X/1999 Fan Fiction ❯ X Tales ❯ The Fall of the Ise Shrine part 2 ( Chapter 6 )

A/N: For those of you who've read it, I told you that there will be a 50/50 chance that this story would change if I add another story. For those of you who haven't, well, I did give a warning about it in the beginning. Anyway, this chapter had been add a new story plot in it, so I guess you have to read or reread it again.

Disclaimer: I do not own X characters or Edgar Allan Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher.

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Tokiko left her place as she went to the farthest coffin, motioning the men to follow her. In the picture was a woman with white long hair. Though her hair was white, her face held the image of a child. She had a red symbol on her forehead as her red eyes peered through. Tokiko explained.

"Meet our first Head, Hinoto. Though she may look young, she was much older than you can think. She was born a blind, deaf, and mute. The only was she could communicate was her mind. Other than that, she was a fine priestess who helped everyone out for she could see the future. Although she was our first Head, she was the first one to show the curse before us. She believed that there was an evil spirit of herself living inside of her, trying to cause trouble. Unable to recover herself, she committed suicide."

The priestess then moved to the next coffin where it showed a picture of a man in his early thirties. He had black hair with mix-matched eyes and he gave out a smile. "Our next Head was Sakurazuka Seishirou. He was the gentle priest for he cared the animals and children. But however, he too was infected by the curse. Because of this, he had committed many homicides that no one can. He believed that the sakura trees were needed to be fed on innocent blood. With so many homicides he committed, that he actually got himself killed by a priest."

They soon moved to the next coffin which had a priest of a man in late twenties. He had black hair with emerald eyes as Tokiko told his story. "This third Head goes by the name, Sumeragi Subaru. During his youth, he was a proud, innocent man that he wanted to follow Seishirou's footstep. However, when he was seventeen, he discovered that his sister was killed. All angered and depressed, he isolated himself from everyone and went on the verge of vengeance. It took him nine years to find him until he killed the murderer of his sister. You think that justice was served, but not to Subaru. Because after he killed the murderer, he became more depress than ever for the murderer was his idol and lover. Unable to bear the pain, he committed suicide."

Moving onward, the men saw a picture of another man. He had short black hair with brown eyes. "Our Head was Monou Fuuma who had a caring heart and a brotherly love. However, he had suffered the curse more horrifying than the rest of the Heads. Like our first two Heads, he had an identity crisis, committed homicides along with mass destruction on buildings, even trying to molest one of our priests. Because of the curse which fell upon us, no one was able to stop him until he came to his sense. Once it was over, we thought that he had broken the curse. However, we were wrong because like the previous Head I told you, Fuuma became depress for he had killed his best friend. So as the result, he committed suicide by chopping off his head."

As they moved on, they came to a coffin where there was a picture of a teenage boy. He had ebony hair with grayish-blue eyes. "Shirou Kamui was our young priest. When he was a child, he was full of energy and friendly. But during one of his trip, it changed him. Instead of a loving priest we knew, he became an angst and moody priest who hated the world. He tried to isolate himself from everyone and blamed himself that it was his fault that people died. In the end, he had himself murdered by our Head, Monou Fuuma. If he hadn't been killed, he would have become our Head of the shrine."

Going to the next coffin, they saw a young woman in the picture. She had long curly blonde hair with brown eyes full of life. Tokiko explained to the men, "This priestess was the sister of Fuuma, Kotori. Such an innocent child, but was so delicate for she had a fragile heart. However, that wouldn't stop her from being so cheerful. She also helped our people by cheering them up and be able to see the future. Yet, it's not her heart that was so fragile. Ever since she saw the decease, she became sorrow before becoming necrophilia. She wouldn't let go of the dead and her mind became delusion that she got herself into her fantasy. We would have sent her to a health clinic, but her brother killed her."

Soon, they came to the last closed coffin. Hanging above was a picture of a short haired ebony girl with cheerful blue eyes. "Here is our last Head, Nekoi Yuzurahi. Like Kotori, she was innocent and full of spirits. However, she suffered from delusion. She claimed that she had a spirit dog named Inuki and said only people with power could see it. However, since no one could see her spirit, she became lonely and depress. Because of this isolation, she had accidentally got herself killed by a murderer."

When they exited the room, the Head asked them if they understood. However, the men were too ghastly shock from what they'd heard. Their skins were as white as ghost while they tried to find the strength to speak. Never had they suspected that most priests or priestesses would end up killing themselves. They would suspect that the Head and their followers would die of illness or old age. Does that mean my Nee-chan would kill herself? Sorata thought. Thinking that their silent was a yes, Tokiko lead them to their room for them to rest.

The next day, Sorata entered the main hall all tired. Ever since he listened to the tragic tales, he hadn't had a wink of sleep through the night. He had tossed and turned in his bed, can't stop thinking of what would happen to Arashi. He thought she would suicide herself, be killed by another priest, or driven herself to depression and delusion. If only he knew how he could break the curse so he could spend his happiness with her. As Karen gave the young man a rice bowl, he looked around and asked.

"Excuse me, Miss, but do you know where Aoki-san is? I haven't seen him this morning when I came back to my room from the bathroom."

The priestess shrugged her shoulder as the Head entered. "I don't know where your friend went. I spent my day in the kitchen, cooking breakfast. Tokiko, Arisugawa-san wants to know where Aoki-san went."

"I took him to the garden. He said that he needed some fresh air since he couldn't go to sleep."

"Oh," Sorata spoke as he gently playing with his food. Tokiko took her seat and was about to eat her breakfast. Before she could touch her food, her eyes widened with fear, she dropped her rice bowl and got up from her seat. The clatter of the bowl made Karen and Sorata jumped when they saw the Magami headed out the room. Curious of what had happened, the red headed and the priest followed her. They found the Head went to the garden when they heard a crying for help.

Recognized the voice, Sorata and Karen dashed through. When they came dashed through. When they came to the garden, they saw Aoki lying at the base of the trunk, breathing heavily. His clothes were and his face. Blood were dripping down as the reporter tried to get up, dazed of what happened to him. Worried about his condition, the young man helped him stood up and asked what had happened.

"I was... I was in the garden, trying to get some fresh air... As I walked through, I came across Arashi. Thought that... Thought that she came to get some fresh air, I greeted her... We had a conversation, not knowing where we were going... It wasn't long till... Till I have found myself back in the resting burial... Never wanted to be in that room again, I tried to leave... But Arashi wouldn't let me... She thought that I stood in her way... Away from her wish... Unsure what she was saying, I asked her until she pulled... A sword out of her hand and attacked me... I tried to talk her out, but she wouldn't... Listen. I didn't want to use my power against her, so I tried to prevent her from killing me... Calling for help... And that what happened."

"Karen, bring some clean cloth, we must bring Aoki-san to his room. Once you bring it, I want you to go find Arashi and lock her in her room."

"No, let me find Nee-chan!" Sorata protested as he dragged his wounded friend to the shrine. The Head argued that Arashi's dangerous, but the priest still insisted. As they entered the bedroom, the young man out Aoki down and dashed out to find Arashi before Tokiko could stop him. He can to the garden, the main hall, and the praying room. He even went to the resting burial, but there was no sign of Arashi. Thinking that she went to the city, Sorata was about to leave when he saw a door was slightly ajar.

Curious if she's there, the young man entered. As he looked around his surrounding, he knew he was in a bedroom. But whose bedroom is it? When he looked around more, he saw Arashi sitting on the bed, feeling pity.

"Nee-chan!" The priest cried as he came to her. "There you are. I've looking all over for you. You had me worried there."

"You should leave."

"What? Why, Nee-chan? Why would you say that?"

"Because I'm not too well, Tokiko is right about me. I'm too dangerous and ill to live in the city. I didn't mean to hurt your friend, but I did. So, please, leave me here and let me rot to death."

"No!" Sorata shouted as he grabbed the surprising Arashi by the shoulder.

"No, Nee-chan, I won't leave you. I swore that I would protect you with my life, no matter what. Sick or not, I won't let you die. We'll find a way to break the curse; I know that you can do it. You can't let this curse get to you. I'll be with you that my love is strong for you."

"Sorata..." Arashi barely spoke as Sorata brushed his lips against her. The kiss was tender, but full of passion. Never wanted to prove his love, the young man brought her close to him as he laid her on the bed.

In the main hall, Aoki was all bandaged up with a cup of tea in his head. It happened so fast for him, he couldn't remember what he did to offend her. All he remembered was Arashi's unemotional face as she swung her sword around. The reporter doesn't understand why Sorata wanted to rescue her, but what he did know was they got to get out of there. With or without Arashi, he didn't want to suffer the curse of the Ise shrine. As Aoki looked up, he saw his friend entered with a grinning face from ear to ear.

"I see you had found her."

"Yup," the young priest smiled as he sat down beside Aoki. The reporter let out a little frown before asking.

"Is she... Okay?"

"She's better than before."

"I see."

"Who would have thought she was good in bed?"

"Excuse me?"

"Er... Nothing," Sorata replied sheepish as he waved his hands in defense. No knowing what Sorata spoke, Aoki let out a deep sigh as he placed his cup on the table. He didn't want them to be in danger from the Ise Shrine any longer. Before the reporter could open his mouth, the Head entered with Karen, both their heads were hanging low.

"Aoki-san, Arisugawa-san, it was a pleasure to have you in our shrine. However, I'm afraid your reason for staying is no longer exists."

"What do you mean, Magami-san?" The young priest questioned.

Karen answered. "Our Head just found Arashi died in her sleep. We tried making her up, but she wouldn't."

"What?! No! I refuse to believe it! I've just left her five minutes ago!"

"Five minutes is a huge gap for Death, Arisugawa-san. You can't predict when Death will come."

"No, I won't believe it!" Sorata shouted as he ran out the main hall. He ran down the corridor and entered his lover's room. There lying on the bed was Arashi. The blanket was over her stiffen body with her eyes closed, making it looked like she having a peaceful sleep. The priest went to her and gave her a kiss, hoping it might wake her. It didn't work. He tried to listening to her heart and felt her pulse to see if she was alive. Not one beat was made.

Understanding that what Tokiko said was true, the young man fell to the floor and cried as the Head and the others arrived. Feeling his friend's pain, Aoki went to him and tried to help him. Tokiko took the blanker and covered the sleeping body before asking them they should leave. Sorata nodded, but told her that he wanted to attend the memorial. Wanted them to leave the shrine badly, Tokiko agreed to the priest and ordered Karen to prepare the memorial.

It passes two hours when they gave Arashi a proper burial. There she laid; wearing her priestess clothes with charms surrounded her coffin. Incenses were lit as the priestesses prayed for her soul. Two men stood before Arashi's coffin, both mourning and praying for her. However, the young priest was having trouble to stop his weeping as tears kept rolling down. Unable to look at his lover liked this, the young man turned around as the reporter tried to comfort him. When their backs were turned, Tokiko saw Arashi shiftily moved her body and stopped. Afraid that the men might discover, the Head quickly arranged where her position was before. She then turned around and spoke.

"Come now, we must let her spirit and soul rest to journey to Heaven. I believe it will be easier for you if we shut the lid down, Arisugawa-san. We do not want the spirits take regret for our pity."

Unable to control his emotion, the young priest nodded as the Head and the priestess closed the lid. Once the coffin was shut, they gave one last pray before leaving. As everyone left the resting burial, Tokiko turned around and stared at Arashi's coffin with uneasy eyes. She wasn't sure how Arashi did it, but she prayed that she won't wake up before the men left. Who knew when disaster will arrive?

It was nighttime since Arashi's `death' and the Head was standing on the perch, waiting for it to end. So far, the men had not left the shrine for Sorata was too busy mourning. The Head couldn't take it any longer. She had to get rid of them immediately for their safety. She couldn't hold the stunt for God knew how long. Getting stress, Tokiko turned her attention when Karen approached her.

"Well?"

"They're leaving, Tokiko."

"When?"

"Tonight."

"Good, the sooner they leave, the sooner everyone is safe."

"Of course, Tokiko."

"Karen, I want you to go check on Arashi while I'll get our guests to leave. If you saw Arashi trying to leave the resting burial, I want you to use your power against her. I don't care if we severe her or not, I will not risk our lives to be protected as long as the curse is over. Understand?"

"Yes, Tokiko."

"Good, now hurry." Tokiko ordered as she dismissed Karen. When she watched the priestess disappeared into the shadow, the Head was about to go when she almost bumped into the two men. The reporter was upset of what happened, but doing fine. However, the young priest was worse then he was before. His eyes were all red and puffy. The color of his skin had become dull with dried tears upon his cheeks and hands. He dressed sloppy and his hair was messed up as if he was sick. Tokiko let out a surprised gasp.

"Aoki-san, Arisugawa-san, you surprised me. I was on my way to see you, but I guess you beat me to it."

"Oh, it was nothing." The reporter replied as he rubbed the back of his head. "We were just on our way to say goodbye to you and Karen-san and to thank you for your hospitality."

The Head bowed, "The pleasure is ours for your service. And I must apologize for what happened today, it must be hard for Arisugawa-san to go through this."

"That's okay, I'm sure Sorata will be alright."

"I understand." Tokiko replied as she and her guests walked. Once they had reached the entrance, the Head bowed again.

"Arisugawa-san, I know this is difficult for you, but you must know that not all life could live forever. Their bodies may die and wither, but as long as we remember them, their spirits will always live in our hearts. And I must apologize for my unruly behavior, but I only did it to-"

"Did you smell something?" Aoki interrupted as he sniffed the smell. Wondering what the reporter meant, the priest and the Head looked around. When they looked, they saw smoke coming from the shrine. Horrified of what room the smoke came from, the young man rushed back to the shrine with the Head and reporter behind him. Sorata ran as fast as he can until he reached the resting burial. There stood before him was the room burning up everything in it. Afraid that Arashi's body would burn, the priest tried to enter until he tripped and fell. Getting up, he looked down and gasped.

There lying before him was Karen. Her clothes were covered in blood and ashes with tattered sleeves and pants. She had cuts on her face and her arms. As the priest tried to raise the priestess in a sitting position, she had several gashes and stabs across her chest. Aoki and Tokiko entered and saw what happened.

"Karen, what happened?" Tokiko questioned concerned.

The priestess was breathing rapidly as she tried to open her eyes to look at her Head. Karen barely spoke, "I'm sorry... I tried... My best... I tried... To stop her..."

"Stop who, Karen-san?" Aoki asked.

"... Arashi..." Karen answered as she closed her eyes and stopped breathing. Astounded by her answer, the two men looked at Tokiko with bewildered looks. The Head took a step back, afraid.

"Arashi? How? She's dead." Aoki asked confused.

"You lied. You lied that Arashi's dead and you tried to kill her by suffocating." Sorata sneered.

"No, I only did it to protect our shrine, to protect you." Tokiko pleaded.

"LIAR! You only did it because you're jealous of her! You're jealous of her love that you never have, admitted it!"

"That's not true! I did it to end our curse. I only want the curse to end and the only way I could do it was to isolate ourselves and die. But no, she had to meet you. You had to involve yourself into our pains and suffer. I didn't want you to feel our pain and curse, but I didn't want you to be with Arashi. So I had to do what I must, I had to get rid of her by thinking she's dead. When I injected her with a cataleptic toxin, making you think she's dead, I thought it would have work to save all of us. But I didn't suspect her to awake so soon. Please understand that I did it to protect you."

"LIAR!" Sorata shouted as he tried to lunge at her, but Aoki stopped him. Struggled to get out of the reporter's grip, the young man cursed and yelled at the Head when they heard footstep. Turned their attentions to the burning curtains, they saw a figure standing with unemotional face. Her clothes were tattered, covered in ashes and blood. She had bloody hands with scraps and cuts on it as if she had scratched herself to open. In her right hand was a bloody ceremonial dagger. Happy to see her, Sorata tried to go, but Aoki and Tokiko stopped him.

"Arashi, you're alive!" The young man squealed. No answer or replied came out from the bloody priestess. Becoming worried, the priest questioned if she was okay. A minute or two had passed till she spoke.

"He left."

"What?" Sorata questioned.

"He said he'll protect me and he left."

"No, I didn't. I'm-"

"She doesn't recognize you, Sorata. She'd lost her mind." The Head spoke.

"He said he loved me and promised that he would protect me with all of his life. But he left; he left because he knew I'm the priestess of Ise. A priestess of this cursed shrine. I am alone and will always stay alone because of this curse. Because I'm cursed, he left me. And not only did he left me, but he also took my power. I guess I was destined to be alone and experience the good in isolation. But death is a good experience too. So if I'm destined to be alone, then so is everyone!" Arashi yelled as she tried to lunge her dagger at the surprised priest.

But when she tried to stab him, Tokiko jumped in the way and got stabbed in the chest. The Head gasped in pain as blood gushing out of her and the blade was pulled out of her. Tried to stab the priest again, Arashi was stopped by the Head who grabbed her wrists. The Head and the priestess struggled against each other. Soon, they heard the roof was about to fall. Afraid that the roof would collapse, the Head shouted the guests to leave and leave her and Arashi died. Not wanted to leave Arashi, the young man tried to argued, but his friend dragged him out of the room as the roof collapsed.

As they stood outside the shrine, they saw the building being swallowed up by fire with the sound of a cry as black smokes rose up. Unable to watch, the two men turned around and left. Hours passed since they left the shrine of Ise until they were in Ueno Park. It was late that night as they scrolled together in silent. Noticed that he was late for home, Aoki questioned if the young man would be okay. Sorata smiled and nodded. He told the reporter to go home while he needed to be alone.

Understanding him, the reporter nodded and left. Once the priest was alone, he went to one of the tallest tree. Sorata climbed up the tree and sat on one of its branches. He untied his tie and belt; the priest made himself a noose. Once he secured the knot, he wrapped the loop around himself and jumped.

"And that's the end of the priest along with the story. So Kamui, was that scary enough?" Fuuma questioned as he gave his smaller Twin Star a smirk. Kamui looked across his room as he thought. He admitted that the story was more gruesome than the other two, but he didn't felt any bone chilling from it. The Seal thought about lying to the Angel that the story was scary. But as the Dragon of Heaven looked at the Shikon Sword leaning against the bed post, he thought of what his Twin Star told him about the consequences. He could see a gruesome image of himself, pinned against the broken wall with glass shards and woods piercing through his body. He could even see the leer in the Dragon of Earth's eyes when he came up to him.

Shivered the thought if it, Kamui shook the image out of his head and hoped that this image was not the consequences Fuuma was talking about. Noticed that the Dark Kamui was waiting, the young boy answered. "It was kind of gruesome than the ones you've told me. But still, it's not that scary. I mean, how the hell would that scare me if someone goes crazy?"

"You're sure?" The Angel questioned. The Seal nodded his head. The Dark Kamui adjusted his sunglasses and sighed.

"Fine, I'll tell you another story."

"Try something without me or the Seals. I feel like you're picking on us."

"But I have to; it's my job to grant wishes, destroy humanity, and to torment you."

What the Dragon of Earth received was a glare o his smaller Twin Star. Annoyed by that look, the Angel chuckled and agreed to leave the Seals off.

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A/N: Like I said before I re-edit my story if I add another story. That's all I have to say.