"Wishing for Hope"

Chapter 4 :
Old teacher

Citan, or, Hyuga, seeing as he had no need for his false persona, had undergone much change since Elly had last seen him. It was a surprising contrast to what she had remembered him by, but it seemed that he had aged gracefully. Nearly 50 years after they had parted their separate ways, Elly was still young and beautiful. There was a twinge of guilt in this, seeing her old friend so aged, while, because of a certain event in the past involving nanomachines, her bodies life expectancy had risen to a point where she would live a "long, long time", as the man who saved her had put it, later on.

Elly was sitting thus on one of Hyuga's waiting room couches, the child deciding a more relaxed position : lying down across it's length, her head resting on Elly's arm. He'd asked her to wait there while he went and changed out of his street clothes, giving her a brief smile before closing the door quietly. He was a quaint man now, no longer fit for action or strength, although, she thought, surely he must still have the spirit and life that has always run through him. "Hopefully," she thought "I'll be able to learn about Fei, and be able to catch up on things."

Her mind ran back to her time helping the people out, as the true Mother, guiding them in their time of need before Deus, or God, had been slain. Little memories of hers flicked back like paint chips, ghastly people, mutated horribly to suit the needs of Deus, to become parts of it's body. "They were destined to become parts of Deus.." the words of Krelian, the man who revived Deus, still spoke softly in her ears.

The room itself was made out of the same exterior, quarried stone, with some support beams above. There were two doors, one apparently leading to a doctors area of some sort, and another that extended further back, his living quarters. A few magazines, from some of the more professional presses, were scattered on the table, which was made of fashionable design. The floor was covered with a long, detailed rug, accenting the rooms quality, while two separate mild-green couches, one of which Elly was sitting on, stood at opposite ends of the wall. Several foreign artifacts were pasted onto the wall, including his long unused Katana and some scrolls with characters on them. The young girl didn't seem to notice any of it, and decided immediately to sleep, instead of ponder.

As if the time between when Hyuga had left and come back had slipped entirely through Elly's fingers, he had come back through the door. Now she was able to get a better glimpse of him, as she turned her head. He had on a purple, detailed kimono, wound tightly around his body, a pair of soft slippers, and some spectacles. He looked old, but his stature suggested otherwise : his posture was filled with vigor, and his face still showed that mild thoughtfulness that hid his wild freedom that lurked within.

He was the first to speak, after walking over and sitting down at the couch opposite her, exchanging a brief, calm silence. "Well, Elly, it's certainly a surprise to see you come all the way here! Let us sit down and chat. How have you been lately?" He spoke with a deeper, more aged voice, but it was not lacking the original spark to it.

A slight smile, "Things have been going allright, Shitan. Have you been working as a doctor here for long?" Elly chose to call Hyuga his more comfortable alias that she'd called him all along their past travels. She crossed her legs briefly.

"Yes, I've decided to settle down here and help people with medical care. There's not many doctors in the city, as big as it is."

"How is your family doing?" Elly asked nonchalantly.

"Actually, my wife Yui passed away some time ago helping the survivors. Midori was with her, I don't know where she's gone to."

"Oh.. I'm sorry." She was a little perturbed at bringing up such a sensetive subject.

"It's quite allright, I'm sure Midori is safe off somewhere."

"Anyway, Shitan, I have something I need to ask you," Elly paused for a moment, frowning "Fei has been..."

"Missing?" Hyuga interrupted her.

"Why.. yes.. how on.." Elly stuttered a little ".. how on earth did you know?"

"Simply put," Hyuga remarked, raising one hand then dropping it. "Elly, I don't see why else you would come to talk with me!"

"I.. er.. I see." Elly recomposed herself, sitting up a little straighter "Well... do you know anything about where he went?"

"Yes, I do, Elly. I thought that after he'd come to me those six years ago, you would come following soon after."

"He.. came here, to visit you?" Elly leaned forward, inquisitive.

"There were alot of issues on his mind." Hyuga frowned a little. "I think the realization that you two were going to live for hundreds of years had him quite shocked."

"It came as a surprise to both of us... oh Shitan..." Elly's eyes turned sad as she opened a little of her heart, "we were thinking about having kids before then.. but then Fei got so scared, the thought of outliving his own children.." she had a clear frown across her face.

"Oh, my dear Elly, don't feel sad about it.. about Fei. He was actually very distraught about having to leave you, but he felt that he needed time to think."

"Did you learn from him where he was going?" Elly visibly attempted to cheer up, but inside her heart still mulled over the newly salted wound of hers.

"Ah, yes. Well.." Hyuga paused, glancing around for a brief moment "he claimed to want to look at humanity in it's basic form, so to speak. He wanted to see whether they were naturally good, or evil."

"What an odd question to ask himself!" Elly had thought Fei wouldn't be the kind to even question such trivialities. The fact that they had worked so hard to prove to Krelian that it was possible to find a God-like oneness within two souls was the very reason they had believed in the goodness of the heart. "I think he's being foolish, Shitan."

"Fei must simply discover the truth about what he's looking for.."

"I don't want to wait, though. I want him now. I've spent enough time, with the people, guiding them, but now it's me I'm worried about, as a woman. I want Fei back."

"There was nothing I could do to stop him, Elly.." Hyuga pushed his glasses up towards his nose "Perhaps he has alterior motives, other than the ones he's stated?"

"I really can't tell.." Elly was silent for a moment, "But, I have a feeling that if he is watching people, it must be very far away, probably where people are very primitive."

"That could be the case. But remember, there hasn't been any global communications established across the world yet. The earth shifts so rapidly, the geographers need to update the continent edges every 10 years or so, and even then, it's based on information of the small scout teams they can afford to send out. Fei, however, must have seen alot of the world. It would be interesting to hear what he's seen!"

"Doesn't anyone use the flagship cruiser, um.. Yggdrasil.. anymore?"

"No, well, the young one, Bartholomei decided to have it stored away.."

"Stored away..?"

"Yes, he felt it was no longer necessary, and to keep it a secret, had it buried deep in his hideout, then had the entrance sealed and caved in."

"Hey, how do you know all of this, anyway?"

"I sometimes still visit the castle, mostly on the anniversaries of the country. Sigrd, the young ones brother, is still a diplomat there. Some of my loose tongued patients also let slip hushed information, as well."

Elly was silent for a few moments in thought, pondering her options of finding Fei. "Do you think it's possible that they could get it working again?"

"Elly, I'm not sure what you're implying," Hyuga leaned back a little "I doubt you'll be able to get permission to use the Yggdrasil..!" He opened his palms in gesture.

"I'm not worried about the consequences.. Shitan, we have to find him. Something is going to happen, I can feel it in my heart." Ellys speech to Hyuga seemed serious enough for him to believe her, but not serious enough to consider actually doing it.

"What do you feel in your heart, Elly?"

"It's like.. something good, but.. I don't know. I know I've felt it before. It's like something tugging on your ankle, pointing out an incredible light, but, then you know you'll be blinded if you look into it."

Hyuga's eyebrows arched and he seemed a bit surprised. "Elly.. I believe Fei may be feeling the same way." He cleared his throat. "I'll see what I can do about the Yggdrasil, and in the meantime, you can enjoy whatever you'd like in my home. The bathroom is on the right in the hallway past the kitchen. Nobody should be walking in, as I've closed shop early today. The nurse is in, though. Please don't let her get in your way."

Hyuga looked towards her briefly. "I shall be taking my leave now. Enjoy yourself for now." He shut the door behind him and was gone, leaving Elly confused.

"Might as well get some rest," she spoke, half listening to her own voice to sort things out in her head. Standing up and slowly lowering the childs head down against the couch, she walked into Hyugas living space, into his bedroom, and then lied down, trying to fall asleep and sort out what had just happened.