Chapter Three:
Kakurenbo placed her face in her hands as she sobbed at the kitchen table, her elbows resting on the surface.
"It was the Plague…" Hyo said sadly. "A few years ago, a group of humans foolishly tried to attack the city. Of course, they were killed and their bodies burned, but, as we discovered all too late, they were infected with the very monstrosity they blamed us for. Thousands of us fell victim to it, including Father. I tried to find a cure for the disease, but I wasn't fast enough… He died within a week."
"He died just like…" Kakurenbo sobbed. "Just like Mother…"
Minutes passed in silence, the only noise being Kakurenbo's whimpering. Baillon had his arms wrapped around her shaking body, trying to do what he could to comfort her.
Her father had been gone for four years and she never knew. So many times she had written, but never received an answer. Why hadn't she returned sooner? Maybe then she could have at least said goodbye.
"Hyo, what did you say to upset our guests?" Kakurenbo looked up to see a woman standing in the doorway, her blood red hair falling elegantly passed her shoulders, her coal black eyes bright, yet tinted with a deep sorrow. Behind her was a girl who appeared to be her daughter with the same blood red hair, yet her eyes were very similar to Hyo's.
The woman stared in disbelief at the Shadow Walker before her.
"Ren? Is that you?"
"Hanako." Kakurenbo stood as Baillon released her and glided over to her sister-in-law. "Eighteen years and you still look the same."
"Well, I can't say the same for you, Ren. You're how old now? Twenty five?" Kakurenbo nodded, a small smile coming to her lips before directing her gaze to the fifteen year old.
"This is our daughter, Komako," Hanako said, noticing Kakurenbo's gaze. Komako stared at Kakurenbo for a mere moment before shooting her a sharp glare and stomping off.
"Komako!" Hyo called, standing up and preparing to go after his daughter. Kakurenbo held her hand up.
"Don't worry about, Hyo. I'm used to that look." That was all too true. As a child, that was the look that all of the children gave her before they ran off and started whispering with their friends about how much of a freak she was, about how she was in fact sent by the lord of the Underworld to destroy all life on the surface.
Even when she became a teenager, people gave her that look until it got to the point that she began using an Elvish spell to hide the strange colors of her eyes. Baillon was the only person who, despite the girl's strange appearance, treated her like another living creature. His kindness is what made her fall in love with him, although what he saw in her, she was not sure. But he always said he loved her eyes with their strange crimson, violet and blue amalgamation. That was, in fact, one of his favorite things about her, and he often told her so, and every time he would tell her how much he hated her concealing them. Yet he understood why she disguised herself the way she did. He realized it was for the best.
But it had been so long since anyone looked at her like that, and it pained her to see it once more.
"So, Ren, what's been going on with you these passed eighteen years?" Hanako asked later that night as the four of them were sitting around the blazing fire in the living room.
"Well, the main thing at the moment is that Baillon and I are engaged," Kakurenbo answered, looking over at her soon-to-be-husband next to her and smiling.
"Really? That's great, Ren! How long until the wedding?"
"If everything goes well, only a few months," Baillon answered, clasping Kakurenbo's hand affectionately.
"And what about you two?" Kakurenbo asked. "How long have you been married?"
"Sixteen years, actually," Hyo answered. "Never thought I'd get married at nineteen!"
"I never expected it either," Hanako laughed. "But things worked out. We had Komako a year after we were married, although sometimes I can't help but wonder if we should have waited. Taking care of a baby at nineteen was a little more difficult than my mother made it seem."
Kakurenbo gave a small laugh. "I'm sure she turned out fine, Hanako. I mean, you were like a mother to me and you were sixteen back then!" She paused, the sudden thought of Aya filling her with rage. "More of mother to me than my own ever was…"
Hyo placed his hand on his sister's shoulder. "You know that's not true. She loved you, Ren."
Kakurenbo shook her head, not looking up at her older brother. "No… She was never a mother to me. She hated me. I was a mistake; I ruined her life."
"Ren, don't talk like that," Baillon said softly. "You weren't a mistake."
"Father was the only one that cared. Aya wanted me killed or abandoned. I heard her talking with Father one night. I was only three then, but I remember it. And I remember what she used to always say to me every night."
The memories were all too clear to her. She remembered her mother's pretty face looking down at her, illuminated by the candle's flame. She would smile sweetly, almost lovingly, but the cold hate always stayed in her crimson eyes and dripped from every word she spoke to or about her daughter.
"Sleep tight, my little drunken mistake," she would say softly, leaving little Kakurenbo heartbroken and hurt. And when Aya died, the four year old Kakurenbo was actually glad, although she did not show it for her father's sake.
"Hyo," she asked quietly. "How long has it been since Father died?"
"Four years. Why?"
"And his grave. Where is it?"
"In the main cemetery."
"Will you take me to him tomorrow? I need to speak with him."
"Of course, Ren… Of course."
The sky was still clouded over the next day, and a harsh rain seemed apparent as thunder rumbled continuously overhead. That overwhelming sadness that Kakurenbo had felt upon entering Nightsedge was even more apparent at the city's vast cemetery.
Ichiro's headstone had been placed beneath a tall old oak tree and was the only one in the area, save for one other: Aya's. Kakurenbo felt uneasy as she kneeled before her father's grave, glancing over every now and then. She new Aya was watching her; she could feel it.
"Father… It's me, Kakurenbo. Are you listening?" she said softly, fighting back the tears that threatened to escape.
Kakurenbo? Before her, a white, shimmering figure began to appear and the air grew deathly cold, but only for a moment as the void between the living and dead opened, sending forth the soul of Ichiro. Her father's figure flickered and shimmered for a moment before becoming solid yet translucent.
He looked no different than he had eighteen years ago, with his spiky black hair that fell slightly in front of his kind, crimson eyes. His skin was pale, but not nearly as pale as the skin of his children, and his body was strong and muscular. He looked not a day older than thirty.
Kakurenbo, why have you come back? His voice echoed in her head, but the ethereal being before her never opened his mouth. His face, however, showed a great amount of concern.
"I've been growing worried over the years, Father," Kakurenbo spoke, taking her eyes off Ichiro and staring at the grassy base of his gravestone. "And it finally got the best of me. I had to make sure that you and Hyo were all right."
You're not telling me everything, Ren. I know when you're lying.
Kakurenbo looked back up at her father, reluctant to tell him why she had really left Windycliffe. "…I may have been found out, Father. A week ago, my home was burned, and I know it was not caused by natural forces."
Ichiro's eyes widened in shock. Then you never received my warning?
Kakurenbo looked at him, confusion written all over her face. "Warning? Warning against what, Father?"
I'm sure Hyo told you of the attack on Nightsedge four years ago. Kakurenbo nodded. Well, they were only part of a large group of humans who called themselves the Peace Keepers. I heard them say something about knowing a Shadow Walker was in hiding in Windycliffe, and that the city would be their next target. I sent you a letter after the battle was over, warning you to get out of the city and as far away as possible.
Kakurenbo had never received a letter in the eighteen years she was in Windycliffe from neither Ichiro nor Hyo. "Father, tell me, did you ever receive any of my letters? I sent what must have been hundreds."
Ichiro shook his head. Not a one.
Kakurenbo clenched her fist angrily. "Those damn humans," she growled. "They knew all along where I was and cut off each of the messengers." Her voice dropped down to an angry whisper. "Why the hell didn't I figure that out sooner?"
Ren, don't go blaming yourself for what happened. Nothing—
"I could have come back sooner, Father! If I could do nothing to stop it, then at least I would share the same fate as everyone else!" Ichiro's expression became puzzled.
What do you mean "everyone else?"
"Don't you see, Father? The Plague is in the city now. It's killing everything: the plants, the trees. It's even contaminating the water. It's in the very air our people are breathing and it's being transmitted from one person to the next. It's only a matter of time before we're all completely wiped out. Luckily for Baillon and unfortunately for me, the Elven magic that was used on us so often as children has caused us to become immune to it."
How do you know all of this?
"I've been studying it over the years, using plants as my experiments, trying to find some way to cure it, and yet finding nothing. Unless there's something I missed, there's no stopping it. The most I can do now is ease the pain for a short while."
Ichiro looked down at his daughter sadly as she continued to kneel before him. I'm sorry, Ren. I made a mistake when I sent you with Corin and Minyasil.
Kakurenbo smiled. "No, Father, that was no mistake. Because you sent me with them, I fell in love and lived happily. That is what you wanted, correct?"
Ichiro's somber expression was shattered by the smile that appeared on his face. Yes, that is what I hoped for. After all, what father wouldn't?
Kakurenbo spent that afternoon alone in the cemetery, talking with her father, telling him of all that had happened to her while she was in Windycliffe. However, Ichiro never told her about anything that had happened in Nightsedge, not even when she asked and pressed him to tell her. But she did eventually give up, deciding Hyo would be much easier to squeeze information out of.
It was dark when she returned to the house, and she was thankful for the fire blazing in the hearth. Despite the fact that winter was setting in, it was growing abnormally cold. Frost was beginning to settle on the grass during the night, and often did not melt until late into the day, only to return when the sun set.
Kakurenbo absolutely loathed the winter months. She hated the cold and the snow and the icy wind. The land just seemed all too dead to her, like it would never awaken from its wintry sleep and she feared one day it might do just that.
"There you are, Ren!" Baillon said happily as she walked into the house. "We thought you died you were out there so long!"
Kakurenbo forced a small smile. "Sorry to worry you," she said quietly. Hyottoko gave her a concerned look.
"Are you all right, Ren?" he asked, standing up from his place at the wooden kitchen table. Kakurenbo nodded, fighting back her tears as she looked at her older brother.
"I'm fine, Hyo. You don't need to worry about me." Hyo did not seem convinced, but he did not push the subject any further as he sat back down next to Hanako. Kakurenbo sighed heavily. "I think I'm going to bed early tonight. I'll see you all in the morning." Without another word, she turned from the kitchen doorway and headed up the stairs. They still had that familiar creak when tread upon, although they felt a little more rickety than they used to.
Her room had changed only a little the day before when she and Baillon had set things up. Her curtains were a soft white and still hung on the iron curtain rods and the violet carpet was still soft and springy. Her large bed still had the lavender sheets and pillow cases and dark purple comforter, but of course, she had replaced them the previous day. Her little toy horses were placed neatly on various shelves around the room, reminding her so much of the first seven years of her childhood.
Kakurenbo sat on the edge of the bed and wept into her hands. She didn't know if she could ever really look at Hyo or Hanako, even Komako, again, knowing that sooner or later, they would contract the Devil's Plague and die the painful death that was in store for them. And the fact that after years and years of research and experiments a cure had not turned up made the matter even worse.
She wanted to scream. Scream until her lungs burst and her vocal cords ripped themselves apart. But instead she wept, clutching the blankets beneath her angrily.
"Why, gods? Why?" she whispered, her voice as shaky as her body. "Why us?"
The door suddenly began to slowly creak open. Kakurenbo's head shot up as she hastily wiped at the tears on her cheeks with the back of her hand. She had expected Baillon to enter and was shocked when the fifteen year old Komako poked her head in.
"Komako… Why…?"
"I heard you crying," she answered, somewhat nervously. Kakurenbo moved her gaze to the floor. She heard the door close softly and Komako's soft tread as she approached her.
The bed shifted as she sat next to Kakurenbo. "You know about the Plague, don't you?"
Kakurenbo looked up at the girl wide eyed. "Well, yes."
"Is that why you were crying?" Kakurenbo did not answer. "I know what's going to happen. Mom and Dad will eventually get it, and I will, too. It's in the air. There's no stopping it, is there?"
Kakurenbo shook her head sadly. "I'm afraid not. But how did you figure this out?"
Komako hesitated. "I heard you talking to Grandpa… I know I shouldn't have eavesdropped, and I'm sorry I did, but I was sort of curious. Dad said that you used to tell Grandpa all sorts of things you wouldn't tell anyone else and that you were really smart. I already knew about the Plague being in the city, but I figured you might tell Grandpa how to cure it. I thought I'd be able to do it and then maybe we wouldn't all die."
"Komako, I want to ask you something."
"What is it?"
"Yesterday, you glared at me before taking off. I've received that look many times and I want to know why. It can't be because I merely have a different appearance than most. There has to be something else to earn me that glare."
Komako was silent, her crimson eyes suddenly becoming sad. "I… I thought I sensed… Some sort of evil aura about you… And I guess I jumped to conclusions when I saw you. Dad told you me you look different from everyone else, and when I sensed the aura…"
"I see… I wonder if everyone else thought that… The children, at least." A soft laughter came from Kakurenbo and Komako looked at her as if she were insane. "How they hated me…"
Komako looked at the floor ashamedly. "I'm sorry… I shouldn't have judged you so quickly."
Kakurenbo smiled softly, placing her hand on her niece's shoulder. "Don't worry about it, Komako. It's all right."
"Do you think you could teach me some of the stuff you learned about the Plague?" the girl asked after a brief silence. "I'd really like to know more about it."
"Sure. Just don't start calling me Aunty or I'm going to have to hit you." Komako laughed and jumped up as her aunt hit her playfully in the shoulder.
"I'll keep that in mind. Oh! I heard Uncle Baillon talking to Dad and Mom, and he said you can fight really well, too. Could you help me with that, too?"
Kakurenbo smiled widely and nodded. Komako grinned in return, bidding her goodnight before disappearing out into the dark hall. As soon as the door closed, Kakurenbo's smile faded. However, it was not sadness that struck her this time, but fear.
Something definitely is not right, she thought. Something… Horrible is about to happen. But what?
