Author's Note: Heh. Haven't been able to update in a loooong time. School, basketball and a migraine that just won't go away . . .Oh well. I hope to continue and finally finish this story relatively soon. Thank you to all the people who continued to review my fic!! Enjoy! ^_^
Disclaimers: Yeah, yeah, I don't own Rurouni Kenshin and blah blah blah. ^_~
Chapter 10: The End Is Near
RECAP:
Just as Takei was looking down into the sea, he saw a certain purple lump floating.
"SHIRO!!" Takei shouted down as he spotted one of the youngest Sekihoutai members. Shiro was like a little brother to Takei and his loyalty to Takei was priceless. Without having any second thoughts, Takei climbed onto the side of the ship and dove into the water after his ally.
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Takei may have been a land soldier but he was mostly brought up near the sea which is the reason that Takei was such a good swimmer. But even he could not swim against the force of the storm. If he thought that the waves lurched horribly above surface, then these underwater waves were almost intolerable. The pressure of the water against his head caused his vision as well as his thoughts to impair. Takei could no longer see anything clearly through the water, all he could see were endless depths of black.
Had Takei been able to shout for Shiro, then he would have. But he could no longer see Shiro, let alone find and drag him to safety. Suddenly, Takei's eyes snapped open and he swam upward as fast as he could, realizing that his air supply was almost gone. Takei was only able to take a quick breath because then he was pulled under the water . . .as was the purple lump, which was his ally. Swimming against the force and pressure of the water, Takei managed to get to Shiro and grab him. But even so, every time Takei tried to swim to the top, the force of the water and the storm would pull him back down again. Seldom did Takei successfully reach the top of the water for a breath.
Suddenly, the currents in the water got stronger and Takei suddenly felt himself and Shiro being pulled downward. Takei was still holding onto Shiro as strongly as he could. He felt himself slamming into endless rocks and maybe even underwater mountains, sometimes he feared that his head would be split open. Takei could not longer see the surface of the water and he no longer even knew which way was up and which was down. Takei closed his eyes to avoid getting even dizzier.
"Takei . . ." Takei snapped his eyes open as he heard a familiar voice call out his name.
//That voice? It couldn't be . . .could it? I'm underwater . . .no one can speak
underwater. . . .// were Takei's only thoughts, yet he still tried to locate the owner of the voice. Suddenly a face appeared before Takei.
"Hey Big Brother!! Kiro here to help!!" a little boy laughed gleefully before swimming backward from Takei a little bit. Takei was frozen, he simply stared at the little boy. Then Takei noticed that the little boy was floating in the water just as he was. His clothes were swaying gracefully with the water's movements. Except . . .Kiro was still breathing normally. It was then Takei noticed that the boy was engulfed in a blue aura.
//A ghost . . .// Takei thought as he continued to stare at the boy.
"That's right. I'm a ghost!" Kiro simply stated.
//Wait . . .he can read my mind?!" Takei thought in a small alarm.
"Yes, talking in your mind is the only way you can talk to me . . .since you are underwater! I'm here to help you Big Brother!!" Kiro said enthusiastically.
//Kiro! It's very good to see you again . . .even as a ghost!// Takei thought happily.
"I'm really happy to see you, too!! I also came so that I can help you!! But we have to go now, Takei!! You're friend is gonna die if you don't get him some air!" Kiro said as Takei laughed in his mind.
//Alright, little brother, I give in, you win. Lead the way.// Takei thought as he looked at the little boy. Kiro gave a giggle of happiness.
"Follow me!" Kiro said as he started to swim left . Takei followed Kiro. As he was following Kiro, Takie realized how far he was from being anywhere noticeable because of all the little caves and what-not he had to go through as he followed Kiro.
"Come on, it's just a little further!" Kiro said as he looked back at Takei before continuing to swim through the cave. After Takei swam though the cave he appeared in an "open space" under the ocean. Takei looked up and almost choked. He was a good 200 feet from the surface of the ocean. Kiro swam behind Takei.
"I help!" He simply stated, as he grabbed onto the cloth that was over Takei's shoulders. Takei felt and saw himself being engulfed by the blue aura of Kiro before Kiro giggled and started to effortlessly pull Takei toward the surface of the water. After Takei was about only ten feet away from the surface of the water, Kiro let go and the blue aura that was around Takei went away. Takei looked back at his little brother as he continued to float up.
"See?! I helped my Big Brother!!" Kiro said gleefully.
//Thank you, Kiro.// Takei thought as he watched his little brother start to disappear.
"I will always be in the ocean if you ever need my help!! But don't drown again, k?" Kiro said as he waved good-bye to his big brother before disappearing. Takei waved back before he was hurtled toward the surface of the ocean. Takei finally broke the surface of the water and after a long while, breathed.
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RECAP:
Both of the boys finally ran into something . . .or rather, somebody. Katsu and Sano both looked up. The "somebody" was full-grown teenage boy. He was rather tall as well as lean. He was dressed in very fine samurai clothes – signaling his high birth. He also had dark jade eyes and long beautiful brown hair – a regular "pretty-boy." His facial features kind of looked familiar to both Katsu and Sano.
"Who . . .are you?" Katsu asked. Sano couldn't help it but . . .he thought he somehow knew those emerald eyes. It was as if he had seen them somewhere . . .in a dream maybe?
"My name is Seth. I'm the son of Sakura and Taihito."
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I remember looking up at the eyes of Seth. My brother, the one who wanted to kill me.
But . . . when I looked at those eyes, I didn't see the eyes of a killer. I saw the eyes of someone who was mislead to believe one thing and then felt guilty for his actions on that belief . . .
"S-seth? You mean YOU'RE my brother?! The one who's trying to kill me?! " Sano shouted at the boy, his fists already clenched. Seth looked at Sano for a minute before smiling a sympathetic smile. Seth bent down to one knee in front of Sano and put both of his hands on Sano's shoulders. That way, Seth and Sano were eye to eye.
"Little brother, I have no intention of killing you . . .or harming you for that matter."
"W-what? You're lying!!" Sano shouted back at Seth. Seth slowly shook his head.
"I was . . .mislead by your – our – uncle, Takenaka," said as he continued to smile at Sano with sympathy.
"What . . .do you mean?" Sano asked, now with his guard down and truly curious.
"Takenaka had planned to take over our father's land because it was given to Taihito by our grandfather. Taihito was a better man than Takenaka would ever be and the oracle said the same thing, even though Taihito was the younger. Takenaka became even more twisted and started planning our father's demise even as a young boy. He was overjoyed to find that Taihito, our father, had two sons: Me, the eldest and you the youngest. The oracle said the same thing over again – you would get the most inheritance even though you were the youngest. I . . .really didn't mind since I got a good forty acres of land as well as some heirlooms – that was enough for me. But . . .our uncle wasn't happy with my satisfaction. Back then I was young and pugnacious . . .easily lead in either direction by strong words. It was our uncle's words that drove me to hate you for the while that I did. Yes, I DID do all those things, such as ordering ninjas to do some undercover things."
"So if you're not the one who'd trying to kill me – then why was I and Katsu imprisoned here?!" Sano asked with new rage building.
"Takenaka sent over assassins to my own castle, here, in order to finish me off. I hid while he took over and gave all my soldiers commands, telling them that I was ill and could not be there. They were sent to catch you and your friend and then to be later killed. Takenaka hoped to kill us both off, since then he would be the next to inherit everything our father had."
"So . . .then, what now?" Sano asked.
"What now? Simple. I'm going to show you a way out of here in order to escape this place." Seth said as he stood up again. "I suggest you follow me since the corridors of this castle are extremely complicated."
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Takei smelled the sea before he could see it. He slowly and cautiously opened his eyes. He looked out into the ocean. It was much calmer than before – the waves didn't seem so hostile. Takei opened his eyes fully and moved his head in order to see around him. The ship didn't look any worse for wear. Although the ship was covered with scratches and a few chinks in the wood and a few holes in the sails – it was in excellent condition, considering it had just been through the worst storm possibly imagined.
"Hey, there. Nice to see that you're finally awake, Takei." Takei looked up as soon as he heard the familiar voice.
"Captain Sagara . . ."
"Don't worry about anything. The storm is over and you need your rest now. Shiro is fine. He got banged up pretty badly – but nothing serious. You need your rest, sleep now." Takei didn't need to be told twice, the graceful wisps of sleep gladly enfolded him.
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Sano didn't know what else to do. He followed his brother. He followed his brother through a castle that his brother knew well. He was basically at the mercy of his so-called cold, blood-thirsty brother. Seth calmly and gracefully walked through the castle corridors with no more than a every-day air. The explosions that happened in and around the castle seemed to have no effect on Seth whatsoever. Seth suddenly came upon a tapestry. He pulled it back a bit in order to reveal . . .a door.
"Here, this is it." Seth said as he opened the much-rusted door. "Sano," Seth said as he looked down on his little brother. "Go through this door and all the way to the end of the corridor. At the end, there is another door, go through it and you will end up outside. Once you are outside, you can go to wherever you were trying to go before you were captured." Sano looked at the door for a minute.
"Aren't . . . Aren't you coming?" Sano asked.
"I . . .can not. You and your friend will have to go alone." Seth said regrettably as he looked back . . .somewhere.
"But – here. Take this before you go. Don't open it until you are ready." Seth said as he supplied Sano with a sealed scroll. (A/N: Wow, try saying that three times in a row!! ^_^)
"Ok, then –I'll see you later?" Sano said hopefully as he took the scroll. Seth gave a small laugh.
"Maybe someday, sure – why not?" Seth smiled at Sano. Sano smiled back before getting ready to go through the door.
"Good bye . . .Big Brother." Sano said as he and Katsu went through the door.
"Good bye."
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"What the hell is going on here?!" Captain Rukuyuu yelled as he looked out from where the ship was docked. "Why, that castle is so blown up it looks like a damn Chinese firecracker!"
"Yes, I do agree." Said Takei as he looked out into the horizon. The castle, clearly visible by now.
"That place must be where Sanosuke and Katsuhiro are. I believe it belonged to Sano's brother." Captain Sagara answered as he stepped out onto the deck.
"Sano's . . .brother?!" Takei asked.
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"It was sure dark in there!" Sano remarked as he and Katsu finally emerged from the castle, using the way that Seth had told them to use.
"Yeah, but it got us out, didn't it?" Katsu said as grabbed Sano by the arm and started to drag him away from the crumbling castle.
"Wait, Katsu! What about my brother?!" Sano asked, pulling his arm from Katsu's grasp.
"He said to go, right? So we need to go!!" Katsu said before he tried to grab Sano' arm again, but Sano stubbornly refused.
"We need to –" Sano began before a series of explosions erupted and flung the two of them against some flat rocks. As Sano looked up he saw the figure of his brother standing by a tall window in one of the castle rooms . . . and his brother was smiling down at him as Seth saw that Sano was still alive . The last thing Sano saw before he passed was the castle exploding, and his brother . . .with it.
Yeah, I'm making this story sadder and sadder . . .maybe I should change the categories from Action/Adventure and General to Action/Adventure and Angst? Yeah, that's what I'm probably gonna do. L Hope you enjoy that little cliffhanger there. I'm really beginning to like cliffhangers. . .
Thank you to my reviewers.