Mana: Before The Rise

"Nothing at all, But I suggest you leave as quickly as possible" Rachel said to the maid

"Wh-" was about to ask but was paused in fright but the Master of the house abrupt action

The inner screen flew back with enough force to echo through the room. Jimbe, stood there, his eyes, bulging. Behind him was Ise"s mother her mouth opened with horror as her hand quickly hovered protectively over the babies lying on either side of her.

"Jimbe, Mother is was such an interesting conversation that I couldn"t help but eavesdrop. I mean to find out that conspired against my father and put him to death." Rachel said with a soft innocent smile.

Jimbe quickly reached for his blade and pulled it out quickly in an effort to end her life in an instant.

Ise"s personal maidservant was screaming in the background.

She smirked, Kevin"s grandparent where military fanatics who loved hand-to-hand combat and sometime, they would go wild hunting. Being his childhood friend had perks especially when those fanatics taught you a few things. Although she wasn"t an expert, she knew how to defend herself. Its just that back then she didn"t have the heart and now it was different. She knew that this need for their death weren"t her own but Ise. After the girl disappeared, Rachel did feel herself change. It was like the thing holding her back from harming other was gone.

Rachel had roughly caught the blade and used Jimbe"s own weight to flip him around on his back, Slam. She didn"t even waste any time to twist his arms and stab.

"Ahhhh" Jimbe heart piercing scream shock the house. The twin babies were startled and began to cry. Ise"s mother tears in her eyes was frozen unable to make a single move to comfort her two recently born babies.

Jimbe"s eyes was stabbed, the blood leaking onto the wood. Servants came rushing in and then abruptly paused at the scene, frozen in fear. It was because of the expression Rachel was making.

She suddenly grabbed the hunting knife and pulled it out of Jimbe"s eye, making him scream again in pain.

"I bet you never saw this coming, did you" Rachel said as she stabbed Jimbes" arm and he yelled in pain. Snap, Rachel professionally cut his arm in a way that in the future he will never be able to use. "Did you think I wouldn"t have any suspicion at all" Rachel said as she suddenly looked up at Ise"s mother who jumped at the gaze that pierced her. "But I am not done with either of you yet. Father was given a quick end, So, instead I"ll five you a slow one" Rachel stepped on Jimbe as she walked towards the shadows "And that is a promise." She whispered but it was heard by everyone.

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Mission Success

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Soul Fragmentation at 5.5%

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Rachel collapsed by a tree that hide her, she ignored the commotion going on in the household. She trembled.

"What was that?" She thought as she cried "It was like someone else took over and" Rachel didn"t even now anymore. She knew she was capable of it. But, she never had the heart to hurt anyone like that before. But that wasn"t why she felt scared it was because worst of...

"I enjoyed it"

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Recalibrating

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Mission: Stay in the Sakamoto household as a Servant for a year

-Eight months Later-

Rachel used Ise"s ability which she calls "Shadow-Weaving", it became sort appropriate to call it that since it mostly manipulates darkness.

She down downgraded Ise"s beautiful appearance and was able to successfully blend in as a servant, Being a helper to the nursemaid of the pair of twins.

Ise"s mother didn"t recover from the shock she received for the next months to come it was only recently that she recovered and focused her attention on her boys.

Jimbe had nearly completely fallen apart. Not only did he lose an eye but and arm as well. He was more violent and unruly then before neither the servants nor mother where safe, and it seemed in the end not even his own children.

"Heathens! We"re to have heathens" the nursemaid said to the cooks. Rachel said nothing as she followed the nursemaid in silence to the household, she was mute.

"What are these Heathens?"

"Black-skinned ones, with faces like demons. I"ve just scene them, O swear to the moon, twitch those eyes"

"They"re Foreigners!"

"Foreign Visitors"

"They really have Black-skin? Well, where are they from and why are they here?"

The Cooks and a few maidservants squealed, much to the nursemaid annoyance

"Some nasty foreign place. They are here because the master invited them" The nursemaid said, "Their home is knee-deep in gold and the moon prince is friendly with them."

Rachel was bored with their conversation, so she zones out and thought about her systems. She wondered if there was a way to get it to responded to her.

-Some time Later-

Rachel sat in a tree laxed as she ate a few apples that she brought with her. It had a good view of the household.

With a click, the sliding door of the veranda moved back. Jimbe stepped out wearing a gray hakama. Him wearing these plain cloths cupped with his one eye made him look strong, honest and capable.

"Tsk" Rachel mouthed

More people began streaming through the door onto the veranda. High-ranking men dressed in rich cloths and colors. After them came the foreigners, they were so like the men from the ship that day that it gave Rachel pause before a person"s appearance came to her mind.

"I wonder if he is here to"

Many stared at the foreigners whose behavior was so different, they swung their arms as they walked, shrugged their shoulders, waggled their eyebrow when they talked. Smiles flashed across their faces like the moon striking through ragged clouds on a windy night. They seemed like giants, standing there next to Jimbe. Making Rachel smile inside.

They wore leather breeches and loose tunics that were bound at the waist with lengths of embroidered cloth. They also sported an astonishing Amount of gold Collars at their necks, the Metal formed into fine strands and braided.

If Rachel didn"t know any better, she would have mistaken them for an Indian tribe in the beginning but sadly they where not despite the similar dispositions. These people the air about them is different from her worlds Indian, but, she couldn"t quite but her finger on the biggest difference. Maybe its because in this world they have more power. Plus, Not one of them carried a bow, wore a glove, or displayed any other sign of an archer.

Jimbe bowed deeply to his foreign guest and they bowed back just as deeply, but it looked like they found the ritual amusing more then respecting.

Rachel smiled even more "I"m liking these people more and more"

It was because Jimbe didn"t share their amus.e.m.e.nt. Something nettled him. He motioned his friend and the servants to silence, strange that he had not ordered them away.

In Ise memories Jimbe and Keijo once stood together at the grounds in her now desolate home. Laughing because neither of them could beat the other. They had the same teacher, had practiced together all their lives and their skill and technique were "equal"

Which was not true, Jimbe knew without a doubt that the only thing he could beat Keijo with was status and wealth. It sad thought, it was possible that Ise"s father had realized his friend jealously early on. Because he once said that Jimbe had enough "ambition" for both of them.

It was true though, Jimbe was made of greed, desire, and covetousness. What he wanted he must have, no matter what or low he sunk to gain it. There was no place for goodness, anywhere that he was.

Is sad that Ise"s mother couldn"t see that.

Either way Rachel knew the purpose of this event today he wanted to win against the foreigners. Prove that he was still something despite losing his eye. A pity that his arm recovered enough to be useable. Rachel leaned back when he began his boring speech that applied fairness and a boast of his own ego.
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"For a master of Ky-Ujutsu, there is only one target. The one within our own spirit. Some have called me a master of this art-"

"See boasted his own ego"

"But, I will leave it to you honored guest, to judge."

The dark-skinned men nodded respectfully as Jimbe held out his hand. An archer"s glove that covered all but one of his finger, a servant came with a bamboo bow taller than then himself.

Rachel noted the smirks of the foreigners it seems they where also making fun of Jimbe in their minds. Its true thought the man was Ise"s mother"s height. Both of which were shorter than Ise herself, that"s why it was so easy to take down in the first place. The man might as well be Napoleon.

A servant strung his bow for him.

"A Man who cannot string his own bow is not fit to shoot" Rachel quoted Ise"s father and closed her eyes. She was a tad bit sleepy so she will wait to the fun parts starts.

Jimbe had three arrows in his Obi. Now her reached back with his free hand and carefully pulled one out. It was longer than the full reach of his arm. Still, holding the bow above his head nocked the arrow to the strong. He slowly drew the string taut, bringing the bow down in the same measured movement so that the arrow lay next to his eye. He Sighted and released.

The arrow hitting dead Center. Followed by his second and then finally he closed his eyes and without seeing shoot his three-arrow hitting the target once again dead center.

The foreign visitor clapped noisily but that was enough for Jimbe"s ego to be boasted. You have to admit that he did well for someone who had his arm seriously injured like that. It wasn"t supposed to be used again. Rachel only found out yesterday that Jimbe was able to use his arm again. Strange as it was but you can say the miracles do happen even to unpleasant people.

Jimbe"s friend also stepped forward to congratulate him. Turning his head to the foreigners, with his nose turned up with pride.

"Do you see now, Ogaki? Do you understand this is an art?"

"Ogaki? That"s a native American name" Rachel thought her eyes still closed

"Oh, yes" Said the foreign man named Ogaki, he stepped forward and reached out. Expecting this Jimbe allowed this person to clasp his forearm.

"The I have changed your mind?"

Ogaki released Jimbe"s arm and made an odd gesture, lifting both hands and laughing, The painted scars on his face were in straight lines, like cat whiskers move similar to when it yawns or snarls.

The servants made a few minor noises.

A people who with such friendliness, relaxed confidence, full of life and joy. Everyone here only ever thought of them as ugly but in truth they are more beautiful then the people here. Why, because there is absolute trust and faith in each other.

"I am afraid my mind is not changed, Jimbe" Ogaki said "I cannot deny that you have made archery into an art here in your garden. But this does not change the essential nature of the thing. Archery is what we call, A skill of killing, a way of death. It cannot be beautiful."

"I dot not understand you, Ogaki. You have said to me that your young people, even your young women, are trained to use a sword and bow. How can you call archery evil if you teach it to your children."

Rachels eyebrows twitch, and she heart her heart clench as she pulled a deep breath. Ise may be gone but the feelings linger. Archery was on of the few things other thing music that Ise was good at, her father was more then happy to teach his genius daughter.

"I do not say it is evil, I say it is not art, it is a necessity." Ogaki shrugged his shoulders "We are a peaceful people and we abhor killing, but our lands are rich, and we must be able to defend ourselves.

Our sons and daughters fight and hunt, and we honor them for it, but because we know what they endure to fulfill their duty, not because the hunting and killing are glorious things in themselves. To kill is to destroy, and destruction brings despair. That is why our people don not eat the flesh of domesticated animals. If we hunt wild animals, we give them a fair chance to escape, and in taking down a stag or a boar, we know we risk our own lives, too.

To destroy a tame animal that does not even know it may run and that trust the hand that spills its blood is sickening to us, as is all death." He his speech was pa.s.sionate, some who listened had been touched…..However.

"Our greatest Warriors" Jimbe began

Are cynical to the core.

"Believe that they are already dead. They live as if their lives are over , and so fighting holds no terror for them"

Ogaki looked gravely at Jimbe "That, Jimbe, is one of the saddest things I have ever heard."

"I hesitate to disagree with such an honored guest, but it occurs to me that with such sentiments ruling their training, your warriors may struggle to defend your prosperous land. Should they ever need to."

Ogaki blinked slowly, his dark eyes glinting. When he smiled, he this time is wasn"t as friendly. "You have been kind enough to provide a demonstration for me and my countrymen. Perhaps you would be interested in a demonstration of the way we train archers."

"You will shoot against me?" Jimbe asked, looking surprised but you could feel the air of mockery.

"Oh, no, no, I did not bring any weapon to your house. I did not think I needed them. Luckily, there is one among us who is still training and needed to carry his bow to practice.

"In training? Do you mean-" Jimbe broke off as someone new stepped out onto the veranda.

"Ca.s.sia" Rachel thought her eyes opened slightly with a gaze.

The boy who"s had the same sent as Kevin appeared. He wore leather breeches like the rest of his countrymen but his wiry muscles that flexed and bunched smoothly as she stepped down from the veranda to the gra.s.s.

Rachel felt her face grow red at her drifting thoughts, the only fantasies of that "kind" where always of Kevin. "He is not Kevin" Rachel remaindered herself "And I am no longer Rachel"

The Boy had slightly longer hair now and he wasn"t dressed in gold like his people, in fact no jewelry at all, save for a long leather thong around his neck that bore a piece of something made of bone or ivory, but it was carved into a beautiful crescent shape that seems to be the moon.

His back was marked, like his face, yet it had this strange feeling about them as if they weren"t normal nor real.

"My Son, Tsiyi" Ogaki said proudly "He is just seventeen, so please excuse his technique. He still had much to learn."

Jimbe looked at the younger, slighter man and nodded affably. "Of course, none of us expected perfection from such a young person."

"I think her just triggered a flag" Rachel thought.

The boy "Tsiyi" smiled, it was a fearless and reckless grin it was breathtaking. It was also not the expression of a boy who knows his mistakes will be forgiven but of a man who has an interest in winning, and every expectation of doing so. A compet.i.tive spirit

Jimbe, however, did not catch that grin as he was to busy directing servant to remove the arrows from the targets. "Come on now, Tsiyi" he said "Where is your bow? Surely you have not forgotten I"

"I have it here, Jimbe" And it was, in his left hand, just as if it had always been. It was tiny, not half the length of Jimbe"s own prized bow, and with a sharp curve that bent it almost exactly in two.

Jimbe blinked "What a clever trick. An odd bow also seems strange. Please inspect it, if it interests you. There is no magic in it- I promise."

Jimbe took the unstrung bow and turned it over in his hands. "It is heavy" he commented giving it a shake as if he expected it to rattle.

Tsiyi tool his bow back from Jimbe, he had a coiled string in his hand. He quickly tied a figure-eight loop to one of the white nocks, and then pressed it to the ground, bending the bow so that he could slip the string over the other nock and loop it into place.

His companion gave him another string and he preceded to this string with what he did to the first. He said something to Tsiyi in another language making all of them laugh apart from Ogaki, who tapped Tsiyi shoulder.

Jimbe broke in a moment as he didn"t like their laughter. "Such a small bow must have shorter range then we are accustomed to. It is not fair to expect Tsiyi to hit the targets as I have done. We will bring them closer.

"You are very good, Jimbe" Ogaki said, "But if my son Is to improve, it best for him to have targets which are a little to difficult for him rather than a little too easy."

"That is very true" The one who had given Tsiyi the string said "My father is wise. I Recommended we move the targets back another length"

"Brother!" Tsyiy said as he looked about to cut off his brother"s head, but the man danced away lavishly before that could happen.

"Very well, we will move them back" Jimbe agreed as he nodded. Servant hurriedly doing his bidding. Jimbe eyes looked like he was calculating the odds of his own success at this very distance before smiling at Tsiyi bow.

Suddenly the foreign people moved a distance out of respect including Ogaki himself. All their expression serious and focused as they watched. Tsiyi"s brother who was smiling a moment ago wasn"t even making an expression

Tsiyi got into his stance full concentration. Something shimmered on his back, and then there was a black leather quiver there, the strap slung low.

"Shadow-weaving" Rachel whispered, "I mean, I knew of the possibilities that others could do it but…I see so it could be used like this." She thought

Of course, no one noticed, despite him doing this in public. Shadow-weaving was similiter to a using tricks with light.

Holding on to his bow with one hand, Tsiyi, used his other to pull a light kiss on his pendent. It had not yet bounced back before he quickly reached back grabbed and arrow.

Then with a high-pitched noise, the arrows where shot almost at the same time each hitting their targets in succession.

Thunk. Thunk. Thunk

"Amazing" Rachel said as she saw all of it and lifted her hand to imitate what Tsiyi had done, she weaved the light in a small s.p.a.ce and watched it ripple. "how cool" she thought before turning back to Jimbe and his friends who stood frozen. "See, you raised a flag" She mocked.

Ogaki and his people approached Tsiyi , in a friendly manner, hugging and punching for the people of this era it may seem awkward to it was actually normal for them and even in the modern world.

Tsiyi brother shrugged his shoulder "You hesitated on the third shot. If the target had been moving , you would have missed it."

"I don"t want to hear that from the man who shot our uncle for lack of hesitation" Tsiyi reb.u.t.ted back.

"I missed him! I missed him by a clear foot."

"More like and inch, Kayi. Ask him yourself."

"Enough, enough" said one of the other men in the group. "You are neglecting our host. Your must thank him for letting you practice today."

"Pfff" a little laugh escaped Rachel"s mouth, as she reveled in joy at Jimbe"s misery.

Tsiyi turned immediately, bowing to Jimbe " I thank you for the practice" he said "My bow was growing brittle with disuse.

"tsk" Rachel slightly turned her head as she heard the twin snuffle in the their room, they are going to start crying soon "Ran Out of time" and sighed "time to go back"

"I wonder when I Might have the honor of meeting you daughter, Ise" Tsiyi said

And Rachel froze without turning around.

Jimbe"s expression of genial inquiry did not change, but his throat worked before he replied, "Ise is my stepdaughter. My wife"s child from her first marriage."

"Really ?" Tsiyi said his face innocent. "How strange. You did not make such distinctions where I am from. And you called her your daughter on the ship."

"I am very attached to her" Jimbe said "She is visiting a relative of her father"s in the country now. She is much missed"

"I have certainly been very sorry to not see her again." Tsiyi said "I was looking forward to it."

"Of course, Ise was very beautiful" Jimbe said

Silence ama.s.sed for a moment before Tsiyi smiled dropped "Was?"

Jimbe"s face twitched. A tiny betraying moment of unease. "She is not well. That is why she is resting in the country now."

"And when will she be back?" Tsiyi pressed

Before Jimbe could make up another lie the veranda door slid open. As Ise"s mother slim figure appeared. "Nishio" his attention leaving Tsiyi

Rachel didn"t realize what that for a moment killing intent came from her it was sharp and low, but, just as it came it disappeared. The twins where crying now, her attention drew back to them as she began to use her shadow-weaving. But, suddenly stopped as she felt someone"s eyes.

Rachel turned for a split second her eyes ended meeting with someone, Tsiyi stared straight back at her his eyes blank. She shadow-weaved back to the twins room to sole them back to sleep her heart beating rapidly.

She wasn"t just far away she more then 50 feet away from the household. She was impossible to see from their angle so how. So how did he see her?