by C. J. Anaya
“I guess trying to take on three at once was a bad idea,” she said in an annoyingly cheery voice.
Bishu barked out a relieved laugh and cradled her closer to his chest. On the outside, he didn’t look the least bit shaken by Angie’s near death experience, but his emotions were in severe turmoil. It was seriously like a hurricane of equal parts relief, fear, and protectiveness. Not to mention how angry he felt at her reckless actions.
He wasn’t the only one. My shaky knees gave out on me in my crouched position and my butt hit the ground.
“You took on three at once?” I said in a gruff tone. “You are insane, Angie. Akane might have been able to handle that, but you still have a lot of prep work to do before you’re ready for an ambush.”
She shrugged her shoulders nonplussed. “They were headed your way after you took down that second cat—bravo, by the way. I had to distract them somehow. It seemed like some nekomata were more interested in killing you than kidnapping you.”
I shook my head at her selflessness on my behalf then leaned forward and draped my arms around her which meant I was also half hugging Bishu.
“I’m actually really confused as to what their intent was,” Tie said.
I brought my head up and turned to look at him.
“I know,” Kirby said. He grabbed the knife from Tie and showed it to the group. “One nekomata tries to burn you alive with a fireball, and another stabs you with a sword that can’t kill you.”
“There were factions within the group,” Ms. Mori stated. “There’s no way for Amatsu to know exactly who wants Hope dead and who is still a loyal follower. Some members of this particular group wanted you dead, while the others hoped that injuring you with weapons you could heal from might incapacitate you long enough for them to take you without too much of a fight on your part.”
“It would explain why some of the nekomata began fighting with each other,” Bishu said. “Amatsu’s minions recognized the traitors in their group and infighting began.”
“It was certainly convenient for us,” Victor said. “We were outnumbered.”
He talked to the entire group, but his eyes remained glued to Angie and Bishu. I did my best to ignore his emotions, but his own worry over Angie and his guilt at not protecting her when she was attacked was too powerful to ignore. I felt my shoulders sag a little more as the weight of it all became way too much for me to handle. My own emotions were bad enough. I really hated battling to mute everyone else.
My eyes landed on the gun at Kirby’s feet and I picked it up, giving him a questioning look.
“Where in the world did you get this, Kirby?”
“Ms. Mori gave it to me and showed me how to use it. She wanted me to be able to protect myself without having to get too close to any nekomata. Pretty awesome, right?”
My gaze lifted to my former mom in surprise. She shrugged like giving a hand gun to a ten-year-old was no big deal.
“The bullets are laced with metal from the Underworld,” she said. “Packs quite a punch.”
My eyebrows rose until they met my hairline. She’d done nothing but rail on me for keeping Kirby alive and now she was giving him guns to defend himself? Not that I was complaining. When it came to keeping Kirby safe, I could use all the help I could get, but her behavior was unexpected. Most moms nurtured with warm meals, hot baths, tender hugs, and loving kisses.
Apparently, Ms. Mori was all about artillery.
“We need to move out before the local authorities arrive,” Victor said. “There were a lot of patrons watching the fight from the windows.”
“Really?” I said. I shouldn’t have been surprised by this. You don’t have an all-out war with a bunch of creatures from the Underworld at a crowded resort without getting noticed.
“No time to change, huh?” Angie asked as she pulled at her sticky tank top.
“I would be happy to relieve you of your bloody clothes, Angie,” Victor said with a charming smile.
I hid my own smile as I stood and ignored the barely perceptible growl that escaped Bishu’s lips.
“Our emergency packs are in the trunk of one of the rentals,” my dad said. “I’m sure Angie can find something to wear in one of them…with Hope’s help of course.” That last part he delivered in a stern voice and gave Victor the evil eye.
Always the parent, even if Angie wasn’t really his kid.
Bishu helped Angie stand while I put an arm around her, and we both led her to one of the cars.
“I’ll just…ah…go check with the others to see if we need anything else before we leave,” Bishu said.
He left Angie in my care with great reluctance. I opened the trunk, grabbed a duffel bag and pulled out a t-shirt and jeans.
“You seem to have two admirers,” I stated as she peeled off the bloody mess she wore, grabbed a couple of wet wipes from a small package in the bag and wiped off her chest and abdomen.
“Well, of course I do. I’m the hottest bloody mess this side of the China sea,” she joked.
It was obvious she didn’t want to talk about it so I took the hint and let it go. Once she finished, I reached my arms out and folded her into a big hug.
“You saved my life today, Angie.”
“And you saved mine.” She squeezed me back and let me go. “I’m not gonna lie, though. If I can save your life again and avoid getting stabbed in the process that would be ideal. Sword wounds hurt like the very devil.”
“I know. I felt your pain when I was healing you.”
She stopped short and eyed me with a serious look.
“Is it always like that for you?”
“Always,” I whispered.
She nodded, wrapped an arm around my shoulder, and steered me toward the others.
“And yet you still fight to heal every single broken person you come across. There’s a fine line between selflessness and masochism, Hope.”
I snorted a laugh and leaned into her shoulder.
“I guess I’m just used to it.”
She remained quiet for a moment, thinking deeply about something. The sadness enshrouding her features was unusual for her. I wondered if an uncharacteristically serious moment was about to take place.
“Hope, I’ve been struggling with this dilemma of whether or not to tell you something. I just know how you’re going to react, and I’m not sure burdening you with this a stellar idea. I thought maybe I should just let things pan out, let fate take its course, but I can’t keep something like this from you. No matter how much I disagree with you.”
“What is it, Angie?”
She stopped walking and turned to me. Her look of sympathy and her emotional pain on my behalf was what gave it away.
“When is Kirby going to die?” I asked.
“In three days.”
“The day the veil is supposed to completely fail?”
She gave me a reluctant nodded.
“How?”
“All I’m getting is a vision of him covered in blood. I can’t even see the location. I’ve never had so little to work with before.”
I barely managed to contain my frustrated sob. I was so tired. Tired of this scenario repeatedly playing out. My steps slowed down as we neared the group.
“Whatever you decide to do about it, I’ll understand. I may not support it, but I’ll never judge you for it.”
“But will you be able to live with it? Will any of us be able to live with one more healing like that?”
Angie’s eyes filled with sympathy. She grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze.
“That’s for you to decide.”
That’s what I was afraid of.
We headed straight for the ley lines in Nago City Park where castle ruins played host to the Nago Cherry Blossom festival throughout January and February, the very same cherry blossom festival my parents had attended the day I was born. I wondered how my father would handle returning to this particular place, especially without my mom.
We pulled into the south ent
rance of the park and exited the vehicles. Everyone grabbed a backpack and started forward. I had a weird moment of panic at the thought of abandoning our vehicles for the foreseeable future. We couldn’t exactly drive through the castle ruins or the ley lines for that matter, and I doubted there were gas stations in Kagami, unless of course things had been modernized, but I got the impression Kagami was stuck in its own funky little time warp. Still, things felt more vulnerable on foot. We continued forward for a bit, everyone walking in silence, all too aware that the closer we came to the ley lines the more probability of running into more nekomata than we could handle. Soon we arrived at a large open square that held closed vendor establishments.
We headed past the small structures toward the back of the square. In the early morning darkness I made out a long, concrete staircase that curved upward, kicking off the start of the Nago castle ruins even though the staircase was obviously more modern in its structure.
In the car on the way over, Tie had explained that the castle had been constructed in the early fourteenth century and was the home of some royals, Ari of Nago. I guess they were members of the Ryukyu Kingdom until they’d had the unfortunate luck of being overrun by the army of Chūzan led by Shō Hashi during the invasion of Hokuzan.
The short history lesson had been mind-numbing, but in our current situation I think we all needed the brief calm before the storm we would eventually face.
As we began our ascent, I took note of the structures lining the sides of the stairs. They looked like elaborate stone bird cages. Cherry blossom trees past their blooming stage were also delicately planted alongside the steps leading up toward the unknown. In the darkness their spindly branches appeared to be waving in warning rather than instilling the peaceful calm I remembered feeling at previous festivals with my parents.
We climbed up the stairs for what seemed like a ridiculously long time. I swear we climbed at least a thousand steps by the time we reached the top where an elaborate shrine stood welcoming all newcomers.
Angie huffed and puffed behind me, muttering something about crazy Asians building abnormally long staircases as a form of Chinese torture.
“We’re in Japan,” I reminded.
“Are you telling me the Japanese are unfamiliar with Chinese torture methods?” Angie asked. “I’m pretty sure our own government has adopted some of their nastier techniques.”
“Are we there yet?” Kirby asked in a hushed voice.
Victor lifted a finger to his lips and searched the surrounding area for threats. I wasn’t sure how we were supposed to cross into Kagami through the ley lines or what exactly that entailed, but I was definitely ready for more sleep and hoped we would arrive at our destination as soon as possible.
As far as the actual castle ruins went, there really wasn’t much left of them, at least, not from where we stood. As we followed Victor further in, the oppressive silence created a weird pressure within my head. It felt as if we were all trapped in a bubble that slowly shrank with every step we took.
“We’ll need to cross the line here,” Victor said in a hushed whisper. He, Tie, and Ms. Mori positioned themselves in a triangle with their bodies representing the shape’s three points while they kept their right hands connected in the middle.
“Are you going to help them?” Angie whispered to Bishu. He shook his head but refrained from explaining why.
“Before we open the lines and cross into Kagami, I must make something perfectly clear,” Victor said. “Under no circumstances will anyone wander away from the group. This world isn’t quite as…user friendly as it used to be.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“Despite the fact that Amatsu cannot yet cross the veil into our world, his poison has permeated all of Kagami,” Ms. Mori stated. “His evil has infected everything. The plants, the wildlife, even some of the people. It is nothing like the world you remember, Hope. We won’t be safe until we reach the shrine and Shinto temple where Hachiman’s enchantments hold firm.”
My father let out an exasperated grunt. “Does anyone else think this plan is suicide? Why didn’t you folks tell us this before?”
“Would it have made a difference?” Victor asked. “We still have to find the prophecy.”
“Says who? And how, exactly? Kagami sounds less than hospitable. Why can’t we just figure out Tie’s part in all of this through trial and error and save the menacing world of Kagami for another day?”
“Dad,” I said, placing a hand on his shoulder. “We need answers, and we need Hachiman. If we can find a place where Amatsu’s minions can’t get to us then that should be our first order of business. We can only stay ahead of them for so long in this world. Eventually, they’ll find us again. Angie and Kirby have already been fatally wounded. Who knows what will happen next time? We need to get to the temple.”
I studied the planes of my father’s face, accentuated by shadows and moonlight. His features mellowed into reluctant agreement, but he didn’t like it, and honestly, I think the only thing preventing him from dragging me, Kirby, and Angie out of there was Tie’s uncanny ability to track my ki no matter where we were. What was the point, really?
“Fine,” he agreed. “No one wanders off. No one gets separated.”
“Good,” Victor stated. His attention turned back to the center of their triangle where their hands were connected. They all remained silent with heads bowed, chanting under their breaths so softly I couldn’t make out their words.
“What are they doing?” I asked Bishu.
“They are combining their ki into a single point of energy to open up the lines. Almost like a magical key.”
“You didn’t want to help them?”
“If my tainted ki interacts with theirs it will have devastating consequences, while simultaneously alerting Amatsu to our presence.”
I guessed that made sense.
A bright line began forming on the ground before the three kami, spreading lengthwise with a line intersecting it in the middle. They all stopped chanting and turned to face the group. Victor cleared his throat.
“We cross over the line while walking the one that intersects. I will take up the lead and Ms. Mori will take the rear. Tie?”
“I’ll be by Hope’s side the entire time,” he confirmed. He approached me and took my hand. The warmth from his touch easily calmed my nerves, but the unknown was still out there, lurking just past those ley lines.
“Okay,” Victor said. “Let’s do this.”
We walked forward almost single file. I had Tie on one side, Kirby on the other, and my Dad following behind. Angie and Bishu were in front of us. I noticed Bishu place a paw at the small of her back and dropped my gaze to the floor before anyone noticed my small smile. The minute my feet crossed the first ley line and followed the one straight ahead, a dizzying pressure slammed into my chest. I did my best to breathe through it because I assumed this was simply a side effect of crossing into another world, but I didn’t notice Kirby or Tie struggling with the same issue. My feet slowed as the pressure increased and then a tug at my sternum jerked me forward and I nearly ran into Angie.
“Hope, are you okay?” Tie asked. I nodded as he moved to steady me, but once my foot reached the last of the glowing line and crossed over, the pressure spread from my chest to my head and then my vision blurred causing me to see double. It cleared up just as quickly, but I was already stumbling forward.
Tie grabbed me again and steadied me.
“I’m okay,” I said.
A shrill noise to our right announced some unwanted company. Several nekomata sprang from the cover of trees and circled the group, forcing us to form defensive positions back-to-back with one another. I didn’t bother waiting for them to make a move. Instead, I grabbed the knife from my belt and threw it at the nekomata directly in front of me, hitting it directly between the eyes. The man-made weapon only served to annoy it, but its shriek forced everyone to action. We all broke off to face each personal threat, but I kep
t my eye on Kirby. Angie’s prediction plagued my thoughts even though the timing was off.
I couldn’t lose him. Not now. Not ever.
I sidestepped one nekomata who thought that grabbing me might be a smart thing to do, but the minute we made contact, I connected with its ki ready to make its heart explode. Then I considered the action might strengthen my bond with Amatsu even more now that I was in Kagami. I couldn’t afford to absorb anymore of their unnatural ki. Instead, I immobilized it with the worst migraine headache in the history of the universe. Tie quickly ended the animal’s pain by severing its head, which I thought was extremely humane of him. I spun in a circle, making sure to keep Kirby right with me as I checked on the welfare of the rest of our group. This particular party of hellcats had been small and easy for our group to dispatch, but I wasn’t taking any chances. I wanted to be ready in case someone was injured.
A sharp cry to my left made me wilt in dismay.
We had more company.
Just as the new arrivals hit the scene my double vision surfaced again and my chest jerked forward. I landed on my knees and buried my face in my hands as the pounding in my skull grew to an unbearable crescendo.
“Hope, are you hurt?” Kirby asked. His comforting hand on my shoulder enhanced the excruciating pain.
“Hope, you have to get up. More nekomata are coming,” Tie yelled.
I reached my hand in front of my face, but I couldn’t see it. Instead, that same cavernous space with its stone-like furnishings and green glow spread out before me in panoramic grandeur. The abrupt visual switch nearly made me vomit.
Someone took my hand, and Tie shouted a warning. The thunderous commotion surrounding me soon muted to a distant drone as the cavern came into better focus. The only thing I could hear after that was the sound of hurried footsteps scraping against the stone floors.
“My Lord, they’ve crossed the barrier into Kagami,” came a voice from up ahead. Dim lighting from a side tunnel grew brighter as a nekomata holding a torch bearing an eerie green light walked into the room followed by that same strikingly handsome man I had seen in a previous…vision?…episode?…I honestly had no idea what to call these experiences. The minute my eyes alighted on him, I felt my heart leap from my chest. This unwanted desire burned with annoying intensity.