I will continue only if it seems to be well received. For now, Chapter One will do. If it is proven to be a worthwhile effort, it will continue on.
And, if you're reading this, Kerriane : Damn your work is good. I always look forward to the 'Patients' and now, the 'Sae in a Nutshell' series.
So funny! You are talented in making people laugh!
On we go...
As a point of note, yes, this is my first fanfiction. So I give no guarantees about its quality...
I welcome any questions...
I do not own Onmyoji, nor Fatal Frame.
If you are not familiar with the Onmyoji cast, here is a brief summary.
Abe no Seimei : Powerful 'Yin-Yang' master. Uses Shinto sorcery. He is very sly, and very brave. Seimei has a very fox-like smile. He is always calm and composed, and rarely gets angry.
Hiromasa : A friend of Abe no Seimei who works for the Mikado. He is constantly surprised by Seimei's strange sense of humor. He often gets himself into trouble.
Mitsumushi : Either a woman who was given the ability to change into a butterfly, or the other way around. It is difficult to say, knowing Seimei. She is extremely loyal to him, and as long as she dies in butterfly form, Seimei can resurrect her. She says little, but sometimes repeats Seimei's words to add emphasis, usually to prove Hiromasa wrong.
The White Fox and the Rope Shrine Maiden
Chapter One
On a clear, cold, moon-lit night, three figures drew near the majestic form of Himuro Mansion. They stopped at the gates and admired its beauty. The middle figure, dressed in imperial robes made a gesture and spoke.
"Well, here we are. A grand place, wouldn't you agree...Hiromasa?"
"It huge! But it looks a little run down." He looked about in wonder. "Seimei...who lives here?"
"Who did live here? This was the mansion of Lord Himuro."
"Lord...Himuro." Hiromasa frowned. "I've never heard of that name..."
Seimei cast his friend a knowing smile. "That's because it doesn't exist. Lord Himuro succumbed to madness, and was excommunicated. His name was removed from the records of the Capital."
"Madness? What did he do?"
"It is said...that a ritual went awry, and that in a rage he slew every member of his household. Unquiet spirits have been known to dwell here, and several priests have vanished during visits to its shrine."
"That's awful!" Hiromasa gasped. "So why are we here?"
"To exorcise the place, of course!" he cast Hiromasa a reproachful glance and started off.
"Of course!" Mitsumushi repeated with an equally reproachful look.
They passed through the gates freely. "We must find out just what Lord Himuro was up to. Rituals are not for amateurs." Seimei made a gesture and the main doors opened. The three stepped quietly inside.
It was dark. Frighteningly dark, Hiromasa thought. The silence was oppressive.
Mitsumushi looked about apprehensively.
Only Seimei seemed at ease. "Come, let's go."
As they drew near the room, a candle beside them flared into life.
Both Hiromasa and Mitsumushi stared at it with wide eyes.
Seimei smiled. "We are expected."
For the next few hours things were very uncomfortable for Hiromasa. Even with Seimei, he found himself constantly looking over his shoulder, starting at every sound. They had been from room to room, passage to passage. They hadn't met a soul, and perhaps that made the tension even worse. How he wished the spirits would just come out! Worse still, Seimei didn't seem in a hurry either. On and on they went, occasionally finding locked doors which Seimei wanted to return to later. Now they were at a small library on the second floor. Seimei and Mitsumushi were inside, glancing over books and scrolls.
Hiromasa watched Mitsumushi in envy. As long as she was with her master, she was always happy. She didn't feel the same sense of true horror that ate into his bones. Something terrible had happened here; he didn't need to be a priest to feel the eyes of the malevolent spirits glaring at him. It didn't help matters that he was out in the corridor either; the library was rather cramped, especially with the unfurled scrolls Seimei had floating about in the air before him. Hiromasa wondered why his friend couldn't just read them normally like everyone else.
Presently, Seimei murmured with interest.
"Well, well. Lord Himuro seemed to be a very sensible man. But, I question his methods."
"What?" Hiromasa asked, forcing his way in to stand beside them. "What did you find?"
Seimei gestured to the scroll before him. "This region is troubled by malicious spirits. To placate them, sacrifices were made."
"What kind of sacrifices?" Hiromasa asked. His throat felt dry.
Seimei glanced at him askance, from the corners of his long lashed eyes. "From what I have read so far, young women were used; strangled to death. There is reference to a gate, from which the Malice flows. Anointing the gate with blood might have been a bad idea. When you offer wood to the fire, what happens?
"The fire grows...?"
"Exactly. In this way, it might be that in his ignorance, Lord Himuro fed the Malice, until its appetite was too great to manage. I might be wrong. But if that is the case, and the gate is open, we certainly have a great task ahead of us."
They were all silent. Hiromasa moved to the window. Then he gasped.
"Seimei! There's someone down there!"
"Where?" Seimei asked, glancing over his shoulder as he closed up the scrolls.
"Down there in the atrium!"
"We can see better from the balcony." Seimei said, and moved to the next room. He opened the double doors and walked out onto the balcony, looked down over the railing. There indeed was someone; A young man. Seimei frowned. What strange clothing he was wearing…
Hiromasa and Mitsumushi quickly joined Seimei on the balcony.
"Seimei, you shouldn't run off like that!"
"Hiromasa...do you recognize the attire that young man is wearing?"
"No...I've never seen anything like it..." Hiromasa murmured.
The young man was staring up at a tree in the courtyard. There didn't seem to be anything particularly engaging about it; it looked quite dead.
"What is he doing?" Hiromasa asked.
"It may be that a spirit has revealed itself to him...look, he's moving..."
The young man turned and swept his gaze across the mansion. For a moment, he looked straight at the balcony. Then he turned and walked away, out of sight.
"He...didn't see us?" Hiromasa was puzzled.
"Apparently not." Seimei answered.
"Whatever would a youth be doing here, I wonder?" Hiromasa wondered aloud.
"Why don't you go and ask him?" Seimei said. "He seemed quite alive to me. There shouldn't be any danger."
"What? Go off into this maze of corridors all alone? Never!"
"I too would be keen to know who that boy was, and what brought him here. We can save a lot of time if you go and speak to him. I have my own business to attend to here. If you are worried, Mitsumushi can go with you."
The butterfly maiden stepped forward keenly.
Hiromasa eyed his friend dubiously. "Okay, we'll go...but how will we find you again?"
Seimei smiled. "Mitsumushi will know. Failing that, I will come after you, if you take too long.
Hiromasa nodded. "Well, Mitsumushi, it's the two of us again. Let's go."
She smiled and nodded and together they hurried back to the stairs.
Seimei watched them leave and shook his head in amusement as he turned back to the atrium below. Then he frowned. Strange. The night seemed warmer. No stars shone. There were clouds. He stared in astonishment. The tree was withered, far more so than before. The passing of time was revealed upon the shrine opposite it, and, Seimei noticed, on the very balcony he stood upon. The wood was now cracked and ancient. There was dust. The very feel of the place had changed; from cold and unwelcoming to a great sense of anticipation. Seimei remained very still, his eyes narrowing in troubled suspicion. There came a scream; a girl's scream.
Mitsumushi? Seimei thought. No...far too shrill. He caught sight of movement in the courtyard and looked down.
A young girl, dressed in the same odd clothing as the boy they had seen moments before was running like mad across the atrium. She seemed hysterical. Then he realized why.
A white mist trailed her. "It hurts..." the spirit screamed, taking form into a broken necked woman, her arms outstretched.
Seimei wasted no time. Raising his hand and placing his fingers to his lips, he began and incantation...