Chapter Two
Fai stood frozen, his heart beating painfully against his ribs. No, he thought. No way. He wanted to shut his eyes, didn't want to believe it had happened. But however against his will, he just stared at the empty, barren landscape, all words sucked out of him. He heard footsteps behind him.
"What's the matter?" Koyuki's voice was steady, but a line of anxiety had risen in it.
Fai forced himself to turn and meet her eyes. "My companions . . . are gone."
"Companions? Ah, I see."
"You do?"
"Well, yes."
"I don't know what you mean." Fai was anxious to find his missing fellow travellers.
Koyuki seemed to know what he was thinking. "Shall we search for them?"
"Alright."
Night had begun to fall, but they still hadn't found the rest of the group. Before long, the whole country was almost entirely enveloped by darkness. A chilly wind swept around them, tossing bits of dirt into the air.
"Koyuki-chan, why don't we stop now? I can barely see anything." Fai squinted, trying to make out exactly where the girl was.
"Th–That's a r–reasonable idea." Koyuki's teeth were chattering.
"Maybe you should've taken your coat with you."
Koyuki paused for a moment. Then she said softly, "I feel a certain hatred towards that coat."
Fai was taken aback. "Why?"
Silence.
"Ok, why don't we just find a place to camp?"
Koyuki followed him in silence. Fai twisted his fingers uneasily. Not only were the rest of his group missing, now he had found a girl who was so inexplicable that she was making him extremely uncomfortable.
"What about there?"
Fai jumped. Turning, he could just make out the shape of Koyuki's finger, pointing to the left. He twisted his head around and strained to see a cave-like structure, or rather what remained of it, mounted a few metres away. He smiled at the girl in the darkness. "That's good enough."
They cautiously walked to the mouth of the cave. "Can you provide us with some light?" Koyuki's soft voice emerged from the darkness.
"Oh. Ok." In his state of worry, Fai had almost forgotten that he could use magic. He cupped his left hand and with the tips of his fingers on his right hand, and wrote out the spell. A small ball of light began to form in his palm, and gradually expanded to create a sphere of brightness around the two of them. The suddenly dazzling light lit up Koyuki's pretty face, bathing it in a sea of gold. Fai stared at her in awe for a moment, before her ice-blue eyes shifted, linking into his slightly darker ones. Then time seemed to halt for a few seconds, the two of them motionless, their eyes locked to each other's; which followed by time moving again and both the magician and the girl looking away bashfully.
Fai and Koyuki sat side by side in the cave. Drawing his knees up to his chin, Fai realised he didn't recall how many times he had felt so uncomfortable that day. The bitter silences Koyuki created were almost unbearable. Sighing, he adjusted his hand into a more contented position, making sure the light and warmth still reached Koyuki. His mind was clouded with thoughts. Why did she seem to have two personalities, even though Fai hadn't seen much of the one he was sure was her real self? Maybe she didn't trust him. But . . . the sacrifice that she had mentioned in her song . . . what was that about? And . . . why did she not know where she'd been born? And most of all, why had she been imprisoned in that dome, in this ruined country, with no other living beings? Fai decided to get at least one of those questions answered that day. Taking a deep breath, he broke the silence again. "Koyuki-chan, can I ask you something?"
The girl looked up. "Yes, proceed." Was it Fai's imagination, or did Koyuki actually sound scared?
Still, either way, he was going to find out. "Why don't you know where you were born? I'm sorry if I'm intruding into your privacy, but right now I really don't have the patience to wait."
As if Fai had done magic, the calm and reserved exterior slipped off the girl's face. When she spoke, Fai realised the mature language had disappeared too. "No, you're not intruding into anything. It's just that I . . . I think my memory's been almost completely wiped out. I don't know what happened to me. One day, three years ago, I woke up, and all I saw was ice. I only knew my name, and how to do certain things. And . . . I knew that I'd somehow been a sacrifice, and that if I returned home, it would solve everything. And there was one other thing . . . never mind." Koyuki lowered her head.
Fai was too shocked for words. Losing her memory . . . that was almost exactly like what had happened to Sakura! After a few moments, he said quietly, "I understand your feelings."
Koyuki looked up. "Has that happened to you?"
"No. But my friend has experienced it."
"One of your companions?"
"Not exactly. Used to be one of my companions."
Silence again. Koyuki lingered on it for a moment, before speaking in a voice so quiet Fai could only just make out the words. "I get it. Princess Sakura."
Fai's eyes widened. Had he just imagined those last words, or did she actually know . . . but how couldshe possibly . . . ? "Koyuki-chan . . ." he said urgently, "did you just say . . ." He trailed off.
The girl had slumped against the bumpy wall, her eyes firmly closed. Her breathing had become slow and even, her chest rising and falling with the rhythm. The act was so real it could have tricked Fai into thinking that she was actually asleep, but no, he was far too perceptive for that. But if she was that desperate to hide the information she had accidentally spilt, he'd leave it for now. He'd find out some other time, he was sure of it. He reached out and pulled his blue coat over Koyuki's body; then he shuffled into a more comfortable position and put the 'light' out. "Goodnight, Koyuki-chan," he said softly.
Then, as he drifted into the world of dreams, he sensed movement beside him, and a voice whispered, "'Night, Fai-san."
So there you go! ^_^ Remember to REVIEW! Until next time,
TsubameTrebleClef
