Drums will roll
~ Chapter 17 ~
~ A distorted "collective truth" eroding the old.~
"Are you here to finish what Aika started?" In Kyou Uzumaki's eyes, his (supposed) eldest son's words were bluntly spoken and full of barely restrained vitriol. Yet despite the boy's dignified posture and stately mask, Shiro failed to completely hide the fear and shakiness he must be feeling.
' He recognizes me.' The older man isn't sure if he should be relieved by that familiar gaze. 'This bitter air probably isn't a good sign either', Kyou thought morosely.
Words failing him, the conflicted, Kyou Uzumaki is stoic, his uncertainty about how to proceed masked by a veil of noble indifference.
Perhaps at the continued silence, Adamantine chains form around Shiro, the anguished boy protecting himself through a gilded barrier of crisscrossing gold netting and entrapment.
' The boy must be terrified. Minutes ago he showed such strength and capability. Calmly ensuring his sibling's safety, yet now it seems Shiroyuki can only barely suppress the urge to flee. On the girl- Sakuya's brow and woven within the waves of her hair- Those were the Uzumaki "Matriarch pearls"...
' They've been missing a while now, I guess now we know where- What am I supposed to do here? It's all too much.'
Kyou's thoughts were racing erratically all over the place.
In truth, Kyou has no idea how to proceed here. Although he came to Oasis, hoping beyond hope to disprove the avalanche of evidence against his wife and daughter, in the week he's been here, nothing indicates any falsehood.
Just the opposite. To his ever-growing dread every person Kyou has discreetly questioned has the same response. This consistency plus the blood red crystals delivered by Kyou's old friend, paints a daming picture. An alarming image that grows increasingly difficult to argue against.
' I remember none of this but what other explanation can there be?' The man thought desperately. 'Those crystals are synched to MY blood. You simply can't fake that sort of biological connection. If we were not parent and children, those crystals would be clear as water!
' Sure the words are different, but the overall story remains the same... And these eyes... They aren't the eyes of a charlatan. The silver color is wrong but the shape... I see those eyes reflecting back at me every time I look in the mirror.'
'It's all true, isn't it? The seal, my wife's betrayal our daughter's complicity... I never should have come here.'
The thoughts are awful, perhaps cowardly. Yet right now they're all that come to Kyou Uzumaki's mind.
' How? How can I pretend this isn't real?'
All that transpires is silence.
~