A/N: You can tell I'm getting more anxious to get back to writing my big long Cyborg 009 fic by my Ivan Gamo stuff in the background. He's becoming the Miyuki-chan in the background for my story :)
Part Sixty-Eight:
Fai drifted onto the simple bed, eyes burning after the day-long test. This was the third day he'd spent locked away in the west tower with the only human contact being Ivan D Gamo and that was debatable. Ivan was machine-like in his personality, it really crept Fai out on some level.
Fai was a very social person, but Ivan's stern coldness didn't encourage conversation. He poured his concentration into doing his very best for King Ashura and for Captain Demetri's memory. Besides, he didn't want to keep puzzling over Kurogane's suddenly snappish attitude.
He was going to travel with Ivan first thing in the morning to Nihongo. Ashura was going to totally remove his phoenix binding, but Fai asked to keep it, just lighten its hold. Ashura did as requested and put it at a very mild setting. He knew it would take a burden off of him in Nihongo society to get rid of the phoenix binding, but he wanted to keep it as a gift from Ashura. If he ran into another testy ninja like Ran, well, he'd have to put them in their place, too.
He snuggled under the blankets and drifted off to sleep. A grayish fog drifted away and he dreamed Kentaro was standing in front of him in the Suwa family courtyard.
He ran his hand over his blond hair in dismay at some news he'd just received from the steward who was now totally gray and heavily wrinkled. Fai was surprised his own gold hair was now longer and tied at the nape of his neck. Kentaro had a set of twin boys held firmly, one in each hand. The one on his right looked aggravated, the one on the left looked blameworthy.
Fai was struck by how strongly they resembled Kurogane, only with lighter skin and brown hair. Other than that, they were copies of the ninja. They looked up at him with large, blue eyes; Fai felt shocked, those were his eyes and not Kurogane's.
Fai said, "Well, I can't help you two out of this one. I'm sure you father will punish you, and I won't be able to talk him out of this one." He then gave them a warm, sly smile. "I will say, though, that was some nice skills you both showed off." He leaned over and whispered, "Don't tell Kuro-daddy, but Fai-mommy is very proud of his boys."
"Lord Suwa, your sons... yet again," Kentaro announced after a deep sigh. Fai turned, expecting Kurogane's father.
Instead, Kurogane marched out into the courtyard. He looked a little older and now had a scar across his left cheek. He groaned and said, as if this were a regular routine, "What did the our little brats do now?"
Fai flashed him a charming smile and said, "They hexed just a little, tiny corner of the cherry tree orchard. But at least they avoided that special bench of ours."
"What! If you mention that bench again I'll chop it into kindling myself! Tsk!" Kurogane then crossed his arms, giving his sons a harsh glare. "I wonder where they get their penchant for destroying trees from, anyway. " Kurogane sneered, giving Fai a withering glance. He then turned to the twins and said, "Go apologize to Grandmother Hitomi while we figure out what to do with you two."
"You know, when I was their age I had to muck reindeer sables for my punishment," Fai said. "How about it, Kuro-gi?"
"Sounds good to me. After you apologize to your grandmother it's off the stables with you," Kurogane said.
Both boys groaned in horror. The one looking aggravated snarled at his twin, "This is your fault! Now we have to face Grandmother and muck the stables!"
"No! It was your fault! You started it. I was just climbing that tree and you started horsing around!" the blameworthy twin said, now looking just as aggravated.
"Get going!" Kurogane ordered firmly. The boys scrambled indoors, obviously knowing better than to sass their father.
He turned towards Kurogane and was about to say something, but a gray haze drifted over the scene and he found himself in a deep, blissful sleep.
Yuui balled up under some thick blankets and tried to ignore the draftiness of the east tower. Maxium had just left him with some borscht and mead, neither of which he touch. He was way too tired from stretching his brain over three days.
He had looked over Fai's shoulder when they were small children, but then his studies towards healing took a turn away from Fai's studies, so he knew he'd gone in the weeds in some spots about hexes. He did give it his all. How could he do less if King Ashura was entrusting his entire kingdom's guardianship to him? He had to do his best for his father and to prove that he could rule Celes.
Tomorrow, he'd concoct the formula he'd discovered to cure Ashura and see if Maxium had found someone yet. He hoped so. He drifted off and started having a dream of him and Boris making love in his room- but only this was really Ashura's room, but his things were in it, so he was confused.
He didn't understand why Boris' brown, wavy hair was now graying and his hazel eyes had a few light wrinkles. Their love making was tender and heart-wrenching at the same time. It was a perfect mix of sorrow and joy. There was something about this one, particular, night-long passion that scared and melted Yuui all at once.
Things shifted in a gray haze and then he was sitting on the throne, but it was an empty room. A girl with black, glossy, wavy hair shouted, "Father!" and ran towards him from one of the archways.
He stood and embraced her tightly. He smiled at the older teen and petted her hair. "I heard my cousins were coming!" she said excitedly. She loved all things Nihongo, but Yuui was starting to suspect it was the younger, laid back "cousin" that was her favorite thing in Nihongo. Fai's calm and cool younger boy seemed to be drawn to Yuui's fiery, bold adoptive daughter, too.
"Yes. In time for dinner. How are you doing?"
"Very well, Father." The girl's face grew dour, and he knew she wasn't telling the truth.
"It's okay to still miss him. He trained you and loved you a great deal. I wonder if he wasn't more of a father to you than me, sometimes."
She didn't move from Yuui's arms, but said, "I consider both you and he as my fathers. I'll become the best combat mage I can to honor him. You wait and see! I'll even beat Uncle Fai, one day. Okay, maybe not him, but I'll give my cousins a run for their money!"
Yuui looked over to the shadows where Ran dwell with a lowered head, but sharp, wary ears. He still only wore black, to this day, and his red eye patch. The vision in his right, amethyst eye was starting to decline a little from straining, but his skills as a ninja had only seemed to grow stronger with his devotion to honing them over the years in his service to Valeria, and then to Celes.
"Valentina, go to your room and get cleaned up. I want to talk to your body-guard," Yuui bid his adoptive daughter.
She got a slight crinkle on her face; Ran was "boring" to her. He always ruined her fun and made her do tons of "boring" katana exercises, but she always did as Ran ordered, because Yuui and her recently-deceased, combat mage trainer required it.
"Well? How is she doing?" Yuui asked after she was gone, glancing at the large purple stone on his left, ring finger. He'd worn it for a whole month since the destruction of the pit, and he hadn't quite yet decided what to do with the three books embedded inside the ring. He just wasn't ready to let them go, yet.
"She's getting reckless. She's gotten so careless since his death, and she won't listen me," Ran complained, stepping from the shadows.
"It sounds like you rubbed off on her a great deal, then. You told me you were the same way after your parents were killed. After all, you were the one who drew her from the pit as a baby," Yuui pointed out.
"Only because the reanimator's magic over the dead made it possible."
"I know," Yuui murmured. His heart constricted in a deep pain. Yuui pushed a smile to his face and looked at Ran. "Anyway, your punishment has long since passed, and he's gone now. It's been two decades since you were in Nihongo. Are you sure you don't want to go back with Fai and Kurogane this time?"
"No, my place is here, by your side and protecting her," Ran answered simply. "Boris and I made a lifelong vow about you and her, Highness. I intend on keeping it. There are parts of that vow that I'll never share with you."
"As you wish," Yuui said, fighting to not choke up and break down at hearing that one name. He stood and approached Ran carefully.
He gingerly put his hand on the ninja's shoulder and squeezed it. It was the first physical contact he'd had with the man in a little over twenty years. Yes, Ran, too, was still grieving, Yuui's empathy picked that up. He really wasn't surprised at Ran's devotion after all that time and struggle he and the reanimator had put into destroying the pit together.
The ninja would live and die on Celes; Nihongo was no longer the man's home. Ran, rather than flinch away from Yuui's touch like he'd expected, slipped his own hand over Yuui's and squeezed it gently. There was just so much emotion shared between them over their loss, but Yuui was now more schooled on how to channel and deal with his gift.
Yuui finally said, "Thank you for staying for my daughter. Whatever you and Boris vowed is your secret to keep. What you've done for me and my people over the years certainly outweighs any offense you've ever committed towards me. You've sacrificed your whole life for..." Yuui felt his throat tighten. He couldn't say that one last word, the whole reason Ran stayed in Celes.
But Yuui knew Ran was blunt. "You're my king, healer of Celes. I'll have no other except if I'm blessed to live long enough to have your daughter as my queen."
"And we'll make that happen in spite of the rebellion in the southlands. We do have to talk about Bresha Harvoan and the latest assassination on Valentina she hired."
Before he could launch into another topic with Ran, a gray haze enveloped him. The rest of his sleep was fitful as tears trickled from his eyes.
"...and so what is the purpose again?" Kurogane asked, fiddling with five, lacquered dolls that were all in halves, now, on the shop's table.
"It's a toy called a matryoshka doll. It's for amusement. Several ladies collect them here. I'd like to get one for your mother as a thank you token. She did so much for me, and I want to show her my appreciation."
"She's a wonderful lady and I'm fortunate she gave birth to me. I'd not trade her for anything, and Fai did something wonderful for her."
"Oh really? Tell me," Ashura said, buying the doll from the merchant.
"He gave her a blue fluorite pendant," Kurogane started his story. "It has helped alleviate her illness."
"Here we go," Fai said, lofting his staff and sending them into Nihongo Country.
They landed beside the Suwa family compound. Ivan shrugged off his thick coats and wrinkled his nose. "Too hot."
"I know, but are you ready?" Fai asked, shrugging off his own Celian outer clothing. Ivan nodded, his right, blue eye glowed brightly and they flew through the air. Fai caught his breath and looked at the land far below him.
Ivan then lowered his hand towards the ground. Blue runes shot out and smacked the ground hard. A blue lace pattern was evident all over the large island below.
"Celian magic, just like you claimed. Impressive. Why is that one spot not covered?" Ivan asked, pointing to the Tsukiyono province far below their feet.
"Because they rejected me. However, they changed their minds and will let me come and set up wards when I come back."
"Good. I see all sorts of monsters are held off the coast by your wards," Ivan said, pointing towards the ocean. Fai was impressed Ivan was impassive to the new surroundings. "However, now to test your wards' strength."
Ivan formed a huge, blue fireball in between his hands and cast it at one of Fai's wards. Fai clenched his hands and then mentally sighed when his wards held and Ivan's fireball evaporated.
"Well, looks like I passed," Fai said in a cheery tone.
Ivan gave him a passive gaze and lofted his right hand. There was a giant ball of crackling lightening forming. Now Fai got worried. "You really didn't think it'd be that easy, did you? Just relax. We'll be here all day. I have all my hexes to try out on your wards, and trust me, I know a lot of them."
Then Ivan hurled the hex below with tremendous force.
"I don't wish to continue. I wish to stop and go to Valeria," Yuui said, sitting on the side of his bed. Something had shaken up Yuui, but the young man refused to say what it was.
"If you stop now, Highness, you won't achieve your D title this go-around," Maxium explained with heavy concern. "You know, you have to have a D title to become King of Celes."
"I don't care! I want to go Valeria! Let me go! Now!" Yuui raged, not able to stop tears from running down his face. Sobs broke forth. Maxium let him cry for a little bit, only having concerned pity towards the young man. This wasn't Yuui-like behavior. For a moment he wondered if he wasn't dealing with high-strung Fai.
Maxium grew baffled at Yuui's demand, and he asked, "Why would you want to go to Valeria of all places?"
"Because Boris is there! I want to see him and make sure he's safe!"
"You mean Boris Nemtsov, the reanimator?" Maxium remembered stripping away that D title. It was one of three such stripping cases he'd voted on. The other two cases were for enslaving other people with magic. He'd voted to strip the young combat mage; how could he not? Boris had confessed, and no matter the situation, raising the dead was a serious taboo that needed to be maintained in Celian society.
"Yes! That Boris! And when I become king...!"
"And you won't become king if you don't pass this test," Maxium pointed out, afraid Yuui would blurt out some thing rash and horrible in an emotional fit that would preclude him from inheriting King Ashura's throne. Yuui looked absolutely sick and was in a full melt down. "Listen, finish this test because of your goal of setting up a healing center for mental illness. By the way, I've found someone to test your potion on. Maybe you'll change your mind when you meet her."
Yuui nodded numbly, so Maxium led in the young pregnant woman with bruises all over her face and a somber expression. Yuui seemed startled and so Maxium explained, "This is Anna. She reported her husband for beating her. He escaped from the constables and got to her. Rather than surrender to the constables, he released a suicide blood curse on her. The bigger problem? As you see, she was pregnant when he cursed her."
Yuui gasped and looked shocked. "That means that the baby will be cursed, too."
"Yes, the baby will have the blood curse on her, too. You see why it's so important for you to finish this test? Whatever you're going through right now needs to be put aside. This woman and her baby desperately need your help if can cure a blood curse. A healer puts the hurting first. If you're a real healer worth your mettle, you'll put aside personal concerns right now and concentrate on giving this woman a fresh start with a healthy baby."
Yuui then took a deep breath and stood. He nodded and went right to the apothecary table. He asked the young woman, "Did your husband have a relative willing to help you?"
"Yes, his mother will. She brought me here."
"I'll need her to donate some blood."
"And so he then turned the whole thing into a giant ice slide. The village children played for hours, and I had to hear an earful from the mayor of that town," Ashura said, shaking his head as he handed Kurogane the very tart, strong tea.
"My father would have killed him for doing that," Kurogane said.
"Well, the children had fun, and so did Fai. Of course, I made him stay hours in hamam before I let him join us for dinner. He almost caught his death of a cold and gave it to Yuui and me."
"I'm not surprised he'd do something like that," Kurogane said, crossing his arms and snorting.
"And then there was the time..."
"Well, I think you've constructed solid wards. I couldn't crack them," Ivan said, as they touched down in the courtyard. Fai turned when he heard Lord Suwa's voice, but couldn't understand his words.
Fai waved and said, "Hello, Lord Kuro-papa-sama! We're just passing through. Kuro-crabby is being unusually surly. I hope he gets a lot of ice down his shorts when Ashura shows him how to ski."
Lord Suwa gave him a baffled look and said something else with Kurogane's name. Fai shrugged and lofted his staff. He said, "Say hello to Lady Suwa for me!"
With that they vanished, leaving Lord Suwa shaking his head with rolling eyes.
Yuui finished casting the activating spell on the pregnant woman. She gasped and asked him, "Was that it? My baby?"
"She'll be fine," Yuui said.
Maxium had her prick her finger with a blood compass. He studied it and smiled. "Indeed, she's cured. No trace left."
Tears were brimming in her eyes. "Thank you so much, Highness. I'm very honored you helped me. I can't thank you enough."
"Just try to be happy and raise your daughter well."
Maxium thanked the young woman and let her out of the tower. Maxium turned to Yuui and said, "You're almost there. Please don't stop."
"I won't. There is someone I despise with my whole heart. I want to finish this for him," Yuui mumbled numbly.
Maxium patted him on the shoulder, even though he was confused. "Well, you're doing very well. Now to test you for consistency."
Yuui nodded numbly and went back to the apothecary table.
"I can't wait to see how they've done. Fai will flunk the healer's portion; I'm positive of that. If he did as he said he did in Nihongo, though, that will make up for it. Yuui never did really dabble much in hexes; he was always too busy with other interests. Still, that potion would do a lot of good for our world. I know it helped me," King Ashura whispered the last to Kurogane as they walked down the hallway.
Kurogane nodded before they entered the meeting hall. He was tense and anxious to get Fai alone, so he could explain why he'd been so cold. Ashura gave him a warm smile and said, "You look worried."
"I am. Fai can hold a grudge."
"He can, but he'll forgive if asked with sincerity," King Ashura said. "I have to say I had a very pleasant time getting to know you this week." Then Ashura grew somber. "Thank you for not holding my illness against me. I love Fai and Yuui with my whole heart, and I'm sorrowful over what I put them through. After what they suffered on Valeria, they certain didn't deserve that."
"No, ice king, don't dwell on it. They forgive you and return your affection. They know you were ill and they choose to still be your sons. Forgive yourself."
Ashura nodded and said, "I will, in time. I've only wanted to give them the very best of everything and heal their wounds."
"They know," Kurogane affirmed. A blue rune set glowed on the door and it swung open. Ivan was standing there with his staff lofted.
Ivan said, "Come in and greet Duke Fai D Fluorite and Prince Yuui D Fluorite."
"You voted without me?" Ashura asked.
"You know we couldn't have you on the voting board, Majesty. You are their father, after all. But don't worry, they both impressed us well enough. The duke's wards even withstood my harshest hexes. I gave him no mercy, either. Yuui rescued a pregnant woman, so that was very noble. People's lives would benefit from their pursuits. Be proud of them. The votes were unanimous."
"Thank you so much, Ivan," Ashura said.
Ivan stood aside and let Ashura and Kurogane in the meeting hall. Kurogane was surprised to see Yuui sobbing on Fai's shoulder. More importantly, he could now easily distinguish the two without hesitation, and it wasn't just Yuui's emotional state.
Ashura grew upset and hurried over to them, hugging them instantly. "What's wrong, Yuui? Why are you crying?"
"I had a dream and it hurt me so much," Yuui said in between sobs. "I need to see Boris!"
Fai looked over at Kurogane and gave him a solemn expression. "I had a dream, too. Ivan said since he put a barrier between our dream-seer abilities, that it increased the future seeing part of the ability. Now that he's taken that down, we one have such strong premonitions. We both had premonitions, though, on our third night here. Mine was happy, but Yuui's was very sad."
Yuui's sobbing grew silent and he tumbled into Ashura's arms. He grabbed Ashura's cloak and begged, "Please bring me Boris."
"It'll be as you wish, my son," Ashura promised. Ashura took a weak, emotional Yuui out of the meeting hall. Kurogane turned to Fai, who looked after his twin and his father with a distressed expression.
"Fai, I need to talk with you," Kurogane said. His lover turned his attention towards Kurogane. He pushed on a fake, bright smile.
"Not now, Ku-ro-ga-ne," Fai said deliberately pronouncing every syllable of his proper name. It was as if Fai was rubbing Kurogane's nose in a punishment and now ignoring him in favor of his original family. Fai turned and left the meeting hall without a backwards glance.
It felt like the biggest slap in the face Fai could have given him. Kurogane steadied his breath from the flare of anger he had towards the uppity, blond mage. He so wanted to lay the mage's ego low and reaffirm who was in charge of this relationship. After all, in Nihongo men didn't accept such rudeness and sass from their mates. Fai should give him respect as the provider and guardian of their relationship. Yes, Fai was a combat mage, but Kurogane wanted him to know the role he expected him to fill.
He'd give Fai a few hours to settle down. No doubt, Fai was still feeling sore over Kurogane's rejection earlier. He hadn't meant to let Fai down, but he didn't know what was bothering him until after they were parted. After all, he had promised to stand by Fai during this challenge. Kurogane clenched his fist and vowed to make it right between them.
To be continued.
