Disclaimer – GA characters completely not mine. Warning – chapter like most, not properly betaed. I know I can spell just fine but typing is another matter so feel free to send me a quick PM for any atrocious typos you find.
A Dragon's Heart – Chapter 24
"Persona!" he growled darkly, "What are you doing here!"
That caused the people in front of him to stop and give each other awkward puzzled looks. Not that Natsume was able to notice though. His attention was focused solely on Persona. However, the man in question had a rather unusual reaction to his outburst.
Persona's smile wobbled on his face and he flicked his eyes to the others standing around as if he was waiting for one of them to explain what was happening. Everyone else returned his glance with one that seemed just as confused as his was. Natsume however wasn't fooled. The bastard has probably been playing them for a while. Toying with them and letting them believe they are safe before he crushes them. He summoned a ball of fire in preparation to attack.
Natsume could take his uncle, he was fairly sure of it. Natsume might be young, but he was still a red dragon where Persona was only a black. The problem was not one of strength, but of collateral damage. With so many others around, and Persona's rotting death alice, it was likely that some of the people around them would get hurt in the cross fire. Quickly, his mind started flitting through a myriad of possibilities trying to find the best attack with the least amount of damage. His mind was working at a dizzying speed while the others were still staring at each other in the awkward tableau he'd created. He was still puzzling through a plan of attack when Persona finally spoke up.
"Um, I'm sorry. I thought you would have remembered me. You were probably about nine or ten years old the last time I saw you." The black dragon cautiously stepped forward. "You have grown a lot since then, and if I know my father, a lot has probably happened to you." He said, giving Natsume a wary look that switched into a self depreciating smile. "I guess it would only be natural for you to have forgotten me. I am Serio Kuonji. I am your-" He started to explain, but Natsume cut him off.
"I know exactly who you are! Now cut the crap! What the hell are you doing here with these people?" Natsume snarled. Who the heck did this guy think he was kidding? 'You have grown a lot and a lot has happened to you' indeed. What does he think he is trying to pull? I've already busted him, why does he bother trying to keep up the act? What is he trying to hide? No matter how Natsume twisted his logic, nothing made sense.
Next to him, Mikan gently laid her hand on his arm causing his fire to sputter out. He shot a quick look at her. Now was not a good time for her to interfere. Just what the heck did she think she was doing? Did she not understand he was trying to protect her?
Surprisingly, she returned his look with a rather intense one herself. "Natsume, I don't think he is lying." She said.
Was she stupid? Of course he is lying! The guy exists in lies and deceptions! He was going to say just that, but something made him turn back to look at his uncle. And that was when he saw what she was seeing.
The man before him certainly looked like his uncle, but there were tiny, almost infinitesimal differences. The differences were extremely subtle. Like telling the difference between two identical twins, but they were there. The face was slightly fleshier and less gaunt than the Persona he knew and his body did not have the almost skeletal thinness. The man in front of him was by no means fat, but he had that softer look of one who did not spend his whole life keeping fit so he could perform assassinations. Not only that, but his hair was longer and his skin was slightly darker than Persona's pasty white.
Natsume knew there were tricks that a person could use to make their skin a shade or two darker, their hair look a little longer and make it look like they had gained a bit of weight, so it was possible he was still be looking at the same Persona. But if he was going to bother that much with disguising himself, why not change his whole appearance? Why only make small changes? It made no sense.
Natsume looked at the man before him and found himself feeling a little less sure of the man's identity. There was no way there could be two Personas, but who was he looking at if not Persona?
Still, Persona could be damn tricky and this could just be another one of his mind games.
He lowered his arms ever so slightly, but remained ready for any trick. "Alright, just who are you? I just spoke to Serio Kuonji a few days ago." he demanded, using his uncle's formal name rather than his more common alias.
That question got a rather interesting reaction from everyone with the exception of Mikan. Almost as one all of their mouths sagged open and they shot each other another round of confused glances and they started talking to each other one on top of the other.
"That is not possible."
"Eh?"
"What is he talking about?"
Narumi held his hands up "Now, now there must be some sort of confusion. I'm not sure who this 'Persona' person is, but Serio has been living with us and helping us for the last several years." He explained in a placating tone while the rest of them gave Natsume uneasy looks like they were unsure of his mental stability. He was tempted to scorch them all for their rude looks, but Mikan prevented that with her gentle touch.
Mikan spoke into the uneasy silence. "It is true. Although I have only just met him, the man who introduced himself to me as Serio Kuonju looked just like you. A little more harsh and scary looking though."
A lot of frowns developed at that statement. Oh sure, they are willing to believe her but not me? Narumi spoke up first. "That doesn't make any sense. Who could that be? A doppelganger?" he asked the group.
The young woman with the silvery hair and eyes shook her head ever so slightly. "No. I think… I would notice if a doppelganger had tried to copy… or feed… off of my mate." She said in a voice so quiet, Natsume would not have been able to hear it if he were a normal human. She was also doing her best to hide behind his uncle causing Natsume to blink surprised at her.
His mate? Natsume had difficulties connecting a mental image of his uncle with a mate. There was a very faint memory from his childhood about his mother arguing with… someone… about Serio that involved a girl, but the image was so faint he could not get a grasp of it. Since then however, other than a few tales about him terrorizing some of the concubines, he virtually asexual.
And now he was supposed to believe this timid snow woman was the mysterious Persona-look-alike's mate? That just defied the laws of nature. How could such a shy, quiet looking woman be his uncle's mate? Now he was certain there was something weird happening. The Persona he knew would have completely crushed such a fragile creature with his forceful nature.
Narumi nodded in agreement to the snow woman's comment. "I agree. I would know if there was another psychic vampire in the area. An illusion maybe? But to cover up what?"
The man Serio, -Natsume was finding it harder to call him Persona- shook his head with a puzzled look on his face. "I'm not sure why my father would want another me. I was always a point of embarrassment for him being only black and choosing a non-dragon mate. So who is this Personal or Persona person? Does father even know it is not me?"
Instead anyone answering, the short old man in front of Mikan made a frustrated growling sound. "Bah, you young people always make such a big fuss over things!" he began waving his arms trying to shoo Natsume out of his way. The young red stepped aside and the old man started shuffling into his house. "Come now, Yuka-chan's daughter is here! We should be eating good food and drinking sake!" he announced before disappearing into the house. Natsume and Mikan were wondering if they should follow, but Narumi held up his hand to stop them.
"I was afraid he was going to say that." He let out a sigh and gave Mikan a severe look making Natsume to want to knock him on his ass again. "Listen, around here Ji-chan is what you might consider our leader, but as you can see he is getting quite old so most of his duties are taken over by another."
Mikan nodded to show she was paying attention while Natsume looped his arm around her shoulders and glared at the incubus. Narumi took that as his cue to continue.
"Hime is… well… she is a little… different." He explained carefully, which caused Perso- no Serio to snort and loop his own arm around the snow woman's shoulders in a perfect imitation of Natsume's movements. Weird seeing Persona's face almost laugh.
"It might be safe to day she has a few strange personality quirks." Narumi continued.
"And she is getting stranger lately." Serio added, causing Narumi to give him an impatient look that clearly said 'you are not helping' which caused Serio to shrug and tighten his hold on his mate. Whoever this woman was it was clear his uncle had an issue with her.
"I don't get it," Mikan said, "What is so strange about her?"
"Well she is attracted to women for one thing. Which in itself is not bad," Narumi continued to explain, while waving his hands around. "It is just that she likes to keep a harem of her favorites and…"
"And she doesn't know when to stay away from something that doesn't belong to her." His uncle growled, causing Natsume's eyebrows to shoot up.
It was then that Natsume picked up Serio's unique body language. He did not know why he did not pick up on it before, but from the moment they started talking about this Hime woman, his uncle had began almost cocooning his mate with his body.
As Natsume was just starting to learn, Dragon's were extremely territorial, but when it came to mates, they were virtually obsessive. With his newfound experience in the matter, he could now recognize the way his uncle was hunched protectively around the snow woman as if he was worried someone might try and steal her away. In his mind's eye he could almost sense Serio's dragon form superimposed over his human one, the larger form shielding her with claws, tail, wings and teeth.
If Natsume needed anymore proof that this was not Persona, he just had it confirmed. The Persona he knew cared about no one other than himself, and he would have easily killed someone who had their eyes on what was his.
During this time, Narumi was still talking, but for the most part Natsume was ignoring him. "…dislikes men immensely and…"
I don't care if she is a woman or not. If she even thinks of looking at Mikan funny I'll burn her bald.
"… shouldn't be a problem since she currently has a favorite, so we should be okay…" Narumi continued his prattle and Natsume had no idea what he was talking about so he just cut in over the incubus.
"Look, this little reunion thing is all very nice and all, but we don't have a lot of time. We really just came here to find the home of Mikan's mother and try and find out what happened to her father." He stated.
This generated another round of puzzled looks but the response to that comment did not come from them, it came from behind him. "Isn't it obvious boy? The king killed him in a challenge to become Yuka's mate." The papery thin voice of the old man stated sending his mind into a tailspin.
He wanted to what? Mikan's mother as the old bastard's mate? You want to run that past me again? I think I must have been hallucinating the first time.
Natsume turned around and found that the old man had changed into a yukata. A fact for which Natsume was extremely grateful. He did not want to have to look at his old wrinkly raisin body any more than he already had.
The old man picked up the conversation that had begun before he had disappeared into the house. "Say boy, who were you again? You look familiar." He asked while squinting up at Natsume before he broke out into a wheezing laugh. "But I guess at two hundred and sixteen everyone can start to look familiar, eh boy?" he wheezed and smacked Natsume on the arm.
Natsume's head was still spinning at the thought of Mikan's mother being his grandfather's mate. He spared a quick look at his own mate and found she was faring no better. Her eyes were staring off into space and her face was scrunched up into a little frown.
He looked back at the old man who looked like he was completely unaware that he had just dropped a bombshell on them. I don't know which is weirder. The Persona look-alike or this old guy. Still, two hundred and sixteen years was impressive. He wondered what he would be like at that age. Would he be this lively? Would Mikan still be there? She would have to be.
"Ji-chan," Narumi began, while moving uncomfortably close to Natsume. "This is Karou's son, Natsume." He said introducing them.
That caused more wrinkles to appear on the old man's face as his eyebrows went up. "Eh? Karou-chan's son? With Yuka-chan's daughter?" the old man started his wheezing laugh again. The old guy kept up the disturbing sound so long that Natsume began wondering if he was having some sort of fit or something. "By god that's a good one! I bet that burns your old man's backside!" he crowed and slapped Serio on the arm between wheezes.
In his head Natsume found the whole exchange slightly surreal including the fond smiles on Narumi, Serio and the snow woman gave the old man. Everything was just too hard to wrap his mind around.
"Whoa, wait! Just what do you mean he challenged Mikan's father to become Yuka's mate?" in the corner of his vision he could see Mikan nodding emphatically.
The old man waved his hands negligently clearly choosing to ignore the question. "Bah, that is nothing but an old story! We can talk about that later, right now there is celebrating to be done!" he announced and marched off in his Yukata and flip flops.
Natsume tried hard not to grind his teeth in frustration. The day's trials were really starting to wear on him. He had no idea why he had not gone berserk already. With Mikan running away, the evacuation, trying to find this lake, Narumi putting him under a love spell, and now this old man was hiding the knowledge that they had come all this way for?
A week ago he was sure he would have burnt the whole community to the ground. He looked down at Mikan who felt every bit as frustrated as he was but was doing a much better job than he at enduring it. Was she responsible for the changes in him?
She sensed his look and gave him a small smile. "I've waited this long, I suppose I can wait a little longer. I can't really hear him, but I have a feeling Tsubasa and the others are still alright. Besides it is almost night and I will need to swim soon." Her eyes changed and took on a more serious glint. "I promise that we will leave at the first sign of anything happening to the others. Even if we don't get any more information about my mother." She said, and he had no doubt she meant it. Pride and affection beat heavily in his chest. She had come all this way, but she would abandon her search to help his people. If there were not so many people around, he would be eagerly showing his appreciation of how amazing she was.
As a group, they all headed off towards the largest building in the community. Ji-chan was in the lead followed by Serio and his snow woman. Natsume and Mikan were close behind them and Naru trailed behind them all. Every now and then they could hear the old man would blurt out something like "Yuka and Karou's children together!" and start laughing to himself, but for the most part, it was a quiet group. Like Natsume, everyone was busy sorting out their thoughts.
Looking around, the red dragon saw several people giving him peculiar looks. There were probably very few strangers showing up here. Probably even less dragons. As he walked he found some of the creatures he could identify, but others eluded him.
It was weird thinking that there was this community full of different mystical creatures including his uncle that was living right under his king's nose. They were all living in relative comfort with one another without all of the innuendoes, backstabbing and scheming like there was in his clan. In his clan everyone lived in fear of his grandfather, whereas here they all deferred to this strange old man. Out of respect for his age? Or something else?
The real shocker was that they all knew his mother. Mikan's he could kind of understand, but his… how could they have all known his mother? She had never once mentioned anyone outside of the clan or even being out of the clan, so who was she to these people? He was itching to add that to a whole list of questions, but until the old man felt like sharing, he had a feeling he was not going to get any answers.
At one point in their walk the snow woman turned and gave Mikan a shy look. "Erm… I didn't get to mention… I'm Nobara Ibaragi." She said quietly while almost hiding behind Serio. Natsume was not sure what to make of that introduction, but Mikan chose to shine her most winning smile which made the other woman give a small smile in return.
Serio smiled at his mate "I'm sorry, I should have introduced you. Nobara has not had many good experiences with dragons so she tends to get a little shy around them." He said while smiling fondly at his mate.
A little shy? She looks like she wants to sink into the earth. Then again I can just guess what kind of 'experiences' she has had with dragons if she was anywhere near the clan or the king.
Again that memory of his mother arguing about his uncle and a girl niggled at the back of his mind. He tried to make a grab for it but it slithered away. It was like remembering a line in a song but not being able to remember the title. Eventually he hoped he would be able to piece the memory back together, but there were so many other puzzles taking priority right now. It would have to wait.
As they approached the large two story pagoda, a group of young, elaborately dressed, attractive women swarmed out and over them. Much to Natsume's distaste they were all tittering and giggling excitedly making him want to cringe. Most of them smelled like animal and forest spirits but there was a few other creatures mixed in. Their excited chatter came at him one on top of the other until it was mashed into one big noise and it was hard to separate what they were all saying.
"Is it true?"
"Is what Misaki said true?"
"Karou and Yuka's children?"
"Oh! He is so handsome!"
"Just like his mother!"
"Is that really Yuka-sempai's daughter?"
"Kind of plain looking."
"I thought she would be prettier!"
"Karou's son can stay with me!"
At that point is was only pride that kept Natsume from hiding behind Mikan for protection. As it turned out though, he did not need to. He heard Mikan growl low in her throat, grab his arm like a vice and glare at the women who were almost close enough to touch him.
That little show of possessiveness almost made the hell he had endured that day worth it. It certainly filled him with an immense feeling of contentment.
Narumi clapped his hands sharply drawing everyone's attention to him. "Now girls, don't crowd them. By the looks of them, they have had a very long and difficult day."
A young woman that looked a bit more dignified than the others broke away from the group. "We have prepared tea and snacks for everyone. This way please." She instructed.
The moment she mentioned food, Mikan's stomach let out a rather embarrassing rumble. We did not get much of a chance to eat today. He thought to himself. They did not eat much last night either. The last time they really ate was when they were at the beach sharing his bento. He felt a small tinge of annoyance at himself for that. Not a very good way to take care of a mate. He made a mental note to make sure she ate and to get her into the water before they slept tonight.
His annoyance at himself was short lived though because he noticed the girls surrounding them gave Mikan a disgusted look like she had belched or farted instead showing she was hungry. Their looks might not have upset him if he was not able to feel how uncomfortable they were making her feel. He was tempted to burn their hair off, but the issue was quickly solved when his own stomach let out its own loud complaints. Apparently the irritating women did not mind him being hungry as they sniggered into their sleeves and directed them into the building.
They were led to a rather large room where a stunning woman with long black hair dark expressionless eyes knelt on a dais. The woman was wearing a very expensive looking kimono and clearly looked the part of her princess title. At the foot of the dais knelt a woman who was just as elegantly dressed as the others giving them an unreadable look. The woman on dais was stroking her hair as if she were some sort of pet.
Ji-chan walked up and inclined his head to her while others gave her a deep bow. In turn, the woman inclined her head back at him at exactly the same angle. Whoever these two people were, it was clear they were considered equals and the rest were clearly of a lower rank.
For himself, Natsume neither bowed nor nodded. He was not sure how their rank equated to his, but he would not bow to anyone. He readjusted his hold on Mikan, refusing to let her bow either.
"Hime, we have some special guests today. Yuka's daughter and Karou's son." The woman that guided them announced in a clear voice.
The woman nodded her head in acknowledgement. "Special indeed. I would never have expected to see either one of them, much less both of them together." Her gaze drifted to Mikan. "Tell me, daughter of Yuka, how is your mother?"
Mikan tried to slip out of Natsume's hold be he refused to let go of her. If this woman really did have an eye for girls he wanted to make it clear straight off that Mikan was his and his alone. In retaliation to his possessiveness, he felt Mikan's embarrassment and annoyance flare inside her forcing him to compromise by pulling back to simple hand holding.
Once she was free, Mikan nodded and cleared her throat. "You can call me Mikan, Mikan Yukihara, I am sorry to tell you my mother passed away shortly after I was born. I actually came here to find out more about her."
A small glimmer of sadness that was gone almost as soon as it happened was the only evidence that the woman had even felt anything about Yuka's death. If he had blinked, probably would not have seen any reaction whatsoever.
However, Natsume did notice the reaction from the woman at the bottom of the dais. What was really strange was that it was not grief but anger that he felt from her along with a strong hostile intent. He was tempted to push Mikan behind him but the look and the feelings were quickly concealed. Oh how he wished he had Koko right about now to find out what was going on around him. He made another mental note to keep his eye on the woman.
"I am sorry to hear of your loss Mikan Yukihara. Yuka was a very kind special woman to us and she will be greatly missed." Hime said formally. "I was also distressed to hear of your mother's passing Natsume Hyuuga. We were very close once and she used to visit us often before you were born. You both are quite fortunate to have grown into almost exact images of such wonderful women."
Natsume and Mikan both nodded in recognition of her words. What else could someone do when paid a compliment like that?
"Well it seems we both have questions. You wish to find out more about your mother and I am most curious as to how it is you are with the grandson of the man who caused your parents' deaths. However, you both look like you need to rest. Shizune, please have some refreshments brought in for them." She ordered, and within minutes they were seated on the floor with tea and a wide array of foods in front of them.
Next to them the old man Ji-chan started drinking sake like it could disappear at any moment. The old man seemed upset but not surprised by the news of Yuka's death. Looking at him, Natsume could not see why the people in this community considered him their head. What was he anyway?
"Excuse me, I don't mean to be rude but just what is this place? Don't you find having a community such as this dangerous with the king so close by?"
The old man who was starting to get rosy cheeks, blurted out "King! Bah! He is nothing more than a greedy brat of a tyrant!" he yelled, then reduced to irritated grumblings.
Natsume wanted to wince at Ji-chan's choice of words. Although they were probably technically true, he had yet to meet anyone who got away with talking about his grandfather like that.
At that point Hime chose to speak up "Most of the creatures here cannot leave Japan for one reason or another so they flock to Inari for protection."
Inari? The Inari? "Inari? As in kami of rice, foxes and industry Inari?" he asked incredulously. Wasn't he/she/it/they just a myth?
The princess and the women around him seemed amused by his reaction. "But of course, who did you think he was?" Hime asked while nodding in the direction of the old man that was trying to get himself drunk in record time.
"He's Inari?" he asked, in a clearly disbelieving tone.
"I thought he was just a sea dragon." Mikan announced immediately after him causing him to blink in surprise at her as well. He was a sea dragon? Truthfully he could not tell what the old man was. His scent held the residuals of power, but like the man, it felt like it was withering away. From that it was almost impossible to identify his species. Given the lake nearby he could believe Ji-chan was a sea dragon, but a god?
Narumi broke into their conversation. "Well yes, technically he is a sea dragon, but Inari is more of a title rather than an actual individual creature. As you may already know, Inari has been depicted as male, female, androgynous and even a group of entities. This actually reflects the current holder of the title. The title actually represents a pact between us and humans. Their prayers to us give us strength, and in turn we maintain the balance between our world and theirs. Actually, it was humans who started calling us kami not us."
"So you are all Inari?" Mikan asked sounding as confused as Natsume felt.
"No. That title only goes to the one strong enough to carry it. After Ji-chan steps down Hime-sama will take over the responsibility. It is her incredible barrier that protects this place right now."
Hime gave Narumi an odd look. "Such kind words Narumi yet you neglect to mention that you would succeed if anything should happen to me."
The incubus made a rather distasteful face. It was obvious that he did not want the title.
For the first time since arriving, the woman kneeling in front of Hime spoke. "Perhaps now that the daughter of Yuka has returned to her proper home, she could take Naru's place if he is so unwilling."
Most of the people including Natsume were shocked by the woman's suggestion. Mikan looked like she was no more interested in the job than Narumi.
Hime reached out and stroked the woman's pale silvery blond hair. "It does not look like she is fond of your suggestion Luna. Perhaps she does not see the home of her mother's people as her home. Although she would be a welcome addition."
At that moment Natsume was not sure if he imagined it or not but he thought he felt a small tingle of magic emanating from the odd woman Luna. She was definitely someone he was going to have to keep an eye on.
Tbc
AN: What a day Natsume is having. Maybe he can convince Mikan to spoil him. Give him a back rub or something.
I know this chapter was slow coming out but as you can see a lot is starting to happen. Somehow there are two Persona/Serio's Luna has finally made an appearance.
Sheesh, I hope I don't lose too many in the confusion.
Thank you again and always for those of you wonderful people who sent reviews!