STAND STILL by Danielle Winters
Chapter 8: Equivalence
There is an old saying that every action has always an opposite and equal reaction. Nothing in this world is for free, not even love, and the guardian of the river, Sanzu, knew that well. Being in an eternal slumber until a deity awakens him is his punishment for loving her too much.
Oh how he watched her every single day from his waters, the goddess who was born from the seven divine generations. To him, he beauty is unparalleled. He wanted her for himself but she wed her older brother and from their union came the islands of Japan and numerous other deities. She died giving birth to the fire god. Her spouse, to avenge her, killed their own son. Her spouse went after her in the underworld with the hopes of retrieving her but it was already too late. She had already eaten the food in the underworld. She begged her husband not to look at her but her husband betrayed her trust. Lighting a fire, her husband had seen her hideous look. Too afraid of how she had looked after her death, her spouse ran out of the underworld. Shamed and betrayed, she promised to kill a thousand souls every day but her husband promised to give live to a thousand and five hundred more every day. He watched her unleash her wrath. Her pain was his pain. To him, despite her hideous look, she is still the most breathtakingly beautiful creature he had lain his eyes on. And so, it was without pain when he had to protect the living souls from her wrath. He had willed his waters to overflow, submerging everything and everyone. He willed his waters to rampage and push back her hellish minions back to the underworld. As much he loved the goddess who was scorned by her husband, he could not stand idle as he sees innocent souls being killed by her vengeful wrath. He willed his waters to part into three, the third portion pushed the hellish minions to the underworld. The other two portions guided the souls of those who perished in her wrath to their rightful place in the afterlife.
While the deities were grateful for his help, they could not overlook the fact that the flood had caused death and destruction. He was punished and was put to a sleep like state. The deities created a place of judgment for the souls of those whose earthly lives had ended. The leader of this judgment place and his or her shinigami were left in-charge of sleeping river god. Sanzu accepted his fate, content that a portion of his stream had connected him to his beloved goddess. This was what he got for loving a deity too much but he did not regret it at all.
Seeing the sacrifice of his current mistress endeared her to him even more. Her love and selflessness was incomparable and he greatly admired her for that. To have opted to awaken him in exchange for her own existence reminded Sanzu of what he had to sacrifice too. He had resolved to help her and he knew that his powers were more than enough to subdue any force that would threaten Reikai. Sanzu, disguised as one of the Sanzu Shidan approached the spirit masters who had protected his mistress.
"Honorable spirit masters." He called to them. Genkai and Toguro both looked at him. "Hold on to that scythe, you're comrades are coming but at the same time, your enemies are approaching. That scythe will become the key to everything that will transpire henceforth." He told them. Genkai looked at Botan's scythe and held it with conviction.
"Well the idiots who disturbed us will have to walk all over our bodies before they can lay their filthy hands on this." She cockily remarked. Toguro just smirked. "And those bastards should better hurry or else the other old geezers here will start the party without them."
"Genkai-san never changed." Sanzu heard his mistress comment. A quiet yet fond smile graced his face hidden by the cloak.
Enki approached the sacred guardian. He was badly beaten and the Makai could only look at him with pity.
"Vile…you are a vile creature!" Masayoshi managed to shout despite his condition.
"Yeah! I know. You don't need to reiterate." Enki replied. He then grabbed the mask lying near Masayoshi and crushed it with his bare hands. "We may be vile but we deserve to live as well. We may look hideous, we may be savages but we have life as well. Your deities gave life to us. Our race was born out of the shame your god placed on his spouse in the underworld."
"Spirits of revenge…you deserve to be gone!" Masayoshi responded.
"And look whose vengeful between us oh sacred guardian. We may be born out of revenge but it does not mean we serve that purpose too. We have freewill." Enki then grabbed the satchel bag he noticed that Masayoshi carried. Too broken too fight, Masayoshi could only hiss in anger as Enki opened the satchel. His eyes grew wide in surprise as he saw what it contained.
"I don't want to sound like a whiner or something but what's our plan?" Yusuke bravely asked as they were being ferried by Yukinaya on the river. Everyone noticed the blood red color of the waters and all of them felt that no matter how calm the water was, it gave an eerie vibe that it can wreak havoc in seconds. Kuwabara literally nudged Yusuke on the stomach for fear of irritation Kurama whose patience was very volatile.
"WHAT!" Yusuke shouted at Kuwabara. "Reikai is a huge place, where the hell are we going to look for lord brat's soul?" He questioned.
"That pillar of light you've seen earlier was Koenma's soul. It was calling out to us." Kurama finally spoke. "From our direction earlier, it means that they've hidden his soul somewhere in the eastern regions of reikai." He added.
"This is indeed saves us a lot of time and energy. So from stealing this becomes a retrieval mission." Kuwabara commented.
"No. The mission has not changed. Chances are, the sacred guardians will not be stupid enough to just leave something important unguarded." Kurama countered. "And I believe that we are in for a surprise. If I am the sacred guardian, I will not be a fool to keep all the treasure hidden in one place."
"So you are saying that they split lord brat's soul and kept the other portions somewhere?" Yusuke deducted.
"Oh the soul is intact that I must conclude." Yomi said. "We all felt its power earlier." He continued. "If your plan is to brew a war among the three worlds just so you can reinstate someone in power, you must hold something of grave importance."
"Enough with the riddles just spit it out!" Yusukue shouted.
"You are such a dimwit. He means a symbol of power. Koenma's symbol of power." Hiei responded.
"You mean the lord brat's pacifier?" Yusuke said out loud.
"He isn't the prince anymore so I doubt it that it's his symbol of power now." Kuwabara assumed.
"Kurama, where do you think it is?" Yomi questioned.
"Outside Reikai. Either in Ningenkai or Makai. But I believe it's in Makai. If you say that there's a sacred guardian in Makai, I think that guardian holds that symbol of power." Kurama deduced.
"So we should have separated in two teams in the first place?" Yusuke questioned.
"No. Like your old man said, Enki will be more than enough to keep everything in Makai at bay." Kurama said. "That symbol of power will easily be found. That much I am confident."
"Yukinaya, do you have a means of communication to Makai?" Raizen inquired.
"When we cross this river towards Reikai, I can find a way to send a message in Makai." Yukinaya answered.
"Wait! Wait!" Kuwabara finally interrupted. "I hate to be the party pooper but to go to eastern Reikai and retrieve Koenma's soul doesn't solve anything. We'd still be searching a needle in the haystack!" He pointed out.
"Woman." Kurama called Yukinaya. "What's in the eastern portion of reikai?" He asked coldly.
"The goddess Izanami's resting place…the cave of Iwadayo." Yukinaya answered.
Sanzu saw a boat approaching them. He smiled "Mistress, you friends have arrived." He then alerted Genkai and Toguro of the approaching company. The spirit masters stood their ground and prepared for the approaching company. Sanzu assured them though that the coming party were comrades and they need to help them gain an entrance to Reikai.
"Spirit Masters, pierce the kekkai barrier with Botan-sama's scythe. It will create a hole enough for the boat to pass. Once they gain entrance, pull the scythe back. The Kekkai will repair itself and reinforce itself." Sanzu instructed. Upon seeing the boat a few meters away from the kekkai, Genkai followed the instructions given to her. Without any hindrance, the reunited reikai tantei and mazoku entered Reikai.
"Looks like we have the ingredients for the recipe for a perfect chaos." Genkai remarked upon seeing her former student.
"You are still foul-mouthed old hag!" Yusuke bit back.
"And you still don't have manners." Genkai answered back.
"Too much sentimentality cuts our time." Kurama remarked coldly. Genkai notice that beneath the calm expression of the kitsune before her, a storm was brewing badly underneath. "You, is the office of the goddess of death intact?" He questioned to Genkai.
"Yes." It was Sanzu who answered. He finally stood on the rock where Genkai and Toguro were stationed and he removed the hood that hid his face.
Pale blue hair that cascaded until his waist was revealed when Sanzu removed his cloak. Underneath the cloak, pristine white robes were revealed and when his hood has been removed, a handsome face as if chiseled by the deities themselves was revealed. His eyes were the color of the deepest blue,
"My name is Sanzu. I am the guardian of this river…many calls it Styx but to those who lived here in Reikai, this river has always been called Sanzu no kawa. I have been awoken by my mistress, Botan-sama to ensure the lockdown of Reikai in this time of chaos." He explained. Sanzu felt the deadly glares of the kitsune before him. The mere mention of his mistress' name was enough to crack the calm mask of the famous Makai thief.
"Bastard where is Botan!" Yusuke yelled angrily.
"Human, I don't think you should be making that tone with me. I am a deity too and I demand respect. You should be grateful I've even let you pass in that barrier which my mistress created." Sanzu reprimanded.
"Where is Botan?" Kurama asked coldly.
"Shouldn't you be focusing on your mission first kitsune?" Sanzu asked coldly in return.
"Why reveal yourself now?" Mukuro questioned.
"I have promised my mistress to help you at all cost. I know you are going to the cave of Iwadayo where you believe the soul of Koenma is hidden." He explained. "As you all know, the cave of Iwadayo is the resting ground of Izanami…mistress of the underworld."
"And so?" Yusuke said in a sarcastic tone.
"Those bastards…" Hiei remarked.
"We have to hurry and retrieve that soul…" Sanzu said.
"So this isn't as simple as we thought it would be." Raizen commented.
"It never was." Came Kurama's cold remark. "It just gotten much more complicated."
"If Koenma's summons that pillar of light again, he would literally allow all hell to break lose…the revenge of Izanami shall take place once more." Yomi added.
"It was her wrath that gave birth to our race, the youkai." Mukuro added. "Our ancestors were originally created by the vengeful cries of Izanami to kill a thousand souls every night as an act to show her anger and desolation by the betrayal of Izanagi." She added.
"The sacred guardians wanted to bait Koenma-sama's soul. They must have opened the sacred stone that sealed the entrance of the underworld." Yukinaya deduced.
"You are wrong dear shinigami." Sanzu said. "I doubt it that the sacred guardian knows how to open the sacred stone that sealed the entrance." He looked towards the eastern portion of Reikai, "What your blind friend here says is true…that pillar of light that the soul of Koenma summoned is enough to crack open the boulder sealing the cave. One or two more of those and the boulder would break, allowing Izanami freedom to roam Reikai. Izanami never was at rest. She was waiting for the day to be unsealed so she can unleash her wrath and vengeance on Izanagi." Sanzu explained. "We must hurry,"
Botan could feel her life force draining away. She doesn't have much time left but she full trusted Sanzu. She was unable to move and she was conserving whatever amount of energy she still has.
"My lady please, save your energy." She heard Sanzu called unto her. She chuckled 'so felt it too,,,my energy draining away.'
"Sanzu I am okay. Thank you for accompanying them to get Koenma-sama's soul." She said.
"My lady, I am at your disposal. I cannot allow bloodshed to occur. I've witnessed much already. Likewise, I cannot allow dear lady Izanami to leave the underworld. I might have to drown the entire Reikai with my waters again just so I can push her back…"
"I trust you…I trust Kurama…everyone I put my trust in them." Botan said with determination. "All of this will soon be over."
"All the more reason you need to conserve that life force you have…you need to witness it for yourself…mistress, I don't want to see you disintegrate into my waters." He reasoned out to her.
"So that's what will happen to me…I'll be part of your stream…" Botan commented.
"Yes mistress…once you disappear, you will become part of my stream. Once the duty I've been summoned has been completed, I shall go back to my sleeplike state in my stream too."
"At least I am not alone…you will be my guardian then…we'll switch places." Botan cheerfully said. Sanzu could only shrug in disbelief…how can this woman find positivity in such a dire situation?
"Mistress, I'd rather see you smile or cry everyday rather than see you as a formless body of water." He said.
Sanzu held Botan's scythe tightly. He will not fail her. Unbeknownst to him, a certain kitsune watched him with envy and jealousy. The only thing that Botan held with her hands were mere inches away from him…but it was being held by someone else.
They were running towards the eastern region of Reikai with Sanzu as their guide. Genkai and Toguro were left at the entrance of Reikai with the Sanzu Shidan while Yukinaya ran to Botan's office to find a means of way to communicate with Makai, Before leaving, Sanzu has asked for Botan's scythe from Genkai. He said he needed it. Genkai gave it to him without question.
"Trust him…he knows what his doing." Kurama heard her voice again. "Sanzu,,,you can count on him Kurama."
"Can you hear me?" Kurama tried communicating back through his mind.
"Yes…I'm sorry, I can't talk much anymore…" Botan answered.
"Where are you…I'll get you back…"Kurama almost pleaded in his mind.
"Kurama-san, you should not worry about me…worry about the innocent souls that'll be dragged into this chaos. I trust you completely Kurama." She said. Kurama felt a pang of pain in his heart. In these dire moments, she can even show utter selflessness.
"My world is nothing without you." He said…the voice of his mind was desperate. Botan did not respond. "It had been nothing…empty ever since you took you post as deity of death six years ago."
Both Yomi and Sanzu sensed the shift in Kurama's mood. His wrath was replaced by utter desperation. Hiei on the other hand had seen streaks of red hair mixing with the silver mane of the kitsune. All three knew, he was finally able to talk to the deity of death and it greatly influenced his mood.
Botan fought back the tears welling in her eyes. No…she doesn't have enough energy anymore. As much as she wanted to respond to Kurama she can't…she saw her feet slowly disappearing. Botan felt the desperation in the kitsune's voice. As much as her mind was in utter confusion from what Kurama had said, her heart was swelling with joy…she was important to him…he had never forgot about her. She wanted to just run to him and get lost in the warmth that his embrace could offer. But she knew, now is not the right time to be selfish with so many things at stake…hanging on a balance. Botan, resolved to see things until the end, decided to conserve the little life left of her.
"How I wish I could tell you Kurama-san…"
TO BE CONTINUED
AUTHOR'S CORNER:
It's been too long…I know T^T but still, I want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for reading this. Your comments fuelled me to write again. I am sorry if I couldn't update as frequently as I can anymore. I have been really busy with work and graduate school. Right now, I am cramming to write an executive proposal to finally begin my thesis writing.
I really want to acknowledge everyone who left their comments personally. Sincerely, wholeheartedly, I appreciate all the positive reviews and suggestions. Yes, I need a beta reader (you might have someone you can refer). Rest assured that I'll continue on with this fanfiction. Please feel free to leave your comments and suggestions. Sorry if this is a short update but I hope you enjoyed reading this.
Till my next update