The next morning was a dismal one. Ryozo was off in his own little world – he had found the Angry Mask shortly before Mikoto's return, and was thinking about what might be on the other side. Yae, meanwhile, was lying on the floor, occasionally pushing herself up to check on breakfast.
Mikoto watched her parents with concern. Mommy's getting sick again, she thought. I wonder if there's something I can do to help.
"Mommy…"
"What?" Yae asked distantly.
"Do you want me to help with anything?"
Yae looked at her daughter. "Not really," she answered. I don't have anything planned for today." She lowered herself back to the ground.
Mikoto turned to her father. "Oh, by the way, I found one of your diary entries in the storeroom."
Ryozo looked at her in astonishment. "Why would it be there?" he mused. "Everything seems to get misplaced around here…"
"I think…" Mikoto began, but then she stopped herself. Was it really a good idea to tell them about the man who had been coming to her at night? She looked back to her dad, only to see that he had completely lost interest in what she had to say.
"…I'm going to take a walk," Mikoto said as she stood up and left. "I think I might take a few pictures today."
"…I left the camera next to my koto…" Yae mumbled. "Just make sure that you don't use all the film, okay?"
"I won't," she responded. She then turned and walked out of the room.
"Mikoto!"
Mikoto looked up from the camera. She had been about to take a picture of a bird, but it flew away at the newcomer's approach.
It was Mitsuko. The girls smiled at each other as Mitsuko ran towards her friend.
"What are you doing here?" Mikoto asked.
"I came to ask you about something. Do you think it would be okay if Yoshiko, Katsu and I came here tomorrow?"
Mikoto cocked her head. She should probably go ask her parents…but, then again, they would definitely say yes. Especially in the state they were in right now.
"Sure," she responded.
Ryozo wandered the Hidden Pass. It had taken him so long to get here, and now he had to dig through even more puzzles! Though he showed outward anger, he was really quite pleased. This mansion…he could live here forever, solving its puzzles!
He approached the door with the odd mask hanging on it. For some reason, this one would not come off of the door…but the door would not open, either. He suspected that the pillar in the other room might unlock this door, but he couldn't have this door both unlocked and accessible…
He clutched his forehead. "This is impossible!" he moaned.
He heard a chiming noise. When he looked to investigate, he saw a young girl pointing toward the Sad Door.
"…Who are you?" he asked after a brief pause.
"This way…" she said.
Then she disappeared.
He turned the corner and walked through the Sad Door. The girl stood before him yet again, now pointing toward the Square Garden.
In this manner he followed the little girl, until he finally found what she wanted him to find.
A golden carving sitting in front of a gravestone.
Come on! Come on!
Yae looked up. She was standing in a large, monochrome courtyard. Or was it her vision that was awry? The woman in the bloody kimono stood before her.
You'd better hurry, Yae. I might leave you behind.
"Who are you?" Yae called. The woman gave her a malicious grin.
It's your fault, Yae.
Yae stared at the girl, the girl she knew was from her village, the girl that could unlock her memory. If she could just talk to her, get her to understand that she didn't remember anything…
It's your fault for surviving.
The girl turned and walked through the doors behind her. And, after a moment's hesitation, Yae began to follow.
Beyond the doors was what appeared to be a shrine. The woman stood in the center, holding something out to Yae.
Take them, Yae.
"What is this?"
Take your shattered memories.
Yae reached out her hand…
And remembered.
When Yae woke up, she was in the Koto Room. She didn't remember coming in there, didn't even remember falling asleep.
What she remembered was All God's Village.
"It's my fault…" she whispered.
She began to cry.
Ryozo stepped through the door – the locked door with the odd mask that had given him so much trouble. And now, thanks to the friendly little ghost, he was inside.
He walked inside and looked around. It was very ornate and, oddly enough, clean. This must have been where they performed the Blinding Ritual he had read so much about…
And, speaking of Blinding…
"It's the mask," he gasped.
There it sat before him – a plank of wood with two stakes shoved through it. Ryozo approached it reverently. This was the key, the key to the Demon Mouth's doors.
"Tomorrow…tomorrow I will go inside."
Mikoto lay in a ball on the floor. Even now, she couldn't sleep – she was too worried about her parents. Mommy's eyes had been puffy, which either meant she had been crying or she was sick, and Daddy had been drooling over that "mask" he had found. She sighed. As much as she liked it here, she was starting to wish they had never moved.
She stood up and went through the small door to the Stairway, and from there, made her way to the locked door.
"I wish I could get inside…" she whispered.
Another chapter down, and the story's drawing to a close. Sigh…oh, well.
Valete!