Thanks to Cecille-san, Sylvia-san and Maria-san for prereading this chapter!
%% Speech in one of Kousaten's native tongues
Rurouni Knight Hazard – The Task Defined
Chapter 5
By Jade One
"How do we close the gate?"
The question hung in the air. Those who were not from Kousaten couldn't possibly solve this problem. Chomei, the High Priest smiled, slightly smug. Then he answered the Kings question.
"The scholars and priests of Kousaten have been discussing this for quite some time and it was actually a comment made by the Third King that pointed us towards our solution." Chomei smiled again, amused this time by the memory of the description of the incident. Some historians could be quite poetic and descriptions of the previous Kings were always vivid. "History tells us that the High Priest of the time was talking to the King about the Books of World and it records that the King was irritated by his lack of progress. We're told that he snapped back at the Priest, 'Yes, I know. The Three all defy each other.'"
"'The Three all defy each other?'" Misao murmured.
"Hai, musumi-san. We believe that it means that they all hold the information to undo what the others do. The knowledge of how to close the gate he had opened should be within the other two books."
"So if we find the others..." Kenshin spoke.
"We should be able to close the gate!" Misao drowned Kenshin out in a joyful voice.
Chomei smiled at their exuberance. Such excitement was good. It would help them to endure the long journey that lay ahead of them. "Yes. We believe that should be so."
"Should be?"
Chomei held up his hands in a placating gesture. "Without actually seeing the Books, we cannot be sure. But none of our scholars have been able to come up with any other suggestion that may work. This is the only thing we could think of. If you plan something else, then please, we will support your plan."
Hiko interrupted. Since he had chastised Chomei, the man would probably babble forever with the justifications for the proposed plan and they would get nothing done. "Tell us about the Books."
"As I said, we held one, but that was the Book that was stolen. The knowledge of the other two has been lost to us. The first during the Malform Wars and the other, we never held. It is that Book, the one we have never possessed that you must pursue. But I have to warn you now, that Book is evil. That is why this Priesthood has never tried to bring it to the sanctuary."
"You are implying that you have some knowledge of it."
"We do. Enough to know to stay away from it." Chomei sighed. "The Priesthood has known for millennia where the Book is. And since it is evil, it has its own guardian and we have never sought to provoke them." He moved to a wall and gave the bell pull on it a sharp tug. "I will send for a map, so that you may see the dimensions you will have to work with and so that I can tell you the of the places you should avoid. With luck the instructions to close the gate he has opened will be contained in that Book so you will need not seek the other. But it is the first and only place we can think to look."
His summons was answered smartly. It appeared the Priests had planned this particular interview extensively. They were used to being in control.
Several people, in robes less elaborate than Chomei's, entered. Most of them were carrying rolls of paper. Chomei looked up at their arrival. "Ah, the maps are here," he motioned one of the priests forward.
The man unrolled his map on the ground, carefully weighting the corners so that it lay flat. "This is just a general map of Kousaten. The other maps are in a finer scale and show some more details of the terrian, as well as some of the political boundaries."
"Political boundaries?" Megumi questioned.
Chomei looked slightly abashed. "There are some boundaries between species and some semi autonomous areas. We've found that it's best to keep some species separate from each other. It makes general governance simpler. I will explain some more about them later but for now, the other book is..." Chomei looked down at the map trying to orientate himself.
"There!" A small finger pointed to the place. It seemed to be indicating a large mountain that was also annotated with a temple.
Chomei finally finished getting his bearings from the map. "Eh, musumi-san! You are correct."
"But that's impossible! She couldn't have known that." The protest came from several of the Priests who had come in with maps. Even Aoshi and the others had surprised expressions.
"Misao-chan, how did you know?" Sano asked the question.
Misao looked slightly confused, as if she didn't understand what the fuss was about. "I... I don't know. I just knew. The place seemed to jump out on the map." She frowned slightly, listening to some inner voice before she pointed towards one of the chamber walls. "It's in that direction, isn't it?" She asked the Priest who had brought in the map.
After he had checked the map's orientation he nodded mutely, looking at her with astonished eyes. She had just arrived in Kousaten, there was no way she could possibly know where the Book was.
"Misao-chan," Kenshin said with trace of seriousness. "How did you know?"
She frowned. She really didn't know. "I don't know, Himura-san. I was thinking about the Book that Chomei-san was telling us about and I just sort of felt pulled in that direction." Misao's eyes were wide and her voice held a trace of panic.
"Daijoubou, Misao," Kenshin reassured her, hearing the confusion and panic in her tone. "Daijoubou. There is nothing wrong."
"Yeah!" Sano agreed in his rough tone. "In fact, it's great if you know where the Books are."
Chomei coughed politely to bring attention to himself. "Musumi-san, I would not be concerned. What you are experiencing is just a reaction to Kousaten."
Another of the Priest's nodded in agreement with the High Priest. "If I may be allowed to offer a speculation?" he questioned, stepping forward.
Hiko majestically waved his permission.
"Arigatou, your Majesty." He gave Hiko a bow. "Because we have never called anyone but the King into Kousaten, this is merely speculation but it does explain your knowledge, Musumi-san." He looked over at Misao. "We already know that His Majesty has power of the land of Kousaten and it can be surmised that that power arises partially from the fact that he is from a different world. There have never been others from His Majesty's world called but it is not too large an assumption to assume that if others were called they too would have some sort of power in this world."
The Priest, he was only a young man, looked over at Megumi. "I have read the reports on your arrest and from what I understand, you could understand the Police Officers?"
Megumi nodded politely. She thought she could see where he was going with this.
The Priest looked back to Sano and Misao, "Could either of you understand the Police Officers?"
Sano looked confused as he shook his head. Misao was still confused over knowing where the Book was but she managed to shake her head as well.
"As I thought," the Priest said with a small smile. "The Police Officers were using one of the standard dialects of Kousaten, but it's not the main language." He gestured towards Megumi. "This lady could understand it and I would surmise that her 'ability' is to understand the dialects of Kousaten." He turned towards Misao with a gentle expression. "Daijoubou Musumi-san. I would say from your actions that you know, instinctively, where things are. You have an enhanced sense of direction for the world of Kousaten."
"That would make sense," Aoshi confirmed the Priest's words. His face was thoughtful.
"Hontou ne?" Misao brightened at his words.
"Yosha! You mean we've all got powers!" Sano seemed jubilant.
"I would say that is the case," the Priest said with an understanding smile.
"Well, that will just make it easier for you, Rooster Head," Hiko borrowed Megumi's nick name for him as he cut through the celebrations. He looked bored. "Can we get on with this?"
"Hai, your Majesty," several of the Priests snapped.
Chomei once again stepped to the fore. "Has it been decided then, that the course of action that you will undertake is to search for the missing Books?"
"Yes, yes," Hiko waved his hand irritably. It had been a while since he had a drink and the whole situation was beginning to bore him. These priests could babble forever.
The others nodded in a more agreeable fashion.
Chomei glanced at a guard who saluted before he turned to leave. "The guards will begin to prepare the things you will need for your journey. Now," Chomei said, business like as he leaned over the map. "The Book, as your young companion pointed out is located in this area..."
"It is indeed located there," a majestic voice confirmed.
Chomei and the other Priests simply stared in awe at the figure before them.
"O... Oracle," Chomei managed to stammer before he bowed.
Kenshin and the others looked up at the speaker. It was impossible not to since they were hovering in mid air. And where their previous visitor had had an air of malice this one felt different. As they slowly lowered themselves to the floor facing the throne, they got a good look at them.
It was a woman, but not a human, not unless they had fire for hair. She was beautifully dressed and rivaled Hiko for height, and her hair, once the fire stopped writhing madly fell to her knees. Her ears were larger than a human's and lay flat against her head although they almost seemed to be webbed. Two tiny, almost twig like horns protruded from her temples. The more one looked, the more one found to say this was definitely not a human. She had brilliant sapphire blue eyes but no pupil or iris. Her eyes were just an expanse of blue although her eyelashes and brows were jet black. Her skin, the parts that were showing was white, not the creamy white of the living or the pallid coldness of the dead, it was just white, a smooth marble without the hint of colored veins. Indeed, apart from her eyes, the rest of her features seemed to fade into her skin.
She was dressed in a kimono and, although the dress was traditional for a woman, her chosen accessories made it far from that. The kimono itself was of a midnight blue and was patterned with small flames. Her obi was red, the exact flame red of her hair but over both she had light armor. Her shoulder and hip guards were quite visible but her wrist and forearm guards only became apparent when she moved and peaked out from her sleeves. They too were red although the solid color was dispersed by swirls of blue. A kodochi hung from her obi as well as several pouches. She was more than a simple oracle.
As she landed she went gracefully to her knees, paying homage to the King and his Heir. "Your Majesty, please forgive my intrusion." Her voice was light and musical.
Hiko grumbled under his breath, "More problems! But at least the packaging is prettier." He raised his voice so that he could be heard. "And you are here because..?" He let the question trail off. She could choose how she answered him.
She rose and stood before them. "I am here, because despite my 'pretty packaging,' I do have an important duty to Kousaten, your Majesty." She looked demurely towards the floor, although there was nothing demure about the rest of her challenging posture.
Hiko ignored her comment. "So what is it then?"
"My duty is to instruct and advice those who rule Kousaten. And now that duty is passed on to you. At the moment, your Majesty," she said with a small superior smile, "I am more in tune with the land and it is saying that embarking on a quest for the Books of World is the right course of action. I am here to tell you that, and nothing more."
"Well, since we were going to do that, why did you come?" Aoshi asked.
"It was not fully decided that that was the path you would take, Shinomori-san." Her expression changed to one that was wistful. "But it is the path you must take if everything is to work out for Kousaten. Your taking the right path is not something which could be left to chance."
"Well, you have done your job and we are going to do that," Hiko dismissed her with a wave.
"I also wished to meet your Heir, your Majesty."
"Oro."
"My Baka Deshi?" Hiko laughed. "I can't imagine why."
"It is entirely possible that I will be called upon to aid him in this quest. I presume your Majesty will not be accompanying him on this journey?"
Several Priests looked rather surprised at her announcement. They had obviously thought that they would be in charge once more, when the King was on his quest.
"Of course not! Someone has to stay here to make sure that everything still runs smoothly."
"Then it is essential that your Heir and his companions recognize me so that I may help them in their tasks." It was her turn to dismiss Hiko with a flick of her eyes as she turned her attention to Kenshin.
Hiko simply looked back with hooded eyes, but he was not quite finished yet. No one got the last word in on Hiko Seijuro, no one. "You do not have to approve of me, nor is it required that I approve of you, Oracle. But it is required that we work together for the future of Kousaten. And for that, I suggest we be civil to each other. Then we won't have to see which of us truly knows the land.
"My baka deshi and his companions will go to retrieve the other Book. They will most likely find the rest of their party on the way. I will remain here to ensure that your enemy does not take over the capital while they are gone." Hiko began summarizing their position and future actions in a voice which brooked no argument. "After they have retrieved it, they will determine if it is necessary to pursue the Lost Book or they will return here, so that a translator may be found. And from there we will see if we hold enough power to close this gate." He looked around at them all. "And that is what is happening, isn't it?"
The affirmatives came from everyone, although the Oracle remained stubbornly silent.
She looked at Hiko in quiet acceptance of his words. "That may be what is happening, however I still wish to talk with your Heir." She turned to Kenshin before she added the word, "Privately."
As she placed her hand gently on Kenshin's shoulder, the two of them vanished as if they had never been standing there although there was the trailing echo "Orororooo…" hanging in the air.
Although to the others, they just vanished, to Kenshin there was a brilliant flash of light which dazzled his eyes. He stood there, although he didn't know where there was, blinking to clear them.
"Your Highness," the Oracles voice whispered around him. It seemed to be coming from all directions at once.
"Oro! Please don't call me that. Sessha no namae wa Himura Kenshin desu de gozaru yo."
A laugh sounded around him as he finally cleared his eyes and looked around. The Oracle was no where to be seen. Instead all he could see was shifting colors. They extended all around him and there was no wall, floor or roof. There was only the confusing, shifting mixing color. It was almost as if he was submersed in water that he could breath and that was ever color imaginable.
"Himura-san then. I am sorry for the surroundings. They are very confusing I know, but at the moment we are outside Kousaten. Almost outside existence, even the one you knew in your world but this is the only way I could truly talk to you alone."
Some of the colors rearranged themselves into the outline of the Oracle.
"What did you want?" Some of Hiko's suspicions has transferred to Kenshin.
"Your Shishou knows more about Kousaten than he has told you. The knowledge is almost instinctive to him. I have no wish to fight him," the admission was candid. "However, the knowledge is not instinctive to you and he has not seemed to realize that and has brought you here and has left you to deal with the reality of Kousaten yourself."
"That's the way he taught me."
"That is not the way he taught you. When he was teaching you budo Himura-san, he did let you work out a lot on your own but for the most part he would show the move he wished you to learn. He never let you fumble it out for yourself. He is now, and in this case, it is not something I can allow. Himura-san you must understand something of Kousaten if you are to succeed." The colors fully defined themselves into the Oracle. "You have questions now which I may answer for you. If you wait, or if I had waited, I do not know when I would have been able to do this."
"Kaoru..." Kenshin looked at the Oracle with his heart in his eyes.
"She is fine," the Oracle smiled gently at him before her face darkened. "But I am sorry Himura-san, as your Shishou suggested your quest will bring you together but it will not be fast enough for you. More than that I may not and can not say but you will see her before your task in Kousaten is finished."
Kenshin nodded. If the book he had read earlier was correct he wasn't really expecting anything less. "Is she okay now?'
The Oracle nodded. "Yes, she is fine and she is in Kousaten and enjoying herself. She is not in danger and she has been accompanied by her student."
"Yahiko!" Kenshin smiled.
"He is quite determined to keep her safe."
Kenshin pushed his mind from Kaoru. For now, he knew, that was all he would be allowed to know. "How about Saitou?"
The Oracle's eyes widened slightly. "Not someone I was expecting you to consider, at least, not until later. You are more than you appear to be, Heir of Kousaten. The one you call Saitou is fine. He is alone for the moment but he is in no immediate danger. Indeed, it is the beings that are around him who are in danger. He landed quite near the gate itself, and it is guarded closely but its guards proved to be no match for him. He will accompany you in due course, for he too has a part to play in this."
Kenshin nodded. Saitou was a survivor, he would deal with any obstacles that Kousaten placed in his way.
"You have other questions, Himura-san. Please ask them. I will answer what I may."
"Aa," Kenshin responded with half closed eyes. "Kousaten, what is it?"
"Kousaten?" The Oracles voice held laughter. "Kousaten is a place just like the land you come from. But it exists in a slightly different place. It's just a different place, a different country. It is nothing to be afraid of, your Highness. It is your country."
"But it's not just 'different,' is it?"
"No, it's not. What you would call magic exists here but you, like your Shishou, can control it. What ever else you might think though, Himura-san, Kousaten is real. If it was to vanish, the deaths of it's inhabitants would be real and a place would be lost to the universe forever. It is not a world of dreams. It is a world where you can fulfil your dreams but it is a very real place and its loss would also be real so that is why you have been called here. Because only you and your companions have the ability to save Kousaten, and you must..." She looked downcast. "You must," the Oracle repeated.
"Why? Why has it suddenly become so urgent?" Kenshin picked up the note of panic that had underscored her words.
"A gate is not just a gate. It is the joining point for two places, one on one side and the other on the far side of the gate. The Gate Kyarash has opened has Kousaten on one side and a place of dark on the other. And the dark is coming through. It is supplanting Kousaten. If you do nothing, or if you fail, Kousaten will still exist but it will be the mirror of that dark place, an extension." The Oracle met Kenshin's eyes. "If the ruler of that place can come through the Gate to Kousaten, then Kyarash will win because it will then take something more than mere power to save Kousaten and that is not something you should wish to consider."
"Something more than mere power?"
"I may not elaborate. I may only say, that to obtain something more than mere power a life must be sacrificed and I know of only three people who's lives would have enough power."
Kenshin's eyes flashed. "A life must be sacrificed? Then that is not an option that will be considered. Closing the Gate before that time will save Kousaten."
"It will. If the Gate is closed in time, then there is nothing Kyarash or the dark can do. Kousaten will be saved through that simple act, and you and your friends will be free to return to your world."
Kenshin nodded, a small smile on his face. "Then that is what we will do. We will find the Book and close the gate."
The Oracle smiled, she could feel his determination to save a life, any life. The life of the land or those of the unnamed sacrifices. "I will return you know but should you need me, call and I will come to you. Your task will be long, but I feel Kousaten's future is in safe hands."
There was another flash of light and then Kenshin found himself once again standing in the Throne Room. Hiko looked down at him, his eyes still hooded. "Ima wakarimasu ka?"
"Wakarimasu," Kenshin nodded back at him. He turned toward the others with a small smile. "We'd bet to get going. We have a world to save."
To Be Continued...
Definitions
musumi - young girl
daijoubou - it's alright
arigatou - thank you
hontou ne - really
yosha - alright!
baka deshi – stupid pupil
sessha no namae wa - My name is ....
shishou - master
budo - martial arts/sword technique beliefs
Kousaten - junction
ima - now
wakarimasu - do you understand/I understand
Review Please!