Magic Knight Rayearth Fan Fiction ❯ Echoes of Destiny ❯ The Drought ( Chapter 7 )

Echoes of Destiny
The Drought

***

Tarta wished that she could say that she knew what had to be done, but she only knew of what they could not do. They had to do something; they could not stand and watch the fight helplessly. They could turn their backs and head home, or they could go about their own business, or they could even somehow try to persuade the two battling men to stop. Unfortunately, the two sisters did what they should not do. They watched.

Many handmaidens and guards stood in the centre nervously, coughing every now and then or tugging on their attire as if it had too many wrinkles for proper royal aides. Tarta glanced at them every now and then, and the handmaidens often turned away sheepishly. The guards kept sturdy eye contact, though the princess could see in them apprehension and uncertainty. She gave them all a weak smile; many gasped softly or widened their eyes. Royalty never sympathized with their servants.

It could not be helped, for when Tarta only caught glimpses of her immediate subjects or had glanced at them without them ever noticing, they all stared at Tatra. The elder princess stood almost directly in front of the window that showed the fight, her head high and her hands resting delicately on the golden railing that separated the mock throne from the pool and the window. Tarta could not see her face, for she had her back turned from her, but she could imagine what was going through her mind.

Many times Tarta tried to speak to her sister, and many times she silenced herself. Many times she mulled over her words, and many times they sounded weak and tactless. Many times she wanted to ask questions that any other time she would not be afraid to ask; many times she asked why she could not ask those questions even then.

The silence unsettled the servants, which was why Tarta wanted to say something to comfort them even if the words she said did not comfort her sister.

Well, she could not please everybody.

Tatra bowed her head as if inspecting the rails to make sure there were no scratches. Tarta quickly jumped on the opportunity to make small talk although she knew not what to say.

"Neesan--"

The elder sister cut her off. "I--" she began and hesitated. Tarta frowned. "I am going out there."

The servants stirred amongst themselves, and Tarta widened her eyes. "What? What do you mean?"

"I mean that I am sending my Djinn out there," said Tatra as she turned around to face Tarta. Her eyes clouded with thunderous determination. "I will not let either of them die."

Tarta shook her head. "But--"

"I cannot do it alone. I'm going to need your help."

"Why?"

Tatra sighed and closed her eyes. "Those two robots are too strong for just one Djinn. I cannot--"

"That's not what I meant. Why do you want to save their lives? We both know that they're willing to die for both of their causes. You can't possibly mean to interfere."

"I do."

Tarta bit her lip. "But--"

"We do not have much time, Tarta."

"But remember what you said?" Tarta blurted out. This was something she had thought about saying, though she didn't know how to word it before; now it seemed all too simple. "Remember when you told me that someone who is willing to die is strong, and that the only person who can beat him is the one who knows his own worth? I don't think one person out of two who knows her own worth is enough to defeat two men who are willing to die."

Tatra smiled and opened her eyes slightly. "I assume you are talking about me as the one who knows her own worth in the world. Tarta, if only did a little searching of your own, you could find your self-worth. It isn't as hard as you would think."

"That's not the point, though. I have a question I've been meaning to ask you before--what if someone knows his own worth but is still willing to die?"

"That is what I have been asking myself lately, though now, I've realized that it is not possible. If he was truly unselfish and he knew his self-worth, he would never have the will to die. He would not want to hurt the people who love him by even discussing it." Tatra sighed again and turned back to the window. "I'm going to send out my Djinn, and I would greatly appreciate it if you did the same."

Tarta hesitated for a moment as she mulled over her sister's words. 'The people who love him.'

She took a deep breath.

"Neesan... that sub-commander... do you love him?"

Tatra stiffened but only for a moment, but that moment was all that Tarta needed. Anything that flew out of her sister's mouth would be spurious.

"No," Tatra answered, her voice weak and wavering. "He is just a good friend."

"Liar."

"Are you going to send out your Djinn, or...?"

Tarta studied her sister's back for a moment, and then glanced at the screen of the two fighting mechas. The white one was Eagle's, she knew that much, and the green one had to be his friend's. She still had no respect for the sub-commander, but for Eagle...

If Tatra failed, she would be miserable. Tarta could not let that happen.

"Yes."

***

Lady Aska had amazing psychic abilities, Sang Yung realized, for she was the one who woke up before anybody else did when everything started to happen. According to Chang Ang, she had rushed from her bedroom to the throne room, demanded to know what was going on and why she wasn't informed of it, and what she could do to help. She was anxious and excited, so Chang Ang awoke Sang Yung to calm her. It didn't work at all, and she didn't calm down until the mechanic begged to be let onboard the Dome.

The NSX's mechanic could no longer stand to be on the battleship, so he had asked the counsel of Fahren if he could stay with them until everything was over. Sang Yung knew the real reason why he could not stand to be on the mobile from Autozam. His friends were on the verge of killing each other, and if Zazu were to watch, he would not be able to do it alone. He needed to be with somebody, anybody, and since he knew Lady Aska and Chang Ang and Sang Yung better than he knew the princesses of Chizeta, he chose to go to the Dome.

Lady Aska immediately invited him over, and he arrived in quite the haste. She could sense his desperation as well as Sang Yung could, and to deny him his wishes would unsettle both of their emotions for the worse. Chang Ang didn't question her decision, and Sang Yung was certain that he felt it necessary that the mechanic be with them.

Although the crystal ball in the middle of the room showed the battle between the two robots, the mechanic had his back turned away from it. He sat on the ground cross-legged, arms folded, and head bent to the ground. He mumbled and grumbled under his breath words that Sang Yung could not catch. After a few seconds or so of trying to figure out what he was saying, Sang Yung turned back towards the crystal ball to watch the fight, but every so often he would continue the motion, wondering what exactly had happened when the sub-commander returned to the NSX that left Zazu so distraught and upset.

Chang Ang and Lady Aska paid no heed to the mechanic's actions, especially after he had promptly told them that he wished not to watch the fight he never thought would happen and so despised. Though, every once in a while Lady Aska did turn her head around to examine the teenager, but it was only for a short moment before she turned her undivided attention back to the fight.

The next major event in the crystal ball that took place surprised the three Dome inhabitants. Under any other circumstances, Lady Aska would have screamed in disgust, but this time, she knew just as well as Sang Yung and perhaps even Chang Ang did that the princesses of Chizeta were trying their best to stop the two maniacs from going to the extreme.

"Djinn?" Lady Aska gasped.

"The both of them are out," Chang Ang said, "and it sure seems to be working."

Indeed, the two Djinn cut through the middle of the fight and floated in between the two robots sturdily, as if they had the supreme authority in the universe. The firing between the robots ceased immediately and did not resume afterwards.

Sang Yung glanced over his shoulder and saw that Zazu had turned around out of curiosity.

"Those are from Chizeta, aren't they?" he asked quietly. Sang Yung nodded as Lady Aska and Chang Ang turned to face the mechanic. Zazu sighed. "I knew it."

Chang Ang and Sang Yung exchanged looks, and Lady Aska frowned and turned back to what was going on.

When Sang Yung did the same, he knew one thing for sure: somehow, the Djinn and the robots were talking. If not that, then arguing. It was then when the four of them noticed that the white robot that the mechanic had worked on and had supposedly been secured in the Dome was sneaking away from the argument. Lady Aska gasped.

"What is he doing?" she wondered aloud.

Zazu then stood up and joined the trio around the ball. He said nothing but watched intently just as the three Mashin of the Legendary Magic Knights joined the robots and the Djinn.

"I need to do something," Lady Aska muttered.

The males turned to her curiously. "What do you mean?" Chang Ang asked.

"I need to do something."

"What can you do, though?" asked Zazu. "I think the fight's over now. There is nothing that has to be done unless you want to stop Eagle from escaping and getting his way."

"That's exactly what I want to do."

"But if you use the Maboroshi Chikara again..!!" Sang Yung protested.

"You're too tired for that," Chang Ang agreed, "and you haven't fully recovered from it. It's dangerous to use ANY spells."

"I don't think the Djinn is enough to stop them, and the Mashin probably doesn't even know what's going on even as much as we do," said Lady Aska. "I have to do something."

Everybody fell silent. Lady Aska surely was a determined type and when she wanted to do something, there was no stopping her. Sang Yung prepared himself for an onslaught of orders from both her and Chang Ang, but the next person who spoke was neither of them.

"You're just obligated," said Zazu. "You see everybody else out there and you think you have to help, too. You want to help, but you don't know how exactly; you want to help because you don't want to be the only one who did nothing."

Lady Aska stared at the ground sheepishly. "Still..."

"I understand. It sucks to be helpless." He hesitated for a moment. "I don't know how it would help... maybe it's a distance thing that would tire you, or maybe just being out there can help in some way. Persuasion or something. If you'd like, I can take a transport out there, and if you want, you can come along."

Sang Yung gaped at the mechanic, and Chang Ang did likewise. Lady Aska stared at him in wonderment, and then smiled brightly.

"Thank you."

"Lady Aska, are you sure about this?" Sang Yung asked. She merely nodded.

"I don't want to be stuck here."

And then, a loud, booming voice as if from the higher skies made an announcement.

***

To communicate through the Djinn proved to be challenging, but Tatra knew that violence would not solve anything. She wished not to hurt these men; she only wished to stop them. The only way she knew that could possibly achieve that was to indeed talk with them through a telepathic link (though, they had the luxury of speaking aloud to prevent their thoughts from processing into the other party's minds), although an order for them to cease fire only resulted in her pleading with Geo to quit the onslaught. Luckily, the conversation went private as Tarta took up talking with Eagle, which from the sounds of it didn't seem to be going so well.

Tatra sighed, wishing that she could see Geo. "If you did not want Eagle-san to die, why are you ruthlessly fighting him?" she asked for perhaps the seventh time.

He responded the same as he had earlier: "He left me with no choice. I don't like this any more than you-- and I AM trying to make sure that I only disable his mecha, not hurt him in any way. I am not fighting 'ruthlessly.'"

Tatra sighed again, knowing that this wasn't going to go anywhere. She thought back to the last conversation she had with him in person, and she closed her eyes.

"You said you would give your life for him."

"And I will live true to that promise."

"But--"

"Tatra, this is how I was raised to be. If this isn't good enough, then I know no better. I know what I have to do, and I will set out to do it."

She shook her head. "You don't understand. Ignore Eagle-san's actions the past few minutes... do you think he would truly want you to die? Do you think your death for his sake would make him happy? Can you honestly say that?"

Geo chuckled. "I admit that he won't be throwing a party."

"So why do you insist on pursuing your death for his life?"

"Because that's what I promised him a long time ago."

Tatra frowned. "When you were children?"

"You might say that."

"How did he react?"

"He... I don't know, thought himself to be lucky or something."

Tatra grinned at the adorable picture of the commanders as toddlers for a moment before the realization set in that those toddlers were adults now. They could not hold on to such ridiculous vows of the past.

"Times have changed Geo-san-- were you taught so thoroughly that you could never break a single promise so you never did, even to something as silly as that, or--"

"Silly?"

"Geo-san, how do you think Eagle-san would react now if you were to reinstate your promise?"

He sighed. "I already know. He called me a hypocrite."

"But you are still going to--"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"As I've said before," slowly said Geo, "his life is worth more than mine."

Tatra blinked, astonished. "How could you say such a thing?"

"It's true. That's why."

"No!" cried Tatra, despite her outrage still carefully choosing her words. "It isn't! Every life is worth just as much as the other--why can you not see that? Who taught you to think like that, what drove you to have such low esteem?"

Geo remained silent. When a good length of time passed, Tatra sighed and said slowly, "You are worth more than you believe."

Silence.

He muttered, "I don't believe that."

Tatra knew not what to say to him to convince him otherwise, so she hesitated, wondering what she could say to remove his pessimism. She glanced over at her little sister, who clearly engaged in an argument with the other Autozam commander, and smiled to herself for a brief second. That was all it took before she remembered what her sister had asked of her only a few moments ago before they had sent their Djinn out, and Tatra wondered if it was really true.

Was she really...?

She nodded slightly and proceeded a new route to her destination.

"What do you think about me?" she asked.

Geo must have been startled by the question, for there was a brief moment of silence before he nervously answered, "What do you mean?"

"What am I to you? Am I worth more than your life as well? Your self-esteem cannot be so run down as to you thinking that you are the lowest of all creatures."

"You don't seem to have much self-esteem yourself."

"I have more than what I'm telling you."

Geo sighed and chuckled slightly. "Yes, you are worth more. As the heir daughter and as a person. I have yet to meet a person who topped your personality, your warmth... I'm sure you will make a fine ruler. If only the politicians of Autozam were more like you, then I'd live in a better country."

Her cheeks warmed. "Is that what you truly think of me?"

"Yes."

"Then what if I said--" Tatra stopped and pondered her words, hoping that she wasn't about to tell a lie, but that became the least of her concerns as she wondered about what his reaction was going to be and whether or not she was about to make a mistake. She took a breath and continued slowly and softly, "What if I said that I love you?"

Pause.

Geo said amusedly, "I'd say that you were joking."

"What if I am not?"

Another pause, but when Geo spoke again, the light tone vanished.

"This isn't hypothetical, is it?"

Tatra shook her head slowly, knowing that it was no use to lie. "No."

Before Geo had a chance to respond--and besides his moment of stuttering, he had been about to, Tatra could hear that--amidst the ominous thundering clouds and soaring debris of rock and clay, a blinding light broke through the atmosphere of the hellish Cephiro, and a boisterous divine voice from the heavens called out, "It is time...

... to open the Path to the Pillar."

***

Rayearth was no longer available, so while the two Magic Knights panicked over the sudden disappearance of their friend, Selece and Windam looked upon the events with concern.

"Who do You suppose will win?" Selece asked. "The Knight who dons Rayearth or..."

"A girl who came here with the destiny to destroy the Pillar has become one of the eligible candidates for the Pillar," Windam responded with mild amusement. "Interesting twist of fate."

"Indeed."

"There are flaws, however. A strong heart and a strong mind are needed to become eligible candidates, but to become a candidate, one can have either. And there is nothing against falling in love."

Selece nodded slowly. "The two candidates who did not make it..."

"One was not as determined as the other two, and the other had a change of heart. He began to question himself. But the eligible candidates who are on the Path now... both are in love although one realizes it and the other doesn't, and the one who does will ultimately win. If the Creator knows this, why did He let him through?"

"Magic Knight Hikaru Shidou of Earth and Commander Eagle Vision of Autozam. They were the eligible candidates before as they are now. Do You suppose that the Creator made a mistake with His decision?" Selece wondered.

"I did not."

Selece and Windam were startled by the sudden interruption by their master and wondered why He had decided to butt into their conversation when He also had the mortals to deal with.

"I did not waste My time," said the Creator. "I had hoped for Hikaru Shidou to become ineligible, and I had not intended for a new candidate to arise, but the relationships are different and the lives of many will become better than they had in the past. I assure You both, We will be happier with the outcome of this Test than We would have the one of nearly twelve hours past."

Epilogue