Legends of the Halcyon Era

Episode 45 - First Date

In a world covered by endless water...

The year is unknown, a number lost in the winds of time. Several thousand years ago, the planet now known as Terra was plentiful in land and in life, but all of that has changed. Over the millennia, knowledge of what the world once was and how it came to be has been lost...

However... none of that matters today. To a certain young pair who live on one of the many islands dotting the globe, there are far more pressing matters at hand...

Celeste laid in her bed, staring at the ceiling...

Well, technically, it was Nytetrayn's bed, and his room, but he insisted on her using it. And so that's how she ended up with her own room, while Nytetrayn would wake up grumpy every morning after sleeping in uncomfortable positions on the living room sofa. Even after injuring his arm in battle with Sherman East, the robotic demon who referred to himself as The Reanimator, Nytetrayn was adamant about her taking the more comfortable resting place.

As she lay on the bed, her mind wandered...

A little over a week ago, Nytetrayn, Fenix, Janine, and herself were going on a routine dig to one of the ruins on the island. Just after arriving, they were attacked by Fenix's father, a man-monster of a pirate known as Trevor Creed. With ease, he was able to take out all three of her friends, leaving her too petrified to be able to do anything when he decided to take her deep into the ruin for some "privacy".

According to the others, no sooner had the door to the ruins shut than Nytetrayn managed to get to his feet and go after her. "Lost it," is how they described his state of mind as he literally ripped the doors to the ruin open and leapt down the shaft after her, with Fenix and Janine soon following.

It was only a short time later that Nytetrayn and Fenix found Creed, thankfully before he could do anything to her. While Nyte and Fenix fought Creed, Janine was charged with getting Celeste out of there.

In hindsight, she sort of wished she hadn't been whisked away so quickly... It seems that during the fight, Nytetrayn ended up confessing how he really felt about her. Somehow, despite what Creed had tried to do to her, she wished she could have been around for that one moment, to hear what Nytetrayn had said...

It all just seemed very strange. Despite being closer now than they were before, Nyte still kept a bit silent on the subject. In fact, it was Fenix who had put the words "I love you" into Nyte's mouth on the way home. And while Nytetrayn didn't deny feeling that way about her, he had yet to actually say anything of the sort to her. Did he really love her? Or was he just more comfortable being "friends"?

Celeste turned to her side with a sigh as she thought more on the subject. She'd always liked Nyte, and that feeling seemed to only grow after her rescue. Was this love? Or something else? And if it was love, did Nytetrayn really feel the same way? How could she know for sure?

Celeste looked over at the clock on the wall... just earlier, she and Nytetrayn had gotten word of a carnival coming to the small town here on Monroe Island, and decided to go. As she looked at the clock counting down the minutes until they'd leave, she wondered to herself: Were they going to the carnival as friends... or would this be a date?

Nytetrayn laid on the living room couch, looking at the ceiling...

His head rested on the arm of the sofa, in an awkward sort of bend that really wasn't very comfortable, but he got used to it. Better to let Celeste have the bedroom, he figured. He could tough it out.

His right arm hung off the side of the couch, somewhat limp. He'd hurt it over a week ago fighting The Reanimator, and it hadn't gotten any better since.

He'd considered going to the doctor to see what might be wrong with it, largely at his friends' insistence. Still, Nytetrayn wasn't sure what they'd find... or if he wanted them to find it. So while lying to his friends was one of the last things he ever wanted to do, that's exactly what he'd done. He pretended to go to the doctor by himself, and reported the doctor's findings as "inconclusive".

Nytetrayn glanced at the clock on top of the TV as he considered what lay ahead on this day. He and Celeste had decided to go to a carnival that was going to be on the island that very night. For all intents and purposes, it sounded like a date... all right, so be it. A date it was, then, if that's what it really was. But what? What was he supposed to do? For once in his life, Nytetrayn really had no idea where to begin. Fenix had left shortly after the Creed encounter, so he really couldn't ask him for advice. So Nytetrayn tried thinking back to some of the things Fenix had said to him in his constant urges for the pair to get together.

"Hey! Padawan! Make with the Jedi shit like me and Xenos taught ya!"

...that was no help. Then again, Nyte wasn't sure that Fenix's advice would really be of much help to him. Fenix, after all, was the same guy who performed more experiments with Janine than you were likely to find at a mad scientist convention. He'd probably suggest something like "take her out behind the cotton candy shack and go until neither of you can walk." Hardly his style, and Celeste just didn't seem the type who would go for that.

Rolling over to his other side, Nyte pondered just what he should do with a girl like Celeste. He had strong feelings for her, no doubt, feelings he ultimately concluded were love. But what if he shouldn't be with her? What if he couldn't be with her?

The thought was enough to start to tear him up inside, but he considered things. Given his bizarre origins, he wasn't entirely sure just what he was. He looked human, there was no doubt about that. But at the same time, so did Janine, and she was "the Reaverbot Queen".

Nytetrayn pondered this over and over again. Would it really be fair if he were to get involved with Celeste deeply? What if something happened? God only knows what, but... what if? What if he was a danger to her, and everyone else?

Sitting upright on the sofa, Nytetrayn shook his head as if to clear his thoughts. Such ideas were far too negative for his liking, but did that mean he should ignore them? Of all the strange things he had encountered, this had him more confused than anything.

He looked over to the clock again. The time was drawing near. He should get ready.

Celeste sighed as she looked through the dresser drawers for something to wear. Which was ultimately pointless, because all of her clothes were the same.

Of course, the reasoning behind it was simple enough. After she had been released from the hospital on Gotox Island, all she had were some clothes they had given her, clothes that had been taken from the hospital's donations box. They weren't much, a little ragged, but it was better than going around naked, much as Janine might disagree.

It wasn't until they were on their way to Monroe Island that she was afforded the opportunity to get something better to wear. The Air Pirate, Xenos Geist, had a legion of Helpbots that were only too eager to find her something else to wear. Unfortunately, one of them was pretty much hell-bent on making her dress like Janine, a prospect that made her a bit nervous to think about. Thanks to Nytetrayn, though, they had put together something practical for her to wear. In fact, they apparently liked what they had made so much that they made her several identical sets to wear. The downside of which was that she was left with very little that could be considered "special" to wear when she went out. On the upside, at least they were comfortable clothes.

She sighed again as she looked over her all-too limited choices. After some hesitation, she finally resigned herself to one of the sets of clothes. Nytetrayn would be sure to understand... she hoped.

She gathered the clothes she'd be wearing, and went to the bathroom to shower and dress.

Nytetrayn waited for Celeste to get started with the shower before he went into the room to get some clothes to wear that night.

He opened his drawer and looked over his options, which could basically be summed up in one word: black.

For some reason, variety wasn't of much importance to him, and something drew him to black clothing anyway. For starters, it always goes together. Or it can go with anything else. It was a simple, yet practical way to do it, he figured.

Looking over the drawer full of clothes, he pulled out a black tank top, a black button-up shirt, and some black shorts. Should he wear his hat? "Hmm... not this time," he thought.

His choices made, he went over to relax on what used to be his bed for a few minutes. Lying back, he remembered how much more comfortable this used to be than the living room sofa. It made his arm feel a lot better, too.

Before he could get too used to it again, he snapped back to reality, remembering it was Celeste's now. Which suited him fine, he'd rather she were able to sleep in comfort. "The couch isn't that bad, after all..." he said to himself, almost trying to convince himself.

Soon, he heard the shower stop, and a short time later, Celeste emerged from the bathroom dressed.

Now it was his turn, then they could get going. And so he went into the steamed-up bathroom to take a shower of his own.

A short time later, Nytetrayn emerged from the bathroom, showered, dressed, and ready to go. After a moment of touching up his hair, he figured it was about time to get this show on the road.

"Ready?" he asked, a little bit of anxiety behind his voice.

"Yeah, sure..." Celeste replied as she stood up from the sofa. "Have you seen Janine, by the way? I haven't heard from her since she left this afternoon."

"No, haven't seen her. She'll probably come back later. Hope she remembered her key," he said, readying the door's lock for their departure.

With that, Celeste and Nytetrayn took their leave.

A short time later, the pair arrived at the carnival, set up just outside of the small town nestled in the center of the island. They were surprised to see just how many people had shown up for it, as apparently quite a few people from neighboring islands had come to enjoy themselves.

Looking around, it seemed as though there was plenty to do. Lots of food, rides, and games... the hard part was deciding where to start.

As the two were taking in their surroundings, Nytetrayn saw a games booth where the object was to knock down a stack of milk bottles with a baseball. "Too easy," Nytetrayn thought to himself.

"Hey, Cel, let's go give this a try," Nytetrayn suggested.

"I don't know, Nyte..." Celeste said with a hint of worry. "I hear those games are rigged, maybe we shouldn't..."

Nytetrayn, confident in the strength and precision aim that had seen him through many a ruin, wasn't about to back down. "Don't worry, I've got it covered," he reassured Celeste.

With that, he approached the carny at the booth, ready to clean up. "Three balls for fifty Zenny!" came the almost nasally call from the slender, average sized man running the booth. "Step right up and win a prize!"

Spotting Nytetrayn and Celeste, he figured he had found himself an easy mark. "You there, sir! Step right up, and win yourself a prize for your little girlfriend there!"

With that comment, Nytetrayn's mind froze for just a second before he was able to respond. "Oh, er, she's not my... uh... that is... oh, just shut up and give me the three balls!" he said, putting down his fifty Zenny on the counter of the small booth.

"And here you go," the carny replied, as he took the money and handed over the balls with no hesitation, just before he stepped to the side of the booth.

Nytetrayn readied himself as he took one of the balls from the counter. He tossed it in the air a few times to get a feel for the size and weight of the object. Without warning, he launched the sphere right into the center of the milk bottles. Before anyone could see it, though, the ball ricocheted right off of the shining surface of the bottles and into parts unknown. Glass could be heard shattering in the distance, accompanied by a loud screech.

Nytetrayn couldn't believe it, but he wasn't ready to give up. He picked up the next ball for his second turn.

"Maybe a slight adjustment of my angle would help..." he said to himself, just before letting the ball loose. Once more, the ball soared at the bottles and bounced right off, this time going all over the inside of the tent just before hitting the carny in the place he'd most not want to be hit. Unlike the bottles, the carny collapsed in a heap.

Nytetrayn was not amused, and the expression on his face echoed this fact loud and clear. "Nyte..." Celeste said, trying to ease the Digger's temper. "...don't worry about it. There are other things we can do here."

Just as Nytetrayn was about to concede to Celeste's wishes, three large men made their approach, laughing.

"Hey guys, get a load of this! Little man here thinks he can impress the ladies!" said the first one, who seemed to be the leader. About a foot taller than Nytetrayn, at least, he sported a short blonde haircut and an arrogant attitude. The other two, sporting similarly colored hair, were closer to Nytetrayn's height, and both laughed like the big one had just told the world's funniest joke. Nytetrayn just tried to ignore them, but to no avail.

The big one turned his attention to Celeste. "Hey baby, whatcha doin' hanging around with a loser like this?" he said, as he used one hand to push down on Nytetrayn's head, moving it around to mess up his hair in the process. "Why settle for a chump, when you can have a champ?" he continued, this time flexing his muscles as his colleagues continued to applaud his every move.

Inside, Nytetrayn was just about to boil over with rage. Outside... wasn't much better, actually. Still, he managed to keep himself together, up to the point the large thug decided that he should be the one to take Celeste to "see the sights," in a manner of speaking. Just as he was about to take Celeste's unwilling arm, Nytetrayn's own right arm shot up and grabbed the stunned brute by his collar.

Before he could react, Nytetrayn hurled him over the counter and into the far side of the booth. It was just about this time that the carny was coming to his senses as he saw the goon hurled through his establishment, and ducked out of the way.

While the two smaller lackeys were checking on their boss, the carny was up in arms, shouting at Nytetrayn. "What the hell do you think you're doing here?! You've wrecked my booth!!!"

"He started it," Nytetrayn replied.

"Get out of here, NOW!!!" the carny yelled.

"Hey, what about my prize?" inquired Nytetrayn.

The carny stood puzzled, as Nytetrayn pointed over to where he'd thrown the troublemaking goon just moments ago. Sure enough, he had knocked down the milk bottles in the process.

Dumbfounded, it took several moments for the carny to figure out what to do next.

Finally, he grabbed one of his largest prizes, and shoved it into Nytetrayn's arms. "Just take it! And do me a favor: don't come back!" he said in an almost pleading tone, just wanting to get his booth back in order before he lost even more business.

Nytetrayn blinked for a moment, took a look at the huge stuffed bear in his arms, shrugged, and went on his way, figuring he got what he came for... sort of. He joined Celeste, who had been watching the whole thing transpire. "Here you go," he said, as he handed the oversized plush to her.

"Wow, thank you," she said, still slightly taken aback at the events that had just transpired. Though upon further reflection, this was far from the weirdest thing she'd ever seen. She looked over her new acquisition, and found she rather liked it... it was simple, but cute. She was just about to give Nytetrayn a more appropriate gesture of gratitude when she looked to her side to see Nytetrayn wasn't with her.

Looking back, Nytetrayn had stopped, and he was clutching his right arm, which seemed to be in great pain. She quickly returned to his side, hoping he was ok.

"Nyte, are you alright?!" she asked, concerned.

Nytetrayn winced, but remained silent for a moment before answering. "Y-yeah, I'm okay..."

"We should probably get you home," she continued.

"No... no, I'm fine... really."

"But..."

"Don't worry about it, I'll be alright..." Nytetrayn trailed off, though unsure of his words as the burning sensation tore through his arm. Fighting it back, he forced a smile as he continued. "Come on, there's still more for us to do."

Celeste decided, albeit reluctantly, to let it go, though she made a point to stay by Nytetrayn's side, just in case he ended up needing some help after all. All the while, she couldn't shake this feeling of dread, of worry, that something was seriously wrong with Nytetrayn.

As the night went on, Nytetrayn and Celeste enjoyed themselves amongst the sights and sounds of the night time carnival. They rode a few rides, and ate some of the food and snacks available.

"Hey Nyte, let's try the ferris wheel now!" Celeste said, tugging on his good arm.

"Whoa, alright..." Nytetrayn replied, allowing himself to be pulled along. She seemed to be having a good time there, and that made Nytetrayn more than happy. Enough to forget about his arm, even.

With that, Nytetrayn and Celeste went over and plunked down their Zenny for two tickets, and soon enough, they were strapped in and riding high over the carnival.

For a while, they remained quiet, taking in the view from the top of the wheel's rotation. While they'd been enjoying each other's company throughout the evening, they still found themselves a little bit too nervous to get into any sort of real conversation.

Then, a short time into the duration of the ride, something happened. An ear-piercing screech filled the air as sparks flew from the wheel, and it slowly ground to a stop with Nytetrayn and Celeste right at the top.

Looking down, Nytetrayn could see the ride operator arguing with the maintenance man. "What do you mean 'I didn't feel like greasing the wheel today?!'" shouted one. The other nonchalantly said, "What, you need me to spell it out for ya'?" "Yeah, well maybe I feel like wringing your neck!" came the reply, and he applied his hands to the throat of the maintenance man. It didn't take long before the two erupted into a full-blown scuffle, dust rising around them.

Nytetrayn sighed and sat back in his seat. "Looks like we might be here awhile..."

Celeste just nodded in reply and slid down in her seat, letting out a depressed sigh.

Nytetrayn fidgeted in his seat a little. While the view was nice, this was hardly where he wanted to spend the night. Eventually, he worked up enough nerve to decide to start a conversation with Celeste.

"So... um..." he started to say, not really knowing where to go with a conversation.

"How's your arm?" Celeste decided to ask.

"It's... it's alright," he said, not really sure how to answer the question. It was doing better than it was earlier, but was still bothering him somewhat.

After that, a little more awkward silence followed, as they looked to the stars.

"Nyte..." Celeste started again. "Do you ever think about where you came from?"

Nytetrayn wasn't expecting that, so it took him a moment to answer. "Sometimes, I guess. Don't really know much about it... where I came from, or anything... so I just try and focus on the future..." Turning to Celeste, he added, "...and the present."

Celeste just sort of nodded in response.

"What about you? I mean, you know... considering..."

Celeste just kept her gaze fixed on the sky. "I dunno. I mean, you wake up in a hospital one day, not having any idea what's happened... it just sort of makes you wonder just who you are... that sort of thing kind of sticks with you, you know?"

Nytetrayn just nodded as he thought to himself, "Better than you may ever know." He returned his eyes to the sky as he thought about Celeste and himself. He looked back over, and looked at her with this strange feeling inside. It was a feeling beyond his description, almost like a combination of feelings all mixed together, with none of the originals being recognizable any longer. He felt like he wanted to be there to comfort her, to reassure her somehow, that maybe someday she'll find her answers. Looking at her made him feel vulnerable, too. Like he needed her for strength. Which was strange, as he had lasted for some time on his own. Well, there was Fenix, and later Janine, but that just seemed different somehow. Whereas they were like family, Celeste just seemed like something else. He looked back to the stars, as if for guidance, and it soon hit him: he needed to tell her how he felt. It didn't matter if whatever was responsible for his being should come back to haunt him, she should at least know the truth – and not from Fenix's lips this time.

At the same time, Celeste thought to herself about everything. As long as she'd known him, which had practically been as far back as she could remember, he had been there for her. Longer, in fact. After all, it was Nytetrayn who gave the hospital the refractor needed to help operate the equipment needed to revive her. And no sooner than she awoke and expressed her gratitude to the one who had, in essence, saved her life, then he offered to give her a place to live, and in the process welcoming her into his family. Add to that the fact he always seemed to be willing to stand up for her, to put her safety first... Looking back, it all seemed rather obvious now that he must have some sort of strong feelings for her. Maybe the problem was he was somehow afraid to admit it... maybe if she said something first, it would be easier... but could she muster the strength to do it? The thought, or rather, the ramifications of her being wrong seemed almost overbearing; they scared her. If she said what she thought, and she was wrong, would things ever be the same after that? Could she take that chance?

Celeste drew in a deep breath as she braced herself. There was only one way to find out where they stood, and perhaps the only thing that would be worse than being wrong is never knowing.

At the same time, Nytetrayn and Celeste turned and looked each other in the eyes, almost scaring them both, due to the sheer nervousness of anticipating what was to come next. Nytetrayn swallowed as Celeste took another deep breath...

"Cel..."

"Nyte..."

Both paused, having started at the same time, not wanting to interrupt the other.

"Just do it, already!" Nytetrayn thought to himself.

"Celeste... there's something I need to tell you..." he managed in a low yet audible tone.

"Me too..." she replied nervously. "...but you can go first."

Nytetrayn closed his eyes as he went on. "Celeste, I... I haven't said anything about this yet... I haven't known how... hell, I still don't think I do, but..."

Celeste listened intently, as Nytetrayn took a deep breath before continuing. "...but I... I..." As certain as he was of what he had to do just moments ago, all of that bold strength, all of his imagining how he would do it just seemed to leave him. Straightening himself, and with nothing to fall back on – no adrenaline, no plans, no ideas – he forced himself to do what he had always done before: press forward. "Celeste... I... love you."

Nytetrayn opened his eyes to look at Celeste, as he felt a tremendous burden lift from his shoulders, although it still felt like another one just as great remained. After those first three words, the rest seemed to come more easily as he continued. "I don't know how to put it in words... but I really, really care about you... I know we live together, but... I want to be with you. Like, really with you... no matter what happens." After he finished, he let out a deep breath and just sort of rubbed his forehead. It was done. Now he just had to wait and see how she would respond... the part of the entire task which somehow seemed far worse than saying what he did.

Celeste was quiet for a moment, before hesitantly putting her hand on his. Not sure how to follow up, she forced herself to speak, not knowing just what to say or where to begin, and so she just winged it. "Nyte, I... I feel the same way. I... you've always been there for me, and... well... I want to be with you, too." Celeste actually surprised herself by how well that seemed to come out.

After a brief silence that consisted of the two looking at one-another, they moved in closer together as they continued to watch the night sky, and caught a star shoot by just as the wheel started to move again.

Some time later, Nytetrayn and Celeste arrived at home to find a hole where the doorknob used to be. "Damn, I guess Jan forgot her key, after all," Nytetrayn said in a half-irritated tone.

"Don't worry about it," Celeste said, as she put her hand on Nyte's shoulder. "We can get it fixed later."

"Yeah, I guess you're right..."

"Nyte... I just wanted to... thank you, for taking me to the carnival tonight. It was a lot of fun."

"...really?" Nyte asked in disbelief. "Even with everything that happened?"

"Yeah! We still had fun. We got some stuff off our chests, and... you won me this," she said, as she smiled and held up her giant prize teddy bear.

"Yeah... I guess it did go pretty well, didn't it?" Nyte said, smiling a bit.

Celeste nodded. "Um... so, I guess we should go ahead and get some sleep..."

The two looked at each other, not sure what to do next. Things became almost like a daze as they moved towards each other slowly, not sure what they were doing, despite how obvious it might be to anyone looking on. Finally, their lips met, and they briefly lost themselves as they kissed each other for the first time. Soon, they finally managed to pull away, breathing a bit heavily...

"Wow..." was all Nytetrayn could say.

"Y-yeah..." was Celeste's only reply.

"I... um..."

"...y-yeah..."

"...guess we should go in... now..."

Celeste nodded in agreement, as Nytetrayn opened the door and allowed her to enter first. After they got ready for bed and she went over to the door of her bedroom, she saw Nytetrayn getting ready to go to sleep on the sofa, tossing a little bit in discomfort.

"Nyte... you shouldn't be sleeping on the couch. Your arm..."

"Cel, don't worry about it. I'll be fine. The bed is yours. I insist."

Celeste just stood there, frustrated. She couldn't stand to see Nytetrayn suffer on the couch anymore, but the next words out of her mouth surprised even her...

"Then you come in here, and sleep next to me!"

Only too late did she realize what the possible implications of what she had said were. Nytetrayn, eyes wide open, just lay there looking at Celeste in stunned silence, as she tried to rephrase.

"I mean... just... I can't stand to see you suffer on the couch, Nyte. I know your arm is hurt, and sleeping on that thing can't possibly be helping it. If you aren't going to trade with me, then at least... share... so you don't get any worse."

Nytetrayn wasn't sure what to say. After a few moments of looking at the pleading expression on Celeste's face and pondering, he finally relented to her request, and got up off the couch.

"Alright, Cel... if that's what you really want... then okay."

"Thank you, Nyte..." Celeste said, sort of nervous.

"Don't worry, I won't do anything. I'm not Janine," he said with a smile, to reassure her.

From there, they entered the bedroom and slept well into the next day, a bit more comfortable than they had been before.