Chapter 7 - To Be An Immortal
"Fame lulls the fever of the soul, and makes Us feel that we have grasp'd an immortality." - William Shakespeare
...
"So," Sei said leading into the conversation. "What do you think?" It was just herself, Shimako and Eriko to whom she was directing her question, in the second floor meeting room of the Rose Mansion. Shortly after Yumi had left to think over their request the Foetida cousins had departed to attend to the mundane items school life brought with it. Youko left a few minutes afterwards to search for her missing petite soeur. They were all to meet back within an hour's time so that they could walk over together to the chapel for the first year welcoming ceremony.
Eriko sipped her tea, pondering the appropriate answer to Sei's question, as she watched Shimako set a cup of tea in front of her fellow third year student before setting one for herself at the empty chair on the other side of Sei. "She's young," the Rosa Foetida finally replied ambiguously which tended to be her nature.
"She'll learn," was Sei's reply when it came after taking a sip of her own tea. The Rosa Gigantea's grey eyes fell upon her little sister who was wiping down the kitchenette area. "We were both young once…I think," she said with a grin. The years had been many so it was hard to recall a time when she wasn't as she was now. While there had been a youth in her past, like many things it had faded into the background of her memories, only to be recalled with great difficulty and effort. Effort she did not have the desire to expend currently.
Eriko snorted at her friend's words. "Not that young," she replied. The fact that Sei's answer had been in regards to Shimako, the newest member of the Yamayurikai, spoke volumes to the woman about where the western featured woman's thoughts were. Her own response could have been directed at either the Rosa Gigantea en Bouton or the hopefully soon to be petite soeur of the missing Rosa Chinensis en Bouton. Eriko turned to look at the woman next to her and gave voice to a question that had puzzled her for some time now. "Why again did you choose western features?"
Sei shot her friend a sharp affronted glare. "Hey! I've looked this way my entire life! Why would I ever want to change it?" she asked even as she faced forward once again and raised her cup to her lips to sip the warm liquid, feeling it travel to the pit of her stomach as it's warmth seeped into her tired bones. The truth of the matter was she could no longer recall what she had looked like. Her current appearance, held for as long as she could remember, was what she had always seen herself as. A slightly indulgent smile tickled the corners of her lips. Perhaps that is more telling than anything.
"Right and exactly how long has that been now?" Eriko asked with a playful grin. When the current Rosa Foetida had arrived at Lillian Sei had already been old, an institution almost unto herself. As much a fixture of the school as the statue of the Reverend Virgin and its garden was. At least to those that knew the true purpose of the school and sisterhood whose lands the school was on. Eriko, no longer a spring chicken herself, could only hazard a guess at the woman's real age. Popular rumor among the acolytes was that Sei was one of the three originals who founded the school.
Sei finished her sip of the warming liquid before replying. "Don't you know that it is rude, even for a woman, to ask your elders just how old they are," she chided the younger Yellow Rose. "It's hard to get descent help these days. Young girls used to be so respectful and courteous back when I was your age. Show them a few flashy things and they were yours for life. Always ready and willing for a roll in the field," Sei concluded with a slightly lecherous glint to her eyes even as a wistful smiled played upon her lips.
Eriko chuckled good naturedly at her senior's words. "Like you could do anything these days!"
"I could show you a thing or two little girlie," was Sei's heated rejoinder.
"As if I'd let you, gaikokujin!"
"As if I'd want to, deckochin!"
Both women paused to take a sip of their tea and then started to giggle. As soon as one would gain control of themselves they'd glance at the other and start all over again. Shimako walked over and took the vacant seat next to her Onee-sama. "Please don't encourage her, Rosa Foetida," the youngest of the trio chided the other gently as she pulled a waiting stack of papers to her and started working her way through the proposed revised club budgets. They were more than the Yamayurikai in just name and hence were still required to do everything a proper student council would normally do. "There's plenty of work yet to be done if you have nothing better to do than call each other names," she gently scolded her seniors.
Shimako dearly loved the current Rosa Foetida, nearly as much as she loved her Onee-sama. The two women had found her at a local temple and taken her in, watching over her through the years. At the time she hadn't questioned her good fortune but had merely cherished the time she was allowed to spend with the women who became her parental figures. Now in her first year of high school, the light haired girl found herself in the role of care giver and more often than not mediator between the two seniors. Despite the verbal spats that could go on for days, Shimako knew the two women cared deeply for each other.
Eriko arched a brow towards Sei who shrugged slightly giving consent to the unasked question. "Perhaps then you can tell me what you know of the Ookami and Kyuuketsuki," she asked as she leaned back in her seat. Sei followed suit and turned slightly to face the younger girl. "As you'll be the Rosa Gigantea one day it is important to know both of them rather well," Eriko said in way of reason for her questioning the younger woman. Sei just grinned, confident in her petite soeur's ability to answer whatever questions were placed before her.
Shimako clasped her hands before her, fingers interlaced; resting upon the stack of papers she had been working on. "The Ookami and Kyuuketsuki are the elder races. Both races appear to be human in appearance and have many of the same requirements that we do. By this I mean they must breath, eat and sleep as well as other such mundane activities. It is not known exactly when they came into being or for how long they have been in existence. Due to their particularly violent histories on both sides, none of their earliest members lived for any great length of time. In this manner a great deal of their origins and early history is lost to them as well as to us. It wasn't till more recently," Shimako paused to clarify, "recent by their standards not ours, that they started to keep a recorded history of their people. Both species are broken into different classifications much as is seen within human society. It is speculated that humans themselves learned such structuring from the elder races and adopted it as their own."
"…and that structure would be?" Eriko interjected as Shimako paused for a breath and to gather her thoughts.
"The structure is pyramid in shape, Rose Foetida. Each species is ruled by the royals as they are the immortals. Beneath them are those of lesser blood but still beholden to the royal family. Though they are of their respective species they have not inherited the special traits that those of royal blood enjoy. Their own life-span far exceeds that of a normal human however they are not immortal and do grow old and pass away. The allotment of years they have seems to vary greatly and no one has as yet developed an appropriate formula to calculate it." Shimako replied confidently.
"Lastly are the offspring of the royals and middle class who have joined with humans and sired children. Royals who sire a child with a human or give birth to such a child do not pass on their immortality. Due to not being quite of either race and yet not a part of the human race either they exist separately, almost as a sub-species of all three races, and are looked upon for the most part as half breeds." Shimako's confidence slipped slightly upon noticing the unimpressed look upon the Rosa Foetida's face. Determined to answer her senior's questions she continued on. "There have been scattered cases of other traits being passed on such as the enzyme shortage, increased strength, regenerative abilities and lycanthropic capabilities, however they are few in number and as yet appear to be totally random in the selection of who receives them." Shimako paused for a moment to take a sip of her tea before she continued. "The final part completes the pyramid of their structure with the greatest number on the bottom and the fewest at the top."
"Why is that?" The Rosa Foetida asked as she continued to grill the newest acolyte. As her outward appearance indicated she was not overly surprised at the level of knowledge the girl possessed with Sei as her teacher. Eriko held back the smile of pride though at how well Shimako was handling herself. I don't think I did this well my first time under the gun, she thought only to herself as she recalled that it was due to Sei grilling her relentlessly at the time that her performance had been so terrible. It would only make sense for the person who showed me just how much I didn't know to be such a good teacher. When the subject of the young remarkable girl's training had arisen Sei had pulled rank on everyone and insisted that Shimako be trained by her specifically. The fact that the oldest member of the Yamayurikai was to take a four year old child as her acolyte shocked everyone. It was the first time anyone alive could recall her taking a direct interest in a gifted student. Eriko had recalled at the time the stories she had heard of a former student, long ago, by the name of Shiori.
Shimako swallowed to moisten her throat before replying to her senior. "The reasons differ for each species though essentially they fundamentally remain the same. Self-preservation," the girl with wavy light hair said matter-of-factly. "As previously stated, only pairings between those of royal blood will produce another immortal. Before the advent of peace between the two species, propagation of the race was secondly only to the destruction of the other species. The women of the Kyuuketsuki were treated as baby generating machines from the moment they were old enough to conceive and bear a child till such time as their bodies ceased being fertile. As with the life expectancy of the non-royals, the time frame for each to remain capable of birthing children seems to vary and remains unpredictable. Once peace between the elder races was realized, and their life expectancy went from two-three decades to actual immortality, the practice of forced conception fell by the wayside. The exception to this is among the main family branches of the race where it is still considered an obligation to bear as many off spring as possible. Those of lesser nobility usually do not adhere to this practice while those of the higher noble houses do."
"That still doesn't tell me why we're not overrun by immortal Kyuuketsuki," Eriko interjected. Is she stalling or does she really know? A quick glance toward Sei sitting next to her with a smug smile on her face, answered her suspicions. She knows and is just giving as thorough an answer as possible. Eriko's already high opinion of the younger girl went up a notch.
Shimako dipped her head towards Eriko in a slight nod of acknowledgement before she continued her narration. "In the later years of the war which resulted in only a single clan of each species remaining, having consumed all of the others of their respective kind, it became common practice to target bonded pairings. Both elder races can, through choice more or less, become bonded. For the Ookami this is less by choice and more by need to maintain their species. It is believed that the physical act of conception will bond the pair in question. It has been theorized, though it has as yet neither been proven or discredited, that the physical act of consummation may not be required, and that a similar strong depth of emotional attachment can result in the same bond. It is known that Ookami with children are tied together, which would imply that conception makes the bond a certainty. The Kyuuketsuki quickly learned that it was safer to stay unattached."
"Safer in what way," Eriko asked as she placed one elbow upon the table and rested her chin within the hand attached to that arm. The study of the Elders, as she referred to them, was one of her personal hobbies upon which she had spent a great deal of time. Much of what was written in the books contained within the Yamayurikai library concerning both races had been penned by her hand. Even with all she knew, hearing about the races from someone else never failed to thrill her and hold her rapt attention.
"The Kyuuketsuki, much like the Ookami, can also become bound to one another though with their kind it does not require a physical joining similar to the Ookami. If two Kyuuketsuki wish to be joined they need only share blood with each other. The bond, or life-bond as they refer to it, has been extensively studied and documented. The advantages of it is that the two participants of the bond are tied with one another and can feel the other's location and sense what is happening around them to a certain degree. There have even been rare cases where bonded couples have been able to communicate with each other in a form of telepathy, as near as we can tell. Distance and intervening structures such as walls or even mountains have no effect upon this ability. Like any weapon though, the gift it brings is a two edged sword. Should one of the paired die, the other is either driven insane till they kill themselves or force others to do it for them or they waste away to nothing and eventually expire. In either case within a short matter of time they too are dead. Due to this, such pairings among the Kyuuketsuki are nearly unheard of these days. Currently there are fewer than a dozen that are documented."
Shimako paused to take a sip of her rapidly cooling tea before she continued. Eriko, content to allow her to answer the question in her own manner, did not ask any additional questions during her pause this time. "The Kyuuketsuki, for reasons we suspect are hard coded into them, similar to animal instincts, tend to be slightly on the rough side when they are passionately involved. Playful nips and bites are the normal means by which they can show their affections. The smell of blood can become intoxicating, an almost natural occurring aphrodisiac for their kind, that coupled with their unbridled passion can lead to unintentional pairings. There are documented cases where, left unchecked, pairings have actually bled each other dry and died from it." Shimako couldn't suppress the shudder she felt run down her spine at the thought of such a thing. "Due to this even the pure bloods do not partake in a physical relation with their own kind. The females of the Royal Line are impregnated through medical procedures."
"Not exactly how I would want to become a mother," Eriko offered drily and received a nod of agreement from Sei seated next to her. "Especially repeatedly for decades on end," she added as an afterthought before she turned to regard Shimako. "What can you tell me specifically concerning the Kyuuketsuki?"
"They, like their counter parts, are stronger and faster than humans and have a regenerative ability that at best guess is ten times quicker than the average person. At times of critical damage they can shut down portions of their bodies, even suspend the heart for a short duration so that all their healing ability can focus upon the injured area. Though there have been documented cases of this no one has actually witnessed it in several hundred years. Their bodies, while essential the same as any human's or the Ookami, is missing a specific enzyme within their blood which they need to stay alive. To date we have not been able to determine why this is."
"The current theory," Sei offered up before her little sister could continue, "Is that nature had slated them for extinction. They, like so many other species before them, were to have faded away into the nothingness of history and that was why the enzyme is missing. Yet they managed to cling to life and even thrive rather than disappear."
"Life will always find a way," Eriko stated in all seriousness. "Personally I think they're just stubborn bastards who refused to die to which I say 'Good for you!'" the Rose Foetida exclaimed with a grin. "It's good to see someone sit nature on her collective ass once in a while!"
Sei snorted much as Eriko had before. "You're starting to sound more and more like me each day, Eriko-chan!" The grey eyes of the Rosa Gigantea sparkled with barely suppressed mirth.
"Please, someone just kill me now!" Eriko whined plaintively as she laid her head upon the table and covered it with her arms in an attempt to hide. With a wave of her hand she signaled for Shimako to continue.
"The Kyuuketsuki are missing an enzyme from their blood which they require to remain alive. They discovered that they could obtain this enzyme, to various degrees, by drinking the blood of other living things. Animals were first used to fill the missing requirement. Later it was discovered that human blood worked far better. With animal blood they were required to drink several times a day. Human blood allowed them to sustain themselves for several days before needing more. Much akin to a battery holding a charge that is slowly used, they must recharge themselves to keep going. The amount of blood required seems to depend upon a number of factors such as age, weight, size of the Kyuuketsuki. Similarly the time between feeding can also differ depending on what the Kyuuketsuki is doing. The greater the activity and strain the sooner they will need to feed again to replenish themselves. While the amount of blood required is not overly large, if they are deprived of it for a length of time, they will expire and die. Several years back there was an incident of a child that fell into a well. It was initially believed to be an accident. When she was finally discovered her body was a dark grey in color. When it was touched it fell apart leaving behind a pile of ash like material. Later an investigation into the matter revealed that the child had been thrown into the well by several Ookami children when they had discovered the girl was Kyuuketsuki."
"It is only recently, due to modern technology, that the Kyuuketsuki have become self-sufficient and no long rely upon animals or humans for blood to remain alive. Prior to this though it was not unheard of for Kyuuketsuki to take willing human lovers to quench their bloody thirst. It was also the Kyuuketsuki that gave rise to the legend of Vampires. Vlad the Impaler is perhaps the best known for taking his thirst for blood to the extreme and actually making it into the history books, though there have been others throughout the centuries. Kyuuketsuki scientists have created a synthetic enzyme, usually taking the form of crystalized candy or breath mints which their kind carries with them at all times. The exact chemical makeup of the enzyme and synthetic replacement for it is a carefully guarded secret by the Kyuuketsuki. Aside from their superior strength and speed, the Kyuuketsuki, at least those of the Royal blood line, have the ability to alter their age and physical size at will. The greater the dilution of the royal blood, the smaller the change they are able to effect in themselves." Shimako stopped as Sei raised her hand for silence. A few seconds later they all could hear the front door to the Rose Mansion open and someone make their way up the stairs. When the biscuit colored door opened, the Rose Chinensis stepped through and paused upon seeing all three sets of eyes fixed upon her.
"I'm not intruding am I?" Youko enquired upon seeing her fellow Roses and Shimako looking at her.
"Couldn't find her?" Sei asked with a knowing grin. The dark haired woman's shoulders by the door drooped dramatically as she continued into the room and took a seat at the table. "I'll look if you'd like?" Youko looked up hopefully at her fellow Rose and gave a nod of agreement. Shimako stood and walked over to the kitchenette area to make a fresh pot of tea as her Onee-sama closed her eyes and concentrated for several long moments. "She's on her way here and should be with us momentarily," Sei told the anxious third year student after she opened her eyes. "There's something off with her, though I can't place it."
Youko arched a brow in question and opened her mouth to ask when she was interrupted by a voice she knew all too well calling from the bottom of the stairs in English. "Hellooooooooooooo!" Sachiko's voice rang through the entry way, up the stairs and into the meeting room causing everyone to raise a brow in question. "Bonjour!," the Rosa Chinensis en Bouton called out even as they heard the stairs creak. "Buna ziua! Halløj! Hola!" Sachiko hollered along with several other words as she made her way up the stairs.
Shimako glanced towards her Onee-sama in question. "Romanian," Sei clarified for her benefit. "Followed by Danish, Catalan, Hindi, Turkishi and I believe Persian though don't quote me on that."
The raven-haired woman threw open the biscuit colored door upon reaching it and then flinched at it smacked into the wall loudly. The second year student hastily raised a finger to her lips. "Shhhhhh!" The sound of a leaky steam pipe was heard throughout the meeting room till Sachiko's sapphire eyes landed upon Youko and a very serious look crept across her face. "Oba-sama! I've been meaning to tell you something for a very very very long time now," she said before she walked into the room and crossed the distance between her and the Rose Chinensis who sat struck dumb and speechless at her petite soeur's actions. Sachiko leaned down and placed her hands upon the older woman's cheeks and tilted Youko's head upwards slightly so she could look her straight in the eye. "I…I…" a huge silly grin appeared upon the girl's face. "I LOVE YOU!" Sachiko finally finished with before leaning in and kissing the older woman messily upon the lips.
Author's Note:
Well there is some information for those of you asking about the immortals. Also a glimpse into the world of the Gigantea sisters as well. I'm sure you'll all have more questions than before by now. I'll answer them in time…hopefully. Whatever is up with Sachiko?
Sadly the Muse has still not returned. I've issued an ABP for her as well as put up those fliers with her picture that read "If Found Please Return To…" I just have to go staple them to telephone poles now. Hopefully she will return before next Sunday of the next chapter may be delayed.
I do appreciate all your comments and reviews as they are what keep the Muse writing so drop a review if you'd like to. Maybe she'll read them and come back!
Kind Regards,
EJ Daniels
All characters within this story, unless otherwise stated are the sole property of Oyuki Konno the original writer of the Maria-sama ga Miteru light novel series.
