Chapter XVIII: Ghost Of A Broken Promise
Xelha would never know exactly what woke her that night. There was no creak of hinges as a door opens. No groan as the old window was opened. No rustle of cloth. No soft breathing. Nothing. The room in which Xelha slept was completely quiet, as if she had gone deaf and had not yet noticed. But something woke her. She was lying on her side when she opened her eyes to see the wall to which the bed she lay on was pushed against. I wonder what time it is. She thought tiredly.
"Xelha?"
The voice made her stiffen. The sound was not like a sound at all; it came right into her mind, forgetting her ears entirely. It reminded her of Allyr when she had been a Guardian. When she spoke the sound of her voice also bypassed her ears and went right into her mind. Except now the voice sounded distant, and echoed, as if the speaker were standing at the opposite end of a large tunnel. But the worse part of it was that she recognized the voice that had just spoken.
"Xelha? Are you awake?"
She lay perfectly still, hoping that if she did not react, the voice would go away. It can't be him, she thought desperately, That voice can't be him. It just can't be…
"Xelha, please if you're awake say something. I'm begging you!"
She rolled over, and finally spotted the speaker, her fears confirmed absolutely. Standing next to her bed, looking down at her with sapphire eyes was Kalas, exactly as she remembered him. Except his body was translucent, as if he were made of colored smoke.
It was a ghost.
Xelha sat bolt upright and pressed herself against the wall, her legs turning to jelly at the sight of the ghost. "Xelha," it said, looking confused, "What's wrong?"
"You… you can't be real…" said Xelha in a small, terrified voice. Her Magnus deck was lying on the bedside table, but she did not want to get herself that close to the ghost to reach her weapons. Even so, she did not think that many of her spells would be able to harm a ghost.
"Why do you think that?" asked the ghost, looking hurt, "Please Xelha, it's me, Kalas."
"I don't know what you are, but you're not my Kalas!" persisted Xelha, "Just go away and leave me alone! And don't you dare take on that shape ever again!"
The ghost stared at her, shock and anguish mixing on its face. "Please…" pleaded the ghost again, extending a hand toward her, "Please help me…"
Xelha screamed. The ghost recoiled as if burned, pain, surprise and a small flash anger in its eyes. Xelha and ghost turned to look at the door as they heard loud footsteps, people no doubt coming to find out what was wrong. The ghost fled, running right through a wall and out into the night. Xelha jumped out of the bed and ran to a window to look out, but could not see the ghost fleeing.
Xelha whirled around as the door slammed open, and two Miran knights, accompanied by Lyude with his gold gun raised, and Savyna, armed with a brass knuckle ran into the room, eyes scanning the room, searching for a hidden assassin. They spotted Xelha, and all four asked at once, "Xelha, what's the matter?"
Xelha rested her back against the wall and slid to her knees. Her whole body shook, as the reality of what had just happened sunk in. The knights, Lyude, and Savyna, realizing there was no immediate danger, lowered their weapons. The latter two walked over to Xelha, concern written clearly on their faces. "It's… it's nothing," said Xelha, though her voice shook and did not sound reassuring to her friends, "It's nothing at all."
"Then why'd you scream?" asked Savyna coolly, her face, as always, betraying none of her feelings, "Tell us Xelha: What happened?"
"It's nothing," repeated Xelha, meekly "Just… leave me alone for a little while, please?"
Xelha had not been able to sleep after that. The others did leave her alone, but still she could not stop thinking about the ghost that had visited her. As soon as dawn came Xelha left the guesthouse and walked into the city, until she came to a stone wall dividing the cobbled path from the river that ran through the city. Xelha leaned on the brick wall and looked down at the water, hoping to find solace in it. She found none. The more time went by the more certain she felt that she had been wrong about the ghost, that it really had been Kalas, and not a fake. But the thought that Kalas had been reduced to that state, that he had become a mere ghost was unbearable.
"Pardon me Butterfly," said a voice behind Xelha, "But you seem to be having some difficulty with something?"
Xelha turned to see an old man, leaning on a gnarled branch of a walking stick, wearing shapeless gray rags that looked as if they had once been a part of a suit for someone much bigger than him. His wispy hair and beard were completely white. A salty smell, not unlike the Ocean, hung about the old man like an aura. He looked at Xelha intently, clearly expecting an answer to his question.
"I'm sorry," said Xelha, "What did you call me?"
"Butterfly," said the old man matter-of-factly, "That's what you are, isn't it?"
"Um… I'm afraid I don't quite follow."
The old man sighed, "I didn't expect you to," he said sadly, "But that's not what I'm here for," continued the old man with renewed vigor, "You seem to have problems. Any way I can help?"
"…No I'm afraid not," replied Xelha, "There's nothing you can do. Unless you can wake the dead, or turn back time."
The old man seemed to contemplate this for a second, "Say I can do those things," he said, "Then what?"
Xelha laughed, but there was no humor in it, "You can't do those things," she said simply, "So what's the point of thinking about it?"
"Sure there is Butterfly!" the old man then, with surprising agility for a man his age, leapt up onto the stone divider, sat down lying his walking stick on his knees, and looked intently at Xelha. "Thinking is everything!" he said, "If you thought more about things, you might make some progress! No?"
"Um…"
The old man sighed, "Let's start with something simple then, eh?" he started, "You wouldn't happen to have had any bizarre visitations last night?"
Xelha opened her mouth to tell him about the ghost, but then something held her back. Perhaps it was because she had been living with Kalas for so long, but her suspicions were aroused. "Why do you want to know?"
The old man grinned, "I'm the Dust Eater," he said, "That's what I do."
"Uh… Dust Eater?"
"Exactly!" said the old man, the Dust Eater, "That's really just one of my names. I'm also the Dream Weaver, probably my favorite, Dust Eater, as mentioned, The Guide, kind of boring, Helpful Shadow by one I knew, and Eccentric Old Man, by a good number. You probably won't believe this one, but I'm also the Great Wha-"
"That doesn't tell me anything!" said Xelha exasperatedly.
"Then how about things I'm not?" said the Dust Eater, cocking his head to one side, "I'm not one of you, or one of them. I'm not a concept given flesh. I'm not a vegetarian. And I most certainly not hu-"
"Will you stop that!" said Xelha, "I just figured out that someone I really care about is probably gone forever! Just leave me alone, please…"
The Dust Eater looked offended, "Now see here!" he said, getting off the wall with catlike grace. "You," he jabbed Xelha in the chest with his walking stick, "Are a great fool, you know that? And before you interrupt me, let me finish! There was a time that young people respected their elders and listened to them. Anyway, I'm getting off track again." He started at Xelha hard with his bright blue eyes. Once he was sure she would not interrupt, he continued, "The poor lost soul of your husband visited you last night Butterfly, begging for help, and what did you do? Scream at him! Accuse him of being a fake! Now imagine what that must've felt like for poor little Raven. For shame!" Xelha, sensing the truth in the old man's words, looked down in her feet to hide her blush of embarrassment. The Dust Eater sighed, "Tell ya what Butterfly," he said gently, "I wasn't here just to reprimand you. I know where your husband went, and if I were you, I would go after him quickly."
"Where is he then?" said Xelha, looking up, a desperate look in her face, "Please tell me!"
"Your husband's a Spirit now," explained the Dust Eater, "A creature without a body or a purpose, except when bound to another soul as a protector. Where do you think such lost souls go, Butterfly? Where, in all of Mira, do you think they go?"
It clicked instantly. "Thank you so much!" she quickly embraced the thin old man as if he were her grandfather, than ran off as fast as she could in the direction of the manor, joy filling her body.
The Dust Eater blinked, confused. Then he laughed, a thin wheezy laugh, but not an unkind one. "Oh, you're very welcome Butterfly." He said to the world at large. He looked up at the sky, and the fluffy white clouds drifting by, like fat cats being gently blown across the big blue dome. "My work here is done." Then he walked off whistling a happy tune, as if he had just had the experience of a lifetime.
Nekton, the Shrine of Spirits.
It was more or less the way that Xelha remembered it: The large dead-looking trees, with the red orbs bobbing among their branches. The hard ground beneath her feet, covered with large roots. Shadows of monsters flitted at the edge of her vision, but did not appear when she looked directly at them. She held her gold staff in one hand, three spell Magnus in another, in case one of the monsters decided to attack her.
"What are we looking for again?" asked Gibari, confused. Xelha had told her friends to follow her, but had not offered an explanation why.
How would I tell them Kalas is a Spirit now? She had thought. Though by bringing them along, they would find out eventually anyway.
When Xelha did not answer Gibari, he fell silent. "What are you hiding from us Xelha?" asked Savyna, her voice and face hiding her feelings as efficiently as an opaque wall.
"Please tell the Great Mizuti what be happening Xelha," pleaded the sorceress, "The Great Mizuti has a bad bad feeling. An awful premonition. Foresees nothing good. Predicts something horrible!"
Xelha still said nothing. After another five minutes of walking, they emerged into the clearing where Kalas had parted ways with his Guardian. She could see a tree, thicker and older than the rest, at the far end of the clearing, standing like a giant among its children. The five companions walked out into the clearing, scanning the area, looking for something that could be on interest.
There was nothing, nothing out of the ordinary, for the Shrine of Spirits anyway. Though everyone in the clearing was suddenly overcome with an unsettling feeling that someone or something they could not see was watching them. Xelha scanned the clearing, unsure what she was looking for. "Um… what are we looking for exactly?" asked Lyude politely.
"Huh?" Xelha turned around, her focus having been on searching the clearing.
"What are we looking for?" asked Lyude, "We're out here looking for something, right?"
"There's nothing here," said Savyna levelly, "We should head back to the manor."
Xelha's shoulder's slumped with disappointment. The Dust Eater had been wrong; Kalas was not here. "You're right," she said, her voice echoing her feeling of defeat, "Let's go." The five companions turned to leave the clearing.
"Wait, don't go!"
All five stopped immediately. They knew that voice, even if it did sound as if the speaker were at the opposite end of a cave. They turned around, looking for the source of the voice, half-hoping they found nothing.
They saw it, up in the branches of the large tree at the other end of the clearing. A ring comprised of blue lights shaped like feathers. The five, as if in a trance, walked up to the base of the tree. The little ring flew down to meet them, and hovered at Xelha's eye level. "Um…" said the Spirit, awkwardly, "…Long time no see?"
"K…Kalas?" stuttered Xelha.
"Yeah, it's me." Said the Spirit.
There was a long silence, as Xelha and the others began to grasp the reality of Kalas's state. "Have you been here the whole time?" asked Xelha, when no one else said anything, "Just sitting here?"
"I resent that!" retorted Kalas, "You got a better idea where I should go? And no, I haven't been 'just sitting here' all the time. I've been with Allyr, back in her world for the most part."
"You've been with Allyr? How, when she was back in her home world?" asked Savyna, curious.
If a ring of blue feather-lights could shrug, Kalas did it, "I dunno," he confessed, "It just sort of happened. I ended up in her world. She was back in her body, and I was a Spirit, so… I ended up as her Guardian Spirit."
Savyna arched an eyebrow, but did not comment. "You were your Guardian's Guardian?" asked Xelha, bewildered.
"Pretty much, yeah." Said Kalas, almost dismissively, "Then we found a way back here, went looking for you, met Melodia, who had an insane plan for saving you guys, which worked. And then, um…" he trailed off.
"Please tell me Kalas," said Xelha, pleadingly, "What happened to Allyr?"
The Spirit seemed to look away from Xelha, to look at the ground instead, "…I don't know," he admitted, "Morjidza jumped us, and next thing I knew, we weren't bound anymore. I was completely alone. I couldn't go back to Allyr, because we just might be split again, so I had to find you."
They looked down at the dejected Spirit, wondering both when they had ever seen Kalas this depressed, (Perhaps just being dead had something to do with it?) and wondering exactly what kind of Guardian he would make. "Well, I guess we'll just have to find your body then," said Xelha, almost to herself.
The Spirit looked up. "What?" he said, confusion clear in his voice.
"Allyr told us that she became a Spirit because she fell into a coma," said Xelha, voice hopeful, "So we just have to find your body, stick you back inside, and you'll come back, right?"
"…No,"
"No? Why not?"
"I didn't fall into a coma. I froze to death."
"Oh… I… I'm sorry."
"Don't be, there's nothing to apologize for."
"I know!" Xelha shouted triumphantly, "The Whale! He can bring you back to life."
"Maybe," said Kalas, though he knew that his pact with Death would not allow that. He still had not found a way to wriggle out of the deal. He knew he had to very soon or he would be taken away with no hope of return.
"You're really calm about all this," noted Gibari, looking the Spirit up and down. "About being… The way you are."
"I've gotten used to it," he said, "No big deal."
"Kalas, you're dead," said Savyna, with all the subtlety of a big stick with a nail through it, "Is that 'no big deal' to you?"
"That's not what I meant!" Kalas said peevishly, "I just meant that it's… Um…" He trailed off, apparently running out of steam.
"Why don't we head back for the manor?" suggested Gibari, "Then as we're walking maybe Kalas can come up with an excuse."
"Ha ha," said Kalas sarcastically, "But you have a point. Let's get moving."
"Where the hell did you guys wander off to?" inquired Ayme when Xelha and the others entered the lobby of the manor.
"We risked our lives to save your asses, so it would be nice if you didn't decide to wander off where you'd get yourselves killed. Caprende?" said Folon irritably.
"We, just had to go looking for something," started Xelha. "We-"
"Ayme… Folon…" moaned an unearthly voice in the pair's heads, "I am a ghooooooost! Come to exact revenge for all those innocents you killed under Geldoblame! Beware the angry souls from beyond the graaaaaaave!"
"W… What the?" stuttered Folon, clutching his head, "What's happening?"
"What's going on!" shouted Ayme, similarly clutching at her head, trying to find the source of the voice.
The effect was spoiled when said voice burst out laughing.
"Oh gods, that was great!" said the voice, through fits of laughter, "You two should have seen your faces!"
"Kalas! That's not funny!" said Xelha, turning around to look at something behind her that Ayme and Folon could not see.
"Are you crazy?" replied the voice, still snickering, "That was the most fun I've had in ages!"
"You gotta admit Xelha," said Gibari, grinning broadly, "That was kinda funny."
"Just what the hell is going on?" demanded Ayme, who even with the black hood covering the upper half of her face, was clearly very angry.
Xelha stood to one side, so Ayme and Folon could see Kalas the Spirit. "Never thought I'd see you two again," said Kalas, enjoying the effect he had on the two.
"Um… What's this thing?" asked Folon, pointing at Kalas, "What's it doing here?"
"This 'thing' is going to kick your ass if you call me 'it' again," said Kalas, offended by the 'thing' and 'it', "I'm Kalas, unless you've completely forgotten about me. Which wouldn't surprise me."
"Um…" Ayme started, staring at the ring of blue lights, vaguely wondering what the hell was going on, "Well, uh…"
"You've lost some weight," said Folon, grinning.
"You should try the diet plan sometime," said Kalas, voice dripping sarcasm, "First you just jump off a bridge-"
"ENOUGH!" shouted Xelha to ensure that she would get attention, "Stop it please," she continued when everyone was looking at her, "Attitudes like that will get us nowhere. We have to work together to make it through this thing alive, okay?"
There was muttered consent, as if the three speakers did not really think so, but did not want to contradict Xelha. She sighed, "Just… Don't fight anymore, okay? Just put the past behind you and move on with your lives." This was met with more mutterings. "Just try, at least, please?"
"Fine." said Ayme, rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, yeah," said Folon, not sounding convinced.
"Whatever," was Kalas's reply.
"What's all the chatter about? Is everything okay?"
Xelha and the others looked up to see Melodia standing at the top of the stairs, the foot of which the group had been standing by. The Melodia spotted Kalas, failing to hide her worry. "Allyr got left behind," said Kalas, misinterpreting Melodia's worry, "We got separated."
"Wait a minute, so you knew?" asked Xelha, almost accusingly at Melodia, who looked uncomfortable, "You knew about this and you didn't say anything to me? WHY?"
"Because I asked her not to!"
Xelha turned to Kalas, a hurt look on her face, "It's not her fault, okay?" said Kalas, this time in a gentler tone, "Before Allyr and I left for Wazn, I asked Melodia, if you guys came back before us, not to tell you about what happened to me. So don't harass her because of this. Okay?"
Xelha opened her mouth, as if to say something, but then shut it again. There then fell an empty silence, which no one wanted to break.
Folon snickered quietly to himself, as he thought of something. Pointing at the ring of blue lights that was Kalas, he whispered to Ayme, "Fifty points if you get a bull's-eye."
A week later, it was the night before Xelha, her friends and several others were going to attempt to invade Wazn again, to try to reclaim it from the usurper Morjidza.
Xelha was sitting in the guestroom she had been given. The walls were painted white, and contained a small, simple bed, a small table with a chair, and a dresser. Xelha was sitting on the bed, her legs crossed, looking out the little window at the night.
"Hey,"
Xelha turned around, to see the ghost of Kalas looking back at her. The door to the room had been closed, and locked. "How do you do that?" asked Xelha.
The ghost looked blank, "Do what?"
"That," said Xelha vaguely, "Go from the ring of lights to the ghost and back again?"
Kalas shrugged, "I don't know," he said, "It just happens." Xelha looked away, a thoughtful look on her face. Kalas cocked his head to one side, "What's wrong?" he asked, concern in his voice.
"Nothing," lied Xelha, "It's just…" she looked back at Kalas, who in turned look at her with his searching, unblinking gaze. "You're just, well…. The way you are now."
Kalas walked over to Xelha, making no sound as he moved, "I'll come back," he said, reassuringly, "I won't stay like this forever. I'll come back. You did, so I can too."
"Really?" asked Xelha, feeling childish, "You're not just saying that?"
"Of course not," said Kalas, "I really will."
"Promise?"
Kalas looked at Xelha, thinking how something in her hopeful face reminded him a little of Fee, the memory surfacing like a song who's melody is half-forgotten. He was felt that if he promised Xelha he would come back, but was unable to get out of his pact with Death, she would be devastated. Could he bear that weight if he failed, the weight of the greatest broken promise?
He nodded, "I promise." He said, confidence and absolute determination in his voice, "I'll come back. Besides," he added, "I would never leave you, particularly as you are now."
Xelha blushed, but did not look away. "Everything will be all right, okay?" he said, reassuringly.
She smiled warmly at him, "Sure," she said, "I believe you. First, we have to get rid of Morjidza first, then everything will go back to normal. But, I wanted to ask you something." Kalas was dreading the question. "What happened to Allyr?" asked Xelha, "I mean, you were vague when you told us what happened to you two back in the palace. She's my friend too, I want to know what happened."
Kalas looked out the window, which overlooked the grassy fields outside of the city, "I don't know," he said, "When I came to after we were split, I was completely alone, just sitting in the middle of the hall. I'd just assumed that Allyr had fallen unconscious and then they'd taken her somewhere. She's alive, that's all I know."
"How?" asked Xelha, "I mean, I thought you were…"
"I'm not technically dead," said Kalas with a shrug, "And Allyr… I don't really know how I know. It's just sort of a feeling-" Kalas stopped in the middle of his sentence, his head cocked as if he was listening for something.
"Kalas what's wro-"
He shushed her, a nervous look on his face. "Something's wrong," he said, "I think I hear screaming…"
Xelha strained to hear anything, but there was only silence, "I don't hear anything." She said.
Kalas snorted, "Probably," he said, sourly, "My eyesight and hearing is better as a Spirit. Probably compensation, as I utterly lack the other three senses."
Then Xelha did hear a shout, a panicked one, as of an animal being set upon by a predator. Xelha grabbed her Magnus deck, (Supplied by Melodia, as her own deck had been taken when she had been captured.) unlocked the door and ran out. As she ran out of the guesthouse, it was to find that Kalas had not been mistaken. About twenty Diabolos had descended upon the city, attacking anything that moved, and quiet a few things that were immobile. One of the monsters spotted Xelha, and turned its great red eye upon her. It hissed, eye narrowing, and dove down on her.
Yet another cliffhanger. Uh huh.
Confession: I've been sitting on this chapter for some time now, I couldn't decide whether I wanted to keep the ghost and the Dust Eater or not. I had to keep the ghost for consistency sake (Kalas was a ghost very briefly in the first chapter. Behold my horrible planning skillz.) and I'd already introduced the old man, so I had to use him. Besides, I have... plans...
MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!
(-cough-) Anyways, please review, once more. Feedback is always welcome.