Never Let You Go
Chapter 3: Sooner or Later (Soren's Song)
Come back and haunt me
Follow me home
Give me a motive
Swallow me whole
They said I lost it
What could I know
When I'm but a mockery
I'm so alone…
-Switchfoot, from their song Sooner or Later (Soren's Song)
"Lucia, you look awful."
That was Hannon's unfeeling sentiment when Lucia walked into the dining room of the Pearl Pairi the next morning.
Lucia frowned at her. "I couldn't sleep. I kept having strange dreams."
She watched as Hippo walked into the room. "Hey, Hippo, what do you about some monster called Caos?"
"Caos!?! He can't be back! Aqua Regina-Sama got rid of him!!" Hippo exclaimed.
"I kept having dreams about this guy called Caos, and all of us princesses, and this ornate carved box that someone opened, and it freed Caos, then all us had to go stop him." Lucia told him.
"This is bad! This is very bad!" The penguin said as he waved his arms in the air.
Lucia wasn't listening anymore. "And Kaito was there too, and he was helping fight…It was so romantic!"
"Lucia!" Hippo shouted. "We have more important things to worry about!"
Back at the Archeological dig, one of the archeologists was getting ready to open the box.
"Shouldn't you wait for Carl? I mean, after all, he was the one who found the box." Another archeologist asked.
"No," The first one replied. "He said it was alright if we went ahead and opened it." She tugged on the lid of the box. "It won't open. What did they do to this box?"
"Look," The other replied. "It's been sealed shut. We need a crowbar."
He hurried away and returned a moment later with a crowbar, which he rammed into the seal of the box, then pried it open.
The lid of the box flew back, and a blast of eerie glowing blue energy exited straight up from inside the box, sending a gust of wind flying back from it.
"Yes! The time has come for my return, and this world will fall before me!" A dark, echoing voice announced as the blue energy gathered itself into a spinning ball.
"As a token of my thanks, allow me to give you a gift…" The light grew brighter until had swallowed up the whole area.
Ahahahaha! Are you ready for this, Aqua Regina? I know I am!
"I thought you girls were helping me get ready for Amagi Rihito and Michal's arrival, not watching my TV." Kaito said as he carried another box into the room.
"I am helping." Lucia complained.
"I know you are, but how about them?" Kaito nodded over his shoulder into the living room, where Hannon and Caren were indeed watching TV.
"Quiet," Caren called to them. "We're trying to watch this."
"A caravan discovered a scene of devastation at Pyrius archeological dig early this afternoon. We've received word that an apparent explosion took place, and several witnesses from a town about seventy miles from the dig claim to have seen an enormous bright light in the sky just prior to hearing the explosion." The female news anchor reported. "Some locals claim it was the ghost of a malevolent spirit sealed away there many thousands of years ago, but official have other ideas about the explosion, including mishandling of explosives used in the dig-"
Caren used the remote to turn the TV off.
"What's wrong?" Hannon asked. "You have the strangest look on your face. Are you worried about Rina and Noel and Coco?"
"No, I'm not worried about them." Caren said absently. "It's just that the news footage they showed in the background while that woman was talking… I saw a piece of a carved box that I saw in my dreams last night."
Lucia dropped the box she was holding and turned to Caren. "Did you have a dream about someone called Caos and his plans to take over the world?"
Caren looked stunned. "How did you know?" She asked.
"Because I had the same dream last night!"
Kaito stared at both of them. "What are the two of you talking about?"
"Yeah." Hannon piped up. "Why don't you let us in on what's going on?"
Lucia briefly related the events of her dream, with Caren adding a few parts.
"So, we're supposed to team up with a bunch of people to try and stop Caos, who the Dark Prince of the Panthalassa sealed away eons ago?" Hannon asked; trying to make sure she got all the fact straight.
"Uh-huh." Lucia and Caren both nodded.
"Maybe we should have Rina and the other cut their trip short and come back to land." Caren said as she stepped over to the window and looked out at the sea.
"They'll be back in a few days." Hannon said. "I'm sure it'll be fine."
"Well, if we know the doom of the planet isn't imminent; would you like to finish helping me get ready for my guests?" Kaito asked as he picked up the box Lucia had dropped.
"Okay." Hannon said as she picked up a dust cloth from the pile of cleaning supplies on the coffee table.
"So Kaito, tell us about the people coming to stay with you." Lucia said as she watched Kaito pile the boxes by the door.
"Amagi Rihito and his sister Michal? Rihito is one of the greatest orchestra maestros I've ever met. Actually, I met him when I was younger, and my parents invited him to come stay with us if he ever came to Japan." Kaito said as he stood back up. "I'll take those boxes out later. Anyway, he and my parents had a mutual interest in music, and I got a note the other day that said he was coming to the area and if it was convenient, he and his sister would stop by. And then I asked if you wanted to come help me clean, (and I was joking), but you said yes and that's how we got to where we are now."
"Kaito, you're so mean!" Lucia protested.
Teasingly, Kaito stuck his toungue out at Lucia, before opening the door and picking up the boxes to take them outside. "C'mon, we've gotta get back to work."
While Kaito had been cleaning and getting ready for his guests, his older brother had been working on something else: looking for a job. A small hotel in the nearby twon had had a help wanted sing in the window, and Gaito had deemed it a good place to start looking.
"Well, we do need someone to take over a managerial position, but you seem a little … inexperienced." Kotuo-san, the owner of a hotel in the same town as where Lucia and the others lived, said. "Have you ever held a people management position?"
Gaito, sitting in the chair on the other side of the desk in the office, nodded. I'm a king, you idiot. What do you think I did all day? But he didn't say that. Instead he said, "I've had some experience, and I'm sure I could do the job."
"Hmm…" Kotuo mused as he looked over a sheet of paper. "Well, we do need some help. Alright. You can work on a trial basis."
Gaito smiled. "Thank you, Kotuo-san."
"You can start tomorrow."
She didn't quite understand what this little festival was about, but it didn't matter. All that mattered was that she had an idea how to earn a little money, and she needed a gathering like this to do it.
Sara stepped out from the corner of the building and worked her way through the crowd. In one hand, she held a basket she had taken from the house she now shared with Gaito. He was looking for work, and she had decided to try and earn some money on her own.
She found a spot on the sidewalk, and set the basket down. She then took a deep breath and began to sing.
The last page of a fairy tale
has been re-written and changed into tragedy.
Even for one person's heart who believed in it, it's been lost.
Love and dreams are nothing more but a sandcastle
that's short-lived, and breakable, even if you didn't wish it so.
But even now, I can't forget
of that song you always used to sing.
It echoes in my chest, and I feel as if I might return to that day
Definitely! I can return to it, but right now all it's been is a chain surrounding me that I will shake off.
Our two worlds are linked together by the blue sea.
She had an audience now. People were stopping to watch, thinking it was part of some performance. She kept singing.
"Definitely..."
"Love will conquer all,"
"The constellations that decide fate can be changed."
should completely vanish. All it is, is a cowardly lie.
Like a jewel, the sea which shines bright as it's nursed
Engulfs everything with kindness and love, and gives seven lives birth and dreams to gaze at.
So I've come back here.
I won't lie to myself any longer.
I have my people to protect, and a world to protect.
"This turned out to be such an interesting day." Lucia mused as she pushed through the crowd. She was anxious to get to get back to Pearl Pairi and meet up with Caren and Hannon. It was a shame Rina, Coco, and Noel had decided to leave and take a trip around the seas, but they would be back soon, and then the six of them could plot how they would defeat Caos.
"But we need a seventh princess." Lucia said. Hanging around her neck was the glass vial Kaito had given her earlier that day, and inside the vial was the orange pearl.
Flashback
"Here, Lucia, if you're going to carry that orange pearl all over the place, you might as well take this." Kaito said as he tossed something at her.
Lucia caught it. "What's this?" She asked as she turned the small rectangular glass vial over in her hands.
"I used that to hold your Pink Pearl after you used it to revive me." Kaito told her. "Remember?"
Lucia giggled. "Yes, and you wore it at the surf competition where we first met."
End flashback
Lucia sighed. "Being with Kaito makes me so happy."
Suddenly she stopped walking. She heard the faint sound of a familiar song.
Definitely...
The invisible distrust between another is a weakness
to a love with no shape that I want to believe in
Until I can finally feel the love within my grasp.
On a bed of ripples, on the morning you woke up
Everything ended and began again.
It wasn't possible… "Sara!?" Lucia began pushing her way through the crowd even faster.
My hopes matured, and returned to the sea.
The bell of happiness rings out as the seven seas shine forth.
A miracle of love that it causes is what I love most, and as we want to gaze at each other
we gently kiss.
Sara finished her song. For a moment, no one did anything, then slowly everyone began clapping, and some began tossing coins into her basket.
A girl with dark blonde hair pushed her way through the crowd. But Sara didn't notice her as she picked up her basket and hurried away.
"Sara!" Lucia shouted as she shoved her way through the crowd. But the orange princess either hadn't heard or was ignoring her.
"Sara!" But it was no use. The orange princess was gone.
"Sara." Lucia looked down at the ground as she turned and began to head home.
Maybe I was wrong. But I could have sworn that was Sara!
"You mean at any time you could have returned to this impressive castle and you chose to stay in that little orb of light in the bottom of the ocean?" Caos, once again in his human form, though no longer a ghost, walked through one of the halls of an ancient castle that he had prevailed on Michel to show him.
"How dare you be so disrespectful!" Fuku, however, was one creature it had not taken Caos long to decide he could live without. "Michel-Sama is greater than you could ever hope to be, Caos-Kohai!"
Caos glared at the bird, but said nothing. Michel ignored them both. "Fuku, you can finish showing Caos the castle." He said as he spread his wings and began flying in the opposite direction, back the way they had come.
I do not care what happens to this world, He thought to himself as he flew. I don't belong here. I never did.
"But inside, you do care!"
Startled, Michel looked around. No one was there. Caos and Fuku were already gone.
Great. Now I'm being haunted. Michel flew over to a window and looked out it, down on the clouds that hid the castle from the world.
"A place ruined by humans. But perhaps Caos will fix that."
"You know he won't! And you do care what happens to the world!"
It was a feminine voice, and that of a small child. Michel deduced as he heard the voice again.
"Inside of you I hear a voice that still wants to hope, still wants to believe in this world!"
Now immensely irritated, Michel snapped, "That is your own voice you hear, and nothing else! This world has done nothing for me or for any of my kind!"
The conversation was over, as far as he was concerned. And to make sure the conversation stayed finished; he pulled out his flute and began to play it.
T.A.R.N.S.: Dangit this was a long chapter. I'm sorry if the chapter seemed a bit choppy. I don't what possesed me to update so fast. But now that I have, let's see if I remeber all my notes (Now with headings underlined for convenience!)...
Song Lyrics: Before I even had a plot for this story, I had already decided I wanted to use some sort of lyrics 'prompt' to help write chapters. This comes partly from the fact that it's a singing shojo manga/anime, and also that the title was inspired by a song. Can you guess which band does the song I named this fic after?
Anyway, the song in chapter 2 was refering to how Gaito was going to put his love on the line and ask Sara to Marry him. In this chapter, the song lyrics refer to Michel, at the end of this chapter. (Come back and haunt me...)
Caos-Kohai!: According to my Del Ray manga, the Japanese title kohai is used to describe someone of a lower station. It may not be the right honorific for the task, but I wanted to show what Fuku really thinks of Caos, so Fuku refers to Michel as Michel-Sama and Caos as Caos-Kohai. (Caos, by the way, does not appreciate that.)
Michel Angst: I didn't get to put any in this chapter, but I want some of this too so I'm adding it of my list of goals for this story. So now we have that, and the SaraXGaito.
Sara's Song: That was the English version of Sara's character song, Return to the Sea. Apparently, the version I used comes from lyricsmania (.) com. I recommend you look the song up on YouTube sometime, it's pretty cool.
I want some Michel angst, and some chocolate milk, but since we don't have either I'll have to settle for re-reading Reverie and having some white milk. Oh well. Please read and review, and it makes me very happy when you do. ^^