Chapter Seventeen: It Started with Imprisonment
A/N: So I've included more music that you guys can use while reading this to just set the mood. Again its not required it just makes it more interesting. Hope you enjoy!
Emotional Fantasy music-Tear it from my chest
Juniper's Knot-Bleeding
To be continued- XXXHolic ost
Most Heartfelt OST Ever-The truth
A month later, Kiryuin mansion.
(Start Tear it from my chest)
Ryuko sat on the edge of her bed, head buried in her hands. The curtains were drawn, throwing the messy room into darkness, a darkness that mirrored the girl's current state of heart. A knock came on her door which she didn't seem to be aware of. When it came again, louder and louder she finally picked up her head. There were deep shadows under her eyes, almost red in their complexion.
"What?" she grumbled, slowly lowering her hands down to her lap. She was clothed in black and red sweats, Senkestu having been long gone from her after she had inadvertently ripped him off in that battle.
The door to her room creaked open and Nui peeked her head in.
"Mi amie you look terrible. Why don't you eat some of the food we've prepared for you?" Nui carted into the room a steaming plate heaped with some of the most delicious foods, but Ryuko just stared glumly at it. She had lost her appetite halfway through the month, only picking at her food, but now this past week she didn't even have the strength to do that. Something inside her was conflicted. Her movements and thoughts weren't her's sometimes and this made her sick and depressed. She didn't understand why there was another voice living in her head; why she couldn't move her body how she wanted to.
"I don't want it," she insisted, turning away from the food.
Nui frowned, stopping the rolling of her cart of food halfway to Ryuko. "Mama and I have gotten very worried about you. If you don't eat who will lead the world domination plan?"(0:47) Nui asked genuinely sad. "I don't understand sis, you just sit here all day. Surely you want to be happy, surely you want to be out there fighting for us."
Ryuko just grunted in response and laid out flat on her back, gazing up at the ceiling.
Nui didn't say anything, just continued gazing in concern. "Oh I know what'll make you feel better," Nui clapped her hands as a bolt of inspiration hit her. "Your going to be given Junketsu to wear. Now you'll be happy. I know new clothes make me happy."
Ryuko lifted her head at this and grunted before letting it drop back down.
"See, I knew that would make you happy." Nui smiled before leaving the room.
Nui found Ragyo in her study, a glass of red wine in her hand and a newspaper in her other.
"Nui, how is dear Ryuko?" Ragyo asked, not picking up her gaze from her paper.
"She still wont eat, but she seemed a bit happier that she is going to get Junketsu," Nui reported, sitting on the corner of her mother's desk. (1:18)
"That troubles me. But we must give her time. She is currently fairing way better than I did when I first got my life fibers, and was connected to the primordial being. She'll come around. We'll just give her an IV if she gets to be too thin."
"Yes mama," Nui smiled. "We won't have to worry for long. Without Satsuki her forces are scattered and the COVER's, which you finally launched, have taken over about sixty percent of the world population. In another month the whole world will be ours."
(1:35)"It will indeed," Ragyo said casually, and sipped her wine. "And what about my kamui?"
"I've analyzed Junketsu pretty well. I should be able to replicate one for you on an even grander scale. A true godrobe among godrobes."
"Excellent, with it, I can do the finishing touches once the world is fully encapsulated." Ragyo hummed into her wine glass as she took another sip.
Somewhere, Under a Bridge.
Meanwhile Aikuro and Kinagase had taken the lead in the battle against the COVER's. They tried to rescue people on a daily basis but they only lost more of their own in the process. It was a rough battle, one they were steadily losing ground in every day.
"We can't keep doing this," Kinagase informed the team one especially bleak and rainy day, as they huddled under a rundown bridge. "We'll run out of fighters at this point." (2:39)
"That's why our priority is to save lady Satsuki," Ira answered. He and the elite four had joined up with Nudist Beach in order to carry out the lady's fight in her stead. "She's the only one that was ever brave enough to stand up to Ragyo. Only she can help us stand up to her again."
"Stop that. How are you so certain that she can help? The plans she last had, which she planned over decades, failed and now you think she can help us?" Aikuro responded angrily. He was fed up with losing people to the COVER's, he was fed up with constant defeat, and he was fed up with growing more and more desperate each day. He felt his organizations hope running thinner and thinner each day, until finally it would run out and they would see how truly hopeless this all was. It was only a matter of time before they would submit, giving themselves up willingly to the clothes.
(3:11)"Please, we have to try something," Nonon said, desperation thick in her voice and mirrored in the faces of all the elite four. Aikuro frowned but didn't say anything, glancing at Mako and Kinagase next to him. Senketsu, who had been found by Mako, nodded his head in approval. Where Satsuki was, Ryuko was sure to be as well. She had cast him off during the battle with Ragyo but he knew he could help her. He had to. She was fighting the influence the primordial life fiber had on her and she could beat it, he knew she could, but first she needed his help. (end of song)
Kiryuin Mansion.
(Start Juniper Knot-Bleeding)
Satsuki was hanging alone in a cage, suspended by her raw wrists when the door to her cell opened unexpectedly.
"What do you want, Matoi?" Satsuki all but kept from spitting out, not even having to lift her head to know who had entered. Ryuko flinched back and she instantly regretted not using a gentler tone. Her sister looked malnourished, unkempt more than usual, and was skittish. Ryuko wrapped her arms around herself, her eyes darting back and forward before hesitantly looking at her sister.
"Satsuki," she mumbled and Satsuki replied. "Yes?"
But there was a long silence after that and Satsuki had thought that Ryuko hadn't heard her when her sister whispered. "Do you ever feel like there are voices in your head?" (0:24)
"Matoi, can you tell me what happened? On that day that we were supposed to take down my mother?" Satsuki demanded, having no patience after a month of imprisonment and Ryuko shrank back against the cage walls, holding onto herself as if she might just break.
Satsuki inwardly sighed. This was going to be a hard conversation; Ryuko clearly too unstable to be of use. But maybe she could convince her sister to get her out of here somehow.
"I wanted to help you, I did," Ryuko started softly. "But the life fiber told me not to. He's been whispering to me all his grand plans and schemes. All the lies that I've been fed since childhood, he's told me the truths about them. And I lost myself." Her eyes looked cold and hollow, red rimming them unnaturally. (0:46)
"Matoi, how did this life fiber get to you?" Satsuki asked in as a gentle a voice as she could muster in her current condition. "Was it that day at the mansion?"
"Yes. Ragyo and Nui took me to the life fiber and forced me in. I lied to you when you asked me those questions in the car, although I couldn't stop myself, I didn't even know I had, the fiber tricking me into believing the words I spoke and the motions I made were mine." So Ryuko gave me false information in the car. I should've have known. I should've been more observant of the facts, I should've been more careful, I should've, should've...Satsuki swallowed down the bitter taste of regret. It was too late for that now. She had to focus on the current situation and how to get out of it. She needed to return Ryuko to her senses and get the both of them out of here. (1:15)
"I became one with it," Ryuko spoke almost reverently. "Now I can hear its voice in my head and it can control my actions and thoughts. So even if I wanted to not do something it would be nearly impossible to do so," Ryuko stepped up closer to Satsuki and stared her sister in her eyes, her own eyes suddenly wild. "Even when I sleep it infests my thoughts. Do you know what that feels like, sister?" Ryuko barked and Satsuki flinched back in surprise at the smaller girl's harsher tone. Her tone was stronger now and malignant flames danced in her eyes. (1:30)
"Do you know how much it pains me to listen to them tell me how their going to kill you, in every which painful way. Over and over again I have to listen to it and envision it. As they lament about your great betrayal, about the disgusting humans, about how long it has waited for this moment. It takes so much control not to reach out and," at this she grabbed Satsuki's throat, her hold vice like despite how scrawny her wrists looked, "just do this and put you out of my misery this instant!" Spit foamed at Ryuko's lips. "But no, every time I think of doing it, the voices tell me not yet, because they want to do even worse to you, that now is not the time." Ryuko huffed, her short burst of energy suddenly gone. She let go of Satsuki's throat and the older girl took in a grateful gasp of air.
Ryuko paced over to the opposite side of the cage and pulled her fingers through her knotted hair. Letting out a huge sigh she told Satsuki, "I'll be back, when the life fibers have finally decided what your fate will be," and then she was gone, leaving Satsuki alone in her giant cage. Satsuki let out a cough, the imprint of Ryuko's fingers still fresh on her skin. Her mind rolled in horror on what she had just found out. Ryuko, her baby sister, her only other sister, her only proper family, was now gone to her. Lost to the monstrous primordial life fiber. Satsuki felt the tendril of real fear envelop her. What kind of a hero was she if the plan she had plotted for decades had been seen through? She was a failure. But she wouldn't let that get her down. Even if she was a failure she was now the sole hope for saving the earth because Ryuko was gone. (End of song)
Kiryuin Mansion, three days later.
(Start song To be continued)
Nudist Beach and the elite four were the ones who finally freed Satsuki. They came for her in the night and rescued her before getting the hell out of there. Nui, and Ragyo, were aware of this but let them go. It was too late for this last minute scheme to do anything, the world was already theirs, sitting nicely in the palm of their apocalypse bringing hands.
"Are we not gonna stop them?" Ryuko asked angrily, staring after the car the enemy had escaped in. She strained wildly in the grip of Nui but the blonde was not letting her go anywhere, her arms holding tight to the upper arms of the smaller girls in a painful grip. "Their getting away!"
"No, my dear," Ragyo replied, responding to the first question, then with a considerable grin she added on. "They can't do anything to stop us any way."
"But the life fiber finally told me how Satsuki was going to die. I have to do his bidding." Ryuko hissed squirming in Nui's hold, her eyes rolling unrestrained and her mouth twisted in an animalistic grimace. Nui winced as she tried to control the frantic teen, whose legs lifted up from the ground in effort to chase after the escaping party. "Come back here, Satsuki you coward! Come back and face your death!" She howled. (1:05)
"Calm down Ryuko, dear. What you can do, is help us on the battlefield and worry about Satsuki later. She will get what is due to her," Ragyo responded and sipped her wine. (end of song)
Secret Nudist Beach Base, six hours later.
(Start song The Truth)
"Ryuko's on their side now," Satsuki informed. She was in an underground Nudist Beach base, in a cramped room trying to discuss the plans for taking back the world. The elite four had been extremely relived to see she was alright, and vice versa. Ira had apologized countless times for his failure to protect her, Uzu had admitted his lack in skills in having defended her, Houka insulted his own lack of foresight in securing her safety and Nonon had been a mess of sobs that had been a cross between sadness and relief. Kinagase and Aikuro had coolly regarded her, impatient for the exchange between the group to finish so that they could set to work and Satsuki shared their sentiment. She had missed her friends but there was no use celebrating yet when so much work still awaited them. The Elite four were extremely confident that she could lead them to victory despite her not knowing if she could anymore at this late of a stage. The scales were tipped too far to one side, and it most certainly was not their side. So after the introductions Satsuki got straight to the point and told them the situation regarding Ryuko. The revelation that Ryuko had gone mad was met with much shock and disbelief. Kinagase scowled more deeply, all elite four frowned, Aikuro's pants slide off in shock and Mako remained adamant that it wasn't true. While no one could speak with Ryuko's kamui, the jacket looked concerned.
This is all my fault, the jacket thought sadly. If only I had noticed it earlier.
Mako patted the jacket reassuringly, despite not understanding what he felt, before crushing him to her chest.
"Don't worry, I don't believe that Ryuko would do this too. I think it has to be some mistake."
(1:05)"What do you mean she's on their side?" Kinagase barked, after coming out of his shock, a cigarette hanging forgotten from his lips.
"I mean exactly what I say. Ryuko is no longer a hostage there. She is on their side and must be treated as an enemy." Satsuki, trying to act nonchalantly, rolled up her sleeves as she peered down at a map that was laid out on the table they were standing above. In reality she was fighting hard to keep the emotions swirling in her eyes from spilling out. It sounded so much more real when she said it aloud, even though she had seen it with her own eyes just days ago.
Aikuro slammed his hands on the table, which was covered by the map. "How did this happen? Ryuko doesn't seem the type to suddenly switch sides. Are you sure she's not just tricking them into telling her all their secrets? That she's not just working with them? Helping us out from the inside?"
Satsuki snorted. "I know this is hard to believe but you have to trust me. Ryuko joined sides but not by choice. She was made to join up with the primordial life fiber. She and Ragyo are the same monster now. There is no way to help her now except by killing her and freeing her from her imprisonment." (1:40)Satsuki kept her voice hard to edge off the tears she felt forming in her eyes. She'd never forgive her mother for taking her sister away from her a second time. She just hoped she wouldn't have to be the one to deliver the finishing blow, but given the amount of skill needed, it seemed like Satsuki would have to be the one to put down her sister once and for all.
"But I don't understand. How could Ryuko survive joining with it?" Kinagase blew out smoke, his hand holding the cigarette shaking slightly. "Wouldn't it devour her?"
"Because she was already a life fiber being to begin with. She wouldn't die from doing so."
"Wait are you saying that...that?" Aikuro rubbed his chin as he stared upwards, trying to figure it out. "That she was clothing the whole entire time..." his hand dropped from his chin dejectedly as he reached that conclusion. (2:00)
"Yes," Satsuki responded briskly. "I assume she did not tell you but I can see why she wouldn't. She was very touchy about that subject for a while. Especially given the fact you hate clothing."
"I can't believe it," Aikuro sighed and put his head in his hands. "I just..." he trailed off, a lump in his throat preventing him from speaking. Everyone was tensed, waiting for the blue haired man to explode at the discovery that one of his closest friends was the very thing he hated.
Kinagase blew out some smoke nervously and even Mako was quiet, her grip still on the jacket, suffocating him now. The elite four just stood by their lady, prepared to retaliate if Aikuro tried to hurt her for this revelation.
(2:50)"I can't believe she went against her own species in order to save humanity. That she tried to still fight for us despite what she knew," Aikuro finished at last and put his hands in his pockets. His face was suddenly stern and his eyes blazed determination. "I'm not ready to give up on her. She has done too much for us. I will fight to get her back, no matter how much it takes, but if it is how you say Satsuki and that the only way to free her is to kill her...Well, then I guess we stop her and mourn a good friend's death." (end of song)
A/N: Looks like things are getting heated. Will they really kill Ryuko? Who knows?