Ex Uno Omnia, Part II

“Knights…of the M—Mo—Monad?” stammered out Noe.

“Knights of the Monad,” echoed Shunji. “As a first premise I must ask you: do you believe in a single, absolute, independent, unchanging, and uncreated being, from which all other things originate?”

“You mean like God?” asked Noe.

“If you wish to call it that,” answered Shunji. “We do not require that it be a person, and certainly not three. We call it simply the Monad, or to borrow a term from our own philosophy, Taikyoku. That is the only belief which we hold in common—we, the Knights of the Monad.”

“That’s nice to know,” said Noe politely, “but it still doesn’t tell me what you all do.”

Shunji spoke without hesitation, as if he had had this spiel memorized down-pat. “We do as mages have done for centuries. We research to develop and refine our craft, we devote ourselves to improving the people’s quality of life through our abilities, and, perhaps most importantly, we work with the powers that be to solve cases that cannot be solved by any other means.”

“And by ‘powers that be’ you mean the government?”

“Correct. Surely even in this culture you’ve heard stories of magicians long ago who were in the employ of the king? Those kinds of people never went away; they simply adapted and took on more sophisticated roles. In Japan there is the Bureau of Onmyo, which has existed since ancient times. Though our stated roles have included astrology, meteorology, and other methods of prediction in the service of the state, we are mages at our core. And we’re not solely under the supervision of the government; in Japan we have a number of religious bodies who interact with us.”

“An’ here in Satsuma,” Justo picked up, “you’ve got a whole court of mages. No, that’s literally what we’re called: the Alchemist Court. We kinda combined the magic side of things with the science side, like they did in Europe, which is why we do all that transmutin’ stuff. Oh, yeah, an’ we’ve got the Church keepin’ an eye on us and all. Kinda. That’s why we’ve got Leonor here, and why we’re in a Hospitaller facility at the moment.”

Leonor reluctantly raised a hand to announce her presence.

“Add in one armistice between Satsuma and Japan, and the whole host of spiritual problems the last war gave us, and you’ve got the Knights. We’re sorta like a, uh, magical intelligence agency? A magic Interpol…?”

Noe paused for a moment to take all of this in. “…So magic really is real? I mean, not like I can deny it, but…”

“In a sense,” answered Shunji. “To some, the ability of an individual to bend the laws of nature may seem supernatural. But to us it is simply another set of the laws of nature, one which subsumes all others. Perhaps one could call it the ‘Arch-Nature’.”

“G—Got it,” said Noe, clutching her head. “But all this talk about history and laws and philosophy and stuff is a lot for me at the moment; I still don’t think I’m over…whatever happened to me. Can we save this for another time?”

“You were the one who asked for this,” Shunji grumpily countered, but before anything else could be said on this Merry cut in to change the subject.

“I think doing some introductions would help!” she beamed. “Shunji-kun, why don’t you start?”

Shunji gave her another incredulous look, but then cleared his throat, and pulled out from his robes a very official-looking golden badge and government ID. The badge bore the same EX UNO OMNIA insignia that had appeared on the contract.

“Shunji Godoh, age twenty, and Knight-Captain here in Kumamoto. Our Godoh family has served Japan from the Heian period down through the communist regime and into the present day. We’ve helped to avert a number of disasters which threatened the very foundations of our country, including the Kansai Famine during the ‘60s.”

“The Kansai Famine, huh…” remarked Noe. The Kansai (or Quansai in Satsuman) Famine was one of many examples her father had used to highlight the “total batshittery” of the Japanese Communist government, and of communists in general, which had been incited by a combination of the ruling Japanese Communist Party’s (JPC) forced relocation of farmers from Kanto and Tohoku westward toward the new capital in Osaka, and a crop plague which struck Kansai around the same time. Many historians had called the People’s Republic of Japan’s (PRJ) recovery from this in just a couple of years nigh-miraculous; perhaps the presence of the onmyoji pushed them over that edge.

“A—And, Sachiko…san here is your sister?”

“Yes,” affirmed Shunji. “She’s seventeen; the youngest in our generation of our line of the family. She has immense talent, I’ll admit, but…the expectations haven’t been high on her from the start.”

“I see…”

Now it was Merry’s turn. “I’m Merry Anjos, and I’m twenty-one! I’m joint Knight-Captain here with my syzygy Shunji-kun.”

“Syzygy…?” Noe had heard that term come up before, but she could not even begin to comprehend what it meant, let alone how it was meant to be spelled.

“Oh, it’s just a fancy word we use for ‘partner’ here!” said Merry.

“In order to promote, ahem, ‘harmony’ between the alchemists of Satsuma and the onmyoji of Japan, we have a system wherein one alchemist and one onmyoji are paired together in their duties,” clarified Shunji. “They share the same rank, work at the same post, and their partnership effectively lasts for life. Ijyuin and Sachiko here are next up to be made a syzygy, by the way.”

“At which point I can stop givin’ her the senpai treatment, I hope,” added Justo.

“Does it always have to be a guy and a girl?” asked Noe.

Merry giggled. “You’d be surprised how often it happens, but no, it’s not a requirement. By the way, me and my family specialize in applying alchemy to medicine. If there’s any drug you need, just say the word and I can whip it up for you!”

“I—I think I’m good at the moment, thanks.”

“Alright, Justinho, your turn!”

Justo scratched the back of his head. “Well, I think you already know a lot about me, ‘ey? I’m Justo Ijyuin, sixteen. I specialize in earth-based alchemy, an’ I’m a pretty good fighter, too. Helps that these onmyoji have a lot of martial arts stuff to teach us, ha-ha.”

Noe became curious upon hearing the mention of the elements again. “Is that, uh…elemental stuff something you’re born with?” she asked.

Justo shrugged. “Part-nature, part-nurture, I think. But every alchemist’s got some affinity or another. Merry’s is fire, by the way.”

Merry giggled again. “I don’t use mine for fighting people, but it’s helpful for fighting infections and making medicine! Now, I think it’s time to introduce yourself, Noe!”

Noe sighed and squirmed in her chair. “I’m, uh…I’m Noe Numasaki. Age fifteen. I’m just a high-school student at the moment, and, uh…I go to the same school as Justo. I’m not really sure what’s wrong with me, but I’ve been possessed by…something.”

Merry clapped her hands in appreciation. “Nice to have you with us, Noe! As for what’s up with you—Shunji-kun, take it away!”

Shunji moved to the center of the room, as Noe and both of the alchemists hung upon his word.

“What you’re being possessed by,” began Shunji, “is what we call an onryo, a wrathful ghost. Specifically, the ghost of someone who has died, but whose soul is still disturbed and has lingering attachments to this world.”

“So…not a demon?” asked Noe.

“What you call ‘demons’ we classify with more nuance, but no, it’s most certainly the spirit of a man. Onryo are usually known to simply haunt places or objects, but some stronger ones have been known to haunt people, to be able to interact with the physical world, to actively harm the living, and even to bring about nation-wide disasters. Unfortunately…your onryo seems to be one of the more powerful kinds.”

Noe gulped. “This thing could harm me, too?”

“Possibly, but not likely. Onryo don’t tend to harm what they’ve possessed. At any rate, the reason most other exorcists wouldn’t be effective against this onryo is twofold: first, the fact that it’s a ghost rather than a demon; and second, its power and the potential of harm. We onmyoji have adapted to be able to handle such threats. In the past, the whole of Japan was attacked by onryo who caused widespread calamity; the spirits of great but tragic men like Taira no Masakado and Sugiwara no Michizane. Fortunately, we already have a few clues as to the identity of your onryo. You cannot see it, but from what I hear you have an idea of when this man lived, no?”

Noe nodded. “Yeah. In my dreams I see people—people from hundreds of years ago. Samurai, peasants, missionaries…and they’ve all been killed, with a sword.”

“Indeed. The onryo you have would appear to be a samurai from the Sengoku period, roughly four hundred years ago. He’s dressed in the robes of a samurai—tattered, albeit—and he has a very disheveled appearance. Perhaps he was a ronin, a samurai who lost or deserted his lord. And then there is the sword—”

All now took notice, following Shunji’s lead, of that mysterious sword, which had been propped up against the wall in the corner of the room. Only the hilt now was covered in concrete, likely the work of Justo. Shunji walked over to it, and the others followed him.

“Onryo are not commonly known to summon physical objects, much less objects with some…odd properties. You can wield this sword, correct, Noe?”

Noe nodded again.

“And yet it burns anyone else who touches it…” mused Shunji. “Strange. But it almost certainly cements the background of the onryo. It bears an inscription, as well—Ijyuin, did you see it?”

“Uh, yeah,” said Justo, clearing his throat. “I looked it up, an’ it says…Haku-ko-gan?” he pointed to the midsection of the sword, near the hilt. There were three thinly-etched kanji, almost illegible. But per Justo’s word, it said:

白虎丸

Shunji furrowed his brow and sighed. “You alchemists really need to study Japanese literature more. It’s read Byakko-maru.”

“OHHHH!” exclaimed Justo. “So that’s what Byakko means!”

“Byakko…?” asked Noe.

Shunji nodded. “The White Tiger, one of the four great guardian spirits formed from the splitting of the yin and of the yang. At any rate, it’s almost certain this man was not a Christian, if he even ever saw a missionary. But that should make him all the more susceptible to onmyo.”

“So you’re saying you can actually exorcise me? You mean it?”

“Yes… But not at the moment.”

Noe frowned, but Shunji, to pacify her, explained further.

“The spell Sachiko used on you last night to stop your, ahem, episode…”

“Those paper slip things?”

“Yes. It’s a high-caliber spell, one that could eliminate the effect of possession between a human and an ordinary onryo. It actually worked quite well against yours, but as proof of the onryo’s strength it still persists, while your body was not able to fully handle it. In time both you and the onryo will recover, and we will attempt another exorcism.”

Noe sighed. It was not quite a sigh of relief, but perhaps a sigh of release. The story given by Shunji’s answers was coherent, at least; it made sense that she would have experiences pertaining to a specific time if this was a ghost from said time rather than a demon, and it instilled in her a little more confidence in these people. She had finally gotten what she wanted out of this shady bunch, and they became less, well, shady to her. Now for the final question.

“So you’re gonna send me home, ri—”

As she said this, she suddenly became aware of the implications of the word ‘home’, the web of a million possible consequences this word bore. She looked over at the clock by Sachiko’s bed. Three o’clock in the afternoon, Tuesday, May 19th. She had officially skipped all of school today, she hadn’t been home in nearly two days, and she was still stuck in the middle of God-knows-where.

“OH MY GOD!!”