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Chapter XIV Tsuna
My hand was wet. And cold. I thought I was in the cave, away with any real water. What happened exactly? I remember that snake lady and the silver light enveloping me. I was also so comfortable. The cave was cold, but where ever I was now, it was a pleasant temperature with a nice breeze and it made me a bit sleepily.
"-na…sun…Tsun..." I heard. I felt like I was being shaken. "Tsuna!"
"Mmm…hmm." I moaned groggily. I was shaken a bit more roughly. Then I felt something licking me. I swatted whatever was licking me away. But then something bit my other hand. "OW!"
I woke up right away. The first thing I saw was that we were all on a straight wooden bridge in the middle of a lake that stretched as far as the eye could see with the purest water I have ever seen. The water looked like it had a silver tint to it because in the distance I saw the full moon and its light was shining everywhere. I glanced around and was grateful to see that Nico and Kurama were okay. They didn't look hurt. My hand was bleeding a bit and I figured out that Kurama bit me. I stuck my hand in the water and watched it heal.
"Did you have to bite me?" I asked after I pulled my hand out of the water. I glanced over at me ring and saw that it was glowing faintly.
"We've been trying to wake you for about twenty minutes." Nico said. "We were afraid that you were hurt."
"So biting me was the best choice?" I asked.
"Well you didn't wake up." Kurama said. "And it worked didn't it?"
"Where's Percy?" I wondered, ignoring Kurama.
"He went to scout out the castle." Nico said.
"Castle?" I asked. "What castle?"
Nico pointed down the bridge. I know that when I first looked there was nothing but the moon (which by the way looked really, really big) but now there was this palace. Even from here, I could tell the palace was made out of wood, and it was either painted silver or it was just the trick of the light. All around the palace was a grove of willow trees. I then noticed that the moon perfectly reflected on the water.
"That wasn't there before." I said.
"It's been there since Percy woke up." Nico said. He handed me a bottle of water and I drank from it heavily. "Look at it, its huge! How could you have missed it?"
I didn't respond to him as I stood up. I stretched and felt my bones pop, and it felt great. The three of us walked down the bridge, with Kurama 'leading' Nico and I, and headed toward the palace. The moon appeared to get bigger as we walked closer to the palace. I looked around and saw that there were other willow trees dotting the lake.
The closer we got to the palace the closer the willow trees grouped together and the taller they got. They were so close that I could actually see each individual leaf. And they were naturally silver in color, not from the moon's light. And the palace wasn't reflecting the moon's light; it was made out of silver wood.
"Hey Kurama, have you seen or smelled that creature that attacked us?" I asked.
"I haven't." Kurama said.
"What was that anyway?" Nico asked.
"It looked like a Kiyohime." Kurama said.
"A what?" asked Nico.
"A Kiyohime." Kurama explained. "A woman who turned into a demon because she was in love, but she was separated from them because of either war, death, or the other person ditched them. The most common way is that she chases down the one she loves and grows angry over time."
"So they turn into demons because they were dumped?" I wondered. "Yeesh."
We arrived at the palace and I was amazed by how tall it was. There were mosaics of battles and other significant events in Japanese history. When we arrived at a large door, Percy came around the corner.
"Hey Tsuna!" Percy said. "Glad to see you up and running."
"You too." I said. We gave each other high fives. "Do you remember what happened?"
"After the silver light, I woke up and then got Nico up." He explained. "I tried to get you up, but you were knocked out. I put Nico and Kurama in charge in watching you until you woke up so I could go scout the area."
"What did you find?" Nico asked.
"Well, this is the only place I could find that we can enter." Percy explained. "I went all around this place, and I couldn't even find any windows."
"So how do we get in?" Kurama asked.
"I…have no clue." Percy said. "I tried pulling it open, pushing, sliding the door, and even stabbing it with Riptide. Nothing's working."
"Uh…have you tried knocking?" I asked after a moment of silence. "And asking for permission to enter?"
"What?" Percy asked.
"Well, it won't hurt to try, would it?" I said.
"Go ahead dude." Percy said, throwing his hands up. I walked up to the door and knocked four times.
"I, Tsunayoshi Noble, would like to request permission to enter this household with my friends." I said, trying to be as civil as possible. At first nothing happened, but then the door slowly opened up with a loud creaking noise. Shrugging my shoulders, I motioned them to follow.
Entering the palace revealed that it was really empty. I mean, there was nothing in here! Not even any tapestries. It was like some the shrines we had seen since we came to Japan. There were only lanterns hanging from the ceilings to light the interior.
We walked for a long, long, LONG time inside the palace, just through one hallway. Like the Wayward Pine, the palace was bigger on the inside. The hallway was stretching for like, eternity. And because there was nothing in here to mark locations, everything looked the same. We all rested several times, but the hallway just stretched onwards. I must have been getting exhausted, because I started seeing things. And I don't think I was the only one, because Nico was standing still, talking to the air.
"Nico, are you alright?" I wondered.
"Bianca." Nico said, tearing up. Then he looked to his left and the tears just came. "Mama?"
"Nico, snap out of it." I said, trying to shake him awake. "Percy, I need you hel- Percy?"
"Annabeth, what are you doing here?" Percy said to no one. "What's wrong? What do you mean? Luke is dead!"
"Percy, what is going on?!" I demanded to know. Then Percy drew Riptide and pointed it at the air.
"Kronos, how are you here? You're supposed to be in Tartarus!" Percy screamed as he slashed the air. I tried to stop him, but…then I started seeing Mom.
"M-Mom?" I said. I couldn't believe it. My mom was standing in front of me, alive. "How-?"
"It's alright sweetie." Mom said. "I'm here, mommy's here."
"Bu-But you…you di-" I stuttered to say, but couldn't finish it.
"It's alright, Tsuna." Mom said as she held out her arms for a hug. "Come to mommy."
I was frozen for a moment, and completely forgot about Nico and Percy. I slowly walked to Mom, ready to hug her. I put my arms around her. She was real, she was alive. I felt happier than I had in weeks.
But as soon as I started to enjoy seeing Mom again, I started to feel something wet. Curious, I stepped back and saw that she was soaking wet. Her skin looked clammy and grey. Water poured out of her mouth, like she was choking. I screamed and fell down. I back away as far as I could until I hit a wall. Then the hallway and my friends disappeared, leaving me underwater, watching Mom drown over and over. I clutched my head, trying to ignore her gurgled screams.
"Tsuna! Tsuna! Tsuna!" I heard somebody scream. I think it sounded like Kurama. They sounded both distant and right next to me. "Please snap out of it! It's just an illusion!"
"An illusion?" I thought.
"Sorry for doing this again." Kurama said as I felt something sharp bite my hand.
"OW!" I screamed as I clutched my hand. "Gods dammit Kurama!"
"At least that worked." Kurama said with a worried smirk. I looked around and Mom wasn't there.
"I hope it doesn't get infected." I said, rubbing my hand. I looked ahead and saw that Nico was curled up into a ball, crying and covering his ears. Percy was still fighting the air, but the way he acted it was as if he was getting hurt. "How long has this been going on?"
"I've been trying to get you to snap out of it for fifteen minutes." Kurama explained.
"Fifteen minutes?!" I screamed. "We need to get them out of the illusions!"
"How?" Kurama wanted to know. "I had to bite you to get you to see reality."
"I don't know, but we should wake Percy up first." I said. "He's a danger to everyone with Riptide out."
"Be careful." Kurama said as I started towards Percy. "I'll try to get Nico to wake up."
When I got close to him, Percy looked right at me. He scowled and lunged at me with a scream. My sword appeared in my hand and I parried his blows. His style was sloppy, because he was blinded by anger.
"Kronos!" Percy yelled. He sliced at me, but I beat his attack away.
"Percy calm down!" I yelled. "Kronos isn't here!"
"You took everything from me!" screamed Percy. He continued to slash at me and the force of his blows pushed me back. "Annabeth would never be your queen!"
"What are you talking about?!" I said as I defended myself. "You know better than anyone that Annabeth would never betray you like that!"
Percy and I were going at it for several minutes. I was getting tired, but Percy's Curse of Achilles was giving him the energy to keep fighting. I knew that if we kept this up I was going to lose. I had to end this quickly. Percy sliced at me again, but I caught his blade with mine and held it in place.
"I'm sorry Perce, but this is going to hurt." I said. I twisted Riptide out of Percy's hand and then when I got behind him I slammed the hilt of my blade into the back of Percy's head. The force pushed Percy into a wall, banging his forehead hard. He fell to the ground passed out.
"Mama!" Nico cried.
I turned around at the shock of him crying. His face was covered in tears and his eyes were swollen and red. I ran to Nico and got on my knees. He kept crying out for his mom and his sister Bianca. Whatever he was seeing, it was destroying him.
"Why haven't you woken him up?" I asked Kurama.
"I tried!" Kurama said.
"Did you try biting him?" I demanded.
"I was going to when he screamed." said Kurama. From my position I started to shake Nico.
"Nico, wake up." I said, trying to calm him down. I was trying to be as soothing as possible. "Nico, buddy, please snap out of it. It's not real. It's not real!"
But he kept crying, staring at the empty space that the illusion was in. I was getting desperate. I had seen enough sci-fi and documentaries to know that the mind is really sensitive. I apologized to Nico for what I was going to do next. I pulled my hand back and slapped Nico as hard as I can, his red cheek turning really red. It worked, and he stopped crying.
"Tsu-Tsuna?" Nico said quietly.
"Oh, thank the gods." I said, pulling him into a tight hug. "You're alright."
"Please, let go of me." Nico said as he struggled to get out of my grip.
"Not until you tell me what you saw." I bargained.
"W-Why?" he asked, his voice getting shaky.
"So I can understand." I said. "I have never seen you so scared, so…vulnerable. You're my best friend Nico."
Nico just sat there, unmoving in my arms. Then he hugged me back and cried on my shoulder. He told me what he saw. His mother and sister appeared before him. He said how at first they appeared normal, but as the vision went on he saw them decay. They were blaming him, saying that he could bring them back and go against Hyades's orders. I rubbed his back to calm him down. After several minutes he stopped crying. That was about the same time that Percy started to groan in pain and stood up.
"Ow." Percy said as he rubbed his forehead. "Jeez what hit me?"
"And here I thought you were invincible." I said as I stood up and assisted Nico up.
"Shut up." Percy said. "You hit me pretty hard."
"It was either knock you out, or let you run me through with Riptide." I said.
"So what happened exactly?" Percy asked.
"I don't know." I said. "But I think that whatever is hidden in this palace doesn't want us to get closer."
"If it's the Treasure, we should continue." Kurama said.
After we rested we continued down the hallway. We encountered several twists and turns. The deeper we walked down the hallways, they started to warp and contort. I became really dizzy and felt like I was going to be sick. I could tell that the others were dizzy too. I leaned against the wall for support. We fought through the dizziness (and I battled past the nausea) and continued our trek through the palace.
"How big is this place?" Nico asked. We were getting exhausted. "We've been walking for ages."'
"I'd rather walk than deal with those illusions." Percy said.
"Y'know, you never told us what you saw Percy." Kurama said.
"Kurama!" I chastised the three tailed fox.
"I just wanted to know." Kurama said. "You were swinging that sword of yours like a crazy person."
"It's alright Tsuna." Percy said. "I saw Annabeth. She told me she was leaving me for Luke, and when she ran into Luke's arms, his eyes turned gold, and he was possessed by Kronos. Then I saw him sitting in a black throne, with the bodies of the gods and all of my friends at his feet. He then threw Annabeth to the ground and fought me. He was stronger than I remembered, and I felt where his sword hit me, despite the Curse."
"Then when I tried to help you, you must have seen me as Kronos." I stated. "That's why you attacked me."
"Sorry about that, by the way." Percy said.
"Well, I did bang your head up pretty bad." I said. "Sorry."
We walked down more and more hallways. It was getting really boring. I wonder if this place was designed to make someone question their patience…or sanity. But then something happened. We were walking down the hallway, when the lanterns went out. Kurama lit his Fox Fire while the rest of us drew our swords and let their glow lighten the area a bit. It didn't give us much light, just a small area that covered the four of us.
Countless red eyes appeared in the darkness, surrounding us, and then blinked away. The lanterns lit themselves, bathing us in their light. We looked around for whatever made the red eyes, but there was nothing. We continued to walk onwards when we saw an open doorway. Feeling like we finally made some progress, we ran to it. But when we got close, smoke blew out from under the door way in an explosion. As the smoke cleared we all readied our swords.
The smoke dispersed, and blocking the door was four black clothed ninjas. And I'm serious when I say ninjas. They were posed, ready to attack with martial arts. More smoke blew up around us, leaving us surrounded by these ninjas.
"More illusions?" Nico asked in an annoyed way as he walked forward. One of the ninjas in the doorway threw a shuriken at Nico. My instincts reacted faster than my brain could think and I slammed my sword into the shuriken. There was a clang of metal against metal and some sparks flew from the contact.
"There not illusions!" I screamed.
The ninjas ran at us, drawing swords of their own and other weapons, like clawed gloves that were like brass knuckles and a sickle and chain. At least they were easy to beat. One hit was all it took to beat them, and when they were hit by our swords they blew up in a puff of smoke. But for every one we defeated, two more popped up in its place.
It was getting overwhelming for me and Nico. Percy was able to take a lot of them down thanks to the Curse of Achilles, but he was getting exhausted. He told me that the Curse, while giving one an increase in strength and stamina (among other things), it can cause extreme stress on the body. But thank the gods for his invulnerability, because the ninjas threw shurikens at him and the metal stars bounced off him.
We fought our way through the ninjas the best we could. We were able to get passed the ones that were blocking the doorway. The doorway led to another long hallway (much to my annoyance). The ninjas followed us through the hallway, using their skills (like running alongside the wall as if there was no gravity) to get ahead of us a couple of times. We mowed our way past them, but after running and fighting for so long we were soon surrounded again.
"What should we do now?" Nico asked as the four of us had our backs to each other. All of our breathing was staggered.
"No clue." I said. I looked at how much we were outnumbered, and almost gave up. But I looked at my sword and felt courage from within. "But I say if we go down, we go down fighting."
"Sounds like a plan." Percy said, spinning Riptide in his hand.
"On the count of three." I said.
"One…" Percy said, the ninjas stepping closer.
"Two…" said Nico as the ninjas drew their weapons.
"Thr-" I started when I heard loud moaning and the sound of a woman weeping.
"My love, I know you are here!" screamed the familiar voice. "Please come to me!"
"Oh no." The four of us said at the same time. Percy, Nico, and I exchanged glances.
As some the ninjas jumped in the air to strike, the Kiyohime crashed her way into the palace through the wall. Wood splintered everywhere. I tackled Nico to the ground while Percy scooped up Kurama and rolled out of the way. While I helped Nico up, I saw that the ninjas diverted their attention to Kiyohime. She was thrashing about, destroying many of the ninjas. The remaining ones attacked her with the shuriken and their own swords, but they didn't even scratch her.
"Let get going while they're distracted!" Kurama yelled as he bounded down the hall.
We all followed, pushing our bodies to the limit. We ran as fast as we could, me practically dragging Nico along. He really needed to join the Camp's activities more often, and if we all get out of this Quest alive, I am going to drag him into them. We soon found ourselves in a large room that had eight different hallways.
"Didn't we see something like this back at the cave?" Percy asked while he regained his breath.
"Right now, I don't care." I said. I could still hear Kiyohime's cries from here. And they sounded like they were getting closer. I pointed the hallway that was on the far right. "Let's head that way."
The others nodded in agreement and we ran down the hallway. After a couple of minutes we came to another room with eight hallways, but it looked really familiar. I pointed to the next hallway and we headed down it. But we entered a disturbingly similar room to the first. Before we headed down the third hallway, I used my sword to make a mark on the edge of the hallway entrance. We ran down the third hallway, where my suspicion was confirmed: we were going in circles.
"What's going on?" demanded Nico.
"It's the palace." I said. "It's causing us to go in circles."
"What will make it stop?" Kurama asked.
"Maybe it's a test." I said. "Maybe we have to find the right hallway, like the eight tunnels in the cave."
"Do you think it will work?" Percy asked. We all jumped when we heard Kiyohime scream in anguish.
"Not like we have another option." I said. "Look for something that the other hallways don't have."
"Got it." The others said in agreement. They ran to the entrances of the hallways and started looking. I didn't know what to look for in all honesty.
"Percy, tell me about the Labyrinth." I said, trying to get ideas for what I'm supposed to look for.
"Huh, why?" Percy asked.
"I remember you saying that there was a clue to the entrance." I said. "A mark or something."
"I think it was the letter Delta." Percy said. "The symbol for Daedalus."
"How is that going to help?" Kurama asked. "This isn't a Greek building."
"It's giving me something to go off of." I said.
I looked more intensively at the hallway at the far left. It looked exactly the same as the others. I was almost to the point of pulling my hair out when I saw something very small. It was a black circle. It was the only difference I could find in the hallway entrances. I asked if the others found anything, but they didn't, so I took a leap of faith.
I led the others down the marked hallway. It didn't take long to get to the other end. The hallway led to another chamber with eight hallways. I told the others to look for a small black circle as the clue. We looked for several minutes, but no one could find the circle. Percy however said he found a different marker: a black circle with a white crescent.
As there were no other markers, we ran down the hall, which happened to be the second hallway to the left. We ran down it and entered another room with eight hallways. Nico found a marker that was a half black circle and half white. In the next room, Kurama found a circle that is mostly white with a black crescent. By the time we got to the next room, I figured out something.
"Wait, wait, wait!" I said. "Guys there's a pattern."
"What is it?" asked Nico.
"The first marker was on the very left hallway of the first room." I explained. "The next marked hallway was the first hallway to the right of the first, and so on. So if we keep going down the hallway that is just to the right of the one we just took, we should get out of this maze."
"I don't get it." Percy said.
"Of course you don't." I said. "Let's go!"
As we ran in the pattern, I thought of something. I felt that the markers looked disturbingly familiar. But for the life of me I can't remember why. At the end of the eighth hallway we took, we came across a large wooden door. We all felt that deep down that this was the end of the maze. We looked at each other, making sure that we were ready for whatever is behind this door. Together, we pushed it open.
Inside was nothing spectacular. It was a large open room, with a tall ceiling. Lanterns lit the room and hung from the arched pillars. There were a few tapestries of ancient Japanese art. At first there wasn't anything in the room, but then I saw something. It was like that wavy aspect you see during mirages and when it's incredibly hot. The waviness cleared, revealing a shrine. There were two hearths on both side of a small staircase. At the top of the staircase was a platform, and on that platform was something shining in silver light.
"Wow…" I said. I slowly walked to the shrine, mesmerized by whatever was on the platform.
"Tsuna!" Percy said. "Your sword is glowing!"
"Huh?" I asked.
I looked at my sword and saw that it was indeed glowing brightly in a blue light. I didn't know what was going on. I willed my sword to back into its ring form, but it still was glowing brightly. And the closer I got the shrine, the brighter the ring glowed. I heard Nico chuckle, and when I saw what he was laughing at I saw that Kurama was practically a ball of puffed out fur. His senses must be on overdrive again, so that means…we finally found one of the Three Sacred Treasures.
I led the way up the stairs, feeling my heart beating heavily in my chest. I can't describe why I felt so excited. The silver light was blinding, getting brighter as we walked closer, just like my ring. But once we reached the platforms, the lights faded. Sitting on an elevated stand, about the height of my chest, was a circular mirror, large enough that it would take two hands to hold it properly.
The mirror was made out of reflective black glass with a silver frame. Bordering the glass along the frame was a series of eight circles. A solid black circle was at the top, while a solid white circle was at the bottom. Circling the glass are circles that have crescents of black on the left hand side and crescents of white on the right hand side.
"These circles…" I said as I stepped closer.
"They look like the markers in the hallways." Nico said. I leaned in close, and then I figured out something that made feel like a complete idiot.
"Di Immortales!" I screamed, slapping my forehead. "How can I be so stupid?! The circles stand for the pha-"
At that moment the Kiyohime burst through the floor not far from the stairwell. We all turned around, my sword appearing in my hand. Her kimono looked torn, but apparently the ninjas weren't able to do more than that against her. I could tell she was really angry.
"My love, my beloved!" screamed Kiyohime. "I have finally found you! Let us be together again!"
"Her and her 'love' again." Nico said irritated. "What's with this lady?"
"You four again?!" bellowed Kiyohime. "You dare try to steal my beloved from me?!"
"We already told you!" I said, trying to calm her. "We are on a quest for our pantheon to gather the Three Sacred Treasures! We don't even know who your love is!"
"If you take that mirror, you take my beloved!" screamed Kiyohime. "I can feel his godly essence within that mirror!"
"Godly essence?" I said curiously. "You mean that this mirror is-"
"You will not take my love away from me!" screamed Kiyohime as she lunged at us. Nico summoned the power of the shadows and had the shadows grab Kiyohime and harden, keeping her in place.
Percy and I jumped (after I ordered Kurama to guard Nico) from the platform and slashed her with our blades. Kiyohime grunted, but she didn't look that hurt. She swung her arms to hit us, but we moved out of the way. I ran up and stabbed my sword into her. My sword went about a quarter of the way in. She then swiped me with the back of her hand, tossing me across the room. I was smashed into a pillar.
"Tsuna!" the others yelled in worry. I slowly stood up and saw that Percy had in his anger slashed Kiyohime with everything he had. As she screamed in pain green blood splattered the silver floor.
I quickly stood up and grabbed my sword. I ran up to Kiyohime and rapidly stabbed her with my blade. She leaned down to bite me, but I rolled out of the way. I noticed that the shadows that Nico was using to keep the Kiyohime were starting to retract. I glanced at Nico, seeing that sweat was forming on his brow. It was difficult to fight Kiyohime. Her scales were very hard to pierce. But what wounds we were able to cause her caused blood to stain her kimono.
"How dare you dirty my beautiful kimono!" screamed Kiyohime.
She lunged at Percy and me again, this time breaking out of her shadowy restraints. We were able to jump out of the away in time. Kiyohime's head broke through the floor, revealing that there was water underneath the palace. It must have been elevated by pillars. Percy saw the water too and we both started using our hydrokinetic abilities.
First we had the water start rising and flooding the floor. Then Percy made two large hands out of the water that grabbed Kiyohime. She yelled, saying that we didn't have the right to touch her. She squirmed and wriggled her way out of the watery hand. While she did so I made powerful torrents of water to blast her. The water pounded her repeatedly like a series of punches.
When she finally broke free, she slithered to Percy and slammed her tail in him, sending him flying across the room. I ran to help my brother when Kiyohime's tail slammed in front of me. As she reached out to grab me I sliced her hands. She reeled back with a screech and hit me with the back of her hand again. When I landed I flipped back to my feet, feeling stronger with the water around. I had the tip of my sword touch the water and swung, making blades of water. They hit Kiyohime, but they didn't do much. With my ace in the whole used up, I felt like I was outta luck.
"How can we beat her?" I thought. "She's unstoppable."
Nico then ran down the stairs and attack Kiyohime, his eerie black Stygian Iron sword slicing her. She reacted by going down to bite him. I used my power over the water to make Nico slide to a different part of the room and into safety. I had no idea on how to stop her. We were three children of the Big Three, and we weren't doing much against this demon.
But then something popped in my head. It was like a voice in the back of my mind that wasn't my own. I wasn't sure what it was, but the words 'ice' and 'freeze' stuck out. That made an idea come to mind. I ran over to Percy and stood by him.
"Percy, I think this snake needs to chill, don't you?" I asked, trying to lead him into my plan.
"What do you mean chill?!" Percy asked. "This is no time for jokes Tsuna!"
"Let's freeze her you idiot!" I yelled.
"Freeze? What so you-oh!" Percy said after he realized. How the daughter of the goddess of wisdom could have fallen in love with my half-brother, I'll never know.
"Nico, blacken her sight!" I yelled.
He understood (thankfully) and caused a cloud of darkness to cover Kiyohime's head. She thrashed about, clawing at the darkness as if it was a living being. Percy and I focused and caused the water on the floor to crawl around Kiyohime. I concentrated on cold and ice, and I felt my body get cold and I saw my breath. Frost began to form on the water but it wasn't freezing completely.
"Perce, are you concentrating?" I asked.
"I'm trying." He said, his face scrunched up. In an attempt to help him, I grabbed his hand. He gave me a strange look.
"We're both sons of Poseidon Percy." I said. "Our powers should be stronger if we work together."
"Right." Percy nodded. We tightened our grip and concentrated again. This time the entire room became freezing cold. I heard the forming ice crack as it spread from me and Percy.
"Nico, Kurama, get up on the platform!" I screamed.
"Got it!" Nico yelled. He ran up the stairwell, meeting with Kurama halfway up the stairs. I concentrated even harder, willing the ice to cover Kiyohime. Her thrashing slowed considerably. I guess she really was part reptile. Soon she was fully covered in ice (as was the rest of the room), unmoving and in a pose of complete anguish.
"Finally." I said as I rubbed my arm. It was really sore from being tossed around like a rag doll.
"Let's just get that Treasure and leave before she thaws out." Percy said. We walked up the stairs, trying not to slip on the ice. We met up with Nico and Kurama atop the platform.
"Suzaku said that the Yasakani no Magatama was supposed to be in this cave." I said. I walked to the mirror and reached out to grab it, my ring glowing brightly, as was the mirror. I felt connected to the mirror somehow, like it was calling out to me. "But this…"
"So that's the mirror then?" Nico spoke up. "The Yasa…Yama…"
"The Yata no Kagami," I said as I stared into the black glass, "the mirror of the god of the moon, Tsukuyomi."
I reached closer for the mirror. It felt like an eternity for my hands to get even remotely close to it, despite me standing right in front of the mirror. But when my hands were an inch away, a loud cracking noise came from the frozen Kiyohime. As she broke free, ice shards flew up onto the platform.
"Stay away from him!" screamed Kiyohime. I wasn't paying attention, as my eyes were still transfixed upon the mirror.
"Look out!" Percy yelled at Kiyohime lunged at us.
At that very moment, I grabbed the mirror. Intense silver light exploded from the mirror, encompassing all of us. I had to shield my eyes from the light. I heard Kiyohime scream and fall where she stood, hearing her scales scrape across the stairs. When the light faded, I felt a powerful presence in the room, something greater than that of Mr. D or Chiron. I turned around, and floating between the four of us and Kiyohime was a man.
This man had an aura of power, literally. He had this pale silver aura around him. He had long silver hair that reached the small of his back. He was wearing a grey hakama and on his feet were black sandals with socks. He wasn't wearing a shirt, but he had a white haori hanging loosely in the crook of his elbows, his forearms in the sleeves. His belt covered some of his stomach, and it had a crescent moon facing upward as a symbol on it.
Kiyohime was speechless. She reached out for the man, this god. He grabbed her hands and drew her close, putting his hand on her cheek. Silver light covered Kiyohime, glowing bright. As the light faded, a pretty girl was floating in the arms of the god. It was Kiyohime, but she was human again.
"Find the Sanzu River, my dear, and cross it." The man said3. Kiyohime nodded, and the man kissed her cheek. Kiyohime then started to become transparent until she wasn't there anymore. After sighing, the god floated down to the platform and stared at us, or to be precise, me. He then pulled me into a tight hug. "So you're his son, eh?"
"Huh?" I asked, confused beyond all belief. "What do you mean? Do you know Poseidon?"
"Poseidon?" the god said. He then gave a sad smile. "Oh, I get it. You're being clever."
"'Scuse me?" I asked.
"Tsuna, who is that?" Nico asked.
"That's-" I started to say before I was interrupted.
"Shinto god of the moon and one of the Noble Three. Tsukuyomi, at your service." The god said with a humble bow.
"Lord Tsukuyomi!" Kurama cried as he bowed out of respect. "It is an honor to be in your presence."
"Oh a Kitsune." Tsukuyomi said. He knelt down and scratched Kurama under his chin. "I haven't seen your kind in ages.
"I thought you Faded." Percy said without thinking.
"Percy!" yelled Kurama. "Show some respect!"
"It's alright Kurama." Tsukuyomi said. He looked right at Percy. "I did Fade, son of Poseidon."
"Then how can you be talking to us right now?" Nico wondered.
"Kiyohime said your godly essence was in the mirror." I said. "Is that why your still here?"
"Well, that's one way to put it." Tsukuyomi said. "You know, this isn't the best place to talk. Let's go somewhere more festive!"
"What?" Percy, Nico, and I asked at the same time. Tsukuyomi snapped his fingers and in a silver flash we were sitting at a table that had a pot of tea and cups for all of us. We were sitting under the full moon in a grove of willow trees.
"That's better." said Tsukuyomi. "Much more relaxing. Tea?"
"Uh, please…" I said. He poured me cup and offered the others some. Nico and Kurama took it willingly, but Percy wasn't sure.
"What's wrong lad?" Tsukuyomi asked.
"Can it be…blue please?" Percy wondered.
"Sure." Tsukuyomi said with a chuckle. As he poured Percy tea, it went from green to blue.
"So how are you here?" I asked. "Suzaku said you Faded ages ago."
"Suzaku that old bird!" Tsukuyomi exclaimed. "He's still around?"
"No." Kurama said in a sad tone. The rest of us looked down at our tea. "He Faded a few days ago."
"I'm sorry." Tsukuyomi said. He rubbed Kurama's head affectionately. "The rest of the Shinto gods have Faded completely, I'm sure. By the time the Second World War came about, we were starting to lose power."
"Is that why your pantheon is Fading?" Nico wondered. "Because ours is so strong?"
"Hate to disappoint you, but there are beings much more powerful than the Greeks." Tsukuyomi said. "But those Celestials have sticks so far up their…sorry, I got a bit carried away.
"But you haven't told us why you are here when you have been said to have Faded." I said, getting irritated.
"I can see you inherited your father's temper." Tsukuyomi said with a raised eye. "But since you insist. After the Second World War, we were greatly weakened. The people lost their faith in us. Amerterasu, me, and Susanoo were still powerful, but we knew our time was up. We watched as our brethren and our children Fade out of existence. Our hearts tore at our loss.
We mourned their fading, but we knew we had to keep going. But we weren't able to have any more godly children. We tried over and over again. In the end, our numbers kept dwindling. But we knew that our pantheon needed to survive. We felt it in our hearts. When Amerterasu and I began to feel the effects of the Fading, our brother Susanoo told us to fuse our godly powers to our Sacred Treasure. We knew that it would cause us to Fade even faster, but it would allow us to help the next generation when it comes by lending them our power."
"But what about the others?" I asked. "Did they do this too?"
"I am sad to say that they Faded long before Susanoo came up with the idea." Tsukuyomi said. "Other than Suzaku and the other Guardian Spirits, the only god that was still around was the dragon Ryūjin."
My ring felt like it tightened around my finger. I glanced at it, but it looked as it always has. I remembered that Ajari had said the name Ryūjin when my sword first appeared, and Tsuchigumo said something about a dragon the night Percy and I were attacked. Does my sword have a connection to the Shinto gods? Is that why Hyousuke called it Divine Steel, a material that isn't a part of the Greek pantheon?
"By the way, what brought you all to Japan?" Tsukuyomi asked.
"We were given a Quest by our Oracle." Nico said. "To gather the treasures of the Noble Three."
"Suzaku said that the jewel was supposed to be here, not the mirror." Percy said. "Why did he lie?"
"He probably didn't know the truth himself." Tsukuyomi said with a shrug of the shoulders. "The Treasures were hidden for a reason. And it was Susanoo that hid them. You two should know better than anyone that the sea can be unpredictable. He probably spread the rumor of where they were in order to confuse our enemies."
"What enemies do you all have?" asked Nico.
"We have several." Tsukuyomi said. "Too many to count actually."
"So I've gotta ask," Percy said. "What was with those illusions?"
"Oh, that was the mirror." Tsukuyomi said nonchalantly.
"What was the mirror?" Nico asked.
"The palace was an illusion itself." Tsukuyomi said. "The maze, the ninjas, they were all created by the mirror to test the wisdom of the one who sought the mirror."
"Is that why there were markers in the shape of the moon all over the palace, and that tunnel in the cave?" I wondered.
"Exactly!" said Tsukuyomi.
"What can you tell me about the 'Umi no Musuko'?" I asked.
"Umi no Musuko?" Tsukuyomi said. "Sorry, never heard of it. It means Son of the Sea, though."
"Yeah, I knew that. Thanks." I said.
"Is there something special about it?" Tsukuyomi wondered.
"Tsuchigumo and the Daitengu Ajari called both me and Percy the Umi no Musuko." I explained. "They both tried to kidnap me, and Tsuchigumo was going to take me and Percy before I discovered I was a demigod."
"Sorry, I really don't know what it means." Tsukuyomi admitted. His body started to flicker, like static. "Fantastic. My time is running out for this meeting."
"What?" I asked. "What's happening?"
"Nothing big." Tsukuyomi said. "Just that my actual consciousness is Fading from the Yata no Kagami. I have something I am hoping to do, so I need to save up my minutes."
"Okay…" I said, cocking my head to the side in confusion.
"So, I'm guessing you need the Yasakani no Magatama." Tsukuyomi said as he grabbed my backpack. He then grabbed the mirror, took out some pieces of paper, and after writing on them put them on the mirror. He gave my backpack back to me after putting the mirror in it. "I'll get you as close as I can, but then you'll have to rely on your little fox friend."
"Thanks." Percy said. "But where is it?"
"Good question…" Tsukuyomi said. "I honestly don't remember. But I'm sure you'll get there safely."
"What?!" The four of us said when he snapped his fingers.
Silver light exploded from his form, blinding us. The next thing I knew I was laying against a tree in the middle of a forest. Snow was lightly falling, but the skies looked menacingly dark and grey. The others were okay, starting to stand up. When I stood up, I looked in my backpack and took out the Yata no Kagami. I stared into the black glass, seeing my reflection.
"Hey, there's something written on the back." Nico pointed out. I flipped the mirror around, seeing the sutras that Tsukuyomi put on it. In kanji, the phrase said:
'The wisdom of Moon's light reveals the true soul'