Pompeii
Chapter 48
jaylene
"We have to move," Sakura said, keeping pressure on Sai's abdomen. She glanced at the ruins around her, spilling out of the building as yolk from an egg. "We aren't safe here."
"What do you have in mind?" Sai asked, pale face streaked in sweat.
"I don't know; there's so few people we can trust," Sakura replied. "And everyone who I do trust is too ill to be of much help."
"Pompeii knows your needs, child."
Sakura flinched, throwing herself over Sai to shield him from another attack. Then the words and the voice registered. "Hiruzen?"
"Indeed," Hiruzen said, kneeling down at her side. His lips were tight and skin ashy as he took in their surroundings and Sai's state, but his gaze was resolute as he addressed her. "What do you need?"
"The library," Sakura said, looking beyond him to the looming structure. It was the safest structure within Pompeii that she knew of. "Sai will be safe there."
"Was anyone else injured?" Hiruzen asked as he positioned himself at Sai's legs and Sakura grabbed beneath his armpits.
"No one in the rubble," Sakura said, grunting as she lifted Sai. She'd lifted heavier during rotation, but she was long out of practice. "Shizune is out but Yamato…" She fell silent, unwilling to give voice to what happened.
"I see." Hiruzen paled further. "Well, let's tend to this one here."
They managed to get Sai into the library without too much fanfare. Sakura noticed the presence in her mind slip away, claws unable to stay sunk into her, the moment she crossed the threshold. Pompeii was still stronger than the entity. She and Hiruzen laid Sai out on a couch and Sakura bit her lip as she examined him. It wasn't good.
"I'm fine," Sai said, checking the way her eyes lingered on the wet patches soaking through his clothes.
"We never did get around to teaching you how to lie with conviction," Sakura said in a trembling voice. Sai reached out, trying to grab her hand and missing by a mile. Sakura gave it to him anyway, hating how cool his skin felt beneath hers.
"He will be alright," Hiruzen soothed as he stepped back into the room. He brandished medical supplies. "Pompeii will provide."
"You keep saying that," Sakura muttered, squeezing Sai's hand once before taking over from Hiruzen and sliding on the calm persona she donned with every patient.
She couldn't fall apart, not yet. Her hands remained steady as she cut away Sai's shirt.
Hiruzen set up a bag of O-negative blood before passing her a hypodermic needle. She took it, glancing askance at the bag of blood, remembering her thoughts only moments ago.
Exactly what was needed…
She ran through the motions of situating the IV perfectly, before stepping closer to Sai again. "I'll be back soon," she said, seeing the way his eyes listed away from her. He was drifting on the edge of unconsciousness and she wouldn't take it from him. "I'm just getting the rest of the family."
"Family," Sai murmured, eyes sliding shut.
"That's right," Sakura crooned, brushing his sweat-soaked hair out of his face. "We'll be together again soon. We'll watch more ridiculous movies and finish setting up Yamato's Etsy account."
"You're going after him," Hiruzen said, more statement than question.
"Of course," she replied, briskly making her way into the lavatory and washing up. Hiruzen trailed her. Such habits died slowly. "I won't leave Yamato to fend for himself against that thing, whatever it is." She paused for a moment, looking into the ornate mirror before her. She was stained in blood and grime and her hands shook, but her eyes were hard, prepared for what came next. Good. "You said Pompeii provided. Will it provide for me now?"
Hiruzen's mouth tugged down at the corner, a sadness lurking there. "Let's find out."
He led her back into the foyer, passing by Sai and heading into a part of the library Sakura had never visited. The entrance so small and plain that Sakura barely saw it even as she looked upon it. It opened into a small alcove where a beaded tapestry hung.
The tapestry depicted a massive volcano in glittering detail and a woman surrounded by shadowy figures, dressed in gleaming gold. She was lovely, hair whipping around her, a hurricane unto herself. Her face was upturned and arms opened wide, almost as if she planned to embrace the volcano itself.
Sakura's heart jumped as she recognized them from the ritual months ago.
"Founding Day?" she asked.
"Founding Day," Hiruzen confirmed. "The day Pompeii was born out of one woman's sacrifice. This is where Pompeii offers assistance to those it deems worthy."
Dazed by the dazzling tapestry as she was, it took Sakura some time to realize that something sat at the base of the tapestry, perched upon a pedestal. She knelt down and lifted the object free. It was a small black blade, barely a knife that reflected the light of the hall and the beads.
"What is it?" Sakura asked, running a thumb along the edge. It was dull, unable to cut even her flesh.
"It is Pompeii's offering to you," Hiruzen said, peering over her shoulder. "It appears to be made of obsidian."
"Right," Sakura said, clutching the small knife close to her chest. She felt a sort of kinship to the dull blade. Just like her, it seemed out of place and practically useless in the face of the situation at hand. Still, she would do anything and everything within her power to bring Yamato back.
You hear that, bitch? I'm coming for you, Sakura said to the voice in her head.
It remained silent, remote within Pompeii's domain.
"You're decided then?" Hiruzen asked, accompanying her once more to the foyer.
"It took Yamato," Sakura said simply. And it was simple. There was no choice to make here; she would go. Her gaze went to Sai again, taking in his returning color. "Keep an eye on Sai for me." Sakura looked down at the knife. "If I don't return...go to Shizune. She can treat Sai and get him out of here."
"Of course," Hiruzen replied, expression and tone unreadable. "Good luck Sakura. And take heart, Pompeii is on your side."
Sakura smiled mirthlessly, fingers fisting around the simple handle to the obsidian blade. "So it seems. Stay safe."
And she left him there, stepping out into reality once more. Hiruzen stared after her, lips moving wordlessly. Finally, he whispered, "Please, do not let history repeat today," before scurrying back to attend Sai.
Sakura emerged back into the wreckage of her clinic and home. With nary a whisper, the library behind her disappeared. She knew it wouldn't reappear for her for quite some time.
Pompeii wanted her to fight.
Thankfully, their goals were aligned.
She picked her way through the remains, taking in the ruination of the place she once called home. There were bits of machinery she recognized, clothes rent to pieces, and bobbles broken and strewn among the branches. She trepidly climbed the stairs to take in the damage done within the apartment. The sickeningly sweet scent of peaches perfumed the air, heavy to the point of nauseating. The interior of the apartment was much the same as the clinic, tree limbs smashed through everything of value. She paused as one in particular caught her attention.
The battered, worn front of the journal was stabbed clean through with a large branch. Pages, once filled with a dry and sharp wit, were strewn beneath it. Sakura approached it and lifted it free gently, hands trembling as she opened it.
Nothing. There was absolutely nothing on the pages. The hole left by the branch was obscene and gaping, obscuring the areas where jokes and secrets were shared. As she ran her hands over it, Sakura knew the magic within the journal was dead, leached from its pages by the forest entity.
Softly, almost reverently, Sakura placed the journal into her knapsack, before venturing further into the apartment. A quick ten minute search turned up a few of her protective items, her omamori, her dream catcher, and the knife Sai gave her long ago. Sakura donned them now, threading the dream catcher onto the necklace that held the omamori. She looked ridiculous but she didn't care. She needed all of the protection she could get.
Such meagre trinkets won't help you. That paltry diary certainly did not.
Sakura ignored the voice, weaving her way out of the rubble. She looked back only once. The entity's destruction had been thorough and complete. The clinic and her home, their home, was gone.
She didn't think she would rebuild. She'd invested too much into this physical property, her hopes, her dreams...she'd called it home. But home wasn't a place, it was the people. And she had to get her home back. They'd start over somewhere else, somewhere new.
You won't be given the chance I'm afraid. Your services are required elsewhere.
"I'm coming, I'm coming," Sakura said, ignoring the way the voice made her head throb.
The voice receded for the time being and Sakura turned her back on the clinic, refusing to look at it again. Instead, she traipsed into the forest, knowing already where she needed to go.
As she made her way deeper into the forest, Sakura noticed the strangeness to it. The trees were darker than usual and seemingly restless, moving and writhing in her peripheral vision. Never did they move in her direct line of sight. The branches seemed more gnarled and twisted than usual. And the leaves rustled with heavy whispers in languages long dead.
"It's been you since the start," Sakura said softly, remembering her arrival to Pompeii. "Even then you were planning...waiting for the perfect opportunity."
The presence in her mind stayed silent but Sakura could feel the smugness radiating from it. She scoffed, deciding to ignore the whispers of the trees as she continued on...until she found she could not.
Sakura frowned, looking down at herself. Her legs refused to lift, despite her struggle. Her shadow stretched beyond her eerily, meeting that of Shikamaru.
He stood before her, expression set and serious as he concentrated on holding her in place. "No more of this, Sakura," he said, voice resolute. "Your reign of terror ends here today."
"Shikamaru," Sakura greeted, mouth flat. She didn't have time for this. "What brings you out here today?"
"You," he replied. "I've seen you sneak off to the forest on a number of occasions. It wasn't too hard to figure out your usual path."
"And this confrontation just had to happen today, right now?"
"People are nearing the end," Shikamaru said. "Choji collapsed earlier this week. Ino is on death's doorstep and Naruto...well I'm here to end it all."
Sakura's pulse quickened. "You plan on killing me?"
"No," Shikamaru said. "Not if I can help it."
Sakura remembered his expression as he watched the effigy of her burn just scant days ago. "If you can help it," she repeated, shaking her head. "Shikamaru, this will end today, one way or another. I'm not responsible for this mess; go take a look at my clinic and home for abundant evidence of that. The thing behind this, the forest entity, it has Yamato. For whatever reason, it wants me." Her lips curled into a mockery of a smile. "I plan on giving it what it wants."
Shikamaru's hands slackened momentarily and Sakura took a half step before his powers took hold once more.
"I can't allow you to escape," he said and Sakura could read the fear in his eyes, taste it in the sweat that beaded his brow. "There's too much at stake."
Far more than you understand B O Y.
"Shikamaru, no!" Sakura yelled as the voice pierced her mind, reverberating off itself and compounding into a migraine. "Run!"
The trees around Shikamaru leapt to life, attacking him. He dodged sideways, breaking his connection with Sakura as a particularly wily limb caught his leg. Sakura immediately strode forward, palming the knives in both hands. The trees were shaking wildly, the ground tearing beneath them as some uprooted themselves and dogged after Shikamaru. He disappeared in the sea of moving trees.
Sakura drove the knives into the branches closest to her, drawing the same strange gold ichor as it had during the incident at the Hyuga Manor.
The resulting shriek both within her mind and outside of it deafened Sakura as she pulled the knives free and clutched at her ears. Her fingers met wetness and, as she pulled away, she saw the bright crimson of her blood.
Ears ringing, migraine pounding, and beyond dizzy and disoriented, Sakura did what she could to position herself to fight the writhing mass of trees.
Two flashes passed her periphery and Sakura looked up, blinking as her knights dove into the fray.
"Daffodil! Mari!" she called, her voice sounding to her as if she was underwater.
She frowned.
Daffodil waved at her jauntily before motioning past it, back toward the path she'd been taking before Shikamaru accosted her.
"Save him, please," she requested.
Mari turned her way for a moment, inclining its head before striking a particularly savage strike against the mass.
With the situation well in the hands of the knights, Sakura returned to the path, ignoring the way her ears rang and her equilibrium ran haywire.
"Hold on, Yamato," she said to herself, her voice still sounding distant but centering nonetheless, a prayer or promise of sorts. "I'm coming."
Sakura ran into the clearing of the shrine, pausing to take in the scene before her. Things were not as she left them.
A large, sprawling peach tree took up most of the clearing. Heavy, perfect peaches hung from its branches, attractive in nature. Everything about them drew Sakura in, but something underneath, on a very basic, animal level repulsed her. They were unnatural, inhuman, the very antithesis of humanity. Sakura's mouth watered as the fruity scent hit her nostrils, filling her with promises of vitality and riches and dreams fulfilled. Sakura closed her eyes as the pain of the migraine throbbed viciously, nearly blinding her.
She reopened her eyes what may have been moments or minutes later, black spots dotting her vision. Sakura saw now that the faded, forgotten shrine of the Maiden was split in two, sundered by the tree. And there, beside the pond, hung Yamato.
He was ensconced within the tree itself, the bark growing around his body and limbs. His face peeked out beneath the shade of the branches and Sakura ran forward, wading her way through the pond.
"Yamato!" she screamed. Sakura scrambled to shore, clutching the sides of Yamato's face. His eyes fluttered for a moment but remained closed. "Yamato!" she repeated, leaning in and pressing her forehead to his. He was warm beneath her and his breath was moist against her neck. He was alive. "I'm here," she said softly. She traced his cheek, picking away at the bark that marred it. "I'm here."
Cute.
Sakura whirled, immediately throwing her arms out behind her, trying to span the trunk to protect Yamato.
A woman stood across the pond, regarding her with a canted head. She was preternaturally pale, horns framing her head. Everything about her was crisp, white, and austere, startling against the greenery behind her. In the middle of her forehead was a third, crimson eye.
"It's you," Sakura breathed, unable to hear herself. This was the being, the forest entity who haranged her for over a year. Fear blazed up Sakura's spine in the face of this alien creature, so unlike anything she'd experienced in her life. Her eyes slid back toward Yamato and the fear abated as fury surged forth. "You can't have him."
The woman opened her mouth and spoke, though all Sakura heard was ringing and the chiming of bells.
Ah, I did more damage than I first expected. A pity how fragile you are. I do not wish to possess your consort, he was merely a means to an end.
"And what end was that?" Sakura asked.
You, my dear girl.
"Me," Sakura said. "You wanted me. Why?"
The woman smiled, a slow, sinuous thing that was beyond human. Sakura shivered at the woman's display of pointy teeth. You're so ordinary and plain, which is exactly what I require. You are one of the few who can complete the task at hand.
"And this task required you to alienate me from the rest of Pompeii, for you to torture me and mine for months on end?" Sakura asked, looking again to Yamato who remained unconscious.
Watch your tone! Sakura clamped her hands over her ears as the woman's voice shook Sakura's mind. Sakura squeezed her eyes shut, grimacing as something leaked from her eyes. She knew without checking that it was blood. She'd popped a vessel. Be careful how you address this one, chit. I have waited millennia for this very moment.
"And how shall I address you?" Sakura asked, keeping her tone even.
I have been called by many names: the Devourer, the Scourge, Empress, Goddess. The name of my choosing is Princess Kaguya.
"What do you want from me?" Sakura asked, voice soft.
It's quite simple, Kaguya replied, striding out into the pond. She walked upon the water, slight ripples disrupting the pond beneath her feet. Pluck a peach for me.
"A peach," Sakura said, looking overhead.
The boughs of the tree dipped her way, offering ripe peaches for her inspection. The skin was soft and fuzzy and oh so mesmerizing…
Yamato groaned, snapping Sakura from the trance. She scowled, returning her gaze to the woman.
"Why don't you take one for yourself?"
Kaguya's angelic, alien visage twisted to something ugly. I am...not allowed. Her gaze fell to the broken shrine. An annoying presence lingers despite my best efforts.
"I see," Sakura replied. Something deep within her balked at the thought of giving Kaguya a peach. She knew it wouldn't end well for her or anyone else. "And if I refuse?"
High-pitched, buzzing laughter filled Sakura's head, nearly bringing her to her knees. I will destroy all you love.
Sakura glared up at Kaguya as she reached Sakura's side of the pond. She was within reach. Sakura wrapped her fingers around her knives, lunging forward.
Kaguya's eyes went wide as she dodged back. Apparently, she wasn't expecting resistance to her demands. Sai's gift nicked her arm, drawing forth spurts of gold ichor. Kaguya let free an unearthly shriek, the eye in her forehead focusing on Sakura.
You dare!
Sakura wasn't given a chance to respond as Kaguya dove forward, knocking Sakura back against the trunk of the tree. Her hands clasped around Sakura's neck, claws biting into the soft flesh there. Sakura flailed wildly as streams of blood pooled out from beneath Kaguya's fingernails, soaking into Sakura's shirt.
Sakura blinked through her tears, turning Sai's knife in her hand and driving it into Kaguya's side.
Kaguya hissed, but remained seated firmly over Sakura. You will learn obedience, she said idly, gaze landing above Sakura's shoulder. Her smile widened, displaying her needle teeth once more. Perhaps an example will sweeten your attitude.
She released Sakura, drifting past her to where Yamato hung, unconscious and helpless to the whims of the entity.
Sakura heaved, bright spots filling her field of vision as she caught her breath. She stood shakily, looking to Kaguya.
She stood over Yamato, forehead pressed to his in a sick facsimile of Sakura's gesture moments before. Her red eye was opened wide though the others were closed and Sakura saw something that appeared to be gold dust passing from Yamato's nostrils and mouth to Kaguya's open eye. With each second that passed, Yamato's skin paled and slackened.
She was draining him.
Sakura cast her eyes around for something, anything she could do. The peaches beckoned her, beguiling and alluring. She inhaled deeply, filling her lungs with their scent. It filled her with energy and she scrambled forward, drawing the dull obsidian blade and driving it into one of the low hanging branches. She wouldn't handle the peach itself, she couldn't.
She feared what it would make her. And she knew well that it would change her.
Sakura was surprised when the dull blade cut into the bark. The branch parted from the tree easily, far easier than it should have. She hefted the branch, testing the weight of it. It was a good three feet long, with a single peach hanging near the far end. The branch was heavy and solid in her grasp and again Sakura looked at the dull blade, unsure of its power. How had it cut down the branch so quickly?
Hiruzen did say that Pompeii would provide...
The blood in Sakura's veins sung as she handled the branch. It called to her, telling her to eat and be merry and to live. It would answer all of her questions and give her all she needed to accomplish happiness…
Except Yamato, a piece of her happiness, was in peril and nothing the peach offered was worth that.
"Hey!" Sakura called, voice husky and shredded from the damage done to her throat. Kaguya paused, turning to her. "I have what you want right here!"
Kaguya's eyes lit with an infernal glee as she darted forward. Yamato slumped once more, though Sakura could see the rise and fall of his chest. He lived. No matter what happened from here, Yamato lived.
You've done it. Kaguya stopped before Sakura, gaze warring between reverence and revulsion as she regarded the peach. She didn't even bother to look at Sakura.
"Everything you want," Sakura said, repeating the promise of the peach. Kaguya's eyes glittered and Sakura knew that the tree tempted her just the same. "Life everlasting."
Kaguya reached for it, hands trembling. As her claws moved to encircle it in a gentle embrace, Sakura drove forward with all her might, aiming for the eye in the center of the woman's forehead. The sharp tip of the branch caught the eye square-on, piercing through it and gliding into the woman's skull with the gentlest, sickening pop.
Gold ichor splattered Sakura and the peach as Kaguya's body went stiff.
No, she moaned, her presence within Sakura's mind trailing and weakening. I can't….how?
Sakura twisted the branch, shoving it further into Kaguya, tears tacky and streaking through the gold ichor coating her cheeks. Kaguya collapsed at the foot of the tree, the branch lodged deep within her skull. Sakura turned away from the body, retching. She lost the meagre contents of her stomach as she pressed herself against the tree. She clung to the trunk, trying to regain her strength.
The moment she could stand, Sakura moved around the body to Yamato. His color was returning and Sakura saw the bark that held him in place beginning to retreat. The tree itself was beginning to fade away from sight. She wedged the obsidian blade beneath particularly difficult patches, easing his body free from the tree.
In a matter of minutes, Yamato fell forward and she caught him, bringing them both to the ground.
She blinked at the ground, disoriented by its color. Hadn't it been green? It was now coated in powdery white. She swept her fingers across the ground, picking up hot material.
"Snow isn't hot," she muttered, gaze crossing and going bleary.
The ash continued to fall across her and Yamato as Sakura laid him out and watched the movement of his chest as he breathed in and out.
She leaned over him, positioning her body beside his as her adrenaline gave out. She hoped that Kaguya was truly dead. If not...well, she wouldn't be waking from this.
"You've…"announced a voice Sakura didn't recognize. His voice went in and out of focus and Sakura knew Kaguya had left a lingering mark on her. She shifted slightly, still crouching over Yamato, frowning as a figure wearing battered and broken armor strode forward. She overestimated the turn and nearly fell, but hands were there to catch her. She looked up into unfamiliar dark eyes. "Rest...well, thanks….Sakura."
With that, Sakura fell forward into the forgiving folds of unconsciousness and knew no more.