Akari pointed to the people in the photo. “My father, Yoshimi, me, my mother, and my grandmother. Mother’s mother. She lived with us toward the end.”
“You look like your mother,” he said.
She shrugged. “I guess. I always thought Yoshimi looked like her more than me.”
“Are you joking?” he asked, but when he saw she was serious, the smile ran from his face. “Well, we can debate that later, I guess. Let’s go.”
He led the way out of the house and toward the village of Kuji.
It was dark by the time they arrived. The village was quiet and seemed empty. Even at night, there should have been people out and about, taking care of their homes and livestock, enjoying an after-dinner walk, or visiting neighbors, but there was hardly anyone to be seen.
Galen, the son of the village elder who had disappeared, came out to greet them.
“I don’t suppose you have returned with good news?” he asked.
Akari shook her head, disappointed with herself. “Quite the opposite, I’m afraid. One of the demons took Yoshimi and destroyed our home.”
“They took Yoshimi-chan? No!”
Akari couldn’t hide the shock on her face that the man used the affectionate honorific of “chan.” Maybe Yoshimi was interested in a fae man…
Galen cleared his throat. “I mean, I am sorry to hear about Yoshimi-san’s disappearance. She is much loved here.”
“I am going to do whatever it takes to get her back,” Akari said.
“Whatever you need of us, just ask,” Galen replied. “I heard about the demon attack on the town. Things are getting worse by the minute.”
By this point, an exhausted Elwin had fallen asleep in Takeo’s arms. “We have not given up,” he said. “We are going to try and find Yoshimi and stop the growing evil. But we need someone to take care of the boy.”
The man nodded, waving the lilac maid forward. She came out of the hut and took Elwin back inside with her.
“We will care for him as one of our own,” the man said with a bow toward Takeo.
“Where is everyone?” Akari asked as she rubbed her arms. It appears a chill had settled over the village as well.
The man seemed to hesitate for a moment. “They have…gone elsewhere. They think they will be safer far from this place.”
“If we don’t stop whatever is happening, they won’t be safe anywhere,” Akari lamented. She surveyed the village and then felt a little dizzy, a bit confused. She was certain a house they had passed on the way into town was now gone. “What…what is happening?” she asked, gripping Takeo’s arm. “The town…it seems smaller somehow.”
The man grimaced and shot Takeo a look.
“While searching for answers,” Takeo explained, “we pierced a veil, the one on the mountain. The veil you are using to obfuscate your village must not be very strong if Akari can sense it.”
“The village is veiled?” Akari asked.
Takeo nodded. He held his hand over Akari’s eyes for a moment and then removed it.
Akari gasped. The village was at least twice the size she thought it was, and it was full of people.
“So, your people aren’t going anywhere,” Akari said. “You are just trying to hide in plain sight.”
“We have to do something to protect ourselves,” Galen said.
“But…Kuji has never been this big,” Akari said. “You’ve been veiling at least half the village for…for how long?”
“For its entire existence,” he said.
“Remember when I told you the fae were veiling more than you could have imagined?” Takeo asked. Akari nodded. “They are hiding entire fae cities.”
“My gods,” Akari said. “If the humans knew about this…”
“They would think the fae were a threat to them, a danger,” he said. “But the whole reason they hide is because they have been treated so badly by humans in the first place. They don’t feel safe living openly.”
Akari gawked at the village—the town—again. It was even larger than Nasu. She shook her head, wondering just how much about this world she didn’t know. She felt like she knew nothing about her past—her own or the history of Chiyoko Hollow. And she had been just as blind to the world she was living in now. To make matters worse, the world she was only just now discovering was about to change. It could all end in two days. Or if they somehow succeeded and destroyed the evil, the world would not be the same one she thought she knew before. And things needed to change. The fae should not live in such fear, and the humans could not continue oppressing the fae.
Akari was not sure she was ready for what was to come.
15
So even though it could cost my sister her life,” Akari said as they left Kuji, “we have decided to keep fighting.”
Takeo nodded. “We can never give up.”
“But what should we do? How should we fight?” she asked. “Sera is gone, as is Yoshimi. I was hoping they had some answers. I don’t even have the map anymore.”
“Oh,” Takeo said, looking sheepish as he reached into his pocket and handed the map to her. “I have it.”
“Why do you have it?” she asked, snatching it back.
“I…I took it from you,” he admitted. “I wasn’t sure I could trust you with it when I began suspecting it was more than just pointing the way through the veil for you.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, irritated. After all they had been through together, he still didn’t trust her?
“The reason the monsters want it is because it is a veil key,” he said. “The veil over the mountain is so powerful that even fae cannot see through it without a key. I think it is why you were able to sense the veil in Kuji. The key’s magic was still active on you long after you had last touched it.”
“So the monsters know the veil is there, but they can’t see through it without this?” Akari asked. Takeo nodded. “Which makes me wonder more about Sera. Why would she have something so powerful?”
“Let’s go back to her dojo,” he said. “Maybe we will find answers there.”
When they arrived back at the dojo, it had mostly been destroyed. Akari stepped gingerly through the rubble, afraid she might step on something precious. She noticed Takeo was holding his hands up and his eyes were closed. She knew by now he was trying to sense fae energy.
“There is…a lot of fae energy here,” he said, not opening his eyes.
“Is it Sera?” Akari asked. “Is she fae?”
“I can’t tell without her here,” he said. “But there was a veil here. She—or someone—was using fae energy to mask something that was here. But it’s gone now.”
“The veil or what the veil was hiding?” Akari asked.
“Both,” Takeo said.
“Damn,” Akari cursed under her breath as she kicked at a bit of rubble. “Another dead end…”
A gentle breeze blew, and a few cherry blossoms tumbled across the destroyed building. Akari kneeled and picked one up.
“Are you a human or are you a fairy?” she mumbled. Takeo was half fae. Akari probably had some fae ancestry. Sera was almost certainly a full fae. Chiyoko Hollow was named after a fae goddess. She wondered just how much of the world was fae. For so long, humans had thought they were the dominant species. That their sheer numbers gave them authority over the rest of the creatures in the world. What was going to happen if the veils came down and the humans realized that not only did the fae outnumber them, but many of them probably had fae blood?
“Do you remember in the painting in the temple?” Akari said. “There was one where humans and fae were living side by side in both worlds. It stands to reason they were intermarrying.”
“Sure,” Takeo said. “There is no biological reason they wouldn’t. I’m living proof of that.”
“What if…”
“Akari-chan,” Kaya called.
Akari turned and was shocked to see her friend standing there. She ran up to her and embraced her tightly.
�
��Kaya-chan,” she said, looking at her friend’s face. “I’m so glad to see you! Where have you been?”
“I was out patrolling when the monsters attacked,” she said. “I got separated from the others.”
“I have so much to tell you,” Akari said.
“What did you find on the mountain?’ Kaya asked.
“Yes,” Akari said. “That’s part of it. I will tell you. But Yoshimi is missing. I really need your help…”
“So what was it?” Kaya asked. “On the mountain?”
Akari paused. She was going to get to that, but Yoshimi being missing was a little more important. “There was just a temple,” Akari said. “Nothing else.”
“Are you sure?” Kaya asked. “You brought nothing back? Learned nothing that could stop the demons?”
“No,” Akari said, and she stared deeply in Kaya’s eyes. There was a hardness there, a coldness. And Kaya was neither hard nor cruel. Akari gripped Kaya’s arm. “Who are you?” she asked. “Are you Chiyoko? The demon who inhabited Endo? Who?”
Kaya laughed, pushing Akari away with a force that shocked her and caught her off guard. Akari flew backward and landed hard on the ground.
“Remember your promise,” Kaya said with a deep, dark voice that was not her own. “For two days, you will not interfere…” She opened her mouth. Smoke poured out and dissipated into the air. Kaya then collapsed to the ground.
Akari ran to her side. “Kaya,” she cried, shaking her awake.
“Wha…what happened?” Kaya asked in her own voice as her eyes fluttered open.
“Are you all right?” Akari asked.
Kaya sat up and rubbed her head. “I don’t know,” she said. “I feel nauseous.”
“I can imagine being inhabited by a demon would do that to a person,” Takeo said.
“Inhabited?” Kaya asked. “I don’t remember. I just felt the rumbling, heard the explosion. I saw the demons coming toward me. I drew my sword and then…nothing.”
“One of the demons must have possessed you early on,” Akari said. “The battle was fierce. Some of the Sword Kissed and townspeople were killed. Much of the town destroyed.”
“Oh my gods,” Kaya said. She stood up uneasily. Akari held her arm to steady her. “We have to stop them.”
“I have stopped them for now,” Akari said. “A hill spirit washed them away. But they will be back. One of them told me the end of the world is coming in two days.”
“What can we do?” she asked. “We need to ask Sera for guidance.”
“We can’t,” Akari said. “Sera is gone. She was taken. As was Yoshimi.”
“Oh no,” Kaya exclaimed, taking Akari in her arms and giving her a tight hug. “I’m so sorry. But she was taken, not killed. So there is still hope.”
Akari hugged her friend back and released her. “Yes, we need to keep fighting.”
“So, what should we do?” Kaya asked. “What have you learned so far?”
Akari took a deep breath. She tried to recount everything she knew, everything that had happened. “Chiyoko was buried to try and save the world, to protect it from evil forces. But she has been overrun, and she’s now the evil infecting the world and the creatures in it. We have to stop her.”
“But you are sure you learned nothing in the temple that can help?” Kaya asked.
“I’m sure,” Akari replied, exasperated. “Why does everyone keep asking that? It was just old history.”
Takeo gasped. “Everyone does keep asking that. Akari, what if we did miss something?”
“I thought the demons just wanted to know what was on the mountain because they didn’t know what was there,” Akari said.
“But what if we were wrong?” he asked. “What if Sera didn’t just send us there as a training mission? What if we were supposed to find something?”
“The nightblooms!” Akari said. “We never found the cave under the temple. We got so wrapped up in the paintings at the ruins, I completely forgot to find the caves and the nightblooms.”
“Maybe there is something in the caves,” he said. “The answer to defeating Chiyoko.”
“Come on,” Akari said taking his hand. “We need to get back up there fast!”
16
Takeo held Akari’s hand, and they ascended the mountain at record speed. When they arrived at the old temple, things were not as they had left it.
“It’s so dark,” Akari said. It should only have been mid-day, but there were clouds and smoke and ash blocking the sun, creating a choking haze.
Takeo kneeled and placed a hand to the earth. “Do you feel that rumbling?”
Akari nodded. There was a constant low shaking, as if the earth was grumbling.
“It feels like the mountain is about to blow,” she said, and they shot each other worried looks.
At one time, Chiyoko had been plagued by earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis. But since the Great Divide, the earth had been calm. There had not been a significant natural disaster in the history of Chiyoko. But everyone feared the day they might return.
“We need to find the cave,” Takeo said.
Akari pulled out the map. “Here is the temple,” she said, pointing to it. The map showed a trail behind the temple leading down the backside of the mountain. “The cave must be here.”
They ran around the temple, finding an extremely overgrown trail. Akari drew her sword and hacked their way through the underbrush.
“There it is,” Takeo said, nearly pushing Akari over to get to the cave in his excitement.
Akari’s excitement was a bit more subdued. When they discovered the temple, her entire heritage, her family history, hell the history of the world, all of it changed. She wasn’t sure she was looking forward to whatever they were going to find.
Takeo stopped before entering the cave. He must have seen the apprehension on her face because he gave her a reassuring smile and held out his hand.
“Come on,” he said. “We will do this together.”
Akari took his hand, and they entered the cave. When they stepped inside, Akari gasped.
It was beautiful.
The cave was brighter than the sky outside. There were countless nightblooms, their petals spread and emitting soft yellow and purple light. The lichen growing on the stalactites and walls also glowed.
“Sera,” Akari called. On the floor of the cave in the middle of the room, Sera was unconscious. Even though her face was turned away, Akari would know Sera anywhere. She ran to Sera’s side. But when she turned Sera’s face to her, she did not see a face she recognized.
Sera was fae.
Her skin was lilac colored, and she had grey-to-black mottling around her hairline. Her ears were pointed, and she had small horns at her temples.
Akari couldn’t help but gasp. She was relieved to have found her here, but she also felt betrayed. Lied to. Part of her was angry. Why had so much been kept from her?
“Sera,” Akari yelled, and she shook Sera’s shoulders. “Wake up, damn it!” She noticed the front of Sera’s robe was green with fae blood. She opened the robe a bit, but she didn’t find any injuries.
Takeo placed a hand on Akari’s arm. She looked up at him, and he appeared blurry through the tears she would not allow to fall. He reached down and placed two fingers on Sera’s neck.
“She is alive,” he said. “But weak.”
“What is she doing here?” Akari asked. “How did she get here?”
Takeo’s eyes widened and he quickly stood, facing the cave’s entrance.
“What is it?” Akari asked.
“Nothing,” he said. “Just standing guard. But you are right. She was abducted by one of the smoke monsters. If she is here, they might not be far behind.”
“She waits there also…” Akari mumbled. “Is Sera the ‘she’ from the haiku?”
Takeo shrugged. “I wouldn’t think so. The poem is old. Older than Sera, by the look of her true form.”
Akari laid Sera back down and examined the cave. �
�Then what were we supposed to find here?”
“You look around,” Takeo said as he walked toward the cave opening. “I’ll keep an eye on the entrance.”
Akari nodded and walked around the cave. There was a small creek running through it, and water from the ceiling made dripping noises into it. She ran her hands over some of the nightbloom flowers, and their iridescent pollen stuck to her fingers.
The cave seemed to go on and on with no end in sight. She squinted in the darkness, wondering how far she should continue, and saw something strange on a far wall.
In glowing ink, probably made from the petals of the nightbloom flowers, was one more painting similar to the ones in the temple.
In this painting, there was a large dark beast with the face of Chiyoko terrorizing the world. And facing the beast was a woman with a glowing sword.
Akari’s heart raced.
She already knew what she was looking at, but she held her breath as she went in for a closer look.
The woman in the painting was Akari.
Akari was going to have to face Chiyoko. She searched the room for more paintings. She went deeper into the cave. There were fewer flowers the further she went, the cave growing darker and darker. But there were no more paintings.
She had to know if she would win.
How could the painter know so much? Paint the battle that was to come and not know what would happen? How could this unknown artist send Akari to fight, to stop the end of the world without hope?
And more importantly—why Akari?
“Akari?” Takeo yelled into the cave. “Where are you? Come back!”
Akari headed toward his voice and ran into his arms. “Did you see it?” she cried. “Did you see what will happen?”
He stroked her hair and held her tight. “I saw it.”
“How can I do this? How can I fight Chiyoko?”
“Because it is your destiny,” he said. “This is your purpose.”
Akari stood back and shook her head. “But I’m no one. I’m Sword Kissed, yes, but so is Kaya. Why not her? So is Endo, and she let herself be possessed by the darkness. So was Sumida, and she’s dead! If they couldn’t stand against the darkness that has infected the world, how can I?”
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