[12K] Evermore :: Chapter III
Title: Faith
Fandom: The Twelve Kingdoms
Author: yukina_raven
Theme: 03 - Using an imperial treasure
Word Count: 1,275
Rating: PG
Summary: “Scepticism is the beginning of Faith.” - Oscar Wilde
Author's Notes: None
“Kouya!”
Rokuta’s cry echoed off the cell walls and traveled down the cave after the boy, but it was ignored. Kouya walked on, demon in tow, at a brisk pace. His footsteps faded until at last they stopped. He was gone and Rokuta knew he would never look back. Sitting half upright on the sleeping dais within his holding cell, Rokuta felt the momentarily rush of strength he had acquired in the face of his heated discussion with his former friend leave him instantly. He nearly tumbled forward off the bed but a strong hand caught his arm and pulled him back.
“Rest,” Shouryuu told him, more of a request than an order. “You’re too weak to go anywhere right now.”
Rokuta shrugged the king’s hand away and reluctantly lay back down. Even without his strength he still wanted to follow Kouya. He wanted to reason with him. There had to be a way to make him understand.
You aren’t like this, Kouya. I know you’re not…
Shouryuu sat down on the edge of the dais and sighed heavily, causing Rokuta to turn his head towards him. He suddenly realized the king looked just as defeated and weary as he did.
“You really are a baka,” Shouryuu said after a long period of silence. “You call me an idiot and cease to watch your own actions.”
For some reason Shouryuu’s words stung and, too tired to put up his normal fight, he shrunk back from the criticism with a halfhearted glare. Shouryuu didn’t say anything further and so the two sat in silence again, Rokuta watching him and waiting. Yet Shouryuu remained seated and said nothing, staring out towards the bars that Kouya had left open. After so long away from him, his presence here was comforting and it filled Rokuta with a gentle ease. The ease slowly began to lull him to sleep, but before he drifted off Shouryuu stood. Alarmed, Rokuta immediately jerked awake and tried to sit up again.
“I just told you to rest,” Shouryuu chuckled.
“Don’t leave.”
The worlds fell out of his mouth before he could stop them and he was immediately embarrassed. Yet the weariness from the blood fever and the separation from his master for two whole months quickly stamped his embarrassment out. He didn’t care right now. All he knew was that he didn’t want Shouryuu to leave. The king gave him an odd look, possibly surprised at the request. He seemed to hesitate and then sat back down. Rokuta relaxed, though he no longer wanted to sleep for fear Shouryuu would try to leave again.
“I still have some things to take care of,” Shouryuu told him. “It’s best you just lay here until you feel better. Then talk to Atsuyu about going back to Kankyuu.”
Rokuta blinked. “But… Aren’t you going to? Can’t we just leave together?”
“The element of surprise is still mine. Kouya won’t tell anyone that I’m the king.”
Rokuta looked away and then rolled over on his side, back facing Shouryuu. “Don’t be so sure. Kouya isn’t the same person anymore.” He’d even betray me for Atsuyu without a second thought.
“Maybe, but he still isn’t going to do it. I can feel it.”
“You’re too cocky, you know that?”
“And you’re the fool who stayed a willing prisoner for two months.”
Rokuta winced inwardly. Shouryuu’s voice was ice when he said those words. He had felt it but he hadn’t actually wanted to admit that Shouryuu was furious with him. He deserved it but it still stung horribly. Rokuta blamed this entirely on the king-kirin relationship and not the fact that he might actually care about what Shouryuu thought of him.
“In any case,” Shouryuu continued, unaware or perhaps just not caring how harsh his voice had been. “I want to see this through to the end. I can’t just leave and hope it’ll fix itself. That’s not what I came to do.”
“What did you come to do?”
“To prevent an unnecessary war.”
“Prevent?”
“Despite what you may think, Rokuta, I don’t like shedding blood anymore than you.”
Now Rokuta felt angry. He turned over and sat fully upright with newfound strength, glaring at the king who turned to look at him.
“Unnecessary! Before you were telling me it was a necessary war. ‘Kill only a hundred now to spare thousands later’, that’s what you said. And now you’re telling me you were trying to prevent it this whole time? You’re a liar!”
In continuing with his habit if having the weirdest reactions to things, Shouryuu laughed at this accusation. He made no reply and stood, causing Rokuta to feel conflicted. Despite his anger he still wasn’t sure he wanted Shouryuu to go. He watched the king reach instead his sleeve and produce a clear gem about the size of Rokuta’s fist. He turned and held it out to him. At his blank stare, Shouryuu took his arm and placed it in his palm. Upon contact with it, Rokuta felt a strange warmth and tingling sensation in his hand. Startled, he jumped a little and stared at it curiously.
“What’s this?”
“En’s imperial treasure.”
Rokuta looked startled again. “What? No, it… Really?”
Shouryuu laughed again. “Yes and no. Apparently it was a series of gems like that one that did different things to gauge a person’s worth. Shukou told me that they were all lost in the chaos of the Owl-King’s rule, save for that one. If I ever find the others I’ll be sure to sell them off, too.”
Rokuta stared at it, perplexed. It didn’t seem to do much other than cause his hand to feel like pins and needles. “I don’t understand.”
“If I’m a liar, that gem would tell you. If someone lies when they hold it, it turns black.”
Rokuta paused. After a moment he said, “That’s sort of lame.”
Shouryuu laughed. “You should ask Shukou what the other ones did. They’re even worse. Selling them is the only option.”
Rokuta watched the firelight create rainbows across the gem’s clear surface, turning it in his hand to make them dance. Then he looked up at Shouryuu who was still standing over him, smiling.
“If I wanted to destroy this kingdom, I wouldn’t have bothered working so hard to build it back up. If I wanted my people to die I wouldn’t go through the effort of using an excuse like war. Wars are always both necessary and unnecessary. And one should always try every option available before resorting to it.”
With that Shouryuu turned away, lifting his hand as he headed back towards the bars. Rokuta opened his mouth to stop him but then he heard footsteps drawing closer. The kirin realized that must be the minister Kouya had said he would send.
“Rest,” Shouryuu said. “Then confront Atsuyu about what you know. I’ll handle the rest.”
The minister appeared with a torch, an elderly man who was stout and stone-faced. “You can leave now.”
Shouryuu gave a cheeky grin. “Yes, sir. Thank you. He’s being very stubborn so I’ll gladly take my leave.”
Rokuta watched Shouryuu leave, feeling a pang of desperation at having to be separated and then feeling immediately irritated by that. He tucked the jewel silently into his own robe and lay back down. Staring at the ceiling, his thoughts swirling in a million different directions, Rokuta slowly drifted into a feverish sleep.
Fandom: The Twelve Kingdoms
Author: yukina_raven
Theme: 03 - Using an imperial treasure
Word Count: 1,275
Rating: PG
Summary: “Scepticism is the beginning of Faith.” - Oscar Wilde
Author's Notes: None
“Kouya!”
Rokuta’s cry echoed off the cell walls and traveled down the cave after the boy, but it was ignored. Kouya walked on, demon in tow, at a brisk pace. His footsteps faded until at last they stopped. He was gone and Rokuta knew he would never look back. Sitting half upright on the sleeping dais within his holding cell, Rokuta felt the momentarily rush of strength he had acquired in the face of his heated discussion with his former friend leave him instantly. He nearly tumbled forward off the bed but a strong hand caught his arm and pulled him back.
“Rest,” Shouryuu told him, more of a request than an order. “You’re too weak to go anywhere right now.”
Rokuta shrugged the king’s hand away and reluctantly lay back down. Even without his strength he still wanted to follow Kouya. He wanted to reason with him. There had to be a way to make him understand.
You aren’t like this, Kouya. I know you’re not…
Shouryuu sat down on the edge of the dais and sighed heavily, causing Rokuta to turn his head towards him. He suddenly realized the king looked just as defeated and weary as he did.
“You really are a baka,” Shouryuu said after a long period of silence. “You call me an idiot and cease to watch your own actions.”
For some reason Shouryuu’s words stung and, too tired to put up his normal fight, he shrunk back from the criticism with a halfhearted glare. Shouryuu didn’t say anything further and so the two sat in silence again, Rokuta watching him and waiting. Yet Shouryuu remained seated and said nothing, staring out towards the bars that Kouya had left open. After so long away from him, his presence here was comforting and it filled Rokuta with a gentle ease. The ease slowly began to lull him to sleep, but before he drifted off Shouryuu stood. Alarmed, Rokuta immediately jerked awake and tried to sit up again.
“I just told you to rest,” Shouryuu chuckled.
“Don’t leave.”
The worlds fell out of his mouth before he could stop them and he was immediately embarrassed. Yet the weariness from the blood fever and the separation from his master for two whole months quickly stamped his embarrassment out. He didn’t care right now. All he knew was that he didn’t want Shouryuu to leave. The king gave him an odd look, possibly surprised at the request. He seemed to hesitate and then sat back down. Rokuta relaxed, though he no longer wanted to sleep for fear Shouryuu would try to leave again.
“I still have some things to take care of,” Shouryuu told him. “It’s best you just lay here until you feel better. Then talk to Atsuyu about going back to Kankyuu.”
Rokuta blinked. “But… Aren’t you going to? Can’t we just leave together?”
“The element of surprise is still mine. Kouya won’t tell anyone that I’m the king.”
Rokuta looked away and then rolled over on his side, back facing Shouryuu. “Don’t be so sure. Kouya isn’t the same person anymore.” He’d even betray me for Atsuyu without a second thought.
“Maybe, but he still isn’t going to do it. I can feel it.”
“You’re too cocky, you know that?”
“And you’re the fool who stayed a willing prisoner for two months.”
Rokuta winced inwardly. Shouryuu’s voice was ice when he said those words. He had felt it but he hadn’t actually wanted to admit that Shouryuu was furious with him. He deserved it but it still stung horribly. Rokuta blamed this entirely on the king-kirin relationship and not the fact that he might actually care about what Shouryuu thought of him.
“In any case,” Shouryuu continued, unaware or perhaps just not caring how harsh his voice had been. “I want to see this through to the end. I can’t just leave and hope it’ll fix itself. That’s not what I came to do.”
“What did you come to do?”
“To prevent an unnecessary war.”
“Prevent?”
“Despite what you may think, Rokuta, I don’t like shedding blood anymore than you.”
Now Rokuta felt angry. He turned over and sat fully upright with newfound strength, glaring at the king who turned to look at him.
“Unnecessary! Before you were telling me it was a necessary war. ‘Kill only a hundred now to spare thousands later’, that’s what you said. And now you’re telling me you were trying to prevent it this whole time? You’re a liar!”
In continuing with his habit if having the weirdest reactions to things, Shouryuu laughed at this accusation. He made no reply and stood, causing Rokuta to feel conflicted. Despite his anger he still wasn’t sure he wanted Shouryuu to go. He watched the king reach instead his sleeve and produce a clear gem about the size of Rokuta’s fist. He turned and held it out to him. At his blank stare, Shouryuu took his arm and placed it in his palm. Upon contact with it, Rokuta felt a strange warmth and tingling sensation in his hand. Startled, he jumped a little and stared at it curiously.
“What’s this?”
“En’s imperial treasure.”
Rokuta looked startled again. “What? No, it… Really?”
Shouryuu laughed again. “Yes and no. Apparently it was a series of gems like that one that did different things to gauge a person’s worth. Shukou told me that they were all lost in the chaos of the Owl-King’s rule, save for that one. If I ever find the others I’ll be sure to sell them off, too.”
Rokuta stared at it, perplexed. It didn’t seem to do much other than cause his hand to feel like pins and needles. “I don’t understand.”
“If I’m a liar, that gem would tell you. If someone lies when they hold it, it turns black.”
Rokuta paused. After a moment he said, “That’s sort of lame.”
Shouryuu laughed. “You should ask Shukou what the other ones did. They’re even worse. Selling them is the only option.”
Rokuta watched the firelight create rainbows across the gem’s clear surface, turning it in his hand to make them dance. Then he looked up at Shouryuu who was still standing over him, smiling.
“If I wanted to destroy this kingdom, I wouldn’t have bothered working so hard to build it back up. If I wanted my people to die I wouldn’t go through the effort of using an excuse like war. Wars are always both necessary and unnecessary. And one should always try every option available before resorting to it.”
With that Shouryuu turned away, lifting his hand as he headed back towards the bars. Rokuta opened his mouth to stop him but then he heard footsteps drawing closer. The kirin realized that must be the minister Kouya had said he would send.
“Rest,” Shouryuu said. “Then confront Atsuyu about what you know. I’ll handle the rest.”
The minister appeared with a torch, an elderly man who was stout and stone-faced. “You can leave now.”
Shouryuu gave a cheeky grin. “Yes, sir. Thank you. He’s being very stubborn so I’ll gladly take my leave.”
Rokuta watched Shouryuu leave, feeling a pang of desperation at having to be separated and then feeling immediately irritated by that. He tucked the jewel silently into his own robe and lay back down. Staring at the ceiling, his thoughts swirling in a million different directions, Rokuta slowly drifted into a feverish sleep.