Wild Birds
Summary: Leaders and alliances begin to shift as do personal relationships.
Warnings: none
Disclaimer: I do not own Last Exile, no money is being made from this use.
Pre-Notes: I had to cut a lot out of this and put it in the next chapter, this was just getting way too long.
Broken Wings
Alex sat on the sofa in Lavie's room beside Alvis, Sophia on the girl's other side comforting her as Sybil examined Lavie.
"I think she'll be fine." Sybil finally said straightening up. "There are no fractures, she should wake up soon. Let me know when she does I want to examine her again, and I want her kept on light duty until I'm sure she'll be all right." Taking something out of her medical bag, she walked over to Alex setting down in front of him. "Take two of these with a glass of water before bed. No booze."
Alex picked up the small bottle and examined it. He glared up at Sybil. "Why is it, that every time you think I'm under some kind of emotional stress your answer is to give me some kind sedative?"
"Because I don't get payed nearly enough to play therapist for you." She turned to Sophia. "Make sure takes those or he'll be up all night with panic attacks. No alcohol."
Sophia nodded, and Alex frowned at her before Alvis shyly tugged at his sleeve. "What is booze?" she asked quietly. Alex sighed.
They had won against the Urbanus fleet, if you could call this victory. They were now sunk, and stranded, with the ship in such a state that no one was sure how soon they'd be in the air again. They had no idea if the Urbanus ships had any survivors, or if the ships were in any condition to come after them. If anyone did they were sitting ducks here. He'd kept Alvis from being taken, but now all of them including Sophia had most likely been branded traitors, many of the crew had been injured including Lavie, there had been nineteen deaths,.. And Claus and Tatiana had been shot down during the battle. No one knew where they were. "What was she thinking, making him her navi?" Alex asked himself, blocking out the conversation between Sophia and Alvis. Sybil had already left to check on her staff overseeing the rest of the injured.
After a few moments he got up, continuing to ignore Alvis and Sophia as they called out to him. He couldn't keep sitting there doing nothing. He had to oversee repairs, or something, anything to get his mind off of what his decision to fight had caused. He wasn't sure how long he'd been walking the halls lost in thought when he nearly ran into Dio. Alister was standing beside him nervously, and Lucciola was as always right behind his master.
Dio smiled cheerfully. "I have a wonderful idea!"
Claus was quiet as he worked on the vanship, trying to make it at least somewhat fit to fly. He thought of Lavie, Alvis, Sophia, Alex, everyone else on the Silvana. Even Vincent, who was probably having a very hard time himself, mostly however, at the moment he was worried about Tatiana. She was sitting in the pilot's seat wearing one of the blankets from their emergency kits like a toga since her flight suit had been soaked with claudia fluid, and there was nothing else for her to wear. The usually haughty, competent girl had completely broken down, and now it seemed was just waiting for the desert sands to bury the two of them.
Claus on the other hand wouldn't, couldn't give up. Luckily he'd recognized a few land marks, and after studying the map they had, was certain that if he could get Tatiana's vanship to fly they could at least close a great deal of distance between themselves and the safe house Alex had constructed in the area. They would be able to make proper repairs there, and would have plenty of supplies to keep them going while they searched for the Silvana. Of course the success of any of this depended on Tatiana's help, and that was becoming more, and more unlikely as far as Claus could see. He had no idea what to do. As it became too dark for him to continue working he sighed, climbing back into the ship for some rest.
Tatiana still sat silently in front of him, taking no notice as he checked what supplies they had left. He was doing his best to conserve the water they would need to fly. Nights in the desert were cold, but his flight suit worked well enough to keep him warm. He worried about Tatiana though, he had fixed the other blanket up as a tarp over her seat to give her some protection from the sun during the day. While her flight suit had dried in the heat, the claudia had re-crystalized, and would at best be very uncomfortable, at worst cause a terrible rash. "You're warm enough right?" He asked. There was no response, he hadn't expected one. Sighing he leaned his head back looking at the stars as they appeared. There were unfamiliar constellations in the sky, stars that hadn't been seen over Anatoray for nearly a hundred years. "I wonder what Lavie, and Al are doing right now?" He asked himself aloud.
"Why do you have to keep saying things like that?" Tatiana's voice startled him. "The Silvana sank, there all gone." She became silent again. in the pilots seat she brought her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them.
"... Maybe they are," Claus said quietly. He might have heard Tatiana gasp but wasn't sure. Still watching the stars he continued, his voice barely above whisper still sounding far too loud in the silence of the desert night. "They might be gone, but I can't believe that until I see it with my own eyes. I'm not going to give up and die here...Everyone has already lost so much, if they're still there waiting then I'm going to find my way back to them no matter what."
"You're an overly optimistic, idiot." Tatiana said.
"I know." He said smiling. "Alex tells me I get that from Dad."
They were both silent for awhile. "What was your father like?" Tatiana asked eventually, shifting in the pilot's seat. Hamilcar Valca, and Georges Head had become kind of folk heros among vanship pilots since their deaths during the failed peace mission. She'd always wanted to ask about them, but with Alex, Claus, and especially Lavie being the only ones with answers, had never found the courage to do so.
Claus' smile became a bit sad as he recalled his life before the Grand Stream. "He smiled a lot. Even when times were difficult. I remember Mom used to complain that sometimes she wondered just who the children in the family were when he and Lavie's dad would play pranks on each other, and Alex. Alex practically lived with us when he wasn't at the academy. Euris would come to visit all the time too, they were like brother and sister to us. Our dad's would tease him about her, even when she was right there. If Mom was out somewhere and something happened with me or Lavie, like we made a big mess or something, they would 'suddenly remember they had something important to do,' and leave Alex to take care if it by himself... They started teaching us to fly just before the peace mission..." Claus paused, turning to look out over the desert. Tatiana remained silent. "Alex still feels so guilty about coming back alone. He doesn't talk about it, because he doesn't want to upset us. The first time the Silvana went into the Grand Stream Lavie, and I were so scared... I realized how amazing it was that they were able to get as far as they did, that Alex was able to come back at all. Sometimes I wonder where we would be if he hadn't come back for us after Mom died."
Tatiana remained silent. She'd never really thought about it before, but Claus and Lavie had only been five or six when they were orphaned. Alex was the only family they had, and they were all he had.. Well except for Sophia, if he'd quit being stupid about it. Tatiana began to wonder where he would be without them...
"... He worries about you, you know." Claus said interrupting her thoughts. "Alex does. The rest of us too. I guess it's kind of strange for you, but the whole crew has always been like a family to us, and you're part of that family, Tatiana. We want to help you if you need it. You don't have to do everything alone."
"You are such a sap.." Tatiana said sounding frustrated. Claus was about to say something else when Tatiana turned around, standing in the cockpit, and glaring down at him. "You better not sleep in tomorrow, like you usually do. We have to fix this stupid ship, and get to the safe house, and if I have to wake you up I'm not going to be nearly as nice about as Lavie is!"
Claus could only grin sheepishly in response. Tatiana was going to be all right after all.
He couldn't say it had gotten easier to deal with as the day went on, but Alex found he was able to distract himself with all the work the needed done.
A search party had been formed, and was now carrying out grid searches of the area. Repairs were going smoothly at the moment. They had spared what time they could to bury, and hold a service for the dead. He and Sophia had begun the draining process of writing letters to the families of those who had been lost. No one mentioned Claus and Tatiana, no one wanted to give up on them until they had no choice.
Opening the door to his liquor cabinet, he stared at the contents for several moments, and shut it again. As much as he felt otherwise, the last thing he needed was to start drinking, Sophia would be angry, Sybil would do something nasty to him, and he needed to keep a clear head in case of an emergency. He sat in his chair staring at the ceiling, becoming gradually more irritated by the angle of the floor caused by the ships current position, when there was a knock at the door. "Enter."
Sophia walked in reports in hand, she looked very relived to see no decanters, or glasses in sight. "No sign of the Tatiana, and Claus yet." She said, Alex nodded. He'd expected as much. "I have the final reports for the day here. The scouts have located the two nearest Urbanus class ships. There were no signs of activity, and it is believed there were no survivors among the crews. Permission has been requested to do a through interior search in the morning."
"Permission granted. Enemies or not, if there are any survivors we can't just leave them. If not, we can still salvage supplies, and equipment for repairs. I'll leave the details to you, make sure they take extra precautions." Alex said still staring at the ceiling.
"Of course, Sir." Sophia said. "Repairs on the engine are proceeding more quickly than Reciuse first though they would. Exterior repairs are going smoothly at the moment as well, there is no way for us to properly repair the armor though. We're going to be very vulnerable when we get back in the air."
Leaning forward in his chair Alex nodded grimly. "Even Walker won't be of help to us now, unless special arraignments can be made. The path to the nearest safe house where we can make proper repairs on our own puts us right out in the open a great deal of the way."
"Perhaps if we try contacting Walker discreetly arraignments can be made. It seems our only option at this point." Sophia said frowning, Alex nodded again not looking at her. "Have you been to check on Lavie?" She asked.
"Yes, she's still out. Alvis has hardly left her side all day... she was..talking in her sleep, calling for her father." He ran a hand through his hair, before finally looking at Sophia. "What do I say to her, if we don't find them? If they're gone? What do I tell her? How do I tell Tatiana's parents I let their only child die?"
"Alex.."
Alex leaned back staring blankly at the ceiling again. "I thought I'd get used to it, Lavie staying in the hanger to help the mechanics, Claus going out to fight. But it's the same every time, and I have to fight myself to let them make their own decisions, when all I want to do is send them somewhere the fighting won't reach them..." He gave a short bitter laugh. "Does a place like that even exist anymore?" Sophia not knowing what to say, moved to place a hand on his shoulder before pausing. Biting her lip she set the reports on his desk before turning back to him, leaning over the back of the chair she wrapped her arm around him. After a few moments he brought his hands up gripping hers, and not letting go.
It was still early in the morning, and therefor tolerably cool, which Tatiana was grateful for as she carefully climbed up onto the vanship, and glared down at the still sleeping Claus. She'd tried nearly everything to wake him. Lavie's usual tactic to wake him up involved prolonged exposure to loud, repetitive noise. Alex's was a quick application of ice water. She had heard the mechanics when given the chance were far more "creative" about it, and therefor no longer allowed to try and wake Claus up. Noise hadn't worked for Tatiana, and they didn't have the water to spare. Now she was leaning over Claus none too gently unzipping his flight suit part way with one hand while grumbling loudly, a small but very aggravated lizard gripped tightly, but carefully in the other. Claus remained blissfully asleep.
Straightening up she looked at the lizard still squirming in her hand. She saluted. "On behalf of the people of Anatoray, I commend you on the sacrifice you are about to make for the war effort. God speed, on your perilous mission." Pulling Claus' flight suit away from his skin she dropped the lizard inside. She almost didn't get out of the way fast enough as Claus woke with a yell, jumped up, and out of the navi's seat, and began desperately trying to get the lizard out. Tatiana remained unfazed a few minuets later while Claus having taken off his flight suit in a panic was now beating it against a rock. He was wearing blue boxer shorts, and she absently wondered how he kept from getting a terrible wedgie in the flight suit. The lizard had escaped unharmed several minutes before, Tatiana had saluted again as she watched it disappear over the desert sands, realizing somewhere in the back of her mind that the apparent insanity she often suspected the rest of the crew had, had infected her as well.
"Are you done yet?" She finally asked glaring at Claus, with her arms crossed over her chest. "We need to get this thing flying, if were going to make it to the safe house!"
Claus gapped at her for a few moments before sighing. It looked like Tatiana was back to normal. Apprehensively he put his flight suit back on before following her back to work on the ship. After hours of work made even worse by the heat, and trying to conserve water they finally managed to get off the ground. Tatiana chose to act as navi complaining that Claus was terrible at it, though he could tell she was nervous. It was another two hours before they got close to the safe house, by then the two of them had noticed enough signs they decided caution was in order to approach it. They had nearly reached it when they were ambushed, and taken prisoner by Disith musketeers. The safe house had been taken over. Tatiana and Claus' imprisonment lasted only a short time however, after some strange looking cargo rockets landed in the desert the Disith solders, terribly disheartened by something, some openly weeping, lost interest in them. Oddly enough they were released instead of being killed.
They returned to the vanship at a loss of what to do. Thirsty, and exhausted they sat dejectedly in what shade they could find when the Disith girl who had been their guard arrived. She had a small crate in her arms and walked cautiously towards them. Several other musketeers, mostly men could be seen behind her keeping their distance and watching suspiciously. Tatiana looked past the girl and glared at them, no one and the Silvana would have acted in such a way. Noticing her glare some of them stepped back while other glared back defiantly. Giving the Silvana's crest on the vanship a wary glance the girl set the crate in front of them. Her eyes were still red from crying when she looked at them. "We know the place is yours, but we've been here for a while. They won't let you enter... If you made a list of things you need though.. We could bring them to you.."
"You mean you could bring them.." Tatiana said frowning. "You're on your own here aren't you?" The girl remained silent, but her fear of them, two people from Kill-em-all Silvana, was clear on her face. Fear of the Silvana was probably why they had been released alive.
"Um.." Claus who had gone through the crate taking out some food, two full canteens of water, and clothes obviously meant for Tatiana stood up. Handing Tatiana the clothes he looked at the girl. "I know you don't have any reason to tell us anything, or possibly can't, but what's going on here? What are those things? Why have you been stationed in the desert by yourselves?"
Looking back at her comrades, some of whom had left already the girl sighed sitting down. Claus joined her. "My name is Dunya Scheer. We've been here for about a month I guess, waiting for the rockets to arrive. They were meant for the civilians to escape Disith, but... none of the rockets carrying passengers made it. Something must have gone wrong with them." Dunya bit her lip looking ready to cry again.
"You had family on one of them didn't you?" Claus asked, Dunya nodded.
Tatiana now dressed in slightly to large Disith style dress joined them. "How bad is the situation in Disith that this has become necessary?" She asked.
"It's nearly impossible to live there anymore, even animals that have survived the cold for years are freezing or starving to death. Nothing grows, there isn't enough food anymore. Coming to Anatoray is the only hope our people have... Our forces have taken over Norkia, the arrivals were supposed to be sent there..." Dunya answered.
Claus frowned after Dunya finished. Hearing about his home town hurt, and angered him but the people of Disith were clearly desperate. Letting his anger take over was certainly not going to help any. "The way things are here, even that is only a temporary solution..." His frown deepened as he dug his fingers into the sand. They were interrupted by the sound of a vanship heading their way, Dunya and the other Disith solders ran. Tatiana and Claus were so relived to see the Silvana vanship when it landed Claus didn't even mind when Dio cheerfully launched himself at him. Alister herself was shocked to get a hug from Tatiana, who then immediately realized what she was doing and backed up red faced. They all began speaking at once, asking questions without waiting for answers. It took them a while to get calmed enough to where they were coherent.
"We were beginning to think we weren't going to find you, especially after we started seeing signs of Disith solders here." Alis said as they prepared to head back to he Silvana.
"They've taken over our safe house." Claus said, trying to get Dio detached from his shoulders again. "We learned some things we need to talk to Alex about. How is everyone?"
"There were some deaths. A lot of injuries too, Lavie was hurt. she was knocked unconscious, but she was awake, and well enough to be up even though the captain keeps telling her to go back to bed." Alis answered Claus, while Dio now detached from him had gone over to Tatiana and was bothering her about the dress.
Tatiana angrily grabbed her flight suit out of the seat where it had been left. "My suit got soaked in claudia fluid all right, Gutter-brain?" She said shaking it at him. It made small crackling noises as she did so, tiny flakes of re-crystalized claudia flying off. Alister and Claus paused what they were doing to go separate the two before violence could break out.
Back on the Silvana after nearly an hour of searching Alex found Lavie at the vanship. He sighed. "You shouldn't be up yet." He said after catching her when she nearly fainted. Frowning she tried to pull away and go back to working on the vanship. "Will you at least let me help?" He asked. He'd been very worried about her since she'd woken up. Sybil had said she'd be all right, and he trusted Sybil, but that did nothing to stop him from worrying. Her nearly fainting here hadn't helped either. Mostly he was worried because he knew she was doing the same thing he was, trying not to think about Claus.
It was fortunately at this point, that Claus and Tatiana returned. Lavie excitedly went toward Claus but stopped noticing what Alex following her had not yet. Alex much to Tatiana's horror pulled them both into a hug.
Tatiana red faced for the second time that day tried to pull away. "I...I'm not Lavie.."
"I know, I've been thinking you might be dead, and I was going to have to write your mother. Deal with it." Alex said flatly before letting them go. "What happened? Are either of you hurt?..." He looked at Tatiana finally noticing the dress. "...What are you wearing, what happened to your flight suit?" Stopping himself he smacked his own forehead. "What am I thinking? Doesn't matter. Infirmary, you're both going to the infirmary."
"But,.." Claus started.
"This is not a request." Alex interrupted him. "Anything you have to say can wait until Sybil's had a look at you." As they passed by he grabbed Lavie as well. "You too."
Not long after Claus sat impatiently as he waited for Sybil to finish his examination. "This wouldn't be taking so long if you would hold still." She said having already looked over Tatiana, who had been deemed fit to return to her room and rest. Lavie sat morosely beside Charley. Claus thought it was because of the news about Norkia, one of the few things he'd been able to get out as Alex herded them into the infirmary. Tatiana however had known exactly what it was about, which was why she had left as soon as she was able.
Charley, leaning back in his bed grumbled. "Am I ever going to get a visit from someone who hasn't been involved in a disaster?"
After Claus was given permission to leaves as well Lavie sat quietly for a while. Sybil gave her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "Why don't you lie down and try to get some more rest, ok? You can try talking to him later."
Lavie snorted morosely. "What good would that do? He isn't going to understand any of it anyway."
Claus burst into Alex's room startling him, as he sat at his desk going over repair reports. The young pilot blurted out everything he could, as quickly as he could thinking Alex would send him back to his room.
Alex got up putting his hands on Claus' shoulders. "Calm down! Calm down..." Sighing he lead Claus over to the sofa. "Start over, and try breathing a little in between words this time."
When Claus had finished, beginning from what had happened to Alvis before the Urbanus fight to what they had learned from Dunya he watched Alex who had begun pacing.
"Damn.. I knew Dio was behind that somehow." Alex said quietly, more to himself than Claus. After a few moments he sat again. "What you saw, with Dio and Alvis was proof beyond any doubt that Alvis is the only one who has the power to save this world."
Claus frowned. "You're talking about Exile again."
Alex nodded. "You know Prester is a colonization satellite, and our ancestors came from another world. That is usually the extent of the knowledge most people of the surface countries have. The guild was meant to look after people of Anatoray, and Disith. Each of the four ruling families Eraclea, Bassianus, Dagobert, and Hamilton had a duty assigned to them. Over time for various reasons they began to neglect those duties. By the time anyone began trying to restore order to the surface countries they had all but abandoned it was too late. Delphine had already taken control of the guild right out from under them."
Claus stared at Alex in shock. "Then.. Reciuse, Marius, and Euris were all.."
Alex nodded, grimly. "Refugees of the purge. So much knowledge has been lost no one is even sure what Exile is anymore, all we know is that it is very powerful. The threat of Exile is what keeps the guild in power. If we can take control it, we can take control of our own lives before we lose them. Alvis is the key to it all. That girl is still completely unaware of the weight she caries... I wish it could stay that way, but we are running out of time. If Disith's situation really is as bad as the musketeer told you, we have even less time than I thought. The early rotation shift may accelerate the problem."
They were interrupted when Alvis ran in, followed by Sophia. "Claus you're ok!" She said excitedly running to him, and hugging him.
Claus smiled, hugging her back. "I'm sorry to worry you. You did a good job looking after everyone while I was gone, Al." His face went red when his stomach growled.
Alex snorted. "Now she can look after you." He turned to Alvis. "Take him to get something to eat, then make sure he gets some rest, all right?" Alvis beaming saluted before taking Claus by the hand, and dragging him off to the galley. Once they were gone the somber atmosphere returned. Alex leaned back in his chair. "Were running out of time..." Sighing again he stood. "I need to talk to Reciuse... er.. Tatiana could you?"
"I was on my way to see her." Sophia replied, to his relief. "From what I've heard, I don't imagine she wants to see you right now anyway." They parted ways outside his door, Alex went to the lift that would take him to the engine room, Sophia heading toward Tatiana's room. When Sophia entered she found Tatiana back in uniform sitting on the bed.
"Are you all right?" She asked.
Tatiana sighed. "Have you seen Lavie at all? She was... really upset when we got back. I was in that dress, and everyone already has the wrong idea!"
"Do they?" Sophia asked smiling a bit. "The way you act toward him sometimes..."
At first Tatiana looked about to yell before stopping, her face falling she looked back down. "...I..I really don't know... He always such a clueless idiot. Even about things right in front of his face... He's so irritating... but I really don't know.." She became quiet again, at a loss of what to say. Sophia waited patiently. "How did you know, I mean with Alex?"
Sophia smiled softly. "It wasn't long after we'd come here. About a month I think. He was someone I knew, someone who knew everything about me, I could really be myself with him. And then one night we were up late, we had been working, but after a while we started reminiscing." Sophia began to blush. "I was trying to remember a song Euris used to sing to me when I was little. When I finished he smiled at me and said 'It's a good thing you decided on a military career, you would never make it as a singer.' I stared at him, I was angry of course, but... there was just something about the way he was looking at me, it was the first time I realized that when he's looking at me, he looks at me... He doesn't see a princess, he doesn't see a replacement for Euris. I'd never seen anyone look at me that way before, not even Vincent and Marius..." She blinked, and laughed a little. "I'm sorry, that didn't make much sense did it?"
Tatiana smiled. She was one of the few people who knew the entire truth about Sophia. "No, no it makes a lot of sense... It doesn't really help me any though."
By evening they were back in the air, repairs still continuing slowly. Alex had ordered they proceed with as much caution as possible. At the moment they were safest with everyone thinking they were still sunk. The mechanics had already started a rumor mill, much to Mullin's disgust. Lavie found herself unable to face Claus. Alvis concerned, stayed by Lavie's side trying to understand the older girl. Claus had no idea what was going on, but was relived that Dio, and Lucciola had been commandeered by Reciuse giving him some time alone to think.
In her room Sophia re-read the message from Marius as night fell. Her heart breaking more with every word, as the truth of who she was, and her responsibilities came to grab her by the throat. She knew before she ever let her hair down what her decision would be, before she ever entered his quarters. Alex knew as well as soon as he looked at her, he didn't need to see the letter. He took it anyway.
"What do you want me to do?" He asked eventually. "You've already decided. What could I say that won't make this worse?" Sophia said nothing. Alex stood walking over to a drawer he opened it digging something out before returning and placing it in her hand.
Sophia stared at it in shock it was an intricately designed garter pistol. She immediately recognized the craftsmanship as the same mysterious smith who had made Alex his own weapons. She blinked up at him.
"It was supposed to be for your birthday.." He said, avoiding looking at her. "You've been doing so well at practice, I thought it was time you had one of your own, so I sent in a request. Something easy to conceal so you could..." Alex paused sighing. "I was supposed to keep you safe..." He finally looked her in the eyes, and she knew with out a doubt that this was just as painful for him.
Setting the gun down on his desk she reached up touching his face. "You did, but there is no protecting me from who I am. Marius is right, I don't know what I can do about Father," She said pausing as he voice broke and she had to blink away tears. "but I have a duty to the people to try. Otherwise this may never end, or end in the way we never wanted it to."
Alex took her hand holding it in his own. "Sophia, whatever happens, there will always be a place for you here."
Unable to stop herself, Sophia wrapped her arms around his shoulders pulling herself up, kissing him. Realizing what she was doing she pulled away. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have..."
"Shhh." Was the only reply. Alex raised his hand to touch her face, and paused to remove his gloves. His hand was warm, and despite wearing gloves nearly all the time, calloused from work and writing. Sophia looked into his eyes and recalled her earlier conversation with Tatiana. He was not looking at his long dead fiancé, he wasn't looking for her either. He was looking at Sophia, and he smiled before leaning down to kiss her.
Tomorrow she would belong to the people. Tonight however, if only for one night, she was not going to belong to anyone but the man she loved.
Claus wandered out into one of the viewing decks. He'd been trying to work on the vanship, but found himself unable to concentrate. Taking about his father with Tatiana had gotten him thinking. After adding everything he'd learned that day he had so many questions now, and only one place he knew might have answers. Gathering his resolve he began searching for Dio. He eventually found him still in the engine room, with Lucciola and Reciuse. "Dio, can..we talk?"
Dio jumped up telling Lucciola to stay as he gleefully followed Claus. He spoke bout what Claus had missed while he'd been lost in great detail, but stopped suddenly when Claus finally spoke.
"What is your sister like?" Claus asked quietly.
Dio turned abruptly to head back to the engine room. "I have other things to do."
"She's hurt you too, hasn't she?" Claus asked. They stood in the hall facing away from one another. Neither making a move to leave. "Alex said she was there when our fathers, and Euris died. That it was because of her that they died, that she stood there watching everything, smiling. I've always wondered what kind of person could do that." He spoke quietly still staring ahead. After not hearing anything for a while he went to turn and see if Dio was even still there when he felt hand on his shoulder.
"I guess that's something we have in common then." Dio said unusually subdued. "It's a nice night. Let's go outside."
They sat in silence watching the stars. Claus wasn't sure how much time had passed before Dio spoke. "I was too little to remember much of what it was like before Maestro James Hamilton, Alvis' grandfather, died, and Delphine had our parents killed. I remember I was happier then. I love my parents very much, even though they've been gone for so long." Claus nodded. It was a feeling he was very familiar with. "Neither of them were very strong people, but they loved us, kind of spoiled Delphine and me, I guess." Dio continued. "When she made her grab for power they just got caught up in it, they were in the way. I think she was just bored of having them around too. Everything changed so quickly. Those who could escape fled. Everyone else submitted to her, or died. Now she's the only one in the guild with any power at all, and no one to keep her in check just like she wanted."
"So you came here to get away from her." Claus said quietly.
Dio nodded. Then he turned to Claus, his smile having returned. "And to see you too, Immelman! I've never seen anyone fly a vanship like you do. You fly a lot better with Lavie, though."
Claus honestly wasn't sure if he was more annoyed or flattered by this, but he could see Dio wanted to change the subject, and he wasn't sure how much more he wanted to hear about Delphine anyway. "We've wanted to fly for as long as we can remember. We didn't really get the chance until Alex let us have lessons. I didn't start flying with Charley until later. I wanted to fight, Lavie has always been afraid of the battles we get into. I knew she couldn't be my navi during battle, I just wanted to be able to keep her safe. Alex and I fought about it for a really long time, eventually he let me, seeing how determined I was."
"It must be nice having someone look out for you like that all the time." Dio said looking up at the stars. "Lucciola looks out for me, but it's not really the same."
Claus nodded. "It's frustrating sometimes, I think he still kind of sees us as little kids. But I guess that's just something parents do. My father was supposed to be captain of this ship before he died. I spend a lot of time wondering what it would be like if my parents, and Lavie's dad and Euris were still here."
"I think about my parents like that too, but...I don't like dwelling on things that can never happen." Dio said smiling sadly.
The sun was still low in the sky, Sophia stood quietly in front of the mirror, making sure her uniform and hair were all in proper order. Not that it mattered, as much as she wished she could appear in front of her father in uniform it would be too dangerous, and she had to handle this with the utmost care. The heavy cargo would be stopping at a half way point to refuel and allow her to change into something more appropriate for the Imperial Princess.
She stepped out of her room, Alex was waiting for her. They hadn't spoken at all of the night before when he had woken her before the sun had risen. They didn't really need to, he'd already told her everything she needed to know without a word. Preparations were finished, and announcements, or rather confessions had been made to the shocked crew. Alex had stood beside her the entire time a silent pillar of support, as she faced the crew that had become the family her father could never be. She had already spoken to Tatiana, who was already attempting to adjust to her promotion with Alister's help. She'd been grateful for the distraction. Sophia hadn't seen Claus anywhere in the crowd of astonished faces.
"You have everything?" Alex asked quietly. Sophia nodded, being reminded of the unfamiliar, yet comforting weight hidden beneath the skirt of her uniform. They walked to the passenger ship silently. The crew most of whom had returned to their duties would stop, saluting respectfully as they passed. Sophia really wished they wouldn't.
The mechanics, along with Lavie, and Alvis were waiting when they got there, finishing with her luggage. Sophia took a moment to give Lavie a goodbye hug. "I'm sorry, I didn't get the chance to talk to you last night." She said quietly
Lavie quickly shook her head. "I..I don't want to talk about it.." She replied almost whispering looking at her feet.
Beside her Alvis frowned. "Do you really have to go?" She asked.
Sophia nodded, kneeling down to hug the girl. "Look after them while I'm gone all right?" Alvis nodded, still frowning. Standing again she rolled her eyes to see Alex glaring at the guards who trying unsuccessfully to ignore it. She smiled receiving the mechanics heartfelt goodbyes, and apologies, before turning back to Alex. They both stood there neither knowing what to say. "This may be your last chance, don't waist it." Sophia told herself. Looking up at Alex she sighed. "Oh, hell with it."
"Wha.." Alex began but was interrupted when Sophia grabbed him, pulling herself up to kiss him. Alvis watched in confusion, while Lavie mumbled "About time." The mechanics stared in shock, as did the guards, one of them nearly dropping his musket.
They finally parted after hearing Alvis ask Lavie "Why are they doing that?" Still not knowing what to say, and knowing Alex was even less likely to have any parting words Sophia gave him one last reassuring smile boarded the vanship. The mechanics watching her go still in shock, by the time they turned back to the captain, he had regained his composure and was speaking to Lavie as they walked back inside.
"...And Claus is going to be upset he missed Sophia, couldn't get him to wake up?" Alex asked after they entered the hangar. He was startled when Lavie suddenly took off, it sounded almost as if she'd started crying. He didn't get the chance to ask Alvis what was going on as she ran off after the older girl. Concerned he went after them but reaching Lavie's room, where he could hear them talking quietly inside he couldn't get either of them to answer. When he tried the handle the door was locked. Frustrated about what was beginning to look like a very bad day, he went back to his room. Sophia had left everything behind that might compromise the safety of the Silvana. The majority of the paperwork she had handled since her arrival had been taken to Tatiana's room. The most important things however had been brought to him. He sighed staring at the files, and reports on his desk, at least it was something he could pretend to work on while he tried to figure out what was wrong with Lavie. He flopped into his desk chair, and reached over taking the first report off the pile and staring blankly at it, not really seeing the words on the page.
He wasn't sure how much time had passed before Claus rushed in. "Sophia left?!"
"Do you know what's wrong with Lavie?" Alex asked, not paying attention to Claus' outburst.
Claus frowned waking over to Alex, he didn't know Alex was still staring blankly at the first sheet of paper he'd picked up, but he could tell no work had been getting done. "Are you ok?"
"She seemed fine," Alex said still not listening. "She got upset about something though, now that I think about she was fine till I mentioned y.." He jumped when Claus grabbed his shoulder shaking him to get his attention.
"Are you all right?" Claus asked.
"I'm fine, I'm fine.. Sorry, what was it you wanted? I haven't been thinking at all today." Alex turned his chair leaning back.
Claus sat on the sofa. "Kostavi, and the others said Sophia left...That she went back to the palace." Claus and Lavie had both remembered just who Sophia was not long after she had joined the crew, but they knew it was secret for a reason, and wanted to keep her safe just as much as Alex did.
Alex nodded. "The emperor's mental health has deteriorated to the point he's no longer thinking logically. Marius fears he's planing to attack the guild, and wipe out the people of Disith. General Vitellius Glamis, His Majesty's military advisor, is making it worse by encouraging this."
"But Anatoray will never survive fighting both Disith and the guild. The military can barely keep up with protecting the fronts now." Claus said aghast.
Alex nodded. "That's why Sophia had to go. She's the only one left with authority to fix the mess His Majesty has gotten us into. Many of nobility want him off the throne. This is her best chance to take it, and try to fix things... Now that I've answered you question." Alex said before Claus could say anymore himself. "Do you know what's wrong with Lavie? She was upset about something but she won't talk to me."
Claus shook his head. "She won't talk to you?" He frowned even more concerned now, it was strange enough that Lavie was avoiding him, but she'd never avoided Alex when she had a problem before. "I think she's upset about Norkia, but she won't talk to me either, and Al has been spending all her time with Lavie too, so I'm not getting anything out of her."
Alex frowned. It was an explanation, but something was off about it, it didn't add up. "Maybe we should try giving her some time. This isn't like her though.." Anything else he was going to say was forgotten when Dio burst in, temporarily blinding them both with the flash of a camera.
"Immelman let me borrow his camera!" Dio said beaming at them. Alex gave Claus a withering look. Claus' response was to get up quickly drag Dio out of the room.
"This can't possibly get any worse." Alex grumbled.
Sophia stepped into the room where two maids waited for her as the ship was being refueled. She looked at the dress that had been brought for her and bit back a groan. "They would have to pick the ugliest dress they could find wouldn't they..." She thought morosely. As the maids stepped forward to assist her she glared at them. "I am perfectly capable of dressing myself. You are both dismissed. " She said coldly.
"But, Your Highness.." One began.
"You are both dismissed." Sophia repeated harshly, the maids after giving quick curtseys, rushed from the room. Sophia felt horrible about treating them like that, but she had no idea how much she could trust anyone around her at the moment. She knew her luggage was being searched, and would be searched again when she reached the palace. The last thing she needed was for anyone to know she was armed. After searching the room to ensure is was safe she changed quickly as the elaborate gown would allow, and returned to the waiting ship.
For the rest of the crew the day went mostly as usual. Claus was still after Dio as the guild boy went camera crazy. Tatiana and Alister hadn't been seen, and Lavie and the captain were still shut up in their rooms.
Alvis however, had ventured out to find Claus, she didn't like that Lavie was upset. She was sure if she could just get them to talk to each other again everything would be fine. This was why she was in the hangar to overhear one of those conversations the mechanics really should have been more careful about.
"I'm telling you," Godwin said angrily. "There's no way the XO would ever betray the captain like that even if she is the princess."
"Eh,.. I suppose your right." Kostavi said before grinning suddenly. "Especially not after last night." The others looked at him in confusion. His grin got wider. "Haven't you guys heard? Apparently Her Highness went into the captain's room in the evening, and didn't leave till the this morning. Considering their 'little goodbye', I doubt they spent all that time making preparations for her leaving."
"Really?" Ethan asked, grinning. "Maybe Claus, and Tatiana aren't the only ones who are going to end up with a baby."
Gale rolled his eyes as the others laughed. He liked Claus, mostly he liked teasing Claus, who was adorably oblivious to nearly everything that didn't involve a vanship. You would have to be a complete idiot to think something had actually happened between Claus, and Tatiana out in the desert. Something had changed between them obviously, but nothing had happened. They were all going to be in a world of hurt because they couldn't keep their wild imaginations in check, the captain would not be happy when he found out.
Alvis angrily stomped over. "No way!" She shouted. The mechanics froze in shock.
"H..Hey Alvis, we didn't see you there.." Kostavi began nervously.
"There's no way Claus and that grouchy girl will have a baby together. She's mean and she's angry all the time. And where would anybody get a baby here anyway?" Alvis said pouting angrily at them.
The mechanics all looked at one another desperately hoping someone else would come up with an answer. Eventually they managed to distract the girl with other things.
In his room, Mullin stared at his survivor medals. He'd been safe here, and other than the mechanics getting out of hand at times comfortable. But he'd come to realize, especially with Sophia turning out to be the princess and leaving, that he wasn't where he belonged either. He wasn't a mechanic, and there was no place for a musketeer on the Silvana.
In Tatiana's room the pilot and her navi looked over the papers that had been brought to her. Sophia, Tatiana realized was going to be a very tough act to follow. She sighed.
"You know, you don't have to do this all in one day. You should try talking to Claus..." Alister said smiling.
There was an edge to her voice that set off warning bells for Tatiana. She turned to Alis. "Oh no. You're not doing this again. You remember what happened last time?"
Alis grinned. "Yes." Without even a hint of shame or regret from the memories. Most of the time Alister Agrew was one of the most level headed, dependable members of the crew, sometimes however she was driven with the inexplicable urge to sew the seeds of chaos and feed off the ensuing bedlam like a vampire.
Tatiana felt she should probably warn the rest of the crew, but that might mean leaving Alis alone long enough to plan something...
Sophia tried not to scream in frustration as she sat on the bed in the tower. "To think for a few seconds I actually thought I'd gotten through to him." She said aloud to herself bitterly. She fought her way through the voluminous skirt of her gown taking out the pistol hidden there and the ammunition, she carefully loaded the gun. If her father thought she was just going to sit here and let him kill her he was going to sorely disappointed. After growing up in the palace, she knew the secret passages of the palace better than anyone. She knew passages even the servants were unaware of. She would find her way out, get back the Silvana somehow, they had connections. She could remain safe there while gathering those who would support her claim to the throne, and peace with Disith. She could go to the leaders of Disith as well, that would be one of the trickier part of her plan. For now all she had to do was wait for someone to open that door.
"Sophia."
Sophia jumped at the sound. "Who is..Marius?" She got up heading to the small hole in the wall the light was coming from. "Marius. You're alright. I was so worried Father had done something to you when I didn't see you again after arriving." She said relieved.
"Forgive me. I shouldn't have had you face him alone." Marius said quietly.
"I don't think having someone with me would have helped at all. Marius I know how to escape from here. I have a plan. Come with me, if we can get to the Silvana we'll be safe there while I gather support..."
"I'm glad to see how much you've grown. Since I lost Euris, I have raised you as my own, but that must end now."
"...Marius?"
"I will clear a path to the throne for you. I know this will difficult for you, and I wish I could spare you this burden. Please remain here until I have finished."
Sophia listened to him in silent shock, and the realization of what he was saying.
"I beg your forgiveness again. For all these years you have been a daughter to me, but I think it is far past time I went to see my own." Marius walked away, trying to ignore Sophia's desperate cries, begging him to reconsider. When the passage had darkened Sophia slid tot he floor weeping.
In the distance of the darkening sky, a Disith fleet approached the capitol. Sophia was unsure how long she remained at the wall before was jolted from her grief by the first sounds of attack. Gathering her resolve she took the pistol from the bed where she had left it, and tried to calm herself. She needed to get out of there, but the only way out was through the door.
The unfortunate solder who was sent stopped dead in his tracks seeing the princess he'd been ordered to assassinate standing there pointing a gun at his face. "Drop your weapons and step back slowly. I'm leaving here, and I'd rather not have to kill you to do it." Sophia ordered keeping her face stern. The guard did as he was ordered. When they reached the stair case he began to turn slowly just as Vincent, who was rushing up the tower for a rescue that was no longer needed appeared, and ran right into him. They lost their balance, and left Sophia periodically flinching at the sounds of them falling down the steps. After the sounds had stopped she followed them slowly. "Are you two all right?"
Alex sighed still looking over the paperwork Sophia had left behind. Realizing he was getting quite hungry he looked up at the lock to see how long it would be until a meal was ready only to find dinner had ended hours ago. He vaguely recalled someone stopping by at some point saying something about food, but still lost in thought he'd ignored it at the time. "Congratulations. Sophia hasn't even been gone twenty four hours, and you've already failed at being a self sufficient adult." He told himself sarcastically as he got up intending to see what he could scrounge up in the galley.
On the way there he nearly bumped into Alvis in the darkened hallways. The girl looked at him warily. She had warmed up to him during her time here, but it was far past time she should have been asleep, and she didn't know how he would react to that. After a few awkward silent moments Alex sighed. She obviously wouldn't be up if she could sleep, and just sending her back to bed certainly wasn't going to help. "You want something to eat?" He asked. Brightening up a bit Alvis nodded.
Nearly half an hour later Alvis was happily eating pancakes, while Alex having already finished his own was washing the dishes. He doubted Briand would appreciate having the mess to clean up. "Good?" He asked turning to see Alvis nod her mouth full. "I'm glad I remembered how to make them. It's been years since I've cooked anything. I used to make these for Claus and Lavie all the time." When he finished with the dishes and sat across from Alvis he noticed she seemed much more somber now. "Lavie being upset is getting to you too, huh?" The girl nodded again. "Do you know what's bothering Lavie? She usually talks to me when something is wrong."
"When Claus and Tatiana got back, she was wearing different clothes. I don't understand why that hurt Lavie so much, but she's too scared to talk to Claus about it. And this morning Ethan said Claus and Tatiana were going to have a baby.. He said something about you and Sophia getting a baby too. Is that why she left? I thought she had to go be empress now. I asked them about it and they started acting weird. I don't think they know where people get babies." Alvis said frowning.
Alex groaned softly. "She can't seriously mean she still doesn't know?..." He looked at Alvis realizing just how absurdly sheltered the child had been. "You've got to be kidding me. She's going to be twelve why doesn't she know these things." Promising himself the mechanics were going to suffer for this later, he looked at Alvis saying. "They know where babies come from trust me. It's just not something adults like talking about to children."
"Where do babies come from?" Alvis asked still pouting.
"Dammit I didn't think I was ever going to have to do this again... I could take her to Sybil.. No, no I can't take her to Sybil. If I take her Sybil I'll end up having to tell her anyway, just with Sybil laughing at me in the back ground." He thought. He recalled something Hamilcar had told him once when Claus was still a baby. "You can be dignified, or you can be a parent, it's exceptionally rare you get to be both.""Guess which one you are." He told himself holding back another sigh "All right, so the past two times you had this conversation you traumatized Lavie, until Sybil straitened everything out. Which Sybil has never let you forget. And you still aren't sure Claus ever understood what you were trying to tell him. You've learned from your mistakes, you can do this." Cursing his luck he rested his head in his hand. Alvis just looked bewildered. "Let's start with the basics. How much do you know about boys?"
Safely on the Urbanus, with the Disith fleet having retreated the night before Sophia finally found herself with some time alone to think. The rooms she had been given were extravagant, She felt sorry for Vincent doing so much for her. So much to impress her, treat her as he felt she deserved, like royalty of course. All it did was make her miss the familiarity of the Silvana, and Alex even more. Her father and Marius were both gone, having killed one another during the battle. She'd never felt so alone.
"Your Highness, The vanship is waiting to take us to the Claimh Solais." Vincent said looking in the door she'd left open.
"Thank you, Captain Alzey." She tried to smile, to reassure him that she would be all right, but she just couldn't manage it.
Going to Lavie's room after breakfast Alex was relived to find the door unlocked. He guessed Alvis was somewhere else, which would make this easier. He knocked first, getting no answer he went inside. Lavie was sitting on her bed, her knees pulled up to her chest. Not waiting for her say anything he sat on the bed beside her. "I talked to Alvis last night." He said quietly. Lavie pulled on her lip with her teeth but said nothing. "Nothing happened out there. Tatiana's suit was soaked in claudia fluid, and she couldn't put it back on. Claus never even saw anything." Still getting no response he decided to resort to blatant stupidity. "Have you tried pointing out you're a girl? He may not have noticed."
Lavie hit him in the face with her pillow. After scuffle, as always one sided in Lavie's favor Alex found himself sitting on the floor.
"That actually hurt. How do make a pillow hurt?" He looked up at Lavie standing over him only to see tears leaking from her eyes, instead of the anger he expected. When she fell to her knees wrapping her arms around his chest his all he could do was hold her, and try to comfort her.
"I know nothing happened." Lavie managed to say even while crying. "But I want him to tell me that, and I can't make myself ask, I can't even get the courage up to go see him... ever time I try I start to feel all shaky, and like I'm going to get sick...I feel so stupid.."
Alex rested his head on her chin. "You aren't. To be honest, I used to get nervous just like that trying to talk to Euris. I think that's just part of being a teenager." Lavie said nothing, but he could hear her sniffling. "Why couldn't you just stay seven forever? Things were so much easier when you were seven." He said wistfully.
Lavie straitened up, eyes somewhat red and puffy gave him a flat look. "Really?"
"You're not the only one who's had it bad the past couple of days. You could at least let me hold onto my delusions." He smiled placing a hand on Lavie's head. "I was worried about you. I can see why you didn't want to talk me about this, but..you've always talked to me before."
"I'm sorry." Lavie said getting up, and letting him do the same. When they were both on their feet, she hugged him again.
"Don't be. I wish I could tell you everything was going to be all right, but I don't know that it is." Alex said, finally feeling like he was regaining control of the situation. They were interrupted by a knock at the door.
"Sir, we've just gotten a message...The capitol was attacked by Disith forces last night."
Lavie bit her knuckles her eyes going wide. The color drained from Alex's face. "Sophia..."
Author's Notes: In the Last Exile: Travelers from the Hourglass manga, Alister turned out to have a somewhat more interesting personality than she did in series. I couldn't help but make use of this. Sorry about that.