Haji
Have I been too harsh on Konella? My thoughts carried through as I followed Saya to the waiting area of the ER. The frantic sounds of multiple people scampering the halls and entering through wide doors made me feel uncomfortable with the place. It held the lives of so many, teetering between life and death on a constant scale. Every part of it only reminding me I did not belong here.
[Haji, the red shield has a nutcase! He tired shooting me!]
Hearing Konella shout through our connection and finding it believable to call David as such, I was not expecting him to have tried shooting her. Though I couldn't find the words to reply to her, Saya seemed distracted by someone and stood up quickly.
"Kai!" Hearing Saya call out for her 'brother' as he found them, both her and the boy named Riku ran to him. "Dad, he's—"
"I get it, but we can't break here! Let's just stay strong and let the doctors do what they can." He was quick with words of encouragement. I found the boy lacking in many other aspects, but he did view Saya and Riku as family. Saya seemed to have settled down as well with him being here. I should take this chance to speak with Konella and hear what David had to say, but as I turned to the hall that led out, David was standing there with an irritable face.
Having been around 40 years ago since I've disbanded myself from them after what they've done to Saya in Vietnam, keeping track of them has been a passing thought.
"A word, Haji." He motioned for me to come to him. I looked back at Saya one more time to see she was with her family at this time and would be fine if left alone for a moment.
I remember David vividly back when we first met during the war. He was younger then. Not as uptight and firm as he is now at least. But his father was a bright man and quite brazen. The difference between them was quite little as he took much of his father's traits. Though I had hoped he'd take a different route to interrogating Konella rather than finding out if she were chevalier or not.
"That woman you—"
"Konella." I interrupted. His eyes twitched to my interjection. Though I can tolerate some of his behavior, I will not stand for the discourtesy any further with her.
"Konella…" he eyed me warily as he didn't desire to make me angry and cleared his throat before continuing. "When exactly was she turned? I don't believe a simple traveling chevalier no one's seen or recorded would be missed in our records."
Needing to create a plausible alibi for her, I threaded a timeline in my mind to fool him.
"As years had gone by during our mission to hunt Diva, Saya created Konella when we were fighting against one of Diva's newest chevaliers, Grigori. Around this time it was long after Joel's death and when she first entered her hibernation period."
He narrowed his eyes and didn't believe a word I said. "Chevaliers are devoted to one queen. You have been with Saya since before your turning—as stated in Joels diary. This supposed chevalier that comes now of all times claims to be Saya's when no other record of—"
"David." A woman dressed in white garb came running down the hall with a frantic look on her face. I recognized her as Julia, a young medic in the field when she was station in Vietnam. She has grown considerably. Her actions though make me worried what would cause her to be so frantic. "We have a problem!" She came close to David and pushed her glasses up as she shuffled some papers in her arms. It's only been an hour or so since coming to the hospital for George.
"Julia, what would be the issue here—"
"It's George." She stated clearly without restraint as David seethed. "There is a crew here dressed in yellow hazard suits, we were escorted out of the room and they started taking George the moment he cleared from surgery. My people can't hold him here."
"Dammit!" He looked back to the waiting room, then to Julia wondering what they could do to stop whoever it was taking George before hearing Saya calling for me. Taking leave without listening to David shouting for me to wait, I returned to her side and she was frantic.
"Haji," Saya approached and seemed alarmed what was happening. But her reaction didn't seem to be about George being taken, but something else? I looked up to find Konella standing with Kai and Riku. She looked despondent. Her eyes didn't meet mine, which gave me a sense of regret from how I've been treating her.
"Are you alright?" I asked quietly.
She didn't answer right away. Her eyes shifted to Kai and the other two briefly as she pursed her lips. I wondered why she became so pensive around Konella, as she has done nothing towards her to make her feel threatened or amiss, it's confusing to me.
"Konella apologized what happened at the beach earlier…" something in her eyes said there was more, but for whatever reason it could be she wouldn't say.
Only when Konella's head darted to the windows and noticing something amiss was happening, she turned towards me and opened her channels.
[Strange people in yellow suits are taking George.] She stated.
"What's happening?" Saya asked as she heard the ruckus and went to the large open windows and saw the commotion outside. "Haji, what's happening outside?"
Coaxing Saya away from the window and hearing David and Julia speaking to someone on the phone, Saya was determined to get her answers. As was Kai and Riku. I stayed back with Konella as she didn't look at me at all and was staring at them.
"Are you alright?" I asked her tepidly.
"We're speaking?" Her tone was curt and she was hurt. Those eyes of hers that always show the most emotion in them drawing me in, I had to look away.
"I'm sorry… Saya is my priority to protect her, and with her memory skewed I want to be sure she doesn't get hurt."
"…a little warning for me then would have been nice. If I'd known ahead of time you'd flip such a switch in personality I would be more prepared for the cold shoulder."
I have always seen Konella as another companion in my lonely years walking the earth alone in my travels. Today was the first I've seen her emit such strong emotions. Her chestnut colored hair was tied back, showing her more feminine side as she's kept up with the current fashion. Compared to me who holds the past close, she's been far more open to the change of time. I've always admired that trait of hers. TO have actually hurt her and make her feel like an outcast is entirely on me.
"I'm going to speak with them about the situation." She started walking towards David and Julia, confronting them both with confidence that she belonged in the scene as they hesitated. I followed her lead and wanted to know the same thing.
"I'll ask again," sounding annoyed and defeated, "where do you think they're taking George?" Konella's voice had grown cold as she was facing David. She was not the kind to take a bullet and be forgiving afterwards. Her disdain towards him was quite clear.
"Don't know until we get some eyes on that truck where they're going. We'll call this a night and find more in the morning." David creased his brow, glaring at Konella and finding no ground with her to trust.
"Alright. Since we're not letting Saya in on this I take it that we're trying to keep her out of it till we find more info?" David seemed surprised she'd catch his thoughts on the matter and she shrugged her shoulders. "Saya, Kai, Riku, let's head back home and get some rest for the night."
"What about dad?" Riku asked hurriedly. "Wasn't that dad out there?"
"The men were here for someone else. Your father is in recovery and we can see him tomorrow." Lying smoothly as the three started to believe in her words, the boys seemed to accept it, but not Saya.
"But I thought—"
"You're very tired. Many events happened today and it's really late. Let's all go back and get some rest and have a clear head for tomorrow." Konella was taking the lead. I watched from a distance admiring her leadership that I could never do. Eventually Saya nodded and seemed tired. I walked over and helped Saya along towards the exit to a car on stand by thanks to David. Konella looked like she was going to skip the car ride before Kai nudged her.
"Hey, thanks for before…you know…" he didn't speak coherently, yet as he stared at Konella with a slight bashfulness, seemed to be sincere enough for the young boy his age. "I also don't hold it against ya at the beach…"
"Thanks." Her lips curled slightly into a smile that softened her eyes. Considering everything that had happened, it was nice that she still could smile. Reaching for his head and patting him, Kai leapt away with cheeks flushed and wondering why she would do such a thing and her response was to laugh. He grumbled a bit before going over to his motorcycle and throwing on his helmet. Riku got into the vehicle and I waited for Konella to do the same before she shook her head.
[Konella?]
[I'm not getting in the car with that asshole. I'll meet you there.] Without waiting for a response and watching her run off using her chiropteran speed, I could feel our connection begin to waver as the distance grew.
"Haji?" Saya called out my name. My heart yearning for her as I faced the young naïve version of the woman I knew, I slipped into the car and watched as she slowly leaned into me and rest her head on my shoulder. Be it out of habit or getting comfortable around me, I desired to have more. Knowing her past, everything she's done and her dreams, it ached keeping it all to myself.
It wasn't precedented, but Kai had moved on his own and had procured a weapon to hunt down the chiropteran. David was irritated at the foolish notion of vengeance Kai desired and cursed at the young man's decision. Saya was sad that he had run off to do everything on his alone, leaving not just her, but Riku as well. She tended to the younger one and tried having him settle about Kai's decision before I looked outside and found Konella sitting on the rock wall staring off into space. I joined her outside and wondered if she'd seen him herself take off, and the way she stared at the road made me think she did.
"What ails you?" I asked her. Her eyes looking back at me with a soft, exhausted expression, she let out a sigh and had her hair down where it covered half her face to hide her emotions.
"…Haji, you've noticed it too, right?" She looked at me with saddened eyes that my chest tightened strangely. That look have always managed to pull me in a strange way that I know belongs to only one, but I have been at a loss in those eyes of her more than once. "Saya is uncomfortable with me around. No matter how hard I tried to speak with her on normal terms, relate to her, anything at all, she looks wary and afraid of me. It's giving David every reason not to trust me, making me out to be an enemy." Her frustration understandable as I tried to relate in the situation, I could only come up with a simple query.
"She needs time. You both do."
"We don't have time, Haji! She's been awake for a year and has no recollection who or what she is and you have this method of thinking that all will be well." She was distraught. Never have I seen her look so out of place and getting riled up. It reminded me of when she returned from her solo journey. How different the world became upon her return and the sense of self she began to display. Now all I see is a woman being drawn back and having to hide her true self somehow
"Look, you spoke of her sleep cycle being only for 4 years at a time. Now it's down to three years and we are nowhere close to finding out who I really am without her memory. And asking her for blood is going to be out of the question until she's comfortable around me." Was she getting nervous? We have time, there was no need to rush anything.
"Why are you in a hurry over this matter? Time is not something we need to worry over." I reminded her.
"…" she rubbed her arms and seemed to be looking at something in the distance that wasn't there and started biting her lower lip. Before speaking to me, her eyes skittering around, she focused back onto me and was unsure of something. "I've been having images overlap…and daydreaming of things I've never seen or heard."
I encouraged her to open up to me. Her mind having been locked for so many years and repeating the same dream to her for so long with no change, this was good news. The more I could decipher and see if my theory of her is possible, I needed to hear more. "Konella, speak."
She closed her eyes while taking a silent, deep breath in before speaking. "The little one here, Riku, he brings this maternal feeling out of me. More than before. It's not the same with—" she stopped when thinking of the past and I understood what she compared it to. Nodding once and finding words again, she continued. "I see something of another child in him that tends to overlap. Smaller though. Younger perhaps. It's strange and alluring all the same and I can't help but feel like coddling him. It's confusing as I know I can't be a mother…but the way I desire to protect him and be around him makes me feel that way." She spoke with such hurt and pain in her voice that it was hard to keep a straight face. Fingers now entwined in her clothing as she shut her eyes tight to push it all down, she wasn't finished. "Kai invokes another emotion from me as well that seems to come out. Not sure if it's parental or just comforting, but he's similar to how I feel towards Riku at times. These images have not let up since meeting Saya."
I gave it thought to what I needed to ask, and it was of one thing. "And your senses with Saya? Does anything bring forward your recollection or servitude?" She tensed up. Arms became that of stone as she turned away to not reveal her emotions to me through her eyes, it was enough of a reaction to know she felt nothing of the sort.
"…not really. Not that I'm entirely certain, but the feeling I have with Saya is not quite clear for a definite answer."
Looking out and hearing the faint roar of a chiropteran in the distance, knowing not that it was the one from before or a different beat, Konella got off the ledge and brandished her daggers.
"I'm going to search for Kai."
"And Saya?" Asking cryptically if she'd like to have her join the search or at least include us, Konella shook her head.
"No. Saya wants you by her side right now. I need to earn her trust my own way and have her open up to me first."
"As you see fit. Just remember to approach her with confidence that you are her protector." A gentle push. Hoping that would be enough to create a bond between them, she seemed unsure if it would happen, but entertained the thought.
"When I find him, let's have Saya give him a good scolding. But probably after I'm done with him first." She joked. Her smile lighthearted as she walked down the street and out of sight.
"Haji?" David had come out with his gun brandished and eyeing the road Konella just walked. "Where is she going?"
"Tracking Kai." I stated coolly.
"Good. That kid needs to be taught a life lesson." She grumbled.
I returned inside to find Saya up and having coffee when she faced me. There was enough in my mind of what the next steps needed to be, but I desired for her to remember our promise. I wanted to at least have the memories we've shared to be recalled at least once. I just never knew one could have such pain waiting for a loved one to even know who you are.
Ah… my thoughts returned to Konella and what she's going through and I finally understood a sliver of her pain. This is quite…lonely.