Resurection

That day, she got up and saw the light coming from the window. The bars was still gone, but she heard the familiar found of wood against wood. After while of the sound, it was then that she heard Shigezane's voice yelp.

"Damn it…" he grumbled.

She turned to the window quietly and looked to the cast on her leg. It still hurts to move it, but it wasn't as bad. That morning, the man called Masamune came in with her food.

Masamune didn't seem to have made a single word, but neither had she. Instead, she just stared out at the window as a bird rested on the broken frame. Her downcast look caught his attention curiously, but he made no comment and left the room. However, her eyes left him slightly bothered. She was a little younger than his own brother, but the look in her eyes is not something he'd thought to have seen from a fifteen year old child. Could they've not have gathered enough information about her? Afternoon rolled around and she was still staring at the same window when he returned with her lunch. This time however, she was trying to beckon the bird to her. The bird seemed to have no interest in her and continued to stay in place as if taunting her. He felt something was off as she didn't back down.

"Hey…" She called out to it, "Do you know where the little white bird is?"

Now, it was starting to really bother him as he sat her tray of food down. However, she still hadn't paid attention to him as he raised a brow. Finally, he reached out and tapped her shoulder, "Hey."

She spun around in surprise with the same dull eyes as she noticed the tray of food. She looked to him with a small nod, "Thank… you…"

Her speech was still a problem. She didn't smile, nor did she cry. But, she wasn't brave or cautious around them either. It was as if she was accepting of her fate and it annoyed him. It made little sense why the other three armies held any attachment to her or that she was being sought after. Finally, he left the room locking the door behind him again.

Though he was keeping her here, Rachel didn't felt any ill intent from him, which was why she ate the food. A person like that won't try to harm her. As night closed in, something suddenly flew into the room. It was the same Raven. Her eyes widen in surprise as she reached out to it and held onto it. Hugging it tightly against her chest. She heard the door suddenly burst open as Masamune and Shigezane rushed in. Seeing her hold on tightly to the bird, he frowned, "What's that?"

She looked to him and stated, "This bird delivered a message to me once…"

Masamune frowned and turned to Shigezane who nodded and rushed out. Masamune turned to her, "The bird."

She looked to him in confusion.

"Hand it over." He clarified.

She nodded and handed him the bird. The Raven was large, but the man held it with no problem. Seeing the message of its leg, he took it off and grabbed a hold of the leg making sure it stays. Finally, opening it up to see, he raised a brow and frowned, "Where do you come from?"

"Japan." She answered.

He frowned, but slowly sighed before taking the bird and closing the door behind him. There was a cry from behind the door, but it was soon followed with a thud. Ah. As she thought this, sound of flaps pounded the air before she saw the bird back through her window and in the room. She stared at it in awe before reaching out to it. The raven inched closer till it voluntarily hopped onto her lap. Her heart pounded happily with a small smile as she hugged it closer. The warm body rested on her lap as she slowly drifted off into a slumber.

That night, she barely had any dreams as she awoke the next day to the sound of the open door. She opened her eyes and saw that it was the teenage boy and the tall man with the tray of food. He noticed her with the crow and the tray left untouched as he raised a brow, "You didn't eat…"

Seeing this, she nodded, "I forgot… Sorry…"

He looked to her in confusion before he nodded and switched the trays as he said firmly, "Next time, don't forget your food."

The Raven cawed at him loudly as if in rebuke to his words. He looked at it curiously before he shrugged it off and turned to the boy, "Shigezane."

"G-Got it!" the boy grumbled before turning to her and bowed, "S-Sorry for what I said two nights ago… It was… Insensitive… for me to say that to you…"

She was slightly confused before she nodded slowly. The tall man said with a nod of approval and turned to her with a frown, "Due to some errands, I was unable to scold him for his words two night ago. It was rude of him, so we apologize for that. As punishment, he'll take on a favor from you as long as it's sensible and something he can do."

She looked to the boy in confusion seeing that he could not be a sinner as he did save Masanobu despite hurting him. She thought for a bit before noticing the small bookshelf next to the bow they had pushed back in place and said, "I'd like to learn how to read."

"Eh?" the boy's eyes widen in surprise.

"To read?" the tall man raised a brow.

She nodded.

"Could it be…"

"The girl can't understand our writing system." The two looked back and saw Masamune standing behind them.

"Ah, Masamune!" the younger said with wide eyes.

However, he walked past him and two. He glared at the Raven in her leg but stood before Rachel and stuck the paper in front of her. It was the same one that he tore from the Raven's leg.

"Translate this." He ordered.

The Raven tried to peck at his hand, but she took the paper quietly and opened it. Seeing the words, she wore a small smile that surprised them. It was a tranquil one. She said, "Don't let me kill you just yet…"

Her words surprised them as she pet the Raven in her lap. The Raven cawed and screeched before turning away as if peeved by this. However, the smile on her face was still there, though not as big or tangible. She smiled nonetheless. If only it felt more real, then, maybe, she could be a pretty little girl as they had previously thought her to be. The message, however, definitely ruined the mood. Masamune grumbled, "And what does that mean? Shigezane."

"There was no enemy soldiers in the area or that Masanobu we saved." Shigezane replied.

Masamune was quiet before he turned to the tall man who nodded quietly. He turned to Shigezane and ordered, "Teach her how to read our writing, then. Also…"

He turned to her with a firm look, "You're free to leave this shed as you like. From now on, you'll be living in the castle. However, you are prohibited from leaving the gates."

She looked to him quietly before she nodded with a vanished smile, "Okay."

As they left the room, Ray looked to the Raven quietly, "I got it. I'll do my best, then…"

The Raven cawed again before turning around.

After that, Shigezane went off searching for books for the girl, specifically, the ones he hasn't touched in years. Apparently, Kojuurou wanted him to use the nursery ones to teach her instead. Seeing the brother rush about the castle, Masamune was in quiet thoughts. He had never thought that the vassal would return so quickly and the information he found was surprising.

"So, she's not scared of death, huh…" He muttered silently.

He was quiet before he noticed the child looking up at a brown bird n the wall. She was a quiet as she talked with it. Did she have an affinity with them? But, it's not like those will be much help, right? It was then that he heard the sound of running footsteps and looked up.

It was quiet at first, but it soon became really noisy. She wasn't sure what had happened, but Shigezane rushed out to her and grabbed her wrist.

"Come on!" He said with a grimace.

As they rushed through the hall, she was quiet till they reached a room. He brought her in and said with a frown, "There's a battle going on outside, so stay in here, got it?"

After saying this, he then closed the door shut and rushed back out.

"A battle?" She whispered quietly in confusion.

She looked around the room and saw the simple room structure with a futon set on the side. She looked around the room quietly before she heard a very familiar voice.

"It should be here, then…" the voice muttered as a click was then heard.

Suddenly, the door was broken open as the voice shouted, "Finally! I-"

However, the room was empty. The woman cursed a loud and grumbled, "Well, she isn't going anywhere, that's for sure. I'll kill her. I must have my revenge."

As the woman stormed off, Rachel stayed quiet as she awaited for it to be all over. It wasn't till after what felt like hours of waiting and praying the Raven wouldn't start making noises that she finally start drifting off to a light slumber. The sound of gun shots ran the air that soon followed by a scream which woke her up. She looked up in surprise as voices could be heard.

"Looks like she's dead." Shigezane said with a loud sigh, "Talk about a lunatic…"

"Where's Rachel?!" Masamune asked firmly.

"That's right!" Shigezane said in surprise, "I didn't see her in her room!"

Suddenly, the raven started cawing out loud which surprised her.

"It's coming from her room…" the tall man said.

"Kojuurou, Shigezane. You did a thorough check, correct?" Masamune said as she could hear him open the door.

"That's correct, Masamune-sama." The tall man replied.

As the footsteps moved about the floor, she hesitated. Once it reached to her spot, she began hitting the ceiling as hard as she could. It must've surprised them as the footsteps moved back.

"What was that?!" Shigezane shouted in shock.

Finally, the floorboards were lifted up revealing that it was indeed Masamune and the other two. Seeing her and the Raven, they're eyes widen in surprise as Shigezane and Kojuurou quickly helped her out of the deep trench. As she reached out, Masamune rushed over to a corner and an audible scream was heard. She looked up and saw a fairly tall woman fall back against the wall. She had shoulder-length blonde dyed pink hair with bangs and green eyes. She wore red lipstick and has long lashes. Her outfit consists of a rectangular hat, a black short-sleeved blazer with a red tie, a mini pencil skirt with a slit on the side, red gloves with her right hand having a ring, and thigh-high heeled boots. However, all that was ruined with the blood spilt from her abdomen and her cut off arm. The woman glared at her as she cursed under her breath, "I'll… kill you… Just you wait… I'm going to judge you… You brat… you… criminal… girl… Judge… you…"

Those were her last words before her eyes finally lost their light and became as bleak as her own with her smile that soon retracted. The lunacy in her eyes vanished soon after. Masamune frowned and turned to the men, "Shigezane, take the girl to another room and guard her properly."

"Understood!" The boy responded and rushed the girl out of the room.

Once out and in another room, he sighed in relief and sat with a wide grin, "That was really smart of you to go hiding under the tatami floor boards. Thanks to that, we were able to catch the woman before she could escape. But, you know, you could've responded when I called out to you?"

She looked out and saw that it was already night when she looked to him in confusion, "You called? I think… I remember falling asleep…"

"What?!" He turned to her with wide eyes before he started to laugh.

The Raven cawed at him as the boy shook his head, "Sorry, sorry. It's just… who falls asleep in that situation?! You're really strange, you know that? I-I-In a good way, of course!"

She watched quietly in confusion till Masamune and Kojuurou walked in. the men turned to her before they looked to Shigezane who was already sitting across from her.

Masamune and the man then sat down next to her and pulled out the black handgun placing it before her.

"Do you know what kind of gun this is?" Masamune asked firmly.

"A hand gun." She replied bluntly.

"It's use?" Masamune questioned.

"You pull the top back to load the bullet and push down the lever. Then, when you pull the trigger, it shoots." Rachel responded.

They looked to her in surprise as Kojuurou asked, "So, you know how it's used. Have you used one before?"

The boy was surprised to hear this and watched her. There was a moment of silence before she nodded, "Yes."

Masamune frowned, "When and where?"

"Two years ago…" She responded blankly, "At home."

Her last words caught them off guard as Masamune's brow furrowed and Shigezane's eyes widen, "Seriously?!"

"You had it with you?" Masamune asked, "How did you get it?"

"It was my mother's secret weapon." She responded.

"Your mother?" Masamune said, "Was she part on the authority? A soldier?"

She shook her head, "No. Only my father."

There was a moment of silence before he continued, "How are you related to that woman?"

"She was one of the angels in the game." She responded, "She judges people by killing them."

"A game?" Masamune said with a frown, "What is this game?"

She looked to him with dark dull eyes as the bird cawed loudly.

"It was…" She started making the bird suddenly quiet, "called the Angels and the Sacrifice."

There was a moment of silence as she continued, "It took place in the basement of a building. The basement had seven floors. The top six floors each had an angel. The angel's role is to hunt down the sacrifice and prevent them from getting to the top. Their goal is to kill them."

Her words caused the boy to shudder. Her voice felt different than normal. So dark and heavy.

"So you were the sacrifice?" Kojuurou asked with a slight cough to clear the throat and shift the atmosphere.

"No." she replied, "I started as an Angel and then became the Sacrifice."

"You were an angel?" Shigezane's jaw dropped.

She nodded, "Nobody were able to get as far as reaching my floor, though. I was on the first floor before they turned me into the sacrifice."

"That woman." Masamune said, "Who was she?"

"Cathy." She replied, "She called herself the condemner and judges people. Her floor was like a prison and she called herself the ward. I think she likes to torture the sinners."

Shigezane sighed as he grumbled, "Glad we got rid of her, then…"

Masamune shook his head, "At least, the people were safe. But…"

Masamune looked to her with a frown, "How did you get away from there?"

"Zack and I killed her." She replied, "But lately, everyone we've killed was brought back to life… Even Doctor Danny…"

"Doctor Danny, you say…" Kojuurou said with a frown, "I remember there being a doctor that's currently being sought after by the Toyotomi army."

"He was my counseling doctor." She replied, "He was the first to bring me to the building and gave me a floor. He was also the Angel of the fifth floor."

Finally, Masamune looked to her with a frown, "You said that they were brought back to life, but bringing people back to life is impossible."

Rachel nodded, "She'd have gone to hell…"

They looked to her in surprise as she continued, "God hates liars and those who ruin his creations. If he did not accept Cathy, she could not have returned."

The three looked at each other before Kojuurou asked with a raised brow, "Could you be a religious believer?"

She looked to him in confusion, "I don't know… My god was long since dead. Now, I live along with someone else. Until I'm no longer useful to him and I still wear this dull expression, he'll be unable to kill me."

As she said this with a downcast look, they looked to her with uncertainty. Neither knowing what to say while Masamune looked to her and asked, "You wish to die?"

She nodded, "I wished to be killed… No, to be accepted in both life and death… That's what I want."

Her words seemed to have scared the boy slightly as Shigezane said with a frown, "B-But, what of your parents? What made you think that your family wouldn't accept you? They must've if you've lived for this long."

"Shigezane…" Kojuurou scolded firmly.

"My… family…" She whispered quietly as images flashed in the back of her mind, "She nodded, "They accepted me a long time ago, but, in the past few years, they changed. Father came home later and carried bottles that stank. Every night they screamed in the kitchen and stopped listening to me. One night, it got worse after I brought home a puppy in a box. I got worried that the puppy was scared so I went to check it out. Father stabbed mother that night and came after me. So, I took mother's secret weapon and stopped him from trying to hurt the puppy. Everything was peaceful for the first week before the authorities took them away from me. But, now I know that they were never mine to begin with. They stopped being mine for a long time. Stopped accepting me…"

As she said this, there was moment of silence in the air before the caw broke it all. Kojuurou immediately whispered something to Masamune before the man nodded and asked, "What about the game? You said that you wanted to be killed and that someone was willing to do that for you if you were useful. I take it that they wanted you to help them escape from the building?"

She nodded as a small light appeared in her eyes, "Yes. I forgot everything that happened before I arrived at the fifth floor. Doctor Danny wanted to take me for my eyes and Zack wanted to kill me, so he hurt Doctor Danny and got turned into the Sacrifice for betrayal. Zack was the sixth floor's angel and by going against the rules and moving on his own, he became a sacrifice too. I wanted him to kill me, but he wanted me to help him get out of the building, so we made a promise. We vowed that as long as I helped him get out, he'd kill me, but then things happened and now he doesn't want to kill me yet since I have a dull look on my face…"

After hearing this, they looked to Masamune, who thought for a bit before he nodded, "You, stay here for now and don't leave the gates. Shigezane, guard her. We'll interrogate her more tomorrow."

"Right…" He replied with a sigh as they walked away.

However, he only walked a little past the door as the others walked on. He turned around and smiled, "I'll be right outside, so just let me known if something happens."

She nodded quietly. With the door closed, she looked around before seeing the futon in the corner. Quietly, she rowed it out before sitting on it with the Raven on her leg. She patted it quietly as she whispered, "I wonder if they believe me? Those people back in the facility tried to keep me away from Zack when I told them what happened. Will they also do the same?"

The bird just cawed as if annoyed. She nodded emotionlessly, "I guess I should try to sleep, then."

That night, she had the same dream again and awoke to the caws of the bird. Her eyes snapped open just in time to see a pair of gleaming eyes staring back at her with a shovel raised above her. She gasped and pushed herself off the futon just in time to barely miss it. She barely got to her feet just as the door slammed open. However, the cast made it all the more difficult to move and she suddenly felt something grab her from behind before it broke through the door.

"It's time to go back now, Ray…"

The creepy voice lingered in her head as her eyes widen in surprise.

"Ray!"

As she fought her way to escape, she realized the futility of it all and grimaced before she managed to pull out a rose. It was the one that that Saizo and given her. Slowly, she plucked the petals when she felt a smack behind her neck.

When she awoke, she saw that she was next to a stream as shouts could be heard in the distance. She slowly opened her eyes and saw Eddie arguing with the doctor over who would be the one to kill her. However, she was of no where near ready to focus on their conversation when a voice screeched at them, "Can you freaks just shut your damn mouth already?! I swear, that brat is more quiet than you two and it's annoying!"

It was then that the doctor looked to her and his frown turned to that of ectasy as he grinned in adoration, "Rachel! Oh, Rachel! You're awake! Finally! It's been an entire night!"

As he rushed over, he smiled before seeing her cast and his face contorted, "Did they do this to you? Oh, don't worry. I'll take you to see the goddess you've so desired for! And, then I'll teach them a lesson for you!"

"Ah?!" the woman snapped as she smacked her whip on her red glove palms, "Just take her to hell already! She's a criminal and this is exactly what her judgement should be."

She got up and grumbled with her whip high in the air as the grumbled turned to a big smile, "Move aside! I need her to be awake to receive her punishment or it'd be pointless."

"As if!"

Suddenly, the whip vanished as it soon reappeared in the hands of the bag head boy who said, "Rachel wants me to kill her just like she wanted. It's a promise, after all! Right, Rachel?!"

However, the girl was unable to reply as she watched them argue. Slowly, she struggled before she could sit up in confusion. She'd been tied up. She sat up with the help of the doctor as the three crowded around her. Sure enough, the morning sun had sunk in as the night faded away. However, before they could come close to her, she heard the sounds of bells as Eddie stomped his feet in anger, "Again?!"

"I'll take care of this one. Hmph!" Cathy said with a smirk as she turned her back to them, "I have some judgement to pass onto them. In the mean time, you guys keep your grubby hands off her! She's mine to kill…"

As she walked away, Eddie shouted, "I'm going too! I'll take care of them this time!"

It was then that the doctor released Rachel and got up, "Oh no, you don't. I'll take care of that. Just take care of the corpse after we're done, got it? That's what you're best at, after all. Also, those guys don't seem to be fools, so just wait here and watch over Rachel. I need to teach them a lesson, so they know how to treat patients correctly."

He looked back with a grin, "Ray, just wait for me quietly here, okay? Doctor Danny will be back very soon!"

As the two vanished, the boy slumped back down and grumbled, "Seriously? I still have a bone to pick with them for stealing Ray, though. Now the doctor gets to show off too…"

After saying this, Rachel was quiet as she knelt on the ground quietly. The boy looked to her and said, "Hey, Ray. How about the two of us go somewhere and we leave the losers be? I'll show you somewhere really nice! It'll be your next grave! The grave desecrator may have destroyed the one I made for you, but you don't have to worry about this one. I'll make sure nobody destroys it like before! I promise! By god if I have to!"

However, Rachel was quiet as she searched for the rose, but she was unable to find it. Finally giving up, she sat still awaiting for Zack to come save her. She knew that he was coming. He has to! However, hours passed before the boy called out to her, "Hey!"

She looked up in surprise as he fished out a small pack of tea bags and handed it to her.

"I don't know how to make tea." He said with a small smile peeking out from that mask of his followed by his green eyes, "Can you show me how to make it?"

She looked to him in confusion before she obediently followed his wishes. There was already a pot hanging over a stove with bits of mushrooms and herbs laid out on leaves around the fire. They must've had it going since the night before. Quietly with a walking stick in hand, she managed to take the black kettle and walked over to the stream. She watched the little fishes the swam in the water and grew curious before she heard his voice startled her, "Oh, so that's what's taking you so long! They're cute, right?"

She thought for a bit before she nodded quietly making the boy leap back to his spot. As she returned with the kettle, she began boiling it over the fire. After it sounded, she hurriedly took it off the fire and took out a bamboo cup from her bag. It was simple since she just took an extra bottle but cut off the top. She placed the tea bag in and added the water.

"So what do we do now?" the boy asked.

"Wait." She replied quietly, "For a couple minutes."

"Oh…" the boy said with a knowing nod, "So, that's how it is. It really was that easy, after all!"

She looked at him in confusion as he sat down next to her and asked, "So, about the grave, what do you want on it?"

She thought for a bit before she remembered the floor and answered, "I… don't know…"

She waited and waited. She wanted to get out of here already and return to Zack's side. After a while, the boy asked hurriedly, "I-I-Is it done now?"

She nodded quietly. Finally, he nervously took the tea in his hands and sipped it. He smiled, "You know, this feels rather nice. Maybe, we can do this in the future before I kill you too! What do you think, Ray?"

She shook her head, "Only Zack can kill me."

Hearing this, the boy frowned and turned to her, "But, that guy doesn't know how to treat you well!"

"It doesn't matter." She replied after some thoughts, "Zack and I swore an oath-"

"Then, I'll take it and make it ours!" He replied desperately.

She frowned, "A vow between me and Zack can't be taken away. It's a promise Zack and I made so only we can carry the burden of the vow. The vow can never be stolen by you or anyone else."

Eddie frowned and said with a grimace, "But it'll hurt a lot too if he kills you! If you choose me, I'll give you a painless death! I know how to treat you better than him! He's nothing but an idiot who doesn't care about how you feel! I love you, Rachel! So, please choose me!"

Quietly, she answered, "Eddie…"

She thought for a bit with feigned hesitation before she finally continued in front of his presence, "You… are not the one who will kill me."

"But-!"

"You heard her!"

They looked up in surprise as Rachel's eyes widen in surprise, however, it turned sullen when she saw that it was just Shigezane.

"Hey! Come on now! Don't give me that look!" the boy groaned, "The three of us worked hard to get here, you know!"

Saying this, Masamune and Kojuurou rushed up after him as they saw the boy with the sack mask. Eddie groaned as he shook his head in dismay, "Those guys actually messed up, didn't they?!"

He chugged the rest of the tea before getting up and turned to her with a bright smile, "Don't worry about a thing! I'll be back before you know it!"

He picked up his shovel and walked closer to them, "I got a bone to pick with them after taking you away from me. Too bad that orange hair guy isn't here, though."

As they got ready, she could see that scrapes and torn clothing from their previous battle. Clearly, they won't be able to fight against. Shigezane continued, "Also, I can't believe that you'd still kill her even when you actually confessed. I've never seen a worse confession before!"

"You've never seen one that's why." Kojuurou replied with a sigh, "Also, you're still held accountable to allowing Ray to be kidnapped."

"What?!" Shigezane grimaced before he sighed, "I guess there's really nothing I can do about that… Damn it!"

"Who are you?" Masamune called out firmly.

"Edward Mason!" he called out proudly with the shovel on his shoulder, "But everyone calls me Eddie. Remember that! Heh! I'll tell you now. Your graves will be nothing but plain boulders when I'm done with you."

"Oh hey!" Shigezane grinned, "Does that mean we're that strong?"

"Shut up and take this seriously, you mutt!" the boy snapped at him as sweat poured from his forehead.

"Shigezane…" Kojuurou called out to him.

"What? Can't take it like a man?" Shigezane continued with a smirk.

"Why you… Die-!"

Suddenly, the sack boy crumbled to the ground in confusion as he muttered in bewilderment catching for his breath, "Wh-What's… Happening… Can…'t bre…ath…"

Finally, he collapsed to the ground and soon his chest stopped moving.

"Wh-What just happened?" Shigezane asked in confusion.

Masamune, however, glanced over to the tea pot and then to her before he asked, "What poison did you use?"

The two looked to her in surprise after hearing his words. She turned to them and responded slowly, "Japanese Yew leaves…"

"Yew leaves?!" Kojuurou's eyes widen in shock as she said this before looking to the dead body with a frown, "I see… A shortage off breath and sweat. Shigezane also managed to anger him too..."

He put away his sword and took the kettle off before removing the lid. Sure enough, inside was stocked full of boiled Yew leaves. He narrowed his eyes before turning to her, "Where did you acquire these?"

"When I was moving from Toyotomi territory to Sanada Territory…" She answered.

"Did you know what it was?" He asked her cautiously.

She nodded silently. It was then that the Raven landed on her shoulder and cawed with a puff chest.

"Does the other territories know?" Masamune asked.

She thought for a bit before she answered, "I don't think so."

"You don't think so?" he raised a brow.

She thought for a bit before closing her sapphire eyes and opening it again, "I saw a wisteria flower and tried to pick it, but Masanobu told me not to pick things that I'm not familiar with. But, I was more familiar with the Yew plant than the wisteria. And…"

She looked to him as she continued, "I was worried that it would be difficult after beating Doctor Danny and Cathy…"

"Why did you kill him?" He asked.

"I don't want him to kill me." She replied, "Not before Zack can."

Her dead eyes brought a shudder to the younger of the three as Masamune was quiet before he ordered, "We're returning to the castle."

She nodded quietly before following them out of the woods. When they got back to the castle, the body was examined before burnt to ashes as ordered by Masamune. She had never known that he was the Supreme commander of the Date army. She had wondered for a while if it was him though. After all, they all took orders from him without much complaints. That, afternoon, Shigezane stopped by with the books. Masamune decided that they would teach her their writing after so long. According to Shigezane, his brother had told him that it was only obvious and that he didn't want her to be illiterate in their language. So, she sat before a desk as Shigezane handed her a book on myths. She looked to him in confusion as he shrugged, "It's easy."

She nodded and the lesson began. After figuring out bits of the words, she quickly learned of the history of this place. Apparently, the humans caused a lot of trouble in these lands for years before the princess called Himemiko came from the moon to bring an end to the war with the help of the Gekka tribe. She stared at the person as the Raven cawed. As if understanding the bird, she shook her head, "She's really pretty…"

Shigezane grinned, "I know, right? Apparently, this drawing is the closest to the actual image. Cool, right?"

She wasn't certain about that. After all, if they had just corrected the face, then maybe. Still, she nodded stoicly as she asked, "Why did the humans fought for the land?"

Shigezane raised a brow and thought long and hard before he answered, "Hm… I believe it's because they needed a place to call home, but they kept fighting over the lands over it. It's hard to explain. You'll just have to ask Kojuurou later."

She nodded quietly, "Then, why did she disappear?"

"I don't know." The werewolf shrugged with a sigh, "We're all looking for the answer right now too, you know. So, you're not the only one wondering about that. It's been years and nobody has even a clue as to where she is. But, you know, it's been strange too. After the princess vanished, the Yakumas appeared. Even after we figured out where the nest was and wiped it off the map, they still came back a few weeks later. Then, after that, you arrived and we're now dealing with creatures we've never seen before. It's really unusual."

Rachel raised a brow, "I see…"

After continuing the lesson, Shigezane was surprised and excited to see the child recite the book word for word with ease after one try. Though he hurriedly rushed to his brother, the man seemed unamused as the boy grinned wide. Seeing the commotion, Kojuurou came to examine the situation before handing her some more scrolls and books. There, she began to study into the night before waking up the next day and saw that it was morning. There was a blanket over her shoulder and the Raven on her lap. After that event, the bird had barely ever left her side. In fact, she heard that the bird was the one who led them to her. It was then that she heard a knock on her door and a familiar voice that shouted, "Morning! Are you up yet?"

"Shigezane." Kojuurou scolded, "You do realize that she was up all night reading?"

"Seriously?!"

She got up and opened the door, "Good morning…"

"O-oh, Morning…" Kojuurou said with surprise.

She nodded and gave a small bow, "Thank you for the books…"

"You're welcome." He replied.

She turned to him and remembered something, "Oh… there was actually something that I don't understand…"

"Oh?" the tall man raised a brow.

"It said something about if the Gekka tribe drinks the princess's blood." She asked with a blank look, "What does that mean? Do you really drink her blood like vampires?"

They raised a brow and Kojuurou nodded, "Vampires are part of the Gekka tribe too. The generals of the Toyotomi army and the Oda army are all vampires. Don't tell me you didn't know that."

"Then…" She wondered aloud, "Hideyoshi and Hanbee are both vampires? Do they really take in blood daily? Or…?"

Shigezane raised a brow, "It can't be… You actually don't know about the Gekka tribe?"

"Where I came from werewolves and vampires were only stories." She replied, "We were taught that they weren't real. But, Yukimura and the others are werewolves, but they don't turn into wolves on the full moon?"

Finally, Shigezane couldn't help but laugh, "What are you saying? Of course, we can't turn into wolves! Haha!"

Kojuurou nodded, "Also, vampires don't drink blood on a daily basis. Is that how Toyotomi's army did it?"

She thought for a bit as she recalled having a meal next to the supreme commander and shook her head, "He ate actual food too…"

"That's right." Kojuurou replied, "If we were to drink blood as if we lived on it, then there's no possibility for us to be able to protect everyone who is human. We only drink blood during an emergency."

"An emergency?" She looked to them in confusion.

"If we were severely injured or fatigued, we can drink some blood and that would heal us a bit. It would also make us stronger too." He answered, "However, the Himemiko's blood is different. Her blood is said to be different than the humans and can restore our health more than human's. Also, it can gift us a lot more power than human's. But we do control how much we take. Otherwise, we'd lose them to blood loss and that's not our goal here."

Shigezane nodded, "We're suppose to be helping people after all."

"And bring peace to these land."

They turned and saw Masamune walk out of the corner as he looked to them with a frown, "The only way to do that is to unify the land under one rule. Since her disappearance, everything fell apart and the yakuma appeared soon after that. In the end, land has been divided into seven different territories."

She looked to him as she said, "Then, that's why there's a war going on?"

He nodded, "Ah. At the moment, there's also only one individual with blood that has similar powers as Himemiko and that's Yuzuki."

"Yuzuki…" She whispered quietly as the image off the girl returned to her mind.

Kojuurou nodded, "I believe you've met her once. At the moment, she's with the Toyotomi army."

Shigezane sighed, "It'd be great if we can see her again, though. The last time she was here, we had a picnic outside. Oh speaking of which, are we taking Ray outside today?"

Ray thought for a bit before he nodded, "We can't leave her here."

As they walked off, Shigezane pushed her out of her room, "Okay! We're going falconry, then!"

"Falcon…ry?" She pondered aloud in confusion.

Masamune stopped and turned to her, "You're to stay with Shigezane by the river."

"What?!" the younger brother groaned.

Kojuurou sighed, "It can't be helped since it probably won't be good for her to go falconry with us yet. However, you can teach her to fish, right?"

Shigezane sighed and nodded, "Got it…"

YueTian: Hey guys! I'm back! I hope the Spring break is going well for everyone! I was hoping not to do the same as the show, but it ended up being somewhat of that way. I wondered when Ray would start pulling that poison trick and to be honest, I thought she'd be pulling it during the time when Eddie kidnapped her from the castle in Sanada territory. Too bad that didn't happen. But, this means that Eddie might give up on her, right? Or is he just even more angry now than before? I'm not certain how to proceed the plot now, but I'll figure something out.

3/26/2019 3:27 PM