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Sunlight Raye - Part SEVEN |
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Raye hated working with Hinaka, Fetnal, Jaserard and Dagus. Jaserard was never there, he had so much to do. Dagus would give her the injection and leave. He hated watching her when she on the drug. She was insane. Fetnal stayed but he was just annoying. Everyday he just asked the same questions. He always wanted to know about her emotions, which meant that she always wanted to hit him. She’d told him that once but he hadn’t taken it well.
This day was going to be the worst yet. She hadn’t gotten anything more than a tip of Darak’s wing in over three months. Jaserard needed her back on active duty and she was getting better. She felt almost as if she could be put back to work. But Hinaka had no other choice than to do what he did. He needed the picture but she wasn’t getting any closer. So he had to do it.
“You’re going to do what?” asked Raye in utter shock.
“We’re going to increase your dose,” said Hinaka.
“WHAT?” asked Fetnal, “The boy can barely handle the current levels.”
“The boy can hear you,” said Raye.
“Right, but you’re talking about doubling the dosage.”
“So?” asked Raye, “What does that mean?”
“I don’t think it’s good idea,” said Dagus, “You might not come back.”
“You say that every time. Will this get the job done faster?”
“Yes,” said Hinaka. She looked at him. She just wanted it over with.
“Then do it.”
“But-,” said Dagus.
“I can handle it.”
“It’ll be bad.”
“Everything’s bad.” Dagus held out a larger needle this time. She swallowed hard as he shoved it into the back of her neck. She screamed. She’d never screamed before. It was all unbelievably clear. More clear than it had been when it had happened. She freaked out, she couldn’t handle it. That was when things went from bad to worse.
She leaped out of her chair and started backing away from them. She was staring past them and screaming. Naro and the others forced their selves inside the tent.
“Private?” asked Hinaka. She looked at for a second and strange things started taking hold. An eerie gust blew through the tent and scattered the papers. One piece hit Raye in the face. She held it out.
“Ilastrato.” The paper glowed and she fell out.
“What just happened?” asked Fetnal as Naro rushed over to her.
“He cast a spell,” said Huja as Hinaka picked up the paper she’d been holding.
“Wow.”
“What is it?” asked Jaserard.
“The picture I need.” It was a picture of Darak. He was a young man. He was dressed in black and his skin was pale like porcelain. He had long blonde hair and deep red eyes. If Hinaka didn’t know who he was looking at, he could have thought the man in the picture looked beautiful. Raye grabbed her head and just screamed in agony.
“Kuto?” asked Naro.
“It isn’t mine, it isn’t mine!”
“What isn’t?”
“Get it out, get it out!”
“What?”
“Stop it! It’s not mine, I should have to carry it!”
“Private?” asked Hinaka as he approached her. She jumped up and grabbed his head. No one knew what to do. At first it looked like she was going to attack him but she just held the sides of his head. That was when things became even more bizarre. A glowing stream of light shot out of her forehead and hit his. She was screaming the whole time and eventually it stopped. She collapsed in his arms and Hinaka held her in shock.
“What just happened?” asked Jaso.
“That crazy fool,” said Hinaka.
“Excuse me?” asked Jaserard.
“He was only eight.”
“So?” asked Dagus.
“He didn’t know what else to do. All he’d ever been taught to do when he was in danger was to use his power to protect himself. So he used his power.” Naro reached forward and took Raye.
“But he’s a telepath,” said Huja and as soon as he said it he realized what had happened. They all realized it.
“Dear god,” said Fetnal. Naro brushed hair out of her face and looked at her.
“He, he looked into Darak’s mind,” said Hinaka, “At eight years old. And he kept that inside his head all these years. The secret was locked away in his mind. Until I forced it out. So he gave me a copy of it.”
“Damn,” said Kalan and that pretty much covered it.
Naro took her back to her tent. He sat her down on her bed. She was shivering the whole time. He wasn’t surprised. There was horrible knowledge in her mind. It was very well forbidden knowledge and it was in her brain.
“Shh,” said Naro and he brushed her hair, “Try to get some sleep please.”
“No,” moaned Raye.
“Please?” It wasn’t fair. She’d been doing so much better. And now this.
“I can’t.”
“You must be exhausted. That drug always makes you drowsy and you received a double dose. You should be falling asleep right now.”
“Please don’t let me.”
“Kuto?”
“I don’t want his thoughts.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m afraid, I don’t like being afraid.” Those words nearly hurt. She was the bravest person he knew and now she was terrified.
“You don’t have to be. I’m hear, you’re safe.”
“But he’s in my mind. He’s been there before. I feel him.” She put her hands to her head and started shaking again.
“It’s okay.” He grabbed her and held her in his arms.
“Make it stop, please.” He pulled in close and the drug started to take effect. And he wasn’t sure why but he started to sing her to sleep.
“One night I saw a shooting star,
“Sailing through the sky,
“I sat up on the hill,
“And my mind just wondered why,
“Why am I so lonely?
“And why I feel such fear?
“Why can’t I stop it?
“And why can’t we be near?
“So now every night,
“I look at the star,
“The one I saw falling,
“And wonder who you are,
“When will we meet?
“And who will you be?
“I love to imagine,
“The person you’ll be,
“The one I will love,
“With all of my heart,
“My future beloved,
“I can’t wait for our story to start,
“But now that the war,
“Has come to my land,
“I now wonder if,
“I’ll ever take your hand,
“But I just have to believe,
“In the wish that I made,
“Because we’ll be together,
“In a love that won’t fade,
“For I love you so much,
“And this is our story,
“I’ll sing it to you every night,
“So you will know I love you,
“And you’ll never be alone,” sang Naro and then he said, “Because I do love you, you crazy little person.” It was no use, she was already asleep. It was an old lullaby in Gaselu. His mother used to sing when he was a kid.
Raye became a zombie after that. The knowledge the drug had released stayed inside her mind. She’d sent a copy to Hinaka, so he could use it. But she couldn’t erase it from her mind. At first she would beg to forget but slowly she got better. But Jaserard refused to let her return to the fight. Now instead of spending her days drawing she spent them with Fetnal. She refused to talk to him so it wasn’t doing much good. But after four or five months she got back to the state she had been in the day before they’d given her a double dose of the drug. Hinaka had left nearly a week afterwards so she felt alone. Naro guessed she needed to talk about what she’d learned but the only other person who knew those things was gone. He hated Hinaka for that. Naro continued to stay with Raye, in her tent. He’d basically moved in.
Naro walked into the dinning tent and saw Raye and the others sitting at the table. As usual Raye wasn’t eating anything. Naro loved her so much and he was getting worried. He couldn’t keep forcing her to eat and to sleep and do everything for her. He knew that she was sad but it was starting to get terrifying. He had no idea of what had happened at the Tani Massacre but he could not imagine what it was that was tearing her up inside like this. He walked past them and heard a part of her conversation with Kalan.
“Are you going to eat anything today or are you just going to stare at you food again?” asked Kalan.
“I’m just going to stare at it,” said Raye, with out the slightest bit of emotion in her voice. She was staring at her food again. Naro had had to actually feed her for a while. He sighed and picked up a bowl of rice and a bowl of syrup. The syrup, which he hoped was just syrup, was brown and sweet. Raye had said it tasted like chocolate. She was right and she liked chocolate. He turned around and someone bumped right into him. The bowls flew into the air and all of their contents spilled on Naro’s head. The whole tent stood still and silent as they waited for Naro’s reaction. He looked at the boy who had smashed into him, who was stiff from fear. He was half the size of Naro and looked like he was about to faint. It was a new recruit, his uniform was still clean.
Before Naro could do anything, someone laughed. Everyone held their breaths except for the one person who was sniggering, which was Raye. Naro turned and stared at her. She had her hands pressed against her mouth to stifle her giggles, to no success. She returned his stare and dropped her hands. Her face contorted as she tried not to laugh but a small smile appeared and she giggled softly.
“Do you think this is funny?” asked Naro and she nodded. She bit down on her lip but still the giggling continued. Then she gave up and just full out laughed. She wrapped her arms around her stomach and rocked back and forth as she laughed and laughed. Naro stared at her in shock as she closed her eyes. Everyone was looking at the both of them. Naro reached over and grabbed her bowl of syrup and dumped it on her head. She squealed and reached up to her head.
“Ah! Gross Naro!” yelled Raye as she felt all of the syrup in her hair.
“Still think it’s funny?” Raye glared at him and at first he thought that she was going to be very mad. She looked at the syrup on her hands and then back at him. She smiled and he looked at her. She reached out and dragged her hands across his face.
“Yes.” She folded her arms in front of her and looked at the streaks of syrup that she has smeared across his face. He laughed and the whole tent eventually joined in.
“Food Fight!” yelled someone as they lobbed a handful of rice across the tent. Naro tackled Raye out of its path.
“Are you okay?” She took a few deep breaths as she recovered from laughing.
“Well if it isn’t my hero?”
“What? No Prince Charming?”
“Prince Charming is an idiot, you’re -.” Before she could finish Jaserard stepped into the tent. He was greeted by a ball of rice in his face. Everyone stopped.
“Who started this?” asked Jaserard and they all pointed to Raye and Naro.
“Them!” said the crowd.
“Manto! Izu!” yelled Jaserard and they stood up, “My tent now!” They followed him outside. They sat down and he stared at him.
“Lt. sir, we can explain,” said Naro.
“What do you two have to say for yourselves?” asked Jaserard. Raye looked at Naro and reached out and dragged her finger across his cheek. She pulled her hand back and licked her finger.
“I think I could be a cook,” said Raye and they looked at her. Naro smiled and reached forward and did the same to her.
“I’m not so bad myself,” said Naro.
“That’s it, both of you leave, clean yourselves up and just don’t do it again,” said Jaserard and they went to the wash tent. They washed their faces and hair as they were told. Naro stepped out.
“Oh you missed some,” said Raye and she reached out and wiped a small streak off his chin, just below his mouth with her thumb, “There you go.” She started to pulled her hand away when he grabbed it. He held on to her wrist and placed her thumb in his mouth. He sucked it clean and licked it.
“That was fun today.”
“Yeah.”
“You smiled.”
“Huh?”
“You’re lovely when you smile but ever since the Talen Sai Fasu you’ve been so sad. I like that you smiled again today.”
“Oh?”
“I liked it very much.” He licked her thumb again.
“Naro?”
“You know, that syrup isn’t the only thing around here that’s sweet.” She felt better and Naro walked her back to her tent. She felt like she needed to lie down some more. She thought about things.
“I can’t change what happened that day,” said Raye.
“What?” asked Naro.
“It was so long ago yet it feels like yesterday.”
“Do you want to tell me about it?”
“No, not yet.”
“Okay. But can I ask one thing?” asked Naro.
“Sure.”
“You’d said that you would feel better when you knew how you survived.”
“Yes?”
“Can I ask how did you survive?”
“There was a boy.”
“Oh?”
“He looked into the grounds from the other side. He saw some of the bodies and got help. It was miracle.”
“Why’s that?”
“No one wants to know about the Tanis.”
“Oh?”
“No one but that boy would have looked in, no one else would have saw.”
“I’m glad there was a miracle, so unbelievably grateful,” said Naro and she yawned, “Do you want to go to sleep?”
“Yes.”
“But did you have a good day?”
“It was the best one in a very long time.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“I have something to tell you.”
“Oh?”
“I - ow!”
“Are you okay?”
“No.”
“What?”
“This isn’t fair. I drew the damn picture, I gave him the knowledge. I did it, I did what they asked. I should be able to tell you that - AHH!”
“Kuto?”
“No, no!”
“I don’t understand.”
“Neither do I. I did what was asked of me and they promised.”
“Who promised what?”
“The Magi. I’ll be right back.”
“What?” She ran out of the tent and into the forest.
“Come down here right the hell now you lying bastards!” screamed Raye.
“We never lied to you,” said Mistress Magi.
“Oh yeah?” asked Raye, “Then how come I can’t tell him?”
“Because you haven’t done your task yet,” said Master Magi.
“Yes I have, it was hard and I did it,” said Raye.
“No,” said Magi, “We told you, your task wasn’t what you thought it was.”
“No!” yelled Raye and the trees around her shook, “You’re saying that went through all of that for nothing! I know everything Darak knew. Everything! I know what he was feeling when he killed my family. I know how he enjoys killing. I don’t need that knowledge. It’s horrible. And you’re telling me that it was all for nothing!”
“We’re not saying that,” said Mistress Magi, “What you have done is a part of the task that you have yet to do.”
“What is it? What is the task?” asked Raye.
“You know we can’t tell you,” said Magi.
“God damn it all, why not?”
“It’s a part of the Grand Design.”
“Ugh, not the Grand Design crap again.”
“It’s not crap,” said Master Magi angrily.
“To me it is. It is my life and I shouldn’t have to spend it serving the Grand Design. It should be my design. Why should I care?”
“You should care.”
“It shouldn’t be my problem.”
“Well it is.”
“I HATE YOU!” screamed Raye as she ran off.
“Kuto?” asked Naro and she suddenly realized she’d run into him.
“Oh, sorry,” said Raye.
“Are you okay?”
“No.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I can’t tell you.” She tried to break away from.
“You can tell me anything.”
“You don’t understand.” She wanted to cry, she wished she could remember how to cry. It was horrible, the whole situation was unbearable.
“Let me understand, help me.”
“I can’t.” She fell to her knees. Her heart was agony.
“Come on,” said Naro and he pulled her up, “Come with me.”
“No, I can’t, it hurts.”
“Please.” He pulled her back inside her tent.
“Let me go.”
“No.”
“I said ‘let me go’, Konen.”
“What?” She started at him.
“I didn’t say that.”
“What did you just call me?”
“Nothing.”
“You called me Konen. Who’s Konen?”
“No one.”
“I have to go.” He left. She wanted to ask to him to stay, to beg. But the words never got out of her mouth.
“Crap,” said Raye, it was all she could say. He just kept walking. Every step he took away from her was harder than the last. He wanted to fall his knees at howl. He wanted nothing more than to be with her but he couldn’t. She’d just forgotten his name.
“What happened?” asked Huja. He and Naro went for a walk.
“He, he called me -,” said Naro.
“Called you? Called you what?”
“Konen. He called me Konen.”
“Who’s Konen?”
“I have no idea.”
“Huh?”
“I left. He called me Konen.”
“You can’t hold it against him.”
“Why not?”
“Let’s face it, he’s not in a good place right now.”
“So?”
“So, half the time he sees me he thinks I’m his dead cousin Maverio.”
“Well that’s different.”
“Why? Because it’s me?”
“Well-.”
“It’s because you care so much for him right?”
“Yes. He didn’t know who I was.”
“It sucks doesn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“So what are you going to do?”
“I’m going to have to leave his tent.”
“Oh?”
“He’s better now, he can handle his life now. He doesn’t need me.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, and it hurts too much to stay.”
“Won’t you miss it?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll bet you’ll miss touching him.”
“Stop being vulgar. Nothing’s happened between us.”
“Oh?”
“Stop it.”
“When are you going to tell him?”
“I can’t see him.”
“You want me to tell him?”
“Would you?”
“Yeah, go get some sleep.”
“Thanks.” Huja made his way over to Raye’s tent.
“Hello?” asked Huja as he walked into the tent.
“Hey,” said Raye. She was sitting on the ground. She looked completely miserable. She couldn’t believe she’d just done that. She hated herself for making that mistake.
“How are you?” asked Huja.
“He’s not coming back is he?”
“No.” He sat down next to her.
“I-.”
“I’m sorry,” said Huja.
“It’s okay.”
“What?”
“He’s doing the right thing. It’s too complicated. It’ll be easier this way.”
“That doesn’t mean it won’t hurt.”
“It’ll hurt but this is the better way, for both of us.”
“Are you okay?”
“No.”
“You want a hug?”
“Not from you, no offense.”
“None taken. You’re going to miss him aren’t you?”
“Yes, very much.”
“So-?”
“Don’t go there. You pervert.”
“Oh come. So how far did you two get?”
“Not that far.”
“Oh? I doubt that.”
“Shut it, trust me. You’d know if we had.”
“Oh? Are you a screamer? You look like a screamer.”
“Ewe, you pervert.”
“Sorry.”
“You’re so annoying.”
“Are you talking to me or Maverio?”
“Cute, so cute.”
“Can I ask? Who was Konen to you?”
“He was -.”
“Kuto?”
“He was my bodyguard, he died to save me.”
“Oh.”
“And pass that on to Naro.”
“Will do.”
“Later,” said Raye and she kicked him out.
Eventually Raye got better. She and Naro weren’t nearly as close as they had been before. She tried to reconnect with him but it wasn’t easy. Jaserard eventually put her team back on active duty. And they rose in the ranks and got better and harder missions. Until they got Raye’s ultimate ideal mission. It was unbelievable.
“Wow, your tent’s really clean,” said Raye after barging into Naro’s tent.
“Thanks.” He was surprised he had not invited her in it before.
“Guess what.”
“What?”
“We get to go with Hinaka’s squad to storm Darak’s castle, I love my life.” Her dreams were coming true so fast; she could barely keep up. She reached up joyfully and fell over on top of him. He waited a moment before helping her up. He was tempted to just hold her there and never let go. Every time she smiled or laughed it was all he could do to not just run up and grasp her and make her, his. If only he had known her gender.
“You’re insane.” He placed a hand on each side of her face. His face fell into a relaxed smile as he looked into her eyes. He wanted to kiss her again. Why did she have to be so cute? He saw a flake of dirt on her face and he could not help but loose it. He brushed it off with his hand. She smiled; completely unaware of how he was feeling. He was just so drawn to her that he couldn’t stop thinking about her. He couldn’t put his feelings into words but he didn’t how to show her.
“Maybe I am, I don’t care,” said Raye gleaming and she ran out happily.
“Oh God,” said Naro and he put his head in his hands.
“You coming?” asked Raye as she popped her head back inside of Naro’s tent.
“What?”
“Mission briefing,” said Raye she reached in and took his hand. It felt so nice, so right but it also felt like just a tease. He could hold her hand but not the rest of her. The worst part was that he was not alone in his love for the one called Kuto Manto. He had a lot of competition but he could not bear to loose. He wanted to be with her forever. He wished that she’d never called him Konen.
“Right.” They entered the meeting tent and she took her hand back. He reached out for her but stopped just in time, why could not she have just held on a little more.
“General Hinaka,” said Raye happily.
“Kuto,” said Hinaka, “I’m glad to see you. You look better.”
“I am better, and it’s good to see you too. What’s up?”
“You’re not much for small talk are you?”
“Not really, so what’s up?”
“We’ve been developing a plan to take down Darak for years. The knowledge you gave me put a big boost in these plans. But Darak created a machine that will detect anything without demon blood entering his castle. So know we can’t get in but you can.”
“My arm.” She’d nearly forgotten about it with everything had happened.
“Exactly, you’re the pinnacle of this plan. Without you it won’t work.”
“Don’t you have higher ranked demon allies?” asked Jaserard.
“Yes, but-.”
“But I know the layout because it’s his castle and I know what he knew.”
“So will you do it?” He looked at her and so did Naro. There was no way she was going to say no. She hated Darak more than anyone else in Gaselu.
“Duh,” said Raye, “What’s the plan?”
“You’ll sneak in to Darak’s castle and meet our inside operative,” said Hinaka, “He’ll take you to where the machine is located. I hear that you know a few things about machines. It’s another reason that you’re the only who can do this. Can you do this?”
“Yes, but for this one I’ll need more detailed schematics.”
“I can get you that, now once you turn the machine off, signal us and we’ll storm the castle. Can you manage that?”
“Of course, no problem.”
“I knew I could count on you.”
“Always,” said Raye and then a man rushed into the tent. He handed Hinaka a folder and whispered something in his ear.
“What?” asked Hinaka loudly and the man gestured to the folder.
“What’s up?” asked Raye.
“Two boys, brothers, have been taken by Darak’s forces,” said Hinaka.
“Who?” asked Raye and Hinaka gave her a pitiful look, “Who?”
“We don’t know their first names but their last name is-.”
“What?” Her voice reaching a panic, Naro stood up behind her.
“Their last name is Manto.”
“What?” asked Raye and she ripped the folder from Hinaka, “Oh no.” There was a picture. It was of Kuto and Enari.
“Do you know them?” asked Hinaka and she nodded, “What are their names?”
“Enari,” said Raye as she thought of something to call Kuto, “Enari’s the younger one, Sano is the older one. They’re my cousins.”
“Are you okay?” asked Naro. He put a hand on her shoulder.
“Fine.”
“Can you still do the mission?”
“Definitely, it just makes me more determined to do it.”
“That’s my lad,” said Hinaka and he placed a hand on her head. As he walked out of the tent something popped into her head. She jumped up rushed after Hinaka.
“General Hinaka.”
“Yes?”
“The agent in the castle. Who is it?”
“Gaksu Tani,” said Hinaka and he left Raye standing there in shock.
“Things just got a little too complicated,” said Raye to no one. She was going to have to team up with the one person on the planet she really wanted to kill in order to save her best friend and his little brother, both of whom were only in trouble because of her. Of all the people Darak could have abducted, he chose them. It was no coincidence and neither was the timing.
 Zegwarian310 · Wed Aug 08, 2007 @ 06:50pm · 1 Comments |
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