[Get to the bridge…!]
The bridge…
She had to get to the bridge.
Those were the commands that echoed in her head as she trudged forward. They'd been fed into her head while she watched a giant wolf wrestle a rock monster a few moments before. With every step, every shallow breath, she could feel every sharp blow Saka was receiving at his end from the stone golem. He wanted her to escape while he dealt with the creature. Apparently, the walls beginning at the bridge to the elven castle had a way of keeping monsters away from said Castle of Ancients.
In retrospect, this was a good idea. But in reality, she could feel every damaging blow he was getting. There was no escaping the pain that shot through her like saws and hammers to her body. Her skin bruised and split on several occasions, and even though the Heliomorphosis was rapidly doing its job, it couldn't be denied that—
"It still hurts!!" April cried as she fell to her knees, wrapping her arms around her ribs.
The lunatic had come to save her from a rampaging beast that attacked her out of nowhere but he wasn't very careful on how he 'defended' her. In fact, he was inducing more bodily harm to her than the rock monster was ever going to.
…Probably.
She looked ahead. The bridge was a long way away, about a few hundred or so meters in front.
"At this rate… Saka's gonna get pounded into wolf soup and I'll go down with him…!"
She yelped as another invisible blow hit her side, jerking her. She recoiled and inevitably fell to her hit side, feeling as the Heliomorphosis quickly melted the pain away. How crazy was that? This was never going to work. How would he protect her from harm when he was the one leaping into the jaws of danger?
She was hallucinating now. Even to the point where ahead of her, between the green swirling clouds hovering over the dreadful-looking castle on the hill, and the patch of grass right at her feet, she could make out what looked like an army of green-armored elven soldiers, spears shining in the midday sun. They were supposedly marching in her direction.
Either Kuri had gone and uprooted a whole elven army April had never run into inside the Castle of Ancients—or she was losing her mind. Again.
Half of her vision obscured by the lush grass brushing against her face, she saw the hundreds of feet clad in green sabatons halt a few meters from her. She was still twitching on the ground, her arms wrapped around her ribs. The army seemed to split into three sections. One marched around her on the left side, the second group marched around her on her right side, and the third stayed put right in front of her.
"Kuri… you brought an army…?" She mumbled, subconsciously searching for a pair of black samurai sandals among the green sabatons.
She didn't even notice it as the induced wounds on her body stopped. The pain faded. Her body laxed, and she felt as she became weightless, the scratchy grass moving from her face. Oh, wait! Her face was moving from the scratchy grass. Someone was lifting her. Was it Saka? Had the two factions helped him defeat the golem? Was the suffering finally over?!
Someone carried her in their arms. Not the way Saka used to; slinging her over his shoulder, but the gentle bridal style. She noticed as the distance to the bridge increased.
"You're going the wrong way…" she could barely get the words out. "Where are you going…?"
She fell unconscious before she could know.
* * * *
She was drifting along with a lazy dream of her sitting on a green patch of grass and staring at someone's obscured face when she was roused from sleep by an unknown entity.
Her heavy eyelids opened. Feeling sour and drowsy, she blinked several times, trying to drive the sandy feeling out of her eyes. Then she paused at the sight of gold around her. She sat up, inhaling deeply and threw furtive and confused looks around.
She was in a room, more specifically, the one that was designated to her, and she was under the golden sheets. Draping over her slim form were those elven night garments; the tank top under the loose top which split all the way to her knees at the sides, and the little short tights.
Such provocative attire…
She suddenly perked up and threw the sheets off, immediately jumping off the bed and ran towards the wing doors…
Which immediately flew open and two unfamiliar women walked in. Elves with golden hair and grey robes.
Where did they keep popping up from?
April was about to ask this when they literally stripped her down to nothing. She was in the middle of registering her shock when they threw her into a dress, a golden, sleeveless and beautiful thing which somehow looked familiar.
"What's going on?" She asked.
The elves ignored her and kept preparing her for whatever was going to happen. One of them was working on her hair, braiding on some strands and using them to secure back her waterfall of bi-colored hair.
The other one was fixing her dress. Her hands were fluidly securing some strings together when she unknowingly grabbed April's twin tails.
The girl squealed and shuddered.
"Please, don't touch those!" She grabbed them away from the blank-faced lady and cradled them against her chest. "Only I can touch my tails… o-okay…?"
She waited for their responses but when all they did was stare at her, she huffed.
"Okay, fine!" She hid her tails in the folds of her dress. "Can you now tell me what's going on?! Where's Saka? Did he defeat the golem thingy?"
The women said nothing to her. They just stared back. It went like that for a moment before the fairy wing doors folded apart and someone walked in. April whisked her head to the door.
"Saka?"
He was in black robes, looking as white as paper as the last she had seen him.
"What's happening?" She asked again.
He walked up to her and grabbed her by the tails. But this time, she hardly felt it.
"Seriously? A dream within a dream?" He growled. "You're back into it again? I thought I told you to stop her!"
"What are you talking about?!" April coughed as the young man pulled her into his chest. "Hey! Let go!"
She thrashed in his arms to no avail. "Saka?!"
The white-haired young man snarled. "Just do what you did the last time to wake yourself up."
"What in tarnation?" April spat.
He twirled her around, locked one of her arms behind her back and shoved her forward.
She came toward the wall quicker than she could let out a scream of reaction, black clouding her vision for a heartbeat before she gasped awake.
Then she jolted against the tree trunk, her body tilting to the side before she quickly found her balance, her heartbeat picking up.
"Wh— I'm awake!"
She moved her eyes around, trying to figure out if she was still in the willow tree field. But a pair of lazulite blue ones were right in front of her, causing her to gasp before sighing in relief.
"Oh, Kuri. It's just you. You startled… me…?" April trailed off as she gawked. The person she assumed to be Kuri moved back and the girl saw the figure in black getting taller. "Huh…?"
A contrasting blood red sash was tied around his waist, a grey and reflective mask covering half his face. Then there was the whole long, silvery ponytail that gently swayed at his back.
Additionally, despite the softness of his fingers against her bare arm, he passive-aggressively pulled her to her feet, holding her by the elbow. Leaning in, which was the opposite April was doing as she involuntarily leaned back, he stared deeply into her greens.
"What the what is happening…?" April's thoughts were conveyed by her wide eyes.
The ninja stared at her for a moment longer, sending chills down her spine. He leaned closer to her face some more as if to take a better look at her eyes. The bangs and locks on the side of his face flowed down and touched April's cheeks and forehead. For the duration of that stare, she felt cold pins and needles gently stabbing her face.
"His hair is made of steel, his hair is made of steel, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!"
"You have… beautiful eyes, s-sir." She cowardly murmured in contrast to her whirling thoughts.
He pulled her even closer and she swallowed her yelp, his lips passing hers.
"...You're safe now…"
The voice was so deep and velvety she swore he was lazily sighing into her souls, warm breath tickling her ear.
"Mommy…"
"U-uh…" she stammered as he let her arm go.
"We must go now," the mysterious blue-eyed ninja said, turning away and gesturing for April to follow.
She perked up with every word, her legs still trembling. "Go. We must—wait! Go where?"
The ninja stepped aside and she came face-to-face with the hundreds of elven soldiers surrounding the willow tree.
"Christmas apples!" She jumped back.
"Commerce-san,"
April whisked her head to the ninja.
"It's best if you follow me," he put his hand in his black robes.
"What's happening?" She retreated into herself, eyeing the ninja cautiously.
"Pardon me," he took out his hand and threw something to the ground. A silvery ball.
Grey smoke exploded, scaring April. "Argh!"
The moment it cleared, she was yelling and flailing her arms before the ninja caught her flapping limbs and made her stand still.
"Collect yourself," he pressed a finger to her full lips.
"Oi?" She squinted and looked around.
The walls were grey and pale, unlike the rest of the Castle of Ancients' other rooms.
"Shoot, the courtroom…!"
"Welcome, April Commerce of Acugamathura," a voice carried across the room, sweet and melodic but carrying a hint of scorn, right before she could prepare herself.
She looked up at the insanely high jury table and met with the eight youthful figureheads staring down at her.
"Enjoying your first day of training, I see? You've already made friends and handed us a priceless gift. We also have a gift for you." Councilwoman Zera smoothly announced.
"Gift?" April shot her face to the right and immediately went pale. "Argh!"
"Nngh…" Saka returned her surprised expression with a blank look. His mouth was covered with a muzzle gag and his arms were restricted by thick chains resembling a straightjacket, some of them securing him to the floor.
"Eh…" she lost her words at the sight; waist downwards covered in a simple cloth, paper-white muscles straining against the chains, his hair a mess and his breathing ragged.
He looked like someone awaiting pleasant torture.
"Holy cow… what? Why? How? When?!"
[Stop staring,] He telepathically growled at her.
She looked away, her cheeks burning.
"We must congratulate you," Councilwoman Zera continued. "On a usual basis, outsiders would be assessed by the people to judge whether they should stay. But the people of Xander don't have a voice anymore, nor do they have a clue about your existence."
April looked back at the High Council of Elders. They all seemed pleased with the situation. And how much did they even know?
"Please, don't hurt Saka. He might've hidden me from you, but he saved me from getting flattened by a golem." April argued.
"This golem?" Sefina interjected, pointing.
April followed the woman's finger. She looked for the golem but all she saw was a tall man in purple, chained to the floor, a tube gag secured across his mouth, his eyes closed, shaggy black hair flowing down his neck, the rest of the hairstyle resembling a mullet.
"...huh?" April peered over the man in confusion. "That's not who attacked me…" she squinted her eyes as the Asian features radiated with familiarity.
[Is that your lover?]
April shot her eyes at the restrained young man.
[You look like you know him. Is that why he attacked you?]
"Shush!" She squinted hard.
"Through an unprecedented turn of events, we have found a suitable way you can actually contribute to the elven kingdom, young hybrid. It involves your decision, though." Zera stated as April took a cautious step to the other restrained man.
She got closer and he moved. He opened his eyes, a bright purple radiating from them.
"Woah," April thought as she approached him.
"It would be unwise to approach. That individual is dangerous, obviously." Councilwoman Mohesu drawled.
The man with the shaggy black hair looked around. Then he turned to April's direction. He looked down and locked eyes with the girl. The feeling hit April like a thunderbolt; immediate recognition, her eyes circling.
The same thing happened to the man in purple. He flared up, the purple eyes bursting into literal flames as he recognized April.
"Hmmmmgh!" He growled through the tube gag, his muscles struggling against the chains.
April gasped and staggered back.
On the other side, Saka struggled in his restraints as well.
"Wh-what…?" April whispered.
"Is something the matter?" Councilwoman Zera asked as Kuri and Kakuro entered the courtroom, bowing before standing behind the ninja who had the same lazulite blue eyes as them but was less conspicuous as they were.
April shook her head as she watched Hiroko struggle in the chains. A guard came and removed his gag and:
"The hell, April?! You're alive! I'm going to roast your sorry little butt!!" The voice bellowed, startling everyone.
She staggered into Saka's chest, the chains stopping her.
[He knows you very well.] Saka sighed in April's mind.