Chapter 6 – The Beginning Of The Storm II
Shirayuki pushed Ray away, her eyes were watery and soon tears rolled down from her beautiful eyes. She didn't say anything, No.. She couldn't say anything..
Covering her mouth, she ran away. Even though it was forced, Shirayuki felt as if she was betraying Zen and she hated the feeling she had now. She could never look Zen in the eyes now, it was hard for her to do so.
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Obi noticed Shirayuki ran away from the corner of his eyes, his mistress must feel really down right now and for Obi, there was nothing he wanted more than to punch the King of Ruthergent on the face for a few times. He had hurt Mistress, caused her crying like that and his blood boiled in anger.
"What are you doing here in Clarines, Nikki?" asked Obi, pushing himself to be calm so he could find a way to escape Nikki's chain.
"A job of course, sweet Obi~" Said Nikki casually, it as if they were talking about weather under normal friendly situation.
"A job?", Obi frowned "..What kind of Job..?" He asked carefully.
Obi knew what kind of person the woman before him was, knew the length she could do to finish the job, After all, Obi was her 'partner' in the past. He knew everything about her, inside and out, and he also knew that she was one hell of a cold blooded woman. Even in bed..
Cold giggles came out of her lips, "My My ~ Have you forgotten the rules, Sweet Obi?" she took few steps closer at him.
Her hand that was holding the blade lifted up and caressed Obi's chin softly, both of them had the same height but to Obi, it as if Nikki was taller than him, "We can't reveal the details of our job to anyone, right~?" She said, her tone was sickeningly sweet. The kind of tone that could drown his senses, making it numb.
'..No..' Obi mused, tried to hold his senses from slipping away '..I am not the same person I used to be..'
Suddenly the chain that held his body was dropped, Nikki smiled at him, satisfaction could be seen on her grey eyes also at her sinfully beautiful face. Obi stared at her in question and Nikki let out a soft laugh "..I am just playing sweet Obi~ Teasing you is one of my favorite thing to do after all~"
Obi stared at her suspiciously before dashing toward the next building and jumped onto it, Obi left Nikki just like that, he didn't want to speak to her because he knew, somewhere deep down inside him, that woman still had power over him and he hated it. So much..
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Ray just stood there, staring at Shirayuki's back as she ran away. At that moment, a light dawned in his heart. It shone brightly, removing the clouds in his heart. Yes, at that moment.. Ray finally understood why he became restless, the reason why he got so irritated, The reason why he got so jealous..
'Ahh..' Ray mused, '..I... have fallen in love... with her...'
However, even though Ray knew he had no chance, he still wanted her. Someone landed at his side and it was none other than Nikki, "I have come Master" said the woman.
"... The preparations..?", Asked Ray. His tone became cold, heartless.
"It's done, Master"
"Then we launch the plan tonight..", Ray said "..We will take that genius child to Ruthergent.."
"And the lady?" Nikki glanced at her master.
Ray's eyes grew colder as he clenched his fist, "..Take her as well.."
"..Are you sure, master?" Nikki reconfirmed it once again
"..That child will work better if there is someone he knows at his side.." Ray said as he walked away.
Nikki smiled evilly, "My My ~" she said while she was staring at Ray's cold back. "..You don't need that kind of excuse, Master ~"
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Shirayuki ran along the hallway and finally entered her room. She locked it, she wanted to be alone. Just for now, she wanted to be alone. Obi arrived not long after, panting hard he knocked the door. "Mistress.." he called out to her "..Mistress, please open the door.."
There was only silence and the faint sniffling could be heard from inside, Obi felt his heart was ripped apart. The last he wanted in this world was for her to cry like that, for heaven sake, he wanted to kill that damn King of Ruthergent so badly but now was not the time.
'..I should report to Master..' Obi mused as he walked away, giving up the idea to persuade his mistress to open the door. No.. Maybe he wanted his master to be one who comforted her.. It wasn't his place to begin with..
Obi jumped from tree to tree, climbed to the higher branch and landed on the balcony. There he saw his master was still busy with his work. Mitsuhide and Kiki were the one who noticed him first.
"Oh, you're back already?", Greeted Mitsuhide "So? How is it?"
Obi clenched his fist, his face became dark and filled with misery. Mitsuhide and Kiki frowned, Zen who turned his head when Mitsuhide greeted Obi, had an uneasy feeling crept inside his heart the moment he saw Obi's expression.
"..Something happened.., right..?" Zen guessed
Obi knelt in front of him "My apologies, Master.. I.. can't stop it in time"
"What happened?" Zen asked, his tone was low, too low in fact.
"..Mistress.. was kissed by the King.. It's one sided but.. Mistress was so shock that she ran away, crying and now.. She locked her self in her room.." Obi explained, gritted his teeth to subdue his own anger.
Zen turned around abruptly, his eyes became cold and filled with utmost rage. Mitsuhide quickly stood before him, his face became serious.
"..Move..", Ordered Zen
"No.." Mitsuhide said firmly
"I said Move!", Zen roared in anger
"No, Not until you have calmed yourself down.." Mitsuhide didn't budge.
Zen clenched his fist tightly, Mitsuhide sighed "Try to imagine Shirayuki's feeling.."
Zen froze, his heart felt like it was stab. Mitsuhide spoke the truth, he should think about Shirayuki's feeling. Knowing her, Zen knew that she might feel like she had betrayed him. If she distanced herself from him because of this, Zen would not be able to live it.
"...Mitsuhide.." Zen called out to his trusted aide, his best friend.
"Yes?"
Zen lifted his head and smiled gently, still there was a bit sadness in it as well, "Thank you.."
"Anytime, Zen" Mitsuhide smiled, "Shirayuki needs you the most right now, Go to her"
Zen nodded and left the room alone, leaving the three aides in that office. Kiki turned her head toward Obi who stood up on his feet, "Tell me everything.." she said, her tone was cool but her face was serious.
"I already did.." Obi looked away
"No, You didn't" Kiki spoke, "You left the detail of why you can't stop the King in time. With your skill, it should have been an easy task.."
As expected of Lady Kiki, Obi could never fool her. "...Someone stopped me..", Obi finally admitted.
"And?" Kiki asked, knowing there was more to the story.
"..It's someone I know so damn well.. and someone I don't want to meet again.. ever..", Obi said. His tone clearly showed how painful it was to talk about the person, Kiki noticed it right away that whatever the reason, it had to be personal. After all, Obi never spoke about his own past.
"And I assume this person is a female?" Kiki asked.
Obi was quite surprised, "How did you—"
"Know?" Kiki finished the sentence "Woman's intuition, I guess" Kiki shrugged, hid the fact that it was obvious that the person was a woman. In Kiki's view, Obi had quite a bit of experience with women. It could be seen from his behavior, no matter how much he wanted to hide it, Kiki still could see it. Kiki also knew that if something could catch Obi off guard, it would be women.
Obi snorted softly as he scratch the back of his head, "Women can be scary sometimes"
"Indeed, they can" Kiki smiled.
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Zen was standing in front of Shirayuki's room, he just stood there, wondering what he should say first. Sighing softly, Zen decided to knock.
Knock! Knock!
"Shirayuki..", Zen spoke softly "It's me.. Zen"
There wasn't a reply from inside the room, Zen knocked it once again, a little louder this time.
Knock! Knock!
"Shirayuki?", Zen called her out once again.
"..I want to be alone for a while, Zen.." A sweet voice softly replied from inside.
Zen smiled sadly, to have Shirayuki saying such words, she must be depressed. "Shirayuki.. Please.. Open the door..." He tried to persuade her, "..Please.."
Silence followed, there was no sound for a while until the sound of unlocking door was heard. Zen took a soft breath before entering the room, closed the door behind him. Shirayuki was standing near the door, her eyes were red and wet due to tears. Zen hated to see her crying like this, even more hated it because the one who did it was 'him'.
"Zen.." Shirayuki sobbed, "I am so sorry.."
Zen moved toward her in one stride and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close into gentle embrace, "It's not your fault, Shirayuki"
"B-But.."
"sshh..", Zen caressed her red hair gently "No need to talk now.. For now.. Let me embrace you like this.. Just for now..", Zen said gently.
There was no need for words between them, Zen knew it wasn't Shirayuki's fault and Shirayuki now felt at ease now that she was in Zen's embrace. She felt that's where she truly belonged. In Zen's embrace, she felt safe and content. Both of them just stood there, hugging each other in silence. As Shirayuki had calmed herself down, strength left her body. Zen smiled knowingly as he felt Shirayuki leaned on him more than she had to, Shirayuki had fallen asleep. Lifting her body carefully, Zen put her on the lower bunk and left after giving her a kiss on the lips.
Zen visited Ray's room but Yue was the one who greeted him, Yue explained that Ray hadn't returned to the palace yet and wondering what was he doing with Shirayuki. Zen didn't say a word, he just left the room and headed to his own. Zen assumed that Ray would tell Yue after he returned to the palace and thought it was best for him to talk to Ray tomorrow, for both of them at least would have a better mood than yesterday. Zen didn't know that the storm Ray had brought with him, would hit the palace soon...
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Clarines Palace, Night time..
As usual, the night in the palace was peaceful as always. Quiet and calm, the only one who made sound was the guards who kept on repeating their night duty, guarding the palace from intruders. One would think that the palace was heavily guarded, no one could sneak easily. Well, clearly they were wrong, because.. Nikki could sneak in easily and started the plan that Ray set up to kidnap Ryu and Shirayuki..
Nikki brought phials of liquid that were made by Alchemy. She smiled evilly, staring at one of the phial that had silver color of liquid in it. "Well then, time to sleep ~" she muttered softly. With that, she jumped from place to place while throwing the phials to the ground and it shattered, causing thick white fog to spread and it caused a huge ruckus inside the palace.
"W-What is this fog?!"
"..Ughh! My body..!"
"..Intruders..!"
Voices could be heard, Obi who was sitting on the balcony near Zen's room became alerted. Even Zen, Mitsuhide and Kiki were also the same. Ray and Yue were not in their room, both of them were already infiltrated the pharmacist room. Yue had gone to Shirayuki's room and Ray had gone to Ryu's room.
At that point, Clarines had completely been defeated. The guards fell asleep the moment they inhaled the fog and of course Zen, Mitsuhide and Kiki were caught off guard when they left the room and found out that thick fog had surrounded the palace.
Obi, the one who had a little experience, was able to move his body while covering half of his face with a cloth,but he could feel it, his body slowly became heavy. Still he kept on moving, because his only concern was his mistress but how surprised he was when he saw Nikki on his way to Shirayuki's room.
"..Nikki.. So it's you.." Obi said, taking his small blades from the pocket on the back of his pants, "What kind of purpose you have for doing something like this?"
Nikki, who wore a special mask, coldly chuckled. "It's a S.E.C.R.E.T ~ My sweet Obi~" as she took one step closer toward him.
"You know you can't win against me, Obi~", and she took another step once again.
Obi gritted his teeth, trying to hide his ragged breathing but seemed failed since Nikki stared at his stubbornness with amusement, "We won't know that until we try, right?" he said to the older woman.
Nikki giggled and for the love of damn hell, Obi both hated and resented himself for having it had effect on him. The memories he didn't want to remember again, once again emerged and it took all of his mental energy to push it away. "Well, Let's try then ~" Nikki quickly unsheathed her blade and dashed toward Obi, giving him a side kick.
Obi blocked it away and launched another kick toward Nikki as she easily dodged while moving her blade forward as it made a thin cut to Obi's cheek. Obi clicked his tongue, as he launched a combo attack, using his small knife and his feet. Even with fast movement, Obi could tell that Nikki was having fun, he could see her smile even when her lower face was covered by mask. Yes, she was that kind of person.. She hadn't change at all and Obi both hated and loved her for it.. It was such a complicated feeling..
Both of them exchanged blows until Nikki suddenly disappeared, no.. She moved a little bit faster than Obi and gave him a fatal blow to the gut. Obi grunted in pain, Nikki surprisingly stared at his face with a sad eyes as he fell to the ground.
'..Why.. does she make that kind of face..' Obi mused, '..Just like.. 'That Time' .."
"..I am sorry Obi.." Nikki spoke softly, her voice was oddly loving and tender.
'Why..? Why do you make that kind of face once again?' Obi mused as a fragment of memories he tried to suppress emerged. '..why saying sorry once again..?'
"...I am so sorry Obi.." said the younger Nikki to the younger Obi who fell on the ground after being poisoned by Nikki. Her face was sad, filled with misery. She smiled sadly at Obi, oddly enough, there was tender love in that smile which cast Obi into confusion.
'..Why..? Why say sorry when you are going to betray me anyway..? Why.. Nikki..?' Obi mused, his heart felt like it was torn to pieces. He thought she was the one, but looked like he was wrong. As he closed his eyes, succumbing himself to the poison, hoping that it could take his life and let his mind be at peace forever, he heard words he wasn't sure it came from her.
"..I Love You.."
No.. It couldn't be..
If she truly loved him then she wouldn't betray him like this.. Obi was convinced that it was his hazy mind playing trick on him. Yes.. that must be true..
"..Nik...Ki.." Obi grunted as his eyelids fluttered before giving up. Only questions in his mind and once again, Nikki left Obi only with his own feelings...
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Okay! I purposely left it like that since the next chapter will be quite depressing :P, Anyway! Thank you for loving my story! :D Because of you guys, I can still write this story and yes, I add a small Obi/OC Story in it ~ XDD It's like a romance story inside a romance story ~ XDD
Okay I am weird .;; I know that XDD
Anyway! Please give me review for this chapter! :D I am looking forward to it! :D :D I love you all readers and see you guys in next chapter! :D Love and Peace! (^o^)v