Age of Darkness (35 page)

Yata smirked, tapping his bat against his
shoulder. “To think that we would be working together. Now that is something I
never would’ve expected.” He glanced over his shoulder and saw that Noah was
staggering toward the door to flee. Yata was about to intercept him, but
Tobimaru rushed forward with incredible speed and swiped his sword in an upward
slash.

Yata simply allowed the sword to smash
against his hardened skin. The diamond parried the blow for him with a loud
clang as Tobimaru stood there, rather surprised. Yata swung a diamond fist at
the Bount’s stomach, but the slippery man quickly placed both of his hands on
Yata’s shoulders and propelled himself into the air, flipping over his glittering
opponent.

Tobimaru landed behind him and continued
forward at Buu, whirling his sword. Buu used his magic to teleport above the Bount
in the middle of his slash and swung downward with a heavy kick at Tobimaru. The
Bount blinked, raising his forearm to block the kick, grunting in response as a
shock of pain burst through his arm. He turned to see that Yata was punching at
him. Two opponents were truly overwhelming. Tobimaru swiftly spun away from the
rocketing punch. He flicked his wrist and smiled.

Yata blinked as a wall of invisible force
smashed into him and Buu, sending them flying across the large tower room. The
diamond boy smashed into the floor, cracking the marble. He bounced like a
skipping stone on water until he landed heavily on his back, grunting. He shook
his head, slightly dazed, and looked at Buu.

“What the hell was that?” Buu groaned as he
pushed himself from the ground into a sitting position, grasping his bleeding
forehead. “His magic?”

“Telekinesis, that’s his magic,” Yata said,
swaying as he stood back up. “Sure, it’s a good offensive, but what can he do
about diamonds?” the boy snarled, slamming his fist into the floor. The ground shook
as diamond spikes burst from the marble floor in the direction that Yata was
facing, moving in a straight line at Tobimaru.

Tobimaru began to move away from the line
of fire, trying to avoid the attack. The path of the spikes followed him,
curving. The Bount grunted as he leapt into the air as the final spike came
upward, slashing at his legs. He exhaled deeply, satisfied with his evasion.

Then Buu appeared in the air above him with
a wicked grin on his face, spinning his body. Tobimaru’s eyes widened in
surprise.

“Looks like you aren’t going to be able to
dodge this one, Hayashi bastard!” Buu yelled, performing a flip as he slammed
the heel of his foot down into Tobimaru’s back. There was a sickening crack as
Tobimaru was sent flying to the ground, smashing into the earth and the spikes.
There was an explosion upon impact, and dust flew in all directions from the
force of Buu’s attack.

“We got him!” Yata exclaimed.

The dust was swept away in an instant, and
Tobimaru stood in the center of a cracked crater with blood splotching the
corner of his mouth. His eyes were shining brighter than normal as a dark
shadow loomed over his face. “The only thing that you’ve gotten,” he glanced up
and met Yata’s eyes with an evil glare, “is me angry.”

***

Keimaro adjusted his tie and coughed a few
times, straightening his back as he stood with Judal. His captain was going to
lead him into the ballroom. To be honest, the boy was quite nervous. His hands
were shaking at his sides, and he felt abnormally hot in this suit. He brushed
off his pants, even though there wasn’t a single speck on them, and exhaled as
he turned to face the captain outside of the open door to the ball. Fancy
nobles and rich property owners were walking through the doorway, chatting together,
and not a single one of them seemed nervous at all.

He looked into Captain Judal’s eyes and
smiled nervously. “Time to get this over with,” he choked.

“Don’t be such a party pooper, mate,” Judal
said, patting him on the shoulder with a chuckle. “You’ll do great! Just do all
the things that I told you to do! And you’ll snatch the princess’s heart like
that!”

“Eh? Who said I want her heart! I mean,
have you seen what they did to Aladdin?”

“Yeah, that’s to scare off other nobles.”
Judal winked. “Aladdin had it coming to him. The way he pissed off the king was
an atrocity to watch. But do you think the king would lay a hand on you? First,
you would probably kill all of the men who tried. Second, you have the power to
do whatever you want here! The king doesn’t really have the power to control
you because it would take an army to cut you down. You’re too valuable to him,
anyway. Just go out there and have fun, okay? I’ll be right here if ya need me.”

Keimaro nodded and chuckled, scratching the
back of his neck. “You’re right. Thanks, Judal. I owe you one,” he said,
high-fiving his roommate before he turned around to walk toward the door.
Before he was allowed to step into the room, a short, scrawny man stopped him.

“Your name?” the petite man said, adjusting
his tie, and scanning his list swiftly over the small pair of glasses resting
upon the bridge of his nose.

“Riku Hikari, but you won’t find me on—”

“You aren’t invited. Therefore, you are not
allowed to pass.”

“Wait, I work here, though! I mean—”

“Security!”

Keimaro sighed as two burly men began to
step from inside of the doorway and block his path. He rolled his eyes, sliding
his hands into his pants pockets. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Riku!” Aika’s voice called, and the
princess walked over to the doorway. Immediately the guards and the doorman
dropped to their knees, as did some of the nobles who were standing behind
Keimaro. “There you are!”

The princess was dressed in a long white gown
that draped to the ground. The back was open, and her brunette hair was tied into
an elegant bun. Her royal blue eyes beamed when she saw Keimaro, and she waved,
her hands covered in the small white gloves that marked royalty. Diamond
earrings dazzled from her ears while three gold necklaces curled around her slender
neck as well. The amount of jewelry that she was wearing made her seem so much
different than the girl he remembered from four years ago, but he wasn’t
complaining. He walked past the large guards, linking his arm with the
princess. Keimaro bumped into the short doorman purposely, nearly knocking the
man over. “Whoops,” he laughed as he walked into the ball.

Keimaro’s face felt extremely hot as eyes fell
on him while he and the princess walked arm in arm. “I’m really not accustomed
to this, princess,” he muttered, his face flushed as his eyes darted about. “I’ve
never really been to a festivity like this, and particularly my first being at
such a huge event….”

“It’s not that big of an event,” Aika said,
poking his ribs playfully. “And don’t be so worried! You’re red as a tomato
right now. Just calm down! I’ll lead you through every second of it,” she said
with a reassuring smile that made Keimaro feel even hotter than he already was
while wearing his suit.

“I’ve never seen the infamous Riku so
flustered before. Fearless in battle, yet shy as a cat when you’re around my
daughter,” the king guffawed as he walked forward through the crowds of people
with three guards surrounding him. “Ah, my beautiful girl,” he said with a
smile at Aika. “You look simply ravishing today.”

“Thank you, father,” Aika responded with a
small giggle.

“Now, where is the man of the hour? My son?”

“Here, father,” Darius said as he appeared
at their side, wearing a tuxedo with a bright rose tucked into his coat pocket.
His hair was curled in such a fashion that made him seem simply a model of
perfection. The women were all watching him as he sauntered through the ball
without any need of an escort. Even though Darius insisted on traveling alone,
Keimaro knew that his father had arranged for soldiers to stay at a distance,
constantly watching him. The prince had tucked one hand into his pocket and
smiled when he saw Keimaro.

Keimaro and the prince shook hands swiftly,
and Darius smiled. “Ah, so you’ll be giving my sister a dance then? Well done.
It’s quite rare that my father would let my younger sister prance off with a
young man such as yourself. But I trust you. I can see the sincerity in your
eyes. As for my father, I’d like to have a small meeting with General Mundo
quickly in private, if that’s all right.”

“Sure, that’s fine. But, might I ask, what
for?”

“Simply a business matter … you know,
catching this Keimaro figure,” Darius said with a smile. Aika shifted
awkwardly. Darius looked at his sister for a moment but said nothing. He gave
Keimaro a wink and disappeared into the crowds of people.

Keimaro’s heart pounded as he turned to
watch the prince vanish from view into the groups of nobles. He could see the
worry glistening in Aika’s eyes after hearing what Darius had said, but he gave
her a nod to reassure her that everything would be all right. Right now they
just had to enjoy this night.

He inhaled deeply and felt Aika’s gloved fingers
gently lace through his. Before he knew it, the princess was pulling him to the
dance floor, and all thoughts of the prince vanished from his mind. He had
other things to worry about.

“Oh, gods,” he muttered to himself,
frightened at the mere thought of having to dance in front of all of these
judgmental nobles around him. It was more frightening than having to face an
army of soldiers. The sound of violins played loudly as a tune picked up, and
soon nobles were leading partners to the dance floor as well.

Aika turned around to face Keimaro and
gripped one of his hands, putting her other arm around his waist. Noblemen in
the crowds who watched this event simply gaped in awe, incredulous that this
commoner boy was given the chance to dance with such a pure, beautiful,
intellectual being.

The nervous boy wasn’t particularly
positive about how to dance, but he had heard this tune before, and Judal had
given him a quick crash course on how to dance to a few popular songs that were
usually played at royal balls. He was a fast learner, but even for him it was
difficult to master such fast movements.
Please, don’t mess up!
Keimaro
begged himself as the music began and the nobles moved all in unison, one with
the music.

Keimaro gripped the princess’s hand and
placed his other hand on her waist as they began to move with the music,
stepping to the side with every beat. He blinked when he noticed that he and
the princess were moving as one, flowing like water. To be honest, it wasn’t as
hard as he had imagined it. It was simply listening to the music and moving
accordingly. He could probably have winged this without even learning the steps—and,
without a doubt, he had impressed Aika because she wore an expression of
surprise and glee. Keimaro smiled, remembering the specific moment when he was
supposed to twirl her. The moment came, and he reached up and twirled the
princess elegantly, her dress spinning and her jewelry gleaming. She shined
like a star out of all of the dancers as she spun about. When she slowed,
Keimaro pulled her close to him and their eyes locked. Heat rose to his cheeks,
and he gave her a bright grin, confident and happy with his performance in the
dance.
Maybe this won’t be so bad after all.

***

Darius watched Riku as he danced with his
younger sister, feeling no emotional attachment to the princess whatsoever. In
fact, he didn’t feel anything when he looked at his own father. All he wanted
was the throne that he so deserved. He sighed as he leaned against the wall of
the ballroom, watching the couple twirl about on the dance floor. “So, shall we
begin, General?” he said with a nod to the man standing beside him.

“We shall,” General Mundo said with a small
smile. “The first step to our plan has begun.”

***

As night fell, Yuri’s gloomy eyes glared
through the window of Aladdin’s room out onto the fresh grass that gleamed
underneath the moonlight. His hands were tightened around the hilt of a silver
dagger, and his eyes were red with anger. Another day that Lena had been left
to suffer and Keimaro had done nothing about it. He had to act.

The boy watched as nobles piled through the
castle doors, disgusted with the fact that Keimaro was off partying rather than
doing something about the situation at hand. Perhaps the idiot had forgotten
about Lena. Yuri was truly wrong to have put his faith into Keimaro this whole
time. He leapt out of the window and landed heavily on the grass below,
beginning to walk forward without feeling a single bit of pain from the drop.
It didn’t matter how many enemies or soldiers there were. Even with Lena as
weight, he could still escape. He would run off into the Forbidden Forest if he
had to.

Yuri made his way around the side of the
castle as Keimaro had instructed and located the doorway to the underground
royal jail. It wasn’t particularly heavily guarded from the outside so as not
to draw any attention. But Yuri knew that there would be a lot of forces on the
inside. Perhaps he should release all of the criminals in order to create
enough chaos to escape with Lena unnoticed. Would that really work? The boy
pulled his hood over his head, his white hair swaying before his turquoise eyes
as he walked across the grassy courtyard toward the doorway.