I guess nobody expected that this story would return, eh?
VII
In his dream, Kaito was restlessly wandering the hallways of a great palace. He walked quickly, running his fingers along the delicate mosaics decorating the walls. It was a familiar sensation.
He knew this place and its treasures well, or at least felt like he should know them: the blue stones from the northern mines, the gold offered by the rich coastal towns, the elaborate tapestries…Even the sounds of his footsteps seemed like an echo well-worn by repetition.
Where was everyone? The palace seemed desolate. He felt the void encroaching on him.
Kaito was looking for someone. He felt angered and offended, but more than anything, he felt afraid. Afraid that he wouldn't keep his promise. No one had ever dared to say no to him, not even that man. But now he was gone, and the great palace seemed dull and meaningless in his absence.
No, he had to be somewhere around here. He wouldn't dare defy Kaito.
As soon as that thought came about, Kaito felt a tinge of uncertainty. Defy him? It's not like he had any kind of authority. The palace wavered around him, as he pondered the issue. He looked around, confused, and saw a glimmer of color past an open archway. Relief washed over him, alien but overpowering.
He rushed past the archway, into a courtyard dominated by a large, rectangular garden pond. A figure was sitting in the border, with his feet in the water, facing away from him. It was a man, garbed in luxurious robes of lilac, gold and crimson. A crown of red flowers rested on his head, over his long, loose purple hair.
For a second, Kaito laughed at himself. What was this? Was he dreaming about Gakupo? But there was something really odd about the figure before him that immediately made him put his questions aside.
Perhaps it was more accurate to say that it was something about the air surrounding the figure. It was somewhat hazy, like the simmering air of summer day. It gave the figure a certain air of unreality, like a watery phantom. The man even seemed to blink out of existence at times, for a period of time so small that Kaito couldn't say for certain it had even happened in the first place.
"Envoy!" Kaito heard himself cry out, and was surprised at the sound of his voice. It wasn't quite right. "Envoy, how dare you!"
The man turned his head just enough to gaze at him with one brilliant eye. Once again, Kaito felt off-kilter, thrown off by a sense of wrongness.
"It seems that I have wronged you in some way. Care to elaborate on my transgression?" The man's voice was low and calm, barely displaying any sort of emotion.
"You disappeared without saying anything! You promised you'd stay!" How infantile and insecure he sounded…But despite how oddly ashamed it made him feel, Kaito couldn't stop himself as he continued to berate the man.
The Envoy stood up inside the pond, letting the folds of his robes get soaked, and turned around to fully face him.
It wasn't Gakupo, and yet it was him. No other person he had ever met had those delicate features and lithe frame, but the man was older and radiated a wild aloofness.
"I will always return to you, as promised," the man said coldly.
"Don't say it so scornfully!" Kaito yelled. He took his head in his hands, confused. Why was he shouting like that? Where was the real Gakupo? What was this strange place?
"Come here," the man suddenly commanded, looking at him with an unreadable expression.
Kaito stood at the edge of the water, and the man grabbed ahold of his chin. He peered at his face carefully. Their faces were close enough that Kaito should've felt his breath on his skin, but he sensed nothing.
"Envoy?" His voice sounded plaintive now, a tone that Kaito didn't use all that often.
"…Hmm. There's a long road ahead for us, it seems," the man mumbled. For the first time, his face softened somewhat. He placed a hand on Kaito's back, and made him look at the surface of the pond.
The young man reflected in the water was unmistakably Kaito, but at the same time, it wasn't him. Kaito and the reflection stared at each other, in silent shock.
"Turn back, wandering child," the man said.
Kaito opened his eyes.
He was laying on his back on a messy bed, in a narrow room. Sunlight came pouring in from the porthole in the wall, but the lantern above was unlit, apparently already spent. The whole room was swaying almost imperceptibly, and he could hear voices above, presumably the crew of the vessel.
Most important of all, Gakupo was on top of him, his head resting on his chest. His hair was spread all around him, caressing Kaito's throat and shoulders. He was breathing peacefully, still asleep.
"What a strange dream…" Kaito said quietly to himself. He began to run his fingers through Gakupo's hair, thinking. It seemed to him that lately he was dreaming more often. Or maybe, having dreams that lasted longer in his memory after waking up. But this was the first dream he had ever experienced with this sort of complexity, or that sense of reality. It felt almost as if he had been transported elsewhere, while his body was left behind there in the Sweet Ann.
Perhaps it was a side-effect of hanging out with another individual with mixed blood. The Meu Rehn, or Spirit People as his mother used to call them, had many unexplained abilities, that supposedly had been lost due to intermarriage with the people of Eto. Could it be possible for them to still retain some of them, and be unaware of it until now?
Gakupo stirred, interrupting that exciting line of thought. He slowly pulled himself up, enough to look Kaito in the eye, and gave him a sleepy smile. That alone almost made Kaito's heart burst with happiness.
The kiss he gave him afterwards seriously threatened to finish the job.
"This is a good way to start the day," Kaito said in one massive understatement, when they finally had to pull away to breathe.
"I feel good," Gakupo informed him languidly. "It felt good."
"That's the general idea," Kaito replied with a laugh.
"Hmm…" Gakupo nodded slightly, as if that was some kind of sage advice. He shifted position, in order to rest on his side on the mattress, propped on one elbow. He pulled at the covers, already crumpled after the previous night, uncovering Kaito's body.
"Erm…Did you lose something down there?" Kaito asked jokingly. The air felt nice and cool against his heated skin, and he stretched luxuriously, enjoying the way Gakupo looked at his body.
Not content with just watching, Gakupo ran his fingers lightly down Kaito's stomach and below, in a complicated pattern, then tracing teasing circles on his thighs. Who would've thought it? Now that the dam was broken, Gakupo was taking a much more active role than what Kaito first expected. That made things all the more sweeter, as far as he was concerned.
"Hey in there, you alive?" Unexpectedly, a rough voice shouted outside the door. "Forgot to tell you, Ann serves morning rations now! Grab now or she gets angry!" It was Tonio, most likely. He began to pound the door.
"Yes, yes, we understand! Thank you!" Kaito yelled. The pounding stopped, and they heard his retreating footsteps fade away.
"We never get a moment's peace, do we?" Kaito shook his head. "But I have to admit, I could use a meal. Let's go see what they've got." They could spend the rest of the day in bed after that, so there was no need to pass up the chance to eat.
Gakupo gave him a nonplussed look. "I'm not hungry."
"Come on, you barely ate anything last night!" Kaito scolded him, but he could see it was no use.
"Besides, this ship is full of strangers, I'm not going out there," Gakupo said. "Even if we can trust the captain, what about the other passengers?"
That was a good point, actually.
"You're right, stay here. I'll bring you something back," Gakupo opened his mouth to protest and Kaito hurriedly added "and you'll eat as much or as little as you like."
"…All right," Gakupo whispered. He turned to lay on his back, almost sulking. Kaito couldn't help but feel amused.
He got up, and began gathering his clothes from the floor. "I could use a bath right now," he commented. At the very least, he needed to wipe off the results of the previous night. On a whim, he decided to try a handle on the wall opposite the bed. Looking more attentively, he had discovered that the wall had a section that could be opened. He was rewarded with a small space that housed a mirror, a small basin and a jug held firm in some sort of metal contraption affixed to the wall.
"Not bad at all!" Kaito exclaimed. After some experimentation, he released the jug from the contraption and confirmed it was full of fresh water. He assumed the bottom of the basin lead to a cistern of some sort, or perhaps it connected to the outside of the ship, somehow. Very fancy.
After cleaning himself as much as possible, Kaito got dressed and exited the cabin. It didn't take him long to find the kitchen. The adjacent room had a couple of long tables, with a few passengers still hunched over bowls of food. Behind the long counter at the far end, there was a formidable-looking woman with blonde hair, surveying the place with confidence. Next to her, a fragile wisp of a boy was perched on the counter, munching on a fruit. His angelic looks were sadly marred by an eyepatch over one eye. The resemblance between the pair marked them as mother and son, though the boy's remaining eye was golden, instead of blue.
"Good morning, ma'am," Kaito saluted her politely. The woman nodded, clearly interested in his hair. The child stared at him, completely forgetting about his fruit.
"Excuse me, did I miss breakfast?"
"Ah…no, no, I can get you something. It's just you?" The woman smiled widely.
"Oh, no, I need food for two. My friend stayed back in our room," Kaito explained. The woman nodded again, and went to prepare something.
"Your hair is odd," the boy whispered, while his mother worked.
"I know," Kaito said, smiling. He had his hood on, but the longer strands still stubbornly peeked out. He definitely needed to buy more dye when they reached another town, preferably enough for him and Gakupo.
"I'm Oliver," the boy said, stretching out one hand. It looked kind of sticky with fruit juice.
"I'm Kaito," the bandit tussled the boy's hair. "I'm guessing she's Ann?" He jerked his head towards the kitchen.
"Uh-huh," the boy answered, dropping his hand. He didn't seem particularly offended that Kaito didn't shake it. "My daddy's the captain."
"I see."
"He lets me steer sometimes," Oliver noted proudly.
'Hopefully not anywhere near the coast', Kaito thought. "That sounds amazing," he said instead.
Oliver grinned, more adorably than what was probably legal in the region. Then he launched in an explanation of naval maneuvers completely over Kaito's head. It didn't help that it was peppered with words in a foreign language, since Oliver didn't seem to know the Etodian terms. Kaito contented himself with nodding whenever the boy made a pause.
"Oh my! I can't remember the last time I saw Oliver speak so much with someone!" Ann re-appeared carrying several small boxes, tied together in two stacks. She placed them on the counter and hugged Oliver, placing a kiss on his forehead.
"He's weird," Oliver said, as if that was a proper explanation.
"I'll take that as a compliment," Kaito said good-humoredly.
"Bring the boxes back when you are done with them, yes?" Ann told Kaito. She seemed to have a much better grasp of the language than her husband or Tonio.
"Yes, ma'am."
After saying goodbye to the two, Kaito decided on a whim to go up to the deck, before returning to the room. He wanted to see where the ship was, in relation to the coast. It wasn't hard to find a ladder going up, which he climbed carefully to avoid rocking the boxes too much. They looked sturdy, but it was probably a good idea to be cautious.
A couple of minutes later, Kaito was standing by the bulwark, staring in awe at the view before him. He had no idea how beautiful the open sea was, or how vast and profoundly blue the sky could be. It almost made the past feel insignificant, like the dim line of the coast, so far away. With a reckless gesture, he pushed his hood back and allowed the breeze to play with his hair. How blessed were these people, travelling the seas every day! It was a shame that Gakupo was missing the gorgeous spectacle.
Very close by, someone whistled. Kaito turned to the source of the sound, and saw a blonde sailor hanging off some rigging. Without even asking for permission, the man leaned over and ran his free hand through Kaito's hair.
"Lovely," he said, and added some words in a foreign language. Despite the language barrier, what he wanted from Kaito was quite clear.
"Ah...thanks, but no," Kaito shook his head, trying to stop his irritation from showing. Why did people think they could touch his hair so insolently? It happened even more often when he was younger, before he started dyeing it. Not to mention the amount of people, both male and female, that somehow concluded his hair color made him an easy lay. It's not like he was purposely trying to get anyone's attention.
The sailor failed to understand (or pretended not to), and dropped off the rigging, trying to corner Kaito against the bulwark. Before Kaito decided to punt him away, he heard a booming voice barking words he couldn't understand. The blonde sailor scurried off meekly.
Looking towards the ship's wheel, he saw the giant silhouette of Big Al, with a cross look on his face.
"Look, I was just admiring the view, I didn't mean to distract your crew or you," Kaito said preemptively. He wasn't keen on having someone that looked like he could throw him overboard with one hand mad at him.
"I know! Leon, stupid man!" Al shouted, pointing at the blonde sailor, who shrank.
Well, at least Big Al wasn't mad at him. In any case, Kaito decided it was time to go back down, before the food completely cooled off. "I'll let you fellows work in peace, alright?" He hurriedly retreated below.
Gakupo was actually sleeping when he returned. Kaito moved the stool and sat by the bed, perplexed. He opened some of the boxes and began munching on the food inside. It was pretty good.
Well, it had been pretty late when they went to sleep last night, he mused. Or early this morning, whichever fit best. It wasn't surprising that Gakupo was more exhausted than he let on, given all the things that had happened.
Now that there was nothing else to distract him, Kaito found himself thinking back to the dream. He studied Gakupo's placid expression, recalling the strange man's stern profile. Who was he? He had called him Envoy, and acted like he knew him, but now he was drawing a blank. It nagged at him, the crystal-clear image of the man in his mind, and his cryptic words.
Important city-estates like Ne Irie or Gyuugan had colleges of higher learning, with valued scholars like historians, arcane archivists and physicians. If anyone could tell him about the past and his mysterious ancestors, it was them, if he managed to secure an interview with one. Now that he thought about it, it was curious that he had never bothered to find more about his heritage. Then again, for most of his life, the past had been nothing but half-remembered bedtime stories. Even his hair had been reduced to a simple nuisance, in time.
All in all, perhaps it was a good idea to go to one of the big cities. It would be easier to hide in a place with a large population, for starters.
Before he knew it, his meal boxes were empty. He eyed Gakupo's portion, innocently waiting over the desk, but managed to resist the temptation. The young man would be starving once he woke up.
So, what now? He could try and strike conversation with someone of the crew or one of the passengers, but Gakupo was right- he didn't know who amongst them was trustworthy. He looked around the cabin, but there was nothing to occupy his time. Finally, he shrugged and decided to return to bed. Hopefully, Gakupo would wake up in a couple of hours and they could have some more fun.
He quickly undressed and got in, trying not to disturb the sleeping artist. Not an easy task, given how narrow the bed was. But all Gakupo did was grumble in his sleep and turned towards him, using his body as a pillow.
Kaito closed his eyes. He was a bit tired, all things considered. Perhaps he could try sleeping, and maybe even dream about that strange man again. He had never heard of anyone capable of directing their own dreams in such a manner, but Gakupo and he were of an uncommon breed in the first place. So he focused all his thoughts on the Envoy's figure, and tried to replay his words on his mind. His consciousness began to waver, as the ship rocked him gently.
"I will always return to you," the man had said.
Kaito's breaths became more steady and slow.
"I will always return to you, as promised."
The world gave away to nothingness, as easily as if tearing a veil.
The man stretched his arms towards him, wearing Gakupo's loving smile on his face. Kaito ran towards him with an aching heart. But the vision crumbled into a thousand pieces, like a rain of stars.
Kaito slept.
He was back at the great palace, in a long, dark corridor. His regal robes trailed behind him, obtrusive and impractical. But he was used to wearing such finery, since it befitted his status.
The corridor ended on an archway, leading up to the main gardens. He stood under the arch, looking at the flowering trees and bushes, silvery under the night sky.
Something was about to happen.
He searched the scenery before him with his eyes, until a shooting star fell somewhere beyond the distant hills. And then another. And another. And three more. And ten more. And then there was a sprinkle, a river, a monstrous wave, the whole sky breaking apart and pouring his silvery spirit upon the earth.
'They are here,' he thought.' He is here.'
As if the words had propelled him forward, he found himself, with the celerity of dreams, staring down at the messengers of the fallen stars. He could sense the members of the court gasp as they stared at the five figures kneeling before the raised dais, and the way the very air seemed to twist and glisten around them. The five of them seemed like desert mirages, and the tiles around them shone impossibly with underwater reflections, dancing lines of light that wavered every time the messengers moved.
Four of the figures wore unsettling masks of white porcelain, completely devoid of any features, and dark sashes around their waist, offsetting the delicate layers of softly tinted fabric wrapped around their bodies. They circled the fifth figure closely, guarding him.
The Envoy wore no mask. Instead, red flowers and gold thread joined together to form a crown of soft petals and thin, twinkling roots of metal, resting over his long purple hair. He wore multiple layers of thin embroidered robes, revealing his slim body. The Envoy's lips curved in a relaxed, enigmatic smile, looking him right in the eye.
Again, the dream shifted, throwing Kaito around like a leaf in a storm. Next he knew, he had the Envoy by the hand, and he was guiding him towards his own room. As soon as the door closed behind him, he forgot any courtesy and just pushed the Envoy towards his bed, tearing at his clothes. The man didn't resist or encourage him in any way, and barely seemed to believe what was happening, given his expression of polite bewilderment.
There was little room for doubting Kaito's intentions, though. He took the man's face in his hands and began to kiss passionately, ignoring his little grunt of protest. Kaito forced his way into his mouth, possessing it more like a conqueror than a lover. He was clumsy and violent in his selfish eagerness, undoubtedly causing the Envoy some discomfort. The man tried to push Kaito away, and his own motion made him trip on a rug and fall face-up on the bed.
They stared at each other, wide-eyed. Kaito wanted to beg for the man's forgiveness, nauseated at the behavior he couldn't stop, but no words came forth. Instead, the Kaito that wasn't him spoke in panicked tones, "I-I've never had anyone here that wasn't mine beforehand! I don't-I don't how to handle this!"
What was he saying? What kind of excuse was that, if you could even call it an excuse? Kaito cursed his lack of control of the situation, as he vainly tried to force his body to back away, or his mouth to form words that actually made sense.
The Envoy didn't reply. He just laid there, exposed in his torn robes, watching Kaito stammer and gesticulate pitifully. His eyes grew distant and unreadable.
"Are you going to leave?" A tinny voice that Kaito barely recognized as his own finally asked.
"We made an agreement, you and I. Would you honor it if I left?" The Envoy asked in a low voice.
Now it was Kaito's turn to fall silent. The man observed his face, and the cold aloofness Kaito had seen in their first encounter took over his expression. He sat up, examining the ruin of his expensive clothes with distaste.
"I understand. Then, I'll have to teach you a few things," he said, disdain clear in his voice.
At once, Kaito felt a wave of relief and happiness that wasn't his wash over him. It made him sick. He rejected all of it, this dream turned a mockery of his curiosity and desire to see the man again.
This isn't real. This is just a dream, and I'm going to wake up now. Over and over he repeated those phrases, shutting off everything else. He shouted then, growing more and more desperate.
"Kaito! Kaito! Do you hear me?! It's alright!" A slightly hoarse voice called out to him, cutting through his turmoil like a well-crafted sword.
Kaito was lying in bed, his limbs interlocked with Gakupo's. The young man was looking at him with a surprised expression. The artist tentatively caressed his cheek with one hand, concern clear in his eyes.
"It was just a dream," he whispered.
"Yes…a dream," Kaito repeated. He hugged Gakupo, and Gakupo hugged him back, just as intensely.
This is real, and right.
Whatever those strange visions were, Kaito wouldn't let them sully what he had with Gakupo. He would solve their riddle, lest they hold any power over him. He swore it, as they kissed once more.
