(OOG: Well, one of my partners in crime as been rather busy, so the rest of us decided to go ahead and post this - if it seems a little disjointed, it's because we've all had to work on it on and off since December... ^^; Sorry about that.)

"I'm sorry...... have I disturbed you?"

Elanore refused to meet Marien's eyes, but she shook her head, hugging Kyoko again, though she doubted her friend would have felt anything but pain from it, had she been awake. "I'm fine." She wished she could believe it.

Kyoko stirred, and Elly hugged her more tightly, glancing down anxiously to see if she had awakened. But her heart fell when she saw that her friend's eyes were still closed tightly, locked in their drug-induced sleep. Her skin seemed once again to burn, just slightly, yet hold that chill that Elly couldn't help but associate with...... death......

"She's......." Elly lowered her head, closing eyes that burned with tears. But despite her effort they fell, running down the bridge of her nose and her cheeks to splatter on Kyoko's forehead. "This is all my fault....... if I had just run a little faster......" She bit down on her lip. "Given her my restraints......"

" -- You would be dead," Marien finished for her. His eyes, sharper than metal in the faint light, burrowed into her thoughts, or so it seemed. "It would be best, for now, not to think of that. Wouldn't you say? We don't know how things will turn out yet -- so cheer up. Take care of your friend."

"But --"

"Help is coming." He seemed to withdraw into a bleak shell, though he was still watching her intently over the heater. He started to speak twice, but nothing other than inaudible mutters left his lips.

Help was coming? She would believe it when she saw it. It seemed impossible that anything helpful would come from the desolate sand dunes surrounding them. Kislev was the only possibility she knew of, and she would die before she walked back into their hands, after they had worked so hard to be free.

Kyoko would understand. She -had- to understand! This was her homeland, but...... but she had been outraged when Kislev barged into her city and overwhelmed it. And how could she not be angry? After so many hundreds of years of warfare, people from both sides seemed to hate each other -- or at least the ideals -- simply for being born on either side of the border.

How could they live like that? Elanore didn't remember much of her home, but she remembered clearly a complete lack of such conflicts, and feeling contempt -- even as a child -- for those people who could not rise above them. She had caught herself looking at Kyoko the same way in the past, until she realized that her friend was simply tired of the hostilities, and not itching to fight along-side Aveh's army.

That seemed to be the case of most people, these days. They were just tired of the war...... It almost seemed better this way, if the violence was ended; only the brutal facts of the conditions within Bledavik kept her from believing that.

"Who......" Elanore cleared her throat, wiping tears from her cheeks. "Who will be helping us? I don't see how anyone could....... I mean, with Kislev, and Bledavik occupied......"

Marien smiled slightly, shaking his head of silvery-green hair. "Neither Aveh or Kislev will be aiding us tonight. Just be patient; you'll see soon enough. They're...... friends of mine, you could say." He paused, then said more softly, "I'll make sure you're protected."

Elly blinked uncertainly, unsure how to respond to his last comment. It didn't sound very good...... She wasn't even sure she was supposed to have heard it. But she...... trusted him, for some reason. He seemed like the kind of person who would keep his word, though she didn't understand what gave her such an impression about him. Perhaps that he had stopped to save her from the Kislev gears, to help her care for Kyoko......

Or perhaps it was just something about his aura, his stance, that made her feel safe in his presence. Strength...... even in his feminine features. It was completely different from Darius. But she thought...... he would protect her just as well, even though he didn't even know who she was.

-She- didn't know who she was...... 'Her kind'......

What -was- her kind?

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(OOG: I didn't want to take the liberty of controlling the Ygg, since it's far from being mine -- so pretend you saw a scene where the three were scooped up by Rivian's people and taken aboard. Trust me, you don't want to see my completely-out-of-character version of this scene.)

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"Please tell me......" Elly reached out, gingerly touching the nurse's sleeve. "Please...... will she be okay? What you said......"

The nurse glanced over his shoulder, eyes sympathetic, though his face was an expressionless mask. "We can't really do much here, you know. But yeah, I think she'll be okay. If we get her back to the base, I think she'll be able to recover fully."

Relief surged through Elanore, tightening around her throat and cutting off her words of gratitude. Her eyes began to mist, but she managed to push it back with an unusual burst of will. However, something about the way the nurse had phrased the answer...... 'If we get her back to the base'...... Not that noticable really, but something, the tone maybe...... it sounded as if he questioned himself, or his reply.

Her relief receded rapidly. **Why is there a question about it?** Marien had promised to help them...... she didn't know what it was he was so fascinated with, but she had believed him. Why was there a problem now? Yes, they were pirates, but they had helped...... they couldn't be all bad.......

"Don't look so sad, girl." The nurse's voice cut through her worried thoughts. "I doubt there will be a problem. She's young, and healthy, and I think she has a strong will to survive. Just focus on supporting her, you know? We might not even need to take her back to base."

Elly nodded, turning around to stare down at her friend as the nurse walked off to tend to someone she could only assume was a crew member of the ship.

**She's going to be okay...... she's going to be okay.......**

Elly bit her lip, wincing when her teeth scored the raw flesh. But she deserved it, didn't she? Kyoko had almost died...... was still in such serious condition, all because of her. Because she had dragged her into the conflict, then refused that girl's help......

She slumped into a chair, stretching her legs out before her and staring at her feet. The girl...... She had almost fogotten, in her worry about Kyoko, about that Kislevian soldier that had attacked them......

Gods, how could she forget? How did one forget an incident such as that, where she found herself looking at a mirror of her own self? Elly had thought, for just a few moments after seeing the girl, that she -knew- her, that she might be another forgotten memory from her childhood or her home, like the mysterious man she called Lacan. But...... the other had seemed just as surprised to be confronted by a mirror image of herself. And if that were the case......

But it was still an amazing thing, something she hoped to research someday, when Kyoko was healed. She did hope, however, that her friend didn't remember the encounter.

She wasn't sure why, but she did not want any...... witnesses to it. It seemed...... well, she wasn't really sure what it seemed like; nothing in her memory could account for such an experience. Surely this of all things, didn't happen to people every day. But what did it mean?

**Kyoko would say it was destiny, or something......** But what -was- destiny, really? Elly felt it was more blind hope for purpose, than anything real. There were bits and pieces in her head that made her think that hadn't always been her opinion, but so what? She could change....... Apparently she had already changed drastically, though she didn't understand how. Just Shaina and the Elements, Kyoko, Darius, the man in the desert....... they all acted as if she were someone else, entirely! And not only that, but something different for each of them.

How was she -ever- going to regain her memory, if she couldn't even figure out something as simple as that?

And....... She closed her eyes, letting her head fall back against the wall. Would Kyoko hold this against her? Would she even remember? How in the world could she not? Besides........ gods, Elly needed someone to talk to....... 'It's not every day you confront a reflection of yourself'....... wasn't that an understatement!

What was she supposed to think? She felt numb, as if the entire thing had been a dream. It was just like her first meeting with Darius, and even that...... that kiss in the desert, when she had been surrounded by shadows of memories she could only pray to regain, someday......

She hoped to God that life would not always be this interesting. And that was that.

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Marien watched the auburn-haired girl for some time after he'd torn himself away from the repair surgery on Ymir in the gear dock and from Rivian... he took a sip out of one of the cups of tea he carried, and tried to get it past the lump in his throat.

Cyril had been remarkably quiet, but a foul scent wafting over Marien's shoulder assured him the ghoul was still there. The dead king had been pensive since their return to the Ygg.. perhaps at the sight of his young son, out of danger for the moment.

"Elly." Marien said softly, handing her the steaming cup. She took it with a miserable blue-eyed look, so different from his own. He crouched next to where she sat, grey cloak puddling around him. "I don't know.. what your connection with the sacred empire is, and.. I understand how you feel for your friend at the moment.." he took a sip of the tea. "And I'll look out for you here. You're frightened and alone...but if you prove me wrong.. and you bring harm to this ship.. it's crew... Ri..my.. my friends..." he looked at her, deep blue eyes narrowing in his olive face, suddenly cold as the night sky above. "God help me, I'll kill you myself."

He straightened then, brushing back silver-green hair, briefly exposing the runnel of scar that mangled one side of his face, his eyes gentle again. "Now why don't you try and get some sleep? You won't do Kyoko any good in the state you're in."

(Summary: Elly, Marien, and Kyoko are taken onto the Yggdrasil, and Kyoko's recovery begins.)