Kadh: okay, you're on the get a copy list. Can you host the pdf? A fairy tale? I guess that's s good as any genre. I prefer the word 'myth'.
Here's the rest of chapter 8...
My Captain is Tommy Applebaum? The one who saved me when I was a little girl and gave me the ring with the Starship Seal. Acasja remembered the dark hair, the hands that had wiped away her tears, and tried to reconcile that with the long-haired redhead that stood in front of her. Tears started to form in her eyes. I came this far to be like him…
"You came to the academy looking for your Prince Charming?" he asked her, closing the distance between them. "Am I right?" He put his hand gently on her shoulder. "You came all this way and now here I am."
Part of her really wanted it to be true. "Can you really be him? If you were, why would you do this? Why would my Captain make me fight?"
"Because I knew in my heart that you would win," he answered her.
"When I met him, he looked so grown up, but you…" she protested.
"It was a moment beyond space and time, like those when the power of Aion is activated - transcendent."
"That's true," she admitted, "it was."
His look grew more intense, the pressure on her shoulder lessened and he stepped until he was touching her. He lifted his hand to caress her cheek. "I called you here at long last, after you grew into my ideal woman, to make you mine - and mine alone, Acasja."
Is he really the Captain from that day? His lips were almost touching hers. But something is different! She raised her left hand between their faces and turned to the side. "Wait, wait a minute."
The door opened and Angela entered. She was carrying a watering can. "This isn't..." Acasja began, but Angela apologized.
"I'm sorry to intrude, but it's time to water the roses. I'll be done right away."
"Wait, wait a minute," Acasja said again. "Angela."
"Ignore her," Tommy said. "The consort has no soul. She's only loyal to her position."
Acasja watched her work for a moment, moving from flower to flower. "What does it mean when you say Angela doesn't have a soul?"
"Her heart belongs to no one," he answered. "How else could she ever enjoy being the consort?”
Acasja couldn't take her eyes off her roommate. Angela reached onto a flower petal and pulled off an insect and crushed it between her fingers. "Enjoy being the consort? Angela Oteri is just a normal girl. This is no life for her!"
"Really?" he said mockingly. "Do you think she feels the same way?" He raised his voice. "Tell us, Angela, what do you think about being the consort?"
The girl looked up, startled, and slowly echoed his question. "What do I think?"
"Acasja believes you're a normal girl. I think nothing of the kind. Far from it."
Angela looked at her. "Lady Acasja, you believe?" She looked back at Tommy. "Yes. Yes I am normal." Her voice was flat, her response was without a shred of feeling.
"She does whatever you say. After all, she's your betrothed, isn't she? At least for now."
Acasja turned on him angrily. "So that's it. You plan to fight me. You want her for yourself just like all the others."
"What I want is you."
She looked searchingly into his eyes. "I don't believe you!" She could feel danger from him. Acasja grabbed her roommate by the arm and dragged her out of the building. "Let's get out of here!"
"The watering..." Angela tried to protest. "I haven't finished yet."
"It doesn't matter!" Acasja was able to drag Angela out of the building.
Finally outside, she relaxed her grip and Angela stuck her head back through the open doorway to ask Captain Applebaum, "Um, could you please finish watering the roses?"
"Angela!" This time Acasja slammed the door.
Captain Applebaum walked lazily to the door and looked out after the fleeing pair. "Heh," he laughed. "The two of them… so cute. I love it how Acasja gets so worked up and how Angela is the total opposite.”
Once they were out of sight of the greenhouse, Acasja stated, "This must stop! There won't be any more ‘Lady Acasja’ from now on."
"What?"
Acasja spoke rapidly, wanting to get it all out before Angela could respond. "We have to show the Society President, and all the others, that you're a normal girl! A normal girl with your own free will. If you say you don't want to be the consort, then there won't be any more of this duelling nonsense. And this isn't an order. It's a request, Angela, from a friend."
"Then alright, Lady Acasja," Angela responded evenly.
"Like I said!" Acasja said, pumping her fist excitedly. You've got it wrong.
The next day, after morning classes were over, she took Angela with her to find Wanda in the Fourth Class Dorm. She tried to explain the situation to her former roommate. "...so you see, we need your help. Angela seems a bit weird because she doesn't have any normal girlfriends who could be a role model for her. And God knows I'm not much of a role model, so..."
Wanda looked at Angela and then Acasja, her mouth tight. "You're saying I should be her friend."
"Yeah. I want you to be a good influence on Angela. C'mon Angela, ask her yourself."
Angela knelt before the girl. "Thank you for all of this, Wanda."
Still not sounding pleased, Wanda said, "Yeah sure, I'll give it a try for a while since it's what Acasja wants." She turned to Acasja. "So that’s settled. Let’s have lunch. I made yours, too, Acasja. Made it with love." She gave her a small basket. "Here you go. Isn't it too cute?" Acasja looked at the food in the basket. It was arranged in the shape of a heart. Oh no.
A heavy box thumped on the ground. "Oh, I made one too," Angela said.
"Oh my gosh! Can I start at the top?" Wanda asked, eyeing the large container. She cautiously opened the lid to reveal a diverse selection of foods from fried octopus dumplings to ramen. As she lifted out the last layer, she saw a strange sight. "Is this food? Eek! It moved."
Geoffrey sat up and peeked out of the box. "He's my friend," Angela said with a smile.
Acasja laughed in delight as the three of them carried on. Then her eyes were caught by something she saw out the window. Tommy Applebaum walked in front of the dorm, accompanied by several female midshipmen. She lowered her head and sighed, look at him prancing around with a gaggle of girls. Despite her disgust, she found herself forced to watch until he was out of sight.
She was brought back to reality by Wanda tugging on her sleeve. "Acasja. She's more than a bit weird. She talks to the monkey. She plays cards with the monkey. She only communicates with animals. I like you, Acasja, but I hate her. She's so weird she might as well be an alien." Wanda marched to the door and held it open.
"Wanda!" Acasja protested uselessly. She was forced to take Angela and Geoffrey and leave.
"I'm sorry," Angela said once they were outside, "after you arranged all of that with Wanda."
"No," Acasja replied and rubbed her temples to prevent the headache that was coming on. "I'm sorry too, that Wanda said such awful things. I must have made you feel even worse." Angela and the marmoset were playing some game that only the two of them seemed to know the rules for. She doesn't seem to mind, Acasja thought, despairing, not at all.
Horrible nightmares filled Acasja's sleep that night. The scene in the greenhouse with Tommy kept replaying itself. "The consort has no soul. Her heart belongs to no one. She enjoys it." Then he kissed her. Again and again until she couldn't stand it and threw back the covers and flung herself upright. A dream? Why did I have such a dream? She rubbed her eyes and, knowing she wouldn't get back to sleep, went to get a glass of water. She heard the marmoset whiimpering and went to check on Angela. Her bed was empty save for the marmoset shivering with cold on top of the coverlet.
She tried to stay up to wait for her, but sleep finally overtook her. When she got up in the morning, Angela was already dressed and up. "Good morning, Lady Acasja. You're up early today. Usually you're twenty minutes later than this."
Acasja rubbed at the back of her head thoughtfully. "Where were you last night? You didn’t come back until after dawn."
Angela kept her head down and didn't look at Acasja. "No. No -- I didn't go anywhere.“
"Geoffrey's crying woke me up, and I looked and you weren't there."
"It must have been a dream." Angela looked up at her and smiled. Acasja could only react in confusion. She dropped the subject; Angela wasn't going to answer her. The day passed as if nothing had happened.
"The consort's heart belongs to no one," she heard Tommy Applebaum say and jerked upright, suddenly awake in her bed in the middle of the night and covered in perspiration. She hurriedly got out of bed and looked in Angela's room. The girl was gone. She ran to the window and saw her roommate, in uniform, running down the sidewalk. Acasja grabbed a robe and threw it over her pyjamas as she ran in pursuit.
She got a brief glimpse of Angela's excited face. The girl was heading for the commandant's residence. Despite the lateness of the hour, Angela walked up to the front door and opened it. Acasja hurried after her and entered by the same door. She was faced by a myriad of choices. Doors, halls, and stairs made her pause in confusion. The first one she tried was locked.
Then she heard the swish of fabric from up one set of stairs. The sounds led her all the way to the top story. The door at the top of the stairs was open. She entered and found herself in a planetarium. Behind the telescope was an overstuffed chair and Angela's hand was lazily draped over one arm. Acasja began to walk toward the chair.
Just as she realized it was someone else, the person in the chair noticed her presence and said, "Come here." His hand reached out, grabbed her arm, and pulled her on top of him in the chair. She landed in his lap with a thump.
"What are you doing?" she cried out, resisting the strong grip.
"What? Who?" he said and leaned over her so he could see her. In the dark, Acasja could tell he was older and had dark hair.
Angela entered from a doorway on the other side of the chair. "Lady Acasja, what are you doing with my brother?" He released her and she stood up quickly and straightened her robe that had come untied.
He led the two girls down the stairs and into a study. "Yes, I'm Angela’s brother, Iblis Acton. And I’m the acting commandant.” Behind him on the mantle was a picture of Iblis and Angela. In it, he had a hand on her shoulder.
"You're Angela's brother and the commandant?" Under the brighter light of the study, Acasja couldn't quite believe it. She had expected an admiral to be commandant. "But you seem like you're so young."
He laughed. "I'm not the true commandant. I act on his behalf."
Acasja was having trouble believing it. "But why is your last name different from Angela’s?"
It was Angela who answered. "He has a new family. My brother is going to marry Commandant Acton’s granddaughter soon and is taking their last name out of respect."
Angela went to his side and together they seemed to press in on Acasja. "I’ve heard all about you,” he said. “Angela says you're her best and only friend and that you always protect her from the bigger boys and girls at the academy who bully her." Acasja looked at Angela in surprise. Best friend? I never knew Angela thought of me that way.
He put his hand on Angela's head. "You should make more friends like Acasja, okay? Do it for me, please." His hand moved down to caress his sister's cheek.
"I will, thank you." She looked happy at his touch, but he withdrew and sat down in one of the chairs. She followed and reached out in turn to touch his cheek. Angela's very lucky that she has him.
"You should go home now, with Acasja.”
"Okay." They both stood and together lead Acasja back to the front door.
"Acasja, you should come back and visit again, just to tell me how Angela's doing."
"I'd like that," she readily agreed.
He picked up a small box. "How is Geoffrey? Take some cake for him.” He touched her hand again as he gave her the box and Acasja was struck by the aroma of rose attar from him. Her eyes widened for just a moment. He's kind and graceful. What a wonderful brother. He followed them to the street, waving. Acasja looked back to return the gesture. The moon framed his head like a halo.
"Lady Acasja," Angela said quietly. "Thank you for not saying anything to my brother."
"About what?"
"You know. About being the consort, the duels. I don't want to bother him about that. I don't want him to know."
"So now I know," Acasja said, relieved. "You don't like being the consort, all this crazy stuff. That's why you didn't want him to find out, right?"
Angela appeared to be momentarily confused. "What? Oh, I see, Lady Acasja. That's right.” Acasja smiled happily at her. “Oh, here we are." She hurried into Cochrane Hall and up the stairs to their room. "Geoffrey, we're home and we brought presents."
As the marmoset gorged itself on the cake, Angela said, "From now on, Lady Acasja, I think I want to try harder to make new friends. Maybe you could work with me on it."
Acasja beamed with joy. "You bet!" Angela's really a normal girl. People will soon understand.
The next afternoon, the two found the girls of Acasja's fan club. "Hi," Acasja greeted them. "Is it okay if Angela joins you guys?"
One of them moved to the side and offered the two girls a seat on the lawn beside her. "If she's with you, sure."
"Nice to meet you all," Angela said as she sat.
One face, Acasja noted, wasn't happy to see her. "Oh, Wanda," Acasja said crossly.
She watched happily, stretched out o her side, as Angela joined the girls and the group of them fawned over Geoffrey. "Look, Geoffrey has such cute, chubby cheeks." "Here, eat this too." Good, she seems to be doing fine.
"A-ca-sja!" Wanda yelled in her ear and then lowered her face heavily on Acasja's shoulder.
"Wanda, you're so heavy." As usual. She realized Wanda was crying.
"Acasja. Who do you like, Angela or me?"
She rolled over to look at her friend. "Wanda, what are you talking about?"
"Don't you see?" Wanda grabbed Acasja's arm and wrapped hers around it. "You're always with Angie these days. I don't like it. I belong to you."
Acasja reached out and touched the girl's wet cheek. "Wanda, you're my dearest friend. C'mon, don't cry."
"Then what about Angela?"
"How to put it," she said thoughtfully. She could remember dancing with the marmoset as Angela looked on and then they traded places. "The princess is kind of like family. When I'm with her, and Geoffrey, I feel at peace, like I don't have to say or do anything."
"Humph," Wanda replied crossly. "Isn't that the sort of thing that married people would say?" She jerked away from Acasja and started sobbing heavily into her hands.
"Wanda!"
"That's even worse, Acasja. That means Angela Oteri is your wife." Well, she is my consort, but I can't tell her that.
"If that's how you want it, fine!" Wanda looked up at her and started yelling at Acasja. "I'll be the mistress. And I'll just fight the legal wife over you!" She grabbed Acasja and buried her face between her breasts.
"Wanda!"
Everyone else suddenly turned and looked at them. "What are they up to?"
In the Kendo team storage room, Captain Thomas Applebaum knelt on the floor and lifted a katana from its stand. "So," said a voice from behind him, "are you finally going to duel with Acasja Tilfe?"
"Kevin!"
"Can you beat her with that arm? It was quite a vicious injury."
Tommy waved his hand dismissively. "There isn't even a scar left. You know the time is ripe. Everything stands ready. I will win against Acasja Tilfe. I will get the consort and the power of Aion. I will change the universe." He strode confidently out of the hall.
"Poor Angie," Kevin muttered to himself, but did not follow.
Angela and Acasja walked together back to their suite. "Did you have fun chatting and playing with all your new friends?" Acasja asked. Angela stopped and looked thoughtful. "Angela?" The girl looked up and grinned and began racing towards Acasja. Imitating Wanda, she leaped on her back. "Uh, Angela?" Acasja groaned.
"I overheard what you were talking about. Wanda is always doing this with you so I thought this is what best friends do."
Acasja put her hands under Angela's legs to hold her better. You're too heavy. "Well, you shouldn't do what she does. Wanda's a bit weird, you know."
Angela pressed her face against the back of Acasja's head. "I wanted to try it, even if it's weird." She sighed behind Acasja. "So this is what being friends feels like. It's nice. I hope you'll always be my friend."
Angela never fear, I'll protect your happiness. After a bit, Angela slid off of her back and they chatted gaily as they walked. They were forced to stop and look up when someone blocked their path. Acasja's happy expression immediately went black. Tommy Applebaum, not a trace of friendship in his demeanour, stood in front of them.
"Tilfe Acasja," he said, using her name properly, "I challenge you to a duel. Meet me at the stone field. See you." He turned to walk away.
Topic: Calyx: A serial novel of the Federation (Read 34641 times)