Heya! The next fortnight and a half will be dominated by study and
exams...I hope I can still manage to pop out a chapter. Thanks to all the
people who have reviewed and commented on the story - many thanks and
appreciations - and I'll be working on it again with my full attention once
I get the time. In the meanwhile, enjoy this short interlude :)
Chapter 16
Karen sighed and sat in the small infirmary room with Illumi's younger brother and his friends, slightly bored but not complaining. Rather, she was taken to the fact that the older assassin was exuding a powerful reinforcement aura and was readily healing himself. Many of the bruises on his face had already faded away, and she swore that it wasn't her imagination when his black mane became thicker by the minute.
"Cousin Illu doesn't seem to be the reinforcement type." Karen muttered, leaning on the side of his bed. Killua raised his head.
"He's not. I think he was more of a materialization type."
Karen was confused, but she was too tired to show it. "So how?"
Wing, who was sitting outside the room facing the courtyard on the shallow stone steps replied. "We found out that Illumi-san is a natural nen user. So it is only reasonable that he can access all types of nen."
The doctor waved her delicate hand dismissively. She was too tired and had seen too much to be surprised by anything anymore these days.
"By the way, where did Hisoka-chan go?" she glanced around suspiciously, also noting that Koran was missing too.
"Oh," Leorio stretched. "He was dragged off by Master Echlan and General Misha for interrogation. Your father and aunty went with him of course."
"Why do I bother?" Karen humphed and slumped down, her back leaning on the foot of Illumi's bed. She was tired and couldn't be bothered coping with the rapidly evolving events. In fact, it was quite relaxing just basking in the sun's warmth. Everyone suddenly grimaced however, when their stomachs flipped over and turned dreadfully cold.
"The Emperor must be upset again." Gon gulped trying to steady his hackles. He saw Leorio's sensei approaching them rapidly, his white lab coat billowing dramatically in the wind.
"Karen-chan, come on. We need to go to the Forbidden Palace."
"Is there some order?" the young girl stood up slowly, exaggerating her weariness.
"Well, yes and no." Faust responded curtly. "The Eunuchs are trying to persuade the Emperor to eat. She hasn't had any food for four days in a row already. Whenever she is not signing papers of formulating new policies, she spends her time in the temple and refuses food. She even threw an ornamental vase at Master Echlan the other day. Apparently, the Palace Guardian thinks that she may be on the verge of collapse, so we are backup."
"Why is she refusing to eat?" Leorio wondered.
"It's "the Emperor" to you, boy." Faust grated harshly at Leorio's lapse of formalities and insolence. "The Emperor has never been happy since the war ended, and she was even worse during the war, except she couldn't afford to let it show. Poor thing, fighting bloody battles at such a young age and to witness so much death and destruction."
"Yes," Karen slowly agreed. "Rescuing survivors out of concentration camps and salvaging any villages and towns after months of bombardment are not your happiest childhood memories."
"And neither is ordering children to clear minefields under gunpoint so noble either." Kurapika muttered angrily. A vein in Faust snapped, and so did his tolerance. He swung vicious murdering eyes onto the young blonde and dared him to repeat it. Kurapika coolly returned the look, not fazed a bit.
"It's fact, and it's backed up by video evidence. Actually, it's been broadcasted in just about every country that has heard about your war. And frankly, I find your Emperor to be a filthy murderer."
"Such blasphemous insolence…" Faust grated, his anger so overwhelming that Leorio mentally shrank back. But he held his ground, and did not enter the argument, decidedly choosing not to take sides. Kurapika continued with his barrage, despite the doctor's fuming rage.
"She signed the death warrants of over fifty families that have royal blood and personally attended the execution of the last family at around the same time this year. Oh, that's right, I forget. If she didn't kill them off, she couldn't be Emperor…right…it's just dirty politics from the word go."
It was Karen who slapped Kurapika, and she didn't flinch when the Kurata's eyes glowered red.
"You foreigners know nothing about what happened to us during the miserable decade. And then you waltz into our country and start *judging* us just because you've seen some biased documentary and read a few journal articles. What would you know about life and death? You haven't *seen* torture and suffering."
"I think the bare facts tell the truth, without the need to interpret them according to the circumstances. If you order the termination of an entire nation and race, I should think that you won't be able to sleep at night." He shot back.
Karen gave off a sickly red coloured nen, and her eyes had become blank and trance like, perhaps it was just brimming with a professional cold bloodedness for killing. Her fingers itched, and she knew that somewhere deep inside her, the sleeping monster was stirring, sensing a new need to kill and took delight in the pain and bloodshed. But such words could not go unpunished, even if you had ignorance as an excuse.
Zuchi on the other hand, had noticed that Killua's big brother was quietly awake, his large eyes observing the situation at hand. He blinked once, twice, and then slowly sat up.
"Get some rest boy, or you'll be…" Faust was surprised by Illumi's face, free of any blemish or bruising, and noticed that the terribly torn lip was now whole again with no trace of scarring. Even his hair was now rich and thick, lustrous and shiny, cascading down to his slim waist again. A formidable calm was plastered on his expressionless face, and Karen turned around, detecting a new sense of strength within him. They all stared deeply into those eyes, which were no longer dull and were able to reflect the world around them.
He spoke with a quiet voice, not fussed or hurried. "Please calm down and stop fighting."
Karen found herself instantly complying. The murdering urges in her subsided, and the monster closed its eyes and gave a long trembling sigh, returning back down to its abyss, hopefully to be never awakened again. Kurapika felt a wave of peace wash over him, and his boiling blood cooled down. Faust likewise found himself no longer agitated, and he liked the feeling.
"Can someone get me some clothes that are presentable? I would like to meet Rudy in person."
"Rudy?" Leorio echoed. It was then that he recalled back to his study with the Royal Doctors inside the Forbidden Palace that the Palace Guardian had addressed the Emperor with such a name. But how did Illumi know about it if he had never actually seen her?
Faust grimaced. "I don't know if that fits with protocol, but I'll take you there anyway."
============
Rudy glared at the impassive stone statute, its massive back pined against the wall, its hollow eyes staring down the tunnel of eternity. The features on the face had worn slightly due to time, but the grim expression had not softened over the ages.
"You are supposed to provide me comfort god damnit! I'm not feeling any better." She growled, tempted to throw the plate of offerings onto the statue's face. Nen gathered in the lap of the giant statue and the image of a monk materialized. Like the statue, he sat, cross legged, in the middle of meditation.
"What ails you, young Emperor?" his empty voice resounded off the walls in room dimly lit by hanging candles. Rudy's glare did not waver.
"Everything. Every bloody thing. I haven't slept in four days and I'm tired to the bone. I can't stand this pain anymore." She was angry, but weariness was so heavy on her eyelids that her usual snap came out as a strained and tired voice of a broken soul.
The monk sighed, a spine chilling whisper. Five hundred years ago, he was the most revered and enlightened monk in Arcadia, and he served as a spiritual guide to the Emperor and made a good man out of him. Five hundred years later, his loyalty remained, and even today, he continues to provide guidance and assistance to the troubled teenager.
"You should sit and meditate like I do, and find some peace within you."
"I've done that! It's not working." She growled, then her thin frame shook from the effort of being angry.
"Because you don't want it to work." He pointed out. "You must free yourself of the past, and the past will free you." He made that sound like it was the most obvious and logical thing in the whole world.
"Oh for god sakes! Enough with that mystical paradoxical metaphysical crap! I've heard enough, enough!" With red rimmed eyes, she pointed at him and her voice gathered about her with command and authority. "You tell me to forget the past? That is almost ridiculous. I will *always* have to remember the people who died for this country. I must remember and honour them for their death will have been in vain. It is my *duty* to remember! Do you understand? If I don't remember the destruction and devastation, I'll become just like Rodimostev II and all the corrupt line of Emperors before them."
"Perhaps you should start by occupying your mind. Then one day, these memories won't be so vivid anymore." The monk responded quietly. He wanted to flinch from the unwavering glare and knew that he had said something wrong.
"Occupy my mind?! I'm signing papers constantly, debating with local councilors, conducting negotiations for trade and business. The only time I'm not occupied is when I sleep - and that's only two bloody hours!! And even then I still can't sleep! You are supposed to be able to help me!" And all her troubles and frustrations broke through and again, she cried, alone in the semi darkness on the cold temple floors. When steps became audible, she completely lost it.
"If I so much as have to tell you one more time to GET OUT OF HERE, I'm going to lop off all your heads off, you got that!" she wanted to scream, but it only came out as a hoarse croak and the effort made her cough endlessly. Spluttering, she sank to the ground and felt so hapless, only wishing that the cold could numb away her pain. She could never afford to forget the past - she could never forget the war because it served her as a constant reminder of the disastrous consequences if a country was not strong and stable. And it had cost Arcadia too many lives, many countless faces dying for their country that no one would remember or honour them when the sand slipped through the hour glass. As Emperor, it was her duty to the people, and the least she could do was remember them. Had the temple been brightly lit, you would see the many plaques, hundreds and hundreds of them, each with thousands of names carved in and plated with gold leaf - all the people who had sacrificed themselves for the country in the hour of need.
The steps approached and she heard urgent whisperings. Some footsteps disappeared back to the open courtyards, but she still felt the presence of someone.
"Rudy?" a very familiar voice spoke quietly from the darkest corner of the room. Illumi slowly revealed himself in the dim light, the darkness around him pealing away like a discarded shroud. He had hoped that she would recognize him, but he certainly did not expect an outburst of laughter and giggles. What was so funny?
Emperor Rodimestov stared intently at the figure who slowly stepped into the light, and she recognized him immediately, only that she couldn't help but burst out into giggles because he looked absolutely ridiculous in the formal clothing. Male's clothing. Arcadian men were mostly broad shouldered, muscular and stocky, and hence the fashion was usually designed to accommodate the body figure. However, Illumi was tall and slender coupled with the perfect hourglass figure that women would sacrifice twenty years of their life just to have. And thus the clothes barely clung to him, the belt dangled uselessly and the sash across the shoulder had this frequent tendency to slide off. The boots he was wearing was probably two sizes too large the sleeves swallowed up half his hand.
Rudy laughed so hard that her stomach ached and tears trailed down her face as she lay, curled up on the old stone floor. Illumi finally understood and two bright spots of pink appeared on his pale cheeks.
"So these aren't the exact fit." He muttered harshly and flapped his arms around in annoyance. He reminded Rudy of a toddler trying on his dad's clothing which were ten sizes too large, and the howls of laughter only increased, and she begged him to stop, gasping and rasping for breath.
"Should I get changed then? Because you obviously can't form any coherent words right now."
Rudy tried her best to nod, but her shoulders shook violently from the effort to suppress the laughter and she waved her hand at him dismissively, tell him to shoo and come back, dressed a bit more respectably, otherwise she would, in all seriousness, die from the laughter.
The assassin stormed back out into the bright open and they all looked at him quizzically, wondering why he carried such a frown on his face. Behind them loomed the large figure of the Palace Guardian - Berenger - wielder of the merciless two-headed executioner's axe. He dwarfed Wing and Faust, and made the younger boys look like a couple of sticks. His arms were so massively banded with bulging muscles that just one look at them made you look at him respectfully. On his head sat a mop of unruly blonde hair, obviously dyed because the deep brown roots were quite stark in comparison. His skin was coarse, and an ugly scar ran down the side of his left face. When Gon asked him how that happened, he replied that he had cut himself shaving. Slung across his broad back was yet another frightening sword - graciously dubbed "Widowmaker" - a most handy and reliable backup should ever his axe leave his strong iron grip. In the late morning, its goldern handle gleamed like a sparkling jewel.
"We hear the Emperor's laughter. This must be a good sign." He said in a congratulatory tone to Illumi. He was obviously oblivious to Illumi's gathering anger.
"She started laughing the moment she saw me in these badly fitted clothes." He fumed with the sudden urge to rip off the annoying sleeves. Viciously glaring at his companions, he noticed their puffy cheeks and slight shivering of shoulders and instantly realized that they were laughing at him too. His gaze flattened, and he turned towards the Doctor.
Faust's control over himself momentarily slipped under Illumi's penetrating gaze and the amusement simply slipped out of him. And affected everyone else. Berenger laughed good humouredly and plucked up Illumi from the waist, throwing him up into the air like a child. Illumi shrieked at the sudden move, and the Palace Guardian laughed even more, the booming bass of his voice could be felt by everyone.
"Let me go this instant!" Illumi shrieked, struggling uselessly in Berenger's iron grip.
"Haha…you sound so much like a woman." Berenger mused and gave the slim waist a tight squeeze. Unexpected and caught off balance again, Illumi shrieked in fright and silently reprimanded himself for it. Everyone is in uncontrollably fits of giggles, and the Emperor staggered out, still clutching her stomach and was now laughing so hard at the scene in front of her that she was down on her knees. Berenger grinned.
"By the power vested in me as Palace Guardian, whose duty it is to protect the Emperor, I know pronounce you, Illumi Zoldick, as the official court jester and pin cushion. Whenever the Emperor is upset, we will make her happy, at your expense."
Illumi twisted sharply and broke free, landing gracefully on his feet…only that his attire wouldn't allow him to look graceful, and even Karen-chan hid her wide smile behind a fine white hand.
Rudy miraculously managed to recover her seriousness and looked up to the Palace Guardian.
"I'm going to go out. There is something I need to deliver." It was curt, blunt and direct, and it defied any questioning. Yet Berenger was not too sure, and a deep frown set in. The great muscles on his chest heaved as he breathed in deeply. Kurapika likened Berenger to Ubogin, but had to admit that the Palace Guardian's physique was even more impressive than that Genei Ryodan member.
"With all respects sire, since your Pledge is coming up in two days time, we don't think it will be so safe for you outside the Forbidden Palace."
"Nonsense" Rudy scoffed. "I am the Emperor, and the people love me."
"I'm sorry Rudy" Berenger said seriously "but we've got news that the rebels are in town, with the specific purpose of either capturing or killing you. I have been informed by Kastro that the rebels have aligned themselves with pretty dangerous people too. So I'm afraid I can't let you leave," his eyes hardened unbearably "and no, the Voice will not work on me. You know that."
The Emperor stamped her foot hard in frustration. Suddenly, all her problems and memories came flooding back like a massive tidal wave, and everyone felt it too. "Damnit! I saved this country and now I can't step out of my palace! What is the world coming to?!"
"It will only be for the next two days, sire." Berenger stood firm.
"Argh! How am I supposed to make a speech when I don't have any inspiration! Berenger, listen to me, you will let me leave the Forbidden Palace." Her voice took on an odd note, tuned precisely to compel enforcement.
Everyone who heard her voice shivered slightly and had the overriding impulse to step aside and make way for the fragile girl. But the Palace Guardian stood firm, rooted to his position by sheer will power alone, and defied his Emperor, for her own good of course.
"There are rebels in the city." He repeated strenuously. "You would be in danger if you didn't go out there with an armed escort. Please return to your living quarters."
Rudy's eyes blazed with unholy anger and she would have thrown a childish tantrum had not Illumi stepped in between her and the giant man. He looked directly into Berenger's cerulean eyes with something almost akin to a hypnotic stare.
"Do you defy the word of your Emperor?" he asked quietly.
Berenger stuttered. "No, but - "
"Then you'll let her leave the Palace. I will look after her." He continued, voice still soft, smooth and unruffled. Anything left of Berenger's defences melted away like ice cream left out on a hot summer's day. Illumi still did not break eye contact, and he held Berenger's gaze with savage determination, masked deceitfully with his quiet demeanor.
"Please return to your post, Guardian. You are no longer required here."
Berenger stiffly gave a salute and turned to walk away. Those who did see his expression was shocked for it was a look torn in the midst of an awful struggle between his will and the command imposed on him.
Rudy whooped with joy and rushed back into the temple. She promptly returned, shouldering a huge iron box, rusty and smelly with age, showing signs of being buried underground for some considerable time.
"Come on Illumi. I'm going to get changed…and you too. Perhaps one of the maids can lend you some of their clothes, they'd probably be a better fit."
Illumi refrained from replying and held himself erect, putting a lot of his disapproval into one sniff.
Chapter 16
Karen sighed and sat in the small infirmary room with Illumi's younger brother and his friends, slightly bored but not complaining. Rather, she was taken to the fact that the older assassin was exuding a powerful reinforcement aura and was readily healing himself. Many of the bruises on his face had already faded away, and she swore that it wasn't her imagination when his black mane became thicker by the minute.
"Cousin Illu doesn't seem to be the reinforcement type." Karen muttered, leaning on the side of his bed. Killua raised his head.
"He's not. I think he was more of a materialization type."
Karen was confused, but she was too tired to show it. "So how?"
Wing, who was sitting outside the room facing the courtyard on the shallow stone steps replied. "We found out that Illumi-san is a natural nen user. So it is only reasonable that he can access all types of nen."
The doctor waved her delicate hand dismissively. She was too tired and had seen too much to be surprised by anything anymore these days.
"By the way, where did Hisoka-chan go?" she glanced around suspiciously, also noting that Koran was missing too.
"Oh," Leorio stretched. "He was dragged off by Master Echlan and General Misha for interrogation. Your father and aunty went with him of course."
"Why do I bother?" Karen humphed and slumped down, her back leaning on the foot of Illumi's bed. She was tired and couldn't be bothered coping with the rapidly evolving events. In fact, it was quite relaxing just basking in the sun's warmth. Everyone suddenly grimaced however, when their stomachs flipped over and turned dreadfully cold.
"The Emperor must be upset again." Gon gulped trying to steady his hackles. He saw Leorio's sensei approaching them rapidly, his white lab coat billowing dramatically in the wind.
"Karen-chan, come on. We need to go to the Forbidden Palace."
"Is there some order?" the young girl stood up slowly, exaggerating her weariness.
"Well, yes and no." Faust responded curtly. "The Eunuchs are trying to persuade the Emperor to eat. She hasn't had any food for four days in a row already. Whenever she is not signing papers of formulating new policies, she spends her time in the temple and refuses food. She even threw an ornamental vase at Master Echlan the other day. Apparently, the Palace Guardian thinks that she may be on the verge of collapse, so we are backup."
"Why is she refusing to eat?" Leorio wondered.
"It's "the Emperor" to you, boy." Faust grated harshly at Leorio's lapse of formalities and insolence. "The Emperor has never been happy since the war ended, and she was even worse during the war, except she couldn't afford to let it show. Poor thing, fighting bloody battles at such a young age and to witness so much death and destruction."
"Yes," Karen slowly agreed. "Rescuing survivors out of concentration camps and salvaging any villages and towns after months of bombardment are not your happiest childhood memories."
"And neither is ordering children to clear minefields under gunpoint so noble either." Kurapika muttered angrily. A vein in Faust snapped, and so did his tolerance. He swung vicious murdering eyes onto the young blonde and dared him to repeat it. Kurapika coolly returned the look, not fazed a bit.
"It's fact, and it's backed up by video evidence. Actually, it's been broadcasted in just about every country that has heard about your war. And frankly, I find your Emperor to be a filthy murderer."
"Such blasphemous insolence…" Faust grated, his anger so overwhelming that Leorio mentally shrank back. But he held his ground, and did not enter the argument, decidedly choosing not to take sides. Kurapika continued with his barrage, despite the doctor's fuming rage.
"She signed the death warrants of over fifty families that have royal blood and personally attended the execution of the last family at around the same time this year. Oh, that's right, I forget. If she didn't kill them off, she couldn't be Emperor…right…it's just dirty politics from the word go."
It was Karen who slapped Kurapika, and she didn't flinch when the Kurata's eyes glowered red.
"You foreigners know nothing about what happened to us during the miserable decade. And then you waltz into our country and start *judging* us just because you've seen some biased documentary and read a few journal articles. What would you know about life and death? You haven't *seen* torture and suffering."
"I think the bare facts tell the truth, without the need to interpret them according to the circumstances. If you order the termination of an entire nation and race, I should think that you won't be able to sleep at night." He shot back.
Karen gave off a sickly red coloured nen, and her eyes had become blank and trance like, perhaps it was just brimming with a professional cold bloodedness for killing. Her fingers itched, and she knew that somewhere deep inside her, the sleeping monster was stirring, sensing a new need to kill and took delight in the pain and bloodshed. But such words could not go unpunished, even if you had ignorance as an excuse.
Zuchi on the other hand, had noticed that Killua's big brother was quietly awake, his large eyes observing the situation at hand. He blinked once, twice, and then slowly sat up.
"Get some rest boy, or you'll be…" Faust was surprised by Illumi's face, free of any blemish or bruising, and noticed that the terribly torn lip was now whole again with no trace of scarring. Even his hair was now rich and thick, lustrous and shiny, cascading down to his slim waist again. A formidable calm was plastered on his expressionless face, and Karen turned around, detecting a new sense of strength within him. They all stared deeply into those eyes, which were no longer dull and were able to reflect the world around them.
He spoke with a quiet voice, not fussed or hurried. "Please calm down and stop fighting."
Karen found herself instantly complying. The murdering urges in her subsided, and the monster closed its eyes and gave a long trembling sigh, returning back down to its abyss, hopefully to be never awakened again. Kurapika felt a wave of peace wash over him, and his boiling blood cooled down. Faust likewise found himself no longer agitated, and he liked the feeling.
"Can someone get me some clothes that are presentable? I would like to meet Rudy in person."
"Rudy?" Leorio echoed. It was then that he recalled back to his study with the Royal Doctors inside the Forbidden Palace that the Palace Guardian had addressed the Emperor with such a name. But how did Illumi know about it if he had never actually seen her?
Faust grimaced. "I don't know if that fits with protocol, but I'll take you there anyway."
============
Rudy glared at the impassive stone statute, its massive back pined against the wall, its hollow eyes staring down the tunnel of eternity. The features on the face had worn slightly due to time, but the grim expression had not softened over the ages.
"You are supposed to provide me comfort god damnit! I'm not feeling any better." She growled, tempted to throw the plate of offerings onto the statue's face. Nen gathered in the lap of the giant statue and the image of a monk materialized. Like the statue, he sat, cross legged, in the middle of meditation.
"What ails you, young Emperor?" his empty voice resounded off the walls in room dimly lit by hanging candles. Rudy's glare did not waver.
"Everything. Every bloody thing. I haven't slept in four days and I'm tired to the bone. I can't stand this pain anymore." She was angry, but weariness was so heavy on her eyelids that her usual snap came out as a strained and tired voice of a broken soul.
The monk sighed, a spine chilling whisper. Five hundred years ago, he was the most revered and enlightened monk in Arcadia, and he served as a spiritual guide to the Emperor and made a good man out of him. Five hundred years later, his loyalty remained, and even today, he continues to provide guidance and assistance to the troubled teenager.
"You should sit and meditate like I do, and find some peace within you."
"I've done that! It's not working." She growled, then her thin frame shook from the effort of being angry.
"Because you don't want it to work." He pointed out. "You must free yourself of the past, and the past will free you." He made that sound like it was the most obvious and logical thing in the whole world.
"Oh for god sakes! Enough with that mystical paradoxical metaphysical crap! I've heard enough, enough!" With red rimmed eyes, she pointed at him and her voice gathered about her with command and authority. "You tell me to forget the past? That is almost ridiculous. I will *always* have to remember the people who died for this country. I must remember and honour them for their death will have been in vain. It is my *duty* to remember! Do you understand? If I don't remember the destruction and devastation, I'll become just like Rodimostev II and all the corrupt line of Emperors before them."
"Perhaps you should start by occupying your mind. Then one day, these memories won't be so vivid anymore." The monk responded quietly. He wanted to flinch from the unwavering glare and knew that he had said something wrong.
"Occupy my mind?! I'm signing papers constantly, debating with local councilors, conducting negotiations for trade and business. The only time I'm not occupied is when I sleep - and that's only two bloody hours!! And even then I still can't sleep! You are supposed to be able to help me!" And all her troubles and frustrations broke through and again, she cried, alone in the semi darkness on the cold temple floors. When steps became audible, she completely lost it.
"If I so much as have to tell you one more time to GET OUT OF HERE, I'm going to lop off all your heads off, you got that!" she wanted to scream, but it only came out as a hoarse croak and the effort made her cough endlessly. Spluttering, she sank to the ground and felt so hapless, only wishing that the cold could numb away her pain. She could never afford to forget the past - she could never forget the war because it served her as a constant reminder of the disastrous consequences if a country was not strong and stable. And it had cost Arcadia too many lives, many countless faces dying for their country that no one would remember or honour them when the sand slipped through the hour glass. As Emperor, it was her duty to the people, and the least she could do was remember them. Had the temple been brightly lit, you would see the many plaques, hundreds and hundreds of them, each with thousands of names carved in and plated with gold leaf - all the people who had sacrificed themselves for the country in the hour of need.
The steps approached and she heard urgent whisperings. Some footsteps disappeared back to the open courtyards, but she still felt the presence of someone.
"Rudy?" a very familiar voice spoke quietly from the darkest corner of the room. Illumi slowly revealed himself in the dim light, the darkness around him pealing away like a discarded shroud. He had hoped that she would recognize him, but he certainly did not expect an outburst of laughter and giggles. What was so funny?
Emperor Rodimestov stared intently at the figure who slowly stepped into the light, and she recognized him immediately, only that she couldn't help but burst out into giggles because he looked absolutely ridiculous in the formal clothing. Male's clothing. Arcadian men were mostly broad shouldered, muscular and stocky, and hence the fashion was usually designed to accommodate the body figure. However, Illumi was tall and slender coupled with the perfect hourglass figure that women would sacrifice twenty years of their life just to have. And thus the clothes barely clung to him, the belt dangled uselessly and the sash across the shoulder had this frequent tendency to slide off. The boots he was wearing was probably two sizes too large the sleeves swallowed up half his hand.
Rudy laughed so hard that her stomach ached and tears trailed down her face as she lay, curled up on the old stone floor. Illumi finally understood and two bright spots of pink appeared on his pale cheeks.
"So these aren't the exact fit." He muttered harshly and flapped his arms around in annoyance. He reminded Rudy of a toddler trying on his dad's clothing which were ten sizes too large, and the howls of laughter only increased, and she begged him to stop, gasping and rasping for breath.
"Should I get changed then? Because you obviously can't form any coherent words right now."
Rudy tried her best to nod, but her shoulders shook violently from the effort to suppress the laughter and she waved her hand at him dismissively, tell him to shoo and come back, dressed a bit more respectably, otherwise she would, in all seriousness, die from the laughter.
The assassin stormed back out into the bright open and they all looked at him quizzically, wondering why he carried such a frown on his face. Behind them loomed the large figure of the Palace Guardian - Berenger - wielder of the merciless two-headed executioner's axe. He dwarfed Wing and Faust, and made the younger boys look like a couple of sticks. His arms were so massively banded with bulging muscles that just one look at them made you look at him respectfully. On his head sat a mop of unruly blonde hair, obviously dyed because the deep brown roots were quite stark in comparison. His skin was coarse, and an ugly scar ran down the side of his left face. When Gon asked him how that happened, he replied that he had cut himself shaving. Slung across his broad back was yet another frightening sword - graciously dubbed "Widowmaker" - a most handy and reliable backup should ever his axe leave his strong iron grip. In the late morning, its goldern handle gleamed like a sparkling jewel.
"We hear the Emperor's laughter. This must be a good sign." He said in a congratulatory tone to Illumi. He was obviously oblivious to Illumi's gathering anger.
"She started laughing the moment she saw me in these badly fitted clothes." He fumed with the sudden urge to rip off the annoying sleeves. Viciously glaring at his companions, he noticed their puffy cheeks and slight shivering of shoulders and instantly realized that they were laughing at him too. His gaze flattened, and he turned towards the Doctor.
Faust's control over himself momentarily slipped under Illumi's penetrating gaze and the amusement simply slipped out of him. And affected everyone else. Berenger laughed good humouredly and plucked up Illumi from the waist, throwing him up into the air like a child. Illumi shrieked at the sudden move, and the Palace Guardian laughed even more, the booming bass of his voice could be felt by everyone.
"Let me go this instant!" Illumi shrieked, struggling uselessly in Berenger's iron grip.
"Haha…you sound so much like a woman." Berenger mused and gave the slim waist a tight squeeze. Unexpected and caught off balance again, Illumi shrieked in fright and silently reprimanded himself for it. Everyone is in uncontrollably fits of giggles, and the Emperor staggered out, still clutching her stomach and was now laughing so hard at the scene in front of her that she was down on her knees. Berenger grinned.
"By the power vested in me as Palace Guardian, whose duty it is to protect the Emperor, I know pronounce you, Illumi Zoldick, as the official court jester and pin cushion. Whenever the Emperor is upset, we will make her happy, at your expense."
Illumi twisted sharply and broke free, landing gracefully on his feet…only that his attire wouldn't allow him to look graceful, and even Karen-chan hid her wide smile behind a fine white hand.
Rudy miraculously managed to recover her seriousness and looked up to the Palace Guardian.
"I'm going to go out. There is something I need to deliver." It was curt, blunt and direct, and it defied any questioning. Yet Berenger was not too sure, and a deep frown set in. The great muscles on his chest heaved as he breathed in deeply. Kurapika likened Berenger to Ubogin, but had to admit that the Palace Guardian's physique was even more impressive than that Genei Ryodan member.
"With all respects sire, since your Pledge is coming up in two days time, we don't think it will be so safe for you outside the Forbidden Palace."
"Nonsense" Rudy scoffed. "I am the Emperor, and the people love me."
"I'm sorry Rudy" Berenger said seriously "but we've got news that the rebels are in town, with the specific purpose of either capturing or killing you. I have been informed by Kastro that the rebels have aligned themselves with pretty dangerous people too. So I'm afraid I can't let you leave," his eyes hardened unbearably "and no, the Voice will not work on me. You know that."
The Emperor stamped her foot hard in frustration. Suddenly, all her problems and memories came flooding back like a massive tidal wave, and everyone felt it too. "Damnit! I saved this country and now I can't step out of my palace! What is the world coming to?!"
"It will only be for the next two days, sire." Berenger stood firm.
"Argh! How am I supposed to make a speech when I don't have any inspiration! Berenger, listen to me, you will let me leave the Forbidden Palace." Her voice took on an odd note, tuned precisely to compel enforcement.
Everyone who heard her voice shivered slightly and had the overriding impulse to step aside and make way for the fragile girl. But the Palace Guardian stood firm, rooted to his position by sheer will power alone, and defied his Emperor, for her own good of course.
"There are rebels in the city." He repeated strenuously. "You would be in danger if you didn't go out there with an armed escort. Please return to your living quarters."
Rudy's eyes blazed with unholy anger and she would have thrown a childish tantrum had not Illumi stepped in between her and the giant man. He looked directly into Berenger's cerulean eyes with something almost akin to a hypnotic stare.
"Do you defy the word of your Emperor?" he asked quietly.
Berenger stuttered. "No, but - "
"Then you'll let her leave the Palace. I will look after her." He continued, voice still soft, smooth and unruffled. Anything left of Berenger's defences melted away like ice cream left out on a hot summer's day. Illumi still did not break eye contact, and he held Berenger's gaze with savage determination, masked deceitfully with his quiet demeanor.
"Please return to your post, Guardian. You are no longer required here."
Berenger stiffly gave a salute and turned to walk away. Those who did see his expression was shocked for it was a look torn in the midst of an awful struggle between his will and the command imposed on him.
Rudy whooped with joy and rushed back into the temple. She promptly returned, shouldering a huge iron box, rusty and smelly with age, showing signs of being buried underground for some considerable time.
"Come on Illumi. I'm going to get changed…and you too. Perhaps one of the maids can lend you some of their clothes, they'd probably be a better fit."
Illumi refrained from replying and held himself erect, putting a lot of his disapproval into one sniff.