by C. J. Anaya
Within a few minutes the foyer opened up and the emperor’s doors loomed to the right. Our entire group cautiously approached, barely breathing as we listened for a hint of sound or movement from within.
Nothing.
This was too damn easy. I didn’t like it.
Victor quickly motioned us to either sides of the doors and then Tie and Victor grabbed a door and quickly ripped them open.
Silence greeted us.
Nothing but silence.
Tie scanned the room before allowing us to enter. Once we gathered inside, he swiftly slid the doors closed, locking them in place. I wondered if that course of action was wise. We didn’t want to get ourselves boxed in.
“Where is the door to the dungeons, Hope?”
I pointed to the back of the room where those same samurai adornments were affixed along the wall.
“The healing room,” I muttered under my breath.
The moment the words were out, a wave of nausea hit me so hard I doubled over and dropped to the ground. I felt Tie at my side almost immediately, but my mind played a barrage of hideous scenes as I remembered the various torture methods my father had employed on not only me, but the soldiers he’d held down in the dungeons. Healings were repeated only to be undone by more torture from the emperor.
Each victim’s screams replayed over and over again building into a barrage of unending noise. I stopped breathing for a moment as I lived through the first time the emperor drowned me to punish me for not saving one of his tortured prisoners before the man died.
I surfaced again from that moment only to live through yet another beating and another grotesque moment of torture after I failed to save another one of his soldiers. The memories were endless, running on a macabre loop that prevented my mind from escape.
Just when I thought I would lose hold of my sanity, a soft voice broke through the chaos and gave me a small moment of clarity, something to focus on. It was soft, sweet, low, and melodic.
Look up to the starry skies
Where blossoms float in waves of light.
You’ll find me within their blooms
Come follow me and I’ll make room.
I recognized the song as one that I’d heard many times when I was left in my room after each beating. Aiko would bathe me and sing to me. At least, I assumed she had. It usually took some time for me to recover emotionally, and her tonics always put me to sleep. This voice sounded just like the one that had soothed me after each horrible beating during my younger years. Though she sang it in Japanese, I understood every word and translated it in my own mind.
Sleep safely in my embrace
The world is cold with little grace
But Heaven is where we’ll stay
Where love can chase the frost away
I took a few deep breaths and allowed my body to relax into Ms. Mori’s arms as she rocked me back and forth in time to her lullaby, the one I always thought had been sung by Aiko. I swallowed down the bile, the violent emotions and burgeoning memories, and focused on the song and the melody that had brought me back from the very depths of my despair so many times in my first life. It was easier to sing it in Japanese. So I softly joined in when she began to repeat it.
Ms. Mori lifted a shaking hand to my brow and smoothed away the hair along my brow-line just as tenderly as any mother. I’m not sure how long we sat there in silence after that. It had to have been the most reckless, unreasonable thing to be doing at the moment. Much like discussing the possibility of Angie having more than one soul mate while nekomata hunted us. It was the worst time ever for one grand panic attack, but Ms. Mori, the woman who had done nothing but keep me at arm’s length for both of my lives, had managed to understand my circumstance and situation better than anyone and knew exactly how to bring me out of my downward spiral.
When I finally opened my eyes, the rest of our group sat in a large semi-circle facing me with concern evident in their anxious gazes. My eyes flicked to Tie. He looked ready to spring forward and grab me at any second, but he held back on my behalf, most likely sensing that what I needed at the moment, ironically, was Ms. Mori.
“None of us considered what this place might do to you, Hope,” my father whispered. “You don’t have to continue on if you don’t think you can handle it. Tie will stay with you while we go into the dungeons and search for Benzaiten and the prophecy.”
I started to speak, but choked on some remaining emotion fighting for supremacy. His offer was more tempting than I cared to admit, and in that moment I realized how incredibly tired I felt. But I didn’t know what they might face down there without me. I didn’t like the idea of splitting up our group. A terrible strategy, considering we’d breached a palace ruled by Amatsu and quite possibly Fukurokuju.
My own failings aside, this mission had gone off without a hitch since we’d entered, and I wasn’t about to let them go on and possibly encounter their first hurdle without me. I hadn’t come this far to let memories from a past life cripple me when I’d overcome so much just to get here. I had to deal with this, and I had the feeling that I wouldn’t be dealing with it on my own. Ms. Mori had her own demons to fight where the emperor was concerned.
“I can do this,” I said. I bit my bottom lip at how weak my voice sounded, but at least I’d gotten it out. “I need to do this.”
“You’re sure?” Tie asked.
“Yes.”
Without a word, Ms. Mori released me and allowed me to stand on my own, something I suspected she’d always had to do in my first life. I didn’t know how to thank her or what to say, and I didn’t think she expected me to address it at the moment. So I merely offered her a word of thanks to which she gave me a soft nod and then we moved forward toward the back wall while the others followed close behind.
Just as I lifted my hand to pull on the elaborate gold sword, Ms. Mori grabbed hold of my other hand, offering me some extra support. I looked at her for a moment, finally seeing exactly what it was that had won my little Kirby over so completely. I squeezed her hand and then pulled on the sword.
A soft whirring noise drifted through the thin wall and a door opened to our immediate right.
“Once we enter through that door, we’ll come across a spiral staircase leading down into the bowels of the palace. This is going to be tricky as far as defenses go. We’ll most likely be sitting ducks down there,” I said.
“Well, we certainly can’t go back,” Daiki said.
“Then it is a simple matter of going forward, no matter how ill-advised the idea may be,” Hachiman said.
“If we are descending to our certain demise, I think it best that I go first,” Victor said.
“Glory hog,” Tie teased. “I’d expect nothing less from you. I suppose you’d like the honor of bestowing upon Fukurokuju the blessed reprieve of death.”
Victor gave Tie the first genuine smile I’d seen on his face in a long time. His aura of excitement at the thought of this much-anticipated confrontation made me want to roll my eyes.
Men.
Then he strode forward, drawing a dagger from the Underworld as he approached the entrance.
“Hachiman, I’d appreciate a written tribute to my efforts should you ever get the chance to record our adventures in your histories,” Victor said.
“Duly noted,” the monk replied dryly. “Should be a riveting read.”
Victor’s grin grew even wider as he stepped through the door. Tie reached for my hand, and the rest of us followed the warrior god down into the depths of the Ivory Palace’s dungeons.
“Did it always smell like this?” Tie asked as we reached the bottom of the stairs.
The damp mustiness of the place was made even more unbearable when mixed with the cloying smell of decay.
“Always,” I said.
I shivered a little at the images threatening to rise to the surface, but Tie’s warm hand on my shoulder and soft kiss to my temple gave me the courage to put one foot in front of the other. Steel bars lin
ed the various prison cells on either side of us. All of them were empty, but I knew the dungeons to be vast. We had a very long stretch of walkway to traverse before we reached the very end.
Prison cell after prison cell we discovered empty, and with each passing moment, I worried that the goddess had been killed and the prophecy completely destroyed. If the veil was ready to go at any moment now, it made more sense for Amatsu to simply destroy it rather than risk the chance that we would find it.
I worried he might have done just that since the last time I spoke with him he’d made it clear he literally had nothing to lose.
Our party finally reached the end of the aisle turning up nothing in the process.
“I’m not sure where else she may be,” I said. “And trying to figure out where Amatsu hid the prophecy within this constantly evolving edifice will most likely be next to impossible, especially if the palace has been instructed to hide it from us.”
Victor grunted in discouragement. “This doesn’t seem right. Amatsu, at the very least, should have Fukurokuju down here, rotting for the rest of eternity.”
“He’s very vindictive that way,” Tie said. “You’re right to think it odd that the emperor wouldn’t be experiencing some type of misery at the moment.”
Kirby waved a hand above his head to grab our attention.
“Did you hear that?” he asked.
“Hear what?” Ms. Mori said.
We all paused in our conversation and nearly held our breath in order to identify the sound.
After a few moments, I figured it was probably a rat, until a soft scraping sound floated across the unnatural silence. I pushed through our group toward the stone wall at the very end of the dungeon.
“Hello? Is someone there?”
The scraping sound became more frantic. A loud thump followed after a few more moments. It sounded as if someone was hitting a metal object as hard as they could against the other side of the stone wall.
“Ms. Mori, is there another room behind this wall?” I asked.
“It’s possible,” she said, pushing through the men to reach my side.
“Do we really want to know what might be on the other side of it, though?” Angie asked.
I looked over my shoulder, getting ready to give Angie a reassuring pep-talk when Victor put a supportive arm around her.
“Nothing’s going to hurt you, Angie. Not while I’m by your side.”
In the dim lighting, her mouth dropped open in a shocked oh.
“What a line,” Bishu muttered behind them.
“I think we need to figure out how to get to the other side of this wall,” Tie said, getting us back on point.
I thought about it for a moment. My hands glided along the wall, feeling the outline of the stones with the tips of my fingers.
“The emperor was a bit obsessed with false walls and hidden rooms. It’s very possible there’s something built into this wall that will be the key to opening it.”
Kirby nudged himself under my elbow. He ran his fingers along the bottom edges of the stone wall with a determined grimace. I appreciated his enthusiasm and went to work, pushing on different parts of the wall, hoping there might be something that might cause it to open. The scraping and tapping against the wall grew louder, which caused me to move faster. Kirby stood, looking frustrated and then folded his arms and leaned back against one of the barred cells.
I heard something click and the stone wall slowly swung inward, revealing an enormous, unnaturally bright room filled with hundreds of books, scrolls, and ancient texts. A large rectangular table took up the middle of the room, and standing before it, armed with what looked like a fire poker, was none other than my old friend and tutor.
“Kenji?” I whispered.
At the sound of my voice a warm smile adorned his lips.
“The face is different, but I’d recognize your ki anywhere,” he said. He dropped the poker to the floor and took one step forward. “My dear child, what took you so long?”
I took one step forward then another, feeling as if this was some kind of joke. I may not have seen Daiki’s death, but I was positive I had witnessed Kenji’s. How could I be so lucky as to have lost everyone I loved in my first life only to gain them all back in the next?
“You’re not real,” I said. “You couldn’t possibly be…”
“Alive?” His look held warmth and understanding as he nodded. “I could say the same thing of you.”
I quickly closed the distance between us and fell into his warm embrace, crying more tears at this unexpected gift.
“How on earth did you survive your injuries?”
Tie stepped next to me.
“You were still alive when we had to leave you behind, weren’t you?” He sounded guilt-ridden.
“Don’t blame yourself. For all intents and purposes, I was most definitely dead. There was absolutely nothing you could do for me with poison from the Underworld riddling my system, but one of Amatsu’s carefully placed minions posing as a soldier recognized me and thought Amatsu might have need of me. The demon god forced Fukurokuju to not only heal me, but turn me into a kami.”
“Impossible,” Ms. Mori said. “The emperor would never have sacrificed some of his power to help you ascend.”
“Your highness,” Kenji said as he bowed at the waist. “It is truly amazing what the threat of certain death will motivate one to do.”
“Wow,” I said. “The emperor must have hated that.”
“I assure you, I did.”
The hairs on my neck rose at the sound of such a familiar yet loathsome voice. I turned to my left, seeing Fukurokuju seated at an entirely different table. He looked completely at ease, amused even.
Ms. Mori radiated hatred and disgust. She was fairly vibrating with it. I didn’t blame her.
“Of course, my current incarceration with this insufferable scholar has merely added insult to injury over the last thousand years, but Amatsu always has narrowed down his own forms of torture with pinpoint precision.”
This moment was so surreal. I had zero desire to see the emperor again but had known it might happen. Now that the moment had arrived, the fear and paralysis I was so used to whenever I’d found myself in his presence were completely gone, leaving me with nothing but complete and total indifference.
I didn’t know if that was healthy or not, but it certainly helped me look him dead in the eye when I said, “You look like hell, Fukurokuju.”
He stared at me for a moment and then threw his head back, letting out a crazed cackle that made me wonder just how certifiable he had become over the centuries.
“You’ve all been locked up in here for a thousand years?” I asked.
“Yes,” Kenji said. He pointed to Fukurokuju. “Although, the emperor has played the role of jailer on Amatsu’s behalf.”
“Oh, come now, Kenji,” the emperor said. “You know I’m just as much a prisoner as you are. It’s not as if I’m allowed to leave the palace.”
“It’s not as if you ever left it before,” I shot back.
He gave me an appraising look and then an approving nod.
“Too true, but at least I had the choice to leave if I saw fit. Unfortunately, as Amatsu’s lackey, I’ve been forced to babysit these two for centuries in the hopes that they might translate what so many scholars before them have failed to make sense of.”
“These two?”
“That’s right,” said a soft, feminine voice from behind one of the many bookcases just past Kenji’s shoulder.
A beautiful Asian woman with jet black hair to her waist came out of her hiding spot behind a bookcase to our left, carrying a small scroll in her hand. She wore a light blue kimono and her hair was decorated in several tiny cherry blossoms. She appeared absolutely ethereal. How she managed to look as if she’d just been visiting paradise was beyond me.
“Benzaiten,” Bishu said in a relieved tone. He moved past us and into the welcoming embrace of the goddess. She received him w
ith happy tears. “How are you, dear sister?”
They were related? I didn’t remember anyone ever mentioning that.
“Bored to tears. The only thing to do around this place is read tomes I penned myself.”
“I don’t mean to interrupt this reunion between you two, but I have to admit that I’m finding this situation far less harrowing than I’d imagined,” I said.
Her chocolate brown eyes zeroed in on me with interest.
“You were expecting the palace to be heavily guarded, weren’t you?” she asked.
“Of course we were,” Tie said, drawing her attention to him. “We made a lot of assumptions here, I suppose, but some of them included armed guards, impossible odds, and finding you beaten and tortured. Aren’t you being held prisoner by Amatsu and your jailer here to translate the original prophecy for the demon god?”
“I got the impression that the emperor’s job was to extract that information from you,” I said.
“Oh, I did,” Fukurokuju said in a lazy tone.
I couldn’t get over how bored he seemed with the entire affair. I was expecting someone angry, frustrated, violent, even volatile, but this version of the emperor was downright perplexing.
He must have noticed my confusion because he let out a tired sigh.
“Apparently, all I had to do was ask nicely and Benzaiten and Kenji were more than happy to hand over the pure translation of the prophecy to me.”
My eyes widened in shock. “You…” I turned to Kenji. “You translated it already?”
“Within the first few months of our incarceration,” Kenji said, giving Benzaiten a fond look.
“Then why on earth would you hand it over to the emperor?” Victor asked. His voice shook with outrage.
The emperor let out a quiet chuckle, giving Kenji and Benzaiten amused looks. He shook his head in chagrin.
“They handed it over to me because they knew once I read it, I would never willingly hand it over to Amatsu, not that I’d planned on giving that foul creature what he actually wanted. I’ve played quite the part all these years, pretending to have tortured and browbeat the both of them. Assuring Amatsu that everything was being done to translate the prophecy so he would know how to combat The Healer’s destiny and his own in the process.” His smile grew wide, mercenary even, before he spoke again. “That stupid kami may have played me for a fool when he used me to build his army, but he’s been the biggest fool of us all.”