Chapter 26 | On the Battlefield IV
She fooled me, Madara thought in contempt as he stepped up the long staircases of the castle tower. She took my blood and made a fool of me. His hands fisted at his sides. He did not think to trust her explanations as to what his blood meant to that scroll she carried with her, so there was no reason as to why he should assume her readings about Izuna or Mio would become reality. He chased the ideas from his head and started his ascent to meet with Enki that morning.
He nearly forgot about his charge when she came rushing out of the tearoom and twirled in front of him in her patterned robes. Yayoi grinned. "I wore my new robes today," she told him eagerly. "Do you like?"
"No." Madara continued to the staircase without a second look at her clothes.
Yayoi pursued him, her wooden sandals making a racket behind him. "You didn't even look at them!" she complained. "You should at the very least compliment a lady's wardrobe when she requests it."
He wondered who she thought he was as he reached the next landing. The girl intercepted his path and leaned against the railing of the next set of steps. "They are fine fabrics," she begun, fascinated, watching him pass and following him. "My father had them delivered from the Lightning Country. The gold thread was brought from a Merchant's Guild near your country. We receive our silver from the Frost Country and emeralds from Kurata. I have a chain link of emeralds, each prettier than the next, that was wrought by a famous jeweler there, but did you know Kurata is not famous for its emeralds? It's famous for its weapons. There is a man on the mountain called Shin. He is said to be able to mold metal with his hands. That's impossible, is it not?"
She blabbered on about her luxuries, going off on different tangents every so often only to return to the subject of her dresses and rings and necklaces. She silenced upon entering the tearoom where a pointed glare from her father managed the feat.
"Why are you here, Yayoi?" questioned Enki.
"Ayuka-sama left me in charge of the temple. I may sit on meetings if I wish," she answered courteously. "It is her wish."
"Ayuka's authority leaves with her. You have no place here. Leave."
Yayoi stood ostentatious, refusal pulsing through her like blood pumping in her veins and she meant to stay. "Father."
"No, Yayoi." Enki's tone firmed. He gestured Seiko. "Remove her."
"Yayoi-hime, please, follow me, I will escort you to your bedroom." Seiko gave her no choice but to submit the minute his hand grasped her arm in a vise grip.
Her defiance was worth nothing in this room and her only salvation had been Ayuka. Yayoi had probably been placed to report meetings back to her teacher and whatever Enki had planned to discuss today seemed like something he did not wish to share with the priestess. For a pair that looked so much like allies, they certainly acted more like enemies helping one another for the benefit of a common goal.
Was that common goal Mio? He wondered. Everyone that thought of getting their hands on Mio wanted something that came from her. He hoped it did not mean what he was thinking as he chased the disturbing thought away given Enki was at least four times their age. However, age never stopped men from seeking younger brides.
He was revolted, not so much the concept (as it was common practice) but the image it produced in his mind. Simply put, Mio should never be put in the same sentence as Enki or in the same room.
Something crashed, a ceramic vase split in dozen pieces to the point its original shape was unrecognizable, and his attention shifted elsewhere. He did not have the time to think of Mio, nor the incentive to dig deep enough for a shred of consideration over the warnings Ayuka had given him because in the Sun Country, the only ally he had was himself. Every Uchiha was either loyal to his grandmother or his father and they were present because it was an order and the Ito, without a doubt, obeyed his orders because he haphazardly secured the Sun Country for Ito Tomoji. However, if he met with any dissent from Takuei, the little favor he held with the Ito vanished. The Motou clan and the Mikami clan were unreliable allies and he immediately understood that there was a reason as to why Enki agreed to any of his terms.
Enki was toying with him now, attempting to attach strings to him to manipulate him like a puppeteer and Madara stupidly allowed his attention to slip off the subject over Ayuka's silly prognostications. Izuna would be fine. Mio would hopefully not become an old man's wife against her will. He needed to start thinking about saving his own skin before worrying about everyone else's and the key to all his problems had stalked him for days to his displeasure for a chance meeting with one of his father's shinobi. If he wanted favor, he could start there—using Yayoi to his advantage for simply being Enki's daughter.
Madara faced Enki directly, the sound of Yayoi's complaints vehement in the background. "She should stay."
The entire room fell silent, even Yayoi stopped protesting at the sound of his suggestion.
"Stay?" Enki queried, a smile quirked on his lips. The fool planned to play the statement off as a joke as everything else he found displeasing. "For what valuable reason should she stay?"
Meeting Yayoi's wide hazel eyes across the room, he gave her an assuring inclination of the head. "It is my duty to keep her safe," he said, returning to Enki. "I need her to stay in order for me to assure her safety for the duration of this assembly. I do not wish to take any blame for any injury that may occur if she were out of sight."
There was a pregnant pause.
"I see no issue with it if you want to see my daughter safe," Enki concurred finally, tightlipped. He gestured for Seiko to release her. "Let us commence."
Seiko let the dark-haired priestess go with a harsh shove.
"Seiko," Enki warned. "Yayoi is the princess of this country; she should be treated with absolute care." With fatherly concern, he followed his daughter's trajectory with his gaze from the entrance, rubbing her throbbing arm, to the empty space behind Madara. "Are you well, daughter?"
"That beast of yours nearly pulled my arm off," she grumbled.
"And that beast shall be put in his place."
Seiko turned away, arms folded over his chest, indifferent to the promise of punishment.
"Let us move onto a more interesting prospect," Enki decided. "The Senju clan has lost a few shinobi to ours…or rather, yours." His eyes zipped to Madara. "I hope you do not mind the honor."
Eyebrows knotted in frustration, he avoided clenching his hands into fists. "If it is Senju you want dead, I will bring them to you," he said courteously. "The Uchiha clan and the Ito clan are here to defend your crown."
"You may use us as you see fit," Takuei added with a suspicious grin.
"Good, good," Enki drawled, eyes dancing. "Then you do not mind engaging the Senju in proper combat come the morrow?" The quiet spread its long limbs along the room's space and he accepted it as an invitation to continue. "It is imperative for us to reach the Southern Temple as it has come to my attention that one of the Motou clan's treasures was not retrieved from the underground. This can wait no longer than it already has, it is of absolute importance that I have that scroll in my hands."
Enki brought the meeting to a close after asking for everyone to meet at the break of dawn for a short briefing following the start of a new war. The Senju clan was bound to wait, protecting what remained of the Sone clan and whatever that treasure might be—of that, Madara had no doubt.
Madara stepped out of the room with Yayoi at his heels. She made it without speaking for as long as it took for the others walking astride them to disperse.
"I will not be used!" she announced, infuriated. "You might think me stupid, but I know when someone is attempting to use me to bait my father and I will not have it. I am not an object, I am a human being, and you will not pull another stunt like this again if you want to be my friend."
The outburst came as a surprise. He did think her stupid enough to overlook it, but his observations were incorrect and he acknowledged that and her perceptiveness.
"I have no intention of being your friend, Yayoi," he replied easily. "I did you a favor. You would have otherwise been returned to your room to sulk, but I spoke in your favor and overturned your father's decision. Be grateful."
"I can see why you have taken this extreme. My father is a very difficult man and he has put you in an awful place, but the least you could have done was ask if I accepted your terms."
"Would that have made a difference?" he asked, curious.
"I wouldn't be confronting you now, would I?" she returned, hands on her hips. "I would have simply agreed to it. Ayuka-sama left me to stand in and report everything that goes on in those meetings, so I needed to be there and how I managed to get there would not have made a difference."
She relaxed the tension in her shoulders as she exhaled. "We can help one another. You may continue speaking out for me during these strategic encounters and I will allow you to use me as bait to ensure your survival in this country. If that is not enough, I am moderately trained in medical ninjutsu and have a knack for mending broken bones."
She sounded like a terrible merchant attempting to sell a bad product—completely unconvincing. "Are you hearing yourself speak?"
"I also require a formal introduction to Katsura-san."
He stared at her absently. He imagined he might have better use for Yayoi as she was not as ignorant as he initially assumed. She understood from the moment he spoke on her behalf that he planned to use her for the benefit of his own survival, which gave her some value to the grand scheme of his plans.
"I will introduce you to Katsura if you tell me of your mistress," he bargained.
She raised a finger. "Ah, ah, only after you have done it will any word of my mistress Ayuka leave my lips."
"You're surprisingly disloyal."
"I am loyal to love and love lies with that man," she proclaimed.
She was a fool.
Katsura appeared at the staircase searching for him since he approached him immediately. "Madara-sama, there is news of Ito Tomoji's impatience from your grandmother."
Yayoi beamed at Katsura admiringly. The man could not have had better timing.
"Katsura, we can talk about this afterward. First, introduce yourself to the Sun Princess."
"I apologize for my rudeness," said Katsura facing the girl politely. "I am Katsura."
"I am Yayoi, the Sun Priestess," she recited as if from a script. "If you need so much as a favor, you may call on me."
Blinking, Katsura nodded and excused himself.
"Happy?"
"I could die happy now."
"I have introduced you. Now tell me about the witch's scroll."
Yayoi snapped out of her daze and grabbed him by the wrist. "Here is not the place to speak of such things. Come."
She dropped hold of him and started down the staircase. He followed her descent and pursued her out of the castle tower. He chased her through mild crowds with only the flutter of the fabric of her dress serving as navigation until they finally arrived before the tall doors of the Sun Temple. Priests and priestesses spilled from the entrance and the scent of incense was thick in the air. She beckoned him to follow her further and he entered into religious territory where twin statues of gods flanked a wide altar. Several more members of the temple were before it performing duties as she slinked past undetected through a door to his left into a corridor of candles and religious paraphernalia in the form of green beaded jewelry and smaller statues of mythical creatures he had never seen before, but ruled the stories that established the Motou clan's religion.
Yayoi stopped walking after reaching a small, cluttered room at the top of a short staircase above a wide landing. There was hardly room to walk more than five steps with a moderate sized bed on one end and a wide chest at another. Clothes made of silk and necklaces of gold, pearls, and emeralds spilled from the partly closed trunk which gave evidence of other hidden luxuries making this tiny area Yayoi's bedroom within the temple, though she owned another across her father's quarters in the inner circle of the castle.
"Was the move necessary?" he questioned unhappily. He did not care to speak of such things out in the open as he had enough enemies in one country to last him a lifetime, what did it matter that they learned of his intent to uncover the secret of Ayuka's dubious divinations.
"Absolutely. Nobody is supposed to know of Ayuka-sama's scroll. It is forbidden to speak of it aloud," she said hurriedly. "The temple is the safest area as shinobi are not allowed to set foot on sacred ground and as you are the shinobi and I the innocent temple maiden that you chased in, our gods' wrath will only focus on yourself. I hope you don't mind."
He did not care. "How accurate are her predictions?"
Yayoi laughed. "You are off. Ayuka-sama does not make predictions, she reads pathways, which I assume she did for you since you are here asking questions. Pathways are the many directions one's life is capable of taking where different decisions have the ability of opening new ventures or closing others. It adheres to the principal that one is the master of their own future rather than the more favorable ideal that a heavenly entity has chosen your path in life. It is a special scroll. The Kuronuma clan call it the Fate Sphere because it can reveal anyone's fate to a person able to interpret it like Ayuka-sama."
"You did not answer my question."
"That was answer enough. Her readings are totally accurate depending on the decisions you choose in life. Whatever she has told you that has you so upset was the complete truth." Yayoi plopped down on the edge of the bed with a curious glint in her eyes. "So, what did she tell you?"
"That my brother would die."
"I hope you're not too terribly attached to him," Yayoi remarked.
Madara glared at her.
"Sorry," she said carelessly. "Ayuka-sama always said that death is an inescapable fate, one can avoid it once or twice, but it is so unlikely that a person might overcome it." Seeing as none of her words did much to lighten his mood, she continued. "Surely, Ayuka-sama offered you some kind of warn—"
The door slid open to reveal Kikumi, the freckled girl that also served as Ayuka's attendant, who gasped at the sight of him. She rounded on her companion. "What are you thinking bringing a shinobi into sacred ground? Why is he in your bedroom? I am reporting you to Kousei-sama this instant."
Kikumi sped off and Yayoi shot after her, the two girls disappearing behind the door.
"You do not tell the pig anything! Get back here!" shouted Yayoi.
"We swore oaths upon our gods, the same oaths you are besmirching by bringing a man into your chambers—"
"Nobody cares about the oaths, have you any idea how many harlots Kousei brings into this sacred temple!"
He heard a crash followed by Kikumi's yelp and the sound of a struggle.
"Act like a lady!"
"We are going back whether you like it or not. I will drag you if need be!"
"Yayoi-hime, you are absolutely disgraceful!"
"Shut your stupid mouth!"
Yayoi returned half-dragging Kikumi before pushing her into a seat on the bed and shutting the door. She smiled pleasantly, returning to her seat. "You have met Uchiha Madara, have you not?"
Kikumi stole a hesitant glance. "Briefly."
"If you want to talk about Ayuka-sama's Fate Sphere, Kikumi knows more of it because she's her successor," Yayoi revealed.
"What are you saying? The scroll is a secret between Ayuka-sama, ourselves, and the Kuronuma clan!" Kikumi protested. "You are impossible! What did he promise you?" One glance at the innocent bat of Yayoi's eyelashes seemed to have told her everything. "Are you serious? You sold these secrets for an introduction to a man?"
"He is not just any man!" Yayoi retorted. "I honestly do believe this will be the one!"
Madara rolled his eyes.
"You are a Sun Priestess! You are to remain pure until your service concludes!"
Yayoi chortled.
"You didn't?" snapped Kikumi.
"I have! And you can do nothing about it! Live in the shame of this knowledge, Kikumi, live in it!"
"You disgusting ogre! Why are you so disgraceful?" Her voice sounded as if she were on the verge of frustrated tears and her eyes were quickly turning glassy. "Ayuka-sama would be so disappointed in you—I'm disappointed in you!"
"That's fine! I feel far too good about myself to care!"
Madara took the moment of their distraction to slip away. However, their argumentative voices reached his ears all the way down the flight of stairs, but though the situation begun miserably lackluster, he came away from it with a new prospect. Kikumi understood the Fate Sphere best as Ayuka's successor, meaning if there were a way to chase away his doubt in Ayuka's readings and a chance for his brother to live, that girl had the answers.
On the following morning, Madara received a summons to the king's chambers and entered as a slender woman hurriedly gathered her robes from the ground before scampered out of sight. Enki sat in the comfort of his mattress covered in his finery and mirroring the knowing smile Madara had steadily grown to despise.
"Do not mind the girl," he said with a sickening laugh. "We did not expect you to be up so quickly. She was a wonderful bedmate, I promise you she was. I'd recommend her. I would not mind sharing."
He waited on an answer to his inquiring stare. "I am capable of finding my own women," said Madara evenly. "However, I am here because you summoned me. Speak, heika, I have an army to command."
"You were spotted in the temple. I hope you understand it is forbidden for shinobi, foreign or not, to set foot inside."
"I am aware."
"Let it not occur a second time." Enki waved him out. "Go on, off to your war councils."
Madara left knowing there was something hidden in the temple Enki wanted to keep a secret, which oddly reminded him of the scroll he wished for them to retrieve from the Southern Temple. Would the secrets of their kinjutsu be within this temple somewhere, or was it something more dangerous than that? He thought curiously, sealing away the information for he predicted would become useful in time.
xl: Oh, hello there. This will be a quick end note. There is a poll running on my profile and a new announcement that has to do with what's going to be happening in October. I also want to apologize for cutting this chapter in half (but it had to be done) and for it literally being one month since the last update (school + studying + exams, you know the drill).
I would also like to thank these fabulous people: Rimahatake, Loteva, HushedFable, Aries01xD, CeliaSingsSongs, and Meidou Rima (Hello, Meidou Rima! Thank you so much for reading my story and enjoying it. Your words made me feel so wonderful and motivated to do better. Do you by any chance speak Spanish? Because if you do and it is easier, you can write to me in it. I'm fluent. :P) for being reviewing the previous chapter. I would also like to thank all the new readers that have favorited or followed (or both) the story! It always amazes me when people pick this story up with that summary.
Thank you so much for reading, and I hope to see you when I see you with more chapters to make up for my absence! Bye!
There will be a preview up for the following chapter up on my LJ either on Tuesday night or Wednesday afternoon...Pacific Time.
P.S. - I linked the story's character list in my profile. If you have no idea who any of these OCs are, check it out, otherwise wait a bit because I'm going to kill some off. Just kidding...or am I?