I don't update often enough, I know...sorry!
Chapter 9
Northern Ruins - 600 A.D.
The companions entered the haunted ruined castle cautiously. The looked around for a while, then Marle's high-pitched voice sounded loud and angry.
«That swindler! He had repaired only parts of the floor! Look at those holes!»
It hadn't been easy to find someone to repair the castle. It had been inaccessible before, because of the large holes on the floor. But the local carpenter had lost his tools. For some mysterious reasons there were no other tools in the whole world in 600 A.D.
They had looked everywhere, hoping to find not only the tools but also a useful way to spend their money...During their adventures they had collected a lot of money, but now that they had the best equipment which could be bought and there were no new shops, the coins were only a dead-weight in their pouches. But, no...
It had been necessary to travel forward to 1000 A.D., borrow the tools from another drunken carpenter -who looked suspiciously alike to the one in Middle Ages- and bring them in the past.
«We can't go upstairs!» Marle was protesting «And he required to be paid in advance!»
«But we can go downstairs» Crono observed, calmly «That's an improvement»
He walked toward the stairs and everyone followed.
In the basement there was a large gravestone. Glenn ran toward it and kneeled down.
«Cyrus...» he whispered.
There was something written on the headstone.
Cyrus
the fool who challenged Magus
rests here
What a nice epitaph Crono thought, bewildered, and nervously eyed Magus. But the sorcerer's pale face betrayed no emotions at all.
«Cyrus, I hath returned» Glenn continued, in an almost inaudible voice «I shall honour my promise to thee!»
Lucca and Marle stepped away from him, half expecting the frogman to attack his old enemy.
But he didn't. Another strange thing happened instead.
A white, evanescent ghost appeared.
«Glenn... Thank you...for making the journey here» he said, without actually opening his mouth...well, the shadow of his mouth.
Marle bit her fingers as not to scream in terror. Although the knight was a friendly ghost, he emanated the most chilling cold breeze she had ever experienced, and his face was a mask of sorrow.
Glenn was quietly crying.
«Cyrus... Thou must...think ill of me»
Crono would have sworn to have seen Magus smirk at this point. But perhaps it was just the effect of the candlelight.
The ghost slowly shook his head.
«On the contrary! You have come far, my friend! When Magus defeated me, I thought of all those whom I have left behind. King Guardia, Queen Leene, and of course, you...Your skill and dedication is superior! I can rest now, knowing that everyone is in good hands. Good bye, my friend!»
Glenn hurriedly got onto his feet, a hand raised toward the spectre -who was slowly fading.
«Cyrus, wait! I...»
But Cyrus was gone, with a last recommendation.
«The Queen...Look after Queen Leene. Alas, and...farewell...G...le...n...n...»
Glenn slumped again on his knees, a heartwrenching wail escaped his lips.
«CYYYRUUUS!!!»
He fell with his face in the dirt and remained still.
There was a long embarrassed silence.
«Is not this the story in which one of the heroes die of a heart attack, right?» Lucca whispered to his comrades.
«Nope» Magus sighed.
***
Ozzie's Fort - 600 A.D.
Auree was exhausted. She had been standing and walking all the day, her back and legs ached. She softly knocked at her master's bedroom door, to ask him if she could retire.
She was allowed in immediately. Flea, sitting at the vanity, was untying his braid.
«You look pale, Auree» he said, before she could speak «Are you well?»
She nodded. Flea had loosened his hair, passing his tapering fingers through itAuree stared at him, mesmerised by his gesture. Flea was sitting on a high stool, nevertheless his hair -a rich, silky, purple-red hair- nearly touched the ground, his pointed ears -his sole non-human features- sticking out from it, adorned with many golden earrings.
Lost in thought, she barely noticed that her master was telling her something, with a brush in his hand. Probably he wanted Auree to take care of his hair. The servant moved as in a dream, took the brush and gingerly began to comb Flea's hair. It was the most pleasant thing she had ever touched.
«I want you to know, Auree, that I'm quite satisfied with you. You have been working for me for a month now, and I'm already wondering how I could have lived without your aid»
«Thank you, sir. I'm trying to do my best»
«What about your dreams, Auree?» Flea suddenly asked in a lower tone, looking at her reflection in the mirror.
«My...dreams?»
«Yes. I wonder what you should have done, who you should have been if...well, you won't believe me, but I'm feeling guilty for you being a slave and everything. I can't grant you freedom, but perhaps I could give you something else»
«I...don't know»
«What did you dream before getting captured? What kind of life did you want?»
Auree thought hard about it.
«Nothing...I wasn't dreaming, sir. Just surviving»
Flea looked puzzled.
«Not wanting anything is the surest way not to achieve a thing...» he warned her.
«True. I was unhappy, alone and useless. Now...everything has changed»
«Please don't tell me you are happier as a slave!»
«But it's true. Now I have a purpose»
«Which one? To serve me?»
«Yes, and I'm honoured»
Auree blushed. She had talked without thinking.
«How old are you?» Flea asked.
Auree hesitated.
«I'm afraid I'm older than you think...I'm almost thirty, sir»
The Mystic's eyes widened in surprise.
«You look no older than twenty-two...twenty-four perhaps»
Auree nodded, not particularly pleased by that. She seemed younger, yesbut not because she was pretty. She had never been pretty. When looking at her, everybody believed she was young becausethere was a strong aura of helplessness and vulnerability around her that people usually associated with youth. Actually, Auree wasn't so weak, but her appearance had always been deceiving. Once, her mother had described her with a really significant comparison.
You're a wet hen
«And I never had been a chambermaid before» she added with a sigh.
«So you lied to me, eh? No matter. I'm older than you, though. I use my magic to keep myself young. What should be the use of magic if you couldn't do this kind of things?»
«Oh...I've often wondered if your beauty comes from magic...»
«Oh no, not in that sense. I can change my appearance, but it's a very expensive spell...and lasts just for few hours. No, this is my real body and face! All you see comes from Nature's generosity...and a skilled use of cosmetics. Nothing artificial. How old do you think I am?»
«Don't know...perhaps about my age...or younger»
He lowered his voice to a whisper.
«I'm forty-three»
«Oh! Really? And...you can keep yourself young...forever?»
«Don't exaggerate...I can slow down my aging, that's all»
«By sucking other people's life force?»
«What?!»
«Sorry. Read it in a book»
«So you like reading! You have a hobby in your life!»
«Well, I used to read stupid stories about fantastic worlds, warriors and magicians...not to think about my reality, you know...»
«So you were dreaming»
«Yes, but...like a child could dream...about impossibilities. Not as an adult person should dream, working and making choices and so on»
«Why didn't you do that?»
«Fear. Idleness»
They looked at each other in the mirror.
«How sad» Flea sighed at last.
«Could I ask a thing, sir?»
«Yes»
«Are there many Mystics...with a nearly human appearance, like you? No offense...I didn't see any others»
«Well, we are not many. But there are others similar to humans, yes. A small clan. Mystic empire rules over various races. And...»
He seemed at first angry and then sad at this thought.
«Other races don't like us. They even say that...that we could be partially human, after all!»
«And it's possible?»
«Of course, everything is possible» he admitted, «When is you birthday?»
Auree blinked, surprised by this question.
«Oh...I will become thirty in about three weeks...the twenty-second of the month»
«I want to give you a present. What would you like?»
If she had been accustomed to speaking freely, Auree would have had a sarcastic tongue.
«A permanent leg hair remover» she burst out.
She couldn't have said if Flea was more puzzled by the nature of the request or by his servant's tone, but she feared to have offended him until the Mystic exploded in loud laughter.
«My God! Humans have hairy legs! I didn't know! Let me see!»
«NO! I mean...I shaved them, there's nothing to be seen»
«Well, I could really work on it, you know?»
Auree realized that she had stopped brushing Flea's hair and hurriedly resumed her task. But her master turned toward her.
Flea took slowly the brush from Auree's hand, and deliberately touched her fingers. The servant took a step away, while the Mystic left the stool and stood to face her. He placed a hand on her shoulder and the other one under Auree's chin, lifting her face gently. He smiled, his eyes twinkling.
Is he going to kiss me? she asked herself, Yes, probably...
He was approaching. She didn't know what to do.
No, it must be really a woman, no man could be so beautiful, no man can have a hair like this...she's making fun of me. For her private reasons, she pretends to be a male...perhaps Mystic society is so sexist that she had to do this in order to have career opportunities...or...she likes other women and tries to lure them...Wait! Luring women acting and dressing like a woman? It doesn't make sense. What kind of girl could be attracted by...oh, yes. Now I am the pervert, here.
All this reasoning took half a second. Auree was lost into the Mystic's brown eyes. Voices in her head were annoying, scolding her as if she were a little girl...
Do you really want to kiss another female? Do you really want to kiss a non-human creature? Do you really want to kiss an enemy of your people, one who has taken human as slaves and...?
She screamed in her mind and silenced any opposition.
She closed her eyes and prepared to enjoy the first real kiss of her life.
She enjoyed it immensely.