Note: Hello! Chapter 2 is now up! Hope you like it, and especially understand it! I hope it's not too difficult to follow up on the little bit of Japanese culture I stuck in there. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Lord Voldemort (unfortunaltely). I own the plot and all the other characters in the fic so far, and nothing else.
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Origin:
Yamamoto… has it truly been that long? She hadn't heard that name in, what, a few centuries? Yes, that must be it. The name rang out in the cold silence of the cell, and the woman flicked her eyes down to her knees before letting them rest once more upon her visitors'. For the first time in many years, a memory of the beautiful gardens she once called home flashed before her eyes. The thick blossoming cherry tree, letting its soft blossoms float on the stream beside it, the floating stone steps cutting though a part of the stream leading to a small island, the tiny wooden bridge, and the thick green grass, so soft you could sleep on it and think you slept in the emperor's bed. Voldemort must have seen the evolution in her mind, for he sighed and spoke once more.
"I have heard lots about you, and I must say I had to do a lot of research of your past before my visit to this prison. Unluckily, nothing I've hear or read told your story the same way twice. It was quite misleading, and I had to resort to leaving England and meeting you in person to know the truth."
"Why does my story interest you so? It is old history now, swept away with the ashes that were once my soul," she said. "I cannot tell you anything useful. Seeing you have proven to me that the world has changed far too much, and I don't see how an old tale can help a youngster like you."
Her visitor seemed apparently offended at the way he was being spoken to. He frowned slightly, and his eyes flashed with anger. She thought little of him, and felt he didn't deem respect. He was probably a spoiled man who got too used to being worshiped as a Lord and forgot the simple truth about himself. He is a mortal. Mortals can't think themselves superior to the immortals. If he intended to do so and try using his power to control her, he might as well leave and try putting the ocean under the control of a drop. Instead of being discouraged, however, he simply smiled again and spoke.
"Miss Yamamoto, I truly believe your story if of great interest to me. I am, as you say, not even a twelfth of your age, and this is exactly why I am here. You have lived a long time, and you have seen things few of us dreamed of seeing. You are a very valuable asset to our cause. I can't even ask for your service, for I have no right to do so. All I can ask of you is that you give me a taste of your life, one so that I can help my followers understand how noble and righteous our rise to power is."
By the end of his speech, his voice had risen, as though the idea of power gave him some kind of ecstasy. The woman shook her head, not believing him. He wanted to know her, know of her story and her life, like many others did. She was a mystery to the world, and people only knew of her crimes and the things she did, good and bad. They knew nothing else, whether the motive of her actions or the story behind them. Therefore, everyone wanted to know more, but no one ever wanted to ask her personally. Her reputation was that of an untouched fallen angel; they only knew she lived out her life as an assassin, and nothing else. Today, after the biggest mistake of her life, the one that lead to her capture and sentence to this cell, she was nearly unknown to the world and only those few who had the chance to have lived around one hundred years would recognize her name. The only thing now that aroused her curiosity was the fact that this man, who seemed to be very powerful but not that aged, knew her childhood name. How he fell upon this information was one thing she dearly wanted to know. No one alive today supposedly knows that name. The reason she didn't care about the note that was sent was that the name that was written on the note was the name everyone knew. She didn't care about anyone who didn't have anything interesting to tell her. However, this man, even with his odd physical appearance, made her feel something inside her, like a fire started burning there again. It wasn't a fire of hate, it was a burning desire to know what will happen next. He is here, sitting in her cell and willing to listen to anything she would tell him, and she was right before him, ready to speak.
"So be it. I will tell you my story. It would amuse me to remember all the things that happened. However, I can not promise you that I remember all the details of my tale. I'm not as young as I use to be, so you will have to be patient." A small smile spread across her face as she spoke, and her words ignited something in his eyes that blazed like two rubies against his pale skin. It was funny how excited he got all of a sudden as she said those words, so she hoped he wouldn't interrupt her stories as little children did to ask questions. After watching his reaction, she spoke a gain, asking, "Where should I start?"
Voldemort smiled slightly and thought for a moment, then answered in a voice showing restraint of a strong emotion. "I believe the very beginning would be a good place to start."
"Is that so?" She asked, bemused, and then she took a long breath and decided. "I was born on the island of Tohoku, later Hokkaido, in Japan back in the seventeen hundreds. My family, the Yamamoto's, was quite prosperous, for they held an okiya (1) in Osaka. Since I was a mere child, I was trained to be as elegant as a three-year-old could possibly be, and being surrounded by such a beautiful home gave me a certain sense of pride no one my age could better muster. I grew up listening to talk about parties and teahouses, and when I turned nine I was sent to one of the most prestigious geisha schools in all of Japan. I was a fast learner, and soon I left the school as a flowering young woman. I had many geisha propose themselves as my older sister (2), but my family wanted me trained by my biological older sister, Ayame, only. She was a beautiful work of art, and I had been waiting for this moment all my life. She was going to bring me to the success I've always dreamt of. I was renamed Momoko Yamamoto, and I began my training.
"As time went by, I was quite known in Osaka. I had been to many famous teahouses frequented by ministers and chairmen, and soon I would become entirely a geisha. After having starred in the annual spring dance, the only thing now in my way to success was my Mizuage (3). It had to be sold for quite a sum of money, one which would help me start my life as a geisha and make my name echo in every street in Japan. One summer evening, I was at a teahouse with one of the men who was invited for my Mizuage, when he whispered in my ear.
'I thank you for your invitation, and would like to inform you myself that your Mizuage will be very well paid.'
"That sentence rang in my ear throughout the whole night and even as I left the teahouse alone long after my sister. I walked down the empty street in an odd dream-like state, not quite seeing the street ahead of me. I was lost in another world. I could see myself attending banquets that only the most famous figures in Japan attended. I giggled foolishly in the alleyway as I thought I might probably glimpse the Emperor. I just couldn't believe all these possibilities will be open to me just after a night with a rich man. I must admit that at the time, I didn't quite understand what that night would be like. I was never one to ask the details of a situation before I get into it and try it out for myself first. I had no idea what I was going up against that night, and the thought didn't worry me at all.
"I continued down the street almost running with excitement at the thought of what my life will be like after a few days later when something caught my eye. A cat, white as snow, was sitting at the corner of the alleyway and meowed loudly, staring at me as I passed by. I stopped to gaze at its shining crystal-blue eyes and it meowed again. I walked slowly towards it, curious as to why it was so interested in me, and it got up and ran for my kimono. I jumped at its sudden reaction to my approach, but I had learned that when an animal runs at you, you mustn't run away. I just closed my eyes and stood as still as I could, waiting to hear the tearing of my beautiful silk kimono, but nothing came. Instead, the little white furry creature sat in front of me and meowed again. I opened my eyes and looked down at it, confused. Without realizing, I talked to it.
'What do you want from me?' I asked in a hushed voice. 'Go away, I have no time to waste with you. Shoo!'
"With that, I kicked out at it with my foot, which only left the side of my other foot by about five centimeters, so the cat just sat there and stared at me in a way I took for a mocking. I let out a little groan of anger at the cat, which meowed again and laughed at me. I stared at the cat with my eyes wide open. Its mouth was open, and I could hear the sound of laughter. I took a step backwards, afraid of what I had just seen, and my back touched something behind me. I yelled and jumped forward, turning abruptly. It was a tall man, with long red hair and maroon eyes glistening in the dark. He was the one laughing. I had never seen anyone with such a hair color, and honestly, it frightened me, yet I didn't move from my position. The man stopped laughing and spoke to me in an amazingly enchanting voice. It was Japanese, but I could barely understand him from his bizarre accent.
'Well well, look what the cat brought in. A beautiful young lady like yourself shouldn't be walking in a dark alleyway like this all alone.'
"I stared at him, registering his words, and watching his maroon eyes shining as he approached me slowly. He held out a hand and touched my neck, giving me a little shiver. His hands were abnormally cold for this night. Anyone in my situation would have run for their life at this point, yet I couldn't move. I felt my breathing grow slow, as if I was drowning in his eyes. Never have I felt so reassured, or calm, even though something in the back of my mind was screaming for help. Soon, I could feel his breath on my skin, cold as ice. His lips touched my neck lightly, and then I felt an odd sensation, as though something hard and cold was going though my skin. I closed my eyes, feeling an odd sort of ecstasy, as if some poison was running through my veins and into my whole body, paralyzing me completely, before it came out again. This stranger's tongue was brushing against my sensitive skin as he sucked slowly, painfully, at the place where I was apparently bitten. I opened my eyes a fraction, and noticed my failing eyesight. I couldn't move my fingers, and soon I couldn't feel my legs. The man held me up with ease as my body gave way to what he was doing, with one hand holding me around the waist and the other holding my neck closer to his mouth.
"As he lay me down on the cold pebbled street, all I could hear was a buzzing in my head. He let me go and looked down at me for a moment, his lips stretched out in a bloody smile. My eyes were so hazy I could see the glinting in his eyes and his crimson teeth, and I knew I was looking into the eyes of death itself. I was so frightened I closed my eyes and started crying without a sound or a movement. I wasn't ready, I didn't want to die. I wasn't even entirely a Geisha in the first place, and I wasn't about to die, now, in the middle of a dark alleyway. I tried to open my mouth and speak, but I couldn't move. I opened my eyes again and all I could see was the little street lanterns. He had left me here, alone and about to die, without anyone there to help me. I felt all my emotions, hate, fear, love of life and agony, overcome me, and I lost consciousness."
At this, the woman paused briefly, an odd look in her eyes. Remembering all this was something she was not quite ready to do. She thought all these feelings and images were locked up inside her never to be brought back, like a chest lying in the depths of the ocean. She had been dead and buried for so long in this dungeon that feeling any emotion after such an eternity was a difficult thing. She waited a few minutes to take in these new emotions, and continued.
"The next day, I found myself sleeping on an old futon. I had my neck wrapped in a soft cloth and I was naked, covered merely in my long kimono. I picked my arm up heavily and held my kimono close to me before getting up with effort. My head was spinning as I looked around the room. I was obviously in a poor Japanese home, for all there was in my room was a small round table with a single candle in the middle. I felt misplaced in such a room. How could such a splendid Geisha sleep somewhere even the least paid of her maids doesn't sleep in? Just then, the door slid open and a beautiful woman entered with a bowl full of freezing water. Her black hair was so long it touched her thighs and her oval face was white as porcelain. As she stepped closer to me and placed the bowl on the floor beside the futon, I could see bright grey eyes smiling over pulpous red lips. At first, I thought she had make-up on, but as I saw the same complexion on her legs as she kneeled beside me and on her arms as she heaved the Kimono's arms to her elbows, I couldn't believe my eyes. I felt a sting of jealousy as this beauty elegantly took out a cloth from a pocket in her kimono and placed it in the bowl. She then took it from the bowl and twisted it easily and firmly, freeing it from the water it contained. She then held it in her hand and set her eyes on me.
"'Lie down. You shouldn't be sitting up after losing so much blood. You have a high fever and you need to let me cool you down with this cloth.' With this, I lay down, holding my kimono close to my body, and watched her as she took out another cloth and let it sink to the bottom of the bowl. I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. I frowned and tried again, putting more effort to make my voice come out. 'Who…are you?' She didn't lift her eyes from the bowl, watching the cloth, and responded. 'Call me Onee-san (4).' She then turned to me and held my hand that was holding my kimono and whispered 'let your kimono go.' I did as she said, and as soon as I did so, she swept the kimono off my body. I gasped for I wasn't expecting her to do such a thing. She then placed the wet cloth on both my legs, and reached for the other cloth to wring it and place it on the rest of my body. The cloth stung me from its cold and I shivered violently for a while until I felt the cloth heat up on my body. All the while, the woman sat patiently watching me, taking off the cloth occasionally to cool it once more and place it on my body again. Once the shivers subsided, the woman took the cloths and the bowl of water and opened the screen door leading to a small garden. She walked out, threw the water out of the bowl and left the cloths lying on the edge of the house, hanging off the edge of the wooden floor. She came back and kneeled next to me.
"I waited lying on my futon, and she started to speak. 'You Geisha…more fragile than the branches of a cherry tree in winter.' She sighed, and looked at me with stern eyes. 'How did you end up in such an alley in the middle of Osaka? You are lucky pirates happened to be passing by and noticed someone in the middle of the street dying. I didn't want to get out of the house yesterday, but I guess it's fate that had us meet on the beach that night. Do you care to give me an explanation as to how you were lying in the middle of nowhere with merely enough blood to make your heart beat?'
"I looked up at her, both embarrassed by my present state and about the story I would have to tell her if I were to be honest. I blushed and couldn't hold her gaze, looking at the table in the room instead. 'I… I was heading back to the Okiya, then… uh…' I glanced at her, and her gaze had turned from stern to bemused. 'There's no point in lying to me, if you're thinking of doing so,' she said, looking at me calmly. 'You're in a place where the words "odd" and "extraordinary" are part of everyday life.'
"What she said made me nervous, and I couldn't help but ask. 'Am I still in Osaka?' My question made the woman laugh loudly, a cold but terribly attractive laugh. 'Of course you're not! I live on the edge of the Shikoku Island, where we get less of the noise and crowd of Osaka, where you're from. It's calmer here, and I have to travel a long time to get to the closest city do errands, but it's better than living among a mass of people. I prefer trees to human beings, you see.'
"As she said those words, I felt my heart skip a beat. I'm not even on Tohoku anymore. Realization came upon me as a wave of emotion so strong I couldn't breathe. 'I… I'm not… but… how did I get here?' I yelled at her, forgetting my calm demeanor as a Geisha completely. 'Did you kidnap me? Why would you kidnap me? If you want money you wouldn't need to kidnap me for a ransom. Get me back home this instant!' By the time I was done, I was standing up, tears rolling down my cheeks and pain tearing my heart apart. I'm on an island with a woman I immediately understood was speaking to me from another universe. I was used to parties and teahouses, and it was my entire life and dreams. She had nothing to do with the city and preferred to live out her life unknown to people and have trees for friends. I thought she was insane at first, but she seemed so much older than I, so by tradition and the morals taught to me, I had to show her nothing other than deep respect. However, at this precise moment, I couldn't watch her take away my future and do nothing.
"She listened to my outburst, her head bowed and a sad expression on her face. 'It's too late. I have no boats and the pirates are long gone now. There is no way for me to get you back to Osaka even if I wanted to. I'm terribly sorry.' Her voice was sincere. I sat back down on the futon, crying as hard as a child, not caring who was around me. I could feel nothing but my pain and loneliness. She waited until my weeping was nothing more than hiccoughing, and put her hand lightly on my shoulder, pushing me on the futon, and covered me with my kimono again. She then got up and closed the screen door and came close to me. 'Get more sleep. You're weak. I will wake you later for supper.' She then left me alone in the room."
Momoko's eyes lightened with the memories of her past. It was so far away, yet she remembered the details of the things that changed her life well. That day, she felt her dreams and her future slip through her fingers, and she felt completely helpless before her fate. She had never believed in fate. Being the descendant of rich ancestors that twisted their fates and thus became prosperous, she was brought up with the same concept. No matter what happens, you can turn the circumstances around to suit you. That day, she got the proof that such a thing only existed in dreams and myths, but not in reality. She realized she was living in a world of dreams, one from which she had quite a rude awakening. Parties and teahouses screened the real world from her view. She was depressed for some time after that revelation, but slowly the depression turned into an urge to discover the true face of the world.
Lord Voldemort waited for her to continue patiently. He wanted information on her life, yet he didn't think that he would actually get a full account of her life. There were many things to grasp about her origins, her ancestry, her society, the trauma of being so close to death. These were all things that made the roots of the feared assassin she is today. A Geisha, he thought. Who would have known such a cold heart was once possessed by a beauty princess from the land of the rising sun. However, he can't judge who she has become by her origins. He knows that one becomes what he is now by himself, regardless of the past.
Momoko continued her story, in a calmer voice than before, if at all possible. "I woke to the sound of a bell ringing and the woman yelling form somewhere in the house. I had never been awaken in such a manner, so I got up grumpily and got out of the room, heading towards the commotion. I got to the living room door and wrenched it open in anger. She was sitting before a table with two bowls of noodles before her. I sighed and sat in front of my bowl of noodles opposite the woman, who didn't take her eyes off me. I had worn my kimono and tied it around me as best I can, though I had great difficulty doing so. Her eyes were mocking, and I tried to ignore her. However, after we said our prayer and I started eating, I realized she did nothing other than stare, so I put my chopsticks down and asked as politely as I could, 'what is it?'.
"She finally smiled and responded in an annoyed voice. 'You Geisha can't even make a cup of tea, can you? Do your servants still dress you up at such an age? You're worse than the most spoiled child on the island.' With that, she picked up her chopsticks and started to eat, as though she was satisfied by what she had just told me. I stared at her, not believing the way she way treating me. Not only did she kidnap me, but she also had no social skills. It took me a while to let go of my astonishment and to start eating again. After the quiet supper, we put our chopsticks down and the woman looked up at me and asked in a serious voice. 'You must tell me what happened to you. How did you lose so much blood when the only wounds I found on your body were two tiny holes on your neck?'
"I was fully aware of how she would react to my story if I were to be honest with her. However, I didn't forget my manners towards a person older than me. With that, I told her the complete story of what had happened in the alley. I wasn't afraid of her thinking I was crazy. There was no one else to know about my story that would care. To my surprise, she took everything I told her seriously. I started to truly think she was mad. As I finished m story, her only response was something I've never heard before. 'Lucian'. I looked at her as she stared at the table before her, apparently in deep thought.
"'What's "Lucian"?' I asked. She looked up at me, a serious look on her face. 'He is my blood brother. We are both born of the same father, yet my mother was Japanese and his mother was a foreigner. My father was banished from his village when my mother died during my birth. The villager thought we brought bad luck because of that incident, and he was obliged to let me live in a nearby village with some friends he knew, then took the nearest boat and left Japan. I don't remember my father at all, and I don't know what happened to him after he left. I lived out my life with my foster family and when I turned twenty, we got a visit from a young man with fiery red hair. My foster father thought he was the devil and almost killed him, but he called out my name and I knew he was here for me.' She paused. Recalling those memories seems somewhat painful to her. I waited until she was ready to continue, and she finally spoke.
"'He told me my father got to Romania as a slave and fell in love with his mistress there. She let him fulfill his strongest desire and Lucian was born. Having inherited his father's Asian eyes and thus condemned to a life of slavery, the woman couldn't hide her son's origin and resorted to giving him to a bunch of passing travelers after his father's death, hoping he would live a normal life. He grew up with them and after his aging ceremony – it's a rite his family has that I don't quite understand – they let him travel to Japan to seek me out. He wanted me to come and join his clan, so he called his family. I couldn't accept, for I was indebted to my foster family who had taken care of me for so long. I had to stay to take care of them myself since they had aged so much. When he knew that, he was in a distressed state. He killed my family. He told me that now that I don't have a family to look after, I could leave with him. He didn't understand that such an action would make me loath him. When I told him I hated him, he attacked me just as you explained to me now, and left me to drown in my own blood. I awoke where he left me, lying between my mother and father's rotten corpses. I had apparently been out for a few days. I got my strength back in a day, took all the money we had and burned the house, leaving with my dearest possessions and his face clear in my memory. A few months later, I found a family that was leaving this house for a long trip and who wanted someone to look after their possessions. I asked for the job and they gave it to me. They were supposed to be back five months ago, but they still haven't returned' She said that last sentence in a matter-of-fact kind of voice, probably to hide the emotion that had started to rise in her voice. She picked up the bowls and headed for the kitchen.
"'Onee-san,' I started, 'Do you want to look for him?' She stopped at the kitchen door, her hand on the wall, and turned to face me. He astounding grey eyes were cold as steel when she responded, a look frighteningly contrasting with the small smile curling her red lips. 'I'm currently seeking him out. When I find him, I'm going to kill him.'"
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Notes 1:
An okiya is a house of geisha, where they live with their Mother (owner of the Okiya) and Aunt (right-hand maid).
The older sister's job is to initiate an apprentice geisha. It is usually a renowned geisha from another okiya.
Mizuage literally means "release water". It is the first time a geisha has sex. Many men would pay a lot for a Geisha's virginity, especially if she was famous and beautiful. This payment would be used to repay any debts or jump start a Geisha's career.
Onee-san means big sister. It's a form of politeness to a person who is nearly one's same age, yet still more experienced or simply slightly older.
Notes 2: There you go! Review, especially if you thought it was shit. But if you did, I would appreciate an explanation why, so the next chapter would be better! It may sound weird, but I would really appreciate that. Thank you!