they galloped happier than before. They were riding slowly and gracefully, enjoying every scene that passed before their eyes and had small talks here and there until finally, somewhere after the sun had reached the peak of its heavenly glide across the sky, did they find themselves consider a mean of rest.
They stopped their journey on a bank of a wide river with its silent flow of stream made a little trickling noise to their ears. They released their horses without any means to tie them for they believe they would never run away. And as they sat there on the grass, their legs stretched before them and light wind caressed their tired back, Fuji eyed the young prince on his side and gave himself to his many thoughts.
"Say, Ryoma," he voiced his mind. "How old are you exactly?"
"Why do you bring such topic this time, if I may know?" Ryoma said.
"It's just… you seem too much wise for your age." Fuji said.
"And how old am I in your eyes, Fuji?" Ryoma said.
"Twelve?" Fuji tried for in his eyes indeed the prince looked none older than a twelve-year-old boy did.
Ryoma gave one of his soft smirks as he said, "Yes, I do look like a twelve-year-old in human years, but truth is I am far older than that."
"How much older?" Fuji asked.
"I was born nearly fifty years ago," Ryoma said. "My mother's blood give me the bless of an enormously long life span, the bless that my father too acquired on the day he brought my mother to his house to be his wife."
"Oh my…" Fuji looked quite amused. "You are indeed a lot older than you look like."
"And how about you, dear Fuji?" asked Ryoma.
"I recall I was fifteen years old when our dear Time Keeper put me into my deep sleep," he answered with a smile. "By now maybe I have regained some hundreds years to my real age."
"It is highly possible," Ryoma said in a very serious tone and they both erupted into laughter that died long time afterward. It felt so peaceful for them to laugh freely like that in nothing but a vast green field of grasses around them.
"You are a great company, Ryoma," Fuji said honestly.
"That is my greatest pleasure, dear Fuji," Ryoma said.
Fuji sighed, "You seem to erase my doubts away…"
"Did you have any doubt before?" Ryoma curiously asked.
"Not doubts, though… I prefer describe them as fears," Fuji said.
"May I know what have caused your fear, dear Fuji?" Ryoma carefully asked.
"I…" Fuji started and he bit his bottom lip in nervous. "I know almost nothing to begin with, I am so confused and many things are still beyond my recognition. I even know not where The Great Wizard that we search this very time may be."
Fuji observed how the younger boy fell silent for a while after he let that statement come from his lips. he almost thought that Ryoma would never answer his former question if the said boy did not suddenly open his mouth and speak.
"Even I could tell you not where The Great Wizard is," he said.
"Then how could we supposed to meet him?" Fuji inquired for some enlightening.
"That is…" Ryoma slowly started. "The Great Wizard is someone who will only reveal himself to people he finds suit to his liking. We could do nothing like persuade him to appear before us. We can just wait until he is willing to receive us in his realm and give us his wisdom words of explanation."
"You seem know him so much, The Great Wizard I mean…" Fuji said.
"I had the honour of being his apprentice for nearly two seasons several years behind," Ryoma answered.
"So, my dear Ryoma, you are saying now that we just wait until we can finally met The Great Wizard in person, am I right?" Fuji asked.
"You are and have always been right, Fuji, my Excellency," Ryoma said.
"And if I may proceed, please do let me ask why you are so sure that he will receive us?" Fuji said.
"No one will ever able to do such thing like accepting you not," said Ryoma. "And if that can assure you not much, I believe this will able to do it. Look up, Prince Fuji, The Sacred Pillar and you shall see that the sky has opened for us. The Great Wizard has shown his desire to see us, and now let me ask, shall we proceed?"
Fuji looked up and his eyes widened in awe. The perfect blue sky had opened its blue ethereal body and revealed beyond it countless sparkles of stars that shone on the dark velvety space. Even the stars seemed to flinch as if they were angry for being disturbed before it was their time to show themselves to the eye of men. But as he looked up, he could see one single star that was shining far brighter than the others, and to that star, Ryoma pointed his finger to.
"That is where The Great Wizard dwells in his eternal life," Ryoma said.
Fuji could hardly avert his gaze from the magnificent sight before his eyes as he asked, "But how could we go there?"
He felt a soft nudge at his hand and he realized that Ryoma had took his hand in him.
"Take my hand," Ryoma said.
"And what shall we do afterward?" he asked.
Ryoma smiled. "We will fly."
They entwined their hands and suddenly Fuji felt his body and mind become light in an instant. Gravity took hold of their body no more as an alien sensation crept on his skin. He closed his eyes, enjoying the sensation that felt as if it would go endlessly, but unexpectedly it ended and with a little bit of fear, he opened his eyes.
He found them sanding on something that felt so soft until it almost seemed that there was nothing beneath their feet but the emptiness itself. All around them, the world seemed to be bathed in some mysterious silver mist. He could see in the faraway horizon two figures that looked like they were having some kind of conversation and as the mist gradually became clearer, his mind could process the whole vision better.
He could see that the two figures were a man clad in long black robe and a fairy with two sparkling transparent wings on her back. They looked at him and smiled before the fairy abruptly disappeared from his sight. The sudden leaving gave him quite a shock but he had no time for he suddenly realized that Ryoma had kneeled beside him. He turned his gaze back to the clad man in front of him and he knew in an instant that he was The Great Wizard and he too fell on his knee.
The man smiled to them and with his own hands, he helped them to stand. Fuji noticed how the wizard seemed to give the aura of gentleness from him and he felt secured in the time he finally stood on his own feet.
"Young Princes, welcome to my realm," the man said. "Dared you have to disturb my peaceful time but I have no right to blame you. Come, my child, I have known already what is the true intention before your visit and I shall fulfil your desire. Come, my child, and you shall hear whatever you want to hear and you shall know whatever you want to know."
And with that, The Great Wizard gathered them into his arms and was about to tell the greatest story ever told in the history of men. He was about to tell the story of the Great War and everything behind it. He was about to tell the story that based their journey. He was about to tell them everything, and soon, everything would be revealed for them.
– end chapter 8 –
(A/N : long delay again… we know (cry) really, new term is hell! We have tried our best, honest, but with those crazy lecturers and all… (cry more) summer holiday is supposed to be happy time, ne? but here we are, trapped in lots of works and when we finally finish them, summer holiday has ended and we are ready to enter new term, which means… more works to do (cry lots more) sometimes, life is just not fair! Help us a little, ne… you don't want us to commit suicide, do you! Of course you don't 'cause you love us so much, ne? so please show us your love with your reviews… if you hate us.. err… you can review us too… hell! Whatever you feel to us, JUST GIVE US SOME DAMNED REVIEWS WILL YA ! XD - you can tell right away that we're a bunch of psycho now… duh, never know before that college can turn some naïve girls like us into a bunch of psycho… XD)