Bloodless Night

The voice left a chill going down both of their backs. Neither Yuki nor Yumi knew what was going on, but they could feel the death gazes targeted upon them. It was only their voice, but it was thick with murderous intent.

Unfortunately, the only thing clear about their situation was that someone wanted them dead. Yumi had to adjust her barrier a few times to make up for the gaps that she left in it in her rush to protect Yuki. After the initial attacks ended, she advanced a little in the room floating above the bed to watch all angles. “Stay behind me, Yuki!”

Despite Yumi’s insistence, he got to his feet. His body felt more responsive than earlier, however he knew that he couldn’t do a prolonged physical engagement. “I’m fine. I can protect myself.” A ripple ran out from Yuki completely filling the room with light. Yet his Field didn’t reveal anyone.

The change in setting didn’t stop the attacks. It did end up altering the method. They stopped using physical projectiles. Lightning and ice shards shot at the two of them, but Yumi easily intercepted them before they caused any harm. “Yuki…”

“…yeah, it’s MPs…” He stepped forward hovering in the air to dampen the weight on his body. Focusing on his power, he pulled in his Field forcing a Fold or as best as he could manage. It was enough to disrupt their invisibility. “Yumi!”

“I see them!” She moved swiftly, taking down one as she pulled the other with telekinesis. In an instant, the two attackers were knocked unconscious. She pulled them to the bed to get a better look at them. “Who do you think they are?”

“No clue, but I thought we had ended all of this fighting.”

Chapter 278 – Bloodless Night

It was only a moment later that the doors burst open. In came Demosthenes along with Saki. They were too late to do anything, noticing the neutralized threat down at the feet of Yuki and Yumi.

“Are you alright, Yuki?” Saki disappeared and then reappeared in front of Yuki checking him over like a mother sending her son off to school for the first time.

Yuki batted away her hand. “Yeah, I’m fine. We took care of it.” However, his body disagreed with him and dropped him back to the bed. He felt the wave of lightheadedness wash through his body. It already alerted both the girls to his condition. “I’m fine! My body just still hasn’t fully recovered.”

Demosthenes walked over to the bed and knelt down by the two men they captured. He stared at them for a few seconds before looking back at Yuki and the others. “I don’t recognize them, but judging from their ranks I’m guessing that they’re just normal MPs assigned to the Capital. Not even Omega agents.”

They all looked down at the two Atlanteans. There was a definite unease felt between everyone. It should have all been over, but this proved that there was still something going on. A darker shadow still hung over them even with Eudokia gone.

Snapping his fingers, four guards appeared in the distant hall. Demosthenes motioned for them to come in. “Take these two. They’re under arrest for attempted murder.” They all stared at the General for a moment and then over to Yuki. There seemed to be an odd look in their eyes, but the old man gave them an intense glare that could kill.

Sweating quickly, all four guards jumped at the order. “Yes, sir!” They picked up the two men and dragged them out of the room.

“Assassins…” muttered Yuki. He fell into deep thought for a moment.

Saki stretched out a hand to touch him, but stopped. “…Yuki…”

Sudden laughter came from Yuki, unsettling Saki. “It’s rather ironic. I came here to stop the assassins from coming after me only to learn that they were never after me. And now that I’m here, I actually do have assassins out for my life.”

“…Yuki…” Yumi wanted to do something for him, but she didn’t know what she could do. She had hoped that things would finally improve with everything over. They just had to rescue Fumiko and Haruo from their cells and leave. Then everything would be normal once more.

He shrugged, pushing it all off his back. “Don’t worry. I’ve gotten this far, I’m not about to bow to pressure now.”

Almost on cue, an old and whining voice started barking in the distance. It shouted off commands to guards positioned outside. Eventually, the owner of the voice showed themselves. He was a middle-aged man, which unlike Demosthenes hadn’t been so kindly treated by time, despite not being anywhere near the same age.

Demosthenes immediately stood up and started his approach to the man. “Councilor Dimitris, what can I do for you at this late hour?”

“Don’t give me that tone, Demosthenes! What the hell’s going on here? I’m hearing shouting and boots everywhere!”

“It would seem that assassins somehow snuck into the Palace and were after Yuki Hayashi’s life.”

Dimitris glanced over into the room at Yuki, but only quickly not to leave long enough of a stare to betray any intent. “These foreigners are supposed to be under your watch and you let assassins break in?!”

Bowing in apology, Demosthenes didn’t have any sort of counter. “This is my fault, sir. I’ll be sure to increase the guard and staff MPs.”

The Councilor waved off the General as though he was just a servant. He walked into Yuki’s room, finally meeting a full gaze at the young man. Ignoring their similar height, he made it clear that he looked down on Yuki. “I apologize for the trouble. Your safety is our greatest concern. I’ll be sure that this never happens again!”

Everyone looked at Yuki, waiting on his reaction. Yuki stood still just staring at the man for a moment. Then he flipped to his default happy mask that he showed everyone at school. “We’re safe and no one was harmed. So it’s ok. I just didn’t know it was so dangerous inside the Palace.”

“I assure you that we’re a peaceful country normally. Things are just a little chaotic.”

“I understand. You don’t have to worry. Thank you for your concern.”

“Yes. I’ll give you my leave then. I’ll see an investigation into this is started immediately.” Dimitris bowed to Yuki and then hurried out of the room. He made it to the hallway and disappeared, allowing the tension to drop out of the room.

Saki stared at Yuki, she recognized the face all too well. It had been a bit since she had seen him wear it. Not since things were normal and they could just attend classes. “…Yuki…”

The fake face immediately dropped when Yuki saw it was safe. His face narrowed to harsh lines quickly as he stared at the hallway where Dimitris disappeared. “He’s lying.”

“Yuki?” questioned Yumi, not certain how he was so positive. Even she felt that the man wasn’t being truthful, but it was more of a gut feeling rather than something she knew for sure.

Demosthenes turned back to the room and walked inside Yuki’s room. He closed the doors behind him. “I sensed it as well. He’s likely the one that orchestrated the attack on Yuki.”

“What?!” Saki already jumped to make a move on the man, but Yumi stopped her. She tried to break free from Yumi’s hold, however she couldn’t get free so easily. “Yumi! If he’s trying to kill Yuki, I’m going to—“

“Saki!” snapped Yuki, interrupting her before she finished her sentence. “Stop, we’ve got no proof right now. And even if we did. He’s a member of the Council, the one that rules Atlantis right now. We have to be cautious about how we move.”

“But Yuki!”

“I know how you feel. But this is the situation we have to live with.”

The General stared at Yuki with a softer look in his eye, almost happy looking, if not for the usual stoic expression that covered him. “You’re more level headed than I thought.”

“I’m not looking for praise from you.” Yuki turned away and went around to the bed. “I doubt we’ll get another attack tonight. So you all go back to sleep. We’ll think about how to deal with this in the morning after we see what Dimitris’ next move is.” He stared at the closed door as though trying to see beyond it. Things just got more complicated than he wanted. ‘So much for a smooth resolution…’

A normal breakfast greeted them all in the morning. If being treated to a five course meal was normal. For most of them, they were used to a traditional Japanese breakfast rather than a more Western style one. Though they knew even most Westerners didn’t have such meals. Most of the food was far too exotic for any normal taste. Yet, it was all prepared well, even after it passed through Demosthenes’ insisted poison check.

Rheia appeared again in search of Saki. One chased the other out of the dining hall. It seemed such events would become commonplace for as long as they stayed in Atlantis. Rheia didn’t plan to take no for an answer on a rematch, even if it was under more friendly terms.

Chiharu disappeared along with Yori, leaving only Demosthenes, Yuki and Yumi at the table. He invited them on a walk through the Palace, but it was clearly just an excuse.

Once they reached the hallways, he gave a motion to them. “I’ve erected a special barrier around us. Our words won’t leave it and anyone watching will think we’re just carrying on idle conversation. It’s safe.”

“What have you learned?” started Yuki, immediately. He knew they had little time remaining before the trial. They needed a plan and whatever Dimitris was up to factored into it.

“According to the official records submitted by the Council after their interrogation of the two men, they learned that they acted on their own. The records say that they both lost family during the fighting caused by Commander Rheia and Saki Furukawa that bled into the Capital. They learned that you were the leader of the group and sought revenge.”

A wrinkle creased his brow as he took in the information. Yuki wondered what sort of story they would cook up. “It’s pretty good. It’s believable that no one would doubt it.”

“Do you think the Council had nothing to do with it?” asked Yumi.

“I said it’s good, but not perfect. How did two MPs know where to find me in such a large place? Like the Rheia woman said, this place is like a maze. I doubt they’ve ever been to the Palace before if they’re just standard soldiers. No, this has the Council’s hand all over it.”

“So, it’s all just another lie then?”

Yuki glanced over at Yumi. He could tell from her question something was up. Once he saw her face he knew for certain what it was. Her concern and worry was another matter than just the threat to Yuki. “No, I suspect that they weren’t so direct. They were just the hand to guide things. They found people that were actually hurt by our chaos and aimed them at me.”

“Then, we…”

He stretched out a hand over to her shoulder. “Yumi, please don’t tell Saki about this.”

“But we, I…Yuki!”

“Please. She already takes too many things on her shoulders. I don’t want to burden her with the knowledge that hundreds of innocents died as a result of her actions.”

Yumi was almost on the verge of tears. ‘It wasn’t just Saki. I went blindly through the Capital. I don’t know how much destruction I caused. How many…’ Yuki put his arm around her shoulder to comfort her. The warmth that he gave her she didn’t feel she deserved even though she didn’t turn it away.

“Demosthenes, have they made any other move?”

“Nothing overt, but they probably have more things planned in the future.”

“Of course they do. How much of a threat do I present to them for being allied with Ay–Eudokia?”

Glancing away for a moment in thought, Demosthenes still had too much left undone. “It’s less about your connection to Eudokia now. Now they know you’re related to the former King, they won’t allow you to sit on the Throne, even if you don’t plan to.”

Yuki narrowed his eyes a little, staring at Demosthenes. “So there’s some truth to what she said.”

“Yes, the Council and the King didn’t agree on almost anything. They would like no more than to remove all links to him and start fresh with a new line.”

Staring out ahead at the hall Demosthenes guided them through, Yuki became lost in thought for a moment. There was still more truth to discover. He didn’t realize how deep or sordid the history in the Palace actually was. “These things aren’t going to be solved in a single day. You owe me some answers, Demosthenes.”

“Yes, I planned to tell you everything as promised.”

“Good, but first I want to see my friends. I want to know that Fumiko and Haruo are safe.”