“You’re very kind to say that,” Akira put a hand on Suzume’s shoulder and squeezed. “Looks like we’re here.”
The temple glowed in the moonlight, even from a distance, Tsuki could feel Kazue’s energy.
“This is it,” Suzume said. “I can feel Kazue’s energy. It’s calling to me.”
She took a step toward the temple as in a trance. He had to stop her.
“Su—” Tsuki tried to call out to him, but his words were strangled in his throat.
Suzume hadn’t seemed to hear him anyway, she kept walking toward the temple. The pieces of Kazue’s soul were calling out to one another. He felt it humming in his own veins through the dissonance Kazue had corrupted them with.
“You will not ruin this for us,” Akira said.
He couldn’t stand by and let this happen, no he refused to let this happen. Tsuki fought against Akira’s control, and she struggled to keep hold of it. They were caught in a tug of war between their dueling sides. The energy between them was fluctuating, and their form shifted chaotically.
“Suzume, run!” Tsuki shouted.
She turned, her gaze clearing. He’d broken the spell. But like a fool, she wasn’t running from them but toward them.
The darkness was creeping in around the edges, Kazue’s power inside them was growing.
“You fools. You were nearly free,” Kazue said, her voice echoing inside his mind.
Her song rose up inside his skull, it tore him apart from the inside out. Piece by piece until there was nothing. The lines blurred between them, and there was no longer Tsuki or Akira, there was just them.
30
When Suzume got close to the temple, she felt an ache deep in her soul. The part of her that was Kazue cried out, reaching to be united. She’d felt this before when she’d first met other pieces of Kazue’s soul. But it was so much more urgent and desperate. This hunger, this aching loneliness that threatened at times to consume her. The unvoiced cry of her soul promised her if she would only reunite Kazue’s soul, the pain would go away, and Suzume would be reborn, without pain, without uncertainty, and power beyond her imagining.
Her feet moved of their own volition. Everything else fell away but the temple and finding the source of this soul-deep call. She reached out her hand as if she could grasp the incorporeal voice that called to her without words.
“Suzume, run!” Tsuki’s voice jolted her from her trance.
She turned around, he had fallen to his knees, his skin was bubbling and contorting. Their features were a cross between the two, it was a stranger’s face who stared at her with black pupiless eyes. The same gaze they’d had the night they’d stolen the staff from her. She drew her staff and rushed toward them, she had to stop the transformation somehow. Flames flickered along her staff as she swung for them.
They caught the edge of her staff and smirked.
“You are too late. They’re gone,” their voice echoed as if two people spoke at once.
Suzume yanked the staff free and backed away, she didn’t have a spell to separate them, and she wouldn’t hurt her friends. Tsuki had tried to warn, her but he was too late. They stalked closer to her. She had only one choice; she had to seal them.
“I’m sorry I didn’t want to have to do this.” Suzume gathered her power, the song was on the tip of her tongue. She’d only ever learned the spell in theory. Ryuu had made her practice it over and over until she could recite it in her sleep. But practice wasn’t the same as practical application.
It gathered in her like a firestorm until she was nearly bursting with it. She unleashed the power, and it struck them in the chest. Chains made of fire unraveled from the ball of flame wrapping around them and pinning their arms to their sides. They wrestled against the binding, as Suzume tried to hold the notes of the song, her voice was wavering, and they tugged on the bonds. They were going to break free of it.
She strained to hold on, but it was no use. She would have to let go and make a run for it, head for the forest and regroup, maybe look for Noaki and make a new plan. They snapped through the first chain. She held her breath and let go before bolting for the forest. Their feet were pounding on the ground behind her. Suzume tried running faster. But she’d never been able to beat Tsuki in a race. They grasped her by the arm, nearly yanking it from her socket as she tumbled to the ground.
She kicked and slammed a flaming hand against his chest. It didn’t slow them down, they pinned her arms to her sides and carried her from the forest and toward the temple. There was no breaking free of their grip. It would be better to conserve her energy as she made a new plan. Despite that, flames flickered along her body. Panic rushed through her veins.
They brought her into the temple grounds, and that sensation swept through her again. It was like being swept under the waves of the ocean, but instead of panicking, trying to gasp for breath, she wanted to let it carry her away to a place that had no worries, and no pain. No, she had to fight it whatever this feeling was that wanted to consume her, she couldn’t let it.
The temple had a simple shrine, the doors of it open. Souta knelt before the alter his white hair was scraggly and falling into his face. He raised his head as they brought her closer. He had a black eye and a split lip.
“No. She got you too.”
They dropped her on the ground beside him, and she crawled closer to him.
“What happened to you?” Suzume asked, her eyes scanning over his wounds.
“Kazue, she controls the hybrids. You were right—” He trailed off, his eyes were blown wide.
Suzume looked over her shoulder to see Kazue standing in the doorway, her eyes glimmered blue.
“No, finish what you were saying.” She gestured for Souta to continue.
“I knew you were up to something.” Suzume pointed her flaming staff at Kazue.
“Yes, it was just like Hisato told me, you’re painfully easy to read, Suzume. So easy to manipulate. It didn’t take much to drive you and Kaito apart. Just like the first Kazue.” She laughed and shook her head.
“You’re not going to get away with this,” Suzume said as she took a step closer to her.
The fire was raging inside her now, eager to be unleashed. If she weren’t careful, Kazue’s flame would consume her, and she would lose herself to the fire.
Kazue tossed her head back as she laughed. “You cannot harm me without hurting yourself.”
Suzume flung a ball of fire at Kazue’s head, which she dodged.
“Maybe I’m willing to hurt myself to take you down.”
Kazue smiled, it was too-wide and crazed, and reminded her of Hisato. “Haven’t you realized it yet, Suzume. There is no end to this except with death?”
“You’re not going to scare me with that, fight me.” She rushed toward Kazue, swinging the staff and bringing it down.
Kazue rolled out of the way and shot a stream of water at her from the jug of water she had at her hip. It extinguished her fire and wreathed Suzume’s head in smoke. She didn’t need her fire to fight and instead spun and struck at her with the staff. Kazue blocked her attacks, stepping away inch by inch.
“You can feel it, Kazue’s soul wants to be reunited,” Kazue said.
Suzume ignored her taunts and flung another fireball her way. Kazue blocked it with her water again, before shooting another stream at her. It hit her upside her head and set her off balance, but only for a moment. The fire inside her was starting to grow, the sensation of Kazue’s power threatened to overwhelm her, she had to hold back or let it consume her.
“Kazue never meant for us to be united. The longer you spend together, the more you will lose yourself, become a part of her and lose yourself,” Kazue said, gesturing to Souta behind her.
Suzume was panting for breath. Holding back her energy was using up more of it than it would to expend it. “What are you suggesting? That we let Hisato transform all of Akatsuki into those monstrosities?” Suzume threw out her arms.
“No. Those are
just the beginning, with enough power, we will be able to reform, to make new bodies which will never age, never grow tired. We will fulfill Kazue’s dream for all of Akatsuki. Can you not see it? It is beautiful.” Her eyes were filled with a manic glow.
“I’ll never join you,” Suzume said as she rushed toward her, aiming a ball of flame straight for her heart.
The ball fizzled against a wall of water that wrapped around her head and shoved water down her throat. Suzume grasped at her throat as she struggled to breathe. Kazue stalked closer.
“I don’t need you Suzume, I just need what belongs to me. Kazue’s heart.”
She reached for Suzume’s chest, and Suzume screamed. It felt as if she were pulling her apart from the inside. Her back arched as everything became nothing but white-hot pain.
Smoke turned the sky to ashen. Kaito didn’t want to believe his eyes. Heart in his throat, Kaito landed among the rubble, what remained of his palace. Everything was destroyed, the bodies of the fallen hybrids and yokai lay like broken dolls around him. Suzume. Where was Suzume?
His chest constricted. No. She couldn’t be.
He turned over bodies, tossed aside rubble searching for her. Panic rose up in him like the tide. How could this have happened, he had defeated the hybrid camp. Unless Kazue had lied to him. What a fool he’d been. While he was blinded by nostalgia, she had deceived him completely, driven a wedge between him and Suzume…
A groan came from beneath a nearby beam. Kaito rushed to the sound. Noaki had been pinned beneath a wooden beam and rubble. His skin was caked in dust and blood. He shifted the rubble around to lift the beam and helped Noaki out.
“Where is Suzume?” Kaito growled as soon as he was on his feet.
“Not here. I lost her in the chaos, but Tsuki and Akira were with her...”
He had to find her. He refused to believe she had died. It couldn’t happen. They searched the wreckage together, discovered a few more survivors, but still no sign of Suzume. The inner ring of the palace was nothing more than a smoldering pile of embers. He made his way through it, spreading out his sense, desperate for the barest hint of life. As he picked his way through the rubble, he caught a glimpse of an ash-covered item.
Kaito pulled it out of the ashes. It was the jade comb he had given Suzume. He clenched it tight enough to break the skin. He left the wreckage of the palace behind and found Noaki, where he had gathered the survivors together.
“Anything?” Kaito asked, half dreading the answer.
“Nothing but this yokai thinks he saw something.” Noaki nodded toward the itachi, who was covered in grime.
“What did you see?” Kaito asked.
“I saw the priestess get in a small sailboat with that shifter, they looked like they were headed northwest along the coast. But I could be wrong, it was chaos then.” He rubbed his head with a paw.
It wasn’t much of a lead. But it filled him with hope. If she had gotten out of the palace alive, then perhaps she had landed somewhere safely. Kaito transformed into a dragon and took to the sky. He would find her, even if he had to turn the entire island upside down to do so.
31
Suzume’s entire body burned. It felt as if Kazue was raking her body over with hot coals. She had become nothing but pain and a growing fire so strong she feared it would burst from her and incinerate her entire body. Kazue didn’t want to just kill her, she wanted to tear her soul apart. She would never reincarnate her soul; she would simply cease to be. Despite her fear of oblivion, she welcomed the escape of death, anything to be freed of this pain.
A whoosh filled her ears, and the pain eased. The crushing pressure in her chest was gone. Suzume opened her eyes to the starless sky, soaked and trembling. Wind whipped around her and stung her eyes. Even the twitch of her finger ached. Souta stood arms outstretched; a wall of wind separated them from Kazue.
“I cannot hold this for long; she drained me of nearly all of my spiritual energy,” he said, a vein popped on his forehead, and his neck was strained with the effort.
Suzume stood up on trembling legs. Souta looked ready to collapse, and she felt as weak as a newborn fawn. What could she do against Kazue, she was too powerful. Kazue’s water broke through the wall of wind, and sprays of droplets splashed on her skin. It was only a matter of time before she broke through and finished ripping her heart from her chest.
“Suzume, you need to resonate with me,” Souta shouted.
The rush of water thundered in her ears. Kazue was gathering a tsunami size wave, that was building and cresting over their heads. They should run, save their own lives.
“We need to run, come on.” She grabbed onto Souta’s arm, trying to tug them away.
“We cannot escape her. The only choice is for you to take hold of Kazue’s power within you as we resonate.”
She couldn’t; the last time she had taken hold of Kazue’s power, she had nearly killed Kaito in the process. And how much more could Souta possibly give without harming himself? She wouldn’t risk harming him. She couldn’t do it.
Souta’s knees buckled, and he fell to the ground. The wind was dying down, a downpour dumped upon them. Kazue’s wave loomed over them; it would crash upon them any moment.
“Suzume, you have to, or we both die.”
The water came thundering toward them. She said she was done running away, but here she was still too afraid of the power within her. Suzume closed her eyes and reached Kazue’s flame within her. Her heartbeat was a flickering flame that grew into a blaze. She was made of a wildfire that’s only goal was to destroy. Her reason was slipping away; Kazue’s fire would burn away the girl who was Suzume and let her be reborn in flame.
A blast of Souta’s wind energy filled her, stabilizing the fire, balancing out the destruction within her. This power was hers, and she would use it to destroy Kazue.
The wave fell upon them, and Suzume threw out her arms, creating a shimmering barrier. The water rushed over the barrier, and for a few moments, they were underwater. Suzume had never felt more alive, more powerful in her life. She had captured the flame; it no longer burned along her skin but hummed in her veins.
The wave receded and revealed Kazue standing on the other side of her barrier, there was a bemused expression on her face.
“You’re wasting your time with all of this,” Kazue said with a shake of her head.
“I’m not going to let you win, even if it kills me,” Suzume countered.
The flames burst from her, reaching out of the barrier and shot at Kazue, wrapping her up in fire. Kazue screamed as the flames caught on her hair and clothes. With a wave of her hand, she extinguished the flames with her water. But Suzume was already outside her barrier, staff twirling before her in an arc of fire.
Kazue backed away as she shot funnels of water at Suzume, which she dodged. She was closing the gap between them and pushing Kazue’s back against the wall. One more strike, and this would all be over.
A blow struck Suzume from behind, and pain seared through her arm. The puppet of Tsuki and Akira swung their sword at her head, and she ducked to avoid losing it.
Suzume backed up to get the two opponents in her sights. She didn’t want to hurt Tsuki and Akira, she knew they were inside this thing somewhere. But she couldn’t fight them both at once.
“You really are a fool, Suzume. You have the power in you to destroy them, and yet you hesitate.” Kazue laughed.
“Unlike you, I care about my friends,” Suzume said.
Kazue threw her head back and laughed even harder. “Is that what you think, what about Souta? Aren’t you curious why you can control Kazue’s flame now?”
Suzume chanced a quick glance back toward Souta, he was lying motionless on the ground. He had expended too much energy and exhausted himself, hadn’t he?
“Let me tell you something, Suzume. You can never defeat Hisato, not unless you’re willing to sacrifice. Not unless you’re willing to kill everyone who shares Kazue’s soul with you and take that pow
er for yourself.”
Suzume shook her head. No, it wasn’t possible. She was lying to her; she had to be. They’d learned to resonate together. The power could be shared.
“I don’t believe you,” Suzume snarled back as she raised a ball of flame and flung it at Kazue.
Kazue knocked it aside, not with water but with a black shield. Ebony smoke curled around her hand. Kazue had taken on Hisato’s dark energy, that was what had made her stronger.
“You had a chance to take his power, to spare them all. But your greed will be your downfall.” She held out her hand, and a midnight blade materialized there.
She rushed toward Suzume, slashing at her. The tip of the blade caught her cheek, and where it cut, it burned spreading outward. Suzume surged for her, gathering as much of her energy into a single strike as she could. Kazue attempted to dodge, but she caught her with her flames, and wrapped them around her.
Kazue screamed as the fire caught her once more, but Tsuki and Akira were rushing for her again. Suzume blocked them with the staff, looking into the bottomless, black eyes of those who had been her friends.
“I know you’re still in there, I know you don’t want to do this.”
“You don’t know us at all.” They shoved her backward.
She lost her footing, and Kazue, free of Suzume’s flames again, pinned her between the two of them.
“I’m sorry for this,” Suzume said to Tsuki and Akita as she unleashed the flames; it exploded from her, sending the two of them flying backward and singeing the ground around her.
She had felt Kazue’s pain numbly before; this time, it rippled through her as a painful echo encompassing her entire body. And she kept moving forward, despite the burns that were blistering and burning her. Tsuki and Akira got to their feet once more, their clothes smoking and blisters on their face from their burns.
Kazue was on all fours, her skin red and burned. She looked at Suzume through a sunken hollow gaze. “This is not the end.”
The Fractured Soul Page 23