CHAPTER 9: GET OUT!
Himeno struggled, pulling on her wrists until the chains cut in and made them bleed. If she had to, she'd throw herself over the damn ledge. She wasn't about to die from him! Hayate, please, please, please...
"After what you and my father did to my mother,this is what you deserve," Jikan said coldly, all trace of the smile from before gone and replaced with a deadly calm mask.
Himeno closed her eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks. Now would be a really good time to become the White Pretear! She had to figure out how to activate it. She thought and thought and tried to concentrate. A difficult task seeing as she was about to die! Nothing happened. Why couldn't she do it? Her life depended on it and she couldn't become the White Pretear! She needed a miracle now.
"JIKAN!"
She opened her eyes when she heard his voice...Hayate! Her miracle stood at the entrance to the cavern. And she could almost feel the angry energy coming from him.
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"Does he even know where the bloody hell we're going?" Blaise demanded, trying to keep up with Hayate.
"He is following his heart, mon ami," Feryn said over his shoulder. "His heart is with Himeno and thus he will find her!"
"That's blarney if ever I heard it! 'Following his heart' my arse! He's just flyin' around blindly in this fuc- OI!" Blaise had to dive low to avoid hitting Kei and Feryn, now hovering close behind Hayate.
Hayate was very still, as if listening to the darkness surrounding them. They were in the Mountains of Shadow now, the lands of the Queen of Nightmares. A very nasty place to be trespassing.
Kei saw something move out of the corner of his eye and looked over. "Hey, we've got company," he shouted.
Knights were appearing out of nowhere, all dressed in black. They were the Dark Knights, servants to the Queen of Nightmares. The Dark Knights began to fan out, forming a loose circle around the Knights of Leafe. Some had real weapons, others were pulling leafe in, ready to use it. One moved forward, grey eyes giving them a death glare. "You're not welcomed here," he said, his voice harsh and grating. "Turn back."
"You have our Pretear," Hayate answered just as coldly. "We've come to get her back."
The Dark Knight laughed dryly. "I know. Our Queen is very interested in her."
"Let Himeno go," Mannen shouted, surging toward the leader angrily. Kei's hand on his shoulder kept him from charging the Dark Knights by himself.
The Dark Knights all started laughing at the young Knight of Ice. "Amusing, really," the first one said. "Almost worth letting you live to make us laugh like that! Almost...unfortunately for you, though, we're of the opinion that the only good Leafe Knight is a dead one. Let's make them good Leafe Knights, shall we?" The Dark Knights began to move forward, almost blending in with the shadows that seemed to follow them.
"Hayate, we can handle them! Go save Himeno," Kei shouted before ducking a water spear aimed for him. He fired back, catching the Dark Knight square in the chest. The Dark Knights once served Leafenia. They had all the abilities of a Leafe Knight, just for the other side.
Hayate nodded and maneuvered through the ensuing fight without getting caught.
Sighing, Kei shouted, "Shin, get a containment field up now! Blaise, stick with Shin and watch his back. Hajime, if you leave Feryn's side once, I'll beat you up myself! Mannen, you're with me. Stay together and try to get them one against two!" Taking a deep breath, he muttered, "Okay, let's se if we can make these bastards a little more visible." He concentrated and sent a flash of brilliant light to break through the shadows and the gloom, making their enemies more visible.
And illuminated the beautiful woman in a black cloak on the ground, smiling. She had a sword almost as tall as she was, point resting down, for now. Kei froze when he saw her, recognizing her immediately. The Queen of Nightmares. Shit, it was a trap!
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Hayate couldn't explain how he knew. He just did, and he didn't care about the reasons behind it. Just that he knew he could find Himeno. It was like he could hear her screaming for him. He followed his instincts, flying blindly through the night and the treacherous dark peaks. Himeno...He would find her. No matter what happened, he would find her and get her out of there!
He doubled back over a series of caves. He'd heard something...a voice maybe. Hayate paused listening. And then...
"HAYATE!"
Hayate flew into the cave. That was Himeno! And from the pitch of the scream, he knew she was terrified. He landed on the tunnel floor and began to run toward the sound, unable to fly due to stalagtites on the ceiling. He had no clue how far he'd gone or where he was until he burst through the gloom into an open area that was lit along the steep walls by a few torches, skidding to a halt just in time to miss toppling over the edge into the abyss below. Himeno...She was chained to a small pillar of rock in the middle of the cavern, arms over her head and struggling like crazy to get free. And Jikan...
Jikan had an arrow aimed right fo her. He did the only thing he could think of to distract the Knight of Time. He shouted his name. "JIKAN!"
Jikan turned slowly, the bow and arrow fading away into the night. He smiled slowly, hands clasped behind his back. "Hayate, you're running a little early! I had hoped you would have waited until after she was dead, but no matter. So, this is the man my mother had loved first?I I can't say as I'm overly impressed. You know, I've been waiting for this moment for sixteen years...sort of."
"Sixteen years? I didn't know you sixteen years ago!" Was he crazy? Wait, stupid question, of course he was crazy!
Tilting his head to one side, Jikan drifted closer to Himeno. "The good thing about having the leafe of time is that it's of no obstacle for you. You can freeze it, speed it up, go forward or backward. Which is what I did. Right now, I'm still trapped in that damned tree, barely a year old. My mother, Takako, cried every day for sixteen years in that tree. Every. Single. Day. Do you know how much that hurts, knowing that nothing you do or say will ever make your own mother smile?" Jikan traced his fingers down Himeno's cheek and she pulled away, balancing shakily on the ledge. "No, you wouldn't know, would you? Your mother abandoned you."
Hayate moved forward a little, stopping when Jikan turned back to him. A plan...he needed a plan now. "She dies, you know," Jikan continued, moving away from her. "About a week after I turned sixteen. I think she died from a broken heart. For two years she kept saying how much I looked like my father. Oh, yes, I heard about him. I heard about you and your bitch Pretear as well. I think in the end mother just couldn't live with it any longer. And, with her death, I was finally freed from the Tree of Fenril to come and get revenge." Jikan laughed softly. "So, how will this little scenario play out? Do I kill her and watch you suffer? Or do I keep her alive to distract you during the fight?
"Let her go, Jikan. Your fight is with me," Hayate said firmly. He shifted a little, prepared to fly if needed. His eyes were watching Jikan for even the slightest hostile movement toward Himeno.
Jikan pretended to think about it. "Hmm..nope! Sorry, but I don't wish you dead, Hayate. There are far more terrible things in life than death. Such as dying at the hand of your true love."
Hayate froze at that. What...? "Himeno wouldn't ever harm me."
Smiling coldly, Jikan ran his hands up the chains, touching Himeno's hands. "Are you so sure of that? What if the choice were taken from her? Or you, for that matter. Could you bring yourself to harm her and save yourself? Hmm...I wonder..."
"God, stop groping me, you pervert," she snapped, jerking away sharply. She teetered on the brink before balancing back.
Jikan laughed like she'd just told a very amusing joke. "This hardly qualifies as groping. Groping implies lower than the hands." He started to suit action to words.
Hayate was off and in the air before Jikan's hand could get lower than her neck. Himeno's scream was cut off and then...Jikan wasn't in front of him. What? He couldn't be that fast! Where did he go?
"HAYATE!"
Jikan...was behind him! But...how? Hayate bit back the cry of pain when Jikan's elbow caught him in the back hard, forcing him down into the pit. Recovering, he circled back up, looking around for the Knight of Time.
Jikan was behind Himeno, laughing. "Such great fun!" He reached out, trailing fingers on the back of her neck. Himeno twisted around in the chains and aimed a kick for his groin. Jikan caught her foot and pulled her forward off the pillar, deftly flicking the chains from around her wrists so that there was nothing to save her from the fall. Two things happened at once.
One, Hayate moved with more speed than he'd ever managed in his life to try and catch Himeno.
And, two, Jikan snatched her hand, pulling her away from him.
Himeno struggled against his hold, nails cutting into his wrist, but Jikan wouldn't drop her. "I wonder what would happen if I preted with Himeno," Jikan called.
Hayate's heart about stopped. No..."Don't let him in, Himeno," he shouted. Jikan...
Jikan laughed. "On a normal knight, that would work. But I'm not a normal knight. I'm half Pretear. And I think we both know, Hayate, the only way to defeat a Pretear is with another Pretear. So, you see, Himeno won't have a choice in the matter. Let's see how well you fight against the one you love." He looked down at Himeno's wide eyes and smiled cruelly. "Shall we, my dear?"
"Himeno, fight it!" Hayate flew at them, aiming for Jikan, not Himeno. He had to get the Knight of Time away from her!
Himeno screamed in pain as the soft white light filled the cavern. "I...I can't! I can't fight him off! Hayate, get outta here now! AHHH!"
Hayate was flung back by the force of Jikan and Himeno preting. He hit the wall of the cavern, shaking his head to clear it. And when he looked up...
Himeno was floating about ten feet from him, in all bright red. And crying. She looked up at him and whispered, "He...he's taken control of me! I...I can't stop...Hayate, GET OUT!" She screamed, body arching in a way that wasn't natural and then a burst of green light exploded from her, taking the shape of an arrow midflight.
Ducking, Hayate flew higher, heart in his throat. Jikan had forced her to pret. And Himeno wasn't in control of her body, Jikan was. Himeno was going to kill him. The bastard knew very well he wouldn't do a thing to harm Himeno. He was as good as dead.