I've impressed myself.
Spoiler
The day was just coming to an end at the Senkumo base. With the clan still in a mode of quasi-lockdown, there wasn't much for anyone to really do. The men spent most of the day chopping firewood and cleaning their pelts, while the women tended to the animals and prepared ingredients to be cooked for supper. It seemed the worst of winter had passed by, but the clan still expected another month or two of snow and rain. The sun started to hang low above the horizon as Chiya had a quick word with Inori in the halls of the female quarters.
"I'm very sorry, Inori. We haven't been able to procure any medicinal ingredients ever since this investigation started. Even though Izanami's in Kaga now, we're still not permitted to continue our regular schedule. It was risky enough letting Goro leave with Tsukiakari."
"No, I should apologize." Inori lamented. "I'm making a mountain out of a molehill. It's just that we usually get more sick troops during this season, and we don't have the medicine to treat them. No one is in any serious condition, though. Everyone in the medical ward now should be back on their feet soon."
"That's good to hear. It's kind of nice though, isn't it?" Chiya said.
"What's nice?" Chiya questioned, her head slightly tilted sideways.
"Not...you know. Going to war or anything."
"We're technically still at war, Chiya."
"You know what I mean. No one has died these past few weeks. I think we've all buried enough friends for several lifetimes."
"Yeah...I get you on that one. It is kind of nice to just have some peace. I don't know how long it'll last, but I hope we can at least enjoy one, peaceful winter together."
"Well, I'm gonna get some shut eye. Been a long day." Chiya groaned.
"Same here. Thank you, Lord Chiya." Inori sang with a bow goodbye.
"Rest easy, Inori."
Chiya closed her bedroom door and released a long, warm sigh. She kicked off her sandals and undid her kimono, stripping down to her basic, black robes. She undid her ponytail and let her silky, black hair fall as she peered out of her window. The laughter of children playing with snowballs in the courtyard just faintly bled through her walls, filling her with enough joy for a brief smile. She looked back to her laid out futon, which lied next to Yachi's rolled up futon. It was like this at the end of every day, the constant and crushing reminder that her sister was still out there.
"Gekko will bring you home soon. I know it. Just hang on, sis..."
Chiya, hoping to get some semblance of rest, lied down in her bed and went to sleep. Sometime later, she was woken up by the sound of the futon next to her being unrolled. She could feel someone's presence as the person lied down next to her, letting out a long, exhausted sigh. Chiya's eyes peeled open, but she couldn't believe what she was seeing. It was Yachi, covered in innumerable bruises and bandages. Yachi had to slowly easy herself into bed, lest she set off a landmine of nerves in any one of her injuries.
"...Yachi? You're home?"
Yachi smiled, locking her fingers with Chiya's. "At long last. You wouldn't believe the things I went through."
Chiya's lips quivered as tears ran down her cheeks. The sight of her sister finally home was too much to bear. "I missed you so much, Yachi! No more trips for you!"
"What? Sis, are you grounding me?!" Yachi asked. "But, Gekko said..."
"I don't care what Gekko said, you're grounded! As punishment..."
Chiya's face turned beet red as she threw her arms around her sister, trapping her in a loving hug. "As punishment, you have to stay by my side forever."
Yachi couldn't be happier to be grounded and punished in such a way. She buried her face into Chiya's shoulder, crying all of her fears and sadness away. She was finally home. There wouldn't be any suffering anymore. Tsukiakari, Goro, Taeko, and Inari brought an end to that awful period of constant worry and frustration. As if saying 'no need to thank us', they simply sent Yachi right up to her room to be with her beloved sister again.
"I love you, Chiya. I wanted to tell you that so badly."
"I love you too, Yachi. I love you so much."
But nothing could ever be that easy. Nothing could ever by that uplifting and joyful. When Chiya opened her again, she was all alone, the futon next to her still rolled up and Yachi still nowhere to be found. Chiya was left with tears staining her tired face and a gaping hole in her longing heart. Yachi did not return home. Chiya sat up, leaning against the wall and looking around at her empty, moonlit bedroom. Memories of the day before Yachi's departure for Kameyama played in Chiya's mind over and over again, her heart desperately trying to cling onto something that was no longer there. Chiya saw projections of herself and Yachi from that day, talking in the bedroom as Yachi packed her things.
"All packed up, Yachi?" Chiya asked.
"Yeah, I've got everything prepared." Yachi replied with a small smile.
"Excellent. I'll give you more coin tomorrow. You're to use it to help with the negotiations only. If you have anything left over after the fact, you can use it however you like."
"Thank you, Sis." Yachi said with a bow.
"Anyway, come outside with us. We're grilling chicken and beef skewers."
"Chicken?! Beef skewers?! Say no more! I'll be out in just a second!" Yachi cheered with a fire in her eyes.
"Exactly the kind of reaction I'd expect from you." Chiya laughed, nodding her head side to side.
The sweet taste of memories came with a bitter, heartbreaking aftertaste. Once the projections of her and her sister faded away into the cold, dark, empty space that was her bedroom, Chiya began to cry all over again. For perhaps the first time, Chiya knew the pain of truly missing someone, as well as the agony of being powerless to bring them back.
Just a few hours away from base, Tsukiakari, Taeko, Inari, Goro, and even Yoshioki and the Ouchi troops turned the ruined temple upside down in their search for Yachi. Inari ended up finding the room where Yachi and Tsukiakari were tortured, but she only found the charred, skeletal remains of Tsukiakari's corpse from her previous incarnation. Yachi was nowhere to be seen. The Man in Black remained restrained by the Ouchi, coughing violently as Tsukiakari desperately searched for Yachi with Goro. Just when it seemed like they had searched the entire perimeter, Inari returned from the torture room hidden beneath the sanctuary, her nose picking up a strange scent.
"Tsukiakari! I smell something! I think it's coming from one of these pots!"
"The pots?" Tsukiakari repeated, realizing she hadn't searched the pots. Everyone could see that she became very visibly nervous. Her eyes widened and her hands wouldn't stop shaking.
"Search the pots, all of you! I want every single one of them checked!" Yoshioki commanded, his men following his order.
One by one, the men tiled the pots down and peered inside of them. The pots were each around six feet tall and heavy enough to require two men to safely tilt them. Inari helped Tsukiakari tilt each pot while Taeko paired up with Goro. Old friends and old foes, for just one night, united to find a girl that desperately needed to be rescued. A girl that needed to come home to her sister, to spend one peaceful winter away from war and all of its wicked machinations.
Tsukiakari thought back to something Yachi told her while they were both held captive. Her voice played over in the goddess's head as if she was right there reciting every word from that day.
"I wasn't able to get the actual shrub, but I got some Azalea seeds before I left Kameyama. Remember? I originally wanted them as a gift for Chiya. I was so excited to see the look on her face when I brought home her favorite shrub. A beautiful gift of gratitude and sisterly love, for everything we've been through together since we left Kyoto. But now...I'm afraid they'll have to become a gift of parting. Listen to me, Gekko. We're wasting valuable time. It can take you anywhere between a day and three weeks to wake up from your slumber whenever you reincarnate. We won't wait for them to kill you. We'll take that matter into our own hands. When you wake up, all I ask is that you retrieve those seeds and bring them back home. Plant them at the Senkumo memorial. For just one day, let the clan celebrate peace. That's my final wish."
At long last, Tsukiakari and Inari found something. This one pot was heavier than all the others, requiring the additional help of Goro and Taeko. They gently laid the pot on its side, as it proved too heavy to even hold up in a tilted position. As soon as the pot was on its side, black liquid ran out from its mouth. The liquid carried a horrid stench with it, making Inari leap back in disgust. Along with the liquid, a single, pale arm poked out from the pot's mouth. Though she could just barely see it, Tsukiakari also spotted a familiar head of hair further inside of the pot. Taeko proceeded to pull the body out, the fetid odor making her nauseas.
The whole world stopped. The wind grew quiet. The rain ceased.
Everyone around Tsukiakari and the pot disappeared in a void of darkness. Tsukiakari gazed upon the face of the body now halfway out of the pot's mouth for what felt like hours, but she still could not believe it. She didn't want to believe it. The final and most important part of what Yachi said that day in her cell echoed in Tsukiakari's fragmented mind.
"Promise me you'll plant them? Not just for Chiya, but for the whole clan."
The body was mangled and devoid of warmth, its skin was white and its veins were an icy blue. Parts of her feet, and legs were skeletonized by the rainwater settled in the bottom of the pot she was so haphazardly shoved into. That cute, youthful face was now lifeless and dead. It was her.
It was Yachi. It was undeniably her. Tsukiakari fell to her knees screaming as the Man in Black had himself another long laugh.
Tsukiakari gripped Yachi's lifeless hand as the tears burned her eyes and blurred her vision. "Yachi! Yachi!"
Inari was quick to embrace the weeping Tsukiakari, even though she could barely keep from crying herself. Goro kicked one of the nearby pots over in grief-driven rage, covering his face as tears rolled down his cheeks. Taeko knelt down by Tsukiakari's side, hugging both her and Inari.
"Empty promises, Tsukiakari! Empty promises! You said you'd return her home, and now she's dead!" The Man in Black mocked.
"Shut the hell up!" Yoshioki growled, kicking him in the stomach.
"Tsukiakari, we have to get her out of here." Inari whispered. "You have to bring her home, even like this. She can't rest in peace here. She has to come home."
"Men, go get something to wrap the body in. Take one of the sheets out of the sanctuary or something." Yoshioki said, sending off two of his men.
"Now you know the pain that I felt." The Man in Black muttered.
Within an hour, Yoshioki's men wrapped up Yachi's body as well as the bodies of their fallen soldiers. At Taeko's request, Yoshioki also took custody of Masachika's skeleton. He was instructed to dump the bones in the ocean, somewhere the supernatural flames of the other two phantoms wouldn't be able to revive him. With their search for Yachi at a woeful end, all that was left was to take her body home. Tsukiakari couldn't piece together how she would tell Chiya. In what way could she possibly break that kind of news to her? She sat with Yachi's body in front of the abandoned temple with the emptiest glare in her scarlet eyes. Her eyes were swollen and itchy from all of her weeping. Though she had calmed down a bit, tears still ran down her face and dripped off of her chin.
Inari approached her, clasping her hands nervously as she thought of what to say to the grieving Tsukiakari. She could say nothing. Instead, she knelt down in front of her, handing her Yachi's pouch of Azalea seeds.
"I found these in that room. Are they Yachi's?"
Tsukiakari took a look inside the pouch, nodding as she began to cry again. "She wanted to plant these for us..."
"I'm so sorry, Tsukiakari." Inari lamented.
Taeko joined them as well. "Gekko?"
Tsukiakari was unresponsive, completely lost in a haze of grief. Taeko pulled Inari aside in order to give Tsukiakari some space.
"Yoshioki's loading up the Man in Black. He'll either face prison or execution. Whichever one it is, it's their problem now. It doesn't seem like those phantoms are protecting him anymore, either." Taeko explained. "We should get back to the Senkumo base. This whole thing is pretty much over."
"Alright." Inari agreed. "I'll get Tsukiakari up. I'll take the reins for her."
"Thanks for everything, Inari." Taeko said, patting the goddess's shoulder.
With everything done, Yoshioki loaded up his prized prisoner while Goro tied Yachi's body to his horse. Tsukiakari and Yoshioki met face-to-face one more time as the rain came to a stop. Spears of pale moonlight poked holes through the dark blanket of clouds above.
"You have my condolences, Tsukiakari, as well as my thanks. Though, it pains me to say that if we ever meet again, it may be on a battlefield." Yoshioki said.
"Thank you for your help. We couldn't have found her without you." Tsukiakari bowed.
"Take care, war goddess. And give my thanks to Inari."
With everyone mounted up, Tsukiakari and the others began their journey back to the Senkumo base. And what a quiet journey it was. Inari commanded Tsukiakari's horse, allowing the weary war goddess to rest for a few hours at least. Once they departed Arashiyama and rode through the wavy plains of snow in the countryside, it truly felt as though it was all over, at least where the Man in Black was concerned. As ill as he was, imprisonment was the same as a death sentence. Taeko still had her questions about the infiltration of the temple. Why was Masachika revived for a second time? Why didn't the other two phantoms come to protect the Man in Black? At the very least, her question of why the man had a retinue of Ashikaga troops was answered. Somewhere along the way, he teamed up with troops loyal to Tomiko, getting them to help him exact his revenge on Tsukiakari. In a way, everyone had been fighting Tomiko's phantom as well. Her hatred of the Senkumo clan lived on through the Man in Black.
Taeko's train of thought was interrupted as she grew lightheaded, her stomach twisting and churning. She leaned forward on her horse, groaning in pain.
"You alright, Taeko? Should we stop?" Goro asked.
"No, I'm alright. I get these often. Can I get some water?"
"Sure." Goro said, handing her his gourd.
"Thanks, Goro."
After taking a few sips of water, Taeko let out an exhausted sigh. "If her body wasn't right here with us, I wouldn't be able to believe she was gone. She was such a good girl. Such a capable woman. She didn't deserve this kind of death."
"I'm just scared of how Chiya is going to take this. She's been worried sick ever since Yachi went missing." Goro said. "I was hoping we'd be able to bring her back alive."
"Damn it..." Taeko cursed, fighting back tears.
Their conversation was just ambient noise to Tsukiakari. The war goddess was lost in her memories of Yachi. She was so captivated by her nostalgia that she felt as though she had really gone back in time, reliving the day Yachi and Chiya first sat down in front of her and Taeko back when the Senkumo clan was just starting to gain steam. She was back in the war room during the clan's heyday, interviewing the quirky twins when they were just teenagers. Thinking back, how they managed to keep such a chipper mood between them when they had lost everything in the Onin War was a herculean feat to Tsukiakari.
“State your names, please.” Taeko asked sternly.
“I’m Chiya Otonougi and she’s my sister, Yachi Otonougi.” one of them explained. “You can just call us the Otonougi twins.”
"So then, do you have any skills that would be of use to the Senkumo clan?" Tsukiakari asked.
Yachi recoiled in disgusted shock. "Seriously? Is she seriously asking if we have any valuable skills?"
"Skill is in our very name. It's the nou character in Otonougi." Chiya added in a snobbish tone. "Thought you would've figured that out just by hearing it."
Yachi covered her mouth as she gasped. "Maybe they're both lordless and witless, Sis."
"Oh heavens, what a tragedy,” Chiya said with a sarcastic tear-wipe.
"A tragedy indeed. But, to answer your question, Chiya and I are both quite versed in the art of equestrianism and animal breeding." Yachi said.
"Indeed. Our family owned horses in Kyoto and often sold them to the shogunate. They made an absolute living off of the trade and taught us how to do it as well." Chiya added.
"A Killing, Chiya. We made a killing."
"A living, a killing. Same difference, Yachi."
Tsukiakari saw everything so much more clearly in retrospect. Chiya and Yachi's chemistry must've been a shared coping mechanism for them. They had to rely on each other to get by in a war-stricken country. Two cute, young girls their age could've easily been captured and raped, or made into slaves or unwilling brides. They had that fear hanging over their heads as they wandered out of the ruins of Kyoto and stumbled upon the Senkumo clan. Together, those two had the resolve to walk into that war room with their heads held high, in spite of all they had lost. Not only that, but they lended their strength to Tsukiakari and the rest of the clan in whatever little ways they could. Even during the plague outbreak, the clan's darkest moment, those twins remained level headed and determined in their search for a solution.
Their strength was made even clearer when Tsukiakari suddenly asked them to take the reins of leadership and become commanding lords. Her memories took her back to that cold day just a few months ago.
“Us? Commanding lords? As in, Lord Yachi and Lord Chiya?” Chiya asked.
“Hold on, Gekko, this is all really sudden!” Yachi cried.
“I know that, and I’m sorry. We don’t have a choice. Mayumi and Ebina are both dead, and Taeko has been expelled. You two are all that’s left of the clan’s ring of leadership. You’re the only ones I can entrust the responsibility to.”
Further emphasizing her remorse for putting the twins in such a tight spot, Tsukiakari bowed to them as she pleaded further.
“Forgive me. You’re the only ones I can rely on right now. Please help me.”
“Gekko, please raise your head. A goddess shouldn’t bow to humans!” Yachi begged.
“We accept the position. We’ll hold down the fort until you get back.” Chiya assured. “Just…make sure you take care of yourself, okay?”
Tsukiakari rubbed the swelling tears out of her eyes with her sleeve, trying with all of her might to stop herself from crying. “I’ll do my best. It’s just really hard without them here.”
“Yeah. We know.” Yachi muttered. “You can count on us, though. We’ll follow you through hell and high water! Right, Sis?”
“Indeed we will. No doubt about it. If it weren’t for you accepting us into the clan, we’d probably be dead.”
“Ugh. Two dead beauties such as us. Thank the heavens we avoided such a tragic end.” Yachi sighed.
“Let’s not say things like that too early.” Tsukiakari warned. “We don’t want to jinx ourselves.”
Time within the memory suddenly came to a screeching halt around Tsukiakari. Yachi and Chiya remained frozen like statues. Tsukiakari's fists tightened so much that her nails dug into her palm and drew streams of warm blood from her hands. She fell down to her knees, her tears falling onto the snow-covered ground. She clenched her eyes shut and gritted her teeth as her heartbreak intensified. Trapped in her own memory, no one could hear her sharp whimpers and grieved cries. Except for one.
"Run away all you like. You'll never get her back."
The Man in Black knelt down next to her, gazing into her tear-soaked face. "Like the sensation of a missing limb, you'll keep trying to hold onto something that isn't there. You'll feel that phantom pain forever, just as I did."
The Phantom Soldier emerged from the tree line on his fiery horse, staring daggers at the grieving war goddess. The Phantom Maiden phased out the ground, on the opposite side of the Man in Black. She levitated out of the ground and remained floating over the frozen Yachi and Chiya, her ashen hair alight with flame.
"They say your friends live on in your heart. In your memories. Long after they're dead. That's how we know they're good friends" The Man in Black said. "That's why you should fear a good enemy as much as you love a good friend."
Tsukiakari turned her head, facing the Man in Black's disfigured, pallid face.
"Tsukiakari. I won."
Snapped out of her memory, Tsukiakari remembered where she was. Hanging onto Inari as she and the others rode their horses back to the Senkumo base.
Tsukiakari swallowed the lump in her throat and dried her eyes, issuing abrupt, new orders. "Inari, let me take over."
"Huh? Are you sure you're okay to ride?" Inari asked, everyone coming to a stop.
"I'm positive."
"What are you doing, Gekko?" Taeko asked while Inari switched places with Tsukiakari.
"We're changing direction. Follow me."
Yoshioki and his men continued in the opposite direction of Tsukiakari's party. They kept the coughing Man in Black locked in a caged, horse-drawn wagon. The small force of thirty men made sure to keep the cage in the center of their caravan, just in case their prisoner had any thoughts of escape. Though, in his condition, that was clearly unlikely. Yoshioki rode in the center, keeping a watchful eye over the Man in Black as they made their way back to Kyoto.
"That cough doesn't sound too good." Yoshioki said.
"I'm dying. I was sick before my home was destroyed. Inhaling smoke and bodily fumes didn't help me get any better." The Man in Black explained.
"I thought those ghosts of yours would've given you eternal life or something."
The Man in Black laughed. "No. They weren't mine. I was theirs. I was their tool and I knew it, but they gave me enough life to exact my revenge. Now that they've gotten what they wanted, they've left me to die."
"What they wanted?"
"You'd never believe me if I told you, Yoshioki."
"After what you put me through back there at the temple, I can believe anything."
The Man in Black leaned against the wall of his cage, slinking one arm over his bent knee. "The phantom girl. She's the one in control of it all. The other two were little more than corpses roused from their graves, driven only by their thirst for revenge. They had enough hatred to accept the girl's flame. Even the girl is a soul inside of a corpse. Who that soul belongs to, I don't know. Though I do believe the flames to be a dead giveaway. That girl is bouncing from corpse to corpse so she can interact with the physical world, but she needs a living body."
"For what?"
"To reincarnate."
A ferocious thunderclap boomed through the sky, warning of lightning's return. The men thought nothing of it and continued on their way.
"I won." The Man in Black laughed. "I actually won."
Lightning cut through the sky like a blade, striking down upon the convoy directly. A massive cluster of men and their horses were immediately killed by the strike, their armor and limbs melting off of their bodies. The stench of burnt hair and cooked flesh arose in the form of smoke lifting off of the bodies. The Man in Black's laughter turned into a fit of coughs as the caravan was struck by several more blasts of lightning, killing all but a few of them. Yoshioki himself was caught in the final strike, his horse nearly ripped in two by the lighting. The strike left Yoshioki writhing on the ground, reeling from flash blindness. The dirt road became a mess of burnt bodies and grass enwreathed in small flames.
The clouds were slowly tugged along by the wind, unveiling the dark blood moon sitting high in the night sky. The Man in Black head his cage being unlocked and its door swung open. He was grabbed by his tattered robes and dragged out onto the corpse-riddled ground.
"Get up. You're not getting off that easy."
The Man in Black knew exactly who stood before him. He had been expecting her, Tsukiakari Senkumo, to return. He raised his head, laughing in joy at what he saw. The blood moon illuminated the dirt road as Tsukiakari stood above the Man in Black, two full horns of fire protruding from her head. With the second horn sprouted, Tsukiakari had become the chosen host of the Phantom Maiden, the living body she would need to come back to life.
"I told you this would happen, Tsukiakari. At long last, the second horn sprouts. You've become a demon.