Chapter 36:
With Dougal serving as a guide, Blake arrived at the archives in no time. It was a massive room, its design reminding her of the library back at Beacon. It was a long, low room, with a single aisle running down its center. Shelves were lined up in rows, each one stocked with books. However, further back, many of the shelves took on a honeycomb structure, with their cavities occupied by scrolls, actual paper scrolls, rather than typical bound books.
"The shelves closest to the entrance here all house works in the Common," said Dougal. "Most of them are copies of the volumes further back, many of which are in the Old Tongue that was once the main language of the Mibu. The scrolls are all in that language."
"Are all the Mibu bilingual?" asked Blake.
"Many of them are," said Dougal. "But usage of the Old Tongue is fading and is mostly practiced by scholars. There are several ongoing translation projects to convert our oldest works into Common, but it is a slow process, mainly because the translators' greatest concern is the accuracy of the language."
"I see," said Blake. She turned and bowed slightly to Dougal. "Thank you for guiding me here. I think I'd like to browse on my own for a while."
"Feel free," said Dougal, bowing back. "If you have need for me, simply call my name. Otherwise, I will come to fetch you when it is time for dinner."
Blake nodded. She watched as Dougal sank down into his own shadow and vanished. For a moment, she pondered being able to do that herself. If Dougal was really willing to teach her, Blake figured that she should take advantage of the opportunity. However, right now, the books around her were calling her name. Turning to look at them, Blake smiled and cracked her knuckles, wondering just where to begin.
Weiss had to admit, the setting of the zen garden was soothing. Sitting back on the bench, she lounged in the shade of the wall, letting her eyes drift out of focus as she took in the silent stones and meticulously tended lines in the gravel. Everything felt more peaceful. Even the thinness of the air actually seemed to relax her as she took deep, slow breaths.
In spite of her reservations about coming, Weiss was glad that she had come to the Mibu lands with her friends. Ironically, being out of scroll contact with the rest of the world was a liberating sensation. Here, she wasn't bombarded with news regarding her father's company. She didn't have to think about how its profits and stock prices were falling with the news of each work camp that was liberated. She didn't have worry about balancing her concern over the company's future with her relief that there were fewer faunus for her father to abuse.
Idly, her thoughts turned to the one who was supposedly single-handedly undermining the SDC. The news reports referred to him as the Lightning Lord, primarily because he seemed to be able to wield lightning with an almost supernatural proficiency. There was speculation that he didn't even use Dust for the feats that he accomplished. Weiss wondered if that meant he was using some form of Manifestation, like the arts the other Mibu seemed to practice. If that was the case, did that mean the Lightning Lord had a connection to the Mibu? Weiss wished she could meet him, if only to learn more about this mysterious person.
On the other hand, she got the distinct impression that he would take exception to her because she was a Schnee. She could understand if he did. There were times when she felt like she should take exception to herself. After Beacon had fallen, and her father had brought her back to Atlas, Weiss had been in an almost ideal position. She could have used the opportunity to secure her power base back home and within the company, to begin acquiring the means to gain the authority she needed to affect real change. Instead, she had fled at the first possible opportunity, leaving the faunus who worked for the company laboring under the yoke of her father's greed. While they suffered, she returned to her idillic life as a student of Beacon, training to be a Huntress alongside her friends.
Weiss had promised herself that she would come back and take over the company, once she had finished her schooling and had become an accomplished Huntress. With several notable achievements to her name, she would have the confidence to wrestle power from her father and do what was necessary to save both her family's company and the people who worked for it. And yet, with each month that passed, Weiss saw that becoming harder and harder to do. Her father's methods had grown more extreme, now bordering on slave labor, supplied by internment camps created by a suspicious and paranoid General Ironwood. With each camp that was destroyed or liberated, the company's profits plummeted, and her father flirted with losing everything more and more. By the time Weiss was finished at Beacon, would there be an SDC for her to take over?
On the other hand, she silently cheered every time she heard about another camp being liberated. She wished that mysterious Lightning Lord well, and admired him for being able to do what she couldn't. There was a part of her that didn't care that her family's legacy suffered each time he did so. All that mattered was that this person was helping the faunus her father was abusing. At times like that, Weiss wondered if it would be all right to allow the SDC to fall, to let the company slide into ruin, so that something better could take its place. With it gone, she would no longer be bound with the responsibilities of her status as a Schnee. She could be free.
But what would I do if I were free? she wondered. There were plenty of easy answers to that question. She would still be a Huntress. She could easily spend the rest of her life doing a Huntress' work, fighting alongside her friends, beating back the Grimm, saving the world. But Weiss wondered if living such a life would leave her feeling somewhat empty. She had never truly faced a future where her status as the Schnee heir did not factor into it somewhere.
Weiss sighed and let her eyes drift closed.
She wasn't sure how long she sat there. Seconds bled into minutes, which bled into hours. The peaceful setting practically lulled her into a relaxed doze as her worries slowly drained away, leaving her with...nothing...Surprisingly, the sense of emptiness was soothing. Here, in this empty setting, Weiss was free to shed the trappings of her name, her responsibilities, her future, which simply left her as...Weiss... It was a nice feeling.
Then she heard the faint creak of someone slowly ascending the stairs to the garden. Weiss opened her eyes and looked, without moving her head, at the entrance, wondering who was coming up here. Given what Dougal had said, she expected it to be someone of importance, perhaps one of the Four Elders. Either that or one of her friends had come up here to find her.
Sora's feathers caught the sunlight as she emerged from the door, highlighting the colorful plumes that grew forth from her head in place of her hair. She spotted Weiss almost immediately and smiled warmly at her. "I see you're making good use of your time," she said, not a trace of sarcasm in her voice.
"I'm sorry," said Weiss. "If you want to be alone..."
"No!" said Sora quickly. "Please, remain seated. Don't get up. I would be loathe to disturb you when you've made yourself so comfortable. May I sit with you?"
"Of course," said Weiss. It's your garden after all, she thought to herself. She scooted over to allow room for Sora to settle onto the bench next to her.
"This is a fine place to relax and unburden oneself," said Sora as she leaned back against the wall, gazing out over the stones and gravel.
"Do you come here often?" asked Weiss.
"Several times a week at least," said Sora. "It's amazing how much clearer you can think after you've spent some time not thinking at all. Of all the places in the Palace, this is perhaps my favorite."
Weiss nodded. "I can understand that. It certainly is peaceful here."
"That it is," agreed Sora.
They sat in silence for a moment. Weiss forced down the urge to fidget. Kyo's mother or not, this was also the head of the Four Elders, by admission of nearly everyone she encountered, the most powerful member of the Mibu Clan. As the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, Weiss had been somewhat accustomed to rubbing shoulders with the great and powerful. She had spoken with Council members, performed charity concerts for the creme-de-la-creme of society. She had spoken with numerous suitors introduced by her father, many of whom were tycoons of business in their own right. Yet there was something very different about this woman who sat next to her now, something that set her apart from all the others.
If Weiss were to put her finger on it, it would be the nature of power. The people she was used to be dealing with wore their power, whether it was financial clout or political authority, like so many accessories. They flaunted their power like rings, necklaces, and earrings studded with expensive gems and pearls. To those people, their power was simply another way to demonstrate their superiority, to lord it over those beneath them.
Sora did not wear her power. Rather, she exuded it from every pore of her body. She carried herself with a natural ease that suggested any order or request she made would be carried out immediately, not because of her position, but because of the respect others held for her. If Weiss were to put a name to this mysterious quality, she would have called it "majesty." Sora had the disposition of a true ruler, which Weiss supposed only made it natural that she was, in essence, the ruler of the Mibu Clan.
"May I ask you something?" inquired Weiss.
Sora smiled indulgently at her. "Of course."
"Why did you join the Four Elders?" asked Weiss. "You were an outsider, weren't you?"
"I was," said Sora. "It's a bit of a long story..." She began to relate the story of how she and Dougal had met Kyoichiro, back then just Kyo, and how Sora had come to fall in love with him.
"We were at a bit of an impasse when the time came," said Sora. "We had called an end to our travels, so that Kyo could return and ascend to the Crimson Throne. I chose to return with him. We hadn't spent much time amongst the Mibu during the early years of our romance. What little experience I had with them had been quite positive. They didn't even seem to notice that I was a faunus. I have to admit, I built up something of an idealized version of what I thought the Mibu were in my head."
"Was coming to live with them a disappointment?" asked Weiss.
"It was," acknowledged Sora, "if only because I ran up against the same mistake so many other people make when they place another culture on a pedestal, based on limited experience...namely that, wherever you go, people will always be people. The Mibu might not bear any prejudice against faunus, but they can also be arrogant and proud. Too often, they are dismissive of outsiders and the outside world, believing them to be backwards and barbaric."
"Sometimes I can't really bring myself to disagree with that view," said Weiss, thinking about the many problems that the people of the four Kingdoms struggled with, particularly her homeland of Atlas.
Sora patted her shoulder sympathetically. "Neither can I. However, the Mibu were not without their faults either. When Kyoichiro and I married, I saw plenty of that."
"Yet you stayed," said Weiss.
Sora giggled. "Of course I did," she said. "Just as loving someone means coming to accept, and even embrace, their faults, so too does that apply to loving a people or a place. I came to see the Mibu as my people, faults and all. I decided, if I was to live among them, I would do my part to try and make them better."
"By opening them to the outside world?" asked Weiss.
Sora nodded. "In order to accomplish that, I needed power; not merely martial strength, but the power to make others listen to what I had to say and see things from my view. Merely being the wife of the Crimson King was insufficient. That position comes with no authority whatsoever, and, as you've already heard and seen, my husband chooses not to accept any authority that he might have."
"Why?" asked Weiss. "It sounds as though he could wield great authority here."
"He could," agreed Sora. "But he is leery of it. He believes that the Mibu should not be governed by him simply because he was born into the Line of Kyo. Rather, he thought it best that the Mibu be ruled by those who have earned their positions of power and leadership."
"The Elders," said Weiss softly.
"Correct," said Sora. "Therefore, if I truly wanted to better the lives of the Mibu and change them, I would have to earn my place amongst the Taishiro. Makoto, then head of the Four, did not make it easy for me."
"I'd thought it would have been easy for you to become one of them," said Weiss. "You're the King's wife, after all."
Sora giggled. "It was just the opposite. When he learned of my ambition, my husband went to Makoto, and asked him to throw every obstacle he could think of in my path, to ensure that I would have to struggle with all my might and dedication of enter the Taishiro."
"Why?" gasped Weiss. "Didn't he want you to succeed?"
"It was because he wanted me to succeed that he did that," said Sora. "As you said, I was wife to the Crimson King. Even if my beloved chose not to exercise the authority he potentially holds, his word still has great pull with the Taishiro, and they listen to his input and respect his opinions. If he had wanted, he probably could have elevated me to their ranks with but a word. The Elders would only accept me as one of them, only if they were satisfied with my fitness, but the process could have been expedited quite easily.
"But, of course, to those not privy to the Taishiro's thoughts or deliberations, it would seem as though I reached my station solely because of my husband. My decisions and opinions would be regarded with derision and scorn. The other Taishiro would lose their standing and respect ,because they had bowed to blatant nepotism. With those things dragging me down, there would be little good that I could do.
"So, instead Makoto worked me to the bone, forced me to carry out endlessly mundane tasks, and tested my will and dedication in ways that I hardly imagined were possible. And the people saw me work. They saw my dedication. They saw the effort that I put in to earn my place so that, when Makoto finally allowed me to join the Taishiro, no one thought to suggest I hadn't earned it."
"But then you became the head," said Weiss.
Sora giggled. "That was Makoto's doing," she said. "It surprised me when he stepped down and handed the position to me so abruptly. He said that I had impressed him with my dedication and that he did not merely see me as someone with the potential to be one of the Taishiro, but someone with the potential to lead them and the whole of the Mibu Clan. His confidence was my greatest boon. Thanks to that, my arguments held all that much more sway."
"So you were able to convince them to reach out to the outside world," said Weiss.
Sora nodded. "It wasn't hard to convince the other members of the Taishiro and, after them, the Goyosei. It helps that Saisei accompanied Kyo, your Kyo that is, to the outside world and saw it for herself, so she became one of the most vocal proponents of the Opening. Even now though, there are voices of dissent amongst the Mibu. Still, things are going ahead the way that I hoped."
Weiss smiled and turned her eyes back to the garden. "I'm glad for you," she said. "At least you know what you want to do."
"What's this now?" asked Sora, turning to Weiss. "Are you uncertain about your future, Schnee-dono?"
"Very," said Weiss with a sigh. "Since you Elders seem so well-informed, I assume that you know what comes attached with my name."
"We know about the Schnee Dust Company, yes," said Sora.
"My father..." Weiss cut off her own words with a huff. "...My father took the company in a direction that has made us so many enemies. He cares about profit and power to the extent of ignoring everything else. He practically enslaves the faunus who work for us, and uses his clout to keep the Atlesian government from working to make things better for them. It was because of that that the White Fang started getting so violent. Now both they and my father are escalating matters. By the time I inherit the company, there may be nothing left. I don't know if I can fix all the damage that Father has done."
A warm arm draped itself over her shoulders and Weiss felt Sora pull her into her side in a gentle embrace. "Some things can't be fixed," said Sora. "The ultimate truth of this world is that all things are transient, impermanent. If you do not believe that you can save your family's company when you take it over, then perhaps the only thing you can do is let it fail. Sometimes, things must simply be allowed to end."
"But..." Weiss felt faint at the thought...abandon the SDC, let it fall to ruin, allow her family's legacy to end...
The slender fingers of Sora's hand squeezed Weiss shoulder in a gentle, motherly gesture. "Save it if you can," she said. "But...if it seems doomed to fail, do not let it drag you down with it. Let it go and live your own life. Create your own legacy."
"I'll...try..." was all that Weiss could say.
Sora got up and stood over her, resting both her hands on Weiss' shoulders. Leaning down, Sora gently kissed Weiss forehead. "You are a brave and strong girl, with wonderful friends. Even if you lose everything else, so long as you have those things, you can live a richer life than most people could imagine."
Weiss found herself smiling. The warmth of Sora's affection was far more than Weiss had ever experienced from her own mother, a woman who seemed to have married more out of convenience than anything else, who spent her days drinking herself into a stupor in order to deal with the stress of being married to a man like her father, a woman who left her children to the hands of servants and scarcely even looked at them unless they vexed her in some fashion. Being raised by a woman like this, Weiss could see how Kyo had become so kind.
Taking her hands, Sora gently tugged Weiss to her feet. "Come," she said. "Let's head down. You should return to your friends. It's nearly time for dinner in any case."
Weiss' stomach chose that moment to announce its emptiness with a low growl that made her blush furiously. Weiss realized that she had skipped lunch, sitting up here in the garden. Now her body was expressing its dissatisfaction with her neglect. She suspected she wasn't the only one and that her other friends had probably foregone the midday meal as well in their eagerness to explore.
They made their way to the door and the steps leading down. As they did, Sora's shadow suddenly stretched, moving against the light in an unnatural manner. It slid up the wall before resolving into pure, inky blackness, out of which stepped the familiar form of Dougal.
"Yes?" asked Sora, not even flinching at her Guard's sudden arrival, though Weiss had taken several surprised steps back.
"It seems that your son and his friends are planning a special celebration," said Dougal. "They are eager for you and the King to attend. I am passing along invitations to the other Taishiro now."
"Oh...what's the occasion?" asked Sora, raising an eyebrow.
"Murasame-sama has decided to officially adopt Penny Polendina," said Dougal. "And she accepted."
Weiss gasped at the news. She remembered that Penny's father in Atlas had been killed by Ironwood. Now she was apparently being adopted by a member of the Mibu. From the sound of things, the former android was happy about the arrangement. At least, Weiss hoped she was.
Sora's lips stretched in a loving smile. "Oh! So he finally asked her, hmm." She giggled. "That's wonderful! I've been hoping to hear that for a while now. Schnee-dono and I shall be along shortly."
Dougal bowed his head. "Very well then. I shall inform the others." He sank into his own shadow and vanished.
Weiss blinked at his sudden departure. "Well...that's good news, I guess."
"The best news," said Sora. "Murasame has been so much more lively since Penny started living with him. I've been hoping for this development for some time now."
"Well, if it makes Penny happy, I suppose I can't complain," said Weiss. "Not that I really have any idea of how things are between them."
"Our convictions become stronger when we have people precious to us," said Sora. "I could not dedicate myself to the Mibu if I did not have my husband and son. I believe Murasame will be similarly inspired." She paused in thought. "Now...Kyoichiro and Murasame will be there, of course. I suspect Makoto will be along as well. Now...Haruka, on the other hand..."
"Haruka?" asked Weiss.
"Ah...she's another of the Taishiro," said Sora. "She's the Mibu Clan's Chief Alchemist and Engineer. She was the designer of the ship that brought you here, and she oversees the creation of the Etheric crystals." Sora sighed. "Unfortunately, she's also the least social of us. She rarely comes out of her workshop, and usually only if her presence is absolutely necessary. She probably won't put on an appearance today, but I'll remain optimistic."
So this Haruka person is the one who makes the crystals, thought Weiss, her eyes narrowing. I should meet her if I can.
The first indicator of how long Blake had been reading in this archive was when her stomach growled loudly. She looked up, looking around frantically, her cheeks coloring red as she wondered who might have heard her. She saw a few other people in the archives, but they were quite a ways away, and none of them had looked up from their own books.
Blake was amazed at how enraptured she had been by what she had read. The Mibu Clan's history was fascinating. She'd read about Atlas and Vale's attempt to subjugate them, only for the attackers to be crushed effortlessly. She went further back, looking for records of the time Ozpin had been with the Clan to see if they mentioned him at all, though she had yet to find anything.
Blake's cat ears, still hidden beneath their bow, twitched as she heard the creak of floorboards behind her. Someone was approaching. However, even more than the sound, Blake felt the tremendous presence of the person behind her. The Aura was like a blanket, wrapping around her body. What was more, it was familiar, an Aura she had felt before...back at the gates.
Turning around, Blake fixed her eyes on Chika as she approached. She was still wearing her simple kimono and hakama with her sword at her side. She had a large volume tucked under one arm.
"I'm surprised to find one of our visitors here," said Chika. "I figured you to be more interested in playing tourist."
"I don't know what your expectations were, but I have my own way of 'playing tourist,'" said Blake, her hackles rising at the measure of contempt she heard in Chika's voice.
"So I see," said Chika, dropping the volume she carried on Blake's table with a low thud. "Are you interested in our history then?"
"I'm interested in the history of a group that has managed to create a peaceful coexistence between humans and faunus amongst themselves," said Blake. "It's an ideal that has yet to be realized in the outside world. I was trying to find where the source of that common ground comes from."
Chika shrugged. "I have no idea why that may be the case. I just assumed that outsiders were too backwards to accept anything that doesn't fit into their tiny world-views."
Blake's eyes narrowed and she suppressed the urge to growl. "You're hardly one to talk when it comes to tiny world-views."
If Chika was irritated by Blake's comment, she didn't show it. Instead, she took a seat and opened the book she'd brought. Blake's irritation faded, replaced by interest as she saw the rows of characters that covered the pages of the book. "Is that the Old Tongue?" she asked.
"That's right," said Chika, not looking up from her reading. "This is one of the older histories. It hasn't been translated yet."
Blake stared at the characters, trying to observe patterns in them. She saw a few repeats here and there. But, other than that, the characters were largely distinct from one another. However, that suggested that the system of writing was logographic, rather than phonetic. "I suppose I can see why the Mibu adopted Common, rather than staying focused on an old tongue."
Chika smirked. "Well...I think we're a bit poorer for it, especially if we lose our command of the old tongue." Her smirk faded. "But I can see the appeal. Literacy in the old tongue requires one memorize several-hundred at least. To be considered a scholar, you have to memorize upwards of a thousand."
Even though she considered herself quite the literate individual, even Blake was daunted by the idea of having to learn so many characters to present distinct words and ideas, though it at least sounded doable. "Are you looking for something specific?" she asked, deciding to change the subject a little.
"You could say that," said Chika without looking up. She flipped through a few more pages. "Aha!"
"Found what you're looking for?" asked Blake.
"Sort of," said Chika. "Quiet..." She read the page, her mouth forming words in the Old Tongue that Blake could make out, but not actually comprehend. Blake realized that Chika was translating the words on the page into Common to help her better understand it.
"What does it say?" she asked after it seemed that Chika had finished.
"Experimentation on the artificial bodies is now forbidden by law. The law is largely superfluous, as all such experimentation was halted when Akari-sama officially terminated the Mibu Reconstruction Project. Its purpose having been served, there was no protest to the project's termination or the law's passage," Chika recited.
Blake frowned. "What were you looking for in that?" There was a term in there that had stood out to her ears, but she wanted confirmation from Chika herself.
Chika looked up. "I've spent days hunting for information about this. But little hints and offhand mentions are all I've been able to come up with."
"The Mibu Reconstruction Project?" asked Blake, raising her eyebrow.
"Yes," said Chika. "Very few of the histories I've read have offered much information as to what the project was about. For the most part, all I've heard about it is that it was terminated. Almost none of the texts have any information to offer on the nature of the project itself."
"Why are you so interested in it?" asked Blake, leaning forward.
Chika leaned in towards Blake, apparently to increase the privacy of the conversation. "The Mibu today are powerful. But the histories suggest that our power used to be much greater, that we were capable of feats that led people to call us gods. Our physicians and healers are capable of incredible things now. But, supposedly, in the past, they were capable of even more."
"Even more...?" said Blake dubiously.
"According to the earliest histories of the Mibu, the post of Chief Physician did not exist," said Chika. "That was created much later on. Instead, the histories referred to the person who held that relative position as having the post of High Necromancer."
"Necromancer..." Blake's eyes widened. "You can't be suggesting..."
"Long ago, the Mibu Clan was capable of doing more than just healing mundane ills," said Chika. "They once had the cure for the greatest ailment of all...mortality. They possessed the keys to the art of raising the dead...or even creating life itself."
A sharp chill worked its way down Blake's spine. If the Mibu had once been capable of such feats, she could easily see them viewing themselves as gods. However, the idea of an existence of such a power was enough to give her a sickening feeling. Was that the kind of power that anyone should be permitted to possess?
Still, if such a power did exist, Blake could understand the temptation. After all that she and her friends had lost in their conflict with Salem, she could see the appeal of the power to raise the dead. What if we could bring back Pyrrha? Blake hadn't been as close to Pyrrha as some of the other members of RWBY had been, and certainly not as close as Jaune, Nora, and Ren had been. She wondered how they would react to this information. I probably shouldn't tell them for the time being, she thought. The power to revive the dead was probably too good to be true in any case. Such rumors were probably an exaggeration of the Mibu's capabilities, born from the imagination of people like Chika, who clearly believed the Mibu to be so far above the other peoples of the world that she would prefer to consider herself a god by relation.
Blake's thoughts turned to Chika's other comment, about the Mibu being able to create life. That seemed even more unlikely…except… Penny! Beneath their bow, Blake's ears twitched nervously. It was strange that she and the others had hardly even thought about it, but the fact that the Mibu had been able to create an organic body for Penny to inhabit, a body that perfectly resembled her original android form, suggested great power in that arena. If that was the case, then maybe Chika's suspicions weren't so far off the mark after all…although growing an organic body for an already-existing soul to inhabit was probably far less unlikely than creating a living being with a soul of its own.
Chika continued, unaware of Blake's thoughts. "My theory is that the Mibu Reconstruction Project was an effort to reclaim our lost power. The problem is that I can't find more than an offhand mention of it in our histories. The further back I go, the more muddled things become. I can't find any information about the Clan's history back past a certain era."
"So...you want to find out what this Mibu Reconstruction Project is and...what?" asked Blake.
"I want to complete it, if I can," said Chika, looking up. "Imagine what we could do for the world if we had the full measure of our power, the suffering we could alleviate, the tragedies we could rectify. We could do so much good for the world."
Silently to herself, Blake admitted that the thought was appealing. However, a more cynical portion of her, the dominant portion in fact, also warned her what that kind of power might do to the person that held it. True, the Mibu could do a great deal of good for the world if they had truly godlike power...But was good all that they would do?
She was pulled out of her thoughts by the thump of Chika slamming the book shut. "It doesn't matter. This was another dead end in any case."
Blake frowned. The scholar within her had already come up with a few avenues of approach to look for more information, just as it had when Yang was researching the issue of Ozpin's actual age. "If you're just looking through histories, there's only so much you're going to find."
"What do you mean?" asked Chika. "It's clear that all pertinent information about the project has been scrubbed out."
"The mentions are minimal in the histories because the project was terminated, right?" asked Blake. "That doesn't necessarily mean it was censored out. It means that scholars in later years thought that information about the project was no longer relevant to their histories, so they don't bother to mention it."
"So it hasn't been censored then," said Chika.
Blake nodded. "Someone once told me that the best way to ensure that someone will look for something is to forbid people to investigate it, or take direct action to conceal it. Knowledge about the Mibu Reconstruction Project wasn't forcibly erased, because that would leave evidence that there was something previous generations wanted to hide. So, instead, they treated it as something barely even worth mentioning. That's why you can only find a few hints to it in the histories."
"So where should I look then?" asked Chika, her eyes narrowing.
"Well...you can start by looking up records of someone who was directly involved," said Blake. "That passage you read mentioned that the project was terminated by someone named Akari."
"Akari-sama was once a member of the Taishiro in ancient times, the first born outsider to reach such an exalted position," said Chika. "Her real name was Mitarai Tokichiro, and she was the founder of the Mitarai House. You would know her best as the ancestor of Mitarai Sasame...Saisei."
"So she's Saisei's ancestor," said Blake. "Then we should go to her. Saisei's family might have records of this ancestor of theirs. When someone founds a family like that, that family is more likely to have information about that person than a general archive like this one."
Chika blinked in surprise. "That...makes a lot of sense actually." She actually smiled approvingly at Blake, though Blake didn't like the gesture. There was something condescending about it. "I must admit that, for an outsider, you have quite the sharp mind. Perhaps you could help me with this."
Blake wasn't sure she wanted to help someone with such an irritating attitude. But she had to admit that her own curiosity was being stirred by this information. She wanted to know more about this Mibu Reconstruction Project. Part of her was genuinely worried that, if the project was what Chika said it was, then it would be for the best if she knew ahead of time, so that she could warn people about what Chika was up to...if anyone within the Mibu believed her. She remembered that Chika was an unofficial member of the Goyosei, someone who commanded a great deal of respect. The word of a visiting outsider like Blake, stacked up against a person in such a distinguished position, would probably not be worth much. But still...
"I suppose I could," said Blake. At the very least, it was better to know and be able to work out a plan ahead of time, than let someone like Chika find the knowledge on her own and do God knows what with it (perhaps literally on the God part).
Suddenly, Chika stiffened, her hand going to cover the tome on the table, as though she were trying to hide it from view. Blake wondered what was going on with the change in her demeanor, but then felt a familiar presence at her back. "Dougal?" she asked, looking over her shoulder.
Once again, though his mouth was hidden, Blake could still feel Dougal's smile and see it in his eyes as his met hers. Blake relaxed a little. Dougal's approval was far less condescending than Chika's had been. Dougal seemed to approve in the manner of a teacher who saw a student living up to their potential.
"Hello," said Dougal. "You've been at this for a quite a while." His gaze drifted across the table to Chika. "I was not expecting you to have company like this."
"Hello, Dougal-san," said Chika, her tone a bit stiff.
"I've come to inform you that tonight's dinner is going to be a celebration," said Dougal. "Murasame-sama is officially adopting your friend, Penny."
Blake gasped slightly. "That's wonderful," she said. "At least...I hope it's good news. I don't know anything about this Murasame person."
"Are you joking?" snapped Chika, slamming her palm down on her book. "Murasame-sama is one of the most distinguished and respected members of the Mibu Clan. To be adopted as his daughter is an incredible honor, the likes of which no outsider has ever received."
"Your knowledge of the Clan's history is somewhat spotty," chided Dougal. "There have been such adoptions in the past. More to the point, it is considered very good news. Murasame-sama and Penny grew to be very close to one another over the course of her recovery. It would seem that she is very happy with this development."
"I'm glad," said Blake. "I wouldn't miss this for the world."
Dougal's gaze went back to Chika. "Of course, you are invited as well. All of the Goyosei are receiving invitations."
"Well...I suppose I could attend," said Chika, getting to her feet and picking up her book. "I need to speak to Saisei in any case. I assume she will be there too. I'd best go freshen up."
Blake and Dougal watched her go, Blake rolling her eyes silently at Chika's behavior. If she wanted to keep people from guessing she was up to something, she couldn't have done a worse job of it. She looked back down at her own book. Her stomach growled, reminding her that she hadn't eaten since breakfast.
"I will be happy to guide you back to your quarters," said Dougal. "That wing of the Palace is where the celebration will be in any case. You may bring your book with you, if you wish."
Blake looked down at her book and nodded. "I'd like that," she said. She picked up the book and tucked it under her arm, heading for the door, with Dougal falling into step beside her.
Silently she wondered if she should ask Dougal about what she and Chika had been talking about. Chika's behavior suggested she wanted her investigation to be kept on the down-low. But she hadn't explicitly said so. Besides, if Chika was entering dangerous waters, and potentially pulling Blake in with her, Blake wanted to have some form of warning ahead of time. Bringing Chika's actions to the attention of the higher ups of the Mibu Clan might give her some security.
"Do you know anything about the Mibu Reconstruction Project?" asked Blake.
"The term is not familiar to me," said Dougal. "But I am not a scholar of the Mibu Clan's ancient history. Sora-sama is much more learned in that area, so you might pose the question to her."
Blake nodded. She briefly wondered if she should. If she was getting involved in something dangerous, she wanted to know. However, Chika struck her as someone who might carry a grudge if Blake undermined her work. Perhaps it wasn't right for her to interfere. This seemed like something extremely important to Chika as a member of the Mibu Clan. As an outsider, Blake didn't have much right to meddle in it.
On the other hand, she thought, Chika made it sound like, if she found what she was looking for, it wouldn't remain a Mibu-only matter. If the Mibu were to obtain the kind of power she was suggesting, then it's only a matter of time before they turn their eyes to using it on the outside world...for good or for ill.
"I have another question," she said, deciding to set the matter aside until she could find someone else to talk to.
"Yes?"
"Do the Imperial Guards rank higher than the Goyosei?" asked Blake. She recalled that Chika's address of Dougal had been relatively informal, from what little she knew of the Mibu Clan's system of honorifics.
"That is...difficult to answer," said Dougal. "The Imperial Guards are in direct service to the Taishiro. Technically, our ranking is somewhat outside the regular hierarchy of the Clan. The Goyosei do not answer to us, nor do we answer to them. On the other hand, because we are the ones who convey the will of the Taishiro, we do, in a sense, act with their authority as their agents."
"I see," said Blake.
"I should warn you about Chika though," said Dougal.
"What about her?" asked Blake.
"There are reasons why she has not yet been elevated to the Goyosei, despite her strength. Taihaku is more than ready to retire at this point, and pass the name onto her. However, he has refrained from doing so for longer than most expected."
"Why?" asked Blake.
"I am sure that you've probably noticed that Chika is somewhat...arrogant," said Dougal. "Despite her strength and skill, there is a certain immaturity to her that suggests she is not yet ready to take on the mantle of Taihaku."
"Yeah...I can see that," said Blake softly.
"Immaturity like that can be dangerous," said Dougal, "especially when it is combined with her level of skill. She may be prone to...rash...courses of action."
"I wonder if her current research is one such course," said Blake.
"Possibly," said Dougal. "I do not know what she is looking for. At this point, you may know better than I do. It is my hope that you can use your best judgment. You may not be Chika's equal in terms of martial skill, but I suspect you are considerably more mature than her."
That observation made Blake smile. She supposed it was partially due to Dougal's status as a former outsider that he could make a more objective judgment of her and Chika's respective levels of maturity than someone born and raised in the Mibu Clan. However, it also meant that he was putting a dangerous level of responsibility on Blake's shoulders. And she was just visiting.
"I'll keep that in mind," said Blake.
She felt, rather than saw, Dougal's smile once more. "I'm grateful," he said. "But, for the time being, let us put such sober matters aside. Tonight is a night of celebration."
"I'll try," said Blake. Though I might take the opportunity to talk to Sora, about this, if I get the chance.
All told, this wound up being a more reflective chapter. In some ways, Weiss was one of the more difficult characters to write in this fic, particularly because her uncertainty of direction is a direct symptom of my own uncertainty as to where to take her character. Blake's subplot, on the other hand, goes some very interesting places. This is one of the more direct connections to the Samurai Deeper Kyo series, so anyone who's read the manga can probably guess where this is going, though, again, knowledge of SDK is not strictly necessary here.