Chapter X : Sugary lies amidst the truth
Author: Rain on your Back

Disclaimer: Shaman King doesn't belong to me. Only Clay, Lyanne, Hane, Antonio and Jareth do. I bite.

Tuesday. October twelfth. 20:28.
Ten years after the sacrament of the Shaman King.
Byrth – Castle : Dungeons.

"Where is he?"

Only silence answered her.

"WHERE IS HE?"

The tattoo shone so bright even her thick sleeve couldn't hide it, but Jeanne did not seem to realize it. Her eyes were wild with power, and Hao could feel the danger building up. Not for himself, of course, but probably for the whole castle and even the city – something he could not afford.

"Jeanne, please calm down." His tone was carefully controlled, slightly annoyed, but not too much; falsely concerned, but not too much. But the albino was beyond these games.

"There is no way I'll calm down! Have you no honor Hao? Must you first break the only promise I've asked from you and then have the nerve to bring me back to witness it firsthand? Guess what? If you've touched him I am bound by nothing and I will not waste any other second before getting out of here!"

The key she had carelessly dropped flung under the violent waves of her energy directly toward him. At approximately five inches of his face, the object stopped. Hao's eyes had grown darker.

"Now don't go making empty threats. I have done nothing to him but keep him somewhere he can't be a nuisance for me; I was true to my word.
- You better believe they are not empty. Take me to him then! Prove me he is well. Or maybe you can't? If so don't make me waste my time, I'm out."

The brunette knew all too well what she meant by those words, and was not intent on letting her think she had any reason to. Oh, he could have threatened her with the lives of her precious angels, but his plan was more sensible than that.

The shadow of a smile hovered over his lips as he extended a hand towards her.

"Come. I'll take you to him." Jeanne stared at his hand, then looked back at Anna. Her furyoku flare was gradually fading as her sheer anger turned into wary concern.

"She's sick.
- She refused my help. I'm not going to waste any more time on her."

That earned him a cold stare. The albino crouched back down, and helped Anna to her feet. "I'm not letting you do away with her," she snarled. "She will come too."

"Worried I might hurt her because of what she told you? Be reasonable, Jeanne. She's sickly and too frail to stand. She needs to rest." Her eyebrows rose.

"If that's how you make sure she rests, she'll be fine with us." Her hold was still tight over Anna's waist, even as the blond tried to sever it. Hao simply smiled. "I doubt she agrees with you." Jeanne almost snapped at him, but finally shook her head and led the blond back to the small, spotless bed. That at least seemed correct, but she wouldn't believe anything so easily. As Anna lied down with a small groan, the albino decided to at least help her state by offering her a furyoku transfer.

Her energy moved from her to the pale blonde for several minutes before she finally stood up and left the cell. "I'll come back, you know. You won't be able to do anything to her without me knowing."

Rolling his eyes, the Shaman King simply walked away, and after a second's hesitation she followed him – even if she did look back at Anna's cell several times. Jeanne's fury was not calmed, it had to be noted, but as long as he detained Marco she would let him believe so. The second she saw the X-Laws' leader, however…

They walked in silence for a few minutes, descended a couple of stairs, and turned times after times until Jeanne was completely lost. She sensed Hao would have liked something akin to a discussion between them, but had no intention of creating one.

Then the brunette stopped, and gestured towards a small unlit room separated by the main corridors by only a thin series of bars, slightly colored by the furyoku that secured it. The brunette turned towards his companion, but Jeanne was already gone.

"Marco," she was saying, "Marco." By the time he noticed the albino was already at the bars, her slender fingers locked around them. Her eyes were watering at the sight of the blond man. He was alive. Alive and well, from what she could see anyway. No blood, no bandages, he seemed like he was simply sleeping. Was he? "Marco!"

Only silence answered, and Hao's voice a few seconds after. "Let him be. He needs his rest, you know." That made her pause. "Did you do something to him? I swear it Hao, if you dared only touch –
- I did nothing to your pathetic lieutenant." He was almost seething, his composure shattered within seconds. The anxiety and bittersweet melancholy that seeped from the way she moved and looked over the blonde's sleeping form – he hated it. Why care so much for this stupid man? She had ten years to grow and reflect on what had really happened to her. Couldn't she see "who" was the real traitor here? A big ugly snarl distorted his features. "I'm not responsible for every stupid thought that keeps him awake."

For a split second he thought she was going to argue, but she simply shook her head and crossed her arms, defiance made woman. "Then I'll come back tomorrow. And the day after that. You won't keep him from me, Hao."

A small humored expression graced his features at the thought. "Are you sure it would be best for you two to see each other again?"

She froze, her brows furrowed.

"What do you mean?"

Hao's sour smile widened. "If he sees you he'll wonder why you're here. Why you disappeared from the ship before the finale. Who is that child who looks so much like me. He won't like his answers, even you can see that. He'll reject you, he'll hate you." He knew his words rang true and harsh to her ears, but it was meant to. He needed to make her see what he saw, to finally sever the stupidly harsh link that existed between her and that man, so that one day he could… Ah. He had almost missed her answer.

"N-no he won't." It was so weak, so unsure he couldn't help the chuckle that accompanied his retort. "See for yourself then. Why would I care if he breaks you first? It'll only make it easier for me." That time she was strong, and her hand was stronger as it connected with his cheek. He didn't bulge, only took it and forced her to come closer to him, his arms stopping her from even trying to recoil. The brunette sighed gently before speaking up, with in his voice darker undertones.

"Jeanne… Yield. Yield to me. Why must you always resist?"

She shifted so she could stare at him, her burgundy eyes slightly darkening as she looked in disdain at this powerful being. "Did you forget to take your own counsel, Hao? The one about not falling in love with an enemy? I forgot my duty once. I was young, I was weak. I changed. If my duty is to fight you till my last breath, then so be it." His stare hardened once more, and his grip on her shoulder tightened to the point it hurt. "Don't you have a duty to me, as your king and the father of your child?" She almost chuckled. It was just so wrong, the way he saw things… But she couldn't let him believe she would indulge him. "Don't.
- Don't do what?
- Don't try to make me see you like I see Hane and the others. It won't work." She forcefully shoved him back and took two steps away from him to breathe more freely. "You are not my king, and certainly not the father of a child whose name bothers you. My duty is and will always be to her fist.
- And then blondie, am I wrong?"

The pause was enough of an answer.

"No", she offered him a small sad smile, "you're not. Goodnight, Hao."

A soft sigh escaped her as she departed, her steps reverberating on the harsh pavement. She could feel his stare burning on her heels, but didn't offer him the satisfaction of looking back.

"I wish you sweet dreams," he murmured after her. "Those will be the last sweet things you'll get for a long time."

Tuesday. October twelfth. 21:03.
Ten years after the sacrament of the Shaman King.
Byrth – Castle : Hane's bedroom.

Lyanne looked up from the pile of books she was checking to see whether giving them to Hane was possible or not. The child had been peacefully sitting in a corner of the room, her eyes wide open but looking at nothing in particular, since her mother had departed in the early afternoon; but now it seemed she was growing bored, or agitated, or both perhaps, and moans of distress escaped her. Lyanne needed to do something, so she put the books away and came closer to the child. As the large and curious red eyes fell on her the blonde couldn't help but try and fail to imagine that look on her mother.

Lady Jeanne had been nothing like she imagined her, in truth. She was stunning, sure, and stronger than everyone except Hao, as expected of one the king would choose to share his throne; but she was gentler, frailer, younger than she had the right to be in Lyanne's mind. She couldn't have been older than fifteen at the time of the tournament. Who would be so heartless to send such a child into battle? Of course Lord Hao was barely older but, well, he was Hao.

The blondie bit her lip. She'd have to ask Ruth if she knew the Lady during the Shaman Fight. But not now. Until the lady returned she was in charge of Hane, and she knew better than to leave her alone. Plus Lord Hao had asked her to try and understand for him what went wrong in his daughter's brain… And as far from the truth that view of the situation was, she would be foolish not to try to obey him.

The blond-haired woman settled down next to the child, her hands in her lap. I'm not a threat. "Okay, Hane. Remember what mama said?"

The child, while looking at the shimmering button that kept Lyanne's shirt closed, recited meekly: "Hane has to speak with you." She paused, her eyebrows furrowing. "Hane is not sure to like it."

Lyanne chuckled weakly, and quickly looked over her notes from the two parents' conversations. She didn't really know what the two of them – Hao really, Jeanne was only allowing this to happen very reluctantly – wanted from her. It wasn't like she had any real knowledge on how to deal with such a child…

"Ah, yes. Can you tell me if you know someone called Siglen?"

Hane blinked. "Hane knows."

"Is he a boy or a girl?" Frown. "Siglen's Siglen." Dutifully Lyanne scribbled down Hane's answers. Though it might not seem to mean anything at this point, maybe it would help support future theories. "How do you know him?
- Hane knows. Hane and Siglen," the child paused to mash her hands together. A giggle escaped her then, as if a joke had been whispered to her ear. This made Lyanne uneasy; if it were a ghost plaguing the child any Shaman would have seen it, her mother the first of them, but… No. It could as well, and was more probably, an imaginary friend the girl had invented to fight loneliness. She had to play along. "Alright… May I speak with him? Is he here with us?"

Hane tilted her head, as if she had trouble understanding the intention behind the question. "Siglen never talks. Hane speak for Siglen." Lyanne blinked. The imaginary friend theory made better sense now. If so it was better to humor her.

"Does Siglen have parents?" Blank stare. "Does he have a mama like you?" The look Hane gave her then was distinctly puzzled, and a bit condescending, though it was hard to think she knew it. "Mama is mama to Hane and Siglen.
- Then… You mean to say Siglen's your brother?" Yes, an imaginary brother, that could be a pretty good explanation. And fairly reassuring too. But Hane's reaction to that inquiry was all but reassuring. The pretty girl recoiled, bumping into the wall as she crawled away from the older blonde. "Stupid. Stupid girl doesn't understand anything. Hane wants mama! MAMA!" Her screams stunned Lyanne for a split second, and she could do naught before the child began to hit her head with her own fists, as if trying to shake out an invisible ache. Luckily for her, a certain silver-haired Shaman had just found her way back to her daughter's room, and soon had her subdued.

"Here, here. It's okay Hane, I'm here." Jeanne kept the two small wrists of her child in her grip, even when the girl tried to hit her. A mist of furyoku left the mother to hover over the daughter, effectively soothing her to an extent. Long minutes passed that way, with Jeanne simply rocking Hane back and forth. The child drifted gently to sleep, and soon Jeanne was putting her down on her bed. The two women did not speak a word as Hane dived deeper in the dreams' realm. The albino gently caressed her cheek before raising. The blonde woman assumed she would get yelled at, but by the time she looked back at Lyanne, all traces of emotions were gone from the albino's eyes. "I need your help.
- What…?" Lyanne frowned. She wasn't sure she liked the sparkle that lit Jeanne's expression.

"Hane is not a Shaman. She is of no use to anyone here. I'm sure you can see it too, Lyanne," she pleaded, "she's just a child. If she stays here you know she'll be hurt, one way or another."

The blonde woman didn't answer right away. Her thoughts, however, ran wild: there was no mistaking Jeanne's meaning. Her eyes travelled from Jeanne to Hane and back away, like she was trying to decipher some hidden riddle. "Aren't you afraid I might tell Hao-sama? I certainly should.
- Yes, probably it would be best for you. But you're not like them, Lyanne. Look at him, look at her! She needs to get out of here. I think you can understand it as well as I do." The blonde dropped her gaze to the floor. "I'm sorry, Lady Jeanne," she finally replied as she was standing up, "I think you should really not try to plot against our King." She then made for the door, ignoring the hand the albino had raised to try and appease her. "Lyanne," Jeanne called, but the blonde woman was beyond replying now. She made a hasty exit, leaving mother and child alone. Jeanne stayed petrified for a second, before letting her hand down. A sigh bubbled up her lips. She hadn't been convincing enough, hadn't been careful enough. Now Hao would know, and her chances would thin out like silk treads in a lit fireplace.

Rya would have done better. Rya was gentler and stronger at the same time. Jeanne missed her ghost friend, missed her so much it hurt to even think about it.

Hane rolled in her sleep, throwing her plush against the wall. Jeanne's gaze fell on it. Now what…?

Wednesday. October thirteenth. 09:12.
Ten years after the sacrament of the Shaman King.
Byrth – Castle : Hane's bedroom.

"Hane. Hane, listen to mama. Hane…"

Jeanne finally got her daughter's attention. The child, despite not making eye contact, stilled her movements and waited. Around her were splayed the colorful cushions that she had grabbed from one of the drawers. Before finally listening to her mother she had been frantically scribbling down broken sentences and nonsensical lists of numbers; her hands were covered in ink stains.

Hao, who had entered the room just as Hane stilled, spoke up softly: "Did Lyanne already work with her?
- One meeting with a woman who has no special formation won't make her your little soldier, Hao." She had tried to put as much venom as she could in these words, but her weariness was obvious. She wasn't used to such tension anymore.

"It can't do much but help," he replied calmly. "Not to make her a soldier, but a person who will be able to function and coexist with the rest of us without help."

"That's so very kind of you," she smiled, irony sharp as a blade slaying him in thought, "but we don't need your help. The last time you tried to help her was already bad enough, thank you."

Hao thought he knew quite a lot about many things, and more than only quite a lot about Jeanne, but those words threw him off guard. He did not understand the least what that last whim was about.

"What do you mean?"

The look she gave him. Her ruby eyes would have grilled him where he stood if they could have, like the mere idea that he didn't know (remember?) what he'd done was already a crime. "What I mean," she seethed, and oddly that was when he understood what she was raving about, "is that if you hadn't tried to kill her she might not be like that."

Hao's features rippled like a lake's surface at the beginning of a storm. He too remembered that moment, all too well he might add, but he certainly didn't regret any of it.

The Shaman King seldom regretted anything anyway.

"At the time I believed it would be best for us both. And seeing you now… I still think it would have been best."

Instinctively, Jeanne shifted to place herself between him and the silent child. Hane's eyes rested somewhere behind Hao, and despite her instinct to simply cover her ears and stop her from hearing her father's words, the albino knew her daughter wasn't able to hear them. It was only a small comfort, she couldn't help but think. The next words that fell off her lips dripped of bitter poison.

"A soul still in the womb and you wouldn't have minded killing her. Now why do you think I just won't trust you, I wonder…?"

There she went again. Fancying conclusions and refusing to hear anything that didn't match her view.

"Jeanne…
- Do you know how hard it was? Being alone, so desperately alone to give birth, with only a spirit to help me. My furyoku wouldn't obey me and she just wouldn't cry. We almost died that night.
- Leaving was your choice." If she had stayed he would have been able to help her. His own healing abilities would have been more than enough to ensure both her safety and the child's. But of course his dear Jeanne wouldn't see it that way.

"Hurting her before she could ever see the light of day was yours," she spat. "And for that there is no forgiveness to be found in me. You can stop coming here, Hao. These discussions of ours will always lead to the same conclusion: one of us needs to leave the room."

He didn't react. "Wasn't I clear enough? Get out." Her tone was final.

For a second, the brunette seemed to consider arguing, but then thought better of it. The mighty Shaman King turned away, slowly, and left her alone.

She was glad.

Wednesday. October thirteenth. 14:09.
Ten years after the sacrament of the Shaman King.
Byrth – Castle : King's wing.

The blond-haired Shaman was making her way in the corridors towards Lord Hao's apartments. Her decision was made, she would tell the King. Of course, it pained her that she would make it worse for Hane's mother, but Clay's safety came first. And if Hao discovered she knew about a plot but didn't tell him… Her sandals clicked hurriedly against the stones. Now that she had ended her deliberations, she wanted it to be done quickly, so she could take a shower afterwards, to scrub off the guilt and shame.

There was also something, something important she had concluded from her short conversation with Hane, but she dared not speak about it so soon, however dutiful she might feel. Lady Jeanne would have enough to deal with already. Later, she told herself, later she would tell him, she needed more data and evidence.

As she hastily turned into the King's wing, the blondie almost bumped into Kanna. A low growl was the only salutation she received, but she was used to it by now; since her return from the ranks of the X-Laws she wasn't exactly high into the German's standards. So she was about to apologize and quickly leave the other's presence…

But before she could even dream of it, someone appeared from one of the adjacent rooms. Said someone was actually the very one she was searching for, and his face seemed way more preoccupied than it ever seemed to her before.

Kanna immediately straightened, bowing her head for a second. "Hao-sama.
- Kanna, Lyanne. Follow me."

They arrived at the infirmary doors, which Hao quietly pushed open. Lyanne couldn't help but frown. Why would he have something to do there unless someone was injured…? The brown-haired Shaman led the way still, and did not stop before they had reached the only currently occupied bed of the infirmary. At that point, he easily took a step aside and gestured for them to come closer. Kanna was first, of course, stealing dark glances to Lyanne from time to time.

On the bed lied a messy, sweaty figure. Lyanne couldn't feel any furyoku flowing from him, as if he had been drained dry. His face was as pale as a paper sheet, and parts of his hair had been chomped out. Bruises had blossomed on his cheeks and the portion of his neck that wasn't covered by his body.

"It's Ashiru," realized Kanna a second before Lyanne could. "What happened to him…?"

It was only when the German Shaman brutally tore the blanket from the younger boy's body than the foul stench of blood reached their noses, and the blond Shaman couldn't help the wave of nausea that overwhelmed her. Kanna, for once, seemed affected, and Lyanne managed, through the thick veil of sickness, to remember he had been one of Hao's first companions, like the younger woman. They were probably close…

"He showed up at the gates one hour ago," said Hao, bringing her back to the matter at hand. "He was as good as dead then, with several fatal wounds and a lot of bruises everywhere; without my powers he wouldn't be breathing right now. His fever should come down in the morning."

"Who did this to him?" Kanna was furious. "Who dared attack him? I want a name, Hao-sama. Let me go and find that person. He'll regret being born before I'm done–
- Calm down, Kanna. I have, sadly, more to say. Before he passed out Ashiru managed to tell me what happened. He has been left alive to send us a precise message, one that predicts many more deaths in both parts involved, I'm afraid.
- Who…?
- Their princess awakened, Kanna. She somehow managed to know who exactly was going to trap Meene and came with the full angel squad.
- Wait," frowned Lyanne. "Lord Ashiru wasn't alone, right? Where are the others?"

There was a pregnant pause, one that made her want to puke.

"Ashiru, Ren and Clay were supposed to back up Luchist, to take care of Meene's team as he captured her. But in front of Sâti…
- No," Kanna said, her voice half a whisper and half a shout. Her eyes were wild and her fists balled.

"She killed them all, destroyed their corpses, and left Ashiru to let us know," completed Hao without acknowledging her denial. His face was unreadable. But that had to be a joke right? They couldn't be dead. He couldn't be dead.No, not Clay, not young and bright and happy Clay… She could see the huge smile he always sported as he told her excitedly about this real mission he had been given, about how powerful and smart his partners were, his teacher and dark cold Ren and hot-headed Ashiru… He couldn't be gone. He wasn't even twenty yet! He wasn't strong enough as a target for powerful Shamans to kill him, it had to be a mistake… Maybe they captured him or maybe they just thought he was dead… He couldn't be –

"It's your fault," a voice said. Lyanne blinked, and was turning towards Kanna when the other's hands caught her shoulders and threw her across the room. The blonde woman ended in a messy tangle of limbs on the floor, and before she could even dream of standing up she was kicked in the side. "IT'S YOUR FAULT! IT WAS YOUR IDEA!
- L-Lady Kanna!
- Was it your plan all along? You were one of them, I knew that the second you came back!" Kanna had completely lost it. Each sentence was punctuated by a kick and a breathless yelp of pain. "How could you? HOW COULD YOU? YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU DID! You stupid piece of trash!"

That was when Hao finally stepped in. One might have assumed he simply hadn't had the time to react before, but those who knew him, even only a little, could clearly see he had known how Kanna would react, and simply didn't care enough to prevent it. "Enough." His extended arm never reached Kanna, but he had no need to; an unyielding power came to life around the German Shaman, and immobilized her. "I understand your pain, Kanna, but you have no right to take it out on one of our trusted companions." Walking up to the two women, his hand closed around Lyanne's arm and got her back to her feet. His energy acted like a warm shower over the bruised blonde, soothing her pain and tending to her damaged body.

"Here," he said, and his firm grip threw a shiver down her spine. He's using her, she realized. He shows by contrast how kind and comforting he could be, and at the same time warns me of what could happen if I decided to be reckless. Too bad she had taken those psychology courses, the same that were her biggest help while trying to understand Hane.

A mad chuckle tickled her throat, but she managed to keep it in. It was odd, so very odd that she could think so clearly when her brother was dead. It was as if she wasn't herself anymore, as if she was looking at her body from the outside as it walked and thought. And right now that objective observer told her…

This was a trap. No, worse than a trap. It was a test, a test she would fail if she stayed. Her control would slip any time now, that she was sure of. "If you'd excuse me," she mumbled. Hao's dark nod was enough, and she swiftly exited the room. Her steps, slow and somewhat numb in the beginning, soon grew hasty, and she ran down the hallway. Her duty to her King, the conclusions of her first approach of the princess, everything – all forgotten.

Clay was dead.

Wednesday. October thirteenth. 16:37.
Ten years after the sacrament of the Shaman King.
Byrth – Castle: Jeanne's chambers.

As she approached the door, the blonde woman coughed slightly, bothered by the metallic taste that filled her mouth. Her throat was raw after so much screaming, and her cheeks burned like she had dropped pure salt onto irritated flesh.

"Lady Jeanne?"

The red stare flickered up to her in silent disapproval, which transformed into a wary concern as she noticed the tear-streaked cheeks of the older woman. Lyanne let out something between a sigh and a sob before closing the door, walking to the bed and sitting on its edge. Jeanne inched closer, her lips forming a question that was cut off by the single phrase the blonde Shaman offered to her.

"I will help you get her out of here."

Rain : And to say that's only half of the initial chapter… 4,765 words… Pfffuuu…

Hao : … I'm not sure I like that direction you're taking.

Rain: Shh. You'll like the next chapie. Or its ending. Let the goodies feel safe.