Age of Darkness (31 page)

Yuri raised an eyebrow and put his hands on
his hips. “Huh? Why should I wait a few days?” he muttered, trying to keep
poised, his eyes on Keimaro. “I don’t have any intention of letting Lena suffer
more than she already has.”

“By going now, you’re increasing the risk
that you’ll get captured,” Keimaro exclaimed. “At any rate, you’ll only get
yourself killed. Besides, don’t you want to rest a bit before you sweep in and
save the damsel in distress? After all, we just performed a bunch of operations
in the past few days. I don’t know about you, but I’m really sore from fighting
so much,” he said, reaching up and stretching his arms. “I don’t intend to get involved
with your suicidal plan to save Lena.”

The werewolf rolled his eyes and walked out
of the room, eager to be alone. As he started to close the door behind him,
Keimaro saw a resplendent blue band around Yuri’s wrist. He vanished through
the door without a single word spoken, and Aladdin sighed.

“Yuri isn’t exactly the most diplomatic
person around. He’s near impossible to convince,” the noble said. “Once he’s
got his mind set on something, he’s going after it. There’s no stopping him.
Anyway, we should talk about the task at hand. I did some research today. I went
through the paperwork that they did on recent government prisoners, and there
was nothing recorded about even obtaining Noah.” He rubbed his chin as he
walked over to his bed and sat down. “I knew something was off. I even searched
through the secret files, which is illegal by the way, and still didn’t find
anything.”

“That’s odd.”

“What’s even more strange is that there isn’t
any record of the entire existence of the underground lab. It’s as if it never
existed. Perhaps the king doesn’t know about the lab…. At least, that’s my
theory.”

Keimaro frowned. “That means….”

“That there’s an outside force within the
government that has obtained some power. My thought is that it’s the Bount
organization, trying to maintain some influence in the city. Undoubtedly, they’ll
try to push their way to the throne eventually, which is why we should take it
first. However, I don’t suspect that there’s a large Bount force in the
government; otherwise, it would’ve been noticeable before now. Z hasn’t sensed
any abnormal activity or auras from the Bounts, so it must be a subordinate.”

“Didn’t Yata and Gavin see the person who
attacked them underground? Whoever was underground must’ve been with the
Bounts. Wouldn’t they be able to identify who was down there?” Keimaro said.

Aladdin grinned at Keimaro and gave him a
nod, patting him on the back. “Looks like we’ve got a lead! I’ll go ask them
tonight, and I’ll get back to you tomorrow after duty again. Hopefully Yuri
will stay out of trouble tonight. Do you need somewhere to stay?”

“I suppose,” Keimaro said. “I’m off duty,
and I’m supposed to return to my room with the captain. But I don’t think he’ll
have any objection if I was
ordered
to spend the night. After all, you’re
my superior now, I guess,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Why, you
have an extra room?”

“I have dozens.”

“Makes sense, in a place this big.”

“I thought your job was to protect the
princess, but it looks like you’ve got plenty of free time on your hands,”
Aladdin said, walking to a mirror and examining himself. He rubbed his chin and
sighed, turning to glance at Keimaro over his shoulder. “Don’t tell me you’re—”
He blinked when he saw that Keimaro wasn’t there anymore and that the window
was open. A light, nighttime breeze blew into the room, and he heard nothing
but the chirps of crickets. He walked over to the window, leaning on the sill
as he looked up at the moon and smiled. “What a sneaky bastard. I just hope he
doesn’t do something stupid.”

***

Keimaro knew that it wasn’t right for him
to just leave Aladdin with Yuri in the mansion, especially if Yuri tried to
save Lena tonight. Aladdin wouldn’t be able to stop him alone. In fact, Keimaro
wasn’t even sure if the noble was capable of combat. He had never gotten to see
Aladdin in action before. Still, something drew him from the noble’s house and
toward the castle. He wanted to see the princess again. Why? He had no idea. He
could name no specific reason, other than wanting to see her face and maybe
even talk to her. Before he knew it, he was walking up a narrow stairway toward
the princess’s tower. When he found the door, it was heavily guarded with five
strong, burly men who stood tall with thick metallic armor covering every
possible inch of their body. That must’ve been extremely uncomfortable.

“What is your business here, guard?” one of
the soldiers said.

“I’m the princess’s bodyguard, so I’m here
to—”

“The king’s orders are not to let anyone
in.
Anyone.
That includes you, rookie,” the soldier stated. “These
orders will be followed until further notice. If you want authorization, you’ll
have to get some from the higher-ups. Until then, we can’t let you pass. Please
turn around.”

“But this is my post! Shouldn’t I—”

“Turn around. Otherwise….” The soldiers all
unsheathed their blades in unison and pointed the gleaming tips at Keimaro,
their hands shaking ever so slightly. The timorous soldiers definitely didn’t
seem ready to combat the rumored member of the Royal Guard who had been
assigned to protect the princess. They all thought of him as simply a random
braggart from the slums that managed to score a lucky position in the
princess’s guard. Now that they faced Keimaro in person, for some reason, the
boy was giving them an ominous aura—one that relieved them of all their
previous bravery and left them sapped and shaking in their rattling knight
armor, which creaked with every movement.

“Ah, how ponderous. A group of brawny
knights ganging up on a member of the Royal Guard? Show proper deference. The
adversity of such a high position is esoteric in comparison to you, those who
lounge around all day simply gambling amongst yourselves and drinking to the
point where you hardly even know your own place. You torpid fools ought to
lower your swords and bow,” a voice said from behind Keimaro, and the boy
turned to find General Mundo standing behind him with his slicked-back hair and
gleaming armor. “Lower your blades and resume your positions. As for you, Riku
Hikari, was it? Follow me.”

Keimaro looked at the superior for a moment
and supposed that it was more of an order than a suggestion. He couldn’t deny
this man; he was a general. So, the Royal Guard followed the general as they
descended the steps. He couldn’t help but think that it was unlikely that the general
was just randomly wandering and saw the event occurring. Without a doubt, he
had been following Keimaro or at least intended to see the princess himself.
Though, the first idea seemed more likely since the general had asked him for a
walk. What on earth could this man possibly want to talk about?

“I heard about your trial with the king,”
General Mundo said, breaking the silent barrier between the two of them. “That
is quite the feat, if I do say so myself. You’ve managed to impress even the
king with your talents with the sword. I have heard a great many things. I wish
that the king had asked for you to come into the ranks of the guard sooner,
actually. With the recent assassination last night, if you had been there,
perhaps we could’ve saved some lives.”

“Perhaps,” Keimaro said.

“So many men were lost just from a simple
swipe of Keimaro Hayashi’s hand. Can you believe it? Dozens of men were killed.
Men with families. I can’t imagine what the families must feel like today after
finding out that one of their loved ones was incinerated by Keimaro’s flames. Last
night’s events will only arouse rage within the civilian population.” General
Mundo sighed. “But then again, what can they do? And what can we do? We are
simple humans. We don’t have powers like that monstrosity of a boy. Born a
demon and now he’s got abnormal fire powers to match. How much deeper into
darkness will he fall, I wonder?”

“I was asking myself the same thing, sir,”
Keimaro said, wincing at the mention of how he was a monster.
I don’t need
some old man telling me what I am.
He kept his calm and watched as the
general tittered like a child. It looked as if he were up to something, but
Keimaro simply waited until the general collected himself.

“At any rate, the king has told me to send
a letter to Darius, the prince of Faar, telling him to come home. He is one of
the most skilled humans in existence with a blade. I’m sure that he would be
intrigued to have a sparring match with you before the king,” General Mundo
said. “I was just wondering if you’d be up to the challenge, is all. After all,
I wouldn’t want to force you into fighting an opponent that you’d be
uncomfortable in combat with.”

Keimaro raised an eyebrow as they reached
the end of the staircase and stopped descending. The general noticed and turned
to look at the guard. The boy’s eyes were wide and filled with heat and glee.
However, not a single crack of a smile formed on his lips. “My only issue is … if
I hurt the prince, will there be any penalty?”

“Not at all.”

“Then this’ll be fun,” Keimaro said with a
small chuckle, his eyes glimmering though they remained black as the shadows of
an abyss. “You can count me in.”

“He will be here in a few days,” General
Mundo said with a wave over his shoulder as he began to walk away. “I
congratulate you on your new position, by the way, Riku. I’m sure you’ll do
great.” The general gave a wicked smile that spread across his lips, though
Keimaro couldn’t quite see it.

Keimaro watched the man walk away, frowning
to himself. There was something off about General Mundo. There wasn’t any
specific reason but Keimaro’s intuition told him to be careful about Mundo. A
part of him wanted to go and follow the general to find out what was so fishy
about him, but he had other things on his mind. Keimaro turned to leave the
castle instead. If those guards wouldn’t let him go in through the front door
to get to Aika, there would always be alternate ways to get in.

After finding an open window, Keimaro began
to climb up the side of the castle. It wasn’t exactly difficult, but was more
psychologically strenuous than it was physically. Many tiles were loose, but he
found plenty of windowsills to grab on to, and his upper-body strength was
honed to the point where it didn’t even strain him to climb. However, the
thought of getting caught or even falling haunted him throughout his ascension.
He was paranoid. Even the slightest of sounds would make him glance downward to
see if soldiers were wandering around below. Fortunately for him, there weren’t.
With his white tabard, he blended in partially with the color of the castle. He
hadn’t thought of how long the climb to get to the princess’s tower really was.
It didn’t seem too far, but it felt like he had been climbing for ages. His
fingertips were beginning to ache, and he wondered how he was going to get back
down. Each breeze made him want to fall or just release the castle and flow
with the wind—though he knew realistically he would fall and probably die, or
at least break every bone possible.

Why on earth was he risking everything just
to see the princess? Something as suspicious as this could be seen as an
attempted assassination or kidnapping. He couldn’t possibly be risking his
capture for a simple girl! Just to see her, how ridiculous was he being? Nevertheless,
he continued onward, pulling himself further up, until he finally grasped the
stone railings of the balcony. He hauled himself upward, panting, slightly
exasperated from the climb. He landed swiftly and silently as a feather on the balcony
floor. The boy glanced back over the railing and almost whistled at how far the
drop was. He now towered high over the entire city and could see all the
brilliant lights as he had from his own room except to a much greater extent.
Now he could see over the walls and out toward the vast fields that surrounded
the city. He could even see the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

Keimaro smiled to himself and then turned
to see the silk curtains of the balcony blowing to the side. His eyes widened
as the curtains gusted, and he saw Aika without her shirt, putting on her
nightgown. His eyes gazed upon her smooth, young skin, and a light blush came
across his face. He coughed and immediately regretted it because Aika’s face
snapped to his. She screamed.

Within a single second, the guards barged
through the door, brandishing their swords. “What happened? Princess! Are you
okay?”

“Yes! Yes! I’m fine!” Aika stammered. “I
just saw a bug was all! There’s nothing to worry about!” She squealed, her face
red as she pulled her blanket around her body. “Now get out of here! I’m not
dressed!”

***

The soldiers all flushed red and quickly
piled out of the doorway without taking a single glance at the balcony. As soon
as the door to her room was closed and locked, Aika turned to face the balcony,
but she didn’t see him anymore. She could’ve sworn that she saw Riku. Her face
was red as she slowly began to walk toward the balcony, her white nightgown
wrapped around her. She stepped onto the soft marble floor with her bare feet,
feeling the slight shiver of cold run through her toes. The soles of her feet padded
against the floor gently, and she looked around.

The boy stepped out from the side of the
balcony, his foot touching gracefully on the railing. A hood was pulled over
his head, but he wore his white Royal Guard tabard. He gave her a small smile as
he touched down on the ground in front of her. He had been hiding on a ledge
next to the balcony. He was fast; she gave him that. But how did he get up
here?

Aika glanced past Riku at the railing and
shook her head in disbelief. “How did you…?”

“I climbed.”

Well, that answers that,
Aika thought. But she couldn’t believe it. No ordinary human could
climb that high. She brushed the hair out of her eyes and tucked it behind her
ear. “Why are you here, Riku? You realize this is against the rules, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I got it,” Riku said, rubbing his
neck with a sigh. “I just wanted to check up on you. After all, that’s my job,
I guess. I wanted to make sure that you were all right after that explosion in
the city and then the assassination last night….”

I feel like I know him,
Aika thought, biting her lower lip. There was something about him.
She felt as if she had met him before and that they knew each other. But, this
was only the second time they had even talked. And what kind of soldier cared so
much about a princess? Who would climb dozens of stories just to see if the
person was okay—particularly if that person were a complete stranger? When Aika
looked into the dark pools of his eyes, she saw something familiar, but what
was it? Her heart fluttered when their eyes met. Heat rose up in her. “Do I
know you?”

***

Why had Keimaro come up all this way? To
see her? No, he wanted to tell her something. He wanted to tell her everything.
He lowered his eyes when she said those words:
Do I know you?

Yes. Yes, you do!

Then he bit his lower lip, trying to hold
back the words that wanted to leave his mouth. For now, he was just Riku
Hikari, right?
Not around her, I’m not.
His heart throbbed, and when he
looked at her, an image appeared in his mind.

The beautiful blue skies that stretched for
miles and miles that urged him on to explore the world. Keimaro could see
himself at the age of fourteen, sitting underneath the beautiful apple tree
that had once topped the hill overlooking their village. A light breeze sent every
single blade of grass swaying as if they were dancing with the wind. And in a
moment’s glance, Yata appeared, sitting on the grass beside him. The two of
them were laughing and joking with each other, but Keimaro couldn’t hear
anything. They simply smiled, enjoying the view and the wonderful weather. And
then Aika appeared in the image, standing over them with her dirty dress,
scolding them for something. But the two boys were simply laughing, inviting
Aika to relax with them.

If the Bakaara massacre hadn’t happened,
then maybe that dream could’ve become a reality. Maybe they could’ve been the
best of friends. The three of them.

A tear formed in Keimaro’s eye and streaked
down his right cheek, gathering at his chin. It fell gently and hit the marble
floor, dispersing into multiple droplets as it hit. He lowered his head as his
heart ached, wishing that he could return to that happiness—sitting underneath
the apple tree, free from everything with his friends. He wiped his eyes with
his sleeve and raised his head. He had to show her.

Aika’s eyes widened when she saw the glow
in Keimaro’s irises, a flashing red that was unmistakable. She didn’t move, and
her mouth dropped open as the two of them stood in silence, looking at each
other. “You’re….”

Keimaro’s eyes returned to their dark color,
and he gave her a small smile. “Yeah.”

“K-Keimaro? It’s you? It’s really you! All
of this time, I’d thought you were dead from the massacre. I mean, until I
heard that you were in the city and—”

Aika was interrupted when Keimaro leaned
forward suddenly and locked lips with her. The wind gusted as they kissed,
sending waves of heat between the two of them, sparks igniting almost
instantly. Aika’s face blushed bright red as Keimaro pulled back, and she was
silenced by the action. She reached out and slapped him, practically shaking.
But Keimaro didn’t even react; the smile was still printed on his face.

After a few moments of being stunned, she
gathered her bravery to speak again. “W-Why did you do that!” she exclaimed,
flustered. “I’m a princess! You can’t just—”

“I just did,” Keimaro laughed warmly and
took a step back to lean against the railing of the balcony. “You didn’t have
to enjoy it, Aika. You really are beautiful, and I’ve always wanted to do that.
I remembered that you were pretty before, but now when I see you, I really can’t
help myself.” He exhaled, looking over his shoulder at the view of the city. “I
suppose you’re wondering what I’m doing here then. You know, it’s weird. I don’t
know why I climbed this high to see you either.”

“Why are you posing as Riku Hikari?” Aika
asked, touching the railing and turning toward him. She tried to push the kiss
to the back of her mind. “What’s the point in that? Are you out to kill my
father?”

“If it was something as simple as that, I
could’ve just done it when I had my hands around his throat last night,”
Keimaro murmured with a shake of his head. “No, it’s not him that I want. For
the most part, my concentration is on the Bount organization. Although your
father’s men are the ones that destroyed my village, the only reason they were
able to invade was because of the Bounts. Not to mention, they took my sister
from me and killed my mother.” He growled, squeezing the railing tightly. “The
reason that I am here is that I want to make sure that you’re all right, that’s
all.”
At least it’s part of the truth.
“Members of the Bounts have
infiltrated the government, and they will try to target you. I am here to
ensure your safety. Though, I just blew my cover a couple of seconds ago, I
suppose.”

“You really must trust me,” Aika laughed lightly.
“You know, I might not be the same girl that you remember from four years ago.”

“I figured that you owe me one anyway.”
Keimaro winked at her. “After all, we saved your life in the forest twice.”

Aika pushed him playfully, and Keimaro
laughed.

“Did you end up getting a power from the
meteor that we discovered in the forest?” Keimaro asked abruptly. “Yata and I
got one.”

“Yes, I did,” Aika said, looking out at the
city, her eyes wandering amongst the glowing lights. “I gained an odd ability
to heal. Whenever I get a cut, it automatically heals, which is why you won’t
find a single scar on my entire body. I can use the ability to heal other
people as well, but that’s all that I’ve learned so far.”

Keimaro now knew the purpose of the three
powers. The meteor was supposed to give god-like powers to a single person who
absorbed its energy through physical contact. At least, that was what Z had
said. If the powers were evenly distributed, then each of them got a fraction
of the total power that the meteor could’ve provided. Aika got the power to
heal. Yata got the power to protect. And Keimaro got the power to destroy. If
those powers were all put together, then they would cause devastation on a
massive scale if used improperly. So, that was the power of Kuro. The mere
thought of his awakening was enough to bring a shiver down his spine.

The young boy’s stay on the princess’s
balcony was prolonged as he began to engage in conversation about their past
and attempted to catch up on what had happened over the years. He couldn’t help
but realize that Aika didn’t treat him like he was a terrorist. She didn’t seem
to have even the slightest bit of hate directed toward him despite the fact
that he had injured her father. And he felt guilty for doing what he had done.

He didn’t know why. Perhaps it was because
he was beginning to strengthen his friendship with Aika once more, and he felt
bad for hurting someone she held close. But, in the end, he knew that what he
should’ve done was murder the king right then and there. In the deepest and
darkest parts of his blackened heart, he also wished that he had simply
squeezed the life out of the king’s throat and ended this whole charade in a
single instant.

But as the boy talked to the princess more
and more, his thoughts of revenge began to be pushed to the very back of his
mind, and his heart thumped every time she giggled at a joke or remark that he
made. He felt heat rising in his body, and for once it wasn’t anger, annoyance,
or hatred. Unfamiliar with this foreign emotion, he ignored it and ended up
falling asleep at her bedside after hours of talking. And for the first time in
years, there was a smile on his face as he slept.