Chp.6: Haku's worry

Anyone could tell a lot from another person's expression. The position of the eyes, the movement of the eyelids, the lips, the teeth, the gaze, everything gave a clear idea of ​​what that person was feeling at that moment. This of course varied from species to species, race to race, and even person to person; but if you spent enough time with that person, then it was possible to understand what emotions were experiencing in him or her based on how his or her face moved. Even the most inexpressive person left marks which, although not noticeable at first sight, were evident to a careful and expert eye.

Haku's expression, almost always, was calm and almost indecipherable. Even his siblings found difficult to understand what he was thinking, but they knew that inside his head there was an enormous amount of information and ideas that were slowly merging together to form a plan. The only hint of such activity behind his head were his eyes: besides being extremely alert, they were also as deep as two blue wells and seemed to be observing something invisible to everyone else, that only Haku could see. His siblings knew that as long as that expression persisted, then there was nothing to worry about. Sometimes Haku visibly focused more, narrowing his eyelids and growling slightly, but still he didn't lose his composure and within a short time he would come out with a brilliant plan in mind.

Much more rarely Haku showed a worried expression. In that case he still kept his composure, but his eyes were wide and his mouth half-open, and his breathing clearly became labored. The most obvious moment in which that expression had come out was during the battle with the hydra. However, he had also shown concern at other times, almost always only for his siblings, but in some rare cases even towards Misune (like when he helped her recover after that fateful night). In these cases it was right to worry, especially if you were in the middle of a battle, because there was the possibility that he could not solve the problem or, worse still, that to solve it he would choose to put himself in danger.

Even less common was the expression he wore when he felt guilty about something. It was rare, since he tried to never appear weak, but in the few cases where he had apologized for his actions his body language had proved the veracity of his actions, since it did not match what he had when he pretended . When he felt guilty, Haku's eyes were dull, his lips curled in a hairless expression, and he barely seemed to have the strength to lift his head. Whenever he wore this expression, his siblings knew he was sincere… even if he wasn't always able to truly understand the extent of the problem.

And finally, extremely rare were the cases in which Haku showed anger. In those cases there was serious concern… if you were the person at whom that anger was directed. The dragon's face contracted into a mask of pure fury and its eyes seemed to radiate with a blood-like red light; every part of his body seemed to emit hot steam and his lips lifted showing the razor sharp teeth. His pupils seemed to shut down with all emotion and became so murderous that they terrified even the hearts of the bravest. Haku had shown that expression only three times in his life: when he killed his mother, when he hit Rhaegal, and when he attacked the elf who dared to rape Misune. It almost seemed that in those rare moments his rationality vanished and his most bestial, cruel and sadistic side took over and became totally unpredictable, focused exclusively on tearing apart the person who had enraged him until he (or she) was reduced to such small pieces as to completely eradicate him (or her) from the world.

But the expression that Haku was displaying at that moment resembled nothing his siblings knew. His sisters were watching him in concern as he circled around furiously blowing his nostrils. His face was screwed up in an odd mix of anger, worry, and guilt, and his eyes darted from side to side almost randomly. "How!? How could this happen!?" he roared in a voice so loud that the rocks around them shook slightly.

Serengal gulped. After she had reached Haku and told him that something had happened to Rhaegal, her brother hadn't lost even a second of time and had immediately opened his jaws and emitted a call so sharp that it could be heard for tens of kilometers. Their sisters immediately came running, being alerted by the sound, and so the family was reunited again and only then did Haku give Serengal a chance to explain himself. He had probably prevented her from doing so precisely because he knew that after hearing her story he would turn into a sort of mix between a rabid beast and a snorting snake, and he had preferred that everyone be present to prevent rumors about his madness from circulating. "I just explained you..."

"I know you just explained it to me! It was a rhetorical question!" Haku growled bringing a paw to his face, and for a moment his sisters feared he wanted to claw himself, but luckily in the end he only rubbed his temples. "That idiot... I knew it was a bad idea! To go on such a delicate mission with his real body! What had he thought of!? And what had I thought of to let him do it!? I should have stopped him a long time ago... yes, it was my fault too. I should have known it... it was so simple, so obvious, how could I not foresee it!?"

"Haku, you couldn't have foreseen that" Kotaru said trying to mollify him. "None of us could..."

"Yes instead! I could and I HAD to foresee it!" Haku exclaimed. "It was all so damn obvious: Gerard had seen Rhaegal, so he knew there was another dragon, a dragon I was bonded to, and he would definitely tell the king, who wouldn't miss such an opportunity! He couldn't do anything against me, so surely he would try to strike my affections! It was obvious, I've had him by the balls all this time, it was impossible for him to accept it passively! I should have told Rhaegal to come back immediately afterwards to have met Gerard… or I should have had an amphitrite and flown for him, and taken him away willy-nilly! And now he…". He didn't finish the sentence. His eyes were suddenly illuminated by a burning light, as if a fire was raging inside them. "If that bastard tries to touch him with just one finger... I swear on everything that exists I will tear him apart..."

Kotaru wanted to contradict him, but he knew Haku was right. In fact, he wondered how none of them had thought of that possibility…perhaps it was because Rhaegal's actions had been so unpredictable. Since Gerard knew of his existence, the king knew it too... and since Haku had half the kingdom in his grip thanks to 'The spider', it was easy to imagine that the king would aim at Rhaegal to convince him to come to terms. After all, Rhaegal was literally the only living being in the many ships carrying freed prisoners scattered across the Baudonia City Alliance that Haku was really interested in, since nob cared absolutely nothing about others and his sisters used avatars. If only Rhaegal had used an avatar of his own they would have been spared that mess.

Suddenly Sisna stepped forward and exclaimed: "Okay, that's enough! What happened, happened. We can't change the past. Haku, I know you're angry and worried, but now we don't need your wrath, we need your intelligence. So please go back to being the rational Haku, analyze the situation and find a solution"

Those words were enough to calm a little the storm that was happening in Haku's head. The young dragon pulled himself together and tried to concentrate, though he still shivered slightly with anger and worry. "You're right, sister. We have to stay clear-headed" he said, speaking more to himself than to the others. "That assassin, Black Vulture… he killed no one and captured Rhaegal alive, which means that the king has no intention of opposing our plan, but rather wants us to continue it. It is likely that he wishes to use Rhaegal as a bargaining chip for something. Most likely he wants me to dismantle 'The Spider', and maybe he'll ask me for something else too... but I won't know until I meet him"

"You can't show up for the meeting physically, or you risk being captured. I suggest you use an avatar" Kotaru told him.

"Don't worry, I've already thought about it" Haku replied. Lie: actually if Kotaru hadn't told him he would have rushed to the designated point without bothering to go there in person or with an avatar. "It is unlikely they will harm Rhaegal until the day of the meeting. At least until then he should be safe. Unfortunately we have no way of knowing where he is being held. By now he will most likely be far away"

"Are we sure the king will just ask you to dismantle 'The spider', or something like that?" Malchia rightly asked. "From what you told us, he wanted you to swear allegiance to him. He could ask you again using Rhaegal to force you"

Haku let out a snort. It was a possibility, but he didn't fear it much. "I doubt that is the case, or Black Vulture would have had no qualms about destroying the ship and its passengers. It is clear that he does not want to hinder us, just to gain a strong position against us again. But even if that were the case... then I will deceive him. I will pretend that Rhaegal and I have already sworn allegiance to Zamor, and therefore I cannot do the same to him. The king knows the value of the dragons' promises, and he will understand that I could never break them. He might try to kill Zamor to free ourselves from our vow... but that will still give us more time to think and act"

His sisters nodded. Haku's words seemed correct indeed. "So that's it? Are you just going to the date?" Glausar asked somewhat disappointed. "Wouldn't it be better to use our secret weapon and kill both the king and all his subordinates, and take Rhaegal back?"

"The king won't be stupid enough to take Rhaegal there. Do you remember how we did with Sarpa? We left his son in a designated spot, so we could get away from them without them reacting" Haku replied. "Unfortunately, until we know where Rhaegal has been taken, we will have no choice but to play their game. And it is the king who is running the game this time, not me. With a little luck it will all be resolved in one night and I will be able to obtain a not too onerous deal"

Sadly, this time Haku wasn't the one in charge of everything. There was another player who had been more skilled than him and he had known how to exploit his only weakness to gain the advantage again. Now Haku was forced to submit to his rules: anything else he did would only put Rhaegal in danger. He couldn't threaten to use 'The spider' or do anything else as long as the king had his brother with him with a dagger to his throat. And without knowing its current location, there was no way it could organize a rescue team. The best choice would have been to kidnap someone dear to the king, such as the queen or her children... but infiltrating the royal palace would not have been easy in just three days and, above all, it was probable that the sovereign had already thought about this eventuality and had taken adequate countermeasures. For now, he had no choice but to come to terms. "Everything will be fine" he told his sisters. "We'll get our brother back... and when we've saved him, I'll kill him" he added.

His sisters totally agreed with him, and none of them seemed willing to contradict him. Maybe they knew he wasn't serious… or maybe they were just pissed too and wanted to punch Rhaegal a lesson in prudence.

In Haku's mind also appeared the image of the genius who had first proposed using their real bodies and who had consequently put that unhealthy idea into Rhaegal's head. "And Darbi too" he added again with a growl.