by C. J. Anaya
“Revenge,” Amatsu said, almost laughing. “Seems a bit beneath you, punishing Katsu for the death of your one true love.”
Musubi held his tongue at Amatsu’s flippant remark.
“You won’t help me then?” Musubi held his ground but began to taste the bitterness of defeat. If the demon god wouldn’t help him, he didn’t know what path he could take next.
“I said it was beneath you. I, however, have never turned my back on the idea of giving others exactly what they deserve.”
Musubi tried not to let his relief show.
“I am extremely curious as to what exactly you have in mind for our dear Katsu, and how you think I could possibly help you. I am, after all, trapped here.” Amatsu’s voice took on a scary edge. Signs of his displeasure with his lot in life seeped through the calm mask of indifference he held.
“Katsu has to pay for what he did to Edana. He took away the woman I love, and now I’m going to take away the woman he loves.” It sounded worse saying it out loud than it had merely thinking and plotting it in his head, but thoughts of Edana steeled his resolve, and he didn’t lower his eyes when Amatsu studied him again.
“Katsu loves no one. Of this I am certain. So again, I ask you, what is it that you require from me?” Amatsu’s tone was becoming less pleasant.
“Katsu loves no one at the moment, but it is prophesied that he will.”
The demon god’s eyes seemed to flash with a strange green light. “The Healer,” he whispered to no one in particular.
Musubi nodded. “I’m sure you wondered why I would take such a huge risk in coming here. I know my revenge will not only benefit me, but will also eliminate a problem you have no doubt wished to remedy since the day the prophecy of The Healer was given utterance.”
“You want to kill The Healer? The Savior of the living? The half-mortal child destined to heal the veil between the living and the dead?” Amatsu began to laugh quietly to himself, and then the laughter grew louder until it echoed against the blackness of the stone walls. “You have wasted my time and yours, Musubi. The child cannot be slain. Her immortal paternity has ensured that nothing save a sword forged from this land can kill her. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to send an assassin through the veil?”
“I didn’t say I wanted to kill her.”
“Then what—”
“I want to take her for myself. How can she heal the veil if she is never bound to Katsu?”
Amatsu raised his head, and for the first time showed some real interest in what Musubi had to say.
“An interesting proposition, but tell me how you plan to woo The Healer away from the one she is destined to love and belong to. She will be created specifically for Katsu. Denying one’s soul mate in favor of someone else? You and I know that this is as impossible as killing the child and being done with it.”
“I agree with you, which is why I need your help. I need something that will sever her connection to Katsu and make her fall in love with me.”
Amatsu looked triumphant, though nothing had been decided or resolved. “Something that can sever the link between soul mates? Now that is an idea, and quite a nasty one if you don’t mind my saying so. Not like you at all, really.”
“And yet, here I am.”
“Indeed.” Amatsu gave Musubi an appreciative look. “I may have something capable of accomplishing exactly what you propose, but I warn you, it will come with a price.”
Musubi let out an impatient grunt. “Name your price, and I’ll pay it.”
“Well, obviously money is out of the question. What would I need that for in this place?” The demon god let out a perverse laugh. It was as if its facetiousness was all the more macabre due to its infrequent occurrence. “And having you here serving me prevents us both from getting what we want. So here is what I propose. Once the deed is done, the girl has fallen for you and her connection to Katsu has been irrevocably severed, you will deliver her to me and walk away without a backward glance.”
“Fine,” was all Musubi had to say.
“Yes, you say that now, but I’m afraid I will need to ensure that if I grant you this favor, you don’t suddenly become consumed with a guilt-ridden conscience and go back on our deal.”
“What more can I do to prove I will uphold my end of this transaction?”
Amatsu merely smiled, a smile that sent rippling chills up and down Musubi’s spine. He held his hand open, palm up, and then flipped it with a flourish. When his hand came to rest palm up again, there stood, levitating above it, the blackest flower Musubi had ever seen. It pulsated with darkness.
“What is that?”
“This is a black cherry blossom, the solution to both our unfortunate situations.”
Musubi shook his head. “I don’t understand. How does this—”
“The black cherry blossom is an interesting piece of magic, very old magic, mind you, something I’m sure not even our First Parents are aware exists.”
“How could they not know about this?”
“Why, because I created it. This cherry blossom has the power to sever the connection between two soul mates by literally changing the destiny of the one who holds it. Come forward, please.”
Musubi walked to Amatsu slowly, never taking his eyes off the black, floating flower.
“Hold out your hand.”
He did as he was told. Amatsu moved his hand away from the blossom, but it still remained suspended in mid-air. Then it began to move toward Musubi’s outstretched hand. The blackened stem grew longer as it descended, and then wrapped itself around his wrist. He looked on in fascination as the stem continued to creep its way up his arm, under his clothing and toward his chest.
And then it struck.
The stem embedded itself within his heart, and the pain was like nothing the god had ever before felt. He let out a strangled cry and nearly staggered to the floor, but just as quickly as the pain took hold of him it let go. He closed his eyes and opened them slowly, seeing his surroundings in a new light. He felt…different; things were different. It was as if his heart and mind had been violently disconnected. He looked at his outstretched arm and watched the cherry blossom continue to hover above his hand.
“What have you done to me?” His question came out hollow.
“Oh, that? I merely blackened your heart a little, enough to taint it. Subduing your conscience is necessary, really. You do-gooders always manage to ruin the most wonderfully laid out plans, and we can’t have that now, can we?” Amatsu gave him an evil grin. “This cherry blossom serves another purpose, however. Now that it is a part of you, it will also connect you to whomever you wish. In other words, once you give it to the young girl of prophecy and she accepts it, her connection to Katsu will be cut, and she will be bound to you forever, doing anything and everything you wish, including aligning herself with me.” Amatsu clapped his hands in utter delight.
“You just happened to have something like this on hand?”
“You’re not the only one to have had an epiphany, realizing the only way to destroy the girl of prophecy was to alter her destiny. I’ve had quite a bit of time to troubleshoot such an annoying issue. I just never realized I’d have my very own minion working out the kinks for me. It is so delightful, the kind of actions revenge and hate can produce, and to have the god of love and marriage possessing an item capable of ripping soul mates from one another?” Amatsu rubbed his hands together gleefully and let out a slow, deliberate chuckle. “Well, let’s just say the irony isn’t lost on me.”
Part of Musubi’s mind, the part holding a small remnant of the kami he used to be, wondered if maybe he’d taken things too far. The errant thought flickered like a small candle in the wind and was extinguished by another thought much more insistent and pervasive.
Revenge.
Sneaking out of the imperial palace, without my guards the wiser, had been much more difficult this night than any other, and the complications and delays couldn’t have come at a more inc
onvenient time.
I could feel Hatsumi’s birthing pains ripping into my abdomen as if they were my own. It was the empath in me, and an unfortunate side effect of healing that occurred after the first time I connected to someone’s ki or life force. My ki would stay very much tied to theirs until their pains were taken care of.
Unfortunately, trying to help a bedridden woman prevent her child from being born prematurely was an arduous and ongoing battle, both physically and emotionally for Hatsumi and myself due to the fact that I had connected with her ki three months ago when her baby had tried to come at five months. I’d been able to feel her labor pains coming on every few weeks since then and was seriously considering never having children of my own. If my father had his wish, I would never be capable of having them anyway.
I had to stop on the grassy path to Hatsumi’s momentarily and grab hold of an uprooted tree stump for support as another contraction ripped through my abdomen. I nearly screamed out with the pain of it but bit my lip instead and tried to remember that I was most likely not alone in the forested area, even if the night was quiet and still. Samurai rebels littered these wooded areas, and although I had no problems with their mission or their desire to usurp my father’s throne and take over the empire themselves, I couldn’t afford to be held up at the moment. Hatsumi’s baby was coming. I sensed there would be no stopping it this time.
I bit my lip hard as another tearing pain hit me and tasted blood. I nearly panicked thinking that my poor, dear friend was having to do this without me.
After two quick breaths I pressed forward, running as fast as my sandaled feet would carry me. I needed to cover more ground between these debilitating contractions, or I would never reach her in time.
The night air had chilled considerably despite the warmth of the day, but I hardly felt its coldness due to the amount of strain Hatsumi was experiencing. Sweat had already left my underthings damp, clinging to my aching back.
I nearly stopped short when I heard a crash of branches behind me. It may have been a rebel, or it just as easily could have been a forest animal. There were a number of nocturnal creatures scampering out and about. I couldn’t pay attention to what was happening behind me with so much at stake before me.
I increased my speed and prayed to the gods I wouldn’t trip over the many tree roots that tended to protrude along the path. The moon was a slight crescent amidst the stars in the sky and gave off very little light.
White, hot pain shot to my back and radiated forward. I dropped to my knees and let out a muffled scream, grinding my jaw together and digging my nails into the dark earth before me. That contraction had not been normal. I may never have experienced child birth personally, but I had served as midwife enough in the village to know the difference between birthing pains and pain originating from a situation far more serious. I wouldn’t be certain until I was with the mother, but I had a terrifying thought that the baby’s watery home had separated itself from the lining of Hatsumi’s uterus and the placenta was torn.
I was up and running like the very demons of the underworld were mere inches from my heels, roots and tree limbs be hanged! The palace and the small village of Yanbaro were separated by a small wooded forest, and although the forest by anyone’s standards wasn’t large compared to most, with so much at stake, it might as well have traversed all of Japan.
I had to reach Hatsumi in time.
I was so relieved to see the small flicker of firelight as I made my way around a bend in the path that tears seeped from my tired eyes. I continued running forward and managed to make it into the village before the next wave of pain hit, dropping me to the ground. I let out an awful scream this time, and breathed in the frosty night air as I tried to pull myself to my feet.
“Did you injure yourself?” a soft male voice said from behind me. I felt myself being pulled to my feet and turned awkwardly around.
Eyes the color of frothy blue waves glinted in the firelight, flickering just above us from a hanging luminary on a bamboo street post.
I’d never before seen eyes the color of a frozen winter sky, but had often heard that men and women far to the west were born with such eyes. His face was much lighter than the olive skin of my countrymen, and his hair was the color of the rising sun. I felt myself drawn to him almost immediately and stood momentarily stunned at my own emotional and physical response to this complete and total stranger.
His concerned eyes narrowed as he took me in. “Did you hurt your ankle when you fell?”
His words broke me out of my moment of stupor, and I felt monumentally guilty for losing sight of my purpose even for one second. Not to mention the level of uncertainty I felt at the physical contact. No man was allowed to touch me. Most men wouldn’t have considered touching a strange woman either way, but now he had spoken directly to me, and our social customs dictated that I show respect and answer the man’s question.
I couldn’t waste time with social etiquette at this point. Not when Hatsumi’s life depended solely on the timing of my arrival. I moved to break away from the tight hold he had on my arms and doubled over as another wave of excruciating pain pummeled into my lower back.
“Clearly you’ve been injured far worse than I originally thought. Come, I will take you back to my camp and find someone to assist you.”
“No,” I fairly screamed as I wrenched myself from his grasp, turned on my heels and ran as fast as I could toward the small tavern where Hatsumi and her husband lived.
“Wait.” I heard the young man call out. The loud pounding of his feet indicated he was close behind me. It was strange that he would pursue a woman whom he deemed ill. In my culture, a woman wasn’t important enough to speak to directly, let alone be the focus of a stranger’s concern. I might have wondered at it a bit longer, but more debilitating waves of pain coursed through me, and the exotic-looking young man was momentarily forgotten.
These pains Hatsumi bore did not bode well for her or the baby. Every second I lost would determine whether or not I would be able to save either one of them. I reached the front door of the tavern and wrenched it open, not bothering to knock when another pain ripped into my back, making me feel as if my body were tearing in two. My cries echoed that of Hatsumi’s from the room connected to the back of the tavern.
“You’ve arrived, young healer. I knew you would,” Daiki said, Hatsumi’s husband, just as I was grabbed and lifted into the air by a pair of strong hands. I let out a muffled squeal of surprise as the young man whom I had previously run into held me close to his chest and refused to release me, even after I forcefully pushed against him.
“Musubi, you must let the girl down,” Daiki urged.
My captor didn’t respond nor loosen his hold on me. I looked up at him and noted a small lift to the side of his mouth. His eyes studied me in such a frank manner that my attention was instantly captivated. I couldn’t wrench my glance away from the commanding fire of his gaze, but I should have. I wasn’t allowed to look a man directly in the eye without his express approval, but he had immediate and total control over me and held me as no man had ever been allowed to hold me before.
This foreign contact with a member of the male species, combined with my desperate need to escape his unrelenting perusal of my body, and my complete panic at the thought of losing Hatsumi had an incredibly surprising effect on my behavior. Without considering the consequences of my actions, I rounded my fist, pulled it back as far as it would allow, and threw it at his chin with such force that the contact cracked the top of my knuckle and actually threw his head to the side. I was so shocked by my behavior that I barely registered the pain in my broken fist or the fact that my ki had immediately begun healing it.
He turned his head and glanced at me in surprise, and then threw it backward, letting out the most lighthearted laugh I had ever heard.
“I told you to put her down.” Daiki chuckled.
“I’m so sorry,” I sputtered. “I…please forgive me, it’s just that…ahhhh
h.”
I crumpled forward and felt his arms tighten around me protectively.
“You must put me down,” I yelled. I groaned a little at the relentless pain and was pulled closer to his chest. I felt angry all over again by his persistence and my reaction to him. “Please.” I beat against his chest and struggled to escape his hold on me both physically and emotionally. “I must attend to Hatsumi.”
Instead of letting me go, the young man looked up at the innkeeper. “Daiki, do you know this female?”
I was surprised these two knew each other by name and felt close enough to use them.
“You must let her go. Hatsumi will deliver, and this is the midwife.”
I looked at Daiki and nodded my thanks, appreciating his discretion. There were very few people who knew my identity, and Daiki had kept my secret for several years.
“This child is the midwife?” The man let out a disbelieving snort. “She hardly seems capable.”
I considered hitting him again, but my hand hadn’t healed completely. Fortunately, he set me down more gently than I would have expected, and my anger with him dissolved almost instantly. Hatsumi and her baby were all I could and should be focusing on.
I took two steps forward and dropped to the floor as the searing heat in my back hit me again. Both Hatsumi and I let out pain-filled cries.
“You see,” the young man said. “She clearly needs a person of medicine herself.” He moved to pick me up again, but I crawled forward and held my hand up to stop him.
“I feel her pain. It is as simple as that,” I shouted it as loud as I dared.
He ignored me and reached for me again, but Daiki stepped between us and held up his hand. “Musubi, you will have to trust me and let the midwife do her job.”
“She can barely walk, Daiki. What can she possibly do to help?”
“Bring her to my wife, and you will see.” He stepped out of the way and motioned Musubi forward. I gave Daiki a nervous look. I did not want to be held by this distracting individual again, and I didn’t think it wise to perform a healing in front of him either. Daiki had no idea how precarious his wife’s situation had become. I would be doing much more than simply aiding the birth of her baby.