Disclaimer: I don't own Baten Kaitos. Short and simple. Because that's how I feel now.

Chapter XIV: Noon Star

Kalas flew over the Ocean, following an instinct that was alien to him. Finally, after a long journey, he had arrived in Mira. He had arrived in Nekton, the Shrine of Spirits. He was floating among the trees in the forest, feeling as if the plants were watching him. He felt to real desire to go anywhere suddenly, something about this place suddenly felt right. Later, he would think that it was because he was visiting the Shrine of Spirits, as a Spirit himself.

Eventually, he wandered into the clearing where he had first met his Guardian Spirit, Allyr. He laughed, it seemed so ironic that he had finally made his way here, of all place, considering the state he was now in. He looked around at the familiar surroundings, trying to figure out what he should do next…

Melodia, followed by five knights, ran into the forest where Allyr had fled, chased by that strange woman. Who was she? Why was Allyr so afraid of her? Well, that was probably a given, as Allyr had clearly cast a spell on the woman, and the stranger was completely untouched. The stranger had even looked bored after Allyr cast a Spirit Spell that should have torn her to pieces.

Melodia spotted Allyr, pacing nervously three feet into the forest. She had a worried look on her face.

"Allyr," said Melodia, walking up to the former Spirit, "Are you okay?"

"Um… I'm just fine," said Allyr, turning to face Melodia, "But-"

"Thank the gods!" said Melodia, relieved, "Who was that woman who attacked you?"

"Lady Melodia," said one of the knights. Allyr recognized him as the one who had tired to get rid of Allyr the other day, "It would be best if this was discussed at the manor."

Melodia nodded, "You're right," said Meldia. Melodia turned to Allyr, "It would be best if we went back to the manor." she said, simply.

"Um… I can't." said Allyr, looking nervous, yet apologetic.

"Are you hurt?" asked Meldoia, looking worried.

"Well... No," said Allyr, "I'm all right… but…"

"What's wrong?" asked Melodia when Allyr hesitated.

Allyr cast an anxious glance at the knights. She lowered her voice so they would not be able to hear her, "When I said I can't go back to the manor," said Allyr, "I mean I'm physically incapable of going." Casting a wary glance at the knights, Allyr quickly explained, "Look, something's happened and Kalas is out cold-"

"But he's a Spirit!" said Melodia, but kept her voice down, understanding Allyr's unspoken desire to keep the knights out of this, "How can he fall unconscious?"

"Got me," said Allyr, shrugging, "Sometimes it happened to me before. But the problem is I can't walk too far from him, because I'm bound to him. Generally, it's the other way around. If I go somewhere he has to follow." She shrugged, "Apparently that doesn't apply now. I'm stuck here because he's comatose. Make sense?"

"… A little," said Melodia, "But what are you going to do? You can't just wait out here for him to wake up?"

"Pardon my rudeness," said Allyr, "But do you have a better idea? It's not as if someone can drag him inside the manor. I'll wait out here for him to wake up. And once I'm sure he's fine we'll head over to the manor. Sounds like a plan?"

"…But what about that woman?"

"Oh… Her… Um…" Allyr hesitated, "I… Don't think she'll be coming back."

"How do you know that?" asked Melodia, "And why did you run from her?"

"First, I said ' I don't think she'll come back' right? I'm not sure," said Allyr. She hesitated briefly before continuing, "And… why I ran is something I don't really want to talk about with these guys," she indicated the knights with a wave of her hand, "Floating around us. Is that okay with you? I promise as soon as Kalas wakes up we'll go to the manor."

Melodia was not sure how to react. Instead she changed the subject, "How long has he been unconscious?"

Allyr shrugged, "A few minutes," said Allyr, "You guys got out here fast. There wasn't a lot of time between him falling unconscious and you coming here."

"Are you sure you want to wait out here?"

"Positive."

Melodia looked at Allyr's face as if trying to look for doubt. Then she sighed, "I understand," she said. She turned to the knights with her, "We'll head back to the manor. Allyr will stay here for a little while longer." The knights gave Melodia surprised looks but none of them commented.

Allyr watched them go, feeling detached from the whole situation. She looked back down to where she knew Kalas was lying out cold. She sat down at the base of a tree, and did the only thing she could do. Wait.

Kalas groaned and stirred slightly. He felt awful. He heard someone call his name but could not identify the voice. The voice called to him again. He looked up at the sky, but his view was obscured by thick, twisting tree branches. Once more he heard the voice call his name. "Who's there…?" he said thickly.

"Moron," said the voice, "It's me, Allyr, remember?"

"…What happened?" he asked. He looked over at Allyr, who was sitting at the base of a large tree, looking over at him. She looked nervous. "How'd I get here?" asked Kalas, taking in the sight of the forest, feeling confused and very, very lost.

Allyr stared at Kalas, clearly very anxious, "You mean," She started, "You don't remember?"

"Remember what?"

Allyr stared at Kalas, which made him feel very uncomfortable. "You mean…" said Allyr, "You don't remember anything?"

"I don't have amnesia!" protested Kalas, "I remember my name and yours! It's not as if I'm completely lost!"

"Names aren't what I'm worried about now." Said Allyr, "I was almost killed, and you don't remember a thing?"

"What?" said Kalas, alarmed, "What do you mean you were almost killed?"

"It's exactly how it sounds," said Allyr, "Malice popped up, so we tried casting Distorting Wind on her, which was about as effective as trying to cut down a redwood tree with a feather. Then I ran out here… and I um… tripped, " she muttered something Kalas could not hear before continuing, "She was bearing down on me when…" Allyr trailed off. "Are you sure you don't remember anything?" she asked.

"Last thing I remember was looking out the window in that guestroom by the manor," said Kalas, "Then... there's just this black fog."

"You don't remember… anything weird happening?" asked Allyr.

"…Weird? How weird?" asked Kalas, thoroughly confused.

Allyr was silent for a minute. Suddenly she stood up, "I promised Melodia I'd head back up to the manor when you came to," said Allyr, "Come on, let's go."

"How long have I been out?" asked Kalas tentatively, changing the subject.

Allyr shrugged, "I don't know," she said, "Maybe about… half an hour, possibly an hour at the most. It's been a long, long while anyways. At least it felt that way."

"It feels like I've been out for days…"

Allyr shrugged again, "I don't think it's possible to really keep track of time when you're unconscious." Commented Allyr, "Come on," she added, cocking her head to one side, "Let's go."

-Four days later

"How do you think my flying is?"

"Um…"

"You could be a little more specific."

"Do I really need to be?"

"I'm not doing that bad!"

"I beg to differ…"

"Don't tell me you're sick!"

"No, just not very happy."

"It's not that hard. Just the wheel, and then this little lever thing here, which is sort of like the pedals on a car, the accelerator and brake. It's not that different."

"Why me…? What god have I angered this time…?"

"Stop whining," said Allyr with a smile, "It'll all be over soon. See?" she pointed, "See the bump on the horizon? That's Wazn, just as Melodia said it would be."

"Yeah, as soon as we land on a giant ice cube, floating in the middle of a giant puddle, where my killer and your attempted murderer is currently residing… Yup, as soon as we get there we'll be plenty safe." Said Kalas dully.

Allyr started whistling happily. The past four days had been a combination of planning on both her and Melodia's part, with Kalas offering his ideas whenever the other two did not have any. In a relatively short time, they had come up with a plan to infiltrate Wazn. Despite Kalas's protests, Allyr was to take an airship, by the name of Noon Star, into the far end of the Ice Cliffs, hike on foot to the city walls, sneak in, and then eventually infiltrate the castle. Even Melodia agreed that it was not the greatest plan ever conceived by the human mind. But various details of the plan would hopefully make it a little easier to get through this whole thing alive. Said 'details' were for later however, and Allyr was having a great time flying the Noon Star.

The airship, the Noon Star, had been procured by Melodia the day previous. Kalas thought it was the ugliest thing he had ever seen and had no trouble expressing his opinion. Allyr loved it.

The Noon Star's hull was painted camouflage blue-white, so it would blend in with the sky if one look up from the ground. Occasionally when there were skirmishes between islands of the Sky, such airships were used, particularly in inevitable head on dogfights. The hull was curved, for minimum wind resistance, with two wide wings.

"…Hey Kalas," started Allyr, keeping her eyes trained on the view beyond the glass windshield, "There's something I want to ask you."

"What is it?" he asked, wondering what it could be.

"When you promised Death your soul… were you really sure about it?"

The pair had an unspoken agreement not to talk about Kalas's pact with Death. But the question had been bothering Allyr recently, and she had not worked up the courage, until now, to ask him.

"What choice did I have?" he said, "It was either stay in your world or offer my soul."

"There might have been another way-"

"Might," pointed out Kalas, "It just as likely to have been no other way than the existence of another path. It's not as if I'm going quietly," he added quickly, "The deal wasn't exact, I've been trying to find a way to worm out of the deal."

"…Well that explains a lot," said Allyr, "You have been doing a lot of thinking, ever since you died, and that's normally not your field."

"Ha ha," said Kalas sarcastically, "Very funny."

Allyr was opened her mouth to say something else when the whole airship shook violently, like an animal in its last death throws. Allyr stumbled but kept her balance by clinging onto the large wheel of the airship. "What the…?" The airship was rocked again by what felt like an explosion.

"Diabolos!" shouted Kalas, who had apparently been doing the smart thing and looked out the window to see what was going on, rather than just float there and panic, which was what Allyr was doing. Minus the floating.

"Diabolos?" started Allyr as she righted herself, "What'd you-" she was interrupted as one of the bird-monsters flew into clear view in front of the window, and she could see it in all its evil glory. "Oh… those. I forgot about them…" said Allyr sheepishly. The ship was rocked again, as the Diabolos attacked the ship, sinking the blades of their weapons into the Noon Star's hull. Then there was a spluttering sound, and then the whole world seemed to go strangely quiet.

"That was the engine wasn't it?" said Kalas, sounding oddly calm. Allyr gripped the wheel as if it was the last solid thing in the world as the airship's nose began to tilt downward.

Allyr swore, and clutched the wheel even tighter. It was strange, she was confronted with imminent death, she felt like she should say something. But her mind seemed to have seized up, terror stopping her brain from functioning properly. She closed her eyes as the airship fell into the sea. It was as if the Noon Star had run into a solid wall rather than the surface of the Ocean. The force of the contact jarred Allyr violently, as the airship began to fill with water as the hull broke. The last thing Allyr remembered before falling unconscious, was the distant sound of a whale singing.

The first thing Allyr realized was that she was not dead. The second thing she realized was that she was lying on something very solid. She could still feel Kalas. Everything seemed to be fine. Nothing was broken, and she was still breathing. Except she did not remember how she had gotten here. She lay with her eyes closed, feeling as if she had been beaten around the head with a baseball bat. Then she remembered what had happened, the Noon Star had been attacked by a flock of Diabolos and had fallen into the Ocean. As this memory returned, something else occurred to her: Even though the airship she had been in had crashed into the ocean, she was not wet.

She opened her eyes, and decided that she must be dead after all. She sat up, trying to get a better view so she could make sure that she was seeing what she was seeing, and was not seeing. There was… nothing there. Everything was black as oblivion. The only thing that existed was a large hexagram drawn into the ground in multicolored lines of light.

"Oh my gods…" Allyr turned at the sound of Kalas's voice, and stared stunned at her Guardian.

This was probably the strangest development yet. It took her a minute to really realize that she was looking at him, and seeing him. He looked as he had in life, just as she had remembered him. But his body was translucent, she could see him, but she could clearly see the boundaries of the hexagram through him. He held up a hand, as he looked right through the palm of his hand, a stunned look on his face. Then he looked around, at the strange, empty surrounding. "It's… weird…" he said, "I… I think I've been here before…"

"What?" said Allyr, "What do you mean? You've been in this…" she searched for the right word, "This place before?"

Kalas looked over at her, apparently to comment, and then turned his gaze to something behind Allyr. She had never thought it would be possible for a ghost to blanch. Kalas just did. "Whatever you do," he started, a shocked look on his face, "Don't turn around."

Allyr stiffened; suddenly getting the prickly feeling on the back of her neck that told her someone behind her was watching her. Then she asked, "Why?"

"I won't turn you to stone," said a calm voice behind Allyr, "Please, turn around."

Allyr's shoulders stiffened a little more, "Why?" she said again, this time directing the question to whomever, or whatever was behind her.

"Just turn around," said the voice, "And see for yourself."

Despite Kalas's warning, Allyr did turn around.

She wished she had listened to him.

Ah... good ol' cliffhangers.

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