LIME Warning
(May cause rating to go up in future chapters)
Chapter 9
Mikoto felt herself shaking violently. Her fists were squeezed shut so tightly that she could feel her nails boring into her skin. In all of her fury, she almost didn't notice the hand that cupped her shoulder. She glanced at the hand, then traced the arm up to the owner's face.
She'd already blown up at him. There was no going back now. She sat on the ground and hugged her knees to her chest. "You really want to know?" she croaked out. It was becoming difficult to control her emotions again. Ryuu merely nodded.
She took a shuddering breath and ran her hand through her blond hair. If she were going to tell him her past as it really was, he wouldn't believe a word she said. She had to make it sound believable for a teenage boy.
"My…father…" she started slowly, "…was a scientist, and an awful man. I had two older brothers. He did experiments on each and every one of us. He tested all sorts of theories on us. We were like his guinea pigs."
"That's terrible…" Ryuu muttered.
"When my eldest brother, Kuja, was thirteen, he ran away from home. I was only three at the time. He probably could have gotten away with it, but he came back one night to try and get my other brother out of there."
"What about you?"
Mikoto ignored the question and continued, "My father caught him entering our house and completely beat him for several days on end. He taunted him with: 'This'll teach you to run away from me,' and 'Do you want to run away again?'
"A year later, my father wanted Kuja to do something for him, something Kuja was not interested in doing at all. So, instead of listening to him, he took Zidane who was five at the time, with him. They ran away to Lindblum, but when father saw that his airship was gone, he was furious. He searched everywhere for them endlessly.
"The day my brothers arrived in Lindblum, they were searching for shelter when several of my father's…henchmen saw them. Zidane, with Kuja's help was able to escape from capture, but Kuja was not so lucky. He was taken back home to my father.
"Father was so angry at him for losing track of his younger brother. We lived far away from Lindblum at the time, and Kuja was beaten all over again. I was around four and just learning magic from a book my father owned. I went into Kuja's room at night and healed his wounds. He asked me how I was able to heal him with a touch of my hand and I told him about father's magic book. He seemed very interested. That night he snuck out of his room and went to father's office to read through it. While practicing a fire spell, he caught my father's desk on fire and instead of extinguishing it, he let it burn and returned to bed.
"When father woke up the next morning, his office was ruined. He was so angry, he dragged Kuja in by his hair and yelled and yelled at him. I watched from the doorway as he beat him to the ground and kicked him in the ribs. Then, made a mistake. He called Kuja a 'dirty, rotten defect,' because of an experiment he had done on him long ago. These words had haunted Kuja his entire life.
"He got up from the ground despite all his injuries and he punched my father."
Ryuu's eyes grew wide and his mouth hung open.
"While my father was unconscious, Kuja ran away again."
"Did he take you?"
Mikoto's eyes welled up and she wanted so badly to cry. "No, I was left at home."
Ryuu sat behind her and put his arms around her, and then he began to rock back and forth with her hoping to comfort her. There was no use in holding back her tears now, they were already coming full throttle. She hid her red face in her knees.
"I stayed with my father and took care of him until I was about thirteen. He never beat me like he did with Kuja. I was too mellow and feeble minded for him to waste his time on me. I just did whatever he told me to, and he left me alone.
"One day I was outside, and in the distance I saw Zidane, who was around sixteen. I managed to get him to follow me back to the house. It was then I found out that something had happened when he and Kuja separated in Lindblum; Zidane couldn't remember anything. He couldn't remember me, or what his childhood had been like before he left. Nothing. I wanted so desperately for him to remember me so that he could take me away from home; take me somewhere else so that I wouldn't have to live with my father anymore." She was now sobbing uncontrollably into her knees. Still, he didn't stop her, only continued to listen.
"He couldn't remember, so I met him in secret one night in my father's laboratory. I was hoping that maybe that environment might spark something, but it didn't. I told him, and he didn't believe me. I was so angry and upset at him for forgetting everything so easily when I was forced to live with it for so long. I sent him to our father. I'm not sure what happened between them; all I know is that it wasn't good.
"While Zidane and my father talked, Kuja also came back. Kuja was now in his twenties, but there was something very different about him. It was hard for me to believe that someone that used to have such a kind nature could have changed that much. It was all because of father's abuse of him in all the previous years, and most of all, father constantly calling him a 'defect'. Kuja had literally gone insane. I was in my room crying to myself, when I heard shouting.
"Suddenly, I felt hot. I couldn't figure out what was going on. I made to leave my room, but the doorknob was hot to the touch. Outside, one of Zidane's friends was yelling, 'Get out! We need to evacuate! Kuja has gone off the deep end this time!' Kuja, in a state of fury, I suppose, set fire to the house. Somehow, I managed to escape with Zidane and his friends on father's most prized airship. I learned in what little time I had with my brother that he and father had fought, and nearing the end, Kuja finished it up and killed my father. Father's dying words were, 'Even as I die here, you will have died without ever leaving a mark in this world.' Kuja couldn't handle being put down again, and he completely destroyed our house.
"Zidane dropped me off in a remote village on the Outer Continent. I lived there for a while. Zidane went searching for Kuja, but when he found him, it was too late and he was dead. He went back to Alexandria and got married to his girlfriend. I was left in the village. After a while, I heard that Zidane was having some problems. His wife had died and he was extremely depressed. He went so far as to even try to commit suicide. I moved in to try and help him deal with things."
Mikoto paused for a few seconds. She wasn't sure how to tell Ryuu exactly what happened next. "He wasn't getting better. He still wanted to die more than anything so that he and his wife could be together." She quickly dried her eyes and turned around to look at Ryuu, "Have you ever had to make a decision where you'd have to sacrifice your own happiness for someone else's?"
He didn't answer.
"Well, I decided that it was wrong of me to be selfish and keep him here with me. If he wanted to die so badly, then I should help him along with it. Now I'm the only one left of my family. I've been living alone ever since Zidane died."
Ryuu remained silent. He wasn't sure what to say, so he said nothing, and continued to rhythmically rock her back and forth. "Then, recently, I found my father's scientific notes. …Do you know what Trance is?"
"I've heard of it…" Ryuu said quietly. "It's something that only a minority of the minority can use, right?"
Mikoto nodded. "Do you know how they're triggered?"
"Well, there's pain…" he said slowly, "…and very strong emotion."
Mikoto nodded again. "Father found a way to program a Trance within each and every one of his children. The Trance he programmed into me is so powerful, it could destroy an entire…" she paused, knowing well that if she said the world, he would not believe her, "…city."
Ryuu thought for a while, then he leaned forward to rest his chin on the nape of Mikoto's neck. "Well, how long did you live before you found out that you were in danger of triggering this Trance?"
About fifty years, Mikoto thought. "A while."
"And you were able to live normally in that time period without triggering your Trance?"
He's got a good point.
When she looked at him, she saw that he was smiling again. A genuine smile that lit up his entire face, even in the vast darkness. "What if it's a fluke? Maybe this Trance doesn't exist, and your father is just trying to scare you."
Mikoto turned her body completely around and opened her mouth to argue, but before she was able to say anything Ryuu wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him. Her eyes widened as he drew his face closer to hers until their foreheads were pressed together. Now she had no other choice but to look deep into his brown eyes. His grip on her was not so tight that she couldn't move, but she had no desire to do so. "Maybe…" she consented.
Ryuu smiled again, "We can test it."
Her heart was racing so fast she was sure it would burst through her chest at any second. Not to mention she was so close to him she knew that he could feel her heartbeat as well, and she was so envious that he was still so calm about it. "But-" she started, but was unable to finish her statement for Ryuu closed what little distance was between them and lightly pressed his lips to hers, then he slowly pulled away, smirking.
Mikoto was silent now. Her mouth was opening and closing, forming inaudible words. With one of his hands, Ryuu reached up and wiped away the trails of tears winding down her face to find that she was still trembling. He hesitated momentarily, then pressed his lips to her again, only this time he lingered instead of pulling away.
Mikoto's blue eyes widened in the shock of it all, then once the realization set in she closed them and allowed her hands to droop to her sides.
Ryuu pulled her even closer to him and deepened the kiss, snaking his hands up the back of her shirt. Although inexperienced and awkward, Mikoto returned the kiss, moving her hands from her sides to around his neck. His hot tongue moved across every inch of her mouth, almost in a teasing manner, and his right hand moved to her neck, almost as if holding her in place.
She felt lightheaded and the sensation of butterflies in her stomach was overwhelming. Just when she thought that her knees would give out beneath her, Ryuu caught her and steadied her with his muscular arms. It was then that both realized they were in desperate need of air. Simultaneously they pulled away and began breathing heavily; trying to make up for the time they went without it. Mikoto allowed herself to lean completely against his chest, damp with sweat, and he remained holding tightly onto her, his chin once again resting on the nape of her neck. The tears started falling clumsily down her face once more when she realized that it would never last.
Even if he did love her and they were together, even for a while, something would ultimately happen to break them apart, and she'd be left alone in the world once again. Even so, she selfishly didn't want this moment to ever end. She wished that they could stay there, suspended in time forever.
Her face buried into Ryuu's shoulder, she blindly reached up and tangled her fingers into his dark hair. She gasped when she felt him biting her neck and lightly sucking on the skin. "Hey, you'll leave a mark," she said quietly, still not bothering to move away.
She could just see the devious grin on Ryuu's face as he ignored her statement. She shrugged her shoulder and he lifted his head, allowing his lips to finally part with her neck. But, then, smiling deviously, he leaned back into her, lifted her chin with his thumb and crushed his mouth against hers again. Calloused hands moved up and down the bare skin of her back under her shirt, before lodging themselves in the back pockets of her jeans, pulling her forward again.
Mikoto didn't know how long they had locked lips when suddenly, as abruptly as it all began, she pressed a hand to his chest and forcedly pushed him away.
"What's wrong?" he asked breathlessly.
Mikoto, also trying to catch her breath, looked every which way. She could have sworn she heard something, but whatever it was, it stopped.
"I'm sorry," she heard Ryuu say softly. She turned to see him holding a hand to his forehead and pushing back his brown hair. His eyes were averted to the ground, almost as if he was afraid of making eye contact. "I don't know what… I am so sorry."
Tentatively, she reached up and this time she kissed him to resume where they had left off.
It wasn't until they heard someone clear their throat and say, "So, this is what you two have been up to," that they broke apart again.
Kashiya stood not five feet off, smiling, hands resting at her hips. Mikoto felt her face flush crimson and she buried her face into Ryuu's shoulder. "We got worried when we saw Mikoto storm away from camp like that…" she said slowly, as if thinking carefully before saying anything. "But, if this is what you were up to, then don't let me interrupt!" She held her hands up as if to show defeat, then she walked rather quickly back to camp.
Ryuu chuckled in his throat and pressed his forehead to hers. "You ready to go back to camp?"
Mikoto gripped the fabric of his shirt tightly and shook her head, sobbing once again. "What's wrong?" he asked, running his fingers through her blond hair. Mikoto herself wasn't sure what was wrong, or whether the tears that poured out were due to happiness or sadness; emotions seemed so alien to her now. "I'll be here in the morning," he reassured, still smiling.
But that wasn't enough. She wanted here; she wanted the time they had now.
"Besides," he continued, still trying to catch his breath, "if that didn't set off your Trance, I'm not sure what would."
She nodded, unsure of what to say and reluctantly let go of his shirt. Ryuu slipped his hand into hers and led her back to the camp.
Instead of walking back to the campfire with Ryuu, she went ahead and stopped at her tent. Ryuu wished her goodnight and walked off, and she changed into some pajamas, then lay down on top of her sleeping bag and stared up at the brown canvas of the tent. Outside the only sounds were crickets serenading everyone to sleep, and the crackling of the fire.
It wasn't long before Kashiya crawled into the tent, still smiling knowingly at Mikoto and saying nothing. It was silent between the two for a while, then just as Mikoto was getting ready to fall asleep, Kashiya asked, "So, how was it?"
"What?"
"Your first kiss! How was it?"
Mikoto wanted to curl into a ball and disappear. How did Kashiya know it was her first? Was it really that noticeable? "I don't think…" the Genome said slowly, "words can do it justice."
She tried to shake all the jumbled-up thoughts from her head. "We're leaving Ipsen's Castle tomorrow," she said, changing subjects.
"Are we going home so soon?"
"No, I don't have enough artifacts to call it quits. What do you think of going to Madin Sari?"
"Madin Sari?!" Kashiya gasped, "I've always wanted to go there!"
Mikoto smiled to herself and rolled over so that her back was facing Kashiya. She could tell that things were going to change, but for the better or for the worse, she wasn't sure.
The next morning when everyone woke up, surprisingly it was the twins who refused to get out of bed. Kashiya sauntered out of their tent, throwing her arms up in defeat. "They're not budging," she said.
Mikoto grumbled something incoherent and glanced at Seth's wristwatch. She was hoping to leave before eight o'clock so that they could get to Madin Sari around midday.
"Throw some water on them," Seth said around the filter of his cigarette. Over the last few days he had been running low, so he tried limiting his nicotine intake. He had a cigarette when he woke up, after every meal, and before he went to sleep. Sometimes he'd have more depending on how annoying the twins were.
"No, don't!" Mikoto rolled her eyes. "We don't want to waste what water we have."
"Hey, Seth, why don't you go wake them up?" Ryuu snickered. "Do what you threatened to do to me."
Seth inhaled the last of his cigarette, then blowing the silver smoke from his nose, he threw it on the ground and smothered it beneath his boot. Wide-eyed, Mikoto watched as Seth walked to the twins' tent, loading his handgun as he went.
From outside the tent, Mikoto, Kashiya and Ryuu heard Seth cry, "Rise n' shine!" Then the sound of two gunshots were heard, and then the unmistakable sound of the twins screaming. Mikoto covered her mouth in fear and ran to the tent and threw open the flaps. Blaise and Blade were up and about, dressing at Seth's gunpoint. There were two holes in the bare ground between their sleeping bags where Seth obviously shot his gun.
"Seth, don't do that again," she gasped, clutching her heart.
"I won't," he said calmly. "What a waste of ammo…"
Everyone picked up camp and loaded their belongings into the airship. By the time they left Mikoto saw, much to her dislike, that it was almost an hour later than she had hoped.
The flight from Ipsen's Castle to Madin Sari was long and tiring. Needless to say, everyone was very happy to be on land again once they reached their destination. Kashiya and Mikoto offered to set up the entire camp as the boys searched the ruins for as many artifacts they could find without disturbing the structure.
As they worked, Mikoto tried her best to teach Kashiya some simple curative magic. Kashiya had a knack for it; magic must've been strong in her family when people still used it.
Once everything was up where it should be, Mikoto and Kashiya sat around the fire ring they had made and talked quietly amongst themselves and waited for the boys to return.
"Do we have to wait for them?" Kashiya whined, looking longingly at the stone rubble. "I want to go exploring!"
Mikoto chuckled and threw the stick she had been fumbling with on the ground. "I'll go with you."
"Really? Awesome!" Kashiya stood up and began walking toward the ruins.
Quickly grabbing her dagger, Mikoto ran to catch up.
"They say the best time to be in the ruins is during sunset," Kashiya swooned. "They say that it's the most romantic sight."
Mikoto thought for a moment and remembered Zidane once saying, 'Sunset in Madin Sari is something everyone wants to see, but the thing is you don't want to be there after sunset.' To this day she still had no idea what he meant by that.
"You and Ryuu should go watch the sunset," Kashiya beamed, nudging Mikoto in the side. "I know! That's what we'll do. I'll find you guys the perfect little spot to sit and watch it!" and with that, Kashiya took off running.
Mikoto's face burned red as she chased after her. "Stop Kash, you don't have to tease me like that. I don't even know what happened last night!"
"Isn't that what everyone says?" the older woman laughed, then came to a standstill so quickly that Mikoto almost ran directly into her back. "Would you look at that…?" she muttered to herself. Almost in a zombie-like manner she walked to the Eidolon Wall.
The two girls stepped into the circular stone room and Kashiya walked to the closest painting; the one of the thunder god, Ramuh. She reached up with her thin fingers and traced the outlines of it, feeling the cool touch of stone against her fingertips.
"This is…so neat. The Summoners definitely had a unique lifestyle, wouldn't you say? Look at all the paintings of the Eidolons!"
Mikoto smiled and leaned back against the stone wall.
"I don't suppose you know how to summon, do you?" Kashiya asked.
"No, only a certain group of people could call forth Eidolons. My brother tried to summon without being a Summoner."
"Oh, was he able to?"
Mikoto chewed on her lip, "No. It was one of the things that led to his death."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Kashiya said quietly, still looking at the paintings.
It was silent between the two, Kashiya looking at paintings and Mikoto just thinking when they heard someone yelling, "KASH! MIKOTO! WE NEED YOU GUYS!!"
The two girls looked at each other then bolted out through the stone doorway. Immediately upon exiting, they saw Blade running toward them. "It's Blaise, we're not sure what's wrong with him."
"Is he sick?" Kashiya asked.
"Yeah. He collapsed while we were looking and it looked like he went into convulsions, then he started throwing up everywhere! We got to camp and we were looking for something to give to him, but you haven't taken your medicines out yet."
"Yeah we did. They're in the first aid tent!"
"No they're not. We looked everywhere for them!"
"What!?"
Kashiya ran even faster toward the camp. She could see Ryuu and Seth's silhouettes in the first aid tent as she drew closer to it. When she got there, she threw open the flaps, pushing Ryuu out of the way.
Blaise was lying in the infirmary cot, shaking and sweating at the same time. "Have you taken his temperature?"
"We told you, we couldn't find your stuff anywhere!" Blade yelled as he and Mikoto stumbled in as well. Kashiya turned to the corner of the tent she normally kept her chests and saw that they weren't there.
"Mikoto, didn't we put my things in here?" she asked quickly.
"Yeah, I remember putting them right there!"
Kashiya held her hand to Blaise's forehead to find him burning up with fever, still he kept muttering 'so cold' to himself, over and over. Flustered, Kashiya stood straight up and said, "Okay, here's how it goes. Blade, Ryuu and Mikoto, I want you guys to look for my medicine and equipment. Seth, bring me some more blankets."
Without asking questions, everyone did as they were told. Blaise, still delirious looked wildly around the tent. Kashiya sat down in a stool next to the bed and smoothed out his messy blond hair, grasping his hand. "Shh, shh, calm down," she tried to soothe.
Seth arrived with more blankets and together, he and Kashiya packed Blaise in.
"I don't understand how he's so cold. It's hotter than a mother out there," Seth grumbled.
"I don't know, but I have an idea of what he has," Kashiya said quietly, sitting back down next to him and continuing to brush the blond hair from his face. His eyes seemed so distant, almost like he was looking completely through them.
"It's not contagious, is it?" Seth asked.
"Not if it's what I think it is." The white haired man looked sullenly between the two figures and finally squatted down next to Kashiya. Outside the tent, the sound of the other three frantically searching for Kashiya's belongings could be faintly heard.
Blaise began shaking even worse than before, and Kashiya felt powerless to stop him. Then she had an idea; it should work temporarily, at least until they could find her medicines. Still gripping Blaise's hand, she pressed it against his chest and her other hand against his forehead and quietly said, "Esuna." He stopped shaking and closed his eyes.
"Oh, no, did I do it wrong?" she panicked. She pressed her ear to his chest, his heart was still beating and he was still breathing.
"I think he's sleeping," Seth whispered.
Kashiya nodded and walked to the tent entrance. Ryuu and Blade were on their way back carrying the huge chest of medicines, and Mikoto followed behind, dragging a smaller one.
"Where were they?" the medic asked happily.
"For some reason, they were in our tent," Ryuu said, carefully placing the huge chest on the ground.
"What were they doing in there?" Kashiya asked, taking the smaller chest from Mikoto. She pulled out a syringe and drew some blood from Blaise's arm. "Mikoto, set up my microscope," she instructed as she put a drop of the blood on a slide.
Once the microscope was set up, she placed the slide under the lens. After focusing for a long time she sat up and leaned back in her chair. "I knew it," she muttered.
"What is it?" Blade asked.
The others looked at her expectantly. "Well, it's just a little ironic, don't you think?" she laughed half-heartedly, "he's got malaria."
"From the water?!" Blade exclaimed.
"No, not from the water!" she rolled her eyes. "From a mosquito bite!"
"How bad is it?"
"I'm going to need more space to work, everyone out!" she shooed, pushing everyone from the tent.
Taking a huge shuddering breath, she sat down at her stool and looked through her already made medicines, hoping she had one already mixed for viral sicknesses such as malaria. She had no such luck. "Dammit," she grumbled, pulling out a huge alchemist chart she brought from home.
She ran her finger down a column until she found 'malaria' written in italic letters. Next she ran her finger over, finally finding the ratios of ingredients she needed. Shakily, she pulled the herbs out and started to crush them with a stone inside a bowl.
In the cot, Blaise rolled and moaned in his sleep. Once the herbs had been reduced to a fine powder, she grabbed a potion bottle and emptied the powder into it, corked it, and shook it until the herbs were dissolved into the pink tinted liquid. She fed the medicine to him through her own mouth as she had done with Seth previously.
Now all she could do was wait and hope that he came out of it.
Hours passed, and Blaise did little but sleep. When he was awake, he was delirious and when he talked he made no sense.
Seth reentered the tent, carrying a lantern to find Kashiya still sitting with Blaise, whispering things to him, as if hoping against all hope that he could hear her. He quietly placed the lantern on the table and walked behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist.
The action startled her and when she looked back to see Seth, she shook her head. "Not now."
"How's he doing?" he whispered.
"Hasn't woken up in more than," she checked her watch, "Two hours."
"You need a break. Come on, the sun's getting ready to set."
"Who'll watch him?"
Seth sighed and stood back up. "He's been asleep for two hours, what makes you think he'll wake up in the next thirty minutes?"
"I'd feel bad if he did," she answered, voice barely audible.
"You need to get some fresh air," Seth said, pulling on her arm, trying to get her to stand. She yanked her arm away.
"Sorry, I need to stay here."
She felt his eyes boring holes into the back of her head, so with an exasperated sigh, she stood up and walked to the entrance of the tent, leaned against a pole that was holding it up, and crossed her arms. He walked up behind her and placed his arms over hers, pulling her back into him. "We'll watch it from here then."
"Seth…" she mumbled, but stopped herself. Is this not what she had wanted for the last few weeks? She leaned her head back against his arm and breathed in his scent, a mixture of cologne, dirt and sweat.
Past the tent flaps, in the distance, the sun was glowing a dangerous shade of crimson in the auburn sky. Slowly, it sunk lower and lower until it just barely touched the top of the Madin Sari structure. Then, all of the red rock that made up the ruins began to glow the same red as the sun.
Kashiya almost fell forward, Seth too. Everything looked like it was on fire. Burning eternally a brilliant red. It was just as beautiful as it was eerie.
"I bet it's a curse," Kashiya murmured.
"Hm?"
"Madin Sari was destroyed by fire, wasn't it? I'll bet one of the village elders cursed the ruins so that everyone could see the sight of Madin Sari burning."
She felt a chill run up her spine and Seth tightened his grip around her.
"I wonder if Mikoto and Ryuu are watching?" she pondered aloud.
"They are. I saw them leave with Blade a while ago," he said. "I say we have about fifteen minutes to ourselves," he smiled deviously. He took her by the wrists and turned her to look at him.
"What has gotten into you, I'd like to know…" Kashiya chuckled embarrassedly, averting her eyes to the ground. He removed his sunglasses and lifted her chin, his piercingly green eyes staring into her one visible amethyst eye.
"A couple of shots," he answered. He was so close to her now that she had no doubt this was the case. The smell of alcohol was still noticeable behind the strong smell of the mint gum he was chewing on. Because of his nicotine shortage, he was drinking more so that he wouldn't notice his cravings as much, even though Mikoto was constantly hiding the alcohol from him.
"Where'd you find them?" she laughed.
His voice got softer as he leaned in closer, "It's a secret."
Mikoto sat between Ryuu and Blade on a giant rock. Even after the sun had set, she remained sitting there, staring blankly at the ruins. That had been the most beautiful and terrifying sight she had ever seen. She was only vaguely aware of the arm around her waist, and the voice saying something in her ear.
She was pulled out of her daze by Blade pinching her in the shoulder. Covering the sore spot on her arm, she glanced at him and very plainly said, "What?"
"We need to get back to camp," he exclaimed. He seemed to be much more fidgety than normal. "No one's built a fire yet and it's going to be dark really soon." Without saying any more, he leapt down from the rock, grabbed the lantern and started running back for camp.
"He's worried about Blaise," Ryuu said shortly.
"It's understandable," Mikoto responded quietly.
When they got back to the fire ring, Ryuu let go of his grip of Mikoto. "I'm going to get something to start the fire with," he announced.
Blade walked over to the infirmary tent and opened the flap. "Out," Mikoto could hear Kashiya's voice. "I'll let you know when he's awake again, I just gave him some more medicine."
"What about Seth?" he whined.
"He's helping me. Out."
Blade stumbled out of the tent looking very distraught. He glanced back at Mikoto then grumbled something about going to the bathroom.
The Genome looked down at the fire ring. Several logs had been thrown down in the center of the ring very haphazardly. Sighing, she bent down and began to stack them in a more orderly fashion.
A gust of cold wind blew. Mikoto rubbed up and down her arms, trying to keep warm, but she knew that if they didn't get the fire started soon it would only get worse. Deciding against waiting for Ryuu to get back, she mumbled a fire spell and watched as the logs quickly caught and the fire crackled to life.
Inside the infirmary tent, Kashiya was once again sitting in the stool beside Blaise's bed. Seth stood not too far away, fumbling around in his pocket. He was down to his last cigarette and as much as he wanted it now, he was trying to save it.
With a great yawn, Kashiya leaned her head against the cot.
"Go on to bed," she heard Seth say. "Or at least let me bring in your stuff so that you can sleep in here."
"I'm not tired," she lied, even though she could feel her eyes closing.
Then, just as she was getting ready to let her eyes close, she saw the lantern on the table teeter ever so slightly. She sat up and watched it more carefully only to see it fall completely over and roll off the table before going out completely.
Kashiya gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. However, Seth merely dismissed it, saying, "The wind must be picking up."
Trembling from head to toe, Kashiya managed to finally stutter out, "Seth, can you get us a new lantern?"
He grunted in response and then bent down to pick up the broken lantern. As he walked out of the door, she heard him mumbling, "Probably ran out of oil…"
Kashiya's heart was racing. How could the wind have just 'picked up' when they were sitting inside of a tent?
Whistling to himself, Blade strolled over to a nearby forest, swinging a lantern to the side of him as he walked. His mind was in about a million different places. Blaise was extremely ill, Madin Sari gave him the creeps, not to mention, he couldn't get that eerie image of the sunset out of his head. Shaking all these thoughts from his head, he set the lantern down next to his leg, unzipped his pants and began to relieve himself.
It was then he heard something move in the bushes in front of him. He squinted his eyes and looked harder. He shrugged it away, but then he heard it again. His eyes bolted open and this time he saw what it was.
A strange squealing sound came from his throat that might've been a scream. But before he could see anymore, he quickly pulled up his pants and ran back to camp, waving the lantern wildly over his head.
"What's wrong with you?" Seth asked grumpily, looking up from the lantern he was trying to fix.
Mikoto and Ryuu looked at him confusedly too.
The blond was doubled over, trying to catch his breath. One of his arms was pointed back to the woods, and he was stuttering like never before, "G-G-G…"
"What is it?" Mikoto asked worriedly.
"G-G…Ghost!" he finally managed.
"What? Don't tell me you believe in that supernatural crap," Seth rolled his eyes, but Kashiya had already run out of the tent.
"You saw one?" she asked wildly. Blade nodded, his green eyes still wide in fear. "Where was it?"
He pointed back to the woods again.
Kashiya mumbled something, then ran back inside the infirmary tent.
"What did it look like?" Mikoto asked.
"Oh, Mik…not you too…" Seth grumbled.
"It wa…It was…a woman, with a horn…she…" he shook his head and clenched his eyes shut, as if he didn't want to recall it, "she didn't have any arms…"
Mikoto gasped and put her hand over her heart, looking back at the woods.
"You're joking, right?" Ryuu asked, his mouth hanging open.
"You're all nuts," Seth said, shaking his head. He relit the lantern and turned the knob to make sure it was working again. When he saw that it was, he took it back to the first aid tent, then went to bed in his own tent.
Blade, Mikoto and Ryuu looked nervously between each other, and timidly sat down around the fire. It was almost completely black outside. Not even the stars or moons were shining to provide them with any light.
Blade, already more jumpy than normal, seemed paranoid beyond belief. He was constantly looking around him, as if always afraid someone was standing over his shoulder.
Mikoto was poking at the fire boringly, her chin resting in her spare hand, when she felt Ryuu nudge her. She looked up and what she saw terrified her. The spirits of men, women and children alike were running around the ruins. Cries of anguish, sorrow and pain echoed off of the stony walls.
Blade made another squealing noise and ran into the infirmary tent at the same time that Kashiya bolted out. Her amethyst eye widened in terror and she zipped across the camp, running into Seth's tent.
"What?" they heard his monotonous voice ask.
"Do you believe in ghosts?" Kashiya asked, almost too fast to catch.
"I think it's all a bunch of…" but Kashiya had already dragged him from the tent, and he was already seeing it first hand. He fumbled in his pocket for his last cigarette and shakily brought it to his mouth.
"What the hell is this?" he asked from around the cigarette, struggling to light it.
Mikoto stood up and as if being pulled by a magnet, walked for the village to get a better look, "It's the destruction…" she muttered.
"Get back here!" Seth yelled at her. She paid him no heed and walked closer before stopping at the entrance of the ruins.
"Ms. Tribal!" she heard Ryuu call behind her. Fast footsteps followed her and she felt arms wrap around her, pulling her back, yet she fought back to hold her ground.
Overhead, a giant eyeball protruded from behind clouds and blinked. She heard Ryuu gasp and felt his heartbeat grow faster, still he held tightly onto her to prevent her from venturing any deeper into the village.
Within the giant eyeball's red iris, she could see the reflection of the village burning. Screams of fleeing villagers surrounded them. A man carrying a child, frantic with fear, ran right through them, sending a chill up their spine so shocking Mikoto went limp and Ryuu almost fell.
Two funnels of tornadoes stretched down from the sky and hit the village at the same time.
"It's a curse!" Kashiya yelled. "I'm sure of it! This entire village is cursed! Mikoto! We need to get out of here!"
"We don't have enough artifacts," Mikoto argued.
"Mikoto! Get back!" Seth yelled again, and again she ignored him. "Ryuu! Bring her back!"
She felt Ryuu grab her around the waist and lift her legs up so that he held her in a cradle. He carried her back to camp, and stood next to Kashiya and Seth. All four watched the terrorizing scene of Madin Sari's destruction with wide eyes, Ryuu still holding her.
Then, as suddenly as it began, it stopped as if someone pressed some sort of button. The surroundings were once again eerily silent. Seth looked at his watch, then back at Kashiya, "Midnight," he breathed, "Exactly."
Shaking all over, Kashiya walked to the infirmary tent and opened it up. Blade had been watching the scene unfold from between the tent flaps. "Is it over?" he asked, worriedly.
"We think so," she said quietly. "How's your brother? Did he wake up?"
"You'll never believe this…" Blade said quietly.
"What?" she asked, turning to look at him. When he didn't say anything, she looked at Blaise, his eyes were wide open and he was looking wildly around.
"What's going on?" he asked, panic-stricken.
"Settle down!" Kashiya exclaimed, trying to press him back against the mattress, but he fought against her. She felt his forehead; his fever was gone.
"He's…he's cured!" she said breathlessly. She turned around to look at Blade so fast her hair whipped her in the face, "What happened?"
As if to answer her question, she saw a silver man dissolve into the canvas of the tent, smiling. She backed up against the table, causing it to fall with her. "What…what th-"
"He said he was the village witch doctor…" Blade said, his voice also faltering with fear and confusion.
Kashiya swallowed several times, even though her mouth felt dry. She blinked a few times at the spot where the man had vanished.
"He also said, he was sorry about your potions."
Covering her heart with her hand, she scrambled back to her feet. She was sure that her heart stopped beating for a few seconds, but disregarded it and stumbled out of the tent. "It's a miracle!" she screamed, "he was cured!" Mikoto and Ryuu were the only ones still standing outside. Both turned slowly toward her.
"What?" Ryuu asked.
"Blaise! He's cured!"
The two went running to see for themselves. Sure enough, Blaise was sitting up in bed, holding his head. Seth also came running in.
"What happened?" he asked, wishing he hadn't smoked his last cigarette.
"The village doctor paid him a visit," Kashiya smiled.
Everyone in the room stared at her in utter confusion for a few moments. Then, unanimously, it seemed as if their jaws dropped. "No way…" Ryuu muttered.
"O-Okay…" Mikoto stammered, "Kashiya, I agree with you. We're leaving for Lindblum first thing tomorrow morning."
To be continued….
A/N: Surprise everyone! It's a quick update! I figured you'd all enjoy this, rather than waiting forever and a day for me to update, like usual. But, I actually got this one written fairly quickly, at one o'clock in the morning may I add…and only the ghosties that live in my house to accompany me. Yes, I was frightened.
