Namida no Megami

PART THREE: TAMASHII


"Why not? (Writing) It’s a respectable trade. Nothing like being a bard, of course. Now that was a glorious profession. But I'll tell you about that another time."
-Taliesin, The Forever King

"And we will sit by the fire
Telling stories of the ways we came to be…"
-Robin Shaylaman, "Fires at Midnight"




Finally, they passed from darkness into the fading of the day. They had gone through the underground river passage, and were now in a thick wood of some sort.

"Kirabara Forest." The voice announced, very much like a coach master might at a dusty stop.

Momoirio blinked, eyes adjusting to the fading light. It was a boy, not too much older than he was, but with a round, boyish face. He wore a cream-coloured cloak, high brown boots, and a large moss coloured hat to complement his flashy purple tunic. The lumpy hat had a large, bright red feather stuck in its brim. This hat, aside from the thick golden bangs puffing out around his eyes, completely dwarfed the rest of his hair. Under closer inspection, the wrapped parcel appeared to be a harp.

And in his hand, he held a small white crystal, which must have been the source of the mysterious light. Both stared at the sight of it.

The boy executed a sweeping bow, clamping his hand on his head in order to keep his hat on. "Tamashii, the Bard, at your service," He said, grinning slyly.

"Why did you save us? How did you know to lead us here? And where did you get that crystal?!" Momoirio demanded.

Tsumihoraboshi snorted. "She knew we were in trouble because she has been following us all day."

"She?!"

The colour drained from the cheerful bard's face. "How did you know?"

Tsumi arches an eyebrow, barely visible through her bangs, but for the way they shifted. "I, too, am a woman."

"You're a GIRL?!" Momoirio cried.

"Alert the Watch, why don't you?!" Tamashii hissed.

"Is there really a watch?!" He cried, looking around sharply.

"We're about ten miles outside of the city, you imbecile!"

"Then why in the world would you sat something like that?!"

"It's an expression!"

"Well, it's a stupid one." He said, arms crossed.

Tsumihoraboshi snarled, and stalked off through the trees.

"Tsumi! Hey, Tsumi! Wait!"

~*~

Dusk closed in around them like a warm, damp blanket. It was far too warm for this time of year; the summer was going to be unbearably warm soon. Still, the night was damp and cool, so they had built a fire while Tsumi had amused herself hacking at trees with her sword under the pretence of hunting. Tamashii sat on a stone outcropping, absently tuning her harp. Momoirio was staring in sick fascination as Tsumihoraboshi skinned and cooked a very large rabbit.

"Are we going to eat that?"

"Sa."

He blinked. Then, "…You're not going to share, are you?"

"Ah."

He sighed.

The harp his a sour note, and Tamashii cursed. "I feel that we have not been properly introduced… I know you," She said. "You are the one called Lady of the Winds. People in the market places speculated that you were a purchased boy, for pleasure and company. I can see your hands, and your eyes are still too proud to have been condemned to that sort of life. So who are you really?"

"Momoirio." He said absently, darting forward to snag one of the rabbit's legs.

The look Tsumi shot him could have curdled milk, and possibly even cracked the pitcher.

"Why were you following us?" Tsumi demanded. The manner in which Tsumihoraboshi made demands fascinated Momoirio. She spoke softly, and enunciated each syllable in a way that made them each sound very pretty, and terribly dangerous. Which, he supposed, was exactly what it was.

Tamashii did not answer, merely stared at her, half-quizzical, half-challenging. Snarling, she handed her the other hind leg.

"I knew you had a crystal." She said simply, biting into her meat.

"How?"

"My crystal sang to me." She returned their odd looks with one of her own. "…It just does that sometimes, okay?"

"Ah."

"But… Where did you get it?" Momoirio asked. His attempt to make his words sound menacing merely sounded confused.

"It was my mother's. And her mother's, before that. It has always been kept by the women of our family."

"Do you even have any idea what it is?"

"It's a crystal, you moron."

"Explain it to us, Momoirio. I grow weary of playing with toys I do not understand." She commanded, using the tone again.

~*~

"…This world is not a world of made… It is a world of born… And the God Tsuyake did not create it at all, as the Dento-teki would have you believe. In fact, Tsuyake didn't exist for thousands of years after the creation of this place, only coming into being after mankind had become so dependant on technology that they began to forget magik and soil… This world was created long by the True Goddess, Unmei… The legend states that when Unmei looked about Herself, in all of Her Majesty, and was alone.

She wept. Thirteen tears fell from Her face, becoming thirteen crystals, later known as the Hoseki. The Hoseki fell together into Time, and created Dimension, and Space. Through this passage, Kiroku was made. Then, Unmei was so pleased, she created mankind to dwell upon it. …The thirteen Hoseki opened the passage to this world. If all thirteen are gathered again, they can reopen the door to Heavan. Whoever accomplishes this will become a God. However, the opening of the passage would destroy Kiroku… It would destroy the world…"

"And the Dento-teki have five…" He said, sighing.

"Four." Tamashii corrected.

"What?"

Tsumihoraboshi's eyes narrowed dangerously.

Tamashii turned to her. "He doesn't know?"

"Know what?!"

"What's in her tunic."

Snarling, Tsumihoraboshi reached into her tunic and produced a small leather pouch. Green light filled the clearing. And the Hoseki sang…

"…How… How did you…?"

"A forgery. When I left you on the street in Ankoku, I took the jewel first to a Replicator. He made me another, identical to the first. Then, I took that to the Midoribaba."

"The who?"

"A powerful witch, as old as the mountains, who deals in wild magik. She owed me a favour, and trapped enough magik into it to make it shine, and feel." She poked at the fire with a stick. "Tell me about the Monastery. You told me on accident that you were not Dento-teki. What were you?"

He sighed, and huddled closer to the fire. "…Honshitsu."

"Honshitsu?!" Tamashii cried, "But--- I thought they all died out in the Reckoning!"

"The Reckoning broke us, and scattered us. Some small pockets still exist, in secret. Few monasteries exist now that are not Honshitsu Shrines, in disguise. We worship Unmei, and use our gifts to heal and aid those around us. A few still guard Hoseki, though many of them are lost to even us."

"You use the same Magik as the Magus." Tsumi said, nearly accusing.

"No, we use White Magik. I told you that in Ankoku, remember? The Dento-teki use what is called Black Magik. White Magik is used to heal and protect… Black Magik can do nothing but harm others. It comes purely from one's spirit, as opposed to White Magik, which comes from Nature, and one's spirit. Do you understand?"

"Ah. …Momoirio. How do you know the Magus?"

"Rekishi spent several summers at the Kita Shrine when we were children. …He and I were once… friends…"

"You should have better taste in men." Tsumi observed, poking at the fire with her sword this time.

"What?! It wasn’t' like that! We were like brothers!!"

"Ahhhh." She said, shaking her head. Then, her face grew serious. "Why does he call you the Child of the Sea?"

He sighed again. "There is a story told to children in the Shrines… In order to promote studious behaviour and well-mannered temperaments… The story tells of a child, called the Child of the Sea, who was the favourite of his people through his kindness, and grace… I was fished out of sea-trench when I was six years old. I wasn't breathing, and Father Toshibi prayed for a miracle… I woke up a few minutes later, and people there have been calling me that ever since. It was sort of an unkind nickname in the hands of some of my classmates… But the Magus sent Rekishi, who had no friends, and no family, to us every summer… Well, he was the Magus then, anyway… But Rekishi was lonely, and he was kind to me. He… I wasn't a very good friend to him, in the end, and he stopped coming."

"That's so sad!" Tamashii cried, reminding them of her presence. "He loved you, and you loved him, and it was not to be!! Oh, think of it! A Honshitsu and a Dento-teki! A love that dare not speak its name! What a wonderful ballad that would make! …"

"It was not a love story! It was not like that at all! I am not that sort of person!"

"You simply cannot look at me from that face with your hand son those hips and expect me to believe that."

"What?! At least I am dressed for my gender!"

Tsumihoraboshi made a sharp and painful sound that they both realised must be her version of a snicker.

"Quiet, you!" He shouted.

"…It is forbidden for women to be bards." Tamashii said softly, playing absently at a chord. "The Dento-teki believe music is sacred, and all rites can only be performed by a male…"

"The Honshitsu also hold music to be sacred. However, we allow women into our ranks as equally as men."

Tamashii smiled. "Well, if we all still worshipped in fields, I would have no need of this disguise."

"Why a bard, though?"

"…I have always loved it. The music, the freedom… The road.. My father was once a bard, before the Church called him."

"Called him for what?" Tsumi asked carefully.

"Some sort of battle. It was ten years ago. I was six… I travel now, to keep his memories, and dreams alive…" Her face darkened. "And once I discover his murderer, I will kill him."

Momoirio made a soft cry of shock. "You would kill in vengeance?" He whispered, too well trained to mention one of the cardinal sins of his faith in anything louder.

"Yes." She said firmly.

Tsumihoraboshi had stopped poking the fire, and now sat staring gloomily into its flickering depths.

"Tsumi?" He asked.

She did not move, but her eyes slid over to look at him. "Ah?"

"What about you? Where are you from?"

"…"

He sighed. "Never mind."

"…I… I do not know." She said quietly, watching a large piece of wood bow under the weight of nothing, and snap, sending a spray of ashes and sparks high into the air. "I have very few memories of my past."

"Oh. …I am sorry."

"I am not. It does not concern me."

~*~

. . . b l o o d . . .

She could feel his blood.

It was on her face… her hair…

She could taste it in her mouth…

And then his hand closed over her naked arm, leaving a bloody handprint… She could feel it burning, and knew it would never, ever fade away…

Tsumihoraboshi snapped awake with a sharp intake of breath that might have sounded like a gasp to someone who was unaware of her accurate aim with projectiles and various bladed things.

The clearing was quiet, washed in sharp white moonlight. A few feet away, Tamashii lay sleeping by the remnants of the fire. A few coals kept on burning, but the air was cold.

The space where Momoirio had laid down was empty. The boy was gone.

~*~

Momoirio fell against a tree trunk, and looked around. All he could see were the gnarled trunks of gnarled trees. They all looked identical. He was hopelessly lost. He sighed.

In his pocket, the two Hoseki let out high-pitched ringing noises.

Slowly, he looked down at his pocket.

Then, something swooped down, sending him sprawling…

~*~

Tamashii woke slowly, stretching a little, and struggling not to yawn. She sat up abruptly.

She was alone.

~*~

"Let me go!!" Momoirio screamed, struggling wildly.

"You bastard! How dare you run away?!" Tsumi shouted, holding him firmly.

"Let me go, Tsumi!" He demanded, throwing all of his weight upwards.

She was pitched backwards, and turned it into a roll onto her back, taking him with her. She pinned his arms securely at his sides, wrapping her legs around his flailing ones. "Are you finished?!" She demanded.

Screaming in frustration, he bit into the expanse of skin between her tunic sleeve and her glove. She cried out, and slackened her grip for a moment. He tried to roll away, but she held his legs firmly, and somehow, they ended up facing each other.

They lay there a moment, just glaring at each other and breathing heavily.

"What are you doing?!" She snarled, finally.

"I have to return these to the Shrine!"

"I thought you did not wish to return!"

"Don't you get it?! If the Dento-teki gather all thirteen Hoseki, the world will end! Gone! No more people to beat up or stuff to kill--- Nothing!"

She stared at him for a long moment.

Then, she kicked upwards, landing on her feet. Leaning down a little, she held out her hand to him. He was ashamed to see her arm was bleeding where he'd bitten her. "Come on," She said. "Let's go."

"To the Shrine?" He asked, blinking.

"Ah."

He grinned. "Oh, Tsumi---" He murmured as she pulled him to his feet.

"Shut up." She snarled, stalking off.

"Hey! Tsumi! Wait up!"

~*~

Tamashii stalked through the forest, anger making her immune to the small branches whipping and cutting her skin.

She would kill them when she found them.

She would kill them both.