Impossible Fantasy
By Dyaoka

Disclaimer: I don’t own Prince of Tennis nor do I own the Final Fantasy series.

Warnings/notes: Considering that this was already a really long chapter, I wondered if I should have added more. But then I decided to add more anyways. I added extended/extra scenes. =P Of course, I wonder if this chapter gives any foreshadowing.

 

Scroll Four: Of Death and Trouble

 

Ryoma opened his eyes slowly, aware that there were many eyes upon him. He rolled over, the pain quickly darting up and down through his arm. Giving a groan, he looked at his hand. It was covered in blood and on his palm, where the Gem once was, was only blood and flesh. The golden eyed boy spotted the Gem lying just a bit out of his reach to his side. “Che…” Ryoma lifted his uninjured arm and grabbed the tiny crystal. It still glowed a fiery red color. A loud cry caught the boy’s attention and he immediately looked up. “What the…?”

The Phoenix stared back down at him. For the time being, the pain disappeared and the flowing of the blood slowed. Ryoma clutched at the Gem, a feeling of warmth flowing through it and into his body. The Phoenix made a sort of cooing noise and lowered its head to Ryoma’s level. Although it was a creature of flames, it did not feel hot at all. Ryoma hesitantly held out the crystal, knowing that it was what the Phoenix was looking for. “It’s yours, right?” Wrapping a giant wing around Ryoma and itself, the Phoenix had completely shielded them from other’s view. Then, it spoke, in a soft quavering voice that sounded beautiful and sad.

Do you not want to stay with me, Master?

The golden eyed boy replied hesitantly and uncertainly to the Phoenix , his eyes scrutinizing every detail; “I want you to stay…”

Then why would you remove me, Master?

“You…don’t need to be attached to me…literally, do you?” Ryoma asked, uncertainty still evident within his voice. “I needed to remove you from me…”

We Aeons cannot live without life. If you leave us be, we will turn into stone, our powers gone and lost forever.

“But…Leviathan…it is an Aeon, correct? He doesn’t need life to live.”

But he does. He is still strong though, able to just sustain his own life with his power.

At this, Ryoma started to look rather glum. Great! Just when he thought that he could get rid of the crystal in the palm of his hand, he had to add another one! People would start to question how he ended up with such crystals in his hands. “Is there no other way?”

There is no other way.

“Then I went through all this trouble for nothing” Ryoma muttered to himself irritably. “Fine, but this time, attach yourself to somewhere other than the palm of my hand where everyone could see.” There was a chuckle from the bird when suddenly it disintegrated into dust. The crystal that Ryoma held glowed brightly and then floated over behind him. Ryoma felt it settle itself on his spine. “Che. Here goes nothing…” Ryoma took out the other crystal which he’s received from defeating Leviathan. He placed it at the base of neck, near the back of his head. After holding it there for a moment, he felt it take root.

Then, reality came flooding back to him. He was amidst a pile of rubble and pain from his arm, and now his back, became nearly unbearable. But his mind wouldn’t let him scream. Slowly, he got up; his bloodied cloak fell around his shoulders. Ryoma didn’t even cast a look in Banji’s direction. He knew he old man would have died soon anyway. Right now, life was draining from him rather quickly. Instead, he looked upward to see the faces of his worried companions.

“Kid! What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” Momo exclaimed. “I woke up and didn’t find you in the room; did you know you nearly gave me a heart attack? And look at you now! Get up here!”

Ryoma didn’t even have the strength to reply back. It was all taken away by the pain and the blood he had lost. He just walked up the stairs and collapsed when he reached the top.

“You tell us not to cause a ruckus” Fuji said with a smile as he gently picked the unconscious boy up and wrapped him up in a his cloak. “Inui, do you have anything that can help his wound?”

“Yes, but its back at the inn. We’d better get back there first before anyone finds out that he caused this. Luckily no one’s around” Inui said with a sigh. “Let’s hurry back.”

They placed Ryoma into Eiji’s care, for he was the swiftest and stealthiest of them all. “Don’t worry! I’ll be sure to get him back in unnoticed!” he said, carefully readjusting the cloak around Ryoma so that it won’t trip him. With little effort, Eiji just seemed to have…disappeared on the spot. It was a specialty of his, disappearing and walking in the shadows unnoticed. However, with an extra delicate bundle in his arms that was bleeding, Eiji made extra care to make sure that there wasn’t a trail behind them. Reaching a corner, Eiji sprinted from here to there, eyes on the lookout for any onlookers that might see them. No, there was no one. 

There was suddenly a prickling sensation running up and down the red head’s spine. Swiveling around, Eiji pressed himself against the nearest wall, holding Ryoma closer to him. The aura he picked up wasn’t a good one at all…

“I see you haven’t lost that extra sensitive sixth sense you’ve got” came a voice. Eiji looked up to the roof of one of the buildings. Someone stood there, with the glare of the sun shining behind the figure, making Eiji squint to see. Whoever it was, the person’s gender was unidentifiable. The voice wasn’t deep, but neither was it high. It was impossible to tell. “It’s been long and painful years, hasn’t it?” the stranger questioned. “The last time we met was when the war had just finished.”

The stranger smirked, showing teeth. Again, a terrible aura flooded through Eiji’s senses, telling him to run. “Look at you…reduced to this—you use to hold such a atmosphere that scared so many people. Just your name, Eiji, just your name brought fear to them.”

“I dunno who the heck you are but you better leave us alone!” Eiji snarled. “I know that you’ve been following us for a long time!”

“Good…I was beginning to worry that no one noticed” the stranger said. Whoever it was is clearly feeling very happy and bloodthirsty. “You’d better leave soon. I know that you know what I would do if…you’d stay here longer.” Eiji bit down on his bottom lip. Whoever this person is…he knew without a doubt the stranger would kill. “Don’t worry. I won’t attack you. I’m merely here to…observe” the stranger said, the tone was quite amused. Without saying anything else to the stranger, Eiji quickly sprinted down to the inn, not caring if he was running in broad daylight where anyone would see them. Of course it crossed his mind that someone would see him and think him suspicious, after all, who would be running around town carrying a bleeding person?

There was a small groan from the injured youth in his arms as Eiji had just entered the inn, unseen, through the back entrance. “Dun worry kiddo! We’ll get ya fixed up really soon! How’d you get yourself into messes like these anyways…” the red head muttered to himself, the mysterious stranger they’d just encountered already forgotten. Opening the door to the room that he and Oishi shared, Eiji carefully settled the younger boy down onto the bed. Immediately, he picked the lock to Inui and Fuji’s room and got in, snatching Inui’s bag up from the ground it rested on and immediately started to search around for the bandages and disinfectants.

When he heard footsteps approach, Eiji didn’t need to think twice about jumping out at the group.

“Where is it? Inui?” Eiji exclaimed, throwing the huge pack at the bespectacled youth.

“How did you…?” Inui looked from the pack to the two opened doors to Eiji. “Never mind. First, go wash his wound. It wouldn’t do much good if it was infected” Inui instructed as he also proceeded to look for the bandages and disinfectants. “Try to stop the bleeding.”

As they all scampered about as Inui told them to do, the bespectacled boy stopped Oishi from his work of helping Fuji restrain the now struggling boy. When Oishi had let go, he swung a wild fist around and managed to hit Momo in the stomach. “Oishi, do you think you could take off Ryoma’s cloak and shirt?”

The olive-green eyed boy sputtered “Why?”

“Look,” Inui said exasperatedly. “His cloak is basically soaked through with blood so his back must be bleeding as well. I’m going to need to see if there are any wounds on his back because I’m exceedingly positive that only a wound from the hand would not bring forth so much blood.”

“Why don’t you just leave him alone?” came a forgotten voice. Karupin had shown up from somewhere, obviously having been there long before although the room itself was shared by Eiji and Oishi. “He struggles because he’s scared.”

“Then let him struggle. His wounds must be taken care of” Inui objected, his glasses shining with a strange light. “Then, we must prepare for a quick departure. Although there was no one that we knew for sure that saw us, there is still a fifteen percent chance of us spotted back there.”

Karupin narrowed his eyes to what seemed to be a glare turned towards Inui’s direction. Then, his gaze softened as he looked over to Ryoma. “He’s awake” Karupin announced, and for the rest of that time he was in the room, the cat stayed silent. And precisely, the golden eyed boy did wake up. With a strangled cry, he batted Fuji ’s hold on him away. Immediately, he tried to sit up, but to no avail.

“What do you want?” he snapped, rolling onto his side. He clutched at his injured arm and continued to shy away from the group.

“Now, we were just trying to help—”

“Don’t!” Ryoma rolled off the bed and tried to make his way to the door with a limp. His legs gave out from beneath him before he made it there, however.

“Look, just stay still so then it’ll be over soon, ok?” Momo said, reaching out to steady the injured boy. He directed Ryoma over to the bed and sat him down on the bed. Under the stronger youth’s grip, Ryoma couldn’t struggle. When he was brought back to the bed, something was immediately placed over his eyes. It was a blindfold, he realized as he felt it being tied around his head. Momo kept a firm grip upon him, making sure the blindfolded boy couldn’t struggle. They would only put a blindfold on over his head if they thought that he’d try to run. Like he could run with Momo’s vice-like grip on him. Then, he heard, rather than felt, something ripping. Someone was using a knife to cut the cloak from his body, along with the shirt.

“Stop it!” Ryoma cried out. Why did they need to do that?! It was only a hand wound! He could take care of the rest himself! He bit down hard on his lips as he felt the shredded pieces of cloth peeled off of his upper body since they were coated with blood that it practically stuck to his skin.

“Ryoma, what did you do to cause yourself to loose this much blood?” Ryoma heard Oishi say to him. The blindfolded boy didn’t reply. He continued to bite down hard on his lips and he felt the metallic taste of blood flood into his mouth. “You can stop biting on your lips now…”

“Unya? What’s that?” the red head asked. He pressed a wet towel gently upon the back of the golden eyed boy. Using the towel to gently dab off the excessive blood, he made extra careful that he didn’t cause the youth any pain. “Why are there…rocks on your back? Oh! That’s what’s making you bleed, isn’t it, nya? Should we take it out…?”

“Rocks? How did rocks get buried halfway into your back?” Fuji asked. He had just finished bandaging Ryoma’s hand. The long bandages fit nice and snug over the wound and wasn’t at all itchy or anything. To Ryoma though, he didn’t like bandages, but he knew that it was necessary to hold the wound closed for now.

“Ryoma” said a serious voice that broke through the soft murmurs and whispering. A complete silence took over the group when that person spoke. It took a while for the blindfolded boy to recognize whom voice belonged to; it was Inui’s. “Isn’t that the stone from Leviathan?” he asked. All eyes turned to him, and underneath his blindfold, Ryoma was grimly aware that even Karupin was awaiting explanation from him. “Ryoma?”

“And so what if it is?” Ryoma snapped irritably. Silently, he vowed that he would not give any unnecessary information away unless it was needed. Not like he knew what was going on anyways.

“Why is it in your back? Is this what you were keeping secret from us?” spoke a soft tenor voice. It was no other than Fuji and in his tone was none other than disappointment and displeasure. Oh no, the genius from the House of Fuji was not happy at all. Ryoma gulped, not really use to having someone whom he considered to be a companion mad at him. Not that he had had many companions up till now anyways. He had always ever been in the company of Karupin or Nanjirou, or occasionally, another young magic apprentice who was blind that lived in Bevelle. “Are you afraid of us stealing it away…?”

“Afraid?” Ryoma retorted. He gave a short laugh, but the twinge of pain stopped him short. “Do I have a reason to be afraid of you stealing it?” If he didn’t have his blindfold on, he would be glaring rather heatedly at the others right now. “I have no use for such jewels and neither do I like such things” the boy said bitterly

Momo frowned at the youth as Eiji continued to wipe the blood away with Oishi handing him the clean towels. “You should watch that tone of voice, Ryoma. Your mouth and your attitude will get yourself into major trouble, you know. The least you can do is show some respect.” 

“You have done nothing to earn my respect.”

“We hauled your ass out of that building!” Eiji snapped, nearly tossing the bloodied towel at Oishi’s face. “’N the other time, we got you back to Sumire’s place, you know! Nya, be more grateful because we could have just left you back there! But we didn’t! ‘N it was your entire fault too! You provoked Leviathan to attack, ‘n no doubt it was you had some direct relation to the phoenix that just destroyed half the town!”

“Eiji” Oishi said, placing a firm hand on the other youth’s shoulder. “Calm down. We have no way of knowing if he was directly involved with that incident.”

“Of course not” Eiji muttered, his voice thick with cynicism before escaping Oishi’s firm grip and settled himself in a chair on the opposite side of the room.

“Ryoma, if you would be rational about this; you will give us an explanation. Not right away if you’d wish, but at least soon” Inui said, his lips were pressed into a thin line. “Not everyone is very happy with you right now, especially with all the mysterious things you’ve been up to this afternoon.”

“Could you take off the blindfold?” There was some shuffling around and whispers as they were obviously discussing whether he would try to run for it again. Eventually, the curtain of darkness was lifted from Ryoma’s eyes and he saw again. Momo had released his grip on him. Indeed, his companions expression were all hardened, especially Eiji who was practically glaring daggers at his head. For the moment, he said nothing but stared at his hands. “I…” Ryoma closed his eyes, licked his dry lips and tried again.

“I have dreams at night. I don’t remember them now, nor do I think I ever will, but I know I have them. And…after a particular dream, a crystal or gem or whatever you want to call it showed up in the palm of my hand. I never remembered it being there before, but it was there when I woke up.” He brushed a finger over the bandaged part of the flesh that once held the crystal that was now on his back. “I didn’t want any of you to know because…I just couldn’t. Something told me to…keep it a secret. No one should know, my mind screamed at me like so. Neibelheim was my original objective after leaving Sumire’s house, but since we came here without any persuading on my part, I was glad. I heard once before from some of the old seer’s associates that there lived a man that can decompose or take apart anything. He was the man I went to go look for. He removed the crystal, alright. But it ended up being attached to my back now.”

“But…how is that possible? Does that mean the crystals contain…those creatures?” Momo asked.

“Aeons” Fuji breathed, understanding dawning upon him. “The sealed Aeons…”

“You know something about it, Fuji ?” Inui asked.

“I remember now. I learned about them in my studies, long ago. The many powerful forces were sealed into gems or crystals by the Elder Fae thousands of years ago and at the present, only several have actually broken free of their seals and they are probably among the most powerful. The rest are still in their sealed forms; the gems. But I’ve never heard that they…attach themselves to the user” Fuji elaborated. His gentle, yet steely blue eyes were watching the dark haired boy very carefully.

“If it is true that only the most powerful break from their seals, then it is enough evidence that they don’t need to be attached to the user. They have enough power to sustain themselves. That is probably why it’s never been mentioned into books. The rest that have been sealed probably lost their powers or are lost through time” Inui hypothesized. “Yes, I think that is why. Ryoma, I believe that everyone here accepts your explanation.” Inui gave the boy a small pat on the head. The golden eyed just glared up at him.

“Yeah, yeah. Just give me a shirt. I’m cold.”

Momo gave a small snicker and tossed Ryoma a new shirt. The boy snatched it and pulled it over his head. He turned towards the window, but that was where Eiji was situated. The red head had a disbelieving look upon his face, but his eyes were placed firmly into a glare. “Do you…” the red head said hesitatingly. “Do you…seek power?” All eyes shifted over to Eiji.

“Why would I seek power? I have no need for it” Ryoma answered, choosing his words carefully as he rivaled the glare given to him with one of his own. “Why do you ask?”

“Nothing…nothing” Eiji said, the glare disappearing and a presence of the usual smile flitted across his features.

“We’ve barely even been here for half a day…now we have to leave” Momo said wistfully. “I wonder if everyone’s alright…” He turned and left the room, with Karupin tailing him.

“I doubt we can leave…” Eiji said, he pointed to something outside the window. They stepped over and peered outside the window and outside were men on horses, dressed very colorfully. “They look like soldiers or something…”

As it was, they were soldiers. It was only pure chance that they happened to be ordered to Neibelheim when they saw the phoenix. Thinking that something must be going on, they had quickly ridden into Neibelheim, demanding to know what had happened. Only several individuals came to elaborate the tale to what seemed like the captain of those soldiers. And judging from what it looked like, the people had also probably included a “no one in Neibelheim could do this! It must be a traveler!” in their explanation. Now, there was a small group of soldiers seen entering the inn.

“Uh-oh…” Eiji said, voicing everyone’s thoughts.

“I doubt they’d be allowed to search through the rooms. It’s a violation of privacy rights” Inui stated.

“Yeah…but didn’t Momo and Karupin just leave?” Fuji asked. They all looked towards the closed door.

“Damn it!” Ryoma muttered before running out with everyone close behind.

~*~

Momo was fully aware of Karupin trailing him when he left the room. He’s heard about enough for today, and since they were no doubt going to leave the city soon, Momo wanted to get one last look of his home. For some odd reason, he couldn’t get mad at the golden eyed boy; although it had been his fault that Neibelheim was close that close to getting destroyed. Well, considering that the majority of the buildings were still standing after the appearance of the…Aeon or whatever, Momo guessed that they were either very lucky or Phoenix was very weak. Of course, he did blame Ryoma, but he couldn’t get mad at him for it. The violet eyed youth placed his hands into his pockets as he descended the stairs to the lobby of the inn, completely forgetting about what his appearance would have upon the people here. Besides, he was the type to be absentminded and at the moment, he was deep within his thoughts to even remember anything like such. By his side, Karupin didn’t even bother to remind him. However, when he arrived at the foot of the stairs of the lobby, his keen ears picked up on a very familiar noise. It was the footfalls of horses. They stopped at the front of the inn and the boy that had been running around earlier, Kato Katchiro, was at the door of the inn, not noticing at all that Momo was there.

“—we can’t allow you to do that!” the boy was saying. “It goes against our code here!” 

“And there has been suspicious things going on here for a while. Under the name of the Earl of Lindbulm, Lord Mizuki has ordered a quarter of his top squadron to oversee all phenomenons occurring in this area. After seeing that…bird and having several civilians confirm that it was obviously not done by the people of this city, it has to be a tourist! Everyone knows that tourists stay in inns and this one of the closes to the site of the incident” a deep booming voice spoke out.

“If…if it is by the order of the Earl…” the boy said, bowing his head in defeat. He let the soldiers in, but was met with the sight of one supposedly-dead Momoshiro Takeshi. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on your view of things, they didn’t know who he was.

“You! Were you in some accident?” one of the soldiers immediately questioned.

“Wh-what? Why do you say that?” Momo asked, suddenly remembering about the fact that he was ‘dead’ and that he also forgot his cloak. He started to inch nervously back up the stairs. He was almost positive that he heard Karupin snickering behind his back.

“Your shirt has blood stains on it” the soldier said. “What happened?”

“Uh…nothing, nothing” Momo said, waving it off. “Absolutely nothing…” The violet eyed youth picked up Karupin and started to walk up the stairs as inconspicuous as possible. Too bad that it didn’t work. The soldier grabbed the youth by the arm and turned him around to face him.

“Are you sure?” he asked, an accusing tone in his voice. The soldier knew that the violet eyed youth before him was lying.

“Of course he is” said a new voice. Both looked up to see Ryoma coming down the stairs nonchalantly. In the way he walked, he purposely flaunted his injured hand so that the soldier could see it. “I was hurt, sir, and it is my blood that is on his shirt.” Ryoma took Karupin from Momo’s arms and looked back to the soldier. “There isn’t any trouble, is there?” A certain look in the golden eyes said that if he suggested otherwise, severe consequences would occur.

“N-no, there isn’t. Y-you may go” the soldier stuttered, adverting his gaze quickly from the young Ryoma’s.

“Thank you” Ryoma turned his back to the soldier, and then glared at the violet eyed youth. Seizing the older youth’s wrist, he lead the both of them back up the stairs and around the corner where everyone else was. They gave a sigh of relief when they saw the two of them.

“Thank god they didn’t recognize you” Inui said, rolling his eyes when Momo grinned sheepishly at them. Not that anyone could see that he rolled his eyes behind those thick glasses of his, but he did.

“You should be more careful, you know” Karupin said, giving Momo the ‘Look.’ Although how a cat was able to do that, it was beyond him. “Why don’t we set about to go get some rations?”

“We did” Oishi piped. “Eiji and I went into the city for a while and bought some things. Not a lot, since there were many people out there and we didn't have enough time.”

“Alright. Then, we should be preparing to leave this place soon. We’ll have to make due with what we have” Inui said. “But now that soldiers have come, it’s going to be a lot harder to leave this city…”

Eiji heaved a sigh. “And I didn’t get to taste any of the famed Neibelheim food yet…nya…”

So, when all talking was finished, each of the individuals (minus Ryoma. Fuji had Inui transmute one of the blankets from the inn into a cloak) donned their cloaks and packs and left, despite the fact they’d only stayed for about half a day. Of course, they weren’t going to be running out of the main entrance and straight into the group of soldiers. We look far too suspicious for that, Eiji had commented, which had earned a snicker from Momo and several coughs from Fuji and Oishi. Inui kept silent and Ryoma refrained from commenting but Karupin had muttered something about ‘a weirdo with red hair and bandage on his cheek, an insane maniac who smiled too much, a person with an egg-shaped head, a stupid idiot who had no brains, and a individual with glasses too thick to see through didn’t look suspicious at all.’

They had decided to split into two groups, three of them would walk through the main entrance and the others would go through a makeshift exit. Of the first group, it was already decided that Momo and Ryoma were to go since they were spotted earlier downstairs by the soldiers. Besides, they needed to check out and pay for the half day they spent. Who else could do it besides Ryoma? The other team was undecidedly Inui and Eiji; Inui for his abilities to form a quick exit whenever its needed and Eiji for his stealth and abilities in combat should they be caught. Momo and Ryoma (and Karupin! Let’s not forget him…) went down the stairs and the rest of them went the opposite direction. The two groups decided to meet in Bevelle, should something happen to them and not be able to meet at the city’s entrance in one hour.

“Alright, hurry up” Momo said, slowly walking down the stairs. They carried their own backpacks that held their measly belongings and some food.

The two of them walked down the stairs, one carrying Karupin in his arms, as inconspicuous as possible as to not attract any attention. Ryoma immediately, upon stepping onto the ground floor, he went directly to the boy, Katchiro, to sign out. The boy looked rather surprised, but he didn’t say anything about it. Ryoma quickly paid him and returned the keys and left hurriedly with Momo behind him, both avoiding the eyes of the suspicious soldiers that were taking a break instead of doing their duties while their captain was gone. No one stopped them on their way out. The two of them walked briskly through the now-nearly deserted city streets to the edge near the entrance. The large gate that they had passed through not a day ago loomed high over their heads as they neared.

“H-hey! You! Yeah, you!”

Ryoma and Momo turned around abruptly, looking for who it was that called them. Ryoma saw who it was and immediately cursed the man that was running after them. “Momo, let’s go” Ryoma hissed as they picked up the pace towards the Neibelheim exit.

“Wait!” the man called again. “Stop! I remember who you are!”

“Do you know him?” Momo asked as he was dragged on by Ryoma who had firmly attached his hand to his wrist. With his free hand, he tried to hang on to the hood that covered his face.

“He was the idiot that said he recognized me earlier today” Ryoma said. “And frankly, I don’t know who he is at all.”

“Please stop! Nothing’s going to happen! I just want to talk!” the man shouted.

“Should we stop? He’s going to cause a commotion like this!” Momo said. Ryoma stopped reluctantly, his grip on Karupin and Momo tight.

“Thank you!” the man said, catching up to them. He didn’t even attempt to catch his breath and he immediately started to talk. “You’re Ryoma, right? Seer Nanjirou’s apprentice? I knew that I recognize you! Are you going to be participating in the competition this year again? You do know that you’re the favorite, right? Well, anyways, I just wanted to tell you that! I think it’s remarkable that you, at such a young age, are champion for four consecutive years! It’s astonishing, I tell you! My oldest boy looks up to you very much, ever since he saw your first win at the competition! He’s about your age, same height…” The man continued to ramble and Ryoma started to look even more annoyed.

“Thank you, sir” Ryoma said hesitantly when he man stopped for breath (finally!). “But right now my companions and I are in a hurry and to get to Bevelle…”

“Oh! Oh! Oh! Let me take you! It’d be such an honor!” the man exclaimed, stars in his eyes. Then, a slow smile spread upon Ryoma’s face.

“There are six of us” the golden eyed boy said. “Can you take us all to Bevelle?”

“No problem! No problem!” the man exclaimed. “Hell, if it was ten, I’d still be able to take you! Come on! Where are your companions? Tell them to wait here, at the entrance for a few moments while I get our ride!” Almost immediately, he ran off in the opposite direction, going in an almost impossible speed.

“Now what was that about?” Momo asked as his wrist was released from Ryoma’s near-death grip. He rubbed his wrist as the blood started to circulate through his arm again. The violet eyed youth looked over to Ryoma who just shrugged and shushed Karupin before the cat could say anything.

“We’d better go and inform the others that we now have a ride” Ryoma said, walking past the gates and into the forest that surrounded the place. At first there was no sign of anyone, but then Momo easily spotted the people hiding in the bushes and trees. They all came out of hiding and rushed to ask what took them half an hour to get out of the city.

“Well, at least we have a ride to Bevelle now” Momo said with a smirk.

“It’s thanks to me” Ryoma said with an identical smirk on his face.

“Hey!” They all looked up to see the man from just a moment ago come up riding on a large wagon. Situated on the wagon were stacks of hay and blankets. There was a box there, which obviously contained the man’s own belongings. There were four dark, powerful horses at the front pulling the wagon. The man waved to them. “Hey! Hop on!” he said, letting them all get on without questions. When they were all settled down, the man led the horses forward and down the road. “You have no idea how great an honor this is! To be traveling with the three consecutive year champion!” 

“Yes, yes” Ryoma muttered with a sigh. “I’ve heard enough of that.”

During the majority ride, the silent ones of the lot either slept or listened to the conversations amongst them. And from these conversations, they learned a majority of things about the youngest member of their entourage that they never knew. Ryoma was-still is- the title holder for three years as champion in the yearly competition in Bevelle. It turns out that every year since he was nine he’d been sent there. The first several times he’d only gotten to the semi-finals of the competition, but eventually he became the three year champion that their driver so very much admired.

“You know, my oldest boy is also participating this year” the man who had introduced himself as Henri said thoughtfully. His eyes seemed to glaze over as he went down memory lane. The way he said ‘oldest boy’ seemed rather nostalgic.  “I wonder if you’ll meet him…” 

“Then you’re boy’s gotta be strong, nya?” Eiji asked. “I heard that the competition is really, really ruthless!”

“Really, now…I don’t think it’s that bad” Henri said with a laugh as they turned down a separate path from the one they were taking before. “Sure people get hurt during the competition, but then people can get hurt just walking, you know what I mean?”

After that, there were no more talks of competition and such as the youths sitting in the large wagon fell into slumber. The kind man Henri smiled as he saw them asleep. “They must’ve had a tough day…” he said to himself. While humming a merry tune under his breath, he continued on his way to Bevelle under the afternoon sun.

~*~

“Boys, you better wake up if you want dinner!” Henri said, trying to shake the slumbering youths awake. Ryoma stirred a bit before muttering something and turned his head—he was still asleep. So Karupin, who had just awoken blinked blearily at Henri. “Hey there” Henri said, rather startled. He just noticed the cat although Ryoma had been holding it the majority of the time. “Why don’t you help me wake up your master and our friends here, eh?” Karupin just turned his head around and bit down onto Ryoma’s uninjured hand.

With a loud yelp, Ryoma was wide awake. He glared at his cat, who stared back at him innocently, then shifted his attention to Henri. “Yes?” he asked. “Are we there yet?”

“No, no m’boy! You’d better rouse your companions or else they won’t be getting dinner!” Henri laughed. “Come, come! Dinner awaits…”

Of course, Ryoma being Ryoma didn’t bother to wake the others. Eiji was already stirring from the loud yelp Ryoma let escape. “Unya?” the still-cloaked figure said incoherently, rubbing his unseen eyes. “Wazza? Nya…it seems like their having dinner…” He poked his companion in the ribs several times until the other youth woke.

“What?” Oishi asked with a yawn. He sat up and kicked at the sleeping Fuji and Inui, telling them to get up. Amazingly, within five minutes, they were awake and off of the wagon eating dinner with Henri near the trees. During the time that they were asleep, they’d already traveled quite some miles. Of course, it was sunset now, so Henri thought it was a good time to rest the horses and let them have dinner. The older man had prepared some stew that tasted quite good and with it, he had bread, bought from Neibelheim’s bakery.

“Hm! Fwrish ish good!” Eiji said with a mouthful of bread.

“Manners” Oishi chided gently.

“That’s ok!” Henri said. “I’m only a lowly peasant, not some nobleman! Manners don’t matter! Besides, we’re all acquaintances here, right? How about you takin’ them hoods off? I bet it’s already really difficult to see, being nighttime and all…”

“I think we’d prefer these hoods on” Momo said, snatching another piece of bread from the tray. Ryoma glared at the other youth. That was his piece of bread. Seeing the glare, Momo smirked under his hood, although it was only dimly illuminated by the fire they had going.

“Don’t worry, even if you’re fugitives, I wouldn’t turn you in. You’re companions of Ryoma, right? So if he’s traveling with you, then you all must be good too!” Henri said. “Come on, you can take off your hoods. I already promise that I won’t turn you in.”

Fuji ’s eyes narrowed behind the hood that shadowed his eyes from the rest of the world. How did this man guess? Did he know magic too, or was he…? “We are fugitives” Fuji said slowly. “But do you swear…on your life…that you will not mention us to anyone?”

Henri looked over to Fuji . He’d never heard the cloaked person speak a single word the entire time while on the wagon and was quite surprise. From the occasional shoulder length hair that peeked out of the hood, he had suspected it to be a girl. However, it was very much evident that it was a male under the cloak, despite the fact he still sounded like he hadn’t quite reach puberty yet. The only ones that did speak were Ryoma and two others that were cloaked. They never revealed their names either. Henri wondered why Ryoma traveled in such mysterious company. “Aye, then, I solemnly swear on my pitiful life that I will not turn you in nor will I mention you to anyone” Henri said after a moment of silence.

“Nya, thank you!” Eiji exclaimed, taking the hood off almost immediately. “I can’t see that well with that thing covering my eyes, nya!” 

Henri blinked in surprise at the red head. The eyes, a gentle hue of a deep indigo blue that mirrored the crackling fire with the same intense passion. Henri couldn’t help but openly gawk at the youth. It seemed that his mind wasn’t registering the image of the blood-colored haired youth before him. The pale, delicate features that only laughed when the others scolded him for his uncanny ability to trust. It was the very image of…

“Henri!” the red headed youth called out. He was worried; Henri had been staring at him, scrutinizing at his face. He felt uncomfortable under the stare and he wondered if Henri had heard word of them and would break his promise and turn them in.

“Oh! I’m sorry, but it’s just that you look…familiar” Henri said and quickly realized what he said. “I’m not speaking about your face on the wanted signs and such, but…someone I knew…from the past.”

“Really?” Eiji said and then shrugged. “I get that lotsa times, nya. Could I have some more?” He held out his bowl for more stew. Henri gave a hearty laugh and agreed, taking the bowl and spooning out some more for the youth.

That very same night, everyone in the group became aware of Eiji’s nightmare. At first it was just tossing and turning, but then when the youth started to scream everyone was then concerned. However much they tried to wake the sleeping boy, he wouldn’t wake. He screamed for someone, but in a tongue unknown to them. Every once in a while he’d utter a name, yet they understood not of what he said. He spoke rapidly to someone only he could see and yelled.

“What’s wrong with him?!” Momo exclaimed.

“He’s under the influence of a Night Mare” Karupin stated with a yawn. “I thought you would have noticed those ‘horses’ that were pulling us along were all Night Mares. How else were we able to get so far with them on full gallop the whole time? A normal horse would be dead by now.” No one bothered to question why the cat didn’t tell them earlier. Henri’s jaw nearly dropped when Karupin talked.

“Then we kill them!” Fuji snapped, his hardened cerulean eyes looked over to the sleeping mares. Throughout the entire time, he did not take off his cloak, unlike Oishi, Momo and Eiji. He and Inui had wisely kept it on.

The mares were large and black; they blended in completely with the night. Night Mares were infamous all over the globe and getting a hold of tamed Night Mares was extremely difficult and just one of them was extremely costly. How this man, Henri, got a hold of them was a complete mystery. After all, did he not just say that he was nothing but a peasant?

“No, don’t!” Henri exclaimed frantically, jumping in front of the mares to protect them.

“Move” Fuji said dangerously, lifting his hand till it was parallel with the older man’s head. No doubt Henri could feel the dark aura emanating from his palm.

“ Fuji ! He’s awake!” Inui called out. Although it was fine and dandy that Fuji wanted to kill the man who may have been after their head-bounties, it wasn’t worth it for the moment. Fuji dropped his hand to his side and looked over to where his friend was, clutching tightly onto the front of Oishi’s shirt.

“Eiji, it’s ok, you’re safe, nothing’s going to happen” Oishi whispered comforting words after another into the other’s ear. The smaller youth was trembling and was mumbling incoherently, all the while trying to cling onto Oishi even tighter. He dared a peek around at his other companions and his eyes landed on Fuji .

“…do that…going to die…” was the only audible words that Oishi heard. And then Eiji started to cry.

When the red head had finally fallen asleep, exhausted from crying, they all turned to Henri for an explanation.

“Why in the world do you have four Night Mares with you?” Fuji demanded; he had his hood taken off and the half moon behind him illuminated his figure quite frighteningly. He didn’t take too kindly to a friend getting hurt. The genius knew he should have warned the others the moment he felt that something was off.

“I…I…” Henri stuttered.

“Hm...He’s not the only one that’s upset at you, you know” Ryoma said calmly. He was also irritated at the fact that he was woken up during a rare dreamless night of sleep.

“J-just let me explain!” the burly man exclaimed. “You don’t need to kill me! I promise that I won’t do anything bad to you!”

“Then explain” Inui said, his tone impatient. He too, had a distinct feeling that they shouldn’t have followed the man that cowarded before them. “If it takes all night to explain, then take all night. Either way, we will listen.”

“V-very well…” Henri gulped. “I’ll tell you.” The man took a deep breath of air and looked to the skies.

“It was thirty years ago, when I was but a wee lad of ten. Back then I lived in North Corel and was quite happy there. But then, one day…”

 

Flashback…

 

“Pa! Pa! Look!” Henri shouted fiercely to his father. His father looked up from his spot on the porch.

“Oh my goodness!” the grey bearded man exclaimed. He immediately reached for his bow and arrows which sat next to him. He quickly nocked the bow and aimed it at the approaching figure. “Who be you? What business have you here?” he demanded.

“I am merely a traveler!” the stranger called back. “Let me pass!”

“There is rumor abroad about Death passing this way! Why would you come here? You already look suspicious enough with your garb!” the old man still did not put down his weapon.

“Well, I am not Death! Just let me pass!” the stranger said exasperated.

“Then uncloak yourself!”

With a snort and a huff, the cloaked stranger undid the strings that held the midnight colored hood over his head and pushed it back. Under the lazy afternoon sun, they saw the blood red hair that framed a delicate face. A pair of deep indigo eyes stared over to the father and son.

“Pa! Don’t shoot him!” Henri exclaimed, running over to the rail to get a better look at the stranger. “You look strange, stranger!”

The stranger pushed the blood colored locks from his eyes and laughed. “Well, then from where I come from, you look strange!”

“Where do you come from?” Henri questioned.

“Somewhere far, far away! Will you let me pass?”

“State your name!” Henri’s father demanded. “Or I will shoot you!”

“If you must, then call me Eiji!” the stranger shouted. “Just let me pass!”

Henri’s father gave a sigh and placed the bow and arrow down and gave a nod. He didn’t think that this stranger would be the rumored Death that was coming. No, they said that Death was terrifying and cruel. He gave no clemency to even children when he killed. There were no survivors when Death was about. “Then go! Henri, escort the stranger to the inn.”

“Alright, sir, come with me!” Henri said, jumping off the porch. He quickly led the way down to the nearest inn. “This way, sir!”

“Just call me Eiji!” the red haired stranger said with a chuckle as he kept up with the young boy. “Is that the inn?” he asked, looking at the very magnificent building. One side of the building was covered in ivy that made it look every bit elegant. The Victorian house styling made it stand out even more from its surroundings. “That’s…incredible! I’ve never seen a Victorian styling like this!”

“Yup! Although our town is small, we have a lot of stuff to see here!” Henri said, opening the iron gates that led up to the entrance of the inn. “Sister! You have another boarder!”

The wooden door opened a nun came out. Eiji blinked in surprise. He never expected to see a nun here. “Good afternoon, Sister” he said graciously.

“This is Sister Kate! She’s probably the most disobedient of the Church!” Henri explained.

“Henri!” the sister gasped. Her face turned a rather interesting pink. “You little brat!”

Henri gave Eiji a pointed look that said ‘I told you so.’ 

“Well, anyways, sir traveler, come with me and I’ll find a room for you” Sister Kate said. She led the way inside the inn. The décor inside was just as charming as its exterior, which Eiji was very impressed about.

“I’m probably going to stay for about a day or two” Eiji said. “I don’t need a fancy room or anything, but could I have the room that would be facing sun? I can’t wake up without some light.”

“Alright” Sister Kate said. She took a key out from a drawer and handed it over to Eiji. “Here’s your key. I’m sure you’ll be able to find your way around, right?” she gave him a wink. “I have to get back to my plants now…” Behind her was a small assortment of plants that were green and sprouting flowers.

Eiji shook his head; plants always reminded him of…

“Hey, hey! What are you here for?” asked a voice. Eiji looked down. It was Henri.

“Why are you still following me?”

“I want to know!”

“She’s right to call you a brat, you know?” Eiji said with a smirk. He headed up the stairs to find his room. Henri gave a small pout and ran after the mysterious traveler.

Entering his room, 204, Eiji took in the style of the room. Although he had requested no fancy room and such, it was still rather extravagant. Giving a shrug, he threw his pack onto the floor and just nearly collapsed onto the bed. The rays of sunlight came tumbling in onto some of the plants that were scattered around the room. The red head closed his eyes and breathed in the scent of plants. It’s been so long…For the time being, he allowed himself to be succumbed to sleep, never noticing, in his weariness, that a little boy was also in the room. The next day, when Eiji decided to go and restock his diminished rations and to get a bit of breakfast, he was greeted with the sight of a very cheerful Henri who was in the lobby of the inn.

“Hi!” the youngster exclaimed with a friendly wave.

“Eh? Why are you here?”

“Waiting for you to wake up!” came the reply.

“Now why would you do that?” Eiji asked. “You don’t even know me.”

“Well…I guess you can say that you look strange!” Henri exclaimed.

“You’re the strange one” Eiji said pointedly. “Anyways, I’m going to go get some breakfast. You coming?”

“Sure!” Henri hopped off the countertop he was sitting on and immediately followed the red headed traveler out of the Victorian styled inn. Eiji had spotted the restaurant yesterday while coming to the inn. It was a rather plain restaurant, but it seemed to have something more to it. Of course, when they were served the food they ordered, he was right. The food was absolutely divine. The two ate quickly and conversed little during the entire time. It wasn’t until after they’ve left the restaurant did Henri have the courage to strike up a conversation with the red headed traveler. “Why are you here?” Henri asked.

“Because I am” Eiji said in reply. “Why don’t you go back to your dad now? I’m sure he’d be worried.”

“Nah. I told him where I was going” Henri said with a toothy grin.

“I don’t think your dad appreciates me being in this town. What is he anyways?” Eiji asked. “Is he the mayor or something?”

“How did you know?”

“There must have been a reason why he is protecting the town” Eiji said. “Besides, he seemed rather important.”

“He’s just an old fart. Hey, come with me to go play!” Henri said, tugging on Eiji’s long cloak.

“Why don’t you go find your friends to go play with?” Eiji asked, rather exasperated about having a child cling to him. He needed to go and restock his supply of rations!

“I don’t have any friends” Henri pouted, sensing that Eiji wasn’t going to play with him. “Fine. I’ll just follow you around instead.”

Eiji gave a sigh and then nodded in agreement as the child gave a cheer and started to run circles around him. “Alright already! Just stop running circles around me!”

The two ended up spending the morning running all over the town getting supplies of food and occasional miscellany of items. Of course, near the afternoon, Eiji placed all the bags into Henri’s arms. “Ok! Could you take these back to the inn for me? I have one more thing to do before I could head back there!” Before Henri could complain, Eiji had dropped the key in his arms as well and pushed him off in the direction of the inn while he himself traveled in the other direction. Henri was about to go run after the red head, except when he saw the traveler enter into the place where he was forbidden to go to. The bar.

Giving a snort, Henri did as he was told and brought all the bags up to Eiji’s room back at the inn. However, Henri waited there for about an hour and got bored with looking through (and eating some) of the items they bought.  When the ten year old boy gave up waiting, he decided to go and search for his new found friend. But…would he dare to enter the bar? Henri suppressed the thought of his father knowing. He wouldn’t anger his father if he didn’t know…

Without another thought, Henri entered the bar. The place was rather dimly lit and the smell of cigar and booze filled every corner of the place and it was all it took Henri not to gag. The boy quickly entered, hoping that no one noticed that he was there. Slipping into the shadows, Henri looked for his red haired friend. He found him, at a booth, talking to someone in hushed voices. He only managed to get close enough to hear bits of the conversation. However, what he heard, he did not understand. It was another language of some sort that he didn’t understand and the two were talking rapidly.

Because it was dark in the bar, it was quite a surprise when the door was suddenly thrown open and the light from the afternoon sun shone in brightly. And there was Henri’s father, the mayor, standing there. He held a rifle in his hand this time. Behind him were many other people, all brandishing weapons. The occupants of the room all stopped and froze.

“What is it?” the bartender asked. “You’re disrupting our business. Even though you’re the mayor, I won’t let you do so.”

“Then I give my apology in advance” the mayor said, aiming his weapon at the back of Eiji’s head.

Eiji and the person he was talking to both stood up and from the folds of their cloaks, they drew their weapons. They both held guns that looked very strange from Henri’s point of view. There were imprints of plants upon the gun in Eiji’s hand. The other held one that had markings etched into it, it seemed like foreign words to Henri.

“I knew I never should have let you into this town” the mayor said. “You are the one that they call Death.”

“That’s only because of the bad luck I have” Eiji replied, his deep azure eyes narrowing into a glare. “If you don’t mind, do lower your weapon.”

“Leave; both you and your companion.”

Eiji and his companion traded a glance and both placed their weapons away. “Actually…” Eiji said. “We’ve been ordered here to take something of yours. I’ll do a trade, if you’d wish.”

“No” came the sharp reply, although he hasn’t even heard the trade off yet.

“You can’t possibly say no to four Night Mares” Eiji said. Some people in the bar gasped. Four Night Mares! Among the best (and most frightening) kind of horses, Night Mares were known widely to be a sort of horse that only rich noble folk would own. Gifted with great endurance and long age, they are also horses which could repel nightmares…and create them. “Four Night Mares for the gem you hide.”

“No!” The mayor wondered how these strangers would know. Did Henri tell…? No, Henri did not know of the gem he had hid. The gem, crystal, whatever you wanted to call it was the color of earth and was suspected to be a garnet. Garnets are not rare and valuable, like the diamond. However, this gem, whoever touched it fell and lapsed into sickness and died several hours later. Because his brother was greedy…he took it and died. Now, as the mayor of the town, he vowed to stash it away so no one would ever put their hands upon it and die. It was just too sad a fate. 

“Then it would be your town and your family’s lives.”

Then, with great hesitation, he lowered his gun. “Fine” the mayor spat. Minutes later, they were all outside with Eiji all packed up and ready to leave and the things to be traded at hand. Four dark powerful horses stood behind Eiji and his companion. The mayor held within the palm in his hand a small gem upon a handkerchief.

“So that’s the thing!” Eiji exclaimed, snatching it up without the handkerchief. He held it up to the sun, as if examining it. “It doesn’t seem very special…”

“That thing’s cursed, Eiji!” laughed the red head’s companion. “It brings death to whoever holds it!”

“I’m too bad for Heaven and Hell’s afraid of me! I’m Death, after all! I can’t die!” Eiji smirked. He turned to the mayor and handed over the reigns of the mares. “Here you go; our end of the bargain. Thank you and have a nice day.”

“What do you plan to do with it?!” the mayor demanded to know. He felt that he was going to be responsible if that gem was used to cause many, many deaths.

“You know what? You’re annoying” Eiji said, his expression turning dark and serious. He pressed the gem against the old man’s forehead and watched him fall to the ground screaming and writhing in pain. “Hm? Well…what do you know; it really is cursed.”

At that moment, Henri came leaping out of the shadows. “That was my pa!” he yelled, hurt clearly evident in his eyes. The townsfolk had quickly gathered around the mayor, seeing whatever they could do to help him.

“You bastard! How could you do that to my father!” cried a lady. She was the eldest daughter of the mayor and ran a weapon shop. The woman drew something out of the folds of her skirt and charged at Eiji.

“Hey, hey! I’m letting you live here! You shouldn’t tempt me into killing you now…” Eiji said; a dangerous glint in his eyes as he dodged her attack.

“Eiji! Hurry up! I’m not waiting all day for you!” Eiji’s companion called. He leaned casually against the building and started to examine his nails.

“What the hell are you doing? You could give me a hand here!” Eiji called.

“You?! The infamous Death? You don’t need any help! Other than psychologically of course…”

“Don’t you dare ignore me!” the woman yelled and with a sudden ferociousness, she jabbed at the red head’s face. She only marred his cheek, but then at that moment, he stumbled back a bit, clutching at the wound. The man leaning against the building started to whistle. 

“Now you’ve really done it, lass! You got him pissed.”

“That’s a cursed blade, isn’t it?” Eiji asked. “I can feel it, the magic that runs through it.” Eiji had a firm grip upon the woman’s arm. “This is so sad…I let you live and yet you all don’t want to live…” The townspeople started to scream and run, the women grabbing their children and rushing into their homes. The woman who was held onto by Eiji tried to struggle out of his vice-like grip but to no avail.

Before that afternoon was over, all lives in the town of North Corel had ceased. Everything was quiet…too quiet. Henri had just stood there until his legs gave out. He couldn’t move. Eiji…or Death…whoever he was, he was fast. In a blink of an eye, he had killed his sister and the majority of the people that was still standing around. Of course, to those who had fled, the youth had given chase. Henri tried to run. He tried to move. But he couldn’t. ‘Eiji’s going to be back! He’s going to kill you! Run!’ his mind screamed at him. But he couldn’t move. All he could see in front of him now was the bloodied bodies of his family and neighbors. Footfalls came into hearing range. Henri didn’t even need to look to see that it was Eiji.

“What about that kid there?” Eiji’s companion asked.

“Leave him. After all, if I kill him, who will the mares go to? I have no use for them and I’m sure you don’t either” Eiji said with a shrug as he licked the blood from his finger tips.

“Yuck. I guess this is why they call you Death, eh?” the man gave a sigh and made a noise of disgust. “But then wouldn’t that kid knows how you look like?”

“Doesn’t matter. Even if they know who I am, they can’t kill me” Eiji said with a dangerous smirk. “Come on, let’s go. I’ve wasted enough time here.”

When that afternoon was over, soldiers from the royal palace had come. They came to the gruesome scene of all the townspeople murdered and dead. All except for four black Night Mares standing in the middle of the street crowding around a sobbing boy.

 

End Flashback…

 

Everyone was shocked into silence. Half were contemplating the story, wondering if it was true. The other half was trying to make sense of it.

“But…that cannot be!” Oishi exclaimed. “You said that it happened thirty years ago! Look at him! He cannot possibly be thirty! Eiji would never hurt anyone! You’re wrong!”

“I didn’t say I was right” Henri said, blinking. “But I gave the orders to the Night Mares to bring up some of the memories so he’d speak out loud in is sleep. I didn’t think that this would have happened…”

“Damn right you didn’t know” Fuji said, glaring icily at the man. “That’s probably because this Eiji and the Eiji you speak of isn’t the same person.”

“But he looks exactly like him!” Henri exclaimed. “And that band aid there…it must be used to hide the cursed scar my sister gave him!”

“You assume too much” Inui spoke up from where he was. “When I first met him, he didn’t have that scar. He got that from when he was trying to do a rather…dangerous stunt.”

Henri looked downcast and stared at the ground. “I’m sorry” he said slowly. “I didn’t mean it. I was just…”

“You thought it was a chance at revenge, wasn’t it?” Momo said. “Heh. There’s someone I know that is seeking revenge also. But I doubt he’d do something like this; get him to speak so it’d be evidence and then you can kill him justifiably. I must say that this is weird; especially when you’ve got the wrong person! Rather embarrassing and stupid, don’t you think?”

Henri only hung his head in shame while Karupin’s careful eyes observed everything that had happened.

It was early in the morning when they had set off, with Eiji still sleeping. Oishi had kept a close eye on Henri and on Eiji at the same time. The red head had only muttered several words in his sleep, completely foreign to their ears and made absolutely no sense. When he the youth had finally came to, it was already the second day. Of course, when he awoke, he bombarded the others with questions, such as ‘what happened,’ and ‘how long was I out?’ Other questions were like ‘what date is it’ and insignificant things like that. That third night, Eiji couldn’t sleep. He just stared at the fire, contemplating his thoughts.

“Eiji…” called a voice. The red head looked up to see Inui looking over at him.

“Unya?”

“Something's wrong. You’re not as talkative as before nor are you smiling as much either. I’d say it’s a complete fifteen percent decline in all activities, but I don’t want to discuss numbers right now. I want to know what’s wrong.” 

Eiji looked over to his bespectacled friend sadly. “Do you really want to know?”

The hooded figure nodded, the flicker of flames made him look ever more mysterious. Catching the nod, Eiji glanced around at their sleeping companions worriedly. The only one that he really had to worry about being awake was Fuji—you could never really tell whether he was awake or asleep. Understanding what Eiji was worried about, Inui lead Eiji away from the group and into the shrubs and such.

“Will you tell me what’s wrong?”

The red head looked glumly over to the shadowed face of his friend. Slowly, Inui took the hood off; comprehending that Eiji wasn’t feeling very secure. Silently, Inui cursed the old man, Henri. His usually hyperactive friend now looked more sullen and tired than ever. His skin, perhaps several tones lighter than Momo’s skin, which was the darkest of them all, looked unbelievably pale that evening. Inui sighed and placed a hand on Eiji’s shoulder. “You know you can tell me anything. It’d be better to just get it off your chest.”

“Promise me you won’t tell anyone. Absolutely nobody!” Eiji said, his azure eyes pleading. Reassuring the youth with a smile, Inui promised.

And then Eiji began his confession.

~*~

It was more or less a week after Eiji had told his story to Inui when they finally approached Bevelle. It was a lazy and slow going morning then, and they were all just lounging about in the back of Henri’s wagon. Ryoma was dozing lightly, unconsciously curled up next to Momo who was also asleep, both having seen the city before. The others however, were awake. Inui was seated across from Fuji, who was currently looking at the sights before him.

“Eiji, look” Oishi called softly to the red head that was leaning on his shoulder with his eyes closed. The youth did as his companion said; he looked. He saw the great gates of Bevelle; they were truly of grand splendor. Wrought of the colorless mythril, a strong and sturdy metal, the gates held strong and fast to any intruder that tries to break into the city. They were tall, reaching high into the sky that it was practically impossible to climb.

“Wow…” Eiji breathed. Although he did not want to go to Bevelle, it did not stop him from enjoying the sights.

“Bevelle really is something” Fuji said as the entered the city. The buildings were also tall and high and colorful. The people were robust and loud and most of all; the aroma of delicious food wafted over to them. “Take us to an inn” Fuji just practically ordered Henri. “After that, be gone! I do not wish to see your face again.”

“Yes, yes…” Henri said solemnly. Although he had apologized profusely, they did not accept it, even if Eiji said it was alright. The old man brought them to an inn and then disappeared into the crowd of people. Never once, did the man look back.

“What are we waiting for?” Momo asked, feeling fully reenergized. “Let’s go.”

“Momo, always so eager to move on” Fuji said with a smile.

“Well, standing here all day isn’t going to help much.”

“Precisely. So why are you blocking the doorway?” Inui asked.

“Oh. Sorry!” Momo exclaimed sheepishly as he walked into the inn. The inn was not grand with décor, nor did it feel as homely as it was in Neibelheim, but at least it was something. It was cool compared to the heat outside; the inn must have been run by magic to keep it at a cool temperature. “Excuse me!” Momo said to the man that was sleeping at the desk. “Wake up!” 

“Ah! Yes! Guests! What do you need?” the man asked.

“We need three rooms with two beds in each” Momo said.

“Alrighty!” the man said, handing over the keys…when he caught sight of the shortest one in the group, his eyes nearly budged out of its sockets. “Master Ryoma!” he exclaimed. “Th-this is an honor! I’m very pleased that you chose our inn to stay at!”

All Ryoma did was look very cross when he heard that and Karupin tried to suppress a snicker, but couldn’t and so he immediately jumped out of his master’s arms. He knew his master wanted to stay anonymous, but that wasn’t happening anytime soon. Especially when they were in Bevelle. “Thank you…” Ryoma said. He snatched the keys from the man’s hand and stalked his way up the stairs. As far as he was concerned, he didn’t need this praising crap.

“Don’t you think you were a little cold to him?” Fuji asked. Ryoma only shrugged as he tossed two keys over to Inui and Oishi. Knowing Eiji and Momo, you couldn’t trust them with keys. They’d loose it within a time frame of ten minutes.

Ryoma opened the door to the room that he’d be sharing with Fuji this time. The room was plain and simple, but at least it was better than nothing. Karupin trailed in after them and immediately went to curl up under the rays of sunlight that was coming through the window. “Mya…you should wait before you go see him” Karupin said. “After all, everyone is rather weary.” 

“See who?” Fuji asked, looking over to Ryoma.

“I guess you could call him a friend. I’ve often stayed with him and his caretaker when Nanjirou went off somewhere. He’s about a year older than me, but already gained the title Seer. They say that he’s a genius” Ryoma said. ‘Not that I can see how he became to be recognized as a genius though’ the golden eyed boy thought with a snort.

“Ah. Really?” Fuji said, sitting down on the bed closes to the door.

“I think he could direct us somewhere. He’d be more help that the stupid old seer that’s suppose to be my ‘mentor’” Ryoma muttered. Fuji gave a crystalline laugh; yes, crystalline. It sounded beautiful yet hollow at the same time.

“Very well. I’ll trust your judgment. I’m going to go take a quick bath and then I’m going to sleep” Fuji said. He paused at the doorway to the bathroom. “Care to join me?” he asked, a lighthearted tone in his voice. Ryoma shot the light haired genius a glare. “Joking, joking” Fuji said, closing the door to the bathroom.

After Fuji took a bath, Ryoma took one. In the end, it was due to Fuji ’s nagging that had the golden eyed boy to go take a bath. “You reek” Fuji stated before pushing the boy into the bathroom and closing the door. By the time Ryoma got out of the bathroom, (Karupin and) Fuji had fallen asleep—in his bathrobe no less!

Well, maybe it was because Ryoma really was tired from traveling, or maybe Ryoma was just delusional at the time. Or it could have been something manipulating him, but Ryoma had lain down on Fuji ’s bed. The golden eyed boy slowly drifted into sleep as he breathed in the strawberry scented soap the other youth had used. Their breaths slowly came to synchronization as Ryoma succumbed to slumber. A sleepy azure eye peeked at its surroundings and found a certain boy on his bed. Fuji gave a small smile and scooted over. Then, he pulled the other boy away from the edge of the bed to his chest. With that finished, the light haired genius also fell asleep while hugging a warm Ryoma like a teddy bear to his chest.

 

--To Be Continued…