Rydia was running, faster and faster across a large, empty expanse of open terrain. The thin layer of dirt from beneath her feet flew up behind her, leaving a dusty, and ominous cloud always following her. The sun beat down from a sky the color of a rotting tangerine, softly orange encircling the sun, but quickly blotching off into browns and blacks, leaving one waiting for a worm to crawl out of the sky, then burrow back into the cloudless decay. Her usual cheerful apparrel of green and gold was replaced with a tattered robe, as brown and melancholy as the hard ground beneath her, and her feet were blistered and sore from the constant running against the waveringly hot flatlands.
The young caller had no idea why she was running, she just knew she had to. Heat and fatigue beat down on her heavily, but it did not matter anymore. Rydia would make it; she would make it. She had to.
For off in the distance, growing ever closer and yet ever more impossible to reach, there was a castle, and although she could not see it, she knew it was there. A beautiful castle, a marvelous castle, surrounded by a crystalline clear moat, and a multitude of plantlife, shaded from the warped sun's pounding insistence by a grove of fruit trees surrounding a small, peaceful village.
Rydia knew it was there, it had to be! Conscious thought was not an issue to her, rhyme and reason did not apply here. If there was not a castle ahead, there was not one anywhere else in the world because no one needed one as badly as she did.
Suddenly, something smashed into her body from the side, knocking her to the ground.
Her eyes fluttered open, and she sat up alertly. All around her, the thick forest of fern-like vegetation, and overhanging branches, that were weighed down by an abundance of leafy flora carpeted her in a cool and shady environment, nothing like that of the recurring dream she had been having as of late.
She looked to the side that had impacted her in her dream to find a pair of large brown eyes, filled with frantic urgency, staring back at her; the eyes of Palom Magus of Mysidia.
Rydia still remembered that fateful night that seemed so long ago when he, his sister and Mysidia's elder had come to visit Mist... They were there to collect some documentation on summoning, just for magical records. She had been so happy, so care-free... And then those spiteful things had taken it all away from her again. She hated them, whatever they were, and enjoyed deeply the idea that they were gone from this area now.
Well, for now, anyway.
At any rate, it had been a year now that they had lost all contact with anywhere outside of Mist Valley. They were the only survivors of the surprise attack of Black Knights, and had been surviving on the bare essentials of the wilderness since then. There was always the secret hope someone would come and rescue them, but until, Rydia had been strong. She had been strong when she had found all of the Mist residents dead in the streets; she had been strong when she knew there were too many monsters to attempt going over the mountains or through the Mist Cave to Baron or Kaipo; she had even been strong when the Elder had fallen deathly sick and remained in failing health.
She had to.
"Rydia," began Palom in a fast and anxious tone. "The Elder, he's... he's really sick again! You gotta come now, something's really wrong, and--"
Rydia put up a hand to quietly hush the over-excited little boy. "Okay, calm down - let's go back, and I'll see what I can do, okay?" She rose immediately to her feet, and the both of them took off at a run, pushing aside various branches and leaves as they went. A few yards away, they bounded into a small clearing surrounded by a tight encirclement of pine and mulberry trees. Within that clearing, among a wood-cutting pile and a small semi-efficient well, there was a messily constructed cabin that seemed like it was just lifted up out of the ground and grew that way over a long period of time, constructing a perfectly natural home out of a tree's trunk. Rydia sailed in through the door, Palom after her, who quickly shut it behind him. The green-clad sorceress nearly threw herself down next to a quickly thrown-together pile of blankets and other cloth, which upon laid a very anaemic looking old man, who in his better years, had been known as The Elder.
The Elder apathetically turned towards, Rydia, and a small smile lit his face. Tiredly and shakily, he put out a pale and gnarled old hand to Rydia, his eyes sagging and half-closed in the bright light filtering in from the crudely made windows. Rydia delicately took his hand, and covered it with her other hand.
Her voice quivered slightly. "Elder...?"
"Rydia... my time is short..." the old man managed, his voice punctuated by wheezing and gasping noises. "I'm... I'm sorry..."
Rydia opened her mouth to protest, but was interrupted by a violent cough from the dying wiseman. Afterward, he immediately continued.
"I'm sorry I could not teach you... anymore... please..." Another choking cough. "Only your generation can.... save..."
Suddenly, the wise old man cringed, actually lifting his upper body off of the bed, then collapsing back down into the bed's folds. Rydia, Palom and Porom cried out his name in unison, but their concern fell upon deaf ears. The Elder of Mysidia was dead. His hand fell limp in Rydia's, and his eyes closed peacefully as his breathing ceased.
The gates against Rydia's pent-up emotions over the last year came flooding out, and suddenly she found she could not stop the tears from flowing. Her shoulders shook in the kind of pain only the loss of a great friend or mentor could bring, and she could hear Porom's mournful wail as well. It all seemed so far away somehow... like the castle of her dreams... like the day she would rejoin civilization...
Like the day things would be in harmony again... it was all so far away.
The wooden door slammed open at this moment, knocking roughly against the wall it was kicked in with such force. With a swirl of cape and flourish of one arm, the Ninja King of Eblan grinned broadly at his small, melancholy audience.
"Rydia! I finally found you! Aren't you..." the arrogant triumph in Edge's voice trailed off, as he saw the entire group engulfed in tears, and his face fell.
"Oh, come on...! You can't be that unhappy to see me..."
"Edge," Rydia's voice, soft and solemn.
Rydia stood up shakily, her long green tendrils hanging in her face and hiding the sadness in her eyes. "You are an idiot..." she whispered, eliciting a small wince from Edge. "You have always been an idiot..."
"Hey..." Edge began, raising both hands defensively as Rydia looked up at him. Her face showed worlds of sorrow, spoke volumes to him of pain and suffering that he could not fathom.
"But... I missed you, anyway!" Rydia ran over and practically tackled the more-than-surprised young man, hugging him tightly around the neck. For the second time that day, Rydia began to sob uncontrollably, feeling stupid and ashamed and embarrassed all at the same time, and yet feeling hopeful that someone else was alive.
Oh... score! Edge thought giddily to himself as he lightly hugged Rydia back, content to let her cry until she could not anymore. He knew he could ask her about what was so damn sad later, anyway, and maybe, if he was lucky, he could help cheer her up. At this time, he looked over the top of Rydia's head at the twins and the old, motionless man Is that the old dude from Mysidia? lying on the Is that thing supposed to be a bed...?! small blanket-covered mat.
"Do I uh.... get filled in on this?" he inquired curiously of the twins. "What's with the fogey? Is he dead, or what?"
Rydia began to sob even harder, and Porom began to cry again, this time doubling over and hiding her face in her hands. Palom scrunched up his face, looking as if he might burst into tears at any second, but wanted to stay strong.
"Man!" the little mage exclaimed in a shaking voice. "You are a jerk! Don't you have any idea what just happened?!"
"..." Edge removed one hand from Rydia's waist to scratch the back of his head, flashing an irritated look at the boy. "What do you think, kid?"
The aspiring king was surprised to hear a small and shivering laugh from Rydia. "You're such a jerk.." Another laugh, and then, much more soberly "I'll explain everything, Edge..."
· · · ~ ¤ » ‡ « ¤ ~ · · ·
"Wow!" Edge laughed, leaning back a bit and staring up at the clear night sky overhead. "No wonder you all looked about ready to barbeque me."
Rydia smiled. She had told the truth before; she had missed Edge and his ever-present nonchalance.
They were all gathered around a small fire, and had talked long into the evening about, well, absolutely nothing. The firelight was beginning to cast strange shadows about the grove, now, and curiousity was mounting as to what everyone had done.
"So, come on," Rydia gave him a playful shove, feeling quite happy to have some new company. "What happened to you?"
"Nothing out of the unusual, brooded over the fact the girl I was mad about was probably off somewhere hurt or worse." He grinned a brilliant smile at her, and for the first time she took into full account that his mask was not in its usual place; it was instead hanging off his belt. His purple-gray hair had grown considerably long, and hung around his eyes and rested lightly on his shoulders. His usual attire of randomly odd colorations was replaced with all black ninja gear, covered by a flowing cape, making him look much deadlier, much more experienced in his trade. Even his dusky aqua eyes seemed more mature somehow. If she hadn't been so adamant in her quest to religiously avoid all his pick-ups, she might have told him to his face that he looked quite handsome. She decided it better to just keep it to herself, though.
"How would you even know I'm in trouble?"
Edge sighed wistfully. "Sometimes you just know, my dear. Besides, every other kingdom was devestated, so I figured-"
"What?!" cried Rydia. "Every kingdom? Edge..." she stood up. "What are you talking about?"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Edge stood as well and placed his hands firmly on Rydia's shoulders. "Calm down, Rydia... I thought you knew.. You know everyplace was stricken by..."
Edge stopped himself as the look in the object of his affection's eyes told him she had had no idea that that horrible event happened worldwide, nor did she know civilization as she knew it was over. Slowly, Edge eased her back down to the ground, and she pulled her knees under her chin. She took a deep breath.
"Now I'm serious. What did you do for the last year?"
"Well... it all began when these weird Black Knight guys just appeared-" he paused to give Rydia a very serious gaze. "Of course how they got into Eblan is utterly impossible - we were impenetrable!"
Rydia suppressed a knowing smile and nodded.
"So, anyway..." Edge cleared his throat. "I don't really remember most of the details of that night. I kind of tried to forget them. I recall the Chamberlain coming in and telling me to get up, that something was very wrong... and when I was finally up and out of bed, he was pleading with me to get my gear, get my weapons, we gotta fight... I was still half-awake, and, well, I didn't understand, really.
"So I got all my gear asking what was going on, and I head down the halls, and I follow the Chamberlain out to the main gates - gorgeous set of main-gates, we just got 'em put in... Hell, I helped build them!" He smiled again, although his voice was losing pitch as he continued on. "We walk out there, and there were these... these black knights all over the place. I don't know who the hell they were. I don't think they knew who the hell I was either... as impossible as that seems. And the killing - my God!" A pause. "The bodies were everywhere, women, children, men - and they were still slaughtering everyone, right there as I watched it! I ran out there and started to fight them but there were so many, and everyone was dying, and... I just couldn't stop them by myself... and when I returned to the castle the Chamberlain..."
Rydia's heart broke at seeing Edge, the man who always knew exactly how to play it cool, struggling for his words, choking on the memories of his own kingdom's destruction.
"My Chamberlain was dead, there was so much blood, I mean... I've seen blood before but this was his blood and my subjects' blood and everyone's blood ... They were just... and I couldn't even..." Edge stopped and covered his eyes with one hand, and leaned over, rocking slightly to himself, trying to blot out all his previous recallings.
Palom and Porom were silent, perhaps achingly musing over what might have happened to the citizens of Mysidia. Rydia looked on at Edge, the broken confidence he now showed, and his cracked display of ultimate prestige. More than anything she wanted to reach out to him and comfort him, but something held her back. She waited until he lifted his head, and apparently his mask of self-esteem had reattached itself.
"Edge..." He held up a hand to hush her, waving off his embarrassment with a chuckle and a smile.
"Sorry about that. Got a little too carried away." He smiled at her, attempting to look cheerful, but the smile never reached his eyes. It was only that same wizened and mournful maturity veiled by what youthful brashness his countenance struggled to maintain.
"So you have been just hanging out here, the good little tree-hugger, living off what Mother Nature gives you, huh?"
Rydia giggled lightly. "She doesn't just hand it out, you know."
"Too bad, too... But just 'cause she's stingy, you know that I'd give you hand-outs-"
Rydia narrowed her eyes at the ninja. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Edge laughed and ruffled her hair, only causing her eyes to narrow even more. "You're so cute when you're mad, Rydia." He grinned fondly at her.
Rydia felt herself blushing, hoping it would be mistaken as anger, and was about to respond by maybe thwacking her overzealous pursuer upside his conceited head, but she heard a chorus of "Ewwwwwwww..." and "Awwwwww...!" from the opposite side of the fire. Both Edge and Rydia's heads snapped to face the two young mages watching their every move.
"How ro-man-tic!" marvelled Porom, bringing her hands up to the sides of her cheeks. "He called her cute, Palom, did you hear?"
Palom pulled a disgusted face. "Yeah, sadly. This guy has some of the worst hit lines in history, plus she reacts so dang mad, you'd think he would have gotten a clue - or maybe she's in some twisted state of denial which just makes it even dumber---"
"Hey, shut up..." grumbled the summoner and king in unison.
· · · ~ ¤ » ‡ « ¤ ~ · · ·
The conversation continued long into the night, until the last of the stars had dimmed into the coming dawn, the young king explaining his past year's exploits. Edge had been able to get together a small crew of ninjas, and together they had boarded a ramshackle ship in Eblan's port that had been almost untouched by the assault of Black Knights. It had been a three month journey on that ship, stopping off at random and uncharted islands to scrape up supplies when rations dipped dangerously low. About half his crew had died of malnutrition or other sickness on the way there; not the best of morale raisers for the remaining men. Upon reaching the main continent, they found themselves in the dense forests surrounding Toroia, and the men who hadn't died of their diseases on the sea soon were laid to rest in the woods.
By now only a handful of the original crew, Edge included, marched on, attempting to find Toroia. However, this seemed impossible; there were no trails or paths in the forest, and although none of them knew at what point it happened, they veered the wrong way and off into the mountains. Whatever confidence the proud ninja had had at the journey's beginnings was gone, and up against (according to Edge) "unimaginably impossible odds, and uncountable monsters, and lack of food, and lack of hope at the very worst" the remainder of the Eblan survivors had perished on the way to the Mist Valley. He had spent an extra week burying his men on a mountain flat and fending off the scavengers that would deflate their honor further by devouring the bodies. All he could do was hope the god-damned creatures couldn't dig after he left to further search for civilization.
The twins had long since fallen asleep by the end of the story, so Edge and Rydia took to discussing what they would do now as the sun began to rise above the Eastern hills.
"It's too dangerous to cross the mountains, no matter how many people we have..." Rydia began cautiously, knowing what Edge would say.
"Rydia, honestly! If I can get across alone, then between the four of us--"
She raised a hand to hush the ninja. "I still think we should continue to wait for help. Someone has to come eventually!"
"You always were too stubborn for your own good... It's been a year, Rydia. No one is coming. And before you start with that crap about Cecil heading out here on the rescue wagon, I have a hunch he has his own problems to worry about, otherwise Kingy and his Red Wings vigil would have been here a long time ago."
Rydia disreguarded the smug smirk on Edge's face and tried to pay attention to the good logic he was dishing out. It had been a year, and realistically, if someone could have came by now, they would have. But, wait... it had taken Edge a year, hadn't it?
"Took you long enough."
Well... she hadn't really meant it to sound like that.
Edge raised an eyebrow. "Yes, and considering I'm not exactly your next-door neighbor like Baron, that should say something right there."
Rydia sighed. "Sorry... I didn't think of that... I just kind of, you know, blurt things, sometimes."
Edge smiled and patted Rydia lightly on the shoulder. "I know. Ah, but I always forgive you, don't I? Now... about this whole crossing the mountains thing... Rydia, you're an ultra talented summoner, I'm an ultra talented ninja not to mention I'm so clever, and all..."
Rydia rolled her eyes.
"I've never personally seen those kids fight, but I've heard they've got a handy arsenal of spells themselves." Edge jabbed a thumb in Porom's direction. "Doesn't the girl know white magic?"
"Well, yes, but--"
"Perfect! Rydia, this will work fine, and I mean... do we really have a choice? You can't waste away here in this valley forever. "
Another sigh. "No. I suppose not... When do you think we should leave?"
Edge grinned and stood up. "Thatta girl! As soon as possible, if not sooner. Can't waste another second down here."
Rydia nodded, and yawned, standing up and stretching out. "Well..." she murmured, straightening her long, green sleeves out, "I'm going to get some sleep before we go. You probably should, too."
Edge's eyes lit up. "Is that an invitation?"
"..." Rydia shoved Edge away, causing him to topple over onto the ground. "Invite that, smart guy."
Irritatingly enough, Rydia could hear Edge laughing to himself as she walked into the cabin and locked the door.
