Hard times had fallen upon Madam Shizue's brothel. At one time a high class establishment, she was able to pick and choose her clientele. If a man was abusive, or if he got out of line and expected bizarre stuff, she would turn him away and bar him from her establishment. Of course, at one time she had a fairly steady flow of income from the walking nightmare that used to rent the room at the end of the hall. The madam had set the rent ridiculously high with the intention of driving the woman away. She never expected her to actually agree to the terms, let alone be able to pay it. But then, that was before she'd learned what she did for a living. Now, the assassin was gone, and so was her meal ticket. Forced to subsist on nothing but the money her clients brought in, she was no longer able to be discriminating when it came to who she agreed to let her girls service. The doors were now open to all the drunks, perverts and, yes, even gaijin looking for a release or to take out some frustration. Worse, the fact that she was now economically obliged to cater to the barbarian gaijin placed her and her girls in danger from the anti-European forces running roughshod through the streets, killing, looting and burning anything and everything foreign in anger over their Emperor's disappearance. The worst part of all, though, was having to pleasure the fat one. The one who demanded to be called "the Emperor." Madam Shizue was not inexperienced when it came to using threats and discipline on her girls. They were her property, and if they didn't do their job, they'd be beaten. This was understood by all who lived under her roof. Lately, however, she'd been forced to use more discipline than usual to get any of her girls to service "Emperor Kiyoshi." It had reached the point where whips and rods were no longer enough. Last time the drunken sadist showed up, she'd had to use a hot iron and boiling water to get work out of her girls. She thought of all this as the former daimyo in question exited the room he'd been holed up in for the last half hour. As he began to reach into his pouch for the money to pay her, the woman got a whiff of the smell coming out of the room, and almost gagged. She could hear the young woman in the room sobbing as she took the filthy animal's money and sent him off. As she began to walk back to her room while counting the coins in her hand, another figure silently snuck by her and into the room. One look at the joro in front of her confirmed her worst fears. She was covered in scratches, and bleeding from the mouth and several other orifices. The black eye she wore on the right side of her face was slowly swelling shut as she focused her attention on the other young joro coming in the room. "Sylvie." The badly bruised joro gasped as the other took a nearby bed sheet and covered the badly shaken woman. "It's okay, Anri." She said, holding the woman close to her. "Shhh... It's okay, it's over." "I don't... I don't know if I can stand this much longer, Sylvie." "I know. I know." she said, running her fingers through the other's matted hair as she slowly rocked the other back and forth, "It won't be too much longer though. Nam is working out the plans now, and Lou and Meg will be coming too. With all the violence and anarchy going on in the streets, no one's going to bother looking for a group of runaway prostitutes." Anri continued to sob as Sylvie held her closer. "Soon, Anri. Very soon. Then we'll be free. You'll see." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - October 10, 1880 Dear Diary, Three days ago I was kidnapped by that wacko in the tight clothes who wanted to do nasty stuff to me (the one whose breath smelled like cabbage). Two days ago we got five new horses, thanks to the Amazonian gorilla and the geisha. So, after cutting the dead horse (who smelled pretty terrible by the way) away from the wagon, we attached one of the five up, and everyone else got a horse to ride. Did I? No, of course not. I'm stuck driving the big old stupid wagon again, for two days straight. My butt's sore from having to sit on that dumb wooden seat all day, my knees almost bent up to my chest. Wow. Looking back on my previous entries, I sure do talk a lot about Galatia, don't I. Being kidnapped by Galatia was definitely the worst part of this trip. The second worst though would have to be trying to take care of personal hygiene (especially feminine hygiene) out in the woods with a man in the group. For example, the same day we got the horses, we later came up to a little stream where we spent a few hours getting cleaned up (mainly because of Priss, ‘cause she was still filthy from the quicksand. I don't know what took longer to clean; her or her armor). Meanwhile, I'm constantly looking over my shoulder to make sure he's not watching. I mean, alright fine, he's the Emperor of Japan, and he's been a perfect gentleman so far, but still! She's groaning in her sleep again. I'm the only one up right now, and I can hear her groan as she moves around in her sleeping bag. She's always seemed so imposing, so invincible. Just being in the same room with her can be intimidating. Seeing her like this is frightening. She's become almost frail. Her wounds aren't healing as well as they should, and yesterday... Well, yesterday we had to reopen one of them. Linna held her arms down while I held down her legs as Priss cut her open to let this nasty smelling yellow stuff out. Sylia had a twig in her mouth to keep her from biting her own tongue off, and she managed to almost bite the thing in half. Linna worries about her a lot, because she says her fever is really bad. And Priss worries about what we're going to do if we run into any more trouble on the way. We've already all been through so much; she worries how much more we can handle. Emperor Meiji has been amazing throughout everything. He acts more like a father around us than a young man surrounded by four young women. It probably comes from being a ruler or something, I don't know. Linna just turned in her sleep. She worries me too. You'd think she would be used to killing people by now, especially when they're trying to kill you. But not her. She still goes off in a corner somewhere alone or with Priss and either cries or sulks. I remember overhearing Sylia say something about it one time and Priss said something like, "Good, I hope she always has a hard time with it. I hope she never gets used to killing and loses her innocence" or something like that. Sylia says we're getting nearer to the cabin now, which is good, because something tells me she needs the rest. Also, I miss Mackie a lot. After everything I've been through, I just want to feel his arms around me again. Well, it looks like I'm running low on ink, so I should probably wrap this up. To you, O Theotokos, do we give honor and glory through your son - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "Boo!" "Aaagh!" Nene nearly jumped out of her skin as someone grabbed her from behind. Turning around, she saw Priss smirking at her. "You... You nearly scared me to death, you big poo!" Nene scolded. Priss' smirk only got wider as she looked over Nene's shoulder at her diary. Nene very quickly shut the book. "Relax." Priss said, "I can't read English, you know that. "Well, it's still rude to look over someone's shoulder." "Whatever. One thing I am curious about though; Sylia doesn't dot her "i's" with little hearts. Why do you?" Nene's face turned a bright shade of red. "Well, I..." "Urgh... Wh... What's going on over there?" Both Nene and Priss turned to see Sylia looking at them, her eyes looked sunk in and her face was wet with sweat even in the early morning October chill. "Sorry, Sylia, it's my fault." Priss admitted, "I was having a bit of fun with Nene, and..." "(Yawn) Good morning, ladies." Emperor Meiji said as he sat up. One thing that could be said of the Imperial Ruler of Japan; he was a morning person. Looking over to the leader of the Knight Sabers, Meiji became very concerned. "Stingray-sama, are you any better today?" Sylia groaned as she tried to sit up. "N... Not really, Meiji-domo. But I'm... I'm afraid I can't let that stop us. Priss." "Hai." Priss answered, unable to hide the concern for her former lover in her voice. For the briefest of moments, Sylia actually looked touched by her concern. She quickly regained her composure, however. "Wake up Linna, and ready the horses. Then get the armor on and saddle up." Priss raised her eyebrow at that. "Are you expecting trouble?" Sylia looked off into the distance. "I don't know. Something doesn't feel right. Call it woman's intuition. Nene." "Yes." "I want you to armor up too, and then help me to put on what's left of mine. Grab the white knit poncho while you're back there." "The poncho?" Nene asked, wondering why someone with a fever would want to make themselves warmer, "What for?" "Camouflage. The last thing we need any potential enemy of mine to see is how damaged my armor is, or how injured I am." "Right, I'm on it." She said, as she sprang toward the wagon. "And I?" Meiji asked, "What am I to do." Sylia smiled at the Emperor as she weakly offered him her hand. "Help me up to my feet." she answered. ------ The seven men had been riding almost non-stop for the last three days, only stopping long enough to catch five hours sleep at most per night. They had no choice. Behind them there was yakuza, and in front of them the Emperor. All the men in the little group were looking fairly scraggly after days without a shave. However, the crew from the cabin weren't nearly as bad as the original rescue party, who by now were all sporting six days worth of facial hair. Even the usually well groomed Daley found himself scratching irritably at the itchy beard that was growing in. As they rode along, Nigel brought his horse up along side that of Colonel Roland's. "Mind if I ask you something?" the usually quiet man asked. Roland looked at him a bit suspiciously. "Not at all, go right ahead." "You said there were at least twenty men, maybe as many as twenty five, coming at us, right?" "Correct, yes." "In our group we have seven, including the boy. There's four... what are they called again, Knight Sabers?" "Yes, there's four of them." "And the Emperor. All together, if we include the Emperor, that would give our side twelve people, which isn't very good odds by any stretch of the imagination. That being the case, do you really consider it wise to arrest these women on sight?" Colonel Roland glared at him. "Mr. Kirkland, I have a job to do. I have to maintain the peace. These women are a hindrance to that job. They're a menace. And what's more, they're responsible for the death of Miss Sylia Stingray and the destruction of her clothing store. These are things which I cannot and indeed will not ignore." "Did you ever even find Miss Stingray's body? Besides, I'm not sure I can agree with you as far as their being a menace, Colonel Roland. It seems to me the people they stop pose more of a danger to the welfare of..." "Shhh, listen." Daley whispered, as the sounds of horses and a wagon were heard in the distance. "Quick, everybody off the trail and into the woods now!" Roland ordered. Mackie stayed near Chief Toodou as he put his hand in his pocket to feel the revolver he had hidden there. Henderson meanwhile rode up close to Captain McNichol, his small derringer hidden beneath his bowler cap. As they watched, a woman wearing a samurai helmet and white poncho came into view about a hundred yards away as she came around a bend, followed closely by a woman wearing green armor. A few seconds later, a blue figure riding next to a man emerged from the forest, and finally a wagon being controlled by a figure in pink armor. As they watched them get closer from their vantage point, the tension in the small group began to rise. Finally, when the figure in the poncho was within forty yards, Colonel Roland rode out, followed by the others. The three Knight Sabers on horses quickly surrounded the Emperor, prepared to fight their way through if necessary. Nene meanwhile had grabbed an arrow and was aiming her bow when she recognized one of the men in the group. "Leon poo?" she asked. The look on both Captain McNichol and Colonel Roland's faces would have been almost comical under different circumstances. "Nene?" Colonel Roland asked. Then, his face twisting in rage, "Nene Romanova? My secretary? You... You traitor!" "(What's going on?)" Emperor Meiji asked, alarmed at the tone of the man's voice. ""(Emperor, is that you?)" Daley asked, a sudden feeling of awe falling upon him at seeing his Emperor face to face. "You'll be court marshaled for this, you Russian sneak!" Roland yelled. "Hey, we're the ones that called you for help!" Nene cried. "Silence!" Roland next turned his attention to the man among the women, "(Emperor Meiji, I am Colonel Nicholas Roland of Her Majesty's army stationed in Tokyo. My men and I are here to rescue you, and to place these women under arrest for violation of the sword control laws and murder.)" "(You're what?)" Meiji asked. "(Is he kidding?)" Priss said, as she moved her left hand toward her sword. Colonel Roland, seeing the movement out of the corner of his eye, quickly aimed his Winchester riffle at her. "All of you keep your hands where I can see them!" Colonel Roland barked. "What?" Nene asked, shocked. "(All of you, you're all under arrest.)" Chief Toodou declared. As he pulled his own pistol out and came along side of Roland, "(Which one of you is the leader here?)" The Knight Saber wearing a white poncho over her armor rode her horse slowly forward, swaying in her saddle as she did so. As she got halfway between the two parties, she slumped forward and fell off her horse, landing on her side with a thud. Pandemonium ensued. "Sensei!" the figure in the green armor yelled as she jumped off her horse to rush to her comrade's aide. Colonel Roland, already nervous enough as it was about trying to arrest the Knight Sabers, immediately aimed his rifle at the woman, stopping her dead in her tracks. Behind him, he heard a click. Turning around, he saw Nigel, holding a hand gun aimed at his head, with the hammer pulled back. Roland immediately grabbed his colt with his left hand and aimed it at Nigel, his right still holding the riffle aimed at the green figure. Leon, caught off guard by the move against his commanding officer, aimed his gun at Nigel, just as he felt the barrel of Henderson's hidden derringer rub up against the back of his head. Mackie pulled his weapon out and aimed his hand gun at Chief Toodou, nervously trying to keep his hand steady Daley, who had his gun aimed at the fallen figure, looked up to see Nene holding her bow, an arrow aimed straight at his heart. As everyone nervously eyed one another, no one daring to move, the blue Knight Saber began to slowly move her dotanuki out of its scabbard with her thumb, her other hand poised above the handle to pull out the weapon at a moment's notice. Some movement on the ground caught everyone's attention, as the woman who'd fallen off her horse took her helmet off and laid it aside as she gasped for air. Her hair, wet with sweat, was pulled back into a ponytail and tied off not in the back like a lady's, but more near the top of her head like a male samurai's. As Colonel Roland realized who he was looking at, his mouth fell open in shock. "Miss... Miss Stingray?" he muttered, not quite believing his eyes. Mackie was also shocked; not by the fact that his sister was a Knight Saber, but by what she looked like. Beneath her poncho, which had opened a bit at the side when she fell, everyone could see her torn and damaged armor, and the bandages covering her body underneath. As she turned her fevered visage toward the men in front of her, she smiled a bit. "Colonel Roland." She said, her voice barely above a whisper, "What kept you?"
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