I don't own Love Hina. Love Hina belongs to Ken Akamatsu. The story though is just a work of fiction. For all spelling and grammar mistakes I apologize in advance.
Legends
XVII
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The Urashima blade shot directly into Keitaro's chest.
Motoko eyes widened. And then she screamed in horror, "KEITARO NO!"
Keitaro's surrounding exploded and clouds of black dust covered his whole body. The cloud rose high into the sky, lightning flashing around it. Samurais and Korean warriors ran away from the battlefield as wind picked up speed and began blowing everything in all direction. It was like a powerful typhoon, a killer storm.
Then a terrible low voice boomed into the plains and it was heard all over Japan.
"SEVEN HUNDRED YEARS!"
---
"SEVEN HUNDRED YEARS!"
The emperor watched the darkening skies. The voice that thundered through out the land chilled him to the bones.
The imperial samurais were alarmed. They searched the grounds and doubled the guards. The peasants and the villagers panicked and stormed into the castle asking for protection; and some climbed the highest mountain hoping to weather the strange phenomenon in hiding.
For the commoners this was the final judgement and the end of the world.
But for the educated, for the elite group of Japanese society who has been inside the castle halls, this was a sign of something much darker.
And so the long lost tale has once again resurfaced.
It was written in the halls of the imperial legends. It was passed on among the villagers as a rumour.
A tale of a terrible curse wrought by pain of betrayal and lost love.
---
"SEVEN HUNDRED YEARS!"
The first thing the shogun noted was the sudden darkening of the skies. The voice that thundered through out the land sent his samurais to fits of fear and panic. It created chaos among the villagers and residents of Kamakura village.
"My lord… we need to take you to the mountains," a samurai came running to the shogun's side.
Yoritsugu glared at the samurai and said, "I will not turn tail and run away… I will stay here… if I have to fight – I WILL!"
"But my lord… all the villagers are escaping to the mountains… it is said that we are facing total destruction…"
Yoritsugu shook his head, "No… I will not run away… I will face this with my head high. A Kamakura shogun will never bow to anyone… to anything… even to this blasted curse!"
The samurai stood for a moment then nodded. He bowed and left.
I don't think I'll see him again, the shogun thought as he turned to the skies and watched flashes of lightning snaking around the vast heavy black clouds.
It was an incredible sight.
It was like death smiling down on them.
"So this is the Urashima Curse…"
---
Motoko clung into the ground, grabbing any hill stone to keep herself from being blown away.
The powerful wind that swept the plains cleared the grounds, leaving only a few samurais and warriors who managed to hold on to anything solid. The unlucky ones who were caught by the winds were thrown savagely in all directions. Many were wounded and killed.
And just as quickly as the wind started, it died down, leaving the plains in an eerie dark and cloudy silence.
Then a shadow rose in the middle of the field.
Motoko cautiously raised her head.
And she gasped.
From where Keitaro was kneeling before… now stood a man.
The man has a long shoulder length wild brownish hair. His clothes were of the same rags but of charcoal black hue. His skin was oddly pale but what were striking about it were the strange black symbol-like patterns that could be seen from his arms and neck. And the strangest thing was that these markings seemed to be moving on its own. It seemed to be 'travelling' across the man's body. This strangeness was accentuated by an eerie black aura glowing around the man.
It was Keitaro.
But it wasn't Keitaro at all.
It wasn't Keitaro at all.
It wasn't the Keitaro Motoko knew.
And although the man's face has Keitaro's resemblance, his face was riddled with scars, his eyebrows thick. And on the corner of the man's eyes were tears of bright red snaking down on his cheek. The man has the face of utter pain and sadness. He was crying tears of blood.
He was crying.
The man lifted his head, raised his arms into the sky and screamed, "FOR SEVEN HUNDRED YEARS!"
Motoko shuddered.
---
"We need to stop him…" Tsuruko advanced towards the crying man with her sword raised high in the air about to unleash the most powerful secret sword arts she could let loose.
But something blocked her way.
Somebody blocker her way.
Tsuruko stood agape, "Motoko… what are you doing?"
---
Naru and Mitsune managed to stay on the ground by the side of the hill when the powerful wind tore through them. And as soon as the wind died down, Naru never wasted time as she stood and ran downhill. Mitsune was just behind her barely keeping up with her pace.
And when she reached the fields she immediately saw the lone man standing in the middle.
And she recognised him.
It's him! Naru thought as the memory of the first time she met him flashed through her mind, it's nice to see you again, Naru-chan…
It was the man Naru saw when they encountered Moe on their journey towards the northern mountain.
It was the man Moe referred to as her master.
It was Keitaro.
It was a different Keitaro.
---
Motoko could not understand why she was doing what she was doing now. Her mind was screaming for common sense but her heart was aching with pure pain and anxiety. And thus her whole body was in chaos.
She knew the legends.
She knew the curse.
And she knew her duty.
And so why… why can't she face those facts?
Keitaro - the young man who saved her life countless times in the short weeks they spent travelling together, the young man who made her feel like a true swordswoman of honour and dignity, the young man who made her feel like a woman to be cherished and cared for… was the same young man related to the most feared and vicious warrior to ever set foot on the Japanese lands.
Keitaro… her Keitaro… was the direct descendant of Keitaro Urashima… the first Keitaro Urashima.
The same Keitaro Urashima her ancestors betrayed seven hundred years ago. The same Keitaro Urashima who has cursed Japan with a terrible vendetta to return and bring forth retribution, thus the Urashima Curse.
Keitaro… her Keitaro was her enemy.
Keitaro was her enemy.
And so Motoko's heart burned.
---
Tsuruko never lowered her sword. She shouted with annoyance, "What are you doing Motoko?"
Motoko did not speak. She just stood there with her arms raised blocking Tsuruko's way.
"Motoko… step aside," Tsuruko's voice was laced with a threat.
Motoko opened her mouth to answer but a wave of fear tore through her as she trembled momentarily. Then she replied, "Sis… sister… I… cannot… I cannot-," then all of a sudden, Motoko's eyes was filled with tears.
How can fate be so cruel? Motoko thought as she forced herself to stand straight despite the torment of her heart and her soul, just as I was beginning to feel for him… why does it have to be this way? "I cannot let you do this sister…"
"Motoko… you don't know what you're doing… step aside sister… we have to destroy that – that monster! Because if we don't… we will all die!"
"But sister… Keitaro is not… Keitaro is not a monster! Keitaro will not destroy Japan… he… he saved us several times… he is a man of honour… a man with a heart… a man who protects the people he cares about…"
Tsuruko shook her head in anger, "HE IS AN URASHIMA! HE IS KEITARO URASHIMA! Don't you understand that Motoko? He has returned to destroy Japan. He has returned to kill us all!"
Amalla stepped next to Tsuruko. Amalla understood Motoko's pain, "Motoko-chan… the man you are protecting is not the same man you are speaking of… that young man who fought with you has already been drawn into the hatred of the first Keitaro Urashima… there is no way we can bring that young man back… I'm sorry Motoko-chan… but this is the truth… it has all been foretold… this is part of the curse Keitaro Urashima himself drew upon the empire of Japan… if we don't destroy him now… he will destroy us all…"
Motoko shook her head. Her eyes were streaming with tears.
Why? Why does it have to be this way?
---
Keitaro Urashima lowered his head. He opened his blood teary eyes. A ferocious snarl appeared on his face as if he was in constant pain, breathing hard through clamped gritted teeth.
Then ever slowly, he raised his glowing black sword chest high.
Then he slashed it to the right.
A powerful blast tore through the ground, a deep crevice snaked from Keitaro towards a group of samurai and enemy warriors standing just a few paces away.
The resulting explosion was horrifyingly tremendous as it disintegrated everything on its path. Both flesh and bones disappeared in the thick black smoke leaving nothing but a wide crater of charred stones and soil.
Keitaro Urashima screamed with bloodlust, "SEVEN HUNDRED YEARS JAPAN! FOR SEVEN HUNDRED YEARS OF TORMENT!"
---
Naru froze.
The terrible destruction that Keitaro released was unbelievable.
She stood there with Mitsune beside her as samurais and enemy warriors panicked around them. They were running in different directions trying to stay away from a man who could wreak havoc with a single swing of his sword.
---
Motoko was staring with wide eyed terror.
She trembled, "Is that… is that the secret sword arts technique?"
Tsuruko nodded, "Yes… it is the same technique. This is the true power of the secret sword arts technique. Only the first Keitaro Urashima could fully unleash the secret sword arts…"
"But how… how could that be? How could he know the secret sword arts?"
Tsuruko glanced at Motoko and replied darkly, "Keitaro Urashima is the one who taught us the secret sword arts technique,"
"What?"
Another explosion rocked the plains as warriors of both side scrambled to get out of the way. Keitaro annihilated a battalion of samurais on his left with a wide swing of his sword disintegrating horses, man and land.
Motoko shivered violently as she watched Keitaro walking groggily, one hand on his head while the other was unleashing devastating attack to any fleeing samurais and warriors. It was like watching a madman.
Then Motoko whispered through the noise of panicking men, "Sis… sister… what… what is… what exactly is the… the Urashima Curse?"
Amalla replied, "Seven hundred years ago… Keitaro Urashima installed the very first empire of Japan. He was assisted by samurais of five leading clans - Norieyasu, Sakata, Su, Konno and Aoyoma. During this era Keitaro imparted the secrets of his power to selected samurais of each clan. And together they conquered the rebellion and united the once divided lands of the Gods,"
"Then Keitaro Urashima fell inlove with Naru Narusegawa of the Narusegawa clan… they were betrothed to be married but the head of Narusegawa's clan would not allow it," Tsuruko continued, "And so the daimyo forced Naru to marry Kentaro Sakata of the Sakata clan instead… this is when Keitaro's hatred began…"
"Keitaro challenged the empire and he was branded a traitor… a special council was called, formed by the same clans Keitaro personally taught to fight… and he was hunted through out the land. During this terrible time, Keitaro forged the sword of hatred… he forged the Urashima blade with all the sorcery of vengeance he could amass. Every inch of that sword contains Keitaro's desire to destroy the empire he himself personally built. He forged the sword with a curse… a terrible curse to destroy the empire of Japan every seven hundred years… the sword would bring him back every seven hundred years… and the souls of the same people who betrayed him would reincarnate the same way he would so he could exact the same pain over and over again… he would return every seven hundred years so he could satiate his desire for vengeance to the same empire and people who betrayed him…"
"Then one day… Keitaro Urashima was cornered by Motoko Aoyoma and Seta Norieyasu at the northern mountains… and he almost killed them. Keitaro's power cannot be tamed. Keitaro's power can never be tamed. And so Keitaro withdrew. For some odd reason Keitaro's anger dissipated. He surrendered his sword and he disappeared into the mountains…"
"It was said that Keitaro found a new love… he married a peasant named Mutsumi Otohime and together they lived in silence and in secrecy in the mountains,"
Tsuruko stepped forward, "But the Urashima curse was never withdrawn, even though Keitaro made sure that the sword would never return to Japan. That's why the remnants of the council… the Aoyomas, our clan with the help of the Konnos and the Norieyasus struggled to prevent this from happening by completely annihilating the Urashima clan, the Su clan made sure that the sword was guarded and hidden overseas… but even with all that – the curse still found its way here,"
"Then that means…" Motoko asked.
"Yes… we could all die today and still… Keitaro would return in the next seven hundred years… if Japan survived this destruction and heal… Keitaro would tear it down again…" Amalla replied darkly.
A tremendous howl shattered through the destruction of the plains.
Tsuruko, Amalla and Motoko found themselves staring at Keitaro on his knees shaking. They could see that Keitaro was fighting an inner battle. And Motoko understood why. She felt it all along.
She knew what she had to do.
---
"What are we going to do Naru?" Mitsune asked wearily as she scanned the destruction around her. Pretty soon, she knew that Keitaro would swing his sword their way and they would both die the same way all the other samurais and enemy warriors died. She felt like it was the end of the world. Nothing could ever survive Keitaro's power.
"I don't know Mitsune… I don't know…" Naru replied with a detached tone.
Naru watched Keitaro swing his sword maniacally in every direction killing almost all of the gathered samurais and warriors. Then suddenly, Keitaro knelt with his head on the ground. There was a howl of pain as Keitaro struggle an inner battle.
Naru understood why.
She knew what she had to do.
---
The fleeing samurais and warriors noticed that the killing has stopped. They turned and found the destroyer on his knees alone and vulnerable.
Some were foolish enough to take this chance.
They advanced with their swords ready to kill.
They charged.
---
Keitaro's surrounding suddenly glowed.
A white orb appeared and widened its boundaries. A group of samurais and warriors charged towards him and as soon as they reached the boundaries of the white orb they all disintegrated. Their bodies vanished into thin air like ashes. Some were still screaming as they watched themselves falling into tiny little pieces.
The white orb widened even further disintegrating everything on its path.
---
"By Kami! What in the world is that?" Hol Don asked as he watched a white orb grew bigger right before him.
He has trotted his horse close enough to look and failed to notice that he was too close.
The orb passed through him.
Hol Don felt the white light pass through his body. At first he felt nothing. Then pain. Excruciating pain. He screamed in terror as he saw his hand crumble into tiny pieces right before his eyes.
Then he screamed no more.
---
"Let's get out of here!" Tsuruko shouted through her fear. She forced herself to look away from the eerie hypnotic destruction happening before her.
She turned to run but something blurred before her eyes.
Turning around she saw a woman running towards the white orb.
And she immediately recognised her.
Amalla screamed her thoughts, "MUTSUMI-CHAN NO!"
---
Motoko failed to hear Tsuruko's words.
She didn't even notice the figure that pass by her.
All she could think of was the brightness of the white orb.
She could hear a sound from it. A sad lonely sound. It was a comforting hymn despite the noise of destruction and fear around her. It was soothing. It was as if that very sound was calling her. Somebody was calling for her.
She knew what she had to do.
And so Motoko ran towards Keitaro.
---
Mitsune eyes widened in terror and then she turned to run.
The white orb has suddenly increased its boundaries and they were only a few paces away. She felt pure fear coursing through her body and all she wanted to do was to run away as far as she could from such terrifying white light.
But something nagged in her mind.
She turned and she screamed teary eyed, "NARU WHAT ARE YOU DOING? DON'T RUN INTO IT! YOU'RE GOING TO GET KILLED!"
And the last image Mitsune saw was Naru passing through the orb and disappearing into the white light.
---
I remember you Keitaro-kun… I remember you… you promised… remember?
Please don't leave me Keitaro… please don't leave me…
I love you Keitaro… I feel for you… I need you.
Hei there guys and gals! How is this chapter? I hope I satisfied your curiosity. The end is near! Actually the next chapter will be the last… some sort of an epilogue. I don't want to drag this story. I always thought that a good story should always find its way to end. I apologize for the delay. I was on a brink of a writer's block but for some reason I managed to pull everything through. Because all these times all I could think of was the ending… and I know that I need to struggle to get thru the battle scenes before the ending and its mighty hard for me. This chapter drained my mind.
And the pairing? Well you got three of them out there on the field. Problem is… who'd survive long enough to get to Keitaro? Am I cruel? Well… you judge me when I release the conclusion. And I'm telling you now its not who you think it will be… again… it's a secret.
I beg you to stay long enough to see what would happen in the end. I promise everyone that it would be worth your time. Once again I would like to give my deepest appreciation to those kind enough to leave a note. I am really indebted to you.
Catch u all later! Cheers!
nivremous