AN: Warning! A minor Battlestar Galactica spoiler! (Though I don't actually watch the show...)
I want to get this chapter up and out of the way, because it kinda embarrasses me...
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Chapter 6: One Step Forward But the Path Got Longer
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I was cold, and that was probably a good thing because it numbed the pain a bit. This was one of those times when I woke up with a clear head, and I tried very hard not to move until I could figure out how bad things were.
Well, I didn't die, so I guess I didn't fall that far and no especially large rocks had landed on me. It was also faintly lit in here, so maybe the hole I'd made wasn't too far away. But when I carefully tilted my neck back to look up, I couldn't see any light from above marking where I fell. That's strange, then where is that light from? Eh? Why does my hand feel warm... I hope it's not blood."
I looked at my hand, and stared blankly for a second until what I was seeing registered. Nevi's tattoo was glowing its sunset red and orange combination! Oh hallelujah!
Excitement gave me new energy, and I slowly curled up and then pushed myself off the floor. No sudden screamingly painful pains, so I guess nothing broke. I stood and limped forward, waving my left hand around in front of me to help see where I was going. I couldn't really tell if the light changed depending on the direction, though, but at least it wasn't going out. I think I would have broke down and cried if it had.
Am I getting warmer? Warmer? I was playing the Hot-Cold game this had reminded me of before, though apparently there were only the options "cold," "warm," and "so hot you've stuck your hand into the burner." But the room I'd fallen into seemed to be pretty empty, so it wouldn't be like a needle in a hay stack, right?
And ho snap, the tattoo turned blue! The universe wasn't entirely out to get me! (Just wait till the other shoe falls...) I stopped in my tracks and began sweeping my arms around, feeling for whatever it was. But it seemed like I was standing in empty space...except for the floor.
I dropped to my knees, hissing in pain, and started feeling for anything lying on the ground. There still wasn't anything...wait! My right hand brushed against something and I heard the clinking sound of something rolling away. My left hand turned orange-red again, and I scrambled to the right until it went back to blue and white. I carefully skimmed my left hand around and...found it!
The light from my hand went out and plunged me into complete darkness. "Well isn't this just swell?" I'd forgotten that finding the heirloom or whatever would take away my only light source. But Nevi should be on his way, and for once I would be really glad to see him. Though I wouldn't actually see...argh, technicalities!
There was shower of sparks that seemed to fall from somewhere up above, and then I heard, "Argh! What in the name of the Sidhe is this all about? Couldn't you have had the decency to have made some light before you summoned me?"
"Terribly sorry, Nevi dearest, but I find myself rather low on options right now," I rasped, and then had a short fit of coughing. Dammit, it wasn't like I had any control over where I found his stupid heirloom.
"Hnph." He uses that sound for everything, doesn't he? A glow slowly built in the air around us, though with no obvious source. I guess Nevi decided to light up the air since there was nothing else handy. "Well, where is it?" Holding out my hand, I uncurled my fist and took a good look at what I was holding.
"Huh? Just what is this?" It looked like a small silver rod carved with vine-like designs. At one end was a ruby cut in a polygonal shape, and the other had a smooth, marble-like sapphire. The whole thing was just a little shorter than the length of my palm. Nevi snatched it from me and examined it carefully.
"I was worried about this, the heirloom has been broken into pieces. The individual piece is still usable, so it can be fixed, but we'll need to find the rest."
"So, the other pieces should be here right? Just look around the room for them."
"No, there are none left here, or else my mark would still be indicating their presence." Damn, my tattoo was still just plain pseudo black. "However there may still be pieces left in this world. Continue to search for them." And poof! he was gone again.
"Dammit Nevi! You could have at least left the light behind!" Yeah, the fairy glow went away with the fairy man. I wasn't too surprised by any of that, actually. Of course it had been too easy, and of course Nevi wouldn't make things any easier.
Well, now I had to deal with a problem I'd hoped I wouldn't have to worry about. Finding my way out of the Shaikos Ruins. I couldn't really expect Yuri and the others to come find me. They were nice people, and all about doing the right thing, but they had their own business to take care of. That was assuming there even was another way to get out besides that hole in the ceiling I couldn't see.
Hmm, wait, I had something that might help. I dug into my bag until I found the hidden pocket I'd sewn into the lining. Inside were all the things I'd brought from Earth, tucked away where they wouldn't draw unwanted attention. I identified my cell phone by touch, pulled it out, and flipped it open. The artificial light wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. I selected the "lantern" option and stood up again.
"Next item on our agenda: find a door."
Wandering around dark ruins infested with monsters isn't nearly as much fun when you're alone. It might have been bearable if I wasn't afraid of my phone's power dying, and hadn't dropped my daggers somewhere. I felt bad about losing the daggers Ludwig had given me, and so soon after I'd left!
After stumbling around I managed to find a doorway half hidden by fallen rocks. Beyond was a corridor that went both left and right. I stood looking from side to side, as if expecting a car would come barreling through, before eventually settling on going left. I almost began praying not to run into any monsters, but grumbled to myself, "With my luck right now, that would just guarantee monsters would show up."
The path didn't branch off, and all the doors I came across were either locked or blocked by rubble (I assumed) on the other side. Finally the long hallway culminated in two very large, ornate doors. I pushed against one with my shoulder, putting all my weight behind it without using my throbbing arms. It was beginning to hurt even moving them...
The door slowly swung open, and I nearly fell inside. When I looked inside I groaned. It was a dead end, with no other doors or stairway out. Though my second desperate check raised my spirits a little. An exit didn't magically appear, but now it registered in my tired brain that this was an armory.
"Yays! Let's find something sharp and pointy to scare off mean people with!" ...I was very tired.
I looked over the rows of armor, racks of weapons, and shields hung on the walls. Armor wouldn't do for me, in my best condition I'd do better with something sturdy that emphasized movement. Hurt like I was, anything I found here would just be extra weight I couldn't handle. Shields weren't any better for the same reasons. Most of the weapons were also too much for me, and I didn't have the skill for them anyway.
Weren't there any simple daggers or maybe a short sword I could manage with?
I poked around for awhile, looking into the corners with my phone's small sphere of light, before I found something appropriate. Two daggers, not quite matching but similar, made of metal I didn't recognize. They didn't seem to be iron or steel, but I doubted they were real silver or they'd be tarnished and pretty worthless in a fight. Their handles were black and felt comfortable in my hands. Something about them reminded me of the foils I used in my high school fencing club. I tested the blades against one of the weapon racks, and they bit deep into the wood. So I stuck them into my empty sheaths and turned to leave.
I saw another small weapon rack tucked behind the door I'd opened, so I hadn't noticed it when I came in. I stepped in closer and held up my phone to try and see better. I was pretty surprised to find a Chinese dao, the same kind of weapon as one of the swords Ludwig favored using.
I never brushed up much on the history of the weapon, but I knew daos are often translated into English as sabers, broadswords, or large kitchen knives (yeah, the last one apparently has something to do with its origins). This one had a handle wrapped in white leather cord, a blade that was a shiny blue-gray color, and a disk shaped guard of the same metal.
I thought I might be able to manage it. Plus, it might be a good idea to carry something a bit more substantial than daggers in case I run into something that made the smaller blades redundant. Like Gollum and his smaller friends. Hell, I hope I don't find anymore of those down here.
So I shifted my belts around to give me room for the dao on my left hip, next to one of my daggers, and left the armory to retrace my steps with the hope that the other way led outside.
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"It can not be seen,
can not be felt,
can not be heard,
can not be smelt~
"It lies behind stars,
and under hills,
and empty holes
it fills~
"It comes first
and follows after,
ends life,
kills laughter~
"The answer is Dark~
The Dark~
The Dark~"
Yeah, I was singing to myself again. "Riddles in the Dark," from an animated version of The Hobbit I'd seen as a child. My phone had run out of power a while ago, and now I was groping blindly in the dark. Maybe part of me was hoping that Gollum (the real one, not the golem I'd affectionately named) would come along and could be tricked into showing me out.
Though I've had nightmares of Gollum trying to kill me, so I'd probably be better off running the other way.
Not only did I have no light, but I was afraid I might have hurt my spine or something in the earlier fight with the golem or that fall afterwards. Moving my arms hurt like crazy and it was all I could do to move my legs to keep walking forward.
I cried out in relief when I finally found a flight of stairs. They were even more agony to climb, I expected as much from experience with muscles sore from Aikido practice, so I took my time and rested frequently. I tried switching over to a more cheerful song to keep my spirits up during those breaks.
"Far o'er the misty mountains cold
to dungeons deep and caverns old
we must away ere break of day
to seek the pale enchanted gold.
"Far o'er the misty mountains cold
to dungeons deep and caverns old
we must away ere break of day
to find our long forgotten gold.
"Far o'er the misty mountains grim
to dungeons deep and caverns dim
we must away ere break of day
to win our harps and gold from him.
"Under the mountain dark and tall
the king has come into his hall
his foe is dead, the wyrm of dread
and ever so his foes shall fall!"
Okay, not exactly cheerful, but it was certainly triumphant. And another song from The Hobbit; I was deeply affected by both the book and movie when I was young. It echoed eerily, and appropriately, up the steps and down the ruined corridors.
For the hell of it, I started singing from the beginning again. Even before "gold" was done bouncing ahead of me I heard a frightened cry.
"Aaah! What was that!"
"Karol?" I straightened and tried to shout as loud as I could. "HEY KAROL, IS THAT YOU?" Oh, damn, that hurts my ears. I winced as my loudest shout rang out repeatedly. Not used to raising my voice like that at all...
"Letha? You're okay!" That's debatable, Karol, but we'll leave that for another time. I didn't bother answering, my ears were still ringing from last time.
"Stay put, okay? We'll find you!" At Yuri's words I felt the last of my strength drain out of my legs and slid back down to sit on the steps. "Keep talking so we know where you are!"
I sighed, and then shouted once more. "You guys better be bringing me something to drink, I'll need it after this! And DON'T YOU EVER TELL ANYONE WHAT I'M GOING TO DO NEXT!" I waited until the last of those echoes faded, then began to sing again.
I wanted a song that would create a strong echo with little effort, could be repeated without tripping me up, and wouldn't raise any awkward questions later. At the time, the first thing I thought of was "Gaeta's Lament."
"Alone she sleeps in the shirt of man
with my three wishes clutched in her hand.
"The first that she be spared the pain
that comes from a dark and laughing rain.
"When she finds love may it always stay true,
this I beg for the second wish I made too.
"But wish no more, my life you can take
to have her please, just one day wake
to have her please, just one day wake
to have her please, just one day wake."
I leaned against the stone wall and closed my eyes, just concentrating on the words. My mind insisted on pulling up the Youtube video I'd seen of the clip this song went to, where Gaeta was singing to distract himself from the pain of an amputation. It was a powerful scene in my mind, even if I didn't know anything about the series, and I couldn't help drawing a parallel to my own situation.
Between my own pain and the focus I put into the song I apparently cut out everything around me. When Yuri's hand tapped my shoulder I was startled into a coughing fit.
"Woah, sorry! You okay?" I nodded, not wanting to hear what my voice would sound like if I spoke now. Determined to leave as soon as possible, I tried to stand up and would have collapsed if not for the wall at my back. Yuri grabbed my arms and forced me to sit down again. "Easy now, wait for Estelle to heal you first."
I nodded again, starting to feel like a marionette puppet with all strings but the one on its head cut, and waited for the pink haired girl to work her magic. In the future, I should avoid getting so seriously hurt. One, because it sucks ass. Two, so Estelle doesn't need to use her power on me too much. I'd hate to be the straw that broke the camel's back... Three, because it really sucks and makes me look bad. Hey, I have my pride.
Estelle's Healing Artes felt warm, and the pain slowly became a dull ache. I could almost imagine I felt something in my spine straighten just a tad, and the pain receded from my arms and legs. When I could bear it again I put my hand on hers. "Stop, that's enough. It won't do any good if you wear yourself out in my place," though, Goddammit, I wanted to shut my mouth and let her finish. She tried to protest but I overrode her by standing up. "Let's just get out of here for now. If you really feel you need to, you can heal me some more outside."
I leaned on Karol's shoulder a bit, he's a good height to do that inconspicuously so Estelle wouldn't argue the point, and I guess he got the hint. "Come on, the exit's not that far from here!"
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Still a Suspect?
Letha: It's a relief you're all still here. I was kind of afraid you'd leave without me.
Yuri: Estelle wouldn't leave without us at least trying to find you.
Letha: She must have felt terrible, seeing me fall and not being able to do anything. Oh! Hey, what happened to that thief?
Yuri: Between the monsters and Repede, he didn't get far. But he wasn't the one with the aque blastia...
Letha: Too bad. I hope that doesn't mean I'm on your suspect list again.
Yuri: I don't know if you're a blastia thief, but you certainly stole an hour of our time like you said you would.
Letha: ...Sorry.
I Don't Sing
Estelle: It's a good thing we heard you singing, Letha, or we might never have found you.
Yuri: Though your voice coming out of nowhere like that gave Captain Karol a real scare.
Karol: I wasn't scared!
Letha: Let's get one thing clear. You. Didn't. Hear. Me. Sing.
Estelle: ...?
Karol: Wait, if it wasn't you, then who was singing?
Yuri: Huh, well there's no one here but us. It must've been a ghost.
Karol: A gh-ghost!
Rita: C-cut that out! There aren't any ghosts here!
Letha: I wonder if monsters sing...
Looking For Letha
Letha: Hey, Rita, is something wrong? You've been glaring at me for awhile now.
Rita: We could have been out of here by now if we didn't have to take a detour to look for you.
Letha: Err, sorry...but it's not like I fell through the floor on purpose.
Estelle: Rita was just worried about you. She was the one who figured out how to find the tunnel you were in.
Letha: Really? Thanks, Rita!
Rita: Just don't do something stupid again!
*Rita leaves*
Letha: I'm not sure if that was her way of telling me to be careful, or to keep out of her way...
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"Nngh, I'm so hungry..."
"Aspio is just a little farther, just wait a while and you can rest." Estelle had patched me up more once we got out of the ruins, but nothing would be better than getting a good night's sleep. On a bookshelf, oh joy...
"Ugh, can't I even have something to eat while we walk?"
"Don't you have any food of your own?"
"I had some bread in my bag, but it was crushed into pieces when I fell. And then I had to use those pieces to distract some monsters when I took a wrong turn."
Rita growled in exasperation before thrusting a small loaf of bread into my hands, "Here! Just shut up already!"
"I will love and respect you forever, Rita!" I chimed happily while tearing a piece off and munching on it.
"All that for some bread?"
"Karol, my boy, it's simple. I love bread. I have no idea why, but a meal with bread makes my life complete."
"You're easy to please." Ha! If only my family heard you say that, Yuri! Not wanting to go into depth about my eating habits, I followed Rita's earlier order and stopped talking in favor of eating.
I was brushing the crumbs from my hands and jacket sleeves (oh, the country bumpkin I must have seemed like to Princess Estelle!) as we entered the caves Aspio was located in. It was pretty late, we'd been in the ruins for a few hours, and Aspio hadn't exactly been a skip in the park away.
"...So Flynn wasn't in there either." Return of the Wilting Flower Estelle! I felt kind of bad for her. It must have been frustrating to always be a step behind someone you're worried for.
"So who is this knight, exactly?" Rita asked.
"He's Yuri's friend," Estelle explained simply, which I didn't think really explained much at all.
"Hmmm, 'your' friend? That must be a pain."
"Huh?" Yuri glanced back over his shoulder at Rita. You just got burned, Yuri.
"Never mind. So what brings him to this town?"
"He was looking for a mage to repair Halure's barrier blastia..." That was a much better explanation, Lady Estellise! Good job! ...I must be tired.
"Ohh...that rookie... He came to see me, too." I took a moment to wonder what the game's story might have been like if Rita hadn't turned Flynn down...
"Flynn did? Was he all right?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"You guess?" Karol exclaimed in disbelief. Or exasperation. My mind was getting too sluggish to categorize things anymore.
"Since he's a knight, I'm sure he got some mage or another to help. Maybe he's already back in Halure?" Logical, logical.
"...Oh, no..." Estelle murmured. I thought I'd speak my piece here.
"I said before that I saw some people leaving the Shaikos Ruins before you guys got there, right?" Estelle nodded.
"Yes, you did."
"And that thief said the knights had been getting in his way. So that means I must have seen this Flynn you're talking about. He looked just fine to me."
"Well that's something," Karol joined my attempt to cheer Estelle up. "I bet we'll catch him in Halure this time."
"Well? Do you trust me yet?" Rita directed this at Yuri's back. Why does he turn away during conversations with people? You'll get a knife in the back one day, Yuri! Oh...
Estelle was quick to put in her good word, "I don't think Rita's the sort of person to steal."
Yuri turned to look at them both, "Vouch for her character all you like, but that doesn't prove her innocence."
"But...!"
"Don't bother trying to make him believe me. But, I really didn't do it, y'know."
"Hmph. Well, I guess research seems to fit you better than robbery." Ah, the closest Yuri comes to admitting he was wrong. On that note he turned away again and walked into the city.
"Yuri isn't very good at expressing his feelings." Estelle was quick to assure the mage.
"...What a weirdo. I'm going to go let the city guards know about what happened. Go and wait for me in my lab."
I sighed and stared at the ceiling while Rita gave the swordsman a passport for getting through the gate. "A city with a ceiling. How sad, to live without the Sun, moon, and stars." I'd go crazy here, even with the impressive library to play in.
I wasn't sure Rita had meant to include me, but no one had objected when I followed them to the young mage's house. I picked a corner for myself where I sat down and closed my eyes. I didn't expect to get any sleep, but any rest would do me wonders. The others were talking about what to do next, I paid only as much attention as I needed to confirm they were returning to Halure before going to Nor Harbor.
"Letha, what are you doing next?" Why are you talkin' to me when I just wanna sleeeep?
"You said before that you were traveling to see the world, right?" Hmm, wait, this is probably the best time to see if they'll let me stay with them. I fought to open my eyes and look over at Yuri. "Uh, yeah, I think I said that. I don't really have a destination in mind, I just figured I'd try to see if there were any other travelers leaving Aspio and go where ever they were going next. Safety in numbers, you know?" Hopefully an innocent leading statement without being too obvious?
"Do you mind coming to Halure with us?" WHEEEE! ...Half of that is because I'm looking forward to seeing the tree...
"Yeah, Halure sounds good. Thanks."
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If I don't stop this chapter here, I don't know where I'll stop.
The injured spine? I don't know a lot about anatomy or medical things, so neither does Letha. She can't diagnose what's wrong with herself, and she just assumes something might have happened to her spine because 1) people assume what they're afraid of to be true and 2) if maybe just a nerve was pinched or something, that might explain the loss of feeling and strength in her limbs.
*cough cough* Well, it seems this is another chapter with a bunch of song references... It can't be helped, my mind supplies appropriate music in these scenarios, and if I was alone I can definitely say I'd be singing to myself. As for her singing to get the others to find her, well, I don't like the idea of shouting about whatever until I kill my throat.
"Riddles in the Dark" or as I call it, "Gollum's Riddle" - from Rankin & Bass's animated version of The Hobbit
"Misty Mountains" or whatever it's called. - Also from Rankin & Bass, delivered in pieces over the whole movie.
"Gaeta's Lament" - From Battlestar Galactica, I think it belongs to Bear McCreary...