- "You have chosen to fight the First Oni?" the leader of the hai nu said. He and his court stared at Sarevok with quiet compassion.
Sarevok nodded. Peri was helping him to don the plate armor, and he held the sword of Chaos that had seen so much with him.
- "We will summon the Lord of Seas, and he will grant you passage. The passage will be through a magical vortex, but where it leads we know not. And we will wait. Will you, Yogenii Wan, pass back through the vortex - or will it be the First Oni, breaking free to the world of mortals?"
- "There is an ancient drawing of the Oni... the way he is prophecied to look like should he triumph and enter to ravage the waking world," said a hai nu courtier and produced a scroll. He unrolled it and spread it open for Sarevok and his party to admire.
- "The Oni himself wears many faces, shifting his horrible looks at will," said another hai nu, "but this suit of armor is an artifact of much power, forged in the twisted reality of Jigoku, carrying terrible powers. It is prophesied that the Oni will don it and emerge to doom the world when he triumphs."
- "Mind the 'when'," Peri said through gritted teeth. No hint of her usual sarcastic amusement could be seen. Her face was like a waxen death mask and her fingertips trembled at the hilt of her sword.
The armor pictured in the scroll certainly looked the part. The hideous colors, clumsy and demonic design and numerous spikes saw to it.
- "It even has a... spiky codpiece," Winski said in horror and awe.
- "Looks like something Sarevok could have designed," Imoen said, and just a hint of smile crossed her face.
Sarevok frowned, but just glanced at the picture. His mind was elsewhere.
The summoning started. The porpoise and shark patrols made way, as the hai nu priests started to chant. They offered seafood and weed on an altar carved to the cliff, and the thin tone of their song filled the air, covering the screech of the agitated seagulls.
From the sea emerged a vertical pillar of water, like a tsunami but not harmful to the environment. On the top of it sat an oriental, serpentine dragon with long whiskers and silvery scales.
- "Greetings, mortals," it said, and was silent for a moment, taking a long look at Sarevok and his party, "and immortals alike. Why has the Lord of Seas been summoned by the ancient ritual, the one guarding the one-way passage to the Most Terrible One?"
- "Because," said a hai nu priestess, "Yogenii Wan has come to us, to fight the Evil One and save the Karmic Wheel from being ripped asunder. He is ready."
- "Brave one you are," the dragon said kindly, staring at Sarevok. "We will hope it will not be in vain. In a minute I will conjure your passageway, and change for a better suit of appearance. I will be able to lead you for a while, but then... you are on your own."
Sarevok took a long, last look at everyone who mattered to him more than his own life now.
- "Just remember me, and survive. I will say no more, for words will fail me," he said quietly. He pulled Mei gently to him one last time.
- "And for your love's sake, and mine... our child's sake... live, flee to the West if you have to... just live."
- "Walk into that vortex, and fear not. You will be able to breathe," the Lord of Seas said. "It is the same way he will be back. If he will.""
The dragon transformed into a giant turtle and dove into the vortex that was shimmering some thirty feet from the shore. Sarevok walked, calmly, not looking back. He feared his heart would break if he but once again saw any of them.
Now he was waist deep in the cold, emerald, salty water, now breast level, now neck... and next thing he knew the vortex had swallowed him next to the turtle.
- "The passage into the spiritual arena of your fight is under the cursed island of Shizushima," it explained. "All sorts of evil beasts patrol it, not all of them the kind you can run down with your sword. The skull tide gaki will try to swallow you, krakatua will try to control your mind and make you one of their slaves... but the most dangerous thing is waiting for you where you are going, obviously, should you persevere. I can but wish that your heart will be true. Wishing mere luck would be too frivolous under these circumstances."
Sarevok nodded and walked the ocean floor. The bright medusas, the weeds like exotic flower beds, the luminous fish frightened at his shuffling feet, the long forgotten shipwrecks and the skeletons aboard... it would have been so very beautiful unless he knew it was a journey of doom. After a while the water ahead looked a lot murkier, and he sensed a strong presence of something unnatural and malevolent.
- "Go forward now... and the Fortunes bless you."
The Lord of the Seas was gone.
