Her Eyes Were Green | By : Lady_Kae Category: +M through R > Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Views: 1451 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0 |
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters used from the game Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch. All characters and game related material are property of their respective owners and there is no money being made from this piece of fiction. |
Chapter 1: Arrival
Swaine was smiling ear to ear, though he couldn't tell you why. He had been having a fantastically lucky day, and had just gotten back from visiting Esther in Al Mamoon. The eldest of the porcine princes cleared a hilltop, making sure to be wary of any creatures that would attack and looked at the sight Hamelin made in the distance. Three years had passed since the defeat of Shadar and the White witch, and Swaine had since rejoined his his brother in Hamelin to help him govern the empire. It was home after all. He saw a blinding light not too far off and squinted. A scream met his ears and Swaine took off running in the direction he had heard it in and smirked in the growing darkness. Damsel in distress? Bingo.Calling forward his bone baron, Swaine intercepted the tinman's attention from the young woman who had been running his way. She tripped and fell face first into the rocky terrain, knocking her head hard on a stone jutting from the plains. " Keep her safe Sarge!" he ordered his familiar and it took up position over the unconscious woman. It didn't take long for him to dispatch the creature as it disappeared in a puff of smoke, and Swaine quickly joined his familiar at the young woman's side.
Pain. That was the only thing on her mind as her green eyes began opening to see the world around her. She had the strangest dream that she had seen some sort of monster and that instead of being at the site where the car had crashed, that she was on some sort of plainland peppered with rocks.
" Miss! Are you alright?!" came a worried voice that was shaking her shoulder in an attempt to wake her.
Swaine heard her groan as she started coming to and looked at her clothing. There was no way she was from these parts, much less this world at all. She could very well be from Oliver’s world! " Miss? Are you alright? You took a pretty nasty hit to the head when you tripped." Swaine said, gently turning her over but not sitting her up.
Wait...She tripped?! She had been running?! Her green eyes snapped open and looked around wildly, tears filling them in her dismay as nothing familiar came into view. Without warning, a pair of tawny eyes came into her direct line of vision and she shot backwards a few feet in order to put some distance between them. “ Where the hell am I?” she said, her eyes wide and fearful.
“ Easy there, miss. Nothing to worry about. You’re about an hour and a half away from the city gates of Hamelin, on the continent of Autumnia.” Swaine said slowly, getting her attention again. She had the most mesmerizing eyes. He had never seen them that color before. Swaine knew there was something about green eyes he should be remembering, but it wasn’t coming to the forefront of his mind at the moment. “ My name is Swaine. This here is my familiar Sarge, he won’t...Oh by the ancients! Will you please calm down?! He’s not going to attack you.” He had lost his temper a bit as the woman before him nearly screamed at the sight of his familiar.
The young woman was trying to scramble away further when her eyes fell on the bone baron and she went stock still at Swaine’s irate words. She wasn’t putting anything to chance. “ There is no such continent of Autumnia...Not where I’m from at least.” she finally said, drawing her knees to her chest. It was obvious she was very, very far from home. “ Looks like I’m not in Kansas anymore, Toto.” she murmured under her breath.
Swaine’s eyebrow arched curiously as he called his familiar back into his creature cage. “ Is that supposed to be some sort of expression where you’re from?” he asked, mirth evident in his voice. He stood up straight and looked over the plains towards town. With night falling around them, it wouldn’t be safe to cross right now, not with a second person in tow. They would have to wait until morning.
“ You could say that.” she replied, hurriedly wiping tears from her eyes. “ Either I’m dreaming this in a coma, or I died and this is some sick, twisted version of reincarnation.”
Swaine shook his head and took a seat on the ground by her. It was easy to see how confused she was. “ What’s your name?” he asked softly.
“ Amara...Amara Debrotane. And you said your name was Swaine right?” She looked to her right where he was sitting as she said this, getting a good look at him.
“ Right in one. I don’t want to pry, but what did you mean by what you said earlier?” Swaine asked. He felt ashamed that he had the moment Amara’s green eyes dulled in her pain.
Amara’s head slowly bowed down as she kept going over the events she could remember before her sudden arrival here, wherever here was at least. “ My boyfriend had taken me on a date and was driving me home. It didn’t help matters I caught him getting some other girl’s number, and we were bickering as he was driving.” Amara’s eyes narrowed as she recalled the names he had called her and how everything that had happened that night was her fault. “ He started acting like an ass, makes me wonder what I saw in him anyways, but he got really pissed at me and wasn’t watching the road. We hit a semi head on...I can remember staring into the headlights, seeing every little detail on the bulb...I remember a flash of blue light and then presto, I’m here.”
Swaine looked confused at a few of the terms she used. “ I need you to bear with me a moment. What’s a boyfriend and a date is any given day. Why would...”
It was Amara’s turn to raise her brow curiously. Oh definitely not in Kansas anymore...she thought and she stood up as she started pacing. “ Okay...A boyfriend is a girl’s special friend and....” Amara could see that she had lost Swaine here. “ Let’s go about this differently. What would you call it when a man is pursuing a woman in hopes of getting to know her?”
Swaine’s eyes widened in understanding. “ He was courting you then.”
Amara thought a moment. Okay. I’ve landed my ass in some old english countryside? What the hell happened to me? she thought. I have to be dead. There’s no other explanation. “ Okay! Awesome! Justin was courting me, and not doing a very good job of it. He’s been such a ass as of late anyways.”
Swaine winced. “ He was pressing for more, wasn’t he.” It was more of a statement than a question as Swaine looked at her knowingly.
Amara nodded and sat back down miserably. He was more than likely dead too. Amara felt more tears sting her eyes at this thought. As much of an ass Justin had been acting as of late, Amara had liked him. He just didn’t like the fact that she was very old fashioned in her ways. He had been pushing her out of her comfort zone as it was as of late anyways. Using both hands to wipe her tears away, she felt a tentative hand on her shoulder rubbing up and down and Amara looked over at Swaine. He wasn’t quite looking at her, but it was a friendly gesture that made her smile a little. “ Thank you.”
The corner of Swaine’s mouth kicked up a little in a half smile. “ No problem.” he replied. “ I’ll keep watch. We won’t be able to move until morning. You see those lights over there?” Swaine pointed to the little balls of eerie yellow light that could be seen littering the plains as they free floated wherever they pleased.
“ What are those?” Amara said, squinting. Curiosity was a natural quirk of Amara’s. The matron of the orphanage she had lived in had told her more than once it would get her killed like a cat one day.
“ Those are bougies. They’re a type of creature here that we can tame to be a familiar and to fight for us if we have need of them too. They’ll easily attack you as you’re defenseless. They know better than to attack me however.” her new found companion said confidently.
Amara thought about this for a moment and she shook her head at the thought that came to mind. “ Almost like pokemon, sans pokeballs.” she said under her breath.
“ What?” Swaine asked her, confused as to what he had heard.
Amara waved him off, and shook her head. “ Nothing. Geek reference at best. You probably wouldn’t understand.” Time to lay off your lingo, Amara. You’re in an entirely different place now. One thing's for certain, I’m going to miss the sunrise over the Atlantic...she thought miserably. Amara had lived in a little town outside of Daytona, Florida. She had never really had the heart to go too far from the city in which she had been found and raised in.
Swaine shrugged and stood up. “ I’m going to leave Sarge here with you while I go to get some firewood. You look like you’re getting cold.”
Amara nodded and watched Swaine summon back the critter. It was as if he had come straight from his heart. Despite the odd surroundings, Amara was curious nature came back to the fore and she resolved that she would have to ask Swaine how he did that when he got back.
“ I won’t be gone long. Sarge. Don’t let anything near her. She has no way of protecting herself here.” Swaine said, kneeling in front of his familiar. Sarge nodded and Swaine rubbed his familiar’s head affectionately. He didn’t see the look on Amara’s face as he stood and turned around. “ I’ll be back soon Amara. You’re in good hands.”
Amara nodded numbly. Not this again, she mused to herself. Swaine walked off and Sarge turned toward her.
So! You’re a pretty lady. Need a big strong guy like me to protect you huh? Well like my master said, you’re in good han...er Claws! Nothing’s going to sneak up on you on my watch. Sarge said confidently, his golden eyes quite animated as he looked over to Amara.
“ You can talk...” Amara deadpanned, her green eyes locked onto the familiar in front of her.
Not really, but you can understand me! I have to admit it’s nice to be able talk to someone for once. Are you a witch? Only magic users can use Nature’s tongue to hear us. Sarge sat in front of her with his head cocked to the side curiously.
“ Magic? No. I don’t believe in such nonsense! There’s no such thing.” Amara said seriously, shaking her head. Okay, she could believe in familiars, that was fairly obvious, but magic? Pfft. It would take a bona fide miracle for Amara to believe in such a thing.
If Sarge could visibly smile, he would be grinning ear to ear. Oh really? How do you explain you being able to talk to me then? And you best be believing, I might add. Magic abounds here. It’s in the air, water, and earth...Everything is tied to it in some way or another. Sarge retorted, his tone obviously amused. He didn’t get a chance to talk like this to anyone except the other familiars in Swaine’s creature cage. It was rather refreshing really.
Amara face palmed. “ I’m a freak of nature. I’ve always been able to understand animals. It’s also the reason I never had any pets.” Amara said, groaning. She shivered against the chill night air and Sarge sat closer to her. Despite appearances, he was actually quite warm. “ Just do me a favor and don’t talk to me when Swaine gets back. This is one thing that I don’t want getting around that I can do.”
Sarge shrugged. If you insist, but I know for a fact he would think that your talent is quite amazing really. He’s not a bad sort either you know...Sarge began, his meaning unmistakable.
“ You’re a skeleton, not cupid, Sarge.” Amara hissed at the bone baron as Swaine started coming back up. It was obvious the familiar was quite taken with her.
Sarge quickly went to his master excitedly, and while Amara could understand every word, Swaine chuckled as his familiar squeaked and chattered. “ He’s quite taken with you already, surprising really. Sarge is one of my most stubborn familiars next to Rowdy.” Swaine said, setting the wood down and arranging it. Looking to Sarge, the familiar nodded and lit the fire using one of his abilities.
Amara jumped visibly at this display and shook her head. There was quite a lot to learn about this place.
Swaine shrugged off his jacket and handed it to Amara. “ Get some rest. I’ll keep watch and we’ll leave for the town over there at first light.” he said. What had been nagging at the back of his mind had finally come to the fore and he was struggling a bit with himself.
Amara gave Swaine a soft smile. “ Thank you for the kindness you’ve shown me tonight...” she said, looking away as she folded the coat to use it as a pillow. She noted that it smelled like sandalwood. Amara had a deep fondness for the scent herself. It made her heart feel at ease, though she couldn’t tell anyone why. It may have been a memory from a past she couldn’t remember.
Swaine smiled despite himself. It’s not possible...I watched her appear here...he thought to himself as his face fell a bit. “ You’re welcome Amara.” he replied softly as she laid down with her back to the fire. His brown eyes settled on the flames before him and he pulled out a sandwich from his bag.
That little tidbit about her eyes had come to him as Swaine was gathering firewood. There were only one type of people with green or silver eyes in this world, and they were trapped behind the mists to the east for a reason. Swaine’s eyes took in the war torn countryside and he shook his head. He could only hope his charge wasn’t one of them. It just had to be coincidence.
Marcassin was sitting in his study when he heard an all too familiar knock at the door. “ Enter!”“ Well hello to you too, little brother.” Swaine said with a smirk as he and Amara entered the room.
Marcassin smiled and stood to greet them. “ Who’s your lady friend here, Gascon? You’re back a full week ahead of schedule.” Marcassin asked. Her garb was definitely strange. Was she from Oliver’s world?
“ Gascon?” Amara said under her breath, chuckling a little.
Swaine shot her a glare and turned back to his brother. “ This is Amara Debrotane. I think she’s from the same world as Oliver is, but not the same time if that makes any sense. While the clothing is similar, it’s not what women wear in Motorville.” Swaine said. He had been doing a lot of thinking about this all night as he kept vigil to allow the woman beside him to sleep. “ Amara, this is my younger brother Marcassin, prince of Hamelin.”
They’re princes? Girl, what the hell have you gotten yourself into now. Amara thought dismayed. “ Your highness, it’s a pleasure.” she said, curtsying a little clumsily.
Marcassin circled Amara appraisingly and had to hold his surprise when he saw the color of her eyes. He shot his brother a glare and moved to his desk. “ I’m going to need to speak to my brother alone. I’ll have one of the chambermaids escort you to a room where you’ll be able to rest and a change of clothes can be provided.” he said, his tone not allowing opposition from his brother. “ If you would like something to eat as well, that can be arranged.”
Amara nodded and was guided from the room by one of the servants shortly afterwards.
The minute the door was closed and Amara out of earshot, Marcassin turned his steely gaze on his brother. “ She is not staying here, Gascon.” he hissed.
“ I know what you’re getting at, but I’m telling you. There is no way in hell that she’s one of them.” Swaine replied. “ I’ve been doing a lot of thinking on it myself you know. I watched her appear in our world, Marcassin. She must be someone’s soulmate over here or something.”
“ Then how is it we see her then?! You know how that works! They can’t see us in the other world, and if they were to come here, we probably wouldn’t be able to see them. Didn’t you see what was on her hands either?! Two twin wooden bands sitting on her middle fingers.” Marcassin protested, his tone beyond serious at this point.
Swaine shook his head. “ No I didn’t see them. It has to be coincidence Marcassin. There’s no way she’s evestan.” he said softly.
“ She’s not staying here and that’s final Gascon. I won’t chance it. You know as well as I do that the mists will part if there’s an evestan on this side of the veil. I’ll transport her to Ding Dong Dell, but she’s on her own from there.” Marcassin replied. He saw the look in his brother’s eyes and began shaking his head. “ Don’t even think of it, Gascon. Would you honestly throw away everything that you have here for some stranger?”
Swaine’s mind was already made up. “ And leave her blind and broke? I don’t think so. She won’t let on about it, but she’s terrified. She has no means of protecting herself from any of the creatures here. I’m telling you, there’s no chance she’s evestan. It has to be a coincidence that she has green eyes.” Swaine countered. He had the perfect place to take her to as well until she was ready to take care of herself.
“ Evestans are our mortal enemy! Did you forget what they’ve done to our country?!” Marcassin shouted, his eyes narrowed on his brother. “ Did you forget what they did to our family?”
Swaine shook his head and pointed a finger at his brother warningly. “ You weren’t old enough to remember what happened! The only reason the war happened to begin with was because the king’s brother overthrew him after killing him and then blamed us for the disappearance of their princess. I was there, Marcassin. That was his declaration of war on us, not the king’s. They used to be our allies, Marcassin.” Swaine replied hotly, his tone raising to a near shout to match his brother’s.
Marcassin shook his head. “ I will not house an Evestan here. I’ll give you three days to get the two of you prepared to go, and I’ll have the tailor summoned to make some clothing for her, but that is all she will get from me. I won’t tell you I told you so when all this goes south, Gascon.” Marcassin’s voice was barely a whisper as he spoke.
“ It won’t. I’ll gather my things and let you know when we’re ready.” Swaine shot back. They hadn’t gotten into it like this in a long while. He found out the room Amara had been taken to and knocked on the door, waiting for an answer.
Amara jumped when she heard the knock and chided herself for being so jumpy. She walked to the door to answer and allowed Swaine into the room. “ Is everything alright?” she asked, her green eyes leveled on him worriedly at the bleak look on his face.Swaine’s eyes quickly roamed over as he took in her change of dress. She was wearing a sage green dress with a brown vest laced up the front, and her feet were in matching slippers. Her hair had been brushed and braided, the long locks of her face pinned back. If he thought she had been striking before, she certainly looked it now.
“ Marcassin won’t allow you to stay here. There’s a lot to explain and I don’t know where to begin to be honest.” Swaine said, taking one of the chairs in front of the fireplace. “ I guess there’s only one place to begin at. When I was four or five, my father and I used to travel back and forth together to a country to the east known as Evesta....”
Nineteen years before:Six year old Gascon looked excitedly around as he and his father walked into the grand hall of the Evestan palace. His father had brought him along to play with the king’s daughter while the adults spoke, and Gascon looked up at his father expectantly. They had just finished a project together a few weeks ago and the emperor smiled down at his oldest son.“ I want you to make sure that the princess gets these, Gascon. It’s her birthday today after all.”
Gascon smiled brightly and nodded as he took the box from his father. He couldn’t wait to see the look on her face when she saw them. “ Yes father.” Gascon replied dutifully. His brown eyes sparkled when he saw the young princess standing beside her father and she looked up uncertain at her father. This was their first time meeting after all. Gascon took the lead and walked up to them, bowing politely. “ Happy birthday, Princess.” he said politely, holding the box out to her.
The young girl turned her bright green eyes on him and smiled. “ Thank you.” she said bashfully, taking the gift from him. “ May I open it now, father?”
Her father smiled and nodded. “ I don’t see why not. Is that alright with you, old friend?”
The emperor chuckled. “ Of course it is, Percivical. Why don’t we let the children be and step off to the side to talk.”
The young princess gave an excited squeal when she saw two highly polished wooden bands sitting in the box, both engraved with runes and the runes lined with truesilver. “ My first wand!”
Gascon smiled. “ Father explained how your wand is separated into two pieces, one for attack magic, and one for healing, but it still counts as a single wand. The design is fascinating.” he said, trying to strike up conversation. “ In fact, I did the runes on the left wand. I put my initials in the band too, just so you know who helped make them.” He smiled proudly here as he pointed out the tiny ‘GM’ engraved into the inside of the ring. “ I’m Gascon by the way.”
“ Thank you.” the young princess replied. She quickly slide them on and cast a basic spell to test them out. “ Brilliant!” She looked up at him dismayed as she had yet to introduce herself. “ I’m...”
The young princess was interrupted as a series of gunshots rang out and the king fell to the ground dead, the emperor recoiling in horror as the king’s brother turned the gun on him. “ FATHER!” she screamed, running over to the fallen king.
She didn’t even make it over completely when the king’s brother cast a spell and the little girl gave a short scream as she disappeared.
Gascon’s eyes were wide in disbelief at what he was witnessing, and the emperor quickly scooped him up. The princess’ rush to her father’s side had proven enough of a distraction for the emperor to put some distance between himself and the madman.
“ Magnus! What is the meaning of this?” the emperor demanded.
“ I could ask you the same thing, your majesty. Turning on your allies of twenty years like so. What wizardry have you done to our young princess, my darling niece?” he said, his tone saccharine. “ Who do you think the council will believe? I’ll have them eating out of the palm of my hand, Vigo. Prepare yourselves for war.”
Swaine paused for a moment when a knock sounded at the door. Striding over to it, he opened the door to reveal their lunch. Had he really been talking that long?Amara was sitting at the very edge of her seat and had been fiddling with her rings the entire time in her nervousness. “ What happened next?” she asked him as the chambermaid placed the tray down between them.
Swaine sighed as his eyes looked into the fire unseeing. It was clear to see he was recalling something he would rather leave buried and gone. “ All out war. My father tried to appeal to the evestan council, but he didn’t have much luck with it. They were all aligned with the king’s brother from the very start, we came to learn, and they had been planning on invading our shores for several years behind the king’s back. One of the charges the evestan’s made proved disastrous to us here in Hamelin. My father had left to deal with another rising menace, leaving me here with my mother, and Marcassin, who was only two at the time. My mother fought valiantly, but was killed in battle before my very eyes. I never forgave myself for it either.” Swaine whispered this last part. He had also taken his first life that day, more than one actually. He had only been seven years old. The few evestan soldiers that had lived dubbed him the Emperor’s Demon Child his rage had been so great for his young age. “ My father’s return drove the evestans back and he cast an enchantment from there to end to war for now. The mists over the ocean to the east would forever keep the evestans to their continent, and the only way the enchantment would break is if an evestan ever found themselves over on this side of the mist.”
Amara set her plate back down on the tray. “ What does this have to do with me staying here?” she asked, her brow furrowed.
“ The only people with green or silver eyes hail from Evesta, Amara.” Swaine said, his eyes downcast.
Amara’s eyes went wide in understanding. “ He thinks that I’m an...How? I don’t even know how I got here to begin with! I don’t believe in magic for starters, and this whole thing with familiars has me confused too. Where do they go when you don’t need them?”
Swaine smirked and drew out his creature cage. “ To answer that, I can keep up to three familiars in here. This is where I summon them from and send them back to.” Swaine began. “ Back to the topic at hand, I watched you appear, Amara. I told him as such, but he’s got it in his head that you may be an evestan. I personally believe it’s only coincidence. He’s giving me three days to get everything we’ll need and then he’ll be taking us to Ding Dong Dell, one of the other kingdoms here in this world.”
Amara visibly deflated. “ I’ll be on my own then.” she whispered. She sank into the chair as her face fell in an effort to hide the tears she could feel forming in her eyes. Amara wouldn’t last the year more than likely.
Swaine leaned over and placed a hand over hers to get her attention. “ No you won’t. I’ve already told my brother that I will not leave you to fend for yourself. From Ding Dong Dell, we’ll be headed for a cottage I built on an island off the western coasts of the summerlands. It’ll be a week or two worth of hoofing it however. The safest route there is through the Go...” Swaine could see that he had lost her here as he began explaining their route. “ I’ll be right back with a map...”
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