Chapter 36 | The Death of Kings I
Mio panicked at the sight of all the blood around Madara and hated that her next reaction was to become squeamish. Her extensive medical knowledge extended to the understanding of how to clean and dress a wound, neither of which she did well.
She made a dangerous gamble that day, one that weighed heavily on her conscious. She endangered Madara's life for the sake of proving that Ayuka's plans for him had not ended and that her threat to see him killed had been a bluff. She had no answer as of yet, only the fear that he had been left in such a terrible state that he might die without it truly being her intention.
Mio started to unbuckle the pieces of his broken armor. She grew frustrated by her own clumsy fingers and the unconscious shaking of her hands. She often shot glances at every shadow on the wall, gauging her location from the little she knew of the island, but went back to tearing at the fasteners when the knots turned cumbersome for her nervous fingers. Once stripped of his armor, she wiped the sweat beading on her forehead and shuddered as she took in a breath. The scent of blood stung, burning in her eyes until they began to water.
She sniffled noisily. She cleaned her blood off her hands before she peeled back his shirt to see a deep gash across his side that threatened to bleed him to death and a stab wound through his left shoulder that had left the arm limp. There were several other cuts, some shallow, others deep, but the few endangering his life had been the first she inspected.
She bundled up the bottom of her robe and tore a long strip of fabric. She pressed it to the bleeding cut. The blood soaked into it quickly. No matter how much pressure she applied to it, it continued to bleed and he was growing pale.
Mio held her hand under his nose, but did not feel his breath. She held her head near in the hopes of hearing something, but she didn't. Her heart throbbed wildly and she pressed her ear to his chest in search of a heartbeat. Nothing came. The only sound she heard was that of her own frantic breathing and her heart's palpitations. A tear rolled off the bridge of her nose, followed by a choked up sob.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered, the guilt gnawing at her chest. She rubbed a tear from her eye. "I'm so sorry."
A hiss reached her ears and she lifted her head, tears running down her face. Madara scrunched his face up in pain and let out a groan. She touched his face, placed both hands to either side of it. The shock ebbed away her sadness and replaced it with hope. "You're alive," she whispered. He cracked open one eye with great difficulty and then the other, having trouble focusing on her face. "Stay awake."
His eyelids drooped, but he fought against the drowsiness, attempting to move. He uttered her name beneath his breath and it shook her.
"Madara, stay awake," she urged him, backing away so quickly she hurt herself. She had completely forgotten Ayuka stabbed her.
She pushed past the sharp pain and ran in the direction of the entrance to the cavern. She reached it to find a giant boulder blocking the entrance, sealing them away to endure Ayuka's torture. She pressed both hands flat against its surface and tried to push it, putting every ounce of her strength behind her palms, but as soon as she applied pressure, her pain doubled. She bent over, hand shooting to cover it, the blood flowing from the stab wound doubled and as it did, her strength depleted.
Mio pulled her hand from her stomach slowly. The blood dripped from it, splattering to the floor in large quantities. She cursed Ayuka for leaving her to bleed out to death as she had left Madara.
She endured the horrible pain, wheezing as she stumbled backward, assessing the boulder one last time. She needed enough energy to help Madara and enough to break the boulder. She never tried to break a boulder before and new that if she ever did, it would be something smaller. She thought it through. Her legs were stronger than her arms, so she would need to rely on that strength alone.
She braced herself for the recoil as she took one last step back and lifted her leg. The movement betrayed her concentration, sending a paralyzing ache through her body from the stomach wound, but she managed to slam the sole of her foot against the surface and saw results. She made a dent and the cavern shook with a horrid sound, but the pain that shot up her leg weakened her a long minute. She distracted herself by wondering how many shinobi it had taken to push the boulder into place. She tried to imagine it through Ayuka's eyes to push past the excruciating pain as she kicked the boulder a second and a third time, until the center crumbled revealing a short walk before the edge of a cliff. The force of the last hit was enough to do away with the rock. It crumbled completely.
Mio fell back as the obstruction cleared away in the form of broken pieces bouncing off one another as they rushed downward. She rushed to her feet, letting out a cry as her hand shot down to hold her stomach.
She made it to Madara's side, careful about touching him with her bloody hands as she pulled him onto her back. She struggled with attempting to stand. In her condition, he felt too heavy for her to carry even though that training in the Iron Country had been grueling in terms of the daily weight increase. She should have been able to pick him up and go, but that was if she was in perfect health.
She stood with trembling knees and her entire body radiating pain. She was bleeding and crying and swore she sprained her ankle. She could have easily given up and as interesting as a prospect that presented to be, she didn't want Madara to die. And she had a chance to help him.
She didn't know how she was going to do it, but she was going to take him to Kiyo and hoped the elderly woman could help him while she looked for an Uchiha medic.
Mio stopped abruptly once outside, staggering. She sensed a new sphere on the island.
The Reflective Sphere guardian? That meant a Kuronuma on the island. A new thought surfaced in her mind. There were more medical-nin in the Kuronuma than hunters and shinobi combined. She turned away from the direction of Kiyo's village and chased the pulse of Okimi's sphere, praying she had made the right decision.
She covered a lot of ground before realizing whoever held the sphere was coming right at her and she forced herself forward. If she reached them first, she might be able to hide them from Ayuka, unless she already knew they were on the island and she was running head first into another of her traps. Why else would she not place any shinobi around the mountain that held her and Madara captive? She was either going senile or plotting some more torture. Mio guessed the latter, but that didn't stop her from running. She didn't care because she would find a way.
Mio was stumbling towards the end, vertigo catching up to her, but she persevered. Once she reached the poisonous battlefield, she would see the Kuronuma that had taken Okimi's place as guardian and it meant help. Her ankle twisted and she came crashing down to the floor, unable to escape the excruciating results of her fall.
And then a voice reached her. The artifact pulse was practically at her ear.
"Mio!"
Pushing herself up, careful with Madara as she set him on his back, she sat up searching for the voice. Her heart started pumping harder, louder. She stared forward, watching the shrubberies shudder as a person emerged from behind them. She let out a painful sound at the sight of Takuto, windswept and dirty but alive. With what remained of her strength, she got to her feet and ran straight for him, throwing her arms around him. She couldn't believe it. He squeezed her gently before pulling away, his eyes going straight to the wound in her stomach, and she went limp, unable to stand the pain any longer.
Takuto caught her. "No, Mio, stay awake!"
She felt her eyes rolling back and her vision going black. She heard him curse and felt the hard ground underneath her back. He started to tug at the obi around her waist, determined to heal her, but she catch his hand. "Madara first," she whispered, struggling for breath. Her own voice sounded distant, but she needed to warn him. "Island is not safe. Take us to Kiyo. She lives close. Near the coast by the port. She has herbs. She has—"
It felt like she was dying. When she closed her eyes all the pain left her. It felt a lot like dying.
If she survived, she never wanted to feel that feeling again.
A fire was burning near her, the firewood crackling at her ears and the heat warming her strangely cold skin. She woke with a hammering heart, searching everywhere in the quaint room. The single window showed the sea from an elevated place, the direction reminding her of the long houses with many rooms in the coastal village. She didn't give thought to anything else because her mind went straight to Madara and the hope that Takuto worked the miracle he needed to survive.
Mio searched for Madara immediately after waking, ignoring the lingering pain the wound had left behind, exiting the small room into a long wooden hallway filled with rooms. She remembered pressing her ear to his chest in search of a heart that seemed nonexistent and remembered the ache and fear that ran through her in response. He had been limp when she had pulled him onto her back and his breathing had been shallow, almost absent, the entire time she had been running towards the Reflective Sphere guardian.
She found Madara in Takuto's care. The blond Kuronuma medic was changing the bandages on his burns in the yellow-orange glow of a fire burning on the hearth. He lathered the injury with a green paste dotted with black specks that carried a strong smell.
"Is he okay?" Mio asked quietly, shutting the door closed at her back.
"He will be," answered Takuto. "I got to him in time to give him the antidotes to the three poisons in his body. You were right in asking to heal him first, though you had internal bleeding and damage to an organ which was not made any better by you carrying him on your back."
She reached his side, putting her left hand on his right shoulder and leaning in to rest her cheek on the top of his head. "We are alive because of you. Thank you, Takuto." She covered her mouth with her other hand as she stared at Madara, seeing the rise and fall of his chest. "I thought I might lose him and—"
Takuto suddenly turned his head and she took a step away as he looked up to her with an odd expression. The unassuming air about him gave his thoughts away.
"He is a guardian," she whispered harshly. "He is my guardian and I put his life in jeopardy. I gambled with his life, Takuto."
"I know," he said, finishing his work bandaging Madara's arm before moving onto the awful wound on his side. The skin was flaming red, but the wound had been sealed to a certain extent. At her disturbed face, he decided to elaborate. "I want to leave no scar." He left his seat and gestured for her to take it. "You tried to save him, you weren't gambling with his life. You took a risk finding me instead of another."
She sat, her mind abuzz with questions she couldn't ask because she thought back to the time she uttered the words, "Do it," as Ayuka threatened Madara's life. She did it to prove a point, but if she had been wrong, Madara would have been killed in the instant she spoke those words and she would have been to blame.
"No, not that," she admitted, compelled to speak the truth of her situation. "Hag wants the Universe Sphere. She wants it returned to Kuronuma Nishiki—he's alive, grandfather didn't kill him—" She paused for breath, a dull ache in her stomach made her shift uncomfortably. He stopped what he was doing to face her, eyebrows knitted in disbelief. "She asked me to choose between my guardians, Madara or—"
"To—"
"Don't speak that name!"
She keeled over in a fit of coughs, holding her stomach with both arms. She recovered after a moment.
"You chose the Universe Sphere," said Takuto, pressing the edge of a small knife into the red skin and begun to reopen it. Madara made a hissing sound, but remained still.
"I did it because I felt Ayuka was not done with Madara, that she still needed him for something. I chose the Universe Sphere because I didn't think she would hurt him, but I shouldn't have said anything." She lowered her face to conceal her watering eyes. "I feel I should have stayed silent, but I said it and I feel guilty for it. He could have died. It's not on me to play with his life. It's his life. I don't want to be that type of person. I don't want to be like her."
Takuto's concentration didn't waver as he offered her a response. "You did what you thought was right. Maybe it was a bad decision, but you are alive." After making a perfect incision, Takuto healed the wound and left behind no trace of its existence. He covered the area with black paste. "You are alive and he is alive."
That didn't help her feel any better. He was still hurt because she couldn't give up Tobirama's name. If she had, Madara wouldn't have been tortured. But if she had, the Mikazuki clan would have gone after Tobirama and killed him n for the sphere.
"I involved him in my mess."
Takuto washed his hands clean of Madara's blood in basin of warm water and dried them on a cloth. He walked to the door, opening it wide. "Come on, Mio," he said. "He needs to sleep and we need to talk."
She rose from her seat and followed him back to the room where she had woken. He sat her down at the edge of her bed and crouched down in front of her, reaching to take her hands. He held them clasped between his and stared up at her, his dark rose eyes full of concern. "You should be resting, Mio," he advised. "Leave me to worry for his recovery."
"It is impossible," she said. "I cannot think to rest. Ayuka is probably hounding us and it won't be long before she has her underlings plowing through the villages." The thought brought a question to mind and she leveled her gaze with his. "How did you manage to get away? Enki would not send for you without shinobi to watch you. How are you here, Takuto?"
He pulled one hand away and reached into his clothes. He tugged out the handheld mirror made of black metal shaped in an intricate design. Okimi's artifact. She longingly pressed her fingertips to the cold surface and filled with the sadness she thought to have overcome. It came at her with a force that left her chocked up in emotion and unable to speak.
"You used Okimi's sphere?" she said quietly.
He nodded.
"I don't understand. How did you inherit the sphere? Did it choose you?" There were ways to circumvent the rule, but she was the one that chose who held what artifact, and if the artifact wanted Takuto, then it would want Takuto.
"Musashi-sama once told me the artifacts pick up on the subtleties—an inner desire, a rumination, an afterthought," he explained, following the lines of the intricate design with his eyes. "He said that an artifact knows a Shugosha's heart. I think you unconsciously chose your guardians, thought about the people you wanted at your surroundings. That would explain how Uchiha Madara and myself have acquiesced to artifacts without you assigning them directly. You gave the Reflective Sphere to return to Okimi and Shin gave the Nature Sphere to Madara. It would make sense."
"My great-grandfather…?"
She had seen him fighting bravely, had watched him die by Hiryuu's hand, and had experienced a pain so devastating as she recalled those images. Okimi and Enya stepping out together, side-by-side, with an army of shinobi at their back. She felt the second Okimi's voice disappeared from her head that she had died.
Takuto read the situation and his mood changed as well. "Hashirama and I…we didn't make it," he said quietly. "Not in time to save everyone."
She nodded.
"Okimi was alive when I found her."
The emotion poured out into the form of a single tear. "She was…?"
Takuto turned away, intent on changing the subject. "You should rest."
"I need to know."
"Okimi was trying to heal his wounds," he said. "She was…she was holding onto Enya—a part of him. She held on, saying one of them needed to survive because of Uzuki."
He paused, fumbling for words, and she clutched his hand to stop herself from sobbing.
"Uzuki, too?" she asked tremulously. Uzuki, the stern Kuronuma Elder that had taken over her training after Shin left the mountain. She was Enya's mother. And Enya, Okimi's husband, who she had always remembered laughing.
He nodded as he raked his hand through his hair, a heavy sigh escaping his lips. "She wanted so badly to save Enya…she had no idea she was fighting a losing battle," he said. "I tried to help her. Tried everything I could think of and everything she taught me. The life I wanted to save so badly was the one I lost. She cried about her girls. Mio, they don't have anyone."
She heard the break in his voice and reached forward to wrap her arms around his head. He let out an awful sound as he grabbed hold of her.
"I have nobody, Mio," he cried, and it broke her heart. "They took my family. All of them."
"We have each other," she said, the tears dripping from her eyes. "And the twins, they'll have us."
She felt him shaking in her arms. She couldn't think to ask him of Sako and Minako, not yet. If that fate had befallen so many others, she was terrified of discovering what might have happened to them. It had been a hard hit in part of the Mikazuki-Uchiha alliance. A Shugosha and a guardian were lost and she could barely come to imagine how many more children had been left parentless. She couldn't ask Takuto for anything else, only listen to the echo of his pain in her ears and in her head.
Takuto pulled away, frustrated by the betrayal of his emotions, and wiped away his tears with the back of his hand. She understood that.
"I'm sorry, Mio," he uttered, his eyes bloodshot. "I apologize for my shameful behavior. I want to be strong for you."
She appreciated the gesture, but she shook her head. "No," she said. "The only one that needs to be strong for me is me. You need to be strong for you. And we, as guardians of the Kuronuma clan need to be strong for the next generation. To do that we have to get off this island, we need to defeat Motou Ayuka and take back the Fate Sphere."
Takuto squeezed her hands. "Are you prepared to go against her?" he asked. "I know you have been suffering here. I saw what she has put you through."
The Reflective Sphere was an artifact capable of two things while imbued with its guardian's chakra: reflect the actions of another connected to the artifacts and reflect the chakra of whomever the guardian chooses to different locations. Takuto had been taught about the artifacts in detail by Musashi at a young age before Okimi had chosen him to become her apprentice and he had no doubt been using his sphere to catch glimpses of what was happening on the island. She had reason to believe he had been using the artifact to confuse Ayuka's sensors, much like she had unconsciously blinded Ayuka's ability to read the pathways of her guardians.
"I did not need the Reflection Sphere to hear your crying," he said, chasing away her assumptions. "Hashirama was worried we had sent you to your death."
"You could hear my voice?" she asked slowly.
He nodded. "It's normal. It's your chakra running through the other artifacts. Sometimes it happens. You should be able to control it once you are Shugosha longer."
"I heard everyone calling my name. I thought I was going insane. I…I heard Okimi's voice. I heard it fading."
"She did call for you," Takuto admitted. "She wanted to say sorry for lying before."
"When?"
"When she hugged you. She said you would not be the strongest Shugosha, but that you would be the greatest." Takuto smiled bitterly. "She lied. She thought she might scare you if she told you the truth."
"The truth?"
"Shin told her a long time ago that Ayuka feared only one Shugosha. The First. But that there would be another—"
"Me," she said. "I know it's me. I know that she's been guiding me from the path I was supposed to take—the one she fears—and that that's the reason she has killed everyone around me."
"You know?"
"She's told me. She told me right after she admitted it wasn't me she wanted but my firstborn."
"Your firstborn."
"My firstborn will be able to change the line of succession. She wants her son to inherit the title of Shugosha."
"Her son?"
"I am expected to wed Motou Enki and provide Ayuka with my own successor. She wants me to do this quickly. In less than a week now."
Takuto was at a loss for words. "What do you plan to do?"
"I'm going to become the Shugosha she fears."
"How?"
"The only way I know how," she said lowly. "I'm going to get inside her head."
Kiyo appeared at the end of the day to deliver food. She was happy to see her moving around and to know that Madara had survived the night. She had been the one to point Takuto in the direction of the wooden long house. It was owned by her daughter's husband, who rented the rooms out for anyone in need, and Takuto had indeed used the Reflective Sphere to keep Ayuka's sensors running amok in the island, which had most villages on edge as the Motou and Mikazuki shinobi had garnered a reputation for their ruthlessness. Either Kiyo or her daughter, Tsuruko, accompanied by her clingy son visited them to leave them food. Mio promised to find a way to repay them for their kindness, but they asked for nothing in return. Their kindness had been refreshing after having endured life in Enki's castle where it had gone extinct.
"So why are we playing hanafude?" asked Takuto, pairing a card to another with a similar base.
"I was doing it to annoy Ayuka, but I found it to be quite…addicting."
"I hope your new plan does not involve playing hanafude."
"Eventually, we are going to return to Enki's castle and submit to Ayuka's wishes."
"I'm sorry, we?" asked Takuto, staring at her like she were crazy.
"I agree with him," came a struggling reply.
Takuto craned his neck to look back and Mio stretched to glance over his shoulder as Madara slowly pushed himself onto a seat atop his bed. A moment later, they panicked. The two leaped out of their seats to push him back down, their warnings overlapping.
"You need to rest!" Takuto stressed.
"You'll reopen your wounds!" shouted Mio.
Takuto zeroed in on Mio after letting go of Madara and standing to his full intimidating height. "I closed his wounds. All of them. Do you know how hard that was? He needs to rest."
Mio nodded and turned to Madara, pushing him by the shoulders back onto the bed. "You need to rest."
Madara stared at her with an annoyed look. "That hurt."
She let him go quickly with an apology.
Takuto decided that if Madara refused to continue resting his body, then he might as well help him onto a seat so that they could team up against her.
"If his artifact can guarantee you a safe passage off this island, why not use it?" stated Madara.
"I am not going to leave this island in such a manner after all that she has done and all that I know, I am not going to go so easily," Mio said stubbornly.
"Do you enjoy being tortured?" Madara asked.
"No, but—"
"Why would you go back?"
"Well, I—"
"No, Mio, why?"
Mio frowned. "Stop interrupting me and I'll tell you."
Madara gestured for her to continue as he leaned back with a leisure air that irritated her.
"I have a plan," Mio started.
"You have a plan," he repeated, interrupting her once more. "I hear a lot about this plan, but all you seem interested in doing is playing cards to annoy Ayuka. That is a stupid plan, even for your standards, Mio. Think harder before I have you shipped off this island with your Kuronuma friend because it might serve your mind better to avoid any more abuse."
Takuto followed the conversation attentively. He fixed his eyes on Mio. "You should tell him the rest of your plan," he advised, "before he ships you off this island and I help."
"I'm going back to marry Enki." Mio had devised a proper plan during her recovery period at the long house and it had not been an easy plan to accept. The look on Madara's face gave away his exasperation, especially after he had told her that he would not let her marry him and had even gone out of his way to keep the man from coming to her rooms for the early consummation she traded in exchange for freedom, Takuto, and inclusion in meetings. Madara looked ready to interrupt, but she continued to elaborate. "I need a powerful ally on the island—"
"Enki is powerful because he is under Ayuka's protection. She is the powerful one."
"But he defied her by allowing me freedom and by asking someone to bring Takuto here," she responded.
"And you were repaying him by allowing him into your bed," Madara challenged.
"I wanted to have an advantage over her," Mio said strongly. "Enki can be that advantage."
"What do you intend to do?" asked Takuto. "Enki is Ayuka's puppet and his only purpose is to impregnate you with this change-the-line-of-succession child. I doubt she chose him for being the smartest man alive. If he is a pawn, he is her pawn and I am sure she did not have to lift her skirts to make him her pawn, so you should not have to degrade yourself to that level even if you are determined to gain the upper hand."
"I was trained to do what was necessary for my goal," she said. "These are my artifacts and they are in her hands and the possibilities of what she wants to do with them are vast, each more frightening than the last, and I don't want to be around to find out what. There is a reason the artifacts serve no unified purpose since the First Shugosha. There is a reason that information was supposed to die after the first generation. I don't want to be Shugosha that unearths it all and has to think more about the future than the past."
"Enki will be a useless ally," Madara stated. "Do what you will, but that man will do nothing but drag you down. What is necessary is for naught."
"But he is easy to manipulate. Takuto said it, Enki is a pawn," she answered. "And what difference it would make to have him become my pawn than hers. He is still the king of this country."
"This is not a good argument, Mio," said Takuto. "I might as well take you with me to the Iron Country now."
"I can retrieve the artifacts stolen from you," Madara added. "It will be easier not having to worry what Ayuka decides to do to you next or that Enki might force himself on you at any time of the night."
"I appreciate the concern, but I am not asking to be protected."
"Half the job of the guardians is to protect the Shugosha," Takuto reminded.
"I don't want your protection, I need your support," she told them. "Believe in my plan and my ability to execute it."
She stared at them expectantly, willing to prostate herself and beg when Takuto agreed to her simple terms. Madara remained stubborn a while longer believing her plan—what he had heard—to be a stupid one, but he gave in on a single condition.
"What is it?" Mio asked.
"Who keeps the Universe Sphere?" Madara fixed her a stare that made ice run through her veins. "Whose life did you choose over mine?"
The question she dreaded had to be the one he asked as a condition to support her.
Takuto rose. "I am going to find Kiyo-san."
He carefully set the Reflective Sphere atop the table before exiting. She cursed Takuto for fleeing, though she had not put the action past him. She braced herself for the worst and swallowed hard, but she found herself unable to speak. The guilt she felt was already too much for her to stomach, the confrontation was something she wanted to avoid as she had no way to form an acceptable excuse for having offered Ayuka his life to protect another's, but it had been in the moment. She had been determined to keep the Universe Sphere on her side and had been confident that Ayuka had need of Madara alive, so she had taken the risk.
"Well, Mio, do you intend to tell me?"
Mio shook her head. "I apologize for taking a risk, but I cannot reveal that guardian's name. The fewer people know his name, the better."
"Is that what you call it? A risk?"
"Do not toy with me! You would have acted no different in a similar situation!" she said, bothered by his tone. "I knew that Ayuka would not kill you and that what she had done was done to frighten me into revealing the name and whereabouts of the Universe Sphere guardian I chose. You must understand that the Universe Sphere is not an artifact to be tampered with."
"Not an artifact to be tampered with?" he repeated, and she caught a hint of curiosity underlying his serious tone.
"It isn't." Mio rose from her seat. "This won't happen again. You being hurt at my expense. I won't let Ayuka use my guardians against me. Not again."
Madara grinned in amusement. "You think to protect me, Mio? Do you think I am in need of your protection?"
"No," she told him, feeling her body tense as he rose from his seat. Though she knew his body was still weak and burdened by pesky aches, none of the pain showed in his expression as he came to stand before her. She unconsciously balled her hands at her sides, eyes fixed on his face. "I know that you do not need my protection, but if I can make yours and the Uchiha clan's stay on this island easier, I will. If you consider that protection, and if it is beneath you, turn a blind eye towards it, but that will not stop me."
He seized her by the arms, startling the air from her lungs. "If you are that eager to grovel at Ayuka's feet and please Enki, be my guest, but do not expect me to help you. I will believe in your plan and in your strength, but I want nothing to do with it. Protecting the Uchiha clan is my duty, not yours. Yours is to your artifacts. Do what you will. Shameful or not."
Mio wrenched herself out of his hold, more conscious of the little details like proximity and word choice. "Enough," she said in a voiced edged with irritation. "I don't need to be reminded of my duties, I know them, they were hammered into me on Mt. Hyōga. And I don't need you to remind me of what my actions will entail in concerning either Ayuka or Enki. I am not going to challenge them halfheartedly or am I going to do so with boundaries when I don't have the luxury. I was once a spy and I knew that at times it required me shredding all sense of morality. This is another mission to me and if inviting Enki into my bed is what stands between my success or failure, I will do it and that has nothing to do with you. I am not your woman."
She began to leave, but he caught her wrist and spun her around. Adrenaline was pulsing through her veins, heating her frustration and throwing her mind into further chaos.
"No one will have you disgraced," he said firmly.
That fueled her anger. She tugged her wrist away, having had enough of the topic. "If they do not want me disgraced, they did not want me at all."
She accomplished walking out the door without being caught a second time, feeling her ears going red she tried to hide them with her hair unable to explain the reaction, and zipped past the hallway where she encountered Takuto returning with a bag.
"Tsuruko-san made snacks," he said, attempting to show her.
She walked right past him, uttering a brisk, "No."
"You okay?" he shouted after her. "Your ears are red?"
"Splendid!"
Mio stepped out of the longhouse and sucked in a deep breath of cold air. It felt like there wasn't enough oxygen in the world to fill her lungs completely or cool wind to help wean her frustration. In moments like these, she wanted to run, run until every muscle in her legs was screaming in pain. But her circumstances prevented her from taking the risk of leaving the village. Instead, she walked briskly to Kiyo's home.
Kiyo welcomed her warmly, guided her into a seat where Mio was able to watch the elderly woman grind a handful of herbs to mix into a bowl of boiling water. She offered her a mug of passionflower tea to calm the tension in her shoulders. She drank it peacefully sitting by the heat of a fire, feeling increasingly uncomfortable in all her layers, which was a good sign. It meant she was fully recovered. She could withstand the coldest winters the Climate Sphere could conjure in summer clothing. It meant many things. She wouldn't need the support of the Black Sphere to perform basic Kuronuma techniques, though it was not correct to say she was without strength since she arrived. She retained her physical capabilities—she had broken Ayuka's wrist with ease and she could have done worse, only she didn't have the will to do so—but with a clouded mind one tended to forget their teachings. She remembered hers now. The blood, the sweat, the tears, the internalized complaints and hopes the torturous Strength Training subsided. She survived Uzuki's training.
Relaxing with her back pressed against the wall, Mio remembered her time with Kuronuma Uzuki. She taught her the hardest techniques first.
"Grandfather said it was a step by step thing," Mio had told the older woman.
Uzuki had a strict look about her, a woman that brooked no argument. Her seriousness was a contrast to that of her son, Enya, who was often described as a man drunk on happiness—happier chasing around his wife, Okimi, or playing peek-a-boo with his daughters.
Mio closed her eyes tightly, flinching at the thought that she would never see Enya or Okimi together, chasing one another around the Kuronuma village atop the mountain, or watch him with interest as he attempted and succeeded in sending his twins into fits of delighted giggles. She continued to remember Uzuki's teachings to keep the sadness from overwhelming her into frustrated tears.
"The harder techniques do not come in pairs, they rely entirely on your ability to mold chakra and the black water flowing through your bloodstream," Uzuki had explained. "Master one and you master all of the easy techniques. That is how I will teach you and how I expect you to learn. And learn you must do quickly. You do not have the time others have, Mio."
Mio had nearly cried when Uzuki introduced the Spirals Technique as the first move because it required near-perfect chakra control, something she had struggled with on the constant. It was the reason she was terrible at ninjutsu and did not even utter the word genjutsu, which brought some level of shame considering Uchiha had a tendency of overachieving in those respects and the fact that she had a Sharingan she hated to use because even with the extra help she was hopeless. Uzuki had challenged what little control she had of her chakra, she had taught her the strongest defensive and offensive techniques, but it had been up to Mio to complete them.
She had the power to create another swamp to swallow Enki's castle whole. If she used the Black Sphere's support, she could make one capable of dragging the entire mountain under, but that brought on the threat of another imbalance and the possibility of disrupting the island so much it sank. The last thing she wanted was to die drowning, so she was limited to a few techniques—the easy ones she learned through the challenge of handling the hardest ones. But at least this time, if she went up against Ayuka, she would not be defenseless. Knowing the power coursing through her veins was the product of her hard work and that of the teachers and of the support of the Kuronuma medics reinforced her strength. She carried the trust they placed in her as they passed down the secret techniques to her. She carried their will.
She swore, breathing in the heady scent of burning sage and in her peace of mind, that she would do everything in her power to retrieve the artifacts stolen from her and the Fate Sphere. She would defeat Ayuka on this island. She didn't know how, but she would when she integrated herself into her life as Enki's bride. She would return accepting of her fate and with a name on her tongue, one that would send her on a wild goose chase. She would deal with Kuronuma Nishiki after she found her grandfather.
Mio dozed off in Kiyo's home, lulled by the tea and soothed by the aromatic scents. Sleep was dreamless. She had long forgotten its comfort.
Madara was gone when she woke the following morning, returned to his Uchiha clan, and she hated the bitterness she felt knowing he left without telling her anything. After yesterday, she expected no less, but something wasn't right. Mio made the decision to follow late that afternoon. Ayuka would be expecting her after seeing Madara and she knew Hag wanted to meet the Reflective Sphere guardian to begin plotting a way to pilfer his artifact. She visited Kiyo's home and left with a small bundle of herbs. With her daughter, she was given two meals for the trip, though she did not say it would be too quick to enjoy the rice balls on the road.
"Will you be okay with becoming that man's woman?" Takuto asked as they stood at the edge of the small coastal town.
"I worry he may not want me for being too inexperienced," she admitted, the only setback in her ploy had been that.
Takuto put both of his hands on her shoulders. "I swore to Shinya-sama that I wouldn't, but I can help you with that."
She stared at him blankly, almost baffled that he had the gall to say it. She pulled his hands from her shoulders. "I appreciate the good intent, Takuto, but I refuse."
With a bright smile, he proceeded to push the hair behind her ears. "They're not even red—your ears," he pointed out. "Does it only happen after you have a heated argument with Uchiha Madara?"
She pushed his hands away. "What are you implying?"
"Nothing," he told her. "We should go before the sun completely sets. I am looking forward to sitting in on a king's feast."
She didn't want to let him down by saying that Ayuka might make him only eat fish like she had her, so she sprinted on ahead of him, using the time to clear her mind. With Takuto at her side, she felt a little more confident.
They arrived at the ominous entrance to the sight of the Motou shinobi exchanging glances after letting them pass. Another shinobi went on ahead to inform Ayuka of their arrival and not a moment later, the redheaded priestess was there to greet them at the courtyard. Her eyes went straight to Takuto, scanning his visage with quirked lips, but she later returned them to her and a crease appeared above her eyebrows signifying her displeasure.
"I am quite disappointed that you escaped your punishment, Shugosha-sama," she began. "I returned the following day to speak to your further, hoping that you might succumb to my request before it was too late to save Uchiha Madara."
"I have returned," Mio said. "And I will tell you of my Universe Sphere guardian, but knowing it will not be enough for you to locate him."
"No, but you can do that with your sphere, can you not? You will guide me to your guardian after you are wed to Enki." Ayuka smiled brightly at Takuto. "You are in time, comrade, our young Shugosha is to be married. It is a joy that she might have someone she cares for in the ceremony."
"I'm delighted," said Takuto, mirroring her smile. "I wouldn't mind meeting her future husband either."
"Oh, there he is, cajoling with one of his many harlots." Ayuka pointed to the other courtyard across them and sure enough, Enki was grabbing handfuls of a brunette's backside as she giggled into eternity.
Takuto leaned forward and whispered, "You are no marrying that."
"As angry as I was, I am not anymore," said Ayuka with a flounder. "We have a special guest on the island. Come you must meet with him, he has been asking to see you for since he arrived."
Her mind jumped straight into conclusions. She took Madara prisoner a second time and was going to kill him this time to prove a point.
Ayuka dismissed the two servants at her side, asking them to take Takuto to his lodgings as they were going to the temple, and as someone without special authorization he was not allowed to set foot inside it. She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze before separating.
Mio followed Ayuka with her heart full of dread and her strength wavering. She latched onto it. "Who am I meeting?"
"My son," Ayuka answered simply. "He is here for a short visit, but he refused to leave without seeing you first. He is fascinated by you; perhaps it's the fact that you are heirs to the Time Sphere. I heard you had a special connection with Eito before he died. You might have a connection to my son as well. A special one."
She noted the decrease of Uchiha and Ito shinobi and sudden increase of Mikazuki shinobi, even among the Motou shinobi, all of them smug and wearing their bisected crescent carving proudly on their skin.
Ayuka guided her through the temple doors, the building feeling a little more daunting than she remembered it. Stepping in, she saw a thousand lit candles and hundreds of dancing shadows along the floor and walls. She saw the darken shade of the golden statues and the gods that frowned upon her, but her vision shifted quickly to the sound of laughter drifting from the tiny seating area by the staircase. She saw dozens of bright faced girls flocking around a man seated with his back against the wall.
Ayuka approached, waving her hand to chase away the girls that went off with disappointed looks.
"What harm did it do to leave them?" asked the man, his back broad and deeply muscled. His black hair was cut unevenly; a portion of it fell down the side of his sharp face.
"You have asked for Mio and Mio has come. You intend to greet her with a harem of women at your sides?" Ayuka chastised. "Show some respect, she is Shugosha."
The man stood, easily towering over Ayuka. "Shugosha now," he responded. "How long until Enki does his duty?"
The air left her lungs as he turned. She saw a face that had haunted her dreams for nine years and the bright green eyes that had been seared into her memory. All strength abandoned her, her knees shaking violently before they buckled and she fell to them and watched as he stepped closer in that familiar way that reminded her of her mother's body growing colder on her lap.
Mikazuki Gouki took her by the face. She was paralyzed with fear, the one she would never overcome. Slowly he turned her face from one side to the next, inspecting her. She expected his next move to be closing his hand around her neck and squeezing the remaining oxygen from inside her, but he merely let her go.
"The second pathway," he said in a decisive tone. His green eyes never leaving hers.
"Then it shall be done." Ayuka slithered forward into view and handed Gouki a sack radiating pulses. Three artifacts. "Take this."
"No," Mio spoke, much louder than intended.
She earned puzzled looks.
"What are you doing? Those are mine," she continued, wheezing for breath. The pressure of seeing him face to face after so long was too much. She lived in fear of his name after that dreadful day and had never even dared to breathe it, fearing he would appear at her call to continue tormenting her. "One of them belongs to Madara!"
"Gouki will be taking them with him for safekeeping." Ayuka suddenly laughed. "I was not born yesterday, Mio, I know if I kept them here any longer you would try to take them and I can't have that." She patted her son's arm and he shot Mio a smile as he went with her artifacts. She could say nothing. "The purification ceremony is being prepared for you."
Ayuka clapped her hands and the dozen priestesses that were flocking Mikazuki Gouki returned. The redheaded priestess did not tear her gaze away from her face to regard them and with a callous voice, she said, "Strip her bare."
xl: The Death of Kings will be the longest and second to last arc in this story (maybe, I still haven't made up my mind about where to end the story yet, I'll talk about it on my LJ later, cool? Maybe later in the afternoon and host a quick poll). Note that the title is in plural, so prepare your hearts and start your speculating. Anything can happen.
I don't even want to say anything, so I'll just say thanks to all these wonderful people that reviewed: Loteva, CeliaSingsSongs, Inanari, RelocationAgent, Tolly [I seriously want to do something long, but I'm having trouble deciding how to do it, but I'll talk about it at my livejournal as mentioned above. Thank you for the review!], Aries01xD, crazyuser, HushedFabled, jubchili, amaya-tsuki-chan, and yourhappyplace x1000. You are all wonderful and have made my day at various stages of things gone seriously wrong. So thank you for all the kind, encouraging comments. I hope to continue keeping you all entertained with this story.
The next chapter will feature Izuna POV and Shin antics, Takuto and Yayoi antics, and finally Mio and Madara playing hanafude! The baddies will also be featured. :D
Preview will be up soon. Give it a day or two. I'm feeling a little lazy about updating my journal.
Thank you for reading!