Sacrament
Episode 10: Clandestine Chamber
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"I know I can do it. I'm sure that in time, every bit of her will be gone and her death will be a mystery... even to me." – Mort Rainey, Secret Window
….
"We have to talk, Rukia. Immediately. I know you're tired and you want to rest but it's very important that you know."
"Know what?" Rukia asked, leaning her head against her father's chest as he opened the back door to the Kuchiki estate with his booted foot. He walked inside, still carrying her, and made his way down the hallway and upstairs.
"About your mother."
Rukia's eyebrows furrowed deeply just as a pinching sensation gripped her heart. Her mother? Why?
"What about her." Rukia mumbled, and closed her eyes, remembering her dream with the boiling mud.
"Oh, Rukia. There is much you do not know about your mother. About me, even." Byakuya entered his study and set his daughter down on a big cushioned chair. It was the same one Hisana used to read in on rainy days. Byakuya sighed and sat down in the chair opposite Rukia.
The young woman pulled her knees up to her chest, shivering slightly. Her clothes were still soaking wet, as was her hair. Byakuya pursed his lips, then got up and wrapped a big feather-down blanket around his daughter before sitting back down again and crossing his arms. Rukia cuddled with the blanket, thankful for it's warmth.
"So." Byakuya said. "Where to begin?"
"You can still with… Mom." Rukia whispered, burrowing herself into the blanket like a naked mole rat. She sniffed.
"Rukia, your mother was a very special person." Byakuya stated, clearing his throat and looking down at the floor. He wasn't used to expressing his emotions so openly. And willingly. "She was a Witch—"
"Do not lie to me, father." Rukia said, giving Byakuya an ice-cold glare. "You and I both know that Witches are just an excuse to sacrifice women."
"That is not true, Rukia." Byakuya raised an eyebrow at her. "Witches are as real as you and I."
Rukia's mouth popped open to form a small O with disbelief. The man smiled -ever so slightly-at her reaction. Byakuya was actually serious.
…Her mother was a witch? Rukia couldn't believe it. Her mind was trying to keep up with what her father just said… but she couldn't wrap her brain around it. There was no way her mother could keep something like that from her for eight years. No way.
"In actuality, your mother was only one-half witch, or, called in the Witch Society: a Leath. Having said that, you, my daughter, are one-fourth witch. Known as a Ceithre, in Witch language."
"No!" Rukia gasped, one hand over her mouth.
"When I saw you drowning in the pond, I knew you must have just recently received your Ability. When you first get the Ability, around the age of twenty, your least-used hand will glow, and become hot. So hot, as if it is on fire. Now I understand why you jumped into the pond in the first place." Byakuya smiled without humor.
"This is crazy." Rukia closed her eyes. "This is absolutely insane, father. I can't be a Witch…"
"You are a Witch, Rukia." Byakuya said, raising his voice slightly. "You must accept your fate and know that you are a Witch, just like your mother. You are a Ceithre, and must behave as such. Now," said Byakuya rising from his seat, "Please cooperate with me. I need to show you something." He held out his hand.
Rukia, still disbelieving, obediently rose from her chair and took her father's hand tentatively. He led her out of his study and down a corridor. They passed Renji's room on the way. His door was wide open. Rukia could see Renji in his room, situating his stupid peach shawl in the exact angle that he wanted it to hang from his shoulder. The sight was kind of hilarious. Suddenly they heard a grunt of surprise from the red-haired man at the sight of his Lord. Renji, to Rukia's dismay, clambered out of his room to meet them.
"My Lord!" Renji bowed. "So good to see you again! I thought you were arriving in the morning! I would have set a welcoming feast if I had known you would be returning tonight! My Lord, I-"
"Renji Abarai." Byakuya cut the man off. "Did you know that my daughter almost drowned in the garden pond earlier?"
Renji's faced paled. Then he turned to look at his betrothed (unbeknownst to Rukia), and turned as pale as a crisp linen sheet. Rukia was still wet, her hair a damp mess, a few stray drops of water fell from her long sleeves.
"Where were you when my daughter was in distress, Abarai?" The Duke Kuchiki glared at the man. "If it wasn't for me, Rukia would be dead."
The look in her father's eyes almost made Rukia feel pity for the man.
"I can take care of myself, father…" Rukia mumbled. The two men didn't hear her.
"My Lord… I…" Renji hung his head. "I'm sorry."
"You didn't answer my question, boy." Byakuya almost spat. "Where were you when my Rukia almost died?"
Renji gulped, his Adam's apple bobbing. "I… I w-was…"
"Answer me."
"I was in in the village… the southern part of town." Renji hung his head. "All day. I thought that Rukia didn't want to see me, and I…" the red-haired man hesitated, probably scarred for his life.
"Go on boy, spit it out." Byakuya let go of Rukia's hand to cross his arms over his trim chest.
"I went to Seireitei."
Rukia blushed and looked down at the ground at the mention of the whore house in the southern end of Lorn. It was a filthy, nasty place littered with dishonorable women -and a few men- who sell their bodies for money or to pay off debts. Rukia pitied a lot of the women there.
"You what?" Byakuya asked incredulously. A long, tense moment passed before Byakuya's almost maddened face melted into passiveness. "…You disgust me. Leave my estate. Pack your things, you are not coming back."
Renji nodded glumly, and receded into his bedchambers to grab his belongings. When he returned with a small leather bag, only half full, he stopped in front of Byakuya. He tried to say something. The red-haired man even opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He was ashamed. He glanced at Rukia, his betrothed, and gazed into her eyes. He could see their future together in his mind, and how he had just lost everything he was promised over a stupid mistake.
"Goodbye." Renji said, his voice cracking.
"Leave." Byakuya glared at the man who was staring at his young daughter.
Rukia just nodded at Renji, her wet head bobbing marginally. She wasn't going to lose sleep over his banishment. In fact, Rukia was quite glad. Now she didn't have her own personal lapdog. One she did not want, mind you.
Renji, a pained look on his face, tore his gaze away from Rukia's beautiful violet eyes and shook his head as he walked away, hefting the leather bag over one shoulder. Rukia heard a whiney as Renji mounted his white steed Zabimaru.
Byakuya sighed. "Well, that's over with."
Rukia furrowed her eyebrows. For some reason, she didn't believe that they had seen the last of Renji Abarai.
Byakuya took his daughter's hand again and led her upstairs. They walked for several minutes in silence before they approached two huge mahogany doors. With a huff, Byakuya opened one of them and he and Rukia slipped inside. It was the Kuchiki estate's massive library. The walls, which were three stories high, were absolutely smothered in books of all genres. There were many long, movable ladders on wheels that were scattered throughout the library. They were there for the purpose of reaching the different levels of the books in the library. Byakuya said they were just for show, deeming them highly dangerous and untrusted. That didn't stop Rukia from climbing to the very top of them when she was younger. The walls (if you were lucky enough to see them in between stacks of books) were a stunning royal blue. There were also two, simple marble staircases that wove up to a huge balcony level with the second floor, and then weaved together into one staircase that rose up to the third balcony level with the third floor. Byakuya immediately made his way up the staircases to the third balcony, Rukia in tow.
They were up very high, and some of the chairs on the first floor seemed like toys now, like the kind that belonged in a dollhouse. Then Byakuya stopped. In the middle of the oval-shaped balcony, there was the Kuchiki family crest symbol engraved in the tile. It was a deep blue, almost black color, in stark contrast with the cream colored marble. He stood on the middle of it, and held out his palms in front of him.
"Take my hands, Rukia." He said.
Perplexed, but full of curiosity, Rukia took hold of her father's strong hands. Then he spoke.
"Oscailt." Byakuya chanted, and suddenly the symbol beneath them became a dark hole, and they fell through. Rukia didn't even have time to scream when they landed on a cold floor. The impact of the fall should've hurt Rukia. In fact, she should be on the ground, bent in awkward places, screaming her head off. But she wasn't. It was as if instead of falling down and gaining speed, they had slowed down. They landed softly on cold stone.
….
"Where is she?" Ichigo's tall frame perked up, and he rose from the chair to confront Yoruichi. "Where is Rukia's mother?" He looked at Yoruichi's muddy frame and snorted. "Gods, you're a mess." He plucked a twig from her hair and threw it on the ground.
"Shut up." Yoruichi rolled her eyes. "And, if you must know, Mrs. Hisana Kuchiki is now staying in my spare room above the shop."
"Let's just hope she doesn't get fat eating all of your cupcakes-"
Yoruichi bashed his head with an iron fist. Ichigo yelled ("Hey! What was that for?") and rubbed his aching head.
"She's barely eating at all, actually. She's quite shaken. We're lucky we made it out of England with our lives."
Ichigo stopped rubbing his head, a seriousness overcoming his mood. "Are you or Hisana hurt?" His eyes narrowed.
"No, we're fine. Just a few cuts and bruises. I healed them already."
"Wait, what? How? Cuts take a few days to heal and—"
"It's about time you know, Ichigo." Yoruichi tossed her hair over her slim shoulder nonchalantly. "Hisana isn't the only one that can perform black magic. I can too."
Oh, if only cameras had been invented back then. I'm sure Yoruichi would have taken a picture of Ichigo's face so she could look upon it and laugh day in and day out.
"I'm half-Witch. A Leath. My mother was a full-blooded Witch, an Iomlán."
"I… uh.. um." Ichigo scratched his head, completely and utterly confused out of his mind. He settled with a simple: "Okay."
Yoruichi smiled, the corners of her eyes crinkling.
….
It was dark, but Byakuya, feeling around in the darkness, lit a torch set in the wall. The secret room illuminated with light, and dark shadows danced across the plain white walls with the flickering flame. It was a small, simple room with only one thing in it besides the torch.
It was a pedestal; on top of it was thick black book. The book looked decades, if not centuries, old. Byakuya slowly walked up to it, and fingered the old, crisp pages lightly.
"This is the Book of Witches and Warlocks." Byakuya said, his back turned against her. Rukia timidly walked closer to her father, hands behind her back. "It is the oldest book in all of Scotland, and it is a treasure. Priceless."
The young woman felt one of her eyebrows raise at the sight of the thin, pages that Byakuya was turning.
"What does it do?" Rukia asked, a perplexed emotion covering her features. She looked over her father's shoulder, but all she saw were jumbled writings that she couldn't identify.
"It teaches one in the ways of black magic." Byakuya said bluntly. He closed the book, and a booming thud sound echoed off the white walls of the room.
"Back in your study… you said that I didn't know a lot about my mother." Rukia said. The air in the room was cold and damp, Rukia crossed her arms to try to shield herself from it. "But you also said that I didn't know much about you, either." She cocked her head to the side. "What are you trying to tell me, father?"
"I'm telling you that…" Byakuya took a deep breath. "I'm a Warlock, Rukia."
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A/N: Merry Christmas all! I worked really hard and really fast so that this chapter would be up just in time for a late night Xmas gift! I hope you enjoyed it and I'll update as fast as I can!
Thank You SO MUCH For Reviewing: WindMiko, and ichiruki fan 3 for reviewing! Oh, and splitheart1120 for the FIFTEITH REVIEW! Thank you so much, and you're Pokemon fics are awesome! :D
P.S. = Sacrament now has 50 reviews! OMG OMG OMG OMG. :'D
Until next time,
Liymenello