whiteshade of blackness 'gaku march 27, 2007
warning : this chapter contains some gore/death, pedophilish issues/rape-attempt, if you don't like it just skip the parts...language, too.
# 13 Jealous Moon
under the name of hatred
we learn to love the love to hate each other
where has our war gone to...?
There had been countless skirmishes in the past 2 years, the aggressors had been from various kind of communities, which was something out of the typical case, someone would just think that they were standing in lines for their turns to attack Archantra. Like vultures waiting a bite of the soon-to-die prey, only the white Land was not a dying prey for them, and they showed them just how alive the prey-tagged inlanders were. The total minor battles almost had equal number with the battles in 10 years in entirerity. It was as if something had drawn them to Archantra for somemore specific reason other then larceny, its been making Odin more and more aggravated, because if they didn't have the Charms on their side they wouldn't classified a few of those battles as skirmishes.
The OWLs had been more discreet in their movement, that was something new. Usually they were barging in, or tried to actually, like a bunch of bees plunging themselves into fire. Their new scheme lately was well organized and structurized, like there's a mastermind behind them. Well, some of their methods were just as haphazard as before, but they assumed that it was just something to divert them.
Howard and the others might noticed it as well, that it had started after the OWL attack and The Collector's 'little visit' that day, they just didn't say it out.
Deia had improved her Harmony control somewhat, she could use it for minor daily things, as Howard still restricted her for major usings. But she'd completely thrilled as Yuy didn't show that much of 'allergics' to her Harmony anymore, not that he could stand other's though. Still, as she could use it without the fear of hurting him gave her a great relief to some extent. No, the main matter didn't lie there actually. The boy had been constantly on her tail or at her pressence everywhere, but so did (the human) Kylle to his, and automatically, to both of their pressence. He wasn't invading or anything, in the contrary he'd been the nicest of people, but just the fact that someone always watching their every movement gave Deia the feeling of being under surveillance. No wonder that Lyea had this more gloomy face when she'd first being tailed everywhere by that maid Kyllea. Speaking of which, Deia had been feeling the maid's stares on her more and more cryptic everyday, as if she was waiting for something to happen. It wasn't bad, just not really comfortable to be felt around.
Out of her knowledge, Yuy knew that the winecolour-haired maid was actually making some internal contacts with the spirit Kylle always lurking close at his back. Not something to grow alarm for, she seemed to have restricted the entity somewhat from doing more rather physical progress towards him, as Deia was always in the same atmosphere. It seemed like the spirit-Kylle was someone she barely could control, the chaos-element in their system. But the boy would watched closely in case anything of new development should happen. Eitherway, he didn't tell his Human about him, he didn't want to give his Human more things to worry about.
He watched his Human's back as close as he could, they even sleeping in the same bed again, in hers. Of course doing it secretly, when it was about time to wake up, he'll sneak back to his bed so (the human) Kylle would find him there by the time he came from the balcony entrance (as the only private entrance of the ex-livingroom was from the balcony, and the sweet Kylle wouldn't want to intrude a Lady's room. That wouldn't be polite to say the least).
The adults had made separate arangements for him, an adjacent room to her chamber. Especially now that Deia's twelve and started to bloom like a flower, prettier than everyone had ever seen. But she kept saying she wanted him in her atmosphere. Truthfully, unknown to others, she kept him in tact in more ways than anyone could see. The Air didn't lessen its attack on him especially when he's sleeping, that's one reason why Deia wanted him in the same bed, it would try to absorb his cosciousness when he drifted to deep sleep and she'd wake him up when she felt he's slipping from her. Reattached with their share so he could cling on to her consciousness when he couldn't hold his. As for Deia, she felt safer when she's not alone against the Land's pressence. Together they'll survive somehow.
A knock on the doors to her study took Lyea's attention from the book she was reading. Deia didn't wait the answer and opened the door, she let herself in. "You wanted to see me?"
Noting the unpleased furrow on her brows, Lyea smiled politically. "I suspect you already know what it's about?"
"I've said it hundreds times, Lyea, there's nothing you should be worried about the relationship between me and Yuy...!!"
Lyea gave a soft snort, still smiling at her stubborness. "It's not about that, actually--"
"Then, about people talking about us...?!" Deia interlaced her fingers in front of her body dignifiedly, still standing in front of her desk. She'd acted a bit more princessy these past times, mostly to 'service' other's fawns. "I don't treat him as a pet anymore, so when I asked him to follow me around, I didn't force him or order him or anything--"
"That would be the problem, isn't it?" Lyea interjected her, "You see him as a free willing individual, yet you--"
"I said I didn't force him, Sister...!" Deia's eyes glinted with aggravation.
"I was talking about you should let him have private matters like time for his education and such, since you made him a free individu, you should start to akcnowledge his needs for his future life!"
Deia huffed in annoyance. "I see to his educational activities in my spare times myself, he followed me to my lessons when he didn't have his own. That worked just fine...!"
Lyea sighed, "You talk like you think he'll always be in the Castile forever, Deia, you should let him learn something more of how to settle down and have a decent life as--"
"That's not correct!!" Deia pouted stubbornly. "He will always be by MY side...!!"
Lyea slapped her forehead dramatically. "That's what the matter there, don't you think ?!"
"... I know I don't OWN him...!"
"Deia, you're treating him like you're going to marry him someday..!--"
"You think...?!" Deia brightened a nice flush tinted her face. Lyea who was still going to say something, choked by the still unspoken words. She took a doubletake, and clamped her mouth dignifiedly.
"Deia, you're twelve and he's still ten..." at least that's what they estimated of his age, "...marriage is still far from..--"
"There's your answer...!" Deia grinned sweetly. "You shouldn't worry yourself too much, you'd get early wrinkles on your face!" she added jokingly. "Besides, mother and father had known each other from early age, didn't mean they got married right then and there..!"
Lyea pursed her lips. "This is not about marriage, Deia...!!" Oh, she'd forgotten what she was going to speak to her about. Deia had a better political mouth than her, when she had something to aim for. Where had her famous wisdom when she needed it...?! "Besides, you are both..."
Deia lifted her brows up inquiringly, she knew her sister wouldn't finish her sentence. "Alright, alright!" Feeling a little blackmailed, Lyea lifted both hands up. Sighing. "But to others..."
"We're both children, Sister dear...!" Deia finished it for her with an understanding smile. Lyea stared. Deia bent forward and whispered to her ear, "...I don't want him in here forever, my Sister...!"
Lyea stared her still. Deia gave a smile, then let herself out, leaving her to her thinking.
"...Lady...!" a soft breathy whisper came from the doors. Lyea turned her head, to find prussian eyes burnt at her. "...I won't be a burden !"
"I didn't say you would, Yuy...!" she said smiling. He must have been standing outside the doors.
"...I won't be burdened, either !" His rich coloured orbs said the determination he didn't say outloud.
The simple words struck her speechless, and she stared at him for somemore time, then smiling with a nod. With that she closed the conversation, and turned to her book again.
Yuy was still standing at the doors, watching her for sometime. Then, he reached in his pocket and advanced to her desk. Lyea looked at him questioningly, he had a soft protective gleam in his eyes, which were speaking the smile hidden under the black-armor. He opened his palms to her, in his hands were several crystal cuts of various colours. They were tied as pendants by handmade threads with intricate plaits.
"You made them...?"
Yuy nodded.
"For Deia, right ?"
"...Lady choose one.."
Lyea cocked her head to the side. "...Shouldn't Deia choose first?"
"Human got plenty...!"
"Hmm... okay !" she took closer look at the pendants, seeing as they were of no ordinary crystals. "This...?" she took a clear octagonal-column pendant that had milky smoke-like coils swirling lazily in it. The boy let out a soft snicker-like noise, sounded happy.
Lyea dangled the small pendant that was about the size of her finger to her face, watching in amusement as the smoke-coil wafted and blended like a livingthing swimming in the clear crystal. She curiously touched the coil's 'head' and it let out a whirring sound as it turned cool to her touch.
"Uwhaaa...!" Lyea jumped surprisedly and had to catch the thrown crystal twice in the air. The crystal felt even cooler in her palms, almost like ice.
Yuy let out a happy sigh, "That's Skirr... Skirr likes Lady...!"
"...Whaaa'..?" Lyea asked holding her bits of scattered dignity.
"Try to stroke..." he mimicked with his forefinger. Lyea complied, and finding the crystal actually purred when she stroked it. She blinked.
"Blow a breath... just softly..." he added. It gave a breeze-sound when she did, soft and unendingly.
"...Try hum..." The boy's eyes lit up more. Glad that the human-Lady liked his present.
"Hum...? A song?"
He flicked his head, "...just a short hum is okay..."
The crystal let out a whistling sound at her humming, it tuned with the coil's movement. Lyea stared at it in wonderment. "Can it talk...?!"
The boy shook his head, "Skirr doesn't have tongue...!" he whispered matter of factly. Lyea chuckled at his stumped expression, "No, it doesn't!"
"So, how do I make it stop...?" the whistling died down almost at the same time she said it. Lyea blinked and stared at it, the coolness she felt on her palm heated up to the room's temperature too.
"Skirr understands...Skirr's a good friend..!" he whispered wistfully. Lyea looked at him, an understanding downed on her, "Skirr is your friend...?" The boy nodded twice. "I'll take good care of Skirr, then!"
The boy's eyes drooped in a smile, "Skirr will alert me when Lady's in trouble...just ask Skirr to relay the message..." a little flush coloured his face.
Lyea's eyes widened a little, "Then, don't you want to give it to Deia instead?" He shook his head vigorously. "I will be by Human's side...!" He whispered absolutely, as if saying she shouldn't worry about her. It silenced her for quite sometime.
"Thankyou...!" she smiled then. Yuy gave a small bow, then fled to catch up with his-Human. Since the first time he started to speak around her she'd noticed that he never refer to Deia as 'she' or 'her', just 'Human'. She wondered if the mysterious mesmerizing boy somehow realized Deia's true nature. She sighed to herself and stared at the crystal dangled in front of her face.
"You're a good friend, aren't you, Skirr...?" and stroked it tentatively with a finger. It let out a strong 'purring' sound as if delighted. Lyea smiled happily in return. Almost immediately, Howard knocked at the slightly ajar door and let himself in, he stopped noticing the sounds reverberating in the room. "What's this sound...? You kept a cicada in here ?!" he looked around at the ceiling. Lyea laughed merrily at that. "It's a protection present from Yuy...!"
"Protection...?" Howard's brows shot up.
"Just something to alert him in case I'm in trouble, he said!" Lyea willed the crystal to silence and tied the thread to her waistband. "He's started to become protective over people he likes, hasn't he?" Howard said remembering the boy gave him a wrought-iron carving that could make a whistling sound in the winds, noting to himself that the boy also liked whistling sound a lot. "I guess when most people in your whole life were abussive to you, you'd want to keep the good ones save with all you might, don't you think, Howard?"
Howard shrugged, he'd noticed that even 'Thrice''s eye didn't shine red as the sign of alertness in the boy's company anymore. "Yeah, he's a talented tamer too, that little brown-head...!" he added offhandedly.
---------------
"Hold still..!! I couldn't see your face !" Deia said as she butted Yuy's forehead with hers. They were both waistdeep in her bathroom's small pool. Above the palm of her hands were two deep-green watterballs rolling idly in the air.
...this is not a good idea...! Yuy closed his eyes tightly, straightened his head facing her. "Don't crease your brows like that, or they would get splotchy-coloured..!!"
"Come on, I wouldn't want to hurt you...! Although that's not a guarantee that it would work out the way I think it should..." she countered herself. The boy gave a small mewling sound of protest. "Just hold still and trust me, okay...?!" she pleaded. "Oh, and hold your breath..!!" she reminded, despite his black-armor still sticking to his half-face.
"Now!!" she warned, and the watterballs launched at his head from both sides and enclosed it entirely. The watter made a few swirling and lost its colour gradually, when it cleared Deia opened both palms at its sides not really touching it. The watter poured down to the pool, leaving the boy's hair a deep-green colour, including his facial hair. She let out a relief snort she'd been holding and brushed the boy's strands out of his eyes. "That works...!!" she exclaimed.
"You okay? ...no side effect anywhere, right...?!" she cupped his face with both hands. The eyes fluttered open and blinked several times, the irises focused up to their eyelashes.
"...green..." he breathed slowly. Deia laughed, "You said you didn't want other colour..!" Actually, he said green goes with the colour brown (wood) in the forest outside, not that he wanted green hair. "Your nails could be covered with gloves, so they're fine, I guess!"
"Right!! Let's get ready, then!!" she grinned widely. Yuy sighed under his black-armor.
...still, it's not a good idea...! He thought to himself as his Human already bounced off to the wardrobe room.
---------------
"...Trae..!!" Deia crouched on tree trunk in the disguise of the leafs.
The teenage boy on the bench under the tree sideglanced up, "Dee...!" his eyes lit up, almost immediately he covered his mouth as realizing his exclaim was too loud, sideglancing to his surrounding discreetly.
"The Charms' here...? Let's see..." Deia half speaking to herself, closing her eyes while feeling the significant Harmony-signature of the Charms in the vicinity. "...hmmm, baked mimosa-cake smell...'Seventh'! ...tinkling sounds and red-shining Cotton-winds leafs... 'Thrice' ?!" she widened her eyes. The boy down let out an impressed snort. "They came here often lately..! I guess 'Thrice'-shæ (1) was just acompanying 'Seventh'- shæ in the beginning!"
"In the beginning...?" Deia lifted one brow. Then climbed down, Yuy jumped down without a noise after her. Trae nodded to him once. "Green...!" He breathed appreciatively, the now green-haired boy just blinked. "This time no splotches, see...?!" Deia beamed self-proudly. Yuy gave a little dog-whine sound from behind the plaid-scarf covering his black-armor, and Trae laughed at that. They had to hide his original brown-hair, it's stood out in the Land.
They stooped-walking and tiptoe-ing the large building between gardens and open-corridors to the backyard, led by Trae. He pointed to the far tree colony behind a tower. Deia widened her eyes as she could see 'Thrice' sitting stoically on a tree, with a little girl –at least she thought it was a girl- sleeping soundly at his side, using his body as a back cushion. "Isle came about three months ago, apparently the parents were killed by a herd of beasts from the Forest, she survived because the elder sister hid her in a barrel in the basement-storage...almost her whole village didn't survive, though." Trae shrugged. "She never talked ever since,...barely showed any interest towards anything. When 'Thrice'-shæ came with the other Shæyuä, though..." The boy flicked his head to Deia behind, "You know 'Thrice'-shæ usually doesn't mingle with the flock," and continued their discreet walk. "Well, she found a liking to him when 'Thrice'-shæ sat on the tree like that, stared up at him for hours until he lifted her to sit beside him...!"
"Hee...I know 'Seventh', but I didn't know 'Thrice' likes children!"
"Likes stoic children, apparently. He seemed like in torture among the boisterous ones!" Trae chuckled to himself. "But I thought they said 'opposite attracts'..!"
"Hmmm...attacks, you mean. I got the feeling he'd found us peering on him...!" Deia mumbled. Actually, since about halfway to this place...! Yuy thought, but didn't say it.
The big school was also used as orphanage, it classified the lessons from commoners' classes to Charms', since the Charms' potencials usually came to the surface at the early age of puberty, although some were of exception. "You don't want to meet the flock first...? They'd love to meet you after long time no see!" Trae asked Deia lowly. They're almost walking on fours as they passed the low-windowed corridor. "With the Charms here?! I don't want to face a lecturing-Howard when we get back...!" Deia made a face. At that Trae laughed again.
"Well, there's your free passage,...just remember don't get into trouble, or we'll get the trouble too for letting you escape to town...!!" Trae warned them sternly as they got to the unused water-tunnel hid between the thick bushes. They need to get out secretly of the inner-circle of the Castile's city to the downtown where commoners lived, since the Charms had their wards erected around the city, in each circle of the Land's landscape system, so they'd know if anyone passing the wards. In the water tunnel, simple undetectability-charm would do to slip through, because of the stone used to built it. For some reasons, Deia suspected that they knew what they're doing every now and then, skipping to the town or villlages, but they let her away with it. These times, though, as the situation were kind of boiling, she wasn't very sure they'd let them go. But she needed her vacation, Yuy needed his escape from the Castile's atmosphere too. It's been too thick to move in nowadays.
"Ahhhhhhh...the free air...!!" Deia breathed deep dramatically and marveled the town's atmosphere. After they walked the one and a half kilometer in the tunnel, finally open scenery.
...it's still the same Air...!
"Oh, don't ruin my dramatics moments, okay, Pru...?!" Deia pouted. Yuy snorted.
They went to the open market and road-shows, Deia loved to munch every snack she set her eyes on. The boy usually got spellbinded by the flute roadshow, although Deia thought watching a few beasts dancing to the instrument's tune was not boring, but that was animal-slavery to her. Sometime she wondered if may be the boy got caught by the hypnotizing-chants in the flute's music, since he's a Wild too, but that kind of thinking would lead to imagining the boy dancing in the street, with his eyes closed in trance, the winds blew around him made him look ethereal, the sweatbeads shimmering under the Stratus's lights and made his body-tight white tunic looked almost transparent, and...sometimes she'd wonder why her head felt lighter and her nose got hotter like it's going to have a nosebleed. Eitherway, after about fifteen minutes for him to listen to the tune, she'd drag him from the roadshow just for caution. There were still many places she wanted to go to, anyway. She played the three-ball(2) with the town's children in one of the corner, they welcomed her as easily even though they didn't know her. It's one of his Human's natural charms, the boy noted. He would just stand at the side, watching her back. Anyway, the children's play was too slow for his reflexes, if he joined he'd attract too much unwanted attention.
Deia wore a girl's kneelength tunic and ¾ leggings, so she could move freely. Although the boy fearing her hair colour would attract unwanted attention just as his original's sometimes, but silvery-purple was not that significant in truth, especially among the colourful-haired inlanders of Archantra, she just have to wear commoner's accessories for addition. Still it's not that common, never the less. Sometimes, he felt like he was being over protective of his Human, or just his paranoia came to get him.
"Uwaaahhh... that was FUN...!!" Deia sighed happily, stretching her worked up body. They walked the country path to the outer villages.
...You sure we should come to this parts...? You heard Trae's story about the beasts' attacks! Yuy followed close behind.
"I have a far superior Beast, here. I'm not afraid of some coward beasts attacking people in large numbers..!!" She turned suddenly and grabbed him affectionately, rubbing her cheek to his forehead.
...shouldn't the fact that they attack in large numbers to be the main caution...?!
"You think too much, Pru...!!" Deia snorted and walked again through the tree colony shading the path. Yuy suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her back. Deia yelped reflexively, as the boy flashed to her front and a clang of metal heard.
Deia righted her footings, became alert of their surrounding. To their leftside, a small dart stuck to the ground, it's usually poisoned and used by hunters to tranquilize the animals. Yuy had his naqta(3) in his hand by his front, the thing he used to shield off the dart with. The other hand was halfcircled to the back, guarding Deia's body.
"Well, well, what we have here..?! Some Castile's denizens...!" A heavy voice greeted them from the front. A man in black leather suit and grey armor stepped out from behind a tree. "You're still too small to be a bodyguard, don't you think, boy ?!" he asked staring at the naqta. Somemore men got out of their hideouts behind and on the trees. They were armed with mostly hunter's weaponry, but one of them was holding a staff with Creiss-stone tied to its head. Darn! Deia tsked as she felt her Harmony got cut off of the Land's by the stone's wave. How could she be that careless...?!What's a gang of mercenaries with a Charms-killer stone got to do with them, anyway? She didn't give out that she was a Harmony-user as long as she could remember outside.
Yuy flicked the blades out of the naqta's ends. The clink sound alerted the men surounding them immediately, they aimed their weapons to them at ready. Bull-crossbows, poison-darts, fire-spears, energy-absorbing links with missile-spikeballs hovering close by,...nothing he'd never seen two years ago. The boy thought as he assessed their weaponry. Except for the low-ringing stone on the staff held by the one at the far back. He tried to shut off the infrasonic waves that were vibrating his hypersensitive eardrums.
Don't...! Deia held him back from behind. They have a Creiss-stone with them. It's shutting in my Harmony completely. Besides, it has a Wave-energy too, you don't want to get a Wave-hit, don't you?! He let out a warning growl to them as answer. The man who first came out chuckled openly, lifting one of his thick bluish-grey brows derisively. He lifted a hand for his men, and they shot out the darts.
Deia stood still in a perfect standing pose as flashes of white-metal swishing around her body, crushing the darts to the grounds. She trusted him with her safety, his safety was suppose to be her responsibility. Yuy stopped his motion with his naqta-blades in each hand, arms stretched wide like an eagle, back flat to his Human's body. "I see, you're qualified as a bodyguard, though...!" The man mumbled appreciatively. The boy flicked the inner blades of the halve-naqtas out, they were longer than the blades at the outer-ends, which shaped like hexagonal-stars, and shaped like common blades instead.
"I really don't want to damage my goods, the buyers hate damaged things...! And I don't want to damage my men, either!" he mumbled again. Deia's eyes snapped at him. What goods ?! She wanted to attack verbally, but covered her ears as the man with the Creiss-stone approached. The boy's eyes shone in anger as he instinctively knew what the stone was, he roared. The nearest man to him was taken aback a little. "A Wildling...!" another one murmured.
Then a whizzing sound heard, he felt his Human embraced him tightly from behind, bending her body forward as if shielding him, and that was all he could remember...before his consciousness sunk in the darkness, however, he thought he'd seen a flash of blood-red coloured whispy hair, and an angelic smile, in a blurr. Then just void-black.
---------------
The first thing he was aware of was a hundred-years worth of headache, then of the boiling sensation in his inner organs, later when he could regain his motoric senses was that his legs couldn't move, seemed like they were tied together from just under the knees to the ankles, the cold bitings he felt on them was surely from the chains, that compared to the same immobileness of his upper body and that his hands were tied together to his back and on top of them they cocooned his chest with chains again that were mostly the thing responsibled for his suffocating feeling...but then again, it might be caused by the craft-plate rejecting him again from the insides...he couldn't decide which was which and felt like his brain going to blow up any moment...someone please stop that torturing ringing sounds...!
Cool drips of water on his face made him forced his glued eyelids open. Everything was overlighted and swimming and blurry, he told his stomach to stop rebelling.
"...Pru,...you're okay?" a soft whisper sounded like a full blast for his headaching hearing and he gasped silently, the sudden intake jarred his poor lungs and he had to hold his slipping consciousness in the present with all his might, as he knew instinctively whom the whisper was belong to. "O, goddesses...please be okay...!" the desperate concerns reached his mind, and he fought desperately to will himself conscious enough.
... m...fine... he thought mostly to dictate himself.
Somemore whispers sounded but he couldn't make his hearing cooperative as the aches overwhelmed his body and everything turned black again. A low sweet chuckle echoed in the back of his mind, and he hated himself that he failed to protect his Human from them, whoever included in them was.
((...ah, Deity, don't sulk alone...play a little more longer...!)) the sweet echo said, and he willed himself to sink in the darkness to avoid it, the complete darkness where noone could bug his unbidden solitude.
---------------
He didn't know how long he'd been unconscious the second time precisely, but his inner clock told him about several hours of the same day had passed since his second black out -he couldn't trace about his first one, though-, still it rather felt like several lifetimes as he tried to move his fosilized body. Or maybe they concreted his body in a cement mixture or something.
"...Prussian...!" the soft whisper now sounded like a soft whisper, thankfully.
He tried something and surprised himself as he let out an involuntary small moan. Then more scattered drips of water reached his face, his now more aware mind told him that likely his Human splashed the water from someplace where Human couldn't reach him physically. The thought about Deia willed him to open his eyes.
It was dark, but not pitch black like in his solitude, rather gloomy shaded everywhere. Where's this everywhere, anyway...?
"...Prussian !" a hearfully whisper heard again. He tried to searched with his eyes. And found his Human about two meters away from where his body lied almost faced down. Human was sitting on the floor with hands extended to him that couldn't reach him. Surroundings came into focus eventually, centered on Human's space first. They were in someplace of cages with wooden floor that were giving unending humming sound and shaking lightly. Something of transportation mean, then.
...you're... hurt... he thought tiredly, staring at his Human's forehead that was sporting a light bruise. "No, I'm not..! They didn't hurt me anywhere !" Deia's whisper carried a smile.
The boy closed his eyes, his Human didn't aware of the bruise on the forehead then, likely Human did it to self by pressing it hard to the cage bars trying to reach him. Now that he thought of it, he could see it clearly in his mind. More waterdrips on his face. He opened his eyes again.
"...drink...?" Deia's voice wavered a little. The boy just stared at her driftingly.
Deia sniffed once, and brushed her nose with the back of her hand. "...share ?" she asked encouragingly, and managed a smile. The boy blinked tiredly. "Come on, shift your body slowly...!" He blinked again staring at her open hands. They didn't tie her or anything, likely they just feared him as a beast, like any other people did. He felt his face, they didn't put a harness on it. Must be because they didn't think it was necessary since they thought the black armor was to prevent him from biting anyone.
He tried to move his heavy-chained body, and gave a sharp moan as he felt every bits of it shredded from the inside out. Deia sniffed again, "...move slowly, Pru, come on...!" Her fingers furled and unfurled unconsciously as she willed him to be in her arms. His vision went swimming again, and he forced his body to worm closer to her with his eyes closed. All the time using her encouraging whispers as beacon. Feeling as his consciousness tried to slip from his grasp again and again, registering Deia's encouragements that were sounded more and more desperate and frightened.
A touch of her cold fingertips on his forehead stopped him for a moment. "Wait..!!" Deia went to the poor resemblance of a sink on the corner of her cageroom and brought a wetted handkerchief to him. She wiped his burning face with it as he wormed closer. When he's close enough for her to grab his tunic's shoulder, Deia pulled his dog-tired body to her arms, half-sitting half-reclining, separated by the cage bars that were dividing the big cage into two cagerooms. He marveled her cool embrace and light kisses on his face, grateful that his body didn't betray him this time, noting that she sniffed quite often. She didn't cry, though, or may be she didn't openly.
Deia held his head to rest on her forehead from between the cagebars, all the time murmuring comforting words and gratefulness. Her hands encircled his head and cocooned body as close as possible, giving him time he needed to hold himself together again. His deathly-pale face and fever were what concerned her the most right now, not about the situation of being kidnapped and most likely going to be sold as merchandise.
She brushed the black-armor open and let her fingers ghosted on the darkened lips. "Share...?" The boy's answer was only to open his lips just for a slight. Deia instinctively let out a hushing sound before she kissed the burned temple and maneuvered his face so she could cover his mouth through the gaps of the bars.
They shared for the longest time and poorly didn't felt enough the slightest bit. Yuy felt his vital-force renewed a little, feeling completed as his Human centered in to his existence, but a nagging at the back of his mind kept bothering his awareness. A low sweet chuckle that echoed on and on. An indistinctive breeze-sound greeted him in his owned-space, someone tried to warn him. Eyes on him, on them...uncomfortable heady smell of hormons filled the air, dry moans, bad-liquor smell...sounds of boots from behind...human! Bad human! Bad scent..!! Bad intention!!
The boy opened his eyes and pulled his head back, his Human's face was still in a bliss and the eyes fluttered open, she was going to ask him what was wrong when suddenly he was pulled back roughly, almost thrown to the floor, a big rough hand crushed on his head to keep him down. A sneer smelled of bad liquor and something vile.
"Looks like ya little bitches already had adequate training as bitches, ain't ya...?!" a haggard man with uncountable scarrs that made his face almost unrecognizable leered at them, when he stared down at the boy he licked his ruptured lips, his incomplete teeth were so dirty they were almost black. He was panting short heavy breaths and kept licking his leering lips.
Deia felt a cold heat rundown her spines. She stared with wide eyes unable to move. The words her sister always said to her echoed unbiddenly in her mind...'wrong kind of people', 'wrong kind of people', but being raised in a palace meant she never really acquainted with those kind of people, and she didn't really know what they always refered to when they said the words. For them, they were only sharing, but for other people's eyes, they were kissing openmouthed. That was what Lyea wanted to warn them, but Deia was still too naive and she didn't really want to explain about adult stuffs to her yet.
She clutched the cage bars tightly in both hands.
"Both o' ya made me a little bussy with myself, so ya hafta take the responsibility a little..!!" his dry chuckle was like the sound of grating gravels. "Preferably a little tighter than my grip...!" he leered widely, drools dribbled down from his mouth. His left hand was still crushing the boy's head down, his right hand was wandering around his own crotch, his buckles were undone, and under the unmade tunic Deia could see something jutted to his front that made her stomach churn.
The man pulled down the boy's pants to his knees roughly, it pooled on where the chains allowed the access. Yuy gave a sharp sound of fear and surprise when the man feeling his right tigh up to his buttocks with hard squeezes. "Nice ass...!!" He said appreciatively disgusting. Deia gasped as her mind felt an electrical slap seeing what he was doing to her Prussian.
"Unhand him, you bastard..!!" she barked furiously.
The ugly man looked at her and snickered sickly. "I wasn't planning to hand your little bitch, milady...!" Then he pulled the boy's hips up, prostrating on his knees, planting his rough fingers hard enough to bruise, his thumb on his opening. The boy let out an unrepressed sound, and the man laughed disgustingly. "Like it hard, ain't ya, bitch?"
A white outdoor slipper flew to his head. The man clutched it and tossed the harmless thing to the floor, he sneered at Deia's enraged face. Brushing the boy's right buttock with his thumb while his hand gripping his hip again. His sneer got wider as the boy let out a small whimper despite his effort to not make a sound. Deia's eyes were watery by the rage and her powerless state, she just stared him with such hatred she wished it could kill him then and there. The man seemed to know what her thoughts were and he laughed smugly, then bent forward and licking him wet with his badsmelled saliva. Deia gasped with revulsion on her face, an involuntary shiver run up and down her rigid frame, and the man laughed louder. He's enjoying this game a lot.
Yuy kept his eyes closed tightly by the pain and fear, his jaws were pressed so hard with each other they started to ache. His body trembled lightly despite his defiant effort to repress it. He felt the man's wet tongue brushed his tight opening and lingered longer on his sac from between his tighs, and let out a choked sound. Another slipper hit the man's head, Deia had good aiming, if only she had harder object to hit him with. The ugly man laughed delightfully and bit down the boy's buttock hard. Yuy let out a pained sound, and Deia banged her forehead hard to the metal bars. "I'LL KILL YOOU...!!!" She yelled full of hatred.
Blood welled out profusely down the boy's tigh and cloths, and the man used it to wet his jutting manhood. Deia got petrified in horror, though she didn't know about sex yet, she knew he was up to something unforgiven. "I'll show you I aint only gonna hand the bitch, little lady...!!" he poised behind the boy's butt.
...I'LL KILL YOU...!! Deia thought hatefully, repeating the words as if a curse-spell in her mind over and over, feeling a tang taste in her mouth from her bitten tongue, her nails broke the palm skin from the tight clutches on the bars.
Yuy smelled the scent of his Human's blood in the air, and opened one of his eyes a slit at her, noting the hatred and anger and blood, and tears that were running freely down her cheeks. When in a fraction of second he felt the man's left hand leaving his head, feeling as if in slow motion as it grabbed his other side of hips to pull his butt backward to his dripping manhood, he turned his body in a flash and let his sabercuspids out.
The man only had time to let out the first fraction of a choked gasp when the boy's mouth closed on his throat, his long fangs crushed the spines at once. Hot blood burst out, gushing to his face and the front of his chained body and down his throat, the sounds of bones and meat being crunched and the pungent smell and the taste of blood made him sicker. He closed his eyes tightly in disgust. But he kept biting and biting until there's nothing left to bite. And pulled back, half lying on the man's upper body on the floor, trying to vomit out the bits of bones and flesh and as much blood as he could that had been swallowed involuntarily. He wheezed painfully between the coughs and vomits. His senses centered unbiddenly to the incarcerated feeling in his insides.
Eventually the sounds of Deia's yells reached his awareness. She'd been banging the bars with her hands hard enough to bruise them in her anxiety and impatience. Yuy sideglanced wearily to her, it was the only thing he could do right now.
"Prussian..!! Prussian, come here, come to me, please...please...!!" she pleaded tearfully. He just stared her with darkened eyes, feeling himself dirtied by his action and the man's blood more than what could be seen. "Please come back to me, Pru... Yuy, please..!! I beg you..." she kept pleading as she felt the gap between their souls distanced more and more. "...I beg you...!" she said brokenly between her sobs.
He stared her as if she was a stranger.
"... dirty..." he whispered breathlessly after a long time. Deia's cries had become only sobbing murmurs by then. "...come here...!" she pleaded hoarsely.
The boy stared unseeingly. Then wormed closer to where she could reach him and pulled him to her arms. "...dirty..." he breathed trancely again. "No..!!" Deia barked. "No, you're not..!!" she said firmly. And ran to the sink with water in her cupped hands. Took her several times to repeat the action to wash the blood off of his face, but his hair couldn't be cleaned thoroughly and left sticky parts here and there. She could only brushed the wound on his behind with the wet handkerchief and not able to tend it more properly. The bleeding had stop, though. It seemed that he was resilient to physical wounds; that is, if only he hadn't been struck by a wave-hit from the Creiss-stone. About the darn thing itself, if only she'd been aware enough of its pressence, she should be able to save a ward to at least shield him so he wouldn't be in this bad condition by the wave-hit, or call forth one of her Spells out of her sanctuary before the stone cut her off of the Land's Harmony. To think of that, if only she was able to use the Harmony of the outerlands... if only she had master the technique... if only she'd been strong enough to defend both of them... His safety was her responsibility !
"...dir...ty..." the boy's choked whisper brought her mind back to the reality. He had gone into shock, his body trembled convulsively and felt so cold like ice. Deia embraced him as best as she could through the cage bars, trying to console him and lessen his shaking. The fact of a burning fever turned to ice-cold temperature in only a short time agonized her mind greatly. This was far worse than the condition he was in when the mercenaries brought him to the Castile. Of course, at that time, they didn't attack him with Wave...!!
"...sshhhh...I'm here, Prussian, be safe...!" she murmured over and over to his temple. The boy kept whispering weakly his one word, until it got unintelligible to her ears.
"What the hell..?! Shit!" a man's voice from outside the cage made her turned her head, but she only managed to get a glimpse of the man's foot as he ran to report what he'd seen there.
Yuy let out a soft whimper, and Deia shushed him with a kiss on his head. "...it's okay, now... I won't let anyone hurt you..!!"
A commotion heard from up the stairs at the end of the corridor. Sounds of footsteps thundered down to where they were kept. Deia took a deep breath, bracing herself for what was definitely to come. About ten men came to the front of the cage, they only huddled to the bars though, seemingly afraid by the scene inside the boy's cage. The ugly man's body sprawled on his back lifelessly on the floor, blood was everywhere, and although they couldn't see the decapitated neck since it was facing the woodenwall across from them, the severed head rolled a few steps from his body was the evident enough. They had weapons with them. Some stared at them -actually at her Prussian- with repulsion and fear, some stared with anger on their faces. Eitherway, the judgement scale wouldn't be easy on him.
Deia stared them back with dignified air, telling them they wouldn't get pass her to get him. She held the small and shaking body tighter.
A curse heard from behind the men, and they cleared a path. It was the black leather man who likely their leader or superior. He scanned the scene cursorily, then stared at them. His eyes were hard as he approached them. Deia covered the boy's face with the hand encircled his head, it was the only thing she could shield him with at the moment.
He stared them down. "Did he succeed on his doing?" he asked flatly, flicking his chin to the ugly man's body behind. Deia stared up at him unflinchingly. Thinking that the little girl didn't understand what he was really asking about, the man asked another question. "What did he do to him?" his chin flicked to the boy in her arm. Even though he refer to her Prussian as 'him', not 'it' like the mercenaries back then, his dispotition didn't approve to Deia even the slightest.
She stared his eyes with cold darkened violets orbs, and her lips moved slowly wording only one word, '...kill...!!'
The black leather man didn't change his hard face, he only smirked at her threat after staring her for sometime. "I said the buyers don't like damage goods, and I mean it..!!" he said pressing his last words loudly for his men to hear. They made a few low sounds that died down shortly. "He was a beast-tamer, or at least he liked to think so...!!" The man flicked his head to the ugly-dead-man. "'Guess he wanted to try his luck somemore!"
"Won't happen again!" he said passingly. "Take him!" and said while he turned his back to them. Two of the men came into the cage, carrying fire-spears in their hands. Deia widened her eyes in anger at them.
"You would want to hold him without the bars, wouldn't you?" the man said while picking Deia's slippers from the floor. "Tell him to be still..!" he continued indicating at the boy who was baring his sharp-needle teeth at his men. Deia stared at them for sometime, then whispered something to his ear. The boy let out a low growl and hissed at them, his diluted Wild-eyes searching them unfocusedly. Deia tried a few more times. He submitted to his aching body at the end, and let them approach. They lifted his body by the rings at the sides of the cocoon-chains at eitherside of his body, using some sort of metal-claws usually hung at their waists to grip the rings.
Deia kept a hawk's eye on their every movement the whole time, until they put him down in front of her feet. The black leather man put her bloody slippers on the floor next to his lain body. "Shouldn't you say something like 'my parents won't let you get away with this', or something?" he asked casually.
Deia stood rigid and stared coldly, wording another '...kill..!' at him. The man laughed. "I see, you'd kill us by yourself...! Most of you said the same thing, but after some trainings they'd said something about asking us to kill them, instead...!!" he stepped out of the cage and one of his men locked it again. "They like the defiant goods like you better, though. The harder to break, the longer they could play with...!!" he laughed to himself. "Archantra's inlanders have really distinctive looks and there are many rich people who'd want to spend their money on the likes of you. Although speaking of it, I think they'd like 'taming' your beast more...!" his voice trailed off as he went back to the upper level, along with his men. "...and the operational expenses are more than anything--.." and shut down completely by the closed metal door at the end of the corridor.
Deia hurriedly came to her Prussian's side and carried him to one of the inner corner across the sink, he wasn't heavy for her to lift but the chains added to the weight made her have to half drag his lower body on the floor. The cagerooms were originally one big cage that divided at the middle with another set of bars, at eitherside were another room with wooden walls, that were appeared to be some storage rooms. They huddled at the wooden corner, Deia tried to warm him as best as she could. A small thump shifted her attention to the front of the cage. A man put a basket of food and blanket from the small door at the base of the bars, then relocked it. He kept a curious apprehensive stare at the boy who was blocked by Deia's body from his sight.
"...Blanket and remedy...!" he said passingly. Deia looked fixedly at him with a deep furrow, not moving the slightest since her Prussian's body was in her arms. He'd stopped trembling and now only lied weakly with short shallow breaths. "He's not an ordinary Wild...!" the man said almost like to himself. "...'Scape's native shouldn't be outhere! That would mean...-" he clamped his mouth like he'd bitten his toungue in the middle of sentence. "You shouldn't have kept him too, Girl...He's bad-omen...!!" he muttered while walking back to the upper level.
"I'm bad-temper...!!" Deia murmured once he was gone, and shifted to grab the basket. "Are you up to eating something? I don't think they put something in it, but I don't know how they work, by the way...can you tell?" Deia lifted a bread to his face. The boy just sniffed once and contorted his face, either by his internal pain or the bread's smell. She had to admit, it wasn't like what she used to eat, the food looked like it's been kept for at least three days in a stormy weather, but she thought they'd need the strength to escape. Yuy definitely needed the strength to recover.
She tentatively took a bit of the bread with her fingers, furrowed at the grains that were staring back at her from the inside of the bread. "Did they make it from flour, or they floured all the ingredients in the same bowl before baking it...?!" She halfheartedly put it in her mouth and chewed, and force swallowed it, and drink from the running-water pouring to the sink. "...I'll have tooth-ache..!" she grimaced to herself.
"Here, just take the blanket, Pru...!" she said while spreading up the blanket in her hands. It was big enough for the both of them, since it was an adult's size. Before she covered his body, however, she kneeled down and stared with loathe at the chains. "I think you'll be more comfortable without the chains..!!"
The boy blinked dissociatedly, trying to focus at her.
...I'll try to break'em... he closed his eyes and tried to pull his hands apart.
"No, I mean this !" Deia cupped her right hand to his face. "Never leave home without it..!!" She grinned with a gleam in her violet eyes, her left hand pulled out a lockpick from the ribbon-band at the end of her braid. "...bassically, since we cannot leave home if we didn't use it to get out of there...!" she added half jokingly, thankful that she didn't loose her braid in the abduction, or else she'd loose her loyal lockpick.
Deia tried to pick the chains' lock with difficulty. She gave out a small yelp every now and then when she felt an electrical surge pricked her fingers. Flicking them in the air and sucked them in her mouth when she felt the bitings got too sharp. All the time muttering incoherent curses under her breath. Such electric-surge would mean nothing in the Air, if only she could still use her Harmony.
...It's energy-absorbing chains...you wouldn't be effected unless you tamper with it... he thought tiredly.
"And you...?!" Deia muttered. "It absorbes your energy frequently..?! Then, it's the more crucial we take it off of you as soon as possible, right?!" She cursed incoherently through gritted teeth as she forced the damn lock open, and let a repressed squeal as it clicked. She impatiently unfurled the chains around the boy's feet and let out a low "...aaack..!!" as she found three more series of locks under the cocooning chains. "They're lock-fetishists or something, or what...?!" she growled. Yuy blinked half-focusedly and let out a breathless snicker.
Deia glanced at his face, "You're feeling better, already...? Be a little more patient, alright ?" she smiled, her eyes shone a little in the dim cage.
In the end, she picked of a total fifteen locks, her fingers almost entirely numb and her fingernails all bruised by the effort. Yuy's been mewling in empathy the halfway through it, looking more and more revived with each loop of chains loosened off of his body. The kidnappers inspected them twice the whole time, every four hours, of which Deia had faked sleeping under the blanket to cover the halfway-loosened chains from the boy the first time, the second time she stared the inspectors with a hot glare. Though mostly, it's because she was hungry and they really didn't give them decent food to eat.
Yuy held her hands in both of his with such care, licking the fingers and willed them better. Even that Deia kept telling him that it was nothing, he had this tender sad expression on his face that made Deia wanted to cry. She coaxed him to rest for a while before they'd try to escape, later after the third inspection, as she couldn't pick the cage lock she had to think of something else to get out. She wasn't familiar with the carved-writings along the bars, but Yuy said they were such an outsider's spell that would make it impossible to escape through. Then, they only had to break through the wooden wall, right? Right..!! Like anything could be that easy! He didn't want to even touch the said wall, said something about being dirty or maybe he meant dirty-wall or something. Deia suspected its blackish-brown colour as something she wouldn't want to imagine, the smell of tang that somehow still wafted from it... How did they paint the wall with that, anyway...?!
They huddled to the corner post, it was of a tree bough that big enough to support several levels of the huge vehicle, the bark felt warm and emanating a comforting feeling, now that she thought of it. May be she could try to sync with its Harmony? But that wouldn't do any good, the tree already dead, right..? Where're they taking them anyway, all she realized was that they had been in there for almost five days.
Deia stared at the sink accusingly, behind the sink was a stone floor with an open drain at the back. If that was the toilet, she wondered what those men's face would look like if they ever saw her stand-peeing there. She chuckled under her breath. But then again, remembering about what the ugly-man's deeds, she turned angry again. May be better not straying her thoughts too much, she had to think of how to escape!
...I think you would have a good laugh...on top of the risks coming along with it....
Deia blinked, then looked down to Yuy's head resting in her embace. His eyes were still closed as if sleeping. "You were eavesdropping my mind...!!" she pouted playfully, a little flush coloured her cheeks. The boy snickered breathily. "Feeling much better?" she whispered.
...five days...that long..?
"Well, you were unconscious for the most part. You were so still the first three days, I thought you're dead!"
...I wouldn't leave you alone like that...!
Deia snorted. "You better not, I'll hunt you down to the next lives and give you a hell's ears of--..."
...Is that a promise...?!
Deia forgot her words at that. She silenced for a moment. "...you'd really want me to?" she asked blandly.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I thought it'd be nice to meat you again after I die and be reborn.....
"...even though you could not undo your soulbond...?"
They silenced for sometime. Listening to the soft humming of the vehicle.
...at least...I hope I'll see you again in my next life...even though you wouldn't remember me, I'll remember you...
"Could we not...talk about this right now...?" Deia said feebly.
...I'm sorry I didn't have whole soul to give you--......
"I said not now, Yuy..!!" Deia half barked the low voiced words. She grited her teeth, feeling angry at herself for being angry and hurt. Yuy was as sincere as he could ever be, giving her all he's left, but she was too greedy for wanting more. The void in her that could never be filled. Was that what it felt to be always be halve...?
"Have you ever... met your-bonded...? Like...in the pastlives or something..."
A sad acceptant of negation answered her from the boy's mind. She felt a squeezing in her heart... -to search in all eternity for their halves-... She frowned.
"Like, may be...you've met but you didn't realize it..."
Yuy smiled with distant eyes ...my bond is special...it's one-sided...!
Deia widened her eyes. "Then...your-bonded is..." she searched her mind, what he'd said when he talked about the Mourns. "...free-soul...?" she sighed the words weakly.
"—But that would mean that your-b--..." she gasped.
The prussian orbs opened up to her. ...has 'own lives...yes, I'm only an outsider of Fate to the-One...!
"...Aren't... aren't you..lonely...?!"
He smiled soulfully. ...I'm happy...my soul-purpose is only to find the-One and see that the-One's happy... even that..... his face turned to a slack mask.
...that the-One had already bonded to someone else.... His body fell slack in her embrace. Even though he said he had lifetimes' age, but his now small child's heart couldn't bear the emotion sucking it like a maelstrom to the deepest cavity the world knew as personal-hell.
Deia felt the small slack body trembled again, not by physical pains, if she didn't know better she'd think that he was crying. She maneuvered him to face her and embraced him tightly, sending her scattered happyness that somehow both of them were there, together and alive. She rocked him gently, feeling like a hypocrite brat for only thinking of her feelings about his circumstances.
"...we have to get out of here, Pru..!" she whispered when his body felt warmer in her arms. "I don't want to know what they stored for us...!!" -...I don't want to know what they'd do to you...!
The boy didn't give any response for a long time. He let out a soft krrrck when Deia thought he had fallen asleep. It was a long time since she heard that sound. She smiled.
...there's someone here.... he thought silently, that someone warned him about the ugly-man before, he felt like he knew the someone from a longtime ago. Felt familiar like the sunlight...
...if you could trust me with your life.... his thought trailed off. Deia furrowed. "I trusted you with my death, why wouldn't I trust my life to you...!!" she said a little grated.
Right.... he smiled to himself, feeling stupid with his low self-esteem, but needing the rememberance none the less. ...then, close your eyes...! And with that warning he covered Deia's mouth with his, each hand at eitherside of her temple as if making sure she didn't see anything, and he opened his owned-space. And the bough swallowed them as they let themself fell backward. And all she could feel was like falling in an endless pit of cool-flames, and centered her senses to his as she thought this was like their usual sharing.
Then gasped as they got to an abrupt stop of the fall. She moaned a question feeling a little heady and nauseant. She opened her eyes slowly and saw a blur of Yuy's form staring down at her from above her face. He bloomed a smile, his prussian eyes glinted with affection. ...You'll survive !
Deia blinked, and frowned. '...shouldn't that be my words...?!' she said to herself in her heart. When she cleared her vision again, she realized they were lying in a different room. The louder humming sound and the constant shaking of the floor told her that they were still in the same vehicle.
"...This is...-?!" The upper level, above the cage-rooms... Yuy finished her sentence. Deia sweatdropped in disbelief. "...ho...how...? When...?!" she tried to sit up, and as her body suddenly felt like a little quake-drunk(4) she almost hit her head, if only the boy didn't slide his body behind her to cushion her fall. She looked a bit stunned for a while, then gave a shaky smile that developed to a little incredulous chuckles. "...That...don't..." she wheezed.
"...Don't tell me we traveled through THAT...!!" she pointed to the bough that was the corner's post.
Yes. The boy thought simply.
Deia let out a sound of half-panic hysteria, her mouth resembled a fish out of water. That was something that her mind could not process. Then stilled. "...I...don't want to know how...!! Just don't tell me...!" she waved her hands in the air. And manage to stand without banging her head to any solid object.
...there's this...someone.... Yuy thought. "I said I don't want to know...!!" Deia breathed exasperatedly, noting the room they were in was likely the janitor's closet.
... something like 'tree' or 'three'....(5) he thought as if saying to himself. "Noooo...!! I don't want to know, Pruuuu...!" Deia covered her ears with both hands, making an over-dramatic headshake vigorously.
...who was likely been captured too, and letting us escape through their exit...!
Deia stilled. "Really...?!" she asked him seriously. Yuy nodded. "Then, we should thank--..." she stopped as Yuy shook his head slowly. Deia blinked, her face shadowed. "...that someone didn't make it?" He just stared. "Ooh..." she mumbled.
...that someone got away first, not in this vehicle anymore...!
Deia frozed instantly. "...Don't...make me feel like riding an emotional whirlwind, Yuy..!" she grinned agitatedly. 'Good to wake up your body's awareness...! He pointed with his chin with a playful smile.
"I get the feeling that you're making fun of me...!" she pouted at his back, but complied silently when the boy signaled her to get out of the small room. His sharp senses gave them full advantage of the surroundings, they got to the outer level without any major incident. The vehicle was of something like a massive ship of wood and metal, although it was moved by chain-wheels. By the looks of the amount of armory fixed to the hull, the hunters had a very rough life at their daily works. Deia frowned. '...What kind of thing they use that to shoot at...?!' she peered at the three giant stakes ready to be fired in their giant metal bows, at the front of the vehicle.
It was dark, since it was nighttime. As an Archantra inlander, although she never been subjected to such darkness before, she could manage her way just smoothly. Yuy sideglanced at her every now and then, noting that even his Human didn't equiped with dark-vision, she could 'feel' her surroundings as perfectly as seeing. Must be something to do with her harmony, because in the darkness of her Spell, they could see objects just as perfectly.
They got to the edge of the hull. Yuy froze and widened his eyes in denial.
...this...can't be...They brought me back...--?! He stared unseeingly at the black gap under the huge vehicle. The massive thing was running on a narrow earth-bridge crossing the unbelievable wide gap of the earth's surface. The depth of the cavity he knew almost unendingly if you ever fall to it. Far down, he could see the blur of silhouetted tower-like rocks, jutting as if trying to stab the unreachable sky with their pointed ends. He felt an unbearable cold runing down his spines.
Deia looked up and widened her eyes in disbelief. Up in the air were masses of earth floated stagnantly far above them, they were shaped like ragged broken round-shells with holes wrecked their shapes, giving anyone under those masses some windows to see through. Deia stood mesmerized when she saw some glimpses of the stars in the nightsky. Then without a sound, bright beams of sharp silver-light poured down on her through the holes, she blocked her eyes with her hand at the sudden intrusion. As the huge vehicle moved along the bridge, she eventually saw the source of the offending light. A monstrous big round moon stared her down like a lidless deity. And felt a shock crashed down on her whole being, unforgiving and unrelenting.
She tried to breath, but couldn't, feeling like her body being clenched in an invisible monstrous hand. '...Pru...!' she mouthed. Cold surge of hatred and pains clawed her from the inside, corroding her existence with unavoidable force. She felt like disappearing.
"...Yu..." she managed a choked sound. Then half aware of her body falling from the edge of the metal fence down to where a welcoming darkness spread.
Yuy heard the choked whisper, and snapped his head at where his Human should be, behind him. Widened his eyes as he saw his Human's body plunged down into the abyss. Without thinking he jumped down to her.
Inside of a watching post, a man watched silently as the two children disappeared from sight. He narrowed his eyes, his face was hard. "...Bad-omen...!" he murmured to himself.
Deia felt her consciousness slipped from her, but she was aware of a large white-wing covered her from the silver-light of the moon. Then she let her eyes closed.
...wing... was her last thought to herself. And then blackness.
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-shæ: a title to call the Charms, it's mostly mean 'senior', or 'sempai' in japanese. Shæyuä : almost means 'older brother', originally means 'someone older (than me)'; Archantran language.
three-ball; an inlander's toy/child's play, it was of a mainball about twice the size of tennisball with small bells inside, and two satelite-balls that hover around the mainball in tune with the chiming of the bells, they can be kicked or hit far but will float back to its orbits around the mainball.
naqta; a Castile's weapon, shaped like a stick. With small hexagonal-star shaped blades hidden in the outer ends, and flat/common blades in the inner-ends/body of stick. The stick could be separated into two by the middle. The hexagonal-star blades would leave such teared wound that wouldn't stop bleeding easily, bassically like a bayonet. Made of white metal.
saru meant an extreme case of jet-lag
...'think you know who it was. hehee..