Obsessions and Fantasmagoria

Chapter One

We stopped last time when you thought about what you would do to put an end to your relation with Ishtvar. It has been 5 years since you were with this man and he felt nothing but love for you. He feels no more desire, no more passion. You felt as if you were nothing but a vague idea in his eyes, a sacrifice made so long ago that you couldn't remember the meaning of it. That night you decided to live your life and accomplish your dreams. You spent the evening as usual and you both went to bed soon after dinner. You decided to make love to him for the last time, not in order to remember the good old days, but to get him numb and to drop his guard. At the moment his pleasure reached his climax, you stabbed him in the back (he was on top of you) and you looked intensely into his eyes to see his reaction. He didn't seem angry, just disappointed. The only words he managed to mumble were: looks like you finally got me. Surprisingly, you didn't cry: you just felt so relieved. Now you had a chance to be what you want, though it seemed very unclear to you at the time.

When Ishtvar gave his last breath, something very strange happened. You felt a horrible pain in your lower abdomen and at the bottom of your back. A minute later and your shirt was soaked in blood. You put it off to see what happened and you had just the time to see a wound that took the shape of a tree root before it disappeared. However when you looked in the mirror, you could see that the wound at the bottom of your back hadn't disappeared: it was a word carved in your flesh. BUJASAG (lust). You covered it with a bandage and put on another shirt. You took some money with you and nothing else. But before you leave; you had to understand what those wounds were and it was quite clear to you that it was another curse from your clan but you had never seen anyone possess such wounds.

You thought you could find the answer in your parents library and so you went there furtively. It took you ages to find the book dealing with your clans jutsus and you only had time to read a few lines and to notice the figures in the book were exactly like your wounds before you heard someone coming. Those wounds resulted from the fact that you had killed your true love. The tree root meant that you possessed the ultimate jutsu of your clan and that all the jutsus coming from your blood were upgraded. The word in your back revived the tie that binds your clan to a beast and gave you the power to summon that beast.

You rode away from your village after robbing your family's legendary sword. You went as fast and as far as you could on horseback before you decided to stop to rest for a while. When you finally fell asleep, a nightmare resurfaced. You had it for as long as you could remember but when you were with Ishtvar, it never came back. It was a dream where you were at home with your family and you could fill a threat: a group of men was taking over the village, killed its inhabitants and burnt the houses. When the men came into your house, you had time to hide in a cupboard. But from where you stood, you could see what happened through the hinges of the door. You saw your father being beaten to death, your mother being raped and killed and your brothers and sisters having their throat slit. As you trembled in fear and prayed that nobody found you there, a man entered who was apparently the head of the band and immediately looked at the cupboard. When he opened it, you were ready to fight for you had nothing to loose but he just looked into your eyes and took you with him without you being able to say a word or to do anything. When you woke up after this dream, you would never remember the face of that man. The only thing that was left was a strange feeling that you weren't able to identify because you had never felt the same. There was wrath, guilt, betrayal and maybe fatality but other things melt.

Now that you were all alone in the world, you had to find how you were going to live and what you're going to do. Your top priority was training and gaining more power and finding a way to learn more jutsus. For that you already had an idea: the things you did best were dancing and singing so why not use them for power? During two years you went from ninja to ninja (hidden villages) to perform in pubs or in rich men houses. In exchange of your entertaining them, you would ask them to teach you a jutsu. Of course, your clients as you called them for fun were not always -lets say rarely- fair and wanted more than just a dance or a song. If your client was worth it, you would even do a strip tease for them. But honestly, you very often ended up your show with a fight.

You often had the opportunity to see what the beast you could summon was: it was a salamander. Most of the time now, it was Malika, the most gigantic salamander you could summon, who answered your call when you needed it in a fight. With time, she has become more than just an aid in a battle: she has become your councilor, your friend. The first time you summoned her, she has stayed and talked with you for a whole night. "Malika, was it long ago since you've been summoned by a member of my clan?"

"You're the first one for centuries, Erzebeth. The choice you have made is a difficult one and though you saw no other way than to make this choice, it takes courage to do it. Only you had the courage to accomplish your destiny." You told her what your occupations were since you left your home country. Contrarily to what you thought, she was enchanted to hear what you became by yourself. "I like my masters strong, pitiless and ready to do what it takes to get what they want."

"Thank you, Malika. But you see, since Ive left, I only met very few ninjas that were strong enough to satisfy my lust for power."

"Strong AND beautiful enough, isn't it Erzebeth?"

"Of course, you know my limits"

"Don't worry, little Erzebeth. You are to accomplish great things, that's your destiny believe me. Its coming and its about to knock at your door. The only advice I can give you is: don't be afraid to let yourself go and wander freely over the paths of life. Be a devil, beauty is no limitation for you. Its the key to your power, the key to your destiny. Its beauty that pushed you into doing everything of importance in your life."

"You're just too right, Malika. As they say in this country: Arigatou godzeimas" If you had time to learn Japanese during your expeditions, you always had troubles understanding their ceremonials concerning eating, drinking tea. Japanese was the synonym of refinement and your country was the reign of rudeness and harshness. With time, you took some of the salamanders features: such as your tongue that got split in two and had different powers. (Ill tell you later about that)

Anyway, those last months, you had discovered yourself a new ability with your clients: lying and making promises. Believe it or not, some of your clients were stupid enough to teach you jutsus if you promised to go further with them.

One day, you were in the rice country and had found a place where to sing when the bartender told you that someone very important was coming tonight. The special someone was one of the three legendary Sannins of Konoha. You were so happy because it has been such a long time since you didnt find someone interesting. You decided to dress as sexy as you could and to sing one of your hottest songs. The bartender told you who it was before you started the show. You sang Six Underground by Sneaker Pimps though it was far from being your favorite song but with experience, you had noticed it was easier to make a sexy dance on it and whisper in men ears. The Sannin was completely the opposite of what you had imagined.

Author's Note: A sannin in the audience? Wow, suke! Good luck for the show devilish Temptress! Please review!