A note from the Hime no Argh herself–
I like this chapter of the story particularly, mainly because Aku's in it. ^^ Hope you have as much fun reading it as I did writing it. Reviews are always appreciated!
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Chapter 5
Through the Underground
"Empress Chisana and Samurai Jack," Aku boomed in his great, terrible voice, delight pervading each word. "An unlikely pairing, to be sure, but one I have anticipated. I cannot expect to obtain power without the bane of my existence attempting to stop me."
"Aku," Jack snarled, still holding Chisana tightly around the middle.
Aku grinned evilly at him, then his eyes focused on Chisana. "And here is the true ruler of Shangri-La." He gave a mock bow. "To business, Chisana. Let us discuss your fate, and the fate of your kingdom."
"There will be no discussions!" Chisana snapped, angry tears spilling from her eyes. "Why should I make a deal with you, the demon who has murdered my father?"
"He is not dead," Aku replied indifferently, waving a hand over Hajime's motionless body. The emperor was brought to his feet, swaying like a puppet on strings, his eyes dull and staring. "He let my life-force inhabit his body so that you would come to him as his trusting daughter."
"So he opened the gate," Chisana whispered.
"Yes. And letting me inside his frail body was an immense strain. He is greatly weakened, but not dead." Aku let Hajime crumple to the floor.
In a burst of strength Chisana wrenched away from Jack. "No!" Jack cried, but Chisana was already running to her father. Aku slammed a hand to the floor in front of her, and she stumbled back with a gasp.
"It is unwise to take such rash action." Aku leered at her, wrapping his enormous hand around the princess's slender body. Jack saw her face go stark white, and he yanked his sword from its sheath.
"If you harm her, Aku, I will–"
"You will what?" Aku snarled, baring his teeth at Jack. "You will prick me with that pin-sticker of yours?" He laughed loudly–Chisana went even paler at the sound–then quieted and looked down at the princess. "Why would I harm the key to Shangri-La's treasure?"
"I will give you nothing, Aku," Chisana whispered faintly, dead still in the demon's grasp.
"Are you so certain?" Aku asked, letting one immense claw trail lazily under Chisana's chin. "I am sure your father took a similar vow when he ascended to the throne. See what has become of that." Aku indicated Hajime contemptuously. "Your father was a weak old fool who sold his soul to me. But you...you are not just any empress, are you? You are the empress, the one destined to lead Shangri-La to glory."
"Do not flatter me," Chisana snapped, though her face grew paler still. "You wish only to taint my kingdom with your evil."
Aku grinned widely. "What is evil? What is good? Did no one tell you these terms matter not to kings and queens, emperors and empresses? There is only power, power like that which you already possess. You are not even officially Shangri-La's ruler, and already you possess more power than your father enjoyed in his entire reign. Would you let that power go to waste?"
"Do not listen to him," Jack said urgently to Chisana. "He is merely trying to tempt you–"
"Stay out of this," Aku snarled, baring his teeth. "It does not concern the likes of you." He let go of Chisana and she stumbled back, looking ready to faint, yet she managed to stay on her feet. The demon waited majestically, wearing darkness like a cloak, until Chisana met his eyes with hers.
"Give me what I want," Aku said in his impressive voice, "and you will be Empress of Shangri-La for eternity. Immense power and wealth will be yours, and your kingdom will be untouched, safe in your rule for all of time. You will even have your father back, alive and healthy."
Aku drew Hajime up once more so that he hung in the air like a grotesque puppet, and they could see that his chest moved with slow, rattling breaths. "You see? I do not lie. He is alive, and can be well and safe again, all by your decree."
Chisana said nothing, gazing at her father. "Chisana-Hime!" Jack said sharply, but she held up a hand to silence him.
"Enough, Jack-san," she said, her voice strong and fierce. "This is my choice, and mine alone." Aku's smile widened. Jack saw Chisana's slender fingers draw the shukusen from her obi.
"I want my father with me, this is true," Chisana said quietly. "My father, Hajime, who has sold his soul to Aku..." She flicked the fan open and cried, "He is already dead!"
Before Jack or Aku could say or do anything, she drew back her wrist and threw the shukusen. The weapon shrieked as it flew through the air, embedding itself deeply into Hajime's throat.
"Chisana!" Jack gasped in shock.
Aku cursed loudly as Hajime slumped to the floor, dead, and gazed upon Chisana with such rage that the woman stepped back. "You silly fool," he hissed. "I will have the treasure, by force if I must!" He swept shadows around him and disappeared, leaving dozens and dozens of masked assassins in his place.
Jack went to stand at Chisana's shoulder, grimly drawing his sword. "Your bravery in the face of Aku's wrath is admirable," he told Chisana, still shaken by the sight of her deadly shukusen in her father's throat. "I will fight for you to the death, and–"
"Oh, do not be so melodramatic," Chisana snapped, seizing him by the collar. She dragged him toward the throne even as the assassins attacked, and stood examining it curiously, ignoring the battle as Jack's sword struck dead one foe after the other.
"What in the world are you doing?" Jack demanded, running an assassin through.
"Trying to find...ahah!" Chisana pressed a strange white jewel among the rest of the glittering stones studding the throne. The throne gave a small shudder, then began to slide away, revealing a hole large enough for a body beneath it.
Chisana snatched her shukusen from her father's body without the bat of an eye and tugged urgently on Jack's sleeve. "Come!" she snapped.
Jack beheaded an enemy, then wrapped his arms protectively around Chisana and jumped into the hole with her. Down they fell through darkness, abruptly hitting solid ground with a shattering thump.
"Ow," Jack said weakly as Chisana rolled off of him.
"Are you all right, Jack-san?" Chisana asked worriedly, groping for his hand in the darkness. She pulled him to his feet and Jack looked around, trying to see something in the pitch blackness.
"I have flint," he remembered abruptly. "Is there wood somewhere, Chisana-Hime?"
"There should be a torch on the wall," came Chisana's reply. Jack found the wall by walking into it, then felt around with his hands until he located the torch in a bracket. He struck the flint until a spark lit the torch, then picked it off the wall and looked around.
They appeared to be in a narrow corridor, the walls made of stone and the ground beneath their feet packed dirt. The corridor led further into darkness. Jack looked up and saw no sign of the entrance above his head; he supposed the throne must have shifted back into place. He then looked around for Chisana.
He found her crouching in a corner of the stone passageway, holding her deadly shukusen in her hands. He could just make out her profile; to his utter shock, a tear was running down her cheek. Unsure of what else to do, Jack placed the torch back in the bracket and went to her, gripping her shoulder gently.
"I am sorry about your father," he said quietly.
Chisana drew in a long, shuddering breath. "Aku was right about him. He was old, and he was weak. I have no doubts that it took little persuasion for my father to open the gates for that...that demon," she spat bitterly.
"Do not dwell on that, Chisana-Hime," Jack said as kindly as he could manage. "Aku is a master of manipulation. Many are persuaded to do his bidding." When still Chisana remained silent, he persisted, "Your father loved you still, did he not? He hoped you would escape the city, did he not?"
"That is what I cannot bear," Chisana said in a choked voice, burying her face in her hands. "My father truly cared for me, and I killed him!"
For a few moments there was nothing to be heard but Chisana's quiet sobs. Then the princess drew in a ragged breath. "I have committed a terrible sin," she whispered. "Yet I simply could not bear to see my father as a puppet of Aku. I think he would have wanted..." She fell silent.
"Then let us honor your father's memory by saving his kingdom," Jack said gently. "It is all we can do."
Chisana sniffed, but stood and brushed the dirt from her kimono. "Yes," she said quietly. "We can do no more." She turned to face Jack, determination blazing in her black eyes. "Let us go."
She marched off down the corridor, and Jack followed, taking the torch from the bracket. "The treasure is this way?" he said uncertainly.
"Yes. My mother told me the way."
Jack sighed. "Well, at least we need not worry about Aku's minions in this place."
"Oh, no," said Chisana earnestly, "this place is sacred. Those dark creatures could never exist here. We need only worry about the dragon."
At these words Jack stopped short. "Dragon?"
Chisana stopped walking and turned back to him. "Do not be frightened," she said reassuringly. "Once the dragon sees that I am the True Empress, he will surely let us pass."
"And how do you plan on telling him so?" Jack asked shrewdly.
Chisana bit her lower lip. "Well...I will figure that out when the time comes. Surely a brave man like you can handle a little dragon?" she added with a touch of disdain.
"I would like to see you take one," Jack muttered, but he followed Chisana nonetheless.
"Nonsense," Chisana laughed, waving a dismissive hand. "The samurai fights the beast, not the empress."
Jack blinked. It was the second time she had used that title–even Aku had addressed her this way. "So you are," he said thoughtfully. Chisana halted and turned to him once more, and he placed his palms together, bowing before her. "Chisana-sama."
Chisana seemed to be struggling with words. Her throat moved, but no sound came out. At last she rasped, "Jack-san, I do not think I will ever be able to reward your service."
For a few moments they stared at each other. Then Jack said, very hesitantly, "There is...something..."
"Anything," Chisana said immediately.
Jack nervously fingered the hilt of his sword. "I would help you in any way I could, and not ask for any reward. But given the circumstances...that this treasure, the mahou seishin, can grant anything its master wishes..."
"Yes?" Chisana prompted.
"Will you ask it, please, if it may return me to the past?" The hand on the sword tightened. "I have a score to settle with Aku."
Chisana blinked at him. Then her lips curved into a warm smile. "I will make sure it grants you anything, Jack-san." She turned and went off down the corridor once more, and Jack followed.
They soon came to an enormous, dark chamber, the walls made of stone and the ceiling so high overhead that they could barely see it. Stone pillars stood in many rows, criss-crossing all over the room. Set into the far wall was a pair of double doors engraved with dragons, but they were nothing compared to the real dragon that slept in a corner of the room, entwined around a pillar.
The dragon was long, slim, and wingless, shimmering with golden scales, coiled around itself like a snake. Its slender paws were capped with wickedly curved talons and its teeth bared in a terrible snarl. Its eyes were shut tight, but the unsteady way it breathed left Jack with no doubt that it would easily wake.
"We cannot go through this room without engaging the guardian dragon," said Chisana in the quietest of whispers. "Our geta will echo against the floor."
"Can we not remove them?" Jack asked.
Chisana shook her head in frustration. "My silks still rustle too much. These damn wrap kimono–"
Jack bent down to remove his geta sandals, then straightened and handed them to Chisana. "Will you hold these, please?"
"Of–of course." Chisana stared blankly at Jack as she took his geta into her hands. "Why–?"
Jack swung her into his arms before she could finish and ordered her to be quiet. Chisana's cheeks turned vividly scarlet, but she let herself be carried across the chamber, Jack's bare feet soundless on the floor. When they'd reached the doors Jack placed her down gently and Chisana mouthed a thank you.
She then turned to the door and began scrutinizing, while Jack peered nervously at the dragon. The doors appeared to have no handles or knob, and they looked much too heavy for them to move. Jack could only hope that Chisana would figure out how to open them before the dragon awoke.
"Hurry, please, Chisana-sama," Jack murmured as quietly as he could managed. The dragon gave a low growl in its sleep, turning over onto his back.
"I am trying," Chisana whispered fiercely. "I cannot–"
There came a sudden, enormous crash from the ceiling above them, so loud that it shook the entire palace. "Aku!" Jack said angrily, drawing his sword. "He is trying to stop us!"
A ferocious snarl caught their attention. The dragon was awake, its gleaming yellow eyes fixed on them. It flipped over onto its feet and advanced, growling like a tiger ready to pounce.
"Open those doors!" Jack snapped to Chisana, then, holding his sword protectively before him, he dashed across the room, drawing the dragon's attention away from the empress. The dragon's eyes followed him; its flanks rippled, then the creature darted across the floor, hissing like a snake.
It lunged at him, quicker than lightning. Jack slashed upward with his sword, narrowly missing the dragon's snapping jaws. It snarled in frustration and rapidly advanced, backing him into a corner of the room.
Meanwhile Chisana desperately tried to devise a method of opening the doors, ignoring the sounds of battle behind her. "I do not understand," she muttered, tracing one of the carved dragons with a forefinger. "If these doors block the way to the treasure of Shangri-La, then how can anyone enter, even the True Empress?"
The dragon slashed Jack viciously with its claws, tearing his gi and opening three gashes across his chest. Ignoring the bleeding wounds, he thrust his sword into the dragon's shoulder.
Chisana shuddered at the dragon's shriek of pain and rage. If something wasn't done soon, Jack would surely die. Desperately she threw her meager weight against the doors, but they didn't budge. Chisana gave a very unladylike curse and thought fast. A treasure so powerful would surely be protected by more than mere stone doors. But if she was the True Empress...
Then perhaps the doors to the treasure worked like the gate.
Chisana stepped back and bowed to the doors. "Dragon who guards the treasure of Shangri-La, open the gates to me. I, Chisana, the True Empress of Shangri-La, command you!"
For a moment nothing happened, then suddenly the ground beneath them began to tremble. Chisana, Jack, and the guardian dragon all froze, watching the doors. As the chamber shook around them the doors slowly slid back, revealing darkness beyond.
Chisana turned to face Jack and the dragon. The dragon peered at her for a moment, its yellow eyes narrowed to slits, then its head bowed and it backed away into the shadows.
"I am entering," Chisana said firmly to Jack.
Jack nodded, sliding his sword into its sheath. "I will follow."
Chisana nodded, then turned to face the dark chamber beyond the doors. Shoulders squared, head lifted high, she walked straight into her destiny.
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Continued in Chapter 6.