Journey To The Capital!

"Yes," Jiro said. "Then I will laugh with you. But not right now." He took off back towards the group. It looked like everyone was set and ready to go. Why? Because Jihae was super organized and got everything done except for Snake's stuff, like his tent and all.

"Well, that's good to know," Yuui said. "I had thought that he would be. But then, the gods do know what they're doing." Who knows what he meant by that though. it wasn't so weird for him to say. He was a priest.

Megumi looked at her sister then as Drake returned. "We're ready to depart. Is this where we leave you until we are finished in the capital?"

"That depends on Snake," Miyuki said and looked at him. She didn't know where they'd be going while the others were shopping for weapons.

Drake smiled and went back to the others. Though he didn't really say much, he just stood there and waited. He was eager to get to the capital.

"You talk real weird," Hikari said to Yuui then, not because what he said was weird. It was the order in which he said it.

"We travel until close and then separate." Snake said then and packed the tent up as he said it. He was quick and efficient. Got it done in a few short minutes.

As that had been all figured out, they rode, leaving the now beautiful and lovely smelling town of Floaroma behind them. The road, while long, was not especially difficult. Chatting happened, just light conversation to keep the journey from becoming terribly boring.

In time, the golden city of the capital came into view. It was massive and quite glorious to look upon. It also had a large wall around it and massive, golden gates. They stopped just as it came into view, knowing this is where the siblings would part.

Megumi and Jihae weren't happy but they understood. At least Snake seemed safe. The siblings dismounted and Megumi and Miyuki hugged.

Drake went over to Miyuki, he didn't hug her. She didn't seem overly keen on anyone right now, so he wasn't going to force that. He did give her a wonky smile, "I will make sure your dad feels guilty for what he's done to you."

"For sure, he needs to know he's a very bad man." Hikari said and hugged Miyuki and then fist bumped Snake, who didn't seem to question her odd future hand shake. Not even a little bit.

"Take care of my haunted priestess or else I will find you and kill you." Kuro said to Snake then, but he wasn't fond of goodbyes. He didn't do well with them and considering Snake had blatantly said it was uncertain if they would join up again, he wanted no part in it. He walked away.

Miyuki was absolutely fine with hugging Hikari. She would have hugged Drake too but his words were good enough. "Thank you both," she said. She wasn't in the least bit surprised by what Kuro had said.

Yuui started laughing. He too gave Miyuki a hug. "I would say he's just joking but...He really means it," he told Snake. "Bye!" And off he went.

Snake chuckled as Hikari and Drake walked away as well, both of them turning back and waving as they continued on their journey without him or the haunted princess. "You have very wonderful friends, Miyuki." He said quietly.

"I know," Miyuki said as she watched them go. "I guess I'm a little lucky." Not much but still some. Soon enough they were gone, closer to the gates where they could hardly be seen. She felt bad to be separated from her family, especially her twin, but she couldn't stomach the idea of facing her father. "What did you have planned now?" she asked.

As it turned out, Miyuki and Snake were not the only ones that had no intention of going into the capital and possibly running into the mad king. As the gates came into clear view, Yuui just stopped with his usual polite smile on his face. "I shall be departing now as well," he said cheerfully. "I have business elsewhere. I'll meet up with you here when you're done."

"Well, that's not a question for me." Snake said then, "it is a question for you but not one I am going to ask." He said and turned around to head towards the nearby forest. At the same time, Ryuu appeared from behind a tree.

"It is one that I should like to ask you instead, Miyuki." Ryuu said with a soft, sad smile and he held his arms out for a hug from her.

"Oh okay, if you're sure..." Hikari said, she did not seem so sure. She had wanted Yuui nearby, because well....she knew Kuro would follow them and that left them with Jihae. Which wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either.

Kuro looked at Yuui and his eyebrows furrowed angrily. He was now stuck between a rock and a hard place. His priestess required him while walking the land of her capital for safety but Yuui could not be left alone either. "You do this intentionally."

"Ryuu," Miyuki said in surprise. She had not expected her sister's forbidden love to be lurking in the forest just outside the capital. She went to him and gave him a hug. "I'm happy to see you even if I don't understand what you're doing." He'd been there the whole time but not let Megumi know? Why?

"I don't know what you mean," Yuui said, the picture of innocence. "You can go with them. After all, between you and Eden, how long can it take to pick them out weapons in the market, hm?"

Megumi and Eden both watched to see what Kuro would do. Yuui was hardly ever left alone, though neither of them knew why that was exactly other than priests of Mew were pacifists and he needed the protection.

"He is right in that we shouldn't be long..." Eden said, but he too was suspicious of Yuui. Only Yuui didn't give him a reason to be. Business? Well, the priest often did have business separate of them. If Mew was telling Yuui to do something else for her while they went to the market, Eden couldn't tell him not to. It was a goddess after all.

"I am happy to see you as well," Ryuu said and hugged her so tight and then put his hands on her arms as he pushed her away to look at her. "I am so sorry about Tamiko. But revenge is not far away, if you should want it."

Kuro growled but then he walked off towards the gate that meant that Yuui was definitely in trouble later. So much trouble. Oh my days. He was going to regret his life so much. Someone was.

Drake and Hikari looked confused. "I don't really get it." They said together and then shrugged.

"I do," Miyuki so without hesitation. She wanted her father to pay for what he'd done to her and her beloved. "I know why Eden plans to strike down our father but...you don't have to involve yourself for me, Ryuu," she added. "Megumi would be so upset if something happened to you..."

Yuui didn't look bothered or even worried about that growl that Kuro gave him as he walked away. He just laughed and waved at Drake and Hikari. "Have fun finding your shinies!" he said and then off he went without a care in the world.

Megumi watched Kuro rather than see Yuui do the silly things he always did. "He'll be all right," she told Kuro, putting a hand on his arm. "He can take care of himself for all his carelessness."

"It'll be a nice break to get away from his constant cheeriness," Eden said. "I don't mind it from you," he added to his sister.

"I am not just doing it for you, I have my own reasons." Ryuu said then, he had clearly passed his trial for he was breathing. But he wasn't going to see Megumi. He felt that Miyuki might be able to add it together. "Your father disrespected me, my family, the honour of the entire kingdom and himself."

"It is his carelessness that bothers me." Kuro said, but he put a hand on Megumi's own and walked with her. "We should get more provisions and perhaps more clothes for the chosen, wearing the same outfit for them is likely uncomfortable."

"I like how happy he is," Hikari said then, because she knew that Yuui was dark. That he had darkness in him. She'd figured it out, she didn't know why or what. "That he can still smile after whatever he's been through? He is seriously strong."

"Yeah I mean, I doubt I've been through as much as he has. But I can't smile as much as he can. Too much weight on these shoulders," Drake said and rolled them and his head, cracking his neck as he stretched. "I would love to sleep in an actual bed, but I guess the chances of that are slim."

It didn't take long for Miyuki to figure out what that meant. "He denied you?" she asked. Even after all she knew of him, how he was slowly descending into madness with no clear reason why other than whispers of a curse that had followed Jihae's mother from her home kingdom, she was still surprised that he would deny someone who had passed their travel. "He can't do that!" She was immediately angry for Ryuu and Megumi. That wasn't fair to either of them.

If Megumi knew what Hikari was talking about, if the Gods had whispered Yuui's dark secrets to her, she didn't act like it. She just patted Kuro's hand on her own and smiled up at him. "You're right," she said. "We should get more provisions for them."

"Do your history books speak of what happened to him?" Jihae asked. "He hasn't deigned to give us that particular story." But he looked at Drake then. "In this kingdom, perhaps not. But if we are to journey to other kingdoms then there is a possibility that it will be so."

He approached the large, golden gates of the capital and announced his identity. The gates opened immediately for their prince had a very distinctive look, being half foreign, and was not doubted in his proclamation of identity.

"He thinks he can and he has." Ryuu said then, but he was glad that he was not the only one who was massively affronted by it. "Much needs to change before your brother can begin his path in power, he must finish his quest at all costs. They cannot move unhindered while your father still lives and so I plan to kill him when your brother and sister are far enough away."

"Senpai," Snake said then and bowed for Ryuu. "I have warded over Miyuki as you asked of me. She is a very lovely girl, but I don't think that my mission is over yet, is it?" He asked then.

"No, as always Snake, there is more work to be done. I need you train her in the ninja arts of stealth, so that when the time comes she can help me murder her father for the revenge she deserves." Ryuu said with a smile and put his hand on Snake's shoulder. "She already seems a little more than she was, so you have done well."

"I'm totally down on showing her how to be stealth. First off, I need a cardboard box." Snake said then, looking around for one. "Oh wait, wrong time. My bad. I'll do it the old fashioned way then."

"Of course I'm right," Kuro said then, because he was totally ignoring everyone else talking about Yuui. Mostly because he was protective and while Hikari had nothing but good things to say, she knew that Jihae did not.

"Well, I mean..." Hikari said then, because she was the girl who knew all the history things. "Let me think about it, okay? Because there's a lot of stuff from around this time, he doesn't look any older than you and the only prominent Yuui of history is much before his time. Something to do with a downfall of an entire kingdom."

"You're such a nerd, I'm not surprised you know this." Drake said then, shaking his head.

"Oh okay so it's cool for you to spout all the fiend knowledge, but I can't do people knowledge?" Hikari said and punched Drake on the arm. "Jerk."

"Bitch." Drake replied and they both grinned at each other.

"Ohhh, I see how it is," Miyuki said, finally realizing why it was that Snake had attached t her so quickly and easily. He was one of Ryuu's men. It had essentially been an order. "I'm not sure how I feel about this..." He came off as sincere and she liked him but...Still. "Not cool, Snake. Not cool."

Mireya was a little surprised by how the siblings spoke to each other. It was so harsh. She could tell that they meant the words only in joking but it was still surprising for her.

"It seems the two of you make quite the team," Jihae said with a soft smile. He liked the banter between the siblings. He could tell how much love went into the words even if they were rather harsh. "Your parents must be proud of how blessed you two are with knowledge."

"The realness of our connection is very real and very cool," Snake argued, because he hadn't been ordered to be her friend. "I am not fake friends with anyone, I think your brother is a testimony to this fact, hm?"

"Oh? You did not like Jihae?" Ryuu chuckled then, he could only imagine the sort of sass that Snake had given the poor guy. "However, he is correct. I never asked him to be your friend, only to watch over you and make sure your brother didn't accidentally push you further down the rabbit hole."

Hikari started to laugh then, really very hard. Like she was so tickled by what Jihae had said that she hadn't realised he was serious. "Good one Jihae."

"I am pretty sure that if our mother was alive, she would be proud." Drake said then, but he also looked pretty amused. "We only hear from our dad if their is a mission to be done, he's never told us he's proud. Funny though. Little bit tactless, but sure."

"Well in that case we can still be cool," Miyuki decided. "Thank you for looking out for me," she said to them both. "My brother is getting better...He did let me go, after all." Which hadn't been easy on him.

"Oh that's horrible," Megumi said, surprised to hear such a thing.

"What happened to your mother?" Jihae asked, not put off that they were laughing at his assumption. Most people had functioning families. But then, these were Hunters. And their lives were never typical.

"That is progress, indeed." Ryuu agreed, though in reality he knew that jihae hadn't let her go. Not fully. Not yet.

"You guys have much to catch up on, I'm sure you don't need me around cracking jokes against your serious moments." Snake said then.

Hikari shut right up when they asked about their mum. She looked at Drake. Who looked at the others. "She died when Hikari was a baby. A fiend of some kind attacked. She was checking on Hikari who was crying and well... They burned her alive. Stuck her to the ceiling and me and my dad barely got out."

"Well there is a time and a place for those," Miyuki said. "This is not the time, I guess." She did want to catch up with Ryuu. She also wanted to know why he'd not revealed himself to Megumi.

"Oh that's terrible," Megumi exclaimed. "You poor things. I can't even imagine how awful that was for the two of you."

"It seems that our situations are not so terribly different," Jihae said. "That's unfortunate. I am sorry."

"You may go and take some rest and restoration, Snake." Ryuu said with a smile then, but he turned back to Miyuki as Snake walked away after squeezing her arm. "I thought he wasn't going to let me be alone with you then, he seems to be fond of you already. Working your ghostly charms again, lovely?"

"I don't need your pity, but thanks." Drake snapped then, but Hikari just hushed him with a gentle touch on his arm, but he shrugged her off and stormed towards the city in a very grumpy manner.

"He's touchy about that, I am sorry. I appreciate your sympathies," Hikari said, but some could say it was easier for her, others would say harder. She wasn't sure really on which it was. "What happened with your family then?"

"Ghost and charming doesn't really go together well," Mandisa commented with a smile. She'd always liked Ryuu. It was like having another big brother. "I guess it just works on special people."

"It's all right," Jihae said.

"I mean, who wouldn't be touchy about something happening to their family?" Megumi added. The siblings understood but she felt bad about Drake just storming off. They weren't far behind him though.

"My mother's kingdom fell to a terrible curse and she fled here. But the curse took when I was a child and it seems to have caused my father to descend into madness as well," Eden said, though he didn't get too specific about it.

"It's an acquired taste, some people just grow accustomed to it over time, like myself. Or there's people like Snake who think it's the best kind, he's an odd one though. I am sure you noticed." Ryuu said, leading Miyuki off into the forest, when it got deep and gnarly, he helped her over logs and such. Forever the gentleman. But then he stopped at the clearing, which was full of tents, all of which much looked like those found in use by gypsy travellers. So there was nothing suspicious, there was even people playing the part of gypsies, juggling and such the like. He took her to the biggest tent and vanished inside.

"Yeah, it's tough knowing you've lost your mother and your dad is a jerk. So you guys understand better than most, for sure." Hikari said, nodding her head. "I'm so sorry that happened to you, I mean..." She stopped and looked up at the sky for a minute then, thinking about how time did like to repeat itself to her family.

Miyuki kept quiet but she looked curiously around at the people and the tents as they walked by them. She knew these weren't gypsies. They had to be Ryuu's men. He was a clever man, that was for sure. She stepped into the large tent after him.

"It's all right," Jihae said to Hikari and put a hand on her shoulder. "Seems like it's not an uncommon story." His sisters might have had a different mother but she still hadn't lasted long once their father descended further into madness.

Ryuu moved into the centre of the tent, there was closed off areas inside it as well. Sleeping quarters, he put a finger to his lips. "My little daisy flower is resting, she is not well." He said in a very soft, low tone so as to not wake his sister. He went over to a table which was covered in food, drinks and treats that Miyuki enjoyed and he knelt on the pillow on one side and motioned for her to take the other.

"Yeah, doesn't make it okay though does it?" Hikari said, she knew how this was going to go down with the emperor. It wasn't going to be good, that was for damn sure. She would end up punching him. Or something.

Miyuki glanced in the direction he'd spoken about and kept quiet. She didn't want to wake up his sister, who had been ill for quite sometime. She knelt on the pillows across from him, looking at the food and drink before them. It all smelled delicious.

"No," Jihae replied. "My father was once a good man. I had thought if there was a way to end this curse and save him, I should. But I do not believe that there is a way. Not one that I could stomach doing," he said. But it was such a sad topic. He didn't like to dwell on it. "Up there, to the right, is the armory portion of the market."