Chapter nine
"If I leave here tomorrow, would you still remember me? Well I must be traveling on now...there's too many places I've got to see. If I stay here with you, girl, things just couldn't be the same. 'Cuz I'm as free as a bird now...and this bird you cannot change."-Lynryd Skynrd
By the time Hikitsu reached Takiko's side it was too late. The life had faded from her eyes and left two dulled hazel orbs staring blankly up, fixed on some unknown point, and her complexion had taken on a pale blue cast. So much deterioration in such a short time...Hikitsu wouldn't have been honestly surprised if there were hints of decay already in the minutes that had passed since the girl had stabbed her.
He felt his façade crumpling, this was too much, and too soon to his son's death...that memories that he had just began to sooth over were once again burning their way through his mind. He felt short of breath, on the verge of a panic attack, when he remembered what Takiko had told him Hatsui could do.
"Hatsui...you have to bring her back." There wasn't even a hint of a question in his words, it was a demand. Without Takiko there was no purpose for them, and no way they could summon Genbu. More deaths would go on, and the empire would continue to deteriorate...
But more than that, if she really was dead...Hikitsu had lost a friend. Stripped of her title and her power, he realized that he would still want to be a part of that girl's life...in such a short period of time she had managed to grow on him. He -needed- her.
Iname blinked slowly, and looked from Hikitsu to Hatsui, her face still pale from the initial shock. "How would you be able to do...that..."
Her voice trailed off, and she watched Hatsui remove his necklace, placing the metal of the ankh over Takiko's heart. His hand had only just begun to glow that dim green when Takiko began to shift a bit in Hatsui's arms...almost as if she had been poised, waiting to come back and unwilling to leave her body.
When she opened her eyes there was an awed gasp that came from every seishi except Hatsui. Takiko rolled over into the grass and coughed dryly, trembling weakly. If she hadn't looked so disoriented Hikitsu would have ran to her and scoop her up in an unrelenting embrace, simply out of relief. As it was, none of them moved until Takiko sat up and opened her eyes.
"What...what happened?"
"Priestess..." Urumiya breathed a sigh of relief and bowed his head. "You're all right."
"Just goes to show you how much you can't trust anyone." With a smirk, Hatsui got to his feet and dusted himself off. "Are you up to continue on to Secaar, Takiko?"
"I...I think so." She responded, holding the back of her head as if it pained her as she got to her feet. Hikitsu was right at her side, keeping her steady.
"I never thought I'd see the day..." Iname shook her head, too awe struck to be smug, or coy. It almost made Hatsui laugh, when Iname was stunned, she acted more like a little girl than a rebellious woman. It struck him as odd, but then again...weren't there two sides to them all?
Takiko trailed along behind them as they continued down the twisted path that would eventually lead them to Secaar, the "holy city". Her slow, careful movements contrasted to the near bounce to her steps she had had earlier, although Takiko had never been an excessively cheery person, the shadow that crossed her face was unusual even to her. She felt so strange, but she couldn't discuss this with the others, they wouldn't possibly understand, and it would just make them...suspicious. The only one that looked back at her and eyed her somewhat strangely was Hatsui, but she ignored him.
She appeared calm on the outside, but on the inside her heart was slamming against her ribs as if she had taken several hits of speed, a wounded bird striving desperately to be free of its ivory cage. She twisted her fingers into the edge of her now tattered skirt and prayed...to whatever nameless god might be listening. If she messed -this- up it would certainly mean her life.
If she couldn't keep up the masquerade she would die...and not necessarily by a seishi's hand, either.
"If I leave here tomorrow, would you still remember me? Well I must be traveling on now...there's too many places I've got to see. If I stay here with you, girl, things just couldn't be the same. 'Cuz I'm as free as a bird now...and this bird you cannot change."-Lynryd Skynrd
By the time Hikitsu reached Takiko's side it was too late. The life had faded from her eyes and left two dulled hazel orbs staring blankly up, fixed on some unknown point, and her complexion had taken on a pale blue cast. So much deterioration in such a short time...Hikitsu wouldn't have been honestly surprised if there were hints of decay already in the minutes that had passed since the girl had stabbed her.
He felt his façade crumpling, this was too much, and too soon to his son's death...that memories that he had just began to sooth over were once again burning their way through his mind. He felt short of breath, on the verge of a panic attack, when he remembered what Takiko had told him Hatsui could do.
"Hatsui...you have to bring her back." There wasn't even a hint of a question in his words, it was a demand. Without Takiko there was no purpose for them, and no way they could summon Genbu. More deaths would go on, and the empire would continue to deteriorate...
But more than that, if she really was dead...Hikitsu had lost a friend. Stripped of her title and her power, he realized that he would still want to be a part of that girl's life...in such a short period of time she had managed to grow on him. He -needed- her.
Iname blinked slowly, and looked from Hikitsu to Hatsui, her face still pale from the initial shock. "How would you be able to do...that..."
Her voice trailed off, and she watched Hatsui remove his necklace, placing the metal of the ankh over Takiko's heart. His hand had only just begun to glow that dim green when Takiko began to shift a bit in Hatsui's arms...almost as if she had been poised, waiting to come back and unwilling to leave her body.
When she opened her eyes there was an awed gasp that came from every seishi except Hatsui. Takiko rolled over into the grass and coughed dryly, trembling weakly. If she hadn't looked so disoriented Hikitsu would have ran to her and scoop her up in an unrelenting embrace, simply out of relief. As it was, none of them moved until Takiko sat up and opened her eyes.
"What...what happened?"
"Priestess..." Urumiya breathed a sigh of relief and bowed his head. "You're all right."
"Just goes to show you how much you can't trust anyone." With a smirk, Hatsui got to his feet and dusted himself off. "Are you up to continue on to Secaar, Takiko?"
"I...I think so." She responded, holding the back of her head as if it pained her as she got to her feet. Hikitsu was right at her side, keeping her steady.
"I never thought I'd see the day..." Iname shook her head, too awe struck to be smug, or coy. It almost made Hatsui laugh, when Iname was stunned, she acted more like a little girl than a rebellious woman. It struck him as odd, but then again...weren't there two sides to them all?
Takiko trailed along behind them as they continued down the twisted path that would eventually lead them to Secaar, the "holy city". Her slow, careful movements contrasted to the near bounce to her steps she had had earlier, although Takiko had never been an excessively cheery person, the shadow that crossed her face was unusual even to her. She felt so strange, but she couldn't discuss this with the others, they wouldn't possibly understand, and it would just make them...suspicious. The only one that looked back at her and eyed her somewhat strangely was Hatsui, but she ignored him.
She appeared calm on the outside, but on the inside her heart was slamming against her ribs as if she had taken several hits of speed, a wounded bird striving desperately to be free of its ivory cage. She twisted her fingers into the edge of her now tattered skirt and prayed...to whatever nameless god might be listening. If she messed -this- up it would certainly mean her life.
If she couldn't keep up the masquerade she would die...and not necessarily by a seishi's hand, either.