"How do you know where to go?"
"I can't explain it."
"Are we there yet?"
"Not yet, Mai."
A few minutes passed. "…How 'bout now? Are we there yet?"
I growled. "Not yet, Mai."
"When will we get there?"
I didn't answer.
"Sesshomaru…"
"You'll know when we're there, Mai. Trust me."
"How will I know?"
I growled. "When we stop running and I let you off my back, you'll know we're there."
"……….I'm bored."
"Oh, my God. Mai, if you're bored… I don't even know how to tell you to fix it. Just relax."
She let out a deep, pitiful breath. "But—"
"Hush."
She sighed, resting her chin on my shoulder.
Mai doesn't even seem the slightest bit worried about her eye. It doesn't seem to be bleeding anymore, but I'll bet anything she still can't see out of it. And she's not even the slightest bit worried!
Sadly, I can't even be worried about it at the moment. I hate to say it but we have a bigger problem. Not that Mai's injury isn't of critical importance, but her life will be in serious danger if we don't take care of whoever this person is.
If it even is a person…
ooo
"Stay here."
"Why?!"
"Shh, be quiet, Mai!" I silenced her, for fear of being spotted. "You have to trust me. Stay out of sight and protect yourself in any way possible if someone sees you, all right?"
She nodded, frightened by my sudden demand. I could see Mai wanted to go with me, but it wasn't an option. It was much too dangerous and I wasn't about to risk her life for Jaken's.
Opting not to open the large, wooden door, I found the nearest opening in the overhead fencing and jumped over the wall, landing on the dirt on the opposite side. I crouched low to the ground, one hand keeping me steady.
I took a good look around. The entire palace-like structure seemed to be empty, but it was obvious there was more than what I could see. I stood up straight, walking around. A fresh human corpse had been leaned up against the stone wall, dressed like a palace guard. The man had been killed only days prior.
"Good, that means someone's been here recently."
The strange aura hung thick overhead; no doubt this was the home of the demonic creature.
Another corpse not too far away, shot three times in the upper-left chest with arrows. These men had been killed using traditional methods, not the likely traits of a demon's work…
"Hi, Sesshomaru!"
I turned around. "Mai?! What are you doing here? How did you get in?"
Her excited expression turned confused. "The front door was open."
I rolled my eyes, sighing. "Well, go back. It's too dangerous."
She looked around. "Doesn't look dangerous to me!"
"Be quiet. We don't want to get spotted."
Mai shrugged. "I can help you find Jaken." She soon crouched low to the ground, placing one hand on the dirt in front of her. "He's in an underground dungeon. The dragon yokai is with him as well. The palace is a decoy." She stood up, brushing off her hands.
I didn't have time to ask questions. "Good, now go back."
She pursed her lips, folded her arms across her chest, and glared at me. "I'm going with you."
"As much as I don't want to do this, I must." I took a hold of her left arm and removed the elemental armband. I turned around and began walking away after putting the armband safely away. "Go back or I'll take you back whether you want to or not."
With no response, I assumed she had begun going back, too pissed off to reason with me. Then I heard a frightened, and cut-short scream.
I quickly turned around, Mai nowhere to be seen. "Mai?!" I shouted, with no response. "Mai?!" I called out again.
The sky grew dark, an unnatural breeze picking up. A young man slowly appeared before me, walking in my direction. "Hello, Sesshomaru. I assume you'll want your human back," he laughed.
His appearance was dark, an unmistakable evil demonic figure at first glance. He looked something of a sorcerer, a silver, almost tiara-like metal band sat around his head, holding a stone similar in look to Mai's. The stone was set directly in the middle of the band, the metal curling it around to sit nicely in the middle of the man's brow.
His clothing was fine, protecting him from the effects of magic. A hooded cloak was wrapped around him, the hood not covering his head. He wore no shoes, not surprising, considering he looked like he rarely walked anywhere.
His eyes were a piercing red, yet they seemed calm, and they sparkled like Mai's. His canine teeth were fanged, his smile nothing less than malevolent. His hair was jet black, cut short, and even spiked, an unlikely combination these days. His left eyebrow carried a scar, similar to the one Mai is likely to keep from today's injury.
"Who are you, and what do you want with Mai?"
"Mai? Oh, I've always loved that name…" He looked away for a moment. "How rude, I know your name but I never introduced myself. My name is Ryuu. I am a sorcerer demon."
I growled. "You never answered my question."
"Your question… Oh, right, right. I want your little Mai for… personal reasons. She has something of… sentimental value to me."
"What could she have of yours? She's a human with almost no prior knowledge of demons. She's not important," I lied.
"You're lying, dear Lord Sesshomaru." He held out his hand, a staff appearing into his hand in a flash of light. "I don't want to have to put you near death to get some answers out of you."
"Let Mai be and you won't have to."
He smiled a crooked smile. "That's very heroic of you, though I wouldn't expect such compassion from you, a demon that holds such hatred for humans." Ryuu laughed. "That's right, Sesshomaru. Your hatred for humans runs deeper than you can fix with something as simple as 'love.' "
I wasn't in a position to argue with him. "What do you want, Ryuu?"
He clapped his hands, the staff hovering over the ground until his hand held it once more. "Now we're getting somewhere. Let's talk compromise." He tapped the staff on the ground twice, an almost board-game-like surface appearing.
There were five tokens present, one seeming to represent the 'players' in the game so far. "Your little imp and dragon yokai have yet to seem to cross your mind. You're only focused on your precious Mai." He picked up one small token and set it back down in a box on the board similar to a box housing two other tokens on the opposite side of the board. "What you haven't done is considered everything done thus far.
"Jaken and… we'll call the dragon yokai 'Ryota' from now on. So, Jaken and Ryota aren't major players here, or so you've led me to believe. If we continue to play out the game in correspondence to importance, this is what will happen."
The tokens began moving. One token—which I assumed to be Ryuu—moved over to where Mai's token was. The token I assumed to be me moved over to where 'Ryota' and Jaken's tokens were. "You'll end up saving the wrong people, while Mai…," he refocused on the board, where Mai's token was destroyed. "It'll be too late for her and you won't make it to her before I do.
"So, my dear Lord Sesshomaru… I suggest you make a new plan." He tapped his staff again, the board disappearing. He tossed a token up and down, waiting for my next 'move.'
"You expect a steep compromise, when all I'll get in return is a promise you have no intention of keeping."
"Good boy, now you're getting it!" he laughed. "Now… I'll give you some time to think. In the meantime… Mai and I are going to have a little fun of our own." Ryuu disappeared in a flash of light nothing but silence around me.
Now what am I going to do? Any direction I turn, it all ends up in Mai dying. And she can't even protect herself! I took the armband from her… How could I have been so stupid!
No… No, it's perfect.
That's it! That's my key to saving Mai!
ooo
Forgive me, all, but I have to change points of view for the time being. I'm going to change from Sesshomaru to Mai… probably until the end of the chapter. I don't see the need to change back before then. Sorry! Don't worry, it'll be back to Sesshomaru next chapter… I hope…
ooo
"Little one… Wake up, little one…"
I opened my eyes, the dimly lit room blurry. I rubbed my eyes, listening for a familiar voice, looking for a familiar face, anything to tell me Sesshomaru was there.
"Good. You're awake, Mai."
My eyes quickly focused. The voice was familiar, but it wasn't Sesshomaru's. "Who are you?" I asked quietly, staggering to my feet.
"My name is Ryuu. I'll be keeping you company until your dog friend decides to show."
I ran forward, my hands grasping what felt like metal bars. I was locked in. "What have you done with Sesshy?!"
The dark voice chuckled. "Your friend is fine. For now. You and I, my dear, have some business of our own." A cold hand touched mine, prying my fingers from the bars.
"You can't hurt him. He's stronger than anyone!"
The man I knew as Ryuu stepped through the bars, passing through them flawlessly. A ray of sun hit his face, something I never thought I'd have to see again. "You have such a childish view on a hero. Oh, was that my fault? I'm sorry…" He laughed again.
"Its… you! You! You killed my mother!" I stumbled backwards, falling to the ground. I quickly tried to crawl away, but to no avail. I hit the stone wall behind me and turned around, tearful eyes looking for an exit.
He laughed again. "There's no use in trying to escape. You're sealed in by a barrier. Nothing can get out. Well, except me, of course." He smiled. Walking forward, he crouched low to the ground, giving me a good look-over. "You seem sad."
I tried to speak, but only quiet whimpers came through.
"Oh, frightened. My bad."
"What… what do you want from me?"
He looked up, as if he was trying to remember the point of all of this. "Oh, yes. I've already taken your sanity…" He stopped, thinking it over.
"You ruined my life! You beat me half to death and left my mental state a wreck!" I screamed at him.
He nodded. "I wonder if you ever found out what happened to your father…"
I blinked. "…Daddy? What'd you do to Daddy?!"
He didn't answer.
I tried to stop the tears from falling, but there wasn't much of a point to it. He already had such an advantage over me. I couldn't protect myself in any form or fashion. Why did Sesshomaru have to take what little I had left? He could've just left it with me. I would've kept it safe!
He brushed a hand against my cheek, taking care over my injury. "Where did you get such a terrible cut?"
I sniffed in, brushing his hand from my face. "I got it at the bottom of a river," I told him angrily.
"I'm so sorry," he smiled. "I didn't know a little magic could ever make such a pretty young girl blind in one eye."
I felt like I couldn't breathe. Hearing everything… I could really put the pieces together now. This was all his fault. "You gave me sight once before. You just decided to take it all back!" When he and his little friends raided our village before, he must've given me my sight back after beating me. God only knows why he would be so generous, but he would've been the only one to do it.
She smiled, his eyes closed. "You're a smart one. Let me help you." He took a corked, glass vial from inside of his cloak and opened it up.
"What is that?" I asked.
"It's water. Watch," He set the vial on the ground and was quickly able to manipulate it, carrying the water in mid-air. "You should know how to use it in situations like this."
I raised my uninjured eyebrow and shook my head. "I'm not thirsty, thanks."
He laughed. "No, silly. Here," the water quickly surrounded his right hand, bringing it up to cover my left eye. "It'll help."
I brought my hands up and gripped his wrist in defense. Something odd happened, though. The water began to give off a purple glow, and he pulled his hand back, putting the water back into the vial.
"There you go."
I cautiously opened my left eye, blinking them both for a moment. "…What did you do?"
"Water has healing properties. I healed your eye and cut so you wouldn't end up with a scar like mine."
I gave him a 'you must be crazy' kind of look. "You're a very nice evil person," I laughed. "You don't act very evil for someone who wants to cause serious damage…"
Changing the subject, Ryuu looked away. "Maybe… you'd like to tell me what this… is…" Ryuu pulled a large metal band off of his head, holding it out for me.
"…Jewelry?" I told him, laughing a bit despite the situation.
His expression fell serious. "No. I meant this." More specifically, he pointed to the stone in the middle.
I looked at it carefully, seeing the stone bare an identical resemblance to the one on my armband. "It's a nature stone…"
"Good girl. You have one of your own, don't you?"
I looked at him carefully. His eyes were evil looking. Red eyes… I've never met anyone with red eyes. They sparkle like mine do… How strange. "That would explain how you could control the water…"
Ryuu didn't seem to like me ignoring the question. He quickly set down the metal band and smacked me. "Answer me!"
I brought up my hands to tend to the new bruise on my face, trying to keep the tears back. "Yes! I have one. Don't hurt me!" I told him, my voice shaking. I pulled my knees in close to me, trying to disappear.
"Good. Let me see it."
I didn't want to tell him I didn't have it with me. It seemed to be his whole reason for capturing me in the first place. If I didn't have what he wanted, I was of no importance to him. I'm not much of anything, anyway. Ryuu could kill me off and Sesshomaru probably wouldn't mind.
"No," I told him after a moment of deep consideration.
"What do you mean 'no'?"
"It's mine. It's not important to you, so why should I let you see it?" I demanded a reasonable answer. More confident now, I sat up straight and pulled my legs close to my chest again. Ryuu didn't leave me much room, considering he was trying to impose a frightening disposition onto me
I didn't know how long I could handle it…
Ryuu growled. "You don't have it." He wasn't asking a question, he knew for a fact.
Instead of playing dumb, I decided to have some fun. I smiled and nodded, "I don't, but your worst enemy does."
"My worst—everyone is my enemy, dear. Now I know there's one specifically. All I have to do is trace the armband's signature and I'll find it and whoever has it."
How did he know it was an armband? He's never seen it…
"Don't call me 'dear.' "
He laughed. "I'll call you what I like. Now, I have a favor to ask. Your little Sesshomaru is making quite a mess inside my castle walls. I'd like you to take care of him for me." Ryuu picked up the metal headband from the floor and placed it on top of my head, freeing my bangs out from under it. "You can use my stone to take care of him until I get yours back."
I quickly took it off, tossing it across the room. "I'm not helping you! Especially not to kill Sesshy! I wouldn't hurt him, ever! I love him too much…"
Ryuu rolled his eyes, reaching out for the headband. It quickly returned and he placed it back on my head, fixing my hair once more. "You're too naïve. Demons and humans can never coexist in harmony. Trust me, kid, it's not love. One day, you will betray your so-called 'love,' Sesshomaru, just like all the rest of them. Just like your mother," he mumbled.
"What?" I asked, not quite hearing him.
"Nothing. Now, if you won't do it, I'll be forced to make you do it. Making a human puppet isn't all that hard. So, am I going to have to force you?" he asked, a brow raised.
"I'll never do your dirty work." I would never willingly hurt Sesshomaru. No matter what Ryuu says, I love Sesshomaru. Ryuu will have to drag me, kicking and screaming, before he'll get me to do anything for him.
"Okay, then." Ryuu placed a hand on either side of my head, repeating some type of incantation.
My vision turned black, and before I lost consciousness, I tried to speak. "I'm so sorry, Sesshomaru…"
ooo
Ooh, what a productive chapter! Eight pages… Almost three thousand words, too! Oh, my.
I'm so proud of myself!
