Kitsune: A Little Mermaid Retelling

Chapter Five (Part Two)

When Naoki reached the border of the forest, he felt the residue of magic; it clung to his skin as it hung over the countryside like a shroud. Stretching out his senses, he felt an Okami hunting in the night; small, ignorant Yokai watched him fearfully from the shadows. Intertwined among the other energies, very faintly, he felt the presence of a priestess. Intrigued, he stretched out his senses and touched the edges of her power, like a vine reaching toward the sun. She had masked her energy or else he would have felt her straight away, which meant she was powerful. He probed her energy, analyzing it—confident his own greater spiritual power would hide him. Even at a distance, he could often learn all about a Yokai or priestess without them ever knowing he had brushed against them, reading their emotions and sometimes their memories. But she fought him; like a breeze blowing against a tree branch, she tried to repel him. He focused his energy into a single beam. Now he was truly curious.

He skimmed through her energy, reading it, but he only got vague impressions and flashes of emotions. This wasn't a priestess, a human priestess' energy was pure. This human's spiritual energy was clouded with darkness, and familiar. As he tried to pinpoint her location, she disappeared entirely. This is dangerous. Few could fight against him, and if a human could hide from his probes, then she was equal in power to him. He searched in vain for her—he was certain he recognized that energy. As he searched, he found traces of the Kitsune as well. He hoped she would leave this region straight away. But he could feel her all around; he could see her progress in his mind's eye, running along the human road disguised as a fox, until her energy disappeared as well. Something was not right.

Then like a flash of light, he felt the priestess' spiritual energy unmasked. She had revealed herself to give him a taste of her real power. He knew this energy, though it had been centuries since he'd last experienced it; she was no mere priestess. What is she doing back here? He stopped, pretending to straighten his sandal. He would rather go on his way without a fight, but the priestess was drawing closer—there was no way to avoid a confrontation now. He drew up and reached for his sword.

"He has let you off your leash, then?" she said from behind him.

Naoki rested his palm on the end of his sword but did not draw. "It is you. I did not think to see you here after all you have done."

The witch came out from around a tree. She bowed low to Naoki, mocking him most likely. She had not changed much over the years; everything about her was the same from her white hair to the crescent-shaped scar on her face. His hand itched to draw his blade, but he would be dead before he pulled it free.

"Have you visited Akio? I am sure he would like to see you."

The witch cackled. "I am sure he would love to see me. Have you come for me, then?" She looked him up and down. "Perhaps not. You wear a human's skin."

"Why are you here?"

"I had some work to take care of in the area." She looked him up and down and a slow smile spread across her wrinkled features. It had been a long time since they had crossed paths. He still remembered that look and it still set his teeth on edge even after all this time. "I am glad I ran into you," she said slowly, enunciating each word. "You can assist me."

He never showed his emotion, but a scornful smile flitted across his face. "Why would I help you?"

"You want free of the guardian, and I can help you."

He ran his thumb across the hilt of his blade. This must be a trick. With her it was never this simple. If he helped her, he was likely to incur some other favor and be beholden to her instead of Akio. But he could not say it was not an enticing offer. "How can I trust you?"

"Do not mistake me for Akio. He made his own choices. I never wished you any ill will."

He crossed his hands over his chest, to defeat the urge to draw his blade and take her head as a prize. "What business do you have here?" he asked.

"Human business. Nothing that would interest you." She waved her hand. That was as much as he would get from her, he expected. "Do you want to hear how I can free you of Akio or not?" Her gloating hung over her like a cloud; she loved to be in control.

He did not respond, but he was curious. He did not trust her. He had once, but that was when he was a different man.

She took his silence as assent. "There is a clan near here who I have some interest in. I sent my own spy, but another would not go amiss."

"And what exactly are you spying for?"

"I am making war." She smiled with an almost childlike glee.

A shiver went down his spine. Only she would find joy in carnage. "And what could I do to that end?"

"Watch, listen, and report, nothing more."

"And in exchange you will free me from Akio?" He was skeptical. "I know you are powerful, but even you cannot break his pact."

"Hmm. Perhaps, but I know where she sleeps, and if you wake her, she will be able to."

Where is she, where is she! he wanted to shout. He had been searching for five hundred years and not been able to find Tsukiko. How could this witch know? He knew the witch was powerful, and her power had only grown over the centuries. It should have been expected from a priestess who did not fear black magic. But to know where Tsukiko slept, when even the Eight could not tell him, it was impossible.

"You lie."

The witch reached into her billowing sleeve and removed something from it. She tossed it onto the ground. He slowly knelt down to pick it up off the ground, not taking his eyes off the witch. His hand closed around the cold stone. He unfurled his hand, revealing a comb—inconsequential, uninteresting, made of jade with a carved rose on the front entwined with thorns. It was his last gift to Tsukiko before they had been separated.

"Where did you get this?" How could she have known? It could not be hers...

"If you want to find her, then perhaps you would be willing to do me a favor?"

He stared back down at the comb. After centuries of waiting, how could he say no? He could try to overpower the witch and demand the answers, but he knew the witch well enough to know she would die before telling him. And then he would never find Tsukiko.

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