Chapter Twenty-Eight
When Tomorrow Comes
As he had promised, Qi Peng's magic suppression tattoo had faded after a couple days, finally allowing her to feel like her old self again. It was a strange feeling when it seeped back into her system; like a weakened muscle she had not moved or flexed in years trying to resume its previous ability. The only comparison she could make was how she had felt after returning from her seven-year sleep on Tenrou Island. The memory was still enough to make her shudder.
It had been closing in on three weeks since she had been released from the palace and sent unknowingly to her near assassination. Initially Yan-Yan had wanted to take her on her ship and sail back to Fiore immediately, but Cana refused to leave Bacchus behind after finding out about danger he was in. Though she was against it, the huntress captain finally agreed to stay after Cana convinced her.
In the mean time, she told her of how she and Aiguo had lingered for another week after bringing her and Bacchus to shore to find a merchant looking to trade his goods when they overheard some drunken fool talking loudly of a rumored new emperor at the local tavern.
"We had a feeling it was you and Jian when he said that the rumor spoke of a wizard prince and his foreign sorceress coming from a far away land to bring peace to the kingdom. So we decided to find out what we could."
"But that was before we had even reached the palace. How could anyone have known about him that early?"
"He has spies everywhere." Yanti sipped at her choice green drink. "I would not doubt it if he even had some in Fiore. Aiguo managed to infiltrate the rebel's circle and attended a few of their meetings."
"Qi Peng was without a doubt behind the rumors of you two and must have known exactly how and when you two arrived." Yan-Yan slowly swirled the drink in her hand as her first-mate spoke up.
"We learned of Qi Peng's true identity quickly after and tried to follow him for a while, but he is an elusive man even for me and we would often be left a step behind."
"But luckily a few days before we found you, he sent word about your departure and their plan for you and Fairy Tail from there so that the rebels might be prepared. We had wanted to come sooner, but the order was to wait for the princesses to return so that all of them would be in the same place, leaving us almost unable to leave." Aiguo's mouth twitched as he rapped his fingers on the table.
"So that's why I had been delayed in returning." Cana said bitterly.
"We think it is because of your disappearance that Qi Peng and his rebels have not yet made their move. Without Fairy Tail, they don't stand a chance against the sisters." He went on to say.
"And going from what Aiguo heard at the meeting last night, the army has sent out another search party for you and now have double the amount of men." Yanti looked up from her drink at her, their eyes meeting.
"Also that Emperor Jian has personally joined in with them."
"What?" Cana snapped her attention from Yan-Yan to Aiguo.
"According to a message sent by Qi Peng to this town's chapter leader, Jian had taken lead of his own search party. They did not disclose if it was known where he would be going."
I do. Cana knew exactly where he was going to be.
"Shan and Mei's. That's where he's headed, I'm certain of it." She bit her lip. It was the only place she knew he would look first. Their initial meet up point had been the port where she had been waiting this whole time, but she knew that he would check there first before anywhere else.
"Where's that?"
"It's the martial arts school just outside of this town. It's where he grew up after…" Cana hesitated, unsure of how to continue her explanation. "He was taken from the palace."
"You're sure he will be there?" Aiguo asked her. Cana simply nodded telling him that she was positive he would.
"Then it's settled. Been a while since my last good hunt." Yan-Yan poured more the green drink into Cana's cup and then into her own and Aiguo's, raising it up to toast with them. "Come the morrow, we're going to kidnap the Emperor." She had a devilish grin on her lips as she tossed her head back to take her shot. Cana hesitated before she sipped her drink as well, hoping the dread in her chest would be washed away by the warm alcohol slithering down her throat.
After their discussion ended, Yan-Yan and Aiguo left her in the small inn they had managed to smuggle her into to tour the city for more information. They had not brought her to the ship in fear that there were indeed spies among the crewmembers, waiting to report Cana's location or worse. Though the two of them still had to go check in nightly to make sure they had not mutinied against her and took off with her ship.
Alone and not nearly drunk enough to ease her worry, she was left with her thoughts yet again. The past few weeks had not been the most pleasant. She had learned from Aiguo only last week that Bacchus had already married one of the sisters and only two days after she had left, too. That was a bitter day well spent drinking with Yanti and ranting about the now apparently former Quattro Cerberus wizard. When asked if she was jealous, Cana snorted at the accusation and told her that she simply couldn't understand how Bacchus could just be so obedient and instantly loyal to a family he had never known.
Let alone marry one of them not two days after he meets her. Perhaps she was bitter after all. But that was only a part of the troubling thought of how quickly everything was going. It was as if he were only a pawn rather than an emperor come to save the kingdom from the brink of destruction. As if he was nothing more than simply another step for either side to use to gain an advantage over the other.
She was right to have been wary and suspicious of Qi Peng from the start, but what the royal family could have in store for him was a complete mystery. She tried to consult her cards on more than one occasion, only for each reading to end with different and strange possible outcomes. There had been however, one card that slipped from the deck as she shuffled one day and has since continued to haunt her the past few nights, keeping her from truly resting.
The Tower is an ominous card. She gripped her empty cup as she recalled the destruction that the card typically called forth. Still unable to shake the uneasy feeling in her gut, she reached for the bottle of Green Salamander that her companion had left behind, pouring another drink for herself and drank it down.
Can we really pull this off? Cana asked herself. Even after we tell him about Qi Peng's and Captain Yu's betrayal, he might still choose to stay. He does have a kingdom and a wife to consider now. She huffed to herself as she recalled Yan-Yan's initial argument to leave him behind and for them to hurry to Fiore. Cana had tried, nearly pleaded for hours to convince the captain to stay until they could weasel the palm mage out of his new position. But the more she thought about it, the less she was beginning to agree with the idea of trying to "rescue" him as she had so passionately argued. Yanti did bring up valid points about him having already chosen to stay, but for some reason Cana just couldn't accept his decision. She knew he had not been easy for him to sacrifice everything he had built for himself in Fiore, but she also knew that he didn't need to punish himself either.
"Damn you, Bacchus." Cana leaned back in her chair with a frustrated groan, her head tilted back to look up at the ceiling. But this wasn't an easy decision for her also. To take him, or at least try to, against his will, or merely warn him and leave him to fend for himself were not exactly easy options to choose from.
Everything will sort itself out tomorrow. And I either leave with him or without him. The finality of her personal ultimatum kept her preoccupied until Yan-Yan and Aiguo returned and hardly let her sleep in the hours to come.
A/N: Hey there! Hope you enjoyed this week's updates! Another short(er) chapter I know, but just bear with me folks. The next few are going to be pretty sizable.
Anyway!
Thanks for all the views this week guys! It's been really amazing to check it out and see how many views I get!
So as always, until next week,
Betty B.
