A/n: Warning... not edited, not revised at all. Sorry for the mistakes.
Other than that, welcome to Bryn's world. It's also based a lot on the original 'planned' plot of Ed Naha, so I don't own many parts of the story. All I did is to modify a little bit, and forming links between characters so we can logically link the two seasons without the need of eliminating any character, and of course I completely and obviously eliminate the aliens part, exchanging it with... you know, MAGIC.
If you're up for a certain romance of Bryn's life, go on and read it :)
New Revelation
Light whistles of the wind passed through the tiny crack of the little window in Maeve's cabin as she lied back on her small bed, all unconscious.
Bryn spared the window a glance before turning her attention to the duty in her hands. Nomad had started its sailing just after last noon, and the weather didn't change. Still the hot winds were blowing the sails efficiently but nothing more. Everything was suspiciously quiet and placid!
Not that she mind it, but she as the rest of the crew had expected some kind of actions during their journey. No one could exactly point out their fears; however they kept waiting for something to happen. May be it would be one of the evil trio intercepting their path to prevent them from saving their lass, may be it would be just something they passed by during the journey but certainly not this quietness.
As much as it was appreciated it got on their nerves the more it continued.
Bryn sighed as she recalled her attempts to catch any glimpse of the potential hazards and her failure to find out any, which in fact should be thankfully relieving.
She turned her worried gaze to the red head beauty in front of her.
Maeve was her name as the brunette reminded herself. She recalled it from the crew's recent conversations. Never had they ever mentioned her before, in spite of the fact that she always sensed her presence in their minds. She sure couldn't decipher her identity or her features all that long time of being part of the crew. However, she always could feel her shadow in both of their minds and hearts which consequently had poked her curiosity each time she caught it.
Though the crew seemed to reject consistently to mention her –especially in presence of their captain, Bryn noticed- it wasn't hard on the little witch to deduce Maeve's importance in their lives, especially for a certain captain.
Even Dermott refused to talk so openly about her for some reason, though she knew Maeve was his former guardian and his original owner!
Usually, she couldn't converse with the little hawk via words, but only by pictures and feelings. It was a weird way of communication which Bryn was aware of, yet it was very special type of telepathy requiring a special bond between the two partners. Thus, naturally it would be hard for the feathered fellow to tell her everything about that matter. Still, a picture or two of the redhead alone or with the crew would have helped. But obviously, Dermott was little bit protective and cautious about it, which made no sense to her but she never pressed on the issue.
She always respected people's secrecy and privacy. So, she didn't ask any of them, if they were ready they would have tell her by then.
But now that things got all revealed, sadly with a bad twist though, she could see how she was right about the whole matter. Maeve truly had a great significance in the crew's hearts.
She looked at the pale face of the unconscious sorceress. Bryn could see her beauty that was hidden behind her sickness. She knew her now dull red waves of hair had been originally very vivid flammable curls; she was sure her current pale skin and fragile lifeless face were milky fair and bright skin with full spirited features; her long red lashes that guarded her now closed eyes were in fact hiding a sparkled gaze in large pretty eyes.
Bryn felt sadness tucked at her heart for the sleeping beauty as she let her muse drift in its imagination about a fully awake and very alive Maeve without that curse that threatened her life. She felt sorry for her, and a slight ache shadowed on her at the thought of the possibility they might not be able to reach the cure on time.
No one deserved what happened to her! Bryn felt furious at that thought! How cruel were Maeve's opponents! Bryn had no idea to which extent evil could attain!
The brunette felt her forehead creased at the mention of the dark side and its cruelty. She mentally swore to do whatever in her abilities to help saving Maeve's life and even afterward to side with her in her fight against the dark side. She wouldn't fail Dermott's friend, moreover Maeve was a part of this crew means a part of her family even if she just met her for the first time that morning.
Determined with her decision, she stood from her chair beside Maeve's bed to bring the bowl of soaked herbs by which Ymir demanded her to swab the parts of Maeve's body that was stricken with the curse and those to which the curse had reached. Also, there was that potion with the weird smell that Firouz asked her to make Maeve swallow a spoon from it. She opted to first give her the potion then she would swab her right shoulder, neck and her face with the herbs.
She reached for the funny-smelled potion and took a spoonful as her thoughts jumped on the Ymir girl. She was really skillful, Bryn silently admitted. She had witnessed her this morning preparing that maceration and she was amazed of her style to create and to use what Caipra called a magical therapy. Ymir used her gift on these herbs before soaking them in water. If the young woman could be trained well she would be a true gifted sorceress, Bryn wondered.
Bryn drew near the sleeping Maeve with the spoon in her right hand, drown in her own muse when suddenly -as she supported Maeve with her left hand- her eyes caught a glint.
The brunette blinked twice making sure to keep her balance with both Maeve and the filled spoon she carried. Then, when she made sure she supported the lass steadily with her whole left arm and nothing spilled out from the spoon she refocused her attention to the glint and was startled when she found out its source… her rainbow bracelet!
It was glowing with a constant rainbow multi-colors! The sight was magnificent actually, all the colors were mingled together yet each one was distinct from the others.
Bryn forced her attention to shift back to the duty in her hands. She gave Maeve the potion patiently and very carefully and when she finished she lead her back to the bed slowly. After moving away from her she gazed at her bracelet only to find its glow diminishing.
For a couple of seconds Bryn didn't move, still trying to decipher what just happened. She blinked again taking two steps backwards and she notice the glimmer kept decreasing until it vanished as she reached the small side table. She frowned as she screened the bracelets from all the angles in curiosity.
That wasn't supposed to happen, she could swear. She still remembered Caipra's words that the glowing bracelet would be that of Sinbad's, guiding them to Mervellya -not hers or Tetsu's- although, theirs would work as well but their powers would transfer into Sinbad's which would translate them into signals in shape of green glimmers.
So why had her bracelet just glowed? And, why was the glow of rainbow colors instead of green?
She sighed in defeat. It would be better to ask Caipra about it as soon as her shift ended. She turned to Ymir's herbs and carried the bowl and two small pieces of a cotton cloth to Maeve. As she sat down on the bed side she rested her load on the chair she formerly occupied. Taking one of the cloths, she soaked then squeezed it tightly before she started swabbing Maeve's forehead gently, prolonged the contact for a while.
The side of her eyes caught her bracelet glowing again! She frowned. Now, that was weird!
She brought the curt cloth with her left hand to dry the escaping droplets from around Maeve's face and prevent them from wetting Maeve's clothes; but her hand froze as the glimmer intensified just as the first time she saw it once she touched the lass!
She was stunned for a second after realizing the link between the sorceress and her bracelet. She brought herself out of the daze quickly as she decided to prove her deduction. She put down both of the cloths from her hands and reached to touch Maeve's face directly but gently with her left hand, only to feel a shudder in her body as few images run swiftly before her eyes in a quick succession!
She jerked away from Maeve, completely shocked. It took only few seconds for the few images to run in her mind, so she couldn't make out the identity of the people she saw in her vision. However, Bryn could swear she felt a strong familiarity upon seeing them. Adding the fact that she caught a glimpse of herself with some of those people, Bryn shivered again.
Those were people she used to know! People from her past!
Touching Maeve offered her a vision from her past!
She stared at Maeve's pale and calm form. That probably had only one logical explanation: she used to know Maeve before losing her memories! It wasn't the first time for Bryn to meet her.
Bryn stood quickly from her spot. She felt the urge to tell somebody, she was overwhelmed. Sinbad! That would be him; she would tell him her discovery. Although, he wasn't in the best of his shapes since the news of Maeve's injury but again, it was still related to Maeve too and it would definitely intrigue him. Then, he was the only person who would understand her thoughts and feelings quickly among the crew and would offer her the wisest advice as well.
Bryn, not wanting to waste any more time so she could be back for Maeve, rushed to the cabin's door and opened it abruptly; only to gasp in startle when she came face to face with the devil himself, Sinbad!
He mirrored her reaction, obviously not expecting her to open the door in same time of his arrival. Bryn pressed her hand on her chest taking a deep breath. She smiled warmly to him, to which he only responded faintly after recovering quickly. In a swift glance she took in the dark circles around his eyes and his whole dejected and disheveled appearance, she mentally sighed. He had changed in the past few hours by 180 degree! The cheerful humorous captain transformed into a completely vacuous shell. She pushed that note to the back of her mind as she looked into his worried blue orbs.
"Sorry to take you by surprise, Bryn." He said in a void voice. "Is everything all right here?"
She nodded in response. "Never mind, Sinbad. Actually, I was about to call for you." She shifted a little to let him pass into the cabin, seeing him directing his attention rapidly to Maeve's sleeping form in worry, she hurried on "Everything is fine. Nothing happened to Maeve. She is fine."
He turned his gaze to her quizzically. "Are you sure?" She nodded. He asked again shifting his eyes to the redhead "How is she doing?"
Bryn sighed and took a step forward while looking at her as well. "To tell the truth, I can't say there is any serious change in her case, Sinbad except for the constant development we're familiar with. But I'm not the one to ask; you should direct your query to her healers, especially Caipra."
Another wave of anguish and pain touched her core and she felt sad for her friend's suffering.
"Then, what was that? I had an odd feeling that something happened. That's why I rushed in here." He wondered.
Bryn frowned at this, "Why do you say that? What odd feeling are you talking about?"
"It was like a swirl of rapid emotions, like a shock! I almost shivered at it. I could throw it away of course but not when I noticed my bracelet glowing at the same moment." He pondered "This time, the glow was a mixture of many colors not only green. That's how I excluded the guidance to Mervellya which always takes the green color and a distinctive feeling of knowledge and familiarity. It wasn't Tetsu since he was just a few steps away from me holding the tiller and acting all normally. It was either you or… Maeve."
Bryn blinked. "So you could feel it too! It's about me, Sinbad, not Maeve. Don't worry, though it's related to her somehow!"
The captain frowned at her words; he turned his gaze to her in genuine concern. "What is wrong with you, Bryn? Are you tired? You can take a break and rest for a while in your cabin. I'll take your shift and watch Maeve…"
"No, no, it's nothing like that." She hesitated for a second if it was the right time or not, but again may be it would help with the current events. No one was sure of anything right then. "Sinbad, I don't know if it's the right time for this or not but I have to tell you what I just experienced." She could see that that attracted his attention. "I just noticed a weird thing. My bracelet too glowed just before you come in, and it gave rainbow multi-colors not only green. That confused me at first as well." Sinbad narrowed his eyes at the new development, but his eyes widened at her next addition, "It glows only when I come in contact with Maeve."
He responded with "What do you mean? What has it to do with Maeve?"
"It only glimmers when I touch her and this glow decreases if I get away from her until it fully disappeared."
"Is it related to that Mervellya realm?"
"No Sinbad, unfortunately it doesn't. Actually, the second time it happened when I prolonged my contact time with her, a vision attacked me. A vision from my past, Sinbad!"
The shock was evident on Sinbad's features now, he was speechless for a moment then he blinked and snapped out of it as soon as he could. "No way!" was his whisper.
"Sinbad, I couldn't catch any of the vision details. It happened too fast for me to catch any face but I'm quite sure it was a part of my memories and by that I can only deduce that Maeve and me …"
"…knew each other from before!" Sinbad cut her calmly, now that he fully recovered from the unexpected surprise. "Now that we are at it, if you remember our discussion at Caipra's house, Bryn, you won't be very surprised at the new discovery. It almost makes sense now."
Bryn frowned and shifted her pose, "Which part of the discussion you mean?"
Sinbad opened his mouth to answer only to have the response coming from the cabin entrance. "When I mentioned that Maeve was involved with the bracelets' power, and that's how she contacted Sinbad and made the bracelets your guidance in this journey."
Both captain and his witch turned to Caipra, their eyes full of questions that needed answers, their heart filled of desperation that needed a ray of hope to enlighten their way. They both noticed Dermott perching on her arm.
"No need for more queries, my dears. I can't tell you the whole story behind this though, but someone else can tell you what you need to know."
"And who that might be?" Bryn shot as she swung her gaze in between the old lady and her feathered fellow.
"Maeve of course."
"Wha… what do you mean? How can this happen if she is in that state?" Sinbad's confusion fought out his curiosity.
"Son, it'll be via the same way Bryn caught few glimpses of the whole picture. Maeve is asleep right now and too weak to tell you what you seek for, herself. However, she would gladly accept you inside of her own memories if you got the permission from the closest relative to her."
They all shifted their attention to Dermott, who was unusually standing with a broken shadow emitting from him. "And I can fairly say he granted you the opportunity." Added Caipra.
"But… what about the journey? Mervellya and the egg? What about Maeve's condition?" Bryn gulped in uncertainty. She wasn't sure they could afford wasting time while unrevealing her past. There was a great risk at this and she wouldn't accept it.
"My dear, that is why the dream world deserves all its glory. It doesn't subject to our world's regulations. Time factor is meaningless within the dreams. What took days and months can only be translated into few moments in our world. Your whole past wouldn't pass an hour at maximum; and with that I can assure you we won't be missing much in our journey." Caipra turned to look at Maeve while adding "As for Maeve, it won't harm her in any way. She is already sleeping and dreaming. All you'll do is only to witness her dreams and join her in her memories; that would be all." She returned her gaze to a still hesitant Bryn and a frowned but calm Sinbad. "It's now your own choice and decision to take."
Sinbad was obviously reasoning with the offer but Bryn was struggling with her options, however her reluctance seemed to gradually fading away. Caipra's last words helped in assuring her that she wouldn't harm Maeve in any way by accepting that offer. Her real hesitance –she realized now- was greatly coming from her fear of facing her past and her worries of confronting it. It just happened too fast, she wasn't ready for such priceless proposal which she wasn't even sure if it would stay offered later on.
She would accept the offer; she would go into this new journey all alone. She would do it in spite of her ghostly concerns. She raised her eyes to Caipra, and the determination in her eyes answered in her place.
Almost drowning in her troubled thoughts she felt a touch on her shoulder, looking up she met a pair of blue eyes full of supportive shimmering and concern. "Are you sure?" his husky whisper voiced in the silent void of the old cabin.
"Never have been certain like now." Surprised by her own words that escaped from her hold she realized that her heart's feelings were stronger than her mind's fear and anxiety. Her yearning to finally find the port for her heart to anchor to, the land for her soul to belong to; her longing to satisfy her thirst to identity, to pertinence had overwhelmed her worries and panic of what might come up and been revealed from the hidden past. It wasn't the curiosity anymore that steered the battle between her inside then but her intricate emotions, unrecognizable to her.
A firm grip on her hand startled her out of her lost thoughts, again. This time her eyes were captured by the blue orbs that glimmered with the most sincere and strong support mixed with dancing shadows –that she couldn't help but felt them- of a profound melancholy and pain mirroring the loneliness of the oceans at their most far drear depth. And for a split of second her rumination shifted to when she asked herself once why these pair staring at her right now always reminded her of the seas!
But this intense stare that was showing much care was sending her unspoken words as well that she could sensed instantly. She knew he'd never leave her alone through this by any way. She always knew that whenever the time would come he'd be closely by her side facing it.
Reading the decision in his eyes, a silent agreement was set between brown and blue. They'd go through this together, no matter what might happen. She nodded slightly as her eyes showed her distinct determination which matched with the one radiating from his oceanic depths at the same time.
Finally she could hear him voicing their sole conception through his order as his grasp tightened warmly on her hand: "Then, no better time than now. Let's go through this once and for all. Ready?"
~.~.~
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