Five
Another quiet sob ripped through the open air, desperately stifled with a gasp. They had been louder at first, unnerving the people living in the vicinity. The pain hadn't, and wasn't going to, subside any time soon.
His guardian hovered uselessly, trying desperately to help its human.
Even with a kind pokemon at his side, he felt ridiculously alone now. The years he'd spent alone had never come close to what he was feeling at that time.
The sound of the fire crackle and hiss soothed him little, but at least it was something to think about. He stared at them licking softly at the air, spitting light embers dancing across the vicinity before dying out.
Mortality seemed to be on his mind, and refused to relent.
The flames licked up in a strange blue hue, like when he worked and the chemicals set the flames alight. Soon all the fire was of that colour, and it set the room glowing the same colour.
He leapt up from his bed and hurried to the window to see outside. The same blue hue approached, and he knew it immediately.
The distinctive guardian came to a stop in front of him as he stepped out of his home. It snorted and approached him, pressing it's nose into his open and ready hand.
"She's alive."
"Ma'am?"
Hikari was a particularly light sleeper anyway, but the sound of the lock sliding had been enough to have her sitting up and then recoiling as her wound disliked the sharp movement.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."
A girl around the same age as her stepped in, and they couldn't have been more different. Her beautiful milk chocolate hair knotted at the top of her head, a few wisps falling into her face and framing her pretty blue eyes. Her dress was a deep brown, held tight to her light curves with a red sash. Her exposed arms showed she was far from a warrior, the light muscles that were visible able to lift little more than a bucket of water. Behind her was her guardian, and it's beauty and delicate-nature represented her perfectly. The Beautifly fluttered around the room elegantly and flashed a gentle white to encourage the morning sun into the room.
"You didn't, I should get up and start my morning routine." Hikari replied, stretching her arms over her head and coiling her legs around one another as she watched the guardian.
"Routine, ma'am?"
The warrior nodded, but realised this woman wasn't aware of what it was she did.
"Well, I brought you breakfast and a clean gown for meeting the Thane." The woman explained.
Hikari frowned; "The Thane?"
The woman seemed confused, but understood that she wouldn't know their terms. "Our ruler. He is the Thane."
"And who are you?"
She flushed bright red and placed the tray of food down. She introduced herself as she bowed extremely low; "I am Haruka, and I have been assigned as your personal maid." She straightened and smiled; "Anything you may need you just have to ask!"
"A maid?" Hikari rose an eyebrow; "why do I deserve a maid?" A personal one at that?
Haruka frowned; "You are a guest."
"I am a prisoner." She corrected.
The girl smiled, not seeming to be taking her seriously; "It's this room, isn't it? Archduke Shinji dislikes it too." She looked at the bars in the window that wouldn't squeeze a Wurmple through easily.
Hikari gave up, settling on the fact that this girl was the only person who had been kind to her since she'd arrived. Not only that, she was probably one of the first girls to ever be kind to her.
So, with that in mind, she smiled and slipped out of the bed to take the clothes. "Thank you." She muttered.
Haruka nodded, beaming brilliantly as she gestured to the divider she could change behind.
As she pulled the deep grey gown over her head, she could hear Haruka shuffle around, probably making the bed for her.
"This dress is beautiful." Hikari said in awe, wrapping a silver obi around her torso.
"Thank you, I'm being trained to be a seamstress." Haruka replied.
"You made this?" The warrior gasped, brushing the dust off the lower half. It was beautifully designed and didn't look like a student had made it at all.
Haruka stepped around the divider and helped her with the obi, tying it properly behind her. "I've been training a while now."
"It's beautiful." Hikari repeated. "What do you know about Shinji?"
In the mirror, she could see Haruka's smiling face falter slightly, then her mouth down-turned. "Archduke Shinji is the Imperator of the soldiers, he's very rarely in the Archis, with the war going on, so I don't know a lot about him."
"He's the commander of the forces?"
Haruka nodded; "Sorry, I forget you're not from around here."
Hikari continued to press her for information anyway. "Why is his room so... protected?" She knew very well why, but if she was to receive an answer without arousing suspicion, she would have to play dumb.
"A few years ago..." Haruka lowered her voice and glanced over her shoulder; "he disappeared for weeks. When he returned, he said he'd been attacked and left for dead, but someone helped him come home. He was confined to the Archis for the whole year, and the bars and locks are to stop him from trying to escape."
The warrior glanced to the floor, then to the bars. They didn't look too strong, and weren't very well set into the walls as they were an additional piece to the much older stone around it. If she could break them easily, she knew Shinji would have been able to. It wasn't that he was trapped, he just never wanted to leave.
An unwanted pang of guilt shot through her chest and up through her throat, but she swallowed it down and shook her head.
"Ma'am, why are you asking me about this? I thought you would know." The maid seemed awkward, knowing it was not her place to question the person they served, but the connection they'd already forged gave her confidence.
Hikari shook her head; "I was placed in here because of the security." Not a lie, but not the answer to the question, either.
A bang on the door interrupted their conversation. A man yelled through the thick wood to alert them; "The Thane is ready."
Haruka pushed on her shoulders; "You must go, hurry!"
"Aren't you coming?"
The maid stared at her like she was stupid; "I belong here."
Hikari didn't question it further as she was shoved to the door and the bulky man leered down at her. She held her head up and squared her shoulders, then allowed him to flank her as she wandered down the stairs. Her heavily trained mind reversed the way she had came the night before, and did not need prompting by the guard.
They entered the large room, and she was grateful she could walk freely and swing her arms gently as she did so. She didn't feel so undignified that way. If they were going to execute her, she was going down with her head held high.
A small council of men who had been murmuring together suddenly fell silent and turned to face her as she approached. They split and backed off from her, allowing her the space to kneel before the throne and place her hand on her heart out of habit. The Thane nodded his head to her as she stood.
"I thank you for your hospitality."
Archduke Reiji seemed delighted by the lack of hostility from her, and smiled brightly. Her eyes, however, had landed on the younger brother beside him, who was less than happy to see her. She didn't linger, instead her eyes were drawn to the Arbok swaying behind it's human.
"You are most welcome, child." The Thane replied. She stiffened at the name he'd given her, but did nothing in response. He waited a little, but seeing how she stayed silent, he shuffled in his seat and began to talk again. "We'd like to ask a few questions."
"And we'd most appreciate your cooperation." Reiji added.
She looked between the three members of royalty, they all stared at her with equal intensity. "I will answer what I can."
They seemed satisfied with her answer, the two archdukes looking to their father who began. He lifted his chin as if to look down to her. "You are a Silencer?"
She looked between him and the Arbok behind him, and it seemed to nod to her. She felt the need to answer it instead of the man it represented. "We are called warriors."
"A woman warrior?" One of the council men asked, raising his hand slightly.
The question grated on her nerves, and she gritted her teeth as she spoke; "Obviously."
"What made your kingdom make an exception to the tradition?" Reiji asked, and he was far too polite for the question to annoy her.
Instead, she turned to him and inhaled slowly; "I showed potential."
The Thane shifted slightly again, his hand flickering to demand his turn. "You were sent here."
"I was." She began to grow wary of this direction of questions.
"By?"
"...My thane." Just as she didn't understand their terms, she didn't expect them to know hers.
They didn't take her hesitation too well, by the awkward shifting in the room. She glanced around, and then back at the Thane.
"And what was your task?"
Was... She huffed. "To avenge my master's death." She said clearly, "I'm not even sure his killer is here." She eyed their reactions closely, but she couldn't use the looks they shared between each other as evidence of guilt.
A silence filled the room, leaving her to ponder their responses longer. The Thane was admittedly skilled in keeping his face composed, a skill that only came with years of practice. Reiji, who seemed the kindest of the three just by looking at his demeanour, he didn't look like a killer.
And then his brother, who had been watching her as she thought. She was well aware of his killing capabilities, being the hand that had guided him to be that way.
She wasn't allowed much time for thought, though, as the Thane had come to a conclusion.
"Well, as you are no threat to us for now, we welcome you as our guest." He said clearly. The council men muttered, some of their voices agreeable, some unsure.
"A guest." She repeated slowly.
"But of course!" Archduke Reiji smiled at her; "we have no reason to keep you prisoner."
The Thane nodded, "You may leave if you wish."
She nodded slowly, and turned her back on them reluctantly as she began to leave the room.
Reiji's voice echoed after them; "You will come to dinner, yes?"
She turned and nodded, then continued out of the door. The man who'd escorted her had since disappeared. She thought nothing of it, now an almost free woman. If it wasn't for the fact that she was to stay and have dinner, she would have left immediately.
Her mind had been lost in thought as she wound up outside Shinji's room to collect her clothes. So she wasn't expecting the scene before her in the slightest.
Haruka's muffled cry was the only sign she was in the room, as a large man loomed over her, raising one arm as if to hurt her. The glint of silver caused Hikari to spring forward, her hands fumbling for the ribbon in her hair to stop him with. As she leapt, -the ribbon in both hands above her head,- she coiled her legs around the attacker's waist. The ribbon and her arms wrapped around his neck loosely for a split-second until she leant back and held the ribbon tight against his wind pipe.
The man bucked backward in surprise, -reminding her vividly of when she'd captured Rapidash,- so she only clung on tighter, restricting his airflow as he swung her around.
"Haruka! The knife!" She yelled in her high pitched tone. She wished she hadn't said anything, as he was reminded of the weapon in his hands as he attempted to slam it into her shin. Thankfully, he'd managed to miss, and Haruka had gained enough courage to prize it away from his asphyxiated body.
She looked to Hikari worriedly, both of them knowing she couldn't lodge it into the man to stop him. Instead, Dawn pulled tighter, and spoke after the grunt of exertion. "Run Haruka!" The maid nodded reluctantly and ran out the room with a tear stained face.
A few more moments of struggle and he finally managed to throw her off by slamming her between himself and the wall. Her limbs fell slack, and she landed in a weak crouch on the floor as he pulled away. He did not run though, and snorted upon seeing the small woman.
"Where'd they find you then, eh?" He wheezed, still recovering from his strangling. "Pathetic."
She glared up at him, unable to stand for a moment as he'd knocked the air from her lungs. She used his distraction for recovery time. "I'm not from here."
"No, I know who you are." He snickered, taking a wary step closer. She continued to stare him down, but couldn't get up fast enough as he swung a foot toward her, the loud crunch of a rib giving under the pressure between him and the wall echoing through the room. It was followed by a high grunt of pain, but she refused to scream.
"You are the one in the stories. The blue-flamed fighter." He yanked her up by her hair, to cause her more stress.
All he received was a smirk; "I have a name now. Words travel fast." It was the perfect distraction as she brought up her knee quickly and thrust it into his stomach. He dropped her onto her feet and stumbled back, curling over himself as she brought her foot up to kick him in the face. He continued to fall back, almost to the other end of the room as she gave out a continuous flow of punches, each of which pained her greatly. He tried to gain footing, swiping at her sides to bring more agony to her broken rib, but she was quick and sure of herself, and eventually she kicked him into a wall. She sprung back as he landed face first on the floor, then sat across him and wrapped the ribbon around his throat in case he woke again.
The door slammed open moments later, two soldiers rushing in with spears and Shinji followed with a broadsword in his hands. All of them looked surprised to see a small woman sat across the back of a large, unconscious man, a victorious smirk on her face.
"Who is he?" Shinji growled; "and how did he get into the Archis?" He looked almost accusingly at Hikari, who raised both eyebrows.
"How should I know?" She snapped; "I walked in to find him attacking a maid and he tried to silence me as well."
The two soldiers glanced at each other warily, awaiting their archduke's orders. He didn't say anything as he scanned the situation.
"There was no guardian with him." Hikari informed him as he looked around the room. "What should I do with him?"
Shinji shrugged; "Kill him."
She didn't need to be asked twice. Her fingers - dainty and thin, what should have been caring - caressed the side of the man's head, and without hesitation, she twisted it sharply. The soldiers winced at the deafening snap as his head lolled to the floor. She searched his body for nothing in particular, but found several pieces of parchment in his pouch, neatly folded and sealed. Still sat across him, she began to open it and read aloud.
"War has been declared, we offer peace in exchange for your kingdom."
She stood and apprehended Shinji, who was staring at the body indifferently. She started as he suddenly turned and walked for the door. "You will stay here." He ordered.
Before she could protest, a loud rumble sounded throughout the Archis, followed shortly by the cause of the sound as the building shook fiercely.
"They're already here."
Sorry for delay in chapters. Literally blocked again. DX