"How much longer are you going to keep wasting time like this?" Hisato asked, seemingly unaffected by the fire that scorched his flesh.
"Until I've destroyed you," Suzume said through gritted teeth. The burn on her own skin was almost unbearable. It was also the only thing keeping her from getting lost inside the desire to destroy.
Hisato knocked her back with a flick of his wrist, as if she was nothing more than a gnat. Suzume flew through the air and slammed into the far wall. As she lay crumpled on the ground, Hisato stalked closer to her.
"As much as your adorable attempts to stop me amuse me. I grow tired of watching you waste time on this pointless quest." He gestured toward the empty pedestal.
Suzume climbed to her feet, and blood trickled down her forehead from an injury on her scalp.
"Where is the Sea Stone?" she said in a growl.
He threw his head back to laugh. "It's gone. It has been missing for centuries. Did you really think objects of power would not fall into the hands of those who seek them?"
"What did you do with it?"
He waggled a finger in front of her. "Don't blame me. It is inside another body, just like yours."
"You're saying the missing gods... they're inside people?" Suzume clutched at her own chest. "But the Flame Stone... I saw it."
"Oh, my dear Suzume, you are so charmingly naive." He paced around her, circling her as he normally did. Suzume spun slowly in a circle, watching him and waiting for her moment. As he paced Hisato continued to talk. "When Kazue split apart her soul she did not merely rend it into pieces, she bound her power with that of the eight. She combined her mortal soul with theirs to make herself a god."
Suzume felt like the room was spinning around her. If a piece of Kazue's soul was inside her, and that was bound to a god, that meant this fire wasn't just Kazue's soul. It was a god's power. Which was why the Namahage had thought of her as the Lady of the Flame because the Lady of the Flame was inside her.
Hisato laughed all the harder. "The Sea Stone to hold the water of her soul; the Wind Stone to hold the air of her soul; the Earth Stone to hold the earth of her soul and the Flame Stone to hold the flame of her soul..." he trailed off, looking at her.
"Why did you do this to me!" she shouted.
Hisato folded his arms in front of himself. "What makes you think it was me who did it?"
"Who else would it have been?"
"Who indeed," he purred as he stopped and faced her, a wicked smile turning at the corner of his mouth.
Suzume's hand flexed as she prepared to create a ball of flame which she would fling at his head. Even if it burned her as well it would be worth it to get the upper hand for once. Then suddenly he was right beside her, hand around her throat, pressing her up against the wall. She gagged as he stared into her eyes, his intense gaze boring into her, searching her face. Maybe he could read her thoughts or perhaps he did know her as well as he claimed.
"I know you. You will not kill yourself to stop me."
"Try me," she gasped.
He laughed again before shaking his head. He released his grip on her throat enough to allow her to breathe, but he continued to pin her to the wall. His hips pressed against her abdomen and he placed his arms on either side of her, leaning on the wall. His face took up all of her vision, she could look at nothing but him.
"I'll let you in on a little secret, Suzume." He leaned in, his hot breath fanning across her cheek as he whispered, "The moment you were born, so too was I reborn."
"That's not possible," she said. If she could keep him talking he would remain distracted and she could attack him.
He pulled back so he could look her in the eye once more. His eyes darted over her features. "When Kazue sealed her soul fragments away, so too did she seal me away. And it would have remained that way if the stones had not been used to create you and the others."
Suzume focused her energy on growing the fireball in her hand. But it was difficult again, as it had been before. She couldn't even force a single spark.
"Don't even try. You never had control over it. Only what I gave you."
"You're lying," Suzume spat at him.
"You think you can kill me, then go ahead. I will not stop you." He stepped back, arms out wide, giving her an invitation to do what she had wanted to do for so long.
But even when she focused all of her attention on making a spark, nothing happened. She didn't even feel warm.
"What have you done to me?" she asked.
"On your own, you have no power. Kazue has been protecting you up until now. But her greed is great. She craves life, and she will not let you use it if it will risk destroying her."
"No." Suzume screwed her face up, looking at her hand, willing even the smallest of sparks.
"You've been her puppet all this time."
"I am no one's puppet." Since her fire wouldn't obey her, she grabbed the staff and swung it at Hisato. But he stepped out of her attack with ease, laughing all the while.
"It does not have to be this way, Suzume. You can take the power for yourself, just as Kazue did. You can become just as powerful as her."
"I'm not going to make Kazue's mistakes," Suzume said, panting for breath. She felt as if she had been running for hours.
"But you already are. You've been stealing energy from those around you just to make yourself stronger."
"It was to stop you."
"Then does that make it right? How are you any different than Kazue, who only used her ability to make herself immortal."
"Because I am doing it to stop you!" she said, hands balled into fists.
Hisato turned his hand over and revealed an obsidian stone, the Flame Stone that the Namahage had given her. "As you know the real Flame stone is inside you. But what is trapped inside this stone, is a yokai. You could easily take his spiritual energy and use it against me. But if you do, you will kill the yokai. What will you do?" He threw it toward her.
She caught obsidian stone and as soon as it was in her hand, she felt the rush of power. Flames erupted all along her body, igniting into an inferno.
"Where do you think your power comes from, Suzume? Nothing comes without a price. Everything must remain in balance."
This has to be a trick. He's trying to fill me with doubt so I won't use the power against him. And yet she hesitated as all the pieces began to fall into place. She rolled the stone around in her hand. If she sacrificed the life of another for the greater good, did that make it right?
"You see the truth now, all the power you gained was stolen from others. What will you choose?"
This was not a time to second guess herself. "I choose everything."
A ball of fire formed in her hands, growing to a massive size, almost double the side of her body. It pulled from the stone, draining it of every last drop. All the while a voice inside her head seemed to egg her on, urging her to do this.
Hisato laughed as she built up her power. It wasn't until she flung the ball of flame at him that he leaped out of the way. It still collided with him, and the recoil flung him and Suzume backward as if an explosion pushed them apart. Suzume felt the fire all over her body and inside her, burning every fiber of her being. Suzume arched her back and screamed as it coursed through her.
Hisato stood over her, his haori burned and revealing a gaping hole where her fire had torn his flesh apart. But as she watched the flesh was reknitting itself. In a few moments it was nothing but pale, pink, scarred flesh.
"We are alike." He smiled down at her.
Suzume climbed to her feet as the pain started to recede and she grabbed her staff which had been knocked out of her grasp. She swung it at Hisato's head. "I am nothing like you."
He leaped away from her attack. "Don't you want to know who the yokai is that you've killed."
"Does it matter?" She couldn't seem to catch her breath. There was a painful stitch in her side and her skin stung from the burns.
Hisato came up close, wrapping his arm around her
and pressing the palm of his hand to her lower back. His face inches from hers.
"The yokai in that stone was the dragon."
Hisato snatched the stone out of Suzume's hand as she struggled to get it from him. He sang a song, and the stone burst apart in a bright light. Kaito's body floated on the air in between them before coming to rest on the ground.
Suzume turned to look at it but she refused to believe it was true. This had to be another illusion. She knocked Hisato away, but she did not have the strength to stand on her own two feet and instead crawled over to where he lay. She cupped his cheek which was ice cold to the touch. His entire body was covered in dark marks that wrapped around his face and arms.
"This is your fate. You were destined to destroy him."
"You tricked me!" She turned, eyes blazing. But the fire was gone, and she had nothing left to defeat him with.
"I told you the consequences and you chose your own power over the life of another. Just like Kazue."
"You bastard." She swung at him, but he only stepped away from her reach and she fell forward onto the ground.
"Join me, Suzume, and I will save him."
Suzume turned to him with anger in her gaze. "I would never join you."
"Then watch him die."
Hisato waved his hand and a portal opened up behind him. He stepped through it and as he did the reality of her situation settled upon her shoulders. Her chest felt tight like something weighed down upon it and her entire body was trembling with fatigue.
"I have to do something," she said, looking at Kaito's face and then to the island where they were trapped.
Rin said water can heal him. But she felt so tired she couldn't stand, let alone drag him to the water. Suzume cast around for something to carry water in, anything. She found a seashell the size of her palm. It was the best she could do given the circumstances.
Using her staff like a crutch, Suzume climbed up onto unstable feet. She could hardly stand, let alone walk more than a few inches at a time. She held the shell in her cupped hand. As she made her way down the tunnel she had to lean on the wall so she wouldn't tumble and break her neck. Her foot slipped and she fell down anyway, tearing her pants at the same time she broke the seashell she was going to use to bring water to Kaito.
Her hand was cut by the sharp edges of the shell. She looked down at her bleeding flesh and then to the end of the tunnel. The ocean thundered, echoing around her. She glanced back to where Kaito lay dying. This was all her fault. If she had broken the seal on his powers when she found out. If she had not tried so hard to be more powerful than him...
She drooped her head in defeat. She no longer had the strength to lift it and an extreme exhaustion fogged up her mind. Even if the shell hadn't broken she wouldn't have been able to save him. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she slumped onto the ground, face buried in her hands.
Just then she heard footsteps. She could hardly lift her head but saw that a man walked toward her. His face was hidden in shadow, but there was something about the way he walked that was familiar. But her mind was in such a fog that she couldn't place who it was. He probably wasn't real at all. This might all be a dream.
The man stopped right in front of her.
"Am I too late?" he asked. Kneeling down beside her, he scooped her up into his arms.
"It's my fault. He's going to die." That was the last thing she knew before she lost consciousness and exhaustion overwhelmed her.
42
Suzume shot straight up, gasping for air. Where is Kaito? Through blurry eyes, she scanned her surroundings. Across from her Noaki sat with his back against the wall, one knee bent and his arm slung over it. He looked out through the door leading to the ocean. It was the closest to relaxed she'd ever seen him. But it didn't explain what he was doing or where she was.
Her gaze shot past him toward Kaito who was lying on the ground a few feet from Noaki. The swordsman had propped up the dragon's head and crossed his arms over his chest. He was so still it looked like he was dead. The very thought sent her stomach twisting with panic.
"We need to bring Kaito to the water, it's the only way he'll heal," she said as she attempted to crawl toward the dragon to help.
Noaki stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "You need to rest," he said as he nudged her to lie back down.
How could she relax with Kaito in this state? His skin and hair were translucent. She could almost see the ground beneath him. His entire body was striped with black markings even darker than before, as if they were sucking all the color from him. Kaito's cheek bones were too angular, as if someone had shaved off part of his face.
"He's dying." She lunged forward, grabbing Noaki's hand as he tried to turn away from her. She did not care how pathetic she sounded. Because the truth was she was desperate.
"There's nothing I can do." Noaki met her gaze as he pushed her back to lie down.
"Then let me try. Just tell me what I have to do."
"No!"
Noaki had never raised his voice before. Since she'd met him, he'd hardly shown any emotions at all. It shocked her into silence, but it was quickly chased by anger.
"You have to obey me." She raised her voice as she puffed out her chest, like the spoiled princess she had once been.
Noaki stared right back at her. "It's no use."
His words rang with a dire finality. She shook her head, her hair whipping from side to side.
"Why not!" Her entire body trembled with the force of her anger and sadness.
Noaki did not respond at first. He turned to look at Kaito lying on the ground, his gaze lingering there for a moment before he turned back to Suzume.
"Because humans cannot create life, they can only take it."
Anger flooded her, filling every space, chasing out any trace of sadness. "This is his fault." She pointed at Kaito. "If he had just admitted he was hurt. If he had only trusted me." She shouted the words as if the very force of her anger would bring him back. "What am I supposed to do? Watch him die?" She grabbed fists full of the fabric of her hakama. She wanted to tear them to shreds, but she didn't have the strength.
Noaki stared back at her without answering. It only added fuel to the fire.
She climbed up onto shaking feet. Noaki tried to come closer to her to offer a hand or to make her sit down again, she didn't know which. She smacked his hand away. "You think this is my fault, don't you?" she shrieked. "I never asked for any of this. I just wanted him to see me and not Kazue." Hot tears threatened her eyelids but she refused to cry. Not over the dragon.
She turned away from Noaki to face the wall and leaned against it, resting her head on her arm. The wall was covered in holes, barnacles, and salt from the sea. It was a dirty place, just like she felt dirty for using Kaito's power to gain her own.
"You made a mistake." His words felt like a physical blow. She looked up toward the ceiling to stop the tears from flowing.
"If I got stronger, if I became more than human..." Then she would really become like Kazue, just as Hisato had said. Perhaps she would forget all about Kaito and become consumed by her need to become a god.
The only sound was the wail of the wind as it blew through the rafters. In the distance she heard the waves crashing against the island and the mournful cry of a bird.
"I don't want to see you make the same mistake," Noaki said, his voice gruff.
"That's how it started, isn't it?"
"Yes."
That single word was the final blow. Suzume's knees collapsed beneath her and she sunk to the ground. She pounded her fists against the wall. She'd tried so hard to untangle herself from Kazue, to prove she wasn't the same, and all she had done was follow in her footsteps. History was repeating itself. None of the power she had gained was real. It had all been an illusion, a symptom of Kazue's heart taking a hold of her.
She kept hitting her fists against the wall until her arms were too tired to go on. She leaned her head against the rough wood. Kaito was going to die
and there was nothing she could do about it. If you ever loved him, then tell me how to save him.
There was no response from Kazue, not that she expected there to be one. She was long gone. All that remained was her ambition. If she had a god in front of her right now, she would drain them of all their power to bring Kaito back. Suzume sat straight up. I don't have a god, but perhaps the next best thing.
She spun around to face Noaki. "We have to take him to the Lord of the Sea's palace. There are healing springs there."
Noaki held his hand out without a word and helped her to her feet. She could stand, albeit a little shakily. Noaki gathered Kaito into his arms. The dragon looked so small, nothing like the larger than life figure she knew. It was difficult to believe this was the same person. Suzume averted her gaze. She couldn't look at the shadow he had become.
They went down the tunnel to the shore. From there, Noaki shifted Kaito's body onto his shoulder. The swordsman balled his free hand into a fist and when he opened it again a ball of light appeared. The ball took on the shape of a bird which flew up into the air before diving down into the waves. Suzume fidgeted, crossing and uncrossing her arms, and pacing in a small circle as they waited for a response.
After a few minutes two sea turtles broke the surface of the water. They blinked up at Suzume and Noaki with large black eyes. Despite her first harrowing ride to the surface, Suzume climbed onto the turtle's back without hesitation. Noaki placed Kaito on the first, taking a seat behind him. The dragon's head lolled back onto Noaki's shoulder. Once they were seated, the sea turtles dove beneath the waves and shot through the water in a flurry of bubbles and sea foam.
When they arrived in the underwater palace Ai was waiting for them, her small chubby hands on her hips.
"Ai sees you failed," she said with a tone that indicated she had not expected any better. Then her gaze drifted over to Noaki and Kaito. "Who is that?"
The Sea Stone Page 31