--Xai Mountains, Heart of Darkness,--

  Hisayo groaned as she regained consciousness. Her eyes quickly adjusting to the dark, damp room she was being held in. She saw a multitude of dangerous looking tools were stored in the corner: ranging from whips and scalpels to electric prods. There were chairs and gurneys lined up in the room, each equipped with IV drips filled with poison. As she tried to move her limbs she found she was restrained, her arms and legs chained to the wall behind her. She let out a sigh as her location became apparent. She was being held in the Hattori torture chamber. Despite its name, it was seldom used to coerce information out of tight-lipped enemies; but was more so used to train young assassins to become more resilient. She had spent much time in this room herself when she was young. Strapped down and pumped full of poison, chained to a wall and poked, sliced, and beaten.

  “Brings back memories doesn’t it,” Hisui, also chained, uttered from across the room. “Even now, this room still makes my hair stand on end. I must give credit to our handlers though, they carved us to pieces and but never left many scars.”

  “Not something I’m too keen to remember,” Hisayo replied. In addition to housing the family crypt, The stronghold in the center of the Xai Mountains was the traditional power base for the family. Despite branches being scattered across the region, a lot of the general training still took place in the Heart of Darkness. When Hisayo took power, she had decided to make her home elsewhere, which began to cause trouble with other family members, including Hisui.

  “Do you not tire of this?” Hisayo asked. “You have bullied me since we were kids, you have openly opposed my mantle as the leader, and have opposed all my decisions since. I accept that we may never see eye to eye, but you could at least grow up.”

  Hisui scoffed. “You dare to lecture me? The same brat who would look down her nose at us, just because you were born in the ruling family. Treating us like wild beasts, keeping us chained and bound to the darkness. I do not respect you. I cannot. You are arrogant, you are temperamental, and you are weak. I will never recognize you as my leader.”

  Hisui's proclamation had stung Hisayo more than she anticipated. She did not ask for the mantle of leadership, but it was hers. She had not actively dealt with the dissenters, but she needed to reunite the family if they were to last, and in that would mean dealing with Hisui.

  “What would it take?” Hisayo asked. Hisui seemed taken aback by the question. She furrowed her brow as she processed the question. As she parted her lips to answer. The pink haired woman barged into the room, hands on her hips as she scrutinized the two restrained assassins.

“If you two have cooled off, let yourselves down, Tenri wants to see you both.” She curtly relayed.

“Annya, you’ve grown. Where is your brother?” Hisayo asked as she easily ripped herself out of the metal restraints.

“Jafar is in the great hall being entertained by your guest.”

“Entertained?” Hisui ripped off her own bonds, rubbing her raw wrists to soothe them.

“Lady Hisayo’s little Shin'nyū-sha has quite a way with words, like a talking monkey trained to tell stories.” The girl, known as Annya, crossed her arms and leaned against the door frame.

  Annya’s rose-colored locks draped over her shoulder. Annya and Jafa were special young talents. The twins were the personal guards of Tenri’s household and were talented enough to keep up with Akane in sparring matches. Though skilled individual fighters, their true strength came when using their perfect teamwork, able to form a perfectly coordinated assault capable of overwhelming foes much stronger than themselves. Their unique hair color was a trait of their western heritage, conceived from their Hattori father, and whose mother hailed from Solenia, a country west of the Draconian empire.

  “I could not stand her parroting any longer. I agreed to come and fetch you so that I wouldn’t end up cutting out her tongue. Now mistresses if you would,” Annya ushered the former captives out of the room and down the hall. Walking through the hallways of the main fortress brought back a wave of memories to Hisayo. She remembered wandering these halls as a child; the dark torch lit halls and the slightly damp smell to the air brought back familiar feelings of home. They passed the large courtyard, where there were several sparring matched taking place, before being brought to the doors of the great hall. Hisayo didn’t need to strain her ears to hear the raucous laughter that bled through the shut, heavy iron doors. She felt herself becoming annoyed as she pushed open the doors to the great hall. Large stone pillars lined the hall, with the denizens of the keep crowded in the large space, eyes looking towards the throne where Tenri sat. Next to him, sitting on a step, hands moving in exaggeration, was Yuko Hiragi.

  “Describe for me, in the way that you do, my fortress?” Tenri asked. All the assassins in the hall fixated their eyes on the brunette. Their eyes widened expectantly, waiting with bated breath on her description. Yuko brought her hand to her chin in thought, eyes closed in concentration.

  “It is a true bastion of fear,” she finally answered. “A place built to inspire fear and awe. Yet, also a place that can be called home. Unwelcome to an outsider like myself, but embracing and homely for those who belong.” The hall erupted in unanimous gasps of awe, and waves of muttering spread from the denizens.

“You all are strangely impressed on hearing a girl talk,” Hisayo commented.

  “We do not get many visitors, especially from the outside. Some of the younger ones have never left the forest so hearing of a modern world fascinates them.” Hisui’s answer was confirmed as Hisayo looked around the chamber, the eyes of the youths were wide with childish wonder. Highly-trained killers, entirely enamored with the words of this normal girl, like children listening to a bedtime story. Interesting, she thought. Tenri who had been chuckling to himself, noticed the women making their way through the crowd.

“The obstinate children have awakened! Little Hisayo I had no idea that you were keeping such an amusing new pet,” He boasted.

  “Hey! I’m not her pet!” Yuko protested swiftly rising from her seat in anger. The sudden movement put the assassins on the room on alert as the sound of blades being drawn rang out through the room. Jafar, being the closest to her had put one of is daggers to her neck. Yuko winced as the tip of the blade poked at her skin.

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  “You were entertaining for a while, but it seems you have yet to be trained properly,” He remarked. “I’m sure even you know what happens to insolent pets.” Yuko met his eyes, a smirk on her face.

  “Is this what you call a threat? This your attempt at intimidation?” She began to chuckle lightly. “Compared to what I’ve been through to get here, you and you're little ‘pinprick’ here is as threatening as a college midterm to me,” Yuko replied snidely at the crimson haired assassin. Hisayo felt a small swelling of pride within her as she watched Yuko stare down Jafar, her eyes had a different look to them. When she first came they were bright, naive. She was merely a doe-eyed college girl who was dragged into a situation way over her head. Now, her eyes had hardened to a degree. It seemed she was beginning to adjust to her surroundings. Annya however, was not feeling the same pride as Hisayo. Her danger senses were on full alert as she could feel the young woman barely keep her bloodlust in check, trying her hardest not to rush down the girl who had just openly insulted her twin brother.

  “Enough!,” Tenri bellowed. He turned his attention to the recently awakened women “Hisayo, your guest here has told me you are trying to gain access to the crypt. Is it that time again already?

“Yes,” Hisayo answered. “I come to pay my respects to father. This girl was accompanying me to the crypt.”

  “It is a sacred place for our family. You usually come alone, so forgive our alarm when we see you trying to bring an outsider into our most treasured place. We cannot be too careful after all.”

  “That may be true, but as you can see the girl poses no threat to us.” By this time Hisayo had made her way to stand next to Yuko, moving to stand between her and Tenri. “Let us conclude our business and be gone.”

The room stood still as they awaited the old man's answer.

“Let them through, father,” Hisui interrupted. She put a hand on Tenri’s shoulder. “Let her pay respects to Lord Genbu. She is right about the girl posing no threat to us, I trust Hisayo would not bring her if she was.”

Hisayo felt a bit relieved grabbing Yuko by the hand and beginning to lead her out of the grand hall.

“However,” Hisui’s voice rang out behind the pair.

“Upon your return. We settle our business. Once and for all. Little Sayo.”

---Hattori Family Crypt, Heart of Darkness,--

  Hisayo led Yuko out of the rear of the fortress. They followed the path lit with torches down to a large wethered mausoleum. The dampness of the air allowed vegetation to grow into the building, covering the stone walls and doors with vines and moss. Yuko watched as Hisayo pushed open the heavy stone doors and walked into the dark room. Five small glowing balls of light formed from Hisayo’s hand and floated to all the corners of the room, igniting the torches and cauldrons illuminating the room. Yuko gazed in wonder at the crypt. The walls were lined with sleek, polished obsidian; on it were names of the deceased sectioned off into different areas, possible signifying family lineage. Incense was set up at the foot of shrines and statues, and the calming trickle of water trickled from a spring that flowed in the room to feed the reflecting pools on the perimeter.

  “This place is beautiful,” Yuko stated as she walked around the statues and shrines. She stared up at the largest one which dominated the room. It was a tall, stone carving of a man covered in an armored cowl leaning on a large sword. The engraving beneath his feet read “Hanzo Hattori”.

  She found Hisayo kneeling down at a large gravestone in her familial shrine just north of the great statue, her eyes closed and her hand clasped together in prayer.

“Is..that him?” Yuko quietly asked as she approached the kneeling woman.

  “Yes,” Hisayo answered. Yuko kneeled next to her and offered her own prayers to the shrine. The headstone read ‘Genbu Hattori, a brave leader, a fierce warrior, beloved father.’ Her prayers ended, Hisayo filled a nearby bucket with water and carefully ladled it over the stone, using a brush to scrub off any dust or moss that might be on the stone.

“What kind of man was he?” Yuko asked as Hisayo carefully went about her duties to the other gravestones in the shrine.

  “Strong, ferocious, friend to those who pleased him, merciless to those he deemed weak. I was the youngest of my siblings and I was born prematurely and was relatively frail as a child. Naturally, that meant my father hated me. In addition to being neglected and the target of his rage and abuse, I was frequently bullied by my elder brothers and the other children. I bet he’s rolling in his grave knowing that I’m in charge.”

Yuko remained silent for a moment as she continued to observe Hisayo, finish her ritualistic duties.

  “Even so, you don't seem to hate him. You say you come here every year. You take care of his gravestone and leave offerings and prayers for him.”

  “That is...a good question.,” Hisayo placed the bucket back on the ground and placed a hand on the large headstone, gazing thoughtfully at the slab of stone. “He is my parent and I ‘m his child. No matter what he did to me during his life, I can’t bring myself to resent him in death. As his daughter, I want to continue proving him wrong. I want to continue showing him that his little runt has grown up to become strong. I guess we all are afraid of disappointing our parents.” She stretched out on a stone bench and cast her eyes on Yuko. “It’s the same for you, isn’t it?”

Yuko swallowed hard. “My dad..what about him?”

  “According to your essay, he was a strict man himself. An astute scholar, a brilliant professor and yet, an emotionally unavailable as a father. How did you feel about that, girl?”

  “My dad is a man who always thirsts for knowledge and longs for the unknown. He wasn’t home much due to his work, so the only times i got to see him were fleeting, I don’t even think my little brother even remembers him before the divorce. I never thought to focus on his absence, buried myself in my studies, hoping that I could make him proud and show him his daughter was here. The last time I spent quality time with him was my high school graduation when he told me he was divorcing mom. Didn’t heat much from him after that, then I got super into investigative journalism and then….” Yuko paused, placing an inquisitive finger to her chin.

“So that’s why..” She said quietly.

“It’s clear, isn’t it? How strong a motivation ‘daddy issues’ can be.”

  Yuko sadly chuckled. “Gosh...I can’t believe I’m one of those girls. My whole motivation for becoming a famous reporter...for trying to make it on television...was for him to see me..”

  Hisayo placed a hand on Yuko’s shoulder a confident grin on her face. “I was roughly your age when I realized, that I’d never be what he wanted. I had to realize that I had to stop living my life by the standards of a dead man, and instead live my life for myself and my family. You will have a chance to see your father again, and If he sees what I see at this moment I’m sure he will be proud.”

  Did she just….compliment me? Yuko had little time to appreciate the change before, Hisayo began to wrap up her annual visit, stopping at the grave of one of her brothers.

“Shuten?” Yuko read off the gravestone. “I thought you said your brothers bullied you.”

  “Not Shuten...he and Hanabi helped me harness my abilities and helped me become who I am today. He was a great leader, short-lived as his reign was..” Hisayo lamented.

“What happened to him?” Yuko asked though she had already had an idea of the answer.

“He’s dead..and it was all my fault.”

--Hattori Compound Science Labs, 4 pm--

  Shelty hated laboratories. She hated the clean sterile smell, the tubes filled with specimens and liquids, and most of all she had a strong distrust for scientists, with their poking and prodding, always trying to find answers to questions they had no business asking. So when the lead analyst specifically requested for her to come to the lab, she made no attempt to hide her ire. She groaned as walked through the open bulkhead doors, into the white environment, and suppressed a wretch as the sterile smell hit her sensitive nose. The Hattori science division was the best money could buy, Hisayo made sure to employ an expert of nearly every field of research available and staffed amply with assistants. She made her way to the analysis office, whereupon knocking she was swiftly ushered in by the thin, pale, male who served as the Chief Hattori Analyst.

  “You rang?” Shelty sarcastically asked. The analyst paced about the room as he began setting up projectors and specimens under scopes.

  “I did, it’s about the sample that was brought in the other night. We found something interesting about the DNA make-up and I figured you would want to be the first to know. He dimmed the lights and turned on the projector, a strand of DNA labeled ”AP-1” was shown next to another strand with her name on it. “We were running some tests to try and see if we could match it to any living organism, but what we found was this.” He pressed a button and a program began to analyze the strands for matches, as the bar finished Shelty held her breath as the screen showed ‘Match 90%’. He pointed at the screen, “This, is what I called you here for. I’m expected to report my findings when Lady Hisayo returns, and I figured you’d want to explain a few things to me before that happens. Your blood has extraordinary reproductive properties, I’ve never seen you eat or seem to need sleep. You have those strange markings on your body...So Miss Shelty...if you would be so kind as to answer my question. What are you?”