Passing through the broken wood and the singed clothes, he felt his toes burning with each step. Although the emotions were swirling in his heart, it was calm, and feeling Oboro's reassuring holding his hand, he held back the shadows that tried to cloud his mind.

"Are you sure you want to see this?" She asked, worried about his reaction. Instead of rage or disdain, there was guilt on his face.

"…Yes…. I need to…. See…." They started to walk around the room, seeing where the bed was, and the missing furniture. Nothing near the new hole in the wall could be identified easily.

"…Do you need to do this?" She inquired further. It wasn't like he would rampage at any moment, but despise his calm face, the aura around him, the way his hand trembled against hers, sadness? Or sorrow? She knew his spirit was already weakened, and it pained her to watch him suffer like that. "…you know… we can always… come back later, Kamui."

"I…. I have to take at least this…." Refusing to release her hand, he crouched near the missing floor. Stuck in the wood was that ring he treasured, it was oddly quick how with just a quick glance at the place he found it. "…. Thou love, light and life."

"What?"

"Nothing… nothing….. it just… slipped out of my lips…." Kamui sighed, not sure how he should feel. Right now, he felt empty, lost.

"Are….Are you alright, Kamui?"

"…No… I'm not…. And I won't be for a while…."


Chapter 29: Seeds of the past.


"Stupid! Stupid! You´re so stupid, Oboro!" she thought to herself, after having a little chat with him in the morning and convinced her, just a few minutes in the old queen's room was enough to depress the albino. Oboro knew that it would happen, but she couldn't say no to his pleading eyes, his reason to witness what he did was reasonable, but still, it was a bad decision.

"At least… he got something back?" she sighed, trying to plot something to cheer him up. It was an ordeal to send a little hint to the group, so they could be alone in that destroyed room, and now, after that, they were on the kitchen, a small one used for the staff members of the palace. Going somewhere near the second or third floor was absolutely out of the question. Without any kind of information, her best choice was to take him away from the others. According to what he said, she was the only 'light' in his eyes, so he would follow her lead.

Deep down, she felt guilty, but happy to hear that she was one of the people (if not only the one) that Kamui trusted in that place. She felt a giant pressure on her shoulders, heavy, but comfortable, that at last, he seemed to open a little to her.

So now, he was sitting at one of the tables and staring at the ring in front of him with a blank expression, she was making the breakfast, being just a few inches away of him. She thought it odd to see no one in the kitchen, perhaps the events of the last night was all what they needed to leave their duties? She would worry about that later, right now, all she needed to do was to take care of him.

"Here… let's eat up," She spoke, leaving the plate on front of him. Scrambled eggs with rice, some fruit and peach juice, some cream and bread, it was the best she could do, making that kind of food with the limited tools in that kitchen was a mess, but at least she managed somehow to make something remarkably similar to what she saw in the Nohrian menus when she was younger.

"…" Kamui remained silent. He was lost in thought, she wasn't sure if he just ignored her, or was thinking too hard.

"…Kamui? Do you want to eat? Aren't you hungry?"

"…..I wonder…."

"Mmm? What´s the matter?"

"Do I…. know myself?" he took the spoon, playing with the rice, leaning his free arm on the table "Did I…enjoy it?"

"What´d you mean by that?"

"…..Is this what they call….. shadows? Self-delusions?"

"Kamui? What are you talking about?" Oboro stood, walking to his side, he chuckled in a tired way.

"Well…. You asked if I was alright, but… I need to correct what I said….." there was a hint of sadness in his voice "Was I… alright in the first place?"

"Uh?"

"Now that I think about….. it's not like my life was ruined when Ryoma forced me to return, but in the first place, there´s always someone moving the strings…. The last time I was truly free….. was when I was a toddler… but now….now…."

"Wait, wait, hold on, just take a moment to think, you´re not making sense right now."

"Ha…" he facepalmed, covering his left side of his face. "sorry, I don't expect an answer…. It's just…. The more I´m awake, the more I think, the…. ugliest I felt about myself."

"Uh?"

"Right now… I don't know…. My mind is a mess…. There are a lot of ideas, thoughts crawling in my head…..I want to think that Yukimura´s messed with my brain…. but now…..I'm not sure….."

"What´s that supposed to mean?"

"I mean that I remember…. Almost everything from last night," he chuckled, with some tears in his eyes. "I woke up today feeling like trash, like I deserved to die, but it wasn't until I saw the room that some memories retuned and I understood why! Not completely, but I remember the feeling of fire on my skin, the cold air around me, the pressure in my chest every time I think about what Yukimura said last night."

"…."

"I tried to understand why I attacked Sakura, was it really something about what Yukimura said? That this deep hatred inside me, distorted the way I see the others? Do I really hate this world so much that even my kindest sister is just noise in front of me?! Is my heart already so twisted that no matter what, everything around it has lost its meaning?"

"….Kamui…."

"Right now, I don't know what to do. I see the ring, my broken vow, I wanted to stay with you to clear my mind, but I'm afraid to continue thinking, the more I do, the more I remember, the feeling of freedom, anger and…. Joy….." he chuckled. Now he was crying, his sight was lost for a moment as he tried to maintain coherent words. "I… enjoyed it last night? Their terrified faces when the guards tried to stop me, the screams that filled the air, feeling the iron in my mouth wh-"

*Slap*

Dumbfounded, he fell to the ground, looking up and feeling that stinging pinch in his cheeks, Oboro just slapped him, taking him for surprise as his thoughts stopped.

"Snap it out, Kamui!" she said, kneeling at his level. "I know it´s hard, of all the people around you, probably, I'm the only one who knows how you feel, at some point, but…. Even if you did enjoy what happened, that doesn't make you someone ugly, someone bad, otherwise, I´ll be more hideous than you!" she carefully took his hand. "… I know…. The feeling of being alone in the world…. Sometimes… you do or say things that you regret with your soul, I know that, but, releasing your emotions is not bad… you just need some guidance to do so…."

"….." That memory, in his room last night, feeling his heart stopping for a moment, his step mother trying to understand what happened, just to be sent away into the abyss in the middle of a swirling of darkness. "…I attacked Reina… and I….."

"It doesn't matter, it wasn't the real you," she interrupted him. "Your anger and frustration is not the real 'you' in the end."

"…. But… I even remember attacking Hinoka….. Reina…..You…."

"Don't try to sabotage yourself! It doesn't matter if you remember being happy about letting out your anger last night. No matter what you say now, I know for a fact that you don't have to hate or fear yourself," taking his hand on her cheek, she sighed, closing her eyes for a moment. "… if you´re not sure of yourself… then let me tell you what I saw last night…." Opening her eyes, his heart stopped for a moment by her gentle eyes. "…I saw somebody hurt, afraid to be hurt again… in a way… I saw your fears and pain, but in the end, there was no malice in your words, just someone lost…." Now she took the ring on the table and placed it in his hand. "You said that you broke your vow, but I don't think so, after all, you said wonderful things about your wife, you still hold her close your heart, plus, we don't really know if she…. is gone, but I know for sure that if you keep her like that inside you, she´ll never be gone…. So please, trust yourself more…" pulling his head to her shoulder, she continued, "please…. Rely on me more…."

"…Oboro….."

"If you don't, then I'm sure she´ll be mad, that, and I promise you, I´ll be at your side all this time, ok?"

"Why are you so sure? Why y-"

"Oh, please, I know a thing or two in these cases," she laughed. "I mean, I'm a total klutz in some things, to be honest, I'm only good with my training, and some…. stalking things," she chuckled somewhat embarrassed. "but be damn sure that you´re not someone 'ugly' or twisted, just a good person under a lot of pressure. That´s why I tell you here and now, please, rely in me more, ok? After all, you called for me, no?"

After some moments of hesitation, Oboro embraced him. It was with surprise that after some seconds, with fear, he returned her touch, hearing some sniffles at first. In a few minutes she could feel how her shoulder was drenched in his tears, little by little, his hold strengthened as he continued release some of the sadness in his heart.

"…..Better?" she asked after twenty minutes. He calmed down, now she felt the weight of his body against hers, his hold was still tight, but his breath calmed down.

"….Just… a little longer…." he mumbled.

"Heh…., no problem, I don't mind pampering you for a while…." she chuckled, thinking back at her words, she was quite embarrassed to be honest. "Sorry for borrow your words, Queen Mikoto, but… I´m not totally sorry for this," she thought.

"….Sorry…" he released her, with red eyes.

"No, no, no, no, don't be, after all, I´ll be at your side from now on, so don't sweat about it, ok?" with a smile, she helped him to stand. "But… um… I apologize for this…" she caressed his red cheek, perhaps she should have refrained a little, as it was somewhat swollen.

"It´s fine…." Looking at the table, he sighed, "…now its cold…. Sorry."

"Uh? Oh, the food? Don't worry, just enjoy it for now," without delay, she sat at his side. His hand still trembled, but his posture was calmer. "I´m sorry, I did everything I could, it's not an excuse for this poor meal, but I assure you th-"

"It's…. It's cold…" he took a bite, then slowly another after another. "it´s…. IT´S COLD!"

"Th-That bad? Y-you don't have to yell, I know I'm bad at cooking, b-"

"No, you…. You don't get it," he took the bread, quickly chewing the food, his eyes got wet again. "I…. I…."

"….Wait, do you…." Oboro widened her eyes as he rapidly nodded.

"I FEEL THE TASTE!" He took a peach, another piece of bread, drank almost all the juice in his glass "SWEET, BITTER, REFRESHING!" He stopped with his cheeks full of food, before swallowing everything "It…It´s been so long…. Since I tasted food…."

"K-Kamui…" Oboro hugged herself. If it was a jest, it was a really bad one, but seeing his face, there was no doubt about it.

"Oboro…. The food is cold…. But…. It's delicious."


"….."

"…"

"….Wait, that´s illegal" a voice resonated in the tent, Peri looked around, she was sure she just heard a girl commenting about her phrase.

"Uh? Why is everyone so quiet? Did Peri said something funny?" the girl wondered. "And I took a lot of dumb-boring Hoshidan language classes for this," she stuck out her tongue. "Well…. It´s for lord Kamui´s sake, so nothing to do~"

"Hold on one second," Anna waved her hands. "Hold, hold, HOLD! A-Are you telling me… that you are….?"

"Lord Kamui´s best girl friend! ~" she happily said again, the knight at her side facepalmed.

"….Peri….." he tried to talk, but there was something odd.

It had been half hour since they arrived and finished their breakfast. Right now they weren't on the plaza, but in one of the special rooms at the palace. Of course, being Nohrian and all wasn't all dandy, Anna was forced to follow the group and try to make sense of whatever the girl was trying to say, but she knew that sooner or later, that strange gal was something else.

"Ok…. Again…." Anna groaned as she tried to collect her ideas "Your name… is Peri, Peri Beaulieu, correct?"

"Yes, I have already told you that a ton of times!"

"Ok…. And you are….."

"Lord Kamui's best girl friend!"

Anna smacked her face against the desk. Peri, dumbfounded, was the only one that remained the same in the room. The guards sighed, the knights facepalmed as the rest of the small group either chuckled or groaned.

"…Can I speak now?" the knight at her side raised his palm. "I think I can clea-"

"Hush! Silas! You meanie!" Peri puffed her cheeks "You said I could handle this!"

"Yeah, I-I know, but I think th-" the man with the cowlick sighed, scratching his head dumbfounded.

"No, please, I want to speak with him already," Anna groaned again. "They don't pay me enough for this kind of thing…."

"What´s going on here?" A girl with short red hair entered the room, followed by an archer and a strange man, the guards immediately gathered in front of her, with their naginatas high up and a quick bow.

"Lady Hinoka! I'm sorry for using one of the meeting rooms, but… we have a situation…." One of the guards coughed in his fist. Looking behind the man, Hinoka noticed the small group at the back of the room. Peri puffed her cheeks while Akemi waved her hand, then looked eyes with the knight with the cowlick, they stared each other for seconds as slowly but steadily, they widened their eyes as almost at the same time, pointed the other.

"Wait! You´re Lord Kamui's sister!? / Hold on! You´re one of the retainers?!" Silas and Hinoka yelled at the same time, Silas for his side stood up, but before he could do something, another girl spoke.

"Well, is not that marvelous~ we´re already friends!"

"Uh? Who are you?" Hinoka asked as the girl tried to meddle between the group.

"Well, my name is Akemi, I have brought this lively group of Nohrians to the capital, ambassadors that the same King Xander sent, to leave the bad stigma behind."

"….uh? King…. King Xander?" Hinoka blinked a couple of times before the words sink in "Woah! H-hold on! K-King Xander?" Hinoka raised her hands as the guards around whispered. "Wait, you mean… Pr-Prince Xander… right?"

"Uh? Nu-Uh! Is King Xander!" Peri remarked, with some pride in her voice. "King Xander!" Hinoka eye twitched, all of nowhere, Kagero appeared behind her.

"…..Should we dispose of them?" He whispered in her ear. "After all… they brought Nohrians in our territory, and they do-"

"I think… we need to take a short break with some snacks!" Akemi stepped forward, smiling at Hinoka, she was about to say something when the omamori under her clothes resonated for a moment. Seeing her eyes, she could swear that the girl eyes changed for some seconds, golden eyes and a familiar chuckle.

"….you….." Hinoka crossed her arms and closed her eyes for a few moments. "Ok, let's say for a second that they´re ambassador´s, what is their purpose?"

"To bring Lord Kamui home!" Peri replied faster than Akemi, gaining some harsh glares. "….What?"

"Well, that would be one of the things they want, of course," Akemi smiled with a somewhat dignified giggle. "But I think is time to get serious Peri."

"What? Already?" She pouted.

"Yes, I know, but I have been serious for quite a long time, could you help me? Pretty please?"

"Fiiiiiiiine….. just because is for Lord Kamui!" Peri sighed, she adjusted her neck and placed her hands on the table. "….. well…. As Akemi said, I, Peri Beaulieu, have come to request a chit chat with Lord Ryoma, about what happened in Macarath and of course, about Lord Kamui."

"Well, I'm afraid that we can't trust you yet, I mean, we can't even know that all what you just said is true, can we? And if y-"

Peri left a black crown on the desk, stained with blood and some strange marks on it, alongside a broken black ring. Hinoka froze as the rest of the place went silent, Peri took it out of nowhere, she just placed them in the table as if it was nothing, but for Hinoka, there was no doubt about the crest on the ring.

"These are proof that Garon has fallen," Peri continued. "As Peri said, Xing Xander have been crowned the new king of Nohr, you know the royal crest, right?"

"I….I can't believe this….." Hinoka placed her hand on her mouth. Seeing the ring, it was certainly a really good imitation if it was fake, certainly, a death sentence if someone claimed to have royal goods wandering away of the Kingdom, unless some exceptions would be made by some circumstances. "…. Did…. Did Prince Xander commit regicide?"

"More like ex-King Garon was a total bully!" Peri frowned. "After all our efforts, he wanted to destroy everything Lord Kamui achieved!"

"…. I have a lot of questions…. But…." Hinoka looked at the ninja, who nodded at the inquiry she thought, there was no mistake about it, if Kagero approved it, then it had to be true. "…Tell me… did Kamui… get married?"

"Milady!" Kagero reacted in the same way the royal guards felt uneasy, the Nohrians were surprised by the misplaced question of the princess.

"Oh? Such a slip of lips, Lady Hinoka," Akemi giggled. "I´m quite interested in the subject, but please, let´s re-"

"Well, of course he did, after all, Peri is his best girl friend! Also the best friend of the bride!" She happily replied.

"You don't know?" Silas asked, as Hinoka hesitated to answer, these people knew, they could help her, they could help him, but as expected, for the same reason she hesitated, Silas replied. "… I'm sorry Princess Hinoka, but if he hasn't told you about that… then as Lord Kamui's retainer, if my lord hasn't spoken, then I don't have the right to talk."

"Uh? Kamui hasn't said anything? What do you… wait…." She looked at the princess. "Wait… wait….did you….did you bully Lord Kamui?!" Peri frowned. "Wait, you weren't one of those jerks who took him from us, right? I don't remember your face that day….." her carefree attitude and behavior changed, there was venom in her voice "YOU WERE ONE OF THOSE WHO TOOK PERI'S BEST BOY FRIEND?!"

"That´s incorrect, try again."

Hinoka froze, she could see from the corner of her eye how Kagero had a similar expression to hers, but of all people in the room, Peri was the worst of them. Her eyes widened as her face was plain, her body tensed up as her eyes slowly moved to the source of the voice. Hinoka turned as well, in her left side at the back of the room was Yukimura, with a sickening and unnatural curl on his lips.

"Shall we discuss Nohr´s terms of surrendering?"


It´s finally here, yay….. x´D

Sorry guys, it took a lot of time but here it is the new chapter, with the overwork and stuff from school, there has been a lot to do over here, but you know, with the news about the covid-19….. well, let´s just say that im going to have a lot more of free time.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter, i´ll try to make it bigger next time, but I had this chapter stored for so long that I wasn't sure what I wrote, really, I had to re-read all of my fics to remember all the plots ideas and all stories in the website.

Ok, lets wrap it for now, hope you have a good week and have a good day/night!

Shidesu! Out!