Jyurakudai Villa - Virgin Snow

[Nightmare Zero]

images2.wikia.nocookie.net/soulcalibur/images/thumb/5/56/Jyurakudai_Villa_Virgin_Snow.jpg/270px-Jyurakudai_Villa_Virgin_Snow.jpg

"The blossoms of the cherry tree already fall like snow. What more can the wind ask of them?"

--Ohshikouchi no Mitsune This poem, recited in lament of the sight of fleeting cherry blossoms as they wilt away, comes from a bygone age of flowery aristocratic culture, when the capital city of Kyoto was once called "Heiankyo," meaning "capital of peace."

Time has since passed, and the world is now one of warriors. The land is ruled by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The dazzling Azuchi-Momoyama era is in full bloom.

Hideyoshi built his great citadel upon the remains of the imperial palace. This villa, too, with its fusion of the extravagant style of the time with the traditional beauty of the cherry blossom, parents an imposing grandeur which invites spectators into a dream-like world.

This mansion stands as a symbol of Toyotomi's power, yet it will face destruction within a mere ten years. The cherry tress, perhaps foreseeing its fate, perhaps not, continue to silently shed their petals into the wind...

[silvercard13]

Aridea breathed in the sweet scent of the cherry blossoms, as she tilted her head toward the daunting citadel. She stepped through the petals on the ground with the soft tread of an assassin. Though she stepped lightly, the delicate petals danced around her ankles, and glided along the hem of her dark jacket. She adjusted her bag uncomfortably. She was like a dead rose in the midst of a blooming garden, seeing as she was dressed in all black. Spare for the pure white carnation pendant that hung lightly on her graceful neck.

Thankfully the wind picked up and the petals swirled around her, picking up her hair and twining in her black locks. Aridea used the opportunity to dart out of the open and to escape from any prying eyes. She jumped up and landed in the shadow of the tree, just as the petals settled back down from their wild waltz. She surveyed the landscape, searching for a populated place to gather information and, or to get a charge to take care of. There had to be a bad seed here under Toyotomi’s reign.

That she was sure of.