119

 

119.  Tea and Steel

 

Ravi Katjagaarda entered the massive sanctuary.

 

Golden carpets decorated the wooden floor, continuing up steps lined with tall candles, bronze pillars, and shining idols. At the end sat a colossal Buddha with dozens arms of all different sizes, each poised and raised towards the heavens. Behind it, a clockwork mechanism etched with fire and guardian spirits twirled. Hanging throughout the sanctuary were a number of seals in various languages, even Devanagari, which Ravi recognized.

 

The mysterious monk walked toward a table in the center of the room. It was just barely raised off the ground, so Ravi sat down cross-legged across from her host. On top of the low table, she saw a teapot, teacups, plates and other neatly-arranged cookware.

 

"This is Kyodera, the largest temple in all of Yamato," he said, "built by the first teachers who brought Gaukyo over to this land."

 

"Gaukyo?" Ravi echoed.  

 

His eyes remained locked on the stone-faced woman. "The teachings of Gautama."

 

Ravi's eyes widened. Through her mind passed an image of a tiny girl's face pasted to the window of a flying machine escaping destruction as far as the eye could see. Beyond the window, towers and palaces crumbled and toppled over onto crumbling earth. A kingdom, a religion, and a culture had been wiped out in days.

 

Ravi stared deep into the man's dark eyes. "Who are you?"

 

He methodically poured two cups of deep green tea before answering Ravi. "I have gone by many names. Here, my name is Matsubara Chuji, the 4th Captain of the Shinsengumi."

 

Ravi's face tensed, but not completely. He passed a cup of tea to her with great care, then scooped rice cooked with beans out from a pot.

 

"Please, let us give thanks and eat." Chuji held his bowl of rice upwards. "Life is changed so that we may enjoy this pleasure."

 

Slowly, Ravi did the same. After careful scrutiny, she decided the food was safe and began scarfing it down. Through her entire meal, her eyes remained locked on the monk.

 

Matsubara Chuji drank all of his tea then ate slowly, taking in each grain of rice with care. Ravi finished her portion long before he did, but he did not offer her seconds.

 

With her stomach filled, Ravi relaxed a bit and opened her mouth once more. "Why do you feed your enemy?"

 

"I embrace peace and harmony." Matsubara outstretched his hands slowly. "I have no enemies."

 

Ravi furrowed her brow. "Then why have you killed and slaughtered an entire people?"

 

"Your mind's eye is blinding you." Matsubara glanced briefly at his food as he continued to slowly eat, tiny piece by tiny piece. "You have gone astray, Ravi Katjagaarda."

 

Rage sparked across Ravi's face, and she jerked herself up from the floor. "How do you know my name?!"

 

"I know many things about you." Matsubara stared up listlessly at the woman. "About your father Vikram, and your life as a Kshatriya in Sapta Sindhu, to name a few."

 

"Who are you?!" Ravi asked again, but this time her voice was shrill.

 

"A seeker of Mu: the purest form of being, utter nothingness."

 

A soft moan escaped Ravi's throat. "I've never seen you before in my life. But your words, what you say, and your aura...I've felt it all once before. Long, long ago. You're a Tandavan. One of the Destroyers!"

 

"I did not destroy." Matsubara shook his head. "I liberated, just like I have been doing with the land of Yamato."

 

"Why?" Tears fell from Ravi's eyes as she remembered. "Why are you here?"

 

"I was at a different stage in that time," Matsubara explained, "in a different vessel, a different form, back when you were still a child. I could feel the enlightenment in your aura, and that is why I allowed you to live, Ravi Katjagaarda. I could sense that this was your final life, that you had been reincarnated time and time again for this moment – that you would be able to reach Nibbana in this life."

 

"What?" Ravi shook her head in disbelief. "What are you talking about?"

 

"Sapta Sindhu was filled with warped believers," Matsubara said, ever the . "The caste system of Khsatriyas, Vaishyas, Shudras, the teachings of the Brahmins, the words of the Vedas...no one will reach the pure land in that form. It is all meaningless complication. They were close, though. With one more reincarnation, perhaps they will reach their highest potentials."

 

Shivering, Ravi put her hands on her knees to support herself, unable to reply.

 

"I was called Miroku then," Matsubara went on. "Much like you, I was seen as a chosen one from my childhood, one capable of leading others to enlightenment. That was when I decided to walk along the path of the Bodhisattva."

 

"You killed my family!" Ravi declared. "You killed my friends, destroyed my homeland! You caused the deaths of thousands of innocents, and sent tens of thousands more fleeing to unknown lands!"

 

"The idea of killing is a misconception." Matsubara cleared his throat. "Souls only grow brighter and reincarnate. In this reality, there is no true beginning or ending. There is only the eternal cycle of the human soul. And as a Bodhisattva, it is my job to make sure that cycle continues in the right direction."

 

"You're out of your mind!" Ravi screamed. "You murderer!!"

 

"Again, the third eye deceives you." A pained expression surfaced on Matsubara's smooth face. "When I first saw you come into Kyo, I was heartbroken. My Ravi, the one I believed would someday come back to my side and join me on my eternal quest, had lost her way and fallen victim to worldly beliefs."

 

"This doesn't make any sense!" Ravi grasped her bald head with both hands. "Why here, of all places?"

 

"The Sanatana Dharma Conquest opened my eyes in many ways," the pious man spoke slowly, with care. "We faced the Devas, Devi, and Superdevas. I lost many allies. But it was part of the cycle. They needed to be reincarnated again – the cycle can never end. The Shinsengumi is also planning a mass effort to push the people of this land through their cycle, so I volunteered to help. After Yamato is reduced to nothing, I will travel to the next dimension and repeat the process. It is what must happen. The only real thing in this life is Mu, the eternal nothingness from which all is projected. We are nothing but changing aspects of the same object. There is nothing constant, no beginning, no end. All we can hope for is purity, void, and the shedding of worldly complications. Death does not exist, Ravi – you must know this. It is merely one more stage of our changing, of which the highest stage is absolute emptiness. That is what I strive for, and what all humans must strive for in order to achieve true peace."

 

The words echoed in Ravi's mind like a sledgehammer. "You twist what the masters taught, for your own convenience."

 

"The Essence of Wisdom sutra makes the truth clear. Go, go, go beyond, go fully beyond, and establish yourself in enlightenment. All of this, whether it be body, food, or object, is not real or important. The only thing that matters to us as souls is the pursuit of a perfect state, of meditation, of emptiness. Emptiness is form, and form is emptiness... there is no attainment and no non-attainment. In emptiness, we are all one, and we are all perfect. Mu is everything and nothing all at once."

 

Ravi felt psynergy course through her veins, and her body shivered. "There is more that a human soul needs. Love, comfort, peace..."

 

"You drown yourself in chakras, yogas, and seals, Ravi," A tear fell from Matsubara's eye. "The third eye is the eye of the soul, which should allow you to see past all of this."

 

"You're a murderer!" Ravi repeated, this time in a roar that shook the entire room. "Using the purity of religion to rationalize your crimes!"

 

"Ma-ka-han-nya-ha-ra-mi-ta-shin-kyo," Matsubara chanted, as he signed with his hands each syllable of the Essence of Wisdom sutra. "It appears I was wrong. You are not complete yet, my child. You must be reincarnated and changed once more."

 

Another roar

 

*************

 

pierced the ears of Onizawa Chiaki and Kasatsuji Satoka as they rounded the corner that led back to the crossroad at Gojo, the fifth avenue. Their search for Yakushiji Chigusa had proved fruitless, and after dodging three nurikabe and many other lurking yokai, the two found themselves back at the intersection where Reijiro had begun his spirited assault.

 

The street was painted onyx with yokai blood, but most of the corpses had long since disintegrated. The Ima River and the surrounding houses gleamed black, nearly invisible in the moonless night.

 

"Reijiro must have moved ahead," Chiaki said. "Are you alright, Satoka?"

 

Satoka nodded and squeezed Chiaki's hand tightly. As the daughters of nobles, the two had been kept separate from other children when they were young, and Chiaki had always been the object of the frail girl's affection. She would give her life for Chiaki, and was always happy to do whatever she could to make the girl's red lips smile. The love passed through Satoka's body like pure adrenalin, filling her with energy and hope, blotting out the demon-infested, corpse-ridden town.

 

As the two women made their way up the slick black road, Reijiro and his remaining twenty souls came into view. They were blood drunk and mentally exhausted, flickering as they stood their ground and stared up at a new foe.

 

The tengu army had been vanquished, and in their wake floated a single entity: an old man with a long white beard whose grotesquely long, wrinkled head extended backwards into the sky.

 

"A nurarihyon..." Chiaki whispered. "An elder yokai!"

 

"What does this mean?" Satoka asked. "You think it's leading the other yokai?"

 

The nurarihyon stared down at the remnants of the war with scornful eyes. With the flick of a few gnarled fingers, it expelled a stream of blue lightning bolts. Reijiro and his crew dodged the attacks with weary legs, and the spots they had been standing in were scorched. With a monstrous bellow, a heavyset dead soul with a long mustache and two sai leapt upwards at the yokai, only to be enclosed in mid-air by a translucent globe. Like some type of electromagnetic field, the orb crackled and fizzled with a blue glow, and the soul was instantly dissipated.

 

"We have to help them somehow..." Chiaki

 

*************

 

peered out the open window and into the night. Finally, Sabine and Bara had found a means of escape from the labyrinth of tatami and clay.

 

"Caleb's aura is getting farther and farther away." Sabine sighed. "But this house could just be playing tricks on us again."

 

"I think we should go out," Miyako Bara said. "The quicker we get out of this house, the better."

 

"You can say that again." Still shaken, Sabine took a deep breath and slid open the rest of the paper screen.

 

Outside the small hole in the wall, the tops of other houses could be seen. They stretched out endlessly into the distance, with wooden boards strewn here and there across small gaps to create makeshift walkways.

 

"Unless those planks are rotten, I think we might be able to traverse the city simply by jumping from roof to roof," Sabine said. "The gaps between houses are tiny, and utilizing speed and stealth might let us avoid more yokai."

 

Bara nodded. "Let's head north and hope we run into someone."

 

In a flash, the two women were off. Bara struggled to keep up with the agile Sabine as she hopped across the slanted, tiled roofs of the city. In the distance, loud noises and cries of agony could be heard. The two kept their auras diminished, which combined with their speed made them a difficult target for lurking monsters.

 

Bara turned around one last time before she took a flying leap onto a raised awning. The grotesque amalgamation of houses from which they had escaped continued on into the distance, spanning at least ten blocks and piercing the sky. Doors, screens and walls poked out of the mess of brown and white, as if a giant had crumpled up part of the city into a ball.

 

The girls kept their heads low as they dashed over a long rowhouse. Far ahead, Sabine spotted the foggy light of lanterns lined up against a white, one-story structure. It was positioned at the base of a stone wall, below a towering castle.

 

With her curiosity piqued, Sabine changed course. "Keep your

 

*************

 

guard up," Caleb said to Ban and Kyokuran as they got off the ladder and surveyed their surroundings.

 

They began walking down a cavern that had been hollowed out of dark blue rock, which shined dimly in the icy aura emanating from the Knight's trident. Clay jars filled with discolored bones lined the edges of the winding passage. With Kamo and Sabine's faraway auras ever in his mind, Caleb marched on.

 

A cool breeze blew in from deeper within, which was a welcome change from the muggy surface air. Ban clutched Kyokuran's kimono, keeping her frightened body close. Caleb was on constant watch, waiting for another specter to come leaping out at them from the darkness.

 

After some time, the passage narrowed, and Caleb saw the glow of neon lights at the end. Shoved into the bedrock were two steel doors, propped open only a tiny bit. Positioned over the doors, glowing and buzzing like any normal neon display, was the letters B O N E Y A R D. The scent of gas and scorched motor oil permeated out from within.

 

"We've come this far," he gulped. "You two ready?"

 

Kyokuran's oval eyes were firm. "Yes."

 

Ban's bottom lip quivered. "I'm scared, but let's go."

 

"Being scared is fine," Caleb said firmly, then placed his hands on both door handles and wrenched them open. "Just don't let the fear overtake you."

 

Ban and Kyokuran flanked Caleb as he shuffled into the darkness. Once inside, their tiny burning psynergy auras flooded their minds.

 

"Alright, boys." A deep voice echoed from within. "Light 'er up!"

 

Caleb slammed his eyes shut as a blinding wave of light washed over the room. All at once, floodlights dangling from the roof illuminated the spacious hall, followed by a bass drum beat.

 

Boom... ba-doom... shak! Boom... ba-doom... shak!

 

Standing on a wide stage at the far end of the room was a Yamatoan male in a leather jacket with an oversized pompadour and sunglasses. With a fat microphone in hand, he tapped his shiny blue suede shoes to the beat. Behind the tall man were three skeletons with similar hair-dos, one playing an electric bass, one playing an electric guitar, and one sitting behind a small drum set. The ghouls' bony fingers worked with strings and sticks, filling the chamber with rock 'n' roll.

 

Beyond the grooving foursome was an army of skeletons positioned in different places around the velvet walls, clapping their fleshless hands. Some were on motorcycles, some were smoking, and others were playing pool, but they all possessed a head of grease-slicked hair.

 

"Welcome to the Boneyard, ladies and germs," the Yamatoan's voice sang out from a nest of speakers. "I'll be your host tonight – the 10th Captain of the Shinsengumi, Harada Sanosuke!"

 

Screams and hoots were followed by a symphony of applause from the skeletons on the floor. Bikes revved and lighters snapped, entrancing the dumbfounded trio.

 

"Come one, come all! Grab a seat and stay a while! This is the ginchiest bash you'll ever lay your peepers on, I guarantee!"

 

Cymbals clashed as the drumming skeleton quickened the beat. The bones of the other two musicians shook in approval as they followed.

 

"A-one, a-two, a-one two

 

*************

 

three," Sabine whispered, then slid open the wooden gate to the gatehouse. Attached to the structure were stone corridors curving out to other guard huts, signifying that she and Bara had closed in on the Imperial Palace.

 

Inside, the fortification was vacant. With a tall ceiling and a wide tatami floor, it looked more like a dojo than any sort of guard station. Haphazardly hung on the walls were dusty mirrors, reflecting the tense faces of the two women. Candles and lanterns were lit, and there were no rotting corpses present, but Sabine couldn't sense any sign of life, either. Kamo and Caleb's auras flickered like ghosts in the distance, but otherwise, they were alone.

 

The door on the opposite wall swung open. For a moment, Sabine thought the figure that appeared was another monster. Then, she realized the creature's basket-like head was not a head at all, but rather, a strange helmet.

 

"Only two?" a husky voice observed. "Still, good job on making it this far."

 

Sabine slid her hands to Volundr as the figure made its way into the room. As she did so, she noticed something very unsettling.

 

I can't sense

 

*************

 

his aura at all, Caleb realized, and his throat tightened.

 

"When the creatures howl at the holy hour..." Harada held his microphone with seductive care. "When you feel your body shakin' with an eerie power..."

 

Wasting no time, Caleb grit his teeth and brandished his trident. 

 

"Woah there, daddy-o!" Harada stared in disbelief

 

*************

 

at Tomoyo's dead body.

 

"Someone shot her and killed her...instantly?" Kamo whispered in disbelief. "If it's a sniper, then he's probably switching targets to one of us right now. We need get out of here!"

 

Kamo scooped up Tomoyo's body and pulled Yayoi and the wailing Hanayo inside an abandoned restaurant. The smell of rotting flesh and food was abominable, but shelter was imperative.

 

Setting the dead girl down on a grimy wooden table, Kamo inspected the girl's neck. Carefully, he moved her hair to the side and stared at the object that had ended Ota Tomoyo's life.

 

Protruding from the back of Tomoyo's skull was what looked like some kind of fungus. It was greenish white, crusty, and just barely poking out of her skin, like a floral parasite.

 

Kamo studied the object. A strange, moldy aura emanated from it. "What

 

*************

 

will it be?" Sabine's helmet-clad opponent asked. "Surrender or fight?"

 

In response, Sabine unsheathed her sword and dashed forward. In a flash, her target met Sabine's blade with a long, curved katana that was twice the width of the blacksmith's rapier. An explosion erupted throughout the guardhouse, and Sabine was flung backwards. The force shattered both the blade and hilt of her weapon, sending pieces of

 

*************

 

golden æsotech crumbled to the ground as Harada crushed the prongs of Caleb's trident with his bare hand.

 

"Well, whaddya say, hepcats?" the Shinsengumi crooned. "Looks to me like someone's cruisin' for a bruisin'!"

Next: Eumycotapalooza