Volume 11 - Yamata no Orochi: Chapter 25 – That Sad Dusk

It was indeed Musashibo Benkei! The presence of his vengeful spirit in Ise raised questions about why his corpse still harbored a will. Lily, unaware that Yos.h.i.tsune had managed to reunite Benkei’s spirit with his physical body at Takadachi after the earth’s transformation, approached the situation with a mix of apprehension and respect. Despite her flushed face and unsteady posture, she calmly stepped forward and bowed. “Lord Benkei, I have come here as Yos.h.i.tsune’s successor to worship him. Please, let us pa.s.s.”

Benkei’s consciousness, clearer now, recalled Yos.h.i.tsune’s words from Ise. If Yos.h.i.tsune’s spirit hadn’t been trapped in Ise, he might have been inclined to a.s.sist this woman, described by Yos.h.i.tsune as beautiful, well-educated, and strong. Could this tall, delicate girl in white be his disciple?

Before Benkei could inquire further, Shizuka Gozen gently ushered Lily back, possibly to protect her, and stepped forward. “Benkei, do you remember me?” she asked. Benkei’s consciousness, clouded by resentment, initially failed to recognize her. But as Shizuka stood before him, memories resurfaced.

As Benkei’s vengeful spirit emerged from his corpse, his spiritual sense swept through Shizuka, triggering a rush of familiarity. “Madam…” he uttered, his recognition causing the surrounding lands and forests to tremble. “You are the madam…”

Shizuka, her voice tinged with sadness, addressed Benkei. “It’s been many years, you’ve worked hard. I am going to Heian-kyo to defeat our greatest enemy, Minamoto no Yoritomo! But before that, I want to go to Takadachi to visit Yos.h.i.tsune.”

Benkei, filled with a newfound fighting spirit, responded with enthusiasm. “Really? This day has finally arrived! I shall aid you in this task!” His voice, echoing his resolve, conveyed his readiness to support Shizuka in her quest to honor Yos.h.i.tsune and confront their formidable adversary.

“Lord Benkei!” Lily exclaimed, her joy evident. Though Benkei was a vengeful spirit, his formidable power was comparable to Michizane’s. His a.s.sistance promised to significantly bolster their chances of success.

Acknowledging the impracticality of accompanying two women, Benkei expressed his plan to journey to Heian-kyo alone. “The madam and you are both women; it will not be convenient for me to travel with you. I will go to Heian-kyo first and kill to my heart’s content! When your great army arrives, I will help!” he declared.

As he spoke, a monstrous eldritch cloud materialized around him, lifting him into the sky. He moved towards the southwest with great strides, his figure resembling a corpse transported by the cloud.

“Lord Benkei…” Lily whispered, her voice tinged with a mix of respect and bewilderment as Benkei departed resolutely, leaving her with a myriad of unanswered questions. The group then made their way to the entrance of Takadachi.

The temple, inconspicuous and ordinary from the outside, presented a different scene within its walls. Inside, the temple was in disarray, yet spotlessly clean.

Strikingly, Yos.h.i.tsune’s corpse was absent, with only a short knife lying on the floor. The blade, stained with dried blood, emanated a faint golden light and a clean smell, suggesting that if Yos.h.i.tsune had lived, he wouldn’t have been far from the celestial realm. The blood’s sacred l.u.s.ter, uncorrupted even after years, indicated that Yos.h.i.tsune might not have become a celestial, but could be considered a saint.

Shizuka Gozen, upon seeing the knife, kneeled on the ground, picked it up, and hugged it tightly, tears dripping from her eyes. In this moment of deep emotion, Lily and the others silently kneeled down and kowtowed, offering their respect without disturbing Shizuka’s mourning.

Yet, Lily couldn’t help but ponder a critical question: Where was Yos.h.i.tsune’s corpse? The temple’s condition suggested that no enemy had entered, especially since Benkei had been guarding outside. Even Yoritomo, upon confirming Yos.h.i.tsune’s suicide, would not have risked heavy casualties just to invade the temple and desecrate a corpse.

The fact that no one else seemed to have entered the temple since then, coupled with the knife’s presence, deepened the mystery. Why would someone take the body but leave behind the treasured knife? Yos.h.i.tsune’s death and the circ.u.mstances surrounding it were indeed confusing. Lily considered another point: if she could see this discrepancy, then surely Shizuka Gozen, equally smart and wise, and the person who cared the most about Yos.h.i.tsune, would also recognize this problem.

Suddenly, a young man’s voice, both bright and melancholic, resonated within the building. “Kagami Lily… you have finally arrived.” Lily trembled at the sound. Yos.h.i.tsune’s will was present, but curiously, he spoke to her first instead of Shizuka, leaving Lily feeling somewhat ashamed. Despite her uncertainty about Shizuka’s reaction, Lily knew she needed to respond.

Continuing to kneel, she addressed Lord Yos.h.i.tsune, “My side will soon face a decisive battle with Minamoto no Yoritomo. I have come to worship before the battle, hoping Lord Yos.h.i.tsune will bless us with victory, to bring justice to the world and avenge the fallen.” But Yos.h.i.tsune offered no answer. Lily tentatively mentioned, “Madam Shizuka has come to see you…”, yet still, there was silence, causing Shizuka Gozen to tremble uncontrollably.

Suddenly, an ancient memory invaded Lily’s mind. Overwhelmed, she cried out, “Ah…Aghh!!” and felt the world spin as she fainted into darkness. In this void, a vision unfolded before her eyes: a vast sea of clouds, but these were not the white clouds of a blue sky. Instead, they were dim, dark, and vast, evoking a sense of doomsday.

Lily found her consciousness floating within this sky, amidst these ominous clouds. Then, she heard Yos.h.i.tsune’s voice, ethereal, sad, yet resolute, echoing through the expanse. “Takamagahara is dim, Yomi is in danger, the heavens are in chaos, the sun and moon are dark,” he said. Lily grappled with the meaning of his words; she somewhat understood, yet also didn’t. What could be the true meaning behind these cryptic words?

“Kagami Lily, you are the key to everything,” Yos.h.i.tsune continued. “Your splendor shines, unmatched. You must see and understand the chaos and the truth. You are the key amidst the changing and chaotic s.p.a.ce between the heavens and Yomi.”

“Me?” Lily questioned, floating amidst the dim clouds, her heart quivering. She felt like she was continuously falling, the winds harsh against her ears, her hair wildly flapping about her.

Suddenly, she broke through the clouds, revealing a great sea with dark golden waves shimmering before her. In the distance, the golden light reflected off the colorful clouds that dominated the sky, painting a scene both sad and beautiful, reminiscent of a pre-disaster twilight of the G.o.ds. This scene felt eerily familiar to Lily. Was this a return to the moment when the plane crashed, and she arrived in this world?

“Senior Sister!” she called out, searching around, but she was alone in this vast dusky sea. Before she could ponder further, darkness enveloped her world once again.

In the ensuing darkness, Lily gradually felt an icy coldness beneath her. She frowned, slowly awakening and opening her eyes to find herself in the old ruins of a deserted small temple at sunset. Feeling something hard beneath her, she got up and grabbed the item. “My ancient mirror?” she wondered, realizing this was a memory, a mere spectator to the events of her past.

Her clothes, reminiscent of what her senior sister wore before the accident, were now unbearably wrecked, with only tattered remnants clinging to her. The exposed and torn underwear made her blush despite the situation. Looking up through the roof of the ruined temple, she noticed the sky darkening.

A portion of wood, seemingly dislodged from a hole in the roof, crashed down near her. Observing the cracks on the floor, Lily surmised that some force, possibly from the ancient mirror beneath her, had lessened the impact of her fall.

Suddenly, her clothes began to disintegrate, turning into ash and floating away. “Were those clothes returned to where they came from?” she wondered aloud. “Then why am I still here?”

Shivering in the cold, the golden sunset caressed her exposed body, filling her with a sense of shame. Before she could react, the ancient mirror emitted a strange, gentle light that enveloped her, transforming into a beautiful purple kimono decorated with ice blue flowers.

Feeling the mirror’s extraordinary nature, she tucked it into her sash. She paused upon seeing a dusty red parasol by the door and, for reasons unknown, decided to take it, perhaps as a precaution against rain.

With the parasol in hand, Lily left the temple, pa.s.sing through a dark grove before arriving at ancient Kamakura, where the streets lay dark under the set sun.

“Lily! Lily!” She could hear her sisters’ worried voices calling out to her.

Opening her eyes, Lily found herself back in the sedan, still dressed in white with a ponytail. Confused, she got up. “I…” she began.

“Lily, are you really fine?” Ayaka asked, checking her pulse and heart rate again.

“Ah… I’m fine,” Lily replied, feeling unusually sensitive to even the gentlest touch.

“You fainted in Takadachi. We brought you down the mountain to the sedan, fearing it might impact you to stay there,” Rei explained.

Lily responded blankly, “Nn…”

“Are you really fine?” Rei inquired further.

“Nn,” Lily replied with a smile.

“Do you want to return to Takadachi? Is there anything else you need to say there?” Ayaka asked.

Sitting in the corner, Shizuka frowned slightly, seemingly uneasy about any bond between Lily and Yos.h.i.tsune that she didn’t know about. Lily, freshly awakened from her dream, was oblivious to Shizuka’s thoughts and simply shook her head. “No, let’s return to Kiyosu Castle.”