(A/N: Hello, once again, people, and welcome to the third chapter of Faith! I'm really liking this fic, and if I understand correctly, a lot of you do too! Thanks so much, and now, for the reviews replies! God, I love doing this.
Smoke-Angel: Thanks a lot! It's the first time that anyone's called my stories realistic, and I just thought it was because they weren't! Heh heh. This has a plot? -scratches head- I'm glad it seems that way, because I'm, seriously, just writing this as I go along. It's fun though. I don't think I'm able to write in any other way.
Storms-winter: Mmyes, -nods sagely- try the music, it's good for the soul! And thanks for reminding me about NOTV. If I don't write that next chapter soon, people will kill me. Ahem, yeah, don't we all want Kai and Carmen to get together int hat insufferable fanfic? Yeesh, sometimes I annoy myself over these things...anyway, glad you find the blindness unexpected. It was my goal for that chapter. lol
sunrise of darkness: Catchy name! I like it, it's an oxymoron. Oxymorons are my friends. Anyway, off subject. I'm glad you like my stories! I really do try my best whenever I write, and I'm so happy to see that you appreciate them! Here's hoping that you will return to place more wonderful reviews! -crosses fingers- Yeah, it's normal if you don't understand Carmen, sometimes I don't either, and she's my chara! That's definitely not normal. Anyway...
Moon Phases: I just love catching you people off guard, heh heh. Believe me when I say that I was dying to write down the perfect moment to announce Carmen's blindness. It was killing me! But then again, my fics usually do. See? I sacrifice myself so much for you, faithful readers! -dramatic music-
crimson gates of paradise (Esther and Jessica): Wow, a tandem review! LOL You two are so funny. I'm hoping for another review like that. The readers always make me laugh. Anyway...here's the update that you both certainly wanted! Parlez-vous français, Jessica? I'm practically trilingual (English, French and Spanish), so it obviously opens a bigger portal to the world for me...or something metaphorical like that. I still don't really understand what you mean by overdid, dears, but it's okay. Although, I am a bit surprised that one of the words I used wasn't in your dictionary, Jessica. -is confused- Reminds of the time I taught my English teacher a word. -grins- May your dictionary RIP. -salutes-
Well, now that that's taken care of, happy readings! Fair warning though, the end of this chapter made me, the authoress, cry. Or maybe it's just because I AM the authoress. Hmmm...
Chapter Three: Silence
Everything was quiet so suddenly that it seemed surreal in Kai's ears. It was as though someone had abruptly closed a window over a world of sound, blocking out everything except the lingering noise that Carmen's sobs were making in her throat.
She was trying to stop them, trying to quell something that should have broken free long ago. Her body shook as she attempted to swallow the tears back into herself, but she was a dam, cracking in every place imaginable, spilling water in a violent torrent of grief; sorrow that she had thought long forgotten.
Thoughtlessly, Kai watched her, wanting to do something to make the horrible, wrenching moans stop, but refusing to give any command to his limbs. He just stood there, stock still, and the room suddenly felt very cold. The boy realized that the wind had begun to blow again, although it was much more gentle that the last times, as though its intention was now to soothe rather than to protect.
Sharply, Carmen lifted her head, and Kai could still see tears running down her face, pouring from the sightless eyes and mirroring their hue to perfection. She was not looking at him. In fact, she seemed to be looking at nothing in particular.
She's blind, Kai reflected, as the breeze persisted, tossing their hair, she can't see…but she can see him.
Tarian.
Who was he?
"I'm sorry."
He was hearing the phrase too many times on her lips. Kai was about to retort, but it was probably a good thing that she surprised him into silence by standing up quickly, because even he had no idea as to what would have sprung from his lips.
She seemed relatively calmed now, despite the fact that her moonlight colored eyes still rained tears upon her slender face. Still, she faced the wall, and she must have uttered an unspoken command, for the slight gust of wind that had lifted dissipated instantly, leaving a pure, untainted silence in its wake.
Now she turned to Kai, letting her arms hang limply at her sides. Her lips curved slowly, forming a sad smile, to which Kai frowned, vaguely telling himself that she could not see it.
"You can leave if you want," Carmen stated evenly, too evenly for a girl who had obviously so much weighing upon her soul, "I don't think I've made a very good impression on you…"
She trailed off, casting her silver gaze to the wall for a moment before returning to the boy, who still insisted upon standing in his militarily rigid manner, crimson eyes trying to keep as level as possible as he surveyed her further. Silence fell again, delicate as a leaf floating to the ground.
"No."
His laconic answer confused her, and her slight brows knit before she turned away, long raven hair swishing before hiding her back once more.
Without thinking, Kai broke from his odd trance and strode forward in broad steps, placing his hand on her shoulder. He was perplexed to feel her jump and shudder at his touch, but she did not push him away, and he came half a step closer.
"You need help," said the teenager slowly, processing his own words as she was processing them, "I can't leave now that I know this…"
"You're too compassionate," Carmen replied sharply, looking away from him as his scarlet gaze dipped to try and catch hers, "or maybe…too foolish…"
"Carmen…"
"Kai."
His name was pronounced with a firmness that Kai would not have expected, and he cut off his answer. Now she looked up at him, and only then did he realize how different her eyes looked from other people's; how large, empty and utterly lonely they seemed, how the perfect silver trembled ever so slightly as she breathed quiet, shallow breaths through her slightly parted lips.
Another breeze passed across the room, more like a breath than anything else, and Kai suddenly backed away, step after step until he had reached the chair. Then, he bent slightly, his eyes still on her, his gaze locked in hers as he groped across the tiles in order to retrieve his bag. Her eyes did not waver, and his did not, and before he knew it, he was closing the door between them, feeling his knees give suddenly, so that he sank weakly to the floor.
His breaths were quick and erratic, his heart beating painfully fast and hard against his ribcage, but he did not care. He ignored the spreading pain in his chest and legs, as well as the strain in his neck from the weight of his school bag, and the steady drum of the still-falling raindrops on his body. His only thought was to get as far away as that hospital in the shortest time possible.
Kai dimly recalled knocking over a nurse or two on his way out of the white building, but he really could have cared less about anyone else's injuries at the moment. His mind swirled with all of the seemingly pointless information that he just gathered over his short period spent in that small hospital room. The unprovoked wind, the feeling of another presence, the sobs…Carmen's tears, ringing through the air like a knife cutting through fabric.
It was disconcerting. That was the only word that his befuddled mind could find to describe the outlandish situation. Disconcerting. He knew that something other than the two teens had been in that room, and he knew that there was much more to that Carmen girl than she let on.
And he'd be damned if he did not try to figure it all out anytime soon.
The front door of the Hiwatari mansion slammed open, smashing freely against the wall before bouncing back, almost hitting Kai in the face as he dashed inside, tripping over the main hall's carpet in his unexplained haste.
"Oh, Master Kai, I see you're home…"
Ignoring the elderly butler's voice, the boy tore his bag's straps from his shoulders, letting the unattractive sack fall to the floor, the protests of many books loud against the hardwood floor. Then, loosening his tie on the way, he climbed the stairs four at a time, mumbling a faint "leave me alone" for the old man's benefit, before striding to his bedroom and practically tossing himself inside, slamming the door with such force that the walls rattled with shock.
His bedroom was painted with a thick coat of silence once he took the time to catch his breath, berating himself for his panic. He was being silly. Why was he afraid? It was just a girl. A girl with some unexplained mystery swirling around her, granted, but a girl nonetheless.
Suddenly feeling very tired, Kai trudged to his bed and threw himself onto it, kicking his shoes off and carelessly letting them fall to the floor, not caring whether he was soaking wet. The sheets were cool and reassuring under him, and once again the blue-haired teenager cursed his fright.
Perhaps it was the fact that nothing in the past fifteen minutes had made sense that scared him the most. Perhaps he was like every other human on this mindless Earth, terrified of the unknown, choosing to run from Fear rather than confront it.
Languidly, Kai rolled onto his back, staring thoughtfully up at the painted ceiling. The entire room was a color scheme of deep blues and golds, along with the occasional hint of crimson, splashed onto an accessory or anything of the like. He glanced around briefly, finding solace in the familiar hues and general feel of the space, before he lapsed into thought once more.
Your voice sounds nice.
Carmen…
"Don't talk to me, Tarian."
Sighing deeply, Carmen turned herself away from the spirit, still wiping tears from her eyes. She did not understand why she had reacted in such a way, especially in front of another person.
"You swore," she whispered chokingly, hugging herself as the memory of Tarian's frightful wind came to mind, "you swore to…never again…"
His warm presence flitted anxiously behind her. He radiated desperation.
Carmen…child…please…"Why did you do that?" Carmen demanded suddenly, spinning around to face him, "Why do you always interfere? Why do you always seek to protect me from what I am trying to reach out to?"
He made to respond, but the girl cut him off angrily with a vicious swipe of her hand.
"I'm not a little girl anymore, Tarian!" she screamed, her pretty silver eyes narrowed, "I'm not the little girl that you knew, Tarian! I've changed, and you should too!"
Carmen! Tarian yelled back, more bewildered than anything else, Carmen, you do not know what you are saying!
"See! You're doing it again!"
My child, you…"Stop it! Stop it!"
Giving a cry of frustration, the teenager clamped her slender hands over her own ears, hunching down towards the floor.
"I don't want to hear you anymore! I don't want to hear you at all, do you understand?"
Then, she sprang to her feet so quickly that Tarian gasped. Automatically, a zephyr tossed the girl's long hair, whistling concernedly across the room before fading, although it still remained.
Her eyes were sharp, sharper than he had ever seen them before, boring into him like an animal glaring down its prey. Her hands shook as she let her arms fall limp by her sides, but her gaze was all that he needed to know what she was going to say.
Carmen, wait! Tarian protested, rushing towards her, Wait!
Her eyes had gone from sharp to steely, and her body no longer trembled.
"I don't want to hear you anymore, Tarian…"
For a second, but just for a second, her expression shifted to one of melancholy, then hardened again, a new, fierce resolve burning behind the sightless gaze.
"I want you to leave, Tarian."
"I don't want to hear you anymore."
There was silence, and Tarian was gazing at her with such sadness that Carmen almost went back on her decision.
Then, the wind died, leaving not a trace of its presence, and she knew that the room was empty.
Outside, the sky had darkened further, seeming like nighttime in the middle of the afternoon. Thunder's voice rumbled across the heavens, and obese clouds spewed buckets of rain, drenching the world for the sake of nothing.
It was growing colder. So cold that the trees started to chatter, their branches rubbing uncomfortably together as a newborn wind chased itself through the atmosphere, moaning in the building's parapets and winding itself through impossible alleyways.
It sang of grief, this wind. The trees felt it, and mourned. The animals felt it, and sent their unheard prayers to the sky. Even the humans still roaming the streets felt it as they attempted to keep a tight hold on their battered umbrellas. They felt the tears saturating the air, and the sobs ringing at the same time as the crackling lightning. They felt the pain that filled every being's existence from time to time, and they shrank back in their jackets as the oppressive feeling took over, the tearing wind forgotten as sudden, striking grief washed over every soul.
Everyone knew that Tarian was crying, and yet, no one could tell.
The rain plummeted on, and no one paid it much heed but two teenagers, standing by their respective windows.
(A/N: Chapter end! I know, it was excruciatingly short, but I really wanted to upload something today. Anyway, tell me how you like it, and leave a nice, satisfying review! Oh, and watch Meet The Fockers. It's hilarious! -scurries away laughing insanely-