Chapter 7: Blood on Marble Floors.
A/N: Sorry it took so long. I needed some insperation and my muses were being assholes. Umm, so yeah, onward!
Goku sighed as he walked back outside, shaking violently with a bottle of soap in his hands which is quivering with fear. Goku walked over to Sanzo, dropped the soap bottle and collapsed into Sanzo's arms.
" Goku...?" Sanzo asked worriedly. But all he heard were whimpers from the monkey and he cried his eyes out on Sanzo's shirt.
" I-I think I just...killed Gojyo and Hakkai..." He whimpered, choking on his violent tears. Goku had felt this pain before, but where he didn't know. He felt guilty as if he's the one who murdered them. As if all the blood had been split on his hands.
" What happened?" Sanzo asked, even more worried as Goku shook and coughed and cried in his arms.
" Homura overheard us talking..." Goku managed to say, but after saying it, he collapsed into another round of tears.
" Shit..." Sanzo gasped. This was not good, and Sanzo knew it. Gojyo was new here. He had certainly underestimated the king's power and sanity. Everybody who had worked here had witnessed at least one of Homura's many outrages where people would needlessly fall to his sword for almost meaningless reasons. But Gojyo didn't know this. And nobody could tell him.
He'll have to find out for himself...
Sanzo got Goku's composure back and they got back to work on cleaning Yaone's dress for the dinner that night. But every once in a while, Goku would start to cry again, but as hard as before, but softly sniffiling while primping up Yaone's velvet dress. Sanzo was worried, so when they finished and hung up the dress, he took Goku to get something to eat and drink in the kitchen so he wouldn't get sick.
" Oh, Gojyo, I forgot to tell you!" Hakkai noted, as the two were walking around the garden. Hakkai's hand was interlaced with Gojyo's.
" What?" Gojyo asked.
" My father is having a bunch of other rulers for an important dinner tonight. He wants to make ties with other countries, in case of a rebellion. And, we have to go to it." Hakkai smiled.
" Shit..." Gojyo grumbled. " So I have to sit at a table with all these important people, while they talk about boring politics stuff and feed you and wear fancy clothes."
" That's just about the jist of it." Hakkai nodded.
" And your all mighty father is going to be there."
" Well, he is the king."
" Fine, if I don't have a choice." He shrugged. " But hey, I get to feed you again..." He teased, kissing Hakkai on the lips quickly so nobody would see.
" Gojyo!" Hakkai blushed. " I don't know if somebody is watching or not!" He panicked.
" Nobody is even out here." Gojyo explained. " And we're holding hands aren't we?"
" But that's understandable, I can't see where we're going!"
" Umm...Hakkai?" Gojyo asked shyly, looking at Hakkai. Hakkai could feel his partner's stare, and blushed.
" Yes?" He mumbled.
" When, you get your sight back...how will I know you'll still stay with me?" Gojyo asked quietly. This was a question Gojyo had be pondering for sometime now. How would he know Hakkai wouldn't like the way he looked or wasn't what he was expecting? How could he know?
" That's an awfully silly question." Hakkai smiled, squeezing Gojyo's hand ressuringly.
" Why?" Gojyo asked, quite confused.
" I fell in love with your personality. I think it wouldn't be very fair of me, to dislike you for the way you look, when the way you are, can count for so many other things." Hakkai explained, smiling softly at the kappa. The blind prince reached up and touched the kappa's face. " Besides, I'm sure you're beautiful."
" I guess what was all I needed to hear." Gojyo smiled, kissing Hakkai's hand.
" Now I want to hear you say, 'Let's go.'. I don't want to be here." Gojyo whispered sharply to Hakkai. " There's a weird aura in the room and I don't like it..."
" We can't just be excused. My father will kill us." Hakkai said, trying to sooth Gojyo's nerves.
" He'll kill us either way!" Gojyo whispered sharply again.
" Oh Gojyo, be quiet! And just eat!" Yaone cooed, putting a napkin in her lap.
" Food!" Goku cheered, trying his best not to talk or look at Gojyo and Hakkai. He felt a deep pain in the pit of his stomach. Something was going to happen.
" We have guests Goku! Stop being a pig!" Sanzo yelled, carrying the same feeling.
" I can't help it..." Goku whined. Many of the kings who had come for the feast had liked the little display. And enjoyed the fact that Homura had allowed even survants of his own to sit at the table with them, like Gojyo, Sanzo and Goku.
" Well, Gojyo..." Homura started as he was explaining this fact to his guests. " Is my son's survant. Hakkai is blind, and Gojyo watches over him. And I have Gojyo feed him since Hakkai can't do it himself so he has to be here." Homura chuckled, as did the rest of the kings at the superiorty joke.
" Ha, very funny." Gojyo said, helping Hakkai eat some pasta. Hakkai sighed, dispite the fact his mouth was full. Homura glared at this display. Goku shivered at Homura's glare.
" So Homura, I hear your citizens are starting to rebel." The king on the left asked.
" Indeed." Homura sighed, troublesomely.
" What do you do about it?" The same king asked. " I have a few riots now and then, but not because of my rule. But just in case something like that did happen, I'd like to know how you handle it."
" Simple." Homura said as if the other king was a moron. " Heads fly."
" You murder citizens?" The king gasped, silencing the room. Homura looked down at the king.
" Is that a problem?"
" Well--"
" The only way to gain respect is to show power, simple as that." Homura gloated. " And if they question that power, the die. It's a simple cycle."
" That's insane!" The king yelled, slamming his fist into the table. " You murder citizens as a symbol of power!"
" You're a funny one." Homura grinned. " I do not let anybody question me, or keep things from me...or lie to me about what's going on in the castle."
" That's not--"
" And I hate it..." Homura whispered, unsheathing his sword slowly. Yaone, Gojyo and the other servants watched in horror as time slowed down. " When there are relationships going on, that are forbidden!" Homura yelled, slamming the dull end of his sword into Gojyo's shoulder, ending him across the marble floor, blood trailing his fall.
" Gojyo!" Hakkai yelled, trying to feel his way around for his partner. " What happened? Where are you?" Hakkai panicked frantically, his hand falling into a puddle of warm blood.
" Hakkai! Move!" Yaone said, moving her brother out of the way of the table.
Homura stepped down from the table and went over to Gojyo, stabbing is sword into the floor. " So, what's been going on between you two? Give me all the dirty details..." Homura whispered, picking Gojyo up by his shirt. Gojyo cringed at the pain in his shoulder and the insane look on Homura's face.
" We...don't have anything...going on." Gojyo said between gasps for breath. " Whoever told you that...is full of shit."
" Oh, really?" Homura asked, turning his head toward Goku. " A little monkey told me."
" Goku!" Yaone gasped. " You told!?"
" Ah, so you knew too Yaone?" Homura asked, finding all of this rather humorous.
" So, maybe if I killed every single one of you, that would teach you not to defy me...?" Homura asked questionably, actually pondering the idea of a beautiful gore fest. This sickened Yaone, to the point of nearly vomiting. But Gojyo, who had never witnessed Homura's wrath, was probably more scared then anybody in the room.
" Stop!" Hakkai panicked. " What's going on? Somebody tell me!" Hakkai yelled, as salty tears ran down his face. " Is Gojyo alright?" He asked Yaone. But Yaone couldn't say anything...he could only hug her brother tighter, not knowing what could happen.
" Stop!" Goku intervined, running in front of Homura. " Please, don't kill Gojyo!"
" But why?" Homura asked as if it was a good thing. " You're the one who told me."
" I didn't tell you. You were listening in on Sanzo and I's conversation." Goku explained. " I understand nothing should have been going on, but is it so wrong for them to be together?"
" A peasant my daughter picked off the street and my dead wife's sick creation called a son, together?" Homura laughed. " That's nonsense."
" Is it? Or is it just love?" Goku said. Homura grew furious and hit Goku with the steel handle of his sword, sending the boy into the wall.
" Father! Please! Don't!" Yaone yelled. " Let him go. He can leave here, he will no longer be Hakkai's survant..."
" What!?" Hakkai yelled, grabbing Yaone's arms. " You can't! I love him, Yaone! I love him, you can't take him away from me now. We just found out how we felt, that's not fair..." Hakkai cried, hugging Yaone tight.
" It's either that, or he dies..." Yaone said, trying to comfort her brother. " Release him father..." Yaone pleaded. Homura dropped the now unconcious Gojyo onto the marble floor. The other kings watched in awe and gradually started to leave, not wanting to bother with such a menace to the world.
And like Yaone said, Gojyo, when awakened, packed up what little things he had and left within an hour. And didn't even get to say goodbye to Hakkai. Nobody was there to see him off. So he took one last look at the castle, one look at his hand and stepped down the stairs to the front of the castle and left.
A/N: That's actually NOT the end! We still have three more chapters to go! It's amazing, it seemed like the end didn't it? Homura finally cracked.