Chapter 29: Wisdom?
Eiji was sitting at the river again, chatting with Kohaku.
"How on earth am I getting this wrong? I keep saying the mantra word for word correctly so how is this possible?"
Kohaku laughed.
"I can't tell you! If you don't figure it out you'll never know."
"I just wish I could focus better..." Eiji grumbled.
"I cannot blame you there..." Said the child with a grimace.
"What, with all of the towns women enchanted under that strange spell? I would be scared too."
Eiji smiled as amusement washed over his features.
"Yeah, it's a spell alright. A spell of madness!"
Kohaku rolled on the ground laughing.
"They're crazy! Who wrote that silly book anyway?"
Eiji waved a hand.
"You wouldn't know him."
Kohaku smiled warmly.
"I like how you're not so serious like the other elders and masters! You are a LOT like elder Yūjin. I like him."
Eiji laughed.
"Who wouldn't like him!? Gesu-yarō, that's who!"
Eiji pouted out his upper lip, he stood and hunched his back over while shaking his fist.
"YŪJIIIN! Stop your insolent fun having AT ONCE! HOW DARE YOU BE JOYFUL!? *Cough HACK!* I'm SERIOUS!"
Kohaku began to laugh so hard he cried.
"It's - it's just LIKE HIM! Master Eiji, who taught you your impressions!? This person must have been a grand story teller!"
Eiji stopped, his features falling.
He took a moment of silence, a sad smile crossed his lips.
It was moments like this that Eiji really missed his dad.
"He certainly was Kohaku... Maybe someday you'll meet him."
The young river spirit felt concerned for Eiji.
"You look so sad master Eiji..."
Eiji sighed.
"Sometimes I get sad when I'm missing home..."
Kohaku smiled.
"Right! Can you tell me about it again? The trees with all of the flowers, and... and the birds that sing in songs of chords, as if multiple voices were joined in a harmony?"
Eiji grinned.
"Well, what story should I tell you this time? Hmm...? Let me think..."
Kohaku whirled in excitement.
"Your home is such a beautiful place! I don't know where to start! I only go off of what you tell me..."
He became timid, and Eiji sensed a different energy coming off of him.
Something new.
"M-May I see...? I'm just curious about you Eiji, because you just showed up out of nowhere one day. Where are you from I wonder, why are you here?"
Eiji froze.
If I show him, he may find out who I am...
And, if he's asking questions...
Not good! NOT GOOD!
"I-I... Already told you! I've come here to study, and learn the ways of-!"
Kohaku silenced him, making Eiji unable to utter another word.
"I know that's not why. I have known for some time... please do not lie to me Eiji, that hurts."
He felt tears well up in his eyes.
No... I cannot fail...
I CANNOT FAIL!
He broke free of Kohaku's spell, and ran.
"I'm sorry!" He yelled.
He ran toward the town.
No, what have I done!?
He ran past Chihiro, and she caught his arm.
"Eiji!? What's wrong? Hey..."
Eiji clenched his teeth together, tears streaming down his face.
"I... I think I just messed up with Kohaku."
Her eyes widened.
She sat Eiji down on the log bench near their home, and sat down next to him.
"You need to tell me exactly what happened." She said.
"There's no shame in mistakes, but we need to try and fix it if we can."
He looked down.
"He started asking questions... He really wanted to know where I was from. Mom, he's becoming curious, and we're running out of time."
Chihiro froze.
"Run! Chihiro! Just... Get out of here!"
Chihiro felt her heart leap from her chest as this woman was being disolved into ash.
"Where!? Where do I go!?"
She let out a painful groan, and Chihiro could see how the years had worn on her.
"You're running out of time..!"
...
The phrase began to replay itself in her head.
She let out a slow breath.
"I see... Well, this wasn't your fault Eiji. We can fix this... here, take this. Tell him it's from me."
She handed Eiji one of the orchids she had harvested for her bouquet of flowers. The ones she would set on the table.
He smiled softly.
"Not bad mom... yeah, he'll like that. He might still be mad at me for a while though..."
She laughed.
"Yeah? Well, a gift from the 'earth mother' should cheer him right up! At least a little bit anyway!"
Eiji laughed softly.
"Yeah, I guess he hasn't changed his mind on that one yet has he?"
Chihiro smiled warmly.
"It's like he's just as stubborn now as he is later on in life! Haku... I wonder what happened to this place? All of the roads are the same as the market village in purgatory, yet we're on earth..."
Eiji looked around.
"Mom, be careful. Someone could hear..."
Eiji heard a thunderous stomping as Neon tackled him to the ground, hunched over him. Chihiro jumped back.
"What on earth Neon!?" She exclaimed.
(EIIIIJJII! Where are they!? I sensed danger! Is someone... wait, you weren't in danger?)
No... um, yeah...
No.
(Oh, well why did you panic then? Don't do that to me.)
I... it was Kohaku. Here, look at this memory, and don't worry, I have a plan. Mom helped with it this time.
...
(Okay then... sorry Eiji, that must have been hard.)
Eiji sighed.
"Yeah... it was, and it sucked, but oh well. I'll handle it."
Neon snorted in approval.
(That's right! You got this! And I... am NEON! Scouting in the lush fields of foliage, my fur like pink flowers in the large bushes I can hide in, completely camouflaged...)
Eiji laughed and rolled his eyes, mounting Neon.
"Yeah, yeah! Come on you dork, before Yūjin catches wind of your jokes! He'll never get over it!"
Chihiro shook her head as she saw Neon and Eiji ride toward the the river again.
"I swear, those two! Sometimes I forget they're connected, and I wonder what the others must think?"
She smiled.
"Well, in the long run? That doesn't really matter."
...
Neon slowed as they approached the river, and Eiji stepped off of her, slowly approaching the now solemn feeling river. Kohaku was sitting there, and Eiji could tell he had hurt his feelings.
He went to touch his shoulder.
Kohaku spun around and looked at him angrily, tears streaming down his face as he yelled.
"Why!? I thought I could trust you and you LIED! Why do adults become like this!? I don't understand!"
Eiji remembered a time when he was a young child, and his father had lied to him for the first time.
This was probably a lot like that to Kohaku.
Eiji tried to speak, and closed his mouth abruptly as his own eyes filled with tears again.
He began to sob silently.
Kohaku's energy softened, and he put his hand on Eiji's shoulder.
It was light and ethereal.
"Y-You... don't want to hurt me do you?"
Eiji shook his head.
"N-No... I'm just trying to save you. Save everything and everyone... I'm sorry I can't show you where I'm from. H-Here... a gift from the earth mother."
Eiji set the flower on the ground.
Kohaku nurtured the flower, and Eiji gaped as he saw it sprout into a tree.
"There, now when my other half grows down to size, she'll have a boat. That tree will be made into a boat one day... did you know that?"
Eiji's heart began to pound heavily in his chest.
He knows...?
What else does he know!?
"More than you think... You are to be the seed of myself and my other half... whatever that means."
You knew...
Eiji remembered the story of how his mother and father met.
Chihiro fell out of a boat, and into his river chasing after her little pink shoe.
...Kohaku had saved her from his waters, and carried her safely to shore.
If this was the tree that would create that boat, then Eiji was meant to be the carrier of the seed that planted such a tree.
This was all supposed to happen.
Eiji's eyes widened.
"I... I'm supposed to be here. So, it really doesn't matter now, because I don't have to be as careful."
Kohaku smiled.
"Either way, it is written. All that is accounts for all that is to be... god's be still, I hope I never lose this wisdom."
Eiji felt as if the energy around him was coursing through his fingertips...
"All that is..."
Water shot out of the river and magnetized itself to Eiji, soaking his clothes.
Kohaku practically jumped with joy.
"You did it! You really ARE a MASTER Eiji!"
He felt a familiar feeling come over him.
River magic feels so similar to blood magic it's uncanny...
"That is because blood is the water that flows through the rivers in your veins."
How incredible...
"Incredible indeed."
But, what about the mantra?
"A simple focus tool used to invoke a feeling that already exists inside of you..."
Eiji breathed slowly.
"Wait... gods?"
Neon sat down, staring in awe and wonder.
(My mind... it was just, like, blown... woah. I need to digest the yumminess of that awesomeness.)
Kohaku nodded.
"Yes, gods. Don't you know? There are immortals that are like gods... other than that? I have no clue."
Eiji gave him a flat look.
"Oh... that. Okay, that makes more sense."
Kohaku scoffed.
"Well, it's not as if my river extends into space... that would be so cool though."
Eiji smiled to himself.
"One day Kohaku, you will have such a river..."
Kohaku bubbled up with hope.
"You... You really think so!?"
Then a sadness fell over him.
"No... I sacrifice too much if I leave my river."
Eiji was confused.
"But... isn't that what you want? Haku, you won't be able able to have my mother unless you part with this river, isn't that...?"
Eiji realized what he had said.
"Wait! WAIT! I meant-!"
Kohaku cut him off.
"Where is this Haku, and..."
A look of shock crossed his features, and Eiji felt a shiver cross up his spine.
Dammit! Did I just fuck over the UNIVERSE!? Fuck me!
...Kohaku's face went pale, and Eiji was just waiting for the ground to crumble from beneath his knees.
"This Haku... Eiji, is he trying to DEFILE the EARTH MOTHER!? This is OUTRAGEOUS!"
Eiji didn't know whether to cry with relief, or laugh hysterically.
Kohaku was still so innocent! It was adorable.
Completely adorable.
Eiji nodded, trying to keep his composure.
"Absolutely. He must be stopped..."
He was trying his hardest not to slip up and grin or laugh.
"Well, if he ever shows up here with that kind of nerve? I'll stop him, don't you worry."
Kohaku smiled softly.
"I don't know why things are this way, but I will see the earth mother again... but she has to grow young first, or so it is foretold."
Eiji eyed him curiously.
"Who foretells these things?"
Kohaku grinned mischievously, and Eiji felt an aura of excitement.
A deep feeling came over him, and his breath became shallow, his heart pounding with anxiety.
Meet me at the river at midnight, and you will have your answer..."
He fell back into the river.
Something was coming, of that Eiji was certain...
Something that would either prevent the end, or be the beginning of it.
He want sure he wanted to know anymore.
