Chapter 16: Masayume
Kenneth Irons sat at a book covered table in his library. It was the same place he had spent most of the last week and a half, labouring endlessly since he had discovered the secret of the witchblade. The missing gem was why the periculum had not been complete and why he still had a small but persistent link to the irrepressible Ms. Pezzini. If he could find this gem he had a chance to gain control over the wielder and perhaps the blade itself. He had been searching his texts for days, leaving the running of his vast company to it's various presidents and shareholders; unconcerned with the results of the decisions they would make in his absence. Pouring over accounts of sightings and battles involving the witchblade he searched for the instance in which the stone had been fractured.
"Mr. Irons?" came a small voice from behind him.
"What is it?" he said not bothering to raise his head.
"A Mr. Bowman is here to see you," said the maid opening the door to the library a little wider.
Irons looked up and then stood abruptly. "Send him in" he instructed, straightening his suit and tie and running his fingers through his hair in an attempt to look proper.
Gabriel entered the room and the maid closed the door behind him. He held a large book in his hands that Kenneth reached out to receive as he came over.
"Is that it?"
"Uh…ya" said Gabriel, a little shocked at Iron's appearance. His eyes were red and slightly puffy, and he had several days of growth on his chin and cheeks. "Late night?"
Kenneth smiled in spite of himself, he could only imagine what he looked like, having all but gone to the bathroom in the library for the past several days. "Yes, exactly," he answered, taking the book as Gabriel handed it to him. He ran his hand over the cover. "Would you like to wait for a check?"
"No" said Gabriel, "I'll just send you the bill…the rather large bill."
Kenneth nodded. "How were you able to acquire it so quickly?"
"Easy" said Gabriel turning to leave. "I'm the best at what I do." He opened the door to the hallway as Iron's called over to him.
"I wonder Mr. Bowman…if you have given any thought to our other discussion that evening…regarding a certain female police officer?"
Gabriel turned back towards him and took a deep breath. "Yes Mr. Irons, I have" he began. "And I'm sorry but I can't help you." Irons stared at Gabriel with piercingly blue though bloodshot eyes. "Cause the loyalty I have to my friends and contacts is part of how I stay the best…you know." He winked at Iron's before exiting the room and closing the door behind him. Leaning against it for a moment he closed his eyes and exhaled. He had just said "no" to Kenneth Irons…and without passing out or throwing up. He stood up and headed for the front hall, wondering how long it would be before Irons sent Nottingham after him. Smiling at a pretty maid as he left the mansion he thought, "Never a dull moment."
Jake awoke on Sara's couch. He had waited for her after cleaning up the blood in the bathroom and a plant she must have overturned on her way out. 'With him' he thought bitterly. 'The guy who sought me out and baited me into a fight…for what? Sara's sympathy?'
This Ian Nottingham was becoming a real pain in the ass. 'It's because of him, that Sara doesn't want me,' he thought. 'It's because of him, that my jaw hurt's like a bitch and my ears are still ringing, it's because of him that I'm…' Jake closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead.'…still alive.' No matter how he looked at it, or how many times he replayed the scene in his mind, the reality was that last night Nottingham had saved his life.
The black sedan had slowed down as it approached them, taking out their frustrations on each other. He hadn't even noticed until it was right next to them, but Nottingham had. He moved with unbelievable speed, pinning Jake down as a hail of bullets came from one of the car windows. As Ian caught or deflected most of them, Jake had scrambled away; realizing that they were after him as he drew their fire when he moved. Pulling out his service weapon he prepared to return fire, but Nottingham was already on top of the car emptying two clips through the roof of the sedan. He leapt off the back as the car peeled away, landing in front of Jake who watched the vehicle turn down a side street and speed out of sight.
"Nottingham…I…" Jake began, still trying to catch his breath.
But Ian wasn't interested, there was a brief look of sadness on his face that Jake suspected was what had put the apparent spell on Sara, and then he hid his weapons back beneath his coat and walked away.
'I didn't realize he'd been hit,' thought Jake, leaning against the back of the couch. He found himself wondering if Nottingham was alright. Obviously he didn't like the guy, but that didn't mean he wanted him dead…not really anyway.
'What did it matter?' he realized, he had bigger problems to deal with right now. He had described the shooting as random gang violence in his police report but the truth was someone wanted him dead, and he had a nagging suspicion he knew who it was.
"Your kind are always so easy to find," said Genesis stepping out from behind a large tombstone. "One need only follow the stench of death to find you lapping up the aromas of something you are unable to perceive."
"There is some comfort to be had" replied Lazar. "In knowing that I shall still remain, after you have long since turned to dust and your flimsy quest for power has but evaporated."
Lazar threw a handful of crumbs to the birds in front of him, and Genesis laughed. "You do not see my future, old man. My destiny is as incomprehensible to you as this idea of death you so badly seek."
Lazar blew warmth on fingers and pulled his coat tighter around him. "All doubt at times," he said, "but I need only look upon the wielder's face, and it vanishes on the wind like your useless taunts and threats."
Genesis smiled tightly. "Very soon, you will look upon her and find nothing but the freedom from your curse."
It was Lazars turn to laugh now. "Surely you jest," he said looking up into his enemy's face. "He will not allow it."
"The knight?" sneered Genesis. "Is inconsequential."
"You know of 'the word' , said Lazar. "You could never have come this far if you didn't. He is the man, born of pure heart and damned soul, again and again… and it is in this life that he will find redemption."
Genesis pulled his hood over his head and turned to leave. "All he will find is oblivion," he spat. "The word will be rewritten Grigori, in the blood of all your kind, and I shall be the pen."
Lazar watched him go, and while he showed no outward emotion, he could not help the smidgen of fear he felt inside. Would the wielder and her knight be ready? Very soon all would know.
Cyan Mobius, reloaded her weapon and fired 10 shots into the target in front of her. Two went wide.
"You're still pulling to the left" said Nottingham from behind her.
She put down her weapon and removed her ear protectors. "You're still here."
Nottingham stepped forward and picked up her weapon and began checking it over. "Or perhaps it is damaged" he continued. "You're not still using it as nut cracker are you?"
Cyan grabbed it back from him protectively. "No," she said angrily.
Ian raised his eyebrows and Cyan who couldn't hold her scowl began to laugh.
Hugging him tightly she asked, "Why is it that I only see you, when you're on deaths doorstep?"
"Nature of our business I suspect," answered Ian.
She let go of him. "Perhaps we should find another line of work."
Nottingham gave her a tired smile. "If only it were that simple."
Cyan pulled the clip from her gun and reloaded it with another. "You sound like my brother," she said.
"A compliment no doubt."
"I don't see how" said Cyan, pushing the button to bring up another target card. "He was insane." She raised her weapon. "And he's dead."
Ian didn't say anything, but his silence spoke volumes.
Cyan lowered her gun, instantly feeling guilty for bringing it up. She was the only person who knew of the internal guilt that Ian struggled with for having killed his "brothers". Not that he had any choice in the matter. Each had become unstable from their training, save Nottingham who seemed to have an unnatural ability for self control. Her brother Hector had held out the longest but even he had eventually succumbed to madness.
The moment they became a threat to Mr. Irons, one time benefactor and surrogate father to these men, he systematically had them eliminated. This is in fact what had brought Cyan back into Nottingham's life. Having known him years ago as a friend and colleague of her older brother, she soon became interested in reacquainting herself with him in order to seek revenge for the death of her sibling.
"That night" said Cyan, "on the rooftop… you told me to do as I wish."
Nottingham lowered his eyes.
"Would you really have allowed me kill you?"
Nottingham shrugged, flashing back to the memory that night of watching Sara and her lover Conchobar through her window. "I was having a bad day," he muttered.
Cyan flashed back as well, to the scene through Sara's window and the pain it had created on Nottingham's face. "One of many I'm sure" she said giving him a small smile.
"You have no idea" he replied.
'Which was true' she thought, for he was rare to discuss his feelings for the wielder with more than grunts of impatience and sighs of longing. "All that is worth attaining is difficult in the task" she offered.
"Difficult" said Nottingham, "try damn near impossible."
Cyan laughed, it was odd to hear Nottingham swear, this Sara was obviously rubbing off on him. "I know what will make you feel better" she said, walking over to the wall behind them. She punched a code into a security pad, and a section of the wall opened, revealing a small arsenal of weapons. (small like in enough to start a minor war).
Ian's face immediately lit up, and he stepped over to the wall to admire the display.
Another security agent came into the firing range and handed Cyan a large envelope.
"This came for you" he said, eyeing Ian carefully. Nottingham's reputation preceded him and the idea of him standing in front of the weapons wall looking like a kid in a candy store made the security guard more then a little nervous. Even more nervous than the strange hooded man on level 3B. He had accidentally bumped into him this morning while making his rounds, and the man had given him a glare that he was sure had taken years off of his life.
"You alright Ben?" asked Cyan. "You look a little pale."
"Yah I'm fine" said Ben quickly. "I'll see you later." He gave Cyan a small nod and then left the room.
Cyan opened the envelope, inside was a piece of paper with a bank account number on it and a photograph. She sighed and closed it again. "Duty calls" she said looking over at Nottingham, who had taken several guns off the wall and was now contentedly loading them. There was definitely some built up frustration he needed to release and the scene last night with Jake had only served to "break the seal."
'Maybe I can't kill McCarty for being an annoying, honour-less, thorn in my side' he thought gingerly. 'But I can sure as hell kill the crap out of these targets.' He looked up and grinned over at Cyan, then put on his ear protection.
"Play nice," said Cyan as she turned to leave. But Nottingham didn't even hear her, he was already pushing the button for the first target.
Gabriel sat smiling comfortably in his recliner. Smiling because it was late Saturday morning and his favourite cartoons were on, comfortable because he was just in his underwear and the sun streaming through the window made it feel more like summer than winter. He closed his eyes, seemingly just for a moment and he was quickly fast asleep.
"Wake up, wake up" said a muffled voice.
Gabriel shifted a little, and then rolled over.
"Come on hurry," said the voice "she's coming"
Gabriel opened his eyes. Something wasn't right about the voice that was speaking to him. He looked around the room, adjusting his eyes to light that was streaming in from the doorway, where a small girl was crouched and looking out.
"Who's coming?" he asked, rubbing his eyes "and how did you get in…" Gabriel stopped, instinctively placing his hand over his mouth. 'That didn't really just happen did it?' he thought. He uncovered his mouth and whispered …hello?. 'Holy shit' he thought covering his mouth again. 'He was speaking Japanese, that's what was wrong with the girl's voice, she wasn't speaking English…AND he had understood her.
"She will not be happy, if you do not come to greet her" said the small girl, who Gabriel now noticed was indeed Japanese, and dressed in a baby blue kimono…quite…similar…to the one he was… He jumped up and looked down at himself, something wasn't right. He was obviously Gabriel on the inside, but on the outside, he appeared to be…
"Hikaru come on!" said the child and then bounded outside.
Gabriel reasoned that he must be dreaming and opted to play along. "When in Rome…" he said, smiling at the sound of it, as he stepped outside and into the sun.
The small child (which he realized he knew her name to be Usagi) was standing beside a woman who was hitching a horse to a post. Usagi was babbling nonstop with excitement, and the woman was looking down at her listening attentively, as if she was the most important person in the world. When Usagi saw Hikaru/Gabriel standing on the steps she pointed at him.
"There he is, Mr. Lazybones…I told him you were coming, but he wouldn't wake up"
The woman smiled at the child and then looked up at Gabriel. "Konnichiha Hikaru...or should I say Mr. Lazybones"
Gabriel was stunned, this women who was speaking what he could only assume was flawless Japanese looked exactly like Sara Pezzini. 'Now I know I'm dreaming,' he thought 'how long till the funky base line drops in, and she starts pulling those pins out of her hair.'
Gabriel's thoughts were interrupted as he realized that both Sara and Usagi were staring at him. "Oh, jeez…I didn't say that out loud did I?" he stammered.
Sara's smile did not falter and Usagi tugged on her sleeve. "Brother's are so dumb, why couldn't I have had a sister instead?" she asked.
"Think of it as a test of character" said Sara looking down at her. "Now come inside so I can show you what the Princess sent you" She swung the giggling girl over her shoulder and started up the steps and into the modest home.
As Gabriel moved out of the way to let them in, his eye caught a red gleam peeking out from Sara's sleeve. 'The witchblade' he thought, 'that explains it…well sort of, I guess it's more of a vision then a dream.' He followed them into the house, wondering what it was the witchblade wanted to tell him.
Sara and Usagi sat at a low table going through one of her bags. A woman came out from behind a sliding wall, and placed tea on the table. Sara nodded at her and the women smiled and left the room. Gabriel observed Sara's manner and clothing, she seemed very much at home, and yet she obviously was not from here. 'Here being Japan' he figured, looking out the back window at the green hills off in the distance. He had already observed his appearance in a bucket of water on the porch and had been floored by the stranger he saw reflected back at him. He was a young man maybe 16 or 17 clearly of Japanese descent, with features quite similar to the young girl who had said she was sister.
Sara on the other hand, looked pretty much the same. Her dark auburn hair was pulled back into a severe bun, and her green eyes still flashed with fire. She was a little paler than he remembered, but other than that she was virtually identical. He saw the blade on her wrist swirl a little and suddenly he understood why. Sara or "Tomoe" as she had been named here, was the daughter of a foreign man who was an advisor to the Emperor. She had been raised and schooled with the Royal family and when her father was killed she was taken in as if she had indeed been the actual daughter of the Emperor. Gabriel knew nothing of her mother, the witchblade did not think it pertinent information, he guessed. Over the years Sara/Tomoe excelled in academics, healing and weaponry. She was better than most men with a bow and sword and was quickly becoming legend throughout the hillsides of Japan. She had risen to the rank of Samurai, which few women ever did and had sworn her allegiance to her 'adoptive' father's throne.
Usagi and himself were not her children he realized, but were the son and daughter of Akio, her best friend who had died in battle last year. Their mother had died years ago so when they had lost their father they had had no one. Sara/Tomoe had come to their rescue, moving into their home to raise and take care of them.
Gabriel looked up as he thought he heard another horse outside. Sara was up in a second and at the door to view who was approaching. A lone man on a black horse rode up the path and Sara went out to meet him while Usagi and Gabriel watched from the door. The man got off his horse and tied it to the post next to Sara's.
"Good day stranger" said Sara "How is it that we may help you?" she stepped closer to him as he turned around to face her. He had a sword at his side and one across his back, and he wore a black cloth that covered most of his face. Pulling it down he pulled Sara into his arms and pressed his lips against hers.
"Is that how you greet all strangers?" he asked as he pulled away slightly.
"Pretty much" she grinned "of course unless they're really cute then I…"
Sara's words were cut off as Yoshinaka/Nottingham kissed her again, attempting to satisfy the longing he'd been carrying around for the last three months without her.
'Figures' thought Gabriel as he went back inside. 'They'll always go for the tall, dark and handsome guy with the deadly skills and a nicer car…or horse.'
He awoke suddenly back in his apartment/shop his hand sitting in the bowl of cereal on the table next to him. "Whoa, " he said. "Some trip." He got up and went into the bathroom. 'That couldn't have been all I was meant to see,' he thought 'could it?' He decided he would look up this Tomoe Gozen when he got out of the shower. His hand went to the back of his head, and he ran his fingers through his short curls. Even though he knew it was just a dream/vision he kinda missed having Hikaru's hair. 'Maybe I should grow it out' he thought looking at himself in the mirror. "That pony tail was hot."