I can't say that I'll finish "When Demons Return" anytime soon, but I've been having Skies of Arcadia day dreams. I mean that quite literally. I have perfected the skill of sleeping with my eyes open. Managed to think of an entirely new plot. But for now, I need to finish this story. So here it comes, the long awaited epilogue of Gigas!
(I don't own this game. Well, I own a copy, but not the title)
-
"In all my years, I have even heard of something like this happening," Brabham said, pulling on his beard.
"How is this even possible?" Marco asked, sticking tight to Polly's skirts. The cook nodded, looking at Illchymis with the same question written on her face.
The scholar fixed his glasses and cleared his throat. 'This is why I didn't want to leave my home,' he thought to himself. He wasn't too good with crowds, and this one was no exception, even though he knew every person in this crowd well. "It started that time they disappeared for that amount of time. The story they gave us wasn't exactly legitimate. Instead of chasing a bounty like they told us, they were kidnapped by a Silvite colony that was stationed a bit north of Yafutoma. A man by the name of Nylas injected some extract of Zelos into Vyse's blood." He turned to Belle, who handed him the vial. "This basically meant that Vyse was under Nylas's power, but my suspicion is that Vyse had some control over himself. He gave me this," he held up the vial of blood for all to see, "and when I examined it, I discovered the mixture in his blood." Illchymis lowered the vial, looking at it. "The technology behind this is amazing," he muttered to himself.
"I don't care what you say, its still a pretty dastardly thing he did." Merida said, putting her hands on her hips.
Pinta sighed. "You can't blame him though. Not like he had a choice."
"I agree with the girl," Ryu-kan barked roughly. "He did not show honorable behavior."
Illchymis put his hands up, trying to appease the mass that was growing angrier by the second. "Please, everybody, you have to understand. This isn't a matter of right or wrong. Yes, he did put several of our friends in danger, yes, he kept secrets from us, however..." He looked down at the ground. "The effects of what that man did are long lasting. Everyone here remembers the battle against the silver gigas. That thing had power beyond comprehension. By chance we caught it when it was at its weakest phase. There is no weak phase in Vyse. We now have a captain that is pretty much invincible." The scholar looked back up at his crewmates. "But we also have a captain who is vulnerable to anyone who finds out about this. An incident like the one we just had could easily happen if a person came along with the right tool, with possibly more devasting results. Vyse is a dangerous weapon. So we all need to keep this to ourselves. Never breathe a word of this to anyone. Not even amongst yourselves. You never know who could be listening."
-
The said dangerous weapon was currently in bed, looking out the window. The whole excursion had left him weak and tired. For three days he had been in bed; he had only been awake for the last one. He had recovered enough strength to sit up and even to have conversation, but it was generally interrupted by a spell of dizziness in which he had to lay back down and go to sleep. But it wasn't a restful sleep. In the dreams he had he was drifting in a sea of nothingness. He couldn't move, he can't speak, but he could hear, and what he heard were the voices of many inner demons. Most were minor, but there was a big one, a voice that would not let him be. When Vyse woke up, he couldn't remember the things the voice had said, but he knew by the feeling of dread inside of him that its statements weren't compliments.
The door opened, but Vyse didn't look from the window. Fina and Aika looked at each other. The first time the girls had come in to visit him Vyse had looked at them for the briefest of seconds before looking away. Now he didn't want to look at them at all. Fina went over and sat on the edge of his bed. "Vyse, we brought food for you. You need to eat and regain your strength."
"No thank you," was the quiet reply. Aika set the broth on the floor and stayed by the door. She wasn't like Fina, who forgave and forgot any offense committed against her. Aika couldn't decide whether or not to forgive Vyse, and she felt that she was justified in being indecisive. She had given her virginity to a man who had used her love against her. Sure, he had saved her in the end, but that didn't justify him playing her emotions, even if he was just following orders. She wanted to go and hold him, to comfort him and tell him everything would be okay, but she wanted to hate him all at the same time.
Fina took Vyse's hand in both of hers. The contact made him flinch and look at her. She caught his eyes and didn't let go. "Its okay, Vyse," she whispered. "I'm a Silvite, I understand how the gigas work. And I know how you work. You can't help but feel satisfied that a job has gone well. I know you were acting on orders when you tied me up in the sewers, but I also know that you weren't following orders when you let me escape. Don't beat yourself up about that. But Aika was hurt deeper than I was. You should let her know that what happened between you two was not a lie."
Not for the first time Vyse was in awe of this girl. For someone so naive to the ways of the world she could show so much wisdowm and understanding. He squeezed her hand in thanks, almost moved to tears. Fina smiled sweetly at him then stood from the bed. She walked past Aika and closed the door silently despite the redhead's frantic looks. She then prepared to stand guard, making sure no one got in or came out.
Aika was now trapped in a room with the man she was having internal conflicts about. 'Stupid Fina,' she thought, turning around to face the door. She didn't want to have to meet look at him. She was close to tears and she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of watching her cry. The presence of arms around her waist made her gasp. Vyse pulled her close to his chest affectionately. He was dizzy and panting from the effort of getting up and traveling across the room to do this but he needed to touch her. Otherwise, she wouldn't take his words to heart. "I'm sorry Aika," he whispered in her ear. "That moment we shared was real. Please don't think it was just an order. I really do love you. If I had been given an option, I would still have done it, because I love you more than anything else in the world. More than life itself." He ended by kissing her neck, closing his eyes to stop the room from spinning.
Her composure broke with that kiss and tears began to flow freely. She wanted to bury herself into his chestbut instead she slowly escorted him back to his bed.He looked up at her hopefully, anxiously. Was she ready to forgive him? The redhead brushed away her tears and gave him a cheery smile. "You need to eat something Vyse. I can't let you steer the Gypsy the way you are now." She brought the tray over to him, sitting on his bed. He smiled lovingly at her and allowed her to feed him the soup, occassionaly grabbing her hand and kissing it to show just how much he loved her.
(a few days later)
"Where to captain?"
Vyse looked at the map, studying it deeply. "Domingo told me of a fleet of ghost ships in the Lands of Ice. From what I gather they've got a hefty price on their heads, haven't they?"
Marco's jaw dropped. "But captain, its a whole fleet. Do you really mean to take on all of them at once?"
He smirked, cracking the knuckles in his fists. "I sure do."
Aika frowned, crossing her arms. "Vyse, thats a big risk you're taking. You're practically leading us into defeat."
He wrapped his arm around her waist with a chuckle. "Relax," he said. "We've got me. Weigh the anchor! We're setting sail everybody!"
-End
Woooooooooo. I did that whole thing in the span of one night. I was basically thinking of that off the top of my head because I forgot my original epilogue. Thanks for sticking with me so long you guys. I know this took forever but hopefully it was worth it. Stay tuned for the sequel, for which I am still researching for (since I haven't played the game in who knows how long). Thank you all! Nahemah signing out!