Author's Corner

Hi everyone... So, it's been a while. As you know, things are crazy right now. This year has been particularly shitty for obvious reasons and I know a lot of people have found it tough. I've been more fortunate than others, however, we did lose my granddad in August (not to Covid, but it was unexpected so it hit us all pretty hard). Because of all these things, I've not had much of an incentive to write this fic, but I wanted you guys to know that I've not given up on it. Fortunately, I've had this chapter saved on my laptop for quite a while, but I've been reluctant to post it as it's shorter than the others and I was worried that it wasn't up to standard. So if this one seems a little off compared to the other chapters, that's probably why. I hope you manage to enjoy it anyway. Take care everyone.

EIGHTH BLOOD

Chapter 54: Diverging paths

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Nagisa wasn't herself when she returned. Or maybe she was, and Octavia had never truly known her until now.

With her hair piled on top of her head and held in place by an assortment of pins and combs, and her lips and eyelids painted fuchsia, she was almost unrecognisable. She was wearing a white inner kimono with bright pink hakama and a floor-length red haori, which was covered in the white flowers that belonged to Sesshoumaru's crest.

Octavia had been speechless when the demoness had joined them in the war room, awe-struck by her beauty and the regal way she carried herself. However, the wonder soon transformed into sorrow when she saw that Nagisa was more subdued now, with a vacant expression and eyes that lacked warmth. Octavia smiled at her, hoping that she'd respond in kind, but Nagisa merely nodded her head in acknowledgement and turned to face Sesshoumaru.

Cyril was standing on his left. He bowed to the demoness and said, "My lady."

"There's no need for that," she told him calmly. "Besides, I'm not a lady. Not anymore."

Jaken cleared his throat. "Allow me to introduce you. This is Cyril. He's—"

"I know who he is. We met once before. Do you remember?"

"Of course," replied Cyril. "You've grown since then."

"So have you. I can't recall you being so tall."

"I'm afraid you're mistaken, Nagisa-san. I've always been tall. Even in my youth."

"I see." She briefly glanced around the room. "Someone is missing."

Before anyone could ask who, the doors swung open, and Rin came rushing in like a whirlwind. Her face was flushed, and her breathing was laboured, but she still managed to bow before closing the doors and joining them by the war table.

"Sorry," she wheezed. "Lost track of time."

"It's quite all right," Nagisa assured her gently. "We haven't started yet."

"What is she doing here?" Sesshoumaru asked sharply.

Rin stiffened, but Nagisa shot him a harsh look and answered, "I invited her."

Jaken gulped.

Octavia's eyes flickered between the two Daiyoukai anxiously. Sesshoumaru looked like he wanted to say something, but decided against it and stayed quiet.

Knowing that she'd won, Nagisa smirked and beckoned Rin closer. Rin's posture relaxed and she took her place at the demoness' side, ignoring Sesshoumaru's taut frown.

"What happened on Namida?" he asked through gritted teeth.

Nagisa took a deep breath before reciting the events leading up to Taro's untimely demise.

"Ten days ago, a fleet of ships boarded the island and seized the coastline. Since the enchanted barrier no longer exists, they had no trouble docking, and we had no way of stopping them. They massacred over half of the people that lived there and took the rest of us as prisoners. The invaders were only human, but none of us stood a chance against them. We were vastly outnumbered, and their weapons were unlike anything we'd ever seen, so we were forced to do as we were told, or else we'd be killed, too.

"They made us dig up every crystal on the island and load them onto their ships. They wouldn't tell us why. After the process was complete, they executed the others, including Taro. They said that he was unclean, and that his soul was damned because he felt compassion for monsters . . ."

She winced at the memory. Rin reached out and clasped her sleeve, dragging her back to the present. The demoness' eyes softened, and she flashed the girl a tender smile.

"Were they taijiya?" Sesshoumaru quizzed.

Nagisa shook her head. "I don't think so. Their leader was a mage. He couldn't have been older than twenty, and his face and neck were badly scarred. He kept talking about how he was going to save the world." Her expression darkened. "He's the one who murdered Taro. He saved him for last. To break me. When I see him again, I'll return the favour by breaking his spine."

"Why did he let you go?" Cyril asked with a frown.

"He needed a witness – someone to tell the Lord of the Western Lands what had happened."

Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed. "Why me?"

"Apparently, you have something that belongs to him. He wants it back."

Octavia's heart pounded as Nagisa suddenly locked eyes with her, and she remembered what the shadows had told her. They want you, heartless girl. They want you like you wouldn't believe. The boy will not rest until he's found you. Not when you're so very precious to him.

"I don't even know him," she protested weakly.

"Don't you?" Nagisa countered, arching an eyebrow.

Fourteen years ago. The boy wasn't alone. You were there, too.

Octavia shuddered.

"What exactly are you insinuating?" Sesshoumaru asked menacingly.

"Nothing," Nagisa replied. "I'm not insinuating anything."

She sounded convincing enough, but the look on Sesshoumaru's face told Octavia all she needed to know. He didn't believe her. Octavia didn't, either, but she had more pressing concerns to worry about, such as the fate of Haru and his friends.

"They're alive," Nagisa answered. "At least, I think they are. The invaders rounded up the children and put them all on a boat. I don't know what they want with them, but I doubt they'd go through the hassle of kidnapping them if they were just going to kill them."

"B-But why?" Jaken stammered. "What could they p-possibly want them for?"

"They might need hostages," Rin suggested. "When you want something, it's easier to get it if you offer something in exchange. That way, neither party leaves empty-handed."

"There will be no such exchange," Sesshoumaru declared coldly. "It will take more than a horde of brats to convince me to part with something so valuable."

"You're bluffing," said Nagisa. "Even you wouldn't be that selfish."

"You have no idea what I would and wouldn't do. Why should Octavia be condemned whilst they are saved? Would you have me forsake her? Because I won't. My decision is final."

Octavia balled her fists. "Actually, it's my decision, not—"

"You're not going anywhere," he snarled. "In fact, I'm tempted not to let you out of my sight."

Her eyes widened, but she refused to back down so easily. "I'm not a child," she argued. "I stopped being one a long time ago, so don't you dare talk to me like that. I don't need constant surveillance. I can take care of myself. I don't need you to protect me."

"Yes, you do."

"No, I don't! I know how to make my own choices! I've been doing it since I was twelve! Do you know how much I wanted someone to show up and magically make everything better? I owe it to those kids to do something! If it's me they want, I'll gladly hand myself over—"

"You're not thinking clearly. Jaken will escort you back to your room so that you can process the information—"

"I don't need a fucking babysitter," she growled, forgetting that Rin was present. "And I'm not a moron. I don't need to process anything. If you want me to leave, just say it."

He didn't respond.

Octavia looked past him at Rin and Jaken, who were standing as still as statues, before shifting her gaze to Cyril, who practically radiated worry. Nagisa, on the other hand, was staring at Sesshoumaru strangely. Uncertainty swirled in her grey irises, but beyond that, Octavia thought she saw the tiniest speck of hope in them.

That light was absent from Sesshoumaru's eyes, which were lifeless and dull now that his anger had been replaced by something far worse . . . Apathy.

She hated it when he looked at her like that.

"I guess I'll see you all tomorrow," she grumbled, relaxing her fists and turning on her heel.

Without looking back, she opened the doors and marched through them. Jaken squeaked and hurried after her, forgetting to close the doors behind him. Rin lasted about a minute before racing to catch up to them, and Cyril mumbled an excuse about how he had to finish perfecting a potion.

Soon, Sesshoumaru and Nagisa were the only ones left in the war room.

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Now that they were alone, Sesshoumaru had no reason to hold back.

"Tell me everything you know about her," he commanded fiercely, pinning the sea dragon with his icy gaze.

"There's not much to tell," she answered with a shrug. "You already know that she's a Traveller."

He shot her a cynical look.

"It's the name our ancestors gave to those that walk between worlds," she clarified. "Octavia is no ordinary star mage. She travelled through a temporal corridor to get here. That alone is no easy feat, but it's been done before by those less powerful than her. What makes her different is—"

She cut herself off.

Her reluctance to provide him with the information that he sought irritated him to no end. When it became clear that she had no intention of carrying on, he reached into his robes and pulled out the poetry book containing Purple Eye, then slammed it onto the table violently. Her brow furrowed in confusion as he flipped to the correct page and tapped it with a single sharp claw.

"I wasn't aware that you were so fond of literature," he said. "Perhaps you can enlighten me on what this particular poem means."

Her eyes narrowed when she saw the title at the top of the page. "So that's what this has been about. I'm surprised she was able to tell you about it. The magic in the poem is quite strong."

"What did you hope to accomplish by reciting it to her?"

"Purple Eye isn't just a poem. It's a prophecy. There are so many paths she can take, but most of them are dead ends. It's our duty to lead her down the right one." She pointed at the Mandarin on the page and asked, "What does this say?"

"It says I shouldn't trust her. It's in my father's handwriting."

"And do you? Do you trust her?"

"I do," he replied instantly.

She might only be human, but he still trusted her more than any of his generals.

Nagisa smiled faintly. "Then there's nothing to worry about."

"But my father—"

"Was obviously wrong about her. Don't you see? He was so afraid that she'd be yet another monster trying to kill you, but he never even considered that she might be something else. She is human, after all. But more importantly, she has a good heart." She trailed her fingers down the page and said, "The future isn't set in stone. It changes depending on our actions. Not all prophecies come true, you know. We choose the ones we want. There's still time."

"Stop being so infuriatingly vague and tell me what you mean this instant—"

"You care for her."

He wasn't entirely sure why, but her words winded him.

Of course he cared.

They were friends, weren't they?

When he didn't respond, Nagisa gave him a tender look. "That complicates things, doesn't it? Immortality would be so easy if we only bothered with our own, but unfortunately, we need the humans. Because without them, we'd forget what it means to be alive in the first place. They know more than us on that front. They only get so long, you see, so they have to do as much as they can with the time that they have. They live more in ten years than we do in a hundred. I think that's why we hate them so much. We like to think we're better than they are, but the truth is . . . We envy them. Because in the end, being alive is so much more than simply not dying."

He'd never thought about it like that before.

Had that been the thing that had driven his father into Izayoi's arms all those years ago? Could life truly not exist without death accompanying it? He'd even said so himself. Life isn't supposed to be limitless. Deep down, he understood what Nagisa was saying, but he was hesitant to admit it out loud. Mostly, it was because of his pride, but partially, it was because if he admitted it, he would have to accept that Rin and Octavia weren't going to be around forever.

Eventually, he would have to say goodbye to them.

He tried not to think about it, but ignoring it wouldn't stop them from ageing, or from slipping through his fingers like grains of sand. The day was coming. It was inevitable.

This is why our kind and theirs aren't supposed to mix.

He clenched his jaw. "I won't let them have her," he said firmly. "Even if it means forgoing the hostages, even if she hates me for it, I won't let her throw her life away."

"What if her life isn't in danger?"

His frown deepened. "What do you mean?"

"I don't believe they intend to harm her," Nagisa explained. "I think there's more to it than that. That mage genuinely believed that you'd stolen something of his . . . Tell me, who was she before you met her? Where did she come from? What secrets is she keeping from you?"

"You know full well where she came from. You just told me that she's a Traveller."

"I mean before that. Spirit magic isn't random. It's genetic. What happened to her family?"

His claws dug into the meat of his palms. Octavia had spoken about her childhood, but she hadn't told him anything about her family other than the fact that she'd lived with her parents until she was four, before her aunt had taken her to live in a foreign country. If spirit magic was genetic like Nagisa claimed, then it meant that Octavia wasn't the last of her kind, after all. Assuming that they were still alive, of course. But if they were like her, why had they abandoned her?

"I don't know," he said. "Neither does she."

"Are you sure?"

Doubt fogged his mind. He still trusted her, but he was beginning to wonder if the Iwa Faction had legitimate reasons for wanting to find her. And she'd seemed awfully eager to hand herself over to them. Yes, the Namidan children's lives were at stake, but perhaps there was more to it than that.

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There was a stranger in her room.

Octavia halted in the doorway as the stranger turned and looked at her, their hood casting a shadow over their face. Before she could shout for Jaken or Sou, the stranger raised a hand and her voice died in her throat. Her whole body was completely immobilised.

The stranger glided towards her silently, lifting their hood to reveal the face of a comely young woman. She had full flowery lips, and pale blonde eyebrows, and a pair of puce eyes. Octavia had never seen anyone with eyes that colour. They were incredibly unsettling.

"Don't be afraid," the stranger whispered. "We're the same, you and I."

The spell vanished and Octavia could move again. "Who are you?" she asked, fighting the urge to back away.

The stranger's puce eyes glinted ominously. "My customers used to call me the Dressmaker. They're all dead now, though."

"How did you get past the stronghold's defences?"

She smiled condescendingly. "What defences? I didn't see anything like that."

Octavia finally backed away. ". . . What do you want?"

"Oh, don't worry. I'm just the messenger. I came to tell you that if you want to save the children, you should go to the woods east of here at sunrise tomorrow. But that's not all. They want you to take a box from the Inu no Taisho's study and bring it with you. You'll know it when you see it. It has a little black smear on it from when Fate dropped it in that ink tray. Clumsy whore."

Octavia's heart thundered as the Dressmaker sauntered towards her and tucked a few loose strands of hair behind her ear.

"If I were you, I wouldn't be late," she said, smiling coyly. "They're not known for their patience."

Octavia waited until she removed her hand and headed for the engawa before gearing up to run. However, the Dressmaker lingered on the threshold, then turned around to meet Octavia's troubled stare. Her eyes shone in the dim light of the room, like two purple flames.

"I almost forgot. Don't tell anyone that I was here, or they'll start by sawing off that sweet little bear cub's paws and feet."

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