It took me way too long to write this chapter, and for that I am deeply sorry. For some reason this chapter was very difficult to write. The beginning is mostly action… but there is also quite a bit of talking and history in here. Please do not be offended if Seishirou doesn't have a big role in this chapter. He'll get a lot more play next time around, I promise. Anyway, I hope you enjoy… and I give all my love to anybody who has read this far. Thank you so much for the support.

The Season of the Witch
By Angel Maxwell

Chapter 8: Memories

"Just like your mother. Just like your mother."

The enigmatic statement, spoken twice by Subaru, resonated in Midori's ears, though she did not have time to ask him what it meant, nor to marvel at the magnificent weapon that had just emerged from her left palm. Tetsuo Ishida and his minions' shocked pause lasted only a moment and then he was barking attack orders once again. Only now, his voice was desperate.

"All of you! Go after the girl!" he shouted at his curse-soldiers, who instantly complied. Then he turned his attention to the crumpled form of Seishirou. "You malfunctioning piece of shit! You will obey me!" He punctuated his sentiment with a fierce kick to the assassin's side, but Seishirou wouldn't get up.

Midori had to act fast to fend off her assailants. She wasn't scared, though. The miraculous appearance of this sword from her body took away all her fears and instilled in her a self-confidence she never possessed during her onmyou training. She closed her eyes and let the blade guide her movements. With one smooth swing, three of the black-suited foes were transformed back into paper spells. She didn't even need any help from her grown male comrades, and they were free to marvel at her transformation.

The wounded Subaru stared at his daughter, even as Mr. Aoki was helping him to his feet. All the grace and poise Midori lacked while attempting to perform exorcisms was instantly found with the sword in her hand. Her natural talent even put Fuuma to shame. It didn't take long for all of Ishida's spell army to be extinguished, and the girl's eyes darted to find their real target. Seishirou was gone. As for Ishida, he had retreated to the far end of the laboratory along with his scientist mistress, Dr. Elizabeth Silver. They were hiding coward-like behind Ishida's only human lackeys, Ritsuko and Takashi.

Midori strode over purposefully, sword at her side, light brown eyes aglow with intensity. "You," she said, confronting Ishida. "You tried to kill my father. You tried to kill my friends. And you tried to kill me. You are a soulless villain who deserves to die." Ritsuko and Takashi stepped aside as the young woman extended her blade and pressed it against the trembling criminal's throat. Ishida was paralyzed with the realization that he was about to be killed by a thirteen-year old girl. But she didn't move her blade, didn't finish him off.

"Tell me why I shouldn't kill you," she demanded. "Tell me why you deserve to live, and I'll let you." Ishida's fear turned into devious glee, and he revealed his wickedest grin yet. This girl didn't realize that her compassion was a critical flaw and was about to have fatal consequences.

In the brief window of time while Midori waited for his response, Ishida snatched a long knife from inside of his jacket and swung it out. The sharp clang of metal striking metal resonated in the air as Ishida knocked Midori's sword away from his neck. Both combatants swung their weapons. Man and girl were now engaged in mortal combat, and everyone else in the lab could only watch with bated breath as they darted back and forth within the open space. Subaru couldn't handle it.

"Midori!" he cried out, trying to dash to her rescue. Aoki was still supporting the injured onmyouji, however, and held him back.

"You're in no condition to fight," the wind-master chided. "It's hard, but we have to let her do this on her own." The words stung a bit as they came off of his tongue. Aoki knew that if it were Yuka or Maki who was in danger, he wouldn't be able to hold back so easily. But however scared he was, Subaru managed to restrain himself.

His outburst, however, did not go unnoticed. Hearing her father call her name, out of fear and love, gave Midori the surge of strength in her heart that she needed. With a sudden swell of finesse, she managed to force back Ishida until he was trapped with his back against the massive concrete support column that was situated at the center of the cavernous laboratory.

"Your time is up," she growled. Then, without hesitation, she swung her sword and the entire room shuddered. The ensuing sound was not the clink of metal on metal, but it was not metal striking flesh either. It was the sound of concrete crumbling and disintegrating into dust, which spread across the room like a noxious cloud.

"H-How did he dodge me?" the baffled young swordswoman stuttered. She looked around for him, but the dust and debris obscured her vision. "Dad?" she called out, in a near panic. "Mr. Munou. Mr. Aoki. Mr. Shiyuu. Where are you guys? I-I don't see that black-suit guy or any of his bad-guys anywhere. Did they leave?"

"We're all fine," Subaru replied. "But don't put your guard down. That guy… his name is Ishida, and he probably won't remain hidden for long. We'll have to wait for the dust to settle." But something wasn't right. The room was still quaking violently and dust and chunks of concrete were starting to fall from the ceiling.

"What's going on?" Midori coughed as she desperately tried to locate the source of her father's voice, well aware that Ishida could reappear at any moment.

"I think this place is collapsing!" shouted Kusanagi. "That must have been a load bearing column! We have to get out of here! Everyone head for the door where we came in!"

"Mr. Aoki! Do you have my dad? Can you both make it?" Midori hollered over the rumble of a collapsing building.

"We'll be fine, Midori," he yelled back. "Go on to the door! We'll meet you there!"

The young girl paused for a moment and thought about what her family friend had just said. Her gut instinct was telling her to ignore Mr. Aoki. To make a mad, irrational dash to the father who had been missing from her life for three days, and to stay by his side no matter what. Even if it meant that they both died in the cave-in. She gripped the hilt of her sword tighter in her sweaty hand. No. I'm going to have faith in him. In all of them. And she took off at a run for the exit. When she got there, she was horrified at what she found.

"It's all caved in!" she shouted to the men, who were rushing to join her. "We… we can't get out this way!"

Without warning, the lights flickered out and the room was thrown into pitch-blackness. Midori felt true terror grip her chest and a cold strong hand grip her wrist. She wanted to scream, but fear had robbed her of her voice and all she could manage was a hoarse squawk.

"I-Ishida?"

"I don't know where he is," answered an unfamiliar male voice. "I'm Ken, I'm on your team." Ken's voice was calm and fearless. He continued. "There's another exit, I just need to find it."

Just as Ken was finishing his sentence, the emergency backup generator turned on and the room was bathed in a pale blue glow. It wasn't enough light to guide the stranded team's escape, but it was enough to illuminate the outline of a large wolf-like creature that had mysteriously appeared.

"Inuki" Midori exclaimed joyously. "How did you get down here?" The spirit dog responded with a confident woof, then took off at a run. "Everyone follow him!" Midori yelled.

The young woman lost all sense of her surroundings as she focused on Inuki's swishing tail and ran after it as fast as her legs would take her. Like before, she had to rely on faith that Subaru and the others were following behind her. She couldn't see them, but she could feel them with her and it gave her hope as she ran without slowing for what seemed like miles. Finally, the darkness gave way to the white light of the surface and the pregnant silhouette of Yuzuriha Shiyuu, who was waiting for them.

"Midori!" she shouted. Then she greeted the others as they arrived. "Kusanagi! And Mr. Munou and Mr. Aoki! Su-Subaru! You're alive! And you're… you're bleeding! Are you all right?"

"I'll be fine," Subaru answered, though his voice was weaker than normal. "We all made it out safely thanks to Inuki and you. Thank you."

"Say, where exactly are we?" Ken interjected, and for the first time Yuzuriha realized that a blonde stranger had arrived along with her husband and friends.

"We're in the basement of Clamp Campus Hospital. The chairman told me about this tunnel so I sent Inuki down to explore it… Who… who are you? You look so familiar."

"It's a long story," Subaru sighed. "I think we all need to get cleaned up and rested, and then we can discuss everything that's happened. Right, Midori?"

Midori just stood there for a moment, staring at her father. Throughout their whole ordeal, the rescue mission, the swordfight, the escape, Subaru had remained at arms length from her. Now they were safe and together again, and although she had a million questions to ask, Midori decided to put them off until later and do the one thing she had been longing to do for the past three day. She dropped the sword to the floor with a loud clang and, crying, she hugged her dad as tightly as she could. Everyone remained silent and Yuzuriha stared transfixed at the discarded weapon.

"That sword," she uttered. "Midori has the power of Ise."

"That's right… the sword," the young girl sniffled, as her nose was now running. "That sword came out of my hand… And everybody acted like it was normal… like they weren't even surprised. And Dad, you said it was just like my mother. What's going on?"

Subaru smiled warmly at the daughter who had been away from him for way too long. "Your mother could produce a sword like that from her hand, too. Her name was Arashi, she was a priestess of Ise Shrine and had many spiritual gifts. And now you have inherited this one. I'm very proud of you."

"My mother was a priestess?" Midori asked, baffled. "How come you didn't tell me about this earlier? Why did you never talk about my mother before?"

"I should have told you about you mother a long time ago," Subaru sighed, cupping his girl's cheek in his hand. "When you were younger, you used to ask me questions about her all the time."

"But your face always got so sad when I did," the girl responded. "So eventually I stopped asking."

"She was a person who was very important to me," the father continued remorsefully. "And I thought it would be less painful for me if I never talked about her. But it was a very selfish decision on my part. I denied you a crucial part of your identity, and for that I am sorry. But I won't be like that anymore. Midori, I want to tell you everything about your mother."

"Really?" Midori asked eagerly.

"Really," Subaru responded with a smile. "But I think it will have to wait until tomorrow. Right now, we all need some rest and medical attention."

"Well, you're in the right place," said a tearful Yuzuriha. "We are in a hospital after all."

The group headed up to the active levels of the hospital, with Midori and Mr. Aoki supporting Subaru. "Wow," the girl marveled. "My mother was a Shinto priestess and my father is the most powerful onmyouji in all of Japan. Amazing!" Hearing his daughter's words, Subaru felt a stab of pain that had nothing to do with his injuries shoot through his chest. "Oh yeah," she added, sounding a bit more serious. "I was meaning to ask you, dad, who was that man down there… the one who collapsed when I confronted him?"

"That," Subaru replied with a pause, unsure of how to answer. "That was the Sakurazukamori."

"You mean Seishirou?" she gasped. "Your Seishirou? The one you knew when you were young? But… but I thought he was dead!"

"That man, Ishida, made a new one," he sighed, and apparently it was enough of an explanation for Midori because she didn't ask any more questions. She just held her dad a little more tightly as they walked up the stairs together.

That evening, Clamp school chairman, Nokoru Imonoyama, was able to make special arrangements for the weary band of adventurers. After Subaru's wounds had been tended to and everyone had eaten a hot dinner, the gang retreated to the lodgings the chairman had designated for them, the same dormitory that had once housed the younger Dragons of Heaven while they attended school.

Midori had been more exhausted then she let on, and was now fast asleep in one of the upstairs bedrooms. Subaru was sitting on the porch, talking with Yuzuriha. It was still a bit warm from the day, so his kimono was tied loosely and it hung open, exposing the bandages wrapped tightly around his abdomen.

"That must hurt," Yuzuriha said softly. "Did he really do that with just his bare hands?"

'Yeah," Subaru said, exhaling. "His skeleton is made of metal. His flesh is cloned from the real Seishirou. His blood is my blood. His mind… I don't know how it works… if it's organic or robotic…"

"But at least he's gone now," she replied. "I mean, he must have died in the cave in. And that Ishida guy, too."

Subaru closed his eyes and hung his head sadly. "I don't know about Ishida… But that Seishirou, he's still alive. I can feel it. I know he's not really Seishirou. But I can feel his existence, just like I could with the original. He's out there somewhere. And I think… I think he's very unstable."

With a gentle swoosh, the front door slid open and Sei'ichirou Aoki stepped out and sat down with his fellow seals. "I was just watching the news." His voice was quiet and serious. "Two young women have turned up dead this evening in Tokyo. Subaru…" He paused. "Subaru, they both looked an awful lot like Midori. Do you think it was…?"

"Yes, it was Seishirou," Subaru answered before Aoki could even finish his question. He could feel the rims of his eyelids start to sting and he clenched his fists. "Why is all of this happening?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"I think he's obsessed with her," Sei'ichirou mused. "You saw the way he freaked out when he first saw her. He's supposed to be the perfect killing machine, but there's something about Midori that caused him to malfunction. What I can't figure out is why. Why Midori?"

Subaru turned his face away from his friends and looked out at Clamp campus bathed in moon glow. The truth felt like a hot lump of coal in his throat, and he knew he had to get it out. He just didn't want to have to look at anyone when he said it, so he continued staring at the landscape.

"I think I know why," he began. "While I was being held captive I found out something about Midori… something I was never meant to know. Seishirou is actually Midori's biological father."

"No!" Yuzuriha stammered as she rose to her feet. "He… he can't be! Sorata is Midori's father! We've always known that! And you, you even said she looks like him! This… this can't be true! It has to be a mistake!"

Much to Subaru's surprise, Yuzuriha was now crying. He didn't realize she was so emotionally invested. But then, she was also very pregnant and very hormonal. Sei'ichirou stood up and held her like a friend, like a father. "Are you sure?" he asked as he patted the whimpering young lady's back. "How is that even possible?"

"Artificial insemination," Subaru answered. "According to the official records I found, they performed the procedure on Arashi during the time she was with the Seven Angels. It makes sense, considering that Ishida was in cahoots with the Kamui of the Dragons of Earth. They were probably just waiting to get their hands on a suitable female subject."

"Poor Arashi!" Yuzuriha sobbed. "To think that her child would be fathered by anyone other than the man she loved… Did she have any idea? I mean, that the baby wasn't even Sorata's?"

"She never suspected anything," Subaru sighed. "Those scientists wiped out all her memories of ever having been in that lab. That's why, even with all complications she had, she was oblivious to any notion of foul play." He paused thoughtfully. "Maybe it's better that she never knew."

"What?" Yuzuriha gasped. "How is it better that she was deceived all this time?" Now, finally looking at his friends' faces, Subaru could tell that Mr. Aoki was equally confused.

"I remember the time when Arashi was pregnant very well," he began explaining. "It was high-risk from the start. The doctors said she would never carry the child to term and that she would most likely miscarry within the first few months."

"I remember that, too," Yuzuriha sniffled softly. "But Arashi was determined that nothing bad would happen to her baby. She told me she would rather die than lose the baby."

"In Arashi's mind," Subaru continued. "Her unborn child was all she had left of Sorata. And it was the sheer strength of her wish for a healthy child that kept the baby alive. But her wish came at a price, paid with her own body. I think, deep in her heart, Arashi knew that giving birth would take her life. And it did. Arashi died so that Midori, her beloved Sorata's daughter, could live."

"So, what exactly are you getting at, Subaru?" Sei'ichirou asked, his voice trembling slightly.

"Midori was supposed to die before she was even born," the younger man answered. "But Arashi chose to die instead. The question is, would she have made the same choice if she had known that her child's father was Seishirou Sakurazuka?"

All three people on the porch remained silent after Subaru posed this final question. Yuzuriha blinked back even more tears, and Aoki just closed his eyes in frustration. None of them had an answer.

"You know, he might not be," a bold voice interrupted. Three faces immediately turned to the doorway and the tall blonde figure that was framed therein.

"Ken," Subaru addressed the interloper. "So, how long have you been listening in on our private conversation?"

"Long enough," he answered. "And I was wondering if I could put in my two cents."

Yuzuriha snorted contemptuously. "Considering that you refuse to even tell us who you are, why should we even take you seriously? And you didn't even know Arashi."

"No," the young man retorted. "But I did work for the people who experimented of her. I wasn't a member of Ressurectors back then, but for the last two years I have been collecting and organizing the records for all of their past and present activities."

"Go on," Subaru urged, intrigued.

"I remember reading all the details about your friend's procedure. That was right when they were about to abandon the artificial insemination project. They were already working on mecha-cloning hybrids by then. But when this girl showed up on their doorstep they decided to give it one last shot. They worked in a hurry and were reckless. They didn't even do any preliminary medical exams or follow-up. They never knew if their experiment resulted in a pregnancy. They didn't even check if she was pregnant already. It is true that the Sakurazukamori might be that girl's father. But it is equally likely that her father is that other guy. Only a blood test will tell for sure."

"His name was Sorata," Yuzuriha informed. "Not 'that other guy.' And how do we even know you're telling the truth?"

"Calm down, Yuzu," said Subaru. "I trust Ken. He saved my life."

"I trust him, too," Aoki added. "There's something about the boy's face…"

"I trust him," Subaru repeated. "But I don't think a blood test will be necessary. Seishirou… the fake Seishirou, that is, went mad after meeting Midori, and there's only one explanation I can think of. As much as I wish it weren't true, I think we all have to face the fact that Midori's real, biological father is indeed Seishirou."

"What?" a soft voice squeaked, startling the group of four. Horrified, Subaru realized that it was Midori, dressed in her pajamas, standing behind Ken. "Seishirou is my… father?"

"Midori," croaked Subaru, wide-eyed with terror. "How long have you been standing there?"

To be continued…