May 18, 2007
Disclaimer: I don't own Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. I own Than, Aden, and Adena. And the kingdom Than rules. Yes! Step one towards world domination, complete!
Title: The Forest of Purity
Author: PurificationArrow
Rated: Teen
Genre: Romance/General
Summary: In the time spent together, Nausicaä and Asbel's feelings for each other start to grow. They also find a strange tree that is protected by an electric barrier. Suddenly, new problems begins to stir: someone is also after Nausicaä's heart, but who?
Notes: Well, I'm attempting to move things along a little. And since it's quite late at night, I'm tired, and I can't think straight. So if there are any grammatical errors, spelling errors, anything like that? Please keep it to yourself. I'm REALLY stressed right now, and I don't need to worry about being a bad authoress with bad grammar, etc. K? Thanks. XP I'm tired...
Italics - Thoughts
Bold - Emphasis on a word
Bold and Underline - author's note
Chapter 9: Into the Past
Last Chapter: Handsome, noble grey eyes stared back at me, a clean face, and a messy knot of brunette hair. "Princess Nausicaä... Adena, is mine and Prince Than's sister."
--- Nausicaä's POV ---
I stared back in shock.
"Your sister?" I murmured... my voice close to a whisper.
Aden nodded his head back, "Yes Princess. Adena was our youngest sister, and the crown princess of this land." He said, and closed his eyes, waiting for an obviously painful moment to pass.
Finally, when it did, he opened his eyes and looked at me again.
I was nearly breathless.
The countenance of Aden... and Asbel.
It was utterly astonishing.
He had the same messy brown hair, clean face, and kind eyes. The only difference I could find was that Aden's' eyes were grey, where Asbel's were chocolate brown. I let the words absorb some more... then it hit me.
"Wait..." I began slowly.
"If you and Adena are... Than's siblings... then you must be royalty?" I asked incredulously.
The Asbel look-alike nodded solemnly, "Yes, you are correct Princess Nausicaä. I am indeed royalty." He said.
My eyebrows furrowed.
Something wasn't right if a person like Than was on the throne.
"Wait... then--"
"Why is Than the ruler?" Aden interrupted.
I nodded my head; he'd stolen the words from my mouth.
He sighed.
Aden stood, and offered a hand to me graciously, "We must get going." He said seriously. "Why?" I questioned. Aden turned back and looked at me while opening the door. "We must search for Prince Asbel." He said, with something that looked close enough to a smile.
When his words finally hit home, I smiled at him again.
My head was telling me I was much too trusting, but it felt so much better when the atmosphere was this way with him.
I nodded, in the most princess-like manner I knew how, and followed Asbel.
I noticed he had put his helmet back on.
"Why is your--"
"Helmet on?"
Darn. Beat me to it again.
He chuckled a little, which again, sounded so much like Asbel's.
"Because Princess, in this castle, I am still royalty. And unless I am the ruler, my face is not allowed to be shown to any others besides royalty themselves. And because you are still a princess, though you may not be one of our kingdom, you are still one nonetheless." He explained.
Made sense.
So I nodded.
"I see." I replied.
There was a slight awkward silence, but then he spoke again.
"Princess, I feel that I must tell you. There is much more to our past then I originally let on." He confessed.
I put on a serious face, and nodded at him, a sign to continue.
"Our family goes as follows. My mother and father, the previous kind and queen, died because of the radiation that I told you about before. Next comes me. I am the oldest of the three, Than is the middle, and Adena was the youngest."
I was silent, and listened carefully. This information might be useful for later.
I told myself.
"However, my mother and father believed my sister to be the best ruler fit for our kingdom. So, she was the Crown Princess. I believed that to be the best decision as well, so I held no ill feelings towards her. My brother, however, felt differently."
He was making a face underneath the mask, but I could still tell.
"You see, ever since my sister was a young child, she was frail and quite sickly too. Than and I were almost constantly with her, for fear of her health. She sometimes became irritated with us; because she said we were troubling ourselves by helping her around so much. When Mother and Father died, she was the equivalent of Mother's powers, and she ordered me to stand down as her aid."
My heart felt deeply troubled as I listened.
This poor girl...
I thought pityingly.
"Though I wished not to, it was an order. So I did. Than, however, would not comply. He and Adena were extremely close, and he had been against her ruling from the very beginning. Because ever since she'd taken up ruling, her health had decreased, and we were becoming more and more fearful every day."
He sighed, and turned down a hall.
I followed.
"Finally, one day, she never woke up from her slumber. That morning, Than and I had gone to check on her, because she had not yet come out from her room. When we entered, she looked as though she were asleep, and she seemed so peaceful."
His voice was wistful, as if he were drifting off somewhere else.
I touched his arm gently, reminding him that I needed to hear the rest.
He gave a start, and apologized. "Forgive me." He said.
I shook my head, "No need. Please continue." I said.
He did.
"But... she was dead. Died in her sleep in fact. Than was utterly devastated. I understood his pain..." He sounded choked. "It was though we had each lost a part of us... Adena had been that important to us. As annoying, snappy, and ruthless as she was as a ruler, she was still our sister. She had a kind, wonderful side to her. She showed great mercy, kindness, love, and she had a brilliant mind."
He sighed sadly.
"He funeral was amazing..." He whispered. "She was encased in a diamond tomb, and our healers and magic-users cast a spell from it to prevent her spirit from leaving its body and going to the Spirit Plane." He said.
I made a confused face.
"It takes quite a while for the spirit to leave the body and begin its ascent, or descent." He explained.
I nodded in response. It felt somewhat mechanical, but I knew that he knew I was still listening.
"She has been like that for quite a while... if memory serves. Nearly... 1,500 years."
My heart felt like it was stopping, and it was as though I'd been slapped, or a wave of freezing water had been dumped over my head. 1,500 years... that indeed, was a very long time to be entombed.
I put a hand to my heart.
I felt such remorse, such sadness, and a longing to set Adena's spirit free.
When she had come to me in her vision, her eyes had been the thing that caught my attention the most. They were sad, and weary. And beautiful altogether.
"The honor of ruling was handed to me, but I turned it down. I knew that there was no way I would be able to rule properly, and after such a blow to my heart. So, Than was the last one they were able to turn to."
I heard his teeth clenching slightly.
"He handled his kingship in a different way then I know I would have." He said. "For a whole moon, a month, he vanished suddenly, saying only that he would return on the night where the moon was invisible."
I nodded. "The night of the full moon." I said.
He nodded, "Yes. And when he returned, he was a changed man. He was much different. His heart was cold, and he was ruthless without mercy or love. He appointed me head captain, but did not take away my royalty rights. I myself, am not sure as to why that happened. Then, he gathered the greatest witches and wizards of this land together, and had them cast a spell upon our castle."
His voice was thick with clogged emotion.
"Time would not pass, time would cease, and our land would be forever protected until a leader steps up, and leads our people at last to a land of purity." He finished quietly, and his grey eyes glistened with heavy emotion.
I finally recognized the last new words.
'Lead the people at last to a land of purity...'
They were the words to part of a phrase in her own people's prophecy.
A figure clad in blue and surrounded by gold.
That had been her. I had been the savior, and I'd saved many lives as well as the Valley of the Wind. My eyes fell to my boots. There wasn't any way it could be me again. I'd already played my own part as part of a prophecy, and I was almost certain it was fully over.
Maybe... the prophecy was speaking about Aden?
"Princess?"
Aden's voice snapped me back to reality.
"Y-yes?" I asked, shaking my head free of confusing thoughts.
Aden faced the door they had come to. "Princess, here is the room where the prophecy writing is kept." He looked around. "I gather that this place is forbidden?" I asked. The knight absentmindedly nodded. "It is." He replied quietly.
Finally, he opened the door, and gestured me in.
I entered, and he silently closed the door behind us.
The room was almost completely barren, save for a few select intricate designs etched on the walls. They were mostly shrouded in shadow however, so I couldn't see through them to the designs that lay underneath.
And in the center of the room, was an almost coffin looking piece of familiar looking material.
There was something inside it as well.
I approached, and first bent to examine the material. Suddenly, I knew what it was!
"A-Aden..." I stuttered.
Silence was the answer. I assumed he was listening, so I continued.
"This... it's an Ohmu shell... isn't it?" My voice was quiet.
I heard clinking of armor, which signified to me that he was nodding his head. "It is Princess Nausicaä." He answered.
I closed my eyes.
I pressed a hand on the smooth, strong material, and then removed my glove. Once again, I pressed my hand to the material which felt cold against my skin, and it seemed to hum with an intense power.
This poor Ohmu...
I thought with great sadness.
It died for the sake of protecting such an important artifact. It was a female too... and just a young adult as well. Of course, their shells are strongest when they are young and strong, and uninjured by humans.
"Princess, if you will, please examine what is inside."
I opened my eyes, and lifted my hand away.
My eyes refocused on the figure inside the coffin, and I gasped. I couldn't believe who it was!
I stared in awe for a few moments, and then I turned my head to Aden. He'd removed his helmet and was staring at the figure with sad eyes. It made my heart sad, and I turned back to the person.
It was Adena.
In my dream, her features other than her eyes hadn't caught my attention. But since she was here, in all her beautiful, realistic glory, I saw the beautiful and lovely silky brown hair that adorned her pale face, and just lightly peach-colored skin.
Her dress was pale blue, and it appeared to be made from the finest silk that I knew of.
Her bangs covered a circlet with a blue gem which rested upon her forehead.
And when I looked, her hands were holding a flat, smooth, carved Ohmu shell with text upon it. Thanks to my many studies that I had conducted through the years, I was able to translate what this writing said.
Never to walk again,
never to see again,
never to breath again.
Life will be doomed once more, just as it was.
History will repeat.
And the land will be covered by an ever-consuming blackness.
This black light will destroy all it consumes, and no land shall be spared this fate.
And in the hour where the need is most dire, a hero shall rise yet again.
A figure, garbed in the most royal and beautiful of clothing, hair plaited with the light of the gods, and a heart full of kindness, compassion, and love will arise from amidst the people of the forest, and save the land from eternal darkness.
Time would not pass, time would cease, and this land shall forever be encased until a leader steps up, and leads our people at last to a land of purity.
The price paid shall be a single life.
A life that saved all lives.
The life of the savior themself.
"Our prophecy has existed for as long as I can remember, and we all believed that my sister was the savior of the people." He explained. "However... she has already... died, and for these past many years, no changes have befallen the land, and our people have continued dying."
And for the first time since I met him, I heard Aden sound angry.
"Have the gods seen fit to punish my people for something that is not rightfully theirs?"
I blinked in confusion.
"The punishment should be the royal family's responsibility... yet my people are the ones who are truly suffering, and they are the ones who are paying the price. If I could, I would ask the gods to send me to hell, and put me in eternal damnation if it would help save my people from this terrible fate. This punishment is not theirs. It is the royal family's... it is ours... it should be mine."
His voice hissed to an end, and I continued to stare at Adena's face.
I listened though.
I felt terribly for Aden, Adena, the people of this land, and even Than.
They had all been through so much, things that no person should ever have to endure.
I understood Aden's pain, and if it had been me in that position, I would have undoubtedly done the same to save my people from the fate of eternal blackness.
My selfish side pointed out that Adena's hair was indeed gold-streaked, and it gave her an otherworldly look, and a frighteningly beautiful one as well.
"Princess Nausicaä, it is time to leave." Aden said quietly. "Should you ever wish it, I will bring you back to this room once more, and I will allow you to see the prophecy once again." He said.
I nodded, showing my understanding.
"Thank you very much Aden." I whispered.
The knight was silent, as though he didn't know how to react to such a grateful thank you. He gruffly nodded, and slipped his helmet back on before walking to the door, looking around, then opening it and gesturing me out quickly.
I exited the room, and it closed behind me.
And as the door slammed shut, I turned again, and looked at Adena's unmoving body, and the puzzling new prophecy that she held in her cold hands.
---
It was the evening following when Aden had taken me to the prophecy.
He'd managed to draw a rough map of the castle, and give me ideas as to where Asbel might be held. I'd done nothing but peer over the map since I'd gotten it. Still, I didn't have very much to go by.
He definitely wouldn't be in the same place as before, so the dungeons were out of the question.
I factored other things in, and managed to cancel out a few other spots, but I still had the majority of the rooms. Aden has almost informed me that it would be extremely risky and suspicious if he were to go investigate each and every room.
It was a risk that we simply could not take.
Aden should be coming any moment now to take me to the room where we'd begin our search.
Thankfully, Than was out in the town, an event that he supposedly did quite often. It brought "peace of mind" to the citizens who had managed to survive this long.
I heard a knocking at my door, and stood up.
"Yes?" I asked.
Aden had warned me not to simply open the door as if I trusted this place. If it was anyone besides him, things would end quite badly if Than got wind of what had happened. Even something as insignificant as that would catch the prince's attention.
"Princess, it's Aden."
I heard his voice, and opened the door.
True to form, there he was, garbed in his silver armor as usual. "Princess Nausicaä, quickly." He whispered in a rushed tone, and swept off down the hall. I blinked, slightly startled, but followed the bulky knight.
"Are we beginning our search?" I asked, keeping up a quick pace with Aden.
The man nodded.
"We are." He replied.
---
My feet were beginning to ache, but I said nothing.
Asbel was close, I was sure of it.
The last several rooms had been empty, and had nothing inside them. And for each room that was empty, or had nothing of value in it, Aden apologized, and bowed deeply... which admittedly, was a little embarassing.
And each time I had told him it was alright.
I have to be patient. If not for my sake, then for Asbel's. We'll find him. We have to...
Despite my words, I still felt my flicker of hope diminish essentially when we opened the next door, and nothing lay inside.
"Princess, I--"
"It's... alright." I sighed.
So he wasn't here either... I thought dejectedly.
And neither is Teito... I thought sadly again.
Ever since we were ambushed back in the forest, I hadn't seen neither eye nor ear of my little friend. My stomach churned with apprehension. I had no idea where anyone was, and I couldn't do anything to help them either... I was useless...
Everything inside me said that I was just feeling sorry for myself, and that I had to snap out of it if I had a chance of finding Teito and Asbel.
Then, all at once, I felt completely overwhelmed.
This dark, old, frightening place felt as though it were closing in around me! My lungs seemed as though they wouldn't allow air any longer, and my heart thundered in my ears. My eyes squeezed shut.
What was happening back at the Valley?! Where was Teito?! Where was Asbel?!
I tasted the metallic tang of blood in my mouth as bit down, and clenched my teeth together.
No!
No!
No!
No...
No...
no...
I felt a sharp pain across my right cheek, and I opened my eyes and blinked.
Aden.
Subconsciously, I reached a hand up to touch my stinging cheek.
"Nausicaä," Aden snapped in the harshest voice I'd ever heard him use.
"Enough of this." He continued. "I understand that this all must be overwhelming, but this is not how I'd expect one of your calibur to handle the stress!"
I just stared.
Shocked.
Somewhat afraid...
Awed.
"Conquer whatever doubts and fears you might have Nausicaä, if you don't, you will undoubtedly perish here, in this very castle. What then?! What will happen to your kingdom?! Your friends, your love ones?! They too, will perish just as you did. Is that your desire Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind?!"
Smoldering eyes.
Burning desire.
Stubborn attitude.
Annoying tone.
Goal-driven words.
And for a split-second, through the image of Aden, I saw Asbel.
---
"Nausicaä, this way!" Asbel hissed quietly.
"Hurry!" He said, and his head vanished through the trapdoor in the ground.
Nausicaä heard murmurs of good luck and encouragement, and she thanked them graciously before she too jumped down into the hole after Asbel.
She followed Asbel on her hands and knees as he apologized, "I'm sorry it took me so long." He said quickly and in a rushed tone.
Nausicaä shook her head, "It's alright. But he have to hurry." She reminded Asbel.
The Pejite prince gritted his teeth, "I know." He replied, and managed to crane his head back far enough to look at her. "Here we are." He said, and smiled quickly before knocking out a metal tile, and climbing out.
Nausicaä followed Asbel, and poked her head out, and looked around.
She didn't have much time, for Asbel stuck one of his gloved to her. She accepted his warm hand, and allowed herself to be pulled up onto her feet nearly effortlessly. The Princess couldn't imerse herself in her amazement forever though. She was quickly brought to reality when Asbel rushed over past her glider which, just as his mother had said, was ready and waiting.
The teen followed him quickly, and moved to her beloved glider, and lifted up a flap
"Can you launch from here?" He asked while grabbing a bar, and pulling it in a circle, triggering a door to open.
"I'll try." She answered, and fumbled around inside her glider quickly. She grabbed a lever, and pulled it. By doing so, her glider would tap into the reserve power if anything went wrong."
Behind the door, she saw the bluish clouds... and the ship of the Tolumekians.
No...
She breathed in her head.
Then, all at once, pink bursts of firepower exploded from the guns sticking out at them, and Nausicaä did her best to press close to her glider and not get hit. She felt a lurch, and the ship was steered into the clouds.
Asbel braced himself against the door, and gestured to Nausicaä, "C'mere, hurry! Your glider will be fine!" he reassured her, and the princess did as she was told. With difficulty, she managed to struggle her way over to where Asbel was, and brace herself against the wall beside Asbel. She felt his strong warm hand wrap around her slim waist.
They both felt another lurch as the ship began to head out of the black storm clouds.
There was silence, and suddenly, there was commotion above them, and their ship began a quick and hasty descent and towards the awaiting clouds below. Asbel and Nausicaä both looked up at the barely visible form of the enemy ship.
"What're they trying to do?!" Asbel asked.
Nausicaä looked around them, and finally when she looked down, she saw it. "Oh no, they're trying to pin us against the clouds so they can board the ship!" She said. They both recoiled slightly as the clouds blasted their faces, and the Tolumekians' ship landed atop them.
Nausicaä heard the sounds of a Xerconium ceramic sword being pulled out, and a gun's bullet peppering the door of the Pejite's ship.
Asbel turned to her, "They're boarding the ship, you have to get out of here Nausicaä!" He ordered, and rushed towards the glider.
Nausicaä turned to him, reaching for his arm, but missing, "I can't leave you, or your mother, or the girl who took my place in the cell!" She protested, "You all need all the help you can get!" She argued.
Asbel pulled bag and luggage off the glider, and turned back to her.
"You have to save your people Nausicaä," He rasped back.
She flinched, and stared back, wishing he wouldn't be telling her to leave.
"Please," He begged, "You must go, or my people will never forgive themselves!" He told her, and approached. He closed his arms around her, "Nausicaä, I'm begging you... please... go have to go. I promise that I'll never let anything happen to my mother or Hikaru (1)." He said.
Nausicaä breathed in his fresh, scent, and sighed sadly. "But..."
She pulled away when she heard a grunt, and gruff growling. Asbel turned, and gritted his teeth. Nausicaä gasped, and she saw it was a Tolumekian soldier, coming at them both with two swords.
Asbel bravely approached, and began dodging the thrusts sent his way.
He turned back to her while he held the soldiers arms, "Go Nausicaä, GO!" He shouted, and used his foot and shoved her glider out the open door.
Nausicaä felt as if time, and her heart was stopping.
She barely had time to scream his name before the black clouds engulfed her, "ASBEL!"
And then she was gone.
---
Asbel had saved me that time.
And suddenly, all at once, it became so increasingly clear that I didn't understand why I hadn't seen it before. What a fool I'd been. A serious fool.
As I stared in awe at Aden, I saw it.
Could it be...
Possibly...
If time had stopped when Adena had died... would it be at all possible that...
Adena and Aden.
Siblings.
They, who looked as though they mirrored nearly the exact image as Asbel and Lastelle.
In some distant way, could they be blood-relatives?
Could they be distant grand-parents and children?
---
(A/N:)Yes, strange I know. The idea just hit me while I was writing it... so yeah. I stalled at the end, I know that. Sorry, my brain's on freeze mode because I'm COMPLETELY exhausted from my field trip to Dorney today. It was AWESOME! I've almost completely gotten over my fear of roller coasters... except for Steel Force. That will ALWAYS be a HUGE no-no.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and review lots. I worked real hard on this particular chapter.
-PurificationArrow