"Why don't you talk to me, Beautiful? I've only heard you scream. I want to hear your real voice."
Hotaru ignored her new "Master" like she had for the 3 days he had kept her prisoner. She held her knees to her chest as she sat on a window sill. staring out the scenery around the sky palace.
God, this reminds me of the one movie…what was it called again? Oh, yeah…"Laputa". Hotaru thought, trying to keep her mind off of her fate in the palace. She felt his hands on her bare shoulders and was tempted to shrug them off but his touch was warm and comforting. It reminded Hotaru of her father's touch but this man-the recently introduced Emperor Kura of Geo, Master of the Nox Light-was nothing like her father and his touch was slightly different. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and rested his lips by her ear.
"My other lovers are jealous of you." Kura whispered to her. "They say I pay more attention to you than I do them. Guess what? They're right. They want my attention while you ignore me. They have given themselves to me while you haven't even given me your name. To put it simply, I like a good challenge and you're as challenging as they get. I'll continue to pay more attention to you, whether you like it or not. In fact, I may just marry you just so I can keep you by my side for eternity. Our Living weapons make us immortal. I haven't aged out of my prime, and neither have you. What do you think of that?"
I think I ought to rip out your throat and feed your corpse to the crows. Hotaru thought icily as Kura gently nuzzled her.
"I have given you a beautiful room and lovely dresses to wear so why won't you speak to me?" The emperor asked. "You're like that psychotic Prince Seeu. Quiet, observing, insane…" Kura's fingers curled around the hair pin that held her hair in a twist and slowly pulled it out, draping it over her shoulder. He set the pin aside and gently brushed her silver bangs out of her eyes. "Not many people can enter my palace without detection but you and the Mad Prince did so I've had to rethink my security measures. Your Living Weapon is very powerful so using ordinary soldiers will not do. I've decided to have either Deimion or Idou or Bamvivirie to guard your door whenever I'm not in the room. For you see, Idou and Bamvivirie have Living Weapons." Hotaru's eyes widened with shock and she drew in a silent yet sharp breath. 2 other Living Weapons? What could they do to her, to Silver? "You're right to be afraid of them. They wield the Zenith Crio and the Geo-pyro Gate and Deimion is one of my Knights. The sword you took from him has a teeny tiny percent of my power. Isn't that interesting?"
"…L…ve…e…al…ne…" Hotaru whispered into her knees as she buried her face in to her lap.
Kura was surprised that she had actually said something. It didn't matter that he didn't hear all of it. He had heard just a smidgen of her real voice. He hugged her shoulders and put his lips against her temple with a smile. She started to shake in his arms.
"Are you alright? Ah!" Kura released her and backed up as Silver's 4 heads flew from his gauntlets and hissed. "My, what a protective toy you have, my dear."
"Leave me alone…" Hotaru repeated. "…just leave me alone…"
"As you wish but I will be back." Kura told her sternly, looking at her Living Weapon. He had his hand on his sword hilt and walked away. He knocked on her door twice and a man with short black hair and trimmed facial hair opened the door, a staff in hand. "You're going to have to get used to taking orders from me. I am your master now. You belong to me. Until you learn to listen, you will be in your room. You will not be able to leave until I say. Get used to it fast or you're never going to see anything beyond those windows and me."
"…my people died because of a man like you…" Hotaru said softly. Kura looked at her a little surprised. "…he called him self an emperor and pretended to rule his 'collection'…he acted like everything belonged to him…and because of my birth, my people were slaughtered when I was old enough to remember it all…they still haunt me…their faces…their voices…they gave their lives to grant me the power to stop him…"
"Did you stop him?" Kura asked her.
"…I don't remember…" Hotaru answered woefully. Kura had pity in his eyes for the girl he now possessed but it disappeared as he left the room. The door closed and locked, imprisoning Hotaru once more. She released her legs as Silver returned to her gauntlets and slipped off her window sill perch. She looked over at a full-length mirror that was not too far from where she stood.
The dress Kura had her wear today was off the shoulders and a shade of pale blue. It was made of something similar to satin and she had a sash of a darker shade of pale blue tied to rest on her hips. The dress was beautiful and Hotaru hadn't the heart to rip it. Setsuna would've paid anything to see how Hotaru looked now. But Hotaru would've paid anything to just go home.
"How in the hell do I get myself into these messes?" Hotaru asked her reflection. "Is it because I can handle power or is it just because I'm the last of my kind? That must be it…as the last Saturian, I'm expendable…"
A tear fell from her eye, turning into a diamond with a ping on the floor. The tinkling sound got her attention. Hotaru knelt and picked up the tear-sized diamond. Another tear fell from her eye, into her palm, hitting the first diamond in her hand with a ping as well. Several more tears fell from her eyes as she closed them and the clear diamonds dropped into her lap. She put her forehead on her knees as more tears came.
She was expendable. That's all she was to anyone. Expendable.