The Year 945...
The air was bitterly cold, even for one who grew up in the northern Phoenix
provinces. For some reason, even though it was only late autumn, the air in this
particular valley chilled a person to the bone. Lady Sun did not seem to fully
grace this valley with her glory as if the valley was the site of some horrible
dishonor and she did not wish to draw attention to it.
Wrapping his fiery colored garments closer around his body Shiba Mitsoyuri made
his way carefully towards the ruined temple. He was not sure why he was here in
these mountains so far from any other sign of life. He wondered not for the
first time that perhaps this strange pulling he felt drawing him here was simply
in his imagination. Though, the feeling had led him to the ruins of a temple not
on any map. After his horse had died and he had run out of food, he should have
turned back but, the feeling that he was getting closer was so strong in his
blood that he could almost see his destination when he closed his eyes. As a
samurai he was used to accepting some things on faith, but this was going beyond
anything he had experienced before. For days he had struggled through the
mountains to this unmarked valley not knowing where he was going or if he would
die in the process. He had been more than a little surprised to see the remains
of some ancient temple at the end.
The strange pulling was gone now and that worried him almost more than not
knowing where it was leading him. He had observed the temple for many hours
watching for other signs of life and had seen nothing. He was not surprised that
being so far from any other settlement no one was here; it would be impossible
to restock supplies, and nothing grew in any of the surrounding valleys let
alone this one. Yet, how was a temple here, one so far from any other, who would
wish to be so isolated from the rest of the empire and why was he drawn here so
strongly that he had been able to think of little else for the last several
months before finally making this journey?
The temple was of a design not unknown to him. He had seen its like before, in
the more ancient sections of the Hidden City, but what was this strange temple
doing here. As he made his way down the valley towards the temple, he was able
to more fully observe his surroundings. The valley was void of all life. Not
even moss grew on the rocks making the temple stand out all the more against the
stark landscape.
It was situated in the very center of the valley and towered larger than the
walls of Kyuden Isawa, at least five stories high. Even though the temple was
centuries old it was still in remarkable condition. The walls still stood and
seemed to be barely touched by the elements. The only major damage to the
structure was a gaping hole in the center of the roof that seemed to have fallen
outward somehow as opposed to inside the temple. The building was altogether
useable if only it was not so far from the rest of the Empire. He wondered if
even the Masters knew of this place.
Setting his diasho so that he could more easily draw his blade he approached the
front door, walking as quietly as possible and listening for any signs of life.
The doors were at least 2 stories high and closed solidly. Fairly confident that
no one was inside, Mitsoyuri set his shoulder and with all his might was able to
creek the door open just wide enough to see inside. The site before him startled
him greatly. Seated in the exact center of the main chamber directly under the
hole in the ceiling was the form of a young woman, probably not more than a
season or two past her gempukku, dressed in the fiery orange and red of the
Phoenix.
"You might as well come in out of the cold. Not that inside is honestly anymore
warm than outside," the maiden said looking up from her meditation with the
faintest hint of a wry smile on her lips. "But at least inside is out of the
wind." She gestured broadly to the chamber before her, "Please have a seat my
friend. It appears that we have something to discuss."
Mitsoyuri walked into the room slowly; hand on the hilt of his weapon, ready for
the slightest sign of danger. He stopped a good ten paces in front of the woman,
setting his feet wide so that he was ready to run either towards the woman or
the door depending upon the need. "Who are you? What are you doing here? What is
this place? Are you responsible for bringing me here?" The long travel through
the mountains with limited rest and supplies had put a great deal of strain on
Mitsoyuri, and it was starting to show in his voice and his temperament.
"There is no need for that Mitsoyuri-san, I mean you no harm much in the same
way I know you mean me no harm. Please have a seat and I will do my best to
provide the answers we seek."
"We? What is it you seek? Were you drawn here too?" Mistoyuri seemed to have
calmed somewhat by the measured volume and pitch of her voice and took a seat in
front of the strange woman. For some reason he felt he could trust her despite
the strange surroundings.
"I was drawn here much as you were drawn here and from what I have been able to
discover we drew each other." She paused seeming to listen to someone or
something Mitsoyuri could not hear, "My name is Isawa Hisako."
"The Acolyte of Void?"
"Yes but here in this place I am simply Hisako. Allow me to start at the
beginning. For many months now, the Void has been unclear to me, my
concentration has become less and I have been unable to continue my studies. All
because I could think of nothing else but this strange pulling sensation.
Eventually I was unable to conceal my failings from the Masters any longer, and
they determined that I must discover the cause of this and deal with it if at
all possible. I studied long and consulted with the most powerful kami I could
contact, and the only answer I could attain was more a riddle than my cause for
searching. I was told that my soul was not complete and would not be complete
until I returned to the beginning."
"What does this have to do with me, Hisako-sama? Am I to help you with your
quest? It would be a great honor."
"No, Mitsoyuri-san, it seems that you are my beginning much as I am yours. It
seems that we are not to help each other to our destination but rather we are
the destination. Once I arrived here I was able to look into the Void once more
and many truths were revealed to me. It seems that you and I are linked in some
manor. The full extent of this connection is not clear but now that you have
arrived perhaps we may be able to discover that which we both seek." Hisako rose
slowly and walked towards Mitsoyuri. He saw now for the first time that she
looked just as haggard as he, she had apparently made the same journey as him
and suffered no better. Her robes were torn and dirty and she looked about to
fall over from hunger but she walked clearly towards him and did not falter even
in the slightest. "Please take my hand, Mistoyuri. Let us discover the solution
to the riddle."
Mitsoyuri stood stiffly. The slight rest had been a great relief and Hisako's
condition reminded him sharply that he had not eaten in days and was probably
the worse for his experiences in the mountains. However he knew his duty, this
made sense for the first time in days; a shugenja was here, and he could allow
her to lead him to the truth.
Hisako put his hands gently in hers and reached out to the Void for answers. The
response was not what either of them expected.....
Isawa Juno, Acolyte of Earth, commander of the Avalanche Guard watched from his
vantage point high in the cliff side. The valley was stark and barren much like
the dark stone of the temple itself. The only illumination provided by the
flashes of a near constant lightning storm high above and an eerie green light
that pulsed from the walls of the structure at more and more frequent intervals.
The storm had begun late in the afternoon and continued unabated throughout the
evening as Juno and his companions traveled. The rain had been light but the
winds had nearly blown them from the side of the mountain more than once, making
their journey all more perilous. It was almost a relief to see their destination
revealed below them.
Juno did not want to believe the rumors but the evidence was unmistakable. He
could almost feel her inside. The storm was simply further evidence of her
presence. Somewhere below was the woman he had chosen to marry. His wife was
inside this temple that now radiated the foulest of magic. How was she a part of
this? More importantly, was she here by choice?
Reports had reached him of a new cult of maho-tsukai working throughout Morikage
Toshi. He had at first ignored the reports viewing them as the confusion of
peasants not understanding their betters. But when two magistrates disappeared
without even the slightest trace, he had decided it was worth his more direct
attention. More than six months of investigating and three dead magistrates
later, he was hot on the trail of the cult. Apparently they were gathering for
some foul rite and it would be his best chance to destroy them all at once.
For almost a week now Juno and his companions traveled through the mountains
with little or no rest. They were under very strict time restraints and if they
failed it could mean losing the trail of the cult forever. He had decided that
it was best to travel quickly and trust in his own abilities to destroy the
cult, taking only five bushi and a single other shugenja with him. While he had
the fullest of confidence in Asako Genji's abilities as an Inquisitor, if his
wife was truly involved in this, willingly or not, he would allow no one else to
handle it.
Now with the temple below him, he hesitated to act. Juno loved his wife. It was
not proper for a samurai to love his wife but he did and suspected she loved him
in return. Their marriage had been proper and by all accounts very successful
despite not having any children. However, there had always been a distance
between them. He was Acolyte of Earth, and she was Master of Air; their duties
were similar but apart so he had always believed the distance was merely a
matter of their duty. During the months of his investigation, as evidence of his
wife's involvement slowly began to surface, he feared the distance was just
hiding something else.
"Once we are inside follow my lead. No one moves until I say." Juno silently
whispered a prayer to the kami and than gestured his group forward. The temple
was even bigger than it appeared from the cliff side and the air fairly crackled
with dark energies.
Reaching the doors, Juno silently positioned his men around so that they would
be able to watch his back when he moved. "Now!" He summoned forth the kami's
power and the doors to the temple were flung wide. To his left Shiba Hiso, Shiba
Insai and Shiba Kumi spread out and on his right Shiba Itoro and Shiba Juro
followed Genji into the room.
What he saw upon entering the main chamber nearly drove him to his knees. His
wife, Isawa Akei, Master of Air and the love of his life was seated in a circle
of thirteen children chanting some vile incantation. The children were obviously
for sacrifice as nine of the children had already been put under the dark blade
she now held. She did not even spare a moment to glance at the arrival of Juno
and his magistrates. Or if she did notice them she paid them no heed as she
reached for the next child.
"Akei-chan, you must stop this madness." Juno attempted to rush forward and put
an end to the ceremony but was interrupted halfway by Kakita Kailun, his wife's
prized yojimbo.
"I am very sorry, but I cannot allow you to interrupt the lady Akei-sama. Not
when she is so close to fulfilling her destiny." Kailun gracefully moved into
the fluid stance of a master duelist. His soft almost effeminate features
smiling pleasantly but with the clear certainty of knowing he would not fail his
mistress.
"We must stop this abomination," Genji shouted. "Kill him."
"NO!!!" Juno cried but it was too late. As a group the bushi charged Kailun
falling into his trap. Before the bushi could even react properly Kailun had cut
down both Itoro and Juro, severing their heads with movements almost too swift
to follow. The three remaining bushi backed off slightly at this, attempting to
use their number to greatest advantage by surrounding Kailun. "You must stop
this Kailun-san. Akei is no longer thinking clearly. She has fallen to lunacy."
"But my lord Juno-sama, it is too late for anyone to stop her. Akei will
complete her ritual and with it achieve power no one can hope to match." Kailun
leapt forward with such speed that Insai barely had time to raise her sword to
counter. He cut her sword arm away than sliced her down as she fell in a single
sweeping movement of his blade.
Kailun's charge was followed by Kumi. Shiba Kumi was a veteran of many battles.
He was accounted as not an unskilled duelist. He was not, however, prepared for
the speed of a Kakita master. As he charged Kailun from behind hoping to strike
him down as he took Insai's life, Kailun continued his sweeping movement by
spinning into the charge, taking the head from Kumi's shoulders.
Juno had seen Kailun fight before but never like this. He seemed to be almost
toying with the other bushi and was still moving with incredible speed. The four
bushi had died in such a short amount of time that Juno had barely had time to
think let alone react but now he was resolved to end this. Summoning forth the
power of the earth kami, the very ground beneath Kailun's feet rose up in the
form of a massive fist and seized him tight. This was all the distraction that
Hiso needed. He rushed forward and this time it was Kailun's head that went
flying.
Kailun's once beautiful snowy white tresses now blood spattered and dirty as his
head rolled across the room to rest at the feet of Genji. Who had taken
advantage of the distraction caused by the fight to rush in and seize one of the
children form the circle. "Get the child clear," he shouted pushing him towards
Hiso and Juno. He turned and pulled out a scroll.
"You dare stand against me?" Akei shrieked from the circle as she found her last
child missing. The temple shook as the storm intensified beyond belief and
seemed to transfer to the inside of the temple. Her eyes blazed with fury and
power. With an almost negligent flip of her hand Genji's scroll was torn from
his hands and he was blown into the wall with a sickening crunch.
Hiso did the only thing that he could think of, he killed the child. At least
that way the ritual was stopped. "NO!! I will make you scream in agony for a
thousand years for that." And Akei lifted her still dripping blade to her own
flesh and began chanting once more.
For Juno it seemed his world was shattered. His wife was gone, replaced by a
madwoman. His mission to stop the bloodspeaker cult had turned into a fight for
his life with the woman he loved. Juno called again on the kami and struck at
her attempting to disrupt the spell his wife had begun. He was very much
surprised when his spell seemed to fizzle even as it slid into place. The jade
was summoned from mid air and surrounded his wife crushing in on her flesh. But
as the jade touched her where it should have burned it seemed instead to be
corrupted. For the briefest of moments Akei seemed incased in pure obsidian
before fading away.
Akei completed her spell with a final thrust of her knife into her palm. The
blood flowed freely from her hand into air and was caught up. It seemed to
become one with the tempest and reach out for Hiso. A single scream escaped
before the tempest reached Hiso and his body slowly began to dissolve. His
screaming face reflecting the agony he felt as his body was eaten away slowly
but the tempest surrounding him would not allow sound to escape.
Juno ended his pain by the simply expediency of summoning another fist of earth
into Hiso's body. The tempest seemed to implode slightly as his body was crushed
into dust despite the roaring winds. Juno drew deeply on the power of the earth
and turned to his wife.
Isawa Akei, Master of Air, one of the most powerful shugenja of the day, and
apparently master bloodspeaker, turned to face her husband. "You pathetic fool.
You do not know the forces you are interfering with." She gestured sharply and
the tempest turned its fury on Juno who despite having prepared for the attack
was nearly blown from his feet. As it was he was staggered severely. Falling to
his knees and being blown backwards several feet before he was able to stop
himself by seizing the stones of the temple.
Struggling to his feet despite the tempest that was tearing at his flesh.
"Akei-chan, you must stop this wickedness. Remember who you are. Stop and I can
help you."
"Help me?" Akei laughed. "You were always reaching above your station husband.
You thought that you had the same power that we have. Well I am going beyond my
foolish counterparts on the council. I will gain power beyond their wildest
dreams and with it bring about a new age of prosperity for the Phoenix. You are
merely a minor nuisance in my way. Stop resisting and I will allow you to join
me. I can teach you so much."
"Akei, you are my wife and I would follow you into anything but not this
depravity. You are turning against our people. You would bring such evil upon
them. Please for the sake of the love we share, turn aside from this path." Juno
began to draw in the power of the kami. He would stop his wife one way or the
other.
"Love?? You would turn me aside with love?" Akei's tone while still brimming
with rage and indignation had softened somewhat and for the briefest of moments
the raging tempest died. He could see his love for her returned. Than it ended.
The blade of a knife suddenly blossomed in his wife's breast. Genji had managed
to regain his footing and coming up from behind had struck Akei in the heart.
Rage. Hatred. Death. Fire. Juno did not even realize when he seized the elements
and forced them to his command. He did not realize when he commanded the kami to
his will instead of asking them to help. He did not realize when the kami shied
away from his command and it was foul kansen who heard his call. No matter the
effect was still the same. Genji as he stood behind his wife still holding the
knife blade burst into flames. His death shriek resounded over the tempest
outside that had taken on a more frantic fury since Akei was struck. Asako
Genji, Phoenix Inquisitor, hunter of maho was struck down not by some
maho-tsukai but by an enraged husband getting revenge for his wife. Juno's rage
was like that of the fire and it burned hotter and hotter as Genji was consumed
and at the same time he kept Genji alive as his body slowly burned away. For
several minutes Genji burned as did Juno's rage both growing in intensity by the
second. The very rocks of the temple began to smolder.
Akei shifted and the inferno died. Juno was there in an instant. She was
mortally wounded of that he was sure. Even with blood at her lips she managed a
weak smile. "Well my love. I guess I was wrong about you. You are worthy to be
my husband."
Juno, realizing that he had turned forever down the dark path set by his wife
when he destroyed Genji, gently held his wife. "My love at least this way we can
be together forever." He leaned in and kissed her soundly as together they both
summoned forth the raging elements. The fire consumed them both as the storm
thrust the inferno upward blowing a large hole in the center of the roof. The
fires vaguely resembled an immense flaming bird before dying.
Shiba Mitsoyuri and Isawa Hisako blinked and looked at each other. The two of
them were holding each other as they returned to their senses. Seated on the
floor of the temple in much the same final pose of Akei and Juno.
"What does it mean?" Mitsoyuri was able to ask after a few minutes.
"I believe that is one of our past lives. We are Akei and Juno reborn. It seems
their love was rewarded and they were given another chance."
"ONE of our past lives? Are there more?"
"Yes from what I could tell Akei and Juno share a special bound with the soul of
Phoenix. They are eternally reborn in each generation. Bound to find one another
and together serve the Phoenix to repay for their sins."
"And that is us?"
"Yes," Hisako paused. "Now I know why we felt so close. While we may not share
the same love that Akei and Juno shared we share their bond. Our souls are
destined to be rejoined so that we can help each other to whatever destiny the
kami have in store."
After a few minutes Mitsoyuri helped Hisako from the doors of the temple. He
knew in his soul that he would not fail to help her in anything as she would not
fail him. Never again.
Several years ago...
"And they never did. Mitsoyuri and Hisako stayed together for many years. They
worked by each other's side until the end. Never failing in their souls' eternal
bond." Shiba Taesuko finished the tale from where she sat next to her sleeping
boys. "Tenshi, Yuki, my boys, that is the bond you share. One day when you are
old enough to remember I will tell this tale again. Until then just hold each
other close and look out for one another."
Taesuko never got the chance to tell her infant sons the tale again. As the boys
approached an age where they were ready to learn their heritage, Taesuko was
slain and her boys were left to take care of each other.