Eighty-Sixth Spell: Hidden Door

As Nayu cast the Cremation Spell Hihuī, Haru's mind flashed back to his recent dreams. While he suspected they were actually memories from his past, he couldn't prove it due to how vague the images were. But the incantation for the Cremation Spell triggered a strong memory he had willingly forgotten about which tied to the images he had seen in his dreams as of late, making him certain they were indeed memories.

Like a film reel, he saw the whole event play out in his head. It was a cold winter night, and his birthmother Kiku Tago was holding him close to her breast as she ran down a dark alley. Being an infant, though, Haru remembered crying. This made Kiku stop to quiet him down. With her long black hair stuck to her face from running, she had a sad expression on her pale yet beautiful face. She then revealed a knife gripped in her free hand and plunged it into her stomach.

As she fell to the ground, Haru remembered wailing in surprise and continued crying. What silenced him was the soft touch of Kiku's bloodstained fingers as they traced a dragonfly symbol on his chest while she muttered incoherent words under her breath. Silence followed, then the sound of soft footsteps caught Haru's attention and a looming figure appeared above him. It was Shinjiro 'Jiro' Tanai, and he looked down at Kiku with a disheartened expression. Then he took off, and two more figures appeared.

Haru recognized one of the figures as Higa, while the other was slightly out of focus. Higa prodded Kiku's lifeless body with his Kurami Sword, and a third figure appeared wearing black robes. Realizing the third figure was Sayuri Shō, Haru recalled being picked up by her. She examined his chest before handing him over to Higa. With his Kurami Sword pointed at Kiku's body, Higa held Haru's infant body tightly as he said, 'Hihuī' and what remained of Kiku was engulfed in flames.

"Get moving, Haru!"

Haru was suddenly pushed from behind, which snapped him back to reality. The room where the Jubokko Tree stood was now set ablaze with fires burning the tree's roots as chilling screams of agony came from the mouth of its sinister face.

"What just happened?" Haru asked, looking behind to see Rui.

"You tell me," Hikari said, bleeding from her ankle where the Jubokko Tree's root had grabbed her. "After Nayu cast the Cremation Spell on the Jubokko Tree, it let me go."

"Same here," Nayu said, covering the puncture wounds on her leg with her hand. "Then we tried to look for another door to get out of, but you wouldn't move."

"And then I pushed you," Rui concluded, looking like she was on the verge of tears. "Now why were you just standing and not responding to any of us?"

Haru shook the mothballs out of his head. "I'm so sorry, guys. When Nayu recited the spell, it made me clearly remember what happened to my birthmother."

"Can you wait to tell us until we get out here first?" Hikari said, trying to keep things on track. "Now we can't go back the way we came since we'll have to deal with Nuru. So where else can we go?"

Looking around, Haru noticed a spot in the dirt-covered floor that was looser than the rest, forming a square shape.

"That looks like a trapdoor!" Haru said, pointing to the spot. "Maybe we can get out that way."

"But it's right in front of the tree," said Hikari. "So we'll have to open it quickly and get in before the flames singe us."

"Don't worry about that," Nayu claimed and waved her wand above her head. "Amezhulò!"

From Nayu's wand formed a large cloud that produced rain which dampened the flames. As steam evaporated from the burning Jubokko tree, Hikari pulled Haru and Rui along until they came to the trapdoor. Hikari pushed it open, shoving Haru down.

"What about Nayu?" Rui said.

"Forget her! She's too injured to come with us," Hikari said.

"You're hurt too, though!" Rui pointed out.

"I can heal my injuries easily," Hikari claimed. "Besides, she might try to stop us from reaching the Jinsei Stone."

As much as Rui wanted to object, she knew Hikari was right and followed Haru down the trapdoor. Hikari then went in closing the trapdoor behind her. Unfortunately, she fell onto a hard floor which made the pain in her ankle worse.

"Hikari?" Rui asked before using the Firelighting Charm to illuminate the space they fell into. "Are you okay?"

Underneath the trapdoor was a basement-like space full of large jars and antique cupboards. The floor was made of solid stone, though it was marred by scuff marks.

"In a moment," Hikari said and pointed her wand at her ankle. "Karahé!"

While the puncture wounds on her ankle healed up, there were noticeable scars in their place.

"That didn't work as well as I had hoped, but it will have to do," Hikari murmured as she got to her feet. Looking around, she wondered, "Is the Jinsei Stone in here?"

"Maybe," Haru guessed. "But it will take forever to go through all these jars and cupboards."

Following the scuff marks, Rui noticed a large jar standing in front of a partially hidden door. "I wonder where that leads…."

Rui moved the jar out of the way and opened the door, only to be met with a strong gust of wind that pulled her inside. Haru and Hikari tried to grab her, but they got pulled in through the door as well. The three of them ended up rolling down a sloped hill. But not long after they stopped moving, they heard the door slam shut above them.

"What was that?" Rui said as she got up, feeling for her wand.

"I don't know," Haru remarked. "There must be a strong draft coming from somewhere."

"Or it's a spell," Hikari suggested.

They soon heard a ringing sound in the dark and another wind gust pushed the three of them back up the slope where they slammed into the closed door.

To be continued…