Chapter Fifty-Seven
Misao was what she joking called one of the lost middle daughters of the Sky Emperor. Her mother had been his third wife. Which was nothing special when the sky dragon now had eight. He was also extremely promiscuous, and had several illegitimate children by mistresses he had kept throughout his long life. Of course, only a wind or sky demon was good enough to be one of his wives. This, Misao had gone on to explain while munching on rice crackers, was for a variety of reasons.
"He wanted pure-power children, right?"
Yahiko watched his half-sister with a slight curl of his nose. She was lounging in his cell like she owned it, but there wasn't much he could say about her attitude. He was, after all, a prisoner. Not to mention, her kijin bodyguard had zero tolerance for disrespect.
"Well, yes, but he could have done that without marrying any of them. Do you think anyone gives a crap about his blood lineage?"
A thoughtful frown openly creased his features. She had a point. Misao didn't need his acknowledgement, though, and carried on before he could respond.
"No. He clawed his way to the top of Neo-Japan by making it known that he is the strongest demon in the land. No one opposes him because he's strong, and no one questions his rule for the same reason. Demons don't answer to blood, or at least not family blood. We answer to strength. Which is why he married the strongest pure wind demons he could find, and then killed off the rest."
The words were flippant, but there was a touch of something biting in her tone that she couldn't quite hide.
"So, he married them to keep them under control." Leaning his weight forward on his crossed ankles, Yahiko's frown deepened. "And killed off the rest of the wind demons here because he was afraid they'd challenge him."
"Correct you are, little brother."
"Don't call me that." The grouse caused Misao to laugh, and she reached forward to pinch his cheek before he could jerk away.
"Why not? It's so much fun having a little brother."
"I'm not little."
"Oooh." More giggles, and her voice dropped into a playfully mocking tone, as if she were talking to a child. "Ok. You're a big man, aren't you?"
"Whatever." Staring to one side petulantly, Yahiko pushed on. "Why ain't he worried about his kids, though? I mean, he's pissed you off enough, obviously."
"You don't know a thing, do you? That old man keeps us on a tight leash, and it's got nothing to do with fatherly affection. He doesn't trust us, but he also doesn't think much of us, either. He's only got four sky demon children, well five, if we count you. Those four daughters are the only ones he cares about. The rest of us are just lowly wind demon failures. Not that I'd want him to "care" about me." Her fingers came up to put the word in quotes, and her eyes rolled in disgust. "No one knows why he gives a shit about making an heir now, but it's just disgusting."
"So? What? You want to take his place or something? Is that why you want 'em dead?"
Misao extended on arm into the air to fake interest in her nails.
"Are you saying you'll help?"
"… Why should I?"
"I don't know. Maybe 'cause you don't want to spend the rest of your life in here, or be forced to impregnant your sister." The sarcasm was heavy in her tone, and she flashed him a grin. "Oh right. Sorry. Half-sister."
Anxiety and revulsion mixed together in Yahiko's stomach, and he ground his jaw.
"I mean, it's up to you, but if you wait too much longer that cute little floral demon waiting back home for you might turn to someone else for her affection."
Dark eyes glared at her, and Misao shrugged with another grin.
"Our dear old dad might have believed your little lie, but that's because he wouldn't know what love was if it bit him in the ass." Rolling onto her knees, Misao placed both hands on his shoulders and leaned in close. "You are obviously just smitten with that cutie-pie, and I think it's just the sweetest thing ever."
"Get off me." He barked the command, but didn't physically follow it up for fear that the kijin might react physically in return.
"Don't be grumpy. It's a compliment, bro." She winked and giggled in her airy, bubbly way before rocking back so that she was standing on her light feet. She could change freely between her sylph-pixy form and her full-size form, but chose to be full-size when communicating with him. Her clothes were light-weight, and nothing like the traditional attire of their half-sister, Yuna. Instead, Misao wore shorts and a flowing, short-sleeved blouse. She never wore shoes, or socks for that matter.
"Prisoner or not, I'd still like to know just what kind of end-game we're looking at. I'm not looking to commit myself to some suicidal cause."
"Fair enough." Misao extended each leg with locked knees to walk her way around the room. Both hands clasp together behind her back. "It's not really complicated. I just want revenge. I'll keep my reasons to myself though, if you don't mind." Abruptly hop-skipping her way over to the kijin, she dropped to her knees behind him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "But if you need something a little more noble to get behind, then Aoshi-sama is your man." Laying her head down on his shoulder, Misao grinned sideways up at his face. "Right, Aoshi-sama?"
Piercing blue eyes lifted and connected square with his own. Like before, Yahiko could feel the power behind the kijin's gaze. A power that was wasted on a mere guard at the palace. When he spoke, his voice was calmer than he expected, and sharply intelligent.
"I understand your hesitance, young sky demon. Killing the emperor is not only a daunting task, it would throw the country into a state of chaos. In order to avoid any unnecessary bloodshed, we will need to stabilize and seize control immediately. My Lady is correct in that demons only follow and respect strength, and it will need to be a strength that no one questions. This used to be achieved by alliances between the strongest tribes. I have made three such alliances, but have fallen short with too many of the others. They are not convinced that we are strong enough."
"Yeah, sorry, but I'm not really convinced you are, either. No offense." Misao glared daggers at him, but he simply shrugged. "Still not sure what you want me to do about any of this, either. I'm certainly not strong enough to challenge him. Also, while I'm on board with that old man deserving about as much respect as a dung heap, it's not really adding up why you think he deserves to be taken out. The emperor's sole job is to maintain peace. Everything else is handled by elected officials. From what I've seen and heard, we've been peaceful for about two hundred years now."
"Aoshi-sama…" For the first time, Misao's voice rang with slight warning, but the kijin shared a look with her and she nodded her head in acceptance.
"I believe it goes without saying that what we talk about is to be kept secret."
Yahiko held Aoshi's gaze, and didn't realize that he wasn't breathing until the kijin began speaking again.
"If I thought for a second that you would betray My Lady, I would kill you and claim you tried to escape."
A hard swallow worked Yahiko's throat.
"This information, however, can never be repeated, even if we succeed in overthrowing the emperor."
"F-fine. I mean… yeah, I won't say anything."
"It is indeed the Sky Emperor's responsibility to keep the peace and stand as a deterrent to anyone who attempts to wage war on the soil of his domain. Let me ask you, Yahiko-kun, do you truly believe it has been peaceful for everyone? Do you feel like your life has been peaceful? You've had to hide your identity and your powers, not only because of your heritage and demon type, but because you know the truth about why the wind demons of our land were nearly eradicated. You know that it was the Sky Emperor who ordered it. Did you know he is also directly linked to the thinning of all other elemental demons? Anything that has ever threatened his rule has been systematically removed. That's not keeping the peace to protect his people. He is maintaining his control to satisfy his own greed for power. He is a corrupt leader that will eventually lead to our ruin."
Dark brows folded inward, and Yahiko sat up straighter.
"The other elemental races, too? But… I haven't heard anything about water or earth demons being targeted or killed."
"But have you ever met one?" Misao posed the question, and Yahiko realized with a start that he hadn't. "Exactly."
"While it is true that elemental demons are not prevalent by any means, they are longer lived than other demon races and therefore do not require as large a population to survive. Unfortunately, their numbers have never been this low in known history. Completely eradicating the elemental races is detrimental to our planet as a whole, and not just our land. There are, of course, many other lands that have abundant water, earth and wind demons, but the lack of fire demons is worrying."
"I-I heard they… died out during the war with the humans."
"And who do you think caused that war?" Aoshi's expression never changed, but remained serious and composed as he pushed Yahiko to his own understanding.
"They did. That's what everyone says."
"Did they?" Misao was nearly upside-down as she leaned over Aoshi's back and shoulder. "I'm not so sure."
"From the information we have gathered, there is a strong suggestion that there were two races in particular that the emperor made sure to drive to extinction: fire demons and humans. It is logical to conclude that going to war was the best way to either thin their numbers or eradicate them completely. It obviously worked."
Fearing fire demons made sense to Yahiko. They were known to be powerful, even if the only one Yahiko had ever met appeared to be tame as a kitten. In the back of his mind, Yahiko remembered the conversation he had overhead, and how the revived human that the emperor's lackies had located needed to be killed immediately.
"Why is he afraid of humans?"
"Why indeed." Misao grinned as she leaned over Aoshi's shoulder. "Could be he thought their technology was getting too strong. We'll let you know once we figure that out. How about it? Are you in?"
Because it was easy to tell he was still undecided, Aoshi continued patiently.
"It is clear, Yahiko-kun, that our emperor shows no hesitance when it comes to destroying anything or anyone he views as a threat. Not a threat to his people, but what he considers a threat to himself. What line will he not cross? Who is actually safe from such a ruler? When will he decide that there are too many ogres, too many tengu, too many strong demons living near one another? How many innocent bystanders will he kill just to satisfy his paranoia?"
Staring down at his feet, Yahiko thought of Tsubame and struggled with what was right to do.
"I… still just don't know what you want from me. Even if I say I'll go along, what can I even do from inside here?"
"I hear you are acquainted with the fire demon, Himura Kenshin."
Startled dark eyes jerked upwards.
"We would like an introduction."
They want strength to convince others to join their cause… and they think Kenshin will help them?
Would he? One eyebrow lifted in doubt. Yahiko really couldn't see it.
Do they think he'll want revenge, too?
It was possible.
"What if he doesn't agree? Are you just going to leave me in here?"
"We are also aware that he knows Hiko Seijūrō. If the fire demon will not assist us, we will move on. It is well known that the Sky Emperor does not bother the hermit of the mountain. If he fears him enough to avoid him, that means he's too powerful to confront."
"Don't worry. I'm not about to let dear old Dad torture our plans out of you. Not a chance. Besides, we don't abandon our allies."
Misao leaned far enough forward that she slipped, but instead of falling flat on her face, she disappeared with a soft pouf to transform back into her pixy body. Like a hummingbird, she flitted over until she was directly in his face.
"But we show no mercy to our enemies. Ok?"
Another childish grin tugged at her features.
"We'll let you think on it another couple of days. It's not like we can bust you out immediately without drawing some attention to ourselves. In the meantime, you might want to think about changing your attitude towards sweet Yuna-chan."
Landing on his shoulder, Misao leaned her arm into the shell of his ear.
"She wants to marry you as much as you want to marry her. By which I mean, she couldn't be less interested. She's also on our side, and if you don't start showing her a bit of interest, daddy-dearest is going to trade her out for one of the other three sky demons he produced, and trust me, you won't like any of them."
"It's time, My Lady. The guard shift will change soon."
"Coming!"
It was early morning, and the sky was just tingeing with color when the change of guard appeared on the veranda. Inside the barrier, Yahiko lay on his side to pretend sleep, but his mind raced with the decision he had been left with. Participating in a revolution was not his preferred choice, but he needed some type of ally if he was to escape. He also didn't like the thought of involving someone else just to help himself, but somehow it seemed that Kenshin was already involved. After all, Yahiko needed to report to Kenshin what he had overheard the emperor and his counselor talking about before he had been captured. The sooner, the better.
Hidden inside the collar of Aoshi's uniform, Misao yawned and fell asleep in open inhibition. Aware of her vulnerable form, Aoshi consciously held himself upright and walked with grace so that his shoulders moved as little as possible. On the walkway of the main portion of the palace, he found himself crossing paths with an okami dressed in a strict special forces uniform. Five steps away from one another, Aoshi's cold blue stare caught the okami's heavy yellow irises glance purposefully up at Yahiko's floating cell. Their gazes connected a moment later, and Aoshi briefly nodded his head in acknowledgement.
Saitou Hajime curtly nodded back, and they passed one another without a word.
X
A/N: Short chapter this week. The last couple chapters were extra-long, so I wanted to take a bit of a break this week. I also didn't want to get into what I'm writing next just to have to split it awkwardly up. I did want to give a quick clarification about what I mentioned a couple chapters ago about this story being complicated. I'm not in any way suggesting that this is expert level stuff, lol. It's really not even advanced. It's just the most complicated story I have ever attempted, and I'm excited and nervous about it at the same time. It's not really a complicated plot, I don't think, it's just got a lot of different things going on that I'm trying to keep in line. I like little details, so trying to introduce them and then remember them afterwards, and work them in appropriately is a little overwhelming at times. There's been at least one chapter that I posted and then kicked myself because I left something out of it that I wanted. Luckily, I got to introduce it in the next without messing anything up, but I'm really trying hard not to let that happen too often. Anyway, I'm really hoping to get to some love in the next chapter, and some comfort for our bruised hearts. Love you all!
Up next, flying lessons, and some interesting fun with Kaoru's voice.