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Reflections	By : vampkitten27 Category: +S to Z > Twelve Kingdoms Views: 9410 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Twelve Kingdoms, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 2
- 3
- 4
Chapter Summary: This chapter is mostly about Keiki looking for answers about Horai.

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Chapter 3

Keiki stood under the silvery moon, feeling oddly at peace. The day had gone by with few blunders. The morning council meeting had been a circus, but it was nothing out of the ordinary. The only thing wrong seems to be on Yoko's behalf. She was troubled and he knew it. It was as visible as watching a play. The weight of an entire kingdom rests on her shoulders and she is but one young woman, barely an adult. Anyone in her shoes would feel that kind of pressure crushing down on them. He was sure she would adjust in a few years, but it has been two. Two years is not enough, not by far. However, it seems as if it is wearing her down, intimidating her in some way.
'That's not it." Keiki thought about Enho's words. He might possibly be right. People from Horai have needs. They need to be around people to feel like they're not alone. He was starting to get it, at least a little. 'Maybe this behavior is because she feels like she's alone...'
If this were true, what exactly does that make him? He is always by her side, telling her what a great job she is doing, that he trusts her. Is that not enough?
The young maid who Keiki bumped into the day before stopped at the open palace door leading to the garden, what little garden there actually was. She held an oil lamp in one hand and peered out at the Taiho.
"Kei-Taiho, is that you?" She called out, not sure, if it was Keiki or an assassin in the misty shadows.
"Yes," Keiki said and looked toward the entrance.
"It�s getting late. Please, if it�s not too much to ask, I need you to come inside.�
He moved without question and headed back to the palace. Once inside, the young maid locked the doors. The guards now posted near the garden entrance, just beyond the fountains. Locking the doors were not a necessity, but more of a demand from Yoko. For some reason, it made her feel safe. Keiki could only guess it was something her parents in Horai did as a nightly ritual.
"How are your hands, Taiho?"
Keiki removed his hands from his pocket with a slight amusement registered on his face. "Still rather stained."
The maid snickered. "I really am sorry."
"It's quite all right. I was partly to blame." Keiki placed his ink-stained hands back into the recesses of his pockets. "I did not catch your name?"
"My name is Chidori, Tai..."
"It would please me if you call me by my name, it is quite all right."
"Keiki..." She shy replied.
Keiki looked down at her, "You must be the Kaikyaku granted permission to be a Sennin."
She nodded. "How did you know?"
"Chidori is not a native name here." Keiki answered. "If you don't mind me asking..." He stopped in mid-sentence.
"Asking?" Chidori replied.
"How old are you?"
"Nineteen..." Chidori replied.
"Just a year older than Yoko," Keiki thought. He reached and took the lamp from her hand. "Please Taiho, you shouldn't."
"I would really like to talk with you some more," Keiki replied.
"Why would you want a conversation with a servant?" Chidori asked.
"I just want some more insight about Horai."
"Japan?" Chidori whispered. "But why?"
"I just wish to learn about it. I was there once a few years ago, but it was just a short time."
"Why not ask the Queen?" Chidori replied. "I heard she once lived in Horai."
"It's true," Keiki said. "But, I rather not trouble her."
He sounded rather sincere in his quest. Chidori nodded and pointed toward a door on the left. "This is the library; is it not?"
Keiki looked at the tall wooden doors.� Yes, I believe so."
"We can talk about Horai in there, if you like?" Chidori pushed the doors open. She looked back at him with an ordinary glance. "I can't believe you want to talk so late at night. This must be important to you."
"Yes, I believe it might give some insight on what is troubling the Queen."
They took seats at a large dark lacquer table in the center of the room. The room itself was amazing, still a vision of grandeur and remained untouched. Dust had built up on some object, mostly the books on higher shelves. With so few palace workers, they had not gotten down to cleaning this particular room.
"This used to be my favorite room in the palace," Keiki responded. "There are many tales in these books, some about Horai, but I don't know if they are true." He picked an abandoned book up from the table. Someone used the book and had not bothered to return it to where it belonged.
"Take this one for example." He flipped the first page open and read the first few passages.
"I was born in the Early Tokugawa Era in a place called Edo Japan. There, I learned to be a Samurai. Most men in my time strived just to be this status, a status of servitude. These men served the Shogun, placing their life on the line, willing to sacrifice just for his name alone.
We carried our katana in the name of the Shogun and at times even slaughtered whole villages on his command. With blood on our hands, we showed our loyalty to the Bakufu."
Keiki closed the book. "Was this Edo as violent as this man's words?"
Chidori nodded. "This was before my time. Edo is the old name of Tokyo. After the fall of the Tokugawa, Emperor Meiji came to power. He was pretty much a puppet, but things got better. There was little bloodshed in Japan for many decades. Then the two World Wars put an end to the peace. Now the world is pretty secure again. There are still wars, but most people try to get along."
Keiki considered the girl�s words. "Tell me. What do you miss about Horai?"
"Not much," Chidori replied. "I was treated very poorly by my parents. They didn't understand me at all. My father drank a lot and my mother watched with closed eyes. He'd beat me and my little sister, eventually my sister died. He tossed her down a flight of stairs and the injuries..." Chidori felt the tears begin to well.
"Are all people like this?" Keiki asked.
Chidori shrugged. "I don't know. I used to think so, until I met Yoko and learned she came from Horai. Since then, I have wondered, maybe it was just unfortunate circumstances. I really did not belong there and this is my place."
"How long have you been here?"
"Four years as of next month."
He looked down toward his hands; with an anxious grip, they curled around the leather-bound book. "Are you...lonely?"
Chidori noticed his fingers, how they tightened about the text. "This is about the Queen... You want to know if she is lonely here..." Keiki took a breath. "I'm sorry if I seem intrusive... If you prefer, I will stop my inquiry."
"No, I'm fine." Chidori nodded. "I had a friend named Hattori; he was the only person who understood me. Sometimes, I'm lonely when I think about him. When I don't think about him at all, I feel isolated."
"Was he your��
"Boyfriend?" Chidori finished.
"Is that what they call it in Horai-when two people are together?"
Chidori nodded. "It's a lot like here. Before people are married, they date and that person is either your boyfriend or girlfriend. When you are married, that person becomes husband or wife."
"What purpose does it serve in Horai?"
"You are full of questions, Kei-Taiho." Chidori gingerly laughed. Keiki looked at her with a glazed stare. He wanted to know, but he wanted to make it look like it was his interest in Horai and not Yoko.
"I suppose...having someone there keeps you from feeling incomplete. In Japan and through out the other world, people get married and have children. It's nature. It�s what people do. They fall in love and that feeling is the actual bond."
Keiki sat back in deep thought. Chidori watched his face, which reflected that inner conflict. She stood up and politely bowed. "I better get back to my job... I will leave you alone now."
Keiki nodded. "Please don't tell anyone of this."
"I won't tell a soul." Chidori left, leaving Keiki alone at the library table.
He had a few pieces of the puzzle: information on Yoko's homeland, relationships and their people. There are similarities to Kei, but not many. This was upsetting and even more confusing. All of this stuff was obvious to Chidori, she was able to see clearly and give answers. Nevertheless, he did not understand a word. This was becoming an enigma. What does all this mean to Yoko? Most of all, does she feel this way about Shoryu?

'Chidori said a love relationship is a bond between two people... They feel incomplete unless they have this bond. So, if two people share this bond, they...' Everything started to click. 'Make love.' He knew the term; it is copulation or intercourse in Horai. Nothing more than an impure act. However, it is the act in which children are produced in the world she was born. Still he didn't understand a few things. If Yoko desired this act of deviance with Shoryu, did that mean she was going against the gods and wants to reproduce?
Keiki picked up the old Japanese Tale. All though bloodshed and violence was not his cup of tea, he decided to try the book. It may give him more insight than the previous books he encountered.

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A Few Pages from 'The Book of Horai'

'During the late 1650's, I spent my days at a post in Kyoto. To my relief. The first part of my training I spent under the command of Ishida Hatsuharu, he was my master. He was a very powerful man, quick as lightning with the ability and strength to cut his enemy down with a single swipe of his blade. Like myself, he had also been 'demanded' by the Shogun to join the Samurai Army.
There was no such thing as refusal. If the Shogun let you live, he would make sure you and your family live a nightmare throughout your existence. It is saw as an honor to be recommended by the Shogun or a Lord, yet it was forced existence if you did not want the honor. The alternative was Seppuku...death by ones own hand.
Although, I was not forced into being a Samurai, I did not agree with the way we were used. After a few years of servitude, a group of us set out, leaving the Shogunate. A little more than twenty of us found the courage to leave, including my master.
I went to a village just outside Kobe, the place had no name; it was a copy of many small villages at the time. We never knew when we would need to pick up and move again. So was the life of a Ronin.
Not too long after settling down into my new life-of all things, as a sword maker, I started to save money to buy passage out of Japan. I have other abilities: The other is herbal remedies. I took on the task of sword-smith because the pay is greater than a traveling medicine man. I could get as much as a hundred gold ryo for a single piece. During my time, that was fairly expensive. Most of the time, I barely profited. A good sword takes at least two or three months to make. A normal sword can be pounded out within a few days to a week.
In 1661, I turned 28. Three years later, I was still living in the village with work flooding in. The place had grown quite large and prosperous. The town was created by a handful of Ronin and their wives. Then the farmers, prostitutes, and the traders came. Eventually the Samurai came and the Shogun named the village Horai.
Six months later- everyone was surprised by the army showing up at the front gates. It was during the rainy season, torrential down pours had ruined the crops and made it hard to trade with neighboring villages. The people had no way to pay the taxes. By the order of the Shogun, the samurai burned the village to the ground, leaving many dead and the greater majority homeless. Those who were lucky enough to escape with their lives fled the area, leaving the main island of Japan for freedom on the many smaller isles.
I roamed the land for a year and settled down as an assassin in Edo. Once there, I indulged myself with every decadence in existence: Sake, Murder and Women. When I was not hunting down Lords and renegade samurai, I fled to the taverns where I fed my lust.
Having to go through Shudo with my master was out of respect, in many ways it secured the bond between master and student. Watching him die at Horai was a painful experience. It was as if a part of me died that day. Even with that shared experience with my master, I preferred women. There is something otherworldly about women. Like a Megami, they come from the heavens to bring immeasurable pleasures. They serve a man as the most faithful samurai serve their master and in the end, ask nothing but to be taken care of. Their gentle nature is commendable. Their strength is infinite. There is no creature as resilient as a woman.
Later part of that year-1662, I met a girl in Edo. She was unfortunate, only 14 and sold to a brothel by her parents. She was petite, much smaller than most her age with long ebony hair and blue eyes. She was called a rare jewel because of her exotic eyes. People in Japan do not have blue eyes, yet some how she did. They were so blue; it was like looking into the night sky. I was her first customer. We did nothing but talk and by the time it was over, I had bought myself a wife. I took the money I had saved: one-thousand gold ryo and paid her debt.
I took the money-blood money, which killed hundreds and saved a single girl. I am not a saint; this was for me and no one else. I could save the money again and I will take her with me.�

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'This is the book of Horai.' Keiki thought and placed it upon the desk in his own room. 'One man's life journey from his world to this world.' He remembered a brief history. The other world had no name until about this mans' arrival. This book gave the other world-Japan the name of Horai. Before, people referred to Japan as the actual Shoku itself. However, this was hundreds of years before his birth.
As legend goes, the Ruler of Kou during this time named the land of Japan, Horai, after the village described in this book. To set fear in the mass population, the rumor spread like fire. Most people still believed in this misconception.That Japan-or Horai is like the land described in this book. A world that could only be described as hell. Those people who come from there spread a plague among all and cast the spell of Shoku upon the ocean. Since no one but Sennin, Kirin, and Emperors could read the language of the Kaikyaku; it came to an agreement that the lies were the truth. The man's story became mere myth and used to set fear into the minds of people.
As for Shoryu, he did not discuss his past with those he did not trust. He kept his other world experience locked away until two hundred years ago, more than one hundred years after the writing of this book.

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Liner Note: I made the story about the Samurai from Horai up. This has nothing to do with the 12 Kingdom series. It was just my idea to make the story a little more interesting. As time goes on, I will tell the rest of the story. It is like an explanation for why most Sennin, Emperors, the People and the Gods hate the Kaikyaku and Japan.
More Words to know:

Shudo / Bido: Sexual Relations between the Master Samurai and a chosen Pupil/Youth. Bido literally means 'The Beautiful Way'

Megami: A goddess.

Kaikyaku: The People who come from Horai
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- 4
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Reflections