"What do you need?" he asked.
"Miyoshi and Chiyo- have they been captured too?"
"No. I was able to hold the soldiers up just long enough for them to get away. They managed to climb back up the garbage chute, and none of the soldiers thought to check it."
"Can you go find them? And tell them everything you told us? And give them a message for me?"
"Sure," he said. "I'll do whatever I can."
"I don't hear anyone coming," said Miyoshi.
It'd been at least an hour since the battle and their panicked flight. They’d been lucky; something had held up the soldiers who chased after them, and the garbage chute was still unlocked when they reached it. Now they were hiding in a room that was filled with tithes brought in earlier. Miyoshi wondered if Warmbelly had been found yet.
"They'll come here eventually," said Chiyo. "They'll find us. We don’t have any way out and they'll find us."
Chiyo was on the floor, hugging her knees and trembling. Miyoshi knelt down in front of her and held her shoulders.
"Don't say that. We can't give up, not now."
Chiyo started sobbing, burying her face.
"It's my fault. I couldn't do it. I… I… I saw them coming, and it was just like before, and I all I could think of was being tied up again, and what they were going to do to me."
"Chiyo, stop."
"I left them there. I left Taiko and Yumi, and now they're-"
"Stop!" said Miyoshi, as loudly as she dared, lifting Chiyo's head up to look her in the eyes.
"I need you, Chiyo. I need you to calm down and think. You're the smart one, right? Stop crying. Put that big brain of yours to use and figure out what we're going to do next."
"There isn't anything we can do. Taiko and Yumi- they're the real fighters. Maybe if we leave, maybe if we get help somewhere else."
"Chiyo, no," said Miyoshi, as hard and uncompromising as was possible for her. "We have no idea if we can even get out alone. We definitely can't get back in. And who knows what they'll do to them in the meantime. Taiko came through when we needed her at Ishi-jo. Yumi came through when we needed her in the desert. Now it's our turn. We have to come through for them. I won't leave Taiko behind."
"But I don't know how. I'm so scared, Miyoshi. I don't want to die here in a dungeon. I just want to go home."
"Me too, Chiyo. But I'll never forgive myself if I run away. You won't either. I know you won't."
Chiyo was quiet. Miyoshi let her be, knowing she needed time. She just hoped they had it.
"Miyoshi..."
She spun around to see Minoru standing behind her. Her breath stopped, and she waited in terror for him to shout out to the guards again.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't want your friends to be hurt. But..."
"You're sorry?" said Miyoshi, her voice cracking as she almost shouted the words. "Those monsters have Taiko now! Your 'sorry' doesn't mean anything! Are you going to hand us over to them too? Are you going to be sorry about that?"
"No, I'm not. I think I've found something. Something that can help."
"What?" asked Miyoshi suspiciously.
"I'll show you. You'll be safer there, anyway. There aren't any guards in the hallway. Come on, now that the alarm's already raised I don't have to worry as much about calling the soldiers away when they show up."
Minoru passed through the closed doors, but Miyoshi heard his voice just as clearly on the other side.
"It's clear. Hurry up."
Miyoshi looked back to Chiyo. She looked confused, still not altogether there. Miyoshi picked her up by the arm and led her out, checking the hallway herself just in case Minoru was leading them into a trap.
"I talked to Taiko and Yumi," he said. "They're not in the best of accommodations right now, but they're mostly unhurt."
"I don't know why I should trust you," said Miyoshi.
"I've never lied to you, have I? I told Taiko that I wouldn't let Akio get his hands on Tomiko."
"Why is that so important to you?"
"I'll tell you when we get where we're going," he said, turning invisible again. "You need to focus for now. This way."
Miyoshi didn't like being kept in the dark, even for a moment longer, but she couldn't stop and argue with him in the middle of sneaking around. She followed his voice, dragging Chiyo behind her. There was a junction in the hallway up ahead, but before she could get to it Minoru's voice appeared again.
"Stop," he hissed. "Into that room- the one behind you!"
Miyoshi threw open a door and pulled Chiyo inside. It was some kind of office, with a desk piled high with papers and cabinets along the walls. It was unoccupied, at least for the moment.
"Ah, shit," said Minoru. "They're coming in- hide!"
There wasn't anywhere to go but behind the desk. The door opened and a man stepped in.
"I'll only be a moment," he said. "The records should be right in my drawer."
He was coming toward them. Chiyo was huddled next to her behind the desk, holding her staff. She was still shaking.
"Two soldiers," whispered Minoru.
Miyoshi didn't know what to do. Maybe she could shove her way past the soldiers, but they had nowhere safe to run to. The rest of the guards would be on top of them in no time. She turned to Chiyo. Her eyes were closed, and she was breathing deeply and steadily. Her white-knuckle grip on her staff eased, but remained solid. She stood, quickly and decisively.
Miyoshi jumped to her feet after her, startling the gaudily dressed bureaucrat about to round the corner of the desk. The two soldiers hadn't quite registered what was happening when Chiyo thrust her staff at them and grunted through her teeth. Both men slammed against the wall and fell to the ground. Miyoshi grabbed a wooden tray from the desk and hit the bureaucrat in the head while he was still gaping at her.
"Minoru!" called out Miyoshi.
"Back to the junction, take a left."
She turned to look at Chiyo again. Miyoshi saw in her face that she wouldn't need to drag her along anymore. They ran into the hallway and followed Minoru's directions. The stairwell was clear for them when they came to it, although Miyoshi still hadn't abandoned her caution.
"Up the stairs, to the right, go past two intersections, and take another right at the third."
"They're over there!"
The shout was coming from behind them.
"Just go!" yelled Minoru.
Miyoshi and Chiyo took off, running up the stairs. They nearly knocked a few people over in the hallways, but none of them were soldiers and didn't do anything to stop them. The guards were on their heels, but they had enough of a head start to hide if they could find a good place.
At the end of the last hallway was a pair of double doors, closed shut and frosted over. They sprinted toward them, skidding to a stop just before they slammed into them. There was no handle or lock that Miyoshi could see, but the door felt locked. Without even trying to push it open Miyoshi found herself sure that it would never budge.
"In there," said Minoru, appearing again. "Hurry, the soldiers are coming."
Miyoshi put away her anxiety and pushed. The door was heavy and sluggish to move, but it opened. It took all of her strength to stop it once she'd slipped inside, Chiyo right after her, and reverse its direction to shut again. It closed with a dull thud, just in time for Miyoshi to hear the soldiers run into the hallway on the other side.
"Quick," said Miyoshi, "Find something to bar the door!"
"Don't bother," said Minoru. They won't come in here. They can't even see the door."
"Why not?" she asked.
"Because this room is glitched."
"Glitched?" asked Chiyo.
"Yeah, glitched. It's… I don't know. Phased out somehow. It's not properly part of the world. You two can see it because you're a little outside of the world too. You weren't created as part of it like they were. I can see it because I'm more aware than they are. I know what I'm look for."
Miyoshi looked around,
still not entirely at ease. The room was some sort of library, full of books which were too iced over to pull from their shelves. At first Miyoshi though that it was dust that covered everything else in a thick layer, but when she touched it she realized that it was a powdery snow, so fine that it could barely be felt. The room was circular, with a high domed ceiling, and Miyoshi could only see about a fourth of it with all of the bookshelves in the way.
"Here's what you really need to see," he said, walking down an aisle.
Miyoshi followed him, still watching and listening for an ambush. Instead they came to another door, much like the last one, on the opposite side of the room.
"What's in there?" she asked.
"I don't know. I can't get through it. It's disrupting me somehow- whenever I get too close I start fading out. My bet is that whatever's causing the worlds to fuse is in there."
Miyoshi stepped cautiously forward and tried the door. It wouldn't budge, even after Chiyo joined her.
"Can you magic it open?" asked Miyoshi.
"I don't know if I want to until I'm sure what it is."
Miyoshi turned to Minoru.
"Okay. We'll figure that out later. Right now I want to hear about you and Tomiko."
"I'll tell you everything I told Taiko," he said. "And she has a message for you, by the way."
"What is it?" asked Chiyo.
"It's about helping Tomiko."
Taiko was cold. All she could think about was finding something warm to ball up with. She would give anything- make any deal, submit to any master- if she could only stop shivering.
Right now she couldn't even hug her own body. Her wrists were in iron shackles, chained to a thick, heavy collar around her neck. Her hands were being held high up against her back again, with chains wrapping her torso to form a harness. Her ankles were chained together as well, as if walking on the ice that made up the floor wasn't already hard enough. A metal bar sat in her mouth, her teeth clamped around it. And it was all cold.
The metal burned her skin everywhere it touched, and they'd made sure it touched her in plenty of places. Not even the Oni in the desert had been this cruel- this thoroughly, meticulously cruel.
The soldiers led her and Yumi on leashes, chained to their collars, to an open pair of double doors. There were plenty of witnesses to see them marched into the room. It would have been a beautiful place if not for the evil intent that hung in the air- a throne room of polished ice and dancing light. It was all of craftsmanship that Taiko had never seen before, but the crown jewel of the chamber was the woman who sat above everyone else.
Her skin wasn't pale- it was like porcelain. Taiko had never seen a face so flawlessly rendered before, or a body that was carved out with such perfection. She looked as cold and magnificent as the palace around her, with eyes that somehow made Taiko shiver even harder that she couldn't look away from.
Taiko was still staring at her when she was shoved to her knees in front of her throne.
"Your Majesty," said a man at Taiko's side, bowing. "These are the intruders, as you requested."
Queen Tomiko was as still as the throne she sat in. Not even her head moved; it was only her eyes that deigned to slowly work their way over her.
"Nice," said the creature to the Queen's right.
Taiko had been so enraptured with Tomiko that she hadn't noticed the Oni standing at her side. She was built much like the other one- Lady Satsujin. Taiko had a flash of memory, seeing her face as she fell from the plateau to her death. This one had a different look in her eyes. It was just as cruel, but there was desire in it too. It reminded Taiko of the way the kitsune had looked at her, except without any of the warmth or playful affection.
"Interrogating them will be fun," said the Oni.
"Send them to the dungeon," said Tomiko, disinterested.
"Yes, Your Majesty," said the soldier.
Taiko whined her protest, but the soldiers hauled her to her feet and pushed her back toward the entrance.
"Wait," said the Queen.
Taiko saw a bit of shock on the faces in the room. The soldiers were frozen for a moment, but then turned Taiko and Yumi back around to face her. Even the Oni was surprised to see her rise from her throne, descend the stairs, and stop within arm's length of Taiko. She reached out and touched her face, turning it a few times while gazing silently at her. The room was absolutely quiet as she moved on to Yumi, inspecting her in the same way.
"Have I met either of you before?" she asked.
Taiko spoke into her gag to respond, but her words were unintelligible. If she could just get her to take it out, to let her speak, she could tell her everything. She would find a way to move her, somehow.
"Take them to my private interrogation room," she said.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The soldiers bowed again and hauled Taiko away. She managed one last glimpse over her shoulder as they left the room, only to see Tomiko still standing there, unmoved.
Tomiko's private room was two more flights of stairs up. The chain between Taiko's ankles wasn't quite long enough to let her climb them, and each step was a struggle. The room itself was dark. Taiko tried not to look around, not wanting to spend the next few hours imagining how the contents would be used on her.
Yumi's back was pushed against a pillar, and Taiko watched as they chained her wrists to a metal ring that stuck out of it. The ring was a little too high, and Yumi had to stand on the balls of her feet to avoid twisting her arms too much. Her wrists were still chained to her collar as well, and the soldiers put another lock on it to remove the slack that had been created by letting the ring keep her arms raised. Yumi's head was pulled back against the pillar, the collar pressing into her throat. She grunted as she squirmed against the pillar, but Taiko could see that she would find no relief.
The soldiers took Taiko to the opposite side of the pillar. She felt her arms being lifted as they were chained to the ring, and was almost on her tiptoes trying to keep her arms from breaking. The collar around her neck pulled toward the ring too, bending her back oddly.
The man who'd spoken to the Queen stood in front of Taiko. She was surprised to see an almost sympathetic look on his face. It didn't stop him from slipping a knife under her bra straps and cutting it off. Taiko shut her eyes, not able to look at him anymore. His fingers touched her skin as he dragged her panties down, cutting them off as well.
She didn't know if he enjoyed seeing her like this, but it didn't matter. The last paltry bit of cover she had was gone, and the cold was free to take her loins and breasts without the slightest protection. When she heard Yumi rattle her chains she guessed that her underwear had been taken as well. The soliders left the room and shut the door without offering them a single word.
Taiko and Yumi waited in silence, save for the occasional grunt, moan, or clink of their chains. The chains twisting her body into an unnatural pose competed with the freezing air to see what made her suffer the most. Even her gag provided a new dimension to her misery as drool leaked out of her mouth, ran down her chin, dripped onto her chest, and slowly built up enough that it could make it all the way down her stomach and abdomen to her loins. The wetness helped even more heat leave her body, while the pillar stung her back wherever it touched.
She shut her eyes, trying to remember happier times. She remembered Miyoshi, beautiful Miyoshi, singing in the Tampopo Forest, and wondered if she would ever see her again.
It was a long time before the door to the room opened again. The Oni was the first to enter, Queen Tomiko following behind her while she held the door open, shutting it once the Queen was inside. The Oni stalked over to Taiko and grabbed her breasts, squeezing them in her unnaturally strong hands.
"They're both nice little cuts of meat," she said.
Her hands ran down Taiko's body and over her hips, moving behind to lock around her ass. Taiko groaned and wriggled against the pillar. The woman's touch was as selfish as the men from the deserts', but it wanted far more from her.
Taiko had a feeling that whatever the Oni did with her, it wouldn't be over with nearly as quickly as her ordeal on the plateau.
The Oni circled around the pillar, out of Taiko's view. Tomiko was still there, staring at her dispassionately.
"Especially this one," said the Oni.
The sorrowful sound of Yumi's voice told Taiko that the Oni was giving her the same treatment as she had Taiko.
"Where should we start? Do you think they're ready to talk yet? From the way this one is squirming I'll bet she spills as soon as we take the gag out."
"No," said Tomiko. "I don't care about that right now. Something about them sticks in my mind. I'm not sure what it is. Perhaps..."
Tomiko brushed her fingernails across Taiko's cheek. Then Taiko saw it. The familiarity lurking beneath that icy face. She'd seen this woman before. Not in her world- she was sure of that. But she was just as sure that she'd seen Tomiko, that she'd known Tomiko, in a world that was gone now.
"Put this one in the tub. I'll see what comes to me."
The Oni stepped between Taiko and the Queen, a hungry smile on her face.
"The tub, huh? I think that'll suit her."
The Oni unlocked Taiko from the pillar, a small relief that wouldn't last long. She dragged her across the room to a large, rectangular bathing tub made of brass and threw her in, bending her torso over the lip and lifting her hips to flip her over it. Taiko grunted as she plopped down awkwardly, unable to soften her landing with her hands chained. The Oni rolled her onto her stomach and curled her legs to put her feet against her ass.
The tub was large enough to fit her whole body as her captor posed her. It was even wide enough to accommodate her elbows which were forced outward by her hands being fixed where hey were. The Oni took the chain that ran between her ankles and pulled it up toward her wrists. She ran another chain around them and looped it through, bending Taiko's back to make it reach and locking it in place to hogtie her.
The Oni left her for the moment, but Taiko wasn't going anywhere. She wouldn't have been able to roll onto her side even if she wasn't trapped in the tub. If she so much as tried to relax her back the collar would strangle her. Just for a moment, Taiko considered letting it, embracing the only way out of the torture of the cold and chains. How long could she last, anyway? Her muscles already burned, and the hours of non-stop shivering had exhausted her.
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