Notes: Hi, everyone! …Ummm, not much to say, I guess. Except for something totally off the subject: I've had 'I'm Just A Teenage Dirtbag' stuck in my head for about five or six hours. I love that song! ^_^ I'm not a teenage dirtbag, though. I'm not even a regular dirtbag. At least, I hope not. Kaze-chan, thanks for reading this first and thinking it was good. ^_^n I give you frosted Christmas cookies from Super Walmart to display my gratitude. (Since you so blatantly tossed away the spaghetti I offered you earlier…hmmph.) ^.~ Thanks for reading, everyone, and I hope you like it! ^_^ And let me leave you with these final, oh-so-meaningful words: "I'm just a teen-age dirt-bag, bay-bee, like you! Oooh ooh ooh ooooooooh!" ^_^
FIRES OF DESTINY
Chapter Twelve:
Three Days Hence
"Well, well," said Rishun, raising a fine eyebrow. "Isn't this a surprise. You might have said something, you know. Didn't you think I would have been interested in the fact that I had a reborn warrior of Seiryuu in my ranks? And the girl. Interesting. Interesting."
Shi tried to keep his expression neutral. He heard everything. "Forgive me, heika. I wasn't certain how it would be taken."
"A warrior of Seiryuu," the man repeated musingly. "Perhaps you were right to keep it hidden. But you must realize, this makes you one of the few people I can trust."
Trust?
"You understand the glory of the Dragon, no doubt; the eminence of His lands, the greatness destined for His subjects. You must. You are as much His servant as I am."
He thinks nothing has changed from one life to the next.
"But, my friend…I am puzzled. You appear to me to be a fine, strong young man; however, the Seiryuu no Shichiseishi Ashitare was killed only twelve years ago."
The boy took a breath. "Appearances can be deceiving, Rishun-sama," he said. "In years, I'm still a child; but my heart is old, and I'm as strong as anyone here." That much was true.
"A child. But blessed by Seiryuu Himself." The grin stretched further up Rishun's face. "You'll do well to stay with me, Ashitare. I can help assure your future, as you can help assure mine."
"Heika-sama." Shi gave a slight bow. He doesn't know, he thought in relief. He doesn't know my purpose here. Thank you, Seiryuu…I know it can't be Your will that this madman destroys the Universe. I'll do my best to keep him from it. I swear.
Rishun looked him over, his eyes piercing, leaving Shi feel as though an icy sheet of water had passed through his entire body. "Interesting."
I wish he'd stop saying that…
"You might have solved a pressing problem for me, Seiryuu no Shichiseishi."
"Anything I could do to help you and the kingdom of Seiryuu, Heika-sama." He hated saying those words; they made him feel dirty, as if he were still under Nakago's command.
"Indeed." The new Emperor smirked. "Well, then. Do me the favor of staying here in the palace and holding our throne while I take our army into Konan."
…Into Konan.
"Of course," he forced himself to say.
"I shall make you my highest-ranking official. I can see that, despite your age, your memories of the past have left you no different than you were at your death…a tad more articulate and clever, perhaps…"
"Hm."
"No offense intended, of course, Seishi-sama," Rishun said smoothly.
"None taken."
"But you would be useful, as the protector of my title and of Kutou in my absence."
Useful.
"It would be my pleasure," Shi bowed yet again. Say it. SAY IT. "If you would allow me to serve you as I served Nakago-sama, it would be my pleasure." Ugh. Now I feel sick to my stomach.
It was, however, exactly the right thing to say. To make Rishun trust him even more than he apparently already—and to a fault—did. Not only was "Ashitare" a loyal minion of Seiryuu, but a minion without much ambition for himself, without the skills to lead or plan. A follower. Just like before. The perfect second-in-command of the man before him, without a single design on Rishun's position. That was the role he had to play. That was who he had to be.
Rishun raised his head, sticking his nose up in the air a bit while still peering regally down at Shi. "You have a great deal more sense than people give you credit for," he said appreciatively. "In three days, you shall have the title of acting emperor until the other lands have been won. I will inform our subjects of your true identity to keep them from attempting to overtake you…although I don't think that's very likely, since they display an almost unparalleled fidelity to me."
"They clearly see the promise of Rishun-sama's reign," Shi agreed. Three days. How can I get that news through to Kouji and the others? How?! I don't even know where they are, and I can't possibly leave the palace myself!
"It has been decreed that I should be the one to lead Kutou to greatness. I must fulfill my destiny."
Well, then…I dearly hope that the destiny of those in Konan does not interfere with your grand scheme. He bowed yet again, surrendering himself—in appearance, at least—to Rishun. I hope you choke and die.
Three days.
~*~
Three days, frowned Kourui, her slight form huddled between a piller and the wall, out of sight. And then Konan will be…
Ashitare couldn't do anything. Not if he wanted to keep his spying a secret. She had known he wasn't really a part of the murderous band the moment she'd looked in his eyes. Not that she hadn't had her doubts; it was Ashitare, after all…poor Ashitare, who had suffered so much solely because of his unfortunate powers. She often regretted being powerless to help the huge Seishi, but Nakago…how could she even dream of crossing him, after all he had done for her?
But it was no use thinking of that, not now…Rishun had heard them, and he knew who they were. Both of them. He had probably taken the invitation to Shi to visit the harem at face value, which was just as well…at least he didn't seem to suspect anything.
"Kourui! What're ya doin?"
It was Mouki's gentle voice behind her, the scullion from the North. She turned to him with a finger to her lips, despite the fact that Rishun and Ashitare were already gone.
The boy fell silent at once, freezing, his gray eyes widening.
"Shh, it's all right," Kourui whispered. "The new 'Emperor' was just here, but he's not anymore."
"Ack, you scared me!" breathed Mouki, and put his hand to his gray-brown hair. "What, are you spying on him, or something?"
"He's going to attack Konan."
"WHAT???"
"SHHHH!!!! Just because he's gone doesn't mean you can shout!"
"I was whisper-shouting," he insisted, folding his arms across his chest.
"We have to do something."
Mouki gaped at her. "Kourui, that's…that's…just stupid. Did you see how many people he killed?? I don't think he'd feel sorry at all to add two more to his list."
"Listen; I'm going to tell you something," she said even more quietly, "but you have to promise you won't tell anyone."
"All right…"
"This is serious, Mouki."
"I understand that," he clicked. "I'm not an idiot."
"Okay. That boy who works for the new Emperor…the big one, with the long blue-gray hair?"
Mouki nodded. "I know the one you mean."
"He's a spy. He's not really working for Rishun."
"What? How do you know?"
"I just know."
"Who's he working for, then, if not for Rishun?"
Kourui shrugged.
"You're a real piece of work," her friend informed her.
"Just trust me, okay? I think if we help him, we'll be helping whoever might be against 'Heika-sama'."
"If you say so," he sighed, wrinkling his nose slightly. "How're you gonna let him know you're gonna help him?"
I…I think he already knows. "Hopefully, he'll come to me," she replied softly, staring off down the hall where her old colleague had stood.
~*~
There were two old travelers who stopped by the farm, husband and wife, looking for a place to stay on their way through Konan. Ryoushin could tell that his father didn't really enjoy having the man under his roof, given the ogling looks he was directing toward their mother. But the female stranger managed to keep him in line, and Okaasan simply ignored him.
In the evening, while Tenki was finishing his chores, Ryoushin sat with the couple at the table and talked with them, interested in their land and their lives. He himself had only been as far as the nearest small town, and once the two had admitted to coming from Sairou, he jumped at the opportunity to learn something of the place.
"Why are you going to Konan?" he asked politely, after they had told him all they could about their own hometown.
"Actually," said the woman—Doulin, her name was—"we're going to Kutou. We have business there."
Ryoushin's blue eyes widened. "….Really? To Kutou?"
She smiled and nodded. "Have you ever been there?"
"N-no! I've never…but…I've dreamed of going there," he said sheepishly, giving a small shrug. "But then, I'd give anything to see other lands."
Doulin blinked and shared the briefest of glances with her husband—Lanva—who cleared his throat and leaned forward a bit on the table.
"You say, lad, that…you've dreamed of going to Kutou?"
Raising his eyebrows, slightly confused at the importance of a silly dream, Ryoushin straightened in his seat. "Umm, I…yes, I have. But…"
"They're just dreams," came Tenki's voice from the door.
The three at the table turned to look at him; the boy, dirtied from work, was standing firmly, his arms crossed, fixing his guests with a stone-cold glare. "They're just dreams," he repeated. "They don't mean anything."
His brother lowered his eyes with a slight nod, but his gut twisted all the same. It DOES mean something. It DOES. I've tried to pretend it's just a foolish wish, but it's more than that. Oh, aniki, why can't you believe me? You've always been so understanding; what's different about this?
Lanva narrowed his eyes. "The world is built on dreams, my boy," he said gruffly. "It's a pity to ignore them just because they're dreams."
"If I had a dream in which I could fly, does that mean, then, that I should wake up and jump off a cliff to see if I still had the ability?" Tenki shot back.
"Aniki…" began Ryoushin, "they're our guests; really, you shouldn't…"
"It isn't the same," Doulin said, trying to calm him down while still being heard herself. "There's a difference between that sort of dream and the…"
"It's exactly the same," the older boy insisted. "They want us to do something we can't do. They want us to do something we're not ready to do. Maybe in a past life we were birds, or something, and it was no problem at all to fly, but if we tried it now, we'd fall to our deaths…if we tried it now…"
Eyes huge, Ryoushin turned his gaze from his brother to the strangers.
Aniki…
"Byakko's tail, boy," said Lanva, "you've had the Calling, too, haven't you?"
Tenki stood as if paralyzed, anger giving way to despair.
"And you remember," the man continued, his voice rough, but oddly gentle. "You remember everything, don't you?"
Without another word, Tenki dashed past them in a panic, running into the small room he shared with Ryoushin and slamming the door behind him. Sliding down the wall, he hugged his knees to his chest, heart pounding rapidly.
They know…they know…they know…they know…they know…
TBC…
Notes: Dude! More drama for the poor characters of FY. ~.^;; And yes, three more new characters introduced… well, Subaru and Tokaki (a.k.a. Doulin and Lanva) aren't really new new, they're just new to the story new…and Kaze-chan guessed who Mouki was! Isn't there a character on Fraggle Rock named Mouki? Spelled Mokey, I think…yeah. The pink one with the green hair who liked to paint. Okay…my memory is scaring me. Anyway, that was just a useless fact and Mouki has nothing to do with Mokey except for the fact that their names sound the same. Hoo boy. I must sleep, otherwise people will continue to think I'm completely insane.
Nuriko: People think you're completely insane even when you're well-rested.
Me: Shut up. **goes back to singing the Teenage Dirtbag song**
Nuriko: -_-()