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Time slipped idly by as Melissa and I struggled to find our way out of the garden for the rest of the afternoon. Neither of us complained though; "How could anyone be miserable with beauty all around us?" I had said. Melissa had agreed full-heartedly and, strangely enough, after I said that, we found the entrance again.
Late afternoon gave way to a splendid sunset as we made our way back to the grotto. Naturally, Mat and my boys asked us where we had gone, but an exchanged glance between us definitively decided that they were not hearing the whole truth. Through-out dinner, Melissa and I talked about our trip to the rose garden, trying to avoid key details. "Where was this garden?" asked Mat.
"Near... I mean in the Operahouse square," Melissa replied, catching herself quickly after nearly slipping up.
Flet and Jet eyed her warily but said nothing. "So Mat," I said, desperate to change the subject, "what did you and the boys do today?"
"Nothing much really," said Mat, rubbing the back of his head in an "I don't care" sort of way. "I did my training, your eels did their magic thing, we went for a swim-"
"You what?!" exclaimed Melissa.
"Don't look at me like that! We didn't go anywhere; you know how deep the pool in this place is. You've swum in it yourself."
I smirked and rolled my eyes as they fell into a heated debate as to whether or not King Triton would have seen him. I quietly got up and left the table, leaving them to their discussion. I had been vexed with the strangest feeling that something, or someone, had followed us ever since I had gotten home; I could feel it, or them, even now, secretly watching us, silently waiting to strike.
My eyebrows arched as my face held back the spasm of fear running up my spine from a sudden noise just outside the door. I cautiously opened the front door of my grotto, hand raised and encased in ice, and looked around. I gasped and fell backward as a face, cloaked in shadow, peered down from above the entrance. "I need to talk to you," said the voice that belonged to the face as someone, or something, backflipped off of my roof.
Dumbfounded that Melissa and Mat hadn't heard anything, I got up on one knee, ready to spring in case the humanoid silohuette decided to attack me. "How many times do I have to spit in your face?" I asked, not hiding the contempt I held for the voice's owner. "Mat is Melissa's boyfriend and she is all the better for it! And if you don't believe me, take a good long look!" I indicated the innocent talking and laughing of my friends behind me, smiling smugly.
"Unfreeze your hand Ana," replied the voice simply, not a hint of change in its urgent tone. "Even though I know who those words were meant for, I would be lying if I said I wasn't hurt at least a little."
Phoenix Rose stepped into the light of my open door. I looked down at the sand-covered floor, ashamed that I had yelled at the one man I would do anything for. "Look at me," he said. I did not hesitate despite my horrendous chagrin and a few unexpected tears. "I'm not angry with you, but I would appreciate the avoidance of such outbursts in the future. You may not be so lucky next time."
"Yes Master, but you'll need to give me some sort of signal before you go and randomly decide you want to visit me. How was I supposed to know Lelouch didn't follow me home instead of you?" (I didn't add the fact that he and Lelouch had the same voice because he was probably already aware of that.)
"Fair enough." He put his hand on my shoulder as he looked at me reassuringly. "Let's try this over again. Come walk with me."
We stepped out into the cold December night. Despite more than his share of years, Phoenix was agile for his old age; he kept pace with me easily, which I suspected he was doing out of cordiality, but it was nice nonetheless. "So..." I said, breaking the silence after we had walked a little ways from the grotto, "what did you want to talk about?"
Phoenix stopped abruptly in front of a large rock. I almost smashed into it (smart move, right?), but Phoenix pulled me up with him so that we were both seated on top. "It's not what I want to talk about, or can for that matter," he said.
I eyed him with a "What aren't you telling me?" kind of look as he knelt down on the end of the rock that was closest to the water. He cupped his hand to his mouth and began singing a song I recognized, James Taylor's "You Can Close Your Eyes". It went something like this:
"Well the sun is surely sinking down,
But the moon is slowly rising. (The moon was almost full tonight and the sky was full of stars.)
Means that this whole world must still be spinning 'round,
And I still love you. (He looked towards me and smiled as he sang this line.)
Close your eyes. You can close your eyes.
It's all right."
As he was about to sing the last part of the chorus, a head popped out of the water, a head with a mop of brown hair and red eyes. Phoenix sat back on his knees and indicated the head beside him as he said, "It's what he wants to talk with you about."
"Kaname?" I asked, surprised and gladdened to see him. "What are you doing here?"
"I had to see you again," Kaname said as he pulled himself up onto the rock so that his silvery tail was dangling in the water. "You never did tell me what you knew about my little sister. Is she safe with the Phantom? Is she in his clutches anymore? How did you meet her? How long have you been friends? Where is she-"
"One question at a time please. To answer your 1st question: No, she is not anywhere near safe with that atrocious Lelouch. He gives his namesake a bad name and he further manifests the point each time I meet him."
"You've met him?!"
"Yes, and I'm not afraid of him anymore-"
"I thought he wasn't supposed to be scary."
"Keep interrupting me like that and you'll won't get anymore answers."
"Sorry." Was it a trick of the moonlight, or did I see him blush? "I just want to see know that she's safe."
"Fair enough. You're her brother; I'm her best friend. We're both concerned for her. In light of your other questions, here's the information I can give you: Melissa and I have been friends ever since she joined Gaia. We both joined around the same time in the summer and since we had a lot in common, we became fast friends. She also lost a couple of "boyfriends" up here on land, but I bet it wasn't the first time that that's happened. I should know because she told me that it was her eighth one the day that we both saw Lelouch for the first time."
"Was that the day you became friends? I'm confused."
"No. This was a short time afterwards. Melissa had been kidnapped by a couple of sailors who wanted to put under experimentation or something." He clenched his fist on the rock and punched hard. A large chunk splashed into the water below us. "As you could probably deduce, she got out of there just fine, with a little help from me of course.
"As to your question about her being in the New Age Angel's clutches-"
"New Age Angel?"
"Yes, my epithet for Lelouch. I can't very well have two Erik Legranges running around without having some way to differentiate between them." I looked, half-embarrassed, half-knowing, at Phoenix as I said that. "As I was saying, your sister is thankfully out of his clutches and is currently staying with me while Mat helps her come back into the light. She was in quite a state when he brought her home, but I guess that's Melissa for you."
Kaname nodded. "She fought all the time with Dad at home. (I caught the hint of anger in his voice as he said the word "Dad". Apparently, he hated what King Triton had done to her as much as she did.) I guess you're his replacement now that he's not with her."
"I think that's right. We fight a lot, but someway or other I stay with her, despite all the crap she gives me."
"Something that should not be taken lightly," Phoenix said. (It was the first time he had spoken since Kaname and I had started talking.) "There a very few people in this world who can say that they've stayed friends with a person like Ms. Triton, but there are even fewer who can say that they've got a friend like Ana here. Be proud of your sister, Kaname, and proud of yourself."
He hugged Kaname, and then me, thanking us for looking out for Melissa so resiliently. "I'm sorry," he said, sitting back on the rock and gazing at the moon. "You may continue from before I interrupted so rudely."
"Not at all," said Kaname. "I got everything you said Ana, except for..."
"Except for what?" I asked.
"Except for the "New Age Angel" thing. You said there were two Erik Legranges. How is that possible? I mean the original Phantom is surely dead by now... unless-"
I nodded. "Yes. Lelouch's full name is Erik Phoenix Legrange. He certainly deserves his middle name for such is the way he exists. Shunned by all since his birth, excepting Jareth of course, and endowed with a magical gift for music, he is Erik to a fault, the fault being that he came after my friend and tried to sleep with her."
I bit down hard on that last bit; I was still a little shocked from seeing such a thing happen with my own eyes. Kaname couldn't believe it either, but I stopped him from asking further, raising a finger to my lips. I looked back towards the grotto, where Phoenix was already headed, and then back at the Crown Prince of Atlantica. 'I understand' he said silently and slipped back into the water.
I turned to go. "Ana!" Kaname called out from below me.
"What?!" I called back, surprised and pissed at the same time.
"I have one last question for you." I leaned closer to the water, shivering as some spray hit my face. "Why is your heart confused? It's in the right place, but it doesn't feel like it." He dove beneath the surface, waving his tailfin before he disappeared, leaving me to ponder his parting words.
 srs diva 2011 xxl · Wed Sep 09, 2009 @ 01:08am · 1 Comments |
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