To See Another Day Chapter 26
The Sun Will Rise
By Kain Servant
"I see you're still here." The ice-cold words roused Kain from his slumbers and brought him to reality in an instant. His promise! He had promised her he would be gone by morning.the sun hit his eyes painfully as he opened them and stared up from the floorboards of the porch. Damn!
"Well...I thought you said you were going to be gone before I got up?"
"I-"
"Oh, don't even start with your stupid excuses. I'm tired of excuses..." Kate sighed and stepped over him onto the porch, her hands wrapping around the rail as she stared out at the morning sun. A peach colored sunrise heralded the day, rays splitting themselves on the treetops to fall gently against the cottage like a blanket. Kate stood still for a moment, then started to speak again, "I know I was a little harsh last night...I guess I just got edgy."
"You had every right to." Kain replied meekly as he rose to his feet to stand behind her. Well behind her...he didn't want to rouse her anger again by getting any closer. "I'm a bastard, I'm sorry."
"That's another excuse...womanizers like you are always trying to rule our lives." Kate replied coldly, turning to face him. She was wearing a baggy green bathrobe wrapped tightly around her to be as modest as possible. Still he caught a glance of her ivory skin at the V that curved between her ample breasts. The fire in her eyes made her look beautiful, even in anger. He looked down,
"Yes. Well...I'll be going now, if you don't mind-"
"I don't. Don't forget your bow." She stepped past him to get the bow from the house. His eyes followed her,
"I won-"
"And I probably won't see you again, so goodbye. My life should be much happier in your absence. So, think of this as doing something nice for me."
"I want nothing less." He grinned and took the bow and quiver from her hands, quickly strapping them across his shoulder. "I'll miss you." If he stared at her any longer he might just die from the fast beat of his throbbing heart.so he blew a joking kiss to her, and she turned away and stomped into the house, closing the door quickly behind her. "Oh well..." Kain murmured, then turned and began his trek away from the cottage.
What an adventure! He took a deep breath of fresh air and allowed his muscles to relax. He could never have imagined that he would meet a beautiful.mean woman in the middle of the woods to steal his thoughts away from everything. But he had...and his thoughts were stolen. Vainly he struggled to concentrate on something else - some objective or destination he could work towards. But he couldn't - she was just too beautiful...she was another one of those hard targets, his curse, the more he was turned down, the more he just had to have something.
"Agh..." He slammed his fist into a tree, showering a few dry leaves on his head. "It's over." She wasn't his - he had to learn self-control. The very reason he had stopped killing in the first place was because of something equally as trivial, but it had effected his life drastically, and then Garnet. Sera and Garnet...Kain sighed and eyed the ground as he moved forward. He was just a walking disaster.
A heavy rustling of leaves to his right stopped him, and Kain swiftly looked in that direction. Past a thick cover of trees, he could see a large figure moving amongst the foliage, heading for the cottage he had just left. Odd... Kate didn't seem to like company - was it someone she knew? Maybe the person was...
Ah hell, she had pushed him out of her life, it wasn't his business anymore - he would just leave and walk somewhere and never think about her again and she wouldn't think about him, and their lives would be happy. Kain took a few more steps, then slowly turned around and began stealthily retracing his steps, following the new visitor. Just in case. One look-see and he'd be gone.
--
Alz was dead. How odd...he had always assumed Blank was the weakest member of the hero group...he hadn't even made it to the final showdown. Yet somehow his will was stronger than Steiner's...and Necron was out one shapeshifter.
Ah no matter. Necron flexed his large, tan arm as he reached for his glass of champagne. Tenason was stronger than most, he could take up the slack. Necron liked Tenason, the dragon didn't seem to be very ambitious. He simply obeyed orders, there was no plot hidden in his eyes that Necron could see. Of course Tenason was not the strongest, the strongest was Vy. But Vy was too strong and too hard to control. It had taken a good three years to develop a bond of understanding between himself and Vy, the giant wyvern always blasting fire this way and that. But finally it had come - fragile though it was. Another sweet success...just like the success he was enjoying at the moment. It was very seldom that everything went according to plan.
"That looks refreshing." Necron took every effort not to jump in surprise, and he succeeded. Of course he had...sort of expected the visit. But the voice had still startled him as slowly the black-clad man stepped up the walk and onto the porch, "Good for the mind too...care to pour me a glass?"
"Ah...I didn't expect you so soon, Kuja. You look rather good."
Kuja stood in the entrance for a moment, staring at him calmly through metallic eyes. Then he smiled, "Well, you know...I figured since I am now the God of Death, black suits me better." Necron casually reached for the wine bottle and poured a tall glass for Kuja, then settled back in his chair,
"It is strange, don't you think? We have been the two key players in this drama for quite some time, yet we have never met face to face. It's quite an honor to meet someone as great as you."
The tone of the god of death changed, "Silence. Don't even pretend that you are great...anywhere near as great as me? You make me want to laugh... you are just a weak old manipulator, never able to fight the battle on the frontlines. Why? Because you always die...maybe one day someone will rip that amulet of yours off and you'll never come back."
Necron stirred slightly...the words chafed at him, "I am weak, am I? Atleast I am saved by the power of the gods, not by my split personality."
"Don't tempt my anger, fool. I can kill you here as well as anywhere else."
"You won't kill me. Fate has not decreed that I shall die - at all." Necron forced a chuckle, "So why don't you sit down and drink your wine? I would rather be friends than enemies." He motioned at the glass. Kuja paused for a moment, then took the chair, his fingers sliding over the glass,
"We will never be allies. Too many men are claiming to be kings lately, but I am the strongest. Soon the world will bow to me, and I don't need your help."
"Menoth is strong."
"Menoth is still torn by what is right and wrong, he will never be strong if he does not know himself."
"Well..." Kuja truly wasn't planning on an alliance. What plan was lurking in his mind? Necron twinged with doubt - maybe he should have planned an assassin for this genome as well, "Why are you here then?"
"I am here, frankly, to advise you to back down and retreat into your little hole. My patience grows thin - and I have too many things to deal with, but don't think I won't take a few hours out of my day to drop by and sound your death call. I want you and your shapeshifters out of the battle."
Necron took a moment to digest this..."You madman. You won't take any help?"
Kuja placidly sipped his champagne, "None. I am offering these same conditions to Menoth and Zidane. If you do not bow to me..." He stood and tossed his glass to the ground, smiling as the goblet burst into a million shards, "I will break you. Good day." And he turned and left, leaving Necron in a pool of thoughts and wine.
--
"What is love?" Menoth pondered lazily as he floated among his minions. He was powerful, he could reach the destination within an hour...but the ellians had lost all of their own airships in the crash, and walking a thousand leagues across the land to find some sort of port took time. Menoth planned on finding airships in Lindblum, since that was a good walk closer than Alexandria. But the gate was still a two day walk away...and it was so...boring just walking and walking, with no one intelligent to speak to.
He was cursed with this army. This mindless bunch of robots that simply did what he wanted them to, cowering away from him in fear of his might. He had found individuality...now he was so individual no one wanted to be near him. But he would conquer that - his subjects would see he was one to fear and love...which brought him back to love...which brought him back over a hundred years...
Aitella. A beauty of a summoner...the first one he had met. All summoners were beautiful, he was sure of that now. His soul had wrenched when he had first seen Garnet...because she reminded him in some small way of the twenty year old child that he had met during the conquering of Dyntal. He had been nothing then...a mere pawn like the hundreds that surrounded him. He had been a.scout for the oncoming ellian armies...back when the ellians had really been true warriors. That would never happen again. When the planet shattered any hope of ever reviving the warriors was lost in the chaotic death throes of the planet. Now he was all that was left.
Amazing that now he looked upon them as weak. A hundred years ago he had been the same childish infant of a man, torn between his mission and a beautiful woman. They had lusted after one another deeply, he spent many days and more nights down on her planet, loving and living and thinking...knowing it was his duty to bring her forward as a summoner to create an Allicar. But he also knew the pain that it would inflict on her, that her soul would be lost forever...and he couldn't let that happen.
He could still remember the night he walked into her room...it was as painful as the twist in his soul that occurred when he became an Allicar. Her eyes, deep and sad and lost and lonely and in love with him. Heartbroken at what she thought was his betrayal. She cowered onto the bed, raising a hand over her head, a tear trickling down her cheek. And he raised his sword and took her head off.
It was mercy. He still told himself that, he saved her from the pain...he saved himself from the pain. It wasn't love...was it? Humans seemed to think love was just sexual intercourse. He wouldn't know...he had a woman inside him...and he'd been inside a woman. Heh. The thought did not attract him anymore - he had no more sexual urge than the ground he floated above. He wasn't supposed to...he hadn't been created that way.
It was after he killed Aitella that he began feeling the urge to be an individual. He didn't want to live forever, consuming everything he saw, just like the thousands of ellians that surrounded him and looked just like him. So he decided to change things. His rebellion had been the first in the history of Tialtor and the ellian race. He simply went to the chamber of the Ruc Tzai and killed him. That sort of thing never happened, and ellians were too witless to know what to do if it did...so he became the new Ruc Tzai, and fought to make the ellians see how he did.
But it was a hopeless cause. Menoth sighed and looked down at the marching soldiers, pitiful... did they not see? Only three ellians were alive that had ever rebelled against the system. Himself, Emryal and Amarant. And they were the only three to have done something outstanding with their lives. Of course he didn't really appreciate what Emryal and Amarant had done, but atleast they had woke and taken charge of their lives. The rest simply clung stupidly to the fact that this was what they were created for, so it was all they would do. It made him envy humans...humans had too many rebels and so much individuality that no one could get along. He couldn't wait to take over their world and start socializing with real interesting people.
First of course he would capture Daugerreo and as many airships as he could. Then from the beautiful city of waterfalls he would begin his conquest, capturing major city after major city until the whole world was his. At first the humans would feel a bit of pain and destruction...but they already had from the Tialtor fiasco, a little more wouldn't hurt them.
Then, when he was reasonably established, he would find strong-minded humans to aid him on a council. Not really a council, since he was much more intelligent than any of them would ever be - but instead they would be a sort of...friend to him. Someone he could communicate with, people with opinions and ideas he could argue and have fun and...well, be himself.
And maybe sometime in that whole sequence of events he would find a woman he could love again...and that perhaps could love him. He looked down at his body, partially metal and partially flesh, a perfect engineering. He couldn't be called attractive.perhaps he would be a bit hard to love - but he was sure his personality would attract someone.
Then he would see if love was really all it was made out to be. The prospect excited him so much that a smile broke on his face and he settled on the ground to address his subjects, "The faster our march, the faster our kingship! Double-time, comrades. On to Lindblum!"
--
As the sun rose, Emryal felt his anger rise as well. "I don't want you, I don't need you right now. Can I drive this any further into your little brains? Please just leave me alone!" The drones didn't really listen, they kept plodding along behind him, further and further south. One named Ramul, amazingly louder than the rest, spoke up,
"But I thought you are the rightful ruler of us. That is why we have come." The red-headed man explained childishly. His tone of voice grated on Emryal's nerves,
"Well I am...King of fools, King of nothing! I hate fools...I hate everyone and everything in this world that brings me down."
Ramul came closer behind him, "But we will help you fight against the false Allicar."
"The battle between me and Menoth is mine." Emryal whirled at him, "Mine, do you hear me? I will take him down - and I will do it on my own!" Ramul simply continued to stare at him with a dumb stare. "So go away! Away!" He didn't move.
With a roar of anger Emryal pulled out his sword and slashed at the ellian before him. Ramul tried to dodge, but he was too slow, and the sharp steel sliced neatly through his neck, allowing his lifefluids to gush forth. The same stare stayed on his face as he took one last look at Emryal before crashing to the ground.
His anger mounting, Emryal leaped over the corpse to stab another one of his followers in the gut, twisting and wrenching as he pulled away, leaving the poor victim with a sizable hole in his chest. Another ellian took his blade in the neck before he stopped, breathing heavily, to stare imploringly at them. "I hate you! Do you understand? I - HATE - YOU. Get the fuck away from me!" And he turned and began to run south, his breath coming in huge, ragged gasps.
Menoth would pay. Menoth would pay. He didn't give a damn if he was the Allicar or one of the gods, as long as Emryal had strength in his body he would work to bring the proud bastard down. If pure strength could not win, then he would let anger replace his claws, revenge replace his muscles...rage fueled by the condescending looks Menoth had giving him, the putdowns and the physical abuse he had taken. He could still remember very clearly Menoth's sneer when he had defeated him in the room of eyes. That would fuel him.
Sheathing his sword back onto his belt, he shook slick blood from his hands, punching at the air as he ran. There had to be some way he could physically stand against Menoth's mental power. There had to be...people fought with their hands long before they used their minds...and many great warriors never even thought...and...and...
He touched his steel claws with one hand, and his sword with the other. And he would be a failure if he couldn't stand up to Menoth with his bare fists and defeat him. He would die rather than admit utter defeat. And so, even if he had to train until death, he would find a way to win.
--
It was bad news. Why did it always have to be bad news? It wasn't hard for Kain to pick out the sounds of violence as he neared the cabin again. He heard a woman shriek, a loud stomping of feet and a thudding noise that sounded painful. Carefully he peered through the trees, his body trembling slightly with fear. The man who had come through the trees obviously wasn't pleased about what he had found. Kain could see him, standing with his muscular back to him, one fist waving around angrily in the air, the other clinging to a half-smoked cigar.
He was dressed wealthily, the forest falling a bit awkwardly around his light skin and purple silk shirt, gold belt and fashionably pleated trousers. His hair was long and blond to the point of white, held back behind his head in a gold circlet. Judging from the garb and heavy gold and jewelry he wore, the man had some high position. And this man of high position had just thrown Kate to the ground before him.
She lay prostrate before him, ducking her head under her shoulder in fear of being hit again. For the first time in the day Kain had known her, she seemed in no mood to talk. But the man had no lack of words, "Bitch - I tell you...women always turn out to be dumb bitches like you - why...why the hell!" He kicked the ground near her head and she flinched as he grabbed his head in one hand, working to temper his anger, "You're lucky your father told me about this place...it wouldn't have been pleasant for you if I had to call a search. I don't appreciate the shame in having my wife run off in front of the whole town."
Wife? Wife... Kain bit his lip and continued ducking between the thick branches of the forest trees, debating whether to jump out and save Kate or sit and listen...it wasn't like Kate really meant anything to him. And she had lied...and never told him about a husband. He retracted this thought as Kate spoke weakly, "Don't you dare call me your wife...there's more shame in that than in a million disgraces I could bring to you."
"Please, woman. I know you bear no love for me, but I also know hundreds of women would love to be in your position."
"Do you mean the position of lying on the ground with your handprint on my face, or are you referring to this marriage being forced on me?"
"Sharp tongue. I'll take that out of you within the year." The man stooped to bring himself face to face with her, only to deliver another stinging slap to her face. Kain nearly jumped as he shakily pushed himself forward from the branches.
"Stop!" Both pairs of eyes turned on him, and suddenly Kain felt the weight of the world on his shoulders. Again he spoke, this time his voice wavering, "S...stop."
The man's eyes were sea-green, and they glimmered like ice as he stared through a handsome face, "Who the hell are you?" He took a step forward, questioning accusingly, "You been taking my wife? Hiding out here with her..." He threw a disgusted look down at Kate, lying red-faced and tear-stained at his feet, as if the crime had already been proven, "Secret love...you filthy whore..."
"No!" Kain took a step forward, trying to look as intimidating as possible, "I don't know her...I just overheard what you were saying. It's not right, you should leave her alone."
"Should I?" The rich man tilted his head and laughed in an annoying squeal, "Well I'll give you three reasons I don't have to. She's gonna be my wife...this here Kate girl is marrying me as soon as we get back to Tyen. And by the laws of Tyen she's my property by marriage...and thirdly I'm Adam Crawford...I own Tyen and pretty much all this country around here - so why should I listen to you?"
Kain looked back down at Kate, feeling like he was in a dream. Everything happened too fast anymore...life was flying around him and he didn't feel like he was really making any decisions anymore - he was just watching someone else play with his body. She was looking up at him, trying to look brave, yet there was a distinct imploring look throbbing in her eyes. He wanted to stoop down and kiss her...he wanted to run away and never stick his neck out for anyone again. "Please...if you dislike her that much...just leave her alone - find another wife."
Adam just smirked and turned away, "Let me educate you...kneeling before you, in all her grace and elegance...is Kate Levine. The budding blossom of Tyen...perhaps of the world - past ripe now...she's 27, or 28?" He looked to her, but she only looked down and said nothing, so he continued. "But look at her beauty...she's just overflowing with it - in a rugged sort of sense. But now we come to the key item!" Adam turned back to Kain and waggled his finger in the air, "She's is the only woman in town that will not take me. This is no maiden for affair...but I still want her. Thus I have to strive harder, thus I must marry her so she must comply with me. Then...I will be happy, and she can, well, do whatever the hell she wants. Quite simple, don't you think?"
"You're insane!" Kain managed to make out. He felt a lack of breath in his system, and began kicking himself mentally. Why was he such a coward? Why couldn't he just step forward and stop this crime by force?
"Who the hell are you, anyway?" The man approached again, his cigar-hand coming dangerously close to his dagger.
"I'm...just a traveler."
"Traveler about to have his ass kicked if he doesn't mind his business. Scram." Adam stooped to grab Kate's arm roughly.
"Sir-"
"We're going Kate." She remained limp. "Now...get up, dammit!" He wound his arm back to slap her again...Kain gritted his teeth and lurched forward, grabbing the arm before it could be used. He pulled heavily and Adam fell back with a grunt, letting Kate fall back to the ground. Adam dropped his cigar, then quickly turned around and grabbed Kain by the collar, "You...you bastard."
"I told you to stop." The slug to his face came a little too fast to react to, and Kain tottered backwards, aided by a left hook to his jaw. Fumbling for balance, he reached out to grab his assailant, but only met a gutwrenching punch to the stomach. "I..." Dizzy...his eyes fell back to Kate. 'You can't just fall down, you coward!' He moved forward one more time, to meet another punch to his face, and then he collapsed in a heap at Adam's feet. The rich man sneered and kicked his side painfully before grabbing Kate's wrist once again,
"You didn't have much fight in you for all that talk. See you later, traveler." He jerked harshly on Kate's arm, and she rose slowly, her eyes meeting Kain's half-closed ones...they both turned away in shame...Kain faster. But as her and her loving husband moved off, he heard her whisper "Kain..." and that gave him hope.
And...atleast he was still alive.