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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
- 19
- 20
- 21
A/n: Okay, there will be some spoilers for the manga now, as I had been informed by one of my readers about Nobunaga�s true identity. It is pretty cool and so I wanted to work that into my story. However since I�ve never read the manga, or the novels, I don�t have a definite look or character analysis of Nobunaga, so I�m just going on instinct here. I hope you guys like it.

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The old Honnoji temple grounds were bare, the ground charcoal and the grass brown, even centuries after the fires that happened here. It was like whatever was holding onto this place would not let go.

They were currently in pairs checking the place out, the outstretching and vast flat fields, making it an easy task to scope this place out, but since closer inspection needed to be adhered to, they walked around and touched everything that caught their eye.

They could feel a pressing energy in the air, like an invisible mist was weighing down on them and making it harder to breath, like the altitude that they were standing on was mountaintop and not a flat surface.

�We haven�t run into any ghosts. I guess they�ve all been cleared out of the area by the mass cleansing projects that the priests would have done when moving the temple to another spiritual site.�

�There would still be some lingering around here. No simple priest would be that powerful to wipe them all out.� Chiaki corrected Haruie. �This is most likely due to Nobunaga�s influence. That bastard. He�s here somewhere. I can feel him.�

Takaya and Naoe weren�t having much luck on the other side of the field, as they lingered near a sectioned off portion of gravestones and the small shrine that was built for all the innocent and dead woman and children, who the fires had indiscriminately taken.

Takaya wasn�t looking at the shrine however, as his attentions had been caught rapt by the forest that skirted the fields and had been left to grow wild, as if society wanted to forget about this atrocity and cover over it with underbrush.

There was something cold about those woods, something that called to Takaya and Naoe, noticing the boy�s apparent interest, caught him by the arm and headed in that direction. Takaya didn�t say anything, but just let Naoe lead him towards it. Chiaki and Haruie, who were also keeping an eye out for Takaya and Naoe, followed after them into the forest.

It was here that they came upon another shrine, a shrine with its entrance located half underground and half on the surface. There were stairs leading down and then perpetual darkness. There were wards placed over the entrance and when Takaya went forward to try and enter, he found that the wards had burned off, singed into the air and taken away by the wind.

Chiaki�s eyebrows knotted together. �This smells like a trap.�

�Or it could be our lucky day,� Haruie cheerfully provided. �I guess my horoscope was right.�

Chiaki still couldn�t shake the feeling that this was a trap and that Ranmaru�the sneaky bastard�would have no problem preparing such accommodations for them. Still, he couldn�t really do anything about this, even if it was a trap, because they had to stop Nobunaga�s resurrection. It wasn�t an option. All they could do was thread cautiously at this point.

Takaya was the first to walk through and everyone could hear the simultaneous �ow� and thump as the boy walked through the darkness. Haruie, putting her hands together brought out a whitish glow from her palm, the soft light reaching all the dark and moist crevices of the underground structure. There were lines of Sanskrit on either side of them that began at the mouth of the doorway and then traveled on relentlessly with them the deeper they walked into the underground passage.

There was a yellow light at the end off the tunnel, and they all moved towards it regardless of the outcome waiting for them. It was the shine of lanterns, hung from the ceiling by ropes that had 1.ofuda plastered all over the surface of the sandpaper colored fibers. They were swaying ominously in the long corridor that they took up, each lined up in the center and dividing the hallway in two sections. Naoe and Takaya took the right side, while Haruie and Chiaki took the left. There were no signs of problems, only the slight swinging back and forth of the lanterns, glass surfaces reflecting the flames and magnifying the light in the room.

They were almost to the exit, but Takaya tripped on a raised end of a cement block and like something was triggered, one of the ropes with the ofuda on it sizzled away, the lantern dropping to the ground in a scatter of shards and hot kerosene. Drops of hot oil splashing onto Takaya�s arm.

The other glass lanterns followed suit as they were dropped from the ceiling. Naoe, grabbing Takaya�s arm fled the room. Chiaki and Haruie having held up a barrier to keep the fire contained within the room realized that it wasn�t needed, as the fire dimmed down on its own, like a flip had been switched.

Takaya was rubbing his arm that had a few dots of red skin.

�We�re lucky it�s not that serious,� Chiaki said, as he saw that Takaya�s natural healing abilities had already started to take affect and lesson the burn. �That was a pretty arcane trick. It�s just the natural defenses of this place; I would think that if Ranmaru had set it up, he would have modified it a little.�

They continued on and walking out of another hallway, and into a stalactite cave with different colored crystals acting as a dim light source, they peered around. They were overlooking a large area, where there were so many people, maybe fifty or sixty men dressed in monks� robes and chanting with prayer beads.

They could all hear the mantra of �Ohm� coming up from the pit, a 2.mandala etched into the stone ground under their feet. There was a large prayer wheel being spun in time to the polytonal chanting, the sound seeming to seep into their skin and raise the hairs on the back of everybody�s neck. The mandala glowed a sickly green color and everybody immediately recognized the power signature, especially by the color of the energy. Ranmaru walked over to the center, escorting someone as he did, his normal jeans and t-shirt ensemble making him look too much out of place among the monks.

They parted to him, not subtly but some scurrying out of his way and other shrinking back in what seemed like fear, and it wasn�t a question now among the four Possessors if these monks had come here of their own volition.

Ranmaru made the person kneel down in the middle of the mandala, like he was asking for absolution in prayer. He made a gesture for the monks to come surround the man and the monks, however meekly came to also kneel down in front of him.

�I say we cut in before this party�s over.� Takaya said, and his eyes were glowing golden in the darkness. His body already propelling forward as he jumped down the stone balcony and landed on the ground near a bunch of monks who were startled enough as it was, and to have teenage boys jumping out of the sky from nowhere was not good on their hearts.

Ranmaru, who had been looking down at the man on the ground, glanced over to see Takaya running towards him. He had a smile on his face and amassing enough energy in his palm, he threw it at Takaya without any heed for the monks in the way.

Takaya dodged it, but barely and he could see Naoe and the others running forward and throwing out their own energies. Haruie creating a barrier, while Chiaki and Naoe tossed out enough chi to decimate the mandala and make it an ineffective channeling tool.

Ranmaru was now behind the man on the ground, placing his hand on the man�s neck and looking at the Uesugi clan with a smile that made them stop in their tracks.

�Do you have any idea who this is?� Ranmaru asked.

Haruie, finally being given the chance to feel out the energy around her was shocked at her outcome.

�Irobe!� She called out.

�Is that Irboe?� Naoe asked, not too sure since the energy was too weak. It was almost like their friend was slowly being taken to the other world, his eyes dim and cast over.

�Ranmaru has in a trance.� Chiaki explained, when he saw that same lifeless stare in the fifth Possessor�s eyes.

Takaya, who was ready to finish this and wipe that smirk of Ranmaru�s face, began to chant.

�Naumaku Samandabodanan Beishiramandaya Sowaka.�

The last syllable boomed and echoed in the cave.

�Naumaku Samandabodanan Beishiramandaya Sowaka.� Takaya repeated, and everyone prepared themselves for the trembling power of Namutobatsu Bishamonten. The statuesque body of the demon coming forth from a halo of light, his fierce features twisted in a snarl and the fanged face twisting his belly gleaming.

Takaya held out his hand and Bishamonten took on his blade manifestation. Takaya gripped the hilt in between his fingers tightly and then with one mighty underhanded swing, he released the gale of power that was stored in the blade.

Ranmaru put up his barrier, blocking himself from exorcism, but not from the impact of the jagged cave wall at his back. He crashed into it and slumped forward, thoroughly knocked out for his troubles.

�On Basara Bokisha Boku.� Naoe said, walking up to Takaya, his words the un-summoning mantra for Bishimoten�s form. Takaya took a deep breath, thankful for the aid in recalling the demon as it disappeared and left him holding nothing but air and the sweat in his palms.

Haruie was running forward, Chiaki following close behind as they went over to Irobe, the man still kneeling on the ground, the body that he had been put in had long blond hair and it was currently shadowing his face as his neck bent helplessly toward the floor.

�Irobe!� Haruie called and she put her hands on his shoulder to steady him. �Hey are you alright?�

There was a nod from the body almost prostrate on the ground, his silvery gold hair still hiding his face, and Haruie blew out a sigh of relief. She waved over Chiaki, but the other Possessor stopped in his tracks as he caught the scent of an overwhelming power bubbling from the surface. The power so immense and malicious that it made his throat hurt and his eyes sting, that power coming from the body in front of him.

Suddenly Irobe had clamped his fingers around Haruie�s wrist, the one attached to the hand on his shoulder and he wretched her towards him. She gasped in surprised horror as something ripped through her body, not the sharp blade of a sword, but it might as well had been as it paralyzed her and she slumped forward into strong arms.

Takaya and Naoe, who had been behind Chiaki were shocked at the sight, their bodies frozen, as the face of the man, who they had thought was Irobe twisted into a maniac grin. He stood up, hefting Haruie in his arms and looking down at her face, smiling all the while.

Chiaki, who had been the first to be hit with the hint of that power, put his hands out to stop Takaya from moving forward. �That�s not Irobe Takaya.�

Takaya didn�t think he cared too much if it was Irobe or not, he was still going to blast this guy into next week.

Chiaki looked pale and Naoe, feeling slightly nauseous from the sudden power surge, the almost gut wrenching energy that was being infused into the air with each passing minute finally realized what they were going up against.

�Nobunaga.� Chiaki called out and Takaya looked at him in questioning.

�But I thought you said�- Takaya was suddenly cut off by the look in Chiaki�s eyes.

�Oh, if you want to know where you�re friend Irobe is�well let�s just say he took a spin on the Karmic Wheel and he won�t be back for a while.� The man spoke, his blond hair running in rivulets away from his face, his intense blue eyes finally coming to the forefront of his features as he smirked at them.

Takaya thought for a second that he recognized that face. He didn�t vocalize that bit of news though, as he didn�t understand how everyone could have mistaken Irobe for Nobunaga.

Nobunaga as if reading his mind, pulled something out from the pocket of his jacket and waved it at the three Possessors. Takaya squinting his eyes, swore that whatever it was kind of looked like a�

�Oh gross.� Takaya said, as Nobunaga threw a severed index finger on the ground at their feet.

�Spiritual vessels really do have more purposes than we give them credit for.� Nobunaga said, sounding a tab bit disappointed, like he was regretting not finding out more ways to exploit their human vessels. �Pity, pity.�

Chiaki glared at him and Naoe�s face got as impassive as stone.

�Still got so many bags of tricks up your sleeve, don�t you?� Chiaki seethed, hating that the remains of Irobe�s human vessel had been used to fool them into thinking the man was still with them and to luring them right into a trap.

�Oh, I had fun with him, even though he wasn�t as talkative as you Yasuda, he was still a barrel of laughs.� Nobunaga finished, and he flecked his gaze back to the discarded body part. There was a piece of hair and ribbon tied around it and Chiaki could only guess that it had belonged to the body that Nobunaga had forced Irobe to possess so he would be able to properly torture and receive answers to his questions.

Chiaki remembered the baby that Irobe had possessed and involuntarily shuddered at what he assumed had become of it after it had done its job of luring them into Nobunaga�s fine webs. But he didn�t have time to be bothered with that, or the woman he had known for a good couple of years and her hardworking husband. It was the life of a Possessor to not get attached and after centuries of practice he was very adept at detaching himself from such emotions.

The only thing he could do for them now was take revenge and offer up prayers that they too would be reincarnated with better karma because of this ordeal.

Nobunaga, starring down into the face of the captured Haruie smiled up at them, �And ah, the lovely Kakizaki.�

Everyone could hear the warning in that too casual voice, the warning that said if they even moved the lovely Kakizaki would be lovely no more.

Nobunaga looked around and spotting monks, who had been trying to find cover during the battle as they quietly shivered and clung to the walls, called out to some of them. One of the monks came forward and Nobunaga handed Haruie over to him like she was a sack of flour instead of a living, breathing person.

�Keep an eye on her.� Nobunaga looked at the red dot on the man�s forehead and cracked a joke about �not that eye.�

Takaya who hadn�t been expecting that was dumbfounded for a moment.

That had been a blond moment, if he had ever seen one.

Nobunaga dismissed him, the monk stepping slightly behind Nobunaga, as the demon lord still wanted to keep his hostage within his reach if anything should upset him.

Takaya kept his eye on the frightened monk, but then he noticed something. Ranmaru was no longer in the spot where he had thrown him up against, and that was singularly Takaya�s last thought for that moment, as the boy felt something blunt connect with the back of his head. He hit the floor and he heard Naoe and Chiaki�s shouting before he blacked out completely.

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There was a hand smoothing over his forehead, and when he�d opened his eyes, he saw Naoe looking down at him. He blinked and felt the pain in the back of his head and neck and soon everything was coming back to him. He shot up from the lap he had been resting against and his momentum seemed to make his head hurt even more.

He clutched his head and he found Naoe at his side, warm, soothing hands on the back of his neck, and easing the monstrous headache he was now suffering through.

He could see Chiaki sitting against a wall and wiping his glasses with a frown on his face. Haruie was right next to him and he felt relief for seeing her awake and unharmed.

Both of them turned to him and Haruie, who didn�t look like she could really move from her spot, legs still wobbly smiled sadly at him.

Chiaki was looking at him with a bored expression, �Who knew Ranmaru would release the beast on the back of your head with a bokuto.� He put his glasses back on and Takaya flicked him off.

�Damn where are we?� Takaya looked around and when he saw bars, he got the feeling that they sure as hell weren�t in a fancy hotel room. Takaya rubbed his head, scooting over to the same wall where Haruie and Chiaki were. He leaned up against it and the backrest seemed to help the tension in his neck and head.

Naoe scooted up to his side and he found himself further relaxing, his head half supported by Naoe�s shoulder as it brushed his hair and one side of his cheek.

Takaya made an attempt to say something, to lighten the mood that was bearing down on all of them. He thought as a leader he should try to reassure everyone, but he had always known, ever since he had taken up this role that he was shit at reassuring people. He wasn�t good with words and being subtle and saying �buck up� when people lost. Really he was known for rubbing it in the losers face. He was just naturally much better at that kind of talk than any kind of optimistic wordplay.

Although before he could even wonder too deeply into that thought, he had remembered something. It had hit him like a ton of bricks and for a second his heart had stopped cold in his chest. Not from any type of panic, but from sheer confusion. He had come to remember that face, the face that Nobunaga was currently taking over.

He had seen him on T.V.

That guy was�

What was his name now? Something along the lines of�Shouta or Shira.

Damn, he was shit with names too.

�Rrrr, this is going to bother me for the rest of the day.� Takaya said out of nowhere, and the rest of the Possessors were thrown off by his words. Takaya to explain himself started up, �I know that guy.�

Everybody was surprised. Haruie asked, �Are you remembering Nobunaga now?� She said hopefully and Takaya shook his head, �No, not that. I mean, this guy I�ve seen him on television before.�

�What?� Chiaki asked, having not expected that to come out of Takaya�s mouth.

�No shit. That guy, I think he�s some kind of rock star or something. Shita something, Shira Eita, Eito, Erie.� Takaya continued on in this fashion until Haruie, eyes widened couldn�t believe that she had missed the fact before. �It�s Shiba Eiji. Oh my god. I listened to a song by him on the radio not too long ago.� She got a perplexed look on her face. �Wait, Nobunaga�s�a rockstar? Hold up.�

Chiaki waved his hand at them, �Does it matter what he is in this life? He was always such a selfish, egomaniac that I�m not really surprised at his alter ego. Che, he just wants a flock to lead and what a better flock than the mindless, hormonal teenagers of today.�

�Jeez, why didn�t I reincarnate into a rock star?� Takaya blurted out all of a sudden and everyone looked at him like he had lost his mind.

�Good to know where your priorities are.� Chiaki said, shaking his head at the boy.

�Kiss my ass.� Takaya fired back and it didn�t matter if they were in a prison cell, or in a grave, if someone pissed him off he wasn�t going to keep quiet about it.

�You certainly have the rock star mentality. Chiaki paused for effect and then said, �You�re such a drama queen.�

Takaya grew indignant, �Seriously is it too much to ask when I say kiss my ass?�

�And seriously,� Chiaki said, not in the mood for this shit, �your temper�s going to get you shot one of these days.�

�Do you happen to carry guns on you?� Takaya asked sarcastically.

�No.� Chiaki answered and he could see Naoe and Haruie on the side of them, looking all kinds of fatigued and annoyed with their behavior.

�Then I got nothin� to worry about.� Takaya responded, despite the looks he was getting from Naoe and Haruie.

�Spiritual energy is more effective than bullets.� Chiaki threw out there.

�That�s nice. Why don�t you hold up your fingers to your head and try that method out.�

Damn, sometimes he forgot what a bitch Takaya was.

�Someone�s more catty than usual. Suffering from a case of PMS. What was it, Punks Menstrual Syndrome?�

�Okay, you two break it up. We don�t have time for in fighting. We could certainly pour all that energy into something else.� Haruie said, rubbing her dirty blond head and trying to figure a way out of this.

�Tch, well the dumbass over there started it.� Takaya defended.

�You�re probably going to get gangbanged for that kinda talk too.� Chiaki sniped.

�Seriously, we could go at it right now. I don�t mind busting in the face of some dork.� Takaya said, noting Chiaki�s glasses.

�Low blow.� Haruie called out, despite her resistance to wanting to join in on the macho stupidity.

�Okay drag queen.� Takaya said and Haruie seemed to have no choice in the matter with that kind of comment.

�Lower blow.� Chiaki responded.

�Okay that�s it! Both of you shut up. We have to think of a way to get out of here, so why don�t you concentrate on that.� Haruie forgot sometimes how childish Chiaki could act when he was in a bad mood, and she certainly couldn�t forget how Takaya was half the time.

This was shaping out to be a fine day.

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A/n: So yeah, I�m going to be having fun with the character of Nobunaga, dabbling in the evil arts of characters occness. Takaya gets angered easily, as we can all see in this chapter at the ending, it�s one of the many reasons why I like writing dialogue for him. Plus in his own way, he�s lessoning tension by fighting with Chiaki, even though they don�t see it that way. They�ll just take any excuse to yell at each other and they have no problem with being horrendously insensitive. Wow, chapter 20 and I still have some chapters to go. This story is turning into a monster. Anyway, thanks for all the support and please, comments always help me out so review if possible.
1.ofuda- is a small piece of paper that has holy or magical spells, symbols or writing written on it used by powerful priests. You get the idea.
2.Mandala-It in the shape of a circle that has a square in it. Originates from Hinduism, used in Buddhism to symbolize tangible objects, such as the earth, which is represented by the four corners of the square. It also has a lot of complicated signs and what not in it, but I�m not getting into that.
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Dreamscape