Sorry about the repeated delay in updates. I was in a car crash, so things have been…different.
Gossamer Dreams
Part 22
"The Taijiya want us to expect delays in the completion of their task." Naraku stroked the head in his lap while frowning irritably. "I received notice only hours ago that the party sent must have been apprehended, as they have not checked in for far longer than normal. Either they are captured by their targets, or they are somewhere far from this city, unable to send messages back easily."
"It could be expected, brother mine." Kijo purred as she sat up, kissing the corner of his mouth warmly. "The Taijiya family is certainly renowned for their abilities, but they are not infallible. In addition, I believe that two children were sent, an utter insult to our status, and to the importance of our task."
"Sango Taijiya's skills outstrip her father's, and she is not very much of a child these days." The lilt in his voice caused Kijo to giggle horribly. "Her brother is young, but he is easily one of the best assassins the family has to offer. I would have preferred if Sango would have gone on her own, or if her father had accompanied her, but how could I refuse the boy when he looked so adorably determined? You know how the thought of the young staining their hands excites me."
"Brother, you are so very evil sometimes, I wonder if I can place my trust in you." She teased him, kissing the edge of his ear slowly. "Let us not argue about the skills of the Taijiya, let me simply set your mind at ease by doing as I would have done from the beginning had you left the decision to me. Let us send the Shichinintai. You know how high their skill level is, and they are very thorough. No one survives an encounter, and so my personal assassins have escaped all notice so far. They are restless, and itching to be trusted once more with a task. It's been months since I last let them out of their cages."
"I do not know about that group." Naraku busied himself with a long lock of Kijo's hair. "The Taijiya are easy to manipulate, and honest enough that I never fear them. They are strong, but not truly a threat to my own livelihood. However, the Shichinintai are not loyal to any love but their own love of destruction. They would just as soon kill us as they would kill any target. They may one day grow so restless that when you move to pat them, they rip your hand off so that they might escape and make a name for themselves."
"They would have no idea how to support themselves in the world without me." Kijo waved a dismissive hand. "I raised them each from infancy, and I trust their loyalty completely. I give them the blood they have been taught to crave, and they give me unwavering obedience. It is a simple enough exchange."
"Perhaps one day they will crave something more." Naraku told her. "That is all that I worry about, sister. But if you insist upon it, we may send them out. Let us wait a few days, though, so that we might be certain of the Taijiya's failure in this mission. If they cannot do this on their own, I will not doubt the need to free your hounds."
"You are supposedly so hard, so cold." Kijo whispered in his ear, a grin teasing at her full lips. "But I know your weaknesses. I know the way to your soft underbelly. You can never resist me, can you?"
Naraku did not answer. He only turned to his sister and swallowed her breath. He felt that was answer enough.
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There are many secrets forgotten in the depths of any palace, and the Palace of Fukumaden's royalty was no exception to this rule. It housed endless chambers, corridors, dungeons, secret passages, and hidden rooms. When they had taken over the palace after their coup of the country's power, the Youkai, even while still aided by the Gifted, had no hope of immediately discovering all of the concealed bits and pieces of the castle. For all they knew, a distant cousin of the former Emperor had secreted themselves so effectively within the walls of the Palace that they were trapped and rotting right beneath the noses of their captors. Perhaps such incidents occurred, and perhaps the thought is mere fancy. However, over time, Youkai and Palace grew to know each other better, and some secrets were revealed. The Chambers were one of the oldest of these, and perhaps it was because the apartment hidden behind the tapestry was so very large, it could not evade notice for long. Whatever the reason, this was not the only secret that the Palace eventually revealed to its captors, but some secrets were known to so very few Youkai that when those that had made such discoveries died, the secret was once more known to no living soul.
There was one small wing of the Palace, the existence of which was limited to a very few number of people outside of its inhabitants, who were virtual prisoners within their highly decorated, pristine walls. In fact, other than the young men living in the Barracks, as they had come to call it, the number of people who knew of its location and of the very fact that it existed numbered so few that they could be counted on one hand. The men there rarely saw the light of day except through their barred windows, and the little they knew of the outside world was gleaned from their limited excursions, which were anything but typical, as well as anything that could be gathered from the small library they had collected over the years from their master, the woman they all called the Mother. They knew that she was not their mother, as she had been clear on that. However, she was all they knew, and so she was the Mother.
There were two servants, highly trusted Youkai under the service of the Mother, who knew of the Barracks. They brought food and drink, they cleaned and did what they could to keep their secret charges happy. They did not trust each other, and each watched for the other to slip and to let someone know of their duty, so that they might rise above their doomed colleague. This was why the secret was so completely safe. They did not dare to tell anyone, and were not tempted. No one could pay better than their mistress, and who would care? Best to just go on as they did, doing exactly as they were told without question.
The Mother had a brother who also knew, and had actually visited the Barracks on a few occasions. He was distant, cold, and twisted, a man they called the Uncle, simply because of his relationship to the Mother. They did not love him, as they did not love his sister. They loved very little.
They did love blood.
The Mother had raised them to believe that they were utterly worthless, and that the only reason for their existence was to cause destruction. They would never be loved or recognized, for they were all of them outcasts, and the world hated them and did not want them back. The only way to survive and to have a purpose was to kill or be killed. That would make the Mother happy, and then they would be treated well, and so they would also be happy. It did not take long for this positive reinforcement to work into a craving for blood.
They needed to kill. It was the reason for living.
They were the Shichinintai.
And they only served the Mother.
"Children." She had called them children since they were squalling babes, and now that they were all of them grown, she still called them children. Compared to her, they were younger, but since she took such careful care of herself, she did not look so very much their senior. She took great pleasure in this fact. "I have news." She did not need to speak loudly when she was in the corridor outside of their rooms, eight chambers she had discovered by accident only weeks before she decided exactly what she could use them for, and only months before the first baby had been acquired for this purpose. They could hear her, as they were always listening during the day, thirsting for her summons. Wanting to show their might, and to be able to kill once more.
"Mother." He was not the tallest, or the biggest of his brethren, but the handsome young man with the brilliantly blue eyes and the meticulously clean dark hair pulled back in a long braid was clearly the leader of the band. He was not the oldest, he was not the smartest, he was not the fastest, or even the prettiest. He was the best, however, and they all knew it without having to fight against each other. They loved him for his ability to kill, and they would follow him wherever he led. "We hear you."
"Listen well, then." She smiled at the seven young men kneeling before her, utterly subservient as far as she could see. That was as it should be. "You may be making a little trip very soon if you are up to it."
"Of course we will be." The leader told her, his eyes on the floor as he spoke. "When have you need of us?"
"In two days time, I shall return to select two of you for a mission that will be very simple, yet very rewarding. You will have a very good time, I know." She smiled as though genuinely fond of these servants before her, human though they might be. "There may be no reason for you to go, but I have little doubt that the woman you will be replacing has failed in her objective." At this, one of the men snorted slightly, but she did not trouble herself. It was well known to her that the slender young man who liked women's robes best despised women and loved nothing better than cutting their throats with his special sword. Of course, he would never hurt the Mother. That was understood.
"We shall await your return, Mother." The leader leaned forward, kissing her hand as he had learned to from infancy. This was all they knew, and none of them bothered to question it.
Or so it seemed to Kijo, Mother to them all.
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"I hope she selects me." A man who kept his head shaved smooth told his comrades as they gathered in the chamber they used as a sitting room since there was only seven of them and they had eight rooms at their disposal. "I have been kept here too long."
"We all have. And besides that, Ginkotsu and you were allowed out with Mukotsu only two months past." The small man who at first glance could be mistaken for a woman told the bald man while whipping out an ornamental fan and waving it airily before him. "It should be my turn by now."
"Only two of us means that there are not many to kill." The leader spoke up, his hand on his chin in consideration. "And it does not matter that Renkotsu was last to go out, Jakotsu. She will send him out again if he is most suited to the mission. He is the smartest of us all."
"Except maybe for Suikotsu." Jakotsu waved dismissively with his fan toward a corner of the room where one of their number, a tall man with short hair caught back with a band at the nape of his neck, sat reading and avoiding their company entirely.
"Yes, but that Suikotsu would not kill a fly." Renkotsu reminded the feminine man pointedly. It was known that of all the Shichinintai, only one had resisted training so strongly that it had caused their psyche actual damage. Suikotsu was a shy, well-read young man while in the Barracks, but when he stepped out of it, he became an entirely different person who was more bloodthirsty than the rest of them. None of them questioned the way he was. It had always been that way, and so they understood that it always would be. Sometimes they wondered if the Mother would tire of his resistance and have him killed, but they were unsure whether this idea excited or frightened them, as the thought of one of their number dying would certainly make the rest of them more fragile.
"True, but he is still very smart." Jakotsu asserted before pausing, waving his fan about again. "And that is entirely beside the point. I was trying to explain that it would only make sense for her to send me out next time. I am practically the best killer. I am certainly the fastest."
"That you are, but Bankotsu is the best." Renkotsu nodded deferentially to their leader. "You should remember that before he feels the need to remind you."
"Bankotsu would not hurt me, would you, big brother?" Jakotsu smiled winningly at their leader, using a nickname he used sometimes to tease their leader about his understood position of authority.
"It would be a shame to bloody such a pretty dress." Bankotsu spoke as though seriously considering attacking the cross dresser. "So I will simply have to wait until you've changed into something a bit more shabby, and then I will think about it once more and tell you."
"You are such a tease." Jakotsu laughed, low and throaty, and suddenly, it was very clear that he was male. "How many targets do you think we will have? Not very many, you said before. Do you think there will be women?"
"You always want there to be nothing but pretty young men." Bankotsu sighed as though this was a long-standing issue between them. "Sometimes women need to die as well, Jakotsu."
"Far too often, I am afraid." He sighed, flouncing to his feet and moving toward the door. "I think I shall retire for now. Until later, my brothers." He dipped a low curtsy and left in a flurry of skirts punctuated only by a loud sigh from Renkotsu.
"Is he not yet old enough to give up his game of dress-up?" the bald man asked the room, who all of them withheld comment. After a few minutes, Bankotsu excused himself, and then no one saw the point of the gathering lasting any longer than it already had. In no time, they were all in their own rooms.
Or at least, most of them were.
For within secrets such as these, more secrets will hide themselves, and one truth about the Shichinintai was that they were not all of them exactly as they appeared. Only their own hearts could know how true they were, and to what causes and masters.
If only the Mother knew, she would not be quite so self-assured.
The End (Of Part 22, That Is)