Well, this is the chapter you all...some...well, a few of
you have been waiting for. Answers to come!



Broken Mask
Chapter 3
By Kat Aubuchon


Souls are strange things. They are what give
people their identity, their power, and their
purpose. Some souls were created when time began.
Coming again and again into a flesh existence,
either because they have yet to learn the lessons
one should learn in life, or because their
connection to the physical world is so strong they
stayed after their time had passed. Not all souls
are old ones, some are new, and have not yet felt
the pains and pleasures of being flesh.

Any youkai can see a soul once it has left a
body. Even some humans have the ability to sense,
see, or make contact with a soul after it has
abandoned the flesh. Sometimes a person is born
with the right combination of heart, body and soul
and can see a soul while it is still in the body.
Kamen is one of those people. Since the age of
three Kamen had been plagued by the images she
saw. To her people had two faces. The one they
wore on their body and the other created by their
soul. Even souls that had gone from one body to
the next had the same face in their soul. Long
ago Kamen had learned to use her ability to track
people.

Every soul is unique and leaves a very
distinct mark on the minds of others. That's why
some people can control the minds of others. They
learned how to use their soul to manipulate.
Kamen turned that process around. Instead of
using her soul on people they used their souls on
her. Kamen's soul was like soft clay. Any soul
she touched made a deep mark in her's forever. If
the other soul was willing she could even take a
piece of it and make it her own.

Kamen's first teacher in the arts of thievery
had told her that her abilities came from her
father's side. He was a maki, a soul eater. The
most hated of youkai, a soul eater would devour a
soul and leave to flesh alive. Kamen's mother was
a fox spirit. The day her parents met was the day
they both died.

Kamen's mother was a thief, and a very good
one. She had heard that a maki in the mountains
had a headdress of an ancient human empress that
was supposed to be priceless. She was determined
to have that headdress for herself, even though it
was the property of a maki.

Kamen's mother found the maki and the
headdress. It was an easy job by any good thief's
standards. She had the headdress and was about to
leave when she spotted a locked chest on the
corner. Her hands itched to open it, as any
thief's would, so she opened it. It was the last
mistake she ever made. The chest was booby
trapped with paralyzing darts.

When she had awaken it was to the worst
horror a body can imagine. Kamen's father raped
her mother for trying to steal his property; he
devoured her soul because he wanted to. He lost
his life because he was careless. He didn't see
her mother's mate climb though the window with his
dagger drawn.

After he had killed the maki, her mother's
mate carried the body back to their village and
begged for help. There was nothing they could do.
Once a maki eats a soul and then dies those souls
are lost forever. One of the elders had seen in a
vision that Kamen's mother was pregnant and
requested the body be left with her.

So it came to pass that Kamen was born and
trained by the elder. When she was seven, and
ready to leave the village on her own, the elder
gave her three gifts. The headdress that her
mother lost her soul for, the dagger that ended
her father's life, and a fistful of pins that were
dipped in the poison that caused her to be.

Kamen cared little about the events of her
making. Most people believed it was because she
never knew her mother, but that wasn't true.
Kamen knew her mother; it just that Kamen's mother
was not the same women that had given her life.

====================

Kamen walked down the hall toward the guest
rooms, the memories of Hiei seen though Yukina's
innocent eyes still fresh in her thoughts. It was
Yukina's memories of a time before she had drawn
her first breath that were the most helpful to
Kamen. Since Yukina and Hiei had shared the same
womb their souls had touched and intertwined for a
time. Those half remembered memories were what
kept Yukina searching for her brother. Now Kamen
carried those memories inside her, but they would
not stay forever. In time all the memories she
would take from them would fade and then disappear
from her mind.

Kamen was so preoccupied with sorting the
memories with her special gift that she didn't see
Mukuro until she was almost on top of her.

"Was Yukina helpful?" Mukuro asked.

"Yes, very. I have a good mental impression
of Hiei's soul in its original state. That will
give me a baseline from which to use the other
memories. If you are ready, I can take your
memories now." Kamen offered.

"Dozo" Mukuro replied. She closed her eyes
and waited. Kamen placed her hand on the flesh
side of Mukuro's neck. The connection was
immediate. The small piece of Mukuro's soul that
was a part of Kamen responded by reaching into
Mukuro's mind and finding the memories Kamen
needed to complete her mission. Images of endless
sparring matches, countless wounds, the fight Hiei
lost to Mukuro at the tournament. Every moment
Mukuro had spent in Hiei's presents was played
back to her and then put in its place with
Yukina's memories. Mukuro had to catch Kamen
before she fell to the floor. Kamen tried to
regain her sense of balance while Mukuro held her.

"Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. I just need to get my bearings
straight." Kamen gently pulled herself from
Mukuro's arms. "I can stand now."

"Will you see the others now?" Mukuro asked.

"If they're asleep I will. That will make it
easier on all of us."

"The last time I checked Yuusuke and the
human were, but Kurama was still pacing around."
Mukuro replied.

Kamen turned and started down the hall again.
"I'll go to Yuusuke first, then Kuwabara."

"What about Kurama? He's closer to Hiei than
anyone, I suspect." Mukuro asked quietly. Kamen
stopped and clenched her hands into tight fists.

"He will be the last one I see." she hissed.

"Kamen..." Mukuro warned.

"Don't worry. I remember my promise. I won't
kill him." Kamen answered quickly. She almost
jumped out of her skin when Mukuro placed her hand
on Kamen's shoulder.

"Kamen, we all do things we regret later. We
all do what we have to do to survive. You should
know that better than most." Kamen slapped
Mukuro's hand from her shoulder.

"You don't have to tell me what I've done!
There is no excuse for what he did! He killed me;
I'm just trying to return the favor."

===================

Kurama watched Kamen work on Kuwabara from
the shadows of the room. Her eyes were closed and
her expression was thoughtful. The only other
time he had seen her face had been when she had
been trying to carve him a new windpipe. Now he
had a chance to look at her without wondering if
he was going to breathe his last breath.

He wracked his brain trying to remember her.
He must have meet her somewhere. No one could be
that hostile to someone they never met. He went
through the centuries trying to place her face.
The harder he tried the more confused he became.
He was certain that he knew her, but he couldn't
place where. The first hint of recognition had
hit him when she had visited Yuusuke.

After Kamen's scene with Mukuro Kurama
followed her to Yuusuke's room. She had placed
her hand on the back of his neck, just as she was
doing to Kuwabara now, and started her work. At
first she just sat there and waited. Then, slowly,
there was a glowing between herself and Yuusuke.
When the glowing stopped he was shocked to see a
single tear fall from her eye. She took her hand
from his neck and lovingly swept the hair from his
eyes.

"Raizen," she whispered softly, "Now I
understand." In that moment, Kurama was positive
he knew her.

Now she sat with Kuwabara performing the same
act. He continued to watch her, and then realized
she was giggling. He strained his ears to listen.
In his sleep Kuwabara was fighting Hiei, and
winning. It was obvious that Kamen was having a
hard time separating his dreams from his memories.
After a few more minutes of the 'great Kuwabara
defeating the evil shrimp' Kamen removed her hand
from his neck and smiled.

"Don't worry Kuwaba-chan you'll get him
someday." she said comfortingly. As she tried to
get up Kuwabara rolled over and pinned her under
his massive arm.

"Nechan, sing me a song." he asked. Kamen
smiled brightly. Her entire face lit up chasing
away the hardness that was there.

"I don't know any songs, Kuwaba-chan," she
cooed sweetly. Kuwabara's face frowned.

"Yes, you do, nechan. Sing me the one Kasan
taught you." He said innocently.

A pained expression replaced the smile on her
face. "Ok Kuwaba-chan. I'll sing you that one."
She started off slowly and quietly, bearly above a
whisper. Her voice was clear and true, never
missing a note of the song Kurama knew by heart.
His human mother had sung that song to him many
times before when he was little, just as she was
doing now.

Kuwabara sighed in his sleep, content that he
was being sung to. With a jaw-cracking yawn he
rolled back over and fell deeper into sleep.
Now that Kamen was no longer pinned she stood next
to the bed and looked down at its sleeping guest.
A sad smile formed on her lips.

"Good night, Kuwaba-chan." she whispered.
Kamen bent down and smoothed the rumpled hair on
the top of Kuwabara's head and kissed the spot.

Kurama was transported to a time when his
mother did the same for him. He could hear his
mother in his mind with Kamen's voice,"Good night,
Shiuuichi." He came out of the shadows and
walked, as if in a trance, toward her. When she
turned he was right behind her.

"Who are you?" he asked, knowing but not
believing.

Her eyes were instantly murderous, but
quickly turn bitterly sad. "If you don't know it
only makes it worse." Then she thrust her had
into his hair to grab the back of his neck. Image
of Hiei flooded his mind, making him dizzy, but
among them all was the sound of a soul crying out
in pain as it was forced from its body. Pushing
it away from all it knew and all it loved, killing
it. In the screams he could hear a mother's
gentle voice promising to love forever the child
she was given.

"Masaka," was all Kurama said before he
passed out.

======================
This is it the answer you've been waiting for. (If
you still don't know who Kamen is see me after
class.)

Chapter four is going to take me longer to write
because of school and work. If I'm very lucky it
will be done by Tuesday.

As always comments and replies welcome.

Kat