A/N: I know, I know, I should not have ended with another cliffhanger but this is all I have so far) errrrrrrr do I hear people bringing out guns! ooooooppppssss hehehe runs like a scared li'l rabbit
A/N: hehehe sweatdrops First of all, thank you for still reviewing this fic even after I kinda disappeared on you guys! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! Though, I think this did not take as long as the last one...it's not really much, but there's are some additional cast here now...i won't tell, LOL you have to read it Anyway, I said there would be comments in this chapie, but sorry, I'm quite busy and if I write comments, I night not be able to post this now, and you guys might have to wait a week or so before I do...
Standard disclaimers apply
here's chapter 15 guys...
KENSHIN the DRAGON HUNTER Chapter XV: Revelations Part III
...Cehpeus Forest...
Misao looked at the direction taken by Dargove and Kenshin. She knew she was right about the rains, and, she also knew that it's still raining hard in that part of the land. She tried hard to control the panic surging through her. Kaoru was fading fast, and without that mushroom, the spell would never be completed!
Misao felt Yahiko's eyes on her. She turned to the young boy and forced a smile. She knew Yahiko saw right through her cover, and she also knew that he was on the verge of breakdown. He saw how Kaoru had turned pale and here shallow breathing became more labored and further apart.
Misao bowed her head. What else could they do, except to wait! She hated this state of helplessness. She was supposed to know what to do, she was supposed to be a sorceress, she was...
A hand touched Misao's shoulder. She turned to see Yahiko looking up at her. "They will make it," he said softly, but firmly. "Dargove, and the dragon hunter will come for sure!" he said those words with so much conviction, Misao believed him that very instant. Yahiko smiled at her before turning towards Kaoru.
"That smile wasn't forced" Misao said to herself, almost in disbelief. It also took a while for her to digest the fact that Yahiko had grown from a young boy to a man in a matter of hours. Misao smiled, genuinely, for the first time since this whole incident. But, she would never admit to Yahiko that she was mistaken... it was she, not the young lad who was on the verge of breakdown...
...Mt. Genesis...
"WHAT!" Kenshin said looking up at Dargove. He was sure he heard the dragon right, but he could not grasp any comprehension on the matter.
Questions flooded Kenshin's mind. "Is Kaoru a dragon? Are her parents dragons? Why is she in human form? Is this true? Is this even possible!" He shook his head. He had seen first hand how Kaoru was so willing to give her life for a dragon... "Her kind?" Kenshin again asked himself. But somewhere deep inside him, there's also this nagging voice asking another question. "Does it matter?" it said... Kenshin smiled at the voice. There's only one answer to that.
Dargove watched Kenshin's face. He saw the shock, the confusion, and something else... regret?
Dargove frowned. Would the son of Thairu turn his back on Kaoru, and whatever it is between them because of this? Dargove turned away for a moment, not wanting to believe his thoughts. But when he looked back, he saw it… a smile from the flame-haired prince.
Dargove smiled too, understanding what it meant. No, it wouldn't matter to him even if Kaoru happened to be the daughter of the most evil of the gods.
Kenshin took a deep breath. What, where or who Kaoru came form would not change what he feels about her, but he has to know so he could understand more. He looked up at the dragon. "Dargove, please tell me how all these happened. I... have to know" Kenshin pleaded with his eyes.
Dargove did not hesitate, he began to tell the secret he had been keeping for a very long time…
"I already told you about the Orb of Life" Dargove began. "There is an altar outside, just above this cave. That is where the portal opens, the 'gate' to the heavens. I was to guard my brother, Kaothian while he performed the ceremony, I wasn't ordered to help. But the decision I made that day may have sealed our fate. Not only for our kind, but for yours as well."
Dargove closed his eyes. He didn't want to remember, but memories of that day came rushing back to him.
Kenshin watched Darvoge's pained expression, and waited silently. He would have stopped the dragon from talking, but he knew Dargove was somewhere else in the past and could not hear him anyway. Dargove then continued his story, in detail...
"To open the portal, the Orb must be released from the dragon host. As strong as Kaothian was, it seemed that the force of the Orb was too strong for him. I shouted to him, wanting to help him, but he told me to stay put. I should have listened to him, I should have! But my brother's screams tore at my heart and I went over to him to lend him my strength. With our strengths combined, the portal slowly began to open. Our ascent was nigh, we could both feel its force washing over us...
Then, fate stepped in. A woman, a sorceress approached us, unnoticed, and pierced my brother's heart with a spear. We both fell on the ground, but only I was conscious. And as much as I tried to, I was unable to move."
"I watched, helpless as my brother's blood spilled, and the evil sorceress used it to create the most dangerous of armors, the Invictus! Her chants caused the ground to shake and the lightning to strike. As she unleashed her magic, my brother disappeared mysteriously, along with the Orb of life. It took a long time after the armor was complete, and the sorceress, Ativa-Mist was gone, before I could move.
I crawled to where Kaothian was but all that's left of him was a pool of his blood."
"Some part of me had wished that the Orb would come to me so I could re- open the portal, but it never did. It was punishment, I thought, for my foolishness. That day I felt for the first time something I never thought I'd feel. The death of this world will come, one day for sure, and I... have caused it!
For decades, I wandered this land, healing whatever sick forest I would pass by, trying to correct the wrong I have done to it. Because of that, I was considered a friend by the Crowns of both Surlow and Triah. If only they knew I was living a lie. If only they knew the guilt that I carry with me."
Still, fate seemed kind to me, for one day, I was invited to the wedding of the beautiful Princess of Triah, Alione, and a young man whom I never met, but had most assuredly held the King's respect. Achelous, the King of Triah himself invited me then, and told me of a kind and strong man named Kirathul who had no past, but held such force around him that the king had no qualms about him inheriting the kingdom. And much more, he had given life back to his beloved daughter, and for this the king would be eternally grateful.
I went to the wedding, a day whose memory I would forever hold dear to my heart. It was the day when I saw him, even as a human, I knew... Kirathul was my long lost brother!"
...Tearlesereph Hill...
Aoshi watched as hundreds of soldiers gathered below at the Rowe Valley. He doesn't know what's going on yet, but he intended to find out. This may sidetrack him for a while from his original purpose... to find the one person that means the most to him… Misao (although he doesn't admit this). But an army this big should not be ignored.
Besides, if Shihio's plan could be thwarted in any way, this would give Aoshi a lot of satisfaction. Not that he really cared much about Shishio's tyranny over the people (or so he thought), Aoshi just doesn't like the guy! He walked over to the well-hidden dragon and told him of his plan.
Silver-Vesca, a young male dragon, named by the long silver hair on his back is the youngest of the four remaining dragons of the world.
A week ago, he made the mistake of challenging a man who was traveling through the forest he was resting in. Youth made Silver-Vesca energetic and a bit rash. It had been long since he had a good fight and he was itching for one. When he saw the cold eyes of the human who passed by, he could not resist taunting him. But the human looked at him calmly, almost... uninterested.
This agitated the young dragon and prompted him to strike a bargain with the human. So sure was he that he would win, he told the human that if he should lose, he, Silver-Vesca, would be the human's servant.
Aoshi won the fight, easily so, but avoided killing the dragon. He left the dragon panting on the ground, wounded, though not fatally. His thought as he walked away was that he wasted precious time he should be using to find Misao.
"Okina is worried about her" Aoshi said to himself, completely ignoring the fact that part of the worry (a large part of the worry) was actually his. A day later, the dragon found him and has been following him ever since.
"I have to go down and ask questions" Aoshi told Silver-Vesca. "Do not show yourself to anyone. If they find you and butcher you, I won't be here to help."
"What if YOU should need MY help?" Silver-Vesca asked and received a cold stare from Aoshi. "Fine" the young dragon said, "whatever you say."
...Mt. Genesis...
Kenshin stared at Dargove. He knew King Kirathul, and Queen Alione, the rulers of Triah. They were great friends of his parents. He met them only once in Surlow. But that one time was enough to tell him what kind of people they are.
Kenshin had watched as his father and King Kirathul, together with their men as rode side by side to go and find the demon that has been plaguing a lot of the villages of Surlow. And all that time when his father was gone, the Queen Alione, despite the fact that she was a month away from giving birth, had stayed by his and his mother's side.
The presence of this beautiful raven-haired queen was a great comfort. Sometimes when his mother would be lost in thought and worry, Queen Alione would take him for walks entertaining him with stories of adventures and... dragons.
Kenshin smiled at the long-buried memory. It had been the rose-scented Queen who first gave him his interest in dragons. It had been the glow in Queen Alione's eyes when she talked about dragons that made Kenshin follow Dargove alone into a dark forest so long ago…
Both kings had survived the hunt, and more than that, they had brought home the head of the demon! Both queens prepared for the celebration, while both kings tended to their wounded men.
Kenshin recalled seeing respect in his father's eyes when he looked at King Kirathul. He thought it was because he had come to help them, but when Kenshin saw the king of Triah bandaging the leg of one of his soldiers, he understood more. King Kirathul was a lot like his own father... He cared about his people.
Kenshin closed his eyes. He hadn't intended on traveling back to the past. It held too much hurt. At a young age, he was as devastated as his parents when he heard of the death of King Kirathul and Queen Alione. They had looked so happy, and so full of life when they said their goodbyes and went back to Triah.
Kenshin still could hear Queen Alione's sweet joyful laugh as she told him and his parents that she was expecting a girl-child. King Kirathul teased him then saying if they had a girl, she and Kenshin might be wed someday.
Kenshin suddenly snapped back to the present as realization dawned on him. "Kaoru" he whispered. "Kaoru... is Kirathul and Alione's daughter!"
Dargove nodded and continued with his story. "When Kirathul saw me, his memory of the past came back too. He does not remember how he became human, but he remembered waking up in this very cave not knowing who he was or what he was! I don't think anyone could really explain what happened, but Kaothian, no Kirathul and I thought that in the process of Ativa-Mist's spell, she had also changed my brother from a dragon into a human. And when the ground had shaken that day, it had also opened up, swallowing my brother and bringing him down to this cave."
"How he had stayed alive all those years, I cannot say. I can only guess that it was because of the Orb of Life."
"Kirathul wanted to re-open the portal as soon as he regained his memory, but I gave him and his new wife three months to be with each other. Alione understood. Even when we told her that Kirathul was really a dragon... She did not care who or what my brother was, she loved him and nothing else mattered."
"Love..." Kenshin whispered, even to his surprise. "Now where did that word come from?" he asked himself, but before he could get an answer, Dargove spoke again.
Kenshin failed to see the delighted smile from the dragon before he decided to rescue the young prince from his own thoughts...
"When the three months were over, Kirathul and Alione held each other as they said their goodbyes, knowing this could well be the last time. Alione had shed tears, but she had grown stronger since she met my brother. She would live for the people that my brother was trying to save.
Kirathul and I then came back to this place. We prepared everything for the ceremony, and also prepared ourselves. I would not make the same mistake again. But when my brother tried to open the portal, he felt it then, the orb was no longer with him.
We went back to Triah with a deep sense of failure. It was Alione who met us, with a radiant smile…"
"She was pregnant... with Kaoru." Kenshin finished for the dragon.
The dragon and the Dragon Hunter's eyes met for a brief moment before the dragon looked away. He had given Kaoru a fate she does not deserve.
"I won't let her die, Dargove!" Kenshin told the dragon. "We'll find a way to make things right, I know we will!"
Dargove gained hope, and strength in those words. He looked at Kenshin. He was no longer the Dragon Hunter, but neither was he a prince too. No… this man is a King in every way. And with him on their side, maybe they stand a chance in destroying Shishio and the Invictus. And maybe too, the dragons stand a chance of ascending to the heavens...
...Cepheus forest...
Willow and Sano finally found themselves on their way back to where Kaoru and the others were. They had everything Misao asked them to get but Willow could feel Sanosuke's apprehension.
"The rains have stopped in Mt. Genesis for some time now," Willow said trying to calm him down. "I'm sure Dargove and Kenshin are on their way here. Everything's going to be alright Sano."
Sano nodded about to tell Willow that she was right, when he looked up and saw Misao and Yahiko kneeling before Kaoru... weeping hard...
...to be continued(c",)