Don't Look Back – Chapter 25

Rianna

((Kallisto's POV))

I needed more people. I mainly needed to get rid of Chihiro so she would stop freeing my warriors. But where would I get spirits willing to join me? If they're willing, they don't need collars… I smiled. I knew now where I was going to get them. I called for Maeve. She was in my office within two minutes. "Yes my lady?" she asked, coming to stand before my desk.

"We need to move back, find a new hiding place."

"But what about the human children?"

"Make them spirits. All of them."

Maeve's eyes widened. "My lady, are you mad? We don't have enough magic spirits to do that!"

"Then work overtime. We need to move, this base is known to two people within the League. I can't risk them finding us. Plus, we need more warriors."

"But Chihiro will just free them!"

"That's where you're wrong Maeve." I said, standing up. I began to explain why to my stupid second in command while walking lazily around my office. "You see, I only place my collar on those whom I need to stay in my service, those whom are close to me, and those whom I know will betray me. I don't place them on those whom I know will not run away. Those humans are convinced that I'm holy. You've seen them worship the ground I've walked on. Bring them up, and let them finally join my ranks."

Maeve swallowed visibly, and closed her eyes. "As you… command."

I smiled, sitting back down. "Good. Now, there is another matter. How long will making them spirits take?"

"If you mean all of them, at least a year or two."

"What?" I cried, leaning back. When Maeve didn't say anything else, I rubbed my temples. "Are you sure it can go no faster?"

"I am quite certain."

"Well, then we need to give the League something to remember us by then, don't we? Poison the water."

"My lady, we've already done that." Maeve said, "The concoction you ordered to be made was too weak."

I glared up at her. "Then make it stronger. Now get out of my sight!"

"Wait… shall we attack then as well?"

I looked up at her slowly. She looked nervous, but it went away when she saw my smile.

"Well done Maeve. Attack when they're weak… I like it. Start on the humans, and we'll take what we have into battle that day."

Two Weeks Later

((Rin's POV))

It's the water. It's been poisoned... again. I should have known better; Kallisto wouldn't leave without leaving us some kind of surprise. Perun has tried countless times to purify the water, but he's just wearing himself out, and so is Haku. Chihiro ordered him to stop, and it actually worked. Perun refused to give up, and she actually slapped him. That got him back in line. Amaya ordered him to rest for the rest of the day. He's seemed a lot more calm and submissive, but that's what happens I guess.

Felix fell ill, and I'm the one tending to him. It's completely ironic. I hate that general, but I can't exactly tell him off either. Yubaba made that VERY clear. The thing was, we didn't know which water kegs were poisoned and which ones were safe to drink. We couldn't exactly throw out all of our water, so we had to be careful. The poison couldn't be removed, and no matter how hot you boiled it the water was still unclean. Kallisto knew what she was doing; I'll give her that.

For a few days we lived in terror that we were drinking a bad keg. So far we've had no more casualties. Felix is doing better and has been passed off to another bathhouse worker... thank the gods. But we knew that there were people that we couldn't risk getting sick. Chihiro, Haku, Amaya, Perun, and Kentoku. Yubaba said that the bathhouse wouldn't die if she did, and I knew that took a lot for her to say that. But, it's the truth really. We guarded those five with the utmost care…

But we still failed. Kentoku is on the verge of death.

This can't be happening. The League forces have become shaken and anxious since they learned of Kentoku's health. He's been getting slightly better, but we're all afraid for him, and no one's afraid to admit it. I even find myself sweating if he's going to make it through the night.

And just when we needed something else to deal with, the Druids return.

I was guarding Kentoku. I didn't know why then, but I understood later. Chihiro was standing on a balcony, raining fire down on the Druid forces. Amaya stood next to her, making the earth under their makeshift camp shake. Perun and Haku fought bravely, and they caused tidal waves to crash up from the ocean below and crash into the oncoming waves. I was beginning to wonder where Kallisto had gotten more forces in such little time, but I soon discovered that I didn't have time to worry about that.

A force had gotten inside the bathhouse; I could hear them. I gripped my staff tighter, and readied myself. I knew where they were headed. Kallisto didn't trust poison to kill Kentoku. She wanted it done properly.

Sure enough, five men burst into Kentoku's sick room, swords drawn. I that they weren't expecting me, but I didn't give them a chance to register my presence. I leapt to my certain death, but I didn't care.

I just hoped that someone realized that Kentoku needed another protector.

((Kentoku's POV))

I hardly was ever conscious after I collapsed during a meeting. I would drift in and out of the darkness everyday. I could hear people talking, I could hear the worry and fear in their voices. More importantly I could hear Rin moving about the room, making sure that I was as comfortable as I could be. I wanted to tell her, to tell everyone that I wasn't going to die because of poison; I was going to die in battle. But I was never awake, or never had the strength to do it. So, I lied there and let everyone worry. I began to hate it… to loathe it.

I finally came around for the first time that day, and hear sword clanging, and shouts. I tried to move, and my hand twitched. Oh that was going to help a lot.

"Oh, so a lowly bathhouse worker protects the mighty warrior? How stupid." A man taunted, followed by more sword clanging.

"She can't even fight with a real sword! She has to use a wooden rod to-"

Thump!

I heard a body hit the floor. My heart froze. The person protecting me was a woman bathhouse worker that fought with a staff.

Rin.

I didn't know how many men there were, but I knew that she couldn't do it alone. There sounded like there was more than three, which means there had to be at least two left for her to battle. That wasn't good at all. I struggled to move. I needed to protect those who couldn't do so themselves; those who wanted it and those who didn't and those who didn't know they needed to be protected. Everyone. I swore that the day I picked up my naginata. I wasn't about to go back on that promise, even if I was ill.

Then I heard a feminine cry, and a thump against a wall. My eyes flew open, and angry coursed through my veins. No one had the right to hurt a woman, and they never would. I sat up, and noticed my sword propped up against the wall. I sat up slowly, and climbed out of my bed, and unsheathed it.

The men had dismissed me for unconscious, and were currently more interested in killing Rin. But when they heard the sword drawn, they spun around.

"It's not possible." One breathed, starring at me in fright.

"Nothing is impossible. You say that something is impossible is because you do not wish to believe that it can happen."

And with that… I swung.

I moved so fast it seemed like I was a blur. I sliced a man's throat, and then another man's chest with one swing. I must have been madder than I thought I was. I knew that I was supposed to lock my emotions away when I fought, but I let my anger drive my blade. I must say that it was positively the most violent and quickest display I have ever given. I was afraid that Rin was terrified, but I didn't let that stop me.

I didn't know if my anger of a man hurting a woman is what drove me, or if it was the fact that they threw Rin against a wall. I just hoped that she was all right, and I gave those men just what they deserved.

Now I was down to one man. I blocked his strike, kicked him in the gut, and spun around, driving the point of my sword straight through his heart. He let out a gurgle, and I jerked the sword a bit, making sure that my attack at hit true. Sure enough, this man would never see the sunlight again. My face remained impassive as I slid the bloody sword out of the man's chest, and he fell to the ground.

"Kentoku!" someone cried, but I knew it wasn't Rin. Chihiro and company burst into the room, and Haku raced over to me, Perun a heartbeat behind him. But I didn't acknowledge them at all. I dropped the red stained sword and looked for Rin. I found her crumpled on the floor, and I stumbled over. I fell to my knees next to her body and turned her over.

"Rin…" I whispered, my voice cracking with disuse.

She blinked, and looked up at me. She sat up slowly and starred at me for a few seconds before she spoke. "Kentoku! You're up!"

"Are you all right?" I asked, ignoring her statement of the obvious. When she nodded, I fell back into that cursed darkness.

((Rin's POV))

No one wanted to believe it, but they saw it. Kentoku woke up after almost a week of sleep and kicked some Druid ass in a matter of seconds, then went back to being unconscious. I could hardly believe it myself. But I saw the room, and I saw his clothes all bloody. Oh yes, he had done it.

Everyone came out with their own injuries, some worse than others. Perun has a medium sized slice on his left bicep and he managed to twist his right ankle on the sprint to Yubaba's floor. Haku suffered a long gash across his back and a few scratches on his face. Chihiro nearly had a heart attack when he took of his shirt, and immediately tried to heal it herself, but Haku wouldn't let her. She was about to drop dead from casting so many spells. He told her that he could just heal normally. Amaya was resting with Chihiro since she was about ready to faint herself.

Everyone was amazed by what Kentoku did, especially me. But, everyone knew that would greatly set back his recovery. And it did. He hasn't even moved since yesterday, and Yubaba has been watching over him herself. She came down and told us that he hasn't been doing well, and that he's slowly fading. I didn't want to believe it.

The guy can't know secrets of my life that I've never revealed, save my butt, and then die! That's wrong, that's not how it's supposed to be! When everyone was sitting there, completely helpless, I snuck upstairs into his sickroom.

Yubaba wasn't kidding, he really was leaving us. I could barely hear his breathing even when I knelt next to him and put my ear to his mouth. I sat back on my heels and looked hard at his face. It was peaceful, like he was ready to leave and be at rest with his wife.

I knew that he wanted to see her again, but I didn't really want him to leave. He was there when I saw Mitsuko for the last time, and he's been the person that I've talked to for the past few weeks. I knew that he was fading fast, and I hated that. I took his slightly warm hand in mine, held it tightly and just willed him to wake up.

((Kentoku's POV))

I knew that I was leaving, but there was nothing that I could do about it. If I left, everything would crumble, and not just our forces. Haku and Perun would be shaken, and I knew that even neither Chihiro nor Amaya could shake them out of it. I wanted to get up, see the sun and feel the wind. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't move. I was too weak.

Suddenly, I felt my strength return to me in a slow trickle. I slowly opened my eyes to discover that Rin was holding my hand tightly, a bright glow around them. As a matter of fact, her entire body was glowing. The brighter the glow became, the stronger I became. When I was fully awake, and most of the ache in my body vanished, I squeezed her hand.

The glow left, and Rin gasped. She let go of my hand and starred down at me in shock. "Oh my… gods what did I do?"

I frowned up at her, "You don't know?"

"No… that's never happened before."

I smiled and sat up. Her eyes widened when she saw me move. "My dear, I think you may be a healer."

"A… what?"

"A healer of spirits."

"You mean I can do that whenever I want?"

"Most likely. What is your name, your real name?"

"I… I don't know. I'm a worker, Yubaba took it."

I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck. "I'll talk to her about that."

"You'll what?" she asked me. Suddenly, she swayed and moaned. I caught her before she fell to the floor.

"Rin? Rin, are you all right?" I asked, shaking her slightly. When she didn't respond, I knew for sure that she must have worn herself out. I pulled her close to me, and made sure her head was resting on my shoulder. Some of my hair fell into hers, a sharp contrast from the dark brown. I smiled, and rubbed her back.

It was then that she decided to come around. She jerked slightly, and I let go of her quickly with a blush. She tried to sit up, but immediately feel back against me.

"Whoa…" she said, holding her head.

"Lie still for a while, you fainted." I told her, rubbing her back again. This was odd… I found this strangely familiar and comforting. She nodded and buried her head in my shoulder and didn't move a muscle. After a few minutes, she sat up completely and blushed.

"I'm sorry about that Kentoku…"

"It's quite all right." I told her, brushing some hair out of her face. "Rin… thank you."

She smiled, "Someone had to do it." She said, looking to the side.

I was at loss at what to do. I knew that saying thank you wasn't the best way to repay her, but I didn't know what was. I raised my hand to cup her cheek, and she met my gaze. I held her gray ones as I leaned in ever so slowly. Her eyes slowly shut with mine, and we were a breath apart…

When we heard the door open. I pulled back sharply and dropped my hand, looking in the doorway.

"Father!" Perun cried, seeing me up and alive. Haku was behind him, and he broke out into a smile.

"There you two are." I said, completely calm. I didn't even show that they almost kissing Rin.

Whoa. That was something I never thought I would even dream of doing. But, I found myself wishing that they had come in just a few minutes later… if not just a few seconds. But of course they interrupt now.

Rin stood up so they wouldn't start thinking anything, and I felt bad. That probably was horrible for her. I swung my legs out of bed and stood up. I noticed that I was in clean clothes, and I was grateful. "If you don't mind, Rin and I need to go see Yubaba."

She looked at me in surprise and Haku blinked a few times. "Now?"

"Yes, now. If you would please excuse us." And with that, I grabbed Rin's arm and the both of us made our way to Yubaba's office.

The woman who has saved my life twice is not going to work for that witch any longer.

"Ah, you're awake!" Yubaba cried, happily, coming to embrace me, but I held up a hand. She stopped and frowned. "Is something wrong Kentoku?"

"Yes, there is actually. Rin has now saved my life more than once, yet she is still under contract."

Yubaba's frown went away and was replaced by a look of utter confusion. "And why is this a problem?"

"I will not have the woman that saved my life working for you. I demand that she go free."

The old witch starred at me for a few seconds, almost contemplating if she had heard me right. "E… excuse me?"

"You heard be correctly Yubaba. I demand that Rin is set free."

"Kentoku… what makes you think I'm going to release my best worker?" she said, leaning back against her desk.

I looked at Rin out of the corner of my eye. I took a deep breath and looked at Yubaba dead in the eye. "Because you will hold no one close to me under contract."

Both women's eyes widened at my words. Rin looked at me in astonishment, but Yubaba had a grin on her face. She came to stand in front of me, and pointed a triumphant finger at me. "I knew that it would work! You've gotten over Lavanya and-"

In a flash, I grabbed Yubaba's wrist. "Do not think for a minute that someone can replace my wife. Now, release Rin, Yubaba, and give her back her real name."

She must have seen that I was being dead serious, and she nodded. I let go of her wrist, and she walked briskly over to one of her file cabinets and pulled out a very old looking contract. She unrolled it and held her hand over the name "Rin". Japanese characters floated down from her hand and joined the single character on the sheet, creating Rin's real name. Then, Yubaba ripped it.

"You are now free from my services. Get out of my sight."

And with that, Rin fled the room, me right behind her.

I caught up with her running form and grabbed her arm. "Rin, what's wrong?"

"Rin? That's not my name!" she said with a bright smile on her face.

I couldn't help but smile back, "My apologies my lady. What would your name be?"

"Rianna." She said, and looked around.

"Is something wrong?" I asked her.

"No, you just have bad timing. So, I was making sure the coast was clear."

"I have bad timing on wh-"

I didn't get to finish my sentence when she stepped closer to me and kissed me lightly. "Thank you Kentoku." She whispered, stepping back. But I didn't let her. My arm was around her waist in the blink of an eye, and I pulled her back to me.

She looked up with her gray eyes, and I couldn't help but smile. I leaned down and did what I tried to do before we were interrupted. She was slightly startled, but she didn't pull away either. Instead she rested her hands on my chest and enjoyed the kiss.

I pulled away and looked down at her smiling face. She kissed me quickly on the cheek, "I knew you weren't hopeless."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh dear, did I say that out loud?" she giggled.

"Rianna…"

She frowned when she heard her real name. "You know… I'm glad that I have my real name back, but I understand why Haku doesn't go by it. After being called one name for so long it's just… natural."

"So you wish to be called Rin anyway?"

She smiled up at me, "I guess I do."

I nodded and let her go, "So, do you wish to tell everyone that you're free?"

"Are you kidding? Now that Perun's moved in with Amaya, there's an extra room! I'm getting out of that old room… thank goodness!"

I laughed as we began to descend to the lobby to look for the company. This was a day to celebrate. Not only did Rin get her real name, but I finally moved on. I kissed another woman, and I was actually looking forward to the next time. I knew that this was going to be an interesting turn, explaining to my sons that things are about to change. I found myself wondering if I was looking before I leapt. Was this something I wanted? Was this a woman that could make me happy? Or should I leave this before I get in to deep.

I knew that women were confusing, but this just wasn't funny.

A/N: I'm hating what I've been writing lately. All of the chapters have been just... BLAH. Well, I hope that Fire Inside The Man turns out all right... Well, Rin got back her name, and Kentoku makes a move... life's just dandy. Don't worry, you'll see some HakuxChihiro and PerunxAmaya fluff in here at SOME point... maybe next chapter... lol

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-Vincent's Angel of Chaos-