The four Vessels met at breakfast the next morning, if not exactly bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, at least awake. After a simple meal of rice balls and miso soup they assembled in the courtyard.
"Okay," Aya said, "we know I can join us at will, now lets see if Omi can."
Omi stared at the Fire Vessel, his blue eyes even wider than they usually were in an expression that obviously said �why me?�
"Do you really think I can, Aya-kun?" he asked and swallowed hard. Aya merely nodded.
Sighing slightly, Omi concentrated, reaching out with his mind to the other Vessels. Ken was easy and he was soon joined with him then he felt for the other two elements. Suddenly they were there in the group mind and Omi laughed excitedly. They broke apart and Aya turned to Ken.
"Your turn," he said. Ken took a deep breath and reached out in turn. It took him slightly longer, but he eventually managed to join them as one mind. Again they broke apart and Aya glanced at Yohji.
"Now you," he said.
Yohji�s technique was a little different. Instead of reaching out to them, he gathered them into him, much as Aya had done when the samurai had been wiped out. It was both quick and effective and earned him a slight smile from the Fire Vessel.
"Okay," Aya said slowly, "we can all join us into the group mind at will, now let�s see what we can do while joined."
This time Aya joined them. Almost as soon as they were one mind, Ken gasped.
/We�re being watched/
There was a slight jolt and Ken�s satisfaction permeated the group mind.
/Now they can�t see us/
/How did you do that?/ Yohji�s part of the mind demanded.
/I�m not sure, but I know it worked/
/Let�s try traveling/ Aya suggested /Omi, you steer/
Time passed but nothing happened. They were still in the courtyard and Omi�s disappointment was apparent.
/Where are you trying to take us?/ Yohji asked.
/Ken�s room/
In a blink they were there.
/What a mess, Kenken!/
/Shut up, Yotan! Yours is no better!/
/Hold it/ Aya�s voice cut through /Who brought us here?/
/I didn�t/ Omi sent sadly.
/It was me/ Yohji sent /It was where Omi wanted to be/
There was a flicker of something that might have been amusement from Aya and suddenly they were in the shop.
/How did we get here?/ Ken wanted to know.
/You wanted out of that pigsty you call a room/ Aya told him. /Anyway lets break for a while/ There was a slight shift and they were all back in their own bodies in the courtyard.
"So," Aya said, "it looks like Ken protects or hides the group mind and either Yohji or I can steer it. All of us can join it."
"So where does that leave me?" Omi asked sadly. "Apart from being able to join the mind, I seem to be excess baggage." Ken placed a comforting arm over the smaller boy�s shoulders.
"There has to be some skill that we haven�t tried yet," he said soothingly.
"Besides, chibi, wasn�t it you that knew which direction and how far we traveled when those samurai were killed?" Omi�s face brightened at that. Seemingly he did have a use after all.
"Who was watching us, Ken?" Aya asked.
"I think it was one of those �Adepts�," Ken told him. "I don�t really trust them so I felt it wise to hide us."
"Good. I�m not sure of them, either," Aya said.
There was a sudden frown from Yohji and he seemed distracted.
"Yohji-kun?" Omi touched the Water Vessel�s arm and Yohji gave a slight start.
"Sorry, Omitchi, were you saying something?" he asked.
"No, I was wondering what was bothering you." Yohji frowned again.
"I�m not sure," he said slowly, "I�ve just got a gut feeling that something is not quite as it should be somewhere."
"Okay, let�s see if we can discover what it is," Aya suggested. He joined them again and immediately winced, as the group mind was flooded with the half-formed emotions of confusion and panic emanating from Yohji. Suddenly there was a feeling like a cool breeze and the emotions coalesced into unease linked to the destruction of the samurai.
/Seems like whatever happened out there is about to happen again/ Ken observed.
/No, this feels like something more focused/ Omi argued /as if there is only one target this time but a specific one/
/We need to know what Takatori Masafumi�s intentions are/ was Aya�s contribution. /Yohji, where is this coming from?/
They were above the small estate given to Takatori�s second son and were hearing a conversation that was infuriatingly garbled. Another breeze like sensation ran through the group mind and then they found they could hear the individual words.
"We have to be careful, my lovelies," Takatori Masafumi was saying to four young and beautiful women. As the Group Mind studied each of these women in turn, Yohji�s part seemed to tense somehow.
/No, it cannot be�/
/Yohji-kun?/
/Nothing, chibi, let�s listen./
"We can kill your brother without resorting to magic," the blonde was saying. "Just blast his samurai then sneak in and cut his scrawny little throat."
"No, Schon," another woman with black hair said quietly, "if we do that we will attract even more attention to Masafumi�s powers and those that he has infused us with. We need to get past the samurai."
"How do we do that, Hel?" Schon asked.
"Didn�t I make a ninja one of us?" Masafumi asked rhetorically. "Neu can handle this."
"When do you want us to leave?" Hel asked.
"No time like the present," Masafumi replied with a grin.
/Break!/
The four Vessels found themselves back in their own courtyard, staring at each other as they dealt with the connotations of what they�d just heard.
"Do we let him kill his brother?" Ken asked, glancing worriedly at Aya as he did so.
"I felt magic there," Omi supplied. "We may give ourselves away if we interfere directly."
Aya was torn between letting one Takatori murder another and knowing what the consequences of allowing the magician and his demon women to do so would be. His hatred battled his duty and common-sense for a while until he came up with a possible plan.
"We get the Adepts to deal with it," he suggested. "Let them know what is happening and see if they can prevent it. They work for the Takatori after all."
"How do we contact them?" Ken demanded.
"I�ll do that," Aya told him and immediately concentrated on the Adept telepath.
/Well, well, if it isn�t the Fire Vessel/ Even the man�s mental voice was smug and full of a smirk. /To what do I owe this pleasure?/
/We need to meet and soon/ Aya sent.
/I never knew you cared!/
/This is no time for stupidity. Takatori Masafumi intends to have his brother murdered/
Suddenly Schuldig�s mental voice was all business. /When and how?/ he demanded.
/His changed women are leaving as we speak/
/Okay, we�ll deal with it. Thank you/ The connection was cut by the telepath.
Aya returned to a sense of his surroundings to find Omi and Ken waiting to see what had been said and Yohji, seemingly in a world of his own.
"They�re going to deal with it," he said. "I think we need to find out what the Elements have to say." Omi nodded his agreement.
"Good idea," he said softly, "come on Ken-kun." The two younger Vessels headed for the house.
"Oh and Omi," Aya called after them, "I think we discovered a couple more of your skills." The blond boy grinned before disappearing while Aya turned his attention to Yohji.
"What happened back there?" he asked. Yohji gave a start then tried to smile.
"What on earth do you mean?" he inquired.
"You recognized someone in that room," Aya said, trying hard not to sound accusing. Yohji�s long body tensed and he stared at the Fire Vessel, his emerald eyes cool. It was a while before he spoke.
"I�one of them reminded me of someone," he said finally. "But she�s dead so it was only a resemblance, nothing more. I�d better go talk to my stone." With that the tall blond walked away and disappeared into the house. Aya stood in the courtyard for a while longer knowing that the Water Vessel had not told him the whole truth and that he believed one of those women to be someone he cared about deeply. This was going to complicate matters.
* * * * * * *
Yohji was hiding something, Aya was certain of it. Ever since he�d seen the face of one of Takatori Masfumi�s women he had been withdrawn and thoughtful, both moods that were extremely unusual for the Water Vessel.
Aya needed to know if Yohji�s apparent recognition of the woman was going to be a problem for them. So, armed with a bottle of sake, he knocked on the Water Vessel�s door. Yohji opened it and stared out at him. His green eyes widened in surprise upon seeing him there but he ushered him into his room nonetheless.
"This is a surprise, Aya. Not an unpleasant one but a surprise." His eyes moved to the bottle. "You even brought sake. Now why, I wonder?"
Aya shrugged. "I thought you might like a drink." He glanced round the room which was cluttered but comfortable and, finding a small table set down the bottle and two glasses.
"And you want me to tell you about the woman," Yohji guessed.
"If you think she�s likely to be a problem, then yes."
Yohji shut the door and settled on his futon after drawing the table closer. He patted the place next to him and Aya sat down. "I�m not sure where to start�"
"Start by pouring both of us a drink," Aya suggested.
Yohji followed the advice and poured two generous measures of sake. He picked one up and sat back. "Before I became the Water Vessel I was a ninja," he said quietly. "We always worked in pairs and my partner was a woman called Asuka." He drank the sake in one long swallow.
Aya reached forward for his own glass and sipped a little of the sake. "She was your lover?"
Yohji glanced at him and then away again. "Yes. I�.cared very deeply for her, might even have loved her. It was all over when she was killed by a shuriken."
"Yet you believe she is now one of those women at Takatori�s castle. How can she be if she�s dead?"
"I don�t know, Aya, but I�m almost certain it is her. Not just a passing resemblance but actually her."
"You think Takatori Masafumi can raise people from the dead?"
"I don�t know what I think except that woman is Asuka. Her body was never found, Aya. There is a chance that she was still alive and that means I left her to die."
So he was dealing with Yohji�s guilt as well as the conviction that this Asuka was now one of Takatori Masafumi�s women. "Did you have any choice but to leave her?"
The Water Vessel stared at him, green eyes full of unshed tears. "I was quite badly wounded. I thought I would slow her down so I told her to try to get back on her own. I saw the shuriken strike her in the back and she went down. After a while I passed out and didn�t come to until I was back at base."
"Then it wasn�t you who left her but whoever took you back."
"Yes, but when I told my superiors what had happened they told me that it might have been a pain-induced hallucination as no body had been found. They considered that she had gone awol."
"So what you�re saying is that woman could easily be her?"
Yohji nodded miserably and poured himself some more sake.
"Do you still love her?" He had to know that. There was no way he was starting anything with Yohji if he was still in love with someone else.
"I�yes, I suppose I do."
That answered all of his questions so Aya stood up to leave. The bitch was definitely going to be a problem. "Keep the sake," he said as he shut the door behind him.
TBC