Chapter 10-Horror
No, Inuyasha and company aren't mine. Ichiro, Ushio, Teruo, and Lord Takeda no Aki are mine.
Warning, dark themes and angst everywhere!
Master Ungai looked almost relieved as he stared at the two men. Thinner, more worn than Miroku remembered when he met him some time ago, when he was aged but vibrant, active...now he just looked old. A thin old man who leaned back on the small mat in the tiny room and sighed. Not much was here, a mat, a small writing table and a lamp next to a chest. A small, slatted window above that let the morning light stream in on him. His staff lay by the door.
But Ungai's eyes locked on the young monk who'd been pushed inside. A face and aura he remembered. Spiritual powers, strong ones, but no member of his order. The foolish young man who traveled with youkai, who believed not all were evil as they clearly were.
"I...remember you, young monk. This shames you and your Master. You should not be anywhere near this, it is beneath a true warrior monk to threaten another holy man," he said gravely, looking up at him with a frown. The mild words stung like a lash. Miroku had aided in a monk's kidnapping, mugged two other monks, disguised himself and entered a Monastery under false pretenses to interrogate a High Monk. He knew it was wrong, that he shouldn't have done it, but...
"The shame lies in your actions, Master. You-you did it, didn't you? You bound Inuyasha, you forced him to forget, and made him into a puppet of the Matsudaira. I truly did not believe it possible that you would commit such a crime, Master Ungai," Miroku said slowly, eyes filled with horror.
"We've no time for this. You will tell us how to remove your magic workings on Lord Inuyasha, and you will tell us now," Ushio directed.
"With the young man to work the ritual of breaking. Why you brought him...to ensure my truthfulness as he would know if the spell is false. It will do you little good, stranger," Ungai noted softly.
"Let us judge that. Speak-lest I grow impatient."
"Perhaps he is better off so, useful, controlled. If you did release him, many would die, and my order, our work...all undone. No. I will not aid you," he looked into a middle distance as he spoke, at a room in a Keep far from here. Where he'd chosen, and cast off his honor, his principles...but he had done it, and would bear the burden.
"Better off controlled? You're no better than the Matsudaira or the Takeda! The great Ungai-making slaves of youkai. So much for your famous philosophy of no humans working with youkai under any circumstances! What was the price for my friend's mind and freedom? How much did they offer you to let them use him as a weapon against other humans?" Miroku demanded bitterly, his eyes cold.
"I accept your anger, young one. It is just, even if you are mistaken in believing him a friend. Once it set...I gave him a chance, you see. More of one than a mere half youkai deserved, but he chose, and it is done. It would be wrong to free him. The consequences are too great. He chose," Ungai repeated, sounding like he'd argued this before-with himself.
"What do you mean? Inuyasha would never choose-" Miroku began.
"He chose to forget as I told you," Ungai said as he looked up at the monk. "I ask you this, young man. Should he ever be freed-would you allow him to take vengeance? Allow him to kill more of our fellow humans in retribution?" he asked. He took no pleasure from Miroku's pained expression.
It was true, Inuyasha...he would want them all dead. No. Not all. Not the innocent, only the ones who had convinced Master Ungai. The ones responsible as any other, human or no, would after such a crime against him, but not the entire family. Not as Ungai clearly imagined. Miroku knew Inuyasha.
Even when possessed by the Souunga...he refused to kill innocent humans.
"He is not an animal who will slaughter indiscriminately. Inuyasha is half human-and a good, honorable man, Master, one I am pleased to call my friend. A better person than you or others of pure human blood, his own family! He would never perform such a despicable act as you have. You had no right," he answered.
"He is hanyou. Not human, and he is beneath a man. I wonder, you who ally with youkai by choice. I wonder, do you understand what happens to the unfortunates like him? The ones begot of such profane unions? Hated by both human and youkai, they are damned from their first breath. Unless they are properly purified, they have no hope but to fall prey to the taint of accursed darkness in their very blood. At least now, he is chained and not loose to kill and harm as all hanyou do," Ungai told him with all the ease of one explaining a simple truth.
"I do not agree," Miroku said flatly, and knelt near the aged man. "I too battle youkai, Master. Face them in honest battle, purify the evil ones and protect the innocent from them, yes, but not this! You know that as well as I do. He does not deserve this when he committed no wrong! You must tell us. As a brother monk, I beg you-cleanse away your own crime and tell us what we have to know to release him, Master Ungai. If you don't, you will only incur greater karma, and destroy yourself from within as surely as any dark Priest. You sell your soul to darkness by condemning an innocent to a fate worse than death. Free Inuyasha, and yourself as well, please," Miroku urged.
Master Ungai smiled at the earnest plea, shaking his head gently as he considered the young man before him...and the one standing there with a blade in his hand.
"No, though I see you are genuine in your worry. I thank you for it, for kindness shown to one you feel has fallen into error and harmed one you ally with. But I must hope that the good I have done, that my brothers will do-will be enough to expiate what I have done," Ungai told him sadly.
"Then it's up to me. Stand aside, Miroku," Ushio said quietly.
"I won't let you harm him."
"Need I remind you of your promise?" he asked coldly.
"Let me try!"
"I did. We haven't time. Do you think the not so good Terou will ask? No. He will compel, and Lord Aki with him, my sad and idealistic friend. That cannot be avoided now, not with the very careful Teruo here. He will send to Lord Aki, and they will come-they will come very soon in force and take what they need, and punish you all for your silence on the matter last summer," Ushio told him grimly, and turned to Ungai. "You will tell us, Master. Already, your close disciple the Hoshi Itsumo pays for your actions, or do you think he simply wandered off?"
"Itsumo? No! He is my most loyal disciple. He had nothing to do with this-he knows nothing, they know nothing, I protected them from this!" Ungai protested.
"His fate is sealed as is that of all others who remain here. You are too important for most to trifle with, but they are desperate men, and see their end nearing with the spring campaigns. As it stands this place is doomed by your meddling in greater affairs, but you may yet save the good monks' lives and flee, if you choose to end it cleanly and with honor. Choose wisely."
Miroku looked away from Ushio to the aged monk...and the spy discreetly tugged a pendant from beneath his clothes and flashed it for a moment. Ungai's face went ashen as he slipped it away again before the monk could see it. A grim look passed between the two men, one a holy Monk, the other far from holy.
Ushio nodded.
"I see. So...it is all undone. There is no saving my order, our great work...only the choice of how we might fall. My error is greater than I knew. So it will be, it is a just sentence and I accept my fate. I will aid you, and will not betray you," he answered, and his head lowered. Ungai took a deep, centering breath-and nodded to himself, pushing off the floor in a single, limber movement.
"Well?" Ushio asked.
"The magic is an old one used on dangerous youkai that the caster wished to bind. There are few of any sort who know it in these days. It is called the 'sword of memory', because it cuts the mind of a youkai free of the past. They begin again once it takes them, as though it were the first day of their lives. The skills and powers are intact, but no memory of their previous selves is left save vague, half remembered dreams and feelings. Each night when they sleep, it renews itself, tied to their own powers. But I warn you-the one that it is used on must desire on a deep level to forget. He chose to forget himself, young one, chose to shed who he was, even if it wasn't ever a surface thought. The magic would never take hold otherwise," Ungai explained gently. The young monk only nodded.
Miroku could well imagine that there was much that he'd lived through that Inuyasha would want to forget. From hints dropped over the years he'd known the hanyou, hunting Naraku with them all was possibly the happiest time of his life. If given the choice to be able to start new-even Kagome might not be enough to make him want to stay as he was...but he shelved the thoughts.
"Is there no way then to release him?" Miroku asked.
"Yes. One. But it is difficult, it will cause him pain as well. More perhaps than you imagine, for he will remember all he has done since it was cast, and all of his past life in clarity. I suppose I suspected someone would come, as I have these," he rose and went to his small writing table. A box was opened...and a small stack of papers were pulled free.
"Here, young one. Bind him, wrap your staff with these, and strike him, saying this incantation," a small paper was added to the stack, "when his mouth is ungagged. He must be awake. Do not forget."
"Charging all of these ofuda at once...it is indeed a difficult magic. Some of these I recognize from my studies. An old magic indeed," Miroku noted, looking at the symbols and characters on them.
"Yes."
"Lovely. So the magic is a true one?" Ushio asked.
"It is, and I will perform it. He deserves to be freed," Miroku answered slowly. There was a long pause...and Ushio sheathed his blade. The young monk realized how tense he was when his shoulders relaxed at the sight.
"Then I offer my thanks, honored Master, and a warning. Flee this place tonight, and your monks with you. Go elsewhere, and stay gone. There is no safety on Takeda or their allies' lands for you and yours."
"I will pray that your warning is misplaced, stranger."
"It isn't. Let's go, my friend. We have what we need," Ushio told him. Miroku nodded...and Ungai spoke again as he rose to leave, looking very distant again.
"I will also pray for you, young one. That you are correct to do this."
"I thank you, Master Ungai, I will pray for you as well," Miroku answered, and they slipped outside.
Leaving wasn't hard. They slipped down the corridor quietly, to and out the south gate, and found the horses were there alright. The Gatekeeper was missing-and Miroku decided not to ask where he was. He had a feeling another monk was tied up somewhere as they headed quickly for a small grove of trees not far off, Ushio leading.
Ichiro was already mounted in the grove and waiting anxiously with two other mounts saddled and ready, tethered to trees and pawing the ground. He sat deep and straight in the saddle, but his face was much paler than the moonlight should make it. Ushio saw...and for once he did not smile as they approached.
"Well?" he asked.
"Riders come, Master. I saw them gathering as I brought the horses up. They didn't see me, I was most careful. We haven't long," Ichiro reported, gulping.
"How many?" Ushio asked briskly.
"At least twenty lights, perhaps thirty." Assume every second rider held one...
"Meaning the full local garrison detachment and extra troops. Flags?"
"Not all of them local. Some bore the banners of the lord Aki himself," Ichiro said. At this-Ushio nodded slowly, considering for a moment in silence as he untied the horses and handed Miroku the reins of one.
"Alright. Go, and do as I bid you before. Ride fast and stop for nothing."
"Yes Master. I will do it," Ichiro answered fervently. He snapped his reins and left fast, headed east in a wide loop around the complex bulking behind them, heedless of the dangers of uneven ground as he galloped away.
"You have to follow me closely-and do not lose those papers, my friend, I doubt there will be a chance for more by the dawning should you decide to be forgetful, hm?" Was all Ushio said as he swung into the saddle. He considered again, eyes scanning the area. Miroku mounted with the ease of long practice, his body automatically moving even as his mind blanked at what they so casually discussed.
"Takeda are coming, then. They won't dare harm the Temple!"
"I see you have never met the notable Lord Aki. A dreamer, that one, and ill-tempered at best when his dreams aren't fulfilled. Your hanyou friend has made a fool out of him for months, Takemaru. Months! Lord Yasha is a superb field commander, and has all but ruined his dreams of eventually being made Shogun by crushing his vaunted youkai and his magnificent troops. Do you really think a little thing like sacred ground will stop him from avenging himself on the man who all but personally took his dreamed of victory and handed it to the good Matsudaira? Hardly, my good friend. Hardly," Ushio sighed as he turned the horse's head.
"We should help them! Warn them!"
"I did. He didn't listen. We go," the man sighed sadly as he urged his beast on, glad the monk didn't know about his instructions to Ichiro. They had much to do-and little enough time as it was.
It nearly killed Miroku. But he followed as they rode to the west, looping wide as Ichiro had and heading back for the Matsudaira lands. They rode...and smoke rose from the Temple by dawn.
Lord Takeda no Aki had indeed been notified by the faithful Terou, and had come personally, riding hard with a chosen detachment of bodyguards. Most displeased, he sat his horse in a wrecked complex that morning, thwarted, but having taken his vengeance. He feared neither youkai or human, having dealt with both-nor did any monk hold special rights with him. Especially not ones who had any dealings with his blood enemies, the accursed Matsudaira! No. They had to be destroyed for that.
The Temple of Master Ungai fell-but the Master himself took his secrets to the grave, dying when he refused their demands. Lord Aki hardly knew more than when he began of the secret of Lord Yasha, no, Lord Inuyasha, a name he'd heard before. Terou had told him of this name, and of one called Miroku. Who had traveled with a simple spy, apparently. A single man, one the icy Terou was seemingly worried over.
The heavyset, intense young man frowned on his horse, resplendent in the red armor of his Clan. Lord Aki looked older than he was, worn by years of campaigns and burdened by the weight of his dreams. He dreamed of great things, the Lord Aki...and no single spy caused him worry.
"Inuyasha. Miroku. Where have I heard these names?" he asked aloud, scowling.
"He traveled with a slayer band, great Lord," one of his soldiers offered as Terou watched the villagers gather the remains of the dead.
"Yes! Yes, indeed. I have heard reports of them...women and a monk, was it not? Yes. Youkai were mentioned. You will be rewarded, yes, good that you remembered this," Aki announced. A gesture, and one of his personal guard tossed the man a small pouch of coins. Lord Aki was a great believer in instant rewards-and immediate punishments. So much more effective and memorable than something done after the fact.
"Terou. Find me this Miroku and the other man. Alive. Go now," the Lord ordered with a small frown. A bow from the waist in his saddle to the Lord, and the man sitting his horse not far from him left. He then signaled a squad leader to approach for orders.
"Fetch me these slayers. All of them," Lord Aki hardly noted the men leaving, turning his mind at once to other matters as he oversaw the taking of the Temple's treasures for his own coffers. But the troop was destined to return to him empty handed.
Because Ichiro was going to get to Kaede's village first.
Ushio and Miroku pushed their luck as the sun rose higher. They were riding hard and fast, knowing it likely they were followed. Ignoring the roads, they were taking chances through the woods, and while Ushio rode like an expert...Miroku was far from it. He was barely hanging onto his mount and tired already. When the horse shied, over he went! Clutching reflexively at the precious ofuda, he hit hard and rolled. The panicked beast promptly bolted, leaving it's rider lying groaning on the ground. Hoofbeats, and Ushio reined in his blowing horse, sliding off to check him.
"Damn it. You hurt, good friend?" he did smile, but it was a grim one. With only one horse, they were now in a great deal of trouble.
"N-no...I still have the ofuda. I'm...not that much of a rider, I fear," Miroku confessed, gasping a little as he tried to rise. Ushio helped him up and looked him over even so.
"My fault. You were made for monking, not riding, my good, dear friend Takemaru. I had to forget it. Be easy, you remembered the magic, and that was your task. Mine is to get you to where you can use it," Ushio glanced around as he spoke. Even his usual patter sounded distracted. They'd chosen speed, rather than stealth. He'd bet on them outrunning trouble, and now they'd lost.
A child could track them.
"Ushio, the other horse, we can perhaps replace it in a village," Miroku offered.
"No. No time. They are after us, and will catch up soon, I think. You they mustn't catch, they would have all you knew, and then they will kill you, dear friend-no way they would trust any monk after tonight's work. So we do this," Ushio smiled wider and clapped his shoulder tightly, his eyes twinkling.
"No," Miroku saw the shape of the man's plan.
"Yes. You take the horse, do as I tell you, and I stay here and meet our eager friends."
"No! They'll kill you! Those people are animals! They killed monks!"
"So have you and I. Listen to me. Itsumo, the good hoshi-he is dead, he died first and what he told them before they killed him led them there, and I knew they would kill him when they took him. I knew, Miroku, and I let you give them his name," Ushio answered. The monk froze, his sore body forgotten.
"I...led them there...?" A grim nod as Miroku's stomach sank like a stone.
"You did. I told you, the Matsudaira and the Takeda could be sacrificed to stop the greater darkness. An entire Temple of monks went-do you really think I matter?!" Ushio snapped.
"Evil...this is all...they-I-" stammering in shock, he shivered. Seeing this-a hand whipped across his face! The slap shook him out of his horror. Miroku's mouth snapped shut and he glared at the spy.
"Forgive me for that, you were going to be silly. Now, to business," Ushio gripped his chin and looked at him intently, not letting go as Miroku tried to pull away. "Never said it wasn't dark, did I, my friend? Now-listen to me. We've wasted a lot of time. Go to the checkpoint where we met first, and see the innkeeper. He'll get you into Matsudaira territory. Once there, ride for the first village on the north road. You'll meet friends there, you'll know them when you see them. Yes?"
He nodded, and was pushed to the horse. Miroku mounted, and winced as bruises made themselves known. But Ushio ignored it.
"Good. Ichiro will be there, he'll see you to your destination, no trouble. But then he's going to leave and you're on your own. Tell him nothing about all this-he has his orders. What you need to do then is go to the stream nearby when the women take the washing outside the Keep. Ouji...she'll help you. 'Water garden' is the codeword. She'll get a message to the honored Jewelguardian when you need her too. The rest is all up to you, only you can do this task, my brave friend. Go, and tell my Lord the sake was sweet when next you see him. Do you understand?"
"I do. Mostly. Ushio..." His Lord? Sake? But he remembered it.
"Repeat it, with that monkish memory of yours," Ushio ordered. He did.
"Fine work, my friend. It's been an honor, Miroku. Go now, this is my ground, and my task!" he whacked the horse across the rear.
Miroku didn't dare look back, he was too busy handling his mount. Perhaps that was best.
'Farewell, my terrible friend,' he thought, and rode, cursing the Takeda and Matsudaira, Ushio-and himself.
Author's notes-Ok! I know it's usual to alternate between the two locations when posting a story that has two separate ones, but this time it makes better sense not to. You'll see why next time. That said-long chapter! The Souunga reference is to 'Swords of an Honorable Ruler', when Inuyasha was possessed and refused to kill a baby. I do hope this was worth the wait! Thanks for Reading!-Namiyo