The rolling, green hills were very beautiful. The grass growing on them swayed in a gentle breeze. The only problem? They were all beginning to look the same to an unfortunate traveler.
Akiko scanned the horizon. She swore that she had seen those trees in the distance 3 times before. But how was that, if she had been walking in that direction-
She sighed. It was irritating her. She almost never got lost. She hadn't been in this particular area before. She pulled her cart of things she owned behind her, she looked up at the sky and felt rather hopeless. Why was there nobody around to help her? Why couldn't she find any way out? Stupid, Stupid, Stupid!, she scolded herself mentally.
Not too far . . .well maybe kind of, but still not too far from his home, a young man sat. This was a quiet place. It seemed so peaceful . . . but many have gotten lost. Well . . . not that many, but enough for Kay to know. It was on that particular day that Kay Valarus happened to notice someone in the distance. Who ever it was, had passed a few hundred meters to the left of his spot maybe . . . three times. He also noticed that they were pulling along a cart with them. Kay sighed. It was time to help again. Not that he didn't like helping. He was just bored. Starting in a slow jog, he sped up into a fast sprint, and by the time he reached the cart and the . . . woman, he was slightly out of breath. He waited to catch his breath, without a glance at the woman after the first. He finally straightened and smiled. "Hullo there, are you okay?"
Akiko almost regretted someone coming to help her. She felt like an idiot, being lost and all. She said in her quiet voice, "Um, I've never been here, and I'm lost...do you know where the nearest town is..?" She looked off somewhere in the distance. Her golden brown hair swayed slightly along with the plants in the wind. She gave him a shy glance. She really wasn't used to talking that often.
Kay frowned. He could have swore that the young woman gave a small grimace when he got here. He ignored it and smiled. "Well, I don't really know the closest one, but we can go to Fort Deityi." He paused. "It's pretty close I guess, I mean, I come out here a lot, and that is where my family and I live." He looked closer at the woman. She seemed young, but in her eyes, she seemed to have seen much more then just a young woman should have. "Well then, I'll take you there if you want." He grinned big. "My name is Kay Valarus, a pleasure to meet you miss . . .?"
Akiko nodded to him, agreeing with the location. "Ah, Akiko. That is my name." she said. "Thank you for this. I usually don't get lost, I just haven't been here before." She said in a rather wise sounding way, "Keep that smile on your face, Kay. Most people don't smile half as much as they should." She waited for him to lead the way.
It was strange to hear such intelligent words coming from this young woman. Strange . . . he liked it. Kay grinned even wider. "You really are something miss." Then he began to lead the way toward his hometown. A few hundred meters passed before Kay said something again. "Not to be creepy or weird or whatever, but you really are pretty." He coughed. "You remind me kind of like a sister I never had."
Akiko followed him without a word until he said something. A faint smile crossed her lips. "I won't take it as creepy or weird, I'll take it as a compliment." She tilted her head when he said the next thing. "Really? That's interesting." She didn't sound sarcastic or uninterested when she said that, it sounded like she meant it.
Kay grinned again. "Yes, definately interesting indeed, Akiko." He looked off into the distance and frowned, if those were what he thought they were, they were going to be in a bit of trouble. "I really do wish that I had a sister like you. Someone to hang out with, someone who was beautiful." He smiled at the thought. "You know, someone as your friend until you get married or something."
"Ah, you wouldn't want me as a friend, someone who only owns a cart and the clothes on them..." Akiko chuckled a bit at that. "Married? Doubt it." She looked off into the distance where he was looking earlier. "Is there going to be trouble..?"
Kay smiled. "You know, I could fix that? I could give you more then just that cart, and more clothes? I could give you a house, money, whatever . . . just a thought." He looked off into the distance when Akiko asked. "Maybe . . . How about I go check it out, and if it is safe, I'll be back to lead you on your way?"
Akiko said, "Sure. That works. If you get in a bad situation, I can go assist you." She sat on the ground. "Be careful. Wouldn't want a nice guy like you to be hurt, would we?"She took out a puzzle box of hers and messed around with it.
Kay grinned again. "All righty . . . made up sis." Then he ran off. As he neared the area, he noticed that there were not only one, but four bandits. 'The more the merrier' thought Kay as he drew he sword and attacked. But Kay had failed to count one. Who ever that last one was, had magic, and was coming up BEHIND Akiko. He finally was able to gain the upper hand on the four bandits when he felt a magical buzz. He whirled around and saw the bandit now, a few feet from Akiko, who was still playing with her puzzle box. "Shit!" Kay cursed, the first time in a while. And he sprinted with all his might, hoping to god, that the man there did not hurry with what he was going to do.
Akiko sensed someone coming at her from behind. She calmly pretended not to notice, taking out another box discreetly. She turned the key, and released it quickly. The music that began to play was heavy in the air, and seemed to make the air wavy as it seems in hot weather. The bandit was now hypnotized. He stood, swaying on his feet, blankly staring ahead. She made sure the music did not effect Kay in the way it had the bandit. "Now, get him," she said, pointing to the bandit.
It was a strange power of hers it was. Kay froze, even though she told him that he could not get him. Sighing, in one sweeping motion, he cut the man down. Though Kay doubted that Akiko would have made her power work on him, his left eye felt tingly. That was never good, considering the power that was locked behind it. Kay wiped off his sword and sheathed it, not wanting to use it again. He was not a killer. "So, Miss Akiko, are you all right?" Kay asked, he doubted that she wasn't fine. "A question, what kind of power was that? . . . you don't have to answer it if you wish for it to be secret."
Akiko looked up from her music box. "This is hypnotism." She held up the box, which had grown silent. "You see, I'm not too strong physically, so I use this to escape." She began to wipe some dust from it. "Thank you very much for helping me, Kay. And I'm fine."
"I see, hypnotism." Kay nodded to himself. He had felt that it had been done on him before, but hadn't worked. Shrugging slightly to himself he listened to the explanation. "You are very welcome. I am glad you are fine." He paused. "You should get yourself a strong friend to travel with."
Akiko shrugged and put the tiny music box into her pocket, and put the other box into the cart. She got up and said, "I've traveled by myself for years. I'm still alive, so I guess it doesn't really matter." She glanced at him. "For now, you can be that strong friend of mine. How about that?" She walked towards the direction they were previously going towards.
"It does matter, because while you have survived so long without protection besides your hypnotism, what happens when you are unable to use it?" Kay was concerned. "As for me, I have a job in my town, I have to take over my father's business." He laughed. "If I don't the economy will be in trouble." He shrugged. "So unfortunately, I cannot." He was walking along side of Akiko. "The problem with life, we find people that we like, then we lose them."
Akiko looked at him curiously. "Hypnotism isn't the only trick up my sleeve, Kay." She listened to his speech. She was glad that she didn't have to take over someone's business someday. It would be hard work, she thought. After his last sentence, she gave him a rather wise, tired looking glance that would seem to better fit an aging woman. "Oh, I know that better that you do, I know that all too well."
"Well now, what other tricks do you have up your sleeve?" He laughed at his next words. "Not literally up your sleeves right?" He paused and thought about what to say next. From what he observed from Akiko, she seemed much older then she looked. By that, he could make an educated guess that Akiko was immortal, and from her last words, it was obvious that she had lost someone important to her. "Well then, even if you were to live a long time, its better to have loved and lost, then to have never loved at all, right?" It was not really a question. "It is a wonder that while you have lived so long, you kept you beauty."
Akiko tilted her head slightly. "Hm. I guess so. I never think about my age, really." She sighed. "You know, to have loved and lost just makes me feel like an old woman!" She laughed. "I guess I am, by your standards! Must seem pretty weird, a 500 year old woman still her to tell her tales!"
Kay Valarus laughed too. "Well now, you may be old, but you aren't showing it at all." He grinned bigger. "I mean you look young enough to be my wife, that is, one who is five hundred years old." He shrugged. "Not that weird at all, we all have strange things, and that is not, by far, the strangest thing I know of."
Akiko grinned. "I've seen some weird things in my time, but I tend to avoid them!" She looked at the scenery beyond. "If I look young now, how long will it take kfor me to look old?" She looked up. "Perhaps a thousand years? That's enough for me."
Kay was still grinning. "I guess we all have seen too many strange things to count in life huh?" He shrugged. "It could take a bit, but don't you get used to it? Watching people die?" The smiled had faded slightly. "I guess in the end, its more painful to live forever then to die normally, right?"
Akiko's smile faded as well, returning to her neutral expression. "A gift and a curse, it is. Watching people die...it's like watching a play to me, it's like nothing is related to me and I'm just watching the show." She sighed.
Kay smiled sadly. "What can we do with our lives?" He turned to face away from Akiko and looked into the sky. "We are given and we must receive. It may not always be the easiest thing to do, but it is what we must do anyways." He turned back and smiled again. "How about we get moving again, a bit faster?"
Akiko sighed and playfully pushed him. "Faster? We're going fast as it is! You're all so crazed with going everywhere fast that you never even get to enjoy where you are! It's a crazy thing." She smiled.
"That may be true, but I seem to take in things really fast too." Kay grinned as he turned in a complete circle, taking everything in. "Just by doing that, I could tell you everything there would be to know, that the human eye can see, that I can hear, smell." He looked at Akiko. "So I have no problem with travelling fast."
Akiko sighed. "Well, what ever you want to do. Let's go faster if you want to. I don't know where I am anyway." She looked at the sky. "It's a fine day to get lost, however. What nice weather."
"Yes, yes, nice weather indeed." Kay said absently. He was looking into the sky. Very nice weather it really was. "So, tell me about yourself? To take up some of the time it takes to get to the fort?" He paused. "That is, if you want to."
Akiko nodded. "Sure." She looked thoughtful, thinking about what she should say. "Well, I do have a question for you before I tell you about myself. If you could be immortal, would you accept it or stay mortal?"
Kay thought about it for a while. He thought more and more, and the more the answer ran away from him. While it was a free choice to answer what he wanted he was getting to the point where his answer varied in his head. "Well now, if I was offered the choice to be immortal, depending on other factors, my answer would vary."
Akiko nodded slightly. She stayed silent, thinking. She took a large music box out of her cart. She turned the key for a while, and released it. Very complicated music started playing, and it made the air seem almost heavy, seemed to make the air look wavy like it does in heat.
Kay noticed the silence, then the start of music. Very complex and a beautiful song. He felt the air almost seemed to thicken along with the music. He decided to continue to answer, speaking softly, as not to speak over the music. "Lets say that I had someone to be immortal with me, a friend, a wife, a girlfriend, a child of mine." He smiled. "Then of course I would."
Akiko, for a second, looked like she was about to cry, then had a neutral doll's expression. "I don't have anyone to be immortal with, but I must manage on my own, as I have all these years." She stared into the horizon. "I think I can deal with it."
Not a good thing to be saying, from Akiko's sad expression. Kay sighed, his smile disappearing. "Now, I never said that you couldn't deal with it, or survive without someone you love." He looked at Akiko hard. "What I am saying, is that with someone you loved, you could share the pain of being immortal, but in the end, you become soft, and easy to lose yourself the craziness." He looked away and into the distance again. "Alone, immortal, you start off crazy, or whatever, you end up stronger then you ever were before."
Akiko sighed. "You wouldn't know the half of it, but nice job trying." She looked at the box in her hands. "This took a hundred years to make, you know." She looked up at the sky. "It's really odd, thinking how short the average life is. It's even odder...thinking that they think their lives are so long." She smiled sadly.
"While I may not know the half of it like you say, I have an idea." Kay had not been smile for a bit now. "I have been down to hell and back." He paused. "Do you know the endless torture that you have to face and only to be brought back, to have more?" he coughed. "I have seen more evil in my short life then you have throughout your entire life." He sighed. "The pain that I had to deal with? it is still here, every day I have to deal with my heart stopping, then starting again, compliments of hell."
Akiko sniffed, and looked away. "Stop complaining, boy. You're alive, and that's all that matters. Life may feel like hell sometimes, but that doesn't mean you can reject the gift of living that you have been blessed with. Your life is short, so be thankful of every passing moment, because you can't ever get it back." She looked ahead, her gaze tired and seeming much older than she looked.
Kay laughed, but it was starting to sound a bit mocking. "Alive?" Kay went into a crazied fit of laughter. "Oh yes, I am really alive, when I fade between life and death like so." Kay said. "While yes I am somewhat able to live, do not mistaken me to be truly alive." Kay laughed again, his eyes were clear. "I can't be thankful for every moment because every moment pains me more then it pains you."
Akiko said in an icy tone, "Do not mock me, boy. If you are going to continue on with your complaining, I'll find my own way." She turned sharply on her heel and began to walk away. "Perhaps you aren't who I thought you were. Goodbye, Kay." She didn't turn around, just heading the direction she was going.
Kay no longer had a grin of any kind on his face. He was furious, more then furious. He was . . . he couldn't find a word for it. Taking a deep breath, he controlled himself and the anger faded. "You really think I am mocking you?" Kay laughed bitterly. "If you truly think that, then it might be better that you left and went on your own way." He shook his head at the back of Akiko. "If your perception is only so deep, then you are far less then you think yourself to be." He shrugged and headed in the direction of his home and town.
Akikio shook slightly with an emotion between anger and sadness. She said just loud enough for him to hear, "Perhaps my perception is so shallow because I do not want to see any further." She turned to face him again. "Come back..I don't want to be lost again." She took a step towards him.
Kay sighed. He was definately too nice. Especially after that word thrashing he just got, he was still going to help. "All right, All right, let's get a move on it." He changed directions again, back to the original, but he did not look at Akiko. Kay did not trust himself to look at her, afraid that he might explode again. "So might you explain why you want to be . . . as you are?" He asked.
She stared ahead with no more emotion in her eyes. "I do not see further because I do not wish to know any more about this world than I must." She looked onto the horizon. "I wish I was mortal so that I could just live my life and get over with it."
It was pointless to argue his point any further. While his virtues allowed him a broad view of the world, that didn't necessarily spread to other people. He might have been a bright open-minded person, but that didn't mean everyone else was. It just meant that he was far more capable to accept things for the way they were, more capable to adapt. That was his skill.
"I see no point in trying to talk you out of doing that," Kay said. "After all, I am not the only stubborn person around, I will back down." He grinned ruefully. "It was not my place to be talking like so to you anyway." He sighed. His gaze followed Akiko's to the horizon. "We all wish for immortality, that is, until we see the truth, the curse that it is." He slung an arm around Akiko. "Especially if you don't have someone like me to live with." He grinned wide. "Just kidding, of course."
Aki smiled. "Heh..." She looked at the cart, stopping for a moment. She opened it, taking out a medium-sized music box. She shut the cart, then said, "Can I show you something?" She held up the music box, and began to turn the key. It started playing an eerie song, and she popped open the lid, reaching inside and turning something quickly. The song restarted, this time sounding like a pipe organ. She looked at it with pride. "It can sound different, because it's magic." She smiled, amused. "Because, I don't think I could fit a little pipe organ into it."
Kay ended up having a smile spread across his face after seeing Aki smile. It was an instinctive reaction. He barely kept it from going overboard as she stopped for a moment to take something out. As she brought it into view, he almost whistled. It was a music box. Not just a music box, but probably the most beautiful one he had ever seen. Then the music started. What strange music it was. But what surprised him more was when she reached inside and turned something. The song restarted but was different as well.
"Yes I can see why you think so," Kay was transfixed by the strange music box. Where had he seen something like that before? Strange. He reached out to touch it then paused. "May I see it?"