This Masquerade - 4

     Head priestess hesitated as they neared the bamboo that enclosed the shrine grounds in a whispering wall of brown and green. A small, pale hand emerged from the voluminous sleeves to tug anxiously on a stray lock of purple hair as painted red lips pursed together in a thin line. She wanted to confront the strange men that had approached her earlier but was unwilling to break the uncomfortable silence that developed during their impromptu tour of the grounds.  It didn't require an incredible amount of deductive reasoning for Amefuri to decipher the true purpose for their visit. 

    Amefuri was aware that she was not very learned in the "ways of the world," but that didn't mean that she was a complete idiot. She decided that this "Keisotsu Kouhei" and "Chikawa Yorukai" must be looking for the sacred stone housed in this very shrine. Why else would these foreigners being nosing around a rural shrine? It was very unlikely that they could be looking for someone that they knew almost nothing about.

    But these two men, they were at quite a loss to explain their self-appointed guide's erratic behaviour. 

    As far as they could discern, she was the same woman that they were looking for, but this woman's motives were far from clear. Perhaps she was had accompanied them for the sole purpose of keeping them from finding some potentially dangerous information. Or perhaps she was honestly interested in being courteous and presenting them with the best sides of the local culture. While the head priestess and Amefuri looked identical, but it was impossible to determine the depth of their similarities without causing suspicion.  

    Amefuri cleared her throat and turned towards them. 

    "When you first arrived, there was a matter of importance that had to be discussed with the head priestess. " Amefuri paused to tug at a stray lock of hair before continuing. "You believe that your friend, who you claim to have lodged at the shrine recently, is in sort of mortal danger. Is this correct?"

    They hesitated.

    "Yes it is," Kouhei answered. "We would be forever in your debt if there was any information that could be shared between us. It would be a great aid in the search for our missing companion."

    A frown worked its way onto Amefuri's face as she processed his reply. "I regret to inform you that the friend you speak of has neither visited nor lodged at the Twilight Star Shrine. Only the head priest, myself and a handful of assistants live on the grounds and we have not had any travellers under our roof for quite some time." She gazed dispassionately at Kouhei and Yorukai. "And since I have not had the pleasure of making your acquaintance before this meeting, it is quite impossible for your companion and myself to be the same person." 

    Midnight hair slid over her shoulder and brushed the grass lightly as the head priestess lowered her head in a formal bow. 

    "I apologize for being unable to present any information about the whereabouts of your missing companion." 

    It was during the stunned silence following her speech that Yorukai became aware of something quite unusual. The boisterous noise of the festival had been fading away, now there were only faint strains of laughter and even those barely managed to struggle through the rustling leaves. A quick survey of his surroundings revealed that Amefuri... no.... the priestess had taken them to an area of the shrine that seemed absent from the shrine in Tokyo. 

    It was then, while Yorukai actually looked at the things around him, that he realized why he kept feeling so... uneasy here. Everything from the trees to the buildings to the people, and even Amefuri herself, seemed like they were nothing more than frozen snapshots of times long past. Like they were stuck inside three-dimensional pictures taken of scenes so amazingly mundane that, well, as if there had to be something special enough about it. Why else would these scenes be active otherwise? And in the midst of all it was the girl that was probably somehow behind the whole mess, moving around like some kind of ghost, but alive. A living ghost.

    Yorukai's head snapped up. 

    'It can't be...' Yorukai thought as he noticed the grim expression on his irritating companion's face. 'No, this woman can't be....'

    Impenetrable steel eyes only confirmed his fears. 

    Perhaps it was the priestess' remarkable likeness to Amefuri that caused a strange ache to build in Yorukai's chest. All at once, as if a shroud had been lifted, everything became clear. Amefuri's archaic speech and manners, her extensive knowledge of the Middle Kingdom, the ability to wield both the Naginata and Staff with deadly skill -- despite the fact that such skill is neither practical nor needed in this new era. 

    Yorukai swallowed hard. 

    'How many years has she been honour-bound? Staying here, silent guardian of a long forgotten shrine, fulfilling the desires of a people, long dead. People who left no trace of their passing.' 

    "Mokutou-san," Kouhei tucked his hair out of the way and frowned slightly. "Are you sure that she's not here?" He shaded his eyes and stared at the darkening sky. "She may have come upon the shrine by accident and then, " He watched Amefuri from the corner of his eyes, "decided to stay, even though she knew it wouldn't be wise..." 

    The priestess' back stiffened. 

    "...somewhere nearby. Perhaps," Kouhei smiled.

    "I must apologize again, but I'm afraid that I do not know where your friend is." Amefuri answered slowly and deliberately, "May I ask why you're still here?" 

    The question was answered with amused silence. 

    "Well?" She repeated, "Why are you here?" 

    "Would you happen to know where our stubborn friend is hiding?"

    Yorukai grimaced. 'What is this guy trying to do?' His eyes flickered over to Kouhei, 'If I was alone, I could handle this.'  A frown appeared as he studied the immovable calm emanating from the Kouhei.   'But this guy's presence complicates things.'

    Kouhei stepped forward and spread his hands in a pacifying gesture, "The truth is--" 

    "H...hey! Where do you think you're going?" Yorukai grabbed Kouhei's wrist and wrenched him back. "This isn't something that you can just smile your way though!" He hissed at the man, "Your tactics won't work on her. Don't you know that you're just making things more difficult?!"

    Kouhei smiled sweetly and said, "I know," before pulling away. 

    "What do you mean, you know? Answer me! What're you trying to do to her?" 

    There was a pause that was followed by a thoughtful 'hmm...' and nothing more. No amount of goading could extract further elaboration by Kouhei. He only continued to smile and Yorukai was quickly losing patience. 

    "Well?" Yorukai demanded, "Answer me!"

    Burning silver eyes focused on Yorukai's face as the stranger answered, once again, with that deadly, calm, frozen smile. Reality withered to a single pin-point as the lengthening shadows wrapped themselves around Kouhei's willowy form. Calmly. Silently. And he accepted their presence with practiced ease. It was as if Night herself was trapped within the voluminous folds of that black coat, snapping and twisting the airy fabric in the desperate attempt to win her freedom, though all efforts would be in vain. It took but one glance to see that those silver eyes truly were those of a demon. Cold. Haughty. Threatening. 

    Yorukai couldn't help but recoil from their intensity. 

    Then, the stranger laughed sheepishly and Kouhei scratched his neck with a flush blooming on those pale cheeks. He glanced away to the trees and shifted from foot to foot while contemplating the tempest within his mind. A satisfactory response needed to be tempered before it could be allowed to surface. If this decision wasn't made carefully, too much or too little information could be revealed and further complicate matters. After completing this task, which in actuality took only a moment, Kouhei turned his attention outwards to focus on Yorukai. 

    "Please try not to worry. I'm not looking to cause any trouble," Kouhei closed his eyes and smiled warmly. "I'm only trying to help her remember who really she is."

    Yorukai automatically nodded his assent before the implications of Kouhei's words were fully absorbed. Realizing that he had readily accepted Kouhei's explanation irked him, but nothing could be done now. Yorukai couldn't take back what he just did. 

    "Che, do what you like." Yorukai snorted and looked away, "Not like you're going to listen to me or anything." He muttered something under his breath, "Jeez, drag me along... then steal the spotlight. Che.. what a jerk."

    "I thank you for your co-operation," Kouhei said and turned back to Amefuri. "Once more, I must apologize for my companion's behaviour."

    She gave him a wary look. "That doesn't matter, there is nothing here for you. You will never find what you're looking for so please le.." 

    The end of Amefuri's sentence was lost in the shuffling steps of shrine's head priest upon the trail. He was speaking amiably with someone further down the trail who answered quickly in a soft tenor. Her mouth snapped shut with a audible clack as a hasty glare was shot in Kouhei and Yorukai's direction before Amefuri spun on her heel to retreat. 

    "Excuse me, I must tend to the guests," she announced.

    The old man squinted watery brown eyes through a curtain of grey hair, studying the lavender-haired miko's back as she strode quickly away. A rumbling sound emerged from deep within the old man's throat, shaking his willowy frame with mirth. 'She's as predictable as ever,' he couldn't help but chuckle. With all of the overly gracious airs she had been presenting to the visitors, it was easy to guess that Amefuri would trick their visitors into going to a remote place for interrogation. 

    He had also guessed correctly that she was quite annoyed at having her plan discovered once again.

    "Now, now," The old man beckoned Amefuri with a hand that was rough and gnarled from a lifetime of hard labour. "Why are you being offended by an old fool's ramblings?"

    She called over her shoulder, "You were standing there the whole time. Listening." 

    "Ah. Yes, about that..." The old man scratched his chin, innocently staring off in the distance. "But my hearing isn't quite what it used to be... I couldn't possibly have heard you lying to those boys."

    "Master!" Amefuri whirled around, shaking an accusing finger at him. "Stop pretending to be an innocent old man because you most certainly am not!" 

    "Oh my," He blinked owlishly, "I believe that I've said something I shouldn't have." At the sour expression that was creeping into Amefuri's face, the head priest quickly placed a hand on Amefuri's wrist and guided her back to Kouhei and Yorukai. "You're quite right, I knew you were here all along."

    "Then why--!"

    "But," he interrupted, "We've been around each other for so many years, so its okay. I'll forget everything I heard in a few hours, rest assured." The old man's face scrunched up into a sunny smile.  "There we go. See? No harm done! Ha! Ha! Ha!" 

    "Idiot," Amefuri struggled to keep that infectious laughter from effecting her. "I don't think that's how it works." 

    "Close enough!" The old man dismissed it with a wave of his hand. "Now why don't we entertain this gentleman for a while? He says that you are old friends." The old man smiled at her slyly. "Unless you'd rather corner your guests to interrogate again."

    "CHE!" Amefuri tried to swat the head priest, but he moved out of the way and was striding towards the main building with a speed that belied his age. 

    "Remember your manners!" His voice drifted down the trail. 

    She was about to holler something rude after him, but the words were stolen from her throat when a warm hand pressed against her shoulder. 'There's something oddly familiar about this person,' Amefuri mused as she tilted her head just far enough back to gaze at the person attached to the offending appendage.  

    "Ne..." A dark-haired man in a deep green kimono smiled down at her. "So this is where you've been hiding, Kakusu...-chan."

    Amefuri stared at him. "Who are you?" 

    "A concerned friend... nothing more." He trailed the fingers of his free hand down the side of her face until they hovered over her lips, then lowered to her neck. Amefuri jerked back from the contact and tried to break free, with no success. The man's grip tightened and she felt tears threatening to spill from her eyes as the air was pressed from her lungs, but nothing she did seemed to have an effect on him. The stranger's power clashed against hers, filling the space between them with the crackling scent of ozone.  

    "What...do you want from me?" Amefuri whispered as the man leaned in close to brush his lips against her ear. 

    "It's pointless for you to ask," the man whispered, "Since you already know. So... why don't you just cooperate and hand over the Emblem? Then we can go back to pretending that we've never met each other." 

    "I don't have an Emblem, you damn--" Amefuri last words dissolved into weak coughs as the stranger's hand tightened further. 

    "Let her go." Yorukai snarled, "Unless you want to face me." 

    The man's grip relaxed just enough for the girl to retain consciousness. He turned just enough to registered Yorukai's presence at his side, but seemed oblivious to the silver-haired man standing several steps away. Dark eyes glittered with amusement as they stared unwaveringly into the furious blue ice of Yorukai's gaze. Then, the stranger turned his attention back to Amefuri and dismissed Yorukai with a distracted wave of his hand.  

    "Run along, kid. This doesn't concern you."

    Yorukai's eyes narrowed dangerously. 

    The second Yorukai granted the man, the man squandered on an exclamation of surprise when the solid heel of a leather boot smashed into his face. Yorukai absently noted the sound of bone giving way and twisting out of place while he lowered his leg to the ground. The cry of pain that erupted from the man's lips was a bit delayed, but no less satisfying. From the remains of the man's nose flowed a crimson fluid that gently painted the ground with red blossoms that bloomed next to the faded pink wildflowers that lined the path. Gravel crunched beneath Yorukai's boots as he strolled down the path, arms swinging freely at his sides, moving towards the hole that the stranger's body had punched into the wall of the bamboo forest when he fell.

    Yorukai prodded the man roughly with a foot.  "Get up. I'm not done with you yet."

    The dark-haired stranger moaned. 

    "Hey, Keisotsu." Yorukai addressed Kouhei while watching the man at his feet with a frozen smile.  "How does Amefuri fare?"

    "She'll recover after getting some rest," Kouhei sighed with relief as he lifted her into his arms. "But we should probably get her home. Soon." He frowned at Yorukai, "If she stays here too long, she won't go back to Tokyo."

    Yorukai sighed, resigned. "Oh fine. Spoil my fun." He jammed his hands into his pockets and followed Kouhei down the path. "Shouldn't we tell Amefuri's boss that we're kidnapping her?"

    "You could, if that would make you feel better." Kouhei replied, "But by the time you got back to the grounds, you'd find that everyone is dead." 

    Yorukai stared at Kouhei. "What do you mean, dead?"

    "Just what you heard." Kouhei chuckled, "You mean you haven't figured it out yet?" He shifted Amefuri's weight to his other shoulder and blew a stray lock of hair away from his eyes. "Everything we've seen is a memory, an echo if you'd prefer, of a time and place that has been dead for a long time. None of this is real."

    "But this is too real to be just an echo!" Yorukai retorted, "Are you saying that we're in a dream? This is all a dream with smells, and touch, and people....and PAIN!" He gestured wildly at the fallen man they left behind, "Don't be absurd! Ame could have died and all you can say is that we're dreaming? So by your logic, all we have to do to get home is to smack ourselves around until we wake up, right?!"

    Kouhei sighed. "Are you quite done?" 

    ".....for now."

    "Good." Kouhei sighed again and peered over Amefuri's head at Yorukai. "Now, we're not in a normal dream, we're in something called a Dreamscape. Both dreams and Dreamscapes filled with things that aren't logically possible, like returning to ancient Japan, but that's pretty much where the similarities end."

    "So what exactly are these Dreamscapes?" Yorukai demanded.

    ".....they're echoes." Amefuri coughed weakly, waving off their exclamations of worry before pulling herself free. "Dreamscapes are the echoes created in the Realm of Dreams when a place of object of great power is destroyed. Normally, Dreamscapes and the Real World are separate, but if someone has the right key..... then they can enter."

    "Ame-san...don't..." Kouhei stepped forward and gently caught her arm to hold her upright when she stumbled. "Please don't talk, you're injured."

    "Don't fuss so much," Amefuri chided. "I'll be okay. Really."

    Yorukai watched them. 

    There was something he was missing, something important about their relationship that he couldn't see. Keisotsu seemed to go out of his way to avoid speaking with Amefuri and she seemed to dislike his touch. But when Yorukai looked closer, he noticed something strange. When Keisotsu did speak, she always listened to him attentively and answered promptly, even it was nothing more than a vague grunt. She criticized Keisotsu for his actions, but yielded to him if he persisted. When he reached towards her, Amefuri didn't jerk away before he could touch her. And his hands.... his hands always lingered on her shoulders longer than necessary.

    It bothered him. 

    'Why is she so... submissive? That's not like her. That's not like her at all... That's not the Ame-chan I know. Ame-chan...' Yorukai shook himself mentally. 'Amefuri doesn't give in to people so easily. There has to be something I'm missing...'

    "Alright then," Yorukai said out loud. "We just need to find this key and then everything will go back to normal?"

    Amefuri stared at him for a second before nodding.  

    "So where is it?" Yorukai asked.

    "I don't kn...." She faltered, looking at the expressions on the two men. "I can't....I can't just let them die again. I won't..."

    "We have to get back," Kouhei said. "None of us belong here." 

    "But I do..." Amefuri's voice failed her. 

    "This isn't the place for living people." Yorukai whispered, "You can't stay here."  

    Tears slid down her cheeks and dripped off her chin as Amefuri fixed them with eyes shining with betrayal and disbelief. Just when she had recaptured the world she always wanted to return to, a time when all her friends were alive and happy, they wanted her abandon everything to return to a world that rejected her? Here she wasn't alone. Here, there were still people that fought beside her. This was her home.... where she belonged. And those two had come all this way to find her. To bring her back to the chaotic world she hated. 

    But... 

    Maybe they were right. Staying here wouldn't bring her friends back, it would only be living a memory.  As much as she hated it, they were right. And there were responsibilities waiting for her back in Tokyo that couldn't be ignored. So, Amefuri slowly, reluctantly, held up a small silver ring with a lavender-coloured stone set in the centre. 

    "The key is here." 

    Kouhei gave her a relieved smile. "Good girl. Why don't we go home now?"

    "We'd better hurry," Yorukai gestured at the portal that had just formed. "Before this thing disappears."

    "You'd better go first," Kouhei gently pushed Amefuri forward. "We wouldn't want you to get left behind."

    ".....yeah. Wouldn't want that." She said.

    Yorukai caught Amefuri's wandering eyes and held her attention long enough to give her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Ame-chan, everything will be okay, you'll see. If the others are gone, then I'll replace them!"

    Amefuri hesitated and cast a longing look over her shoulder to the now silent shrine grounds. The air was dead, not even the rustling of leaves could be heard. Whatever force that had been keeping the Dreamscape alive seemed to have lost the will to do so. The colours faded steadily until everything had been reduced to a uniform starry black.  

    "I guess." 

    They stepped through the portal and vanished.
 

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