Mirage of Change
by Karura
Second arc: The seventh bride
Chapter four
We are the same, you and I...
Naoe frowned in his sleep. He had completely forgotten the voice he had heard at the end of his previous dream.
Our love has yet to be rewarded.
I don't know what you mean, Naoe had to retort.
A crystalline laugh was heard.
How complicated you are. Are you so afraid to accept your true feelings? How do you intend to win over him, if you are not even sure about yourself?
What about you? Naoe argued. Who do you want to win over?
Don't you already know?
It finally dawned on Naoe. Masayuki-san, he whispered. So you are the spirit tormenting him!
I love him. I only wish for his happiness, but he can be so stubborn at times... Well, I also love this side of him.
Just like Naoe found his lord's obstinacy endearing... He shook his head. It was absolutely out of the question to compare himself to a mere spirit! Besides, it had nothing to do with Kagetora!
Rather than letting that spirit call the tune, Naoe decided to take the lead. You say you wish for his happiness, but actually, you are just killing his wives, moreover when they are pregnant!
I am not responsible for those women's death, the spirit stated evenly.
I don't believe you.
Still, it's the truth, and you will soon realize it. But enough talking about me, let's see the depths of your feelings. Open your eyes.
Against his will, Naoe's eyes slowly fluttered open. He saw a run-down room around him. The sliding panels were torn and dangling on one side, and mold was eating the tatami. His gaze eventually rested on his lord, lying beside him. Both were still wearing their travelling clothes, but since it was only a dream, Naoe didn't expect any sense from it. Besides, his mind was clouded and he couldn't articulate a logical thought, even if he wanted to.
Behold your very desire, the voice resounded again.
Naoe looked at his lord with bewilderment. Nonsense, he protested. I don't love him... not that way.
I was afraid too, at the beginning. But now my doubts are all gone.
My dream last night, it was your doing, Naoe accused.
No, I was just watching it. It is your heart trying to communicate with you, but you just keep refusing to listen to it.
I won't have any more of this rubbish you're spouting!
You know this is no rubbish. You deny your heart's impetus; know that it will do you no good.
Naoe's hand suddenly moved from its own will, or rather from the spirit's will. Naoe tried to get the control back, in vain. His hand reached his lord's cheek to cup it. He distractedly noted the coolness of the skin under his palm. What are you doing here? he asked his tormentor.
I'm trying to make you realize your own feelings.
Don't you have anything better to do? Leave my feelings alone; why don't you go and torment Masayuki-san like you always do?!
Kagetora would have denounced him for saying such a thing, but Naoe didn't care. He didn't care if that spirit tormented or even killed other people, as long as it left him alone!
The spirit merely laughed. The most important thing, it went on, is to mark him as yours. That way, no one else will be able to become close to him. You must isolate him from all those who would like to get too close.
That's what you're doing to Masayuki-san by killing his wives? Naoe was trying to regain his footing and not let himself get hypnotized by the disturbing words of this spirit. Still, what it said rang a bell about his feelings for his lord...
I tell you again, I never hurt those women.
I don't believe you.
You'll soon see it with your own eyes. Now, go back to sleep.
Taken aback, Naoe looked up. What do you mean, go back to sleep? This is a dream! How can I get asleep in a dream?
The spirit laughed again. Despite himself, Naoe rested his head on his lord's chest, and his eyes slowed closed, heavy from sleep. How strange, he couldn't hear any heartbeat from the chest under his ear...
Don't you know it? When you fall asleep in a dream...
Naoe suddenly heard hurried footsteps. The remnant of the sliding panel suddenly jerked open, and Nagahide appeared in sight, looking panicked. "Naoe, no! Don't let her..." But Naoe was already sleeping, his mind confused.
XxX
"Naoe, Naoe !" The calls were getting more and more insisting, but Naoe opened his eyes only when he was shaken. He looked distantly at the face leaning over him, and he didn't recognize the person for a moment, so perturbed he was by his dream. "My lord?"
"It's Nagahide," Kagetora said morosely. "I fear... he is dead."
That led Naoe to full awakening. He immediately stood up and dashed to the next room, where his friend's body laid. The frail filament linking the body to the soul—wherever it was—had vanished. Moreover, his complexion had become very pale, and when Naoe reached out to him, he could feel that Nagahide's face was cold. "This is not possible," he whispered in a daze. He tried to sense his friend's soul, but in vain. Nagahide's soul was nowhere in this world. Did he meet his true death at last? Was his soul lost forever? Naoe couldn't believe it. If now the Yashashuu had to fear death like any other man...
"There's nothing more we can do for him now." Kagetora entered the room behind him. Naoe turned his eyes to his lord, and his face hardened with determination. If something in this place was able to crush their souls, Naoe would do anything in his power to protect Kagetora, no matter the price.
His decision taken, Naoe rather focused on the facts. "What happened? Did Bishamonten's protection cease to work?" Kagetora sighed, unable to answer. Naoe tried to recall everything that occurred since the breaking of fast; Natsume-san had been so captivated by her pregnancy that they couldn't talk to her about the nursery. Without anything else to do, and since they had walked through the house maze all the morning, Naoe had suggested to Kagetora getting a rest for a couple of hours. He still worried about his lord's bout of fit, although the man had perfectly recovered. Kagetora had complied. Naoe was supposed to stand watch, but he might have fallen asleep too, and dreamed that strange dream. He remembered the spirit's last words, when you fall asleep in a dream... "You wake up to reality," he mentally ended. But still, Nagahide's appearance in that dream was rather curious.
Kagetora breathed in, and Naoe's attention focused on him immediately. "I couldn't sleep," the lord explained, "so I went out to the corridor, trying to think about the current case. You were talking in your sleep, so I couldn't think clearly."
Naoe tried to keep his face neutral. "Did I say anything in my sleep?"
"Nothing I could grasp. You seemed to be arguing with someone. Then I sensed a shift in the air, and I felt that something had just happened to Nagahide. When I came here, it was already too late. Even if I prayed Bishamonten a thousand times, even He doesn't have the power to wake the dead..."
"What about his soul?" Naoe asked.
Kagetora shook his head. "Still no trace of it, anywhere. I fear his soul could be lost forever." Naoe watched his friend's face as his thoughts turned and turned in all kind of directions. His lord's awkward tone of voice distracted him from his thoughts. "I'm... I'm really sorry."
Naoe looked at him questioningly. "Why? You did everything you could. This is not your fault."
"I know... how much you care for him... But I promise you, we'll find out what happened to him and we'll avenge his death!
Naoe nodded. One of them couldn't be murdered without them retaliating. "I had another strange dream," he revealed. "And I think the spirit we are looking for talked to me in that dream."
Kagetora stared at him. "What did it say?"
"It said... no, she said she is in love with Masayuki-san and wants to keep him for herself."
"Thus the murder of the spouses."
"She says she's not responsible, although I asked her several times."
"And you believe her?"
Naoe shrugged. "She didn't deny the rest. I don't see any reason for her to lie just about that point. We already suspect her, anyway."
"Don't forget this is a cunning spirit. But it seems she has also some control over dreams..."
"You mean, my dream?"
"And also Natsume-san's; it seemed like a warning. The spirit can influence the dream world, that may be where she's keeping Nagahide'soul."
"That's it!" Naoe suddenly exclaimed. "At the end of my dream, I saw Nagahide for a split second. I believe he was warning me against the spirit, but I couldn't hear him very clearly."
"The dream world... but how to get there? The spirit only communicates with you, doesn't she? Do you know why?" Naoe perfectly knew, but shook his head. Kagetora insisted. "Didn't she tell you anything about it? What did you talk about?"
"She only talks about her Masayuki. His name is never off her lips..."
Kagetora shook his head. He had the feeling that Naoe wasn't telling him the whole truth, but he didn't want to rush him either. After all, Naoe just lost the one he loved; of course he was still in shock. "Let's go and see Masayuki-san," he suddenly said.
"Our morning encounter wasn't very fruitful," Naoe reminded.
"We'll act with more urging this time, and bring the topic of the spirit. We will get answers from him."
Naoe nodded, then suddenly remembered something. "Didn't Natsume-san tell us she would announce the good news to her husband this afternoon? We might intrude."
Kagetora shook his head. "Now is not the time to care about politeness anymore ," he resolutely stated. Naoe agreed with all his heart.
XxX
Neither of the men wanted to venture again in the maze of corridors, but they couldn't find any servant either. The house seemed deserted again. "I think I may be able to find the way to the nursery," Kagetora said. "But beyond that..."
"Well, let's go there. We'll see what to do once we arrive."
Kagetora took the lead up the stairs leading to the second floor, but Naoe wasn't far behind, ready to protect his lord from whatever danger that could come. There was no one in the nursery. When they had left the room in the morning, they hadn't closed the panel, and nobody seemed to have come since. "So," Naoe said, "how are we going to find the way to Masayuki-san's room?" Kagetora glanced warily at the hallways before them. He didn't feel like losing their way again, but what else could they do?
A terrified scream was suddenly heard. Kagetora and Naoe froze. "A woman," Kagetora said.
"You think it's Natsume-san?" Naoe asked just before another scream resounded.
"Over there!" Kagetora shouted, dashing to corridor.
"My lord, you shouldn't strain yourself!" Naoe said, following him. He felt that Kagetora wouldn't listen to him, so he had not to lose sight of him. The long corridor came out on another one perpendicularly. They were able to get their bearings with the repeating cries. As long as Natsume was screaming, it meant she was still alive. But they had to hurry, lest the spirit finished her.
"We are close!" Kagetora noted. They suddenly saw Natsume-san running in their direction. Some strands of her long dark hairs had gotten loose from her hairstyle all around her face, her crazed eyes seemed not to notice them, and her mouth was opened for a panicked cry. She was holding her belly with her two hands, and the possessors noticed in a stupor that blood was trickling between the pale knuckles. Kagetora ran to the woman. "Natsume-san! What happened?"
The house mistress seemed to regain a bit of lucidity. Tears streamed down her beautiful face. "He... He wants to kill my baby!"
Kagetora nodded. "The spirit, isn't it? The spirit haunting this place wants to hurt your baby!"
But Natsume-san shook her head. "No, it's not..." Footsteps suddenly resounded, and Natsume turned around abruptly, tears flowing more freely, her body shivering in fear. "He's coming... Let go of me!" She struggled like an enraged cat.
Kagetora couldn't keep his grip on her. She ran away in the direction they were coming from. "Naoe, catch her!" Kagetora demanded.
But his vassal stared resolutely at him and walked to place himself right between Kagetora and the impending danger. "You want me to let you alone with that thing coming? No way, my lord, my duty is to protect you!"
Kagetora swore under his breath. Naoe had really chosen his moment to care about duty! "Naoe!" He rumbled.
But the man never looked back. "No." His tone was definite. Kagetora held himself back from rolling his eyes. No matter how Naoe played the faithful vassal, he always followed his own devices when he wanted to.
Chatting time was over. The footsteps moved closer, and a shadow was outlined on a wall. Kagetora and Naoe gathered their energies. It was the spirit's first physical appearance, and it may be their only opportunity to confront it face to face. So they must not miss this unique chance.
The shadow moved closer, and stopped just at the corner of the corridor where the two possessors were standing. They held their breath. The shadow stepped forward, coming in sight, and...
"Masayuki-san!" Kagetora was astonished. Indeed, the master of the place was standing there. Kagetora was about to walk to him, surprised to see him on his feet and out of his room, when Naoe caught his wrist.
"Look at him closely," he advised his lord. Kagetora looked down and finally noticed a bloody katana in the hands of the mad man. A drop of blood glided down the edge of the blade before staining the tatami. Kagetora's eyes moved up quickly to the man's face. His eyes were feverish and crazy. Undoubtedly, he was the one who attacked his wife. Still...
Naoe conjured his blaze, ready to exorcise the spirit who was surely possessing Masayuki, compelling him to this horrible infamy, but Kagetora prevented him. "Wait, he's not possessed!"
Taken aback, Naoe half-turned to his lord. "What do you mean? But you've seen it, he assaulted his own wife!"
"Still, he's not possessed. I feel no such thing in him."
"The spirit is merely concealing her presence." Naoe frowned.
"No, it's just Masayuki-san in front of us." Naoe was about to retort, when Masayuki suddenly dashed to them. Caught unawares, Naoe would have shot a nenpa if Kagetora hadn't grabbed his arm. "Stop, we must not kill the living!"
"You want me to let him attack us without defending you?" The vassal got indignant. But Masayuki passed by them, not even sparing them a glance in his hurry. For a man who had looked so impaired to them in the morning, he was now showing a surprising vigor.
Masayuki disappeared at the turn of a corridor. Kagetora immediately released his hold on Naoe, and ran in his wake. "Let's follow him," he said. "We are not going to let him kill Natsume-san!"
"But...!" Naoe protested, baffled because of his lord's contradictory reactions.
"We will not kill him, anyway," Kagetora clarified. "We are just going to halt him!" Easier said than done. As they were following the master of the house with difficulty, Naoe wondered whether they would have to resort to force in order to stop Masayuki, for the man wasn't likely to calm down by himself. Anyway, it was out of the question that Naoe let this raving lunatic hurt Kagetora.
They heard Natsume screaming once again, and they hastened. Masayuki may have caught up with her, and he would finish what he had started. They eventually ended up in a familiar hallway. And at the end, there was... "The nursery!" Kagetora realized with a cry.
"Where Natsume-san dreamt of the corpses of the other wives!" Naoe completed.
Now it was sure that Masayuki had killed all his other spouses in that very room. The two possessors hurried up to the nursery. But it was already too late. It was such a bloodshed; the walls and even the ceiling had been splattered. Natsume was lying in the center of the room, her hand shielding her belly, as though she had meant to protect her child until the very last moment. She was still breathing, but not for very long. Her husband, already no longer in sight, had managed to rip open her stomach and to snatch the life inside. And so, Natsume's life was also gradually flowing out.
"Natsume-san!" Kagetora exclaimed. He started to rush to her side, but Naoe grabbed his arm. The vassal looked all around, but there was no trace of Masayuki. So he let Kagetora walk to the dying woman. She reached out to him with a bloody hand, and Kagetora took it, crouching beside her.
"Please," she whispered, "don't blame him." She was obviously referring to her husband.
Kagetora got indignant. "How can you say this? He has killed your child... and you too..." Natsume smiled serenely, then a gasp stole her last breath away. Kagetora closed his eyes briefly, overwhelmed by the aching failure, then he rested the woman's hand on her chest. He closed her eyes, saying a short prayer for her soul to be welcomed in the next world.
Naoe wasn't surprised to see his lord stand up, his eyes burning with resolution. "Where is he?" Kagetora asked.
"He must have found shelter somewhere in the house," Naoe said. "Since he has left a bloody trail, it will be easy to find him." Indeed, some blood had dripped on the tatami in the hallway, forming a grim trail that would led them right to the murderer.
Kagetora followed that trail, with Naoe behind him. The vassal wondered whether Kagetora would allow him to use his powers this time. Although Kenshin had forbidden them to kill the living, could that restriction still apply to a man who had just murdered his pregnant wife, and probably his six late wives as well? Anyway, the spirit hadn't lied in Naoe's dream; she wasn't responsible for the women's death. Masayuki was. Why had he done it? What was the role of the spirit in this whole case? Did she try to warn Natsume about her fatal fate by sending the dream that triggered everything? It was even more confusing than in the beginning, and Naoe feared they would never get the bottom of that case.
The bloody track led to... Masayuki's own room. Naoe's first thought was that they had followed the trail in the wrong way, but when the two men entered the dark room, Masayuki was right there. He was sitting in the center, his bloody katana resting on the floor before him. He was looking at the weapon, as though considering killing himself with it. But he may also attacking them with the blade. Naoe stayed alert, certain that Kagetora would be as reckless as usual. And his lord didn't disappoint him, walking carelessly to the murderer.
Naoe grabbed his arm, and Kagetora turned to him with annoyance. "This man has just killed a woman, right under our nose," Naoe hissed before his lord could protest. "We must be wary of him!"
"I can protect myself." Kagetora jerked himself free.
"But you don't know how to be wary," the other possessor grumbled. Kagetora moved closer to Masayuki, a little more cautiously. Naoe's body was taut, like the chord of an arrow, ready to rise his goshinha should Masayuki move, with hostility or not—Naoe wouldn't wait to see.
"Masayuki-san?" Kagetora called him. The man didn't turn to him, frozen like a stone. Kagetora walked around him to crouch in face of him... and of his weapon, Naoe noticed it, holding back a cry of rage. When would Kagetora finally cease to put himself in danger? He was always lecturing them about how it was important to take care of the bodies they possessed. But it seemed that, as soon as he was in mission, Kagetora only lived for the others, as if it was more important to him that the living survived, rather than himself. Naoe had noticed that Kagetora had always died during some mission, rarely from the old age. He wondered how many bodies Kagetora would have avoided to possess, should he have been more cautious. When you knew that each body to possess was an added burden for the former daimyo, Naoe couldn't understand why Kagetora was tormenting himself like that.
He recalled Nagahide's words: A holy man. He is on the way to redemption, and he will lead us to it. Either way, redemption or not, Naoe couldn't bear to see Kagetora dying before his eyes. He would definitely protect him, even if he had to lose his own life.
However, it seemed that Naoe's fears were baseless; Masayuki didn't even bat an eyelash when Kagetora sit in front of him, willing to talk. "Do you realized what you just did?" He merely asked. A long moment of silence, then the man nodded. "Why did you do that?" Kagetora insisted. "Why did you kill your loving wife and the child she was bearing? I though you wanted a son, didn't you?"
Masayuki had a short laugh. "How could I ever want a child to be born in my cursed lineage?"
Kagetora rose an eyebrow. Masayuki seemed much more lucid than during their interrogatory in the morning. Maybe it had just been a ploy, to make them believe he was harmless. "Why didn't you say this, when we talked in the morning?" He asked. "If you are cursed with a spirit, we can help you to get rid of it. You wouldn't have to... to kill you wife..."
"This morning..." The man's eyes were remote. "I couldn't tell for sure whether you were real. I've been swaying from dream to reality for such a long time... I couldn't tell if you were created by my mind, or by her."
"Who is haunting you?" Kagetora asked at last. "Who cursed you?" They deserved to know the real story now. They may have lost one of them forever, so they deserved to know the reason why.
Masayuki burst out laughing hysterically, startling him. "Who cursed me?" He repeated. "I did curse myself, I and no one else!"
"This morning, you mentioned a filthy beast that you should have let die... You didn't mean you wife."
"I meant her. Her, and all the others. All the people around me are nothing more than that filthy beast I should have let die!" Completely enraged now, Masayuki grabbed his blade and stood up.
"My lord, watch out!" Naoe cried out. He used his powers to violently launch Masayuki against a wall. The man slumped feebly on the floor, blood trickling from his brow down to his face.
"Naoe!" Kagetora growled furiously.
"He was about to attack you!" The vassal replied.
"You couldn't be sure of it!"
"Well, I certainly wasn't going to wait any longer," Naoe retorted, his eyes burning. "I made an oath to protect you, my lord. Maybe you don't consider your life as important, but I consider it as more important than any other's life, including mine!" Kagetora frowned. It was the first time he saw Naoe so angry, and it was rather disturbing.
He had no time to think more about it; someone cried out from the door of the room. "Masayuki-dono!" The two possessors turned back to see an appealed Baba. She ran to her master, and laid him down gently. She saw the drip of blood on his brow, and sent an hateful look to the men. "How dare you hurt him?!"
A little taken aback by her sharp reaction, Kagetora tried to explain. "He just killed Natsume-san before our very eyes! Didn't you hear her screaming?"
Baba snorted, not in the least surprised or shocked. "So, she wasn't to his liking," she merely shrugged. "Such a shame. Well, the next one should be the right one."
The two possessors were confused. "The next one?" Kagetora repeated. "You still plan to find another bride for him? Despite what he did?"
"I have to. Masayuki-dono direly wants a child."
"But he has killed seven woman, all impregnated by him!"
"They weren't good enough for him. Only the best for Masayuki-san."
"And he doesn't even want a child!"
That earned him a hateful gaze from the old woman. "Don't you dare speaking of Masayuki-dono as if you knew him better than me!" She snapped. "I do know him since his childhood, and I do know what he really wants!"
Kagetora was about to retort, but Naoe grabbed his arm. "We should better let her take care of him, my lord."
Speechless, Kagetora turned to him. "But...!"
"Besides," Naoe went in, "we also have to take care of Natsume-san. We shouldn't let her body like that."
Kagetora closed his mouth. He could feel insistence, along with a silent pleading in Naoe's eyes, and the hand resting on his arms was more tensed that necessary.
Kagetora frowned. There was something fishy about it. He didn't want to renounce, but he would trust his vassal. "Alright," he conceded. But it has better be important, he thought.
Naoe's relief shone on his face. Baba just grumbled as they left Masayuki's room. Naoe remained silent during their walking back, while Kagetora was boiling with impatience to hear what could have been so urgent.
The vassal took him to the corridor near the nursery, and Kagetora thought he had misread his vassal's intentions. But the other man turned abruptly to him, his face stern. "It may be only a guess," he said, "but I think Baba-san is the spirit."
Kagetora blinked. "But she's not disembodied!"
"All our impressions are completely distorted since we entered this house. I don't mean it's an illusion," he added, cutting short to his lord's protests, "I just mean our senses are deceived."
"Very well," Kagetora agreed, even though he was far from convinced. "What makes you believe Baba-san is the spirit?"
"Her possessiveness towards Masayuki-san, and her total disregard of the dead wives."
"It's just a lightweight proof."
"Baba-san loves Masayuki-san, I just realized it. I don't think the spirit would have allowed a potential rival to stay by his side."
"A rival? Come one, Baba-san is twice or thrice the age of Masayuki-san! She is no rival for the spirit."
Naoe explained with patience. "She doesn't think that way. When she talked to me in my dream, she explained that she intended to drive away from Masayuki-san all the people that could become too close to him, whatever their age or gender. Why would she have let Baba-san alive? Well, that's because she is Baba-san."
Kagetora shook his head. "I could never understand that way of thinking. How could you keep someone prisoner, isolate him from all those who love him, just because of love?"
"I do understand it very well," Naoe whispered.
"Huh?"
He smiled gently. "Nothing, my lord. We should rather take care of Natsume-san. Then we will confound Baba-san." Kagetora nodded, a little confused because of all the various side of Naoe he had discovered today. It appeared to him that he didn't know his vassal that well, after all. Maybe Naoe was right when he was saying that he had changed.
The two men entered the nursery and froze on the doorway. "The corpse," Kagetora whispered.
"She's gone!" Naoe ended.
Kagetora looked all around him. There was no sign of the body, or even... "The blood," he said, earning a curious glance from Naoe. "There is not a single drop of blood here!"
Naoe widened his eyes, and lowered down to feel the tatami. "They are not wet," he noticed. "They weren't cleaned, or even turn over."
"But it's the place! What about the blood in the corridor?"
Naoe went outside to look, and saw nothing. "It's as if nothing happened," he said lowly.
"Something did happen," Kagetora insisted. "We saw it!"
"It's Baba-san." Naoe looked at his lord straight in the eyes. "I told you she was distorting our senses. If we want to know what really happened to Natsume-san, we have to confront her."
They suddenly heard footsteps from outside, in the corridor, and they got still. No many people remained in the house, and it could very likely be Baba-san, intending to fight them. Naoe gathered his power, when he suddenly sensed a familiar presence. His eyes got wide, and Kagetora gasped, feeling the same. "Impossible," he breathed out.
But the presence was getting closer. When the person came in sight at last... they greeted them gravely. "I see you're still trapped," the newcomer said.
Naoe recovered his speech, and cried out: "Nagahide?!"
To be continued...
So, we have dead people who get missing, while others come back. How the Yashashuu are going to deal with this can of worms? The key to mystery is in the next chapter!