Ninety-Fourth Spell: Riddle of Truth
Remembering what Rui said about the skeleton of Haru's birthfather Taka recently being discovered on a beach near Aomori, Haru realized how Warumo got his second wand.
"You killed my birthfather Taka eleven years ago, didn't you?" Haru said. "That's why you have his wand in your possession."
"So what if I did?" Warumo responded with no remorse in his voice. "He served my purpose, and I no longer needed him."
"How could you be so cruel? Because of you, my mother died to protect me and then you killed my stepfamily. And for what? You want to control me because I'm an Aruku and an Osozaki?"
"It's because of me and your mother that you are those things."
"What do you mean?"
"Taka may have conceived you with his seed, but you are actually my son."
Haru's entire body went numb upon hearing that, followed by a deafening ringing in his years. Thinking back to his haunting dreams, the prophecy Seer Nijichō Mika said to him at the Tanabata Festival, and what happened to him during his performance as Orochimaru in the play Jiraiya the Gallant, this revelation seemed to make sense in relation to those instances.
"And as my son, it's your job to do as I say and get the Jinsei Stone for me," Warumo continued. "But if you think about trying anything funny, your stepsister and stepmother's spirits will attack you on my command."
Using Taka's wand, Warumo waved it upward. From the floor of the cavern emerged the transparent specters of Daichi and Papurika Dende. Their faces were contorted into menacing versions of themselves, and black flames surrounded their bodies.
"If I get the stone for you, Warumo, will you remove the Onryō Curse from me?" Haru asked, refusing to call Warumo his father.
"That depends on whether you get the stone for me or not," replied Warumo. "Now get going!"
Looking back at the pool, Haru didn't want to take his chances wading through it in case the water was deeper than it looked. So he took his wand from Warumo's hand and used the Cloud-Summoning Charm Fūzhào to get on a cloud he summoned to move across the pool's surface. On the island, he could now see there was a shaft of blue light coming from a Magic Circle carved into the ground. Floating at his eye-level was a jade stone carved into a teardrop that looked exactly like the one he saw in the Artifacts of Ancient Japan book.
"So this really is the Jinsei Stone," Haru concluded.
But just as Haru reached toward the stone, a series of floating letters appeared in front of him.
"'In the light, the truth is laid bare.'" Haru recited. "'If so, what is untrue?'"
"What did you say?" Warumo asked. "Did you find the stone?"
"The stone is floating in some kind of light coming from a Magic Circle on the floor of the island, and there are letters in front of me," Haru said to Warumo. "It says, 'In the light, the truth is laid bare. If so, what is untrue?'"
Warumo grumbled. "It's a riddle."
"A riddle? What does that mean?"
"It means if you don't answer the riddle correctly, something bad will happen if you try to reach for the stone," Warumo said. "That old Witch Dōmeki must have put the Magic Circle there on purpose to thwart whoever got this far to take the stone…."
"Should I try to figure out the riddle?"
"Obviously, Hebi!"
"Why do you keep calling me 'Hebi'? My name is Haru!"
"Because it's your true name, Hebi! Now don't question me further!"
Haru felt a brief pain in his chest, and he felt his brain automatically going to work trying to unravel the riddle even though he didn't want to. Warumo remained silent, no doubt trying to figure out the riddle as well, as Daichi and Papurika stood still. But because Haru was still reeling from what Warumo told him, he could barely concentrate on finding the answer to the riddle—let alone understand the question it posed.
'In the light, the truth is laid bare.' That must be referring to the light in front of me, Haru contemplated in his head. But I don't get the second part of the riddle 'If so, what is untrue?'. What 'truth' is this riddle referring to? And what is considered 'untrue'?
Suddenly, Haru remembered Yashinoki's words from when he got his wand in Tateroji: "Your soul is your own to do with what you want." At first he didn't understand why those words came to him, until he thought back to the part of the riddle 'If so'. Then a revelation dawned over him.
What's untrue is the notion that there is a definite truth! Haru thought. Because in reality, the truth is what you make of it. So if I chose to believe that this light will cause something bad to happen to me if I reach toward the stone, then it becomes true. But if I chose not to believe this light will harm me, that is true as well.
Looking back to the entrance to the cavern, Haru noticed Warumo wasn't looking directly at him. So he took this opportunity to reach toward the Jinsei Stone, ignoring what Warumo said earlier. As he suspected, his hand passed through the blue light and he grasped the small green stone. He then pulled the stone back toward him and put it in his jean pocket. Then looking down at the floor of the island, he noticed a rock that was about the same size as the Jinsei Stone and an idea came into his head.
Picking up the small rock, Haru waved his wand over it. "Gensōtó!"
After Haru cast the Illusion Spell, the rock became an exact replica of the Jinsei Stone. Then checking to make sure Warumo still wasn't looking at him, which he wasn't, Haru placed the fake Jinsei Stone into the beam of light where it floated like the real one.
"I can't solve the riddle, Warumo," Haru lied, getting Warumo's attention. "Why don't you come over and help me?"
To be continued…