Part Twenty-Two : An Approach by Evil; True Intentions are Revealed
Listen to My Will
Dorei, who had been asleep for a while, snapped her head up quickly as she woke up. She found herself sitting on the floor of her cell hugging her knees tightly. With the small amounts of sleep that she was able to get the night before, she felt a little refreshed, but she was still tired. The room’s darkness was unsettling, and Dorei knew that something was wrong.
The space around Dorei’s enclosure suddenly felt cold, and she looked up from where she sat on the stone floor, and she could see a very large, dark figure walking toward her. Dorei looked over to Shakaku’s cell, and she saw Shakaku also sitting on the stone floor, but she was wide-awake; Dorei wouldn’t be able to get a decent conversation or help out of her.
“You don’t look too good,” Kyuuteki said as he put his hands on two of the bars from the door into Dorei’s cell. It was true as Dorei’s eyes were swollen from lack of sleep, her lips were chapped, and her hair looked like a mess. Dorei did not respond, but she did look up in Kyuuteki’s general direction. When Dorei did not respond, Kyuuteki continued. “Why is it, do you think, that the other senshi are not coming?”
Dorei sat in silence as she tried to block out Kyuuteki’s attempt to get her to think negatively. “If you ask me, I think that’s a very good thing to think about. Even I thought that they were your friends,” he continued. “But then I guess there really is no true friendship because it can always be broken.” Kyuuteki grinned as he saw the angered look on Dorei’s face. His persistence was beginning to pay off.
“Shut up,” Dorei said suddenly as she looked up even further at Kyuuteki.
Kyuuteki raised his eyebrows. “‘Shut up’? Really now, is that the best you’ve got? I expected a bit more from a Constellation.”
Dorei glared at Kyuuteki even though she couldn’t see him. “You’re just saying that because you know that they will come. I can’t believe someone as powerful as you still uses mind games as a way to get to people,” she retorted.
“I’d be the one shutting up if I were you,” Kyuuteki growled at her.
“Why? Because you know I’m right?” Dorei shot right back at him, but she did not stand up to face up, and she continued to sit on the floor hugging her knees. What difference would it make anyway? It wasn’t like he was seven feet tall or anything. Then again, maybe he was.
“Don’t push it,” Kyuuteki growled again, but this time his eyes flared to a deep, violent red. Dorei shuddered as she saw his eyes glowing in the darkness. She knew that now she wouldn’t be able to retort at him because he was angered and in a state that would push him over the edge with little effort.
“I just began to wonder why they didn’t show up already. From what I thought, they were very good friends with you, and they would have been here five days ago because that’s when we got you,” Kyuuteki began to pester Dorei once again.
Dorei put her head down on her knees in another attempt to block out Kyuuteki’s words. “It’s true, and you know it,” Kyuuteki finished as he turned around to leave. As he was leaving, he passed Shakaku’s cell, and he glanced down at her, but she was too tired to notice.
Dorei shifted on the floor, and she looked up where the only window in the room was located far away from her. The subtle, gray sunlight shone through the window, and it illuminated a portion of the room. She sighed as she began to think about Virgo before Kyuuteki invaded it, and how she longed to see her family and friends. They were all dead now; she was sure of that.
She began to imagine how things would be now if Kyuuteki hadn’t invaded. Would she be happier than she was now, or would she be longing for a life on earth? Either way, she was happy now even if she was locked up in a cell in this large fortress because she was serving the ones she loved all in the name of her Constellation.
She took one more look at the window at the far end of the room before she rested her head on her knees and tried once again to fall asleep.
“Bye, Kaichuu,” Kumori said timidly as Kaichuu walked to the door of the art classroom after class. Kaichuu didn’t bother to turn to her former boyfriend because she knew that she would cause a scene.
“Yeah, right,” Kaichuu muttered under her breath as she walked out of the door. Ever since Kumori had dumped her and Shakaku was captured, Kaichuu saw no way that she could be happy. She needed someone to cheer her up, but Hades’s constant efforts just weren’t enough. He just wasn’t the same as the other two. Kumori had been there when she failed tests, helped her with her art, and was always there to talk to. She had never met anyone like that, and she couldn’t believe that it had all ended so soon.
Kaichuu continued to ponder as she turned a corner to her apartment building. There was a small park right across the street, and she had her art tools ready to do some serious damage to a piece of canvas. She walked quickly, which was a change of pace for her, and she entered the park in only a few minutes. She settled herself down on a bench that was close to a group of trees, and she began to bring out the supplies that she needed.
It didn’t take long before Kaichuu was ready, and she began to draw the trunks of the trees. Even with the attempt to try and steer her mind away from the recent events, Kaichuu soon found herself with tears slowly sliding down her cheeks, but she whipped them away with the sleeves of her blue sweater.
Everything around her felt cold and dark as she tried to continue painting. When she realized that nothing was going to come from her efforts, she threw the brush to the ground, and she put her elbows on her knees, and she then put her face in her hands.
How was she ever going to live without Kumori and Shakaku? What if the senshi were not able to get Dorei and Shakaku back, and she, Enzeru, and Hoshi would have to fight on their own? She just couldn’t see that in the near future. No, she was going to fight seriously in order to get her friends back. She could just imagine what Kyuuteki was putting them through.
More tears left Kaichuu’s eyes as she began to think that Shakaku’s capture was all her fault. If only she had fought back harder when the yajuu had appeared, then she might have been able to get away.
That’s when she remembered that Kaboku had also been there, and he was also at fault for her unhappiness and Shakaku’s capture. She just couldn’t believe what Shakaku had told her was true, but when she saw the look on Kaboku’s face, she knew that it was. Still, it was her fault partially for letting herself get caught and then letting Shakaku exchange their positions.
When Kaichuu had enough with herself, she reached out, and she threw the canvas on the ground violently. She quickly sat back on the bench and crossed her arms in front of her as more tears ran down her face. It was all her fault.
“You know, that was a pretty good picture.” Kaichuu’s raised her head quickly at the sound of a new voice. She got up quickly and turned around as she recognized just who it was; Kaboku was he last person she wanted to see right then. She overlooked the fact that Kaboku was not in his usual clothes, but instead he was wearing human clothes, and he could easily pass for a normal human.
Kaboku didn’t say anything further as he waited to see what Kaichuu’s reaction was going to be. She narrowed her eyes at him, and she turned around once again. “You’re not welcome here. Get the hell away,” Kaichuu snapped at him.
Kaboku bit his tongue at Kaichuu’s impossibly uncharacteristic retort. He didn’t even know that she was capable of that, but he should have figured so much considering she had hit him when he attacked Phoenix in front of her.
“I just wanted to say…” Kaboku began, but Kaichuu cut him off.
“Just wanted to say what? Another lie? That’s all you Dark Realm people know to do,” Kaichuu said, her rage was beginning to build up, and she was beginning to let go of her tongue. Now she knew why Shakaku let herself loose; it actually felt good.
“You don’t understand,” Kaboku addressed firmly. He took a step toward the shorter girl, and she turned around to face him, and her silver eyes looked directly into his gray eyes, which was something that almost never happened.
“I understand perfectly,” she said between her gritted teeth. The violence that was in her heart was now clearly showing itself on her face, but she was going to be careful this time. She was not going to have another near miss like that one she had with Kerai. “Lying is the same no matter what the reason. And don’t you ever expect the same attitude from me that you were getting because you know what? Those days are over, and I understand exactly what is going on,” she hissed at him.
Kaboku was taken aback by the sincere hatred in Kaichuu’s voice; he had never thought that he would hear that tone in her voice. “That’s exactly why I didn’t tell you,” Kaboku got himself to say.
“To keep me from knowing the truth? You know, no one ever felt better because of a lie,” Kaichuu’s anger still continued to build.
“You don’t understand,” Kaboku repeated. This time he sounded desperate just to be able to break Kaichuu’s solid wall of hatred. There was no way now that she would see just what he meant.
Kaichuu could no longer stand Kaboku’s presence, and she took a step away from him. “I’m a big girl, and I think I can make that decision on my own,” she snapped at him. Kaichuu moved forward to get her art bag, but she almost didn’t want to because Kaboku was right there. She snatched the bag quickly, and she left Kaboku standing by the bench. Kaboku shook his head as he realized that Kaichuu was turning into Shakaku as she was opening up to the hatred that she had.
“Time for some ass kicking,” Kaboku said to himself as he realized that Shakaku was the only reason why Kaichuu had just acted like that toward him. He was going to fix that. Phoenix had told him that he would be the one getting the burn, but he also realized that now she was going to get the burn.
Hades, Artemis, and Pele walked out onto the balcony of Shakaku and Kaichuu’s apartment. Kaichuu still hadn’t returned from her art class, so there was no one in the apartment, and the three guardians were free to do what they wanted. Hades and Pele flew onto the railing of the balcony, and Artemis jumped onto the chair that was leaning against the wall.
“I wish there was something I could do,” Hades said rather quietly as he began to think about Kaichuu and how she was sad about the loss of two people that she cared for.
“What was that?” Artemis said as he averted his attention from a flock of birds in the air to Hades.
“I just wish that there was something I could do to comfort Kaichuu,” Hades repeated; this time he was even sadder.
“Well,” Artemis began as he looked at Hades, and then to Pele who was leaning lovingly on her father. “There isn’t much we can do besides be there for her.”
Hades sighed, knowing that this was true. Pele, in an attempt to comfort her father, hugged him, and he smiled as he looked down at the smaller dragon. At least he still had a member of his family with him.
“I’m sure Kyuuteki knew that Shakaku would save Kaichuu,” Hades said after Pele let go of him.
“What do you mean?” Artemis asked as he tilted his head to one side questioningly.
“Shakaku’s just too damn loyal, and Kyuuteki knows that,” Hades explained, and he grew more upset at Shakaku. “And she knew very well that it was his plan to do that.”
“She had good intentions,” Artemis reminded Hades.
“But she knew very well,” Hades said as he couldn’t let go of that. “Poor Dorei didn’t even see her capture coming.”
“Well, there’s no use crying over it now,” Artemis said, trying to get Hades to forget about it. The older dragon beat his wings impatiently.
“Our main concern is that no one else gets caught because Dorei, Shakaku, Luna, and... Mom can take care of themselves,” Pele said. At the mention of her Mother, Pele’s throat tightened up on her, but she was able to keep herself from crying.
Hades knew that this was true, but Kaichuu was his main concern. He had never seen her in such a state of turmoil.
Just then, as if on queue, Kaichuu stormed into the apartment. The guardians tried not to look at her as she made her way to the balcony, and when she got there, it was clear that something had just happened.
“Jerk,” Kaichuu said under her breath. None of the guardians had to ask just whom Kaichuu was talking about. “Jerk.”
Hades flew up to Kaichuu’s shoulder and he lowered himself close to her. “It’s going to be ok.”
Kaichuu whipped one more tear away from her face as she looked at the guardians; she was not surprised to see Artemis there. “How?”
“You’ll see. I’m sure we can get the senshi, Luna, and my Mom back,” Pele attempted. Kaichuu smiled at Pele’s comment. Even Pele, whose mother had just been taken from her, seemed to feel ok, so Kaichuu knew that she would too. At least she hoped for so much.
“Thanks, you guys,” Kaichuu said with a smile.
“You think this lock is easy to pick?” Shakaku asked Dorei from across the room as she surveyed the lock on her handcuffs.
“I doubt,” Dorei said as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Dorei had already been locked up for five days, and this was the dawn of Shakaku’s third day. Dorei had managed to get sleep the night before, but the Dark Realm’s negative, pulsing energy kept her awake most of the night. Shakaku was another story.
“Don’t be so down-hearted,” Shakaku said as she looked for something to pick the lock with.
“Look who’s talking!” Dorei exclaimed; Shakaku was not one to say that.
“I know,” Shakaku smirked as she found something that seemed strong enough to pick the lock. She slowly attempted to open the lock, but her first two tries failed.
“I don’t see why you’re picking the lock, it’s not like it’s going to…” But Dorei was cut off when she heard a loud click as Shakaku managed to pick the lock.
“I thought you said this was hard; I don’t even know how to pick a lock!” Shakaku said as she smiled while she rubbed her wrists.
“Beginner’s luck,” Dorei said as she rolled her eyes. “Now let me out.”
“I’m not going anywhere; I still have to pick the lock to the door, and I know I won’t be able to…” it was now Shakaku’s turn to be cut off. Before, when she couldn’t reach the door, she hadn’t even tried opening it, but when she just did, the door opened without a problem. “What the?” she asked loud enough for Dorei to hear.
“I don’t believe it!” Dorei said as she widened her eyes. “It has to be a trap.”
“A trap for what; to stick me in the cage again? That seems like a little too much work to me,” Shakaku said, although she was also amazed that the door was unlocked.
“If they hunt you down, it won’t be my fault,” Dorei declared.
“As if I’m not already hunted. I’m probably on the world’s fifty most wanted people list for who knows what,” Shakaku joked. Dorei couldn’t understand how Shakaku was able to joke at a time like this.
“Don’t worry, I’m just going to look around,” Shakaku said as she walked toward the door.
“Not my fault,” Dorei reminded her as she walked out the door.
Shakaku looked around the dark hall for a few moments. Her eyes were well adjusted to the dim lighting that she did not have to wait for them, and she began to make her way through the hall.
She stopped when she heard voices just as she was about the turn a corner.
“When she loses, she won’t feel too confident,” Shakaku heard Kaboku say to an unidentified person. Shakaku was puzzled because she had thought that he was still on earth with Kerai. Maybe he had gotten promoted; Shakaku had to keep herself from snickering. She peeked around the corner, and she noticed that Kaboku and a Haari were conversing a long way down the hall.
“Need pestering. ‘Wise you win unfairly,” Shakaku heard the yajuu reply.
“But I’d still win,” Kaboku pointed out the better side of this. The yajuu tilted its grossly shaped head at Kaboku’s comment.
“You now don’t want that,” the yajuu said as it knew Kaboku all too well.
Kaboku thought about this for a few moments. It was true that he believed that there was no honor in winning unfairly. “I’ll just have to provoke her before, that’s all. I sure as hell won’t need any encouragement. Her damn mouth brought on all of this,” Kaboku said is disgust.
“So do it,” the yajuu replied.
Shakaku rolled her eyes as she heard their conversation. There was no way she was going to let Kaboku do that because she would be willing to fight anyway. She turned around and raced back to the cell room before anyone saw her. Dorei was going to get a kick out of this.
Back to Part Twenty-One ~
On to Part Twenty-Three