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Fated Meetings Part 6

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Part 6



Sora woke with a small start, suddenly feeling nearly paralyzed in his curled up position on the bed. His arms, however, were trembling some, wrapped tightly around his pillow as if it was a lifesaver. After a moment, and he realized exactly where he was he took in a deep breath and let it out. There was no danger to face, and he wasn’t in the large council hall with his family. He was in his room and lying on his bed, safe from the stares of a number of people who were startled, disgusted, or both. And he had no reason to feel the terror that had woken him from the dreams.
It took him another moment to let go of his pillow and sit up. Even if it was only a dream—a memory—it was still frightening beyond belief. The worst part was that he had woken up before he could even see the conclusion of the entire meeting. If he had to be honest, the most terrifying part of the entire dream was that he didn’t know what became of them all in the end. And a large part of him was actually afraid to find out what had happened. Even if he had kept a mostly straight face throughout the little he’d seen in the hall, he was terrified that the final judgment would be death. They were only waiting on the Emperor to show.
He looked at the clock and gave a small groan, rubbing his face some at the ungodly time he was awake at. It wasn’t even four o’clock yet, and there was no way he was going to be getting anymore sleep. Despite the fact that he desperately wanted to know what happened, he was both wide awake and terrified of the dream qualifying for nightmare status. He would just have to wait on either a small nap after his homework or when it was time for bed that night. Though he hoped that if he did take a nap, it wasn’t completely impromptu again and he actually controlled when it happened.
For a moment, he just stared up at the sky, which had cleared up from the earlier rain—it had poured, but not actually stormed like the weather channel had predicted. He eventually sighed again and got out of his bed. Unfortunately, staring at the stars he could see and the sliver of moon wasn’t going to help him decipher the events that had unfolded that day. It was best not to obsess over it, anyway, because he could use the time spent doing that on much more productive things. And he’d already spent a good part of his time recently trying to figure out what the dreams were all about in the first place.
Not that keeping himself from obsessing over it was going to be easy.
When he made it down to the living room, he sighed and scooped up Suki, who was trying to get at something under the couch. He didn’t want to see her getting stuck under there and start yowling until someone came to get the silly kitten out from her embarrassing predicament. Of course, given that he lifted her up close to his face, she only began to rub against his cheeks, nose, and mouth. He sputtered some and pulled her back with an amused smile that had formed. She stared at him with wide eyes that just demanded he attend to her—which he promptly did. When a cat wanted attention, they got it any way they could.
“You’re adorable,” he sighed, sitting down on the couch with her. He laughed a little when she began to swat at his loose hair. Suddenly, a lamp in the room switched on, and he blinked a few times before looking to see his mom. “Oh, morning…”
Akiko rubbed her eyes some and frowned in some concern at seeing Sora awake already. “I suppose you couldn’t sleep,” she said.
Sora watched her sit on the couch next to him. “I just woke up,” he admitted. “I think I’m too awake to go back to sleep.”
“Dreams?” she questioned.
He glanced back to Suki and nodded slightly, frowning some. “Yeah, but they’re also memories, so I can’t avoid them.”
“Shane explained they were keeping you from sleeping properly,” Akiko decided to say. She watched her son sigh and absently scratch behind Suki’s ears, making her purr and pat at his legs.
“Then there was the stress of trying to find out what they were about,” he added. “I didn’t know what anyone’s name was, even my own.”
Akiko sighed a little and combed her fingers through his black hair. “Is it better now that you know what they are?”
At first, he just shrugged a little. “Just knowing what the dreams are makes everything easier. Not that all my memories are pleasant.”
“You lived worrying that others might find out you were a half-breed,” said Akiko. “I guess I can’t say I’m surprised.”
Sora gave a heavy sigh suddenly and stopped petting the kitten. “I didn’t make things easy for myself the entire time.” He paused. “Manye—ah, Kyle and I—we weren’t interested in each other romantically. We were friends, and we did have a child. Rheschet was my second child.”
“You had an affair, then?” Akiko questioned.
He nodded once, hesitantly. “As far as I am in my memories, I’ve only had one notable affair. Most were broken off before I really had to tell them what I really was. But not Silyae.” A small, melancholic smile formed. “Almost no one even knew we were having an affair, and she was surprised I even wanted to have one with her.”
“You’re a wonderful young man,” Akiko interjected. “So why was she surprised?”
“Because she was a human,” said Sora. He watched her eyes widen. “She was Aster’s servant, but I loved her. She didn’t know Mother and I were half-breeds, and that seemed alright at the time. But once she believed that I was sincere, she was delighted to have that relationship. The only people who knew about this at the start were Mother, Shaun, Aster, and Kyle.” He paused a moment longer than before. “That was until it was obvious that she was going to have a child.”
Akiko opened her mouth to say something, but the shock kept her silent for a terrifyingly long moment. Eventually, she cleared her throat and was able to say something. “What happened?” she asked carefully.
“I-I had to fight the Council so Silyae could keep her life and the child’s life,” he responded, though his voice sounded half strangled. “I couldn’t tell them I was Enoiyr’s father, and I hated that. Everything would have come undone if I did. She knew I was her father, but she couldn’t openly call me that.”
“So…” Akiko struggled for something to say. “What kind of life did she live?” she finally asked.
Suki hopped down from Sora’s lap and he sighed. “The Council and other nobles watched her existence carefully. Since she was only half human, a large part of the battle was deciding what her life would be. But I couldn’t allow her to be raised as a servant, even if that was her mother’s life. She was granted power over other servants later, and was given more freedoms.” A small smile formed again. “And I did make sure she knew how much I loved her.”
Akiko smiled and pulled her son into a loose hug. “That’s good to hear,” she said. “I’m sure you were a wonderful parent.”
“Well, that’s what I would like to think, too,” said Sora. He paused. “I just wish I had been able to claim her immediately.”
“Did you eventually claim her?” Akiko questioned.
Sora paused for a long moment before speaking. When he did, his voice came out a little shaky. “In the dreams that woke me up, yes.”
Suddenly, Akiko frowned worriedly. “What happened?”
There was a long pause, and Sora wasn’t sure if he could answer the question. But if he didn’t, Akiko would only become more worried. “It was when Rheschet was still young,” he finally gave. “We were in public, and some trouble was stirred up. I reacted mostly to protect him, but what happened frightened him and he just reacted…” He bit his lip almost nervously. “There was nothing I could do to keep everyone from learning what we were, and word spread quickly. The Council found out immediately, and we were confined to the palace.”
Akiko found herself holding her breath, and her face felt colder than before, like the warm blood had drained from it. She eventually remembered to let the breath out before it strangled her. “All of you?”
“Shane and Hana had already died by that time, but yes, we all were,” Sora confirmed. He closed his eyes and sighed. “Rheschet blamed himself, but we couldn’t. He was young, and what happened could have happened to either me or Mother when we were young. And it was something we couldn’t have foreseen.
“I couldn’t sleep. Not knowing what our fate might be, there was no way I could sleep,” he sighed tiredly, suddenly leaning on Akiko’s shoulder. “I tried to have Kyle take him and Enoiyr and leave. I tried to have Yadelle, Sybelle, and Yuki take them away with restrictors in place. Mother would never leave, so neither would Shaun and Aster, and I knew that. But I wanted to protect my children and friend. As it happens, Yuki was not the kind who would always listen to reason, and refused to leave even when Mother pushed her to. The twins… They were supposed to leave after a while, because undead were persecuted more than we were. I don’t know why they suddenly refused. So in the end, no one left, and all I could do was pray and wait.”
Akiko stroked his hair some, trying to sooth him a little as he was suddenly very tense and trembling. He seemed entirely afraid, although she couldn’t really blame him. In that same situation, she would have been as terrified as he must have been. And then there was the added stress of being a noble, which she had a difficult time imagining in the first place.
Sora curled up a little in her embrace. “The Emperor was notified immediately, because this—this conspiracy as they called it required both his attention and presence. This wasn’t some—it wasn’t normal. If we had been commoners, he wouldn’t have been required to come. The Council would have simply decided our fate and it would have been over. But we were nobility, so he had a say in everything.
“Anyone who had known about my family, still alive, had to come forth and speak.” He watched almost unseeingly as Suki jumped back in his lap, almost as if she was worried about him. “It wasn’t easy for Akira or Jaden, because I’d pushed to see Akira become part of the Council, and Jaden was a part of the guard.” He paused for a long moment that threatened to crush everything. “I’m scared,” he finally admitted. “I woke up while we were waiting in the Council Hall, waiting on the Emperor to show up. The Council can’t proceed without him there, and he isn’t there yet. I think the fear of what would happen was what woke me up. So I don’t know what our fate was. Did we die? Live? And if we were allowed to live, were we stripped of our positions? I don’t know…”
As Sora confessed his fears, Akiko tightened her hug some. Unfortunately, that was all she could do, because she had no way of knowing what had happened at the moment. Ichigo had gone to bed, sleepy, shortly after Sora and was unable to put in her two cents to everything, and Shane had only explained some things—all of which had taken place during his own life. And of course Hana was still getting a handle on her own memories that weren’t even complete yet. She had specifically said that the last thing she knew of happening was when she and Sora created an uneasy alliance because of some affair that had happened—Akiko now assumed it was Sora’s affair with the servant girl.
She sighed inwardly and just rubbed his back a little. Why did he have to remember these things at such a young age? She couldn’t even reassure him everything was alright. It didn’t seem at all fair.
“Try not to worry yourself sick,” she almost whispered. “Alright?”
Sora nodded a little, but stayed where he was and silent. He needed the quiet and comfort before facing his day.
________________________________________________________________________
“You look tired.”
At first, Sora just looked at Gwen and blinked. He’d just sat down with his lunch when she spoke. It was chicken, macaroni and cheese, and corn. While he usually much preferred plain white, he’d grabbed a carton of chocolate milk given that it was the only thing that actually tasted right. A larger part of him than before was debating just asking his mom and Ichigo if he could just start packing a lunch to take with him. It would certainly be much better than most of the food that was offered by the cafeteria.
“Do I?” he asked.
Gwen sighed and began to scoop the macaroni and cheese into her mouth. When she swallowed, she spoke again. “You’ve looked tired all morning. All last week, and you’ve looked tired. Are you not sleeping well?”
The boy blushed some and watched as Kyle joined them. “No,” he admitted, “I haven’t been sleeping right.”
“Is it memories that wake you up?” the ginger wizard questioned. When both younger teens looked at him, he continued. “Jake sent me a text last night with the news. I can’t really say I’m surprised.”
Despite the bland taste, Sora smiled around his spoon of macaroni. The corn would probably be the highlight of the entire meal. “I like the new look,” he decided to tease. “It works for you.”
Kyle’s face turned red from embarrassment—he got enough jokes from people over the swap in genders between lives. It especially didn’t help that everyone who knew he’d been reincarnated also knew that his most previous life had also been spent as Aster’s birthmother. “You’ll never change, Trouble.”
“Trouble Incarnate,” Sora corrected with a wry grin.
For a moment, Gwen just watched the half-breed with a small frown of confusion. Whatever was going on, she hadn’t been told anything about it. She decided to be completely honest about that confusion. “What?”
“Oh, I meant to tell you this morning,” Kyle fumbled over his words a little. “I’m surprised your dad didn’t already tell you.” He gestured to Sora. “Caelienn’s son.”
Gwen gaped briefly, and then sighed witheringly. “Why does that suddenly explain everything?” she asked. The back of her mind was resolved to have a small chat with her dad about leaving details like that out.
Sora laughed a little. “It’s probably just my nature that makes it that way,” he offered with a shrug.
“This school truly will be in shambles by the time you graduate,” Kyle tried not to laugh out.
For a moment, Sora poked at his food and ate his lunch slowly, even though it drug out the bland experience more than was absolutely necessary. Should he ask? Surely Kyle already knew what had happened to their family in Acceana. While Sora was still quite afraid to find out what happened, he despised not knowing what the end results were. Even though he’d told Akiko he wouldn’t worry himself sick over it, the fact that he didn’t have a clue what happened was driving him crazy. The Emperor had always seemed to be fond of him, but what had been his final decision? Had the truth that Sora was a half-breed left him angry at the deception?
Kyle watched the other boy as they ate in silence. “What’s wrong?” he finally asked, after the silence became more than just a little awkward.
There was a moment of hesitation, and Sora verbalized his concerns. He really couldn’t take not knowing anymore. “What happened to us?” he asked quietly. “After the accident and everyone learned of our family’s secret? In my last dream, we were waiting for Resha to show up at the Council Hall, but I woke up before he came.” He lowered his fork, suddenly not as hungry anymore. His stomach churned too much from the concern. “I… I couldn’t sleep after that, so I never found out…”
Kyle could only blink at first. Of course Sora would look like he hadn’t slept after that. Even more than when Silyae had been pregnant with Enoiyr, that was the most stressful time Kyle could ever remember of that life. The situation surrounding Enoiyr, yes, had scared Sora, who had blamed himself for not considering everything that might happen. But it was Rheschet’s accident that was truly terrifying. It was a time they all feared everything coming undone, and that they could do nothing about it but wait out the trials. Of course Sora couldn’t sleep with those fears.
“He let us live,” Kyle finally answered. He watched Sora look directly at him with wide eyes. “We also were allowed to keep our positions, and Rheschet eventually took your place as leading noble in our territory.”
Sora found it difficult to form a sentence at first. “Was Resha angry at the lies?” he asked. “I mean—we had our reasons for not telling, but…”
“He understood.” A small smile formed on Kyle’s face. “Actually, his actions that day caused a lot of commotion. Not only were we let off the hook, he also removed the law that banned the birth of half-breeds and their parents’ being together.”
At that, Sora’s fork fell from his hand and landed on the remains of his chicken. “He…”
A vision flashed in the back of his mind, and Sora was drawn out of present times and into the long gone past. It went quickly, but his mind filled with events and emotions that threatened him with a large headache. Panic erupted in the Council Hall when Resha revealed what he had done and had been planning to do for years, and there had been several disputes. Then the next thing Sora knew, he was with his family, holding each of them as close as space allowed, and confessing his fears. A letter had been delivered to him soon after, calling him to meet with Resha in private, and he’d gone immediately.
His face turned a very bright shade of red as memories and knowledge were also skimmed over that he wasn’t sure a fourteen-year-old was supposed to see.
Gwen frowned a little at Sora’s surprised and possibly embarrassed expression. “Hey… Are you alright?”
After another long moment of memories filtering in, Sora blinked and looked back at his companions. “O-oh… Yeah, I’m alright,” he eventually got out.
“Dare I ask what made you blush so darkly?” Kyle questioned awkwardly.
Sora covered his cheeks briefly and glanced away to make sure no one was trying to listen in. “This is not an appropriate place to talk about such things,” he said quietly. “I don’t even think I should have actually seen that…”
Kyle immediately got the picture and his own face turned red. “Wait, what? Y-you saw…” He took a small gulp. “How—“
“Resha.” The name was out before Sora could stop himself, which in turn made his face heat up even more. He glanced back to see Kyle staring at him strangely, and figured it was best to explain what little he could get away with in such a public place. It was still no less uncomfortable, though. At least the man had only made Sora promise not to say anything in that life, and never in another. “We had an affair.”
It was an eternal moment before Kyle could speak, and when he did, his voice came out a little squeaky. “You—Wait, what?! The Emperor, himself?!” He watched the boy nod a little. “He was quite a bit older than us, and actually—” He cut himself off. He was not going to think about that.
Gwen opened her mouth again. “How old was he?”
Finally, Sora just closed his eyes and sighed. That was the weirdest part of the entire thing, and possibly the most embarrassing in hindsight—in regards to modern society, at least. “He was…” He sifted through his memories to find that little bit of knowledge. “About twenty-eight years younger than Mother…”
At that exact moment, Gwen’s mind came to a screeching halt. “Well, it’s not like Marta isn’t a lot older than Diana…” she managed.
“It’s that he was so close to Mother’s age,” Sora said, whispering some. “In that time, the difference in our ages wasn’t really a big deal. I was nearly that much older than Silyae. He was wonderful, and I did love him, but—” He stopped himself. “Well, it’s not as if Mother wasn’t a little young when I was born…”
Eventually, Kyle found himself rubbing his forehead and sighing. “Well, have fun telling Caelienn that on Friday. And Drell, possibly sooner.”
Sora’s attention shifted, and he was grateful for that. “Oh, Drell!” He smiled a little. “Yeah, I see can the resemblance.” And almost a shame he was already dating someone, but Sora wasn’t going to actually say that. That would only bring on severe teasing in the end. “I wonder how he’ll react…”
“I don’t think he’ll mind,” Kyle reassured a little. He watched Sora for another moment as he went back to his food, this time eating it a little quicker than before so he could finish it sooner. “So did you tell your family?”
Sora began working on his corn, the last thing left on his tray. “Yeah, but Mom sent me to bed quickly. So Shane and Hana explained most of it.”
“Hana, too?” Gwen asked. “Who was she?”
At first, Sora just cursed the back of his mind in slipping that detail. He sighed and slowed down eating again. “Yes, she was also there.”
For a moment, Kyle just watched Sora’s expression, and mostly his eyes. They were becoming a little defensive. “Does it really matter who she was?” he asked. “I mean, it’s the present, not back almost sixteen thousand years ago. She’s pretty cool, anyway.”
Sora hesitated. “That’s not my place to say,” he eventually said quietly. He finished his corn and stared at the empty tray almost absently. “She didn’t say I couldn’t tell anyone, but she’s not comfortable with it. I’m not too comfortable, either, but it’s just going to take a bit of time.”
“She wasn’t the best of people, was she?” Gwen blushed as soon as Sora looked directly at her, and fumbled for more to say. She glanced down at the little that remained of her own meal, which was a solitary kernel of corn. “W-well, I… wasn’t so great in my other life, either… So I certainly can’t be one to judge.”
“She’s my sister now, and I love her,” said Sora. “That’s not going to change, but this just… It’s weird, I guess.”
Kyle thought about that for a moment. “Yeah, I guess it would be…”
________________________________________________________________________
It was raining by the time Hana got very close to the front door, and she quickly considered just going home now that it was. The general wet wasn’t helping her mood any, and she was quite soaked. And she really didn’t want to knock and be ushered inside only to get the floor just as soaked. Had she known it was going to rain so much, she would have brought an umbrella with her to avoid the cold she was probably going to end up with now. And it wasn’t worth going home to get it just to come back out, because she’d only be even more wet than she already was.
The door glared down at her, making her want to shrink away from it and the house it was connected to. Could she really do this yet? Could she really walk up the steps and knock, and let herself be paraded inside and sequentially face Rika? She knew she had to at some point, so she could apologize for the way she treated her in Acceana and maybe have a more cordial relationship, like they were now developing. But there was the shame of everything, and how things had turned out. That was, in truth, a very difficult thing to amend.
She sighed and turned away from the house and continued back down the street after another moment of deliberation. While she had to face her former servant at some point soon, she really wasn’t ready yet. First, she needed to build up the courage to see her again. The realization that her dreams truly were memories was too painful for her usual emotional defenses to stay in place, and she felt weak and vulnerable. It wasn’t something she liked, or was used to, and she needed to put them back into place at least some before actually talking to the other witch.
This eventually found her back near the Times News building, and she made her way to the overhang in the corner of it. She was already well soaked from walking along Mechanic Street, well past the Catholic Church the next street over. Her dark cotton tights were thoroughly drenched, her sweater and heavy knee-length skirt in little better shape, and her undergarments were threatening to become just as soaked. But even if only for a little bit, she wanted to get somewhere that she knew would let her get out of the rain without going home yet, or back to try and face Rika again. She wasn’t yet ready to face the other woman, but she didn’t want to go home without being able to say she went and apologized for everything.
Part of her wondered if the rain would let up soon, after she was sitting under the overhang for a few minutes. But after what seemed like ages of sitting there, watching cars splash through puddles in the driving rain, she realized it wasn’t going to. Though it certainly fit her dreary mood, and she was partially aware that a bright, sunny day would only make her feel worse. She took some comfort in knowing that the rain wouldn’t make just her a little more blue than before. She wouldn’t be the only one having a downright miserable day.
At some point, she was vaguely aware through the splashing noises of tires in puddles that someone was walking close to her. She looked up from her inner musings to see Skylar there, looking a little damp, but much more dry than she certainly was under his umbrella. He seemed curious as to what she was doing there, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to tell him of her plight and memories. Did he even believe in reincarnation in the first place? He certainly never seemed like a very religious or even particularly spiritual person. It was probably best not to broach the subject, especially as they didn’t even know each other too well.
Although with the number of times they’d met over the time she’d been there, it seemed like God was trying to tell her something about the man. She wondered if maybe they would be good friends later on. He certainly seemed like quite the nice guy, if their numerous short encounters were anything to go on.
She forced a small smile. “Hello.”
Skylar smiled a bit and walked over to her. “We just keep running into each other, huh?”
“Yeah, we sure do,” she said.
He paused briefly and sat down, noting how soaked she was presently. It looked like she was getting goose bumps, as well. “Hey, you ok?” When she just watched him, he continued. “You look upset.”
Hana blushed a little. “Just a rainy day,” she sighed. “I went out for some fresh air, and forgot my umbrella in case it rained again.”
Skylar looked to the sky and pursed his lips in a small frown. He had closed his umbrella already. “They didn’t call for rain…” He paused. “But I know the weather can change quickly, so…” He gestured to his umbrella. “Tate calls me nuts for it sometimes.”
At that, she let out a small laugh. “‘Don’t like the weather? Wait twenty minutes.’ That’s what Ichigo says sometimes.” She watched him grin a little. “So I’m waiting on it to stop raining.”
“Headed home?” Skylar questioned.
Hana hesitated briefly, long enough for Skylar to know something was definitely wrong.
“I know that look,” he said, trying for the world not to sound critical though he was worried. He liked Hana, and didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable around him. “I’ve seen Carl, Jason, Jeanne, and Katlin all with that look. Sometimes Jocelyn and Drell have it, too.”
Without thinking, Hana looked back at the boy with vaguely wide eyes. “What look?”
He sighed. “The one where you’re all, you know, thinking and looking like you’ve been doing nothing but think and sulk all day, over whatever it is. Like you’ve made some huge mistake at some point and don’t think you can ever make up for it or whatever.” He paused a moment. “Like some kinda bad memory from somewhere. And I know they all have their fair share of those.”
Immediately, her attention had focused in on a single name and she couldn’t let it go. She’d already been told of what happened, but she couldn’t help her attention acting of its own accord. “Wait, hang on. Drell?”
Skylar nodded once. “Yeah, he woke up from a stasis he was apparently put in when something really nasty happened. About a year and a half ago, or something. A bunch of us found our way to some secret underground base, and he was being kept in this stasis. An elf got him out, because she said nothing else would.”
“Hmm…”
“His empire is long gone, and so is any of his family,” Skylar went on. His expression became dull. “That’s part of it, I think. But he only says what puts him in that mood is what happened to make him be put in that stasis, and what he wasn’t able to do ‘cause of it.”
“What did he want to do?” Hana couldn’t help asking.
He looked back at the young woman beside him. “Drell was a prince, and he was supposed to be the emperor of that place. It sounds like there was a lot of corruption there, and he wanted to make things better for whoever he could. But that didn’t happen. He said eventually that what happened was all ‘cause he and a friend were being reckless and snuck past the royal guards.” There was a short pause before Skylar could speak again. “He said they were attacked by a demon, and then they had to fight.”
“That…” While she knew the entire story, perhaps even more than Skylar did, she had no idea what to say.
“He’s never actually explained what was so bad, but he always said life was unequal.” Skylar watched Hana a moment, looking apologetic. “Sorry, this was supposed to be about whatever you wanted to say…”
She blushed some and shook her head. “It’s… It’s fine.” For a moment, she just watched him. “I’ve just been having a lot of bad dreams lately…”
“When I got him to say something about it, Jason said the same thing.” Skylar was suddenly staring at the crying sky again. “Took him a while. Then it took longer to get him to say anything about them. Jeanne and Katlin, too. Jeanne talked about them first, actually. Katlin told us almost nothing.” He paused. “Well, I’m sure she told Jeanne everything, but…”
“They all had bad dreams?” Hana questioned.
Skylar nodded. “Yeah, and some of them sounded pretty nuts.”
“Mine are like that.”
He inclined his head a little towards her. “Really?”
She nodded.
“Want to talk about them?”
“They’re bitter.”
“Bitter?”
She hesitated. “The point of view,” she finally said. “Always so angry, even if I don’t show it. So resentful of everything that happens… I feel cheated, cast aside, and alone.”
“Then they don’t know what they did to such an awesome person,” Skylar sighed heavily.
Hana shook her head and stared at the wrinkles and folds in her soaked skirt. “I’m pretty sure I did that to myself. I wanted things to go my way, and responded to what I didn’t understand with frustration and angry outbursts.”
For a moment, Skylar just sat watching the rain ease up some. “You had a lot of dreams like that, huh?”
She nodded hesitantly. “I feel like—”
She stopped and blushed darkly as her midsection made a sudden gurgling sound and she finally noticed the dull cramping that had taken root there. It hadn’t occurred to her, given her mulling over recent events and figuring out what she ought to do first, but she was quite hungry at the moment. She had woken up late that morning and only grabbed a small cup of coffee to wake up with and a single breakfast bar to tide her over until later. Now it was well after noon, and she’d entirely forgotten to get something to eat. And if she had to be so honest, hearing and feeling her stomach gurgle in a minor case of hunger in front of Skylar was extremely embarrassing. It seemed loud enough that she was certain he heard it.
Skylar just looked at her for a moment. “You want to get something to eat?” he offered.
“O-oh, well…” There was another moment of hesitation added to her day. “I meant to get something but then it started raining…”
“Well, it’s not raining as much and you look dryer, so why don’t we go and have a late lunch? I actually meant to get something ‘cause I don’t get lunch breaks,” he admitted.
Hana hesitated yet again. “Well, I…”
Skylar stood up and smiled. “It’d be better than sitting out in the rain all day,” he said. “We could eat out or go somewhere else with our food.”
She wasn’t sure what to say, but she got the distinct feeling he was going to insist they go somewhere to eat. “Well, I don’t want to go somewhere and get a chair soaked, as I’m still quite drenched.”
“Ok, then how about we stop at the store?” he suggested.
“Alright,” Hana consented, and stood up.
Skylar opened the umbrella again and handed it to her, and pulled the hood of his jacket up. He could live with just that, as it was still raining some and Hana didn’t have her own umbrella with her. At first, she hesitated to take it, but eventually consented when it became obvious he wasn’t giving her much of a choice. It would be a lot better if she didn’t get completely drenched again, and they both knew it. There was already a very good chance of her catching a cold after this, with the biting wind.
They walked in silence, crossing the streets and traveling the brick path to the actual plaza. It was only a short trip, but it gave Skylar a few minutes to think about what Hana had already told him. While the kind of person she said she’d been was different, it still reminded him eerily of what he’d managed to get out of the twins and Katlin about their dreams—what he knew to be memories of another life. And for some reason that completely eluded him, the idea that Hana had been reincarnated made a lot of sense. If he could get her to tell him more about the dreams, then he could confirm it. Not that he was going to push her, as she was already upset enough without him forcing her to tell him something.
Their trip into the grocery store was a quick one, and they were out in almost record time. Hana had picked up some sliced apples and sliced ham, while Skylar had gotten a few cans of condensed cream of mushroom soup. He also took that opportunity to get a gallon of milk, given that Tate was presently having one of those infamous moments of drinking it like it was going out of style. They were at least good for bread, which was something of a relief, as Hana would be making use of some of the slices for her ham. And it wasn’t likely that Tate would find a way to use that up easily. Skylar would be both amazed and annoyed if the other man did.
For once, there was no train across the tracks, so it took even less time to get to the tiny apartment he and Tate shared. He had once briefly mentioned to her about their living arrangements, and the fact it was the only thing they could really afford at the time, so she already knew what to expect. But suddenly, having her actually see the inside of the place was extremely awkward and even embarrassing. It was a one-bedroom thing with a tiny kitchen and no dining room, and his bed was placed in the corner of the living room close to the door. While kept neat and tidy, it was still a little claustrophobic at times, and he was extremely grateful for the days he was home alone.
Hana looked at the cream colored building as they waited on traffic to give them something of a break for crossing the street. From what she’d both seen and heard, it seemed people loved to speed up along the street and it was mockingly called ‘Park Street Speedway’ because of it. Of course, she couldn’t really deny the nickname—it fit far too accurately in some ways, and especially during the lunch hour rush and when everyone was getting off work. It was a nightmare to cross, and one was much better off late at night or early in the morning. A more morbid part of her wondered briefly how many accidents had actually occurred along the street.
Finally they were able to cross and Skylar hurried up the steps to open the two sets of doors to go inside and led her to the very first door on the floor. The apartment number had been a bit of a joke for ages, given the odd placement of it. Despite being on the first floor and the first apartment after getting inside, it was labeled as Apartment 7, which should have been at the top of the building and the last door after going up. Why no one had ever gotten around to fixing that, no one actually even knew. But it had been like that for at least thirty years, or so he had heard.
He opened the door to go in and found Tate pulling on his own coat to head out for work down at the other end of the street-speedway. Part of him would have thought Tate had already left. “Oh, hey.”
When Hana got inside after Skylar, she put the umbrella in the corner the door was at and looked at the dark-haired man, who was nearly as tall as Skylar. He had a slightly more muscular build than the lean and almost willowy blond.
Tate looked at the two and grabbed his own umbrella. “Hey,” he offered. “I might be back late, so don’t start panicking if I am.”
At first, Skylar just rolled his eyes. When they first moved into the apartment, Tate had forgotten to mention several times that he would be late getting home. Skylar had, unfortunately, gotten worried more as it kept happening. It was a sad truth that the blond was still prone panicking when he had no idea what was going on—a painful side effect of having lived under his mom’s roof. He’d picked up panicking over someone being home late without forewarning from her, as her mind would suddenly race in a million directions about what could have happened and she would verbalize those fears.
“Got it,” he said, moving towards the kitchen to get started on his soup and get the bread for Hana. “We’ll just be hanging out.”
Hana offered Tate a small smile as he left, and moved into the kitchen after the door had closed again. She pulled the food out of her grocery bag and moved to throw it away, but stopped as Skylar grabbed it. She looked at him curiously.
“We use those for the trash,” he said. “We don’t make a lot of it, so there’s no point in buying garbage bags most of the time.” He took the bag and put in a small pile of other grocery bags before turning back to his bowl of soup. “There’s some cheese in the fridge if you want it.”
“Thanks,” she said.
Skylar watched her as the soup was heated in the microwave a moment before speaking again. “Do you want to talk about your dreams more?” he asked, feeling almost awkward with himself.
As Hana took a bite of her first sandwich, she looked at him and thought about what she had been about to say. She swallowed and sighed. “I wish I wasn’t having those dreams,” she said. “I feel different when I first wake up from them, like I’m not really myself for a few moments.” She hesitated. “It’s like I am that woman…”
“You’re not bitter or angry, though,” he said. “Well, I guess I can’t really say too much, but you don’t seem that way.”
“In the dreams, I’m bitter,” she mumbled. “And I’m not too well liked.”
Skylar spoke before he could think. “I like you.”
The young woman looked back at him, a slightly surprised look on her face.
He blushed. “You just seem like such a great person, and I like running into you while we’re out,” he said. “I-I look forward to it.”
Suddenly, Hana found herself laughing a small bit. “We still don’t know a lot about each other.”
“I’d like to change that,” said Skylar. His face was reddening more. “But I… I already really like you, because you’re nice. And the way you try to take care of Sora and make sure he’s alright…”
Hana blushed some. Was he trying to confess more than a platonic love to her? “I do that because he’s always been the most important person to me, and he hasn’t always had others besides me and Mom to take care of him.”
The microwave beeped, but he didn’t pay it much attention. “Yeah, but you go to great lengths to help him, and it shows what a great person you are.”
For a moment, Hana just stared at the human. How much could he actually see of her, without really knowing a lot about her? As far as she knew, he’d never been around much when she was with Sora. The way he could almost sense her love for her brother was odd, like he had some kind of sixth sense and could see clearly into her soul. A part of her wondered if he was even aware of what he was doing at the moment.
“I’m glad you think I’m a good person,” she decided simply to say. “That really means a lot.”
Skylar smiled widely as she spoke, and felt something fluttering in his stomach, like a large butterfly. “I’m glad.” He wanted to hug her, or something, but refrained. It might seem awkward for her if he did. “I don’t care who you might have been in your dreams.”
Hana nibbled on her sandwich for a moment before speaking again, as Skylar finally turned to pull the soup from the microwave. “You’re nice, too,” she finally said. “I’d like to get to know you better, as well.”
At that, Skylar looked up from stirring a little more milk into the cream of mushroom. His face was now a bright red, but he was still smiling. “Thanks.”
Quickly, she realized that he was definitely implying that he wanted to see a romantic relationship later. “Well, as friends first,” she said. “I’m… not really sure I’m ready for a relationship like that yet…”
He quickly realized that he must have been sending out some kind of vibe for romantic interest, and blushed even more were it at all possible. “Y-yeah, I guess I’m not really ready, either… But, yeah, friends sound good.” He watched her another moment and moved into the living room to the small table situated in the one corner opposite his bed.
Hana decided it best to follow him to the table and sit. It was small, but for two people, she supposed it worked well enough.
“Do you think they’re more than just dreams?” he suddenly asked.
For a moment, she just stared at him unable to really respond. Finally, she sighed a bit. “Yes, they are.”
That confirmed it. “Memories from another life?” he continued.
Hana averted her gaze, and stared at the grey table top. “Do you really believe in reincarnation?”
“It’s the only possible explanation for some things,” Skylar offered. “Even though it sounds pretty crazy.”
She continued eating her sandwich, but her appetite had dissipated some without warning. “I wish I had been someone else,” she said. “Yes, I’m different now and wouldn’t do the same things or make the same mistakes, but that doesn’t change what I did do. I made someone completely miserable as I could—someone I actually came to respect greatly. She wasn’t always particularly polite, but I know she meant well for the people she loved. But we had no blood ties, even though my husband was her father, and I hated that.”
“You were hurt,” he said. “You can’t be blamed for that part.”
“I was hurt because I didn’t understand what he wanted,” said Hana. “And I didn’t think that there might actually be something wrong with the way things worked. I had that society’s dogma all but beat into me. And it was unfair.”
Skylar thought for a minute as he worked on his soup. “Acceana?”
For a moment, Hana only paled and froze. Eventually, she did manage to speak again. “Did Drell tell you that name?”
“He wasn’t the first,” Skylar explained, “but yeah. Caelienn talked about it a little first. Not that she said much…”
Hana lowered her sandwich. “I died with her hating me. I was her stepmother,” she admitted. “I’m going to have to face her on Friday, but I’m not sure I can. Rose and Cari already know, so their collective subconscious knows. I have no idea what to expect from her, and I have no idea what I’m going to really say.”
“And you were thinking about that earlier?” Skylar questioned.
There was a long moment of hesitation. “I have to apologize to more than just Caelienn. I was going to see Rika and apologize to her for how I treated her. She had been a servant of mine, and I treated her poorly.” She finished off the first sandwich and sighed. “I was going to apologize, but was afraid she wouldn’t accept it. So I walked back to the Times News building, since I couldn’t bring myself to go home, either.”
He paused a moment to think over what she’d said. “Rika doesn’t seem like the kind of person who really holds a grudge. That’s usually Russett’s territory.”
Hana looked back at Skylar with a confused expression.
“Tate and I don’t really get along with him, but he’s friends with Jason and Carl and Jocelyn,” Skylar explained. “For some reason, he hated Ch-Marta and Diana as soon as they met.” He almost explained that he corrected himself from saying ‘Chella’, but didn’t as it would only distract him from what he was trying to say. “It was like they did something to him, but they didn’t meet until several years ago. Carl and Jocelyn said the three of them were friends with Rachel in Canada, though. I think Marta and Diana had some involvement with their deaths, and Russett couldn’t forgive them for it. He only seems to have forgiven them or at least started to over the summer.”
“So if I hurt Russett, it might take him ages to forgive me,” said Hana. “But Rika wouldn’t?”
“I don’t know how long it’ll take her to forgive you,” said Skylar. “But Russett would take longer. I don’t think you need to worry too much.”
Even though she only felt a tiny bit better, she smiled at him. “I’m glad we met in this time. If we had met in the past, I don’t think I would have paid you any mind.” He probably would have been just another human in the world that she didn’t care anything about.
Skylar smiled again. “I’ve only heard things about who you were, but you don’t seem anything like that,” he said. “So if you and Rika already know each other, it probably won’t be as hard to make things better.”
“Well, we sort of know each other,” said Hana. “But just… not very well.” She took up the second sandwich she’d made almost nervously, feeling uneasy again. “I don’t know what will happen if I see her again, or if she even knows yet who I was.”
“Do you want me to go with you to see her?”
Hana looked back at him with a bit of surprise.
“When you go talk to Rika, do you want me there for support or something?” he clarified.
For a moment, she thought about that offer. While she was grateful that he’d offered her his moral support, did she really want to drag him back out into the gloomy weather just so she could face her former servant? Of course she wasn’t sure if she could face Rika on her own, but Skylar also barely knew anything about the situation. He had no idea what she had actually done in detail, and exactly to what extent she had been spiteful and unappreciative of others. And she really did like him, and wanted to be friends. While it was very unfounded, she was afraid that whatever Rika and even Jake would say might cause him to back away from being friends.
But again, she wasn’t sure she could face Rika without someone there to help her even just a little. Maybe it would be good to have him along, in part so that he could make sure she didn’t get scared and actually just go home.
“Alright,” she consented. “After we finish eating, or I may not be able to go, the longer I wait.”
Skylar nodded and continued with his soup. “Sounds good to me.”
Hana ate her sandwich in silence for a few moments and once she was finished, opened here package of apple slices and worked through them. She took her time, of course, trying to figure out what she ought to say to Rika in a while. Though, Skylar still had a good bit of soup left, giving her even more time to think things through. Maybe once she they got there and Hana knocked on the door, she’d know how to start out with what she needed to say. It was at least worth a shot in trying to figure it out.
At some point, Skylar decided to speak again. “So how did your family react?” he asked. “Or do they even know?”
When she finished the last apple slice, she sighed. “They know, and I’m not the only one from Acceana. Sora is, too…” She paused a moment. “He was Caelienn’s son, and it makes things feel strange. We didn’t have a very good relationship back then, but I adore him now. He and Mom were always the only people I had when we were still in Japan. I can’t imagine hurting him now.”
“Then that shows how much you’ve changed,” said Skylar. “I’m sure Rika will think about that when you apologize.”
“Yeah…”
There was another moment of silence, and then he spoke again. “Did something happen with you two?”
Her face turned a bright red from embarrassment immediately. “Yes,” she said, completely unable to stop herself. But she suddenly hesitated. “There… There were times that I not only didn’t appreciate her hard work, I… also thought of her as useless.” She waited to see an upset expression form on Skylar’s face, but he only seemed to think, instead. “I once sent her out to find Caelienn, who habitually disappeared from our home for more than just visiting her birthmother, but I found it took too long. When they finally returned, I wasn’t very sympathetic. I-I…” Now she hesitated longer. “I actually called her useless out loud. The next thing I really distinctly remember, after arguing, Caelienn removed her from my service. I thought she might be sent away, as all servants were when they were unable to work any longer.” She averted her gaze some. “But suddenly, I learned that she was presented to Astraea—well, Aster now.
“We never spoke to each other after that, but I know Rika was much happier serving Aster,” she continued. “So as far as I know, Rika never stopped hating me for what happened.” When Skylar didn’t say anything, she risked a glance at him only to see confusion playing on his face. “Is there something you don’t understand about the situation?”
Now he hesitated. “Servants weren’t taken care of when they couldn’t work anymore by their masters?”
Hana suddenly felt increasingly uncomfortable. “Rika was originally human, but she married Jake, and they did a blood transfusion,” she decided to explain first. “She wasn’t comfortable with the idea of being a vampire or a werewolf, so her only other option to live longer was fairy blood, and Jake gave that to her willingly.
“There was a lot of discrimination in Acceana, and humans were near the bottom in both social structure and how people saw others,” she went on. “Some were free, and others were made servants. That was their role when I lived there. Humans were seen as weak and in need of our guidance. Free humans led harsh lives in their own separate villages, partially because of the cold winters, and sometimes servants actually had better living arrangements. But they weren’t all treated particularly well. And looking back, it disgusts me. There were some who did care enough to support their servants, though. The people here now from that time except for myself are examples of that.”
“Oh…”
“I can’t say much on Drell’s behalf, but he doesn’t seem like the kind of person to treat others badly regardless of what they are,” said Hana.
Skylar smiled again. “He’s awesome, actually. And he’s good friends with Caelienn, and Cari and Rose. And he likes everyone else, at least some.”
“I remember when he was put in stasis,” she said suddenly. When she noticed his attention perk up, she continued. “That’s when Caelienn really became as angry as she was. She hated the world, had little use for the gods of that place, and hated fate’s control over everything. She paid a heavy price for what happened, and I’m told she died earlier than she should have. Part of me was surprised that the Empress did no more than tell her to live with the guilt of what happened. I know I rebuked her for her foolishness. I also rebuked her for her choice in gods to call for. Justice doesn’t have the same heavy price her brother vengeance does.”
For a moment, Skylar just let that sink in. “Drell said it was his idea to leave the palace. He left behind his family and a servant he loved.”
Hana looked back at him in surprise and tried to speak, but no words would come.
Skylar shrugged a little. “I can’t remember the name he said, but apparently he was having an affair with one of his servants.”
She let out a short laugh of shock, and she wasn’t entirely sure how she was supposed to react. “Then he and Sora have something in common,” she got out. “He had an affair with a servant Aster had. Rika’s granddaughter, if I remember correctly.”
With that, Skylar had to cover his mouth with a napkin so his soup didn’t spill out of his mouth. He swallowed and spoke. “I can see why they failed at trying to make a diagram out of all these relationships. Cari tried factoring in how things worked now, and then they couldn’t keep anything straight for long.”
“Better off writing it down in a document,” Hana laughed.
“I hate to say it, but that was a pretty dumb idea,” he said. “Even I’m not that stupid…”
“You’re not stupid,” she said suddenly.
“Tell Russett that,” Skylar sighed. “Doesn’t help that Tate and I messed with a Ouija board several years ago. That was really stupid, and we thought it was just a game at the time. Anyone who knew tried to warn us. But, nope! We were too dumb to listen. As far as we were concerned, Carl was being paranoid again, Russett was just being a smart-aleck, and Carl’s paranoia was starting to rub off on Jason.”
At first, Hana just sat stock still and watched him in silence. A chill ran up and down her spine. “I really don’t like those things, because of everything that can go wrong with them.”
“Oh, we learned our lesson,” he reassured some. “Got hurt first, but we learned.”
“What did you do with the board?” Hana found herself asking.
“Jason roasted the thing,” Skylar responded. “Tate and I were out cold. Or Tate was, at least. I was somewhere between awake and knocked out and thought it was some wacky dream at first. I didn’t say anything until last year when Jason decided to tell me about magic being real.”
“So you weren’t surprised to learn the truth?”
He shook his head. “It actually kinda made sense. I just didn’t believe in that stuff until the Ouija board incident.”
“Where did you get it?”
“Cleaning the attic for my mom,” he sighed. “My family isn’t religious or superstitious, so she said it was just some junk game and that I could keep it if I really wanted to.”
“Hmm…” Hana just watched Skylar for a moment, not really sure what she wanted to say in response.
“We pretty much swore off messing with them after that,” Skylar decided to say. “It really wasn’t worth the trouble.”

To Be Continued

One more part after this. I've really had fun doing this particular story.

Yeah, Sora went through a good number of incidents. I'll be introducing the four mentioned by him later. Resha, Rheschet, Enyoir, and Silyae--that should be entertaining. Depending on which story I write next, Silyae may be introduced first. Or maybe Rheschet in a fascinating little story with Katlin and Drell. Silyae would involve a trip to Canada, and Rheschet would come up in something Katlin has to deal with involving her other life and all of its disturbing-ness.
I had fun with Kyle. That was so much funny. And he won't be the only one who has swapped genders from first to current life.

Also, yes, Skylar is insanely sweet on Hana. Actually, Skylar turns out to be pretty interesting in the end. There's a reason he didn't completely pass out during the Ouija board incident. But those events are for a later elaboration. That incident, by the way, was totally inspired by a movie I watched called Ouija. (I think most of the problems come from the ease in which anyone can get one, and the disturbing fact that some people think it's just a game.)

:rose::skull: Cari/Rose :blackrose::heart:
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