Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of the Abyss.
Chapter 43
Undineday, Gnome-Decan 55, ND2019 – 9:15pm local time (Chesedonia)
"What was that all about?" Anise asked curiously, as Guy closed the door to the downstairs guest room at the Malkuth inn.
Guy, who had just returned from checking on Jade upstairs and administering an apple gel, sighed heavily. "I'd rather not explain," he replied.
"Why did General Cecille shout at him?" Natalia demanded, leaning forward in her chair. Her voice had a dangerous edge that sent chills down Anise's spine. "What was he doing to her?!"
"Nothing. They were just talking."
"Guy. If you don't tell me what happened, I'm going up there right now to investigate," Natalia threatened.
"All right, all right!" Guy relented as he sat down beside Florian on the couch. "They ended up talking about General Frings for some reason. Don't ask me why, because I have no idea."
"Is that really all?" Natalia prodded.
"That's all, I swear," Guy insisted. "He wasn't, er... Natalia, just drop it, okay?" He glanced uncomfortably aside at Florian.
"He wasn't what?" Florian asked immediately.
"Never mind, Florian," Anise said hastily. She could fill in the blank Guy had left easily enough. He wasn't trying to assault her.
Florian looked back and forth between Guy and Anise. "You're hiding something from me. What is it?"
Anise shook her head. "It's nothing. Seriously." Assault was not a topic she wanted to discuss with Florian tonight – or any other night, for that matter.
Florian glared at Anise; she tried not to glare back at him. Protecting Florian's innocence was getting more and more difficult, especially now that they were traveling. Sometimes Anise felt like she was fighting a losing battle, trying to keep Florian from learning too much about the darker aspects of humanity. He's still a little kid, damn it! Anise fretted silently. He's only three years old! He's too young to understand!
"Let's get back to work on our report," Tear said firmly, tapping her pencil against the writing pad she was holding on her lap as she perched on the edge of the bed across from Anise. "I think we have all the essentials outlined."
Florian opened his mouth to protest this change of subject, but Natalia overrode him. "Yes. I can't think of anything else to add."
"I think we've covered everything," Anise agreed.
"I can't think of anything we've missed," said Guy, yawning, "but I'm too tired to think at all. Man, today was a long, tough day."
"Perhaps we should stop for tonight," Natalia suggested. "We can come back to it in the morning, after breakfast."
"Yes," Tear agreed, "after breakfast. We'll proofread the outline, then get started on writing the letters."
Anise bit her lip. She had been assigned to write to Grand Maestro Tritheim and explain everything that had transpired since the group had left Daath: the encounter with Celsius, Undine's explanations and pact with Florian, the stop in Yulia City for resources, the near-crash in the desert, the first encounter with Gnome, the examination of the passage ring, the Colonel's ideas – which Anise only half-understood – and his subsequent injury, the retreat to Chesedonia, and the plan to go to Belkend next. While she understood the necessity of keeping Tritheim and other world leaders apprised of their endeavors, it still brought back memories of writing letters to Mohs as a spy. The memories made her not want to write anything to anyone, but the group had promised back in Daath to keep Tritheim informed.
Natalia, Guy, and Tear had determined that their stop in Chesedonia was a good opportunity to dispatch messages to King Ingobert, Emperor Peony, Mayor Teodoro, and Grand Maestro Tritheim. Florian had agreed to the logic of this immediately, and when Anise had hesitated, he had promptly volunteered to write to Tritheim. However, the group was uncertain whether Tritheim would take Florian seriously. Anise had pointed out that Tritheim might not take her any more seriously than he would take Florian, but she had been overruled, especially after Natalia had suggested that the letter to Tritheim could be written by Anise and signed by Tear, Anise, and Florian jointly.
Natalia's letter to King Ingobert would be delivered by General Cecille, who would return to Baticul and organize the other half of her division to rescue her petrified soldiers. The tentative plan was for the group to pick up Cecille and her reinforcements on the way back to the Zao Ruins, when they were ready to fix the passage ring.
Guy's letter to Emperor Peony would be sent to Grand Chokmah by courier from the Malkuth Consulate. Guy had grumbled a bit about still having to be the one to explain things, but he had reluctantly agreed that Jade needed to rest.
For dispatching the rest of the messages, Natalia had spoken briefly with Astor to schedule a meeting the next day at noon. The plan was to bring Astor up to date on the situation and ask him to forward Tear's letter to Teodoro and Anise's letter to Tritheim through his business contacts in Yulia City and Daath.
Florian had been tasked with writing a short note to Oliver and Pamela as an enclosure for the letter to Teodoro, to reassure them that he was doing fine and to say he was sorry for worrying them. He seemed satisfied to have someone to write to, rather than being left out, although he had pouted a little – whether because he had been told he still needed to apologize or because it was busy-work to keep him occupied, Anise wasn't sure.
Florian interrupted Anise's musings. "Why are you both saying after breakfast?" he asked, looking back and forth between Tear and Natalia.
Tear gave Florian a tired half-smile. "People don't think as clearly when they're hungry. Food is just as important as sleep."
"Exactly," Natalia agreed.
Anise nodded, remembering all the times she had gone to school, and later to Oracle Knight training, on an empty stomach. Learning in school had been difficult when all she could think about was how hungry she was, and heavy physical activity like fighting was even worse.
If only Mama and Papa weren't so stupid about money, Anise thought. I hope they're okay. They seemed fine when we stopped in Yulia City, but if some jerk scams them again…
"All right, let's call it a night," said Guy. He climbed to his feet and stretched his back. "See you in the morning. C'mon, Florian." Motioning for Florian to follow him, he exited the room.
Florian trailed after Guy, pausing in the doorway to give Anise a resentful look. Anise kept her face straight and her voice level as she said, "Good night, Florian."
"...G'night," Florian muttered grudgingly, then turned his back on Anise and walked out with his shoulders hunched in obvious annoyance, closing the door behind him a little too hard but not actually slamming it.
Natalia rose from her chair. "I'm sharing a room with General Cecille. Tear, Anise, I'll see you at breakfast. Sleep well."
"Who's going to watch the Colonel overnight if General Cecille isn't?" Anise wanted to know.
"Guy and Florian are sharing his room, so I expect they'll work out an arrangement," Tear replied.
Natalia nodded. "Yes, they will. Stop fretting, Anise, and get some rest," she said, as she headed for the door. As her hand reached for the doorknob, she paused, looked back at Anise, and added, "You haven't been sleeping well for the last several nights aboard the Albiore. I hope a night in a real bed will help." Carefully, she opened the door, glanced back and forth between Anise and Tear, and said quietly, "Good night."
As Natalia left, closing the door much more gently than Florian had, Tear gave Anise a concerned look. "Natalia is right. You worry too much, Anise. I know you have anxieties about Florian becoming a Summoner, but you need to remember that Florian isn't Ion. Don't let your memories of Ion interfere with seeing Florian for who he is."
Anise resisted the urge to throw her pillow at Tear's head. Having Natalia nagging her was bad enough, but having Tear join forces with the princess to boss her around grated on Anise's nerves.
"Now, go to sleep," Tear continued, pulling back the blankets on her bed. "I hope you feel better in the morning. Good night, Anise."
"Good night," Anise growled. She switched off the lights and crawled into her own bed.
Tear was asleep in less than five minutes, but Anise lay awake for a long time, unable to subdue her fears – not only for Florian, but also for Jade. A concussion was not a trivial injury. Would the Colonel suffer permanent brain damage? Tear and Natalia had used strong healing artes on him without thinking about the potential consequences. Anise wanted to slap both of them for their idiocy... but to be fair, Tear and Natalia had panicked, just like everyone except General Cecille.
No – it wasn't that healing artes could cause brain damage. The problem was memory particle interference from the Seventh Fonons involved. How many of his memories had the Colonel lost as a result? Would he remember his ideas for how to fix the passage rings? Would he remember anything about the purpose of this new journey? What if he had lost his memories of all their travels, with Florian and with Luke? Memories of the time they had spent together as... well, not friends, but as companions with an awkward bond of sorts, as he had phrased it?
It hurt Anise's heart to know that Jade didn't think of her as a true friend. Every time she tried to get close to him, he would push her away, keeping her at a distance. The night before the final confrontation with Van at Eldrant, sitting and talking in the bar right here in Chesedonia, she had almost confessed her feelings for him. Colonel, I love you so much...
He knew, of course. They had never discussed it, but it was obvious to Anise that Jade saw her love for him as a child's crush, not anything serious. Not something to talk about heart-to-heart, not even a matter for teasing or jokes. Not something worth waiting six more years to pursue.
Jade was technically old enough to be her father. Hell, Oliver was only thirty-five, a year younger than Jade. Theoretically, Jade could adopt Anise any time in the next five years. It wasn't common for children to be adopted while their biological parents were still alive, but the Curtiss family had adopted Jade at age, what, twelve? Only two years younger than Anise was now.
If he ever jokes about adopting me, I'm going to punch him right in his smirking face for insulting me like that, Anise decided. Oh, Colonel. Will you ever see me as anything more than a child?
Eventually, Anise drifted off into a restless sleep. In her dreams, all she could see was Gnome attacking Jade, again and again, as she watched helplessly, unable to move or even scream.
A/N: Thanks to all my readers and reviewers for your patience and continued support. A note for Silver, since you always review as a guest: I can't Private Message you or send any previews/teasers when a chapter is taking longer than usual to write (this was most notably the case with Chapter 40, and now Chapter 43), but you can rest assured that this fic is very much still alive! I've had a full outline since the beginning, and I have a bunch of partial chapters done and/or in progress, including half of the epilogue. The dream will never die!