Chapter 7 All about Me
Mai knocked on the door of Ayami's room, just an hour before the ritual in the attic. It had been awhile since Mai had felt this awkward around anyone but Naru, but there were some things about Ayami that Mai just wanted to know of, and she had a feeling that if she were to wait too long to ask Ayami about it, something irreversible may happen during the gap. Their talk hours back had not been an overly friendly one yet Ayami had relinquished so easily when Mai spoke.
And something else had touched her mind too, just as Ayami had ascended the stairs. Why had she been so cooperative? Ayami had lied to them for that long, done so much, yet in the end, she'd so easily agreed to what they asked?
Maybe it was her latent sensitivity that had told her – that Mai didn't know – but she could tell that Ayami wasn't a bad person. She wasn't someone that could hurt another human being. The girl had appeared so incredibly lonely when the meeting had ended that Mai had felt an ache in her heart. The look hadn't lasted long, but still, something told Mai that Ayami didn't have many sides to her because she wanted to; she was like this so that she could hide her true self away from the world.
She wasn't quite sure what she was doing here, really, but Mai just wanted to talk to Ayami, even if it was just for a short amount of time.
The doors slipped open just a notch, and Touya-san slipped out from between the gaps. Nervously, Mai took a hurried step back, avoiding the elder as he amazingly balanced a tray of uneaten lunch with one hand and closed the door with the other. She smiled awkwardly, not quite knowing what to say to the man now. They had just finished interrogating the main resident of the home, after all. What did Touya-san think of them now?
The manservant, however, merely beamed when he saw Mai and she felt incredibly guilty of her uncertainty. He normally wasn't so happy when he saw her so Mai also had a feeling that something was up.
"Taniyama-sama. Ayami-sama is just inside. She's speaking on the phone at the moment, but I'm sure she won't mind you being there though."
Mai shook her head politely. "If she's on the phone, I don't mind waiting outside."
The man shook his head insistently. "No, no, Taniyama-sama. Ayami-sama would be most unimpressed if I let you stand outside and wait. He opened the door again with a single hand. "Please, go inside and wait for my lady. I am sure that she is almost finished."
Mai smiled weakly, declining the offer again. After the manservant's persistent insistency, Mai finally pushed her way into the room. The size of Ayami's room amazed her still, and in the evening light, it appeared even larger than it had a few nights ago. The lounge was still apparent, clean and glittering almost as wind rushed in from the balcony that's doors Ayami had left open. In the further corner, opposite of her four-poster bed, Ayami was sitting by a glassed study desk; her elbows leant against the table as she spoke in a language that Mai didn't understand. She didn't hold onto the phone or anything, and was actually leaning against the chair, balancing a glass of water in her hands. The phone was probably on speaker, because Mai couldn't see any earphone pieces sticking from Ayami's ears.
The girl smiled when she saw Mai, which was a relief to her, as Mai thought that she'd already ruined the friendship between them, though Mai could see that Ayami was in a black mood. Whoever it was that was replying to what Ayami had said in that same language, clearly didn't impress the other girl.
"—why do you persistently use a different language with me every time we talk?" Ayami demanded, setting the water onto the desk. For once, she was actually speaking Japanese, and Mai could understand her quite clearly. "We grew up speaking eleven languages. It doesn't mean that we actually have to use them."
Eleven languages? Mai kept her expression composed, trying to make it look as though she wasn't eavesdropping.
"Then why did you just switch from Sumerian to Japanese?" the voice on the other side had finally switched to a language that Mai too understood, thankfully. Mai could hear flawless Japanese from the speaker, hindered only by occasional static that told Mai that this person was probably in a rural area. The voice was sophisticated, and that of a young males. The casual arrogance in it reminded Mai slightly of Naru, actually. "Is someone else in the room?"
Ayami snorted, though her eyes did fleet towards Mai for a moment. "You should know, shouldn't you? Don't you have someone here waiting to report back to you when I so much as sneeze?"
"Well Touya no doubt let her in because he's afraid you'll break something in anger after my conversation with you. So it's the brown haired girl that you think—"
Ayami and Mai's eyes widened. Horrified, Mai cast a look around the room, just to make sure that they were the only two people in here. Ayami, however, was already snapping into the phone. "You bastard. You have people following me again, don't you?" Ayami demanded.
Mai could practically see the person on the other line shrugging. "Define follow. If you mean I had someone watch your every movement and then had them reported back to me, then yes, I have been having you followed. And you claimed to know of it, so why are you being so sensitive?"
"Why you complete—" Ayami let out a line of noun, verbs, and adjectives, that told the other person exactly what she thought they deserved, when, and where. None of which were at all flattering. Mai flinched at the labels the other girl used, but whoever was on the other line merely laughed.
"So kind you are, my belle," he said, speaking now in English. A slight British accent dragged around his words, but still, Mai was amazed by the ease in which he changed languages.
"Don't get all Shakespeare on me, buddy," Ayami snapped, still speaking in Japanese. Whoever this was, they could make Ayami lose composure the way she did it for everyone else. "So are you going to tell me where it is or not?" Ayami demanded.
Again, there was another laugh. "Don't you think you should be a little friendlier when asking for a favour, my belle? After all, you're the one that needs it, not me."
"Well I left mine at home," Ayami said. "If you're not going to tell me where it is, let me know now so I can choose another way of getting rid of Eleusis."
There was a light click, and a slight pause. "You're thinking of using the elements of the Pyramidal Lining, aren't you?" All the humour had faded from his voice now and Mai looked up, just to see Ayami roll her eyes. "You know that's dangerous, Ayami."
"Good bye, Raidon."
She reached her hand out and ended the phone call with a single button. Then, quite humbly, Ayami clicked the button again, just to keep the line connected, before turning to Mai.
"Well, you've just had the pleasure of listening to one Mimisaki Raidon, Mai. So what brings you here now? I'm surprised that you still want to talk to me after the discussion we had this morning."
And at that, Mai was uncertain. She could not believe that she had had such an interlude when she'd stood outside the door, only to forget most of her purpose after entering the room.
"Are you worried about tonight's events?" Ayami asked. The girl smiled in a friendly manner. "Don't worry; I won't let any harm come to your friends."
Was that what she'd come for?
"I didn't think that anything would happen to them," Mai replied when she saw the look in Ayami's eyes.
There was a slight pause, and for the first time, Mai saw that Ayami was surprised.
"You don't think I'm a bad person, do you?" Crystal laughter echoed through the cold room for a moment, and Ayami, now cynical, shook her head. "I would do anything to keep that innocence in you, Mai. You're such a good person; you search for qualities in anyone, even if there isn't anything to find."
Mai frowned. "You're a good person though." Mai remembered back to something Bou-san had told her once and her face lit up. "Oh! Bou-san told me that people with certain auras are able to repel spirits with their presence, and most of the people are made of purity. Every time you come along, the spirits leave me—"
Ayami's expression was dry in response and Mai's words faltered on her lips. "You're overestimating me here. The reason why the spirits in this house avoid me is because Raidon slipped holy water inside all the alcohol in the manor. For that reason, they keep away from me, seeing as when I'm on his property, I can't go three hours without something to drink."
Mai blinked. Oh. Well, she'd certainly gotten that wrong.
Ayami frowned at Mai, her mind thinking of something that Mai had a feeling she wouldn't be able to comprehend.
"Mai, have your parents ever spoken to you about where they came from?" Ayami asked.
Mai shook her head. How had the topic transferred to her parents, anyway? "My parents passed away when I was younger. They might have told me, but I've forgotten it, really."
"Then do you know anything about them?"
Again, she shook her head, though her confusion deepened.
Ayami didn't say anything. Instead, she shrugged. She reached for her mug and took a deep sip of whatever it was that was in it. Knowing Ayami, probably alcohol.
"It's not liquor," Ayami smiled, after having either correctly interpreting Mai's expression or reading her thoughts. "It's just water now. I might need to crack open a vein later, so I need as much water as I can get. Alcohol makes your blood thinner, so I won't be drinking for awhile."
Crack open a vein? Mai remembered back to the dream she'd had of the girl in the cemetery. "So how do you plan to get the Goddess back to where she came from?"
Ayami looked towards the phone. "I had a way, and that would have been the easiest, but unfortunately, I need a tool that I'd left at home, and the owner of this house doesn't want to share his. Normally, when one attempts to pacify a god, human sacrifice is required."
Mai frowned. A human sacrifice?
Ayami stood up from her desk, walking towards her vanity table. She opened one of the draws and pulled out a small, slight gift box that had probably been recently accessed. She opened the box up, and inside, Mai saw a dagger, probably made from gold, with jewels encrusted onto the handles. The blade was a tall diamond shape that reached an incredibly fine point at the very end.
"Seeing as I don't want all of us dying when I try to placate the god with my death, I'll have to release the Goddess, communicate with a stronger God, from a different culture, and use their presence to force Eleusis back to where she came from." Ayami tipped the blade between her fingers, seemingly thoughtful as she stared at her own reflection in the vanity mirror. "So who do you think I should summon?"
It was half an hour later when they'd met up with the others. Ayami led Mai to a room that they hadn't seen before, across from the Third Floor. The others must have been brought here by Touya-san, because it wasn't as though they'd ever been here themselves.
"And here comes hell," Ayami murmured, then she moved towards strolling to the other side of the room. She exchanged a few words with Touya-san, and Ayako pulled Mai away, bombarding her with questions of her location for the past hour. Apparently, Naru had tried to reach her and hadn't been able to, so he hadn't been happy. Mai smiled sheepishly, realising that she'd left her phone at base again. She cast a look towards the others die of the room and saw that Naru, as said, did not look happy. Masako let out an indignant huff, as typical of her behaviour, and Mai turned back to look to see what Ayami was doing.
Ayami blinked when she saw the video camera that had been set up in front of her. Mai frowned too, wondering why they bothered with it. Normally, they only needed this camera when they were moderating situations that they weren't sure of. Then again, it wasn't as though they were sure of any of this.
"You're filming?" Ayami asked blankly.
Yasuhara-san stepped forward, smiling brightly. "If you don't mind."
"Oh, I don't mind at all," Ayami said. "I just hope you have insurance on all your property."
She shook her head, as though trying to get a grasp of why on Earth they would bother. Then, Ayami turned over and engaged in a small conversation with Lin-san that mainly involved her talking and Lin-san staring.
Mai walked towards Ayami. When she got there, Lin-san nodded and left.
Ayami frowned, looking after Lin-san as he moved to make sure that everything, including the cameras, was correctly placed. "A man of many words, isn't he?" Ayami said dryly.
Mai suppressed a smile. "Lin-san doesn't normally have much to say," she said.
"Yes, I can see that," Ayami said, frowning still. "Maybe I should drop some wax on him and see if he reacts after that."
Mai's grin stretched across her face this time. "But don't you need him?"
Ayami nodded and then shrugged, as though considering something, before her face broke out into an evil smirk.
"Watch this," she murmured.
The girl took a step forward, moving towards Lin-san as she grabbed a ceremonial knife from the table. She got to the senior assistant, who had been joined by Naru, and held the knife towards the man. Bou-san, Naru, and Lin-san turned over to her methodically.
Frowning, Lin-san accepted the tool and looked at it blankly. Yasuhara-san slipped in to stand beside Mai and both she and he watched their hostess address the most aloof individual in the room.
"What's she doing?"
Mai shook her head, not taking her eyes off the other girl. "I'm not sure."
Ayami was looking up at Lin-san, her face completely blank and serious. "I'm thinking of using Egyptian rituals for this and I need an organ. Do you mind donating a kidney?"
Lin-san blinked.
There was a paused beat, and then another, and then another. Then, Mai and Yasuhara-san burst out laughing and Bou-san covered his mouth with his hand quickly, suppressing his silent chuckles. Naru shot them a glare from where he stood. Quickly, they silenced their laughter and got along on silent giggles instead.
Lin-san handed the knife back to Ayami. His usual distant expression had returned, and he merely stared at her.
Ayami's lips twitched, but she refrained from smiling as she tsked. "Absolutely no sense of humour," she declared, and made way towards the further end of the room. As she went, she shot both Mai and Yasuhara-san a wink before she reached her destination and began observing the tools on the table.
Moments later, Ayami stood in front of a desk in the plain, bare room. The rest of S.P.R lined up against the wall, watching her.
"I feel like I'm drafting for someone's doom," Ayami said dryly. "Thank God I let you people choose who was going to do this. The majority of you already have it in your heads that I am the Wicked Witch from The West." Ayami gestured towards the unusual mat that had been laid across the floor. "Well, I need two people. Whoever it is that is getting chosen, please stand at the pyramid points."
Ayako frowned, no doubt observing, just as Mai had, that there were three points to the pyramid, not two. "Who stands at the third point then?"
Ayami turned to her. "Me, obviously."
Mai blinked. She hadn't thought that Ayami would be actively participating in the ceremonial part of this also.
John-san too seemed to share her thoughts. "Can you do that if you're the one that…" he drifted off, an apologetic smile setting on his face.
Ayami shrugged. "Yeah. I can." She winked. "Watch me."
Lin-san and Bou-san stepped forward, Ayami moved towards them, but she didn't move to stand at the final point of the triangle.
"What do we do?" Bou-san asked. He appeared a little nervous, though Mai couldn't blame him. They had no idea what was going on here, and were all completely out of element.
"Stand there and look pretty," Ayami replied evenly. Then, she smiled. "It'll be easy for one of you." Her eyes took in what Bou-san was wearing and her smile turned into a grin. "And not so easy for the other." Then, her eyes turned gravely serious for just a moment. "And please, whatever you do, do not leave your spot."
Before any of them could reply, she continued. "I'll slice open the vein and forgo the blood for sacrilege. Normally, we need animal blood, but because someone" –Ayami shot a deadened glare at the door, and Mai had a feeling she meant it for Touya-san –"didn't want any animal bloods sullying the couches, and Lin-san refused to donate his kidney, I have to use myself instead. When I do what I do, Touya will release Eleusis from the ward. She will sense another presence and humbly return back to where she came from" She cast a brilliant smile. "And if we can all be quiet, then I can do my job." Masako huffed and Mai suppressed a grin. Though she hated to admit it, it was normally Ayami that really opened her mouth the most.
Then, Ayami stepped into the final corner of the triangle. She lifted her right arm, using the knife in her left hand to break the skin by her wrist. Mai's eyes widened when she realised that there was still a scar from Ayami's last summoning.
Dark, foreboding tones spilt from Ayami's lips and Mai was horrified when she saw Ayami's face literally transform into that of another person's. The girl began chanting in another language that Mai did not understand. Beside her, Masako suppressed a scream as upstairs, there was a loud, smashing sound. Mai's eyes cast upwards, realising that that must have been the goddess that had just been released.
Huge winds seemed from the walls. The doors were all closed; the gushes seemed to come from nowhere. They all gasped and Mai dodged quickly as one of the items of the table blew towards her. The wind grew stronger and they all hit the ground. Bou-san, Lin-san, Naru, and Ayami were the only ones that were still standing – Ayami the only one that seemed immune to the winds.
A woman, her hair long and black, materialised behind Ayami suddenly. Mai stared when she realised that the winds still ran towards Ayami's direction; it just seemed to be deflected when it reached her. The other woman stood beside Ayami calmly, her eyes cold as she calmly looked from left to right. Whoever this person was, she was not friendly.
Mai dragged herself across the floor to her and she opened her mouth, ready to warn Ayami of the person behind her as she scrambled onto her feet.
Somehow, as she'd crawled, she'd ended up beside Naru. When Mai stood up, she realised that Naru had noticed her already. "Mai! Stay down!"
Mai hesitated, not wanting to argue with Naru at a time like this. Suddenly, the winds grew stronger and Naru covered her head with his arms, forcing her eyes to look away. Mai choked, realising that something grainy had been caught in her throat. Whatever it was, it was also hitting against her face. For something that was blowing in winter, it was strangely hot and humid. Mai had never been to a desert, but this was what it reminded her of.
Then, the winds abruptly ceased, and there was a final screech from someone upstairs. Moments later, Naru let go of Mai and Mai looked up, her heartbeat running at rapid rates as the others stood up also. Naru's coat had was completely filled of sand; Lin-san's, Yasuhara-san's and Bou-san's hair seemed to have soot running from it, John-san was attempting to cough out the sand in his throat, and Ayako and Masako's clothing seemed to have fallen in every direction possible. Mai didn't even want to look down to see how she was.
Of all the people in the room, only Ayami was dirt and rustle free.
Ayami gestured grandly around the room, her gesture amazingly Old World. "And the deed is done," she declared.
Then, the girl smiled. It was a light, dim smile, before her eyelids fluttered, and she fell dead to the ground.
13.08.2008: Yet another chapter...this, as you could probably guess, is the end of the segment. There's going to be an Epilogue now, and that's it. Hehe...Then I'll eventually get the next section up, and the one after that, and the one after that...but yeah, whenever...
Anyway, many thanks to: Gabryell-P, canadian violet (Nah, Mai didn't get hurt this time, suprisingly enough. There are more answers in the Epilogue, if that makes you feel any better, though I doubt it does. But Ayami's not quite strong as you seem to think she is...), killbethy, Kay (thanks; glad to hear from you again), yumegirl91, luna-moongoddess, julie34 (Thanks for the compliment! I'm glad you like the concept. I think it's a little fantasy like for Ghost Hunt though...