Chapter Seventeen: Something Blue
It's really dark here, and quiet. Where am I? I couldn't feel, I couldn't speak, I couldn't see. Perhaps I am dead? Odd, I expected a bright light and clouds and stuff. This was entirely different. Oh well, guess there isn't much to do but sleep. It is peaceful here. Hikari. Go away. Hikari wake up. Five more minutes mom. Wake up you fool! Why should I asshole? Your cow loves you that's why. Ouch! Stop that this instant you foul beast! Am I interrupting? I… suppose I want you to come back as well. Oh how kind of you! Just wake up! No. It was quiet. The oven is burning! Oh no, not the oven! My cakes… wait a minute!
The black void around me vanished in a blink. Instantaneously my senses came back to me. Gravity was a bitch. My entire body was sore and throbbing in pain. My head hurt and I couldn't move. "Breathe!" I felt something warm press against my cold lips and air forced into my lungs. My head sagged to the side as I coughed up a lungful of water. I gulped in the much needed oxygen and instantly my mind cleared. All the memories came flooding back. "I'm not dead?" I croaked. "Nearly."
I slowly opened my eyes. After the momentary blindness the Harvest King's face came into view. A close up view, our noses nearly touched and I could feel his warm breath on my cheeks. "You fool! What were you thinking?" he yelled, the sound ringing in my ears. "Not so loud I can hear you just fine." I groaned. "I'm tired." I said with heavy eyelids. He shook me like the ragdoll I felt like. "That hurts!" "If you sleep now you won't wake up!" he hissed through clenched teeth.
This woman was crazy, nearly dead and wanting a nap. "You are hurt." I stated. "Duh." She mumbled. "Shut up." I raised her arm and examined the stain that was a darker shade of red than her blouse. I pulled the fabric up slightly to see the edge of a pink scar. Startled, I ripped the garment off and the flimsy material disintegrated in my hand. "What are you doing?" she gasped while trying to cover her body. "Hold still." I gently moved her arm and examined the wound.
It was a long gash that began at her arm put, ran along her side, and flared behind her hip to end at the small of her back. Most of it was healed and already scarring, but not the rest. The top half of the wound was gaping open as blood slowly oozed out, angry red tissue glared up at me from the torn skin. "This will hurt." I said. Before she could say anything I focused power into my finger tips and probed the opening edge. She held back a scream and groaned through clenched teeth, her short nails digging into the skin of my back. I slowly ran my fingers up the length of the gash, stitching skin and sinew back together.
It felt like fire, hot burning and painful fire that seared across my skin. It was all I could do not to scream and pass out. What must have been only a moment felt like an eternity when he finally stopped. I breathed deeply through my nose, willing myself to calm down. The bleeding had stopped, and the burning pain of exposed flesh was gone. I looked from under my arm and marveled at my unmarred skin. It was perfectly whole, the only evidence remained was the lower half of the wound that had already healed and scarre.
I brushed the remanents of Jin's stitches off me and they fluttered to the ground. "Thanks." I muttered. When he didn't answer I looked up to see that his eyes were shut tight and he was clenching his jaw hard. "Harvest King?" I asked. He opened his eyes and I was once again mesmerized by their brilliance. "I thought I'd lost you." He whispered and pulled me into his arms. My face was pressed into his shoulder and his arms cradled the rest of me against the massive expanse of his chest. This, much to my visual delight, was exposed because of his robes. "Hikari." He whispered into my hair.
This dreamboat of a deity was hugging me, set sail! My silly mind yelled. Even though I had fallen off a bridge, drowned, nearly died, and I was drenched… Ok that's a lot of bad things for one days work. Well even though all that happened I couldn't help the goofy grin that spread across my face or the way my mind drifted off to La La land. I also couldn't help the hiss of pain that escaped when my bruised muscles protested under his tight embrace.
He pulled back and looked me over with worried eyes. With a grimace I reached up and cupped the back of his neck with my hand. His eyes widened in surprise as I pulled his head back down and I buried my face into his neck. "Hikari." He scolded as he lifted a hand to pry my fingers off. "Please?" I mumbled. He paused and gave a heavy sigh. "Idiot." The Harvest King whispered as he once again pulled me to him.
I had been controlling the elements before this all happened. The storm was not to difficult but it still posed the threat of flooding the river's banks. So I directed my power and focused on moving the clouds further east while controlling the rate at which the rain fell. Suddenly a flash of my own red aura flared into my mind sight. I redirected my focus to see Hikari's blue aura on the energy plane falling and whirling in chaos. I immediately surged my power forward and assessed the situation. She was drowning against the raging current of the river. I instantly pulled her out of the current's ruthless grip and transported her to the fields of her home. Later I deduced that she had been arguing with some other mortal and had fallen off the bridge. I would deal with the mortal later.
At the moment she was cold and lifeless in my arms. I grabbed at the thin tendril of her life force that still remained attached to this world. She was fading, nearly gone. I made a decision a risky one. I dared his anger by reviving her. Her soul was nearly in his charge now to do with as he seemed fit. As a source of life energy I acted against my better judgment. Nothing was worth losing her. I placed my lips on her cold, unmoving ones and pumped life into her vessel. I forced her heart to beat once more and willed the blood to course through her veins and warm her cold body.
I called her soul back; I grabbed it from the void and forced it to once again animate its shell. When she gulped in air and her eyes opened I felt the greatest relief. Even now as I held her in my arms I didn't care that I now owed a debt, she was alive and breathing here in my arms and that was all that mattered. The moment was broken when a very intrusive cow shoved her head under my arm and bellowed a pitiful moo. Lemon, as Hikari called her, pressed her wet nose against Hikari's cheek and Hikari patted the beast's head. I glared silently at Lemon, which the cow ignored.
I patted Lemon's head, reassuring her that I was fine. Or more likely I would be later. "Where are we?" I asked and looked around. We sat in front of my Victorian two story house a few meters from the doorstep and lying amongst my crops. Dang. I was too tired for this. "Take me inside." I muttered and blacked out. When I awoke I was lying in my bed, warm with a dozen blankets piled on me. I looked around but my eyes didn't find what they sought. I frowned and fell back into my pillow. "You are awake yes?" I jumped when the Harvest King appeared out of nowhere.
He looked down at me with that same angry cast to his eyes. "Good morning." I stretched and winced as my bruises throbbed. He bent and pulled the blankets up to my chin. Odd, he was being awfully kind today. "Be still and rest for today. You don't have any broken bones but you suffered a great deal of bruising and minor head trauma." He said as he moved around the room. "You sound just like Jin." I muttered. He walked over to my TV and prodded the antenna on top. "What is this Jin?" he asked as he picked up the remote and examined it.
"He's the doctor at the clinic." I said while I eased my self up into a sitting position. "He?" The Harvest King asked while turning the remote over in his hands. "Is he also like the mortal who pushed you into the river?" he asked. I shook my head and winced. "No he isn't. Stop playing with that!" I walked across the room and snatched the remote from his hand. "Humans have such interesting objects." He said while drifting toward the kitchen. "Don't play ninja with shiny and sharp objects." I muttered. He messed with the sink and smiled when water drizzled out of the spout. "Marvelous." He whispered. "So what happened then?" he asked. I slowly sat on a chair and rested my chin in my hand. "Chase and I had an argument and he got angry. It wasn't his fault, I was cold and hurtful. Add my own clumsiness into the mix and that is how we got this end result."
I said while gesturing to my bruises. The Harvest King had somehow managed to get a hold of the remote again and he pressed buttons simultaneously. He jumped back when the TV roared to life while showing some concert in the states. He raised a glowing hand and I grabbed his arm. "No! It's ok it's just a TV!" I yelled. He eyed me and warily lowered his arm. "Humans are strange." Deities are stupid. I snatched the remote and turned the TV off. "What are you still doing here, don't you have rocks to stare at?" I asked in annoyance as I walked into the kitchen.
"I was worried about you." He said casually. I froze with a mug in my hands. "Is that so?" I asked while hiding my face. This guy sure knew what to say, I thought with a blush. I poured some of yesterday's coffee in the mug and sipped it. The bitter taste rejuvenated my tired body and I sighed happily. I walked over to the fridge and rummaged around in the compartments. I felt heat warm my back as the Harvest King moved closer to me. "What is that box?" he asked. "The box is called a fridge." I answered. I turned and nearly ran into him. "To close." I muttered. He smiled down at me and took the apple I held in my hand.
"What is it that you humans call it? Intimacy?" I blushed and shoved past him. He laughed low to himself and bit into the apple I gave him. This was too weird; it was almost like we were married. I shook off the wishful thought and stepped outside. I opened my mailbox and closed the door behind me. The Harvest King had one of my plates in his hand and he was turning it around to examine it. He immediately lost interest and placed the dish on the counter when I ripped the envelope open.
"What is that?" he asked while peering over my shoulder. I glanced up at him and rolled my eyes. "A letter." I said as my eyes ran across the paper. It was from Hamilton. The letter rambled on about how he noticed I seemed out of sorts as of late and… when my eyes hit the word marriage I shoved the envelope under my arm and moved away from the Harvest King's curious eyes. He raised an inquisitive brow and stepped forward. "Wait a minute!" I yelled as I turned my back to him and skimmed the letter. The rest was a bunch on nonsense about proposing with a blue feather. I know this Hamilton!
I turned around and blinked at arms crossed over a muscled chest. I looked up into his eyes. "Why are you so tall?" I asked angrily. "Because I want to be." He grunted. "What is that letter about?" I gulped and hid it behind my back. "Don't hide it Hikari. Tell me." My brain quickly searched for an explanation that didn't sound too bogus. "Umm... just something the Mayor mentioned about a blue feather." I squeaked. The Harvest King rubbed his chin. "Blue feather?" he asked. I nodded, glad I'd fooled him. "The ones humans use to propose?" Shit. In a blur of movement he grabbed something that materialized out of the air. A blue feather hovered daintily above his open hand. He held it before me. "This blue feather?"
Review ;D!