Light glinted sharply off the blade as it reached its peak, swinging back and   forth like a tired pendulum between Kenjou's fingers. He watched as the dull   metal cut through the thick ribbons of smoke, splitting them into two   separate strips, before dropping it straight down on the wick and smoldering   the flame. The eyes of the blue dragon glinted fiercely with the flame, and   now without its light it was silent, asleep. Kenjou stood beside the statue   in deep meditation; his upper body completely bare. "The time has come has   it? Your great miko has arrived to gather your servants and awaken you!" he   whispered as he held the knife in his left hand. Blood trickled down Kenjou's   back as he penetrated the skin on his right shoulder blade, slowly driving   the dull blade deeper beneath his skin. The eyes of the statue stirred   fiercely, tinted with a dark blue light as the mark of seiryuu shichiseishi   Soi burned coldly beneath the gushing blood on Kenjou's shoulder. He screamed   when he could no longer push the blade and collapsed at the foot of the statue.  Did that hurt? Seeing your slave mutilate your mark of possession? Feeling your link being torn from you" he pulled himself closer to the face of the statue with his left arm, barely a whisper escaped his   mouth, "There is fear in even a god's eyes!" and with that he fell into unconsciousness, the flame of his blue aura slowly fading away as seiryuu   once more, closed his eyes.


	He could smell the strong odor of some poultice being mixed as he slowly   opened his eyes. The whole room was thick with the stench of the bitter   medication, mingling with the scent of his wound. The room itself was small,   and the hole in the wall told him that it was already nighttime. Teru was   sitting across from him, talking to another figure in the distance, feminine,   but not the familiar weak frame of his wife. "Augh! I'm alive aren't I?"   Kenjou mumbled, his voice hoarse and dry.
	"How'd you guess?" 
	"Cause you wouldn't be in heaven!" 
	A smile escaped Teru's lips as the realization that his friend was alright hit him like a weak insult "Smart boy, but how do you know you're going there?" Kenjou struggled to sit up, accidently leaning on his right arm. A strong curse exited his lips as the pain shot through his entire body.  "Whoaaaaa now, relax" he motioned to the girl to bring Kenjou something to drink, and as she knelt down to help him with his tea, he recognized her as the girl that poured the wine in the dining hall. She looked tired and  cute, which really was no surprise since slave traders usually hawked those as their best merchandise. 
	His reverie was broken by the realization that Teru was in the middle of a sentence no doubt directed towards him. "So I'm to accompany you to Keiji, why is he sending you to the palace, huh? That's what I was thinking. I mean, I have no problem with going and all, but really, we're to leave tomorrow morning good thing we found you soon enough," and so on and so forth until Kenjou hit his head against the wall, "What was that for?"
	"It worked didn't it" 
	"So why are you being sent to the palace?" Teru ignored the last statement and pushed a question of his own forward.
	"There has been a threat, a group against Seiryuu. So far they have not been aggressive" Kenjou said the last part with a taste of disdain in his mouth, "But I am to stay with the Empress and make sure everything's peachy   as an ambassador for my father." He sat there in silence for a moment, thinking over this new faction, "Besides perhaps we should hear these   'heretics' out."




	The Outer Gates of the Imperial Capital were a blemish against the crisp cerulean sky - the stain of humanity in the depths of heaven.  He stared enchanted at the dividing line of heaven and earth, amused by the idea that one could open up and swallow the other. His revelry was quickly broken however, by the blinding gleam of a watchman's armor on the upper level of the wall, slapping him back to reality. He could smell the bustle of the marketplace just beyond the archway, the taste of lives trickling away with each trivial moment lingered on his tongue. 
	"Lord Shinigami" The footman near the entryway saluted, "We saw your banner from the distance, a messenger has already been sent to the Empress."  Kenjou nodded at the guard, silently signaling his approval. "Lord Taki shall escort you to the palace." He looked up into the entryway and saw a man on horseback, a small smile creeping slowly across Kenjou's lips. Adjusting the strap on a long wooden box near his leg, Kenjou urged his horse forward.	
	"What took you? The empress has been waiting, and there has been much unrest in the palace I'm afraid." 
	"Come now, is that any way to speak to a brother?"
	"Hah! You are a bastard before a brother, and no blood ties us."
	"Brotherhood knows not the color of blood."
	"I trust your father is well," Kenjou gave out a short grunt, cutting off Taki's formality. His right arm began to twitch, coursing fire through his veins. Slowly, he began to contract and relax his muscles, clenching his fist repetitively until the sensation abated.
	"The palace," he muttered, his right hand slowly relaxing, "I never thought I would see it again." Taki studied Kenjou's countenance, his face blank with awe. Or was it awe that turned him so stoic? Taki pushed his thoughts away; the silence was too heavy for comfort.
	"Your entourage may stay with you in the east wing if you so choose.  Our servant quarters are quite full I'm afraid." He glanced back at Kenjou's train.
	"I have only foot soldiers, most of whom followed my father to be his servants. They can survive amongst your soldiers if need be."
	"Soldiers? With no armor or weapons?"
	"Do you really think I wear so many clothes?" and with that Taki glanced back at his entourage. There was a hefty elaborate cart, its contents concealed by drapes. On the outside it seemed as if it carried an offering to the Empress, not an unusual custom at the time. Farther back, there was another cart carrying wooden chests of various sizes, each piled up in an odd fashion. The chests were dull and nondescript, yet they had no lock or fastening to keep them shut - as if they were ready to be opened at any time.  He watched as the servants huddled around each cart, alert and focused - even the women.
	Taki could not resist letting out a gentle chuckle, "I'm not sure whether to call you a coward or a genius."
	"I prefer the term paranoid." Kenjou's grin widened into a smile. They did not mention anything else related to the military after that, content with sticking to anecdotes and news for the short trip to the Palace. 
	"So he was a she?"
	"Mm-hm."
	"Extraordinary."
	"Not a sound out of you, or do you need a reminder of how my blade tastes."
	"Oh sure, pick on the little ones, I'll have you know that I can actually pick up a sword now."
	Taki let out a boisterous laugh, "well, I'll give you one thing," he tipped his head towards the carts behind them, "you've become quite the clever paranoid."
	It wasn't long before they reached the Palace, the gem of Keiji and all of Kutou. Taki excused himself at the entrance of the east wing, leaving Kenjou alone at last. Walking towards his room, he let his fingers glide against the walls. He needed that reminder, that assurance that this was not just a memory ready to be extinguished at any moment. Yet at the same time, what would happen when he wanted them to fade away? When the walls would echo those moments that plagued his nightmares? His presence, the entire palace, became a fusion of reality and nightmare.
	The image of blood dripping slowly off a sharp, ornate blade, his own hands reaching for the hilt in confusion, "Please, no!" The mark of Seiryuu burned brightly through the bandages as the sharp blade turned dull before his eyes.
	"Lord Shinigami," turning his head slightly, he could see a woman's outline through the corner of his eye. He tried desperately to regain his composure, something he became accustomed to while living with his father.  However he was too shaken, the images too close, the walls too real. 
	"Forgive me, the journey has made me weak." He straightened himself out, a smile playing on his lips once more. The servant simply bowed and smiled back.
	"Ah, yes, however the Dowager Empress has sent word that she shall see you now." She refused to look him in the eye, all the while waiting for him to dismiss her.
	"Very well," and with that she scurried down the hall.