by C. J. Anaya
“Front to back, Akane,” I whispered, hoping she would catch the reference to some of the drills we had practiced together.
Her subtle nod confirmed her comprehension, and without pausing to second guess myself I broke from Musubi’s grasp, grabbed the hilt of the sword Akane proffered me, and sprang to the front, charging the two nekomata with my weapon raised at the ready. I heard commotion from behind and imagined Akane did the same toward the back where other nekomata waited. Musubi called out my name, his tone laced with fear and panic, but I ignored him and focused on my two targets.
Just inches before their weapons could cut me down, I slid to the ground on my side, bringing my sword down and up, plunging the wickedly sharp blade into the chest of the monster to the right. I swung him left and used him as a shield while I regained my footing. The other nekomata thrust his sword into his companion’s back, though his aim was meant for me. With my sword still impaling the first abomination and the other monster frantically attempting to reclaim his, I reached across, grabbed his wrist, and instructed his heart to explode.
And it did.
The nekomata jerked, chest up and then dropped to the ground. I wasted no time in pulling both swords out of the other nekomata.
Now I had three swords, and two more nekomata to add to my list of kills.
List of kills? Am I keeping score now?
I shook my head, trying to dislodge the happiness I experienced at the death and carnage my actions had caused. The self-satisfaction was misplaced, a completely inappropriate and foreign emotion, but one that cropped up every time I used my powers to defend myself.
I would think on it later.
That was two. Six more to go, providing we didn’t have any other visitors. I prayed Katsu and the rebels arrived before any more of our enemies did.
When I turned to confront the madness behind me, it was to see that everyone was in the melee with sword thrusts perfectly timed by warriors skilled in the art of battle. Yao and Chan were each engaged with a black haired monster. Musubi was holding off one more and Akane, Saigo, and Kenji were dealing with one other. Which left one more nekomata unaccounted for. Where was it? I scanned the area as I ran over to aid Akane.
I didn’t like her odds. She was skilled, but held only an earthly weapon. Saigo and Kenji would be as helpful as I might have been before my memory transfer with Akane. One of these swords from the underworld needed to be in her capable hands.
I thrust one of my newly acquired weapons forward and dropped the other two as that missing nekomata came to head me off. Though it remained in human form, its intentions were clear and there was murder in its eyes. Fine by me. I could handle murder. His thrust glanced off my sword as I moved defensively, and then I spun, gaining momentum quickly and aiming for the back of its neck, slicing cleanly through. I paused only long enough to retrieve the two other swords, not even taking in my handiwork as I ran forward, desperate to aid Akane before the nekomata injured her.
I reached her side and was forced to drop two weapons, using one sword from the underworld to block a blow from her attacker, sending the monster off balance. I capitalized on its moment of weakness and plunged my sword into the assailant’s abdomen. There was a sucking noise as I pulled my weapon back, and it gave me a brief moment of nausea, an instant for me to recognize that I was no longer saving lives but taking them, even if it was in self-defense. I brushed the thoughts away and turned to Akane, who appeared tired, worried, and relieved.
“I knew you could handle yourself, but that didn’t prevent me from wondering if two nekomata would be too much for you.” She gave me a tight hug and pulled back. ““You, Kenji, and your brother need to get inside the walls of the temple. You’ll be safest in there.”
I handed her two of the swords I possessed. “You’ll need one of these weapons if you hope to kill them rather than just wound them. Musubi will need the other. I’ll take this nekomata’s weapon and lead Saigo and Kenji to the temple.”
She nodded.
I moved forward with my two charges behind me, and we rushed the temple gates, easily flinging them open, but halting in our progress as a new threat blocked our path. Three hulking soldiers stood within the temple grounds. They didn’t wear normal Imperial attire, but they also didn’t look like rebels, and no nekomata could set foot on sacred soil.
“Let us pass,” I demanded, testing the waters.
“I’m afraid that won’t be possible,” the soldier in the middle said. ““Our master demands that you willingly join him in the underworld. If you’ll come quietly, we will allow your friends to go free.”
Not my father’s soldiers then and not rebels, but also not nekomata. The only master they could have been referring to was Amatsu. A sudden revelation hit me with sickening dismay. They had been nekomata, but my blood had brought them back to their original forms. The darkness was now rooted from their beings, though their intentions were of the purest evil. Still, they were living beings again, and as such had full access to the temple and its grounds.
We just lost our sanctuary.
I brandished my sword and crouched low, one leg extended to the side, left hand to the ground, sword pointed high in the air.
“Make no mistake,” I shouted, “if you attempt to touch me or my loved ones you will lose your hands not to mention your heads.””
They heartily laughed at what they assumed was an empty threat.
“Kenji. Saigo,” I said through clenched teeth. “Stay back, and don’t even think about helping me.”
“You can’t take on three kami at one time,” Saigo said. “This is suicide.”
“I will not be able to focus if I am worried about you.”
“The prince will remain with me,” Kenji promised. “We will give aid if you need it. I may not have fought much in my youth, but I know how to wield this cane.””
I reluctantly nodded and then focused my attention on the three kami a few yards ahead of us. The sounds of battle created a ghastly cacophony of noise behind me. I prayed that Musubi and Akane had dispensed with the rest of the nekomata and given aid to Yao and Chan.
The kami in the middle of the trio took a step forward. “We have no desire to kill you, Princess. These are not our orders, but we will kill your friends if you do not cooperate.”
I tired of listening to his threats. I reached for the small dagger at my hip and with a flick of my wrist flung it in his direction, embedding it into his chest. It wasn’t a weapon made from the underworld, but I hoped it might catch the kami off-guard.
The kami’s surprised intake of breath and wide-eyed look spoke of pain and then sheer terror as he fell to his knees and clumsily fumbled with shaking hands to pull the dagger from his chest.
“You’re not quite so invincible if you can experience pain,” I shouted. My voice carried sharply across the space between us. It sounded abnormally loud for some reason. Then I noticed my voice was the only sound in the stillness of the moonlit night. “Kenji, what has happened to our friends?” I whispered, not daring to turn my back on the three kami.
“They are right behind us,” Kenji said. “It would seem nekomata are not quite so invincible either.”
I gave him a wicked grin and then felt wind on my cheek as something rushed past me. Musubi was an insubstantial blur, whirling about with deadly precision and within moments the kami were dead.
“What a wonderfully handy power to possess,” Kenji mildly observed. “Never saw it coming, did they?”
We were all silent for a moment, and then Saigo burst into low chuckles, followed by Yao and Chan and then myself and Akane. The only one not letting out some nervous tension was Musubi. His angry eyes surveyed our group and then he marched purposely forward, grabbing my arm and pulling me toward the temple.
“Get inside, now,” he fairly shouted.
“It won’t do us any good,” Saigo said. “Those kami you just killed were reformed nekomata. We won’t be safe against those types of kami within
the temple grounds.”
“At least within the sacred walls we have eliminated half the threat,” Musubi responded. “We can stand guard and fight them off if they rush the temple.””
“The nekomata cannot breach the grounds either. We’re safer here in numbers where we can circle around and defend one another,” Akane said.
Musubi turned to her, a building anger glowing in his gaze.
“You are the last person I wish to hear barking out orders, Akane. Was I the only one in this group ignorant of the fact that Mikomi is The Healer?”
An awkward silence met his pointed question.
“Musubi—” I began when Akane interrupted.
“I had my reasons for keeping her identity a secret.”
“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” he shouted in despair. “She belongs to Katsu! Katsu of all people, and you knew this, all the while encouraging this relationship between us. To what end?”
“You had your own agenda, Musubi, and I knew enough about it to believe that it was best for you two to know one another without her title getting in the way.”
“She’s married to Katsu, Akane. I’ve bound her to him.”
“No,” I shouted. “It isn’t finished. I haven’’t yet ascended. It’s only complete once I ascend, and Katsu isn’t capable—”
He grabbed my shoulders and shook me hard. “Was it diverting for you? Pretending to care about me? Pretending to fall in love with me? Were you laughing inside when I confessed my love for you even though you loved another?”
“I don’t love Katsu,” I cried. His hands dug into my shoulders, and I winced at the pain. “I never lied about my feelings for you.”
Akane yelled at Musubi, but neither one of us were listening.
“Of course you did. It isn’t possible for you to have stronger feelings for me than the kami you are fated for. Your soul belongs to Katsu. You’re predisposed to love him no matter who may attempt to steal your heart. You have no choice in the matter!”
I shook myself from his grasp. Tears clogged the back of my throat and ran down hot and fiery upon my cheeks. “Just listen. There’s been a mistake. A misunderstanding concerning the prophecy. An error concerning my union with Katsu.””
Musubi’s eyes glinted dangerously as far off cries could be heard gaining ground and traveling at an increased pace toward our location.
“Oh, there will be an error. Of that much I can assure you, but no one will be capable of correcting it once it has been made.” He lifted his hand up and toward me with a flourish. A feverish light filled with malice and hatred shaded his eyes, extinguishing the love I barely had the chance to experience. A strange item appeared hovering over Musubi’s hand, pulsing darkness as it slowly turned in place.
“Musubi, what—”
“This little item has been especially designed for you, Mikomi.” His laughter frightened me with its crazed tenor. It was as if my deception had finally burst some darkness within him, pushing him over the edge, and the Musubi I loved had been replaced with a stranger. He grabbed my wrist and shoved the object into my hand. I grasped what appeared to be a long-stemmed flower and studied the blackened blossom, morbidly mesmerized as the ebony stem began to grow downward, slithering around my arm and underneath my sleeve.
“Musubi, what is this?” I asked, sensing danger, but still trusting in the kami who stood before me.
His gaze locked with mine as I felt the stem continue its slinking course up my arm and toward my chest. The pain and utter despair I beheld within his gaze frightened me more than anything else thus far.
Kenji approached my side. He lifted my elbow and studied the flower.
“Akane, we need to get this off of her, immediately.” His urgent tone brought everyone forward. Hovering behind me in a semi-circle.
“What do I do?” Akane asked, reaching for my arm. “Can I simply sever it with a dagger?”
“Try it, before the stem has a chance to penetrate.”
Penetrate?
What on earth had Musubi done?
Akane whipped out a thin blade, slid it between the stem and the skin above my wrist and attempted to cut through. A spark ignited, and the blade disintegrated as if it had never existed.
“Musubi, where on earth did you contrive such a malicious piece of magic?” Kenji cried.
I’d never beheld Kenji’s usually calm demeanor unravel. The idea that he was panicked gave weight to the severity of my situation, but I still couldn’t convince myself that I was in any danger. Musubi would never hurt me. He couldn’t.
I looked at the man I loved, searching his face and reeling in shock at the tears streaming down his cheeks. His body shook with sobs.
“I won’t lose another woman I love to Katsu. No matter the cost, for better or worse, her marriage to Katsu has been annulled. She now belongs to me.”
The point of the stem stopped suddenly, hovering over my beating heart and then it struck, stabbing directly into my chest, into the muscle, straining through to the very center of my heart. It was the most excruciating pain I had ever experienced, not just physically, but spiritually as well. Something within me snapped and severed, as if a piece of my ki had been surgically removed and pushed to the side, disconnected from the rest of me.
I heard shrill screaming and immediately worried that Akane had been injured, then I realized the screaming came from me. I was on my knees, clutching my chest in agony as the stem faded away and the blossom disappeared. I pushed against my heart, hoping the pressure would somehow diminish the feeling of it being ripped from my chest, but it only made the sensation that much worse.
I looked up at Musubi, who for the first time since we arrived, showed actual concern on his face.
Akane and Kenji were bent low on either side of me. Saigo was frantically shouting some warning, but I couldn’t make out what he said.
“What did you do?” I whispered. It was a struggle to get the words out, but my ki seemed to be repairing what little damage it could, and the pain lessened ever so slightly.
I tried to focus on Musubi through my watery tears.
“What did you do to me?” My voice was louder this time.
“I made you mine.”
He stepped forward and then reached for me, shoving Akane and Kenji away and gathering me into his arms. I stood on shaky feet as he embraced me and then gave me a tentative kiss, one filled with uncertainty and desperation. I didn’t understand what had happened or what he had accomplished by giving me that cherry blossom, but I loved him, and didn’’t for one moment believe that he meant to harm me. I returned his kisses, and then pulled back ever so slightly.
“I’ve always been yours,” I stated. “Could you not see this?””
His face was marred with confusion, but before he could respond, loud voices and movement reached us from outside the gates. And then a voice I would have known anywhere, addressed us.
“Musubi, I advise you to get your hands off of my wife.” The threat underlining the command was unmistakable.
I turned to see Katsu standing nearly fifty feet past the gated entrance with several rebels approaching from behind. A few men flanked Katsu on either side. I assumed they were the kami who had been imprisoned, one of them being Hachiman.
Musubi held me to his side.
“It’s been a long time, Katsu. You haven’t aged a bit.”
Katsu bristled at his mocking tone.
“I know there is bad blood between us, Musubi, but our differences must be put aside for now. The emperor’s army approaches and we have very little time to ensure the safety of the princess. She needs to ascend as soon as possible. It will give her a better chance of survival.””
“I quite agree. I will happily take charge of her ascension while you and the rest of the rebels hold the emperor off.”
Katsu’s eyes narrowed at this.
“Let go of your anger for one second and see reason here. She’s my wife. My soul mate. Why on earth would you
, for even one moment, entertain such a harebrained idea? To retaliate? To punish me? I have punished myself for centuries, Musubi. I assure you, now is not the time.””
I looked at my group of friends, who all wore varying expressions of unease. Akane certainly had no idea what to make of Musubi’s bizarre behavior. She moved as if to approach me, but I gave her a subtle shake of my head and she paused. Musubi’s behavior had become erratic and volatile. I had no idea what exactly he planned to do next, but it was best if he didn’t have anyone but me by his side.
“Isn’t it?” Musubi sneered, continuing to goad Katsu for a reaction. “Not that I had any intention of doing this a day ago since I found myself happily in love with someone whom I assumed was completely free to choose her own companion.” His mouth twisted in anger before he continued, “Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the woman I love and The Healer were one and the same.”
Katsu’s gaze shifted to me, confusion and hurt clouding his face. “Mikomi, what is he talking about?”
“I think we should simply cut to the chase since threatening forces are so very near,” Musubi said. “Mikomi is no longer your wife, nor are you the one capable of helping her ascend to immortality.” He lifted his right arm and raised my left so that the inside of our wrists and palms were touching. A black blossom sprung up from our fingertips with the stem circling around our wrists. I gaped in awe at the blossom as it tethered us to one another. “You see, I’ve severed her soul from yours, broken that supposedly indestructible connection between soul mates, and now her soul is bound to mine.”
To verify the veracity of his statement I searched for that newly created bond between Katsu and myself and was shocked to discover its absence. He certainly had severed the bond, but what other damage had the blossom created?
Katsu’s face darkened with rage. “That isn’t possible,” he shouted. He took a step forward, but a bald man with a strange scar above his eye placed a hand on his shoulder to prevent him from moving forward. Then he spoke.