The Intricacies of Fate

The Intricacies of Fate

Chapter 11- Requiem of Lost Souls

~*Jo-chan

Disclaimers: Standard RK and Flame of Recca disclaimers apply. I do not own any of the characters that would appear in this fic. I am merely borrowing them, if I owned them, I would have animated the Jinchuu Arc series long ago and the second part of FOR. Please don't sue, I'm a good kid.

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Kurei tossed and turned in bed, haunted by nightmares.

"Kurei, I want to be with you... forever..."

"Iie! Scarlet! No!!!!

"Showing the slightest emotion Kurei, will cost you everything you'll ever love, ever cherish. Your loyalty to me should be absolute, I won't abide distractions such as that orphan I took inside my home," sneered Koran Mori.

The walls were splattered with blood. His whole body ached but it was nothing compared to the burning emptiness inside his heart. His Scarlet was gone and it was all his fault. He would never see her again, her sweet smiles, or hold her in her arms.

It was over.

"Your loyalty Kurei, should be only to me," commanded Koran Mori even as Kurei held the broken body of the girl he loved who was murdered by the cruelty of his father.

"Gyahh!" gasped Kurei as he woke up, his body bathed in sweat. The scar in the side of his faced throbbed warmly. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and he stood up to watch the early dawn. He rolled his neck over his shoulders, feeling the tension.

His father was determined to possess the Kirisawa sisters. Koran Mori never explained why but Kurei knew his father well enough to guess it had something to do with power, something Mori would sell his soul to the devil just to possess.

It was only recently when he found out about the sister's strange power. At first, it seemed to be telepathy-- the ability to mind-speak or read minds. But as two of his plans to capture them failed, he realized it was something far more than that strange ability.

He ordered Raiha observe them for days. He was growing more fascinated by the way those two seemingly helpless girls battle Raiha, Gohei, Mokuren and countless other highly trained ninjas. They all survived these battles, scarred but still alive and in their battle they have gained powerful allies.

Shirofuji Aoshi, Oniwabanshuu's okashira and Hikoshichiro Kenshin, the feared government assassin who mastered Hiten Mitsuruugi Ryuu and a student of the Ensui or the Dark Water. Kurei never expected those two men to take part in that fierce battle for life. They became the Kirisawa sisters' protectors and seemed to have committed their own lives just to protect the women in such a short time.

Raiha said that the couples seemed to share a special bond, reacting to the smallest hint of danger or distress with such uncanny speed. Kurei never imagined that the emotionless Aoshi would fall so completely or that reserved Kenshin commit himself whole-heartedly to Misao and Kaoru Kirisawa. There must be something those two girls possessed, to enslave those two powerful swordsmen so completely to their cause. But what?

In the midst of his reveries, thoughts of Scarlet resurfaced. This time, with such staggering force he was helpless to block the images. Like a phantom of his flame, Scarlet appeared, crying, beseeching.

"Kurei!"

"Nani?" whispered Kurei, holding his head between his hands. The room turned cold, even though the image of Scarlet rose from Kurei's own flame but then turned to a wraithlike figure of a human ghost. Kurei felt the sweat trickle down his chest and it was suddenly very hard to breathe.

"Anata.... take heart.... have courage...."

"Nani wo utennen?" he asked, staring at the apparition with tears in his eyes. The ghost smiled gently, as if understanding the reason of Kurei's distress. At her smile, the flame began to reappear, molding her ghost into the flame Scarlett. She wailed in distress, her human features melting into one of a flame figure.

"Kurei-sama... free yourself from the chains of the past.... sayonara..."

Scarlet disappeared and the flame Kurei fashioned from her dead body took its place, her fiery wings outstretched like an angel poised in flight. The humanity gone from her eyes, she gave a banshee-like yell before Kurei called her back to retire, his hand shaking fiercely.

// What did Scarlet mean by that? //

But Kurei had the feeling it had something in connection with the two witches, Kaoru and Misao Kirisawa. He felt momentary pang of remorse for the plans he has set for this morning.

Shrugging, he walked up and started to dress. What is done, is done. There should be no regrets because there should be none.

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With bleary eyes, Kaoru sat up from the coffee table. Beside her, Misao was already waking up, stretching her arms lazily. "What a night!" muttered Kaoru as she pushed the Book of Binding Spells away from them.

They spent the previous evening, scrutinizing each page hoping to find a clue why they were so sought after by Kurei and his goons. As the night turned deeper, they began unlocking secrets of great power any megalomaniac would die to possess. Their shivers turned to chills and then deep-rooted fear. Power-transfusion, time-alteration, and fate-manipulation were some of the spells written on the book. A few spells seemed familiar to them, the Binding Hearts spell has brought tears to their eyes even as they read it silently.

A soft bustling sound brought them more awake and Kaoru opened her eyes wider and blushed slightly seeing Kenshin inside their penthouse. Kenshin felt her eyes upon him and turned to smile at her before turning back to percolating the coffee. The doorway opened and Aoshi stepped in, carrying bags of pastries.

"Ohayo gozaimsu Aoshi-sama," greeted Misao, her voice still slightly tinged by slumber. Misao's surprised squeak made the rest of the penthouse's occupants start awake when Aoshi kissed her softly on the lips. Koganei who was just waking up, saw the kiss and yelled in disgust. "Things were so much better before the icicle melted!"

Domon chuckled before he turned to try and kiss Fuuko. "I have come to kiss you good morning my lovely Fuuko!" he announced before being greeted by a mail-clad fist from Fuuko who was awake and seething. "Ecchi!" she yelled before aiming a dozen small sharp daggers, the last dagger barely missing Domon's manhood.

"Ohayo gozaimasu Fuuko-san," greeted Mikagami, softly touching Fuuko's shoulder. He was standing up behind the sofa and he looked surprised when instead of pulling away, Fuuko rested her cheek briefly against his hand. "Ohayo Mikagami-san," answered Fuuko before pulling away and getting up. She smiled at him hesitantly before Mikagami smiled back, making Fuuko even more confused.

"Mikagami-san... what's wrong? Why are you smiling all of a sudden?" asked Fuuko softly, moving closer to Mikagami so as not to let others overhear their conversation. Mikagami looked startled at the question and seemed to think about it deeply. He glanced briefly at Yanagi who was shaking Recca awake and then back at Fuuko whose eyes were filled with so much questions. He suddenly realized that the burden he had long harbored in his heart has disappeared and only Fuuko remained, devoid of the past.

He smiled suddenly, startling Fuuko with the sheer magnificence of his rare smile. "Call it a change of perspective," he answered before he took Fuuko's hand. Looking shocked and pleased at the same time, Fuuko curled her hand against his gentle grip and walked beside him, knowing it was such a beautiful way to start the morning.

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"So... what have you uncovered from the book?" asked Mikagami after a few bites from his bagel. The entire group was sharing breakfast together in the living room, watching the morning cartoons and news in between.

Kaoru took a bite from Kenshin's croissant before answering. "Just enough to know why Mori's after us," she replied flatly, her fist clenching in anger. "It seems that Kaoru-neechan and I are the only one who can open and read the book-- aside from Fuuko and from the looks of things, Mr. Mori has a few spells he'd like us to create," added Misao sitting up from her position on Aoshi's lap.

The whole room became silent, troubled by the levity of their predicament. At length, Recca spoke up, "Being a ruthless man, Mori wouldn't stop until he has possessed either Misao-chan or Kaoru-san." At that statement, Yanagi shivered and turned her face against Recca's shoulder.

"It would have to be the two of us, our power is stronger as a whole than apart," said Kaoru grimly before turning to look at the book on the kitchen table. It was true though, they discovered their abilities somewhere in the book's prologue, where it was foretold: "Two of raven and blue would unite to create ancient magic anew"

Suddenly, Kenshin stood up. "Danger!" he yelled before Aoshi, Recca, Mikagami stood up half-a second after he did. The windows that were only recently repaired broke open in a raining of glass. The loud sound of broken glass was pierced by Yanagi's terrified scream.

"Kuso!" yelled Recca as he brought his flame forth. At least a dozen armed and ready ninjas led by Raiha and Mokuren. Leaping through the debris, Misao dove towards her package of kunais, rolling to grab and throw Kaoru's shinai into her sister's hands. Before she even has gotten up, she has released three kunais, imbedding itself on two ninja's foreheads.

The battle was fast and furious. As soon as either any of them could take down their attackers, new ninjas would appear, armed with heavier weapons and fiercer kenki. Bursts of sharp wind currents, fire balls, ice-shards would punch the air still ringing with the sound of steel against steel. "Fujin!" "Saiha!" "Ensui!" "Doryusen!" rang out occasionally, with grunts and screams of pain from the faceless ninjas.

Misao leapt against the wall to attack Mokuren and he turned to face her with a malicious smile. Raiha intercepted them before a blow was even struck. "Take care of the other," he quietly instructed, meeting the force of Misao's flying sideways kick and hurtling several feet away. Mokuren then turned his back and with a fiendish laugh, aimed a sharp branch towards Kaoru's back.

"Kaoru!" yelled Misao as she threw out all the kunais remaining in her hand in a vain attempt to destroy the deadly branch moving towards her sister. With feral, amber eyes, Kenshin turned at Misao's scream and saw the branch speeding towards Kaoru. Too far away to even protect Kaoru or destroy the deadly branch, he could only look on in horrified pain. "Kaoru-dono!"

What happened next was too strange even for Raiha to explain. The whole penthouse seemed to glow with a strange golden light. The air which was alive with the sounds of battle was overwhelmed by a fierce chorus of soul-spirits and air elementals. It was a charged sound that hummed as softly as Zephyr and as fiercely as a twister.

Kaoru whose back was turned against the attack began to glow and blur like an apparition. She disappeared and was suddenly transported next to Misao who was still on her knees, holding her head as if in concentration. Kaoru fell on her knees beside Misao. Kaoru covered her ears and suddenly, she screamed.

The scream blended with the howl and sigh of the air elementals and soul spirits that hovered above them. It was a strange, powerful scream that reverberated throughout the building. A still silence ensued before two seconds later, every glass and pane shattered, all the way to the last floor of the 107th floored building.

Misao collapsed. Kaoru collapsed. The Book of Binding Spells lay open, a page opened in the middle glowing as brightly as the sun. It was the power of the sisters, a summon-bind that had called forth air elementals and soul-spirits.

Before anyone could even blink, Raiha grabbed the girls in each arm and jumped out of the broken windows. Mokuren whose arms were broken by the impact turned to look at Raiha who disappeared. He gave a fiendish smile before he turned the rest of his body into an impenetrable vine wall that was 15 feet deep and covered all the possible exits.

"Misao!" shouted Aoshi, dropping his kodachis before he picked it up in a silvery blur, beginning to slash the vines away like a madman. Kenshin acted like he was possessed as well. "Kaoru! Kaoru!" yelled Kenshin, feeling Kaoru's energy dangerously low. Even as they slashed through the thick roots and vines, a sickly aroma began to pervade.

"It's Mokuren's poison air!" yelled Koganei, picking up his adamantine blade and helping Kenshin and Aoshi hack the vines away. Recca turned to incinerate the vines. "Baka! If you use the fire, it will react with the air and we'll be burned!" yelled Mikagami as he stuck his ice-sword in the floor and began to freeze the vines. But it was no use, for the vines were too thick for even the ice to penetrate.

Yanagi began to cough as she held onto a stunned Recca. Fuuko got up from her kneeling position, took one look at the glimmering book and began to move forward. As if possessed, feeling the energy of her cousins fade as deeply as Aoshi and Kenshin seemed to feel, Fuuko held out her hands, palms up.

"From the air elementals that have been bound to my blood-kin, I take the power entrusted to them and use it as my own!" she chanted before the air began to shimmer and vibrate with the elementals from the destruction awhile ago. Gone was the gentling sigh of soul-spirits as the raging air elementals were called forth. A half-second later, the elementals, flying like double-edged banshees minced the thick vines as cleanly as ground pork.

Sweet air entered the enclosed room before the elementals vanished in a high, thin wail. Fuuko staggered from where she stood and before she hit the floor, Mikagami caught her in his arms. It was a power no one expected Fuuko would have because her two cousins were still alive. But the power was there, invoked by great need and strength.

Her dark blue eyes, so much like her cousins fluttered erratically before she whispered, "Kaoru and Misao. They're gone..."

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The hidden compound was located deep within the mountains of Hiei. Two firmly bound, gagged and unconscious women were carried in, one by a huge giant with little mobility in his left hand and the other by a dark-haired ninja.

A lone figure dressed in red greeted them. "Is it they?" he asked, his monotone voice so emotionless and cold, the unconscious captives stirred uneasily in their forced slumber. Raiha nodded slowly, wincing at the sharp pain in his ribs. Misao's kick combined with the strong impact of air current from Kaoru's scream seemed to have cracked two of his ribs.

"I cracked my ribs," he explained, seeing the questioning look in Kurei's eyes. Kurei nodded slowly, his gaze fixed on Misao and Kaoru. Their raven hair was long and unbound and he touched a silky strand almost experimentally, as if registering a fact. He traced the hair and found that it belonged to a small, dainty face. Younger looking than the other one.

Kurei nodded slowly. "I was expecting something more like witches, not fallen angels," he said musingly, dragging a nail against Kaoru's cheek. At the rough touch, Kaoru opened her eyes, the blue irises still blurry and vague. "Iie," she moaned before the energy so recently drained away from her was sapped out so completely she lost consciousness again.

Misao opened her eyes then and saw the masked face so near her own. She tried to raise her fists and realized that she was bound and gagged. Tears of futility gathered in her eyes. Her sister's life-force was very weak, as if the summon-bind of air elementals and soul-spirits had drained almost every nuance of strength and energy.

"I am Kurei. You are now my captives," Kurei announced in a grave, solemn voice. His eyes were so dark and cold and instinctively, Misao recoiled away from his presence. There was a slight flicker in his eyes that made a bit of Misao's panic ebb a little. //Maybe he is human after all// she thought before she was laid down on a cool metal table.

She felt her sister alongside her but when she looked up, a gray flame in the figure of a beautiful naked angel hovered above them. The angel wailed like a banshee before the sheen of moisture in its eyes flared brightly.

"Burn their clothes away Scarlett," commanded Kurei before the angel let loose another high scream and the gray fire obliterated Misao and Kaoru's clothing in a rush. Misao felt the flames licking onto her skin and she screamed. The air that touched her hot skin was cold, as was the metallic table that slowly grew hotter in the heat of Scarlett's flame. She felt blisters rising in her naked skin before she fainted.

Kurei's heart was as cold as his fire was hot.

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Author's Notes:

Ohayo minna! I really liked this chapter, hope you liked the magic and the fight scenes there. Comments and suggestions are definitely welcome. Can anyone give me the japanese translation of Mikagami's ice-sword and techniques? Also Fuuko's? I really need them for my upcoming fic. Please send them over to joan_g1014@yahoo.com.

Ja matta ne!

~* Jo-chan