A/N: HEEELLLOOO I HAVE NECRO'D MYSELF GUYS. I'M A NECROMANCER. FOR MYSELF.

Ummmm yeah well it's been a while. I haven't stopped writing this; it's just that I've been doing other stuff too (especially this summer; it's been real busy) and Chrys is actually quite difficult to write because I have no plot past about 15 chapters, since well...Actually this entire fanfiction was based off 10-word writing prompts created through page-cutting a Chinese-English dictionary! So yeah, I have the originals running until quite deep in, but I'm not sure what goes after that yet.

Anyway a review reminded me that this existed, and I looked in my writing USB and found a chapter I hadn't posted yet /shot

SO YEAH THIS HAS BEEN ON BUFFER SINCE FOREVER HAHA SORRY /dies again

Bloodstained Chrysanthemums/沾染着血的菊花

Chapter 6: City/第六章: 城市

The moment Kiku had seen what Chun-Yan was planning to force him onto, he immediately regretted ever venturing out of the Oriental mansion on the hill.

"What's wrong?" The Chinese girl looked over her shoulder at him, tugging on a red dragon-embellished helmet as she regarded his hesitance with a raised eyebrow, like it was completely unnatural. "Don't tell me you've never seen a motorbike before? Come on, there are going to be much stranger things out there!"

Stranger? Was there anything in this world, anything at all, that was stranger than the entire situation Kiku had stumbled into? This was an island he had originally proclaimed deserted, and then reconsidered due to the presence of Yao; changed his mind again when his brother saw nonexistent dragons twirling about the air. And now, here, in front of him, was a second inhabitant of the island, mounted on a shiny red motorcycle with a multitude of star stickers plastered all over its side.

Kiku had no idea what to think anymore.

"Well? Hurry and get on!" Chun-Yan patted the leather seat behind her, and Kiku sent off a silent prayer before obliging. He had never liked motorbikes. They were much too…precarious. Why in hell was he doing this, anyway? Was it for the answers? How could he even be guaranteed that tagging along this nonsensical journey would earn him any?

The sudden vroom of the engine sent Kiku's heart on an absurd high jump, and the realization hit him as hard as his panic: "Um…Excuse me for asking, but…Don't I have a helmet…?"

Chun-Yan laughed, which only made things worse. "Silly boy; I came here alone! What kind of rider brings an extra helmet? Takes up too much space, if ya ask me!"

"B-But-!"

Before he could complete his complaint, the Chinese girl ferociously turned the handles, and the vehicle zoomed straight through the trees. Shocked by the sudden jerk, Kiku shut his eyes tight just as the forest whirred past them, and he dug his knees into the steel, instinctively wrapping his arms around the waist of the girl in front of him. His dark hair whipped crazily in and out of his face, and his pressed his lips together tighter, the vertigo catching him off balance.

A few minutes went by like that, just Kiku and the inertia, until finally, Chun-Yan choked out over the whir of the engine and the whoosh of the wind, "Hey…Tight here…"

Abashed, Kiku loosened his grip, eyes snapping open at last. He caught a glimpse of Chun-Yan's irritated expression through the glass of her helmet when she glanced at him for a moment before turning back to her driving, revving up her ride even faster. "Sheesh, you're not going to die, mister…"

Too embarrassed to continue acting distressed, Kiku dared lift his head up ever-so-slightly to observe his new surroundings—and they were definitely not what he expected.

He had imagined them speeding through dark forest trails, branches parting at the motorcycle's head, birds of all kinds fleeing from their roaring path. Instead, he saw around them, a city. A city modeled after ancient Asia, complete with traveling merchants and people dressed in traditional clothing, although all in dark shades. A few turned to face them and wave to Chun-Yan; the driver tried her best to return all greetings. Kiku was appalled. This…this was a civilization! The island was populated! And it seemed that Chun-Yan was rather popular here, too. He would ask about it, but their speed and his surprise had driven him mute.

Besides, Chun-Yan abruptly cut off his thoughts with a rather sickly sweet piece of advice: "Alright, Mister Kiku, here is where you can hold on tight…Should hold on tight, actually."

"What…" He trailed off, watching their route—Chun-Yan was driving them straight into an arch, crafted with brass, it looked like, and molded to appear as two dragons spiraling upwards to meet at a red stone. As they sped closer, Kiku could make out a few Chinese characters: Speedline.

He didn't like the sound of that.

"Here we go!" Chun-Yan leaned forward eagerly into her motorized steed, revving it up the fastest it could go as she zoomed under the arch. Suddenly, it seemed as if their speed multiplied a hundredfold, their environment transforming into blurs of gray. Yelping, Kiku flailed his arms in the air for a moment of panic before holding on tighter than ever before, burying his face into Chun-Yan's back. This speed had to be impossible! This was…he couldn't…no…

"Oh crap, Mister Kiku, are you alright over there?! Hello! We're here! Are you going to pass out? Did I kill you? Actually, that would solve a lot of problems, but—"

Without bothering to reply, the Japanese man shambled towards the nearest bush in his spinning view and threw up.

"...Eh, that's a common initial reaction, actually." Chun-Yan shrugged casually as Kiku turned to face her with a nauseated expression. "Totally natural. Anyway, like I said, we're here now. Let's put that all in the past, shall we?"

And where exactly is "here"?Kiku thought miserably, leaning shakily into a tree, too dazed to speak. The thought must have reflected in his expression, because Chun-Yan stepped aside with a grin and raised her arms in the air. "Ta-da! Welcome to the Eastern Tower!"

Behind her was a tall tower styled like an Oriental palace, just like Yao's strange Cliffside mansion. This "Eastern Tower" looked like something out of a post card, with an enormous golden dragon carved all around it, its bejeweled head resting calmly on the top of the building, almost out of sight in the thick clouds above. He could hardly see it from their low altitude and the spinning in his head, but Kiku could tell it was amazing. People in all sorts of clothing from the modern to the archaic were crowded at its base, in what looked like a plaza with a dragon fountain in its center. Wherever Kiku was, the people in this place seemed to love dragons.

"And…For what reason, precisely, have you brought me here?" Kiku hated to be rude or anything, but he clearly didn't want that entire ride to be in vain. Chun-Yan nodded in his direction.

"Eh, well, I can tell you think I'm crazy already. If I told you exactly what we're doing here, you'd call an asylum! Not that there are any around here, mind you. This way!" With that simple closing remark, the Chinese girl hopped away from the similar "Speedline" arch they had emerged from, towards the Tower and waving at anyone she met. Kiku almost didn't follow her, but it was not like there was anywhere else to go, and he'd gotten this far, right? Kiku clung to those little sentiments as he stumbled after her, still completely disoriented from the traumatic trip on Chun-Yan's motorbike.

The inside of the tower was packed with people, and the air inside was mostly serious. People went about carrying stacks of papers and lining up at windows that reminded Kiku of ordinary payment centers and such, although the interior was as garishly decorated as the outside. "What is this place, exactly?" Kiku asked nervously, hoping he would get a straight answer this time. Not that he expected one.

"East Tower. Mm, guess you could call it a government building." Chun-Yan laughed at that, like there was anything funny about government buildings at all. No further explanation came after that, and Kiku sighed exasperatedly, although he trailed after the Chinese girl anyway. Their route led them to the left side of the large room, the opposite of the row of elevators Kiku spotted. "We're headed up," stated Chun-Yan, like she could tell what he was thinking and wanted to confuse him further.

"But…" he started, glancing at the elevators, and trailed off. He figured at last that arguing with this eccentric lady was completely useless.

"This is a shortcut," explained Chun-Yan, vaguely motioning to an enormous round jade set into the wall in front of them. It was crowned in Chinese-embellished gold at the sides, and if the entire thing was a genuine precious stone, Kiku could hardly imagine how much it cost. He was also totally lost on how it was supposed to help them reach the top of the gigantic tower, but he no longer bothered asking, instead watching his escort silently.

Chun-Yan reached into her tight Chinese collar and fished out a jade pendant carved into the character for "teacher" and "master." She grabbed tightly onto Kiku's wrist, held up the pendant and shut her eyes, muttering something under her breath. Kiku stared at her nervously, and his eyes widened as the pendant began to glow a pale green; a similar luminescence began to stir in the huge jade, and soon, they were glowing together, pulsing to a steady, inaudible rhythm. Kiku glanced at the other people in the room; a few looked their way for no longer than a few seconds and turned back again, like they didn't care. What was this place?

Before he could even ponder on the question in mind, his vision suddenly flashed, and the room disappeared out of sight.