Bacorium Legacy (46 page)

Luca stepped forward. “Where has my brother gone?”

“He got into a fight with the others when they said some - things about Selphie,” Tranom replied with a frown. “He's decided to wait for you at the city gates.”

Of course he wouldn't be going with them, Luca thought. The Allmans always hated Ash.

“I never knew your father, but I'm sure he would have been proud,” Tranom said. “Of you both.”

A few minutes later, they were back in the streets outside the inn, under the now pouring rain. Brand had lingered behind to say farewell to his former master. After taking a few moments to compose herself, Selphie spoke to everyone in the group - Luca, Emila, Wiosna, and Jared.

“It seems that our mission is becoming more of a farce every minute,” she said to them, her words heavy. “The Acarians do not want peace, and neither do the people they have hurt. Zinoro wants this war, and he's clever enough to get it. Attacking the temple angered Torachi, and eliminated the threat of Allma's skilled fighters. And now he's made an enemy of Marcus, by turning his son against him. With both Torachi and Saeticia determined to have this war, my father will have no choice but to support them. If he does not, then Sono will become an enemy of the Alliance, and they will invade us next.”

She took a deep breath, and her lips formed a tight line. “But I'm not going to give up, no matter how impossible or pointless it seems. War should not be something we aspire to. So I'm going to give you all a choice. Torachi is already preparing for battle, and the Allmans are going to go join them. It won't be long before Saeticia is doing the same. If you want to go and join them, that's fine. I won't stop you. But I'll be going back to T'Saw to meet with my father. I'm not going to give up on this stupid mission of peace, but if any of you want justice as well, like Tranom I will not deny it of you.”

Nobody moved or spoke.

A moment passed, and Selphie looked to Wiosna. “Do you not want to go with them? They're your companions. The Acarians burned down your temple and killed so many of your friends.”

Wiosna looked at Emila for a moment, then at the inn, hesitating. Then she said, “I don't think I have the right. I like to fight, sure. And I hate the Acarians for what they've done. But I swore that I would help you. And honestly, I know that a lot of good people will die in a war. I only kill bad people.”

Emila looked at her, a strange unspoken moment passing between them.

Selphie then turned her attention to Luca. “Zinoro killed your father. You don't want to have revenge?”

“I do,” Luca told her. “And I will. I swore that I will kill Zinoro, and I always keep my promises. But that will be decided by a battle between the two of us, not between tens of thousands of people. Other people do not need to die for my sake. If your father can keep a war from breaking out, it would make it far easier for me to get to Zinoro.”

Emila frowned, but said nothing. Selphie turned to her next, and said, “Emila, that man went after you tonight. I don't know why, but he thought you were me and he tried to hurt you. Do you really want to go with us? There might be more danger on the way. Trunda is still out there...”

The small girl shook her head, and went to Luca's side, hugging his arm. “I go where Luca goes.”

Selphie frowned, seemingly disappointed in their answers. Then a smile slowly crossed her face. It was impossible to tell with how soaked she was, but she might have been crying again.

Jared went back to her side. “Are you going to try to convince me to leave, as well? Because I think you already know what my answer will be.”

Selphie shook her head. She then looked over at the door of the inn. “Brand's still in there, talking to Tranom. Maybe, at least he might-”

The door then burst open, and Brand stepped out, his eyes wide. “Those guys in there are seriously pissed. Let's get Ash and ditch this city before we have to fight our way out.”

Selphie stared at him for a moment, and then started to laugh.

<> <> <>

They indeed found Ash waiting at the city gates, with his belongings in a bag over his shoulder. He didn't say much, and Selphie didn't try to talk him out of going with them. The seven of them just went through the gates and were on their way.

The rain started to let up after about an hour or so, to which they were immensely grateful.

Emila kept close to Luca as they walked. He'd noticed her odd behaviour earlier, but now it was impossible for everyone not to be aware of it. She was very quiet, staying close to Luca and hardly leaving his side. At times, she would even wrap her arms around his, and rest her head on his shoulder. There was fear in her eyes.

Eventually, once they had stopped for lunch at the side of the road, he asked her what was bothering her.

“I-” She couldn't form the words. Her eyes glanced at Wiosna, betraying her thoughts.

“You can tell me what's wrong,” Luca gently urged her. “Are you worried about what happened at the palace?”

She nodded slowly.

“According to Selphie's theory, Trunda was never really after you,” Luca told her. “He was just playing a game, making a commotion so that Gera's treachery would be revealed. That's why he didn't go after the real princess.”

For a moment, Emila looked like she wanted to say something. She bit her lip, and cast her gaze to the ground.

“Nothing will happen to you,” he promised her. “Even if I'm not around, the others will protect you.”

Emila chuckled mirthlessly. “I wouldn't be so sure about that.”

Away from Luca and Emila, Wiosna was watching their conversation with a pale face.

After their brief lunch, the group continued on their way. Despite not being very good at consolation - a flaw he readily admitted to - Luca seemed to have cheered Emila up a bit. Perhaps she had simply been shaken up after the chaotic night, and the bloody executions of the morning. She seemed better now, walking on her own and no longer clinging to Luca. Still, she remained close to him, and occasionally looked to Wiosna.

The other girl, unable to wait in limbo any longer, approached Emila while Luca was busy talking with the others.

“Can we talk?” Wiosna asked her. “I feel I need to explain.”

“What is there to explain?” Emila asked her, her eyes narrow and her voice low. “After what you did to me, I should think your intentions are very clear.”

“It's not like that,” Wiosna insisted. “Sometimes, I - I just lose control. I didn't want to hurt you, I just...”

“You're very lucky that Luca thinks it was Trunda who did that,” Emila told her. “He was aware of what was happening to me the moment you were doing it. We share pain. Anything I feel, he feels. Our souls are connected.”

“What do you mean?”

“How do you think he survived back at the temple, when Dreevius stabbed him? We're connected by magick, he and I. Nothing can hurt him, so long as I'm alright. But if something were to happen to me, he would die.”

Wiosna looked even more guilty than before, if that were possible.

“You said I was bad for him because I'm not a killer, like you are,” Emila told her, contempt in her eyes. “But which of us put him in more danger last night? Had I not been able to get away from you, I would be dead, and so would Luca.”

“I said I was sorry,” Wiosna said, trying to keep her voice down, lest the others notice. “I wasn't in control of myself!”

“If you can't control your murderous impulses, then how can I trust it won't happen again?” Emila asked her. “Why are you even with us, in any case? You should have stayed behind in Serenite when Selphie was asking you to. We're on a mission of peace, the very thing you seem to loathe the most.”

“You don't understand me at all...”

“On the contrary, I understand you very well,” Emila said coldly. “You're a killer. I've seen plenty of killers in my life. I've seen what they can do. I've lost everything I ever had because of people like you, and if you think I'm going to stand aside and let you turn him into someone like you, you're wrong.”

“Are you - going to tell him?” Wiosna asked, visibly worried.

“No,” Emila said. “I won't tell him what you did, because if I told him, he'd kill you. And I'm trying to keep him from killing people.”

And with that, Emila left her, rejoining Luca. Wiosna lingered behind, looking very dejected and confused.

<> <> <>

“There's something that's been bothering me, Luca.”

Luca looked over at Brand as they walked. It was unusual to see Brand burdened by anything, much less his own thoughts. Out of all of the members of their group, Brand was the most upbeat and optimistic of them all, and he never let anything really weigh him down. To see something troubling him...

“What is it?” Luca asked. Emila, at his side, and Selphie and Jared, behind him, all listened.

“Today I said my goodbyes to my former master,” Brand said. “He was my last connection to Allma Temple. He was the man who found me all those years ago in Sendor City, and brought me to the temple. I would not be the man I am today were it not for him. I've always tried to live my life without regrets, and I have largely succeeded. But I do have one thing I need to get off my chest.”

“Sure, what it is?” Luca asked.

“I have a secret,” Brand said. “Something that I am not proud of, and have tried my whole life to put behind me. When I was at Allma Temple, Allma the third found out this secret, and he blackmailed me. I was well-liked at the temple, and Allma wanted to know the secrets of anyone he could, for the use of blackmail. He made me tell him things about the students, things they confided in me.”

Luca frowned. He had heard something like this before, when he'd met with Ash at the underground lake. Ash had told him Brand was in Allma's pocket, and anything he told Brand would go straight to Allma.

“To my knowledge, he never actually used any of the information I gave him,” Brand continued. “Largely because I was very selective in what I did tell him. I couldn't keep everything from him, because he would have known I was withholding information. I told him as little as possible, but even that tormented me. I told him things about you, Luca. I told him that you went to meet with Ash, and I told him about you and Emila. It has been tormenting me ever since we left the temple, and I feel I cannot go any farther without telling you. Whatever you wish to think of me, I will accept it.”

Luca thought about it for a moment. “You did what you could under the circumstances. We haven't forgotten about what you did when Allma was trying to kill Selphie. He gave you orders, and you refused him. That's what's really important. This really isn't that bad, actually. A lot of people are tormented by much darker secrets.”

“You're a hero, Brand,” Selphie said to him. “You've done so much good, that such a minor little thing is nothing.”

“Whatever secret it was that Allma was using against you died with him,” Luca said. “Let the past be the past.”

Brand smiled. “Thanks, you guys.” When they weren't looking, however, Brand turned his head and looked behind him. In the back of the group, Ash was following them. He looked up, and met Brand's gaze. Nothing was said between them. Ash gave no indication of whether he had heard the conversation or not, but he wasn't so far behind that he couldn't have.

<> <> <>

Selphie led them forth with renewed vigour, her hope seemingly restored by their choice to stay with her. Like the vanishing rain, her mood improved as they day went on. Emila also seemed to be doing better, and Wiosna, though still quiet and withdrawn, spoke up a few times to chip in to the conversation.

It would take them around a week to reach the Sonoian border, and then a few weeks more to reach T'Saw. They made good time on their first day, but they were still far from the next town. So as the sun began to disappear under the horizon, they found a spot off the road and made camp.

They had four tents now, having picked up two more in town, and enough sleeping rolls and supplies for all seven members of the group. They lit up a fire and enjoyed a nice meal of meat and bread. Other travellers and groups of Saetician soldiers on patrol would occasionally pass by on the road, but these were starting to die down with the coming night. They were no longer worried about Acarians - they were deep enough in Saetician territory that an Acarian squad would not be able to get from one town to the next, much less find and attack them. There was only one Acarian whom they needed to concern themselves with - but in a few days a wanted poster with his face on it would be plastered on every city wall in Saeticia and Sono. He was either on his way back to Acaria, or lying low to avoid capture.

After finishing their supper, they paired up and went to bed. Emila and Luca ended up sharing a tent - surprising absolutely no one. And Jared of course insisted on being close to Selphie, thus the second tent went to the two of them - although Jared slept just outside of it, not wanting to intrude on the princess' privacy. And Brand and Wiosna ended up as the last pair, as neither of the former Allma students wanted to be around Ash. This left Luca's younger brother with the fourth tent all to himself.

<> <> <>

Ash was used to being alone - in fact, he preferred it. So he went to his tent and closed it up and tossed himself down on his bed roll. He closed his eyes, and did his best to fall asleep. He was relieved just to be away from Brand, and his accusing eyes. There was still much bad blood between them. Brand would likely never forgive him, but he didn't really care if he did or not.

However, he was still troubled. He found it difficult to drift off. He wasn't sure why, but something had triggered the memory of his mother. Now he was stuck there, replaying the moment of her death in his mind again and again.

He had only been three at the time, though he could remember it like it was yesterday. He had always been odd - one of the odd things about him was his ability to recall events from so long ago that he should have forgotten them. He could remember all the way back to his first solid meal, his first steps, his first words. It was unnatural, so he never told anyone about it.