Rhea: I just watched The Grudge 2 and It, Was, AwesoOoOoOoOoOoOm!!!!
Kioko: Don't do that.
Rhea: Fine!
XP
"Kaida!? What the hell, how'd you do that!?" Exclaimed Alzik's shocked voice.
"Where'd the girl come from?" Asked Tormal, him and Aizira both were staring at the child in my arms with wide eyes.
"What took you so long?" Aizira demanded.
"One question at a time, please." I said, pulling off my mask. The girl looked around at the three of them, her eyes wide in the light of the fire. She stared around her in shock, just as surprised by our sudden appearance as the other three were.
The moment Aizira saw her eyes, however, she gasped, "Her, her eyes! They're gold! Just like yours! Kaida is, is she your—"
"Daughter? No, she's not. But I don't think she was born with gold eyes, were you?" I asked her gently, and the girl shook her head. "What's your name by the way?" I asked her. She murmured something in my ear, clearly not trusting the others, and I smiled at her, "Kassima? What a beautiful name. Well, Kassima, my name is Kaida, this is Aizira, and these are her two brothers, Alzik and Tormal. We're going to be sticking together for a little bit, okay?" I asked her.
"We are? Kaida where'd she come from, and why is she with you?" Asked Aizira.
"She was with those cultists, wasn't she?" Alzik deduced, and I nodded.
"What was she doing with them?!" Aizira gasped.
I glowered, holding Kassima tightly and petting her soft white hair, "She's a summoner, a powerful one, and they were using her as a weapon. They used her against Malik's dragon when he attacked, that's what I went to tell Mychala, I overheard him talking with a servant of Zervan, he's the vizier to the Maharaja, and he's basically the one to blame for the war between India and Persia. I told this to Mychala, and I'm hoping she can get rid of the b(beep), but after seeing her use Kassima like she did, I just want to kill her." I said with a growl.
"Um, isn't she like, your high priestess or something? I mean, you're the Empress of Time, right? The entire cult worships you from what I know." Said Aizira.
"Hey you're right!" I said in a falsely cheerful voice, "If I tell the b(beep) to die, she's gotta do it doesn't she?" I said, and I heard Kassima giggling in my arms.
Aizira sighed, "Well, I'm glad you took her, but we're in trouble if we get caught." She said.
"We won't, I'll make sure of it." I said.
"And even if we are, Kaida can just tell the lot of them to walk away and pretend they didn't see anything. They'll have to do it, won't they?" Alzik said in an innocently casual voice.
I snickered, "I could make them hop on one foot all the way back to their encampment." I said, causing Kassima to start giggling again.
"You could make them squawk like chickens." Tormal offered.
"Or have the men dress up like women." Aizira said.
"I could make them all put smelly fishes on their heads and wear them like hats everywhere." I said.
Kassima was giggling so hard, but after a moment she yawned widely, and Aizira smiled fondly at her, "Come here, Kassima, let's make you a nice little bed in the cart and you can go to sleep. We'll let the boys talk." She said.
Kassima went to Aizira without fussing after that, still giggling, especially when I made an offended noise at Aizira, who simply stuck her tongue out at me to make Kassima laugh all the more.
Alzik sighed, "I don't know about this, Kaida…" He murmured.
"I wasn't going to leave her, Alzik. I couldn't. They were forcing her to summon that creature, even though it was painful for her, they had to lock her in a cage to keep her from escaping, even." I sighed and shook my head. "Hopefully no one will notice that I escaped right along with her, but I'm not sure that I care even if they do. Still, better safe than sorry, let's get an early start tomorrow." I said.
"Agreed."
My place had already been set up for me, and as we were near enough to India to start thinking about how I was going to, number 1: get in, number 2: get Farah, and number 3: get out again without getting caught. After that I intended to find somewhere she could stay until Zervan had been dealt with, and then bring her back. Provided Mychala didn't make a mess of things.
So I decided I was going to need to get some sleep, and let Alzik take over the first watch. At first I just stayed awake, staring up at the stars, and then I rolled over on my side so I could watch the fire burn low, hoping the licking of the flames would lull me to sleep. I closed me eyes, and was about to doze off when I felt a small, warm body slip into the mat and snuggle up close to me. I felt myself smile and I laid an arm around her. I kissed the top of her head, and felt somehow secure. Even though it was just a child, even though I was the one doing the protecting this time, I felt stronger somehow, like I could face anything and I wouldn't loose. I was no longer thinking of my own nightmares, but thinking of her own, and hoping to chase them away.
Was this what the prince felt like when he held me?
XD
"Mommy, mommy wake up, it's time to go." A small voice said, and I felt myself being shaken slightly back into consciousness.
"Mph, huh wha—'mommy'?" My eyes shot open, just how long had I been asleep!?
But then I looked down and saw Kassima. I half wanted to laugh, half wanted to make extremely embarrassing girly squeally noises.
I was saved the necessity of doing the latter by Aizira, however, who did, in fact, squeal, "She called you mommy!!! Oh that's so cute!!!" She cried.
"Yes, yes, adorable, can we leave now?" Asked Alzik.
"Leave? But the camp—you packed up without me?" I asked, slipping out of my pallet after Kassima and looking around that I had just left the last part of our encampment for Alzik to grab.
"You were sleeping so peacefully, we decided not to wake you." Aizira said, smiling.
"Oh, well, thanks." I said as Kassima began attempting to climb me so she could get into my arms. I bent down and picked her up absent-mindedly and carried her over to the cart.
"Are you hungry Kassima?" Asked Aizira, offering the girl a little bread and cheese.
"Yes." She answered, taking the offered food once I had her settled in on the cart. I crawled in beside her, and Aizira with me. I pulled the mask on my face just in case while the other two ushered Bano onward.
It was hardly even dawn yet, so after Kassima had her little breakfast she began nodding off again, and curled up in the little bed that Aizira had prepared for her earlier, but which she didn't use. The two of us watched her sleep for a while, and Aizira smiled at me, "She looks so peaceful, so happy. You really did save her, Kaida."
"Yes, she may not be safe, but at least she's away from the life that Mychala woman gave her." I sighed, and looked at Aizira, "I don't know if I'm going to be able to take care of her, though…if I can't…if something happens to me, will you…?"
"Take care of her? Of course I will. Who couldn't love a face like this?" She asked, stroking Kassima's white head. She then sighed, "I just wish you'd tell us what all this is about, my curiosity is driving me crazy here. All the things that sand woman said to you…it's enough to turn anyone's head around. It's like there's a whole other part to your life that I've only gotten a glimpse of, and I hate that."
"I know, I understand how you must be feeling, but in my opinion you know too much as it is. You, Alzik, and Tormal all have to make sure you do not tell anyone about me being the Empress of Time, from another world, or even that I'm a woman. Understand? I honestly do not want the Order of the All-Seeing Eye knowing that their Empress is, in fact, here and that it's me. I didn't even know I had 'followers' until someone told me about them, and I really don't like what I've seen of them either." I said, looking over at Kassima and glowering to myself, "But I get the feeling it's only a matter of time before they do find out, and then they'll be in for a very rude awakening. I wasn't kidding when I said I want Mychala dead. Prophetess indeed, didn't even recognize me for who I was when she saw me face-to-face. Though I admit that my face was covered. Still, she's all talking about how the 'Empress' must have seen loyalty and crap in me for the 'Empress' used me to inform them about Malik and Zervan and the 'Empress' recognizes my abilities. I half want to yell at her the moment I see her, 'Well guess what, I am the f(beep)ing Empress, b(beep)! And you have no idea how much I want to kill you right now, so why don't you make yourself scarce for a while and I just might decide you'd be better off working as a slave, just like what you turned Kassima into!'" I ranted.
"You're really worked up about this, what were they doing to the poor child to make you so angry?" Aizira asked with wide eyes.
"I told you, they were forcing her to summon that beast for them. She didn't have any control, it was all Mychala's doing, and Mychala controlled it through her. It was so painful for her and…and I heard her…I heard her say that she wanted to die…" I murmured, and Aizira's eyes bulged and her jaw dropped, "Aizira…when I was her age, I wanted to die too, and the reasons weren't quite so different either…but I couldn't escape my oppressors, I can never truly escape them, but I became stronger than them. Kassima…I didn't want her to go through the same struggle as I did, I didn't want her to have to go to extremes, to kill the entire order just so she could be free. She didn't have to go through that, she didn't, but they were forcing her…they were practically torturing her, and using her as a weapon. It was my own inner demons that tortured me as a child, that creature you saw, Aggle? She's no summoned creature, she's different from Malik's dragon, different from Kassima's golden beast. There are many, many more like Aggle, most of which are not as…'harmless' as she is. But Kassima's 'Inner Demon' was Mychala, and Mychala is a human. I never liked to think of humanity as having such capacity for evil…but Kassima is just a child." I murmured, burying my face into my hands.
My mask was damp with the tears that were flowing freely from my eyes, I felt like my gut was being twisted up inside me, and it was probably then that a truly missed my Prince the most. I was longing for his arms to wrap around me, for him to kiss away my tears, to hold me close and let me cry on his shoulder. I wanted him so much it burned. It hurt like hell. I curled up on myself as Aizira came over to murmur that everything was all right now, and she tried to comfort me, but in the end she said that I should probably get some more sleep myself. I was getting really emotional, I decided she was right, and so I closed my eyes, facing the wall of the cart, and I let myself nod off to the lull of the swiftly moving cart along a slightly bumpy road.
XD
"Kaida?" A familiar voice called, and I spun around, hardly daring to believe it.
"Prince?" I breathed.
"Oh gods, Kaida!" He practically picked me up and spun me around, laughing with joy before bringing me down and holding me tightly, "I miss you so much, you have no idea. What's going on? What has been happening? Where are you and what are you doing?" He asked.
I hugged him back, tightly, and drank in his scent as though it were the Elixir of Life. "I missed you too, I half wish I'd let you come with me, I feel like I left half of me behind…" I murmured.
"And I feel like half of me left. Listen, I told father that you left to find out for yourself what was really going on, unfortunately Keilic didn't believe me when I told him, and he's gone after you himself. Or so we think. He left the moment I told them you were gone, I'm not sure if he's caught up with you or even knows what trail your taking." He told me, "Have you seen him?"
"No, no I haven't!" I answered, my eyes wide, "Oh d(beep)it! He'd better not have gotten himself killed!" I sighed, "I guess I can use my developing powers as the Empress of Time to find him. But what else did you tell your father?" I asked.
He smiled broadly at me, "That you'd finally agreed to marry me." He answered, "He was really happy too, he says that you'll be the greatest queen Babylon has ever seen. I also thought of how to address the child issue, assuming the key to all my plans hasn't gotten himself killed." He sighed, rolling his eyes.
"Keilic?" I asked, interestedly.
"Yes, I told father that I would like to name Keilic's first-born child as Heir Apparent, but that I would be sure to talk to you first, before we decided on that. I actually sort of told him that you weren't barren, exactly, but that you had been born with a curse which you're afraid might just pass on to your child, and you are keeping yourself from getting pregnant for this reason. I didn't go into details, of course, but I wanted him to get a better understanding of the situation. Nothing is set in stone, but I know that we'll work something out." He said.
I sighed, "I hope so…"
"I guess hope is better than nothing." He hugged me again, "Now tell me what's going on at your end."
And so I did, I told him everything, every little detail spilled out of me, from the dreams with Farah, to the little charade Aizira and I played on her brothers, right on down to my supposed 'followers', and the new addition to our traveling party, Kassima. The prince was very interested in Kassima, and in the whole concept of a 'summoner' too. Apparently he was gone for too long, he didn't know about summoners because, up until recently, they were a jealously guarded secret of Egypt, but had come to the surface and there were still a lot of people who didn't know who or what they were, and those who did, didn't trust them in the slightest, just like Alzik.
I told him about how much Kassima reminded me of myself at her age, and how much I hated my 'high priestess' for doing that to her.
"I want to kill her, Prince. No, I want to beat her to within an inch of her life, and then give her to Wemlast!" I was crying again, but now, but this time, I had my prince. I knew it was a dream, but it was a dream we were sharing, and so far as I was concerned, he was right there with me, and we were standing on those purple beaches once again, the night sky stretching out before us, the beaches had become dark for some reason, but I didn't care. We were together now, and that's all that mattered to me at the moment.
"What would Wemlast do to her?" Asked the prince.
"…I'd rather not say…" I murmured.
The prince sighed, and kissed me, "Let's not bother with it right now. For now, let's just enjoy the dream we're sharing." He said, pulling me gently down onto the soft sands, and somehow managing to relieve me of my clothing in ten seconds while taking his off at the same time.
I sighed contentedly as his lips trailed down my neck and I ran my fingers through his hair, "I love you, Prince." I murmured.
"Say my name." He whispered to me, "While it's just the two of us, call me by my name." He said.
I smiled to the starry sky, "Ryuujin." I murmured softly, lovingly, "Ryuujin." I repeated, this time pronouncing it with a proper Japanese accent.
"Say it again, say it, like that, again." He said, smiling down at me, his eyes shining.
"Ryuujin." I repeated, pulling his head down to kiss him, "Aishiteru, watashi no Ryuujin." I said.
"What does that mean?" He asked me, grinning.
"It means, 'I love you, my dragon king'." I answered.
I knew it was cheesy, but I realized that I really didn't care that much. I did love him, I loved him so much. And I refused to let the dark quality of those purple beaches ruin the dream we shared.
But I couldn't seem to shake the foreboding sense that something was very, very wrong.
XD
That sense of wrongness seemed to follow me, even after I woke up and excepted the little bit of food I was offered, even though I really didn't need it. For a while I couldn't really understand where it was coming from.
And then I realized it wasn't really a sense of wrongness at all, it was actually the fact that the door to the Manor was being hammered on and nearly broken through by a tirade of very restless inner demons.
I groaned loudly and rubbed my temples. "What is it?" Asked Aizira, looking concerned.
"Them." I answered with a sigh, "The Inner Demons I was telling you about. It has been a very long time since I let them out. I keep them locked up in a sort of mental 'house', and when I keep the door shut I don't have to listen to them, but they get restless in there, so I at least have to let them out on occasion. It would be better if I could let them out completely, but I don't want to make any of you uncomfortable, so for the time being, I'm going to probably start shouting randomly, so, don't mind me." I said, grimacing as I let the door open, and felt a flood of voices enter my head.
"How does that work? I mean, are they with you? Do they have their own bodies?" Asked Aizira.
"They do, and they're with me. Think of it this way, I built an actual house in my sub-consciousness where I keep them, and even there they have their own bodies. But for me they are simply voices, that is until I let them out into the rest of the world. Right now they're yelling at me to let them out, like hell I will." I said.
"If it would be better for you to let them out for a while…" Alzik said from the front.
"No." I answered, "It would be better, but I'd much rather not." I said.
"Could you keep them from doing anything to us?" Asked Tormal, looking slightly pale.
"I couldn't keep them from frightening you, but other than that yes." I answered, "Still,"
"Then we'll stop here for about two hours." Alzik said, pulling Bano up short.
"What? Wait a minute, I told you, I'm not letting them out!" I exclaimed.
"We'll tough it out." Aizira told me. "And besides, Kassima's still asleep, we'll just make sure she stays in the cart." She said.
I sighed, "Great, overruled again. Are you okay with this too, Tormal?" I asked him.
"I don't like the thought of you having to deal with them all in your head. What if they start breaking stuff?" He asked.
I looked at him, and then I started laughing in spite of myself. "Alright, alright." I sighed, and I hopped out of the cart.
We were miles from anyone and anywhere, there was a small river which we were following, but other than that there was a long stretch of sand which would be able to fit them all. Well, all of the ones who were restless, as the majority of them slept continuously. "Brace yourselves, and make sure Kassima doesn't see." I said, and I let them all out.
Gasps greeted me, but they didn't surprise me. I could see what was so shocking, of course. There was a huge variety, no two demons looked the same, unless you counted The Sisters as more than one, which I really didn't, and they were all very obviously not human. Most were humanoid, but definitely not human.
And, of course, the Dahaka was with them as well.
XD
Rhea: A-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-ah!
Kioko: RHEA!!! I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO STOP IT!!!
Rhea: (Giggling like an idiot)
Kioko: Seriously! How can you stand horror movies like that!?!?
Rhea: How come you can't stand them?
Kioko: Rhea, I'm a WITCH! That kind of stuff is REAL to me!!! Granted, there are a few bits here and there that make it obvious these people were making stuff up, BUT THAT DOESN'T ERASE THE BIGGER PICTURE!!! Something like that COULD get out into the rest of the world through a single idiot!!! AND GUESS WHO HAS TO CLEAN UP THE MESS IT MAKES!?!?!?
Kaida: Uh, I'm just going to take an off-the-wall guess here but…you?
Kioko: You see any other Higher Witches around here? The reason I don't like horror movies like that is because of the emense amount of WORK it would take to get under control if something like that actually HAPPENED.
Prince: But, but it's just fiction, it can't really happen…can it?
Kioko: You'd like to believe that, wouldn't you?
DP: You know, Kaida turned the Dahaka into one of her Inner Demons…couldn't she do the same with those freakishly powerful Japanese ghosts?
Kioko:…hm, hey you know what…you're right!
Kaida: Oh no, no way am I letting you make me another inner demon just so you don't have to work so much!!!
Kioko: Oh come on Kaida, pleeeeeeease!? The last one nearly ate all my silverware when I tried to exorcise it!
Rhea: Hey, hang on a minute, that's MY silverware!!! THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED TO IT!!! ARE YOU TELLING ME THERE WAS A GHOST IN THIS HOUSE!?!?
Kioko: Er, well, not anymore, I got rid of it and—
Rhea: AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME!?!? YOU DIDN'T SHOW ME!?!? WHAT KIND OF A FRIEND ARE YOU!?!?!?
Kioko: The kind who isn't use to dragon girls whose secret ambition is to see homicidal ghosts…
Rhea: I'll bet it had hair all over its face too!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DIDN'T LET ME SEE IIIIIIIIIIT!!!
Kaida: I'm…seriously freaked out now. Okay I think I'll do the FAQ!!!
Kioko: Please!
Q: So is Kaida going to keep Kassima?
A: Looks that way don't it?
Q: That wasn't an answere…
A: Don't care.
Q: Is Kaida going to get caught with Kassima?
A: Maybe, why don't you wait for the next chapter and FIND OUT FOR YOURSELF!?!?
Q: Are they going to find Keilic?
A: Um hello! Empress of Time over here, if I can't find him, he doesn't exist, thank you!
Keilic: I exist…right? Right?!?!
Prince: Yes, Keilic, you exist…sorta.
Keilic: O.o
Q: What are the demons going to do now?
A: Get into as much trouble as they can in the middle of a desert. Which…isn't much, to tell you the truth.
Q: What's the Dahaka going to do?
A: The usual.
Dahaka: Etaf rouy egnahc tonnac uoy.
A: Tell someone who cares buddy.
Dahaka: (Turns to Kioko) Etaf rouy egnahc tonnac uoy.
Kioko: Oh yeah? And just what is my fate? Hmmmm?
Dahaka: Re…wonk t'nod I…
Kioko: Then shut up.
Dahaka: Si ti revetahw, ti epacse tonnac uoy!
Kioko: Well, if my fate is to become Archmage of the Circle, then I certainly hope not!
Dahaka: Re…ton s'taht…
Kioko: I repeat, do you know my fate!?
Dahaka: …
Kioko: Then shut up!
Rhea: Well, that's all for now! R&R peoples!!! Or I shall send my cookie throwing monkey minions after you!!!
Kioko: Hang on a second…YOU HAVE MINIONS!?!? AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME!?!? WHAT KIND OF A FRIEND ARE YOU!?!?
Rhea: The kind that doesn't wanna share super monkeh minions…
Kioko: Come on, you know I can make it worth your while!
Rhea: Er…