Disclaimer: I don't own Baten Kaitos. Understood? It had better be...

Chapter VIII: It Might Have Been

The blue haired man felt someone grab him roughly by the cape collar and drag him up gruffly. He staggered and had to lean against the wall when his balance proved to be faulty, a spike of pain flaring up in his injured left leg. "For the love of the gods," said whomever it was that had come in. He tugged hard at the blue haired man's collar again, and he was forced to follow, lacking the strength or the will to resist. The blue haired man was half-led, half-dragged along a hallway of some sort. Steel pipes ran along the walls and ceiling, and occasionally he would pass someone else in the hallway, each walking with a purpose. He tried to crane his neck to get a better look at the people as they passed by, but his captor would just tug at him hard whenever he tired. Eventually he gave up, why bother to try when he cannot? It took him a minute to realize what the humming sound he was hearing really was. It was a constant, and had almost faded from conscious thought before he identified it. It's an engine, he thought, I'm in an airship. But where's the airship? Is it going somewhere? He tired to get a better look at his captor, looking for some kind of clue. But at the angle he was being dragged, and his captors determination to get to his destination as fast made it impossible to make out anything clearly. He wore some kind of black uniform, which was all the blue haired man could make out.

His captor eventually came to a door. His captor opened it with one hand, making sure to keep a tight grip on his prisoner. As soon as the door was open, he threw the blue haired man inside. He fell with a cry of pain on his injured leg. He crumpled up on the floor, momentarily stunned by the burning pain in his leg. He tried to get his bearings as he heard the door behind him close with a slam. He heard a laugh, a sharp laugh that he knew, coming from somewhere in the room that he had been thrown in. It became very clear to the blue haired man then that whoever was in this room with him was not going to be a friend to him…

"…You still follow me Takei?"

"Uh…"

"At all?"

"Um… kinda."

Allyr was driving a very confused Takei home. She tried to explain what had happened to her while she was in a coma (She was careful to omit psycho-Kalas from her story, otherwise things would become very complicated very fast.), what had happened in the park days ago, and what this all had to do with what Takei had just witnessed and experienced. Takei felt that if he had not seen the monster, he would have probably though that Allyr was nuts.

Well, he still thought she might still be nuts; this certainly was not normal behavior to be sure. But not as bad as he might have thought before seeing that monster. Now he figured that either:

A, He was the victim of some really bad, really elaborate joke.

B, This was the result of mass hysteria/hallucinations/general insanity. Or finally

C, This might really have some basis in fact, and there just was no real way to prove that, other than the corpse of the monster thing that had captured him. The big thing that kept him from believing this one hundred percent, was that he could not hear Allyr's Guardian, Kalas or whatever his name was.

"Really, what's the difference between a male spirit and a female spirit?" Takei had asked when he had first heard Allyr refer to her Guardian as 'he'.

"Drop it," said Allyr sternly, eyes on the road, "Right now."

Allyr had said that it was normal to not hear the voice of a Guardian. People who could hear a Guardian's voice were rare, more so in this world, then in the Guardian's world. And even rarer were the people in either world who could bond with a Spirit. So rare in fact, that the only people that Allyr knew of who could bond with a Spirit, were the ones she had been bound to.

"So, in essence," said Takei, when Allyr had finished explaining, "What you're saying is that some crazy guy from another universe wants you dead, because you're attached-"

"Bonded." Corrected Allyr, "There's a difference."

"Okay fine," said Takei, "So because you're bonded to some dead guy from a different universe, some nut job wants you dead?"

"...Something like that yeah," muttered Allyr, turning a corner.

"Then you can't let this guy stay!" said Takei, turning to look right at Allyr, "If he's going to endanger you, and everyone around you he can't stay!"

Takei knew he had said something wrong when Allyr, quickly parked on the side of the road, as soon as she could find someplace half-decent. She turned to look at him, not looking like she was going to ask him if he wanted a cup of coffee. "Listen," she said, looking, and sounding,angry, "Where would Kalas go if I broke my bond with him? He can't go back home, and there's nowhere for him to go here. He's an old friend and I'm not going to condemn him to wandering the earth as a lost soul! He stays." She put particular emphasis on these last two words, clearly telling her dear younger brother, to not argue.

"So you're perfectly all right with fighting the monsters this guy sends at you for the rest of your life?" said Takei, "Do you really want to spend your life like that? How long do you think it'll take before one of you messes up and it ends up killing you?"

"Got a better idea?" said Allyr, "If so I'm all ears." She settled down in her seat and looked at her brother expectantly. Takei stayed silent. "Good," said Allyr, "I'm glad that we've come to an agreement."

"But…" started Takei, "Are you sure…?"

"I've been sure for a very long time!" snapped Allyr, "Okay? This isn't the kind of thing anyone in their right mind would take lightly!"

"Well," Takei started, trying to come up with the right words, "It's just… what if…"

Allyr sighed, "Takei, I'm sorry I snapped at you," she said sounding tired, "It's just… I'm not having a very good day. Could you leave this for another day, please?"

"Um... Okay," said Takei submissively, as Allyr got back on the road. Neither of the two occupants of the car said anything for the remainder of the short trip home.

"MY BABY! YOU'RE ALL RIGHT! I WAS SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU!"

"Mom, let him go! He's turning blue!"

Mrs. Mayers let go of her son who started gasping for breath his face tinted an unhealthy blue. When Allyr and her brother had walked in the front door, their mother had ambushed them, and proceeded to hug Takei very tightly. Perhaps a little tighter than was really absolutely necessary. "I'm just so happy you're home." She said, whipping some stray tears from her eyes.

"Jeeze mom," said Takei, rubbing his chest, "It's not like there was an Amber Alert or something."

"I found him eating pizza with some of his buddies." said Allyr, giving her little brother a firm pat on the back, to make sure he understood that he should not contradict her in any way, shape or form, "He'd just forgotten the time."

"Don't you ever do that again!" snapped their mother sharply, directing this at Takei, "Do you have any idea how worried I was? Next time you go out with your friends you'd better tell me first young man!"

"Yes mother," muttered Takei.

"And you're grounded!" she continued, "For two weeks! And don't you groan at me mister!"

Allyr decided this was a good time to slip away. She left the room, leaving her brother to quarrel with her mother. As soon as she reached her room, she closed the door and dropped her backpack on the floor. She went to her bed and fell on it, face first, feeling the metal springs in the mattress beneath the sheets. Mondays suck. She thought glumly. "Hey Kalas," said Allyr, rolling onto her back to look up at the Spirit, realizing something, "Are you all right? You're being really quiet again."

"Huh?" said Kalas, who had not been paying attention.

"Are you all right?" repeated Allyr, beginning to feel a little more worried, "When you're quiet like this, it usually means something's bothering you."

"Nothing's wrong." Said Kalas dully.

"Of course something's wrong," said Allyr, sitting up, "Did that monster show you something? Well, I mean it obviously showed you something, but is that what's bothering you?"

"No," said Kalas quickly.

"Yup, that's what bothering you." Said Allyr with absolute certainty, absentmindedly scratching the back of her head, "Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"

"Yes." Said Kalas.

"What's with the monosyllable answers?" said Allyr, letting her arm fall, "This isn't like you Kalas."

"So?" he retorted.

"I'm worried about you!" said Allyr, "You're acting weird, and I want to find the cause, because there might be something I can do to help. What did you see?" she added, "It was you, being alive and with Xelha again wasn't it?"

"Yes!" said Kalas, a little too fast.

Huh? Thought Allyr, confused, "Are you hiding something from me?" asked Allyr, suspiciously.

"No!" said Kalas quickly, sounding like he was trying to hide something, and trying to hide the fact that he was trying to hide something.

Wait… I'm confused, thought Allyr, giving Kalas a look as if she was having difficulty understanding him, which she was, If what he saw, which was supposed to be his heart's desire, wasn't being alive and with Xelha, then what was it? Even if that were the case, why would he hide it from me? "Kalas," said Allyr, "What did you see?" The meaning of this question was clear to them both.

"It's nothing," muttered Kalas, more to himself than to Allyr, as if trying to reassure himself, that it really was nothing.

"Kalas," said Allyr cautiously, knowing she was about to tread onto a figurative minefield, "Have you been cheating on Xelha? Is that what's been bothering you?"

"What? No!" said Kalas, sounding disgusted, "Of course not, damn it!"

Well, he's not lying about that, Thought Allyr, who had learned how to tell if her Guardian was lying to her or not, Okay, now I'm stumped. "Look, I just want to help," said Allyr, "Maybe if you tell me about what that monster showed you, I might be able to think of something I can do to help."

"I can guarantee you right now, that there's absolutely nothing you can do to help," said Kalas dully, "Other then to suddenly find a way to bring me back to life and send me home."

"Damn it Kalas!" said Allyr, loosing her cool, "Just tell me what you saw!"

"Well, what did you see?" said Kalas simply, "You've got anger management problems. I mean… more than normal for you, and you're prying more than is normal. You can usually take a hint, now you can't. That's unusual. What did you see?"

Allyr stared at Kalas, "That's not the subject of this argument!" she said angrily.

"Sure it is. It's about what I saw right? So why shouldn't we discuss what you saw?" Said Kalas. Allyr got the feeling that if he still had a face, he would be grinning at her.

"No, that's not the point of this!" snapped Allyr

"Yes it is." Said Kalas smugly.

"It's not!"

"Is."

"Not!"

"Is."

"Fine!" said Allyr, throwing her arms in the air, exasperated, "Want to know what I saw? Fine!" She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I saw…" she started, trying to find her center, as she seemed to have misplaced it, "My dad."

"… Really?" said Kalas, sounding curious, "Is he dead?"

Allyr sighed, "No," she said, "He divorced my mom shortly after she became pregnant with Takei. Now he's living off in California somewhere. I only get to see him two or three times a year. Remember when I told you I was in a car accident, and that how I fell into a coma and ended up in your world?"

"Yeah," said Kalas.

"He was there with me," she said, "He got out of it just fine. But apparently he had some big fight with my mom after the doctors said I had fallen into a coma. I never found out what it was, that's probably for the better." Kalas stayed silent, thinking.

"I'm sorry I brought it up," he muttered.

"Yeah, yeah," said Allyr, dismissively, she had heard too many people say that when she mentioned her parents were divorced, "I'm a real sob story. Seriously, who do you think I am? Mary Sue?" she said.

"Um… who's Mary Sue?" asked Kalas.

Allyr shrugged, "Good question," she admitted, "But I'm not her, that's all I know."

After a silence, Allyr said suddenly, "Okay… Now you tell me what you saw."

"Huh?" said Kalas, who had been lost in thought.

"I told you want I saw, now you tell me what you saw." Said Allyr, looking up at him expectantly, "Come on, cough it up."

"No," said Kalas after a pause.

Allyr opened her mouth to say something, but closed it again. Just let him be stubborn, she reasoned, He'll tell me eventually. I think.

That night, Allyr slept, a deep and dreamless sleep, from which, many hours later, she would wake feeling like she wanted nothing more than to suddenly acquire a taste/addiction for coffee. Somewhere far away from where she slept, so far that it cannot be measured, was the island of Wazn. It rose out of the water, like a whale rising proudly from the deep waters of its home. It glittered like a great diamond, and somewhere in that island, in a room deep in the palace, Morjidza was lying on a bed, in sleep's soft embrace…

…And Morjidza was having nightmares.

It was the same nightmare every time, it was the same one that never left him, continued to haunt his sleep. It had started recently, but ever since then, every time he closed his eyes, he envisioned it. What was worse, he never had nightmares that ever felt this real. It was always the same: He stood on the edge of a barren cliff, falling of into a pit black as oblivion. The cliff was snow covered, with ice that made the rocks slippery, and dangerous. Morjidza had to watch his step, or risk falling into that endless dark far below. Fifteen feet away from the edge of his cliff was a second cliff, rocky and covered with moss, with a forest in the distance. And beyond the forest were tall buildings of stone and glass that Morjidza did not recognize. Standing by the edge of a cliff, there was someone wearing a dark red cloak. It could have been male or female, the cloak made it impossible to tell, and he or she stood with their back to him. Whoever it was had the hood up, hiding the back of their head. Morjidza could not see this person's hands, for they were both in front of this other person's body, and thus obstructed from Morjidza's view. He stared at this person standing on the other cliff for a long time, until they turned around to face him.

As the person turned toward him the hood fell back reveling the face of a woman gazing silently at him. She had dark brown hair and eyes, totally unremarkable. Other than this woman's height, (She was almost as tall as Morjidza.) she was the kind of person would could completely vanish while in a sea of people. The thing that made her unusual was her gaze that seemed to fix Morjidza in place. It was accusing, and seemed to hide a quiet anger, as if concealing something dark and burning. In her right hand she held a long steel sword, with a crescent shaped cross hilt. The blade shined in the gloom of the dream, and was stained with blood, reaching almost halfway up the whole length of the blade. The crimson liquid silently dripped from the pointed end into the mossy ground. The woman held her left arm parallel to the ground, so something could perch on it.

This was definitely what frightened Morjidza the most. It had probably once been a bird, once a raven, with sleek black plumage, with sharp, clawed feet, and a long shiny beak. Now, it was very clearly something unnatural. The bird was most certainly dead, and yet it stood on the woman's arm. Many of its feathers were long since lost, along with chunks of decayed flesh. Bone shone like bleached stones in many places, making this thing seem even more unnatural. Morjidza noticed, that the bird only had one wing; the left wing was missing entirely, as if it never had a left wing. It held its right wing loosely at its side, almost lazily. The bird looked at Morjidza with unnatural eyes for a bird, living or dead, if an undead bird's eyes could be considered 'natural' at all. They were human eyes, the irises bright blue, holding hate that burned deep inside like a wild fire. They almost seemed to glow with an internal fire, a fire like hate, making them clear and striking, even from the distance that Morjidza saw it. Maybe it was that hate, which made that bird defy nature, and live after death.

Woman and undead bird looked at Morjidza unblinkingly. The woman raised her bloodied sword in front of her, to a guard position, as if preparing to fight Morjidza. "Morjidza!" shouted the bird on the woman's arm. It spoke a human language, but it was neither the cry of a bird, nor the voice of a human. It was a hoarse croak, the only sounds that a decayed throat could easily make, "Morjidza!" it cried again, "You're life is ours!"

The woman took a step, and instead of falling into oblivion, came right to Morjidza's cliff, as if she had gotten there without passing through the space between. She was standing a foot from him, sword ready to strike. He backed away from her with a shout of terror. He quickly searched his pockets quickly for a Magnus, anything that could shield him from this woman and her dead companion. "You're life is ours!" shouted the dead bird again, as the woman swung her sword upward with unnatural force and speed, a blow that would cleave him in two…

Morjidza woke screaming, cold sweat covering every inch of exposed kind, making the cold room seem even colder. He shivered, more from the fear that he did not want to admit existed, then the cold. He swung his legs out of the bed, and stood up. He grabbed his fur cloak, which he had left thrown over a chair in the corner of the room. He quickly put it on, hoping to shake off some of the cold. It was the same nightmare every time, and there just happened to be a woman like the one in his dreams living in another world. He would not have bothered with her, if the nightmares had left him alone.

"Damn her!" he shouted at the empty room, "Why can't she just die and make things easier!"

Morjidza was in a rage to shake the stars from the sky. Self-control was something he prided himself in, but things were not going the way he wanted them to in this world. So it was just his damn luck that things were screwing up in another world. He had watched the woman from his dreams again through his Looking Glass. Watched her fight and kill the monster he had sent. It had not stopped bothering him for days after. He had seen her kill his Sabre dragon, and now this.

He kicked viciously at a nearby table, and it hurt. He swore under his breath, and tried to regain his shattered self-control. Think, he thought to himself, Think. Brute force has not gotten you this far. Careful planning has. Think of another way. Clearly the monsters he was sending over were not enough. Maybe three times was a charm, or however that saying went? No, he only had so many sacrifices. Now, he had more than he could count. But if he were wasteful he would be left only with those too valuable to sacrifice for something like this. What should he try? This clearly was not going to leave him alone. He never had insomnia in any form ever before, and it was robbing him of strength and focus, things that he dearly needed now more than ever. However, the nightmare with the woman and her dead companion always returned. Her companion always seemed to fade away when he woke. He never forgot the image of that raven, dead, yet living, gazing at him as if animated only by its hate for him. Though that undead creature always faded, and the woman always seemed the greater threat. She existed, the raven, however, did not.

When he discovered that such a woman, the one from his nightmare, existed, he felt like she was the cause of his nightmares, and sought to kill her. It was like an addiction, it consumes entirely and cannot be shaken off. His nightmares of this woman kept returning, and would not leave him. It was rising to an obsession. He had to kill her.

How?

An Immortal, he thought. But was it worth it? He was not sure he could summon an Immortal from the Great Void, bind it to his will, then send it to another world. And it would take more sacrifices than normal. Summoning an Immortal drained his strength faster than a normal summoning did, and that was something he would need if he were to succeed. But one Immortal had already promised him victory, so should he take the gamble?

I do not know, he thought, All I know is that I shall find no peace until I see her dead.

He he... nightmares... fun...

And the Mary Sue joke? I'm sorry, I absolutely couldn't resist. I won't do it again.

Anyway, please review... again. (Now, has anyone figured out what's bothering Kalas? Oh dear, just as long as people don't jump to conclusions, everything should be okay...)