Part 41: Manipulation
-
-
Kyen Koh's Identity Crisis Arc
| 0199 | Kyen Koh enters Baku’s torture chamber with the help of a hairpin. Baku realises the hairpin is the exact same as Baku’s mother’s hairpin. | Part 41 |
Endless Rain
Part 41: Manipulation
© Acrocat
Lana was sitting on her throne enjoying the luxurious life of an empress. The Sendo’s did her bidding by a simple wave of her hand. She was having a foot massage and was drinking wine from a golden goblet. The screams of her brother were easily heard in the throne room and she was enjoying every one of them.
In a small dark corner sat Kyen Koh. Nobody seemed to notice her anymore. She had become Lana’s slave. Whenever there was dirty work to be done Kyen Koh was send to do it. She was miserable and hungry. She hadn’t eaten a normal meal for a few days now. Her clothes hang loosely about her, and the belt of her hose was tighter now by two holes. Most of the time she was crying, whishing she had been of more help to Hitori.
There was a knock on the door and two Sendo’s entered carrying Baku between them. Bruises were all over him, and his nose stood in a weird position, hinting that it was broken. He was so weak that he couldn’t even stand on his own legs when the soldiers threw him in front of the dais.
Lana smirked and said, “Good morning dear brother, how are you feeling today?”
“Couldn’t have been better, sis.” Baku replied sarcastically.
“Splendid. Perhaps you are even feeling good enough to tell me where that Mikomi brat and her little friends are, and, while you’re at it, you might as well tell me where the remaining Hikari Crystals are.”
“I will never EVER tell you that!”
Lana shook her head, “My dear dear brother. You think of me, your own sister, as an evil maniac. It is not I who is the maniac Baku, it is our father. He didn’t leave you here because you’d become mortal, no, remember I am mortal too, but I went along. No my dear brother, he left you here because he hated you. You were once dreaming about how you would rule when father would hand you over the leadership. Now those dreams are gone Baku. Father never planned to stop ruling. You being mortal was only an excuse to leave you in The Land of Dead Fairies. Our father was arrogant, that’s the reason I defied him. Layou is the true lord. If you help me to find the Hikari Crystals and free lord Layou, you will together rule The Land of Dead Fairies and then we’ll take over The Clouds Before the Sun and live in peace. Join me brother!”
Baku was forced to listen, but at that moment he wished he’d been deaf. He wanted it all to stop. The wars, his torture and life in this accursed valley, but he would not believe his father had betrayed him.
“Stop manipulating me!” He roared.
“You are unsure brother, I can see it. Soon you will realize the truth brother, and then all shall be all right again.”
Before Baku could answer he was taken away again. He was thrown in his cell where some food already lay. He sank on his bed and ate some, but he wasn’t very hungry. He didn’t know how much of Lana’s manipulating he could take anymore. Soon she would break his mind and then Layou would soon walk over the lands again. With tears in his eyes he tried to sleep.
He had almost fallen asleep when he heard footsteps at the door. He feared it would be Lana or Tebok. He pretended to be asleep, maybe they would leave him alone. There was a clinging sound as somebody tried to open the lock. Baku was getting suspicious. The lock had gone open quite quickly whenever Lana or Tebok had entered the room. This was taking too long, they had to be inside by now. After about ten minutes the door finally clicked open and a miserable looking woman with dark hair and hazel eyes stood in the opening with a hairpin in her hand. It was Kyen Koh, fear was written in her eyes. She had slipped out of the throne room, and used her hairpin to open the door.
Baku looked at this girl and realized there was perhaps one person in the tribe who was off worse than him. This young girl had been through a lot. First her mother was killed and she and her father had fled from the tribe for her twin sister Aiko. She had lived in the forest with her father and other tribe members who had also fled from the village, until she heard that the Mikomi Tribe was doing war against the Sendo. She had decided to join them, but at the same time she felt the Sendo blood within her veins. She had betrayed Hitori more than once, but at the same time she had helped her more than once as well.
Baku couldn’t imagine how she felt as she approached him. She kneeled before him and just cried. She buried her head in his lap and cried. At this moment she felt that Baku was her father.
Baku didn’t know what to say, but looked at the hairpin which Kyen Koh still held in her hand. He couldn’t believe it, but he knew that hairpin. That was once the favorite hairpin of his mother.
“How did you get that hairpin?” He asked.
“This thing?” Kyen Koh, who had calmed down a little, asked while she held up the hairpin.
Baku nodded.
“My mother gave it to me. She said that I should treasure it with my life. I’ve never understood why. It’s just a stupid hairpin.”
But Baku shook his head, saying nothing, only wondering how Kyen Koh could possibly have his mother’s hairpin.