"…"

"…im sorry for my insubordination, but, are we just going to watch?"

"….i suppose is the only thing we can do now….." he sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. "At least…. Until we know what to do….."

"Your highness….. at this rate, we wont be able to recover any of h-"

"I know that!" Ryoma remarked, gritting his teeth's "But… it not even something we can discuss right now, we have to…. Take these measures…."

"But… your highness…. This is…." Kagero looked through the fake mirror, at the other side, they could see a fixed room, with Kamui laying on a bed, talking with Oboro "….this is….."

"He will stay here all day, nobody aside of Oboro is allowed to enter alone, nor will they bring anything that is nor received first by some guard and Oboro herself….."

"…Still….." she looked around, now they were in the third floor of the north hall of the castle, at the very edge against the main entrance, away of the public view and any of the ordinary soldiers "This is…."

"You know this place as well as I do, Kagero" he sighed "A special hallway, where mother brought all the soldiers that were affected from the frontlines, those who needed help, those wh-"

"Who were not capable to fight after Garon played with them….." She crossed her arms "There weren't a lot of survivors from those years, before he tried to kill us with his own madness, before Lady Mikoto saved us with the barrier….. but….this place is….."

"…..he´s not here because he´s going to die" he frowned as he tried to calm down his nerves "that room has a kitchen, complete bathroom, reinforced walls and windows, now with Reina´s report of what happened last time, we can be sure that anything is sturdy enough to resist it, w-"

"Him" Another voice interrupted, looking at the door, it was Orochi who entered, with a scowl on her face "to resist him, but I don't… see necessary to complain about the place, Kagero" although she walked normally, it was obvious that in some of her steps, it pained her, the few scratches and bandages under her sleeves were almost perfectly hidden, but her trademark smirk was gone "…I made sure to clean that place from any kind of resemblance of what it used to be" he glared at Ryoma "….you should be worried about him"

"Orochi!" Kagero replied while the diviner huffed

"It´s alright, I understand her, don't worry about it" Ryoma looked at the albino.

"Good, I thought it wasn't clear enough" the diviner approached to the fake mirror, looking at him with sadness."

"How is he?"

"How´d you think?" she groaned "there are scratches all over his body, the worst is his neck, Oboro and a priestess will check it every day, just to be sure a clot doesn't form, I would give him medicine for that, but there might be internal wounds we´re not aware of, so for the moment, he will only be in observation, Oboro for the other side, is full of bruises, cut´s and a growing hate towards you as well, the worst of all is Hinoka" she sighed, scratching her neck "her arms are too damaged, muscle sprains in both sides, broken fingers, ribs" she sighed again, looking at the albino "…is surprising that she managed to stay at his side all that time until he woke up…."

"She has a strong will"

"Right, it had nothing to do with the entire bottle of painkillers she drank" she groaned "Right now she is being cared by Sakura, she´ll be at the next door for the time being…. She´s…..she´s worried about his situation"

"So, is not a rant?"

"I wouldn't blame him….." Orochi looked away for a moment "But… I don't think it is, the test´s proved that at least, he´s capable to "know" where Oboro is, it´s like a compass, and according to that girls testimony, aside of her, everything around him is 'off color' and 'noise', at least, that´s what he say´s" she bit her nail.

"Do you have something in mind?"

"He´s a new class, or maybe an old class… I don't know" Orochi was playing now with some papers that took out from under her ribbon "In fact, im not sure if he´s still human"

"WH-What? What nonsense is that?"

"See it for yourself" handing the paper, Ryoma raised an eyebrow, jut to be startled at it, normally, a person would know what kind of class is available for it´s skill sets, but Kamui stats were all over the place, not numbers, but words, signs, even some things that were unknow for him, before he could say something, Orochi handed more papers "Normally, you would see the class, numbers and skills with a simple class seal, but….as you see, we don't even know if the seals are capable to decipher whatever his body is trying to imprint when we use the seal"

"So, we cant revert his state?"

"….." She glared daggers at him.

"Is just a question, im not going to force him to do something he doesn't want to, nor do I desire to force it, if it´s a danger to his life"

"…..no, I wont advice it" she crossed her arms "We don't know how he changed, but not knowing is the last of our problems" she sighed "we…. We need to understand what is going on in front of our eyes….." she started to walk from side to side of the room "I don't know how he changed, or even if it was something he forced in himself, knowing if Yukimura or he forced this class makes a huge difference."

"It is so important?"

"Yes, it is important!" she yelled, looking at him "If Lord Kamui was forced to change, then we can fix the problem! We only need to catch Yukimura, bash his skull against the wall and make him tell us what did he did to him!" she looked down for a moment "But….. if it was something that he forced himself…. It would be a declaration….."

"….a declaration? Of what?"

"….that….he has lost all hope….. at least…. That he lost all his will to live….."

"That doesn't make sense, are you telling me all this, without knowing his class? Without being sure what happened that night? Th-"

"We all heard it, Lord Ryoma" Orochi interrupted "All of us heard what he thought at that time, we´re not entirely sure what ignited it, but we´re aware that Yukimura pushed him to his limit, right now, the most dangerous thing is not making him angry again, or even Yukimura, is him….."

"What?"

"With Reina testimony about what happened before that event…. With Hinoka and Oboro reports…..im not even sure if he is willing to keep going…." He looked at him with such serious face, than even Ryoma hasn't seen in a while "….right now, if what Oboro said is true, he doesn't need you, nor our empty promises, he just see us as…. Noise….nothing more…."

"So… we need to leave him like this…"

"Is there any other option?" she sighed again "…. Keep him away of anyone…. even if it hurts Hinoka…. Right now, our priority is to find a way to stop any attempt from Yukimura, and find out if we can still save him…"


Chapter 32: Shadows in the Palace. Part 1.


"Haaaaaaah….. what´re we doing?" Silas sighed, looking at Peri, who was striking a dummy at the garden, although she used a wooden nagitana, her attacks were strong enough to tear part of the dummy "hey…. Aren't you tired?"

"Na-ah! This is all Peri can do!" she pouted with the nagitana on her hands "….these are pretty bland…"

"Well, their weapons are supposed to be nimble for swift attacks, unlike us, they prefer speed and precision over strength"

"Isnt it better to strike them down?" Peri sighed, as once again, she broke the nagitana "aaww…. I liked this one…"

"You should take a rest…." Silas looked around, it has been two days since they arrived to the castle, despite what he feared, they weren't treated poorly, instead, a woman had a interview with him and the rest of his crew, her name was Orochi, and for some reason, he knew she was trying to dig up something from them, fortunately, her intentions were obvious, unlike the late king Garon or even Xander who were ruthless about information and used methods that were questionable, Orochi was different, he could feel something familiar in her, after some minutes, he knew that somehow, the way she spoke or the way she tried to talk, it was like Kamui did it with other soldiers in Nohr.

Was that something that Kamui learned before being abducted? Or perhaps, it was something that was inherited from Hoshidians?

Either way, he was glad to meet someone like her, but for some reason, behind her smile, there was something odd

"For now, we ask patience, we will….. make sure we can reach an agreement"

Her words sounded legitimately sincere, but for some reason, filled with sadness, he couldn't understand what was going on, but there was definitely something they ignored, and seeing how the atmosphere around the place was, definitely something happened, something bad.

Although the maids and guards were open to answer what they requested as food or services, anything about the royal family or Kamui was out of the question, it was weird, since the first day, princess Hinoka talked with them, and even with the small incident, almost everything they asked was granted, of course, as long it was possible.

"Good, you´re here, that´ll make it easier" another voice took him out his thoughts, looking back, Akemi waving at her with a smirk on her face, with princes Hinoka at her side, but strangely, with some bandages on her arms and her head, she looked terrible, and somewhat, sad?

"Pr-Princess Hinoka?! Wh-what are y-?" Silas looked at her, and seeing her without her normal attire, instead, a light yukata without her usual ornaments, and with a scowl, she sat in front of the table, her retainers were with her.

"Yahoo~! We´ve been away of each other, haven't we?" Akemi said with a curl on her lips "Hello Peri!"

"Ah! Akemi!" Peri left the broken Nagitana at the entrance of the garden to meet her, just when she was about to enter the room, one of the guards coughed, looking at her feet "Oh…woopsie?" she laughed nervously, but the guard didn't stop looking at her boots "Fiiiiiine" she sighed while she took off her boots at the entrance.

"Having a hard time in Hoshido?" Akemi laughed.

"Oh gosh, yes!" she puffed her cheeks "There a lot of silly rules!" she groaned rolling her eyes "Peri you cant kill the boars, Peri you cant use your boots here, Peri you cant set fire in the garden, Peri you cant stab the servants here"

"….right…." Hinoka sighed "I apologize for the inconveniences, and for asking to stay here in the past days… we have…. Some issues with one of our ex-colleagues…"

"…Princess Hinoka… are you going to tell us…. What happened two days ago?"

"…. No" Peri groaned "right now, I don't have …"

"…"

"…"

"Yes?" Silas tried to make her continue, but Hinoka just shook her head.

"I just don't feel like talking about it" that comment took them out of balance

"Wait, what? You´re joking, right?"

"Sorry… that came out wrongly….. Is just….." she lifted her sleeves "Lately… things are going poorly around the castle….."

Silas looked at her wrist, the bandages and her expression, he sighed "Ok, could you tell us at least what happened to you?"

"….. no" she sighed "I don't know… maybe? Sorry, im just… tired….." looking at them, she scratched the back of her neck "look, I don't want to sound…. Harsh, but I have a lot of questions, and right now, I don't have much time to waste…."

"Excuse me? We have been here for so long th-"

"What my partner wants to say, Princess Hinoka, is that you´re not giving us much incentive to trust, after all, we have been following your request, and we haven't heard or seen something about Kamui" Silas replied before Peri could say something "Not to mention, you haven't explained the situation with that man when we were here"

"….ok, lets do this" Hinoka with a sign of her palm, looked at the guards who were in shock, after nodding, hesitantly the guards walked outside the room.

"Princess Hinoka? What a-"

"Kamui is in danger" she abruptly said, making Peri frown "And I assure you, im doing my best t-"

"My best boy-friend is in danger?" Peri gritted her teeth "YOU TOOK HIM FROM US, AND LORD KAMUI IS IN DANGER?! HOW USELESS CAN YOU BE?!"

"Peri, cal-"

"You´re right…." all looked at the princess, who pressed her forehead at the floor "…I wish I was better, stronger or a better sister…. Now, it´s our fault that someone precious to me, to everyone here is in danger, that´s why I´m doing this, I need to know" Silas could se how she trembled in that position "Right now, im risking my position in everything, telling you that Kamui is in danger, not even the nobles or the council knows this, just the royal family and some retainers, th-that's why…. I beg you…. I need your help…"

"…."

"…"

"Fair enough, I was getting tired of being in disguise anyway" Akemi said as she sat between them, with a movement of her hand, her hair changed, her clothes "melted" in the air while a red kimono appeared, as a pair of fox ears and tail puffed "My real name its Selkie, a pleasure to meet all of you"

"Wh-What the hell?!/ Wait, what?" Silas, Peri and Hinoka were surprised at her sudden change, the girl just tiled her head wagging her tail.

"She just shared something that would put her on the hotspot if anyone finds outs, so, im just returning the favor"

"Wait, hold on a minute, do you… believe in her?" Asked Silas.

"Yup" she moved her ears and with a carefree expression, she tiled her head to her other side "I have two biggies reasons to trust her"

"Which are?"

"Well, I know she´s not lying, she really thinks that badly about herself, my big ears aren´t just for show! I know when somebody is been naughty if they´re really close, and besides, she´s one of the good girls that helped me that night!"

"That night?"

"….the night you said, Peri should never, ever discuss with anyone?" Peri asked, making the girl nod "….fiiiiiiiiiiiiiine, i´ll trust her…..for now, but let you know! If Peri founds out you´re bulling Kamui, then Peri won´t forgive you!"

"I…um…ok?" Hinoka looked at the fox girl, dumbfounded "i…. never had guessed that…. You were a kitsune…."

"Fu~fu~fu~ if im going to be a regular here, I needed to make sure nobody suspected a thing~" she proudly said with her hand on her chest "Afterall, im sure it is really handy in the end"

"But… is not something you should have keep secret for other time?" Silas asked.

"Mmm…. Well, I need to make clear some things sillies!" counting with her fingers, she began "number one, im only helping you because hubby (kamui) needs help, someone is making him play too rough, even for me!" she looked at the nohrians, then to Hinoka "Number two, im not in Hoshido or Nohr side, im in my hubby side, im willing to help just because I sense my hubby on you, at least a little tiny bit, number three, if any of you want my help, then you need to be open, I know is hard, but its for hubby sake! AFTER ALL! If you guys are sincere about helping him, i dont see a reason to not listen to me~"

"….."

"….Gods, she´s an idiot" Silas tough, making her ears move to him "o…k…..so, you´re going to tell us what happened that night? Everyone has been avoiding the topic"

"Only if Hinoka approves it" She looked at the princess "There a lot of things I need to say to you and that dummy old fisherman, but, according to what papa told me, I need to respect the agreement we have with the Lady Mikoto"

"….and if I don't feel like talking about what happened that night?"

"Then you lost my help, including the little light you have in your chest" Selkie pointed at the talisman, it was under her clothes, but she pointed at it, she knew where it was? Looking at the nohrians, they were confused about what she was saying, but knowing who she was and what she did to help her, perhaps it was worth a shot.

"…. Fine, i… tell you everything what happened a few nights ago, but you have to swear on your loyalty to Kamui, that you wont repeat or tell others what im going to tell you, do you understand that?" looking each other and then to the princes, Silas and Peri nodded at the same time. "If i tell you that, then you will help me afterwards? i have your word?" again, they nodded. "Very well... it started... a week ago, we..." As she started to talk, Selkie moved her ears side to side, looking with her eyes at her right, she could tell something was going on a few floors above.

"...Why i sense two kamui´s?" she wondered as she could definetly sense one of them aside of the other talisman with her furr she gave that night. Too close for her liking.


HELLO! SHIDESU´S BACK!

Sorry guys, i really wanted to update more chapters and make them holydays presents, but you know, stuff with the pandemia and yadayda, phew.

I going to update others chapters in the next days, dont worry about it, there are other two chapters waiting to be cleaned and returned, so there will be more in the next days!

Leave your comment/review, it really helps me to improve my work and i really love to read your opinions and thoughts about the work, without more to say, that´s all for now!

Stay healty and have a good week!