Chapter Three
The road was virtually empty and the fire from the Former Hell below was starting to die down, its wrath sated for the time being. Accordingly, the light in the caverns was starting to dim and all of the youkai in the Ancient City knew that market day was over. It was time to head back to their homes and start preparing food for themselves or otherwise get indoors. No one spoke of what would happen when the lights died completely, especially for those who were still outside and had no place to go. Yet, to Satori and Koishi, the old lady who pushed the cart around the marketplace at dusk held none of the fear that seized the hearts of the lesser youkai when they realised that their time outside was over. The night was the domain of the wicked and the strong.
The sisters watched as the old, rickety wheelbarrow made its way down the road searching for corpses that rarely materialised, if ever. The only casualties in the Ancient City during the daytime were the fairies, who foolishly believed that they could challenge the youkai for control of the land. Even the weakest of youkai was more than a match for a fairy, and every day there would be at least a few lying around to prove a point. Satori wondered at the futility of this daily routine. Every day without fail, for as long as she had been alive, the corpse carrier had come to take the bodies away, and always that faithful cat accompanied her. It walked a respectful distance away, its matte black fur catching and absorbing the fading light. Two tails swished back and forth as it watched her go about her endless task. There was anxiety in its stare.
"You shouldn't be out here this late in the day. It will get dark soon and the evil spirits will come", Satori noted.
The old woman looked up from her wheelbarrow and saw the two sisters, one with pink hair and the other with gray. She did not know what manner of youkai these were, but it was clear that each one spoke for the other.
She managed a slight smile, "Nobody wants to be out after dark."
"Even you?" asked the other one, with the gray hair.
"Even me. But there is something I have to do before I go home. Every day I come here to carry the corpses away. The spirits search far and wide for flesh they can take for themselves, and nothing deserves to be desecrated in that way."
"Desecra...ted?" Koishi's face scrunched up as she wrapped her mind around the word, poking it experimentally like a unfamilliar food.
"She means that they spoil the bodies", offered Satori.
The corpse carrier simply nodded, "A burden that I bear. I do not know why I was given this job, and I do not know where it will lead me, but it has to be done. That is all."
The once lively market was still. The three remaining youkai (and one cat) regarded each other in silence.
"I see that you too carry a heavy burden", she said finally.
"That...that's not it at all", Satori replied.
The old woman smiled, "I do not need to know a person's heart to know that they lead a difficult life."
"How did you-?"
"You just told me", the corpse carrier's voice was thick with amusement, "I have no powers in that way but I like to think that I've lived long enough. After awhile you start to pick up a few things", she turned to look at the cat, "but there is one thing I have never known. Humans, youkai, I can understand them all but never animals. I have always wondered what this child thinks, when it looks at me. Why it continues to follow me in this endless task of mine."
Satori nodded, turning her third eye to regard the cat. It was a kasha by the looks of it, with a sharp face and bright red eyes. It was not uncommon for them to be attracted to people who walked with death. Then, in a rush, its heart opened to her and the images began. Animals did not talk in the same way that creatures like humans or youkai did. They did not have a language so their hearts contained flashes of their life. Like a dream the scenes passed by. The dusty floor of the shopping district on market day with the life and hope of the people living in these violent times. The nobles' quarter where the high-ranking and powerful youkai lived. The bright lights of the feasts as the oni drank and danced around the fire. In all the scenes there was one common element, an old woman who pushed around a wheelbarrow and carried away corpses, dutifully preserving the bodies that would have been stolen by evil spirits and used to terrorise the Ancient City's inhabitants. It was all clear to Satori in that one instant, and then the images were gone.
"Because your task is endless", she said quietly.
The old woman looked at her questioningly.
"You go around the city taking corpses in your wheelbarrow, day after day without stopping, without tiring, without asking for a reward. This cat follows you because you have never once stopped your duty, even when you don't know when it began or when it will end. That loyalty is a kind of strength and it respects you for it."
The cat, for its part, had gone back to licking its fur clean. It seemed satisfied that its purpose had been accomplished. The corpse carrier nodded slowly, taking in the information slowly.
"I see. Thank you for your help. I think I understand it a little better now", said the old woman as she turned back to her wheelbarrow, "now I think you had best get going before it gets dark."
Without another word, she began pushing the fairy corpses down the dusty road once again.
"Wait!" called Satori suddenly, "do you think we will ever see you again?"
"No."
Then she vanished into a deeper darkness, within the gloom that was settling over the marketplace, and the cat followed. Once again, the two sisters were completely alone. Satori turned to face Koishi and grinned.
"So, would you like to go to the feast?"