by C. J. Anaya
“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.
“Musubi, we have very little time to make this right. The princess must ascend as soon as possible, but she must do so with the man with whom she is meant to heal the veil. Are you not at all concerned with the fate of this world and the humans who inhabit it?”
“I am only concerned with the fate of one being upon this Earth. I won’t give her up to a kami so wholly undeserving of her.”
Before Katsu could respond to this, a sickening thunk sounded to my right. Akane screamed and went down as a great roar from behind Katsu accosted my senses. I reached for Akane, but she remained on her knees folded over her stomach.
“Akane, where are you injured?”
She looked up, her expression twisted in pain, the arrow protruding from her chest. Musubi grabbed her from behind and started pulling her back toward the temple.
“No,” I screamed. “She’ll die if you move her. I must heal her now.” He nodded. The horror he felt at Akane’s injury was quickly diverted to other concerns as my father’s soldiers began to pierce through the rebels’ ranks. He lowered her body to the ground and motioned for Yao and Chan to surround us.
“You two take up position in front of Mikomi and Akane. Kenji and Saigo, you two need to enter the temple and find a place to hide.” It looked as if Saigo was about to argue, but Musubi pinned him with a glare. “Do it now.”
Saigo nodded and he and Kenji fell back.
It was difficult to block out the noise of battle. The worry that the next arrow might be for Saigo, Kenji or any other number of people I cared for distracted me. I placed my shaking hands upon Akane and summoned her ki to mine, assessing the damage, and instructing her body to slowly expel the offending weapon from her muscles and tissues.
I don’t know how it happened, but one moment her spirit was there, and the next moment she was gone. I frantically searched for her ki, for a connection, for some lucid acknowledgment in her subconscious, and all that I received in return was a hollow sounding whisper that echoed through my own awareness. A final goodbye released through an exhaled sigh.
I pulled away from her, unable to think, unable to accept that I had failed to heal her. How could I have failed in this? How could I have lost her so quickly? I stared at the blood pooling around the arrow in her chest and felt myself miles away from the battle surrounding me, the cries of injured men, the furious thrusts of each soldier’s sword. In that moment, I doubted my ability to save anyone or anything and wondered what might possibly be the point to any of this if I wasn’t allowed to keep the people I loved out of harm’s way.
My many failures began to crowd my thoughts, each of them gouging out a small piece of my soul. I failed to save Aiko. I failed to save Akane. I failed to save Hatsumi and Daiki from losing everything they loved. I failed to save Cho, and my father’s general, and so many other countless people I’d worked with over the years. I’d lied to Katsu and broken his trust. I’d lied to Musubi and lost his faith in me. The only thing I seemed to have a real talent for was destroying anything and everything that found its way into my life.
I am poison. A black hole capable of nothing but destruction.
“Mikomi, she’s gone,” Musubi called out. “We must fall back toward the temple.”
I might have lashed out at him for his callous words and unfeeling behavior if his pain and despair hadn’t blindsided me at that very moment.
My eyes felt dry as I nodded and allowed him to pull me to my feet. I stared at the blood soaking my hands and knew I would feel its stain upon me for the rest of my existence.
Musubi grabbed my arm and pulled me forward with Yao and Chan holding our flank.
“I’ll take things from here, Musubi,” Katsu yelled. We both turned around again to find Katsu on higher ground about thirty feet from our position. The rebels had managed to hold back most of my father’s forces, but I thought it unwise for Katsu to expose himself to any flying arrows. I stepped forward to tell him as much, but Musubi tightened his grip on my arm.
“You haven’t heard a word I’ve stated,” Musubi yelled. ““She is mine, Katsu. Your bond is severed. As long as I live and breathe, as long as I exist upon the face of this Earth, Mikomi will belong to me.”
Katsu’s voice rang out, imperious and commanding. “Then as protector of the veil, this Earth, and The Healer of the world, it is my duty to make certain you cease to exist.”
Musubi withdrew his sword and pushed me behind him. “I’m ready when you are, old friend.”
If only I had foreseen that Katsu had no intention of fighting Musubi with a sword. Within the blink of an eye, Katsu stepped forward and lifted a black object that glinted wickedly in the moonlight. I registered the black bow from the underworld just as Katsu knocked and released the matching arrow. It was in that moment I thought I might have a chance at redeeming myself and all of my collective failures. My one desperate thought was to protect Musubi from the certain death that awaited him if that arrow found its target. I had failed him on so many levels, but in this one thing I would somehow make it right.
“No,” I shou
ted.
I flung my arms wide as I jumped in front of Musubi and a million memories began to parade themselves across my mind’s eye.
Akane’s encouraging smile. Katsu defending me against my father. Saigo and his endless attempts at getting out of his studies. Kenji’s humorous banter and fatherly affection. Hatsumi and Daiki and their constant love and support during my deepest moments of despair. Aiko’s warm hugs and sweet voice when she sang away the remnants of a nightmare.
Musubi.
His frosty blue eyes as they glowed with mirth, sarcasm, and curiosity. His fluid movements with the sword. His relentless drive to protect me. His eagerness to tease and torment me during our trainings. His misplaced anger and bitter hatred for a situation he had no control over. His stubborn refusal to accept the love we felt for one another, and then his stubborn refusal to accept anything less. The love and warmth that replaced the chilling indifference within him. Our first kiss and then our second and then our third, until every touch and caress had been revisited and savored with fervor by a young girl faced with her own certain demise.
I watched the arrow release from Katsu’s bow, watched it speed forward, an unyielding executioner gaining speed and force. The arrow landed squarely within my chest and catapulted me backward into Musubi’s arms.
Distant ringing and frantic voices assaulted my senses, but I floated peacefully over the chaos that surrounded me.
Hands gripped my shoulders. My body was lifted in the arms of someone who resembled an angel.
“Mikomi,” he yelled. The urgency with which he shouted my name allowed me to break a little from the pull of peaceful slumber.
I lifted my bloodied hand and rested it against his cheek.
“Musubi,” I whispered. My voice seemed to come from a distance and echoed hollowly within me.
Katsu was suddenly there, hovering over me and placing his hands on my head. “Musubi, I need your powers, we have to stop the damage the arrow has inflicted. The darkness is spreading.”