Chapter 29 Tempo Rubato (Or, stolen time)
Asuka felt better the moment they stepped out of the gate to the other side. There seemed to be less "time pressure" in the Ninth Circle, like they had arrived in the eye of a hurricane. Behind her, Kurama swayed, like he was coming around.
She gently tugged his hand as they walked through the lush jungle plants, colored deep greens and bright pinks and glorious yellows. They were the same plants Asuka had seen in her vision. There were no animals, bugs, or birds of any kind in the circle. Just plants, flowers, vines, and trees. Above, the ceiling of the cave was dark and whatever was above them twinkled in the perpetual night. It was calm and familiar, like coming home. If the first circle was a dream, this was heaven.
When they stepped out of the foliage, Asuka saw the same lake that she had seen in her dreams. The water was still as ice and stretched beyond what she could see.
"We made it," Kurama said.
Asuka turned to her husband and buried herself in his arms. "I'm glad you're feeling better. I was so worried about you."
He squeezed her. "I would not have made it without you anchoring me."
"I wouldn't have made it without you, either. Thank you."
"You are most welcome, Love." He gave a small, pained smile.
Asuka went to let him go, but Kurama stopped her. She furrowed her eyebrows at him, curious. He ran his fingers through her hair.
"Kurama?"
"Happy Tenth Anniversary," he whispered.
Asuka's eyes widened.
"We must've passed it, even up in the Ningenkai, right?"
"I…I think so. We must've. Maybe? I'm not sure."
"Either way…" Kurama inched his face down and covered Asuka's mouth with his. She melted in his arms as his lips caressed hers. "I love you. Until the end," he whispered.
"And I love you." Reluctantly, Asuka let go of Kurama and stepped up to the shoreline. As soon as her feet touched the water, a gong sounded. She looked back at Kurama and found his face awash with tension.
Water started lapping at her feet. The gong sounded again and an ancient song filled the air. Music. Piano and the erhu and something sounding like a choir. The wind blew stronger as a gigantic electric green dragon came up out of the lake. Its body glowed, and twinkling orbs flew around it as its claws gripped the air as if it were swimming.
As the dragon got closer, the electric green light glowing across its body blinked as if the light in its body was going off and on. It groaned, and its body fell toward the lake. The light in its body flickered on, and the dragon managed to swim upward, only for the light to blink off again. The dragon fell.
Asuka jumped out of the way as the dragon crashed into the water with a tidal splash. A wave from the lake doused her and Kurama with water, and indistinguishable images passed through her mind as it did. When the water cleared, steam rose from the dragon's nostrils with a painful sigh.
"Are you alright?" Asuka asked as she hurried toward the dragon. Its eye was the same size as her head, and it blinked slowly.
"Maeko…" it said. The dragon didn't move its mouth when it spoke, but Asuka could hear its booming voice as if it were reverberating off the water.
"I heard it too," Kurama said as he came alongside her.
The dragon groaned. "We have been calling for so long. You finally returned to us. The world as it is cannot last much longer. We must…rest."
"I'm so sorry," Asuka said. "I don't know who you are. I lost my powers, so I couldn't find my way to you until recently."
The dragon's eye slid from Asuka to Kurama. It narrowed its eye at him. "You. Why did you not keep your promise to us, yokai?"
Kurama bowed his head respectfully. "I am sorry, O Great One. I do not remember making any promise to you."
Air went out of the Dragon's nostrils as its great eyelid slowly closed and reopened. "You…do not remember. We see."
Asuka looked from the dragon to Kurama and back to the dragon again. "Remember what?"
The dragon attempted to pick its head up, but gave up and sighed. Plumes of air shot from its nostrils. "The night he learned of your death, Maeko of the gods, your lover, in supreme agony, called to us. It should not have been possible, but he managed because he had clothed himself in your ki. On hands and knees, he begged of us to change your Fate."
Asuka and Kurama gaped at each other. Kurama's eyes wandered for a moment, then settled back on Asuka. "While I was passed out," he whispered.
"We agreed because you are ours. We instructed your lover to bring you to us once you were well enough to travel through the Circles of the Makai. We gave him a mental map to find us, for we knew you would have great difficulty. But you did not come."
"What do you need me for?" Asuka whispered as she gently scratched the eye ridge of the dragon.
"We are three, and we are one. You may believe that we are Weavers of Fate. But we do not dictate Fate. We are Weavers of Time. Thread by thread, we weave to keep the world stable, and we manipulated the loom after the thread had been woven to save your life. Such things require immense power, and now…" the dragon closed its enormous eye, "if we do not rest, the loom will continue unraveling."
"And me?"
"You must enter the lake and weave the Threads of Time in our place until our rest has been completed."
"Why me?"
The dragon's eye opened again. "You remember nothing and it grieves us, for Enma did a deed most foul. We sent you to him in good faith to watch time, but he took away your agency and made you into what he wanted."
Asuka collapsed onto her knees. A faint, blurry memory danced behind her eyes. It was of a young girl with glowing bronze hair, riding on the back of a blue dragon.
"Yes…you are ours. Made when the world was still young and the gods above still walked the earth."
Tears streamed down Asuka's face. "I never questioned it…I never asked why I didn't remember where I came from. I thought that was normal."
The dragon's head moved over and bumped Asuka with a comforting touch. She grasped its giant head and put her head on its warm snout.
"Enma said if time decayed, he might be set free. Why?" Asuka asked.
The dragon blinked. "If the world was destroyed, the gods would remain. If the world was remade, he may have gained back his position. But that is a timeline so contrarian to ours even we cannot see it."
Asuka nodded, glad that none of Enma's wishes would come to pass. She could go back to forgetting him. That's what he deserved.
"What will happen to Asuka?" Kurama asked the dragon.
"It will be difficult. Her mind may crack, and she may get lost in the Threads of Time. But you agreed to the risk when you made your request, yokai."
Asuka glanced over at Kurama. She loved him so much. Crashing to Earth was the best thing that happened to her. She had lived fully and loved fully. All because of him. "I'll do it," Asuka said. "Thank you. Thank you for giving me a life beyond the day I destroyed Enma's weapon. I've been so happy."
The dragon blinked. "You have always been kind. It is difficult to change the future. The choices of mortals and gods are theirs to make, and we have no power over their decisions. We do not dictate the thread's colors. We simply weave. But you found a way. Because of you, Circle Zero of the Makai was saved."
Asuka wiped away a tear.
"Come here. We must fix something Enma did."
Asuka leaned forward toward the dragon's head, unsure. It groaned, and with great effort, moved its head off the ground, just enough so it could blow on Asuka's face. The Kanji on her forehead rearranged and made the symbol "Time".
"You are the daughter of Time. You are Ours."
Asuka kissed the dragon's head. "Let me just say goodbye."
"Wait," Kurama said. He stepped up and kneeled before the dragon. "Please allow me to help my wife."
The dragon blinked slowly. "You wish to help?"
"I want to enter the lake with Asuka."
"Kurama, it's okay. Please don't do this."
"You cannot stand the Lake of Time, yokai. It will kill you."
Asuka bent down next to Kurama. "It's okay," she whispered. "You traveled with me through the Circles and kept me safe. You saved me. You always save me. But this final task is something only I can do." She kissed his brow.
Kurama pulled her to his chest and stood. "Then," he said, resigned, "if I cannot go into the lake with you, I will stay here for as long as you are here."
"But…hundreds of years could pass while I'm in the lake, or more."
"Then I will wait hundreds of years." He kissed her. "Come back safely to me."
"I love you."
"And I love you."
Asuka looked at the dragon. "I'm ready."
"We will pass our power to you." The dragon's body disappeared. Electric orbs the size of fireflies in red, green, and blue whirled around Asuka. More came down from the ceiling of the cave. Faster and faster they went until the orbs turned into streams of light. Asuka felt the vestiges of time open to her. She was propelled upward and plunged into the bottom of the lake.
Author's Note:
The shortest chapter of the story but one of the most important. And now, you know :-). It was always because of Kurama. Gosh, he is so wonderful.
Silena MB: Thank you so much for the kind compliment. It means so much to know you're still enjoying the story!