Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ To Remember ❯ Captivity ( Chapter 8 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Cousin D 
Anime/Manga: Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Romance / Fantasy | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 08.27.2005 | Pages: 5 | Words: 7.4K | Visits: 307 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Romance / Fantasy | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 08.27.2005 | Pages: 5 | Words: 7.4K | Visits: 307 | Status: Completed
Chapter 8: Captivity
Bion-
It was Bion who’d darted out into the street and caused the car accident. He knew that, most likely, the driver would be startled enough to do something stupid.
He watched the car when it stopped at the corner. There he was, sitting in the back. Ryou. The perfect bait for this trap he would lay for Ari.
The whole problem was that he had to get Ryou away from the other humans in order to make the capture easier. That, it turned out, was more difficult that it sounded. The only Time Ryou had been away from his companions was a short while when he was in a rougher part of the Midgard city and was speaking with a man. Ryou had stayed in public places, never stepping for a moment in a lonely alley or the shadows. Taking the boy quietly was looking more and more difficult.
So he’d followed Ryou up until this point and, seeing him so close in the car, Bion decided that he couldn’t give up this chance. If the dhampire, Kuujurou were to find out that Bion was stalking Ryou, it would be big trouble. All the more trouble if the dhampire’s master were to take offense.
The boys in the car were talking about something but that really made no difference to Bion. He waited until the car started moving again before he dashed out into the street as fast as he could. As he expected, the car swerved, it’s tires squealing loudly on the street. The car flipped twice, one of the front seat passengers was thrown through the windshield and landed roughly , bouncing once before he rolled onto his back. When the car stopped, the driver hung from his seatbelt like a limp doll before it came to a stop near the sidewalk.
No cars stopped to help, which surprised Bion a bit. He had thought that maybe he would have to fend off other humans to get to Ryou. Bion knew he was lucky when it turned out that humans didn’t help each other.
He went closer to the smoking wreck of a car and hoped that he hadn’t killed Ryou. That would do at all. At the best, that would only irritate the dhampire and that, Bion wanted to avoid at all costs.
The boy was still alive. In fact, he was in better condition that the rest of the passengers. Ryou managed to crawl from the car, though weakly. On his hands and knees he worked his way out of the car after kicking open the door. He watched Ryou struggle out, then lay himself on the ground. He had hoped that Ryou would just pass out. That would have made things so much easier.
Instead, Ryou was awake and when someone else rushed onto the scene Ryou started talking to him.
‘If I wait any longer, I’ll miss this chance.’ A siren announced that more humans was on their way. Bion took Ryou. As quick as a flash, he pulled the boy far enough behind the car that the other boy wouldn’t even see his outstretched hand and, just as Ryou managed to look up and see who was moving him, Bion took him to Tintagel.
It wasn’t a pleasant way to travel, but it was the only way to get from Midgard to Tintagel.
Midgard to Tintagle, though they were closely related, were not the same world. In fact, they were so far from the same that they were very similar. Not that that made any sense, even to Bion. There was a feeling of weightlessness and there was darkness. To find the place he wanted to be, Bion had to find the right thread and when he found it, he was in the forest near the Udir and Ryou was draped over his shoulder.
‘The dhampire won’t be able to dismiss this. He’ll come searching for the boy and then I’ll have him. When I have him, I’ll have Ari.’
On his shoulder, Ryou stirred and groaned painfully.
Bion held him securely. “You’ll be fine.” He patted the back of Ryou’s leg to comfort the boy. It was foolish. Ryou was unconscious, he couldn’t hear a thing Bion said. The boy was probably dying from that wound on his head. All through the short trek through the forest, Bion couldn’t help his thoughts. ‘Fine. He won’t be fine. He might not be.’
There were legends…rumors…about the connection vampires shared with those who shared their blood and with the mortals they chose as companions. Unless the vampire was careful not to let them become too close psychically, separating them could mean death for one or both of them. They were so often became mentally and emotionally dependant on each other.
If the bond was that strong with a normal vampire, who knew what kind of effect it would have on the rare dhampire? Bion had no idea what kind of effect it was going to have, separating them like this. Then again, maybe it would make no difference at all.
Only when Bion came close to his home did he smell her.
The smell made his lips curl back in a silent snarl and almost made him forget his precious burden.
He heard her singing before he came within sight of his home by the lazy river Udir. It enraged Bion to know that she was there, so close to his mate and their daughter, but his fear was greater than his anger. All he knew was that it was a fae female. For all he knew it could be the Lady-Queen come to make good on her threat to hurt Jildan.
It was a dilemma. He had his bait and was ready to set the trap for the dhampire which would draw out Ari. The Lady-Queen could spoil all his hard work. That would be just like her. Stupid sow.
Cautiously, Bion carried his burden to the source of the singing and found that it was not the Lady-Queen as he’d feared, but an unfamiliar fae. When Bion came into view, she must have heard him because she turned at just that moment and looked right at him. She was a typical fae in almost every respect. She was tall and willowy, fragile as glass and fair as moonlight with the platinum hair that was so common amongst the fae. There was something different, though. Her eyes lacked the dullness of every fae Bion had ever met.
The thing that made Bion stop in his tracks was the fact that she was sitting on the ground. In her pretty white dress, she was sitting on the muddy banks of the Udir river, dangling her bare feet in the water. “Dog.” she spit the word with more venom than an adder. “Filthy dog. Have you returned to cause more trouble?”
“What are you doing here?” As if she had any right to question him in his own home. Of course she did. She was fae and he was only an imp.
“A duty to a friend.” She pulled her feet out of the water and stood up, though she didn’t take her eyes off Bion. “What is that rubbish over your shoulder. Is…” Her voice trailed off when she actually looked at who Bion was carrying, but that didn’t improve her temper. She screeched almost unintelligibly. “What have you done, dog?! Take your slimy claws off him!”
Bion had never seen a fae so emotional and it took him off guard. He did as she said and let Ryou fall to the ground. Fortunately, Ryou was so out of it, that he didn’t so much as make a sound when he fell. It gave him room to watch this strange fae when she fairly flew to Ryou and threw herself down beside him.
There was passion in this female unlike any other fae Bion had never seen. Her eyes glittered in rage when she looked at Bion and grew watery with tears when she looked at Ryou. When she bend over him, her long pale hair fell around her face like a curtain and she irritably brushed it away with the back of her hand.
“Ryou? Oh, my dear. Wake up. Oh!” She put her fingers to the bloody gnash across his forehead and Bion noticed that her fingers shook in distress. Another unusual thing for a fae. “You’ve hurt him.” She gave Bion a hateful look.
“It was necessary. I’m acting under orders of the Lady-Queen. If you have a problem, take it up with her.” Lying was probably pointless. She might not be the Lady-Queen, but all fae were powerful in their own right. This one might be even more dangerous because it seemed to Bion that she wasn’t under the influence of any kind of glamour. She didn’t have the normal blank stare Bion usually associated with the fae. It was possible, however unlikely, that she wasn’t under the Lady-Queen’s control. “You know him.”
She looked at Bion sharply again, then her eyes narrowed in a calculating manner. “I am Jomai, third daughter of the Ta’lin clan. My family has served the Lady-Queen as tailors for many generations.”
“Pleased to meet you. Since you’re in my home, I presume that you already know my name.”
“Bion Na Underic. I was a friend of your mate’s.”
“I find that hard to believe. She had few friends outside her own family.” He didn’t add that she detested the fae as much as he did.
“You were gone for three decades. Things changed. The birth of your daughter, for one. Jildan asked me to take care of your daughter until you returned. Liun is quite the handful.”
Baby. The baby had finally been born. He was a father, at last. “You didn’t answer my question.” Bion fought hard not to look at the light in his home. His daughter was inside, but he couldn’t go to her and that made him hate the fae even more. “How do you know the boy?”
Jomai-
As if it was really any of the imp’s business how she’d come to know Ryou. Jomai hadn’t even meant for it to happen. She stroked Ryou’s forehead, careful of the still bloody gnash that marred his face. “How I know Ryou is my affair.” Jomai looked up from Ryou to the ugly little man and wanted to kill him. It wasn’t often that she wanted to kill, but this thing had drawn dear little Ryou’s blood! ‘If he wasn’t mated to Jildan…’
Bion wasn’t about to be deterred by Jomai’s anger, though. He slid a little closer, keeping within arm’s reach of Ryou. “It’s my affair, also, I’m afraid. He belongs to me.” When Jomai opened her mouth to protest, he added, “By order of the Lady-Queen Sedari. He‘s rather important to her, in a round about way.”
Now that was just ridiculous! What interest could the Lady-Queen possibly have in little Ryou?
Jomai couldn’t help but remember when they’d met. In the long lifespan of a fae, her time with Ryou was nothing more than a heartbeat. Funny that it would leave such an impact.
Flashback-
He was small and skinny with a starved look to him. His clothes were too thin for the cold night, but that seemed fitting. Everything about him was deficient. Almost timidly, the boy stepped into the doorway of the shelter and looked around. He didn’t see Jomai, at first, but let his eyes linger on the fireplace and the rows of small cots.
Just looking at him make Jomai thankful that she’d decided to live as a human for a while.
If anyone had ask Jomai why she’d left the court of the Lady-Queen Sedari, she couldn’t have given them a straight answer. The fact was that Jomai was bored in the Lady-Queen’s court. Perhaps it was because she’d known the king before Sedari had murdered him, but she found the ravings and the machinations of the young Lady- Queen to be more than a little tiring. The king had been grand and majestic, a true credit to the fae people. It was he who’d made the fae army the best and he who’d made one proud to be fae.
It was the nature of the fae to be devious and underhanded, though, so when word circulated that princess Sedari had become the Lady-Queen everyone knew what had happened. No one blamed her. She was fae and royalty, at that. She was supposed to do things like that. No one was really surprised, either. The king had been especially proud when his only daughter had caused her older brother to ‘slip’ off the balcony. He had been delighted when two of her male cousins who, it was rumored, had been plotting Sedari’s murder, had vanished without a trace.
It made one wonder if he’d been surprised when she’d killed him. He must have been expecting it. He raised her to be ambitious and have no qualms about using her vast power. So whatever had happened in his bedroom so late at night that had caused his death, he probably wasn’t surprised. Maybe he had even smiled when she’d raised her hand against him for the last time.
Still, even after knowing all that, Jomai probably wouldn’t have left Tintagel without help from Jildan. The little imp female was the one who’d dispelled the glamour the Lady-Queen Sedari had cast upon all the fae. Whatever her reason had been, Jildan had come upon Jomai in the forest one day and used her weak imp magic to break the spell, letting Jomai see things as they really were for the first time in many years. What she saw in the court and in her own people didn’t please her.
It wasn’t the viciousness or the hidden brutality of the fae that displeased her. It was how mind-numbingly dull the place was. Everyone fawning and watching the Lady-Queen so adoringly when she never did much of anything.
How…lifeless.
At any rate, it was all that which had brought Jomai to Midgard. To her, the Lady-Queen wasn’t nearly so entertaining a ruler as her father had been. Midgard was much more interesting.
Death, to be precise, was interesting.
Fae rarely changed. In fact, it was so rare that the fae would change at all that it could be said they never changed until death. There was a brief childhood, naturally, but once a fae matured, their body would just stop changing. After a while, even beauty grew dull.
“What are you talking about?” The others would ask her. Her own parents had looked at her strangely when she’d spoken about her boredom. “This is the way we are. What would you rather be? Mortal?” The suggestion was laughed at, but not long after Jomai found herself in Midgard disguised as a mortal and living as one. The moment she left Tintagel, she vowed that she would not use her magic in anyway but to disguise herself from humans.
It was marvelous.
Her glamour, a natural ability of the fae, allowed her to change the way the mortals perceived her. They saw only a mortal woman, rather ordinary and plain. If anyone was asked to describe her, they would have remembered nothing more than the clothes she wore.
She wanted to experience the pain and pleasure of all that was humanity. After a little observation, she decided that the only way to do that was to be human. So with very little effort, she immersed herself in the role. For all intents and purposes, she became human and she took a new name to fit her new life.
Jo.
To find the best and worst in humanity, Jo found an unusual occupation. She became a catholic nun and was thereafter known as sister Jo.
Finding herself in Japan, working in a lonely homeless shelter was the path that life had brought her on and the fact that she’d met a certain boy named Sanada Ryou in that shelter was nothing but coincidence.
“Would you like to come in?”
He looked as if he were nothing more than skin and bones. It surprised her to see him jump at the sound of her voice. He wasn’t a child, exactly. He was becoming a young man. His black hair was shaggy and charmingly fell into his eyes, his dark skin told Jo that he spent a great deal of time out of doors.
“Don’t be afraid. I’ve got some hot soup and no guests tonight.” There was something wonderfully honest about the fear and distrust in those blue eyes. Sister Jo held out a hand to him, hoping that it was a friendly thing to do. By that time, she’d been living entirely as a human for several years and had learned that it was small things like that which encouraged trust.
The boy backed away a step but he didn’t leave the doorway. How did it look to him? Maybe he saw the food she’d been laying out or maybe he was thinking about how warm it would be inside. He licked his lips to speak, but his words came out in slow, almost painful stuttering.
“I n-need to g-g-get my g-g-granma.” He held a hand up as he spoke and wiped away a bit of spit with the back of his hand, his face turning red from embarrassment. “C-can’t s-s-stay.”
“Oh? Are you sure? I made beef stew and there’s hot tea.”
The offer tempted the human boy, that much was obvious. From the longing look in his eyes, Jo had to wonder how long it had been since he’d last eaten.
Ryou left without a word but came back the next night. Again, he refused to go into the shelter and left. That went on for several nights until one late night he came with an old woman clinging to his arm for support and a massive white tiger. In the beginning he didn’t talk much, but he was helpful and worked hard. He would do almost anything Jo asked him to do, in fact. Thought he did have a powerful phobia of people. He avoided all people, except for some of the most unlikely
Yoko, the ever-smiling prostitute, and Joji, her unearthly cohort. Ryou had brought them back to the shelter one night and took right to them. He smiled and laughed at Yoko’s jokes and he’d let Joji touch him without hesitation. That amazed Jo. Ryou would go to great lengths to avoid being touched and Joji didn’t look like the most trustworthy of people, but somehow he’d earned Ryou’s trust.
They stayed for months before the homeless shelter was closed down. Ryou and his dying granma had moved on and the last time Jo had seen them, they went the way they came. The old woman leaning on Ryou and the mysterious tiger following behind, they quietly disappeared into the rainy morning.
It hurt Jo to see them go. Somewhere along the lines she’d grown fond of Ryou. It hurt so badly when she realized that he would die somewhere and she would never see him again. He would be lost among the masses of humanity and, probably, he would starve to death on some cold night.
It was tempting to use her magic to help Ryou in someway, but she’d given her word not to so long as the game was in session and it didn’t end until she went back to Tintagel. She couldn’t break the rules, even so close to the end.
After that, Jo had decided it was best to go back to Tintagel to thank Jildan for helping her to see. Only, it hadn’t been that simple.
“Please, take care of her. My darling Liun.”
Jomai stared down helplessly at the infant in her cradle, horrified at being asked to care for such a tiny, fragile life. “You can’t ask me to do this.”
“I have to. There’s no one else.”
“Friends! You must have friends!”
Jildan, eminently practical, gave her a hard look. “You are more powerful than any of my friends or my family. Until her father returns, you must care for her. Please. I trust you.”
“Why?”
“Because I did something for you. Think of this as a way to repay me.” She smiled then and choked until Jomai helped her to sit up and patted her back. “Thank you. Do me this one favor. He’ll be back soon. It won’t be long.”
“He’s been gone several years. You went though nearly your whole pregnancy without your mate.” Her female nature made her hate Bion just knowing that he’d abandoned his mate and unborn child. “What makes you so sure he will come back at all?”
The pain in Jildan’s eyes made Jomai wish she hadn’t said anything. Jildan quickly pushed the pain away and mustered another smile. “He will. I know he’ll come back. I have faith in him.”
She’d died a short time later, leaving Jomai in the house, that was too small for her, with a baby she had no idea how to take care of.
End Flashback-
Bion-
He didn’t want her hanging around any longer than necessary. He certainly didn’t want her influencing his daughter and what was Jildan thinking?! To ask a fae to stay and look after the baby was madness. “Where’s Jildan?”
“Dead.” Jomai glared at him. “Sorry. You missed that, too. I hope your vacation was worth it.”
“Liar.” Dead? Jildan couldn’t be dead. She was strong and healthy. As stubborn a mate as any male could wish for. Too stubborn to just…die. “The baby? Where’s my daughter?” He dropped Ryou unceremoniously only to get a scalding glare from Jomai. As if he cared about some human boy at a time like this! “Where’s my daughter?”
“Sleeping.” Jomai, with her narrow arms, picked up Ryou easily and carried him to the middle of the room where she lay him out on the floor. “Keep your voice down or you’ll wake her up.” When she’d finished arranging Ryou to her satisfaction, Jomai stood with her back bent to keep herself from hitting her head on the ceiling. “In there. When Jildan was dying, she asked me to take care of Liun until you returned. She had great faith that you’d return. Frankly, I’m shocked.”
Bion snarled and pushed passed her. There were only two room in the house. The main room where Jomai and Ryou were and the bedroom. Therefore, that was where the baby was. She was perfect, absolutely beautiful. She looked just like her mother and Bion felt a stab of burning pain.
“She died shortly after giving birth.” Jomai spoke from the other room where she was sitting on the floor just next to Ryou. “Whether you believe it or not, I came her quite often while you were gone. She spoke about you all the time. When Liun was born, I sat with her and held her hand. She wouldn’t stop bleeding. I could do nothing.”
Bion touched his daughter’s face. Liun. It sounded like a name Jildan would pick. He should thank Jomai for taking care of Liun, but found that his throat was squeezed tight. He could barely breathe. He didn’t want to thank her. Despite everything, he wanted to hate her.
There was a loud noise and Jomai shouted in protest. It was enough to bring Bion away from his daughter to find out what was going on. He knew he shouldn’t be shocked to see the fae soldiers at his door, but he was. They’d ripped the door off its hinges and were hacking away at the doorway with their spears, apparently trying to make it bigger.
“Stop it!” Jomai screamed, laying herself over Ryou’s body, protectively.
They did stop, but not until the house was ripped open enough for them to actually enter. By that time, Luin was crying in the bedroom and Jomai’s long hair was filled with splinters of wood. Bion felt his blood start to race and it took great effort to keep himself calm. They were armed fae and were, no doubt, acting on orders from the Lady-Queen. He couldn’t challenge them.
One of the fae stepped into the house, having to slump to stand as he hadn’t thought to chop away at the roof. He looked around from under his helmet and smiled when he saw Ryou’s still form. “Good work, imp. This must be what you’ve been searching for. The Lady-Queen has been very patient.”
“I haven’t finished, yet.” Bion ground out between his clenched teeth. “My plans aren’t half finished.”
“The Lady-Queen wishes to finish it. Your services are no longer needed. We’ll take the boy, now.”
“I can handle this on my own.”
“We obey the Lady-Queen, not you.”
The arrogance of the fae was unmatched. “He’s part of the trap to get the Lady-Queen’s Ari back. If you take him, the trap won’t work.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Bion saw Jomai touch something on Ryou’s chest then quickly move her hand away. The only thing Bion could see was a necklace with some kind of human idol on it. He didn’t have time for whatever Jomai was plotting. The fae soldiers were impatient.
“That’s a matter for you to discuss with the Lady-Queen. I’m sure she’ll welcome an audience.” They picked up Ryou and were gone without another word. “Besides, the Lady-Queen already understands your plan. It’s rather obvious. The boy is somehow close to the Lady-Queen’s Ari. You use him to lure the other out. Simple.”
Bion didn’t dare protest and Jomai, though she was nearly trembling with fury, said nothing until they were gone. Together, they stood watching Ryou be taken away. He didn’t move or speak, the shock of the journey to Tintagel still affecting him so badly, as the fae took him away from the relative safety of Bion’s home.
“She’ll kill him. I gave him some protection, but it won’t help him for long.” Jomai said, softly. She still knelt on the floor where she’d tried to protect Ryou and looked as if she would kill the soldiers if she thought it would do Ryou any good. Of course it wouldn’t. They would send more guards and then the Lady-Queen would order Bion and Jomai to be killed. Where would that leave Liun?
“Maybe. She’s not stupid. Cruel, not stupid. If she thinks he‘s important to Ari, she won‘t kill him just to please Ari. Perhaps she thinks she can give him to Ari as a gift.” Bion couldn’t help but feel pity for the boy and what he would face. “He’ll wish he’d died in the car crash.”
Jomai’s eyes narrowed and her fist tightened. “I won’t allow this.” She whirled on Bion sharply. “Tell me everything you know, imp.”
“For starters,” Bion allowed himself a slow smile. “They don’t know the plan. It wasn’t Ari I was trying to lure out.”
Castle of Light-
Ryou-
Alone.
He didn’t like being alone.
Being alone reminded Ryou too much of the time before he’d met his friends. It reminded him of being hungry and afraid. But he was alone and no matter how hard he reached out, there was no one to reach back. Like a wall had been built in front of his mind. Like his arms and legs had been cut off, Ryou felt vulnerable. Weak. He felt weaker than he’d ever felt, even before Rekka had come to him.
“Can’t you put him back to sleep?” The voice was glorious and ugly.
Everything hurt, but it was the voice that made Ryou desperately want to go back to sleep. His hands were bound together at the wrists, over his head and when Ryou tried to move, he couldn’t. It wasn’t just his hands that couldn’t move, something was tied around his waist and his knees, binding him to the hard surface behind him.
“Forgive me, my Lady-Queen Sedari. It wouldn’t be safe. His injuries are still healing.”
Something poked Ryou’s forehead and the pain was like a hundred needles jabbing into him.
“You see? He flinches at the slightest touch. Doing anything to interfere with his body’s natural function may do more damage. Unless,” The voice became eager. “You want to do damage? That I can do easily.”
“No. Not yet. He’s useful, now.” A hand touched Ryou’s face, but it was different than the first touch. This hand was smaller and light as a feather. “Ugly thing, isn’t he? So…brown.”
“I believe the sun does that to humans, my Lady-Queen.”
“Leave me.”
“Yes, my Lady-Queen.”
The sound of echoing footsteps. Ryou began to notice more things then and started to wonder if it was worth the effort of opening his eyes. Wherever he was, it was cold. The tip of his nose was icy cold and his toes were numb. There was a terrible smell of mold and the taste of dust when Ryou licked his lips.
Slap!
The pain was unbearable and Ryou bit back a gasp. Youja. ‘I’m in the Youja Kai. The war never ended. Maybe everything was just a dream and I’ve been a prisoner all this time.’ But when he did open his eyes, it wasn’t a Youja he saw. It was a woman. Not human, but not Youja, either.
She was beautiful.
She was terrifying.
“So,” Sedari didn’t bother to keep her thoughts hidden. “Darling Ari prefers mortals, does he?” She ran a hand down Ryou’s chest, making him shudder. “He would rather couple with mortals than me? Such a strange man.” Her tone wasn’t angry, but reflective. Even when she looked right in Ryou’s face, it was as if she didn’t see him at all. “He spends his time and life with a dhampire rather than with me. How remarkable. How utterly absurd. And what part do you play in darling Ari’s life?” She shrugged and somehow managed to make it look elegant. “Whatever you importance to him, you’re important to me. Just be still.”
She reached out to Ryou again and he turned his head away from her, trying to keep her from touching him. Where was his orb? He was still dressed, but he couldn’t feel the orb. Maybe it had fallen out in the crash. Maybe it was just laying on the sidewalk and someone would steal it or break it. Somehow, Ryou’s concern for the orb momentarily overrode his concern for himself. “Who are you?”
The woman stopped for a moment, then smiled. “I was wondering if you could speak. Little one, I am the Lady-Queen Sedari and I’m the one who brought you here. Aren’t you fortunate? You’re going to help me get back my lost love. I’m ever so grateful.” Her smile was sweet as sugar. Ryou hated sweets.
“Let me go.” He tried to keep his voice calm, like he thought Seiji or Touma would. “I’ll help you, but please let me go. I hurt all over.”
“No surprise. One of my agents was a little rash and caused the car you were in to crash.”
Bion. Ryou had seen him just before the accident. That meant…what? What was it Bion had said to Ryou when they’d met in the forest? “Tell me, do you know a dhampire called Kujuurou?” Yes, that was what the little man had said. Anubisu. He’d asked after Anubisu, too.
Cold fingers touched Ryou’s temples and jolted him back to reality. “Don’t touch me!” He shouted without thinking. He hated being touched! He’d never been able to get over it, not since Bishop Brannon had… Ryou tore his mind away from that and thrashed in his bonds. He’d fought terrible wars. Breaking free shouldn’t be so hard! “Just let me go, I haven’t got anything to do with your lost love!”
“I’m afraid that’s just not true.” Her fingers rubbed his temples as if she were trying to make him relax. Ryou was anything but relaxed. “My agent is the best in his field. He wouldn’t have taken you without reason. It’s odd. You aren’t the dhampire Kujuurou. You’re human, nothing more. Now why would my dear Ari be associated with you? I suppose I’ll just have to look and see.”
“I tell you, I don’t know anything about your Ari!”
“Lies are punishable by pain.” Her smiled brightened as she stopped rubbed Ryou’s temples and suddenly pressed her fingertips in.
It felt for all the world like a bolt of lightening shooting right through Ryou’s head. The pain was so awful he couldn’t even find the breath to scream. He couldn’t close his eyes or move beyond laughable jerks. The pain went on for a long while and Ryou saw nothing but the eyes of the evil woman as she just kept smiling. Then, he saw…flashes. Light that came in bright bursts, like a camera’s flash right in his eyes. The flashes of light grew more intense and lasted longer each time until there was one magnificent explosion of light that destroyed everything in Ryou’s mind for a brief moment. He saw nothing but light and the pain of that light drown out the pain Sedari was causing with her fingers.
Light.
Nothing but light. No pain. No fear. No Rekka.
Then he was with mom in the forest near the cabin and she held up the family’s treasure, the Ryoken sword. The ancient weapon gleamed in the sunlight and Ryou felt such awe at being allowed to look at it.
“Our treasure, Ryou-chan. For uncountable generations, this sword has been passed down in our family and one day it will be yours.” She smiled, but with the sun behind her, Ryou couldn’t quite see her face. Funny…he couldn’t remember what she looked like. “You must guard the Ryoken and find its twin. It’s been our family’s duty for so many years. Come here, don’t you want to hold it. You’ll have to get used to it sooner or later.”
When he touched the sword Ryou loved it. The coolness of the blade and the weight of it when his mom let him hold it on his own. The ruby eyes of the dragon that decorated the hilt. Ryou loved it.
Mom died.
Granma came to the cabin and stepped into Ryou’s life, though he didn’t even know her. How he hated her when she’d arrived. He did everything he could think of to drive her away. He shouted at her and cursed her. Nothing had worked and Ryou finally understood that nothing he could do would make her leave. They came to terms rather quickly and grew to love each other before granma had had to sell the cabin.
The years they’d spent homeless, just wandering to survive. Being cold and wet and hungry with no way out of it. Having granma lean on him when she grew tired. Hunting for food and wallowing in the taste of warm blood on his lips, running down his throat. Sleeping on the grass with Byakuen at his side, cuddling into the soft fur of the big tiger.
Bishop Brannon and the nightmarish few days they’d stayed at his church.
Meeting Sister Jo at the shelter and Yoko and Joji, the whores that worked the streets near the shelter.
School, what a trial that had been.
Meeting Shin in homeroom had been the best part of that first day. How nicely Shin had smiled at him and made him feel welcome instead of like a freak. It was Shin who’d introduced him to Touma in the halls and Touma who’d dragged Seiji into their conversation. His half-brother, Seiji, who immersed himself in his faith and believed so strongly that he was willing to make an outcast of himself because of it as well as his love for Xiu. Xiu whose papa was severely homophobic, but was doing his best to try to understand for Xiu’s sake. It was better than Touma’s dad who’d tried to kill him and Shin. Seiji and Ryou’s dad killed Seiji’s mom and Xiu’s youngest sister.
The memories were overwhelming.
He saw Shin’s moms and remembered when he fell asleep in Seiji’s bathtub only to wake up to have Shit Face peering in the window at him with a sickening leer.
The night he’d gone to the Phoenix Rising restaurant to study with Touma and Xiu. He’d passed out because he hadn’t eaten in so long and had a fantastic meal made by mama Faun.
Shin’s mum was pregnant, everyone was so happy for her.
Arago.
Rekka haunting him until Ryou had called the yoroi to him. How had that happened? He couldn’t remember much. He remembered being afraid and there was something to do with Byakuen and his granma. That didn’t sound right. His granma had already died by the time Ryou had called Rekka.
The orb in his hand was warm and felt like an old friend.
He could touch the minds of his friends because of the yoroi.
Kaosu who had guided them through most of the war until Sh’ten had taken his place. Sh’ten had died in battle, saving them all. Kayura, the girl who’d been possessed…Rajura mocking them in the heat of battle…Naaza’s burning venom in his eyes…Anubisu…Anubisu…
“I see.”
The light faded and Ryou collapsed, straining his bindings when he couldn’t hold himself up any longer. He was exhausted, drained from the memories.
“I saw him, little liar.” Sedari patted Ryou’s head, almost affectionately. “You shouldn’t lie to me. I saw my dear Ari in your memories. He hasn’t changed all that much. Where is he? I may let you go back to your friends after I have him. Just tell me.”
Ryou shook his head. Even if he knew what she wanted, he wouldn’t tell her. To expose anyone to this mad woman was nothing short of evil.
‘Rekka…where are you when I need you?’
There was no answer and Ryou knew that the yoroi which had saved him so many times in the war had abandoned him.
“You must answer.” Sedari’s caressing touch pulled away and she slapped him, again. Her fingernails raked across his face and Ryou was dimly aware that blood was leaking down his chin. “Don’t you know what I can do to you? Those memories you just had were nothing. I can make you see and feel anything I please. I can make you hate the people you love. I can make you kill them, if it pleases me. You’re only human, you can’t fight me. Just tell me,” Her touch turned gentle again and she brushed her fingers down his throat. “Where is my Ari?” As soon as she said that, she recoiled with a cry of pain and stumbled away from Ryou, holding her hand to her chest. “What is it?!” She screamed. “What is that?!”
Ryou looked down at his chest where she’d been touching and saw nothing but the silver crucifix necklace sister Jo had given him the last time he’d seen her. Funny. Maybe he was imagining things, but it didn’t look as shiny as it once did. In fact, if Ryou wasn’t much mistaken, it didn’t even look like silver.
“Steel!” Sedari hissed, hatefully. “You bring that cursed metal into my presence?! Ungrateful animal! You’ll suffer for this affront!” She turned and strode out of the dungeon as quickly as she could.
Alone, Ryou tried to think. He had no idea where he was. He couldn’t break his bonds. He couldn’t contact his friends. He felt so weak that he might die at any moment. There seemed to be no way out. At least when they were on the losing side of the war with Arago, they’d had each other for comfort. Now, Ryou didn’t have even that.
I CAN HEAR YOU.
Ryou started at the voice in his head that didn’t sound like any of his friends.
I’M HERE. YOU AREN’T ALONE.
Tentatively, Ryou reached out for the voice. He found it was cool and somehow familiar. WHO ARE YOU? I KNOW YOU.
I’LL FIND YOU. DON’T GIVE UP.
In the darkness, Ryou was thankful for any friendly voice.
To be continued…
Bion-
It was Bion who’d darted out into the street and caused the car accident. He knew that, most likely, the driver would be startled enough to do something stupid.
He watched the car when it stopped at the corner. There he was, sitting in the back. Ryou. The perfect bait for this trap he would lay for Ari.
The whole problem was that he had to get Ryou away from the other humans in order to make the capture easier. That, it turned out, was more difficult that it sounded. The only Time Ryou had been away from his companions was a short while when he was in a rougher part of the Midgard city and was speaking with a man. Ryou had stayed in public places, never stepping for a moment in a lonely alley or the shadows. Taking the boy quietly was looking more and more difficult.
So he’d followed Ryou up until this point and, seeing him so close in the car, Bion decided that he couldn’t give up this chance. If the dhampire, Kuujurou were to find out that Bion was stalking Ryou, it would be big trouble. All the more trouble if the dhampire’s master were to take offense.
The boys in the car were talking about something but that really made no difference to Bion. He waited until the car started moving again before he dashed out into the street as fast as he could. As he expected, the car swerved, it’s tires squealing loudly on the street. The car flipped twice, one of the front seat passengers was thrown through the windshield and landed roughly , bouncing once before he rolled onto his back. When the car stopped, the driver hung from his seatbelt like a limp doll before it came to a stop near the sidewalk.
No cars stopped to help, which surprised Bion a bit. He had thought that maybe he would have to fend off other humans to get to Ryou. Bion knew he was lucky when it turned out that humans didn’t help each other.
He went closer to the smoking wreck of a car and hoped that he hadn’t killed Ryou. That would do at all. At the best, that would only irritate the dhampire and that, Bion wanted to avoid at all costs.
The boy was still alive. In fact, he was in better condition that the rest of the passengers. Ryou managed to crawl from the car, though weakly. On his hands and knees he worked his way out of the car after kicking open the door. He watched Ryou struggle out, then lay himself on the ground. He had hoped that Ryou would just pass out. That would have made things so much easier.
Instead, Ryou was awake and when someone else rushed onto the scene Ryou started talking to him.
‘If I wait any longer, I’ll miss this chance.’ A siren announced that more humans was on their way. Bion took Ryou. As quick as a flash, he pulled the boy far enough behind the car that the other boy wouldn’t even see his outstretched hand and, just as Ryou managed to look up and see who was moving him, Bion took him to Tintagel.
It wasn’t a pleasant way to travel, but it was the only way to get from Midgard to Tintagel.
Midgard to Tintagle, though they were closely related, were not the same world. In fact, they were so far from the same that they were very similar. Not that that made any sense, even to Bion. There was a feeling of weightlessness and there was darkness. To find the place he wanted to be, Bion had to find the right thread and when he found it, he was in the forest near the Udir and Ryou was draped over his shoulder.
‘The dhampire won’t be able to dismiss this. He’ll come searching for the boy and then I’ll have him. When I have him, I’ll have Ari.’
On his shoulder, Ryou stirred and groaned painfully.
Bion held him securely. “You’ll be fine.” He patted the back of Ryou’s leg to comfort the boy. It was foolish. Ryou was unconscious, he couldn’t hear a thing Bion said. The boy was probably dying from that wound on his head. All through the short trek through the forest, Bion couldn’t help his thoughts. ‘Fine. He won’t be fine. He might not be.’
There were legends…rumors…about the connection vampires shared with those who shared their blood and with the mortals they chose as companions. Unless the vampire was careful not to let them become too close psychically, separating them could mean death for one or both of them. They were so often became mentally and emotionally dependant on each other.
If the bond was that strong with a normal vampire, who knew what kind of effect it would have on the rare dhampire? Bion had no idea what kind of effect it was going to have, separating them like this. Then again, maybe it would make no difference at all.
Only when Bion came close to his home did he smell her.
The smell made his lips curl back in a silent snarl and almost made him forget his precious burden.
He heard her singing before he came within sight of his home by the lazy river Udir. It enraged Bion to know that she was there, so close to his mate and their daughter, but his fear was greater than his anger. All he knew was that it was a fae female. For all he knew it could be the Lady-Queen come to make good on her threat to hurt Jildan.
It was a dilemma. He had his bait and was ready to set the trap for the dhampire which would draw out Ari. The Lady-Queen could spoil all his hard work. That would be just like her. Stupid sow.
Cautiously, Bion carried his burden to the source of the singing and found that it was not the Lady-Queen as he’d feared, but an unfamiliar fae. When Bion came into view, she must have heard him because she turned at just that moment and looked right at him. She was a typical fae in almost every respect. She was tall and willowy, fragile as glass and fair as moonlight with the platinum hair that was so common amongst the fae. There was something different, though. Her eyes lacked the dullness of every fae Bion had ever met.
The thing that made Bion stop in his tracks was the fact that she was sitting on the ground. In her pretty white dress, she was sitting on the muddy banks of the Udir river, dangling her bare feet in the water. “Dog.” she spit the word with more venom than an adder. “Filthy dog. Have you returned to cause more trouble?”
“What are you doing here?” As if she had any right to question him in his own home. Of course she did. She was fae and he was only an imp.
“A duty to a friend.” She pulled her feet out of the water and stood up, though she didn’t take her eyes off Bion. “What is that rubbish over your shoulder. Is…” Her voice trailed off when she actually looked at who Bion was carrying, but that didn’t improve her temper. She screeched almost unintelligibly. “What have you done, dog?! Take your slimy claws off him!”
Bion had never seen a fae so emotional and it took him off guard. He did as she said and let Ryou fall to the ground. Fortunately, Ryou was so out of it, that he didn’t so much as make a sound when he fell. It gave him room to watch this strange fae when she fairly flew to Ryou and threw herself down beside him.
There was passion in this female unlike any other fae Bion had never seen. Her eyes glittered in rage when she looked at Bion and grew watery with tears when she looked at Ryou. When she bend over him, her long pale hair fell around her face like a curtain and she irritably brushed it away with the back of her hand.
“Ryou? Oh, my dear. Wake up. Oh!” She put her fingers to the bloody gnash across his forehead and Bion noticed that her fingers shook in distress. Another unusual thing for a fae. “You’ve hurt him.” She gave Bion a hateful look.
“It was necessary. I’m acting under orders of the Lady-Queen. If you have a problem, take it up with her.” Lying was probably pointless. She might not be the Lady-Queen, but all fae were powerful in their own right. This one might be even more dangerous because it seemed to Bion that she wasn’t under the influence of any kind of glamour. She didn’t have the normal blank stare Bion usually associated with the fae. It was possible, however unlikely, that she wasn’t under the Lady-Queen’s control. “You know him.”
She looked at Bion sharply again, then her eyes narrowed in a calculating manner. “I am Jomai, third daughter of the Ta’lin clan. My family has served the Lady-Queen as tailors for many generations.”
“Pleased to meet you. Since you’re in my home, I presume that you already know my name.”
“Bion Na Underic. I was a friend of your mate’s.”
“I find that hard to believe. She had few friends outside her own family.” He didn’t add that she detested the fae as much as he did.
“You were gone for three decades. Things changed. The birth of your daughter, for one. Jildan asked me to take care of your daughter until you returned. Liun is quite the handful.”
Baby. The baby had finally been born. He was a father, at last. “You didn’t answer my question.” Bion fought hard not to look at the light in his home. His daughter was inside, but he couldn’t go to her and that made him hate the fae even more. “How do you know the boy?”
Jomai-
As if it was really any of the imp’s business how she’d come to know Ryou. Jomai hadn’t even meant for it to happen. She stroked Ryou’s forehead, careful of the still bloody gnash that marred his face. “How I know Ryou is my affair.” Jomai looked up from Ryou to the ugly little man and wanted to kill him. It wasn’t often that she wanted to kill, but this thing had drawn dear little Ryou’s blood! ‘If he wasn’t mated to Jildan…’
Bion wasn’t about to be deterred by Jomai’s anger, though. He slid a little closer, keeping within arm’s reach of Ryou. “It’s my affair, also, I’m afraid. He belongs to me.” When Jomai opened her mouth to protest, he added, “By order of the Lady-Queen Sedari. He‘s rather important to her, in a round about way.”
Now that was just ridiculous! What interest could the Lady-Queen possibly have in little Ryou?
Jomai couldn’t help but remember when they’d met. In the long lifespan of a fae, her time with Ryou was nothing more than a heartbeat. Funny that it would leave such an impact.
Flashback-
He was small and skinny with a starved look to him. His clothes were too thin for the cold night, but that seemed fitting. Everything about him was deficient. Almost timidly, the boy stepped into the doorway of the shelter and looked around. He didn’t see Jomai, at first, but let his eyes linger on the fireplace and the rows of small cots.
Just looking at him make Jomai thankful that she’d decided to live as a human for a while.
If anyone had ask Jomai why she’d left the court of the Lady-Queen Sedari, she couldn’t have given them a straight answer. The fact was that Jomai was bored in the Lady-Queen’s court. Perhaps it was because she’d known the king before Sedari had murdered him, but she found the ravings and the machinations of the young Lady- Queen to be more than a little tiring. The king had been grand and majestic, a true credit to the fae people. It was he who’d made the fae army the best and he who’d made one proud to be fae.
It was the nature of the fae to be devious and underhanded, though, so when word circulated that princess Sedari had become the Lady-Queen everyone knew what had happened. No one blamed her. She was fae and royalty, at that. She was supposed to do things like that. No one was really surprised, either. The king had been especially proud when his only daughter had caused her older brother to ‘slip’ off the balcony. He had been delighted when two of her male cousins who, it was rumored, had been plotting Sedari’s murder, had vanished without a trace.
It made one wonder if he’d been surprised when she’d killed him. He must have been expecting it. He raised her to be ambitious and have no qualms about using her vast power. So whatever had happened in his bedroom so late at night that had caused his death, he probably wasn’t surprised. Maybe he had even smiled when she’d raised her hand against him for the last time.
Still, even after knowing all that, Jomai probably wouldn’t have left Tintagel without help from Jildan. The little imp female was the one who’d dispelled the glamour the Lady-Queen Sedari had cast upon all the fae. Whatever her reason had been, Jildan had come upon Jomai in the forest one day and used her weak imp magic to break the spell, letting Jomai see things as they really were for the first time in many years. What she saw in the court and in her own people didn’t please her.
It wasn’t the viciousness or the hidden brutality of the fae that displeased her. It was how mind-numbingly dull the place was. Everyone fawning and watching the Lady-Queen so adoringly when she never did much of anything.
How…lifeless.
At any rate, it was all that which had brought Jomai to Midgard. To her, the Lady-Queen wasn’t nearly so entertaining a ruler as her father had been. Midgard was much more interesting.
Death, to be precise, was interesting.
Fae rarely changed. In fact, it was so rare that the fae would change at all that it could be said they never changed until death. There was a brief childhood, naturally, but once a fae matured, their body would just stop changing. After a while, even beauty grew dull.
“What are you talking about?” The others would ask her. Her own parents had looked at her strangely when she’d spoken about her boredom. “This is the way we are. What would you rather be? Mortal?” The suggestion was laughed at, but not long after Jomai found herself in Midgard disguised as a mortal and living as one. The moment she left Tintagel, she vowed that she would not use her magic in anyway but to disguise herself from humans.
It was marvelous.
Her glamour, a natural ability of the fae, allowed her to change the way the mortals perceived her. They saw only a mortal woman, rather ordinary and plain. If anyone was asked to describe her, they would have remembered nothing more than the clothes she wore.
She wanted to experience the pain and pleasure of all that was humanity. After a little observation, she decided that the only way to do that was to be human. So with very little effort, she immersed herself in the role. For all intents and purposes, she became human and she took a new name to fit her new life.
Jo.
To find the best and worst in humanity, Jo found an unusual occupation. She became a catholic nun and was thereafter known as sister Jo.
Finding herself in Japan, working in a lonely homeless shelter was the path that life had brought her on and the fact that she’d met a certain boy named Sanada Ryou in that shelter was nothing but coincidence.
“Would you like to come in?”
He looked as if he were nothing more than skin and bones. It surprised her to see him jump at the sound of her voice. He wasn’t a child, exactly. He was becoming a young man. His black hair was shaggy and charmingly fell into his eyes, his dark skin told Jo that he spent a great deal of time out of doors.
“Don’t be afraid. I’ve got some hot soup and no guests tonight.” There was something wonderfully honest about the fear and distrust in those blue eyes. Sister Jo held out a hand to him, hoping that it was a friendly thing to do. By that time, she’d been living entirely as a human for several years and had learned that it was small things like that which encouraged trust.
The boy backed away a step but he didn’t leave the doorway. How did it look to him? Maybe he saw the food she’d been laying out or maybe he was thinking about how warm it would be inside. He licked his lips to speak, but his words came out in slow, almost painful stuttering.
“I n-need to g-g-get my g-g-granma.” He held a hand up as he spoke and wiped away a bit of spit with the back of his hand, his face turning red from embarrassment. “C-can’t s-s-stay.”
“Oh? Are you sure? I made beef stew and there’s hot tea.”
The offer tempted the human boy, that much was obvious. From the longing look in his eyes, Jo had to wonder how long it had been since he’d last eaten.
Ryou left without a word but came back the next night. Again, he refused to go into the shelter and left. That went on for several nights until one late night he came with an old woman clinging to his arm for support and a massive white tiger. In the beginning he didn’t talk much, but he was helpful and worked hard. He would do almost anything Jo asked him to do, in fact. Thought he did have a powerful phobia of people. He avoided all people, except for some of the most unlikely
Yoko, the ever-smiling prostitute, and Joji, her unearthly cohort. Ryou had brought them back to the shelter one night and took right to them. He smiled and laughed at Yoko’s jokes and he’d let Joji touch him without hesitation. That amazed Jo. Ryou would go to great lengths to avoid being touched and Joji didn’t look like the most trustworthy of people, but somehow he’d earned Ryou’s trust.
They stayed for months before the homeless shelter was closed down. Ryou and his dying granma had moved on and the last time Jo had seen them, they went the way they came. The old woman leaning on Ryou and the mysterious tiger following behind, they quietly disappeared into the rainy morning.
It hurt Jo to see them go. Somewhere along the lines she’d grown fond of Ryou. It hurt so badly when she realized that he would die somewhere and she would never see him again. He would be lost among the masses of humanity and, probably, he would starve to death on some cold night.
It was tempting to use her magic to help Ryou in someway, but she’d given her word not to so long as the game was in session and it didn’t end until she went back to Tintagel. She couldn’t break the rules, even so close to the end.
After that, Jo had decided it was best to go back to Tintagel to thank Jildan for helping her to see. Only, it hadn’t been that simple.
“Please, take care of her. My darling Liun.”
Jomai stared down helplessly at the infant in her cradle, horrified at being asked to care for such a tiny, fragile life. “You can’t ask me to do this.”
“I have to. There’s no one else.”
“Friends! You must have friends!”
Jildan, eminently practical, gave her a hard look. “You are more powerful than any of my friends or my family. Until her father returns, you must care for her. Please. I trust you.”
“Why?”
“Because I did something for you. Think of this as a way to repay me.” She smiled then and choked until Jomai helped her to sit up and patted her back. “Thank you. Do me this one favor. He’ll be back soon. It won’t be long.”
“He’s been gone several years. You went though nearly your whole pregnancy without your mate.” Her female nature made her hate Bion just knowing that he’d abandoned his mate and unborn child. “What makes you so sure he will come back at all?”
The pain in Jildan’s eyes made Jomai wish she hadn’t said anything. Jildan quickly pushed the pain away and mustered another smile. “He will. I know he’ll come back. I have faith in him.”
She’d died a short time later, leaving Jomai in the house, that was too small for her, with a baby she had no idea how to take care of.
End Flashback-
Bion-
He didn’t want her hanging around any longer than necessary. He certainly didn’t want her influencing his daughter and what was Jildan thinking?! To ask a fae to stay and look after the baby was madness. “Where’s Jildan?”
“Dead.” Jomai glared at him. “Sorry. You missed that, too. I hope your vacation was worth it.”
“Liar.” Dead? Jildan couldn’t be dead. She was strong and healthy. As stubborn a mate as any male could wish for. Too stubborn to just…die. “The baby? Where’s my daughter?” He dropped Ryou unceremoniously only to get a scalding glare from Jomai. As if he cared about some human boy at a time like this! “Where’s my daughter?”
“Sleeping.” Jomai, with her narrow arms, picked up Ryou easily and carried him to the middle of the room where she lay him out on the floor. “Keep your voice down or you’ll wake her up.” When she’d finished arranging Ryou to her satisfaction, Jomai stood with her back bent to keep herself from hitting her head on the ceiling. “In there. When Jildan was dying, she asked me to take care of Liun until you returned. She had great faith that you’d return. Frankly, I’m shocked.”
Bion snarled and pushed passed her. There were only two room in the house. The main room where Jomai and Ryou were and the bedroom. Therefore, that was where the baby was. She was perfect, absolutely beautiful. She looked just like her mother and Bion felt a stab of burning pain.
“She died shortly after giving birth.” Jomai spoke from the other room where she was sitting on the floor just next to Ryou. “Whether you believe it or not, I came her quite often while you were gone. She spoke about you all the time. When Liun was born, I sat with her and held her hand. She wouldn’t stop bleeding. I could do nothing.”
Bion touched his daughter’s face. Liun. It sounded like a name Jildan would pick. He should thank Jomai for taking care of Liun, but found that his throat was squeezed tight. He could barely breathe. He didn’t want to thank her. Despite everything, he wanted to hate her.
There was a loud noise and Jomai shouted in protest. It was enough to bring Bion away from his daughter to find out what was going on. He knew he shouldn’t be shocked to see the fae soldiers at his door, but he was. They’d ripped the door off its hinges and were hacking away at the doorway with their spears, apparently trying to make it bigger.
“Stop it!” Jomai screamed, laying herself over Ryou’s body, protectively.
They did stop, but not until the house was ripped open enough for them to actually enter. By that time, Luin was crying in the bedroom and Jomai’s long hair was filled with splinters of wood. Bion felt his blood start to race and it took great effort to keep himself calm. They were armed fae and were, no doubt, acting on orders from the Lady-Queen. He couldn’t challenge them.
One of the fae stepped into the house, having to slump to stand as he hadn’t thought to chop away at the roof. He looked around from under his helmet and smiled when he saw Ryou’s still form. “Good work, imp. This must be what you’ve been searching for. The Lady-Queen has been very patient.”
“I haven’t finished, yet.” Bion ground out between his clenched teeth. “My plans aren’t half finished.”
“The Lady-Queen wishes to finish it. Your services are no longer needed. We’ll take the boy, now.”
“I can handle this on my own.”
“We obey the Lady-Queen, not you.”
The arrogance of the fae was unmatched. “He’s part of the trap to get the Lady-Queen’s Ari back. If you take him, the trap won’t work.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Bion saw Jomai touch something on Ryou’s chest then quickly move her hand away. The only thing Bion could see was a necklace with some kind of human idol on it. He didn’t have time for whatever Jomai was plotting. The fae soldiers were impatient.
“That’s a matter for you to discuss with the Lady-Queen. I’m sure she’ll welcome an audience.” They picked up Ryou and were gone without another word. “Besides, the Lady-Queen already understands your plan. It’s rather obvious. The boy is somehow close to the Lady-Queen’s Ari. You use him to lure the other out. Simple.”
Bion didn’t dare protest and Jomai, though she was nearly trembling with fury, said nothing until they were gone. Together, they stood watching Ryou be taken away. He didn’t move or speak, the shock of the journey to Tintagel still affecting him so badly, as the fae took him away from the relative safety of Bion’s home.
“She’ll kill him. I gave him some protection, but it won’t help him for long.” Jomai said, softly. She still knelt on the floor where she’d tried to protect Ryou and looked as if she would kill the soldiers if she thought it would do Ryou any good. Of course it wouldn’t. They would send more guards and then the Lady-Queen would order Bion and Jomai to be killed. Where would that leave Liun?
“Maybe. She’s not stupid. Cruel, not stupid. If she thinks he‘s important to Ari, she won‘t kill him just to please Ari. Perhaps she thinks she can give him to Ari as a gift.” Bion couldn’t help but feel pity for the boy and what he would face. “He’ll wish he’d died in the car crash.”
Jomai’s eyes narrowed and her fist tightened. “I won’t allow this.” She whirled on Bion sharply. “Tell me everything you know, imp.”
“For starters,” Bion allowed himself a slow smile. “They don’t know the plan. It wasn’t Ari I was trying to lure out.”
Castle of Light-
Ryou-
Alone.
He didn’t like being alone.
Being alone reminded Ryou too much of the time before he’d met his friends. It reminded him of being hungry and afraid. But he was alone and no matter how hard he reached out, there was no one to reach back. Like a wall had been built in front of his mind. Like his arms and legs had been cut off, Ryou felt vulnerable. Weak. He felt weaker than he’d ever felt, even before Rekka had come to him.
“Can’t you put him back to sleep?” The voice was glorious and ugly.
Everything hurt, but it was the voice that made Ryou desperately want to go back to sleep. His hands were bound together at the wrists, over his head and when Ryou tried to move, he couldn’t. It wasn’t just his hands that couldn’t move, something was tied around his waist and his knees, binding him to the hard surface behind him.
“Forgive me, my Lady-Queen Sedari. It wouldn’t be safe. His injuries are still healing.”
Something poked Ryou’s forehead and the pain was like a hundred needles jabbing into him.
“You see? He flinches at the slightest touch. Doing anything to interfere with his body’s natural function may do more damage. Unless,” The voice became eager. “You want to do damage? That I can do easily.”
“No. Not yet. He’s useful, now.” A hand touched Ryou’s face, but it was different than the first touch. This hand was smaller and light as a feather. “Ugly thing, isn’t he? So…brown.”
“I believe the sun does that to humans, my Lady-Queen.”
“Leave me.”
“Yes, my Lady-Queen.”
The sound of echoing footsteps. Ryou began to notice more things then and started to wonder if it was worth the effort of opening his eyes. Wherever he was, it was cold. The tip of his nose was icy cold and his toes were numb. There was a terrible smell of mold and the taste of dust when Ryou licked his lips.
Slap!
The pain was unbearable and Ryou bit back a gasp. Youja. ‘I’m in the Youja Kai. The war never ended. Maybe everything was just a dream and I’ve been a prisoner all this time.’ But when he did open his eyes, it wasn’t a Youja he saw. It was a woman. Not human, but not Youja, either.
She was beautiful.
She was terrifying.
“So,” Sedari didn’t bother to keep her thoughts hidden. “Darling Ari prefers mortals, does he?” She ran a hand down Ryou’s chest, making him shudder. “He would rather couple with mortals than me? Such a strange man.” Her tone wasn’t angry, but reflective. Even when she looked right in Ryou’s face, it was as if she didn’t see him at all. “He spends his time and life with a dhampire rather than with me. How remarkable. How utterly absurd. And what part do you play in darling Ari’s life?” She shrugged and somehow managed to make it look elegant. “Whatever you importance to him, you’re important to me. Just be still.”
She reached out to Ryou again and he turned his head away from her, trying to keep her from touching him. Where was his orb? He was still dressed, but he couldn’t feel the orb. Maybe it had fallen out in the crash. Maybe it was just laying on the sidewalk and someone would steal it or break it. Somehow, Ryou’s concern for the orb momentarily overrode his concern for himself. “Who are you?”
The woman stopped for a moment, then smiled. “I was wondering if you could speak. Little one, I am the Lady-Queen Sedari and I’m the one who brought you here. Aren’t you fortunate? You’re going to help me get back my lost love. I’m ever so grateful.” Her smile was sweet as sugar. Ryou hated sweets.
“Let me go.” He tried to keep his voice calm, like he thought Seiji or Touma would. “I’ll help you, but please let me go. I hurt all over.”
“No surprise. One of my agents was a little rash and caused the car you were in to crash.”
Bion. Ryou had seen him just before the accident. That meant…what? What was it Bion had said to Ryou when they’d met in the forest? “Tell me, do you know a dhampire called Kujuurou?” Yes, that was what the little man had said. Anubisu. He’d asked after Anubisu, too.
Cold fingers touched Ryou’s temples and jolted him back to reality. “Don’t touch me!” He shouted without thinking. He hated being touched! He’d never been able to get over it, not since Bishop Brannon had… Ryou tore his mind away from that and thrashed in his bonds. He’d fought terrible wars. Breaking free shouldn’t be so hard! “Just let me go, I haven’t got anything to do with your lost love!”
“I’m afraid that’s just not true.” Her fingers rubbed his temples as if she were trying to make him relax. Ryou was anything but relaxed. “My agent is the best in his field. He wouldn’t have taken you without reason. It’s odd. You aren’t the dhampire Kujuurou. You’re human, nothing more. Now why would my dear Ari be associated with you? I suppose I’ll just have to look and see.”
“I tell you, I don’t know anything about your Ari!”
“Lies are punishable by pain.” Her smiled brightened as she stopped rubbed Ryou’s temples and suddenly pressed her fingertips in.
It felt for all the world like a bolt of lightening shooting right through Ryou’s head. The pain was so awful he couldn’t even find the breath to scream. He couldn’t close his eyes or move beyond laughable jerks. The pain went on for a long while and Ryou saw nothing but the eyes of the evil woman as she just kept smiling. Then, he saw…flashes. Light that came in bright bursts, like a camera’s flash right in his eyes. The flashes of light grew more intense and lasted longer each time until there was one magnificent explosion of light that destroyed everything in Ryou’s mind for a brief moment. He saw nothing but light and the pain of that light drown out the pain Sedari was causing with her fingers.
Light.
Nothing but light. No pain. No fear. No Rekka.
Then he was with mom in the forest near the cabin and she held up the family’s treasure, the Ryoken sword. The ancient weapon gleamed in the sunlight and Ryou felt such awe at being allowed to look at it.
“Our treasure, Ryou-chan. For uncountable generations, this sword has been passed down in our family and one day it will be yours.” She smiled, but with the sun behind her, Ryou couldn’t quite see her face. Funny…he couldn’t remember what she looked like. “You must guard the Ryoken and find its twin. It’s been our family’s duty for so many years. Come here, don’t you want to hold it. You’ll have to get used to it sooner or later.”
When he touched the sword Ryou loved it. The coolness of the blade and the weight of it when his mom let him hold it on his own. The ruby eyes of the dragon that decorated the hilt. Ryou loved it.
Mom died.
Granma came to the cabin and stepped into Ryou’s life, though he didn’t even know her. How he hated her when she’d arrived. He did everything he could think of to drive her away. He shouted at her and cursed her. Nothing had worked and Ryou finally understood that nothing he could do would make her leave. They came to terms rather quickly and grew to love each other before granma had had to sell the cabin.
The years they’d spent homeless, just wandering to survive. Being cold and wet and hungry with no way out of it. Having granma lean on him when she grew tired. Hunting for food and wallowing in the taste of warm blood on his lips, running down his throat. Sleeping on the grass with Byakuen at his side, cuddling into the soft fur of the big tiger.
Bishop Brannon and the nightmarish few days they’d stayed at his church.
Meeting Sister Jo at the shelter and Yoko and Joji, the whores that worked the streets near the shelter.
School, what a trial that had been.
Meeting Shin in homeroom had been the best part of that first day. How nicely Shin had smiled at him and made him feel welcome instead of like a freak. It was Shin who’d introduced him to Touma in the halls and Touma who’d dragged Seiji into their conversation. His half-brother, Seiji, who immersed himself in his faith and believed so strongly that he was willing to make an outcast of himself because of it as well as his love for Xiu. Xiu whose papa was severely homophobic, but was doing his best to try to understand for Xiu’s sake. It was better than Touma’s dad who’d tried to kill him and Shin. Seiji and Ryou’s dad killed Seiji’s mom and Xiu’s youngest sister.
The memories were overwhelming.
He saw Shin’s moms and remembered when he fell asleep in Seiji’s bathtub only to wake up to have Shit Face peering in the window at him with a sickening leer.
The night he’d gone to the Phoenix Rising restaurant to study with Touma and Xiu. He’d passed out because he hadn’t eaten in so long and had a fantastic meal made by mama Faun.
Shin’s mum was pregnant, everyone was so happy for her.
Arago.
Rekka haunting him until Ryou had called the yoroi to him. How had that happened? He couldn’t remember much. He remembered being afraid and there was something to do with Byakuen and his granma. That didn’t sound right. His granma had already died by the time Ryou had called Rekka.
The orb in his hand was warm and felt like an old friend.
He could touch the minds of his friends because of the yoroi.
Kaosu who had guided them through most of the war until Sh’ten had taken his place. Sh’ten had died in battle, saving them all. Kayura, the girl who’d been possessed…Rajura mocking them in the heat of battle…Naaza’s burning venom in his eyes…Anubisu…Anubisu…
“I see.”
The light faded and Ryou collapsed, straining his bindings when he couldn’t hold himself up any longer. He was exhausted, drained from the memories.
“I saw him, little liar.” Sedari patted Ryou’s head, almost affectionately. “You shouldn’t lie to me. I saw my dear Ari in your memories. He hasn’t changed all that much. Where is he? I may let you go back to your friends after I have him. Just tell me.”
Ryou shook his head. Even if he knew what she wanted, he wouldn’t tell her. To expose anyone to this mad woman was nothing short of evil.
‘Rekka…where are you when I need you?’
There was no answer and Ryou knew that the yoroi which had saved him so many times in the war had abandoned him.
“You must answer.” Sedari’s caressing touch pulled away and she slapped him, again. Her fingernails raked across his face and Ryou was dimly aware that blood was leaking down his chin. “Don’t you know what I can do to you? Those memories you just had were nothing. I can make you see and feel anything I please. I can make you hate the people you love. I can make you kill them, if it pleases me. You’re only human, you can’t fight me. Just tell me,” Her touch turned gentle again and she brushed her fingers down his throat. “Where is my Ari?” As soon as she said that, she recoiled with a cry of pain and stumbled away from Ryou, holding her hand to her chest. “What is it?!” She screamed. “What is that?!”
Ryou looked down at his chest where she’d been touching and saw nothing but the silver crucifix necklace sister Jo had given him the last time he’d seen her. Funny. Maybe he was imagining things, but it didn’t look as shiny as it once did. In fact, if Ryou wasn’t much mistaken, it didn’t even look like silver.
“Steel!” Sedari hissed, hatefully. “You bring that cursed metal into my presence?! Ungrateful animal! You’ll suffer for this affront!” She turned and strode out of the dungeon as quickly as she could.
Alone, Ryou tried to think. He had no idea where he was. He couldn’t break his bonds. He couldn’t contact his friends. He felt so weak that he might die at any moment. There seemed to be no way out. At least when they were on the losing side of the war with Arago, they’d had each other for comfort. Now, Ryou didn’t have even that.
I CAN HEAR YOU.
Ryou started at the voice in his head that didn’t sound like any of his friends.
I’M HERE. YOU AREN’T ALONE.
Tentatively, Ryou reached out for the voice. He found it was cool and somehow familiar. WHO ARE YOU? I KNOW YOU.
I’LL FIND YOU. DON’T GIVE UP.
In the darkness, Ryou was thankful for any friendly voice.
To be continued…