Seventh Chapter
X-Mansion Styx
THIS IS CASTLE
Styx, home of the clan of Yoshio. It has stood there for time immemorial,
perhaps since the dawn of this reality.
Right, it's not
really a castle. It looks more like a modern day Ningen mansion. Perhaps, it was
once a fortress but the designs have changed since then, varying as each new era
passed and new trends in architecture appeared.
It certainly is
famous for its versatility. Still, the Castle Styx has remained mysterious and
secretive despite its prestige and splendor. And in the depths of its forgotten
neglected corners, a new mystery unravels.
In some
concealed portion of the mansion, a small fire blazed in the aged fireplace. It
was measly and negligible compared to those enjoyed by the legitimate members of
the household. Nonetheless, it provided enough heat and light to suit the lone
figure in that broken down room.
At first, the
person or whatever it might be, seemed just right for the mysterious abandoned
place. He emanated a certain aura of maleficence, of ominousness, of hidden
danger.
Another look
would show that he is a familiar figure in the manor. But what is he doing down
here in this god-forsaken place?
Soon, another
figure came. It was an imp, as we shall soon discover as soon as he steps into
the firelight. Its social status is one that has long been considered taboo,
illegal even, if such thing is possible. Yes, he is a slave. Slavery has long
been forbidden in Reikai.
"Master,"
it said in its deathly voice. "We have finished everything as you
wished."
"Good,"
replied the man. His voice was deep and authoritive. "You can now move to
Level II of the plan."
The creature
cleared its throat nervously. "Um… We are not questioning your orders sir
but infiltrating the office is not an easy thing."
"I'm
surrounded by idiots," the man muttered in exasperation. "That was
what Level I was for. Everything is set."
"Well,
there's the prince, sir."
"Ah, don't
worry about him. He's elsewhere, fulfilling the wishes of his, or rather our,
father."
"Uh, sir.
What about the people immune to your powers?"
"Yes, yes.
I already took care of that. It will be a cinch finishing the job."
"Well,
then, sir. Everything is going as you planned." It bowed.
The man nodded.
"Let's go."
"YOU LOOK
GLUM," said Masago. Well, you usually are but your expression now is worse
that normal."
"Well,"
answered Koenma. "We do have a lot of problems." He sighed.
Masago didn't
say anything. She was sitted on the wooden bench, embroidering. Koenma on the
other hand was sprawled on the grass, inches away from the edge of the ravine.
He was probably too preoccupied to notice the height of the cliff and was
therefore unaffected.
"I
shouldn't be asking this," Masago broke the silence, chewing on her lower
lip. "Are my brothers in trouble?"
Koenma
shrugged, irritated not at her inquiry, but at his own ignorance. "That's
precisely the problem," he said. "We don't know.
"Darn! The
situation is getting out of hand. At least, the odds are now better for the
Makai army. Their number certainly is an asset. Still, it would be better if--
aurghh!!! We have to find out how the hell those information leaked out."
Masago stopped
working. "I guess, these weekly excursions really are a bother for you.
We've been going out for nearly a mouth and they're still not satisfied. Still,
it's good to relax once in a while, right?"
Koenma snorted.
"The worlds are falling apart and you ask me to relax." Yet, something
like a grin spread across his face.
"What is
it?"
"You sound
familiar."
"Huh?"
"A friend
used to tell me that. Too often, if you ask me. In fact, she goes out to the
extent of dragging me out off my office."
"Oh, my!
Imagine doing that to the prince." She stood up, having fixed her things.
"Don't you think we should go? I
mean, we wouldn't want your people to think something is going on out here, do
we?"
Koenma blushed
mildly.
"No,"
Masago amended hastily. "I mean, they might take it as a sign that our
resistance is weakening, that we'll give in to what they want."
"Oh."
He recovered. "To tell you the truth, Miss Masago, I do like you very much.
I think I'll grow in on you. What do you think? Will they fall for it?"
"Well,
they'll want an heir…"
"Silly!"
Koenma reddened again. "I mean, we can become friends and maybe keep up
this charade until we can come up with an excuse to escape marriage but I don't
think I'd ever want to get married to you."
"Well,
neither do I." She quipped curtly. "I feel like you’re my baby
brother."
"Ha-ha,
funny." He rolled his eyes. "See? This is one of the many things I
didn't expect from you. I mean, on formal occasions you are so prim and proper I
always thought you had steel running down your back. But alone with you bent
double with laughter, I see that's quite impossible."
"I always
thought you were an arrogant jerk who looks down on people. Jerk, maybe, but
you're quite down to earth." Masago was thoughtful.
Koenma on the
other hand was offended. "Funny, I thought the same about you. I was right
about you being vain though." Masago's eyes narrowed. "But my
friend was right too. I was only prejudiced against you."
"My friend
said some thing to that effect also. She warned me about how ornery and
cantankerous you are but that it was only the effects of your being
overworked."
"You know,
I was so surprised when you yelled at me nearly a month ago. So you weren't
really as docile as you appeared. Usually, my subjects cower before me,
fulfilling my every wish. You certainly got my attention."
"Hmmm. I
had help." Masago stared at him curiously, baiting him.
Koenma knew to
pry right then and there. "From your friend? What does your friend say
now?"
"Well, she
said she knew you could be tamed once handled correctly." Masago smiled a
little then became serious once again. "What does your friend
say?"
"My
friend?" Sadness penetrated through his mask of cheerfulness. "I
haven't spoken to her for a while now." He turned away. "Maybe she's
mad at me since it was I who got her sent away."
At this Masago
smiled slightly. "Not so. She's quite thankful you got her a better
superior."
Koenma was
taken aback at first but recovered quickly after the initial surprise. "And
I thought you are humble, Yoshio Masago. I knew you'd volunteer the information
sooner or later."
Masago sighed
almost wistfully. "Botan's such a sweetie."
Koenma conjured
a nasty expression. "Aha! So that's why you had her moved under you. You
wanted to steal my therapist, huh?"
Masago looked
surprised. "I did not. I didn't even know her then. In fact, I thought she
requested reassignment because you are such a meanie."
"Then who
was it who suggested to father to displace Botan?"
"I don't
know. Why was she reassigned anyway?"
"For some
miniscule excuse you wouldn't be interested in." Koenma brushed the
question aside carelessly, giving himself away.
"Really?"
It was her turn to wear a wicked grin.
Koenma groaned.
"I knew you were gonna ask that! Didn't she tell you?"
"No."
"I'd
rather not say it, ok?"
"Hmmm. Let
me guess." Masago smirked. "Forbidden love?"
"Alright,
alright. I'll tell you the truth!"
THE ANCIENT
HALLS of Castle Styx is by no means
one of the favorable places to go on a lone tour, especially if one has only
recently arrived in the place and is not yet acquainted to its dangers. Of
course, our ever naïve ferry girl had nowhere near her mind the necessary
precautions one remembers when one is alone in some distant part of an unknown
house. She prowled the walkways, gazing in wonder at the different sights the
ancestral home offered, preserved by some magic from times long forgotten in the
depths of the past.
Presently, she
halted to stare at a collection of potions and instruments that create them. She
peered through the blue liquid inside one of the queerly shaped vessel.
Blink. Blink.
"Ooooh!"
Through the
translucent screen of the chemical, Botan sighted some hairy object concealed
behind the mass of glassware. Intrigued, she reached for the thing lying behind
one of the cordials.
"Ayieeeeeee-"
She bit her tongue to keep from screaming. Nonetheless, she ran away blindly,
arms flailing, eyes shut tight. She finally stopped when she bumped a pillar and
ended up on the floor.
"Ouch…"
she moaned, massaging her behind. "At least, it's a real pillar, not Mr.
Personality."
She stood up
shakily. She looked around casually, assessing the situation with calm. She is
in what appeared to be a tunnel, lit by a single torch hitched to the wall. Each
and every detail of her surrounding, miniature or otherwise, is definitely
unfamiliar.
"Great,"
Botan said. "Just great. The nitwit Botan went exploring and got lost.
Stupid rat."
Stupid rat,
indeed. Botan's job is to attend to Miss Masago and since the latter's not
around, the former was left with nothing to do. Botan grew bored and decided to
wander around. Of course, she had meant to stay on the familiar parts, but then
again, plans rarely are executed. At least, her mind is too slow on the uptake
to realize that she should be afraid and thus she remained unfazed.
"Now
what?" she ranted on. "How do I get out of this stupid place?"
She took the
torch and thought about which way to go.
"Hmm…
I'll just go this way," she finally decided, picking a direction randomly.
The stupid rat
incident made her completely disoriented. She has no idea which way is back. She
figured both ways had to end up somewhere anyway.
"Well,
here goes," she sighed and started on her way.
It was about
ten minutes of that winding and zigzagging tunnel. She was so relieved when she
finally came upon something else.
"Wow,"
she said, as she entered the room. "This is like a cellar or something.
It's pretty messy, though." She nearly tripped on something.
"Oops!"
She clutched at the nearby chair. She bent over as soon as she regained her
balance, shinning the light on the floor. "Marble? But it's wet."
She stretched
her arms high over her head, letting the rays of firelight scatter all around
the room.
"Hmmm…"
She remarked to herself. "It looks like some sort of den."
There is a
fireplace in one corner surrounded by cushioned chairs. It still emitted heat
even though not even a paltry trace of fire was present in the dead embers. A
tea table is in the center of the circle of seats, covered with some shiny
stuff. All the other walls of the
room were covered from floor to ceiling with shelves crammed with books.
She walked over
to the table, peering at its contents inquisitively. She picked one, deftly
handling it between her index finger and thumb as if it was some breakable
crystal.
"They're
flowers," Botan said, surprised. "So pretty! And unusual. I've never
seen anything like it."
It's a strange
flower all right. Perhaps, only a few other people have seen those flowers, too.
Even if one had, it'll be very hard to describe
it for the benefit of those who haven't. For starters, one can't find an
exact color to match their shade. At one angle, it would be a normal yellow of a
sunflower, next it may be an exotic metallic orange. The colors shift, changing
dynamically as one investigates the blossom.
Its shape is
quite impossible to describe as well. It's not that it's shapeless. Its form
isn't dynamic at all either. There just no adjective fit to describe it. It's
really plain indefinable.
"I suppose
it wouldn't hurt to take just one. I'd ask Miss Masago about it later,"
Botan said to herself. She pocketed her find as carefully as possible. "I'm
rather tired. There should be a chair around here. Rather, there should be a lot
of it."
As mentioned
earlier, there are quite a number of chairs available, so she picked the one
nearest to the table. However, barely had she been able to lean back against the
backrest when something happened.
Suddenly, the
light from the torch was snuffed out by some unseen creature, plunging the room
to total darkness. Then, immediately after, Botan suddenly felt herself fall,
fall into nothingness. Only now did she scream in panic. What happened was too
sudden and her reaction was late. Soon, she was lost in the truth of her
hopelessness and the darkness of her environment seeped into her being, as she
unwillingly relinquished her hold on consciousness.
Notes:
In
case you haven't noticed my writing style seems unconventional. I don't know why
myself. Perhaps it's the effects of the things I've previously read. My reading
material preference is pretty broad so I guess all the different influences of
all the writers jumbled together. Oh well. ܥ Anyway, please be tolerant of my
grammar. Sorry. I guess I have to review all the stuff taught in elementary
school. Whatever. I guess I'm having brain overload because of school. Can
somebody tell me if I should use the past or present tense?