A Melting of a Heart Chapter 17
Simple Thoughts, Dirty Words
By Key Mima
Magus had never really let himself cry before. He wasn't about to now. There were a few moments of weakness in his lifetime, and most of them were very private. He sat in the hut, alone, looking down at the fur of Sunev's sleeping mat. He wondered where she was sleeping right now.
Of all the things Dalton could have done, this was the worst. Taking Sunev away from him was bad enough, but making her love someone else was the most heart-shattering thing he could think of.
And yet, why was he so angry? During his first few years in the middle ages, a child scorned, becoming more irritated by the day at life, fate, and all people in general, Sunev was a beacon of light in the distance. And yet, as it became more apparent that he wasn't going to see her for a long time to come, he tried to forget about her. He had always wondered, and waited, and when Magus felt the change in the present him from what he had been before, utterly unfeeling, he had felt a swelling of happiness in his heart. But did he really love her, like his sister insisted? How would she know what he really felt? How could it be love?
Sunev is just a good friend. She associates with me, he told himself. It's not so important that Dalton has her...
Crono, Glenn, and the rest of the party were all very sympathetic. Earlier that night, the purple-haired girl had come to see him, giving him a necklace that Sunev had given her for her friendship. Sunev had befriended all of them in the time she had spent with Glenn, who was also even being very civil to him. He spent a few minutes with Magus trying to think of a way to break the spell, but neither of them could come up with anything substantial. Only one thing had crossed his mind that could definitely break it, but he didn't even want to consider.. killing her.
He put his head in his hands, taking a deep breath and pushing his blue hair out of his eyes. What kind of torture was this? What sort of man had the guts to make a woman love him by force? Visions of Dalton and Sunev together constantly bombarded him, to the point where he cried out and smashed a pot, causing Alfador to jump off his shoulders and run outside.
He felt bad for the cat, knowing he wasn't giving his friend the attention he deserved. But at a time like this, there wasn't much affection he could afford anything.
Finding no other comfort in staying awake, and knowing that he couldn't think of an answer of his dilemma until he let it set in, he lay down on his mat, and pulled up his blanket.
He didn't sleep that night.
The next day, he spent his time in the hut, except for when he went for a bath in the hot springs that a former Earthbound One had discovered.
He now sat in the hut again, stroking Alfador absentmidedly, playing the scene on the Blackbird over and over again in his mind. After a painful hour of remembering, Lucca stuck her head in through the door.
"Have any luck?" she asked, a concerned look on her face, or at least what he could tell was one through those monstrous glasses.
"I can't think. Nothing comes to my brain at all."
"Except anger?" she asked, tilting her head to the side as she sat before him, cross-legged.
"Exactly."
"I've been wondering.. What exactly did Dalton say about the spell?" By looking at her face then, he could tell what intelligence she possessed. She could probably help him...
"Well, he said it could be broken, but he doubted that I could do it." An eyebrow arched as he studied Lucca, who was deep in thought.
"Interesting..." she murmured, and then looked up at him. "Look, I'm guessing they're going to come back. Dalton will rub it in some more, I don't think he had sufficient time before to humiliate you well enough. So we'll be ready for him, okay?"
"Well, I figured that out on my own," he replied, his eyes following her as she stood up.
"But Sunev will be with him, too. He's going to use her as protection now, since he knows none of us will hurt her."
"I was also able to figure that out. I'm not stupid."
"I know, I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to imply that you were."
"Yeah..." That word hung in the air, and Lucca left his hut, leaving him alone.
He sighed. It was just an instant reaction, his awful treatment of people. He wished he could show them some respect or admiration, but his mind had blocked those feelings off for years, until Sunev came. And with the loss of her companionship, it had become hard to even speak to other human beings.
When they returned he would just... would...
What would he do? He wanted to rip Dalton's head off, and put it on a pike, like his Zealan ancestors used to do to their enemies. He wanted to do all of the awful things he had read about in the books of history his mother had made him read. And yet, with Sunev battling against him, he felt there wasn't much he could do...
He recalled the time he had sent her to do battle against Glenn and Crono, before they were transported to Zeal. And he realized that now, with their level of attachment, he could never do that again. He would hide her, send her away, anything to keep her from entering a fight. He would never let her die again, because there was no guarantee she would ever come back.
The sound of rain pattering against the leather walls of his hut brought him back to reality, and peeked outside to see a cold sleet falling over the village. There was no one outside, and he could hear muffled laughter in one of the biggest huts. How people could celebrate at a time like this baffled Magus, and he narrowed his eyes bitterly at the silhouettes of the people in the hut, hoping it would make them shut up. But the laughter only increased.
He threw aside one of the flaps of his door, pulling on his cloak, and stepped out into the cold air. His breath made a white cloud in front of him, and he noticed a similar puff from beside his hut.
"What are you doing out, in weather like this?" he asked the person coldly.
"Missing someone," Sunev replied, walking into his field of vision, a few feet away.
"Sunev.." he whispered. "You came back-"
"Missing Dalton," she interrupted, her eyes looking him over icily, so that he felt like less of a man.
"I should have known," he replied.
"Yes..." she trailed off. "I can't stand to be without him, for even a few moments of the day."
"You've decided this in the few hours you've been with him?"
"When two people are brought together by fate, time doesn't matter," Sunev said, locking her two index fingers together to show him what it was like.
"You're just as sick as him, now," Magus seethed, balling his hands into painful fists.
"..And I love it, Magus. Everything I had with you - if you consider that something - was nothing compared to the bond he and I have now. I personally can't even remember a thing we did together," she said, shrugging her small, wet shoulders. Dalton hadn't even given her something to protect herself from the rain.
"Oh, yeah, what you have with him is a big improvement, Sunev. What, he screws you silly and then you sleep? And when he wakes up, it's the same again?"
"A person like you couldn't even understand," she replied. She flicked a wet, stiff lock of hair out of her eyes, and then crossed her arms. It looked like she wanted to fight. Of course she would want to.
"A person like you hasn't even been given the chance to understand!" He spun around, and his wet cloak splattered sleet onto her pale face. He didn't know he had done it until she kicked him in the lower back, causing him to fall to his knees.
"Fuck you!" she shrieked, causing the laughing in the big hut to cease, and some people stumbled out to see what was going on. Sunev proceeded to kick him several more times, until he caught her foot. She was much, much stronger than she had been before, and it was hard to keep her in check until Crono arrived, grabbing her roughly by the hair.
To Magus's shocked expression he said, "She's not Sunev anymore! We need to be firm, Magus, we can't lose this one."
Magus heard other running footsteps as Sunev tried to break free from Crono's hold, and soon Lucca was beside him, with a hand on his arm.
"Are you okay, Magus?"she asked, her big eyes concerned.
"I'm fine.. Thanks."
A strong, fierce wind blew, and Sunev stopped her thrashing and screaming for a moment and Lucca looked up. Sunev had stopped, her eyes on them, and then began to screech even louder before. Over and over, just Dalton's name.
The strong wind continued, and apbruptly stopped. The sound of an engine turning off, and Magus knew who had come.
"What the hell are you doing...?" the voice low, quiet, the lilting tone showing a small hint of insanity.
"We're taking your sick creation!" Crono cried.
"Sick creation? But look, isn't she just a picture of loveliness?" He smiled and winked at Sunev, who smiled and winked back. Magus felt the bile rise in his throat, and he turned his head, looking into Lucca's shoulder.
Lucca, to his surprise, put a hand to his cheek. When he tried to pull away, she clasped the back of his head gently. And yet her eyes weren't on him, they were on Sunev.
What is she doing? he wondered, his eyes wide. Sunev wasn't looking back at Lucca, though, she was staring intently back at Dalton. Everyone seemed frozen in the moment; most of them were too confused to do anything. Then Crono's hold on Sunev's hair tightened, and Dalton made his first move.
He came forward, kneeing Crono in the stomach, since both of his arms were preoccupied with holding Sunev. Sunev sprang free, and immediately ran to Dalton, who continued his attack on Crono. But Glenn was soon there to help, and Lucca left him to join in the fight. With one last scream, unitelligible but still obviously nasty, Dalton cast a simple fire spell, and suddenly, as soon as he had come, he was gone.
.