Self-Inflicted Wounds

Chapter 4: In the Line of Duty

The emperor allowed the crowd before him to mutter and gasp as they took in the information their leader had just thrust upon them. Although many of them were probably expecting such an alliance to form, it still came as a shock to many. Over the course of the majority of the war, Ginoukoku had focused on absorbing other kingdoms into its empire, usually by force. Most of the war now seemed to have a focus on dominating the last few free kingdoms and taking over kingdoms from Kinmoku. So to hear that Ginoukoku had agreed to allow Kessho to remain as its own independent kingdom was shocking to many.

The Emperor stepped down from his throne into the babbling crowd. Many of the nobles crowded around their emperor, bombarding him with questions. They wanted to know what had made the emperor make this unlikely move. They wanted to know what he hoped to obtain from this alliance. They wanted to know what consequences existed. Their leader just smiled and answered diplomatically. As Seiya watched the emperor make his rounds, he started noticing similarities he shared with the emperor of Kinmoku.

The two men were dominating. In a room full of people, they were the ones that stood out the most. However, they never used this dominance in a negative way. They smiled openly, and could assure a crowd no matter what the situation. It dawned on Seiya as he watched the emperor that he was why Ginoukoku had not yet given up on this war.

Usagi stirred in her throne, Seiya noticed her movement out of the corner of his eye. She was obviously uncomfortable with the situation around her. Everything from her stiff, closed off posture to the sad look in her eyes told Seiya exactly what she was thinking. Again he felt his heart break for her. She was being thrown into a loveless marriage to help save her empire. She was torn between duty and desire; between dreams and reality. It made Seiya hate what he was doing even more.

Finally, she slowly rose from her makeshift throne, her long white gown rustling over her soft, pale skin. She gathered up the front of the white gown, revealing two small feet, carefully tied in white shoes that matched the dress. With cautious footing, she stepped down from the slightly raised platform that the throne was placed on. Seiya motioned to Taiki and Yaten to move around and stick close to the princess as she started floating gracefully into the crowd. Like three shadows, Seiya, Taiki, and Yaten followed the princess, trying to stay aware of any trouble that might come to the princess. The only danger she's in is the danger from us, Seiya thought as he took another step.

"I don't need you," came a voice very suddenly. It was a quiet voice that had a sharp edge to it, but underneath the angry overtones, was a very soft, gentle sound. It was a beautiful voice, like a bird singing in the early spring morning. Seiya turned towards the source of the voice. As he turned away from the crowd, he saw that Usagi had stopped her procession into the crowd, and had turned on her three guards, her beautiful face creased in anger. Although she was glaring daggers, Seiya sensed they weren't directed entirely at him, but rather at her situation. Seiya smiled at the princess, who turned her face away. Dropping into a low bow, Seiya continued to smile.

"Kou Seiya, at your service, My Lady," Seiya announced, lifting his face to make eye contact with the princess, but she was still looking away. He took her small hand in his large, rough hand. The hand of a murder, he thought. For a moment, she looked as if she was going to pull her hand from his grip, but then she let her hand relax in his. He could feel her blood pounding through her veins; finally she turned her eyes towards him. In that moment they held each other's gaze, Seiya could feel his heart going out of control again. Usagi blushed slightly. Seiya brought down his head, and let his lips brush across the top of her smooth skin on the back of her hand. As he pulled his lips away, he let her hand drop back to her side. For a moment, the princess stood dumbfounded.

"I don't need your help," she repeated in a whisper, her startling blue eyes hold his.

"That's where you're wrong, My Lady," Seiya told her, "you may not know this, but as of this moment, you are on a number of hit lists. There are a number of people who would rather see you dead than have you marry Prince Endymion."

"Like who?" she challenged.

"Kinmoku for one," Yaten supplied.

"Rebels from Kessho," added Taiki.

"Even rebels from your own empire," concluded Seiya. As their words hit her, shock filled her face, morphing her features again.

"It's not like a chose this," she whispered, more to herself than to Seiya and the other, dropping her gaze to the floor and hunching her shoulders slightly. She's shutting everything out, Seiya realized.

"I know," Seiya comforted her, his hand resting on her shoulder. For a moment, she allowed the contact between them, but shrugged it off. "These are my companions, and the rest of your guard from Kessho," Seiya continued, trying to change the topic and stay on task. "Yaten," he indicated his short, silver hair companion, who dipped his head slightly, "and Taiki," Seiya pointed to his taller companion, who bowed as well. "They are the best at what they do. The three of us will never let any harm come to you."

"I don't need your help," Usagi repeated for a third time.

"I understand this is difficult for you. Not to mention, if you accept us as your guard, you are accepting your future, which you haven't yet. But please understand, our only goal is to keep you safe," Seiya told her, trying a new approach. Usagi turned away again, as if she was trying to block out the truth of Seiya's words.

That was when he heard it. It was so subtle, so quiet, that he almost missed it entirely, yet it was unmistakable. The dull twang of a bow rang in Seiya's ears, followed by the whistle of a shaft cutting through the air. If his senses hadn't been so finely tuned, he might have missed it all together. Turning towards the source of the sound, time started to slow. Seiya's heart started beating in slow, regular beats. His eyes caught sight of it only moments before it was too late.

He didn't know what made him do it. In that moment, nothing else matter. His mission was wiped from his mind. All that mattered was her; all he could see was her. Her gentle blue eyes suspended in suppressed anger, the tenderness of her subtle curves, the silkiness of her pale skin. All he could see was the arrow, soaring towards her; all he could see was the end of her life. It would have been easier to just let it happen, to blame her death on Kessho somehow, and yet he couldn't.

In one swift movement, he grabbed the princess around the waist and pulled her close to his body. He turned so his back was facing the oncoming projectile, and Usagi was well out of harm's way. As the arrow flew passed, Seiya extended his right arm, wrapping his fingers around the moving shaft. Usagi struggled against his hold for a moment, but stopped as her eyes fell on the shaft held in Seiya's grip. He turned in the direction that the arrow was fired, a shadow moved behind the pillars on the far side of the room. Realizing that the attempt had failed, and he had been noticed, the shadow darted out from the cover of the pillars.

"YATEN!" boomed Seiya, his eyes never leaving the retreating figure of the shadow. Yaten nodded and bounded off after the shadow. Screams erupted around Seiya as the room began to realize what had just occurred. All the while Usagi had frozen in his arms, paralyzed with the shock of her near brush with death. When Yaten had disappeared through the now open doors of the throne room, Seiya allowed his eyes to scan the room for more shadows. "Taiki," was all he had to say, and his companion nodded, and retreated to scout out the corners of the room. People in the room started bustling about in panic. Still holding on to Usagi, Seiya dropped his gaze to the shaft held securely in his fist.

"Huh," he grunted as he turned over the arrow.

"What?" whispered Usagi, fear colouring her tone. Seiya frowned at her panic. It made him upset and never want to hear such pain issuing from her again. He lifted his gaze to meet Usagi's piercing blue eyes. For a moment he debated not telling her, but once again he couldn't control himself.

"I'm not familiar with this make," he replied. Usagi's eyes grew quizzical.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well," he answered, "You see the fletching? It's made from crow feathers. Kinmoku military archers use hawk feathers. Also look at the projectile point. It's stone, chert by the looks of it, not steel like in Kinmoku or Ginoukoku. The pattern is all wrong to be from Kinmoku anyways, see how it's lanceolated and fluted. No. This arrow isn't from Kinmoku." Seiya paused as he considered the ramifications of his analysis. Usagi grew rigid in his arms as similar realizations dawned on her. "They aren't behind this. It's likely that this is the work of a rebel inside your empire or from Kessho. However, this was too well planned to be a single rebel. It has to be an organization." At this point, Seiya was thinking out loud, more than explaining the situation to Usagi. His brain was firing on all cylinders as he tried to piece together the scraps of information he had. "I've heard of no such organization inside Kessho… no… this is probably from inside the empire… or somewhere else."

"Where else could it have come from?" Usagi asked in a mortified whisper.

"I don't know," admitted Seiya, returning his gaze to the arrow, examining it closer. There was nothing remarkable about the weapon. It was heavier than the arrows he favoured due to the chert point. He investigated the point a little more closely. It was very well made; the detail involved in making such a fine point would have taken very skilled hands. Seiya racked his brain to try and think of any information he had on lithic projectile points. He didn't know who had the skill or knowledge to make such fine points. The shaft of the arrow was made of a very light, flexible wood that had been very carefully altered to make it straight and smooth. The fletching, as he had told Usagi, was made from crow feathers, which seemed odd to Seiya. Crow feathers weren't hard to find, which told him that the person who made this was probably very poor, or didn't have enough time to search for better feathers for fletching. Judging by the detail in the lithic projectile point and the care taken to the shaft, the latter didn't seem likely, however, lack of money might explain the use of chert over steel or bronze.

Seiya was roused from his ponderings when Yaten returned empty handed. He shook his head as he approached Seiya. As he got closer, Seiya noticed that the silver hair on Yaten's head was sooty and charred at the ends. His face was smeared with dark soot and the edges of his tunic were singed slightly.

"What happened?" demanded Seiya, realizing he was still holding Usagi, but didn't dare let her go until he heard the report.

"I don't know," Yaten replied, his voice hoarse. "I had him cornered; I couldn't see his face, just his eyes. Suddenly, he made a movement and shouted a few words. I was smart enough to jump out of the way just in time. He exploded. Fire was everywhere. His body was charred and unrecognizable by the time I was able to get close enough."

"He's dead?" Seiya asked, his eyes flashing.

"Yes," Yaten confirmed. Taiki approached from across the room, his face somber.

"And?" called Seiya.

"Nothing," he replied. Seiya relaxed his grip on Usagi, but he still felt uneasy. People were still fumbling about, screaming in terror, not realizing the danger had passed. Usagi stood close to Seiya, her arms held close to her chest.

"Don't need my help…" he growled. Usagi looked up at Seiya.

"I may have been mistaken," she admitted. All Seiya did was raise an eyebrow.

…

It was just Yaten and Seiya in the room adjacent to the princess' quarters. A few hours had passed since the announcement, and the princess had stayed holed up in her quarters the entire time. Apart from telling the palace servants where to set up quarters for her new guards and the expectations she had for how they would be treated, she had remained mute. Not even her four close friends entered her quarters after she shut herself in. Understanding her need for privacy, Seiya insisted that one of the three of them should be posted outside her quarters at all times. They had worked out shifts, starting with Taiki. Yaten would take the second shift, and Seiya agreed to take the last. After much debating, he finally convinced Usagi to allow them to ensure the windows were secure.

Now it was just Yaten and Seiya, alone in their small quarters. There was nothing spectacular about the quarters they had been given. It was just large enough to accommodate the three cots they would sleep on, a writing desk in the corner and a large wardrobe. Seiya was stretched out on his cot, which was closest to the window while Yaten sat in the chair at the writing desk, absentmindedly taping the desk with the tip of the quill. The gentle tapping produced by Yaten's anxious fiddling was the only sound in the room.

"Why did you do it?" Yaten asked, breaking the silence, "We could be on our way home now." Seiya didn't answer. He was still wondering himself why he had bothered to save Usagi when his mission was to kill her. The same thought had run through his head a million times since he had left the princess' side: it was the perfect solution! Place the blame on Kessho! But no matter how many times he tried to find the reason, none came.

"I don't know," he finally whispered. Yaten growled with anger.

"You're a fucking idiot!" Seiya's eyes flashed and he shot up so he could look Yaten in the eyes.

"You don't think I know that? I just reacted okay? I don't know why!" Seiya snarled.

"I don't have time to hear your excuses!" Yaten replied, standing up, "it's my shift anyways." And with that, Yaten strode across the room, yanked the heavy wooden doors open and slammed it shut behind him. It wasn't long after that when Taiki returned to the room, but Seiya was already pretending to be asleep. He did manage to get a few hours of sleep, dreaming of nothing but Usagi. He dreamt of her beauty, her tenderness, her kindness. Then suddenly the dream turned evil. Flames burst up around her and the happiness in her eyes transformed into the pure terror he had seen in them earlier.

Seiya bolted up, drenched in a cold sweat. It had been years since he'd dreamt of the fire. His eyes darted around the small room, noticing Taiki asleep on the next cot. Nothing else in the room seemed out of place. He pushed the covers off of himself and swung his legs over the side of the cot. He was still fully clothed, save for his feet, from which he had removed his boots. His bare feet hit it ice cold floor, but he ignored the uncomfortable sensation. Burying his face in his hands he tried to fend off the image of the fire engulfing Usagi. He bent over the side of the cot and fumbled in the dark for his boots. Once his hand struck their hard surface, he grabbed them and pulled them on. Standing up, he crossed the room and grabbed his dagger and sword. As he pulled open the door, he buckled on the sword.

Usagi's quarters were just down the corridor from the quarters Seiya, Yaten, and Taiki were given. The rooms were connected by a small door, however, walking around from the outside of the room gave Seiya a better understanding of his surroundings. When Yaten saw him, he nodded and stepped away from the door without making eye contact with Seiya. He swept passed, and returned to their quarters. Seiya, however, took up the post outside the door.

He cracked open her door, the light from the corridor spilling into the large room. Taking one glance up and down the corridor for signs of danger, Seiya slipped into the room. He wanted to ensure that the Princess was still alright he told himself as he crossed the large room and double checked the locks on the large windows. As he reached the doors to the terrace, he pulled back the heavy velvet curtains, letting the light of the full moon leaking in and falling over the princess. Usagi let out a small groan as the light hit her face, but only threw up an arm over her eyes. Seiya stood, stunned. His heart starting beating uncontrollably again, his skin was growing hot, he no longer had conscious control over his body. There he was only a short distance from her. He could reach out and touch her if he wanted. He dropped the curtain and extended his arm. He took one step towards her, then two. He stopped himself as he raised his foot to take a third step. What are you doing, Seiya? He asked himself. Like fuck if I know! He answered himself. Get out of here. Do the job you threw yourself into today. No backing out now. He let his hand fall to his side, and he turned on his heel. Marching out of the room, he tried not to pause and look back at her sleeping figure.

After carefully latching the door shut again behind him, Seiya leaned up against the wall, his hand on the pommel of his sword. He let his eyes wander from one end of the corridor to the other. No sign of movement. His ears were strained as he listened for the slightest sound, the rustle of a cloak, the padding of light feet. Nothing. He was alone. Relaxing a little, Seiya let his right hand slip into his pocket and tighten around a star shaped locket. He didn't know if anyone knew about the locket. He had kept it a secret all of these years.

For a moment, he stood there, his hand wrapped around the locket, which sent a peaceful wave through his body, but then just holding it wasn't enough. He pulled it out of his pocket. The locket was gold, about the size of his fist, in the center was a silver circle. He flipped it open with his thumb. Inside was a slowly revolving, silver, crescent moon. A soft melody drifted out from the locket. He closed his eyes and listened. He closed his eyes, and he remembered.

Seiya was no older than five. He lived in a small village on the northern coast of Kinmoku named Kou. The village was so small it had escaped the noticed of the war ranging around them. It was a peaceful place to live, many wouldn't have known there was a war being fought outside of their sleepy town. In fact, none of the people of Kou were warriors. Most had never used a bow for anything other than hunting game. The village was occupied by the members of the Kou clan, a very small clan that had once been at the center of the kingdom, but had been shunned to the northern outcrops long ago.

It was there, on a warm summers evening when Seyia sat with his mother on his bed listening to the locket's song. Seiya looked up at his mother, she was a beautiful woman with long black hair that tumbled down her back in soft graceful curls, and sapphire blue eyes.

"You're father gave me this locket," she told him, her voice was the kindest voice Seiya had ever known.

"Tell me about my father," Seiya asked. He knew the story well, but he loved to hear about his father, the hero, who had died when Seiya was about two.

"Oh! He was a wonderful man with strong arms and a gentle smile. He was the kindest man this village knew. Everyone looked up to him." His mother told him, her voice soft and low, "One day a small family from the village was walking on the beaches. There was nothing about the day that suggested that something terrible was going to happen. It was beautiful, the sun was high in the sky, a light breeze rustled the trees. Your father was out hunting." She paused for a moment, then brushed a tear out of her eye. Seiya pretended he didn't see. "Suddenly, a storm rolled in. The sea grew fierce. Waves crashed down on the beach and pulled the young mother and her child into the turbulent waters. Her husband dove in after to save them, but got caught in the swirling waters and was pulled away. Luckily, you father was passing by, and saw what was happening. He dropped everything and dove into the water. He caught hold of the young child. He saw the child to the shore, and went back out to save the parents. Unfortunately, they were caught by and under current and were dragged away." Seiya's mother paused there. The gentle tune of the locket still tinkled from where it sat in Seiya's hand. Seiya knew the rest of the story anyways. His father had died that day. They had found his body washed up on the shore a few miles from the village. Seiya's mother had adopted the orphaned child, a young girl named Rukia. She had dark hair and big bright blue eyes.

That's when they heard a crash outside their small house. Screams erupted around the village. Seiya's mother jumped up out of the bed.

"What's happening?" Seiya cried, tears filling his eyes.

"Seiya," his mother's voice was sharp. "Get Rukia, and hide." His mother left the room then. Seiya followed on her heels, still clutching the locket close to his heart. He and his mother separated at Rukia's door. He entered the room and woke the sleeping child.

"What?" she yawned, rubbing her large eyes.

"Get up, something is happening. We have to get out of here." Seiya whispered. He grabbed Rukia's hand and the two of them ran for the door. They were too slow. The door had already been wrenched open by a tall man clad in a black tunic and a black mask covering the lower portion of his face. His blood red eyes glinted in the fire light that had erupted outside Rukia's windows with malice. Rukia let out a blood curdling shriek at the sight of the man. Seiya pulled her closer as the man dove towards her to cover her mouth. As his arm extended, Seiya grabbed the muscular flesh of his forearm with his teeth and bit down hard.

"FUCK!" the man howled, wrenching his arm free of Seiya's grip, "What the hell, kid?" Seiya didn't answer, but crouched down low and bared his teeth. The man moved more quickly this time, darting towards Seiya and wrapped his arms around the waist of the two children and hoisted them over his shoulder. Kicking, screaming, and pounding his fists into the man's back had no affect as he marched out of the room. As they exited the house through the front door, Seiya saw something reflecting the fire light. He looked closer. It was blood. The blood was pooling out from a body. The body was his mother's.

That was the last time he saw his mother, or the village of Kou.

All the children, about sixteen, were gathered outside the village. Seiya held Rukia close to him. Two other children were pushed towards him. One was slightly taller than the other, with dark, auburn hair, the other had a long silver mane.

"What's happening," the silver hair child whimpered.

"I don't know," was all Seiya could say.

The memories of that night had plagued Seiya his entire life. They had created who he was today. He snapped the locket shut at the same time as he heard the door click shut beside him.

A/N: sorry it took so long to update… I had a bit of a exam mishap… so I've been studying like my life depended on it =) anyways… I hope you liked the sneak peak into Seiya's past… the idea for the locket being Seiya's was inspired by ~Porcelain-Requiem 's picture on DA… Take it With You… it's quite a beautiful picture. I don't take credit for the idea, just the way I used it! Thanks =)

Ps… I wanted to put Mamoru's future to a vote

He should:

-Just Die! KILL HIM! I HATE HIM!

-He can be lonely in a hole for all I care!

-Give him an OC to be happy with….

-Setsuna!

-Kakyuu

-Other (please tell me!)