Well, that sucked. I had a whole other chapter typed and all the corrections done and what do I do? I close the freaking program without saving. Ugh, that was annoying.
So, here's the chapter retyped because I'm a moron. lol.
It had been about three hours.
Waiting. She hated waiting.
Van finally showed up through the trees, his tall body sliding into view like a graceful ninja. Hanging from his back was a long, black case that looked like it could contain an instrument. Possibly a trumpet.
Hitomi knew better.
That box held his navy sword.
Chordata rose from the ground elegantly to meet him. Without a word, his feet crunched the fallen leaves as he closed in the gap between them, handed her a wad of money and some papers, and gave her one small nod of importance. She instantly turned away from him and began gently calculating the money – slipping the small papers periodically with the cash. Hitomi's eyebrows rose in questioning, but both of her fellow companions ignored her. The cat's white fingers stopped at the last paper and her head whipped to stare at Van in surprise.
"No one will possibly believe…"
"Mole said it was the best way to travel." Van answered immediately. "I will make it believable."
"You might… but I'm not so sure about…" Chordata's amber eyes shifted to Hitomi, who let out an irritated breath.
"What are you two talking about? What's on the papers? What won't people believe?"
The white cat's beautiful face crunched into a torn expression. Van shook his head slowly and she audibly swallowed, "I am sorry, Lady Hitomi."
And that was the only answer she got.
Another long hour passed. The winding dirt road stretched like a thick snake through the overpopulated forest. Switching from leaning on her left foot to her right, Hitomi hitched up her shoulder bag and sighed quietly. After tucking the money and papers away, the white cat folded herself back gently on the brown leaves, her graceful legs bent underneath her, her back straight, and her amber eyes to the left of the dirt road. Van couldn't seem to sit still and paced back and forth; eventually making a small ridged path in the leaves several feet away from her. The king occasionally muttered something to himself, but none of it made sense to Hitomi. Other than that, no one uttered another word.
Finally, her curiosity and anger had reached unbound levels.
"Why can't I know what's on the papers?" She blurted, breaking the endless silence. Chordata's white ears twitched back to her and then pressed forward towards the road. Van ignored her and kept talking to himself.
Hitomi sighed. She was beginning to wonder if they were just here on the side of an obscure dirt road in the middle of the Dragoon Forest just for kicks and giggles. No one, not even a hint of wild life, had shown their face. This road was either the most untraveled place in existence or she'd somehow unknowingly entered a world of limbo where she was waiting forever. And her punishment was to serve her unending time with a jerk of a king. Wrapping her arms over her chest, she resisted the strong urge to complain loudly about being left out. Not that it would help anything. They'd clearly had some kind of secret conversation and thought it best to not include her. She'd liked to have thought Chordata would possibly let her in on what was going on, but the cat remained still and silent like a fuzzy shadow, her tossing tail the only movement to show she was not a statue. Clutching her cold fingers on her shoulder bag, Hitomi's fluffy hat almost lifted off her short hair as yet another blast of freezing wind tossed the sheltering trees and ripped against her shivering body.
Never mind limbo, this was absolute hell.
Leaning against a dead tree that was tilted to the left side, the short-haired girl swallowed down a bat of disappointment. Some trip this was turning out to be. Maybe she should have pressed her luck with the Zaibachian soldiers at the hotel with Yukari. No one seemed to care enough to talk to her anyways.
Chordata danced up as a strange noise appeared in the distance. Hitomi followed her actions, squinting to the left.
Well, what do you know? There was life around here after all.
"Finally…" she heard Van whisper tensely and she glanced at him. He avoided her eyes, keeping his hat low to his head.
"You wish for me to hand the papers to him, Master Fanel?" Chordata's sweet voice murmured. Van gave a short nod in approval.
"He will know where we want to go."
"What was on the papers?" Hitomi asked again, a little more demand in her tone of voice.
"Information," Van finally answered vaguely, his obscured eyes focused on the arriving vehicle. "And some incentive to make sure we arrive safely to Joko."
Before she could ask any more questions, a squat bus with mud streaks all over the sides came squawking into view from a curve in the road. It shot out an encompassing puff of black exhaust and stopped with the shrill screams of a dying duck. The doors pushed open to let them in and –with a nod back to Van –Chordata leapt to the front of their line. She climbed the steps with the grace of a regal queen. As the dirt pathway kicked up sand and dust against her jacket, Hitomi followed the cat and actually welcomed the shelter of the bus… that was until the smell hit her.
Like salty unwashed bodies and moldy cheese. Gross.
The wizened bus driver straightened his crooked spectacles with a sly grin stretching on his wrinkled face. "Money for the ride, lovely cat lady?"
"I've got it for all three of us," Chordata's soft voice floated and the cat reached in her large satchel to hand the man the wad. "Please make sure to check if everything is there."
The old man's frothed eyes lightened as he turned away to the window to count the money. After several flips, his short fingers stopped at a one of the small papers.
"'ight, Ms. Serrano. Headed to Joko. And I believe the two behind you is…" he flipped to the two other papers. "Mista and Missus Johnson? On honeymoon? I'd go to Austuria more than Joko, unless Mista here is wanting somethin' a little on the side, if you knows what I means…"
Hitomi blanched and her foot slipped on the last step.
Wait… WHAT?
Turning with shock to the man behind her, he kept his mahogany gaze down to the ridges in the metal stairs, but his tan hand was clamped firmly on the iron guard rail. Her face burned with both anger and embarrassment. So this was why he didn't want to tell her? She could hardly stand the jerk as it was and now... now…
Now she was married to him?
Fan-freaking-tastic.
Breathing through her mouth with both suppressed rage and to avoid the terrible smell, Hitomi turned to scan the long row of seats available so as to get as far away from Van as possible. There were blank faces, tired, travel-worn, and dangerous. Most of their new travel companions had their hard eyes turned away, glancing out their respective dirty windows with some obscure memory or disturbing thought curling through their dark contemplations. The rest zeroed in on the three newcomers, haunted with looks of suspicion and chalked full of predatory glints. The inner warning of danger rang like church bells on a Sunday morning in Hitomi's head.
And now here they were, on a bus filled to the brim with outlaws, thieves, and criminals.
Wonderful, you stupid king. Really, well done. Let's all get murdered. Good thing we got married first! I can cross that off my growing bucket list of regrets.
"You lot's lucky you caught my bus. I don't make another 'round winter." The older man gave them a toothless smile and handed the papers back to Chordata. "Mole knows my rheumatism spikes after frost sets in. Tell him to send some o' those magic pills next time he needs a favor."
Chordata nodded cordially and began walking down the messy isle towards the back. Hitomi noticed she tossed her tail a little harsher than usual and several strands on the back of the cat's white neck stood up. She obviously didn't like this situation any more than Hitomi did. Thankfully, behind the masses of the long bus, there was one empty seat left in the very back. As the unstable vehicle started up with a shaking wobble, Hitomi gasped as a rough-looking man with a square head grabbed her arm with a painful squeeze.
"Hey, pretty lady, you can sit right here." He chuckled darkly, patting his thick knee with his other hand. Hitomi noticed his dirty, brown fingernails and swallowed weakly.
It looked like dried blood.
"Let… let go of me." She cried trying to twist her arm out of his grasp.
The man's grip tightened and he barked a laugh. "What's the matter, sweet thing? Trying to put up a fight? Old Grubs just wants to make sure you are comfy-"
That was the last thing the man was able to say. A tan hand and a white paw, with claws extending instantaneously, lashed out. The hand snapped on his thick arm, breaking his hold, and a razor-sharp furry finger glazed against his dirt lined neck, forcing him to push his greasy head against the seat.
"Leave my sister alone, sir." Van's voice came out from behind, hard as stone. The man gasped for breath, holding his arm with his other hand and his beady eyes flicking from Van to Chordata to Hitomi in rapid sequences.
Hitomi finally caught what he'd said.
Wait… SISTER?
Chordata's finger traced up and down his jugular. With one more flick of her dangerous claw on his fragile skin, she slowly backed her hand away. Everyone on the bus was deadly quiet as the trio continued their way to the more sparse seats in the back.
Much to Hitomi's great disappointment, the cat swung herself neatly into a seat next to a small figure draped in a black cloak. The man – or woman – had their head pressed to the glass and was slightly snoring from inside the dark shroud. Chordata glanced at Hitomi and gestured to the empty seat several rows behind her.
Hitomi looked at it and sucked in a groan. I have to ride all the way to Joko next to King Douche-Bag? She thought sourly as Chordata gave her a small, innocent smile that showed one of her fangs. Sighing with obvious frustration, she practically stomped her way to the empty seat and plopped into it.
Van followed her, his facial features still expressionless. She scooted as close to the window as she could and turned her face away.
Sister…
The ebony-haired king released a slow breath. He unstrapped his "instrument case", tucked it underneath the seat, and sat beside her. A puff of black fumes burst from the back of the bus and Hitomi's eyes watered with both pollution and anger.
"Why didn't you talk to me when I asked about the papers earlier?" she whispered to the window.
"The fool of a driver read it wrong. You are my sister not my wife."
"As much as a relief it is to hear it, that doesn't answer my question. Why didn't you tell me?"
"You did not need to know."
Hitomi scoffed. "And when was I supposed to finally know? When the bus driver celebrated our diamond anniversary?"
"As I said before, you are my sister. He would not celebrate any anniversary."
"You just decide that I need to know when I need to know it, huh?"
"More or less."
She turned to shoot the man a heavy glare. Van's back was as straight as ever against the perpendicular back-rest, his hands respectfully draped on the lower thighs of his ragged pants. He wasn't even turned to look at her. "I have a right to know what is going on. Don't treat me like I'm a small child."
"I have never treated you as such."
"Yes, you have. You completely ignored me when I asked what was on those papers. What harm would it be to tell me we were siblings now? Maybe I wouldn't act so shocked next time."
"You handled the Strategos situation better than this and you were in more danger then. I calculated you would not be so objective about secrets." She noticed his reddish eyes narrowed swiftly under his hat and hair. "Clearly, I… miscalculated."
"Clearly," Hitomi repeated with a huff. Crossing her arms, she scooted down with a slouch and flicked her irritated eyes to the passing scenery. Her wrist gave a small reminding throb where the nasty man had grabbed her and she tried to swallow down a small whisper of guilt. Van had reacted almost instantaneously to break that man's hand off of her. He seemed to be continually saving her life; always there when danger came near.
What was she supposed to think about him? He was so irritatingly smug about every damn little thing. So, calculated. And yet, he threw himself into danger just to pull her out of it. Just like when Zaibach had kidnapped her. Just like when she was trapped at the train station. Just like at the hotel. Just like now with the man on the bus.
He was always there.
He was so frustrating!
The bus lurched to the left unexpectedly and she was tossed slightly into his right arm. Hitomi promptly pulled away and snuggled up to the cold window, a burn of mixed emotions twisting her stomach.
"Sorry," she murmured to the glass at her right, feeling as if her apology was covering more than just accidently leaning into him.
She felt him tense beside her, his legs and hands twitch. Chancing a glance at his tan jawline, she noticed his cheekbone flex as if he gritted his teeth behind his closed mouth. And finally, "I accept."
That was the single most frustrating answer she'd ever heard.
But she fought ferociously – so ferociously - against her snowballing annoyance and let it go. With a deep breath to settle herself she thought, let's at least try to have a civil conversation, and asked with a controlled tone, "How far is it to Joko?"
"Joko is seven hours away. The bus will take us as far as the outskirts. We will take trains to get to your tavern."
"It's not my tavern." She rolled her green eyes.
"You were the one to discover the mystery."
"Yeah, by accident."
"You thought to include your friend who was knowledgeable in popular hangouts."
"You got mad at me for doing it, too." She reminded him. "And I bet you left me out of the loop about the papers for revenge in discovering what Mysstes means before you did."
She had meant it as an underlined joke, but as the silence stretched and Van's tan throat bobbed numerous times with a strange gulping noise, she felt a wash of realization hit her. Her mouth opened in indignation and she clenched her fists on her lap. "Seriously?" Several heads turned back to them, but she didn't care. "Is that actually the reason? You needed revenge because I knew something your unsocial brain couldn't comprehend? Because, within your perfectly calculated stack of books, papers, whatever else, you couldn't figure it out without a mere peasant's assistance? I thought you wanted my help. I thought you needed my help. You practically begged me to join you in this strange quest and now you are holding it against me when I figure out things you can't. Unbelievable!"
"You are making a scene." He responded in monotone which only fueled her anger.
"I think I have a right to!"
"I had deducted from the way you calmed your breathing, the way your shoulders shifted, and your eyes softened that you were trying to remain civil with me."
She growled loudly, "What did I tell you about reading my body language? Stop-it."
"I reasoned it was passable to point out you are failing in this endeavor."
"I'm failing in civil with you for good reason!" she stood slightly and glanced for Chordata. "I'm switching seats. There is no way I'm traveling for seven hours with you."
"We are brother and sister. It would be wise if we remained together."
"Then it is perfectly normal for us to loath each other. I personally cannot stand you right now, brother, and would much rather take my chances with Old Grubs."
"You are angry when you are near me."
"Think about it, Van." She sat down in her seat with a resigned plop. "Think about it really hard. What have you said and done to make me not angry at you? Use that superior mind of yours and let's see if it can actually comprehend human emotions."
"I admit it was wrong of me to keep the new identity papers from you, but you have overreacted far more than necessary."
"All I want is respect!"
"And all I want is answers."
"Then why don't you stop fighting me and let me help you like you want? And why don't you – in turn – respect me for the information I am freely providing for you? We are in a partnership here. Let's try to act courteous for once instead of these stupid petty arguments getting in the way."
"I agree. Fighting resolves nothing. Therefore you should stop rising to the occasion to snap at me for every single small comment I ma-"
Her right hand slapped itself over his open mouth so fast he had no time to react. Keeping her green eyes on the seat in front of them, her lips lifted in a tense smile. Hitomi lowered her hand and crossed her arms over her chest comfortably. She felt his shaded mahogany eyes slipped on to her face and she raised her gaze to bravely meet his. From this close up under the cap, his reddish orbs looked almost as black as his pupils – which were dilated slightly.
"Fighting resolves nothing, brother." She said easily, still grinning stiffly at him. His chin stiffened, but he let out a small grunt in agreement.
And with that compromise, they both looked away – her to the window, him to his thoughts.
The bus jolted violently on a large bump. With her forehead pressed against the grimy glass, Hitomi hit the window painfully and she groaned with sleepiness and pain. Lifting a hand to rub out the small throb, her neck gave a nasty crick. Opening her green eyes to her strange surroundings, her disorientated mind tried to figure out where in the world she was. The light outside the window had vanished and was replaced by an eerie foreboding darkness that seemed to bleed into the puffing bus. A deep breath ending in a slight snore came from beside her and Hitomi whipped immediately to see the familiar visage of the king of Fanelia slouched uncomfortably beside her.
Van was asleep. Actually asleep. His head flopped forward on his chest; his hat covered his entire face except for his pointed chin. His hands were still perfectly resting on his knees, but the way his long legs swayed back and forth with the rocking bus, she realized he was completely out. She hadn't ever seen him sleep before. This was unexpected. Especially with all the dangerous people on the bus. How could it be the king of Fanelia could pass out like the dead on a vehicle full of criminals, but hardly sleep a wink in his own home? Maybe it was the absence of all his books. With nothing to read, Van fell into hibernation until he could find something else to study.
Turning her head back to the window, the dark trees looked like twisting monsters in the night. Their clawed branches occasionally grazed the top and sides of the dirty bus and Hitomi felt a shiver of cold run through her. What if Joko turned out to be entirely wrong? What if Mysstes was just a silly coincidence? The unknown was making her head hurt and her chest tighten. She'd left everything she'd known, everything she loved behind just to follow some stranger into a mystery she had no way of figuring out.
As Van let out another quiet snore beside her, she flicked her eyes back on his profile and took a deep sigh. The king was convinced she was touched with magic in some way. It was easy for him to say considering he came from a time where magic was still strong in this world. She had no clue why he was so insistent on it. She had no clue what magic really even was. Intuition? Fortune-telling? Yeah, right.
This world was chaotic. Fate was completely incalculable and haphazardly thrown in the air to fall wherever and whenever. Though he had been in this timeline for more than a decade, Van didn't seem to realize how the world had changed. Once, long ago, Gaea made sense. Every country coexisted in peace. There were diplomatic negotiations with almost all of the world powers. Van had lived in this time.
It was The Great War that changed everything. Van might have had access to certain history books, but he didn't seem to comprehend how much damage this one act of violence snowballed. It was ironic The Great War would start with the destruction of Fanelia, a fate he'd somehow escaped from via Escaflowne teleport.
And then Zaibach stepped up to the plate. A small country that didn't even register on the scale for world power somehow tactfully wormed its way into hearts and everyone believed them. Everyone. So much so the surrounding powers refused to even consider Zaibach as a potential threat. The country was weak at the time. Increasing in power, but still not strong enough to be an intimidation.
Zaibach claimed it was rebels that had attacked Fanelia, but somehow the surrounding powers began to suspect each other of attacking Fanelia for their precious floating stone export. The royal families of Freud and Austuria sending accusing messages to each other that seemed to escalade with each passing week.
And then, Joko's alchemy bomb hit Palas, Austuria's capital city.
With her sisters and father dead in the obliterated ruins of Palas, control of the Austurian Legionnaires was left to the Warrior Princess Millerna, who'd escaped the bomb with the help of Allen Schezar. Britonia, a strong ally with Austuria, charged into Joko in retaliation of Palas' annihilation and successfully pillaged the small cities around the countryside. They were eventually driven back by what they called an invisible enemy and began to gather with the Austurian legionnaires.
Invisible enemy…
The vision of Van's past flashed in her mind and she let her green eyes fall on the king's slumped shoulders. His thin chest rose steadily up and down with each deep breath. His tan hand and ragged knee gave a small twitch as the bus lurched to the right slightly. The screaming boy that cried as the fire ate away his entire world, his mentor killed before his very eyes, his castle ravaged by the invisible enemy. Her eyes zeroed in on the fragile golden chain that hung about his neck under his shirt. The pink pendant was beautiful. A clear crystal.
Her brain tossed the memory of the day she'd met Van and she lifted her right hand unknowingly to rub the back of her sore neck.
Stealth-cloak technology… judging from the vision I had of Van's past, a country had developed the tech before it became a common war tool. There was no incentive for Joko to drop the alchemy bomb on Palas. Joko and Freud only became allies after… after the bomb was dropped… Did the Duke of Freud put them up to it? Or was it someone else…? Someone controlling from the sidelines…? Someone attacking to provoke a war with a stealth-cloaked Guymelef ?
If she was in any way right… there was only one to point the blame finger at.
But she needed to make sure.
Her heart beat a little stronger with a curious excitement. She wanted her father's journal.
Trying desperately to be as gentle as possible, Hitomi glanced quietly once again at the king beside her before reached down between her legs to unzip her shoulder bag that rested on the dirty floor. Rummaging around for several cursing minutes between clothes and various books, she finally found what she was looking for. Cracking open the book, she brushed past various pages until she reached the detailed timeline of The Great War. It was three decades after the conflict had ended that stealth–cloaked tech became more mainstreamed in Guymelef manufacturing. Her green eyes flicked to the last battle detailed in the timeline of the Great War.
The Betrayal of Blood.
History books called it The Battle of Four Rivers because it was located in the middle of the Grarer, Manosap, Kipple, and Flu Rivers-
But her father had renamed this particular battle to The Betrayal of Blood. A bit of a dramatic name, but Hitomi found it fit much better.
As the large forces between Austurian-Britonian legionnaires and the Joko-Freud alliance gathered on the outskirts of Austuria… as the signal for attack was about to hit… a man turned to his fellow soldier and plunged his sword into his gut. Another swung his sword around and lopped off another ally's head. In that instant, brother turned on brother, comrade on comrade. Friend on friend. Both sides – no discrimination between both friend and foe slaughtered each other without mercy.
It was a phenomenon that had covered the world with the blanket of death. It wasn't just The Betrayal's battlefield, but all over Gaea the world struck out. Mother killing child, neighbor burning, drowning, suffocating neighbor. The world collapsed into a mindset of psychopathic bloodshed.
For six solid hours, The Betrayal of Blood slaughtered and destroyed each other and the world ran red with the cries of innocents. And just like a light had been switched off, suddenly the battle stopped. The few who survived fell to their knees in despair.
And the world wept for days.
The ancient yellowing pages of the journal crackled open as Hitomi read her father's familiar cursive scrawl. All will to fight had left in the wake of so much death. So much irrational murder. As the crumbling world powers met to form a peace negotiation, one country… one country stepped up through all the death. One country remained unscathed. One country insisted on delegating the negotiations. Joko held suspicion over this country, but everyone else fell under the protective wing.
With negotiation over in only a few short months and peace on the horizon, this one country stood out like a titan among the fallen corpses.
Zaibach was the only world power left.
Hitomi frowned thoughtfully as she turned another page. Sir Allen Schezar, the renegade Knight of Caeli who had teamed up with the Guitoma Samurai only several weeks after the famous rescue of the Warrior Princess, lost his life in this battle by the hand of the deranged Duke of Freud, who was in turn killed by his own men. The tragedy continued to spread. The brutal assassination of Freud's only heir Prince Chid by his closest advisor named Boris. Warrior Princess Millerna beaten and left for dead, but eventually saved by some unnamed merchant's son. So many people… so much potential… Hitomi glanced at the slumbering man beside her and a question hit her. How much did Van know about The Betrayal? If he had remained in his timeline, he would have either been killed during the 'rebellion' or killed during the war. Either way, the king of Fanelia would have found his fate at the end of a bloody sword. She already knew from the small amount of time they'd been together that he wouldn't hesitate to fight in battle. He was so willing to throw himself into danger; he'd probably revel in the thought of giving those that destroyed his entire country a nice bloody end.
But… maybe…
Maybe that wasn't what his destiny was.
Maybe he came here because his destiny was to live.
To find the answers to the phenomenon that had covered his world in blood. To be the last survivor of a fallen stage in time.
Maybe to be a hero in another dimension.
Hitomi shook her head and closed the book. This was all too confusing and her thoughts were getting stupid. Lifting her feet so that her knees tucked under her chin, she curled her arms around her calves and glanced out the dark window.
Rain had slowly begun to patter on the dirty glass; creating streaks of brown and gray.
The black sticky streets and high glossy buildings of the city were beyond the imagination. Despite the darkness that seems to drink every little crevice like a glass of wine, brilliant flashing lights that blasted the senses into possible epileptic seizures radiated with a florescent hum over every single store, restaurant, and brothel. Little suburb town Hitomi swallowed down her growing anxiety and tried to keep her eyes from wandering between various wildly dressed ladies in nothing but tube tops and lacy skirts that left nothing to the imagination and the equally flashy dressed males that showed a lot more male than she was comfortable with. Everywhere there were bright colors in a black backdrop. Even the people, black eye-shadow and heavy eyeliner with colorful pink and green eye contacts, were so unnatural looking she was beginning to wish she'd never told Van about what Yukari said.
Walking timidly down the street behind Van and Chordata, Hitomi tried to keep her breathing steady and the growing fear out of her eyes. She'd heard Joko's capital city was a palace for the party life, but she'd never imagined so much… blunt disregard for modesty.
Since they'd begun their walk from the train station on the streets of Hamatsu – Joko's capital city - several people had cat-called Chordata and whistled at Hitomi.
No one had openly approached them except for one.
"Hey, handsome prince, wanna see my crown jewels?" One rather large-chested female swung towards them widely and her beefy arm tried to drape itself around Van's neck. He instantly ducked with the agility of a cat and the woman went scurrying across the concrete, unbalanced. Her pink streaked hair flopped over her face as she landed painfully on all fours to the ground.
"Hey, you bastard!" She called out drunkenly, tossing her wild hair out of her equally wild purple eyes. "Whatcha do that for? You made me rip my stockings! You're going to have to pay for that!"
Van kept walking, his baseball hat covering his eyes in shadow. Hitomi followed, trying to ignore the loud woman, who was beginning to bellow down the street.
"I'm talking to you! I guess I'm not what you have in mind then, huh? You like a little more fur down there, eh?"
Van stopped so abruptly Hitomi painfully collided into the long hard instrument case that was strapped to his back. Chordata turned her head, her amber eyes wide with alarm. With a quick clawed arm grasped the king's jacket sleeve, the cat shook her head as Van's burning mahogany eyes laced into hers. To Hitomi's surprise, the man shook the cat's grip off and turned around to face the woman.
"She is drunk. Let her go." Chordata hissed quietly. "We do not need that kind of attention on us, Master Fanel." The cat's panicked face flicked to Hitomi for help.
"The bar is close, right?" Hitomi hurriedly chimed in, noticing Van's straight tense shoulders. He brushed her aside with a steady arm as he took a step closer to the fallen hooker.
"Van…"
"Master Fanel, please."
"I know men like you!" the lady hollered, clawing to stand up on her rocky high heels. Her knees were beginning to whelp with blood from her painful fall. Staggering to the left, she almost tripped on the curb. "You think you can just ignore me because of who I am! But you don't know the first thing about me, hun! You won't even try to get to know me! I could be the best thing you've ever had, but you…" she choked on a word, her unnatural purple eyes bloodshot and piercing. Her round angry face fell and the corners of her mouth sagged slightly as she tiled head strangely. The woman took another step forward. "You think you can just ignore a part of you." She hissed. "Many people look down on me, pretty boy, many people think I am a broken person, but you…" she let out a loud strangled laugh as Van's mahogany eyes narrowed and zipped up and down the woman's body – reading her body language. Hitomi glanced at the cat lady and noticed her white fur rising on her neck. A crowd was beginning to grow around them. Curiously brightly-cladded individuals with faces painted various animal prints stopped toasting themselves and actually crossed the dangerously busy street to watch.
The woman laughed again, this time a nasty cackle in her throat, "You are the one who is broken! You are the one started all of this! If you weren't here, then the world wouldn't have fallen to this horror! I would be someone important… but because you were spared, this world is poisoned." Van stepped closer, his throat bobbing up and down with thick gulps.
"Is this all you have to say to me?" He murmured in a strained voice to her. "Keep talking."
She gave a twisted smirk, her purple eyes growing unnaturally wide. "You know what I will say. I've told you before. All of the death, all of the pain, you are the cause because you just had to be spared." The wild woman's eyes closed briefly before she shrieked, "Blame yourself! Blame this world on yourself! Blame the death of all those you love on your failures! Blame The Battle of Four Rivers on your cursed head! I hate you! You think you have a destiny, but what about my destiny! Is this what I'm supposed to be in this world? A… a tool for pleasure? I hate you…I was meant for better things than this…The only thing standing in my way in this festering life… is FATE." She gave a stumbling bow and fell forward on her wounded knees once more. Hitomi hurried forward to help her, but Van stopped her with an arm blocking her path.
"The magic is leaving." He whispered under his breath. "She will be alright." He was so steady; his tan fingers strong and firm. Hitomi was shaking and she could hear Chordata's gasping breaths. The cold air soaked into her clothes like seeping water, chilling her body to the core.
Magic…
"Master Fanel, we need to get away from here." Chordata's voice quaked. The crowds circling around them were beginning to push and shove each other drunkenly.
"No," Van said determinedly, still looking down at the woman. "She has more to say. It has not let her go yet."
"I do…" The woman rasped with the nasty crackle back in her throat. "Siblings… are a bitch. If love is surrender, Your Majesty..." Her eyes flicked to focus on Hitomi's face. "...Then whose war is it anyway...?"
With a long exhale, her large chest heaved and her purple irises continued to pierce Hitomi's face. Grunting and cursing with a slurred voice, she stood up on her wobbly ankles and finally switched her intoxicated eyes to Van with a humorless smile. She brushed her pink hair out of her face with thick fingers. "She's too skinny for you, hun. There's more to love with me. I'm a good price and I don't bite... much."
"Let's go," the king murmured, turning around and walking away so fast the short-haired girl had trouble keeping up. Chordata fell behind as well. The two ladies began to jog to match his long-legged pace.
"Van, slow down," Hitomi panted.
"I need to make it to the tavern. I am on the right track." He turned his head to look back at her green eyes and she saw the corner of his lips curled upward outside the shelter of his navy cap. "I am on the right track at last."
Pushing her legs to match him, she grabbed his hand and successfully stopped him. As he turned towards her, she saw his reddish-brown eyes practically glowing. "What was that? What just happened? Why was she saying those things? Blaming you? I don't understand."
"You could not tell? Magic had her in its grip." He looked away from her, his gaze unfocused on something random across the street. "It has finally started leading me. Or..." his glance shifted back to Hitomi and she raised her eyebrows questioningly.
"Do you want to start making sense sometime soon?"
"The magic must have had her-" he cut off his own sentence and instantly continued his long stroll down the street. Chordata, after looking at Hitomi for only a few ticking seconds, followed Van obediently.
The short-haired girl swallowed down her frustrated growl. It looked like they were back back to square one when it came to straight answers.
But seriously...
Magic?
She never heard the rest of Van's sentence, which he'd allowed himself to utter under his breath when he knew she was further away.
"The magic must have had her... because of you."
The bar was not hard to find. In fact, it was practically impossible to miss.
Even before they saw it, the music blasted so loudly it shook the very concrete beneath their feet. The three outsiders safely turned on a dead-ended road that announced an enormous bricked structure that looked like it was covered in unhealthy amounts of glitter paint and large sequences. At least ten strobe lights blasted the words MYSSTES on the walls surrounding the bar. The building itself rivaled the width of The Winged Palace. People everywhere crammed themselves in a ridiculously long line waiting to get in. Women of all races, colors, and every one of the scandalously dressed, wavered like seducing sirens outside the large, open, neon green doors. Hitomi felt her face heat up as she glanced at Van's still profile right beside her. His mahogany eyes were not focused on the enticing women, but on the building itself. She saw his shoulders rise slightly as he stared at the gaudiness with a blank face. Hitomi, on the other hand, felt a serious drop of doubt. He was so sure that they had found a lead that she'd actually felt her hope rise. Covering her face as the word MYSSTES scrawled over her eyes, she wanted to say something at least a bit comforting, but her words stuck in her throat.
"Come," He commanded over the horrendously blasting music. "I have questions."
Let's see if this place has answers... Hitomi thought as they stepped onto a brick walkway painted gold and got in line behind the longest queue she'd ever seen.
And now... the waiting had begun.
And we are in Joko! I dropped a lot of information in this chapter. I really considered continuing it, but I wanted to start fresh with this next scene. And I have another story I'm working on, so that also pressures me to drop it here. I feel as though its a decent size and I'm exactly where I planned to be in this chapter, so whatevs. lol.
I would have had more updates ready, but family tragedy and a best friend visit kept me insanely occupied these past few weeks. BUT I got a new computer and this is one I PLAN on using specifically for writing and gaming. lol. That's right! I game. What of it? Currently hooked on an MMORPG named Tera if you want to join. It's free to download. I keep getting ganked in it though. Bummer. Probably doesn't help that my character is basically a hobbit with a fluffy tail.
Well, I've got a Mardi Gras Company Party to plan, new chairs and desks to order, and a soda fridge to stock - even though it ISN'T my job to stock that nasty fridge. ugh.
Have a good one. See you next time. And mucho sorry about the wait on my updates.
Love to you all!
blue...