Sorcerer Hunters Fan Fiction ❯ Perpetual Thoughts ❯ Subtle Changes ( Chapter 24 )

The raison d'etre of the Sorcerer Hunters was, ostensibly, to hunt Sorcerers. That was their purpose in life. That was their job. No matter the previous circumstance or personal reluctance, unless one had a proper and understandable reason why they shouldn't have to partake in a mission, one was expected to fulfil their duty. Generally, Marron was wonderful with this. Driven by duty and with a strong sense of justice, each mission provided one more step along the road to a more peaceful world. Marron was, on the whole, dependable and reliable. He had a strong and working knowledge of magic in the world and could wield quite a bit of his own magic himself. Knowledge was power, magic was also power. Knowledge of magic was perhaps the most potent power. Even the strongest magic could be useless in the hands of somebody who didn't know how to use it. Marron's mind was quick, his actions were definite, he would spot an opportunity the moment it arose and would take advantage of it without question.

 

On the whole.

 

Most of the time, Marron managed to conduct himself with remarkable restraint, especially given the kind of behaviour usually displayed by his fellow comrades. He ate sensibly, he didn't drink alcohol (he couldn't drink alcohol), he didn't get into fights, he didn't gamble, he had a near-perfect sense of self-control... as events turned out, that could either be positive or negative, but when it came to it, that usually came in useful. He had well-honed practices of meditation to aid him, he was quite versed in practices of self-restraint, and when it came to it, he could usually be relied on to go to bed at a sensible time.

 

Generally.

 

He could also cook wonderfully and had the potential to have quite the stunning singing voice, not that many people could convince the younger Glacé brother to sing. He was loyal, he was devoted, he was powerful, he was ruthless.

 

As he stood in front of Big Mama alongside the other Sorcerer Hunters, all he could feel at that moment was absolutely terrible. He hadn't slept well. He didn't know what time it'd been when he'd slept the night before, but it'd certainly been far, far too late... times previous when he hadn't slept early, he'd usually at least been able to afford himself a lie-in... but chance didn't always fall upon his shoulders, and it just so happened that, that morning, there was a mission. Everybody else looked so bright and cheerful in comparison, to his eyes.

 

At least the shock of Dota's entrance into the room to announce the mission had removed suspicion from Carrot's mind as to why he would have woken up with his younger brother quite firmly clamped around his body. Marron wasn't sure if Carrot had even noticed the position, given how quickly he shot out of bed... both an annoyance and a blessing, he supposed. It would have been nice for Carrot to have noticed but then again, there were awkward questions that Carrot might have asked... as it was, he didn't seem to have noticed anything. That was acceptable.

 

The other question was that of Tira. She seemed as calm and composed as she usually did when standing in front of Big Mama to receive the latest mission... the mindframe to a mission compared to that outside of one could be quite different, though. She seemed calm and composed, but Marron hadn't yet spoken to her that morning... and to think of the night previous... it all seemed so far away, like some kind of dream. Yet, he couldn't help but remember... things had almost happened... then he'd become so terse with her... she'd even transformed, convinced of Marron's possession...

 

There was also the memory of what had been said.

 

Tira loved Carrot.

 

She loved him.

 

As they stood in front of Big Mama, Marron couldn't glance over at Tira without being reminded of that one glaring fact... she loved Carrot... loved him... and he'd been so malicious to her that night before... had thought of such terrible, terrible things...

 

"... Marron...?"

 

Big Mama's gentle voice brought Marron back to some sense of reality.

 

"Ah? Big Mama?"

 

"You seem preoccupied, somehow..."

 

"Ah... I... I fear I did not sleep as well as I might have been able to..."

 

"Would you like me to repeat the details of the mission?"

 

Marron realised, with a slight sense of amazement, that he hadn't been entirely aware of Big Mama giving out any details in the first place... he'd been too busy thinking about last night, of his own feelings, of Tira's feelings... he felt weary, but he tried to encourage his mind to come to the kind of frame of that of an upcoming mission. They had a mission. They were about to go on a mission. Missions were important. Likely there would be a Sorcerer that needed punishing. That required concentration, didn't it? Even if it was just a mission to seal some magic, he was the one usually called upon to seal the magic, given his powers... arguably, that required even more concentration. Concentration was important. He steeled his resolve and nodded at Big Mama, "If it's not an inconvenience..."

 

She only smiled, "It's important to go forth on a mission with as much knowledge as possible of the situation. Please, try to hold some sense of concentration."

 

She spoke kindly, but Marron couldn't help but feel that he was being berated just slightly.

 

"Yes, Big Mama. I apologize."

 

"Alright. All of you, please listen, I won't repeat this again. It has been brought to my attention that the first seal of the powerful Eclipse magic has been disturbed, in the southern town of Neris. Sources alert me to the fact that three Sorcerers have been seen at the town recently, acting suspiciously. Nobody is yet hurt, but if these Sorcerers are allowed to continue, then the effects may be catastrophic."

 

Gateau stretched idly, "What's this Eclipse magic gonna do that's so bad?"

 

"The magic itself has been sealed in three parts across the Continent. If the full magic were to be unleashed, the caster would have the power even to control the rising and the setting of the sun."

 

The group reacted in a suitably surprised way. Tira gasped, "Be able to control the sun...?"

 

"The magic has been sealed for two hundred years, now. In common knowledge, the existence of the magic has faded into legend, the whereabouts of the seals only known for definite by those of the Stella Church... it is possible that the Sorcerers have discovered the location of the seals through manipulation... you must assume them to be dangerous."

 

With little more information than that, Big Mama sent the five Sorcerer Hunters to the town of Neris.

 

Neris itself was a quiet and relaxed kind of town; run by a Parsoner family of long standing, the town rarely came up against any kind of argument or incident. Arguably the perfect kind of place to hide a seal to a dangerous piece of Forbidden Magic... the town as the Hunters arrived seemed quite sparsely populated. Either most people stayed within their houses, or the town really was not that populated to begin with... after adjusting to the quick method of transportation, Gateau was the first to stand forward.

 

"We don't even get to know what the Sorcerers look like, huh..."

 

Carrot shrugged, "No, 'cause that'd be too easy. Jeez. So, what are we gonna do first? Marron, you wanna check out the Stella Church? That's always a good place to start."

 

"Ah? Ah... yes, niisan..."

 

"Anyone else wanna do anything? 'Cause I don't wanna."

 

Chocolat idly hit Carrot over the shoulder, "Darling, you can't be so lazy! This is a powerful piece of magic that's at risk! Do you really want a Sorcerer to appear who's gonna be able to even control the sun?"

 

"Hey! Don't hit me like that! What's so bad about a Sorcerer being able to control the sun, anyway? So day and night'll be a bit messed up if he manages to get hold of it. So what?"

 

Gateau sighed, "Idiot. Most people rely on crops and things like that for food, right? Think how much it'd mess up those if the sun was to go in and out whenever some Sorcerer felt like it! Then it wouldn't matter if you were a Sorcerer or a Parsoner, it'd still be impossible to get crops that didn't fail, or come out weird... and don't people get ill if they don't go into the sun enough? Something like that. It'd mess up animals, too. Decidin' when they sleep, when they hibernate, all crap like that... I guess like that, the Sorcerer guy would have control over everything that had to do with the sun like that. Could end up being all 'I'll only let the sun out if you pay me loads of money, give me all your best women, give me this, give me that'..."

 

Carrot still didn't seem too impressed. Arms folded, he looked to the side.

 

"Okay, okay. But I don't get how some piece of magic could do something like that in the first place. I mean, the sun's way up there," Carrot pointed to the sky, "... isn't it? How can some magic down here seriously affect something up there?"

 

"Either it's a real powerful piece of magic or it's a lie, but either way, do you wanna risk that? Sure seems that Big Mama doesn't want to."

 

Marron watched with a distant eye as Gateau and Carrot continued on their argument. Gateau was right, there was always the possibility that the magic wasn't quite as powerful as perhaps it could be - it'd been sealed for two hundred years, it was possible that the magic may have weakened in that time... they had no evidence for or against how effective it could be, other than Big Mama's word. Of course, when it came to such things, nobody would want to argue with her... tired as he felt, a mission was a mission. They'd been instructed to do something. No matter how annoying or even unlikely the mission may have seemed, they had little say in the matter. When it came down to it, there was a Sorcerer doing something he shouldn't be. What he wanted to do wasn't as important as the fact that he was doing it.

 

So it seemed that Carrot probably wouldn't want much to do with the mission. Given his tendencies, the only thing that would kickstart his interest in the mission would be if there was some cute girl who would be willing to help them out as a client or so... why did he have to have such stubborn interests? Perhaps if they were able to quickly solve the mission, they'd be able to go home quickly. Then sleep quickly. Marron knew it was his own fault for ending up so fractious in the first place...

 

"Everybody, we should quickly sort out where we want to go."

 

The argument silenced suddenly, Gateau and Carrot looked over at Marron. He looked quite serious. Gateau shrugged, "Sure, sure. Not going to get anywhere if we just sit around and argue all day, right? So. Where is there to go?"

 

Neither realised that their target was similar, but both Tira and Carrot couldn't help but regard Marron with something of a wary eye. Marron hadn't shouted as such, but he certainly didn't seem in the sort of mood to really mess around... Carrot wondered why Marron would be in a bad mood, then remembered Marron's earlier words to Big Mama. He hadn't been able to sleep well? Carrot could remember Marron leaving their bedroom at some point during the night... Marron had obviously been there that morning, but Carrot could recall nothing between the two points... as to when Marron had actually returned to the bedroom, Carrot didn't know. Obviously he'd fallen asleep in the meantime to not be able to know... if Marron had been out for so long, just what had he spent all of that time doing? It wasn't really the time or the place to ask such things, but Carrot couldn't help but be curious...

 

As for Tira, she wanted to say something about the night beforehand. About how Marron had acted, had reacted. The things he'd said. The things she'd said. The things the both of them had almost done. It seemed a little awkward, somehow... it was hard to look at Marron standing there beside the fountain being so decisive about the mission and equate that to the callous Marron that had smirked so coldly the night previous... perhaps he'd had a bad night, but he certainly still seemed snappish now that it was the morning... more than just a bad night, maybe he was just generally in a bad mood these days? To find out why... that wasn't something that Tira felt she could do. Obviously Marron wasn't quite willing to confide in her, he was just willing to say confusing and ambiguous things... her expression softened as she, alongside Chocolat and Gateau, walked a little closer to Marron in order to plan the order of events while in Neris. Even though he said that he was a bad person... even though he could act strangely sometimes... even despite those things, Tira couldn't bring herself to really believe the things that he said. It seemed a shame that he'd have such a twisted view of himself... but basically he was a good person, wasn't he? If he really was so terrible, then he wouldn't have been so determined to sort the mission out... wouldn't always be so concerned about Carrot... wouldn't always work so hard...

 

In just what way would Marron consider himself a bad person? Tira had been idly mulling that point since having woken up that morning. The only conclusion she could come to was that, just perhaps, it was something to do with Gateau? They all knew that Marron and Gateau had split up, though they didn't particularly know the details no matter how much Chocolat pried... perhaps it hadn't been an amiable break? Perhaps there had been arguments? Maybe Marron had reacted badly? Tira didn't know, didn't feel that she could know, but what more could explain Marron's self-perception?

 

Carrot followed up after everybody else, his arms held behind his head.

 

"Well, I already said that you could check out the Church around here. What else is there? It's not gonna take all of us to look through the shops."

 

"If we were to break up the town into five separate areas, niisan, then we should cover more ground, I believe. Since you seem so insistent on my research of the Stella Church, I shall take that area. From here, there seem to be several shopping avenues... also the residential sector of the town."

 

Gateau shrugged, "I can go look through the shops, if you want. Maybe Tira and Chocolat should go for the houses and such? People'd be less threatened by them asking them if they've seen anything suspicious than if it was me or Carrot."

 

"Hey, what's threatening about me?!"

 

"You'd end up hitting on all the girls and women before asking them anything useful. The people who live here are probably going to know most about anybody strange who's been around. Given how you normally get, you'd probably be first on their list for being 'strange'."

 

Turning his attention to the Misu sisters, Marron glanced away from Gateau and Carrot.

 

"Tira, Chocolat, would you be alright with that?"

 

Chocolat nodded, "Going over that way? Sure, I don't have a problem with that. I suppose if we split up to look there, darling and Gateau split up to look through the shops, and Marron, you look at the church... then we can meet up here in what, an hour or so? Maybe give it a bit longer... we can meet up when that town clock says midday, find out what we've all managed to discover."

 

Marron nodded his agreement, "Yes, that sounds sensible. However, if we were to find anything potentially related... I think it would be best if we were to remain on the trail of whoever we've managed to find than to meet up and risk losing the lead. Therefore, if anybody doesn't show up at midday, we can assume that they've discovered something."

 

"Unless it's darling, in which he's probably ended up chasing some girl somewhere."

 

"... Indeed. In any case, I don't think there's much more reason to remain here... so, until then..."

 

The implication was there. Nodding at each other, Tira and Chocolat headed off towards their designated area. It wasn't until Marron also started to walk away that Carrot realised he'd probably missed something; he quickly caught up with Marron, "Wait, what? What are we doing?"

 

Marron turned around, a little impatiently.

 

"We're going to be investigating the different areas of the town in order to discover any kind of lead to this mission, niisan. Gateau and yourself will be investigating the shopping area of the town... see, from those streets over there, as much ground as you can cover. We'll meet up again at lunchtime back here in front of this fountain, unless we're on the trail of something or somebody. In that case, the others shall assume that somebody has found something, and perhaps aid them with that. Alright?"

 

"Oh, yeah..."

 

"Well, then. We don't have time to waste."

 

With that, Marron resumed walking off in the direction of the Stella Church, but he was prevented once more by Carrot running in front of him.

 

"What is it, niisan?"

 

"You... okay, Marron?"

 

"Why should I not be?"

 

"I never saw you after you went off last night... you're all kinda tense this morning. Um, if you want to talk about anything, then-"

 

"I'll be fine, niisan. You don't have to worry about me."

 

"Yeah, but just 'cause I don't have to doesn't mean I'm not gonna, does it?! You go off without saying anything, then you're all in a bad mood... um... it's not 'cause of anything I said, is it?"

 

That surprised Marron. Why should anything that Carrot said have angered him? If anything, it was the things that Carrot hadn't said, but beyond that... Carrot had at least said that he loved Marron, and while there were various contexts that could have been taken in, the underlying sentiment was one that Marron couldn't argue with. However, if Carrot was worried, really worried, then surely he'd wonder just what it was that had upset Marron... he would blame himself? Everything was connected to Carrot in a roundabout sort of way, but there hadn't been anything that Carrot had specifically done or said... Marron realised that his mood was perhaps not helping Carrot's opinion. He sighed gently.

 

"Niisan, it's... please, don't presume yourself the guilty party. I would not wish for you to blame yourself for things that you cannot know... please. We have a mission, there isn't time for discussion of such things at this moment in time. Perhaps I shall feel better once I've been able to get a decent night's sleep. I'll be alright, niisan."

 

"Well... if you're sure..."

 

"It would make me feel better at this moment if I knew you were dedicating your thought to the mission in hand."

 

"Um... well, okay... so, uh, we're meeting up here at lunch, right?"

 

"Yes, niisan."

 

"Kay then..."

 

Carrot still looked somewhat concerned as he ran back to where Gateau was waiting for him, but there was little more that could be said to Marron on the subject. He was right, it was a mission, there was little time for such things... that didn't stop him worrying, though.

 

Marron headed off to the Stella Church feeling just slightly better than he had done previously. Carrot was worried about him? He couldn't feel well about making Carrot worried in the first place, but then again, to have Carrot's concern... he'd even wondered if it had been something he himself had done, even though there really wasn't anything that he might have done... how much would something like that affect him? Marron didn't know, but if he held his brother's attention just slightly, then it pleased him just a little. Also was the fact that Chocolat and Tira had happily gone off to one side of the town while Gateau and Carrot had gone to the other... that was alright. For the Misu sisters to search together... Marron trusted Gateau with his brother. If he did have any kind of working influence over the group and the mission, then perhaps just for the moment, he felt he should use that influence...

 

He knew it was an unrealistic hope to presume that he could prevent Carrot and Tira spending any time alone together. After all, Chocolat was not quiet in her desires, likely she'd spent lots of time quietly with Carrot now and then, and nothing had come of it... but after the things that Tira had said, now that Marron knew her feelings... he still didn't know quite what to do. He felt tired and a little grumpy, but not as angry as he'd felt last night... last night there had been something overpowering, hadn't there? Now that it was morning, now that there was a mission... there were other things to concentrate on, were there not? More important things. There was more to life than what you knew within your own mind. Sometimes it seemed as if the world outside was very different to the world inside, but indeed, what could be done about that? Marron sighed, steeling his resolve. For the time being, the only thing that could be done was to concentrate on the mission in hand. If there was anything he could discover, then surely it would be of some benefit to the group... and would there not be a kind of satisfaction from being able to solve a mission? Nodding to himself, Marron walked up the steps of the Neris Stella Church.

 

The morning passed in various ways for the different Sorcerer Hunters. Chocolat and Tira asked anybody they encountered if there had been word of any strange Sorcerers around the town recently... some people thought that they knew more than others, but when it really came down to it, it didn't seem that anybody in the town's houses really knew that much... the most that they were able to gather was that a group of three youths had been spotted in the town centre the day before, and that was about it... there was still at least an hour or so to go before the agreed meeting time. After talking about it with Chocolat, Tira managed to persuade her sister to allow her some time off on her own. She'd said that she just felt like a walk around to be able to stretch her legs, but... truthfully, she wanted to find Marron. While things were quiet, it'd be alright to talk to him, wouldn't it?

 

In the shopping district of the town, Gateau and Carrot had split up to work from one end to the other (and then hopefully meet in the middle).

 

Gateau had found it a little interesting to observe Carrot's behaviour after he'd spoken with Marron at the beginning. It was easy enough to predict that Carrot would want to run around the town and look for pretty ladies, but as far as Gateau himself could observe, after Marron had said that it'd bring him peace of mind to know that Carrot was working on his mission, Carrot did seem quite determined to actually work on the mission. Not that Gateau was going to complain about that, of course... but it seemed a little strange. Marron would hold so much influence over what Carrot did? Usually it was the other way around, surely...? There was something strange about those two, and Gateau didn't know if he knew enough to say just what that was. There seemed to be so much he didn't know, that he couldn't work out... so much that neither Glacé brother would tell him, and arguably it was none of his business...

 

However, when it came to Marron, he couldn't help but be curious... especially after that conversation with Milphey. That had been an interesting conversation, but what could be done about the things that they'd talked about? He couldn't think of anything. If Marron really did have some kind of strange separation of emotions problem all linked back to Carrot... perhaps it would have been an idea to talk to Carrot about it? Would anything be gained through Carrot knowing or thinking about such things...? It wasn't as if Carrot didn't have his own suspicions in the first place, even Gateau could remember past conversations where the both of them had wondered...

 

Did Marron really have such a problem, though? Was there any sure way to know...?

 

More than that, Gateau wondered, was it really any of his business to know... it was something he'd turned over in his mind quite frequently. Talking to Milphey about everything... it had felt somewhat of a relief to be able to have got things off of his chest, though Milphey's answers had been a little confusing... had he really wanted answers in the first place, though? There was little, he felt, could be answered. Much of Marron could be questioned, but when it came to it, they weren't in a relationship anymore. Perhaps Marron did have problems and maybe in some situations it would have been good to show friendly concern, but... you could only have certain connections to people, and sometimes some things honestly were not to be known. For as long as he'd been able to manage, Gateau had been trying to convince himself that Marron's business was not his own business. It didn't matter what problems Marron had. It didn't matter what things Marron wanted. None of it mattered. He couldn't talk to Marron easily, he couldn't give - or at least wasn't willing to give - Marron the things that he wanted... all he could do was to wish Marron success in finding that person who could grant those things.

 

And if that person was Carrot...?

 

Gateau figured that that was around where the whole matter stopped being any of his business. Perhaps it would have been possible to ask Carrot of his suspicions but in the end, what could really be done about such things? Of course Carrot loved Marron, but... surely there were boundaries to things like that...!

 

Carrot himself had been preoccupied with smaller worries for that time. Trying to work out what it would have been that Marron had gone off for so long the night previous to do. Wondering what kind of things would really affect Marron...

 

Eventually, he decided to take a break. His mind wasn't on the mission, perhaps a nice sit-down in a café or restaurant would help calm him down? He eventually selected a small coffeehouse across the road from the clothes shops he'd been looking at previously. The day was sunny and the building seemed quite dark on the inside, but once his eyes adjusted to the light... it seemed quite cosy, in a rustic sort of way. Also quite full... Carrot growled inwardly. On such a nice day, why did so many people have to stay inside? In the end, he took a table to the back of the main room, in the corner. Nowhere else seemed to be free... he settled down, ordered his coffee.

 

Looking around to the different people... some people seemed to be chatting happily amongst themselves, some people seemed more reserved... any one of them might have had important information concerning the Sorcerers he was looking for, but when it came to it... Carrot couldn't think of anything he could easily do. What was he supposed to do, stand at the entrance and yell to the entire room that he was looking for information? Then again, in such a crowded place, it would have seemed a little strange to go from table to table... Carrot had a feeling he'd get kicked out of the building before managing to find out anything. Perhaps it would have been a better idea to pick random people? What kind of people would be helpful... that woman over there, with the shopping? That old man and that small kid? In another frame of mind Carrot knew he would have been on the lookout for hot women, but there didn't seem to be any inside at that moment...

 

Then of course was the small matter of not wanting to let Marron down... Marron had specifically said that it would make him feel better if he knew that Carrot was doing his job. Carrot didn't know if there was any way that Marron would be able to tell if he was working or not, but given Marron he wouldn't have been totally surprised if somehow he did have his methods... and of course, there was always the measure of his own heart. As much as he didn't want to let Marron down, he didn't want to let himself down, either. Marron was in such a weird mood these days. If he just slacked off and got into trouble like how he usually did, wouldn't that disappoint Marron? Maybe make him more stressed? The stress certainly seemed to be a big part of Marron at the moment... Carrot wondered if he should have perhaps volunteered to go along to the Stella Church with Marron. Then at least he could have insisted Marron sit around and put his feet up while Carrot did the research... not that he would really have known what to look for, but... Marron could at least verbally aid him, couldn't he? Carrot sighed. He wasn't really in the mood for a mission.

 

"... so, I don't know if he was able to find it, but..."

 

"You think it could be here?"

 

"We know it's here, idiot. Just where..."

 

"Well, Kiente went off to the Stella Church, didn't he? If anyone's gonna know about where the seal is, it's gonna be those pussies who guard all the books..."

 

"Hush, keep your voice down...!"

 

"Oh, c'mon. Nobody's going to be listening."

 

Ah hah. Carrot craftily edged a little closer to his right. The table across from him was attended by two men... maybe a bit older than him? Carrot wasn't sure. Both had shoulder-length blue hair tied into two locks around their ears. Carrot looked a little closer, quickly. A contrary triangle...? At least one of them had one. Sorcerers! Talking about seals and things! Taking a gulp of his coffee, Carrot smirked into the cup. Had he hit lucky? He sat tight for a few moments more, wondering if they'd say anything else that was interesting.

 

"You never know..."

 

"It's only a room full of Parsoners. What can they do?"

 

"It's suspicious us just being here, Ferrino. You saw the look on the guy's face when we were just ordering drinks... this isn't a town that likes Sorcerers."

 

"And I don't like Parsoners. What's the big thing about it?"

 

The first Sorcerer sighed, "You have to be more subtle..."

 

"It'll all come down to nothing once we become Sol, in any case. If they don't like it, we can just get rid of them. Nobody'll argue with us then, will they! Not even Kiente."

 

A smirk, "Well, I suppose I have to agree with you there. Of course, we have to pick our moment carefully..."

 

"He'd be pretty pissed off if he knew we were just sitting here drinking coffee while he was running round the town, wouldn't he?"

 

"Yes, but while he's doing that, he's not going to notice, is he? Hmn, perhaps I should get another cup... even you have to admit that this place sells good coffee, don't you? It's somewhere we should save when we rule the world, I think. Ahaha."

 

Carrot raised one eyebrow. No, really. They had to be the Sorcerers Mama had sent them to look out for...! Though, they kept talking about somebody else? Another member of their group. Another member of their group who they'd mentioned was going to the Stella Church?!... Trying to keep a hold on the situation, Carrot continued to try to make himself look inconspicuous. So another Sorcerer was on the way to the Stella Church... it wasn't that he doubted Marron could handle just one Sorcerer, but... well... nobody said that the Sorcerer was going to do anything bad, just that he was looking for where the seal on the magic was... hopefully Marron would be able to intercept before that time... ideally Carrot would have rushed from the coffeehouse to the Stella Church to try and give Marron some kind of advance notice, but then again, that ran the risk of losing these two Sorcerers... Carrot tapped his fingers against the table. Where was Gateau? It would have been so much easier if they'd remained in a pair... then one could have stayed to keep an eye on the Sorcerers while the other went to the Stella Church... his mind raced. Was there any way to turn the situation to his advantage?

 

As he watched, the Sorcerer who had been identified as Ferrino got up from his seat, presumably to order some more coffee. Carrot glanced across the room to the main counter... there was a reasonably-sized queue. Possibly he'd be standing there for a while. He looked back to the other Sorcerer, who was quietly finishing off what remained of his drink... was there an opportunity there? Surely facing one Sorcerer was better than facing both of them... and that other one seemed like he had quite a hot temper, didn't he? Perhaps it would be easier to work something out with that more reasonable one... be able to keep track of the two of them somehow...

 

They didn't seem to have a very favourable opinion on Parsoners. Standing up and aside from his table, Carrot approached the first Sorcerer. He'd use that prejudice to his advantage.

 

Standing beside the Sorcerer, Carrot clapped his hands together enthusiastically.

 

"Oh my GOD! It's YOU!"

 

Realising that he was being addressed, the Sorcerer glanced up with a disinterested sort of gaze.

 

"Can I help you with something?"

 

"You! You're... you're... oh god, the name totally went from my head!"

 

Still just that stare. Well, knowing their names wasn't essential, but it sure would have lent credibility to his act had he known the names of both of the Sorcerers... well, they looked incredibly similar, didn't they?

 

"... I don't recall having seen you before."

 

"Fe... rrino, right?"

 

"I fear you have me confused with my brother. He should be back shortly... if you have any business with him, I'm sure he'd be... interested."

 

"No no no no no, it's definitely definitely you that I wanted to see! That serious manner, that calculating... calculatingness... but yeah! I've been an admirer of you and your brother and that other guy for ages now! I really admire the things that you're trying to do!"

 

The Sorcerer blinked, one eyebrow raised. He took another sip of his coffee.

 

"And what might that be?"

 

Carrot knew that he was walking on thin ice. There was only so much he could talk about, and surely it would have seemed suspicious if the entire breadth of his knowledge came from what the two Sorcerers had quite obviously been talking about just a few moments previously... still, the Sorcerer didn't seem angry with him, not just yet. Bemused, but not angry. Oh, what had Big Mama been talking about before the mission... he remembered arguing with Gateau... magic that could control the sun? He remembered that. If he could remember the name of it...

 

"You know! With the wanting to get the, the magic... the... the Lunar magic! And it's sealed somewhere in this very town! And once you-... wait, 'Lunar' is moon, isn't it... crap, that wasn't it...! Ahaha, anyway! No, wait... something to do with the moon... well, um... the... the magic! With the being able to control the sun and everything!"

 

"... You seem quite excitable."

 

"Well of course I'm gonna be excited! I've just met one of my idols! Oh boy, I just can't wait until you find that magic that's sealed somewhere in this town. Once you get all powerful you'll really be able to punish all those stupid Parsoners, won't you! They'll all regret ever having been born once you manage to do... stuff!"

 

"That's quite interesting to hear, coming from a Parsoner's lips."

 

Carrot waved one hand in an 'it doesn't matter' kind of way.

 

"Oh, hey. Just 'cause I'm a Parsoner doesn't mean I'm gonna like it, does it? I mean, c'mon, Parsoners suck. What with the not being able to use magic and all. Wouldn't it be better if everybody could use magic? All the people who can't use magic should just die, 'cause like, that's gotta be the most important thing ever! Cause if you got magic then you're powerful, right?"

 

This seemed to amuse the Sorcerer, "If this world had no Parsoners, then who might we rule over once we gain this world? A kingdom is only equal to those ruled over within it. If there's nobody to rule over then can you honestly call yourself a ruler?"

 

"Ha ha ha! I totally agree! Weak people only exist to be taken advantage of, right? But dude, if we had this magic we'd even be able to make other Sorcerers fear! Cause like, y'know, the sun and everything..."

 

"I wonder who this 'we' is that you speak of... but yes, indeed, our power would be one which transcended the boundary between Sorcerer and Parsoner. I remain curious of your fascination of our goals, however. From an outside point of view, I would barely think our work so admirable... we are in this for ourselves, nothing more than that. If the magic happens to choose my brother, then so be it. If it chooses, god forbid, Kiente... again, so be it. If it chooses me... then indeed, I am blessed. We travel because we each believe that the magic shall choose us. What is it that you admire?"

 

In retrospect, Carrot supposed that choosing the first idea that leapt into his head had not perhaps been the best idea in the world. Still, what else was he going to say? What kind of thing was there to say?

 

"I'm in love with Kiente."

 

There was a moment where the Sorcerer almost seemed to sputter on his coffee. He paused, sat his coffee cup back onto the saucer, dabbed at his lips with a nearby napkin. He looked back up at Carrot, eyebrow still firmly raised.

 

"... In love... with Kiente?"

 

"I betcha Kiente hates Parsoners, huh?"

 

"That would be a given."

 

"Did he ever tell you why he hates Parsoners?"

 

"Is it something that needs a reason?"

 

Carrot realised that this didn't tell him if Kiente had discussed his reasoning with his two companions or not, but it was the most he had to go on. He nodded enthusiastically, "Several years ago we were lovers! But, I kinda treated him badly, and he went off and, y'know, set off with all the trying to find the Solar magic and everything, 'cause he wanted to be able to control Parsoners and stuff. I've been tracking him down almost since he left, 'cause like, I really love him! I want to find him again and tell him of my feelings! I guess I want to apologize... but I'm also very impressed by all this magic stuff too! I thought that maybe if Kiente heard my honest feelings then it might calm his troubled heart. 'Cause I hurt him pretty badly. Y'know."

 

"Well, indeed my brother and I were quite impressed by Kiente to first meet him, I can see how people would draw such a fascination from him... still, to have been in a relationship with another man? With a Parsoner...? I have to say though, that doesn't entirely surprise me..."

 

"Hehe, I wouldn't lie about something like that. So, um, you guys are in this town to find this seal on this magic, huh?"

 

A nod, "Kiente has gone to the Stella Church to try to locate the whereabouts of the seal. You would want to help him, wouldn't you? I don't suppose you know where the seal might be?"

 

"Sorry, I'm a newcomer to this town myself..."

 

"That's a shame."

 

At that point, the other Sorcerer returned. He brought with him two cups of coffee; he set one down in his place, then one down in front of his brother's place.

 

"Ferrero, who's this guy?"

 

"My brother, did you know that Kiente was of the homosexual persuasion?"

 

Ferrino sat down, "Huh?"

 

"That he was gay."

 

"Oh... no, I didn't know that. Why, is he?"

 

"Apparently so. And this Parsoner tells me that he is, how should I say it, a previous partner of our friend Kiente. Apparently he's quite in awe of our ideals, and especially hopes to meet Kiente once more."

 

"Kiente went to the Stella Church."

 

"I told him that already. Now, Mr Parsoner... if you might wish to find Kiente, as I mentioned, you should find him at the church. Would that be all...?"

 

"Ah, ah, my name is Carrot. Hi. Well, y'know... I mean... is there anything you could tell me about Kiente...?"

 

"I would assume you'd know quite a lot already."

 

"I mean... is he powerful? He wasn't too powerful back when I knew him, but y'know, that was years ago and everything. Anything he knows now that he didn't then? I'm just curious about him, ahaha. I mean, the two people who are closest to him now are probably going to know better than me, right? Ha ha ha!"

 

There was a slight silence; the two Sorcerers seemed to realise that they wouldn't be getting rid of this strange and annoying Parsoner any time soon. Ferrino shrugged, "He's been pretty fond of his Sparkling Whip magic for a while..."

 

"Sparkling Whip, huh? What does that do?"

"What does it sound like it does? It whips people. Ties them up and stuff. Oh dude, Ferrero, remember that time when he put all that power into it and managed to slice someone in half? That was reeeeally disgusting! But, it was pretty cool too. Heh, I guess maybe he's got more powerful than when you knew him? I dunno. But he can do that, anyway."

 

"Ha ha ha..."

 

Carrot attempted a laugh alongside the Sorcerer's humour, but it was a laugh that he didn't feel. The worst times for Marron seemed to be those when he ended up tied up or hurt or whatever - after all, there was the matter of his Eastern Magic, the seals that needed to be cast... Carrot suddenly pulled away from the table. If Marron was going to be fighting against such an enemy then there wasn't time to be sitting around chatting with Sorcerers about things! It didn't matter if those Sorcerers got away, likely Big Mama would send the Hunters out after them again if they really did manage to escape. In the meantime was just how Marron was to be coping...

 

Ferrero looked up, "Oh, you're going now?"

 

"Yeah, I just realised... I really can't stand another moment not being able to see Kiente-smoochums! I need to go see him. Like, now. It was great meeting you guys, maybe we can do it again sometime! Bye!"

 

With that, Carrot shot off from the coffeehouse. Ferrero and Ferrino blinked at the space where Carrot had been then at each other before resuming their drinks.

 

"Parsoners can be quite strange sometimes, can they not?"

 

"Sure can. Who wants to bet he won't be comin' out the other side after meetin' Kiente?"

 

"Oh, certainly. No matter their past, I don't think he'd have much mercy. Yes, Parsoners can be quite strange and quite stupid. We'll be quite doing them a favour once we rule, don't you think?"

 

"Of course! Heh, and meanwhile, Kiente does all the hard stuff. Well, I don't think we gotta do anything more today... maybe we should go check out that inn we saw earlier?"

 

"If you feel it necessary."

 

"Yeah, you want to, just admit it. C'mon, let's go already..."

 

****

 

The seal of the magic, so Marron had discovered, was apparently at the edge of the town. There was a series of hills separating the town from the river and fields beyond, and in the space between those hills lay where the magic was secretly sealed. That was as much as the resident of the Stella Church had been able to tell Marron; after that, he'd spent most of his time reading the magic books of that Stella Church, researching the magic, discovering that which kept the Eclipse magic sealed. It seemed a fairly standard sort of seal... easy enough to make, easy enough to be broken. Marron felt it would probably be best to find and strengthen that seal as soon as possible. If the Sorcerers managed to break that seal it didn't mean that they'd be able to use the magic right away, but it would allow them to be that step closer...

 

Somewhere between reading the magic books and deciding to go and strengthen that seal, Marron had found himself confronted by Tira standing in the doorframe. He looked up, he noticed her. She seemed serious somehow. Was there something she wanted? He looked at her, then back down at the book he'd been studying.

 

"Ah, Tira. I've been able to locate the seal, it's to the western edge of the town. If we were to hurry, then we should be able to strengthen the seal befor-"

 

"I'm not here to talk about that!"

 

"Tira?"

 

"I... I... doesn't Marron-chan feel a bit weird?"

 

She seemed to sound a little embarrassed as she said that. Marron closed the book he'd been looking at, slotting it back onto the bookshelf he'd been standing in front of. He looked at Tira, really looked at her. Her face was a little flushed and her breathing a little heavy... had she been running? Perhaps. She didn't seem to be able to meet his gaze, either.

 

"Is there any reason why I should feel so...?"

 

"Don't you even remember last night?!"

 

Her voice seemed somewhat shrill. Marron folded his arms, "Indeed I do, yet... Tira, we are here on a mission... I don't know if this could really be called either the time or the place to discuss such things. Besides, I thought we managed to reach an amicable end..."

 

Marron turned around to pluck another book from the shelf, making a slight show of doing something that would be productive to the mission. Tira just stood to the side, her fists tightly clenched.

 

"I-... I thought that maybe we should talk about it..."

 

"Indeed we can, once we return to Eden. Did you leave your sister alone to find information?"

 

"She said it was okay if I took a break... I couldn't concentrate! Marron-chan, how can you concentrate on all of this?"

 

Supposing that he wasn't going to get much more reading done at that time, Marron replaced the book onto the bookshelf with a sigh. He turned around to face Tira, "Because I keep my mind on the importance of the mission, perhaps...? There are dangerous Sorcerers on the loose, Tira. They want to take control of powerful magic. Whatever our personal problems, they inevitably have to take a second standing to things that could easily affect the whole Continent. We have a job to do, Tira. We are required to do that job."

 

The room that they stood in was the furthest one in the Church; the doorframe that Tira stood inside broke up two rooms that contained books. Moving from one to the other required walking past Tira... as Marron did so, Tira grabbed his robesleeve.

 

"You really can be cold sometimes, can't you!?"

 

He turned around to face her, "What do you mean by that?"

 

Tira seemed, now that Marron turned to look at her, quite upset. His brow twitched in a frown. She was upset...? Why was she upset? Had the events of the night previous really affected her so much?... The thought wasn't unrealistic. Marron sighed, he was tired, there was a job they had to do, there was magic to be sealed and Sorcerers to be punished and when he thought back on it he did feel some kind of regret for his actions, but couldn't it all wait until he'd managed to sleep properly on the matter? Until she'd been able to sleep properly on the matter? Likely Tira may have had more sleep last night than Marron himself had, but surely she would be tired also...

 

"I-... that... Marron-chan was the first person to be like that with me..."

 

"Ah..."

 

"... Even more than Enzeru... he... there was... it was close, but that time... that time when I thought of Carrot... then Carrot appeared, he managed to stop Enzeru... and I was shaking...! Thinking about what might have happened... and it... it might have happened last night...!"

 

Marron tried to keep his voice to a kind of comforting tone, "Would it not have upset you further had that actually happened...? Surely it is better that things did not happen that we would have come to regret..."

 

"... Did you want to do that...?"

 

"... Tira, what?"

 

Staring intently at the floor with an intense look in her eyes, Marron noticed that her fists seemed to be shaking as she spoke. He took a slight step back, wanting to give her a little space, a little air... what kind of thing was she trying to say?... At his question, she looked up at him. She looked angry.

 

"Did you want to have sex with me?!"

 

"Tira, this is not the place to be discu-"

 

"Tell me!!"

 

Marron blinked. She seemed quite insistent on receiving an answer; as for that answer... Marron felt at a loss. Had he wanted to have sex with Tira? He hadn't set out that night with the express purpose of seducing her, it'd just sort of happened... didn't she see it as something like that? Didn't she realise that it'd just happened...? Indeed, that had been one of the things that Marron had found attractive of the situation when he'd found himself embroiled within it... something that could be spontaneous... something that could happen without planning, without warning... that had been attractive. That was also before anything else that Tira had said, but... just for that moment...

 

"... I did not mean for such things to happen."

 

"When... when you looked at me... when you looked at me... did you think I was sexy...?"

 

"Tira... what kind of question is that..."

 

"It's a totally straightforward kind of question! When you looked at me... did you find me attractive? When we were like that... even then... was it 'I didn't mean for this to happen'? Was it... was it something you wanted to stop even when you were... even when you were touching me...!?"

 

Still angry and still clenching her fists... further still, Tira almost seemed on the verge of hysterics. Marron wasn't quite sure how to react. He'd never had to deal with somebody like that before, with a girl like that... he raised one hand, wondering if perhaps he should put it to her shoulder. Would she want that kind of comforting touch? Just how did she want to be comforted? What kind of answers did she want to her questions...? She loved Carrot. She loved Carrot. With that basic information, why should she even be concerned about things that happened to her with somebody that wasn't Carrot? Surely, Marron thought, she should have been relieved that they hadn't had sex... if they had, might not she have regretted it?

 

It was all very well to consider something like that as something between two people who were lonely, but given Tira's current reaction, he couldn't help but wonder just how she'd be reacting had more happened. Would they have been able to have kept it as something separate? Would they still have been able to love their respective ideal (well, in both cases that was Carrot) yet continued on with a physical relationship...? Was that the kind of thing that Tira could have settled for?

 

Would she expect more of a relationship than just the physical...?

 

As it was, Marron still saw Tira, on the whole, as somebody a bit delicate and as somebody who quite needed somebody who would be gentle with her. As similar as their feelings happened to be, he knew he was not that person. Likely he'd end up hurting her in ways he couldn't even predict. He couldn't help but wonder just what Tira would see in Carrot of all people, but despite that, she'd be so angry at Marron's actions...? Why should she be angry? Something happened, it had been an accident. He knew that, surely she should have realised that also. There had been anger, there had been confusion - she'd even transformed. As far as Marron might have thought it, he was willing enough to leave the situation behind and not mention it, but Tira seemed so determined to talk things out, even though Marron wasn't really sure just what there was to talk out...

 

"Tira, I-... I don't know what you're expecting me to say..."

 

"If it was just something that had happened by accident... if it was... if it was something that... that you didn't mean to have happen... if it had happened... would... would we still be standing here like this...?"

 

"I..."

 

"I want to know what you feel about me!"

 

For somebody who seemed so shy when it came to certain things, Tira could certainly be quite direct when she wanted to be. This set Marron's mind on edge - if she could be so direct asking him about something like that, was it entirely unrealistic to think about how she might someday want to talk to Carrot...? Would she ever ask him something like that? How might Carrot react to that...? As for Marron himself, he didn't know what he was expected to say, if there was anything he was expected to say...

 

"I... I still don't know what you want me to say to you."

 

"I want you to say something that you're feeling! How can you even stand there like that and be so distant!?"

 

"Would you expect last night to have especially changed anything...? Tira, I-... if you're expecting me to make some kind of confession to you... I do see you fondly, and I think of you as a treasured friend and sister. What more would you wish of me...?"

 

For once, there seemed to be something that Tira didn't try to interrupt. She seemed at a loss for words, seeming unsure as to what she'd want to hear... she frowned slightly in her confusion, Marron continued.

 

"I wonder if you would expect me to confess feelings of love... Tira, my feelings for you are as much as they ever were. If you would wish them to be deeper, than I can only apologize... yet would you seriously wish for that...? We established our similarity last night, if nothing else. Given who you love... given who I love... the people who we want... while there are people that we want, they are not each other. I'm sorry if I confused you with last night's actions, but-"

 

"Did you love Gateau-chan?"

 

"- ah?"

 

"You were with him for a while... but... did you... did you actually love him...?"

 

That was something that Marron was unable to determine. The longer it was since that time, the less sense it seemed to make. Had he loved Gateau? Nothing he could think of indicated a positive answer to that question. There had been a lot of things in that relationship, but love was an element that was questionable.

 

"That which I felt for Gateau... I don't know if I could even describe to my own mind what it was that I felt for Gateau. I did not speak such words to him..."

 

"And you were with him for a while..."

 

"Not for so long. I wonder if it was even longer than a month..."

 

"... Really?"

 

"Really."

 

Tira blushed slightly, "But even in that month, things must have... happened...!"

 

"A number of things."

 

"Marron-chan would have had sex with somebody he didn't love..."

 

Just for a moment, Marron froze. Not least since Tira would say something like that in a Stella Church (a public Stella Church!) of all places, but... she would pick up on even something like that...? Her words would mirror Carrot's words so suddenly...? There seemed to be an edge of disappointment in her words. Again, Marron tried to keep his tone soft.

 

"Sometimes things happen which we don't expect."

 

More with Milphey than with Gateau, but Tira didn't need to know that. She seemed shocked enough by that mere implication; her expression dropped somewhat.

 

"How were you even able to do something like that..."

 

"Something like that...?"

 

"If... if you and me really are similar... then... at least... for me... I... I don't know how I'd react with other people. With you, last night... that was at least different because we were so similar...! Because I thought you could understand what I felt, because I thought I could maybe understand a bit of what you felt... but... I can't understand that... I don't think I'd be able to do that."

 

At that point, Marron did put his hand on Tira's shoulder.

 

"Nobody's asking you to do something like that, Tira. If... if you really do want to keep yourself pure for... for that person, then... don't let anybody force you into anything different. You should only do things that you're comfortable with... I think it would upset you otherwise."

 

"How did you manage it?"

 

"Ah...?"

 

"Having sex with Gateau, even though you didn't love him... what kind of things... how... how were you even able to look at him afterward? I felt really embarrassed even just to see you this morning... I don't know how I'd be able to wake up next to somebody like that..."

 

Marron smiled gently, "It... the actual act is not something I clearly remember. The morning after was, however, somewhat relaxing... we talked, we kissed, he held me... we didn't leave the bedroom for quite some time. I think most of my embarrassment came that night as opposed to that morning."

 

"I... I see..."

 

"You sound disappointed...?"

 

"I just wonder how... something like that could just happen... I mean... I... with Carrot, I hope that one day something could happen... in the meantime, I wouldn't be able to stop thinking about him...! I wouldn't be able to feel happy knowing that I-... knowing that I betrayed him, I suppose... even if it was only in my head..."

 

A deep sigh, "I feel that with most every thought that possesses me."

 

"Ah...?"

 

"I feel guilty for wanting him. I feel guilty for needing him. I would feel guilty for pursuing sexual interest from those besides he, yet... to think of him in a sexual fashion... that would also disturb me. It would move me in different ways... and I would feel guilty for using his image in my perverted thoughts."

 

"Marron-chan..."

 

Despite the natural progression of the conversation, Tira didn't seem to pick up on Marron's implication at all. Realising this, Marron also realised that he'd ended up a little more introspective than he'd really meant to allow himself to be. He squeezed Tira's shoulder and attempted a smile, starting to walk off in the direction of the main hall of the Church.

 

"Come now, don't we have a mission...? I meant it when I said that this isn't the time or the place for such things. I understand the need to want to talk, but... when it could be a dangerous situation, it would be better, I think, to wait until we were in more comfortable settings. Do you not agree?"

 

"Oh my, two darling Sorcerer Hunters...!"

 

An unfamiliar voice shocked Marron and Tira from the things that they'd been saying, thinking and doing. Both looked up; standing on the hall's edge of the doorframe was, quite plainly, a Sorcerer. He wore white clothes edged with red, his hair was long and blonde. There seemed a somewhat crazy look in his blue eyes, and he certainly seemed happy enough to see that which he'd spoken of.

 

Mindframe switching immediately, Marron threw one hand in front of Tira in some kind of motion to protect and drew out an ofuda with his other hand. He narrowed his eyes at the Sorcerer, "Who are you!?"

 

The Sorcerer flicked his hair back, "My name is Kiente. Remember it. Someday not far off I will be Sol Kiente, and on that day you'll fear me! So feel honoured, Mr Parsoner Sorcerer Hunter. You've met the future ruler of the world before he's even famous. You'll look back on this day and remember it fondly, but don't think I'll remember you fondly. All Parsoners shall bow beneath me!"

 

Tira's tone was one of mild disgust, "You're certainly confident..."

 

"Well, when the people standing between me and my power are as easily-disposed of as that priest, I think a guy can afford to be a little bit confident! He spoke so easily, too. Saying where the seal was. Saying with such malice that the Sorcerer Hunters back here would defeat me! Hah! I didn't have to come and see you, you know. I just wanted to come over and say hello, maybe get rid of you too..."

 

"What did you do to the priest!?"

 

"Disposed of him, like I said!"

 

Kiente sounded far too happy. Tira sounded angry once more. Marron stepped aside and let Tira stand forth, if this Sorcerer continued on, he'd probably earn himself the angry side of Tira's whip...

 

"Where is he now?"

 

Walking away from the doorframe, Kiente walked into the main hall. He glanced around with a smile of curiosity, "I wonder... oh, maybe that's his arm over there... is that a leg? No, that might be an arm too. Oh wait, that's a thigh over there! See, by the pew!"

 

Stepping into the main hall, Marron and Tira were greeted by the sight of the blood-skidded floor, of the various limbs and bodyparts that Kiente had pointed out so happily. It seemed that he really had disposed of the priest... Marron's anger flared.

 

"You had no right to treat the priest in that way...!"

 

"He was a Parsoner, what else was I supposed to do with him?"

 

There was a swish, then Tira's laugh.

 

"Ohohohohoho! I think the question now is what might I do with you! Such a disregard for human life... how disgusting..."

 

"And the fact that Parsoners live at all, don't you think that that's not disgusting? Oh, no, I forgot, you are a Parsoner, I'm sorry. You wouldn't realise the pointlessness of your own life, would you?"

 

Tira cracked her whip against the stone floor, "Everybody has a right to live, Parsoner or Sorcerer! Unless, of course, they are unforgivable... like you! HAAAAGH-!!"

 

For those few moments, Marron felt he would have been comfortable letting the fight belong to Tira. She'd made her moves, she'd transformed, she'd rushed towards Kiente with the intention of attacking... that train of thought was cancelled when Kiente hit back with his own whip, the force of his attack seeming to cancel out Tira's own.

 

"How interesting, a Parsoner with a whip! Oh, what a fight this might become."

 

"Eeeiah!"

 

Falling to the side, Tira managed to roll herself into a crouch on impact. She remained in that position for a few seconds to take stock of the situation before leaping up again to avoid another strike of the whip. Some kind of magic...? Some kind of magic whip, it seemed. It'd certainly been able to counter her own nicely... oh, if only Carrot was around! That kind of magic... he'd be able to transform quickly and then just as quickly be able to take out the Sorcerer...

 

"Tira!"

 

Marron's shout brought Tira back to her senses, she managed to just avoid another attack, barely. Jumping around like that... he seemed so sudden in his movements, it was hard to kind any kind of chance for a counter-attack... but while moving, Tira saw Marron clasp his hands together in the pose to cast a spell; she smiled to herself. Likely the Sorcerer had forgotten about Marron, being so busy pursuing Tira... feeling a boost of energy for that knowledge, Tira continued her movements.

 

"... SUZAKU KAEN GOKU!!"

 

She dived away from where she'd been leading the Sorcerer, leaping to escape Marron's fire attack. It seemed to have had a direct impact, but the steady 'wssh wssh' of the whip afterward showed how neatly Kiente had been able to deflect the attack. He drew his whip to a standstill before letting it vanish, smirking at the two Sorcerer Hunters. Tira's expression was one of shock - Marron's attack hadn't worked!?... Marron just glowered, mind working on alternative ways to deal with this enemy. So he probably wouldn't let himself be damaged by direct attacks, not unless one was able to distract him somehow... a distraction? Tira had already been working to that kind of end. All the different kinds of magic that he studied... they were for exactly this kind of situation, were they not? Still, an attack was an attack and if the enemy wished to deflect that then you had to come up with an alternative strategy... while Marron was thinking, Kiente struck out suddenly with his whip; Marron saw it coming just a half-second too late. He leapt to avoid the attack, but it caught him deftly around his ankle. Thrown off balance he fell to the side, realising as he picked himself up that his ankle quite hurt; he quickly dropped his eyes to his ankle before having to concentrate again on the matter at hand - of course, a whip made out of magic would likely be for such purposes. The wrap around his ankle was marked darker by a kind of burn, that sight corresponded with the pain he felt... the Sorcerer just laughed.

 

"Ahahaha! Sorcerer Hunters... you can jump nicely but you can't actually hurt me, can you? Ahahahaaa! This is fun!"

 

Tira scowled, "When the others get here, you won't be laughing so much!"

 

"Oh, I'm sure... but you see, I'm not going to let you escape to find your little friends to tell them of the eeevil Sorcerer. I have friends too, you know!"

 

Silently, Marron wondered what the time was. If it was close enough to lunchtime, then surely the others would gather in the middle of the town, realise that he and Tira were missing, realize that something had probable happened at the Stella Church and rush over quickly... of course, if there was still an hour or so before lunch, that kind of idea was flawed. How long could they realistically keep the Sorcerer busy until he got bored or restless? As it turned out, it wasn't too long before the Sorcerer made his next move; striking in Tira's direction, he used a move he hadn't previously. Extending the whip for longer than she was expecting, Tira let out a shriek as the thing wrapped around her and held her steady, suspended about fifteen feet up in the air.

 

"IEAAAA!!"

 

"TIRA!"

 

Calling out her name would do little to help the situation, Marron realised. Kiente turned to smirk in his direction, "How about it, Mister Sorcerer Hunter? I have your little girlfriend trapped here...! Either you can go and work on the seal while I'm busy turning her into a nice little burning corpse, or I can let her go and quickly go to the seal myself. I'm not entirely heartless, but I'm quick on my feet. Come now, would you really want to leave her here to get hurt? Silly bint... with so much skin showing she's only naturally going to get pretty burns across her body, isn't she? Bet she wishes she'd put more clothes on before leaving house this morning."

 

Had Marron not been a man of few words, he might have shouted his anger at the injustice of the situation, might have shouted for Kiente to let her go, but rational thought dictated that such things would only amuse this Sorcerer further.

 

As for the situation in hand, what to do? Of course, there was no question of Tira's safety not being paramount. The seal was a secondary priority against somebody in danger. Of course.

 

"Sorcerer Hunters must complete their job, even if it costs them their lives."

 

Kiente would be quite preoccupied if he was just left with Tira, wouldn't he? It wasn't as if Tira was incapable... she'd probably find a way out of it somehow, that was in their nature...

 

If anything happened to Tira...

 

Carrot...

 

Unsure quite where his thoughts had dared to lead him during that split-second path of thought, Marron took a step back with a slight cry of confusion. No, it wasn't his place to even make a decision like that! Between Tira and something else, of course he had to save Tira, he couldn't be forgiven if he were to make a decision against that solution! If not by the others, then by his own mind... how could he even have considered-...!

 

"... Carrot...!"

 

Tira's voice was quiet and strangled but quite definitely there. Crying for Carrot. Calling for him. Wanting him to save her. Marron's mind raced; it was all very well for him to consider Tira his priority, but was she thinking of anybody but Carrot at all...!? Even if he were to save her, surely she'd be all 'oh, where's Carrot'... he was always on her mind... always on her lips... always in her heart... always him, only him...

 

"GENBU EARTHQUAKE!!"

 

Perhaps an earthquake would throw Kiente off balance. That was the practical reasoning behind the attack, but more truthful would have been Marron's sudden anger and frustration on his own little realizations. It wouldn't be as good if anybody else were to save her. She'd be grateful, of course... but if it were Carrot then that gratitude would be special... Carrot would have noticed her, would have wanted to save her, would have been concerned for her, would have wanted her to be safe and unhurt... Kiente only laughed as he jumped across the ruined floor, keeping his hold on Tira steady.

 

"Impressive! A Sorcerer Hunter who can summon earthquakes! How interesting. I bet you don't have any magic like my magic, but it's impressive all the same! Perhaps you can be spared when my rule is set into place."

 

"MARRON!... ...TIRA!!"

 

A familiar shout cut across Kiente's words; Marron turned around in surprise, it was Carrot!? His eyes only confirmed his suspicion. Indeed it was Carrot - he'd called for Marron, then as he'd come to a halt in the hall, he'd looked up, seen Tira... the concern was so easily transferred...

 

"Ni-niisan!"

 

"LET GO OF TIRA, YOU BASTARD!!"

 

"Ca-... Carrot...!"

 

Even while suspended in the air by a burning magical whip, Tira could still have that degree of joy to her voice...

 

Kiente turned around, "Oh...! Another Mister Sorcerer Hunter. My my, so they're crawling out of the woodwork already, and here I thought I'd be able to create a little bit of drama. Haha-n, that's no fun..."

 

There was a slight 'pzzat' sound as the whip that had been holding Tira was suddenly extinguished; she cried out as she fell, finding her impact with the ground half-cushioned by Carrot, who'd made a sudden move the moment Kiente moved his hands. He hadn't entirely been able to catch her, but she'd fallen against her rump rather than anything that was likely to get easily broken or damaged from such a fall, so that was a slight grace. Carrot ended up with one arm underneath Tira's legs, the other behind her shoulders... his head was sort of leant against her stomach and he only realised his embarrassingly-close proximity to her breasts once he lifted his head to make sure that she was alright.

 

"Tira! Tira, are you okay?!"

 

The situation had managed to get just a little better; Tira smiled despite her pain, "I'm... I'm okay..."

 

"A-... ah, ah! What are all these marks!? Looks like you got burnt or something!... That Sorcerer..."

 

Carrot turned around with an angry growl. That Sorcerer didn't look anything less than happy and pleased... how could he stay so relaxed after causing somebody such pain? That person had to be Kiente... Carrot felt glad he'd managed to arrive when he had, but felt bad about having not arrived sooner... what was Tira even doing there in the first place!? Hadn't she gone off to the houses and streets with Chocolat...?! The Sorcerer was already edging towards the door. Carrot scowled; he didn't want to let that Sorcerer escape, but just as equally, he didn't want to leave Tira just injured on the floor like that! Kiente continued.

 

"The key to success is knowing when to take advantage of the situation. If I was a stupid person I could just stay here and keep antagonizing you... and that would be fun, but I've heard too much tell of silly Sorcerers who think too much of themselves and end up dead by surprise. Three is more dangerous then two, I wouldn't trust any of you not to stab me when my back was turned... I have better things to do than play with Sorcerer Hunters, fun as you all are. Maybe we'll meet again."

 

He vanished far too quickly for Carrot's satisfaction; what kind of power was that...! Marron was running over... running? Seemed that he'd hurt his leg. Why was he running over?!

 

"Niisan!"

 

"Marron, what the hell are you doing?! Get after that Sorcerer already! I'll stay here and look after Tira!"

 

"Nii- niisan..."

 

"Go, Marron!"

 

Marron didn't seem to be in too much of a rush, but he was taking backward steps. Didn't he realise the urgency of the situation!? Carrot looked up with slight annoyance, "Hurry! He's gonna break the seal otherwise!"

 

"... Y-yes, niisan..."

 

Turning around, Marron fled the room.

 

Despite the wrecked floor of the Church, not to mention the various parts of the former priest liberally strewn around the room, Tira felt quite relaxed. Carrot hadn't moved from his previous position, still leant forward on his chest and still holding her, sort of... where that magical whip had touched her skin she did hurt, but... that was pain that Carrot had shown concern for, and wounds could always be healed later on. Besides, wouldn't Carrot like it better if she seemed brave? She smiled up at Carrot, "... You... saved me..."

 

"Ahaha... I didn't do that much... just happened to turn up at the right time, I guess..."

 

If there was anything to say to that, Tira couldn't think of anything. She wanted to say something encouraging, something happy, something grateful... he looked so kind, just for that moment...

 

"I'm glad you're safe."

 

"Carrot..."

 

"I mean, I wish I'd got here earlier... 'cause... I heard that apparently one of the Sorcerers had gone to the Stella Church, and I was worried 'cause that's where Marron went... I came here as quickly as possible. Didn't think you'd be here!"

 

"Oh, uh... I... I heard about... a Sorcerer here too... so, I came to make sure Marron-chan was okay..."

 

"Ah..."

 

"Um... I wonder if Marron-chan'll be okay going after the Sorcerer..."

 

Carrot just smiled, "I'm sure he'll be fine. I trust him to be able to take care of something like that."

 

Tira couldn't help a faint blush. Carrot trusted Marron to go off and fight the Sorcerer while he stayed in the Stella Church to... to look after her...? He trusted himself with that sort of task? She felt a little guilty. Surely it wasn't fair to leave all of the work up to Marron, as nice as the situation was...

 

"Isn't it a little bit unfair to give that job totally to Marron-chan...? He, he hurt himself earlier..."

 

"Do you really wanna go back fighting with all those bruises and stuff?"

 

"Well..."

 

"Better to rest, huh? Well, maybe it woulda been better to have Marron here, at least he coulda healed you up or something right now... can you heal yourself maybe? Those marks look kinda painful..."

 

"I'm not... quite... feeling up to healing... just at the moment..."

 

"And you were saying just a coupla minutes ago that it woulda been better to go fight? Idiot..."

 

Well, if that was the kind of thing that Carrot decided. He didn't want her to fight? He was concerned about her current capabilities? Well, she wouldn't fight. She wouldn't want to make him worry, after all... that thought ticked over in Tira's mind. Well... sometimes it was nice to be worried about... and when it was Carrot, naturally that was pleasing... for now, it was alright.

 

Even despite the marks of battle on and around them, Tira couldn't help but feel more comfortable in that situation than she had that night previously, back with Marron... she let her mind fall back to those events. She'd chased after Marron with such determination... perhaps it'd been just a kind of closure she'd desired? That was possible. Some kind of word from him, his opinion... it had been hard to get Marron to speak, but wasn't that always true of him and his reticent nature? Keeping his mind focused on the mission...

 

"... Maybe we should go and help Marron-chan, though..."

 

Carrot sighed gently. Tira was right, it was perhaps a little unfair to allow Marron to go off by himself like that. After all, hadn't he run so quickly to the Stella Church purely because he'd been worried that Marron was in danger? Was it alright to want to check on him then send him off to an even more troublesome situation...? Still, there was a difference between Marron being potentially hurt and Tira being actually hurt...

 

"Maybe you're right... we don't know where he went, though..."

 

"I'm sure we'll be able to find him..."

 

There seemed something almost tense about the conversation. Tira was reluctant to change the situation and position and Carrot was reluctant to risk Tira straining herself... and just what one might have construed the other's tense tone as was questionable. Tira found herself keeping eye contact with Carrot for just a little too long, but he wasn't the one who would look away... she felt embarrassed though she wasn't entirely sure why. The conversation was necessary but somehow hard to remain concentrated on... it was as if their words were a code, perhaps. They were talking about the mission, but instead they actually meant... what?

 

Moving away to make to stand up, Carrot stuck his hand out to give Tira some support in standing up. She took his hand, silently cursing her gloves for providing that layer between her touch and Carrot's own. He'd still helped her, though. She felt a little pained for standing up; though the physical pain wasn't anything she couldn't handle, the moment of emotional confusion was a little more intense. Didn't Carrot realise the pain of wanting to say something, wanting to say anything just so that the feeling would be expressed...? What kind of things did he feel? He was turning away now, heading towards the arched door of the Stella Church. Tira's heart gave a slight lurch; to go back to the mission, to go back to the others, to go back to Marron and Gateau and her sister and the Sorcerers... to reduce the tense situation back to a normal situation... that was almost desired, but then the desire to say something was even greater...

 

"Ca-... Carrot-...!"

 

He was a few meters away from her. Pausing in his walk, Carrot glanced over his shoulder.

 

"What's up?"

 

"Um... th-... thank you for rescuing me..."

 

She sure seemed to get flustered just for the gratitude. Carrot couldn't help a slight chuckle, it wasn't anything to get embarrassed about! Though, thanking people could be hard sometimes.

 

"Heh, no problem. What was I supposed to do, just let you hit the ground? Anyway, we should get outta here. After whatever the hell happened here, I wouldn't wanna trust the structure of this place too much longer..."

 

"Marron-chan gets angry sometimes..."

 

"Jeez, that was him?"

 

"Genbu earthquake."

 

Carrot rolled his eyes good-naturedly, "Tch, shoulda known. Can't do anything by halves, that one... so where do you think Chocolat or Gateau are? We should probably go past the fountain in case they're waiting there... with you and me and Marron not around, it's probably going to be kinda hard for them to decide where to go, right?"

 

"Ah... yes..."

 

"Well, let's hurry up and meet them, then!"

 

Smiling and laughing, Carrot ran off with the haste of his words. Tira ran after him, followed him... laughed alongside him... that was nice. For the distance between the Stella Church and the Neris town fountain, the road was theirs and there was nothing and nobody that Tira felt could disturb that simple joy of the light-hearted behaviour. Not a Sorcerer... not Chocolat... not Marron... not anybody.

 

That was, of course, how she preferred it. Such experiences had to be treasured.

 

****

 

The tops of the bookcases combined with the smooth wood of the windowsill actually provided quite an adequate perch for anybody who might have wanted to sit there. Over the years the shelves and windowsill had ended up decorated by little things, decorative candles, a few seashells, some pretty stones... Marron had returned to his study after the mission to find that middle bookshelf still fallen neatly in place on the floor. Sighing, knowing that nobody else would tidy up for him and that it was his fault in the first place, Marron had set about bringing that bookshelf back up to some form of order... then that provided the excuse for a more generalized sort-out of the room.

 

That task finished, Marron had dusted the shelftops and rearranged the ornaments. His ankle hurt. On getting back to Eden the first priority had been - well, had been to take care of Tira's burns, Carrot had insisted. Tira could probably have healed herself by that point, but to heal could be exhausting sometimes, and it wasn't as if he didn't have things he wanted to heal himself but Marron hardly wanted to make an issue like that in front of Carrot, not while Tira had quite plainly come off worse in the attack and battle than he had. So he had the burn marks around his ankle, Tira had them crossed over most of her body... she'd been healed, she'd gone off to rest. Marron had initially gone off to do the same.

 

Sitting on the exposed top of the bookshelves, Marron sat with his injured leg stretched out in front of him, his other leg pulled up so that he could lean one arm over his knee. The other arm leant out and kept him steady, fingers half-clenching at the top shelf of the bookcase. The trouserleg of his injured leg was pulled up to just under his knee, he had fresh bandages over his ankle. He'd healed it through Gaia magic earlier, that was a matter of habit, but just because the very physical mark of conflict was gone didn't mean that some pain didn't still linger. Wounds were wounds but some feelings couldn't be healed, and as Marron stared out of the window to the deserted grounds down below, Marron felt wounded in more ways than one.

 

The mission itself hadn't been that successful. On running towards the western side of Neris, Marron had met up with Gateau, who'd been looking for the others. Quickly informing him of the situation, they'd gone forth to sort out the whole matter of the seal... they'd reached the appropriate area, the three Sorcerers were there already. Three versus two, not impossible but not wonderful either... Chocolat had turned up soon after, as had (eventually) Tira and Carrot... until that point Marron had found it somewhat hard to concentrate on the battle, then once everybody had turned up he only felt curious in an empty kind of way, for what had taken Carrot and Tira so long to join up with everybody else...? They fought as well as they could but their delayed arrival proved to be their downfall, and while they did manage to neatly give the Sorcerers a battle they probably wouldn't forget in a hurry, in the end, the seal was broken and the Sorcerers made their escape. There was little more that could be done than return to Eden and wait for the latest word on the Sorcerers from Big Mama. Perhaps they'd hear something within the hour, within the day, maybe not even for a week... whatever. For the time being, Marron was just grateful for the silence.

 

The temptation would have been to have gone back to the bedroom to catch up on sleep. He still felt so very tired from the lack of sleep from the night before, and he couldn't decide whether it was best to be on a mission while tired since then he'd at least have something to occupy his mind other than his lethargy, or to be sitting quietly on the top bookshelf in his study, quietly thinking about things and having nothing to do but that...

 

Perhaps it would have been a better idea to utilize some of the resources present in the room. So many books, so many magical practices... even if being tired wasn't a perfect state of mind for learning magic, it wasn't impossible to practice old magic while tired, was it...? However, thinking about it... perhaps it wasn't specifically the lethargy as such... Marron of course felt tired, but... as well as that was just the apathy, and that felt worse than the factor of lack of sleep. Perhaps the two were combined... being tired and somewhat grumpy was never in the first place the best conductor of a good mood, but... events seemed to have cropped up against him to create a very unsatisfactory day.

 

It was, generally, best not to dwell on the bad things. Marron knew from past experience that he could beat himself up all day on this or that that happened, in the end it couldn't really change anything and worrying about things that couldn't be changed was only really an exercise in helplessness. His mood sometimes tended to waver between feeling determined not to feel hopeless and feeling terribly hopeless. He kept his gaze steady, still staring out of the window. Apathetic. Hopeless? The two were subtly different. At least hopelessness had that driving emotion, even if it was a desperate one. To feel apathetic was just to feel... well... nothing, really. Things had happened. People had said things. At the moment, it was silent and he was alone and that was somewhat comforting in that lonely kind of way.

 

His mind would wander back to that mission. How Tira had reacted. How Carrot had reacted. In itself it hadn't been such a strange occurrence, Tira had been hurt and it made sense for Carrot to be concerned - Marron liked to think that if it'd been anybody else, Carrot would have been just as concerned... but it was less that and more Tira's mindframe that didn't sit well with Marron. Comfort was comfort, and to receive it from Carrot... well... that seemed to be the goal that anybody was reaching for. Tira's goal. Chocolat's goal. His own goal. All aiming for the same thing, all working so hard for something so exclusive...

 

That was where things became hopeless. Marron felt he knew more than anybody else how precarious the balance of interaction was between everybody. Carrot's main problem didn't seem to be that he didn't like the Misu sisters, he was as fond of them as anybody, but even he had that basic perception that to initiate anything with, well, Chocolat at least... that would only serve to make things different, to change things uncomfortably. Looking at it plainly, assuming that Carrot had little to no knowledge of Tira's feelings, his thoughts were that he wouldn't want to risk things by being with Chocolat.

 

Wouldn't want to risk what exactly...? If one accepted that Chocolat wanted Carrot, if one hypothesized that Carrot wanted Chocolat and presumed Tira of no deeper feeling, then just what was it Carrot was nervous of changing? That was a sobering thought. Presuming all those previous things, what of the group dynamic would change...? Carrot and Chocolat would be having sex, loving relationship possibly on the side given how the two of them tended to act against their own needs. If Gateau showed little interest and Marron's interest was supposed to be far beyond, Chocolat would get her ending and what would become of Tira? If Carrot believed her behaviour only out of annoyance and bad temper, then surely it would bring some relief for Chocolat and Carrot to turn their attentions toward each other, have Chocolat stop doing things Carrot wouldn't appreciate and Carrot hitting on every girl that came within a certain radius...

 

Marron leant his head against the windowpane, feeling the cool glass pressed against his skin. He tapped his fingers gently against the wood of the bookshelf. Did he really know what his brother thought of the Misu sisters at all? He seemed to be quite scared of their transformed selves, which Marron felt was quite a rational fear. On a level of friendship and sibling relation, he and the Misu sisters seemed perfectly amiable.

 

Beyond that?

 

Perhaps it was just that he didn't seem them in that way. He didn't want to change things because he wasn't sure how they would change, wasn't sure how he wanted them to change, wasn't sure if he could cope with that change. Perhaps. Just because he saw the Misu sisters fondly didn't mean that there was automatic romantic attachment, did there? If anything, Carrot seemed somewhat unsure of the status of being tied down. Would Carrot's girlchasing habits ever be cured? There was the question of what exactly was his driving force behind a pursuit so futile. Just doing it for fun? Possibly. Why bother worrying about complicated things just yet? Why get caught up in the emotional things when it was easier to be carefree?

 

That was, from Marron's view, quite an admirable state of mind. To be able to be so carefree, to be able to go from one place to the other without worrying so fiercely about every small thought... in that sense, Marron felt himself Carrot's polar opposite. He couldn't help but worry, be concerned, to think on things perhaps far too deeply for his own good...

 

To that end, was Carrot's inability to settle anything with the Misu sisters anything to do with Tira? Marron wasn't sure he'd ever really considered it. What kind of feelings would Carrot specifically have for Tira? Marron wasn't sure. Was it even something he could ask without inciting suspicion? Maybe even Carrot wouldn't know how he felt, maybe a question like that would spur him into thinking about such things... maybe he'd realise certain things? Maybe he would have feelings for her? Marron remembered his previous thoughts before her revelation, remembered how he'd thought that anybody loved by Tira was lucky for somebody so kind and caring to have feelings for them. And then that person was Carrot. That stained the admiration somewhat.

 

That kind of admiration he'd almost tried to take advantage of the night before... how unforgivable. At that moment in time, thinking of how he'd made to treat Tira, thinking of the things he'd thought about her - the things he'd thought during the mission beyond anything else... since when had his train of thought become one so malicious? He couldn't quite work it out. Was it a knee-jerk reaction to what Tira had told him last night? Something Tira had told him in strict confidence. Something she'd said in trust. She trusted him...? Marron felt that his level of trust with anybody was somewhat questionable. To know Tira's secret had only served to make him feel bitter and hateful - wasn't that a manner of betrayal in itself? She'd told him something she presumably hadn't told anybody else, for whatever reason. To resent her for that secret... surely that was a betrayal of trust, even if only silently. One had to question why she'd chosen him to tell in the first place, but then again, the situation had been quite... strange... it hadn't been as if he hadn't said things he wouldn't have broadcast from Eden's spire himself. The things he believed about himself. The things he knew about himself...! Such things that she wouldn't believe... she wouldn't believe him a bad person. Fair enough, but did she know enough to make such an informed decision...?

 

Marron's lips curled in a faint smile as he wondered just how Tira would react if she knew his secret. If she knew who he was in love with. If she realised how close their similarities ran. Such feelings and driving emotion and for the same person... neither Tira nor Chocolat had any problem with Gateau or Marron running around with each other, but given their behaviour when even Milphey flirted with Carrot... oh, and to think that Carrot's own brother would harbour such perverted desires... would want Carrot, wholly and entirely... Marron laughed softly to himself. How terrible. How horrible. They'd never forgive him. Another betrayal of trust...? The betrayal of the brotherly bond. Anything seemed to be a betrayal to somebody - to think of other people was to betray Carrot, to pursue other people was to betray himself, to think of Carrot was to betray Carrot, to want Carrot was to betray everybody with a sane perception...

 

What a hive of betrayal and deception Eden seemed to have become, Marron thought while retaining his smile. Nobody realised. How many people would notice...? Perhaps that it was only he that would come to such a conclusion said much about his own personal perception on events, but surely that only made sense...

 

Betrayal did, however, come in many forms. It was enough that his desires for Carrot could have been read as a betrayal of near anybody in Eden, that was before you even considered anybody else... yet other people were inescapably involved...

 

When it was essentially something between he and Carrot... even if Carrot didn't realise... it was understandable that his feelings for Carrot would drive him to hasty decisions, but looking out of the window, sitting there like that, really thinking about things...

 

First, Gateau had been involved. More accidental than anything, that relationship had only revealed the depths of Marron's stubborn commitment to Carrot... he couldn't have one, he wouldn't have the other. Gateau's manner was still somewhat reserved to the present, and Marron felt he could only blame himself. Well, who else was there to blame? It wasn't Gateau's fault that he wasn't Carrot, but Marron supposed that he had taken that out on Gateau somewhat. A whole lot. Gateau had failed because he hadn't been told how to succeed, and there was surely no way of achieving that in the first place... so, basically, Marron had led Gateau on. Seeing as how the situation had been accidental in the first place, hadn't he fallen into a situation he hadn't wished to find himself in? Gateau had never quite figured into his plans, yet suddenly he was a pawn in Marron's games. An unwilling pawn. He refused to play the game, so was eventually set aside. At least things had been more or less amiable, the odd comment or two aside... Gateau did seem quite set on the idea that they shouldn't bother each other anymore - Marron saw the sense in that, no longer quite feeling the irrational urges to antagonize him. After all, didn't he have enough to worry about otherwise?

 

Then there was Milphey. Another accidental part into the overall puzzle of Eden's relationships, yet somehow one more treasured than Gateau's input... yes, Milphey had revealed many of Marron's failings and to an extent had shown how indeed helpless the situation was, but... on the other hand, while there was that element, Marron never doubted that Milphey essentially had Marron's best interests at heart, whatever they seemed to be. Milphey could be trusted. Even on finding out that it was Carrot who Marron found himself attracted to, Milphey had barely reacted to that at all... he didn't mind. He didn't see it as something bad, perverse, degenerate... that kind of reaction had been almost something of a revelation to Marron. Somebody who wouldn't dub the feelings as being terrible just for existing...? Perhaps there was some truth in that. Milphey seemed to have great faith in basic feeling, and somehow to think along those lines, Marron couldn't help but feel somewhat liberated... he had those feelings, he couldn't help them. Surely they were better to be cherished than condemned (no matter what anybody else thought)...? Of course, there was also the matter of Milphey's insistence that things happened. Marron could see the point of view. Surely to sit around and do nothing was only frustrating? That was something he was familiar with, but when it came to what to do... Milphey was at least willing to help, but surely he could only hold Marron's hand some of the time... the important things, whatever they were, Marron felt would have to come from his own bravery. When his mindframe was such that Carrot was the source of everything, his determination and power and bravery and courage... would that one brave act be his last? Would it be to risk his source of confidence, such as it was?

 

For Gateau and Milphey to have been involved had been accidental... then to a degree, Tira had been also. Even more so than Gateau and Milphey, in some regards. The type of person she was, the kind of personality she had... she wouldn't let anybody sit around on their own and be upset, would she? With anybody else it might have been comforting, with anybody else she might have got somewhere, but even then with her, Marron had found himself trying to twist the situation to his own ends...

 

Gateau had fought against Marron's influence and Milphey had worked with it. Tira...? She wasn't somebody who could be so involved. Marron wouldn't have wished to antagonize her nor trust her enough to reveal truths to her... so what then would have been left? Had things turned out differently, they could have had sex. Tira herself had seemed quite edgy about that particular point earlier on during that mission. It could have happened. Well, many things in life could have happened, might have happened... was there any point in dwelling on the what-ifs and might-have-beens? Perhaps when the call had been as close as that night previous...

 

The main point of contention, to Marron's mind, was that of which Tira had spoken about. Her feelings for Carrot. Such things disturbed his train of thought enough, but more than that... if things had followed that other path... if, somehow, Tira had allowed herself to Marron while still proclaiming her love for Carrot... not that Tira would have the type of personality that would allow herself to essentially use somebody, but... had they gone through with it, had Tira still told Marron that she loved Carrot...

 

If their relationship had taken on that sexual edge...

 

Sexual influence was a powerful one, Marron knew this. Things with Gateau had more or less developed due to sex, problems with Milphey had developed due to sex, most of his own immediate problems were less to do with Carrot (though still rooted with him) and more to do with his sexual drive and his own personal inabilities. Somehow, that was something powerful. Tira's feelings for Carrot were powerful, so were Marron's feelings for Carrot. He'd ended up more or less using Gateau (and to a degree, Milphey also) in order to try to discover and tame his sexual side. Tame himself, tame them, end up with something uncontrollable. Had Tira become part of that, then Marron would have feared for her fate... licks of jealousy within made him almost tremble with anger just to think of Tira's opinion and consequent actions, and that was with how things had panned out...

 

How could such an anger be used in another situation...? Perhaps Tira might have turned to Marron for sexual relief. Whatever she would have been working towards, Marron certainly wouldn't have been going for relief...

 

There were many ways in which you could break a person, and to have such a fundamental hold on them only gave such a delicious advantage...

 

And those were the thoughts that made Marron feel much worse than the lethargy or the apathy or the hopelessness. Tira. Tira. She was kind and nice and friendly and happy and a genuinely nice person... perhaps she had her designs on Carrot and therefore her kindness was diverted and biased, but wasn't that true of anybody with feeling? Nothing could be done about it, Tira loved Carrot, it was just something that was there. Just as Chocolat loved Carrot, just as Marron himself loved Carrot. Was there any claim that could be put on Carrot that was more or less worthy than another?

 

It was the realization of the depth of his anger that shocked Marron the most. The things he would consider about Tira, the angry angry things... perhaps there was no intention of following through on any of those thoughts, perhaps they were the combination of shock, anger, lethargy and apathy... perhaps anything, but just that those thoughts would exist in the first place... that he'd think such terrible things of somebody who had always only ever been friendly and loving towards him...

 

Was it a betrayal that her feelings were for Carrot? To Marron, it felt so. She'd never said anything, barely ever indicated anything (though now with that knowledge, some things stuck out in Marron's mind as being terribly obvious now that he really thought about it)... but, such a fundamental thing... somebody he'd known for so long, somebody he'd considered a trusted friend and as good as a relative... for somebody to reveal something so basic and complete...

 

Then again, how might she have reacted had he revealed his similar feeling? Surely that would have been more of a betrayal. As Carrot's brother, surely he should have known better.

 

Closing his eyes, Marron sighed heavily.

 

What was he doing...? The way he thought of people, the ways in which he acted... there was the thought of what was he doing to other people, but then the question of what was he doing to himself... whatever the answer was, Marron felt that it couldn't be something positive. Yet, what was the solution? Neither risking his feeling nor relinquishing it entirely seemed attractive prospects, but what more was there left...? Real life rarely if ever provided simple and happy endings. The idea of Carrot in Marron's mind was as dreamlike and far away as to be almost impossible. That couldn't happen. That wouldn't happen. Why, then, did he cling to such a thing so fiercely...? That, Marron couldn't answer.

 

He kept his eyes closed. It seemed almost comforting like that... the darkness behind his eyelids, not having to look at anything, not having to keep focused on anything... perhaps he could even have drifted off to sleep, sat there like that. Why not? There wasn't anybody to agree or to disagree with such a thing. Perhaps Carrot would still be too busy worrying about Tira to really notice. Probably. Marron allowed himself to nod off just slightly, his train of thought still delivering him undesirable thoughts.

 

For how long he sat on the windowsill, Marron wasn't sure. He was eventually aware of the noise of somebody entering the room, drifting forth from his sleeping mindset back to reality... his first thought was of how dark the room seemed to be; looking outside proved that the day was making its way to a close, the sun was in the latter half of setting, dark shadows stretched out across the gardens... somebody was moving around inside the room. Marron made a slight noise as he stretched out his legs, a sharper gasp as he remembered the pain of his ankle.

 

"Hmmn... nah-!"

 

"Hmn? You awake?"

 

It was Gateau's voice. Marron glanced up, blinking at Gateau's pronounced shape in the fading light. His thoughts felt eversoslightly jumbled, the fact that he'd been asleep surprising his mind as much as waking up had done. That, combined with the fact that somebody was there, talking to him, asking him a question... he frowned to himself, glancing back towards the window.

 

"... Yes, I suppose I am..."

 

There was the sound of a plate being placed down on one of the hard surfaces of the room. Marron's ear twitched slightly to hear it, he turned to look down at where Gateau had put down the, as they turned out to be, sandwiches. Marron stared at them for a few moments, then looked up at Gateau. His expression asked as much as his voice didn't seem to want to. Gateau took a step back from the bookcase with a shrug.

 

"Carrot mentioned he hadn't seen ya round much since we got back from that mission... didn't see you down when I was makin' sandwiches, I met Chocolat as she was coming out of the kitchen and she said she hadn't seen you either, so I thought maybe you hadn't bothered going down at all..."

 

"So you made me sandwiches alongside your own...?"

 

"Well, we just had a pretty exhausting mission, you gotta keep your strength up, right? Thought I might as well."

 

"I see."

 

"Just ham and lettuce, nothin' special."

 

"Ah."

 

Stretching his arms upward, Gateau walked over to the cushioned bench set against the leftmost wall of the room. He sat down, one arm pressing against the material and the other leant out against the top edge of the bookshelf. He brought that fist up and leant his head against it, "You could at least be thankful."

 

Picking up the plate and placing it on his lap, Marron wondered if there was much point in expressing forced gratitude. He didn't know if he would have been able to do so in a way that didn't sound sarcastic or annoyed... he looked down at the sandwiches. He hadn't really thought too much about his own hunger... perhaps he would have been reminded of such things the next morning at breakfast, but as for the time being, the approaching evening... eating was the last thing on his mind. Still, Gateau had gone to the trouble of making them, the silence itself felt tense somehow... Marron bowed his head slightly, eyes still focusing on the gardens outside.

 

"... Thank you, Gateau."

 

"You're welcome."

 

Still something a little tense in Gateau's tone, but Marron couldn't quite place what... he leant his head up against the wooden windowsill. Why was Gateau in the room? He didn't seem to be at his most talkative. Alright if he'd just wanted to come in, give the sandwiches then leave again, but he'd sat down and seemed quite settled... Marron shifted a little, turned around to fix Gateau with a glance.

 

"Do you mean to stay here?"

 

"You'd rather I didn't?"

 

Feeling vaguely irritated at his question being answered with a question, Marron sighed a little louder than he'd originally intended to and moved to stare back outside.

 

"I'm not in the mood for riddles, Gateau."

 

"Makes a change... nah, I just thought I'd come up and see how you were."

"And you thought I'd just tell you from us sitting in silence...?"

 

"Guess I didn't really think it through properly. Still, you've got food, right? That'll keep you going until tomorrow, anyway. Figured it could be my good deed for the day. How's that ankle of yours? Didn't you get hit or something?"

 

"Mmn... the Sorcerer hit out at it with his magical whip. It should heal soon, but for the moment it requires rest..."

 

"Got off better than Tira did, then."

 

Marron couldn't help a slight involuntary tense at the mention of that particular person. Supposing that his movement hadn't been noticed, he nodded slightly.

 

"... Indeed. Still, as long as she also gets her own rest, then she should be fine within a day or so..."

 

"Well... that's good, I guess."

 

"Mmm."

 

"Wonder if we'll hear anything on those Sorcerers soon... sucks that we weren't able to get them. Just gonna make them more cocky for the next time... but I guess Tira'll be pretty determined to get the first hit in with her whip, make up for this time..."

 

Not in the mood for pointless conversation, Marron clenched the fist furthest away from Gateau. He didn't want to think about the mission. He didn't want to think about Tira. He didn't care about whatever it was that Gateau chose to talk about - what was the point? They'd had a mission, the mission had failed. That was only one of quite a few things that had happened to sour Marron's mood, and now Gateau felt the need to sit and talk about irrelevant things...?

 

"... Gateau, what are you trying to do?"

 

"Uh?"

 

"We failed in our mission. I didn't sleep well last night. I-... I'm not in the mood for talking about pointless things. If you're only here to talk about annoying things and things that can't be changed, then I'd rather you left me to my own devices."

 

A momentary silence, then the sound of Gateau standing up. Marron wondered if Gateau was taking advantage of his latter point, but if he was going to leave the room then he was certainly taking his time with it. Marron looked up again, Gateau was stood just across from him in front of the bookcase. His arms were folded, he seemed to be looking out of the window.

 

"You're always locking yourself up in here, aren't you?"

 

"I like my privacy. I feel it is better if I'm not disturbed during my magical studies..."

 

"Because you were so obviously studying magical stuff when I came in, yeah."

 

"... Was there anything that you wished to talk about?"

 

"Not particularly..."

 

"Well, then."

 

Thinking along those lines, Marron's question did at least seem to ring true. Gateau rocked back and forth on his heels slightly... there wasn't really anything keeping him in the room. Marron was obviously not feeling at his most social, neither seemed to have much to say to each other... was there really any point in staying? He'd given Marron the sandwiches, that was as far as he had to go. If they were left there, Marron would probably eat them eventually, wouldn't he? Maybe he was the kind of person who'd get so caught up in his own thoughts that he'd forget to eat, even after such a tiring mission...

 

Marron still stared out of the window; he seemed to have little interest in the fact that Gateau was still there, did he even notice anymore? Then again, why would he notice... there seemed little point in staying there if the silence was just going to be awkward. Gateau also found himself feeling mildly annoyed and he wasn't entirely sure why, but given that he hadn't had that feeling beforehand, then surely it had to be something to do with Marron...

 

Something to do with Marron. Marron would annoy him? Thinking about that just idly seemed surprising somehow. Certainly not an emotion Gateau would have tied to him several months ago.

 

Then again, several months ago... a silence between them might have been awkward, but it would have been for different reasons... Gateau could quite clearly remember a time that seemed so long ago, in a time so different it might as well have been years ago... him and Marron sharing a moment alone together, him wanting to say something but unable to think of anything to say... back during a time when he would have been so awed by Marron that it would have been difficult to even initiate conversation. Back during a time when he wouldn't have known the kinds of things that Marron would want to talk about, the things that would interest Marron...

 

Looking back on that time, looking to the current situation... was there even anything different about those two times? Gateau hadn't known much about Marron then, he didn't feel he knew much about Marron now. All that had really changed had been the knowledge of just how much was inaccessible...

 

All of that, and Carrot still had some kind of desire for Marron to get with Gateau. Of course, Carrot would have an entirely different view on events and possibly didn't know or realize the extent of what had or hadn't happened... Marron wasn't somebody who said a lot and nobody ever said that he said much to Carrot, highly as he thought of him. Even so, Carrot would think it a good idea? Carrot had some stupid ideas sometimes, but that had to top them. Well, it wasn't really any of his business. Whatever Carrot wanted... Carrot wasn't really part of it, was he? Things that were or weren't between Marron and Gateau were nothing to do with him. What did it matter what Carrot wanted?

 

Gateau looked at Marron. Given his interests, what didn't it matter... all Gateau could think of were the things that he and Milphey had spoken of previously, that long discussion they'd had... that and all those other previous things. Curiosity, too. Even after everything that had happened, Gateau still didn't implicitly know just what element it had been that had broken their relationship... of course, he had his suspicions, but a suspicion could be anything. Perhaps it was irrational, perhaps it was stubborn... but if it had been Carrot that had inadvertently spoilt things...

 

Well, then what? Marron was never likely to agree to something like that, and even if he did, how much would that help things? Would it have made the situation worse or better to know such a truth as that? Gateau still had slight problems correlating things in his mind. The thought of Marron wanting Carrot. It almost made sense, except for in the degrees which it didn't, and the latter seemed to outweigh the former in Gateau's mind at times. That it would be Carrot. That he'd want his own brother. A brother who was somebody like Carrot...? Why?

 

Perhaps there was also the thought of 'what is there that Carrot has that I don't', but Gateau knew that was just selfish. It wasn't even as if he specifically wanted Marron anymore... just wanted to know, but didn't...

 

Perhaps it would have been better to go. Supposing that there was no point in tempting fate, Gateau went over to the door of the room. His hand was on the doorhandle when Marron spoke.

 

"... Gateau..."

 

Feeling himself tense slightly, Gateau glanced over his shoulder.

 

"What is it?"

 

There was a silence that was long enough to make Gateau think that even Marron didn't know just what 'it' was in the first place. If he didn't know then Gateau certainly didn't, and that didn't serve as any reason to stay somewhere that was uncomfortable.

 

"Well, uh... I'm going now. Seeya in the morning, I guess."

 

"Gateau, wait..."

 

The sound of Marron shifting around on the shelf. When Gateau looked again, Marron was sat more against the window now, more able to face Gateau directly. His expression seemed confused, just slightly. Was there something he wanted to say? If there was something, couldn't he just hurry up and say it... Gateau found himself with his hand still on the doorhandle... he removed it, he turned around and folded his arms. Tried to meet Marron's gaze. That was difficult. Even in the failing light, even across the room like that... that subtle battle of emotions on Marron's face, that slight confusion causing his brow to twitch as he looked to the side... perhaps he didn't even know how to say whatever it was that he wanted, and that thought set Gateau on edge. Was it something important? Would it be something uncomfortable...? If, after all this time, Marron was going to suggest something... well, time passed and people moved on. If Marron was going to confess something then it could only come to a rejection, he of all people should have kept those events of the past in recent memory...

 

Yet beyond that, beyond those past events and bad things and annoying feelings... just for a moment, Gateau fancied he could look upon the situation as being untainted, and there he was standing in a room with Marron holding a silence that could have contained anything. If things had been different... it had been the feelings and emotions that had got in the way, hadn't it? Maybe things wouldn't have had to have been like that. Maybe if it was possible to find out what caused Marron to be so uptight as he had been... there had been things that he'd wanted that Gateau couldn't give. Things Marron had wanted that he couldn't have... and what person would it be that he would want those things from?

 

Then Milphey had asked with genuine curiosity if Gateau would have wanted to distance himself from Marron. Surely Milphey would realize the reasons as much as anybody else...? To be closer was... it wasn't safe. When it was somebody like Marron... it was alright to promise such platonic things, but quite a bit of Gateau's anger seemed to originate from thinking that Marron was still attractive in various sorts of ways, and how could he even consider something like that after everything had happened? Better to stay away than risk anything happening. If Marron wasn't going to say anything then Gateau wasn't going to know anything, surely like that nothing could ever progress...

 

If he really was such an honestly malicious person, then it would have made it a lot easier. If Marron had acted how he had acted just for the sake of some kind of perverse amusement, then surely it would have been easier to have just written him off as somebody to move away from and no longer consider like that...

 

It wasn't like that, though. Marron could be kind and gentle, and surely the hateful things he said and did were only product of something else... indeed, even Marron would admit as such. The things that he wanted that he couldn't have... if Gateau had known what those things even were, maybe it would have helped...

 

"What is it?"

 

Marron's expression still seemed confused... he shook his head, leaning back against the windowpane.

 

"I wondered if perhaps there was something I wanted to talk to you about..."

 

"... And was there?"

 

"I don't know."

 

He never did seem one to want to give a straight answer. That was another one of those 'if it had been different' thoughts - if Marron could have just forced himself to be straightforward every once in a while, surely that would have helped things immensely...

 

"Well, either there is or there isn't."

 

"Then, there is."

 

"Right. So what is it?"

 

Marron shifted again, leaning the side of his head against the window, looking away from Gateau again.

 

"... It's not something I'd really want to talk to you about."

 

Resisting the urge to do something irrational out of his annoyance, Gateau tried to keep his voice calm.

 

"So there isn't, then?"

 

Another slight pause.

 

"... Gateau... something happened."

 

"Oh?"

 

"Mm. It... the event itself... I don't want to talk about it. I... I don't think it's something that should be talked about. I don't think it's something that you would want to know. Yet, that event in itself... I... it's natural that I would still think about something recent, but then I think about myself, just what that says about me... the things that happened, I mean. I think about those things... I think about myself..."

 

When Marron looked back up at Gateau, he was smiling. That, Gateau thought, coupled with the words that Marron spoke, was quite unnerving.

 

"... I think... I'm not a very good sort of person."

 

There wasn't really anything to say to that. If even Marron was going to come to a conclusion like that, then could it be argued? Something like that said with a smile... Gateau just stood there, wondering if Marron was expecting him to say anything, wondering what Marron would be expecting him to say... maybe Marron was or wasn't a good kind of person, but by this point, Gateau didn't really feel it was any of his business to say or pass judgement. If Marron was going to throw anything creepy at him... well... he just hoped he'd be able to adequately deflect it. Had to stay distanced. Even if Marron was going to confide something... why would he choose to confide in Gateau, of all people?

 

If there really were three separate elements, like how Milphey had suggested... if that kind of theory really was true, then there certainly wasn't any reason why Marron would be talking about something serious to Gateau himself. If it was Milphey who Marron trusted, then surely it would have made more sense for a conversation to be between those two...

 

There was always the possibility that such a thought was a false one and maybe Marron was having a moment of choosing to trust Gateau with something, but... Gateau didn't even want to think of what that might have meant. Trying to move his thoughts away from that he tried to shrug lightly, "What do you want me to say to that...?"

 

Marron glanced away, "I don't know. It's just something that occurred to me... and the cruelty of those events..."

 

The vague prickle of curiosity echoed in Gateau's mind. Something that Marron wouldn't talk about... something he wouldn't talk about and something that Gateau steeled himself with the argument that he didn't want to know... even if it was an event that would move Marron greatly, even if it was the kind of event that... that would...

 

... had anything happened with Carrot...? That was the only thing that Gateau could really think of. Something had happened with Carrot. Something bad had happened with Carrot? It wouldn't have been a good thing if Marron was now sitting as he was now, musing ambiguously on things and talking about cruelty or whatever it was he was on about... and thinking back to that trip to the hotsprings that had happened that little while ago, that trip in itself had been quite telling as to just how much a comment or two from Carrot could stir Marron's unrest. To even consider something, just because Carrot had suggested it... then the way that Marron had spoke in such an empty voice, those strange ideas about love that Gateau hadn't been able to answer...

 

It would have been so easy to ask 'Marron, what happened?'... but to ask something like that... Gateau still wasn't convinced that he wanted to know, as tempting as such a question was. That, and there was no guarantee that Marron would actually say anything anyway... hadn't he already said that it was something he didn't want to talk about? Yet he would allude ambiguously to it... Gateau felt that tug of annoyance in his mind again, if Marron was going to say something then why couldn't he just be straightforward about it?

 

What kind of things would have happened for Marron to want to hide things anyway... not that he'd ever been exactly open, but...

 

One word was a question as much as anything, but didn't have to suggest quite the things Gateau thought about.

 

"Cruelty, huh?"

 

"I would think such cruel things..."

 

"I see..."

 

He didn't, and even Marron seemed to realise this.

 

"How can you?!"

 

The tone of annoyance in that voice said as much as anything else. Gateau shook his head slightly, of course there wasn't any way he could, but again, what more was there to say?

 

"Okay then, I don't. I dunno. I'm not gonna ask you about something you're obviously not gonna talk about, anyway... so you thought cruel thoughts, doesn't everybody have their off days and stuff? I don't think anybody manages to go through life without an angry thought or two, if something bad happened then it's only natural, right?"

 

Marron had no idea of the amount of such thoughts Gateau had had about him since everything that had happened, in any case. Gateau was quite determined for things to stay like that - even if they were going to be frank and honest with each other, those thoughts were still things to be a little ashamed of. They were private thoughts and nobody had to know them, especially not the person they'd been thought about in the first place...

 

And if something bad had happened with Carrot, and Marron would think cruel thoughts...

 

"If you knew the thoughts I would think, you wouldn't be so carefree with your words."

 

"You gonna tell me those thoughts, then?"

 

"No."

 

"Didn't think so."

 

A slight sigh.

 

"Gateau, I-..."

 

"Mmm?"

 

"... Why are you still so kind to me?"

 

That was a little unexpected. Gateau frowned again, "Kind?"

 

"You can still stand to remain here and listen to me, even though there's nothing much I feel I can tell you. You'd still show concern to me, bringing me sandwiches in case I hadn't had anything to eat..."

 

"That's just common courtesy, surely? I mean, come on. You don't talk to anybody, you lock yourself away, you'd probably forget even to eat if people didn't keep reminding you that it's a basic human necessity... wouldn't you be just a little concerned about someone if it seemed that they weren't eating? If no-one else is gonna then I might as well... I mean, it's not like Carrot did anything, is it? I dunno, it's not really a deep thing or anything. I just thought 'did Marron have anything to eat? Probably not, why don't I make him something'. Was only sandwiches, anyway."

 

"I think it's telling that you would notice my eating habits in the first place."

 

That tone in Marron's voice was a little worrying, but Gateau ignored it as he carried on, "I don't hate you that much to want to see you starve, at least."

 

Another point danced across Gateau's lips, he stopped himself in time. Marron, however, didn't respond to the things he'd been saying previously... and it was a statement that Gateau at least felt was true, even though he wasn't quite sure how he felt it was true. Perhaps it was an idealistic kind of thought, but still... for a few moments Gateau felt that it needed to be said, so he said it.

 

"There's more to us than just a failed relationship, right?"

 

"So you hate me in one sense."

 

That had also been a little unexpected - there was an entire range of emotions that Gateau felt for Marron, but he was quite sure that outright hate wasn't one of them. Indeed, that was one of the things that made it all feel so difficult... if he could have hated Marron, then it would have been so much easier. That Marron was a hard person to hate even despite his problems - perhaps even because of his problems - always seemed to make the risk of attraction a threat, even if only in the background. To hate Marron in one sense? Gateau didn't hate Marron. There was frustration and annoyance and hopelessness and helplessness, but to say hate... that was quite a strong word to use. Gateau shook his head, "I don't hate you, Marron."

 

The look in his eyes and the expression on his face led Gateau to believe that this was actually something of a revelation to Marron.

 

"Oh...?"

 

Supposing that if the conversation went on as it had been going on there wasn't any harm in remaining in the study, Gateau walked away from the door and back over to the bookshelves. He leant his elbows against one of the shelves, resting his head against his arms as he looked up at Marron.

 

"Maybe you piss me off sometimes, but there's a whole difference between that and hating you. I mean, something like that... if we're gonna talk about hate, then I'd say that I hated Sacher Torte - there's nothing unsure about that, I really do hate him. Even though we got Eclair back, he murdered my parents, destroyed my home and kidnapped my sister for enough time to make me think she was dead for some of it. He fucked with her mind and she still doesn't like to talk about stuff that happened when she was with him, though it's still 'Lord Sacher' this and 'Lord Sacher' that... if you're gonna compare it to everything else then okay if it wasn't for him I probably wouldn't have met Chocolat, wouldn't have become a Sorcerer Hunter, wouldn't have met you guys and everything, but... as for all the things that bastard did, I'm just not going to be able to forgive him. I really do hate him."

 

A smile, "Compared to that, I don't think you have what it takes to make me hate you."

 

Marron's expression fell slightly, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you think of such painful things... perhaps that would have been something a bit extreme to assume..."

 

Gateau wrinkled his nose, "Nah, I'm okay with it. But as I said, okay failed relationship, okay burnt-out feelings, okay all of that... but that's not the only thing, is it? Maybe I do get pretty angry over stuff that happened, but when it's compared to everything else, why would I wanna hate you? So there were difficulties, so there were problems, so there were things we couldn't figure out," a shrug, "... can't be helped, can it? Hmph, can't help but wonder just what kinda person you think I am if you were gonna think I was gonna hate you just for that..."

 

Words like that only served to make Marron feel worse.

 

For a few moments, he couldn't quite bring himself to look at Gateau. He stared out of the window, noting that it really had become dark outside... he felt displaced, somehow. Having a conversation such as that with Gateau... the silence and the darkness, the other things that he felt... perhaps Gateau didn't hate him, perhaps that was something a little egotistical to assume that he would, but... he could still act kindly and seem to have a degree of concern that Marron felt that he just didn't have...

 

Perhaps Gateau wouldn't hate him just for those things that had happened. Perhaps he could just write it off as something that couldn't be helped and carry on from there - so how did that compare to the intense anger Marron had felt towards Tira for her confessions? Just one event would change his perception so terribly. Was it hate? Perhaps not, but Marron felt hateful for it...

 

Thinking about it, Gateau really was a strong kind of person, wasn't he? At least compared to the things Marron felt he would feel. Gateau's feelings had been powerful, hadn't they? He'd even said that he'd loved Marron, at times. Love... love... to be able to say such a thing... had he really felt that extent of emotion? Just what had it been about Marron himself that had managed to stir such a reaction? Marron had no idea. If that was to be compared to Carrot... Marron had no question that he loved Carrot, as much as that love may have become twisted and terrible... he loved Carrot, Gateau had loved him. Things hadn't worked out with Gateau, and Gateau could still act as if nothing major had really happened... and compared to Carrot...? If Carrot were to refuse anything... if he were to reject Marron's feelings... if he were to reject Marron's feelings as far as Marron rejected Gateau's feelings... not that Carrot was likely to accept those feelings anyway, but to that extent... to compare the emotions was a powerful thought and Marron couldn't help a slight tremble. If it really all was a system of emotions then it was all quite fundamentally flawed, wasn't it? It was all flawed and he was even more so, it was hopeless and he was terrible...

 

Gateau at least noticed that shudder. Was Marron okay? Maybe he was cold, it wasn't very warm in that room... perhaps the attack from earlier had left him feeling light-headed? Concern was at the forefront of Gateau's mind, "You okay?"

 

"Ah...?"

 

"Looked like you were shivering there. Maybe you should get to bed, I mean, sitting next to a window when it's gettin' cold outside isn't gonna help any."

 

"N-no, it's nothing... I'm fine, Gateau."

 

He didn't look it and he didn't sound it, but as much as Marron ever liked to give such things away, it was unsurprising that he'd be so dismissive. It felt to Gateau like he'd been doing most of the talking... perhaps Marron hadn't specifically asked for a discussion in the first place, but he could just be so damned cold half the time, and not in the ways that would make him shiver...

 

"So would you want me to hate you?"

 

A slight pause, "Perhaps 'hate' would be an extreme way of expressing it... but I wouldn't be surprised if you did."

 

It said quite a bit about Marron that he'd say things like that so blankly while still staring out of the window. What was so fascinating about the empty gardens that made him stare so continually out at them? Gateau leant his head up on one fist again, glancing at Marron with an even stare. It wasn't a matter of the theoretical, but Marron never would speak things outright... Gateau kept his tone of voice as even as his stare.

 

"Yeah, but would you want me to?"

 

"... After the ways in which I behaved, I don't think I would deserve much else."

 

"So you want me to hate you 'cause you think I should?"

 

Marron frowned slightly, "You're... being confusing."

 

"Okay, look. Didn't we agree to be civil about things ages back? Not keep tempting each other and stuff. That, if I remember right, was your idea in the first place."

 

"... Yes."

 

"The civil thing is part of something else, right? Forget about the bad stuff that happened, so we made a mistake, big deal."

 

At that point, Marron turned to face Gateau, really look him in the eye.

 

"The lack of remorse my mind would afford to our time together quite scares me, Gateau."

 

He didn't sound scared.

 

"Oh?"

 

"I'm sure you wouldn't want to hear my perception of events."

 

A shrug, "Try me."

 

"I was quite fully aware of my limitations, Gateau. I knew what I would allow, what I wouldn't allow... the contempt I held for you being unwilling to cater to those limits... I suppose that has lessened over time. I think it is best that things turned out this way, to a degree."

 

"Well, that's good, right?"

 

"I suppose it could be thought so. Yet... should I not feel regret? The ways in which I spoke to you, the ways in which I acted... the things I wanted you to do, the things I wanted to make you do... Gateau... for that desire to control you entirely for my own ends... shouldn't there be regret for it?! Should I not feel bad for wishing to use somebody so absolutely...?"

 

Gateau's expression was steady, "Annnd... I guess you don't, huh."

 

"The unease I would feel would be to the situation as a whole... for involving so many people I wouldn't have considered, to still have been so determined to tie people to my will when deep within I so sorely doubt even that would bring satisfaction..."

 

Marron let his point trail off, momentarily unwilling to add much more to his point of view, Gateau not having much to reply to it with. To think about the things that Marron was saying... well, that had always been one of the things that had stirred Gateau. Marron seemed to like to wrap himself in so many mysteries and ambiguities to seem to make himself almost completely incomprehensible... so Marron felt little regret towards his past actions? Regret wasn't something that was nice to feel, but that sentiment did annoy Gateau. Hadn't he been thinking that time before with Milphey that he'd wanted to know Marron's feelings on that which had happened? He'd hoped somewhat that those feelings would involve more than 'I don't really care'. No, he didn't hate Marron, but when Marron could talk so easily about such a lack of feeling, it was hard not to feel a steady dose of contempt.

 

"You really don't regret the stuff that happened..."

 

"In that I learnt things about myself that would only make me more self-aware, I can only thank you for that. But to regret... to feel for the way in which I acted..."

 

Another smile, "As I said... I'm not a very good sort of person."

 

"I guess."

 

"You could deny that if you really wanted to..."

 

"I don't think I can. If you're saying stuff like that just to get me to disagree with you then it's really not working."

 

"I would not disagree with such an idea... yet that which you know, I wonder just how much of it would lead to that thought... there are many things within me that feel as if they build up to that - there is more than I would allow you to know, but..."

 

Again, Marron trailed off. Gateau didn't know what he could say to that, as much as he didn't know what to say to hardly anything Marron spoke of... if it was more than Marron was willing to say then there wasn't really much that could be said, could there? Gateau remained silent, supposing it would be a better idea to let Marron rant himself out. He didn't trust himself not to say something angry in his irritation.

 

As it was, the next thing that Marron said surprised Gateau somewhat.

 

"... Gateau, I... I don't know how much longer I can continue on like this."

 

"... Uh?"

 

At that point, Gateau really did look up to what he could see of Marron from his position... it seemed to really hit home in that moment how lost Marron seemed to look. His gaze never faltered from the gardens outside, but the way his head was bowed like that, the slump of his shoulders... the way his fingers pressed against the wood of the bookshelf and the way his fingernails would scrape just slightly when he trembled. What was going on in the mind of Marron Glacé at that moment? Wanting to know and not wanting to know was one thing, but saying something like that brought on a different kind of concern altogether...!

 

Marron continued, obviously trying to keep his voice level and generally succeeding with only a moment or two that would betray his desired tone. Yet for all of that, his voice still seemed blank somehow.

 

"I... my thoughts are becoming more than I can bear. My hopeless thoughts... my angry thoughts... things that people would not even suspect me of, things that I should know better than to... to allow myself... the way I treated you... the way I would treat people in my thoughts..."

 

He turned quickly to face Gateau, "... Will the situation ever change...? Is it I that must change...? If that is so, then... then... how...? How should I know what to change...? If I am really the one at fault, then what is it of me that can change to bring things to some kind of ease...?"

 

"I... I don't know..."

 

"I thought that you would be exactly the kind of person who would know."

 

Gateau raised his eyebrow, "How'dya manage to come to that sort of conclusion!?... I don't know what's going on in your head, and I'm guessin' that you're not gonna tell me anytime soon."

 

"You are somebody who would have wished me to change. Perhaps your idea of how exactly I should change could provide some platform for me to start from..."

 

That was a difficult question to answer. You couldn't specifically tell somebody how to change, could you...? That Marron would even consider something like that said a lot, at least to Gateau. That he would consider Gateau of all people a moral guide for that said even more... yes, there were things that Gateau had found difficult to cope with, but things like that... there were differences and there were problems, but if those could be solved so easily as suggesting something then any relationship in the world had the potential to take off... things like compatibility and understanding were important and as far as Gateau had been with Marron, they hadn't understood each other nor were they compatible. A bit disappointing, but not everybody was suited for everybody else. As far as relationships went, Gateau just didn't feel himself up to Marron's breadth of complexity.

 

So how was there to word that? As much as those thoughts were sensible, there was one other thought that occupied Gateau's mind far more than those. Carrot. Carrot. If all problems devolved back to Carrot as the root, then surely it made sense to do something about him? Gateau didn't know what, but... surely something was possible? He just stared at Marron while he thought, Marron still looking away and seeming unaware of the attention. It was fine to think all of the sensible things, but to compare those to other thoughts, to think of the things that Milphey had said...

 

To tell Marron that he should somehow transform his affection for the different people in his life was more than Gateau felt he had the responsibility to do. Perhaps Marron did love Carrot in strange ways, loved him in different ways than a brother perhaps rightly should, perhaps was confused and saw Carrot as his only stable grip... Gateau didn't know. All he knew was that Marron wouldn't tell him, and to make assumptions would only grant him Marron's annoyance.

 

It had to be Carrot.

 

Who else would it be but him...?

 

Who else would Marron afford such time and emotion to for it to affect him so totally like that!? And it really did seem to be affecting him... Gateau fervently hoped that Marron would know better than to bestow any advanced kind of emotion on that stupid brother of his, but then again perhaps Marron felt something akin to that - he hoped he'd know better but still it couldn't be helped? He'd essentially said that. Alongside that, there was always a degree of Marron that Gateau felt he should have known himself better than to notice. There was a beauty there that he felt he had no business in noticing, an allure he felt he had no business in wanting, a mystery he felt he had no part in solving, yet his mind would consider all of those possibilities at times and he would be angry wondering why. There were millions of people upon the Spooner Continent and Marron was only one of them - by those statistics, surely there were just as many people who were perfectly acceptable who weren't as twisted and confusing as Marron seemed to be half the time...

 

So many people on the Continent and Marron was only one of them...

 

There was only one person who was Marron on the entire Continent.

 

It was a matter of perception.

 

Gateau sighed tightly, "Marron, I-... I don't know. I don't think you can ask me something like that."

 

"You had a perfect idea of me in your mind, did you not? You could fashion me towards that end. I could try to be what you wanted me to be, if you'd only tell me... I have become undesirable by my own admission. Perhaps I should become somebody else's ideal of desire to become something different."

 

He still spoke with that empty tone. It seemed almost amazing to equate the Marron that had always been in Gateau's mind previously to this Marron sat there on the windowsill to that point - how the hell could he talk so easily in such a despairing voice?! There was the urge to slap Marron or something, strike some sense into the boy, but Gateau decided against that and instead stood up and grabbed Marron's closest wrist. Unprepared for the movement, Marron lost balance slightly and ended up leaning against the corner formed between the wall and the window, finding one of Gateau's hands grabbed around his wrist and the other pressed to the window next to his head; Gateau had him, essentially, cornered. He looked up with sudden surprise, almost as if he only just realised that Gateau was still actually in the room with him... it had been easy to devolve into that hazy kind of mindframe, saying whatever the train of thought carried... now Gateau was angry? His temper seemed to have been incensed somehow.

 

"Marron, what the hell happened to you!?"

 

No reply.

 

"... I didn't fall for you in the first place 'cause you were some flake who'd do whatever other people told him. More than anything I admired you - really fucking awestruck some of the time - because you were just so damned strong, powerful, all that shit. Even when everyone was being an idiot, you wouldn't get involved. You kept that coolness, that sensibility... what the fuck happened!? Who did this to you!?"

 

Marron's eyes were closed now, "I only brought it upon myself."

 

"Then bring it off yourself already! So it's something you did or thought that changed? Just change back, then. Forget whatever the hell it is that's making you like this 'cause it's not doing anything good for you at all, from the looks of it. If it's you that did the changing... if you changed before then you can change again, can't you?"

 

Despite the barely-disguised frustration in Gateau's voice, Marron could only bow his head and look away from those piercing eyes. The point of argument was sensible - if, indeed, it was something he'd only brought upon himself, then surely he was the only person he could rely on to bring himself out of whatever it was he'd brought himself into in the first place?... It seemed so easy in theory, but in practice... his voice remained blank.

 

"I don't know how. I don't know what should change."

 

Gateau didn't hide his exasperation, "And I'm not the kind of person who can tell you that! Only you know what the hell's going on inside that head of yours. I could say any amount of things but unless they were things that you really wanted to change then it'd only be me wasting air, wouldn't it? Look - nobody can tell you what to do, but it's not good to tell yourself to do nothing, either."

 

"... do something or do nothing..."

 

Apart from that quiet utterance, Marron said nothing. Supposing that there wasn't anything that could easily be done, Gateau released Marron's wrist and took a few steps away from the shelves. Even now, Marron would stir him so much - he didn't know what that was, and it was frustrating. It was also frustrating just to see Marron like that - always being in such close proximity to him it had been perhaps impossible to note a sudden change, but comparing the Marron of a year or two ago to the Marron sitting on the bookshelf in that room at that moment, it seemed quite a stark contrast; perhaps it wasn't that anything had happened specifically, but it was quite possible that something had been wearing away at Marron, a slow but sure eroding pressure...

 

To risk trying to find out specifically what that was was to risk far more than Gateau was willing . To find out such things... to be close? To be trusted? Sometimes you had to know when to let go. If Milphey was Marron's trusted person then surely Marron could go to him with all the confusing things, Gateau wasn't sure just how much he wanted to go with. If anything could bring the more confident Marron back then surely it was essentially a good thing, but nobody said that was ever anything to do with he himself...

 

Maybe Marron needed somebody to be strong for him? Marron needed to find a strength inside himself, at least.

 

"Look, uh, Marron?"

 

He looked up silently, questioningly.

 

"I'm gonna go to bed now. I can't think of much else to say, and I really don't know if anything I say is gonna make a difference anyway..."

 

It was less that and more that Gateau couldn't think of much else to say that probably wouldn't help in the slightest - perhaps it was possible to shock Marron into change, but to just get angry with him would only cause him to cower and Gateau to light his fuse. If they had to continue talking they could do it at another time, some time when they'd had more sleep and were less likely to get angry at one another. Gateau hoped that Marron would accept that reasoning upon silent promise, but it seemed that he couldn't resist saying just one thing before Gateau had left the room.

 

"You could help me."

 

Marron spoke as Gateau was on his way to the door once more. There was an unnervingly familiar note in that tone, and Gateau didn't know how he should react to that. If Marron needed his help then fair enough he'd try to grant it, but when it was Marron, you never knew just what such aid was supposed to involve... supposing he could only play it innocently, Gateau glanced over his shoulder.

 

"I'll try and help you, anyway. As I said earlier, I don't hate you... if anything I'm just confused as to what the hell's happened to you. I dunno how I'd help you, but I'd try. C'mon though, it's late... didn't you say you were tired and stuff? You're only gonna feel worse if you don't get any sleep."

 

"Ah..."

 

"So, uh... night, then. Hope that ankle gets better soon."

 

With little fanfare, Marron noticed that Gateau suddenly wasn't in the room anymore. He stared at the closed door... for a few moments he could pick out Gateau's receding footstep across the outside floor, it grew quieter, quieter... there was the distant sound of a door closing, and Marron supposed that that was Gateau off for the night.

 

Supposing that Gateau's line of thought had at least been sensible in the idea of getting some rest, Marron gently shifted around and lowered himself down to the floor. A slight pain shot up from his ankle as he rested weight upon his feet, but he supposed that couldn't be helped. Another healing spell before he slept and hopefully it would be alright by the morning...

 

It seemed strange that he'd spoken for so long with Gateau, of all people. It had been a long while since they'd said much of anything at all at each other - it seemed telling that Gateau would still get angry, though.

 

"What right does he have to get angry over me..."

 

The thought echoed through Marron's mind, but he couldn't help but smile gently at the thought. He'd managed to work himself away to a distance, but could still be close when it came to delicate matters...

 

Marron shook his head, catching his smile and standing in the middle of the room for a few silent moments. What kind of thoughts were those to think? As far as Gateau went... as far as Gateau went, surely he had little bearing on the situation at all...! If there was anybody to think of, then surely it was Carrot... to think of Gateau, to think of anybody else, was that not a betrayal in itself? To think of Gateau with such a smile... Marron growled softly at himself and left the study. If any thoughts were unforgivable, then surely those were as much as anything else...

 

Walking along the corridor, Marron found himself stood outside his bedroom door, somehow unable to enter. He stared at the doorhandle. Carrot was on the other side. Probably asleep... he always looked so innocent while he slept. Well, nearly always. Even a perverted dream could bring a sweet smile to his face. Of course, just who would Carrot dream of... there never seemed to be any question of all of those girls that he chased so enthusiastically. Then came the heavy thought of the Misu sisters - Carrot never said anything and the way he mumbled in his sleep sometimes never gave anything away, but nobody said that he didn't... so would Carrot ever dream of Chocolat, of Tira...? Practically, it didn't seem complicated. These girls that Carrot knew so well, who he saw every day of his waking life... the sexy and outgoing one, the shy and demure one... one or the other. Perhaps both. Why not? Marron tried to sway his thoughts by occupying himself with opening the bedroom door. The sound of the catch sounded loud in the silent corridor and presumably it had been loud enough in the bedroom too, since the sound seemed to wake Carrot up.

 

"Uhnh?!"

 

Looking up at Carrot's startled sound, Marron closed the door quietly.

 

"Niisan?"

 

"Oh... oh, it's just you... wondered who it was! Surprised me..."

 

"I'm sorry, niisan. I didn't mean to wake you."

 

The sound of Carrot shifting around in his bed, "No, no, it's okay... wasn't sleeping too good anyway. But hey, is this you only just coming to bed?"

 

"Yes, niisan."

 

"Bit late, isn't it? What were you doing out there?"

 

"Ah... I was just thinking, niisan. I fear I became caught up in my thoughts somewhat."

 

"Oh..."

 

Well, that seemed something normal for Marron to do, Carrot didn't think anything strange of it. He sat up, looking across the room to Marron's shadowy outline, apparently getting changed...

 

"I thought you were real tired, though?"

 

"I was. I still am."

 

"How come you didn't come to bed earlier, then? I wondered what'd happened to you! I figured you'd probably fallen asleep somewhere..."

 

"I think I may have done for a short while..."

 

"Oh, okay then."

 

Marron thought about mentioning his conversation with Gateau, since that was at least half the reason why he'd been away from the bedroom for so long, but... that conversation was nothing that Carrot specifically had to know, he'd probably only ask uncomfortable questions in the meantime. If Carrot thought that Marron had been out just because he'd ended up falling asleep somewhere... well, that was enough.

 

"Tira's getting better."

 

"Oh..."

 

"I went to see her before I went to bed. She's still got all these marks, but I guess they'll go away soon, huh? She seemed happy enough, anyway."

 

"I see."

 

Carrot didn't follow up that line of conversation and Marron said nothing to encourage him to do so. Perhaps Carrot was just making idle conversation, but Marron felt that he had absolutely no desire at all to hear about how Tira might or might not have been doing. So she was getting better? It wasn't as if anybody had expected her to get worse. She still had those marks from the battle? That meant that Carrot had seen them? There was the idle curiosity of where and how Carrot had seen them, and presumably for him to have seen her before he went to bed implied that perhaps she was in her bedroom at that time... he'd just popped in to see how she was? How sweet, how kind. Marron threw his robe to the floor in annoyance, trying to keep his step steady as he went over to the drawers where his nightshirts would be.

 

It was hard enough to argue with oneself about keeping thoughts of Carrot pure... it made it even more difficult when it seemed that Carrot himself would try to corrupt those thoughts with annoying things. After the things that Marron had been thinking about previously, hearing about how Tira was doing was the last thing he wanted to hear... and it seemed that Carrot didn't have anything else to say at all after that, since his soft breathing led Marron to believe he'd fallen asleep again... well, if he was tired, it was unsurprising. Marron climbed into his own bed, wondering if Carrot had noticed his own unease, his own casual disregard for Tira's general well-being... probably not. Hopefully not.

 

While anybody might have agreed with Marron's self-analysis... while Gateau found it hard to deny, while Marron himself found it far too easy to see... out of anybody, out of everybody, Marron fervently hoped that Carrot would never come to such a conclusion, would never agree with such a thing...

 

Despite those dark thoughts and terrible fantasies where Carrot thought Marron sick and perverted... as powerful as those dreams could be, Marron steeled himself as he tucked himself into his bed. Just because he didn't hold such compassion towards others at that moment didn't mean he had to display such things to Carrot. It was alright for Gateau to presume such things, but Carrot...

 

Carrot had no feeling to presume Marron so fallen, not yet. Even Marron realised that, clung to that hope as he drifted off into sleep. If anybody could recognize his inner qualities... if there were any positive qualities left to identify... surely Carrot could do so...