Breaking Prophecy

By Nicotine Gum

Chapter the Second

-

"Oishi!" a lady stuck her head out of the door, looking up and down the street for her son, "Oishi!"

The boy came running at his mother's voice, sensing the urgency in her tone. "Mama?" he huffed, as he came up.

She frowned at him disapprovingly as her eyes roamed over the dust that had settled on his clean clothes, and the little scratches that ran along his arms and face. "Have you been wandering in that shack again?" she asked.

"Yes mama," he answered guiltily.

The woman sighed. "I told you not to go there anymore. You're ruining perfectly good clothes scrambling around in the dust like that."

"I'm sorry mama," his head hung low as he replied. His mother softened considerably at seeing the regretful expression on his face.

"I've made your favourite, apple pie. Go upstairs and wash up and then you can have it while it's still hot."

He brightened immediately. "Hai!" he shouted happily before dashing up the stairs to do as he was told, the thought of hot apple pie fresh out of the oven being more of a motivation than anything else. He hummed cheerfully as he ran his hands under the tap, scrubbing lightly at the dirt on his face and trying his utmost best to remove the black stains on his shirt and breeches. Satisfied, he grinned toothily at the cracked mirror above the sink, when a crack formed near one of the edges. His eyes widened in alarm as he sensed a slight trembling in the atmosphere that became increasingly stronger. It was hard to stand up, nearly impossible to keep his balance, but it was even harder to resist that sudden pain in his head. It felt like his skull would crack. He felt like there was something smothering him so he couldn't breathe, and he felt more than heard his mother's screams from downstairs.

Mama, he thought through the dark haze surrounding him, mama I'm sorry.

-

Oishi bolted upright and his stomach threw up whatever was left undigested of his dinner. He was soaked through with perspiration and his body felt like it was on fire. His head was hurting again. It always did when he had that nightmare. It had been more than twelve years since that fateful day, and nearly every night since then, he'd woken up screaming and feeling helpless as his body was engulfed in a feverish sort of heatedness and everything swirled around him and all he could do was lie still and wait for the pain to subside.

It frustrated him, this helplessness, but there was nothing he could do. There was never anything he could do.

-

"Sanada," Inui greeted easily as he appeared in the throne room, his voice laced with familiarity and he ran his gaze impassively over those present before settling finally on the one seated to the right of the empty throne, "Where's Sanada?"

The heinous smirk thrown his way hardly fazed him as the owner drawled his reply, his tone insolent and disrespectful, that spoke of a freedom and independence beyond any mortal's wildest dreams. "You're the Prophecy, you tell me." Snorts of laughter accompanied his answer, but Inui remained calmly unaffected.

"I need to see him," he spoke loud and clear, "it's urgent."

"Yeah yeah," the silver-haired youth waved him away rudely, "that's what they all say." His lips quirked in an evil smile and his voice rose several notches up the decibel scale. "We needs to see the King, please. I must see the King!" Mocking laughter came from the others as he mimicked horribly.

"Niou," Inui stared coolly back at him, "I have no time for this today. I must see Sanada."

The other snarled, baring his sharp fangs. "The King is not someone you can meet without good reason. He's not some lowly mortal royalty you can order around. The King does what he wants and if you want to see him you'd better get in the queue."

"Niou," the one sitting to the left of the vacant throne shot him a warning look, "you will have to wait till his Majesty returns, Prophecy." Straw-coloured hair hid his eyes as he bowed slightly to Inui, "He won't be long."

Niou smirked. "Yeah. He'll only be gone a couple of days. Why don't you take a seat?" he asked sarcastically, gesturing to an isolated corner of the room.

Inui's eyes narrowed finally. "Hiyoshi," he turned to the other youth, pointedly ignoring the cruel smile on Niou's face, "tell your King that the time has come."

The blonde nodded, his eyes lighting up with an unfathomable emotion, but Inui had a pretty good guess of what it was. They were all the same, these beings; one and the same. All bent towards one purpose.

"That would be unnecessary," he smirked more than said, the expression on his face matching Niou's one for one, "he already knows."

Inui nodded slowly in acknowledgement. As he'd expected, Sanada would of course have acted as he saw fit, and would not wait for his advice. Time was of essence to the King, and he struck like a python at the best moments, effectively turning things into his favour every time. He had only failed once; there had only been one failure in his entire existence, and it would not be repeated. Of that Inui was certain, because Sanada was doing everything in his power to rectify his mistake. That was their purpose now. He made to leave, his body shimmering as he slowly faded away, but not before catching Niou's snide parting remark, although spoken to Hiyoshi, was actually directed to him.

"He actually thinks his majesty listens to him. That's just sad."

Inui's fists clenched. One day, he thought, one day he might just have to do something about that one.

-

Tachibana looked up when he returned, calmly setting aside the scrolls he had spread out before him. They rolled up and stacked neatly to one side, on the beautiful mahogany desk he'd collected from the mortal realm some centuries back. It had been a gift from a very famous carpenter, with whom he'd held close acquaintance with. He had no real need for it of course – there was no need for furniture, nor anything else, because their realm was one where things floated in the air, and where gravity was non-existent. They spent millennia standing around the common sphere, watching, waiting, and noting. But Inui seemed rather perturbed, even as he strode over to the glowing sphere, and his jaw was set. Tachibana moved up next to him smoothly and followed the other's gaze as he stared intently into the grey orb.

"Interfering is not something that is looked lightly upon," he said this lightly, "it is not our place to intervene with their affairs."

Inui looked sharply at him, but he kept his gaze on the sphere.

"We exist only to make sure the prophecy is fulfilled. Have you forgotten?" he asked softly.

"I have not," Inui's voice was strong and unwavering as he stared at the other, "I can not," he added, as an afterthought.

"Good." Tachibana nodded, "You've been to see them?"

"It is strange," Inui noted, "how you question me, but not Yanagi."

Tachibana kept silent and Inui continued. "He is more concerned than any of us. And he has a weakness for those mortals." He cleared his throat, "If he is allowed to advise, why not I?"

"The mortals need some guidance," he answered, "above all others, they need guidance. Yanagi knows that, I know that, and you, Inui, know that better than all of us. Have you not learned from the past? Have you not learnt from their mistakes?" here Inui nodded mutely, "You know the Rules, Inui. What we can and cannot do. We can choose to help the weak, but we can in no way advice the strong. There is no need to tell Sanada anything. "

"He knows, of course," Yanagi voiced sadly, from where he had just appeared, "they've been watching closely."

"And Tezuka?" Inui questioned, "Has he been paying attention?"

"Of course," Yanagi nodded, "of course he has. He waits for Sanada to strike first, and then he will act."

"An action-reaction situation," Tachibana noted, "very much his forte."

"But is it to his advantage?" Inui questioned, "He must not underestimate Sanada's strength." Again, he added silently.

"He appears well prepared," Yanagi remarked, "he intends that the same mistake must not be made."

"But it will," Inui inclined his head to Tachibana, "as was foretold."

"It will," Yanagi agreed, his fist clenching ever so slightly.

"It bothers you," Inui noted, "why?"

That eyeless gaze met his, and when he spoke it was a breathy sound. "Does it not touch you how these mortals fight, even knowing that it is a useless struggle? Or does power interest you more?"

"You have grown soft," Inui commented lightly, turning his attention back to the third Prophecy. "It appears that I am right."

"And what of you?" Yanagi retorted coolly, "You want to help those who don't need assistance. What are you looking for? Power? You know well enough that Sanada will not be indebted to anyone. Not even to a Prophecy."

"If I wanted power, I would have sought Tezuka instead. Their kind will return favours, as Sanada's kind will not."

"Tezuka will not accept help," Yanagi answered curtly.

"Neither will he accept advice," Inui shot back.

"Like Sanada," Tachibana observed, "strange, how darkness and light are not so different after all."

The two feuding Prophecies fell silent at this, both lost in their own thoughts. When Tachibana spoke up again, his voice was strained with the weight of someone who knew too much, of someone who could foresee doom.

"Even if we wanted to interfere, we could not possibly prevent what is to happen. The wheel spins as it wills, and there is none who could change it otherwise. The Realms will be breached, and there will no distinction between them anymore. Powers of different kinds will rise and fall as they fight to prevail. The world as we know it, will break, and with it, the will of nations and the life of millions. They will look to the one they think can save them," Tachibana paused, and motioned for Yanagi to continue.

"The fate of the world lies on his shoulders. Will he choose to save himself? Or will he choose the world?"

-

Ohtori burst into Kajimoto's quarters, panting and out of breath. "Kajimoto-san!"

The Captain looked up sharply from his discussion with Shishido and stood up smoothly in greeting. "What's the matter?" Next to him, Shishido also rose to his feet, puzzled at the youth's sudden outburst.

"Echizen-san…" he panted, "gone…magic…Mizuki-san…Yagyuu-san…scripture…" he tottered forward unsteadily, and would have collapsed on the floor had Shishido not reacted swiftly and held him up. He threw the assassin a grateful smile, and struggled to his feet. "The scripture. It's gone."

Kajimoto's violet eyes widened in alarm.

Ohtori continued, still unsteady on his own feet after a long bout of riding from the edge of the kingdom. "Mizuki-san says that Yagyuu-san thinks Echizen-kun's gone to find the stones."

"And Echizen?" the Captain asked, striding to the door and gesturing for his guards.

"Echizen-san's still out of it, he's using very strong magic. Yagyuu-san," large hazel eyes pleaded desperately as he stared into his superior's, "Yagyuu-san says we must hurry. There is no time." Kajimoto nodded briskly and left with a swish of his cloak, followed by four of his guards. Ohtori smiled tiredly up at Shishido. "It's just like what is written in the Ancient Scripture."

Shishido considered this a while, before he spoke. "Yeah, but only now the Gems have fallen to some darker power and they're not really hidden anymore." He wrapped an arm under the other's chest and pulled him upright. "Come on, let's get you to your room." With that, he hauled a mildly protesting sub-captain down the long stone hallway.

-

"Is this Byzantine?" Ryoma gazed in open wonder at the tall structures lining the city edge, just within the walls of the kingdom. They looked like they were scraping the sky and he was certain that if he were to reach out just a little, up in the little tower near the top of that particular scraper on the far right, he would be able to get himself a little bit of cloud. Subconsciously, he made the clouds part, thus revealing the rest of the city and …what in the world was that thing!

Golden eyes widened in awe and his jaw dropped just the slightest bit, not so much for it to be noticeable to anyone watching except Karupin.

"This is Byzantine." Its' voice held a certain sort of smugness and he seemed to have trouble trying not to say something.

"Is that the King's library?" Ryoma asked, eyes still glued to that single towering structure, intimidating and inviting at the same time. "It's so…big."

There was a very audible smirk in Karupin's voice now. "You mean you didn't know?" the voice held a mocking tone to it, something akin to exaggerated horror, "All that sneaking around in the King's library and you didn't know?"

His master scowled darkly, throwing him a dirty glare. "It's different inside you know. And the tower never looked so huge up close. I mean," he bit his bottom lip as he rephrased his words, "it was always the biggest building in the kingdom, but it looks positively massive from out here."

And it was true- they were standing near the edge of the forest, the gates of the city looming before them even if they were some miles away. Byzantine was big, it just never occurred to Ryoma that it was this big.

"You'll find that this isn't the only big library around. Amadicia has one of similar magnitude, perhaps even more 'massive' as you would put it," Karupin was practically swirling in glee around its master's head. "You've been confined too long, if you think Byzantine is big."

"I've been confined all my life," Ryoma answered bitterly, "that baka oyaji never lets me out of his sight."

Karupin halted suddenly in mid-swirl. "He has his reasons, perhaps."

Ryoma snorted. "He always has his reasons. It's the reason why he does everything. See? He's even got a reason for his reasons."

Karupin wisely chose not to answer, floating down instead to its master's feet. Ryoma took the hint.

"Fine then. Let's go. The farther away the better."

"Where to first?"

He didn't even need to think; the answer came as naturally as it was for him to breathe. "Amadicia." Of course, that might be only because that was the only other place he knew of. That idiot father of his never quite let on about anything other than sorcery, and even then was strangely protective about it. Oh well, it didn't matter really. He was going to see the world.

And there was nothing anyone could do about it.

-

"He's gone, hasn't he?" Nanjirou wondered aloud, "That little chibi never was one to wait around."

"Is this right?" his companion asked, "Should you have left him on his own?"

Nanjirou shrugged noncommittally. "He's old enough to take care of himself. 'sides, I'm bored of waiting around and watching him mess up." He yawned loudly, enough for him to tear, and grinned lopsidedly at the other. "He's a walking disaster that one, and I wouldn't want to be around him when he screws up."

The look his companion threw him was a curious one, but no question was raised about what the Mage really meant.

-

Something had happened. Likely, Echizen had outsmarted them again, Mizuki had taken just a second too long to figure out what had happened and Kajimoto had gotten the message a minute too late, so by the time they'd had the guards storm through the city to find the ashen remains of the Echizen residence, the little one had several hours ahead of them.

Not that he had had it all planned out of course. No, it was not in his nature to be so conspiratorial. No, it was certainly Nanjirou's work. He'd meant for little Ryoma to leave Byzantine, taking advantage of Mizuki's distraction, and he'd meant for Kajimoto to send out troops to go after him. The only question was why, and Sengoku was sure he wouldn't like the answer, whatever it was.

-

a/n: I love Sanada. I really, really do. –melts into puddle of goo. Anyway, if parts of the story sound familiar, it's because I got some ideas from Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. The BEST fantasy novel ever written. Go read!