Thank you to Mizuna Kurenagi for review last chapter
Chapter XXVI: Si Deus Me Relinquit
Darcia was true to his word.
The next day Lord Orkham did leave the keep, planning to fly off to whatever event he had been originally going to-Mahina couldn't recall what it was-and soon his former host Darcia and Darcia's precious daughter, dressed in pure white contrasting the black she wore the other day, stood waving to the departing host.
As soon as their airships were small dots in the distance Darcia turned to Mahina. She had expected him to praise her for keeping her composure around the fat Lord Orkham but instead he carefully pulled Mahina's mask from her face. Mahina watched with surprise as her father gave the delicately crafted ceramic a glance over before he carelessly tossed it off the cliff side.
"I trust you know the way to your garden from here?" he asked thought Mahina was to busy watching with stunned eyes as her Nobles mask quickly vanished among the foggy wood below the cliff. She turned her attention back to her father and slowly nodded her head. Of course she knew the way but why did that matter? Darcia was silent as Mahina tilted her head curiously at him only turning to remove his own mask and hand it to a servant. "I'm going to count to ten…" the father remarked chuckling when Mahina's brow shot up in alertness "let us see how fast you are on your feet, little one."
For a moment Mahina did not move, too stunned to completely comprehend what her father had said but when the male took a step towards Mahina and let off a playful growl she squealed taking off away from her father and the amused servant that stood beside him.
The chase was on.
It didn't take Mahina long to find the stoney path by the cliffside that lead to the gardens and once she found it she quickly kicked her shoes off, hitched up her long dress despite how hard it was with her robe like sleeves, and took off running.
She ran and she ran and she ran.
Her bare feet pounded against the grass bellow and giggles burst from her throat. Almost forgetting her objective she twirled and ducked behind a tree with a hand over her mouth to hide her giggles. In the distance Darcia chuckled as he drew closer, he was hot on Mahina's heels despite giving her a good head start. She giggled even more and took off running.
She had to beat father to the garden.
She was faster, there was no way he could beat her.
The wind howled past her face as she ran causing the white gown she wore to flutter about her person.
She knew exactly where in the garden she wanted to go. That place, that lovely spot by the lake. There was a break in the lush trees just ahead of her and it made her grin picking up in speed with hope of getting to her destination much faster.
It was right there, right ahead of her.
"Mahina?...Mahina no!" Darcia called to Mahina from behind but she did not stop.
Pushing her feet off the ground she launched herself through the opening and out into the blinding light. Losing her footing, Mahina stumbled forward before dropping onto her hands and knees in the open space. This part of the garden was just as Mahina remembered
The grass of bright and green
Bird sang all around her
The flowers were beginning to bloom
And the sun reflected golden beams of light from the shallow water.
...and sitting there before it was the white wolf…
He stared at her wordlessly with those golden eyes of his and in that instant Mahina understood
The time had come.
"..." carefully Mahina pushed herself back to her feet and made her way towards the wolf.
'so...you know why I am here'
"...yes." Mahina nodded slowing to a stop before him
'and yet you seem...unafraid?'
It was true, despite remembering very clearing the warning that this very moment would happen and now having it here staring her in the face Mahina felt no fear. Instead she stared at the wolf in silence for a moment.
"will it hurt?"
'For a time' the wolf answered with an incline of his head, at least he was honest about it 'But then, you will simply fall asleep'
"Like Hamona?"
'Like Hamona'
So this was to be her fate, Mahina would be lying if she said she even the slightest bit surprised. She had been saved from this fate at an early age by the humans around her but no one ever said such fates wouldn't come back for her.
"..." Mahina took all this new in calm silence as she heard her father making his way towards the section of the garden she stood in screaming for her the whole way but she paid no mind to it. Instead, Mahina reached a hand out to pet the wolf but just as she was going to she hesitated and decided against it pulling back.
No
Not him
Not this wolf
The wolf actually seemed excited to possibly be touched by Mahina but when she pulled away her let out a very human like chuckle
'I see...even now you have not forgiven me.'
Forgive him for what? Mahina didn't know but something in her told her that this wolf, this feral beast, was not to be touched. Not to be chosen by her
'So be it.'
That was when it happen.
A lump painful formed in Mahina's throat
Her vision went hazy vision
"Mahina?" Darcia's voice reached Mahina's ears but it was too late.
Her breath quickened as she reached up and clenches her dress over her heart. Her heart is starting to beat really fast. It… it was happening again. Just like that incident years ago. It was happening again.
"Mahina!" Darcia's voice echoed in Mahina's ears as her legs suddenly lost their strength leaving her to helplessly drop to the gross below. "no no no no" Mahina stared helplessly at the white wolf as her panicking father skidded to the ground beside her quickly scooping Mahina up and into his lap. "Mahina!" Darcia gave Mahina a good shake as he yelled her name "Mahina no please not you too…" but Mahina couldn't respond, her body was losing its strength, she couldn't speak, she couldn't hold herself up. Her eyes rolled back and she lost consciousness.
"Stay with me!"
Mahina came to again some time later if only barely enough to realize dully that her setting had changed.
Darcia's voice was panicked as he spoke to her, panting from running. Through her hazy vision the long halls of the keeps lab whizzed by, Mahina's head hung in the air lulling about and bouncing in time with her father's running "Please, please just hang on. I'll fix it! I'll fix you! You'll be better soon"
"Is it?..."
Whos was that...
Mahina's hazy vision was returning to her if only a bit. No longer was she being carried with haste but laying on soft cushions and fabric. Her partially open eyes gazed upon a man looming over her that she did not recognize. Behind him Mahina could just barely make out the form of a blonde figure gazing at her as well. The man nodded his head a stone look came to his face
"Paradise sickness"
That was it…
After that it was...darkness
Mahina was falling
Falling…
Falling into a sleep
a deep sleep
but why?
Why couldn't she wake?
She remembered…
she remembered fainting, of suddenly falling to the ground. But she had been gazing into something before she fainted. Something that had caused her to faint.
Something….
Something…
an animal
a beast
a feral creature as pure as snow.
Final log… name, Alura Degre
The project...has failed
I don't quite know what happen. She was perfectly fine two days before this happen. All her vitals were steady and she was healthy...but then she just…
Where was Mahina?
Floating in a realm of the now and another.
She wasn't sure where she was but she knew she was bound. Her wrist were securely chained behind her back and her knees were pressed against her chest. She was submerged, claimed completely by water though she didn't drown. Her ears were clogged with it but she could hear, the area around her was glittering, hazy and green but she could still see.
Though her vision was limited she could just barely make out a blonde figure just outside the tank staring into a screen.
The figures voice sounded so familiar as they talked.
A week ago, within an hour of Lord Orkhams departure from the keep Mahina...Subject 01001101 fainted again, in the same place no less. I thought it was just like what happen last year: too much testing resulting in withering but when Lord Darcia brought her to the lab she looked perfectly fine. Never the less I acted accordingly, we submerged her immediately, placed her under suspended animation for the week until she showed signs of recovery.
But...when she did…
Mahina… I.. I mean subject 01001101 showed no signs she recognized anyone she saw, not even Lord Darcia...not even...me
She quickly grew unresponsive after that until we could only get the barest signs she was even alive.
We had to place her under life support but there's no indication that she'll ever be the same again even if she does wake up…
Her symptoms… everyone recognizes them. Lady Hamona showed the same trait before she…
Paradise sickness, Lord Darcia is sure of it… the subject… her soul is slowly fading from her body and nothing we have or can do can stop it. The subject… isn't Mahina anymore.
She isn't anything
She's just… empty. A husk being kept alive by our labs.
Today Cheza has become unresponsive as well, it's as if she knows whats happen and has given up as well. She's still there, our test have proven as much but she seems to be in a deep sleep and we can't seem to wake her up.
no one particularly seems willing to do so anyway.
Many of us are afraid, when we took this job working for Lord Darcia we all had heard of the rumors. They say that Darcia the first evoked a curse on his house when he tried to open this …"Paradise" to the nobles. But Paradise, if it exists, only grew angry from his attempts and curse his house. They say that now anyone who enters this keep and stays too long have their souls stolen by Paradise, they say thats what happen to Lady Hamona and Lord Darcia believes this to be true.
We all had our doubts, myself included. I mean, a mythical curse that steals your soul? Ha! I'm a scientist, there were no facts to prove the rumors. Besides, most of us had been here for years now and no incidents had happen...at least not until a couple of years ago when Mahi-...when subject 01001101 had fainted for the first time.
Now everyone is starting to believe the rumors, my colleagues keep reporting seeing some phantom wolf wandering the keep and within the week they are lost too. More than a third of my staff have abandoned the keep all together and Lord Darcia, either in grief or seeing the futility of it all, has stopped trying to punish them for leaving.
I...this… will be my final log as chief scientist over this project.
I, too, have decided to leave to keep and retire before whatever haunts this place can claim me as well. It pains me to leave her...I raised the subject as my own and...to stand back and be powerless as she slowly fades away…
But she hadn't faded away…
Mahina was right here.
The figure just needed to turn their head and look. Mahina wanted to call out but she was tired, drowsy, barely floating the line of consciousness in this body that was chained down. She could do nothing but watch and listen to this persons words.
Lord Darcia, I thank you for the opportunity you granted me so many years ago.
I have learned so much from my experiences here in you keep. We may have had our disagreements but I would trade these memories for anything in the world...however...I have decided to move to Freeze City to be with my husband and daughter. I have already requested passage for both myself and Tyson's mother… he was all that she had… i would be doing him a disservice if I left her to herself.
What will become of subject 01001101 and the flower maiden I don't know but… I can't stay.
If someone should find these logs in the future, curious of the Flower maiden and paradise.
Should… somehow some way my daughter ever find these files.
Paradise, is not made for humankind.
I don't know if i believe that the place is real or not. I've never seen it with my own eyes… but…
But Cheza exist...Mahina...existed…and whatever has caused all of this happen does not want us to enter this place known as Paradise.
Stay away from it
The truth, I have decided, is not worth risking your soul.
And even if it is...somethings...are far worse than that.
Mahina watched as the figure ends whatever log they were doing before pushing back and standing up with a sigh. The woman is silent for a very long time before turning around, her sad eyes looked Mahina's way briefly before turning to another tank nearby
"Well I guess this is it Cheza" she mused pushing herself out of her seat and slowly approaching the sphere that housed the maiden. "it was a wonderful experience studying you but...I can't let myself be swallowed up by this place too. I have to see my family, it's been much too long since I last saw them. I wish I didn't have to leave you here alone but it just how it is." Reaching out the figure pressed a hand against Cheza's glass tank "please if you can hear me… please look after Mahina…"
With that said Mahina watched with a dull wave of sorrow as the figure offered Mahina a weak smile and walks out of the room.
Mahina floated in black for a long time after the departure of the blonde figure. She was left floating in darkness, barely conscious but never fully asleep. Was this it? Would this be her fate?
Mahina… Mahina…
'Che...za?'
From among the darkness a pale hand appeared reaching out for Mahina.
Come back… Mahina… come back
Cheza was calling her…and just like that Mahina listened to the call, focused on it, reached for it. She yearned to be by Cheza's side once more. It had been too long since Mahina had fallen into this darkness…
She needed the light.
It blinded her as she accepted it into her being and when it finally subsided Mahina's vision returned in a familiar haze of shimmering green. She was floating again in a sea of green. A strange shadow looming over her.
Sluggishly Mahina blinked, trying to clear her blurry vision so that she might see this person better. The figure stared for a while and then, eventually, reached down and hooked their arms under her body, pulling her from her watery resting place.
Losing the weightless sensation of the water left Mahina feeling heavy in the person's arms so though she wanted to struggle and fight the one who carried her she could do nothing but remain limp and lifeless. Her arms hung in the air, her head lulling about as they moved and her long, black hair brushing the floor leaving a trail of the water from where she once was.
The person who carried her hummed in what sounded like deep thought. Though her body felt like it slept and her eyes were foggy Mahina's ears were sharp, catching the echo of footsteps and the voice of a female from somewhere behind her.
"The moonflower, my Lord?" questioned the female.
"Yes" hummed the deep voice of the person carrying Mahina "their scientific name is Hylocereus Undatus but they've long since been named Lunar Flowers" the male explained to his female company "They are beautiful, poisonous, flowers that only bloom once a year at night under the light of the full moon. That is the rare gem that was used" the blurry hallway gave way to a room. Mahina's hazy vision took in images of tall tubes full of green water. Beautiful, white lunar flowers rest in some while others held the shadowy outlines of human figures with long flowing hair. "but there is a price to such rarity and beauty; as soon as these flowers bloom they quickly wither and die. There had been theories that its lifespan could be extended by combining them but such theories have long since been disproved" there was a pause in the male's explanation and he used this time to set Mahina down gently on plush cushions letting her feet sink into a small tank of water.
A sense of motion was coming to her now and the shadowy male stepped back to give her room.
Mahi...na...
Cheza… Cheza was here, Cheza was calling her… get up… get up.
Mahina raised her head though just barely for it felt heavy on her neck. The room was hued with green and each wall on either side of her was lined with these tubes of flowers and bodies but it was the sphere in the center that earned her attention.
Mahina
Mahina raised her head a bit more to stare at it in a dazed wonder. The sphere was the only source of light in the room glowing emerald and granting her a sense of comfort, soon she knew why.
There she was, the light calling to Mahina, the being that pulled her from that darkness.
Cheza floated quietly in the orb glowing as if she were the light source within.
"There is no questioning that this one is the key to opening paradise" the male declared.
He watched as Mahina slowly stood on unsteady feet and then made her way to the orb containing Cheza. The orb loomed over her forcing her to reach up high to press her palms against the glass surface. "but the window in which it can be open is small… when this one awakes she will bloom, wither and eventually die and paradise will be forever lost with her…"
Cheza would bloom, and then she would wither and die.
Paradise would be closed forever.
"That is why I started that project all those years ago. I saw the hanabito my grandfather had created in an attempt to recreated this one and I thought that maybe… if creating hanabito from lunar flowers could be done than… maybe a more stable vessel could be created as well.I tried to do this with many different vessel, different animal and at one point a human but none survived. They all quickly succumb to the poisonous properties of The Flower maidens blood.
So I looked farther, deeper into my grandfathers notes until i discovered.
Cheza would wither because she was incomplete
I realized she could not awaken completely because she was not whole
years of forging hanabito from Cheza had their effect on her, Cheza grew weaker with each creation and my test had only served to further this process.
But then i realized, with each test Cheza grew weaker until the subject died… its was as if the subject had taken part of The Flower maidens soul only to return it upon death and so I began to let the Hanabito die."
"Die?.."
"Yes, one after another, the hanabito-imperfect incarnations of Cheza- withered, returning their essence to the source upon death and slowly Cheza grew stronger, more responsive.
But there was still one missing piece… A single Hanabito escaped the day my grandfather disappeared. I had feared all my efforts would be for not. That is when she came to be a subject of this lab." The males heavy footsteps echoed through the room as he approaches Mahina. His gloved hand glided across Mahina's back before gripping her waist and forcing her to turn away from the sphere containing Cheza.
Even as her body turned and her hands drop lazily to her sides Mahina continues to stare at the maiden.
'Cheza...can you hear me?' But Cheza didn't respond, Mahina couldn't hear a word from the maiden but she could feel Cheza. Cheza was there somewhere, sleeping. The man holding Mahina gently grabbed her by her chin and forced her to stare at him.
"My wolf's eye burned at the sight of her and I knew immediately she was the one i was looking for." he spoke though Mahina didn't understand his words "The missing Hanabito, the essence of her former Hanabito buried deep within the vessel of a wolf… It's what kept her alive and apart from Cheza all these years and it's what drives her to The Flower Maiden now."
"...this girl…" Mahina turned her eyes away from the man holding her to stare at the female that stood with them, an orb held firmly in her grasp.
"Ah, i see you remember her."
"Yes My Lord…" The female nodded her head before gazing down at the orb in her hands in contemplation "It is the Lady Mahina. You had me tend to her the last time you had guest at the keep."
"You're right"
"So than she is a…" the male didn't confirm whatever the servant is trying to ask. Instead he turned Mahina's head to look at him again.
"I had Cheza's blood fused with this wolfs dna in hopes that it would turn her into a flower maiden that would not wither and die. It took me years of careful test, peeling at the feral layers of beast that protected her but finally I had found her...my precious little key."
Precious… key…
Something about that rang familiar to Mahina's hazy mind but she for the life of her couldn't be bothered to try and remember at that moment. Her body still felt heavy and she only just started to regain her mobility just a bit but holding herself up was proving to be too much for her.
Mahina had strength enough to yank her chin free from the man's hold before she leaning on him, putting all of her weigh on his body and resting her head against his chest.
"I see…" mused the female "so than… you will let her die My Lord? To complete The Flower Maiden?"
"... not just yet." The male replied running a gloved hand over Mahina's head, petting her gently as he spoke "When she first came here the flower maiden suddenly grew stronger, as if being close to each other somehow made them whole enough. Even now when I long since thought my precious key was stolen by Paradise, you see how she opens her eyes now? How she moves and walks when once she didn't?"
"When the other houses hear of this My Lord...they will come."
":..." When the man didn't respond to the comment Mahina willed herself to move again, turning her chin upward so she could stare up at the lone, uncovered, blue eye still gazing fondly at her. "let them." he declared smiling as Mahina closed her eyes and returned to resting against his warm chest. "Mahina is a part of Cheza as Cheza is a part of her. If any fool should manage to steal either of them it's only a matter of time before they return. All things must return to the source, even if taken to the other end of the world Mahina would always find her way to Cheza no matter what… I've placed a tracker under her skin just for that purpose, if Cheza is stolen all I need to do is follow Mahina. Mahina will always find Cheza eventually and with her death Cheza will become whole and Paradise will open."
Suddenly the orb the female held began to glow and she gazed down at it with wide eyes
"My Lord Darcia." she warned, the green hue of the room turning a deep red and an alarm started to go off.
"Of course…" the male known as Darcia huffed quickly hoisting Mahina off her feet, She didn't fight him deciding instead to rest her head against Darcia's shoulder. She had no energy to fight him any way. "Who?" Darcia questioned
"It looks like Lord Orkham, My Lord." the female answered
"heh I knew that visit had been nothing but a ruse…" Walking across the room back to the plush seat, Darcia set Mahina down on it once again. "Stay here with them." he commanded of the female who nodded firmly.
"Yes My Lord."
With that said Darcia was off, leaving Mahina with the female and Cheza as the alarms blared Mahina's ear.
Eventually the room began to shake violently and bits of the ceiling crumbled down on the room. But even still Mahina give the chaos no reactions, her blank eyes remain fixed on Cheza and Cheza alone.
'Cheza? Can you hear me?'
Still Cheza didn't respond.
Was her soul stolen too?
"...Stolen…" Mahina's voice was hoarse from lack of use and weak but she spoke the word her mind had conjured.
Why was that the word she thought of? What could steal a soul?
As if on cue a presence suddenly appeared before Mahina silently demanding her attention as she felt its stares against her wet skin. Slowly she lowers her gaze from Cheza to the presence.
It was...a white wolf?
... Come
Without a word the wolf turned, walking across the room to a lone door. It was… strange… it was as if his words had breathed life into Mahina suddenly giving her the strength to stand up.
"Lady?"
Mahina ignored female talking as she stepped carefully out of the tub of water her feet were placed in. When both her bare feet touch the floor she trailed after the retreating wolf.
"My Lady please, stay here with Ah!"
The room shook violently and rubble rained from the ceiling blocking the female from going after Mahina. When Mahina glanced back the young female was sprawled on the floor unconscious, a small train of blood running from her forehead
you have no time for her.
Mahina quietly noded turning back towards the wolf and following him out of the room leaving the female and even Cheza behind.
By the time Mahina followed the white wolf out of the room and into a long hallway she was fully awake and capable of moving her limbs with ease. However the white wolf had vanished, leaving her lost and confused on her own in the chaos.
Sirens were blaring in her delicate ears causing them to ring.
The corridor which usually had a calming deep blue color to it now shined red from the alarm being set off. There were intruders afoot.
This place it was dangerous, Mahina didn't know how or why but she knew that much. Loud, horrid noises echoed through the halls that she moved through. Where had the wolf gone? Why did he disappear like that?
Dizzy and disoriented Mahina stumbled about stopping only momentarily to clench her head and lean against the nearest wall. Slender fingers threaded through wet ebony locks and tugged it back and away from her face before she pressed on. She must escape, she must get out of here. Out? But where was out? Did she know where out was?
Taking in a deep breath she closed her eyes and tried to calm down. It was starting to come back to her just a bit.
…Down the hall a room to the left.
That was the way, that was where she had to go to escape.
Just as she decided this though the loud noise came, only this time it was closer and sounder than before and quicker than she would have like she found out why.
A bright light flashed through the hall and before Mahina's eyes, white hot metal cut her deep across the face with an impossible to follow speed before grazing the side of her ear and hitting the wall behind her. Sparks flew round her head from the contact and her ear delivered an earth shattering pain before she could hear no sound from it.
All of this, this sudden and unknown pain that came to Mahina took less than a second and then the real pain came. She hollered loudly bringing her hands to that side of her face unsure of which wound she should cradle.
It hurt! It hurt so badly! Why? Why did it hurt so much?! What could possibly cause such pain?
Settling for gripping her check Mahina looked about the corridor wildly and that was when she saw him.
A human dressed all in black, he eyed her with a cold stare that she was not accustomed to and he had some kind of black thing pointed at her.
Even though she didn't know what this item was it must be what had cause her this pain she was feeling and had enough sense to be able to tell that she was in danger. If she didn't do something she would die here and she didn't want to die. Mahina acted on impulse as soon as the human raised his death item higher and looked to be preparing to end her. Her skin prickled and she became utterly tense.
It all went by in an instant, one moment she was standing on two legs the next thing she knew, as soon as she blinked, she was on all fours and standing at a much lower height than before.
That's right! She was a wolf too! She wasn't use to the change but there was no time to worry about that. Mahina charged the human howling loudly and baring teeth ready to rip into the man. Agonizing yells echoed through the hall now and blood splattered everywhere as she, in her fit of rage, ripped this human limb from limb and she didn't stop until his screams faded.
By the time she was finished with the man it was hard to tell he was once a man at all.
Mahina had ripped flesh from muscle like it was nothing but paper and her powerful jaws snapped bone distorting the body under her might.
When she was finished Mahina remained there, seated on her knees a human once more drenched in the blood of her kill.
And the white wolf stood there at the end of the hall watching her.
He stared silently at her with those golden eyes of his before turning once more and continuing on his way.
Mahina didn't want to follow him, it was he who lead her to this blood encounter.
But...what choice did she have?
This place was dangerous… it was falling apart...humans were out to kill her.
Mahina stumbled back to her feet and continued following the white wolf.
The white wolf became Mahina's hope for salvation after that. He lead her carefully through the halls staying just in her field of view so that she wouldn't lose sight of him but far enough so that she could not interact with him.
Not that she would if she actually could.
There was just something about this wolf that felt...bad… bad for her… bad for everything. But he was leading her away from danger so she followed.