In a world where folklore creatures are real and hunted by the samurai, Húli Honghú, a young Kitsune girl, becomes a maid at the castle of the Hyoketsu clan. A relatively small samurai clan, yet they hold important territories by the sea. She encoun...
The curtains were drawn, there was a single lit candle in the middle of the room, surrounded by four women. One of them sprinkled some powder into its flame, which made it bigger, brighter, and change colors. All four ladies had different reactions, one jumped into a defensive position, another's eyes widened, the third giggled and clapped in awe, the fourth, who sprinkled the powder, was unfazed. The flame of the candle cycled between different colors; blue, green, orange, brown, purple and so on. "Nice trick, Hon-chan!" Shinobu said, giggling childishly and clapping. The other two ladies nodded and commended her as well; "Hon-chan knows a lot of tricks." <I wish they wouldn't keep calling me that...> Honghú thought, but since her name was difficult to pronounce for most people, she had to put up with it.
Chapter 2: Nightmares and a visit.
Some of the castle guards were tired, and could barely stand. <What's going on with these guys?> Asahi thought, as he walked around checking if everyone did their part correctly. Which some obviously did not. "How are you doing?" He asked a guard, who was sitting down, but the man stood up after being questioned. "I am sorry, sir, I am just a bit tired." Answered the guard. This has been going on for a few days, by that point. "Why are you bunch all tired?" "We have not been able to sleep, sir." "Huh? Not been able to sleep? Why so?" "We do not know, sir, I apologize. None of the guards in our room were able to fall asleep, even if some did, they had horrible nightmares." "Sounds strange.. I will have someone look into the cause of this." "T..thank you, sir!" Asahi then left, knowing just the right person for this task. ○●○●○ It's been a few days since Honghú solved the mystery of Shinobu's 'illness', who is recovering well. Now that she had been promoted to be the woman's maid of honor, the third to be exact, to her own surprise had less things to do. Compared to regular maids who cleaned large areas, carried clothes and other supplies between locations, drew water from wells, etc. Ladies-in-waiting only took care of their lords and ladies, since Shinobu wasn't a needy woman, there weren't many tasks. Even if there were, the other two usually took care of it, leaving Honghú feeling pretty useless. At least it came with better clothing; a light blue kimono, with red hems, and pink hakama pants, better than a plain yukata. "Do you need some help with that?" She carried some clothes, when another lady offered her help, needlessly as those were not heavy at all. "No, thank you Chinatsu-san, these are just clothes." The girl replied. "Alright then." Chinatsu was a diligent lady as Honghú observed. The lady was older, eighteen years old to be precise, taller by roughly a head. Her hair was blonde with subtle streaks and tips of lush light green, she wore a pink headband, which she also used to tie her ponytail, and her eyes were emerald green. "You know, you did a great job solving what made Shinobu-sama sick, Hon-chan. My lady has been much more lively these last few days." "It's nothing.." The girl replied dismissively. "You are not much of a talker are you?" A needless question as the answer was rather obvious. The clothes were put away in Shinobu's wardrobe, and Chinatsu went to do some cleaning. Honghú was alone with her thoughts again, until she bumped into someone from behind. "I'm sorry." This time she did not speak impulsively. Though, after looking at the person she bumped into, she realized that would have probably been fine as well. "It's okay." Asahi replied. "Oh, you are Shinobu's new lady-in-waiting, the witch, right?" <Witch!?!> If he was not of a higher class than her, the girl would probably have hit him. "My name is Húli Honghú, sir, and I am not a witch." She replied, doing her best to keep her cool. "Honwoo? Hongoo? ...your name is weird..." <This guy... if I could just smack him!> She let out a defeated sigh. "Just call me Hon-chan, sir. That's what most call me anyway.." "Sorry... I would call you by your name, if I could pronounce it... So you are not a witch? Then you just know magic? Isn't that how you define a witch?" <I can tell he is not the sharpest blade on the rack.> "Witches have abilities that can mingle with the laws of nature, sir." "Oh, I see... well witches are also ugly, are they not? Shouldn't have assumed you are one.." <What is he getting at? I can't follow his logic...> "You mentioned, you were looking for me sir, why is that?" Asahi scratched the back of his head. "Oh right, I almost forgot... I want to ask a favor!" <Huh? A favor?...I wonder what it is... Not like I could refuse, anyway...> "What would it be, sir?" Honghú asked, curiously. "Some of the guards haven't been able to sleep, and I wish to know what causes this." The girl's curiosity died, as this seemed like a mundane and easy problem. "Not to be out of line sir, but have you considered that they might have just partied all night?" "I thought the same at first, but this has been going on for a few days, and they said they just simply can't sleep or have horrible nightmares if they manage to fall asleep." Honghú tilted her head, in thought. <Could it be another cursed item? A spell maybe? A potion? I hope it's not the latter... that would be tricky to solve...> "This is a bit of a problem, you know my sister is going to visit for a few days. I would not have asked if it would not be urgent..." Asahi added, while the girl, lost in thought, just looked at him. The young man was easy to mess with, as he had already almost started to plead. "Uh... how about I give you something for compensation?" <Huh? What's with this guy...> "No need sir! I will look into it." She half-assedly bowed. "Thank you... do your best!" Asahi bowed slightly, and left. <He really is a weird guy...> "What were you two talking about?" A female voice asked, scaring Honghú. "Ah! Shinobu-sama... nothing... the lord just asked me a favor..." "A favor you say?" The cherry red-haired woman chuckled. "What would Asahi ask you? He is a bit simple..." <I noticed... but should she really talk about her brother-in-law like that?... Anyway...> "He asked me to look into something..." "I see, and what is it?" Shinobu asked curiously, she had a curious spirit, though mostly for gossip and silly stuff. "It's nothing for my lady to be concerned about." The girl replied and bowed lightly. "Hmph... go on then... just don't get into trouble!" <That was easier than I expected... but she shouldn't be pouting like a child..> "Thank you, my lady." Honghú bowed again, and left." ○●○●○ Asahi was on his way to meet his brother, Tatsuo, who closed the door to his workroom. That could mean one of two things, he was busy, or what those who had the bravery of opening the door saw. The man lay on the ground, amidst various scrolls and papers. Anyone else would lose their faith in the future of the clan if they saw this... <He sure likes to sleep...> Asahi thought, as he knelt down and gently nudged his elder brother. Who groaned as he woke up. "What is it?" His voice sounded very annoyed. "Sorry brother, but we have to get ready... Big sister is coming today." The younger brother said, as he picked up the papers from the ground. "Oh... you are right... She is coming today..." Tatsuo stood up, his hair disheveled and clothes messy. "Did you sleep here?" The young man asked. "Uh... maybe... We should get ready..." "Everything else is ready... I even asked your wife's new lady-in-waiting to figure out why some of the guards are so tired." "I see, good job. I will get ready, myself." Tatsuo then left his workroom, however, after a few steps, he ran into his wife. "I have not seen you for two days, my dear husband..." Shinobu noticed that he looked like a mess, and likely thought of the wrong explanation. "I was um..." He tried to explain himself, but he couldn't just say he slept on his workroom's floor, could he? "Busy..." At least he tried. "I can see that.." "I am sorry for cutting our conversation short, but I have to tidy myself." He was in a hurry after all. "I could help you with that, I am your wife after all. I should help you with anything I can." Shinobu said enthusiastically and hoped he would agree, but was also prepared to be pushed away. "Alright, I guess I could use some help." Tatsuo agreed, albeit a bit reluctantly. ○●○●○ Honghú was on her way to deal with her task, but she needed a bit of help so she went looking for the head maid, Mariko. She encountered Kanata, the ever-cheerful girl, who greeted her warmly. "Hi Honhoo! I haven't seen you in a few days, how are you doing?" "I'm doing fine. " She replied dismissively. "Have you seen Mariko-sama? I need to speak with her." A scary thing for any maid to do. "She has left the castle to go shopping, I think." The cheery maid replied. A rather foolish assumption that the head maid would go 'shopping'. The important part was that she was not most likely not present. "I see.." <Well that's not exactly great... at least I don't have to talk to her...> The orange-haired girl thought. "Why did you need to speak with her, anyway?" "I wanted to ask for her help..." "Oh! I can help if you would like," Kanata offered, in her melodic voice. She likely just wanted to slack off from work, in a more 'convenient' way, one that wouldn't get her punished that badly. "Well, I guess it would be alright." The maid followed Honghú. "What exactly are we going to do, though?" She asked. "Search for stuff in the guards' barracks." "Oh, that sounds exciting!" "What sounds exciting?" A voice asked from the side, making Kanata jump back. The orange-haired girl knew who the voice belonged to. "I have been given a task, and Kanata-san offered her help, Chinatsu-san." The lady nodded, in understanding. "What task?" She asked back, rubbing her chin as if she was interrogating them. Honghú, not having much of a choice, replied to her senior; "I was tasked by Asahi-sama to go look into why some guards have sleeping problems. He suspects the cause is magical." "I see, I see.." The headband-wearing lady nodded a few times, after being lost in thought for a moment she added; "Can I come along too?" <This is starting to become a daycare..> "If you wish to..." Honghú, reluctantly replied. ○●○●○ In the city streets, the people witnessed a peculiar sight; a handful of samurai warriors riding large, pale as snow canine creatures. Heading towards the castle that overlooked the city. The warriors looked to the looming structure, its ocean blue walls and foam white roofs. They approached it slowly, trailing behind their leader. The castle doors soon opened, and the staff looked on. As the large beasts slowly came through the door, many almost fainted, once they saw the warriors riding them others were even more startled. Among the latter, Honghú wondered; "What are those things?" "The Ookamiraidā." Chinatsu, who was less shocked, answered. The group were greeted by a small committee, composed of; Tatsuo, Asahi, Shinobu, Mariko and a few others. The warrior riding the first wolflike creature dismounted. It was a lady; with beautiful pale skin, striking light blue hair with silver streaks and ends. Her eyes a striking azure, her gaze freezing. Her attire was baggy, and did not show much. It consisted of; a dark blue kimono with ice shard patterns, gray hakama pants and an asymmetrical azure skirt-like cloth. With her swords tucked into her belt. Those who stood close, could swear to feel the air cool down from her. The rest of the warriors dismounted, while she began walking towards the welcomers. To the surprise of the onlookers, the wolf creatures did not attack anyone, even unsupervised. "Good to see you, sister." Tatsuo greeted the lady and bowed. So did the rest of the people who stood by him. "It is good to see you as well." She answered, and bowed. Her voice was soft, and cold. "Let us get inside. We have prepared for your arrival." The lady nodded, and followed her brother and company inside, and her group followed her. Honghú felt a cold shiver go down her spine, even from afar. "W...who is that?" "That is Mizumi-sama." Chinatsu answered. <The Hyoketsu clan is full of peculiar figures...> The girl thought. Then suddenly her eyes landed upon another individual from Mizumi's group. A lady, who wore a Neko mask, unlike the rest of them. "What about her?" She pointed toward the person. "I do not know her.. all I know about her is that she is Mizumi-sama's most trusted warrior." Said the headband-wearing lady. "I see... Well, we should get going, I want to get this task over with!" The orange-haired girl spoke. Thus, they entered the barracks, which at that time was empty. This potentially suspicious act has not gone amiss by the, unknowing, eyes of Mizumi and her masked companion. Who noted this fact to themselves, but went with the crowd for the moment. The groups sat in a large, well-decorated room, sharing drinks. "It is always good to have you here, sister!" Asahi said, enthusiastically. "Yes, it is good to be here." She answered softly, not as giddy as the rest, but still in a good mood. Shinobu looked at her sister-in-law, and thought the same thing she thought when she first saw her. <She is like a frozen statue. That woman beside her, is sending chills down my spine. Why is she wearing that mask, I wonder...> "How is managing your fief going?" Tatsuo asked, and took a sip of tea. "Well." <Talkative as always, I see.> He thought, at the short reply of his younger sister. "Has anything exciting happened since the last time we saw each other?" Asahi asked. "Nothing particular, just a few foolish bandits. What about here?" Finally she spoke more than just a few words. Asahi had to look to his elder brother, to help out. They could not tell their sister about the recent events; a curse, a girl who knew magic, the sleepless guards. If they did Mizumi would surely be displeased, and likely tell their parents, which would not be optimal. "Nothing, out of the ordinary." Despite the relatively quick reply, Mizumi could see through the attempt at lying. "Are you two hiding something?" She inquired, in a serious tone. "Of course not! Why would we?" Asahi tried to save the situation, though his voice got a bit nervous and childish. "We have nothing to hide from you, my dear sister." Tatsuo replied, his tone sounded confident, but deep down he was just as nervous as his brother. "I see." She believed them, after all what would they be hiding? At worst it was something embarrassing. "How is your marriage?" "It is going well." Tatsuo replied. Shinobu looked at him from the side, disagreeing. <Well, huh?> "Yes, it is." She decided to humor the situation. "Do you plan on marrying Mizumi-san?" This question made everyone freeze and tense up. They prepared themselves for the woman's wrath. Shinobu looked around, surprised to see everyone so on guard. Mizumi simply chuckled, and glared at her sister-in-law. "No." A simple reply, one would say, but her voice and gaze sent chills down everyone's spines. "I am a warrior, after all." ○●○●○ While the company was chatting, Honghú and the other two ladies were looking through the guards' belongings. <I can feel a faint presence of magic, this is not the actual thing...> She thought, as she held a necklace. She then noticed a book, suspicious, she thought. After opening it, however, she found that the contents of the book were another kind of suspicious. It contained some rather, let's just say explicit imagery. "I hope I will get a good reward for doing this.." She muttered to herself, disturbed. A few moments later, a scream echoed in the room, it belonged to none other than Kanata. Chinatsu, upon hearing the scream, got into a defensive stance. <Humans are weird.> The orange-haired girl thought, and rolled her eyes. "What did you find?" The maid held up a book, like it was dirty diapers. "This!" Honghú took a closer look, and her face flashed with disgust yet again, as the book's contents were similar to the one she found. "I think I lost my innocence!" The orange-haired girl facepalmed, internally. "That's not how it works! I think.." "Then how does it work?" Kanata asked back, whining. "How would I know?" They both turned to Chinatsu, who was also sickened by the illustrations. "Why are you two looking at me?" She said, raising her hands. Honghú sighed, and shook her head. "Let's get back to the task!" "We looked over the whole room, yet we have not found anything.. other than this creepy book!" Kanata whined, like a child. "Hm... if it is not in this room, it might be in the basement." The orange-haired girl said. "Well it makes sense." Chinatsu agreed. "The basement? You want to go to the basement? That's literally the scariest part of any building!" The maid was not happy. "You wanted to come along.." "Let's just do it then... I hope we won't see ghosts!" "Well, that might be what is causing this..." Honghú replied in a snarky voice. "Um... really?" "Stop being so scaredy! We can handle a ghost!" The headband wearing lady said. "To the basement then!" ○●○●○ After a few minutes, the drinking and chattering came to a stop, mostly because it became rather awkward. "The maids will prepare your usual rooms to stay in." Tatsuo told Mizumi and her group. The lady gave a simple nod as acknowledgement, and began to walk away. The masked woman, trailed behind her as a loyal follower should. Once no one was around, the icy woman spoke up. "Maoko-san, I would like you to look into something for me." The masked lady replied in a quiet voice; "The maids that went into the barracks, my lady?" "Exactly." She poked the lady's mask. "You are smart." The mask conveniently hid the reaction to that. She nodded, and began to walk and fulfill her task. The woman was rather peculiar; her hair was gray, with cyan streaks and tips, her eyes a piercing cyan. Her face was hidden behind a neko mask (cat mask) that was painted up with cerulean lines. She wore "dazaifu-like" dark gray pants, with two belts, one, gray, its tails facing the front, the other, azure, its longer tails hanging behind her back. She wore a cyan kimono, additionally a sleeve-less, short, hooded light gray fur coat. ○●○●○ Honghú, and the other two ladies walked down to the barracks' basement. It was used for storing weapons, and other equipment. So it was kept well, for that reason. "Creepy.." Kanata whispered to herself, all three of them had to hold a candle, to see. "Do you feel anything, Honghú?" The blonde woman asked, looking around. "Not really, Chinatsu-san. I feel the same amount if not a bit less of the spell's energy..." "Then let's get out of here!" The scaredy maid whined, shaking like a leaf. "No, the thing might just be hidden! Something could be masking its presence." "How do you sense these things, by the way?" Chinatsu asked, curious. "I'll explain later..." Suddenly she sensed something, and cold mist began to fill the space.
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"W...what is this? Is this a ghost? A yokai?" Kanata started to panic. "I don't know... I have not seen anything like this before." Honghú replied, as chill ran down her spine. All three ladies began to look around the room, and spotted a vague silhouette standing in the entrance, covered by the mist.
To be continued.
Thank you for reading chapter! ^^ I hope you enjoyed it and continue to follow the rest of the story!
