It's taking too long for me to format the chapters to the forum. Hopefully, I'll get to post everything after the month. 20k mark breached; my chapters go too fast. Part 4!
"Say, did you like the mochi?" Yuyuko swept over the expansive grounds of the White Jade Tower, arm wrapped around the shoulders of the Saigyou Ayakashi's apparition. She had taken a lighter mood now that the inquiry with the tree's ghost was finished.
"They were fine," the borei nodded, "It's just that the flavors kept changing for every piece I ate. Why not just use a single flavor?"
"There's nothing fun in eating the same thing over and over. I like eating differently flavored food so that I don't grow tired of one," she explained, "It would be sad if I didn't like one flavor anymore. Every flavor is delicious!"
"But, seriously," he loosened his body from Yuyuko's slung arm, squirming, "Sour flavors? That's hardly... you know, used with rice."
"I'll admit that, but, hey, once you taste it enough, it's actually quite good. I remember this one time I tried unripe fruit wine, and it was quite fascinating, really."
The boy raised his eyebrow. "Unripe fruit wine. I'm now convinced that you're some sort of crackpot bent on fooling around with everyone. Are you, really?"
"I don't get why everyone keeps calling me that," Yuyuko absentmindedly mused, "Why would I want to break ceramics just for the fun of it? It doesn't make sense."
Their paces were uneven. The woman just kept floating forward, but they boy, who was only getting accustomed to floating, was trying to take it slowly. He tried to push Yuyuko to his pace, but nothing actually happened. She saw none of this, of course, as she was only looking ahead of them.
"Say,? she asked again, ?don't you think it's a miracle that someone invented mochi, how someone found out how soaking sticky rice overnight then leaving it to dry and pounding over and over could produce a really good snack??
?You like food too much.?
?I know, but when you?ve had enough time to appreciate it, you?ll find yourself begging for food everyday, whether or not you need it. Besides, what person would hate food and starve himself??
?A ghost, of cou-?
Realizing that Yuyuko was the grand exception to this rule, the borei shut his mouth. If the ruler of the dead ate just like the living, then there was no reason to hate food, because even she liked it. But she didn?t need food; it was just a thing for them to pass the time. There would really be nothing that it would bring about.
?Cat caught your tongue?? Yuyuko teased, stealing a look the deep-in-thought ghost.
?No. A ghost would hate food.?
?Oh? Do tell.?
?You don?t need it, it does nothing, and it only serves to distract you from the eternity you?re going to spend wandering who knows where,? he criticized, ?Does any ghost need to be reminded of that? Does any ghost need to enjoy life and then be reminded that their life is going to be absolutely boring? I don?t think so.?
The ghost princess chewed over his retort. They were still floating forward, not stopping for anything. Just as the Saigyou Ayakashi?s ghost turned his attention away, she began speaking again.
?It?s true that eternity for us is torture, but doesn?t the fact that you can enjoy it for a brief moment tell you that, just maybe, you could make that eternity into an enjoyable experience? You don?t really need to think about the future.?
The borei?s eyebrows arched down, as if he was angry. ?Are you so na?ve to believe in that? Think about the youkai trees,? he gestured to the sea of cherry blossom trees that stood in the garden, ?Do they like being stuck in a place where food is nearly tasteless? Do ghosts like being in a place where there is no fear to feed on? No.?
??An anchored ship cannot sail forward.? If you can?t let go of what you used to do, how are you going to enjoy the new things, especially in Gensokyo, especially in the Netherworld??
?You can?t keep happiness,? he said, ?You can?t keep sadness, you can?t keep ambition, you can?t keep hope, you can?t keep despair, you can?t keep peace, you can?t keep anything! Why should we even enjoy if we can?t have it forever? That?s very, very stupid.?
?That?s why you should keep eating. Besides, it?s not going to run out, is it??
?What are you talking about??
?Won?t there always be someone who can get you food? Won?t there always be someone who can prepare food? Then just ask them to prepare food. It?s a simple thing, really.?
??and if there are none of those??
Chuckles escaped the woman. ?Then go make your own. You?re not a baby that you should be fed. That?s a very pathetic reason for not liking food. Are you sure you?re not really a child?s ghost??
The borei was speechless. He began twitching, almost trembling in anger. This was mockery, and his logic was just beaten by this infuriating optimism that the woman expressed. He wanted to crush it. How could she find happiness in something that wasn?t happy at all?
All around the two, cherry blossom trees surrounded them. Spring had coaxed their flowers out of their slumber, and they bloomed in full. The trees lined a path in the center, forming two forests to the sides. In the distance was the dead tree of the Saigyou Ayakashi, its gnarled branches bearing nothing.
?What should I call you?? Yuyuko wondered. She wasn?t looking at the boy, but it was clear that she addressed him.
He kept quiet.
She looked down, expecting an answer. Instead, she found the boy staring at one of the trees.
?I can?t call you ?Saigyou Ayakashi.? It?s too long.?
Still no response.
?Is this the first time you?ve seen the trees in full bloom??
This time, he answered. ?Yes, yes. It?s so beautiful. No wonder humans are drawn to them,? he said. Perhaps it was the silence or the beauty of the trees, but he was calmed.
Yuyuko brought him closer to one of the trees. She snapped off one of the low, small branches and handed it to him.
?It is beautiful, but it isn?t going to last so long. That?s why a lot of people like to spend spring just going to flower viewings, so they can look at them for as long as they like,? she joined him in viewing the tree. Neither of them looked at each other.
?Maybe it?s because they?re both the same,? he remarked, ?Pretty to look at, but quick in dying off.?
She put forth her own guess. ?I should say otherwise. Maybe it?s because it doesn?t worry at all that humans like to look at them. We?ve both seen humans? lives; there?s no end to trouble. After all, they?re drawn to things that they are not.?
A cold breeze swept across the garden. Turning around, Yuyuko saw that it brought along some petals with it. The Ghost of Snow caught one, rubbing it with her thumb. Looking at the trees, she wondered how this little petal could have fallen off.
?How could you have gotten away?? she pondered.
It is dim inside the room. Youmu sits down in front of a study table, setting down a large book. Her ghost half provides light, glowing above her and the yellowed pages of the book. It is her free time, and she chooses to look at the history of the Netherworld. There is no longer anyone who can narrate to her all the happenings of the realm.
Flipping through the first few blank pages and title page, she comes across the first chapter of the record.
?Construction of Hakugyokuro?
Ah, I?ve already heard this one.
Pushing aside the many pages that made that chapter up, she finds the next one.
?The Saigyouji Family?
She has heard this one, too. She goes back to check if there is a table of contents. Her finger immediately guides her sight as she finds it. Most of these, she had already heard from her former senior, but the more recent ones have not been told to her yet.
Let?s see? ?Construction of the Gardens of the White Jade Tower,? ?Overflow of Ghosts,? ?Invasion of Demons from Another Realm,? ?Appointment of Retainers?? Oh, most of the interesting stuff aren?t new anymore.
Further down the list, something catches her eye.
?Saigyou Ayakashi?
When she reads this, her curiosity perks up. The most she has been told about this are only the basic facts: it is a youkai cherry blossom tree that lures humans to die under it, and it eats their souls to fill itself. The tree has been there for a long time already, she is told. No backstories, no firsthand encounters from her mistress or her senior.
She turns to the chapter.
She learns of how it came to existence. It would absorb the blood and flesh of those who died under it and become a youkai in the process. It would grow more beautiful the more people die in its shade. Its power would go unnoticed.
?Sealing of the Saigyou Ayakashi, First Half?
The tree was sealed?
For as long as she has stayed, the tree would never bloom. Her mistress would tell her the same thing: she has never seen it bloom. They would always ponder on it but eventually stopped trying. To see that it has a seal is impossible.
There is some lengthy exposition on the current head of the Saigyouji family during that time. Apparently, this takes place in the world of the living. In the time it takes for Youmu to read through it, she is quickly bored.
Then she stumbles on the last part. Her eyes narrow a bit, as if it bore something suspicious.
●In the empty courtyard, under the shade of the unseeming tree, a suicide had taken place. On further investigation, the body belonged to that of the young mistress of the Saigyouji clan. The various onlookers, very few of whom were relatives, silently beheld the scene and did little else. Prior to our arrival, there were no witnesses to the act.
A most unusual thing had occurred to the tree. The suicide had taken place in the midpoint of spring, when trees that bore flowers flowered. It had been taken to note that the crown of this tree was barren. Its blossoms and leaves had all fallen off, as if autumn had suddenly arrived and pressed itself on the tree. It was no lie to say that the tree was dead.
Whether it had lured the Saigyouji mistress to her death, or if it was her own act, none could ascertain.
When someone had volunteered to prepare the body for a future burial ceremony, a monk suggested his own intention. He said that he would seal away the body of both the youkai tree and the mistress. He was certain that the entity within the tree was only asleep, only hibernating, and that it would be for the best if they had locked it away. He left to collect the tools.
After a time of gathering the instruments for such a ritual, the monk arrived back.
The ritual will be described in a later record.●
She reaches the end of this chapter, bemused and wanting more information. Well, she now knows why the tree is not blooming anymore.
So, here was the juicy stuff all along.
She turns to the next chapter.
?Sealing of the Saigyou Ayakashi, Second Half?
The first part of this chapter is also exposition. The details of the ritual are so boring she skims through it, looking if anything else important is squeezed in them. Again, it is only at the final part where she finds something of worth.
●I have looked for further material in which to add to the happenings of this day, but managed only to find the final sections of the speech of the ritual itself. It is written below in it?s entirety.
The girl who bears witness, at the time of the Saigyou Ayakashi?s full bloom, shall be bound by mortality. So that her soul may rest in peace in Hakugyokuro, I will seal the cherry blossoms, and make it the barrier. My wish? is that she will never again reincarnate, and never again suffer pain, so that she will no longer bear a burden that will destroy her life. She will be removed from the cycle of reincarnation, forever remaining unbound to death.
So ends the description of the ritual. ●
Who wrote this?
She flips to the forefront of the chapter and to the page after its end, but no name is signed in either. In fact, the entire record bears no signature.
Looking again at the excerpt of the ritual?s speech, she becomes increasingly perplexed and shocked. The name of the woman is faded, its outline not even recognizable. Yes, the manuscript is aged, and some of the writings in it have indeed faded, but in this fully intact section, only the name is no longer readable.
The woman is the mistress of the family then, and, therefore, belonged to it. She is sealed beneath the tree, along with the youkai itself. She remains bound to the White Jade Tower in the Netherworld.
She killed the tree. She could kill through some? way.
She stares agape.
This person? is none other than Lady Yuyuko. No, that?s not right? but, it is. Uggggh!
How she wishes her mentor would come back to answer her one question.
Perhaps I can ask the mistress about this. But does she remember?
She leaves the book open on the table when she runs out of the study.
?I have a favor to ask you.?
Both ghosts returned from their stroll in the garden. The Saigyou Ayakashi still held the branch of flowers, twirling it in his hands. They were in the courtyards, with Youmu walking quickly towards them.
?Yes, mistress??
?Please entertain our guest. I?ll be away for a while.?
The boy was quick to add his sentiment. ?What?? he protested.
?Yes, what?s wrong?? Yuyuko beamed.
Youmu asked another thing. ?If I may ask, what will you be doing, Lady Yuyuko??
?I?ll be dropping by places for some tea. They might have new brews, and I?m probably missing out on them.?
Yuyuko left, without waiting for a reply.
Traveling through Gensokyo was not a difficult task when one could fly. The ghost flew through the clouds of Gensokyo, scouting the skyline for a mountain. Behind her were the colossal double doors leading to the Netherworld. They were always closed, but not impassable. For no apparent reason, one could simply fly above the doors and travel freely between the world of the dead and the world of the living.
While she flew, flowers were flying in the opposite direction. Some fairies were here as well, playing with baskets of flowers they had probably gotten from the trees down below. They ignored her as she flew by. She had popped out of the Netherworld when it was nighttime here, so the usual masses of fairies were not present.
She soon exited the continental gathering of clouds, and a clear view of the Land of Illusion was in her sights. Near the center, near a certain lake shrouded in mist, a mountain range was situated. It was the Youkai Mountain, home to the tengu and, formerly, the oni. The latter had long retreated to the underground.
After an indeterminable amount of time, a waterfall came into view. It roared on as Yuyuko flew past it, moving deeper into the mountain range. A river ran across each peak, gathering in the lake below. The roar of the waterfall softened into the silent river flow. It gave a vague feeling of home, but, for sure, there were nocturnal mountain youkai lurking in the shadows of the mountain.
Even deeper was the village of the tengu. The lanterns of the town shone brightly in the darkness. The ghost stopped by the village?s outskirts, floating her way in. From above, it would like a curve along the face of the mountains. Establishments, mostly houses and bars lined it. There was one bar in particular she was looking for, but not by its name.
Most of the crow and wolf tengu that lived here were sleeping already. There was the rare one or two that watched the apparent nothingness of the night, looking surprised when they saw the ruler of the Netherworld cross the streets. Some clanking of mugs could be heard from within the buildings.
There was distinct laughter coming from one of the still open taverns. A young, shrill voice was among the laughing.
?This is the one,? Yuyuko picked.
Slipping into the curtain entrance of the bar, a whole different place opened up before her. Unlike the stillness of outside, there was a drinking party going on here. All the seats were taken by drinkers who were wasting the night away by guzzling down wine and beer like there was no tomorrow.
The biggest drinker here was a short horned girl who didn?t look older than a teenager. She wore a ruined white blouse whose sleeves were completely torn away, a loose blue skirt lined with big red stitches at the hem, and a red bow at the back of her head. Two broken shackles were clamped on her wrists, with a red triangle and yellow orb hanging from their chains. Her hazel hair reached the floor, ending in a very small ponytail bound by white bandages and a shackle as well, with a blue cube hanging from its chains.
Her face was very flushed with red, indicating her drunkenness. Her mouth was curved into a smile that opened quite wide when she laughed. She drank from a purple gourd.
She was not alone on her table; two other tengu were sitting with her. One of them, the taller one, had shoulder-length black hair and wore a red tokin hat on top of it. A yellow scarf was slung around her shoulders. She wore a white blouse and a black skirt, but Yuyuko could not see anything besides this because the table blocked her view.
The second one, the shorter of the pair, had brown hair tied into twin tails, and wore a purple tokin hat. Her blouse was also white, and a black tie hung from underneath its collar. The skirt she wore was checkered in purple and black.
All three of them were equally smashed, heads down on the table?s surface. Uncontrollable fits of laughter echoed from them.
Yuyuko approached them when they were taking another shot of wine. Taking a chair from one of the patrons who were sprawled on the floor, she plopped down beside the drunken trio.
?Yuyuko Saigyouji, Ghost of Cherry Blossoms, fancy seeing you here!? the horned girl slurred, ??Ey, barkeep, we need a new cup!?
From the counter by the entrance, another tengu emerged. Unlike everyone else, his was not flushed. He was the only one besides the newcomer who wasn?t drunk.
?Hoi hoi, what?s a pretty girl like her doing here?? he shouted back. There was a glaringly obvious hint of flirting in his voice.
?And aren?t you a daring one?? Yuyuko responded.
The barkeeper laughed with a roaring voice. ?Ahahaha! The girl?s got spunk! Where?re you from, lady??
?From the Netherworld!?
He didn?t miss a beat. ?Oh me, oh my! Even the dead want to have a drink with the great Suika Ibuki! You?re that good, eh, Suika??
?Ain?t nothin? toooooo it!? the horned girl hollered.
?That?s a scoop, I?ll say!? the brown-haired girl randomly declared.
The table erupted in laughter again. Yuyuko hid her smile behind her sleeve.
The barkeeper walked over with a bamboo flask and conked it down in front of Yuyuko.
?Enjoy your stay!? he went back to his place behind the counter, becoming unseen again.
Suika promptly filled Yuyuko?s empty cup with wine from the purple gourd.
?So, so, soooooooo? what do you wanna talk about?? she slurped up a mouthful of wine, exhaling with a heavy stench.
This was going to be a long night.
