1Chapter 6

Kita and Meilin stood on the sloping stone steps, watching Elda descend the remaining steps to the waiting carriage below. She hadn't stayed very long after she and Kita had left their small dimly lit room. The psychic had stated that she was late for her next appointment, but now she moved as if time would stop and wait for her to get to her next appointment before resuming where it left off.

"Meilin, Miss Kinomoto, please come inside, I have gifts for the both of you.

The girls looked at each other, both confused and excited at the same time, and raced up the stone steps. Kita remembered how much she hated steps about halfway to the door when she had to stop and catch her breath before walking the rest of the way.

"Neither of you are fit to be called children anymore, I do believe. You may not have seen yourselves as children before this point, you are both seventeen, but in my household, I refuse to recognize anyone as an adult unless they have spoken with Miss Elda. The things she foretells are shrouded in mystery, and yet, they are far truer than you may ever know. There are things she foretells that will bear a heavy burden on you, and such a burden cannot be handled by mere children." Funaho stood off to the right hand side of the door and closed the door gently shut behind the girls. "This manor has been in the Li family for generations, and as adults, you both have the right to know a few things about this place."

Funaho led the girls through the dining room, past the kitchen, and to a small hallway off of the kitchen. There was a single door down the hallway, and it was bolted shut with a strange looking lock. The lock was shaped almost like the head of a bird. There was a curved beak, and the indentation of plumage from the back of its head, even the indentation of what appeared to be an eye. Funaho pulled a long chain from within the folds of her kimono. At the end of the chain was a large golden charm that matched the indentation of the lock. The mistress of the manor set the charm into the lock and gave it half a turn, then removed the 'key'.

The door creaked loudly as it swung inward. Cobwebs, dust, darkness, and a very musty smell met the three women once the door had swung completely in. Funaho withdrew a candle from her robes and lit it with a match drawn from another sleeve.

"It will be much brighter once everything inside is lit, but until then, this will have to suffice."

Meilin and Kita shrugged at one another, then followed Funaho into the dark room. The door swung shut behind the women with a loud creak and thud, making the two younger women jump.

"Hmmm, yes, perhaps I could have warned you about that, but never mind, wait here for just a moment, and try not to move too far, you might trip over something."

The flickering light that had become the only distinct feature about Funaho walked away from the girls and stopped about twenty paces from where the still shaken women stood. Funaho touched the flickering light of the candle against something on the wall, and the whole room burst into bright light.

The fire jumped around the room, creating a controlled circle around the women on the walls. Above their heads a bright chandelier shaped like a sun burst into flames. The girls looked around them in wonder. There were glass cases that held many outfits, most frilled and vibrant in color. There were strange books and cards hidden underneath the dust on top of their glass prisons, and at the far end of the room there were even...

"Tombs?" Meilin cried out, staring at the sarcophaguses set side by side at the far end of the room. A sword was clutched in the carved hands of one of the stone representations of the person within, and the other clutched a short staff, shaped like a winged star.

"Why do you have tombs, Aunt Li?" Meilin asked, walking warily over to them.

Maybe she didn't know the saying 'having skeletons in your closet' was only metaphorical, Kita laughed to herself. Her smile faded quickly along with the color in her skin when Funaho smiled simply and asked if they wanted her to open the tombs.

The young women stared at each other, and then back to Funaho, they both secretly wondered if perhaps she was crazy. However, there was a morbid sense in the both of them, and before they could really think of the repercussions of opening a creepy old tomb, they found themselves nodding.

Funaho grinned and slid the lids off of each of the sarcophaguses. Kita and Meilin looked inside each tomb and frowned.