Sayuri pov:
"I won't let you leave this palace alive." Nakago said and sent out a blast of blue energy at us.
Chichiri reacted much quicker than me, probably because he had seen Nakago's powers before and knew what to expect, and he pulled me out of the way along with him before the ground where we stood was blown up into smithereens.
"Energy blasts?" I asked more to myself when we landed a few feet away from where the ground had been struck.
"We can't get hit by one of those, you know? It's bad news." Chichiri said.
"Do you really think you can avoid my attacks forever, Warrior of Suzaku?" Nakago bellowed and sent out multiple blasts at us which we somehow managed to avoid. "Blasts aren't the only powers I have!"
Chichiri and I gasped as we were lifted off the ground and thrown back. Chichiri having powers similar to that of Nakago managed to break the spell and skid to a halt several feet away. I on the other hand felt the wind knocked out of me as my back met with the wall of the palace's external hallway. I fell to my knees coughing and hearing Chichiri call for me to ask if I was doing okay. I looked up and managed a nod but that one moment of distraction to Chichiri cost him gravely.
My eyes went wide as Nakago sent out more of his energy blasts and Chichiri yelped getting caught between the chaos.
"Chichiri!" I called out worried as I stood.
The dust cleared up a bit and I got a glimpse of Chichiri. He coughed and jumped away from Nakago, putting some distance between them. But his escape was in vain because Nakago teleported to where he was and kneed him in the gut. Chichiri gasped in pain and stumbled and Nakago used the chance to grab him by the hair and straighten him up before sending a blast at his face at point blank distance. Chichiri was thrown back against a tree and the mask that he usually wore, having been torn by the impact, fell off to reveal the scar over his left eye.
"Did you really think I would let you escape? Did you think you even had a chance to?" Nakago sneered while walking closer to Chichiri.
Chichiri wobbled up but was thrown back against another tree violently by Nakago's life force. Wanting to help somehow, I tried to run towards them but I was stopped by hair and feathers wrapping themselves around my limbs and torso. Glancing back, I saw Tomo standing there with a frown and his hair and feathers extending towards me.
"Let go of me, you freak!" I screamed and struggled but he tightened the restraints.
"You say that you don't support any one side particularly and yet, look at how you're edging to go help that Suzaku Warrior." He scoffed and yanked me back a bit.
"Shut up! Chichiri is my friend! It's obvious I would go to help him! I would have helped you or Nakago if you were in trouble too!" I retorted angrily.
"Hmph! I find that hard to believe." He said while closing his eyes.
I looked back at Chichiri and Nakago for a moment when Chichiri screamed again and a look of horror crossed my face when I saw Nakago send him flying against a boulder. He was being hit too many times and it had caused him to get too many injuries on his body, all enough to make him cough up blood. If Nakago hurt him anymore, he wasn't going to survive! I had to do something to stop him!
Since Tomo was pulling me towards himself to restrain me, I pushed back on my feet and rammed against him. He was mildly surprised by my change of plans and I was able to make him let go of me by sending a powerful punch to his breastbone. When I was out of his hair, literally, I left him as he was now kneeling on the ground and clutching the spot where I had punched him, and I ran to the courtyard to where Nakago and Chichiri were.
By the time I had escaped from Tomo, Chichiri was almost out of commission. He had almost no energy because of how much Nakago had beat him up and Nakago was now holding him up by the throat with his feet dangling a few inches off the ground. The symbol on Nakago's forehead was still glowing brightly and he was looking at Chichiri with narrow eyes. He was right about ready to finish him off but just before he could summon any more of his life force, I threw myself at him and took a hold of his arm with both my hands.
"Nakago! Please, that's enough! Let Chichiri go!" I said with a yank to his arm.
He looked at me close to glowering and it was enough to make my heart skip a beat and the blood to drain out of my face. That's right, I knew that Nakago was one person I could not overpower no matter what fighting skills or physical strength I had. He was way out of my league and he had proved it enough times. And with how violent he was being now, I knew that he was seconds away from frying me alive with his energy blasts.
"P-please! I'm not going to escape with him so just let him go! I beg you!" I said, summoning all the courage I could.
"Let him go? You expect me to let one of the Suzaku Seven go alive when he's walked right into our trap?" Nakago mused and looked back at Chichiri with a smirk.
"You've hurt him enough! Please, just let him go back alive! I'll do anything!" I said, closing my eyes and pulling on his arm again.
Nakago chuckled bitterly as he let Chichiri fall to the ground in a heap. I let go of Nakago so I could check up on Chichiri and make sure he was okay but I wasn't given the chance. A tight grip was taken on my upper arm and I was shoved back violently. I landed on the ground a few feet away with a wince as sticks and stones left burning scratches on my skin. I was lifted off the ground yet again and thrown back against a tree trunk this time and I gasped, my eyes going wide as I felt splinters pierce my skin. When I fell to the ground, I clutched my chest that had clenched up a bit from both the pain and the slowly rising fear.
"You'll do anything to save this pathetic fool? How amusing....now I can definitely say that you are a liar, a deceitful person. First escaping and then showing such concern over our enemy – and you say that you aren't backstabbing anyone. I wonder what Lady Yui will say when she hears of this breech in loyalty."
I looked up at him, my heart hurting at his knife-like words. Why wasn't he trying to understand me?! I had told him that I liked him, that even though I had been in love with Hotohori, my feelings were wavering because of him! He had misunderstood when I told him about that and now he was misunderstanding about my escape and my thoughts on not seeing anyone in this world as an enemy! Why couldn't he just realize that I was doing this because I considered the people I knew, both in Konan and in Kutou, as precious friends I wanted to protect?!
"Nakago! You don't understand! I'm not trying to support anyone! I already told Tomo that I would have tried to protect those of Suzaku and Seiryu alike if need be! I just don't want any of my friends to get hurt, even if they are fighting against each other!" I called out but I was rewarded with another painful meeting with the ground, but this time from his life force.
"Get out of here before I change my mind, Suzaku Warrior. Seeing how weak and pathetic you are, it's not even worth my time killing you." Nakago spat and walked towards me and away from Chichiri.
"Sa-Sayuri...." Chichiri stuttered while reaching a hand to me.
"Just go, Chichiri! I beg of you! Just leave! I don't want you to get hurt anymore! I'll be fine here so just go!" I said, my eyes feeling a sting just looking at how badly hurt he was.
He hesitated for a moment but mumbled a word of apology before disappearing into his cape, back to Konan, back to where he would be alive and safe. It was at the moment he disappeared that I looked at Nakago again and felt a chill go down my spine at how intensely he was glaring at me. I scooted back a bit but not fast enough to get away from him. He reached me in no time, took a tight and rather painful grip on my wrist and yanked me up.
"It seems I was wrong to assume threats were enough to curb your attitude. Your lies and your conceitedness have gone past the limit. This time, you have no choice but to learn the hard way."
"W-what are you going to do to me?! Let go! Let go of me, Nakago!" I said trying to pull my arm away from him and even trying to throw kicks and punches at him in vain.
I was dragged back into the palace with Tomo and Arashi following close behind. Having heard the commotion, Suboshi joined up with us as well and followed us down a dimly lit stairway to the dungeons. Just before we reached the dungeon though, Tomo was dismissed so he could tell Yui what had happened and keep her company until I was done being punished.
My heart had begun to pound hard against my ribcage now. The darkness and musty smell of the dungeon made me queasy and nervous with flashes of my memories of the dark place I had been locked up in all those years ago resurface. I swallowed thickly, doing my best to hold out and not succumb to the slight breathlessness that had begun to settle in me.
Nakago dragged me into one of the empty cells and proceeded to the very center of it. He turned me to face him and used his life force to prevent me from struggling. My eyes went wide and my heart raced even more as my shirt and jeans were yanked off of me and I was left wearing nothing more than my innerwear while in front of Nakago and Suboshi.
"H-hey! W-what are you doing?! Give me back my clothes!" I hollered but began to panic even more when he took a tight grip on my wrists and cuffed them to metal chains hanging from the ceiling.
"Put her clothes aside, Suboshi. We wouldn't want to ruin something from her world, now would we?" Nakago said while tossing my clothes to Suboshi.
My medicine bottle that I had stuffed into my pocked fell to the floor with a clatter, gaining the attention of the two Seiryu Warriors and Arashi. Nakago picked it up and looked over it for a moment before throwing it to Suboshi to catch, probably seeing it as something unimportant.
I could barely touch the floor with my toes. I wasn't even able to take any support from the floor and I glanced up at the metal cuffs on my wrists that had already begun to dig into my skin painfully because of my own weight. I fisted my hands and tried to shake them but it only caused my wrists to feel more pain. I looked back ahead and paled seeing Nakago smirking and holding a thick black whip in his hands.
"W-what are you planning t-to do with that?" I asked trying to push against the floor and away from Nakago despite knowing very well that my efforts were futile.
"I told you that you have to learn a lesson the hard way, didn't I?" He said nonchalantly. "After all that big talk, you've tried to escape. It's only fitting to reward you with what you had coming your way, isn't that right?"
"N-no, Nakago....please don't do this! I didn't mean to escape! I was just....!"
"Worried about your precious Hotohori?" He mocked. "I thought you said you didn't love him anymore and that I was more important. Or was that a lie to ensure your safety while in the hands of the Seiryu Warriors?"
He didn't let me respond to his question. Instead, he lifted his hand and let his whip meet my side brutally causing me to yelp at the searing pain it sent through my body. I gasped, tensing my muscles as I recovered a bit from the whip. But I continued to feel the shock through my body.
Every whipping he gave me burned like fire. He left no part of my body untouched – my shoulders, my torso, my back and my legs were left with burning red marks. Tears fell from my eyes in both pain and fear as dark memories began to resurface with revenge. My fear continued to rise as I felt the pain of the whipping and heard my screams echo loudly thought the underground prison hold.
Nakago stopped after what felt like an eternity to talk to Suboshi but it was too late for me to recover. My whole body was numb from the pain of the wounds that had been inflicted by Nakago mercilessly. My muscles had clenched up too tightly and I couldn't feel even a bit of oxygen entering my stiff lungs. I gasped like a fish out of water until my windpipe closed up completely, leaving no chance for even an ounce of air to enter my system. Black spots covered my vision and my violent trembling stopped before all the voices I could hear began to fade out. My eyes rolled back and I fell into unconsciousness.
I floated in the darkness for barely a few moments though. I felt as if someone was hitting me hard on my chest and I was jolted awake by an immense amount of air entering my lungs. I felt a rough pressure against my lips that was forcing air into my lungs. I snapped my eyes wide open coughing and spluttering while feeling a painful burning in my throat. I realized that I was being held in someone's arms and I was lifted up into sitting position so the person could hit me on the back several times to regain my breath. When I had partially regained my breath, I looked to the side only to have my heart jolt in panic seeing Nakago's face inches from mine.
I lifted my trembling arms and pushed on his chest in an attempt to make him let go of me. He was glaring furiously and I was terrified of his proximity now. But I was weak, having no energy in my limbs because of how I had almost died from the intense clenching of my chest muscles and I couldn't make Nakago budge even a bit.
Nakago let me go moments later though and used his powers the throw me against the stone wall. I coughed at the electric shock that went through my body, even tasting blood in my mouth as I fell to a heap on the ground. My breathing was raspy and I was sweating profusely but I managed to look up at Nakago while swallowing the blood and bile that had risen in my throat.
"I did not say you could die! Do not think you can escape a Seiryu Warrior so easily! Your life, whether you live or die is my decision alone! And perhaps, this wasn't the right method to make you submit to me." Nakago barked and came closer to me.
I shivered when I felt one of his hands on my bare waist and ran his other down the valley of my chest with an annoyed smirk. "I will break you this time, Sayuri. I will make sure that you have nowhere left to run or hide and no choice but to submit to me."
He pulled me forward against himself, almost in an embrace, with my face resting against his shoulder and his hand on my lower back. I knew what he meant by what he had said and I was terrified. I felt pathetic and even mentally scolded myself because I couldn't help but like the warmth of his embrace despite the situation. Even still, I knew what I had to do so I put up a weak struggle.
Tears welled in my eyes when he touched the hem of my innerwear and I begged him weakly to stop. However, he showed no sign of it and the tightness in my chest once again began to get past my limit of endurance.
But thank the heavens, Nakago stopped what he was about to do when we heard footsteps and Tomo stepped into the prison cell. Words were exchanged between them but I couldn't hear it in my dazed state. Nakago then shoved me away, got up and left, leaving me by myself trembling on the floor.
I curled up while clutching my throat in both hands as I felt breathless once again. I coughed and wheezed and it slowly turned to hyperventilation. I shuddered violently and nearly stopped breathing again but I was yanked up and brought into a strong embrace with the person hitting me on the back to ease my struggle to breathe.
"Calm down. General Nakago is gone so you'll be alright now." I gentle voice whispered in my ears.
I let out a whimper and involuntarily curled up closer against the person who was holding me in their arms. When I had regained enough composure and could breathe at least a little better than before, I pushed away from the person. I wasn't too surprised to see Arashi sitting in front of me watching me with a stoic yet mildly gentle expression.
"A-Arashi...." I said hoarsely and coughed again. Not really caring about my pride at the moment, I shut my eyes and leaned into him again for his body warmth.
He held me back, which I found surprising, and we stayed like that for a few moments. The only thing that could be heard in the prison cell was my slightly heavy breathing.
"I can help you escape." Arashi spoke, breaking the silence.
I opened my eyes surprised and pushed away from him so I could see his face. He didn't let go of me completely though and still had his arms wrapped around me holding me close.
"You will.....help me escape? Why would you do that?" I asked warily and he nodded.
Why would he want to help me? He was a Kutou soldier and Nakago was his General. And I knew that Arashi was loyal to Nakago and always followed his orders with no hesitance. Forget about loyalty....people listened to Nakago out of fear rather than loyalty as far as I had seen. So why would he be taking the risk to go against Nakago and help me escape?
He ran a hand gently though my hair as he looked over my face. His face was inches from mine and I could feel his breath waft over my face. He reached out a hand and touched one of the whip marks on my shoulder and I winced as it burned.
"I have been watching you under General Nakago's orders since you came to the Kutou Palace. Watching your fighting spirit against General Nakago, your beauty and your transparent personality, I have fallen in love with you. If you agree to live with me and love me in return, I am willing to help you escape from here, from General Nakago." He said and met my eyes with a sharp stare.
I blinked for a moment, absolutely dumbfound by the confession. Live with him? Love him back? Well, I suppose it was a better choice than being assaulted by Nakago. I had no wish to go through with his last threat and I knew that I had no choice besides what Arashi had offered.
Arashi watched me silently, his hand still caressing my cheek and head every now and then. I was more surprised that even though I was sitting so exposed, he hadn't looked over my body but merely observed my face. He was a decent man and I had a feeling that escaping with him might not be such a bad idea. I mean, what could happen, right?
"I will go with you. " I said, making him meet my gaze again. "But I want you to understand that I'm going to need time to, um, return your feelings. I can't suddenly change the way I feel about someone so you'll have to give me time."
"I am alright with that." He said and stood up.
I shivered from the loss of warmth but I was glad that he took off his cape and put it around my shoulders. I wasted no time in wrapping it around myself tighter and savoring the warmth still lingering in it.
"We will escape at midnight. I will get you some casual clothes so be ready to change into them quickly before we leave." He said and stepped out of the prison cell and locked it.
"I understand. And Arashi? Could you please get the bottle that Suboshi took away with my clothes earlier? I need to have it with me at all times." I said just before he could leave.
"What is it for?" He asked with a narrow gaze and I resisted from rolling my eyes.
"It's medicine."
"I see. I will bring it." He said and walked away. Once I couldn't hear his footsteps anymore, I fell back against the hard stone wall while clutching the fabric above my still hurting chest.
I shut my eyes and scrunched up my face while trying to take deep breaths to replenish the energy that had drained out of me. Nakago's hatred for me seemed to have reached the peak and he was planning to do something that would ruin my life. I was even more afraid of him than I was before and just the thought of him being in the same room as me made goose bumps erupt on my skin and a shivering chill run down my spine.
Surprisingly, even though I feared him and found all that he had done and was planning to do to me awful and unacceptable, I couldn't hate him. I should hate him but I just couldn't. I was reminded of his past that I had heard from Arashi and I conjectured that his rough and rather cruel methods of subjugation were a result of what had happened to him personally. He couldn't show mercy because it would only allow people around him to suppress him. Although, that was no reason to be so harsh towards me.
And now because of that, I had accepted to the totally irrational condition that Arashi had put when he offered to help me out of this mess. I didn't even know if what I was doing now was the right thing. I mean, Nakago had the ability to sense people's life forces so wouldn't it be almost impossible to get out of the palace unnoticed? Then again, I'm sure Arashi knew this fact well too and he had decided to leave with me at midnight because Nakago wouldn't be here to sense us.
I opened my eyes and looked up at the dark ceiling. I could still get the metallic taste of blood in my mouth and I knew that the panic attack I had had this time was really serious – even more that the ones I had had as repercussions after the accident. The whipping, which had left almost my whole body sore and aching, is what had made it worse. The feeling of suffocation would occur every now and then for at least the next two to three days as a result of the weakened state of my muscles. I would need to take my medicine often for the effects of the incident to go away completely.
I let out a tired sigh and slumped even more against the wall while cradling my aching wrists. The rough stones dug into my back through the cape I had wrapped around me and caused the whip lashes on my back to sting painfully. I groaned but didn't move away from the wall. And I couldn't care less about how dark the prison cell was at the moment – I had got used the darkness because of living in this primeval place. The prison cell was big so it didn't make me as nervous as I would have in a smaller place as dark as this.
Besides, I was too tired to care.
I thought about Chichiri for a moment, hoping that he was okay and hadn't been too badly hurt by Nakago's powers. I also felt kind of bad for hesitating to go back with him because of my wavering feelings towards Hotohori. It was unfair if I returned to Hotohori with mixed feelings but I now felt that I should have just gone back without thinking too much about it. I was probably just wavering because I was away from him for too long – when I saw him, I would most likely have felt all the affection I had for him gush out of me. I would have realized how much I missed him and I would have forgotten everything about Nakago. I would have forgotten everything unnecessary.
"Pabo....[idiot]" I mumbled and closed my eyes with another deep sigh.
I curled up a bit more against the wall deciding to take a short nap before Arashi came to get me out of here. After all, I needed at least some energy to walk and follow Arashi out of this musty place and to the horses. So pushing away all the stressful thoughts, I let myself be pulled into light slumber.
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'-'
Sayuri is making a big mistake, isn't she? Nakago isn't a person so easy to escape from and even if he isn't in the palace when she's escaping with Arashi, he's bound to find them sometime soon. The future looks dark.
Man, Nakago is one tough dude. And mean. Look at how he just kicked Chichiri's butt and hurt Sayuri! I'm guessing it earned a few winces from the readers?
Ah, and as you saw, I've made sure not to make Sayuri's personality change to a whimpering weak girl. Yeah, she did experience something pretty brutal but that can't change her personality too much, right? Ahh....I'm glad it's coming out better than the previous version ^^'
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