Title: Whenever I Call You Friend
Anime: Magic Knight Rayearth by CLAMP
Author: mizamiko
Rating of Chapter: PG

Whenever I call you Friend: Chapter 4

 

****Eagle****

{Maybe life is like a ride on a freeway
Dodging bullets while you're trying to find your way
Everyone's around, but no one does a damn thing
It brings me down, but I won't let them}

    The crooner sang clearly the words of the song. I liked this song; it reminded me of my life.

    I sat in my room listening to worn out disks that once circulated in the old Underground. The guitars' wail and the drums' beat made me shiver. It has been a long time since I listened to them. Music from long ago, from the time before I met that "foreigner from Cephiro". I can't believe it has been that long.

    I remember, it was that period of my life when everything seemed to be a blur. The people that I went with, the trouble that I got into, lots of trouble actually, it all felt so unreal now. It was the other life that I never told Geo about. It was the one thing in my life that I never spoke off to anyone, most especially my closest friends. The life that everyone knew, the "official life", was like a sweet dream compared to it.

    I chuckled to myself as I thought about those times. It was disturbing to know that so many things happened in Autozam that no one seemed to notice. What was laughable was that it has been happening for years. Who would have thought there were people who wrought so much chaos?

    Creating and destroying things to ensure that Autozam does not self-destruct. It was an odd sort of job, and the thing was it came with the family. My family, the Visions, they were the ones behind it. The respectable family, spoken highly in political circles had a lot more to hide than all the other corrupt officials. Each of us, those born in the main branch of the clan, was a part of this shady business. Simply said, we had skeletons in our closet and a probably a few new corpses as well.

    It was the dirty work that no decent Autozamian would do. No, it wasn't a double life, as people would call it. It was my life and I didn't change come morning or come night. What was there to change? I was Eagle of the clan Vision, these were merely the extremes of my world but it is only one world. Everything was just one large dream where night brought with it its nightmares and day its daydreams.

    If Geo only knew why I napped so much in the day, I knew he would keep me napping till the end of the day but I doubt he would have believed the reasons. How could he when his heart blinds him. It was as if I was a child or a pretty girl that had to be protected, even when he has seen the steel within many a time. There were only a few people who knew me well enough, not including midnight escapades of course. It's either I'm 'one cold bastard' or 'a delicate child'. I preferred the former to the latter. I never understood how anyone saw me in the light of the latter. The sad part is that those who don't know me too well lean on the latter. Couldn't they see the beast?

    I closed my eyes wearily and touched the crystal that I feel would forever hang on my wrist. I didn't need to see the shard to know that an inner fire glowed beneath the cold, black surface. Once, the sight of this shard would have brought fear into any Autozamians heart. Now it was nothing more than a fashion accessory. I was not complaining. It simply made it easier for me to do my duty.

    My duty... I had a duty to perform and it did not matter how I felt. Even then it bothered me that I had to kill or destroy anyone or anything. At night every waking moment was a nightmare that I had to live through. And what was sad about it was that I could never wake up from the nightmare. My hands will forever be stained with the blood of all my targets. I gave no excuses then and I give none now; I was fighting for what I believed to be right. No matter what, I and all those who remember will keep our would from flying apart. There is sadness for what was done and what must be done but I know it has to be done. If not me then who? I took this burden willingly to spare another who I knew would be broken by it.

    How many nights have I spent hooked up to a computer? Infiltrating, evading and crashing other systems, smaller and larger systems that could destroy Autozam unwittingly or purposely. How many lives have I destroyed in the name of the duty? It mattered to me that I was the cause of pain but this was the price that had to be paid. The games I played were ones of high stakes. The greatest prize is a future, no matter how bleak, for Autozam. And for the players the prize of 'instant zombie' was given to anyone who lost. Being caught by the other system would be like pressing delete on the person's brain. It was the same beyond that realm too. 'Death awaits those who are remiss of their duties, to their brothers and to their land. Those who purposely transgress their brothers' rights court death.' Well at least that was what I read in the old scrolls that the 'older Visions' gave me to read.

    I remember I used to ferret out data from all sorts of places, broke into systems that were called foolproof. I did things that would have shocked the populace, things that no honest citizen should be doing. In the 'real world' I was the proper student, the quiet one of the Vision twins. Yet, I was the one who sneaked out to the Underground almost every night.

    The Underground, it was, and still is, one of our best source of information. The shady, the outcasts, the weirdoes, the discontented and the radicals, they made up the people of the Underground. These people were from all walks of life, you could never know who you were talking to. You could practically buy anything, at the right price, if you're connected with the Underground. And the thing was the government couldn't touch them. The denizens of the Underground knew a lot, pulling the right strings was one of their favorite pass times.

    Maybe that was why Geo looked at me as he did. Always, I was my twin's shadow, forever outshone by my elder sibling in everything. He was life incarnate like a drawing done in oil pastel, the lively one. I was sketch done in chalk compared to him. Yet, I knew what was happening in our world the reality that many my family and me blinded them from.

{When I ran I didn't feel like a runaway
When I escaped I didn't feel like I got away
There's more to living than only surviving
Maybe I'm not there, but I'm still trying}

    I grinned to myself; this song really suits me nicely. The lyrics mirrored my life. Have I escaped from that reality that I have lived so long in?

    A soft blinking light informed me it was time. Break time was over. It was back to work for me.

    I turned everything off as I left my room. I had all that I needed for my job this night. Several blankets, a pillow, food, drinks and of course a tube of Wurther's, Umi introduced me to it, I was ready to go. I slung my pack over my shoulder and hummed a tune.

    I had just walked a few paces from my door when I remembered something. I groaned but continued walking, I had forgotten Lantis' ward. Twenty to one he would be checking up on me, wherever I was. Not that I didn't like his company but I didn't need the distraction right now. I couldn't afford any mistakes in this. Thinking about him would just confuse me and force me into that endless loop of thought, again.

    "Maybe he'll leave me be this time." I mumbled. "Or maybe not"

    I watched with fascination as a single tread floated, unerringly towards me. It seemed to have come from the direction of Lantis' room. I was willing to bet my Wurther's that it was some sort of tracking spell. If that thing even touches me I was never going to get it off of me, at least not without him finding out I can see the thing.

    I grinned wickedly, no use letting him have it easy. Giggling, I turned and ran for it. The thread followed slowly and was lost behind me in seconds. I was not about to let him catch me that fast.

    I sprinted towards one of the hovercrafts parked at the upper level castle entrance and vaulted on. At a thought through the headgear, the bike came to life and floated a foot from the floor. With a soft squeeze on the handles the bike lurched forward slowly. I eased it towards the large exit. Past the floor the bike suddenly dropped like a rock and I held on to the handle bars for dear life.

    Squeezing the handle harder sent the bike flying forward, still dropping altitude, but a slower rate. It felt like I was gliding in for a landing. As the ground came closer, I sent a command into the bikes computer to change the direction of the ejected air stream. This slowed down my decent much more.

    I let the bike hover to a stop and looked back to check for the thread tracking me. It was nowhere in sight. It seemed like I bought myself a few hours of freedom. Maybe enough time for me to find out something useful.

    I shook my head. It wasn't that I didn't like Lantis worrying about me sometimes. It was certainly one way of making him lose his irritating coldness. But right now it was pretty inconvenient. I needed to do something that he really didn't need to    know about. The thing was he had always been very persistent about any nighttime jaunt that I had.

    The last time he tracked me, successfully that is, was back in Autozam. I was foolish enough to ignore a Thread that had mysteriously stuck itself on my arm like a leach. How was I to know it wasn't Blue's tracking spell?

    It was quite a disaster for me as well as my job for that night. We both nearly got caught, him by a laser, from a robot guard, and me by him while I was doing something improper for a citizen.

    My older brother had a field day when he found out. To date, he has yet to let me forget that I let a nosy civilian get the better of me. It was probably the most embarrassing time for me at home. No mealtime passed without it being rubbed in.

    Thing was that was how I first met Lantis. I had heard the day before that there was a new student, a foreigner enrolled in our University. Little did I know that the meddling young man that I met was that new student, the same one who shot me down in my mech class practice duel. Geo had told me about him just that afternoon. Zazu had given me his opinion on the new student the day before. They both had him for Physics 51. Geo, like he was wont, befriended the stranger, Zazu simply followed suit.

    He said he pointed me out to Lantis while I was in Gen. Path. laboratory. So Lantis knew me before I knew him.

    I had played the surprised errand boy when he came upon me, which was exactly what I was. Later in our friendship I found out the reason why he tracked me. Like a legendary knight in shining armor he simply saw a damsel in distress, in need of a rescue.

    I must protest; I did not look like a damsel in distress. I may look like a "damsel" at times but never in one in distress.

    I was on my way to a meeting then and I met my contact near the university. It seemed like I placed the meeting too near it. When he saw me I guess it looked like I was being cornered by a gang of thugs. Curious, he put the tracking spell on me because he was afraid he'd loose me while he followed. And he said he was glad since moments later I was pulled into a waiting hovercar. He was glad, I wasn't.

    How nice of him, I do so appreciate his concern but he was trying to save the wrong guy. If there was anyone in need of saving if a fight sprung up it would be my supposed captors. I may be fragile and innocent looking but I was in no way helpless.

    What ever gave him the impression that I could not handle the situation was just a figment of his imagination.

    I shook my head in memory of it. At the rate I was going, just hovering outside the castle, I'd be late for my meeting. Concentrating on my driving, I sent the bike flying towards the Forest of Silence. My big brother didn't appreciate tardiness.

    I drove in silence until I saw my brothers' bike, parked beneath a large tree. Typical, it seems like everyone in my family loved to be near plants.

    I slowed to a halt. Suddenly, to my right, a shadow fell from the tree.

    "Well it took you long enough to get here." He said, standing slowly to lean on the tree trunk.

    I smiled and shrugged; I was early it seemed. I went to him with open arms; he answered me with a smile of his own. We hugged and exchanged the usual pleasantries. The typical "how's everyone" and so on.

    "So what now Blue?" I asked, following him as he walked out of the shelter of the large acacia tree.

    A pair of gray orbs tuned to me questioningly. A smile was all that he offered me in response.

    Bluebird, or Blue to his close friends, my older brother and team leader in my nighttime escapades. He looks like a younger version of our father. His white blond hair was all the similarity that we had; but it was long and caught in low ponytail.

    He was as tall as Geo and just as well built. To tell the truth I was probably one of the smallest in our family. I know I'm pretty tall but I'm built like an acrobat. I look more like a dancer than a swordsman Blue had commented once. Every other guy in the family seemed to be built like the warriors of old. They were the types that could wear armour and not sink under its weight. I was like a girl beside them. The runt of the pack, if you wish.

    "Don't tell me that you just came to pay me a visit. You didn't come to make my life miserable, did you?" I joked, giving him a big smile. I was glad he had his 'damper' on. I'd hate to see the disaster his large Mental energy reserves would do to the planets native supply.

    "Still playing naive Eagle?" He asked. Coming towards me, he threw his arm around my neck and proceeded to choke me. In a lock, he dragged me to the middle of a clearing. "We have a lot to discuss little brother."

    I grinned and grabbed his shoulder. With a swift side step I was down on one knee and he went down with me. A little tug and he flew over my shoulder and was flat on his back the next second. He blinked up at me as it finally came to him that I just flipped him. It was a pretty painless move really, only a bit surprising.

    "Yes, I think we do have a lot to discuss." I raised my hands in a placating manner when a really mischievous gleam came to his eyes. "Hey we're even now for the head lock."

    I lay down beside him fast so that he wouldn't be getting any ideas. The ground sure was hard. I was glad I had brought a pillow.

    "Are we going to talk shop now or are we going to waste time?" He asked as I pulled the pillow from my pack.

    "Shop." I answered. "Now, tell me why you need to talk to me. Is there a problem coming up?"

    "A big one and I'm certain you're not going to like it one bit." He said as he took the blanket that I offered him. "Still like to get comfortable, don't you."

    "Why let yourself suffer when you can be comfortable?" I quipped. "Could you be a little more specific? I can think of a dozen problems that I most certainly do not want to come up right about now."

    "It's back." He whispered. "Dad and some others stumbled on it while on a routine check. It took days of searching but they finally found its source."

    "So..."

    "Is that all you can say!" He suddenly sat up angrily.

    "Well what did you expect me to say?" I said, propping my head up. I really have Blue angry now. He just can't take it when he drops bombshell and I don't react the way he wants me to react. Well tough I've been through too much already; he should know that by now. I giggle, even though he would certainly not see the humor in it, and let him off.

    "I had hoped that it would not be able to recoup so fast. Right now it's still small enough, to go unnoticed by our usual patrols. But, it's there and it's coming towards us fast, this confrontation. How hard it will hit us, I just don't know."

    I knead my temples and concentrate on the night sky. It was clear and seemed to be glowing but I knew beyond this beautiful scenery that there was a far-reaching emptiness. "Blue... I need to see it."

    He simply nodded and closed his eyes. Moments later, I felt the Threads around us shimmer to life. I felt one or two touching my forehead and I closed my eyes to let him lead me where he will.

    In a second or two I had an image of a system that looked vaguely familiar. I pulled away from my brother "touch" and opened my eyes. A slight disorientation came over me as I was met by the ordinary star patterns of the Cephiran sky. "It's the closest system to ours that I have ever encountered."

    "Yes... Father said its moving and fast. In three weeks our ordinary patrols will be able to pick it up, if his hypothesis on it is correct."

    "I think his calculation on its TOA is correct. Father has rarely been wrong when it comes to his feeling in this. He has always been incredibly sensitive and skilled." I said rubbing my temples. "That's why he can still beat the crap out of you Blue. He hasn't lost his touch."

    Blue muttered a curse in ancient Robbin, our native dialect. He was not the best student when we were learning the dialect but he learned all the curses easily. Actually, he knows enough curses from all the other dialects in our Planet to spend a whole thirty minutes cursing without repeating himself.

    I sat up and turned to face him. "I need to check it out for myself."

    "You going to hook up to the NSX sensors?" He asked standing.

    I shook my head. For all his power, he has yet to learn that certain rules about Mental energy can be bent or even broken. We were taught the same basics, which I might add I detested, but I was never the one to comply with limits. There was nothing that could not be done as long as one has imagination, I've always thought. I didn't need to 'hook up to a computer' as they say to interact in it. No one really needed but old habits are hard to break.

    "No." I answered smiling. "By the way, want to make a bang of an entrance into Cephiran society?"

    "What? You going to give me a big welcome party?" He guessed, quite correctly I might add.

    I simply nodded. "Yup! How would you like it to be? With all the fanfare upon your "official" arrival or just that night?"

    "I think we can skip the formalities of a military escort meeting me as I get off. I hate those, feels like I'm a circus oddity." I giggle at his answer. He has never been one for formalities, at least those kind of.

    By now that tracking spell would have figured out that I wasn't in the castle. I had better hurry and check that 'thing' out. "I'm going to zone out for a while, okay. I need to check that anomaly for myself. Would you like a report later?"

    "Sure, if you're up to it." He returned with a shrug. "Get comfy, I'll stand guard."

    "Thanks a lot but I think he'll be dropping by after an hour or two."

    "Who?" He asked with a frown.

    It was my turn to make a face. "My knight in shining armour."

    He laughed heartily after my deadpan answer. "Not only do you have a babysitter here you also have a bodyguard as well."

    "As if that was the only thing restricting my movements." I bemoaned. "I now have Zazu to deal with, taking Geo's place, he'll make a good nanny I might add. Lantis keeping tabs on me wherever I go. Now add to that, Hikaru who seem to worry for my health every single minute plus Umi who is bent on fattening me up.... I'm virtually limited to my "official" life."

    "Poor baby..." He consoled, patting my head.

    The rolling of my eyes was the only indication of the depth of my frustration. "I better get to work before he comes by."

    "Alright, I'll stay till I see anything moving to attach itself on to you."

    I nodded and got comfortable. I would rather be hooked up to the NSX sensors, sitting on a comfortable chair, but that would have left a good clear trail. Zazu was good though he would prefer to work with the hardware. Anyway, he was its captain, even if it's the Ambassadors ship. He could get suspicious at what I did.

    "Eagle... Father wants me to take over the ambassadorship for a while." He whispered quietly as he knelt beside me. "We need you back home."

    I was silent for a while. Just five words and I was no longer free to do as I please. A thousand reactions rushed through me. A part of me wanted to stay here in Cephiro with my friends, another wanted to pull away, wanting to stay with my 'best friend'. Still another wanted to just rush headlong into the danger and simply get away from the suffocating situation here for a while. But only one answer rise out of all the indecision in my mind.

    "When do you need me there?"

    "As soon as possible. I'm sorry for the very short notice but time is not a leisure that we have."

    I nodded. "I'll just tell everyone that Dad needs me for official business."

    A grim look passed over my brother's handsome features then he gave me a measuring look. "Here."

    I reached out a hand and took the thin card that he offered me. Inside the transparent sheet I could see two bands of interwoven Threads, my license. I held it for a while, unsure with what to do with it.

    No... Not yet. I didn't want this yet, I wanted a little more time for myself. I closed my other hand over it and placed it in my pack. There was time enough for that.

    I nod at him than looked up into the sky. This was going to be another very long night.

 

****Lantis****

    I awoke to a sudden disturbance, an odd feeling of something being wrong. Dimly aware that a spell that I have cast was now in action, I tried to sense out what had interrupted my sleep. Though I was rather glad of the interruption.

    I had a sinking feeling I knew what or more 'who' it was. Eagle. In sleep he disturbs me, in my waking he disturbs me. He is becoming an obsession.

    Sure enough I found the ward that I had set in his room breached. The tracking spell had been activated. I didn't know whether to hunt him down and spank him for waking me, or to look for him then tie him to his bed so he can get some decent sleep. Both actions had a certain appeal to it.

    I got up and started to get dressed. Whether I spank him, tie him up, or worry over him I had to find him first. Knowing Eagle, this would be another merry chase. Since I've known him, Eagle and trouble always seemed to go together. Not that he looked for it, far from it. It just seemed that it simply followed him.

    I struggled with my hair, when I noticed how it looked in the mirror, a veritable pigeon's nest. I just had to have such an unruly hair. It took me just about forever simply to tame it. How in the world Eagle, Hikaru, and Ferio looked good with unruly hair escapes me.

<Comb. Comb. Comb.>

    Arrggghhh! Never mind! Nobody else is awake enough at this hour to see my hair anyway. So it looked flattened on one side, who cares? It was just hair.

   It was amazing that people thought I was a patient person, when I was not. Eagle knew better, the children I tolerate, or they tolerate me, and Guru Clef... well he's more powerful than I am so... I'd rather not be turned into a toad or fed to Fyula.

<Rake fingers through hair. Rake fingers through hair.>

    Stupid hair!

    I quietly slipped out of my room and tried to sense where my tracking spell went. Knowing Eagle, he would be out on some weird place where he'd get to 'sleep under the stars' or get to 'smell the grass' or something. Meaning, I would be leaving the warm confines of the castle. I vowed that he 'would' be tucked and sleeping in his bed the next night, even if it meant staying in his room to ensure that he stayed there.

    Eagle and his crazy ideas. Has he never heard of the difference between Daytime and Nighttime? I doubted it. Not even when we just met did he ever show a feeling of distinction between the two periods of the day. He napped any time of the day and seemed to think the whole universe never slept.

    I sighed and stopped by his room to take a peek inside. It was as organized as would be expected from the room of a child whose master is delirium and desire. No, not the 'tumble in the hay' kind of desire, though I have little doubt that he has had his share of it. Considering how much time he spent roaming red light districts back in Autozam, I'm willing to bet he knew a lot about that too. Well... maybe not too big a bet. I've been wrong before about him.

    Well it's confirmed; he is most definitely outside of the castle. Unfortunately my tracking spell has not found him yet. I gave a mental sigh and walked quickly towards one of the castle entrances.

    It was a safe bet that he was not on one of the castle's crystal base. That narrows everything down to the forest and the mountains, in other words anywhere where there are trees.

    The few forests left in Autozam were his favorite hang outs. It would not be odd that he brought that preference here even if there were enough trees here to make its presence a more common sight than houses themselves.

    I touched my hands to my temples. Why in the world I was chasing after Eagle when he just told me he has found someone still escapes me. This was all Hikaru's fault. I was all set on leaving everything as it was. I would love her and handfast with her and Eagle will find someone. Why oh why, did you have to suggest that the three of us marry. At first I was able to deceive myself that it would be all right in the end. Eagle Hikaru, and me, happy under one roof. I was a fool to think it would work.

    In Hikaru's mind everything is possible. She is so full of hope and dreams. I am afraid that her world will not survive the one that I lived in. My world, Cephiro, and my adopted world, Autozam, it is innocent and perfect in her eyes. As perfect as she willed or imagined it to be. But it wasn't. Life was as unfair here as it was in here homeland. More frank maybe, but definitely not less painful. True I would protect her world as best I could, that was my job after all being the Kailu, but I doubt if it would ever be enough. I know I love her and I want her to stay here in Cephiro, no matter how selfish that may be. I also know that though she is important here, she was also important back in her own world. And if what I have found about her family was true... There was more reason for me to not marry her.

    That was another thing that I had to find out. I had to speak with her brothers. I had to speak with Guru Clef.

 

****Bluebird****

    * Lantis... You are such a moron.*

    Personally I doubt if he really knew what he held. Like most people they rarely knew what they had until they start to lose it. I think he was about to lose something very precious, if I had anything to say about it. Even if it's just temporary and just to remind him of what he had and could lose.

    I watched Eagle lie down and begin the tedious process of 'linking' with the computers all the way in Autozam. The family's pride and precious little baby was not in good shape. True Father had asked me to tell Eagle to return because of the coming threat but it was more than that. Had there been no threat Eagle would have been called back anyway.

    It had been a very controversial topic back home. Half of the family wanted Eagle back because of the news that had been filtering through. Most would have Eagle come home to continue on with the family work. Eagle was the best at it and none had been able to fill his shoes. Everyone wanted him home now and more than half wanted to pound Kailu Lantis into the dirt for keeping him in Cephiro.

    I reached out a hand and tucked him in gently. My baby brother was beautiful and much too fragile for the kind of life that the family leads. True he was the best that we had, cunning and merciless as a hungry wolf, but never the less still a child. I remember when I had to hurt him at home just so that he would remember and not do the same mistake on the job. He had taken every unforgiving blow and learned. I watched him take care of his scrapes with out flinching.

    There was no girl in the family and Eagle would certainly never pass as one. In looks maybe but nothing inside would pass as a typical girl. But the way everyone doted on him, including me at times, it was as if he was that. He didn't hold the title of being the youngest in the clan for our generation, that title was held by Zazu. But no one doted on him at least not as much. I can understand why though. He was not the heir to the family business, Eagle was. He was not the one who had to live a nightmare to make dreams come true for everyone else.

    Too young... He was too young to be the next one in line. One of the seven to inherit the black escudo, he was one of the cursed. I touched the shard of glass on his wrist. It was a constant reminder of his decision to take the place of his twin.

    Hawk never found out that he was the one slated to become one of the seven and not his sweeter tempered twin. Maybe, had they grown up normally, Eagle would have been nothing more than a shadow. Eagle would simply be where Hawk was nothing more. I had little doubt that Eagle would be more than willing to fade into the background. At school and at home, he was not the one who would cause ripples. So it went as a big surprise, to those not of the family, when he joined and won the Annual Forms Competition.

    On the other hand no one in the family was surprised, Hawk least of all. We had all trained to be killers, it was nothing to be proud about. If one of the seven should die another must take his/her place. The next one in line could be anyone, so proficiency as both a fighter and a wielder of mental energy was drilled in till it was second nature. It was inculcated in Hawk and Eagle even more because of their lighter body frames. The two babies of the entire clan turned out to have had greater potential than imagined. What both lacked in power they made up for in speed and efficiency. This of course put them closer to being chosen.

    If could I would have stopped Eagle. Of the two Hawk would have been the better choice, not that any sane person would have chosen either of them. They were the two sides of the same coin.

    I hated this job. It asks me to send out people I care for to kill or be killed in the process.

***End part 4***

July 8,1999
Disclaimers: All characters belonged to their original creator, CLAMP, I just commandeered some of the characters for a night out into my own demented world.
The song used in the fic was sung by the band Offspring and is not mine in any farfetched way so I lay no claim to it.


Note : Thanks to the UAWC or SW for reading through this particularly long version of the third installment. The song in the fic was taken from the song Staring at the Sun