Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Tragic Play: X ❯ Act III: The Seamstress ( Chapter 3 )

IMPORTANT NOTE: Let me clear something up about the last chapter. Jari placed a possession spell on The Queen of Diamonds and no her limbs weren't broken. The snapping of the doll's limbs represented her succumbing to his possession. So yes, the doll represented her.

I really appreciate all of you! Enjoy!

XxXx

Tragic Play: X

Act III: The Seamstress

By: Melissa Norvell

XxXx

Long, pale, slender, feminine hands caressed the soul as a pair of red eyes examined it. "Such a lonely and damned spirit…I can tell by your spiritual energy that you long to be connected with the mortal world once gain…For that, we'll need to either locate your body or locate a body that hasn't decayed that much your soul will accept. For this job, I'll need a very special assistant. Kerebros! Watashi!" Shuukaku called out to her two servants.

Two speed blurs appeared slightly in front of her and a dark-skinned woman with brown hair with the exception of one streak and dog ears kneeled. She was dressed in robin's egg blue. A more elaborately dressed spiky-haired man with slanted golden eyes kneeled beside of her. He was tall and thin but debonair and wolfishly charming in appearance.

"Yes, Seamstress," they asked in unison, a sly and slightly deep male voice and happy kind female voice oddly mixed.

"Kerebros, bring Kimidashi at once. Watashi, find me some proper seams for this job, I'll require a black thread, strong to hold together a decent amount of flesh and muscle tissue."

The two servants agreed in unison and darted off in separate directions.

'Her scent is nearby. This will be easy.' Kerebros thought to himself as he sped down the halls and emerged into the dim lighting of the rainy skies above. His spikes and stray locks of hair wisped around his long, chiseled features. His glasses produced a small glare and a few rain drops his the lenses as he ran.

'Some good seams! I know just the place!' Watashi thought happily as she hopped through many large boulders as if they were just mere stepping stones. Her mid-thigh spaghetti strapped pale blue dress fluttered in the wind with her white fur arm and ankle bands. Her brown dog-like tail wagged as she smiled to herself.

X

"Do you know where he is, Lord Arkas?" Kimidashi looked to the Mosquito King in question, his darkened form cut off from being visible to the human eye.

"I have a good idea," The King replied.

"You think that luring him in with this puppet of Jari's will work?"

"It should. After all, he has close ties to him with this particular puppet," Arkas' hand flexed slightly on the arm of his throne and his many rings caught the dim lighting of the room.

"Has Jari succeeded in possessing this human?" Kimidashi asked her master.

"I have yet to hear from him on the matter but I'm still sure this will be most interesting." After all, Lord Arkas would possess her himself if Jari failed his mission. He had high hopes for the Puppet Master. Jari was his pride and the best puppet master in all of X. No one should count him out just yet.

As he had uttered that sentence, a swirl of wind swept through the room. Kimidashi's pig tails flowed in the wind like streamers and even Lord Arkas' robes fluttered a little as the spiky-haired Kerebros appeared in the same kneeling position as he had given to Shuukaku.

"Kerebros…Why are you here?" Arkas asked as a single red eye looked to the man in front of him.

"I am here on behalf of my master, the Seamstress. She wishes to borrow Kimidashi for a while," Kerebros stated.

"What does the Seamstress want?" The girl with different colored eyes asked casually.

"We are preparing a soul to be reunited with the physical body," the man stood and straightened his glasses with two fingers. "She wants to find the body."

"Then I shall leave you to your duties," Arkas dismissed the two. He didn't need them for his plans at the moment so he didn't mind if Shuukaku borrowed her services for a while. "After all, the Seamstress is an important part of X."

"You know what they say, Master Arkas," Kerebros smirked, "a play is nothing without characters and characters need proper costume after all."

"Then let us go," Kimidashi knew she had a job to perform and if she was called to duty, she would go, "to Seamstress Shuukaku." Kerebros touched the ground with his finger tips and a magic circle, commonly used in spells appeared. He called out the words 'magic circle' and told it where to transport the two of them. Winds swirled around their forms as clothes and hair flapped in the wind. White streams of smoke appeared around them as the disappeared and were transported to the Seamstress's place.

"Kimidashi…" Shuukaku's red lips uttered at the appearance of the girl and Kerebros' appearance.

"Yes, Mistress Shuukaku," Kimidashi knew that she had something in plan for her that regarded reuniting a body with a soul but what? What was the purpose of such a union?

"I need you to do something very special for me," the seamstress' voice was calm and always interested in something. It was as if Shuukaku was easily amused in everything around her. It didn't matter if it was inanimate objects or people. The beautiful, pale woman was indeed a character to say the least.

"I'm listening," the girl told her. After all, she was semi-interested in her plan, whatever it may be.

"You are to go on a mission for me."

"Me, master?" Kerebros arched an eyebrow. Usually it was Lord Arkas who sent him on missions and not Shuukaku. What could be so important that he would have to leave his realm?

"Yes, you Kerebros, you will protect Kimidashi as the two of you venture to find the body of this soul," Shuukaku informed. This mission would require two people and depending on the mission itself it may be dangerous. Two people would be the best thing. Besides, if Kimidashi needed a fast mode of transportation then Kerebros would be prime material to get her there.

"The one I found earlier?" The black-haired girl questioned.

"The very same. You can see the life and visions of the soul. Try to get into a vision where this soul looked into some type of reflective surface in the past. This way we can get a visual of its past physical body."

Kimidashi agreed and reached forward into the ball of ghostly material. She closed her eyes and began to concentrate as vibrant imagery reeled through her mind in fast-motion. It was as if the life of the soul had been speeding by her and gave the impression that she herself was going to die. 'Let's see…who are you? What does your physical body look like?' She caught a glimpse of a girl looking in the mirror. She had white, long, straight hair and short bangs. This girl had pale skin and large sad eyes that were so dark green that they almost seemed black. She liked to wear dark, long, lacey dresses that looked to be from a Gothic Era. 'Time freeze.' Kimidashi commanded her search to halt further exploration. She had found the girl in question.

"I think I've got it," Kimidashi said aloud after a few moments of silence.

"Then you and Kerebros are to find this body."

"Yes, I'll be sure to transport the image to Kerebros. Jari is good at these types of things. I'll get him to transfer the image," Kimidashi suggested.

"Then go to him. After that, journey to her place of origin. No doubt her body is there."

"It will be done."

"I wish you luck."

"Right," both of them said in unison.

"Take the soul with you. It will be an instinct for her to lead you to her physical body," Shuukaku told them. The soul knew its own physical body no matter how decayed it was and there would be no question if the soul reacted humbly towards it.

Kerebros sighed. This was a pointless and lesser mission for someone of his stature to go on. He wanted something that would be more exciting than playing hide-and-seek with the dead. "What a drag," he uttered as a feminine hand reached out to pet him.

"Be a good boy. I'll reward you handsomely if you pull this off," the seamstress spoke to him as if he were a dog but used a voice that seemed lustier as if she had some sort of sexual connection with him.

The man smirked, showing off his unusual canines which were fang-like in structure. "Oh? I'm listening." His voice sounded more erotic in tone as if they were offering something dark and taboo amongst each other.

"You won't know until you complete the mission but I guarantee you, it will be worth your while," the beautiful woman teased.

"It had better be," tspiky-haired man was a bit irked that she teased him so. He glared at her for a few moments causing her to smirk at his frustration.

"Let's go to Jari," Kimidashi's monotone voice cut in. She wasn't interested at their flirty advances at each other. She simply wanted to fulfill her mission. "It shouldn't be far from here."

A masculine hand with long elegant fingers and black claws lightly touched its fingertips to the ground. "Magic Circle! Let's go!" The golden magic circle appeared beneath the two of them and glowed in mystical radiance as the familiar winds began to flow around them. The white streams of smoke engulfed them once more as they disappeared as Kimidashi held the soul close to her body to keep it from floating outside of the magical barrier.

XxXx

The Queen of Diamonds stared at the masked man with contempt. "I hate this," she uttered callously.

"You'd be a very odd person if you liked being possessed," Jari replied with a polite smile. "Most humans don't like a loss of control. The Puppet Master is often looked down upon and feared. It is he who pulls the strings of fate which the marionettes walk upon and it is he who the puppets obey." The darkly-clad man stroked the top of the doll's head which sat in his lap and resembled the girl. "His sense of orchestration and control is what keeps the show running."

"It's cruel to force someone to do your bidding like this."

"It is equally cruel to come into X and steal something from the Mosquito King in order to prove his existence. Thieves are just as cruel as any mere puppet master, Queen of Diamonds," Jari shot back. If a thief wanted to dish out insults then they more than well deserved what he had to say in return. Someone like her had no right to call herself some sort of justice doer.

The red-headed girl gasped and turned her head to see Kerebros and Kimidashi step through the wall as if they were ghosts. She had recognized Kimidashi but who was that man she was with? He looked very evil and she was extremely leery of him. Upon coming through the wall two eyes of light and dark widened a bit upon noticing that it was the cunning thief she'd met earlier who was Jari's captive.

"You're the girl I saw earlier," Kimidashi spoke in recognition of the Queen of Diamonds.

"It's you," the thief replied shortly after her sentence.

"You two know each other?" The puppet master said casually looking at the two women. This was indeed amusing. He had wondered where they had met before.

"This must be the puppet that Lord Arkas was talking about," Kimidashi replied.

"Who?" The red-head wondered aloud.

"It is," Jari confirmed.

"So you've succeeded in possessing her."

"Bodily anyway, I can completely over take her at times."

"I don't get this. Why am I being used like this?" The thief questioned in frustration. Even now she had no idea what was going on. If anyone-someone could give her some type of explanation maybe things didn't have to be this way. Maybe she could even help them. Who knew?

"You'll soon find out, just sit back and watch the tragedy unfold," Jari told her with a quaint smile. That smile that she couldn't stand. That smile that sent chills up her spine. Those unmoving smiles that offered her no comfort and made her only frown in turn. She looked down and let her eyes be shaded by her bushy bangs.

"You're a sick man," she said lowly in defeat and hatred.

"Ignore her please," Jari smiled, though inwardly it was an assault to his heart. "She's just protesting. They all go through this stage."

"Exactly how many people have you done this to?" Kimidashi wondered. If Jari knew the human heart by routine and phase then surely he had possessed more than just her.

"Countless, but what are you here for?" He asked.

"Since you have such extreme mental energy, can you transport an image from one mind to another?" Kimidashi knew that Jari could take over minds and to do that required a lot of psychic ability and she wondered if he were capable of such a feat. It seemed like it would be a small task compared to possession.

"Yes, what would you like to transfer?"

"I would like you to transfer this image of a girl. It's the body to this soul and Kerebros needs to know what she looks like. I may be spiritual but I'm not telepathic as you are. Could you help me?"

"Certainly," Jari smiled at the girl. He was always happy to help someone like her who appreciated him, unlike the pouty red-head who crossed her arms and puffed up her cheeks on the ground. He placed two fingers lightly on Kimidashi's head and closed his eyes. "Oh, so that's what she looked like. She was a real beauty." He complimented the dead girl's features as a small feather composed of white, ghost-like energy appeared in the pale of his hand. The energy was warm against his skin. "Here it is," the blue-haired man showed Kerebros.

"Where the hell are you going?" The man seemed defensive as Jari's hand neared his chest with the foreign energy source. Kerebros didn't like some random energy being near his body and he didn't trust someone like Jari as far as he could be thrown. His eyebrows, which split off into two fork-like projections furrowed. The polite puppet master's hand neared him a little as he backed away by taking a step.

"Well, do you want it or not?" Jari asked kindly.

"If it helps, remember what Shuukaku said," Kimidashi tried to give him some sort of incentive.

"Damn…Fine." The spiky-haired man said in a low growl as he stopped backing up and leveled the short-haired man with a glare. "You'd better not be trying anything funny."

"You aren't a puppet of mine, Kerebros," the puppet master assured kindly and soothingly. "I have no reason to try and own you."

"If you dare, I'll kill you," the golden-eyed man shot.

"Just trust me. I've not tried before," he assured as he gently pushed the feather in to the strong man's chest. Kerebros submitted momentarily as he invited the foreign energy into him and welcomed it with open arms. It was warm as it entered him. He closed his eyes as the familiar feeling of warm energy calmed his savage soul and the image of the girl flooded his mind.

'So that's the girl? She's pretty…' He thought to himself.

"I hope that helps you," Jari told him, happy to be of service.

"Yes," the spiky-haired man bowed. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Have a safe trip."

"We will," Kimidashi told the puppet master as sakura petals floated around them and then disappeared as the wind began to pick up and make a circular pattern like the beginning of a tornado as the petals mixed with it and the wind picks up as they are engulfed in it and disappear. They then opened their eyes to see that they were in the middle of some dark and creepy looking woods. All of the trees were black against a dark purple, nearly black sky. The two looked around as the soul floated about them aimlessly.

"So this is it?" Kimidashi's bi-colored gaze took in everything around her. She looked at the soul beside of her. "Were you killed here?" She inquired but the orb gave no reaction.

"How do we know this will work? I thought that after a soul has departed from its body, if it was rested then it would have no need to return to that physical body," Kerebros stated.

"If it was put to rest, besides, there would be no reason for us to use this soul if it was rested. You should know that X doesn't allow rested souls to come to this plain," Kimidashi informed.

"Of course so let's find this body and get out of this world," Kerebros replied.

“In order to travel faster, we'll need a bigger means of transportation," she glanced to the man beside of her. Kimidashi knew that he had a power that could help them move faster. He nodded and jumped into the air, spinning quickly as he became a blur and his form emitted a bright, white light as it expanded and morphed into what appeared to be a demonic dog with long, saber-like fangs and a long, slender snout with a long mane, tail and long fur on the back of the lower parts of its legs. This golden dog had large, elaborate wings. His long-clawed feet landed on the ground nimbly.

"How is this?" The large, deep, booming voice asked as the beast stood before her.

The girl hopped on his back and grabbed a hold of his mane, taking a fist of long, silken hair into her small hands. "Excellent. Now," she held out her hand as the soul floated in front of them, "lead us to the spot you were in when last in your physical form. The spirit paused for a moment before it flew off. Kimidashi ordered Kerebros to follow it. The dog demon agreed as he bounded off like a giant greyhound coursing a lure.

"Why do I have a feeling that this will not be as easy as we think it is?" She asked.

"I have that feeling as well. We'll just have to roll with it," the dog spoke. He didn't have time to worry about what would happen until that problem arose. He simply concentrated on following the soul.

"If she's going to her body, this quickly then her body should be somewhere around here, it should be close," she stated gravely as they followed the spirit until they came to a high cliff. They stopped at the edge of the hill. The dog demon's claws were slightly over the ledge to what looked like a ten story drop off.

"Damn, lost track of her," Kerebros muttered in irritancy.

Kimidashi noticed a small, dark orb floating around below. It was so small that it was barely visible. "There she goes," she pointed in the direction of the soul. Just then, the dog took a large leap off of the cliff and headed downward after it. He ordered the girl on his back to hang on tight and she buried herself in the thick fur to avoid being caught by the wind and thrown off. As the dog's graceful feet made a harsh impact with the ground her form was flung off at the sheer power that he presented. She cursed as her slim form flew through the air. As she closed her eyes to brace for impact she landed in a pair of strong arms.

Opening her eyes, she caught herself staring into golden ones. She blinked upon noticing that she'd been caught by a human Kerebros. "Huh? You turned back."

The man sat her down gently. "If I hadn't I would have trampled you. I told you to hold on."

Kimidashi frowned in response and held a slightly irritated tone to her voice as she spoke to him. "I did," she stated sternly. It was really hard to hang on to something that landed with such vibrations that they could literally knock away the human body as if it were nothing. She could then feel her hand being grabbed firmly as Kerebros took off running, dragging the girl behind her. She had to take large steps to keep up with the long-legged man. Her pig tails trailed behind her like long ribbons.

"I can't keep track of a scent because spirits don't have a scent so all I can rely on is sight," Kerebros told her.

"Of course," Kimidashi agreed as they ran through the woods. "I don't know a thing about this place."

"Neither do I. I only stay in X. This is my first time venturing out of my territory."

"It's because of Lord Arkas?" She asked in question. The girl had had missions outside of X but maybe Kerebros was never allowed to leave. He was, after all not a human.

"No, I like many others have never felt the least bit compelled to leave X. Since I was young and Lord Arkas found me. I'd never wanted to leave X." Nostalgia flooded the man's senses as a soft look washed over his golden eyes.

"You mean, you're not from X?" The black-haired girl was a little since she'd always known him to be there since her own existence. It seemed that many of the people she met were not originally from the land of X.

"Did you think I was?" He looked to her with a small smirk on his face.

"I've known you as long as I've been there," Kimidashi stated as the soul floated around a darkened tree trunk a block's distance in front of them. As they turned the corner the soul disappeared and their footsteps slowed to an eventual stop.

"Something's wrong," the girl uttered as she stared blankly ahead. She could feel the unease creep through her physical being and run through her veins. The black-haired girl stood stock-still and didn't move. She refused to take another step.

"Damn…How do we find the corpse now?" Kerebros could sense her unease and stood beside of her, occasionally glancing around.

"There are other souls here…Souls that have physical bodies," Kimidashi said gravely.

"So? What's the big deal? They are easily killed. We want nothing from them so it wouldn't matter if they spotted us or not. To them, we'll appear nothing more than normal humans so let's act casually."

"This has 'bad idea' written all over it," the long-haired girl said, hoping that he'd get the hint that she didn't want to advance but was pulled along beside of him as the two of them walked slowly through the woods towards the location of the two embodied souls.

'I small a fresh scent, like people have traveled down this path recently…' The humanesque dog thought to himself as he sniffed around the area. 'It smells of human…and blood.'

'The spirit…I can no longer sense it with us. It left us but why? Why did she suddenly disappear?' Kimidashi thought as they walked on. The uneasy feelings never left her and in fact they were only growing as she neared the position of the bodies. Soon she could see two men at a tree. One had a shovel and had one foot propped on it. The other was standing by the tree trunk. "What's that?" Kimidashi asked faintly, only to where Kerebros could hear as she spied the two and heard them talking to each other.

"I smell rotting flesh," Kerebros informed. The foul odor flooded his senses and seemed as if it was literally under his nose. The two men heard his voice and had shocked looks on their faces, as if they had been caught doing something illegal or wrong in some way.

"Who's there?" One of them asked in a voice that held a sense of fear of the unknown to it. The voice trembled as if the one producing it was deathly afraid.

"Someone's strolling through the woods. They've spotted us," the other man said, his voice was a little more confident than his companions.

"Well," the other man grabbed a long barreled shot gun, "this is why we'll kill anyone who finds out about this…and bury them right beside of her." The man gestured to the body that Kimidashi had seen in her mind, only the body had a slashes throat and cry blood stained her black lace dress. The rose in her hair had wilted with decay. It was sitting against the tree as if she were asleep peacefully.

Kerebros and Kimidashi stopped a short distance away from them as one of the men advised them to leave as his companion pointed the gun at them and spoke in a commanding tone.

"You'd better run fast, because you'll have to outrun bullets," he smiled a crazed smile and aimed right for the two of them, threatening their lives if they didn't turn back at that moment.

The world is still there when you open your eyes.

To Be Continued…