Chapter Twenty Six
So it was finally over.
Myoume hesitated beside the still form of her brother, pausing to touch his brow as she pushed her fingers together in prayer for his soul. Her heart still ached at the nature of his sacrifice, but as she gazed down at his peaceful, contented expression, she realised that in the end, it had been his only escape.
"To leave his demons behind, he became Amefuri." She murmured. "To defend this world, and to protect me, he accepted his stellar mark and fought against evil. You killed so many, and hurt so many more, Oniichan. Yet, in the end, this whole world is still somehow in your debt. You were a Seishi at the end, when it counted most of all. My vision was true - so long as you refused your destiny, this world would be in peril. But you accepted it. And now, thanks to your arrow...Kikei is gone."
She got slowly to her feet, taking a deep breath to steady herself as she did so.
"And I am still alive." She realised. "A situation I didn't expect or...or plan for. After the dust settles, in this place...I'm still here. I didn't realise Miramu's love for me was still as strong as that. For doubting you, my brother, I'm sorry. I'll make amends - I'll make sure Mother understands what you did for me...for everyone. She'll be glad, when she knows that in the end, you did fight your demons. And...I guess...you won."
"Toroki-sama."
The Emperor's voice startled her and she turned, meeting his sombre, troubled gaze with a confused one of her own.
"Heika...what..."
"I am sorry." Kintsusei said softly. "For many things, but most of all..."
He paused, his gaze flitting over Miramu's body, and Myoume sighed.
"It was my brother's choice. You've no reason to apologise to me, or for his death." She said evenly. "There are other things, perhaps, you need to regret - but Miramu and I...not that."
"Perhaps so." Kintsusei admitted. "But..."
He sighed, shaking his head.
"For your courage in coming here...for your commitment in helping my people, I must do something in return." He murmured.
Myoume bit her lip, drawing a slow breath into her lungs as she steadied her emotions.
"I understand that what Miramu has done means his body is also forfeit to Kutou's crown." She whispered. "That he has spilled blood in a holy place, attacked your close ally and plotted with one who sought to overthrow you. But Kintsusei-sama – please…my brother...if I can ask one thing of you, it's that he isn't…to suffer the fate of others like him. Your palace gate…I don't want him…there."
"The palace…" Kintsusei faltered, then understanding flickered in his dark eyes and he shook his head.
"In the end, I owe that rogue my life – at least to some degree." He said gravely. "If anyone other than Kikei himself is responsible for these events, I think perhaps the blame should lie with me for not seeing sooner how things were. For all his flaws, in the end, your brother was a brave man, and loyal to what he believed. You have my word, Toroki-sama. Amefuri's remains will not be so mutilated. I do not…I do not consider him a traitor to Kutou's peace."
"Even though he fired the arrow that wounded Hyoushin?"
"Even so." Kintsusei's expression became sombre. "Again, this could have been prevented if not for my naivety in judgement. Hyoushin's predicament is my fault alone."
He sighed, rubbing his temples.
"In fact, I hope I will be able to make some amends." He admitted. "I cannot reverse your family's loss, but please, allow me to at least make arrangements for your brother's burial. I feel...at least...I should do something towards that."
"Miramu should go home to Sairou, where his mother has waited for him for a long time." Myoume shook her head. "It's kind of you, Heika, but..."
"Then let me arrange for him to be cremated with Seiryuu's blessing, and allow me to organise transport for you to take his ashes home to his family." Kintsusei amended. "Even though he was a man of Byakko, he died in Kutou and should be so blessed. And though my shrine here needs purifying and rebuilding, I'm sure there are many stellar priests among my country's subjects."
His eyes became clouded.
"For causing so much trouble for so many people, it is the least I can do - please do not refuse me."
Myoume hesitated, then she offered the Kutou Emperor a faint smile. Slowly she nodded.
"All right." She agreed. "That would be kind...it would help a lot, in fact, because Sairou is a long way away and I would like to be able to travel as far as Kounan with those I've become close to. I didn't expect to be alive after all of this - so the help would be appreciated."
"Then it's settled." Kintsusei looked relieved. "I'll make sure that everything is taken care of...you have my word on that."
"Myoume!"
Aoiketsu's voice cut through the conversation at that point, and the Seishi jerked around, meeting the soldier's frantic gaze with a quizzical, startled one of her own.
"Aoi-kun? What's the matter?" She demanded, gathering her wits hurriedly as she realised that something was badly amiss. "You look terrified - what's happened? What's wrong?"
"It's the Commander!" Aoiketsu grabbed hold of her arm, fright glittering in his seiran eyes. "He...he's stopped breathing! I can't stir him - I don't know what to do! Myoume...your parents are apothecaries, right? Someone must be able to do something...Myoume, he's going to die if we don't..."
"Hyoushin?!" At the sound of Aoiketsu's panicked exclamation, Kintsusei hurried down beside his fallen retainer, fumbling at his throat for a pulse as he did so, and Myoume saw genuine terror in the man's eyes. "But surely…Kikei only knocked him unconscious. Didn't he?"
"He was breathing up till a moment ago." Aoiketsu responded anxiously. "But then I saw how blue he looked, and I couldn't feel…"
"I can't find a pulse either." Kintsusei's tones were wracked with fear and with a jolt Myoume realised that to the Emperor the Meihi was not simply another Imperial retainer, but a true and dear friend that had brooked the gap between a King and the isolation of his position for almost twenty years.
"Someone, fetch Aishi-sensei! Immediately! There's no time to lose!"
"Yes, sire!" Maichu scrambled to his feet, casting an apprehensive look back at his Commander before disappearing through the rubble of the shrine towards the main corridors of the palace, where the drugged, stupefied guards were slowly beginning to recover from the effects of Miramu's debilitatory potion. Myoume bit her lip, cold dread seeping through her as she registered the blueness of the Meihi's lips. Aoiketsu had been right, she thought grimly to herself. Hyoushin was always pale, she knew that, but there this pallor was surreal as a ghost's, and as she brushed her left hand against his skin, she thought she could feel it cooling.
"Heika..." She murmured, half imagining someone else was saying the words. "I don't think...I can't..."
"He can't be dead!" Tears glittered in Aoiketsu's gaze and he shook his head. "After all he's been through - all we've been through - there must be something! He can't give up that easily - dammit, I won't let Kikei take someone else!"
Myoume glanced at her hands, inwardly making up her mind as she gently began to remove the black glove that hid her right index finger from view. At her movement, Aoiketsu's eyes widened and a flicker of hope stirred in their depths.
"Myoume..." He murmured, then, "Can you...bring him...back?"
"If he's dead, I can't do anything." Myoume said frankly, more abruptly than she intended as she fought to marshal her own unsteady emotions. "But if he's still there somewhere...I can try. It's the only thing...I can try."
"Try what?" Kintsusei demanded. "Toroki-sama, is there some kind of magic...something you can do? If Hyoushin dies now, after all this...I'll never forgive myself. Never!"
"One thing. Maybe." Myoume took a deep breath, closing her eyes. "Please, don't speak any more, Heika. I need...you to be silent. Just watch him for any sign...anything at all. Because I don't know if this will work...and I need to focus all my thoughts on what I'm going to do."
"Understood." Like the soldier he had once been, Kintsusei bowed his head at her command. "Whatever you can do - just please, hurry!"
Myoume swallowed hard, gathering her wits as she readied herself for the task ahead. Then she flexed her fingers, pressing her stellar mark down firmly against the stricken man's skin as she reached out her thoughts and her senses to brush with his. Inwardly she braced herself, ready for the surge of emotions and memories that had hit her so hard the first time she had invaded his privacy, but to her dismay they never came.
Instead there was darkness, and silence all around her.
For a moment despair welled through her, as she wondered whether or not her intervention was too late. Then, somewhere in the depths of the black she caught a faint blur of something moving, and hope flared within her as she pushed all of her thoughts towards making contact with that impulse. It was faint and flickering, she realised, as she drew nearer - the finest, most fragile strand of light that divided the Meihi from the oblivion of death, and as she crouched beside it, she was aware of its weakening, translucent glow.
"You want to stop fighting, don't you." She murmured, and from somewhere far away from Hyoushin's psyche she was sure she could feel the hot wetness of tears beginning to flow once more down her already stained cheeks. "You've fought so hard - you've done so much, and suffered so many things. You want to give up, now. You've succeeded - everything here is all right. And you think...your job is done. Don't you?"
There was no response, only silence, but the slither of silvery light kept burning, and Myoume steeled her resolve, shuffling her spirit form closer to it as she spread her hands around it.
"I'm selfish and manipulative." She told him softly. "And I school people's destinies into what Byakko wants them to be. I didn't let you die against my brother, though I know it caused you to suffer pain when I forced you to stay alive. I stopped you from protecting your own soldiers from fighting one another, because I sought to preserve your life. All the time I've been here, making you carry on. That's the connection we have, isn't it, Hyoushin? The link you and I share and have shared for a long, long, time. I'm the catalyst that has kept you alive till now - in order to save Kutou, you couldn't die. Until we'd met, you couldn't die. Until the East was safe...you couldn't let go or find any kind of peace. Like my brother, in the end, you were bound by Toroki's prophesies. And now you've had enough...your body and your mind both want to let go. I can sense that, just from this flicker of life left."
She closed her eyes, slowly shaking her head.
"I'm still selfish, though." She whispered, reaching out to touch the thread with a ghostly white finger. "I can't let you go that easily. Even though you've had enough - I won't let you slip away just yet. There are people here - Aoi, Kintsusei-sama...your sister in Hokkan - they need you. And me, too. I need you to live as well, Hyoushin. I've always needed you to. You're my man of peace, after all...and I've not been able to explain that to you, yet. I have a lot of things I need to talk to you about...but I can't do that unless you pull through."
For a moment, nothing happened. Then, from the faint glitter of light came a brief flare of energy, and Myoume's eyes widened as she reached out to brush it with her hands.
"You can hear me, can't you?" She realised. "Calling to you. I've come to bring you back, Hyoushin. Back to where you should be. Because you said to me that when this was all over, you wanted to be able to live for yourself. And now it is over. Are you going to throw away that chance? Will you let Kikei win, in the end, by taking away from you your future?"
At this the light seemed to flare stronger, and Myoume bit her lip.
"It's now or never." She muttered. "The longer you're not responsive, the harder it will be - I'm sorry that I'm doing this again, Hyoushin, but you've left me with no choice. I have to go inside deeper...and I have to pull you back. No matter how you feel about it - I'm not going to let you die. Toroki didn't predict that, and I'm damn well going to make sure it doesn't happen!"
To think was to act, and before she could dissuade herself she closed her eyes tightly, plunging her spiritual energy into the thread of light as she forced herself mercilessly deeper and deeper into the Meihi's sleeping consciousness. As she did so, she felt fragments and strands of memory and thought that drifted aimlessly in the blackness, and, gritting her teeth in resolve, she reached out to grasp each one, bringing them together and binding them with her magic.
"You've run out of your own strength, maybe, but it's all right. I'll give you as much of mine as I need to, if it means you're going to live." She whispered. "It's okay, isn't it, to do that? You'll forgive me, won't you? Because I don't want you to die, Hyoushin. I don't want you to die!"
As if responding to her final, desperate thoughts, there was a sudden flare of light and energy around her, and with a gasp Myoume opened her eyes, finding herself face to face with the spectral form of her companion. He gazed at her in surprise, an odd light glittering in his amethyst eyes and Myoume realised that she had been very nearly too late - that he had almost severed his soul from his body completely, and that if she was going to reverse it, time was running out. She darted forwards, grasping the apparition's hands in her own spectral ones, and Hyoushin stared at her, a faint flicker of recognition touching his gaze.
"The woman in white." He murmured, and Myoume nodded, tightening her grasp on his hands.
"I'll always be looking out for you, you know." She told him, no longer caring that tears were coursing down her cheeks. "Since I was just a child, I've seen you in my dreams and my visions, and I knew that one day we'd meet somehow. I didn't understand it then - maybe I don't even understand it now. But I do understand this - I don't want you to go away. Even though Kutou's safe - you deserve a chance to live for yourself too, don't you? Even though you're tired, and even though it's been hard and painful and your body wants to give up. Won't you trust me and let me share my strength with you a little? I want to help you back to where you should be - but I can't do it unless you agree."
"Back to...where...?" The spectre murmured, and Myoume was aware of disjointed specks of memory flickering all around her. She frowned, nodding her head.
"It's not time for you to go, yet." She said softly. "Are you that afraid of living for your own sake, instead of someone else's? Because if that's the case, you can...you can do it for my sake, all right? Because I...I don't want to lose you. I don't want..."
She faltered, then gathered her resolve, pushing forward to grasp his body in her arms, kissing him firmly as she tightened her hold on his spiritual form. He flinched, but did not resist her, and as she closed her eyes, she felt the connection of his life force against hers, growing and strengthening as she poured her own spirit into healing his battered, war-weary one. As she did so, the brief snippets of light began to grow more coherent, thoughts and images locking together to form sequences of memory, and beneath her touch she felt the spiritual likeness of the Meihi glitter and disperse into fragments of light, as each part of his being returned to its rightful place.
Suddenly exhausted both mentally and physically, she sank to her knees, closing her eyes again briefly as she re-ordered her thoughts once more.
"You are an idiot, you know." A soft voice pulled her from her reverie and she started, gazing around her in vain as she sought the source of the words. "Fools rush in - isn't that the saying? Why would you jeopardise your life to save mine?"
Myoume faltered for a moment, then she sighed, reaching up to brush away the glittering, spectral tears that had even pierced her astral form.
"Because I love you." She whispered. "Even if you don't believe it - or understand. Your life is important to me - even if I never see you again. That's all. So even if it's selfish - I won't let you die. No matter what, Hyoushin...I won't."
"Then let me return the favour." The voice uttered softly, and Myoume felt a sudden rush of wind against her senses, pushing her back the way she had come as she struggled to steady herself. Frantically she focused her thoughts, forcing herself back across the connection and into her own body as she shakily became aware once more of her physical surroundings. She withdrew her finger from the Meihi's skin, almost falling back as her exhaustion washed over her, and she felt strong arms grab her, as someone exclaimed her name. She blinked, trying to bring the world into focus, and as she did so, she recognised the person who had caught her.
"Aoi." She murmured, wetting her lips as she struggled to bring herself into a sitting position. "I...tried. Did it...work?"
"He's breathing again." Kintsusei murmured, wonder in his eyes as he gazed from the Meihi to the Byakko Seishi. "His pulse is back, and he's breathing. Toroki-sama - your power is truly amazing. To bring one back from the dead..."
"No...it wasn't that." Myoume dragged a shuddering breath into her lungs, glad that Aoiketsu had not released his grasp. "He wasn't...he hadn't gone. I just...stopped him. That's all. If he had died...I wouldn't have been able to have done it. But I...he was still...so..."
She swallowed hard, feeling sick and giddy, and Aoiketsu rested his hand on her arm.
"The doctor should see you too, probably." He murmured. "That took a hell of a lot of your strength, didn't it?"
"I wasn't going to let him die." Myoume reached up to brush away her tears. "I lost Miramu - I lost another person's life. But this one...I promised myself I wouldn't let anything happen to him if I could prevent it. So...so I think...he'll be all right. Now. And so will I, Aoi. I'm not weak - I'm Byakko's, after all. I didn't use...all of my energy to pull him back. He wouldn't let me, in the end."
She offered a faint smile.
"I think he pushed me away, once he realised who I was and what I was doing." She added. "I don't think he wanted me to risk it...in the end."
"Hyoushin?" As the Meihi's eyelashes twitched and fluttered, Kintsusei was immediately alert, reaching out to touch his retainer's arm. "Hyoushin, can you hear me? Can you open your eyes? Please, open your eyes!"
Hyoushin's eyes flickered open, darting around him in confusion for a moment, and Kintsusei let out an exclamation, relief in his gaze.
"Hyoushin!"
"Heika..." Hyoushin murmured, then, as his gaze rested on Myoume. "And you..."
He trailed off, and Myoume nodded her head.
"You're not allowed to die." She told him firmly. "I promised myself. And I don't break promises I've made...just like you."
At this, a feeble smile touched Hyoushin's lips.
"Foolish." He whispered. Then his eyes closed again, and Aoiketsu let out a heavy sigh.
"He's all right after all." He said softly. "Thank you, Myoume. Whatever you did...thank you."
"Don't thank me for being selfish." Myoume shook her head. "I told you - I didn't want him to die, either."
"The doctor will be here soon." Kintsusei seemed to remember who and where he was, getting to his feet as he glanced down on his old friend. "And he'll get the best care possible, without doubt. I owe him that, at the very least - and much more, it seems, considering the situation. You too, Toroki-sama. You are always welcome here in Kutou - you know that, I presume?"
"Thank you, Kintsusei-heika." Myoume offered him a slight smile. "Although if I could...would you not call me by that name? I don't think I need to be...her any more. My name is Myoume - Geiyo Myoume. That's who I am now...I'd rather you called me by that name."
"Of course." Kintsusei nodded. "If that's what you want, then so be it."
"It is." Myoume agreed. "Toroki is what my powers can do, I think. But Myoume...in the end Myoume really is...who I am."
She glanced at Hyoushin, a warm glow settling inside her as she remembered the encounter inside his mind. It had been instinctive, reckless and embarrassing, she realised, but even despite that, she found she didn't care. Finally the mix of emotions that had been stirring inside her had been clarified by words, and somehow she felt relieved that at last she knew what it had meant.
"I'm in love with him." She murmured softly, reaching down to touch his cheek as she registered his even, gentle breathing. "Hikari was right after all - or at least, that's how it's ended up. Byakko didn't make me see this - not in this way - but maybe that was deliberate. Perhaps it was because...in the end...noone can predict when they're going to fall in love. This wasn't to do with Toroki at all. It was to do with Myoume...it was a part of my real life, not my stellar one."
"Myoume?" Aoiketsu sent her a funny look, and she laughed, her cheeks pinkening as she realised how strange her gesture must have seemed.
"I've not lost my wits, even if I am mumbling to myself." She assured him. "I'm just tired...and a lot's happened. First my brother, now Hyoushin...and Hikari - is Hikari all right?"
"She'll be all right. She's pretty damn strong." Shishi nodded, glancing up from where she was still cradling the exhausted Miko in her arms. "She just wore herself out, that's all. She's sleeping, I think...but she'll be okay, and I promised to stay with her, so I will."
"When Maichu returns with Aishi-sensei, I'll have him look at her as well." Kintsusei got carefully to his feet, moving across the chamber towards where the two, bandit and schoolgirl were huddled.
"One so young...even with Kutou's crimes, she still came to save us. I can never thank her enough for the risk she took on our behalf. Kutou has been an undeserving land for far too long - but I won't let it continue. Now Kikei is gone - now at last I can push for peace. And I will. Hyoushin has always said that it's as much the will of the people as the will of the Gods, and I'm going to take that to heart. My own resolve is fixed, now. No matter what the difficulties ahead, I won't let them stop me from achieving my goal. Kutou will have peace - all those who have suffered won't have done so in vain."
Myoume saw Shishi gaze up at the Emperor thoughtfully, a pensive glitter in her bronze eyes.
"You're a totally different kind of Emperor to Reizeitei-sama." She said at length. "And I thought you must be kind of an idiot, really, to let so much happen without realising it. But I suppose, when it's someone you trust who's betrayed you, it's a bit shit to have to face. So maybe you're not so much of an idiot after all."
Myoume winced, slowly shaking her head.
"Shishi-chan, that's not any way to speak to an Emperor, even if he is a foreign one." She chided. "Remember where you are, all right?"
"I'm in the remains of Kutou's shrine." Shishi said unrepentantly. "Which Hiki an' I jus' busted our guts riskin' our lives to raise Seiryuu from. Besides, it's the truth, ain't it?"
Kintsusei knelt carefully down at her side, reaching across to touch Hikari's shoulder gently. Then he sent Shishi a smile.
"Your words do not offend me." He said quietly. "As you said, you spoke with truth. If I had more advisors who were willing to so act, I may not be quite as much of an idiot. It's about time I stopped excusing myself as a King created by war, and resolved Kutou's problems myself. And as for your Reizeitei-sama - I am keen to establish peaceful relations there, as well. There will be no more suspicion between Kutou and Kounan, if I have my way."
He eyed her keenly.
"You are young too." He reflected. "To take such a risk on our behalf. Your name is Shishi?"
"Yes." Shishi agreed. "Shishi of Reikaku-zan."
"Reikaku-zan." Kintsusei pursed his lips. "The bandit mountain where the Suzaku warrior Tasuki rules?"
"Yes." Shishi nodded. "He's my father. And Jin - the bandit Miramu killed - he was my brother."
"I see." Kintsusei hesitated, then much to Myoume's surprise, he bowed his head meekly in the young girl's direction.
"I am sorry." He murmured. "Please, convey that to your family as well. I cannot reverse that act any more than I can change any of the bad things Kutou has suffered in the past. But if there is a way to reach out a hand of apology to the bandits of Kounan's south..."
"It's all right." Shishi frowned, shaking her head. She hesitated, then,
"The only one Papa or anyone on the mountain blamed for that is Miramu." She admitted softly. "And for ages I thought...I wanted to see him die, as payback. That if Miramu was killed, it would somehow make Jin's death feel better. But I just...it doesn't feel as satisfying as I thought it would."
"Because in the end, it can't bring Jin back?" Myoume asked softly, and Shishi nodded.
"Even Seiryuu couldn't do that." She said simply. "So I guess what Hyoushin-san said was right, about revenge and it having no real purpose. Besides, now I really have no choice. There's no more point in blaming anyone for anything. It's the past and it can't be changed by anyone. Jin has to move on, and so do we. Papa, Okaa-san, and everyone on the mountain. And Kutou and Kounan...they have to, too."
She offered the Emperor a sad smile.
"So you don't need to apologise to me or my family." She added. "Jin died in conflict for his country. And now the conflict can end, so he didn't die in vain. Thanks to Hiki...thanks to her and everything today, I think I can finally see that clearly. And I'm ready...to let it go. I can't keep clinging to the past - Chichiri said that's how wars re-ignite and it's true. I don't want any more fighting or any more dying. So I think...it ends here."
"I agree." Myoume admitted softly. She took a deep breath, her gaze flitting back to her brother's cooling body, then to the unconscious Meihi, reassured by the gentle rise and fall of his chest.
"Miramu is gone, and it's for the best that he is." She acknowledged with a sigh. "But...so long as Hyoushin can survive...so long as Hikari doesn't take permanent harm...so long as Kutou can finally heal...nothing has been in vain. And we've done our job, Shishi-chan. You really aren't a cub any more, are you?"
"Guess not." Shishi looked rueful. "Guess I'm finally a full blown lion, huh?"
At that moment Maichu re-appeared, a flustered, white-clad middle-aged man in tow, and at the sight of him, Kintsusei's expression seemed to relax.
"Heika!" The man exclaimed. "What in Seiryuu's name...there were lights and I swear, we saw Seiryuu arcing over the palace..."
He faltered, stopping dead at the sight of Kikei's stiffening corpse, the blood that had pooled out from his throat wound congealing against the smooth stone of the shrine floor.
"Heika..."
"Kutou finally has it's peace, thanks to the coming of Seiryuu no Miko." Kintsusei gestured to the still sleeping Hikari. "But not without bloodshed. Aishi-sensei, Hyoushin has taken grave injury in my name, and the young girl herself is exhausted. Will you tend to them please?"
"But...Lord Kikei..."
"Kikei is a traitor to Kutou and he has been executed as such." Kintsusei got to his feet, and Myoume was aware of something more prepossessing in his bearing as he cast the physician a glance. "Please, Aishi-sensei. Time is of the essence."
"Yes, Heika." The doctor bowed his head, hurrying down at Hyoushin's side, and as he did so, Aoiketsu got reluctantly to his feet, pulling Myoume to hers and leading her away from the unconscious Meihi.
"Will Hikari and the Commander really be all right?" He asked softly. "And will you? You look worn out, Myoume...are you really okay?"
"Yes." Myoume agreed. "I'm tired, but I'm all right. And Hikari will be, too. I can feel her chi very strongly - as Shishi said, she's just sleeping. As for Hyoushin - now he can rest, I'm sure he'll be able to recover. I pulled him back from the edge - I think he'll go forward now."
She rubbed her temples.
"So must we." She added. "You too, Aoi-kun. This whole business has changed you somewhat too - regardless of what happens with Hikari from hereon in, will you continue to defend your Emperor by your blade?"
"I don't know." Aoiketsu admitted, then he frowned.
"Perhaps not." He owned. "I'm sort of afraid of this new soldier inside of me. My father's bitterness may have quieted now that Seiryuu's role is over, but it may not. I don't know how much of it is my own nature, after all - I may not know that until I do something I regret."
He smiled slightly.
"But I always did intend to take the exams and become an official, when Kutou had peace." He added. "Maybe now I'll do that - after all, it will still be a way to help my country - won't it?"
"And Kutou needs men like you to help it, even now." Myoume reflected. She smiled, resting her hand on his shoulder.
"Thank you for trusting in my brother, Aoi. Even though it was hard for you to do - thank you for giving him a chance to redeem himself, at least just a little."
"He said that we were alike...that he couldn't find the path beyond the darkness, but he thought that I had." Aoiketsu said thoughtfully. "And I think I understand what he means, now. The dark edge swirling inside of me threatened to take over at times, when Kikei was spouting all that shit about the Commander. But I won't let it control me completely. Miramu couldn't fight his dark side. It engulfed him completely and he couldn't find a way out. I think I'm going to remember that - remember everything he said, too. Because although I think it's probably Hyoushin-sama's training that made me strong enough to keep going, I'm half-sure Miramu's warnings and remarks helped, too."
He looked rueful.
"Is it crazy to think that he wanted to steer me away from following his fate?"
"No." Myoume's expression softened. "It's just a sign to me that some of my brother was still alive after all, deep within his scarred heart."
She cast another glance towards the still form, then shrugged.
"Now he has peace." She said evenly. "I hate that I've lost him, but...I think it's for the best. For his sake...it's the right thing. That he was the one to die today. Because it was what he wanted...he wanted to let go of this life."
She pinkened, glancing down at her hands.
"He was ready to go." She murmured. "And I...I guess that in the end I...I'm not."
"And Hikari will be relieved when she finds out you're still here, too." Aoiketsu offered her a grin. Myoume nodded.
"Yes, so it seems." She agreed. "Speaking of which, Aoi-kun, I think she's coming to. Don't you think she'd like to see you, as she wakes?"
"Hikari?" Aoiketsu's eyes widened, and he swung around, his clever blue eyes meeting Shishi's bronze ones as the dark-haired Priestess in her arms began to stir. Without a word he was down at her side, reaching to grasp her pale fingers in his, and as she watched him, Myoume allowed herself a faint, bittersweet smile.
"And so a door closes and another opens." She murmured. "So it seems to be, after all. Well, Miramu, perhaps you're right. I did find my man of peace - even if I couldn't tell you that he was a man you almost killed. I won't let Hyoushin die - I won't give up on him or on the future. For the both of us - for the Geiyo family - I will live. Toroki's work is over, now. At last, maybe...I can have a life of my own. And...I won't let things slip through my fingers. Thanks to Hikari and thanks to you, Oniichan...tomorrow will be a bright new day for more than just the people of Kutou. Somehow I know it."
It was dark.
The moon shone high in the sky over Kutou's royal palace as a single figure slipped through the ruins and rubble of the shrine towards the foot of the great gilted dragon statue. For a moment he gazed up at it, taking in the piercing azure gaze that glittered in the pale moonlight. Then, with a sigh, he dropped to his knees, bowing his head towards the effigy with a heavy heart.
"Seiryuu forgive me for what I've done." He whispered. "Even if it means Kutou is now at peace. Even so...seeing you like that...in the sky over our heads. You really are there...you really do know everything about us and our lives here. And so that means you know...what I did in Kounan."
"Maichu?"
At the sound of his name, the young man stiffened, half convinced for a moment that it had been the statue which had spoken and that even now some last vestiges of the God still lingered in the atmosphere. Then, as he registered the shadow of another person in the dim light, he sighed, putting a hand to his chest as he steadied his pounding heart.
"Aoi! Shit, don't do that - I thought this friggin' thing was speakin' to me then!"
"The statue?" Aoiketsu looked startled, coming to join his companion as he gazed up at the dragon thoughtfully. "Why would you think that? Seiryuu was here, but he's gone now. And this...it's just metal, you know. Nothing else."
"I...I know." Maichu flushed, glancing at his hands. "Even so, though, of everything...it survived. And I...I guess...I..."
He faltered, and Aoiketsu's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. He placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, leading him away from the dusty rubble towards the palace wall.
"You can't sleep, huh?" He murmured, and Maichu shrugged.
"Today was a day like no other." He owned. "What your girl did, Aoi - what Miramu did...what happened in that shrine...if I hadn't been there I wouldn't have believed it. I almost don't, except I know what I saw. Gods in the sky, the glitter of magic...and a Miko with one hell of a lot of power stocked up inside of her. All of that...was why we got involved, wasn't it? It's why we came here...right?"
"Yes." Aoiketsu agreed. "That's right. Why?"
Maichu sighed heavily, rubbing his temples.
"It doesn't feel finished." He admitted. "I thought...if it was over, if we succeeded...it would vindicate everything some. At least, that I'd feel better about it. But if anything, coming back here...shit, Aoi, this evening we're the toast of the Emperor an' heroes at the Imperial Court. Yet..."
"Kayu isn't here, huh?" Aoiketsu murmured, and slowly Maichu shook his head.
"That's it exactly." He said sadly. "He ain't. An' he never will be again, because of me. That's hard to swallow."
"You didn't do anything wrong, you know." Aoiketsu said frankly, guiding his companion towards the bright lights of the palace barracks. "You did your duty and protected your Commander from someone who aligned himself with a traitor to Kutou. You are a hero...you shouldn't feel it's any other way."
"Do you think so?" Maichu eyed his friend quizzically. "Are you that willing to dismiss Kayu's death because of the fact he got stupid an' wound up with Kikei like he did?"
"No..." Aoiketsu owned. "No, I think it's shit, too. But Maichu, you can't keep dwelling on it like this. I mean, I hate that he's gone. But I don't blame you for it and nor will anyone else. The Emperor as much said so. He told you not to reflect on it, when he spoke to the court this evening, and publically cleared our names of suspicion of treason. He said it was done in his name, and it was not a crime. So you mustn't think that it is. Even though he was our friend...you have to move on."
"Don't you think I don't know that?" Maichu demanded, and Aoiketsu sighed.
"All right." He said resignedly. "I can see you're not going to be so easily talked around, or that I'm going to convince you to go to bed and get some sleep. So we might as well go home - mightn't we? We were in the palace as Kintsusei-heika's honoured guests - but the barracks is where we belong, and maybe there you'll feel more like yourself. Besides...I think there are other folk wanting to speak to you, and you haven't really seen anyone yet."
"Other folk?" Maichu looked bemused. "Such as?"
"Maichu!" As they reached the barracks, the door swung back, and in the glow of the inner light Maichu could make out the tall, broad form of Jakou, his expression one of relief and welcome. "Shit, so the spider scuttled out of trouble after all - we were wonderin' if you an' Aoi still planned on comin' back here, now you're Emperor's favourites an' all of that."
"Jakou." Despite himself Maichu managed a smile, shrugging his shoulders. "I thought you an' Ouno an' Bouri were in the Southern Province now? Ain't that right?"
"I guess we heard that there was a commotion at the palace." This time it was Bouri who spoke, as Aoiketsu ushered his friend inside, pushing the door shut behind them. "We rode back here this afternoon, after seeing blue lightning split the sky. Everyone's buzzing with what happened - Ouno swears blind he even saw Seiryuu arc overhead."
"Ouno, too?" Maichu looked startled, and Jakou nodded.
"Yeah." he agreed, gesturing towards the back of the mess hall, where the thin, nervous looking soldier was emerging from a crowd of others. "We had to come back an' congratulate you kids on a job well done."
"Congratulate, huh." Maichu frowned, and Jakou's eyes clouded as he dropped a heavy, reassuring hand down on his junior's shoulder.
"You needn't look that way." He said softly. "We were wrong...not you. In Hokkan, you were the only one who believed in the Commander enough to follow him an' that takes conviction an' guts. If anyone should be sorry about anythin', it's us."
"You followed the orders given." Aoiketsu pointed out, and Jakou laughed ruefully.
"But they weren't given by our Emperor, so it's just as bad." He said frankly. "No. In the end, you kids went out on a limb but you were right. An' I guess we've learnt a bit from it too. Even if you are kids - you've taught us somethin' about loyalty an' common sense. We won't forget so easy again."
"It's strange to be home." Aoiketsu reflected. "After so long in the South, and in Hokkan - I must have been away for over a month, maybe even longer than that. It seems forever...I don't feel like anything is the same."
"It won't be, now." Ouno put in now, his big, expressive dark eyes flickering with excitement. "I saw him, you know. Over the sky. Seiryuu. He really came, didn't he? You really brought Seiryuu no Miko to Kutou, didn't you? You and Maichu and Hyoushin-sama?"
"Yes, with some help." Aoiketsu agreed. "And now everything will change...at last, maybe, our land can rebuild."
Maichu sank down onto an empty bench, folding his arms across his chest as he gazed around at the warm, buzzing chamber of soldiers that had once been such a home from home for him. It was a bare, plainly furnished room, with the minimum of amenities, yet he had always enjoyed spending time here. Often he and his fellows had conducted illicit after hour gaming beyond the soldier's curfew, or on occasion he had been responsible for sneaking alcohol into the premises, somehow avoiding the watchful eye of the officer on duty. It was a place that held many happy, comforting memories of a childhood growing up with a goal in mind, and as he cast Aoiketsu a sidelong glance, he realised how much they had experienced together.
"Here." Bouri's voice at his elbow startled him and he glanced up, his eyes widening as he registered the bottle the older soldier thrust in his direction. At his expression, Bouri grinned, shrugging his shoulders.
"It's a special occasion, so I guess noone had the heart to confiscate it." He said evenly. "Drink up. You look like you need it, considerin' the journey you've been on."
"No kidding." Maichu took the bottle gratefully, taking a sip of the cool, bitter Kutou ale. It too tasted of happy past memories, and for a moment he allowed himself to be caught up in the nostalgia of the moment, knowing that after everything, he and Aoiketsu were finally back home.
But, as he caught his friend's eye, he knew that somehow that still wasn't enough. As Aoiketsu had said, things had changed, and he sighed, setting the bottle down between his legs as he considered the situation over again.
"Maichu..." At the silence, Ouno dropped down in front of him, casting him a questioning look. "About Kayu..."
"Kayu..." Maichu frowned, then shook his head. "What about Kayu? He's not coming back, if that's your question. He's never coming back. He's in Kounan and he always will be, now. No matter what."
"We know what happened." Bouri said gravely. "I don't think a soldier here doesn't. But we don't hold you responsible, Maichu-kun. You did what you had to do...as I said, we were wrong. Not you."
"I keep telling him that." Aoiketsu sighed. "But he doesn't seem to absorb it."
"It's not that." Maichu said honestly. "I know what I did was the right thing. I don't regret it...I mean, I'd do it again, if he came at the Commander like that with Hyoushin-sama so hurt an' unable to fight. You don't draw your blade on your Commander, and shit, you don't fight a wounded man. He did two unforgivable things an' he did them in a traitor's name, so I had to make him listen the only way I could...words weren't enough. But even so...despite that..."
He sighed.
"He was my friend." He said flatly. "An' for that part of it I can't forgive myself. I know I did my duty...I just didn't think my duty would be as shit as that."
"If not for Miramu, it might have been worse." Aoiketsu reflected, and Maichu sent his friend a bemused look.
"If not for...Miramu?"
"If he hadn't doped the palace guard and the soldiers in the barracks the way he did to prevent interruptions, you might have had to fight more acquaintances." Aoiketsu responded. "As it is, Gai and the other youngsters are still cooling their heels in Tasuki's mountain cell...fighting someone you know isn't much fun, especially when you know you can't talk them round. If we'd come here like that..."
"It could have been worse." Jakou said grimly. "Kayu died without knowin' what a mistake he'd made, in fact. It just proves why politics are so friggin' complicated an' why soldiers should keep out of them."
"Well, not this soldier." Aoiketsu said decidedly, and Bouri raised an eyebrow.
"What do you mean?" He asked curiously, and Aoiketsu shrugged.
"This whole thing has made me a better fighter, but I'm almost afraid of myself now." He admitted. "And besides, with Kutou at peace, I don't need to fight any more. I don't...I don't want to fight any more. So I'm not going to. At least, I'm going to speak to the Emperor and the Commander, when he recovers himself. And I'm going to ask permission to sit the exams and become an official. I always said I would - and I've twice as much reason to do so now. Kayu was the only other one who'd seen the battlefield first hand, and yet was educated enough to become an official and make a difference because of it. For his sake as well as mine, I need to do this. Somehow...I was born to help Kutou in war and in peace. Making peace is one thing. Keeping it is down to us. And I still want to do my bit...somehow."
"You always did dream on clouds three miles higher than the rest of us." Bouri reflected. "I guess that's just you all over, Aoi-kun. But if that's what you've decided...the army'll miss your sword, but the court'll be in safe hands."
"I hope so." Aoiketsu admitted. "In any case, I think I'm almost decided."
"What about the girl?" Ouno asked curiously, and Aoiketsu reddened, shaking his head.
"Is there anything you people haven't heard?" He demanded, and Jakou shrugged.
"Stories involving wenches spread quicker than any other...even the appearance of divine beings in the sky." He said wisely. "An' especially when it's you that's concerned. Maichu - well, that's different. He's charmed a thousand women in his time an' it's not even worth discussin'. But it ain't common for you to get hot an' heavy for some girl, Aoi. Ouno's right - are you quittin' the army so you can make some kind of home with her outside of the danger of war?"
"No." Aoiketsu's eyes clouded and Maichu saw a flicker of his friend's true feelings in his gaze, although he kept his tones even. "Hikari is Seiryuu no Miko. She doesn't belong in this world, and now she's done her duty, she'll go home. I can't go with her, so that will be that. The Emperor gave me permission to ride to Kounan with her in order to see her off - but after that...she won't be here. And I will. So."
"Just like that, huh?" Bouri looked pensive. "Oh well. I guess you can just follow Maichu's example - there are other fish in the sea, an' he can probably introduce you to most of them. Almost seems odd to think of you thinkin' that way - but I guess you had to grow up an' discover girls eventually."
"Maybe." Aoiketsu agreed absently, and Maichu sent him a sidelong glance.
"You're really quittin' this place, then?" He asked softly, and Aoiketsu nodded.
"You know better than anyone why it's a good idea I do." He said frankly. "I'm too good a soldier, now. I can't trust myself completely. And Kutou needs peace. It doesn't need someone like my father - it needs something else."
"You really are the Shougun's get, huh?" Jakou eyed him keenly. "Shit, those blue eyes an' we never guessed."
"Yeah, well, things have a strange way of coming together." Aoiketsu said evenly.
"I wonder what peacetime will mean for all of us as soldiers, in fact." Ouno reflected. "I suppose that will change, too."
"It can change, as far as I'm concerned." Maichu got to his feet, moving to the window. "It can't ever be the same, so it should change as much as friggin' possible."
"Maichu?" Aoiketsu sounded concerned, and Maichu turned, shrugging his shoulders.
"I wanted to be a soldier to save Kutou, an' I've done it." He murmured. "I wanted to be able to tell grandkids that I helped make this place peaceful, but I...I didn't realise what it would mean doin'. An' this place...it's fine an' all, but Kayu ain't here. An' that's harder to get to grips with. That a friend could betray me...that I could betray him...that we could be so driven that one of us could kill the other. Because he would've killed me, too, sure as anything. And the Commander, too. That kind of Kayu I never knew before, and it makes me...hate the whole idea of it. People hide things...things are complicated. I don't like it...I don't think I can do it any more."
"Maichu!?" Ouno stared. "Are you saying you're quitting the army, too?"
"You won't pass the exams, if you're thinkin' of following Aoi." Bouri said bluntly. "You know it well as I do, Maichu - academic shit ain't your style."
"I don't know what I want to do." Maichu admitted. "I just...I don't want to be a soldier any more."
As the words left his lips, he realised how true they were, and as he met Aoiketsu's startled expression, he nodded, his resolve hardening inside of him.
"I don't want to be a soldier any more." He repeated. "I can't fight battles that might be against friends. I can't do that again. It might be weak, an' maybe I'm a coward. But I don't want it to be my duty to fight people like that. I ain't ashamed that I protected my Commander, but I ain't proud that I killed someone in the process. An' even if I know that wasn't wrong - I don't like that bein' a soldier made it right. You guys are my friends, too...the thought of comin' here an' drawin' blades on you made me feel physically sick. I don't want to be in that position again. Kayu was enough...I can't do it again."
"Maichu." Aoiketsu murmured, and Maichu shrugged.
"It's how I feel." He said softly. "Tomorrow I'm goin' to go beg an audience with the Emperor an' try...and see if he'll let me...withdraw. An' then...I guess...I ain't got a choice but to go home to my family. Like Kisha did when he was injured - I ain't any use to my country any more, not feelin' like this. I've done my duty, an' I ain't ashamed. But it hurts like hell, especially bein' here. I need away from it."
His eyes darkened.
"Maybe I wasn't meant to be a soldier." He murmured. "Perhaps it doesn't suit me after all."
"It's just cold feet." Bouri said evenly. "Because you've been through shit an' it scared you. You're still just a kid, really, Maichu. Eighteen, no more. You've plenty of time to work it out of your system. Besides..."
"Besides, Kayu was my goddamn friend!" Maichu exclaimed, his frustration suddenly bubbling to the forefront as his temper took control of his senses. "My friend, above all other things! This place...these people, we're family - ain't we? That's how we've always been. We fight for each other, not against one another. An' I can't be doin' with it if it's any other way! Kutou's civil war divided even those people I thought I could trust with my life. If I'm a coward, then shit, I'm a coward. If I've lost my nerve, then dammit, that's what I've done. But that's how I feel an' that's what I intend to do. Even more, if Aoi's no longer goin' to fight. I ain't gonna do it, either. Seiryuu's peace might save Kutou but it's goin' to take time for things to get on an even keel - we all know that without sayin' it. An' I've made my decision. I ain't goin' to spill any more blood in its name."
There was a moment of dead silence, as the surrounding soldiers stared at him as if he had grown another head. Then Aoiketsu sighed, placing his hands on his friend's shoulders.
"I wondered if you'd say that." He admitted. "If that's what you want, Maichu, then that's what you should do. I don't think you're a coward - dammit, we all know you're not. If that's how you can deal with this, then deal with it that way. Noone's going to try and stop you...after all, you've helped save Kutou. That duty's over...you don't have to do any more."
Something in his friend's gentle words penetrated Maichu's anger and he sighed, the frustration draining out of him as he sank back down, burying his head in his hands.
"I am a coward." He admitted. "But I think...I have to be. I ain't like that, Bouri. I can't be like that about it. This place...it's too soon to be back here. Everyone knows what I've done, an' why Kayu ain't here. Noone will blame me. But I blame me...so that ain't any good. It's like that bandit said - I'll blame myself longer than anyone else will. But even so, I have to work it out with myself somehow, if I'm goin' to live with it. I have to find another way to atone, maybe. I can't be here any more. It's too messed up...I can't."
"Bandit?" Jakou stared at him, and Aoiketsu nodded.
"Tasuki of Suzaku, in the Southern mountains." He agreed. "After Kayu died, Maichu spent the night on Reikaku-zan with the bandits there...somehow they seemed to get through to him more than any of us could. I don't know what was said, but I know it was that that gave Maichu the strength to come back here for the Emperor's sake."
"Bandits?" Ouno looked horrified. "When you're an Imperial Kutou soldier?"
"Tasuki is sort of different to ordinary bandits." Aoiketsu reflected. "He and his people more or less rule that region, and protect the local people. If it's a bad winter, they provide for them - they run a tight ship, and they fight their battles with rival groups to keep hold of their territory. But they're honest people. It might seem a conflict - but to be honest, Tasuki-san sort of reminds me of Maichu a little. He's just as direct a person."
"He helped me." Maichu acknowledged. "He cleared my head a little...him and Shishi both. I don't know...it didn't seem quite so bad a thing there, with them, as it does back here where everything should be familiar but isn't."
Jakou and Bouri exchanged glances, and Jakou shrugged his shoulders.
"Sounds like you've decided already where you want to scuttle too, Maichu." Bouri said frankly, and Maichu's head shot up, staring at the older soldier in confusion.
"Huh?"
"Well, from what you jus' said - are you tellin' me it hadn't occurred to you that you want to be back on that mountain with those bandit people, rather than here?"
"Back on...?" Maichu repeated blankly, and Aoiketsu's eyes widened with comprehension.
"Bouri's right." He murmured. "You do sound that way. Like...like being on Reikaku-zan that night brought you peace, a little bit. You've been more composed since we left Kounan, but right now you're not like that at all. Whatever Tasuki said to you, it really sank in. Maybe Bouri's on the right track. Maybe here isn't where you need to be after all."
"You're telling him to go join up with mountain bandits?" Ouno's eyes almost fell out of his head, and Maichu frowned, digesting his friend's words with difficulty.
"Go back to Reikaku-zan, huh?" He murmured, and as he did so, he felt a flicker of hope and relief mingle in his heart. "Shit. Maybe...maybe you're right. Maybe that is..."
"Well, you ain't any use goin' back to your family when you ain't got a clue how to help them out." Jakou observed bluntly. "Bouri an' Aoi are right. Sounds like you already made up your mind where you were goin' to head for."
"I hadn't even thought about it." Maichu admitted. "But when you say it...perhaps..."
He sighed.
"You're right that going back to my family would be useless. Like Kisha, there ain't nothing I can do to benefit them, and I hate bein' in their way." He added. "An' if the Emperor does let me withdraw, then I can't stay here, so..."
"So first thing in the morning we'll talk to Shishi." Aoiketsu suggested. "See if she has any violent objection to taking you home with her, when she goes."
His eyes became sad.
"I'll miss you like hell, if you do go." He added. "But in the end, you're messed up this way, an' bein' here...I didn't think you'd cope with it, knowing Kayu wasn't going to come back. So I think Bouri's suggestion is the best one. Tomorrow we'll see what can be done about it - all right?"
Maichu stared at his friend for a moment. Then, slowly, he nodded his head.
"I guess so." He murmured. "Shit. I wonder what she will say. That kid was pretty good to me too, before, so I don't think she hates me...but whether she wants me invading her home...still, Reikaku-zan...was different. An' Tasuki-san..."
He faltered, shrugging his shoulders.
"Tomorrow." He said finally. "Tomorrow, we'll talk about it. When the sun's finally up over the new Kutou."