Ch.6- Free

"Your life's not over yet my child!" came a distant but intense whisper to Brianna's ears.

"Mom!" she replied. She looked around her to see her mother and her aunts surrounding her. Her mother reached out her hand to Brianna.

"Come on, sweetheart!" Arwen encouraged. Brianna reached out. As soon as their hands locked, she felt the hands of her aunts as well. A surge of power flowed through her. She took one deep breath, Kok-Lir whipped around in shock but was blinded by a bright light that surrounded Brianna. She stood. Then suddenly with an outcry she burst into flames, incinerating Kok-Lir. Brianna looked at herself as the flames dance over her whole body. The chains that bound her and the bracelets meant to stifle her power had melted away at the heat. She was wearing the breast plate she found in the woods. Somehow, she summoned it and the third stone. She turned to the exterior wall of the cell. Roots exploded though the wall, shaking the building.

A storm was brewing as Mials ran outside the fort. He was met by Senju, who looked just as perplexed. The soldiers looked up to the blackening sky as the wind picked up. Soon Brianna came into view from the side of the fort still in flames. The trees began to crush the soldiers. They screamed in terror and agony as the roots swallowed them up. A bolt of lightning struck the flag pole at the top of the fort. Mukuro's flag caught fire instantly. Brianna began to walk towards Mials, who looked petrified.

"I want you to leave here and never return!" she bellowed. "Tell Mukuro this is no longer her forest!"

"This is my home!" he snapped.

"Not anymore!" she stated. Lightning struck all around him. When it ended, he ran from the fort with nothing. Brianna looked to Senju. He knelt before her with his head down. Rain began to pour down from the sky. It seemed to calm the wild trees. The flames died away from Brianna flesh. She wasn't burnt at all. In fact, she was healed. "Don't…" she said to Senju softly. She came over to him. He looked up at her. "Tell everyone to gather their things. We are leaving." Senju stood.

"Yes, Brianna." he replied hurrying off. She walked into the fort alone. She made sure it was clear of all soldiers and people before sealing it up with vines and bush when she exited. Senju had everyone almost ready to leave. He watched Brianna walk into the wood. She went to where she knew Joanna was buried. It had no marker or headstone. She knelt down.

"I will come back someday and give you a magnificent head stone but until then, I need you to guard this for me." she said to the fresh dirt. She took off the breast plate. She pushed it down into the soil. Small root rose up, pulling the breast plate down deep. Grass grew over the grave as Brianna stood up. Then a beautiful white rose bush. "I love you, JoJo." She fight against her tears was lost. A few silent ones fell as she turned away.

She met the last of the villagers and Senju as they headed for the exit of the forest. After the last person left the forest trail behind, Brianna turned and raised her hands to the forest. The trees creaked and moved closing up the path. The rain stopped as the storm broke up. Brianna followed behind everyone as Senju led the way.

As night fell, they made camp close to the border of Mukuro and Yomi's land. Brianna and Senju kept watch as everyone slept. He eyed her carefully as they stood across from each other.

"What?" she asked softly after a while.

"How?" he asked bewildered. "Where did that power come from? Why leave? Why send Mials away?"

"Mials is a liability." she replied. "You know it as well as I do. Leaving is to give all of us a chance to live. I made that forest uninhabitable until I have a way to permanently secure it from Mukuro's forces. As to where the power came from, I don't know. Maybe it's been growing in me for a while and I've spent too much time being a pacifist to unleash it. Or maybe it took what happened to me in that cell."

"What happened to you in that cell?" asked Senju.

"I died." she replied. He looked at her in disbelief.

"Kok-Lir?" he asked after a long moment.

"Mials." she stated. "He poisoned me. I guess he was trying to spare me Kok-Lir's torture. Joke's on both of them. He's homeless and she's an ashy outline in that basement." Senju scuffed.

"What?" she asked.

"I knew you had some of your father in you." he said. "His vindictiveness." She sighed heavily.

"Looking like him is bad enough." she admitted.

"Right now, you look tired." he stated. "Why don't you get some sleep?" he asked. "Ill woke up someone else to help me guard." She nodded knowing she was spent. He pulled a blanket off a hay covered wagon for her and laid it on the ground near one of their small fires. Within seconds of laying down, she was out.

When she woke, she was in the back of the hay filled wagon. She could hear children running and playing. People staking and laughing. She saw roofs of small town houses. She sat up and looked around. She felt overjoyed at the flag that flew in the middle of town. It was Yomi's. She noticed the villages were being escorted to the center of town. There standing on the steps of the grandest little building in town seemed to be a royal guard. A tall, dark haired goat demon stood out to her.

When the wagon came to a stop before the building, he came over after someone whispered something. She examined him curiously. He smiled a little. He extended a hand to her.

"Brianna, I take it." he said in a voice that sent shivers through her whole body.

"Yes." she confirmed as she took is hand. He helped her up and out of the wagon.

"I am Lord Yomi." he stated once she was on solid ground. She instantly became flustered and did her best to curtsy for him. "No need for such a...formality. Come inside and get cleaned up. Over dinner you can tell me your story."

"It will probably take much longer that a dinner to cover the whole story." she replied still a bit star stuck. He chuckled.

"I'll settle for the highlights." he said amused.

A crowd was gathering around the refuges. People from the town were offering help and hope for the villagers that had endured so much under Mukuro's reign. Among them, a familiar face appeared.

"Senju!" she called out rushing towards him as he kept a watchful distance of Brianna and Yomi. His attention was torn from them as he looked the woman's way.

"Valentina!" he exclaimed. They embraced in publicly and share a passionate kiss. Brianna looked in time to watch this unfold. She smiled as tears welled in her eyes.

"Are you alright?" asked Yomi.

"I'm more than alright." she replied happily. "We're free." Yomi took her right arm and wrapped it around his left.

"Yes, you are." he said as she looked at him. "And you're safe." He led her up the steps he awaited on when she first arrived and led her into the building.