Cries of Yesterday

Cries of Yesterday
A Grandia 2 fanfiction
Written by Krisa Kelly a.k.a. Scarlet Shaman © 2005

Chapter Eight

Ryudo and Roan quickly hid behind the corridor wall as they saw a young girl emerging from one of the rooms. She wore nothing but a light pink baby-doll style dress and a sad expression on her face. Her bubblegum-pink hair was tied up in a neat ponytail with several pieces falling out into her eyes. She scanned the long corridor for a minute before slumping against the wall with her arms crossed, as if waiting for something or someone.

Ryudo looked down at Roan, who was staring intently at the young girl. There was no chance that he would hurt a child who looked only a year or so older than Roan, someone who looked much too young to belong in a place like this.

“What are we going to do, Ryudo?” Roan asked in a voice no higher than a whisper. “We need to keep a low profile…”

“I know,” he replied, groaning as he leaned against the wall they were hiding behind. “Maybe she’s guarding the corridor and is supposed to report anything.” He carefully chanced taking another look at the girl. “She’s not armed, by the looks of it anyway.”

Ryudo resisted the urge to bang his head against the wall. What kind of person was this Diego character to send children to guard his corridors? There was no chance that this girl stood a chance against him, not a fully trained Geohound.

“She looks so sad, doesn’t she, Ryudo?” Roan said, his expression mirroring the young girl’s. “I don’t think she’s cause us any harm. What do you think?”

Ryudo unconsciously nodded his head. He knew for a fact that the girl was no threat but was it really worth taking such a risky chance? What if this was part of Diego’s plan to get them to lower their guards? He wouldn’t do anything that would endanger Roan. They would need a new route.

“Roan, I say-” He looked down to where he was expected to see a mop of blond hair but saw nothing. Roan was not standing where he should have. Instead he was walking towards the girl slowly, almost as if he was proceeding towards a wild animal. The brunet groaned as he began to follow the young boy. He would not take the chance of Roan being away from him. Before, Ryudo would have scolded himself for going soft and being, in a way, protective, towards Roan, but now he honestly didn’t care.

Roan watched the pink-haired girl closely. She hadn’t noticed them yet. She was staring in the opposite direction but her expression was still as sad as before, if not more so. He knew that Ryudo was right behind him and wondered whether he had his sword out to intimidate the girl into letting them pass, which is what he had done to one of the maids that worked in the building. But something told Roan that this girl was no harm and that she was not here of her own will.

As soon as the girl turned her head Ryudo grabbed Roan’s arm and forced him behind, immediately regretting being forceful as the blond winced and whimpered. As predicted, Ryudo had his sword out and pointed it in the direction of the girl.

The bubblegum-haired girl immediately stood and backed away by three steps, putting her hand to her mouth. “You –you’re them, aren’t you? The one’s who are causing all this commotion?” she said in a soft voice, if not a little scared.

Roan managed to push his way past Ryudo and looked at the girl. He was right about her, especially being able to see the unmistakable glint in her blue eyes that screamed unhappiness.

“Please, we cause you no harm. We are just trying to find our way out of here,” he told her in a confident voice.

She watched him the way a cat would watch something new. Compared to Roan, the girl was a half a head taller and most definitely older.

“You’re Roan, aren’t you?”

Roan blinked and looked back at Ryudo for a moment. “How do you know my name?” he asked, astonished.

“Word travels fast in this place,” she replied. Roan cast his eyes downwards and stepped backwards, accidentally bumping into Ryudo.

Ryudo glared icily at her for reminding Roan of what had happened. True, he could not forget, but he had managed to push it aside for the sake of their escape.

The girl noticed both the tall man’s glare and the young boy’s expression and she immediately shook her head. “I’m sorry Roan, I didn’t think before I spoke. It was foolish of me. How old are you, if you don’t mind me asking, that is?”

“Thirteen…”

“You don’t belong in this place – no one should be here, really. Diego was speaking about you and I didn’t think that it was possible for him to describe such a person as he did you. You really don’t belong here, Roan.”

Ryudo wondered slightly where this girl had originated from because she was extremely well spoken for this type of place, but he took this back as being a very stereotypical comment. So far she had done nothing to indicate that she would cause possible harm.

“How old are you, anyway?” Ryudo decided to ask.

“Me? I’m sixteen years old … well; I will be in three days…”

“How did you come to be in this place?” he asked, bluntly.

She sighed and nodded. Roan looked back at Ryudo. “Ryudo, we don’t need to know that stuff!”

“No, that’s alright, Roan. I don’t mind telling you. I was taken from my home when I was the same age as you, because my father owed Diego money. You see, Diego owns a series of businesses not like this one. He’s the manager of a banking corporation in Liligue City and my father was a sleeping partner to the company, but he had gone bankrupt and Diego demanded the money. My father tried every means possible to repay his debt but in the end it cost us our lives.”

“He murdered your father and took you,” Ryudo mused. “What about your mother, or any other family? Do you not have anyone who could have taken you back from this place?”

“My mother died and I don’t see my brother after he had an argument with my father. There was no way for me to get out of here.”

“Why don’t you escape?”

She laughed softly and looked up at Ryudo and then to Roan. “No one has ever escaped from this place, you know.”

Ryudo moved his sword so that the bright lights glinted off it. “Well, we’re gonna escape now, so I advise that you let us pass! I’m not willing on letting Roan stay here any longer than he already has!”

She smiled a genuine smile and took a step forward. “Is he your brother, Roan?”

Roan blinked and began to answer her spoken question when Ryudo interrupted him. “Yeah, you could say that he’s my lil’ brother and it’s my job to make sure than he’s protected from harm – that’s what brothers are for,” he said, thinking back to his own brother before pushing the thought from his mind completely.

“Ryudo?” Roan quizzed.

“Shut up, kid. Little brothers are supposed to listen to what their big brothers have to say, so try it,” he said, his words delivered in a playful tone.

“It must be nice to have someone care for you,” the girl told them both. “The corridors are fully guarded. I’m supposed to report anything to Diego but I can’t report what I haven’t seen, can I? You’re on the second floor now and the easiest way for you to get out would be the stairs.”

“Stairs?” Ryudo blinked. He couldn’t recall seeing any stairs, apart from the obvious ones. Were they the ones the girl was speaking off? “Is there another set of stairs somewhere?”

“Yes, they’re at the very end of the building. You have to go past this corridor and the door on the left is the corridor leading to them. You need a set of keys to open the door,” she said, pulling out a set of silver keys with a pink chain. She walked forward and placed them in Roan’s hands. “You can have my set, Roan. I hope that you can put this place behind you.”

“Why don’t you come with us?” he asked her.

“Because I have nowhere to go – I’ve forgotten what it’s like to be free. Maybe one day, I’ll remember what it feels like … maybe someday soon…

Now! You must leave before they find you.”

“C’mon Roan!” Ryudo yelled back, after having already started running off. “You heard the girl – we need to make our escape now!”

Roan looked to Ryudo and walked a few steps before turning back to the pink-haired girl, who was looking almost lost. “What’s your name?”

“My name? It’s Bubblegum – or Bubble.”

“No, what’s your real name? Surely it can’t be that?”

“My … real … name?” she paused for a brief second and looked at Roan, his blue eyes filled with honesty and sincerity. “My name is Tika…”

Roan smiled and then held out his hand. “My name is Roan and it’s a pleasure to have met you.”

Tika smiled in returned and took his hand in her own. “It’s my pleasure to met such a nice person.”

“When you’re free, come to Cyrum Kingdom. I hope that I see you again.”

“Same to you, Roan, and good luck in getting out…”

Roan turned and ran after Ryudo, giving Tika a quick wave before they were both out of sight. Tika’s smile soon faded as she looked to several blue-clad guards that rushed towards her, two of them roughly grabbing a hold of her arms.

“My, My, Tika … that was a very silly thing to go and do, wasn’t it?” said a gruff voice behind the guards. They all soon parted and revealed a man in a neat red suit with fiery hair.

“D-Diego…”

“That boy could have easily taken your place as favourite, which would have given you a much easier life without all the pressures of making sure that everything is perfect and up to scratch. Imagine not living with the pressures of making sure that customers get their moneys worth…”

“I don’t care what you say, Diego. He doesn’t belong here! What you did was wrong!”

The man smirked and thrust his hands in his pockets. “First, I will regain my prize and then will I deal with you.” He turned to the guards who held her tightly. “Guards, take her to my room.” Diego began walking in the same direction that Roan and Ryudo took a few moments ago. “Oh,” he said, turning his head a smirk covering his features, “don’t manhandle her – too much.”

He signalled with his hand for them to take her away. He could tell from the sound that she was fighting her way and it would only be a matter of time before the guards retaliated.

The sound of a hand colliding with flesh made the smile on Diego’s face grow darker. ‘It appears my dear Bubble never learns not to annoy the guards too much! Too bad I have more important things on my mind…’

He left them all and ignored the sounds. He had to reclaim something that had been stolen from him. No one steals from him…

To be continued…