Soujiro returned to the village, refreshed. The first thing he would do was find Mr. Himura. Soujiro wanted to talk to him, make him understand what the Christians wanted and what their Messiah would bring them.
Soujiro noticed how he still referred to Shougo as "their" Messiah instead of "our" Messiah. Even though he had been baptized, he still didn't feel like one of the Christians. Even though he wanted to stay, he didn't know if he actually belonged here.
"Tenken," said a melodious voice ahead of him. Soujiro looked up to see Magadalia, a look of concern on her face.
"I was wondering where you were," she said. "I was getting worried."
"I was just down by the beach," Soujiro answered. He decided not to mention Kaoru and Yahiko.
"Would you come with me, please?" asked Magadalia. "There is something I must show you."
Magadalia led Soujiro to a rather large cabin. The inside was nearly bare, just a small table and a single cushion. The wall-mounted shelf was empty except for a small lantern. Most noticeable was the heavy tapestry in the corner that hung from ceiling to floor. Magadalia took the lantern and pushed the tapestry aside, revealing a dark staircase into an underground cavern. The place was dark and strange, yet Magadalia entered it without any hesitation and walked as if she had known the place her entire life.
"What is this?" asked Soujiro.
"This leads to the underground cathedral which was the base of operations for the leader of the Christians, Shirou Amakusa during the first Christian revolt in Japan."
"Shirou Amakusa," Soujiro echoed. "A relation of yours?"
"Not by blood," said Magadalia. "My family's original name is Muto. Shougo is the Second Coming of Shirou, not a descendant."
"Second Coming?"
Magadalia smiled. "That brings me to what I wanted to talk to you about. Your confirmation."
"What's that?" asked Soujiro.
"Remember your baptism?" asked Magadalia. "You still don't know what Original Sin is and Souzo tells me you didn't recognize Jesus Christ when you saw his image. But that's all right. The baptism is generally given to infants, who know God in their hearts but not their minds. It is the same for you, Tenken. The Holy Spirit is in your soul, that I do not doubt. However, I think your mind is still struggling to truly understand that. That's what the confirmation is. A conscious decision to come to God."
"So what's involved?"
"If you are to make this decision, then you must first be educated about Christianity. You will attend classes in which I will teach you about our Lord. When you are ready, you will be confirmed.
"Lady Magadalia," a deep voice floated from the darkness ahead of them. Magadalia held up her lantern, illuminating the shadowed face of the red-robed man.
"Kaiou," Magadalia said in a cool greeting.
"And Master Tenken," said Kaiou. He placed a hand to his chest and made a slight bow. "It is a pleasure to meet you at last. I am Kaiou the Evangelist and I serve at Lord Shougo's side."
"This lantern is burning low, Kaiou," Magadalia said, her voice turning icy. "Do you have any more of that petroleum?"
Kaiou smiled, ignoring the question. "Voices echo so loudly in this cave. I couldn't help but hear you discussing Tenken's confirmation." He turned to Soujiro. "Lady Magadalia is a fine teacher, but she mostly handles children and tends to leave out certain parts of God's word from her lessons. Very interesting parts that a warrior like yourself should be able to handle."
"What are you talking about, Kaiou?" said Magadalia.
"Why, the Devil of course."
"What's that?" asked Soujiro.
"It's nothing you need to be concerned of," said Magadalia.
"What is the Devil?" Soujiro repeated in a slightly more forceful tone. Turning to Magadalia, he said, "You said that I needed to learn more about Christianity."
Kaiou gave Magadalia a smug look. "The Devil, Satan, Lucifer, Beelzebub;he has many names. The Devil is a creature of evil, the eternal enemy of God. Where men have hair on their heads, he has the horns of a bull. His legs are those of a goat and his hands are like the strong claws of a bear. He lurks in the fiery pits of Hell, holding unrepentant souls to their eternal torment. Isn't that right, Lady Magadalia?"
"Yes, but sometimes the Devil takes a more subtle disguise. Good evening, Kaiou." Magadalia lead Soujiro around the red-robed evangelist and continued walking without looking back.
"Tenken," Kaiou said. Soujiro stopped and turned towards him. From under his cape, Kaiou produced a leather folder. "This is all the information we have on Shishio's group. Just in case you might want to look at it."
Soujiro glanced at Lady Magadalia, who kept walking, ignoring Kaiou. The young man quickly snatched the file out of Kaiou's hands. "Good evening, Tenken." Kaiou bowed before turning away, melting into the shadows of the cave.
Soujiro and Magadalia continued their walk to the cathedral in silence. Finally, Magadalia spoke. "Before Kaiou starts one of his fire-and-brimstone sermons with you, there is something that I need you to know. His focus on the Devil is, well, misleading. The Devil is merely the antithesis of God, but the way the evangelist teaches it, God is nothing more than the antithesis of the Devil. That is why I leave Satan out of my lessons to the children. They must learn to serve God because they sincerely love Him, not because they fear punishment."
Suddenly Magadalia stopped and let out a light gasp. "What's wrong?" asked Soujiro.
Magadalia took off at a run. "Hurry, Tenken!"
Confused, Soujiro hurried after the woman until they came to a long hallway. At the end of the corridor was an open pair of double doors with a brilliant light shining through them. The two paused, listening to the voices inside.
"Why do you not turn away?" said Shougo's cold voice.
"Because…because I don't want to lie to myself," replied the wavering yet resolute voice of Kaoru Kamiya.
At that moment, Magadalia ran straight towards the door. Soujiro started to follow her but turned when he heard footsteps running towards him.
"Master Tenken! Master Tenken!" A large, wild-haired man ran towards him. "I don't know what I should do!" The man seemed close to tears.
"Uh, calm down," Soujiro said. He had never met this man, but news probably traveled fast in such a small community. "Calm down. Tell me your name."
"I am Genemon," said the frightened man.
"Now what's going on?" asked Soujiro.
"Lord Kaiou told me to kill him and if I didn't, he'll kill me! But then my whistle broke and my dogs turned against me and he saved me! He saved my life, so can he really be a demon? But Lord Kaiou said that he was and I'll be killed if I don't kill him!"
"What do you mean? Who are you talking about?"
"Himura the Battousai."
"Himura?" Soujiro and Genemon turned to see Lord Shougo emerge from the cathedral's door of light flanked by Magadalia and Kaoru. "Tell me where he is."
"On the cliff by the beach," said Genemon. "I tied him to a tree."
"Himura," Shougo said to himself. "The final battle between the sword of Heaven and the sword of Earth," he said. "The destined time has come at last."
XXXXX
Kenshin Himura stood by the lone tree on the cliff, his gaze turned up towards the cloudy nighttime sky. He had broken out of Genemon's chain long before and he could escape at any time. He couldn't wait for too long, as Sano was probably still running from Genemon's dogs. But if he left, Genemon would be killed.
"Kenshin!" Kenshin looked up in time to see Kaoru throw her arms around him. Meanwhile, Genemon examined his defeated chain with a look of amazement.
"You broke out of this!" he said. He gave Kenshin a look of admiration. "And yet you waited here for me!"
Kenshin slowly broke from Kaoru's embrace. He turned his gaze to his adversary Shougo but his attention was drawn to a smaller figure next to him.
"Soujiro!" he exclaimed in surprise.
"Hello, Mr. Himura."
Kenshin's voice took on a calm, steely tone. "What are you doing here, Soujiro?"
"I intend to help these people and their Messiah."
"Why?"
"You can't possibly understand what these people have gone through. I know what it's like to be hated by everyone around you. Sometimes the only way to freedom is through your enemies."
"Shougo Amakusa," Kenshin growled angrily, "That young man standing beside you has known more suffering than either of us could comprehend. On top of the atrocities you plan to commit, must you drag him into it?"
Shougo was unfazed by the accusation. "I see. You take your oath not to kill to a foolish level. You would rather let us live in oppression than die fighting for the Land of God. But you will soon see that your petty ideals, the kindness and compassion that Kamiya spoke of, are nothing more than the cries of a worthless insect when compared to the awesome power of the Lord."
"Ever since I learned that you studied the Hiten Mitsurugi, I knew that a battle with you was inevitable," said Kenshin. "But my goal is not to defeat you and it is certainly not to perpetuate the oppression of your people. My only desire is for you to learn the laws that govern us all, including you. Your people will find a path to freedom but it will not be a path through bloodshed.
"We must protect our fellow man," Kenshin continued. "That was the belief of the thirteen masters with the name of Seijiro Hiko as it was the belief of your uncle Hyouei, the one who taught the Hiten Mitsurugi Style to you. Without that principle in mind one cannot be allowed to use the Hiten Mitsurugi."
Kenshin drew a folded piece of paper from his sleeve. "This is Hyouei Nishida's last will and testament. Despite everything that's transpired, it's addressed to you. The battle will begin after you read this."
"There is no need for that," said Shougo. "The Hiten Mitsurugi Style of Heaven far surpasses yours or my uncle's. As the Child of God, I have no reason to heed the words of men."
"If that's the case," said Kenshin, "then I ask that Master Hyouei's spirit look over us." He wedged the will into the crack in a rock.
Kenshin reached for his sakabattou in a battou-jutsu stance. Shougo remained straight-backed but looking no less ready. The two combatants locked eyes, each seeing into the other's heart, as was the practice of the Hiten Mitsurugi Style.
Standing behind Shougo, Magadalia put her hand on Soujiro's shoulder. "Watch and see for yourself how absolute the Sword of Heaven truly is."
XXXXX
Author's Notes: Sorry for the wait, but school comes first! I couldn't work on this until I had a holiday, you know. To the Americans on this site, Happy President's Day!