Chapter 22: Gimu; Duty
Waiting in the shadows of the torch, the silver headed man stayed still listening to sounds echoing off the cave walls. The endless tinkering of metal against stone echoed throughout the long cave and he stood there, taking in the surroundings. It has been two months since the princesses went missing and in that time, Kuonji has captured those who went against him. Having received the war machine plans from Hotaru, he has been working those captured in order to obtain the required amount of ore.
"Put your backs into it!" A man shouted accompanied by the cracking of a whip. A scream followed and the intensity of the tinkering sound increased.
Light pattered footsteps were soon heard amidst the rhythmic hammering. A young child, no more than seven years of age, ran as fast as she could away from the man who forced her to work. Wearing a ragged tunic, she tripped over the uneven ground and landed face first. A loud jingling of chains around her ankles brought the young man to look at his feet.
There staring back at him were the yellowish golden-brown eyes which were widened in fear.
"Where are you girl?! When I get my hands on you, you're going to be sorry for running!" A man's voice threatened far away.
The man bent down and looked at the girl with a gentle smile on his face. Picking her up by her arms, he held her close and put a finger to his lips. Pressing his back deeper into the cave walls, the man who was after the young girl soon ran past him.
"Who are you?" The young girl whispered but the man just shook his head in response.
Looking quizzically into his greyish blue eyes, she clung on tight to his neck and whispered, "I know, you're my guardian angel."
Feeling the warmth of the small girl in his arms, a small breeze entered the cave and the young man's coat swayed. His hands felt the many scars which had scabbed and healed along the small girl's back. This alone was a testimony to how the guards treated the innocent.
As another breeze blew, the running guard soon returned puffing. Narrowing his eyes at the intruder, he bellowed, "Who are you?!"
The small girl's eyes started tearing in fear at the sight of the guard. The young man placed her on the ground, but she held on tight his hand and refused to let go.
"It'll be all right." He reassured her and pushed her behind him, slowly pulling his hand out from her tiny ones. "Close your eyes and don't open them until I tell you, all right?"
The girl nodded and covered her eyes with her small hands.
"I'll ask again, who the hell are you?! Return the girl!" The guard drew his sword and stood in a defensive position. Seeing that the mysterious man was not going to answer him, he took in a deep breath and shouted.
"INTRUDER!"
Immediately, the young man flew beside him and slit his throat with a dagger. The guard gurgled in his blood and in that instance, another blade came flying out of nowhere in an attempt to strike the silver headed man. However, before the blow could land, his left hand blocked the incoming blade and with a similar dagger in his right hand, he swiftly stabbing the new guard in between his ribs, puncturing his right lung.
Standing up to take in the situation, the young intruder noted two more burly men running towards the scene. Not wanting to cause a larger commotion, he flicked his wrist and threw a dagger at the larger man. The larger man blocked the attack by using the face of his axe to protect him. Taking a quick peak backwards, he reiterated his instructions to the girl to keep her eyes closed.
Pulling out a larger dagger, he charged forward towards the two men, keeping his arms behind him. Seeing that the intruder was running towards them, both guards swung their weapons, but the young man simply danced around them and stabbed the axe wielding man in the back with both daggers. A loud crunching sound was heard as he sliced through bone and flesh to hit vital organs.
Using his feet to kick off the corpse, he swung his body to the side and using his body's momentum, released the blade in his left hand so that it flew directly into the other man's thigh. As the man dropped his weapon, the silver headed assailant rushed forward and covered his mouth.
"Now now, you screaming would just cause more trouble for me." He smiled and looked into the terror filled eyes of the guard.
"Pl-please don't k-kill m-me." The guard stuttered.
The young man let out a soft laugh, "kill you? If I wanted to do so, you wouldn't be here looking into my eyes. No, I need you alive to do something for me."
"An-anything…"
"Tell Kuonji that with every person he throws into these abysmal mining caves, I would kill triple the amount of men. Did you get all that?" His silver hair caught the stream of moonlight at the cave's entrance.
The injured guard nodded fervently and he was hit in the temple with the hilt of the dagger in the young man's right hand. As he slumped to the ground, the young man pulled out his daggers from the attacker's thigh and began collecting back all his weapons.
Wiping them clean of blood, he sheathed them and returned to the young girl.
"You can open your eyes now." He whispered gently, taking care to hide the gruesome scene behind him with the cloak.
The young girl slowly opened her eyes and seeing her guardian angel smile back at her, she asked innocently, "are you going to get mama and papa out of here as well?"
The young man sadly shook his head.
"Why? You saved me, didn't you?"
"I cannot because if I did so, they will be thrown back into this place again. I'm sorry." He explained to the young girl and it tore away at his soul as he looked at her crest-fallen face.
A soft breeze blew again and this time his braid was blown out from behind his ear. The young girl's eyes immediately followed the three shiny beads on his hair.
"It's a pretty green colour." She remarked and he smiled.
Concentrating, he produced a small aquamarine alice stone in his hand and gave it to her.
"I can't get you out of here, but if you're ever in danger, just wish upon the stone for me and I'll help you. I promise the next time I'm here, your family will be able to go free as well. Just hold on till then, all right?"
The girl looked at the glittering stone and gave the young assailant one last hug before trudging back into the cave. Turning around, she mouthed "thank you" before running back into the cave.
As soon as the young girl was out of sight, he turned around and stacked the bodies in a pile and hung a note around the unconscious man with the message he wanted to send to Kuonji.
With a soft pop sound, the young man disappeared from the scene.
White clouds formed each time Sumire breathed out through her mouth. Having travelled for two days, the group finally reached the city at the base of the mountain. Looking up to take in the superior sight, Sumire took in a deep breath, allowing the piercing cold wind to enter her lungs.
"We have to hurry. Get the essentials we need and meet back here in 1 hour. By the looks of the patrolling guards, I assume Kuonji is on to us." Hotaru instructed into their earpieces.
Looking back at the street, she pulled the hood of her cloak lower and walked to the nearest bakery. Her ears immediately picked up the clanking of swords against the metal armour and she hurried to the doors of the bakery. Throwing it open, she hastily closed it behind her and let out the breath she was keeping inside.
The shopkeeper eyed her suspiciously before noting the two guards which walked past her shop window. Nodding understandingly, she pushed a tray towards Sumire and went back inside the kitchen.
With the presence of the guards in this city, everyone was as edgy as they were in the last place they were at. It was a blessing in disguise though, as with the guards around, no one bothered to prod into Sumire's identity and questioned her on what she was doing in this freezing city.
Unlike the frosty streets, the bakery was warm from the various stone ovens. Feeling a layer of warmth enveloping her skin, Sumire walked towards the counter to collect the tray. Then quickly strolling around the various shelves which contained breads on display, she picked ones which were small yet hardy. Taking a handful of each, she placed them on the tray and called out to the shopkeeper.
"Excuse me…" Sumire's voice trailed off.
The shopkeeper wiped her flour stained hands on her apron and started counting the amount for the bread.
"That'll be 8 silver pieces."
Sumire plunged her hands into her pocket and took out a single gold coin. Placing it on the table, she pushed it towards the lady.
"Keep the change."
The shopkeeper's hands stopped packing the bread into bags and looked at the coin. Picking it up gingerly, she looked at Sumire with questioning eyes. Sumire lowered her head to prevent the shopkeeper from identifying her and retracted her hands within her cloak.
"Strange for a lady of your stature giving me a gold coin…"
"Why so?" Sumire asked, "Isn't the exchange rate here 10 silver coins for 1 gold coin?"
The lady laughed and continued packing the remaining bread into their various packages.
"You are obviously not from around here missy." The shopkeeper said aloud.
Sumire fought the urge to look straight into the other lady's eyes. "What makes you say so?" Taking the packed bread from the counter, Sumire hug them in her arms and awaited the lady's answer.
"The exchange rate here for 1 gold coin missy, is 20 silver pieces. That rate is only used in the capital. And judging from your mannerism of speaking, you are a noble."
Daring a peak from under her hood, Sumire saw that the lady was smiling.
"Are you going to report me ma'am?"
The shopkeeper laughed again, "And lose this gold coin? Not in this lifetime, missy."
"Thank you." Sumire bowed and walked towards the exit.
"A piece of advice," the shopkeeper began, stopping Sumire in her tracks, "if I were you, I'd tie up my hair, hime."
Opening the door, the frosty air hit her face and she quickly trudge towards the meeting point. While walking, Sumire hastily pushed her braid back behind her ears so that the sole golden bead would not catch the sun's rays.
Hotaru looked up at the mountain and let out a loud sigh. Seeing the cloud that formed at her mouth, she pulled the scarf closer to her neck and shivered a little.
Glancing at her watch, she noted that the one hour was almost up. Where was Sumire?
Eyeing the guards that were patrolling nearby, Hotaru was getting nervous with each passing group.
"Calm down Hotaru, she'll be here soon." Ruka spoke from behind her.
She gripped the baka gun at her side. She better be or this bullet will be going through her head.
Then as Hotaru had that thought cross her mind, she heard crunching of ice and whirled around to see the green headed princess running towards them.
"I'm… so-sorry! Was caught… caught up with… choosing the bread…" Sumire panted and the piercing cold air entering her lungs only made it worst.
Hotaru grabbed the packet of bread and stuffed them into the knapsack which was on the ground. Checking her device one last time, she told the group that they had to reach the next town by sundown.
Once the group moved off, Koko slowed down and walked beside Sumire, leaving Ruka and Hotaru to lead.
"So… someone found you out huh?" Koko began.
Sumire stopped dead in her tracks, "you really need to stop reading people's thoughts without permission."
"You're not the first one who's told me that, hime."
"And for good reason. It's rude and pretty startling at times." Sumire began walking again.
"About that shopkeeper…" Koko tried digging for information again.
Sumire let out a sigh, "she let me go, saying that coming by gold is hard and she needed the money. Besides, with the environment like that here, it's practically dog-eat-dog. She didn't have any desire to turn me in."
Koko raised his hand and brushed back her braid behind her ear and again, she froze in her spot.
What is he doing?
Raising his right hand, he brought his own braid out from behind his right ear.
"Looks like we both need a little haircut. The sight of the beads does make us a bit suspicious. Though I think you look better with longer hair, Sumire-hime" Koko chuckled and showed her his braid with the three navy glass beads.
"Are you always this happy?" Sumire rolled her eyes and walked away, trying to prevent him from seeing her flushing face. Making a mental note to get her hair cut as soon as they reached the next town, she left Koko to catch after her.
"That's not the first time you've told me that as well." Koko chuckled and hummed a happy tune.
Mikan watched in awe at how her orange tail flicked powerfully in the water. Amused that she could swim in a straight line, she studied the sheen on the tail and took in the feelings.
Natsume, who was swimming a fair distance away, watched Mikan happily flick her tail; stronger at first then gently. His eyes would sometimes catch the snowy white skin under the shirt she was wearing, and he looked away with flushed cheeks.
"It's amazing that you're so protective of her." Reo suddenly swam up beside him and spoke.
Looking at Mikan's happy face, he hardened his face and replied, "She's been through a lot."
"You could have just left them though."
Shaking his head, Natsume answered, "It's not something for me to decide. They came to me to employ me for my services."
"Better yet, can't you admit that you felt an attraction to the princess?" Reo was digging in areas he really should not be.
Natsume gave him a warning glace.
Putting his hands up in defence, Reo continued, "I'm not saying an emotional attraction. I'm sure you felt much more- like you had a higher purpose."
"Why is it everywhere I go, everyone wants to assume that they know me."
"Because we do. Not your present self, but we know the soul within you."
"Shinigamis do not have souls."
Reo chuckled, "I see not all your memories returned."
"What do you mean?"
"Explain then, how you know that Shinigamis have no soul?"
"It's common knowledge that a Shinigami is just a messenger. Something the Gods created on a whim to spread their message and to guide the souls to their respective resting places."
"An excellent answer Natsume-sama, but let me enlightened you about something. You were the first Shinigami to receive a soul."
Natsume whipped his head to look at his companion. "You're sprouting nonsense."
"Surely I'm not a man to go around saying heretic things. Ask that Kami's sword tonight if you don't believe me."
"Why are you telling me all this?" Natusme narrowed his eyes.
"Because I too, am a Shinigami for the water vessel."
With that, Reo swam faster to catch up to Nobara.
Nobara stopped in front of the darkened waters and the rest of the group stopped with her. Yoichi who was with the group immediately felt the hairs on his arm stand up.
"Where are we Nobara-hime?" Yoichi asked.
There floating in front of him were a few ghost-like skeletons of the merpeople. They did not have any skin on their body and their tail was a sickly grey colour. An eerie green colour glowed from their entire being and they swam around aimlessly, somehow managing to avoid bumping into each other.
Misaki and Tsubasa who were bickering all the way also started to look nervously around. Even though they probably could not see the things that Yoichi was seeing, they could definitely feel the ominous presence.
Nobara looked knowingly at Yoichi and spoke up. "We're at the shrine where my powers first stopped responding to me."
"Which is exactly…?" Yoichi was not happy with that answer.
Reo entered the conversation and answered on Nobara's behalf, "we're at a graveyard."
Natsume could not believe what he was seeing. Rubbing his eyes a few times, he was sure that the floating glowing beings were perhaps planktons. But no matter how hard he rubbed; he could see the swimming skeletons of the dead. Being able to see the embodiment of the Alice stones was one issue, but being able to see the dead, that was a first.
"Yoichi, are you seeing…" Natsume looked around to see that no one was listening to them, "are you seeing floating merpeople?"
Yoichi looked at him with a surprised expression and nodded. "How is it you're able to… see them?" Not knowing how to phrase his innate ability.
Shrugging, Natsume played on the possibility that it was his Shinigami powers awakening.
"So what happened?" Mikan inquired Nobara, ignoring the rest of the group who seemed restless.
"As you know, I'm in charge of purifying the waters every year. However, in addition to that responsibility, I'm also required to stimulate the flow of water from the ocean through this graveyard." Nobara explained.
"This motion of water would help the souls move onto the surface for the Shinigamis to bring them to their final resting place. Because this place is the only graveyard the merpeople have, the movement of water must be monitored and stimulated by my Alice every month."
"However, three years ago, you realised that your Alice was not responding to you." Mikan continued.
"Correct. Due that that, the number of souls trapped within the abyss of the ocean has been increasing and thus, your companions who do not have the ability to see the dead, can feel them." Nobara looked sadly into the darkness of the water. "Each time I try, not only do I end up freezing the water, the souls which are trapped within the ice are unable to be free."
Yoichi looked at the souls and immediately felt an evil presence.
"You said that some of them have been here for 3 years?" Yoichi clarified.
"Yes."
"Nobara-sama, do you know what happens to souls which are unable to move on?" Yoichi inquired with a bit more urgency, feeling the presence growing nearer.
Nobara shook her head.
"My lady is unable to see them, thus she does not know what happens to souls that remain in this plane for too long." Reo answered.
"But you do." Natsume said gravely to Reo.
Like Yoichi, Natsume felt the evil presence swirling around them.
"Then let me enlighten you Nobara-sama, since your companion seems so compelled to hide this information from you." Natsume began, "souls which are trapped in this plane for a long time, absorb the evil that seeps into this world. Because of that, they are contorted and turned into beings known as mononoke."
In that instance, a bright light shot through the group, separating them in half.
Looking around for the source, Yoichi and Natsume saw a group of five mononokes staring at them eagerly.
"Once a soul has been turned into a mononoke, they seek out the living in order to drain their life force. There is no reasoning left within such a being and with their transformation, even hell itself would reject them." Yoichi explained while eyeing the group of hungry mononoke.
Tsubasa looked frantically around the water, trying to pinpoint their location. "What do they look like and where the hell are they?"
"If I had to describe, they have horns on their head, razor sharp teeth, glowing red eyes and clawed hands." Natsume described them and swam near Mikan as the group of mononoke started encircling them again.
"Nobara-hime, I apologise for keeping this information from you. I knew you already had many things on your mind to worry about and this is a matter I thought was of low importance." Reo apologised.
"Now isn't a time to be apologising Reo. Let's take up a defensive formation." Natsume chided.
Reo, Natsume and Yoichi swam in a circle, keeping the rest of the group who could not see the mononoke within the circle.
One of the mononoke decided to charge forward and Yoichi quickly shouted out, "there's one heading towards us at maximum speed! Move left everyone!"
By a hairs inch, the mononoke missed Yoichi who was the last to move left.
"How are we supposed to get out of this situation if we can't see nor do anything against them?!" Tsubasa grumbled irritatingly.
"That's it!" Mikan suddenly exclaimed, "Nobara-san, use you Alice and freeze them in place!"
"But I already explained that my Alice might freeze the other souls which have not turned into mononoke's, and as such, I would condemn the innocent as well!" Nobara argued.
"Then we just have to make sure that you don't miss." Natsume mumbled while shifting the group right as another mononoke charged forward.
"Hurry though… it seems like the evil within them is spewing out and affecting the other souls." Reo brought up this matter, seeing as the other floating souls were beginning to become agitated.
Nobara moved from within the circle and started circling around with the men.
"There directly in front of you, there's a mononoke alone and he's charging towards you!" Yoichi exclaimed and as the group moved away, Nobara activated her Alice and closed her eyes.
Praying to the Gods above, Nobara hoped that her Alice froze the malicious mononoke and feeling the ice release from her hands, she only opened her eyes when Reo tugged her roughly away. The frozen projectile flew towards the location Nobara was previously in and landed with a thud on the ocean floor.
"One down, four to go."
"Another one to your right." Natsume exclaimed and Reo helped guide her hands. Releasing her power and then moving away, she saw another empty ice block float to the bottom of the ocean.
"Are you sure I'm getting them? Because I don't see anything inside the ice!" Nobara shouted.
"Do not doubt yourself Nobara-hime!" Mikan replied her.
Hearing the words from Mikan, Nobara strangely felt more confident and took down two more mononokes with instructions from Reo and Yoichi. The last mononke bounced around in the ocean waters with ease, preventing Reo from successfully guiding Nobara's hand.
"Stop it Reo! You'll make me hit the innocent ones!" Nobara fought to bring her right hand down but Reo held it up.
"I'm sorry my lady, this last one has accumulated all the evil from his fallen comrades and he's moving really fast. You need to release your power quicker." Reo bowed his head and kept instructing her to release her power.
In anticipation to its movement, Reo accidentally allowed one of Nobara's power releases to aim straight for Natsume.
"NATSUME!" Mikan screamed out as his tail was frozen and his arms struggled to pull his body up. Plunging into the depths, she flicked her tail as hard as she could so that she could grab onto Natsume's hands.
"Idiot! Watch out! It's after you!" Natsume's eyes widened in fear as the glowing red eyes narrowed upon Mikan and swam ferociously towards her.
"I cannot I cannot I cannot!" Nobara shrieked and refused to release her power.
"NOBARA-HIME! BELIEVE IN YOURSELF! I BELIEVE YOU WON'T LET IT HIT ME! I BELIEVE YOU WON'T LET THE MONONOKE GET ME!" Mikan yelled out and grabbed onto Natsume's hand. Pulling him towards herself, she hugged his sinking body in attempt to shield him from the mononoke.
In that instance, Mikan felt the freezing cold ice slam into her body due to its projection and with a strong flick of her tail, she moved both Natsume and herself away from the ice block before it landed on the ocean floor.
Natsume bit down on his tongue to prevent a shout from escaping his mouth as the coldness entered the bones of his tail.
"Damn, first I get cut open on my back and now I get my tail frozen off."
"Mikan-san! We need to bring him back to the palace quickly! There are nullification stones there which will nullify my Alice!" Nobara urged and moved to Natsume's other side in order to haul him back to the palace.
Shutting his eyes to keep out another wave of pain, Natsume tried to move his tail but the coolness seeped further up his body. He knew if they dallied here for too long, he might end up as an ice cube.
"Let me." Misaki pushed Nobara aside and activated her doppelganger Alice. With four versions of Misaki, they each helped to propel Natsume towards the palace with speed.
"OPEN THE GATES!" Nobara screamed at the palace guards from a distance, while eyeing the ice creeping up Natsume's body.
Natsume tried not to lose consciousness from the piercing feeling of ice enveloping his lower body, but feeling his body propelling through the water at such high speed, he concentrated on controlling his breathing and calming his mind.
The gates flew open and Natsume was quickly supported into the infirmary within the palace. Being placed on the bed, he jolted a little as his body landed on the soft material.
"Give me a nullification stone!" Reo firmly instructed the doctors within the infirmary.
However, the room suddenly fell silent and Natsume felt a warmness encircling him. Opening his eyes, he saw that Mikan's hair was swishing around and glowing, as gold aura enveloped her. Her hands were on the frozen part of his tail and her face showed that she was concentrating very hard.
Within the span of a few minutes, he could not believe what he was seeing. Mikan was causing the ice on his tail to recede. As soon as all the ice disappeared, Mikan's hair settled back down and the golden aura disappeared. Opening her hands, she showed everyone the ice blue stone in her palm.
"Good thinking Mikan-hime! Using a nullification stone to remove the effects!" Tsubasa exclaimed, however Mikan looked at him with a puzzled expression.
Looking down at her pouch, everyone noted that it was still sealed shut. Meaning that Mikan was not utilising the power of an Alice stone.
"Mikan… I thought you didn't have an Alice?" Misaki looked quizzically at her mistress.
"I don't, do I?" Mikan stared at the group with eyes widened with surprise.