Chapter 2
The first time No wandered in her dreams, she had just turned fifteen, and was reckless in her curiosity. She didn't yet bother to wonder where her consciousness was traveling at night. No would close her eyes in her bed, and open them next to find herself standing in a grove of wisteria trees, the canopies of purple flowers hanging thick enough to block out the scarlet sky. This was where the spirits first reached out to her.
Initially, the ones No came into contact with were little more than will-o-wisps - ghosts that had refused to move on, trapped between the realms for so long that they could no longer take on a true corporeal form. Touching them always left you with some sort of imprint, though. Perhaps if in life, they had pleasant memories of a meadow, you might smell a trace of wildflowers or hear birdsong on the breeze. If their death was violent, you would see a slash of blood or feel pain wherever the killing blow had been struck. However, you would never get a full life story.
Once No realized the presence of these wisps was an indication that her powers were maturing, she had quickly begun to seek out more. Every night, she would fall asleep visualizing the grove, hoping to draw more powerful spirits towards her. No's regard for her waking life during those several months became little. She figured she had been in Spectra long enough to slip under the radar, and her duties during the day were repetitive enough for her to practically sleepwalk through them. She never considered that perhaps she wasn't the only one gaining something.
"Tell me something else," No commanded. The spirit chuckled, the fabric of its robes flowing like water around its body. Its voice was neutral, and even after a month of almost nightly contact, No was still unable to discern whether it had been a man or a woman.
"So insistent, my host." But it indulged her request, as always. Through this spirit, No had learned that the grove she traveled to in her dreams was, in fact, part of the spirit world. Her presence had called the will-o-wisps to her, and her connection with this particular spirit allowed it to settle in the grove, always prepared to greet No upon her nightly return. "What do you wish to know?"
No paused, thoughtful for a moment. This spirit was certainly more knowledgeable than any of the others she had encountered thus far. It had been able to answer all her questions about the spirit realm with ease - perhaps she should turn her inquiries to her own world.
"You said when we met that you had roamed Ransei for centuries. So you must have witnessed the lives of many heroes?"
The spirit nodded approvingly, its face shadowed by its wide-brimmed hat. "Indeed, which tale shall I regale my most gracious host with? Perhaps that of Munetsune, the warlord who lifted Avia into the clouds? Or Megohime, the maiden of thorns? You remind me of her, you know. She too was a great beauty, even at a young age."
No recognized that name. It was said the great maze that made up Greenleaf's battlefield had been planted in her honor after her death by her grief-stricken lover, the warlord. "Yes, tell me about her."
"Of course," the spirit confirmed, reaching for its belt. Attached to the simple strip of leather were two objects: a dagger with a blade made of some black metal No didn't recognize, and a glass orb that contained lights shifting between every color of the rainbow. The spirit handed the latter to No, who knew what to do by now. Taking it into her hands, she focused on the lights, breathing in and out until the story revealed itself to her.
Her first mistake had been telling the spirit the truth about her identity - after all, No had figured, who would it have betrayed her to, and weren't these powers of hers supposed to make spirits do her bidding?
In truth, the spirit had held No completely within its thrall. There had been nobody to warn her, no previous matriarch to show her the nuances of communicating with the dead. Now, No realized how close her ignorance had brought her to losing everything.
Feeling something prickling against her cheek, No wearily opened her eyes to the predawn sky. Where had the ceiling gone? Then she realized she was no longer inside the castle at all, but lying in a bed of grass. For a moment, No struggled to make sense of her surroundings before a knife of dread twisted in her gut. "It's happening again."
More and more over the past month, No had begun waking up in different parts of the castle, never the same place twice. Until now, she had assumed that for some reason, she had begun sleepwalking. But could she really have made it all the way past the guards? As she pondered this, No abruptly became aware of a sharp pain creeping up her arm. Looking down, she had to stifle the urge to scream.
The flesh on the underside of No's arm had been sliced open in a single clean line, and judging by the crimson blood dripping onto the ground, the damage was fresh. No clenched the fingers of her hand together, and had to look away as she saw the twitch of muscle within the wound. Covering her mouth with her uninjured hand, No tried desperately to remember if she had done anything out of the ordinary the night before. Her head spun, and her memories of the past day were blurring with those of her mother's death seven years earlier. There was so much blood. "Blood," No realized. "I'm losing blood."
Fighting to keep her breathing steady, No began to tear a strip of fabric from the edge of her yukata. As she felt an unfamiliar weight at her hip, she froze, and for the first time since her return to Spectra, No felt truly afraid. Reaching for the weight as though it were a rotting piece of flesh, No struggled to keep her breathing steady as her fingers wrapped around a smooth grip, and she held out before her an all too familiar dagger.
The night afterwards, No learned the truth. Her spirit guide had, in reality, been a demon with power over illusory magic. No's lack of caution at concealing herself within the spirit world had drawn it to her. Once it began transfixing her with the magic of the orb, it took control of her body until she woke up, draining her of her strength the entire time. It then used her to create summoning circles throughout the castle that, with a strong enough blood sacrifice, could tear open holes between the two worlds.
No had been betrayed by someone she thought a friend, exactly like Hideko. No's fury at both herself and the demon was all-consuming. That night, she covered her hands in every sigil for protection and banishing that she had learned before leaving Nixtorm. The moment No touched the demon, she channeled all of that rage, and forced it out of her dreams for good. No learned to be careful after that. Now, she never trusted any spirit with knowledge that it could turn against her.
As the years went on and more spirits began coming to her in the waking world, No's amount of time spent in the wisteria grove lessened. Every so often though, she would still fall asleep to find herself among the purple flowers. Tonight was one of those nights.
She knew the limits of the grove by now. Sometimes No did wonder about the foreboding castle that loomed above the trees, but whenever she tried to ask spirits what its purpose was, she never received a clear answer. If she truly wanted to, No supposed she could venture beyond the grove's boundaries, but the likelihood of her being able to leave the spirit world should she grow lost was extremely slim. The grove was designed for humans, and all No had to do to leave was wake up. But beyond it, the laws of the spirit realm took over, and No knew it wasn't her place to go wandering. So she stayed put, content to allow whatever spirit who desired contact come to her.
Immediately, No sensed something different about the spirit waiting for her tonight. Its back was to her, but a faint purple aura radiated from the outline of its body, something No hadn't even encountered in demons. No narrowed her eyes, prepared to draw the blood that she would need for a banishing spell if necessary. Then the spirit turned, and the sight of her mother's face knocked the breath from No's body.
This had to be some sort of trick. No had encountered malevolent spirits that lured their victims in by impersonating a friend or loved one. After a moment of analysis, she decided not to deviate from the norm until she could gather more information. Recovering her composure, No inclined her head towards the spirit.
"Good evening, my lady. Have we been previously acquainted?"
The spirit resembling Hideko looked No over, although it was not one of the appraising glances No had grown accustomed to receiving from both the humans and spirits she interacted with. When it spoke, the sound of her mother's voice brought the few clear memories that No possessed of her early childhood in Spectra rushing back. "My child. Fate has brought you home."
What No needed was some way to force this spirit to prove its identity. The task would be simpler if Spectra's castle weren't full of spirits that easily could have learned to imitate Hideko's mannerisms. "I refuse to be taken for a fool again."
Feigning an overcoming of emotion, No gasped, unabashedly putting on the same show she had for Fuyuka four years earlier. "Oh, it is you! I've spent so long waiting for you to offer me guidance."
Drawing closer, the spirit held out its arms, clearly expecting No to rush into its embrace. "I know, my child. I had to be certain you were ready."
No straightened herself, wiping away nonexistent tears with a brush of her hand. "I am. I do have one question I would wish to ask of you, though."
The spirit's violet eyes were full of warmth as it responded, "Anything," but No refused to allow sentimentality to lower her defenses.
Raising her head, No hardened her voice, dropping the facade. "Prove that you are Lady Hideko. Tell me something no other spirit could possibly know."
For a moment, the silence that descended between the two women felt like the air before a lightning strike, charged and unstable. Then Hideko brought her hands together in a single clap. "Very good, No. You've ensured to learn on your own, I see."
The dark-haired spirit closed her eyes, seemingly in deep concentration. No watched in fascination as Hideko's ceremonial funeral garments changed into a tattered, fur-lined kimono, wrinkles etching themselves into her face as though some invisible hand was slicing a knife through clay. "I suppose this is how you remember me in my final moments," Hideko remarked, slashing a hand across her throat for good measure. "So exhausted that I couldn't even tell one of my own had been replaced by an assassin. If I only hadn't let my guard down, who knows how different our situations might be now."
"Mother..." No finally allowed herself to breathe the word. "Why are you here? Why didn't you come before now?"
Hideko looked around the wisteria grove with fondness, breathing in the faint scent of the blossoms. "I wanted to, No, you must know that. But first I needed to see that you were embracing your powers, putting them to use. Right now, it is still difficult for me to manifest, even with you knowingly seeking communication. It's another effect of my sister sitting on that throne and not you."
"You know why I've returned to Spectra, then?" No asked. Even in another world, it felt strange to be voicing the truth, setting aside the cloak of lies she had wrapped herself in over the past four years.
"I'm glad you have," Hideko responded. "In fact, if you so wish it, I believe I can offer you some assistance in your vengeance. I have my own grievances to repay, you know." She held her hand out towards No, the purple glow surrounding her intensifying. "Technically, normal spirits aren't supposed to transport humans between realms, but I feel this is a worthy exception."
No remained hesitant for a moment. "Where do you plan to take me?"
Hideko's gaze remained steady as she replied, "A place where you are awaited, by those who seek the same goal as us. No doubt you have passed it by innumerable times."
Well, No had been wondering how to proceed. Steeling herself, she placed her hand in Hideko's, the misty illusion of skin solidifying as it touched No's flesh. The overall sensation was like trying to hold ice in your bare hand.
The world around No dissolved into smoke, and for a moment the two women simply hovered in a void. Then, slowly, a stone wall constructed itself around them, and thin shafts of moonlight began to illuminate their surroundings as No heard the crunch of dead leaves beneath her feet. Looking around, she could now make out several faded paintings on the walls of the building, and beyond Hideko, a flight of stairs leading to a disused altar. They were inside a shrine, No realized. A shrine that didn't seem to have seen any use within the last decade or so, but a shrine nonetheless.
"Do you feel them?" Hideko asked. No was about to wonder what her mother meant, when she became aware of a low vibration in the air. Taking it in, No closed her eyes, allowing it to resonate through her body. At once, she began to hear dozens of overlapping voices murmuring in her ears.
When No reopened her eyes, she and Hideko were no longer alone. Along both sides of the steps leading up to the altar, dark-haired women in black kimonos stood in line, heads turned towards No. Even without her mother, No would have known who they were. The spirits of all the previous matriarchs.
No separated herself from Hideko, slowly advancing towards the stairs. As she climbed upwards, each ghostly woman reached out towards her, brushing No's arms or face with spectral hands. If No had felt power inside of her before, it was only a trickle compared to the ocean she now realized was at her command. When she mounted the final steps and stood before the altar, No turned back to face the parade of spirits. As a test, she raised her hand, and each woman bowed before her in a ripple. At the foot of the stairs, Hideko nodded towards her, and No turned back to the altar.
There was a new spirit hovering just above the cracked stone, and No realized it was a Pokemon. As the moonlight pooling through the hole in the ceiling cast its rays over the altar, No reached out to Misdreavus for the first time. As she felt the wavelength between them burst into life, No's senses sharpened, and she became aware of a pull coming from the castle. No, not the castle. The graveyard.
She had a partner, and finally the full extent of her power at her disposal. As No and Misdreavus turned their faces to the moonlight, No tilted her head back and began to laugh uncontrollably. Any trace of the girl she had been was gone. This was her destiny, and she was here to claim it by the throat.