The Sea Stone

by Nicolette Andrews

  Somewhere in the chaos, she was separated from Makato. Even knowing she was putting herself in danger, she searched for him. All the while, the bodies closed in around her. One blow, followed by a second and a third, brought her to the ground. They piled onto her, preventing any escape. But as they did, a dozen copies of Makato swarmed over on top of them. The Namahage wrestled with the clones of Makato and those that remained Rin shook off her body.

  One of the clones came toward her and held out his hand. When her golden eyes met his green ones, she realized this was not a copy but the real thing. In a moment a silent understanding passed between them. A plan formed without a need for words. It was as if she was back in the old days with Hikaru.

  The Namahage had destroyed the clones and were once more closing in. They were even angrier than before. Rin placed herself in front of Makato, blocking him from the Namahage as he spoke a rapid chant under his breath.

  Giant vines burst up from the ground, blocking the Namahage and leaving them their chance to escape. Rin started to flee but stopped when Makato didn't follow.

  "What are you doing?" she shouted at him.

  "Don't argue with me and run," he said, his gaze transfixed on the wall of vines.

  The Namahage were already starting to break through the vines; the metal gleam of their weapons poked through the thick greenery.

  "I'm not leaving without you," Rin said, standing by his side.

  "Just go," he said and the vines burst out of the ground at her feet, wrapping around her torso and launching her into the air several yards away from the fighting.

  Rin landed on the ground with a hard thud, but was back up in a few seconds. When she looked up again, the swarm of Namahage had converged around Makato.

  "No!" Rin roared and barreled toward them.

  She launched herself onto the far side of the group, tearing and rending flesh, with a single-minded focus on finding and saving Makato. The Namahage swarmed around her, overwhelming her with their sheer numbers. She was hit from every side and still she pressed forward until one last blow brought her crashing to the ground. Bloody and beaten, she looked up at the Namahage who raised his clever prepared to make an end of her. But before he could, a blade was shoved through the back of him. Just the bloody tip of a sword poked through.

  The Namahage slumped forward onto the ground, revealing a blood-spattered Tsuki.

  "Sorry I'm late."

  As he grinned at Rin, another Namahage came up behind him screaming for blood. Tsuki spun around slicing his head off his shoulders, which tumbled onto the ground with a wet flop.

  The Namahage circled around their new opponent while Rin scanned the crowd for Makato.

  "What has them all riled up?" Tsuki asked as he stood back to back with Rin.

  "They think we killed Suzume." He nodded. No more needed to be said.

  At the same time they both attacked, taking on several Namahage at once. But despite Tsuki's skill and Rin's determination, they were greatly outnumbered.

  "That's enough," a cold voice said, effectively dropping a bucket of cold water over the group.

  Rin, Tsuki and the Namahage all froze in place, turning to see Tohru holding his knife to Makato's throat.

  "Let him go," Rin snarled.

  "Rin get out of here. It's a trap. Suzume isn't really dead."

  Tsuki, who was closest to Suzume's body, knelt down beside it. He picked up her arm which pulled away from the body, but instead of blood and bone straw fell out of an empty sleeve. Her face which had seemed so life like before, now appeared to be painted on.

  "What is this?" Tsuki asked, his brows raised to his hairline in confusion.

  "I guess the game is up," Tohru said, but his voice had changed. It was no longer gruff but more refined and familiar.

  Makato would not look at her but stared forward. "You promised you wouldn't hurt her."

  "And that was before you disobeyed me. Did you think I wouldn't notice?"

  "What is he talking about? You were taking orders from the Namahage?"

  Tohru threw his head back and laughed, it was high and mocking. "I guess I have no more need of this." He pulled back his mask and tossed it to the ground, revealing himself to be Hisato.

  "You were working for Hisato?" It felt as if someone had just punched her in the gut. This had to be a trick.

  Hisato traced his hand along Makato's cheek. Makato would not look Rin in the eye but instead stared at the dummy of Suzume's body. "You are correct, he's given himself to me. And I've put his power to good use. Even you were fooled by my illusion." Hisato snapped his finger and the Namahage that were surrounding them disappeared in a puff of smoke, along with the straw body of Suzume.

  "Why would you do this?" Rin asked Makato.

  Even though he wouldn't look at her, the shame of what he had done was written in his expression.

  "He did it to get back his memories," Hisato said with a shake of his head as if he couldn't think of a sillier thing to do.

  "You're lying." Rin snarled and took a step toward them but Hisato only raised the blade to his throat.

  "Don't test me, kitsune. I'm not afraid to spill blood."

  "You wouldn't kill him, you need him," Rin said, taking a daring step forward.

  Hisato dragged his blade against Makato's cheek as he cried out in pain. He might as well have grabbed a hold of her heart and twisted it.

  Her voice shook as she spoke. "Please, just let him go."

  "Well, that's the problem. Restoring what was lost comes at a heavy price. And he has not paid in full." He laughed as he flipped his hand and a black stone appeared.

  "What is it he owes? I'll pay it."

  "Rin, don't!" Makato shouted.

  "Don't be a fool." Akira agreed, using her brother's face to scold the kitsune.

  She ignored them all and took a step closer toward Hisato. "What did you ask him to do?"

  Hisato waved his hand. "It's too late now. I will have to take my repayment from him." He turned Makato's face toward him as he scored a line of blood along Makato's neck.

  "Wait." Rin held out her hand.

  Hisato stopped and turned to smile at her. "Yes?"

  "Whatever you think is a worthy payment for memories of a past life, I will give it to you." She held her head high as she looked at Hisato.

  "It wasn't his past life he had to remember. But this life."

  Rin felt as if the ground had just been turned to sand beneath her feet. This had to be a trick.

  "But he remembers me from his past life." Her eyes darted between Hisato and Makato.

  "Tell her what you learned, Hikaru," Hisato purred. His eyes were trained on Rin. Hearing his name it sent a ripple down her spine. This couldn't be real.

  "Hikaru died."

  "I'll find Suzume and give her the stone, just let Rin go," Makato pleaded with Hisato.

  Hisato laughed throwing his head back. "Oh no. That will not return balance. Not now. More is required."

  "That's enough," Tsuki said and rushed toward Hisato. Before he could land his attack, vines rose up from the ground, wrapping around his body, pinning his arms to his sides. Tsuki struggled against them.

  "What are you doing? We're on the same side," Tsuki shouted at Makato.

  Hisato had let go of him and Makato stood at Hisato's side. He was staring at the ground, his hands balled into fists.

  "As you can see, Hikaru has chosen his side," Hisato said to Tsuki.

  Rin felt as if the entire world had been knocked off its axis. Hikaru wouldn't have done this. He was good, he fought to protect the innocent. He wouldn't sacrifice another for his own ends. Unless it was to protect her...

  She had to save him. She rushed forward, prepared to attack. She would destroy Hisato by any means necessary.

  As Rin ran closer however, Makato put his hand out and a dozen copies burst in front of her, blocking her path and preventing her from attacking Hisato.

  Hisato laughed. "You cannot win, kitsune. No
w is your time to choose. The dragon or your husband."

  Just then a vine burst up from the ground and impaled Hisato in the shoulder. He stumbled forward and the blow knocked the stone out of his hand. It rolled toward Rin. Blood seeped from his wound, but it was already knitting itself back together. The only evidence that remained was the bloody stain down his front and a matching bloody wound was opened on Makato's shoulder as well.

  He turned to face Makato, danger glinting in his eye. "You will regret that," Hisato hissed. He opened his hand and a blade made of black material appeared there. He rushed toward Makato, blade arched to kill.

  "Rin, run," Makato shouted, slicing his hand through the air, indicating she should go.

  Hisato raised up a black sword, while Makato surrounded himself in copies. She could not even consider leaving, and instead she flung herself between the two of them. As Hisato's blade fell it sliced into her shoulder. White hot flames licked inside her body, contracting every muscle as she screamed in agony. The power of the attack was enough to force her from her true form to her human form.

  Hisato stood over her panting, his blade held at his side.

  "What a touching reunion, too bad it will not last."

  Makato stood over her, his arms outstretched. "Let her go. She has nothing to do with this."

  "A price must be paid." Hisato smiled.

  "Then take my life for hers.”

  Hisato shook his head. "That is not enough, you are already mine." He turned toward Rin with a sly smile. He leaned down and picked up the stone. He held it in front of him for Rin to see.

  "Inside here is the dragon. I will give him to you but Hikaru remains here with me. Or you can join me and I will spare both your lives."

  Rin looked at Hikaru. He reached for her hand and squeezed it. She leaned forward, pressing her forehead to his.

  "I should have found you sooner." She cried, tears rolling down her cheek.

  "I will find you again. I will always find you."

  She nodded against his head, and then kissed him one more time before turning to face Hisato. I'm sorry, my beloved.

  "I will join you."

  38

  Suzume woke up on something hard. I'm getting really tired of being knocked unconscious, she thought as she sat up and rubbed her pounding head. Water dripped nearby. Her clothes were soaked and were suctioned to her skin, just as her hair was plastered to her head and wrapped around her throat into her mouth attempting to choke her. She spit out the mass of salty, wet hair and then pushed the strands back on her scalp.

  Looking around, she seemed to be in the courtyard of a palace. Her mind was in a fog. Where am I? The taste of the sea lingered in her mouth and a vivid memory of drowning came to her mind. Did I die?

  If this was the afterlife, it was not what she expected it to be. The courtyard was vacant. A covered veranda surrounded the square courtyard, and a single set of stairs led onto corridors to places unknown. The light here was strange as well, gloomy and ethereal. I can't believe I died. She had always thought you found peace in the afterlife, but she only felt annoyed. Nothing in her life went right, so of course she would die without accomplishing her goals. At least I don't have to worry about defeating Hisato now.

  She climbed to her feet, skin shivering from cold. She would have hoped dying would mean being freed of cold and pain as well. But that was just her luck, wasn't it?

  "Hello?" She called out, but there was no response other than the echo of her voice reverberating back at her.

  She shuffled closer to the stairwell leading onto the veranda. The courtyard was covered in smooth stones, and the column was painted blue, and upon closer inspection she could see a motif of waves and sea creatures decorating the columns and the walls. She ran her fingers along the fine details. It was very delicate and would have been completed by a master craftsman. She tilted her head as she examined it, she could feel each ridge of the carving, even smell the salt in the air. I didn't think death would feel so much like living.

  Someone behind her cleared their throat and Suzume spun around to see a small man staring at her with blue skin, bulbous eyes, a wide mouth, and what seemed to be gills on the side of his head. Perched atop his head was a pointed hat, something that was commonly worn by high-ranking servants.

  Suzume screeched at the sight of him. She threw her arms up in defensive pose. "Who are you?"

  "Welcome, my lady, we've been expecting you," he said with a deep bow.

  "Am I dead?" Suzume looked at the man and blinked in confusion.

  He chortled. "You've reached the court of the Lord of the Sea," he said and then with a blue, webbed hand pointed up the stairs. "This way, he's waiting for you."

  Suzume looked around again at the strange palace, "But I drowned. Are you sure I'm not dead?"

  The man smiled. "Quite certain. Though the pathway to get here might feel a lot like drowning." He gestured upward with a flipper-like hand. Suzume tilted her head back and almost fell over backward from the shock. The sky overhead was not sky at all, but a blackish blue ocean.

  Silvery fish flitted by like a flock of birds, chased by even bigger fish with many pointed teeth, and then a large shadow passed overhead, its form hidden by the murky water. It sent a shiver of fear down her spine. When Suzume looked down again, the fish servant was heading up the stairs without her. She almost stumbled on the edge of her wet hakama in her haste to chase after him.

  Confused more than ever, Suzume followed the man through a long hallway. The place reminded her of the palace on the mountaintop where Kazue's heart had been hidden. It looked like a human palace, but there was a strange aura to the place that left the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. The blue man led Suzume to a pair of double doors, which were guarded by two yokai. They had the bodies of men but their heads were that of large mouth fish. They held spears with jagged points, which gleamed beneath the blue-green luminescent light of torches behind them. Suzume looked at them from the corner of her eye as she walked into the room beyond.

  The room was packed with even more strange creatures: a group of small men covered in red hair and wearing skirts made of seaweed sat around a low table drinking sake, while a woman with long strands of dark hair and eyes black without pupils watched Suzume walk by without blinking. Further along was another woman whose upper body was of a maiden but her lower half was a snake which coiled around her. In her arms she cradled a bundle that looked like a baby. When Suzume tried to peek at what she was carrying she hissed and yanked her bundle away from Suzume.

  Suzume stumbled backward and nearly fell into a trio of ghost-like apparitions with skeletal bodies draped in tattered white robes. Suzume almost went through one of them. When she got close to them she felt icy and she shivered. They turned their heads in unison to look at her and she held up her palms toward them before chasing after the servant who continued walking without pausing.

  The fish servant walked very quick for someone who seemed to have very short legs. This strange place was beyond anything she had seen before. Mixed among the strange yokai were humans as well, fishermen with tanned, weathered skin and receding hairlines. They were drinking sake from cups filled by beautiful maidens with strange colored hair and fish-like appendages.

  At the far end of the room, on a single raised dais, was a man in a gradient of flowing blue kimono. There were too many layers to count. The colors ranged from light blue to a blue that was almost black. His long hair was gray like the sky during a summer storm, tied half up and the rest falling down his back and pooling on the ground behind him. As she drew closer, the color of it shifted to a sky blue. It continued to transition as the sky does throughout the day, from gray to dark blue. His skin glowed faintly in the blue-green light cast by the torches that were placed behind his throne.

  The servant stopped in front of the Sea Lord's dais and bowed low. Suzume, not certain how one addressed a powerful yokai, bowed as well, as if she was looking upon the emperor himself. It w
as strange, she had expected power to emanate from him the way it had from the leader of the Namahage, drawing her in. But she could feel none of his spiritual power, though at a glance he looked very powerful. It was as if there was a void of nothing sitting before her.

  "You have arrived at last, Suzume."

  Suzume looked up, frowning at the yokai. "How do you know my name?" she asked. It was never a good sign when they knew your name.

  "We've been waiting for you, for a very long time," he said as he motioned for Suzume to sit on the cushion beside him to his right. On the other side was a little girl with dark hair and large eyes. When Suzume looked at her she felt a spark of power but the feeling was fleeting, so she couldn't be sure she hadn't imagined it.

  "Why me?" she asked, taking a seat cautiously. As much as she liked to think of herself as powerful, drawing the attention of yokai was always dangerous and there were a lot of them in this room right now.

  "My daughter Ai dreamed of you." He gestured elegantly toward the little girl beside him.

  The little girl waved at Suzume. She wore a multitude of layered kimono as well, hers more pinkish like the inside of a shell and a dusky violet like the sunset over the sea.

  "She did?" Suzume asked, brow raised skeptically. This was starting to sound an awful lot like a yokai trick.

  "For five hundred years me and my people have been trapped by the umi-bozu, unable to leave our kingdom, but now that you have come to save us at last..."

  Just the memory of that monstrous creature made her stomach drop. Going up against that thing once was more than enough. It was pure luck that she had survived the first time, a second time would surely kill her. She didn't even have her staff. It had gotten lost when she'd been thrown overboard. How could she gracefully wiggle her way out of this without upsetting them?

  "See the thing is..." she began.

  "We sensed your power the moment you rode out on that boat. We have not seen such a strong spiritual energy since the priestess who trapped us here."