|| Flame of Recca: The Spirits Within (The House) ||
| En | Ning |
Disclaimer: None of the characters used here belong to us (duh!). They were just borrowed without permission for entertainment (and torture) purposes.
Last Revised: 18/07/2001
| Chapter 6 |
"RASEN... ARGHHHHH!!!"
Rasen winced once more and fervently wished that he had had the foresight to bring along a pair of earplugs. Masking tape or super glue would have come in pretty useful too. 'Stop screaming, and do something useful!' he ordered Kirin, irritated, as he cut the suit of armor in two. Kirin sighed in relief and pulled out her madougo. The two of them proceeded to knock down the suits of armor.
"*pant* Ano... Rasen, they don't seem to be dead," Kirin indicated the suits of armor that were reforming and approaching them once again.
The two of them looked in horror as the suits of armor once again surrounded them.
'Run!' Rasen grabbed Kirin's hand and took off down the
corridor as the armored knights gave chase rather stiffly.
The two capable *ahem* Uruha assassins ran frantically down the corridor, chased by suits of armor. It was just too bad that the corridor ended in a dead end and did not go anywhere.
"We are so dead!" Kirin moaned as she leaned against the wall.
Something somewhere deep in the mansion shifted and the next thing Kirin knew, she was falling twenty feet down a shaft. She landed face first in a deep pool of muck and grime, nearly swallowing a large mouthful of the horrible stuff.
"Ugh... *splutter* eww..." Kirin surveyed her surroundings as she tried to remove as much of the muck as possible. "My new shirt's totally ruined! Eww... where on earth is this?"
Kirin found herself trapped in a square, dark chamber. Sloshing around the waist-deep muck, she realized that there was no way for her to get out, short of climbing up the slippery walls to the top. Even if she could have done so, she seriously doubted it would have done any good. She was trapped in some stupid mansion and it was all the fault of those stupid suits of armor. So much for her good day.
Left with nothing better to do, Kirin resorted to trying to scream her head off, "ARGHHHHH..."
Mikoto and Mokuren paused in their unmentionable deeds, "did you just hear something scream?"
"Hm... it's probably just the wind."
They went back to doing what they were doing before the interruption.
Meanwhile...
Kurei had taken a route, which led him down, towards the basement of the mansion. He thought of the large painting he had seen earlier that seemed to show the house in better times. He couldn't help wondering how come no one had thought of buying the house. Such a big place would probably be worth quite a lot.
*THUD!*
He swiveled round at the sound that seemed to come from behind a wall. "Who's there? Show yourself." He ordered, his hand ready to call out a flame at a moment's notice.
He heard a faint scream coming from the other side of the mansion. Recognizing it to be Kirin, he sighed and thought to himself, 'How on earth did she become part of the Uruha? All she does is screech and read people's minds!'
"Isn't that why you chose her? Because she could read minds?" He heard Kurenai ask softly.
"That's not the point. The fact is that..." He stopped short in his argument with his flame. He had picked up another sound that sounded like a child whimpering. It was coming from the dark doorway just in front of him, which probably led to a wine cellar.
'Oh well, no harm seeing what that sound is.' He thought as he made his way cautiously towards the doorway.
Elsewhere, still arguing over whose fault it was...
Why can't you calm down and be rational for once?!" Jisho complained as he tried to make Neon see the "error of her ways".
"I AM CALM!! YOU"RE THE ONE WHO STARTED IT!!"
Suddenly, both of them heard the famous scream, which had already reached so many people in the mansion.
"Wait a minute, isn't that Kirin?" Neon asked.
Jisho thought a while. "I believe so. But why would she be screaming her head off in this place?"
Neon was starting to get worried. "I think she's in trouble. I've never heard her scream that much before, except over Mikoto's choice of magazines. And I doubt she actually brought them with her."
"Which is why we should get out of this place. So, we shall go to the right then!"
"No, we are going to the left 'cos that's where the sound is coming from!"
So, they started all over again...
"ARGHHHHH..."
Joker blinked groggily. Was it just his imagination or was someone, most likely Kirin, screaming? He couldn't be sure. The last thing he remembered was pestering Raiha for food. Speaking of which...
"Oi, Raiha-han, got anymore food?"
A groan was his only answer. Joker looked around trying to figure out where he was, and more importantly where his so-called 'food-provider' was. Unfortunately, it was also rather dark. As Joker's eyes adjusted to the darkness, he spotted the ninja leaning against the wall opposite from him.
Another shrill scream echoed through the room... or whatever it was they had fallen into.
"That sounds like Kirin," Raiha noted absently. He was rummaging around for something. After a while, he apparently found what he wanted as he pulled a round, spherical object from... uh, somewhere.
Joker was temporarily blinded as light flooded the room. "What's that?"
The purple-haired ninja grinned, "It's some kind of madougo. I found it earlier in the mansion."
Joker shrugged. "Whatever. Got any food?"
Raiha sweatdropped. "We should find Kirin and continue the mission."
"How d'you know it's really Kirin?"
"She's the only one who can reach that pitch... well, other than you. And the only one with the lung capacity," Raiha grinned impishly as he ducked a swipe from the Taishaku Kaiten.
The ninja jumped up and ran out of the room, closely followed by the rasta-braided punk. A merry chase ensued, which ended only when the two assassins were too out of breath to run any further. By then, they were far from their starting point, in some unknown underground part of the mansion.
While Kirin was still screaming...
Genjurou paused in his meddling as his ears caught a faint noise. The mad old man glanced over at Noroi and then shrugged and went back to the interesting specimen on the laboratory table in front of him. He had probably been hearing things again in his old age. He had been meaning to get his hearing checked, but somehow never had the time.
Meanwhile, in another part of the mansion...
Kurei carefully touched the wooden door. To his disgust, the wood was rotten and the door fell apart at his touch to reveal a very winding staircase that seemed to lead into the depths of the house (think the Shinra mansion in Nibelheim). He was beginning to doubt whether there actually was a child down there when a faint, but persistent wailing caught his ears.
'It could be a trap,' Kurenai warned as he stepped through the doorway.
Kurei ignored her comment and proceeded down the rough stone staircase. His nose wrinkled at the damp, musty smell that hung in the air. It had obviously been a long time since anyone had last visited this dismal place. It would be a long time before someone visited it again, for that matter.
Five minutes later...
Kurei was still climbing down the staircase, although he was considerably much closer to his destination. He could see a very faint green glow ahead of him. Once again, he heard, or thought he heard, a child's whimper. He shook his head. It was beginning to freak him out. Kurenai sighed.
Kurei was glad when he stepped off the last step and onto proper floor. Well, it could not really be called proper since it was basically just earth, and very uneven. The damp, musty smell was even stronger here, and he could hear the faint sound of dripping water. He was in some passageway, at the end of which, a green light glowed.
'There's definitely someone there,' Kurenai commented as the crying sounds started again, this time louder.
Kurei only nodded. His feeling of unease multiplying with every step he took toward that mysterious green light and whatever secrets it might hold. Whatever was at the end of the passageway was definitely no place for a child.
As he neared the end of the passageway, he noticed that the green light was becoming stronger and brighter. Somehow, the light reminded him of Mori Kouran's laboratory back in the mansion. Suddenly, Kurei was enveloped in a blinding flash of green as the whimpering rose to a shrill scream. He raised his arm to shield his eyes as he thought, "What on earth is THAT?!"
Just as suddenly as it happened, everything disappeared. Kurei found himself alone in the dark passageway, the only sound the distant dripping of water again. Kurenai was silent. Apparently, even *she* was at a loss for words.
By now, Kurei was getting a little freaked out by the mansion. He started to wish that he had a companion or something...
'I see you changed your mind about them, then." Kurenai commented dryly.
"I see you've gotten your tongue back," Kurei shot back at her. "Just when I thought there was peace on earth once more. I was just thinking that if there was someone else with me, we could split the job in half."
Kurenai laughed, 'Yeah, right.'
They continued down the passageway together, this time with Kurenai illuminating the way again.
TBC…
Author's note: Yay, I like this part… sort of. No actually, I like the Kurei part. Well, I did write it and everything, but the reason I like it is because I took inspiration from the Shinra mansion in Nibelheim (FFVII). I know I'm really addicted to FFVII, but it's such a cool game! I totally love the storyline, and the battle system is really good. I like the whole concept of materia a lot too… it's way less troublesome than the draw system of FFVIII. Ugh… I really hated the draw system from FFVIII because you could run out of magic. Of course, it does have its advantages… like it's really easy to get the max HP with the draw system. But FFVII is so much nicer! I think it's also easier… much easier. I dunno, I just find FFVII pretty easy. Currently I'm at the second disc, just before entering Midgar a second time. One bad thing is that breeding and racing Chocobo is so darn troublesome, not to mention expensive!
You can really tell I'm addicted to FFVII. ^_^;
It appears as though Neon and Jisho will *never* stop arguing. It's not really my fault… I have no idea what to do with them if they stop arguing. ^_^
And Mikoto and Mokuren are *still* at it… will they ever stop? I don't think so. ^_^; But who really cares about said horny woody pervert and his equally horny girlfriend?
FFVII totally rules!!! YAY!!! ^_^;
Lastly, arigato Kai for proofreading (our spelling is rather atrocious) and giving suggestions.
Ning.
