C h a p t e r 2

† The Suzaku and The Fallen Angel's Prediction †

Kurenai shook out the red flowing kimono she was wearing, watching with satisfaction as the material hung nicely on her. She looked stunning, and she knew it, what with her tall slender form and pale skin combined with her oh-so-gorgeous locks of black. She smiled as she remembered the reflection she’d caught in the mirror just a moment ago.

A low hiss came from the doorway. Measuring of 5 feet tall and her hair piled upon her head like a crown, Sakuya’s imposing figure stood leaning against the door, her gaze filled with pure annoyance. Miki yawned, her even rows of white teeth peeping from her full lips. It was common knowledge that angels tend to think highly of themselves, even if she was a fallen angel, and Sakuya obviously did not appreciate Kurenai’s beauty overshadowing hers.

‘Once again, my shrine has become a ryokan for this suzaku, hasn’t it?’ hissed Sakuya. ‘May I remind you that I simply detest anything with feathers? Oh wait, I have been reminding you for 1500 years now so why can’t it ever stick into your stupid bird brain!’

‘Bull,’ snorted Kurenai. ‘You’re just jealous that a bird can be much more beautiful than you are, angel girl. Pity, but I can’t help it. I am who I am after all.’

The smug face drove Sakuya up the wall and down the other side. With a shriek, Sakuya moved forward to fight Kurenai. However, at that moment, Akako gave a clear cough and she was forced to stop. Sakuya and Kurenai turned to look at Miki, who was next to Akako, half-asleep. Miki blinked twice and focused upon them, her face breaking into an angelic smile. The duo cringed. Sometimes, Miki’s angelic smile meant she was hiding a huge temper behind it and they have already been on the receiving end of her anger one time too many.

‘So,’ said Miki with a bright voice which was too cheerful to be real. ‘Where were we before this commercial break?’

‘Yes, hime-sama,’ replied Kurenai, sitting in front of the girl. ‘I am very sorry to say that he had just passed away, leaving no heir and no family to continue the line.’

Akako chanced a glance at her master. Miki was absolutely still, sitting there without moving, her gaze glassy. Even though her beloved master was obviously shocked, Akako couldn’t help but notice how Miki looked like a perfect china doll when she was motionless like that.

‘Dead…’she whispered. ‘Again…’

Kurenai bowed her head, knowing that what she just said would bring the girl pain. Even without looking at her, Kurenai could visualize Miki’s face perfectly. This was because this conversation had taken place many times before. However in those previous cases, the ones they were seeking always had children to provide backup for Miki’s plans. This was different as there was no successor to the line.

Kurenai closed her eyes, willing herself to not see the disappointed face. In the background, she could hear the soft ticks of a clock’s hand, providing a constant rhythm which caused Kurenai to take a stroll down memory lane.

*********************************

It was silent. The village of Naoyama was sleeping as its exhausted residents drew the curtains for the day and took their rests in order to start another day. The wind picked up, stirring the birds from their nests in the forest, rustling their wings in agitation. The fog which shrouded the mountain extended its reaches to within the village’s boundaries, causing little animals such as dogs to whine in terror and hide.

Up on the mountain, in the shrine where she was trapped in, Miki was staring up at the night sky solemnly from the window, while Akako brushed her long hair. This was a daily routine back then, one of the ways to keep Miki from getting too bored. Sakuya threw back her flowing sleeves and rose from the floor. The angel walked out from the room without a glance backwards.

‘Do you think I can go back, Akako?’ asked Miki. ‘Do you think my father thinks of me still?’

‘I’m sure he does, Miki-sama,’ replied Akako soothingly. ‘You are after all his only daughter.’

In truth, Akako wasn’t sure. The god of misfortune hadn’t visited Miki at all. It made the young girl wonder if the god of misfortune did care for his daughter. She cursed the fellow for being so cold.

Suddenly, a bright ray of light shone down upon the shrine. Miki scrambled to her feet, her eyes wide with anticipation. From the light, a tall figure was approaching. As the figure got closer, Miki could tell that it was a man and she knew that face from a long time ago.

‘Otou-sama,’ breathed Miki.

‘Pray, is that really my beautiful proud daughter Cherina? I swear she was much taller and much bigger than this child here,’ said the god of misfortune, frowning.

‘Tis is I, father,’ cried Miki. ‘I am your beloved daughter. This body that I wear and this name that I bear might not be the same, but my heart and soul as Cherina remains till this very day and will remain forever your daughter’s, oh my dearest father.’

‘You must be her,’ said the god of misfortune, Yulius. ‘For only my Cherina can speak such words. But my dear, how have you changed! Yet, beauty has not forsaken you, as I can see.’

‘Oh father, have you come to free me?’ asked Miki eagerly. ‘Have you come to bring me home?’

‘Hold your horses, my child. I’m afraid I cannot do so. Rules are rules,’ sighed Yulius. ‘And I cannot stay either.’

Miki looked so crestfallen that Yulius couldn’t bear it. It was in his nature to please his daughter, no matter how ridiculous her wish. Yet Yulius was proud to say that his treatment had not made Cherina spoiled, which he considered as a success on its own. He racked his brains, trying to think of a way to lift her spirits.

‘Ah yes, that reminds me,’ said Yulius. ‘Although I cannot do anything, you can try to find the blood of the person who confined you. That way you may be freed.’

‘Alas, father, I cannot leave here,’ wept Miki. ‘None of us who reside in this shrine may leave as long as the enchantment remains.’

‘I have a new servant, and I was wondering if you’ll take her,’ suggested Yulius. ‘She is quite competent and I dare say she may help you achieve your goal, for she was not included in this spell. What say you, my love?’

Kurenai was summoned by Yulius that night to be Miki’s eyes in the outside world. And ever since then, Kurenai has been on the trail of the holy magic practitioner’s heirs so that Miki can be freed, causing mayhem and spreading misfortune in order to attract the ever righteous blood in the heirs.

*********************************

‘You have done well, Kurenai,’ whispered Miki. ‘You have been loyal to me for the past millennium. However, this is saddening indeed. I expected better but death stole a march on me once again.’

Her devastated look made Kurenai feel like it had been her fault. She hung her head low, remorse washing through her. Sakuya eyed them, her eyes becoming distant, and then she dropped the bomb.

‘The last drop has fallen,

The blood is lost

All is forgotten

A heart stays still.

A forgotten child

A cut off branch

Of blood impure

The name is forgotten

Sixteen years of past

Remains unseen

A leaf fluttering in the wind

Its roots it lost

Where the tree dies

The flowers no longer blossom

Yet a cast aside leaf

Grows magnificently

A child long forgotten

The secret of the house

Will you seek the truth?

Or will you seek the end?’

Miki’s eyes widen with surprise. Her lips parted to form a perfect O. Akako stared at Kurenai; her confusion mirrored in the latter’s expression. Sakuya regained her senses and jumped to her feet in horror.

‘Curse these angel divination powers!’ she snarled, fleeing away from the room.

‘A forgotten child,’ whispered Miki. She sat still, hope infiltrating her expression.

‘Enlighten us please, Miki-sama,’ pleaded Akako.

‘There is an heir,’ said Miki. ‘Someone who is not acknowledged by the family. Someone who was not given the rights to bear the family name. Someone with impure blood, maybe someone whose parents’ marriage was not approved by that family. A cast off branch.’

She broke off, noticing the still baffled looks upon her followers’ expressions. Sighing, Miki deciphered the message for them stanza by stanza.

‘The last drop has fallen, / The blood is lost /All is forgotten / A heart stays still,’ quoted Miki. ‘The last drop and the blood are connected, meaning that the bloodline has ended. A forgotten child / A cut off branch / Of blood impure / The name is forgotten. This means that there is a child of impure blood - perhaps an unapproved relationship between the parents - and the child has been cast off from the main family tree and his name is not found in the family register. Sixteen years of past / Remains unseen / A leaf fluttering in the wind / Its roots it lost. This tells us the age of the child – sixteen. His history is ‘unseen’, which technically means unknown. He’s a free agent, shall we say, no strings attached to him yet no ‘roots’, meaning he has no family to go to, no claim to his name. Where the tree dies / The flowers no longer blossom / Yet a cast aside leaf / Grows magnificently. The family tree dies out, the blood and its ‘flowers’ – heirs - have already met their end. Yet the forgotten one remains alive and kicking. A child long forgotten / The secret of the house / Will you seek the truth? / Or will you seek the end?. This is telling us that the child himself is a secret of the main house; no one else outside of the house knows of his existence. The last part is asking us if we’ll seek the child or will we just stay here and wait for the end, which for Akako and I, means forever.’

Hope was blossoming in the trio’s hearts. There was still a chance, a slight chance, a one shot at freedom. If they fail, they will never get another chance. This was what they were all gambling on. The stakes were ridiculously high, but the cards have been dealt and all that’s left for the players to do is to place their bets. In this case, it was all in. All or nothing.

C h a p t e r 1

† T h e  G i r l  O f  M i s f o r t u n e †

‘Your daughter was fully aware of her duty, wasn’t she? Yet look at what has happened! Now that she has ruined the life of the young human, she has to be punished.’

‘No, please, my daughter…Cherina is still young. She will not repeat this again. I promise you with my dignity!’

‘No, she won’t. She will be punished severely so that she will always remember that no one, I repeat, no one can defy the orders of the universe, even if you are the god of misfortune.’

‘Oh mighty sky god, please, I beg you, spare Cherina…’ the god of misfortune pleaded but to no avail.

‘Cherina shall be banished to the human world. No objections. This is the decision made by the High Council.’

*********************************

In the shrine on Naoyama Mountain, a petite girl with long hair was sitting in front of a shogi set. Her crimson eyes saw nothing; they were blank; there was nothing for her to see, nothing to hold her interest. Not far away, her servant sat by the window, watching while the clouds temporarily clouded the moon that shone that night. The sky was foggy and dark, which was common on this mountain but the servant cocked her head up to observe the skies, a frown upon her face.

‘Miki-sama, it seems like she shall be visiting soon.’

The child-like girl turned to look out the window. The clouds have disappeared out of sight, allowing her to see the full moon hanging overhead in the foggy midnight sky.

‘As the cold wind blows

I wonder with a prayer

If the night is long’

She stopped talking. Her eyes reflected the light of the moon. As she stared, her mind brings her 1500 years back, to the time when she was living like any other.

*********************************

It was a winter night. The snow had just started to fall; melting the instant they touched the roads of Naoyama village. The few youngsters outdoors were being called home and as they ran, death creeped silently into the village.

The young husband was desperately trying to keep his dying wife with him, his arms cradled around a small creature swaddled in thick blankets by the midwife. His eyes were frantic as he called his wife’s name over and over again.

‘Yurie, Yurie…Can you hear me! You’re staying with me, all right! Don’t you die on me!’

Yurie’s gaze touched his face for a moment, then her gaze sought her child. She gave a weak smile when her baby’s surprisingly steady gaze stared back at her.

‘Promise me…’ she rasped in a weak voice. ‘You’ll protect her…you’ll take care of her…promise me…’

Her husband nodded, tears sliding down his cheeks. His heart was pierced by agonies. He saw Yurie smile at him again and at the very next moment, death took her away from her family. Grief washed over his face and silence fell upon the entire village.

Thirteen years later, Miki was playing in the garden, having fun feeding the fluffy yellow chicks that gathered around her. Her father, Toshizo was however momentarily dumbstruck as he stared rather stupidly at the man in front of him. The man sighed, and shook his head.

‘I understand you feel like it’s impossible but trust me, that girl,’ he nodded towards the young Miki. ‘will bring misfortune to not only you, but to the whole village if you do not take precautionary measures. She is a child of misfortune and she’s already brought you pain.’

At that point, Toshizo was reminded of how Yurie breathed her last after their daughter’s birth, the way his daughter’s eyes were crimson and the way how the kids that bullied her for her eyes were all badly injured.
Birth of Miki had also legislate numerous tragedies where the paddy field is unproductive due to over rain or dryness, continuous natural disasters, death of livestocks, where the villagers experience unemployment and poverty . The villagers had called her evil, but to her father, she was just a naughty little girl who needed to be taught from right and wrong. She was.

He turned to look at her and to his horror, he saw the chicks all lying dead around her.
'They did not eat the food that was given.', Miki said with a sulky tone.
The man grabbed Toshizo’s arm and spoke in an urgent tone.

‘I’m telling you, this is my final warning to you. After this, I would be on my way. I might not be able to come back here in time to avert whatever crisis that is to occur. Bear in mind that nobody can stop her if she loses control.’

Toshizo never forgot the man-who claimed that he was a holy magic practitioner-nor did he forget those words. He continued being the father of the girl but fear was growing and sprouting in his heart. He started to notice weird things happening to those around his daughter. One such case was when his nephew was visiting.

His nephew was just like any other kid, sneering and teasing Miki for her crimson irises and her short stature. That day he started calling her a killer because she killed her mother. The other kids with him laughed and picked up that name. Normally, she would have kept quiet and not fight back, due to the fact that Toshizo told her to be nice to her cousin. But that day, she got really angry. Her mind struggled between black and white as she grasped her fist tight. Miki groaned in annoyance and provoked her cousin. Toshizo watched in horror as she tried to strangle the boy. He rushed forward and saved the boy but Miki only glared at him with hate, as if he was betraying her. She then spoke in a low yet icy voice to her cousin.

‘I hope you get run over by a carriage,’ she spat.

Toshizo was absolutely horrified. He demanded she apologize but she didn’t. When he threatened to punish her, she reluctantly obeyed him.

‘Sorry, I hope you won’t get run over by a carriage,’ she muttered. ‘I hope you’ll get stampeded by a herd of cows.’

She was denied dinner that night. The next morning, Toshizo’s tearful sister came weeping, bearing the news that her son was killed in a stampede. Toshizo began to fear his daughter, even going as far as joining the Kō yūrei kyōkai, an association of Onmyoji's,  and begged for them to solve the matter, even if it meant killing her.

The young onmyoji Akako was assigned the job. Toshizo brought her home with him as a guest and while Miki wasn’t looking, the onmyoji drew her paper doll and casted an invisible shikigami. While a shikigami  shares a special link to their masters, which may cause their onmyoji to receive sympathetic injuries dealt to the shikigami, Akako is badly wounded. She tried to manipulate the shikigami to perform possession on Miki, but due to enormous amount of energy needed to maintain shikigami, she fainted as a sign of losing her energy. The onmyoji failed, eventually.

Toshizo waited in the corridor, waiting for Akako to tell him it was over. But instead, she never came out. Uneasy, he returned to the room and saw the onmyoji  slumped against the wall, her eyes glassy, and her skin chalk white. She had been turned into a zombie. Miki sat in a corner, blood running down her face from a wound on her head. She looked at her father, with a weak smile.

‘Why?’ she asked, her lips trembling. ‘Why would you do this to me…’

Toshizo ran away. He ran to the association, informing them of the monster Akako has become. Enraged, the association held a massacre. However, they found her waiting for them. Her head injury was still fresh but she stood there as if nothing happened. She smirked when she saw Toshizo among the omniyoujis.

‘My own father,’ she said. ‘Why, papa? Why did you not keep your promise to mama?’

‘You…you know about it?’ Toshizo’s voice shook. The promise was made on the night she was born, how could have she known it?

‘I heard it,’ she said simply. ‘I’m different from the rest. Please don’t put me together with those people. I can make things happen if I want them to, make the people I hate suffer if I wish. If only you believed in me, I would have protected you as well, my dearest beloved papa. But instead-- You disappoint me. And I'm disgusted of you. I despise you from the very end of my heart.’

She was far stronger than the rest of them. It was going to be a tough battle, and the onmyojis knew it. Yet they wouldn’t back away because their fire of vengeance for Akako’s sake was burning in their hearts. Miki’s smile widened, almost as if she knew what they were thinking. She cocked her head back and called out a name that shattered their rational judgment.

‘Akako.’

Akako came out from the house, bowing in front of Miki with utmost respect, like she acknowledged Miki as a superior.

‘Miki-sama,’ Akako said.

‘Akako! What are you doing?’ shouted one of the onmyoujis.

‘I’m greeting my master,’ replied Akako. ‘Without her, I shall become ashes in no time. But if I stay by her side a loyal servant, I can go on surviving. So as you see, I’m much stronger than any of you now, because I have the chance of unlocking my hidden abilities through near-death. For old time’s sake, I suggest you stop what you’re doing or be prepared to meet your demise.’

The omniyoujis made a mad dash towards Miki. Akako placed herself between them and Miki, acting as Miki’s shield. As they fought Akako, who was protecting Miki, Miki had disappeared from where she stood. Toshizo took trembling steps backwards while his heart thumped loudly with fear. Somehow, he had a bad feeling about that, and he wanted to get out of there.

Suddenly, he couldn’t move. He stood rooted to the spot as if something was binding him. He was stunned. A girl’s voice came from behind him, half-mocking and half-lonely.

‘Papa, do you know how it feels to be betrayed by someone you thought you could trust? How it feels when your own parent wanted you dead? Or-- How it feels, when you were slandered and isolated?’

He trembled from head to toe. He had never been so frightened in his life. Her fingers moved across his throat, her nails grazing his skin. Then a sharp pain was felt from where her fingers touched, and he started to choke. He fell to the ground, blood spurting from his mouth. For a moment, there was a complete silence, broken only by drip of blood. Tip, tap, tip, tap, it sang, The ground was tainted maroon. His mind flew to Yurie, and he yearned to go to her. Toshizo died choking on his own blood, while his daughter stood over him with a disgusted expression.

‘It feels like this,’ she said. ‘Even to the very end, you never thought about me. So be it. Those who caused me pain in the past shall all pay back with their lives!’

After that declaration, the full moon turned blood red, like the night of her birth thirteen years ago. The wind picked up, blowing her hair like a halo around her. Even though winter was still far away, snow started to fall, like tears, where the sky lamented over her sins. The villagers tried to run but she was faster. With Akako, who had fought brilliantly to protect her master, she went for the kill.

‘Enough,’ called a man.

It was the holy magic practitioner. He stood near the forest bordering the village, watching Miki with cold eyes. He knew he had to complete the job if there was one, and it was his job to get rid of threats to humans, including the girl standing there in front of him.

Miki glowered. She had already destroyed half the village and killed numerous people, especially those who took part in mistreating her. The white snow-covered ground was stained red by the blood flowing out of deep fatal wounds she and Akako had inflicted upon the dead. The whole scene was red.

Miki sensed that he was a dangerous figure to her, so she momentarily abandoned her killing spree and turned her attention towards the practitioner. The practitioner skillfully danced out of her reach while she got more and more frustrated with each failed attempt. He retreated into the forest, being careful to remain in the girl’s line of sight. She chased him into to forest and up the mountain, her fury accumulating with each ascending path. Akako ran after them, but he was too far away for her to assist Miki, so she just followed.

He stopped in the compound of an old abandoned Shinto shrine. Miki felt murderous-she wanted to kill him for playing around with her. He cast a spell to bind her and Akako together in the compound and he then created a barrier around the peak of the mountain. Miki watched him with fury and hatred as she struggled to free herself.

‘I’ll kill you!’ she snarled.

‘Feel free to try,’ replied the practitioner. ‘This barrier prevents you from ever escaping from this place. Humans will not be able to enter and you can never go outside this shrine. The same applies to Miss Zombie over there. There is no other method to break the spell except to spill my magical blood on the grounds.’

He headed down the mountain, leaving the shrine behind him. Miki banged against the invisible wall that trapped her after her binds vanished but nothing she did ever made any difference to it. Realising that she can no longer be free, she became extremely upset. She let out a ringing wail of despair that traveled down all the way to the scene of her murders.

*********************************

It was 1500 years ago. Since then, Takanashi Miki has not aged a bit. She still looked the same and was trapped in the shrine still. Akako remained her loyal servant, and they had almost no visitors except certain creatures that wandered in. Those creatures either survived or got themselves killed depending on the mood of the ‘shrine maiden’.

The fire of vengeance still burned in her heart. She wanted nothing else except to see the practitioner’s blood spilled on the grounds of the shrine. However, she also wanted to complete the life cycle as Takanashi Miki and return to Heaven as Cherina, daughter of the god of misfortune, because it was the rule that no banished god or deity can return to Heaven unless they lived a complete life cycle as a human.

The wind rang the golden bells in the courtyard of the shrine. Miki listened to it intently and stared at the sky again.

‘It’s going to rain soon,’ she said quietly. ‘She’d better come quickly or she wouldn’t like it.’

Thunder sounded and at a distance, lightning flashed across the sky, illuminating the top of the leafy canopy of the forest. The leaves swayed and emitted a rustling sound, breaking the silence from before. And in the light of the moon, a moving shadow was moving closer to the shrine.

P r e f a c e

-T h e   F o r b i d d e n  S h r i n e-
  -山の上部にあるその神社。。-

There was a legend, passed down ever since the time when the ancestors still lived. The legend revolved around a shrine –the shrine- that had been a forbidden place, not only to the villagers but also to anyone who was human.

Situated on the peak of a mountain in Naoyama, the shrine was rumoured to be haunted by the vengeful spirit of a young girl who used to live right there in the village. Curious and foolish people have ignored the warnings in the story and have all found themselves prevented from going any further than the woods surrounding the shrine. But they could all see the old abandoned shrine with peeling paint and decaying wood sitting above the level of foliage surrounded by fog. It was believed that a barrier, a kekkai was cast there to protect humans. Yet when the curtain of darkness fell, those who ventured up the mountain never returned.

Non human creatures have been showing up for as long as the villagers could remember. They were the only ones capable of entering the shrine although they too never returned after that. The villagers were terrified of these creatures and people, especially young children were told to not go outside after the sun had set because the creatures were rumoured to have a healthy diet for young children.

What really happened was forgotten in due time. But the low moans and ringing wails that travel down the foggy mountain reminded the older and wiser generation that something as terrible as the god of calamity himself resided there. And their memories fly back to the story told by ancestors 1500 years ago, a tale of great misfortune.

不 幸 の 子

- 不 幸 の 子 -
な ぜ あ な た は 私 を 放 棄 す る の で す か ？

C h a r a c t e r s :

Miki . Takanashi
The Amatsu Mikaboshi

Akako . Maeda
The Cursed Onmyouji
 
Aki . Sato
 The Satori

Kurenai
 The Suzaku

S e t t i n g s : 

                 

  Mountain of Naoyama 
Shinto Shrine

私 は あ な た の す べ て の人 を 嫌 う 

一 日 に な る ま で..
私 は 返 す だ ろ う


S y n o p s i s :

There is a rumor which has been bandied about the villagers . Silent words are spread from mouth to mouth of villagers in Naoyama Village that a Shinto shrine on the top of Mountain of Naoyama is haunted . Despite of being a shrine itself, it is sealed by a mysterious barrier that forbids human from entering it . It is also believed that there were two fatal existence in the respective shrine . As when the night falls, there are lonesome sobbing nor mumbling ghost chants to be heard by the villagers which lead them to believe that the shrine is haunted .

Returning to 1 500 years ago,
In a stormy night when the bloody moon arises, when the shattered petals dance above the death, there was a lady who was readily to give birth to a new life . She was agonized by real pain, and eventually, she died of childbirth , but the baby was saved . Her husband named the baby girl as Miki, in which alternate writing of Miki gives a meaning of beautiful chronicle .

Birth of Miki had legislate numerous tragedies where the paddy field is unproductive due to over rain or dryness, continuous natural disasters, death of livestocks, where the villagers experience unemployment and poverty . This news soon catches attention of a young and talented female onmyoji, Akako . She had an attempt for killing Miki for her belief that Miki is the daughter of God of Misfortune, Amatsu Mikaboshi . However, she fails epically enough when Miki is cursed on eternity and the ones who attempts to kill her, will be turned into a living zombie . When Miki realizes that her existence was not liked and isolated, her soul is slowly wrenched with hatred and oblivion . Miki was slandered by the villagers that the disasters occurred recently is caused by her . She demanded a vindication but her words were ignored by the villagers that provoked her heartlessly . Soon enough Miki is banished from the village and her killing spree is stopped and sealed by an old priest together with Akako in a Shinto shrine . Miki vows to avenge her tragedy in the past . A Suzaku's arrival from Miki's so known father has developed Miki a desire to find the Shinto priest that sealed her, as it is the only way to release her from the seal . Miki was informed that she was banished from the Heaven for her sins in the past life, she has to redeem her sins in the human world .


To be continued ...