Lost in the Dark
By E.M. Megs
Chapter 36 – White Magic and Red Rivers
The night before their wedding, Haruhi and Kyoya were separated upon the request of her father, who had nervously set foot in the Narian palace for the first time just to make sure Haruhi was ready. Her memory was thankfully fine, but her control over her body was minimal, combining an uncontrollable rocking motion with her shaking hands. Her father had sat in chair in her bedroom for a good part of the night just watching her.
It seemed that every time Ranka saw his daughter in a worsened state he grew to hate the Witch Maia Venefica even more. When she woke in the morning, he had leaned over her to kiss her forehead and murmured, "I'm proud of you, my Haruhi. I never thought this day would come."
Haruhi drew in a deep breath and thought she could have dealt with it not coming for another couple months. She didn't say as much though, just let her father draw her bath and leave her to get ready.
Now she stood in front of the mirror in the red wedding dress that Kyoya had offered his opinion on to Fuyumi a couple months ago. 'I should be happy. It's my wedding day,' she thought. But she also couldn't shake the feeling that this day was a death sentence of some kind.
"Come on, Haruhi," she told the Haruhi in the mirror with a bit of sternness, "You love him. This shouldn't be so hard. Smile."
"If you have to convince yourself of it then perhaps we should postpone," a dry voice said from behind her. She whirled around to find Kyoya smirking at her.
"What are you doing here?" she hissed, looking out the door quickly to make sure her father wasn't around. "My father will strangle you if he finds you here."
He rolled his eyes a bit and got straight to the point. "I think I know how to break your curse, Haruhi."
She could do nothing but stare at him. "This couldn't wait a couple hours?" she asked in disbelief.
He shook his head. "It couldn't. After the wedding there might not be a chance." Haruhi sighed and prompted him to continue. "First, I have to tell you that you have to conquer your fear and I apologize but there isn't another way that I can think of for you to do that."
She had no idea what he was talking about but nodded her head a little. "Okay..."
Kyoya got this look on his face for a split second that was completely unguarded, showcasing his own fear and insecurity. Seeing that look gave Haruhi a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Haruhi... I-" he stopped and looked at the ground then glanced back up at her with renewed control, "I think you already know what I'm about to say."
And she did. She'd seen it in that split second that he had dropped his guard. She felt fear well up inside of her so strong that she nearly collapsed from it. "No," she gasped, "You can't. Kyoya, you can't."
He said it anyway. "As illogical as it is I love you."
Her knees collapsed underneath her as she heard it fall from his lips. The part of her heart that held the curse burned in a way that it never had before. She held her shaking hands in front of her, terrified of the way they tilted toward Kyoya as though they wanted to strangle him. And suddenly she found herself yelling at him. "WHY? WE WERE SO CLOSE. WHY COULDN'T YOU WAIT?"
"You've feared being loved your entire life, Haruhi. That's what your curse feeds off of: fear." Even as he spoke as logically as he could he felt a sensation like hands wrapping around his neck and his stomach somersaulted. He swallowed back the urge to vomit.
"Of course I'm afraid!" she screamed in disbelief, "I spent 20 years hiding in Kira as a male to avoid this!"
"But you don't have to! You don't have to be afraid, Haruhi! That's what she wanted when she cursed you! She wanted you to be afraid of love, to be afraid of happiness." He dodged as she lunged for him.
"I'm not in control anymore, Kyoya. I can't..."
"You can," he told her, stopping and looking her dead in the eyes. "You are stronger than any magic that could ever be placed upon you. Stronger than any fear she could instill in you." He stayed in place until his stomach couldn't handle it and he had to lunge for a nearby trash bin.
And that's when the pieces all came together in Haruhi's mind. "You're sick too," she whispered. "I don't even have to... I don't even have to physically touch you to kill you because you're sick too." He looked up at her from where he was on his knees looking rather undignified. "You didn't tell me. The muttering. Your hands trembling. That one time that I thought I heard you retching in the bathroom. You were sick and you didn't tell me."
"I am sorry," he said and she could hear in his voice that he meant it but that didn't make her any less furious.
"I've been killing you this entire time."
He shook his head vehemently at this and replied sharply, "It was never you. The Witch did this to us, Haruhi. Not you." Her hands were shaking where they were clenched at her sides and he wondered how much of a fool he had been for thinking that this would work.
"You have probably put the plan in jeopardy," she told him. He shrugged, losing the strength to retort. "Can you still go out there and marry me knowing I could kill you any second?"
"Of course," he replied in a soft voice. "If you can find the strength to not strangle me during the ceremony."
"I don't know how I'm managing not to right now but you better get out of here before I lose it." There was a dangerous and frightened edge to her voice. He nodded.
"I'll see you at the altar," he said stiffly, getting up with a little trouble and leaving. "Don't forget your broach," he added over his shoulder. She collapsed against the door as it closed and sat there rocking uncontrollably until her father arrived.
"Haruhi?" Ranka asked softly. "Are you okay?" Her breaths came in short gasps and he was sure that she was going to hyperventilate. "Nerves or illness?" he demanded, kneeling down on her level.
"Both," she croaked. It was escalating quicker now that Kyoya had confessed. Suddenly she realized that Kyoya was probably feeling exactly the same thing and she looked at her father. "Is someone with him?"
"Kyoya?"
"Yes. Is someone with him?"
"I think his brother was going to check on him." Her father took her hands and squeezed them tightly. "It's going to be okay, Haruhi. You are going to marry Kyoya and everything is going to be fine."
"I'm scared, Dad," she said, tears pricking at her eyes as her rocking finally began to slow and she forced herself to breath deeper and more evenly.
"Of course you are, sweetheart. It's your wedding day."
"No, Dad. He loves me. And I'm scared that I'm going to stab him through the heart during our wedding." Ranka paled at this news then said it was going to be okay with renewed determination.
"You are strong, Haruhi. Just like your mother." At the mention of Kotoko, Haruhi nodded. She had always wanted to be like her mother. The strength that she had embodied in the stories told to Haruhi as a child had always made her want to do the same. "You can do it. You just have to hold back for an hour. Because it's time, dear. It's time for you to come with me."
She took a deep breath and her father squeezed her hands again. He helped pull her to her feet. When she walked through that door, she did her best to leave any murderous thoughts behind as well.
~o~
They'd lit the ceremonial candles that represented their families and bent the softened wax so they were intertwined, the purple of Narian wax streaking easily into the pale green of the Moradian. Now she was standing there across from him, their left hands joined and a priest residing over the ceremony. She felt nothing but numbness. She feared that if she felt anything else that she would lose what little control over herself that she had. She could feel his hand trembling in hers and that was the thing that anchored her to what was happening.
He vowed to love and cherish her and the hand that wasn't holding his curled into a fist at her side so tight she thought she was going to break the skin of her palm. She would much rather harm herself than hurt him though so she allowed it. The residing priest tied one of three ribbons around their joined hands.
She spoke her memorized vows, echoes of his own, placing as much feeling into them as she could in her numbed state of mind. "I take you, Kyoya Ohtori as my husband, to love and cherish, protect and carry, for as long as I live." The second ribbon was tied around their hands. Her fingernails broke the skin of her palm and drew blood.
"These rings will be your symbol since your hands cannot always be bound. Look at these rings and remember these unbreakable promises that you have made and are always making each other. Your Highness, first please."
Kyoya, with his free hand, slipped the smaller of the two rings onto her bound ring finger. "With this ring, may every promise I have made or ever shall make, be kept to you, Haruhi," he murmured, looking through her veil straight into her eyes. And then she realized that he had. He had lived up to his promises. Everything is going to be fine. He had promised her that. She suddenly felt a little better about this wedding but not enough to look any less tortured by it.
"Now, Miss Yukikawa."
Her bloody hand shook so hard she was amazed that no one else noticed it as she took the remaining ring and pushed it onto his ring finger with a bit of difficulty, her lips speaking on their own accord. "With this ring, may every promise I have made or ever shall make, be kept to you." She swallowed and then added, "And may my love for you grow ever more." His lips twitched slightly, though his eyes were stuck on the bit of blood that had stuck to his ring from her hand.
"Place your free hands on your bound ones please."
She swallowed and placed her hand on their tied ones and felt his larger, warm one cover hers. The priest took the third ribbon and wrapped it around all four of their combined hands. Kyoya's fingers slipped in between hers from above and squeezed. The priest placed his hands on top and bottom of theirs. "Vinculum est perfectus," the priest said clearly and the three ribbons became bright and hot against their hands. Then in a blinding flash they were gone, leaving just their hands held together.
"You may kiss your bride, Your Highness," the priest said at last with a smile. Kyoya's eyes met hers through the veil even though she was sure that he couldn't actually see her face. Just when she thought that the priest was going to prompt Kyoya again, he lifted her veil and swiftly bent to kiss her. Her hands grasped his collar, a silent mantra of 'don't strangle him don't strangle him don't strangle him' playing on repeat in her head to keep her hands, that still didn't quite feel like hers, in check.
When he broke away, he pressed his forehead to hers and looked straight into her eyes, his hands positioned on either side of her head."You did it," he breathed. And his eyes showed such intensity and such an odd amount of emotion that she found it hard to believe that she had ever missed or doubted that he loved her before now.
"We did," she whispered back and prepared herself to turn and face their audience. As he pulled back from her, his eyes glanced down to where her charmed broach usually sat. Instead there was nothing but red fabric. He shot her a look even though he should have expected her to do something like this. She stared back completely unphased by his glare. Her grandmother was going to find out eventually one way or another and she couldn't keep hiding forever.
His hands finally dropped, an arm coming to wrap around her waist and a smirk coming to his mouth. She kept looking at him for a moment until she pressed into his side and looked out into the crowd.
Her father stood in the front row with tears in his eyes, applauding strongly. Haruhi's eyes skimmed the sea of guests, noting both Tamaki and the twins teary eyes, Fuyumi's squeals, and Hunny's joyous shouts before at last settling on the Witch sitting between a grudgingly applauding Yoshio and Akito Ohtori.
A confused flash crossed her grandmother's face before turning to one of absolute fury. Haruhi knew seconds before she did anything that something was going to happen that changed her.
That something was an arrow heading straight for her and she didn't have the time to react before she found herself shoved to the ground where she wasn't in the path of an arrow anymore. "YOU LITTLE SNAKE!" the Witch shrieked at the same time she heard Fuyumi scream her brother's name.
Haruhi could only watch as her grandmother was upon her, ripping off her veil and grabbing her by the hair. Kyoya stumbled a bit, the arrow that had been meant for her sticking straight out of his chest. Ranka and Yuiichi hurried forward just as his knees collapsed. Tamaki even revealed his place in the crowd to race forward and help the Narian Prince. Hikaru and Kaoru were surrounding the Witch and Haruhi in seconds and to her surprise both Fuko Shido and Akito had their swords at the Witch's throat.
"Drop her, Witch," Akito growled, showing his apparent distaste for the woman quite clearly.
The woman laughed and said, "You fools think mere swords are enough to kill me?" Her grandmother hissed to her in addition, "I should have killed you myself, 20 years ago in that palace. I may have cursed you but that was just in case your slim chance of survival actually worked."
5 feet away Kyoya let out a soft grunt as Yuiichi removed the arrow from his chest. Yoshio didn't know what was going on but he looked outraged. "Maia, what is the meaning of this?"
"She's the damn Moradian Princess!" the Witch shrieked in reply, "Married your son right under your nose!" Yoshio's eyes widened and his nostrils flared at the realization. She shook Haruhi from her tightly gripped hair as if that would make a stronger point. Akito only faltered slightly, his distaste for Maia overwhelmed his hatred for Moradians apparently. "What do you have to say for yourself you little wretch?!"
Haruhi glared up at her grandmother and spat, "You are a terrible grandmother!"
Yuiichi was staring at the arrow that he'd pulled from Kyoya. "Father," he said distantly. Yoshio hardly glanced at his oldest son. "Father this is the same arrow that killed Mother." That caught the Narian King's attention. Kyoya squirmed on the ground where Hunny was attempting to heal him or at least stop the bleeding. The small blond was scowling in concentration before he finally gave in.
"It's draining me too much," he muttered to his cousin, just loud enough that Haruhi heard him.
That was the last straw. Yoshio was drawing his sword as he demanded, "You killed Mayumi?" At the same time, Haruhi squirmed until she finally got out of her grandmother's grasp.
"You have to conquer your fear," Kyoya had said. Haruhi drew on all the rage in her and whirled to face her grandmother. "You are a TERRIBLE grandmother!" she yelled again. "You could never stand to see anyone happy, much less me! I was raised to fear falling in love because of you. For 20 years I have been afraid of being friends with men because I was afraid that it would turn me into a murderer! But you know what? I never was the murderer. It was you! It was always you! And I have been sick for the last 3 months because I love Kyoya. And amazingly, he loves me back. And I'm not going to stand by and let you ruin my life anymore, grandmother."
The 20-year-old bride took a couple deep breaths before clenching her fists and getting right in her grandmother's face. "I AM NOT AFRAID OF YOU ANYMORE! AND I AM NOT AFRAID OF YOUR STUPID PETTY CURSE!"
It was like those words were magic. The nausea that she had been feeling for months disappeared. The pain in her chest was gone as though it had never been there in the first place. Her hands felt like hers again and when she looked over at Kyoya she knew that he no longer felt sick either because of the slight smile on his face as he looked at her. Then his eyes started to drift close. But Haruhi felt strong again.
She hurried toward her husband, kneeling and taking his head in her lap, whispering, "Just hold on. Just hold on a bit longer, Kyoya." Her hand found its way to his chest and she didn't even need to say anything to activate a healing spell.
"You are banished!" Yoshio roared at the Witch. "I hung countless innocent people for my wife's murder when it was you!" The four swords all aimed directly at her neck did nothing to phase her.
"You're going to let that little snake weasel her way into your ranks to take back her kingdom, Yoshio?"
"I will deal with her later. I see now that you are the immediate threat here, Maia Venefica, Witch. Now leave. If I ever see you in this country again I will kill you myself."
"Your wife was a wizard, Yoshio. A wizard with filthy blood. Just like your children. You should be glad that I got rid of her."
"GET OUT!"
Haruhi had never seen the Narian King so visibly furious. His nostrils flared as his rapid breathing started to slow. His hands were clenched so tightly that his knuckles were white. The sword in his hand trembled with the rage that was undoubtedly swelling through him.
"Suit yourself," Maia said offhandedly and began walking down the very aisle that Haruhi had walked roughly an hour beforehand. Hikaru and Kaoru glowered as she passed. She stopped once by Haruhi, Kyoya, and Ranka just to glower at the former Moradian King and his daughter before continuing on her way.
Tamaki stood in her way. "You're banished from Kira as well, Witch," he said without blinking.
"I have done nothing to your royal court, Prince Tamaki," she answered with a sneer.
"Kyoya is royal court by marriage to Haruhi Fujioka, also known as Namahi Marioka, daughter of Ranka Marioka of the Kiran royal court," the blond stated with a cheery smile. "And you have harmed him in a very grave way. My father would not be pleased nor am I. You are stripped of your title, lands, and citizenship and if you are ever seen in Kira again, you will be shot on site."
The Witch, though frustrated by the turn of events let out a shriek and charged toward the Prince. Mori stepped in front of her, only for her to disappear in a puff of smoke similar to how she had done the night that she had cursed Haruhi.
"I don't think we've heard the last of her," Ranka murmured with a troubled frown.
Her magic wasn't doing anything, just as Hunny's hadn't. "I can't heal him," she said with frustration. Akito dropped down next to her, to her surprise. "Why isn't it working?" she asked him.
"I distinctly remember Mother having the same problem," the second Prince said with a note of distaste. He glowered a bit at her but still answered her question. "The poison feeds off of magic, meaning that no matter how much you try to heal the wound or transfer the poison as long as you're using magic, it won't work." He removed his long jacket as he spoke, calmly pressing it into his brother's chest wound. "Unfortunately, that also means that Kyoya's survival is dependent on two things: his immune system and people not using magic on him at all."
Though she appreciated the help and the explanation, Haruhi was still very surprised that it was Akito kneeling next to her and not Yuiichi. "Yuiichi has Yuki to deal with," Akito said as though reading her mind. That seemed to be an Ohtori commonality.
"Why are you helping?"
Akito's sigh held a tinge of annoyance. "Because although I hate his guts most of the time and still do not approve of his choice of wife-" she scowled at the not-so-subtle insult "-he is still my brother."
Haruhi wished Kyoya had been awake to hear that. Yoshio, having placated the wedding guests now intruded into the conversation. "She was right about you being the Moradian Princess?" he demanded. She nodded slowly, not trusting herself to speak. The King growled under his breath, obviously bothered by the fact that he hadn't seen it before. "Your lies will be dealt with, Fujioka," he threatened before turning to his unconscious youngest son. "Fuyumi, get a medic." The woman nodded and hurried off as fast as her pregnant belly would allow.
There was silence as the three worked on Kyoya. Between the two of them, the two Ohtoris managed to stop the bleeding by the time the medics arrived. Haruhi felt rather useless just sitting there stroking her husband's hair but there was nothing more she could do. She wasn't a doctor. When, finally, the medics put Kyoya on a stretcher, she felt a vague ache in her chest knowing that she might be separated from him for a while.
Yoshio looked hard at her and she felt the need to explain. "I don't want Mora back," she said outright. "I'm sure that if I'd actually grown up there I would feel differently but I didn't. I've long accepted that Mora is gone and that it is part of Nari and Kira now. I've accepted that Kira and Nari are my homes."
The King said nothing to her explanation but turned to her father instead. "Ryoji," he addressed stiffly.
"King Yoshio," her father nodded in respectful reply.
"Seems we're in-laws."
"I wasn't completely thrilled when Haruhi told me, either, Your Majesty," Ranka said honestly. "Though Kyoya has proven to be a fine young man. I've revised my opinion and now I only want peace between us, if possible. Our children are married. I don't wish to hate you."
"We shall see," Yoshio said and strode with the confidence only a king can have out of the ballroom.
Haruhi was just amazed that they weren't being arrested.
~o~
Kyoya woke to a cacophony of sound. He flinched involuntarily when an attempt to open his eyes nearly blinded him. Through the searing pain he tried to remember what had happened. Something about the Witch and a wedding, he was sure.
"Kyoya? Honey, are you still sleeping?" The voice was one that was familiar though he wasn't entirely sure that it should be one that he was hearing currently. His muddled brain couldn't quite place it. He felt the bed dip as someone sat next to him. "Are you feeling alright?"
It clicked and his eyes snapped open, light be damned. "Mother?" he questioned incredulously, sitting up to look at her properly through squinted eyes. Mayumi Ohtori sat in front of him and he was sure that he was dreaming. "I must be dreaming," he muttered to himself. "You're dead."
"Excuse me, young man. Is that anyway to talk to your mother?" Mayumi retorted back, scowling and placing her hands on her hips. He just stared at her. She had actually aged. Her dark brown hair was streaked with gray and her face showed laugh lines. "What's gotten into you? Saren said you were still asleep but I didn't believe her. It's nearly one in the afternoon, Kyoya."
All he could do was stare. And then the name she had said clicked and he jumped from his bed. He flat out ran to the library where he knew she spent all of her time. He skidded to a stop in front of the chair she always occupied during her reading stints and Kyoya thought he felt his heart stop. The red head sat there, alive and well. She glanced up at him as he gaped. "You're finally up it seems," she commented drily, turning a page in the book she was reading. "About time too. I was about to send your sister in." Her eyes twinkled a bit as she smirked.
He didn't know what was happening, but there was something very wrong about it.
~o~
"I thought you said that he would wake up within a couple days," Haruhi said anxiously, gripping her husband's hand from where she was perched on the edge of the bed.
"It's going to affect him differently, Haruhi. We were never exactly sure how it affected Mother or what exactly it was doing to her just that magic seemed to make it worse." Akito was still patiently acting as his brother's doctor, though he was loathe to actually explain things to her. "For all we know, she was still ill before the poison completely took hold."
"How can no one know what this poison actually does?" she demanded impatiently.
"Because no one has actually survived it to share their experiences and it's very rare."
"But-"
"Haruhi, sweetheart, give him a break," her father murmured, cutting her off. "He's doing his best."
"Thank you," Akito muttered stiffly, still unused to the former Moradian King being present in his house. The awkwardness in the room was stifling, as one could imagine.
"If it's so rare then how come Moradian archers used to use it?"
"They didn't. This is not the Moradian poison. Ours was a poison that lurked several days before striking, it's true, but once the wound was healed it mostly dissipated. And it wasn't feeding off magic," her father clarified. "I don't know how you ever thought that it was Moradian poison that killed Queen Mayumi."
"I don't know. Maybe because Moradians were the ones shooting at us?" Akito snapped.
Haruhi sighed impatiently. "Then how the hell do you cure it?" she asked him, interrupting Ranka's impending objection to the accusation.
The Ohtori doctor looked straight at her and murmured, "I'm not sure but whatever is happening to him, whether or not he survives it is going to be up to him. Magic can't touch him. The most that we can do is conventionally heal his wound and hope for the best."
Haruhi hated being unsure.
~o~
A/N: So dramatic! Debated with what exactly to do with the end of this. I think I always knew that Haruhi was going to break her own curse and that Kyoya was going to get shot by the Witch. Just was never sure how exactly the poison of said arrow was going to affect him. Luckily that was still rather vague even when his mother died from it so I get to make it up as I go along now. Yay? (Obviously still not too sure at the moment.)
There are only a couple chapters left. Not more than 40 (which still makes me cringe) and it will be done by the end of the summer even if it kills me. (So for me that's like the end of September.) I've written up through chapter 39 so far and the posting schedule will likely be once a month until they're all up. So hey, 4 more chapters/months left! This might just be complete before the end of the year!
Kudos to: starshipranger99, Infinities Lover, Sisflower, and Cactu2008.
I'm distracted by various other things (like the stuff that my internship thing is having me write, an Ouran pirate!AU that's nearly complete, school starting in 3 weeks, and my last 2 weeks at my current workplace) so I'm going to set an alert on my phone to remind me but if I still haven't gotten the next chapter up by the 10th of October someone just go ahead and punch me.