Fushigi Yuugi Fan Fiction ❯ Gems of Blue ❯ Azurite ( Chapter 5 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Chapter: 5 Azurite

Tessen, the boss of the Mountain Bandits, looked over the girl that Genrou and Kouji had brought to him. The girl slept peacefully on a futon. Her fever was gone, but she still looked pale.
"She's wearing Kutou armor. Are you sure she's not a spy? I know you two think of yourselves as men, but you are both still only fourteen."
"She kept murmuring something about Lazuli." Kouji said.
"Yeah, and she was wearing this," Genrou said as he handed Tessen the amulet.
"Hmm, this looks like the ring that Lazuli wears. He may know her. Go bring Lazuli in here."
Kouji quickly ran out of the room to look for Lazuli.
"Should I go find someone to help her out? I mean, she is really sick."
"Go ahead, Genrou. Although, I suggest you go get your sister that lives in the village."
"Why should I ask for help from her?"
"Because, you are a youngster. I suspect I know what is wrong with her and Li'an, is the best choice to confirm my suspicions."
Genrou grumbled but he left to his sister's house.
"You called for me?" Lazuli said as he walked into the room.
Lazuli was extremely handsome, despite the scar above his left eyebrow, which was barely noticeable beneath the burgundy colored headband he wore. His long sleeved shirt was the same color as his headband. He wore a brown leather vest and breeches. His boots were black, but heavily scuffed.
He kept his blonde hair trimmed to where fell evenly just below his chin.
He wore gold, dangling earnings with azurite beads. A matching necklace hung loosely around his neck. A signet ring was on his right index finger.
Strapped to his back was an arrow case, full of arrows. His bow, hung on the case. A sword in its scabbard hung off of his waist. Daggers were in his boots.
Lazuli was as dangerous as he looked. He was Tessen's chief sniper and assassin.
"Lazuli, Genrou and Kouji found this girl while they were out playing in the river."
"Lapis!" Lazuli bent down to look more closely.
"You know her?"
"Yes, she is my twin sister. But, the last I heard she was a prisoner and concubine for the Kutou emperor."
"That explains the armor. She must have escaped when they pulled out their troops to go burn another village and murder everyone within."
"She is so pale. It must have taken a great effort for her to escape."
"Here, she was wearing this, I suppose I should give it back to you. I will leave her care to you. Genrou has gone to get someone to help her."
"This is? Where in the hell did she get this?"
"What is the matter, Lazuli? I thought that was just a tribal necklace."
"It is much more than that. Among the Hin, this is called loosely the 'Queen's Necklace.' It identifies the wearer as the 'first of wives' of the Hin 'King,' the master of all of the tribes. This amulet was lost when the Kutou emperor attacked the encampment containing my aunt. My aunt was my father's first of wives. No one survived that massacre."
"She could have found it among the trophies of the emperor and stolen it back."
"I suppose. I will carry her into my rooms if having her here is inconvenient."
"No, I can use one of my other rooms. You and your sister can use this one until she regains some of her strength."
"Thank you." Lazuli said as Tessen left the room.

Nakago sat at his desk and studied the various battle plans in front of him. The more he tried to concentrate, the more frustrated he got. He brushed aside the maps and sat there, breathing deeply.
As he slowly concentrated, he calmed.
There was something wrong. He could feel it deeply. He was overlooking something, and needed to slowly think, to remember.
His mind traced back over the last two months. The satisfaction that the Kutou army was slowly being taken over by his own forces made him smile slightly. It had taken a year, but nearly one quarter of the troops were Hin mercenaries, from several tribes.
His mind wandered to Lapis. He missed her more than he thought he would. She was the one bit of peace in the eleven years of hell he had endured under the emperor's leash.
The previous night he dreamed of her. She was a toddler in the dream. Nakago was being scolded by his mother and aunt for teasing her so hard when they played. Lapis got her revenge for the teasing. She bit Nakago, and he was not allowed to hit her for it.
"So strong, even then." Nakago mused to himself. "Lapis! that is it."
He knew that women that mastered the sexual art of Bouchuu as completely as Lapis had, could control if and when they got pregnant. There was no way that the emperor could have impregnated her, unless she lowered her resistance. Nakago knew she would not do that. She hated the emperor too completely to do so.
His eyes grew wide as he whispered, "unless a more powerful ki overpowered her resistance. That has to be it."
Two months earlier, the emperor had been urgently called away from the palace on very short notice. Partially out of curiosity and partially out of spite, Nakago slipped into the emperor's bedchamber and extinguished the lights. Nakago cast a spell to make any concubine that entered believe that he was the emperor. He was not sure which concubine or concubines were to attend the emperor that night, but Nakago wanted some fun. He wanted to see if he could impregnate one. If that child took the throne, all the better.
Because of the darkness and the concentration needed to continue his spell that night, Nakago did not realize that it was Lapis whom he coupled with.
"The child she caries, is mine," He said slowly and quietly, "and she does not know. I will perhaps be able to see her one more time. Fate smiles on me."
He called for one of his mercenaries, in particular one of his spies.
"Dress in peasant clothing. I want you to deliver this message to Lazuli. 'You do not know me, but I must speak urgently with you. Meet me in the Azul inn in the village near the base of Mount Reikaku in two weeks. Bring your sister. Under no circumstances is she to harm herself or the child. We will discuss the child when I see you. Nakago."

**********

Lapis murmured desperately in her sleep. Genrou had brought Li'an to see to Lapis. He and Lazuli waited outside the room while Li'an carefully examined Lapis.
"She will be fine," Li'an said as she left the room. "She is about two months along. This is perfectly normal at this point. She will be fine with some sleep and bland food in her stomach."
"Two months along with what?" Lazuli said absentmindedly.
"With her pregnancy. Tasuki, please pay me for my services now."
"What! Why should I have to pay? It's Lazuli's sister!"
"Because, I know darned well that Lazuli is broke, he always is. You are his friend, aren't you."
"It's alright, Li'an, I have some money this time. I have not been to the common house yet this month."
"Well, I can't take my full fee from you Lazuli. I know how you like to have your bath, your shave, and your hair groomed. You can pay me the rest later."
"Hey! How come you always give Lazuli a break, and never me, your own brother!"
"Because, Lazuli is polite, knows when to keep his mouth shut and when to open it." Li'an slapped Genrou on the back of the head, hard.
"Ow! Why You!"
"I will be leaving now, take good care of her. Children are precious gifts."
"I am not so sure she sees it that way," Lazuli mumbled under his breath.
Genrou followed Lazuli into the room where Lapis lay unconscious.
"Sorry, Lazuli. So do you have any idea who may have knocked her up?"
"Genrou, you really need to do some growing up. I told you before she was a prisoner of the Kutou emperor. In all likeliness, he is who knocked her up. Although, It puzzles me how he could."
"Wait, don't tell me you are still a virgin, Lazuli. All that time in the common house isn't just spending time the hot baths is it?"
"I am no virgin, not by a long shot. I lost that when I was eleven. All Hin boys do, as part of their manhood rites." He said as he held Lapis' hand
"Well then you should know exactly how she got pregnant."
"It is not as simple as that, Genrou. She is a Hin, and a princess. From the time they are eleven, they are trained in the art of bouchuu."
"What the hell is bouchuu?"
"Manipulation of another person's ki through coupling. One aspect and advantage is that bouchuu, once mastered, can let a woman decide if and when she wants to be impregnated. Accidental pregnancies rarely happen among the Hin. Of course, this power can be overridden if the man's ki is strong enough to resist."
"Whoa. That Kutou emperor must be pretty powerful."
"Heh, far from it. Before I came here, and before she was captured. I did an assassination for the Kutou emperor. The power needed to overpower Lapis' skill would be so great that it would practically radiate from the man's body. The only thing the Kutou emperor radiated was smell from his farts."
"How do you know how powerful she is?"
"You really don't want me to tell you. Lets just say, the Hin tribes these days are pretty small in number, and concessions have to be made."
Genrou looked at Lazuli with horror and disgust." You slept with your own sister!"
Lazuli sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Yes, unfortunately, I did."
"You are disgusting! I knew you were a pretty sick fella when the boss hired you and took you in, but I didn't think you were that twisted!"
"Quiet, Genrou, you'll wake her up! Besides, at the time neither of us was given a choice in the matter! We were forced to by others!"
"Oh, you would like that, wake her up so you can be a pervert all over her. She is your own sister!"
"Shut up, Genrou."
"Get your hands off of her you, you pervert."
Lapis stirred to all the yelling in the room. She looked up at Lazuli with blurred vision.
"Nakago?"
"Lapis, I am so sorry for the noise. You need your rest."
"Nakago? Is that you Nakago?" She mumbled incoherently.
"It is your brother, Lazuli. You are safe Lapis. You are going to be fine."
"Her name is Lapis? Ha! Ha! Ha! Lapis Lazuli! Ha! Ha! Your parents must have thought they were being clever." Genrou said as he laughed so hard tears were coming from his eyes. At least it quit him from going on about Lazuli and his sister's forced incest.
"Our mother did. I am not sure our father was all that thrilled."
"Where is Lazuli? Where is Lord Nakago?"
"Lapis you are on Mount Reikaku. You are here with Lazuli. You are safe now."
"Mount Reikaku? Lazuli!" Lapis said as she sat up and hugged her brother. "I made it! I was not sure that I would."
"I guess I will leave you two sicko lovebirds alone."
"We are not lovebirds, Genrou! You never listen. We were forced into it, by the Tenkou priests! That is part of the reason I left the Hin."
"Thank you, Genrou. I saw you just before I blacked out. That red hair is hard to miss. You are the one who brought me here?"
"Yeah, Yeah. Just don't get all mushy about it. I was more interested in the horse."
"I don't get mushy. It was just a thank you."
"I suppose I should thank you too."
"Yeah, sure Lazuli. No problem." Genrou said as he left the room and closed the door.
Lapis took a deep breath and rubbed her eyes. She felt hungry, but sick all at the same time.
"You are going to be fine. Are you hungry? The woman who looked at you said you should stick to bland foods for now. I can get you some rice."
"Slow down, Lazuli. Yes, I am a little hungry. Plain rice will be fine."
"I will get it for you. Stay here." Lazuli left and came back quickly with a bowl of rice. He started to feed Lapis.
"Lazuli, I can still feed myself. Just get a pillow to help me sit up a bit."
"Sure. Lapis, I have a couple of questions to ask. I was going to wait until later to ask, but you need your rest and I need to calm my nerves."
"No, I will not couple with you."
"Not that. Where did you get this amulet?"
"Lord Nakago gave it to me."
"Nakago? I thought the Kutou emperor's name was Hebishoru?"
"It is. Nakago is the King of all Hin."
"What!? The priests actually found someone with a better claim? Thank the gods!"
"May I have my amulet back?"
"This means that you are first of wives to Nakago. But, how did 'he' get this amulet? Our aunt was the wearer of it. It was lost when her encampment was massacred." He said as he handed it to her.
"Nakago had it. It was all he had left from his mother."
"That would mean that Nakago is.."
"Yes, our older half brother. He survived, and has been a prisoner and servant of the Kutou emperor for eleven years."
Lazuli furrowed his brow. "He is our brother, and still you let him claim you as first of wives?"
"Of course, how else is the bloodline to remain pure? Who do you suggest claim me? Aono? He is homosexual. His mother was not Hin, although he is the son of our father's half brother. "
"Some things never change. Take care of yourself and the child. I am sure your 'husband' would be upset if anything happened to you and it."
"This is the Kutou emperor's child. I have no wish to keep it."
"I don't agree. I met the Kutou emperor. He can not overpower your ki. Besides, Genrou's sisters say that there has been a lot of still born children in the area around here. I am certain we can adopt it out."
"Very well, you are the prince, and next in line after Nakago."
"Oh, shut up. You can use this room until you get better. Then you will be moved. Get some sleep."
Lazuli was seething. Lapis knew how corrupt and decrepit the Hin had become, yet she continued to just follow. It was disgusting. Perhaps she would change her mind now that she was out of the influence of the old ways. To survive, the Hin needed to change. Lazuli had hoped to enact that change when he took the throne in a couple of years. He did want the Hin throne, he just knew he was not ready for it.