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Dreamscape	By : sakurazukamori6 Category: +M to R > Mirage of Blaze Views: 18142 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Mirage of Blaze, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 17
- 18
- 19
They were walking up a path to an abandoned temple, the rust red paint peeling off and leaving dry, brownish splotches all over the exterior.
�Are you sure this is the place?� Takaya asked and he was looking around with a cynical eye at everything that jumped at him, from the almost gaudy looking Buddha statue on the front steps to the stone lanterns black with soot lining the path.
�Seems pretty innocent to me?� Takaya said, his eyes locking onto Naoe�s.
�Things aren�t always as they seem.� Naoe said mysteriously and Takaya rolled his eyes and walked on ahead, calling behind him, �Okay, great Geng-fu. Is it so hard to give me an answer that hasn�t come out of a fortune cookie?�
Naoe ignored Takaya�s snappishness and walked up behind him, �You can�t feel the aura from this place?�
�Sure I can.� Takaya said, a little too quickly for arguments sake. �It feels�� A wind blew past him, riling up his black locks and drifting over to scatter some early autumn leaves on the temple grounds. �Peaceful.�
�You�re not looking hard enough.� Naoe said, with a teacher�s didactic tone and Takaya gave him an annoyed sidelong glance.
�I think I�d know better than you.� Takaya said, cocksure and arrogant as he strolled up to a random stone lantern and dragged his hand over the black soot surface.
�Kagetora�s got better instincts than you, right?� Takaya said again, the arrogance astounding and Naoe knew he was in immediate jeopardy of telling Takaya off. He didn�t need the boy blinded by overconfidence in a fight, he needed him to be able to judge his opponent objectively and openly and then swiftly deal with the problem.
Takaya breathed out, �This sucks.�
�Your attitude sucks.� Naoe found himself saying before he could stop himself.
Takaya, wide-eyed at being so suddenly kicked off his high horse, turned to him and opened his mouth to say something.

Naoe countered by turning his back to him and moving on.
�Fucker.� Takaya said, and Naoe chose to ignore it as the boy was obviously trying to get under his skin.
�Less talking, more walking.� He provided and Takaya, legs akimbo and arms on his waist looked up directly at the sky and told him quite plainly to stop bossing him around.
�Then what am I supposed to do?� He asked the boy and he couldn�t understand his mouth and the burning insistence it had recently acquired to talk to Takaya in such a way.
�I don�t know. Do whatever the hell you want.� Takaya said, walking away crabbily and inspecting some ruins on the temple steps. He kicked it with his foot and left it behind with nary an inspection as he made his way towards a heavy looking door.
He looked for a handle and found none.
He put his arms, palm flat on the surface of the door and tried to slide it open like a 1.fusuma, except it wasn�t budging. He then rolled up his jacket sleeves like he was planning to fight a group of thugs instead of an oblivious door. Takaya knocked his shoulder into it, the frame rattling but the door still in place.
�Sonovabitch.� He kicked the door hard and heard it shake before it went still again.
Naoe came up beside him and Takaya threw a disinterested glance over at him. He looked back at the door, no doubt taking into account that they�re were two of them and they could easily gang up and win out against one door.
�I don�t want to hit it with anything. This building looks pretty old.� Takaya said, by way of childishly explaining why this door had not yet surrendered to the mighty strength of one Takaya Ougi.
Naoe did see his point, but Takaya did have an ever-aggravating way of saying that he needed help. However, he wasn�t petty enough to tell the boy to figure it out, so with one lunge, he kicked the door open, the hinges crying and squeaking out at the trauma inflicted to their joints.
He heard Takaya snort, �You picturin� that door is me or something?� And then he was strolling through the threshold like the punk he was, with half a mind more to look cool than to actually preemptively block in case an enemy emerged from the shadows.
�You comin�?� He called back and Naoe had half a mind to yank Takaya back by the collar and severely discipline him against a wall, or the ground.
He stepped over a hole in the floorboards and followed after Takaya from a reasonable distance in case his subconscious did push him into taking Takaya up on the punishment he seemed to be begging for.
�I can�t see a thing in here.� Takaya said, waving his hand over his face as dust motes flew up from the floorboards aggravated by his booted strides.
Following Takaya�s impatient words, Naoe suddenly heard a metallic flick. He saw the boy snap his thumb over the flint of�his metallic lighter. A tiny flame sparking up and wavering in the breeze trapped inside the temple.
This just confirmed the suspicions that he�d had ever since he�d met Takaya.
The boy was a pickpocket.
And a good, little pickpocket at that.
Takaya�s grin was clearly visible through the dancing flame and the boy catching his stare, laughed even harder. �You�re lucky your wallets still intact.� The boy bragged, as he sauntered over to Naoe and flicked the lighter close, throwing them into semi-darkness again.
Naoe put his hand out and he felt the cold press of the metal slap into his palm.

�Here. I don�t need this, it�s running out of juice anyway.� He said as he snapped his fingers and out of nowhere a purple light was shining, dancing on his index finger like the orange flame had in the air.
�Neat trick, huh?� He said again, with all the arrogance a teenage boy could muster in one wink and smile.
And Naoe couldn�t help but falter in his irritation, because Takaya had seemed to have completely forgotten that they weren�t talking to each other�or they were fighting, and generally not happy in each other�s company.
It was in Takaya�s nature to hold grudges, but it was also in the boy�s nature to spontaneously forget everything around him when he was showing off.
Naoe let the smirk show on his face and Takaya seemed to remember himself for a moment, his embarrassment apparent as he realized he�d broken the ever esteemed vow of silence and all around nasty, petty angriness he had directed towards Naoe.
Takaya not one to be outdone, moved the purple flame so it was now visibly on his middle finger and Naoe didn�t have to guess why that was.
He let Takaya have his childish victory and continued on further into the temple, the dark, cool purple glow from Takaya�s self-made light source casting the haunted room into an even more solemn and gloomy atmosphere.
There was another door in front of them, the wood stained with white, fuzzy mold that had crawled up from the ground and imbedded itself into the frame. Small weeds were growing up from the base, basking in the nutrient rich soil stuffed up under the floorboards.
There was a handle that arched up from the door, like a handshake for the person about to enter and Takaya wondered if the design had gone all lopsided due to some of the glue or bolts loosening. He gripped it and it was steady. He pulled in the leftward direction and the door slide open, the rails on both the top and bottom of the door sounding gritty with dirt and pebbles.
They stepped through it and when Takaya tried to close it again, it was stuck in place.
He left it and trailed behind Naoe, watching the man stop to inspect another door that was much newer looking, the 2.washi paper was black, but not from dust. It was just black and Takaya had never seen black paper used for screens before.
Naoe slid it open and a gust of wind blew past them and then arced back towards them, like a sickle on a chain.
The wind was howling.
They were somehow back outside.
Takaya walked out first, the first and only things catching his eye were the many lanterns hung up, the white pristine of their shades shining palely in the evening sky.

There were rows of them, at least ten, all straight and symmetrical with the others, their sway and bob in tandem, like a contrived dance. Takaya could hear the fluttering of the paper as the wind sailed through it and swept over each continuously.
�This is really creepy.� Takaya said finally, breaking the somber atmosphere that had built itself around the lantern garden.
�This is it.� Naoe also said, walking out briskly into the night air and over to the lanterns flapping like laundry in the cool wind. �This is what I�ve been sensing ever since I got here. Don�t you feel it Takaya? It�s like�� Naoe stumbled over his words. �It�s like we�re in a completely different place. It doesn�t feel like we�re even in Matsumoto anymore.�
Takaya took a moment to think about that. It kind of made sense, the wind was kind of salty and the air tasted like the sand�you�d find on a beach.
He felt inordinately calm.
And then he heard it.
Like a flute vibrating the air, the same pitch and timbre of those nightly vigils at that beach in Odawara.
He can remember that beach clearly, can remember that instant of his past where he sat in that large pine tree and played a flute while�that man had watched him.
It was like he was reliving that moment right here, and even though he could not see the beach in this dark and morose place, he could smell it, he could hear it in the way the shuffling paper lanterns almost sounded like waves crushing and lulling to the shore.
If he closed his eyes he�d be there.
Naoe looked alarmed.
�Takaya, I don�t think we�re alone.� He told the boy, his body instinctively going in front of him. The fluctuating ripple of the ends of a long kimono sleeve suddenly caught Takaya�s eyes and held it there, suspended like a red apple tossed in the air, all color and standstill bright.
He felt a little dizzy.
Naoe�s shoulders were tense.
Then Naoe was doing seals, quickly, with a set rhythm that cut the air in half around them with the resonation of his voice.

�BAI!�
And then all was fatally still.
The white, paper lanterns no longer swayed, but stood, like soldiers at a crossroad.
They were waiting for something.
�Look brother, it�s the canary and his wolf. They�ve paid us a visit.�
�We should feel honored, brother.�
The voices were coming from two distinct sides; they were bouncing off each other, finding harmony in the meeting place that was the center of this chaotic lantern garden.
�They�re supposed to be locked up.�
�Why are they here?�
�One�s supposed to be in a kennel.�
�The other�s supposed to be in a cage.�
�Look brother, he�s shaking.�
�How cute.�
�How dramatic.�
Takaya clutched his arm; he hadn�t known his forearm was trembling. But it wasn�t wholly from fear. It was from anger.
�Naoe, ready your seals again.� He said, voice steady and iced with resolution.
�Come out here!� He shouted.
�We are already out here. You�re just too blind to see. Canaries have weak eyes.�
�You�re not a hawk yet.�
�Would you shut up?� Takaya retorted, because these two sounded like they spent way too much time with each other. �It�s hard enough to think with all your blabbering. It�s even harder to think with all these��
The shuffling paper lanterns were like a drone of bees now, the sound low, but insistent and draining.
�I can�t think with all this shit going on.� Takaya frustrated and angry threw out a large blast, watching paper and wood disintegrate in the purple flame that was his power. Pebbles lifted off the floor for a millisecond before falling back to the earth.
When he blinked he saw the singed ends of a white sleeve he�d seen minutes ago and then it had disappeared, along with the body it was attached too.
�I hit the bastard.� He knew he did.
Naoe flung out his own energy, tumultuous orange light that echoed the man�s intensity and his soul.
They heard a sudden shriek, like a banshee�s death and it ringed in the air, made it pliant, made it a perfect tool to echo the other distilled sounds. The wisp of leaves, the hectic shuffling of paper, the swirls of clothe.

Takaya could no longer smell the beach.
He could only smell blood.
He ran into the midst of paper lanterns.
Some of the lanterns were oozing blood down their shades.
He saw what looked like a boy, a boy around his age, with white hair and red, sharp eyes tumble from an unknown space and then like he had appeared, his body like a mirage had flickered away.
It happened again, but this time the 3.shikifuku was singed and had some blood on it. Takaya took notice of this.
It almost seemed like there were�two of them. Twins? Had they been the ones who had attacked them two days ago?
They had to be the ones that had attacked them.
Were they also the ones they had run after in the Kiyosu Castle?
It would make sense that they were the ones if they could shape shift and disappear like that. The shikifuku were the same after all.
But the real question was, why were they following them like this? Who had sent them? What exactly was going on here?
But before Takaya could form another thought, he saw the spark of a knife glint behind him and he reacted quickly before it could plow into his back. The twin holding it disappeared and the knife along with it.
�Shit�� Takaya, looking around and spotting Naoe outside the center of the lanterns, called after him, �You take care of the hidden one.� He then took off running and he knew that the twin with the knife was running after him. Hoping in and out of sight like dimensions were stepping stones in which he took. Like for each step he took, the second was shrouded from the world. He flickered in and out of Takaya�s peripheral and Takaya continued to run, drawing him away from Naoe and in the direction of 4.kimon, so that he could cast his mantra with the aid of a strong wind and a spiritual presence.
There were abysmal stone steps in front of him, leading down to another area that almost looked like a stone garden. He skipped down a few and then when he realized his pursuer was catching up, he took one large leap and landed on the midway platform of the stairs. His sneakers crunched into the stone and one of his legs nearly gave away, and scrambling from his almost hunched position, Takaya was hauling ass down the reminder of the stairs; his pursuer still hot on his heals.

He skidded on some of the pebbles, wildly scrambling to his feet with the help of his hands and he nearly knocked into a large stone statue of�
�Holy god!� He�d nearly fallen backwards when a fierce statue of an 5.aka-oni seemed to jump out at him. The statue, however despite the falling over was very much still.
There were many other oni statues lined up, displaying armor and weaponry and their ferocious faces and bodies, each guardian of hell and each torturer given his specific characterizations in an overly exaggerated way. There were even some kami spirits mixed in with the bunch, like it was a battlefield of sorts.

His pursuer wasn�t behind him anymore and Takaya still flat on his ass, scuttled to his feet and ran in the direction of a small shrine. However before he could get there, a knife connected to a white-sleeved hand shot out from what looked like a kami spirit statue.
He jumped backwards and his back connected with another statue; it knocked the wind out of him and he pushed himself off and jumped to his left, missing another swing by a hair�s breath. It took out some of his bangs and he watched them flitter away in the suddenly uplifting wind.
He spun around and this time he could see the ghost in all of its white-shikifuku glory. There were 6.gohei dangling from his waist, the straw rope tied around him in an intricate bow. He loosened it with his finger and tugged it open, the paper cuttings shuffling ominously in the wind. The rope did not fall to the floor as expected, but instead shot forward like a snake and latched onto Takaya�s wrist.
Takaya shot out an energy blast and it dug into the cement, flipping over two statues, dirt and rocks flying up and pelting him. He could still feel the pressure of the rope on his wrist and tugging, he ran where it permitted.

The thing had disappeared again and he tried to see where the end of the rope began as it was still attached to the ghost.
He saw it embedded into a statue and looking closer, he was suddenly violently pulled in that direction. He crashed into the statue, but his hands saved him from a concussion.
He heard laughter and then the tension in the rope was loosening and he was being given room to move again, until he was pulled back unexpectedly and into another statue.
The rope didn�t seem to have a definite form, as it phased in and out of the stone statues and tightened around his arm. He pulled and tried to get the ghost who was attached to the other side to come out into view, but the rope taunt between them wouldn�t let up. Takaya shot forward, trying to find the source and he was tugged in another direction, but he fought back, digging his feet in the dirt that had been uncovered by the explosions.
The ghost in a flash of white appeared before him and swiped at his head again and he backed away, but the ghost pulled him closer and before the knife could lodge itself in his face, he had grabbed onto the wrist of the offensive hand.
He squeezed and it was the first time he had ever actually�physically fought a ghost--well those samurai with the bat didn�t count--He usually just exorcised them, but this one didn�t seem to understand that it was governed by such rules.
The knife fell to the floor, strangely solid and clattering with the cement.
There was blood on the front of his clothes, like he had been physically stabbed, he also saw the singed sleeves and Takaya�s thoughts were trying to put an idea together. He didn�t understand how he had hurt him without coming into contact. He hadn�t even gotten a good hit and he thought that was shame, and swinging his forearm out, his elbow nearly connected with the creature�s jaw. The thing however had stepped back and floated into another statue.
He threw another blast directly at it, but it just seemed to phase through again and Takaya confused as to how he could physically grab onto its arm, but chi blasts weren�t effective, tried to calm his thoughts. He threw out another blasts and it wiped out another statue. It crumbled under the force, the gohei paper cuttings around the waist of the statue disintegrating and Takaya could hear a sudden shriek of pain.
It was the same shriek he had heard when he had blasted one of the paper lanterns.

That was when the creature�s sleeves had gotten singed.
Paper�? Was that there weakness? He remembers seeing a lot of it at Kiyosu Castle and he remembers when it had attacked him in the 7.Washitsu room, he had thrown his hot tea at it, but the scolding liquid had missed and had splashed the white shoji paper screen instead. And the creature had suddenly, out of nowhere pressed its hand to its eyes, like the damage done to the screen had actually physically burned him.
Was that it then? It could also explain why they could phase out like that. He remembers every instance; every time they start to disappear he can hear something shuffling, something familiar. Their disappearing trick reminded him of a paper fluttering in the wind, when it was flat against the currents and it seemed like it had disappeared. Or was it something completely else�
He checked around him and sure enough there was plenty of paper to go around. On all of the statues there were the gohei paper cuttings fluttering in the wind, tied down by the ceremonial straw. He grabbed one off an 8.ao-oni and stood next to it, but the ghost did not appear through the statue and everything was finally clicking into place.

It was like these ghosts, whatever they were could possess only paper. Like they had been tied to it by misfortunate events and to possess it was their only silent scream of help. It was like they were reflecting themselves in the whiteness of each sheet. The white of their uniforms and the white of the paper bouncing back between the two forms, like a mirror�s reflection. They could not travel if they had no papers to possess, like the mysterious sheets of paper at Kiyosu castle, or the shoji�s washi paper at Naoe�s house.

What about the whole shape shifting thing? They could possess paper�and paper was a pliant substance�did that mean they could�manipulate their unique condition and transform themselves into anything they wished, kind of like origami, folding themselves into whatever shape or form they saw that offered the most benefits.
It was the same pattern here too. They had possessed the paper lanterns and this one had possessed the gohei around the statues.
Takaya, running along all the statues snatched the gohei from each and the creature seeing what he was doing leaped from the existing paper and then disappeared suddenly.
The bastard was now trapped. He didn�t have anywhere to go. Not with Takaya having removed all his hiding spots. However before he could even find the time to gloat, the sharp end of something pointy and jagged was digging into his shoulder.
Takaya gasped, didn�t understand that he had just been stabbed and that blood was trailing down his arm. He instinctively moved forward and missed the edge of something white and sharp. His eyes blurred as he saw the creature, it�s hands not matching up anymore, the skin of the right deformed with a powder whiteness, the bones and muscles twisted into a pike, a cone that twisted around like a screw.
He ran towards the shrine again, because it seemed like his plan had backfired and now he had a serious injury on top of fighting this thing. He threw out another random blast and it mowed into a row of kami spirits. His shoulder was throbbing and he couldn�t think straight.
�Give up Kagetora.�
Blood was pouring down his arm, staining his jacket dark and the shirt underneath.
�My brother�s probably disposed of that dog already. He�s a great nuisance and I think you agree with me, don�t you?�
Takaya clutched his shoulder harder.
�He�s so pathetic and lowly. Someone like that isn�t worth the air he breathes and I know that you think the same way. Or you wouldn�t have punched me first and asked questions later when I�d taken his form. You�re really are cruel to him. I don�t blame you though.�
Takaya didn�t deny that he had hit the clone without knowing that it had been a duplicate two days ago. However, he had pretty much figured it out by the way the thing had reacted to him that it wasn�t Naoe. Naoe could get violent sometimes, but he�d never tried to actually kill him. His eyes always looked hurt, expressive like a doe and there would always be sadness clinging to his features when he spoke to Takaya of troubles that he had caused. He might not be able to read the Possessor�s mind a lot of the time, but he could read his movements and his words and neither of those familiar things had been in this creature�s mimicry when he had changed into Naoe.
That�s when he stabbed the fucker in the hand with his chopstick.
�He�s a nice little slave, but I bet you won�t keep him around too long. He�s useless.�
And the one thing that really irked the hell out of him about all of this was the fact that this�thing was bad mouthing Naoe. It was different when he did it, but it was in no way acceptable when other people did it, especially people who didn�t know the first thing about Naoe. He did. Naoe belonged to him and since Naoe belonged to him, he could say those words, but when someone else did it�
�You probably now have a real phobia of eating utensils, don�t you?� Takaya pointed at the place where he remembers stabbing the creature with his chopstick and the reminder seemed to snap it out of its self-satisfied state.
It looked angry.
Takaya felt angrier.
He reached behind him to assess the damage done on his back and on passing, his hand brushed up against something. It was�paper. There was paper stuck to his back and Takaya slowly and carefully removing it so the creature wouldn�t see what he was doing, tucked it into his pocket. He jammed it in so not a trace was showing.
That thing was most likely using the paper on his back to follow him around. That was the exact reason why it could jump directly on him.
Takaya, breaking into a run watched the ghost follow him. It disappeared for a moment and Takaya knew it was coming. He grabbed the paper and placed it right on his chest and suddenly the thing was in front of him, eyes wide and surprised at the location it had showed up. Takaya lunged forward grabbing it by the wrists.

He began to chant. He had needed to exorcise the ghost, while he had in his possession the exact piece of paper that the ghost had placed its soul into at that moment. He had also needed the physical body of this ghost, needed to have contact so his chant could flow through their physical touch and inflict more damage, make the process faster and almost instantaneous so this thing didn�t have the time it needed to escape.
He held the paper in one hand and the creature in the other. The creature howled and spat blood as he had gone onto his last syllable and the paper burst into a purple light, the creature following shortly thereafter.
Takaya left to hold nothing but smoky air, slumped back and tried to get his breathing back to normal. His shoulder was heavily bleeding and his eyesight was blurred, but damn if he was going to stay here and wait for death.
...............................................................
1.Fusuma- opaque sliding vertical partitions, sliding doors.

2.Washi paper-Used in the shoji doors, covers over the wooden frame.

3.Shikifuku-ceremonial dress. Just think of Subaru�s Omyougin clothing if you ever seen X/1999.

4.kimon-northeast, since 10th century oni have been strongly associated with this direction. Temples are built facing that direction and Japanese buildings sometimes have L-shaped indentions at the northeast to ward oni away.

5.aka-oni -red oni

6.gohei-sacred straw ropes and paper cuttings, which indicate a place or thing to be treated with reverence.

7.Washitsu- Japanese style room w/ Tatami flooring.

8.ao-oni -blue oni
- 17
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- 19
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Dreamscape