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To Dream of Darkness

A story by DoggyStyle57

Chapter 47, Written April 2012

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Chapter 47 - Tribunal

Kira knelt before the representatives of the Celestial Court of the kitsune. Then she looked Lady Mariko squarely in the eyes, and stated, "If I am to be tried, may I summon witnesses for my defense?"

The beautiful nine-tailed Kitsune nodded, and said, "You may. But do know this; any who come to our celestial realms will not remember the court of the Kitsune, unless they are part Kitsune themselves. And while you work any magic here, you must place your hoshi no tama, your star ball, in my care. You understand what that means, do you not?"

"It means you would be holding a part of my soul hostage, to ensure my good behavior during these proceedings. I will agree to that condition," Kira replied. She concentrated, holding her hands cupped at her breasts. A blue-white pearl-like sphere of light formed between her hands. She held out her hands, and the sphere of light floated to the open hand of Lady Mariko. "I place my hoshi no tama, part of my very soul, in your hands, as token that I will act honestly and obey the will of this tribunal."

"Very well. You summoned that quite easily, for one who has not been trained by us. If I needed any proof that you are indeed a kitsune, and under our jurisdiction, you have just given it," Lady Mariko said. "Hear then, the law if the Shogun, which applies to your case."

The kitsune to the left of Lady Mariko spoke. "It has been the Shogun's decree, for the past two hundred years and more, confirmed by each new Shogun in that time, that the borders of Japan are closed. No foreigner may come here, and no Japanese native may leave. Once the borders were closed, the Shogun forbade any person of Japanese descent who did manage to leave after that time from returning. As recently as fifty years ago, even those foreigners who landed on our shores by misfortune, or in desperation for their lives, such as sailors shipwrecked here; or who needed water, food, or other supplies to get to other ports safely; were put to death. But in recent times, the Shogun has been more lenient. Foreigners are still forbidden to land here, but if they had no choice, or were in desperation, they could plead for mercy, and would be aided in leaving our shores safely. Representatives of other nations have tried to request access to our land, staying at sea, and meeting with our emissaries at sea. Those requests have all been refused, and they were sent away unsatisfied."

Then kitsune to the right of Lady Mariko spoke. "Hear also our authority in this matter. The kitsune are charged by the Shogun with defending our land against magical intruders. We maintain barriers that prevent magic from being used to see our land from outside, or travel by magic between the outside world and our country. But we are also permitted to observe other lands from here, so we can be prepared for what may come to us from those other lands. We know, for example, that in China, foreign nations have forced them to open their borders to trade. We believe that it will not be long before those foreign powers try to force Japan to be open again to trade. But until they do, or until the Shogun reverses his decree, we are bound to uphold the Shogun's laws and keep the country sealed from outsiders. Above that, our own laws are in effect for anyone who is of kitsune ancestry, and can prove it."

Lady Mariko spoke again, saying "There are many charges against you. We will take them one at a time, and withhold our judgment until all points have been answered to our satisfaction. I require you to answer truthfully to each question, and you may offer what defense you can to each point, and at the conclusion, you may make a defense to your overall situation. Is that understood?"

"It is, my Lady," Kira answered softly.

"It has been determined that you, who call yourself Murakami Kira, are in fact a kitsune not bound to the service of Inari - a nogitsune. You took the real Hamada Kira's place, and presented yourself as the promised bride of Murakami Jiro, and married him. Is this accurate? And why did you do this?" Mariko asked.

"I have already stated that this is true," Kira replied, "as the priest beside me can attest. My traveling companion and I encountered the real Hamada Kira; her maid, Ito Keiko; her escort, Hattori Saburo; and the peasants that carried their burdens for them, on the road between Nakasaki and Edo. They had been set upon by ronin, and the rest of their escort was killed. They needed protection, as they continued their travels. I wished to go to Edo, but knew no one there, so I offered to escort them there safely, and I did so, without charging them any fee. As I travelled with them, I discovered that Hamada Kira was being taken to an arranged marriage with Murakami Jiro, but that she did not want to marry him. She wanted to remain with the man she loved, her childhood friend, Hattori Saburo. When I agreed to escort them, I had hoped only to learn from them, and to use their presence as a way to enter Edo and meet someone influential who I might either impersonate or gain the favor of. I needed an identity and a position in society that would grant me access to the Inari shrines, where I could learn of kitsune. The real Hamada Kira needed to find a new identity, to get out of an arranged marriage that she did not want. So I offered to take her place. It seemed like a fair exchange to me. They stopped at a shrine in Osaka, and were pleading for Inari's intervention. I went with them to talk to the priest and learn more about Inari, and about kitsune. When I heard their prayers to Inari, I let them believe that Inari was answering their prayers, and allowed them to perceive me in a form that they could believe as one of Inari's kitsune. Is that so wrong? I did not cheat them. I did for them as well as Inari or her kitsune could have done. In my defense of my actions, you may summon Kira, Keiko or Saburo. They will all attest that I treated them well, and saved them from a dreadful fate."

Mariko nodded, and said, "We have already located and questioned them. They were very grateful for Inari's intervention, and the services of the two three-tailed Kitsune that aided them. But are you treating your husband, Jiro, as well?"

"Neither Murakami Jiro nor Hamada Kira requested the marriage between them. That was arranged by their diamyos. Murakami Jiro favors a geisha girl, though he has tried to be a good husband to me, except for his infidelity. I have tried to be a good wife to him, while I contacted the kitsune and learned from them," Kira replied. "I promised the priest here that I would not harm Murakami Jiro or his household, now would I disrupt the court of the Shogun in Edo. I have kept that promise. Eventually, I will leave my husband. But when I do, I will arrange it so he believes that Murakami Kira has died, with no fault to be found with him or his household. I do not want his money or anything else that he owns. I will take with me only what I owned before I came, or obtained through my own efforts honestly while in Edo. I am not cheating him. And if I leave and appear to die, I further serve Hamada Kira and Hattori Saburo, since Murakami Jiro would have no reason at that point to ever seek them again."

"Continue to keep those promises, and that will be acceptable. If the tribunal determines you must cease impersonating Murakami Kira, it would please us for you to exit the life of Murakami Jiro gracefully," Mariko said. "The next point is that you have represented yourself as a servant of Inari, when in fact you owe no allegiance to Inari at all. That could be remedied if you were to swear to serve Inari. Are you willing to do so? Or would you remain a nogitsune? If you were in Inari's service, it would afford you certain additional protections before this tribunal."

"I do not oppose Inari, nor do I oppose the kitsune. Yet neither can I say that I could dedicate my life to Inari's service. Just as a man might not choose a life of devotion or to join the priesthood until his sunset years, I feel that I am too young and have too much of life yet to live for me to tie myself to the service of another like that. I am not yet twenty two years old. I do not even know how long I can expect to live. I may well live for a thousand years or more, since my mother was a kitsune. Or I may perish in a mere fifty or so years, as most mortals do. At this moment, I still serve no one but myself. However, if benefits me to do as Inari wishes, I would certainly be willing to do so. I will promise not to oppose Inari and her minions, so long as they do not oppose me directly," Kira replied. "I keep my promises. I may be, as you call me, a nogitsune, but I have my own strict code of honor. I am not an enemy to Inari or to the Kitsune, nor will I be, unless I am forced to defend myself. Perhaps, when I am older, and when I better understand who and what I am, I may be willing to pledge myself to Inari. I will not lie to you and falsely swear to serve Inari now."

Mariko looked saddened by that response. She sighed, and said, "Very well. That is your choice, then. There remains a question of whether you have violated the Shogun's edicts by entering the country from a foreign land. Did your mother ever tell you that it was forbidden to seek her homeland?"

"She did not. However, she never mentioned the name of her homeland, either. Remember, I was just a child. Home was simply 'home'. My parents were simply 'mother' and 'father'. Where I lived was simply where I was. What happened in the courts of the Shogun was not something my parents discussed with a child," Kira replied. "I knew that mother came from somewhere to the East of where I lived. That could just as well have been the next village over the hill, for all I knew."

"Skillfully answered, if evasive," Mariko replied with a grin. "Then answer this question please. Either name the place in Japan where you were born, or explain why the Shogun's ban on foreigners entering our country somehow does not apply to you."

Kira smiled, and replied, "As a clarification, The Shogun decreed that 'no foreigner may come here, and no Japanese native may leave, and once the borders were closed, the Shogun forbade any person of Japanese descent who did manage to leave after that time from returning.' Have I got that right?"

"That is what the decree says, yes," Mariko agreed.

"And if a Japanese native, or a descendant of a Japanese native, happened to be outside of Japan when the ban was first enacted, would they also have been prohibited from returning home? Or would they have been allowed to return?" Kira asked.

"Some were allowed to return, yes. But the Shogun declared the borders sealed over two hundred years ago. You said you are twenty one years old, so that exception can not apply to you," Mariko replied, looking puzzled.

"Ah, but it can, and I can prove it. I am the child of a Japanese citizen, born before the Shogun's decree. I claim the same exemption to return to my mother's homeland. If I may summon a witness, I can prove that my birth predates the Shogun's decree," Kira replied.

"Indeed? And who could bear witness to this?" Mariko asked. "We cannot summon the dead as witnesses, and you have said that before coming here, you knew no kitsune other than your now-deceased mother. Who then would you ask us to bring here, to speak for you?"

"I can bring my witness here myself. She is a fire elemental, bound to my service. Asha! Your Mistress demands your presence!" Kira said, raising her voice as she commanded her elemental to appear.

The kitsune murmured among themselves, as a column of black fire appeared before Kira. It solidified into the form of a black three-tailed vixen, who was dressed as Keiko, Kira's maid. "I am yours to command, Mistress. How may I serve you."

"Revert to your natural form, Asha. These Kitsune have me on trial for entering Japan against the edicts of the Shogun. I command you to answer several questions truthfully," Kira said.

"As you wish, Mistress," Asha said. Her form enflamed again and became much like a naked Human woman, but made all of black flames, with eyes like green pits of burning copper, and a mouth that was also made of green flames.

"Wait!" The kitsune second to the left from Lady Mariko said. "If this creature serves you, how do we know she won't lie to protect you?"

"You all saw how easily she summoned me. Could anyone summon anyone else to this place that easily, with no summoning circle or spell, if the summoned one was not already soul-bound to serve them?" Ahsa asked. "I must obey my Mistress commands. She has commanded me to speak the truth, and so I must. If I lie, before she releases me from her command to speak only truth, then I will be banished to Hell for the next 100 years."

"Very well, proceed," the kitsune replied.

"What are you, and how old are you?" Kira asked.

"I am a black fire elemental. I have lived for over seven hundred of your years, Mistress." Asha replied.

"How long ago, as mortals count the passing of time, was it when I first summoned you to serve me?" Kira asked.

"Roughly five hundred years have passed since that date, Mistress," Asha said.

Lady Mariko interrupted, and asked, "How is that possible, if your Mistress is only twenty one years old today?"

"Six years ago, my Mistress used a chronomancy spell, to transport both of us to this time. I helped her to learn the spell," Asha replied. "We walked through a portal, and through time, to come to the realm that we now live in as Kira and Keiko. We have been many places together, the Mistress and I. Even to Hell and back again."

Kira faced Mariko, and said, "There is my main defense, My Lady. I claim the exemption that was granted to the Japanese citizens and their families at the time the Shogun's decree was enacted, because I was born before the land was sealed, and my mother was a native of this land. Yes, I came here from beyond your borders. I sailed from China on a ship, and set ashore with my elemental in a small boat. I came home, seeking my ancestry. And I claim that I had every right to do so! Also my elemental is not a creature of this realm at all, and is exempt from any such edicts. She goes where I order her to go, as my chattel."

Lady Mariko nodded, and said, "We can perhaps consider this as a reason not to punish you for coming here from a foreign land. Yet in claiming that defense, you have also just confessed that you did come here from outside of Japan. Is there anything else you would add to your defense?"

"Just two things," Kira said. "First, I would ask that you consider the intent of the Shogun's edict. In banning foreigners from coming here, was he not trying to stop the influence of the foreign religions and ways upon the Japanese people? Can anyone here state that I have ever, in any way, influenced the people of Japan with foreign notions or religious beliefs? Have I not, for the entire time I have been in this country, spoken only Japanese, written only Japanese, tried to learn the ways of kitsune and of Inari, and dealt with others as best I could in the fashion of the Japanese people? I would state in my defense that I have done none of the harm that the Shogun wished to prevent with his edict. I merely came here, like a scholar seeking knowledge, to learn my birthright."

"Granted, we have no complaints against you in that regard. And your other point?" Mariko asked.

"My other point is that if I was at all inclined to cause trouble here, I could do so in ways beyond your imagining. Yet I have not. Asha? You have observed what I am capable of, when I am angered. If I wanted to harm the people of Edo, how much harm could I do to them?" Kira asked. "And yet, since I set foot on this island, have I personally harmed anyone at all?"

Asha looked at her Mistress, and then faced the tribunal. "If my mistress had wanted to harm the people of Edo, I have no doubt at all that she could, in a single night, cause either death or insanity to strike down every soul, from the lowest peasant to the Shogun himself, unless they were most powerfully warded against types of magic likely to be completely unknown here. But she has not raised her hand to harm anyone personally since we set foot on this island. This I swear to be true, on penalty of being banished to Hell, if I was false in my statement."