The Moon-Pale Rose

When I woke from my short nap, Hino was nowhere to be seen. But from what I could tell from the tracks leading deeper into the forest she had a noticeable stagger to her walk. She walked away overworked and satisfied. With my task settled I decided to quickly return to the castle but in epic style. Leaping into the trees and racing through the branches, for a few minutes I was the wind, the sudden gust that sends ripples through a sea of the greenest grass.

When I reached the castle I jumped from the ground to my bedroom balcony. Where my servants would be taking my guests was something I couldn't know so just to be safe I decided to hide my notebook. Instead of just sneaking it under my pillow I created a secret compartment beneath the floorboards that can only be opened by me and no one else. With the notebook safely hidden away breathed a sigh of relief when the door to me slid open where a servant bowed before she spoke.

"Master, Your guests have been guided to the throne room where they await your return."

"You haven't taken them on the tour yet?"

"No, My lord. Lady Onimusha decided to not allow them beyond the throne room until your return. I'm ashamed I was not able to change her mind, forgive me."

"You have nothing to be ashamed of and theirs nothing to forgive. Onimusha will always be head strong. You can't change a bulls mind when it sees red. If everything thing is set then I shall join them now. Bring some refreshments to the hall, if you don't mind."

"Yes, Master."

It was time to put the mask back on and prepare for another performance for the audience. Down the steps and down the hall to the throne room, I opened the sliding door myself. All of the guests were up and about. The soldiers were pacing back and forth with no guns to hold on to and the researchers comparing notes they've taken so far. While Ash was as before berating Onimusha with question after question and the black blade was fuming with the fact that she wouldn't leave her alone. When Oni noticed me she leapt from her seat on the floor and raced to hide behind me to get away while Ash kept scribbling in her notepad.

"Master, this bitch won't leave me the fuck alone." I had to hide a chuckle for that one. "She doesn't mean to annoy you, she's just curious."

"Well she's been curious since you left to play with Hino."

"Don't worry, maybe some booze might calm everyone down and silence her for a while."

The doors slid open, expecting it to be the servants instead the familiar giant rack and white armor of Shizu came in as she bent down to fit through the door and enter the hall. When she stood up straight the soldiers stopped pacing, the researchers shut up, and Ash dropped her notepad and pen. Shizu's face blushed with embaressment, the affectionate modesty I adored so much.

"Shizu, where have you been?" Oni asked. "I...I was checking on the boars. I t-took longer than I-I expected."

"Miss Ashford. I present another of the Guardian Moons, The Winter Scourge Shizu."

"I-It's an honor to meet you!" Shizu frantically bowed, fast enough to shake the floor a bit.

I didn't have to know Ash to know her mind was about to explode. I only raised my hand to silence her before she would ask anything. If Onimusha's reaction was a better example to not let her bother Shizu with a whole bunch of invasive and personal questions. I could only imagine how she would react.

"As much as it pains me I have to ask you to stop with the questions for now." I told.

"Yeah! What the fuck is wrong with you." Guess who said that.

"How am I supposed to react. You, this castle, this whole island, is something that shouldn't be possible. It shouldn't exist at all, and yet it does. I just want to understand."

"I can understand your enthusiasm. I'm sure Lacey is the same. But right now you are guests in my home, so at least do us the courtesy of having some privacy, please? Plus I'm not sure Onimusha will withstand another minute of your questions before some part of you gets severed," That was enough to silence her for now and have Oni smirk and rest her arms behind her head.

Looking around I noticed someone was missing. "Speaking of Lacey, where is miss Buchanan?"

"I'm not sure. We came here together but I haven't seen her since then."

"Hmm. Then I should find her. She could already be lost somewhere in the castle. Shizu, Oni, keep our guests company for now. The servants will be bringing refreshments soon enough. I'll go and find Lacey."

With a swift and sure nod from both moons present I departed the throne room.

I decided to work my way down, from top to bottom. And before I knew it I had reached the base of the castle and I heard the footsteps of someone who was trying not to be heard. Lacey was snooping about my castle and I wanted to find out, I wasn't angry with her, but I was curious about what exactly she was hoping to find. I cast Unseen on myself and I became invisible and began to follow directly behind Lacey with her being none the wiser. I was close enough to touch her hair but she had no clue, as far as she knew, she was completely alone.

Lucy stuck close to the wall and walked on the tips of her toes like she was in shitty Mission Impossible spin off. Joking aside, she was definitely good at making her presence unknown. As the occasional passed by in the halls they had no clue she was there as she went deeper into the castle with me right behind her. The only thing this far down in the castle was the food storage and many of the paths here were corridors to nowhere. I was actually disappointed with myself that I didn't make more. All this role playing took more time than I thought. I'll fix that another time.

Speaking of time, I decided to try something I never tried before. To Stop Time, sort of. I felt it was dangerous to tamper with something like time so I settled for that thing you see in video games where time slows down to allow to aim your gun or whatever, but this time on a much larger scale. I could possibly accelerate myself to the point where everything would slow down. I raised my hand and focused. "Pendulum Warp" I whispered, and the swiftness with which Lacey sneaked through my home was slowed to a crawl.

At the end of the hall was a sharp turn that led to nowhere, but looking at where Lacey's eyes were pointing, she was heading there. I felt like teasing her mind, so I went down the hall and around the corner. there was an empty wall waiting there for me. I worked quickly to make something mysterious to keep me audience of one guessing so I decided on an incredibly ornate door, lined with silver and gold, and to small wolf statues with jewels for eyes standing on both sides. On the door itself was a piece of wood with the symbols of my fake language on it, reading simply as "Do Not Enter". That will suffice for now. The idea that something could important behind this door would keep some people coming back to find out, when behind it was just a wall at the moment.

The bait was in place but I wasn't the one to catch the fish. (HAHAHAHA) I intended to do this at a later time, but I couldn't think of a better chance to introduce a new character to the story. The next Guardian Moon. I ran back to my room with hast and returned to hall and got to working.

I drew a fairly tall women, just shy of Fukushima's height with white hair with streaks of yellow; she has dark colored eyes. Her outfit is a red ripped bare-backless dress and is torn around her abdomen and chest revealing her large bust, which she has a necklace around her neck; their are scars around most of her body mainly her arms and across her nose. Lastly she appears to wear a dark maiden corset under her dress accompanied with black short heels. for footwear. Lastly her moon symbol, placed neatly on her collar bone.

Doma The Enchanter: Heiress to a great and influential line, though never has she unveiled the name of this family for she disgusts having the vile name run past her lips. Her mother, her father, even her siblings saw her as a beast of burden and treated her as such, as well as a great source of income due to the abilities she was born with. The power of True Healing. Any injury brought to her, even if its fatal, can be healed with her most capable hand. Thousands would come with every form of illness and injury and become healed within moments, giving Doma's family a handsome sum each time. The family grew rich and drunk on their own pride while Doma was left to rot in her gilded cage until she escaped. She wander for a time until she met The Monk of Eden and the first of the Guardian Moons.

With everything in place, I retreated back behind Lacey hugging the wall. I slowed myself down and the world began moving at its natural speed. Lacey got closer to the turn and I was on the edge of my seat waiting for the vital meeting.

Lacey moved around the corner and the first thing she saw was Doma's rack straining beneath her torn dress. Lacey was so startled and actually fell back and then she did something I didn't expect. She blushed. I had to hold in both an Awwww and HA with all my might.

Lacey was stammering, trying to explain what she was doing here and failing miserably. To see the confident and serious Lacey Buchanan, stuttering and red as a peach, was absolutely adorable. While this happened Doma was just looking down at her with a blank expression. Out of nowhere Doma reaches down and pulls Lacey to her feet and pulled her in close, followed by a forceful and ravishing kiss. This was something I did not expect at all. And what else I didn't expects was that Doma wasn't stopping, she was practically sucking her face. It was so hot I thought she was going to rip Lacey's clothes off and do her right then and there when she suddenly let go and shoved Lacey a bit and walked away, as if they just bumped into each other and wasn't going to apologize for it.

Needless to say, Lacey was dazed, confused, and a little bit horny. I swear, the dauntless Lacey Buchanan stood there for over a minute in hysterical silence. It was so funny to me I added another feature to the Unseen spell to allow me not to be heard as I nearly wet myself laughing.

When I finally regained my composure I decided that it was time to end the games for now. I retreated around the corner and went down a ways before dispelling Unseen. I began calling out to Lacey as if I was looking for her.

"Ah! There you are!" I said as I rounded the corner. "You disappeared so suddenly I thought my guardians and I did something to give offense."

"Oh, no. I'm sorry I made you feel that way."

"Well, it's alright. No harm done, but, what are you doing here?"

That was a good and tough question and it seemingly was enough to bring our little sneak back to reality. "Well I...I got a little lost."

"Well, you must have been. Not many people come down this deep into the castle." I replied with a believable gullibility. Which put Lacey at ease.

"Anyway, I think we've postponed our little celebration up stairs long enough. Shall we return?" "Uh yes of course." Lacey replied. She sounded like those people who barely escape a shitty lie they just told and couldn't believe it worked.

"Oh! With all the excitement I nearly forgot. I have yet to fulfill my part of the bargain." Lacey looked confused for a moment before realizing what I meant. "Yeah, you were supposed to tell us what caused the black lightning incident."

"Then it's time I unfold all. Please lets return to the throne room." As we left I knew that two things were still on Lacey's mind. One, what was behind the door. And two, who was the beautiful woman who was about to fuck her.

___________

We returned to the throne room just in time. As we walked in one door, the servants walked in through the other carrying plates upon plates of food and drinks. Everyone was digging in. Shizu took the smallest plate with the smallest portion of sweet and spicy crab. The newly present Fukushima took a giant leg of boar and hounded that sucker down. Onimusha grabbed a giant flask of booze and started drinking away while also munching on skewered and fried trout. The soldiers each had their own plate of noodles. Finally, Ash was holding a plate with an orange-gold cake the size of a honeydew, The Elegant Orange Cake. She looked at it like it was a gift from god. The only thing the scene needed was gospel music. When she took the first few bites she behaved like a food critic and actually wrote something down in her notebook.

I myself had some of those skewered trout with fruit juice. But Lacey, all she had was a creamy crustacean omelette. If she wasn't distracted she would be acting just like Ash. That must have been some kiss. Before things get too hectic for normal conversation, I spoke. "Miss Buchanan, Miss Ashford. I've put this off long enough, I believe. It's time I perform my side of the bargain."

Ash finally returned from the ecstasy of the orange cake and flipped the page of her notebook to a fresh page. The same for Lacey. The soldiers on the other hand could not give a fuck with the feast before them. "The Black Lightning Incident?" "None other, Miss Ashford." I affirmed. "It went like so."

I told them the entire story. How I was meditating and how Onimusha charged head first into a sparring match with her master and got a little to carried away. Unleashing as much power necessary to harm me, only for it to be diverted like a river and shot it into the clouds. Knocking out the power of entire city, as well as giving a few hundred people the orgasm I think they deserved after enduring another shitty, rainy day. But I never went into that much detail.

By the end, Lacey and Ash were looking at Onimusha, chugging on booze with a look on her face that said, "Yeah I did that. And I'm not fucking apologizing."

"Just like that?" Ash questioned. "Just like that."

"Well I can't blame her for going overboard," Lacey added, "I couldn't count the times in the training room when I laid out the occasional rookie. I swear it's a disease."

"Forgive me for saying, Muzashi. But all this build up and it was just a sparring match gone wrong. It's a little anti climactic."

From your P.O.V maybe, I thought. "I can imagine that conversation. 'The reason lightning black as night rained from the sky was because a servant of mine did it." I raised my eyebrow to punctuate my meaning. "If the explanation was simple as that, would you, any of you come this far. Learn of my past, enter my home? No. It's hard to form trust when you're not even willing to shake hands."

"anyway," I continued, "Let's abandon this morose line of questioning. We have a feast. And I intend to join you and yours, and share a drink."

We did just that for hours until the sun came up. It wasn't hardcore liquor, but it was enough for the guests to feel quite a buzz by the end.

When it was time for our destined departure, I knew they were a little sad to go. Like a play date coming to an end and you refuse to let it. I saw them off just outside the gates of the castle. The servants and the guardian moons looking down on us from on top the castle walls waving goodbye to them. "It will take half a day to reach the campsite. If we want to be on time for our call to HQ, we better leave now." Not wanting them to walk all the way back through the forest I quickly racked my brains on how to get them there without being too flashy. I settled on a key to open a portal to anywhere. I created a small black rock with a bizarre symbol etched on it.

"If you wish to arrive with speed allow me to quicken your journey." I pulled out rock from my robe and held it out. "Halma Roo Ish Gin Osh Goo." On the forest edge swirled a portal that showed the marine camp just inside the forest. While it was flashy on this end. On the other end their would be nothing to see. I didn't want to spook the remaining soldiers. By now, the departing guests were not surprised after everything they've seen in my home, they greeted the portal with a calm smile. The soldiers waved to me and the people on the walls before entering the portal. Ash looked at her notebook and then back at me. "I think I've run out of room to write this down." I returned the smile and spoke. "Then don't let it be for your scholars and doctors. Let this be something all your own." I bowed, she bowed back and entered the portal.

Finally Lacey approached me. She didn't say a single word. She reached out her hand and grabbed mine. It was a proper handshake. And without a word, entered the portal. From the other side she looked back at me "You said that you wanted something in return for all you've showed us." "I did." "What is it?". I put my hands together, closed my eyes. "Peace. Peace is what I desire. Peace between a people who, though separated by an endless sky, can be friends." I slowly bowed as the portal slowly closed.

________

The Servants on the walls returned to their duties. The Guardian Moons went off to do their own thing. While I sat on the field of grass where the portal closed, crossed my legs, and began to meditate. I managed to protect my creation, and made some friends along the way. But what tomorrow will bring, I have no clue. But I'll be ready.

I suddenly felt the air around get charged with electricity, raising the hairs on my neck. Somehow my reaction was too slow, and when I turned around I saw Onimusha inched from my face. She wrapped herself around me and we lifted off into the air. "They're gone, they're finally fucking gone." I heard her against my ear, and I felt her lick my cheek with her snake-like tongue, breathing all heavy. "You owe me, master. For letting those humans live, for leaving me with them, and especially for leaving me to suffer that woman's endless questions."

We were going higher and higher into the air, Eden Sky shrinking to ant size by the end, but we just hung their suspended high above. I could see the curvature of the earth, we were so high.

Onimusha held my face and spoke with a mouth that was filled with pitch black sparks. "I'm gonna suck, I'm gonna fuck, and no one's gonna stop me!"