Chapter Seven: The Two King's Perspective
Kouen had been woken up in the middle of the night by a sudden weight on his chest. His eyes had flown open, only to star into the inky blackness of the ceiling above him for a moment before moving down to see what had landed on him. He found a petite girl had been the culprit. The absence of immediate pain told him that whatever or whoever this was, was most likely safe, but the smell of blood that hung in the air was odd. Even through the darkness, Kouen could make out the girl's light purple hair, a tell-tale sign that she was the missing homeowner that he couldn't remember the name of. All he remembered about her was that she had left to conquer a dungeon by the time he and his siblings had arrived. The bandages around her hand and leg seemed to be covering fresh wounds.
Kouen contemplated waking the girl up so she could move, or simply moving himself, but he decided that he would let the girl sleep on him for the night. Kouen hoped to improve his chances of getting her as his ally against Sinbad. After all, the other young woman they had been graciously allowed to stay here seemed to be rather close to the purple haired king. And so, Kouen laid there with the mystery dungeon girl on his chest, trying to go back to sleep.
"Trying" being the key word.
Kouen was never all that good with manners and people in general, so the only people to ever really get close to him in any sense of the term were his siblings and occasionally palace servants. This made having a complete stranger lying on top of him rather unnerving. The girl was obviously harmless, especially asleep, but that didn't stop his anxiety. Although, the lilac haired girl suddenly sitting up and staring at him made him jump just a bit; never enough to be seen, though.
"Do you think the Kou Empire plans on using those zombies to create zombie apocalypses in other countries?" She asked; her dark blue eyes wide and with an intensity of curiosity Kouen had never seen the likes of before. He figured that his siblings must have seen it on him before, though.
Kouen was taken aback. How did she know about top secret Kou matters? She shouldn't have any idea that the facility existed, much less what was inside. She gasped a moment later, suddenly struck by an incredible revelation it seemed like.
"And then they could offer help controlling them and conquer the country that way!" A yawn seemed to interrupt her thought process, "But the uniforms on the zombies would probably give it away…" Kouen noticed that her eyes were drooping again, but even more so seemed to have no recognition in her face as to who he was. They were glassy and slipped closed before he even had the opportunity to interrogate her about her knowledge.
Needless to say, Kouen couldn't find the peace of mind to fall back to sleep with a woman who could potentially put his entire nation at risk lying on top of him.
Whispering jarred the half-awake Kouen to vigilance, his trained instincts immediately zeroing in on the source of the intrusion. Yamraiha and Sharrkan were at the door, whispering to each other as his normal glare hardened onto his features. The only light that spilled into the room was through gaps in the curtains on the window and the door that was now opened. Kouen must have dozed off enough that he barely remembers much happening after the young woman's "conversation." Then again, nothing would have happened anyways. The two at the two quieted down when Kouha came up behind them.
"Brother En's already up, you idiots," Kouha snickered behind them, completely disregarding his volume. This seemed to jar the woman on Kouen's chest awake. With a screech, she tried to roll off of him, but Kouen's hand robotically went to grab her waist to keep her falling. Her own instincts battled against her as she blindly reached for the edge of the desk to catch herself, but instead just ended up slamming her injured hand hard into the corner. Kouha found the display rather amusing and laughed at the wounded woman currently curling in on herself from the pain flaring from her hand.
"I didn't sign up for this," She muttered, blearily wiping at her eyes to apparently gain some sort of eyesight back. With newfound sensibility, she moved off of Kouen, hopping on one foot to the chair of her desk. Kouen decided that it wouldn't be too much trouble to use Phenex to heal her wounds to gain some ground in gaining an ally. Kouen moved to sit up. In doing so, the girl noticed his presence and, now that she had her glasses, looked shocked as to whom exactly she woke up on top of.
"Yeah, you did. You touched the book first," MD retorted from the doorway, a bittersweet look of nostalgic recognition on her face. The lilac haired girl looked at her so fast it almost looked like her neck would snap.
"I'm so sorry!" She immediately said, worry etched into her worryingly pale features. She held her arms out for a hug like a child. "I won't do it again, I promise!" MD had rushed to her friend's side, fretting over her like a mother. Kouha plopped onto the bed next to Kouen, bouncing with the force of his fall.
"So are you're Brii?" Kouha asked the pale girl. She nodded in response, claiming the name as her own. Kouen felt better knowing her name now, able to finally associate a proper name with her instead of "purple haired girl." "And you conquered a dungeon?" Kouha bounced excitedly looking at Brii with enthusiasm.
"Well-"
"Oh my god your leg!" MD cried out, seeing how the blood was beginning to make a small puddle on the floor. She immediately started to try to stop the blood flow. Brii didn't seem all that phased by the sight of blood and actually seemed intrigued, almost excited.
"That's so much blood," Brii remarked, actually moving her leg to watch the blood pool in the wound better.
"You like blood?" Kouen asked, his own curiosity getting the better of him.
"I like seeing myself bleed, but not others," She said honestly, then continued a moment later after a pause, "Is that being a masochist?" Kouen was surprised at her answer. She liked pain? That wasn't something typically seen in a woman.
"I'll go get Yamraiha!" MD said, standing up after she successfully plugged the wound. Brii looked at her best friend, confused.
"Why don't we just ask Kouen to fix it?" Brii asked calmly, "He has a Djinn with the healing magic stuff and he fixed a broken arm in no time before." The young woman obviously wasn't entirely awake yet. Kouen was told that she knew about Space-Time magic, and seeing as it was a subtype of magic, she most likely knew the names of the others. She seemed to know almost everything.
"It's true," Kouen said, reaching for Phenex's metal vessel by the head of the bed. "I'm willing to do it." He focused his energy and performed the act of healing before MD could protest. Kouen even healed her hand for good measure, really trying to make a good first impression. Brii experimentally stood up and tested her weight, finding that everything was now healed properly.
"Thanks, Kouen!" Brii chirped happily. Kouen nodded in response to lilac-haired girl. MD sighed in relief knowing her friend was fine.
"Thank you," MD told Kouen herself. Kouen simply nodded again.
RRRRR!
"So when's food coming?" Kouha asked from the bed, his grin never faltering.
"I'll go cook right now." MD said, walking out of the room to cook.
"So uh, hi," Brii said, "I'm Brii and I already know your names. Sorry, but I'm going to go help her." With that, she left Kouha and Kouen in her room. Kouen needed an ally and found Brii to be perfect person to fit the bill.
"What happened?" Sinbad asked Sharrkan in a hushed town behind the house. Brii, one of the girls who he thought was his ally, was apparently fraternizing with the enemy. He was worried, not only for the girl's health, but also if he was losing an important ally; to Kouen of all people. Sinbad's pride simply wouldn't allow it, especially if it was a woman slipping through his grip. Then again, she never seemed overly fond of him even with the fleeting moments he got to see her. She seemed to avoid everyone out of fear.
"She fell asleep on top of him," Sharrkan repeated. "We went to check on Brii when Masrur told us she came back last night, and she was just right on top of him. What do we do?" Sinbad's gut twisted with these facts. Brii had to have asked him about it, unless she wasn't aware of the situation she had been at the time. Dungeons can be tiring, so it's possible Brii was so tired she didn't even see Kouen in her bed before she just fell asleep. If it wasn't dangerous being caught practicing magic here, Sinbad would have asked Yamraiha to show them what happen.
"We'll just have to ask her about it." Sinbad decided. It was the best course of action here. Sinbad could always charm his way out of a situation if he needed to.
"Ask me what?" Brii asked, making the two of them jump. She was leaning out of the house through the backdoor. Noises of their friends and enemies mingling within their groups spilled out of the open door into the backyard. Brii's face changed to concerned when she saw them jump. "What's up with you two?"
"Nothing!" Sharrkan rapidly replied. Brii didn't seem convinced at all.
"Well, come get food," Brii said, moving back inside and raising her volume to accommodate the new obstacle, "MD should be almost done making breakfast!" Sharrkan and Sinbad followed the girl inside and Sharrkan closed the door behind them. Brii was seated in an easy chair, eating the small amount of breakfast she wanted. She seemed to be thinking rather hard. Before Sinbad got the chance to talk to her, MD called him.
"Sinbad, hurry up before it's gone!" MD yelled out from the kitchen. Sinbad decided that his own basic needs were more important than asking Brii about the look and walked into the kitchen. MD was the girl who Sinbad was certain he could bed before he left, he was a man with needs after all. He was also positive that she was his ally. He smiled at MD as he walked in and gratefully took the plate of food she held out to him.
"Thank you for your generosity," Sinbad said warmly. MD smiled back up at him.
"Of course! It's the least we can do to feed you since we don't even know how to send you back yet," She replied. MD grabbed a plate of food for herself. Together, she and Sinbad walked into the living room with the rest of the mishmash group of people to eat with them. Sinbad's sight immediately locked onto Brii sitting next to none other than the imperial first prince of the Kou Empire, Kouen Ren. Sinbad's insides twisted at the friendly nature of things between the pair.
"That's a rather small metal vessel." Hinahoho commented as they walked in, focusing his gaze on Brii's ring.
"Well, it's the only thing I'm always wearing, so it was kind of an obvious choice," Brii said bashfully. She was the center of attention and she seemed to struggling with it.
"It's a lovely ring," Sinbad said as he sat in one of the mismatched chairs. The silver was indeed beautiful with the light blue stone set into it.
"Thanks," Brii flushed with the compliment given. She was rather quiet and not really eating her food.
"Tell us more about the dungeon!" Kouha almost sang his demand, bouncing on the floor where he was sitting.
"Well, um…" Brii looked lost. MD rose to the challenge of getting her out of the situation, though, much to the shorter girl's relief.
"You don't have to if you don't want to, Brii." MD said, "You did just get back, you should relax." Brii nodded in agreement with her statement.
"Sounds good to me."
"Awwwww, but I wanted to know!" Kouha whined.
"I'll write it down when I remember and give it to you to read. How's that?" Brii suggested for a compromise.
"We can't read the same language as you." Kouen said bluntly. Does he have no tact? Sinbad thought, even though the very obvious answer to the question was yes.
"What are yo-?" Brii stopped mid sentence as she seemed to remember something, "Oh yeah…" Koumei nodded from beside Kouen.
"It's been fine for us, we've been more than happy to guess what things mean," Sinbad said, smiling. It was his chance to one up Kouen, to get the girl back on his side. However, before Brii could respond, Kouen cut in.
"Not everyone can be as mindless as you, Sinbad." Kouen said coldly. Sinbad's pride immediately forced him to rebuke the remark as fast as it came.
"I apologize for mimicking your fighting style," Sinbad replied suavely. Koumei and Kouha looked outraged at Sinbad and the Eight Generals looked ready to fight if they needed to. Brii put her hand over Kouen's mouth before he could speak.
"Alright, boneheads, we get it. You hate each other." She said simply, "I don't care, though, and you will not fight or argue under my roof, got it?" Brii spoke with a tone of authority, one with an edge her nervous posture obviously didn't back up.
"I'm sorry for the problem," Sinbad said. He didn't want to make her angry, especially not now. Sinbad needed her as an ally and if he didn't make him self more appealing than Kouen, which he felt should have been the situation from the start, then she'd join his enemy's side.
"Kouen?" Brii asked, looking at the red headed prince. Kouen silently nodded due to the hand over his mouth. He hadn't attempted once to remove it. With a sigh of relief, Brii removed her hand, "Thank you…"
Sinbad simply began to plot how to get the girl on his side once and for all. He could use Zepar, but his current line up of people under his control was very delicate and needed. He'd have to do this on his own.
And in the back of Sinbad's mind, he questioned himself yet again on how dark he's become as a king.
