Chapter 8 – The Resolve of the Rose
Gakupo and Maika ended up staying at Rossemara's home for the next couple of days. It was quite a different experience from being in the palace, and Gakupo found that he liked it. It almost made him feel normal; there were no servants aside from Kanon and Anon, who Rossemara treated like adoptive daughters. So everyone had to pitch in and do their part of the housework. Elegant people like Arevalo and Balthazar looked extremely out of place sweeping the floors or cutting vegetables, but they didn't complain. As for Gakupo, it felt rather nostalgic to do things like helping to dry the dishes and weed out the garden.
When it was time to go and visit Castelo's residence at the outskirts of the city, everyone piled up in a couple of open carriages. According to Arevalo, it was a great expenditure of power to use magical transportation like she had done to leave High Tribunal, so usually mages travelled like any other regular person.
In contrast to the judicial building or Rossemara's cozy dwelling, Castelo's ranch was a vast, one-story structure, surrounded by vast orchards and grasslands. The carriages were stopped for a short while by a herd of sheep crossing the road leading to the main entrance; in the distance, Gakupo saw horses and goats, and different varieties of birds sitting inside huge cages.
"This place is very nice," he commented to Maika, sitting by his side. The idea of meeting Castelo again wasn't particularly pleasant, especially after what happened at Blanca's, but the charming atmosphere of his home helped to ease his nerves.
Not to mention, he now had two experienced mages by his side. He glanced at Rossemara, sitting in front of him with Anon. The motherly mage gave him a reassuring smile.
Finally, the sheep cleared the way for the carriages to continue. The front door grew closer and closer, as well as the figure now waiting before it. Gakupo clenched his jaw involuntarily.
Castelo was looking directly at him, with his strange and piercing eyes. His expression was carefully neutral; he stood completely immobile, except for a hand stroking the head of a large herding dog.
"Welcome, welcome!" he intoned when the first carriage stopped in front of the door. Gakupo, Maika, Rossemara and Anon descended. "I must admit, I was a bit surprised to hear you were joining us for lunch, not to mention our lovely Arevalo. Won't your scholars be lost without your valuable advice?" He said with a hint of sarcasm to Rossemara.
Behind Gakupo, the carriage moved to allow the second one to deposit its passengers. Kanon spiritedly jumped down, and then Balthazar gallantly helped his master descend.
"My scholars are doing fine, thank you. I'm happy you appreciate the work we do to improve the quality of life in this nation," Rossemara replied pleasantly, evidently choosing not to be baited.
Castelo's made a little pout, before turning his magenta eyes to Gakupo. "You didn't need to bring so many chaperones, you know? I'm not going to eat you…unless you want me to," he smiled briefly, before Gakupo's nonplussed reaction made him scowl again. "It's the eyes, isn't it? Half the men I know are freaked out by them…"
They are disconcerting, but not half as much as you trying to fondle me in our first meeting, Gakupo thought, but stayed silent. Maika squeezed his hand, likely a sign that she didn't appreciate it either.
Castelo glanced at Balthazar, who was standing behind Arevalo. "Maybe I should try to hit on him. He doesn't seem to mind her weird eyes."
"My master's eyes are the beautiful crimson of the finest roses, and suitably reflect her zeal and strength," Balthazar said without even looking in Castelo's direction. "I'm honored to be reflected in them."
Castelo clicked his tongue. "…Come in, then, all of you. I'm sure this is going to be a valuable use of my time." He turned and entered his home without even waiting to see if the others followed him. The dog trotted by his side.
Gakupo took a deep breath, as he entered the home. "We'll be ok. We are doing fine," he muttered, just loud for Maika to hear; she squeezed his hand again.
The group followed Castelo all the way to the back of the house; like Blanca, he had set up the table outside, to take advantage of the streak of good weather. Servants (regular men and woman in uniforms, thankfully) waited nearby, to start serving the dishes. The mages sat, with Castelo at the head of the table (and the dog by his side), Rossemara to his right and Gakupo to his left. Arevalo took the seat opposite Castelo, and the servants stood behind their respective masters. Gakupo briefly wondered if this was always the case, before he noticed Arevalo eyeing the dishes being brought by the servants with a look so intense that he wondered if she was capable of scanning them for poison using only her eyes. Whatever the case, Castelo noticed it as well and made a face.
"Do you really think I'm foolish enough to try that? Yes, I've heard what happened at High Tribunal; Blanca won't shut up about it." The mage used his hand to support his head, looking at Rossemara with disinterest. "His virtue is safe, don't worry. You two are as meddlesome as any old maid lacking an occupation, and about as necessary here today."
Rossemara only smiled. "Maybe one day you'll learn to respect your elders, piglet."
"I respect the only elder I need to," Castelo replied and turned to Gakupo. "I'm not the most serious individual around, but I won't go against Verdigris. I owe him my life, just like you."
"What happened?" Gakupo asked, curious despite how uncomfortable it felt to be the center of Castelo's attention.
"The village I lived in tried to lynch me, that's what happened. It's these damned eyes… Everyone could tell my mother fooled around with a non-human." Castelo rubbed one side of his face. "When the missionaries of the Lady came around, they denounced her for consorting with evil spirits. And I was a dangerous abomination, of course."
Gakupo stared at his plate, without really seeing it. The Church of the Lady was big on purity of blood, for certain. And anything in the world that wasn't human was either a beast or a demon, and not to be mingled with. "I'm sorry to hear that," he said with utter sincerity. "Is your mother alright?"
"No." Castelo took a sip from his cup. "Believe or not, Verdigris and the rest of the Five are the closest thing I have to a family now...Oh, and I guess I should count you as well, now."
"A family…" Gakupo repeated. The idea of having some of these people as relatives was rather scary.
"Yeah, that's about the right level of excitement, I'd say." Castelo smirked. "Just obey Verdigris' orders and make the most of it, is my advice. He'll give you anything you want, as long as it is within reason."
"Nothing I truly want is within reason, then," Gakupo said in a low tone.
Castelo raised one eyebrow and remarked, "You need to adjust your expectations, cutie. We live better than any other citizen of this nation."
Gakupo didn't answer. All the luxuries of Alm-Ardjalus meant little to him, but there was no point in trying to explain that to the mocking mage with piercing eyes.
Verdirrama's tower was at the end of a long dusty side road of the Ruta Augusta, away from any town or city. It immediately struck Luka as odd: the lands around it were wild woods and there weren't any signs of a well or an orchard to support himself. There didn't seem to be any servants or guards around either. Just the rundown tower, barely three stories high, without even a fence to protect the perimeter.
"There's something wrong here," Kaito echoed her thoughts out loud. They had approached the site as carefully as possible, leaving the packs and horses hidden out of sight by a bend of the road; then, they inched closer using the vegetation by the side of the path to mask their presence. Now Kaito and Luka were crouched down next to the last trees before the clearing around the tower. There were barely any sounds around them: just the occasional chirping of a bird, or a gust of wind moving the branches of the perennial trees nearby.
"What do we do? Do you think this place has any back entrances?" Luka whispered.
Kaito shrugged. "No idea. But we better take a look."
They slowly drew a circle around the tower, without discovering any signs of activity, or a second door. Soon, they were back where they started, having gained nothing but an increased sense of foreboding.
"So I guess we just knock on the front door and ask for Gakupo back?" Luka said, trying to mask her nervousness.
"We could wait and see if anyone comes out…but it's getting late." Kaito glanced at the sky. "And I think we are running out of good weather. We're lucky it lasted so long."
"Let's get in there, then." Luka began to prepare her bow and arrows.
"Stay behind me." Kaito cracked his knuckles with a look of concentration. "Ready?" After a nod from Luka, they sneaked carefully across the clearing. There were no warning voices, or any sign that their approach was being watched. The slits on the tower's wall were completely dark.
The front door was unremarkable, just wood and metal darkened with age. After making sure Luka was poised behind him, ready to snipe, Kaito pushed it. It didn't budge. "It's locked, let me try with magic." Luka backed away even more and watched him pour a torrent of blue flames against the door. At first, it did nothing but blacken its surface. But then, Kaito seemed to focus his power, and the flames took a shape closer to a shield hanging from his arm. He bashed the door with it, again and again, until there was nothing but a few cinders in the threshold.
"Well, there's no way they didn't hear that," Luka commented. She looked upwards, but there still couldn't see any kind of reaction. This place is empty, isn't it? The thought was more chilling than any of the nights she had spent out in the wilderness during their search.
The interior was unlit. Kaito stepped inside cautiously, the shield of flames still emanating from his arm. Its light tinged the unkempt ground floor with an unnatural blue glow. Luka followed him, bow still ready. There wasn't any furniture in the room, just the ladder going to the upper floors and two sets of doors, one across them, another to their right; a thick layer of dust covered the floor. It was undisturbed, except for one recent set of tracks that crossed the room and ended up in the doors past the stairs. "One set of feet and a staff," Luka muttered, examining the ground. Her father had taught her a thing or two about hunting, despite being a girl, but she had never expected to use to pursue a mage of all things. However, the tracks made little sense to her: why was there only one set of steps? Where was Gakupo?
Kaito frowned and rushed to open the doors across the entrance. Luka gasped and ran after him. "Kaito, wait! "
But her friend had already pushed the doors open. His flames and Luka's lantern, tied to her waist, illuminated a cot, an unlit chimney, a chair and a desk with some books and notebooks and a map of the continent on the wall. There was no one in there.
Like a white and blue whirlwind, Kaito turned around and aided by his magic, reached the stairs in two jumps. Before Luka had time to breathe, Kaito had climbed to the second floor, and she could hear him above, crying out Gakupo's name again and again along with sounds of doors and furniture being smashed. His voice sounded more ragged with each shout.
I shouldn't let him run around like that; there might be traps around here, Luka thought, making an effort to stay calm. She climbed the stairs after Kaito in a hurry; she had barely reached the second landing when she saw Kaito fly up like a cannonball towards the top of the tower. "Kaito, wait! You're going to hurt yourself!"
If he heard her, he gave no indication of it. Splinters rained from above when he attacked the door leading to the terrace on the roof; the pallid light of winter touched the last floor of the tower, perhaps for the first time in years. Kaito's silhouette briefly blocked the white sky, when he peeked outside. Then he went back and checked the doors nearby, slamming them in quick succession.
Luka finally reached his side, huffing out of exertion. "Kaito, please!"
"He has to be somewhere around here!" Kaito yelled, running his hands through his hair. "He has to!" Tears welled up in his eyes, and he continued with a tiniest shred of a voice. "I can't fail him again…" He sank to his knees, lowering his head.
Luka crouched next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. You were due a meltdown, I guess. But she didn't voice her thoughts out loud.
"I don't know how to live without him, Luka. I can't bear it," Kaito said between sobs. "If only I could go back, I…" He returned his gaze to the ground floor. He pointed to the second door to the right of the entrance. "That door, maybe there are cells down there." Without hesitation, he dropped down, summoning the blue flames around his body only moments before crashing into the ground. He threw himself at the door, wrapping his body in the cocoon of fire. The door practically disintegrated under the attack.
Kaito disappeared inside; Luka sighed and began to descend the stairs, but she wasn't even halfway to the bottom when she heard a scream. Worse still, she heard an inhuman growl and the sounds of a struggle in the darkness.
"Kaito!" The mystic left behind some kind of creature to guard his secrets! Luka had the briefest of instants to regret not calming him down, before the youth was launched flying out of the door and collided with the opposite wall. He landed face down on the floor, dazed.
From the dark doorframe, emerged a stooped, dark grey animal Luka couldn't identify, about as tall as her. It had a shaggy curved back and a long slobbering snout, and stood in two powerful hind legs. It advanced on Kaito, extending its talons.
"No!" Luka yelled, attracting the beast's bright red eyes towards herself. It let out a roar, showing two rows of pointy teeth.
Luka's legs were shaking like trees in the middle of a storm, but she moved forward. Her fingers trembled so much that she could hardly control them, and the arrow she had in her hand slipped to the ground, but she keep moving closer. Enough cowering, enough running away; she was going to save her friends, or die trying. She raised her other hand still holding the bow, while the beast gurgled, as if laughing at her.
"Pierce the darkness," whispered something that felt both alien and part of her, deep inside. "Break the ice entrapping you and claim your future."
She lifted the empty hand and felt her fingers tingle. She knew what to do. And so it seemed as natural as breathing, when an arrow of concentrated fire appeared in her hand, and the bow itself exploded in flames, somehow still keeping its shape. She aimed and released the arrow, as the beast was preparing to pounce on her. The projectile impacted with the creature in mid-jump, pushing it backwards against the wall where the entrance door stood. The animal howled horribly; the flames spread all around its body, clinging to the dirty fur with ferocity. The room was bathed in a rosy glow.
Luka prepared another arrow, but the beast escaped through the gaping entrance of the tower, towards the cold landscape outside. She grimly observed it collapse in the middle of the clearing, a horrid charred thing against the snow. To be on the safe side, she still shot the second arrow, and the carcass turned into a barely identifiable pile of ash.
"Luka…" a weak voice called her. She turned around and saw Kaito trying to sit on the floor, holding his head with one hand. "You're like us!"
'You're a beast too?' Meiko's voice rang in her mind, full of fear and confusion. Well, the girl had called her an animal once or twice, perhaps she was right. But Luka felt curiously elated. She and Gakupo were the same, whatever that 'same' was. He wasn't so out of reach after all.
She approached Kaito and leaned in to see his back. His pretty white coat was covered in muck, but no bones were broken, it seemed. "You're going to have a mighty bump there, I bet."
"Yeah, my back is killing me….Look, I'm sorry for rushing like that, it's just that-"
"I know. It's ok." She considered their surroundings. It was kind of late, and as creepy as this place was, it was probably the only shelter nearby. "Why don't you go lie down on that cot for a while? I'll bring the horses closer and find some firewood."
Kaito at first seemed about to protest, but evidently felt sore enough to reconsider. He rose up slowly and walked towards the room in the back.
Luka turned her eyes to the blackness on her right. Despite how unpleasant it felt, she prepared another arrow and examined it closer. Her light revealed a short flight of stairs leading down into a long room with several cages. The closest to the door was open; inside of it, there was a sort of nest made out of trash, surrounded by bones. She felt no desire to go any closer. It was clear that Gakupo wasn't in the tower at all, nor anyone else. At least it meant she could leave Kaito inside without worrying some other monster was going to chew him up.
She quickly returned to the dusty road and retraced her steps until she reached their horses and their bags. She guided them back towards the back of the tower, where a rundown stable leaned on the stony wall. Next to it, she found an ancient pile of firewood.
"I'll need to make two or three trips at least." Luka gathered as much wood as she could carry in her arms and returned inside.
Kaito was lying face down on the cot, resting his face in his arms. He seemed lost in his thoughts and, unsurprisingly, rather depressed. He didn't move when Luka left the firewood, or when she returned later with their packs. Finally, Luka approached him and placed a hand on his head, startling him.
"How are you feeling?"
"I'll survive." Kaito's voice was toneless.
"…Let's warm this place up, ok?" Even though Luka felt more resolute than before, it didn't mean she was any better at knowing what to say to make others feel better. So she turned away from him, awkwardly. Luka went to the chimney and quickly produced a fire. Then, she turned towards the desk. Their last chance was for one of those books and notebooks to have some clue regarding Verdirrama's and Gakupo's whereabouts.
However, before checking them, Luka examined the map of the wall. It had several locations marked all over the continent, including Oto. She wasn't all that surprised that the mark next to the town was labelled 'Gakupo'.
"Castelo…Blanca…" She read aloud some of the other names. They had a tick next to them, unlike Gakupo's name. "Gumi… wasn't that the name of Gakupo's sister?" Behind her, Kaito grunted in agreement. "Do you think it's a coincidence?"
"I doubt it." Kaito replied glumly.
"So what do you think this is?" Luka asked. She considered for a moment, then dragged the chair towards closer and climbed it to tear the map off the wall.
"What are you doing?"
"Maybe we'll find more about Verdirrama's plans if we visit these places. Or where his true hideout is."
"It could take us months!"
"Unless there's something more concrete in one of these," Luka waved with one hand in the direction of the desk, "it's all we have."
Kaito seemed on the verge of tears again; in contrast, Luka felt calmer. She was going to find out what was going on, no matter how long it took. She was going to find Gakupo. She folded the map and stored it in the pocket of her dark coat, above her heart.
She then sat on the chair and grabbed the first book on the table. It was an historical account of the town of Oto. Luka leafed through it, but there wasn't anything of relevance. Next up was a slim book with more detailed maps of the region. It was marked with red ink lines, crossing the lands in capricious patterns. One went directly through Oto, more or less following the course of the river. Luka tapped her chin in thought, but there wasn't any notes on the margin to give her a clue about the nature of the lines. She put the book aside with a sigh.
The notebooks might prove more useful, perhaps. The first one she picked up was labelled 'Gakupo Kamui', with elegant calligraphy. Inside, she found a detailed account of Gakupo' life: data on all of his relatives, his likes and dislikes, all the major events of his life before he was imprisoned inside the tower, even a detailed analysis of the heavens at the time of his birth. Luka's calm began to evaporate, as she read further and further. The thought of the mage compiling all this information to know exactly how to manipulate Gakupo made her sick to her stomach. No, it wasn't just to manipulate him. There were sections devoted to Meiko, Kaito and her, studying how to make sure they wouldn't prove to be an obstacle. How small they seemed, in the cold words of the mage. She couldn't make past the first few lines describing Meiko and Kaito before wanting to throw away the notebook in disgust. The back of her palate and her throat felt especially odd, like clenched by icy hands, as she read the words devoted to her.
"Luka is weak. She puts up a proud front, and probably even believes it herself, just because she's slightly prettier and cleverer than most girls. But she's nothing. Impatient, selfish, foolish. A small prodding to the fears behind her pride and she'll crumble like a house of cards. Her love is flimsy, the boy is nothing but a convenient crutch to her."
"It's not true," she said aloud, without thinking. Behind her, she heard Kaito made an unintelligible sound that could be interpreted as a question. He sounded exhausted.
"Try to rest, I'll let you know if I find anything." Her voice sounded strange, even to her own ears, but Kaito made no comment.
Luka stared at the page, her eyes itching. Selfish, foolish, flimsy. Nothing but a crutch. The words stabbed at the heart, making her relive the last two months with renewed anguish. She knew she had done something terrible, by running away without a single word. No matter how deep she tried to bury it under justifications of every kind, a small cinder remained in the back of her mind, torturing her. The simple fact was, Luka had abandoned him. She had hidden in her room, crying and crying, feeling sorry for herself. She had looked away and told herself there was nothing she could do, and felt so terrible because she was going to be married away to an honest man and have a normal life. And all the while, Gakupo was counting the days to his death. She couldn't even begin to imagine how that must've felt.
He had been there when they were younger, to make peace every time she fought with other children. He had carried her when she fell off the tree and hurt her knee. He was there holding her as she cried when her father told her for the first time there were things she couldn't be because she was born a girl.
He smiled so tenderly whenever he saw her, as if she was the most precious thing in the whole universe. He never pressured her or told her what to do. He didn't mind that she was impatient or foolish. He had been such a permanent fixture of her life, that she could barely comprehend the world without him.
And Luka had abandoned him. Kaito didn't fail Gakupo half as bad as she had. At least he had stood with him almost to the end. And she couldn't even understand her own actions, looking back. Why? Why hadn't she been there for Gakupo, when Gakupo had been there for her so many times before?
Luka continued looking through the notebook, even as tears rolled down her cheeks. There were pages filled with calculations and diagrams, completely devoid of meaning to her. The only thing she could guess, given the annotations, is that they were speculations regarding the strength of the powers inside Gakupo. Strangely enough, there were also references to the relics of the saint that killed the beast, all those years ago. She stopped at a particularly puzzling page. Each of the relics were listed, along with a list of names under each one, except for the prayer book and lantern. Gakupo was listed under the sword with every other name in the list crossed out. Kaito was the sole name under the shield, and Meiko, Luka and a few others were listed under the bow. Meiko's name was crossed out, and there was a question mark next to Luka's. The dagger and banner lists were scratched all over, and she couldn't make out the names.
What did it mean? Her powers had manifested as arrows of flame, but she had assumed she had use them in a way that fitted her existing skills. Was it the other way around?
'I still have the sword… and he'll be trained, unlike these maggots.' At the time, Luka thought the mystic was referring to the relic. But what if he meant Gakupo himself? He had said nothing about the shield, even though it was missing from its usual place as well.
Maybe the sword and shield were gone, because the owners of the powers had called upon them. She turned around and eyed Kaito, who was laying there with his eyes closed.
Did that meant there were others back in Oto, corresponding to the rest of the relics? Or was it just the three of them? Why did the mage choose just Gakupo to torment? Those and other questions buzzed around inside her head, with no answers in sight.
She rubbed her eyes, and returned to the section devoted to Kaito. Maybe the mage had left something in there to explain his reasoning. She tried to put aside the discomfort that arose as she realized she was going to read very personal things, if her section was any indication. But this was important.
And it was very personal, alright. She had no idea how the mage was able to know some of the things listed in the page, things that no one else but Kaito and Gakupo should've known. She couldn't help but feel a little jealous of the fact that Kaito could say some of the things listed on the page without embarrassment, without being paralyzed. His heart was completely open.
The mage had deemed him the biggest threat to his control over Gakupo. He was too loyal, and too much in love with his friend. Kaito would never allow him to be molded into a proper tool. They had to be separated.
There wasn't anything else of use in there, unfortunately. But it was actually surprising that the mage that left all this evidence lying around, even with that monster guarding the tower. He obviously felt very confident in his triumph.
Luka took out the map again. "This is all we have," she whispered. Kaito was right; visiting all those places would take months. There seemed to be marks in every country of the continent, except for Alm-Ardjalus. "It's ok, we'll find you," her fingers brushed the name next to the town of Oto. "This time, you can lean on me."