Author's Corner
There were so many lovely reviews on the last chapter! Thank you all immensely! I hope you all have the best year and that 2018 is kind to you (it's really blessing me so far with all these great new animes! *cough* TAMB *cough*) Enjoy the new chapter and as always don't forget to review!
EIGHTH BLOOD
Chapter 29: A thousand knots
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"What did you think of the priest?"
"You were right. He's a total nutjob."
Sesshoumaru smirked. "A demon's intuition is never wrong."
Octavia dangled her legs over the edge of the wall. Waves crashed against the cliff hundreds of metres beneath her feet, but she wasn't afraid of falling. The sunset had turned the water orange, although patches of blue still remained, replicating the atmosphere of a dream.
The streets behind them were full of people getting ready for the nightly festivities. Octavia tightened the sash around her new kimono, which Nagisa had generously given to her yesterday. It was a silver yukata that looked like it was made of starlight. The sleeves were decorated with tiny olive-coloured leaves, and the obi was a silky red that matched the ribbon in her hair.
"I like it here," she said, watching the sun slowly sink. "It's not at all what I pictured."
"What were you expecting?"
"I don't know. A frozen wasteland? This is more like a holiday."
"For you, perhaps. I can think of a dozen other places I'd rather be."
She stared at the blank space on his forehead where the crescent moon was meant to be and twisted her fingers together anxiously. "I wonder why the shadows haven't come for us yet," she mused aloud. "We did what they asked. What's keeping them?"
"We've only completed the first part," he said. "We still have to find their master."
"Fuck their master. I'm fed up with just going along with whatever they want. From now on, they have to do what we want."
"Your confidence is inspiring."
She flashed him a wry smile. "I know you're making fun of me, but I'm gonna take that as a compliment."
He closed his eyes and chuckled.
Octavia playfully kicked his leg, which earned her a gentle but unexpected shove. She squealed as his shoulder bumped hers and almost made her lose her balance. "If I fall, you'd better be prepared to jump in after me," she said, glaring at him.
"Why? Can't you swim?"
"I can, actually. I'll probably be unconscious by the time I hit the water, though. Assuming the fall doesn't kill me. Either way, you'd be responsible for my death."
"You humans really can't do anything, can you?"
"It's only because you demons think you're too good to help us out once in a while."
His gaze was molten hot. "Let's say I did save you. What would be in it for me?"
"You'd avoid a lawsuit, for starters."
"I have no interest in whatever that is."
"Then what do you want?"
"I was thinking of something more along the lines of a reward."
She giggled. "I like this side of you."
He shot her a cynical look.
She smiled and shifted her attention to the sunset, which she'd missed.
"Can I ask you something?" she murmured, her eyes fixed on the darkening sky. "It's okay if you don't want to answer. I might be overstepping, but—"
"Just say it."
She took a deep breath.
"Naraku . . . Who was he?"
His pupils contracted drastically. "Why do you want to know?" he asked after a brief silence.
"Rin told me about him once. She didn't go into much detail, but she said that you all hated him. Even you. I remember seeing his face in your memories, and to be honest, he scared the shit out of me . . . What did he do that was so terrible?"
"In the beginning, it was a matter of my pride being insulted. It became personal after he kidnapped Rin as a means of manipulating me into slaying Inuyasha for him. And—"
He cut himself off.
She scooted closer, eager to hear more. "And?"
"He killed someone important to me," he finished.
Shame flowered in her chest. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked."
"You don't have to apologise for being curious. Besides, what's done is done. The most important thing is that he'll never be able to harm anyone ever again."
"And the Shikon no Tama?"
"Destroyed," he said. "It will never plague this country again."
"Until another one comes along."
The gold in his eyes flickered like flames.
Before he could reply, Haru bounded over to the wall and jumped up and down excitedly. He was dressed in his best robes and carrying a crown of huge white flowers.
Octavia grinned and hopped down from the wall. "They're pretty," she said.
He beamed up at her. "Thanks. They're called kori no otome."
She crouched to allow him to place the crown on top of her head. Nagisa appeared as she was thanking him and looked her up and down before nodding in approval. "I knew it would suit you."
Octavia flipped her hair and curtseyed. Haru laughed and applauded her, but Sesshoumaru merely rolled his eyes and said, "Let's get this over with."
Nagisa chuckled. Taking Haru's paw, she led them through the bustling streets to the heart of the festivities. Haru chatted happily whilst they walked, recounting the day's events from his perspective. He'd attended school, played a game of hide-and-seek with his friends, and gotten into trouble for using his mother's washing basket as a sledge.
Laughing, Octavia told him about all the times she'd gone sledging as a child. For some reason, none of the care homes she'd lived in had owned a sledge, so they'd scrounged spare bin bags from the cupboards and used those instead. They were superior to a proper sledge in almost every way. The material was naturally slippery and easy to carry, but the downside was that they eventually ended up torn and unusable. They made for a few hours of fun, though.
A crowd had congregated in a large courtyard not far from the hill in the middle of the city. The edges were adorned with tables full of food and velvet cushions, and there was bunting depicting eight-pointed stars everywhere. A band was stationed beside a stone wall, playing an upbeat melody that encouraged the people gathered there to dance. Haru spotted his friends in the crowd and waved at them, then darted away to join them.
Nagisa caught Octavia's eye and winked. "Well?" she asked, her eyes sliding to Sesshoumaru. "Are you going to stand there all night? Ask the star mage if she wants to dance."
He frowned disapprovingly.
Nagisa heaved a sigh. "You male demons are all the same. No matter. I'll do it myself."
Octavia's eyes widened in shock. "You'll do what?"
The demoness' eyes gleamed. "Dance with me."
"Actually, I'd rather stay here and—"
"It wasn't a request."
Octavia shrieked as Nagisa grabbed her hand and dragged her into the crowd. She met Sesshoumaru's gaze and mouthed 'help me', but he didn't budge, unfazed by her desperate glances in his direction. If anything, he seemed rather amused. Scowling, she showed him her middle finger, which puzzled him greatly. Good, she thought. Let him wonder.
Nagisa laughed softly. "Are you always this tense?"
Octavia's eyes snapped to hers. The demoness' painted lips curved into a lax smile as she reached down and lifted Octavia's hands onto her shoulders. Her blue hair tumbled down her front, tickling her partially exposed stomach. The ends swayed in sync with her movements, resembling thick strands of paint dangling out of a tube, only without the mess.
Octavia swallowed. "I don't feel like dancing right now."
Nagisa's grey eyes rippled like pools of mercury. "Are you afraid?"
"No. I just don't want to let my guard down, is all."
"Oh, live a little. It's just dancing. What's the worst that could happen?"
A shadow could be using you as its host and jump out and kill me when I least expect it.
"I could twist my ankle," she said instead. "Then you'd have to carry me everywhere."
"I wouldn't mind. I'm used to it with Taro. He has a bad back, you see."
A smile pulled at Octavia's lips.
"That's better," Nagisa murmured, guiding her into a spin. "Dancing is good for the soul. It helps you let go." She led whilst Octavia followed. "My mother used to say that everyone has thousands of threads inside of them. When you experience negative emotions, the threads tangle. The only way to make them go back to normal is to replace the negative emotions with positive ones, which is easier said than done. In my experience, a quick dance here and there helps with that."
"I'm not sure dancing will help my situation much."
"Because your magic is sealed?"
She stiffened. "How do you—"
"Mamoru-sama told me about it. Why didn't you tell me?"
"You were a stranger. I didn't know if I could trust you. Anyway, it wasn't my secret to tell. Not completely. Sesshoumaru was affected, too. He's already been in danger more times than I can count because of me. If he fought you in his current state, you'd almost definitely win."
"You were protecting him."
It wasn't a question.
Octavia answered it, regardless. "Yes."
Nagisa tilted her head sideways. "You humans are always so interesting. One minute you hate us, but the next you're willing to die for us. Maybe that's why we're so fascinated by you."
"Sesshoumaru must be the odd one out, then."
"I wouldn't be so sure of that. After all, you're here, aren't you?"
Octavia snorted. "I think there's been some kind of misunderstanding. Sesshoumaru doesn't give a shit about humans. Except for Rin, but she's an anomaly. He's stuck with me at the moment, but the second he gets his youki back, he'll leave me in a ditch somewhere."
She didn't actually believe that last part, but she had a pretty good feeling that Sesshoumaru's motives for keeping her alive had nothing to do with his morals and everything to do with a certain teenage girl.
"You're wrong," Nagisa sighed. "Just because you aren't best friends doesn't mean you're not important to him. He hasn't left your side all day. Doesn't that tell you all you need to know?"
Octavia's eyes strayed to the edge of the courtyard where Sesshoumaru was standing. His head was tilted up towards the sky, showing off his immaculate side profile. At first, she thought he was being vain, but upon closer inspection, she realised that he was merely lost in his thoughts.
Just because you aren't best friends doesn't mean you're not important to him.
She recalled the feeling of his shoulder bumping against hers and gently bit her lip.
If there were threads inside of her, they must be tangled to oblivion. No amount of dancing would undo a lifetime of bad memories. Of course, there had been good times, as well, but negative emotions often overpowered positive ones.
Still, she was willing to try.
Nagisa sensed the change in her and spun her faster, recapturing Sesshoumaru's attention. His eyes narrowed as Octavia made no effort to hide her laughter. Why he reacted that way was a mystery even to him.
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