Magic Knight Rayearth Fan Fiction ❯ Echoes of Destiny ❯ Incensed Winter ( Chapter 2 )

Echoes of Destiny
Incensed Winter

***

Tarta was pretty upset.

That was an understatement, and Tatra knew it.

"Neesan, why did you let that sub-commander walk all over you like that?" Tarta demanded. "He may be a good actor, or he might be tricking us in some way. Why did you agree to help him?"

"Why did you agree to aide me in the capture of his friend?" counterattacked Tatra gently as she sipped her tea.

Tarta glowered, but Tatra already knew her answer. She reluctantly but immediately helped out of the honor she had to uphold for Chizeta's sake. Tatra wanted to help Autozam out and gave their sub-commander her word that she would do everything within her power to do so, and if Tarta backed out, then Tatra would be, in a sense, breaking her promise and shaming her country. Not only that, but Tatra knew that Tarta refused to let Tatra do anything dangerous by herself, even if Tatra is far more capable than her.

Tatra turned away harshly from her elder sister and crossed her arms.

"In any case, the guards will be bringing the commander here," Tatra said quietly. "And the sub-commander will be arriving soon. I only wish that the princess of Fahren was coming; I would like to know what that magic was -- I've never heard of anything like that."

"Whatever it was, it immobilized the robot and the fighter. I'm hating this deal more and more."

"But we can still go to Cephiro. Isn't that what you wanted?"

Tarta sighed. "Peacefully, we can go, but Fahren... and Autozam are continuing their pursuit as well. It's impossible for the three of us to work together if we don't know anybody's true intentions."

Tatra smiled. "It's not like Geo-san knows anything about Autozam's true intentions anymore, either. The only one who knows is his friend, and whatever it is, it's allowing him to have the strongest heart among every single invader. I no longer know what Princess Aska is aiming for, and neither do I know what you want. I think that before we ask each other about our goals, we confide within ourselves first. I think that is what Geo-san wants; he wants to know why his friend is so intent on becoming the Pillar in the shape that he is in and somehow continue the peace with both Chizeta and Fahren."

Tarta's astounded face stared at her, and Tatra looked out the window, where the spiral of clouds and flying rocks had returned to a worse sense of normal; the clouds were emitting more friction of lightning than they had previously, and the debris of stones and boulders flew at a faster random rate. Tatra concluded that it had been because of the spell Princess Aska had cast.

"Whatever that magic was," Tatra continued, "it certainly is strong. I wonder..."

"Your Highnesses," a strong feminine voice called. Tatra looked up and saw one of their guards standing erect in front of a man in a white cloak--who Tatra immediately recognized as the NSX's commander--held by two other guards. He was not struggling, much to Tatra's surprise. "We have brought you the hostage."

"He is not a hostage," said Tatra. "Merely a guest we are having by strict orders. Let him go."

The lead guard flinched a little. "Princess Tatra... he is blind. Are you sure this is wise?"

"Blind?" Tarta asked.

The guard stepped aside to let the two princesses get a closer look at the commander, who was staring straight ahead, his pupils absolutely still. Tarta approached the commander cautiously and waved a hand in front of his eyes, but he still did not blink.

"He is," she confirmed.

Tatra narrowed her eyes. "From Fahren's magic, I assume? I do not believe that you were blind when we talked before."

"Yes," the commander answered.

"Guards, please leave us, and guide Geo-san here when he comes."

The three women bowed and exited, and Tarta grabbed the commander and led him to the table.

"Sit," she said dryly.

Her face was curved into hatred; if the commander had not been blind, Tatra knew that she would have done whatever it took to keep that expression to herself. However, her scowl was affecting how she talked, and the commander could still hear, so Tatra gave Tarta a Look.

Tarta glared at Tatra, but indeed fixed her expression to make it more pleasant. Doubt was better than hatred, Tatra told herself, just as the commander spoke.

"So, my sub-commander really did contact you and called for a cease-fire," he said. "You agreed. Why?"

"It is not a cease-fire," Tatra explained, "but an informal peace. Formalities will come later, but today nobody feels like writing out and signing treaties."

"I see."

"Would you like some tea?"

"Yes, thank you."

A look of disbelief crossed Tarta's face, amusing Tatra to some extent. She grinned and said, "And my dear little sister, would you like some as well?"

Tarta twitched. "WHAT?!"

Tatra laughed and poured two extra cups with the russet liquid. "For the use of less formalities to prove that we are indeed at a peace and... less time-consuming--" She took in the liberty of copying Geo's words. "--I will introduce myself and my sister. I am Tatra, and she, my younger sister, is Tarta. There is no need to call us by anything other than that. And you are...?"

"Eagle Vision," the commander replied. "Tell me again, why did you agree to aiding my sub-commander to stop me from battling?"

"You are unafraid of death, are you not?" Eagle did not answer. "I will take that as a 'yes', considering our last conversation as well. You are not afraid to die... do you want to die?" Again, no answer. "I see--"

"It's not that I want to die, but I am willing to," he finally replied.

"And you will, regardless of what happens?"

For the sake of both of the Autozam commanders, Tatra decided to leave out the fact that she knew about Eagle's disease and gave Tarta a look to indicate that she wanted her to do the same. Tarta nodded.

Eagle slowly nodded. "You might say that. Now, about my question..."

"I will answer that now," said Tatra. "We helped because your friend -- your sub-commander -- seemed desperate to get you out of battle, to save your life. We empathized with him quickly and decided that we would regret it if we did not help."

"And he knows..." Eagle muttered and continued, but Tatra couldn't hear the rest.

"Know what?"

"Nothing," he replied with a quick and kind smile, quite similar to the one Eagle had given her and her sister before announcing that the war between Autozam and Chizeta and Fahren was to start. This time, the frightening transformation did not take place as Eagle took a sip from the cup. "I'm surprised, though, that you agreed to it so quickly even though you had just met him that one time."

That was when Tarta spoke up. "Don't think anything of it, commander," she snapped. "It took a lot to convince Neesan, and it was only because she was my sister that I ended up helping. I'm still not convinced that we should have helped."

Eagle kept his smiling facade up. "Geo isn't the type of man to deceive."

Tarta scowled.

"Eagle-san, you asked us once what our intentions were to become Pillar," Tatra continued. "We told you, but you had still never given us an answer. I have a growing suspicion that it is not to help your country's pollution problem. I will not ask for your answer now, for you still need to trust Geo-san with that information."

For the first time since Tatra laid eyes on him, the commander of the NSX looked uncomfortable.

"If I told him, we would not become friends anymore."

"You don't know that," said Tatra gently.

Eagle was forlornly silent for a few seconds.

"Yes," he answered quietly, "I do."

***

Zazu could swear that the princess of Fahren had to be at least five years younger than him, but he couldn't help but to be amazed at the maturity she showed now as compared to when Eagle first contacted her and the Chizetan princesses. He wondered at first if she had shown this level of wisdom when she had first talked with Geo but then told himself that it was impossible that she hadn't.

After all, if she had been an outspoken brat the first time around, it wouldn't have taken Geo so quickly to grant Princess Aska her wish.

Her wish to continue helping, that is.

Before Geo left for the Bravada, he gave Zazu strict and precise orders:

"Stick around on the Dome only long enough to repair the FTO; afterwards, return to the NSX and separate the two mobiles no closer than a kilometer, and no further than ten, and then discover the new password for the fighter mecha and change the password again."

Geo knew Eagle all too well. He knew that Eagle would find a way to escape and return to the NSX to seek out the FTO (which had successfully been retrieved after Eagle had been put into the custody of the Chizetans) and try to fight again. If he returned and found no FTO, he would attempt to use the GTO, something Geo would not be happy with especially if he would be forced to chase after Eagle again on the regular fighter mecha. If all three mobiles kept their distance from each other, hopefully Eagle would not suspect that the FTO was on the Dome instead of the Bravada or the NSX.

There was more than one thing that Zazu hated most about everything that was developing, but the one that was bugging him the most was the trust between Geo and Eagle.

Which seemed to have never existed...

Yes, Zazu knew about the Audi TT, Eagle's disease. It wasn't as if Eagle told him; Zazu just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time and overheard the doctor telling Eagle about it. Eagle didn't know that Zazu knew and neither did Geo. Zazu planned to keep it that way because he was afraid as to what would happen if Geo ever found out that he had kept the secret from him as well.

He sighed and fell back on the metal floor of the Dome. "I guess we weren't exactly the best of friends, then, no matter how well we got along," he muttered.

The mechanic half expected a response from anybody, but when only the bustling of Princess Aska's servants reached his ears, he knew that he would get none.

Zazu sighed again as he sat back up and picked up a wrench. "I could only be so lucky," he grumbled as he went back to work.

"What are you talking about?"

He stiffened and immediately dropped the tool with a loud silver clang.

"Oh, I am sorry," said the young, female, and familiar voice again. "Did I surprise you?"

Zazu slowly turned his waist to face the source of the voice, and only to find, to no real surprise, the Princess Aska herself standing some distance from the naked mech. She looked younger in real life, and he knew that it was completely confirmed that she could be no older than ten. Ten because he refused to imagine that an eight-year-old would be or could be as intelligent as her; maybe she was older than she actually looked?

He grinned weakly.

"A little," he admitted. "What are you doing here? I thought your grandfather or something told you to get some rest."

"Chang Ang wants me to, but I feel better now; I will be fine," she replied. "And he is not my grandfather. A very distant uncle, you might say."

"Oh."

"So, back to my question," she continued, "what were you talking about?"

Zazu shook his head. "Nothing, really, just thinking about some random stuff. Mostly about how to fix this baby; was that your magic that disabled her this badly?"

He lied to avoid the subject of the friendship that was once shared not only between Geo and Eagle, but among the two of them and Lantis and himself as well. Besides, he really was interested a little bit as to what Princess Aska's magic was all about.

Luckily, Princess Aska was not as smart as Zazu had originally given her credit for, for she immediately jumped to the explanation.

"Yes; it was the Maboroshi Chikara," she said. "It means the Phantom Power. It is a complicated spell and could only be accomplished by the Royal Advisor and the current head of the Royal Family; meaning, Chang Ang and myself. It takes a long chant, strong willpower, a focused mind, and most of all, an understandable reason to do so. It cannot be used for selfish causes.

"What you saw was not the full extent of the power. It was only a fraction -- barely. It was enough to leave your friend conscious but defenseless. What you saw was only the Cylinder. It shines off three main focuses: brightness, heat, and electricity. I do not know what exactly happened, but I am certain that your friend did go blind. I am not sure if the robot was damaged by the heat or the electricity, though I think that the electricity is supposed to temporarily paralyze the victim and the heat to exhaust him."

Zazu chuckled a little. "It might have been both. The wirings on the FTO are near melted and most are still dangerous to touch. I refuse to say that you've permanently damaged this girl; she's been through far too much."

Then, it hit him.

"Wait, what do you mean Eagle is blind?"

Princess Aska nodded sheepishly. "Yes... but Chang Ang tells me that it is only temporary, just like the paralyzing, and I am certain that the paralyzing must have been restricted only to the robot."

"If your word is all I have to go on, then I'll accept it," said Zazu, stretching as he turned back to his work. "Was it your first time using the Mabo-something something-kara?"

"Maboroshi Chikara," she corrected. "And yes, it was."

"It must exhaust you, especially if your, ah, great- great- great- great- et cetera- uncle told you to rest."

"I am a little tired, but other than that..."

"Don't push yourself, Princess," said Zazu. "It's the least you can do. Think about yourself before you think about us Autozam soldiers; we're not worth the second thought nor the illness of a foreign princess just because she wanted to stick around to... um... what did you come here for?"

He turned back to Princess Aska, who had her face turned to the ground.

"I was... I came here... hopefully to see Geo-san to thank him," she said hastily.

Zazu blinked. "If anything, Geo should be thanking you. What do you need to thank him for?"

"For giving me a chance to save a life," she replied. "For giving me the chance to earn the respect of my elders, for giving me the chance to learn that there is nobody who would die unnoticed... for opening my eyes."

He laughed a little. "You're giving that big guy way too much credit. Realize that he didn't think about your benefits more than he thought about his... best friend's... life."

The mechanic ignored the little cricket whispering in his ear, asking why he had been about ready to say that Geo had only been thinking about himself when he begged for the princesses of Chizeta and Fahren to save Eagle's life.

"I know, but... I still need to thank him, because if it wasn't for him--"

Zazu shook his head. "Princess, you always knew and had those things, and I'm sure that it was more than just Geo that had opened your eyes to your conscious knowledge of them. I'm sure Eagle had some part in it, and your entire invasion in itself, too."

Princess Aska smiled weakly. "I guess you are right. I did learn a lot from the invasion and your friend's words when he tried to stop me from reaching Cephiro, as well as Geo-san's favor. And because of that, mostly because of your friend's words about the Pillar of Cephiro, I have decided that I am no longer invading the country."

Zazu blinked. "Just now you decided that?"

She shook her head. "No. Before Fahren and Chizeta fought with you, I had decided that I will rule Fahren and only Fahren."

"Then why...?"

"I want to know the last Pillar's story," she said with determined eyes. "I want to know what happened to her and Cephiro is now falling apart like this. I want to know why she left her post as Pillar and gave it up to destruction. I want to know her story."

Zazu sighed. "So do I."

Because it was one of those things that he never heard about, not from Geo or Eagle or Lantis. Of course Lantis knew, and he probably told Eagle... but would Geo have known? And if so, why did none of them ever tell Zazu?

The trust was forevermore gone among the quartet, if it had even been there in the first place.

***

Foreigners were never common on Autozam, much less foreign objects. Needless to say, as Geo was being escorted through the Bravada, he felt extremely out of place.

He finally found something to emphasize with Lantis. He never thought that would happen.

During the last portion of the battle, he had kept his eyes peeled and focused purely on the FTO. He hoped and wished that the chance to step in would never pop up, for even he didn't know what kind of damage the NSX could do to spirits and magical powers and what not. He didn't want to risk hurting anybody, so he kept his interferences to a minimum but had all of his soldiers on standby in case the time came for him to aide.

Luckily, the princesses were able to handle Eagle by themselves, to which Geo would eternally be grateful for.

Not too far ahead in the dark corridor, a wide open doorway presented itself by illuminated a great ginger light against the floor and walls. Geo's heart pounded with anxiety; how was he supposed to approach Eagle?

Genius, Metro, Geo scolded. Don't even know the first thing to say to him. Excellent.

Eagle would most likely be upset. That was one thing Geo was dead certain about, especially if he tried to hide it. After all, Geo had promised to stick by Eagle's side no matter what happened, but that promise had just as soon been broken when he begged Eagle to not go into battle.

He had not even tried to have faith in his best friend, either. Surely Eagle must have some sort of plan that he had never informed Geo of...

No, no, no! That could NOT be right. Eagle had gone over his plans with Geo before, and not even a hint about his illness had dropped in. Nothing about how a physical sacrifice could benefit their mission, nothing about any sorts of alternatives...

Eagle lied to him, but Geo could not hold it against him. After all, he, too, had gone back on a vow.

Geo realized that he was no better than Eagle; they had both betrayed a very good friend of theirs, but this time, Geo was in a worse predicament. He had been disloyal to two close companions.

Before he could wonder if his plea to the princesses of the enemy countries had been worth everything, he found himself in, apparently, the main room of the Chizeta's mobile fortress.

He tried to look dignified as the guard presented him, but he could not help but to stare at the exotic bronze statues of creatures he never knew existed and exquisite drawings carved onto the borders of the archways and pillars. He only let his eyes and mind wander; he dared not to actually turn his head lest he embarrassed himself.

Just as soon as his eyes fell to a small golden table surrounded by crimson, soft cushions, he finally saw Eagle. His back was turned away from Geo, but his head was tilted slightly around as if he were listening carefully to the guard's and one of the princesses' words. Geo frowned and knew that striking up a conversation with Eagle would be tough, especially with Princess Tatra and Tarta in the vicinity.

Finally, the guard was excused, and the kind and gentle voice of the elder princess of Chizeta came forth to Geo's ears.

"I am glad to finally meet you in person," she said with a small smile, "for I can truly say I've met perhaps the kindest man to exist."

With that compliment, Geo grew quite uncomfortable. "Er, me? What do you mean?" he asked wearily.

Tatra laughed. "And modest, too."

Over by Eagle, the younger sister huffed and looked away. Geo knew right away that she would perhaps never trust him, no matter what he said or did to reassure her otherwise.

If Tatra had heard her sister, she ignored her and continued, "Your friend, Eagle-san, has told me more about you than what I could pick out for myself during our last conversation. From what I can tell, you are truly a generous man."

Geo shook his head. "He gives me too much credit. I'm sure he'll change his mind after we talk, and if you should listen, you would too."

"We will see," said Tatra, "but Tarta and I will respect your privacy and leave you two alone to talk. I think it is the most important thing that can be done at this moment. Nothing can go on without it."

"Though I'm beginning to wish it could," Geo muttered. Tatra gave him an apologetic smile and motioned for Tarta to follow her out. Geo blinked. "Why are you leaving? Eagle and I can--"

Tatra, already by the doorway with her sister out of sight, shook her head. "I forgot to tell you, didn't I? Eagle-san is blind from the young Aska-chan's magic. It would be best if he stayed there."

With that, she exited, while Geo quietly absorbed the fact.

An awkward silence dimmed the room, as if both parties were searching for something to say that would not provoke the other or tread on sensitive grounds. Geo sighed several times and clenched his fists but winced every time he opened his mouth to say something. Eagle now had his front completely away from Geo, and he, too, did not seem at all ready to speak.

After what felt like five minutes, Geo finally began, "You're blind?"

Eagle nodded. "Yes. Temporarily, I presume."

And hope. The two words Eagle needed not to say because Geo knew that was ready to fly off the tip of his tongue anyway.

"I guess... that explains a little bit why you wouldn't face me... but I'm sure there are other, bigger reasons, but--"

"Geo, I'm sure that the princesses wouldn't mind you sitting over here where it's more comfortable," said Eagle with a sigh. "You did seem to have formed a bond with them."

Geo cringed. Eagle must be really upset if he wasn't even trying to hide his emotions...

"It's not that--"

"It'll be more comfortable for both of us if you just sit down over here," Eagle said with a small hint of demand in his voice. "Maybe more so for me than for you, but... we need to talk, and talking about important matters such as we do, comfort has to be the top priority. Why do you think the meeting rooms often have ridiculously cushioned chairs?"

Geo forced a small chuckle and made his way over to the center of the room. Before he sat in front of Eagle, he studied his friend intently. Eagle was staring into a porcelain teacup as if it were the only thing he could see, but he certainly wasn't blinking in frequent intervals. He surely was blind. However, his eyes portrayed no anger or hatred... only fear and sadness. Geo finally sat and wondered what was going through his best friend's head; not that it was anything new since Eagle had always been a mystery to him.

"Eagle--"

"I'd ask why did you do what you did," Eagle interrupted. Geo scowled but let him continue. "But... I would only be asking the obvious. It was the reason why I never told you about that."

"Because you thought I would try to stop you?" asked Geo as calmly as he could, although he really was raging inside. He bit his lip to keep from screaming. "Eagle, if you had only told me beforehand, we could have worked it out, and I would have backed you up all the way. Now I'm going to ask you why you never trusted me enough to tell me."

"You're a good friend," said Eagle. "Too good of a friend. Your loyalty is strong, no matter if you go back on your promises."

Geo clenched his fists. He knew that Eagle was going to bring that up. "I only did what was best... and, you know, Eagle, if you just tell me the truth, if we can work out some sort of understanding, I will still follow your lead no matter what. I just need to know... why are you trying to get Cephiro's Pillar System if you're about ready to go into an eternal sleep?" Eagle winced. "Is it to cure yourself and then get to curing the pollution, or is there something else...?"

"I-- I'm not sure if I can tell you..."

"Why not?!" Geo snapped, feeling his eyes burning with pain. "Am I not that reliable? Eagle, we've been friends for as long as I can remember, and there was not one time in which you never hoarded an obvious secret for me. You trusted me with everything; what's so hard about this one?"

"You wouldn't understand," said Eagle quietly. "I know you won't back me up as soon as you hear my reasons for invading Cephiro... I know you won't. You'd..."

Eagle closed his eyes and did not continue.

"I'd what? What would I do?" Geo asked. "Eagle, you won't know until you tell me..."

"But I know how you'll react, and I don't-- I know it won't matter anymore, anyway. I know that no matter what, you won't... I'm sorry, Geo, but I can't tell you. This will be the only thing I will ever keep from you, but at least... at least you won't be alone."

Geo sighed and buried his head into his palms. What to say? How to react? Why was it getting so damned hard to breathe?

"So you're not invading to cure Autozam's pollution or your illness, is that it?" he finally asked slowly. "There's a completely different reason all together?"

Eagle did not answer, and by rule of thumb, it was an affirmative.

"Eagle, please, just tell me--"

"I wish I could, but I cannot," said Eagle politely yet defiantly... and even mournfully. "Because if I told you, our friendship... but I guess it's ruined anyway, so it doesn't matter. But I can't tell you. I can't. I'm sorry."

It took everything Geo had to not pound his fist into... something. "You're denouncing our friendship now?!" he demanded as he stood up and glared at Eagle, who only nodded slowly.

"It's probably for the best, anyway," Eagle replied quietly. "You don't deserve to be hurt by me more than you already have. You don't deserve anything I give you; you're far more worthy than that."

"That's not it," Geo growled as he stormed towards the doorway from which he came. "Our friendship was everything to me. It was the only thing I truly had. I can't bear to see it tear apart like this... I can't... I don't want to see it ruined. Your friendship is the only thing I'm worthy of, Eagle, and you might as well have killed me with that sort of talk."

Fuming, Geo left the room with the full knowledge that if it weren't for the trouble he had the princesses go through, he had nothing else to live for.

***

Eagle sighed again as he opened his eyes to what he had closed them to: darkness. Complete and utter darkness. His hands trembled, and he found it harder than ever before to speak.

Geo... I'm sorry... but I will sacrifice everything to save Lantis...

... even our friendship...

Chapter Three: Beginning of Rebirth