The Lost City

A/N: NaNo is over and with my first win! Yay! Now, back to fanfic writing 'til November 2013! Only a few minor changes done to this chapter.

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Chapter 4: The King

He lounged in his luxurious velvet couch on the balcony of his tower, swirling the crimson liquid in an opulent glass cup. The rising sun glinted off of the lightly textured surface, sending sunspots and rainbows to dance in his eyes. Still he stared, his mind elsewhere.

The sunlight in the east caught his bloodied locks and played with the intricate artist's palette of reds and auburns, making his form all the more glorified and God-like than he already was to his people. A stray beam of gold caught his eyes, and his gaze shifted to the gold armlet that identified him, riddled with runes and pictograms of his high office. Frowning darkly, he stood and wrenched the armband off, throwing it into a dark corner of his shadowy chambers.

He'd find the offending piece of jewellery when he decided to come out of his rooms.

He turned to face the second tower to the west of his own, a dark smile coming to his face.

In that tower's main suite, lay the raven-haired goddess both he and his people had been waiting for. His Aanelie. Their Aanelie. The answer to everyone's problems, and the one to break the curse that she had placed on him.

His golden eyes narrowed in thought.

The word that described the woman that lay unconscious in the tower before him sounded wrong. Aanelie was a word that had many meanings, one that also meant Goddess to his people in their ancient language. Although it suited the beauty perfectly, he couldn't help but want to call her something different, something new that only he alone could call her by. He needed a new word that symbolised her significance to him, and only him.

Something…

"Kaoru."

That was what the nika had called her. The name alone had an effect on him, a warmth starting to swirl in his gut and a primal instinct – driven by his curse – to protect her and keep her with him, beginning to pull at his conscience. 'Kaoru' seemed to roll off his tongue uninhibited, leaving him salivating for more.

He already felt obliged by propriety to treat his Aanelie – no, his Kaoru – with the utmost tender love and care.

"Kaoru…" he smirked, his gold eyes softening into a warm amber and lilac.

If her name was anything like the vision of beauty she was, then he would find it immensely intriguing to get to know this woman better, while she was helping him break the curse that had been placed upon him seemingly centuries earlier.

Growling, his eyes turned cold once more as memories long since past, surfaced to his mind. "Very soon Kaoru will break this curse. Until then, Shishio, I will look after what is mine. I will hunt you down for what you have done to me," he vowed, stepping into the lessening darkness of his room to find his gold armband. He sighed in frustration when he noticed it glinting at him from where it had been imbedded in the wall.

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Kamiya Kaoru was never one to dress up in fancy dresses with make-up and dangerously high stiletto heels. Whenever friends managed to drag her out to clubs (most of the time through the use of black-mail), she would wear her nicest jeans and her best party top (anything she deemed clean and shimmery).

It wasn't that she hated to look good for the opposite sex, but rather, she didn't feel the need to be stared at like some kind of uncovered meat being sold by a butcher at market.

Besides, deep down in the recesses of her heart and soul, she had felt that the man she was trying to impress hadn't appeared in her life yet.

This pissed-off many of her friends who set her up on endless blind dates, that would in-turn, piss her off to the point she wouldn't speak to her friends for weeks on end. Misao and Megumi had learnt this the hard way.

Not even one to dress up for one of the Museum's many gala's and ball's, Kaoru found herself still trying to wrap her mind around the fact that she wore a dress that revealed more than she was entirely comfortable showing. Blushing brightly in front of the full-length mirror, she gazed at her form and wondered how exactly she had gotten herself into this situation.

The colour was a deep aquamarine, fading slightly more to pure blue towards the bottom of the toga-esq dress. Its cut was a halter-type design, the silken material hugging her bosom nicely (she couldn't help but blush when she noticed this) and ended in an Empyrean waistline just underneath her breasts. The skirt and body of the dress were lost in the silken folds, yet gave the viewer an illusion of the curves that were hidden beneath.

A shawl of the same colour lay on a small couch by the bathtub; most likely to cover her back.

Kaoru couldn't help but blush, imagining the reaction she would get from her friends once they saw her in this get-up. "Sano's jaw will hit the floor," she giggled, turning around when she heard the door to her rather remarkable bathroom open and her two 'maids' walked in.

Tae gasped, clasping her hands together and smiling genuinely. "Oh, Mistress… you look absolutely divine."

Kaoru looked away in embarrassment and shifted slightly. "Er, I'm not exactly used to wearing these type of clothes… I'm feeling a little exposed at the moment."

"Nonsense!" Tae exclaimed, moved over and picked up the shawl, draping it almost artistically over her shoulders, "Your friends are waiting for you in the Crimson Room. As for His Majesty, he doesn't liked to be kept waiting for long," she started to push Kaoru out of the room while Tsubame began to clean up the waterlogged bathroom.

Her heart beat a million miles a minute as she was taken out of the room she had awoken in, down a winding stair-case (she was surprised when it left her a little more than winded) and down countless corridors… and to her horror, even more stairs.

"Your audience with His Majesty will start when he calls for you and your Protectors. For now, you will be reunited with your friends and have a small brunch." Tae chattered on, oblivious to Kaoru's discomfort at the fact that the many people they passed in the halls stopped and bowed low to her.

Kaoru smiled wanly at the people, trying instead to focus on what Tae was talking about.

"-so much flurry because of your arrival! Then the Ball! Oh, it will be a truly magical night!" she continued, only to bump into Kaoru who had stopped dead in her tracks, "Lady Kaoru, what is the matter?"

Kaoru was breathing hard. A Ball?! She moaned dejectedly and continued walking forwards, ignoring Tae's cries of worry.

'I thought I had gotten rid of dressing up when I fell into this place!' she roared in her mind, feeling a migraine coming on.

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The conference room had always been one of the most hated parts of the palace for him. Hidden deep within the architectural grandeur of his keep, the room had always been a moot point to him because of its blandness: four grey stone walls surrounded a long, wide table which could seat up to twenty-five delegates, plus a surplus of two guards to each emissary. All in all, there could be seventy-five people at any given time whenever a war was seen in the near future.

Reclining in his throne, gold armband secured once again around his right bicep, he glared at the map that was strewn over the table in front of him. His eyes flickered over to the rather large cluster of red, pulsating dots in the upper right-hand corner of the map, his anger reaching near boiling point at his enemies audacity.

He snarled, ready to tear the map to shreds… but stopped when the doors to the room opened with a whoosh and his right-hand, Aoshi, came striding into the room, his white cape billowing about his shoulders. His steely blue eyes flashed as he saw his king, holding out the violet orb to him as he approached the throne. "Battousai, I have what you requested for."

Battousai reached for the orb and smirked, watching as the calm violet in the sphere, bled into amber as his callused fingers brushed its unblemished surface. "Good," was all he said.

Aoshi nodded, standing beside the throne. Silence lingered in the room as Battousai examined the orb, turning it over in his hands as he thought about the recent turn of events.

"Go to the Dawn sitting room. Bring the Aanelie and her Protectors to me."

Aoshi turned to his king, his face stoic and cold. "Shall I bring them to the Throne Room?" he asked, stepping aside as Battousai stood up, cradling the orb in the palm of his left hand.

"Yes," he replied, walking towards the doors that still stood open, "It is of utmost import that we explain the situation to our most esteemed guests." He stopped walking when they reached the hall, the two burly guards standing to attention as their king walked by them. "I will meet you there."

Aoshi nodded his head, and turned, ignoring the small urge to sneeze as the stench of sulphur and brimstone filled the narrow corridor. Behind him, his king disappeared in a puff of black smoke, his golden eyes flashing in anticipation.

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Misao frowned, carving her name into the low wooden table with one of her many kunai. "I'm bored… and hungry," she moaned, ignoring the twitch that had grown bigger underneath Yahiko's left eye. "Where's Kaoru? Where are we? What day is it? Do pigs fly here? If so, does the price of bacon go up?"

Megumi sighed and snuggled closer to Sano, watching as Yahiko jumped up from his position on the other side of the table and leapt at Misao, hands at the ready to throttle her. "The entertainment is fine, but I'm hungry as well. I have the right to be, seeing as I'm eating for two." She mumbled, grinning slightly when Misao caught Yahiko in a head-lock and proceeded to give him a hard noogie.

"If you've never noticed it, Megumi, you've always been buying food for three people. You, Sano and Sano's stomach," Enishi replied indifferently, moving causally to the side as Sano swatted at him.

The five friends and colleagues had entered the room not an hour ago, and had been informed by a guard that a small brunch was being prepared for them upon the arrival of 'The Lady Aanelie'. Upon that small tid-bit of news, they had crowded around the low table, seating themselves comfortably on the various cushions that were used instead of chairs.

When the group had questioned the guard as to whom the 'Lady Aanelie' was, all they had received in answer was a curious look from the guard as he turned and left the room.

"What I don't get," Sano started saying, one had wrapped around Megumi's waist and the other scratching the back of his head, "is why this Ann-e-lay type person is so important. I mean, what does it have to do with us?"

Enishi snorted, his arms folded over his chest as he opened his eyes behind his sunglasses. "You really don't get, do you?" he asked, looking at Sano from the corner of his eyes.

Sano shrugged, shaking his head. "It's not that I don't get it, it's more of I don't really want to get it."

Megumi frowned, "And why is that?"

"Dunno. I just have a bad feeling about the outcome," Sano replied, looking at the tabletop and going silent.

"It's all about Kaoru."

Misao and Yahiko's fight stopped abruptly, the two of them falling on the floor in a heap. Misao was instantly up, using Yahiko as leverage. "What's all about Kaoru? Speak, man!"

"Yeah, Enishi, what's this thing got to do with Kaoru?" Megumi asked, sitting up and watching the curious look cross Sano's face.

"Everything," was his only reply just as the doors to the room opened again and a slightly dazed looking Kaoru stumbled in, Tae muttering something to her that no one else could hear. Just as the woman had entered (albeit pushing Kaoru into the room) she disappeared just as fast, leaving the doors open as a small troupe of servants carrying trays of light snack foods walked in and placed them down on the table. They left just as quickly as the maid, almost in the blink of an eye.

"Kaoru!" Misao squealed, jumping up and hugging her friend.

"What just happened?" Sano asked, blinking at the sudden food that seemed to have suddenly appeared on the table in front of them.

"Kaoru's back and we have food." Megumi smiled, reaching over to a platter of sliced fruits and picking up an apple piece, popping the fruit into her mouth.

Yahiko, exclaiming expletives into the pillow that had cushioned his head when Misao pushed him into the ground, only now started to get up. His eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw Kaoru standing there in her newfound glory a ways in front of him. "Whoa… um, I mean, uh, Kaoru's back," he said, standing up and staring at her.

Enishi, who had noticed Kaoru's entrance, now started to notice the difference in her. What Yahiko had said to describe the way in which she looked now, did little justice. He smirked, hardly believing that under all that dust, attitude and her spit-fiery-ness, was a beautiful woman that (he'd never admit it) took his breath away.

She was like a goddess sent to earth… and his theory was being proven true with the vision before him.

"You look gorgeous, Kaoru! This dress really brings out your eyes!" Misao gushed, fluttering around her friend and admiring the new look.

At the mention of 'Kaoru' and 'dress' in the same sentence, Megumi sat up, mouth full of apple slices. She turned, along with Sano, and felt her jaw give way. She hastily closed her mouth when she felt the half-chewed food start to slip from her mouth. Beside her, Sano's reaction was very much the same– awe and something else sparking in his eyes.

Silently he stood, walking over to the two women who chattered lightly.

"-gorgeous, he was. My heart stopped and- Oh! Hi Sano!" Misao squealed, blushing when she saw Sano grin down at her.

Kaoru turned, smiling lightly at the man she considered her brother. "Hi Sano, what's up?"

"You… and that dress," he replied calmly, grabbing at the long shawl that was laying casually in the crooks of Kaoru's elbows. He picked up the ends and pulled them up, tying a knot just under her chin and making a big bow that fell over her torso and upper-arms, covering the low cut that made up the front and back of the dress.

The finished look made Misao start laughing and Yahiko to snigger.

"Sano!" Kaoru yelled, pulling angrily at the bow and glaring at the man. She tugged at the shawl, freeing some of the knot that Sano had tied, and turned away from him, stalking over to the low table and plopped down on a deep crimson cushion on Megumi's other side.

Megumi swallowed her mouthful of chewed apple slices and tutted at her fiancé, wiping her sticky fingers on a cloth she found folded underneath one of the platters of fruits. "Sano, for once in her life, Kaoru is wearing something down-right sexy, and you go and do this!" she shot a glare over her shoulder, picking at the knot and cursed, "Bloody hell, what kinda knot is this?!"

Enishi smirked at Sano's expression of sheepishness, and stood up, making his way calmly over to where Kaoru sat and kneeling down next to her. "Here, this is how you do it," he muttered, pushing Megumi's fussing fingers away and pulling in various places of the knot to free the bow, earning a grateful smile and blush from Kaoru.

"Er, thank you Enishi," Kaoru muttered, turning her head away and catching the raised brow on Megumi's face, "What?"

The older woman grinned, a slight smirk playing in her facial features as she replied: "Oh nothing. Nothing at all."

Kaoru frowned darkly, looking at her critically, "Just spit it out, Megumi."

Megumi chuckled and turned to Sano as he moved casually to sit next to her again, scratching the back of his head. "You are just horrible, Sagara." She pouted, earning a flustered look from him.

"I'm sorry! It's just that Kaoru is like the little sister I never had and seeing her in that dress and having all this talk about her bein' a goddess and all… it just got me a little jumpy!" he explained, sighing at the end when Megumi rubbed his arm comfortingly. Pregnant women were just downright scary to him.

Kaoru had been listening with half a mind to Sano's little speech, her thoughts dazing off to Enishi's fingers that had so deftly untied the knot, wondering why on Earth (or whatever this place was, because it definitely wasn't her home planet) he would do something like that. It certainly was out-of-character for him, because normally he'd be chuckling rather insanely at her misfortune.

She sighed and picked up a small cup of what looked to be orange-juice and took a sip, her mind slowly filtering back to reality when she heard Sano mention something about her being a goddess or something. Shaking her head to rid herself of those thoughts, she swallowed, nearly choking on what Enishi had to say next.

"It's true. Here, in these Lands, Kaoru is supposed to be some kind of Goddess." Enishi nodded firmly, eyeing Kaoru's reaction and let out a dark bark of laughter.

Chocking and spluttering, Kaoru wheezed gently as four pairs of hands beat her back or rubbed in circular motions (she could only guess as to whom was doing the pounding and whom were doing the rubbing). "What?!" she croaked, her eyes wide as she stared at her boss.

Unfazed, Enishi sat forward on the cushion he had occupied opposite Sano and Megumi, eyeing Kaoru and the others with a critical eye. "It's just like I said: here, Kaoru is thought of as a Goddess. The rest of us, apparently, are meant to be her Protectors."

The silence that followed Enishi's statement was nothing short of shocked. The others looked at one another, letting his words slowly sink in.

Yahiko moved out from behind Kaoru and sat on a cushion at the head of the small flat table, his brow creased in thoughtful concentration while Misao sat at the other end, closest to Kaoru. She looked troubled, her eyes picking out her name that she had carved into the table, surprisingly not covered by the various plates and trays that the servants (or kitchen-hands, whoever they were) had brought in.

"It's kinda ridiculous, though. Me? A Goddess?" Kaoru looked uncomfortably at her friends and giggled slightly.

"Enishi has a point, Kaoru. Remember when we all woke up in that Tomb and the mural on the wall was complete? All those figures looked like us. When we arrived in this castle, or palace, or whatever, we were given these clothes. They are the exact same ones that were in the mural!" Yahiko stated, turning to Enishi to support his theory.

Enishi just nodded, watching Kaoru who smirked.

"I'm not wearing what the figure in the mural wore, though, am I?" she asked smugly, earning a glare from the youngest member of the party.

"That's besides the point!" he retorted, glaring at her.

"Look, the point here is, is that we have to figure out what they want with us and how the Hell we're going to get out of here!" Kaoru said, standing up and started to make her way towards the doors of the room…

Only for them to be suddenly opened by two burly guards and have a tall, towering man with icy eyes walk in, bowing low to Kaoru before standing up again. She stared at the man, eyes wide. "Um, hello?" she said weakly, hearing Misao's gasp as she set her eyes on the mysterious stranger.

All of her friends suddenly appeared around her, causing a blush to rise to her cheeks as Enishi's words played out in her head, 'Kaoru is supposed to be some kind of Goddess'.

The man's eyes scanned the groups face's, lingering slightly longer than need be on Misao's face (which left her feeling light-headed when he looked away), before turning fully to Kaoru once more and bowing… again. "Lady Aanelie, His Majesty requests the presence of you and your Protectors in the Throne Room immediately."

Kaoru frowned when he spoke to the floor instead of to her. "Uh, okay? But, next time, could you talk to my face and not the ground, please?" she asked, feeling self-conscious.

The man stood up to his full height, his eyes looking at Kaoru critically before nodding slightly. "If her Lady Aanelie wishes it." He then spun on his heel and walked out of the room, "If you would follow me."

Kaoru and the others had to run to keep up.

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Gold eyes peered out over his kingdom, watching as his people went about their day with a new and noticeable spring in their steps. He smiled, no darkness or malice behind his features; despite what his title said about him. He loved his people, loved his kingdom… had loved his first wife, even if…

He shook his head, turning from the bright light that shone down on his kingdom and towards the throne room that sprawled out beneath him.

The balcony he stood on was used mainly when addressing his people, wide and marvellously sculpted with creeper vines trailing around the railings and falling over the sides to hang majestically on either side of the royal banner. At this moment, the banner was rolled up, signalling to his people that he did not need to address them… at least not yet, anyway.

The wide stone archway that opened onto the balcony led into the throne room from the side. Stairs swept down to the room level, covered by the thick navy blue colour of the royal house, flanked on either side by railings once again wrapped in flowering vines that were tended to on a daily basis.

His gold eyes surveyed the room, smiling to himself at the architectural beauty of it. The throne rooms ceiling was domed, the sun blazing down into the room through the glass, and lighting it up as if it had no ceiling. Directly beneath the dome and in the very centre of the room was a pond set into the ground, surrounded by few cushions and low tables. Lily pads and lotuses gave off a heady scent through out the room, overpowering the incense that burned in the corners of the room. The water sparkled, silent and still in the room when suddenly a fish flicked the surface with its tail and broke the tranquillity.

Moving down the steps, he passed by the pond and towards the throne that stood on a dais directly opposite the balcony on the other side of the room. As he settled on the plush throne, his eyes settled on the glass orb, sitting cushioned on a dark navy pillow beside his throne.

The pillow floated in midair.

A small clicking sound filled the air in the throne room and he sat up, looking every bit the King as the ornate main doors on the right side of the room opened to admit the very woman he had been waiting centuries to see.

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The ornate doors that the tall man led them to were thrown open by some unseen force. Kaoru jumped, the action scaring her slightly. Walking after the group that had started to move into the room beyond, she nearly screamed when Enishi lay a comforting hand on her shoulder.

She glared at him, remembering his earlier episode in the other room and shook his hand off. She walked over to Misao, trying to ignore Enishi, who was walking slightly behind her. Manoeuvring herself so that Yahiko and Misao were on either sides of her, she sighed in relief and turned her attention to Misao who was trying to ignore the tall, dark and mysterious man that headed the group. She was having very little luck, glancing at the man from the corners of her eyes.

Kaoru laughed gently, herself ignoring the man that was her boss. As she peered out at the formidably large room, she couldn't help but gasp a little at the enriching beauty of it, wishing she could stop for a little bit and let her inner historian loose to explore the various styles used in the architecture of the room.

As she walked, she spotted the Greek/Roman style atrium: a pond in the middle of a room in the centre of a home with the roof taken away to let in light during the day. All the doors in the house would be facing this inner room when light would bounce off of the pool of water, extinguishing the use of fire during the day. To say she was impressed was an understatement, her eyes almost hungrily searching for the next design to link a society to.

This came in the form of the large columns spread in a circle around the room, holding up the stone ceiling surrounding the glass dome above them. Almost Corinthian in design, the shaft was flat, whereas in actual Corinthian column design, there would be fillets and flutings. She frowned, wishing she could get a better look at the column (and silently cursing the flowering creepers that had been left to grow artistically from the marble planters around the pedestal) so as to determine exactly what kind of column it was. The only reason she guessed Corinthian make was from the acanthus leaf used in the making of the neck or capital of the column.

Kaoru turned her attention from the columns when she felt an almost familiar pang. An aura she had felt before washed over her, causing the hairs on her neck to stand on end once more. As dark as it had been in the desert, the aura this time was tinged with violet, a calming and passive presence soothing her frazzled nerves. She was lulled, for lack of a better word, into a sense of peace and serenity, the darkness comforting. Just as quickly as the aura had wrapped her up, it retreated, leaving her feeling suddenly empty and alone, even as Yahiko and Misao stood beside her. She blinked, lightly touching her chest where her heart would be. Strangely, she still felt the remnants of peace and serenity, her senses super-alert like she had never been lost in her own little world.

Beside her, Misao had started arguing with Yahiko about what type of flowers grew on the vines, while Megumi and Sano chatted nervously, the reality of what had happened to them sinking in finally. Enishi was silent, trailing behind them all and seemed to be on alert. Their newfound friend walked casually ahead of them, stoic and cold as when he had come to get them.

Kaoru frowned when she realised that he hadn't even introduced himself. She stepped forward, quickening her pace to match the tall man's stride and was about to ask who exactly he was… when he stopped suddenly. Glancing down at her with a slight quirk of his eyebrow, he looked to the others behind her who had stopped as well.

"The Dark Lord, King Battousai," he said with a flourish, stepping away from before Kaoru and revealing the raised dais on which stood an imposing throne… and the gold-eyed, red haired man that had whisked her away from the desert.

"Lady Aanelie and her Protectors… I welcome you to my Kingdom," Battousai said, his voice deep and slightly husky. He stood up and stepped off the dais, standing next to the taller man who bowed slightly.

Kaoru could only stare, only remembering slightly to keep her mouth closed, feeling that dark, comforting aura seep from him. He had yet to look at her directly, for which she was slightly grateful for, and stood watching the others with a predatory gold eye.

"You have to excuse my Second-in-Command, he forgets his manners," he continued, giving a slight glare to the taller man who remained stoic before him.

"I am Shinimori Aoshi, Second-in-Command of the Army and Head of Security here at the Palace," he said almost automatically, his voice as cold as his stare.

Kaoru glanced to the others, noticing almost instantly Sano's clenched fists at his sides; Enishi's slight tick in his cheek and Yahiko's clenched jaw. They were going to explode if nothing was done soon-

"Why are we here?"

Kaoru blinked, looking at Misao who had voice the question, a blank look on her face. She looked at Battousai directly in the eye, a small sheen of sweat breaking out on her forehead at his intense stare.

"It was prophesised that you all would accompany the Aanelie when she would arrive in our world. A glorious woman would appear from the Gateway, flanked by her guardians: the Healer, The Fighter, the Ninja, the Samurai, and the Sword." It was Aoshi who spoke, causing Kaoru to look at him.

"But that doesn't explain what the hell we're doing here!" Yahiko snapped, instantly trapped by Battousai's golden stare.

"It doesn't? I thought it would, little Samurai," he smirked, watching as Yahiko turned red with anger.

"Don't call me little!" he cried petulantly, acting anything but his age.

"It's true. It doesn't explain the reason why we are here. Are we figure-heads? Are we gonna be used as sacrifices? This is all just freaky Alice-in-Wonderland shit!" Sano yelled, running a hand angrily through his hair.

Battousai turned from them all, standing back up on the dais and reaching for a glass orb that shone a faint gold. The pillow that it had been cushioned on disappeared with a faint pop, the group of friends looking at one another uneasily. "This is the orb that you all found in that tomb. It allowed you to be transported to this world." He held up the glass ball and let it float out of his hand, the golden glow brightening gently until it flashed and the gold had turned to white. "As your names suggest, you are Protectors of the Aanelie, the only one who can break my curse and set my people free."

"Kaoru can take care of herself. Why do we need to look after her?" Enishi asked, his voice loud enough for all to hear.

Battousai looked at him, a dark glare coming to his features, his eyes burning a molten gold. "Because if you do not protect the Aanelie, then she will die."