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Darkness in the Twilight	By : LunarCrystal Category: +. to F > Escaflowne Views: 1998 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Escaflowne, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Darkness in the Twilight

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

By Psycho Ferret and LunarCrystal

The Riots - Darkness

Everyone expected some
sort of uprising in the city. People were angry. They were hungry. The King
Aston had been falling further into age and grew senile and decrepit. It was a
strange day, indeed, when the captain of the guard summoned Asturia's Regiment
to block the gates to the palace, the twelve Knight's Caeli in front of the
line of guards, all with swords drawn and idle. The crowd was stirring. It was
a mighty crowd of commoners, with angry voices that shouted curses to the noble
knights. Rotten fruits and vegetables were thrown against their fine blue
uniforms, marring the leather and silk, but still they stood.

The attack had been expected, but not the
violence of it. Hundreds of people rushed to the closed iron gates at once,
pushing the knights in their struggle to gain the King's mercy. But if they
would not have his mercy, than they would have his death. The knights and the
guards were overwhelmed by people, all of whom held primitive weapons, clubs, pitchforks. Many knights were struck down, and the rest
needed to drag them behind the gates to safety. There was no peace here. The
crowd was relentless and fought against the gates as they closed behind the
last knight dragging his blond-haired comrade.

It would be hours before Celena heard any word
from her brother, having waited endlessly all day in their stuffy, boring
manor. She knew of his duty, but not of its severity. At first, she'd been
relieved to hear hoofbeats upon the cobblestone of
their court yard. She looked out the window and saw, instead of her brother
a-horse, a carriage was driven by Allen's second in command. She watched from
behind the dark curtains as he leapt hastily from the driver's seat, another
soldier stepping out of the carriage, before both men brought her brother out,
limp and bloodied in their arms. His beautiful uniform was sullied and stained
with his blood and smashed fruits.

Terrified, she ran to the door and threw it
open.

�What's happened?!� she called out to Gaddes.

Gaddes panted, the long, hard ride to get away from
the riot, as well as the anxiety itself, exhausting him. Yet another injury Allen had sustained and
again it had them all worried.

�Rather selfish of him to get himself injured
like that all over again.� Gaddes' words
were gruff, but tense. He was worried,
is obs obvious. The man with him helped
Gaddes shuffle the blonde inside, settling him on the first couch they
found. Later he would be taken away,
taken to his bedroom, but for now...

�The
people... they rioted. The knights, no
one could hold them back! They... we saw
it all, Miss Celena, all of it. We got
to him as fast as we could when we saw him fall and brought him back
here.�

Allen's
breathing was soft, shallow, his narrow chest rising and falling dangerously
beneath the stained cloth of his normally pristine uniform. There seemed to be blood everywhere, though
not all of it was his own. One of his fellow knights had fa ben beneath
a nasty blow that had left no one around him clean. Later, he would be mourned. Parts of the lovely uniform were torn,
revealing a few scattered scratches and smudges of dirt and blood and food
against the pale flesh beneath. Long
blonde hair had been streaked with blood and fruit, presumably when he'd fallen
beneath one or another's blows.

But
the worst of the wounds were the gashes at his eyes, a lucky strike someone had
made with a crude, but efficient, dirk.
d ald already beginning to dry smattered against the pale skin, making
the wound itself difficult to pick out.
And at his side, another lucky shot, a deep gouge made by something of a
pitchfork. Thankfully for Allen, the
wielder had been unskilled and had fallen off balance. /p>

Even
with his skill with a blade, his finesse and easy efficiency in battle, Allen
couldn't take on a mob. Especially not an angry, desperate, starving mob.

�This is madness!� cried Celena, mostly to
herself. She looked down at her brother in horror, her eyes daring over every
injury, every soil of his clothes. He would need a healer, but she supposed
there was none to be sustained at such a moment of turmoil in their fair port
city of Palas. Celena was no healer,
but she knew urgency - she knew her brother needed help, and needed to be eased
of his pain.

As
she loomed over his prone form, she looked to Gaddes. �We need to clean his
wounds.� she said desperately to the first officer. �How badly is he hurt?�

Gaddes shook his head slightly a little frown on
his lips. �We're not terribly sure. We haven't checked him out yet. We just wanted to get him away from there. It's bad enough that if we leave him alone,
he'll.... well, he'll get worse,� he finished quickly. He didn't want to say it in front of her and,
well... he didn't want to say it at all./spa/span>Allen was a respected man and the chance that they'd lose him... Gaddes
had experienced that enough to have his fill of it.

Sending
the other soldier off with directions through the manor he knew very well,
Gaddes sighed, resting his hands on his hips, staring down at Allen. Well, at least he was still breathing, no
matter how shallowly.

The
other man returned shortly with a bowl of cool water and a cloth he'd gotten
from one of the servants who'd huddled in the doorway, handing them off to
Gaddes, who knelt beside Alleis fis face drawn and worried. �Don't you cut out on me,� he whispered
softly, forcing the trembles out of his hands as he peeled off the coat and
shirt, setting the empty sword belt aside.
In r par panic, they'd left his blade.

He
could only hope it wouldn't be the one to slay the king... or any other
soldiers there.

Gaddes
sat back a moment to survey the damage, then carefully
went about cleaning the blood from Allen's skin with quiet proficiency, wary of
nudging the wounds. When it was done, he
sat back, frowning. �We'll need to
bandage him and send for a healer later.
There's not much we can do for him...�

Celena could only nod, as she was helpless to do
anything of value and had yet to find her niche in their high society of Asturia.
With her uncoous ous brother half-stripped down to his trousers, they were able
to clean the offending wounds. Gaddes pressed linen clothes to the puncture on
Allen's side, watching as they were quickly seeped with the knight's life blood
and had to press harder. Meanwhile, Celena tried to clean Allen's face.

It
was a horrible mess of crimson, now dry and matted with his hair on his face.
His eyes seemed to have taken the worse of the battle, rimmed in blood. Some
violent, crazed person had tried to press his eyes in, it seemed, gouging at
them and now -- oh, by the gods, she could only hope her dear, sweet brother
was not blinded by such a cruel act of madness.

�This
is madness,� she whispered again to herself, �What is happening in our country.
Our fair city is being devastated by rage and torment. All
because the populous have nothing to eat. Someone must speak of this to
the king! Surely he would have the power to end this . . . this anger!�

�We have tried, Miss Celena,� came Gaddes' quiet

Celena
had not let any maid touch her brother's precious uniform, and set to cleaning
it herself in their manor's laundry room. Gaddes and the other soldier, whom
she discovered wallealled Jasil, were staying to keep
an eye on things about the manor while their commander rested. Jasil was called away to the city later that day, but
Gaddes stubbornly stayed behind. Celena was hard at work, taking the blue
leather of the Caeli uniform and scrubbing at the stains with a hard brush.

Occasionally,
her eyes would drift to the door of the little crackled room, peering through
the hanging wet bed sheets, waiting for Gaddes to tell her that her brother was
awake so that she could tend to him. Her hands were wrinkled and sore from
cleaning, and she could have used Allen's waking as an excuse to break for the
day.

It was late afternoon when Gaddes shuffled out,
looking exhausted beyond belief, but relieved.
�He's semi-awake. He can
understand us, but he won't be much for fancy words, I'm afraid.� Even still, the hint of a grin on his lips
revealed that he had high hopes for the commander.

Allen
had tried to sit up, but Gaddes had gently forced him back down. Allen was grateful. It hurt to move, his entire body ached from
stress and healing. He's panicked at
first when he couldn't see, but Gaddes reassured him that he'd be fine, that it
was just bandages, that he was healing.
The blonde seemed satisfied with the answer. Stretched out on the spacious bed, with
Gaddes off to let Celena know of his awakening, Allen was left alone to ponder.

They
hadn't stood a chance. Against an angry
mob like that, even the most refined and disciplined group would have
failed. They had failed. But the king and his daughters were safe, in
the end, for now, and that was what mattered.

It
had been horrifying. Men and women he
had fought to save, faces he knew well... scrunched up in anger and hunger,
bearing down upon him like some ravenous beast.
They were such. Ravenous beasts,
starving, hungry and fed up with being treated like rabble. He'd heard one say he should have known
better.

Damn
it... he should have. He saw them as
they wasted away and he could do nothing.

Upon hearing the news, Celena, of course,
dropped everything and bounded up their old manor's stairs, her footsteps
making a racket on their hardwood floors. She flew to Allen's side and there
sat on his bed, gently, to take his searching hand and put it to her face.

�Dear
Allen.� she said tearfully, �Tell me how you're feeling. Are you still in pain,
my brother?�

Allen turned his bandaged head towards his
sister's approach, hearing the door softly shut as Gaddes left them to their
own. The blonde managed a weak little
smile, still tired. �Now
that you are near? Never.�

A lie, but how could he tell her that his body
and soul ached with pains he had not known before?

�You are too kind to me, Celena,� he murmured,
lifting his head in the slightest to give her an easier time changing the
bandages. Whether or not the light was
low, he could not see it, and once more he had to quell the panic that rose in
a flourish.

They
will heal and I will be fine. I must be
patient, is all.

His
wounds would not heal quickly he knew, if only from reference back to his
earlier injuries, and from the feel of them.
The burn of pain shivered through his nerves when he shifted and he was
forced to bite back a hiss of pain. No,
it would not do good to worry her more than she already was.

For several days after that, she had come to his
every pain and ache to soothe them and give him comfort. Tenderly, she cared
for his wounds, relieved that his side was scabbing and not deep. It seemed the
worst he had come out with was overwhelming exhaustion and shock. That is -
aside from the injury he'd sustained to his eyes. The gashes around them we
closing and did not bleed any longer.

It
was two weeks that Celena had decided to take off the bandages around his fair
head. She was, of course, filled with hope, unaware that he lied whenever she
asked him if his sight was any better for that day.

�How is it today?� she asked gently of him,
removing the last of the bandages. She was loathe to admit
that she would never be a good healer, and grew frustrated when there was no
healer to be found in their failing city.

He was lucky that the wounds were not as deep as
had originally been thought. However, he
did confide in Gaddes... his sight was not healing. But Gaddes refused to admit that it wouldn't
heal. The commander was untouchable , right?

�Better,�
he murmured. While still weak, he was
getting stronger. Soon enough he'd force
himself to be on his feet again. Allen
closed his eyes and felt for Celena's hand, clasping it lightly. �with many thanks to
you, Celena.�

She brought her hand up to her lips in
contemplation, holding his hand and gazing at him as he lay before her in his
night clothes. Something came over and she had to force her hand away from his
touch. Walking to the door, she said over her shoulder, her tone careful,
�Follow me to the bathing room then, brother, so that we may wash that
beautiful hair of yours.�

A test, then. Allen was up for the challenge and could only
hope that his legs would hold under him.
The blonde stood shakily, flashes of dizziness passing over him. Luckily, he knew his home well. One hand held out from his side slightly to
brush against the wall, to lead him as he walked. He could feel the burn of muscles unused for
weeks as they hurried to keep him moving and it was a reassurance. He most certainly wouldn't die, at least.

But
she had to know, now. He couldn't hide
it from her this way. Not if he had to
use the wall for guidance. It was a
subtle thing, however, and could be passed off as being weak, but he wasn't
sure she'd buy that. She wasn't stupid,
after all. But even still, he took the
chance, if only to keep up the ruse so she would worry less.

�You side still pains you,� she said soothingly,
but she did not move from the doorway. If anything, Celena moved further in the
hall, still thinking and calculating. She watched him with grim determination
and noted with a heavy heart that he did not open his eyes, those cornflower
orbs of which he claimed have been healed in those two weeks they'd spent
behind bandages.

�Slightly. Though more so the ache from ne'er moving
these past few weeks.� And his heart. His
heart ached, figuring out that he was blind, if only for a little while. But they had no healer to ease him, no one to
tell them how long it would take. Gaddes
was no medical expert and neither were the others that saw him. His head slightly bowed as he walked,
determined to get past this handicap, one hand braced against the wall as moved
towards her. Passing through the
doorway, he was relieved.

He
had moved this far, he could go the rest of the way, surely.

�Then open your healed eyes, brother,� she
finally said blatantly to him, �and see the happiness you bring me.� Celena
waited patiently, watching her brother, and smiled for him. Her eyes were
filled with worry, and her heart clenched as truth slowly began to etch into it
like a cruel artistic rendition of the pains of man. Even so, she would think
to herself, they would not let this beat them.

She
stood solidly in the hallway, her brother standing unsteadily next to her in
his night robe. Could he hear her heart beat furiously in her chest, she
wondered. Or feel it breaking as she witnessed his struggle?

She knew.
That was the first big hint of how much she'd known. But for how long, he couldn't tell. Shattered eyes opened, unseeing, turning his
head towards her voice. A struggle indeed.
Her knowing was as if he finally admitting it to himself. At least for now, this was a battle he could
not win.

He almost
fell right there in agony. How could
this happen? How, after all he had been
through, could he be beaten by such a thing?
Anger at himself surged to the surface. If he had paid more attention, surely he would
be safe and his sister would not be burdened with this pain.

�I'm sorry,� he murmured, bowing his head,
leaning against the wall. Sorry for
lying to her, sorry for causing her this pain in the first place. She didn'terveerve this, not after everything.

Celena nearly fell against him, her
smile gone, her brows furrowed with worry. Her hands cupped his face and she
bore her gaze deeply into his eyes.

�You can't see,� she concluded breathlessly,
�All this time you . . . Allen, you truly cannot see me?� But she knew that her
one last shred of hope had been lost with his soft apology, with his slumped
posture, with his expression of resignation and shame.

Allen miserably pulled his face out of her
grasp, turning his sightless gaze elsewhere.
He said nothing, leaning against the wall, his shoulders slumped. He had been defeated. That was all that mattered for the
moment. He had been defeated and he
hadn't been able to admit it until now.

The blonde slid down the wall until he was
sitting, bowing his head into his shaking hands. He couldn't see... gods,
he had committed sinful acts before, but was any of it enough for this? What had he done to deserve it?

Celena only had a heart to comfort her brother.
She ignored the tears that slid down her porcelain cheeks, and knelt by her
fallen Allen. Her hands reached out to stroke his dampened golden tendrils, but
they wanted to bring him to her bosom and hold him tights - as if by holding
him, it would bring back that most precious thing of which he'd lost. It was
still too soon to believe. She had hope in her heart that it would be just
temporary.

But two weeks is a long time, her heart cried
to her, a long time for something so horrible. And who knew but a healer on how
long this handicap would plague him.

�Allen, it's okay,� she found herself soothing
him, her er ver voice betrayed by the clench of tears, �We'll find you a
healer. It will come back. You'll see again, brother. You'll see . . .�

Allen shivered slightly, bowing his
head against her. He wanted to cry, but
he couldn't. He couldn't let himself.
Allen shook his head, his shoulder's quivering slightly.

�I can't... I can't see... I won't.... I won't
ever, will I?�

�No!� she insisted, �That's not true. It will
just take time.� She tried to bring him up to his feet, taking his clammy hands
into hers and gently pulling him. �Please, Allen. You need to bathe. I will
help you.�

Allen's shoulders were slumped, but the fight
had left him for now and he didn't argue, walking along with her, guided by
her. He was glad he had her there... he
wouldn't have been able to do all this on his own.

The moment came to undress him, and even
Celena's face burned with a heated blush as the last of Allen's robes slipped
off down his shoulders. The look on his face told her that he, too, was
embarrassed, but there was not much to be done. She fiercely tried to avert her
eyes from the parts the most definitely made him a man.

The bath had already been drawn, warm water
filled in a small wooden tub behind a decorative screen. Allen was so tall,
that his legs were drawn up nearly to his chest as he sat in the water. Celena
took a sponge and gently bathed him, talking to him softly so that she may calm
his fears. He wouldn't admit it, she knew, but Celena could tell that her
brother was scared of what he might face in his darkness.

�You wound, on your side, is closing up
nicely.� she said to him softly, �Soon we will bring a healer to you, and they
will tell us of your condition. Have no fear, I'll be
by your side to help you.�

�I can only hope that... that I'll be alright,�
he murmured softly, just the faintest tremble in his voice. �That... that I'll be able to see.� Allen shivered slightly, pushing his embarrassment
away. �I want to be able to see your
face again. After so long of not seeing
you...�

�Hush now,� she said softly. Her tone was so
grown up, like her brother's. Both Schezar children were young, Allen was only
23. Celena herself was barely 18. It took a certain amount of suffering to make
one act so wise and reserved. Although sometimes, too much
pain felt constricting.

�The king... he won't listen to us. We have spoken to him on such matter, but he
will do nothing. He neglects his
duties. We attribute it to the illness,
but we would say nothing.� Allen shook
his head slightly, sighing a bit.

�Perhaps he will die soon,� said Celena
bitterly, �It is a small price for what he has done to the people, to his
knights . . . to you, whom has served mostly loyally of all.�

�Celena... he has shown me kindness... I... I
cannot question his means of doing things.
I am simply a soldier, in the end, nothing more.�

�Kindness?� She was angry suddenly,
though she tried to retain the animosity she felt welling up inside of her.
�There is no kindness in this. You are more than a simple soldier. You are
Knight Caeli, one of only twelve in the royal regiment. By the gods, you are my
brother first! I would be damned if I could not protect you from harm, though a
soldier you may be. I love you more than they!�

Allen sighed softly. �I thank you for yoordsords, Celena... I... I
don�t know what I'd do if I lost you again.
You should be given more than what I can give you, and I'm sorry that I
cannot give you what you deserve...�

The Schezar siblings spoke nothing more of the
matter for the rest of the day. Once bathed and dressed simply in clean
trousers and a loose shirt, Allen took to his chambers to rest. Celena, of
course, hardly left his side, finding solace in reading to him or telling him
about her days spent with herself. She really only left him to fetch him a
meal. Oh, how her fragile heart broke when he needed to feel around the tray
just to find a biscuit. Or how he knocked over the glass of sweet fruit juice
as his hands fumbled.

He was a proud, respectable warrior - one of
the best swordsman in all of Gaea. Now, Allen was
reduced to being helpless and frail, and full of deep weary sorrow.
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Darkness in the Twilight