Yasuke : Rise of the Black Dahlia

Yasuke, Chapter 4 : King's Speech

King Musa was sitting in his throne, with his golden staff in hand. He tapped it on the ground three times, as Mona formed in the corner of the room. She slowly walked up to King Musa and bowed before his feet. 

"You summoned me, my king."

"Yes, it has been a few months. I'm assuming Yasuke's enlightenment training has been going well?" 

"Yes, he has progressing just as planned. However, I've noticed something over the last week."

"Oh?" 

"The Black Dahlia is supposed to grow naturally just like the White Lotus and Golden Apple, correct?" 

"That is the legend. Nobody can say if they haven't seen it themselves. Have you discovered something that contradicts this theory?" 

"At the beginning of this week...." 

                *EVENTS RECALLING BEGINS* 

Yasuke and Eradius were once again in the part of the field designated for Yasuke's training. 

"Duck, Yasuke!" Eradius stated as he unleashed a kick. 

                                  *SWOOSH* 

Despite being much smaller than him, Yasuke barely evaded the kick as Eradius' leg grazed the top of his head. Yasuke took a second to analyze the effect the kick had on him, rubbing his head to check for bleeding. 

"Stay focused!" 

Eradius came forwards with a punch that Yasuke leaped out of way of. 

     

                               *SWAUGHHH* 

One of Eradius' knuckles grazed Yasuke's cheek, which resulted in a minor scrape. A small drip of blood streamed down from the scrape. Upon seeing this, Eradius stopped attacking. 

"I guess that's enough for today." 

Yasuke covered the scrape with both hands. But, a few drops of blood leaked through his fingers and stained the grass. 

"Don't worry, kid. It's not a big scar, it'll heal in no time." 

"You too strong." Yasuke replied as the last drop of blood fell. 

"It's you're." Erad replied. "And don't worry Yasuke, you're incredibly young. You have an entire lifetime to become stronger."

Eradius grabbed Yasuke's shoulder and escorted him along. 

" Let's get back to the house, I'll fix that for you." 

After watching Yasuke and Eradius leave to go back to their house, Mona crept along the outline the fields near the trees. As she made her way to the spot reserved for Yasuke's training, she felt another presence. She stopped in her tracks and quickly spun around, looking in every direction around her. When she didn't see anyone, she quickly denoted that the person was enlightened. So, she channeled her chi. 

"Echo Simulation" she whispered as she sent waves of chi in every direction. 

"You won't be able to hide now." She thought. "If these waves come into contact with another enlightened person, they'll be reflected back to me. And that's how I will know where you are." 

Just as she thought, her wave of chi came back to her from one direction. As she felt it, she looked up at a branch of a tree. 

"I'm sure you already know how Echo Simulation works" she called out. "That also means you know that I know that you're here" 

"Okay, okay, okay. I'm coming out." 

A giant man began to slither out of the tree branch. 

"To be able to hide within a object so well...he's atleast enlightenment stage three" Mona thought to herself and she took a few steps back. 

"I was behind you for awhile, and when you turned around so quickly my first reaction was to use the mending cloak." The man explained. 

The mending cloak was a technique that allowed those who are enlightened to take on the appearance of things they gathered chi from, like a tree or a bush. This was not a technique typically used in combat and the quality of the technique was determined by the enlightenment stage the user was on. 

"An enlightened man with such a hefty build wouldn't need to hide from someone who's less than half his size. I don't recognize any other kingdoms symbols on his clothing neither. So, he's most likely not here to attack me. But, he also isn't a farmer or merchant selling something so what exactly is your purpose for being here?" Mona thought. 

"Truthfully, I've heard about the wealth of King Musa, but I never believed it. That was until I seen the size of this farm." The man stated looking around. 

"Who are you?" Mona asked. 

"Oh, excuse me...My name is Botaro." He stated as he held out his hand. 

"Botaro, you need to leave." Mona replied as she glanced at his hand and crossed her arms. 

Botaro put his hand back at his side and looked down past her feet. She noticed the smile he cracked when he noticed something about whatever it is he was looking at. 

"Sorry for intruding, I'll be going now." 

Mona watched Botaro disappear into the outline of trees. From the distance, she heard him mount his horse and leave the area. However, she didn't feel at ease until she couldn't sense his chi anymore. 

"That guy was skilled." She thought as she continued walking across the field. "Way too skilled to not be a knight. Perhaps the kingdom Eradius fled from has caught up to him, figured out he's here now. That means sooner than later, they'll be coming for the Black Dahl-" 

Mona stopped in her tracks once again. But, this wasn't due to her sensing another enlightenment user's presence. It was because in the middle of the spot in the field for Yasuke's training, she saw - 

"The Black Dahlia!" 

Mona rushed to the Black Flower that rose from the ground. 

"To think this legendary Nirvana Plant can grow in our own farmland, it really is King Musa's fate to rule all."

                    *EVENTS RECALLING ENDS* 

"I've come to the conclusion that it is Yasuke's blood." Mona stated. 

"His blood?" the King asked. 

"The Black Dahlia grew from the soil where his blood dropped, and from that soil only. My hypothesis is that his blood is the catalyst for growing the Black Dahlia plant." 

"So it's not that he is the only one destined to wield the power of the Black Dahlia, but that he is the only one destined to introduce it into the world." King Musa added. 

"Yes, my King. After the plant is grown, it's power is yours for the taking. After we grow enough of the plants, Yasuke isn't essential to Neserus in the slightest."

"Yes, but I'd rather have him here permanently. I won't discard the boy. Nor will i force blood from him. The next step should be to change his training environment because that Botaro will probably return to that farm soon. Also, this will allow us to test Yasuke's blood. During his training at the new place, see if his blood can grow Black Dahlias there too."

"At once, my king." 

                               *MEANWHILE*

The Kingdom of Namunda was close to being in shambles. Over the last five years, King Nobunaga has become extremely ill. This has dictated the decision to pass power to his son, Prince Nobunaga the second. Prince Nobunaga the received the crown at the climax of the coronation ceremony, but he didn't let it conclude until after he gave a brief speech. 

"Due to the gratitude I have for all of the important citizens, my supporting family, and those brave warriors who make up The Order, I have decided my first act as King." Nobunaga the second stated. "Five years ago, a boy named Yasuke was born here. The old king, my sick father, labelled him as a potential threat to the security of this kingdom. And a young woman named Amadia decided to go against the King wishes, a took Yasuke to another Kingdom. Due to recent findings from one of our knights, we now know exactly where Yasuke is located. My first act will be to retrieve the boy, and bring him back here where he needs to be." 

After hearing this, the roam blew up with chatter. People were publicly disagreeing, agreeing, begging for the new King to ignore everything, and calling for Amadia to answer for this. 

"Wouldn't this start a war with the other Kingdom?" somebody asked. 

"The King of that Kingdom decided to take in Yasuke, they'll have no one to blame but themselves if that is the result." Nobunaga replied. "I only want to take back what is rightfully ours, nothing more." 

"Why is Yasuke so important anyway?" another person called out. 

"Yasuke is confirmed to have the power of the Black Dahlia." 

The entire room gasped in sync. 

"The Black Dahlia?" 

"That's impossible!" 

"How do you know, it's only legend!" 

"The Black Dahlia is the strongest of all Nirvana Plants!" 

"The same knight that located Yasuke informed me that he saw the Black Dahlia growing in a field that Yasuke was constantly in" Nobunaga explained. "King Musa will probably move Yasuke to another location now, but he wouldn't dare try to move the Black Dahlia. Not now." 

"King Musa?" 

"From the wealthiest kingdom, Neserus?" 

"You picked to start a war with the wealthiest of all kingdoms? We should be trying to secure him as a financial aid!" 

"We need Yasuke back." Nobunaga stated. "The Nirvana state is reached only with the help of a Nirvana Plant, and becoming enlightened to the Nirvana Stage is necessary to heal my sick father." 

"Oh, yeah. The King" 

"The Nirvana Stage is rumored to be able to heal any injury." 

"King Nobunaga is right, we have to get Yasuke back." 

Nobunaga looking over everyone in the room supporting his idea made him crack a smile. 

"Now that they support my decision, I can finally get the power of the Black Dahlia for myself." He thought. "I'll heal my dad as well as any one else who is sick just to stay in their good graces. But, after that, I will defeat every King and become the ruler of them all!"