Chapter 14: Seppaku; Urgency
Kuonji strolled into the prison where the King's Guards were kept.
The loud clanking of metal keys resounding against the hard and cold stone walls. He was a happy man, in fact, he's never been happier since this whole coup d'etat started.
"Someone's seemingly happy." Tono mocked the general while sitting cross legged on the ground.
"Hm… your words aren't going to make me frustrated Akira. I'm in a good mood." Kuonji bent down to Tono's eye level and smiled.
"Pray tell general, share the good news." Tono returned the pleasantries.
The other guards all sat straight and looked at the duo arguing.
Kuonji's hand flew out towards Tono's face, stopping near his face, but Tono did not flinch nor shut his eyes. Seeing how the commander just smirked at him, Kuonji lightly pat Tono's face.
"Tono Tono, Mihara just delivered the best news. Your little princess has just confirmed my suspicion that the legend is true."
"Oh is that it?" Tono mocked.
Kuonji's smile fell and his eyes darkened. "You're not surprised?"
Tono revelled in his ability to make Kuonji boil mad. "Of course not. I knew she would find them sooner or later, it was just a matter of time."
"So you believe in the stories?" Kuonji raised an eyebrow.
"Hm… I should say that I was neutral in that matter. If it were not true then it's a good bedtime story, but if it were, I'd love to see you overthrown by a girl more than ten years your junior. In any case, I don't think it's good parenting skills if your parents were to lie to you."
Kuonji strike Tono's cheek with his clenched fist.
"Don't bring up Izumi in my presence."
Tono spat out the bright red blood in his mouth.
"Tch, he was a much better person than you, much less a parent." Kuonji raised his hand to strike again, "go on, hit me. I dare you to hit me senseless."
Kuonji stood up and dug his foot into Tono's thigh. Biting back any pain, Tono stared back at the general fearlessly.
"The only reason you and your men are alive is so that I have leverage over Mikan and that stupid doctor. Too bad now he's out there in the fields with Mihara. His interest in this topic is beneficial to me anyway."
"HA! Narumi-sensei will never help you!"
"With you all being slowly poisoned, he has no choice." An evil glint passed through Kuonji's eyes, "Take care not to anger me again Akira. The next time I'm here, I will not take kindly to your insults." Kuonji twisted his foot deeper into Tono's thigh before storming out of the dungeon.
"What do you mean poisoned?" Tono narrowed his eyes and Kuonji stopped in his tracks.
Kuonji grinned and turned around, "did I forget to mention that poison was added to your water and is now streaming through your veins? Whoops."
The lock clanked back into place and his footsteps faded away.
"Akira-san, Akira-san!" The guard beside him used his leg to gently nudge his commander.
"OUCH! Don't go prodding where that bastard just stepped dammit!" Tono chided his subordinate. Seeing how frightened the man looked, he broke out into a smile. "Just kidding. I'm all right, though my thigh hurts like hell now."
The other men struggled against their chains which kept their arms above their heads. They wanted to be closer to their commander, to offer him words of encouragement or comfort since Kuonji only took pleasure in torturing him in front of them.
"Don't lose morale men! I would never go down so easily otherwise that old man wouldn't have made me your commander." Tono tried cheering them up.
They nodded in agreement.
"What does he mean by we're poisoned? How come we didn't detect the poison?" The murmurs began.
A loud series of bangs were heard outside the door. "Be quiet in there or you're asking for a beating!" The guard outside shouted at them.
"Yeah yeah, we'll remain quiet." The man on the other side of Tono replied.
Tono had come up with a series of exercises they could do while trapped in this position. Whatever was going to happen, they could not let their bodies regress and they needed to be as close to their original fitness when the time comes, but with the poison coursing through their veins, exercising may prove deadly.
Thinking of an alternative method to regain their original fitness, a sudden thought entered his mind, it was a long shot, but it was their only chance of getting information from the outside.
He gathered his thoughts and started sending them to a certain red head.
Even though Natsume was supposed to be exploring the Terra kingdom, he found himself back on the tree branch a distance away from Mikan who was practicing gymnastics in the open space for the second day in a row. Tugging the headband he kept on his head, he ran his fingers along the seam till he felt the little bump indicating where the braid was hidden.
He was starting to feel guilty from being so harsh on Mikan. The way she looked at him when he said those hurtful things burnt in his mind. Never having much interactions with a member of the opposite sex, besides his sister, he was frustrated at how easily she was offended. He tried to convince himself that whatever he said was the truth, that he wanted no part in this, yet his conscious seemed to throw the same argument back every time.
"Why don't you leave then? Leave now and go back to the way you were living- living in peace."
Each time he considered the thought, a feeling within him would say it was the wrong thing to do. He was not someone who would leave things halfway, he was taught better than that. So with this reasoning, Natsume perched on the sakura tree lazily and watched Mikan attempt a backflip.
With every attempt, the golden bead would catch the sun's rays and reflect them to his eyes. He tried closing his eyes to sleep, but her loud thuds managed to knock the sleep away. Ruffling his hair in annoyance, he realised that there was a much better way to make use of his time. Seeing two reasonably sturdy branches below him, he jumped down from the tree and approached Mikan with them.
As Mikan finally successfully backflip, she came face to face with her raven-haired counterpart.
"What do you want?" She looked at him suspiciously.
Natsume offered her a branch, "I thought I'd teach you to spar properly since you're going to be wielding that katana."
"We might not get to move from this kingdom." Mikan replied distastefully.
Natsume raised his eyebrows, "I didn't know you had that little faith in your sister."
Opening her mouth to disagree, Mikan shut it close realising what she had just said. The stress was getting to her, she could feel Sumire's anxiousness but as instructed, they were not allowed to help her. She could not do what Ruka was doing; sitting in the same place as her and just read, hence she was out here in the courtyard doing some form of exercise to get her mind off things, things like the man in front of her. But he decided to grace her with his presence.
"I have sparred before." Mikan said.
"I know." Natsume replied.
"How…"
"You move much faster than your sister when we were in the grasslands. I'd confirm with Ruka that you had received some sort of training. But now I would like to see how much of that training you remember." Natsume explained in a bored tone while taking up position opposite her.
Breathing out, he held the branch like he would a sword and looked at her.
"I was trained by the commander of the King's Guard." Mikan tried dissuading him. She really would just like to be alone right now.
"Come at me with whatever you have." Natsume took up a relaxed stance and waited.
Mikan scoffed mentally at his relaxed stance. Pushing aside the irritated feeling rising in her chest, she remembered what Tono had taught her. Despite her small size, she was always praised for having nimble feet and a quick reflex. Taking advantage of his stance, Mikan immediately rushed in to attack his weak point- his waist.
However, her attempt was parried with ease when Natsume lowered his branch to block her move. Swinging his arm up, Mikan was pushed backwards.
"Again." Natsume asked and took the same relaxed stance.
Mikan analysed his stance and decided to attack his thighs. Changing the position of her grip on the branch, she gripped it at its end, wielding it like a dagger. She tried faking, aiming for his waist then quickly attacking his legs, but once again, her strike was parried.
"Again."
Breathing heavily, Mikan's whole body shook as she tried to take in more oxygen. It was difficult trying to attack Natsume since his reflexes were so fast. She tightened her grasp on the branch and studied his form once more. Testing the weight of the branch again, she closed her eyes and pictured the path she was going to take. Once ready she opened her eyes and sprinted.
Aiming for his waist, Natsume brought his branch down to block her move but her branch suddenly swerved up and he bent backwards to avoid getting hit. Mikan immediately let go of her weapon, allowing it to fly upwards while she rounded behind Natsume and shoved him. Natsume immediately felt his body weight shift and as he fell, his arms shot out and did a perfect flip. When he was upright, he saw Mikan sitting on the ground looking at him while wiping her sweat.
Pleased by what took place, the ends of Natsume's lips twitched up a little. He had to admit, Mikan was trained fairly well.
"Well?" Mikan questioned while trying to catch her breath. It took a lot of effort to be quicker than Natsume.
Walking towards her, Natsume held out his hand. "It's adequate."
Mikan looked pleased with herself as she took his hand and got to her feet.
"But…" Natsume began.
"But?"
"You need to work on your sparring techniques. You are nimble and quick, your footwork is also neat, but you reveal too much of your next move in your stance. In order to quickly take down an opponent, you need to be decisive and quick. Decisions can be changed while you are charging. But to make the appropriate changes, you must be able to wield your weapon properly."
Natsume walked over to a tree trunk and picked up the katana that was lying there.
"Here. Unsheathe it and take a stance."
Mikan did as she was told and held the katana in her ready position.
"Imagine you're going to strike the tree at its trunk."
Mikan gripped her sword and pushed her weight to her left foot which was behind her. Before she could charge forward, Natsume interrupted her.
"There. Your body is revealing how you're going to attack. You're going to charge straight forward am I right?"
Mikan was amazed, shocked even. She did not know her body was revealing so many details about her movements.
"Now imagine you're going to slash this top branch then this root diagonally opposite it."
Mikan spread her hands on the hilt and transferred the weight to the balls of her feet. This time, she moved before Natsume could say anything.
"You're doing it again." Mikan froze in position and returned to her original position, "hit dead centre of the tree. Don't think just go with the flow."
Mikan saw the thick trunk and she tried to relax. She could hear the birds chirping, the softness of the wind. Her eyes flashed open and her body took flight, plunging the katana into the tree trunk.
Letting go of its hilt, she saw the blade buried deep within.
"Better."
Somewhat satisfied with herself, she looked at Natsume who had one hand on his chin. He was deep in thought and leaving him as he was, Mikan grabbed the hilt of the katana and tried to yank it out. However, she realised it was buried deeper than she thought.
"Do I really have that much strength?"
Mikan tried again but the blade only moved a little. Natsume saw her struggling and walked up behind her, but Mikan placed her foot against the large tree trunk and pulled with all her might. The blade dislodged but she flew backwards, crashing into Natsume and landed on top of him.
"OOMPH!" Natsume let out as Mikan knocked the air out of him.
"I'm sorry! So sorry!" Mikan struggled to stand up but the more she squirmed, the more she injured Natsume, whose back was grinding into the hard ground.
Natsume grabbed her waist and held her still.
"Stop. Moving." He hissed as the pain shot through his back. Mikan froze once again once she felt his arm around her waist.
Afraid that the wounds might open again, Natsume held Mikan tight. "Don't move otherwise the wounds might open. Just stay like this for a while."
Then it dawned on her that she was lying on top of him while facing the sky, there was a very lethal weapon in her hand and a pair of strong arms around her waist. Also, her emotions came crashing down on her. She felt guilty for struggling and causing him pain, yet at the same time she wanted to feel angry at him for this morning's brush off. Nonetheless, all she could do was feel her heart rate increasing as she felt Natsume's chest rose and fell evenly.
"Are you all right Natsume-san?" Mikan finally spoke, breaking the long period of silence.
Natsume slowly removed his hands from her waist and pushed her up to a sitting position. Getting up after her, he looked up and came face to face with hers which were mere inches from his.
"Did I open your wounds?" Mikan asked in a concerned tone.
He reached behind to feel the wounds but noted that the damage done was not severe. Shaking his head, he helped her to her feet and the clock chimed.
The sun was going to set in another 15 minutes, and they had to get to Sumire for her evaluation of the plant. Looking at her one last time, he cleared his throat.
"We should go see whether your sister has come to a conclusion regarding the plant. Anyway, good work on your sparring skills. You were trained well, but you need to work on what I told you today. Let's go." Natsume motioned for her to move before him.
Mikan picked up the purple cloth wrapping around the katana and replaced it in its cover before walking off to the main hall where they were instructed to meet.
Natsume followed closely behind her and these thoughts filled his mind, "vanilla and a hint of strawberry."
Sumire looked at the sun, it was already beginning to set, and her heart started to beat faster. She felt her palms grow sweaty as she held on to the flowerpot that held the plant she was to identify, not believing that 2 days had passed that quickly.
"Really, can one plant give a person so much trouble?"
She was already waiting in the main hall once the clocked chimed and her breath caught in her throat. If she got the name of the plant wrong, they would be confined in this place as plants. Shaking her head to rid the negative thoughts, she saw Mikan and Natsume enter together.
Mikan rushed over to Sumire's side and gave her arm a comforting squeeze.
"We trust you. Don't doubt yourself." Mikan told her sister while smiling brightly.
Sumire felt a tad bit more confident but the time has arrived for her to give her answer.
Misaki entered the hall with a small group of guards who stationed themselves near the entrance. Ruka came in behind them and stood with Natsume who was leaning nonchalantly against one of the pillars.
The terra element looked at Sumire and nodded. Taking this as an indication to walk forward, Mikan took Sumire's hand and they both stepped forward. Bowing slightly, they stood under his intense gaze.
"Have you found a name for this plant?" Misaki spoke.
Sumire nodded.
"Tell me then."
"The plant in my hand is the queen of the night cactus, or Selenicereus grandiflorus." Sumire spoke confidently.
"We'll see then. Place the plant on the ground and step back."
Doing as she was instructed, both she and Mikan moved away from the plant. As the last of the sun's light disappeared behind the horizon, the plant began to glow a soft gold and the small bud slowly opened to reveal pure white petals. The Alice stone placed within the bud rolled to Sumire's feet and she picked it up.
Looking up to see the element's reaction, she was greeted by an amused smile.
"You have done well, Sumire-hime. This plant only blooms for one night a year and you are lucky enough to witness this. Also, that Alice stone is now yours to keep."
Sumire took out the wakizashi and held it out beside the alice stone. Both items began to vibrate slightly and glowed pale blue. Pushing the hilt upwards, Sumire brought the stone close to one of the grooves and the stone immediately flew to its designated place. Her hand holding the small knife flew backwards and when she felt the force disappear, Sumire brought the weapon close to her face for inspection.
Siting in the top groove, the small emerald green stone shimmered in the lighting.
Pushing it back in its cover, Sumire hugged Mikan and jumped for joy. They had succeeded in collecting one out of the six stones.
Ruka and Natsume observed the happy scene in front of them and silently, both let out a sigh of relief. There was so much tension in the room earlier that they did not realise that they were holding their breaths.
Misaki indicated to one of the guards and he rolled out a map in front of them. Pointing to the map, the name "Terra kingdom" appeared on the location where they were currently at.
"Where do we go now?" Mikan asked Misaki quietly as the group stared at the map.
Misaki looked at her, "Close your eyes, clear your mind and focus on the silence. Your next destination would appear before you."
Closing her eyes, Mikan tried to clear all thoughts and focused on silence. However, her sense of hearing was heightened once she shut her eyes. She could hear footsteps a distance away from her, she could hear the rustling of leaves, she could hear the breathing of people around her. Scrunching up her eyebrows, she tried to focus and soon found herself in the plane of whiteness.
"I've been here before. It's the place kami's sword always speak to me."
It was absolutely silent. Mikan looked around and saw a small stream but she could not hear the water flowing. Seeing a small blue fish jumping in and out of the water, she decided to follow it. Walking along the stream, it grew wider to become a river. Mikan paused and wondered how it grew larger, but the fish jumped in and out again as if urging her to follow it. Then a sea appeared further down and finally the ocean. The fish swam in circles before disappearing in its depths.
"Hello?" Mikan called out but she could not even hear her own voice.
"Come… Aqua…" A voice whispered.
"Aqua?" Mikan mouthed and she was brought back to reality.
"Aqua kingdom is it?" Misaki's voice pierced through her little daydream.
Mikan's eyelids flew open. The soft candlelight entered her eyes and she focused on the map which Misaki was now studying.
"I'm sorry, it's difficult to say where the vessel of the aqua element will be at. Unlike the terra element, there is usually no indication to where the clan is located. I would say water bodies, but it could range from anything from a small puddle to a vast ocean."
"I saw the ocean. The fish led me there." Mikan spoke.
"Fish?" Everyone except Misaki looked at her weirdly.
"Yes a small blue fish. It finally disappeared in the ocean." Mikan nodded her head vigorously.
"I see… Then I suggest you start here." Misaki pointed to the tip of the Nuru Kingdom.
"The harbour town?" Natsume voiced out.
"Yes Natsume-san. If Mikan-hime saw the ocean, your best bet would be the only harbour town Nuru kingdom has. It has the largest port and ships travel all over the world; you'd be able to obtain some kind of information regarding the aqua element." Misaki explained.
One of the guards walked up to Misaki and whispered in his ear. Nodding in reply, he cleared his throat and regarded the four young people in front of him.
"You have two hours to prepare."
"Why the sudden rush?" Sumire asked.
"It seems that your general has figured out what you are trying to do and is bent on stopping you from collecting the stones at all cost." Misaki snorted, clearly disgusted at Kuonji's plan.
"You seem to know our general very well. Where are you getting your information from?" Natsume was clearly suspicious of the man.
"Blame your blonde companion." Misaki's head jerked to the entrance and in stumbled Narumi in thick shackles.
"Otou-san?!" Ruka blurted out while rushing to his father's aid.
"Narumi-sensei?" Both princesses gasped.
"Nice place, the terra kingdom I meant. I had a decent tour despite only moving from the bottom of the large sakura tree to the top and then to the cellars." Narumi spilled while looking at the place in awe. "I can't believe this is all real."
"Would you mind releasing him? He's not going to harm anyone." Ruka looked to Misaki and he waved his hand, allowing for the guards to release Narumi from his handcuffs.
"Ruka my son, am I dreaming?" Narumi grabbed Ruka's shoulder, "all right I'm not since you're bone and flesh in front of me."
"What are you doing here?" Ruka inquired.
"Nice to see you hime-sama. I trust that the terra element has been kind to you."
"Otou-san…" Ruka began urgently.
"Sorry Ruka, I'm just can't believe that all this is real. I've been studying the legends since I was a young child and now it's all in front of me."
"Narumi-sensei," Mikan walked up to the blonde doctor, "why are you here? Shouldn't you be in the palace?"
Narumi's eyes darkened and his smile collapsed. "I'm sorry Mikan, I couldn't keep my promise with your father. I had no choice, Kuonji forcefully teleported me to where the army was out here. He twisted my arm with Akira and his company's life."
"What do you mean?" Sumire pressed.
"Kuonji, he's slowly feeding the King's Guards with small doses of poison."
"Can't you create an antidote?" Ruka interrupted, clearly concerned for his fellow brothers.
Narumi shook his head sadly, "Kuonji has become very proficient in the use of poisons. He told me that if I refused, he would instantly kill them. But if I were able to stop you from collecting anymore stones, he would give them the antidote."
Mikan and Sumire stayed silent.
"You know they can't do that. Everything is riding on their success. If they were to give up now, the world will be thrown in so much chaos causing it to literally destroy itself." Misaki spoke to the blonde doctor.
"So you got captured by the terra element on purpose?" Natsume spoke from the shadows.
Narumi regarded the young man with interest.
"Yes and no. The army had too many injured and while I was on a short break, I accidentally stepped on a trap and was hanging upside down. Then one of the terra clan members found me and took me here. I knew in theory who they were from their clothing, but it all seemed surreal to me until I was marched to their cellars." Narumi chuckled.
"What's with your fascination with the legend?" Natsume was irritated that the blonde was so thrilled to be here.
Narumi looked to Natsume, "Young man, it is not every day that a person like me can see such events unfolding. The last event happened so long ago that it was regarded as a legend. As much as I would like to see an end to this, I don't want a whole company of men dying under me, so please princesses, return to the palace."
"Would you rather thousands die due to the world being thrown into chaos?" Sumire quietly asked.
The whole room fell silent.
Mikan and Ruka were clearly torn between continuing their quest and returning to the palace to save their friends.
"No Sumire-hime, I do not wish for that as well. But for every day that I dally, Akira and his men consume more poison. For now the dosage is manageable for the body, but I'm not sure how long more before their organs start to shut down due to its accumulation." Narumi spoke gravely.
"Did Kuonji hint and the kind of poison that he was feeding them?" Ruka asked.
Narumi thought hard but his thoughts were interrupted when a guard ran up to Misaki and handed him a note.
Misaki glanced quickly at the note and grinned, "It seems that the Gods are in your favour."
"What do you mean?" Mikan asked, confused by the note and his statement.
Misaki waved the note, "You have an ally."
"Who?" Mikan spoke directly to the terra guard.
"I'm not sure my lady. He was definitely a man but I couldn't tell as he wore his hood low. He did appear at the base of the sakura tree and after handing us the note, he disappeared quickly." The guard bowed before exciting the hall.
"What does the note say?" Narumi tilted his head to the side.
"It's a description of ingredients used in the drug and by the looks of it, a mere palace doctor like you would not have the ingredients for the antidote in your possession." Misaki spoke haughtily.
Narumi walked over and snatched the note out of the terra element's hands. Glancing over it quickly, his face paled.
"Kuonji's feeding them such a potent poison?"
"Your general isn't one to take too kindly to people who will backstab him. Seeing how you are so conflicted in this matter, I will supply you the ingredients you need to neutralise this poison." Misaki looked to Narumi.
"Thank you. Thank you very much." Narumi grabbed his hands.
Misaki wriggled out of Narumi's grasps, clearly uncomfortable by the intimacy an unknown stranger is giving him.
"What are you going to tell Kuonji when you return?" Ruka asked his father.
"I'll tell him that we missed you lot in the Terra kingdom. I'm sure he would send me out again when you have finally reached the harbour. Hopefully we don't cross paths till much later. Besides, having a pair of trusted eyes in the palace would be more beneficial than me being here." Narumi reasoned with the group.
"So I trust this matter is now resolved?" Misaki spoke to the group.
The young adults nodded.
"Very well. Please pack up and leave within 2 hours. My guards will escort you to the end of the forest's border."
Slinging their bags over their shoulders, they started their descent from the great sakura tree. The guards were very efficient in their moving, taking only the necessary steps so as to maintain the silence in the forest.
"The stone in your possession now means that you have control over all elements of Earth. Unlike any ordinary stone, this Alice stone's power is limitless. I hope it would help you in your journey." Misaki bowed slightly to the two princesses.
Both princesses bowed in return and started to move off before they were stopped by Misaki calling out to them.
"Just before you leave, I have one more gift for the both of you." Motioning to his guards, two of the men removed a maroon cloth covering to reveal a dark rosewood scabbard, each tailored to the length of the swords Mikan and Sumire were carrying.
Taking both scabbards, Misaki presented them to the princesses, "it will keep the presence of any Alice stones that you collected hidden. No other mortal Alice can detect the presence of these stones. This should help keep knowledge of your progress to a minimal."
Examining the shiny wood of the scabbards, Sumire noted that they were small sakura flowers engraved throughout the length of the wood.
"Sakura flowers?" Sumire voiced out her thoughts.
Misaki smiled, "to remind you of your quest and the path that your ancestors took to vanquish evil. Now go quickly."
"Thank you, Misaki-san." Sumire bowed and placed the wakizashi in its new holder before moving towards Ruka and Natsume.
"Mikan-san." Misaki called out to Mikan as she did the same and was about to move off. "Trust in the stories, but more importantly, trust in yourself. That is all the advice I'm giving you."
Mikan nodded and hurried after the group.
"How long will they take to reach the harbour?" Narumi asked the terra element.
"If they maintain the speed my guards are leading them with, they should be at the harbour by nightfall the following day." Misaki's gaze followed the group as they disappeared into the darkness of the forest.
"Good luck Ruka, Sumire-hime, Mikan-hime and… Natsume." Narumi chuckled slightly as Natsume's name rolled off his tongue.
"You know the boy?" Misaki noted the slight difference in the name calling.
Narumi scratched his head nervously, "well… If I didn't, I wouldn't be trusted as the palace's physician, would I?"
"But he obviously didn't acknowledge that he knew you." Misaki was confused.
"If he did, I think his trainers would have been very sad to know that his skills were becoming rusty."
Misaki nodded his head in agreement, "he's been through a lot. But I'm sure that princess of yours will be able to help him. Come now, let's go gather the ingredients you need for that antidote."
The terra element turned his back and walked in the opposite direction before stopping in his tracks and faced Narumi.
"Why did your general move you out here, a place so far from the palace? Aren't you the only doctor in the entire palace?"
Narumi beamed, "I have a great and lovely apprentice. Or should I say, he's going to overtake me as head doctor soon."
"Hmm… let's get this over and done with, and then you can hurry back to your beloved apprentice." Misaki commented and continued on his path to the first ingredient.
A certain red head was nodding off to sleep before the loud snapping of a twig woke him up. He glanced downwards and noted a rather large group passing beneath him. Once he saw what he was looking for, he stood on the thick branched and stretched.
"It seems you are doing well princesses. Well it's a given since he's with you."
The man felt his body becoming more alert. Waiting for them to move off further into the distance, he pictured the place that he wanted to go to in his mind and disappeared with a soft pop.