Chapter 5: Silver Soul (Era of Expulsion)

A day in the mountains is as a hundred years in the world. Okakura Take never imagined that after just an afternoon’s nap in the hills, her home had become a silent, lifeless village.

Under the moonlight, Take saw blood splattered everywhere, bodies and severed limbs strewn across the ground—these were her fellow villagers, people she knew by name. They had been alive at noon…

“Mother! Megumi!” Please, please be safe!

Take raced toward her home, her path lined with corpses and bloodstains. The mud that splashed onto her face carried the metallic tang of blood. The village’s silence made her realize for the first time how terrifying quietude could be; her heart pounded louder and louder.

She turned the corner—her house was in sight. She paused briefly at the door, then rushed inside.

Mother…

Megumi…

Please… please… let nothing have happened…

As she stepped inside, the stench of blood assaulted her senses, and her eyes reddened instantly.

“Mother! Where are you?!”

“Where are you?”

“Where are you?”

No one answered her cries; only the darkness watched her in silence.

She searched the backyard, then moved room by room through the house, finally reaching the last room—her parents’ bedroom.

With trembling hands, she slid open the paper door.

Her eyes fell upon her mother’s naked, pale body on the tatami. Moonlight streamed through the window, illuminating that beautiful form. Her mother’s skin was mottled with bruises; her long black hair splayed out; her slender legs stained with white fluids. Her mother gazed at the ceiling, tear-streaked, her lips bloody from biting.

“Mother!” Take flung herself onto her mother, embracing her.

Seeing the wounds on her mother’s face, Take wept bitterly, hatred for the perpetrators burning in her heart.

“Mother, who did this? Who was it? I’ll kill them!” Her already ghastly visage twisted further in rage.

“Take…” Her mother’s soft hand gently stroked her face. Seeing the tears streaming from her mother’s eyes, Take’s self-loathing deepened. Why had she slept in the mountains? Why hadn’t she come down sooner? Why hadn’t she protected her mother?

Hatred, endless hatred—for the killers, for herself!

“Seeing you, Take, makes me feel so safe… cough, cough. My… my precious child is the strongest.” Her mother nuzzled gently against Take’s chest.

“Mom, I’m sorry. If only I’d come down from the mountain earlier. It’s all my fault.” Take sobbed uncontrollably.

“Don’t say that. Knowing you’re safe, I can rest easy. Take, I’m sorry. It should have been me protecting you, but now you must shoulder this burden. Take, go find Megumi, see where she is. Cough, cough. Be careful, there may still be Celestials outside.”

Celestials! Take’s mind reeled. Why would Celestials attack their small village? But now was not the time for questions. She still had to find Megumi.

She glanced at her mother, uneasy about leaving her alone. Her mother, sensing her worry, smiled softly. “I’ll be fine. I’ll wait for you here. Go quickly and come back soon.”

“Mother.” Take hesitated, then removed her outer robe and draped it over her mother’s body. “Wait for me. I’ll be back.”

Her mother nodded.

“I’ll wait for you. Megumi is in your hands, my precious. Be careful.”

Take glanced at her mother one last time before rushing out.

Watching her daughter’s departing figure, Okakura Tamae’s tears slid silently down her cheeks.

“Take, hurry back. I don’t know how much longer I can hold on…” Blood slowly seeped into the edge of her gray robe.

Take went to her room and grabbed the sword her father had given her—a sixty-centimeter blade.

As she reached the door, she heard voices outside. She immediately hid behind the door, deciding to observe first.

The voices drew closer to her doorstep. Take raised her brows—who had come to her house? She held her breath, listening.

“Ah, that woman inside is really beautiful,” a hoarse male voice said.

“Yeah, who’d have thought such a pretty woman lived in a place like this? Even the courtesans of Yoshiwara aren’t as beautiful. Getting to have her tonight was worth the trouble,” another coarse voice leered.

“Damn it, the captain had his fun for ages. I haven’t had enough yet. While the others are off hunting treasure, I’ll enjoy her some more,” a shrill voice sneered.

Take could not bear to listen further.

They had violated her mother. This hatred would never be quenched!

She felt the strings in her mind snapping, her heart turning into that of a demon, craving to tear those men to pieces!

Kill them, snap their necks, shred them to mince!

The demon opened blood-red eyes in the darkness!

If gods truly watch over mortals, recording all their deeds, sending them to hell for their sins after death, then let the gods reserve her a place in hell!

“Hehehe… hehehe…”

The sinister laughter from behind the door startled the Celestials outside.

“Who’s there? Stop pretending and come out!” demanded a Celestial with a frog’s head—the shrill voice from before.

“Yahahahaha!” The laughter grew sharper and more piercing. Take emerged from behind the door, cackling madly.

A demon descended!

In the night, the small demon shrieked, baring claws and drawing her blade. “I am already a demon!”

As soon as she spoke, the white-robed demon lunged at her prey.

Blade drawn, it must taste blood! The keen edge sliced through the darkness like a spider’s web. The Celestials, who had been talking moments before, were cut into countless pieces, their blood splattering onto Take’s face, hair, and clothes.

The white demon became a blood-red fiend!

Take gazed coldly at the bloody meat and gore on the ground, her heart beating wildly. Even though she had killed Celestials, their blood was just as red—too glaring!

In her mind, a sharp female voice urged, “Keep killing! Keep killing! There are more to slaughter!” The voice irritated her.

She knew, at the moment of killing, that a demon had arisen in her heart. The Buddhists say one becomes a Buddha upon touching the earth. Emperor Ashoka caused the deaths of 150,000 in Kalinga, but upon seeing mountains of corpses and seas of blood, his heart was shaken, and his Buddha-nature awakened. In the three thousand worlds, all beings are Buddhas, all things have Buddha-nature—but Take’s heart had grown demonic before it could become Buddha.

Take strode toward the edge of the village, sword in hand—the place Megumi liked to play.

In the distance, she saw several orange-red sparks and wisps of smoke.

There were people ahead.

She grinned, blade in hand. If they were Celestials—kill!

Indeed, they were Celestials. A few had come out to smoke, and as they puffed, they saw their comrades’ heads rolling.

“Ahhh!” The remaining Celestials jumped up, drawing weapons. Facing a child with a demon’s face, blood-soaked, their hearts skipped with fear. But seeing their comrades, they regained some courage.

“Damn brat! Don’t want to live, do you? Killing us Celestials? I’ll slaughter you, little monkey!” A fish-headed Celestial raised an axe and swung.

Bang! The axe struck the earth, but while the fish-head stared at the ground, Take had already stabbed him in the abdomen. Seeing another fall, the rest screamed and charged together, relying on numbers.

Take grabbed the fish-head’s axe and swung it from one to another—each strike was fatal. Her strength meant whoever she struck would die, brains splattered.

Soon, only one of the seven or eight Celestials remained.

It was another fish-headed Celestial. Seeing his companions slaughtered by a child who looked like a demon, he nearly wet himself, trembling and crawling backward in terror.

“Wait! Don’t kill me—I’m only obeying orders from above. Please spare me!” the fish-head Celestial pleaded, tears and snot streaming.

“Why did you come to our village?” Take asked coldly.

“Your village offended someone important above. That person came here recently, was angered, and ordered your village and the whole town destroyed. It’s all decided by those above. Please, spare me!” the fish-head sobbed.

“I see.” Before the words left her mouth, Take swung the axe. The fish-head rolled to the ground.

She could not forgive those who destroyed her home, slaughtered her people, violated her mother. No matter how pitiful they appeared, she could not forgive!

She dropped the axe and picked up a spiked club from the ground. Her strength made wielding such weapons easier than a sword.

Take ran forward, sword in one hand, club in the other.

Finally, she found Megumi beneath a tree by the fields. Her small body lay with her friends, head bloodied, cold and breathless.

Moonlight filtered through the leaves, illuminating her adorable face, now eerily pale. Take dropped her weapons and walked over, cradling Megumi’s stiff, cold body.

Four years ago, Megumi had been brought home by her father—a tiny, sweet girl, timid and afraid of Take. Though she trembled whenever she saw her cousin, she would always call her, lips quivering, “Cousin.” She rarely played with Take, yet whenever Take returned home, she greeted her softly, shyly…

Just like her round, gentle eyes.

Now, those eyes were closed forever. Her little sister was dead.

So cold. The body in her arms was so cold. Take hugged Megumi’s corpse and walked step by step toward home, tears streaming endlessly, unable to stop; the bloodstains on her face washed away by her tears.

Entering the house, she carried Megumi into her parents’ room. Inside, her mother had been gazing at the door. Seeing her mother’s expectant look, Take stumbled, but finally reached her mother’s side and laid Megumi’s small body down.

Seeing the tiny, closed-eyed figure, Tamae’s tears flowed in torrents. Over the years, she had considered Megumi half her daughter. To witness a child she had raised die was agony beyond words.

“Mother, I’m sorry…” Take knelt hard on the ground. “If only I hadn’t played in the mountains at noon and had come down earlier, I could have saved Megumi, she…”

She couldn’t finish—the tears on her face soaked the front of her robe. Her sobs were wrenching.

Seeing her daughter cry so miserably, Tamae’s heart ached, because she knew she would soon have to leave her own child behind in this world—she was about to die…

“Take, don’t blame yourself. It’s not your fault.” Tamae slowly reached out to caress her daughter’s face.

“Mother…”

“I won’t last much longer… cough, cough,” Tamae said, coughing up blood.

“Mother!” Take cried, rushing to embrace her mother. Only then did she see the blood-soaked edge of her mother’s robe. She reached beneath Tamae and her hands came away slick; she held them up, trembling, her bruised palms dripping with blood.

“Mother, I’ll take you to a doctor. Don’t be afraid, you’ll be okay.” Take prepared to lift her mother, but Tamae stopped her.

“Precious, there’s no need. I know I won’t make it. There’s a broken blade in my back, I…”

“Don’t say that! We haven’t seen a doctor yet. Don’t say it. I’ll take you to the hospital, to the hospital, to the hospital…” Take rambled, cradling Tamae and rushing out.

As they ran, Tamae’s blood dripped steadily onto the ground, trailing behind them. Her face grew paler, her eyes dimmer.

Her daughter, her precious, her beloved Take—how dearly she loved her.

“Take, I want to tell you…” Tamae’s voice grew faint. “Actually, I’m a Celestial too.”

Take froze but kept running. Tamae continued.

“I used to look just like you. Our kind are born like this, but we become beautiful little by little, as long as we receive someone’s true love. When I first arrived on Earth, I frightened many people, but your father was different. He was such a good man… cough, cough.”

“He was so wonderful. His love alone made me more beautiful day by day. Being with him made me so happy, and after you came, my life felt complete. Take, I kept a diary about our kind—it’s in the first bookcase, lower shelf, yellow cover. Look for it when you return.”

“If you ever find your father, tell him I’ve always loved him. I’m a selfish woman; I don’t want him with anyone else. I only hope he loves me alone, hope he always loves me…”

Tamae slowly raised her hand to wipe her daughter’s streaming tears.

“Precious, someday more people will see your goodness. You’ll grow even more beautiful. My precious is the loveliest of all.”

“Mother… I love you…”

Precious, forgive me—I can’t stay with you anymore…

[Her soul slowly departed. She heard the silent snowfall, its sound traversing the entire universe, as if it heralded the death of their past lives, reigning over all living and dead.]

Take stopped. She stood, dazed, cradling her mother’s cooling corpse. In the moonlight, holding her mother’s small frame, she appeared so thin and lonely.

Everything was gone…

Why do people die…?

Why am I still alive…?

She asked herself again and again, but no one answered. She looked down the path ahead, then at the person in her arms, and finally chose to turn back, step by step, returning to the home that was now hers alone.