Please read Disclaimer in Chapter One.

Title: Maya's Tale (C20: The Garden of Lies and Truth)

Author: JaganshiKenshin

Genre: Action/Adventure, General

Rating: K+/PG-13 (for anime-style fight scenes/language)

Summary: With a startling new development, will Maya awaken?

A/N: For reference to the mysterious Agency, please see Operation Rosary, The Book of Cat With Moon, and Trade Secret.

After midnight, the world turns on its ear.

Maya's Tale (20: The Garden of Lies and Truth)

by

Kenshin

Missing his head, Toad yet remained upright, clutching the unconscious Maya. He could have been a statue.

Behind Kurama, Shayla Kidd gasped. He felt her shock, an almost physical impact. Whirling on Kurama, Hiei snarled, "Have you lost your mind?"

Kurama could waste no time in explanations. With some difficulty, he wrenched Maya from the Toad's grasp.

She was warm. Breathing. But boneless as a heap of rags.

Mink-dark hair, lank with sweat, concealed her face. Kurama resisted an urge to brush it back, placing her gently on the grass. He looked at Shay-san, judged her state of mind. She'd do. "See to her, would you?"

With a single uneasy glance at the Toad, Shayla Kidd slipped from Hiei to kneel at Maya's side.

Leaving Maya in her care, Kurama quickly dealt with the

Toad. The upright body could be dismissed. It was the head, lying a little distance away, that concerned him.

Though the eyes remained open, they were as blind and flat as the paving stones beneath their feet. The jewel in the top of the head, a milky oval the size of a hen's egg, had not changed.

No, it was not quite finished.

"Kurama?" Hiei, still wary, still unsettled, might give Kurama the third degree, but would not attempt to stop him.

Aiming with care, Kurama launched another diamond-hard blade of grass into the jewel, which split in two with an audible crack. The body toppled with a hollow thud.

Kurama had half-expected the body to shatter like the jewel, but instead both body and head burst into flames. Eager tongues of white fire licked at the fallen creature, and a pungent odor arose. In a matter of moments, Toad crumbled to smoking black flakes of ash, stark against the pale stone floor.

"That smell..." No longer scowling, Hiei had instead a look of puzzled recognition.

"Yes," replied Kurama. "Like burning film stock."

He wiped his mouth. As a battle, this had been nothing. Just the merest drop of spirit power to summon the Thrashvine, then the diamond-grass. No physical effort to speak of.

Hiei, with his daring leap to snatch Maya from Von Brandt, and his subsequent bat-out-of-Hell drive to the palace, had exerted himself far more, yet looked fresh and eager.

Kurama felt as though someone had opened a spigot in his soul and siphoned all his energy. His limbs were leaden, his back made of rust, and his eyes burned with fatigue.

The difference was that Hiei was not involved.

Once on the job, Hiei would strive to save Maya, even at the risk of his life, but he had no emotional connection to her.

Whereas Kurama-

Shay-san cried out, her face alight: "She's coming around!"

Kurama shut his eyes a moment in relief. His gamble had paid off.

The rustle of leaves. Far off, a voice came from the trees. "Well-played, Sir, well-played!"

In an elaborate gold-and-scarlet chair borne by two otter attendants, Toad emerged from the woods, clapping his hands.

As the procession made its leisurely way toward the pavilion, Hiei shot Kurama a fierce glance. "How did you-?"

"The jewel." Kurama kept his voice quiet so only Hiei would hear. "No glow. And I've never seen Toad walk."

Hiei nodded in satisfaction. "That's the Kurama I know."

Once Toad reached the pavilion, his attendants set the chair down, then retreated to a respectful distance.

Toad wore the same open-necked blue robe as his double, and had a silver platter laden with glittery confections at his elbow. He greeted them in his beautiful, incongruous voice, selected a confection, popped it in his lipless mouth, then looked at the ashes. "So you managed to defeat Von Brandt."

"Yeah." With a look Kurama recognized, a look that spelled trouble, Hiei flicked back his jacket and casually laid a hand on his sword. "You know his name?"

Toad inclined his big, ugly head. The jewel caught and reflected the light. "I know him well."

In one swift movement, Hiei's sword flashed in his hand. "As friend or foe?"

"Foe, I assure you." Toad selected another confection.

"Hiei," Kurama began.

"This bastard better explain." Hiei did not waver. "I haven't stabbed anyone all week, and I'm getting twitchy."

"I shall explain in due time," countered Toad, "if you would be so kind as to fill me in first."

Hurriedly, Kurama summed up the night's events: the phone call from Miss Olivia, the race to the house, the battle.

Swallowing the confection, Toad turned to Hiei. "Stand down, my friend. You have done well tonight."

"Not me." Hiei reluctantly slid his sword back into its saya. "It was Shay-san and Kurama who risked the most. Besides, I owed that girl from a while back."

"Well-done indeed." Toad put a clawed hand to his robe and pulled it closer about his pale throat. He offered Hiei the platter of confections. Hiei refused. With a twinkle, Toad said, "Did you think these were crystallized flies? It is only candied fruit paste."

Hiei wasn't interested.

"I must admit," said Toad, "that I am still uncertain how Von Brandt managed all this." He indicated the ash-pile.

"Really?" Kurama released a taut breath. "You hid in the woods while that thing had Maya, handled her, questioned us, and you still don't know?"

"Even so." Toad's eyes were now free of that taint which had poisoned the eyes of his copy.

Shayla Kidd was patting Maya's face. Kurama forced himself to focus on Toad. "You planned all this?"

"Not quite to the letter, but it worked for the best. Though Von Brandt deceived you, you saw through his illusion. He could not stop from speaking one truthful thing: the means of his own destruction."

"Why?" Hiei made his way to the pile of ash, knelt to examine it briefly, then rose. "Why speak a truth that would lead to his death?"

"I have a theory or two." Toad plucked up another piece of candied fruit. "But how did you know that this was Von Brandt?"

"It didn't 'feel' like you," Kurama said. "More like a hastily-done copy."

"You'd better come clean." Hiei looked as though he was still itching to draw on the Toad. "Who was this Von Brandt? What part did you play in this?"

Toad regarded Kurama. "Perhaps first the girl?" For Maya was pushing herself upright.

She opened her eyes slowly, brushed back her limp hair, and looked around. With a strangled sob, she flung her arms around Shay-san's neck.

"Hush, Sweetie," murmured Shay-san. "You're safe now."

"Oh, it was awful!"

"I'll bet it was."

Maya plucked at her outfit. "This dress-"

"Your clothes are in the car."

Sidling over to Kurama, Hiei murmured, "She's good at this. Let 'em be."

Kurama breathed in the soft air, looked at the sun on autumn leaves at midnight, and thought about Von Brandt.

After a while, Maya straightened. The bridal gown was stained with grass and the long, trailing skirt was torn. Her face streaked with sweat and tears, she looked around with wonder. At last, her gaze settled on Kurama.

She flushed a deep pink. Her cobalt eyes blazed with a startling rage. "You!"

"Maya..."

Scrambling to her feet, Maya evaded Shay-san, who nevertheless stood ready to assist. "You-you took my memory!"

Then it's all come back to her: Hiei. Myself. Yatsude. No use evading. "I did it to protect you."

"Liar!" she spat. "To protect yourself!"

Hiei shrugged. "You appear to have gotten the memory back, so what's your problem?"

"Shut up!" Maya whirled on him. "That's not the point!"

Hiei was no fool. He had guessed Maya needed to take it out on someone, and deflected the shot meant for Kurama.

Toad watched in silence, arms folded in his blue silk robe.

Maya appeared to notice Toad for the first time. Her face drained of color, leaving her blotchy and pale. She sank back to the grass. "Don't feel so good."

"Of course not." Shayla Kidd knelt with her again.

Shuddering, Maya scrubbed at her face. "... that horrible creature way back then. When we were in junior high. All those arms, and claws, and-"

"Yatsude," said Hiei, helpfully. "We got him."

"And now it's happened again." Maya plucked reflexively at the grass. "Mr. Von Brandt. Twice in one lifetime. I must be a freak-magnet."

"I'm afraid so, Sweetie." Shayla Kidd patted her hand.

"Do you have to be so blunt about it?"

"Yes. And there's no way to soft-soap this. Because if you're a freak magnet, so am I."

"Thanks," said Hiei.

Shay-san tossed him one of her flintspark looks. "Not everything is about you, Dragon Boy." She turned back to Maya. "Years ago, a terrible demon known as White Sands Serpent tried to eat me. Hiei saved me."

"Yeah? Did Hiei try to kill you first?"

Shayla Kidd went on unperturbed. "Girls like us, we're different. We sense things others can't. Unfortunately, it's a signal to certain types of demons."

"Oh, goody." Maya jerked her fingers through her hair. "Like having an Eat-At-Joe's sign tattooed to your forehead."

"Yes." Her manner grave and tender, Shayla Kidd said, "You had an interest in the occult. This is what it's really like."

Yanking a fistful of grass, Maya flung it away, as if that would distance her from the painful truth. "Then I want nothing more to do with it!"

"Oh, it's not so bad." Shay-san put an arm around Maya's shoulder. "Welcome to the Shadow Wars."

"The-the Shadow what?"

It was Hiei who supplied the answer, his voice as calm and smooth as if he recited a liturgy. "There is great evil afoot, and we fight from the shadows without accolades or awards, without recognition or recompense, laying our lives on the line without regret."

"Well-said," murmured Toad. "Must remember this."

The sound of Toad's voice drew Maya's attention again. Color fled her face. "F-feel sorta sick-"

"Think nothing of it," Shay-san assured her, scrambling back to give Maya room. "I do it all the time."

Kurama turned away. It was probably best that Maya purge herself of whatever poisons Von Brandt had forced on her. She had suffered more than enough assaults to her dignity for one night, and Kurama had no wish to add to her distress.

Toad spoke quietly to his assistants, and the otter-footmen brought a goblet of liquid, which Kurama insisted on first tasting himself. When he was satisfied that it contained nothing more than pure, clear water, he nodded.

Shayla Kidd held the goblet while Maya sipped. Gradually, normal, healthy color stole back into her face.

While Toad made another unsuccessful offer of fruit paste, Kurama wondered whether Maya would eventually forgive him.

"Well?" Hiei jerked a thumb at Toad. "You were going to unload your theories."

"Quite," Toad said. "Here is what I know so far. Fifty years ago, Von Brandt unleashed his brood upon a certain neighborhood. Bluntly speaking, they ate human flesh."

"They?" Shayla Kidd looked up.

"The Rokurokubi," said Toad.

"But," she protested, "Rokurokubi-they don't-"

"These did," snapped Maya.

"Miss Kitajima is correct." It was a testament to Maya's resiliency that she expressed no further distress at conversing with a human-sized Toad.

"Unlike normal Rokurokubi, who are content merely to frighten people by means of their freakishly long, telescoping necks, these particular specimens inherited a taste for flesh from their father's tainted blood."

"So he really was a youkai," said Shay-san. "A demon," she added, for Maya's benefit. "We couldn't 'read' him."

"So much for my 'sixth sense.'" Maya tried to gather her legs under her, failed. "But he looked so-human."

"So do I," reminded Hiei.

Maya turned her head away.

"In the past," continued Toad, "Von Brandt used other demons to create his brood. His children are always the same: vicious, cannibalistic, uncontrollable. But his victim fifty years ago-his bride, as it were-was half-human. Perhaps he made a mistake in remaining in that same house and neighborhood, but Von Brandt believed himself above the law. Investigators heard what he wanted them to hear, saw what he wanted them to see."

All this time, Kurama watched Maya. And watched Shayla Kidd, doing her excellent job at dispensing comfort.

There was tightness in his chest, for Maya was right. He had taken Maya's memory, not only to protect her, but himself.

From what, exactly?

Back then, they were both fourteen. Maya had declared her love with an innocent's sweet conviction. To protect himself from just that? Kurama could not supply an answer.

"Von Brandt never did that neck thing," Hiei said. "Even when it would have come in handy. Besides, I thought Rokurokubi are always female."

"That is also correct," Toad assured him. "Von Brandt himself was not a Rokurokubi, but his mother was. On the other hand, his father was the notorious demon cannibal Nomu-Chi."

"Heard of him," murmured Hiei. "Before my time, though."

Maya paled again, but Toad continued blithely. "After the new brood is born, the young, along with their father, consume the mother-"

"Enough," Kurama said.

"Very well. We shall speak of this no further."

"But how did Von Brandt make the 'copy?'" Hiei asked.

"He killed Mr. Muktananda," said Maya, brushing her hair from her eyes. "And then he-" She covered her face.

Hiei looked at her, curious. "And you know this because...?"

Maya's face was streaked with tears. She scrubbed them away with the back of her hand, marble-pale once more, but determined, beautiful, distraught, brave. "Mr. Von Brandt had some kind of camera. He rigged it to steal souls. I don't know the details. It's how he killed Mr. Muktananda. He took his picture, but destroyed the film instead of transferring Mr. Muktananda's soul elsewhere."

"Von Brandt told you this?"

"No." Hesitating the merest fraction, Maya said, "When Mr. Von Brandt was killed-the camera transferred his soul into the nearest person."

Shayla Kidd took on a look of pure horror. "Into you?"

Maya nodded. "It was vile," she said quietly. "He was in my mind, swarming all over, frantic."

"But you fought him," said Shay-san. "In the car, you were feverish."

"Yes." Maya shrugged, her eyes downcast once again. "I fought him. For all the good it did."

"To the contrary," said Toad. "It saved you. Here is what I believe happened: Von Brandt was infected."

Maya looked up at Toad. "Infected?"

"By you," he replied.

Maya shivered. Shay-san shrugged out of her jacket and draped it on the other girl's shoulders.

"That is why he was forced to tell the truth." Toad selected another candied fruit. "Miss Kitajima fought him, which made it impossible for his soul to piggyback in her body, for evil cannot long co-exist within good. It must corrupt, or be consumed, or flee.

"Once you entered this domain, Von Brandt's soul sensed my power, and eagerly sought my form, but failed. All he could manage was a copy. In a way, a photograph is but a fake, a trick which can remind you of what it depicts, but never captures the real thing's depth, breadth, and persona."

"Don't remind me of photos," said Maya.

"Then it's over for real?" Hiei said. His question lingered in the air like smoke.

But was it truly over? A new thought twisted Kurama's gut.

As though comprehending his thoughts, Shayla Kidd gasped "Maya... you aren't... he didn't...?"

"Succeed?" Maya shook her head. "No. I am not carrying 'his new race.'"

"Thank God," breathed Shay-san.

Kurama's fists unclenched.

"We may never know the full details," said Toad, leaning back in his gold-and-scarlet chair, "But yes. It is really over. I consider the case closed."

"YOU consider?" Hiei whipped around to scowl at Toad.

Toad's lipless mouth curved its ugly smile. "You are surprised? But I have been on this case at the request of the Agency since well before 'N's' time."

"You lied," countered Hiei.

Toad shook his big, bejeweled head. "I never denied working with the Agency on this particular job. You merely assumed."

Maya huddled on the grass, with Shayla Kidd beside her, murmuring encouragement.

Kurama wrenched his gaze away. The Agency would mean nothing to Maya. "So we've been doing Agency work all along?"

Toad laced his hands on his ample belly. "It was thought you would work more efficiently if you did not realize this."

Kurama said icily, "I don't like being used."

"Now you know how I feel," snapped Maya. Shayla Kidd patted her into silence again.

Toad turned his attention to Maya. "Child," he began, in that beautiful, mellifluous voice, "would you care to remain here for a season? Midori will be a good companion, and I might be able to offer you employment."

The un-natural forest rang with birdsong, as though dawn was breaking. A light breeze stirred the branches and stroked Kurama's hair, but it brought no comfort.

Toad's palace. A wreck on the outside, a mansion within. Kurama was weary of things that appeared to be the opposite of what they truly were.

"Thanks but no thanks." Maya shook her head. "I'm sick of people deciding my fate for me. I already have a place to live. I already have a job." She lanced Kurama with a glare. "And one day I'll get over this-without help from any dream flower."

Maya struggled to her feet, brushing the other girl away. "I've pretty much had it with all of you."

Nevertheless Shay-san supported her, threading Maya's arm over her shoulder. "Don't blame you one bit."

Kurama watched, opened his mouth to speak, but decided better of it. Whatever conflict chewed at his heart, there was nothing he could say now to change Maya's opinion of him.

She's safe, he told himself, and however complicated his feelings were toward her, he grasped at that small comfort.

Next to Kurama, Hiei sighed. "Damn."

Glad of the diversion, Kurama lifted a curious eyebrow. "Hiei?"

"Agency case." He shot Kurama a sour glance. "You know what this means."

"What?"

"Paperwork."

"Tragic," agreed Kurama.

"Let's get you home, Sweetie." Shayla Kidd released Maya, but the girl was still wobbly. Hiei offered his arm, but Maya put him off with a glare, and when Kurama stepped up to offer his own assistance, Maya's refusal was twice as vehement.

A camera with a life of its own. A multiple murderer defeated, even if they'd had to do it twice.

Kurama was almost as fed up as Maya.

He exchanged a few mechanical pleasantries with Toad, of which he barely took note.

Toad said it was over. Kurama wasn't sure. There were still a few puzzling loose ends, and they still had to ride that bizarre elevator to get back to street level.

Toad gestured to his footmen. They lifted his gold-sand-scarlet chair, and made for the woods again.

Allowing Shayla Kidd to assist her at last, Maya hobbled toward the French doors leading to the living room. "I hope you managed to rescue my scarf," she admonished.

"I stuffed it in the pocket of your jeans."

"Good. I really liked that color."

"Women," Hiei muttered. "I am so putting in a voucher for that Shiseido lipstick."

-30-

(To be concluded: Will Spring arrive at last?)