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Chapter 77
by Shell97
Mikan rested her head against the stranger’s chest. In her heart she could tell that his intentions were good. But what would Kuri think when he came back and she was gone? Mikan could only hope that he wouldn’t worry too much.
The stranger’ s gruff voice cut into her thoughts. “Are you tired, Mikan?”
Mikan shook her head. “No, Mr. Victor. I’m just worried about my brother.”
The Cleaner felt a stab of pain in his conscience, but he told the lie anyway. “I’m sure that he’s fine.”
The pain grew sharper as the little girl smiled up at him. “I know. I’m just worried about what he’ll think when he comes back and I’m not there.”
It was incredible to Victor, the faith that this little girl had in her brother. He could only wonder if Corrina would have felt the same for him. “We’ll find him, so please don’t worry about that.”
Mikan’s smile grew wider. Her head fell back against Victor’s chest and she mummered a faint “thank you” before drifting off in his arms. A sense of purpose pervaded the Cleaner’s soul now. Nothing would stop him from getting out and taking this single girl to safety--nothing.
There was pain, so much pain, where Kuri was now. His entire body ached with it, so much so that no one pain stood out. But through all that pain, he could hear voices. Desperate for a distraction from the pain he latched on to one.
“Have you got him?”
Kuri suddenly felt his broken body lift.
“Yes.”
“Then let’s get out of here.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice.”
The smart-aleck remark made Kuri smile. The pain let up a little, enough to allow him to open his eyes. The figures before him were blurry, but he thought he could see Miss Anika’s bright golden hair in front of him. Kuri took a chance and opened his mouth to speak.
Anika closed her eyes as she walked back into the reactor room. She wasn’t sure if she could keep it all together. In the span of a day she had lost her mentor, her soul mate, and her comrade. A sense of determination rushed< br> through her--she wouldn’t lose anyone else. That meant that she needed to use her wits and all of her skills to get this little ragtag band out of here, and she needed to get medical attention for Kuri and Phoenix. But where the hell could she find a doctor in the hell Dalasius had created?
The room was just as they left it mere moments ago. There were no outward signs of the devastating and deadly radiation that Dalasius had unleashed. The room was still, as if it was waiting for something momentous. Anika couldn’t even feel the movement of the air that circulated throughout the building.
Everyone in the little cluster of survivors stood in silence for a moment. The stillness of the reactor room gave it an eerie quality that wasn’t easily shaken off.
But it was shaken off when Talehn and Byrce moved to pick up Kuri and Phoenix. Anika heard the tail end of Talehn’s sarcastic remark to Byrce. Who would have thought the technician had a mouth on him? She stifled a giggle and started to walk forward again.
“Miss Anika?”
The small, weak voice stopped her in her tracks. She turned around quickly and made her way to it. “Yes Kuri? ”
“Mikan…”
“What about her, Kuri?”
“She’s here.”
Anika smoothed his hair back from his forehead. “We’ll find her.”
“The gardens are ruined. ”
“Don’t worry,” Ran told the blue-eyed girl at his side.
“They’ll be replanted. It’s going to look better than ever.”
“How could he… How?” she questioned as she stood surveying the muddy chaos that had once been the pride of the Astrological School.
Ran gently laced his fingers with hers as he pondered her question. “I don’t know, Mari. All I know is that he’s not the same Dal we used to know. ” He recalled the wild look in Dal’s eyes the night he revealed his secret to them. “I wish he hadn’t chosen to be a necromancer! ”
Mari shook her head. “What’s done is done. At least we killed off the last of those monsters.”
Wanting to get her mind off of the terrible fighting that occurred the night before, Ran asked, “do you think the Governmental Council will disband Dal’s school?”
That’s what Dad said.”
“I wonder what’ll happen to Dal?”
“I don’t know, Ranni. And even though it sounds heartless… I don’t even care! He’s dead to me now.” A sob escaped her throat as she wept into his chest.
Ran reached down and stroked Mari’s soft brown hair. “You’re anything but heartless, Marionia. ”
“Thanks, Ran,” she said as she tilted her head up to meet his gaze.
The air seemed to strain around the couple as they stared into each other’s eyes. Finally Ran bent his head and touched his lips to hers. For a moment, time stood still and the ruined school around them disappeared.
Then with a casually uttered statement it all came rushing back. “I see that you move fast, Ranni.”
Ran turned quickly, alerted by the horror in Mari’s bright blue eyes. “Dalasius.” He motioned for Mari to get behind him. “Why are you here?”
The necromancer disappeared before his startled eyes. Behind him Mari shrieked once.
Dalasius rematerialized in front of Ran, cradling Mari’s unconscious body. “I came to claim what’s mine.”
“You're crazy. Put her down.”
Dalasius’ wild laughter dumbfounded Ran. “She’s always been mine. Goodbye, old friend.”
Ran rushed forward but they vanished, leaving no trace of their presence, leaving no trace of the tender moment he had just shared with the woman he had come to love.
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