Author's Corner

Happy New Year everyone! I'm hoping this will be the year I finally finish this monster of a fic. Thank you all for sticking with me. I definitely wouldn't have gotten this far without all your kind words and encouragement. It's been a hell of a ride and I can't wait for you to find out how it ends. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the new chapter, and feel free to check out my Instagram page (username in bio) if you want to see the art I've made for this story.

EIGHTH BLOOD

Chapter 130: The beggar and the hare

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The lake was like a sea. It was located on the highest point of the island and was the source of the Floating Citadel's waterfalls.

Sesshoumaru and Octavia lingered near the edge of the bank. There was something a little off about the place, and it wasn't the thick layer of ice over the surface of the wellspring. Not only were the wisteria trees still in bloom, but the air was far too warm for the time of year—warm enough to melt the ice, yet the lake remained frozen solid.

"Do you see that?" Sesshoumaru asked.

"What?"

He gestured towards the lake. "That."

A young woman sat on the shoreline, draped in vibrant silks and glistening jewels. She was silver-haired and had long elven ears adorned with pearls.

Octavia almost keeled over when the woman turned and looked at them from over her shoulder. "Isn't that—"

"My mother," Sesshoumaru finished.

It was her, all right. But at the same time, it wasn't.

First of all, their Megumi was older than the one in front of them. Her immortality made it hard to tell the difference, but the signs were all there, provided that you were paying attention. Second, this Megumi seemed . . . brighter than the one they knew. Happier, even. And third, she wasn't yet wearing the Meido Stone around her neck.

Octavia gave a reluctant wave, but the demoness had no reaction to it. She was looking through them, not at them.

A man was standing behind them, underneath the torii gate at the top of the staircase. He had pale skin and platinum hair, the latter of which he wore in a tight braid. His robes were varying shades of blue, complimenting the zigzag markings beneath his gold eyes. Octavia's heart missed a beat when she spotted the crescent moon on his forehead.

"You were right," Sesshoumaru said. "This is the lake from Rin's vision. And that–" He pointed at the man who could have passed for his twin. "–must be my maternal grandfather. I believe his imina was Yukito, meaning 'snow rabbit'. It refers to the story of the Moon Hare."

Octavia shivered. "I don't think I've heard that one."

Sesshoumaru's gaze didn't waver from his grandfather. "Long ago, a god who lived on the moon supposedly came to our world disguised as a beggar. Whilst here, he encountered three animals: a monkey, a fox, and the titular hare. Feeling sorry for the beggar, the animals decided to bring him some food. The monkey gathered fruit from the trees, and the fox presented him with a fish it had caught, but all the hare had to offer him was grass, which humans cannot eat.

"Remembering that humans like to eat meat, the hare asked the beggar to build a fire. Once it was done, the hare leapt into the flames, sacrificing its own body for nourishment. The beggar was so moved by this act of selflessness that he revealed his true form and saved the hare's life. As a reward, the god took the hare to live in the sky with him. That is why, when the moon is full, you can see the outline of a hare."

Octavia searched the sky for hares and magpies, but all she could see were the moon and stars.

Sesshoumaru's grandfather marched towards the edge of the bank. The young Megumi rose to her feet and bowed. Her subservience made Octavia's stomach churn.

"How is this happening?"

"I'm not sure," said Sesshoumaru. "It's as if the timelines are blurring together."

A flurry of snow charged across the bank, erasing Megumi and her father from existence. Meanwhile, a strange turquoise light was emanating from deep within the lake. It flickered beneath the ice like a flame, illuminating the depths of the wellspring.

Sesshoumaru caught Octavia by the arm before her boot could touch the ice and yanked her back. "What are you doing?" she snapped.

"I could ask you the same thing. Didn't anyone ever teach you not to walk on frozen water? If you were to fall through—"

"Like you'd ever let that happen." His grip tightened. She tried to ease the tension by smiling. "Relax. The ice isn't that thin. And if it does break, I'll just reinforce it with the 'freeze' mark." When he didn't respond, her smile twisted into a frown. "You don't have to protect me from every hypothetical danger. I can usually manage that part myself."

He released her arm with a sigh. "If you insist."

She placed a foot on the ice to test its durability, then stepped onto the solidified surface of the lake. Sesshoumaru mirrored her movements and followed her towards the rippling light in the distance. The temperature fluctuated as they drew nearer, and the snow flurries morphed into cherry blossom petals then back again.

They stopped above the light and watched it through the ice. It was like an aurora, the greens and blues weaving together to create the illusion of threads on a loom.

"I knew it," Octavia said. "It's another portal. How far down do you think it goes?"

Sesshoumaru knelt to get a closer look. "I can't say for certain. It doesn't look far, but water tends to magnify things. It could be miles away for all we know."

"We'd better get started, then."

He lifted his gaze to hers and arched an eyebrow.

Crouching beside him, Octavia sketched the 'heat' mark onto the lake. The ice hissed as it melted, tunnelling downwards until it reached the freezing waters below. When the hole was about the size of a small paddling pool, she used the 'water' mark to create a whirlpool.

The light blazed brighter as the waves sank lower, revealing a spinning teal disc in the eye of the vortex.

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It had taken Asuka all night to reach the exit.

The tombs beneath the Western Stronghold were a labyrinth of winding tunnels and unmarked pitfalls. They were impossible to navigate, even with the stupid map scroll that Augustus had borrowed from the emperor's personal library in Kyoto.

The Church generally steered clear of historical figures and events, but the Commander had struck up a friendship with the previous emperor after warning him about a coup against his friend, Ouchi Yoshitaka. Unfortunately, the daimyo's death was a fixed point in history, so Augustus had taken care not to warn Emperor Go-Nara too early, ensuring that the coup could proceed as planned.

Although the previous emperor had since passed away and his son, Emperor Ogimachi, now governed in his place, it was important to maintain positive relations with the imperial family in preparation for the Edo period, which would see Japan close its borders to the outside world after the implementation of the Sakoku policy.

Foreigners were forbidden from entering the country during the Edo period, and the trading of resources was incredibly restricted. That first part would pose no problems for Asuka, but Augustus would stick out like a sore thumb with his western features. However, if he had the support of the imperial family and the shogunate, they were bound to make an exception for him.

Like his father, Emperor Ogimachi refused to acknowledge the existence of demons and other supernatural beings. Youkai tended to avoid big cities like Kyoto and Nara, so they were just stories to him, hence why he kept all texts relating to them in the mythology section. Augustus had given up on trying to convince him otherwise. It made it easier to steal scrolls from the library when the scholars regarded them as mere fantasy.

It was past sunrise when Asuka poked her head out of the exit and checked for danger. According to the map, she was somewhere in the middle of the stronghold. Her heart pounded as she climbed out of the fissure and scaled the nearest wall. She was running out of time. The Commander had given her some of Octavia's clothes from the kasbah to mask her scent, but they wouldn't keep the demons fooled for long.

She mumbled a quiet prayer to the Radiant One as she made it up the wall and tiptoed along the sheltered engawa. The shoji doors slid open without a sound, allowing her to slip inside undetected.

The girl was asleep in her bed. Asuka loomed over her like a phantom, waiting for her to rouse from her slumber. Her patience was rewarded when the girl's eyelids fluttered open. She looked so peaceful, until her gaze settled on the unknown spectre beside her bed.

Asuka thrust a cloth over her face before she could alert the others, and held it there whilst the sedative worked its magic. She didn't withdraw until the girl's eyes rolled back into her head and her body turned as limp as a corpse.

Releasing the breath she'd been holding, Asuka reached for her ring and—

"Are you awake, Rin-chama?" The door swung open and a she-demon with henna tattoos and bat wings came prancing in. "I thought I heard . . ." Her voice trailed off when she saw Asuka standing over the girl with a stinking cloth in her hand. "What the hell are you—"

Asuka lashed her whip at the she-demon's head, knocking her out cold.

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The gate brought them to a beach in the dead of winter.

Octavia took a few seconds to catch her breath before pushing onwards. She and Sesshoumaru headed towards an estuary between the sand dunes. They walked along the riverbank through a forest of pine trees, then over a series of wetlands bursting with lotus flowers, which were still in bloom despite the steady snowfall.

"Where are we?" she breathed.

"I have no idea," replied Sesshoumaru. "Perhaps they can enlighten us."

Octavia followed his line of vision to a stone wall with a tiled roof. Beyond it stood a golden palace shrouded in mist. A mountain towered behind it like some ancient leviathan reaching for the clouds. It was without a doubt the tallest mountain she'd ever seen.

There was nothing but silence within the walls of the fortress. The gates had been left wide open, the streets were deserted, and the houses seemed equally vacant. The wood creaked and groaned as the wind battered against the derelict buildings, causing them to wobble like towers of jelly. It was the only sound for miles.

Octavia's eyes widened when she saw a shoe sticking out of a side alley, buried under several metres of snow. She sprinted towards it and scooped the ice away with her hands. Her heart stopped when she unearthed a skeleton lying on its side, clutching a much smaller skeleton to its chest.

She didn't hear Sesshoumaru's approaching footsteps, but she felt him place his hand on her shoulder and give it a reassuring squeeze.

"What happened to them?"

"I don't know," he said without taking his hand off her shoulder. "Come on. We have to keep moving."

He helped her to her feet and led her out of the alley, away from the pair's final resting place. She refused to let go of his hand after that, even when the gilded palace gates cropped up on the horizon. There were no guards or sentries there, either. The gates screeched open with a single push, scraping aside the snow in their path to reveal an empty courtyard.

It was no different inside the palace. Piles of bones were strewn around like ornaments, and the rooms reeked of herbs and incense, with something sour hiding underneath.

The throne room doubled as a tomb for a group of fallen samurai. The first wore a breastplate of blue, with shoulder plates shaped like dragon hands. The second wore a breastplate of charcoal and a cape that resembled a pair of red, feathery wings. The third wore a pelt of black and white, complete with tiger paws as shoulder pads. The fourth was larger than the other three combined. Its skeletal neck coiled around the room, fortifying it from the outside world, and its enormous shell served as a substitute for the broken roof.

Daylight streamed in through the hollows in the shell, illuminating the throne room with soft white light. Sesshoumaru knelt before the skeleton with the red cape and stared into its eye sockets.

"What are you doing?" Octavia whispered.

"This armour bears the crest of Lord Kaen."

"Who?"

"He was my father's predecessor. The Western Lands were originally founded by a clan of phoenix youkai from the Ryukyu Kingdom. Their leader, Lord Kaen, pioneered the construction of the Western Stronghold and united the warring native houses by offering them each a place in his court. The title was supposed to be passed down to his son, Prince Kyora, but he was ill-suited for the role, so Lord Kaen named my father as his heir instead."

He wasn't the original founder. He inherited them from the lord that came before him.

"Mikan said the old lord didn't have any children."

"In her defence, the prince allegedly spent more time away from court than he did there." Sesshoumaru's lips curved into a half smile. "Remind you of anyone?"

". . . Was he angry?"

"Very. But Lord Kaen's word was final. The prince left the Western Lands once the line of succession had been decided. No one knows what became of him after that. Until now, that is."

Octavia studied the crest on the skeleton's breastplate. It was a trio of hexagons arranged in a honeycomb pattern, with three six-petalled flowers inside each one. Her eyes darted between it and the matching design on Sesshoumaru's haori.

She examined the other skeletons carefully. Dragon, tiger, tortoise. North, South, East. Was there a link between these samurai and the other courts? Or was it just a coincidence?

An object in the centre of the room demanded her attention. "What's that?"

Sesshoumaru tilted his head sideways. "It appears to be some kind of cooking pot."

"That's what I thought." She frowned. "What's it doing in here, though?"

They crept towards the cauldron, taking note of its colossal size and the absence of a firepit beneath it. It was as hefty as a bathtub, and the lid was engraved with peculiar signs and symbols that neither of them recognised. The only decipherable message was an inscription written in Old Japanese.

Sesshoumaru cleared his throat. "It says: a demon hand will defend, a mortal hand will sustain. Two hands together, incomplete alone. Balance and union, and the gate will open."

As soon as he'd read the inscription in its entirety, the Tenseiga rattled in its sheath. Octavia gasped as the sword jolted upwards, as if trying to liberate itself. She pulled the sword out of its scabbard on Sesshoumaru's behalf. Light exploded from the blade as she did, flooding the room with blue. By the time her eyes had adjusted to the brightness, the light had dimmed, and the once aggressive shakes were now gentle tremors.

"What was that about?"

"The Tenseiga is most intuitive—"

His reply was cut short by the sound of music. There was no mistaking it—the cauldron was singing. They listened to the words with bated breath. They were the same words that Sesshoumaru had uttered mere minutes ago when reading the inscription on the lid; the same words that had been introduced to them by Nagisa; the same words that Mikan had sung at her father's funeral less than a month ago.

Sesshoumaru glanced around the room whilst the cauldron continued chanting, seemingly studying the bones of the three warriors and the gargantuan tortoise shell. "Seized by false gods and carried away by the tide, hmm?" he mused. "I wonder . . ."

Octavia's pulse quickened when she remembered what Nagisa had told them about the Song of Parting. It comes from our sister isle, Horaijima, which was where the very first yosei were born.

"What do we do now?" she asked.

Sesshoumaru met her gaze. "I believe the answer has been in front of us all along."

She peeked at the cauldron before her attention shifted back to the Tenseiga. The light flickered in sync with the song.

"Place your hand on the cauldron," he said, then laid his own palm flat against the lid.

The metal was cool to the touch. Octavia held her breath and closed her eyes in anticipation.

Nothing happened.

Disappointment coursed through her veins. She removed her hand from the cauldron and sighed. "There goes that theory—"

The Tenseiga pulsed again. Her gaze flitted between it and the cauldron as her mind conjured up a theory of her own. Two hands together, incomplete alone. Balance and union, and the gate will open. It was worth a try, at the very least.

"Hold my hand," she said.

He seemed confused by the request, but reached for her hand regardless. Instead of intertwining their fingers, she placed her palm on the lid again and draped his hand over hers. The song was abruptly replaced by the sound of a lock clicking open.

Octavia's heart hammered as the cauldron vibrated against her skin. "On the count of three, we take the lid off and brace ourselves for whatever's inside. Ready?"

He nodded.

"One . . . Two . . . Three!"

They tore the lid off the cauldron and ducked out of the way as a beam of blue light came bursting out. The lid landed on the floor with a crash, unveiling a shining abyss in the belly of the cauldron.

It was another gate.

She had suspected as much. The real mystery was why it had been sealed away inside a cooking pot of all things, and why the lock required the presence of both a human and a demon to open it.

Sesshoumaru's jaw was set with apprehension.

"After you," she said in an effort to lighten the mood, but it just made him look more solemn than ever.

"Don't let your guard down," he warned. "Whatever killed these people could be waiting for us on the other side."

His words sent a chill down her spine.

They swung their legs over the rim of the cauldron and let their feet dangle over the entrance to the schism. With the Tenseiga still in hand, Octavia waited for Sesshoumaru to give the signal.

She thought she saw something move behind him and peered over his shoulder at Prince Kyora's remains. A hare hopped onto his skull and made eye contact with her from across the room. Its fur was a greenish white, and its eyes were as dark as the new moon.

Sesshoumaru was already halfway through the portal. Octavia leapt in after him, leaving the hare alone in a fortress full of ghosts.

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Author's Corner

Thanks for reading! Don't forget to review! And in case you were wondering, yes, I am rewriting the Horaijima plot from Movie 4 because it sucked lol. See you next time!

Imina = real name (received during coming of age ceremonies)
Daimyo = feudal lords
Sakoku = locked/chained country