Part Sixteen:

"And so tell us what you were able to find out, Kentaro," Lord Suwa asked.

"Well, the mage's table manners... leave a lot to be desired. However, he's very friendly. He is young and has some more maturing to do, but he has worked hard at being a real service to Nihongo. He is working off his punishment with a cheerful attitude and sense of responsibility. I'd dismiss negative reports as simple misunderstandings of foreign ways."

"I'm glad to hear that. He sounds like a very interesting young man," Lady Suwa said.

"So how is Kurogane getting along with the mage?" Lord Suwa asked. He didn't like Kentaro's sudden, tight-lipped smirk. His retainer then got into his hatori and brought out a rolled up scroll.

"I think this will answer that question more accurately than my external observations."

Lord Suwa took the scroll and read a tone more formal than he was used to from Kurogane. He usually had an easygoing, close relationship with his son, in spite of Kurogane's over-serious temperament. It made the province's leader sit up and take note of the request.

'Honorable Father and Mother, greetings from your son,

'I am well and hope the same of you. I have a special request I humbly ask that you consider. When I arrive in Suwa next month, I'd like to bring the mage of Celes, Fai Fluorite, with me to serve out the rest of his punishment dictated by his father, King Ashura.

'He is an earnest combat mage with a willingness to do any task put before him. He maintains a positive attitude, and I have found him extremely useful on my trip around Nihongo. I believe there are many things he could learn in Suwa before he is sent back home.

'I remain hopeful you'll grant my request and allow me to bring Fai Fluorite to Suwa. Your humble son, Kurogane.'

"This is a large request," Lord Suwa said, handing the scroll over to his miko. "What do you make of this, Kentaro?"

"Even thought he's offbeat, the mage is a pleasant person that I think the Lord and Lady would appreciate."

"That's not what I meant. I feel there is something you're holding back. Why don't you go ahead and tell me what you observed, anyway."

"Kurogane is a changed person. I think the mage has had a very positive influence on him. It's nothing I can put my finger on, per se, but he's not taking everything so seriously any more. He seems very happy, in spite of all his bluster towards the mage. I can tell they've become very good friends in addition to being very adept fighting partners. I think your son made the request to ensure his friend was properly looked after for the rest of his stay, not just to finish the vow he made to the ice king."

Lord Suwa glanced at his wife. She gave a smile and slight nod. "We've always taught him to follow through with vows and to be tolerant of other cultures. If he wishes to bring the mage here, I see no harm. It may even be interesting to meet such a young man that's become well-known around Nihongo."

He turned back to Kentaro. "Send word back that we will accept the mage."


They had Kurogane stripped down to his waist, the knife now removed. Three priests were working franticly to get the bleeding to stop, but it wouldn't. The smell caused Fai's stomach to roil, but he wasn't going to let it stop him.

He stretched back his memory to figure out how Yuui did this. An idea he and Yuui were ten, Ashura had taken them to the hunting lodge on a summer day; only a mild frost was on the ground. They had actually seen some yellowish grass and purple frost lilies. Two of the poor things were wilting. Yuui had held his hand and one of them perked up again. Fai had done likewise, but the other one finished withering away.

Fai had about burst into tears at killing such a lovely thing. Yuui had hugged him and said, "You got to knit them together and not tear them apart. Maybe try doing the spell backwards."

Ashura had joined them and observed the two flowers. "That's not always wise, Yuui. Doing a spell in reverse isn't the same as using a correct spell in the first place. They aren't equivalent. However, if it's an emergency and you don't know the proper spell, doing one in reverse can serve as a poor imitation."

Fai shook off the memory and wracked his brain for one of Captain Demetri's spells. It was a hex that caused a knife-like wound on a victim. "Stand back," he said, lofting his staff. The priests moved back, eyes on him.

He saw Demetri's spell in his head, but traced it backwards with the casting tip of his wand from how he learned it. The pink runes floated in the air until Fai pointed at Kurogane's wound. They drifted down and infused themselves with the wound. Sure enough, the skin started to knit back together, but it wasn't like an actual healing spell. There was grayish bubbling and some steam rising as the spell came to its finish.

No, it wasn't as good as what Yuui could do with an actual healing spell; he would have healed the wound smoothly with no residual waste. Plus, it wasn't mended all the way. Fai sank to his knees and clutched his staff. He didn't care about doing a healing spell like Yuui anymore; he just was relieved Kurogane's life was out of danger. He moved aside and let the priests finish their work, applying medicine and bandages.

"I'll wait here with him. I'll let you know when he's awake, so don't worry yourselves about checking on him," Fai said when one of them draped a blanket over Kurogane. They gave him thanks, left, and closed the door.

Fai snuffed out most of the candles and sat on the grass mat beside the futon where Kurogane lay unconscious. He took Kurogane's hand in his and drew it to his chest. Fai took a deep breath and calmed his anxiety. He refused to let himself fall asleep. He periodically checked Kurogane's forehead to make sure his fever continued to recede. Kurogane's temperature finally stabilized by dawn. The mage sighed in relief.

"You really are infuriating sometimes, Kuro-Kuro," Fai whispered, feeling drowsiness start to creep in.

"No more than you, mage," Kurogane mumbled, eyes still closed.

Fai's face flushed, realizing Kurogane had heard him. "You were out all evening long, but you should still rest."

"I'm not going to spend what little time I have left with you fretting over some little cut." Kurogane opened his eyes slowly.

"I know, don't remind me," Fai said, feeling glumness coming on.

"Hey, don't get down about it. I'm not spending it moping around, and neither are you." Kurogane rolled over and slowly sat up. Fai began to worry about his how well his reverse hex worked. Kurogane stretched his left arm slowly and said. "Tsk... little stiff. I thought it was going to be worse."

"That's because I used a spell to repair the worst of it."

"A healing spell?"

"No, I had to be more creative than that. I cast a hex that causes knife wounds, only I did it backwards. It's a very crude way to undo damage that seldom works very well, but it was all I had."

"It was more than enough."

"It'll leave a scar, I'm afraid. I couldn't avoid that, Kuro-rin."

"So? It'll fit in with the dozens of others. Or do you keep your eyes closed the whole time when we..."

"No," Fai snapped, flustered at being on the teasing end. After a few moments, Fai felt a rush of anger break forward now that the danger had quelled. "I'm really pissed off at you, Kuro-sama. When you get better, I swear I'll give you a hex you'll never forget. Don't you know I'm living on borrowed time? I'm bad luck because I'm a twin. It would destroy me if my misfortune struck you."

"If you would get it through your thick head how I really feel about you, maybe you'd be a little more grateful," Kurogane snapped back, his eyes narrowed. Fai was baffled at Kurogane's sudden hostility. Kurogane sighed, crossed his arms, and said, "And I thought you were were smarter than blaming something like bad luck over what happened. I did it of my own free will to protect something precious to me. For you to blame something like luck is snubbing my feelings for you and my free will to act on those feelings."

Fai felt a rush of embarrassment. "I didn't mean to snub your feelings."

Kurogane reached over and drew Fai onto his lap. He moved his lips close to Fai's ear and whispered, "I love you. Do you get it now? Why I protected you?"

The breath was knocked out of Fai. Kurogane had explained that the word 'love' wasn't something people in Nihongo used casually. It had a very serious meaning and was used sparingly outside of a family. Then again, he knew Kurogane was plain spoken and direct. The words he used were honest and precise.

Kurogane took Fai by the upper arms and looked at him in concern. "You aren't saying anything, Fai."

Fai snapped out of his shock. "I've wanted to hear those words for a long time, because I love you, too." He wrapped his arms around Kurogane's neck. Kurogane trailed light kissed on Fai's neck while his hands worked to get under the layers of clothing the mage wore. It wasn't long before Kurogane tugged off Fai's obi and pushed away several layers of clothing from his smooth, pale shoulders.

Fai was about to shrug off his layers of clothing as when they heard soft steps in the hallway. Fai quickly scrambled back into his clothing, lightning quick, and crawled across the room to where his staff was. Fai watched Kurogane smoothed back his spiky hair and reached for the blanket just as a knock sounded on the door frame. Fai admitted he was fuming; hadn't he said he'd get them when Kurogane was ready?

"Enter," Kurogane snapped, draping the blanket across his shoulders.

The head priest came in and announced, "The officials from Atsugi have arrived early and want to take your statement, along with the mage's, if you're recovered enough."

"I'm recovered. Thank your priests for their help, please. Give us a minute and we'll meet you in the courtyard," Kurogane said. The priest left and closed the door. "We'll get on the road after we deal with this. I plan on taking the scenic route, so it'll take us a few days to get back."

Fai smile and said, "I look forward to every, long, scenic distraction."

Kurogane gave Fai's suggestive tone a mock exacerbated expression. They quickly pulled themselves together and met the group in the courtyard before the dawn had even begun properly.


Yuui was surprised at the pair of lax Celian guards at the portcullis. They were both wearing the ankle-length, blue uniform coats of the Celian army, but both were unkempt. They played cards at a rundown table and smoked long, clay pipes in the Valarian tradition.

He approached, and they didn't even look up. The older one did growl at Yuui, "What'd ya' want, Valarian dog?"

Yuui bit back on his shock. Had the man seen who he was? No, he certainly wouldn't have addressed him like that. It dawned on him this was how Celian soldiers addressed the locals. His face flushed in anger. He'd never heard a Celian talk so coarsely or disparagingly of another culture. Granted, he had no love lost for Valarians.

"If you take a closer look at my coat and staff, you'll see I'm from Celes," Yuui said, putting a lighthearted tone into his voice.

They both turned weary, blood-shot eyes towards him. When they saw him in regular sable, rather than the royal, white elk pelt, they let out sighs of relief. "Sorry about that. We had a rash of them coming up to bother the governor. So where you from?"

"Kella. My name is Zellen Vagin. I'm starting my advanced research towards earning my title."

"So you're going for the 'D', hun? Good luck with that," the younger guard said. "I hear the king's pretty tight with handing them out."

"He has to be, or else it wouldn't mean crap," the older solider said, rolling his eyes. "Anyway. Go on. The governor is doing his usual afternoon work."

"Thank you," Yuui murmurer, wondering why they weren't bothering announcing him or anything. He pretended he had no idea where he was going as he wandered through, but people kindly directed him when he asked. All seemed randomly dressed and anywhere from hungover to still drunk. He made his way towards that throne room were Fai had been given the choice: either let Yuui be executed, or be banished with Yuui in the pit of the dead.

He looked down at his left hand, it was the one Fai had clung too after the question was asked of him. He wasn't willing to see Yuui die alone. Yuui took a deep, calming breath before walking into the throne room. Only one man was in the room; he was draped over the large throne. He kept tossing a ball against a chipped up statute of Yuui's grandfather. It bounced off the forehead and flew back to the man's hand. A twisted smile came to Yuui's lips when the eighth toss took off a piece of the man's nose.

"Come in and quit gawking," the man drawled, continuing his game at slowly chipping the statue. Yuui approached.

"My name is Zellen Vagin. I'm here to do some research in the royal library of Valaria. I shouldn't be terrible long."

The man sat up on the throne and ran his hand through his short curly hair. He held out his hand and waved it at Yuui. "Staff. Hurry."

Yuui handed his staff over, and the man examined the fluorite topper portion carefully. He held it out and said, "Healer. Blue signal color. But what interests me is how it came about that the royal house produced your staff. King Ashura is still a master at his hobby, I see."

Yuui was unnerved by someone he took as a slacker at first. "I'm friends with someone in the royal house, but I shouldn't mention his name here."

"One of the cursed twins, am I right? Don't worry. We don't let Valarians lurk around here."

"It's true. He thought it'd be wise I not mention his name."

"It certainly wouldn't be wise to speak his name. Keep that to yourself outside these walls. So, word got back to us that one was banished because he unleashed monsters in Celes. True?"

"Not exactly. He made a mistake that brought them in from another realm. He had to go serve in the kingdom they were brought from, but he will be back in a few more months. Anyway, Governor..."

"Nemtsov. Boris Nemtsov."

"Governor Boris, I'll keep out of your way and leave as soon as possible."

"Wait." Boris held up his ball and tilted his head at the statue. "Take a shot."

Yuui about refused, but he admitted his fingers itched to do it. He took the ball from Boris. He was amazed at that scream that ripped itself from his throat as he hurled the sphere at his grandfather's statue. The ball lodged itself dead center in the face, stone crumbs tumbling to the floor.

Yuui whirled when he heard a slow, sharp clap. Boris stopped clapping when Yuui glared.

"Nicely done. Now here is what I ask, you must have each of your dinners with us in the main dining hall, six sharp. For your own safety, don't leave the castle without letting me know so I can assign you a personal escort. Let me know before you leave for Celes. Other than that, you are free to roam the castle." Boris then dug in a deep, fur-lined hip pocket. He drew out an iron key with a stylized knot on the end. "I give you this as your guest room. My guess is you know the way."

Yuui examined the key and studied the knot. He'd seen the key many times: it was the one used to lock he and Fai in their room. He reached out with a trembling hand and took it from the governor.

The young governor was wearing a smirk, but Yuui sensed no malice. The man was extremely bored and it would seem he saw Yuui as a curiosity. Yuui didn't like that sensation in the least. He asked, "So how did you know who I am?"

"It's only the two of us. Drop your glamor, please," Boris requested. Yuui let it drop. Boris' eyes widened and then he nodded. "I remember seeing you for the first time when I was fourteen. King Ashura had just brought you to Celes and you were both in horrible shape. No one thought either of you would live out the week. I knew otherwise. I could tell."

"Thank you for that, but I am very curious to know how you knew me," Yuui asked, pulling up the hood on his sable coat.

"Your staff. My father and King Ashura had the same hobby, which I took up. You haven't, I take it. Pity, because you would have known better than to hand over your staff to me." Boris tilted the topper of Yuui's staff towards his face and pointed at the topper's base. There were the tiniest symbols Yuui hadn't noticed and wasn't familiarize with. "It says 'Made by my hand, Ashura Gavrill Tvardovsky, royal house of Celes in the year 7994 for my beloved youngest son, Yuui Fluorite. May he always walk in blessings.' Very nice sentiment."

Yuui took his staff back and swallowed down his anxiety over Ashura. "It was for my tenth birthday. Not to be rude, I appreciate the hospitality you've offered, but time is of the essences in my research."

"Of course. The library's most incendiary books had been moved to the west tower and are under lock. It should be nothing for you to break in and gather what you need, but do it without notice. I don't want to explain your presence: real or fake."

"Yes, sir. I'll be very careful."

Yuui turned to leave for the west tower. Boris said, "So what is it you're looking for anyway?"

"I'm earning my title. That part is true. It's just a project I want to surprise my father with."

"As you wish, Master Yuui."

Yuui fled from the the throne room, unable to put his finger on what had unnerved him about the man. He knew one thing: when Ashura was better, he'd urge the ruler to clean up the terrible mess Valaria had become.

To be continue.