Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho and its characters. I do own the plot, Riya and other OC's of this story, though. I also don't own the song "I'll Say Goodbye To The Two Of Us"
Warning: The characters might not be in their usual selves. In other words, possible OOC.
-x-x-
AT LEAST WE HAVE FOREVER—Chapter 33: An Irrevocable Choice
The crystals which made up most of the castle's structures and foundations were icy blue in color, giving the impression of a very cold atmosphere surrounding the area. But just like the temperature outside the fortress, the temperature inside was also warm and cozy. They were all on the castle's courtyard and continued to look around the area. But Hiei suddenly reached out for his katana when he looked at a certain direction.
"Hiei, what's wrong?" Botan asked.
"Someone's coming…" Yusuke murmured as he looked at the directiong Hiei was looking at, eyes narrowed and hands clenched to fists.
But to their surprise, that "someone" who came from the direction they were looking at was actually a beautiful woman, appeared to be 20+ in age but they knew the woman was very much older than that. The woman had straight lilac-colored hair at ankle length tied in a large ponytail and she was draped in a long flowing mint-green kimono. She was holding a silver staff with three-pointed blades on its tip and bright blue core at the point where the crossed arms met. The cross was superimposed on a circle.
"I'm glad you made it here," the woman said gently with a small smile.
"Who are you?" Hiei asked sternly, still holding the hilt of his katana.
"The guardian of the Alyssum Castle, Carissa. And I believe you're here to see Mistress Riya," Carissa stated before turning her back.
"Wait! Why do you think we could trust you that easily?" Hiei inquired once more.
"Because she's the one who transported Riya-ojousama to this place."
The others were surprised to hear that familiar voice. When they looked around, they saw Yumi, Keiko, and Yukari come out from behind one of the pillars.
"How did you made it out here? I thought you're still in the forest fighting those demon shinobis," Yusuke exclaimed in surprise.
"Not like that it matters," Yumi said placidly before looking at Carissa. "Anyway, thank you for leading us here and for healing our injuries."
"Healing our injuries?" Kuwabara repeated with a frown and then he checked his body, only to be surprised to see his injuries were indeed gone! "How come?"
The others checked their bodies where they've been most likely injured and they've seen the same thing. All of their injuries were gone.
"But how did this happen?" Botan inquired in awe.
"When you entered the boundary of this fortress, that's when your injuries were healed. You've felt it, right? The cold sensation that passed through your bodies as if you were washed with cold water," Carissa explained seriously to the gang.
Recalling the incidents earlier, they did feel that sort of sensation.
"So this fortress has a healing barrier?" Ayako asked soon after. Carissa nodded.
"Not only that the invisible barrier heals but it also protects ths castle from outside invasion. Those monsters you fought earlier were just some of the creatures inadvertently created due to the tremendous outflow of spirit energy, demon energy, and pure dark energy left during the Dimensional War 500,000 years ago. The Alyssum Castle retained some of the powers that Celeste-sama possessed before," Carissa explained.
"Can we deal with history lessons later?" Yusuke cut in annoyed. "We really need to find Riya and Kurama right now and I won't stop until I brought them home together… dead or alive."
Carissa sighed and turned her back once more as she began heading towards the castle's entrance. It was an enormous door that greeted them. Carissa just touched it and the door opened slowly, revealing a hallway with walls made out of crystals. It took them several minutes before they reached the end of the hallway.
Upon reaching the end, an incredibly wide banquet hall greeted them that made them look around in awe. The place seemed to have been left the same way as it was before the war. It was incredibly beautiful.
"So where exactly are you taking us?" Hiei asked, breaking the tensed silence of the ethereal woman.
"To the heart of the Alyssum Castle," Carissa simply said without looking at him.
After that, Carissa stopped from walking on the middle of that hall. When they saw that, they stopped, as well. Keiko looked down and that was when she noticed the floor was decorated with a large rune circle—the same magic circle the wielders were conjuring when performing a taxing spell. Upon learning that, she decided to look up and she saw the same decoration etched on the ceiling.
They saw the woman whispering something with her eyes closed. She was like reciting a spell but in a different language. It was soon followed by the rune circles on the ceiling and on the floor to glow simultaneously, making the gang surprised. They also saw Carissa's staff emitted a golden glow before bringing the tip down and touched the floor. Before they knew it, they were all engulfed by a bright column of light released by the rune circles. After a few seconds, the column of light faded slowly only to reveal a completely different place to the gang.
"Aren't we supposed to be in the banquet hall?" Sei asked in a whisper.
The glow from Carissa's staff disappeared at the time she opened her eyes.
"Follow me."
They were left with no choice but to do what Carissa said. The hallway they were currently trailing has also crystals for its walls but it was more of a blazing red in color, making the whole place appeared to be inside of a volcano.
"What is this place?" Kuwabara asked curiously as he looked around while walking.
"This will lead you to the heart of the Alyssum Castle where Mistress Riya and Kurama are right now. However—" Carissa paused. "—you must also prepare yourselves for what you are about to seee when we reach the heart of the castle."
They looked at each other, puzzled since they didn't know what exactly those words meant. But in the end, they nodded—albeit hesitantly. But what they didn't know was the fact that finding Riya would change everything they had worked hard for to something unexpected and shocking.
A few moments more, they reached the end of that red hallway as Carissa opened the heavy door. And what they saw upon their arrival wrung their hearts tightly.
Riya was sitting on the floor, still mourning over Kurama's dead body now lying on a rectangular crystal platform. The blood and the wound on his chest was still there. But further analyzing the scene, Kurama only looked like he was just sleeping though they knew he was not. They had no idea how it all happened but all of them feel the same thing. They wanted to avenge Kurama's death no matter what since they couldn't bear looking at Riya in this state.
No one had ever seen her like this before and as of now, they wouldn't want to see her that way again. But with what happened to Kurama, they doubted if they could do something about that.
"I'm begging you, Kurama…" Riya started, almost muffled since her head was still buried in her arms placed on the platform. "Please… You can't leave me like this. You can't do this to me…" she begged in between sobs that nearly shattered their hearts.
Yusuke couldn't take it anymore. So with clenched fists, he attempted to approach his cousin but someone stopped him by touching his shoulder. When he turned to see who did that, he was inwardly surprised to see Keiko looking seriously but sadly at the same time to him before she gently shook his head.
"Keiko…"
"It would only crush her heart more if you take her away from his side," Keiko sadly stated and removed her hand from his shoulder.
"Then what do you expect me to do? Watch her like this probably the same way she felt when she lost Uncle Katsuo and Hiroto-niisan?" Yusuke asked slightly infuriated.
"You're wrong, Yusuke," Yumi stated seriously. "She didn't cry this much when her father and her brother were killed. Sure, she was devastated at that time. But I never saw her this broke. In fact, this is the first time that someone's death had completely crushed her heart and her will like this."
No one managed to say anything after that. All of them looked at Riya who was now lifting her head and faced the gang with a grieving expression on the mistress' face.
"Onii-chan…" she whispered, barely audible. New tears streaked down her cheeks, covering up the dried ones.
Without knowing, Yusuke walked towards Riya and pulled her to his arms.
"I'm sorry… I'm really sorry I couldn't protect him, Yusuke," Riya said as she continued to cry.
"Sshh… It's not your fault. Kurama would've done it no matter how much you protect him. That's how he loves you, Riya. And I can understand that," Yusuke said sadly.
"But he promised! He promised that he'll never leave me, that he'll never let me cry all alone again. But instead, he chose to break it even though he said he has no intentions to do so or if I ask for it. He lied to me, Yusuke… He lied to me…"
The others couldn't do anything other than to watch her sadly. It would appear to them that Kurama's death became too much for Riya to bear and made her completely breakdown like this. All Yusuke could do was to comfort her the best way he could and ease her pain through his embrace, though that would be close to impossible at the time.
After a few minutes of allowing her to cry like that, Riya finally stopped doing so and lifted her head to face Yusuke. The said boy eyed her with confusion.
"What's wrong?" Yusuke asked.
Riya looked away for a short while before facing him again. "Will it be okay if you leave me and Keiko-chan here for a while? There's just something I need to talk to her alone, if you don't mind."
Yusuke eyed his cousin quizically before glancing to the others. Though they weren't sure if leaving her again would be a good idea, they were left with no choice but comply to that. Besides, she asked them nicely. But what in the world would she tell to Keiko that they weren't supposed to know?
"Alright. I'll leave you here. But make sure you won't cry so much again," Yusuke finally said that made Riya show a faint smile and nod slightly.
The mistress eyed Carissa secretly and the said woman gave a small bow before guiding the others to go outside that room for a while. When she made sure Yusuke and the others were out of earshot, Keiko faced Riya.
"So what do you want to talk to me about? Was it really necessary for you not to let Yusuke know?" Keiko asked in confusion but upon seeing Riya's grave expression, she then figure that it was extremely serious.
Not that Keiko knew Riya so well, but this was the first time she saw her mistress like that.
"I'm going to tell this to you but promise me to keep it from Yusuke… just until Kurama will be revived by Carissa's powers," Riya said gravely and sadly.
Keiko frowned at that statement. "What do you mean by that, Riya-chan?"
Riya decided to take a few deep breath before telling Keiko what she had in mind. And it was something that the Wind Wielder didn't expect at all.
"You're kidding… right?" Keiko could only say, her eyes slightly opened wide because of disbelief when Riya told the plan. "You're going to do that much? Tell me this is a joke… that you're not planning something like this…"
"There's no other way. And besides, I'd rather lose Kurama alive than dead… even if I had to sacrifice the one thing important to me. Can you explain it to them after that? I know Yusuke would stop me… that's why I didn't tell him."
Left with no choice and feeling the pain Riya had for her lover's death, Keiko nodded as her eyes were shut in anguish. There was nothing she could do, anyway.
"As you wish… Mistress Riya…" Keiko muttered painfully. She shut her eyes tight in anguish of doing nothing but obey her mistress.
And with that, Riya showed a sad smile followed by her tears streaking down her cheeks once more. At the very least, she was grateful of Keiko's acceptance to her request… even though it would cost them a lot.
"Thank you… Keiko-chan…" Riya said sincerely.
-x-x-
The gang and the wielders were outside the Sacred Prayer Room (as Carissa told them when they asked the name of that room they just entered) waiting for the conversation between Keiko and Riya to be over. No one had any idea what could those two be talking about. But they do know one thing, though.
The conversation was something serious.
Minutes had passed but till then, neither Riya nor Keiko came out of the room. While most of the others were leaning on the crystal wall, Yusuke was walking back and forth in front of the Sacred Prayer Room's door nonstop.
"Yusuke-senpai, will you please stop walking already? I'll be having a headache just by looking at you walk back and forth," Yukari finally said in exasperation as she rubbed her right temple. "No one will go out immediately even if you punch that door or walk in front of it back and forth."
"I just couldn't understand why Riya would only talk to Keiko if she could simply say what she has in mind to all of us," Yusuke reasoned grumpily.
"Not unless she was planning something and she figured out that we'll stop her from doing so… whatever it is," Yumi stated nonchalantly.
But before Yusuke could react to that, the door of the Sacred Prayer Room swung open and caused everyone to fall silent and looked. They saw Keiko went out but all of them were worried and confused to see her sad face, as if she had been to an ordeal of some sort.
"Keiko-chan, what's wrong?" Yumi asked in an obviously worried tone.
The said lady raised her head and faced the others. But few seconds had passed and she only stared at them before reverting her gaze to Carissa.
"It's time…" Keiko uttered while facing the woman.
"Time for what?" Kuwabara asked confusingly. But the girl didn't answer.
Carissa slightly nodded with a grave expression etched on her face. It seemed that the woman knew what Keiko meant with what she said. Keiko stepped away from the door, still had the same sad expression on her face.
"Keiko-chan, what was that about?" Sei asked with worries evident in her voice.
But the Wind Wielder didn't seem to hear it. Her mind was still plunged deep in her thoughts before subconsciously uttering something.
"The second trial… I wonder how will he survive this…"
They all frowned upon hearing that from Keiko and then they exchanged glancess at each other. Now they figured out that something was about to happen.
-x-x-
Inside the Sacred Prayer Room…
When you wake up
And find me gone tomorrow
Don't think I meant to hurt you
Right after Keiko went out, Riya decided to stay beside Kurama and have a look at his face for some reasons. Though she tried to make herself believe Kurama wasn't dead, that he was just sleeping and he didn't take the attack for her, it was no use. That was why the pain it caused her was too much, making her decide something which would be irrevocable by anyone once it was done.
I just did what we knew I had to do
She heaved a heavy sigh upon remembering the conversation she had with Keiko a while back. Painful as it might seem, she was left with no choice but to have Carissa revive Kurama at the cost of something extremely important to her. She just hoped Kurama would understand that.
Slowly, she went to the platform and sat beside Kurama. She leaned a little closer before touching his cheek—his cold cheek that only flashed the truth about the one boy she loved the most.
And all this time we knew
That time was never right for us
Time to leave this love behind
"I'm sorry, Kurama…" she started, her voice began quivering. "I know you'll hate me after this. I can understand that. But… this is something I chose to do. So if you finally opened your eyes and see me once again, try to remain strong and live your life like you did before you met me. The only consolation I would get after this is that I won't know I will be the reason for the pain in your heart to exist by that time. I wouldn't know that I will be the reason for everything to change between us in a great deal. But please… Please try to understand. I'm only doing this for you. I'd rather lose you alive than dead…"
I could never leave you
Baby, if I see you cry
After saying that, her tears fell once again with a pained smile on her face. She then leaned closer to Kurama's face.
"Just remember that I'll always love you, Kurama. No matter what trials may come to the two of us from now on, whatever circumstances that may come and separate us again, I know I'll always end up falling in love with you. But if that didn't happen at all, please… try to bear the pain alone and move on. Do it for me, for both of us… Okay?" she whispered before planting a soft yet long kiss—her final and farewell kiss to the man she loved—as her tears leaked to her face even more.
I'll say goodbye for the two of us
Tonight while you sleep
I'll kiss you softly one last time
And say goodbye
Like I know we must
There's just no other way
And I couldn't bear to see your heart break
So I'll wait till you're asleep to say goodbye
A teardrop, however, fall to one of Kurama's closed eyes and slid down to his face before it was inadvertently absorbed by one of the seeds in the dead man's hair. After that, Riya lifted her head and had a look at Kurama's face for one final time before she shut her eyes in anguish as she stood up from the platform.
The door of the room opened just after she stood a few meters away from Kurama's spot. From there, Riya saw Carissa entered and approached her while floating a foot or two above ground.
Please realize
How hard it is to do this
I'm trying to make it through this
Say goodbye just as gently as I can
"You've made a decision, my Lady?" Carissa formally inquired. Riya nodded after a few seconds of silence.
"Let's do it."
With that said, Carissa raised her staff just at the same time the magic circle beneath Kurama and Riya appeared and glowed intensively bright. That glow, however, leaked through the door that made the gang look at it, only to surprise them.
"What's going on in there?" Soujiro asked in slight panic.
No one said a word as they continued to watch the glow leaked through the door. Well, Keiko's eyes were closed at that time so she was not actually among those who watched what was happening.
Please try and understand
This time wasn't just the time for us
We knew I couldn't stay
But that don't make it easier to leave you
So while I can find the strength
Back inside, the bright glow continued to grow as it engulfed the entire room. Kurama's body began to float slowly as wings sprouted from Riya's back before spreading itself, revealing its beauty. Those wings were of the similar appearance as the ones sprouted from Keiko's back upon inheriting the Arrow of Wind from Riya before.
The wings of the deity.
Kurama's body started to glow soon after. The blood on his chest seeped back into the wound as soon as it flowed in reverse. The chest wound he had was slowly closing until no scar was visibly seen. The light surrounding him died away to nothing.
I'll say goodbye for the two of us
Tonight while you sleep
I'll kiss you softly one last time
And say goodbye
And that was the last time Riya ever had a look at Kurama before uttering her final words to the one she loved, even though he would never hear it at all.
"I'm really sorry, Kurama. I love you… so much. Just remember that. I'm sorry if everything will end this way. And…" But before she could say anything more, she closed her eyes and allowed the wings to wrap her body completely.
The wings that covered her glowed as her mind whispered the most painful word she had ever uttered.
Goodbye…
Before your arms embrace me
Before your kisses take me
Before your eyes can make me stay
The glow lasted for a few minutes before it faded. The wings parted soon after with Riya's knees to her chest as her arms embraced it. She slowly returned to a normal position, her eyes remained shut and the wings unraveled across the room, sending hundreds of feathers falling delicately to the ground.
The bright light that engulfed the entire room slowly died away as the mistress was gently laid on the ground. The magic circles beneath the lovers faded. Carissa pointed her staff to the door, allowing it to open by itself.
Yusuke and the others ran towards the two as soon as they saw the unconscious Riya and the wound on Kurama's chest disappeared the moment the door opened. But before they could even ask Carissa what happened, the bright blue core on the said ethereal maiden's staff glowed and released several rays of light. A large sigil appeared beneath the group that caught them surprised as light flared all around them.
The blinding light lasted for a few minutes, causing all of them to cover their eyes. It died away soon after, only to be stunned to see themselves back outside of Genkai's house. The door opened to reveal a surprised Yukina and expressionless Genkai.
"What happened?" Yukina asked as she approached the group.
"There's a lot to tell, Yukina-chan. But I guess we need to bring Riya and Kurama inside."
The ice maiden complied as she led them to a room. Genkai remained standing on the door as she looked at the sky, now turned dark.
"A death will trigger to open the path of the dark powerds and will eventually cover the world in a shadow for endless hours." That line from the prophecy rang in Genkai's mind.
"This is just the start of the true battle that those kids will face," she whispered.
-x-x-
Hours had passed but neither Kurama nor Riya woke up yet. Yes, they knew Kurama would wake up sooner because he was breathing and his heart resumed to beating once again. He was not as pale as he was a while back. They figured that the light which leaked through the door of the Sacred Prayer Room resulted in Kurama's revival using Carissa's powers. But if that was the case, what happened to Riya?
I'll say goodbye for the two of us
Tonight while you sleep
I'll kiss you softly one last time
And say goodbye
Like I know we must
I'll wait till you're asleep to say goodbye
For the two of us
They had been sitting around for about an hour more when Hiei and Yumi saw Kurama's right hand twitched and they all flew over to the bedside.
Kurama opened his eyes to see familiar faces staring at him. He blinked for a few times before he smiled. They all lit up at the sight of him awakening.
"Hi," Kurama greeted as he sat up.
"Welcome back," Yusuke said with a smile.
"What happened? How come I'm… alive?" the red head asked but he never waited for the answer when he saw Riya's eyes slowly opened. "Riya!" He rushed to his beloved's side.
The others soon followed Kurama and surrounded Riya's bed as they waited for her to get up.
"How did I end up here?" Riya asked the first thing when she got up.
"You don't remember?" Botan curiously asked.
Tonight while you sleep
I'll kiss you softly one last time
And say goodbye
Like I know we must
There's just no other way
Riya went quiet after that and rubbed her right temple. But before she could even voice out her answer, Kurama hugged her tightly.
"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, Riya. But I'm so glad you're alright. I'm sorry for making you cry like that," he said apologetically and in relief, his voice slightly cracking.
The maiden looked at Kurama in a daze. The fox demon noticed this and let her go before looking at her worriedly. The others noticed Riya's facial expression being given to Kurama.
"Riya-san, are you okay?" Yukina asked.
And I couldn't bear to see your heart break
So I'll wait till you're asleep to say goodbye
"I'm fine, Yukina-chan. It's just that…" Riya said as she looked at Kurama once again.
Kurama couldn't help but to start feeling worried as Riya looked at him… differently.
"Riya…?" he called out, almost in a whisper.
When you wake up
And find me gone tomorrow
Don't think I meant to hurt you
The said girl closed her eyes tightly and rubbed her forehead, then opened her eyes again.
"I'm sorry… but… do I know you?"
Goodbye…
-x-x-
Is it me or this is perhaps one of the saddest chapter I've ever written for this story so far? What do you think? The featured song here is actually an old song, maybe in the 80's or 90's when it was first released. I really think it's the right song for this chapter so I put it here. Of course, as I had stated above, this song doesn't belong to me at all. You can listen to it, if you want.
There's Chapter 33, everyone! Can you please tell me what you think about this story and this chapter? I need inspiration to write, that's why I want to know it through your reviews. Please? :)
No comments:
Post a Comment