Another update. Enjoy. Not Beta-ed. Sorry for any OOC.
Usual disclaimer applies.
"So, what do you think of this, Annissina?" They had all rushed to the scientist lab as soon as they arrived at the Blood Pledge Castle. Everyone was eager to know what they were dealing with.
Annissina, pleased with all the attention, took the vial of the reddish substance form Günther's hand and hold it towards the light to see it clearly. The substance, which was glowing brightly a while ago, now started to dim substantially when the sunlight touched it.
"Hmm, it seems that it's afraid of sunlight. A weakness, yes, but not to the point of obliteration. This is fascinating," she mused.
Gwendal's left eye was twitching. "Well…. it's good that you've discovered its weakness and all, but what is it exactly?" he desperately wanted to know but at the same time he was afraid to hear about it. Afraid that the nightmare from long ago had somehow managed to repeat itself. 'Thank Shinou, Mother is not here.'
Annissina closed her eyes for a moment. Her brain was actively searching for a device that could be used in the situation.
"I got it," she suddenly ran to a cabinet full of weird looking inventions. There she pulled put an odd looking machine; a device that was a cross between a weight and a blender.
"Let me introduce you to 'Nothing-I-Don't-Know Kun'. The mechanic is simple. Just put anything you want to test inside this bender. The bender then will separate the test subject to the smallest part. After that, the part under it will begin to analyze each small part. Then, it will summarize every result and lo and behold, the result will appear. The chance of success is more than 90%," Annissina excitedly explained the working of the machine to no one in particular.
"It's a blender, Annissina," Yuuri said under his breath. He was the one who gave it to her last year after she kept complaining it was tiring to smash the herbs to pulp for Gisela. He thought she could study the inner machinery and then reinvent it so it would not be dependent to electricity.
"Excuse me, Your Majesty?" Annissina turned to Yuuri with a look that clearly said 'I-Dare-You-To-Correct-Me-Again." Yuuri got the message and just shook his head vigorously.
Gwendal, Günther and Wolfram started backing away when they saw the machine, as much as they wanted to know the substance, they still loathed being strapped to a machine, not knowing whether the last meal they took would literally be their last or not.
"Ah….. I can see that my guinea pigs are getting anxious. No worries… no worries. I have my other invention to help me out. Let me see… where is it?" she searched one of the drawers of her desk.
"Yes, here it is. 'Bat-array' kun. You just store the Maryoku in it and when you want to use a particular machine, for example, this," she held the Nothing-I-Don't-Know kun upside down, revealing a small slot at the bottom of it, "You just put it in and it will work."
"'Bat-array'?!" Murata was confused. "Oh… you meant to say battery," he added helpfully.
"No…. I mean what I said. 'Bat-array'," Annissina shot Murata a murderous look.
"OK… OK… my bad." 'You're not collecting bats, silly.'
"So, let's begin shall we?"
Carefully she poured the content of the vial into the blender. Pushing the 'ON' button, she stepped back a little and waited. A full two minutes later, the machine stopped analyzing and a length of paper was spewed from the side of the weight. The red-haired scientist took the paper and started to study it.
"Hmm…. this is weird," a frown was forming across her forehead. She was no longer cocky.
"What is?" Gwendal asked sternly. He was in no mood to play games with her.
"It seems that the substance is not a native of this world."
"Eh??!!" Yuuri and Wolfram both gaped at Annissina.
"How can you be sure?" Günther could feel his heart beating faster with every passing minute.
"Well… I AM a scientist, not that you wanted to acknowledge that. Don't bother denying it," she added when she saw Yuuri trying to say something. "Throughout these years, I've accumulated every specimen ever known to human and Mazoku alike. I even have in my possession a few rare samples. From all these samples, I can make one important conclusion; as long as they are from this world, they will share at least one common component, namely tandsoh or carbon as you say it on your languages, Your Majesty."
"Are you saying that…,"Murata was unable to finish his sentence. 'Not a carbon-based life form?'
"This reddish substance is not from this world or yours for that matter," she finished Murata's sentence, rather annoyed at having to repeat herself.
"No wonder it's weak against sunlight," Günther said quietly.
All of a sudden, Murata walked towards the door. "Excuse me but I have some business I need to attend to," he said without turning his back, and walked out of the room.
"Günther and I also need to discuss something," Gwendal too started to walk out of the room followed closely by Günther. "Conrart, you stay here and keep an eye on those two brats," Gwendal whispered to Conrart when he was directly in front of his younger brother.
Those who were left in the room were silent. Annissina was deep in thought. She needed to figure something out so she shooed the rest of them out of her lab and locked the door behind them.
"Well…. we're officially a nuisance huh, Wolfram?" Yuuri looked over his shoulder to see that Wolfram had already walked away. 'Shit, I forgot.'
"Conrart, are you sure they will be alright?" Yuuri suddenly asked. He had just finished his sword training with the brunette.
"You mean the survivors, Your Majesty?"
"Yes. And the name is Yuuri, nazukeoya."
"Hait… hait… Yuuri. Of course they will be fine. Physically and economically, I mean. But they will need a lot of help from the Shinri Gakushas, or psychologists to heal mentally," Conrart calmly explained.
"Whoaa, there are psychologists here?" Yuuri turned to Wolfram, politely inviting him in the conversation.
Wolfram, who was still furious at Gwendal about his order to always stick to Conrart's side no matter what, accidentally set the towel he was holding on fire when he heard Yuuri's voice addressing him. He seriously contemplating whether to hurl some nasty reply or just politely answer him. 'Tsk, I forgot. I've already promised him,' he remembered suddenly. He turned around to face him.
"Yes, Your Majesty. Some of the healers were trained to be Shinsya as we call them. Others like Gisela were trained to serve in the army," he replied respectfully.
Conrart, who was cleaning his sword, looked up when he heard the conversation. He just couldn't believe his ears. What had happened between those two? The usual Wolfram would reply something with the word 'wimp' in it. Not this overly-polite (for Wolfram) respond. And then, Yuuri would answer in his usual annoyed or rather whiny voice 'I'm not a wimp' or something like that. He looked questioningly at Wolfram.
Wolfram saw the look his brother was giving him but chose to ignore it. The reason why the annulment of the engagement was still unknown was because they were so busy yesterday nobody had thought twice about it. Not that it wasn't important but in comparison with the recent event, it was just not on the top priority list. 'Well, at least I could enjoy one more day before I am hauled back into the market with all that hideous and cumbersome parties. Thank Shinou, Mother is on her Free Love trip.'
"Conrart," Wolfram began, ignoring the look from his brother," If you and Your Majesty still need to get some practice, would you mind doing it near my training ground. I want to get some training done and only Shinou knows what my guards are doing right now. And I also need to catch up on the training we had lost yesterday," he explained. In truth, he needed to do something or his heart was going to burst, watching Yuuri from such a close distance. 'Yuuri would never understand how it feels like to love someone so much but not to get the feeling returned,' he clutched his heart. These past few days, his heart was acting rather strange. It wasn't in pain but it felt like something was tugging at it, wanting to take control of it. Wolfram however just dismissed it as the side-effect of having his heart broken.
Conrart turned to Yuuri. "Is it alright with you, Yuuri? Or do you want to call it a day?"
"Hmm…. I'm quite tired actually." Wolfram face fell. It was his words against the king. If Yuuri wanted to rest, then he had no choice but to follow since Conrart needed to play babysitter to the both of them. Actually, he could just ignore Gwendal's command and still go to training whether Conrart followed him or not. But, unfortunately, he wasn't in the mood to disobey order.
Conrart, though, was tossing a baseball repeatedly to the air. He did this as if he had no intention of doing it but he was giving Yuuri an idea about playing baseball subconciously. The power of suggestion.
"But, not tired enough," Yuuri said suddenly. He wanted a brief break from the current issue before being pulled into the centre of it. "Let's play, Conrart. Wolfram can get train his soldier while we play."
Wolfram gave Conrart a look of immense relief and silently thanked his Little Big Brother. At that exact moment, Wolfram was very thankful and blessed that even though he had effectively lost the life of his love, he still had his family by his side. 'Blood is thicker than water, huh?'
A few hours later, Wolfram's elite guards could be seen walking towards their quarters, looking exhausted and battered but equally satisfied. Their beautiful and lovable commander was back, after all.
The Great Sage's destination loomed up front in its entire splendor. A magnificent building, large and imposing. The grey stones lining the outer walls served as a formidable barrier against any mortal attacks. Though truth be told, the only two things the Sage liked about the place were the octagonal garden with the pool in the middle and the shrine maidens. He liked the garden because that was the place that connected him with home (almost all the time) and the maidens because usually they were the objects of his fantasies. 'Not that I have a lot of those,' he chuckled to himself.
Reaching the entrance of the temple, he slowed down upon seeing Ulrike waiting for him. 'Cheh, that prankster must've known I'm coming. So…. he deliberately ignored my calling, huh? Just you wait Shinou. I'll get my payback.'
"Your Highness, His Majesty is waiting for you," Ulrike wasn't sure why Murata looked so angry.
"Ahh…. He is, isn't he? That good for nothing……" Murata curse trailed off when he walked past Ulrike in a hurry. As much as he wanted to strangle Shinou, he had to settle this matter first. 'That guy should learn self-restrain. He should know when to stop joking around.'
When he arrived at the room, Shinou was standing with his back facing Murata. The king appeared not to notice his presence, seemingly absorbed in his thoughts. Then suddenly, the blond monarch turned around with a smirk on his face.
"I sense that you're angry, my dear Sage."
"Not a great way to say hello, Shinou," Murata replied sarcastically.
Shinou chuckled softly. "Alright, then. Hello, my dear Sage."
Murata stared straight at him. "Not funny and you knew it. Will you please stop making fun of me?"
Shinou just shrugged. He could guess that Murata wanted to ask him something about the recent event. He could assume that Murata wanted to reproach him about his failure to show up when summoned. He knew there was a lot to be explained. The Sage's five years in Shin Makoku wasn't enough to fill him with everything that had happened for the last hundreds of years since his absence.
"Fine. I'll restrain myself for now. But before that, let me apologize for my failure to help when you need me to," Shinou thought rather than listen to the Sage's long speech about his role in supporting the new Maou which in other word meant supporting the Sage's by answering his call, it was better to just bow his head and apologize first.
"Huh, that's a first," Murata mumbled, a little taken aback by this new development. "But don't think that you'll get away with it."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." He responded smugly. 'Damn, he read my plan,' Shinou cursed silently. "I believe you have something to discuss with me, my dear Sage. What is it?"
"Oh, don't pretend you didn't know, my dear beloved Shinou. You know alright, with that stupid grin on your face," Murata couldn't believe his ears. His blood was nearing the boiling point. 'Mattaku, I should have resigned from being his babysitter a long time ago. He's worst than my 2 year old cousin.'
Shinou expression changed dramatically. "Cyndwal, huh?"
There was an eerie silent that followed.
"I take it you know something about it," Murata tried to coax the blond in front of him into telling. He knew very well that if Shinou refused to say, then it was useless to force him to do so.
Shinou just stood there, staring into space. His expression was unreadable. Murata knew not to push him so he just made his way towards the altar and sat between 'End of the Earth' and "End of the Wind'. Patience was the best way to deal with Shinou. That was the hardest lesson he learned 4000 years ago.
"What would you do if I told you I knew about Cyndwal?"
"Then I would ask you what the hell were you thinking keeping it a secret from me? Thousands of people died, roasted. Your information could've saved them," Murata was furious. How could Shinou be so nonchalant about this?
A look of anger flashed across Shinou's face. For a moment his blue eyes turned grey. But a second later, his shoulders were slumped. His eyes were sad, full of unshed tears.
'I've never seen him like that. Not even when he's dying from Soushu.'
"It's true that I knew about it. I've been having nightmares about it, if you can call it a nightmare since I don't sleep. The problem is though, my dear friend, I don't know when it would happen. There were times when I thought it was just a meaningless dream. You know, like the one when I saw you naked in a pool full of women and you were having so much fun you passed out because of the heat?" Shinou smiled a little at that. That was a funny dream, watching the Sage floating with his manhood in full view of the women and how they had laughed hysterically at that.
"But you should've just told me nonetheless. At least we could post guards at the village. We could've done something to prevent this," Murata was officially on the brink of losing his head. Sometimes he just didn't understand the demon in front of him; his logic threw him off balance.
"Then, you would have added the number of the death tolls. You have no idea what you're up against. Even I, the supposedly Great One, don't know everything about 'her'."
"It's a 'her'?" Murata asked, surprised at the newly obtained information.
"Well, that was the sex of the disguise she used the last time I saw her," Shinou looked directly at the Sage.
"You've met her before?"
"Will you just stop repeating everything I've said?"
"Sorry. Then what is she actually? Lady von Kabernikoff told me that the substance we got from her trail is not from this world," Murata informed the dead king.
"Like I said before, I don't know everything about her. I know for a fact that she relies on others life force to sustain her own. She has been alive far longer than any of us. She is the remnant of the Launa people or the First. There isn't any writing material left now on this race. While the Launas were not immortal, Corintha as she called herself found a way to avoid the fate of her people."
"Launa! I've heard about them. I think I've read about them once. They were destroyed when a huge earthquake hit their region. The survivors then were swept away by the biggest tidal wave in history. How could've she survived that?" Murata was confused. The incident had created more confusion than answers.
"That's why I told you I don't know everything," Shinou replied, obviously annoyed.
"But, why there was no incident like this before? I think the burning of Cyndwal was the first."
"Well…. I guess you could say that she is seeking revenge," Shinou could've sworn he had a headache.
"Why? On whom?"
"On us, my dear Sage. On the demon tribe," the blond spirit replied.
"Care to tell me more, Shinou?" Murata was furious at Shinou for withholding information from him.
"I would love to indulge you in the recent history of Shin Makoku, but I think it's inappropriate to do so. I'm not the best person to tell you this. It'll be an insult to the family involved," Shinou rubbed his eyes, a sign that he was getting tired. 'He's just like a cute little brat when he does that.'
"Then what do you suggest we do?"
"How about we pay the family in question a visit," the fiery spirit started to walk towards the door.
'Eh?' Today was definitely the most tiring day for Murata.
A heated conversation was taking place in Gwendal's office. Günther was standing, facing the window overlooking the empty square below. He was sweating amid the mild weather. Gwendal on the other hand, had taken out a bottle of vodka and poured it into two small glasses. The vodka was a present from the Shibuyas as a token of thank you for looking after their son (or rather, looking after their son's paperwork). He handed a glass to Günther.
"I know what you're thinking, Günther. I've been thinking about the same thing since we came back last night. But let's not jump into conclusion shall we? We still don't know for sure," Gwendal wanted to calm his friend desperately because he needed him clear-headed.
Günther just smiled bitterly. "I wish I had your confidence, Gwendal. But all the evidence we had gathered so far suggest otherwise. Fire wielder, Forlorne Forest, the ruins, the out-of-the-world stuff. It all makes sense. It's back."
"How?"
"I don't know. I thought we've finished the job years ago. I honestly thought we'd stopped it. But we were unprepared back then. Something must have happened."
Silence reigned. Both didn't really want to bring themselves to think about the nightmare that took place decades ago but what choice do they had? There must've been something wrong on that fateful night. A mistake that brought back the horror to life.
"I think you should tell your mother, Gwendal," Günther finally opened his mouth.
"What?! No!! Absolutely not! She'll freak out. Right now, I have enough on my plate to last me this lifetime," Gwendal practically shouted.
"But she IS your mother. How do you think she would feel if she heard of this from someone else and was unable to help?" Günther shot back.
"I-I…." Gwendal downed his vodka in one gulp. "I'll think about it," he finally relented.
Günther just nodded. "So back to the pressing matters. What should we do now? Are we to wait here? Are we to attack first?" Günther asked nonstop, bringing more headaches to the already throbbing head of Gwendal's.
"Seriously, right now, I'm not sure. Unlike the battle with Soushu, we knew nothing about it. Even the Great Sage is in a bind. How are we going to construct a plan when we don't even have the slightest idea what we're up against?" Gwendal let out everything that was bothering him.
"Tashikani," Gunter reluctantly agreed.
A sound of door being opened had them all jumped from surprise. "Maybe if we all sit and think about it together, we might find something," Shinou was standing on the Great Sage's shoulder, looking rather amused.
"Shinou Heika! Daikenja-sama!" Both man turned around to see the Great Sage in the doorway with the cute and small king perched on his shoulder like a parrot.
"Hello, Lord von Christ, Lord von Voltaire. Long time no see. Peace is a good thing, huh?" He smiled mischievously. Murata just ground his teeth, still fuming at the dead king for keeping him in the dark (and for standing on his shoulder).
Gwendal and Günther just stared at the odd-looking couple in front of them. Their heads were still swarming with a lot of unanswered questions.
"So, I reckon you were talking about Cyndwal and the possible relation to the event that happened 88 years ago, huh?" Shinou jumped from Murata's shoulder onto Gwendal's table, careful not to knock any stack of paperwork.
"Ah, I'm right then? It's back?" Günther said, eyes not exactly meeting the king.
"Ping pong."
"So when are we going to go meet the family, Shinou?" Murata asked.
"We ARE meeting them, alright," the spirit replied. He arranged a few boxes on Gwendal's table to his height and then sat on it.
Murata was beyond confused. He thought they were stopping at the Blood Pledge Castle to ask for escort. Now the prankster said they were already meeting the family? 'You've got to be kidding.'
"Meet the brother of the person in question, Gwendal von Voltaire," Shinou was presenting Gwendal like he was presenting a contestant in a game show.
"Conrart?" the name slipped from Murata's mouth.
"Treet. You are wrong, my dear Sage."
Murata glanced at the spirit. "Stop playing games with me, Shinou," he virtually yelled. Then the revelation sank in. "WOLFRAM!!"
"Ping pong."
The blond in question at the moment was lying on his bed, clutching his heart, experiencing a dull pain. He lay uncomfortably in his bed, rolling from side to side. Right now, he was contemplating whether to pay a visit to Gisela or not.
While he was deep in his thought, there was a knock on the door. He ignored it, silently cursing the person behind the door for interrupting his peace. A few seconds later, there was another knock. Wolfram was about to yell some profanities to the unknown peace disturber when a voice spoke up.
"Wolfram, are you alright?" It was Greta.
He called out. "I'm fine. Come on in, Greta," he quickly stood up. He didn't want his daughter to see him in his moment of weakness.
The door opened slightly, just enough to let in a petite figure into the room. The little princess walked towards him uncertainly. This was her first time visiting Wolfram in this room. Usually, she would come to see him at the Royal Bedchamber. But yesterday, when she went there to have a routine sleepover with her parents, she found out that Wolfram had moved out of the room.
"It's alright, Greta. Come here," Wolfram beckoned his teenage daughter to come nearer. He could sense Greta's reluctance. The princess nodded and quickened her pace. She hugged Wolfram tightly when she reached him. Her right hand was holding a present for Wolfram.
"Here, Wolfram. I made this for you just like you'd asked," she held out her hand. In it there was a flower crown.
"T-thank you, Greta. I really appreciate it," he was grateful that the room was dark and Greta couldn't see the tears that welled in his eyes. His voice was thick with emotion. No matter what happened between him and Yuuri, Greta was still his daughter.
"Wolfram?" Greta's voice was wet.
"Hmm?" 'What's wrong with her?' Wolfram was worried. He reached out for Greta's hands and held it tightly.
"You do know that whatever happens, I'll always love you, right? That you are still my father, right?"
Wolfram grew quiet. Greta squirmed a little bit. She thought that Wolfram's silence was a sign of his refusal to love her should he and Yuuri really parted way.
"Wolfram? You do love me right? Or is it that you only love me because I'm Yuuri's daughter?"
Wolfram was surprised. "Don't be silly, silly. Of course I love you. What's that wimp has to do with this?" He admonished her kindly. He felt tears trailing down his cheek. "I will always love you, Greta. Always," he grew quiet again. Greta was a part of his family now. Even if Yuuri was no longer in it. He reached out his hand and patted her head. "Thank you for loving me too."
A/N: Ping pong is the sound effect usually used to indicate something is right. My Japanese lecturer sometime used this during quizzes. Not that it was funny; it was rather annoying actually considering the fact that we are not little kids anymore. Hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thanks to pikeebo for the sole review. Would appreciate it if you guys drop me a review about what you think. Next chapter: 88 Years Ago.
