Month of the Hare, 759. Five days after the battle against the Steel Chrysanthemum

How to get into the heart of the Imperial Palace through the vast maze underneath Otosan Uchi was a secret a mere few Imperials were trained to record. Even so, only those with a badge of office would be allowed to pass by the House Guard protecting the Imperial Labyrinth. Those were the first two lines of defenses Seppun Horonigai knew the Steel Chrysanthemum would face before he breached into the Palace.

The defiant Miharu squinted her eyes as a pulsing ray of light shone over her face. With another heavy push, she slid open the heavy door to reach the Imperial Mound's underground entrance.

With each new step, the buffeting waves of energy that enlightened the path ahead became stronger. One by one, the jade torii's wards lit up, gauging their destructive forces to blast away the intruder off to Emma-O's domains. They whispered with one another, debating which harm they would deliver the trespasser. Horonigai took a deep breath and marched forward. The last ward opened its eye, and told others, in their kami tongue, "The blood of Hantei. Make way!"

The youngest granddaughter of Hantei XX climbed up the stairs to the interior of the Imperial Mound's lower chambers unharmed.

"Horo-chan." A voice familiar voice echoed up ahead, at the gate to the first ground floor, "I am so happy you made it back home. Yet, I must ask: what are you doing here?"

The Seppun samurai-ko raised her head up to see her father, and greeted him, respectfully containing the tears in her eyes. "Otosan," she said with a sharp bow, "I came here to protect our families. We have not yet failed."

"There's no escape route, my child. There's only duty." The old man said with a nod, taking his daughter's hand to guide her. "Come. Your brother is here." He instructed, and brought her up to the backdoor room, where a tall and handsome shugenja appeared from the other side of the antechamber.

Horonigai's brother greeted his sibling with his eyes, and went straight to the point, "The kami informed me of your arrival, sister. How's the situation down there?"

"The Imperial House Guard won't hold for long. Some are..." The young samurai-ko explained with clenched fists, and completed, "obeying the Steel Chrysanthemum, and fighting against themselves. I saw Lion samurai turn astray in Toshi no Omodoiso. I didn't know we could also be affected."

"Hurry!" Said her brother, as the earth shook, and warned, "He's coming this way. The torii won't stop him. Father, please, leave and warn the Captain of the House Guard to reinforce. I'll stop him here the best I can."

As their father moved away in haste, the Hidden Guard Shugenja looked at his sister with widened eyes, and ordered, pointing in the direction of the Imperial Treasure vault, "Horonigai, protect Kunshu!"

Downstairs, the pulsing green light of the jade torii suddenly turned red. "The wards have been reversed!" Horonigai's brother exclaimed in shock, and readied a scroll to ask the kami halt the intrusion.

Midway within the corridor to get to the vault, she turned her head back. Flashes of fire and light crackled in the air. Her brother stumbled from the room he was into the corridor. With wakizashi and scroll in hand, the Seppun Shugenja was pushed back off to her direction by the many Lion spiritual samurai and their threatening stances.

"Go!" He ordered her sister again, and reinforced, "He cannot have it!"

Suddenly, from behind the Lion samurai, the tall figure of the Steel Chrysanthemum appeared. He glared at them with compelling strength, "I am your Emperor! Bow before me, or suffer the consequences."

Using his body as a shield, the Hidden Guard Captain remained immovable, granting time for Horonigai to lock herself within the vault. Out of patience, the Steel Chrysanthemum raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

One of the Lion samurai in front of him darted forward and slashed downward.

Her brother's blood jetted out, painting Horonigai's face and marking the walls around. The Miharu's hand went for her sword, yet her feet took some steps back. Hantei Okucheo glared at Horonigai. "Give me what is rightfully mine, Seppun."

She gritted her teeth, and with another step back, obeyed.

The heavy stone door was activated. The kami of the vault slammed the stone door down, sealing the protected room with Horonigai inside. There was no way in, yet there was a safe way out. Following her last order, she greets Kunshu, the Ancestral Sword of the Hantei, and takes it into her arms.

Horonigai remembers the words of her father, and repeated them to herself, "There's no escape. There's only duty."

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Imperial • Miharu • Princess • Genki • Brat • Dumped • Breathtaker • Prodigy • Fancy • Spoiled • Bittersweet • Moody • Theme • Profile
Honor: Exceptional • Status: 4.5 • Glory: 1.7

Gear: daisho, another classy fan, another extravagant furisode (or plain kimono and hakama), silk umbrella, jade obi dome (pendant), golden kushi kanzashi (head comb).
Duty/Outside: Armor Up!