The Tragic Circumstances of Lost Souls Conjoined:

Chapter Seven: This is the forest primeval

"Half of the time we're gone, but we don't know where… I know that you'll be eager to fly now."

Simon and Garfunkle

New, obtainable freedom now roused with it a sense of regret and fear within Megumi. In an unobserved corner of her mind, Megumi could sense wandering variations of the truth break at her will. She, however, would keep her eyes and hoped that the sun would not fall down on her illusions in the end. Megumi took a deep breath as she considered her weary reflection in the finely polished mirror. Underneath cinnamon eyes were growing dark lines and her face was sallow from the influence of unnecessary fear. Despite all the misgivings her heart did indeed bear, Megumi took soothed her fears by casting aside the tired image of a betrayed doctor and she stood in her darkened room. Walking toward one of the larger windows, she pushed the curtains to the side and smiled as the sun dawned upon the dark room.

Feeling strangely refreshed from this action, Megumi repeated it with the other large, elegant windows and felt a little bit of her lost soul and happiness return with the growing light. This was when her eyes wandered to the observatory, whose door was closed in response to the solitary life Megumi had opted to live. Where her eyes had strayed her feet soon followed, but the small distance was tread with a tentative step and curious eye.

When the door was opened, the picturesque view did not only greet Megumi, but Aoshi standing silently in the observatory in apparent meditation also caught her eyes.

"Aoshi-san, why are you here?" Megumi asked, taken aback for a moment before walking fully into the observatory. Taking his time to stare Megumi down for his own private amusement, he stated steadily,

" Out of all the rooms in this estate, I find this the most calming." This answer had been sufficient for Megumi, and she let the pulsing calm within her blood stream. Entering the room with an honest look of fatigue, Megumi on a bench and ran a pale hand through her long black hair. Aoshi glanced over to Megumi and observed her amidst the struggles of his own will. Many questions rose and fell in the air like unsteady breaths, questions Megumi did not ask and wished to ignore more convincingly. Aoshi sensed this uneasiness as keenly as he had seen the wish in her eyes to escape earlier that day.

Megumi's eyes bore unsteadily into the light, as if she was afraid of it burning her eyes, and blinding her from what held her fast to the turning world. She tried to blink away the fear that came from her observation of the truthful and honest light. Yet, Megumi would fail at this endeavor and shielded her over-exposed eyes with her delicate, china- white hand.

"Can you not look into the light, Megumi-san?" Aoshi asked knowingly, his tone insinuating a much deeper meaning. Comprehending this, Megumi shook her head and replied,

" It would seem the light shines too brightly in my eyes for they are used to a darkness I wish to dispose." This was said somberly, as if she knew what admitting the one truth would to shatter the small world that encompassed her wild spirit. Aoshi looked down at Megumi, her head bowed in perpetual shame. He felt anger in her gesture, and implored her eyes as he jerked her roughly up to stand beside him.

"Aoshi! What are you doing!" Megumi shrieked at the sudden, commanding action, and tried to pull her arm from Aoshi's grasp but the grip, like the gesture was too stern. Aoshi demanded Megumi's eyes not stray from his own ice blue ones and this unspoken order was obeyed. Holding her gaze with all his strength, Aoshi stated authoritatively,

"You need not bow your head. You are my equal in many ways, but in others you have far surpassed me. For you to live in darkness does not do your inner-greatness credit. You diminish each day underneath a voluntary shadow that I would have you freed from, were you willing to look into the light." Megumi, at this point, could have pulled her arm from Aoshi's loosened grip but she was caught in his eyes, and how the radiated passion so clearly from amid the ice.

The world had been silenced. The trees gently shifting branches, the birds' cheerful song, and the occasional shouts of the raved lunatic Kanryuu; the outside world was void. In this far away plane of reality, Aoshi's words, impassioned not by his voice but a cold fire in his eyes, echoed in Megumi's fear-ridden mind. This was replaced by a wholly different emotion as Aoshi's eyes softened and his arm wandered to Megumi's shoulder.

"Aoshi, what are you doing?" she inquired in an excited whisper while her pulse continued to race. With his hand now on the base of Megumi's neck, Aoshi replied,

"I am trying to save you from yourself, Megumi." Inhaling deeply to control her speaking, Megumi stated proudly,

"I am beyond saving. I've always known it." Megumi then added, "Can you not give up on me, Aoshi? Everyone else has." This last note was drenched in a despair that was able to confuse Aoshi. Megumi thought to leave the room, but could not stifle her will to remain near Aoshi.

" Let me show you the path you must take to redemption." Aoshi whispered as he pulled Megumi close to him. His warm breathes dusting her face, causing it to flush.

"I have told you, I am beyond saving." Megumi said weakly, her voice shaking and trembling with the gentle caresses of Aoshi's skilled hands.

"No." Aoshi simply said, and connected what little distance remained between them by placing his eager lips upon her own for an unforgettable kiss. "You can be free Megumi, free of all this corruption, that is how you can be saved. Do not be afraid." He then left harshly, as if he was angry, leaving Megumi to step up to the plate.

There was an itching of, an inkling of conspiracy drifting like uncertain smoke upon the silence of the mansion. Kanryuu was far too obsessed with his own particularly mediocre aura to ever notice the wafting of changing times. The old man who had originally introduced Megumi to the job that was meant to give her life new purpose could trace the rebellious scent, its insolence telling of the events that would lead to Kanryuu's downfall.

Megumi was not speaking, but for this Kanryuu was grateful. When his servant was silent, she seemed more docile and manageable. Any sign of Aoshi's cold anger had dissipated, or more accurately any trace of Aoshi had disappeared from the mansion. Kanryuu had not marked this, for it was a sign the man was doing his job. He also had not seen the troublesome pair together in quite sometime, Megumi seemed to avoid Aoshi with great effort and Aoshi, again, could not be found in any solitary location.

Kanryuu, as dense as he was at this time, was unnerved to some small degree by the overbearing silence. As was in his nature, Kanryuu decided to cause trouble and agitate old wounds that were meant to heal. Kanryuu's insipid intentions were a quiet as his own feet while he almost snuck to the west wing. He opened the richly painted door, and cooed with a mocking drawl,

"My dearest Megumi, you have not come to visit me recently. Are you finally a devoted worker?" The hollow and cruel words echoed in the large space and off of the walls. Kanryuu frowned, as his taunting received no response and stalked elephant-like through the clean and freshly sunlight room.

Megumi sat in reflective silence within the observatory, denying that Kanryuu had entered yet again to pollute her life. In her attempts to ignore Kanryuu, Megumi's eyes wandered to the small crack in an undisturbed floorboard. It was many years ago, when Megumi first realized the kind of man Kanryuu was, that she hid her most precious items in a hollow closet-like section beneath the observatory. She had not ventured into the looking glass for all those years. Megumi had no desire to how far she had fallen into a web of sin. Now, that some daring had returned to her, Megumi knelt down and lifted the loose board, setting herself into the small room.

The sun lightly streamed in through the trap door and Megumi breathed in the musky scent of her past, hoping it would revive more of that passion which she was lacking. With ease, the sparsely decorated box was located and Megumi touched it as if it would crumble with the slightest touch. Her light caresses disrupted the dust the box had acquired as a second skin. Kanryuu's shrill voice again pierced the air and the lid fell to the ground chaotically. A large cloud of dust rose from it and settled noiselessly in the air. In a denied breath, Megumi looked upon the old relics of a forgotten past with a dread she had felt all to often.

For what came with dread, was also a moment of peace making for Megumi's torn and weary heart. She let the sight of the rich silks that had the flamboyancy of a time long past, and the simplistic, ethic paintings of an era forgone invigorate her. It was then Kanryuu found her,

"Why, Megumi, you never told me you were so rich? Those silks are worth a pretty penny, as are those drawings." Megumi glared harshly and stated,

"These items are ordinary. Every Japanese Woman has them."

"Gaijin women do not." Kanryuu said with a grin that embodied greed. He eyed the box lustily and then added,

" Let me have them, out of your love for me." Megumi would not relinquish that which she held most precious and stated defiantly,

"I would rather see these burn, than given to a man of your low taste. It was why I hid them. So you could not corrupt them." Kanryuu's countenance altered and he fiendishly groped for the box that was just out of his reach.

" You will give me these silks, or you will never be free of me! " He threatened, for his voice was panicky. Megumi, undaunted by his behavior, spat on Kanryuu's hand and snarled. Pushing him from the entrance by using the box lid, Megumi was free of the small room and Kanryuu was left breathless. He watched in horror is Megumi flung the contents of the box out the open window in an excited fervor. Silks, rice paper, and china dolls fluttered in the wind as they fell to the earth and landed in a convenient pond.

Megumi left Kanryuu to morn the objects and strutted out of the mansion, picking up her pace as the cry for help was roused, though she was not nervous. At the gate, she met Aoshi, and kissed his hand delicately.

"Without you, I would not be free. I will always be grateful." Megumi stated simply. Aoshi nodded, his own soul somewhat relieved as well as saddened by Megumi's departure though he would not admit it. With that, Aoshi watched steadily as the one person who knew his soul was free from the constraints that bound her and he could have sworn Megumi flew on pearl wings unto her new freedom.

The End (the true end)

Rissi's End commentary:

Is this not unreal, I struggled through a period of detrimental writers block, and by George, I love this chapter! Its not long I know, but, a neccesary end to a good story. Thanks for reviewing this piece, and special, special thanks to those who review this chapter. You've earned a cookie, bitches! Au Revior!