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Forbidden Authoresses Note: Because I got some pretty good reviews, I decided to continue this. Hats off to everyone that reviewed! It’s always cool to have an audience. I should warn though, that I’m an advocate for the LantisxEagle romance, so there will be some yaoi later on. That’s all, I guess. Thanks for checking it out! ^_^
***Part Two of Forbidden: Sitting Blind And Running Blind – Is There A Difference? ***
Where was he? Ascot groaned, his eyes slowly blinking several times before opening to full alertness. But even if they were fully alert, it made no difference – all around was black, forbidding black, forbidding black that drowned any sight of his surroundings, so that he was left with absolutely no clue as to his whereabouts. Where was he, though? The last thing he could remember was that he had been arguing with himself, wondering if he should or should not see Umi leave, and he was leaning towards not going, because it hurt to be reminded of her obliviousness. No. Wait. He could remember more, now. He had been in his room, and then he had suddenly felt something – he wasn’t sure what, or how, by will of intuition or some form of magic he had yet to master – but he had felt something, and then, before he had been able to process it, there was fire coming out of nowhere, blasting the door down, and he was down on his knees next, too weak to defend himself against her towering form. Alcione. But how? Zagato killed her. I watched him kill her. I watched him kill her and I laughed, I was so cold back then. As he lay there in the dark, wherever he was, he was suddenly aware of a shooting pain racing through his side, and then a groan issued through his mouth in consequence of that pain. His entire left side, he realized, felt numb and horrid, and…wet. Blood. With this new realization, he decided to try and see if it was true, if he was really coated with blood on his left side. Hesitatingly, he sent his right hand to feel and probe the supposed wound. But, as he tried to move his hand, he was unfortunately aware of a new thing, a metal band around his wrist, which, when he tried to move it too far, stopped suddenly by some will of a chain connecting it to the wall. Well, now. He was in a dark room and he was tied to the wall. Yay. If only he had one of his animals here. But he felt too tired to summon them, and besides, he didn’t want to be rash. What if one of his animals ended up getting hurt because of his rashness? It had happened before. Suddenly, there was a click and the sound of muffled voices from somewhere to his far left, and then a grinding sound as a door in that direction slid open. A single slip of light shone out onto the gray floor, instigating the assumption that there was light somewhere in this…in this building? He had no idea where he was, naturally, so he could only guess it was a building. What else could it be? His wandering mental thoughts were cut short, however, as a familiar form was pushed in, right into the light, so that the golden glow that framed this newcomer properly relayed to Ascot how dire the situation at hand was. He had not been the only person forcibly taken from the castle. “Clef.” Ascot more breathed the words than spoke them; his surprise was so total and so utterly complete. The guru had been solemnly regarding the patch of lit ground, but at Ascot’s words he looked up, his eyes widening. Ascot felt his breath catch in his throat – Clef, the leader Clef, was just as confused as he was, just as bewildered to see Ascot, as Ascot was bewildered to see Clef. Clef, on his knees, and holding his one cloaked shoulder, was the ultimate vision of shot-down leadership. Ascot had never seen that before, and did not ever want to see it again, for that matter. Glancing quickly at Ascot, Clef’s gaze lingered long on the questionable wet side that Ascot had been pondering just moment’s before. “You’re hurt, Ascot.” Ascot could have almost predicted his words. Clef’s immediate instinct was too worry about others. “So are you.” Ascot returned, nodding towards Clef’s shoulder. “Where are we, Clef?” Clef didn’t seem to hear Ascot’s response. “Were you attacked by her, too?” Ascot paused, surprised at the question. But of course. If he was attacked by Alcione, and had been brought here, and then here was also Clef, what else could have happened? It didn’t take a genius to figure it out, just a shy awkward monster summoner who had all the strength in physical battle, but none when it came to saying three words to a pretty girl with a thing for fiery kindness. “Yes.” Ascot finally admitted reluctantly, gazing at his lap, only knowing it was his lap really because of the light coming in from wherever Clef had been pushed in from. Otherwise he could have been looking at his foot, for all he knew, it being so dark and all. He looked back up at the guru, but unfortunately could no longer see him because the door had closed and the light had gone, to be replaced by the desperate black. “She’s alive then, I guess – do you know if she’s attacked anyone else?” A better translation of that last question would be: Do you know if she’s attacked Umi? “I felt the Magic Knight’s presence gone before I was attacked. They made it back to the Earth place, so chances are that we’re the only people being held…” “Hostage?” Ascot finished for him. “I don’t know if that’s the word. I don’t know if she wants us for any sort of ransom.” “This makes no sense.” Clef did not question Ascot’s comment, even though Ascot could have meant several things by speaking up so. Clef chose to continue on in his spoken ponderings. “Revenge, perhaps. Alcione has become…very angry. I never meant for her heart to suffer. I want all my student’s to be happy…though you can’t get everything you want in life, of course.” Ascot paused. He had not wanted to mention it, but now that the guru was here, his magic’s intuition was telling him about some other power, and it wasn’t Alcione’s. It was so forbidding, somehow both welcoming, saying, Look at me, I’m powerful, and you’re not! And then again, there was another form to it, saying, Leave me alone, give me privacy. A smell in the air, an unidentified presence, a waver in the big picture…he couldn’t place the feeling. “Do you feel that?” Ascot finally asked, finishing the pause. Guru nodded, although Ascot could not see it in the dark. “It’s not Alcione. I can’t say what it is.” “We should just find out where we are, first, before we wonder about intuitional magic.” Ascot agreed. To his surprise, Clef didn’t seem so sure. “But…” “But?” “Hikaru was telling me about religion.” Guru Clef began, his voice wavering a little over Hikaru’s name, signifying his strong bonds with the loveable new Pillar. “After hearing her out, I thought it was just a clever coping technique used to deal with people’s general confusion regarding life.” Ascot nodded solemnly. “I remember Umi saying something about it. There are many different forms, but they all include worship of an all-powerful….” “Entity’s the word, I think.” Ascot nodded, and Clef had to feel, more than see, the interaction. Clef continued. “There was a very common theme to it, though. In almost every religion, there was a right, and a wrong, a good and an evil. The right usually had it’s own…Pillar, I suppose, though they called it a ‘God’. The wrong also had a ‘God’, though, and the two were constantly warring.” “War.” The word felt bitter in Ascot’s mouth, venomous even. “This forbidden feeling of power…I’ve felt it before…just less so. But now it’s stronger, which is odd, that it’s stronger once I’ve been attacked.” “Mokona is the absolute ruler.” Ascot commented, as if that cleared things up. Yes, Mokona was the absolute ruler. There couldn’t be a good all-powerful entity and there couldn’t be a bad all-powerful entity if Mokona was around, because Mokona simply was the -purpose-, the defining meaning of everyone’s existence. And as Ascot thought those words, he couldn’t help but wonder what the heck he himself was thinking – it sounded so truthful and poetic, but in the presence of these new events it seemed more like a gamble, a faithful assumption. Clef paused before speaking. “Maybe Mokona was the absolute right.” “…You think there’s an absolute wrong.” They both fell silent, neither really ready to speak again. After a long pause Clef tiredly pushed himself up from his position on the floor, noticeably without any bonds. The sorcerer merely waved his hand and Ascot was free, so that the monster summoner, getting to his feet and although enjoying the sudden freedom in which he could stretch and relax his aching muscles, was left only to wonder one thing: Who’s stupid enough to not tie Clef up? Clef sent Ascot a sideways glance as he waved a hand again, causing a sudden burst of fire in the palm of that hand. The room lit up instantly, presenting to Ascot what could be considered a normal dungeon layout, complete with the chains lying idly in one corner and the mouse family hiding behind it. “Either someone is very dumb, or we’re heading into a trap.” The wise sorcerer said, vocalizing his agreement with Ascot’s befuddled stare. Then he sent the ball of fire at the door, sending it down with a loud crash. “I don’t care if it’s a trap. It seems we’re already in a trap, anyways, and maybe a new one might brighten circumstances a little.” Clef’s worried expression gave way to a little smile at his younger friend’s sarcastic joke. Then they left.
And despite his earlier words, Ascot couldn’t help wondering if running blind was worse than sitting blind.
“Clef cares about everyone.” Lantis blinked, a little surprised at Presea’s first words. After going to her place in the forest and relaying the troubling news to her, the talented artisan had suddenly become uncharacteristically quiet, merely nodding to anything Lantis had to say concerning the matter. And now, as both of them sat on one of the faster stable horses, galloping across the meadows in such a rush that all seemed to be blurred blue sky and blurred green grass, Lantis guiding the horse as Presea hung around his waist for basically her life – well, it seemed an odd moment for her to suddenly speak up. He continued to stare at the path ahead of them, not looking back at her. “I know.” “Of course you know. It’s his one special talent, his caring. He’s better at caring than he is at magic, sometimes.” Lantis nodded. “He’s so damn good at it that he sometimes forgets himself. He’s always so caught up in everyone’s need for happiness that he never thinks of himself – god, sometimes I don’t know why he’s never been a candidate for Pillar. I mean, I know he doesn’t want to, so that’s probably it, but if he ever did want to….” “I’m sure he’s fine.” “Yeah.” A pause. An unbecoming and uncharacteristic cynical bitterness lay hidden in her voice momentarily. “He’s the big strong sorcerer leader. He’s always fine.” They rode a little farther. Lantis didn’t speak, and neither did Presea. “It’s just awfully hard to be fine all the time, that’s all.” She finally said, with a sigh into Lantis’ back. “I bet it hurts to be fine all the time.” “The sky.” Presea blinked. “What?” Lantis slowed the horse to a final stop, so that the blurred quality to the surroundings softly faded away into brilliance once again – the brilliantly green color of the grass, and then the brilliantly brown color of the path, finally ending with the brilliantly black color of the sky. “It’s not night already, is it?” Presea questioned, blinking several times as if that would clear away some vision problem she had. Lantis’ sturdy voice portrayed the first knowledge of worry. “Possibly. But I doubt it.”
And as his one sullen friend regarded the sky up above, the sleeping Eagle awoke with a jolt. At first his uppermost surroundings seemed black to him as well, but slowly they blurred into nothing more than the gray ceiling, and it was proven that the immediate feeling of black was nothing more than the haziness to be expected after such a long slumber – but, as he noted to himself, there was still something very wrong.
When the Magic Knights returned, there was at first no sign that anything had gone awry. They were greeted by a smiling Ferio, who very quickly swallowed Fuu in a great big hug, and by Lafarga, not quite smiling, but then again he never really smiled, so there was nothing to be concerned about. Then Umi asked the question. They were still in the portal room at the time, and had just finished their proper round of ‘Hellos’ and shaking of hands and such. “Hey, where’s Ascot at?” Both Ferio and Lafarga went a strange unusual shade of pale. It was Ferio that spoke, his one arm around Fuu’s shoulder, hugging her against his side. “We don’t know.” Umi blinked. “Oh, he’s out back with the animals, isn’t he? That’s where he always is.” Ferio shook his head. “Did he go somewhere? On like a little traveling adventure or something?” Ferio shook his head. Umi was getting a little worried now, Ferio and Lafarga’s silent façade of sullenness really beginning to irk her. “Well then, where is he?” She demanded, her eyes flashing and her hands on her hips. Hikaru burst in, smiling as usual. “I bet there’s nothing to worry about, Umi. He’s probably just disappeared for a bit, and he’ll be back by nightfall. Fuu glanced towards the one window in the room. “I think it’s already night.” “What do you mean, night?” Umi said hotly, now at the pinnacle of her annoyance and not about to get down anytime soon. “It shouldn’t be night. We always get here in the middle of the day, same time.” Fuu smiled. “Yeah, but it’s dark outside.” They all went to the window to see if it was true. Indeed it was, dark forbidding night stretched across the horizon, no stars or anything else in the sky besides the lavender dusting of a couple of the more brilliant clouds. And as they watched, each one mumbling their misunderstanding and confusion regarding the odd timing for it go dark, Umi slowly turned on the spot to look towards the sadly contemplating Ferio, who had let go of Fuu as she went to Hikaru’s side, the two friends talking cheerfully together. Her blue eyes seemed to hold an unequalled sadness as she questioned him, her fury now subdued by her worry. “Ferio, where’s Ascot?” Ferio sent a glance towards the strangely darkened setting outside. The window, besides having an outlook to the dark sky, also looked down upon the same garden that he and Fuu had walked in a couple nights ago. The roses, he noted, were a darker red with the lessened amount of light that became them. Still watching the roses rustling somewhat in the breeze, he spoke again. As he spoke, Fuu looked toward him, her heart aching for the not-so obvious stress that lay within the confines of his body. Not so obvious to many, but screaming obvious to her. “His room was ransacked, Umi, completely destroyed. Chances are that he was taken by someone.” To everyone’s surprise, as they turned to watch Umi’s reaction to this, she merely nodded. In soft tones, she questioned, “Does Clef know about this?”
Lafarga stepped forward. “That’s the other thing, Lady Umi.”
Umi couldn’t believe it. What was it about him? He was just so sweet, a bleeding heart in a sense, caring for brutes when most others wouldn’t bother. It portrayed a sophistication that most of the other boys that she knew could never have. And yet there was also this simplicity to him – not that he was simple – but rather just this thing about him that was a little slow at times. He seemed to get an awful tongue-tied, anyhow. Unbeknownst to her, of course, his tongue-tied ways only existed around her. And now he was gone. Gone to harm’s way. She sat in the room that was designated for her stay at the castle, quietly studying the cloth patterns sewed into the quilt that lay gently on her bed, her one finger trailing the seams. So was she lost in thought that she barely noted the arrival of her two other companions, as Hikaru appeared at her one shoulder and Fuu at the other. “You okay?” Hikaru asked, leaning on her one shoulder. “You don’t seem very well.” Noted Fuu, leaning on the other shoulder. “I’m fine.” Maintained Umi. Fuu shook her head, quietly putting a hand on Umi’s forehead. “You don’t seem okay.” Umi very politely batted away Fuu’s hand, dropping back onto the pillow, her gaze turning towards the ceiling. “I’m just worried, that’s all. I mean, what’s this crap that’s going on? I thought that Cephiro was supposed to be perfect now and everything. Not with important people being kidnapped and everything.” Fuu blinked quizzically. “Technically,” She said, but said it very sweetly, “Ascot wasn’t all that important.” “He was to me!” Fuu merely smiled at Umi’s reddening face. She opened her mouth to say something, but stopped, noting that Hikaru had turned strangely quiet besides her. Indeed, the Pillar, the single most important person in this whole mess, seemed to have been overlooked. Hikaru’s gaze was somberly on the covers of the bed, a tearstain marking the distance from the bed to her eye. “What’s wrong?” Asked both Fuu and Umi simultaneously. Her voice quivered somewhat as she spoke. “I didn’t want anyone to worry, so I kept quiet.” Fuu and Umi exchanged glances. Finally Umi ventured, “Quiet about what?” “I felt some things…this sadness…right before we left the last time. It was small, and I didn’t think much of it, but I should have – I should have known. And when we came back today, it almost threw me over, the sensation was so strong – like something was mentally battling me for control of my wishes.” Before any one else could touch upon the matter, however, they were alerted to a sudden loud sound as the door opened. Within an instant all three had their weapons out, but it proved a useless mechanism – it was Eagle, stumbling into the room before finally falling to a faint on the floor. |
