A/N: Hooray! People who reviewed!
Like I said; all this's been written. If it ever gets to the point when I have to start writing again, the style will be pretty much different.
Sorry if it gets a little confusing as it goes on. Happening 300 years in the future, the skills of the Maplers of yore are actually pretty much legendary.
Looking back on this chapter, I first have to warn that it contains fluff. How terrible. I kinda feel sorry I added that element in so early. That's not really the point of the story, anyway. In the actual story, this is actually the 34th chapter. Because there were five different plots to follow. So I guess it seemed longer that time.
I really have no idea what to say. I'm just glad that people actually like this. Go figure.
My Chapter – Lost and Found -
She opened her eyes.
"White sails; flying..."
The voice was back.
Where were you?
"Where was your mind?"
She rose to a sitting position. Pushing her hair out of her face, she felt around for her belongings. They were still there.
Getting to her feet, she cautiously surveyed the area around her. She didn't want to be surprised by another attack.
Red eyes; snarling darkness...
But it was day now. She was still in Ellinia; the trees that surrounded this place was proof enough of that, but now the sunlight came through in large beams rather than narrow streams.
"Almost at the top, then."
The wind blew around her; at the lower levels the trees blocked out all but the fiercest ones. Up here she enjoyed the feeling of it in her hair; a feeling of open spaces that she had left behind long, too long ago.
She was on a massive structure, its moss-covered beams and damp platforms obvious marks of neglect. Standing on a platform made entirely out of wooden planks, it looked to be the deck of a ship.
An enormous ship.
She approached the edge of the deck and looked over. Amazingly, the ship was balanced atop hundreds of trees, which seemed to support its weight rather precariously.
What was this used for?
"Haven't your elders ever told you of the legendary ship?"
Tilting her head to a side, she looked through her memories; some good, some bad, but all painful.
Her Guardian spoke gently, almost as if he was speaking to a little child.
But he was, Yue realized. She had only been eight at the time.
"More than two hundred years ago now, the people of Ellinia once had a service which ferried people from Victoria Island to a mythical land in the clouds..."
"Ossyria."
This time it was the voice who spoke.
"The Palace of the Crescent Moon is your quest... and his."
But that's just it.
Her eyes searched the ship; her heart beat a little faster.
Where is he...?
His eyelids slowly flickered open.
"Welcome back to the land of the living."
At first he thought it was Yue. Then he realized that the voice was different. Yue's mindspeech was garbled with many other thoughts and emotions struggling to rise to the surface, yet there was a certain calmness about this voice.
Who are you?
"Forgotten me already?
"I'm disappointed."
The voice was toying with him, he knew. He chose not to respond, and instead tried to get up. His lips were dry, cracked. He ran a tongue over them, but it felt leathery in his mouth. In vain he tried to get up; his arms lay useless at his sides. His body ached as he desperately tried to move, but it was useless.
Did you do this to me?
The voice laughed, a melodic peal that sounded strangely like the tinkling of bells.
"I'm not the one you're fighting, don't worry. If it were me you'd probably have greater reason to worry."
Once more he couldn't help but wonder
Who are you?
"I am... your other side."
Confused, he strained one more time to lift an arm to help himself up. Failing, he lay, staring at the blank wooden ceiling above him. The room he was in was dark and dusty, but he didn't sense any monsters anywhere near.
I... I don't understand.
"You don't have to... not yet."
What's happening to me?
"You're tired... is all. Rest, and let me help you..."
He didn't feel like he had any choice.
She ran down the corridors, wanting to call his name. The fact that she didn't know it made him seem suddenly further away.
He can't have died... Not after saving me...
She rounded another corner and returned to the deck where she had begun. She had searched the two upper decks now...
Could it be... that he...
A wave of guilt washed over her; she hadn't been able to protect anyone...
"Yue..."
She started. For an instant she had thought it was him.
"Don't panic. Look into yourself... he exists inside you now too."
Closing her eyes, she forced herself to concentrate on her first image of him, him seated in deep meditation as she fell from the tree.
It seems so long ago now.
And then she felt it. A resonance; his link and hers. It was weak, but...
He's alive. And he's on this ship.
There was only one place she hadn't searched...
I hoped I wouldn't have to...
Holding on to their link, she pushed open the door which led to the belowdecks, and stepped into utter darkness.
White... bright light...
Where are you?
You can't die yet...
I'll come find you.
No matter what.
"Wake up!"
The voice woke him with a jolt.
"I hope you're grateful."
The voice sounded just a little put out.
... Thanks...
He still wasn't sure if the voice could be trusted. It... she seemed to be capable of saving him or leaving him to die; it was duplicitous in more ways than one, sometimes serious, yet at other times teasing him.
He thought back to the voices he heard in his sleep... Was she looking for him even now? He stood up, marveling at how energetic he felt.
You... really did a good job.
He could imagine the voice making a face.
"Don't underestimate me."
Underestimate who?
"Don't you wish you knew?"
Behind that last he heard a girlish giggle.
Definitely female then.
The voice made as if to respond, but then suddenly it stopped, as though a switch had been flipped.
Whaa--?
But then he felt it too.
The link.
"Yue... Yue can you hear me!"
He stood and looked around the small room he was in. No windows and a single door.
Well... that makes it easy for me.
Taking a deep breath, he turned the doorknob and stepped into complete silence.
"Yue... Yue can you hear me!"
She heard the voice as if over a vast distance, but it was unmistakable.
She almost cried out in relief.
You're alive.
"We're not gone, not yet. Weren't you the one who said that?"
She smiled.
And we won't ever be.
The darkness surrounded her completely, so much that she could hardly see her hand in front of her face.
"Don't be afraid."
Never look back.
His voice was like a beacon through the darkness. She couldn't see, but she could feel, and at that moment her emotions showed her the way; of sympathy, empathy, gratitude, but under all of that, she realized she also felt
Love.
In the space of a single day, they had gone through more than she had thought possible, and shared more than some people would have shared in a lifetime. She felt as though she owed him more than she could say, but at the same time she realized that that wasn't the whole of it.
She was more than a little fond of him.
"Do you feel anything for him?"
She had replied a resounding negative then. But now she wasn't so sure.
He ran through the darkness, his gift granting him black and white glimpses of the world around him.
It was something like a storage room, crates everywhere, forming a maze of sorts.
How big is this place?
It seemed like a never-ending maze of shadows.
Left... left... right and then straight on...
But he could feel her presence.
Don't be afraid.
He knew what she must had been feeling at that time. The darkness was so complete, so absolute... Even to him it felt oppressive, threatening to crush him. The link between them... Instinctively he kept moving forward, trusting himself, and her as well.
"Never look back."
Her voice. It filled him with a sense of hope. He didn't stop to wonder why he was so concerned for her. He didn't know exactly, but he didn't really care. But she was there for him, and whatever it was, he felt a sense of gratitude that knew no bounds, and at the same time, a tender affection close to his heart.
After all this, you're still my only friend.
He turned around another corner, sure of himself now. He owed her a debt that he would never be able to fully repay... but it was more than that, not for himself he knew, but for her too. He could feel it through the link, but he didn't know exactly what he was feeling.
I'll find you... I promise.
And in his mind he knew the promise wasn't just his.
I promise.
The words echoed in her mind as she kept running, her mind ablaze with emotions, yet strangely clear.
It'll be our promise.
She felt rather than saw the obstacles in her way; it was as though he was there to show her the way.
Or maybe I'm learning...
Learning from him? Was it possible that he actually had anything to teach her? She remembered when she first met him. He had seemed so lost; so alone.
But he's taught me more than he'll ever know.
She rounded another corner...
Right, right, left and then...
"Ahh!"
She ran straight into a wall. Falling back in pain, she winced as she stared up at the formidable dark mass in front of her.
"Yue! Are you ok!"
Don't worry.
I'm fine...
Getting up, she felt the wall in front of her. It felt cold, oppressive...
What's this?
A lever. Unhesitatingly, she pulled it.
And then the world went white.
Darkness to Light
His eyes strained as he tried to see through the sudden flash of light.
What is this...?
From behind his half-closed lids, he could vaguely make out signs of movement...
Yue? Are you alright?
No response. Allowing his eyes time to adjust to the light, he finally opened his eyes again.
What the--
The sight that greeted him was so fantastic he found it hard to believe. The darkness had not lied to him about the crates, but around him he saw so much more.
The ceiling was covered with gears and cogs, pistons and shafts, so much that it looked more like a giant machine than anything.
What is this?
Even as he watched, the machinery began to move, slowly at first, but then faster and faster. He watched it pick up speed, fascinated by its strange nonpurpose.
"Where are you?"
Her voice sounded so close. His heart pounding, he ignored the machines and ran straight ahead. But before he could move a step, his stomach lurched sickeningly as he felt the floor slip from under him. Falling to the ground, he struggled to find his feet, but to no avail.
"Help!"
Desperately he crawled on. She sounded so close now; he could feel her distress.
I'm coming.
He labored forward, finally reaching the corner. He grabbed the edge of it with a shaking hand before his world seemed to tip over.
Whoaa!
Crates tumbled, missing him barely. As the ground stabilized, he realized there no longer was a floor under him.
The corridor had become a pit under him.
I'm coming.
And he was hanging on by a thread.
She shook her head, trying to clear it from the shock of the impact.
"I'm coming."
His voice sounded so close, her heart surged with hope.
Something's wrong.
A sinking feeling; it might have been the tone of his voice, it may have been the link they shared.
Are you alright!
No response. In frustration she stood up and ran down the corridor.
And almost threw herself down the yawning pit. She was sure it hadn't been there before.
No...
"Not yet."
His mindvoice sounded tired, but was filled with grim determination. She choked back a cry as his hand appeared over the edge.
"I've got you."
She realized how shaky her voice was as it passed her lips. She grasped his hand with both of hers and pulled, landing him over her in a heap.
You said we'd be safe here.
Her voice held no tone of accusation. She was relieved. They both were.
"I told you I'd find you."
Getting off her, he tilted his head to a side.
Now he's definitely copying me.
What?
"How do I put this... what exactly did you do?"
She smiled sheepishly.
"Well, whatever it is, we'd better see what's happening outside."
He turned to head towards the exit.
Wait!
She grabbed his arm.
"Umm... That really was troublesome... Next time, let's stick together, kay?"
He smiled.
"Fine. Now let's go see just what trouble you've caused..."
A/N: Like I said. Fluff. Isn't that a tad sad to have. Oh well, can't be helped.
Please R&R. Cool.
