Chapter Forty-Six

 

 

We waited and waited for Enma to return with Amy's souls, but he never did. With grim expressions, we wandered out of the palace and then through the shimmering illusion Enma had opened for us. His throne was empty, but the disembodied heads still perched on their pillars before a crowd of anxious souls waiting to be judged. The heads looked nervous as Amy strode up to them.

“Where is your master?” She demanded.

“We don't know,” the male head said.

“Kagu-hana,” Amaterasu growled at it, “if you don't tell me where Enma is, we're going to have a soccer game with you as the ball.”

The male head paled, and the female shrieked as the souls of the dead scattered.

“Be silent, Miru-me,” Sakuya said to the female head. “Unless you know where Enma is.”

“He went into Jigoku!” The female head cried.

“Shut up, you stupid woman!” The male—Kagu-hana—growled.

“Where in Jigoku?” Amy focused on Miru-me.

“Enma said you wanted your souls, but he wasn't going to give them to you,” Miru-me whimpered. “Nor is he going to allow you out of Meido. I'm sorry, Lady Amaterasu, but you and your friends are trapped here.”

“There is more than one way out of Meido,” Amaterasu declared as she strode away.

“The other kings have gone with Enma,” Kagu-hana said smugly. “You can't force anyone to trace you out.”

“There are still the gates,” Amy snarled at the male head, and he paled.

“You cannot!” Miru-me shouted. “You'll have no way of knowing which gate will take you where; even we don't know!”

“You could end up in any of the six realms,” Kagu-hana was back to being smug. “Including Jigoku.”

“Since Jigoku is where I want to go, that doesn't bother me in the least.” Amy smiled viciously.

“It bothers me,” Ira said. “I have no intention of gallivanting through Buddhist Hell—not any of them.”

“It may be the only way for us to get out of here,” Amy said. “Meido is made like a one-way street; unless you're a god here, you can only move forward.”

“I have an idea,” Odin said as he grabbed the smirking Kagu-hana. “Anyone have a rope?”

“Put me down, beast!” Kagu-hana shouted.

“Sure, let me just pull a rope out of my ass,” Ira huffed.

“Well, you pull your sword out of the air,” Odin reasoned. “Why not a rope?”

“Fair point,” Ira conceded grudgingly. “But our weapons are bound to us, and I don't use rope as a weapon.”

“Yeah, we're angels, not cowboys.” Sam chuckled.

“But he can make a rope.” Amy pointed to the head. “He's a god of this territory; he can transmutate objects here.”

“Me?” Kagu-hana gaped at her. “Why would I want to help you?”

“Because we're going to toss you through those gates, and if we don't have a rope tied to you, we won't be able to pull you back,” Odin said calmly.

“What?!” Kagu-hana shrieked. “You cannot! I could roll through any number of perils!”

“Or we could reel you in like a yo-yo,” I said smugly. “Your choice.”

“The gate won't let me return once I've passed through, you idiots!” Kagu-hana shouted.

“It will if you're tethered to someone here,” Amaterasu said with a smile at Odin. “Good thinking, Allfather.”

Odin nodded his thanks.

“Is the rest of your body just magically gone?” I asked as I angled my head beneath Kagu-hana. “Whoa, I can see all of your bones and blood vessels.”

“Really?” Odin asked as he lifted the head high enough to peer under it. “That's fascinating.”

“All right; I'll do it!” Kagu-hana screamed. “Just stop peering up my neck, you deviants!”

A rock at our feet transformed into a length of rope.

“Good choice,” Amy said as she collected the rope.

Odin put Kagu-hana down, and Amy knotted the rope with Kagu-hana's long braid of hair. Then she swung the head over her shoulder and started heading further into Meido.

“Oh, the indignity,” Kagu-hana lamented as he swung upside-down across Amy's back.

“What comes next?” Odin asked as we followed after Amy.

“King Henjou.” Amy waved a hand at another empty throne. “He gives the sixth trial, but it seems that Kagu-hana spoke the truth, and the other kings have fled with Enma.”

“Of course I spoke the truth,” Kagu-hana sputtered. “My honor is all I have.”

“Sad,” Ira muttered.

“Now we must cross that.” Sakuya pointed toward a dark land beyond the empty throne.

“We can fly over it,” Azrael suggested. “We don't mind carrying you ladies.”

“Thank you, but we'd best stick to the ground,” Amy said. “There are giant birds who rule those dark skies, and they breathe fire.”

Amy pointed to a streak of firelight flashing through the darkness.

“And they'll peck our eyes out!” Kagu-hana cried. “You'd best turn back!”

Amy stuffed the other end of the rope into Kagu-hana's mouth.

“Eww,” I said. “I'm not holding the end of the rope when we throw him through the gates.”

“You threatened to eat Enma's dick but you won't touch a saliva-saturated rope?” Ira lifted a brow at me.

“Do I have to shove some rope in your mouth too, Ira?” I growled.

“Just pointing out the irony.” Ira chuckled.

“It might be best if you two shifted back to human,” Sakuya said to Odin and me. “We want to draw as little attention to ourselves as possible.”

Odin and I looked at each other and shrugged. I transformed into my weredragon form, and Odin mimicked me; covering his human body with scales.

“Not quite human, but it will do,” Amy said with a smirk.

“I like this body.” Odin tapped his fireproof scales. “The agility of a human with the armor of a dragon.”

“I like your horns,” I teased him as I stroked the ebony horns sweeping back from his temple. “You look good as a dragon shifter; dangerous.”

“Thank you, sweetheart.” Odin drew me over to kiss me.

“If you're finished admiring yourselves and canoodling, perhaps we could start our journey through that sinister landscape filled with fire-breathing birds,” Ira said dryly.

“It's like having Horus with us,” Odin whispered to me, and I giggled.

“I thought the Fire Cock was in Jigoku?” Ted asked with a grin.

“The Japanese like fire-birds as much as the Egyptians like fire-snakes.” Amy shrugged. “Now, everyone walk warily and keep one eye on the sky.”

We stepped into the eerie lands and the light faded slowly around us. Soon, we couldn't see the sky above us or the birds that flew there. But we could hear them. Terrible shrieks sliced through the oppressive dark, and the flapping of enormous wings echoed down to us. Occasionally, fire would light the landscape; illuminating strange creatures with thick hides and bulbous eyes that hissed at us before they scurried away. The terrain was flat and empty; very little could stand the constant bombardment of the fire-birds. Only a few charred boulders and the hard carapaces of the land creatures survived.

Suddenly—with a great whoosh of air—something large swept down and snatched up Sakuya. The goddess cried out in terror as she disappeared into the shadowy sky. Before anyone else could react, Sam launched himself upward and vanished into the darkness after her. An avian shrieking pierced the black, but it quickly shifted from an aggressive sound to a wounded cry, and then it stopped altogether. A few feet away from us, a black bird head—as large as my entire body—hit the ground just before the rest of its corpse did. The thud it created sent vibrations across the bottom of my taloned feet. A pair of glassy eyes reflected our stunned faces as blood seeped from the severed head and soaked into the parched terrain.

We will still staring at the bird head in shock when Sam landed in the middle of our group; Sakuya clasped safely in his arms.

“Thank you!” Amy rushed over and hugged them both together.

“You're very welcome.” Sam placed Sakuya down gently. “But let's not tarry; that bird had several friends up there who are now circling.”

Our gazes turned toward the sky warily before we began a rapid pace towards the lightening horizon. Although the birds circled above, it took them awhile to work up the courage to attack us. By the time they did, Odin and I had shifted back into dragon forms, and all of us were prepared for the attack.

“Guard your eyes!” Amy shouted.

The flock descended in a rushing wind of wings and flashing beaks, and just as they came within our reach, Amaterasu held out her arms wide, and her whole body flared with the brightness of the Sun. We covered our eyes until the glare died down, and then made use of the advantage. The blinded birds were easy prey, and with the Four Horsemen, two dragons, and two goddesses, we took down enough of them to send the rest flying away blindly with their tail feathers in a twist.

After the Battle of the Birds, the sound of screeching ceased, and we made it out of the dark unscathed. Just a few feet away from the bird-terrain, there was another empty throne, and beyond that were six Japanese torii gates; red columns supporting a sloping center brace. Between the columns of each gate, the air shimmered into a blue haze that made it impossible to see what lay beyond it.

“Here is our path to other territories and realms,” Amy said. “One gate will take us back to the Human Realm, but the others will take us further into the Buddhist Territory.”

Amaterasu swung Kagu-hana's head around and removed his rope gag. He was blinking furiously.

“You couldn't have shielded my eyes before you did your sunlight thing?” Kagu-hana whined. “I'm still seeing spots.”

“But can you see well enough to know which portion of the realm you fall into?” Amy asked him.

“Yeah, just get it over with,” Kagu-hana grumbled.

Amy smirked and tossed the head through the first gate. She let him fall, and then drug him back.

“Beasts!” Kagu-hana declared fearfully. “That was the Realm of Beasts.”

“Okay,” Amy said before she swung him through another gate.

The next gate led to the Human Realm, but Amy had to toss Kagu-hana through three more gates before it became obvious that the last gate led to Jigoku. It was lucky for Kagu-hana, though; he didn't have to experience Jigoku, even briefly.

“What do we do with him now?” Ted asked as he waved toward Kagu-hana.

“Once we're gone, he'll be able to access his full form,” Amy said as she untied Kagu-hana. “He can make his way back on his own.”

“You can only have a whole body when no one's around?” Sam asked in shock.

“That's what the myths have done to me,” Kagu-hana growled.

“Looks like you have the right to be a dick,” I noted.

“Well, not having one for most of my life has had that effect,” he grumbled.

I chuckled. “Fair enough.”

“Thank you all, for your help,” Amy said warmly. “I'm going into Jigoku now to rescue my souls. I don't expect you to come with me; you've done more than enough by coming this far. Use the torii to trace to the Human Realm; I'll take it from here.”

“You've said that before,” I noted. “I think we'll stay with you this time and see it through.”

“Hold on,” Ira growled. “You don't get to make decisions for all of us, Vervain.”

“Ira, if you want to leave, there's the gate,” Azrael said. “Vervain's not deciding for you; she's deciding for herself.”

“Then why did she say 'we?'” Ira shot back.

“Because she knows that Odin and I would follow her through any hell in any of the realms,” Azrael said calmly. “Look; I'm grateful that all of you came with us, but—just as Amaterasu said—this is far enough. Go home; we have it from here.”

“Fuck me,” Ira huffed as Sam and Ted just stared at him. “Fine; it's not like we haven't been to Hell before.”

“Not this Hell,” Amy said. “And there's no way out of it; we'll have to journey back here to take the torii gate out.”

“Amy, I don't do things half-ass,” I said. “I've come this far; I might as well see all of the Japanese Underworld.”

“Now that you mention it,” Ted said, “it would be cool to be able to say that I've walked through Jigoku.”

“I can't wait to rub it in Cid's face,” Sam added.

Ira chuckled despite himself. “Why do I hang out with you morons?”

“Because your magic forces you to.” Thaddeus smirked.

“Oh, right.” Ira nodded. “I forgot.”

“Are you all certain you wish to do this?” Amy asked with deadly sincerity. “You'll see things in Jigoku that will haunt you. I truly won't think less of any of you for leaving.”

“My son's soul was torn in two before he was born,” I said softly. “I felt every second of it, and there isn't anything that could possibly be worse than that for me.”

“I can't argue with that; it sounds truly terrible.” Amy sighed and then looked at Sakuya.

“No,” Sakuya said resolutely. “I'm going with you this time.”

“You are more loyal than my blood-relatives,” Amy said sadly as she kissed Sakuya's cheek. “Thank you.”

“You have been just as loyal to me.” Sakuya lifted her chin. “I don't need your thanks.”

Amaterasu smiled like the sun. “And you behave more like me as well,” she said proudly. “All right; let's go save my people.”