[Caves of Narshe 4]

Always and Forever
Ardreju (Michelle Becker)
Prologue	Chapter 1	Chapter 2	Chapter 3
Chapter 4	Chapter 5	Chapter 6	Chapter 7
Chapter 8	Chapter 9	Chapter 10
Heh heh... what kind of name is Ardreju? Nah, just kidding. It's a cool fic by a cool girl. ^_^ A little innuendo and language, but nothing bad. Deal with it. <g> BTW... one of the best fanfics I have ever read.

Chapter 8
	Why was she here? Shadow gripped the wooden doorframe, staring at her. Her, with her reddish-blond curls, her china doll face. Her, whose golden brown eyes reminded him so much of her mother's, reminded him so much of a life he had had, and still wished to have. Her who stared at him with an emotion he couldn't read, that young beautiful face that was so childlike, but inside hid a young woman. Relm stood patiently on the porch, staring up at him, wishing she could see the face behind the mask. Oh, but she would, she wouldn't leave him until she did. Because… The picture. That picture, with her mother, her beautiful mother. The picture had been taken before she was born, with her mother and that mysterious man. But it was what had been on that man's hand, that shiny silver ring. A ring that she now wore. And she had stared at the man in that picture for so long until her eyes ached. She held the picture up to Shadow. "I know who you are." ******* Chancer strode into the room, proudly displaying a huge bouquet of red long-stemmed roses. "Guess who these are for?" he teased. Maria turned in her seat, breathless at the sight of the flowers. "Again?" she asked softly. Chancer nodded, looking around for a vase. "And guess who they're from?" Maria blushed, casting her blue eyes down. Chancer chuckled. "Your number one fan. You may have heard of him. Owns the Falcon, one of the richest gamblers around, one of the heroes from the Fall of Kefka?" Maria smiled timidly. "He hasn't even come to see me," she said. "He sees all your shows!" "No, I mean me, Chancer. He hasn't come to see me." Chancer grinned. "And you would like that, wouldn't you? One night he creeps to your window, fetches you out of your bed and dumps you in his." Maria shook with silent laughter. "Oh boy…" "Yeah, you want it and you know it. But that's not what I really came here for." Chancer plopped own on her bed, grinning mischievously. Maria smiled. Chancer had been her only lover a couple of years ago, now he was her dearest friend. And he always had surprises like this. "What did you come here for?" "My friend Gerry is having his birthday party at Tzen." "And…" Chancer smirked. "Guess who is coming?" he sing-songed. Maria gasped. "He'll be there?" she whispered. "Yes he will. And Gerry said I could bring a friend. And guess who that friend will be?" Chancer punched her playfully in the arm. Maria shook her head. "You are a nut." ******* "I haven't figured out what to do with you yet," Kefka said quietly. It had been a week since Lyren's abduction. Kefka had informed her that she was on a small island, an island far east of Triangle Island. It wasn't mapped territory. And he liked it that way. Why? Because he didn't have to deal with the world. He wanted nothing to do with it anymore. She didn't know why he lived, how he survived. But he had been here since "his fall". They were on a large farm, and the only inhabitants besides them were the people that lived with them and took care of the place. He had a doctor, the groundskeeper, stableman, and a few guards. The doctor Kefka had known since childhood, before he had been taken away by the Empire. The others, well, they didn't seem to care who he was or what he had done, if they knew at all. But she really didn't care about where she was or what had happened to Kefka. She was here, and so was he, and escape seemed hopeless. They were in a large room, nearly rounded with windows on all sides except the doorside. It was his laboratory, and at the moment he was examining baby chicks that had hatched recently. They were other things, several plants under strange lights, and in the corner was the chair… The chair that he had put Terra in. The chair he had put her in once, the chair that she feared. She tried not to look at it. Kefka looked up from the chicks, smiling. "I brought you here for a reason, lovely Lyren. You may not be happy with it, but what choice do you have?" he asked sweetly. Oh, yes, he was the same as ever. Even without the makeup and wild clothes. He was handsome, yes, and he was sweet-looking, but he was still that demented monster. He seemed to have read her mind, for he smiled. "Still afraid of people, huh? Is that why you lived all by yourself after I killed the world? Did I damage you so much that you kept to yourself?" She said nothing, and kept her eyes away from him. He chuckled. "Ah, still the same. Never answering me, always fighting back. I love you for that." He picked up one of the chicks, petting it gently. She expected to see him crush it in his hands, or rip the head off. But he didn't. He just petted it. It confused her. "Devil," she choked bitterly. Just like old times. He turned to her, narrowing his green eyes at her. Then he smiled. He gently placed the chick back with the others. And then he backhanded her across the face. Ah yes, she remembered this. Just like old times. But this time she didn't push the pain away. She couldn't. She had forgotten how. She had dealt with this all of her life, and she had forgotten how to deal with the pain. She pressed a hand to the throbbing cheek, knowing it would bruise. "Angel," she heard him whisper softly. So menacing it sounded, yet tender as well. She felt a tear slide down her cheek and wiped it away. No, she always cried afterwards, when she was alone. She never had let him see her cry. What the hell was happening? Why was she acting so differently? Fortunately, he didn't see her tear. He smirked walked around the room, occasionally picking things up and putting them back down. "You are the angel, and I have ripped your wings off," he replied quietly. "You cannot fly away, and you have no god to save you." She was trying very hard to hold back her tears. And now she knew why she was acting the way she was. Because he was right. She had no way of running away from him. She was truly his prisoner. "Why are you not arguing with me, or staring defiantly at me?" he asked, annoyed. "You sit there and do nothing. Why?" He was beginning to get irritated. She had always stood up to him or tried to run from him. And now she did nothing. This was not fun. He had taken her for a reason. He had taken over the world, but he had failed in keeping his rule. But the power he had had over her before the world ripped apart, oh what a feeling. When he had hurt her and tortured her and nearly made her mad. Oh, the feeling she had given him. That was why he had kidnapped her. He had failed at having power over the world, but he could still have power over her. And for some reason, having power over her felt a lot better than when he had became a god. Oh, he knew what he was going to do with her now. He walked over to the chair. "I built this," he said simply, as if he were talking to a child. "It's not the same one I put Terra in, but I built this when I first got here. I didn't know why I did it, I didn't think it would serve any purpose. Until now…" Oh yes, she was running for the door. He was going to love this. Lyren almost ran straight into the door, struggling with the locks. She remembered the chair. She hated the chair. Kefka grabbed her from behind, and he heard her scream, and it made him smile. "No one is going to come and save you," he murmured. "The room is soundproof, and no one cares what I do in this place anyway." He wrapped both arms around her, dragging her towards the chair. She screamed more, trying to pull away from him, calling him a demon, a horrible little demon. She didn't cry, but it was hard not to, she wanted to so much. Fear was overwhelming her. Anything but that chair… He had managed to get her in it, and was already strapping her in. She was screaming hysterically now, calling him all sorts of names. Yes yes, he wanted to tell her. Keep fighting me. After he had strapped her in she quieted. She had her head lowered, and she was breathing heavily. "Remember what I try to do to you in the old chair?" he breathed. She didn't look at him. She remembered. He had tried to put that crown on her, just like he had done to Terra. But instead of doing it to harness power like he had done to Terra, he had done it for another reason. He had wanted her. "But remember what you did?" he asked. "You spit in my face, and then…" and here he paused, to add dramatic effect, "…you actually broke free of the arm restraint, and you hit me across the face pretty hard." So hard that he had tasted blood, in fact. Oh, he had loved her for that. Why was she not doing that now? He smacked her, hard. "Damn it, Lyren, what the hell is wrong with you?" he cried. "You don't even try to fight back. Are you that pathetic?" Yes, she wanted to tell him. She couldn't do it anymore. She had lost hope. She was too battered to even try. All the times she had tried to escape, she had failed. She was so tired of trying. Kefka glowered. Was she crying? Yes, she was. Huge tears were in her pretty violet eyes. He growled, pulling her chin up with harsh fingers. "Stop that," he ordered with a soft growl. "Don't you dare." But she was crying, and she wasn't even trying to stop. He wanted to hit her again, but at the same time something told him not to do that. "Why are you crying?" he yelled at her, in anger and frustration. He hated this, but not because it was angering him. It was confusing him, and it was also… He didn't know what it was, but it was a very unfamiliar feeling. Lyren shook her head. "Get me out of this," she sobbed. "Please." He felt his breath escape him. He stood very still for a long time, in utter shock. This was not how he had expected things to turn out. She was ruining the whole thing. "Damn you Lyren!" he yelled. He sighed. No longer like old times.
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