Betwixt Heaven and Earth
Seventh Divide: Loose Threads
He tilted his head slightly to one side, listening to the silence of the pre-dawn hours fall between them. "So it's come down to this, then?"
"I'm afraid so." She sighed, and ran a hand through her hair. "I had hoped that it wouldn't end up like this, but it is too late. We have taught him too much."
He nodded solemnly. Regret, so it was said, always came last in the race, and now he understood the sentiment of the proverb. He began to wonder if the state of affairs would be any different had he chosen to respond "no" to what he had thought was nothing more than a well-meaning child asking well-meant questions, but it was too late for that. There was nothing he could do.
She looked over at him, her gaze serious – an unusual change, because she was more given to smiling and to laughter. "What do you think we should do, Syusuke?"
Fuji Syusuke glanced up at the sky, watching the stars wheel overhead before they made the final descent beyond the horizon, there to stay until night allowed them to make their ascent once more and reign supreme over the world. "We have two choices, sister," he murmured. "We could join Echizen, since I am sure that he will be looking for allies, and he will need all the help that he can get. On the other hand, we could stand against him, and join those who have chosen to do the same."
Fuji Yumiko nodded, before her gaze slid to the Tarot cards that were spread out on the table next to her. "They have begun to gather, and the Balance has begun to tip and tilt. At this point, it could be in anyone's favor, but it is only a matter of time before enough weight is thrown on one side, and the Balance will tip in that direction."
"I know." Fuji looked over his shoulder at the door. "Has Yuuta not come back yet?"
Yumiko shook her head. "No."
"Hmm, he has been out a bit longer than I had expected. I wonder what he could be doing." A part of Fuji suspected that his younger brother had gotten in trouble – after all, there was no predicting what that nogitsune Oshitari would do – but still, he held on to the belief that his little brother was all right.
No sooner had the thought formed in his mind to go out and look for his brother than the door opened, and Yuuta stepped in, panting from lack of breath, exhaustion showing clear on his face. "I'm back."
"Welcome home, Yuuta," Yumiko greeted, moving to kiss her youngest brother lightly on the cheek. "Syusuke and I were starting to get worried about you."
Yuuta shook his head, flopping down like a marionette with severed strings onto the couch. "There was no need to worry. I was all right on my own."
Fuji chuckled, and gazed at his brother with amusement. "Really? Then what took you so long to get back? I didn't think that it would take nearly two hours for you to get a simple message to Oshitari and come back here."
"Shut up brother," Yuuta muttered. "I got your message to Oshitari just fine. It's just that on my way back here, I decided to take a little detour."
"Why?"
"I saw a bat flying over to the Dragon Mage's house, only I knew that it wasn't a bat. Energy ruffled my fur like wind blowing the wrong way over me."
Fuji glanced at his sister, who knew exactly what was on his mind. The bat could only have been one person: Yukimura, the vampire president of the Ten of Swords.
Yumiko tilted her head at Yuuta inquiringly. "So the Ten of Swords had business with Kaida. That is not surprising. Why did you take so long to come back, then?"
"I got curious, so I decided to follow him," Yuuta replied.
Fuji raised an eyebrow at that. "You followed him into the Dragon Mage's home? Now that is impressive, because either you were recognized as a guest and were welcomed in, or you managed to find a way to break the wards that were laid around the house." It was common knowledge in the supernatural world that Mizumori Kaida's home was warded many times over against various kinds of supernatural magic and entities, ranging from the angelic to the demonic, and everything else in between. The only way one could be granted access was to receive and accept an invitation from the mistress of the house herself – a list that did not yet include the Fuji family of myobu, as far as he knew.
Yuuta shook his head. "I didn't follow him in, of course, but I could listen to what they were talking about. First of all, I found out that the Ten of Swords are planning to go up against Echizen Ryoma, because Yukimura was asking a lot of questions about that."
"It makes sense," Fuji murmured in agreement. "They have been trying to catch him for various crimes for a while now.
"Yeah," Yuuta agreed, before continuing: "Second of all, I found out that Tezuka Kunimitsu is back in town, and that he's staying over at Kaida's place."
Fuji's normally half-lidded eyes opened at the mention of the name ‘Tezuka Kunimitsu.' "Are you certain, Yuuta?"
Yuuta nodded. "I could sort of catch his scent through the wards. He can't exactly hide the fact that he smells of powerful onmyodo."
"Well now, this is very interesting indeed," Yumiko remarked. "For Tezuka to leave his schooling behind, even temporarily, means that what is happening is very important."
"Or particularly pertinent to him," Fuji added, his voice soft, but the tone could not disguise the note of mischief that ran through his words. "It seems that he's worried enough to want to come down from his high place and involve himself in the affairs of the supernatural world again – and before his time, at that." He glanced at Yuuta. "Did you say that Yukimura was in the house as well?"
"I'm sure of that," Yuuta responded with a nod.
Fuji smiled, and folded his fingers together so that he could use them to support his chin. "You're right, sister. Things are starting to get very interesting indeed…"
--~*~||Ω||~*~--
He nodded his head slowly, solemnly, digesting all the information that Yukimura had shared. "I see… So that is what she thinks of the whole affair."
The president of the Ten of Swords nodded his head. "She says that she can quite possibly trace down more information in her archives, but that it will take her some time to find it – three days at least, a week at the most."
"By then he could have already struck again." Sanada Genichirou sighed, and shook his head. "This is taking far too much time."
From his side of the table, Yanagi Renji spoke up: "That may not necessarily be the case, Genichirou. We may still have enough time in which to make our plans before Echizen makes his next move."
Sanada glanced at the Djinn Master(1), his eyes showing his skepticism. "Are you certain of that, Renji? Your calculations have never failed us before, but I think that we are cutting it a little too close this time."
"I am quite certain," Yanagi replied, a small smile forming on his face. "My air djinn have done their job well, listening carefully and telling me what they hear. If nothing is happening, it is because Echizen needs allies to fight on his side, and to be honest there are more than a few who would like to see the Veil torn down. It is now a question of who will fight with whom, and who will fight for what reason. Until the supernatural world has decided, then everything will remain at the current stalemate."
Yukimura looked at Yanagi. "How long do we have, then?"
"Certainly more than a week, if that is what you want to know." Yanagi's voice deepened slightly as his eyes opened, indicating just how serious he was. "I suggest that, within that time span, we start finding out who is on our side, and allying ourselves with them. That way when the real war finally explodes, we will not be caught at unawares."
Sanada looked at Yukimura. "Were you able to get Kaida on our side? Surely she must already know about what is happening."
Yukimura frowned, and shook his head. "She has not given me any confirmation," he replied quietly. "She knows what we are doing, but she has not chosen to ally with anyone as yet." A wry smile twisted his lips. "She will be playing Switzerland until she decides what she wants to do."
Sanada sensed that something was wrong. While it was true that he, as a werewolf, was not supposed to get along with Yukimura, who was a vampire, the two of them had been friends for as long as he dared to remember. Yukimura was probably the only vampire who wouldn't rip his heart out of his chest and drain it dry, and he knew he was probably the only werewolf in existence who wouldn't grab Yukimura by the throat and hurl him around like a rag-doll one full, blue moon when he happened to be a little tetchy.
Just then, his back stiffened as an unusual, yet somewhat familiar, sensation rolled through him: the feel of a million crystal shards pelting his back, hard enough to prickle, but not painful enough to wound or injure. He turned his head towards the door, knowing that Yukimura and Yanagi were doing the same thing.
A small smile appeared on Yukimura's face a few moments later, and he stood up. "It looks like they've come back."
No sooner had Yukimura said those words than the door burst open with a loud bang, and through it walked a tall woman with short purple hair and brilliant gray eyes. Behind this woman walked Kirihara, Niou with in his arms, and at the very back, Marui.
"Yukimura!" the woman yelled as she walked in, "I've got stuff to explain!"
Yukimura stepped forward, smiling benignly at the woman. "What do you need to explain, ? And it is good to see you again."
nodded in response to his greeting. "Well met, as always, Yukimura. And I need to explain about ." She raised an eyebrow. "Did anyone ever mention that you have a Forsaken(2) under your care?"
Sanada felt a chill run up and down his spine. Forsaken? was a Forsaken?
"As expected," sighed. "No wonder Niou couldn't tell, and the faceless ghoul was able to suck out her soul." As she spoke, she plopped herself down in the nearest chair.
"Unbelievable that Yukimura didn't notice it either…" Sanada muttered.
shrugged. "I only noticed it when I fixed her soul back in her body, and even then, it was only because demonic and angelic energy resonate at such different levels and hence feel completely different from one another. If I didn't have to do that, I think I'd have missed it altogether." She glanced at . "It's not wonder you thought she was human, and why she believes she herself is human. That's often the case with most Forsaken."
"What's a Forsaken?" The question was echoed by both Kirihara and herself.
It was Yukimura who spoke up. "A Forsaken is a holy demon, or a demonic angel – the result of a union between an angel and a demon. Normally they would be repellant to each other, but in some cases half-angel, half-demon children do come along, and they are called Forsaken.
"Because angelic and demonic energies are so different, in Forsaken they tend to cancel each other out, resulting in a neutral essence that allows Forsaken to pass for ordinary humans. Most of the time, even the Forsaken themselves don't know of their true nature. Many of them live and die believing that they're human. As for those who do find out of their true nature, in the supernatural world they are given the task of spy or assassin, since their neutral energies allow them to masquerade as harmless human beings."
"There is, however, one way to prove that is really a Forsaken," said as she stood up. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a glass vial filled with water. "Holy water: one of the most effective tools against demons and the undead." She pulled the cork of the vial out with her teeth, and took 's hand. "If she was an angel, the water would turn into liquid light before being absorbed into her skin. If she was a demon, the water would burn a hole through her hand like acid. But since she's a Forsaken…" here she poured a small amount onto the back of 's hand, which sizzled and evaporated, but the skin beneath was completely undamaged, "that's what happens."
Niou glanced down at . "Did that hurt?"
shook her head. "No, not really… It felt the way my mouth does when I drink soda: all fizzy and bubbly, but not painful."
shrugged, and started heading for the door that led to the Organization's living quarters. "Anyway, you guys are going to have to be nice to her and treat her special. After all, she's only had a couple of hours to find out all about us." Her voice started to fade the further she went in, but Sanada could still hear her words very well: "Hey, is my room still available? I'm going to be crashing with you guys until this whole Echizen thing blows over."
Sanada sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose to ward off the headache that he could already sense was just over the horizon. Things were going to get crazier – much crazier – than the current situation, now that was back.
As he turned around to leave, Yukimura asked: "Where are you going, Genichirou?"
"To bed," Sanada replied, not bothering to hide the weariness in his voice.
"Oh? Why? It's still fairly early in the night."
"I just want to make sure that my sanity is still intact after tonight, and the only way I can ensure that is to go to bed and get some sleep."
He could hear Yukimura chuckling, but he ignored it as he headed to the room that he shared with his wife. He knew that would not be in bed for a while yet, since she was surely going to see to the needs of both and , but inasmuch as he wanted to go to sleep with her next to him, he couldn't have that at the moment.
He also knew that and were old friends, and that to stop them from having their "bonding session" would in all likelihood result in him sleeping on the living room couch – the last place he wanted to be, especially with and Marui within walking distance of each other.
He shook his head as he finished changing into his sleeping clothes, and got under the covers. It was better to wait for to come back after she was finished. After all, he did not want to be there when and Marui started going for each other's throats.
--~*~||Ω||~*~--
This was not happening. This was not happening. This could not be happening.
chanted those words over and over again in her mind, trying to convince
herself that everything that had occurred to her in the last few hours was
nothing more than a really strange, really bad dream, and that come tomorrow
everything would be normal again. There would have been no
cats-turning-into-boys, no silver-haired-winged-men, no angel-with-a-temper, and
most of all, no creepy-ghoul-without-a-face-and-hungry-f
If she were to be honest, though, the first three weren't at all that bad, but
the last one she could definitely live without. Niou certainly wasn't all
that bad…
She shook her head rapidly to derail that particular train of thought. Down
girl, she scolded herself as she fluffed up the pillows in the hopes of making
them a bit more comfortable. It wasn't smart to think about such things. Sure,
was good-looking – certainly more than some of the other guys she'd met before –
but that was about it. After all, he did have wings. Those could be
something of a turn-off.
Still, she mused, she could easily forget about the wings when he smiled…
"Damn it!" growled as she slammed her head into the pillow. This was not
good…this was so not good…
"Um…am I interrupting anything?"
looked up, and saw standing in the doorway. Realizing that she must have
looked rather silly with her head in her pillow, she sat up straight and smiled
sheepishly. "Uh…no, you weren't interrupting anything…"
gave her a long look, and then smiled. "Okay. Mind if I come in?"
"Be my guest," replied, waving a hand to the space next to her on the bed.
came in, and smiled as she sat down next to . "I hope you're doing okay
after everything that's happened tonight."
snorted, and shrugged. "I don't know if I'll ever be okay, but right now all
I want to do is sleep." She didn't really care if she sounded rude or cranky –
in her opinion she deserved to be rude and cranky.
"I see… Well, I just wanted to tell you that it's good that you're a demon – or
at least, part of it, anyway. Sanada's not very comfortable with humans."
raised an eyebrow slightly. "You're human, aren't you?"
"I'm a witch," replied with a small smile. "That makes me a bit more special
than the average human." She gave a look as she started to leave the room. "You're
special too, you know."
merely shrugged. She didn't feel special, not in the least. "I don't
know about that."
gave her a long look, and then smiled. "I guess you deserve some rest. I'll
look in on you tomorrow. Good night." And with that, she slid out of the room,
closing the door behind her.
With her gone, sighed, and flopped down onto the bed, staring at the ceiling
above her head. Was she really as special as said she was? After all, she
was a Forsaken. Somehow, the term didn't make her feel at all special – it made
her feel as if she had been abandoned by something or someone.
Was that really what she was, in the end: something that had no place in either
Heaven, Hell or anyplace in between because she belonged to none of them? The
thought troubled her deeply.
She shook her head again, burying her face into the pillow. She didn't have to
think about that right now. All she had to do was make sure that she stayed
alive long enough to actually contemplate on what she had been thinking
about, and at the rate that things were going, if Echizen found her again she
would most certainly die.
Survival, at the moment, was her only goal. Everything else could come later. --~*~||Ω||~*~--
A cloud of dust rose from the mattress as soon as she thumped her hand down on
it, and she frowned. How long had it been since anyone had cleaned up in
her room? The state of it was nothing short of appalling.
Her sinuses started to tickle violently, and she sneezed loudly enough so that
she didn't hear the door of her room opening. "Great," she muttered as she
carefully rubbed her nose. "It's my first day back and already I'm getting
allergies I didn't think I had before."
"You busy, ?"
whirled around immediately upon hearing the familiar voice, and grinned
broadly at the figure she saw standing in the doorway of her room. "! How're
you doing?" Here, she dropped her gaze mischievously to 's still-flat
stomach. "How's the baby?"
"He's fine," replied, smiling and blushing. "It's not as if he's developed
yet…"
uttered a gasp of mock-indignation. "How dare you say that?! Don't
hurt the poor dear's feelings by saying he isn't developed yet, because he is –
he just hasn't grown big enough yet to show on you." She winked at then, to
show that she was teasing. "If anyone else had said that aside from you, they'd
be in very deep trouble."
laughed softly, and gently rubbed her belly. "I know… Can you imagine what
he's going to be like? The son of a witch and a werewolf: terrifying
combination."
"Very true," murmured. "He will have your powers, certainly, since they are
passed down in your line, being strongest in the eldest no matter what the
gender might be. But he will also have some of his father in him: keenness of
senses and, in all likelihood, a physical strength that is comparable to that of
the greatest wolf. And his shape-shifting will be natural and flawless from an
early age."
"I thought you couldn't see the future," said with a small smile. "And here
you are, already predicting what my son will be like."
"I can't. I've only made guesses based on what you and Sanada are like. I don't
think I'm too far off the mark." sighed, and gave a serious look. There
was more to this visit than met the eye, and she could tell. "But you didn't
come here to hear me say that, did you?"
nodded her head slowly, and her expression was serious as well. "No, I
didn't. I came here to ask you about what is going to happen now – especially
regarding Echizen's actions."
shrugged again. "I can't really tell you that just now. According to Yanagi
everything's at a stalemate right now, because Echizen's gathering people around
him who can help him in his cause. In the meantime, we're supposed to do the
same thing: find people who are willing to fight on our side. Yukimura tried to
convince Kaida to join us, but at the moment she doesn't really know whether or
not she will."
"I'm not surprised," replied with a sigh. "Kaida never puts her foot in
unfamiliar waters without a very good reason."
"Maybe she's all the wiser for that," muttered, thinking that maybe she
should have gone the same route, but she shook her head and glanced at . "You
guys said that Echizen attacked Atobe. What happened there?"
"Oh, that!" snickered evilly. "I don't know the complete details of what
happened, but according to what I heard from Yanagi and Genichirou, Atobe's hair
was damaged during the fight."
couldn't help it: a full blown laugh escaped from her at the thought that
the high-and-mighty Atobe Keigo of the Daoine Sidhe had actually managed to
damage his hair during a fight against Echizen. "Seriously? Man, now that's
something I've got to see! I am so visiting him after this whole thing blows
over."
"But what are we going to do in the meantime?" asked softly. "We need to
find Echizen, because even if we did bring more people over to our cause, it
wouldn't mean anything if we couldn't attack him directly."
"Leave it to ," replied, waving her hand airily. "She's a Forsaken,
so she's bound to be able to find him faster than any of us. It's a gift that
they have."
"I see." nodded her head, and then stood up. "I'll tell Genichirou and
Seiichi about that. Oh, and speaking of Genichirou," here she glanced at
with a small smile: "he and Seiichi are asking you for a favor."
raised an eyebrow. "What sort of favor?"
"That you don't kill Marui just because you happen to be within twenty meters of
each other. He might do some really stupid things that are bound to piss you
off, but we'd like to have our necromancer around in case we need him –
preferably in one piece."
frowned. "Damn it," she muttered. "And here I was, hoping that I'd be able
to finally run him through."
"I really hope you don't mean that…"
looked up at , gray eyes meeting brown. "I do, , but out of respect
for Yukimura and your husband, I'll do my best not to harm him. But had it been
otherwise, I wouldn't have listened to you and have just gone straight ahead and
killed him."
Images flashed through 's mind: large brown eyes, too young to be filled
with so much guilt…hands too small to have committed the crimes that they had
supposedly committed… A small heart beating, and then stopping, ending the flow
of blood that had been pooling around her on the floor… And it was his fault…all
his fault…
She blinked once, and in that one movement forced the memory to the back of her
mind. She sighed, and shook her head. "Don't worry, I won't harm Marui. I give
you my word."
stood in the doorway for a long time, watching her, as if measuring her
words, but at last, she nodded her head. "I'll take your word for it, . Good
night." With that, she turned around, and left, closing the door quietly behind
her.
Proceed to [ The Eighth Divide ] Return to [ The Sixth Divide ] + + + + + + + + + +
(1)= Djinn are more commonly known by their other name: "genie." However,
Disney has taken more than a few liberties with the concept of the genie, so
that when one says the word now, Aladdin's blue Genie is the picture that pops
to mind. However, in ancient Islamic and pre-Islamic texts, djinn are
described as spirits that are in control of various elements of nature, though
only two have proper names (to my knowledge): the ifrit, or fire djinn,
and the marid, or water djinn. There are also earth and air
djinn, but I don't know what they're called.
In calling Yanagi a "Djinn Master," I am essentially making him a type of
sorcerer who uses djinn of the different elements to do his bidding. I
haven't seen or heard of any such character in literature, but I suppose that
there is someone out there who can find a folktale or a story with such a person
in it, so I will not claim this concept as being my own – for now, anyway.
(2)= The concept of the Forsaken belongs to Akatsuki.Sage [karinui].
Kage
11.June.2006
NOTES: