Ch.3- A Deal With The Devil
The next day Brianna went to Valentina's little hut outside the fort. She was invited in with some apprehension. Bags laid packed by the doorway. Joanna sat at the small table quietly. She looked like she had been crying herself. Valentina pulled up her kitchen stool to the table for Brianna to sit on. Brianna sat at the tale before speaking up.
"Please don't leave!" she begged softly. Joanna looked to her sadly.
"I have to, Bianna!" she said insistently at almost a whisper. She cleared her throat as she looked like she was about to cry again. "I wish you were old enough to come with me. I'm going to miss you so much!" Joanna took one of Brianna's hands in one of hers. "Promise me when you get older, you'll come find me." Brianna didn't understand why she was leaving now, or why she wanted her to leave this place when she is older.
"Please explain all of this to me." said Brianna. "Not the kid version." Joanna took a deep breath and slowly released it as her eyes mist.
"Your brother is about to alliance with Mukuro." said Joanna. "He knows that it was Mukuro's army that slaughtered the people of my village about 200 years ago as he begn his rise to power. I can't stay!"
"My brother says Yomi is bad, but you say Mukuro is bad." she said confused. "Who's right?"
"Peanut, it's not about who's right or who's wrong." said Joanna. "You have to learn how both rose to power and decide which evil you can live with. I think Yomi is the ruler I can live under. Your brother will never concede to that thought because he has a learned hatred for him whether what he's been taught is true or not. So he has chosen Mukuro." Brianna nodded a bit, beginning to understand.
"Who's going to be here to teach me about things like boys and make up and all that?" asked Brianna. She looked to Valentina.
"I'm sorry, honey," she said softly, "but I'm leaving too." Brianna gaped.
"I don't think your brother is going to let any boys near you ever." Joanna said with a slight laugh. Valentina chuckled too.
"That's why when you're a little older, you should leave this place." said Valentina.
"Your brother is never going to let you be who you want to be if it contradicts who he wants you to be." Joanna added.
"But my brother loves me… why would he do that?" asked Brianna.
"Because that's how the Kurama men are." she replied.
"Is it true that my mother left my father before I was born?" asked Brianna.
"Where did you here that?!" asked Joanna shocked. Valentina gaped. Brianna looked down and fidgeted.
"I eavesdropped on the conversation you and Mials had last night." she admitted. Joanna looked at her sternly.
"Yes." she finally said after a long, tense silence. "Your mother was like a second mother to me. She took me in, loved me and cared for me. Your father saw me as another young recruit." Joanna paused. "It's not that he was cruel. In fact, he was kind to me, but he had moments…"
"What do mean?" asked Brianna as Joanna paused again.
"I don't want to speak ill of him, just as I don't want to speak ill of Mials, but they share the same qualities." she stated. "Like when Mials tell you not to ask questions, not to be curious and explore. It's about control. The less your father or your brother have it, the more they want to have it. It's their way or no way. Your mother was a saint of a woman to put up with both of them. She always helped me with Mials. She humbled him. Now he feels he as to fill his father's shoes. So he's taken on that same demeanor your father had in the hard times. You will see it, if you haven't already. I know you, Brianna. You will suffocate in this environment when you are older."
"That's why you should come find us when you are ready." said Valentina taking Brianna's other hand. "We will look after you, but give you the freedom to explore life."
"What if I can't find you?" asked Brianna.
"You will find us." Joanna assured. "We won't go far from the boarder."
"But just in case…" added Valentina. They sat there for hours telling Brianna all she needed to know about growing into a young lady.
The next day, it was more than just Joanna and Valentina set to leave. A group of at least twenty were preparing to leave. Mials looked on shocked and angry. Senju stood before Valentina begging her not to leave. By midday, they headed out of the forest and on their way to Yomi's territory. Brianna had hugged the women she loved so much goodbye before they followed the crowd. Mials stood at the steps of the base and watched. Senju sat on the steps head in his hands in defeat.
Everyday a few more people left. Within a week, a small group of Mukuro's men enter with Mials. They were led by a woman. She was a bat demon. She has grayish white skin, dark eyes and pointy ears. Small wings protruded from her back. She was slender and pretty, but nothing compared to Joanna in Brianna's mind. The men stood guard by the entry way of the fort as Mials led the woman in. Brianna scurried in after them. The guards tried to stop her, but Mials told them to allow her through. In the spirit of peace, Brianna approached the she demon and pulled a rose from her hair. Unlike her father's and brother's roses, hers were typically white, like the one she held in her hand at this moment. She extended it to the woman.
"My name is Brianna." she said. "I welcome you to our home." The woman scuffed, but took the rose. It was thorn-less by design.
"Your home, you said?" she asked. Her voice sent chills down Brianna's back. It wasn't that it was unpleasant, but something dark lurked in her tone. "Is this your little forest rat?" she asked Mials.
"She's my sister." said Mials a little miffed. She chuckled a little. Then she stepped even closer to Brianna. She brushed Brianna's face with the back of her hand which had long, sharp, black nails on the end of each finger.
"My name is Kok-Lir." she said. She caught Brianna chin firmly, but gently. "It's good to know that I've already made a friend in this dreadful place." She released Brianna. "Now, Mials, let's attend to the business at hand." As the two went upstairs, Brianna felt a foreboding in the pit of her stomach.