By Dyaoka
Disclaimer: I don’t own the Prince of Tennis, nor do I own Final Fantasy.
Notes/Warnings: It’s been a while! That’s all I can say…And that I’ve been on a Final Fantasy streak. @_@ Wow! This chapter exceeds 8000 words, going over the 9000 mark as well! Be glad! And now, we start…the beginning of the end.
Scroll Thirteen: Preparation
“So…it comes down to this,” Kajimoto said with a small sigh, throwing off the cloak of the hood. Beside him, Jiroh and Eiji did the same.
“Unya…I can’t believe I didn’t see it earlier,” Eiji said sadly. “I’m sorry…”
“But we’ve got him that’s what counts, desu…?” Taichi spoke up rather hesitantly from behind the tree he was cowering at. Akutsu only snorted at the other’s cowardice.
“He’s caught! He’s caught! He’s caught!” Kirihara had nearly sung, his eyes momentarily turning a bloody red before they settled back into its normal color.
“Yes, and Gakuto and Oshitari has been designated to take care of him,” Yukimura said softly, his eyes turning to Kirihara who was bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. The effeminate youth chuckled softly at the other’s enthusiasm.
“I don’t see why you can be so happy,” Jiroh had said with a yawn. “Don’t we still have other matters to deal with?”
“Precisely why we’re here!” Atobe nearly snapped, his eyes narrowing. “I don’t see why I have to be here to witness such an insignificant conversation; the traitor has been found, great, but to summon all us agents again for such an irrelevant fact? I think not!”
“Temper, temper,” Yukimura purred softly, causing Atobe to glare at the other. Yukimura only smiled in response.
“Alright, since our time is short, we should arrange this quickly,” Yamato said, scratching somewhat at his chin. “I believe that there should be four groups, if you will. Two groups should storm the castle and one will be backup; the fourth group will provide transportation and if really necessary; they would also be backup.”
Akutsu snorted and muttered something that sounded like ‘we’ll need backup for our backup’s backup’ under his breath.
“A smart idea, but—” Tachibana was cut off by Tezuka speaking.
“We should just do this according to his plan. One group will enter from the dungeons, another from the courtyard, and the last group should enter from above,” Tezuka said. “The group outside should be prepared to move at any time.”
“Yes…that could work…but he’ll most likely be in one of the ballrooms the moment he feels us entering,” Yukimura said. “The ballrooms always have the strongest defensive spells. Shouldn’t we just enter from the windows of the ballroom?”
“Or why not just lure him out?” Sengoku spoke up, his emerald eyes no longer held the usual laughter within them. He meant business.
“Lure him out? Do you know how absurd that sound?” Atobe snorted. “How would you lure Him out when it’s easier to lure a dragon out of its cage?”
Sengoku looked over at Tezuka. “I’ve heard the rumors. Even Dan knows of it.”
The tiny-framed youth stepped out behind the tree he hid behind, his head bowed. “I-I’m sorry if I said something I shouldn’t have, desu…” Taichi said, his diminutive voice spoke, cutting through the thick silence like a knife. “But I overheard…” he trailed off, as if unsure of what to say.
“You overheard what?” Tezuka demanded.
“I overheard some of the forest sprites talking!” squeaked the tiny youth. “Apparently they heard it from the water sprites somewhere! But they say that His heir is here, to destroy his father! To end everything that was done! That’s only what I heard, honest!”
Atobe said nothing, but arched an elegant eyebrow and looked over at Tezuka expectantly, as had many of the other agents. The bespectacled youth sighed.
“We can…use him as a lure, couldn’t we?” Kohei spoke. “We could use his heir to lure him out! That’s a perfect idea!”
“But would it work?” Yukimura murmured softly. “Just because his heir is alive doesn’t mean anything.”
“True,” Kajimoto said airily. “He certainly doesn’t look like he could help us…”
“You’ve met him?” one of the Atsushi twins asked in disbelief.
“Yes,” the blonde youth spoke up. “He’s strong, certainly, but he is unable to aid us. I doubt he could even lure Him out…I don’t see why he tried to get rid of the boy at all—he could pose no threat to His dominion.”
“Some people are just like that…” Tachibana said, trailing off. But suddenly, he exclaimed; “What about those humans?!”
“Humans?” Yanagi echoed. “What can humans do? They’re foolish and naïve, young and all children compared to us. I fail to see what they can do; I doubt they can very much lure Him out.”
“I’ve met them, during the competition in Bevelle,” Tachibana said. “They were the runaways, the fugitives.”
“Wait…you mean…?” Taichi’s eyes widened. “Oh dear…desu…”
“Yes, they were the ones that know what you’ve done, Dan,” Sengoku said, a small smile upon his face though his eyes did not. “I would have killed them earlier, but an agent was with them…I wasn’t sure whether or not to act so I let them be.” Sengoku glanced briefly over to Eiji and Tezuka, the former of whom was looking anywhere except at Sengoku. “But I’m sure that the humans…they must know something about what is going on. They are of noble blood, after all, and even though they are fugitives, they still might hold some power with their words. He just might not want to dismiss them so easily…”
“Well, technically the one behind the assassination of their ruler wasn’t Him, but it was Taichi. The main problem lies there,” Yamato said. “Why not just bring the whole group with us? Trick them into it or something, but it could be done. They just might be able to lure Him out of his cocoon of power and out into the open; his power has been diminishing and against all of us, I doubt he’d be able to stand a chance.”
“So we’re going with a full-out attack?” Kirihara asked.
“Full-out,” confirmed Yukimura. “We’ll bring him down, one way or another.”
“Very well…” Tachibana sighed. He just wondered if anyone was thinking along the same lines he was; He knew that he was getting weak, so wouldn’t he be anticipating an attack? And what if they had more than one traitor in the midst? According to what he had observed, the stronger and more independent ones of the agents were rebelling and the weaker ones only chose the sides of rebellion due to the fact that they felt more of an alliance with their comrades than their master. The Bevellian monk sighed; everything was so confusing! He just hoped that everything would go according to plan, but he knew that nothing ever went according to plan.
~*~
“We have to leave,” Tezuka had announced bluntly upon his arrival.
Everyone else was seated around the dining table and eating quite heartily. They’ve only turned around to stare at him for a moment until Momo decided to speak up. “Um…is there something wrong, Tezuka…?”
“It is getting dangerous,” Tezuka said. “Finish the meal and pack your things. Don’t take to long—I’m giving you one hour.” With that, the bespectacled youth had disappeared just as quickly as he had appeared into the room.
“Doesn’t that guy ever take a break?” Momo muttered as he took another bite of his food. “He’s always in and out these days, where does he go? What the heck does he do?”
“Things sure has gotten quite mysterious lately,” Fuji mused, sitting back into his chair and staring at the tablecloth in front of him. It was a soft, pastel yellow that reminded him more of a picnic blanket more than anything else. “When I think back on the events…I realize that there is something bigger happening. I believe that Tezuka is dragging us into it and further away from our original destination; we only want evidence to clear our names. So far, he’s only led us to naught. I don’t think we can trust him.”
“Yes…” Oishi said softly after a while. “He had said that he would take us…me to Eiji. He hasn’t done as he said and…and so many things have happened. I doubt we can trust him…”
Taka said nothing, his spirits dampening. Ryoma just looked around the table furtively, but somehow, Inui had caught his eyes.
“I say we trust him,” Inui murmured. His words were tiny, almost nonexistent if there was no silence around the room. His statement had been rather surprising to the lot.
“How can you say that?” Fuji asked. “I’ve been a friend of yours for quite a while and this is the first time you’ve really been able to surprise me…without the drinks, of course.”
Inui smiled wryly at Fuji’s comment. “I’ll tell you my reasoning, one day, perhaps. But I say we should trust him and finish our meal quickly and be prepared to leave.”
“You know something,” Momo said, eyeing Inui for several moments longer. “Why don’t you tell us?”
“I don’t think I need to,” Inui said finally with a soft sigh. “I believe that you’ll find out yourself.”
Momo continued to eye Inui critically until Ryoma spoke up.
“I think we should trust Tezuka,” Ryoma said as he took a swig of his drink. “Anyway, we’ve got ourselves a free guide, and although he’s not the best out there, he’s the one that got us this far anyway. It shouldn’t really matter if we’ve got to go just a bit further…after all, without a lead, we can’t really do anything, right?”
Fuji just frowned, but said nothing. Oishi and Taka looked as if they were in mental debate and Momo continued to look enamored with his food.
“Well…I certainly don’t have anything to lose,” Fuji said finally. “Why not…I’ll follow him for a while longer. It doesn’t mean I trust him though.”
Oishi’s eyebrows creased together, finding nothing to say. Inui said to trust him; Ryoma had agreed as well. But the fact still remained that no one really trusted him, save for those who seemed to know just exactly what was happening. Oishi sighed lightly; he knew something was happening, something big. But that was it. Nothing more. It certainly didn’t help matters any that Ryoma and Inui seemed to know what was going on.
Oishi had suspected that Ryoma would have been one to know what would be happening, considering the boy was Seer Nanjirou’s disciple after all. But it was surprising to the green-eyed youth that Inui would know what was going on. And both seemed to be determined to keep things shrouded in mystery for the rest of them.
“Well then, let’s go,” Ryoma said, rising from his seat. “We’ve got an hour.”
Momo grunted and finished off the rest of his meal before dropping his utensils next to the plate with a small clatter. “As you said, we’ve got an hour. Ryoma, you wouldn’t mind me asking about what’s going on, would you? Inui just said he couldn’t explain anything, but…you could, right?”
Ryoma blinked once, his golden eyes appearing as if in a daze, and then they focused onto Momo, who held the gaze unwaveringly in return.
“You want to know…what is happening,” Ryoma repeated more than stated, as if his mind wasn’t completely registering what Momo had just said. He lifted a finger to touch his bottom lip gently and then he smirked. “I’ll tell you. But only after we leave this place.”
Fuji chuckled and Momo snorted; both had fond smiles upon their faces.
“Brat.”
Ryoma didn’t know why, but the name did not hurt him; rather, it made him feel warm and proud inside.
~*~
More or less, an hour had passed and everyone was gathered outside, near the giant waterfall. Tezuka stood there, leaning against the railings as he had waited. Beside him were two figures, cloaked heavily in black that they looked part of the darkness of night itself. There was no moon overhead and one wouldn’t even had spotted the two figures had they not been conversing in slight tones with each other.
“Are we all prepared?” Tezuka asked.
Everyone nodded in response.
“Wait,” Ryoma said, raising his eyes to meet Tezuka’s. “Karupin isn’t here.”
“Ah…I believe I know where he is,” said one of the cloaked figures. “We must make haste—the whereabouts of the kitten is not of importance and it is none of your concern. We need to go now.” When Ryoma looked like he was going to retort to that, Taka laid a hand on the boy’s shoulder, effectively silencing him. The older youth knew that nothing good would come, should Ryoma have replied to the other’s words.
Tezuka glanced sharply at the speaker, but said nothing upon the subject. “Then lead us.” The figures nodded slowly and turned abruptly, their cloaks swishing lightly and in the dark, the others were able to distinguish a small orb held in each of the palm of their hands that glowed lightly, illuminating a path for them. The two set off at a hasty pace, causing the rest of them to rush to catch up to them.
The cloaked figures had lead them out of Haven and back into the forest, where everything seemed much more ominous. It was during the night, after all, but no one could help the feeling of being watched. Momo felt an involuntary shiver make its way up and down his spine and the ex-captain immediately swung around, his hand flew to the sword at his side.
There was nothing.
“At ease, Momoshiro,” Inui commented wryly from the spiky-haired youth’s side. “I feel that whatever is watching us now will not harm us. If they truly felt like doing us harm, they probably would have already done so.”
“I-If you say so…” Momo muttered, letting his hand drop from the hilt of the sword he grasped.
The rest of the journey was taken in silence, except for the occasional sound of running water and the footfalls of the journeyers.
Finally, after what seemed like eternity, their leaders had stopped at the outcrop of the forest, which had just led to a field of wild grass and weeds: the open plains of the world map. And in front of them, was the strangest piece of machinery that anyone has ever seen. It was large and blended in with the moonless night—completely black and silent, save for the small hum of its engine.
“The entrance is there,” one of the cloaked figures said and pointed to the stairs that led into the airship. “Please get on.”
“This isn’t a trap…is it?” Fuji asked, eyeing both the cloaked figures standing at the entryway to the ship. “This certainly does seem very…suspicious to me.”
“It’s got nothing suspicious about it, nya,” came a voice. Everyone started and from the entryway of the ship emerged a certain red headed thief that had been missing from the group since his disappearance in Bevelle. Soft blue eyes looked out at the group in front of him. “Unya…it’s been a long time, guys…” Eiji had said almost shyly.
“E-Eiji!” Oishi had exclaimed. “Is…is that really you?”
“Oishi…” Eiji murmured. “Why don’t you guys come on? I’ll tell you all my stories, nya! I bet that you’re all dying to know what happened, right?”
Tezuka restrained the urge to roll his eyes and stepped up into the airship, giving Eiji a small pat on the shoulder and offered a small look of sympathy for the red head before disappearing completely into the airship’s depths. Ryoma was the second one to follow; the rest all followed shortly after, with Oishi bringing up the rear. He still had a look of incredulity upon his face and as he approached the entrance of the airship, he had gently reached out to grasp Eiji’s hands. The red head smiled softly.
“I’m real, Oishi. I’m real.”
That caused Oishi to envelope the red head into a tight embrace.
~*~
They were all seated in the conference room of the large airship, which seemed to be running on autopilot. The two strangers had removed their cloaks, revealing their identities to be Kajimoto and Jiroh. Mysteriously enough, they seemed to be acquainted with Inui and Ryoma, while no one else had ever seen them before.
“Oh, that’s right!” Momo suddenly exclaimed. “Ryoma, you said you were going to explain what was going on!” Suddenly, the entire atmosphere tensed up almost visibly, but Momo pushed on. “I say that we deserve an explanation! We’ve gone so far already, but we have no idea why we’re here! It certainly goes against our original intentions, yes?”
Tezuka only gave Ryoma a glance that said ‘you got yourself into this mess, get yourself out.’ The golden-eyed youth sighed.
“I can’t answer all of your questions; there’s even some points that I’m confused on…” Ryoma murmured into the silence that had fallen upon them. “But there is something that’s happening. He…the man that started everything is becoming active again. If I understand anything that is going on…he would be the one that had murdered your King and the one who had manipulated him into treacherous acts. Your King was going to report it or tell someone—I don’t know—but he was murdered before he could do anything. And then you lot came to…well, where I was. Basically…He is the man you and I seek…”
“What do you mean…?” Fuji asked from the seat across from Ryoma. “I’m not quite understanding what you’re saying…”
“You’re looking for evidence that you did not commit the crime,” Kajimoto interrupted. “The childling searches for the same man you’ve been wandering after. I believe that is all you have to know.”
Several seated at the conference table turned to glare at Kajimoto.
“What’s this got to do with you anyway?!” Momo yelled. “This matter is between us and us alone! We don’t need any interlopers!”
“Actually…we have every right, nya,” Eiji spoke, stopping the argument before it got too heated. “But all you need to know now is that He is after you, that’s why we’re here. Your presences…affect him. He believes that you lot will hinder his plans…”
Momo frowned. “I’m not understanding everything here. And I don’t see why I have to go with this…I don’t even know why I’m here!”
“It’s because he tried to get rid of you,” Ryoma muttered suddenly. “I can’t believe you don’t remember.”
“Re-remember?!” Momo sputtered. “What do you mean by that?!”
“When we were at Haven, you haven’t met anyone that was even remotely familiar?” Ryoma questioned. “It proves that you’ve suppressed the memory even deeper than I did…”
“I…I saw familiar faces,” Momo gulped. “I remember them, but I have no idea what you are talking about.”
“You’re afraid to face the past,” Tezuka said. With several long strides, he had left the conference room. “Stop being a coward, Momoshiro. Start standing up like a man.”
The violet-eyed youth frowned, but said nothing. There was nothing to say on his part.
“It certainly would be easier if you remembered,” Ryoma said after a long period of silence. “It…took me a while too.”
“Well, then,” Kajimoto said, deciding to take reigns of the conversation before it got out of hand and unwanted information were revealed. “As of right now, we are heading towards the remains of a Fae kingdom in the east. There is…apparently something we need to pick up there. We will arrive shortly and as of now, you have free reign as to where you’d like to go on this airship, Balthsazar III. Bedrooms are scattered around the ship, so if you need a place to rest, don’t hesitate to go into them.” Kajimoto spoke formally and quickly, getting to the point swiftly and he gave them a curt nod before he too, disappeared, with Jiroh on his heels. He gave them a soft—almost lazy—wave as a farewell. He yawned and the door slid shut behind him.
Silence reigned, until Fuji spoke.
“Eiji…where have you been?” the youth asked gently, his voice piercing through the silence.
“Unya…” the red head shifted his eyes to the table. “I was…at the castle…?”
“Kaido—the ravine guard, says that you were there that night when we arrived. You refused to come out and greet us because…?” Inui pushed his spectacles higher up on his nose, his eyes and expression unreadable. “I certainly would like to know.”
“I…I couldn’t, nya!” Eiji squeaked. “Y-you wouldn’t have recognized me anyway, nya, in my other clothes ‘n…”
“Eiji! Slow down. You don’t have to lie; no one here will be angry with you. Just tell the truth,” Oishi said, entwining their hands together. He let his thumb run over the back of Eiji’s hand, his own subtle way of reassuring the red head that he wasn’t alone. Oishi gave a soft smile, encouraging Eiji to speak. The red head spoke, but would not lift his head up to meet anyone’s gaze.
“It was because I couldn’t. I really couldn’t,” Eiji murmured. “It wasn’t the right time yet—and I guess I’m kind of glad that I listened to my instincts, nya. It was telling me not to meet up with you guys!” He bowed his head. “I’m sorry, nya!”
“Eiji…”
“And…Kiddo…” Eiji lifted his gaze slightly to Ryoma. “Unya…”
Ryoma just waved a hand in dismissal. “Whatever. It doesn’t matter.” Eiji smiled softly; he knew that it was Ryoma’s way of saying ‘forgiven.’ Everyone else stared on, wondering what had just happened.
“Thanks, nya. You know, everyone, while I was gone, I’d like to hear what happened!”
“Oh! I can tell you lots!” Momo exclaimed, enjoying the change of subject. “Lots and lots of things had happened!”
“Hn. I’m leaving; I’ll see you all later,” Ryoma said abruptly, getting up from his chair and stretching before heading out the door. The automatic door slid shut with a small ‘click.’
The hall was silent, but well lit. The lights that hung overhead, lighting the way down a seemingly endless corridor. The silvery-gray color of the metal lined the walls and floor and when Ryoma took a step down the hall, his steps would echo loudly down the corridor. The airship’s corridors were unfurnished, left completely bare of any decorations and made it seem a lonely and empty place. The conference room at least had some decors around the place. Occasionally on Ryoma’s walk down the halls of the airship, he would come across a window. All the golden-eyed youth could see out through the windows was darkness and an occasional tendril of fog, which he guessed to be clouds. Ryoma sighed and continued his ventures into the ship—it was vast, bigger than he had expected it to be.
Then, the corridor turned a corner, and led to a winding staircase downward. Deciding that he had nothing better to do, he climbed the stairs upward. After all, Kajimoto said that they had free reign over the Balthsazar. However, the first thing Ryoma came to find was a dimly lit corridor, unlike the rest of ship, which was brightly lit. On the silvery-gray metal, was an insignia. It seemed to be a crest, perhaps of royalty, and was carved into the metal every several yards. Also unlike the rest of the ship, the ground was carpeted with a deep red color and seemed to have often been stepped on, since some parts of it seemed much more worn down and dirty than the other parts closer to the walls.
Taking slow steps, Ryoma traversed down the hall, recognizing well-hidden doors behind some insignias. It seemed like there were something that someone wanted to hide…
“Kajimoto gave us free reign…” Ryoma reminded himself once again. With a small, satisfied smirk, he opened up one of the hidden doors.
No one saw nor heard hide of the boy until the end of the trip.
~*~
“So we’ve done it,” Tezuka said, his voice sharp and stern; his voice cut through the silence like a blade.
“True…” Kajimoto sighed. “But I wonder how long this farce will be put up with—Eiji was displeased by the fact we must lie to them; the other boy already knows and I am not sure if he would stay silent.”
“A small sacrifice we must make…” Jiroh yawned. “Excuse me, but I am going to find somewhere to sleep…” The bleary-eyed youth left the deck, rubbing his eyes as he did. Kajimoto doubted the other would actually make it to the nearest bedroom before he fell asleep. When Jiroh left the deck, Kajimoto turned his attention to Tezuka again, his lips set into a tight line.
“Are you sure that it’s still there?” Kajimoto murmured, leaning lightly against the railing, staring out into the endless waves of darkness. It was chilly, up so high in the nighttime air with the wind blowing so hard—but he didn’t care. He couldn’t feel the chill or the cold, since redemption was finally coming. The time to be free was so close and seemed so unreal that the blond almost thought it was another dream. But it wasn’t.
“I’m sure it is,” Tezuka answered, righting his glasses. “No one had approached the place for a while and He has no reason to be approaching that place at all, even if it was for salvaging the most important things.”
Kajimoto sighed. “I wonder if this plan would work at all…He may be weaker than before, but not so he’s not so weak as to be a pushover.”
“That’s why we must do this…” Tezuka said, a frustrated tone almost reaching his voice. “It’s the only chance we have.”
“You make us sound so desolate.”
Tezuka said nothing in return, his lips curving lightly into a wry smile, and Kajimoto continued to speak. “I doubt even with a fleet of the Magi ships that we’d be able to do anything, especially since there are only a few of us that do know how to pilot them; most of whom we need on the battlefield.”
“Perhaps that is why we are giving it our all,” Tezuka murmured. Kajimoto studied the other for a few moments and then snorted.
“We are desolate, Tezuka. We want our freedom, our homes, our people…We want them back. It’s hard, trying to hide from the world and yearn for it so much at the same time,” Kajimoto said softly. With a small nod of a farewell, the blonde left the other to his musings.
Tezuka let out a small, aggravated breath. Dawn was approaching the horizon.
Perhaps this would be the last time he would be able to enjoy such a thing.
~*~
Inui, having retreated into one of the bedrooms, had been unable to obtain sleep. He sat there, on the bed, just staring at the ceiling with his glasses askew. There were some things he did not understand and he did not know why. Things should have been so perfectly clear…yet; they were so confusing.
Four of them—Fuji, Oishi, Eiji, and himself—had left their homes after being accused of a crime they haven’t commit. They’ve eluded capture for a year and finally stumbled upon Nanjirou’s dwelling, which they’ve been searching for since they left. They met Ryoma and Momo.
The two had no reason to join in on their journey. Neither did Shinji have any obligation to help them. And neither did Taka or Tezuka. Or anyone that had decided to help them along. True, they’ve all been quite kind, but to Inui, something was going on—something else was playing behind the scenes, and even with Eiji’s confession to him months ago, Inui could not fill in some of the blanks. All the kindness and all the help they’ve received so far was going to end, Inui knew that. That was why Tezuka had told them to vacate Haven. Those who have helped them before need their help now. Shinji had rambled on about favors once, and Inui had not forgotten. Favors and kindness must be repaid.
A slight frown marred the tall youth’s face. Was it them—the four fugitives—that were the interlopers in this situation? Or was it the opposite? Or perhaps he was just reading too much into a simple situation?
Worries and thoughts came flitting into Inui’s mind and out, as the youth tried to forget about them and get a decent night of sleep. He knew it was not possible.
After all, the moment that he had boarded the ship, he had realized that something was amiss.
~*~
“So…we’re here,” Sengoku said with a slight yawn. He had spent the entire night sleeping on the airship, Balthsazar III, when Kajimoto had roused him from his sleep. “I wonder if the place had changed at all…”
Tachibana shook his head. “Probably not. No one dares approach the place despite the fact the attack had happened many years ago.”
“True, but you never know,” Kajimoto added. “Come, the ship lands soon.”
“Yeah, yeah…” muttered Akutsu, who was rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Beside him, Taichi yawned, as if to emphasize that it was still early in the morning. Tachibana smiled softly at the sight—it was one instance where they experienced peace.
The group of five made their way to the conference room quickly with Kajimoto setting their pace. His long, paced strides kept Taichi scurrying to keep up with them. One look out the window, they noticed that there was a thick morning mist around them, making everything seem white and gray. Taichi blinked as he saw a shadow flicker outside. It had disappeared within moments, however, and the boy thought of it no more.
“Tezuka, I’ve brought them,” Kajimoto reported as he stepped into the room with the rest of the agents in tow.
Sitting at the head of the table, the bespectacled youth nodded in acknowledgement. He turned his gaze upon them and gestured towards the empty seats. “Sit,” he had said and they obeyed, though Akutsu had given Tezuka a mild glare. The effect was ruined as he tried to stifle a yawn. The humans, who had also been called in, sat at the table as well and gave the newcomers alarmed looks. None of them knew that there were others occupying the Balthsazar.
“Where’s Jiroh…?” Sengoku asked, looking around for the sand-haired youth who was always seen napping.
“Asleep,” Kajimoto answered. “I couldn’t wake him up long enough to drag him out of the room.”
“So in other words you just left him sleeping in the hallway somewhere on the ship…”
Kajimoto shrugged. “He’s sleeping. It’s not like he will wake up anytime soon.”
The door suddenly flung open, disrupting the conversation, and in rushed a red head, panting and gasping for air from the long path he had ran to get to the conference room. “Eiji, what’s wrong?” Oishi had asked.
“It…” Eiji trailed off, trying to take in some air before he continued. “It’s the kid!”
Everyone looked at him questioningly.
“Ryoma!” Eiji exclaimed frustratingly. “I can’t find him anywhere on the ship, nya!”
Silence reigned and then suddenly everything seemed to snap to life. “What do you mean you cannot find him on the ship?” Tezuka demanded, rising abruptly out of his chair. “There is nowhere else he would be!”
“But…” Eiji looked as if he was about to protest when the door opened again.
“Well, duh,” the person said as he entered the room. “Of course you’re not going to find him. He left the ship a couple of moments ago.”
“Kirihara!” Kajimoto admonished. “You’re not supposed to be here! Where are Oshitari and Gakuto?”
“…Right. As if I’m going to be stuck with tweedle dumb and tweedle dumber back there,” the dark haired youth said. He grinned in a non-too-friendly way at the humans. “But the kid you’re looking for is gone. You won’t find him.”
“Then tell us where he is,” Tezuka nearly demanded.
“Jeez…just because I wasn’t invited on here, there is no need to hate,” Kirihara said. “Whatever. I don’t think I have to tell you people anyway—there’s nothing to say. If he isn’t on the ship, then it’s obvious where he is, right?” He flashed them the same toothy grin he gave the humans earlier. “You know…something doesn’t smell right in here…”
“Yeah, and that smell is you,” Akutsu retorted. “Get out.”
“Please, don’t start a fight…It would be very inconvenient if you should….” Oishi said, realizing the growing tension between the two. Kirihara scoffed, but left anyway. Oishi sighed.
“Does anyone have a map?” Fuji asked. “Perhaps we could locate him that way.”
“It is a smart idea,” Tachibana said, taking out a folded map out of his breast pocket. Akutsu stared.
“Do you always have a map on you or what?” he asked rudely.
“It is called being prepared, Akutsu,” the monk answered in return with a smile. The rebel-punk just snorted and pushed Taichi, who had been leaning on him as a pillow, aside roughly. The boy stirred and opened his eyes, staring at the people before him.
“We have left Haven, which is here,” Tachibana said, pointing to a place on the map. “And our destination is here, to the north, and we are almost there.”
Inui studied the map for a few moments and concluded; “He must have landed in the Sleeping Forest.”
“That was fast,” retorted Akutsu snidely. “I certainly didn’t see why you should have panicked in the first place.”
“Akutsu, please,” Sengoku scolded. “If you want your beauty sleep, just say so.”
“Wh-wh…Y…You…” Akutsu sputtered, unable to find anything to say in return to the happy-go-lucky individual sitting across from him.
“Akutsu, I want you to go out and track down the boy,” Tezuka commanded as he stepped out of the room. “Get prepared. Taichi leaves with you as well.”
The other was only able to stare at the door blankly for a few moments when it finally registered in his brain what has happened. “Hell no!” Akutsu exclaimed, tipping his chair back as he balanced it on the back two legs. “Man…why do I always get stuck with the babysitting jobs?” He casted a furious glance over at Taichi, who was oblivious to it.
“Akutsu, let me go with you,” Fuji requested, his blue eyes opened and staring at the silver haired man.
Akutsu turned his golden eyes over to Fuji, looking him over to see if he was fit for the task. “You look thin. What do you suppose you can do? I don’t want anything or anyone to hinder me, you know.”
“I am a mage,” Fuji said. “That is all you need to know.”
The other smirked. “I’m going to take a wild guess and say that you’re the thing that Kirihara said that smelled…wrong,” he said and his smirk increased as he saw the other glare at him. “Aha…”
“I have no idea what you are talking about, but do not cross me, Akutsu,” Fuji murmured dangerously.
Suddenly, there was a strange whirring sound from the air ship and things begun to get rocky.
“What the…?” Taka was cut off from what he was going to say when he was thrown from his seat. “Whoa!”
“Ah…we’re landing,” Kajimoto said calmly. “Do hold onto something stable. The…landing is never as smooth as the take off or flight.”
~*~
Akutsu, Taichi, and Fuji had left the airship, when they had arrived at the ruins of the Fae city. The others had also volunteered to help, but Tezuka had merely given them a look and they quieted down. He assigned the others to help find and manage the airships.
“I wonder where he’d be…” Taichi wondered, his tiny form struggling to keep up with Akutsu and Fuji. “I think I may have seen him leave the ship…He really wouldn’t be far though, if I think correctly, desu…”
“You saw him leave the ship?!” Akutsu and Fuji exclaimed at the same time. Fuji’s voice had hinted urgency and a need to find the other. Akutsu was just exasperated. “Why didn’t you stop him?” the youth snarled.
“B-b-because I was still in the ship, desu! I saw something out the window and I had no idea what it was, desu!”
Akutsu sighed at the inanity of the shorter one. “Well, then, why don’t you go find him because I seriously don’t have a fucking clue. I’ve only been to this place couple of times and every time I’ve been here, I got lost. You lived here.”
“Um…very well, desu,” Taichi said. “Fuji, do you have anything of Ryoma’s?”
“No…not with me, I do not,” the auburn haired youth said, shaking his head sadly. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be!” Taichi said in reply. “Let’s go a bit deeper into the forest, shall we?” He smiled simply at the other two as he led the way as quickly as he could through the forest.
The trees were very different from those of any forests that Fuji had seen. The trunks were huge and one root was about as tall as he was; the forest was made for giants to walk through! The leaves were at least as long as his arms and the smallest leaf that Fuji had been able to find was one that was the size of his entire hand. The forest was interesting and old, not to mention large. Taichi led the way through the twisted and gnarled roots of the trees that sprung up from the ground. They were like little caves and tunnels and Fuji had wondered if the Fae children had played in the forest before. It seemed…lively, for a strange reason.
“Hum…I wonder if I’m going in the right direction…” Taichi muttered to himself as he begun an ascent through a tree trunk. It was hallow on the inside, with carefully carved steps. The entrance to it was hidden from view and one would not see it unless they knew it was there. “The Sleeping Forest is the guard to the city, desu. The forest spirits take their jobs quite seriously as you can see…They change things from time to time and even I don’t know what would happen if they decided to change things again, desu.”
Akutsu paused in his walking. “…What did you mean by that? Are you telling me that you’re leading us through this place like a fool?!”
“No, no!” the youth squeaked. “I don’t know if the forest spirits had changed the place at all since I’ve come here last, desu! It doesn’t look like it!” Akutsu glared, but kept his silence this time around.
“Where are you leading us?” Fuji asked.
“Oh, a special place!” Taichi answered. “I’m sure that His Highness would be there!”
“What? ‘His…Highness?’” Fuji echoed. “Who are we looking for again? I thought we were looking for Ryoma.”
“That is His Highness!” Taichi said. “I use to be a subject of his grandfather, desu! I certainly don’t like his father much…but I’m sure His Highness is much like his grandfather!”
Fuji blinked and Akutsu growled. “Oi! Watch what you’re saying, brat!”
“Oh! Ooops! I’m sorry, desu!” the tiny youth squeaked, suddenly realizing he’s been babbling out information like so.
“No, no…that’s fine…” Fuji said. “Tell me more about this…I would certainly like to know, since Tezuka has not been telling us anything like he had promised. I find this piece of information quite…intriguing.”
Akutsu glared at the tiny youth. “Sorry, but we cannot give you this information,” Akutsu growled. “You humans have no right to know and you should not meddle in another’s affairs. The kid’s problem is the kid’s problem. Whatever it is, butt out.”
“My, aren’t you rude,” Fuji had drawled out. “Besides, its not like I’d have anyone to speak to about this. I am a fugitive, Akutsu.”
“Che. Whatever.”
“Um…I think it’s alright to tell Fuji, desu…He won’t tell it to the world, right, Fuji?” Taichi smiled lightly at the human, who promptly returned it with a friendly smile of his own. “See? Fuji is trustworthy, desu!”
Akutsu snorted a response.
~*~
Ryoma looked around, wondering where he had fallen. After entering that room, last night, he had suddenly became much more interested in well…everything, it seemed.
The hidden room he had entered had been a library of sorts. It contained only three small shelves of books, but when Ryoma had opened one of those ancient tomes, he found that they held many things. Many sacred and powerful things. Why it had been sealed up in a hidden room on an air ship was beyond Ryoma’s comprehension, but the boy had flipped through the books and begun to read. He read and read and read the night away, absorbing all the knowledge in the limited time.
Some of the books were printed; rare books that he has seen before in catalogue. Others were titles he’s never even heard of and in languages he knew he should not understand, yet he did. He supposed it was the Fae language…after all, he was on one of their ships. The golden-eyed boy had decided to come to the conclusion that the Fae were very interesting and secretive people. One particular book he had opened had captured his attention. It was not one of the many spell books, nor was it a historical book lying around. Rather, it was a lineage history book.
He had opened it out of curiosity; the dusty red leather of the book had seemed rather compelling and Ryoma opened it. He went through several pages until he came down to a family tree and frowned, as he read the title of the page. “Lineage of the Stewards…” he had murmured to himself as he read through the names. One caught his attention particularly.
Kajimoto Takahisa.
At the date of his birth, Kajimoto would have been over five hundred years old! However, another thing that had caught the youth’s attention was that Kajimoto was the only one that did not have a death date written in. Ryoma had turned the page, continuing to leaf through the book. The book was thick; it seemed to have everything written in it. As he approached the end of the tome, he noticed
this one particularly thick page. He unfolded it and the page came apart to read The Lineage of the Kings. Ryoma was most intrigued, especially when he found his own name near the bottom of the list, and Eiji’s, somewhere in the middle. They were distant cousins, it seemed.
He had taken that simple lineage book with him, along with another, darker and more dangerous book.
Then, there he was, finding it already nearing day and when he had stepped out of the hidden room, he had almost immediately run into a messy, dark haired youth with the brightest green eyes Ryoma’s ever seen. The other youth introduced himself as Kirihara.
“If you want to see how it was like, go to the hut in the Sleeping Forest. An old man still lives there, and he could tell you,” Kirihara had said before leaving. “And we’re passing right over that forest…now.” He smirked, much like a demon, and disappeared from view.
Ryoma had wondered, but decided to investigate. What Kirihara had said fascinated him, somehow, and Ryoma was not about to pass up the chance to see what he was speaking of. When Ryoma had been leafing through the library, he came upon a recent document that accounted for the destruction of three kingdoms and the rise of a horrible shadow. The Sleeping Forest had been mentioned in that text as a place where everything is still and peaceful, as if sleeping. The atmosphere was said to lull passersby to sleep, never to awaken again. Only those who have the blood of the Fae running within their veins could ever hope of not being effected by the forest spirits.
And there he was, in the middle of a forest of which he did not know any way through. It was a mass of roots and large trees and leaves, having seen many summers and winters. Ryoma found the sight impressive and rather…disturbing. He had trudged around the place, kicking up random leaves as he did so, when he found himself lost. “I never should have listened to him…” Ryoma muttered, glaring at the imagined-Kirihara’s head on one of the leaves. “Stupid idiot.”
Nevertheless, Ryoma continued onwards, compelled to get something out of the journey.
He had been wandering for a while when he heard the sounds of music, flowing from somewhere…He also heard the sounds of running water. A small brook, Ryoma reasoned. He followed the sounds with his ears and continued moving onwards until he finally found the stream he was looking for. There, everything seemed so peaceful and quiet that the tranquil scenery just looked…wrong.
On a boulder, sat an old man, playing an instrument that Ryoma had never seen before. It sounded heavenly.
When the old man had looked up, Ryoma had already fallen into slumber, his small form curled up in the tall and wild grass.
~*~
“This is…strange,” Kajimoto said, looking from left to right. Beside him, Oishi and Eiji shrugged, both as clueless as the other.
“What is so…strange, Kajimoto?” Oishi asked.
“The airships,” the taller youth answered. “They’re not where they’re suppose to be.”
“What are you trying to say by that, nya?” Eiji inquired.
“Exactly what I meant,” Kajimoto answered. “But…just not in the right places. It’s as if…a child came and played with them, and tried to destroy all evidence of playing with them by trying to put them back into their right spots. Except…it’s not the right spot. They’re suppose to be near the ruins of the castle, but the Casper is…all the way out here, where the Melchoir should be…”
“Oh…I think I understand your reasoning, nya…” Eiji said cheekily. Oishi looked over at Eiji with an eyebrow raised.
“You tried to replace my work more than often enough back at home when you wanted to see all the paperwork I had to do. You’d always put the paper back in the wrong order,” Oishi reminiscenced. “It took forever to sort them out, just so you know.”
“I did that?” Eiji asked, incredulous.
“You did the same to me when you were younger, Eiji,” Kajimoto deadpanned. “You did that to everyone’s paperwork. I have no doubt that you messed with Oishi’s paperwork as well.”
“Unya! The two of you are so mean!” Eiji pouted, sending mock-glares to his friend and lover.
Kajimoto just chuckled and turned back to the problem at hand. “Anyway, since the airship has been moved, I propose that we take caution upon entering the place. It could be quite dangerous, or not, so be prepared.”
“Yes, we should be,” Oishi agreed grimly. “It would be horrible to be caught unprepared, especially since we’ve already come so far…”
“Yes, it would be,” Eiji echoed with a small smile.
Seeing as the other two seemed unwilling, Oishi took the first step towards the large airship. It loomed high above them, grand and god-like and at the same time, ominous and looming. Oishi walked up the ramp that led to the entrance of the ship, whilst hearing Kajimoto mutter about the surprising courage and stupidity of humans. The green-eyed youth ignored it, pretending not to hear at all. He was sure that Kajimoto did not mean it in an unpleasant way.
The door slid opened easily, Oishi found, despite the heavy layer of dust. Unlike that Balthsazar, however, the Casper did not light up like its sister ship. In fact, it did not look anything at all like the Balthsazar! The inside was covered in greenery; vines ran up and down the walls and into every crook and cranny. Sunlight streamed in through the window, making the place look friendly and yet, eerily creepy at the same time. Strange runes were carved into the metal, though the majority of which was hidden behind the vegetation.
“It doesn’t look like anyone’s been here, nya…” Eiji commented, peering down the hall. “But it sure looks…weird. I haven’t been on this ship since…a long time ago, nya, and I didn’t remember it looking like this…”
“Amongst the three ships, Casper IX has been out of commission for a long time; it was the only ship that did not participate in any recent wars and was probably the only one to not have been used since His dictatorship,” Kajimoto informed. “Which would be…a very long time ago, indeed.”
~*~
“There’s something wrong, isn’t there?” Sengoku asked, his normally smiling and twinkling eyes no longer contained their usual happiness.
Jiroh nodded, for once, he was wide-awake and alert.
“Do you know what’s wrong?”
“I dunno…but I think that something is watching us,” Jiroh whispered as he faked a yawn. “We should be careful. I don’t think its safe.”
“Yes,” Sengoku agreed. “Let us hurry and get this over with. We should find the thing that Tezuka asked of us and quickly get out of here. This place…gives me the heebie-jeebies!” Sengoku tried for a comical look, but failed. “It reminds me too much of when this place was actually flourishing…” he said, his tone almost sad. “This was my birthplace and it makes me sad to see this place in ruin.”
“Well, there’s not much we can do about this now, can we?” Jiroh said, patting Sengoku lightly on the back. “Hey, hey! Think this will be exciting? Will we meet anything along the way that will attack us? Will it be strong?”
“Um…well, hopefully we won’t…”
“Oh.”
“You’re a strange one, Jiroh, you’re a strange one,” Sengoku sighed as they made their way through the deserted and sinister-looking halls of the castle ruins.
~*~
“Where are we?” Fuji asked, looking at the place with incredulous eyes.
They were underground, below the giant roots that held the ground stable and above them. Taichi had led them through a series of twisting and turning paths among the trees; the staircases seeming to lead upwards forever and then descending down again, making Fuji see no point of going up the initial stairwell at all. Nevertheless, Taichi continued to act as if he knew where they were, with the occasion that he would turn his head and looked in every single direction, as if watching for anyone following them. Then, he would lean against the tree trunk, pressing his ear up against it, listening to something only he could hear, and then continue on again. Fuji found the dark haired Fae very peculiar, though a bit on the clumsy and slow side.
“I’ve never been to this place before,” Akutsu said, also staring around in the place in barely concealed interest.
The place was dark, with the few exception of spots where sunlight poured through, lighting up the area. It was like a whole new underground habitat. Grass flourished, as well as some flower patches that ran through the grass, marring the green with speckles of purple, blue, white, and pink. A small stream ran through the knee-length grass, so the place was not in complete silence. A small hut stood erected near the stream with a small pebble pathway leading up to it.
“Come! This way, desu!” Taichi exclaimed, leading the way there upon the pebble pathway. Akutsu growled.
“This is suspicious,” the muttered. “No one’s supposed to be living in these areas.”
“But you’re certainly not a native of this land, so how would you know?” Fuji asked.
“You just want to find the brat again, so that’s why you’re defending Taichi,” Akutsu accused. “You should be more careful. Taichi’s the one that does the majority of the negotiating for Him. He’s a persuasive little brat when he wants to be and can get anyone to agree with him. It’s his…power, I guess.”
Fuji did not look like he believed the other. Akutsu shrugged. “Whatever. Just thought you’d like to know.”
“Well…thank you. It was thoughtful of you.”
“Hn. It wasn’t,” Akutsu sneered, sauntering off after the smaller youth, leaving Fuji to catch up.
~*~
Tezuka was sitting in the pilot’s seat when he realized that he was picking up a signal somewhere on his radio frequency. He scanned it quickly and realized that it was the Casper.
“Tezuka, do you hear me?” came Kajimoto’s voice over the static.
“Yes, though the connection seems unstable,” Tezuka answered.
“Ah…well, I’m sending Eiji and Oishi to do the repairs on the ship as of now,” Kajimoto informed. “The place is literally overrun with plants and vegetations. It will take some time before it can take off…”
“But it will not have any problems whatsoever?”
“No, it will not,” Kajimoto reported. Then, hesitantly, he added; “…I think we’re being watched.”
“We are,” Tezuka replied firmly.
“Oh…then…?”
“I have sent Kirihara, Taka, and Momo to deal with it,” Tezuka answered. “But I do not believe it to be a harmful presence.”
Kajimoto sighed. “Then what was the reason for sending Kirihara…? All he’ll do is well…cause destruction…”
“Precisely. Should it truly be a harmful presence, then it needs to be annihilated. Who else to do accomplish the task but him? I have faith that he will not do things rashly,” Tezuka said. “Were there any other complications I should know about?”
“The Casper was not where it should have been,” Kajimoto answered after a few moments of static. “I’m sure that the Melchoir is not either.”
“…right,” Tezuka murmured. “Be careful. Don’t let your guards down.”
“Of course not,” Kajimoto said. “I shall report back to you at a later time.” With that, the connection fell dead, leaving Tezuka all alone in the pilot’s room.
A few moments later, a different frequency rang up on his radio. It was from an unknown sender, as Tezuka saw it, and was about to change frequencies when it connected. At first there was only the sound of static, and then a soft humming was heard in the background of it. It was a sort of low humming that one would do when one was having a leisure time. Then, it begun to crescendo, becoming louder and clearer till Tezuka could have sworn that the humming was right behind him.
“Peek-a-boo…I see you…” the voice breathed softly. “My little puppets…my precious little agents…my little…traitors…”
Tezuka’s blood ran cold, realizing whom it was.
“You…”
--To Be Continued…
Yay! I finished and I updated…Tell me what you think!!! The battle has started! He has seen them and found them…They are obviously in trouble! Oh gee…Oops. I gave away that piece of information for those who hasn’t figured that out yet. Haha. And who is HE? Well then…we shall see, right? :D Uh…until next time! See y’all!