Nanashi did not think, just flew. She circled around the castle in flight, coming through the closest unlocked window to the nursery, Izo's room. He liked to sleep in the cold. She made her way through his room, high tailing it to the nursery with a half formed plan in her mind. Get Kaze, get the twins, and get out.
She went for Kaze first. Asa was there with him. She witnessed her lay a now tired Kaze into his crib. She walked in a huff, stating, "give him to me."
Her noise made him cry after being spooked, feeling a twinge of guilt for doing so. She side lined Asa, reaching to pick Kaze up.
Asa stopped her, pulling her away gently yet firmly. "Sweetness, what's wrong?" she asked in a soothing tone. Nanashi felt a wave of sleepiness wash over her.
Nanashi turned around, wrapping her arms around Asa. She managed to explain everything to her. "Hiei... he signed a blood treaty... when we were married... before we were... married... the same day... he agreed... he agreed to wed Hikari... Hikari to the prince... Prince Takashi..." She felt light headed in the midst of her explaining. It was a hard thing to explain as Kaze continued to cry.
Asa pushed her back, but kept her hands firmly on her shoulders. "What?" Asa frowned, studying her carefully. Her hand reached up, pushing hair out of Nanashi's face. "Sweetness, are you feeling okay? Your eyes..."
Nanashi shook her head, pulling away from Asa. Asa held stubbornly to her shoulder, not letting her go. "How could I be?" she asked. "After- after... Hiei..." she felt so dizzy. She shook her head. She needed to get Kaze and the twins and get out. "He sold her... before she was even born..." Her legs gave out. She swooned.
"Sweetness!" Asa gasped, holding her up as she passed out.
Nanashi blinked, shocked at her sudden realization she was in a limbo like state. She looked all around, seeing nothing but the rainbowy, cloudy nothingness around. It had been years since she had been here. She felt her temper flare. "No!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. "No! Set me free!" she kept shouting. She looked around, trying to find where the Great Hawk Spirit was hiding. "I need to save my daughter!"
She paced around, furious. There was nothing and no one around her. She reached for the wind dragon fruitlessly. She was unconscious. She could not reach it. She huffed, laying down on the ground. Last time she was trapped here, the Great Hawk Spirit advised her to fall asleep in limbo, and awake in the mortal world. She closed her eyes, trying to fall asleep. She felt no sense of the grogginess. Stubbornly, she stayed on the ground, determining that if she stayed still long enough, her body would fall asleep.
"You're pathetic, get up," she heard a sharp voice cut through the air above her.
Nanashi was up and alert in a rush. She reached for the wind dragon, unable to summon it. She reached for the knife at her hip, grunting at its absence. She froze at the sight of the person before her. "Mukuro!" She rose up, ready to go her guard should Mukuro try anything. "You- you're- you were dead..."
"Such a mortal," Lord Mukuro tisked. "I might be here, I might not be here. I might be a figment of your imagination, or I might have called out of my own blissful afterlife just to see your smug face." Lord Mukuro shrugged. "How I'm here doesn't matter."
"Why? Why are you here?" Nanashi asked. "Then?" She shook her head, not being able to make sense of what was going on.
"I hate playing messenger," Lord Mukuro griped. She rolled her eyes. "What was the promise you made me before I died?" she asked in a blaise voice.
Nanashi shook her head. "No," she countered, refusing.
"Just say what it was," Lord Mukuro pressed. "We both know it, but you need to admit it aloud to yourself right now."
Nanashi shook her head once more. "No! I won't! He went too far with this!"
"This amount of raging passion is quite out of character for you," Lord Mukuro observed. "Is that how you seduced him? Just say it."
Nanashi frowned. "If I do, will I be freed?" Mukuro shrugged, a gleeful smirk on her face. Nanashi felt the urge to slap it off of her. Standing here quipping with someone who was dead, possibly if she was just imaginary, was going nowhere. "I promised to never rescind my love from him," she said. She felt a bad taste in her mouth. "But what he's done-" she gasped, cutting herself off.
Lord Mukuro no longer stood before her. The Great Hawk Spirit stood in her place.
Nanashi gasped, blinking at the sight of him. "Wake me up, please," she insisted. The Great Hawk Spirit shook her head. "Why not?" she sighed, exacerbated.
"I have urgent messages for you to pass on in the mortal world," the Great Hawk Spirit informed her.
Nanashi brought her hands over her face, trying to keep her temper under control. She was trapped in the Great Hawk Spirit's realm, so she would have to play by her rules. "What?" she asked, bringing her hands off of her face. She stood there, waiting impatiently to hear the messages.
"The future is an ever fluctuating thing, so seeing how it will ravel and unravel is difficult to pin down," the Great Hawk Spirit began. "What I say will be important for the most likely futures. First, you must keep your promise to Mukuro, whether you wish to or not. You must forgive him and stand strong, united in your life partnership with him. A conflict is coming in which both you and your husband must be there if your side wishes to prevail, and in some cases, even survive. Second, you must confess to him about putting Jin's name down next to his. Third, your daughter must be selfless. She must wed Prince Takashi as soon as possible."
"No," Nanashi protested.
The Great Hawk Spirit kept speaking. "Last, you must enlist the king's help and immediately go after the wolf pack. Get rid of them all, including their leader. Be ruthless. Take him out no matter the cost." The Great Hawk Spirit paused for effect. "Will you swear to convey my messages?"
Nanashi shook her head. "One of them," she ruled. "Maybe two... Not all three."
The Great Hawk Spirit seemed to freeze in time, eyes turning cold and harsh.
'Give her back to me!' Nanashi gasped, hearing Hiei's voice echoing all around them. 'Please... Nishi... please... I'm so sorry...'
"Hiei!" she shouted, looking all over for him. "I'm here! Where are you!?" She felt herself growing beyond frustrated, and a little shocked as Hiei's voice kept speaking. Kept saying words he would rarely even share in private.
'She's mine, you bird bitch... give her back, you can't have her!... She's not of your realm... I'm so sorry, Nishi, please... come back...'
"Stop it," she pleaded, hands covering her ears. She could still hear him. She suddenly wished she was deaf.
'I shouldn't have signed the treaty... please, come back please... I should have just taken off with you... please... I did everything I could to reverse the treaty... I- we couldn't find a dark crone to reverse it... Please free her... We need her back... Forgive me, come back to me... I tried not to- I tried to wait, or only have sons... Come back to me... Izo found a loophole...'
"Let me go!" she shouted at the Great Hawk Spirit. "You can't keep me imprisoned here indefinitely. No if you want your precious messages delivered."
The Great Hawk Spirit bristled. "Swear to me you relay my messages and you can awaken back in the mortal world."
"Only one," she countered. "Only to go after the wolf pack with the king."
"Your husband regretted signing that treaty everyday of his life there after. He did everything in his power to reverse its consequences. Fates beyond me did everything it could to evade the consequences. He's down everything he could to right this wrong."
Nanashi looked down at the ground. "I will," she whispered, giving in.
'Nishi, wake up...'
Nanashi gasped, awakening with a start. She sat up, struggling to do so as hands held her back. She pushed away at whatever was touching her. She blinked, trying to summon away the disorientation that wove over her. She gasped, looking around the bright lights of her and Hiei's bedroom.
Nanashi felt someone pull her back. Hiei had her in his arms, pulling her back over to him, holding her head tightly to his chest. "Nishi," he breathed. "You woke up..."
Nanashi pulled away from him, looking down at the bed between them. "How long...?" she asked.
"Three hours, almost four," he answered. She looked up at him. He was paler, a fearful look in his eyes.
"We're getting her out of this," she growled at him. "If she doesn't get a choice..." she let the threat hang.
"She does," he rushed out. He explained what Izo had figured out. The blood bond treaty only bound the king to it, but not Hiei since he signed in Yukina's foreign blood. "The prince can be with her or no one, but she still gets a choice. We tested it. Izo said he would kill the prince before he let her marry him. No reaction for the three of us. When the prince said the opposite of that about Hikari on the other hand, he and the king had a reaction," he explained. "The king, queen, and prince are furious at this unforeseen loop hole. They are talking about leaving immediately to seek out a dark crone abroad. Kurama and Yasha hadn't looked abroad-"
"They're leaving!" Nanashi rushed. She rose off of the bed. "They can't leave now, we need them." She stumbled her away towards the door on a one foot that was still asleep.
Hiei came up behind her, cutting in front of her. "Why? What did the Great Hawk Spirit tell you? What was so important she had to render you unconscious for hours?" he seethed.
"She gave me messages to convey. I promised to relay them in return for being awoken," she said dismally.
"What were the messages?" he pressed.
She opened her mouth, and then closed it humming. "We need to go after the wolf pack immediately with the king's help... Kill them all. Be ruthless," the winced at the harshness of her words.
"You said messages," he picked up on that. "What else did she say?"
She closed her eyes, grimacing. She bent down, kissing him. "To forgive you," she answered. She pulled away, evading his eyes.