Maecenas knew when she woke up that Fai and Kurogane were gone. Apparently, so did Syaoran.
"I can't just leave them down there alone!" Maecenas thought aloud.
"Go and find them. We'll be fine here." Syaoran said, entering the living room and sitting beside her.
"Waiting and worrying won't help them; and since you know the way around better than they do, you need to be with them." Syaoran smiled at her.
"If only I could. I gave a locket to Kurogane last night. It amplifies my magic, and without it, I can't change my form." She frowned.
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Fai peered into the mirrors face. Had this been the tool that Ashura used to force him back? Definitely. He peered at the opening of the cave, where the moonlight streamed in. Someone sighed behind him, causing Fai to jump.
"You look too weak to be the replacement for Kai." The new figure muttered. Fai smiled, turning to face him.
"Funny, that's what Ashura said."
"Hmm?"
"Nothing." Fai smiled again.
The new person had a piercing gaze and dark hair that rivaled Fai's light hair. His golden and maroon tail reminded Fai instantly of the long red cloaks from Tokyo.
Kamui sighed.
"Who was Kai?" Fai asked to keep Kamui talking.
"A warrior. His real name was Yasha, Kai was just a title. He was an extremely powerful magician, mainly with his voice. His throat was torn out and he was stabbed to death by Ashura herself."
Fai looked uncomfortable, rubbing his neck. Kamui smirked.
"Anyway, the meeting's about to start. Come with me, and bring your friend." Kamui said, glancing at Kurogane. The large group went further into the cave. Rows of stone benches were set up to face a podium. Hokuto zipped behind it, calling the room to order.
"Hey, everyone!" She called out, pounding her hand on the stone surface. The dull buzz of voices reduced to nothing.
"Thank you. As you've all noticed, Maecenas isn't here, so we'll skip her speech." Hokuto beamed across the room to Fai and Kurogane; the latter of the two glaring back.
"I don't really have anything else to say, so give it up for Fai!" Hokuto swam over to Fai, gently nudging him towards the podium.
"Wait! I don't have anything to say either!" Fai laughed, hiding his nervousness as the group smiled and cheered. "Kuro-pon! Why don't you say something?"
Surprising everyone, Kurogane shrugged and went up to speak.
"Alright. Have any of you actually seen the bitch?" He started, referring to Ashura.
"Which one?" Someone called from the crowd, laughing. This lucky fish was able to keep his life when Kurogane chose to ignore him.
"Ashura." Kurogane stated. Not one hand went up, just as he thought.
"You've only heard of her? Right." He sighed, "To be able to defeat the enemy, you need to first know your enemy." He stopped to gesture to Fai, who swam up to him. Kurogane took the mirror and held it up for all to see.
"Your Queen uses weapons that look weak, even though they're not. They'd never save anyone in close range; she seems to only use long distance weapons. Magic weapons. Charmed things like coral are also used." He stopped and waited for questions. Once again, none. His audience seemed to be soaking up every word. They had bright eyes. No one had ever found out so much, and he still had more to tell! Kurogane cleared his throat and continued.
"Ashura has the ability to possess people. They become puppets, and can only break free if they have higher power or extremely strong willpower. Don't expect it to be easy. While inside The Palace, Fai and I confronted two of her underlings; who are now both dead."
"What?" A man cried. "Who were they?"
"Aithne and her sister." Kurogane growled. The crowd eyed his burns with wide eyes. They decided to stay on Kurogane's good side.
"I believe that they were spies to The Queen." Fai muttered next to the ninja. He hid his face behind his hair. They left behind the coral, Ashura could still control him, which worried him.
"How does the mirror work?" Subaru asked. Kurogane shrugged.
"Fai knows. Ask him." The rooms gaze shifted to the smaller man. Fai took back the mirror, turning it over in his hands.
This mirror does more than just spells!
Fai's eye widened until he remembered that they were still waiting for his answer.
"She says a spell to it, and it goes to the victim through the mirrors face."
"Can it do other things?" Kamui asked, staring intently into Fai's eye.
"Yes, it can show maps and locations, which is what it seems to be best for. It also shields the holder, and obviously uses magic."
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Subaru left to go check outside the cave. He noticed that the sun was beginning to rise.
The meeting had reached its end.
"Everyone!" He called as he swam back in. "It's time to part. We'll meet back here at the prearranged date."
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Kamui swan back over to Fai and Kurogane after the rest of the rebels had left.
"Both of you left out information to the rest of us. Why?" He demanded, staring into their eyes. Kurogane growled.
"What do you want to know?" He asked.
"How you got into the Palace, or this polis for the matter. Neither of you are even from around here."
"We're both humans." Kurogane interrupted.
"I know that. You aren't from up there either though, are you?" Fai sighed, smiling wearily.
"You travel dimensions?" Kamui asked.
"How the hell do you know that?" Kurogane grumbled.
Kamui explained that he was telepathic and could read their minds. Kurogane pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.
"If you can read minds, why do you need us to even say it?"
"To confirm it. Fai is clouding nearly all of his thoughts at the moment though, and I can't read them."
Two sets of eyes fell on Fai, who avoided them.
"Nothing new there. He never tells anyone anything."
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Kamui had a strong feeling that almost everything Kurogane told the group earlier about Ashura had been from recent events. Kurogane had, however, put up his own shield in his mind when he learned that Kamui could read his thoughts.
"You never explained how you got into Ashura's Palace." He prodded. Fai was silent as the grave, so Kurogane spoke up."
"We swam in. End of story." He deadpanned. With that, he grabbed Fai by the arm and swam out of the cave and back to Maecenas's house.
Kamui laughed softly at the shocked expression on Fai's face as they left. He hadn't meant to come across as rude to them earlier, but he barely knew them.
How could two humans, who weren't even from this world, even hope to possibly save the polis?
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Fai darted past Kurogane and into the stone home, going straight for his room. Kurogane sighed, following him. He found Fai stuffing his dark robe back into a chest at the foot of the bed.
"Why would you wear that in the water?" He asked the smaller man. Fai shrugged, keeping his back to him.
"I just like it, I guess. And it gets cold in some places down here."
"Hmmph." Fai turned and smiled at him. Kurogane scowled back. He was getting the impression that Fai was trying to hide behind the robe when he went out, like he didn't want to be noticed. Fai's smile fell and he looked away.
"What now?"
"We left the coral back there."
"You worried?" Kurogane studied Fai's expression carefully. The mage really did look worried. Scared, even.
"You don't need to keep that stupid smile up all the time, Fai."
"I don't know what to do."
"Talk to people."
"That's too difficult."
Kurogane sighed. He knew that Fai was in no mood to talk; Fai looked like the stress was finally getting to him and could snap at any moment.
"Stay here."
"Mmhm." Fai mumbled already under the covers of his bed.
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Ashura smiled, staring at herself in one of her many mirrors. She could just use the coral and let Fai come to her, but where was the fun in that? He never did see her change from the old shopkeeper to her current appearance, and the only other person who knew of that secret now was Maecenas, who was conveniently missing at the moment and probably stuck on the surface.
Ha.
Disguising herself as the shopkeeper seemed to be the best option. No, she'd never get close to Fai that way, not after their first meeting.
Perhaps she could get to him through his friend? That Kurogane fellow…
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Back on the surface, Syaoran and Sakura had decided to go to the sea. They told the adults, minus Hans, who was sleeping upstairs after a long shift of work, where they were going. Setting off at a brisk pace, they made it to the docks in a short amount of time, with Maecenas trailing after them.
"Follow me." The woman commanded, climbing into a rowboat. The teens did so, and she began to row them out a distance away from land.
"I can sense Kurogane coming this way, barely." Maecenas explained to Sakura.
"Is he alright?"
A small splash met their ears, and an angry voice.
"You bitch!" Kurogane yelled at the former mermaid. "You knew this was going to happen!"
"What? Did it work?" Maecenas leaned over the oars to him expectantly. Kurogane roared back "Damn right it 'worked'! What the hell are you planning, anyway?"
Syaoran and Sakura stared with wide eyes at the seething man in the water, noticing his gills and webbed hands when he ran them through his hair angrily.
"Kurogane-san!" They cried out happily. "Where is Fai-san?"
"Sleeping." He replied, still glaring at Maecenas.
"Are the both of you alright?" Sakura asked. Maecenas eyed his chest.
"This one's not. Doesn't that hurt?"
Without waiting for an answer, she snapped her fingers, sending a small healing spell to Kurogane. Almost at once, his pain vanished. He blinked and almost thanked her, but chose not to.
He still didn't trust her.
"Is something going on in the polis? How was the meeting?" Maecenas asked. Kurogane sighed and dipped back in the water to breath for a moment.
"It could've been better." He said. "They need to know more about the enemy forces."
"This is the entire reason of why you're there." Maecenas thought, smiling.
"Kurogane-san," Syaoran asked "What happened to Fai-san?"
"He was possessed. The Queen tried to take him." Sakura gasped and Kurogane waved a hand before continuing.
"He's alright. You two need to be on alert though; something's going on down in the water, and could effect the land. It would be better if you didn't come out on the water." The man said gruffly.
"We understand, Kurogane-san." Syaoran said. Sakura nodded.
"Please, be careful." She whispered.
Kurogane nodded, vanishing into the water.
AN: Yay, I'm back from vacation! (Though I wish I was still there, I love the beach!) I hope I did Kamui justice, I was aiming for his personality in "X", but I've never read the manga, and have only seen the movie via youtube. I think it was the movie at least since it's been a while since watching it. I searched as much as I could through Wikipedia though for the bulk of it, and the Acid Tokyo Arc! ^_^
I couldn't use the Kamui from Tsubasa, because he'd be like "Subaru= brother" or something, and Subaru is the one from Tokyo Babylon, another manga I haven't been able to read yet. _ …Plus I took the idea of them as brothers and ran with it in my first fanfic, and I'm trying to not repeat myself too much. I already feel like I'm on thin ice as it is XD
Thanks to all who've read and reviewed! :D
DP