My mother and I couldn't help but be impatient as Loki inspected all of the wounds on Airi's body. It was worse then I had been lead to believe as Loki had told my mother to stand behind a makeshift dressing room as he inspected her body.
Apparently, it wasn't just her face but down her back had also suffered some damage. I had decided on this day that no matter what I would get my revenge against everyone who slighted my family.
I had been too nice.
I had been too forgiving.
I had been.. Yuta.
And now… Now I would become the villain that Yuki Akiyo was meant to be.
[ Who cares about being destitute… my family is in shambles and it is all Tama and Vance's fault!]
This world was apparently made for me, right? So why should I let anyone stand in my way? I smiled at Loki before I called for Kibbles.
[ Kibbles we need to talk ]
Kibbles had walked from my bed and stood in front of me with his head tilted to the side.
[ Do you think I have been too nice? ]
" What do you mean Yuki?"
[ I mean.. When it comes to Vance and Tama.. have I been too nice?]
" Mmm I think more then too nice," kibbles said before pausing.
" You have been ignoring the real people who have hurt you," Kibbles said as he nodded to himself.
[ What do you mean?! ]
I looked at Kibbles who had been thinking out loud and couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking about me.
[ Did everyone think I was too weak? ]
" I mean that mean both kings have done nothing but cause you trouble," Kibbles said grumpily before growling.
I started thinking back to everything that had happened so far and realised what Kibbles had said was right. It was the Tama king that forced me to have the engagement. The Tama king who had left the hole in Tama forest and the Tama king who sent my father away.
Vance, on the other hand, had caused the death of Ki and burnt my mother's precious body. There was nothing either emperor wouldn't do to keep their butts on their thrown and it made me sick.
[ I need to figure out what to do from here.]
" huh?" Kibbles said as he tilted his head to the side.
[ I want revenge! ]
My fist clenched as I thought about how much damage those kings had caused for me and I wanted nothing more to have them dethroned.
As to how I could possibly do that.. I had no idea.
I think I had better talk to Loki when he finishes treating my mother. As a creator of worlds, he would have some sort of idea into how to topple a few lousy kings.
I thought about the princes from each nation before thinking about the princess. Finally, my mind landed on the people around me.
[ Would they .. would they really follow me if I wanted to remove the emperors?]
I exhaled the air from my lungs and I tried my best to piece my thoughts together. It was not like I wanted the kings dead. I just didn't want them to have power over me anymore.
[ Perhaps I could use a tactic when the next war finally erupts? ]
[ But I would need an army ]
I couldn't exactly go to another country and act as a spy for them. If another country were to take over either country I couldn't imagine them leaving the Royals alive.
[ What do I do? ]
As I pondered over my thoughts time seemed to fly by and before I knew it my mother stepped out of the dressing room. She walked up to me in big strides before moving closer to my face. I was soo deep in thought that only when I could feel her breath did I look up.
Her skin looked a lot better although the scar tissue was still rather thick. I held out my hand and touched my mother's scars with a complicated feeling in my heart.
" Her body is fifty percent burned. It will take a very long time to fix it all" Loki said in my direction.
" I see thank you Loki" I responded with a nod.
[ Kibbles please explain to Loki what I have been talking to you about! ]
Kibbles titled his head to the side before nodding and facing Loki. The sun was finally setting before mother and I had spent enough time together. She said tomorrow she would move in her stuff with mine so that we could catch up on all the time we missed.
The whole idea delighting me in the process.
Loki, on the other hand, looked rather pale and decided to stay behind as I said my goodbyes to mother.
As I watched her leaving Loki grabbed my shoulder and walked me back inside before forcefully sitting me down.
" You have no idea how much anger I am keeping in right now," Loki said with a frown.
" Why are you angry?" I said looking at him.
" I mean.. War? You were here to find a date" Loki said as his frown deepened.
" I was before my mother was burnt, Rinura broke the system you made and my father was kidnapped!" I said as I stood up.
Loki was looking at me with an unfathomable expression.
We stood in silence for a moment before Loki sighed.
Using his hand Loki seemed to wipe something from his eyes before sitting down.
" This is all my fault." He said dejectedly.
" Your fault?" I said a little shaken by Loki's mood swings.
I looked down at him and looked at the frustrated expression on his face before sitting down. I could even imagine how Loki would be feeling right now but I didn't really want to. What do you say to a guy that with all the good intentions in the world made something beautiful only to see it slowly break in front of his eyes.
" If I had just been a little stronger none of this would have happened," Loki said as he put his head on the table and looked at me.
" Remember when we first met?" Loki said after a moment.
"You looked at me with such awe and wonder I couldn't help but smile thinking that what I was doing was the best thing for you. Now.. now I am not so sure. This world has brought you a lot of misery." Loki said quietly.
" But that is all worlds, not just this one. The only difference is that here I could actually do something about it." I said absentmindedly.
" Is that really what you want most right now? Revenge? I won't stop you but I want you to know that nothing good ever comes from vengeance believe me." Loki replied.
He put a hand under his head before he began to recite a story about a young farmer who had joined a Sect and became the strongest in his village. When that wasn't enough he joined a bigger on and became the best in the city. Then when he had become stronger still he became best in his country.
It had been at that time when the young farmer had found his one and only love. They had been together for a few years before a war had come between the place he lived and another country. He and his partner had fought bravely unfortunately in the midst of battle his partner had died.
Heartbroken and alone the young farmer had sought revenge closing his heart to everyone around him and purely focused on strength.
It had granted him great power and longevity but had brought him nothing but loneliness in return. What was the point of standing on the highest peak when there was no one to share it with?
By the time he had realised this, however, it was too late. Everyone who had anything to do with the incident had already died by the farmer's hand and if they hadn't they had died of old age.
The farmer no longer had ties to the world that he was born in and only suffered. It wasn't until he had been found by some monks that he truly began to live again. They had taught him many things until one day he was too powerful to live on the planet he was born on.
At this point, Loki looked at me and smiled wearily.
" I am the pinnacle of strength to you and I have found my revenge... Do I look happy?" Loki said as he frowned.
" I.. I guess not…" I spluttered realising that Loki had just told me about his past.
Loki stood up and brushed himself off before walking up to me. We had been sitting for a long time and the moons were now high up in the sky.
He wrapped his arms around me and said " Use the next few years to find the person who means the most to you. Maybe then you will be able to fill the void you have in your heart. As for your revenge plan… You have four years to decide if you want to follow through or not"
The hug, his smell and voice still lingered in the air as he let me go and took his leave.
[ It seems I have a lot to think about ]
I absentmindedly went to bed unable to sleep as I thought about what Loki had said to me.
[ Who was the most important person to me? ]
I looked at Kibbles who was asleep next to me on the pillow and stroked his fur to calm myself down.
[ Right now... I really don't know. ]
Revenge? Love? Both? Only one more chapter before the end of volume three.
Then on to Volume 4 the last in the PSAIG series. :)