Chapter 5: Treading Time

Jade woke up back in the closed room. Her chest hurt like hell. Only a cracked rib and a few bandages. She stared daggers at Nakago as he entered. A woman of the palace entered behind him. "I wish to ask your forgiveness."

"Why? I doubt you're sorry. You should know a child's body can't take much stress."

The woman spoke to Nakago, "I think she's cute, but you're right about that she doesn't like you much. Let her roam if that makes her happy."

"She's fast and smart."

"She's also hurt. Climbing anything is out of the question. It probably hurts just to breathe."

"On your recommendation. Remember you'll be blamed if she disappears."

She looked to Jade. "You'll be a good little girl, right?"

"Not much I can do."

Nakago picked Jade up. "There's something you need to see."

"Let go. It hurts."

"Nakago! It can either wait until she is better or you'll have to let her walk slowly. Let her go now before her rib actually breaks."

Jade hid behind the woman as soon as she was put down. Nakago seemed to listen to her. She left the room leaving Jade behind. "You seem to like her."

She sat down. "Hasn't killed my family, battered my friend, or hurt me. I don't see why I'd like her better than you now."

"Sarcasm should be left to adults."

He slammed the door shut on his way out. It bounced and he didn't notice. She waited until she knew he was gone. Slowly she opened the door. The halls stretched on in both directions quiet a long way before turning. She went left down the long hall. Silently she worked her way down the long hallway. She turned the corner to see a garden at the end. She slowly walked to the gate. There was nothing left. The pain was getting to her. Jade slowly lowered herself and rested against the gate. The sunset, she looked into the moonlit garden yearning to be on that side of the gate but forced to wait until the pain subsided. Sleep came before relief.

Sunlight poured through the garden into the hall. Jade smiled as she woke to the warmth of it. She managed to stand up. The gate opened easily. She sat in a bed of flowers and simply absorbed the sight before her.

Nakago found the room vacant. His mood suddenly dropped from mean to destroying everything in his path. He continued down the empty hallway and quickly reached the garden. He saw her immediately sitting in the open. He walked behind her. She looked up and spoke in the most innocent voice. "Good morning Nakago. You look exceptionally angry this morning."

He realized she was playing his reactions. "How did you get out?"

"I didn't do anything to get out."

"So you just walked right out?"

"Exactly."

"Why don't you use your power?"

"What good would it do me? Moving around in time, that wouldn't be the best way to escape."

That was not the last time Jade would steal a moment for herself. Nakago slowly started to learn what her power was. He mistranslated what he learned but Jade could do what he asked of her power easily. Her position now was to foresee the future. The next few years she was free to roam the building but never to leave the boundary. One morning Nakago sent for Jade. She obeyed and found him in the courtyard. Now she was dressed in robes that were decided suitable for a seer of time. "Good morning Nakago. What do you need to ask?"

"Suzaku has found a priestess. Where can we find ours?"

"When, where I don't know."

"You still hate me don't you?"

"My job is to tell when events will occur. Whether I like you or not has nothing to do with it."

He grabbed her shoulder. "I want to know anyway."

Jade looked in his eyes then to his hand on her shoulder. She lifted his hand by the wrist and backed away from him. "In a few weeks."

She turned to walk away and again was stopped. "I still want to know."

"If I remember right it was you that placed the order that no one is to ever lay a hand on the time seer. You also made the order unquestionable."

"You win for now."

She smiled and walked to the spring. She neatly folded her clothes and set a small carefully wrapped parcel on top. Nakago just made her skin crawl. The feeling was starting to melt away in the warm water. There was a wall of stone surrounding most of the spring. "Nakago, you better have a good reason for following me."

Behind the rocks she heard the tinkle of glass. He was in her stuff. Jade stood up. She pulled herself up far enough to see over the rock wall. "What are you planning to do with this? Poison me?"

He held up one of the vials from her parcel. It contained a red powder. "I really doubt that could kill anything."

"What is it for then?"

She lifted her left hand over the wall for him to see the back of it. "They are raw pigments. I tested the red and used too much. Now I'll have wind on my hand for a few days."

He held up a vial with a thick yellow liquid in it. "What's this one?"

"It's oil. Please leave my pigments alone. Better yet, leave."

"What is oil for?"

"Drink it and find out."

He replaced it with the other vials. "Something has always bothered me. How did you manage to not get detected for six years when your eyes give you away?"

It was true. The green color consumed most of her eyes only the very corners had white. She smiled. He didn't know. "I have but one illusion. Will you please leave? This conversation can be had elsewhere."

"Soi will be having dinner with you tonight. You don't seem to mind her company."

"Your own personal fan. The dinner topic is always you. That's all she talks about."

"You'll handle yourself fine."

"I need you to leave."

He finally left. Jade wrapped her robes around her and replaced all the vials in the pouch. If Miaka was back, no, here for the first time then it wouldn't be much longer before she would see them all again. She saw her reflection in a mirror. She still had color in her skin. The robes Nakago "requested" she wear covered her almost head to toe. Four more months after five years it should pass quickly. She couldn't totally condemn Nakago. He was vengeful but he did keep her safe from wandering hands. She had heard vile things about this emperor. Jade knew he was strong, as Nakago knew her powers were useful. Only once did he hit Jade with his life force. It sent Jade across the room. She slipped time before she hit anything. Nakago had needed her knowledge of things to come and she stayed out of time for almost a month. He realized what she could do when she came back still with a mark where he hit her. She looked away from the mirror to make her way through the maze of halls to her room.

The room was dark. Her eyes never could handle much exposure to light. This room was a refuge from the day. She was learning how to manipulate her power. Through not leaving completely the mark remained the same.

Sitting on her bed she spread the robe around her. It hung off the bed when she did it but that wasn't a concern. She closed her eyes and concentrated. The hourglass appeared but her eyes were not glowing. She found herself looking into time. Her body remained as if she was sleeping. The mark cast a green glow through the room.

Jade wanted to know and this time she was going to risk going past the fray. Nakago entered the room. He saw the mark so he sat down and waited. Tears started to flow down her face as in the void she saw what she never wanted to see. She entered time again she had seen enough. She opened her eyes and wiped the tears away before noticing she had company. "What's wrong Jade?"

"Time will turn red with blood soon."

"What happens?"

"I'm not going to say. I can't say. It won't change it. What is it that you wanted to know?"

"Where will I find the priestess? Whose blood?"

"She'll be in the city. I can't tell you that, you're a player."

"You believe that if you don't tell me you could change it?"

"No, I believe one party should not know more than the rest involved."

"Do you think your morals are that pure? Directly involved or not you are involved and you do know what's coming."

"I will not argue this now. Go find her before you miss your chance."

He left. Dinner with Soi was tolerable. She spoke little of Nakago. Jade figured she must just have been angry with him. A few days passed and Nakago returned carrying an unconscious girl. Jade looked for Soi's reaction. She was very jealous. "Soi, the girl is the priestess. He feels no difference to you and finds the girl only as a tool."

"Have you seen that?"

"As my power is not gifted by one of the four gods I can not allow myself to serve as if I was anchored to one."

"So you plan to leave?"

"I will be here for quiet some time yet."

They parted company. Jade went back to the dark recesses of her room. She sat at a small table. Scattered across the table were leaves and flower petals of all colors drying in the air. She felt a petal from a pile of purple ones. Satisfied with how dry they were she placed them in a mortar. She ground it into a fine powder and carefully poured it into an empty vial. She finished her chore of grinding and storing the plants she harvested and dried. There was a blank scroll in the corner. She spread it out over the floor. She drew each of the four gods in both human and beast form. She spent the remainder of the night mixing pigments and applying them to her drawing. Jade fell asleep there on the floor.

Light filtered through the open door. Nakago knelt over the scroll. Jade opened her eyes to see him across the scroll. "Shouldn't you be with Yui?"

"She's fine. Did you do all of this?"

"It's not done."

"What's left?"

She quickly rolled it back up and held it tight. "It's not done yet."

"I've heard you have plans to leave."

"Not for a while. When I go you won't care anyway."

"Why wouldn't I care? You're mine. I will never toss you away."

"This seems like a bad time to ask but would you allow me a month to travel and relearn the land?"

"You may go now but if you say anything about leaving after you come back there will be consequences."

He turned and left. She packed a small bag and left her room. She managed to leave completely with little trouble. Jade ventured south. She walked right past security into the palace. "Hello little one. You're a cutie. What are you doing here alone? Have you lost your parents?"

Jade turned to see Nuriko. "Hello I'm on my own today so don't worry. My name is Jade. I came to speak with Hotohori, Tamahome, and you as well Nuriko."

"Have we met before?"

"I've only met Tamahome in my life."

"How do you know me then?"

"I see time. I can move forward or back in time at will. Is Tamahome here?"

"He left."

"Can you please send for him? Tell him there is an emerald jade. If he remembers he'll come right away."

Nuriko sent a message with one of the guards to Tamahome. He would have gone himself but wasn't sure Jade could be trusted knowing now she came to talk with them.

Tamahome saw the messenger a few hours later. He read the note:

Tama-
There's a girl here told me to put emerald jade in for some reason. She wanted to talk with you as well as the emperor and I. Personally I feel something isn't right. Her dress suggests a connection to Seriyu. Come or reply either way I'm keeping an eye on her.
-Nuriko

He didn't believe the note. Reading it a second time through just to be sure. He rushed back to them. He saw Nuriko first standing watching something intently with a genuine interest. As he got closer he saw Jade on the ground with a scroll spread in front of her. She was adding the constellations around the finished gods. He stood behind Jade and looked over her watching her carefully draw the star map for Suzaku. "You've gotten better."

She looked up and smiled before jumping up to hug him. "Oni, thank you. I missed you."

Nuriko had a confused look. He pointed to his forehead. Tamahome shook his head no. "Jade, why do you call him oni?"

"Oniisan, why does everyone ask? Besides for as long as I've known him demon would be his polar opposite."

"Just wondering."

"Jade, do you mind if I talk with Nuriko alone for a bit?"

"No problem. I'll just work on my scroll until you're done."

They walked far enough away so that Jade wouldn't hear. "She doesn't know about the mark on my forehead. As for her having a connection with Seriyu you're partly right. Five years ago I was employed to protect her. I failed her. Both of her parents were killed and she was taken. I tried to stop the man but he was too strong. She tried to use the power he was after but I got in the way. She has a strange mark of her cheek, an hourglass."

"So, how did she manage to get here?"

"She probably has to go back. Last time I saw her she had three days. When Jade gives her word nothing will get in her way to keep it. She most likely promised to be back in a few days."

"Why is she allowed to leave at all?"

"She'd leave on her own, then she'd have to be found again. I think it took them almost five years to find her family last time. She's as smart as her parents and would probably be even more difficult to find now that she wouldn't have to hide with a concern for a young child. Could you tell Hotohori all of this for me? I'll bring Jade in a few minutes."

"All right."

Nuriko headed inside and Tamahome went to Jade. "How long do you have this time?"

"Little less than a month now."

"How did you manage that?"

In mock tone, "To relearn the world so I can better serve in my predictions."

"So you tell him the future?"

"Nothing he couldn't learn himself. I tell him nothing of here and few details on what will come there. He is learning to be more specific in his questions. I might have to answer him soon."

"Don't worry. I know you'll think of something. We should get going."

She nodded as she rolled her scroll back up. "Ready."

He ruffled her hair as she made a slight squeak. She was still the same, as before, he knew it. As they approached the entrance he saw a change in her. She looked older, more mature. Jade was being serious, an attitude she didn't have last time he saw her. With her robes she looked like a dignitary other than her now ruffled hair. She now stood between Nuriko and Tamahome facing the emperor. Jade was just as bad as Miaka. He put a hand on her head and pulled down on her as he bowed trying to get her to do the same. Hotohori smiled at the sight. Tamahome did act like her older brother. "You requested an audience with me, follower of Seriyu?"

"Yes, but I'm not a fighter for any of the four gods. I've just been detained. I wish I was free."

"What did you want to say?"

"Miaka will return soon."

"How do you know Miaka?"

"The same way I know he is Nuriko and you are Hotohori without hearing news or seeing the outside world for the past four years. I see time."

Nuriko gave her a joking pat on the back, which sent Jade forward a few feet. "So what's in store for me?"

Jade remembered what she had seen. Her face went pale and knees weak. Tamahome held her steady. "What happened? Are you going to be okay?"

"I'll be fine, I just wasn't ready to think of that again. Nuriko, there was so much blood I don't know any farther then when I saw it. Do you still want to know? It will only take a few minutes."

"That's okay. Is there anything else you came here for?"

"Not unless any of you could tell me how I fit in here on this world."

Hotohori had no explanation either. "I don't know but I can try to learn."

Jade spent her month there. Tamahome saw only one thing different about the girl he failed she wasn't wearing guy clothes. She said good-bye and thanks to Hotohori and Nuriko. Tamahome waited for her. She walked up to him and stood on her toes. Now she was tall enough to ruffle his hair and proceeded to do so. She was close enough to kiss him but she never would. He knew she thought him a real brother as well even if it wasn't by blood. He crossed his arms around her back pulling her in for a hug. She lost her balance and fell into him. She didn't want to leave the loving protective hug of her brother now. "I don't care if you failed so long ago. Promise to save me when you visit. I know you'll come soon for another reason."

"I'll bring you back don't worry."

Don't try your first visit learn the palace then. Your second trip is the one."

"Don't be late. I can't be the cause of it."

He let her go from the hug. "You're right I have to get going."

She started her trip back. "Why don't you rescue her as soon as she gets back? She means a lot to you."

"Nuriko, she told me when my best chance was. I trust her judgment, besides she already knows what is going to happen."

"Don't you find it a little odd she won't even tell you the future she sees?"

"She holds her sense of morals so high that she is going back to a prison because she gave her word. I'm not sure I could even do that."

"We have a month left. What do you plan to do?"

"What do you think?"