Black Eyes
The Imperial Army, led by Daijō Daijin Genji, was an unbeatable army that had endured multiple battles from various fronts. In addition to fighting their deadly enemies forever, the Taira Clan, maintained control over the northern barbarians while defending themselves against foreign invasions.
No army, never before in history, would have been able to withstand such a level of siege during the entire term of Emperor Kobe, were it not for...
...The Daijō Daijin had a secret.
Most of the imperial army was battling against the northern emishi, in the city, there were only the imperial guard and a handful of heishis loyal to the emperor. Kyoto was vulnerable and the Taira knew it, it was time to attack.
If anyone would be able to defeat Daijō Daijin Genji and take Kyoto, that would be General Taira no Keisuke, who had been the only mortal capable of defeating the imperial troops in battle, fighting for control of the shōen in the south.
His troops marched accompanied by the sunset, the languor of the afternoon inspired in Keisuke the fall of the empire, tomorrow would be a new day and a new Shogun would rule Japan.
In the darkest hour of the night, they reached an unprotected Kyoto, the city would have no way to resist. Accompanied by stealth, they spotted the imperial guards who made a tour and surely they would be the only ones in charge of the external security of the city, they had to be exterminated before they could sound the alarm.
The accurate arrows fell straight to the necks of their targets and the blood was sprayed into the air with violence, shading the black of the night with a bright crimson red. The survivors, leaving aside their honor, fled instead of defending the city.
"Follow them, do not leave them alive," ordered Keisuke, leaving with his troops after the small group of imperial guards, if allowed to escape could alert the empire of the presence of enemy troops.
They chased them into a natural depression that formed a kind of pit where they had no escape route. Cornered, the imperial guards committed seppuku before the astonished eyes of the Taira army.
"General Taira recognized the aroma of the substance that covered the ground, tar!
A dozen archers appeared above the slopes and threw their flaming arrows at the Taira army confined in the pit. Meanwhile, the cavalry covered the exit.
The screams of pain from the Taira soldiers were terrifying. A true hell broke out on the outskirts of Kyoto, a hell in which no Taira soldier would be left alive, as the oracle told Daijō Daijin two days ago.
The Oracle, the daughters of Emperor Kobe, possessed an exceptional gift, a gift given to them by the gods Amaterasu and Susanoo. Kaoru was able to make his mind travel through time and space while Mikasa served as an "anchor" for Kahoru's mind. Thanks to Mikasa her sister was able to return to the present, but Kaoru could not see beyond three days in the future, at that distance, the sisters lost their precious bond.
Mikasa was also the interpreter of her sister's visions, it was the voice of Mikasa who had told Genji how the Taira would attack by surprise and how about a hundred imperial soldiers would end up burning thousands of enemies alive.
Minamoto no Genji, Daijō Daijin of Japan, or really, Shogun of Japan. Kept the imperial family confined in Buddha's temple, protected and guarded by the sōheis. Genji did not dare to harm the imperial family in order not to unleash the wrath of the gods, but it was he who ruled Japan, the emperor was nothing but a mere spectator.
The oracle served the Shogun, his predictions were accurate and unmistakable, thanks to these predictions Genji maintained the power, being victorious in almost all his battles and reducing the casualties to the minimum expression when the defeat was inevitable.
"In two days, inside the castle, you'll be killed," predicted Mikasa.
Terror raged through the body of the Shogun who felt he had been condemned to death, the oracle was never wrong.
"Inside the castle? How will these barbarians be able to enter our impregnable fortress?" Genji asked. Two months had passed since the Taira attack and the imperial troops had returned victorious from the north, Kyoto was safer than ever.
"The enemy will attack, but will not be able to put a foot in the city. The assassin is wearing the imperial armor."
"A traitor! I see, describe his face," asked the Shogun.
"Oh Daijō Daijin, I can't see his face, the assassin is wearing the helmet of the imperial army, I can only see his black eyes bursting with rage."
Kaoru could only see the future through the eyes of its protagonist, that is, he could only see what the Shogun would see within two days.
The next day, the Shogun summoned the best engineer in Japan and instructed him to secretly manufacture, inside the throne room, various artifacts to serve as his defense. Neither his family nor his personal guard should know about these defense mechanisms, as he was suspicious of them.
The engineer made, among other things, a machine that can launch with great power a spear towards the entrance door when it was opened from outside, the Shogun should be especially careful to deactivate the device when leaving the room.
The day of the siege came. The imperial army defended the city from the allied troops in what would be the most important battle of the Kobe era. In the palace, Daijō Daijin was looking for a way to mock death, he had ordered the castle to be vacated and only he and his wife were left inside.
Time passed very slowly making the morning endless. Anxiety, or perhaps madness, seized the Shogun's mind. He dispatched his wife, distrustful of her and remained completely alone in his fortress, defended by his artifacts within the castle and by the largest of the armies on the battlefield.
"What if the traitor infiltrated the castle?..if he knew the traps?..is the engineer I hired reliable?" Genji thought in his quarters.
The battle on the outskirts of Kyoto had extended into the afternoon. The day was endless for the delirious Shogun, lonely in his quarters.
"Damn it! The oracle is never wrong, the assassin must be aware of my traps, that damned engineer betrayed me!..." Daijō Daijin reproached.
He remembered Mikasa's words: "In two days, inside the castle, you will be assassinated". The Shogun realized that there was no other place where he was more in danger than inside the castle, it was precisely the place where he should be killed and in this place, he was now alone and helpless.
"I must get out of here," he convinced himself, "I'll pass myself off as one of my samurai and so they won't recognize me, I'll beat the death!"
He dressed in the imperial armor and left the throne room. Outside, the imperial troops had been victorious once again, the enemy surrendered unconditionally and from that day on they swore allegiance to the emperor.
"I've been worried all day." from the corridor, Genji was able to hear his wife who was talking to the imperial guard, "Come with me to tell him the good news, so he can stop worrying."
A chill ran through the Shogun's body as if his wife's words sentenced him to death. Terrified, return by the long corridor towards the room of the throne forgetting to deactivate that nefarious mechanism.
The spear that pierced his chest was fired with such force that it pushed him two meters back. Sitting in the middle of the corridor, looking at one of the mirrors that covered the walls. He could only see his black eyes bursting with rage behind the helmet of the imperial army.
Japan had been unified, but in Kyoto, there was a power vacuum. After Genji's death, the Minamoto clan left the government and returned it to the imperial family, however, Emperor Kobe preferred to continue with the figure of Insei and remain in the temple.
Kobuto, son of Kobe and brother of the oracle would be the emperor, his black eyes, full of anger, reminded of Tsukuyomi's own darkness.
The future,
Accept it unknown.
Live the present!
The End.
Some terms used in my story:
Amaterasu: Goddess of the sun and lady of the heavens
Susanoo: God of the Ocean and Lord of War
Tsukuyomi: God of darkness and the moon
Daijō Daijin: Grand Minister
Emishi: Northern Japanese Barbarians
Heishi: Soldier
Insei: cloistered government, where the emperor at the moment of abdicating would withdraw to a Buddhist temple but would maintain a regent's post over his successor.
Seppuku: Japanese Suicide Ritual to Die with Honor
Shōen: Private lands
Sōhei: Armed monks
Reference links
https://www.thoughtco.com/japan-facts-and-history-195581
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historia_de_Jap%C3%B3n
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Japan
This is my participation for the Tell A Story To Me Contest from @calluna and @bananafish. I really enjoyed writing this story and I hope you like it, do not hesitate to comment.
Thank you for reading.
