Akatsuki Chapter 29
Title: Akatsuki
Genre: AU/Fantasy
Rating : PG-13
Disclaimer: I made the poster from images I got from flickr, heavily influenced by an original, final fantasy/kingdom hearts/legend of Mana but the plot and characterization are my own hard work. The Idols are Johhnys but because they've engraved an irreplaceable position in my heart so I based my characters on them and yeah used their names...the end.
Note: Summaries are different for each Arc.
~Arc Four -Two of A Kind~
Summary:
Amongst the velvety richness of the sky, a storm is brewing, shrouding the growing turmoil below in ever growing darkness. The rushing tides of revolution carry with it the pieces of betrayal, greed and death, snuffing any glimmer of hope in its wake. Two flames have been ignited, hidden from the world but will their light and warmth be enough to protect their crumbling nations? Or will they burn it all to ashes as they pit themselves against each other?
Chapter Twenty-Nine - The Prince and his Mage
“Why are you sending me away grandfather?”
The elder took off his spectacles with a chuckle, eyeing the six year old mage apprentice before him.
“I’m not merely sending you away Aoi, I’m giving you an important job, a task that was originally mine but you know my bones are protesting already, you are more fit both in strength and power to do it,”
“You’re just slacking,”
The man laughed heartily. He placed the spectacles in a pretty case and presented it to the little girl.
“You see the boy over there,”
The girl followed the man’s pointing thumb with her eyes and spotted a boy around her age, sitting on a bench on the end of the corridor. He looked completely lost and miserable.
“Who is he?”
“He is someone very important to our king, and your job Aoi, will be to protect him…always,”
~*~
“I can’t just sit here, not like this…not when I know Yuto’s in a dark and cold dungeon alone,”
His attendant sighed deeply, understanding her master’s distress.
“He’s very vulnerable to illness Aoi; we have to get him out of here,”
The girl nodded silently, squirming under the physical binds around her body and struggling against the unseen chains holding her down. Their captors had known about her being a mage and had been well prepared to handle her. This alone made her feel anxious for her master’s safety. She flicked her eyes around the library, once lit up by sunlight now it lay in darkness. The windows were barred…the complete cage. Her eyes than travelled to the figure slumped upon the rug in the centre of the room. His hands were tied and a black cloth of silk was wrapped around his eyes.
“Aoi…can you not do anything?” he asked, a little timidly. Aoi bit her lip.
“I cannot see the seals placed upon me. If I did I would be able to undo them…,”
“Seals?”
“Yes,”
Keito sighed.
“They took my glasses and I'm a little…weak in visualizing hidden art because I’ve always been so dependent on them you see,”
“The ones your grandfather gave you, with the special lenses?”
“Grandfather was the head mage in the King’s council, he was awarded those glasses for his loyalty and excellence of service…I was always told that they were made of a very special crystal,”
“I see, so you probably don’t have a spare…do you?”
“They were…one of a kind,”
“Of course,”
Aoi fidgeted some more in the following silence, straining her eyes, hoping for them to adapt to the enchantment and show her the secret structure of said spell.
“I'm sorry; I guess I'm too dependent on you,”
Fighting the heat rising on her face, she squeaked a small ‘I don’t mind’.
“Did you say something?”
“I’ll think of something My Lord,” she said quickly.
“No don’t strain yourself, just tell me one thing,”
“Yes?”
“There has to be a mage that created this…web of seals that’s confining you right?”
“Yes, I managed to get a glimpse of him,”
“Do you think he knows about your glasses?”
“They didn't blindfold me, so I'm guessing they think it’s for my regular sight,”
“ Shouldn't a mage be able to tell?”
“The secret behind those glasses isn't magic, nobody but my grandfather and I can tell it’s not the usual kind,”
“So, if I can find them?”
Aoi frowned at the suggestion but blinked back her surprise as Keito stumbled to his feet, the binds around his hands coming undone.
“How…. did you? The binds were tight!” she cried out in surprise.
“It’s kind of insulting actually,” he said pulling off the blindfold. “They didn't even tie my feet!”
“You’re complaining about that?”
Keito chuckled.
“Of course not, but years of bullying, being cramped up in lockers and tied up in store rooms…I’m seriously through with the whole waiting to be found and set free,”
Aoi blinked back her surprise but exclaimed as he started approaching her.
“Don’t come any closer!”
He stopped dead in his tracks, taken aback.
“Confining spells usually have a side trigger; you’ll get hurt badly if you step on the seal!”
Keito frowned.
“I can’t leave you here,”
“I’ll be fine,”
He thought for a moment before nodding.
“I’ll be as quick as I can,” he replied reassuringly. She wanted to argue but her master was already halfway across the room.
“Alright but please be careful,” she said rather weakly.
The girl was left to watch with great anxiety as her master carefully unlocked the door, peeked outside and then slipped out.
~*~
Keito had spent a great deal of his childhood in Akatsuki’s royal palace. It was his second home, a place he would frequent during summer holidays and winter breaks. He and Aoi used to parade through all accessible hallways, looking for places to hide when playing hide and seek with Yuto or simply exploring the massive maze of many floors to spend their long, hot afternoons when the prince used to go mysteriously missing.
The castle had been, in its previous days of grandeur a sight to behold. Its stone façade stood facing lush green gardens and bursting fountains. The towers and turrets seemed to touch the mysterious sky, the windows reflecting the gold of the sun as it rose and fell. The hallways were all lined with carpets of deep red and well lit by lofty arched windows at day and crystalline chandeliers at night.
He had always been amazed by the palace and at the privilege of being allowed to so freely roam the place. The king was his uncle, which made him Yuto’s first cousin and unbeknownst to Yuto, the second in line to the throne. Yuto never knew for it wasn't important. The prince was told that he was the only heir and it was true now in a sense. Keito was never a threat to the current royals due to his apparent disinterest in politics and extreme loyalty to his family.
As Keito grew older, he had begun to understand the significance of family politics in his survival. His own father had been poisoned while he was a mere lad of five, nobody knows by whom or why for the man was, like himself completely uninterested in politics despite being the older brother and the original heir to the throne.
The king had grieved for his brother but feared for his nephew as the boy could be used against him in so many ways. Keito was kept close to the immediate monarch because he was the only thing standing between random claims to the throne and Yuto. So when Keito had turned 18 (he was the older of the two cousins by a few weeks), he was secretly called before the King, Queen and the council where he had been persuaded with great ease to pledge his loyalty to Yuto and to completely denounce his claims to the throne.
He was quite happy to do so. It made him feel as if he had repaid all his debts to the family that had taken care of him, protected him and his home. He always felt that with his personality, he was destined to be by Yuto’s side as his friend and companion and not in command of anything besides his own life.
He walked in silence, stunned at the loneliness of the hallways. The setting sun provided him enough shadows to move around in stealth; a skill he had picked up back at the academy while trying to outsmart the bullies.
“Where are the guards?” he wondered to himself but froze in his steps as he heard a groan from around the corner. Carefully he peeked and felt his jaw drop in shock. This side of the hallway was almost littered with Miura’s men, almost 10 of them. Worst was the state they were in. Some had their arms twisted or legs sticking at odd angles but all were unconscious…or so it appeared to him. Most lay on their faces but one who was slightly close to where Keito stood petrified had the most disturbing expression on his face. His eyes were wide open and jaw was slack as if he had fallen by fear alone. Trembling, Keito moved closer to the man, trying to drown the building nausea. He bent down and checked his pulse. His eyes widened as he felt none.
Calming himself he praised his luck as he spotted a bulge in the man’s shirt’s side pocket. Putting his hand in, he sighed in relief as he pulled out Aoi’s glasses. The frame was slightly distorted but the lenses were fine.
He heard something scurry from above and felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand. Fearfully, he looked up. He felt his body jolt at the shock of something white and gangly on the ceiling, moving really fast and disappearing into a side corridor. He clasped his hands around his mouth to block the muffled scream.
“What…what was that?”
~*~
A/N: Hope it's okay for a comeback chapter :) Sorry for taking so long!