Disclaimer: I do not own Shadow Hearts.

SHADOW HEARTS: A NOVELIZATION

Chapter Four

(Zhuzhen's POV)

"OH NO NO no no," my partner said.

He rattled the gates to pry it open, but no avail. The giant doors refused to separate, and he soon gave up with a sigh.

"Ah! We should have expected it. This is a pretty fishy village after all." Meiyuan let out another dramatic breath as he clasped his cheeks with the palms of his hand.

I did not respond.

The middle-aged acupuncturist stopped his melodramatics. "What're you doing?"

Dragging the oak staff across the ground, the dirt scattered away to show a glowing mark across the village. The purple lines trailed into a circle surrounding complex patterns, stretching transversely like the drips of a new stain.
I stopped digging under the soil. I already knew what the symbol meant anyway. After all, I had seen it before…

The Reverse Seal of Tianfeng. The mark of Dehuai.

But he was supposed to have lost his powers fifteen years ago.

Fifteen years ago… that was a long time, though. I couldn't keep track of the years anymore. But surely it couldn't be that he was now…

I shook my head solemnly. It was probably best not to fret over any possible disasters just yet. For now, Meiyuan and I had to finish the job we started when we walked into this village in the first place.

And the first problem is…

"No doubt about it. We're stuck here," I said.

Meiyuan clicked his tongue. "This won't be good for business…" he muttered, until his eyes shot up and gleamed, "but maybe we'll meet some cute guys walking around!"

I smirked and gazed off into the misty village. Distant moans echoed out the run-down shacks. The malice of the villagers thickened the fog, and I could almost smell the bitter vengeance in the air.

I tucked a hand in the pocket of my silk robe.

"Go ahead," I replied, "if you want to be killed and eaten by these cannibals."

Meiyuan did not open his mouth. I hid a smile.

But before I could continue investigating the symbol any further, I caught sight of two shadows walking towards us in the mist. Meiyuan noticed as well, and took a step closer, squinting to decipher the figures as demons or regular humans. I raised my staff up and gripped the polished wood firmly.

I soon realized the figures we thought posed a threat turned out to be only a young lady and man. The lady was dressed in a modest blue and white dress, her light hair braided into a bun, while her partner's attire was more brash and sloppy.

They were a strange-looking couple, but then again, I supposed we were also.

The brown-haired youth took immediate notice of me. "Huh? Who're you, old man?" he blurted.

But, if I looked closer, past the dirt and the rags, I noticed the familiar features of this strange man. His strong jawline. The small light of determination in his eyes. The great but disastrous power lurking beneath…

It was déjà vu.

"Well, well," I smiled. "Still people here, eh?"

He did not pay much attention to me as I did with him. "Stand aside," he ordered briskly, as he walked up to the gates and tried to push it. It moved only slightly, ready to open but never letting go. The youth furrowed his eyebrows and heaved a strong kick instead, and still the results were the same.

"Huh, it won't open!!" he slowly came to conclude, but still persisted on kicking some more, whether out of impatience or frustration.

I shook my head. What I assumed of this boy was a long run, but it definitely wasn't impossible. He was more wiry and edgy, scrawny and taller, but his face had the very image.

I supposed it wouldn't hurt to figure one more case out.

"Unfortunately, you won't be able to leave. See this?" I prodded my staff against the dirt.

He looked at the strange symbol glowing on the ground. "What's that? Does it mean you can't leave or somethin'?"

"Yep, that's about the size of it," I said. I watched him go around investigating the gates, attempting to pick at the locks even though there were none. He was only able to squeeze his nose and arm through. Obviously he did not care much about the symbol.

Hmm. He had a more country way of speaking, definitely unusual in a place like China, but his voice was tough and clear. It was something you'd be forced to listen, even without meaning it, whether you wanted to or not.

"Excuse me," a feminine voice spoke up. I finally noticed the quiet Caucasian girl, who had been standing here all this time. "How did you men get in here?"

"Through here. We just pushed the gate open. It would appear that anyone is free to enter."

"We got in," Meiyuan added, cocking his head to the side and poking his cheek with his index finger, "but it looks like we can't go back out. Ah, I hate it, I hate it."

The boy, having finally stopped looking around for nonexistent locks of the gate, raised an eyebrow. He stared at us suspiciously for a long time, and then said slowly, "I see…"

Then he walked back to the girl, this time standing closer to her side. "… And you are?"

I chuckled. Acting tough and apathetic was not enough of a cover for him. Maybe the girl knew as well. But, if he was truly the boy I thought he was, then I had might as well fully introduce myself.

"Hahaha. You want to know who I am? I am the true ruler of the nine heavens. The absolute sage Master Zhuzhen. Among exorcists and spirit healers, I am quite well known. There are many adepts in the world, but only I will do that kind of work by the hour or day. I was hired by the elders in the neighboring village to come and investigate this place tonight."

It was only the girl who responded. "An adept for hire by the day? That's quite unique."

Her partner half-nodded along and seemed to had drift off after the first few sentences.

"This guy's weird all right. But he's invaluable to me, for all the great jobs he brings in," Meiyuan said, giving me a hard slap on the back. We had traveled long enough for him to know that I'd only be offended if he had smacked lightly. People seemed to treat anyone over sixty as frail and only a wise old man.

Meiyuan let go of his hand and then moved closer to the boy. "But wait, handsome, don't you want to know who I am?" he leered.

The youth immediately jumped back at his hit-on. I'd say that damn Meiyuan, but at least the boy was able to pay attention to the conversation again. So I only scolded him.

"Hey, hey, hey, lay off. That's how you scare customers away." I pulled my partner's shoulder away and looked at the boy, who had scooted even closer to the girl. This time, it was more for protecting himself rather than her. So much for being tough.

"This fellow here is a top-notch acupuncturist. Even brand new weapons feel like they've been yours for ten years once he's worked on them," I explained, and then glowered back at him. "The only problem is, you have to learn to put up with certain predilections he has."

The said acupuncturist bobbed his head eagerly, not taking offense to the last sentence. "That's right," he agreed instead. "I can't fight, but you'll love the way I assist."

Both the boy and the girl gawked at us.

I decided next time to work more on proper introductions.

The youth spun around. "Let's hit it, Alice. We can find our own way out." She nodded her head and the two of them began walking off.

I started after them before Meiyuan could try anything. "Now hold on a second, kid. You too, honey."

The couple stopped and listened, to my relief. The boy poked a thumb to himself. "I'm Yuri," he said, and then pointed at the girl beside him, "and this is Alice. What is it now, pops?"

Yuri, is it? He didn't care enough to bother remembering my name, but I kept his in mind, for now. After all, it was Yuri. A Japanese name. But it could also be…

"I admire your spirit, kid," I returned the favor of forgetful names. "But no matter how much you walk, you'll never get out of this village the way you're going."

Yuri's face darkened into a glare. "What's that supposed to mean?!"

He was ready to probably try to pummel me down at the remark, had it not for the girl, Alice, to step in between us.

"That's because of this mysterious mark here, isn't it, Zhuzhen?"

She tried to analyze the scrawls and symbols, but quickly gave in from having no knowledge of Chinese sorcery. But she was on the right track. Alice was definitely a smart one, and I decided it would be simpler to talk to her instead, rather than her partner. He had calmed down to listen to her and then scratched his head at all the lines that were gibberish to him on the ground.

"Exactly. The seal's power separates the village from the outside world. The seal itself is just like the lid on a pot. But this one has a lock that needs to be opened."

Alice focused her eyes on the seal and thought carefully. "How can we open that lock?" she questioned. "What do we need to break the seal?"

"That's right. You get the idea," I said. "Now listen carefully… both of you."

Yuri finally turned his head up and kept eye contact with me. Boy, was this kid a bother to get a hold of. I wondered how Alice was able to keep his attention every time she spoke.

"Someone in this village might be the key to this seal. You must find and defeat that person."

I stared at the two, deliberating cautiously, but perhaps I had not contemplated enough because I soon said, "Well, as they say, the journey IS the destination, so I'm coming along to see how I can help out." And then I joined them.

Alice seemed relieved by that idea and Yuri groaned. "What a pain," he muttered loudly.

I couldn't remember the last time I laughed so hard. A small pain filled my stomach, but it was well worth it. An insolent kid like him insulting an absolute sage? It was the joke of the century!

I wiped a tear from my eye as Yuri shrugged and mumbled something to Alice about going senile. I didn't mind. He'd see my power soon, anyway, depending on how dangerous this village was.

And I looked forward to seeing his as well.

It wasn't every day a person could witness the power of a Fusionist, after all. Things were going to be very interesting indeed…

"I'm no good at fighting. I'll stay here and dodge monsters until you get back," Meiyuan said. "If you want to get the most out of a new weapon, come and see me anytime. I'll show you it's true power."

"No thanks," Yuri declined right after his last sentence, and motioned Alice to quickly walk away with him. She turned her head back to check if I was coming along. I followed and walked further into the village with the two.

We discussed more about the ancient seals in this land, but the talking was mostly exchanged between Alice and me. The other one acted ignorant of subjects too complex for his thinking, and he walked a few feet ahead of us, hands folded behind his head.

"I see," Alice said, after listening to my explanation of the Wind of Heaven seal placed upon this village. "I was an exorcist too, with my father, but I'm not familiar with Chinese spells. I'm not sure if I can even pronounce them correctly…"

We glanced up at Yuri after he snorted. The guy had been eavesdropping on our conversation after all.

"Heheh. Yeah, you're always a little off with 'Yuri', too. There's a slight English accent at the end every time."

Alice's cheeks reddened with embarrassment. She hastily apologized, but the boy laughed it off and assured her it was fine, it sounded cute like that anyway.

Watching him laugh and smile at the girl made finally understand why she was the only one he paid attention to. I tittered quietly in the background. He was probably too young to be aware of it himself.

"I've traveled in England for too long," Alice said, looking down. "I can't even properly say a simple Japanese name."

Yuri started protesting and said he liked his name that way, until I spoke up.

"It's not just a Japanese name," I informed. "Anne named him Yuri because it's also Russian. It makes more sense, after all, since Yuri is only a Japanese name for a girl…"

I stifled a chuckle underneath the sleeve of my robe. I remembered his father had talked about it on that rainy day, and my imagining of his stunned face when he found out the name of his child was still the same as fifteen years ago.

I expected Alice to giggle and Yuri to act huffy and puffy, but their reaction was different. Instead, they had stopped their tracks, staring long and oddly at me.

Then I realized my mistake.

Now I've done it.

The boy's eyes lowered down and hard at me.

"Hey, pops…" he said. "Mind telling me how you know I'm half Japanese half Russian? Or better yet, how you know my mom's name?"

Ah. I've really dug myself a hole here...

What to do, what to do. Even I couldn't figure a way out myself. But no matter what, I could not tell him. It was impossible. Especially now – we had just met, we still needed the key to get out of this village, and he wouldn't be able to handle the truth.

I couldn't take their stare-down any longer and opened my mouth, about to sputter any excuse I could think off the top of my head, until a flash of light shined behind me. The three of us turned at the wind unfurling beneath an old woman's feet, clearing the air. She covered her nose, glaring horridly at us. "Wh-what is that awful smell?!"

"Mayor lady!" Yuri shouted, but before he could catch her, she had already jumped back and disappeared.

Later on when we ran near her presence again, she reappeared, screaming "go away!", and disappeared the second time.

With the old woman's strange behavior, Alice suggested we visit Granny Mayor's house. As we stepped through the crusty soil of the village Yuri kept an apprehensive watch on me the whole way, an unusual gaze for someone who hardly batted an eye at me a while ago.

Still, I was fortunate enough to have our group distracted by the woman and not on the subject that I knew about Yuri's past – no, not yet. We had bigger matters to focus on, and when we entered through her doorstep, Granny Mayor seemed to had forgotten about the smell and sneered at our company.

"Ha ha ha!" she cackled. "So, you're here again! You'll never leave. That is the Yamaraja's decision."

Raising an eyebrow, I stepped forward towards her. "What you mean, granny, is it's the decision of whoever's controlling Yamaraja behind the scenes."

"Wh-Who are you?" she asked sharply, widening her eyes once she took notice of me.

My head nodded down as I chuckled. It was about time someone in this village recognize my aptitudes instead of a certain apathetic ruffian.

"Heh heh heh… I'm the adept hired to exorcise this village. So, are you ready to say uncle?"

Granny Mayor slowly began to laugh. "Ha ha ha! You couldn't even catch me," she whispered, and though confident, it was almost as if it were to assure herself, "Why would I be afraid of you?! Poof!"

And in a small hurricane of wind and dust, she vanished to thin air. None of us were surprised anymore. Even Yuri didn't act as angry as before. Instead, he looked over to me and said, rather lamely, "Hey, we missed her again."

I shook my head no. "No, I can still feel her presence. She's still hiding somewhere in this house." I scanned the dimly lit walls for her shadow-less figure. "I guess it's time to apply the secret formula for smoking out cat people."

"Do you have any idea what we should do?" Alice asked.

I nodded a self-assured smile. "That I do. I suppose you know how cats take to catnip?" Pulling the plant from my robe pockets, my fingers uncurled to reveal egg-shaped leaves with a peculiar reddish hue. "I made it by mixing catnip with special dye! Well, this here is something called 'Anti-Cat Powder'."

Yuri jumped back with a roar, pinching his nose and glaring at the hairy herb.

"Man, these leaves really stink!! You just carry these around?! So that's what that funny smell was…"

He eyed me up and down strangely and I finally figured out that the boy really had completely forgotten about the question of his past and his mother, and had been only eyeing me suspiciously because of the odor. Honestly, what did he really think the reason I had the smell was for, anyway?

But soon Yuri's eyebrows jumped and he pounded a fist into his palm at his realization. "Now I get it! That's why Granny hid herself!!"

"Right, she probably couldn't stand the thought of running into me and having to smell this odor again. It's actually an herbal remedy for stomach aches, but it's smoke has a powerful effect on cat people. Simply carrying it is effective, but burn it and the power multiplies."

I rubbed my chin thoughtfully, my eyes brightening at an idea. "Let's smoke her out."

Once we searched through the village for a metal vessel and torch and gathered the two, I burned the incense in the house. Fragrant smoke rose from the blue flame, and this time, Yuri had to run back several steps. He clasped both hands over the center of his face.

"Whoa! Now this stinks!" the boy muffled out. Even Alice turned away and placed her fingers over her nose.

In a matter of seconds the cat woman reappeared, coughing and hacking from the smoke. "Hack! Hack! Wh-What is this?! Hack!" she croaked.

Yuri freed one hand away from his face and pinched his nose with the other to give more room for his mouth to shout, "I've got you now, old hag!" Yes, nevermind the fact that I was the one who actually pulled her out. "You ready to be skinned, cat?"

Though her weakened state made it much easier to defeat her, it was a shame I still could not witness Yuri's power. With simple punches and kicks from the man, and a few fire spells here and there from me, the battle quickly ended without needing a single healing from Alice. No extraordinary fusions from the hotheaded kid, and not even a special cure from the young lady? A waste of time and effort indeed, but not just for us…

Granny Mayor as well.

She fell to the ground on her knees, near to death, but moaned her last, bitter words.

"Ug… I've been defeated by a human…" she croaked. "You'll never understand the pain of giving birth, only to have them devoured… My vengeance was in vain…"

I shook my head sadly at the pitiful sight in front of us. "I feel for you," I said honestly, "but I suggest you let it go and give yourself some peace. I'll ask my employers to pray for the souls here."

Snapping her head up, Granny Mayor glared with pungent hatred in her weak eyes. "I won't accept pity from you!" she shrieked, and tossed her head up high. "Yamaraja! I leave everything in your hands…!"

Silence fell upon us by her last word as the woman fell forward and died.

Quietly, Alice was the first to speak up. "So the monsters in this village actually came from the souls of domestic animals, huh?" she murmured, as if she had suspected this already traveling through Zhaoyang.

"Now, now, Alice. We're not done yet." I paced myself back at the door and stared onwards at the nearby shrine in the horizon. "Next comes that so-called 'shrine' over there!"

Yuri's eyes shined with excitement and his grin was the widest I had ever seen tonight.

"Heh, now for Yamaraja!"

He was a reckless boy searching for danger, indeed, but after a small success one cannot be too confident for the next challenge afterwards.

Author's Note: This is where I stopped writing. I won't pick up this story anymore, so I hope you enjoyed reading while it lasted!