Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Fushigi Yuig or Middlemarch characters, places, etc.
A/N: Reviews would be good. So far not a lot of interest in the story. What's everybody thinking about? Tell me! ... Please...
Chapter 2 – Fine Print
Mary had never considered herself impatient, but she was quite literally at her wits end. She looked around the room in the early morning, already having been at it since before first light. Tasuki had still been snoring and Chichiri had been moderately distressed to see her moving again so early. She'd brushed his words aside, and gone to resume her game.
The vast room was empty, all the chairs turned up atop the heavy tables, benches piled high over at one end of the room. She had the place to herself, and hadn't been bothered when the sleepy servants began to come down and ignite the fire pits with stacks of wood and repetitive strikes of flint. No one questioned or argued with her, leaving her to hunt and – as time progressed – mash the brass buttons down.
She had bent everything in her power towards finding Kendall, had let this mission obsess her for the past two years. It had dragged her through the turbulent Kutou, stretches of the deserts and plains in Sairou, along frozen mountain spines in Hokkan, and finally through the sprawling cities of Konan. Before that, she had sailed across two oceans, found her way through thick woods, spent a month lost in a swamp, and burned her skin to a crisp in the voyages across arid plains. She had stared down death time and again, both at the hands of human marauders, and had encountered her fair share of magical creatures and demons.
It had been three hours now, and her frustration was at a breaking point. She determined with an irritated rake through her hair that it was time to step outside. Her boots clicked across the floor, and she collected her threadbare shawl from a peg, bundling up for the early morning chill. Her hand closed around the doorknob, and she gave it a pull open. One booted foot moved forward, and she followed in a normal walk to get out the door, before there was a crackling burn throughout her body, as if she'd just been struck by lightning.
With a yelp, she tumbled backwards. Her back slammed into someone behind her, and large hands helped her to stand up straight. Shaking, her nerves jittery, Mary examined the door, looking for the source of trouble. A blue sky shone above the treetops outside, so it couldn't have been the weather.
"You should be careful what trouble you get yourself into," said a deeply masculine voice. Mary's flustered heartbeats stopped, as if she'd been flash frozen into an icicle.
"Lord Marcuccilli," she whispered, forcing herself to stand up on her own. She spun to face him, clasping her worn shawl tightly in her hands.
"No need for fear," Marcuccilli smiled. He smoothed some hair out of her face, and she pulled back. His fingers made her skin burn with cold.
"What happened?" she asked.
"It's a contract, you know."
"What is?" Mary frowned.
"The game. It's a contract. You can't leave until you've completed it."
"I was unaware that the agreement was a contract," Mary said.
"It was, and you will be unable to set foot outside of the establishment until you have completed the game." He smiled. "You're one of my servants now."
"That's absurd," Mary stated, dropping her demure act. She moved again towards the door, and felt an earth shaking electrocution startle her senses. A full scream ripped itself out of her throat, and she collapsed, smoking, on the floor.
"It's not so bad," Marcuccilli squatted and pulled some electrified hair out of her face. Static snapped at his fingers, but he didn't seem to mind. Mary half dragged herself away from him. It was the only thing she could muster.
"Don't touch me," she commanded of him, her arms shaking under the labor.
"I do have a dress code here," Marcuccilli continued, undaunted. "I've already had the seamstress put together some new clothing for you. That simple calico won't do at all, not for the boiler room. And all this hair will only get in the way." A knife hissed out of the sheath at his side, and he gripped a handful of hair.
"I said don't touch me!" Mary struggled, and his knife came down quickly. It cut that fistful of hair loose. Mary lashed out with one hand, striking him across the face. He threw her onto her belly, slamming a heavy knee between her shoulder blades, and proceeded to saw off hair.
"Rekka Shin'en!" Tasuki's voice bellowed, and orange flame licked the base of Mary's neck. Marcuccilli seemed to have completely vanished.
"Mary!" Chichiri was suddenly at her side, his hand on her shoulder. She struggled to sit, slipping on shanks of her dark hair.
"She's mine now, boy. Should've kept a closer eye on her," Marcuccilli sneered at Tasuki, who backed towards Chichiri and Mary, his iron fan held at the ready.
"Over my dead body!" Tasuki challenged.
"She signed the contract," Marcuccilli laughed, a page falling loose in his outstretched arm. Mary and the others recognized it as the page she had signed agreeing to not cheat at the game and stating that if she won, she would be taken to the seer at the top of the mountain.
"That had nothing to do with you," Tasuki scoffed.
"It had everything to do with me. If she'd taken the time to read the fine print, she'd have noticed the clause saying that she would become my slave if she ventured out of the building, while still in possession of the talisman used to activate the game."
"But I left it…" Mary frowned, recalling sliding the talisman into the pocket of her apron. She hadn't put her apron on this morning. She looked down, and her apron was firmly situated about her waist. Her eyes widened. That couldn't be…
"You have it on you, otherwise that barrier would not have reacted," Marcuccilli declared triumphantly.
"Rekka Shin'en!" Tasuki bellowed again, but once more, Marcuccilli successfully danced out of the way. "Damn! Thought I could burn it!" he growled.
"By legally binding law, she's mine," Marcuccilli smiled.
"Not if she wins the game," Chichiri countered.
"The game becomes null and void if she attempts to leave with the talisman. It's all here, in writing." Marcuccilli waved the contract.
Mary pulled out the talisman, frowning at it. Something looked out of place, but she couldn't tell what. The oblong, shimmering stone was the same aqua blue she'd had with her the whole stay. And yet, it felt different. The stone vibrated, and then shattered into dust. Marcuccilli was smiling again.
"Null and void," he repeated softly. "And just to be sure you don't escape," he lifted a hand and swirled his fingers once. The room shook, walls moaning and leaning in, and the shadows lengthened. Chichiri took Mary's collar, two fingers lifted in the custom of reciting a sutra, and attempted to pull off that peculiar method of transporting between places. Mary felt herself 'flicker,' for lack of a better term, and then an ensuing snap that rooted her to the spot.
Shadows shot across the floor and wrapped up her arms and legs. She made a strangled sound in the back of her throat, struggling to get away, as they became sticky and viscous, molding her to the floor and pulling her down. Chichiri strained to free her, as Tasuki went after Marcuccilli.
"Hold on, Mary!" Chichiri encouraged. She could see him ferociously concentrating on getting her freed, but it seemed like every spare second pulled her deeper and deeper into the floor. The sludge climbing up her body heated up suddenly, as a gout of flame belched through the air, and the floorboards charred.
Lines of fire burned themselves into Mary's skin, the dark sludge climbing beneath her skin and crawling up her arms. Her scream tore loose as the slithering darkness solidified and hardened in fetters, binding her to this place. She felt the distinct locking of her body and soul to this place, and it was smothering.
"That's the end of this!" Marcuccilli declared, making a swiping motion with his hand.
"Rekka Shin'en!" Tasuki's words echoed hollowly, and only a gust of wind leapt from his powerful fan. Mary panted face down on the floor, hardly even able to open her eyes. "What the?"
"Our powers…" Chichiri looked up.
"You two are welcome to stay as my guests, but the girl is my prisoner," Marcuccilli smiled.
"Like I'm just gonna give up!" Tasuki shouted, streaking in for some old fashioned, hand-to-hand combat. Marcuccilli's elbow slammed against the side of Tasuki's head, followed by an uppercut. The man dry heaved, and Marcuccilli's finely booted leg struck him in the ribs. Tasuki rolled back into a table, where some of the heavy benches crashed down on him.
"You bastard!" Chichiri sprung up.
"No!" Mary caught his leg. "Stop! Stop! I'll come!" Mary looked pleadingly at Marcuccilli, who was approaching Tasuki with a sadistic smile on his face. He paused and looked at Mary, before folding his hands behind his back. For all the morning's strife, he looked perfectly relaxed and at ease. "I'll come peacefully. Just…don't hurt them!"
"Gentlemen?" Marcuccilli looked between them.
"Girls are such whiners," Tasuki muttered, heaving himself out of the collapsed furniture. Marcuccilli began turning to him, and Mary forced herself to stand in spite of her shaking limbs. She avoided her hands, which were wrought with runes.
"I'm fine," Mary said, making a show of brushing hair off her skirt and apron, and straightening out the cuffs of her shirt. "Tasuki, that's enough. It's all in the papers." She ran her fingers through her sheared hair, already missing the familiar tresses.
"Don't be ridiculous! This guy cheated!" Tasuki argued.
"Chichiri, please do something about him. I have a job to do in the boiler room." Mary gave Tasuki as significant look. "Master Marcuccilli, what exactly is it I'm supposed to be doing?"
"Why don't we get you suited up, shall we?" Marcuccilli crossed the room to her, and held out one wide arm. Mary accepted it, feeling repulsed as she did so. He led her across the room, filled with the other staff. They watched her empathetically.
"Chichiri! We have to go after her!" Tasuki urged, taking two pained steps after Mary. Chichiri's hand reached out and caught his fiery companion.
"That's powerful magic on his side for him to be able to seal off our powers in this area," Chichiri warned. "We can't just do this with brute force."
"We can't just leave Mary with that guy either!"
"We'll have to regroup, Tasuki, that's all there is to it. Mary saved your life just a moment ago. Let's not be wasteful with her gift."
Tasuki grit his teeth and choked back his snarl. "So what now?"
"Let's see what we can find out in town about Marcuccilli. We'll come back tonight, once things have had a chance to settle."
"But you saw what he did to her last night!"
"There isn't anything we can do right now," Chichiri stressed. "Let's figure out what we can and move from there. We're burning daylight."
With a huff and snarl, Tasuki was out the door. Chichiri made a sweep with his eye across the room, and then proceeded after the redhead. He wished Mary luck, and promised to be back with some good news and ideas for her that evening.