Twisted Well
An Inu-Yasha / Sorcerer Hunters fan fiction by Iapetus
Disclaimer: I don't own either series, so don't sue me.
Author's Note: I have the worst case of Writer's Block in the world. Chapter nine is moving at the rate of molasses on a cold day, and I think I lost the file with about four pages worth of material on it. * Sniff * I feel bad, because there are people out there who are actually enjoying my story, and I haven't posted in over a month.
Well, this is NOT chapter nine, but a side story. It features Maye, and introduces her family. This way, I won't have to go through a million flashbacks later, and you can see how she relates to everyone in the manor. In terms of the Twisted Well story line, this episode takes place one month before the first plague victim contracts the disease. So, that means seven months from the current point in the story.
So, sorry for the hold up, but I hope you enjoy this short piece.
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Side Story #1: Septembre's Roses
"Maye?" The woman's voice raised above all the hustle and bustle of the manor.
"I'm over here, mother." The young lady, about seventeen years old, pushed through the crowded hallway.
"I'm glad I found you," her mother smiled. "You need to help Sorrel in the garden today."
The smile on the young girl's face slightly diminished. "Mother, I didn't think that was on the schedule today. I was going to go out with Father to check the progress on the new mill."
"It was a last minute change on my behalf. Your father is already bringing your four older brothers; he doesn't need your help with this. Sorrel says the roses are coming in soon, and he wants you to check on Septembre's progress."
Ah, yes…thought Maye. Septembre's roses... I know my family has been blessed with the skills of being born of a noble line, but I thought I had heard a rumor of something more in the blood. Sorcerers, the highest class of nobility under the emperor, were born with the ability to use magic. Sorcerer Hunters, the legendary elite group of warriors that punished the evil Sorcerers, were said to be set apart as well. But, it was only a legend that the Sorcerer Hunters existed. No one knew for sure. The rumor was that both the blood of a Sorcerer and Sorcerer Hunter was in the Juune family line. If it were true, then it would support the miracle that Septembre was trying to perform.
Maye loved her siblings, all eleven of them. And even though she loved to garden, she wasn't supposed to be there today. Her father, brothers, and her weren't going to be going to the mill, but to conduct half of her coming-of-age test.
In a noble family, all men were trained to be fighters – while the women were trained to run a manor. Against tradition, her father started to teach her martial arts at a young girl. Her mother was against the teaching, and forced her father to "stop." Well, he just trained her in secret from that point on.
Maye could never figure out if her mother knew, and just didn't say anything – or if she really didn't know. She knew her mother was suspicious about her younger sister Aprile receiving training, but that was a different circumstance. It was hard leading a double life. Becoming a lady and a fighter both required a strict discipline, and she barely had time to herself anymore between lessons.
Father isn't going to like this, Maye thought, as her father's study came into view. Most likely Janus, Augustus, Marzo and Julye are already out getting the grounds ready. She knew that they had been looking forward to this day for a while. Janus even called her the prodigy of the Juune family. But, how in the world can Father get me away from the garden without Mother asking some uncomfortable questions?
Aprile would be able to come, no problem. She was only ten years old, and still had a lot to learn. The truth was, even her little sister was supporting her test – and she heard it whispered in their blacksmith shop that her little sister had a hand in her present. It was amazing how her little sister crafted weapons. Sold under a man's name, little Aprile made different weapons for the town's hunters. Her father had been delighted that he had two such gifted girls for children.
Knocking politely on the door, Maye waited for permission to enter.
"Come in," the tenor voice answered.
She walked in quickly, but gracefully. Shutting the door, she turned around and bowed deeply. Curtseys for when she was in front of her mother. A fighter bowed, no matter what gender you were.
He smiled at his daughter's respect. "Your manners never cease to amaze me, Maye. Most of the noble girls your age are snotty and have no respect for their elders."
"Father, I was not raised like the other girls," she commented.
"A good point," he laughed. "Well, I can tell you are ready to go," she had her work clothes already on, "I was planning on taking Aprile and Chili with me in about fifteen minutes."
"Chili's here?" Maye asked in surprise. Chili was her cousin, and a fighter as well. But, unlike Maye, she was allowed to train by her mother. Chili's own coming-of-age ceremony would be conducted in about seven months, when her seventeenth birthday approached.
"Father? Mother said I have to help Sorrel and Septembre in the garden," she let that sink in. "I tried to convince her that I needed to help you with the 'mill,' but she wouldn't buy it. She says she changed the plans, and that I can't get out of it."
Her father didn't say anything for a while. "I'll talk to her," he said finally. "Until then, go help your sister. If you can leave, I'll send Aprile and Chili to you."
"Understood," Maye bowed again, exited the study.
"Maye, why aren't you down in the garden's yet?" her mother demanded, coming down the hall.
"I was informing Father of the schedule change. I'm sorry, Mother, I'm going down now." She hurried as fast as she could while still being polite. Personally, she didn't want to be around when her parents started to discuss why she couldn't go.
"Maye-chan!" Septembre ran up, out of breath.
"Septembre-chan, you're supposed to be preparing for your experiment. Don't waste your energy," she calmly scolded.
"Sorry," her head dropped; disappointed that she displeased her older sister. Septembre was almost fifteen, but looked up to her older sister like she was a goddess. She knew more-or-less what was going on with their father training Maye and Aprile, but luckily she was one of the younger sisters who held her tongue. Their sixteen year-old sister Dicinbrina was incredibly vain, and a complete airhead. The whole Juune family was blonde-haired, but their sister made it look like the relationship between hair color and intelligence was true. Dicinbrina also was a tattle, and told their parents everything. The younger girls could be excused for that because they were still young, but this girl used it as a way to get attention.
"Dici-chan is getting all worked up over the situation." The two girls started to head for the shortcut to the family gardens. "She won't leave any of us alone, and poor Junia is getting in a fit because here work isn't 'perfect.'
"Dicinbrina is a terrible gardener. If it weren't for Sorrel, I don't know what we would have done. What, with you going off with Father and our older brothers…"
"How long have you known?" Maye asked in mild surprise. Septembre didn't miss much.
"Years." She smiled back at her sister. "How mother hasn't found out yet, I'll never know… although she's getting suspicious about Aprile."
"Do father or Janus know you know?" she asked now.
"Father does. Dici-chan isn't to be trusted with anything important, and the twins have a bad habit of speaking before they think.
"When was your coming-of-age test planned for?"
"Well, you know we're going to have that banquet in a week. That's why your project is such a big deal right now." Septembre blushed. "If it works, then everyone can see it. That's why I'm supposed to help you out today."
"But Maye-chan, when are you supposed to take the other test? Father's test?" she prodded.
"Today."
"But Mother…" the younger girl gasped. "I'm so sorry Maye-chan! I didn't know! I asked Mother for your help. If I'd've known, I wouldn't have said anything."
Maye turned to face her sister. "You really need to stop apologizing for everything. I can always take it later. If your theory works, then it shouldn't take more than two hours. I can sneak off then, and take my test." She looked away. "Mother went to talk to father about the situation."
Septembre shuddered. When it came to the matters of Maye and Aprile, their opinions were vastly different. They loved each other very much, but all couples have disagreements on occasion.
Both girls remained silent for the rest of the walk outside. Maye could tell Septembre was getting nervous. Well, I would be too, trying to pull off a stunt like this…
The young tree came into view, as well as several large potted rose bushes. The twins Octubria and Novembre, both ten years old, were finishing the last little bits of pruning on the bushes. Feburarye, nine years old, and Junia, six years old, were picking up various bits of plant debris off the ground. Dicinbrina was running around like a chicken with her head cut off, ordering her younger sisters around. Septembre rolled her eyes at Maye, and pointed in their sister's direction when her back was turned. The eldest sister tried to stop a giggle, but barely succeeded.
Aprile was organizing the various tools on the table next to the tree. The younger sister caught Maye's eye, and winked. She then nodded to the side, pointing out the unusual visitors.
It was their brothers. All four of them were standing off to the side, not really knowing what to do. Janus then walked over to his younger sisters.
"None of us knew that today was the day you were planning on conducting your experiment, Septembre-chan," he smiled. "If I had been informed of it earlier, we would have scheduled the inspection of the mill for a later date."
The young girl blushed. "It's not a problem. But, I am nervous with such a big audience."
"What?" Julye had sneaked around to her back, and scared the living daylights out of her. "How can doing something in front of your own loving brothers and sisters make you nervous?"
"Don't do that, Julye-kun!" She closed her eyes, trying to compose herself again.
"Julye-kun, she's nervous enough as it is," Augustus pointed out.
"Yeah," agreed his twin brother Marzo. "Not only that, but not everyone has eleven siblings."
"September-chan!" yelled Feburarye and Junia, "We've finished cleaning up!"
"And the roses are in perfect health!" Octubria had a huge grin on her face.
"Do you really think it could work?" Novembre asked eagerly.
Septembre took a deep breath, and gave Maye a sidelong glance. "We can only find out if we try." She walked up to the tree, her back to all eleven of her siblings. "This tree hasn't learned how to make a flower yet. Not only that, but I checked it's memory banks. There is a genetic error. If we don't teach it how to grow flowers of it's own, it won't survive.
"Maye, what to you think of the health of the tree?"
She smiled back at her younger sister. When she was not training, one could almost always find her in the garden. "The bark is protective, and the trunk is strong. The branches should be able to accept a graft, if done correctly."
Septembre picked up a knife, and sliced a deep strip into the lowest branch. The wick was green with life, and wet to the touch. Working quickly, the girl took the pruning shears and snipped off a flowering rose and part of the stem. Maye held her breath as her little sister held the end of the stem to the fresh wick of the tree.
Closing her eyes, Septembre held the rose with one hand, and held her other hand over the cut in the tree. Focusing on the small connection between the two plants, a small blue light began to emanate from her persona. It flowed into the rose, and the rose stem grew into the branch. Further energy caused the scar from the cut to be covered in new bark, and for the stem of the rose to strengthen itself.
She let go of the rose, and it held itself in place. Maye gave a silent cheer. Halfway there… c'mon Septembre-chan, you can do it! The girl now gripped the branch, and glowed an even more brilliant shade of blue.
The bud started to grow in size, and it wasn't the only one that was. All over the tree, roses were sprouting. The growth was rapid, and astounding. All those present had their breath taken away. Finally, Septembre's focused face broke into a smile, and collapsed onto the ground.
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"Nothing to worry about," the doctor assured the family. "Septembre-sama just used too much energy at that time."
Maye felt relief overflow her. Her younger sister was ok, and the experiment worked!
"Give her one good night of undisturbed sleep, and she'll be herself in the morning," he said, closing the medical case on a nearby chair. "Please express my congratulations to her, though, when she wakes." He smiled warmly. Picking up the medical case, he bowed to Maye's father and mother, then put his hat back on and left the room.
"Did you hear that, Dicinbrina?" Marzo commented, "Undisturbed sleep."
It was common knowledge in the Juune family Manor that Dicinbrina loved to talk. She was even known to keep her other sister's up at night with her pointless comments. Believing that sibling interaction was the best character developers, Lord Janus I and Lady Guacamole put all the boys in one bedroom, the older girls in a second room, and a third room for the younger girls. Maye shared a room with both Dicinbrina and Septembre, and could sympathize with her older brother's statement.
"Like, that is SUCH a lie. Like, I wouldn't want to disturb, like, my two darling sisters' night sleep," the second-eldest daughter's voice grated on Maye's ears. She gave new meaning to the word 'valley girl,' a common term for an airhead in the Citrus Valley. "Like, don't you agree with me, Maye-chan?"
Janus, Augustus, Marzo, Julye and Aprile had heard enough of Dicinbrina late night conversations to last a lifetime from their two sisters. All of them tried to stifle an all-knowing smirk that seemed to say, "Of course she doesn't." Surprisingly, Aprile was the only one who could hold her composure.
Octubria, Novembre, Feburarye and Junia all looked at Maye, eagerly awaiting the response of their eldest sister.
Just don't say anything…she thought to herself. I can't lie, but I can't say the truth either…
"Like, Maye, you're so, like, MEAN!" Deeply offended, Dicinbrina ran out of the room. All four of her older brothers cracked up.
"I didn't even SAY anything!" protested an indignant Maye. Now her parents joined in the laughter. The rest of the younger girls still didn't get it. Noticing their puzzlement, and not wanting to answer the kind of questions that would come up, their mother had a servant hurry the little girls to bed.
Before leaving, her mother commented, "I don't think you and your sister should share a room tonight. I'll have one of the servants turn a guest room bed down for you." Looking outside, Maye had not realized how much time had passed. There wouldn't be any time today for her coming-of-age test.
"Aprile, if you'd like, you can share that room with your sister. I think the little ones would keep YOU up all night wondering what was going on." With that, she walked out.
"Maye, if you don't mind, we're going to move you're coming-of-age test to tomorrow morning, before your mother gets out of bed." She nodded in acknowledgement. "Your cousin Chili will be waiting for you in the guest room. Although, don't reminisce tonight. I know you have a lot to catch up upon since she came back from Façade, but not tonight. I'll send a servant to wake you up at first light, and I expect you down by the garden gate a half an hour after that.
He lightened up, giving his nervous daughter a smile of encouragement. "See you in the morning, Maye-chan." He signaled to his sons and Aprile to follow him.
She was now alone in the room. Since the servant had not come to her yet, Maye decided to watch over her younger sister.
Septembre still had that smile on her face. Her expression is so tranquil…
The seat in which she sat had a perfect view of the manor garden. Almost in front of the window was the tree to which Septembre had transformed.
"Maye-chan…" a quiet voice spoke into the stillness.
Startled at the realization that the girl was awake, the older girl went to reprimand her.
"You're supposed to rest!" She said as she helped tuck the girl into bed. "None of us realized that it would take up so much of your energy to pull it off."
"I want to see the tree…" the girl struggled to get out of bed, but weariness and her sister won over.
"You'll see it tomorrow. You know, this is going to make you famous. No one, not even the Rubicon family could pull off the task of teaching a plant to produce a whole different type of flower. Everyone is going to want to have one of your trees.
"Just you wait, we're going to have our house full of Sorcerers and Lords and Vassals. Maybe then they'll realize the potential of ALL of the Juune children."
Maye had heard the whispers of the servants and in the town; as eldest daughter, she received all the attention fit for a true Lady. Her brother Janus was in the same situation; he was the heir to the Estate – and his other brothers came in second. Neither child liked the excessive attention, and their cousins Taco and Chili hated it too.
Well, now Septembre will get the glory.
"We're you able to take your test?" the younger girl asked weakly.
"No. I had to be here for you: for your demonstration and your recovery."
"You shouldn't have… you've been looking forward to this for awhile now."
"Septembre-chan, your welfare was MUCH more important to me than any test. Either way, if for some reason I was heartless enough to leave your side, Father never would."
"He wouldn't?" Septembre asked hopefully.
"Of course not!" The pang of realization hit her like a sledgehammer. Maye felt guilty. She was 'Daddy's little girl,' and all the daughters in the Juune family knew it. He always spent time with her, teaching her how to fight. The younger girls didn't know how to be jealous of their older siblings yet, but Dicinbrina and Septembre were. "He loves all of his children!"
Septembre's eyes fell out of focus. "The tree was happy that it had a new flower. It didn't like the old flower, so it forgot how to make it." Her eyes seemed to droop more and more. "It was happy to receive my energy… It is a whole new tree now." With that, the girl finally sunk into a deep sleep.
"Septembre-chan, Father loves us all. I'm just sorry I took him away from you." She would've made a good fighter…
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Well, did you like it? PLEASE review! I haven't gotten one since chapter seven, and I'm losing reason to write this story. I hope Maye isn't turning into a Mary Jane; I just need a lot of character development for her (because she is a fan fiction character). Well, hopefully #9 will be done soon, and you'll REALLY have something to talk about.
See you then! (Whenever that will be…)
P.S. I also have other pieces of work here on Fanfiction.net. Look my name up in the user directory, and you'll find 11 other pieces of work by yours truly. 8 are poetry, 2 are original short stories, and there is one other anime fan fiction. (It's called Worth Dying For, and is a Sorcerer Hunters/Sailor Moon crossover.) So, while you're waiting for the next chapter, you can check them out. ;)
