Takeo took Akari’s forearms in his hands, giving her a small shake. “Open your eyes, Akari! Can’t you see it?”
She only felt confusion. “See what?”
He dragged her over to the painting, and then forced her to look at it. “I know you can see through the veil. But you are fighting it. Stop fighting, Akari. Just let go. Open your eyes!”
And then Akari saw the painting as if for the first time.
Chiyoko’s face was one she knew well. It was the face of her mother. The face of her grandmother.
It was her own face.
She had always known she resembled her mother. She just said Yoshimi looked like their mother to make her feel better. She knew Yoshimi was jealous Akari was Sword Kissed. But something must have been preventing her—and everyone else—from realizing their faces were identical.
The face that had been passed down from generation to generation, just like the sakura song.
“I’m not just Sword Kissed,” Akari said as the realization dawned on her. “I’m a direct descendant of Chiyoko herself.”
She felt Takeo’s grip on her arms loosen.
“How long have you known?” she asked him.
“When we went to the ruins of your house,” he said. “You picked up the picture of you, your mother, and grandmother. I saw it then. But you didn’t. Or at least, you didn’t say anything. You were so overwhelmed by the loss of Yoshimi, I didn’t want to question you then. But I knew.”
“I didn’t want to see,” Akari said. “It was just…too much. I couldn’t handle more revelations.”
“You are stronger than you give yourself credit for,” Takeo said, stroking her face. “You will save us all.”
Akari stepped back and shook her head. “The painting shows me confronting her. It doesn’t show me winning.”
“You will,” Takeo said with a confidence Akari wished she had. “You have me. You have Kaya. If she wakes up, you will have Sera. You are not alone like the painting shows.”
They then both heard a groan from the front of the cave.
“Sera,” Akari said, and they ran to her side.
Sera was stirring. She placed her hand to her head.
“Sensei.” Akari took Sera in her arms. “You are alive!”
“Barely, Akari-chan,” she said with a small smile. She opened her eyes. Reaching out, she touched Akari’s cheek. “You can see…finally…”
Akari nodded. “Yes. Takeo forced me to.”
“I knew he would be a good partner,” Sera said weakly.
“How did you get here?” Akari asked, holding Sera tightly to keep her warm.
“I fought the demon that took me, but I was injured,” she explained.
Takeo grabbed a cup from his pack. He went to the small stream to get some water, which he brought back to Sera. She drank it eagerly.
“Thank you, Torgwyn-san,” Sera said. “I used the last of my strength, of my fae magic, to transport myself here. This cave is said to have healing abilities.”
“Your injuries appear to have healed,” Akari confirmed. “But it will take a while for you to regain your strength.”
“And for your magic to recharge,” Takeo said.
Sera nodded and forced herself to sit. Akari still helped keep her steady.
“I’m glad you are safe, Sensei,” Akari said. “But you and I need to have a long talk.”
Sera gave a small chuckle, but then winced in pain. “Eventually,” she said. “But there is no time. We must…”
They all froze as they felt the earth shake violently. Akari and Sera held each other as Takeo made his way to the cave entrance. Akari then saw him take a step back.
Endo, almost completely a demonic creature of smoke except for her face, entered the cave.
“Thank you for leading me here,” Endo said. “I knew it would only be a matter of time.”
Takeo drew his daggers and leaped at Endo, but she batted him away as though he were merely a fly. He smashed into the cave wall, slumping unconscious to the floor.
Akari gritted her teeth and got to her feet. She drew her katana, and she lit it with her palm.
“This ends now, Endo,” she yelled.
Endo laughed. “For you it does.”
Akari ran at Endo and slashed at the smoke, but nothing happened. She stepped out of the way as Endo took a swipe at her.
Endo laughed again. “Your pitiful Sword Kissed powers are nothing. I have grown too powerful!”
Akari felt her heart race. She shot a look at Sera. Sera had dragged herself to a stalagmite and was leaning up against it. She was panting hard, obviously drained from the exertion.
What was she supposed to do? All she had were her Sword Kissed powers. If that was not enough to defeat Endo, then what else did she have? Takeo was out cold. Sera was depleted.
They were doomed.
17
Sakura…sakura…
Akari wasn’t sure how much stock she put into prophecies. She’d never given much thought to it before. If she believed the painting on the wall, then she wasn’t going to die here. Not at the hands of Endo. She was destined to face Chiyoko.
Sakura…
Endo continued laughing, swiping only half-heartedly at Akari. She knew she had the advantage. She only had to tire Akari out, then she could take her down.
But there was someone else here. Akari could hear…something. Someone singing the sakura song.
Akari continued to hold her sword aloft and slashed at Endo whenever she got too close, even if it did no good.
“Who are you?” Akari asked Endo. “Why are you singing that song?”
“I’m not singing,” Endo growled as she lunged forward. “I’m relishing in your death!”
“Endo,” Sera called weakly. “What happened? How could you let this thing take you? You are Sword Kissed. The light of Chiyoko shines in you!”
“Shut up,” Endo yelled, turning her attention to Sera. “You’ll get your turn. But not before you get to watch your precious star student go first!”
“This is not you, Endo-chan,” Sera said as she struggled to sit up. “You are better than this.”
“How would you know? How dare you call me chan,” Endo shrieked, her smoke coils slowly encircling Sera.
“Don’t touch her,” Akari yelled, running forward. But Endo slapped her away with a smoke trail. Akari rolled when she hit the ground, protecting her head to keep from being knocked unconscious.
“You only had eyes for Akari,” Endo continued. “You never saw I was faster. Stronger. Smarter!”
Sera shook her head. “Your ego was always your downfall,” she said. “You could never see the bigger picture.”
Endo shrieked, and Akari saw Sera was gripping one of Endo’s smoke trails, squeezing it like a snake and sending an electric shock through it. The smoke demon dissipated, and Endo’s body appeared and slumped to the ground.
Akari ran to Sera, who was so weak she could barely keep her eyes open.
“Sensei,” Akari cried. “Why did you do that? You are too weak. I will protect you.”
“I know you will, Akari-chan,” she said. Her eyes fluttered closed. “I know…”
Her body went completely limp. Akari had no idea if she were alive or dead, but she didn’t have time to waste. Endo was already stirring. But so was Takeo. She went to Takeo’s side and helped him up.
“What happened?” he asked as he stood.
“Sera shocked Endo, but only for a moment. We need to get out of here!”
He shook his head. “We will never outrun her. We have to fight. You have to fight.”
“But…how?” Akari asked. “I…I…”
“Akari…” Endo moaned as she slowly awoke and smoke started to gather around her.
“I don’t know what to do,” Akari yelled.
Sakura…sakura…
A gentle breeze blew. Akari saw cherry blossoms blow across the cave floor and toward the painting. Akari ran to it. Takeo was right b
ehind her.
“Where the nightbloom grow
Is where my heart will find you
She waits there also.”
Akari recited the haiku hurriedly. “There must be something here. Something in the painting. Something I’m missing. Something she is trying to tell me…”
She ran her hands over it, as if searching for a switch. Something to trigger a memory or realization.
“Akari…” Endo sat up, and the smoke coiled more thickly around her.
“Shit,” Akari cursed. She drew her sword. “We are out of…” Her sword caught her attention. Then she looked back at the painting. She knew what she had to do.
“Stay here,” she told Takeo. “Do your best to hold her off!”
He nodded and drew his bow.
Akari ran toward the cave opening, past Endo. Endo reached for her, but she was still weak and moved slowly. Takeo shot an arrow through Endo’s smoky tentacle, and she roared in pain. As Akari flew out of the cave and up the trail, she glanced back and saw Endo turning her attention to Takeo. She hoped he would survive long enough…just a minute…
Akari ran to the temple and threw open the door. Everything was the same as she had left it, except now Chiyoko’s face and hers were the same. It was chilling, but Akari had to hurry. She ran to the statue, and then pulled the katana from Chiyoko’s hand free. As Akari gripped the hilt, she felt a surge of power course through her and the katana glowed bright pink, like the center of a cherry blossom. She didn’t even need to slice her hand and use her blood to ignite it. She and the katana were one.
Chiyoko must have known that this would happen, Akari thought. That she couldn’t hold back the evil forever. That she might end up becoming the evil she had sacrificed herself to stop. She had left everything in place to fight back when the evil rose again. Akari just had to put the pieces together. The Sword Kissed. The paintings in the temple. The cave. The katana.
Akari ran back down the hill. When she arrived back at the cave, she saw Endo had regained her strength. She had Takeo in her grip, seeming as if she were about to tear him apart.
“Endo,” Akari called, and Endo smiled. “I’m ready for you now.”
Endo laughed. “I’ve been ready for you for a long time.” She dropped Takeo, and he landed with a grunt. She then lunged toward Akari.
Akari’s forehead dripped with sweat, and her heart beat wildly. But she licked her lip and dug her foot into the ground to gain traction. She yelled as she ran straight at Endo, the smoke demon.
Endo let out a horrifying scream as Akari’s sword sliced through her. Akari had had nearly rent Endo in half. Endo was shrieking and panicking. She grasped at her smoke tendrils as they started to melt, and her along with it.
“No! No,” she cried. “This can’t be happening! Chiyoko, you promised me! Ahh!”
Like the enenra at Yahakami village, Endo melted into a pile of thick black tar. The floor of the cave absorbed her, and she was gone.
Akari panted for a moment, shocked she had taken Endo down with one strike, but she finally sheathed her sword. She walked over to where Endo had melted and kicked at the dirt, but there was nothing left.
“Akari-chan,” Takeo said. She turned and saw him limping toward her.
“Takeo,” she cried. She hurried over and let him lean on her. “Are you injured?”
He shook his head. “I just twisted my ankle, but I will be fine. Fae are fast healers. Your katana. It is from the statue.”
“Yes,” Akari said. “I thought it was just part of the sculpture at first, but then I noticed that in the painting, I was holding the same katana.”
They made their way over to Sera, and Takeo checked her neck again. He nodded. “She is still alive. But we need to get her back to town. To Kuji. She needs a fae doctor.”
Akari wasn’t sure how they were going to do that. Sera was completely incapacitated, and Takeo was limping. She couldn’t take either of them back to the village by herself.
“Yoshimi!” Akari gasped, just now remembering. “Endo had Yoshimi. Now that Endo is gone, where is she?”
“She’s right here,” a voice said.
Akari stood up and turned. She saw Chiyoko—who looked like herself but in different clothes, the more traditional robes—standing there with Yoshimi wrapped in smoke. Yoshimi was awake this time, her eyes wild with fear. But her mouth was covered with smoke, so she couldn’t speak or scream.
“Let her go,” Akari ordered. She went to grab her katana, but a smoke tendril shot out of Chiyoko’s arm and pinned Akari against the wall.
“I warned you, Akari,” Chiyoko said. “I warned you to stay away, or else Yoshimi would die.”
“No,” Akari said, struggling against the smoke tentacle. “Stop! You can stop this. You want me to stop this!”
“It’s too late for that,” Chiyoko said. “The world will end. And there is nothing you can do to stop it.”
Chiyoko—along with her smoke and Yoshimi—vanished as quickly as they had arrived.
“No,” Akari yelled as she ran to the cave entrance. “I’m coming for you,” she screamed into the forest. “I am Sword Kissed Tanaka, and I will stop you!”
18
Akari helped Sera sip at the water from the cave’s stream. As much as she wanted to chase after Chiyoko and take her down, she couldn’t leave Sera and Takeo behind. After only a few minutes, Takeo’s ankle was strong enough for him to walk on again.
“Hmm.” He nodded with satisfaction as he tested putting his weight on his foot again. “Sera was right. There does seem to be something healing about this cave. I’m a fast healer, but this is impressive.”
“You are sure you are strong enough?” Akari asked dubiously. She tied some branches and twigs together to fashion a makeshift stretcher, so they could carry Sera back down the mountain.
“I’ll be fine,” he said. “It’s just a little sore.”
They were working on laying Sera on the stretcher when they heard chittering from the cave entrance. They saw the kappa peeking in. Akari waved them over.
“It’s safe, for now,” she said. “Endo is gone.”
“Friend sick?” one of them asked. They inched forward to investigate what was wrong with Sera.
Akari nodded and did her best to fight back tears. “Yes, my friend is sick. We have to get her to a doctor in Kuji village.”
“Help! Help! Help,” the kappa sang excitedly as they danced around, waving their sticks. They shouldered their way past Akari and Takeo. A dozen of them took hold of the stretcher, lifting it and carrying it to the cave entrance.
“Be careful,” Akari cried, fussing around them like a mother hen. “She needs to be carried gently.”
“Gentle! Gentle,” they mimicked. Like a centipede, their little feet moved together, quickly and smoothly down the mountain. Akari was impressed by how cautious and efficient they were at getting Sera down the mountain. She was soon able to take a calming breath and a moment to think about what they needed to do next.
“I can’t remember the last time I took a breath,” she said to Takeo, who was walking with his head down, watching every step he took to make sure he didn’t reinjure his ankle.
“You fought bravely,” he said. “I know you are worried about Yoshimi, but with Chiyoko’s katana, I think you have a real chance of beating her.”
“We are running out of time,” Akari said. “It might be too late. She is growing stronger. When she attacked me in the cave, she pinned me easily. The sword didn’t matter. All she has to do is stay out of sight long enough to become too powerful for anyone to defeat.”
“Then we need to find her first,” Takeo said.
“How?” Akari asked.
“Let me talk to the elders at Kuji,” he said. “They might know how to communicate with the fae in Ryu, or even in another Hollow.”
“The radios,” Akari said, excited. “You said there is a radio in Ryu we could use to communicate with another Hollow and ask for help.”
>
Takeo nodded. “Right, but Ryu is too far away. We could never get there in time to ask for help, much less get there and back.”
Akari slipped her hand into Takeo’s. “I want to thank you,” she said softly. “I wouldn’t have come this far without you.”
“On my own, I could never hope to fight Chiyoko,” he replied. “We are lucky to have found each other.”
Akari chuckled and shook her head. “I can’t believe I’m going to have to tell Sera-sensei she was right.” She then felt a twinge of sadness as she watched Sera being carried down the hill. As much as she didn’t look forward to having to humble herself before her teacher, she feared Sera never waking up at all more. Which reminded her of Yoshimi, and how she was still in Chiyoko’s clutches. She felt her anxiety rise again, and she rubbed her chest.
Takeo squeezed her hand. “It will be all right,” he said. “We will find a way to succeed.”
Akari doubted he was right, but accepting defeat now would help no one. They had to keep fighting, even if it was a losing battle.
We…have ways of communicating with the other Hollows,” Galen said cautiously to Takeo. He gave Akari a side-eye. Akari crossed her arms and started to say something harsh about the fae communities’ secrets putting them all in jeopardy, but Takeo cut her off, so she snapped her mouth shut.
“Have you heard anything about the others being under attack?” Takeo asked.
“Not directly,” Galen said. He led them to a building—a proper sturdy building, not a hut. The village was not just larger than Akari and the other humans had been led to believe, but more advanced as well. “But the communications have been less frequent, and they’ve mentioned the other Hollows have been under distress.”
“How have you been able to communicate?” Akari asked when they entered a room where several people were working.
“We have several radios that had been discarded by the human scientists as broken and worthless,” Galen explained. “We were able to use fae magic to power them.”
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