Fiction: Yellow Flowers and a Bag of Bones

Chapter sixteen: The Four Sisters

Getting back to Tagetes was a pain, but I managed somehow – I felt incredibly lost and unfamiliar now, but I just had to deal. I couldn’t let the setback stop me. If I did, I might as well admit that The Four Sisters had won. I knew that they had something to do with this, though I couldn’t prove it in any way. I just knew.

“I’ve missed you,” Rei said and hugged me, pressing his face against my stomach. I felt a sense of relief at getting back; I had apparently missed Rei even more than I could have imagined. He was still the same, it made him feel like the one constant thing in my life, even if I knew that if I stopped to think about it, he was probably the one who made the least sense.

“I’ve missed you too,” I replied with a smile, hugging him too. “Nothing has happened while I was gone, right?”

“Nothing. There have been a few parades with lots of colours and music, but I stayed away from them. That was good of me, wasn’t it?”

“Very.”

“Oh, and The Four Sisters are holding some kind of competition soon. Can we go, please please please?” Rei almost bounced on the spot, eager as always when it came to things that involved adventure – and the possibility for some fun and happiness. In the beginning, I hadn’t understood why he seemed so fascinated with all things colourful and happy and loud, but after learning more about his past, I could understand him a lot better. And I wanted him to be happy, but going to a place where the four sisters would be could be very dangerous.

I hesitated, but shook my head in the end. “I think it’s not a good idea, Rei. You know that one of The Four Sisters wants to kidnap me, right? It’s why I wear the rainbow necklace, to stay hidden. It she sees me there, there’s no way I can stay hidden.”

Rei pouted, not giving up just yet. “But there’s going to be tons and tons of people there, and you can wear a disguise or something. We don’t have to participate in the competition; we can stay in the back and out of sight. I just want to see it, please?”

“I don’t know, Rei…”

“Please? We’ll be careful, no one will notice us. And then you can find out more about them as well, right? If they’re there, then you get to see all of them and…stuff.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at his eagerness, though I had to admit that he had a point. Even if I knew The Four Sister’s names, I doubted that it was their real names, so actually seeing them might help me in finding out who they were. It would be one advantage I had over Janson, seeing as he had never met them, but only knew their names. “Okay, fine. We’ll go,” I conceded at length, making Rei hug me even tighter. “But we’ll have to be very, very careful.”

And careful we were. Rei didn’t particularly need to hide, seeing as no one was after him, but I still bought him new clothes, very different from the ones he usually wore. Instead of his oversized white top (maybe it had once belonged to his father), I got him a pair of blue jeans and a black and red sweater. It looked extremely strange, and from the look on Rei’s face I could tell that he felt the same way.

“Hey, if I have to, then so do you,” I said, unable to stifle a grin. He sulked for a few seconds, but then smiled as well, probably over my appearance. Instead of the mismatched clothes and rather ugly brown coat I usually wore, I was wearing a stylish black suit with a white shirt so crisp that I was worried I would cut myself on it. I felt incredibly uncomfortable, especially with my hair slicked down and brushed away from my face, instead of being left in the usual state of disarray.

Rei cocked his head, inspecting me. “You look handsome, you know. I’m not really sure you’ll attract any less attention like this.”

“But I’ll blend in and look exactly like the dozens of businessmen that will no doubt be there, right?”

He shrugged, taking my hand to get going – it was a long walk to Xibiri, and if we wanted to get there in time for the competition, we had to hurry. “You still don’t look like a businessman, but I don’t know why,” he answered, stealing glances at me every now and then. Something which, I discovered, several people we met along the way did as well. I wasn’t quite sure whether that was disconcerting or not, but it certainly made me feel nervous. Even more so because most of the glances came from women, and because most of the glances were so obviously appreciative. Suffice to say, I wasn’t used to being stared at like that.

By the time we got there, Xibiri was already crowded. Very crowded. I took a firmer hold on Rei’s hand so that he wouldn’t slip away from me – and thought that we had to look like father and son right now – and made my way through the crowd to get closer to the town square. I had no plans for going to the very front, but I had to find some place for us to stand where we would be relatively hidden, but where we would still be able to see something.

Eventually I found a small podium; there were already a lot of people sitting there, but by letting Rei sit on my lap I managed to get us squeezed in on the top. “Are you sure I’m not too heavy?” Rei asked, shifting a little to get comfortable.

“Of course not, idiot,” I replied fondly, wrapping my arms around him to prevent him from losing his balance. “This provides even better cover; I’m almost invisible now.”

Rei turned his head and smiled at me, but then focused back on the stage that had been set up in the middle of the square. It was built in two levels; one large, and a smaller one behind, which held what could only be described as four thrones. The Four Sisters were apparently going to be there.

Within the next half hour, the city became packed with people. I didn’t even know that there were this many people in Tagetes, even if I had seen the registration lists for most of them. Eventually, I leaned my head against Rei’s shoulder to relax, nearly dozing off when the crowd suddenly started cheering. I lifted my head to see Jensen and Chiyo-sama walk onto the stage; Jensen with five men following him, Chiyo-sama with five women.

To me, the competition itself was laughable, but everyone else seemed to find it extremely interesting. Basically, they competed in a serious of smaller contests, mostly geared towards praising The Four Sisters in some way or another, and at the end of each contest, it was the crowd’s cheers that determined who was allowed into the next round and who wasn’t.

When half the competition was over, leaving only two men and two women, another of The Four Sisters came onto the stage. New cheers erupted, but this time they were far less enthusiastic. From the woman’s calm smile and the way she handed out refreshments to the contestants before taking her place at the throne, I guessed that she was Skye, the one that Janson had described as the motherly one, the one that kept them all together by mediating in fights. I could definitely see that – she looked pleasant and calming. However, I had never seen her before, just like with Jensen and Chiyo-sama. Maybe actually seeing The Four Sisters wouldn’t do me much good.

The rest of the competition was just as inane as the first part, and it really made me wonder why people wanted to participate. From the chatter of the men sitting next to us, I gathered that the ten who were competing had been carefully selected, and that several thousand had signed up. It dawned on me that I didn’t have any idea what the prize was, but well, I didn’t care all that much either. It wasn’t as if The Four Sisters could offer me anything appealing. In fact, if they saw me, I would probably be taken and locked up pretty damn quickly. Better to stay out of their way as much as possible. It did seem like my plan had worked; despite the fact that Chiyo-sama had looked over the crowd several times, even in my direction, she didn’t seem to notice me.

I had almost dozed off again by the time the winner was announced; a handsome man with his hair and clothes in disarray from the contests, but with a happy smile on his face. Once again, the crowd cheered, almost with anticipation. The three of The Four Sisters got to their feet and approached the man, though they paused a few feet from him, waiting.

There was a sudden flash of light that seemed to temporarily blind everyone in the audience, because there was a silence that lasted a few seconds too long, before a noise unlike anything I had ever heard before in my life erupted. Most of the sitting crowd got to their feet, almost screaming instead of cheering. The view to the stage was blocked for a while, and it wasn’t until the people in front of me settled down that I could get a glimpse of the fourth Sister, the one called Mitzi, who Janson had called the leader.

My chest tightened as I looked at her; it felt difficult to breathe. There was no mistaking the slightly chubby figure, the blonde hair, the blue eyes, and the cuteness of her face. I had studied that face and that figure, all too many times over the past few years.

It was Maria.

After that, I missed most of the ceremony, though I managed to understand that the prize was a guarantee to never be expelled, a free-for-all card to all the parades and festivals, and signed pictures of all The Four Sisters. Quite frankly, I couldn’t care less about the prize. All I could do was to stare at Maria, unable to take my eyes off of her. I stared so intensely that eventually, she glanced in my direction. I ducked behind Rei, hugging him so tight that he winced quietly, and hoped that she wouldn’t see me. I would rather not be discovered in a place packed with people who all seemed to support The Four Sisters vehemently.

It didn’t seem like she had noticed me, however, judging by how there was no outcry of “get that man”, and eventually I peeked out from behind Rei again – only to find myself face to face with Maria.

And only her.

I glanced around, but the podium, the stage, the streets, they were all empty. In less than a minute, everyone had vanished. Rei cried out, but with a snap of Maria’s fingers and a flash of light, he disappeared. I could feel my heart racing in my chest as I stood up, looking back into Maria’s icy blue eyes. They had always seemed so warm and kind, but now there was nothing but anger in them, and something bordering on hatred.

“What did you do to Rei?” I asked, fighting to keep my voice steady. I was terrified, quite honestly, but I couldn’t show her that. Somehow, I thought that would give her the upper hand. Though I had to admit that she definitely seemed to have the upper hand right now. I wondered where the rest of The Four Sisters had gone off to, but I quickly understood that Janson had been right. The other three didn’t really matter. Maria was the leader, the one with all the power.

In this place, she was God.

“The boy’s not your concern. Not my concern either, but he will be dealt with, trust me. He’s yet another person you choose to devote your attention and affection to,” Maria said coolly. Her hand closed around my wrist, tugging slightly, and before I knew what had happened, the town square of Xibiri disappeared and we were standing in the middle of a room.

Or at least I assumed it was a room. Everything around me was completely black, apart from the stream of light we were standing in. I couldn’t see the veiling above us, nor the floor below us, nor any walls off to the distance. Simply put, I had no idea where we were, or now to get out of there.

“Maria,” I said, looking at her almost helplessly. I didn’t know what else to say, really.

She smiled back at me, but it was completely different from the smile I was used to. I was used to having her smile at me with warmth and affection, I was used to Maria looking sweet and innocent and kind, not….this. “You look surprised. Didn’t see this coming, did you? You thought I was just another dumb girl that you could string along with your routine.”

“I… What? I don’t have a routine.” I was dumbfounded, honestly having no idea what she was talking about.

“Don’t play clueless with me, Kai. First you date me, and then you stay with Chiyo, and then I catch you with that trampy little girl. And you live with a little boy, what are you doing to him, huh? How many girls and guys do you have? How many, Kai? Did you really think that you could cheat on me like that?” Maria asked furiously, and I might be stupid, but I was actually relieved. At least she didn’t seem to have any idea about what I was really doing – she was just jealous and angry.

I smiled, taking a step closer to Maria, catching her hands. “You’ve got it all wrong. Chiyo-sama kidnapped me, I ran away the moment I could, so you can’t be angry with me because of that. Rei is what you’re saying, a little boy. I’m taking care of him and he’s a friend, that’s it. But Dakota…” I trailed off, and Maria’s expression hardened further.

“No. Don’t say it. I saw you. I’m not stupid, Kai. But that’s fine. We’re over, and you’re over. I’m confining you to this place. You’ll never get back to Tagetes, you’ll never see the boy again. I’m not even going to expel you properly. This is your punishment for betraying me like this, Kai. And trust me, you’ll suffer,” Maria hissed before pushing me away and walking quickly out of the column of light. I tried to follow her, grab her and pull her back, but she was gone.

I walked along the circle of light on the floor, squinting into the darkness. I tried saying hello, calling it out louder and louder, but all I got back was a distant echo. There was no doubt. I was alone. Completely and utterly alone.


~tbc~