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Sunlight Raye - Part FIVE |
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They waited outside the infirmary and paced back and forth. Naro was the worst. He was out of his mind with worry. He didn’t understand what was happening to her. He was scared, terrified of loosing her. He couldn’t lose her, not now. He cared too deeply and knew that loosing her would tear a wound into his soul. A wound that would never heal, for it would be too deep.
It was minutes before anyone came out the tent. When someone did come out, it was Dr. Dagus and he didn’t so much as come out as he was thrown out of the tent. They rushed over to him.
“Pervert!” yelled Raye as she walked out of the tent.
“I was giving you an exam!” yelled Dagus.
“Are you okay?” asked Naro as he rushed over to Raye, completely ignoring Dagus, who was laying on the ground.
“Huh?” asked Raye.
“You fainted,” said Huja.
“I’m fine by the way,” called Dagus, “Thanks so much for asking!”
“Kuto?” asked Naro, “Are you okay?” She had been staring at nothing but his voice called back.
“Right,” said Raye, “I don’t have much time. You woke me up too soon.”
“What?” asked Naro.
“Um, in the woods. He did something to me.”
“What?” asked Dagus, who had gotten up, “Who did what?”
“No time to explain.”
“What’s going on?” asked Naro.
“Talen Sai Fasu.”
“What?” asked Jaso.
“Oh dear god,” said Huja.
“What is it?” asked Naro.
“It’s complicated,” said Huja, “What day? Hurry, Kuto! When?” He grabbed her.
“Shano, ten years ago,” said Raye and she stared at Dagus as she spoke. She fainted and Naro caught her.
“What’s going on?” asked Naro.
“Pick him up, take him inside,” said Huja, “And keep him warm.”
“Okay,” said Naro and he did as he was told. He did not understand what was wrong. All he knew was that she was sick and he had to help her.
“Jaso,” said Huja, “Gather as many blankets as you can. Kalan, go to the kitchen and get as much salt as you can carry.”
“Okay,” said the both of them. Huja walked into the tent.
“What’s going on?” asked Dagus.
“Do you have any really nice monitors in here?” asked Huja.
“What do you mean by nice?” asked Dagus as Huja picked up the pads from the cots and threw them on the ground near Naro. Naro was sitting down with Raye on his lap and his arms around her to keep her warm.
“Something that can show us his temperature?” asked Huja as he searched through the cabinets.
“Yeah,” said Dagus and he went into the cabinets as well. He saw that Huja was taking out bed sheets. He pulled out the device he needed. Huja was rearranging the mats to make a sort makeshift bed.
“Give him to me,” said Huja and Naro stared at him, “Trust me.” Reluctantly Naro handed Raye over to Huja. When he took Raye into his arms he noticed how small she was, it was strange.
“Huja?” asked Naro and Huja looked up.
“Lay down.” Naro sat down on the mats and slowly Huja laid Raye down on top of him. Naro laid back down with Raye in his arms. Huja started to throw sheets over them as Dagus set up his monitor.
“What do you want me to do?” asked Dagus, who was completely lost.
“Hook him up doc.”
“Right, okay.” Huja worked quickly, covering her up and quickly and efficiently as possible as he got lost in his thoughts.
“That’s really strange,” thought Huja, “He’s really strange. He’s really strong and he eats a lot. Yet he’s so small. Everyone says we look alike but that’s not really true, I mean just put us side by side. He barely comes up to my shoulder and weighs about half as much as I do and he looks like he would. I guess our looks are somewhat similar. That’s part of what’s so weird about Kuto.
“Then there’s his birthmark, a demon mark. He told me he was a demon so I knew he had a demon mark. But I never would’ve guessed that it was a crescent moon. And it’s no wonder why he’s so careful about what he wears. What’s with all those scars anyway? Well I guess it is all apart of the great mystery that is Kuto Manto.”
“Huja?” asked Naro.
“Huh?”
“I was asking you about his shoulder.”
“Yeah what about it?”
“You know just as well as I do that was a demon mark.”
“We’ll talk about it later.”
“Fine.” Jaso and Kalan returned a few minutes later with their supplies.
“Okay,” said Jaso, “We got everything you asked for. Now will you explaining?”
“That’s very good,” said Huja, “But it’s hard to explain. The Talen Sai Fasu is a demon thing. It means Trial of Faith.”
“Trial of Faith?” asked Kalan.
“Every demon knows of it but few have experienced it and survived.”
“What do you mean?” asked Naro.
“It’s very dangerous. Most die with in the first few hours.”
“How?” asked Naro.
“They freeze to death. You see the Talen Sai Fasu it’s sort of a curse. Um, it happens when one demon puts a part of itself in another demon.”
“That’s disgusting!” said Jaso.
“Nothing vial really, just a bit their power really. But in this case he’s had a bad reaction to it; this was probably the intended effect. It’s a simple process. The curse bearer, Kuto, is forcibly pulled to the day of their greatest pain.”
“So that means Kuto is-,” said Naro.
“Currently stuck right in the middle of the worst thing that ever happened to him. First his body will become as cold as ice itself. If we don’t keep him warm enough he’ll die, which is why I needed all those blankets, plus we’re going to have to give him our-.”
“What are you going to say and why don’t I think I’ll like it?” asked Kalan.
“We just lay down and give him some body heat,” said Huja.
“Perfect, in case you haven’t noticed I’m obviously the only straight person on our crazy team so this makes me a little uncomfortable.”
“Get over it,” said Huja, “Kuto’s saved you a dozen times over, you owe him.”
“Fine, by why’d I have to bring salt?”
“Because the second phase involves viruses.”
“So?”
“Demonic viruses, they enter through the aura of an unprotected demon. A salt barrier is the only things that’ll keep them out.”
“Why salt?” asked Jaso.
“I don’t really know, but it works. God, if he hadn’t just passed out so fast, we could in and help him.”
“We could?” asked Naro.
“It’s a simple spell, but I’d need the exact day of where he is. Without it it’s pointless. But he only got out the year.”
“What year was that?” asked Naro.
“Ten years ago,” said Huja, “And he didn’t even give me a place. Just Shano, and that’s a really big place.”
“Hm,” said Dagus absent-mindedly.
“What?” asked Naro.
“It’s nothing, I’m sure,” said Dagus.
“What? If you know something!”
“You’re from Shano right?” asked Huja, “Did anything happen ten years ago?”
“Well, there was one thing, but he couldn’t, unless,” said Dagus, “No, but-.”
“What is? Spit it out man,” said Naro.
“Manto? Kuto Manto,” said Dagus and he walked over to Raye, “Give me his arm.” He reached down and grabbed her right arm and revealed the demon Mark. Jaso and Kalan stared in shock. But Dagus wasn’t done.
“What are you-?” asked Naro and Dagus undid a bracelet that Raye always tied so carefully around her wrist. Naro gasped at more scars, far more horrifying ones.
“Damn, it’s you.” Dagus stood up as Naro stared at three gashes on her wrists. He couldn’t believe it.
“He couldn’t have -, not ever, not that,” thought Naro. She’d slit her wrist, as if she had tried to -, he just couldn’t believe it.
“Dagus? What is it? What did he do?” asked Naro.
“That can’t be, god damned, I can’t believe it’s, it’s.”
“Have you met Kuto Manto before?”
“In a way, but it wasn’t Manto back then, not ten years ago.” Dagus sat down.
“Ten years ago?” asked Huja.
“I can’t believe I didn’t recognize that it’s -,” said Dagus, he was in shock and he was instantly lost in his thoughts, “A girl! A girl! And Raye Tani! Bloody hell, I’m in some deep trouble here. I never thought I’d see Raye Tani ever again. Especially not at war! And she’s pretending to be Kuto Manto! Why? WHY? Why me? And what am I supposed to do? Do I turn her in? No, they’ll kill her. Do I protect her? I guess I should. Oh man, my brother is right; Raye Tani did end up weird as hell.”
“Doc?” asked Naro.
“What?”
“Do you know Kuto?” All he knew to do was lie and lie through his teeth while making it as good a lie as possible.
“I did, I didn’t recognize him, it’s been a long time,” said Dagus, “When I met him his name sure as hell wasn’t Manto, it was Tani.”
“Tani?”
“That’s a big name where I come from but I haven’t heard it in a long time. For years the Tani Clan practically ruled Shano.”
“Clan?”
“Yeah, the Tani family was so large they became a clan. They had this huge estate, I remember growing up near the main gates. I would walk by every day and wonder what was behind that huge wall. Ten years ago, just before I was drafted, I found out.”
“What happened ten years ago?”
“The Tani Massacre.”
“Massacre?”
“It took three days, the entire event I mean. Some how a band of demons got into the estate. No Tani got out, except one. They killed them all, except this one, a child. I was called in to help with the investigation. The bodies were everywhere just strewn out where they died. They had their innards ripped out, everything was so mangled we couldn’t even collect a whole body in one piece. It was so horrible, a sort of fleshy jigsaw puzzle. A leg here, a small intestine there, body parts just scattered everywhere and everything painted red with their blood. But there was a kid, the one and only survivor.”
“Kuto?” asked Naro.
“Yeah. I was there when they wheeled him out. I thought he was dead when I saw him. I figured they were taking good care of the body because it was basically in one piece. But somehow he was alive. He was bloody all over, more than half of his bones were completely broken, he was barely alive. He’d lost a lot of blood. He was the only thing left alive. They’d killed all the animals too. Birds and cats, everything was decimated. And somehow this kid had lived.”
“What happened to the demons?”
“No one ever found out. Kuto, he recovered, physically. He was released from the Shano Hospital only to be put back in after his best friend found him in alley, with-.”
“These scars, did he try to?”
“Yes, he tried to kill himself. Twice actually before they made him get help. I heard he was adopted by the Manto Family, friends of his father.”
“What kind of help?”
“The Three Great Demonic Magi.”
“Seriously?” asked Huja, “They helped him?”
“Oh yeah.”
“Don’t they only help demons?” asked Naro.
“Who are the Magi?” asked Jaso.
“They’re a group of really powerful demons, they kind of control destiny,” said Huja, “They rarely help anyone but themselves. There’s a lot of legends about them. Some say they can see the whole of time and space that they know everything that’s going to happen. And they’ll do anything to make sure what they want to happen will happen and prevent what they don’t want to happen from happening.”
“Then why’d they help him?” asked Kalan, “If they only help demons.”
“Well -,” said Dagus.
“He is a demon,” said Huja and everyone stared at him, “He was born a half demon, he told me so.”
“He’s right,” said Dagus, “Every Tani’s a demon.”
“Why’d he tell YOU?” asked Naro.
“That’s a really good way to focus on the real problem, Naro,” said Kalan.
“Right,” said Jaso, “But-?”
“He told me, because I’m a demon too.” He pulled off his shirt and showed them his demon mark, a crescent moon. Jaso was a little more distracted than anyone else but not by the birthmark.
“God damn it!” moaned Dagus and Raye screamed as the monitor beeped. Her body temperature had taken a nose dive.
“We have to lay down,” said Huja, pulling his shirt back on and they laid down. Jaso on one side of Naro and Kalan on the other as Huja laid down next to Jaso. They pulled the blankets over them.
“How did the Magi help him?” asked Naro.
“Well-.”
“Make a circle of salt around us while you talk,” said Huja and Dagus nodded.
“Well, they erased his memories, wiped the whole event from his mind.”
“So he’s experiencing his only living for the first time.”
“He knows how it ends.”
“But that’s not the same as knowing what’s around every corner. If he remembered he could at least expect what’s going to happen next and prepare himself for it. He’s got to look in the eyes of a band of killers who massacred his entire family for the first time,” said Naro.
“I didn’t say it was going to be easy,” said Dagus.
“Well since you know what day it was,” said Huja, “Then you can tell as and we can go there, we can help him.”
“No, you can’t. When I say the Magi wiped it out of his memories I mean they made it so no one could make him remember.”
“How?”
“They wiped it from history.”
“They can do that?” asked Jaso.
“Apparently, they had this big debate about it first. I never met any of them though. But they made it so not even time travelers could go there unless they were the first time around. Only he can go back to that day.”
“So we can’t help him?” asked Naro.
“I’m afraid not.” That wasn’t what Naro wanted to hear. He wanted to go, to help her face her fears and her horrible past. The scars were ten years old, the massacre had been ten years ago. Even he could put that together. He wanted her back now. He wished that she didn’t have to do this. He would kill the demon who was doing this too her. The monitor beeped again. And that was how it was. And because she had to relive the entire thing they were there for four days. The event lasted three days but after her temperature was stable they moved her to a real bed. The last day she was in a small coma.
She woke up, screaming like a maniac. She jumped off the bed and ripped of her sensors. She kicked Kalan in the head, still screaming. She grabbed the first scalpel she saw. She held it to Jaso neck as she stopped screaming.
“Relax, Kuto, you’re safe,” said Naro, “It’s over. You’re fine.”
“Kuto?” asked Raye with the most extremely puzzled look on her face and she dropped the scalpel, “Naro?” She also dropped Jaso, who was understandably a little freaked out. Naro rushed over to her and held onto her.
“It’s okay.” She fell to her knees and stared blindly over his shoulder.
“What?”
“It’s over, you’re back, it’s over, you’re okay, I’m here.”
“No,” moaned Raye.
“It’s okay.”
“I’m going to be sick.” Her whole body surged and Naro let go. She bent over and vomited all over the floor.
“Hey. Will you guys clear out while I give him an examine?” asked Dagus and they nodded. They filed out of the infirmary as Raye vomited again. She stared at the ground in shock, she was close to tears and Naro would rather do anything than leave her but if she was sick then she would be better off with Naro.
“Doc, can we do this another time?”
“Sure, that’s no problem,” said Dagus as Raye forced herself to her feet, “Whatever you wish, Lady Tani.” He bowed his head to her.
“Thanks,” said Raye, without thinking and then she paused abruptly, “WHAT?”
“Are you feeling well Lady Tani? Or is it Lord Tani or Lord Manto these days?”
“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. What are you-?”
“Calm down, you’re safe here; I’m not going to tell anyone. Although your team kind of knows your name now but just your last name not your first.”
“What? How?”
“I sort of freaked a little and let it slip I knew who you were, how you’re a Tani.”
“I’m going to die.”
“No! I lied, you’re safe, Kuto Tani.” Raye moaned, not more lies.
“Uh.”
“Don’t you remember me? I was your doctor after-.” She looked at him, she did remember him and she wished she didn’t.
“I have to go.” She ran out the tent. She couldn’t deal with this, not after the Talen Sai Fasu. It was just too much. He chased her but she lost him in the tents. He assumed she’d get some sleep if she could so he let her be. He was wrong.
She couldn’t bear hearing people talk when below it all she was hearing the screams of others that weren’t even there. It was running through her head again. So she ran into the woods but it only got louder, less bearable. She screamed. Mostly at the sky for no reason. She couldn’t take it, it was too much. She sat down, although it was more like she collapsed onto her knees, horrible sights filling her eyes. She knew this pain. She had forgotten but she remembered it all now.
She drew one of her knifes and threw it at a tree. It hit a tree, just not the one she’d been aiming for. She tried again and missed even worse. She screamed. She’d liked to practice her marksmanship when she felt sick about the nonexistent memories before but now she remembered. It didn’t help at all anymore, in fact it just made her feel worse. It was nowhere near enough to distract her. She pulled out a third but she couldn’t let go of it. It was cold and she felt so very hot. She placed it on her wrist the flat side of the blade just laying there.
“What are you doing?” asked a voice from behind her, it was Naro. She jumped and dropped the knife.
“Naro?” asked Raye she didn’t move. She was trying to catch her breath.
“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“It’s okay.”
“No it’s not, it’s not okay. You should’ve said that I didn’t scare you. But I did which means something’s not okay. I’ve never snuck up on you and I wasn’t trying to.”
“Go away.” Naro felt like someone had just given his heart a punch.
“No.” He sat down behind her and grabbed her.
“Just go.”
“Never. Do you want to talk?”
“No.” It sounded like she was going to cry.
“What do you want to do?”
“I don’t know. I don’t-.”
“It’s okay.” He pulled her back onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her as tight as he could. He took a large whiff of her hair as he buried his face in it.
“It’s not.”
“It will be.”
“No it won’t.”
“Why not? It can be fine. It’s okay that you’re sad or scared or whatever.”
“How much do you know? Dagus-.”
“He explained some things, left a lot up to mystery. Tani?”
“Don’t, don’t call me that, please god, don’t call me that.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t-.”
“What else did he-? What else-?” Naro put a hand on her shoulder and slid down the sleeve, wondering if it was okay and when he was going to be stopped. She didn’t protest, she just sat there.
“You’re a demon.”
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” Raye started shaking.
“Don’t be.” He kissed her shoulder and suddenly he couldn’t stop so he kissed her neck and pulled her in close.
“Stop.” He did, he didn’t want to but he did. He did because he knew he shouldn’t be doing this to her in the state she was in.
“Sorry. I know I shouldn’t-.”
“What else did he say?” Naro reached forward and grabbed her hand and that was when she realized her bracelet was gone. She sucked in a deep breath as he pulled her hand into the light where they could both see those three scars very clearly.
“What did you do?”
“No, I, you don’t understand.”
“Let me, tell me.”
“I can’t. I was in a bad place.”
“Is that where you are now?”
“No, it was worse then. All that blood and I thought it could end it with more. I needed to end it.” She reached forward and grabbed the blade. She pressed it against her wrist and Naro was too shocked to move at first. But he recovered immediately and knocked the blade away.
“WHAT THE HELL!” yelled Naro. She turned around and looked at him; her eyes were blank to the point where it scared him.
“I wasn’t going to,” said Raye in a dead voice, “I was just going to show you how easy it is, you know, to make a mistake like that. You just have to do it once is all. Because the first time is the hardest I guess but that’s when you think you need it the most. But after that it’s easy to do it again a second or third time and maybe even a fourth. Because you know people do it, because they got nothing. I got nothing all over again.”
“Don’t say that, don’t say such awful things. You have a lot of things to live for; there are so many people who care about you. I-.”
“You what?”
“Um.”
“The spell’s broken after ten years. I asked them to put it on me. Well they offered and I accepted. I couldn’t deal with it but I see it again. Dear god I see it again.”
“You need to sleep.”
“I can’t, I see them.”
“Well, lets at least get you back to camp. Put you in your tent.”
“You’re going to leave me?”
“What?”
“I can’t, I can’t be all alone. I won’t be all alone again. I won’t.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Stay with me, please, stay.”
“Okay. Get up.” Naro stood up but Raye didn’t move so he picked her up. He carried her in his arms all the way back to her tent. He set her down and got up. She wasn’t making much sense, she was confused to be true but she knew enough of what was going to understand he was leaving.
“NO! Don’t, please, you said you wouldn’t.”
“Okay, okay,” said Naro and he sat back down, “Please try to get some rest.” She tried but didn’t succeed. She just sat there all night, staring at nothing, saying nothing and Naro didn’t know what to do.
In the morning he couldn’t get her out of bed, she just sat there, like she was dead. Eventually he called in Lt. Jaserard and Dr. Dagus. He didn’t know who else to call. The three talked in the tent and he and the rest of his team waited outside. He was tired of waiting outside.
“Private, talk to me,” said Jaserard as he bent down to look in her eyes, “Private?”
“Hey, Manto,” said Dagus, always mentally reminding himself to call Raye Kuto Manto. One slip and no lie could undo it.
“I think we should call Doctor Fetnal.”
“The psychologist! Really sir, I think that’s a bit extreme.”
“From what those boys tell me this poor kid just relived his own personal living hellish nightmare. Now he’s like he’s locked inside of himself or something. Who do you suppose we call?”
“Right sir.”
“I can’t even imagine how bad it was, a massacre.”
“I can, I was there.”
“Huh?”
“I was still in Shano, all doctors were called in. I was the one who found him.”
“You were? How come you never said that?”
“I didn’t recognize him. He was adopted by the Mantos, he has a different name.”
“Oh.”
“Can I talk to him for a sec? In private?”
“Sure.” Jaserard backed out. It was up to him to explain to the team what was going to happen next. For one they would be removed from active duty, no missions for a very long time.
“Lady Tani? Miss Raye? Are you in there?” asked Dagus and she looked at him, “It’s me, Doctor Dagus. Do you remember me? You gave everyone here a really big scare. Do you know where you are, Lady Tani?”
“War?” asked Raye.
“Yes. Do you know your name?”
“I am Kuto Manto.”
“Good, I think.”
“But not really, I’m Raye Tani.”
“Okay. Do you know me?”
“Doc?”
“Very good. How do you feel?”
“I can’t. I don’t want to remember. Why do I remember?”
“I’m sorry. Do you know what happened to you?”
“Talen Sai Fasu.”
“Right. Do you know what you have to do?”
“Yes, lie, always lie.”
“Okay, I’m going to send Naro and the others in. Do you want to talk to them?”
“No, they like to ask questions.”
“I’ll tell them not to. I’ll see you later.”
“You’re leaving me all alone?”
“I’ll be right outside, I promise.”
“Okay.” He walked outside and her team stared at him.
“How is he?” asked Naro.
“I got him to talk, finally,” said Dagus, “He’s a little out of it. A bit confused about what’s going on. He shouldn’t be alone, not for a while at least. He doesn’t want to talk about it so don’t ask. But you’re going to have to ask him if he knows where he is. Because it’s very important that his mind stays here.”
“Okay,” said Naro, “And, um someone’s going to have to go through his stuff.”
“Why?” asked Huja.
“We’ll have to get anything sharp enough that he can use it to cut himself out of the tent, away from his hands.”
“Okay,” said Dagus, “I’ll do it. Maybe you should take him for a walk.”
“Good idea,” said Jaso as they walked into the tent.
“Hey, Kuto, do you want to go for a walk?” asked Naro.
“No,” said Raye.
“Fresh air will make you feel better.”
“No it won’t.”
“You can’t know that. Maybe getting up and talking to people will distract you.”
“It’s too loud.”
“Actually it’s pretty quiet today,” said Kalan.
“In my head, they’re screaming.” She folded her legs up to her chest and put her head down. Her hair fell everywhere, she knew she looked insane and she felt it. No one else could hear all the screaming that was in her head. In her memories everyone was always screaming. She wanted to scream to, she wanted to run away. She even wanted to cry but she couldn’t do any of that. She shook like she was crying but no tears came. Naro reached forward and brushed her head back. He wished she’d talk about it.
“Can I get you anything?” asked Naro. She leaned over the side of her bed and vomited harshly. No one said anything; Kalan nearly vomited himself at the sight. For someone whose stomach could hold so much it was so weak.
“Sleep,” said Raye after a long time.
“Do you want to sleep?”
“I don’t know.”
“Do you want us to leave?”
“No.”
“Are you hungry?”
“No.”
“Is there anything-?”
“No.”
“Okay, just let us know if there’s anything we can do.”
“Fine.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to go for a walk?” asked Naro but she just sat there, “Kuto? Hey Kuto!” She didn’t move.
“Kuto, are you in there?” yelled Huja and he shook her violently, “KUTO!” She stared at him, her eyes slowly focusing on his face.
“Maverio?” asked Raye in blur.
“What?” asked Huja, “What did you just call me?”
“Huja, I called you Huja, I-.”
“No, you didn’t, you most definitely called me Maverio. Who the hell is Maverio?”
“None of your business.”
“Oh?”
“Let’s go for a walk.”
“Fine,” said Huja, realizing that she’d do anything to avoid talking about it. They helped her out of bed when she wouldn’t get up. She leaned on Naro as they walked, she had no strength of her own. Every few minutes they had to stop so she could throw up. They didn’t get very far, before she was too weak to move. Naro had to carry her back to the tent as she panted heavily in his arms.
“Here, I’ll get you some food,” said Naro.
“I’m not hungry.”
“You’re always hungry.”
“I won’t eat.”
“You’ll eat something.”
“We’ll help,” said Kalan as he and Jaso stood up.
“You’re all leaving?”
“I’ll stay with you,” said Huja as they left, “So?”
“So?”
“Are you going to tell me who Maverio is?”
“I wasn’t planning on it.”
“I think I should get an answer.”
“Why? It’s got nothing to do with you.”
“Well, you called me by his name. I just want to know why.”
“I never told you?”
“Huh?”
“I thought it the first time I saw you.”
“Thought what?”
“Under my bed.”
“What?”
“There’s a small box, can you grab it?”
“Um, okay.” He bent down and rummaged underneath her until he found the one he was looking for. It wasn’t heavy and as he handed it over he couldn’t figure out what was inside of it.
“Thanks,” said Raye as she lifted the lid. She pulled out photographs, ones that Kuto had sent her a few months ago.
“What are-?” Huja tried to grab one but she slapped his hand.
“Stop that.”
“HEY! What-?”
“Don’t do that, don’t touch my stuff. It’s bad enough Dagus came in here while we were gone and took anything sharp.”
“You noticed?”
“Yes, you rude annoyance.”
“I am rude? You hit me!”
“That’s not me being rude, that’s me being mean.”
“So what are you doing?”
“Here, take a look at this photo.” She handed him one.
“This is a picture of-?”
“Maverio.”
“He looks like-.”
“You, with different hair, but it’s him. I thought to myself a thousand times how weird it is that you look so similar to him.” He stared at the photograph, it was a picture of him with short red hair instead of long black hair.
“What was Maverio to you?”
“He was my cousin, he thought of himself as my brother and so did I, I guess. He was also an idiot, major league idiot. He was my cousin but mostly he was an idiot.” She swallowed like her mouth was full of rocks.
“He was there too?”
“Yeah, of course, he was -.”
“He was what?” She started panting again to the point where she couldn’t breathe at all. Huja jumped up but he didn’t know what to do. It took him a while to realize she was hyperventilating so he rubbed her back until she calmed down.
“I’m good,” said Raye after a while.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“Then maybe you shouldn’t have asked.”
“He was really important to you, wasn’t he?”
“Very, he was one of the few friends I had.”
“I imagine you have more friends back home than you think.”
“I think you’re delusional. I only had the five friends, a couple of those might not even be technically my friends.”
“That’s depressing.”
“Well I beat up a lot of people back there so-.”
“So, not a lot of friends?”
“It didn’t help that every cop in Shano knew me by name because of all those times that I got arrested.”
“They did not.”
“Did to, I was arrested quite often.”
“Ha.”
“But that was life in Shano, everybody got arrested sooner or later. For me it was just well always.”
“Are you homesick?”
“Nah, I think maybe if I was back in Shano it’d be harder. You can see the Tani estate from any point in the city. I don’t think I could handle that.” Naro walked into the tent with two trays of food. He set one down on the bed in front of her, she looked it but wouldn’t touch it.
“What?” asked Naro.
“I’m not hungry,” said Raye.
“Eat something.”
“No.”
“I said eat.”
“You can’t order me around.”
“I can to, Jaserard put me in charge.”
“Huh?”
“That’s right. Seeing as how you’re out of it half the time and when you are here you’re wallowing in your misery, he put me in charge of the team.”
“Good for you.”
“Just eat.”
“NO!”
“I’ll make it an order.”
“Go ahead.”
“Guys,” said Kalan, “Stop it.”
“Yeah, don’t fight,” said Jaso.
“Guys, can I talk to him for a minute, in private?” asked Naro.
“Sure,” said Huja and they left.
“For the love god Kuto I’m going to hit you if you keep doing this.”
“Doing what?”
“That! You’re voice, the way you talk, the words you use. Stop it.”
“Stop what?”
“Stop being depressed.”
“You can’t order me not to feel the way I feel.”
“But-.”
“I’m hurt, I’m in pain, I’m sorry but this how I’m going to deal with it.”
“I know but I don’t think I can watch you like this.”
“Get over it, because you see, I can’t do this without you. I need you.”
“Okay.”
“Will you sit down?” She put her hand on the bed behind her.
“Fine,” said Naro and he got down behind her. He pulled her onto his lap.
“Thank you,” said Raye, “You know you smell nice?”
“You make it impossible to stay mad at you, you know? When you say weird things like that?” asked Naro and she almost, nearly smiled as he thought to himself, “And you make it absolutely hopeless not to love you when you say such sweet things. When you tell me you need me. Because what could you possibly need from me?”
“But you do smell nice.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” She laid her head back on his chest and closed her eyes. She was asleep, finally. She’d been awake out of horrible terror. He reached forward and pulled the blankets over them to keep her warm as she slumped over in his arms. He laid back with her in his arms.
“Sleep tight, my sweet.” He kissed her forehead, it was unbelievable how much he could care about one person. He never thought it would be like this. Her breathing suddenly became quicker, harsher. She was having a nightmare, it was understandable why. He hated it though, he didn’t want her to be in pain anymore. She screamed and shot up. Her head collided with his chin.
“Ow! Oh, s**t! Naro, I’m sorry,” said Raye as she turned around instantly and examined his chin, “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. How’s your head?”
“Oh, I’m fine.”
“Okay.”
“Sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. Do you want to try to eat something?”
“No.”
“Oh?”
“I want to go throw up.” She rushed out of her tent and landed on her knees just as it began. That one was longer, which was illogical. She’d done nothing but vomit for days and she hadn’t eaten. She didn’t know what was left to throw up.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“Sorry.”
“It’s not your fault.” He placed a hand on the back of her neck and stroked her hair tenderly. She’d only been asleep for a few minutes. But when she fell into her slumber she had no defense against the nightmares. At least when she was awake the presence of her comrades could hold the worst parts back.
“You must be Private Kuto Manto,” said someone.
“Who’s asking?” asked Naro as he stood up.
“My name is Dr. Fetnal, I’ve just been assigned your case,” said the man.
“My case?” asked Raye as she stood up and looked at Fetnal. He was well, the first word that came to her mind was “short.” She’d always been the shortest person at the camp but he was shorter. He was also bald and he looked the way he smelled: gross.
“I’m a psychiatrist, I’m here to determine your fitness for combat.” He pushed his glasses up his nose to make himself seem dominate.
“I don’t know what that means,” said Raye in her forceful voice that made her seem so much more important than he was. She even went so far as to slant her eyes.
“Uh,” said Fetnal, taking a step back in fear, “I’m here to see if you’re fit to fight.”
“I’m a good fighter, everyone knows that.”
“I’m not here about your skill but about your mind.”
“Nothing’s wrong with my mind.”
“I’ll determine that. Follow me.”
“Says who?”
“Me,” said Jaserard.
“Oh.” Raye straightened up and looked at him. She looked like she’d just been stabbed in the back.
“Follow him and that’s an order.”
“Yes, sir.”
“You too,” said Jaserard, looking at Naro and her gathered team. They walked into small tent and sat down. Naro was right next her, holding her hand.
“So what is this all about?” asked Huja.
“Due to Private Manto’s current mental state and apparent break down I have been assigned to-,” said Fetnal.
“I can hear you.” He paused and looked at her.
“Sorry. Shall we just begin?”
“Fine.”
“I’m going to ask you some questions.”
“Sure.”
“Do you have a problem with that?”
“Nope, but I can’t promise I’ll answer them.”
“Fine. How are you feeling?”
“As well as possible, under the circumstances.”
“Wow, that’s just one well thought out answer. How are you really feeling?”
“Like I want to throw up all the time.”
“Okay,” said Fetnal, “Now I just read the official report about the, uh, the um.”
“The massacre?” suggested Raye.
“How can you call it that?”
“Because that’s what it was. It was a massacre, everybody died, everything was destroyed. Even all the animals.”
“Except for you.”
“Duh.”
“How did you survive?”
“It’s a long story, one I’m not about to tell you.”
“Fine, I have the report-.”
“I’ve read it.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, so what?”
“I’m sorry but I have to ask, about the report.”
“What about it?”
“Is there anything that you have to change?”
“There is one thing.”
“Oh?”
“There was, um.”
“Yes?” She squeezed Naro’s hand as hard as she could and looked away.
“There was only one demon.”
“Excuse me?”
“The report says there was a large band of demons but there was only one.”
“Only one?” asked Jaserard.
“Yes, sir.”
“That’s impossible,” said Dagus, “The Tani Clan was full of the most powerful demons on the planet. It would have taken a team of at least twenty demons to do what they did in three days. There is no demon in Gaselu with that kind of power. The Tanis were elite demons, every last one of them. They all had special powers, even all of the half-demons. It would take a demon of unsurpassable strength to-.” He stopped, Raye was shaking horribly. Her hair fell in front of her face and it almost looked like she was crying and Dagus realized he’d been yelling at her.
“Dagus?” asked Jaserard.
“I’m sorry.” Dagus sat down. Naro put a hand on Raye’s shoulder and pulled some of her hair back behind her ears so he could see her face. She wasn’t crying.
“Are you okay?” asked Naro.
“Tell us about the demon,” said Jaserard.
“He-,” said Raye and she fell out of her chair and onto her knees. Naro rushed up knelt in front of her to catch her if she decided to fall.
“Kuto?”
“He had black wings, that’s all that I saw of him. I was hiding.” She grabbed her head and started screaming. Naro grabbed her shoulders.
“Snap out of it, come back to me.” He was practically screaming, he had to for her to hear him over her own screaming.
“Stop him and all of you get out,” ordered Jaserard. They stared at him. Jaserard rarely yelled orders. Raye had stopped screaming and began moaning. Naro lifted her up and carried her out.
“I’m going to get him to bed, Huja stay here and figure out what is going on.”
“Okay.” Huja leaned back against the tent and watched them walk away.
“There is no way, no single demon could have done this,” said Dagus’s voice.
“You heard what he said,” said Fetnal.
“But I’m telling you-.”
“You weren’t there.”
“I saw the aftermath, I knew the Tanis.”
“But he’s the only eyewitness. Why would he lie?”
“I’m not saying he lied, I’m just saying that he must have been mistaken. He must have only seen the one demon, there must have been others that he didn’t see.”
“Stop bickering,” said Jaserard, “You two sound like children. I swear you’re worse than some of my recruits. Dagus, I don’t care that you knew these people. Private Manto wouldn’t be mistaken, he’s perhaps my best recruit and his powers of observation are completely unparalleled. So if he says there was only one demon then there was only one demon.”
“But there isn’t -,” said Dagus.
“We all know there is in fact one demon who could’ve done this. He even matches the description Manto spewed off in his insanity, the black wings.”
“You don’t honestly think-,” said Fetnal.
“We’ll have to send a message to General Hinaka, tell him that he’ll have to come here immediately.”
“Lieutenant,” said Jaserard, “You can’t believe-.”
“It was Darak.” Huja froze outside where he’d been listening.
“No way,” said Huja and he left before he was seen. That couldn’t be right. Darak? It was impossible. Could his friend have survived an attack from Darak himself? He would’ve to talk to her. It wasn’t going be easy.
“So?” asked Naro when Huja walked in.
“Um,” said Huja and he looked at Raye, she was sitting in her bed again, “Can I talk to you for a second, alone?” Raye looked at Naro.
“Okay,” said Raye. Naro reluctantly got up and left. Huja could feel his pain at leaving Raye’s side. He didn’t enjoy doing that to Naro but he had to.
“Um, Kuto,” said Huja as he sat down by her bed.
“What is it? Just tell me.”
“They know which demon it was.”
“What?”
“They know what demon killed your clan.”
“Okay.”
“Do you want to know?” Raye took her time thinking about it.
“Yes.” She grabbed his hand and he didn’t pull it away.
“It was, um, well it was Darak.”
“What?”
“Darak killed your family himself.”
“No, he-.” She stopped. What could she say: “No, he didn’t, he loves me”? Darak had confessed his love for her. But she still didn’t know what that meant.
“He - what?” She held up a finger and he stopped. She threw herself backwards onto her bed, sending sheets flying up in her wake. She reached behind her head, grabbed a pillow and pressed it to her face. Then she started to scream to Huja’s utter shock.
“Why is he-?” asked Naro, after he had rushed in.
“I don’t know,” said Huja, “He just, well, he sort of-.” She was still screaming when Fetnal, Jaserard and Dagus rushed in.
“Why is he doing that?” asked Jaserard.
“Well, I told him sir,” said Huja.
“Told him what?” asked Fetnal.
“He had a right to know. I overheard you.”
“s**t, s**t, s**t, s**t, s**t, s**t,” said Raye as she stopped screaming.
“Oh, no,” said Dagus.
“********, ********, ********, ********, ********, ********.”
“What’s going on?” asked Naro,
“The Tani Clan was killed by Darak,” said Jaserard.
“Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap.”
“That sucks but why is he-.”
“Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn, damn.”
“Stop that, it’s annoying,” said Jaserard as he pick up the pillow and hit her with it. That only made her start screaming again.
“Lovely,” said Dagus and put the pillow back on her face.
“Hey, don’t do that,” said Naro and he took the pillow. She didn’t scream this time. Naro just grabbed her hand and it comforted her.
“I need -,” said Raye.
“What?” asked Naro.
“I need to talk to Dagus for a sec.”
“Oh,” said Naro, he didn’t even try to hide the disappointment in his voice. Once again he got up and left her, it killed him to do it too.
“What is it?” asked Dagus.
“Was it really Darak?” asked Raye.
“Yes, as much as I hate to admit it, but it was Darak, he’s the only one who could have done it.”
“It doesn’t make much sense, why would Darak travel to the heart of Shano, the headquarters of everyone who hates him, by himself?”
“Shano is the heart of the rebellion and no heart can beat without the brain.”
“He wanted to kill the brain of Shano, well that would be-.”
“The two great clans, specifically the heads of those two clans. The Tanis and the Hinakas. In fact he only had to kill one, the two clans hated each other for years. So he picked one and he had to whip them out.”
“Or kill enough of us that we couldn’t go through the coronation ceremony to honor a new head of the family but unfortunately for him I survived.”
“And you just happened to be the current head of the family.”
“If Grandfather hadn’t died just before it and I hadn’t been coronated, the whole power of the Tanis would have been handed over to the Hinakas. And then he would killed them too.”
“But you survived.”
“Yes I did.”
“I’m sorry but it’s not going to get any easier. They’ve sent word to General Hinaka, he’ll be here later today, anytime now really. If he starts to think back, if he remembers the head of the Tani Clan was a woman.”
“They never knew.”
“But if he met you at any of the summits.”
“No, we’re good there. I never went to any. Grandfather wouldn’t let me, he said I wasn’t ready. But the thing is, the Talen Sai Fasu-.”
“That was Darak too, wasn’t it?”
“How’d you know?”
“The Magi’s spell would have made it impossible for any demon who wasn’t there to send you back there.”
“I know, he was in my head, talking to me before he put the spell on me.”
“What did he say?”
“He, he told me, he said that he loved me.”
“He did what?”
“He told me over and over that he loved me.”
“Is that why he spared you?”
“No, he doesn’t know who I am. He loves the persona I’ve put on since I came here. The one everyone sees.”
“Damn, damn, why tell me?”
“Well, no offense but you’re the only one I can trust.”
“None taken.” The sound of hooves on the ground echoed from outside. Hinaka had arrived. She didn’t want to see him. He might have been a member an enemy clan but he had also always been her hero. She was a complete mess.
“Crap.”
“You, come with me.”
“What?”
“You’re going to explain all of this to him, with a few exceptions of course.”
“What? No!”
“Yes!”
“I can’t! It’s-.”
“No, excuses and for the love of god, less lies.”
“No! I won’t.”
“Yes, you will.” He grabbed her pony tail and pulled her outside.
“OW! Hey! Let me go,” screamed Raye, “Let go of my hair! Stop pulling me! Let go! I said STOP IT!” He dragged her past the tents and threw her into the tent as her team filed in behind her.
“Private Manto, it’s good to see you up and about,” said Hinaka, “I hear you’ve had a rough couple of days.”
“Explain,” said Dagus.
“Well the thing is -.”
“Now!”
“Darak was the one who put me through the Talen Sai Fasu.”
“What? When did he-?”
“In the woods, the other day.”
“He was here, this close to the camp!”
“No, he was in his castle.”
“But the Curse of the Talen Sai Fasu requires touching.”
“Unless the demon is a telepath.”
“Darak isn’t a telepath.”
“But I am.”
“What?”
“All demons have powers, mine is telepathy.”
“So you mean to say - that Darak was in your mind?”
“Pretty much.”
“What did he say?”
“The basic stuff, offered me a seat of power in his kingdom if I joined him.”
“What?”
“Well, I’m not going to.”
“What’d he say? Was the Talen Sai Fasu a punishment for declining his offer?”
“Not exactly.”
“Well, what then?” Dagus shoved her in the back.
“Things went bad when he confessed his obsessive and undying love for me.”
“HE DID WHAT?” yelled Naro.
“Sort of,” said Raye, trying to brush him off, “Then he got kind of pissed when I said that he had essentially a snowball’s chance in hell of getting me to be his, um, what was the word he used - Beloved. He called me his Beloved.” Naro nearly fainted.
“Okay,” said Hinaka, “Anything else?”
“What’s going to become of me?” asked Raye. Hinaka took a deep breath.
“No one’s ever survived an encounter with him, except for you. I’m so sorry.”
“No,” whispered Raye.
“But you’re going to have to help us to finally get a picture of Darak.”
“No.”
“And I’m but it might take a while.”
“No.”
“And it’ll be hard on you. You’re going to have to relive the event again.”
“NO!” yelled Raye and she collapsed onto her knees.
“I’m sorry.”
“No, no, no.” She moaned as she pleaded with him.
“I’m so sorry.”
“Please don’t make me.”
“I have no choice.”
“You always have a choice,” said Naro, “We’re leaving, come on.” Once more he lifted Raye up and carried her out of danger. He set her back down in her tent.
“Don’t leave me, please,” said Raye.
“I won’t, please, try to get some sleep.” Raye closed her eyes and when she opened them again she was screaming. She had fallen asleep and the nightmares had come.
“How long was I out?” asked Raye.
“Twenty minutes, probably less. Go back to sleep.”
“Will you be here when I wake up?” He nodded and she closed her eyes again. Thirty minutes later she shot back up, screaming. It was pitch black and she couldn’t see a thing around her.
“Shh. Go back to sleep.” She gasped as Naro touched her shoulder.
“You’re still here?”
“Of course, I said I’d be here when you woke up.”
“I thought you meant in the morning.”
“I’m not going anywhere. Now go back to sleep.” He shoved her down on to the bed and pulled the blankets back on top of her. Then he tucked her in. She closed her eyes and fell back to sleep. But once again she awoke, this time only fifteen minutes later.
“Naro?”
“I’m still here.”
“Where are you?” She reached out and felt his shoulder.
“I got you, I’m right here.” He stood up and walked over to the bed. Her hand fell down to his waist. She reached up and grabbed him. She pulled him down to the bed.
“Come closer.”
“What are you doing?”
“Please I need to hear your heart beat.” She pressed her head to his chest and heard it. It was a lovely beat.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“It’s a beautiful noise.” She wrapped her arms around him.
“Thanks.” He realized he couldn’t even step away from her for even a second. It wasn’t enough to just be in the tent with her and to watch her sleep. He had to be near her, as near as possible. He laid down and brought her down with him. He pulled the covers back up, over the both of them.
“Thank you.”
“Anytime, let’s go to sleep now, okay?”
“Okay.” She held on to him and drifted away.
And she did go to sleep, she slept through the rest of the night in his arms. In fact, everyone else woke up before she did. Huja and the others walked in on them.
“What the?” asked Huja.
“Shh,” whispered Naro, “I finally got him to go to sleep.” She shot up screaming and Naro glared at them.
“Good morning,” said Huja.
“Maverio?” asked Raye in shock.
“No,” said Huja.
“Huja?”
“Yes.”
“Right.” She took a few deep, ragged breaths as Naro sat up behind her. She tried to calm down. She looked around.
“Bad night?” asked Jaso as Naro wrapped his arms around her stomach. It had been bad but it could’ve been a lot worse. If Naro hadn’t been there…
“Are you hungry?” asked Kalan as she shook her head.
“I have to go see Hinaka,” said Raye and she struggled out of bed. It felt like her legs were made of whatever mush they were trying to pass off as lunch today.
“Hey, lay back down,” said Naro, “You’re still very weak from everything that you’ve been through.”
“No.” She hit the ground and vomited again.
“Kuto, just relax.”
“I can’t, there’s something important that I have to do.”
“Can’t it wait? Please!”
“No.”
“Fine, then at least let me help you.” He put an arm around her and helped her up. He walked her all the way to Hinaka’s tent. Fetnal, Dagus and Jaserard were there.
“Private Manto?” asked Hinaka.
“I’ll do it.”
“Do it?”
“I’ll get you the picture you need.”
“You can’t,” said Fetnal.
“He’s right,” said Dagus, “We’ve been discussing this. You’re a complete mess as it is. If you go through with this, most likely you will not come back from it.”
“Think about it,” said Naro, “I don’t want to loose you.”
“You won’t loose me.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because this is what I’m supposed to do.”
“It isn’t going to be easy,” said Hinaka.
“You have no idea.”
“We’ll start tomorrow,” said Hinaka, “Get some rest and eat something.”
“Okay.”
“And Private Izu, will you please make sure that he actually does it?” asked Hinaka, “I’ll make it an order.”
“Not necessary, sir. I’ll make sure he eats,” said Naro.
 Zegwarian310 · Mon Aug 06, 2007 @ 03:42pm · 1 Comments |
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