|| Flame of Recca: The Spirits Within (The House) ||
| En | Ning |
Disclaimer: Duh the characters don't belong to us, for one thing, I can't draw at all and Ning's look, well, much improvement is needed to reach that kind of standard. Think of all the fun we could have if they belonged to us though... (several anime characters vomit blood, others drop dead in fright, the rest decide to carry out mass suicide.) Anyway, don't sue us cause we're still students. Also, we tend to procrastinate, so you'll be wasting your time trying to get us to pay up. Ü
Last Revised: 03/08/2001
By the way, this is just a rough draft. We haven't had the chance to send it for proofreading yet, so expect some errors.
| Chapter 13 |
Mori Kouran chuckled slightly from behind the desk in his gloomy study. The antics of the Uruha over the past couple of hours had been broadcast 'live' on the enormous screen hung on the wall behind the desk. Mori Kouran had to admit that the Uruha were entertaining to say the least, what with all the falling and talking to the air. His misgivings about the mental state of the Uruha were justified when he saw them talking to some lady which he couldn't see on the tape. If he had been the kind of man to laugh, he would have been guffawing continuously. As it was, he contented himself with evil chuckles.
The thin, aging man standing nervously in front of the desk cleared his throat. "Is it a deal?"
Mori Kouran stared at the television screen for one long minute before turning back and nodding. "Deal."
The man bowed. "Very well. Sign this. I will contact you soon regarding the details."
Mori Kouran signed his name with a flourish and handed the paper back to the sweating man who bowed once again as he thanked Mori Kouran effusively.
The aides showed the man out, and Mori Kouran turned his attention back to the screen. He chuckled evilly as he imagined the reactions and expressions of the Uruha when they found out that their little escapade in the haunted mansion would soon be released as a major motion picture. And that the haunted house was no more haunted than the Uruha mansion. Mori Kouran smirked at the thought and allowed himself an evil, gloating laugh.
Back at the 'haunted' mansion...
Kurei gritted his teeth and said, "Forget it. I don't see any reason why this stupid house is haunted. We're going back now!" Personally, he had a suspicion that this was one of his adopted father's waarped versions of having fun.
Genjuro grunted something and turned the page of the book. The rest of the Uruha continued arguing.
Kurei was about to lose his patience and cremate all of them on the spot to save the people at the creamatorium the trouble when he suddenly felt a gentle breeze sweeping through the enclosed library. It was apparent that the others felt it as well as they stopped talking.
The wind brushed their faces gently and swirled towards a dark corner. Kirin gasped and pointed, "Look! There's someone there!"
True enough, a figure of a lady had appeared in the shadows. A strange, blue glow was emitted from a circular object about the size of a child's palm. The blue light lighted up a white dress and the lower half of the lady's face and hair faintly.
Kurei asked sharply, "Who are you and what are you doing here?"
Her lips moved slightly as the wind swirled around them again. They heard a faint but strangely familiar voice whispering, "I'm Yume. The way out of the mansion is in the book the old man is holding."
The wind rustled the pages of Gnjuro's book, flipping them towards the middle of the book where there was a yellow piece of paper folded and tucked into the book. Genjuro took the paper out and unfolded it, realising at once that it was the floor plan of the house.
Kurei turned his attention back to the lady in the corner, intending to ask her how she had known that. Instead, he found that there was nothing in the corner, only the shadows. He frowned slightly but decided that since she had shown them how to get out of the stupid house, he would let the matter pass.
"Come on, let's get out of here," he told the assassins as he took the map from Genjuro and walked out of the study. The rest followed closely behind, Genjuro hanging on to the oh-so-interesting book he had picked up.
As Raiha, who was the last to leave, walked out of the study, he turned to take a last look at the room. To his surprise, he saw the silver-haired lady, who had shown him and Joker how to get to the library, standing beside the fireplace. She raised her head and returned his gaze, an almost hopeful look in her eyes.
"Raiha! Hurry up! You don't want to get left behind do you?" He heard Kirin calling as they turned a corner, Kurenai illuminating the way.
The silver-haired lady smiled slightly and nodded imperceptibly, as though telling him to go. She raised a hand in farewell as the tudy mysteriously shut between both of them. Raiha ran off to rejoin his colleagues.
'So her name's Yume,' he mused to himself. 'I wonder why she didn't want to tell us that from the start.'
By some miracle, the Uruha managed to get out of the mansion, considering that the sense of direction some of them possessed was, well, non-existent. The supposedly jammed door had been 'un-jammed' while the case of the disappearing pathway had solved itself and the pathway was back in its original position.
The weary Uruha piled into their bus and braced themselves for another nerve-wrecking ride back, thanks to Rasen's wonderful driving skills. Kirin leaned out of the window to take a last look at the towers of the mansion as they left. After all, it was not everyday that one got to claim the 'privilege' of having visited a haunted mansion. She thought she saw something white at the window but dismissed it as the reflection of the setting sun.
A silver haired lady in a white dress stood by one of the tower windows which faced the Uruha bus - Yume. She had kept a close watch on them as they made their way out of the house, except that they did not know she was watching them. Now, she watched them boarding the bus at the foot of the hill, getting ready to return to wherever they had come from.
She saw the girl who had asked her if she was lost lean out of the window of the moving bus. She looked up in Yume's direction. Yume did not move out of sight as she was sure that the girl would not be able to see her clearly from that distance. She continued to stare at the spot the bus had occupied, even after the bus had lurched out of sight.
Finally, she gave a strange smile and leaned her head against the stone wall next to the window. The breeze grew to a strong wind which tugged insistently at her hair. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The wind whipped her silver hair across her face as she faded slowly into the setting sun, leaving the tower empty, as it had been for so many years.
TBC…
Author's note: Yess!!! We've finished!!! Yess!!! *mad cheering*
Okay, I know we didn't exactly resolve anything, particularly about the silver-haired girl, Yume. Truth is, she's a mystery, even to us. Maybe we'll write another fic that'll be about her. But we're not going to write another joint fic so soon. I need to recover my creative juices. ^_^ What with doing people's autographs, drawing, writing fanfic and trying to write a fantasy story, I'm kind of out of creativity. ^_^
Oh, but En's writing a fic about Yukionna, a descendent of Yume. I'm really looking forward to reading it, so Okama-san, please write faster!!! ^_^
Lastly, arigato Kai for proofreading (our spelling is rather atrocious) and giving suggestions.
Ning.
