Land of Confusion

[Tainted Bushido]

“Ulroke, will she be okay?” Taka asked firmly. He stood there, his blade still held loosely in his hand. It was obvious he was not threatening the man. It was also obvious what he was asking.

Taka sheathed Rengoku, looking down at his gauntlet before he saw a way to force the man to talk to him. He bellowed out, echoing through the courtyard, “ULROKE!” Carefully he raised his gauntlet clad hand and revealed the anklet, still there, “I believe you forgot something of yours.”


The assassin stopped in the doorway of his longhouse. He turned to face Taka, eying the trinket in his fingers. The Ronin didn’t know what stirred in the man’s head in those brief moments of silence. Instead, he replied with a gesture of his head as if to follow.

“Come,” Lye beckoned. Taka nodded and followed after Lye, knowing his gamble had paid off. The fact he kept the anklet meant it had some meaning to him, offering it back was a silent statement that Taka knew this, and also refused to take something he hadn't earned from the Assassin. It was a modicum of respect. He quickly grabbed the wet patch from the ground of the courtyard and moved after the man, feeling all eyes on him.

Taka has learned long ago that showing respect for an opponent was never a weakness. He had disrespected Lye in his demands, but he had also earned Lye’s respect in refusing to be childish about the loss. He catalogued the fight, storing that information for the inevitable rematch. He wanted those trinkets and trophies. The Knights deserved the right to lay Kyla fully to rest.

He slowed as he reached Lye, knowing that he was watched by archers. It would be quite some time before he would feel comfortable in that courtyard again. The point had been made brutally clear, that Taka was outgunned, and outclassed. Following him indoors he could hear a soft whisper almost warning against it.

For Amari’s sake he refused to listen to that nagging doubt.

He held onto the anklet and carefully observed his surroundings, waiting for the next words that would erupt from the room.

[Lye]

“You do know what this means don’t you?” Lye asked the foreigner as the two walked through the grand hall. The warmth of the hearth lapped away the chill from outdoors, yet the girl in Lye’s arms seemed colder still. The steady pace of her blood against the polished stone floor slowed with each step.


“Before, it could be argued I was a visiting enemy. By stepping through, I am a guest, bound by the rules of hospitality. I understand my burden, Ulroke,” The Ronin replied softly. It was not the tone of defeat, but of a man who was preoccupied.

“Your and my definition of guest will differ greatly,” Lye replied flatly. His boot connected with one of the two doors beside a human ivory throne. The wrought iron slab swung wide to the large, cavernous Inner Sanctum. He broke right and opened another door in a similar manner.

Inside the dark room, faint embers glowed in the far hearth. Lye laid Amari down on the makings of a bed wedged in the corner of the stone hewn room. Before tending to her further, Lye walked to the hearth and set a few dried logs to catch. As the embers awakened new flames, the light spilled over the assassin’s private quarters. Blades, armored mannequins, tables strewn with parchment, and various collections of herbal ingredients came into view.

“Does she get a room for herself, or had she not earned that privilege?” Taka asked noticing the small nest that was created in the corner.

“She shares mine,” Lye added as he rose from the hearth. “As you now know, for her safety.”

Her body now cold and blued where porcelain skin once thrummed with life, Lye turned Amari to her side. He pulled a small knife from one of their many hiding places and cut her dress at the base of her spine. Then, with a finger smearing a trail of blood from her cheek, he pressed it against the sigil on her exposed back.

“There is little you know, Ixian,” Lye commented as he rose and took a step back.

Seconds passed, then minutes. Lye frowned, normally she would have revived by now. Yet her body remained motionless and dead. Concern worked its way into his features. Would she come back this time? Did the Magicyte truly harm her as much as she claimed? What did the Ixians do to her? These questions silently warred in him mind as his patience weathered in silence.


Taka watched passively before he ventured, “I never claimed to be smart, but I do know cruelty when I see it.”

It was delayed, but a bright flash filled the room, blinding them both. It died down, and Amari lay, breathing heavily, “teeay-te E teeayah?” She spoke in Ar’Tuel, her voice hazy, “Master?”


“Scarlet,” Lye’s voice called out to her. His vision still recovered from her blinding display, unsure if she too could see.

The Ronin bristled at the use of the name. As if he had an objection, but remained quiet for now. Watching Amari behind that porcelain mask. Finally he reached up and removed his mask, letting it hang from the hilt of one of his eastern blades. Concern etched into his features.

[Mari]

Amari stared at the inky blackness before her; she felt like she had just been revived, but she hadn’t realized she had died. She furrowed her brows, blinking a few times, slowly blurs of colour swirled in front of her. She couldn’t see. She struggled to recall the events that lead her to wherever she was. Amari heard Lye’s voice, intonations of concern breathed on his lips, at least that’s what she first thought, but that couldn’t be right. Her Master was not one to show concern. Especially for her.

“E luae-ha'de kuah.” Amari tried to tell him that she couldn’t see, but the words that came from her mouth were foreign to her. “Can’t… See…” She repeated in tradespeak. Amari lifted her hands, and allowed her hands to travel up them, she smeared the odd sensation across her skin, lavishing in the quickly cooling liquid, even as parts of it dried and flaked off her.. “Is this… lotion?.” She asked curiously.

“That’s not lotion,” Lye added. She couldn’t see him, but she knew that sound in his voice. Curiousity, but this time with a hint of concern. “You’ve had your eyes cut out. The man responsible paid with his life.”

Amari blinked, watching the swirls in front of her eyes. She hoped her vision would return soon. Unaware of any other in the room she continued to smear the substance on her skin, she lifted her hands to her face and felt the same thing strewn across it. “It feels...nice…”

“Taka is here,” she heard her master add. “Wounded, but alive.”

Amari paused. “Taka….” Memories slowly began to come back to her, she was in the cells and she was attempting to force the corruption to explode in her soul. Tauros came and had ripped out her eyes, claiming Taka ventured into the Sanctum and had only asked for a few trinkets. “Taka…” Amari repeated the name, her heart ached. There was another unfamiliar feeling within her, a small part of her almost took joy in hearing that he had been hurt. “The Knight… lied….” She muttered with dark tones of betrayal.

“The knight, bent the truth, greatly. I found evidence some of my men were here, and had to investigate. I'm sorry, if I had known what harm I would have caused I would have returned with the other mercenaries before I made that bid,” Taka explained, a small thread of pain through his voice.


The knight's words did little to alleviate what Amari was feeling. Rather… Amari was struggling to feel much of anything. “Heh…” She laughed, a cold laugh that rolled through her body.

“Taka is now our… guest,” she heard her master contribute. “He won’t be leaving any time soon. We have much to discuss.”

Her laughs died down as she heard her Master’s cool and calculating words, guest. A prisoner Amari thought to herself. Ulroke would not allow the man to leave without first obtaining all the answers he needed, but what would happen if Taka did leave? Would he return with more soldiers to claim the relics of his people and just leave again? Amari shifted her unseeing gaze to where she assumed Taka was, and furrowed her brows. “He needs to stay.” She said.

Amari pushed herself to a seated position, and felt her hair slick and thick against her back. “Master. What am I covered in?”

“Blood,” Taka answered for Lye, his tone quiet and stilled. “Lye used a spell I've only heard described once, and it carved your assailant like a butcher’s wares.”

His answer sent an odd chill of satisfaction coursing through her and down her spine. The air around Amari grew thick, heavy with a sense of dread as the corruption of her aura leaked from her. It enveloped the room invoking feelings of suffocation. Her lips twisted into a small grin. “I like it.” She spoke in a low, delighted tone.

[Tainted Bushido]

He lost.

Before he had even begun he lost. Had he dissuaded her from returning maybe she would have stood a chance. The girls declaration of delight at being blood drenched wrenched him to the core. Had he been quiet, had Taurus not seen fit to punish her before the Ronin, there was a chance.

The Tsukai had been right, he was doomed to failure.

He remained silent at the words, even as revulsion at seeing her condition was nearly overpowering. He was not in control anymore, he could not change the story, only one man held that power anymore. Finally he found a voice, “We should clean you up, before you get sick…”

Her unseeing eyes stared at his general direction. “If I must, you should help, Ta-Ka-Kun~”

The sing song way she spoke was telling. It spoke of her affection towards him, while underlying how different she was. He moved up to her and took his rag, usually revered for cleaning his blade and sighed. There was no wash basin, no bowl of water to begin, and so he gently rested his hand on her shoulder, “I'll try to clean the thickest clump, and we’ll go from there.”

His hands shook as he slicked away the thick ichor, below he could see the blackened skin of her shoulders. She remained passive, resting her forehead on his chest. His eyes lingering on the blackened skin, seeing it was now the majority of her arms, “You worked fast, they were not like this when we met…”

“What are you talking about?“

“Before, your taint was like gloves over your lower arms, now it is like sleeves that reach from your shoulders down. You seem to have gone further than when we first met in a mere hour…” it made his head spin to think how long it had been since her kiss goodbye. His world had changed, sharply for the worse in that mere hour. He began to wipe her face clean as he saw the cracks, larger and more defined on her face. His lips pressed thinly as he pushed on.

“It worked….” She said her eyes lightening with delight. “Master was right. I should never have stopped the corruption, I was weak. Master was going to kill you, I had to escape, I had to protect you.” She offered Taka a dark grin that tore his heart out. “So I stopped fighting it, pointless really..I learnt you are no longer worth protecting.”

“Amari,” he breathed softly, pain etched into every syllable as he realized the price of failure. Marching on the Crimson Hand alone? Lye was right, he was either a fool or hiding a trump card that should have been used long before it got this far. Now he had before him his future. If he could not steer off this course, if he could not pull Amari from this destructive path, he would join her in revelling in his corruption.

He had once been told when he picked up the blade, he was but six steps from death. He knew the truth now, there were so many more ways to die, and his friend, Amari, was truly dying before his eyes. If he wasn't careful, she'd drag him down with her and he would enjoy every last second in that beautiful self destruction. A hand gently cupped her cheek as he said softly, “I failed you Amari, I'm sorry.”

“Scarlet.” She muttered as she batted his hand away and pushed him aside. “It's Scarlet.”

He wanted to yell at the gods themselves…

[Lye]

Arms folded, perched against the desk he wrote so many letters and commands from, Lye watched the two. Clad in white and clinging ever so desperately to his honor, Taka tended to Amari as her madness spread. Like the roots of blight which stained the fields of Raiaera, black etched and crawled on Amari’s pale skin. Each swipe of Taka’s cloth revealed hidden corruption that no manner of cleansing could purge. The edge of the assassin’s lips pulled taught.

He felt pride.

Amari’s journey into madness became palpable. The air grew stagnant and bitter. His chest tightened as though breathing took conscious effort. Yet as he watched a broken man tend to a shattered damsel, Lye couldn’t help but feel concern. Amari still could not see, despite her body’s attempts to regain sight.

“This is her calling.” Lye’s words reached out to Taka. “She doesn’t need protection like this. Like this, she’s beautiful.”

Amari glanced in Lye’s direction, “Is that a compliment, Master?” She snorted. “My that’s a first.”


“Don’t get used to it,” snapped the assassin. “You still have many transgressions to answer for.”

He heard her slip off the bed, her blood drenched feet hitting the stone floor with wet slaps. “Yes. Yes. I brought Tah-ka-Kun~ here.” There was a bump, followed by a swear as she walked into the onyx bath. Lye turned to face her, seeing her smearing blood against the rim of the large tub.

“Your sight…..”

“Won’t be a problem. I can see shapes and blurs. It’s becoming clearer. Soon I’ll be able to see your scowls and smirks in all their snarky glory.”

The Ronin watched taking everything in. His hand idly twitched as if looking to grip something, but he seemed to refuse the temptation. Instead he casually tossed the rag he had used to clean Scarlet into the fire watching it burn as he studied the flames inscrutably. Lye drifted his attention toward Amari, but kept the silent Ixian in the edge of his vision.


“Pray tell, what penance will my transgressions give me this time?” Amari asked in a sing-song voice, as she leaned against the basin, Lye noticed her eyes slowly managing to focus on him.

“It’s apparent that you can’t be trusted on your own,” Lye added as though Taka were just another piece of furniture in the room. “You’ll need to be leashed. Or watched until you can prove otherwise.”

“What? How the fuck am I meant to do anything? Who is going to watch me? You? Unless you have a leash that can stretch across Althanas, your powers are not that strong.”

Now that she was closer, Lye could see her unfocused gaze. Her eyes no longer held a glowing golden rim around her irises, instead, it burned with an intense red, of fire and of hatred. The shards of crimson still doted her emerald hues. “Let’s try a different answer.” Her lips twisted into a wry grin as her voice fell into a purr, her wet hands sliding haphazardly onto his shoulders. “What should I do to appease you, Master~?” She leaned in to whisper into his ear, “What if I delivered another Ixian to you~ Did you want me to fetch Aislynn? Name what you want and I will make it so.”

Lye’s hand pressed against Amari’s dampened chest and made space between the two. His unamused expression met her with his reply, “I think not. I don’t know the extent of your relationship with the Knights. Especially after what they did to you and…” He pointed toward the Akashiman. “Him.”

“Noel was an unfortunate casualty. I killed him because I had no other choice. The magicyte filled his head with paranoid delusions. As for what happened to her, she seemed the happiest I had ever witnessed her, so I have no clue why you would be upset about that,” Taka replied, his eyes watching the fire. He seemed fixed on watching the damn thing.

Lye watched Amari as she steeled back, she stifled a laugh before she threw her head back in maddening giggles. “Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.” Amari turned to Takas general direction, “I killed Noel. I killed him with stupid notions of compassion and kindness… without those things the Magicyte would not have set his sights on you, ahh~” She whipped her head back around to Lye. “As for him as for Taka. I - I….” She hiccuped, and tears began to well and fall down her cheeks. “He...he…” She had little control over the madness that wracked her mind, her emotions unstable.

Amari collapsed to her knees, fits reaching out to clasp Lye’s knees. Her voice barely above a whisper. “What is he doing to me?”


“Changing drastically in such short time has probably made you tired. Perhaps you should sleep, if he wishes to know he can talk to me or ask you in the morning,” Taka offered. It was his first time offering council, though it was oddly directed to Scarlet, not Lye, as if he refused to talk to the man currently.

“A fair point,” Lye added. “And exactly why you won’t be going anywhere any time soon.”

Lye pulled away from Amari’s reach and made for the door. Eyes on their guest, he gestured to leave as he opened the way.

Taka moved and stopped only briefly to kneel beside Amari before he spoke softly, “Rest for now, I'll see you tomorrow.” He then rose up and followed Lye, carefully traversing the rooms discarded clothing amongst other things. When he reached the door he gestured forth, “Lead on, generous Host.”

The door shut. From his wrist, he plucked a senbon and wedged it between the door and frame. Its enchanted steel stretched out like roots, biting and writhing between metal and stone. From the outside, it was the only manner to lock her in. He ignored the immediate sound of her pounding against the door, screaming for him to open it.

“We need to talk,” spoke the Assassin to the Knight.

[Mari]

“You can’t just leave like that!” Amari snapped at Lye, but he didn’t acknowledge her, nor did Taka, instead they left and as a final ‘Fuck You’ to Amari, Lye had locked her within his quarters, just as he once did with her own cabin. She could not see, but she could feel it, the twisted iron barring her escape.

The rage bubbled up within Amari, instantly and boiling. She threw herself against the door, screaming at him to come back. Her hands became engulfed in the physical manifestation of her corruption, a crackling red glow, she started slamming her shoulder against the door, then her fists. They ached with pain upon impact but it only drove her further, to push and hit harder. She screamed first for her Master, then for Taka.

Her mind was beyond the fluidity of a broken woman, it had snapped and Amari was struggling to put it back together.

“TAKA! TAKA!”

Amari thought she had things together, she had brief moments of perfect clarity. Where everything clicked and everything just worked but the moment Taka entered her head it started to unravel, her perfect serene world shook and crumbled and that both infuriated and scared her. She had to figure it out. Amari knew she didn’t love him, she had given up on such a stupid notion when she lost Shinsou.

“GET OUT OF MY HEAD TAKA!” She screamed in a fruitless bid to pull her thoughts away from him, each time her fists would collide with the door, trying to break free but to no avail. She slid down against the back of the door and turned her attention to her Masters room, normally pristine, blood had been smeared across the walls, the floor, even the bedsheets. Her vision was slowly but surely returning. The entire scene was a blurry, unfocused, bloody mess.

The room had buckled under the effects of her souls aura, anything made of wood had become rotted, buckling under the intense pressure of her own hatred and insanity. Clothes were strewn across the floor, and the herbs he had on his alchemic desk had wilted and died.

Amari glanced at her own hands, seeing them stained an inky black. This is the power I have now? It was extraordinary, it was exhilarating, why would Aislynn try to take this from her? Was it because she was a threat to the knights? Amari laughed bitterly as she stumbled over to the bathtub and ran herself a bath. She climbed into the heated waters and slowly began to wipe the blood from her blackened body.

Was Tauros right? They only saw me as an inside to The Hand. Aislynn only wanted to take my corruption away because I was too trusting… an easy target. Without it, I am no longer a threat to them. The hell are Taka and Master talking about anyway? Why am I excluded? What’s so important it must be kept secret?

The bath waters seeped whatever energy she had left out of her, her hands ached, and her arms felt heavy as she lifted them to rinse off the remaining blood from her body, albeit a tad reluctantly before pulling herself out of the tub and shuffling to the bed. She ignored the sting of cold that prickled her body and threw herself into the covers, face first.

Perhaps Taka and Master were right...I should… rest…

She tried to let sleep take her, but she was restless, her body still prickling with new and foreign energy.

[Tainted Bushido]

“Talk, or interrogate?” Taka questioned. His voice low but perfectly audible. He knew there was a pointed difference between the two as he followed Lye to the grand hall. Chairs adorned it making it appear as a regal court. Taka knew his place here, he had chosen it. Moving to the center of the hall he stopped and waited for Lye to choose his accommodations, as he drank in the details.

Instead of opting for the head of the table, the assassin took a seat across from him and gestured opposite. Taka eyed the chair before he carefully pulled it out, sat and gently moved it back in a move that showed great care and practice. The chairs were not unlike those in the Ixian War Room and he treated them with appropriate reverence.

Taka could still hear Amari banging on the door, she had stopped calling for her ‘Master’ and was now calling his name, asking him to get out of her head, and what he was doing to her. The Ronin managed to keep the turmoil it caused him under the surface as he looked at Lye and waited patiently for an answer to his question.

“Perspective,” Lye stated vaguely. “Tell me what happened in Dheathain. That’s a far ways from Corone.”

“Favor for an old colleague. Needed help gathering materials, wanted someone they could trust to protect them. I accompanied them and was in a smaller city when Noel shoved my charge and I stopped him. He mentioned someone needed help and my charge, feeling generous, let me go investigate. We found Amari, unconscious in a cavern filled with black crystals,” Taka said. Everything was truth, he didn't bother with lies, he was terrible at them anyways.

The man across from him showed limited to no expression. He folded his arms atop one another and Taka knew his every action down to the breath was being studied and watched. There was the sense now a predator assessing its prey, and that analogy seemed oddly fitting now. However Taka knew that while Lye was stronger, he had not even begun that fight when he lost. He had failed to kill his heart and it had cost him at an inopportune time.

“Your charge, is their name Aislinn?” Lye asked next. “And your old colleague, are they also one of the Ixian Knights?”

“Was, Aislinn,” Taka corrected. “And yes, they were.” He saw no need to let Lye know they were one in the same. “Aislinn stopped being my charge when I left her with the rest of Mercenary Company.”

“So she’s still alive. Did others follow you here? Are they nearby?”

“If I had the ability to call others here do you believe it wise to divulge that? Or not have already done so?”

“I’m measuring the extent of your honesty, Ixian.” His words hissed to punctuate the gravity of the situation. Finally he saw the beginnings of the foul temper he had heard about. “My scouts would surely inform me either way.” He took a more relaxed posture, pressing his back against his chair. “What of her? You clearly care for her well-being unless that too is practiced. How deep do your affections go?”

Taka looked at Lye for a moment, he let the question hang in the air before he spoke, “I am inexperienced at this, I believe that how my men begin such things is with a drink. Then if we like each other we can discuss our feelings.”

The absurdity of the answer was specifically pointed. Lye could ask all he wanted about the actions of the Ronin, but he would be damned if he willingly gave his thoughts to the mad man before him. There would be retribution for sure, whether carefully measured or not he didn't care, he would not answer so vulgar a question.

“And you’re measuring the extent of my hospitality?” Lye’s face remained slate.

“I'm measuring the extent with which you desire that answer Lichensith Ulroke, even if we were friends an answer would be so guarded,” Taka countered, “I do not mistake you for a friend though, nor a host. I believe I've heard the term warden bandied about for such things.”

“I can’t decide if you are clever, or foolishly stubborn.” Lye took a deep breath. “I assume the former. That woman is Salvic royalty. Her role is more important than you or me. Yet, and for some reason, you two happened to have…” He gestured broadly in Taka’s direction. “Something. That something is interfering and troublesome. Your reply dictates how I handle this problem. The easy solution is to remove it. Permanently. How is your wound, by the way?”

“Threatening me with death, when death is the reason I am here, is an odd tactic. I'm more than certain you know what's going on between me and Amari, I'm also fairly certain she doesn't know her body’s history, does she?” Taka replied. He pressed, trying wring his own information out of Ulroke, it was the best thing he could do given the circumstances.

“She’s learning,” the assassin spoke.

Taka met the assassin’s gaze before he sighed, “You're fishing. I see, you're concerned because you want her to be a puppet, and are concerned of someone else holding the strings.”

“No,” Lye corrected. “I could make her a puppet, but she deserves more than that. Besides, for her sake, she needs to remain ruthless. Vinegar is far more effective in Salvar than honey.” He paused. “Did she tell you of her brother & father?”

“She was tight lipped about herself. More than willing to speculate on things around her and the circumstances of what she was, less clear on the who,” Taka replied bluntly.

“I see.” The statement carried interest. “If you knew more about that, you’d be more inclined to believe that what I’m doing is for her best interest. Regardless, I have a proposal, samurai. The Ixians are broken and none of my men have found Sei’s current whereabouts. Your castle is in shambles. I don’t know what you still fight for and you don’t see eye to eye with me. Still, I believe we can both agree that the girl’s safety is a shared goal.”

“I'm listening Crimson Assassin, that’s all I promise you,” The Ronin replied.

“Swear on your life and blade to keep her from harm. You won’t answer to me, but to her. This comes with the caveat that you withhold all knowledge of this place and my organization from your former Knights.”

“You realize our ideas of what's best for her wildly differ?”

“Clearly. But the proposal isn’t to do what’s best for her. But to put your life before hers and keep her alive. Much like you are doing now.”

He stared mutely at the Assassin.

[Lye]

Though distant, the muted sounds of screams battered against the locked doors of Lye’s quarters and filled the silence between the two opposed warriors. The assassin’s chair groaned as he leaned into its backrest. The thought of sparing the Ixian nagged at the back of his mind like a choice already gone wrong. Yet, if his time with Kayla and Jensen were any indication, Taka was not beyond influence.

“So, swordsman?” Lye asked over the sounds of Amari’s cries.

“That's between me and her to discuss, not for you,” The Ronin replied frustratingly inscrutable.

“Foolishly stubborn then.” Lye sighed, pushed back his chair, and rose. “Place your weapons on the table. I will show you to your cell.”

The Ronin carefully removed his daisho before he explained,”You gave me no reason to trust you beyond, ‘I haven't killed you yet.’ Forgive me the reluctance to accept your word as fact Assassin. Who proudly talks of ignoring inconvenient laws.” He then reached behind his back and removed his Tanto before he gestured, “To my accommodations?”

Lye gestured back to the Inner Sanctums cavernous expanse. As the two walked on in silence, Amari’s struggles became more apparent. The door showed several dents. The amount of force needed to inflict such damage on inches of solid iron impressed the assassin. As they carried on, Lye opened a door opposite the cavern to expose a poorly lit stairwell. Fumes of the most unpleasant nature wafted up freely from below.

Down below, several occupied and unoccupied cells framed the walls. Some tenants sat quietly huddled in damp corners. Others lay sprawled out and motionless. Lye stopped in front of the cell Amari previously occupied, the remains of the neighboring prisoner still pulled partially through the bars.

Wordlessly Taka entered the cell before sitting down and closing his eyes, ignoring everything around him. “Tell me, is this Kyla's cell?”

Lye closed the cell door, lock falling into place. He hesitated at the prisoner’s words.

“No.” The answer held audible weight. “She shared my quarters.” Lye held an open palm through the bars. “Her anklet, please.”

Taka carefully stood and went to the bars before he reached into a small pouch and withdrew the anklet, “One day justice will be served, but not today, and I am not a thief.” he carefully placed it in Lye’s hand before he sat down and said, “I assume the other Ixians are dead and boar food as well?”

“The prisoners that didn’t sway loyalty, yes.” Lye took the trinket in hand and placed it away on his person. Without another word to the samurai, he made for the stairs and left him in solitude.

Amari had seemingly collapsed from exhaustion on his bed, freshly bathed her body still glistened in the light of the burning embers. Her arms were black, as were her legs up to her knees. Her back had wilted in thick cracks, as did her face , her chest had fractures that tore toward the centre of her body, leaving his own black mark to be covered.

The chair lay in pieces, there were scratch marks on the obsidian, and the metal door was dented in parts. His desk looked worn by time, crumbling and split. All of the specimens he kept for his herbal remedies and poisons were black and crisp. Lye walked over to Amari and gently nudged her. “Can you see?”

“I’m awake.” She muttered dryly. “Couldn’t sleep even if I wanted. My whole body feels like it’s on fuckin’ fire.” She rolled onto her back, “I can. What do you want?”

“I want to talk to you about the Akashiman.” Lye took a seat on the stone basin, still wet from Amari’s bath. “Now that he knows where the Hand is, he’s a liability.”

She grinned, clearly amused at the predicament. “Suppose so, what you gonna do then? Lock him up? Convert him?” She swung her legs over the side of the bed and swayed them side to side in a carefree fashion, as though she didn’t understand the intricacies of the situation, or did she just not care? Lye’s eyes narrowed.

“That depends. You seem to care about him. I would assume killing him is out of the question?” He replied with scrutiny. His watchful glare focused intently on the spreading black throughout her body.

Her grin fell, he hit a nerve. “I don’t know. I’d rather not feel that way, but I think I do. Death is not something I want for Taka.” She bought her hands up to her head and gripped tendrils of red hair, pulling it taught away from her head as though she were ready to rip it out her skull. “Get him OUT of my head. OUt. ouT. OuT.” She muttered as her eyes drifted to the ceiling. “I feel such clarity now, but the mention of his name….” She muttered something inaudible followed by a hiss. “Everything about him….”

The girl made no sense. She wished to spare him from death, but he clearly drove her mad. Lye gripped his chin in thought. “So you wish to spare his life, but his existence is tearing you apart.” The assassin shook his head. “The Scarlet I named would have done away with this nuisance herself. What did those Ixians do to you?”

She lowered her hands, but they remained entangled within her hair. “Aislynn did something.” She whispered. “She tore the corruption away from me…” Amari’s voice drifted off and became airy. “I think she connected me to my place of origin, I saw countless versions of myself, past lives… all glowing… The Ixians… they fed me, they showed me kindness and hospitality. They insisted they wanted nothing in return. Such filthy lies. Filthy filthy lies...” She stifled a laugh as her voice broke. “How can that be? I never experienced such sincerity… such kind warmth...I don’t understand it...a.hahaa...how stupid I was…so desperate for such things I played right into their hands...”

“Hmm,” Lye pondered. He wore his concern on his face, but it quickly grew cold. “Perhaps you don’t belong here after all.”

“Is that what you truly think, Master?” She released her hands from her hair and tilted her face up to meet his, it was difficult to ascertain what was running through her mind, her voice was cold and lacked any form of emotion. “Really?”

“I took you in, gave you the tools necessary to never again be taken advantage of, yet it still seems to find you at every turn. Shinsou and now this man. Not to mention your run in with Vincent.” Lye rose from his seat. “I wanted you to help me lead. How can you do that if your resolve is constantly wavering?”

Amari’s gaze rose to the ceiling, “You are not wrong, Master. I was stubborn, and foolish, parts of me wanted warmth. Wanted to be held, just for the sake of being held. Wasn’t gonna get that from you now was I?” She snorted. “I know better than to want that, my resolve is stronger now, if you are to cast me aside, after everything, go ahead, but…. I wonder, if I were to welcome further corruption, if it would make all that noise disappear. Hey…” She sat up, a wry grin on her face. “Before you do away with me, do one more thing for me, for old times sake - help me spread my corruption, wouldn’t that be fun?”

“You only need me,” Lye stated, his hand on her cheek, she was right, her body felt like fire. “I can give you warmth if you ask.” He pulled away. “If you want to stay, Taka will need to be dealt with. I’ll leave the decision to you either way. Just know every action has its consequence.”

Lye looked toward Amari with a softer touch on his features then she was used to. For a moment, he looked as though the loss of her would do more than inconvenience him. Yet, with silence, he moved to the door to excuse himself.

[Mari]

“I didn’t say you could go.” Amari quipped as she shifted off the bed, Amari wanted to catch that look again. Wanted to know what he meant about giving her warmth, “What do you mean… warmth? Sex? A warm body to sleep next to?” Those were not the things she once sought. His sudden change in demeanour piqued her interest.

Lye averted his gaze briefly, his mouth parted but before he could say anything, he inhaled deeply and Amari could hear the crunch of his leather gloves as he balled his fists tight. “If that is what you want, I will give those things to you.”

“You didn’t answer me, Master. Why not help me spread my corruption?” She took another step toward him, then another, she placed her hand on the door, barring his escape. “You can’t just walk away from me, not now.”

He halted as she placed herself in his way. “I want to.” He paused looking her over again with the odd waiver in his stoic demeanor. “But you’re unstable, unpredictable. Right now, you’re a risk. And… and you know that.” She felt his hand on her shoulder, trying to push her aside. “Taka and Shinsou need to be dealt with.”

Amari’s eyes lit up in delight, “Oh but Shinsou’s already dealt with.” Amari felt Lye’s resistance waver as he stopped trying to push her aside. She had his undivided attention. “Did I not tell you?” She asked as she tilted her head to the side, feigning innocence, she started tracing a small, familiar pattern on his clothes. The sigil he had forced onto Advencia. “Remember that Crystal Sword battle I was magicked away to…? He died, I watched him crumple.” Amari’s eyes rose to meet his, a part of her was worried that she was able to brush his death of with such ease, it tore at the back of her head, screaming for her to stop.

But another part of her...

It revelled in how wonderfully simple it was, and that was the part she embraced. “Snap, then nothing.” Amari said with effortless ease. “Sure, it tore me up at the time - but I haven’t heard word from him since. The man is as good as gone.” Her voice dropped an octave, and she stopped tracing circles on Lye’s chest. “And I couldn’t care a less.”

“I see.” He stepped closer to Amari.A gloved hand ran through her hair in a strange act of tenderness which Amari didn’t quite understand. “Then all we have to worry about is Taka. Then I can give you whatever warmth you desire.”

Taka’s name, and the way he was just brushed so easily off by Lye irked Amari. She grit her teeth. Her fingers curled into fists. “Unstable...huh… since when did you shy away from such a challenge?” Amari asked, refusing to look him in the eye, instead she took his hand and lowered it to his side. She didn’t need the comforting act from him. “I don’t need your false kindness, Ulroke. Don’t force yourself to for my sake.”

Lye snorted, and muttered something under his breath. “Don’t misinterpret me, Scarlet. What is going on in your head?”

“Taka...T-Taka…” She was fighting with herself, she wanted him safe, she wanted him to be as far away from here as possible, she wanted to hold him and kiss him, but at the same time...she was wanting to rid herself of her feelings for him, whatever it was they were. If not for his safety, than for her own peace of mind. Lye was right, the ronin really was driving her mad.

“Don’t you see? That’s why I need you. I need you to help push his influence away from me...I don’t know what he’s doing to me, Lye…” She pressed her head to his chest as her hands began to shake. “How can one man drive themselves so far into my psyche? Am I truly that weak?”

“What would you have me do?” His voice sounded sincere.

Amari snapped her head up, eyes red and green and wild staring into his one good eye. “Do it! DO IT throw me aside, envelop my body in blinding pain! Let me fight you, let me scream in obstinate disobedience, let my anger and hate seethe, and let the pain overtake me. That’s what does it!” Her voice wavered with uncertainty, she wanted to say goodbye to Taka, a part of her knew that if she continued down this path, she’d truly never be the same again. Amari shook him, “Do whatever your twisted heart desires, have Taka watch...have him ignorant...just don’t hurt him, if he doesn’t affect me then he isn’t as much of a liability! Don’t hurt him and take this away from me.”

Her sobs were clear, “Please…”

She heard her master breathe deeply. He didn’t answer her immediately but after a delay, he said, “Then let’s visit him together.”

Amari nodded, and slipped her hands up and under his Jacket, sliding it off him so she could cover her own nude form with it. “So that is a promise then?” She asked as she stepped to the side, allowing him to leave.

“I will not harm him,” Lye acknowledged.

“Let’s go then.” Amari said as she followed him out of their room. She knew she was damning herself, she knew she would lose herself within the thriving darkness within her, but she also knew that Lichensith Ulroke, as twisted as he may be, was a man of his word.

She would be lost, but Taka would be safe.

[Tainted Bushido]

Eyes closed to the world about him, Taka turned his attentions inward. The fire of pain across his back, the turmoil of Amari’s predicament, Eteri's revelations about his soul. All were studied and puzzled over as he sought to regain his center.

He ignored his cellmate the desecrated corpse. He ignored the stench of disease and death. He had ignored the guards who had come and gone, and would ignore the groans of the other cellmates. He was lost within himself, even as the sounds of boots down the stairs came.

Even with his inattention he recognized the feelings of earth and void that came down the stairs. The Earth was Amari, though rather than the loamy fertile earth he was used to, it was a scorched land. Surely a sign of her corruption settling deep.

Amari was the first to approach the cell. “Taka.” She said, unlocking it and stepping into the cell. She kneeled down to his level, Taka could smell the remnants of blood on her . “Master and I have discussed the liability that is you. You will be unharmed.” She reached out to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Look at me.”

Taka opened his eyes seeing straight into the Scarlet irises of his lover, “Amari-Chan. This is unexpected. A pleasant surprise though.”

More footsteps echoes in the darkened chamber. The unmistakeable silver of Ulroke’s hair rounded the corner. In the weak torchlight, his serpentine eyes shone like verdant omens.

She wore the faintest of smiles, but it faded.“You are to forget about me, forget whatever sentimental feelings you think you have for me. I’m doing this for you.” She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his, it felt bittersweet, as though she were going somewhere and never coming back.

He reacted slowly to the kiss. Letting it linger for a moment between them before he closed his eyes and said softly, “You don't need to sacrifice yourself for me Amari-Chan. Don't make that mistake, despite what he says there is always a choice.”

The grating echo of steel slamming into place echoed in the darkness. The assassin stood at the door and twisted the key to lock them in.

“Scarlet, come,” He beckoned.

Taka felt loss As Amari pulled away from him, standing she stood before Lye. “Locking me in?” She casually leaned against the bars. “Always full of surprises, aren’t you Master?”

“You wanted my help. So, let me help you.” He held out his hand. “Give me your choker.”

“I see, I suppose that’s the lazy way of doing things.” Her voice quipped to his odd request. Amari reached behind her and unclasped the choker, she reached out to hand it to Lye but her body seized and collapsed to the floor, the black material still in her hand as her eyes rolled into the back of her head. Her body contorted in sickening twists of pain as Amari gasped for air, pained cries barely making it through clenched teeth.

Like possessed by a ghost, the lace necklace floated from her hands and came to rest in Lye’s clutches. “I promised I wouldn’t harm you, Ixian. The same can’t be said about her.” As he spoke, the bastard walked to a worn stool against the stone wall. “You should have agreed to champion her.” He dragged it just outside the bars and took a seat. “Now, you’ll get to see her as she truly is.”

“Do what you have to do, Scarlet.” His words boomed over her shrill screams as the black ebbed and cracked further along her porcelain skin. His lips turned into a grin as Amari fell into a fit of broken laughter.

Taka stood and went to the door before he looked squarely at Ulroke, “End this now.”

“D-don’t…” Amari pushed herself to her knees and pressed her face against the bars, she sat at Taka’s feet, body twitching with pain. “More..”

He gripped the bars firmly before he said, ice in his voice, “I will not say it again, end this now.”

“You should be talking to her,” Lye retorted calmly with a bemused wrinkle in his lips. “She specifically asked for this.”

Taka for the first time in his life willingly called upon the oni's blood in his veins. He could feel a rush of energy in his veins as he formed up his grip on the cellar door, the door that had existed for countless years and survived Amari’s attempts to shatter it. He closed his eyes and grunted, “Utz!”

The door broke off it's hinges before he tossed it at Lye, using the free bars as a distraction before he moved and grabbed the Assassin by his vest. Gripping tightly with both hands he lifted the Crimson Hand’s leader before he spoke his voice filled with anger, “If you do not end this now I will drag you out to that courtyard and rip each limb from your body. You may have her caught up in the bullshit you peddle, but I will send my soul to Jigoku before I let you torture her before me!”

He threw the assassin against the bars beside Amari, not bothering to soften the blow as all. His body thudded against them with force enough to kill a man, and he slumped to the floor hunched over. Taka felt a sudden heated, burning sensation around his ankle, he glanced down to see a shivering and sobbing Amari at his feet. Her hand glowing an angry red as her very touch seared his flesh.

Amari spoke, her voice cracking, the insanity in her sing-song voice, It was almost too much to take in his current state, “This...iss...mine. Do NOT take it away….”

Taka knelt beside Amari before he whispered softly, “This may be yours, but it is not you.”