12. Trap.
T: well my lovelies the next chapter is the last so expect much suspense and other such things in this instalment! Warnings remain (shockingly) the same and I still own only dear Orito and the plot.
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The van is precisely where the kidnapper had informed them it would be, its rear doors opened out in what is the most obvious trap he had ever seen.
Aware, however, of the stakes he does not hesitate in crossing over the threshold of the van and settling onto the cool metal of the floor.
After a minuet the doors swing closed and he is plunged completely into darkness.
Yet it is only when he feels the rumble of the engine sparking into life that he sends the Tree the signal and, drawing upon the plant's vast magical reserve, pulls both the van and its occupants into a Maraboshi.
"I believe that you will find that your engines are now unnecessary."
"What have you done?"
"I am simply making you work for your 'prize'."
"We shall activate the spell!"
"Do you believe such a thing truly concerns me? I am, after all, the Sakurazukamori." For a brief moment he believes the bluff shall not work and then one of the kidnappers enquires,
"If that child is meaningless to you then why are you here?"
"I wished to meet the men who believed they could ensnare one such as myself." He smiles as he says these words and, drawing further upon the Tree's reserve he begins his 'game'.
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Once he feels the tug from the Tree that signals that Orito has begun with the 'distraction', he fades into invisibility and walks the short distance into the centre of the area that Subaru had indicated.
It takes him an hour to locate the cellar in which the child is being held, by which point the Trees' magical reserve has depleted enough that he is having to rely solely upon his own reserve in order to maintain his invisibility.
He knows well what such a thing will mean for the integrity of the illusion that Orito has woven about himself and yet, with time pressing as it is, he can not let himself become distracted by this matter.
A swift kick to the cellar door quickly dispatches with the lock upon it and, once his eyes have become accustomed to the dark, he is met with the recumbent figure of the child he has come to save.
His window of opportunity is growing smaller by the minuet and yet he can not simply snatch the child away, both because of the magical trap that is, despite the fact that he can not see it, still lies about the child and because he is not, as yet, certain of the other's physical condition.
Thus, bringing his body back into visibility, he steps as close to the child as he dares and, bending to his knees, he calls the other's name.
For a moment he gains no response and then the child's eyelids tighten, then open to expose eyes that, but for their colour, recall to him those that had graced Subaru's face when he had been younger.
"Are you death?" The child enquires, the words oddly emotionless despite their serious subject matter.
"For some I am, Kizuki-san and yet I am not as such for yourself."
"Then why are you here?"
"To save you."
"Why?"
"Because my son would not forgive me if I allowed you to die."
"Your son…do you mean Orito-san?"
"That is correct."
"Then I am not dreaming?"
"I am afraid not." He allows the child a moment to process this information and then he enquires, "Can you see the spell that surrounds you?"
"Yes."
"Is there a way that I can pull you from it without activating it?"
"No."
"Then might you be able to make it visible for me?"
"So that you can take it apart"
"That is correct."
"I will try."
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The fatigue he feels is a clear sign that he has reached the limits of his own magical reserves and he knows that it can only be a little while longer before the Tree has also reached its limits.
Now would, of course, be the perfect time to cut his losses and flee, yet he can not be 100 percent certain that his father has had time enough to free Kamui and, unwilling to risk the child's safety, he remains where he is.
But a minute later both his illusion and his Maraboshi fades.
The kidnapper he had seen in his 'dream' regards him a moment and, an insincere smile on his lips, he remarks,
"It was a trick."
"Indeed."
"Then the child…"
"Is back where he belongs."
"I see." There is a moment where he believes this shall be it, that the kidnaper shall simply flee, and then the other remarks, "It seems we have nothing left to loose."
A borage of magical attacks strike across his body and he watches, immobile, as his blood splashes onto the tarmac beneath his feet.
With even a small amount of energy he might be able to deflect the attacks, might even be able to breach through the shields that the kidnapers have set about themselves.
As it is…
As it is he can do little more than wait for one of their blows to kill him.
"Are you simply going to give up?" That is Sumeragi-san and, turning his head to the left, he can just see the other out of the corner of his eye, the white trench coat he is wearing billowing about him almost as wings.
"It's the only choice left."
"Is that so?" The figure steps out before him then and, his body tensing, he furls the kidnapers into a fight.
After another minuet Sumeragi-san emerges victorious and, drawing his eyes level to his own, he remarks, "There is always another way," before he offers Orito his hand.
They walk a while in silence and then Sumeragi-san informs him,
"I was very rude to you when we first met and I wish you to forgive me for that…wish you also to forgive me for leaping to conclusions about the sort of person you were."
"You had reason."
"I had reason to be angry at your father, Sakurazuka-kun, not at you."
"I have treated Kamui precisely as father treated you…"
"That is not true."
"No?"
"No. Apart from one lie you have given Kamui nothing but the truth...have trusted him with the heart and the soul of you…"
"Yet that one lie is enough."
Sumeragi-san smiles at that and brushing the hair from his face, he remarks,
"That thought alone proves how sincere you are in your friendship with Kamui."
"Do you think that he shall accept me once I have told him the truth?"
"I believe there is only one way to find out."
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T: Bit of a short chapter, but it was either two small last chapters or one giant one and, as I wished to draw things out a little, I chose this way! Next instalment tomorrow. R+R