Chapter Three: Evening the Odds

"Who knows what true loneliness is - not the conventional word but the naked terror? To the lonely themselves it wears a mask. The most miserable outcast hugs some memory or some illusion."

-Joseph Conrad

The forests were beautiful but with all the insects of the summertime Estelle was a bit relieved when the walk had led them into the plains. So far her plan to use the travel time to Halure to get personal information from her unsuspecting savior had been failing. He kept a fairly quick pace that made it difficult to have a normal conversation - not aided by the fact that she was getting easily winded thanks to her recent injuries.

They had stopped to rest very few times and she didn't want to complain or slow him down so she just followed along, using most of her free breath to mutter curses about the mosquito's that were plaguing them. Though she had given up on tugging up the large clothing she'd been forced to borrow and instead was just holding her pants up the whole day while they walked.

She was relieved when they stepped onto the windy plains, the less vegetation would mean less bugs to bother them both, with the sun starting to set in the distance it seemed like they would be camping out about a half-mile from where they'd left the woods.

Duke went about preparing a camp site with the supplies he'd carried with, leaving Estelle with little to do but start the fire and watch him set up the scent barrier that would ward off monsters for a time. He was still so serious, crimson eyes always forward and concentrating on the task at hand…no nonsense.

"Are you a soldier?" Estelle had gotten enough of her breath back that she got right back to her desire to learn more about the pale man near her. "You have these uniforms…but you live in the woods alone."

He paused at that, blinking and glancing over to her for a short shocked moment before returning to the task at hand. He needed to take a moment to remind himself that she'd lost her memory. "I was a soldier once but I am not anymore. I just keep this sword to defend myself or my home should the need arise."

She nodded a little, watching him return to his preparations and pulling her overlarge sleeves up so she could use her hands to dig the rations from the backpack. "Did you work for the empire?"

"No." He kept his replies short and precise.

"Who were you a soldier for?" She pressed, popping a couple dried berries in her mouth as she continued to watch the albino like man.

"I'm not sure what you remember." He spoke as he turned back toward her once he finished setting the barrier up and moved closer. "It is complicated but once the war was finally resolved I came here to have time away from humanity."

"Why?" She canted her head innocently, light blue locks falling across her cheeks and onto her forehead. Completely unaware that the topic she'd chosen was one of his most difficult.

"I don't trust humanity." He replied, his voice getting more and more distance and cooler with the answer to each question. He seated himself not far from her and didn't meet her naïve gaze as he reached to get a few of the rations himself.

When he touched Estelle's hand instead he couldn't help but glance over, a spark of energy seeming to flow through him at the contact…the soft smile on her face kept him watching her in return. She didn't seem to have experienced the same instance of power he had felt by her expression.

"I'm sorry that you feel that way." The sentiment was followed by a gentle squeeze of his hand. "We can talk about something else if you'd like."

"Is this part of what it means to be the Child of the Full Moon? Her powers originally manifested themselves in the ability to heal…" He thought as he slowly nodded in reply, glancing away from her trusting face and toward the fire. "Yes, I think that would be best."

"Sure." She chimed, glancing outward toward the west, the sunset casting a watercolor spectrum of oranges, burgundy, mauve, gold, and other autumn colors across the horizon. The deepening red before it bled into a deeper plum somehow reminded her of the detached crimson eyes of her rescuer. "You don't have to answer my questions but…do you get lonely out there by yourself?"

"It's not something I dwell on." He answered quietly, the conversation was a nice reprieve from the forest creatures he normally kept company with. "I enjoy the friends I do have there. It is a simple life but I am content for the first time in a while with my life there."

"I'm glad I got to meet you…even if the circumstances should probably bother me more than they do." She said, closing her eyes as a gust of wind curled through her hair, and caressed her face. "I suppose it's not the first time I've met you either but I'm still glad if I had to be saved by someone that it was you."

Duke found that his eyes had slipped back to the younger woman that was enjoying such a simple piece of nature. It was still a little bizarre that her hair had changed from the pink it had been to the gentle sapphire it was now. Even though her green eyes were closed he could picture those innocent jade orbs easily enough the way they'd stared at him so much over the past two days. She was what most would consider adorable the way she fit into his uniform - or failed to fit would be the better description.

Her kind attitude hadn't changed at all with the loss of her memory, though her observation that she was taking it in stride was something he had to agree with. He had no previous experience with amnesia but he assumed people would react with more panic than she had thus far. He rubbed his arm with the tattoo through the fabric, he'd yet to bring it up for the very purpose of not frightening her but he knew that the subject was not something that could be avoided for too much longer. He couldn't simply leave her somewhere, even Halure, without some sort of answer to this enigma.

"I suppose I should enjoy this lull while it's here. I imagine that once we do catch up with her companions they will be less than pleased with this change in situation." He thought to himself as he considered the past two days and the girl that had literally fallen into his life.

"Would you mind if after I figure out what's wrong and get my memory back if I visited you again sometime?" The question caught him off-guard, something this young lady seemed to be good at doing to him. He found that she had begun watching him again while he'd gotten lost in thought.

He shook his head lightly and smiled. "I would not mind that lady Estelle. Though we should worry about fixing your memory before thinking that far ahead. It's getting late and we'll want to set out early…you should go ahead and get some rest…I'll keep watch for a while."

"Are you going to sleep?" The concern inherit in that inquiry would have been endearing for most. Duke did his best not to really think too deeply on the actions of his temporary ward.

"I will…but in a while. You seemed to have a difficult time today…go ahead and try to get some sleep." He replied without looking back at her, still considering the dancing orange flames warding off the growing darkness.

"Okay." She finally agreed, that was a fact she couldn't possibly argue with. Her body ached from all the walking after the near-death fall she'd taken. She laid down on the grass and folded the too long sleeves under her head before closing her eyes. The ground still wasn't comfortable but her exhaustion was catching up so fast she didn't really have much time to think about it before passing out.

Her protector meanwhile had taken the chance in her slumber to look back over the tattoo that she'd left him with unawares. It was definitely akin to a formula similar to that he had planned to use on the Adephegos but now that he had more time to look at it in detail he noted that there were minor differences in the ways it were written that made him think it wasn't made to work with aer directly…perhaps it was something that could deal with the more diffused version that had been called mana, though he wasn't nearly enough of an expert to know for certain.

One thing he was certain of was that it would tie him to Estelle until he could figure out a way to rid himself of the circular blue drawing etched into his flesh. By his own decision if nothing else mystical was involved…it didn't seem to be any sort of active spell now that she wasn't injured like before but he wasn't about to ignore the spark of energy that had teased his hand and danced along his arm when he'd brushed her earlier…

"I just wonder what else you'll stir up in my life…just when I'd finally gotten content with things…" He thought idly as he laid on the other side of the dying embers of the fire to get some rest himself before they continued the trek tomorrow.

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Pink.

It was the best first word to describe halure.

Millions of the gentle salmon petals permeated the blossom scented air and frosted the ground of the city built into the base of the hill where the monstrous tree that was the cities livelihood. Almost as if a constant rain of pink petals blessed the village, frosting every possible surface in a cherry pastel.

Estelle was at the entryway to the small town gaping up at the massive tree that held miles of the surrounding area protectively under it's branches. She had her head all the way back as she tried to take in as much of the great reach of it's limbs as she could, leaning so far that she started to backward from a combination of the odd stance and a sudden lightheadedness that came with the uncommon posture.

Before she fell onto her behind an arm was holding her up steadily, giving her the moment to regain her balance and saving her from the embarrassing fall. She glanced toward the taller albino man and smiled at him sheepishly.

"Thanks." She looked right back to the tree when he didn't even look back at her. "It's just so breathtaking…I never imagined it would be this beautiful or huge."

"It is a unique creature." Duke agreed, taking his arm back from around her when she didn't seem like she was going to trip any longer. "She really doesn't remember Halure, or saving the tree…which means I'll need to stay nearby until she regains her memory. It's the only chance I have of learning what this brand means."

He sighed gently, glancing up to the tree to share a part of her wonder for it's beauty…though the sweet moments never seem to last as he found himself slapped by a petite angry brunette girl with goggles in her hair. Her makeshift, patchy outfit he'd always found a little bizarre but now he let a ivory brow raise at the unprovoked attack, irritated but not ready to start a fight at the entrance to the city just yet.

"You…should have known you would be involved!" Rita snapped irritably, hands moving to her hips as she started to chew out the taller man. "You have some nerve having Estelle with you and not trying to find us sooner! We have all been worried sick about her…hey Estelle are you okay? This guy didn't try anything inappropriate with you did he?"

Estelle was blinking in surprise at the scene that had just played out in front of her and the strange girl yelling at her companion. She didn't notice the slight twitch on Duke's face after the assault. "I'm sorry…I know you? Are you one of the people I normally travel with?"

That question left Rita sputtering for a short moment before she managed to form a response, turning more frustration Duke's way, barely inches away from him when she started speaking again. "What did you do to Estelle?! What's wrong with her? Oh, I never liked you!"

"Lady Estelle fell from the sky near my home." Duke answered in a deadpan tone, starting to get irritated with the brown-haired teenager. "She has amnesia, she didn't remember me when she woke and I brought her here figuring we could find one of the group that used to travel with her."

"Your home?" Rita blinked in a moment of confusion, she had never known where he lived but had never thought it would be near Halure. "Wait…she only fell from the ship a few days ago…why isn't she still injured? And why is her hair blue? What did you do?"

"Um…" Estelle broke in, sensing that vocal arguments weren't going to be the only thing happening if she didn't diffuse the situation. "Maybe we should find somewhere else to talk about this? I think we're scaring people."

The travelers and merchants coming in and out of the city were indeed taking a wide berth around the trio, though some of them were simply because they were aware of who Rita was and didn't want to be nearby when she was so angry.

"Fine." Rita agreed after a moment, folding her arms across her chest. "Karol is at the inn and will want to see that you're okay anyway. We can talk there…just don't try anything you!"

She pointed dramatically at Duke and turned sharply around, the long pieces of cloth on her sleeves snapping in the air at her quick movement. Leaving the pair behind her to watch her start walking off. Estelle leaned over to Duke, standing up on her toes a little more to whisper to him. "Is she really one of the people I travel with all the time? She seems really angry."

"Yes, though I think she is often like this." Duke replied with a shrug. "We had better be after her before she gets more unreasonable."

Estelle nodded lightly, starting to walk with the albino man and seeming to think about things. "Is Karol another one of my previous companions? She said he'd be worried."

"Yes, I believe he was a younger timid boy." Duke explained to her as best he could. He didn't know much about her companions but at the moment a little was infinitely more than nothing. "I am surprised that the others aren't here as well but they might have split up to search for you."

"Oh." It was all she could say, trying to remember but finding her brain wouldn't allow her to concentrate. She walked along and followed them into a piece of one of the great tree's roots that had been carved out to make the inn. It even smelled of freshly cut wood and had a homey feel to it, she would have looked around more if she wasn't distracted by her thoughts. Once they entered the room where Rita and Karol were staying the boy leaped over and hugged her.

"Estelle, I didn't know if you were okay after you fell off the ship!" Karol exclaimed, his eyes red from where he'd been crying. "What happened to you?"

She offered the boy a hug back and patted his shoulder awkwardly, she didn't remember him but if he was so concerned about her she must have known him before. "I…well…it's hard to say."

He sniffled and backed up, rubbing his nose and looking at her then over to Rita and back to her. "Why is your hair blue?"

"She has amnesia Karol, and before you ask it means she can't remember who she is and doesn't know who we are." Rita explained insultingly. "Duke here found her near wherever he lives, which must be near the Quoi Woods judging from when she fell off the ship. She doesn't know who we are and obviously didn't know who Duke was if she's traveling with him now. Do you remember anything Estelle?"

"No." She shook her head, robin egg blue locks shifting with the motion. "And what's the matter with Duke? He's been very kind to me, he healed me when I was injured."

"What do you mean?" Rita was back on the warpath, jumping up from her seat on one of the beds and heading back over toward the white-haired man. "Are you the one going around trying to tell people you can set back up the barriers?"

End Chapter

I like to write for these two. I'm such a fan girl of guys with silver hair and red eyes - something about the combination is just dead sexy. Is that too honest? Anyway, the plot is slowly thickening.

-Nera

P.S. Thanks for the continued support and I'm glad to see that a Tales of Vesperia section was added! Many thanks for those that helped with getting it opened.