Compass
Dividers - @/saradika-graphics
Word count - approx. 1.3k
OCs (with their respective owners) featured in this Act: Cherry( @cherrykasugayama), Morgan (@welp-back-on-my-bs)
“Kicho. What makes you think that slaughter is… a necessary course?”
“It will make people realize how important their lives are. Instead of needlessly tossing it aside for selfish reasons,” Kicho stirred his cup, clearly on guard from Morgan’s question.
“...even when you lie to your heart? When you know this isn’t what you want?” Morgan took a sip of their cup.
The two were in Kicho’s office, finished with their tasks for today. It was when Morgan’s curiosity about Kicho’s motive cracked a bit in his resolve – his resolve to gaslight himself. Both of them are victims of society.
“What makes you think you can change my mind?” Kicho placed his cup down after taking a sip.
“I… do not think I can. But I can try to understand. Even when my mind is exhausted…” Morgan shut their eyes, hearing a set of steps coming their way.
“Yer really testing me. Trying to shake up the Yaksha–”
“Motonari, you out of all should understand what it's like to be an outcast,” Morgan walked past him and out of the office. To prevent their mental state from deterring any faster.
“Hah?” Motonari was confused at Morgan’s choice of words for him.
Kicho too was confused on what Morgan was trying to say to possibly either of them. A sense of pity or something that neither of them experienced.
“Princess…”
Cherry turned to her lady-in-waiting, who seemed to be worried for her mistress. For doing something dangerous like contacting an enemy of the Oda.
“Do not be afraid, my brother will be thankful for this in the future. As currently, our future is at a turning point of whether we make it out or not,” Cherry’s smile contrasts her words of seriousness of what may happen.
“...will we, the Oda, achieve victory? Leading the land to be at peace, my lady?” her voice was unsteady – hesitated and afraid – when thinking about the future.
“We don’t know, but we try to make it happen.” With that Cherry resumed her letters to Kenshin. Hopeful that the God of War will take initiative to protect the Land of the Rising Sun’s fragile peace.
“OUCH! Ieyasu… that hurts!” Yori winced in pain as Ieyasu changed his bandages.
“If it hurts, then you’re fine. Regardless, that injury…. wasn't as deep compared to the blood that came out of you. Your movements will come back in a month,” Ieyasu started to clean up the area. Even he couldn’t say Ellara’s name, not after what she did to everyone for this betrayal.
Yori stayed quiet, clearly thinking about the moments that lead up to it. “Sanzou huh…? Amaryllis might be a good match to fight him– OW! What the hell!?”
“No. Don’t you think about that. Besides, we haven’t gotten a letter from the three, not yet…” Ieyasu was worried how fast everything had to progress for the past weeks.
Both of them stayed quiet. Silence spoke louder than any words that were needed. It was only when Masamune came into Yori's room with Ryuu and Kojuro. A sign for Ieyasu to leave, which he did since the tension in the room could break a sword in half – in the middle.
“What did you think when Ellara fought you, Yori?” Kojuro broke the ice with his question.
“...almost remorseful. Ellara held back, which I- I hate so much… If SHE wanted to kill me! She could have! And yet… she didn’t,” Yori could only bunch his hair up in frustration.
Ryuu could only look at his friend with worry and understanding his pain, “We both were raised with rumors about the… Uraguchi. They are infamous for many things, especially raising everyone as a gear in a… system. It is something that–”
“Ellara would hate to be in,” Yori finished Ryuu’s sentence, making both of them understand that Ellara would fight against a system like that.
“Then, all of us understand what Ellara really is like,” Masamune’s voice brought everyone’s attention to him. “She wouldn’t be like that if it wasn’t for something that the Uraguchi held over her head. And the fact that Sanzou said, ‘From that blunder where you failed to kill this lord when you had a chance, when he was wounded by our clan member’s gunshot,’ he was mentioning me about that day where I took a hit for her… a moment where she could have killed me and yet she didn’t.”
“...a silent way of telling the Uraguchi that she defected from them,” Ryuu thought about it further, “why would they want her back knowing that– no…”
“What is it?” Yori looked at Ryuu.
“They’ve… allied with Kicho. The Uraguchi, no wonder why they attacked and possibly blackmailed Ellara into joining them,” Ryuu gritted his teeth in frustration after realizing they are in a game of go.
“Your assumption, Ryuu, would be correct if we have any evidence that suggests otherwise except… we don’t,” Kojuro made everyone face the truth.
“True…”
Back where Kennyo and the Ikko-Ikki sect were hiding out, Daiju built up his courage to talk to Kennyo about his thoughts. Holding onto the timeline that Amaryllis worked on for the past years about the Battle of Ishiyama Hongan-ji – how it came to be – to show that their vengeance is blind sighted on the wrong culprit.
“I… I can do this. If it was either Ranmaru or Amaryllis… they would say it even knowing the consequences of it,” Daiju clenched onto the scroll before coming in front of Kennyo’s doors.
Opening it, Kennyo sat there in the middle. Mending a haori with the family crest of the Li, the last reminder that they were once alive in a way. And Hozuki watched Kennyo every step of the way before scurrying away after Daiju stepped in the room.
“Master…”
“Is it something you found or wish to talk about, Daiju?”
“No… I just… want to tell you about something. Something that both me and… Ranmaru had been thinking about this for the past two years.”
Kennyo stayed quiet to finish making a knot in the repaired haori before nodding to let Daiju to continue. Daiju stayed quiet, holding onto the scroll as if his life depended on it. Kennyo sensed that, “You seem to be conflicted, Daiju. What caused such a conflict?”
“It’s… the fact we are fighting against the wrong person, Master Kennyo.”
“What?” Kennyo’s face turned to surprise at such an answer. “And what makes you think such?”
“It’s…” Daiju couldn’t look Kennyo in the eyes, and looked at the ground, “It’s because that-! No… It’s the fact that Amaryllis didn’t know about it. She fought us there! And she didn’t know that she would be fighting let alone lighting the temple on fire master!”
Kennyo couldn’t help but stay silent, as the words that came after that from Daiju couldn’t be registered in his head. It was only the fact that his friend’s daughter was in that battle and yet didn’t know that a battle would take place – she was caught off guard like the rest of them. Everything he stood upon, what he believed in, didn’t make sense now.
“None of us… were supposed to fight each other… we were supposed to be at peace with each other. Not–! We are nothing more than victims of deceit from Kicho – the messenger for the Oda on that faithful day, Master…” Daiju let everything out – his fear, disgust, panic, guilt – as he choked on his words before shutting his eyes.
“May I see what is in your hands?”
Daiju gave Kennyo the scroll of the timeline of Battle of Ishiyama Hongan-ji that Amaryllis worked on. All of it, records, perspectives, everything was there. Former members of the Ikko-Ikki sharing their side and Oda’s vassals giving theirs. All of it, the stories, conflicted each other on who started the battle. With Amaryllis making it clear at the end that both sides were deceived into fighting by the messenger who was sent, Kicho.
“...we were indeed deceived.”
Masterlist
AN: So, England won. I think. Idk. Good for them for getting 3rd place in the world cup 👍
