Ch.4- The Price

For a little while, not much seemed to change. They flew Mukuro's flag at the top of the base. Only thing that truly concerned Brinana was the cold distance growing between her and her brother. As the years went on, soldiers occasionally visited, most of the time accompanied by Kok-Lir. Brianna walked by the dining room one night and saw her brother sitting there with his head in his hands. She came in and sat next to him.

"What troubles you, Mials?" she asked in a mature, but soft voice.

"Nothing you need to worry about." he said removing his head from his hands. He picked up a bottle of alcohol that was on the table and poured himself another glass.

"Why do you still say that to me?" she asked. "I'm twenty-three! It's time I know what's really going on!" He sighed heavily.

"The villagers are going to have to start paying their fair share." he stated. "I can't keep paying for them."

"Paying for them?" she asked. He took a sip of his drink.

"Taxes, sister!" he snapped. "You think living under Mukuro's flag is free?!"

"I remember when we lived under no one's flag." she stated. "It was free then."

"Still such a child." hissed Mials.

"I wonder why!" she snapped. "You refuse to teach me anything that matters! It was Valentina that taught me about the Domini heritage, Joanna that taught me about life, Senju that has been teaching me to fight!" He looked at her shocked.

"What?!" he suddenly bellowed. He stood up and threw the glass against the wall. "That is to stop immediately!" He yelled leaning in close to her. Instead of caving to him and agreeing to end her training, she jumped up. Before he knew it, he was on the ground with a mouth full of blood. He got to his hands and knees as Brianna stood there with her fists balled.

"Stop treating me like a child!" she demanded as he wiped his mouth. She stormed out.

The next day when she went to the training spot she and Senju picked out in the forest. She waited for hours for him. She was about to leave when she heard screams coming from the border of the woods. She rushed towards it. A family was being surrounded by soldiers. She recognized them from the village. The husband was on the ground unconscious or dead. One of the soldiers was grabbing the man's wife by the wrists. The two young girls cried as they huddled together. Brianna rushed out.

"Unhand her!" she yelled. The men looked at her and laughed.

"You and what army?" one of them asked. Brianna focused her energy. The trees began to creak and move. The men looked on in shocked. The branches whipped out at the men when the woman pulled away and covered her children. The men got swatted back like ants. Brianna thought about the consequences if the men escaped and told Kok-Lir of her attack on them. Roots shot up from the ground, impaling the soldiers. Most were dead by the time the trees receded taking the bodies with them. A few screams of terror and begging could still be heard as the trees pulled the soldiers under their roots. Once the ground settled, the noise went from muffled to stopped all together.

The woman looked to Brianna as she approached her husband. She checked he was still breathing. She looked to the woman and her children for a moment. Then she took a deep breath and concentrated. She had only done this on animals so far. She was unsure it would work at this moment. She laid her hands on the man feeling his pain, his wounds. She could sense her was close to death. Her hands began to glow and she began to heal the man. The three looked on amazed. The man shot up after the glowing faded. Brianna sat next to him feeling sick to her stomach and woozy.

"Daddy!" the young girls cried as they rushed over to hug him. The woman came over to Brianna. She knelt down before her and hugged her.

"Thank you!" she exclaimed softly. Brianna pushed her back.

"Embrace your husband and children, Delilah." Brianna said sounding exhausted. "Then go! All of you run for the border to Yomi's territory. Soon Mukuro will expect taxes I know your family cannot pay." Delilah kissed her on the cheek.

"I will never forget this!" she said gratefully before turning to her husband and children. Brianna stumble to her feet. She looked across the open terrain for a moment.

"If you find Joanna or Valentina, please tell them to expect me as soon as my work here is done." she said to the family, who was now getting on their feet. The man nodded. They began to gather their things as Brianna staggered back to the forest. Once a good way into the shelter of the forest, she dropped. As she laid on soft, mossy ground, visions began to plague her. She saw what she could only assume was her mother and her aunts. She saw them in battle, but couldn't see who with. She felt a hand move through her hair and quickly sat up, looking around feverishly. Under a root nearby, she saw what looked like a burlap bag. She went over and pulled it out. When she opened it, a glimmer caught her eye. She reached in, pulled out the contents. It was a golden breast plate for battle. The inscriptions were Domini. On the plate were three places for stones, but only two stones remained. One was blue on the left shoulder and the other was green. It was in the center of the breast plate. Knowing Domini folklore, she gasped understanding what this was. She put it back on the bag, returning it to the roots. They grew around it, covering the bag. Then a white rose bush grew at the base of the tree.

As the taxing began, more and more villagers began to leave. Brianna hoped they were making it out safe, but because of what she had seen with her own eyes, she now knew it might not be so. The soldier occupation began to get heavier. Talk of war ramping up at the border began to increase. At night, sometimes Brianna began to see flashes of light in the distance again, like she did when she was a child. She prayed Yomi's forces were moving closer. The aggression of Mukuro's soldiers was increasing. Even with Kok-Lir here to keep them in line, she seemed to let them get away with plundering family homes and raping some of the village women. Her pleads to her brother to stop this fell on deaf ears.

One night, she went to his room to beg him once more to intervene, but she discovered that he was intimate with Kok-Lir. She knew her brother and Joanna ended their relationship over ten years ago. She knew he had the right to choose whoever he wanted to be with. Yet on some level she felt betrayed. He knew how she felt about Kok-Lir! Why her?! She stormed away from the door, returning to her room. As she slammed the door, a hurricane like wind whipped through pushing all the furniture to the walls and even knocking lighter furniture over. She covered her mouth and looked on in awe, realizing that came from her. She spent half the night cleaning up her own mess.

As the lights at night grew closer and the place became more like barracks than ever before the last remaining villagers began to panic. They wanted to leave, but Kok-Lir wouldn't let them. They became like slaves, as did Brianna. They all had to endure the endless labor. The last of the women were raped and tormented by the soldiers. Even Brianna began to get groped by some of the soldiers when her brother wasn't around. Finally, the fateful day she knew was coming was upon her. One of the families was demanding to leave to a group of soldiers. The battered and beaten wife stood behind her husband as their son stood at his father's side. He was barely in his teens. Brianna was coming back to the fort with two full buckets of water. She dropped them as she ran to get in between the soldiers and the family. The soldiers began to close around.

"Just let them leave!" she begged. One of the soldiers, who was a big, burly brut of a demon, grabbed Brianna by the wrist.

"Shut up, forest rat!" he snapped. He slapped her across the face. She felt as if her head was going to explode. Everything went into slow motion. The soldier pulled her back to him by her wrist. She could see the husband of the village family being stabbed. His son tried to fight off the attacker. Brianna began to fight back against the one that had her by the wrist. He hit her across the face again. The woman was screaming hysterically over her son and husband, but now through the daze Brianna could see her pushed to the ground and raped right there in public. She felt her other wrist grasped as she watched a moment of the horrid seen.

"NO!" she screamed knowing that was soon to be her fate too. She fought back wildly as she felt her dress torn from the back.

"Release her!" bellowed Mials from behind her.

"She must pay for her interference!" snapped Kok-Lir.

"I punish my sister!" he yelled at her. Brianna looked back at him enraged. Tears of anger already escaped her eyes. "Bring her here!" he said to the soldiers. She struggled as they brought her to the steps of the fort. He turned to the gathered crowd. "No one leaves!" he commanded. "And no one defies the soldier of Lord Mukuro!" He turned back to Brianna and stepped closer. "Stop fighting!" he hissed to her. "This is your fault!" He pulled a rose from his hair and with a flick it became a whip. The soldiers turned her around and ripped the rest of her dress off her back. Suddenly there was a crack as the whip met her flesh. She cried out in shock and pain. He whipped her again and again until she was limp in the soldiers arms. They released her with laughter, letting her fall to her hands and knees. The crowd dispersed as Brianna stayed there gasping in agony. She thought that perhaps being raped would have been better. She felt someone gently grab her left arm. She looked to her side seeing Senju knelt down next to her.

"Come on, Brianna." he said kindly. "Let me help you to your room." She nodded a little. He helped her up. She winced and gasped. Every step was excruciating. Once in her room, he closed the door behind them as she laid on her stomach on her bed. Silent tears streamed from her face. Senju went to her pitcher of water and poured from into the bowl next to it. He took a clean cloth and put it in the water, then wrung the excess water out. He came over and tried to gently tend to her bloodied back. She released a muffled cry with each touch. "I will get you out of here somehow..." he said to her softly. "This is madness! I can't let this happen to you again!"

"There's no way out!" she cried into the blanket on her bed. Senju's face revealed the heartbreak he felt.

"I WILL find a way!" he assured her.

It was a rough road to healing. Despite Senju's warnings for her to stay in her room and out of the way, she was forced to go back to work when Kok-Lir insisted she work or not receive food. One day as she was getting water, Senju joined her.

"I think I have a way." he said softly. She looked at him shocked.

"How?" she asked after looking around quickly.

"I volunteered to work at a blacksmith shop a little deeper in Mukuro's territory." he said. "I asked if I could bring my betrothed. I was just given a response of acceptance." He seemed happy with this. "When I said betrothed, I meant you even though you're not." He explained as she looked confused. "All you have to do is act like me betrothed and we can go!" he said with a smile. She looked displeased.

"Further into Mukuro's territory?" she asked. He looked perplexed. "I don't want to live in Mukuro's territory! I want out of it all together!" she snapped softly. Senju looked deflated by her response.

"There's no way out of the territory with the war on the border with Yomi." he said calmly. "If we leave here, maybe we'll find a way to Raizen's territory, but the first step is to leave here!" She sighed heavily.

"Let me take the night to think about it." she replied. She went to pick up both bucks, but Senju picked up one and walked with her back to town. As she was tending to other chores Senju nearby, like he had been since the incident, they heard soldiers coming in. They began to gather by the fort as war prisoners were brought up to the steps. One was a familiar face. Joanna was in soldier uniform for Yomi's army. She was one of five of Yomi's soldiers that were captured. They were lined up. As Kok-Lir came to each of them, they were forced to their knees and beheaded. Brianna shook as Kok-Lir neared Joanna.

"Don't, Brianna!" Senju whispered in her ear as his arms went around her. "Don't!" Brianna fought his grip a little as they made Joanna kneel down. She looked straight at Brianna. 'I love you' she mouthed knowing her time was drawing near.

"No!" cried Brianna softly. Joanna's eyes never left Brianna's face as the sword sliced through her neck.