Chapter 52
Martha's eyes grew wide to see that her general was finally there, standing and facing the greatest of their foe, his hair flowing in the wind in all its beautiful glory. A stern expression was on his face, and also very pale. Those blue eyes cut into the tension of the moment with such intensity that Martha was ready to swoon at the beauty of her man.
"Nakago," she breathed. "You're here at last."
Nakago said nothing to her, but Martha shrugged this off. At least he would be able to save them all, even if he had no apparent feelings for her.
"You wish to battle me, mister Nakago?" the Lone Wolf Warrior taunted. "Be aware that I can kill you all in the blink of an eye, and here you are, asking to be the one to spill my blood and defeat my evil ways?"
"If you really could kill us in a blink of an eye," Chiriko spoke up, "then we would all be dead already. You liar."
Nakago said, "Hmph." That was all he needed to say.
"So, you wish to take me on, still?" the Lone Wolf Warrior said, smiling evily. "Even after all the warnings i must give to you?"
"Warnings?!" Tasuki laughed. "You call those warnings?!"
"The Suzaku just ate Seiryu up," Nuriko said, "that wasn't your doing what so ever."
Nakago closed his eyes, clearly pissed off. He was mad, though no one was quite sure what had really caused him to finally show up. What was it that finally made him tick? What was the purpose for this great and awesome Seishi to finally emerge from the shadows and take on the long awaited Final Battle and finish off the Lone Wolf Warrior once and for all?
"You're frightened of him," Hotohori said to the Lone Wolf Warrior. "I can see it in your eyes. He's the only one you haven't been able to get a hit on. He's the only one with the right power to take you down once and for all, isn't it, Mister Lone Wolf Warrior?!"
The Lone Wolf Warrior closed his eyes, and gave a terrible grin. His body relaxed. Then, his eyes opened up immediately, and his face got stiff and stern and he sent his own chi force hurtling towards Nakago, which emmited a terrible, strangle wolf cry as it did.
Nakago easily blocked it, causing it to puff up in smoke with a small noise like air escaping a balloon.
"How . . . entertaining," the general mused, his voice low and deep, and evil sounding.
Then, he put up his hands, his symbol lit up brightly, and he threw his chi force at the Lone Wolf Warrior, sending the Warrior back to the ground with such a force that the earth shook when he fell, and a crack opened up to swallow him in. Smoke issued forth from the crack where the Lone Wolf Warrior had fallen, and everyone was in shock.
"You did it!" everyone shouted in a happy tone. Nakago looked disgusted and turned away, saying, "Don't praise me. I don't care about you. The Priestess has finished her wishes, and she's given one of them to me. THAT's the only reason i came here."
Hotohori growled. "How dare you take advantage of your Priestess! Can't you see the feelings she hold for you?"
"Can't you tell that I could kill you all in a blink of an eye?" Nakago growled back.
No one said a word, for they knew him to be right. Nakago did not want to be a hero. He wanted all of this to end. He was angry at the world, the people in it, and especially himself, though this bit he would not reveal to anyone just yet.
He grabbed the Priestess by the arm rather roughly, and started to walk away, dragging her back to the Palace.
"Nakago . . . what about the other Seishi?" Martha said. "Shouldn't we take the rest of my Seishi, too?"
"Who cares." Nakago said, his expression low and blank. Martha felt a lump in her throat. She wanted to cry. Nothing was going the way she wanted it to, and yet, nothing was going the way Nakago wanted it to go, either. All she wanted was for the two to be happy, now that she had saved Kutou. She wanted her own Seishi to be happy as well, and to grant them whatever wish they wanted. But most of all, she wanted to have Nakago.
Everyone was in a down mood, watching the general drag his Priestess away. No one noticed a hand come up from the crack, bleeding and bruised, to pull up the wretched body of the Lone Wolf Warrior. Half of his face had been torn off, and his body was a mess. He looked over the edge of the crack, and without a sound, sent a terrible blast of ki at the two.
No one could stop it. It seemed to come out of nowhere, and whizzed past their heads. Everything seemed to be in slow motion, as Kristin tried to cry out a warning, but it was too late . . . The ki blast hit Martha, just as she and Nakago were slowly turning around (in slow motion, that is) to see a great blazing light come upon them. Martha was blasted away, landing at least twenty feet away, nearly knocked out, and in a poor state like the Lone Wolf Warrior (only that half her face wasn't torn off).
All the Suzaku turned for the Lone Wolf Warrior, but he was already a speck of dust on the horizon, with his words carved into grassy ground:
I'LL BE BACK FOR YOU, DAMSELS IN DISTRESS!
Nakago was the first to reach Martha, his face no longer stern. He gently picked up her head, and began to shout.
"No . . . NO! What are you doing?! You can't just die now! Come back, Martha-sama! Come back!"
Martha opened her eyes weakly, looking up at the concerned face of beauty looking down at her. "Na . . . kago?"
"Don't go!" he yelled at her. "You can't go! Come back to us, please!"
Blood was trickling down her bruised face. Her heart almost stopped when her eyes focused on the face above her, and she saw the tiny shiny glimmer of a tear forming in the corner of the general's right eye.
"Na . . .kago," Martha breathed. "You . . . you care for me?"
"Of course i care for you, dammit!" he shouted. "Why wouldn't I? After all you've done? I'd be a fool NOT to!"
"But . . . " Martha breathed, "I thought you hated me."
"I never hated you!" Nakago yelled. "That's no reason for you to go die on me now! Come back, please come back! You can't die!"
Martha could feel the tears in her own eyes swell up. She raised up a hand, and touched his face. He grabbed her hand, and Martha felt a tear fall onto her cold fingers. "Martha! Martha! Don't go, please don't go!"
By then, everyone was very quite, holding on to every word the general was screaming. No one could move or do anything.
"I thought you didn't care . . ." Martha said, her vioce fading and her eyes starting to close.
"Of course i care!" Nakago yelled again. "Of course i care, because i love you! I love you, Martha-sama! So come back, now, please! You can't die yet!"
Suddenly, Kailein had an idea, and soon, Mitsukake was out of her shin, and running over to Martha's quickly fading body. He had to push the general aside who was so over Martha that the doctor thought she might pass out from suffocation.
"Don't worry, Martha-sama," said the peaceful low voice of the doctor. "Everything will be okay . . . " and everything got warm, and the last thing Martha saw before she fainted away was the warm green glow surrounding her face.
Back at Kutou Palace, everyone was strung up tight. What was going to happen to their Priestess? Mitsukake said that she had been healed, but she still had woken from her rest. Nakago paced nervously in the hall outside her room, like a nervous father awaiting the birth of his first child.
True, this detail was put in by Tomo, who tried to reassure Nakago that he knew how this felt. All the Seiryu Seishi were in the hall with him, glancing nervously about. Soi was looking glum, for she had managed to come to just to hear Nakago scream out those three words to Martha that Soi had wanted him to say to her. Amiboshi and Suboshi were in a weary state, with Suboshi in bandages (again) and Amiboshi feeling a bit woozy from the water attack on him earlier. At their feet was Ashitare, whom Nakago had killed so that he would simply come back as a mere wolf and not be a bother to them. Ashitare was now Suboshi's pet. Miboshi had been nursed back to health, and now sat with Makiko at his side, hoping that all their battles had not been in vain. Tomo and Kailein were the only ones not injured. Tomo hugged his little wife-to-be, patting her stomach joyfully.
Apparently, when Tomo had come to after the Lone Wolf Warrior had clubbed him over the head, the first face he saw was Kailein, and she was the one who nursed him back to health. He held her tight afterwards, and whispered sweet nothings in her ear before telling her that he would marry her, since it was the only logical thing to do. They were pregnant, you know.
Suddenly, the door opened, and Mitsukake came out. He pulled Nakago aside, and everyone took this as a bad sign. Nakago looked ill by the time Mitsukake was done talking to him, and then, left him with a down cast look on his face. Nakago fell to his knees, and put his hands to his face, crying.
Everyone felt their hearts fall in their chests. They couldn't believe it. Their Priestess had not made it. She had passed on, and was no longer a part of their lives.
"She was the best Priestess you could ever ask for," Amiboshi said, wiping tears from his eyes as they all somberly got to their feet and left the hallway. "I've never known anyone to be so kind and caring as she was."
"I can't believe i was jealous of her!" Soi muttered, trying hard to blink her tears back.
"This is so unfair!" Tomo said, cuddling Kailein close to him. "Poor Martha didn't deserve this!"
They all left Nakago alone in the hall, weeping their eyes out. As soon as the hall was empty, Nakago looked up, his face tear-free. "Hmph, it worked," he said, getting up.
He walked into Martha's room, where the Priestess was sitting up, her face flushed but her eyes cheerful and lively. Nakago walked over to her bed, and sat down. He stroked her hair as he began to speak.
"That Mitsukake has weird ways of getting people alone," he said. "I didn't want everyone in here to sumther you."
"They don't think i'm dead, do they?" Martha asked.
Nakago bit back a smile. Martha smiled at his face. He pulled her close and held her tight to his bosom. "I'm so sorry the way that i've been. I've grown up from a horrible childhood, believing that i had nothing to do with the world or anyone else in it. And then you came . . . i've never met anyone who had so much faith in me, so much love to make me well. I thank you, Martha-sama."
"Hm, you're welcome," Martha said, melting into his arms.
"You're too forgiving," Nakago said, "but i like that about you. You're some one that i could never be. That's why i love you so much. You're my only key to the rest of the world and to my own happiness."
"Oh, Nakago," Martha breathed, smelling his sweat smell.
"Martha, i don't want you to go back to your own world," Nakago said, smelling her hair, and holding her close.
"I don't want to go back either," Martha said. "But you know i will. It can't be helped. As soon as the Priestess has summoned the beast gods, they are taken back to their own world and -"
And he kissed her. She wasn't expecting it, but his lips devoured hers, and they were lost in a deep, passionate kiss of warmth, with her body safely tucked into his. (Author swooning!!)
An hour later, the Seiryu Seishi were ready to come and give their grievances to their deceased Priestess, but when they opened the room, they got quite a shock. The room was steaming, and clothes were discarded on the floor, and there was a happy, lively looking Martha sleeping in her general's arms, a smile on both faces.
Miss UOTS then swooned and had to stop the chapter.
Martha's eyes grew wide to see that her general was finally there, standing and facing the greatest of their foe, his hair flowing in the wind in all its beautiful glory. A stern expression was on his face, and also very pale. Those blue eyes cut into the tension of the moment with such intensity that Martha was ready to swoon at the beauty of her man.
"Nakago," she breathed. "You're here at last."
Nakago said nothing to her, but Martha shrugged this off. At least he would be able to save them all, even if he had no apparent feelings for her.
"You wish to battle me, mister Nakago?" the Lone Wolf Warrior taunted. "Be aware that I can kill you all in the blink of an eye, and here you are, asking to be the one to spill my blood and defeat my evil ways?"
"If you really could kill us in a blink of an eye," Chiriko spoke up, "then we would all be dead already. You liar."
Nakago said, "Hmph." That was all he needed to say.
"So, you wish to take me on, still?" the Lone Wolf Warrior said, smiling evily. "Even after all the warnings i must give to you?"
"Warnings?!" Tasuki laughed. "You call those warnings?!"
"The Suzaku just ate Seiryu up," Nuriko said, "that wasn't your doing what so ever."
Nakago closed his eyes, clearly pissed off. He was mad, though no one was quite sure what had really caused him to finally show up. What was it that finally made him tick? What was the purpose for this great and awesome Seishi to finally emerge from the shadows and take on the long awaited Final Battle and finish off the Lone Wolf Warrior once and for all?
"You're frightened of him," Hotohori said to the Lone Wolf Warrior. "I can see it in your eyes. He's the only one you haven't been able to get a hit on. He's the only one with the right power to take you down once and for all, isn't it, Mister Lone Wolf Warrior?!"
The Lone Wolf Warrior closed his eyes, and gave a terrible grin. His body relaxed. Then, his eyes opened up immediately, and his face got stiff and stern and he sent his own chi force hurtling towards Nakago, which emmited a terrible, strangle wolf cry as it did.
Nakago easily blocked it, causing it to puff up in smoke with a small noise like air escaping a balloon.
"How . . . entertaining," the general mused, his voice low and deep, and evil sounding.
Then, he put up his hands, his symbol lit up brightly, and he threw his chi force at the Lone Wolf Warrior, sending the Warrior back to the ground with such a force that the earth shook when he fell, and a crack opened up to swallow him in. Smoke issued forth from the crack where the Lone Wolf Warrior had fallen, and everyone was in shock.
"You did it!" everyone shouted in a happy tone. Nakago looked disgusted and turned away, saying, "Don't praise me. I don't care about you. The Priestess has finished her wishes, and she's given one of them to me. THAT's the only reason i came here."
Hotohori growled. "How dare you take advantage of your Priestess! Can't you see the feelings she hold for you?"
"Can't you tell that I could kill you all in a blink of an eye?" Nakago growled back.
No one said a word, for they knew him to be right. Nakago did not want to be a hero. He wanted all of this to end. He was angry at the world, the people in it, and especially himself, though this bit he would not reveal to anyone just yet.
He grabbed the Priestess by the arm rather roughly, and started to walk away, dragging her back to the Palace.
"Nakago . . . what about the other Seishi?" Martha said. "Shouldn't we take the rest of my Seishi, too?"
"Who cares." Nakago said, his expression low and blank. Martha felt a lump in her throat. She wanted to cry. Nothing was going the way she wanted it to, and yet, nothing was going the way Nakago wanted it to go, either. All she wanted was for the two to be happy, now that she had saved Kutou. She wanted her own Seishi to be happy as well, and to grant them whatever wish they wanted. But most of all, she wanted to have Nakago.
Everyone was in a down mood, watching the general drag his Priestess away. No one noticed a hand come up from the crack, bleeding and bruised, to pull up the wretched body of the Lone Wolf Warrior. Half of his face had been torn off, and his body was a mess. He looked over the edge of the crack, and without a sound, sent a terrible blast of ki at the two.
No one could stop it. It seemed to come out of nowhere, and whizzed past their heads. Everything seemed to be in slow motion, as Kristin tried to cry out a warning, but it was too late . . . The ki blast hit Martha, just as she and Nakago were slowly turning around (in slow motion, that is) to see a great blazing light come upon them. Martha was blasted away, landing at least twenty feet away, nearly knocked out, and in a poor state like the Lone Wolf Warrior (only that half her face wasn't torn off).
All the Suzaku turned for the Lone Wolf Warrior, but he was already a speck of dust on the horizon, with his words carved into grassy ground:
I'LL BE BACK FOR YOU, DAMSELS IN DISTRESS!
Nakago was the first to reach Martha, his face no longer stern. He gently picked up her head, and began to shout.
"No . . . NO! What are you doing?! You can't just die now! Come back, Martha-sama! Come back!"
Martha opened her eyes weakly, looking up at the concerned face of beauty looking down at her. "Na . . . kago?"
"Don't go!" he yelled at her. "You can't go! Come back to us, please!"
Blood was trickling down her bruised face. Her heart almost stopped when her eyes focused on the face above her, and she saw the tiny shiny glimmer of a tear forming in the corner of the general's right eye.
"Na . . .kago," Martha breathed. "You . . . you care for me?"
"Of course i care for you, dammit!" he shouted. "Why wouldn't I? After all you've done? I'd be a fool NOT to!"
"But . . . " Martha breathed, "I thought you hated me."
"I never hated you!" Nakago yelled. "That's no reason for you to go die on me now! Come back, please come back! You can't die!"
Martha could feel the tears in her own eyes swell up. She raised up a hand, and touched his face. He grabbed her hand, and Martha felt a tear fall onto her cold fingers. "Martha! Martha! Don't go, please don't go!"
By then, everyone was very quite, holding on to every word the general was screaming. No one could move or do anything.
"I thought you didn't care . . ." Martha said, her vioce fading and her eyes starting to close.
"Of course i care!" Nakago yelled again. "Of course i care, because i love you! I love you, Martha-sama! So come back, now, please! You can't die yet!"
Suddenly, Kailein had an idea, and soon, Mitsukake was out of her shin, and running over to Martha's quickly fading body. He had to push the general aside who was so over Martha that the doctor thought she might pass out from suffocation.
"Don't worry, Martha-sama," said the peaceful low voice of the doctor. "Everything will be okay . . . " and everything got warm, and the last thing Martha saw before she fainted away was the warm green glow surrounding her face.
Back at Kutou Palace, everyone was strung up tight. What was going to happen to their Priestess? Mitsukake said that she had been healed, but she still had woken from her rest. Nakago paced nervously in the hall outside her room, like a nervous father awaiting the birth of his first child.
True, this detail was put in by Tomo, who tried to reassure Nakago that he knew how this felt. All the Seiryu Seishi were in the hall with him, glancing nervously about. Soi was looking glum, for she had managed to come to just to hear Nakago scream out those three words to Martha that Soi had wanted him to say to her. Amiboshi and Suboshi were in a weary state, with Suboshi in bandages (again) and Amiboshi feeling a bit woozy from the water attack on him earlier. At their feet was Ashitare, whom Nakago had killed so that he would simply come back as a mere wolf and not be a bother to them. Ashitare was now Suboshi's pet. Miboshi had been nursed back to health, and now sat with Makiko at his side, hoping that all their battles had not been in vain. Tomo and Kailein were the only ones not injured. Tomo hugged his little wife-to-be, patting her stomach joyfully.
Apparently, when Tomo had come to after the Lone Wolf Warrior had clubbed him over the head, the first face he saw was Kailein, and she was the one who nursed him back to health. He held her tight afterwards, and whispered sweet nothings in her ear before telling her that he would marry her, since it was the only logical thing to do. They were pregnant, you know.
Suddenly, the door opened, and Mitsukake came out. He pulled Nakago aside, and everyone took this as a bad sign. Nakago looked ill by the time Mitsukake was done talking to him, and then, left him with a down cast look on his face. Nakago fell to his knees, and put his hands to his face, crying.
Everyone felt their hearts fall in their chests. They couldn't believe it. Their Priestess had not made it. She had passed on, and was no longer a part of their lives.
"She was the best Priestess you could ever ask for," Amiboshi said, wiping tears from his eyes as they all somberly got to their feet and left the hallway. "I've never known anyone to be so kind and caring as she was."
"I can't believe i was jealous of her!" Soi muttered, trying hard to blink her tears back.
"This is so unfair!" Tomo said, cuddling Kailein close to him. "Poor Martha didn't deserve this!"
They all left Nakago alone in the hall, weeping their eyes out. As soon as the hall was empty, Nakago looked up, his face tear-free. "Hmph, it worked," he said, getting up.
He walked into Martha's room, where the Priestess was sitting up, her face flushed but her eyes cheerful and lively. Nakago walked over to her bed, and sat down. He stroked her hair as he began to speak.
"That Mitsukake has weird ways of getting people alone," he said. "I didn't want everyone in here to sumther you."
"They don't think i'm dead, do they?" Martha asked.
Nakago bit back a smile. Martha smiled at his face. He pulled her close and held her tight to his bosom. "I'm so sorry the way that i've been. I've grown up from a horrible childhood, believing that i had nothing to do with the world or anyone else in it. And then you came . . . i've never met anyone who had so much faith in me, so much love to make me well. I thank you, Martha-sama."
"Hm, you're welcome," Martha said, melting into his arms.
"You're too forgiving," Nakago said, "but i like that about you. You're some one that i could never be. That's why i love you so much. You're my only key to the rest of the world and to my own happiness."
"Oh, Nakago," Martha breathed, smelling his sweat smell.
"Martha, i don't want you to go back to your own world," Nakago said, smelling her hair, and holding her close.
"I don't want to go back either," Martha said. "But you know i will. It can't be helped. As soon as the Priestess has summoned the beast gods, they are taken back to their own world and -"
And he kissed her. She wasn't expecting it, but his lips devoured hers, and they were lost in a deep, passionate kiss of warmth, with her body safely tucked into his. (Author swooning!!)
An hour later, the Seiryu Seishi were ready to come and give their grievances to their deceased Priestess, but when they opened the room, they got quite a shock. The room was steaming, and clothes were discarded on the floor, and there was a happy, lively looking Martha sleeping in her general's arms, a smile on both faces.
Miss UOTS then swooned and had to stop the chapter.