Prelude : Sorry (Part 4)
o.o.o.o.o.o
Murata P.O.V
Darkness was gradually taking over the room.
There were but the sounds of pouring rain and falling water to fill in the emptiness.
I was still seated on the altar, my right hand still clenching my injured shoulder as the blood flood down my left arm and onto the cold stone.
It's been only 10 seconds after I announced being condemned.
But in those 10 seconds, silence reigned.
And that silence was killing me more than my wound.
"I won't allow it." Shinou suddenly declared. "I can't let you die like this, my friend. Especially not making you suffer for so long… I can't tolerate the idea of losing you again."
I stared at him, both slightly surprised and annoyed. I am not the Daikenja you once knew, Shinou. And even if I were, this was a choice I made. How many times do I have to tell you that it isn't your fault?
But what did you mean by losing me? Does my death really bother you so much?
Gunter looked at him, a bit confused… Yozak just nodded.
"You are right Shinou Heika. We can't let little Geika here die without trying to save him… Dying of bloodloss takes time… so, although little, we still have time…" Yozak said, looking with resolution toward Shinou.
"Then do you have an idea of what to do to save his Grace, Yozak?" Gunter asked, determination taking over his desperate features.
You guys must be joking. Although I don't want to admit it, there is nothing in Shin Makoku that can undo the poison in me. Maryoku and houryoku are useless because they'll get nullified. As for medical herbs, I knew that there were no plants in our reach that can serve as coagulant. Please don't keep on with false hope… You should be worrying over Shibuya first. He is the Maou after all.
"Please, everyone… the situation is desperate but Shibuya is mo…" I tried to interrupt them, but my consciousness was starting to get unclear and I was barely able to stay awake with my will.
"If we can get him to Ulrike, maybe she can do something… " Yozak interrupted me while making sure that I didn't fall of the altar. "Or that Anissina… She might have something up her sleeve. Freezing his body like when his Excellence Gunter got poisoned by the Wincott poison, for example. "
The last statement made Gunter shiver. I sort of understood him. It must have not been very nice to become a mazoku popsicle, right? Still, he nodded to Yozak, accepting the idea.
"That's a good idea indeed." Shinou equally replied.
Then, without warning, he lifts me up from the stone altar in the bridal form. The unexpected act made the pain in my shoulder increase. But I was more distracted by the warmth that his body seemed to emit and the softness of his clothing, slightly brushing my fingers. And most surprisingly, I could hear his heartbeats as he held me closer to his chest. My body temperature increased; I was feeling more feverish than before. Both my head and heart was pounding. I protested weakly, but he ignored me.
"Eum… Shinou Heika… what are you…" Gunter tried to ask him.
"We'll teleport to the temple. There is no quicker way." Shinou replied, walking toward the water without even looking at the two other men.
Teleporting? Wouldn't that mean entering the water and landing on Earth before teleporting back in the Temple, since we couldn't teleport directly in there? Mataku, Shinou… Are you thinking about diving in that cold water with me in your arms and getting me twice as soaked, even though I am injured and feverish?!
Turning my head, I can see that Yozak was about to ask him the same thing, but before he could say anything, my old friend unleashed his maryoku and a sphere of light surrounded us. I recognized this technique. Shibuya used it quite good numbers of time to save people from the Forbidden boxes, when they were unleashed.
As for Gunter, seeing those wide eyes of his, I guess he was probably going to ask Shinou to bring him as well…
"But, with the current amount of power I have, I won't be able to bring all of you…" my carrier added, probably sensing the upcoming request.
And even though I shouldn't, I couldn't stop myself from feeling relieved… Wasn't there a saying that a dying wise man does not want to be troubled by a worrywart? Or did I just create that? Tonikaku, thinking that way made me forget temporarily that I was carried by a 4000 years old tangible ghost in an embarrassing way.
"Breath in, my friend…" he whispered, pulling me out of my thoughts.
"And think about were you want us to land."
I didn't really had time to react. We entered the water the second after and I could hear Gunter screaming "GEIKA!" before we disappeared into the vortex.
To my surprise, I wasn't whirling around like I usually am when I travel with Shibuya. My senses were dulled a bit and the pounding in my head lessen. It almost felt comfortable. I stole a glance at Shinou. With the glow of his majutsu, his blond hairs and blue irises seemed like those golden sapphire necklaces kept in Blood Pledge Castle's treasure room. Mesmerizing and beautiful. I felt as if my time stopped.
"The landing, MuraKen! You can't get distracted now!" my right mind interjected. "You have to think about where to land or you'll end up in the girls' public washroom!"
Wouldn't want that now, would we?
I concentrated as much as I could. Where do I want to land?
Or rather, what is the last place on Earth that I wish to see before dying, as Ken Murata?
It didn't take me long to decide; I didn't even have enough time to think like I usually do. I acted on an impulse.
We appeared in the riverside of the baseball court.
I looked at the place with nostalgia. I worked here as the baseball team's manager. It was here where I wasn't burdened with my role as Daikenja. It was here where I truly recognized myself as Shibuya's friend. It was here were I truly lived as Ken Murata.
Shinou stood still, letting me look at the place for a while longer. He probably understood my silence and wanted to let me prepare myself for the rest of the trip. I took my last glance at the field.
Then we plunged into the water again.
Destination: Shinou's Temple
o.o.o.o.o.o
Yozak's P.O.V
"GEIKA!" sir Gunter shouted, as I saw Shinou Heika enter the water, holding little Geika in the bridal form.
The all was so sudden; I barely had time to be shock. Na… It wasn't a good time to be shock anyway. Years of battles and spy activities taught me that being surprised at a bad moment can be fatal. And in the situation where we were, it was definitely best to think carefully and act accordingly.
Plus, Yuri Heika and Captain were probably fighting on the battlefield as we speak. I sighed in my head. Yare yare… the news of Geika dying is going to have a disastrous effect on them… unless they are harmed before the news reaches them.
Hopefully not, I thought. I sighed once more and walked up to the shocked loyal mazoku. I'll have to keep my thoughts for myself. We'll have to leave Geika in the hands of the 4000 years old ghost. There were more important matters to take care of now.
"Your excellency… please get a hold of yourself." I told him, holding his shoulder.
He turned his head at me, a worried expression on his face. I sort of understood him. I myself was quite worry over things.
"We'll have to trust Shinou Heika to take care of Geika. But for the moment, it's best for us to get out of here and try to help his Majesty and the people on the battlefield somehow." I paused to let my words get to him.
"And since we don't want to decrease the troop's moral, we'll have to keep Geika's status secret."
Gunter-kyo nodded. He lifted a finger to his chin and adorned a thoughtful expression.
"I understand. The kingdom and his Majesty's safety come first..."
He straightened his back and turned to face me, his hands on his sword.
"Yozak, I'll ask you to send some emergency messages to our allied countries via the fly bone tribe. I don't like the idea, but tell them our situation and ask them to provide us help, as our treaty dictates… We can't let Big Shimaron think that we are alone and weak… we have to prove them that by asking for war with us, they are asking for war with the rest of the world…" Gunter paused a moment, before adding:
"Plus, if our allies can provide us help, the hatred between mazoku and human won't get worser, at the very least, and Yuri Heika's hard work won't be for nothing… "
"Then what about you, your excellence?"
"I'll be going back to Blood Pledge Castle and bring Anissina-san to Shinou's Temple, with her body-freezing device. I can't help but worry that Ulrike-sama won't be able to help Geika. And I'll also send some battalion to assist Gwendal at the shores."
His eyes were so serious and determined that I couldn't help but to admire him. The rain outside had turned into a storm. I nodded to his instructions.
"Understood. I'll do my best."
But of course, I was still haunted with the idea that we might be too late.
Yare yare… I hope that Geika doesn't die before getting help by Ulrike or Anissina-san. It would really make bocchan sad.
Shinou, your Majesty or whatever you are called…
Don't you dare bring us back a dead Geika!
o.o.o.o.o.o
Murata's P.O.V
I probably had a fever or an infection. My head was throbbing so hard that I thought it could crack. And even though my body was burning, my fingertips were cold, as if the blood had run out of it. My voice was so weak I almost sounded like a dying cat.
The pain from my injured shoulder had just multiplied by 10 when we finally entered the room where Ulrike was. My eyesight was very bad; my glasses were shattered and my senses were getting duller. My lips felt dry and I could hear myself starting to pant, slowly. I felt tired. So tired that I almost wished I could sleep at the spot, in the arms of the one holding me.
Ulrike's expression and frantic actions were what made me remain awake. Even with my bad eyesight, I was able to tell that she was more than shocked by my state and that she was frenetically searching (and making the other priestess search) for the cure-all that she stored in the Temple ages ago. I didn't know that there were such a thing in Shin Makoku, but I was seriously doubting that it would work since I myself wasn't able to determine what was the true nature of the poison. I started to understand, as Ken Murata, why people tend to cling on false hope.
Shinou was still holding me in his arms. There wasn't a single place in the temple that had a bed, if not for the priestesses' quarters, who were way too far from the storages and oracle room, where the tangible ghost held most of his powers. A part of me wanted to ask him why he didn't just place me on top of the forbidden boxes, but I guessed that he didn't want me to be uncomfortable. On the other side, I wanted to believe that these reasons were all just general excuses and that Shinou kept holding me in his arms simply because he didn't wanted me to leave his sides.
But seeing my blood flowing out and tainting Shinou's hand and cloth, I was starting to wish that he'd just put me down. Or at least, that'd he'll stop looking at me like that… And those annoying words that he kept muttering silently, as if he didn't wanted me to hear them but that he thought I would comprehend at the same time…
"Don't die, my Daikenja…" I thought I heard him say.
Geez… I didn't felt good and my temper was worsening. I almost wanted to shout: "What a possessive child you are! Can't let go of your 4000 years old babysitter?"
However, I was still mastering myself. And it was easy for me to guess his true thoughts, even as tired as I was…
Ulrike entered the room abruptly, holding what seemed to me a small green crystal vial in her hands. I could hear her panting as she walked toward us urgently.
"This is the one of a kind cure-all potion that the 18th Maou's Royal Apothecary managed to create at the end of his life. The 18th Maou didn't want to risk wasting it or letting it get stolen and sold in the black market, so he stored it in the temple." Ulrike informed us, as she showed us the vial.
I frowned as I heard the number. The 18thMaou?! Then, the potion would be at least 700 years old. Wouldn't it have expired by now? I seriously hoped that I don't have to drink it. My throat was so dry, I find it difficult to swallow my saliva. Plus, I couldn't imagine how a 700 years old medicine tastes like.
I listened carefully to Ulrike's words while hoping that we only had to apply a drop or something on my wound for it to work. But fate was fighting against me and I heard her say:
"If we follow the Royal Apothecary's note, the dose is only good for one use… And it has to be taken orally…"
What did I do in my past lives to deserve this?
Shinou looked at me, looked at the vial and then back at me a few times, wondering something I could not guess. But the way how he seemed to only look at the lower part of my face was suspicious enough… I couldn't think much of it; my mind was more bothered by the choice of dying in pain or swallowing possibly expired medication.
Then, without warning, he slowly let go of his hold on my legs, kneeling a bit as my feet touches the ground. I almost thought that he was going to leave me on the floor, but his left hand was still placed behind my back, supporting me.
"Ulrike. Hand me the vial…" he ordered the 800 years old priestess out of the blue.
I saw her hands reach out and pass the green vial to Shinou, who took it in his right hand. He uncorked the glass vessel and drank its' content. I stared at him with wide and surprised eyes… What the hell are you doing?
I didn't have the time or the strength to ask him…
He suddenly pushed his lips onto mine.
I tensed up for a moment, shocked and confused. My left hand was instinctively trying to push him away. I unsuccessfully tried to protest.
But my resistance didn't last long. I could feel the cure-all slipping through my lips as Shinou's tongue pressured them to open, forcing me to swallow the medicine.
It tasted like brut sparkling wine; fizzy with a hinted sweetness.
A part of me was wishing that the moment wouldn't end, that the feelings the act tried to convey where those I thought they were. An another part of me was rejecting the romantic reasoning that came to mind, thinking instead that Shinou did that by fear that I would be unable and/or unwilling to drink the cure-all.
But even when the drug finished passing through my throat, our lips were still connected, Shinou's tongue invading slowly the corners of my mouth, cutting both my breath and senses from reality. He had dropped the vial and was holding my head, or more, pressing it toward him.
My eyes lid dropped midway and I was gazing at him weakly; I felt as if I lost my will and instinctively surrendered myself to his embrace. I was still bleeding, still dying slowly in his arms, but I no longer felt the pain in my shoulder. I wasn't sure if it was the effect of the cure-all, or was it the proof that I was going to die soon…
I didn't know how long we stayed like that. I only knew that as soon as Shinou released me, my mind woke up from what seemed to me a dream. The sweetness has faded and my body was starting to react to the medicine. I could see a flushed Ulrike kneeling to my side and hear her asking me if I was ok with worry. I turned to look at her, but I was abruptly taken by a nauseous sensation...
And I vomited blood on the floor… I was turned face down the marble floor, kneeling, Shinou's arm still wrapped around me to make sure I didn't completely fall on the floor. My eyes widen at the sight of the red liquid and I was panting heavily.
"Geika!" Ulrike exclaimed, shock and extreme anxiety clouding her eyes. She looked at the spilled blood and muttered words that confirmed my damnation:
"This is… Impossible… How… your body is rejecting the cure-all…"
I couldn't see Shinou's expression when those words were said, but I guess he was shocked and unable to believe that I was truly condemned. His grip tightened and my shoulder hurt. His voice was severe.
"Then what other options do we have left…" he thought aloud…
Plan A was to get help from Ulrike. Plan B was to turn me into a popsicle with the help of lady Anissina's body freezing machine. I knew that we were lacking time. And as I thought that, I lifted my head to look at Ulrike, few drops of blood still dripping from my lips and coughed.
"Ulrike, we'll need lady Anissina…" Shinou told her with a slightly stressed authoritarian tone. "Can you tell me where she might be so that we met "fetch" her?"
Ulrike nodded and summoned her crystal ball. Everyone was remaining silent as a small star appeared at the lower left corner of the sphere. She looked at it with disbelief and her hands were trembling.
"What's wrong Ulrike?" I managed to ask her between two coughs.
"Lady Anissina… she…"
P.S. I know there is a lot of Prelude. I PROMISE that there is only one part left!
Thanks everyone!