Chapter Text
“I could ask you the same, Maki Shijo. ”
Standing in the wooden hallway, the fog in her head dispelled instantly upon uttering her name. Her fatigue evaporated, replaced with anxious heat coursing through her veins.
She notices Maki’s eyes have begun to glow faintly, who glanced down at the weapon on her waist. The weighty presence of her holstered sword became apparent, as well as the fact that Maki was trapped in a dead end with her standing between her only escape.
The activity and chatter of the inn continued in the background, blissfully unaware of their transpiring showdown.
Dozens of questions flooded her mind. She settled on the first one.
“Why are you here?”
“The same reason as you I presume, given I’m still alive.” She spoke cautiously.
Hayasaka leered. “If you already know as much, then you must know what happened to her.”
Maki carefully weighed her response. “I do, but this isn’t what you think.”
“Where did you take her?” She shifted her weight forward. Her voice became low and dangerous.
Maki lifted a hand to quell her rising temper. “If you come with me, I can bring you to her.”
“And I’m supposed to simply trust your word?”
“As much as I trust that you didn’t come here to kill me, because I’d already be dead if it were the case.” She quickly countered. “It also tells me you don’t actually know who’s responsible for the attack, and the fact you’ve come all this way means you are not among those who conspired against her. You truly intend to seek Kaguya’s safety, and only I can help.”
Hayasaka was slightly taken aback by Maki’s deductions, but she wasn’t fully convinced.
“Kaguya’s safety isn’t mutually exclusive with yours, and unfortunately the Imperata wants you dead more than alive.”
Maki did not break composure from her threats. She instead narrowed her eyes with a resolution Hayasaka did not expect from her in such a moment. “You believe us to be enemies; I’m here to tell you we’re not. There are greater forces at play beyond the scope of our respective nations, and we’ll need each other’s help if we all wish to survive. I only wonder where your loyalty will remain when the time comes.”
Hayasaka blinked, confused. My loyalty? What is she talking about?
Maki looked past her with wide eyes and raised her hand.
A sound came from behind -- a sword being drawn.
Hayasaka spun around and saw Ryuju charging, then realized her blunder when a sharp blow struck the back of her head, filling her vision with stars as she lost balance. She then was pulled back and held from behind as a cold metal weapon was pressed against her head.
It was a revolver pistol. She was a hostage against Ryuju who sprinted towards them with sword in hand.
“STOP!” Maki shouted. Ryuju continued her charge and pointed her sword forward, intending to skewer the both of them.
Realizing this, Maki pointed her pistol towards Ryuju. Seizing this opportunity, Hayasaka snapped her head backwards and struck Maki’s nose in a backwards headbutt. Maki recoiled and fired a stray shot. The blast rang in their ears, and the bullet missed Ryuju.
Before Hayasaka could do anything else, Maki shoved her forwards to make her an obstacle in Ryuju’s path. As she stumbled onto the ground, Ryuju leapt onto the wall with a lumen’s aurora wings to avoid her and ran along it, catching Maki by surprise as she retook aim. Ryuju reacted quickly and flung the sword at Maki to throw off her aim, who ducked and fell to the ground to dodge the whirling blade.
Ryuju closed the remaining distance and tackled Maki, yelling as they collided. Another gunshot rang their ears as a round discharged into the ceiling, and they tumbled violently to the ground.
Hayasaka got back up and witnessed Ryuju wrestling atop Maki on the floor. Ryuju had one hand pinning down Maki's gun by her wrist, while gripping a dagger with the other. Maki’s own free hand fought desperately to keep the dagger from bearing down upon her, as they writhed and lashed about in painful grunts.
NO!
Hayasaka rushed forward to stop them before it was too late. She plowed into Ryuju, knocking her off of Maki and kicking the gun away. All three of them then quickly rolled off the ground into kneeled positions. She reached to draw her sword, when she froze at what she saw.
Maki had pulled another gun, now pointed at Ryuju -- a small derringer, loaded with only one shot as a last resort.
Ryuju snarled at Hayasaka’s insubordination. “What’s the meaning of this, Hayaska?!”
“She knows about Kaguya, we need her alive!”
Maki had some bruises and cuts on her arms and face. She spoke between heavy breaths. “I don’t want to fight. I’m not your enemy.”
Though Maki tried to remain calm, Hayasaka could see she was shaken by the clash as the pistol faintly trembled in her grip. But there was also a deeply steeled determination in her eyes.
Ryuju spat. “Like hell; we’ve been at war trying to kill each other our entire lives.”
“Both of you would be dead if I decided to pull the trigger earlier. But that is not my intent.”
Hayasaka glared. “Then what is your intent, Shijo?”
“The same as yours, to find Kaguya! We can help each other, but only if you’re willing to listen!”
Ryuju’s grip tightened on her dagger. The fury in her eyes morphed into a cold, deadly focus as she stared down the barrel of the gun with only a single shot. She inhaled.
“ Don’t test me .” Maki warned.
Just then, they heard a hoard of bootsteps and shouting in the establishment. A group of Volarian redcoat soldiers stormed into the building with rifles in hand, and quickly assumed a firing formation at the end of the hall.
“Transgressors, you are under arrest by authority of the Volarian Crown!! Drop your weapons, or you will be shot!!”
Hayasaka and Ryuju sat silently in two separate jail cells, bruised and handcuffed. The guards had taken Maki elsewhere, separate from them.
The sound of light pattering rain filled the humid air, and a leak from the ceiling hitting the stone floor echoed across the dark room, rhythm and constant.
Neither had spoken a word since the fight at the inn. Hayasaka knew what feelings Ryuju harbored, and explaining her actions and reasons would be useless. Her actions were treasonous, and Ryuju would kill her the moment she had a chance.
Mixed feelings stormed within Hayasaka, but the one that burned the strongest was frustration. Too much happened in such a short time -- she gained so many more questions than answers, but her conflicting thoughts and feelings left her indecisive in a moment of opportunity. Now that chance slipped away, and left them jailed on a godforsaken island by a foreign military.
There are greater forces at play beyond the scope of our respective nations, and we’ll need each other’s help if we all wish to survive. I only wonder where your loyalty will remain when the time comes.
Maki’s words swirled in her thoughts as she desperately attempted to decipher them. What external forces? Is Volaria involved in this? Is that why that ship is taking Kaguya there? Is this why Maki had come here?
And what the hell was she trying to imply about her loyalty? Did Maki think she harbored ill intent towards Kaguya for her subjugation under the Shinomiyas?
These questions ran endlessly in circles, and she could not make heads nor tails.
But regardless, they were stuck. Their ship may or may not have made it to port before the storm, and they had no way of making contact with their remaining team. They could only hope that they would somehow hear about what occurred at the inn, and deduce that they had been taken here.
Suddenly the door opened, and armed guards stepped in, followed by Maki. She was uncuffed, and her wounds were cleaned and bandaged.
Maki looked at the two of them, then spoke to Hayasaka. “I’m sorry for attacking you. I didn’t know whether to trust you or not at the time. But the fact that we didn’t kill each other when we had the chance convinces me your intent is to help find Kaguya. Well, save for you.” Maki deadpans at Ryuju, before turning back towards Hayasaka.
“But I understand why you acted the way you did. So first I’ll clear up some misunderstandings as to why I’m here.” She begins.
“Your princess is safe. She is currently on a chartered clipper sailing to Volaria, along with Chika Fujiwara...”
This they already knew. Anyone who did the same research as them could come up with that information. It was not convincing.
“...I know this because that ship covertly operates on my behalf and reports directly to me.”
The look of shock on her face must have been apparent, as the corner of Maki’s mouth grew a small smug grin.
“But the ship was only sent to gather information on the Imperata’s general state of affairs -- we were unaware of the conspiring attack. What actually transpired, or how Kaguya managed to get aboard, I have no idea. But she is on that ship.”
The timing is too good to be true. Maki has to be involved somehow in the attack.
“As soon as I was notified of what happened, I quickly sailed all the way here to follow, just like you did.“
Ryuju, having been silent until now, curtly responded. “You admit you kidnapped her.”
“Firstly, Kaguya chose to flee aboard the ship on her own volition. Second, if I actually did orchestrate an entire attack to kidnap her, why would I take her all the way to Volaria instead of to my possession?” Maki folds her arms. “And contrary to your belief, I actually don’t want conflict between our two nations; it’s the reason why I’m ensuring Kaguya’s safety, to prevent exactly that from happening.”
Hayasaka frowned. “Then why IS your ship taking her to Volaria?”
“Could you even begin to imagine the bloodshed if everyone discovered the Imperata Heiress was held captive in the Shijo Republic?? You of all people would know that, Hayasaka.” Maki remarked to her irritation. “That is the last thing we want. I happen to have friends in Volaria who can protect her; she will be safe there.”
Friends in Volaria? That must be how she has the guards in her pocket.
“So do you know who’s behind the attack?” She asked.
Maki shook her head. “I’m not sure, since I don’t know the details of what transpired. I thought it might’ve been a usurpation; it’s why I was wary of you at first.” She scanned the room. “Speaking of which, I thought there would be more of you. Where are they?”
Ryuju replied in a thinly veiled tone. “I’m waiting for them to come break us out and finish what we started.”
Maki immediately called her bluff. “Attacking Volarian forces would be a declaration of war. I’d advise against it.”
Ryuju simply shrugged, and responded. “They’re out at sea.”
“They left you behind??”
“Other way around.” Hayasaka corrected for the second time that day. “We flew here.”
“Across the sea?! You know a storm is coming, right??” Maki exclaimed and pointed at the window.
“The storm was going to delay our arrival by days. We had no other choice.”
Maki rested her chin on her knuckles. “So you came all the way out here alone, huh? Well, what do you plan to do then?”
Hayasaka and Ryuju looked at her quizzically, as if they even had any option to choose. “What? Aren’t you taking us captive or something?”
She sighed. “I know it sounds strange to you, but I mean it when I say I’m not your enemy. I truly intend to find Kaguya and figure out what’s going on. So I have a proposition…” She pointed her thumb at herself.
“Come with me to Volaria.”
Ryuju jeerfully laughed. “You really expect me to trust a Shijo, let alone work with one?”
Hayasaka chimed. “We’re going to be stranded here otherwise if we don’t go with her, and she’s already proven to not be a threat to us. We might as well tag along to keep her in check. Or do you just want to let her find Kaguya first without us?”
Maki continued. “It’s my hope that with your company, we may get to the bottom of this conspiracy while preventing any misunderstandings between our respective nations. Also even if you reach Volaria yourselves, you’ll have no clue as to navigate or understand how anything works. I’m already well acquainted, and know where the ship is bringing Kaguya to. You’ll have no success without my help. Or you can just rot in here, if you so desire.”
Ryuju audibly tapped her foot for several seconds, making up her mind as everyone watched.
“There’s a difference between not killing each other and helping you. Don’t be mistaken.” She growled.