Possessed By a Memory: Chapter 9
Kitchel gulped. What was going on here? Here was Kaistern, who'd been overdue to come back for at least a week now, and Fedelta! What was Kaistern doing with Nadil's favorite fire yokai?
"Kaistern...? It's Thatz! For Deus' sake, what are you doing with that yokai?" Thatz exclaimed exasperatedly.
"Don't listen to them. They could be trying to trick you," Fedelta whispered in Kaistern's ear.
"Who are they?" Kaistern said, reaching a hand up to rub his head. It hurt, badly. Great, he'd probably have to fight these two humans with a migraine. But wait... how did they know his name? And the red haired knight was acting pretty familiar with him, as if he knew him. He looked up at Fedelta again, waiting for his answer. Fedelta ignored him.
"If you want him back, get him from me," he invited.
Kaistern stood up, "What?"
"Go to sleep," Fedelta drew his sword, whacking the blunt edge against the confused blue officer's head. He crumpled on the ground, his white hair dyed red by the blood spreading down the side of his head.
"You snake! So you were keeping Kaistern this whole time! What did you do to him?"
"And you better answer or else my knight will kick you butt and send you crying back to Shyrendora!" Kitchel backed Thatz up. He sweatdropped. "We did nothing too serious to him. He'd had a little fall from a very high place, and we rescued him. And if you want him back, then you better get past me," the purple haired yokai sneered.
Thatz growled. When he said he had business to take care of, he hadn't meant this! He rather wished he was Rath right now. Although that would mean that he would have never been able to sneak out of the castle. He was horrible at sneaking out. All those other times were just luck. Yup, what he needed were a thief's skills. A slight cough from Kitchel brought his attention back to earth in time to see Fedelta throwing his stupid fire columns out at Thatz. He dodged, and dove his sword deep into the ground.
"Earth!" he called, and soon a deep rumbling sound could be heard and light shot out of his sword. The light flew upward, then swiveled lightly to land on his master's shoulder. Thatz smirked slightly.
"Alright, we have some business to take care of with this nasty yokai, Earth," the little rock lizard chirped in reply and took off, transforming into his larger form.
Fedelta didn't look too worried though. How strange. Nonetheless, Thatz boarded his dragon and ordered it to attack Fedelta. The fire yokai grunted and tried to dodge, but he missed Earth's tail and was slammed into a tree.
"Well, I have no wish of getting squashed today, so I'm leaving," he said, getting up and disappearing into the wilderness. The thieves didn't notice the evil smile that crept over the yokai's face before he made his exit. They were too busy with Kaistern.
"Hey, buddy! Wake up, c'mon, you okay?" Kitchel shook the unconscious officer roughly.
"Um, hey Kitchel, take it easy on him, will ya?" Thatz held his hands out as if to stop Kitchel.
"Oh, sorry, hey, he's waking up," indeed, the blue officer was regaining consciousness, groaning as he sat up and rubbing his head before opening his eyes.
"What... Ah, it's you, Thatz, Kitchel!" he stood, pointing at them.
"Yeah, it's us, what did you expect, the Easter bunny and Santa Claus?" Thatz asked rather harshly. Instead of answering, Kaistern swayed roughly.
"Whoa there..." Thatz cried, diving to catch him. Kitchel peeked over his shoulder at Kaistern's face. It looked normal, if a bit pale, but his head was still bleeding.
"Let's get back, there's something very wrong here," she said urgently.
"Thanks for stating the obvious," but he hoisted the albino's limp frame onto his shoulder and they started off as quickly as possible. As they got through the castle gates, Kitchel stopped, one hand covering her mouth.
"What?"
Kitchel looked at Thatz, "I left the stuff Cernozura wanted me to get."
Thatz sweatdropped. Walking into the castle, they headed towards Kaistern's room. Kitchel ran to the infirmary, to tell Cernozura to get things ready. Suddenly, he heard a pair of footsteps running towards them. "Thatz! Were did you find him?"
"Is he okay? Please tell me he's okay."
Thatz stood off, slightly stunned by Alfeegi and Ruwalk's pummeling questions.
"How did you know?"
"We saw you come in from the top of the tower," Ruwalk answered, helping Thatz by taking one or Kaistern's arm and wrapping it around him. "Wait... is that why you've been up there all this time?"
Ruwalk dropped his eyes to the ground, and Alfeegi opened the door to the blue officer's room, and they deposited him on his bed.
"What happened to his head?" Alfeegi asked.
"It was Fedelta..."
"It's fresh..." Ruwalk muttered. Suddenly, he began to unbutton Kaistern's shirt.
"Eek! What are you doing?" Kitchel squealed, just coming in.
"I'm checking to see that Nadil's idiotic minions didn't do anything to him. Do you really expect him to return perfectly unharmed from an encounter with Nadil's army?" But to their surprise, Kaistern appeared completely unharmed, except for the fact that his right arm was broken and he had several cuts on his back. But they appeared old. A couple weeks old. As in, right after his last letter old. Obviously, there hadn't been any after-imprisonment torture, as was expected. This fact, for some reason, only made Alfeegi more unsettled instead of relieved, unlike Ruwalk.
Lykouleon came in at that moment, followed by Raseleane and Cernozura. He immediately uttered a relived sigh and stepped forward. Cernozura immediately bent over Kaistern, proceeding to bandage his head. "Who found him?" the Lord asked.
"I did, sir."
Lykouleon smiled, "Thank you. I would like to know what happened." Ruwalk spoke up, "Actually, I'm sorry, Lykouleon, but there's something Alfeegi and I have been keeping from you for a while..."
Lykouleon nodded, as if aware of this fact, and bid them to go on.
"Well... about a week ago, I went into Kaistern's room, and I found a note. It said 'Your precious Kaistern will be coming to you shortly' and well, considering how long it was taking Kaistern to get back, I asked Delte about it. She said that he'd been captured by Nadil's army and-"
"Nadil's army?" the other various occupants in the room gasped. Lykouleon nodded.
"Yes, Delte actually came and told me that herself. You should have told me," Lykouleon's hurt tone made Ruwalk and Alfeegi both cringe.
"I'm sorry my lord. We should have told you, but there was nothing we could do, and we didn't want to trouble you unnecessarily, and with Rune..." Alfeegi broke off, "Where's Rath?"
Everyone scratched their heads for a second. Usually, he was the first one to realize that Kaistern was back.
"He's probably in Rune's room. I'll go get him," Kitchel said. She must really like running, Thatz thought. Always running errands and getting people.
Lykouleon bent down in front of Kaistern, looking at his pale skin and tired face.
"How did you find him?" he asked gravely.
"Well, I was down at the bar-"
"THATZ!"
"Not now, Alfeegi," Lykouleon would have smiled at any other moment, but for some reason his tone was very stern and concerned, and Alfeegi's mouth zipped closed like a lightning bolt had struck him. Thatz wondered if Lykouleon knew something they didn't, "And?" he prompted the knight to continue.
"Well, Master, the bartender, told me that Kaistern had been spotted wandering Draqueen. So I went out to look for him and bumped into Kitchel, and finally, we found a lady who'd seen Kaistern go out of the city. So we went out and found Kaistern, and he was with Fedelta, and he appeared not to recognize me-"
"Cause you keep dying you hair from pink to green." Alfeegi noted. "Um, right."
"You said he didn't recognize you? And he was with Fedelta?" Lykouleon said. Cernozura finished wrapping Kaistern's head and stood.
"Well, I will be going now, and if someone would inform me when he wakes, then we can give him any further treatment necessary," she said quietly and left the room. Alfeegi nodded to her.
"As I was saying, I fought Fedelta, he was a piece of cake, and then we brought Kaistern back," Thatz finished, "I think he's fine, except for the fact that he was a little dazed."
"He didn't recognize you! Nadil's army is trying to turn Kaistern against us and erased his memory!" Alfeegi, always paranoid, was the first to come up with the frightening idea. Sudden silence and stares were met with his notion.
"Alfeegi... Don't say anymore..." Ruwalk whispered. Lykouleon closed his eyes and clasped his hands, resting his chin on them, head down.
"I don't think that's what happened," Thatz put in quickly, "Fedelta did mention something about Kaistern falling from a high place, and them rescuing him. Maybe he lost his memory that way?"
"And would they not take advantage of that? And if not, does Nadil's army rescuing a Dragon Officer sound plausible?" They had to mull over that for a moment. Yes, that didn't sound credible. Nadil's army would normally give anything to get rid of one of the Dragon Tribe. The fact that they had spared Kaistern was strange, and that they had let him come all the way back to Draqueen. And something about Thatz story seemed wrong. No doubt he was telling the truth, but there was something wrong with the whole picture. Why would Kaistern wander around Draqueen instead of heading immediately to the Dragon Castle? And usually, any encounters with Fedelta ended in some bloodshed, but Thatz was completely unharmed... Almost as if Fedelta had wanted Thatz to get Kaistern back, but had to make it look natural or else it'd be suspicious. All these questions churned in Lykouleon's mind, as well as the other two officers.
"Um... I'm going to leave and check on Rune." Thatz said, sensing that whatever happened next, Lykouleon would want to talk privately with his officers. Raseleane also left, kissing her husband before doing so.
"Alfeegi, call Tetheus, tell him to meet me in my office."
"Yes, sire," Alfeegi left the room quickly.
"Why not in here?" Ruwalk asked.
Suddenly, a figure bolted through the door and hesitated for a second before kneeling by the bed, anxiously feeling the albino's cold, clammy face.
"What happened to Kaistern?" Rath demanded.
"That's why," Lykouleon almost smiled. Instead he turned to Rath, "Thatz found him outside Draqueen. He seems to be fine except for a couple cuts and a broken arm... I want you to be careful and keep an eye on him, Rath Illuser," he added.
Rath shuddered almost imperceptibly. A mixture of the sound of his last name and Lykouleon's stern tone and mysterious order. Lykouleon and Ruwalk stood up and left the room, leaving the fire knight to contemplate on his long awaited friend's return.
"You highness, we await your orders," Alfeegi said, as a way of rousing Lykouleon from his stupor.
"Yes...Indeed, I fear we have something important to discuss, but I feel that we need Kaistern to supply us with the information we so desperately need," Lykouleon looked steadfastly at his officers. Only three. There should be five. But that was not possible at the moment.
"My lord, I've had some suspicious as to... as to Rune and Kaistern." "Alfeegi?"
"Um... um, I think that something is wrong with Rune. But I'm afraid that it's worse than it seems..."
"What do you mean?" Tetheus was all business now, his red eyes sparkling dangerously at the mention of a possible danger.
"I mean... My lord..." the poor white officer had no idea how to continue. Ruwalk did not wish to supply any information, and besides, he knew so little of what Alfeegi was trying to say, that it wouldn't help.
There was a knock at the door, saving Alfeegi from having to state his horrendous idea. A small, timid figure entered.
"Um, my lord, Cernozura sent me to tell you that dinner is served and that queen Raseleane wants you all to come."
"Thank you Zoma," a kind smile accompanied the lord's words. The little yokai hybrid nodded and closed the door. The lord sighed, "Let's go and have dinner."
"Saved by the dinner triangle!" Ruwalk said, vainly trying to act cheerful.
"Ruwalk..." Alfeegi chided quietly.
It seemed like Raseleane had wanted EVERYONE at the dinner table. Usually there were only a couple people missing, officers busy with their work, the lord and the queen busy with work, the knights in a journey, or some of them who had eaten earlier. But today, everyone was present. Thatz and Kitchel had even helped Rune come, since the little elf had insisted, saying he had no wish to eat alone. Though tired, the walk outside with Rath had done him good. His skin had lost some of his pallor and he seemed more cheerful.
Actually, there was one person missing. Kaistern. Obviously, he hadn't woken up yet, and it had taken a lot of convincing from Cesia to part Rath from his bedside. The long table was set, Lykouleon at one end, on his right Raseleane, on his left Ruwalk. Ruwalk with Alfeegi, then Tetheus, Zoma, and Delte. On the other side, Cesia next to Raseleane, then Rath, Rune, Thatz, and Kitchel. Despite all their troubles, for the most part they enjoyed themselves. Ruwalk made fun of Lykouleon, who was being hand- fed by his wife, and then Alfeegi did the same to him, so he stopped making fun of Lykouleon. When Alfeegi stopped, he proceeded to chide Thatz for wolfing down such large amounts of food so rudely. Kitchel tried to pour olive oil in Thatz juice and Zoma helped too. Rath suggested a card game and they used Delte's cards to play. Tetheus spilled a glass of wine on himself thanks, largely, to Zoma, who apologized as everyone else laughed. Ruwalk made a couple jokes which no one found funny except Thatz and Kitchel, who fought over the last piece of cake. Cesia began to name all of Rath's faults to Kitchel, as they tried to compare Thatz to Rath, and Rune almost got a haircut when Rath tried to do some fancy knife maneuvering. Then Ruwalk noticed that every time Tetheus' elbow was poked, his cheek would twitch. So, soon everyone, even Alfeegi and Raseleane, wanted to take a turn poking the black dragon officer until, with very large sweatdrops on his head, he muttered that anymore poking and he'd get an epilepsy.
Soon, dinner was done, and desert too. Rune was looking very drowsy, so Rath and Thatz walked him to his room, while Kitchel and Cesia walked into the garden, going to talk a bit. Delte followed them at a discreet pace, wanting some company, but not caring to join in their conversation. Tetheus began his nightly patrol along the castle grounds and Alfeegi pulled Ruwalk into the long abandoned study, claiming he wanted to get his work done in a quiet place. Lykouleon watched them go with a raised eyebrow until Raseleane said she had similar intentions, and whether he was willing or not (She said she'd make him become willing) she dragged him into their private quarters. Zoma went to play; there were other children around. They were just the children of the attendants and drudges of the castle, but he didn't care of course.
Rath left Rune and Thatz in the elf's room. It had been hard faking cheerfulness during dinner. He'd felt relived maybe, to see everyone happy in these circumstances, but it'd also made him angry. How could they be happy when Kaistern was unconscious and Rune was getting sick? Indeed Rune was getting worse. Though the elf may look healthier, Rath could feel his energy slipping slowly, fading. He hadn't talked to Rune again about the necklace. Why was Rath getting such a strange sensation from it?
Walking slowly, he headed once again to Kaistern's room. He hoped the albino officer was awake. He felt uneasy about Kaistern's long absence and strange return. Thatz had told him about it, and the red haired knight did not find it at all pleasing.
Walking in, he closed the door quietly behind him and sat at the foot of Kaistern's bed. Ever since little, Rath had had some unexplainable attraction to Kaistern. Maybe because he was the only one who bothered to treat him like an adult when he was a kid, and now, because he knew all his secrets. Unfortunately, Kaistern thought that Rath's seeming affection was faked. At first it was, Rath had promised Kaistern he'd tell him everything, even pretend to like him. And that was what he continued to believe, true as it may not be anymore. Rath no longer pretended his affections, and he no longer confided out of duty for that promise.
His hands trembled as he leaned over and touched Kaistern's cold face. He loved Cesia, she was themost important person in his life, and nothing he did couldchange that.But he knew also that he loved the blue officer as well, he had, after all,been the one closest to him throughout the centuries of hislife,but it made him feel like he was two-timing her.Getting up quickly, he left the room, confusion swarming him.
... Hm... i took out some Rath/kaistern stuff I'd had in there, wondering what the heck I was on when I wrote that... eeek...