Balance
Hi all! I was able to keep with another Sunday update! The only reason I'm this late is because a day of work and the welcoming of a new Doctor (welcome, Peter Capaldi!) don't make for a productive day of writing...anyways, just wanted to give the more sensitive readers a heads-up: the last part of this chapter could potentially be seen as rather graphic, so if you're not comfortable with a little blood and guts, then just skip the italicized parts. Thank you all for your dedication as readers!
Kutsuriuri and I shared a worried look. Without a word, we both rushed to the door and were about to open it before a cry from Han-Lin stopped us.
"Stop!" he cried, his fear once again overcoming his attitude. "If you break the barrier, they'll be able to get us!"
Kutsuriuri fixed his icy blue eyes upon him. "It will be some time before the seven are able to work up the strength to kill again, so it would be better for us to move to the most recent death so that we can piece together the puzzle," he replied. With a wave of his hand, the papers flew into a neat stack on his palm, and after shouldering his medicine box, we were followed out the door by a quaking Han-Lin.
We raced down the stairs, looking right and left for any commotion. It was not until we had exited the building that we noticed a gathering in the rice fields. I kept my pace slow so that I would not arrive at the scene before Kutsuriuri, but that did not stop me from smelling the blood even before I could see it.
As we drew closer, we recognized Foreman Yang trying to usher the other workers away from a body lying facedown, blood staining the water and edging away in seeping tendrils. It was one of the workers from the fields, her earthen brown tunic dyed a deeper color by the liquids soaking into the fabric.
Kutsuriuri pushed through the crowd of whispering girls, and Foreman Yang looked up. His face went from recognition upon seeing Kutsuriuri, to surprise upon seeing Han-Lin, to fear upon seeing me. I remembered then that I had been invisible to him earlier, and I tried to make myself look less threatening. Already the other girls were gasping and giving us space at the mere sight of me.
"Headmaster Han-Lin," Foreman Yang said, placing a fist against his palm and bowing. "I did not expect to see you."
Before Han-Lin could answer, Kutsuriuri addressed Foreman Yang. "My companion and I heard the screams, and we came to investigate," he explained. Foreman Yang looked slightly suspicious at Kutsuriuri's interest in the girls' murders and now this girl's death, but he said nothing.
"Girls, it'd be best for you to get to the warehouse," Foreman Yang said gently, trying to herd the girls away from the scene. Reluctantly, the girls left the fields, the shallow water lapping at their ankles and rippling against the tiny rice stalks.
As soon as the girls were out of earshot, Foreman Yang suddenly drew his sword and whipped it through the air until it hovered inches from my face. My golden eyes snapped and I jerked backwards.
"What are you doing?" Kutsuriuri asked angrily.
"This is the creature that killed those girls; I can sense it," he snarled.
"I told you, he is my companion!" Kutsuriuri retorted heatedly.
"Yeah? Well, where was he when you came by this field earlier? And for that matter, why are you, an outsider, so interested in those girls' murders?" Foreman Yang switched to pointing his sword at Kutsuriuri instead.
I could sense that Kutsuriuri was resisting the urge to roll his eyes. "This girl's death is the result of Mononoke – seven, to be exact," he explained. "The spirits of the ten girls that were murdered so brutally have festered into a hatred that has transformed them into Mononoke, and they have traversed the barrier between worlds to wreak havoc and to extract vengeance upon that which they deem lacking in justice. My companion and I –" he pointed to me, "have already sent three of the Mononoke back to the afterlife, but we are trying to send the remaining seven to the same place. We had been able to deduce that Headmaster Han-Lin was one of the targets, but we were not able to save this girl in the meantime. As for my companion's powers of invisibility…well, as you can see, he doesn't exactly look human." I rolled my eyes at this. "He can turn invisible if he doesn't want to startle anyone with his appearance." Kutsuriuri motioned for me to demonstrate, but I gave him a look and he stopped, barely succeeding in hiding a smirk.
Foreman Yang looked like his senses were warring against each other, but he finally sheathed his sword. "If I can help keep the rest of the girls safe, I will do everything in my power to help you," he said stiffly.
"As will I," Mai's voice sounded from behind us. I turned to see her tiny form, chin jutting out resiliently and a stubborn set to her jaw.
"Mai! You must go with the other girls," Foreman Yang's voice turned from suspicious to worried. Mai shrugged off the hands he placed on her shoulders.
"I overheard what you said about the Mononoke; suppose those girls feel a need to attack the rest of us? I want to be rid of them as much as you do," she said to us, and I admired her courage. Foreman Yang looked like he wanted to argue, but at that moment, the air around us became harder to breathe and the light was painted an orange-y red. Without a second thought, Kutsuriuri spread his arms, directing the papers with his magic to form a safe, enclosed space around us. Though the papers did not yet signal an attack by the Mononoke, I knew it would not be much longer before their strength was at full capacity.
"Mai," Kutsuriuri said gently. "I need you to tell me everything you know about this girl." He pointed to the unfortunate worker lying in the shallow water.
Mai took a deep breath, and Foreman Yang put an arm around her shoulders for support. "Her name was Sushira. She's worked here for about four years. I don't know where she lives or whom she might live with; she always kept a rather secretive life."
"Do you know if she might have any connection to the local brothel?" Kutsuriur asked.
Foreman Yang protested. "You dare impugn her honor? She has no association with that place!" he scowled.
Mai patted his arm, almost like a younger sister trying to placate an older brother. "It's alright, Foreman Yang," she said. "I do happen to know that she worked there. Many of the girls here worked at the brothel. After the crops failed three years ago, money was hard to come by…and many of us found other ways of earning money," she ended sadly.
"For clarification, do you know if the ten girls who were murdered also worked at the local brothel?" Kutsuriuri questioned.
"Yes. I know for a fact that all ten did," she answered. Kutsuriuri's eyes gained a triumphant gleam at that, but his face remained serious.
"Was there any animosity between the girls that you noticed?" he asked. Both Mai and Foreman Yang shook their heads.
"We're back to square one," Kutsuriuri muttered under his breath. He then returned his attention to Han-Lin. "How is it that ten girls who all worked in a brothel have some connection to you?"
"I have no connection to them!" Han-Lin retorted defensively. I groaned inwardly at the man who was causing us so many problems.
"He is innocent," Mai said tentatively. "He's engaged to Lai Maliya."
Han-Lin's face went from scared but snobbish like a rat's to proud and pompous like a rooster's. "I am engaged to Lai Maliya," he said. "She is one of the most wealthy and respected heiresses for miles around, and a union with her will be highly beneficial to my own status." My disgust for this oily, weasel-y man only deepened with each slimy word that dripped from his mouth.
Kutsuriuri glared at him. "A mere engagement has not stopped most men from taking advantage of a local brothel," he replied icily. Han-Lin's eyes widened in fear, and in that moment, both Kutsuriuri and I knew what had happened. The screams and howls of the Mononoke grew louder and louder, and I knew that we had minutes, if not seconds, before we would be under attack.
"You did," Kutsuriuri whispered. "You were the murderer, and that is why the Mononoke are after you. You laid with a worker, this worker," Kutsuriuri pointed to the girl lying in the water, "and she conceived. You did not know which girl was the one who would bear your child and thus expose your shame, so you set out to destroy all of the girls who worked both at the brothel and for you. This is the Makoto, the Truth."
Suddenly, we were lost in a sea of images, flashing by our eyes like those of a memory.
Han-Lin made his way towards the local brothel, his anticipation for the upcoming night rolling off of him in nearly-tangible waves…a darkly-lit room, filled with scantily-robed girls who also bore a mask, each mask carved into the shape of a cat…a sea of panthers, leopards, tigers, lynxes, and even some demure yet regal house-cats swam in front of his face…a white spotted-leopard looping a red silk scarf around Han-Lin's neck and dragging him into a pitch-black room…a silky voice repeating how glad she was that Han-Lin had returned to her for another night of pleasure and reminding him to expand his senses beyond that of sight as his robes were removed…a note a week later telling him that he was to break off his engagement with Maliya and instead marry the leopard, or his mystery lover would reveal to the world that she was bearing his child…Han-Lin's anger at being denied the ability to advance in social status…the anger festering until it became a desire to eliminate this girl…the plan forming in his mind to kill this girl…going through the girls whom he employed and who also worked at the brothel, and luring them, one by one, day by day, to a dark alley to secure their demise…his sick and perverted pleasure at whispering the words, "Now it is *your* turn to be the one without vision," as he plunged a knife into their eye sockets…his delight in continuing his engagement to Maliya after two weeks without any threats, only to return to a feverish insanity as the notes returned, this time with a vengeance…his continued exploits into the night to cleanse his workplace of any girls who also worked at the brothel…
My sword gave one final, loud chink, and the paper barrier broke under the force of the Mononoke as a sudden rush of power, wind, and color erupted from my sword.