Last Exile Fan Fiction ❯ Do the Unthinkable... ❯ Chapter 1
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: CandaMyr 
Anime/Manga: Last Exile Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Romance | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 10.10.2005 | Pages: 1 | Words: 859 | Visits: 370 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Last Exile Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Romance | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 10.10.2005 | Pages: 1 | Words: 859 | Visits: 370 | Status: Completed
CHAPTER I
Voices... A multitude of voices... Sometimes brash, sometimes hushed... All of them very real, none of them hers...
"The weather is changing drastically. Hard to believe it's only been a few days..."
"Yeah, it's great. We actually get to see the color green again."
"The animals sure seem confused though... I mean, the rabbits can't change out of their white fur quick enough to stay hidden from the foxes..."
Laughter.
"Well, at least that means we get some of them too, easier than usual."
"Speaking of which, we have rabbit stew for dinner tonight. With fresh vegetables from Anatoray."
"Hey, did you hear? Some people from Anatoray are settling here."
"That's great!"
"What's so great about it? Now that the perma frost disappears again, now they come here."
"Hey! Quite a few of us got here before they took down the Guild... don't forget that! And we've been your neighbors for what? five years? before the land became completely unhospitable."
"You don't count. You were prisoners of war - that happened to like it here..."
More laughter. All of a sudden, silence. Then a hushed, "Where do you think /he's/ from?"
The man from Anatoray answered, "Not from Deusis, that's for sure."
"But his uniform doesn't look Anatorian."
"No. It's..." Pause, then in an even more hushed tone, "It's from the Silvana."
A gasp ran through the room.
"You mean... from the ship that took down THE Guild ship?"
"He means the renegade ship, the first ship powered by a Guild independent Claudia unit, the only ship that never belonged to anyone but its captain, the Silvana of the Genocide..."
Dead silence.
After a long pause the man from Anatoray spoke again, "I've met him once... the captain of the Silvana... Alex Row..." He sighed. "Most people hated him, either because they didn't know him, or because they were afraid of him. But his crew would die for him, any time, for any cause." Another sigh. "Just yesterday I met a tech from the Silvana... he left the ship, said there's no need for a renegade ship in times of peace, no good use, and it won't be the same anyway now that Alex Row is dead..."
Silence again. Everybody seemed submersed in their own thoughts.
"Who do you think /he/ was on the ship? Tech? Engineer? Higher up?"
"Dunno..." There was a long pause. Someone came closer, there was the rustling of clothes. Then suddenly, "Oh shit... It's him..."
"What?" The other people moved closer, some rushed, some hesitant. "What are you talking about?"
"It's him... Alex Row..."
~*~
Slowly Vincent walked up the hill. His eyes were fixed on the back of the person standing up there looking out into the skies. He sighed. He knew he'd find her here. Even though she seemed to have let go, seemed to have gone on with her life, she kept coming back here. She always wore a smile when she came back to the palace. In the beginning Vincent had often wondered where she had been that it brought this odd melancholic yet happy smile to her face. Until he had followed her secretly - and found her here, up on this hill. He had realized a lot of things in that moment...
"Your Majesty...?"
She wasn't startled, he could tell. Calmly she turned around to face him. He wondered since when she knew he was there, or even since when she knew he was following her here every time. She'd never mentioned it. And he had to admit it pained him to know that she didn't seem to care.
"Yes, Vincent?" Her voice was gentle, her expression soft. He did not dilude himself to think it was meant for him. Someone else occupied her thoughts and caused this expression.
"The preparations for the domestic inspection are completed." He kept his tone formal. "You are expected to depart any time now."
"Thank you. I will be there in a short while." She turned away. "Please go ahead. I will follow soon."
"Your Majesty..." Vincent backed away, still watching her, and therefore seeing how she knelt down in front of the memorial site, how she leaned forward to place a kiss on the cold marble of the headstone commemorating the life and death of Alex Row.
His heart ached. For himself. And for her...
Voices... A multitude of voices... Sometimes brash, sometimes hushed... All of them very real, none of them hers...
"The weather is changing drastically. Hard to believe it's only been a few days..."
"Yeah, it's great. We actually get to see the color green again."
"The animals sure seem confused though... I mean, the rabbits can't change out of their white fur quick enough to stay hidden from the foxes..."
Laughter.
"Well, at least that means we get some of them too, easier than usual."
"Speaking of which, we have rabbit stew for dinner tonight. With fresh vegetables from Anatoray."
"Hey, did you hear? Some people from Anatoray are settling here."
"That's great!"
"What's so great about it? Now that the perma frost disappears again, now they come here."
"Hey! Quite a few of us got here before they took down the Guild... don't forget that! And we've been your neighbors for what? five years? before the land became completely unhospitable."
"You don't count. You were prisoners of war - that happened to like it here..."
More laughter. All of a sudden, silence. Then a hushed, "Where do you think /he's/ from?"
The man from Anatoray answered, "Not from Deusis, that's for sure."
"But his uniform doesn't look Anatorian."
"No. It's..." Pause, then in an even more hushed tone, "It's from the Silvana."
A gasp ran through the room.
"You mean... from the ship that took down THE Guild ship?"
"He means the renegade ship, the first ship powered by a Guild independent Claudia unit, the only ship that never belonged to anyone but its captain, the Silvana of the Genocide..."
Dead silence.
After a long pause the man from Anatoray spoke again, "I've met him once... the captain of the Silvana... Alex Row..." He sighed. "Most people hated him, either because they didn't know him, or because they were afraid of him. But his crew would die for him, any time, for any cause." Another sigh. "Just yesterday I met a tech from the Silvana... he left the ship, said there's no need for a renegade ship in times of peace, no good use, and it won't be the same anyway now that Alex Row is dead..."
Silence again. Everybody seemed submersed in their own thoughts.
"Who do you think /he/ was on the ship? Tech? Engineer? Higher up?"
"Dunno..." There was a long pause. Someone came closer, there was the rustling of clothes. Then suddenly, "Oh shit... It's him..."
"What?" The other people moved closer, some rushed, some hesitant. "What are you talking about?"
"It's him... Alex Row..."
~*~
Slowly Vincent walked up the hill. His eyes were fixed on the back of the person standing up there looking out into the skies. He sighed. He knew he'd find her here. Even though she seemed to have let go, seemed to have gone on with her life, she kept coming back here. She always wore a smile when she came back to the palace. In the beginning Vincent had often wondered where she had been that it brought this odd melancholic yet happy smile to her face. Until he had followed her secretly - and found her here, up on this hill. He had realized a lot of things in that moment...
"Your Majesty...?"
She wasn't startled, he could tell. Calmly she turned around to face him. He wondered since when she knew he was there, or even since when she knew he was following her here every time. She'd never mentioned it. And he had to admit it pained him to know that she didn't seem to care.
"Yes, Vincent?" Her voice was gentle, her expression soft. He did not dilude himself to think it was meant for him. Someone else occupied her thoughts and caused this expression.
"The preparations for the domestic inspection are completed." He kept his tone formal. "You are expected to depart any time now."
"Thank you. I will be there in a short while." She turned away. "Please go ahead. I will follow soon."
"Your Majesty..." Vincent backed away, still watching her, and therefore seeing how she knelt down in front of the memorial site, how she leaned forward to place a kiss on the cold marble of the headstone commemorating the life and death of Alex Row.
His heart ached. For himself. And for her...