Chapter 32:
Jikan
Mizu stood in the middle of what used to be her village, waiting. Yoki stood across from her waiting, but she could feel the beast's unease.
"Are you sure?" Yoki asked, keeping his voice low. "You can still change your mind."
She smiled at her friend and her eyes softened. Taking a deep breath, she hardened her resolve. "I'm sure."
He didn't question her anymore, and they continued to wait in the spot they'd made the contract many years ago. If she moved from the spot, then she would break the jutsu that Yoki and Uta had worked on together and Jikan would not come. The moment she moved; she would lose. Uta was pacing near the trees at the edge of the clearing. Mizu calmed her breathing and continued to wait. What was a few more hours? A heavy aura filled the clearing and Mizu felt bloodlust around her. Sweat dripped down her face, but she held her position. Eventually the bloodlust disappeared.
"Hmmm, you didn't run. Do I take it you have some business with me, Yoki or perhaps Uta?" The voice was high pitched and childlike. Mizu was tempted to turn toward it, but held her ground. If she moved, then Jikan would disappear.
Yoki spoke, clearly and calmly, "It's been a while, Jikan. How have you been?"
A child like laughter echoed around them. "Same old, same old. Watching the world's creatures live and die. Same old. But surely you didn't time your visit here just to ask me how I've been? Is this about your mission with that diseased demon?"
"I've completed that mission, but yes, I timed my visit to meet up with you for a reason." Yoki kept his eyes locked with Mizu's.
"You've finished it already! That was fast." The voice was filling Mizu's mind. She felt dizzy, but didn't move.
Yoki didn't move, but Mizu could see the concern in his eyes. "As always, your since of time is rather acute. It's been seven hundred years since I started hunting Shikkan."
"Has it really? Well, what's a few hundred years to me? So, what is your business with me?"
Mizu noticed Uta had stopped pacing and was staring at something behind her. Her hands shook, but she refused to turn. Yoki kept his eyes locked on her.
"There is a child who has served me well…" Yoki's tail was stiff at his side. "I've come today to request that you give back the time she had to relinquish to preform her duties."
The bloodlust from before flooded the area and Mizu almost collapsed from the pressure.
"You." The childish voice disappeared and replaced with a deep malice. "You dare to come ask me to return time already paid? Know your place, you lower spirit."
An intense pressure slammed down on the area where they stood and Mizu's legs buckled, but she stayed upright. The fear and uncomfortable look on Yoki's face told her he was also under attack.
"Uta, do you also come to ask for this ridiculous request of me?"
Uta's back was arched as he also fought against the unseen pressure of time. Still, he looked to whatever was behind Mizu, his face set and responded, "Yes."
"How dare you! How dare you ask this of me! Time once paid cannot be given back, yet you would ask me to break a fundamental rule of time."
A wave of ringing filled her ears, and the ground beneath her feet seemed to turn into mud.
"And for what? A being with a fleeting life and fleeting ideals."
Yoki was being forced to the ground by the pressure. "Yes."
Her feet sunk into the ground, and she noticed a large black pool had opened up, swallowing her. Panic filled her, but she didn't struggle or move as the ground pulled her in. Out of the corner of her eye a small child wearing a traditional kimono top, puffy pants, and wooden sandals with a short, black colored, bob hair cut walked toward them.
The voice that came out of the child's mouth was an adult's, "You would ask me to deny time itself and to break a sacred rule for what? This pathetic being?"
His eyes were red as blood as he focused on Yoki, but pointed toward Mizu.
"Yes." Yoki did not falter.
"Very well then, let's play a game." The child grinned evilly, his red eyes gleaming. He turned to Mizu for the first time and she could feel her entire body being crushed. "We'll play tag, simple enough, right? If you win, then I'll return your time. Oh wait, you can't move, can you? Well, that won't do, let's fix that. Hehe hehe. Let's make this more interesting and see how long you'll last."
"Mizu!" Yoki cried out as the ground sucked her in.
She held her breath as she entered the darkness. It was like some sort of slime was pulling her further down, down and down until it dropped her on the ground. Landing hard on her hands and knees, she caught her breath. Fearing she broke the jutsu, she tried to stand up, but found her body was too heavy to move. Through will power, she forced her head upward. What she found was her village.
Not the clearing, but how her village had been over five hundred years ago. People she'd grown up with passed her by, not noticing her and went about their day. Had Jikan thrown her back in time, or was this her memories? Someone screamed. She turned to the scream and saw a woman whose name she'd long forgotten crying over a child that was convulsing. People gathered around confused as they watched the little one dying.
"Move out of the way, I'm a healer."
Mizu turned to her past self and watched as she squeezed her way through the crowd to the child's side.
"Hehe hehe. So, this is where it all started for you. Oh, feel free to move if you can. Now that you're in my jutsu I won't disappear until either you catch me or you die." Jikan stood next to her grinning evilly. "If you can, that is."
He disappeared as Mizu made a grab for him. She struggled to stand, but managed to and tried to take a step. It was like walking through sludge. Forcing her way through whatever was holding her back, she made her way to the edge of the crowd. Her past self was helping the woman carry the child to their house. The crowd dispersed and Mizu followed her past self, though she didn't know if there was any meaning in doing so.
She watched at the entrance as the child suffered from Shikkan's disease. Chikyu, that was the young child's name. The mother's name didn't come to her, but she would always remember the little girl's name. She would always remember the first one that she couldn't save. Quietly, Mizu watched as her past self desperately struggled to cure the little girl. Yet, at the time, she didn't even understand what was wrong. Like a powerful wind, something pulled at her, and the surrounding scenery changed.
She now stood in the town graveyard.
The woman was crying over a grave, and her past self stood quietly behind her. Young Mizu bit her lip until it bled; she stayed until a man with dusty blond hair and kind eyes came to retrieve her.
"Moyasu." Mizu choked up as she watched her dead husband try to console her past self. "Moyasu!"
He didn't hear her and again the strong wind came. The scenery changed again. She stood in a large room filled with young children, all stricken with the virus. The smell of the dead was strong in the air. Young Mizu struggled to tend to them, along with a couple other souls. A woman who was helping her, another name forgotten, cried out as a tiny baby's life ended in a corner of the room.
"We've got another one." A man opened the screen separating the kids and the outside world. He pushed a young girl of only eight into the room.
Young Mizu rushed to catch the girl as she almost collapsed. She glared at the man. "Tell the elders we need more help!"
The man shook his head. "No. They said no more. They don't want anyone else getting the plague."
"There's too many for only three people to take care of. At this rate they'll die of neglect before I can find a cure!" Young Mizu tried to grab the man's shirt, but he smacked her away and sent her to the ground. The man left her sitting there cradling the suffering girl. Her young self cried with frustration.
Mizu stood above her past self and watched what would be a futile effort in the days to come.
"Mizu." Moyasu entered the room with another young man. He grinned at her. "We'll help. What do we need to do?"
Her past self smiled at her husband, but Mizu didn't get to hear anymore as the powerful wind came again. This time she was inside her home.
"Moyasu!" Young Mizu shouted and cried as she held her husbands' hand.
The disease had worn him thin as he could not eat. He smiled at her with cracked lips. "Don't cry, my love."
"Moyasu, you can't die on me. Please, don't leave me alone. Everyone else is…" Both Mizu's cried as they watched their husband's last moments. "If you die, then I'll join you."
"Live. Please for me." Moyasu's face scrunched up as he made his last request. "If you can, love again."
"Never! I could never love again. How could you say that?" Young Mizu shouted, but it was too late. Moyasu was no longer there.
"Oh, that's sad. Hehe hehe."
Mizu turned toward the spirit who was far from her. She tried to sing, hoping to force him close with a jutsu, but her voice was cut off as the powerful wind propelled her, yet again.
"Monster!"
She flinched and turned to see a crowd of people surrounding young Mizu. They were carrying weapons and staring at her terrified. Desperately, she tried to persuade them. "Please, I'm only here to help. If you don't let me take that sickness away then you'll all die."
Someone chucked a rock at her head, and she collapsed to the ground. Yoki appeared from somewhere and grabbed Mizu in his mouth. He ran with her before they could kill her. The wind pulled her again and Young Mizu was looking down from a cliff side at the village that had chased her away. The virus had spread far and fast, people were dying in the streets and many were kneeling begging the spirits to save them. Again, another rush of wind. Young Mizu was digging a mass grave for the village. Everyone was dead. She dropped to the ground and cried at the failure. Another wind, the next village she had hidden what she was, but she was found out and chased out. Another mass grave. Another wind, another village.
"Stop!" Mizu collapsed to the ground and cried. "Please, stop. No more."
But it didn't stop. The wind kept pulling and replaying her greatest failures. Over and over she had made friends, who all abandoned her when they realized what she was. She watched her young self-learn to hide and cut off her true feelings. Still, now and then, there would be a slipup and so many would die. She didn't move as she watched the worst of her past play out. Slumping her head down, she stilled and didn't move.
"Hehe hehe. Well, you broke pretty easy. Did you enjoy it? All those people dying? All the people who died because you weren't good at your job?"
Mizu didn't move. She was weary. When would it all end? Little feet appeared in front of her, within reaching distance. She didn't have the strength to make a grab for him. Even Uta's gift would not help her.
"What's the matter? Are you done?"
She didn't move. What was the point?
"That's right!" The voice became high pitched and childish. "Give up, once you give up, I'll take the rest of your time and you can rest."
Resting didn't sound so bad.
"Shikkan only activates when your life's in danger, right?"
Mizu slowly looked up and found herself in the field outside the sand village. She and Gaara were standing there looking at one another. He was looking at her without judgement or fear. Gaara looked away from her. "Then you don't need to leave the village."
Jikan turned and looked baffled at the scene playing out. It had been the first time someone hadn't chased her out after finding out her secret. It had been the first time someone excepted her as a human being since she'd took Shikkan in.
"What? I didn't tell it to play this—"
Mizu gently wrapped her arms around the small boy who squealed in surprise. "I win."
The wind rushed upward and sent her back through the dark goop. She gasped for air when she came back to the surface.
"How! How did you do that?" Jikan pulled himself from her grasp and shouted like a child would when throwing a tantrum. "You didn't use a jutsu, but mine was interrupted. How?"
"How?" Mizu could finally stand without the pressure. "How would I know?"
The boy puffed up his cheeks in irritation. "No. You cheated. You had to have cheated!"
Uta and Yoki moved to stand in front of Mizu to protect her.
"You're a cheater!" Jikan shouted and crossed his arms. "I'm not going to give you back your time."
Uta glared down at the boy who flinched. "How did she cheat?"
Jikan's face flushed red. "I made it so that the only memories she was supposed to see was where she messed up or where people died because of her."
It clicked and Mizu explained, "I did mess up that day and someone died because of me. Shikkan melted a person, and I exposed myself to Gaara."
"Then why did he not chase you out! That should have been a bad memory." Jikan waved his arms around, throwing a tantrum.
"It didn't start out as a good memory." Mizu pushed Uta and Yoki aside so they would let her through. She approached Jikan, her fear and exhaustion gone, now replaced with a determination. "But, Gaara made it one. He excepted me and let me stay. It's your fault for how you specified the bad memories. You should have specified that they have no good in them, I didn't cheat. Now, Jikan-sama, you lost fair and square. Give me back my time!"
Mizu held her hand to the boy who flinched. He pursed his lips and turned away from her.
"Jikan," Uta growled. "You lost, so give it back."
"I-I can't…" The boy pouted. "You have to trade me first."
"You're changing what you said!" Uta shouted so loud that Jikan jumped and hid behind Mizu.
He peaked out from behind her leg at the other spirit. "I-I really can't though without a trade."
Mizu sighed and pried the boy off her. "What kind of trade?"
He looked at her smugly and held out his hand. "You have to give me a piece of you if you want your time back."
"A piece of me?"
"Yup!"
"Any part?"
He nodded, his eyes glinting evilly, and Mizu sighed. She pulled out a small knife from her belt at her waist, Yoki and Uta tried to stop her but she held up her hand. Taking the knife, she grabbed her long ponytail and pulled it out, her hair fell down her back. She gathered her hair at the base of her neck and took the knife too it cutting off her locks. Since she didn't age, and her time had been stopped, her hair didn't grow. It's why she never cut it. Feeling lighter, she held out the long ponytail in her hand to Jikan.
He seemed disappointed, but took the ponytail. "I was kind of hoping for a limb or organ."
"You're the one who said any part. You should learn to specify, Jikan-sama." Mizu smirked.
The boy huffed angrily and pointed a finger at her. "You're so annoying! I never want to see you again, you hear me. Take back your stupid time!"
The powerful wind blew again and momentarily blinded her. When she opened her eyes, Jikan was gone. She turned to Yoki, who place his head against hers just like he'd done all those years ago to form the contract. Closing her eyes, she waited. If Jikan hadn't kept his promise, then she'd die when the contract was undone. Something inside her snapped, and she held her breath, waiting for death. It didn't come. Slowly she opened her eyes, to find Yoki's eyes sparkling and Uta grinning at her. A single tear of relief escaped, and she wiped it away. She was finally free.