Ordinary World: Chapter Six: Never Again
Kesuke's manner was somewhat smug as he watched the stunned Chihiro take in her surroundings as they entered the Palace Merquise, home and headquarters of her Majesty, the Queen. He muttered a few words and released her wrist, not that she noticed. The spell was dissolvable once inside the palace. Idly almost, he observed her movements, her actions, all belying the childlike fascination she undoubtedly had in this grandiose personification of royalty.
"It's amazing," she breathed and he merely nodded. Of course it was. It was the Queen's palace after all. How could it be anything but?
"I'm glad you like it Pretty, but come along now. You can't meet the Queen in that," he gestured at her school uniform and she shrugged nonchalantly before the impact of what he'd said hit her.
"First, I told you. I'm Chihiro...Chi-hi-ro! Not 'Pretty'. And if you think you're going to get me into one of those weird cupcake dresses you've got another thing coming," her voice was slightly edgy. After being thrown from place to place and into circumstances she hadn't asked for repeatedly, she was on the edge of her patience.
"Right, right. Chihiro," he pronounced it overly, exaggerating it and then continued, "You'll not be wearing any cupcakes either. We don't have those here," he shook his head and then took her hand in his once again, pulling her reluctant form behind him.
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Haku padded in a stealthy silence through the palace's corridors, the lush red carpeting giving him added assistance in keeping quiet as he moved. He moved at a speed that caused the castle curtains to rustle slightly or a maid's apron to go a bit awry but simultaneously allowed him to move nearly invisibly.
Ah, the perks of being a river god.
Whose river happens to be filled in with apartments...
Right. Well, that didn't matter. What mattered was that he find Chihiro and being her back.
There was sudden noise and approaching movement and Haku stilled himself, darting behind some thick draperies as a small group of palace guards sauntered through the hall. They weren't old; in fact they were no older than him, maybe only by a couple of years, young men in black armor.
"Did you see Master Kesuke? I heard he returned from his mission," one of them remarked, casting a glance in Haku's direction without knowing the river god was actually there.
"Nah but I heard he brought someone back with him," one of the others jeered and there was a hearty and empty bout of raucous laughter at that.
"I saw her; Master Kesuke dragged her to the Queen. Tcha, I bet she doesn't last a minute in her Majesty's presence," another commented as the group moved on, their backs to the silently frowning river god. He slipped out from behind the curtains and sped once more through the corridors, wishing he knew this palace better and its layout, knowing it could take him too long to just find out where he was inside of it.
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"I'm not coming out!"
"You have to Chihiro," Kesuke massaged his temples ruefully. This had been going on for some time now. The girl absolutely refused to wear any of the given attire...
"You can't make me!"
"Don't make me, make you," he challenged and there was a silence that ensued. There was the shuffling of feet...the rustle of skirts...a moan of resignation and irritation...
"Why can't I just wear something like you're wearing?" her voice was almost pleading now and Kesuke took the moment to examine his own attire. It was strangely similar to the dragon-boy's ensemble, but instead of white there was black and where Haku's was blue, Kesuke's was a deep red. Black and red...the symbolic colors of Her Majesty.
"You're a girl," he emphasized the word 'girl' as though it were an amusement to him and simultaneously a curse for her, which Chihiro wasted no time in concluding that it was.
"So?" she played the stubborn mule role very well.
"So, you have to wear whatever you're wearing because you're already making us late," he exclaimed in final exasperation and raised his palm in the direction of the door. There was a click as his magic unlocked the latch and a creak as he pushed it open with a motion of his hand, the invisible threads of sorcery pulling at it willingly.
"This is some kind of injustice," Chihiro muttered and ushered herself out of the room before he could pull any of the magic on her...she was sick of being pulled and pushed around by other people's wills. Not altogether pleased with her forced surrender, she stood defiantly in front of Kesuke, hands on hips, a muted glare pasted onto her otherwise lovely face. Kesuke for his part, merely nodded his approval.
"That's good. It suits you," he appraised and Chihiro could only barely hold herself from sputtering a protest. If this was her, then Yubaba was beautiful. No offense to the old witch of course.
Regardless of her thoughts though, Kesuke was in the right. She looked every inch the presentable lady he wanted to introduce to the Queen. A black sleeveless dress made of a watery, silky material clung to her torso in taste and flared out slightly from the waist down, trails of rose red embroidery adorning the edges of the gown in spiraling delicate designs of curving lines. A red garnet earring was in each of her ears and a black ribbon was around her neck, a small garnet pendant dropping down from it slightly to rest in the hollow of her throat. The creaminess of her skin was enhanced to an illustrious pale that was almost...unreal.
Chihiro wanted to gag.
She had never, ever had to wear anything of the sort...and never had she intended to. So she was still frowning, tapping her feet with impatience and annoyance all at once in the god forsaken black heels that came with the darn dress, when Kesuke shook his head and cleared his throat. He had been staring apparently. Not that Chihiro had noticed. All she noticed was him making her wait after he said they were in a hurry when she could have definitely put that time to good use by changing into something more conventional. Ah, ignorance is bliss.
Blinking, Kesuke motioned for her to follow him and they made their way through the halls.
"So who is this Queen anyway? What does she want?" Chihiro pried at him in her forward manner.
"You will address her simply as 'Your Majesty' or 'Your Highness' or 'Your Worship'...anything imperial. Her name is unimportant," he brushed it off and Chihiro was quick enough to notice so.
"So if it's not important, why not tell me?" Chihiro switched tactics.
"Because you don't need to know her name to do what she wants you to do," Kesuke was being evasive and he knew it but he couldn't help it if the Queen was somewhat of a prick when it came to these things.
"And what does she want me to do?" Chihiro persisted and Kesuke sighed, turning to stare at her. In all his years of magic and practice, he'd never met anyone like this Chihiro, always asking questions, stubborn to a fault and definitely not your typical fair maiden. He was used to the women who either bossed him around and enforced the law, like the Queen, or ones that shriveled under him at the merest smile or wave of his hand.
Ogino Chihiro was something completely different apparently.
Oh well.
He was always up for a challenge.
"She wants you to do something important," he smiled infuriatingly at her and before Chihiro could further protest, he was pushing her in through two particularly grandiose doors, down a thick crimson and gold-lined carpet, to the dais of a golden throne.
The Queen was startlingly beautiful with golden blonde hair and seemingly silver eyes that glinted with something akin to magic mixed with a fear-induced haze. Tall [though not taller than Kesuke or Haku] and slender with a gorgeous figure Chihiro was certain boys at her school would worship as goddess-like, the Queen held herself with a posture that suggested both power and something slightly more underhanded.
If Chihiro was surprised when she spoke, eyes directly meeting the Queen's, Kesuke was something between stricken and appalled, admiring and stunned:
"Please don't use magic on me Queen. I'm tired of it," Chihiro said bluntly and was thankful her legs didn't go traitor on her and become jelly like she was so certain they would do under any other circumstances.
"How amusing a girl you have brought me my dear," the Queen drawled with an inflection that suggested she was amused. Her eyes darted for a moment languidly from Chihiro who shifted uncomfortably in the gown to Kesuke who had his eyes respectfully averted. "My dear, why do you hide your beautiful eyes from me?" Chihiro blinked in surprise at the sudden slightly hurt tone the Queen's voice took on, and somehow she just knew it was genuine.
"Forgive me my Queen," Kesuke's voice took on a more solemn quality that the third occupant of the room suspected was the reason he sounded slightly older...slightly different from the boy who took her to this place at all.
"Come, stand on my right while we examine her. She's rather different from the image I saw," the Queen mused, obviously puzzled.
"That was an image from six years ago my Queen," Kesuke clarified and the Queen made an understanding sound.
"Grew up nicely. She should do very well as our figurehead. The men will flock and the women will admire her. Maybe even some of the rebels will come to her, spare us some trivial fighting," the Queen pondered aloud, Chihiro all the while not being quite comfortable under her gaze.
"My Queen...are you certain...I mean, she is only a child," Kesuke ventured and the Queen's lazy gaze became sharper and somewhat...unnerving. Chihiro shivered.
"I am positive. Do you directly question your match?" she challenged and Kesuke smiled disarmingly.
"No, of course not my heart, I just thought I'd re-instate what you were doing," he replied in a tone that could be nothing but tender. The Queen's sudden anger and displeasure evaporated as quickly as it had come and she turned her eyes back to Chihiro who was trying to process all she had heard.
"Girl...what is her name?" the Queen asked Kesuke and Chihiro didn't wait for him to answer. She was sick of a lot of things, true, and being ignored when she was fully present was one of them.
"My name is Chihiro!" she said calmly, with more composure than she really felt.
"Chihiro, what a nice name. Don't fear child, I won't take it from you. Yubaba is an old crone with more tricks than true magic," the Queen smiled, baring teeth that were so pearly white Chihiro averted her eyes. The Queen was somewhat inhuman, or so Chihiro thought.
"I am not afraid," Chihiro said, contradictory to the rolling waves in her heart and tempest in her mind that clearly said otherwise.
"Brave...and foolish. Well, you can't help but do as I say, so you might as well get comfortable here. Love, take her to her rooms and show her around. I have things to attend to," the Queen said, turning to Kesuke and to Chihiro's further surprise, kissed him...not a mere peck either. It was straight on the lips...lips the Queen was rather familiar with it would seem. Chihiro averted her own eyes to the floor; suddenly she found the thick red carpet very interesting...
So they're together huh? Chihiro mused idly. That's...just weird, she decided and was stolen out of her thoughts by a tap on the shoulder.
"Let's go," Kesuke more ordered than anything and they made their way to the two grand doors, Kesuke shutting them as they exited, close behind them with a faint echoing thud.
The Queen's silver eyes glimmered.
"Everything is falling into place, isn't it my dear?" she asked the empty room absently, addressing the no longer present Kesuke. It had been some time since she had found the handsome young man, a perfect being in most rights, perfect for her that is. She had won him over by any means possible, these ones being a mite foul and it didn't really bother her. As long as he was there with her, as long as he was hers, she didn't care. She loved him in a twisted way, and he did her bidding without much hesitation or question, so she had convinced herself he felt the same. He certainly didn't vacillate in the shows of affection, the Queen reasoned, her lips curving upward slightly at the thought.
And suddenly, the Queen's eyes flashed.
"We have an unexpected visitor," she realized and smiled, a feral quality to that smile now.
"I should welcome him," she decided and waited as said visitor came closer and closer to her, unknowingly. She shielded her power so she was virtually unreadable to most, including the person heading towards her. But she knew he was coming. So it was no surprise when a certain stoic river god sped into the throne room, unheeding the Queen's presence.
"Hello little river god," she spat more than greeted and Haku froze in his haste, turning to stare slowly at the woman on the throne.
"...Where is she?" he asked coldly. The Queen made a hurt expression, pure mockery but hurt nonetheless.
"What, no gifts, no smile?" She evaded his question blatantly.
"Tell me where she is," Haku demanded and restrained himself from what he knew would only be a foolish attack. This was her turf. He had nearly no standing ground.
Nearly.
"Who, Pretty?" the Queen asked, playing the dumb one Haku knew she wasn't.
"Chihiro," he supplied.
"Right, Pretty, appropriate don't you think? She's a lovely girl, perfect for my plans," the Queen acted as though it were a perfectly normal conversation between old friends.
"No. She's not apart of anyone's plans, least of all yours!" He was losing patience. He didn't even know if Chihiro was safe, or well...it was killing him and making him lose some of his otherwise more prudent judgment.
"You don't mean to tell me with a straight face that you didn't consider using her for your little rebel cause do you? I can see right through you Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi."
The Queen's words bit through him and he bit his tongue from lying like he wanted to. Truth was, he had thought of it; Chihiro would have been the ideal person to bring others to their dying cause, but...he hadn't really intended to push that upon her. Maybe he had hoped she would offer of her own volition after seeing their situation, think of it on her own, but he would not make her. That's what he told himself.
"You don't respond, retaliate or tell me that I am incorrect," the Queen jeered. "Well, you have no choice, Kohaku. She is mine."
Mine. Not yours. Mine.
"No!" he little more than growled.
"Oh yes," the Queen raised her hand and without so much as a breath sent a wave of paralysis at the river god.
Haku had no time. He could not stop this witch's power at this proximity with so little notice. The wave hit and as expected, he could not move. There were chances of things like this happening on all of his missions. It had to be on the one that mattered most to him that they would happen of course. If he could have scowled, he would have. As it was, he could barely think straight. Damn the Queen, he grumbled mentally. He struggled, no matter the futility, to release himself from the tricky spell...
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"So you're her lover?" Chihiro was never one to beat around the bush.
"Eh-eh...huh?" Kesuke stuttered and wondered briefly when he had ever taken up stuttering.
"You kissed her, and she called you 'love' and you called her 'my heart', what else could you be?" Chihiro prompted, puzzled. She refrained from mentioning the level of intimacy the kiss had, and that it should have been reserved for an older audience than herself. Of course, Chihiro was a bit biased. She had never kissed anyone and never seen it really happen like that in real life. She felt that was of little consequence though.
"Well, she took me as a lover," he tried to avoid answering a question he wasn't altogether sure he knew the real answer to.
"But..." Chihiro began but suddenly a voice emanated...in her mind it seemed.
Kesuke, love, bring Pretty and come back to the throne room. I need to show her something.
Chihiro knew it was the Queen...talking to them...somehow inside their heads. And she wouldn't be lying if she said she absolutely hated it. Stupid woman get out of my head! Chihiro frowned.
"Yes my Queen," Kesuke answered aloud and was relieved he wouldn't have to answer Chihiro's question, at least not for now. He took her hand not for the first or last time and dragged an oddly silent Chihiro once more towards the throne room, wondering what it was the Queen could want again in so short a time span.
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"They're coming," she told him, amused. Haku had only untangled enough of the spell to allow him to move his face; this meant talking, and many facial expressions, which for the moment seemed locked down around a scowl, frown, or out-right glare.
"Release me witch," he demanded and added, "I'll get out of it sooner or later." To which, he was irked to see her smile condescendingly at.
"I think not little river god. That's a special spell, just for you. You've gotten the face done but anything else will only loop back to tie you up again. And you don't know the other special enhancement yet. You will soon though, no worries," she said and waved her hand in the direction of the doors. "Ah, they arrive." The doors swung open.
Haku knew it wasn't the time to gape but Kesuke couldn't really blame him. He---that is, Haku---had never seen Chihiro wear anything of the sort of gown she now wore...regardless of how reluctantly.
"Haku!" Chihiro was somewhere between disbelief, anger, fright and relief as she ran to him, suspended in the air as he was, he seemed to be strung on some invisible web of tangles...
"Chihiro," he smiled softly at her. She couldn't be anymore beautiful...Stop that...it's not the time you idiot, he thought, berating himself.
"What's she done to you?" Chihiro took a moment to shoot an icy glare at the Queen, one that rivaled her Majesty's own best and Kesuke just repressed a smile at her unbridled spunk and blind bold attitude.
"A simple paralysis spell; I'll be out soon and then we'll fly," Haku said, more reassuring than he felt he should be. Chihiro was about to speak when the Queen's slight and soon fully audible laughter rang through the room a dangerous lilt to it.
"'Simple'? Oh no. Well, we'll have to fix that misconception. How's this for simple little river god?" the Queen asked and made a twisting motion with her right hand.
Pain...all he knew was pain. He couldn't move; obviously that was the point but it was more than that. He couldn't make a sound. It felt like every part of him was being twisted into constricted messes of irrevocable knots, and then pulling and breaking...it was like he was dying. It lasted for what seemed like forever and was really only a minute or so, and then he knew he was losing consciousness and he knew even as he me the blackness that being unconscious would offer no respite from the pain...it would only get worse.
On the outside, all Chihiro saw was a suddenly limp and pale Haku...not moving at all.
"Haku? Haku! Haku!" She repeated his name as though it could bring him out of whatever he had been thrown into, as though she could help him...when she knew full-well she had no such capabilities. She was a mere mortal, no magician or sorceress, no fighter, only...only a girl with a fiery temper and a knack for getting into trouble. She didn't let the tears surface though. There was no way she would ever give that awful...woman...the satisfaction. Instead, she shook Haku's form, reaching up to his prostate body, taking hold of his shoulders and calling him...again and again...to no avail.
"He can't hear you Pretty," the Queen told her the obvious that she wanted to ignore.
"Don't talk to me," Chihiro spat and turned her attention back to Haku fully. Kesuke did not watch. He couldn't. This was not under any circumstances what he would have done; of course, he felt more compassion for the girl than the Queen. To see Chihiro futilely trying to wake the river god was...disheartening.
"But I can save him," the Queen barely spoke above a whisper but Chihiro was blessed with good hearing.
"How?" Chihiro asked.
"Just say you'll stay here, you won't run, and when I wake him, make him promise not to come for you, and no one else, no one Pretty. One misstep and he," the Queen pointed at Haku, "He dies. And he won't be the last, I promise you."
Chihiro tried to remember to breathe.
Breathe Chihiro. Think.
This meant she might never see him again...the boy...the man...the dragon...the friend she cherished and had only just been reunited with...never...
And yet he would live.
And that was all she needed.
"Fine," her voice was a great deal steadier than she would have given herself credit for pulling off and she found herself thanking a blank emptiness that it didn't break like she had feared.
"Done," the Queen waved and Haku's eyes shot open, wide and pained, but somehow relieved...the pain had stopped. His blurry vision focused on Chihiro, who stood there looking at him for all the world like hope had just flown out the window.
For her, it had.
"Haku, will you do something for me?" she asked, trembling even as she said the words. He nodded dumbly. The pain was still making him ache insanely and his mind was fuzzy...this the Queen knew and counted on. The only one who noticed the slight movement of her fingers on her left hand was Kesuke who still, couldn't bring his eyes to watch the given scene.
"Yes Chihiro," he heard himself say...wait...that wasn't what he wanted to say...his eyes darted sideways to a sickeningly smug looking Queen. She was controlling him...
"Stay away," Chihiro managed to whisper.
"What?" he exclaimed, completely of his own will. What did she mean? She was surely brainwashed or...or worse. What was she saying? Haku wanted to shake her, make her take it back, make her say she didn't mean it...
"Go, you have to go. And stay that way. Gone. From here," Chihiro's voice became slightly firmer.
"But...Chihiro..." he began, ignoring the lancing pain that was cutting through the area near his heart, something a great deal worse than the physical pain of before...
"I never want to see you again," she resolved and stared at him directly in the eyes. Haku was stunned. Could this be real? What was happening? And suddenly he again lost control over his words and he knew it was the Queen speaking through him:
"Then you never will," his voice said but his mind screamed otherwise while simultaneously cursing the Queen to some place worse than the seventh Hell. The worst part was that his voice was cold, unfeeling and he could tell, no matter how Chihiro tried to hide it, that it hurt her...it hurt her more than she would ever admit. And yet, she was the one who was telling him to go, was she not? Why would she be hurting?
"Glad you're done," the Queen muttered and made a grand gesture with her hands. Haku was released and he floated to the ground and stood for a moment in front of a inwardly struggling Chihiro, looking beautiful regardless of her discouraged and lost state of being. He began to fade, presumably back to where he came from, one of the Queen's other spells, one of many. He didn't try to stop it.
You never want to see me again? He wondered with more sadness than he thought he could ever muster and pondered again why it was Chihiro looked sad when he was doing what she apparently wanted...when he noticed how glassy her eyes were. They were watering even...and he was startled when she reached out to him half-heartedly with her right hand.
"I never want to see you again, if that's the only way I can keep you safe," and finally her voice broke, waves of the bitterness she felt sweeping over him as he involuntarily faded as he too reached out his hand to touch her cheek.
He disappeared completely from the throne room.
He reappeared on a grassy hill not far from his rebel head quarters. And all he had in his hand was the remains of a few salty, wet tears.
He disappeared...this time into himself as he let his legs give out and collapsed on the hill...drained of emotion...of physical well-being...and something far more important...
Rather, someone.
It began to rain and he just didn't care anymore.
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"Chihiro!" Kesuke called after her as she turned and stormed out of the throne room, doors slamming behind her as she tried in vain to hide the tears she had so successfully kept under tabs until that last breaking moment.
She just couldn't help it if she loved the one she couldn't be with.
She just couldn't help it if the only way for him to be safe was away from her.
She just couldn't help it if it all didn't matter and she knew she'd still love him, even being apart.
She just couldn't help most things it seemed.
As her running figure made it to one of the many intersecting hallways, she paused and took off blindly down one of them, not caring where it went or how long it was. So engrossed in her tornado of emotions and inward battles, she didn't look where she was going and was very startled to run into something firm but not hard...not a wall...kind of warm.
Sniffing, she angrily wiped her fingers across her face, as though she could tear the wetness in her eyes away and looked up at the thing she had run into. She glared fiercely, eyes still bright with more unshed tears as she recognized the person.
"You're all bastards," she sobbed, and pushed past him, not noting the pained expression on his face as she did so and he watched her continue to run, run to a place she couldn't stay and would soon have to return from. He knew. She knew. He cared. She didn't.
And Kesuke was unnerved to find he wasn't sure exactly why he cared...why he should care...and further disturbed to find himself following dumbly after the crying girl he had brought here under strict orders and inadvertently perhaps, ruined the life of.
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The Queen only smiled as the rain fell outside.
That was the longest chapter yet. Kinda...sad but it's necessary. And it is for the plot, which I hope you at least kinda like...^^;
So um...Did you like it? I hope so. Review please if you want more. ^_~
Thank you to all who have reviewed and still are reviewing. They mean so much to me! ^_^ See how much? I'm smiling!!!!! [A lot!]
-Kaji