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Ch.15: Family Matters (Part 1) |
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Minutes past. Hours past. 3 whole days past, and no visions of Lelouch visited me. 'Perhaps he has abandoned me,' I thought as I stared out at the ocean from my bedroom. 'My beloved Phantom doesn't want me anymore.'
"Or maybe he doesn't want you to see him," a voice said behind me. I nearly jumped as a flurry of feathers blew into my face. (Note to self: don't look at Jareth while he's transforming from an owl into a man.)
"Oh Jareth," I said, running to embrace him as he brushed a few stray feathers from his white cloak. Everything about him was white as the chalky cliffs today; it seemed like every time I met him, his outfit had a theme. (The last time I had seen him he had been wearing dark colors of varying hues. Autumn maybe?)
He didn't embrace me back, but I still felt happy. "I think I might have something as to Lelouch's wereabouts," he said as he pushed me back into my chair
"Keep going," I said. "You have piqued my interest. This is the latest I've heard in three days."
"I'm not sure if this is fool-proof evidence, but rumors in my kingdom suggest that he may be located near the Morraine. I would go there myself to rescue Melissa-"
"But then you would have to deal with Mizumi and then a whole "Why did you leave me when I was the better choice?" thing. I thought our Phantom would be based in Paris."
"Fate is funny that way. Sir Didymus, while admirable for his loud-spoken chivalry, is not one to turn to for reliable information. However, he did tell me where to find more up to date info."
"How?" (Sir Didymus was so distracted by his own "knightliness" that most of the time he was known to spout nonsense. I didn't see how this would be any different.)
"He gave me two names. I'm not sure if I'm recalling right, but I'm pretty sure he said, 'Zero and Kaname Triton can give you more details on Lelouch's wereabouts.'"
Zero and Kaname? I had heard those names mentioned before, briefly, when Melissa and I had talked about Vampire Knight. She said that she had two brothers named after the heroes in the same story. They were the twin first-born sons of King Triton and therefore the eldest siblings she had. I thought that it was cool that she had older brothers back home with cool names; I was the eldest of two daughters in my family and had an annoying little sister, so I was politely jealous.
"While you're spacing out," Jareth said, snapping me back to the present, "would you kindly take note that I want a Fallen Wish? I wish to take you up on your offer to be my items supplier."
"Uh...of course," I said, wringing my hands nervously as I inclined my head to him.
"Go see Zero and Kaname." Jareth got up on the balcony. "You are born of water, so they will trust you. Just don't bring Flotsam and Jetsam with you."
"Why?" I asked as he spread his cloak out like great owl wings.
"I have a feeling they're still sore about what they did to their sister."
He leapt off the balcony without another word, and I watched the barn owl fly away. I went back to my room to make preparations for my journey. I told Flotsam to practice his magic while I was gone and Jetsam was supposed to brew the perfect "de-warting" poiton by the time I returned. When everything was in order, I put on my best black dress and set out underneath the waves.
'It's been a long time,' I thought as I walked past slabs of volcanic rock and geothermal vents on the ocean floor. It had only been three weeks ago that I had found Flet and Jet and yet it had been an age since I had walked on the ocean floor. 'I can only hope I know my way around as well as I think I remember.'
'Stop searching for me!' shouted Lelouch in the back of my head. The shouting was followed by a wave of pain that caused me to shriek in agony. I fainted, but before I blacked out I thought I saw two figures bending over me.
"We should just leave her here," a voice said as I came back to consciousness, who knows how much, later. "Dad doesn't like it if we bring foreigners into the kingdom. She has legs for crying out loud!"
"Zero, I'm surprised at you," a second voice said. "She's obviously not human since she can breathe just fine underwater. I'm offended that you classified her as an air-breather on first sighting."
"Excuuuuuuuuse me Kaname. It's not my fault she blacked out in the first place. It's your doing that she even escaped that underwater volcano. If it were me, she'd be as good as obsidian right now."
"I can hear you you know." I had heard enough of these two going back and forth about my so-called weakness and inferiority just because I had legs. I stood up so as to get a better look at them. To my not surprise, I saw two mermen staring at my mourning outfit.
One had midnight hair, the other had locks as white as new fallen snow, and both had silvery tails. "Good, you're all right," said the white-haired one. "C'mon Kaname let's go."
"Wait Zero," said Kaname, swimming over towards me with a smug smile on his face. (I hoped he didn't see me flush under my veil. redface ) "I want to see what our catch of the day has to say about her condition."
(By Poseidon's pants Kaname was annoying! rolleyes I just hoped Zero would be more tactful in his speech towards me, if he ever spoke to me instead of belittling about me.)
Kaname lifted my veil and revealed my face. He had barely time to ask, "Are you all right?", before I tugged it back into place.
"Yes. I'm fine," I replied in order to get him off my back. "Thanks for saving me from whatever you were talking about."
"You're welcome..."
"Anastasia, but please call me Ana. It's what Melissa and Mat call me."
"Where have you taken her?!" Zero asked furiously, grabbing my dress in a blur of flesh and scales. "Tell me or else I'll tell Dad where you're hiding!"
"Zero, please", said Kaname, gently tugging his brother away from me. "Do you think that getting up in her face will make her answer quicker or slower?"
Zero didn't answer. Kaname asked calmly of me, "What do you know about our sister Ana?"
"I know that she's found love where she is and she's perfectly fine," I told them, thinking I'd start off with the good news first. "However, she recently got kidnapped by Lelouch." (Uh-oh! I braced myself for Zero grabbing me again.)
"Lelouch?" asked the brothers, entirely confused.
"You might know him better as Phantom, or at least that's what Sir Didymus said."
"Oh yeah. That loud-spoken knight who rides around on a sheepdog?" asked Kaname, new understanding in his eyes.
"Yes! 3nodding "
"Melissa would never shut up about Phantom when she was still in the palace," Zero continued. "She was like:
Those who have seen your face
Draw back in fear.
I am the mask you wear
It's me they hear. all the livelong day. I never thought he was a real person."
"Neither did I," Kaname said, "until we did some research in the palace library."
"What did you find?" I asked, eager for information on Lelouch and his past.
"We'll get the documents for you. Dad's not so big on welcoming strangers these days."
I returned home with a large portfolio under my arm. My boys asked where I had been, but I said nothing. I had a lot of reading to do.
 srs diva 2011 xxl · Thu Feb 26, 2009 @ 02:56am · 2 Comments |
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