Shiro opened his eyes. He was in a shack. A rather nice shack, but a shack. He didn't mind. He had stayed in kingdoms worse than this before, but he didn't know where he was. He looked around he room and sat up. He didn't see anybody. He wondered how he got there. The last thing he could remember was running into that damn tree! Stupid, stupid, stupid! Just then, Shiro realized that he might be in danger. He looked for his sword, but he couldn't find it. He threw the covers off to get out of bed, when he realized that he wasn't wearing any pants! He got back into bed, and hoping that there was someone else in the house he said rather loudly, "OHIO?"
Just then, he heard someone coming towards the room he was in. "Oh, so you're awake, boy. How are you feeling?" he heard someone say. He couldn't see the source of the kind voice yet.
"I'm feeling a little…ano…woozy. What happened to me?"
D'Artagnan entered the room. Shiro almost fell off the bed in surprise. "Well, you ran straight into a tree." D'Artagnan said, snickering. He stopped abruptly. "I'm sorry. It was just so funny to watch. I couldn't help myself. Why did you run into that tree, anyway?" He put a wet washcloth onto Shiro's head.
"It's…it's a long story. Why are you being nice to me? I just was so mean to you…and…do you know who I am?" Shiro was very confused. He had been confused since yesterday. He didn't know when the confusion was going to stop.
"Well, I'm a nice guy, et, no, I don't know who you are. All I know is that you are such good friends with Kerenai that you would fight for her. Although, I'm pretty sure that she could whoop you. No offense, but she is a Knight Caeli and you are pretty scrawny. Anyone, though, who's a friend of Kerenai's is a friend of mine. Meanwhile, you may have a concussion. Boy, do you want to stay, or do you want me to take you home? Because I have this feeling that you were running away from your home when you ran into that tree. Well?"
Shiro was shocked. "Ano, hai. That's very kind of you. I would like to stay for a while, if that's not an inconvenience?" he smiled. "I just found out that I'm from the Mystic Moon. Are you sure that you don't know who I am? It kind of shocked me, but I guess it's okay."
D'Artagnan smiled brightly. "You are from the Mystic Moon? I am, too! Allow me to introduce myself. My name is D'Artagnan. How do you do?" D'Artagnan stood up and bowed.
Shiro was very surprised. Either this guy was VERY strange, and fate had brought them together, or he was lying. For some unknown reason, Shiro thought that it was probably the former. "I'm…I'm…I'm not going to tell you my name right now, because then you'll know who I am. Coben. It's nice to meet you, though, D'Artagnan. Can you tell me things about the Mystic Moon? What's it like? Are the people there nice?"
D'Artagnan beamed. He loved to tell people about France and Earth. It was just unfortunate that this boy couldn't remember Earth. Although he probably lived there long after D'Artagnan had. "Well, everyone was nice. I lived in a country called France. I was a knight there. I served the king of France, Louis Quatorze, le Roi-Soleil, too. I had three best buddies and they meant the world to me. And the women on Earth were…" D'Artagnan gestured with his hands and hourglass figure. "Well, um, the land looked very much like it does here, in Fanelia. The most beautiful meadows and woods. There were two HUGE differences, though, that hit me VERY hard. The first is that there were never any guymelefs on Earth, and the second was that there were no dragons. On Earth, there were all sorts of other exotic creatures, but no dragons. Err…some others that I have met from the Mystic Moon said that there were big technology differences, but I came from another time then they did, when chivalry was the norm. Although, on Earth, they had gunpowder when I left, and thank God there isn't any of that here."
Something he said struck Shiro as odd. He said that he "came from another time". Shiro didn't want to be rude, so he just kept it to himself for now.
"Shiro? Shiro, where are you? Where are you, Shiro?" Shiro was definitely missing. 'Poor Shiro!' she thought. Kerenai decided that he must've gone somewhere else. If she could just find some sign that he had been at a particular spot, she would be able to find him. She did know tracking pretty well, after all. She turned a corner in the path that lead to the back gate of the palace, when she was something red on the side of a tree. She ran over. Maybe it was a clue. As she got closer, she realized that it was blood. There were good, traceable footprints. What upset Kerenai was that the footprints were much larger than her feet. That meant that they weren't Shiro's. She had borrowed Shiro's boots, and they had fit fine. But, even if they didn't lead to Shiro, they would lead to someone who needed help, so, Kerenai decided to follow whoever's footprints those were.
Allen knocked on Van's door. Serena was next to him. He knew that the information would be classified, but he couldn't leave Serena alone. Especially not after what just happened. Van called from inside "come in" and they did.
Allen motioned for Serena to sit while he talked to Van. Van was at his desk. He turned around and saw the siblings. He smiled in greeting, "Ohio gozaimesu, Serena, Allen. Can I help you this morning?" Allen smiled back, as did Serena.
"Well, Van, I'm afraid that when I heard the siren go off last night, I was a little preoccupied with my sister. I came to see what the commotion was about." Van nodded. He knew that Allen would come for that.
"Hai. I understand. Well, for now, just keep an extra close eye on your sister." His voice dropped to a whisper as he pulled Allen a little closer. "This concerns her and you very greatly. You, of course, remember Hitomi's 'visions'? Well, Shiro had just recently shown signs of that same trait. In one of them, he saw…" Van looked over at Serena. "Well, don't worry too much about that. Just make sure you keep your guard up around Serena, okay?" Allen nodded.
"Ho." He turned and motioned for Serena to come with him. He opened the door for her, shot a glance at Van, and then exited the room.
Kerenai was running now. Unless the person who got hurt had gotten help from someone, by the time that she caught u p to them, they'd already be dead, judging by the amount of blood and the distance that she had already traveled. She looked down to make sure that she still was following the same prints. When she looked up again, she saw what looked like a little shack. Right in the middle of the woods. She looked back down at the tracks. They seemed to go right into the shack. She ran up to the shack and knocked on the door. "Ohio? Is anyone home? Hello?" She knocked again. Just then, she heard a shuffling and footsteps from inside. The door opened, and there, standing in the doorway, was D'Artagnan. That alone made Kerenai gasp. The amount of blood he was wiping from his hands would also make her gasp if she wasn't already gasping.
"Oh…Kerenai!" D'Artagnan seemed a little surprised, too. "I thought you were the doctor. I guess you're here to see your friend. He's feeling much better. Right this way." D'Artagnan held the door for Kerenai. He could tell from her face that she didn't know that her friend was there. He led her into the room where the patient was and her eyes widened.
"Shiro!? Oh my goodness! Are you alright? You're bleeding! What happened? Did that bastard hurt you?" She turned to draw her sword.
Shiro reached his hand out and placed it gently on her arm. "No. No, he helped me. I was hurt and he carried me here. He called for a doctor, and he's taking care of me. Just calm down." Kerenai looked back at Shiro. He was smiling. He was happy to see her.
Shiro? Shiro? As in Shiro Fanel? As in the miya? Fanelia no Miya? No wonder he didn't want to tell D'Artagnan his name! Wait! The crowned miya of Fanelia was from Earth? D'Artagnan was having trouble understanding it all, but he was trying. "Err, excuse me?" He bowed. "Miya-sama? I had no idea!" D'Artagnan got down on one knee. "I am but your humble servant, Miya-sama! D'Artagnan, Musketeer of France." He lifted his head. "Please, I mean you no disgrace, but would you please pardon me for my crimes against the state of Fanelia?"
Shiro was blushing. "Okay, sure. Just stand up. I know that I'm miya and all, but it's embarrassing when people address me like that. Ano…you are hereby pardoned of all crimes against the state of Fanelia. Ano…but call me Shiro, not Miya-sama, okay?" D'Artagnan stood back up. "By the way, D'Artagnan, what is a 'musketeer'?"
"Merelu?" Merelu looked up catishly. "Merelu? You wanna know something? I love you." Hiroki smiled at Merelu.
She was smiling too. "Me, too," she said. She gave Hiroki a hug. Hiroki lifted Merelu's chin with his right hand and kissed her. When their love-locked kiss ended, Merelu looked right into Hiroki's eyes. It was true. She did love him. But was she too old to be getting married? Did she love someone else more? Who knew, but something didn't feel right about this wedding. "If only Hitomi were her," she thought. "Hitomi could do a reading for us!" Maybe she did love someone else more.
-87-
Chu-ni had followed Kerenai. For a Knight Caeli, she wasn't very good at telling when she was being followed. He wasn't going to risk going into the shack, but he couldn't help climbing onto the roof. He could listen to the conversations inside from the roof.
"D'Artagnan, could you excuse us for a second? I want to talk to Shiro alone for a while," he heard Kerenai say. There were footsteps then silence. Then he heard something weird then Shiro said 'ow' or something like that. Then slightly annoyed, Kerenai said, "Hold still! I can't fix this bandage if you keep moving like that!" Silence. Then that weird noise. Then someone sighed. "All done," Kerenai said.
"Arigatou, Kerenai. It feels much better now." Silence.
"Gosh, you'd think he'd be smart enough to kiss her now! I can't believe this guy," Chu-ni thought.
"Kerenai?"
"Hai?"
"What did Hiroki tell you about me being from…from…the Mystic Moon?"
Chu-ni didn't believe his ears. The Mystic Moon? He was so surprised that he lost his balance slightly. He, however, did not seem able to regain it and fell through the thatched roof onto the floor next to Shiro's bed. He hit the ground with a thunk. It hurt a little. Falling twenty feet can hurt.
Kerenai jumped up and drew her sword at the inanimate figure on the ground. Just as D'Artagnan ran into the room, wielding his sword, Kerenai realized who it was. "Miya-sama!" She ran to him, replacing her sword. She picked him up and asked D'Artagnan where she should put Chu-ni down. D'Artagnan led her to another bedroom, where she laid Chu-ni on the bed.
When Kerenai told D'Artagnan who Chu-ni was, he merely replied, "How many injured princes will be stopping by today?" Luckily, right then, the doctor arrived and Kerenai and D'Artagnan left the doctor alone with his patients.
-88-
"Well, they both have moderate concussions. The smaller one shouldn't wake up for another day. Don't let either of them move a lot. Not for a week. Lots of fluids. Maybe some chicken broth to eat. Make sure that they have fresh sheets daily. Change their clothes twice daily. Bathing at least once a day. Don't bathe the smaller one until he's conscious, of course. They should be fine by Friday to exercise for an hour a day. Not strenuously, though. By next Tuesday, they should both be fine. Call for me right away if they start to vomit, or the smaller one doesn't wake up by this Tuesday. I'll send you a bill." The doctor started for the door. "You say one ran into a tree and the other fell through the roof? How peculiar." The doctor closed the door behind him.
Shiro looked anxious. Anxious and restless. "What did he say?" he asked. He seemed less concerned about whether he would be alright as whether Chu-ni would be okay.
"He said it'll be another day or two. You'll both be fine though. You can't do any training for five days, though. No exceptions. I'll spar on my own." Kerenai seemed a little disappointed that she lost her sparring partner.
D'Artagnan came up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'll spar with you, Kerenai, while Shiro is incapacitated." He smiled a charming smile.
Kerenai smiled back. "Thank you, I'd like that."
Shiro could feel the rage mounting inside of him. Kerenai could not see how she was being played. Sure, he liked D'Artagnan, but he didn't want Kerenai treated this way. He opened his mouth to say something when D'Artagnan kissed Kerenai! And she didn't resist! He was frozen. He didn't know what to say, what to do. He couldn't very well leave the room in his underwear! So he just sat there, waiting. Finally, just when he thought he'd burst if he didn't get out of the room, he had another 'vision'.
-89-
Megumi looked up at the sun, through the window. It sure was hot today. She lugged the laundry pile up the stairs to the roof to hang it to dry. She missed Hitomi. She missed Fanelia. She really hated working in Freid. The climate was so extreme. The people were all nice, of course, but there was something, some sort of air, missing. They all seemed distant to her. They knew her as 'Megumi', instead of knowing her as 'Megumi, my friend.' It all was so impersonal. Except for him.
Megumi was daydreaming and lost her balance. The pile of laundry, heavier than her entire body, threatened to fall on her, sending her backwards down the spiral staircase. She stumbled down one step, two steps, three. She let out a little sound like the start of a scream, when she felt two strong hands supporting her full weight behind her. She tilted her head back to see, in complete embarrassment, who had saved her from many bruises and another two hours of re-washing the laundry. Her face was as red as a cherry. It was him.
"Are you alright, Megumi?" he asked. He had a bright smile on his face. He always seemed to be smiling. She hadn't seen him sad since she came to Freid when she was fifteen. That was ten rotations ago.
Megumi smiled back. "I'm sorry. I don't know what happened. I lost my balance and started to fall backwards."
He nodded. "You were probably daydreaming again. You've always had your head in the clouds! Here." He helped Megumi back up. She was still blushing. "Can I help you with that?" he asked, while he reached to take the pile of laundry from Megumi.
Megumi held tightly to the laundry. "Please, this is my job. Besides, I like to do laundry. Why do you think I became a servant rather than a seamstress, or a schoolteacher, or a…" She stopped. He was smiling strangely at her. She couldn't understand it. Had she said something funny? Was her underwear showing? What was it? "What's wrong, Duke Chid? You look…ano…funny." She tilted her head just so. He looked just slightly like Van-sama had looked that one morning at Hitomi-sama, fifteen years ago.
"Megumi, you're so perfect! You know just when I'm acting strangely. You know me so well! I was so unhappy before you came here. Thank you again for helping me. You're so kind, you even help your enemies!"
Megumi couldn't tell if it was just her imagination or if Chid was leaning closer to her. She went backwards up one more step. "Well, I couldn't very well leave you there to die, could I? I think the amazing thing was that I left Fanelia. Although, with Hitomi-sama dead, I didn't really feel…ano…like I belonged there. It's hard to explain." Under the heavy, long, awkward pause that followed, Megumi felt it her obligation to lighten the conversation, or end it, depending on whether she could think of anything to say. Luckily, because it didn't seem like she'd think of anything to say soon, Megumi's supervisor, who was already hanging laundry up on the roof called her name. Megumi's head shot up, looking upward, although all she saw was the rock bottom of the next row of stairs. Megumi tried to bow, but felt herself falling down the stairs again, and then stood back up. "If you'll excuse me, Duke Chid, I have duties to attend to. Sayonara." She turned and ran up the stairs, saying something about how she was coming.
Chid stood there for a minute or two, staring into nothingness, until the duchess called him.
-90-
A man. A man with silver hair. A man with silver hair standing next to 'Dilandau'.
"Dilandau, you did not need to do that."
"But with everything burnt, there's no evidence. And with the Stealth Cloaks…"
They continued talking. The scene changed. Hitomi, Van, Allen, Dilandau, and a bunch of other people he didn't recognize. An Asturian flag. Men holding the old Zaibach banners.
"You wear funny clothes. Where are you from?"
"She's my new girlfriend from the East." A kiss.
Shiro's eyes widened to twice their original size.
Rain. A bridge. Allen. Hitomi. A very, very passionate kiss. How could…? Why didn't…? Van.
A shack. D'Artagnan's shack. Kerenai, Shiro, D'Artagnan. A kiss. A passionate kiss. Not a very passionate kiss, but a passionate kiss.
The fight, same as before. Allen, in two pieces. Dilandau became Serena. Was it Serena? He didn't know. Not quite. Serena fell to Allen.
"Do shite?"
A single sword. A single sword fell. Fell slowly. Fell so slowly. Falling, falling. It clinked onto the ground. A person. Man? Woman? Fell to its knees.
"No! Do shite? No!"
The blood dripping from its hands, the person fell to the ground. Face first. Down, down. The bloody hands. The bloody floor, now.
Kerenai. Shiro. No one else. He took her hand. He kissed her. Very, very passionate kiss. Another 'vision'. He didn't have the 'vision', he just saw himself having it. Kerenai? Another 'vision'! She was having a 'vision'! How? Why? Scared! Scared!
"Help! Shiro? Shiro, where are you? Help! Where am I?"
Shiro reached out.
"Here, I'm here! Take my hand! Here! Kerenai! Kerenai!"
BLACK.
-91-
Kerenai. Shiro was opening his eyes. She was putting a washcloth on his forehead. She realized he was awake. They both started speaking at the same time.
"Are you okay?" That seemed to be the question of the week.
Kerenai was confused. "Why wouldn't I be? You passed out. I'm not sure why." She blushed. "I'm kind of embarrassed. Before you passed out, how much did you see?"
Shiro couldn't tell her the truth. "What are you talking about? You were talking about sparring. I had another vision. You were in trouble. I…I…You had a vision too. I don't know how, but it wasn't a nice vision." He looked concerned. "I was worried about you. You kept calling my name, but I couldn't help you. I felt so worthless."
Kerenai frowned. "You're not worthless. Oh! I have something to tell you when you're ready. It's about the visions."
Shiro seemed to light up. "I'm ready. Tell me now."
"Well, your mother had the same visions. Hiroki said that magical abilities like that tend to be hereditary. But the thing is that the abilities you'll have, to see the past and future, have been developed further, sort of. He used this word from the Mystic Moon: Ev…Evo…Evolussine? Evolution! That's it! He said there is sometimes evolution between generations of these abilities. So, you may be able to do something that Hitomi wasn't able to. Also, he said that your mother wasn't able to control her abilities until about a month after she came to Gaea. But he said that since you are second generation, you should master your abilities pretty soon, like next week maybe! And he wanted me to tell you this. 'Because of your father's bloodline, there may be some even more amazing things you could do, if you set your mind to it!' I'm not exactly sure what the hell he was talking about but he said that it was 'privileged information on a strictly need-to-know basis.' He said, 'Kerenai, you don't need to know right now.' Will you tell me, Shiro?" Kerenai have Shiro a sheepish grin and batted her eyelashes.
Shiro shook his head. "You'll find out when the time comes. Until then, sorry, you're out of luck," he laughed. She looked absolutely ridiculous. Flattery did not suit her.
-92-
"Perée, perée, thrust, turn, thrust." D'Artagnan was sparring. He always practiced at dawn. If he was going to spar with a partner, that could wait until later in the day. This time was for him. "Perée, perée, thrust!" He was practicing his technique right now. People on Gaea didn't seem to train in the early years correctly. They had no respect for the classic teaching system anymore.
With another thrust, the front door opened. Almost majestically, D'Artagnan whipped around to place his foil upon the bottom of Kerenai's chin, who was standing very surprised in D'Artagnan's pajamas in the doorway. "Good morning?" she said, not sure exactly what D'Artagnan was doing.
D'Artagnan's foil lowered. "Good morning. You're up awfully early. Come to join me? I have an extra foil in the closet if you like."
Kerenai smiled. Probably because D'Artagnan was no longer holding a weapon to her throat. "What is a foil? It looks like a sword…but it's not."
"A foil? You don't know what a foil is? A foil is like a sword, but it doesn't have two sharp sides. Instead, it has four dull edges. It's for sparring and other training. It's just for technique practice. Who was your master, girl? I'll teach him a thing or two!"
Kerenai frowned at the ground. "Well, my father trained me for about a year and a half. That was two years ago. Before that, I trained myself. I was already considered a master when my father started with me, so we only reviewed basics a little. He just helped me perfect my judgment skills so that I was Knight Caeli material for when there was an opening. He's very proud of me, though he won't admit it. I started with the sword at the age of six because my father was a swordsman. I wasn't really allowed to do it, so I kept it a secret. I didn't know much, but I did improve until I entered competitions, dressed as a boy. I even stole some boy's clothes! If my mother ever knew that her daughter was a knight, she'd toss in her grave! But, because of all that, I really didn't have any proper training. When I found my father, he was so surprised. It took him a while to adjust to the fact that I existed. It took him even longer to adjust when he found out I was female. I must've been twelve. He told me to give up the sword because I couldn't use it well. He said that as soon as I could beat him in a fair duel, that he would train me. He isn't the sort who would let me beat him, either. He's a stubborn bastard. He finally started training me, when I beat the pants off him! He wasn't one for technique, though. He said that when he was young, and therefore stupid, he worried so much about technique that he couldn't sword fight anymore. So he taught me what he called 'the passion of the fight.' I was wondering…if you could…ano…"
D'Artagnan smiled. He lifted Kerenai's chin with his free hand. "I'll gladly train you. Though, when you surpass me, I cannot train you anymore. And you will."
Kerenai smiled. "How do you know that hasn't happened already?"
D'Artagnan smiled wryly. "Trust me, you haven't. if you don't believe me, I WILL fight you, but you'll lose horribly. And, personally, I don't think that your ego can handle that kind of rejection," he said, half laughing. He leaned in to kiss Kerenai, but she ducked under him.
"D'Artagnan, I don't think you get it, do you?! I told you yesterday that there can't be anything between us. So, just keep your distance."
D'Artagnan, who was now in the doorway, facing in, looked at Shiro, sleeping. "I understand."
-93-
"Enguard!" D'Artagnan held his foil in the ready position.
"Wait a minute, wait a minute! What does 'enguard' mean?"
D'Artagnan rolled his eyes and leaned on his foil, placing it firmly into the ground. "'Enguard' is a word that we use in sparring, fencing, and actual combat, that means 'ready or not, here I come!' Although, it's sort of a polite way of warning your opponent that you're about to start. It comes from the French, 'en guard', or 'at ready' or something to that effect. So I say 'enguard' and I'm ready, then you say 'touché' and then we begin. However, if…"
"Wait! Wait! What does 'touché' mean?"
D'Artagnan hit his forehead with his palm. "'Touché' means, uh, it means that you're ready basically. So, if you're partner is unsophisticated and does what you did when you said 'what does "enguard" mean?', then you start with the upper hand. Okay?"
Kerenai nodded.
"Enguard!"
"Touché!"
They started fighting. Kerenai was getting used to using a foil pretty quickly. However, D'Artagnan was doing things that she had never seen anyone do before. He was whispering to himself, too. "Perrée, perrée, thrust, turn, perrée." She didn't let that distract her, though. Whenever D'Artagnan 'thrust'ed, he left his abdomen open! Kerenai decided to act on this new piece of information. "Thrust!" She jabbed him in the stomach with her knee. D'Artagnan buckled over. Kerenai went to jump on his chest with her knee, to send him to the floor, but he surprised her by standing up suddenly. Her knee flew through the air, not touching anything. However, there was some bad planning on her part, because she started to topple over backwards. Seeing this as an opportunity, D'Artagnan ran and grabbed her back, so they were nose to nose.
"Kerenai, if you kiss me, I won't let you fall. And we'll continue the fight. But I won't kiss you, you have to kiss me!"
Kerenai rolled her eyes and kissed D'Artagnan. This so surprised D'Artagnan, because he hadn't expected her to actually kiss him, that he let his guard down. Kerenai, very swiftly, turned around and dropped her weight down on D'Artagnan, forcing the two of them to fall to the floor, with Kerenai on top of D'Artagnan. She sat up right before the impact, so that she was straddling D'Artagnan on her knees, pulled her foil from behind her, and placed the point at D'Artagnan's neck. She smiled wryly.
"I think that's it, D'Artagnan-san. I win."
D'Artagnan blushed horribly. "You cheated."
"So did you, and you don't hear me complaining." Kerenai removed the foil from D'Artagnan's neck. She leaned down and gave him a small kiss. What she wasn't expecting was for D'Artagnan to pull his hand up to the base of her neck and kiss her harder and longer than what was intended. D'Artagnan rolled the two of them over so that now he was on top. What she expected now would be for him to draw his foil on her, but he didn't. He just kissed her.
The Beginning of the End chapter index