Hello guys! Shidesu´s back! Im still not dead! :v
First of all, thanks for your kind words, you´ve no idea how refreshing is to read your pm´s and review of encouragement, i said it before and i don't mind to repeat it, i don't like to excuse myself for something like an illness, but thanks for supporting me and don't worry, it was just a small cough, nothing serious.
There are some things i have to say but for now enjoy the chapter!
See ya at the end!
Chapter 5: Of broken promises and false light.
After some minutes Oboro was in her private chambers in the castle with Hinoka following behind, it was odd that the girl that she tought would be with Takumi was away of him, also the rather odd new look on the girl, that short hair to her shoulder, the attire of a spear master but the colors were diferent, a mix of white with blue similar to her hair, and most of all, the emblem of Hoshido was missing in her shoulder or attire, as the girls entered the room Hinoka was surprised to see that inside was waiting Orochi with Kagero, the somber look on their faces couldn't be good, less to see that as the same way as Oboro, they were using attires of similar colors, Orochi and Kagero were missing her pins or any kind of ornament in their hair, leaving it free.
"Lady Hinoka, i´m glad to see you again" The ninja bowed with Orochi "Please, take a seat"
"What´s going on?" Hinoka asked as she sat near the table, it didn't took long before Orochi offered a cup of warm tea that she carefully accepted.
"Just to keep you informed my lady" Kagero said as Oboro sat in front of Hinoka.
"But what is this all about? Is something wrong?"
"Everything to be honest" Orochi said with her hand on her cheek "To think that Orochi couldn't predict such events, im ashamed to be caller 'diviner', especially after what happened"
"You mean what happened to Kamui?" Hinoka asked as the girls nodded in unison "But, what exactly happened? I dont understand"
"That the men of the castle are all idiots, that´s exactly what happened" the diviner said with sadness "But im not surprised that Lord Ryoma didn't told you" Orochi took a damaged tome from under her clothes and handed it to the princess.
"What is this?"
"That is source of our problems milady" Kagero said as Hinoka started looking through the damaged pages, it was hard to read and the spells had an ominous aura "When Kamui returned to the castle, Lord Ryoma was away, securing our borders and making sure that our 'allies' remained as it"
"One month ago the ninja tribe near our forest proved to be not-so-friendly as we thought before" Orochi continued "So in the meantime Ryoma was defending our lines, Yukimura used the information and tools that Kaze provided for your little brother"
"What you´re reading is the remaining of a Nosferatu spell that Kaze took from the shelves of our enemies to study and use it"
Hinoka frowned as her fingers were holding tight the tome in her hands, she didn't wanted to hear it, but her mind already knew the answer "…Why?"
"As you already saw it, there´s a tatto in Kamui´s back" Orochi continued after a quick sip to her cup "Not the brightest idea of our dear tactician if i say so, Orochi was against it after all"
"…..is nice to hear it, i think" Hinoka frown didn't disappeared, but it was good to hear that at least one of the people who respected the departed queen honored her memory "But i still don´t understand what this mean, i hardly know anything about magic"
"Well, Well~ then is a fortune that im here to explain" her trademark smile appeared for a brief moment, just before returning to her serious face "Long story short, we´re looking for a way to erase that curse from his body, and we want your help Lady Hinoka"
"O-Ok, but i don't know how useful I can be but i´ll do my best, but i don't even know what i should be looking for"
"Well, first of all, you need to know what we´re facing, is a special curse called Nosferatu, a really nasty variation, Yukimura followed just the advice of some random diviner who probably didn't knew what he was suggesting" Orochi continued as Hinoka returned the tome "I tried to understand the glyphs and incantations but it´ll take a while until i can properly use a counter spell to lift the curse"
"We also need to look for Lady Mikoto old journey book" Kagero injected
"Mother book? Why?"
"There are some glyphs that i don't understand but i remember seeing them in her old journal" Orochi commented
"Probably Yukimura used it to modify the spell on a living being without killing it" Kagero continued "For the moment the whereabouts of it is unknown but i´m sure Yukimura hid it somewhere in the castle"
"How you know that? What if he destroyed it? Or worse, someone took it out the castle to use it?" Hinoka asked.
"Do you really think that Yukimura would destroy or leave something like that in hands of someone who doesn't know its value?"
Hinoka remained for a moment, right now she hated Yukimura for what he did, knowing that it was perhaps one of Mikoto´s last statements of her life, and how the tactician felt about her -fact that made her mad beyond words- there was only one answer "…no, you´re right, so in his private quarters?"
"Already looked there, nothing interesting" Oboro said in a monotone voice
"So, is somewhere where he can find it but is out of reach for normal people….something else?"
"We also need heal Kamui from his injuries, mind and body, otherwise the good work of Orochi would be for nothing" Orochi said leaving the empty cup on the table.
"Ok, i-i´ll take care of that, i can't leave him alone after all what he has suffered, that´s for sure, but why we need it? It wouldn't be simpler to use the book we have to lift the curse? What about the white throne? Mother said that it could erase any kind of curse or spell"
"Is not that simple Lady Hinoka, otherwise that kid from the wind tribe wouldn't be necessary for this" Orochi said with a small grin "Magic this advanced is hard to control, more when is something so dangerous, if there´s something Yukimura did good in the last months was to modify the spell so nobody could lift it without taking some risks, if i make a simple mistake in any glyph or any ingredient, it can be lethal for him, that's why i need the journal"
"And the white throne is out of the question, Yukimura replaced for a fake one just to make sure that Orochi and I didn't had a change of heart until the barrier was firmly set in our land, right now the one in the throne room is just a mere copy of the real one, probably hid and guarded until the end of the war"
"Wh-What? How did he managed to move a throne without anyone noticing it?!" Hinoka asked
"It was so hard actually, he announced it" Orochi frowned, her whimsical eyes changed for one that Hinoka never saw in her, full of rage "He convinced the council that until the war is over they needed to secure the last belongings of Lady Mikoto could be targeted to drop our morale, those buffoons believed it when he said it was Lady Mikoto´s will to preserve Hoshido legacy and all that it implied, if my dear lady knew what has been happening in the last months she would probably just die of sadness"
"i know Orochi, i know" Hinoka sighed facepalming, with her hand covering half of her face she was having a hard time controlling herself, it was to temping just to grab her nagitana and stab the man right where he stood, after all those years promising that he would recover his son, how Yukimura could look at himself at the mirror? He really did his best to make it harder to revert what he started "…..wait, kid from the wind tribe? Why don't we just take him to other place?"
"He cant touch the lobby Lady Hinoka" Kagero said with a hurt expression on his face "We already tried taking him to the garden but the curse just activated itself when we were walking through the hall, by the time we managed to return to his room to stop it he was already dying, it was a miracle that Sakura saved him"
"The curse need´s a orb to take his energy, but we don't what Yukimura did to set a limit to 'how far the little dragon can fly away', that little scene was all what we needed to know that he was out of control"
"Is getting better and better" Hinoka said gritting her teeth
"Oh, i i didnt said the best part, after that he reduced the limit, he can't leave the floor now, at least not without someone with a orb to control him"
"Perfect, what i needed to hear" Hinoka groaned looking at the ceiling, right now her options were already near to cero, she would not only return that slap if she had the chance "Anything more that i need to know?"
"I think that´s all for now, we need Hayato and Fuga, perhaps the old man can enlighten us with his knowledge, Lord Izana will be here the next month for our peace treaty, as for Kamui security, Sakura lend us Subaki, I would ask Azama but he´s not nice with Orochi" the diviner said with a sigh.
Hinoka remained silent for a moment until another voice continued, one that she forgot was there "I´ll guard him too, after all, is the reason we´re doing this"
"Oboro? Shouldnt be you with Takumi?" Hinoka asked.
"Not…anymore" she confessed "I…Im no longer his retainer, i…..i gave up my vows"
"Wait, what?! Why?! What the hell happened?!"
"For the reason we are here Lady Hinoka, to do justice to Lady Mikoto memory…even if it means to resign my vows, after all i can't follow Takumi, not anymore" she placed her hand under her right shoulder, feeling the scar under her clothes "He resigned any kind of loyalty to me or the others, i fought for him and protected him for so long, just to be discarded when he needed to be stopped" It was a terrible memory, but the night that those Nohrian soldiers took the life of her parents surfaced again not at the middle of the night, but looking at the same eyes Takumi had a few weeks ago, seeing that the person she respected and trusted had the same eyes as those murderers, she couldn't just look away after that day "He has chosen a path i can't follow, he´s changed and for that reason i can´t keep up my vows, that´s the reason why i´m here"
"That´s why all we´re here" Kagero said looking at Hinoka "My loyalty to Hoshido blinded me, and in the end i allowed such dishonor and curse, not only in our lands, but also the same blood that held us together for so many years, that´s why Ryoma allowed us to investigate a way to revert theses atrocities"
Hinoka looked at them, and with a frown she felt her blood boiling, even if they were in a bad situation, at the very least there was someone who wanted to stop this mess "Alright, i´ll do my best, where we start?"
"Easy girl, not so fast" Orochi said waving her finger "You have the hardest part, you need to cheer him up"
"Uh? what?"
"Well, it will be rather pointless if at the end of this he end killing himself, wouldnt it?" Orochi continued with a serious face "We need to know the root of the problem, after that we can think in a way to help him overcome this, for his and Lady Mikoto sake"
"A-Alright, i got it, and you? What are you going to do?"
They looked each other for a moment before Oboro spoke again "This isn´t new for us, but Orochi will be getting the counter spell ready in a couple of months at best after Kagero find the journal, and you´ll be seeing me for now on, Subaki and I were placed as Kamui retainers for the time being"
"I don't need to remind you that if Yukimura find out, we'll be kicked out of the castle at best" Orochi added.
"W-Wait? What?"
"Oh? Didn't i told you Lady Hinoka? For the 'sake' of my wellbeing, Yukimura released me from my duties, Kagero and Oboro as well, right now we shouldn't be doing this little 'tea party' now"
"B-But i don't understand why"
"Yukimura didn't trust me after i highly rejected the idea of inking a Nosferatu spell" said Orochi
"I was released after opposing making a special kimono with the extra glyphs Yukimura needed to control Kamui outburst of the last months" Oboro continued.
"And i was removed from the army after disobeying his direct order to keep it quiet about those experiments at the dungeon in the meantime Ryoma was away of the castle" Kagero finished "for now, we are here just because Lord Ryoma allows it"
"Yukimura doesn't trust us anymore, he´s being paranoid and stupid" Orochi said with a sigh "I don´t want to rush you, but if we don't finish this before next spring, it would be Kamui´s last chance to be free for good"
Hinoka heart stopped for a moment, hearing those words made her world stop for a moment, that morning she expected to laugh cry with him for the last months, after so many surprises and disappointments in less than a day, hearing those words ignited a burning flame inside her heart "…I won't let anyone take him from me anymore, i´m done crying and doing nothing, this time IM SAVING HIM"
Aaaaaaaaaaaand thats all for now!
Phew, express chapters aren't good for my health :v
Ok guys, the reason i rushed this chapter is because some problem in this week, most probably delayed updates until November if everything goes wrong, so at the very least i asked my beta reader to clean this one for the update, after saying 'update' in the last chapter i felt kinda bad if there wasn't any kind of update this week, cross your fingers i can do something more this week.
Thanks for your time and for your patience, especially after seeing that im taking so long for any kind of update, sorry for that, your ideas, Pm and Reviews are welcome as always, if you have any kind of question leave it as review and i´ll answer it as soon as possible in the next update, answering your pm´s is kinda hard since im using more my cellphone in the last days than my laptop for these updates, so please have mercy xD
Anyway! Enjoy your weekend and have a good day/night!
SHIDESU! Out!
