Merry-Go-Round Second Draft: Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven – Just Because

Or somebody.

Kairius was carrying not something on his back, but somebody. That somebody’s hair was pink.

“Crap!” Sieural yelled, running out to the five members rushing in.

“Get in, idiot! Get back in!” Koellis yelled as he quickly zipped by Sieural and into the meeting room. Eria followed him in.

Although he desperately wanted to see Alexis, he obeyed Koellis, and rushed back in. Kairius and Riania followed shortly.

Kairius immediately set the unconscious Alexis on one of the benches in the main room. He yelled, “Kaelyn! There’s something you have to do.”

Kaelyn had already retreated to her room in the side corridors. Upon hearing Kairius’ voice, she rushed out, smiling. Obviously, that smile quickly fell into a frown. Following the golden haired girl was Luna. He immediately ran to Alexis’ side.

“What happened?” Both he and Kaelyn asked.

Alexis had many deep and wide cuts, quite a few still bleeding. Sieural looked at Kairius and Riania. No signs of any battle. Only Alexis was injured in any way.

“I’ll tell you later. It’d be best if we took care of her now.”

Kaelyn nodded. Riania placed her hand on top of Alexis’ cold hand, and held it tightly.

Kaelyn closed her eyes, and a sort of supernatural warmth could be felt around her. An almost glowing feeling radiated outward from her small body, and little by little, the bleeding cuts began to close. Little by little the cuts began to fill with flesh, and the color once again filled Alexis’ face.

Sieural sighed, clenching his fist. “When you fight, you hurt people. This REALLY isn’t a great time to be thinking that.”

After a few long minutes, Kaelyn relaxed. Both the mental and physical toll was evident both on her face and her body. She kneeled to the ground, and looked at the ceiling, breathing heavily.

“Are you okay, Kaelyn?” Eria asked, holding her shoulders.

“Of course!” Kaelyn forced a grin. “Just a little tired.”

Sieural stood by Alexis’ still unmoving body. Even if the wounds on the outside had healed, she had still not awakened.

“Don’t worry.” Eria said, placing her hand on Sieural’s shoulder. “It’s not as if she would wake up right away, ready to fight again.”

“So this is normal?”

“Yep. She’ll be fine. Her body’s tired, after all.”

Sieural nodded. He relaxed for one moment, only to hear voices from directly outside their building.

“They went here! Where are they?!” The voices called out. They did not sound friendly in any way at all.

Sieural immediately readied himself for a battle, but Kairius whispered, “Calm down. If we don’t make any noise, we won’t need to fight.”

“Are they the ones that hurt Alexis?”

“It’s of no consequence. Whether they did or not, it’s in our best interest not to fight them.”

“Speak for yourself, dammit.” Sieural said, fists clenched.

He looked around the room. Each of the members were worried. As he saw Kaelyn, he remembered.

“Fighting hurts people.” Sieural sighed. “Right.”

“Not only that. If you were to jump out there, this building, and the rest of us, would be put in extreme danger.”

“Right. Whatever.” Sieural walked to his room.

~~~~~

“What do you think Sayu-Sayu’s doing now?” Ariana asked, as she walked toward her house with her two older sisters.

“I don’t know. Why do you think I know, Ari?” Shiriana said, frowning.

“But…” Ariana attempted to reply, but could not.

“I just hope he’s okay. Same with Alexis.”

“Alexis can take care of herself.” Shiriana said.

“But not Sieural?”

“Nope. He’s an idiot.”

“He’s not an idiot!!” Ariana yelled.

“Yeah, he is. How does someone get his house burned down twice?”

“That’s not his fault, Shiri. Someone else did it, not him.”

“Maybe.” Shiriana sighed. “It’s still weird. Somebody really must hate him.”

“Somebody really does…”

At that point Ariana could be heard sniffling, attempting to hold her tears back.

Immediately, the two older sisters were comforting her. “It’s okay, it’s okay. I know Sieural’s fine.” Shiriana said.

“Yeah. He’s your big brother, right? He should be okay.” Soriana also comforted her younger sister.

In spite of their efforts, Ariana continued to cry. However, she suddenly stopped when someone from behind her put their hand on her head.

“It’s okay.”

“Ah! Yukishi!” Ariana’s face immediately brightened.

“Where’s Deshael?” Shiriana asked, looking around.

“Already home.”

“Really? It’s not like him to forget you.”

“I know… Is he doing something?” Soriana chimed in.

“Getting ready.”

“Ready? For what?” Shiriana asked.

Surprisingly, Ariana answered. “He’s getting ready to go find Sayu-Sayu, right? It’s like…” She paused for a moment, calculating. “Four days away now, right?”

Yukishi nodded silently.

“So we’re all really going to go to Elleani… I really hope Sieural and Alexis are alright.”

As they walked back to their house with Yukishi in tow, they saw Deshael rushing past them in the opposite direction.

“Hey, Deshael!” Shiriana called out, but to no avail.

The white haired boy continued running at full speed away from her. Not bothering to follow him, Shiriana turned back around and asked, “Yukishi, do you know where Deshael’s going?”

She shook her head.

“I wonder where he’s going…” Soriana asked, following Deshael’s slowly fading figure with her eyes.

~~~~~

Alexis’ body still laid unmoving on the wooden bench within the stony confines of the Coalition’s hideout. Every member but Koellis loyally stayed by her healthy, but still body, even hours after she was first brought back from Elleani. Koellis had once again walked outside.

Sieural turned to Kairius, and then asked, “So what the hell happened?”

“Ah. I forgot to tell you, didn’t I.”

“Obviously.” Sieural scowled. “Come on.”

“Okay, okay.” Kairius did not have his normal grin. “You do know about our coalition’s previous battles with the Protectorate, correct?”

“Enough to know that you both hate each other, yes.”

“It was simply a matter of recognition. One of their members saw what seemed to be a member of a previous attack on them. And they were right.”

Kairius sighed, an actions not normal to him. “Essentially, it was a surprise attack on her, and her alone. Riania and I had to intervene and retreat here… where we currently are.”

Sieural sighed. Already now, the small amount of light streaming in between the cliff face and the rock that covered the Coalition entrance was dyed red.

“Well, look at that. It’s sunset already?” Araschaun exclaimed.

Looking at the light, he turned around to Kairius. “So what happened with that mission, eh?”

“As of now… there will most likely be no way to prevent this war. The bloodshed is coming. Whether we like it or not.”

~~~~~

Quite unlike the hilly and mountainous land between Kereial and Elleani, the area between Lakai, the ocean city, and Kereiak was only plain. Almost desert, some could say.

One person was running across these fields, across the golden brown grass that stretched for miles in every direction. Running alongside the cold blue river that ran from the mountain range in the middle of the empire to the ocean in the south.

“Damn, where is it!”

After more running, Deshael, now treading on an almost sandy surface, finally found what he was looking for. Or, in this case, part of it. What seemed to be one large pile of stone, wood, and metal lay scattered in front of him. The size of the pile was extremely large. The size of a small city.

Lakai was built on a very flat coastal plain. The tides in this area rose so far inland that the city often found itself half submerged with water. When the waters receded, the land beneath the city was much like one enormous beach.

“So it’s true.”

Even if the sun had nearly completely set, the slight red tint from the setting sun made the ruins of Lakai seem as if they were on fire yet again.

Deshael walked closer to the ruins. It was then that he saw dead bodies scattered within the rubble. Beneath rocks and stone, impaled with broken spears and cold steel swords, everywhere.

“And only one day ago, too.” Deshael said, dumbfounded at the sight that met him.

He stomped the ground. “Is that what Elleani can do? Just tear down everything in their way?”

Although he lived in Kereial now, Deshael was born in Lakai, where his parents… lived. And as he continued surveying the ruins of Lakai, he walked to what would have been the entrance to his parents’ residence.

He quickly tore through the rubble, but to may be either his advantage or disadvantage, there were no corpses within the confines of his parents’ home.

“So, they’re not dead. They’ll just be living a live of slavery for the rest of their lives.” Deshael said to himself, looking to the north, where the army that had torn down Lakai was now heading.

“Damn it. Damn it, damn it, damn it.” Deshael smashed his fist into the sandy ground. “Those… Elleanian bastards…”

As if on instinct, he decided to chase down that army that ransacked Lakai. He knew within his heart that he could do nothing against them, but he felt like fighting. It was all that he could do.

~~~~~

Waking up to a ceiling that you’ve rarely ever seen is always disconcerting. For the third day, Sieural awoke staring at a stony, rocky ceiling.

The moment he rose to his feet, his thoughts returned to the day before. Was Alexis still asleep? Was she really fully healed? Is the healing power really all that convenient, being able to take anyone from the jaws of death?

As he contemplated these questions, he was staring at the ground. He began walking out of his room, and without looking in front of him, he ran into someone.

“Ow!!” Alexis grunted, as she lost her balance.

Sieural, acting quickly, grabbed her wrist.

“Oh. Hi, Sieural! I didn’t get to see you for two days.”

“Hey. Um… Are-,”

“Yeah! I’m fine!” Alexis grinned.

“That’s good to hear. I was worried.”

“Are you getting emotional on me? That’s not like you.”

“Hey, I have every right to be worried.”

“I know, I know. I’m joking, you know?” Alexis shrugged. “I heard that you… well… wanted to fight those guys.”

“Yeah. So?”

“I don’t know… it’s… well… Thank you.”

“It’d be a common reaction. I don’t like people I know getting hurt. It’s as simple as that.”

“Can’t you take a compliment?” Alexis hit Sieural hard on the back.

“Okay, now I know you’re fine.” Sieural said, cringing but grinning at the same time.

“More where that came from.” Alexis held up her hand, as the two walked outside the main entrance.

Like the previous day’s morning, they once again found Eria and Koellis standing together beneath a tree.

“Eria! Koellis!” Alexis, with surprising quickness, ran to the two other members.

“Alexis! Welcome back!” Eria said, smiling brightly. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

Koellis, as Sieural expected, did not respond. However, he did not turn away like Sieural predicted.

“It’s okay! It all turned out fine, right?” Alexis raised her hands in the air as a form of triumph. “Although, that hurt a lot, I have to say.”

Eria laughed. “I wouldn’t be surprised. I’m glad you’re okay. Although…”

“There’s going to be a war, and Kereial will be destroyed. I wouldn’t be so festive.” Koellis said, with a normal cynical comment.

“Hey, let them keep their heads in the now, how about it?” Araschaun grinned, also walking out of the Coalition base. “War or not, when it comes, we’re going to do anything we can to stop it. It’s not like them being happy will change that.”

Koellis did not respond, and, as Sieural predicted, he turned and walked away.

“Anyway, Alexis, it is nice to have you back, hm?”

“Thanks. It’s great to see you too, Araschaun! How have you and Shiari been? I haven’t had a chance to talk to you, even before I left to Elleani.”

“Oh, we’re fine. What I want to know is, what exactly did you do to get yourself beat up like that, hm?”

“Oh… it’s a long story. I-,” Alexis began, but then fell to the ground.

Once again, Kaelyn appeared out of nowhere. “Hi, Alexis!!”

“Kaelyn!” Alexis smiled. “Thanks for helping me out there. That’d make it the… third time now.”

“It’s all I can do to help, right?” Kaelyn said. “I’d be mad at me if I couldn’t save you.”

Sieural sighed and turned away. He said to himself, “They can stay so happy even they know that they’ll have to fight in the very near future. It’s… sad in a way.”

He looked down the slope of the mountain again. In the far distance he could see Kereial, at this distance, a small dot in the plains. What was most disconcerting, was that, in the closer distance he could see a large group of soldiers.

Heading directly toward him.

~~~~~

“Great. First, Alexis, then, Sieural. Now, Deshael?” Shiriana, frustrated, said.

“I really wonder where he is…” Soriana frowned. “It’s not like him to just… leave us without telling us where he’s going.”

Yukishi shook her head.

“Not even Yukishi has a clue. This can’t be good.”

Ari was also affected by the loss of another friend. She was not talking, and instead continued looking forward.

Noticing this, Yukishi once again patted her on the head, evoking a reaction.

“It’s okay.” She said, quietly, with Ariana looking directly at his face.

“We only have to wait… three more days…” Soriana looked toward the mountains. “I wonder if Deshael went to find Sieural.”

Yukishi shook her head.

Ariana answered, “But… Deshael would wait for us.”

“You’re right. What is that stupid Deshael doing?”

Shiriana sighed, as the now-group of four walked to class.

~~~~~

“Damn!” Sieural said.

The small army that was now following him was less than 100 feet away. Koellis, however, saw this, and acted quickly. He ran to Sieural and said, whispering, “Don’t move or act suspiciously.”

The army walked towards Sieural and Koellis, but despite efforts by the two to not attract attention to themselves, the army walked up to them.

“What are you doing up here?” One of the soldiers asked.

“We’re-,”

“We’re scientists from Kereial’s Geologic Institute. We’ve been studying this mountain for the past week.” Koellis interrupted Sieural.

“Really, now? First time I’ve seen scientists with swords.”

Both Koellis and Sieural were holding their swords in their hands.

“Ah. There has been a recent problem with lion attacks in these mountains. It’s for self defense.”

“I see.”

As if at the worst possible time, Alexis ran through the trees, and before knowing what was going on, said, “What’s going on, Sieural?”

All of a sudden, the Elleanian army was no longer believing Koellis. Instead, they attacked the three.

At a moment’s notice, Sieural drew his sword and began protecting himself from the group that had surrounded him.

Koellis, who was still near Alexis, whispered, “Go get the others.”

Alexis nodded and once again ran through the trees, allowing Koellis to draw his blades and begin his battle. The two, however quickly became outnumbered, and were now being pushed back.

Sieural blocked one slash from the side, but as he stepped backwards, he tripped over the large tree root behind him. Now unable to protect himself, Sieural was rushed by quite a large group of soldiers. However, as they were about to slash, one huge wave of what seemed like a sharp wind cut through the first row of attackers, giving Sieural time to regain his balance.

He immediately looked over to Koellis, who was now fighting with one arm. His other hand was bleeding, although Sieural could not tell whether it was from that huge blast of energy or an injury.

Now handicapped, Koellis also began being pushed back. The small light cuts that each were getting from repeated near misses became deeper and deeper. Their bodies were slowing down, both from injury and fatigue.

~~~~~

Deshael had already been running for two hours. He had long passed Kereial once more, and was now running up the mountainside. He was going to chase down this army, even if he could do nothing.

Perhaps to save his parents and the many other captives that the army took, or just to hopefully give them partial retribution for the pain they had dealt to many lives, not only ones in Lakai.