If you read this far you finally reached the third and final chapter! Thanks Akaichou for the other review!
For the next fic I'm thinking about doing one for Yae beginnig to end. What do you think about that?
Back to this one though.This chapter starts ten years after Akiko's ritual. Startsa littlebefore the Calamity and goes up to Akiko's death awhile after the Calamity.
Madness of the Calamity
I hugged myself tighter as an icy cold wind washed over me, blowing my hair in my face. I listened to the branches of the tree crack and sway in the wind. After ten years of blindness I could still remember exactly how the atrium looked. I put my right hand on the rail and leaned against it just as a door opened. I turned my head slightly to the left and hid my face from the people who had entered the atrium. Footsteps ran past me and the sound of high pitched laughter rang in my ears. There were a lot of people in the mansion today, children and adults, all Himuros in some way. Today is an important day. Today is the ritual of the Shrine Maiden. "Today Kirie dies," I muttered as the door farthest from me closed. I sighed and ran my fingers over the cloth that hid my eyeless sockets.
Ten years….
I still had nightmares about the Blinding Ritual….the mask with the stakes, the mask on the door to the blinding room, the ceremony master's mask… I trembled at the sudden flash of it in my mind. 'People can't imagine that being the last thing you ever see.'
Another door opening caused me to look down. I didn't want anyone to notice me today, not that anyone does normally, but I just didn't want any questions or pity to be put on me from visitors. The footsteps came closer to me slowing down to a stop. I turned abruptly in the opposite direction when a hand grabbed my wrist. I yelped and tried to get away. "Akiko, settle down will you? It's alright." I relaxed as I realized whose voice it was. "Daisuke, what are you doing here?"
Daisuke was a servant who helped me get around the manor. "You haven't come by for days. I was…worried." I paused, remembering what happened to my other friend who helped me get back to the koto room after the ritual. I didn't want anyone else to get hurt for helping me. Enough people already have. "You need to relax, Akiko. You're very jumpy lately." I sighed. I couldn't relax. Not today. I smiled weakly. "You didn't answer my question. Why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be helping with the visitors?"
"Yeah, I am," he said, quietly. "…but they've gotten on my nerves. Besides, there are lots of others who can help them get around. They won't notice one servant's gone, will they?" I shrugged. The hand that held mine started to tremble slightly. "Brrr…How long you been out here? It's freezing." Daisuke shivered again. "Let's go inside, okay?"
"No, I don't want to get in anyone's way, especially the master's. Anyway it's not that cold, Daisuke. I'm fine, so I'll just stay out here." Just as I finished talking another chilly gust made me shudder. Seeing my shudder, Daisuke led me to the burial room. All the candles had to be lit for it to be so warm in here. I blew into my hands and rubbed them together to warm them up. I was surprised at how numb they were. They didn't seem that cold after being out there for over three hours. I put my hands on the table nearest me and felt for a candle stick. After finding one, I placed my hands over the small fire. I could start to feel my fingers after a couple of minutes.
"You always were a terrible liar." Daisuke said to my right. I turned toward him. "Always? You haven't known me for that long." Soft footsteps were heard behind the door that led to the walkway. Daisuke continued to talk to me and I pretended to listen to what he was saying. He couldn't hear the noise. The door opened and the footsteps went around the divider. Daisuke stopped whatever it was he was saying to me and muttered, "Oh…hello, sir." The master? Here?
"Daisuke," the voice wasn't the master's, it was nicer. One of the priests. I let out a breath and turned away from them. "You're not supposed to be here, are you?" Daisuke sighed and hurriedly tried to explain what he was doing here. "I was looking for Akiko and someone told me she was outside. I wanted to tell her something…" he paused. What did he want to tell me? He didn't mention anything outside. "I'm sorry for neglecting my duty. I'll go back to the entrance now." I could hear him turn away and go behind the curtain. "I'll talk to you later, Akiko," he called. The door closed loudly. I listened to his footsteps die away as he went upstairs.
"Akiko," his voice was quiet, was he sad maybe? "What did Daisuke tell you?" I turned around to so I wouldn't talk to the wall. "He didn't tell me anything, important at least." The priest stayed silent. "Nothing?" I shook my head. What would he tell me that was so important? Or was he just lying to the priest so he could have an excuse for missing his duty? If that was it I probably should have gone along with it. But the silence from the priest made it seem that he knew what it was about. I stood there, confused. "I need to get back to the ceremony master. Thank you, Akiko." I nodded. He opened the door to the atrium and left.
'Daisuke said he would be in the entrance. I could go there and ask him about what he meant to tell me.' I thought. 'But, the priest might be going to tell the master about Daisuke. Who knows what will happen if he hears about it?' I twisted the sleeves of my kimono, wondering what I should do. I want to know what's so important, but the fastest way to the entrance is through the grand hall…which is filled with lots of people. I wanted to avoid everyone today. At any cost I wanted to be left alone. After all, I've been alone since I was seven. Loneliness was what I was used to.
I sighed and made up my mind to go through the grand hall. 'If Daisuke doesn't have anything real to say to me, I'll kill him for making me go through that room.' I placed my hands out to both sides and walked carefully. The walls were surprisingly cold even in this warm a room. They had never been this cold, even in winters past. My fingers went across the door and I found the handle. I pushed the door open and listened to the sounds. People were here in the walkway…they weren't here a few minutes ago. 'That's what happens when so many people are in a different place than what they're used to. They move into every room too fast for anyone to notice.'
I put my right hand down at my side and used my left to make it to the grand hall's door. I passed someone sitting on the stairs and they called to me. I ignored them and continued on my mission. 'If I pretend I'm deaf as well, then no one will care about me being in their presence.' I thought harshly. I was so mad at Daisuke; I was even surprised at myself for being so. 'Why couldn't he tell me outside? It would have made so much more sense!' I opened the door to the grand hall and the noise erupted in my ears.
The air in here was hot and breathing was constricted by the amount of people placed in here. Everyone was cheerful, they were celebrating. 'How can they celebrate a death like this? It's unnatural, terrible…evil. Wrong.' The last word rang in my head as laughter could be heard from the other side of the room. "How can they enjoy this?" I muttered softly to myself, making sure no one heard what I said. I pressed myself against the wall and made it to the first open door. I repeated the same process twice until I made it to the lattice. From there, my hands roved the lattice until I made the opening, which was cluttered with people. I squeezed my way through the mass and opened the door to the rope hall.
It wasn't as cluttered in here, so I passed on the left side unnoticed by the few who were in here. As soon as I entered the entrance I noticed there weren't as many voices as should have been expected. I moved away from the door and listened to the voices. I strained my ears to hear Daisuke's voice, but I couldn't. 'He wasn't here? Did he lie again?' I shuffled my feet on the floor nervously with thoughts racing through my head. 'Please let nothing have happened to him.' No one seemed to notice that I was here. Voices and footsteps were heard on the other side of the room, near the entrance doors. The voices were low as if they were whispering to each other. I slid down the wall and sat on the cold floor. I placed my face in my hands and tried to think of where else Daisuke might be.
The door next to me opened and the person walked over the threshold and stopped. I could feel the person staring at me so I pretended I had fallen asleep. The person walked over to me and nudged my shoulder. "Akiko? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in your room?" I looked up and smiled. "Daisuke! Where were you?" I was so relieved he was alright. "I went to your room and waited for you. I thought you would go there before coming here." I could see how he thought that but he should've realized that I would come here since he said he would be. I opened my mouth to ask the question but he cut me off. "You want to know what I meant to tell you, don't you?" I nodded. "We should go to an empty room then." He grabbed my hand and we walked back to the koto room.
As soon as we entered the room, Daisuke stayed outside and walked around. After he seemed satisfied he shut the door and walked behind me to open the closet door. I listened to his footsteps go upstairs. After a couple of seconds he came back down and closed that door too. "What are you doing?" He didn't answer me so I asked again.
"Tell me if you hear anything, footsteps or voices, okay?" Daisuke said as I heard him sit down in front of me. I sat down and nodded. What was he so nervous about? "Well, I guess I'll start then. A couple days ago, I went upstairs to see Kirie," I opened my mouth in surprise. "We talked a bit about you. She does remember you and she's seen you often in the backyard. Kirie would talk to you if she could, but she can't. It's a part of the duty of the Shrine Maiden. She can't make any real bonds with anyone otherwise her ritual won't work." He paused. I remembered my last memory of Kirie being led away to her 'new room'. The image of her mouthing those words came back. I still was trying to figure out what she had said, even after all these years. "She wanted me to tell you something."
"Well, what is…?" I stopped. There were noises coming from outside. "What is it? Are there people coming?" Daisuke asked nervously. I strained to see if I could catch whose voices they were. They were coming closer. "It's the ceremony master, but there are lots of other noises. Many people have got to be there, in one group." I heard Daisuke jump up and I felt his hand tug me up with him. He opened the door and looked out.
"We just missed them," he said sadly. "I can't tell you the rest right now, Akiko. I'm sorry." I was speechless. Why? Why couldn't he finish? They were walking away so what was the problem? Finally I could speak. "Why not?" Daisuke didn't answer right away. "Why not!" I shouted. "If it's so important why can't you tell me? Daisuke!"
"Keep your voice down. I can't tell you. Don't worry about it." I could have hit him. I've never been so angry at anyone like this, except towards the master. I shook my head and pushed his hand away from mine. "How can I not worry about it? Daisuke how can anything from Kirie not be important?" I walked back toward the door to the koto room. My hand rested on the knob. Daisuke stepped forward, "Akiko, it's not that it'll do any good now. Kirie's going to die. She's already on her way down to the gate to fulfill her duty. That's why the master had a group of people. Everyone's going to see the ritual be performed. What she told me to tell you can't help anyone now. Just forget about it. Forget about her too."
I couldn't believe what he was saying to me, Daisuke my 'friend' was telling me to forget about Kirie. Kirie, my real first friend. Ever. I couldn't just forget about her. It was impossible. I shook my head again. I had many things to say to him but I couldn't form it into the words I wanted. I backed away and slammed the door in his face. I held the knob tightly as Daisuke tried uselessly to open it. "Akiko, open the door. Come on, don't be so stubborn." I held the door even tighter after he said this. He tried to open it for a few more minutes then he stopped. I heard him walk away. He was going downstairs probably to follow the master and the priests. Probably to feel important. I let go of the knob and stood there frozen in front of the door. Anger I hadn't felt in years coursed through my whole body, anger aimed at everyone.
'They should all just die…I wouldn't care. I hope the ritual fails and they all die.'
I stayed in my room for a couple of hours, trying to get my anger under control. It was impossible. There was no way I could calm down. I had thrown a few things across the room and yelled in frustration at everything for the first hour. Now, I was sitting calmly with thoughts racing about again. I couldn't blame any one person for all that's happened, but I did blame my parents the most out of everyone I did blame. They were the ones who brought me here even though they didn't want to. They abandoned me in this place. They never came back. I hated them, no; hate was too weak a word for what I felt for them. Any word like it was too weak for my feelings toward them.
I put my knees up to my chest and placed my arms around them, exactly what I did when I was younger and in despair. A rumbling could be felt from underground. I lurched forward at the sudden movement as I felt a cold wave crash into me. I reached behind to grab the wall to steady myself. "What's happening?" I muttered. I could hear objects in my room clatter to the ground or rattle if they were already on it. The rumbling slowed down to a complete stop and I stood up. "An earthquake? It was really strong though," I said nervously. I listened to hear if there were any footsteps or other noises coming from outside. I couldn't hear anything. It was like the world just stopped. I decided to get out of the room. I walked over to it and tried to turn the knob. It was stuck!
I rammed my shoulder into it and it still wouldn't budge. "Come on, why won't it open?" Was something knocked loose and was blocking the door? No, that couldn't be right. I didn't hear anything drop outside. I tried again, knowing that it was useless. It still didn't move. "What's going on? Why won't it open?" I kicked the door angrily. Sighing I leaned against it but jumped away. It was freezing cold! I touched it lightly and felt the cold rush into me. I shuddered and backed away a few inches. "It wasn't cold a minute ago. It's colder than the walls all over the mansion are. This doesn't make any sense." I whined.
A thought hit me. 'If I can't open the main door I could open the door to the attic. Maybe that'll lead me somewhere.' Slowly and carefully, while trying not to step on any item scattered on the floor, I walked over to the attic door. I grabbed that knob and tried to slide it open. It wouldn't move either. Frantically, I tried to open it. "No, no, no. I can't be trapped here. Open, come on and open. Please let one door open." I pleaded. I gave up, but my hands still stayed on the door. I felt the cold seep through the room. I turned around quickly. "Why's it so cold?" I whispered. I shuddered and my hands moved up and down my arms to try and warm up. If I could see, I imagine that I probably could have seen my breath in front of me. I was so confused. What was going on here? Why wasn't anyone back yet? I walked around the room when a jet cold blast of air smacked into me. Surprised I jumped back against the wall. A small voice cold could be heard in the whole room as if it were an echo.
'They killed me…but they'll all die. All of them. They'll suffer just as I have….no one will leave.'
After the voice finished the cold left and the room felt normal. 'That voice…was so familiar. But…I've never heard it before.' Shaking, I walked over to the door and tried to open it again. It still wouldn't budge, however; the cold was gone. I went over to the other door and it was still stuck too. "Why can't I leave?" I shouted. A part of me hoped the voice would answer me. "Tell me why I can't leave! What's going on?" No answer came. It was a stupid move anyway, expecting a bodiless voice to answer me back. 'I must be going insane,' I thought, placing my hands on the sides of my head.
I started to walk around again, but just as I moved I heard frantic screams and thundering footsteps from downstairs. The whole house came to life again. I ran over to the door and pressed my ear against it to hear. Screaming could be heard from every room in the house. They all made a loud thunderous roar in my ears. People were pounding on walls and doors begging to get out. How could I hear everyone? The whole room seemed to echo with the noise just as it had done with the voice. Among the screams, one could be heard in particular. Loud maniacal laughter could be heard from directly downstairs, it must have been the grand hall. I pressed harder against the door crushing my ear further into it. Through the laughing I could hear, "It failed! It failed! Everyone has to die! Everyone has to pay for this sin! Everyone!"
The voice chilled me to the bone. It was the ceremony master's voice. What happened to him? What drove him to the edge? I backed away from the door horrified but the sounds could still be heard. I heard a gushing sound as the master continued his ranting. Louder screams, painful groans, gushing, and thuds. What was going on? "Stop it!" I shouted to the ceiling. "Stop, I don't want to hear it anymore! Please, stop it!" All the sounds from the house faded but could still be heard faintly through the walls. The sounds from the grand hall could still be heard at the same volume as before.
I went to a corner of the room and sat there while listening to the helpless people. "Why would anyone make these people suffer? They're innocent, they shouldn't die." I said quietly to myself. 'I wanted them to die though.' I remembered. 'I was angry then, I didn't really expect it to happen.' I thought, trying to console myself. The massacre went on for a while. Finally the grand hall's door slammed open and I could hear the master running around, laughing. I heard him come up the stairs and I retreated farther into my corner. The footsteps ran past the door and I could hear swishing among the ranting and laughing. The door to the tatami room opened and more screams were heard. Quietly, I waited for the screams to stop and the door burst open again when they did. I heard the master walking down the hall muttering lowly to himself. The footsteps died away, the door to the grand hall opened, and after a short while he yelled painfully and another thud and sharp clatter was heard. All was silent.
Slowly, I stood up and walked cautiously to the door. I put my hand on the knob again thinking that it would still be locked. To my surprise it opened just as easily as it always did. I stepped onto the wooden floor and felt the cold I had felt in the koto room. I hugged myself tighter to keep warm and walked to the tatami room. As I reached the door I stepped into a sticky liquid. I stepped over as much as I could and figured out that that door was locked too. I turned away and decided to go downstairs. I put my hands out to the sides and stepped down carefully. I wasn't going to the grand hall so the burial room was the only other room that would possibly be open and I could get out of here.
I walked cautiously and I still felt the sticky substance underneath my feet. Was this whole hall filled with blood? The door to the burial room wasn't locked and I passed through that room and went into the atrium. I walked outside into the chilly air and listened to the sounds. The same sounds from this morning could be heard. I walked on the porch and still felt the blood on my feet. I turned my head and tried to hear any other signs of life. "Am I the only one alive?" I asked quietly as I went down the small set of stairs that led to the open atrium. I felt and heard a soft crunching sound and I could feel soft droplets fall onto my face. Snow. It was snowing. "I can't be the only one alive. I can't be." It was so quiet here, so calm. Suddenly, the hair on the back of my neck stood up and the same dreadful cold from inside washed over me again. I turned around and listened to another crunching sound from the snow. 'I'm not the only person who's still alive. I'm not alone.' The sound came closer and the cold wrapped around me, suffocating me.
'You are alone, Akiko. You're the only one alive. I've killed everyone else…but not you. I didn't want you to die.'
I screamed and fell down. I backed away from the voice as fast as I could but it was useless. "Who are you?" I yelled. "Why did you do this? Why kill everyone?"
'Who am I? You don't know who I am? That offends me, Akiko…you should know.'
"I don't! I swear that I don't! Just leave me alone. Let me leave this place!'
'It's not that simple, Akiko. I just can't have you leave…and you won't…no one can.'
I felt as if I were being choked suddenly. My hands went to my neck to try and pull whatever it was off, but nothing was there! My mind was going black. I tried to get up but I couldn't move. My breathing was failing. Images of a teenager on a wheel of some sort flashed in my mind. I saw her life slowly squeezed out by the ropes tied to her limbs. The same ropes were tied to a giant closed door. The door pushed open and broke the ropes sending a wave that made everyone fall down. My head was pounding as the blood rushed to it.
I felt something running down my face. I thought they were tears but I had no eyes. The stream flowed down and a small strand went to my open mouth. It was blood. I struggled and before I took my last breath I heard the echoing voice say,
'I didn't want to die…I couldn't perform my duties as the Shrine Maiden…I'm so sorry, Akiko…it shouldn't have failed…"
"Kirie," I whispered. "How…why?"
"I'm sorry…you can't leave…ever…"
