Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Forbidden Empire ❯ Prologue

Forbidden Empire - Prologue
She ran, eyes wide and almost unseeing in their terror, but she made sure to make as little noise as possible, as was her people's instincts. The broad, green leaves of the trees she had grown up with slapped her in the face and arms as she pushed her way through the thick underbrush, the sting of the blows not the only things that caused her eyes to shine with unshed tears.

There were foreigners advancing upon their great city. Barbarian brutes with sharp iron swords in their hands and vile, hungry demons in their cold eyes. They had happened upon the small party, she and Seoman, as the two were out searching for that very special flower that her mother loved so much, the pretty gold-and-sapphire orchid they had discovered only last year, in the deepest part of the forest.

The flowers were all gone, trampled under the heavy, unholy feet of the invaders. To her misfortune, the barbarians had camped just inside the small cove that held the rare flowers, probably attracted by their brightness. They both had walked right into a deathtrap.

Seoman was dead. The outsider demons had thrust their unholy blades through his body, and laughed. Laughed! Laughed at his pain, his suffering- the anguish which no living thing should have to endure, and wouldn't have, if not for these barbarous beings that dared to call themselves human.

The Great City came into view before her, and her feet stilled as if by their own will, eyes widening in shock and horror at what lay just ahead.

Desecration. Everywhere, fire and smoke and the shining of the Sun's rays on the brute's broadswords, as if Inti himself had cast his blessings upon them. A great consensus of clanging and ringing that stung her ears as the weapons swung and parried her people's own spears, but the retaliation was for naught. Her people were no match against the enemy's dark weapons.

She watched as they began to retreat, to run and conceal themselves in the shielding arms of the mother forest. She watched as the houses of her people burned underneath the mocking sounds of the ugly, hating laugher. She watched as the barbarians set fire to the dead, denying them a proper burial, and destroyed everything that she had ever known.

And no voice gave breath to her silent cries as her eyes riveted upon the sight of the great Sun Temple; it alone was untouched by the destruction powers of flame, but with clouds of black, putrid smoke swirling around the mount and obscuring the base- a sacred island raised high above the tainted waters it had emerged from.

-----

"No."

"Aw, c'mon, it's only-"

"I said 'no', Yohji. I'm not doing it."

His blonde friend just looked at him, jade eyes pensive. "But Ken-"

"No 'buts'. There is no way in hell I'm going traipsing around the rainforest, 'ooh'-ing and 'oh'-ing over some old stuff with you. That's your job."

Yohji Kudou sighed and ran an agitated hand through his flaxen hair as his long-time friend continued.

"I'm a soccer player, Yohji. I don't go for the whole 'Let's go explore an ancient Maya settlement and find out what killed the whole damn community' thing. Apparently, you do, though I haven't quite figured out why yet. Why you would willingly separate yourself from women by hundreds of miles to go off searching for some dead guy's son or something is beyond me at the moment," Ken Hidaka ranted, looking worn out. "I mean that in the best way, of course." He offered after a moment of uncomfortable silence, producing a faint smile. His friend had changed so much since the last time he had seen him. Or was it Ken himself who had changed? He wasn't sure at this point.

"Of course," Yohji agreed, sly grin rekindled. "You seem to forget, my friend, of the natives in such backwater countries, however. I wouldn't exactly term it 'hundreds of miles from any women'."

At that, his brown-haired friend huffed a slight laugh, rolling his eyes. "That figures. I should have known." He acknowledged, eyes darkening as he watched Yohji light a cigarette. "That really is a disgusting habit, you know."

The blonde shrugged; a smooth, liquid movement that didn't match his casual stance, leaning back against his huge oak desk. "Everyone has one, you know. This just happens to be mine."

He always answered like that, and Ken always let it go. Besides, he was actually more curious about this whole South America outing than he had let on to Yohji earlier.

"So what's this about this time being a special case, and all? Where, exactly, are you going?"

Ken had been surprised when his friend since the first year of high school had announced an interest in going into the archaeological field a year ago. Sure, they had both had a rather avid interest in 'The Ancients'- Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece, Ancient Japan, Ancient China- over the past few years, but actually studying to become an archaeologist? That hadn't even occurred to Ken- and it probably never would have, if not for Yohji. The slender blonde had just said it out of the blue one day- that he was going to be an archaeologist. Things had gone pretty smoothly from there; Yohji had worked amazingly hard at it, and in no time at all he had finished his studies- at high class rank, no less- and had gained a position in the college. He had even been off on a few digs already- after only eight months since graduating!

This, though- this was different. From what he'd heard, Ken believed it was quite a find, and the only reason Yohji had gotten to be supervisor of this dig was because, somehow or another, he had convinced the natives to allow them access- something that no one had ever done before. He wasn't sure how Yohji had done it, but from the look in those green eyes when he had mentioned it earlier, maybe he didn't want to know.

Another fluid movement of the shoulders from the blonde man. "Oh, somewhere south of here," he answered lightly, playboy smirk flitting across his face as a couple of rather good-looking female students passed by the large windows of his classroom, giggling as he caught their eyes. Then, abruptly, he was serious. "Actually, it's a ruined city about seven hundred and fifty miles northeast of Machu Picchu. The temple is the only building that still stands. The rest was burned to the ground over two thousand years ago by unknown invaders. Now it's deserted and literally overgrown by the surrounding jungle."

"And what do you want me for? You have your pick of plenty of qualified experts who have investigated and researched all kinds of South American pyramids."

"Ah, too true, too true," Yohji agreed, taking another puff from his cigarette and standing up, suddenly brimming with barely confinable energy. The blonde circled around his desk, absently ruffling the papers stacked upon it's surface while gazing at Ken with a smoldering intensity that seemed to course through his whole body. "But you-" he exhaled, gesturing at his brown-haired friend with the hand that held the cigarette and causing the ensuing smoke to curl oddly. "You have always been very, very good at puzzles, my friend, and that's exactly what this is- a puzzle. A puzzle that I doubt even those stick-up-their-ass professors with their ancient texts and modern discoveries would be able to solve without a lot of help from other venues." He chuckled at his own comment and put the still smoldering cigarette out, his long, graceful fingers absently performing a dance with the last of the smoke curling up from the ashtray.

A moment of meaningful silence passed between the two, then Ken sighed exasperatedly and flipped his errant bangs out of his eyes. "What do you want me to do?"

At this, Yohji smirked, sensing his impending triumph, and waved a careless hand. "Oh, nothing much. Pack the usual; you know, clothes and toothbrush and such. Get in touch with me when you're through, and I'll do the rest. Oh, and one more thing, Ken." The blonde was starting to smile, and that usually meant something very annoying, but Ken answered anyway.

"Yes?" A sigh.

"Be sure to pack lots of... mosquito netting." The taller youth suggested meaningfully, then turned back to the papers on his desk and pretended not to notice the growing anxiety on Ken's face, though on the inside he was laughing like hell.

Mosquitoes.

Bugs.

Shit.

*****

Nozomi