Time had lost its meaning to Megumi Takani.

With no light except whatever little poured in through the small window in the heavy door at one end of the room, and with meals arriving erratically, she had no sense of night or day.

She had been fighting for some time to avoid losing her grip on reality. As she looked at the healed scars on her hands and wrists, she kept reminding herself that Takeda Kanryuu was dead, as were almost all the Tokyo Oniwaban, save one – whoshe also remidner herself was her enemy no longer.

Therefore, the strange dreams she had, had to be just that. Their vividness had to be due to something else, likely something in the food that came to her routinely and without any particular ceremony.

Occasionally she would run her hands thoughtfully over the wooden posts that buttressed the walls by the mat she slept on. They were among the few things in this strange unknown prison that helped anchor her to some sense of reality, and set it apart from a different prison she had once lived in long ago.

As soon as she had become aware that her food was being drugged, she had began quietly discarding portions of her food , eating only enough to sustain her and develop a tolerance for whatever lay within it. But she still lay down often. As long as whoever her captor was believed her to be incapacitated, she would be left alone to think and observe the patterns in and around her prison.

The guard outside her door generally was alone, but would disappear for a few minutes from time to time , often returning later with her food, but sometimes with nothing at all. Sometimes one, perhaps two, visitors would stand outside her door and converse with the guard. They would speak in low voices, but occasionally she heard the muttered complaints, not about her, but about him.

None appeared to be the person who held her here. Petty gambling debts of the guard seemed to be the reason they came. And the guard continued to promise repayment at a later time when someone returned.

That someone's return she knew was imminent. The guard had just begun to change her food and force her to take large quantities of cold water with each meal .

As he came in and set another tray before her, she looked at him warily. "I don't want to eat."

He gave her a surly look before pressing a cup to her mouth. "Just following instructions. Can't have you asleep for your visitor."

She nearly choked on the water, but drank it nonetheless. After she had finished, he handed her another cup.

"Your boss, I presume?" Obediently, she took a long drink of the water. The previous cup had tasted fine.

"Something like that," the man shrugged. "Who knows? Whoever it is, I'm instructed to have you alert and ready to move. But don't get any funny ideas. You're not in any place to run." He took out a piece of hemp and began tying her hands together. "And if you try, you'll be back to being drugged and tied up all the time."

"I see," she straightened up. "And if I behave?"

"I don't know." He took out a blindfold and placed it over her face. She leaned back a little, somewhat startled.

"I'm chained and bound with no where to go except past you through that door. Is a blindfold really necessary?"

"Just following orders," he chuckled as he tightened the fold over her eyes, "I've heard that you were a dangerous criminal. I'm not taking any chances."

A criminal? She frowned as she heard the guard shuffle back out of the room. It was unexpected to think the very persons holding her for no reason were calling her a criminal. Not just unexpected . . . but absolutely ludicrous.

She sat silently fuming at the irony of it all. The door creaked, interrupting her assortment of rather irritated thoughts.

"Takani-sensei." The door shut and a voice began speaking to her. "I see you are much improved. You have been a good guest, I'm glad to see. And as a reward for your good behavior, your guard we will be bringing you some things to pass the time."

"Pass the time! " Megumi felt her temper flare up at this unknown captor. "I demand to know what I am doing here. You obviously aren't the police and have no authority to hold me. My friends will surely—"

"Your friends?" He laughed. "No one is looking for you."

"Don't be ridiculous."

"I am being perfectly sensible, doctor. Why look for someone who is already dead and buried?"

Megumi froze. "What are you talking about?!"

"Simply put, the broken body of a woman with an uncanny resemblance to you was found washed up on some nice riverfront. The woman was immediately identified as the missing Megumi Takani from Aizu and was placed accordingly in a lovely little plot with other long gone Aizu Takanis."

As she considered his words, she felt her heart sink. There would be no rescuer coming for her if it was thought that she lay ten feet underground in her family plot. "Why? Why go through all that?""

"Your brother's work was not completed, dear doctor. Up until several years ago, he had been working on a number of differing projects for several large benefactors. And then suddenly he stopped. Your brother's death was most unfortunate, as is the waste of any genius. . . . but of course you, you were the logical choice to continue that work. Of course, given that your brother worked in secrecy, it makes perfect sense to do this."

She frowned. "You're being illogical here. Just because you brought me here and are keeping me captive, does not mean anything. You know I can't simply just pick up wherever my brother may have left off. We have not kept in touch over the years and I don't know the first thing about what he worked on, and I don't even know where his things are. Plus what I have seen of Kenichi's writings are indecipherable . He was a very paranoid man -- "

"His things have been largely gathered already. You are expected to make good use of those things which are to be brought in shortly. As for the rest, believe me, many have tried to decipher his works, but he made many references to things of your family in his writings. You are a Takani, and you were also trained much like your brother. You will figure it out, doctor. "

She inhaled sharply. "Don't be silly .Even if I was able to understand any part of what he did, what makes you think I'd want to help you -- I'd rather die than let you –"

"Such noble sentiments!" He laughed as if he had anticipated her resistance to his offer. "Considering where both you and your brother came from, I find the sentiments so amusing!" His voice changed then slightly, "But if you die, then your niece will definitely have to suffer."

"Don't be absurd in your threats! If I die, she can't be used in any way."

"You are entirely wrong on that matter, dear Takani-sensei."

"She's barely four years of age, what good could she be to you?"

"Perhaps more than you think," he said smoothly. "The girl is four but has likely inherited her father's genius. She had very few friends growing up and spent a lot of time in his company. Isn't it plausible that she has something of value in that head of hers or amongst her things?"

"I don't believe you."

"A mistake, my dear, if I may say so. We were able to track down your niece to Kyoto. Our allies were able to penetrate the Aoiya and take what they wanted. And it was very interesting to see what turned up."

"You're lying. You could never break into the Aoiya."

"Perhaps not I, but others who are very willing to comply with my wishes, dear doctor. But as you have no reason to trust what I say, I'll leave you one final present. You can inspect it all you want and perhaps you'll understand better. Then we can talk when I return. I expect by then you will have made significant progress with the things left here for you, dear Megumi."

She recoiled as she felt a hand on her face. Almost out of habit, she braced herself for the slap that was sure to follow. Instead, the man only laughed.

"It seems that Takeda had programmed you quite well. But I'm not Takeda. Understand that."

With those elusive words, she heard steps move away from her. As those steps neared the door, she heard a soft thud of something against the floor. The creak of the door a few seconds later confirmed that he had left.

She heard the mumbling in the hallway, and then the receding of a set of footsteps. The door creaked open again. She felt hands reach behind her and undo the blindfold that covered her eyes. "He wants you to open the bag, Miss."

Megumi noted the flash of curiousity in his eyes before he averted them and focused on undoing the cord around her wrists. "I'll bring the rest of the things in."

Megumi rubbed her wrists and then slowly shuffled over to where the guard had moved the soft bag to. She ignored him as he came in and out of the room, and poured her attention into untying the cord that closed the bag, working quickly so as to reveal what was contained inside.

To her relief, she found only a bag of toys. But as she picked through them she frowned. Each of them had been slashed or forced open, revealing emptied hollows that showed that things had once been stowed inside them.

She found one toy intact, with scraps of paper rolled and stuffed inside. As she turned the doll over and stared into its lovely face, her blood ran cold. She sat abruptly on the ground in shock. These toys were definitely among those that belonged to her niece. The man, whoever he was, did not appear to be lying about at least one thing, after all,

She shook the doll to dislodge the scrolls and when successful, placed the doll gently in her lap as she unrolled one of the scraps of paper. Immediately, her eyes widened as she recognized the scrawl. She had seen enough of Kenichi's papers to recognize his scrawl.

The purple lady under the bower
Entices the innocent with fragrant fruit.
Exotic as she may be
Her kiss is deadly.

She frowned for a moment as she contemplated the meaning of the silly rhyme. But as she looked down at the face of the doll which was staring up at her from her lap, it dawned on her exactly what the meaning of the little poem was. Kenichi was master of botany and drugs.

The lady under the bower was nightshade -- a plant that was not native to Japan, but very poisonous nonetheless. It was something written of extensively in the West.

She recalled suddenly that her niece had sometimes called this doll, "Belle," much to her confusion. A nice French name for a French doll. She had dismissed it then as one of the peculiarities of her niece's upbringing, but now . . .

It occurred to her the reason for the name. "Belle" was short for something else.

Belladonna.

That was the other name for the plant which enticed children with its fragrant berries that were pure poison.

What had her brother been teaching her niece?

As she looked at the other assorted items that had the guard brought in, she cursed her bad luck and her brother. She recognized some of these things that surrounded her as his. As for the other items, they were certainly rare and expensive tools. They all but confirmed that Kenichi had been quite an active chemist in his own right at one point or another. And apparently a very good one.

It was no wonder that her captor wanted her to decipher as much as she could. Part of her realized that she too had to find out something more about her brother and his work. She had to know . . . for her niece's sake. She needed to comply now to keep Meg-chan out of this for now, but also she wanted to understand what her brother had in fact implanted into his daughter's mind.

Megumi wished now that she had asked more of Okina and Aoshi regarding her brother months ago. Perhaps, things would have turned out differently. She had wanted to shield her mind from the thought of him also having been significantly tainted. But had she asked and probed, perhaps things would have turned out differently.

But at least one thing did reassure her and for one piece of news she was grateful for.

Her niece was in Kyoto, at the Aoiya of all places. She did not understand how that came to pass, for although she gave little thought to such issues before, she had assumed that if something had come to pass that Meg-chan would be sent to the dojo. But nonetheless, Meg-chan would be safe. Megumi had faith in at least that. Whether she would ever be able to thank any of those who lived in the Aoiya, she did not know. She was dead in the eyes of society, and no one would think to look for her -- not unless she thought of something that would attract attention, even if was in the worst possible way.

The crooning outside interrupted her thoughts. She sighed with disgust as she realized the guard was greedily counting the money given him by the recently departed master.

Criminals were such petty creatures. Or rather, greedy. Greed was a common vice amongst most of the criminals she had dealt with and known. It was a vice never satisfied. That was another thing which she had utter faith in.

Suddenly it occurred to her that perhaps greed could be useful. No one was looking for Megumi Takani, but perhaps there was a way to interest people in finding her after all.

But -- that would mean she would have to break a promise, and many more.

Megumi closed her eyes against the images of her friends' disapproving faces that suddenly appeared in front of her. She knew that they really weren't aftereffects of the drugs that were still in her system but a manifestation of her conscience. She pushed those faces out of her mind and replaced it with that of her niece. Although that did not ease her conscience, it firmed her resolve to do what needed to be done.

"Hey," she stood up and called out to the guard.

As he looked through the small window, she was glad she had refused the food earlier. "I really have a craving for some more delicate food. Would you be able to get me something different to eat for a change?"

She heard him snort.

"Why the hell should I do that? You didn't eat what I brought you earlier, and you know that food costs money. I'm not going to pay out so you can eat some fancy stuff."

"If it's money that worries you, I know how we can get more," she said sweetly.

When he looked at her dubiously, she sighed. "I know I don't have any, but I'm a criminal after all. It would really be a simple matter or so to make money. Just a few easy things to obtain, and a few days work. Your boss would never have to know."

She paused, waiting then to see if he would take the bait.

When the door swung open a moment later, she almost felt exultant.

Almost.

She realized the consequences of the deal she was about to make. There would be no turning back now. She would have to gamble with lives now, but the greater evil lay in staying here and not finding a way out before she was forced to learn and reveal what her brother was in fact all about.

That thought, however, did not ease her conscience one bit as she gave the man instructions on what needed to be done.


A/N: Thanks for your patience readers. I am a bit behind my usual schedule and a bit frazzled. The next update I hope to be one week from now. I have started it already but have some tests coming early next week which I should be studying for.

Regarding this part and the last. I've thought a lot about Megumi and the role she would take in trying to free herself. She's not going to be content with being a damsel in distress. However, the scheme which she is devising is clever but dangerous. For those who don't understand yet what she is planning, it will become clearer later .

Next we return to the men, who each are dealing with their own messes, and completely unaware that our beloved heroine lives.

BTW – fanfic writers who are writing for the Megs/Aoshi fan contest have an extra week. Don't worry, I'm not submitting ;-). This fic is going to probably take me well towards the end of the year to finish.

Also, thanks to all you reviewers for bugging me. It does help motivate me sometimes to get these updates out. But if you have questions, please leave me a valid username or sign in so I can answer!!!