Village of Smiths, the Illusion Realm of Ushitora

Present: Late Spring, 1472

Just as Feiyan was about to blackout, there was a sudden flash of vivid colour.

Fwoosh!!

“Divine fire?!” cried the oni in alarm. 

The tsukumogami’s hand erupted with flame, ropes of flame snaking up his arm. He stumbled backward, immediately releasing his hold on Feiyan, and fell onto the ground with a hoarse cry. Instead of tumbling forward, Feiyan’s body rose up, suspended in mid-air as the wind whipped around her. The forest suddenly echoed with the challenge of a firebird’s scream.

Hajoon’s mouth dropped open in astonishment. Emblazoned on Feiyan’s forehead was a red flame mark. As she gazed down at them, still floating, fire licked around the edges of her eyes and eyebrows. 

Her eyes! thought Hajoon.

They were bright red, emotionless, eternal…

“The flame mark of Suzaku*!” stuttered the oni. He knelt down as Feiyan hovered above them.

Hajoon couldn’t understand what was happening, but his heart froze when the tsukumogami spoke his next words.

“Please forgive us lowly beings for not recognizing you. This one greets the Lady Hong Yi,” Kurogane-dono breathed, holding his blackened hand, as he straightened out his crouch into a kneeling position. He bowed his head to her.

She smiled coldly.

The flames slowly subsided, and the mark between Feiyan’s brows faded. Her eyes also returned to their normal black, but when she spoke, she was not herself. 

“It’s good that you still remember! Guardians of the First Torii, I ask again that you release my people,” she said softly, in a voice that seemed to echo in the clearing. “I will not ask this a third time.”

Hajoon, who was too shocked to speak, could only clutch his damaged shoulder.

“Who would argue with the sacred guardian of the south?” grunted the oni. He chopped his hand at the bamboo, breaking the illusion array, and then made his way over to help his companion.

Seemingly satisfied, Feiyan tapped down onto her feet.

Finally freed from the confusing array, Eunhae and the others rushed into the clearing wearing expressions of relief. They’d been wandering about outside the circle of bamboo for what had seemed like hours and had despaired of finding their companions. Now that the spell had been cleared, they could see that they were all standing in front of the headman’s house. 

The oni muttered something under his breath and the door of the house opened. Li Molan and his group stumbled out. Grimy and dazed, they kept their mouths shut as they filed out, still resentful of their captors.

“I thank you,” Feiyan nodded. She gracefully flicked her fingers and the burn marks disappeared from Kurogane’s hand as if they had never happened. Of course, the tsukumogami’s clothes remained singed, but he said nothing, his silver eyes still wary.

Flames flickered briefly in the black eyes as they turned to the oni. An inquiring smile played about Feiyan’s lips a she tilted her head at him.

“You may all pass through the exit,” he growled, though he looked none too happy about the turn of events.

He waved his hand again, and a torii gate appeared at the other end of the clearing. Feiyan did not hesitate and walked under it, disappearing into the next realm.

Without waiting for the others, Hajoon rushed after her. What happened? I’ve never seen that mark before…

The oni grunted as the torii disappeared from sight once more. He was very glad to be rid of their visitors. He breathed out a sigh of relief, but then wrinkled his nose as the smell of burnt flesh still hung in the air. He reached out and the kanabo flew into his hand, shrinking down until it was the size of a pin. With a cough, he tucked it into an inside pocket.

“That was beyond my expectation, Kurogane-dono,” he growled, helping the other to sit on the raised porch of the house they shared.

“So it was...I didn’t expect to meet the guardian god of the south in Ushitora,” agreed the tsukumogami, looking exhausted. “And that old black ghost’s fan nearly cut my face in two.”

“Don’t exaggerate. Your face looks fine,” the oni muttered. 

The tsukumogami grinned.

“Don’t lie. You would be heartbroken if something happened to my face.”

It was hard to say if the oni blushed as his skin was already red, but the dark-haired man smirked at his choked expression.

“That other one was strange too...” muttered the oni, changing the subject.

“Hmph...one has an incomplete soul and the other stinks of a Byakko*….” the spirit of the kanabo shrugged, and then shook his head. “Let the other gate guardians deal with it. I’ve had enough for today, Yaksha.”

“You know, Kurogane-dono...after one thousand years of fighting, and then being trapped in this accursed place, I’ve had enough for ten lifetimes...I’d much rather spend my days in peace by your side. It’s shameful that you were dragged into this for my sake and I’m grateful you’re still here.”

The oni’s gruff tone did not escape the tsukumogami and he turned his head to hide his smile.

Yaksha still has his cute side…

Turning back, Kurogane said: “I like spending my time with you too, Yaksha. Since Akuma gave you no choice, I could not abandon you. This time, just as long as your people forge enough weapons, perhaps they’ll leave us be.”

“Mmmn,” grunted the oni, hoisting the other man up in his arms. “That will depend on the will of that bloody kitsune in Shuto, but I can already smell an ill wind coming.”

“Indeed,” said the tsukomogami, allowing himself to be carried back into the house bridal style. “A very ill wind…but we need not concern ourselves with such unpleasant thoughts right now.”

“Oho…Is that so?” asked the oni with a sly smile, waving the door closed.

***

Two people, one in the South and one in the North, turned their heads in the same direction, and whispered the same name. The unexpected flare of celestial power, scented with a soul that had been long gone from their world, caused their hearts to thump painfully. 

One was Lord Mu, and he’d been having tea with Liwen Yi.

Without him realizing, a tear escaped down Lord Mu’s cheek. The cup he’d been holding slipped out of his nerveless fingers and smashed onto the floor. He looked surprised at that, rising to his feet with uncommon awkwardness.

“Master?” Liwen Yi asked, alarm coloring her voice. They’d been having their usual meeting when something like a lightning bolt had passed across his face.

Lord Mu raised a trembling hand to brush his chin, wiping the unwelcome moisture away.

“I’m alright. Look after things here. I will be away for a few days.”

He slipped his mask back down his face, before taking a clearing breath.

“But what of the preparations against Shobu? How long will you be absent...?” Liwen Yi frowned.

“At most three days…there’s something I have to confirm…” he muttered, pushing the sliding door open.

Sweeping out of her study, he reached at his belt to grab his metal fan and then paused mid-stride when his fingers closed over empty air.

“Hah!”

He laughed softly at his mistake. If he had had is fan, he would have ridden that, but the fan was now elsewhere. After a pause, he formed a seal with his hands. In an instant, a circle of light rose up out of the stone avenue and lifted him high off his feet, flapping his robes as he ascended into the sky.

Liwen Yi watched the spell formation rapidly recede, feeling a pang.

His back looks lonely…she thought. But something serious must have happened for him to rush away like this. I hope Master can return safely.

---

Almost hidden by cloud, Mu Shan, rode the spell circle for quite some time before he encountered a familiar figure on the back of a large crane. Screwing up his courage, he smoothed out his expression as much as he could.

“Bai Xie An…” he said in greeting, unsurprised by the other’s appearance.

“So, you felt it too,” the silver-haired man confirmed, fixing him with an odd look. “Are you going to the Firebird Palace?”

Mu Shan nodded curtly, trying to avoid the stormy grey blue eyes so similar to his own.

“Get on the crane, Mu Shan. That spell drains too much of you power, and if there’s really something causing trouble, you’ll need your reserves...”

Lord Mu flinched at the casual use of his name. Then he grunted.

“Enn.”

Although the idea of riding with Bai Xie An grated on him, there was no point in arguing with something that made good sense. He put two fingers together at heart height, and swiped side ways to dissipate the spell circle. The crane immediately swooped under him, but as he fell through the air, his long dark hair tossed up in the wind...and right into Bai Xie An’s face.

Embarrassed, his heart thumped awkwardly as he watched his ex-lover’s lips quirk up into a smile.

Bai Xie An wordlessly brushed a silken strand of hair from his mouth. The gesture was achingly familiar, perhaps even intimate, even though Mu Shan was sure there was no hidden intention there.

Realizing that he must have had a strange expression on his face despite the mask, he once again smoothed out his features, not wanting to give Bai Xie An any hint of what he’d been thinking.

Bai Xie An, on the other hand, had noticed the lips that he longed for parting slightly as if inviting a plundering. It had caused him to remember other times when he had brushed Mu Shan’s beautiful long hair out of his mouth, hair that had become inexorably tangled with his own during lovemaking.

Even after all they’d been through, Mu Shan was still the only one who could flip his switch without even trying. Bai Xie An tried not to chuckle to himself imagining Mu Shan hissing and spitting like a grumpy cat. Though he longed to tease his companion, he turned his attention back to steering the crane. Sensing its master’s haste, the bird was already climbing higher, breaking through the clouds.

Although Hong Yi had been the Southern guardian, her god palace was not in the South. In fact, all four of the guardian had lived together in harmony, administering their lands from a single celestial palace divided into four sub-palaces hidden on Qingyun Shan*, a floating mountain only visible to them and their closest retainers.

As they neared the ancient celestial palace that had once been their home, Bai Xie An gave in to mixed feelings. Here, he had once been the cherished Left General of the Firebird Palace, the dedicated servant of Hong Yi the Firebird Goddess, and Mu Shan’s lover. However, the magnificent palace had long since fallen into disrepair, while his Mistress was dead, and his lover had repudiated him.

Perhaps sensing the bitterness that seeped out of his Master’s heart like twisted qi, the crane dove down, hurrying in between the familiar buildings until they were circling above a huge terrace. Realising his mistake, Bai Xie An pulled back his negative emotions immediately. Celestial cranes were incredibly sensitive to such things, and Bai Xie An regretted burdening the spiritual beast.

‘Forgive me, Mengyu,’ he said into the crane’s mind. 

The great bird only turned its head back enough to give a gracious blink, reassuring him that no damage had been done. Relieved, Bai Xie An, directed the crane to land with only a twitch of his fingertips.

Before the bird had even landed in what had once been a breathtaking garden, Bai had already descended with a soft tap. Offering his hand to Mu Shan without thinking, he paused in awkwardness when the other man’s eyes hardened. He made a small ‘pfft’ sound, and turned to give Mu Shan enough time to compose himself before coming down on his own. A moment later there was a light thud, and they both headed up the gravel path past a strangely styled pavilion.

“Ah. I’d forgotten about that weird thing...” Mu Shan muttered to himself, but Bai Xie An had heard him.

“Lord S...Ahem...it’s designer was always prone to the eccentric though I think it amused the Mistress that he had taken influences from the palaces of those crazy island gods in the west*...”

The pavilion was stone instead of wood, roofed with a dome rather than the peaked roof one would normally expect in the Three Eastern kingdoms. The support pillars were also made of carved stone columns with what were called ‘plinths’ and ‘capitals’. Bai had thought it hideous at the time, but his Mistress had liked it so much that they’d sometimes find her asleep in it. Bai’s son Yu’er had also loved it, and had constantly snuck into the pavilion to nap with her. This of course would inevitably lead to singed feathers as Hong Yi, unable to prevent her natural nesting instincts, would revert to her true form and curl up around Yu like he was a chick...often cooking him in heat of her divine aura.

A chuckle escaped him.

Seeing the minute shifts in Bai’s expression, Mu Shan could tell that he was thinking of happier times when they had all lived together as one family.

“The entry to the ancestral hall should be intact if that part of the mountain hasn’t collapsed,” Mu Shan tilted his head toward the palace.

“That place is sealed with old magic...older than even the guardians. I doubt that anything has changed,” Bai shrugged. “Come with me.”

Chapter Note:

Suzaku is the Japanese name for the Vermillion Bird of the South.

Byakko is the Japanese name for the White Tiger of the West.

Qingyun shan means Clear Cloud Mountain.

The crazy gods to the west refer to the Greek Pantheon. The pavilion is a Grecian style dome with columns.