Grow On You

Chapter 25

~ Where Both Change Their Mind ~

Author's Note: In this chapter Hilda is reunited... with someone she doesn't expect. Oga Tatsumi is forced to make a decision he doesn't want to make. Do drop me a line if you spot any mistakes or have any suggestions for this story!

After years learning under a man who did not allow anything to get in the way of is curiosity, not much could surprise Lamia. Afterall she had survived at least three days a week walking into the hospice wing with something or other waiting in ambush for her. 'In the name of research', said Folcass. She did not even bat an eyelid when King Beelzebub personally summoned her to explain that her mother had died. Thus having a sack over her head was not really surprising as much as it was annoying. For one, the sack was scratchy. Lamia did not like scratchy. Plus, depriving one sense heightened others and she was acutely aware of every sound, every jolt, every bump, every whiff of smell. And after being doused in water Takayuki smelled a bit like wet dog.

In some ways she was somewhat thankful Takayuki could not see her wrinkling her nose.

After what seemed like an eternity travelling with a sack over her head, Lamia was more than glad when she felt them stop and the sack was rudely yanked off. It was perhaps a blessing in disguise that night had already fallen and their surroundings were nothing but glimpses and shadows – sunlight would have blinded them. It would not do to trade temporary blindness for a more permanent one.

"Here's your stop. Gerrof, all of you." One of their escorts said gruffly.

Lamia muttered some scathing words as she climbed down, followed by Aoi and lastly Takayuki. No sooner had all of them touched the ground that one of the escorts tossed Lamia's bag to their feet, then the horses were whipped and carriage drove away like the hounds of Hell were on its very heels and they were left to the darkness.

Aoi looked around in a daze. In the faint moonlight she could make out several features of their surroundings, and some of them were familiar. "… Isn't this where we…?"

Lamia was about to answer when Takayuki began to laugh. And laugh, and laugh, and laugh until he was bent over from the effort. The two females looked at him in amazement, unable to comprehend his sudden, irrational behavior. Eventually his laughter faded to chuckles and he slowly wiped the tears of mirth from his eyes with a rueful smile. "Cover my head with a sack, huh?" He finally said... to nobody in particular.

Aoi shook her head. "Let's figure out how to contact Oga and Tora – "

From the shadows two men sprang from the bushes and Aoi immediately stepped in front of Lamia, tensed to fight. But the men bowed a little as they kept their distance and one of them spoke. "Princess Kunieda, we are Lord Kugayama's scouts. We have notified the Lord of your presence and we will guard you until a carriage arrives."

"Kugayama," Aoi murmured with a furrowed brow and noticed Takayuki crouching on the ground, scribbling furiously in the dirt despite there being hardly any light to see. "Furuichi, what are you doing?"

He was muttering to himself as he continued to write and Aoi looked at Lamia for answers. The healer shrugged slightly. "Let him be. He's probably planning something."

"More importantly, how do we get Hilda back?" Aoi was pacing slightly now. "She cannot think we'd just leave her here."

"She intends exactly that. And you know Hilda will do exactly what she decides to do."

As much as Aoi wanted to refute that, there was no arguing around it. Hilda was right – in order to get them out and rejoin the others, in order to get Prince Beelzebub back to Oga Tatsumi she had to give Himekawa what he wanted. A wave of guilt crashed on the shores of her conscience and Aoi had to clench her fists to keep herself standing. "If only I had not joined you…" The regret slipped out on a whisper. "If I had not…"

"Doesn't change the outcome anyway," Takayuki spoke up suddenly. He was still crouched on the ground, but he had finished whatever it was he was occupied with and was now staring at Aoi with a grim expression. "Even if you had not joined us the path I'd choose is still the same. We'd still have to go through River Country. Most likely we'd be captured as well." He turned his gaze back to the ground. "It's not your fault, Princess."

Overwhelmed, Aoi turned away to prevent them from seeing the glimmer of unshed tears. She was saved the indignity however when she caught two very familiar wavelengths appearing at the edge of her senses. Lamia felt it too. "It's them!" she cried with joy and looked down at the prince. "Oga and Tora!"

Although Kugayama had ordered the fastest horses to be given to Tatsumi and Hidetora, to them it still wasn't fast enough. They were still quite far but Tatsumi was already looking apprehensive as they rode towards Aoi and Lamia's wavelength signature. "She's not there," He muttered and Hidetora wisely kept his silence. The wavelengths were distinct but there was one obvious anomaly – Hilda's was missing. That could only mean two things: She was either kept as a hostage, or she was dead.

Hidetora sincerely hoped it wasn't the latter.

They soon came within sight of the figures bathed in faint moonlight and Oga jumped off the still-moving horse, letting Hidetora catch the reins. He took a look at the sleeping baby and fixed his gaze on Lamia. "He can sleep through all this?"

"He's sedated to prevent you from dying unnecessarily," Lamia replied curtly. "I've already started reversing the process so he'll be bawling pretty soon."

"Where is the bitch?" Tatsumi couldn't help the growl. "Don't tell me she died."

Lamia tried to keep her voice even, irritated that even in this state he was still so disrespectful towards Hilda. "She's not coming with us. She traded herself for our release."

Kugayama's theory came back to him and Tatsumi bit back the curse that was on the tip of his tongue. "Traded!?"

"Kugayama said that Himekawa's got a thing for blondies," Hidetora mused. "But man, he picked the wrong blonde."

Tatsumi was furiously mulling this over as the carriage bearing Kugayama pulled up and the woman stepped down, not once losing her elegant composure. She spotted Aoi and gave a respectful bow. "Princess Kunieda?"

Kunieda stared at her in confusion before Hidetora nudged her. "This is Kugayama."

Aoi's eyebrows shot to her hairline and she returned the bow awkwardly. "Lord Kugayama."

"I am fortunate to have not one but two Tohoushinki leaders travelling together through my lands," Kugayama smiled. "I apologize for the mistreatment you may have suffered at the hands of that ignoble Himekawa – "

"Wait." Takayuki suddenly interrupted, brows furrowed. Kugayama looked highly affronted at being cut mid-speech but merely snapped her fan open in irritation. Takayuki looked first at Aoi, and then at Kugayama. "… twoTohoushinki leaders?" He echoed incredulously.

It was like a slap to the face. Aoi reddened and Hidetora shifted slightly while Kugayama looked puzzled. "Yes, two. Princess Kunieda and Lord Toujou," She indicated to Hidetora, who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there. Even Lamia looked surprised. "Wait. Lord Toujou?" She blinked for a few seconds before tentatively asking; "You mean you're the Lord of Tiger Country?"

"That's me," Hidetora affirmed uneasily. "But technically I never did spend any time ruling so I'm not much of a lord of anything."

Takayuki was gaping like a goldfish until Tatsumi forcefully clamped him jaw shut. "Forget Toujou. Did you figure out where the slimeball hid his palace?"

Even with Tatsumi's hand holding his mouth shut Takayuki managed to look smug. Lamia shot him an exasperated look and he wrenched Tatsumi's hand away. "We were blindfolded," she informed Tatsumi. "Himekawa's a sly one."

"Well he is, but that's not much of a problem," Takayuki grinned and motioned for a torch. The fireglow shone on the scribbles Takayuki made in the earth and Lamia frowned. "What on earth is that?"

Takayuki grinned proudly and swept his hand in a grand gesture. "This, dear Lamia, is the route used by the carriage to take us here. Here's our end point," He pointed; "And that over there is where we started."

"This is the route?" Lamia echoed disbelievingly even as Kugayama stepped forward to examine the scribbles as well. For all it's worth, it looked like a long string haphazardly crossing in and out of itself. "You're mad!"

Tatsumi didn't seem to think so, however. He was studying the map with an intense look in his eyes. Lamia turned her questioning gaze to Hidetora, who shrugged. "It's a… talent of his. He can remember and retrace any route he takes even if he's blindfolded. It's how he memorized whole cities and avoids capture. It was their mistake not to knock him out while transporting him."

Lamia was silent for a moment, trying to process this. Eventually she sighed. "Well I guess there must be a reason why he hangs out with the two of you. But I never could have guessed that."

Tatsumi stood up again, staring at a distant point across the river. Kugayama too straightened up, the paper fan concealing most of her face. "If Furuichi's drawing is to be trusted, Himekawa's palace is about nine miles from here. "Map!" She snapped her fingers and a soldier hurried up with a map that he opened while standing. Kugayama studied it, fanning herself absently. "Here," She finally pointed to a large lake. "Mire Lake. But despite knowing where it is can you break the enchantment hiding the palace?"

Tatsumi hesitated. Kugayama could literally hear him thinking. "Give me until dawn," She said gently. "Now we know the palace's precise location, we can launch an all-out attack… but I need time to prepare my men. I am sure your comerades also wish to rest."

"Oga," Lamia picked up cautiously, knowing that his urge to rescue the blonde nursemaid was very strong; "the prince is still asleep. You cannot channel his power in this state. Will you please at least allow him to wake first?"

She could tell Tatsumi wanted to say something. His usually blank countenance was a storm of emotions, but he eventually closed his eyes and turned his back to the river. Opening then again, he looked irritably at Kugayama. "Dawn."

She nodded. "Dawn." She promised.

Never in her years of living had Hildegarde ever felt so humiliated.

The source of her humiliation clung to her skin, smooth and cool and utterly demeaning. She stared at herself in the mirror with ill-concealed revulsion. Whatever Lord Himekawa intended tonight was clearly shown in the dress he had prepared for her… if one could call it a dress. Barely covering her derriere and baring her cleavage down to her navel, the black dress was utterly humiliating. The magic dampeners on her wrists and ankles were heavy weights, both physical and metaphorical.

"Milady," The servant assigned to her murmured; "Lord Himekawa awaits."

Hilda took a deep breath to calm her temper. It has not even been two hours since the carriage carrying her companions rolled out from the palace gates. Who knows how many years she would be stuck here until he tires of her? "I will be but a moment," She kept her tone even. "Please wait outside."

The servant concurred and Hilda turned back to her reflection. To her surprise instead of the reflection she expected to see, the large mirror was mostly inky darkness, with Hilda looking distressed and confused.

Only a split second passed before Hilda concluded that the reflection was not a reflection at all. With a jolt of recognition she rushed to the mirror. "Yolda!?" She whispered harshly.

It was indeed Yolda in the mirror but she did not seem aware of it. There was a sudden shift and stretching in the air. Yolda took a step forward and the mirror surface seemed to strain against her, but she pushed through and Yolda fell out of the mirror and into Hilda's arms. She was bent over double as if in pain. At Hilda's voice Yolda opened her eyes and looked immensely relieved upon seeing her. "Hilda…"

Hilda swept over her sister's appearance in alarm. "What happened? You're hurt - "

"Have to warn you," Yolda coughed up in reflex to the pain. "The king… Behemoth betrayed us… He wants the throne. You have to bring him back. The prince – bring back Prince Belze back to Makai before he harms Prince En!"

Hilda's gaze darted to the door, her mind running a mile a minute. Just a minute ago she was resigned to keep her end of the bargain, but clearly this was not going to work. "Yolda, you have to teleport us to Oga."

Yolda coughed again, wincing at the pain in her chest. "… Can't. I don't *cough* know how I got here."

In a trice Hilda noticed that Yolda's magic was not radiating. "Did Behemoth do this to you?"

"No," Yolda winced. "This is that Reddo princess' doing."

Reddo princess. Aoi. "You have to teleport to her." Hilda placed her hands on Yolda's chest and focused on the wound. Although she had limited magic now due to the dampeners, there was still enough for some weak healing magic. With some difficulty she managed to stem the bleeding and close the wound, but it could easily reopen in Yolda wasn't careful. She needed a healer. "Yolda," Hilda whispered; "You must teleport to Oga. You must. Kunieda will be with him."

As if realizing something for the first time, Yolda's eyes widened in surprise. "Where are we?"

"With Lord Himekawa of River Country. It is a long story, but suffice to say I am prisoner here and Oga is out there with the Prince."

Yolda looked even more confused. "You left the prince with that man?"

Hilda hesitated. She could understand the myriad of emotions passing through Yolda's eyes. Disbelief, wariness, anger…

Hurt.

Yes, Hilda througt heavily. Of course she would be hurt. Everything, up until now has been one hurt after another. "Oga Tatsumi is the Prince's Channeler," Hilda said quietly. "As difficult to believe as it is, that much is true. As although we have not enough time to be familiar with each other… the Prince trusts him too." The last part was spoken as if Hilda too had just resigned herself to that. Yolda stared at her sister, wondering where the thick layer of ice that surrounded her had gone to. The Hilda in front of her was vulnerable, unsure and maybe – just maybe a little lost.

But that Hilda quickly vanished, replaced by the brusque, no-nonsense sister that Yolda had grown to despise over the years. "Hide under the bed," Hilda flipped up the bed skirting and helped Yolda move. "When you can teleport, do so. I cannot help you any more than this."

Yolda listened as Hilda quickly moved to the door and shut it behind her, and she was soon left with the aching pain in her chest and a feeling that something, somewhere, was going to happen.

Something she would dearly regret.