Legacys Tale
Chapter 14Early Morning
Legrene
Point of Evil, Demons Island.
With a stone pestle in one hand Legrene was pounding away at the rice grains in the dry stone bowl. Tonight nine planets align and she has much work to do.
After a few thousand years and a few missed opportunities Tianzai would finally have a host, even though it would be dormant between then and the Gathering. But a little wait is of no big consequence if it was to awake more powerful than ever.
Legrene added more rice grains into the grounder. The rice had to be pounded into a very fine powder. She cant help but wonder why Urien had left out a line on the passage that was part of the incantation.
< The fool. He knows that line enslaves her yet he chose to leave it out? Not a good idea at all. > she thought.
But then she was paid for her hard work even though she was willing to work for the sake of revenge, but a little gold on the side never hurt anybody much.
She then wonders why Urien was so confident as to not use the final line for enslavement. Then something came to mind. Without the sixth line of incantation, the mind of Jiu Dao Nu remains her own. Very dangerous and unpredictable. Legrene smiled knowing what Urien had in mind.
< Poor Gill. Urien had left out on a lot of details and Gill is a fool for not noticing. > She thought the returned to pounding the rice grains into powder.
——
Mid Morning
Urien
He was sitting in his study, looking through the translations of the spell that would be used tonight. He didnt like the sixth line. For it would give his brother far too much power.
Having too much power and his brother, a bad combination indeed. It amuses him to think about how his brother might react should he know that the Jiu Dao Nus will would be her own, though much less could be said about the state of her mind.
In front of him are the nine broken pieces of Tianzai, the strange metals of its body gleaming eerily as it takes in the pale green light.
Urien stopped himself from looking too deep into the swords gleam. The book had warned him against that. There was something about the sword.
For it tends to show the person who look too deeply into it, things that the person might or might not like what it show. It always shows the truth. But these truths are not always what it seems.
< As much a value as a lie. > He thought
Something had came to mind. His brother had told him the day after they removed the pieces from the amber. The sword had shown him something. That Gill would be the one with power. Ultimate power coursing through his very veins and the strongest woman in the world by his side. The world quivering at his very feet.
Urien knew at once the sword had showed his brother something that was in reality a half-truth. But Urien being the person he is would rather not risk his sanity to look into the pieces. But isnt a half-truth still a lie? And a half-lie a part of truth? He waved away such questions for they make no sense at all.
He covered the lid of the box that contain the pieces and felt much better. Too bad he cant say the same for his brother.
————–
Late morning
Ryu
On the road to the fishing village near Demons Island
Since he heard what the elders of Kamui Kuten had said, he had being feeling worse than ever. Something was wrong and he could feel it in his bones. Because of the nature of their journey they had decided to take to horses instead.
Li . He whispered. He had an inkling that whats to come is going to be worse than what they had gone through in the last few years. But yet at the snail pace that they were going, they werent getting anywhere.
< Even the fastest horses wont get me to ChunLi in time. > He thought. He looks up at the sky. It was only late morning yet the sky looks dark and foreboding. It was not a good sign in all. The cawing crows made the day feel more ominous than ever.
Ryu look towards Zannah, he noticed something bothering her. He pulls his horse over to hers.
Nine planets align tonight. Zannah said, it was like she knew what he was thinking,
And were heading towards Point of Evil
.. Not good
. She mumbled and went into a bout of silence.
If Ryu was worried about ChunLi just now. His present mood would have surpassed that. One word fills his heart. Dread. He heard One Eye mentioned about Point of Evil. And even One Eye warned him to avoid going to Point of Evil if he had no business there.
Ryu dug his heels into the horses flanks. The horse raced him forward. In his mind he kept telling ChunLi not worry, but thats provided that she could hear him.
——–
Afternoon
Legrene
Legrene took the bag of rice powder with her to the tower in the courtyard, her heart if she has one that is, was fill with expectation. She had long to start such a spell. Such a powerful spell that require concentration and perfection.
Stepping on the floor of the battlements of the tower, Legrene nearly swoon, the scent of fear, evil, dread and various other ominous feelings as strong here. Much violence had being committed here, that she could taste in the air. Blood had stained the area much. She smiled knowing that it was the blood of young innocent lives.
Well enough slacking. I have a deadline after all. She said to no one in particular.
At the center of the battlements she started work. She started to sprinkle the rice powder on the marble block. Taking her time to be careful as it a Chinese character slowly forms on it while she recites a slow chant in Sanskrit.
Minutes later the first character was done. The white rice powder word Tian(sky) contrasted on the black marble block.
Legrene headed a distance north of Tian and started to form another character while chanting. The second character when fully formed read as Shen(god).
Now from Shen she has to do the other words to complete the circle in a clockwise direction.
Northeast of Tian the character she created was Er(vice).
East of Tian the character she created was Mie (annihilate).
Southeast of Tian the character she created was Kuang(insanity).
South of Tian the character she created was Mo(demon)
Southwest of Tian the character she created was Xie (Evil)
West of Tian the character she created was Ba (Tyranny)
And now the last and final character that was northwest of Tian was Sha (kill)
Eight surrounding one equals nine. Right didnt leave anything out. Legrene said to herself, proud of her creation. Part one is completed, now she has to do part two.
Starting from Tian once again she sprinkled the rice powder so that it encircles the word. And then crossing over Shen, she did the same and for the other words all in the same clockwise direction. When she finished, she examines her handiwork. A circle of powder surrounds each character now. She let out a breath in relief as she wipes her forehead.
Almost done. She spoke to herself.
From the top of the circle that contained Tian she sprinkled a path of straight line from that circle to the circle for Shen. Two more lines both lines angled so they leave Tian and converge at Shen. Three separate lines angled to meet at the same point the southernmost point for the circle that held Shen
For the word Er the lines met at the southwestern tip of the circle.
For Mie it was the western tip.
For Kuang it was the northwest point.
For Mo it was the northern most point.
For Xie it was the northeast.
For Ba it was east.
And finally for Sha it was Southeast
Legrene stops another moment to observe. The two outer lines that points from Tian to all the other characters meets the center line of its neigbours. Thev circle surrounding Tian became an eight points star. Two more lines from each point to meet that of its neightbour to point outwards touching the mark she made for the third large circle that she would create later.
By now her head was spinning slightly from the massive calculations she had to do. Her work was done for now. The last three circles can only be done tonight when the Jiu Dao Nu is in position.
There was still three hours or so left. Enough time for Legrene to take a bath and a nap and still have enough time to not miss the fireworks. With her bag of rice powder she headed downstairs to her room to do just that.
———–
Late Afternoon
ChunLi
She cant speak, that damn choker finally took her voice away, a sign she took that beyond today she was likely to be in very very deep trouble. For the whole day she felt nothing but depression.
Then she remembered something, nine planets align tonight. A very bad sign indeed, to be in the Point of Evil when nine planets align. Something would happen tonight and she knew she was going to be smack in the middle of it all.
ChunLis eyes darted left and right, her body now felt like some invisible ropes had tied her down. As much as she wants to resist she cant, the moment she fought back the pain in her head started.
The two maids had finally finish bathing her body and washing her hair in flower-strewn water. Within the water was essence of sandalwood, rose and jasmine. And now the two maids were anointing her entire body with those oils.
ChunLi felt violated. She felt like some kind of sacrificial lamb. She made a mental note to herself that if she ever survived this in one piece, Her coven will switch to using fruits. Now she knew how the sacrificial chicken felt.
ChunLis mind wandered again. What about these women who were dressing her up in black kimono with tiny sprigs blood red cherry blossoms motifs. Why were they helping Urien so willingly? Why didnt they listen to her pleas to help her escape?
She then caught the look in their eyes that said it all. They belong to Legrene. These two girls were raised by her to do her bidding. She seeks out the young dragon again but she couldnt feel its presence. Something had happened to little creature.
The two maids were now combing her hair, combing out the tangles. ChunLi felt highly irritated but then why would she want to rush to her own doom.
< Because I want to get out of here? > She answered her own question.
There was almost nothing she couldnt get out of. But this was starting to be one she couldnt get out of. Damn the choker. The work of Urien, Gill and Legrene. They knew that alone they were no match for her.
As much as she hopes that Ryu would barge in here to save her from this situation, she knew full well that it was not likely to happen.
Because by the time he gets here it would be too late. Somehow she was starting to regret coming to Edo. She hates the idea of such helplessness.
< Well theres a first time for everything. > Once more she tried to move her body but without much luck. There was not much she could do except try not to scream herself to insanity within her head.
Author’s note – I did make the kimono some time in April 2002, this is actually the second piece. the original piece is a bit on the ragged side because it was made for a smaller CL(12 inch CL can’t excatly wear 10 inch CL’s clothes) Her obi is Ryu’s headband that came with a comic. As for the inner kimono I never got around to making that *shrugs*
As for the ragged version is made made sometime in late 1998 to mid 2000. The cloth was a piece of scrap I saw at a Malay seamtress shop. I was rather fond of the colour so I ask if the she sold such a cloth but all she had was that small remaining scrap so i took it and made do with what i had. I wasn’t able to find out where the cloth was bought from, so i had to make do with the second version which was slightly thicker and shinier
Those are swords in her hairpiece. Her hair(yes its a wig because her actual hair is plastic and short. How did it stay on her head? Ribbon, there’s a ribbon there holding it up because I tied it there. Her hair is made of a certain kind of stringy rope that you can find on certain shopping bags. And for those who think that her hairstyle looks a bit like Lulu’s.yes because on Dec 6 2002 I restlye her hair in that fashion. I have to say that the hairpiece made her literally top-heavy. Oh and yes she really is a 12 inch CL
And something else, the protoype of doing a Lulu costume. Making the Lulu costume was one heck of a learning curve. I was watching Samurai X when the notion hit me. Because of Shishiyo’s woman. the way she wore her off shoulder kimono gave me an idea or two
