Fatal Frame: The Endless Defacement

by Dharknia

1st per POV. FF 1, 2, and 3 A girl must survive the horrors and terrors of a much larger and more dangerous village and its own reason for destruction. New and old spirits make their way into a haunting plot of rituals and deaths. COMPLETE!

8. Triangle

Disclaimer

Please read: I do not rightfully own the Fatal Frame title or its trademarks. This is only a fan fiction story. It is slightly based on the second Fatal Frame, but includes my own characters, locations, and certain items. Any mentioned subjects that are Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly characters, locations, and certain items are owned by TECMO and used for fan fiction purposes only.

Fatal Frame

The Endless Defacement

Chapter Eight

Triangle

"The chains bind them to their beliefs,

The ropes tighten them to their deaths,

And the beauty of it all lies in the spilling red…"

My eyes are closed. The sick smell of sweat and stale produce hijacks my senses. I can tell I am still in the Suda Market. The air is so dry. My lips are chapped and I cannot seem to speak or even wake up completely. I stumble to lean up; my eyes never opening. It is slightly warmer than it has been for most of my stay here. The faint and solitary echo of Mika Aragaki enters my ears like she is whispering beside me. I jerk my head to my left and my eyes shoot open. I am quite aware of my surroundings now. I am alone with a note from Dagan taped to my forehead. I cannot believe I had not noticed it before. I laugh and take it from my skin. 'I left you here because you refused to wake up. I can't find what you dropped. The book you held onto is still with you, though. I'm going back to the warehouse. I also gave you more film. I'm running low. Please, be careful… and don't die.'

Yoshinori's Diary 2: "I am to suffer the same fate as Munuta. I will accept it with high honor and dignity. I will die with much grace. It seems Kazua, that is the Master, feels it is my time. When someone is deemed to be a Sacrificed, or a Defaced in actual literary, they may no longer refer to the Master as their Master, or this Village as their Village. Their family and friends are now just passing strangers with tears in their eyes and farewells on the tips of their tongues. I have gleamed for decades upon seeing the Defacement take place. I show my one doubt on Kazua Tanaka's ruling… and I am next in line. I have unfinished business with this place. Let me rest. 1/2 There is a triangle stirring here. I have kept it in my heart for so long, but I fear I have no reason not to speak of it. Please, do not cast down on Mika Aragaki. She has done no wrong. In honesty, I now feel that Miaka Aragaki and Jun Okura are just as innocent. I… I want to say more, but the torches are lit and my funeral music plays… The researcher did not help Miaka escape. She was already gone! I am running out of time. I fear I cannot tell you all I must… … Look beyond the veils and the black hair strewing the eyes… See her face… see it…! Nanako is 2/2"

I place the book away from me. I have always known there is more to the story than I heard. It figures greatly that he is cut off just before finishing who the Ohnishi girl truly is. I wonder if the whole village as succumbed to this 'triangle' of young girls? It is clear that Nanako and Jun had an affair. If the outsider, Murrioko, did not take Miaka away to safety, then why is her sister waiting for her? Who did he manage to lead out of the village? It is obviously a child… … Can it be the small girl in the pink kimono? Why will Murrioko save her and not Mika? When did Miaka actually leave? What about Jun and Nanako? I know Nanako Ohnishi has long hair that obstructs her face, and so did Gerald's daughter. Is Yoshinori trying to say that the Ohnishi girl is an outsider as well? No, the Master of the Village would have foreseen that. I am still conflicted with questions. If only I had that stone I lost.

The ritual, or Defacement, is the last thing on my mind at first. It does not dawn on me until after my contradictions about the daughters. Yoshinori mentions the sacrifices, or defacements. I assume this explains the veils and the warped face woman. Can it also explain the faceless memory I have? I have always said that if I can see her face, that I would be able to clearly remember everything that I forgot. I am trapped in this place, though. Will finding my personal demons help any? I've been here too long; so long, in fact, that I have forgotten my own name. Truth is, I remember it when before I splashed that water on my face. The instant I did… all I felt was dark, sorrowful, and angry. Was my life that bad previously? Was it the water or my reflection, even? I only have two books of Yoshinori's. It is obvious that this second one is the last he wrote. I do not worry about finding more. I worry about what is outside of this Market. I leave the desolate place and enter the main path, which is bright like morning!

A white and obstructing fog lingers, but it is a relief to see the sun has set neatly on a far hill near the second part of the village. It is warmer out here than it has been as well. The air smells like fresh flowers and home-cooked food. It is a softer and gentler scent than inside of the Market. I glance over at the Sutuki house. The distortion is gone! I open the door. When I enter I can hear the pink kimono girl whisper, "You're not my sister!" There are a few loud thuds coming from the hallway where I saw Gerald and the dead body of his daughter earlier. My surroundings are not black and white now, so if I am lucky, things will stay in color.

It appears the same way as I left it when Gerald came after me. The first two rooms on my left will not open. Both are locked with a circular keyhole. I move to the next one down. It is not locked. I enter to see a medium room with a dark red silk cushion on the ground near piles and piles of books. This place appears to be a study. Candles for reading are lit and burning brightly. The rest of the study is wooden and rotting away with dust and mold. Only one book is already opened and is not as dusty as the others. I sit on my knees on the silk cushion and I glance at the book. Some of the ink is wet and dripping as I pick it up. Is it a diary of some sort rather than an actual textbook?

Ijima's Notebook: "We moved from our old house recently and into this one. Being near the Ceremony Grounds causes great stress on the children. My wife and I don't have any of our own, but we often house and take in the village kids from time to time. We're like a get-together home. I'm afraid my wife cannot bear children. We've learned to live with this curse. Besides, Nanako and Noriko Ohnishi are the closest things to daughters that we could ask for. The Ohnishi parents are attentive, yes, but hardly around. Sir Ohnishi is a busy Priest and Madame Ohnishi gathers and harvests supplies for the entire village with few help from others. They're such wonderful and close kids. 1/3 Noriko is staying with us for the remainder of her natural life. It seems tragedy has struck the village once again. Her older sister, Nanako, has been missing for a week. Priest Ohnishi refuses to look at his remaining daughter. He cannot bare the pain. Mrs. Ohnishi cannot take care of Noriko herself because of her work. My wife and I will take dear Noriko in as our own. 2/3 It's been a month without trouble for Noriko. She loves the kimono her mom sent her. It is the prettiest of pinks. Mrs. Ohnishi did a wonderful job. However, I do find myself waking up in the middle of the night to the laughter and bellowing of small Noriko. When I go to check on her, she smiles and politely says, 'Sorry, Sir, Nanako and I were just playing.' I am shocked and can only reply with, 'that is alright.' Nanako? It is true that I hear talking from two parties in Noriko's room, but… Nanako? I must look into this! 3/3"

The pink kimono girl that I come in contact with must be Noriko Ohnishi. She is dead. I cannot believe that she is killed because she sins, but rather that the Master of the Village ordered every daughter be sacrificed. It makes sense that Nanako is missing. She left when the villagers came for her and Jun Okura. She might have returned. Does this mean that she is alive still? Her ghost is no where to be found. However, the resemblance between Gerald's daughter and Nanako is striking and practically exact, but I never saw either's face. Maybe… Maybe that is why the soft, feminine voice keeps saying that "it hurts because you never see my face. It's me… It's me," and so on. Yoshinori wrote that I need to see it for myself. I want to now. I truly do. If I can see her, then maybe I will know.

When I leave the room I see Noriko's spirit run past me and head to where Gerald used to be near his daughter's dead body. She pulls a string down from the ceiling. A set of stairs reappear. She heads up them without looking back at me. I leave the hallway behind and take chase. I reach the second floor of the Sutuki house. It is fairly simple. A short hallway is ahead of me with various doors on each side. At the end is an open window. Tattered, blue curtains sway hopelessly. I make a few steps forward. I am faced with a door to my left and a door on the other side. I go to the left first. It appears to be a child's room. There are numerous straw dolls and animals covering the floor and the small bedding area. I look around at the other things. There is one partition screen the size of a small child and there is also a paper lamp. The light it casts is slightly red. I pick up the lamp. It is incredibly warm. I almost burn my fingers. Before I drop it I can see a red substance on the paper shade. When it falls blood sprays a little from the impact. Noriko's spirit forms behind me. I can feel her eyes on my back. "Why are they doing this?" When I move to look at her she is gone. I leave the room and enter the door opposite.

This new room is like the other one with the paper shades casting a red light and hundreds of straw dolls cover the floor and bedding area. I thought the Sutuki family only took in Noriko? "Not your room… not your room…" Noriko seems to be scolding me in a growling, childish hiss. I cannot see her anywhere. I leave the room and head further down the hallway. There is another room at my left. I enter casually. Again, this room is much like the other two. I leave and try another door opposite. I get the same result. There is one more door that remains to be checked. It is on my right. I enter to see Noriko's spirit standing amongst an ocean of straw dolls. These ones resemble me. Noriko has her head lowered. She faces the ground. I do nothing but stare at her. I have no clue on how I should react to seeing her standing in a sea of dolls that are crafted like me. Once she takes a small step with her left foot, she pauses. I start to hear a loud heartbeat and what sounds like the squirming of a little girl. The noises are soft at first. They grow greatly in volume as Noriko takes another step. She speeds up the closer she is to getting me. I can hardly bring myself to raise my Camera and kill her, but it is obvious that I must. I need to set her harmful spirit free.

I take a shot before she can grab me. She recants from the close distance and falls on her backside. She sounds like she whimpers for a bit before fading away. The paper lamp's red glow gets more intense as the room becomes increasingly dark and blood starts to fall from cracks in the wall and rise from the ground. Noriko reappears yelling certain things at me like, "Not your room," "I have to find my sister," and "They killed me… Jun and Miaka killed me…" I kept snapping photos and dodging her attacks until Noriko's blood-curdling screams dry up the gallons of blood and clear away the red glow. I cannot see her around anymore, but I can still feel her. A piece of paper is on the ground. I will read it later because the heartbeat… is coming from outside of the door.

The door on the left of the hallway is loud with the sound of the thumping heart. I enter to see the blood just starting to creep around on the walls and the floor. The light is red and Noriko seems to be waiting for me in the center of the room. She starts to approach me to attack. I use my Camera to blast her back. She seems to be getting stronger because it takes two more snapshots before she fades away and reappears in another part of the room. I can also feel someone else's presence in the room. They do not feel immediately harmful. I continue moving away from Noriko's attacks and using the Camera on her. A few times she is able to grab hold of me. It hurts pretty badly as it feels like she is literally draining my life. I shake her off and move from her. I keep doing this until she lets out another scream (this time a fainter scream is in the background) and the room clears up. I pick up the paper that is left and save it for later. The heartbeat is coming from another room now.

I go into the room across from me. A few dolls are standing upright and dancing from one foot to the other. Noriko's arms are out like she is imitating a cross. Her head is lowered, but suddenly starts to jerk around and she convulses slightly. I see a faint spirit behind her when I raise my Camera. It is Nanako! Her hair still distorts her face. Nanako's kimono is a light shade of black with a red tie around her waist. However she moves Noriko copies. The dolls do not attack me, but they are distracting. They turn their bodies everywhere I go. They softly chant things at me in a haunting tone. I think they say, "I killed you. I killed you," over and over. Noriko's attacks are swifter and stronger. She strikes me easier now. I panic and just start snapping photos whenever I can. It is getting harder to see her now. Sometimes all I get the view off is a dark red spot on my Camera lens where the occasional ghostly face of Jun Okura, Mika Aragaki, and Nanako Ohnishi appear and distract me. I also kick some of the dolls out of my way. They stand right back up. I keep on the move and snap a shot of Noriko when she appears. I keep doing it until the room clears up and the loud screams of Nanako and Noriko happen. I pick up the sheets of paper and leave as the heartbeat is coming from yet another room!

I enter the next left-side room. Noriko waits for me in the center of the bloody room with darkness surrounding her. Nanako is visible behind her without me needing to look through my Camera lens. Half of the dolls in the room are standing like the ones in the other room did. They also bounce from one leg to the other and they watch me no matter where I go. These ones move about the room, though. They don't hurt me, but they often bump into me and purposely try to jump at my face to distract me. Their chanting is louder than before. The distractions of the three faces now occur in plain sight. For instance I think I catch Jun Okura standing in the corner, or Mika Aragaki approaching me from behind. I try and block it all out of my head and focus on Noriko and Nanako. Her attacks are still at the same level as they were in the other room, but now Nanako reaches for me from time to time, and if Noriko grabs a hold of me (which she does twice), Nanako can also choke me. I am exhausted and about to just give up when I fall to the ground and raise my Camera for the last shot I could probably take. The sisters stand over me and are attempting to finish me off when my Camera makes a strange noise. It starts to hum and the circle within the lens glows red. Without any knowledge of what is going on, I snap a photo anywhere. It seems to be a good thing. Noriko and Nanako grab at their faces (where I took the shot) and back away. They scream and disperse into orbs. The room clears up again and more sheets of paper are left. I get to my feet and grab the papers. I have high hopes that it is over with, but before I can start to read the heartbeat comes from the last room. I sigh and head across the hallway.

My strength is waning as I see before me every straw doll that resembles me awake and screaming, "I killed you, I killed you." Their facial expressions are happy at first, but when the door closes behind me they become angry. I do not see Noriko or Nanako anywhere around. This is a blessing in disguise because the straw dolls are attacking me. They bite and pull at me. I raise my Camera and I start snapping photos. It only takes one well-placed shot to exercise the spirits from them, but there are so many! I kick a few away from me and then use the Camera. When the last of them are nothing more but straw shells on the ground I relax. Something is under the bedding. I move the sheets to see it is a small container of some sort of drink. I am dieing of thirst, so without thinking too much of it, I gulp it down. This proves to be highly vital. My strength seems to be returning. I feel much stronger. It is a good thing, too. Noriko appears next to me. Her head is loosely dangling like her neck is broken. She slumps down and onto the floor. "Nothing… is wrong…" She is motionless as Nanako's face presses against mine. I feel her warm breath on my nose. I choke on my own saliva and start to cough. Nanako lifts her head up and begins to laugh hysterically. As I look to the door when Nanako points over to it I see the spirit of Jun Okura and Mika Aragaki coming for Noriko's dead body. They pick her up by the hair and start to drag her out. Nanako grabs me and throws me off of the bedding and onto the ground. I scramble for my Camera as she kneels over me to finish the job. I find it and snap a shot. She falls back and holds her face. I get to my feet and move to the other side of the room where I continue my assault on her. I can get three more photos in before I need to more away before she hits me. I keep dodging and snapping until Nanako's spirit falls to her knees and screams. She does not vanish, however. Instead Nanako gets up and runs out. The heartbeats stop. Something is on the floor. It's a necklace—like the one I got from Mika. Why would Nanako have it? I pick it up. There is a stone dangling from the others. It stands out as a Crystalline Gem. I untie it from the necklace (it is being held there by string).

Crystalline Gem: Woman's Voice (sadistic, sometimes sad, warped groans in background): "It was meant to be flawless…! A plan of forever love with just you and me… trapped in our own world… no one else… ever! She had to come back… ruin everything! Her sister now threatens us, my love… Jun… I will do anything for you. Just say the word and I am there… killing…killing for you…"

Scraps From Bedroom 1: "I won't let them get away with this! I must tell Mister Ijima! 1/2 They know. They know I tell. 2/2"

Scraps From Bedroom 2: "Jun threatens me. I tell her she won't get away with this. She says I am just a silly little girl. 1/1"

Scraps From Bedroom 3: "Miaka and Mika hunt me down, too. Mister Ijima tells Master Tanaka. The Master goes to Okura home, but Jun is not there. 1/3 Jun tells Priests that I lie and that I sin. They will kill me by noon tomorrow. Mister Ijima tries to help, but everyone sees Miaka and Mika head to the Shibata house and Nanako stays home. Miaka can't be my sister, they say. They say, I lie and I sin… and now I will die…2/3 Jun has a resembling face to Mika and Miaka. I see Jun kiss Miaka. Nanako does, too… but Nanako, my sister, is missing in the woods… Jun wears black hair at night… Miaka wears long hair… My Nanako is… she is… 3/3"

Scraps From Bedroom 4: "… It is my time. The Priests will not let me see Mister Ijima anymore. I must say good-bye to him. I will run to him, if I must. They might catch me, but I have to try… 1/2 As they escort me… they ask, 'What's wrong?' I say… 'Nothing… Nothing's wrong…' Miaka… you can't always be with Jun… and when my sister returns from the woods… They'll know. They ask and I say, 'Nothing's wrong, nothing's wrong…' 2/2"

As I let the papers fall from my hands tears roll down my cheeks. I stumble out of the room and down the stairs. I walk the hallway straight through until I come to a door. I look back at the two doors that are locked with a circular shape. Beyond the doors I hear the crying of Noriko. I look away and head on. As I enter the front room I take another look back. My heart starts to pound like the beat I heard upstairs. I approach the front entrance and let my hand rest on the handle. I am torn between feeling sorry for two forbidden lovers persecuted for their feelings… and their slaughtered victims. I can almost see the ache Miaka Aragaki had to go through trying to see Jun Okura without the entire village knowing. Nanako Ohnishi's disappearance into the woods gave the girls an alibi. Mika, loving her sister no matter what, agreed to escort Jun Okura (wearing Miaka's clothes and a black wig) to the Shibata house. It is dark when they go to the schooling house, so no one would see the real difference. Miaka, distorting her face with Nanako's long, black hair, attended her house casually. No one in the village questions Jun Okura's seclusion. After her parents died she had always rarely been seen. And then I remember the 'Regrets' photo. Did Jun do something to drive them away at first? She killed her brother, I know. What else is there? Why does the spirit of either Nanako or Miaka as Nanako call out for either Jun or Mika to see their face? Who is actually dead by their own hands, someone else's hands, or a part of the Defacement? I open the door, leaving the Sutuki house behind me for now… but bringing the haunt of the maiden triangle with me.

End

Chapter Eight

Any and all reviews welcomed!

I will revise if needed!

Next time: White Face

Thank you!

Author's Note

The triangle plot is not yet over. More of the twisted love between Miaka and Jun will emerge, as well as Mika's own role in the Defacement and Massacre of the village, and Nanako's return to see what has happened. Upon discovering that the real Nanako returns, another twist occurs in the triangle plot. Gerald Hemmingway's plot is also still unraveling. The Defacement Ritual is expanding as I write. The details will come about as the character enters more homes of Priests and the second part of the village. I appreciate EVERY review I get. Thank you so much. If you would like me to return the favor, please don't hesitate to ask me!

If there are ANY questions on regarding who wrote a certain text, or whose voice it is on a certain stone, please don't be afraid to ask me. I understand that there is no audio, so you would have to rely on information that I might not have given. So, please ask me. The only thing I would need is for you to tell me what chapter a certain text/stone is, and what the name of it is. If you could also give an estimated location of it, too, that would help. BUT PLEASE, DO NOT HESITATE TO ASK. EVEN I FIND MYSELF LOST AT TIMES, AND I WROTE THIS DAMN THING! Hehe

Chapter Nine is about complete. I warn you now, though… The plot gets more intense and even more twisted. NOW is the time to ask questions. Please, I want you to be able to enjoy this. Don't be confused like I am… hah…