The Kijo was once again listening to the music inside her head.
She was dragging an old wooden coffin in the middle of the street.
Making harsh grating sounds with the ground as she walked.
She slowly sighed as she gazed at the night above.
It was cloudy, ashen gray. kinda like the Kijo's touchy mood.
The Kijo then decided to just look down at the ground.
She was having a slight headache. Stupid spiked drink.
The Kijo muttered angrily to herself, continuing to drag the coffin along with her.
Two boots suddenly came into view.
And when she looked up, it was the face of a guard.
Only then did she finally noticed.
She was standing in front of the gates of Zhao Yue . . .
Unchained Phoenix wrote:
Not only was the guard captain's face visible for a change of pace, but so were the faces of all the guards standing before the bronze gates on that frosty day. Each visage was tainted with the emotion of pure shock. They didn't quite know how to react to the situation; here was a woman with weird colored hair and a coffin behind her. The entire street had been notified of her presence with the sound of wood scraping against cobblestone, and now that this 'misfit' was at the Administration Building, the civilians watched as they fully expected for her to get her ass kicked. Little did they know that this new administration was one of a civil breed, very unlike the one that came before it.
"Do... you... need to see someone?" the captain asked, holding back his disgust.
Music In The Kijo's Head - "Jank" - RA2
The Kijo only gave the captain a condescending smile, amusing herself at his great display of perceptiveness.
"How insightful." The Kijo replied with a tone as dry as the sand.
The Kijo didn't move from her slouching position yet somehow the air around her seemed to feel heavy.
It was like an unseen fog trying to weigh everything down.
Or was it just the weather perhaps ~?
The Kijo then decided to play the captain's game.
She ever slightly turned out her left clawed hand.
There was a crumpled piece of paper . . .
Unchained Phoenix wrote:
The guard captain practically scowled before Akki, not particularly liking this woman already, but not having enough reason to turn her away. He moved to retort smartly, but when he saw the paper withdrawn from Heaven-knows-where, he lowered his head and snatched the letter from her. Unraveling the parchment, he scanned the contents for only a spare moment before returning it to its rightful owner. "Very well. You'll need to consent to a couple searches before we let you inside. And... your coffin back there will need to stay out here. We'll look after it until you've finished with your audience."
Music In The Kijo's Head - "My Boy" - Jang Nara
The Kijo only smiled ever more sweetly at the captain.
She gave a slight chuckle as the captain read the letter, shaking her head.
The Kijo then sat at the middle of the coffin as she crossed her legs.
Squirming with boredom, flicking her clawed hands as fires sparked on and off just to pass the time.
"You can read." The Kijo said disappointedly, after the Captain finished.
"I ain't no going to get searched by YOU." The Kijo said suddenly, eyes pointing like daggers to the captain. "Nu uh, not gonna happen."
She then suddenly blinked her eyes as if seeing something changed her mind.
Clawed hands delicately scratching her neck up to her chin. Thinking.
"Hmm...let me see...maybe him, no, pockmarked face, he looks creepy.."
The Kijo gently strained her neck, muttering to herself as if she's picking what clothes to wear on her closet.
"Maybe him and that one beside him without the helm. He looks cute."
She both pointed at the two, giggling to herself, then noticed the captain looking at him.
She gave him a what-are-you-looking-at look in her eyes.
"Common, big boys. Do your job. Search."
Her clawed hands beckoning at the two like a cat hypnotizing mice with its paws.
The Kijo dropped her other leg, only to cross it over the other one.
Now resting her arms beside her, drumming at the coffin with her claws
Like a cat waiting for her dinner.
How the Kijo smiled at the idea and forgot she had a headache.
Unchained Phoenix wrote:
The captain opened his mouth, ready to announce that he could bring out a female attendant to do the job, but when Akki gave her request for two of his men to perform the search, he simply blinked. Nodding, he motioned the two (now apprehensive) guards forward, and they commenced the search. Once all malicious and suspicious items were confiscated, the captain motioned for the bronze gates to be opened. He led the strange woman to the entrance guards, who had an attendant perform another search, removing anything else he might have found that could harm anyone inside. Once this was done, the entrance patrol and the visitor were engulfed by the darkness of the archway, entering the world beyond...
The entire first floor of the complex was dedicated to audiences, what with all of the suites for exalted officials located higher up in the building. The walls were like a maze, painted with dragons and symbols and all sorts of things, though sliding doors were hidden throughout where men and women alike conducted their daily business. Eventually, they were taken to the opposite side of the floor where they were motioned to remove their shoes, the doors then sliding open to reveal a large room with plenty of decor. The room was painted a golden hue, with small statues and intricately crafted antiques dotting the perimeter. Opposite the red rug in the center of the room was a raised platform equipped with two steps. Behind this platform was a draped tapestry that had a poem woven in, speaking of a new spring and the joys that are brought with it. The focus was not on this literature, however; it was on the man sitting crosslegged on his own floor mat on this platform.
"Hello," he said flatly as a man who stood behind him shifted uneasily in his spot. "Don't mind Enxia. What can I do for you, m'lady?" the assumed Prefect asked, resting his hands on his knees with an unfaltering posture.
Unchained Phoenix wrote:
This is MTV Cribs, baby~!
Music In The Kijo's Head - "Holiday Inn" - Chingy feat. Snoop Dog & Ludacris
The Kijo only smiled while being searched by the two cuties.
Looking ahead. Looking at the high iron gates in particular.
It surrounded the courtyard as willow trees towered over the posts.
Shadows creeping across the expanse of the ground.
"Looks like Wayne's gate to me."
She muttered to herself.
"You know Wayne?"
The Kijo then asked the cute one searching on her left.
"I don't."
Answering her own question before the man could even reply.
When the search was over, and as the gates were being opened,
the Kijo looked back at her coffin and softly tsk-ed.
"Keys." She barked at the captain.
Dangling the key chain before him like he was a valet boy.
She tossed it with a blink as she passed by, taunting him once again.
The Kijo then started whistling an eerie pitched out of tune song.
One that is very disturbing to the ear as she walked beside the captain.
One look at ahead, made her stop and smile though.
She already knew what was coming.
Guessing from the feel of the place.
Guessing from the look of the guards.
A second search.
"Again? Dang, isn't this the customs or what?"
She said when they reach the entrance guards.
"Oh, wait. Search me~! Search me~! Me~! Me~!"
The Kijo waved her hands, jumping like a kid as the attendant moved towards her.
Once this was done, she and the entrance patrol were engulfed by the darkness of the archway.
Entering the world beyond...
"Ooh, welcome to the bat cave . . ."
The Kijo said with a giggle as she followed the footsteps of the guards.
"You guys don't talk much, do you, huh~?"
She asked the one to her right, raising an eyebrow.
And tried to poke him twice on the face just to see if he would react.
"Not even sign language~?
Asking the one to her left, crossing her arms as they walked.
"Nada~?"
"How about some of those innuendos~? You don't use that too, huh~?"
She asked to no one in particular.
"You know, double speak and such? You gettin' me?"
Waving her hands slightly as if to make her point.
"Fine~! Don't talk to me. Don't talk to me ever."
She declared angrily, deciding to stop badgering them as boredom took her over.
"Snobby stuck-ups."
The Kijo remained silent throughout the entire walk as if brooding.
And finally got inside a large room filled with decor.
He heard the man at the platform speak, just as she twiddled her toes at the floor.
Red carpet and yellow gold. What a combination.
Yet she didn't reply to him, just as quick.
Especially with her mood and her headache like this.
And the ambiance of the place is just making it worse.
She just looked, turning around, watching the room with utter boredom.
"Fancy place you got up here. Frugal hermit."
The Kijo said with her back turned to the man.
She then turned around to get a good look at the man, and nodded to him.
Yet the poetry on the draped tapestry behind the playform, stole her attention away.
"How I love the color of spring . . . Fills my heart with the joys it bring . . ."
Muttering to herself, barely above a whisper.
Green eyes lost as if she were reading words in a book from long ago.
Unchained Phoenix wrote:Unchained Phoenix wrote:
haha, cribz.
The guards looked relatively pleased to finally get rid of this woman, bowing in unison before all departing in a giant hustling drove. The assumed Prefect rolled his eyes as the door slid shut behind them, their silhouettes disappearing in a matter of seconds. The elevated man's chocolate eyes moved from the door to Kijo Akki, her appearance and mannerisms capturing his interest immediately. A small smile played at the corner of his pinked lips. "Kijo Akki," he simply said, inclining his head in respect as he would to any woman who he crossed paths with. "Your surroundings are an inheritance of mine. I made no contributions to the splendor you see around you. The only thing I brought was the poem behind me, written my by mentor before I seized Shangdang."
"But enough about me," he said wistfully. "I am glad that you have come. Surely you must have questions for me? Hold nothing back."
Unchained Phoenix wrote:
I don't like poems.
Music In The Kijo's Head - "Westside Story" - The Game
The Kijo noticed the brief subtle exchange as it occured.
She merely nodded, more to herself than to the man at the platform.
So he likes rolling his eyes like that, huh?
Memories of an old friend, nudged at the back of her mind.
Her green eyes suddenly blinked as if seeing the man again for the first time.
And another strange music began once again, inside her head.
The Kijo smiled at the ceiling. Thinking.
She wondered if anyone out there was hearing what she was hearing.
The Kijo shook her head as she read the poem for a second time.
The poem was about spring. She looked at the colors.
It stung her eyes, more than it did impress her.
She sighed at all this waste of space.
Why can't he do something about it. Frugal, huh?
The Kijo casually walked towards him.
She sauntered with an air of undeniable self-possession about her.
Her head high. Her posture militant. Her demeanor unassuming.
Markings of the hard place where she grew up.
Empowered by the song in her head.
The Kijo watched "Zhao" as he talked.
His posture. The way he talked. Down to the placement of his hands.
The Kijo now halfway to the platform.
Green eyes met brown eyes.
Holding a strong gaze in a long while after the man finished.
Probing. Watching. Probing.
As if the man was being measured in a merchant's scales of some sort.
The Kijo stopped, roughly 10 feet away from the platform.
She parted a stray hair from her face, with fingers painted with nail art.
Wearing a sleek uniform of some sort with black trims at the cuffs and collars.
A forehead protector used as headband for her white hair.
Her cloak gone along with the second search.
"It was kinda hard to get here, you know." She began, scratching her cheek.
"People not really wanting to go here with the plague rumor and all that.
The Kijo remembered seeing the proclamation at the Gliding Swan Inn . . .
"Guess it wasn't just a rumor then, huh?" She ended, dropping her hand.
The Kijo continued, this time talking her thoughts loud,
"As for thinking why you want me to come here.."
She then glanced at the man behind "Zhao," then back to him.
"Seems to me that someone has already taken over the first."
"So that leaves the other two possible reasons . . ."
She trailed off, placing hands on hips.
Green eyes met brown eyes.
Probing. Watching. Probing.
And the feeling of being weighed came once again . . .
Unchained Phoenix wrote:
"I don't know how you mean," Zhao Yue replied rather warily. He knew this woman was an odd one, but simply talking to her increased his suspicions. Regardless, he knew how to keep his face tight and his head steady, keeping in control of the conversation per usual. "But I invited you here to become my top bodyguard, with a pay deserving of such a position. If you think I have any ulterior motives, then discard your preoccupations. I am interested in acquiring a great power to protect me from my assailants, and overall threaten them. Interested?" he asked.
Unchained Phoenix wrote:
You're weird. Join me!
Music In The Kijo's Head - "Death Note" - Yoshihisa Arano and Hideki Taneiuchi
The Kijo's blood boiled within, as the man's words reached her ears.
Like a bell of doom being struck, it hummed with resonance.
And for a moment, the Kijo felt her heart stop as something stirred within from its slumber.
Like big bubbles of evil in a swamp, it moved.
And the Kijo gritted her teeth at the pain.
Out of breath. Her very life, hanging in the balance.
And The Kijo hated herself for being caught off guard.
Her heart started beating again as it came to life.
But this time, it was not alone.
The Xiamo smiled . . .
She felt it clawing at the back of her mind.
Trying to get loose. Trying to get free.
Burning with eagerness.
Eagerness to kill.
Anything. Anyone.
The Xiamo caught a glimpse from the Kijo's eyes.
This one . . .
The Kijo closed her eyes shut.
And the Xiamo chuckled.
Her shoulders suddenly felt heavy and tired.
As if a fully grown man was standing on them.
A sign of the Xiamo's dormancy coming to a near end.
And to think that it was only half-awake.
The Kijo's mind raced as the Xiamo begun a low chant.
"Yes...we...I am very interested."
She suddenly said in a rich voice so different than her own.
Like the sound of cool chimes in an air of spring.
It was fluently speaking in Chinese better than she ever could.
The Kijo almost gasped but caught herself.
It felt unnatural. Foreign.
Someone else . . .
"But surely you would want some proof."
The calm voice continued using her mouth.
The Kijo felt herself shuddering just by listening to it.
And the Xiamo continued its chanting in her head, more loudly than ever.
"After all, you wouldn't just base your decision on just...rumors."
The voice taunted with a perfect smile showing teeth.
Green eyes glanced at the man behind "Zhao" then back to him.
Her mouth smiled on its own as her hand cross themselves under her bosom.
Her eyes blinked on its own.
And the Kijo found herself in a great darkness.
Looking at pair of mirrors.
It was the man at the platform.
She was looking right through her eyes.
On a pair of mirrors.
The Kijo felt a clawed hand touch her shoulder.
She gasped and held her breath.
It was chanting.
It was the Xiamo.
She wouldn't dare look behind her.
And the Xiamo continued on chanting.
The Kijo covered her mouth and cried in fear.
She must do something. Anything.
Or she would be trapped here.
Forever.
Only then did the Kijo heard what the Xiamo was chanting.
"Kill... Kill... Kill... Kill... Kill...Kill... Kill..."
And the Kijo screamed at the darkness . . .
Unchained Phoenix wrote:
"Yes, I suppose making my decision based off of rumors would be a foolish venture, but of course I--" the Prefect began, but then he noticed the stiff change in the air as a blank face stared at him for a few uncomfortable moments. Then an ear-splitting shriek ripped through the air, throwing the Prefect completely off guard as he tipped dangerously backwards, but he managed to maintain his composure as his guest apparently lost her mind. Immediately, guards in the hall stormed into the room, swords unsheathed as Kijo battled her inner demons. Laoxin raised his hand to prevent them from striking the woman, observing her as it became obvious that she was dealing with some mental issues. Perhaps she wasn't the best woman to employ now that it was obvious that she had some serious problems, but everyone had their strange quirks.
"L... Lady Kijo," the Prefect said apprehensively, "are you alright? Do you need anything?" he asked, hoping he wouldn't incite another screaming bout.
Music In The Kijo's Head - "What's Up People" - Death Note Opening 2
The Kijo blinked her eyes and she was back in the room.
The man at the platform.
An upraised hand.
Guards at the room with unsheathed swords.
Damn . . .
It happened again.
What happened anyway?
It was like waking up from a bad nightmare.
Only to find out that the nightmare was real..
All of them were looking at her, making her think hard to guess what could've happened.
She stood her ground though, her back stiffening up to glare back at them.
The Kijo then wiped the tears off her cheeks, half of the time wondering why did she cried.
No one's dead. No signs of blood. No mangled bodies.
Yet.
Well, whatever occurred back then, it surely made the guards come rushing to the room.
"No, of course I'm not alright."
She said to the Prefect in a blunt tone.
"I didn't know you cared.."
The Kijo said in a dry tone, coming back to her old self, whichever one of them.
"Well? I'm waiting."
She said, urging the Prefect to go on with whatever he was supposed to do.
Whatever that is.
The Kijo need only take one look at the guards, looking forward to stick their swords at her.
So jumpy, eager to please and touchy.
Yep, from the feel of them, he surely do need a bodyguard, alright.
That was the first thing she deduced from the letter.
What was his name again?
The Kijo only smiled at the Prefect as both dream and memory began seeping into one . . .
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