This is my first-born. Well…the closest thing to it, anyhow. I don't have any kids. This is the first Fan Fiction I have ever ventured to write. It's a little shakey in places, but I've kept it the way it is. Of course, I've tried to weed out the grammatical mistakes and spelling errors, but I probably haven't gotten all of them. Blame it on sleep deprivation. But I've decided not to make any major changes, just to keep the first-time flavor. Besides, it's always good to have something to look back on and say that I've grown since that first one…aiya! I'm not THAT profound, but then I kinda feel like that. Sort 'er like Elvis Presley before he began speaking like he had something stuck in his mouth. Hope you like this one!

Standard disclaimers apply. "Rurouni Kenshin" (c) Watsuki Nobuhiro, Shuiesha, Shounen Jump, and Sony. I do not own RK, pray as I might, every night, it just wouldn't happen that way. No matter how many candles I light, no matter how many chickens I decapitate…

Mitsumo Yasanari flipped the rat-tail into her cauldron and a puff of smoke popped up from the pot. The red liquid simmering in the mixture turned yellow and she smiled in satisfaction. Ah. The potion is coming along fine. In a few minutes, it'll be ready for the false memory.

"Yasanari…" whispered a deep voice from the corner of the room.

Yasanari looked up from her work and regarded the vague image of her husband on the enchanted mirror. She smiled at him, her brown hair framing her beautiful face. She radiated love, love for the wizard trapped inside the mystical prison. "Soon, my love, you shall be free again."

Mistumo Taka's eyes widened almost in disbelief, his palms pressing against the inside surface of the mirror he had been sealed in. "Y-you've found a way to unleash the dragon in Hiko?"

Yasanari chuckled and went to the mirror, trailing her fingers against the image of his face tenderly. "No. I've told you it was impossible, didn't I? His spirit is too controlled and calm to draw out the dragon from him, but I've discovered a better alternative."

Taka frowned at his witch-wife. "Yasanari-chan, you know the Hiten Misturugi Dragon is the only dragon powerful enough…"

"Hush…" she interrupted in an amused voice. "No need to tell me, husband. Listen…there is another who houses the same kind of dragon."

Taka stared at Yasanari, shocked. "Another? Hiten Mitsu…"

"Yes," she interrupted again. "One who's spirit can be churned simply because he had been through so much pain and suffering. The fourteenth master of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu: Himura Kenshin."

Taka's shocked expression transformed into glee and he laughed. "Battousai. Oh, my brilliant wife! You must free me from this wretched prison soon so I can be with you!"

Yasanari smiled. "I'm working on it."

"And you can draw out his dragon, you say?"

"Yes, and it gets better, my dear."

"How is that?"

Yasanari grinned, her eyes gleaming ferociously. "His woman, Kamiya Kaoru, has the purest soul I have ever seen. Even if they've…done things together…her blood…"

"Will be the perfect offering to the dragon," Taka finished delightedly. "Nothing like maiden's blood to intoxicate an oversized lizard."

Yasanari laughed at her husband's humor. "This will be so easy. It will be over before the Sorcerers' Triad can have the authority to arrest us, and by the time they do get the authority, we would be gone from this realm, out of their jurisdiction."

"I love your scheming little heart."

"This I know," she said with a satisfied smile.

Ludlow Anvik would have turned red in the face if he were in human form. Perched on the windowsill of Mitsumo Yasanari as a canary, he had heard and seen the whole exchange between husband and wife. As of this moment, he was utterly infuriated.

How could they think they would get away with this? He asked himself. He was thoroughly insulted that the Mitsumos even entertained the thought that the Sorcerers' Triad would not act accordingly with such on-doings.

Janek wil not be pleased.

Ludlow flapped his wings and took off into the air. As assistant to the great sorcerer Janek Malfid, who is distinguished as a third of the Sorcerers' Triad, the magic realm's Supreme Court, Ludlow was seldom caught idle. Apart from his duties in the Ithenea, courthouse for the judicial affairs of Mages, Ludlow served Janek's orders.

This time, it was to monitor the activities of Mitsumo Yasanari, wife of convicted Mage Killer, Mitsumo Taka.

Right after Mitsumo Taka was cursed into the Mirror Prison for the murder of three Magic Wielders, Janek himself reading the sentence, the respected Triad member expressed concern over the punishment.

Janek sighed and conceded the point. He would have to deal with it himself, and this is where Ludlow came in.

Ludlow was asked to keep an eye on Yasanari. It was a maneuver brought of fear that has proven to be justified.

Now, as Ludlow soared through the air, he entered a portal connecting him to Janek's office.

"What news, Ludlow?" Janek asked as soon as the canary settled on a cushioned chair.

The bird sprouted massive legs while its wings became arms. A red face accompanied the man that had just materialized in Janek's office. Young at 132 years old, Ludlow was still not adept at hiding his emotions. "Yasanari has found out about Himura Kenshin and is planning to draw the dragon from him."

Janek sighed and rubbed his forehead. He felt like going to the Mage Senate and screaming "I told you so! I told you your stupid laws would go easy on him!" but of course, that was conduct unbecoming of a judge. "The idiots…" he muttered, not necessarily meaning the senate. "I suppose they're certain to get away with this?"

"Naturally."

Janek frowned. "And their offering to the dragon?"

"Kamiya Kaoru."

Janek shook his head, annoyed. "Maiden's Blood. The witch thought of everything. Except…"

"Except?" Ludlow prompted him.

"Every dragon has its master…" Janek said with a small smile.

Realization crept into Ludlow's eyes. "Of course! But…what are we going to do about Yasanari in the meantime?"

Janek shrugged. "What can we do? Unless she actually harms a Mage, we cannot arrest her. Yasanari knows this."

"But the dragon will not follow its master unless the master…"

"We'll have to rely on Kaoru's magic," Janek said in finality.

Ludlow sighed. "Janek, have you forgotten that she doesn't know she's a Mage?"

"No, I haven't, and I think it's about time the Head of Revelations does something to remedy that."

Nania Faye, Head of Revelations, took the call of Janek Malfid on the Spectram and smiled as the illusion of him appeared in her office.

"To what do I owe the honor of this call, Your Honor?" Nania asked respectfully, her green hair dancing on the tendrils of her powers.

Janek cut right to the chase. "I need you to do a revelation."

"Who is the Mage?" was the professional response, raising a spectral scroll at eye level.

"Kamiya Kaoru," Janek replied.

Nania checked the scroll then closed it with finality. "Not eligible, Your Honor. You know the rules. Only Mage blood relatives can tell the Mage about their gifts, and in the absence of such, a Mage's capabilities can only be revealed if the mage is clearly in danger of another mage. These things work like arrest warrants you know. Can't issue it unless there's probably cause. Get my drift?"

"Kaoru is in danger."

"I'll need proof of that."

Janek sighed. "Can't you take my word for it? Can't you make an exception this once?"

"Never! And besides, Kaoru is an Elemental Mage. You know how the Empress prefers them to stay dormant. The less active Elemental Mage's there are, the less potential chaos there will be," Nania said pointedly. "The Empress will have my head if I bend the rules, even for Kaoru."

Janek frowned in thought. The Empress had reason to limit the existence of Elemental Mages. Such mages used one of the four elements of the realm to manifest their power. Most times, it was their kind of magic that caused mass destruction. Not intentionally…most of the time. Even the purest of hearts can wreak serious havoc by the power of the elements, because the strength of the magic often surpasses the strength of the mage's will. The power can easily spin out of control, which was often the case in disasters of the kind.

The Empress of the Earth Realm thought Elemental Mages so troublesome that revelations to them were executed only upon special permission granted by the Empress herself, with the weighty recommendation of the Head of Revelations, of course.

Janek had one last shot in his footlocker. "You know you owe me, Nania."

Nania frowned. "Janek, I know you understand how much I appreciate the discounts you offer me on the Flogworm supply for my department. In fact, I could not manage without it, but do be fair. Discounted Flogworms can hardly be considered equal to what you ask of me. You know the punishment for unauthorized revelations."

Janek smiled apologetically. "I had to try. This is very important to me."

Nania smiled in return. "Listen, I can't bend the rules, but I can make them more manageable. Give me proof of Kamiya Kaoru's endangered life and I will make certain the Empress approves of her revelation. Good enough?"

"It will have to do."

Yasanari chanted the false memory into the potion she was concocting and the yellow mixture glowed green. It's ready.

She took the sterilized vial from the sleeve of her kimono and filled it with the potion. She corked the tube and made two more of the same portions for emergency purposes. When she was done, she summoned her Ghoul.

Bushio Desuke walked into Yasanari's spell chamber, an evil grin already pasted on his face at the mere anticipation of the dastardly deeds his master had in store for him.

Yasanari skimmed her eyes covetously over her Ghoul. What a handsome Ghoul he was, young and supple. She would have to seduce him before she let her husband out. Bushio Desuke had the looks of an angel but the disposition of an imp. He was capable of doing the dirtiest, sleaziest and most tasteless task, without loss of his enjoyment. He was strong too, freakishly so. He can lift large objects and take hits without breaking a sweat. He possessed no magic, merely a Walker, as Mages called non-mystics. He had been tricked into blind submission, like most ghouls were. Yasanari had promised to teach him magic when she considered him ready for it. Of course, he would never be ready. Walkers suffered eternal banality. No skill, no spell, ever!

Desuke just thinks he would be able to do magic, and Yasanari encouraged his hopes because he made a very resourceful ghoul.

"Yasanari-sama," Desuke said respectfully. "You called?"

"Yes," Yasanari replied. "Tomorrow we put my plan into action. We will go together, but you must do everything for me, lest the Mage Government gain authority to arrest me." Loopholes in the system were such gems!

Desuke chuckled. "Understood, Yasanari-sama. Your cunning humbles me."

"That so? Well, I have better ways of humbling you, Desuke," she said naughtily. She loved her husband, but it never hurt to have a little fun on the side.

To be continued…

Since I've got tons of weird names in the story (also, I've gotten requests to have the names ironed out), I've listed the important names down here for reference.

Important Names to Remember (Original characters):

1. Mitsumo Yasanari - Evil sorceress plotting to get Kenshin's dragon. She is the wife of convicted Mage Killer Mitsumo Taka.
2. Mitsumo Taka - Mage Killer sentenced to the mirror prison. Husband of Yasanari.
3. Janek Malfid - One of the three in the Sorcerers' Triad, Supreme Court of the Mage Government. He sits with Dalfidor Wortshire and Temise Sarencen. He most certainly sentenced Mitsumo Taka to the mirror prison, but he feels that the punishment should have been more severe.
4. Ludlow Anvik - Works in Ithenea, Courthouse of Judicial Affairs. I didn't go much into what he does there officially because what he does as the assistant of Janek Malfid is more important. He's is Janek's right hand man.
5. Nania Faye - Head of the Department of Revelations.
6. Bushio Desuke - Yasanari's ghoul. He has no magic and he never will have magic.