An Asnean Odyssey: Bastien

Seventeen

Liet was walking along a dirt road that continued on into the horizon as far as he could see. Everything around him was black, with only the road being visible. He tried to stop, but found that he couldn’t control his movements. He could only watch as his body continued down its path.

It felt like he had been walking an eternity before he finally saw something. A fork in the road. As he approached the split, he noticed two signs, each pointing down a different path. The sign pointing to the left had Liet Rochben messily scribbled on it, while the sign pointing to the right had Skye Curiousitas neatly printed on it in a cursive manner. Liet’s body stopped for a moment, as though it were contemplating something.

“Left,” Liet thought. “The sign wants me to go left.”

“The sign doesn’t want anything,” Liet said. “The sign is not asking a question; it’s not commanding you to follow its path. The sign is simply giving you a choice.”

“What am I supposed to choose from?” Liet thought. “It’s got my name on it.”

“Do you always assume that the first thought that comes to mind is fact?”

“No...”

“Don’t lie to me,” Liet said. “It’s insulting.”

“I’m not lying,” Liet thought.

“Really? I know every thought that ever has and ever will find its way into your pitiful little mind. I know everything about you. Are you still going to try to convince me that you’re telling the truth?” Liet asked.

“I’m not lying.”

“Fine. Make a decision then, wise one,” Liet sarcastically commanded.

“I don’t know...”

“Oh? What happened to going left?” Liet asked.” Isn’t that what you wanted?”

“I don’t know...”

“What do you know?” Liet asked harshly. “Shall I pick for you? Are you that pathetic?”

Liet didn’t respond, he simply stared blankly at the signs.

“You’re hopeless,” Liet said as he began to walk down the right path.

As they continued down the path the darkness around them began to take form. A rickety wooden fence sprung out of the darkness beside the road. Shortly after a cluster of clouds faded into sight. A bolt of lightning shot out of the clouds, striking the ground directly in front of Liet, blinding him for a moment and causing him to stop. When Liet opened his eyes, he saw that a tree had sprung up out of the dirt. Its leaves were green and filled with life. Looking around, he noticed that they were in the center of a graveyard with rain pouring down around them. Hundreds of tombstones surrounded them, causing Liet to become nervous.

“Can we leave?” Liet thought.

“Really?” Liet laughed as he began to circle around the tree. As they began to come around to the far side of the tree, Liet noticed that Skye’s face was sticking out of it. Her eyes were closed and the rain was running down her cheeks, making it appear as though she were crying. The leaves on the tree began to fade to a dark brown color before wrinkling up and falling to the ground around them. “Do you still want to leave?”

“What’s wrong with her...?” Liet thought.

“Are you blind?” Liet asked. “She’s dying.”

“We have to save her!”

“We?” Liet chuckled to himself. “What are we going to do then?”

“I don’t know...” Liet thought. The rain began to glow pink as Skye’s eyes shot open. Pink fluid was gathering in the corners of her eyes, flowing down her cheeks, and eventually the trunk of the tree, until it formed a pool on the ground.

“What are we going to do, Liet?” Liet asked in a louder, more direct tone.

“I don’t know...” Liet thought.

“Don’t leave me...” Skye cried out softly.

“What are we going to do!?”

“I don’t know,” Liet thought.

“Liet...” Skye cried out.

“Answer me, Liet! What are we going to do?!”

“Just let me think!” Liet shouted in his head. Everything around him returned to darkness.

“Then think,” Liet spoke softly. “You have sixty seconds.”

Liet’s eyes crept open to find himself lying in a bed of clouds. He was in his room at the portable house. He tried to get up, but found that he couldn’t move his right arm. Using his left arm to lift himself up, he walked across the clouds towards the door, which slid open once he got close to it. Skye was sitting by herself at the table with her head laying in her arms.

“What happened?” Liet asked. Skye didn’t respond. Liet walked over to the table to find that she was sleeping quietly. Her eyes slowly opened when she sensed that someone was nearby. For a moment, the two of them just stared at each other. Liet admired Skye’s magnificent eyes, the bright blue and deep orange reminding him of the sun setting over the gentle waves of the ocean. Skye stared back for a moment before slowly standing up. She lifted her arm to Liet’s face, twisting his cheeks between her fingers. She continued to do the same thing to his arms, working her way down his chest. Finally, she reached his crotch and began to fondle it gently.

“W-why are...”

“Ah!” Skye shrieked as she retracted her hand. “I thought I was still dreaming.”

“What happened?” Liet asked again.

“You came into my room while I was sleepi-”

“No, I didn’t mean your dream,” Liet interrupted Skye. “I meant in Asnea.”

“Ah, sorry,” Skye blushed. “It’s a bit of a long story, you might want to sit down.”

“Is it really that bad?” Liet sighed as he sat down. Skye pressed some buttons causing a plate of eggs and some strange blue fluid to pop out of the table for Liet.

“Drink the fluid first,” Skye ordered. “I was worried that you might not be able to activate the Manipulator on your own, so I installed a remote control on it, just in case. I attached the S.U.M.T. to it as well, just for added safety. When you went to speak with Oscar, we went up to the clock tower beside the castle to keep an eye on you.”

“Where’s Gage?” Liet asked.

“I’ll explain everything, alright? Just eat,” Skye gently replied. Liet picked up the cup with his usable arm and drank the fluid, which tasted like strawberries. Afterwards, he began to slowly eat the eggs. “I was hoping you would activate the devices when you got taken away by the guard, but then Oscar pulled out a knife and I panicked...”

“I think you activated them just in time,” Liet stated with a mouth full of eggs. “I took his knife from him when everything froze, but when I grabbed it, it felt like it was sucking out my soul. I can’t even move my right arm now.”

“That’s...That was my fault...”

“How...?”

“Activating both devices simultaneously required a lot of energy...it started rapidly draining blood from your body,” Skye explained. “You should be dead.”

Liet stopped eating for a moment, his brain was straining to process the information.

“You’ve been sleeping for two days...” Skye quietly stated.

Liet finished eating his eggs and stood up. “How did you get out of the city?”

“Gage helped me get out through the graveyard. When I made it back here, I found you unconscious on the bed,” Skye stood up to face Liet. “Gage stayed in the city...he said he had someone he needed to see...”

“I wonder who he was talking about...” Liet thought aloud.

“Liet...I wasn’t sure if you were going to wake up...I...” Skye wrapped her arms around Liet and held him tight as she pressed her lips against his. Liet held Skye with his usable arm and closed his eyes as he savored the kiss and the smell of cinnamon entered his lungs. Liet opened his eyes when Skye pulled away. Tears were gathering in the corner of her eyes, which Liet gently wiped away.

“I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” Skye whispered into Liet’s ear as they continued to hold each other.

“...Does this place have any soap?” Liet asked, breaking the silence.

“Uh, yeah...Why?” Skye replied as she walked over to a blank spot in the wall. She pulled out her multi tool and waved it around by the wall. After a few moments of nothing, Skye punched the wall, causing it to rotate horizontally revealing a large selection of bottles.

“I haven’t bathed since...well...since I woke up the first time,” Liet scrunched up his face. “I can smell myself. It’s not cool.”

“Well, five bottles on the top left are soap. Take your pick,” Skye giggled.

“What are all of the other bottles?”

“Cleaners, repellents, solvents, water, lubr- Stuff like that...” Skye’s eyes faded to a deep shade of red as she returned to her seat at the table and began fiddling with her multi tool.

Liet observed the five bottles that he could choose from. They were all clear, with no visible differences. He picked one off of the wall and examined the spherical container, looking for a way to open it. “How do you open this...?”

“Throw it on the ground,” Skye answered without looking up. She pointed beside the wall of bottles. “Bathing room is in there.”

“How do I know what it smells like?”

“Why would you want to know what it smells like?”

“So that I don’t wind up smelling like lavender or something.”

“They shouldn’t smell like anything.”

“What’s the point of that?”

“To get clean,” Skye replied, to which Liet sighed heavily and began to head up the stairs. “I thought you were going to bathe.”

“I’m going to try something,” Liet responded. He finished climbing the stairs and headed outside into the darkness of the forest. He began to walk back towards the cave that led to Cirno, admiring the forest along the way. After a while of wandering through the forest, Liet eventually reached the lake and the waterfall.

Liet began to take off his clothes, neatly folding them in a pile, as usual. Holding the soap sphere in his hand, he threw it at the ground as close as he could to the water. The sphere bounced into the air above the water, then slowly began to melt, dripping down into the water. Bubbles began to form in the water, which would float into the air and pop at the slightest disturbance. Liet lowered himself into the water, which launched into the air as soon as he made contact with it. He sat naked on the stone floor of the lake for a moment before the soapy water rained down upon him. Liet sat still for a few moments, not wanting to disturb the water again. After a while, he began to move slowly. The water reacted to his movements less dramatically than before, and eventually began to just ripple into the air at Liet’s actions. Feeling as though he had conquered the lake, Liet smiled as he cleaned his body with his available arm, trying to wash off all of the dirt and grime. Once he was finished, he lay his head back against the edge of the river to relax. He hadn’t realized how tired he was, and within moments he had fallen asleep.

Liet awoke to find that someone had moved him back to his room. As he climbed out of bed, he noticed that he had regained control of his right arm. He strolled out of his room, expecting to see Skye sitting at the table, but the room was empty. Liet assumed she was outside, so he climbed the stairs and left the portable house.

Liet’s assumption had been correct. Skye was standing outside talking with Sylvan, who broke away from the conversation once he noticed Liet standing by the doorway.

“Good morning, Liet,” Sylvan extended his hand. Liet instinctively responded by slapping it.

“Morning Sylvan,” Liet rubbed his eyes. “What are you doing all the way out here?”

“Preparing for a distraction.”

“Who are you distracting? And why?”

“You’ve got to sneak back into Asnea, don’t you?”

“Yeah....I suppose I do...”

“Well, if Oscar wasn’t paranoid before, he sure is now,” Sylvan joked. “You’re not going to be able to just waltz in the front gate like last time.”

“How am I supposed to get in then?”

“Through the graveyard!” Skye chimed in.

“Oh, right...Gage said something about that, didn’t he?”

“Yeah, it’s a straight shot from the graveyard to the sewers outside the castle.”

“Alright Liet, I’m going to go over the details with you really quick,” Sylvan stated. “Skye, I’ve already explained this to you, so you don’t have to stay here.”

“Wait a minute, did you just call me Liet?” Liet asked.

“Yes.”

“What happened to Ell...or Elliot...?”

“Your name is Liet, is it not?”

“Yeah, but-”

“Just forget about it,” Skye smiled as she ventured back into the portable house.

“Okay Liet, we’re going to...” Sylvan began to explain. There was a melodic humming noise in the background which sounded like soft singing that was making it difficult for Liet to focus on what Sylvan was saying. Liet tried to focus on Sylvan’s explanation, but he ended up just examining Sylvan’s appearance, which was quite different than before. He was wearing a very thin looking metal vest and his hair was tied back in a ponytail. His eyes were no longer changing and were a constant steel color He seemed a lot more focused and spoke with clarity. Most notable of all was an enormous gauntlet that engulfed his left arm. It was about as thick as his entire body and was a dark blue, almost black with gold engravings. He seemed to wear it with relative ease, even though it looked extremely heavy. Liet’s eyes began to wander into the trees as the singing continued to soothe his mind. He noticed Guy leaning against one of the trees, smiling as usual. He was twirling the ebony dagger between his fingers.

“Liet!” Sylvan shouted. “You’re not even paying attention.”

“Sorry...it’s early and there’s that humming...”

Sylvan released a sigh. “That’s alright, Skye knows all of this stuff anyways.”

“I can leave, then?”

“Yeah,” Sylvan said as he placed his hand on Liet’s shoulder. “Take care of Skye for me, alright?”

Sylvan’s eyes were cold and solemn. “Yeah...I’ll make sure nothing happens to her...”

“Thanks,” Sylvan allowed himself to smile for a moment to show his gratitude. “Go tell Skye we’re ready. You should have time to eat before you have to go.”

Liet rushed back inside the bubble and down the stairs to find Skye seated at the table, already eating her breakfast. A large pile of eggs cooked in many different manners were sitting atop a plate on the table across from her along with a glass of that strange blue fluid.

“Sylvan said he’s ready,” Liet delivered Sylvan’s message to Skye.

“I thought you might want eggs,” Skye responded, disregarding Liet’s message.

Liet grinned as he sat down in front of the heaping mass of golden-white deliciousness.

“Ah, drink the blue stuff first, Liet,” Skye commanded as Liet was about to scoop a chunk of egg into his mouth.

“What is it?” Liet asked as he tipped back the glass and the strawberry flavored fluid splashed down his throat.

“It’s hamica. It stimulates blood cell production.”

“Oh, okay.”

“How’s your arm?”

Liet rotated his right arm freely, then returned to eating his eggs. “Seems pretty good to me.”

Skye got up and walked over to Liet, gently rolling up his sleeve. Liet’s arm had a light purplish tint that was darkest around the manipulator. Skye gently grasped the device and slowly removed it from Liet’s arm. Afterwards, she tossed it down on the table and pulled her synthetic from her pocket, gently applying it to the small hole in Liet’s skin. When she was finished, she picked up the Manipulator again and returned to her seat, examining it carefully.

“Ugh, I never want to have to go through that again,” Liet commented. “How’s that thing doing anyways?”

Skye examined the device, carefully tapping its surface and rubbing her fingers along its edges. After a few moments she held it up to her ear and shook it violently, then placed it back into Liet’s arm. “Busted.”

“Sorry...” Liet felt the need to apologize.

“Well, it’s mostly my fault. I kind of overdid it when I put the S.U.M.T. on it...” Skye released a deep sigh. “I guess I’ll just have to try to fix it sometime.”

“You don’t have the materials, do you...?”

“Nope. Don’t have the equipment either.”

“Why would you put it back if it doesn’t work?”

“It’s not going to hurt you,” Skye shrugged. “So why not?”

“Once we’ve dealt with Oscar, I’m sure you’ll get your lab back,” Liet tried to comfort Skye as he crammed the last of the eggs into his mouth.

“Somehow I don’t think it’s going to be that easy,” Skye sighed as the pair rose from their seats and climbed the stairs. Sylvan had already left when they left the portable house.

“How are we supposed to get to the graveyard?” Liet asked.

“We follow the tree line a bit, then run across the field and hope no one sees us,” Skye explained.

“That doesn’t sound very safe.”

“Don’t worry, they’ll be distracted by Sylvan’s assault.”

Liet wasn’t convinced, but followed Skye as she began to walk along the tree line. After a few minutes, Liet could see a large fenced off area outside the walls of Asnea.

“You ready to run?” Skye asked.

“I suppose,” Liet halfheartedly responded.

Skye suddenly darted out of the trees with amazing speed, leaving Liet to sprint after her, almost tripping over himself as he ran through the grass towards the graveyard. After a few minutes of running, Liet arrived breathless at the fence. Skye was casually leaning on the fence next to Liet.

“This place is a lot less creepy during the day,” Skye commented.

“It’s still...It’s...Dark...” Liet gasped.

“Come on, let’s go,” Skye smiled as she jumped the fence. Liet jumped over the fence with a bit less finesse than Skye.

“Where’s the tunnel?” Liet asked.

“I don’t remember.”

“How are we supposed to find it if you don’t know where it is?”

“We just need to find Valkyrie Randgris’ tombstone.”

“Oh, that makes this so much easier, doesn’t it?” Liet replied sarcastically. “What if there’s more than one Valkyrie?”

“That’s...unlikely...” Skye tried to convince Liet, as well as herself.

“Uh huh,” Liet doubted Skye. “I’ll look over here.”

Liet proceeded to weave his way between the maze of tombstones, quickly glancing at the names as he passed by. There had to be at least a thousand graves lined up in neat rows. Occasionally one of the tombstones would be destroyed, or too worn to read, and Liet would curl his face, thinking of the body beneath who would eventually fade from memory, with no one to recall their name.

A cry of pain echoed through the air, startling Liet and causing him to increase the rate at which he was searching graves. Rain began to pour from the clouds, causing Liet to become extremely nervous. As he practically ran between the graves, he noticed one that said Valkyrie Randgris.

“I... I think I’ve found it, Skye!” Liet cried out.

“Great! I’ll give you a hand pushing it open,” Skye responded as she raced over to Liet.

The air felt tense as Liet waited for Skye to make her way to him. A faint crackling noise could be heard in the distance, which Liet assumed was lightning. He bent down to examine the grave more closely. A long serpent was carved into the base of the tombstone, coiling around it as though it were trying to strangle the life from it.

Skye let out a loud shriek, causing Liet to jump up and turn around just in time to receive a powerful punch to the gut, which sent a jolt of electricity throughout his body, causing him to drop to his knees. The teslaguard then wrapped its cold metal gauntlet around his throat, lifting him into the air. Liet noticed that the luminescent blue eyes behind the tiny slits of the helmet were female. Her forced metallic breathing sounded almost like sobbing. Jolts of electricity shot out into the air as the rain splashed upon the teslaguard’s armor, causing loud pops and crackles.

“Make sure you don’t kill him,” A shrewd voice commanded from out of sight.

“Of course, Master,” The teslaguard managed to respond between hollow gasps.

Liet tried to pry her fingers from around his neck, but got zapped every time he touched her gauntlet. The woman let out a shriek of pain as electricity shot through her fingertips and into Liet’s body. Liet screamed as he struggled to remain conscious while the current coursed through his body. The woman’s glowing blue eyes burned into his mind as everything faded into darkness.