Mononoke Samurai
Part Ten: Finding What Was Lost
Once the vicious battle came to an equally-vicious conclusion, Ashitaka, Jack, and San all took a well-earned rest from fighting. The three of them were pretty spent, and no matter what dangers laid ahead of them in the cave, they would still need to rest up. As they caught their breath, Jack couldn't help but notice that San and Ashitaka were stealing glances at each other, trying to convey something silently as they wheezed. Finally, without a hidden smile, Ashitaka spoke up first.
"You came," he said simply. San gave him a questioning look. "You really came for us, San. I didn't think you would. What made you change your mind?"
"What do you mean?"
"I thought that you weren't going to accompany us because of… well, you know." San turned her gaze to the ground, and her face grew a little dark and somber as she kept her silence.
"I know… but… I… I heard something, a few hours ago… Something that turned my blood into ice… And, I just had the strangest feeling, a premonition maybe, that… if I didn't do anything, then you and your friend would be in trouble."
"So this isn't about Eboshi?" A pause.
"…Not… completely," she managed. "It's true I still hate her, but… I would rather not have her working with this new monster. Believe it or not, Ashitaka, but to me, Eboshi is the lesser of two evils." He smiled dryly, and placed his hand on her shoulder in support. By that time, both he and Jack were rested up as well, though not completely. It would have to do, though, since there was trouble afoot and it didn't look like any of them were going to be safe once the maniacal Raynard continued to exist. With bodies still aching a bit, and spirits and souls uncertain about the jobs before them, the three warriors stood up, and ventured towards the cave to face the black blinding nightmares…
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"They are coming," said Raynard in a dark voice. Eboshi, petrified pale from looking at her now-insane lover, could only whisper,
"Who?"
"They are coming," he repeated softly. "The 'demons'. They are coming. I can feel them. There is no question about it. They, the 'demons', they are coming, and I can feel them. Heh, heh, heh…" Raynard's chuckle evolved into a fit of maniacal laughter, one which not even Eboshi could control. She tried, though--the occasionally-noble woman dashed forward, placing her only hand on the shoulder of her beloved.
"Raynard! What's wrong? What's happening?"
"I can feel their screams!!" he cackled. "Feel the burn! FEEL the burn!!!" Raynard clutched his head, and suddenly jerked to the ground, writhing and wriggling until he had removed his outer clothes. He struggled to get rid of his shirts and robes, making Eboshi horrified with fear and his own self suffer. When he removed most of his garments, however, Eboshi was aghast to find that the image of a uroborus that was on her beloved's backside was now glowing like a flame, and it even felt hot when touched.
"It burns!!" he screamed malevolently. "IT BURNS!!! THE PAIN! THE… TORTURE!!! AAAUUUUUGHHHH!!!"
"Snap out of it, Ray!!" barked Eboshi desperately as she shook him. "Snap out of it!"
"I can't!" he wept. "I can't! Eboshi! HELP!!!"
"How!"
"Get out of the way!" he screamed suddenly. Eboshi barely had time to dive out of the way as Raynard flung himself on the floor. The madman began scratching his bare back up against the cavern floor, babbling madly as he sang an insane hymn.
"Worlds of the fist, brooks downing there, which way up, my dear, which way up? Havvo, cavvim, reduch, maa! Machdo, omnepu, rhedo, ra! By the powers bestowed upon me, by the divine and the hellish, by the sacred and the chaotic powers of Heaven and Hell, and by the ever-watchful eye of chaos and order, I beseech thee to hear my call, to listen to my name, and to bring thyself up from the depths!"
"What is happening!!" screamed Eboshi, but Raynard was completely oblivious to her call.
"Hahahahahahaha!! An army…! An army…!! Bring forth unto me an army, consisting of the most devious monsters to ever be spawned! Come forth, obey your Master--EBOSHI!!!! I CAN'T--master! Master! Come and obey your master!!!"
"Snap out of it!" shouted Eboshi. "Raynard, please!!" In a panic, the woman embraced the half-dressed man, herself still clothed in a nightgown. Raynard was uncontrollable by that point, but it was obvious that there were glimmers of sanity here and there that erupted out.
"…Eboshi," he squealed sometimes, "help… this… isn't… me… my love!"
"I know," she whimpered. "Please, please, come back to me!"
"I…" Raynard grimaced powerfully, and spat back out at the demons that ate at his soul. "Do not!!" he screamed. "Do what you must to me, but leave Eboshi alone! Leave her alone, and the girl, too! Do what you want, but if you touch them once, even to brush your ghostly fingers against them, I shall personally destroy you and reduce you back to the mist that spawned you! DO YOU HEAR ME!!"
The beasts that Raynard had summoned, the legion of demons that came forth from his magical incantations and the festering insanity that burned at his very backside, those very same mindless demons agreed to the terms their master gave them, and all of them flew out of the cave like black wisps of wind. Their number stood at fifty strong, and their combined strength was greater than anyone, perhaps even Raynard himself, could comprehend…
Eboshi could barely even comprehend what had happened. The man that she loved and cared for with every depth her self had to offer was writhing in some unknown pain and insanity, and there was scarcely anything she could do to prevent it. She was at least thankful that Raynard had enough of his senses left to instruct his creations to leave the two women alone, but the mere thought of him concocting those monsters was more horrifying than anything she had done. Even cutting off the Forest Spirit's head was not quite so vulgar and blasphemous…
"Looks like it's time to end all this," he said eerily. "You must admit, Eboshi… One way or another, all of this shall end here." She swallowed fearfully, but within the confines of her mind, a thousand storms were raging on at once. The man she loved and cherished was caught forever inside this vacuum of insanity, doomed to tumble around in madness and writhe in misery and terror. She desperately wanted to help, and though he was mad, she would never turn her back on him, but how…
"Raynard…" He cackled out loud as the immense army of demons flew out of the cave, and could distinctly hear screaming sounds coming from outside. The sounds of a desperate battle could be heard as well. Eboshi's surprise escalated, and suddenly she realized a few more pieces to the puzzle. Abandoning her mad love for the time, she bolted outside wearing little more than a nightgown, and gasped in surprise as she saw Jack, Ashitaka, and San fighting against the demon army.
"You are wondering how they got here," came a voice from behind her. She turned around, and saw Raynard standing there, looking eerie as always.
"…Yes."
"I believe they were concerned about you," he replied with a devilish grin. Eboshi blinked her eyes.
"All of them?"
"Well, those two young men, anyway. The Princess, however…" He chuckled, adjusted his glasses, and made a cough. "Dear Eboshi, let us just say that she did not want the two of us to conspire together. Ironic, isn't it?"
"……Yes…"
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Jack, Ashitaka, and San had barely begun to charge towards the cave where Raynard had took Eboshi when the demons spewed out from it. An entire legion of dark forces flew towards them, covering the sky with darkness and rendering everyone's ears useless with their powerful shrieking. Above all the chaos and disaster was the laughter of Raynard, and the demented look in his eyes, and the hidden screams that were choked in his throat.
"Scatter!" shouted Jack, and the three warriors split apart. Jack instantly bounded off of a rock, a monster chasing him movement for movement. The samurai leaped and jumped across the mountainside, staying just one step ahead of the demon as he leaped. But finally, when he seemed to come to a dead end, Jack jumped out, kicked against the rocky wall and flipped in the air. His sword was out and slashing in moments, and the demons were down by one.
Ashitaka, meanwhile, was dueling with two at once. These were much larger and slower than the one that had chased Jack, but their power was greater as well. The Emishi prince was far too concerned with protecting himself against the claws of the monsters to do anything else: he would block, and parry, and narrowly miss being shredded, and at times, the claws would just brush up against him, ripping his clothes a little. The injury went unnoticed, but his speed doubled briefly for a moment afterwards, and with the extra boost, he sliced a scar on the faces of each monster.
San was doing battle with a much taller foe, who used its scythe-like arms to keep her at bay. It knew that its master had been dead-serious when he made that declaration, so the creature could not even touch San. It could, however, keep her busy so that she would not help her friends. San's skills at defending herself were better than the beast's sour attempt at an attack, and soon she was driving the beast away. It slipped a little as it teetered backwards, and the very tip of its elbow just barely grazed up against San's skin.
"I TOLD YOU NOT TO TOUCH HER!!!!!!!" screamed Raynard, and with a sudden thrust of his hand, the monster that had been attacking San exploded into a disgusting splatter of mist. The fog disappeared into the air, leaving San by herself. She turned around and stared at Raynard, wondering why her newest and deadliest enemy was so intent on her safety. San couldn't understand why somebody so demented and evil took such an interest with her…
But she was willing to exploit this.
Steeling her courage, San rushed forth into a pseudo-suicidal attack, deliberately placing herself into the path of danger over and over again. She ran towards one monster as it was about to impale Ashitaka, and flinched as its spear came perilously close to her. But Raynard came true to his word, and with a piercing scream, he destroyed the monster before it ever had a chance to touch San. The Forest Princess breathed out a sigh of relief as the monster died, and gave Ashitaka a big smile.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" she said. He smiled back at her and nodded his head, and together, the two of them went on one of the most dangerous offensives ever known. Ashitaka would find some demon to attack, and San would either try to get in its way or else have it attack her by accident, and no matter how much Raynard prized his demons, there was still some part of him that refused to let San get hurt.
"Jack!" they called. The samurai finished off another beast and ran towards the two, and they quickly shared their plan with him. "San and I are going to take care of these demons. It seems as if that necromancer won't let any of them hurt San. I don't know why, but we can use that to our advantage. While we're taking care of them, you get Eboshi to a safe place and see if you can't do anything about him."
"I understand," replied the samurai, and the three piled their hands on top of each other's in agreement. Jack ran off to rescue the older woman…
"Jack!" He turned around briefly, seeing San staring at him with a bit of pride, concern, and even sadness in her gaze. "Good luck." He smiled, and continued sprinting towards Eboshi and her ill-fated lover. San and Ashitaka, meanwhile, took care of as many demons as they could.
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"Well, would you look at that?" sang Raynard merrily. Eboshi nodded her head wisely.
"Yes. It seems as if that girl is eliminating your creations very well."
"She's such a good girl," said Raynard proudly. "Such a good girl…"
"Are you not angry that she is destroying your demons?" Raynard shrugged.
"No… and yes…" Eboshi smirked wryly, and looked off into the distance to watch the fight. From time to time, Raynard would scowl and destroy one of the demons before it could attack San, but other than that, they were both silent.
"You know, if that came from anybody but you, I'd say that they were crazy. But really, dear, what do you mean? I know you are not right in the head, beloved, and I do love a part of your insanity. That's what makes you so special, love. But seriously, what has come over you? I really would like to know--for old time's sake, of course."
"It's really not quite so complicated," replied Raynard casually as he adjusted his glasses. "To put things bluntly, not to insult your limitless intelligence, my dear, but you see this tattoo on my back?" She nodded her head.
"I must admit, you do look better with your shirt off."
"You are a naughty one, Eboshi!!" he chuckled. "Really, though, let us be serious. Well, to be perfectly blunt, and again, I'm not insulting your intelligence, but this tattoo was sort of… well, you could say that it was my little 'pact with the devil'."
"Pact with the devil?" she parroted. "What do you mean?"
"A regrettable occurrence that I wish I could erase," he muttered darkly. "I told you when we parted so long ago that I wanted power and skills; well, I now have them, but at the price of my own sanity. Darling Eboshi, the woman I am not worthy to even look at, I do believe that I have given away the man you loved for this accursed beast on my back, and though my power is unimaginable now, my own psyche is--for lack of a better word--like so much wheat ground up into dough."
"But why--"
"A mistake," he interrupted gently. "And let us leave it at that. You will not like it, my precious, but the only true way to cure my rotten mind is to kill me. Of course, you will object…"
"Most definitely!" she barked. "Raynard, I cannot--"
"I assumed as much," he sighed. "…Oh dear. It appears as if that man in white is coming straight for us. Dear Eboshi, do you think he could possibly kill me?"
"I would not let him," she said darkly. "Not without taking me with you." He smiled at her warmly, though his "rotten mind" prohibited him from embracing her like he wanted.
"My precious jewel… I do not deserve such devotion…"
"Nor do I deserve such admiration," she replied coolly. Raynard merely smiled as Jack approached them with his sword drawn. The samurai stopped long enough to catch his breath and stare down the mad necromancer.
"Let her go," he growled. "I may decide to extend some mercy to you, vile wizard, if you release this woman back into our custody. Refuse, and you shall pay for the consequences!"
"Stand down, samurai," commanded Eboshi. "I came with this man out of my own free will. You cannot deny me that."
"But, my lady…"
"No, let him play Knights of the Round Table, Eboshi," said Raynard. "If he wishes to fight me for your honor, then it is a fight I shall gladly participate in. Good man, do you honestly believe that you can defeat my eternal love for this woman?"
"We will see what sort of circumstances are given to us," he replied huskily. Raynard grinned, and prepared to fire a lethal spell at the samurai. Jack gritted his teeth, and rushed towards Raynard with his sword singing in the air. The force of the two met suddenly, with a violent crash and a brilliant flash of light, but when the dust settled and everything became visible again, it was Raynard who was shocked.
"My… my pulsar attack! The pulsar spell did not work! But, how?!"
"The sword that I wield is stronger than any magician's spell!" declared Jack boldly as he brandished said sword. "Even the works of Aku himself could not withstand such a blade! Now your future is emptiness!!" Raynard, for all his insanity and bravado, could only shirk and back away as Jack crept towards him with lethal deliberation. As he slithered away, Raynard caught a glimpse of the battle, and saw one of his demons with its tentacles around San. All concern for his own life went away as he screamed.
"GET AWAY FROM HER!!!!!" The monster perished from a single wave of Raynard's hand, and Jack saw his chance. He lunged towards Raynard with his sword, and nearly came close to impaling the man. But at the last second, Eboshi rammed into him, pushing Jack out of the way before he could strike. The samurai tumbled along with the lady, and rolled straight into the clutches of an awaiting demon, who took both Jack and Eboshi into his greedy arms.
"YOU MALIGNANT CURSE!!!!" spewed Raynard violently as he struck out against the demons. "DID I NOT WARN YOU?!?! Did I not tell you to keep away from these women?! Now, you must all DIE!!!!!" With that, the mad necromancer truly lost his sanity, as he raised his hands to the air and chanted out a spell that completely cancelled out all the monsters he had previously called forth.
Smoke and mist were the only remnants of the beasts, as Raynard stood there with his hands raised and a grimace of terror and rage fixed on his face. He grunted, and crumbled towards the ground in pain, and was caught instantly by Eboshi.
"Raynard!!" The noble woman held onto her only love with her single arm, and shed tears for him as his body shivered from weakness. With that same eerie cackle and calm smile, however, he assured her that he was okay.
"Just exhaustion," he dismissed it as, "and nothing more. I will… be okay. But… bring the Princess over here. The Princess… Mononoke, would you?" Eboshi looked over at San, without any hate or malice in her gaze for the first time in ages, but she didn't receive the same look from San.
"I will never…"
"Please," begged Raynard weakly. "I… have something to say to you."
"What could a monster like you possibly have to say to me?!" she demanded. Raynard's mouth curled up in a feral smile.
"…I know something about your father," he whispered. San immediately took a step backwards in surprise, and lurched towards the madman in anger.
"WHAT!! What do you mean?! I have no father, you wretch!"
"Oh… on the contrary, my dear Princess," smiled Raynard weakly. "You did indeed… have a father. I… knew this man, very… very well…"
"How could you possibly know something about that?!" she spat. "Talk!!"
"Your father… would have been proud of you, Princess," he said. "…And so would your mother. Your… real… mother…"
"You lie…" San snarled, a look on her face so fierce that it would have frightened Moro away. "You are nothing but a liar, a man who even gives humans a bad name. Yours is the kind whom even devils revile… Your dead carcass is not even worthy to be spat upon…" As usual, Raynard merely chuckled and shrugged San's words off, like water from a duck's back.
"Ah well, there's no use talking to her!" He let out a chuckle, and freed himself from the grasp of Eboshi just long enough to stand. Before he could do or say anything, however, there came a trembling from the cave he had just left. The entire planet began to shake from some unknown fear, and the skies above grew dark and foreboding, almost as if a greater terror was erupting out of the mouth of Hell.
"What now?" said Jack nervously. "Is there another demon we neglected?"
"Yes, you could say that," said Raynard darkly. "The final and most horrible monster of them all! The very same one that has taken hold of my mind, body, and soul! The enemy of every single one among us, and the enemy of all living creatures! The dreaded Grand Devourer!!!" All eyes turned towards the cave, in anticipation of what would come out of it. In a flash, a beastly monster emerged, resembling a gargantuan serpent-dragon hybrid, and snapped its jaws at Eboshi and Raynard. The maniacal wizard screamed back as the creature bolted towards him, and aimed his hand at the beast for a powerful spell.
"You will not dominate me any longer!" he exclaimed. "And even if my soul is blackened and turned into a husk, you shall not lay a finger upon this Lady Eboshi, nor this Princess Mononoke! DIE!!!" A gust of powerful energy struck the beast, sending it crawling back into the cave briefly. Raynard limped after it with Eboshi supporting his weakened body, but then the ground really began to shake and crumble, so much so that it felt like the sky itself would fall upon them.
"I have a plan!" he shouted to everyone in general. "There is a system of powerful explosives buried under this cave, for some emergency or another that I anticipated, but the control to activate it is outside the cave! I will go in and keep the Devourer at bay, but I will need everyone else to activate the detonator! It is outside, right next to that pine tree!!!" Jack, Ashitaka, and San all turned to search for the tree, and found a device whose technology was well ahead of anything that era had seen.
"Raynard, don't be a fool!" shouted Eboshi. "You will not kill yourself just to keep that beast at bay!"
"I have to!!!" he replied. "It is the only way I can atone for my sins!!"
"Then I'm going to die with you!!" she shouted. "I have spent the past seventeen years mourning and aching over your loss! I will not live through the rest of my life without you! I love you too much to lose you again!!"
"…Eboshi…" Sadly, Raynard looked into the beautiful face of his beloved, who he had burned for and pined for and yearned for ever since the day they first met, so many years ago. He took her only hand into his, using his free one to gently stroke her fair face.
"…I thought you would say something like that," he said gently. "So be it. But who will set off the detonator?" Eboshi craned her head to look outside, and her eyes found San, who was watching the two with amazement.
"San will do it," she stated. San did a double-take as Eboshi mentioned her name. "Won't you, my dear girl?"
"…What?! Why should I?"
"San, you have been wanting to see me die ever since the day we first met," said Eboshi in her usual calm and quiet voice. Though the earth rumbled, it still carried into the ears of the Princess Mononoke. "I may have changed since my days of destroying the forest, but I still feel as if my body is racked with sin. San, if you can find it in your heart to slay me with my beloved, and let me have that little piece of happiness, then I shall be content." Eboshi gave the younger woman a gentle, kind, perhaps even loving smile, and Raynard conveyed the same.
"Please, Princess… I beg of you… End my life, so that this demon, and these two demons right here, do not cause any more trouble. I have suffered all my life; at least find it in your heart to ease it. Please, my dear…" The eyes of Raynard, while burning with a fiery orange glow, gazed at San with something she never thought possible from such a lunatic.
He was looking at her with love.
"I… I…"
"Please, San!" shouted Ashitaka. "It's the only way! Give them this happiness, I beg of you!" The Princess Mononoke froze briefly, and though nobody knew it at the time, she let a single tear fall from her face.
Why…?
Who… am I?
Who… are they?
Why did that man… save me?
Why is that woman… looking at me like that?
Who am I? Who are they?
I… want to know…
"I can't do it," she whimpered, her voice weak from emotion. Tears spurted out of her eyes, and with a final thrust, she activated the detonator that would set off the explosions hidden underneath the cave. I can't do it…
But I must. ………For them…
"Thank you, San," whispered Eboshi. The woman gave the Princess a smile, and Raynard did too, and then the rubble covering the top of the mountain caved in over the opening, and the two were never seen again.
Inside the cave, Eboshi and Raynard looked at each other for one last time, and prepared themselves for death.
"Well… see you in Hell, Raynard," she said emptily. He nodded his head.
"Yes… We shall indeed meet again, in Hell." The two drew in each other for their final embrace, and their mouths locked together for their final kiss, and a tear flowed down their eyes as they shed tears for the child they had lost.
And then, a bright light, and fire, and slowly, the madness withered away…
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The hours returning to Iron Town were mostly kept in silence. There was nothing left of the cave, except leftover rubble and a medium-sized crater. Neither Eboshi or Raynard, or the monsters that had emerged from it, could be found in the destructive wake, so it was best assumed that they had all perished. Some solace could be found in the strange disaster: Raynard and Eboshi had died happily and nobly, their souls in synch with each other's til' the end.
On the way to Iron Town, Ashitaka had tried to cheer San up, as only he knew how, but she just kept that same empty, staring, thoughtful face, all the way back. She didn't even say a word: she just kept still, as her two wolf brothers gave them gentle rides back to the town (this was how she had arrived there to meet them so quickly). Ashitaka finally gave up for the time being, and focused his attention on Jack, who was a little more open about things.
"Well, it seems as if your job is done, my friend," he addressed.
"Yes, it does."
"What will you do now?"
"I believe, once I have rested for awhile in your village, that I shall return home, to keep watch over it as it was meant to be. This necromancer might be gone, but other villains will nevertheless emerge, and it shall be up to me, or perhaps my descendants, to protect the innocent and to destroy the evil."
"It's a lonely life," said Ashitaka emptily, "…but a very noble one. Sir Jack, if ever you need the assistance of Iron Town, we will be more than happy to help." The two young men smiled at each other, and clasped hands in agreement.
"I am glad that I now have a few new friends and allies to rely upon," said Jack. "But now that Eboshi is gone, who do you think will rule over Iron Town?" Ashitaka smiled at Jack again, except this one was a little more humorous than the other.
"Well, if nobody objects, I would nominate myself." Jack smiled politely at the half-joke, and had to agree that Ashitaka would make a great chief, so long as a "certain Princess" would be there for him in times of danger… and perhaps, times of peace as well.
"We'll see," he replied as he looked over at the thoughtful San. "Only time and circumstance will tell. We'll see."
The trip to Iron Town took about ninety minutes via wolf, and Jack stayed and rested there until the following day before departing. The citizens were told of Eboshi's death, and all were informed that she had died bravely and nobly, sacrificing herself for the safety of everyone in the village, which was partially true anyway. Her funeral service was long and mournful, and a statue of Eboshi was erected in honor of one of the town's greatest heroes. San, surprisingly, had very little to say about the monument. In fact, she hardly said anything at all, at least until Jack was ready to leave.
"…It's odd," she whispered softly as the samurai was packing up some food for his return journey home. "That man and that woman… Eboshi and Raynard… the way they looked at me… For the first time ever, I did not see hate or greed or madness in their eyes, but… a feeling of love. And you know something, Ashitaka?"
"What?" She paused, and gave him calm look.
"I did not feel hate for them, either. I almost felt like…… I don't know. Maybe… like I could almost… feel a little sorry for them, or maybe… maybe… maybe, I felt… respect for them. I don't know. Maybe I'm just feeling a little emotional. This has all been strange for me, what with that man acting the way he was around me. Don't you think it's strange?" Ashitaka smiled at San, and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Yes, perhaps. But maybe… there are just some things best left said as blessings. We could not have won against those monsters if he had not been so obsessed. You helped us greatly, San, and though I am curious as to what kind of connection you two might have, I won't question our good fortune. Let's just… lave it at that." She smiled.
"…All right. Let us say farewell to Jack. I should thank him, for we wouldn't be in a good position without him, either. You know, Ashitaka? If there were more humans like Jack and yourself around… I wouldn't feel so antagonistic towards them. You two give me hope for humanity."
"I'm flattered," he smiled, and with nothing else to say, both Ashitaka and San left to say farewell to a friend. They didn't know what was going to happen to them in the future… but then again, half of life is going through the unforeseen and the unexpected.