Lost in the Dark
By Meganes Ultimate Fangirl
Chapter 4 – Playing for Both Teams
General Fusawa stared at her in disbelief. Absolute nagging disbelief. Of course, she didn't blame him. She was supposed to be dead. Surely, Hikaru and Kaoru had told him of what happened in the forest. She shouldn't be alive. She should be dead. Hung from Narian gallows. "You were reported missing in action a week ago, Marioka."
She smirked to cover up her slight anxiety. How would she possibly explain? "And? Just because I was reported as such doesn't mean that I am. Isn't this why you made me a spy? Because I can blend in and disappear at will?"
"You were shot," he stated bluntly, eyes wide with absolute shock.
"Yet here I stand in front of you," she replied curtly.
"How?" he asked skeptically, "How did you get away with a wound like that?"
She snorted. This was what Kyoya had been talking about when he'd said that they'd be suspicious of her. This was what she herself knew that she'd be asked. She thought up a quick story. "I managed to get away from the Narian officials that surrounded the area and onto a nearby farm. I hid in the barn and managed to pull the bloody arrow out and treat the wound it left behind, Sir. After I was fit enough to leave, I changed my clothes and headed toward the castle."
Fusawa narrowed his eyes at her, as did Sergeant Wari. "You know, Marioka, the transport barrier that Hitachiin and Hanizuka put up failed about 24 hours after they finished. It's suspected that Narian wizards found it somehow and tore it down. Know anything about that?"
"Sir," Namahi retorted, "I've lived in Kira all my life. I'm a good friend of Prince Tamaki. My father is part of the King's royal court. If you're implying that I might have turned Narian and given away my teams' plans, you're vastly mistaken and I suggest that you go talk to the Prince. You have a spy in your midst. And it isn't me." She was so happy that her voice was full of conviction and didn't give her away. What she said was a deadly lie and she knew it.
The General sighed heavily and stared her in the eye. "If I find out that you had anything to do with the transport barrier destruction, I'll have you hanged for high treason. You hear me, Marioka?" he said with a deadly tone in his voice.
She nodded and saluted. "Yessir!"
"Now, what did you find?"
She closed her eyes in what appeared to be concentration. "Well, I enrolled in the Narian army so I'd be able to get a better look at the plans from the inside. Turns out my division works directly under the Third Prince." It wasn't a complete lie. She did work directly under Kyoya. She wasn't a part of a particular division though. And to her knowledge he only interrogated and tortured prisoners of war. She could just tell the truth, but she didn't really want to be hanged either. And the truth would definitely get her killed.
Fusawa looked interested in this. "Really? That's... interesting. Do the other two Princes have their own divisions too?"
"I'm not sure. I only saw my camp before they sent me on a two week long solo ground mission. That's why I'm back here now, Sir. They think I'm on a mission."
"Alright. What about the Third Prince?"
She thought for a moment. "He also interrogates prisoners of war. Three days before I left they caught a Kiran soldier inside the palace walls who said his name was Mana Hitoro."
General Fusawa froze, swallowing slowly. "And what became of him?"
"I don't believe that he gave anything away. Of course, I wasn't at the interrogation and the Prince doesn't speak so freely about it. He seems to dislike that part of his job. I just heard him speaking to one of the Majors about it." Guilt twisted her stomach slightly at the truth-woven lies she was spinning. This would get complicated really quick if either side figured out she was partially lying to them.
"Private, what became of him?"
Namahi swallowed down a lump in her throat. "He... He was publicly hanged the day before I left," she mumbled, hanging her head.
Fusawa braced his arms against the table in front of him, head hanging low in a sign of slight weakness for a moment. "Dammit, Kanri," he muttered under his breath, "Dammit, dammit, dammit."
"Sir," she said softly, "What was he sent for?"
He looked up, eyes laden with sadness. "He was your replacement, Marioka. Corporal Kanri Fusawa, my son," he replied quietly.
Her throat felt clogged for a moment. "I'm sorry, Sir," she murmured.
He sighed. "Never mind that, Namahi. Good job. You're dismissed." He waved his hand, shaking his head.
"Sir?" she asked hesitantly, "Since I just got back... Permission for a 4 day military leave to visit my father? He probably thinks I'm dead, sir." She swallowed. Her poor Dad was probably dying of absolute misery right now.
Hell, knowing him he'd probably already had her funeral.
General Fusawa looked up from his maps and nodded slowly. "Permission granted, Private. I expect you back by noon on the 5th day. Take Privates Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin with you. I never gave them an extended leave and they did a good job."
"Thank you, sir," she murmured, saluting him.
"Now. Get the hell out of my tent." She smiled and turned on her heel, marching out of the tent like an obedient subordinate.
–
"So, Haruhi," Hikaru muttered, throwing an arm over her shoulders as they walked down the deserted road toward their hometown of Miera. Kaoru's arm fell on top of his shortly after.
"How did you really get away?" Kaoru continued casually.
"Since we all know that that arrow made it impossible for you to escape," Hikaru finished. Damn them. She covered up her disgruntlement with a smirk. "I myself cast the protection charm on you before I left. You can't tell us that you got away."
She snorted. "One, don't you wish it was really like that? And two. Hikaru. It was probably the protection charm that saved me," she responded blandly, kicking a pebble down the road only to catch up to it in a few strides to kick it again. They both rose skeptical eyebrows, making her roll her eyes. "Look, it's my business if I'm lying or not. But I wouldn't lie about something like this."
Hikaru and Kaoru grumbled and decided to leave her alone as they walked into the small town of Miera. Back in Nari, she thought that she'd never see this place again when she was in the dungeon. Now, she was standing here and she wasn't sure if this wasn't a dream.
Her face broke out in a grin. "Come on," she muttered, grabbing each twin by the hand and yanking them through the streets until she finally came to a breathless stop in front of the little brown and white house that belonged to her father. She opened the door slowly, peering inside. Her father was looking at a painting of some sort at the kitchen table. His back was to her. Very vaguely she heard sobbing.
Haruhi reached out and touched his shoulder. He jumped and spun around, eyes widening as he took in the sight of her. "G-Ghost," he whispered, proceeding to faint onto the tabletop.
The three young adults sighed in exasperation and pulled Ranka back into sitting position. Hikaru and Kaoru tried to shake him awake while Haruhi just rolled her eyes and went to the back and pulled a bucket of water out of the well. She came back and gracelessly dumped it over his head, making him gasp and splutter. The first thing he saw was the twins.
"Hikaru! Kaoru!" he exclaimed, "Did you see her? Did you see my Haruhi's ghost?"
Hikaru snorted. "Yes, Your Majesty."
"She's right behind you," Kaoru added with a grin.
Ranka spun around, wide-eyed. "Dad. Don't pass out again, please," she muttered, taking his hand to hold him steady.
"Ha-Haruhi?"
She nodded. "Yes, Dad. It's me. And I'm not a ghost. I'm alive. Very much alive." For a moment, Ranka Fujioka looked like he was about to faint again. Then, he let out a piercing squeal and grabbed up his daughter in a bone-crushing hug.
"I thought you were dead! I thought I'd never see you again! I thought I'd live out the rest of my life cold and alone!" He sobbed loudly, spinning her around in circles.
She choked as her oxygen supply was cut off. "Dad," she gasping, "Can't... Breathe." He quickly released her, leaving her with her head between her knees trying to breath correctly again. Honestly. She'd only been missing a week. "Please tell me you didn't have my funeral already."
His eyes shifted back and forth. She stared at him in disbelief. "Seriously? Seriously? I was only gone a week! Sha Geir! Te irdays!" She looked between him and the twins, shaking her head in shame. They clasped their hands behind their backs and drew circles in the dust on the floor with their feet. "Tch... Irdays! Shutyra Irdays!" she growled, turning on her heel. "I'm going to see Tamaki. Have fun being idiots."
Protests sounded behind her, all of which she ignored as she ran on her way up to the palace lacing Moradian swears into her muttered rantings under her breath, "Shybrar! Diarm, sha aish! Ar fidrela! Ubretacal."
Her Moradian swears ceased as soon as she started seeing people. Moradian wasn't exactly a common language and speaking it outside of her house definitely wouldn't end well for her. The streets were more lively the closer she got to the castle. A market was running on the main road. Fruits and vegetables were laid out in stalls. She knew several of the vendors but kept straight on her path, greeting them as they greeted her. A kindly old woman, whom she recognized as one of her former neighbors, tossed her an apple, cheering, "Nice to see you Namahi! Welcome home!"
Namahi smiled and nodded, "Thank you Mrs. Jurari." She took a crisp bite out of the juicy apple as she continued on her way. Just past the market on the main road were the palace gates. Behind them the castle loomed large and important, identical towers rising up even farther on either side. Like always, she sighed in awe of the architecture before sauntering up to the gates confidently and saluted the guard that was there. "Good day, Romesa!"
"Ahh. Marioka! The Prince 'as been 'n terrible shape lately." To this she frowned. "Worried sick 'bout ya. Thought ya were dead, methinks." She sighed and brought a hand to her head, rubbing her fingers in circles on her temple to make the incoming headache go away.
"Everyone seems to think that," she muttered under her breath, "I was only gone a week though!"
Romesa smiled sheepishly. "'e 'eard the 'itachiins' report 'bout ya gettin' captured and 'e just broke down on spot. Wouldn't come out o' 'is room for days."
Namahi shook her head in disgrace. The men she dealt with in her life. "Thanks, Romesa. I'll take care of him."
"Not a problem."
She smiled at him and slipped through the gates and up the massive amount of stairs through the huge oak front doors. She knew her way through the palace by now. She had, after all, been wandering the corridors of it for 12 years. And she knew exactly where Tamaki would be. Either sitting on the dock by the lake or sulking in his room.
She knocked on his door when she reached it. No answer. She sighed and tried the doorknob. It opened with ease and... Tamaki was no where in sight. She sighed with a frown set on her face. The lake then. But before she could close the door her eyes caught sight of a rather interesting piece of paper lying on his desk. She stared at it curiously for a moment before striding over and picking it up.
It was a map.
A small town on the border between the Eastern Tip that the Narians currently had possession of and Kira called Marcria was circled and several arrows were out in all directions. Another village a bit farther east called Irlot had several other arrows coming from it that swooped around the back of Marcria at a distance that no one would be able to see people coming if soldiers were marching that way.
Her heart froze at this then she covered her mouth with one of her hands, the fingers of her other hand still playing with the corner of the map.
This wasn't a map. It was a battle plan.
Tamaki was planning battles against Nari for the army. Her sweet innocent Prince was actually taking part in the war. She shook her head. Hadn't he wanted peace? If he had wanted it then why the hell was he looking over battle plans?
Then another thought struck her.
She could stop this. Lives could be saved because she could stop this. She lifted the paper carefully, checking underneath it. Sure enough, there was another map underneath the first. This time with a single territory in Nari circled with the letters MBI written next to it. She didn't need to even think to know what that stood for. Magic Barrier Infiltration.
Oh Lords. So many lives would be lost if they went through with these. Civilians and soldiers – Narian and Kiran alike.
But she could stop it. She wouldn't let lives be lost when she could do something about it. Slowly a plan began forming in her head as she checked for any other plans on Tamaki's desk and turned on her heel to hurry out to the lake.
–
Tamaki, as expected, was sitting on the dock with his legs drawn to his chest, hugging them, and Namahi almost laughed at the solemn look of depression on his face. She'd never seen him look so serious. Then again, he did think she was dead. "Oi! Idiot Prince!" she called from the end of the dock. He shook his head and turned his face into his knees. She rolled her eyes. He probably was thinking that he was crazy, hearing her voice.
With a soft sigh, she strode down the dock toward him. When she was standing practically in front of him she snapped her fingers in front of where his face was buried in his knees. "Oi! Tamaki! I'm talking to you! You could pay attention you know!"
His body grew rigid for a moment and then, slowly, he lifted his head, a look of pure horror plastered on his face. "N-Namahi? I... I must be dreaming." And then he proceeded to faint, almost falling off the end of the platform in the process.
She rolled her eyes to the sky. He reminded her way too much of her father. "Idiot Prince," she mumbled fondly, sitting herself next to him and leaning forward to scoop some water into her cupped hands. Ungraciously, she dumped said water over the Kiran heir, jolting him from his sleep immediately.
"GHOST!" he screamed, staring at her in terror while pulling his limbs as far from her as he possibly could without falling over the edge.
"Really, Tamaki. You sound like my dad," she muttered, raising a single eyebrow. She was way too used to the Idiot Prince's antics. 'Can I really call him the Idiot Prince after seeing those plans?'
This sobered him up quite a bit but his voice still quaked with fear when he spoke, "Y-You aren't Namahi. He's dead!"
She simply reached over and smacked him over the head lightly, causing him to flinch. "Would a dead person be able to hit you?" she asked in a bored tone. And that's when the squealing and squeezing the life out of Namahi began.
"How?" he shrieked, "How? You were dead! Or at least we thought you were!"
"Tamaki... Can't... Breathe," she gasped, trying to get herself away from the arms that were currently trying to strangle her to death.
"Sorry!" He released her immediately, leaving her to try to get her breath back as he started blabbering again. "You have to tell me everything! How did you escape? What happened out ther–? Oh! We should have a party!"
She choked at the word party. "Party? Are you insane?" she asked incredulously.
"A party!" he confirmed with a nod as he hopped to his feet. "To celebrate my best friend not actually being dead! Welcome home, Namahi!" he added in a cheery tone.
"Tamaki... I don't ne–!"
"Oh nonsense! Everyone needs a party every now and then! And now we have the perfect excuse!"
She heaved a heavy sigh. There was no use arguing with him now that he had the idea in his head. She may as well go through with it. Even if it was absolutely ridiculous to throw a party for someone who had only been missing for a week.
"I'll recruit the twins," she grumbled in consent, springing her royal friend into a frenzy of happy squeals and hugging again.
This was going to be a long four days. And an even longer two weeks.
–
A/N: "Shybrar! Diarm, sha aish! Ar fidrela! Ubretacal." Is "Shit! Dead, my ass! A funeral! Unbelievable!" Oh my... Watch that potty mouth of yours Haruhi! And Irdays means Idiots if no one caught that.
Major, major, MAJOR Kudos to 43ever and derderxp for making me feel like I'm not just doing this story for myself. Oh and my lovely beta: Koharu Veddette. Without her... I don't think this thing would have gotten up as soon as it did.
Struggled with writers block for a while. It was horrible I couldn't even write things for history when I had the information sitting in front of me! And it was like that for a week!
This one's a bit shorter than normal, I realize. 6 pages. But if I don't cut it off now then I won't be able to end the next chapter where I want to. Now I'm going to scuttle away and work on my novel since it feels neglected.