Crimson Nightfall

[mewchan]

Chapter 1: Memories of the past

It was chaos. He couldn’t even see her in the middle of the crowd of guards and frightened monks. Shouting and squealing could be heard, wails of pain and fear after flashes of light that could only come from her. But he kept going through the mass of bodies around him, reaching out his hand and calling out for her. He knew she could hear him, even though he could barely hear himself.

He wasn’t claustrophobic, but he kept getting the feeling that the castle walls kept getting closer, or maybe it was the unusual crowd that made him feel very uneasy, almost scared. Yes, he feared for her, even though she had once proved to be very capable of fighting. But she had also proved that she would only fight in order to defend someone. That was very noble of her, he felt his chest tighten just thinking about it. Still, that trait of hers would always make him worry even more about her. He had to reach her, he needed to, for her sake…

A trail of long, black hair could finally be seen between two guards, who seemed to be trying to push forward something terribly heavy, almost unmovable. He called out to her again, leaning on the figures in front of him, stretching out his arm as much as he could. A smaller, paler arm came out from between the guards, and gently grabbed his hand.

“Let’s get out of here, push them away!”

“I’ll be fine. And you’ll be fine as well…”

He wasn’t sure how they could hear each other. He could only listen to her. Her calm voice, as gentle as she had always been, seemed to be whispering next to his ear. The room was silent, and there was only the two of them in that space with more bodies than air.

“I hope you can become the ruler of this land. Your good heart will lead you and your people…”

“What-, What are you saying? I rule nothing, not even myself! Just come, please end this..!”

“I’ll miss you, but I will always stay here waiting for you. I hope you can come visit again…”

He widened his eyes as the light coming from her eyes shone brighter. The guards eased the force they were using on her, aware that it was all useless. She nodded to him, but he just shook his head, over and over again. The light kept getting brighter…

“No, Alette… Alette! ALETTE!”

Suddenly, everything was light, noise and then darkness. When he finally regained consciousness, the castle could barely be seen in the distant, on top of a hill, clouded with a dense fog. For some reason, he knew he could never go back there. But they would surely meet again. He wouldn’t keep her waiting if he could help it.

Nonetheless, he still had a mission left to do. A million promises would be fulfilled in that new land.

[mewchan]

The train was smoothly making its way back into town, and Gawain had put the newspaper aside by now. Every week, there was only news about people dying unnaturally. In this week’s news, the King’s older sister was found dead in her room, apparently suicide. The Royal Family’s representative told the Press that she had been extremely depressed after her son was shot during a concert. “The Royal Family is going through very hard times. In fact, and according to our private doctor, it was surprising she managed to live through a whole month, considering her mental and physical state. …”

Gawain’s dark blue eyes moved down to the pictures of the deceased. Princess Emily, a beautiful woman with wavy, golden brown hair and soft pale eyes. Beside her photo was her son, a six year old boy whose name Gawain couldn’t recall at the moment. He knew how he was killed, though. During a concert in which the boy was singing, accompanied by a chorus of other young children, he was shot by a rebel who was hiding in one of the theater’s verandas. Gawain hadn’t been there when it happened, but he was there in a party of university students to search for clues of what had happened. The white lines drawn on the floor that formed the shape of a child, over a pool of blood on that magnificent stage, was a bit hard to forget.

The red head sighed as he looked up to the window, looking at the scenery running fast past him. He was finally getting through the main gate and would soon reach the station. He was glad it wasn’t very far from the university, for he didn’t have enough time to go home and drop his baggage. That is, if he wanted to make it in time for his new mission assignment. When the train started to slow down, he grabbed his bags and headed for the doors, leaving the newspaper behind in the empty seat.

Two hours or so had gone by since he left the train station. Now he had his new assignment in his hands and was taking his free time to choose who his co-leaders should be, in case he’d need them. Gawain was sitting under a tree, and he could hear the opening ceremony of the Tournament. He knew who was singing it, it was the best student of the year. He wondered when he’d be singing there as well.

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When the song was over, the university’s Headmaster went up to the stage and coughed, adjusting his voice. Getting closer to the microphone, he spoke loud and clear.

“This year’s event will not be held today.”, he made a pause, so that the sudden whispering and muttering could calm down, “Hn. A new mission that requires an abnormal number of students has been requested by his Excellency, King Edward the Fifth, himself. Besides the details of the mission, what makes it… let’s say, special, is that you can either choose the mission or the Tournament to apply for Aleete School. The Tournament isn’t as easy, but it only lasts for a day. However, those that enter the mission have higher chances of being accepted in the university. You have three days to contact us, if you wish to enter this mission.”

The Headmaster made a short pause, before continuing, “On the other hand, the Tournament will begin a week from now, after those that apply to the mission are accepted. But, beware! This is no ordinary mission. Think carefully before making a decision.”
“I hope I’ll be seeing all of you again a week from today. Goodbye, and good luck.”

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Gawain could only hope they would choose the right people, he thought, half an hour after listening to the Headmaster’s announcement. At the moment he was making a list of objects he would like to borrow for his group, until he was interrupted by Seiko, who came running towards him with a few papers in hand.

“Gawain!” she said a bit out of breath, but still full of energy, “Will you be leading the mission that guy was talking about?”

“Yeah”, he watched her sit down beside him, “So you’re not entering the Tournament, huh?”

“Of course not.”

Of course not. After they told it was a mission related to the “Source-Thieves” and that it was about searching for Alice and him, of course she’d do it.

“I won’t give you trouble, I won’t be a burden.” She told him, after seeing his suspicious look, “I just need to know the truth. I want to find him and hear him say it.”

She placed the papers on her legs, getting ready to fill them in. But she stood still for a while, an absent look on her face as she slightly frowned at the papers in front of her.

“You know”, he started, “It’s not gonna be easy. I don’t mind helping you out but… I just hope you won’t be fooling yourself anymore. People say that he liked Alyssa, others say that he’s with Alice now and that they’re running away together… -Hey, are you listening?”

Gawain touched her shoulder and she looked up at him, blinking and smiling, “Hmm? You said something?”

“…I’ll see you in a week, I guess.”

“Yeah.” She got up and dusted herself off, “I’ll do this at home, so I won’t make any mistakes. Can I call you if…?”

“Yeah, yeah, sure. Just don’t call me at six! I have a meeting about this.” He got up as well, “Leave a message, at most.”

“Okay! I’ll send you a few just to annoy you, then!”

Seiko waved goodbye, giggling, and walked away towards the gates. Gawain watched her for a moment and frowned with a sigh as he scratched his neck. After finishing his list, he went back to the main building.

[mewchan]

Gawain could barely believe the longest week of his life was over. Being the leader of this mission, he had to do most of the paper work, organize the material, the expenses and the candidates. He had never hoped for a mission to start as much as this one, especially considering that, if it turns out to be successful, he’ll be part of the elite group of the University and, who knows, maybe be part of the Opening Ceremony for the Tournament next year. He had a lot to win and lose with this, so he made sure to do the best he could, even if that meant only sleeping for five hours every night.

But in the last day of the week he managed to sleep for eight hours. So today he was feeling refreshed and accomplished. Now, he was standing near a statue in the university’s campus. That particular statue, of the first queen of Alette’s Kingdom, was the meeting point for the group that was taking part of the mission. The red head was leaning on said statue, and beside him stood a large box with several objects inside. While he waited, he looked through the information of those that would now be working with him. He wanted to associate the names with the photographs before talking with them in person. So far, there were only three people he recognized. Two of them would be leading the team with him, and the third one was his childhood friend.

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Seiko, unlike Gawain, barely got any sleep. She was really excited and anxious about her first mission. She felt proud in being accepted into the mission, but she was sure she had to thank a certain someone for giving her a chance of being chosen. Five hours before the assigned time to meet, she was already getting ready to leave.

She was still half an hour early when she reached the University’s gates. Looking at the small map in her hands, given to her along with her acceptance into the mission, she followed the black arrows that pointed to a large statue of a woman. Looking up, she noticed her friend, who was too focused on reading to notice her.

“Heya!” she said, a bit loudly, “I see you came early too! I’m glad, or I would’ve thought I was at the wrong place!”

She removed her bag from her shoulders, putting it down next to the statue, and she leaned on it beside Gawain.

“Yeah”, he finally said, putting away the files he was reading, “I have to be here before the others do. You kinda came a bit too early, though.”

“Eh, I did?” she turned her face to him, looking a bit worried, but smiled, sheepishly, “Sorryyy~ I didn’t mean to, but I just couldn’t sleep. So… where are the other team leaders?”

“They’re not here yet” Gawain almost muttered, taking out a pack of cigarettes from an inner pocket in his jacket. Seiko felt like rolling her eyes at his response, but frowned at his actions instead.

“I thought you quit smoking.”

“And I did. This is just a way of celebrating that.”

She shook her head with a sigh, but said nothing. He probably needed it anyway, with all the stress he had been put through. She knew he also had a personal reason for being in this mission, he just wouldn’t admit it to her.

“You know”, she started, looking down at her feet. She was starting to feel cold around her shoulders, “My cousin didn’t want me to be a part of this mission.”

Gawain let out a puff of smoke and he looked at her, “She cares Seiko, don’t take it too personally. Now put a jacket on, you’re shivering.”

She giggled sheepishly, and knelt down to take out a jacket. She put it on as Gawain waved away the smoke from his cigarette. He threw it down and stepped on it, coughing as he did so. It really was a cold morning.