(Untitled)

[dream_departed]

((THNMY'd to a couple of weeks after the rescue.))

It had been a crack-headed idea, but Ginta seemed willing enough. She rented a cabin in the U.S. she had seen on the Internet. The area was supposed to be remote. The ad promised a quiet getaway. Maybe that's why Ginta had agree so readily. Maybe they both needed to get away.

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[x_ginta_x]

Once they'd stepped out on the trail, Ginta breathed deeply. Sure, it wasn't much different from the air quality of his own time, but it was refreshing to encounter it in Aya's world. That, and the place had a scent that seemed unique since the plants and were different from a lot of the ones he encountered in Japan.

He was a little quiet as they approached, just taking the scenery in, but he piped up once they were in viewing range of the cabin. "Is that the one?"

[dream_departed]

Aya smiles since it the only cabin nearby. She leans on his arm.

"Yes. Do you like it?"

[x_ginta_x]

"I do. It looks cozy." He reaches out to hold her hand, lacing his fingers with hers as they approach. "And the house itself smells like trees, which is nice."

He catches a whiff of something as they walk by the latticed underside of the house on their way to the closest door. "Hm, looks like we might be sharing with someone. I think I smell a racoon under there."

[dream_departed]

"Your super-senses never stop being cool. I'll leave some peanuts out for it on the lawn later."

So opens the door and is pleased to see that the inside of cabin looks fairly modern. There are wide, deep-set book shelves and a braided rug in front of the fireplace.

"Do you think you would want to live in a place that smells like trees?"

[x_ginta_x]

He chuckles a little at that. "You may end up making a new friend before the trip is over. Careful that he doesn't follow you home." Ginta's only half joking when he says that. Yes, it's near impossible to follow someone who's traveling by PINpoint, but he's known a few tanuki who have accomplished stranger things.

"Hm... yeah, I think I would. Things always seem fresher when they smell like the outside."

He crouches in front of the fireplace and peers quizzically up the chimney. He's never seen a modern, western one before. "What's this?"

[dream_departed]

"A fireplace. Did you want to start a fire? I saw some kindling out back."

Aya pulls back the grill in front of the fireplace. She squints as she sees something glistening at the back of the hearth.

[x_ginta_x]

"Huh," he says, tilting his head and inspecting the fireplace further. "I don't see why not. Heck, if we catch any fish or anything like that we could even cook it over the fire." He realizes that there is a kitchen since he caught a glimpse of it through one of the doorways. Still, an open fire is something he actually knows how to work so he makes no mention of the kitchen and the confusing contraptions within.

When Ginta sees what Aya is peering at he frowns and reaches forward. It takes a little digging and prying, but eventually he removes a metal box, just slightly smaller than the size of one of the bricks making up the fireplace. He holds it so they can both see what the box contains before flipping the latch on the front and opening it.

[dream_departed]

Aya reaches into the box and removes some old, yellowed evelopes. They feel brittle against her fingertips. She feels something hard and metal in one of them. She opens it.

"A key."

The old bronze key glints in the light.

She reaches back into the same envelope and removes a letter written in small, feminine scrawl.

[x_ginta_x]

The letter reads as follows:

Dearest Edward,

It seems as if it is all to be found out soon. I had tried to cover the tracks as best I could, but father always was as sharp as a bloodhound. I fear that he has caught on. However, he has no proof and can do little without it. Please take this key. It belongs to a cupboard in the basement of the cottage in the woods. It will take some doing to find it, but I have no doubt of your being capable of it, just as I have no doubt that you'll know what should be hidden away in it.

I look forward to the day when everything is in place and we can do away with this tiresome waiting.

Yours,

Evelyn

Ginta peers over Aya's shoulder... only to find that the note is in English and he can't read it. "What does it say?"

[dream_departed]

Aya translates the letter for him.

"It sounds so romantic." She smiles brightly at him. "We have to look for the cupboard."

She reaches out for his hand to pull him along.

[x_ginta_x]

"Ah-okay." He blinks and, before he knows it, he's stumbling along behind Aya down the dark, damp stone steps leading to the basement. This part of the cabin seems older than the rest, as if everything else had been remodeled and this section had been forgotten.

There doesn't seem to be much to the basement aside from the cobwebs. There is an old porcelain sink, died more orange than white from the rust stains. On the other side of the room is a series of wine racks. Ginta heads over towards the racks and tries to pull them back to see what's behind them.

[dream_departed]

The grating noise of the wine racks scratching against the floor bother her ears. She can only imagine how it sounds to Ginta. Aya-chan coughs as the moving things around scatters dust.

"I see something."

Am iron ring poking out of the ground. The ring forms a handle for the cupboard. Aya coughs more heavily to clear away the dust. She tries the key.

The cupboard groans in protest as it is opened. She removes a small bundle wrapped in purple velvet. She takes out the small bundle and opens it to reveal the mummified remains of a small monkey.

[x_ginta_x]

The thoughts of how the scratching bother his ears and the dust bothers his nose disappear as Ginta stares at the odd, distorted little corpse in Aya's arms.

"...

What the hell?"

He had no clue what he was expecting, but this wasn't it. There was a silver trinket tucked in the monkey's right paw and a little roll of yellowed and brittle paper tucked in it's left. Ginta carefully extracted the paper. As he was expecting, it was covered in writing he couldn't read. Though, this time around, there was the occassional odd symbol or diagram sketched in along the way. He held it gingerly in front of Aya.

"Maybe this'll explain something?"

[dream_departed]

Aya-chan's eyes are tearing from all the dust, but she can read the note, at least the parts written in English. She doesn't know what some of the strange symbols mean. This note is obviously written by a different hand from the one who wrote the previous note.

She read out loud, Woe to you who disturb the rest of the of the Lord Our God to raise on the seventh day. Look upon him and tremble.

[x_ginta_x]

"...Did we just anger a monkey god? Damnit, why do they not put those kinds of warnings outiside the resting place rather than wait until someone stumbles on it?!"

Ginta shakes his head. "But... those people from the letter. Evelyn and Edward... they must have handled it right? I mean, I'm guessing they were okay. Maybe there's some kind of seal or something?" He looks at the monkey's right paw where a silver talisman is held and points at it. "If there is one, I'd bet that's it."

[dream_departed]

She is fairly sure that there are no monkey gods in her world. But then, she was possessed by a demon...

Aya tries to pry the silver trinket from the monkey's fingers only to have the fingers break off.

"Oops."

She picks up a small silver bell and holds it up for Ginta to see.