by J. P. Rice
A pleasurable female moan solved the mystery and the sonorous skin slapping told me it was time to move on. The amorous couple’s symphony was interrupted by buzzing locusts and insects. When was winter going to actually hit the Northeast?
The trail ended, and I knew I was probably far enough away from everyone else, but I wanted to be sure. I walked for another half mile and I found an enormous boulder that came up to my midsection. It seemed like as good a place as any to summon a Goddess.
I plucked the whistle out of my pocket and parked my keister on top of the huge gray rock. Holding the musical instrument to my lips, I blew into the small recorder and a faint whistle came out the other end. Repeating the process, I couldn’t produce a pleasant sound. It was a sharp, screechy sound, which I hoped would still call the Goddess.
As I waited for Blodeuwedd, I thought about the case. It had sucked to let Kobayashi get away from the police. But we had the Blood Goblet, the great equalizer, in our possession. I needed to go see Fukutama with Felix so he could tell us how to use the Goblet against the sorcerers.
I was confident that we could wrap this up as soon as we talked to Fukutama. We just had to find out where the sorcerers were staying. That was where Blodeuwedd came into the picture. Hopefully she could use her resources to find out where the sorcerers were holding Cyclone Woman. Almost an hour went by and my confidence in the Goddess showing up started to dwindle.
Where could I get information if Blodeuwedd didn’t come through? Nowhere. Maybe Fukutama could find out where they were staying. I leaned back on my elbows and looked up at the leafless branches exposing small slivers of cerulean sky.
Something tapped my shoulder. I sat up quickly and jumped down from the rock. Peering over my left shoulder, I calmed down when I noticed an owl behind me. Finally. My heart rate started to slow back down, and I said, “Well hello, Blodeuwedd.”
The majestic bird had bright yellow forward-facing eyes, standing ears on top of her head and a facial disc of golden, white and black feathers arranged in vertical patterns.
Blodeuwedd shook her face around, and I couldn’t stop looking at the golden beak and extremely long silver filoplumes. She was wearing a necklace of assorted woven flowers that looked like a Hawaiian lei.
“Micheal Merlino, it’s a pleasure as always.” It was freaky to hear her voice in owl form. “What is it you would like help with?”
“I actually have a few things I need to talk to you about. First, what have the Gods said about my implant? Are they mad?”
“We,” Blodeuwedd reminded me. She stressed the word, seemingly pissed that I hadn’t included her in the pantheon. “We are not happy about it. Some more than others.”
I had to know. “Who’s really mad? You?”
The owl shook her head, and said, “Mabon, the Dagda and Cernunnos mainly. The women have been more understanding. We realize what a dangerous game this can be. The men do too, they just like to act tough around each other. Most of the Gods have committed egregious errors when they roamed the earth. We all make mistakes, Micheal.”
I lowered my head. “I just feel so embarrassed and stupid about the whole thing.”
Blodeuwedd climbed closer to me on the boulder. “We’ve all felt that way a time or two. You need to set aside the frustration of the matter and face it head on. Dian Cécht would like to help, but he needs you to come to Clara Spiritus so he can scan the implant and figure out how to remove it without triggering the self-destruct mechanism.”
I turned and stared into her yellow eyes. “I really didn’t want to have to face them, but I guess I need to man up.”
Her head moved back and forth. “I’m not sure exactly what that means. The sooner you get back to Clara Spiritus, the sooner we will get that implant out of you. Don’t forget, the Gods have seen everything before and we are very forgiving. Some just like to prove a point before the forgiveness. You need to get back to Clara Spiritus before that implant makes you do something gruesome.”
I was being foolish and needed to end it now. “You’re right. I need to quit worrying about myself and worry about the people I might injure if I don’t take care of this. Thanks.”
She narrowed her eyes and asked, “Was that all you wanted to talk about?”
I still had the main reason for calling her here. “No. I also wanted to know if you were familiar with the Seven Sorcerers from Japanese Mythology.”
Blodeuwedd jumped down from the boulder and looked up at the sky. “Ahhh, the disciples of Shuten dōji, if I’m not mistaken.”
“Exactly,” I confirmed. “Did you know that they are in Pittsburgh?”
The Goddess in owl form’s eyes met mine. “We’d heard that they had kidnapped Cyclone Woman, but we weren’t sure where they were staying. We had a good feeling you would be taking the lead on this.”
“Well, yeah, but I could use a little help.”
She spread her wings and held them out by her sides. “I am here to help. I will send word around about the sorcerers and my little birdies will find out where they are staying. The Gods probably won’t get involved because we know you can handle this. Just like you handled all the other cases by yourself with minimal help from the Gods. Practice confidence.”
“How do you practice confidence?”
She tucked her wings and looked away. “Same as anything else. Start by telling yourself how great you are. Soon, you will have convinced yourself of it. Once your brain believes it, it will search for ways to make it true. You’re an incredible man, Micheal. You just need to believe. It’s quite simple, really.”
Huh.
She continued before I could say anything, “We believe in you. That belief is evidenced by the fact that we don’t jump in and save you. We are confident in you. It’s time to be confident in yourself. Simple.”
“Simple,” I repeated. “So...uhhh...have you heard anything else about Burn?”
Blodeuwedd answered, “Do you mean the person missing from your secret trip to Sleepy Willow?”
She was being coy. It was strange to be passive aggressively yelled at by an owl. “Yes. I apologized for that.”
“I know. I just like to see you squirm. We have heard several reports on her.” The owl paused for what seemed like an hour. Come on. What was the word? She said, “They conflict with each other. Three sources have reported her to be still alive and two others insist she is dead.”
“What do you think? Who do you believe?” I asked, peering down at the owl.
In a single bound, the owl jumped back up onto the boulder next to me. “They are all reliable sources, so I cannot say. You invaded their land without notice last time. If you are entertaining the idea of chasing after her, be forewarned. They will be expecting you this time. She will be well guarded.”
Didn’t she know that had never stopped me before? “I realize that. It’s almost like you are trying to talk me out of it.”
“The decision is ultimately up to you, Micheal Anthony,” she sounded like my mother when she said my name slowly. “You’re still a young man. Even if the very worst has occurred, it will only serve to make you stronger in the future.”
Not exactly the soothing words I was searching for. We said our goodbyes and the owl beat her wings and rose up from the giant boulder, quickly disappearing into a tangle of branches above. I couldn’t get Burn out of my head.
To rescue her, I needed Jonathan to stop stalling me out and get me back into Sleepy Willow. Perhaps I could assemble a small army of supernatural mercenaries. My bank account was stuffed, and I was prepared to spend every last penny I had to get Burn back. It still tore at my heartstrings to know she was being tortured...or worse.
But going on a wild goose chase when the citizens of Pittsburgh needed me to save them from the sorcerers seemed rather foolish. The sorcerers now controlled the weather.
There was no such thing as a natural disaster anymore. Not with a devious puppet master pulling the strings. And especially after antagonizing Kob
ayashi at the police station, I couldn’t leave now. It would be like swatting a hornet’s nest and running away for everyone else to get stung.
We had the Blood Goblet. I just had to focus on this case for a few more days. We would use the Goblet to defeat the Seven Sorcerers and rescue Cyclone Woman, thus keeping Pittsburgh and its surroundings safe from weather disasters.
Then I could put all my attention into rescuing Burn. That would give Jonathan enough time to come to his senses and get me back into Sleepy Willow. Pushing the ultimate plan aside in my head, I focused on the next part of my current mission.
It was time to pay a visit to Fukutama and find out more about the Blood Goblet and how we could use it against the sorcerers.
Chapter 12
I wedged my way into Fukutama’s humble tree house and Felix was already showing him the Goblet. I knew the showboat was going to try to take all the credit when he had offered to carry it up the ladder. I bowed to Fukutama and noticed a glowing look of joy was making his face light up with delight. It was like the look on a child’s face on Christmas morning. Mesmerized, he stared at the Goblet, taking in all the gleaming rubies and sapphires crusted to the golden drinking vessel.
Felix told him the entire story about how we’d captured the Goblet and the subsequent brawl. When he told the part about his fire fist move, I almost called bullshit until I remembered I had been there and seen it with my own two eyes.
It sounded so far-fetched and downright silly sitting up here now. Then I remembered that most of our stories sounded like superhero movies that would have been rejected by Hollywood for being too over the top.
I didn’t want to waste any time and suggested, “Do you want to get in the mood, so we can figure out how to use this thing to defeat the sorcerers and break the possible curse?”
“You got it,” Felix responded and grabbed the pipe off a shelf on the wall.
I was hoping they would refrain like last time so we could get straight to business, but no dice on that front. The two men shared a pipe while I lounged in the hammock. They finished up smoky time and sat cross-legged on the floor facing each other with lazy smiles pasted onto their faces.
Felix went into trance mode and his eyes rolled back into his head. I’d seen it several times and it was still freaky.
“How do we use the Blood Goblet?” I addressed neither man specifically, just threw the question out there.
Felix stared unblinkingly straight ahead at his sensei. The young mage’s lips started to move. “He says he will get to that. But first, he has to tell you about the Seven Sorcerers. As you’ve been told, there are only four remaining sorcerers. Kobayashi, Tamamo no Mae, Yabe and Sakai were all students of Shuten dōji’s dark magic. I told you that Kobayashi gained the trust of Shuten dōji and learned dark magic from the demon.”
“I remember.”
“Yes. Good.” Felix swallowed and his Adam’s apple rippled. “Kobayashi is an Ao bōzu, which means blue monk. Normally, Ao bōzu are giants with blue skin. Most of them only have one eye. Kobayashi was born small, yet he was more revered than all the other blue monks. He had a third eye. The Ao bōzu thought he was a God sent from the heavens to help them. They couldn’t have been more wrong. He turned out to carry an evil spirit, bent on causing trouble and destruction. He’d heard the stories of Shuten dōji and ran away from the monastery to find the famous demon.”
Felix cleared his throat and continued, “He trained under Shuten dōji and then passed that knowledge of black magic along to the woman he fell in love with. Tamamo no Mae. She is a hybrid fox and human. She has nine tails and can shapeshift with the best of them. She disguised herself as an innocent child and was adopted by a caring elderly couple. The couple named her Mikuzume and the child recited poetry so eloquently that the Emperor Toba took her in as a servant for the imperial court.”
Felix moved back and forth, seemingly uncomfortable. “During a poetry recital, a nasty breeze blew out all the candles in the room. A bright light hovered angelically around Mikuzume’s body. Emperor Toba thought she must be special and took her on as a consort. A short time later, the emperor became deathly ill and died. A group of sorcerers determined that someone close to the emperor was responsible for his death. The sorcerers made all of his consorts recite passages of holy words in an effort to raise the body from beyond.”
Felix paused for a moment, staring straight into Fukutama’s eyes. “They reasoned that if there were an evil spirit close to the emperor, she wouldn’t be able to finish. Knowing that she was responsible for the emperor’s death, she still continued with the charade. She actually recited all the words in the passage, but her body disappeared when she waved the ceremonial staff back and forth. The new emperor sent his best warriors after Mikuzume, who had reassumed the name, Tamamo no Mae. Some stories say that Tamamo no Mae was hunted down and killed. But that’s not true. She escaped to the hills and that was where she met Kobayashi. And the two have been causing mayhem ever since.”
I asked, “What about the other two sorcerers?”
Felix answered for Fukutama, “They joined much later, around the time when the Seven Sorcerers were officially formed. They wreaked havoc around Japan until they needed new areas to torture. I can’t understand why they chose Pittsburgh and why they kidnapped Cyclone Woman.”
I explained to him about how it could be a bigger plan to draw Great Grandmother out to end the world. Fukutama agreed that the Seven Sorcerers could be trying to end the world. That wasn’t the confirmation I was looking for. Controlling the weather locally was one thing. Ending the world was a whole other issue.
How could I find Great Grandmother? Could I keep her safe until all this was over? I didn’t even know where to look. Stupid. I should have asked Blodeuwedd to find out where Great Grandmother was.
I finally asked the real question on my mind, “So how do we use the Blood Goblet to defeat the sorcerers?”
After a long pause, Felix said, “We need to fill the Goblet.”
Was that a joke? “Excuse me? Fill the Goblet with what?” I asked, unamused.
“Blood,” Felix clarified.
Right. How silly of me. That was why they called it the Blood Goblet. “Whose blood do we need to fill it with? One of the sorcerers?”
Felix immediately responded, “Shuten dōji.”
I stood up out of the hammock. “You’re saying we need to fill this with the blood of an immortal demon?”
Felix nodded while maintaining eye contact with his mentor. “That is correct. You will need to travel to Japan and traverse Mount Oe. You need to go to Shuten dōji’s castle.”
Of course. It couldn’t be any other way. “This is a joke, right? I can’t be going to Japan. I need to stay local in case...”
Felix translated, “You need to find a lodging house on the south slope of Mount Oe. There you will find a guide named Okumura. He can get you to the castle on the vanishing slope. From there you will need to draw enough blood from Shuten dōji to fill the Goblet and bring it back here.”
“I still don’t understand. Will that give the Goblet power so that we can use it against the sorcerers?”
Felix explained, “No. If they put a curse on Cyclone Woman, she needs to drink the blood of Shuten dōji to reverse the spell.”
Nasty. “Won’t it be rancid after all that travel?”
“No,” Felix stated loudly. He went back to his normal tone. “Shuten dōji’s blood in the Goblet will not make anyone sick. Magic will preserve it until it is consumed.”
Good old magic to save the day as usual. “That’s cool. Does this give us any advantage over the Seven?”
“It does not,” Felix said plainly as he shifted around. It looked like his ass was falling asleep. “He says we are going to have to use our entire arsenal to defeat Shuten dōji. He said it wouldn’t be a bad idea to recruit someone to go with us.”
“Do you know of anybody?” I asked Felix.
The mage spoke for himself, “I
might be able to gather a few names. But I can’t pay them. And for something like this, these people will want to get paid.”
Of course. “It’s almost like you know I have money now and are trying to insinuate that I should pay them,” I hinted with the subtlety of a spiked club.
Felix turned to me with his all white eyes, and said, “I’m just saying that I don’t have that cash. You can do whatever you want.”
“We’ll talk about that later,” I said, gesturing with my head toward Fukutama. “Is there anything else we should know before we start setting up the particulars for our little vacation? And don’t worry Felix, I’ll pay for your plane ticket too.”
The old man chuckled and Felix talked over it, “He says there’s not much else to say. It’s time to take action. And good luck.”
I bowed to the wise man. “Thank you. Do you want to come with us, Fukutama sensei?”
Fukutama chuckled again, and Felix said, “He says he would love to get back to Japan, but that he would only slow us down. Okumura will do that enough for the both of them. He’s laughing inside our private room. I don’t get the joke.”
Me neither. I knew finding the Goblet was too good to be true. Nothing could ever be simple in my life. Speaking of which, I had to get home to my son. Who was going to watch him when I went to Japan? I was stuck in a horrible position.
I could quit as the magical guardian of Pittsburgh and risk the wrath of the Celtic Gods. Or be an absentee father. There didn’t seem to be any middle ground on the issue. Hell, I had just found out five minutes ago that I had to travel to Japan. Had to. I said ‘had to’ because if I avoided the responsibility, people would lose their lives.
Kobayashi could be orchestrating the ultimate destruction of earth right now. I wasn’t about to bring my son along for a ride like that. It would be nice to have someone to help out with the responsibility. Someone steady. Someone like a wife.
I couldn’t even believe I was entertaining the thought about giving up on Burn. However, I had to start thinking about Dante’s future. It wasn’t just about me anymore. I needed to get my mind back on the case.