Finally the end is here. I had writer's block writing this chapter (I'm sure it shows), but now that the arc is over I can begin the nice process of editing. As a birthday gift for a dear international friend of mine, I am posting both chapters now at once. I know this chapter has quite a few holes and areas that are brief that could use fleshing out, and I promise I will get around to fixing them as I edit.
J Luc Pitard: Thanks for pointing out that weakness in the plot thus far. I'll make sure to fix it when I go back through and edit everything!
darkestflare1: She is not a spirit but she's not quite human either as you will read below.
Thanks for all the reviews, support, and patience everyone!
Chapter 36:
"Is that all," Chihiro whispered as she turned away from the window in front of her. The sun was well up in the air and incense hung heavy about them. Their discussion had been going on for what felt like hours in heated loops and at some point, Chihiro had moved to standing by the closed window. The distinctive ticking of the clock running out of time beat in the background over the crackling of the fire. As if scrambling to protect himself from whatever retort or jab she might call forth this time, Haku nervously fidgeted his hands. "Is that everything you were hiding from me?"
Haku gauged her frighteningly detached response and wondered how much more she could take. He had told her everything, not a small stone unturned in his explanation. Would throwing one more thing on his pile of misdeeds break her?
"The incense I threw into the fire was a gift from Okita. It is a high power tanuki ash that bends the confines of reality. We are not actually having this discussion." Haku stood up and faced her as she scoffed at him. Closing the distance between them as if he could bridge the gap between their hearts, Haku laid his thoughts out plainly. "Hit me, scratch me, bite me, whatever it is you need to do to feel better… just don't bottle up your emotions and hide them away. Let it out now. There is nothing you can do here that will affect the real world."
Glancing back out the window, Chihiro gave a small sigh as a tear rolled down her cheek. All of the emotions she was feeling were overwhelming, but she was torn mostly between anger and sadness. If he had just trusted her from the start, wouldn't they have had a better outcome? It was a little late now to fix things with him leaving for the Capital first thing in the morning. Her anger was melting into a desperation for more time, but he had no more to give.
"And what if I said that I didn't want to do those things?"
"I will take whatever punishment you see fit. Don't hold back on my account," Haku said calmly as he resigned himself to the inevitable. He was wrong in his actions and though he thought it was for the best at the time, it was obvious now that he had failed her. If violence would help her heal, then so be it.
Chihiro twisted around and closed the space between them. Lifting up onto her tip toes, she smashed her lips against his in a kiss. His shocked lips moved slowly against hers and she relished the lack of pain accompanying it. Haku wasn't comprehending the swift change in tides as she pushed him slowly back towards his bedroom door. He was speechless as she began to make quick work of the garments between them all the while kissing him passionately. As her lips drifted down his neck, he could hear every ragged breath that he took. Haku started to ask her why she was doing this, but the sound turned into a guttural moan as she bit down on the soft flesh of his clavicle.
"Then I want you to love me the way you should have from the start," Chihiro rasped as she shoved his shirt aside and began to lick her way down his chest. Wrapping his fingers through her hair, Haku felt his restraints falling away under the intense pleasure she was bringing him. At the rate she was going they weren't going to even make it into the bedroom. What sort of punishment was this?
"One night isn't nearly enough time. Hell, an eternity wouldn't be enough time," Haku whispered as he brought her upwards from a dangerous territory. She was going to spring him before he had the chance to even begin if he allowed her to continue. Teasing a hand along her curves, Haku released the door handle behind them and allowed their bodies to spill into his bedroom. Responding without thought, his hands began helping her out of her clothes as his brain still tried to think her actions through. No clothes remained between them when she finally got him down onto the bed. "I think you'll regret this in the morning."
Chihiro silenced him with a kiss and Haku knew he was defeated. If this is what she wanted, then he had absolutely no complaints (in fact he could think of a dozen exclamations). He couldn't keep up with her even if he wanted. If this was going to be their last night together, he was going to accept the gift she was giving him. One night may be all they had, but he was going to spend every last minute of it cherishing her.
Haku settled his pack among the rest of the luggage waiting to be loaded and turned to look back at the bathhouse one last time. High above him, a curtain bellowed out of from one of the windows in his apartment. Chihiro was still sleeping up there, no doubt still shaking off the tanuki ash. The small gift of such a powerful tanuki ash was priceless and if he lived past this trial, he would find the tanuki again and reward him handsomely. At least Haku could die with the memory of last night in mind if the Elders decided to execute him and Chihiro would be safe no matter what happened. Glancing around at the bathhouse guests preparing to depart, he spotted Hana's palanquin moving out. With the festival over there were many spirits trying to getting an early start on their long travels.
"Is she coming," an angelic voice questioned quietly from behind him. Haku turned to look back at the detached look the rabbit was giving him.
"No. I thought it best that she wasn't awake for this," Haku looked back up at that window longingly. If he had only have a few more moments he would fly up there to see her sleeping face one last time. Tsukiko's lips turned down in sadness. It was hard to push for the right decisions when she became involved with the players in her web. They became more than just chess pieces. She shook off Daisuke's reassuring touch and looked over the crowd of people that had come to see them off. The white furred fox stood frowning at the edge of it. As Haku made a final pass of goodbyes, he stopped at the fox last.
"I hope for Chihiro's sake that you return swiftly."
"No you don't," Haku chuckled darkly. As much as the two spirits didn't like each other in the slightest, they both recognized their mutual feelings for the girl sleeping upstairs.
"Chihiro would be upset if you didn't return, at least until she crossed the border. But there is no point in pretenses. You already know how I want that trial to turn out," Hikaru replied coldly. Haku grimaced and gave a brief bow.
"Thanks for the words of encouragement. I'll be sure to return now, if only to spite you. Keep her safe while I'm gone." Turning his back on the bathhouse, Haku joined Tsukiko and prepared to meet his fate.
Chihiro jolted upright as if she had startled awake from a nightmare, only to find that she was not where she was supposed to be. Confusion brought a frown to her lips as she looked around her. Moonlight and rain were pouring in through the open windows and the sounds of the bathhouse at work were well underway, meaning that she had slept in quite later than expected. The blanket that had been covering her pooled about her waist from the sudden movement and she tentatively grasped the back of the couch. What was she doing on the couch anyways? Last thing she remembered was falling asleep in Haku's bed after…but she wasn't sore at all. It was almost as if they hadn't done anything of that sort last night. An emptiness filled her as she recalled the night's events. Wiping at her nose with her hand, Chihiro looked at the familiar tanuki ash on her finger. Shoving off from the sofa with a few mild curses, Chihiro dragged herself to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. A fine powder of yellow and black ash coated her nostrils and she had successfully smeared some of it with her touch. The unusual pallor to her skin and streaks of blue in her eyes made it seem as if she were a different person, someone on the edge of changing to who knows what. Though he had been honest with her, a part of her felt like he had had the last laugh on the matter of their relationship. Why use the tanuki ash if they were just supposed to be talking in the first place? Realizing that her questions were useless when the man with the answers had fled, Chihiro washed off the ash and hurried out onto the balcony. It was much too late to try and catch Haku if the lack of caravans in the courtyard were anything to go by. He was already long gone by now. Cursing her aching heart and the vivid daydreams of all that could have been, Chihiro felt a single tear slide down her cheek.
"I regret nothing," she whispered shakily out to the listening wind.
.-.-….-.-.-.-.-.
There was something to be said about the Capital. Despite its grand structures and overflowing beauty, Haku could easily see the filth in its core. War hadn't touched this city in thousands of years and the haughty residents reflected it. Some would say it was paradise how most of its inhabitants lived in ignorant bliss of the suffering occurring in the outer lands. Those that did know, often did not care since it did not directly affect them. The price of serving the country was the phrase muttered to justify their indiscretion. The palace where the governing body lived and worked was a closed compound in the near center of the city. Not much was known about the Elders other than they were a council of powerful spirits that had spent generations enforcing laws for the better good. Eternity living in the same four walls could make anyone crazy, but it was a well-known rumor that the Elders staved off their boredom by collecting spirits of unusual talents. Tsukiko was one of those pets, and it was unusual in itself that she was permitted outside the walls. On the handful of occasions that Haku had been to the Capital, he had never gone inside the palace or met any of the so called Elders.
The large carved doors were opened as they climbed the palace steps. Giving a nod to the guards at their posts, Tsukiko guided Haku through the maze of passages towards the holding cell. They would give him a short time to rest before the trial began. It would be long enough to prepare his defense if he needed to, but short enough that there was no time to call for backup. Not that he would. He was in this mess alone as far as he was concerned.
"Taking the stand now is Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi, Master of the Eastern Bathhouse and its surrounding territories. He has been formally accused by the Council of creating a mating bond with a human," the court announcer stated. A flood of whispers went through the crowds piled into the shadows of the room, but the seven Elders sat in silence staring at him. They had seen many stand on the marble platform before them in fear, anger, sadness, and grief. Tsukiko rose primly from her seat on the alternative platform and took her place as the prosecution.
"Upon investigation of the Eastern Bathhouse, I have confirmed from several sources that Master Kohaku is believed to have taken the human known as Sen as his mate. While I was unable to secure the girl and bring her to the Capital, it is confirmed that she is here in the Spirit World. There was a magical release on the last day of the water festival that's power could only have been created by a human with access to magic. Based on these accusations, I have brought Master Kohaku in to stand trial and will present the rest of my evidence after the conclusion of the opening statements."
Tsukiko resumed her seat and Haku stood up to address the crowd. He had decided that being brief would not lessen the confusion that was mulling about into tension. Somehow he had to find the right words to say to get him out of this situation.
"As most of you know, my river used to flow in both of the worlds before I brought it completely over to this one. Generations of humans had come, lived, and gone in the time that I had roamed there, but only one stood out to me above the rest. There was a child that visited with her family every weekend and unlike all of the others, she came to my water with blind adoration. Every flutter of my fish in the shallows, every colorful stone I threw up onto the shore, she was endlessly fascinated. Her parents were careful to never let her close enough for me to touch and though I tried, she was always out of reach. My river became enamored with her and despite my better judgement, I let it cater to her whims. I believed it a whimsical game, a passing fleet of fancy, since I knew it would only be a matter of years before the girl became a woman and she sought her fortune far from my home.
When the pollution became worse and the humans began filling in parts of my river for new buildings, I was left with a hard decision. I could pull back into the Spirit World or manage the impurities and weakness by leaving the water to purify regularly. Unwilling to give up my place in the human world and the amusement I found in it, I began leaving my river unattended so that I could visit the nearby bathhouse in the Spirit world.
It was during one of these departures that my water made its move. The girl had wandered closer than usual to a crumbling bank and in its desire to touch her, it swept harshly at the support beneath her without thinking of the consequences. When the dirt gave out, she lost her pink shoe to my water as she had scrambled back. It was planning on lodging its prized treasure far beneath the rippling current, but the girl had other plans. She stretched out to grab the shoe back and fell in. I returned to the river as soon as I felt the disturbance and found that my river had taken both her and the shoe to rest atop the silt at the bottom. In its happiness to have and hold her, it had forgotten that humans need air to live.
I was struck by guilt and panic as I brought her up to the surface. Yanking my water from her lungs, I listened for a heartbeat and heard it taking its last beat. My water had killed the girl in its desire to possess her for good. For a fraction of a second, I considered binding her and taking her as my bride, but I resisted. A child would not understand or reciprocate the desires of an adult, nor would taking the form of a child to suit her needs appeal to me. So I tried the last thing I could think of: I pushed a bit of magic into her body to try and kick start her heart.
The girl revived and I returned her to her family without revealing myself. She stopped visiting after that day, and I was confident that that would be the last I would see of her. However it seems that somehow I tied our fates together that summer day. She appeared before me again when I was Yubaba's apprentice. I had lost all of my memories when I had been put under the witch's spell, but I could still remember her. She was able to revive my memories allowing me to break my contract and I helped her regain her freedom to return to the human world.
I did not begin the mating bond with a human. The fact that she has lived a completely normal life and grown from child to woman stands as proof that we did not consummate a bond. The magic that was felt on the last day of the festival was from another spirit ignorantly letting his magic run amok as he came back into his memories after the cleansing ceremony."
Haku let the words settle into the mass and could see some of the shadows nodding their heads in understanding. The Elders looked unmoved, but they wouldn't be fooled by just anything. However maybe there was more to gain for an audience with the most powerful spirits in the world. Considering his next words carefully, he spoke his plea softly.
"That being said, I wouldn't object to marrying her if the Council would permit it and she accepted my proposal."
.-…-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Chihiro ignored the stares following her around as she cozied up to the bar at the End of the Line. Lin had already reminded her twice today to ignore the pointed looks of the bathhouse staff that seemed to dog her day and night. Even here where they were supposed to be guests relaxing, she could hear whispers of Lady Sen and Mistress Chihiro floating about as if in awe of her relationship with the bathhouse master. It wasn't even worth the effort to try and correct them. Hikaru took the offered beer from the bartender with much thanks and wasted no time in getting into it.
"Don't you find it odd, Taka," Okita asked as he put down his mug of ale. The three of them were sitting together at the bar as the tengu worked his magic behind it. Continuing to rub dry the glass in his hand, Taka looked back at him in quiet question. "I know you heard that messenger from the front as well as I."
Indeed both of the men had been present at the bar when a messenger from the war front had stopped by for a meal on his way to the Capital. An unusual excitement had hung about the lackey as he explained the retreat of the Tainted forces in the Eastern lands. As far as they could tell, the impure spirits had been pushed back several kilometers by the snow laden purifying wind and as a result, were nearly back to their original lands. The army had all but scrambled to retake the lost ground and fortify their new positions. Hope was bubbling forth from the messenger and infecting the other bar occupants. Perhaps the war could brought to a reasonable end, returning the enlisted spirits back to their homelands peacefully unharmed. Taka shrugged his shoulders uncommittedly as Okita continued.
"Not to be the pessimistic here, but armies don't just disappear like that. Even if they did retreat to recover, there is no telling if this is not some alternative plan of attack."
"The closest danger to us is the Eastern Tainted army. As long as they are back in the far Eastern marshes instead of knocking at our doors, then I don't care," Taka said replied as he put the glass away on the shelf and picked up another from the drying rack.
"There are too many coincidences to ignore Taka. Think about it for a second. Our army is over extended trying to reclaim their claim on these lands and the sworn protector of the Eastern bathhouse is called to the Capital for business meaning we are not as well guarded as normal. It would be a prime time to attack, and yet all of the reports we have been getting is that the Tainted are running as if the kami are cleansing behind them."
"I'd rather be grateful for the little things in life," Taka replied simply as he smiled at Lin as she walked into the bar. Looking around in question, she almost completely ignored him. Her behavior was odd in itself, but he could believe it was the stress of suddenly being thrust into such a powerful position. She seemed unsatisfied by the occupants present, but threw him another smile as she moved to join the others at the bar. Taka was quick to return the smile in kind and with a short bow, she took the last bar stool. "We are well protected here. It would take quite some force to get past the barriers around the town, let alone the bathhouse. Don't you think we would have heard if such a force was moving our way?"
"I rather have regular news then this quiet," Okita said after another long pull from his drink, "Better to be prepared than caught off guard."
"No news is good news," Hikaru threw in with a shrug. Chihiro nodded her agreement, but found herself watching Taka stare at Lin as she half-heartedly flipped through the drink menu. It wasn't hard to believe that he held a torch for her friend. In fact it seemed kind of obvious that they both were soft for each other if their shared glances were anything to go by…she had to remember to ask Lin about it at a later time when not in present company.
"Have any of you seen Aogaeru? He hasn't shown up for work these past few days and it's unlike him to go missing for so long," Lin asked from beneath her furrowed brow. The missing frog was weighing on her conscience though she surely had larger problems to deal with.
"I'm sure he will turn up. I heard he was shacking up with one of the eels on guard duty recently," Okita offered as assurance. Grumbling her displeasure at the mental image, Lin placed her usual order and let it go as best she could. It would be like that frivolous frog to stay holed up for days with whatever bed mate he had managed to recently grab.
-..-…-.-.-..-…-..—
The palanquin crashed to the ground as its bearers gave up their lives to protect it. Water that would have normally surged forward in a gust of energy to represent its lady laid murky and lethargic as it seeped out into the ground. Pushing out of the wreckage, Hana stood to face the enemy surrounding her. She had ignored her servant's cries for help in hopes that they would pull through this without her having to reveal her lack of power. A solid black wall loomed overhead, nearly blocking out the moonlight. Mentally begging her water to rise, she felt her panic escalate as it soaked into the ground away from her. Fickle as its changing tides, water only chose its allegiance based on power and purity. Hana was from a prestigious lineage, but she knew she wasn't chosen based on power, only on purity. Taking the traitor's life and keeping her silence in hopes of harming those at the bathhouse had taken its toll accordingly.
"You've come from the Eastern Bathhouse," a voice spoke from behind her. Spinning about to face him, Hana felt her brows knit together in confusion. A white fox in black armor stepped out from the wall, the tendrils of darkness clung to him like a lover drawing him back to bed. Ignoring the uncanny similarity to another white fox she had seen only days before, Hana summoned the little remaining water into her hand. It would do no good with this many surrounding her, but at least she could do was go down fighting. "There's no need to raise your hand against us. You aren't far from joining us anyways."
"I will do no such thing," Hana gritted out through clenched teeth. She could finally see the bodies of her servants about her from the corners of her eyes and the sight brought her a sea of regret. They had served her well and though they should have fought harder to give her a chance to escape, they had made the ultimate sacrifice for their mistress. The hand maiden that had displeased her at the bathhouse was on display like artwork at the top of the pile. Black seeped from her wide open eyes and red blood wept down from her cut neck. Hana recognized the sliver of humanity welling up inside of her with regret at her callous treatment of the girl and the other servants lying there before her. As their mistress she should have use her power to protect them all from evil, but instead she cowered in her palanquin until it was much too late for any of them. Self-criticism reared its ugly head, but quickly shifted to hatred of the smirking fox in front of her.
"Your water has abandoned you and that which remains is as dark and little as a cup of tea. What plagues your heart, fish? Jealousy, lust, greed," the fox asked as he slowly circled her, "… murder?"
"Enough!" Chuckling lightly at her impertinence, he shook his head and began walking away from her towards the direction he came from. She was right that he didn't have the time to waste on playing with her at the moment. "I won't join you filth."
"As you wish," he said addressing her one last time before looking back into the rippling black awaiting his command, "take the information we need from her and leave her body with the rest. Even if she is already falling, we don't need a shell like her in our ranks."
Walking away he could hear gurgling screams pierce the air behind him. Smiling as he took his position at the front again, the fox resumed their course towards the bathhouse. There was no doubt in his mind that the magical pulse that had reached almost clear to the Northern peaks and decimated the Eastern war front had belonged to his kin. Their ice magic was a family trait and only one member remained outside of the fold. He had been waiting well over three fortnights for a sign of where his brother had disappeared to, and now it wouldn't be long before they were reunited. The fox was nearly brought to a standstill when the pilfered information from the koi fish was added to the collective mind. Grinning from ear to ear, he doubled their pace and the tendrils of shadow frenzied in excitement. A prized bathhouse without its protective master and his last brother inside of its walls was simply too good to pass up.
.-.-…-.-.-…-
"The Council now calls to trial Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi on the charge of creating a mating bond with a human." Haku gave a brief bow to the announcer and stood up to take his place on the platform before the council. He kept his hands forcibly flat and his posture relaxed though it was taking considerably more strength to do so. It was better to give them the impression that he had nothing to lose by these proceedings than give them a hint of blood in their waters. "We hereby find the defendant innocent of all charges and release him from the contract placed in holding. We apologize for the inconvenience of these matters and hope you will look favorably upon our offer for your advancement."
"I thank you all for the great honor of the offer however at this time I must return to the bathhouse. There has been troubles just outside of my city that have left me on edge," Haku replied as he held his arm out to Tsukiko. The rabbit looked unperturbed as she turned away from him instead and began putting her papers back into her folder.
"I hope you will give me the courtesy of removing your mark in private. There are many people present at the moment." Hearing the implications, Haku gave a short nod in understanding and formally excused himself from the courtroom. The seer wanted to talk to him alone before he flew as fast as he could away from the Capital. The trial had taken the full two days and he would have to move quickly to meet the deadline he had given the fox. Following her silently through the halls, he wasn't surprised when she led him to a marble gazebo in an indoor garden. He could see the doors to her private quarters on the other side of the path though she didn't deviate from her line of sight. In the center of the gazebo stood a large bowl full of water laced with magic for seeing the future for those who were capable of such a gift. Beginning to feel uneasy, Haku watched her sit down on a cushion beside the looking glass.
"You must be pleased with the trial's outcome. It's not often that there is insubstantial evidence to support a claim," Tsukiko stated softly as she stirred the water absentmindedly. She was thinking of a way to approach the situation without causing a panic. All of this required a delicate touch if all was to be fulfilled. The dragon in question frowned at her, but refused to move to the open cushion in front of her. He definitely did not want the Seer inside of his head looking at his future.
"I supposed I have you to thank for that. Why bother with accusing me if you were planning on sabotaging the trial to begin with. You hardly made a believable case," Haku ventured. It had been a deliberate waste of his time having him come out here, but she undoubtedly had a reason.
"You forced my hand when you refused the Elder's offer outright. I wanted to involve Chihiro in this mess as much as you did." Haku scowled at her as she motioned for him to sit with an impolite glare. He stalked over to sit opposite her in front of the looking glass.
"Yet you did and nearly cost both of us our lives. Don't think I will let this go unpunished."
"And you thought you wouldn't fit in here at the Capital. You're just as cutthroat as the rest of them," Tsukiko mocked. It's not that he couldn't make a place here, he was more than capable of establishing himself as a force to be reckoned with, rather that he didn't want to become that person. Haku lifted up a tendril of the water from the glass and curved it into a ball. Summoning the water to him felt empowering and when dealing with a volatile spirit like the rabbit in front of him, he wanted to feel in control. She was like the futures she predicted herself, a million possibilities and moods in each choice. Reaching over as if to take the water from him, Tsukiko grabbed his arm and removed the seal harshly. Haku jerked away from her and the water splashed down between them. Sitting back with a dead expression, the rabbit spoke with haughty arrogance.
"In a few moments a messenger is going to come through those doors over there and you are not going to like the news he will share. You will be sorely tempted to fly out of here and never look back. However for the sake of everyone involved, you need to stay still long enough to hear me out."
"How could you possibly know that if you haven't had a vision?" Haku was calling her bluff and wondered if most of the council was in on her game. The fact was, he had been careful to give her almost no opportunity to touch him and when she did, he made sure to watch her and see if she had a vision. The two times she had touched him had yielded nothing. He wouldn't be fooled by her menagerie of illusions. As if on cue, a heavy set of knocks came from the door and Haku felt himself fill with foreboding despite his confidence that this was a setup. Daisuke left them to open the door and bring in the spirit.
"Did you forget Kohaku that your life is no longer just your own? I knew exactly what would happen since the moment I touched her." As her words sunk in, Haku realized what they meant. The Seer had to have gotten to Chihiro sometime during the festival. His protective instinct reared its head and he realized that he had left her unaware of the potential dangers that could have lurking. What had she seen? Daisuke and a lion spirit walked through the garden to approach them.
"Seer, there has been word of strange Tainted movement in the Eastern lands. The Elders would like for you to please use your gift and investigate their future plans," the lion asked formally with a bow.
"There's no need for me to do that. Right now the Eastern Tainted army is weak and has pulled back to their home territory to recover. However in their stead, the Northern Tainted have grown bold and they sweep down to flank our troops with silence maneuvers. The full strength of the Northern Tainted army will be on the Eastern Bathhouse by early tomorrow morning and it will fall before adequate forces can reach it."
"Impossible. There are shields around the town that would take at least a week to push through," Haku retorted as his mind raced with all the possibilities. Part of him was still arguing that this was all a game that she was playing to get what she wanted, but the rest of him was analyzing the possibility that maybe she was telling the truth.
"The shields will fail because there is no water spirit or witch present to replace the corrupted ones currently standing. I was able to see from the looking glass that the Tainted performed a test to make sure they could get past your shields and they were successful. Think about it Kohaku. Have you overlooked something in the past few weeks?"
Haku's mind recalled Hana's threat of an inside agent and the disturbances along the roads. However it was the eel's death in the city that came to mind. The Tainted shouldn't have been able to get inside, and yet they had…it was all falling into place. Haku shot to his feet and walking quickly towards the doors. He had to go. He had to protect the bathhouse. "If you leave right now Kohaku, everyone you love will perish. You do not have the strength alone to take on an army of this magnitude."
Her words brought him to a halt even as his mind sought out his water and begged it to go warn the others. It was harder to connect with his river the further away he was and right now he was much further than he had ever been before. There was static silence on its end. Turning on his heel to face her, Haku looked down at the rabbit spinning water in her glass.
"How do I save them? You have seen the future. How do I save them?!"
"You will die in battle unsuccessful and alone if you remain as you are. However, the Captain of the Guard can summon his soldiers and move them to attack a threat to the Capital. I think this would count as an attack, now don't you?"
.-.-..-.-.-..-..-.—
There was no warning smoke in the distance, no surge of patients in the infirmary, nothing to give them the grace of a heads up. One moment they were going about their normal lives and the next, half the town was gone. In a twist of fate, Chihiro was glad for their sacrifice because there was no more room in the bathhouse for scared spirits. The usual serenity of the bathhouse was gone in its mix of panic, fear, and despair. Spirits were constantly bathing trying to stay pure from what they were creating themselves. She wasn't quite sure how Lin and Kamaji had managed to get a temporary barrier up to protect this side of the river, but it was done. Chihiro looked out the window in Haku's office at the wall of black on the other side of the river.
Tuning back in to the arguing voices in the background, Chihiro looked back at the tense, dirty occupants around the room. Lin sat behind Haku's desk as if it were going to give her the power to protect them all. Hikaru stood by the other window with a calculative look on his face and Taka paced by the bookshelves. Okita sat across from Lin arguing strategy and the foreman had claimed another chair nearby, but had yet to mutter a peep. The fighting had drawn to a near standstill once the temporary barrier went up and the portal's magic drained both sides of fighters in its grasp. While they were in here debating what to do next, spirits were still out there patrolling the barrier.
"The dragon should be back in three days if the trial went off without a hitch. We can simply wait them out," Taka threw into the mix.
"The shield won't hold that long. They are already seeping through the temporary shield in small numbers, it's only a matter of a time till that fails and we only have the shield around the bathhouse. We have no way of knowing if the bathhouse shield was affected by whatever they did to destroy the town's and I can't create a new shield to replace it. It would take a powerful witch or water spirit to do that," Lin replied as she ran a tired hand through her hair.
"Any chance that we could get to Master Haku or Watari-san and let them know the situation," Hikaru asked.
"Haku is busy in the Capital and even if we could get a message out to him, he would not be able to get here in time. It's not like he can teleport," Okita retorted.
"The crane returns to the human world when it rains. She is unreachable," Lin said hopelessly. Chihiro looked away from the rain drops on the window and felt an idea forming.
"I can reach both of them. Haku might not be able to do anything from the Capital but maybe he can have them send troops. Our best bet of getting a new shield quickly will have to be Yui though. If you can help me get to the shrine, I can attempt to summon her," Chihiro stated as she registered the expressions on everyone's faces.
"Absolutely not. You are not going anywhere near the exit of this bathhouse so long as we have enemies on our doorstep," Lin remarked.
"It's a workable plan. Taka, Hikaru, and I can protect her and get her to the shrine."
"How exactly can you reach them," Taka asked.
"I can contact Haku's water from the bathhouse to let him know what's going on. Watari-san mentioned in passing a way of contacting her in emergencies, but I'm not sure the exact details of how it works. All I know is that it involves the bell hanging over the well in the private sector of the shrine."
"I won't risk you on a game of chance," Lin shouted standing up from her seat.
"You said yourself that both of the shields are still holding for now and we have plenty of spirits out there killing off the Tainted that get through. If we quickly go now, we can be back before the shield weakens further and the town becomes a true battlefield," Chihiro replied back heatedly as she stood as well, "You can't keep me out of this. There are too many lives on the line and we need everyone working together to succeed."
"If the shield starts to break while she is doing the run to the shrine, we will need a plan. Something to keep the Tainted distracted if things go wrong," Okita commented dryly as he sat back in his chair.
"We can go on the offensive," Taka offered, "Right now they have us surrounded. If we set off a series of bombs, on the side closest to the Capital they will think we are trying to flee inland. Chances are they will surge their troops around the barrier to block us."
"There is also a chance that they will try to come through the barrier to flank us. We will need one of us on each side of the bathhouse commanding. One directing the attack, and the other defending," Okita replied with a nod.
"That would only leave one of us with Chihiro if the other is keeping the masses inside in control," Lin shot a dirty glare at the still frozen foreman. No one was counting on his help at this point. It was obvious he would do better to stay in a cleansing bath until this mess was over.
"Our supplies are low with so many spirits cleansing so frequently," the foreman shakily commented, "if we get rid of some of them, perhaps we would have a better chance."
All of the heads in the room turned to glare at him with disgust. Lin was the first to recover her composure.
"We are not going to make the enemy stronger by sacrificing some of our own and inciting panic amongst the bathhouse. However, I'm not opposed to seeing if we can find an escape route for those that wish to leave. We can discuss it later. Right now, all of us can do with some sleep while we can still get some."