Yasuke : Rise of the Black Dahlia

Yasuke, Chapter 22 : Rude Awakening

A man was sitting on one of the many hills in a field of grass. There were plenty of different flowers and bushes in the field, but none close to the position he was in. His eyes were closed, but he was looking in the direction of the sun. His feet were planted into the ground and loosened soil was up to his ankles. His hands were raised above his head yet appeared to be in a relaxed state. It was the man that Yasuke saw before. The man that had the same brown pigment on his skin that Yasuke had and was very thin. Soon, he was joined by another person in similar clothing to his own.

"King Agasga!"

King Agasga lowered his hands and opened his eyes to look at his visitor.

"The imbalance is becoming greater and greater." The man said to him. "It's becoming worse than we thought. I think it's time you come out of retirement and solve this issue."

"No." King Agasga replied. "It's not my fate to end things this time. It's Yasuke's."

"My King...the child is still too young. He can't handle that responsibility right now. He doesn't even know who he is right now."

King Agasga began to levitate in the air, as chunks of the ground he sat in before arose with him.

"My only obligation is to ensure Yasuke knows the truth about who he is and what he's supposed to do. If the imbalance is becoming worse, it has to be done now."

King Agasga built his aura of chi energy and began to project his consciousness onto the three other kings. They were all at different places, but heard him as if he was standing there in front of them.

"This is King Agasga from the Kingdom of Objibwe." King Leonidas, Nobunaga, and Musa heard.

"King Agasga!" Leonidas proclaimed.

"King Agasga...?" Musa uttered.

"King...Agas....ga." Nobunaga thought.

"So, I see King Nebuchadnezzar has fallen..." King Agasga continued. "That must be one of the reasons that there is a great imbalance in chi."

Nobunaga's hand throbbed a little when he heard Agasga say that.

"I've learned that Yasuke has been stuck in the middle of a power struggle between King Nobunaga and King Musa. And for some reason, I feel that neither of you have good intentions for Yasuke's power. In fact, both of your reasonings for keeping Yasuke is to benefit your own agenda."

"King Agasga must have seen the same visions I did." Leonidas thought. "So, that confirms what I saw."

"I wanted to stay uninvolved in the upbringing of Yasuke. I wanted to let him find the truth on his own, as I did. But, I see that would be the incorrect way. Therefore, I will take Yasuke and raise him myself. He will be taught the rights things, including what having the power of the Black Dahlia truly means. Then, he will be set free and able to choose his own path."

"This bastard." King Nobunaga thought. "If King Agasga gets his hands on Yasuke, my plans will never come to fruition."

"King Leonidas, I want you to be the one who brings Yasuke to me. You and you alone will enter the Kingdom of Namunda, unscathed. You and you alone will also exit the Kingdom of Namunda, unscathed. Once you have him, you'll be summoned here."

After a few moments of silence, all three kings had different reactions to what King Agasga commanded.

"This will end all of the contention for the control over Yasuke's future." Leonidas thought. "Neither of them are capable of defeating King Agasga. But, I have a feeling someone is bound to try anyway. Due to him having control over my forces, I hope it won't be King Musa."

"King Agasga chose to get involved in the worst way imaginable. Even with Leonidas' three hundred, to try to overthrow him will prove to be of the upmost difficulty. But, with my Luck Share....I may be able to even the odds." King Musa thought.

"My plan was to always become the King of Kings, but I didn't anticipate having to oppose King Agasga so quickly." King Nobunaga thought. "I still can go with the...alternative option. It's a major gamble, but it may work in my favor."

The information that was presented by King Agasga made all three kings call for an immediate emergency meeting. King Leonidas was currently on his way to the Kingdom of Neserus, so his Spartans were already with him.

"King Leonidas." Hercules stated as he placed his hand on Leonidas' shoulder. "You've been motionless for the last few minutes, is everything okay?"

"Yes, everything is fine." Leonidas replied. "But, I have something to share with all of you."

Leonidas walked in front of everyone and began to explain what King Agasga instructed him to do.

"There's been a change of plans. I will be traveling to the Kingdom of Namunda and getting Yasuke myself."

"Wait, do you mean by yourself?" Domitia asked. "That can't possibly be an idea you made yourself."

"Yes, I will go alone. And it's under the order of King Agasga. He just spoke to me as well as King Musa and King Nobunaga. He told all of us that he will personally keep Yasuke until he is ready to fully harness the power of the Black Dahlia."

"Does that mean that King Nobunaga will standby peacefully as you take Yasuke?" Mephistopheles questioned.

"I can't be sure. But, to engage in any way would be to defy King Agasga directly." King Leonidas explained. "I would hope they would know that won't work in their favor."

"King Leonidas, I have a bad feeling about all of this and I'm not sure why." Logias expressed. "Something is telling me everything about this situation will go bad."

"We should trust your instincts." Leonidas replied. "Your senses are by far the sharpest."

"King Agasga made it clear that you were the only one to enter the Kingdom of Namunda, right? But he didn't say that you had to travel there alone, did he?" Perseus asked.

"He didn't tell me to go alone, but that's what I'm going to do." Leonidas decided. "Hercules, you will escort the rest of us to our planned meeting with King Musa."

"My King, please allow my Lacuna Breach to guide your travel." Logias pleaded. "It will make me feel a lot better about this."

"Sure, but under one condition." Leonidas stated. "If you feel anything ill happening to me, you will not use your Lacuna Breach to switch places with me."

"My King...?" Logias uttered. "That's the purpose of using it on you. I need to preserve your life in case of emergency."

"No." Leonidas proclaimed. "No matter the case, it's my duty as King to give my life for any and every single one of you. If I meet my end as King, you all know Hercules is next in line to rule. We shall abide by this process like the ones before us did."

Logias didn't reply, but the expression on his face told Leonidas all he needed to know. Logias was not happy about Leonidas going to the Kingdom of Namunda alone. Not being able to use the one technique that could save Leonidas in the scenario of something bad happening to him only worsened the feeling. But, Leonidas gave him a set of instructions that reassured Leonidas.

"If something goes wrong, use your Lacuna Breach to summon yourselves to where I am." Leonidas instructed. "King Musa will excuse your absence if he knows I'm in danger."

"That sounds good but...My Lacuna Breach is not developed to the point where I can summon everyone." Logias replied.

"How many of us do you think you'd be able to summon at once?" Leonidas pondered.

"Including myself, two at most." Logias answered.

"You and two others will be enough." Leonidas decided.

"Trust me, Logias." Hercules chimed in. "We all know how you feel to a certain extent. But, we cannot let fear deprive us of our duties. The only way we'll remain who we are is by trusting each other's judgement. King Leonidas trusts your instincts, but he has to do this regardless of the danger it could put him in."

"Now that I think about it, you always have some form of bad feeling when King Leonidas does something alone. And sometimes, things do go wrong when he's alone. But we always manage to help him." Domitia said.

"That's not to mention that we have King Agasga on our side. If King Nobunaga tries anything, he'll probably send one of his personal attendants to handle him." Mephistopheles joined in. "And that's if he doesn't come himself."

Logias took a moment to let his comrades statements resonate within his mind. Although the feeling was still there, after awhile he was able to agree.

"Okay, my King." Logias declared. "I trust your judgement. I was just concerned about your safety. But, everything will be okay."

"Don't worry, Logias. I trust your instincts and I'm glad you never ignore them." Leonidas stated. "But, I must go now. You all know what should be done."

"Wait, King Leonidas." Logias stated as he walked up to him. "Allow me to use my Lacuna Breach to send you there."

Logias placed his arms on the ground as his aura of chi manifested. His chi began to sink into the ground and formed a circle around Leonidas. Logias then closed his eyes and -

*SWOOSH*

Leonidas completely vanished. Logias's Lacuna Breach was a technique he developed that allowed him to send himself or other people to any location he's visited before. To send someone someplace, he had to visualize the place in his mind for a minimum of five seconds. After Leonidas was sent on his way to the Kingdom of Namunda, the remaining Spartans began to start their journey to the Kingdom of Neserus.