[fic] With Dragon's Blood - Chapter Thirty ~Treason~
Title: With Dragon's Blood
Author:
prettyorianna
Pairing: Akame, PiKame, JunDa, Koki/Maru
Rating: NC-17.
Genre: fantasy
Beta by: my cat. okay, seriously, nobody
Disclaimer: I don't own KAT-TUN, any of its members, any other JE people. I write this for fun and for other fans of these fine folks. But don't steal my plots, mmkay? I put a great deal of time into them except for when I'm randomly spastically spitting words onto a page. But I value those too... ALSO NOTE that if you steal my land, the language, the names, myths, maps or anything else from it and I find you, I'm sooo gonna be pissed. This world is special to me and I've spent almost 15 years on it.
Summary: Nobody believed an army could cross the mountains. Perhaps that's why nobody was prepared when they did...
Warning: Character death(s). Violence. Maybe more stuff; will modify as needed.
Nifty Banner done by Deshisoraba!!
Author's Note: Some JunDa for you. A bit of Marina at the end. Approaching the end of the day.
The Master Posts:
On my journal - With Dragon's Blood Master Post
On the akame_ Community - With Dragon's Blood Master Post
On the akame_fanfics Community - With Dragon's Blood Master Post
On the je_kamenashi Community - With Dragon's Blood Master Post
On the kattun_fanfics Community - With Dragon's Blood Master Post
On the jin_fics Community - With Dragon's Blood Master Post
Chapter Thirty ~Treason~
Junno bolted to a sitting position suddenly. Light was coming through the window of Prince Tatsuya’s room where the two of them had fallen asleep. It was… time. Soon. Soon he would lose it all.
He started to shake Tatsuya gently by the shoulders which earned him a groan and a sleepy, “Five more minutes.” Maybe Junno shouldn’t have kept him up so late, considering how the day would likely go, but he had wanted to grab as much happiness as he could before the alarms went off.
“Tatsuya, please… I need you to wake up. It’s important.”
Yawning, Tatsuya asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Just… get up, get dressed, and get armed.”
Now it was Tatsuya’s turn to bolt up suddenly. “Armed? Why? What’s going on?”
Giving his best attempt at a smile, Junno said, “Please, can’t you just trust me?”
“O…okay.” And he started digging through his dresser for something to wear while Junno grabbed his own clothes off of the floor. They dressed in silence, though Junno could tell Tatsuya was fully of questions.
Once he was dressed, Junno started to search through his pockets until he found two pieces of paper he had written for Tatsuya last night.
The very second Tatsuya finished getting dressed and strapping on his short sword, Junno pulled him in for a desperate, fierce kiss, their tongues battling for the upper hand. Junno knew it would be his last and he was determined to die with the sweet taste of his lover’s lips still lingering.
Okay, okay, the taste wasn’t actually going to linger that long. But the memory would be fresh, staying through to his last breath… Oh, great, now he was crying. Quietly, mind you, but tears were falling.
“Junno…?” Tatsuya asked, reaching a hand up to Junno’s face. “Why are you…”
The feel of Tatsuya’s palm on his cheek was wonderful, causing Junno’s eyes to close. “I’m okay. I promise. Here…” and he gave the folded pages to Tatsuya. “Don’t read them yet. You have to wait until the right time.”
“How will I know the right time?”
“You wi…”
But Junno didn’t get to finish his sentence before the loud klaxon sounded.
Soon had just become now.
+++
What was going on? First Junno kept him up half the night in a whiny huff, almost like he was afraid of the dark or afraid of the next day. Then, knowing full well he kept him up half the night, Junno woke him early the next morning. He told Tatsuya to gear up like he was expecting there to be some combat but he wouldn’t say anything about it. Then a secret note and after that, the alarm went up…
It almost seemed like Junno had been able to see into the future. Was he… no, no. Mages were all female. There’s no way Junno was a Mage.
But then how had he predicted the alarm?
Tatsuya had wanted to leave Junno in his room where he would be safest but Junno insisted not only on going with him but also in that, no matter what else was going on, the two of them should go immediately to the throne room.
So that’s where they went.
Grandmother Laureth was in there but the room was otherwise mostly empty. All of the guards had left to join the fighting which, it seemed, was coming from the gardens somehow… Shouldn’t he be in the gardens, then? How was he supposed to fight when the enemy wasn’t even…
But almost like he was reading Tatsuya’s mind, Junno said, “You have to stay here!”
And then Ryo burst into the room. “People are invading from the sky!”
A collective “what” except for a suspiciously silent Junno, who took that minute to snag Ryo by the wrist and pulled him off to the corner. Tatsuya had no idea what they were talking about but they both kept glancing up at him, like they were talking about him.
It took an eternity (or so it felt to a restless Tatsuya) but the invaders eventually breached the throne room.
Junno was suddenly striding forward towards the invaders. He wasn’t even armed, for Man’dekael’s sake! “Junno, stop!” he shrieked and tried to pull the man back before he got hurt.
But Junno just loudly said, “Stop,” and he held his hand up in front of him, palm facing the invaders. With his other hand, he put two fingers horizontally against the palm…
…and then the invaders just stopped.
“Agent Junno, ID number 19851129-AB.”
What…?
The entire room stood still. Time had stopped. Was… did this mean…?
“Junno? What is this?”
The man wouldn’t even turn to face him. “I’m… sorry. I’m so sorry. Look… behind the throne, the shield on the wall… the center part flips up and there’s a latch. Go, all of you. Close it back up behind you. I… I left a light crystal so you will be able to use it to see.” Junno’s voice was tight. “I… just go.”
That snapped the invaders out of their momentary surprise. One of them said something, but Tatsuya’s mind was reeling. He was completely stunned. All this time… Junno was just using him? Spying on him? Was any of it real?
Man’dekael save him, but he had fallen in love! His heart… he’d given it to Junno…
What an idiot he was…
By that time, Laureth had found the latch and part of the wall sank into the floor. Tatsuya was vaguely aware of Ryo grabbing his arm and pulling him towards the passage. “Junno… how could you!” Tatsuya shouted angrily, trying to pull out of Ryo’s grasp. “Look at me! Now! LOOK AT ME, DAMN IT! Look at me…”
Again without turning around, Junno said, “Please, Tatsuya, just go. Be safe… Just… go.”
And then Ryo had him all the way into the tunnel and Laureth closed the wall. “I’M NOT DONE WITH YOU!” Tatsuya was shrieking. He finally managed to pull his arm away from Ryo and started pounding on the stone wall. “Open it,” he ordered. “OPEN IT!”
But Laureth jammed a small stone she found on the ground into the latch mechanism. It wasn’t permanently broken but it would be very difficult to get the stone out so that it would work again and impossible to open from the other side. All Tatsuya could do was lean forward against the door, forehead pressed against cold stone. Had he ever been this angry before?
“Tatsuya…” Ryo said softly.
Breathing heavily as he fumed, Tatsuya said, “Don’t ‘Tatsuya’ me, Ryo. Not now.” He hit the wall a few more times, despite the futility of it all, and then sank to the ground. He refused to cry.
“Hmm, this part of the tunnels doesn’t look familiar at all…” Laureth murmured. “If we go wandering blind, we’ll get lost and we didn’t bring any food or water.”
That’s when Tatsuya remembered the pages Junno had give him. He pulled them out of his pocket and unfolded them.
The top page was a list of… well, it seemed like directions. “Left, left, left, right, straight, left, right…” and so on.
The second page was a letter.
“Dearest Tatsuya,” it began. “I know that you may never forgive me. I know you probably hate me now as well. Please, know that I never meant to hurt you. You were supposed to be a job. I was supposed to befriend you, seduce you, and then find out all your secrets in the hopes of having useful information to help the Etreyan Empire.
“I never expected to fall in love. I knew it was wrong. I was trained to not let it happen. Tatsuya, I’m good at my job. Really, really good. This shouldn’t have happened… I wonder if you even realize how amazing you are.
“I can face the death of a traitor with a smile, knowing you are safe and knowing I won’t be leaving you alone. Ryo really loves you you, as I do, and I’ve asked him to watch over you. I don’t know if you’ll ever grow to love him but if you do, he’ll be good to you. I know it. He is surely curious why I asked, but I have a feeling that, by the time you are reading this letter, he’ll have figured it out.
“I guess this is the final goodbye. I suspect I will be executed before the end of tomorrow. The Etreyan Empire deals harshly with traiters. Please live. I can only hope that, in time, you will think back on me fondly. With love, Junno.”
He had even sketched a little hand with the peace sign and a smiley face. How horribly like him… Tatsuya couldn’t help but smile a bit. And then the ink of the letter started to run as his tears started to hit it in a gentle rain.
Handing the directions up to Ryo, Tatsuya finally said, “Can you two give me a minute alone? I need… I need a moment…” and he tried to wipe the few tears off his cheeks.
It seemed like Ryo was about to object but Laureth put her hand on his shoulder and so he just went with her.
Tatsuya wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be feeling anymore. Junno had lied again and again. He was so angry! But… he loved him and he was loved back.
Despite everything…
He just wanted Junno by his side.
How screwed up was that?
But it wasn’t going to happen, because, if the letter was correct, Junno was going to die.
Eventually Tatsuya stood, brushing the dust off of his knees, and walked off towards Laureth and Ryo. A great numbness spread through him…
+++
Koki and Maru had left the cabin door unlocked again.
Marina had made up her mind. She knew she had to be on the ship at the right time, but nowhere in her premonitions did it specify that she had to wait around in the Admiral’s cabin. Snagging the sheet off of the bed, she wrapped it around her naked body, tying the top two corners behind her neck in a kind of make-shift dress. She wished it was not such a light brown; it was going to make it harder to sneak around. But she was resolved; she’d find somewhere to hide because she was not going to be in the room when those two came back.
Taking a deep breath, Marina cracked the door just enough to see whether anyone was near the door. Once she was satisfied the door wasn’t being watched, she slid it open just enough more to allow her petite frame to fit through, ever so quietly closing it behind her…
Being guided solely by intuition, Marina made her way through the ship, trying to find that perfect hiding spot…
+++
Finding the cabin empty was all the confirmation Admiral Koki needed. One of the crew still aboard the Kattun reported seeing a young woman wearing only a bed sheet duck around a corner. The man had been about to follow her, but someone else on the crew came up to him and by the time he shushed the other man and went around the corner, the woman was out of sight.
Great. Now he’d have to find her.
“Maru, gather up a ground of nonessentials and put out a ship-wide search. I’ll start where she was last seen, on the 3rd level..”
Koki was pissed, though it was mostly directed at himself. He should have locked the door but he had misjudged the woman. She seemed like the easily controlled type so they’d let her fear and her pain trap her in the room (the unlocked door served to subconsciously bolster that feeling in her), but apparently she was made of a bit stronger stuff and leaving the door unlocked was a terrible idea.
They’d find her, though. She hadn’t disappeared. There was no magic used. She was stuck on the boat and that put limitations on how many places she could possibly have gone.
Yet another headache taking up his time.
Maybe he should just leave the search to Maru and the others and see if he could catch a few hours of sleep instead. In all honesty, Koki was exhausted. He wasn’t sleeping very well at night. Maru hadn’t said anything about it but Koki could tell he noticed it, too. Koki just couldn’t make peace with what they were doing to the princess. He couldn’t make himself view her as just another slave, because really, she wasn’t. She was special. She was royalty.
So he tossed and turned uneasily, and that’s why everything seemed to be a headache these days.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
The story continues:
Chapter Thirty One ~Fourth Night Falls~
A/N: Well, I hope it is okay. I can't seem to get this quite like I want it. I re-wrote Junno's letter three times and I was having a hard time getting all the different emotions Tatsuya was simultaneously experiencing written as well.
At least Marina has taken steps to stay out of Koki and Maru's hands, though she has to realize they'll eventually find her as long as she remains on the ship.