I'm sorry that I haven't updated in a while, but I did my best with this chapter. We're getting into the better plots soon but for now enjoy this. I promise that after the next chapter or two, we'll be getting back to Yuri and Wolfram's relationship development, now that recovery will have finally ended. But please, give it another chapter or two and the magic will happen.
Thank you and don't forget to review.
Whispers in the Dark
Chapter 26
Rocky Waters
Greta looked up at her papas, worry and a sprinkle of tears in her chestnut brown eyes as she fights to keep herself together. The entire situation has completely changed. It was no longer just a recovery of physical wounds but emotional wounds, fresh and still spilling onto the floor. Their hearts, the hearts of her fathers, were ripped apart, gushing out pain and despair from their own selfishness and insecurities. Greta could see it in their eyes that nothing could be done to change what has happened between them; even so she wanted nothing more than to try and relieve them of some of the pain, to make them forget. She wants them to get better, to get back their Maryoku before it was too late. She knew that there had to be a way.
And yet, she wondered if there really was a way. Or that if her father really wanted to be fixed? He spoke so low of himself just now, speaking of himself as if being human would be the world's most hellish experience, that he would rather be dead. His words struck deep inside her heart.
She was human...and she didn't see anything wrong with that. And even though her father is a demon soldier she still loves him very much. Even if he lost his power and would be considered as weak as a human she would still love him all the same. She thinks of him as strong, with or without his magic, he was so strong. She admired him.
Just as she admired Wolfram, she admired and cared for Yuri. Yuri has protected her since day one, and has seen something in her that has made him stay. He has never shown doubts that she was loyal to him; her father meant everything to Greta. Greta was grateful everyday to have both of her fathers, and the rest of the people in this castle, in her life. She thanked Shinou every day for Gwendal, Gunter, Anissina, Conrart, Effe, and everyone else. She loved them all so much, she would hate to ever have to leave them.
That's why Greta wants to show them that she is worth keeping around, that she loves them all and is willing to do whatever it takes to keep them all safe.
She left Yuri and Wolfram behind in their bedchamber to seek out Gisela. Greta knew that Gisela would know what to do and how to treat them for the loss of their Maryoku.
As she ran through the halls, the early afternoon sun shining in through the trees, she couldn't help but wonder if her efforts would be for not. She can't help but worry that everything she is striving for will only end in disappointment and sadness. The demons of regret were swirling in her open mind and plaguing her with darkness. She tries to shake them away, but they were mocking her, saying that she was going to fail, that her papas will be forever sick and never get their Maryoku back.
She was playing a game with Shinou that she wanted no part of.
The sound of the water hitting the surface of the fountain was a pleasant sound, like a waterfall in the middle of the forest, the water shimmered in the sunlight like diamonds, untouched by the world's sin. Shouri watched as small dribbles of water would splash out from the fountains sides as the spout released more and more of the never ending liquid in a vicious cycle of catch and release. His back was hunched over, his elbows on his knees as he sat on the ledge of the courtyard steps of Shinou's Temple. His heart was still hammering as Yuri's voice echoed in his mind, his anger and frustration were clear now, and yet Shouri could still do nothing to help him. His little brother was in so much pain and yet, here he was, sitting around doing nothing at all.
He could do nothing because he was weak. Compared to Yuri, he was nothing. His power was unstable and he knew little of how to control it. Even with all of his training back on Earth, everything he has learned meant nothing here. Shin Makoku was different from Earth, and yet very similar. Even so, Shouri could next to nothing. He could not heal. He could not attack or defend very accurately. He was still in the midst of discovering himself and the power he possessed.
This fact was one of Shouri's biggest frustrations. He was supposed to be the older brother. He was supposed to be the protector. He was supposed to be the one that Yuri could look up to and ask for help when he needed it. He was supposed to be the one filled with wisdom and guidance for his precious Yu-chan. And yet, he could nothing for him. He was only here because Murata felt that he would be useful to the others, and yet he has done nothing. He was almost grateful. He didn't want to fight. He didn't have his brother's pacifistic nature, but he also didn't want to have to see this beautiful country fall to the hands of another war. And he didn't want to be a part of that war if the time came; and he didn't want Yuri to be a part of it either. He didn't want his brother dying in this place, not in the middle of a war. He deserves to live a long and happy life.
But there was no way he could stop Yuri, even if he wanted to. Yuri was passionate about the people of Shin Makoku; he wanted to be their protector and their king. He was their king! He was their only hope. He could never abandon the people he has spent so much time saving. Even if it meant dying for them, Yuri would do it. He was just that hard headed and stubborn.
That was what he loved about his brother. He was so much braver than he could ever be. Yuri was everything that he wanted to be in big brother, and he was happy to see that Yuri has taken up those qualities, but was envious of him as well. Shouri believes that he should have been the one to inherit those genes.
How can you protect your baby brother when he has all the power? Had all the power.
A sigh escapes his lips and he leans back, hard concrete pushes into his skin leaving a cold and irritable feeling, yet he does nothing to fix it. The sun glares into his eyes and he does nothing but squint. This was what his life has come down to, nothing but submission. He has submitted to his weakness and has submitted to his brother and his anger.
"There's nothing left for me here." Shouri mutters to himself.
"Are you sure about that?" Shouri lifts his head and sees a familiar figure in brown coming towards him, his slender body and messy hair were enough of a give away for him to be able to tell who it was, even with the sun glare in his eye. His smile was pure, genuine. Shouri was grateful. "There is plenty left for you to do. His Majesty needs you here. He needs family."
"What Yu-chan needs is to go home and see his family. I know he has a duty to fulfill here, but all of his stress about Belar and all the other crap you're putting on him will only make him worse."
Conrart frowns but does not fight against Shouri. He knows that the Earth Maou is correct, that their actions against Yuri have been nothing but self absorbed, only heithing for the kingdom's benefit and ill of his own. Yuri was in poor health, as was Wolfram. And yet, the aristocrats and so forth have done nothing but push him to be as normal as possible, not for the benefit of Wolfram nor Yuri, but for everyone else, to help them to forget, or to mask the pain a bit.
"What his Majesty wants and what we can give to him are different. I want nothing more than for him to heal as quickly as possible," He looks at Shouri. "And I for one believe that he will heal much faster on Earth." He looks away, a frown set in his feature. "However, I cannot allow him to go. He is in far too much danger. And this country is in far too much danger to be left alone. He is stuck in the middle, as we all are."
"Still, Yu-chan needs to rest. And he will get that rest with or without your help. I will make sure that he gets better. Not only for his sake, but for my mother's sake as well."
"Jennifer?"
"My mother will be devastated if anything happens to Yu-chan while he's here that she could not prevent. She will blame herself and then everything will fall apart. You know how my mother is. Yu-chan is her rock, she needs him in order to be happy."
"And what of your father? Does she not care for him?"
"My mother cares for my father, but she cares for her sons more. As selfish as that sounds, it's true."
Conrart takes a breath. His heart skips. "Jennifer is a wonderful woman. She would know what to do. She always does."
Shouri looks at Conrart and sees the faint smile on his lips as he spoke about his mother. It was no secret to anyone that he had a special connection to Jennifer. He was their to save her when she needed him most. And he chose her to bear Miss Julia's spirit, to create the next Maou. She was special to him, but Shouri never learned how special she was to him, and quite frankly he was afraid to ever learn the answer to it.
"The one who should get to decide what is best for Yuri, is Yuri." Shouri says. He stands up from the steps of the temple and fixes his glasses. He glances over at Conrart. "I know that this place has a strict set of rules, but whatever Yu-chan decides to do, I'll support him on it, whether that means he wants to go home or to stay. I hope you understand that."
Conrart says nothing, but rather looks up at the sun. "His Majesty's choices are his own."
No other words were exchanged. Shouri returned to the castle first. Conrart stayed behind.
The sound of a ballpoint pen scratching paper was evident when Greta walked into Gisela's office. She watched as Gisela worked frantically with her lab results, eyeing the vials of blood closely and muttering angrily to herself. Greta was worried for Gisela as she seemed stressed and unsure of what was going on. Greta wanted to speak up, to announce her presence to Gisela to let her know that she was here, but was afraid to break her concentration.
"This is unheard of…" Gisela mutters to herself. She picks up one of the vials and moves it around a bit, trying to get a better image of the substance. "I've never seen anything like this before." She puts the vial down and writes a few more notes down.
"Umm Gisela," Greta says softly. She steps further into the cluttered office filled with medical supplies and papers. She watched as Gisela raked her fingers through her pony tail. She walked over to her table and watched the woman at work, testing the small droplets of blood with multiple solutions to come up with a feasible diagnosis. Greta's eyes sparkled with wonder and curiosity, the same feeling was filling her that she got when watching Anissina.
"His Majesty and Wolfram are in deep waters," She says. She looks at Greta, a serious expression on her face. "This blood sample, it is something unlike anything I've ever seen. There is obviously something going on inside their bodies and whatever it is it cannot be good."
Greta's eyes widen and she cannot believe what Gisela is saying. But she quickly shakes it off, remembering that she has to tell Gisela what she knows.
"Wolfram and Yuri, they said that neither of them can use their Maryoku anymore. What do you think that means, Gisela?" Greta asks frantically.
Gisela stops her work and closes her eyes. She takes a deep breath in and tries to understand this new piece of information.
"They can't use their Maryoku? That explains a lot. It must have been like this for weeks. It would explain a lot of things." She says to herself. She opens her eyes and walks over to one of the many books on the shelf on the further side of the room. She picks up an older one, covered in a bit of dust. She wipes the cover before opening it up and flipping through some of the pages. She flips and flips and Greta waits eagerly for an answer. She becomes restless until Gisela stops flipping and makes a look of astonishment and discovery.
She's found her answer.
"Poison infection. When a poison of any kind, whether fatal or benign, will cause the blood of demons to clot and absorb the Maryoku within them. This infection can last anywhere between days or months and can be deadly if not treated." Gisela reads.
Greta was silent. She was unsure how to respond. Her initial thought was to cry. But she knew that tears would do no good here. She had to stay strong and focus. This was for Wolfram and for Yuri.
"What do we need to do? To fix them?" Greta asks, her voice shaking.
Gisela closes the book and places it back on the shelf, gathering stray supplies from around the room. "Exorcism."
"Exorcism? What's that?"
Gisela hands a few things to Greta before explaining. "An Exorcism is an extraction of something from something else. In this case, poison from blood. Although, this procedure will take a bit of time and be a bit painful. I hate to say."
Greta frowns and looks at her feet. She had hoped that what Gisela would need to do would be painless, but she should not have been so naive. She should have known that more pain awaited her fathers in order for them to heal. "But it will heal them right? They will be able to use their power again and be happy, right?"
Gisela smiles and taps Greta's nose gently. "I'll do my best. But I need your help with one little thing for me."
Greta nods. "Anything!"
Gisela stands tall. "I need you to get me a flower from the garden."
Yuri and Wolfram, having been sitting so long in prolonged awkward silence, have yet to notice that Greta has disappeared, or that she has run to get help, or that the early afternoon sun has been shining in, casting rings of light over their heads. Any passerby would have said that they were halos of angels; the bodies of their king and his fiance were taken over, possessed by another worldly being that was unknown to this world.
But what was an angel to a demon? They were simply beings with a goal. But they didn't exist here. Far from it. In this world, it was kill or be killed, and the souls of the people who die are carried off, guided by Shinou. No one knows for sure where they go, but they pray that it's to somewhere better than here. A world of forever peace.
A world where pain did not exist; where there was no suffering.
"Do you blame him?" Wolfram asks.
Yuri was caught off guard and did not know how to respond. He could only ask, "What?" and stare off towards Wolfram, who has refused to look his way since he let his guard down and wept in his arms. His shirt still felt stained with the tears of his friend.
"Do you blame him? Do you blame Belar for doing this to us? Or do you blame his conscious mind, blame his poor judgement. Or perhaps, do you blame the Wincott family? They were the ones who created that damn poison that has been hurting us since that night. I mean, who do we blame for this? Really?"
Yuri was unsure how to respond. He didn't like putting blame on anyone. But this is something that needs to be considered. He puts most of the blame on Belar; that man has hurt him and his family, the country and possibly more things than Yuri knew about. He didn't feel comfortable himself knowing that he was still out there, running free, plotting, waiting.
But there was still the conflict inside of him that was running wild, his mind not able to comprehend it; how Belar got his hands on the Wincott poison. The Wincott poison was supposed to be well protected, deep inside of Shinou's temple where no one would be able to reach it. It was deemed dangerous and both he himself and the Wincott family agreed that it would be safer here in the divine protection of Lord Shinou. What Yuri cannot wrack his brain around is how Belar got his hands on it. He should have no access to the temple for many reasons.
It simply made no sense to Yuri at all. So, to cast blame just yet was risky.
"I don't know, Wolfram." He admits, his voice soft and tired. "There aren't enough factors to really decide who is the biggest contributor here."
Wolfram looks at him, finally, in disbelief. He wants to argue, say that there was plenty to go on, but knew that it was useless. Yuri was very stubborn and would not budge. He was protecting himself.
"What about Saralegui? Do you blame him?"
"Why would I blame Sara?"
"He may not be a major contributor, but he was the one to send you that message at the time, which gave Belar the perfect opportunity to sneak in. His guards were weak. He should have trained them better."
"The affairs of the guards are not Sara's fault." Yuri argues. "His guards did not follow his order until not too long ago. They still have a lot to do to truly keep Sara safe, as well as the rest of the people."
Wolfram clicks his tongue and thinks otherwise. "If they cannot do something as simple as defend themselves from Belar then they don't deserve their positions. It was Belar alone that ambushed them, maybe one or two others. The messenger team that Saralegui sent was at least 7 people big, without Belar and his men. They could have taken them on."
"It was far too risky." Yuri says.
"No. What was risky was allowing him to get anywhere near you. They knew he was here and said nothing to anyone. He could have assassinated you where you say that day. He could have attacked you in the blink of an eye and you would be dead." Wolfram fires back, his emerald eyes blazing.
Yuri remained silent. He knew that Wolfram was right. But he knew that Saralegui was not to blame. Even if his guards and messengers were overtaken and lead into a scheme that they wanted no part of, it was still risky for himself in the end. He could have died. And he suffered later on with Belar's new close range that he gained from it. He was able to swoop in and grab him, take him away from his family, his daughter not to far away, and Wolfram, helpless in all, watching in horror.
Belar had won in that moment. He was in control. He was the pawn overtaken by the Bishop. He was cornered and taken away. A dangerous game of cat and mouse.
"Being king will always mean that my life is at risk." Yuri mutters to himself. He places a hand over his heart, he could feel the thumping and pounding underneath his fingertips. Anxiety and nervousness coursed through him. "I trust you to protect me. The others too, but," He looks over at Wolfram and smiles. "If I ever did die-"
"No! You will not talk about dying after all that! You aren't dying until you're old and gray and we've been married for at least 50 years!"
"Married? 50 years!" Yuri cries. He shakes his head and runs his fingers through his hair. He can understand why Wolfram was so persist these days, that marriage is still heavy on his mind. And that he can't die now, not after surviving something like this. "One thing at a time, Wolfram."
Wolfram said nothing and looked away again, his gaze went back to the window, his eyes following the fly bone tribe members flying over head. He waved as they looked in his direction. Skeleton hands waved back.
"Papa Yuri! Papa Wolfram!" A familiar childish voice called out, along with the heavy pitter patter of footsteps running towards the room.
The two in question lift their heads and look towards the door as Greta comes running in, panting and out of breath, holding a small flower in her hands. Gisela comes rushing in moments later, not nearly as tired or has even broken a sweat. She walks inside, not before pardoning her intrusion, and walks briskly over to His Highness and Wolfram, who were confused by her sudden and rushed entrance. She sets her supplies down on the table in the middle of the room and looks on to face the two.
"I'm sorry Your Highness, but this is urgent." Gisela starts. She takes two pieces of paper from her clip board, hand written with observations and notes, and hands one to Yuri and one to Wolfram. They both take one and begin to read it. "I was testing your blood for abnormalities and I came across something that has me very concerned." She takes a deep breath before continuing. "Both your blood and Wolfram's are contaminated from the Wincott Poison. I had thought that our healings have been exorcising the poison from your blood, but unfortunately that is false. The wincott poison has been affecting your Maryoku, as Greta has informed me, and it needs to be completely expelled from your body as soon as possible."
Yuri's eyes were dead set on Gisela's notes, the words "Poison exorcism" in bold font, as if she had to push her pen deep in the paper for it to be real, made Yuri's heart race. He was fearful of just what this exorcism would be like, and how it was performed. He was almost fearful to ask.
"If you want to escape this fate with as little damage as possible, I suggest that we begin right away, Your Majesty. It is for the best." Gisela suggests.
"Yeah, but," He looks over at Wolfram. "How do we decide who goes first?"
Gisela shakes her head, pieces of green locks falling out of place. "We cannot begin just yet. I still need Lord von Wincott presence. He is the only one who can completely expel the poisons rath. He had been there to do it once before, but it seems that the pieces in your blood remained active. I will need him here in order for the exorcism to work."
Wolfram nods. "Alright. We'll be here when you're ready. But if this is truly serious, then we ask that you find him quickly."
Gisela nods. "Right away."
She takes her leave, racing out of the royal bedchamber to send word to Lord von Wincott about this. She knew that it would take a bit of time, but this was an urgent matter, so strings would need to be pulled.
Or perhaps yanked.