Bokusenou was an ancient being. His roots were buried depths into the ground, so deep no man or youkai had yet dug deep enough to see the ends. Though his bark was scarred from those who had tried to defile and steal from his great power, his was yet intact. The fool mortals, human and demon alike, who had tried to take from him or harm him out of their own fear-their blood had become the water to his roots. He was a youkai, after all, despite his millennia post in this sacred part of a quiet forest.
And so, after the Inu no Tashio no longer graced the tree youkai with his presence, he turned his attention to the small child held dearly within his roots. Though most of her soul had already been taken, there was a small part left yet that clung stubbornly—whether by her own will or that of the gods, Bokusenou was unsure—and it called to him begging to speak.
In the small copse power thrummed through his branches and leaves, echoing through his roots as his magic called to that minute part of her soul that still remained. And so he was unsurprised when a spirit stood before his tree and bowed low, her miko robes breath away from touching the dirt.
"Bokusenou-sama," the spirit said. "Thank you for protecting the last piece of my soul. If the soul bearers had come for it, there would be no return for me."
The face of the tree demon crinkled with a wry smile. "I trust you have yourself to thank more than me. This is the first the Inu no Tashio has bowed before my old roots. This one does wonder how he know I held the knowledge of where he could find resurrection."
The miko smiled, a small twist of her lips full of secrets, and did not answer. Her power flickered, her spirit shuddering, and the tree saw within her face two others before the spirit before him became a mix of the three spirits. "There is much we cannot tell you, Bokusenou-sama," she said, "But there are many questions you are of course permitted to ask."
The tree youkai echoed out a laugh, too old by far to be insulted by the audacity of the spirit. "Your soul, or perhaps your soulshave been touched by the Kami. I trust there is more you have come to speak about than to tease these old roots with permitted questions. So speak spirits and I shall listen."
A nod this time, and the spirit settled herself gracefully into his roots to sit and stare up at him as she spoke. "We are Kami touched—there will come a time when our power is needed. Three times our soul has made a wish on a jewel, and three times the wish has been incorrect."
Bokusenou absorbed this knowledge as he settled into his roots, his branches creaking as he settled. "So as the Lady Fuiasu thought, you have been sent here for a reason. Your soul must be exhausted by now, Miko. Surely you have earned a peaceful existence."
The miko smiled again, though her eyes were a dance of shadow and sorrow. "There will be rest when we make the correct wish, not before. We must pay for the mistakes of the first. Such an abomination as the jewel should never had been created in the first place, and so our souls will pay the cost of all the world's despair until we make the correct wish."
Wind rustled through his leaves and Bokusenou felt a grief all his own for these souls before him. What an unfortunate life to be so troubled, to have to pay for the mistakes of the first incarnation. For he knew now that the first incarnation of these souls before him was to blame and he wondered how they did not crumple under the extreme burden of their anger, how they were not overcome with the powerful darkness that even as a spirit he could hear dancing along the bones of their souls. "And what is the correct wish?" he asked, his voice no louder than the wind that had just shaken his branches.
Consternation flickered across features that had begun to shift as each soul struggled for dominance. "We do not know. We will keep wishing until we come to the truth of the matter. That is all we can do. And if we make the wrong wish again, then we will be reincarnated once more—over and over and over and over."
Curious, he shifted in his roots a bit. "But you have not been reincarnated this time. Your body might be young in this life, but there are only three souls within you."
The spirit paused as it considered the tree youkai's words. Finding no fault, it frowned. "We are unsure why we have not been reincarnated this time."
Bokusenou smiled. "Perhaps you have been sent backin order to change the future set to come," he suggested as another wind floated through his copse. "Perhaps you are to try and stop the wishes from being made. Or, to learn from the wishes yet to be made in this time so you might see in this life what you have not been able to see in previous lives."
Again the spirit paused, before she granted a slight bow of her head to the tree. "You speak wisely, Bokusenou-sama."
"This one is curious how the child is to know what she must do if she has no memories of her previous lives," he asked, acknowledging the bow with a gentle smile.
"We did not know what must be done in our previous lives," the spirit agreed, and paused again before looking away for a moment as she considered. For a time, silence passed peacefully in the copse as youkai and miko each disappeared into thought. "Perhaps," the spirit said finally, "we might leave within you a token of our combined soul—so you might advise us as we grow in this body and fight once more."
Unsurprised at the request, as he had come to that conclusion as well, he let loose a swell of his yōki. "This one would be honored to hold such a token as has been touched by the Kami. This one will inform the Inu no Tashio that the child should return to my roots every year to speak."
The tension in the spirit's shoulders all but faded at his proclamation and she nodded. "We thank you for your wisdom and generosity, Bokusenou-sama."
And all fell silent in the copse once more, as all had been said that needed speaking. So Bokusenou watched the spirit as she relished these few waking moments in a world not trapped in a child's body, a break from the wheel of fate she was destined to ride again and again and again.
o.O.o
Word Count - 1160