I walked out of the manor and felt as if I had been hit in the stomach. I felt so completely and totally alone. My steps faltered so I stopped and took a deep breath, shaking my head.
Why am I so weak? I tried to laugh it off. I continued on my way, hoping to find something, anything, to help me. After a while someone called my name.
"Kyiomi-san! Over here!" I looked up to see a red spiky haired man with tribal tattoos.
"Thank you," I said, walking up to him.
"For what?"
"For not calling me Kyiomi-sama." I muttered, beginning to feel embarrassed. A light blush dusted my cheeks.
"Oh. Well, you've never liked being called that so I just thought..." He trailed off while rubbing the back of his neck. I smiled.
"Well, I appreciate it." After a few moments of silence I said, "So you wanted to speak with me?"
"Oh! Right. There's someone who wants to see you," he said. He sounded pretty excited. I considered declining, but his excitement cut me short.
"Alright," I murmured.
I'm not sure how long we walked through the woods before we arrived at a small building. On the way, I learned that his name was Renji and we talked about other unimportant things.
The building couldn't have housed more than two people comfortably. Even in its small size it was beautiful, blending carefully with the surrounding nature.
"Where are we, Renji?" I panted.
Renji gave me a sympathetic glance and said, "She is a seer from your kingdom. Her name is Kokari, but she goes by Kari."
"From my kingdom." I whispered.
My face must have shown the hurt I felt for he looked at me and said "I-I'm sorry! I wasn't think-"
"Renji, stop! It's nothing really." I smiled and tried not to let my pain show through.
Everyone knows so much more about 'me' than I do.
"Should we go in now Kyiomi?" Renji asked, the excitment back in his voice.
I nodded once, motioning him to lead the way. As we entered the small house, a strong smell hit my like a wall. I doubled over, gagging.
"Kyiomi, are you alright?" Renji demanded, grabbing my arms gently. I tried too quickly to straighten myself and got really dizzy. I leaned against him, breathing heavily.
What the hell is wrong with me..? No, this place. What is this?
After a few moments of waiting in a room with wood walls and a simple woven carpet in the middle of the floor, an extremely tall woman appeared before us.
She had paper white skin and wore close to no clothing. The pieces she did wear were a deep red color, a hard contrast to her body. Her hair, cut to her chin, and her eyelashes were barely a shade darker than her skin, while her eyes were the same flashing color as her garb.
What caught my eye most though, were the many piercings and rings she had. Her naval was pierced by a deep black gem embedded in a small gold ring, an almost perfect match on her nose, and both ears had several adornments about them. Each finger had a ring, most were quite large and not one matching in color or style.
Her blazing eyes skimmed over my body, finally landing on my own violet orbs. It felt as if she were staring through me, making me feel self conscious, but I wouldn't be the one to look away. She took a half step in my direction and suddenly disappeared, only to reappear an instant later right behind me. My body stiffened and it took all I had not to step away.
"So you agreed to speak with me." I heard her voice in my mind and out loud. It wasn't a question but I nodded anyways.
She moved slowly to stand in front of me, her head tilted to the side. I looked into her eyes and her irises seemed to be leaking giving the impression of blood. A thrill ran down my spine.
While I was distracted she grabbed my wrist and cut roughly across my palm. I gasped and finally turned on her.
"What the hell are yo-"
"Do you want my help or not?" She seemed smug in her words.
I stared at her for a moment before responding. "Please, continue." She nodded slowly, a smirk on her face.
"Of course my lady." She grabbed my wrist again and dragged me from the room and through a few dark tunnel like hallways before nearly throwing me down a flight of stairs. I had only a moment to catch myself before going down. The sudden movement caused my broken down body to lock and my breath to catch in my throat.
Renji moved forward and helped me up and neither of us said anything to Kari. I glanced at my still bleeding hand and took a deep breath before I started down the narrow stairwell.
The first few feet down the walls were made of the same wood as the plain room. Around twenty feet down they switched to a black onyx.
Where would she get this much of it? Was my only numb thought on the way down. We continued another forty feet and reached an arched doorway. The door was made up of ten foot deep brown planks and black metal hinges.
Finally I spoke. "What is this place?" My voice broke as if I hadn't had a drink in days.
"This, my lady, is how we will rediscover your past." She purred, pushing the large door open with an eerie creek. She motioned for me to enter with a sweep of her arm to which I quickly complied. I took a few rushed steps inside and was surprised to find a pitch black space. I couldn't explain why, but an overwhelming panic settled over me.
"Kari whe-"
"Be quiet child!" I stopped. "They'll come to you soon enough."
Who will? Is what I so badly wanted ask, instead I began focusing on my breathing and pushing the darkness out of my mind.
"They're coming," she murmured as a cold breeze wafted through the room. Renji gasped almost inaudibly. Despite the temperature of the room I felt warm, almost as if someone had wrapped me in an embrace.
The warmth began receding so I stepped forward to follow it, and as soon as I did the room exploded. A fire erupted in the very center of the floor. It grew steadily, reaching twelve feet tall.
I stared in awe as the fire began flickering through hundreds of different colors. They flashed so quickly that my head began spinning. It was beautiful and confusing all at the same time.
From the corner of my eye I saw Renji fall to his knees and Kari watching me intensely. I paid them no heed for the flames had the whole of my attention.
I had lost all control. Springing towards them I saw something in them change. They began forming actual pictures - people, some new and others known - and eventually scenes. They meant nothing to me no matter how hard I tried to make them. I was being engulfed by the teasing illusions while I attempted to keep sight of one, I did not care which. They were evading me, tormenting me.
"Stop!" I cried, over and over, but they didn't listen. I spun around looking for a way out and saw one scene that was not circling around me. In fact, it wasn't moving at all.
"B-Byakuya?" That is what I saw. Him and I were standing under a full moon on a small bridge built over a koi pond. The area was familiar with all of its beautiful sakura trees. And him.
He was standing behind me with my back facing him. I was holding one of his hands on my own, his arm around my waist. We looked so calm and happy, but it didn't feel real at all.
Suddenly all of it was gone, coming together into one small point suspended in midair. I could feel the energy it was giving off and swore.
"Move!" I shouted at Renji. Faster than the eye could follow it detonated and sent us all flying. I caught myself, flipping back to avoid hitting my head on the ground and wound up hitting the wall instead. I steadied myself wearily and looked around the destroyed room. There was a thick smoke I couldn't see very far through. Before I could begin to move to find Renji, Kari was by my side grabbing my arm and dragging me away.
"Wait, we must find Renji before we leave," I coughed. She shoved me forward and disappeared for a split second only to reappear with him. He had a thin cut on his right cheek but otherwise looked alright.
Kari went to push us forward again but I stopped and turned on her.
"What the hell was that? We could have been killed!"
"Upstairs first," she hissed. I turned and started the long and painstaking trek upstairs, the only thing running through my head was him.
"Byakuya." I whispered as a wave of exhaustion swept over me. My body began to sway.
No, I won't fall. Not here, not in front of this woman, I growled. I snuck a glance at her only to see that she was staring at me with no clear expression. Looking forward again, I took a deep breath and continued upward, all the while trying to clear my mind of everything in hopes of warding off exhaustion. Needless to say, it was not working.
After what seemed like an eternity we had returned to ground level. I was surprised to see that it had become dark out while we were down there. That means we were down there almost a whole day. We could not have really been down there that long, right?
I looked down at my clothes and, to my amazement, saw they were dirty and tattered. I was too tired to really care. A numbness had settled throughout my muscles about a quarter of the way up the staircase, but I didn't mind it. Quite the contrary, I welcomed it.
I looked around the small barren room and unsuccessfully looked for a place to rest. I gave in and dropped on the woven rug. I didn't care that I was in the middle of the floor or that Renji and Kari were staring at me. I didn't care about anything in that moment except Byakuya and who he was.
I sat up and said, "I need to go back to the manor. I need to leave." Kari only continued to stare at me, amusement twinkling in her dangerous eyes.
"You aren't leaving yet are you? What could be more important to you than revealing what is lost?" She purred. I clenched my teeth, looking away.
"Nothing," I replied evenly. "Now, what was that?" I tried to change the subject. I could see that she knew what I was doing but she said nothing more on the matter, for which I was very grateful.
"There is so much forgotten and so little patience to teach." Mock sadness was laced throughout her voice.
I didn't care anymore, I needed to know "What is your problem with me? What have I done to make you this way towards me?" She seemed surprised, as if no one had ever spoken to her that way. Her eyes widened for a moment before narrowing into slits.
"What right have you to speak to me that way? I agree to help you during this difficult time and you dare to disrespect me so?" She was nearly screaming by the end, her spiritual pressure was weighing down on me heavily but I refused to back down.
"I have done nothing wrong! I appreciate what you have done but I deserve to know why you treat me this way!"
"If you choose to continue in this demeanor you may leave!" Her voice echoed through my mind as well as shook the walls. I was stunned by her words but it was dulled by the anger I felt.
"Wait, we need your help," Renji, who I had all but forgotten was here, stated.
"Evidently she needs nothing I have to offer! I no longer have a reason to be here. Goodbye Renji, goodbye Hime-sama." She snarled the last bit. She looked at us for a moment longer before disappearing.
If she truly hails from the same place as I, perhaps I don't want to remember.