The Twelve Kingdoms: The Shore in Twilight

by Fuyumi Ono

  Listening from her corner of the room, Youko started. She'd definitely heard it said that no human could come to this world on purpose.

  "If he has become a normal human, then he cannot pass through the Gogoukanda. And even if he could, there are those giant shirei to deal with. A shoku could be triggered, forcing them through, but--"

  Rokuta tipped his head to the side, as if in contemplation. "We'll never know until we try. Except that Taiki may now appear to this world as a foreign substance, and would as a consequence be rejected him. Moreover, trying to force him through could cause great damage both here and there."

  "I--" Youko started to say. "When I covenanted with Keiki, I was not yet a duly-recognized Empress. Keiki was somehow able to bring me here. So it seems to me that even if Taiki loses his kirin nature, he should be able to as well. Both of us started out as taika, after all."

  "Youko was mostly the Empress. But Taiki is now mostly not a kirin. There's no telling what would happen, or how Heaven would perceive this." The Royal Han continued in his level-headed fashion. "If we do not retrieve him, Tai will continue to drown. So do we bring him back at the possible cost of great destruction, or else quickly put him out of his misery and wait for another taika may grow?"

  "Don't spout such preposterous things."

  "If the thought is so repulsive to you, then you must accept the dreadful consequences that will otherwise occur."

  "I know--" Rokuta started to say when Hanrin interrupted in a tremulous voice, "If Taiki was an ordinary person, he could be appointed a wizard, couldn't he?"

  "A wizard--"

  "A wizard could cross the Kyokai, couldn't he? Other than that unavoidably caused by the shoku, the damage would be kept to a bare minimum."

  "I see," Rokuta muttered. "But how to extend that appointment?"

  "A king could travel across the Kyokai. That alone would result in a shoku of significant size. But it would be preferable to forcing an ordinary person across the Kyokai."

  "Reckless, but not without logic."

  "Indeed," Rokuta nodded. He turned to his liege. "How about you? You want to make the trip?"

  Shouryuu leaned back against the wall and folded his arms. "Fine by me," he said at length, staring out the ornately latticed window. "My five-hundred year family reunion, I suppose." The sunlight streaming through the lattices played with the shadows across his face. He narrowed his eyes, shifted his stance, and looked across the room. "Youko--no, Keiki. I'm off to Sou. A good time to patch up relations. I'd like you to come with."

  "To Sou?" Keiki echoed in confusion.

  "We need to spread the word that Taiki has been found in Yamato and plead for more shirei. Rokuta, you go to Mt. Hou. Take Youko with you. Report on what has happened so far."

  Youko understood that they were to seek further instructions from Genkun about the matter. Risai, though, cast a worried look at Shouryuu.

  "Why Mt. Hou?"

  "To arrange a meeting with Genkun. Taiki's condition and that of the shirei are quite out of the ordinary. There's no telling what will happen if we are forced to push him across the distance between here and there. Whether traveling across the Kyokai is permissible in the first place. Whether we can go there and bring him back with us. None of these questions can be considered settled. We really need Genkun's opinion."

  Shouryuu's obviously hadn't calmed Risai's concerns. "But what do shoku and Hekika Genkun have to do with each other?"

  "Nothing to do with shoku specifically. Heaven has its reasons and precepts. Only Heaven can weigh the rightness or wrongness of an action. But Heaven does not touch our lives directly. The only person who can reach through that window is Genkun. I appreciate the good work Ren Taiho has put in so far, and if she would continue--"

  "Wait a second!" Risai raised her voice. "You mean to ascertain the Will of Heaven through Genkun?"

  "That would be the gist of it."

  "But--but--is there a Heaven?"

  Shouryuu nodded.

  Risai felt as if some creature were assailing her from behind. "There's a Heaven? But--then why has Heaven abandoned Tai?"

  "Risai."

  "If there is a Heaven, if there is a Divine Will, if the Gods exist, then why didn't they come to the aid of Tai faster, before all this happened? The people of Tai send their prayers to Heaven while choking on their own blood and tears."

  Terrified to be seen by Asen, wrapped in darkness, they stood before the shrine in the still of the night. Forbidden to even mention the King's name, they instead placed a keihaku flower upon the altar. Surviving the destruction and the deepening winters became more difficult with every passing year. Amidst poverty so dire that a single fruit could make the difference between life and death, a meager offering and single stick of incense had to bear the infinite weight of their pleas.

  "Not able to do anything for themselves, the people earnestly visit the shrines. And yet, as Heaven would do nothing to save them, I sought out the Royal Kei bearing sin in my heart. If Heaven and its Gods had shown us the merest glimmer of hope, I would not have crossed the sea and lost my arm in the process."

  "And you saying so changes nothing."

  "But--" Risai started to say. She faced Shouryuu and stated coldly, "Send me as well."

  "We have no time to dawdle. You need to watch your health."

  "I am healed enough," Risai shot back.

  "Can you ride a kijuu with one arm?"

  "If it's Hien, yes, I can ride."

  "Is this creature a kijuu?"

  "Hien is a tenba pegasus."

  "A tenba certainly is no slowpoke. But can you fly all the way to Mt. Hou? This will be a non-stop journey."

  "All the same to me."

  "In that case--" Shouryuu said to Risai. "Go there if you wish. This matter concerns Tai and Tai alone. Go and seize the Will of Heaven in your hand."

  Chapter 40

  Having caught a few winks of sleep, Risa and the others left Kinpa Palace in the early morning light. They spared no time loitering around Ryou'un Mountain, gulped down their breakfast, and set off across the Sea of Clouds toward Mt. Hou.

  By the time the peaks of the Adamantine Mountains encircling the Yellow Sea came into view on the third day after leaving Gyouten--having barely slept in the meantime--it became clear that Risai was slowing down their progress. As accustomed as she and Hien were to each other, riding a kijuu at a gallop with only one arm proved harder than she had anticipated. Nor was Hien as fast as the suguu that Youko and Rokuta rode.

  Nevertheless, it was equally true that if not for Hien, Risai never could have made the trip in the first place. At times like this, the sense of loss to which she had resolved herself again weighed heavily on her mind.

  Youko and Rokuta silently urged her on, and on the forth day they finally arrived at Mt. Hou. At last, she said to herself, at the same time thinking, That was easier than I'd imagined.

  She had once crossed the Yellow Sea beneath the Sea of Clouds on foot to Mt. Hou. Thinking back on how arduous that experience had been, she was struck by the difference. Flying above the Sea of Clouds made things so much more straightforward. Thinking about the price Heaven extracted from people going on the Shouzan, she couldn't help but taste the bitterness in her mouth.

  It only deepened when she saw the woman standing in front of the white temple palace. According to Youko, even without being informed, Gyokuyou somehow sensed when visitors were arriving.

  After Enki filled in Gyoukuyou about the circumstances surrounding their trip, she instructed that they be given a place to rest and then left. They descended Mt. Hou through the red lacquer doors, and were given the use of a palace. Making herself at home along with Youko, Risai suddenly burst into tears.

  "Risai? What's wrong? Are you feeling okay?"

  Risai shook her head. She didn't understand why, but she couldn't stop weeping. "Genkun remembered who I was."

  "Ah," came Youko's bewieldered voice. When Enki told Gyokuyou that Risai was from Ta
i, she had immediately surmised that Risai had been among those making the Shouzan.

  "But how can that be? I've never met her!"

  "Risai--"

  "Gyokuyou knew I was here without anybody telling her so in advance. She knew who I was when we had never met. Why is that?"

  Youko gave Risai a distressed look as she stroked her back.

  "If she can see all and anticipate everything, then she ought to know what is going on in Tai as well!"

  "But Risai, Tai is very far away."

  Youko spoke without great conviction. Risai shook her head violently. "Once before I crossed the Yellow Sea before on the Shouzan. Does her Royal Highness understand what that journey is like?"

  "No, I don't."

  "It was a sterile land where the youma are as thick as thieves. The people going on the Shouzan band together and set off with Mt. Hou in their sights. Many of my fellow travelers perished along the way. With no roads and no resting places, it could only be called a wasteland. We made the crossing risking life and limb, youma stalking every fearful step. What took almost two months I crossed in a single day. Above the Sea of Clouds, that's all it amounted to."

  Youko only looked into her eyes and listened to what she had to say.

  "The people going on the Shouzan travel to Mt. Hou in order to ascertain the Divine Will. Why? Because the kirin are here? If meeting the kirin was all that mattered, then why not fly here above the Sea of Clouds? Then everybody could meet with the kirin without risking their lives."

  "Yes, I see."

  "Because of the necessity of crossing the Yellow Sea, everybody thinks twice before setting forth. And once having ventured in, getting out again is not easy. The journey becomes a marathon. There and back could be a four-day trip. The people could make the Shouzan so much easier. Choosing the next king would be so much easier. Don't you think so?"

  "Yes, it would be," Youko agreed.

  "It's said that Heaven looks into the hearts of the people and chooses the best person to receive the Mandate of Heaven. It never crossed my mind to question that. But does Heaven really exist? That's the question that first raised doubts in my mind. How exactly does it work? Genkun divines our arrival and recalls the faces of people who went on the Shouzan, whom she has never met. And with those same miraculous powers, Heaven foresees who should be king. Is that it? But couldn't Heaven do the same without the Shouzan? Why must we risk our lives crossing the Yellow Sea? What do we do it for?"

  Youko furrowed her brows. It was indeed a paradox.

  "If meeting with the kirin and ascertaining the Will of Heaven was the only way to chose a king, the cost would be high, but considering the good of the people, one worth the trade-off. If that is not the case, though, then what is the sense of it all? What good was served by those who died in the Yellow Sea?"

  How am I supposed to know? Youko couldn't help thinking to herself. There was no denying the point she was making. If Heaven could discern the hearts of the people beforehand and pick from among them the one with the purest heart, there would be no need for the Shouzan.

  If that wasn't the case--if only through the eyes of the kirin could the right person be chosen to be king--then what about cases such as her own? Knowing nothing of this world, an ordinary high school student had been born as a taika. Yet the Mandate of Heaven had fallen upon her shoulders. According to Keiki, he'd sensed in her a "divine right" to rule. But perhaps "kingly" persons were so predestined beforehand, and that divine right did not suddenly arise.

  "For Heaven to unreasonably demand such a heavy cost and then to offer those so chosen no assistance--what kingly failing of Gyousou's deserved such a fate? Of course, no king can be said to rule without making mistakes. Perhaps Heaven has a reason for turning its back. But then why condone Asen's existence? He rains death and destruction on the people. Why not help the true king and strike down the pretender?"

  "Risai--"

  "What are we--what are kings and empresses--to Heaven?"

  The Garden of the Gods, Youko suddenly thought with a start. Maybe that's what this was all about. Tentei was the overseer of the realm of this world. Tentei sat upon his throne in Heaven. Youko chose the Rikkan. By entering the name of the officials and ministers upon the Registry of Wizards, she raised them to the status of the divine. She appointed the wizardesses.

  Struck by the thought, she felt her mind reel. In which case, Risai's cry was the cry of the people. Youko had once heard a similar cry in a town in Kei.

  "Risai, I don't know how to answer your questions. But there is one thing that I do know."

  "One thing you do know?"

  "If there is a Heaven, it is not infallible. A Heaven that does not exist cannot err. But a Heaven that does most certainly can."

  A surprised and curious look came to Risai's face.

  "If Heaven has no concrete existence, then there could be no expectation that it could do anything to save us. But if it was up to Heaven alone to save us, then it would certainly err."

  "What do you mean by that?"

  "I mean that only we can save ourselves, Risai."

  Chapter 41

  Said the woman who dwelt in the space between the human and the divine, "I think Taiki has likely lost his horn."

  "What does that mean?" asked Rokuta. "What are the implications?"

  Gyoukuyou drew her brows together. "Think of the horn as that which makes a kirin a kirin. A kirin is a Janus creature. Kirin do not change into people, and people do not become kirin. Rather, they possess both attributes within themselves. However, Taiki no longer possesses a horn. He's lost that attribute of himself. It would not be incorrect to say that it is now sealed inside him."

  "And the human aspect that remains?"

  "As the En Taihou has observed, he could be said to be a mere human. He cannot change, trigger shoku, and hear the will of Heaven. Because some shirei had already attached themselves to him, they will not be lost. However, he won't be able to subdue new shirei."

  "Can he be brought back with us?"

  "An ordinary human cannot be brought back through an ordinary shoku. There are times when humans are caught up in a shoku and swept here. But those are unpredictable events and cannot be willed to occur. If nearby, the odds of being caught up are high, but there's no guarantee that the person involved will be transported across the Kyokai."

  "Is there no sure method then?"

  "No," Gyoukuyou answered in a subdued voice. "Shoku are not within the control of Divine Providence. Heaven cannot cause shoku to occur, and Heaven cannot prevent them from happening. If Heaven could, then Taiki's taika would not have been swept away to Yamato in the first place."

  "That is indeed true," Rokuta sighed. "But what about this? A king crosses the Kyokai and inducts Taiki into the Registry of Wizards."

  "Even if he is appointed a wizard, only a wizard above the rank of count can cross the Kyokai. As I explained previously, there is no provision for creating new positions at that level."

  "Then what? Taiki is over there! The lives of the people of Tai depend on Taiki, and the King being at his side. Are you telling us to simply cast him aside?"

  Gyokuyou sighed deeply. "Taiki does not have his horn. That instrument has already been sealed inside him. Cut off from the psychic streams that carry the life force of the universe, a kirin cannot be expected to live long. That is the opinion of my superiors. They will wait while the situation corrects itself."

  Risai had remained quiet up to that point. She leapt to her feet. "You mean you're going to wait for him to die!"

  Gyoukuyou averted her eyes.

  "Who are these 'superiors' of yours in the first place?"

  "Well--"

  "Are you talking about Tentei and the rest of the gods? These same gods telling us to govern our kingdoms with humanity and according to the Way are telling us to wait for Taiki to die and a new taika to grow and choose a new king?"

  Gyokuyou didn't answer.

  "And what becomes of Taiki?
What sin did he ever commit? What about the Royal Tai? Isn't he the king that Taiki sat upon the throne, according to the very will of Tentei? You charge him with no sin yet sentence him to death. And what becomes of those left behind? The people of Tai have suffered six years under Asen's yoke. And you're telling them to wait for Taiki to die as well? Wait for a new taika to spring forth? Wait for a new king to be chosen? How many more years is that going to take?"

  "That--"

  "Five years? Ten years? Genkun, Tai will not endure that long. Or perhaps until the next king is crowned, Heaven could drive the youma from Tai and warm the winters?"

  "Risai--" Enki tugged on Risai's arm. Risai shook her arm free.

  "Doesn't Tentei tell the king to rule with humanity according to the Way? That's supposed to be the first of the Divine Decrees. And yet how can these Divine Ones spurn the Way? How can these personages, who so easily abandon the people and trample humanity underfoot, judge kings who have strayed from the Way?"

  Gyokuyou took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Heaven has a logic and reason of its own. All those who dwell in Gyokkei follow its precepts."

  "So take me to this Gyokkei or wherever. I shall petition Tentei and the gods in person."

  "That is not possible. Risai, we do have pity on Taiki."

  "Then please help him!"

  Gyoukuyou looked at Risai with distressed eyes. "And if Taiki is returned here, then what? His shirei have lost the grip of reason. If they stay attached to Taiki in that state, they will wreak the destruction that youma wreak. If he could be brought back, the shirei would have to be separated from him. If he loses his shirei, then how could he protect himself? He would lose as well his 'royal sense.' He would have no other means of finding the king."

  "Even so, as the Taiho, he is necessary to Tai."

  "The rest of the kingdoms cannot save Tai. They cannot muster their armies and attack Asen. Bring Taiki home and he would be as helpless as a lamb. Your desire to save Tai, your conviction that Tai must be saved, can only prove a Sisyphean effort with our hands so tied. What would such a Pyrrhic victory yield him? What can a kirin accomplish when it is incapable of changing form, and with no shirei at his command? Besides being cut down before your eyes?"