Setting
"I've said before, Dr. Krstevska, I'd much prefer to stay in general population than to remain where I am," the old woman said, shrugging.
"And we've denied that request for your safety," Andrijana said firmly. "You are not safe in general population, for any number of reasons I shouldn't have to explain to you."
"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I doubt I've ever truly been safe anywhere. I'm afraid my current housing assignment has done little to change that." The old woman's shoulders were rigid, her arm pressed to her side, attempting to keep it still to avoid further aggravating the injuries. "I'll be fine, though. I've survived long enough; I doubt I'll soon offer the pleasure of my death to the enemies already gathered at the gates - a disappointment, to be sure."
Andrijana shook her head. "It's our responsibility to care for those in our custody, to ensure their safety." She looked back to Aeka and Hokushin. "I'm sorry; I can't ask your bodyguard to stay here. I can't permit him to either - this is a secured facility, and he is not an employee or contractor."
Hokushin made no reactions, other than to speak slowly, his baritone voice commanding his presence. “I do whatever her highness instructs.” He said flatly, as Aeka nodded slightly.
The young woman shifted slightly, crossing one leg over the other, and letting her hands fall into her lap.
“I’m sorry, i’ve already been too much of an imposition as it is, perhaps it is not a good idea, Hokushin would have to intervene, and your irons would not be able to hold him.” The Princess said, looking back towards Drulovic.
“I should be able to convince my mother to come to Shintenchi, when she arrives I will send by courier, and we can arrange the visitation.”
"It's certainly an odd proposition," Drulović seemed to agree momentarily, but added, "but I can't say I'd decline the offer of company, even for so short a time. It's quite lonely here, Dr. Krstevska, don't you think? How often, precisely, do you see your own loved ones, living so far from the nearest city while you toil away here?"
"I - that's quite personal," said Andrijana, drawing herself up to her full height and moving away from the old woman. "I just... It flies in the face of protocol. No. I don't see how it could be done, or what good it would do. You won't even tell us who was responsible, Ms. Drulović. I cannot help you if you will not even tell us whether it was a member of staff or another inmate. But of course, you won't turn snitch. That's always what it comes down to, I guess."
"It's simply not important," said Drulović, her eyes traveling up to meet Andrijana's. "My face will heal. I'm sure I've had the bits and pieces of it rearranged enough times to last several lifetimes by now." The fresh bruising and cuts, which Andrijana winced at every time she looked, still could not mask the thick, knotted scarring where the old woman's ear had been until less than a year ago.
“Nothing would go wrong, Mr. Hokushin comes from good stock, he’s probably the most composed, and disciplined person you could ever have, he follows orders to the letter, without question.” Aeka said, as she placed her hand on his back, patting him, though he was annoyed, he didn’t show it.
“Nothing your inmates, or guards could do would even hurt him, he’s had to endure so much more, the selection process, it’s very strict, we only accept the absolute best to be our guardians.” Aeka explained.
“Mr. Hokushin, tell her.” Aeka implored, and the man spoke, his voice crisp.
“I am proficient in over three hundred fighting styles, and I have a mastery of over one hundred Ki techniques, I can fight armed, and unarmed, I speak thirty languages, two of them rare dialects, including obscure terran languages. I train my mind, and body every moment, even now, so that I can reach my true Ki potential.” He explained, his tone was not boastful, but very matter of fact, Hokushin’s fighting in the most recent Makai tournament was a testament to his skill, he was a very capable fighter, but also very patient, highly disciplined.
Aeka smiled, satisfied. “He will follow my word to the letter, you merely have to set the parameters, Doctor.”
“I don’t want him beating me again.” She said with a frown, and Hokushin nodded. “We have a legal doctrine in our land, I believe the proper translation is ‘The King can do no wrong’ As the Emperor created the courts to protect his subjects, the Emperor does not answer to the courts, and is immune from their jurisdiction in all cases unless he consents. I believe the Terran legal doctrine is Sovereign Immunity.” Hokushin commented.
“It is not our place to speculate on the legality of His Majesty’s doings, therefore, what’s done, is his will, and destiny.”
The monk shifted his weight, and turned to Aeka.
“Mr. Hokushin, I ask that you follow Doctor Krstevska’s orders as if they were my own, and that of her staff while imprisoned here. I ask that you only intervene if Drulovic’s life is in danger, and to take no life. You are a Shintenchi national facing a sentence of espionage.” Aeka said, displaying a surprising amount of cunning.
“Is this enough to maintain the farce?”
Hokushin replied a moment later.
“The guard in the lobby knows my identity as your guardian.”
"I'll arrange for the dummy file," said Andrijana, resigned to permitting this strange arrangement in her facility. "It won't be good indefinitely - so please ensure that your mother makes it to Shintenchi soon." She looked at Drulović. "And I'm assuming you will not be speaking of this conversation."
"What is there to say?" Drulović turned her palm upward, then set her hand back against her abdomen, fingers curling tightly there. "You'll have my silence, for now. I've no need to cultivate unnecessary enemies or even base hostilities, Dr. Krstevska. I have plenty in store already."
"Your highness, I hope that you've been able to get what you came here for," Andrijana said. "As I said, this ..." She nodded around at her office. "This is unusual. I don't usually grant requests like this. But for a visiting dignitary - though I understand you're here unofficially - I'll of course do what I can. Mr. Hokushin, I'll arrange for the guards in the hall, outside the door, to take you into custody. They won't have heard our conversation here. I'll tell them I caught you and Ms. Drulović in cahoots. They'll take you both to the disciplinary unit."
"Oh, call it what it is," Drulović said, contemptuously. "You mean to say you intend us to go to solitary confinement." She remembered all too well the collective years she'd suffered in solitary confinement in one prison or another, each their own hell.
“It will be about two weeks round trip, it will take at least a week to reach Niihama through the astral gate, and a few days to get my mother ready, and about a week back, but I will do my best, I can only hope my brother doesn’t decide to get upset over this arrangement.”
Aeka heaved a slight sigh. “We’re both taking risks here.” She then cleared her throat.
“How dare you what is the meaning of this!?” She screamed, standing up in her chair. Hokushin said nothing, he simply raised his eyebrow awaiting what comes next.
"That one. Take him into custody," said Andrijana, nodding sharply toward Hokushin. "And Drulović, a level three ticket. It seems I've caught her at attempted espionage." She looked at the old woman entreatingly. I hope you know what you're doing. Drulović hardly moved. "She's under code red communication restrictions. It's in her file. This should never have happened."
"What?" One of the officers looked in confusion to Andrijana.
"I'll call the NPA - they'll have to come sort this out," Andrijana said, shaking her head. "For now, take him to the disciplinary unit. I'll have to figure out with the NPA how to handle his booking. He won't be here long-term, since we're not meant for holding. It's... well. This is an unprecedented situation."
"You'll believe what you'd like to believe," said Drulović, her tone calm and serene, her dark eyes revealing nothing, before her voice turned contemptuous. "You've no proof of anything at all, only your paranoia and wild accusations. Be careful, Dr. Krstevska."
"On your knees," the officer closest to Hokushin ordered, baton out.
"Shut up, inmate," the other officer said to the old woman, terse, at nearly the exact same time. "You want her out now?" He looked at Andrijana.
Aeka started to step forward, playing at the hysterics.
“Let me out of here! Now!” She took a step forward towards the door, while Hokushin made no moves to resist, on his knees at the moment.
“Touch me and it will be an act of war!” Aeka bellowed at the guards, at Andrijana pointing an angry finger. “Don’t worry Mr. Hokushin, my brother will send for you.” She then glared at Drulovic. “You! Your life is forefeit for this treachery!” She cried. “Let me out of here! I must contact my government at once!” Subtly, she winked at Andrijana, and Drulovic. Hokushin had already begun committing everything to memory.
There was no turning back now.
"I said, shut up," said Salgado, the officer closest to Drulović. He looked at Andrijana. "Ma'am?"
"No one's stopping you from leaving, Ms. Takayama," said Andrijana, cold and business-like. "Don't let the door hit you on the way out." She shook her head at Salgado, throwing her shoulders back, and crossing her arms over her chest. "Not yet. Don't take her down to disciplinary just yet." Jonassaint, Salgado's counterpart, pressed the baton into Hokushin's back, forcing him to the floor, and then grabbed each of his arms, deftly cuffing them behind his back and conducting a quick pat-down. "He's a spy, Ms. Takayama. I do not permit criminal activity of any kind within this facility. Perhaps things are different on Niihama. Here, we do not extend special dispensation to members of our leaders' personal entourages."
Jonassaint was already radioing for backup. It took only a few seconds more for two other officers, who'd been at the other end of the hall, to arrive, hands on their batons, eyes rapidly scanning the room on high alert. "Remove the spy," said Andrijana, nodding at Hokushin. "Ms. Takayama, I suggest you leave now. Contact your embassy. Do whatever you like. But go." Drulović reached a hand for the folded letter from Kendra, when Salgado's baton slammed onto the table, an inch from her fingers. He snatched the letter, holding it up in front of Andrijana with a questioning look. "Give it to me," Andrijana said, holding out her hand for it.
With Aeka gone, Hokushin did not make any moves to resist the guards, though the man’s muscles felt like steel, he was compliant, even though his strength, and skill were honed to a razor’s edge. Aeka had given his orders, and this would give him ample opportunity to reflect, and meditate.
The Mazoku warrior cast a look briefly to Drulovic as the restraints clicked, and snapped around his wrists. A Pat down would reveal Aeka’s handbag, which he had been holding on for her, it had her personal belongings, and a few more things inside it. He showed no emotion, no reaction.
Hokushin had pondered several outcomes, one of which he hoped the guards did not tend to gossip, he did not know if word would reach the wider terran government of what took place here. But what was more concerning was Shimizu learning of what transpired before Aeka could carry out her plan, and before Hokushin could deliver his report to Andrijana.
Hokushin looked at the floor, to the dead spider curled up under the leg of the desk, to the dust bunnies from the last time the janitor swept the floor. It was cold, it reminded him of his training with master Genkai.
"I doubt there's anything I might say that you might heed," said Drulović, contemptuous, head tilted slightly back in defiance, eyes narrowed to slits, though the expression was a bit lost in the swollen bruising. "I have nothing more to say to you. My work does not concern you."
Something in the old woman's tone suggested to Andrijana that her words might not be entirely feigned or affected. She repressed the urge to shiver. "Fine, then. You'll wait in disciplinary while Officer Salgado writes up the charges. And I'll be informing the prosecutor's office about this. I didn't realize you were so eager to extend your quite lenient sentence." She waved at the officers. "Take them out."
Freed from the earlier directive, Salgado grabbed roughly at Drulović's arm. "On your feet." She staggered slightly, but did not resist, only grabbed at the table to right herself. Salgado reapplied the restraints they'd escorted Drulović up in, locking the handcuffs to the waist chain and the one leading to the leg irons, and then he and one of his colleagues each took one of her arms, moving her out. Jonassaint and the other officer pulled Hokushin to his feet, heading out after the old woman. As if instinctually aware of Hokushin's highly specialized military training, the two were on high alert, tense, and watching him closely.
Andrijana shut the office door behind them.
The disciplinary unit was housed in a building all on its own, within its own separate fencing from the rest of the complex. Meant to hold no more than fifty people at most and rarely holding more than ten at any given time, the original architects of the place had separated each cell from the corridor with a double door - a barred one, and a solid metal one. Of course, the walls themselves were not entirely soundproofed, despite best efforts, and those confined there could, if the metal doors were left ajar, occasionally catch glimpses of one another. The lights burned at all hours.
Jonassaint moved Hokushin into the cell at the furthest end of the corridor, the better to keep him away from those sent to Ĭtpraṽmår sometimes for decades at a time. No one really knew what to do with someone who had been convicted of no crime but had been apparently caught in the act of highly illegal activity. Jonassaint supposed this was the NPA's problem now. But at least temporarily, this was their problem. He scowled.
The old woman was taken to a cell a few doors down, where Salgado told her to stand against the wall for another search. She leaned there until he had finished, and removed the restraints - and when he'd shut the doors, staggered to the bed. Her knees screamed in agony. They'd now missed lunch, and dinner wouldn't come for another several hours. Since the old woman had barely been able to manage anything at breakfast, she suspected she'd manage nothing from dinner, especially not if they brought up the dried out mystery meat from the previous day's dinner. Her jaw too ached dully, and her face stung from the recent beating. She stared at the narrow window, but saw past the smudge and grime only the plain stone walls of the next building over.
Did the handcuffs creak under his movements?
He relaxed after a moment more, taking in the sights of the building as they led him through it. Hokushin was no stranger to imprisonment, as he spent years locked up in solitary meditation under his tutelage with Master Raizen, the founder of his order. Raizen was nearly a hundred years old, but looked no older than his forties, mastering his own body through his use of his ki energy.
Through it all Hokushin didn’t utter a single word, instead he waited for the restraints to be taken off, and the cell doors to be shut. In his mind he wondered what Aeka had been thinking.
On the outside, he seemed completely unbothered by what was transpiring around him, when the cell doors shut, he found a place in the center of the room, on the cold hard concrete, where he crossed his legs, and held his arms out, hands relaxed, eyes closed, he began to meditate on every sound, every word that carried through the concrete walls.
He arrived sometime between two and four in the morning, seeming for all intents and purposes to simply be another officer on night patrol, conducting the first count of the twenty-four hour cycle. But then he unlocked Drulović's cell, sliding the massive metal door open, and descending on her with a knife in hand aiming for her throat. Her eyes opened. "This time, no games," he rasped, "I finish it. You die."
He didn't anticipate that the one who beat Drulovic would return so soon, but he had to act quickly before he could take her life.
Chanting a quick shrinking jutsu, he shrank his body to fit through the bars, and under the door. Once on the other side, he reversed the Jutsu to return to normal size, moving swiftly across the pod towards the open door of Drulovics cell.
As Ulrich was slouched over the old woman with knife in hand, Hokushin reached out with incredible speed, and precision. He aimed to grasp the wrist with the knife firmly, and wrench the guard back, to pull him off, and away from Drulovic, with the second aim to put himself between the two.
While doing this, Hokushin said nothing, and moved in almost total silence.
Drulović pushed herself up from the mattress with great effort, staring past Hokushin toward Ulrich. At the moment, it seemed they were at a standstill, the darkness of the cell nearly enveloping them all in shadows. Ulrich had waited until a new moon, when the sky outside was darkest, and it seemed he hadn't had long to wait. She'd wondered when he might make his next appearance. The last time, he'd broken her clavicle and busted her cheekbones, because the last time, he'd wanted answers more than he'd wanted her life. This time, she did not doubt at all that he'd come for her life.
"I have no stake in this quarrel, but my masters do. Know that I can escape my imprisonment at will."
Hokushin took two steps forward, and jabbed two fingers towards Ulrich's chest, the move was painful, likely enough to knock the wind out of him, but it would seem to cause no lasting effects other than a nasty bruise on the center of his chest where he had been jabbed.
"Arianne Drulovic has an order of protection bestowed upon her. If you pursue this matter, I will have no choice but to take your vitality, and perhaps even your life." Hokushin warned, before he tossed the knife at Ulrich's feet.
"Make your decision."
The old woman remembered. She remembered his father, who had the same blue eyes and moved into the same fighting stance, and she remembered the bomb that had prevented the man's family from even having an open casket for his wake and funeral. He had blamed her. They all had. And she'd had no choice but to stay silent about what had actually happened, why the bomb was created and who had put it inside the church. She'd never said, and she knew she never could. When Ulrich had learned where she'd come from, what her ancestry was, he must have become convinced it was connected. He hated what she was. He'd said as much when he'd come for her two weeks before. But he couldn't bring himself to do it - not then. He'd stopped short before a killing blow.
“I serve His Majesty the Emperor, and the royal family of the Taiyou Empire.” Hokushin answered dutifully, letting Ulrich put two, and two together, if the man had ever followed the Kendra Shaw case that was.
“Know this, mercy is not something I dispense lightly, but I have been instructed not to shed blood. However, I have marked you.” Hokushin warned, and as he mentioned the mark, where he had jabbed Ulrich would likely sting intensely for a moment.
“If Arianne Drulovic dies, now, or in the future, your life, and the lives of your friends will be forfeit, we can find you, we can hunt you, you will never know peace, and you will never know when we will strike, like a serpent unseen, and unheard. If we can infiltrate this prison, and find you here, know we can find you anywhere.” Hokushin warned.
His statuesque gaze had not changed, nor did he assume any different posture than he had before. The Mazoku was ruthless, and efficient. It seems Shimizu was smart to commission this new unit.
Drulović watched, dark eyes expressionless, careful to catalogue how Hokushin moved, what Ulrich revealed in his eyes and his hands. "I've died a thousand times over already, Mr. Shumaker," she said softly. "Rest assured, I'll meet my final end one day, and I'll meet you thereafter in hell." She'd dreamt of it. She knew it was waiting for her. She could see it in Ulrich's eyes, had seen it the first time he'd come for her. Her existence here had been tolerable if not comfortable, marked primarily by monotony and neglect, but Ulrich had disrupted that equilibrium, had upset the balance of things. He'd laid eyes on her the moment she'd arrived from Wrentham. He hadn't had to say a word, but the threat had hung between them, unspoken, from across the room during intake. More than a threat, he'd made it a promise. Khayyam meant for her to die here. Ulrich meant to be the instrument.
"Because they owe her their lives." Hokushin answered plainly, taking another step forward, to try and force Ulrich out of the door. "You must make peace with your demons, and lay them to rest. The Drulovic that killed you family is very much dead, you will get no satisfaction from killing this frail hollowed out husk that stands before you." Hokushin warned, taking another step forward.
"If you want your justice, challenge me, if you think you have what it takes to beat me."
A voice crackled over his radio. "G Unit? You OK out there?"
After a moment, Ulrich responded, "10-106," never taking his eyes off Hokushin.
The old woman raised an eyebrow slightly. Hollowed-out husk was a new one. She watched Ulrich, seeing his knuckles whiten as he gripped his knife, definitely a weapon he was not supposed to have on premises, seeing his barely repressed fury and pain. She heard his forced breathing, the faint hum of the air ventilation system almost enough to disguise it. She wished she could give him the gift of truth. But it would not be possible, not for a long time, perhaps not ever.
"Are you sure?" He asked aloud.
"Perhaps I am here indefinitely, perhaps I will always be here, a shadow, watching your every move, whenever you make your strike, I will be in the shadows, waiting."
They seemed to be in a stalemate, while Ulrich was here, Hokushin could not return to his cell, and resume his meditation, he also hoped none of the other guards in the pod got too curious, it would spell the end of them both.
"I see you're a man of discretion, I'm sure your superiors wouldn't understand why we are facing each other here, in darkness." Hokushin said, bringing his two fingers to his head, stepping into the shadows, disappearing from view. For the moment, it seemed Ulrich and Drulovic were alone again, but one could not shake the sensation that eyes were upon him.
The old woman looked calmly at the man's rugged visage, shrugging. "It seems I'm not quite so alone as either of us might have thought," she said. "And believe me, Mr. Shumaker, I'm not defenseless. I know what it is you'd like. My apologies for disappointing you so."
"One day, you will die," he said in a low tone, shaking his head. "If not me, then someone else will. Someone else who deserves a chance at justice. Or revenge. Take your pick. You won't be missed. I know how few people you've had come to see you. You're not as powerful now as you used to be, even with some Taiyou friends. You will die. Your life means nothing now."
Another set of footsteps trudged down the main corridor from the direction of the central guard station, before a second officer came into view, one hand on her baton. "Shumaker? I didn't hear you call in a problem here."
"Just thought I might have caught an inmate with some contraband, trying to hide stash it away overnight," said Ulrich, keeping his eyes on Drulović. "They get pretty creative, you know. Inside the mattress. In the wall. In a hole in the floor. Folded inside a toothbrush, the spine of a book. You got lucky tonight, inmate. Don't try me again."
"You finished up the count?" The other officer nodded at the clipboard Ulrich had left on the floor outside the cell. "Oh never mind. I'll take care of it." As she headed off, muttering under her breath, "Bastard."