Possessed by a Memory: Chapter 6
"Oh c'mon Rath! Rune's okay, let's go and relax, enjoy ourselves. I finally get to dance with you!" said Cesia, trying to cheer the sullen Rath up.
"All right..." he sighed, looking back one more time at Rune's closed door. They walked together to the ballroom, Cesia leaning her head on Rath's shoulder and taking his arm. Ruwalk already had a drink on hand, crowding around Tetheus while Alfeegi poured Lykouleon and Raseleane and himself a drink, his long, aquamarine hair swirling around him.
"And another year to our Tetheus!" Rath heard Ruwalk tease Tetheus. Tetheus cleared his throat and sipped his wine, giving Ruwalk a raised eyebrow. Kitchel bounded up to him.
"You become expressive at parties at least," she said. He looked at her and sipped his wine again, "Or not..." she sweatdropped. She left him and strangled Thatz into dancing.
"I'm not good at dancing!"
"Neither am I, but do you at least know that dance the bartender's daughter was dancing?"
"Um, yeah, but is that appropriate for a castle..." he said nervously.
"Who cares?"
"Alfeegi!"
"Oh, oh well..." she said taking him anyway. So they both danced their own versions of what looked like a waltz and a foxtrot, cracking everyone up. Lykouleon took Raseleane and led her to the center of the room too, and they began to dance. Cesia took the opportunity and dragged Rath out to the middle. Ruwalk said something about their resident couples dancing together.
"Aw c'mon, do I have to?" Rath said.
"Please?" she pouted. He smiled.
"Ah heck, why not?"
"Thank you!" they walked together and he took her hands kissed her lips gently, then leaned back and they danced.
"I'm not gonna be beaten," Ruwalk said suddenly, "I need a partner," he took the only available candidate.
"But I don't dance well!"
"I don't care, they can focus on me."
"But we're both guys!"
"Don't worry 'Feegi, they won't care," Ruwalk smiled deviously. Alfeegi was blushing and he stood around stupidly until Ruwalk pushed him into dancing.
"Well, I could care..."
"But you don't do you?" said the black-haired and orange-tipped secretary. Alfeegi laughed, knowing he was beaten, and Ruwalk looked at him, surprised at the sudden laughter. He didn't touch Alfeegi more than necessary the whole dance nonetheless. At which they might have been both a bit disappointed...
Cesia looked at the crimson haired knight surprised, "You know how to dance really well!"
"They made me learn..." he said with a wry look at the dancing queen ('You are the dancing queen' song? no pun intended). She caught his eye and smiled. Cesia laughed at the hint in his voice.
"Guess you weren't too happy about them forcing you to learn to dance," she said.
"Yeah, I would have much rather been out hunting demons or playing a trick on someone."
"Same as now. You haven't changed at all."
"That's true... maybe," he smiled, "Hey where's Delte?"
"I don't know, I think she went out of the castle, something about a friend asking to fortune tell for him..."
"What are they doing?" Alfeegi said, flabbergasted. They all turned to look at Thatz and Kitchel, who were back to back, doing what we would call normal dancing. (at a night club at least).
"She looks like she's dancing the Macarena or something..." sweatdropped Cesia and the queen.
"Looks dangerous, and much more fun!" said Rath excitedly. Kitchel popped to the ground, swaying her arms to and fro.
"You need better music," she said, "cause this is lame..."
Thatz nodded, dancing like her, but not as outrageously. They were back to back, dancing, and Kitchel would turn every once in a while and swing Thatz around, and he'd then pull her to him, and so it went. Finally they stopped, walking to the food tables, or more like Thatz ran to the tables and Kitchel followed.
"I'm starved!"
"Leave some for everyone else..." Kitchel sweatdropped as she watched the food begin to disappear before her eyes.
"Fine..." he managed to say with a mouthful of food in his mouth.
"Nasty!"
"Sorry," he said, making sure to swallow first this time.
"Looks like everyone's getting nicely drunk..."
"Yeah, even the Lord and the Queen look like their getting to their tolerance level," he chuckled.
"Tetheus is too!" Kitchel laughed. Cernozura had sidled up to him and was now making small talk to a bewildered looking black dragon officer.
"Wow, do you think she's got something for him?" asked Thatz incredulous.
"Nah, she does this all the time, she loves making small talk to him when he's kinda drunk. She says it really makes up for his silence what he answers and how he acts. He knows it too," said Rath as-a-matter-of-factly. Thatz jumped nearly a mile at his intrusion, while Cesia and Kitchel giggled.
"It's funny to watch him though!" said Kitchel as she saw the black dragon officer scratch his head thoughtfully while he sweatdropped. Cernozura laughed and nudged him, and he hiccupped in response. Cesia turned to Rath.
"What are you doing to Fire?" she cried.
"He's thirsty!" said Rath, blinking his big innocent red eyes at her.
"So you're giving him wine?" she asked.
"He likes it," he protested.
"I think you're drunk..." she said. Fire suddenly conked out, holding up a small sign; THE WINE YOU GAVE ME WAS A LITTEL STRONG...
"Hehehe," was all Rath said.
"Your dragon needs spelling lessons," Thatz pointed out. Kitchel nodded.
"I think we're all drunk," Cesia rephrased. Thatz and Kitchel nodded enthusiastically. Lykouleon came up.
"I heard Rune has Alfeegi's cold," he inquired.
"Stop blaming it on me!" Alfeegi said from his own conversation.
"Jeez, Alfeegi has ears everywhere..." Rath said, avoiding the subject.
"I heard that too!"
"Told you..." Rath responded.
"He's okay, but yeah, he's sleeping right now," said Thatz to Lykouleon. He nodded.
"I'll come by to see him when he's awake," he smiled and after a little while he went back to Raseleane's side.
"It's so fun when everyone's here!"
"Except Rune, and Kaistern..." said Rath. Ruwalk nearby seemed to visibly tense and sputtered on his sentence. Lykouleon looked at him funny, and Alfeegi opened his mouth.
"Ruwalk, what is up with you and Kaistern? Usually it's only Rath who's on his case like that! We mention Kaistern and you immediately tense as if you're hiding something!" he demanded, and suddenly his eyes widened, "Oh... you're not... with Kaistern?"
"NO! It's nothing like that! I have NO personal relationship with him! I've just been worried. Lykouleon! It's not like that! Stop laughing! Not you too Lady Raseleane? Aagh! NOOO!" he cried. Lykouleon had to hold on to a table to steady himself and Raseleane was trying her hardest to conceal her laughter behind a fan. Alfeegi was looking dumbfounded and confused, if not a bit crushed. Even Tetheus had turned around to hide his face, making every one curious about what he looked like laughing.
"Ooh, so we have a little curved guy here. Does Kaistern know about your feelings?" teased Thatz, shaking with laughter. Ruwalk looked beat, a pout adorning his face. That just made everyone laugh harder. Only Rath and Alfeegi were straight faced.
"I already said it's not like that, so ha! I was just worried about him! After all he's missing the party!" said Ruwalk, but now even he was laughing. Making fun of himself, he began to make a skit, envisioning himself telling Kaistern about his 'feelings'.
"Oh Kaistern, I've been hiding behind Alfeegi's big head for too long, hiding my feelings while he screamed at all of us. I really need to tell you my true feelings towards my little albino!" he said dramatically, bending on one knee. Lykouleon laughed harder.
"It's not that funny!" Alfeegi muttered, but no one heard him.
Ruwalk then stood up, "I just want to tell you, Kaistern, that I want you to be mine!"
"No! Kaistern's mine!" Rath screamed suddenly, "He's not yours!"
"Rath?" inquired Cesia uncertainly through the sudden silence. Alfeegi looked relieved. Rath glared and then turned around furiously and stomped off. Everyone stared after his running figure in shock, and not without a hint of worry.
"What was that all about? I was just joking..." said Ruwalk distressed with himself. Cesia ran out to see if she could find him. But as she ran through the dark halls, she realized she didn't know where he could have gone to in the extensive castle and even more extensive castle grounds. She returned, a tear slipping from her eye in her distress. Kitchel let go of Thatz and walked to her. "It's okay, I guess Rath is a little more, um, possessive of Kaistern than we thought," she tried to comfort Cesia.
"Rath sometimes gets a bit cranky when he's away for too long, like now, plus he's drunk," Thatz said coolly.
"We'll get him in the morning, I'm sure you're right Thatz," sighed Lykouleon. Raseleane nodded, a slight frown on her face. Lykouleon turned to Cernozura, "I guess it's getting late and we should go to bed anyway."
Cernozura nodded and maids began to come out and clean the tables. Ruwalk looked around.
"Where's 'Feegi?" the Secretary of State asked. Everyone looked around and behind them, as if expecting him to be there.
"I guess he decided to call it a night," said Lykouleon finally.
"I am too..." said Ruwalk, but he helped out the maids clean up nonetheless. Raseleane bid everyone a goodnight.
"Let's all go to sleep now, we can clean up in the morning," she said, and she and the Lord went off to their quarters. Cernozura and the maids took off to the maids' area, Cesia left to her room, whishing fervently that Rath hadn't taken off, she so wished to have given him a sweet goodnight kiss.
"Are you going to walk me to my room?" asked Kitchel shamelessly. Thatz sighed.
"What does it take to get some peace and quiet around here?" but he smiled and took Kitchel, kissing her forehead, and waving off to Ruwalk. Then they walked off, Kitchel's head resting peacefully on the green haired knight's shoulder.
"You were the one who started this whole thing anyway..." she mumbled in his ear, talking about their relationship.
"Fine then, you win..."
"Goodnight..." she kissed him, holding him closer to her, wrapping her arms around his head, pulling him deeper into her kiss. He relaxed in her grip and returned the kiss with renewed fervor.
Finally, even Tetheus left, and Ruwalk was left standing alone in the huge room. He sat back, finding the now-dark chandeliers that hung above the now- empty room depressing.
"Well, it was great forgetting it all for one night at least..." he said, heaving a sigh as he got up. Walking along the dark halls, he made his way up once again to the tall tower facing the castle gates. Suddenly, he bumped into one of the few people he'd ever thought to find there.
"Alfeegi! What are you doing up here?"
"I could ask the same question..." Alfeegi said, his face half in the dark of the tower, half illuminated in an eerie glow from the moonlight.
"Uhuh, except that isn't it way past this Chief Secretary's bedtime?" he joked.
"Why do you come up here?" the aquamarine haired secretary asked the one question Ruwalk did not want to have to answer.
"Um, I just like the sight... Hey, why did you leave the party so soon if you weren't going to sleep? It was a great party," Ruwalk changed the subject.
Alfeegi looked at the man before him. He looked at him carefully, and spoke, "Ruwalk... Do you really have any feelings for Kaistern?"
Ruwalk looked at him preposterously, "Of course not! That was just a joke!" he said. He sounded serious enough to him.
"But then, what's wrong? Do you know something about Kaistern that we should know?" he asked carefully and sincerely. He'd noticed Ruwalk acting strangely lately, jumpy, spending all his time up in this tower, looking out towards the gate.
"Alfeegi..." Ruwalk seemed to crumble in front of him, "Look, I'm sorry! I didn't tell anyone because there's nothing you could do, and I didn't want to worry you! I'm really sorry..." Ruwalk sat down, his hands buried in his hair, head hanging in between both hands.
"Tell us what?" Alfeegi said gently, wrapping his arms around the visibly distressed and patting his back in an awkward motion. How he longed to do more... but he pushed aside his selfish thoughts and concentrated on the scenario before him. He prepared for anything.
"Demons, from Nadil's army, they got a hold of Kaistern! They've been holding him captive! They left a note in his room, they've let him go, but... but can you imagine what they've done to him?"
"Does... that mean he's coming back at least...?" Alfeegi asked. This wasn't what he was preparing for. Kaistern? Captured by demons from Nadil's army? That wasn't good. And then he realized, like Ruwalk must have, that there was nothing they could do about it. Nothing at all. Kaistern would be stuck in that hell for as long as they wanted to keep him. Luckily, that hadn't been long, but while Kaistern was coming back... there was no way that he'd be the same after the mauling they definitely had inflicted on him. They couldn't rescue him, and they couldn't go look for him, having no idea where he would be coming from, all they could do was wait for him to come...
"Yes..." Ruwalk was obviously very distressed. Alfeegi sank down in the nearest chair, limp suddenly. He looked at Ruwalk again.
"So that was why you were up here... You were looking out to see if you could spot him as he came home..." he said. Ruwalk nodded slowly. He didn't know why, but he was shaken. He'd been captured by demons before... years ago... He still had nightmares. And to think someone else was going through the same was... horrible.
Ruwalk looked at him, forgetting his own worries. Alfeegi looked pale, and his hand was shaking ever so slightly above his lap, "Are you all-right? Don't... worry, he'll come back soon," but to his horror, Alfeegi began to cry, his body shaking faintly, "Hey, don't cry..." What was he supposed to do? He wasn't too good at comforting... He never had the right thing to say, all he could say was mumble silly things.
"It's not Kaistern anymore!" Alfeegi muttered in between a soft sob. He sat there, tears running down his face, his face composed, hands shaking slightly on his lap, and Ruwalk felt something tug at him. So he did the only thing he could think of. He wrapped his arms around Alfeegi, trying to comfort him.
"Well, then what's wrong?" he whispered comfortingly. Alfeegi shook his head.
"Nothing..."
Ruwalk reluctantly pulled away, looking into Alfeegi's eyes as he did. He saw their softness, their sadness, and looked at a different Alfeegi than the one who stormed the halls looking for the perpetrators of a work schedule and correctly signed forms. He saw someone who needed to be reminded that he was loved, and that love was not work. Impulsively, he kissed Alfeegi; in his kiss proposing to be the one to remind him that there was more he could give in life besides an earful. The dark haired secretary savored in the sweetness of the lips against his, feeling for the first time, content. He felt Alfeegi'd body tense under his, and was about to pull away, but before he had a chance to break the kiss, Alfeegi pulled him back, twisting him onto a more comfortable position, prolonging the kiss until they both thought they'd faint for lack of air. But they were in their own world, where the only thing that mattered was each other, and they could forget all their troubles and the danger that approached from all corners. Finally, they had to pull away from that world.
"'Feegi, where did you learn to kiss like that?" Ruwalk had to grin.
"Didn't think I was capable did you?" he bit back, acting defiant, his eyes taking a new gentleness as he looked on at Ruwalk. Ruwalk smiled, and Alfeegi couldn't help but smile in response.
"Do you want to forget again...?" He offered, holding out his arms. Alfeegi sank in place next to him, and they forgot their troubles for the second time the rest of the night.
Well, the stpry starts riling up in the ... next couple chapters and things are gonna get serious, so stay in tune! MWUAHAHAH! Yes, they will start getting better and better. I know this chapter was rather sad and fluffy. But whatever. Yes there may be something between KaiXRath.