She stepped into the shadow of the wall, fumbling in her beltpouch for the key to the gate. Glancing up at the branches poking up over the wall and brushing the overgrown creepers away from the hollow where the old door stood, she shivered despite the warmth of the late summer afternoon. His ki permeated everything here.
The lock was old and had not been opened for almost as long as she had been alive, resisting its key until she began to twist it with both hands. She paused a moment to gather her own ki before trying to enter. If he, a child and untrained, could cause an entire Imperial Palace to fall into this unnatural, prolonged slumber, she would have to guard her own presence. She did not wish such a powerful person to perceive her as an enemy.
She wasn't comfortable with this assignment. She had no experience dealing with sorcerers - only her own magics, which, though powerful in their way, were no match to the sort of power he casually demonstrated in this spell.
"Why me? Why not Tomo or Miboshi?" she had asked, when told of her mission. Amiboshi has looked at her in surprise.
"We know nothing of Nakago, Soi - simply that, when he was brought to the court of the then-Emperor, he cast the entire Court into a sleep which has never broken and which affects anyone who tries to enter the Palace. Only someone with their own magic can enter, which means you, Miboshi or Tomo. We know Nakago was only a young child when this happened, so he must have been frightened or threatened by something. Tomo is completely amoral - he could inadvertently do something that would prejudice Nakago against us. And Miboshi is a black magician only interested in his own gains - if Nakago has any perception, he would definitely see Miboshi as a threat. You're the only one we can send."
Suboshi and Seiryuu No Miko had nodded solemnly in agreement with Amiboshi. Soi had had no choice. If her Miko and her Miko's protector agreed with the leader of the Seiryuu Seishi, then she would obey.
But I do not have to like it. Nobody knows anything of Nakago. I don't know how to approach him. Should I use my Bouchu magic? Or my military training?
Well, I won't find out standing here.
The old wooden gate was as resistant to being opened as its lock, but hard and hearty pushing forced it to open wide enough for her to squeeze through into the old Palace stableyard.
Soi gazed about herself in stunned amazement. It had been over fifteen years, and she had known intellectually that all the trees and buildings would be neglected, but ...!
As the overgrown climbing vines swung the gate behind her shut once more, Soi couldn't help staring at the giant, beautiful fruit trees, heavy with plums and peaches, rarest and most expensive of all the fruits in Koutou. She had only tasted each twice in all her life. And these trees had been bearing their bounty each year, rich with sunlight, only to have it fall unappreciated to the grass below.
But more shocking yet were the people and animals.
Sprawled in the grass lay men, youths, dogs and horses, some in what must be highly uncomfortable poses. They looked as if they had fallen where they stood, as the spell that held the entire Palace inviolate washed over them. Soi blushed, looking at them; an intruder in their gentle solitude, the violator of their innocent slumber, she felt as if she had shattered their dreaming and sullied their purity. Shaking her head at this unexplainable wash of shame, she moved past them, further into the Imperial compound.
Moving, a vivid phantom gliding through haunted corridors, Soi saw the same sight over and over again: slumbering bodies collapsed in place, resembling nothing so much as marionettes with their strings cut in mid-performance. While the feelings of revulsion she felt had faded into a strong sense of displacement and distaste, she still felt the poses of the helpless victims to be vaguely obscene and avoided looking at them whenever possible.
Time seemed without passage or meaning, here in this quiet shrine of an ancient Palace, yet still it passed, and she felt her energy dip, a warning of waning ki and a reminder. Find Nakago quickly or join the sleeping Court in their slumber.
Tracing the ki which held all throughout the Palace, she found herself at the door of the Emperor's bedchamber.
The Emperor's bedchamber?
She stiffened, as realization came, and a hundred bitten-off remarks about the old Emperor came together to make perfect sense.
The old Emperor was fond of children
...
Pretty boys were hired as Imperial
pages ...
Mothers used to slash their children's
faces in the old days, but not anymore ...
Taxes can only be paid in money now
...
Soi gulped, as memories of her own childhood in the brothel rose up within her mind. Gripping the lintel of the door, she steeled herself to look inside.
A man in late middle age lay sprawled across a dais on the far side of the room, with a group of women in a half-clad knot slumped beside him. Her attention, however was caught by the figure which lay in the centre of the room, from which emanated the ki which held all here in stasis, the symbol flickering blue upon his forehead.
Nakago.
Her breath caught as she looked at him, lying upon the floor, and all her fear fled as she saw the expressions shift upon his sleeping face. Poor innocent child, so frightened by this monster that he caught himself in his own spell ... But a child no more. He had slept a decade and a half; time had not stopped, for all his magic, and a young man lay where the child had fallen. A beautiful young man, well-formed - Soi, who had known far too many men to be easily impressed by one, found herself in awe. Elegant features, sweeping blond hair, a lively face full of expression - it was no wonder he had caught the Emperor's eye!
Reaching over to touch him, she hesitated. His last memory of touch was probably of that old pederast. Leaning forward instead, she called. "Nakago."
He frowned and muttered something too soft to hear, turning towards her as if he'd heard. She tried again. "Nakago!"
He curled towards her. Yes, he'd definitely heard her, but it wasn't enough to break him free of the spell he'd woven.
He wove this spell out of ki. So a disruption of ki ought to break it.
But she had little enough ki to spare. She could not afford to dissipate it needlessly.
Stop arguing with yourself! You want to do this; you've wanted to ever since you first saw him. Don't lie to yourself if everyone else, Soi. Kissing is the best way to transfer ki, and you know it.
Looking down at her knees, where they touched the ground, she gathered her ki, and took a deep breath.
"Please, forgive me, Nakago," Soi said softly, and gently kissed him, at the same time transferring her ki through, into Nakago and his spell. The tableau held for three short heartbeats, and then Soi broke the kiss, ripping her ki away from Nakago.
The spell shimmered, and then shattered.
All through the Palace, people began to stir.
Soi bent over Nakago. Please, was her only coherent thought. It wasn't even a prayer. She paid no notice whatsoever to the old Emperor behind her or his coterie of courtesans, as they gradually regained conciousness.
Finally, the object of her attention began to move. He blinked and then moved his head to look at her. His eyes are blue, was Soi's first, dazed thought.
"Thank you, Soi," he said gently. Then he smiled. "What's to forgive?"
"You - you know me?" Soi asked, incredulous.
"Dreams," Nakago shrugged, his manner precluding further questions. "We are needed?"
"Yes, Seiryuu No Miko has appeared. You are the last Seishi to be found."
"Or the first," he replied, his mobile face unreadable. "Let us go, then. But first -"
"Yes?"
Nakago's lips twitched. "I appear to have
grown somewhat since I last visited a tailor. You would not happen to know
where I might find some more appropriate, or better fitting clothes?"