Chapter 9: Gold (The Chronicles of Time)
She walked beside him slowly. It was weird how she suddenly forgot how to walk after staying in bed for a day. Her next step sent her stumbling. She unconsciously grabbed onto her neighbor’s arm in fear of falling.
He smirked at the sight. “Oh my, are you learning to walk?”
“S-shut up!” Her face turned red from embarrassment. Her hands rolled into a fist on her side.
‘Out of all people, I have to be stuck with him!’
“Careful, you’ll crash into the wall if you keep on waddling like that.” She freed his arm and continued with her shaky walk in a sense of urgency.
“I-I’ll be fine! Just watch! I can walk - “ Her foot gave away and she slipped, slamming her forehead onto the wall in front of her. She groaned then straightened herself up with her legs still trembling.
He guffawed and slapped his knee. “Ha! Look at that!”
“S-shut up!” She stood up with the support of the wall, even more flushed at her precipitate action of attempting to prove him wrong. She was like a newborn fawn taking its first steps with rickety knees. His merriment fueled her even more.
“You’re gonna re-attempt it again?” He put a hand on his waist and swaggered up to her stumbling figure. She ignored him and continued on using the wall as a pillar to hold herself up. It was admirable but looking at her shaking made him laugh. No matter what she did, his face would continue to look at her with amusement and schadenfreude. “You want help?”
She shook her head at him and gave him a glare. “No thank you!”
***
“Welcome back, Izanami-san!”
“Welcome back!”
“I heard that you were sick, are you alright now?”
Crowds of people clustered around her desk, pressuring her with so many questions andcongratulations that her mind ceased to function properly.
“I-I’m alright now, thank you for your concerns.” Was what she managed to sputter out.
“Quite popular aren’t you?” He elbowed her. “Your popularity soared to the skies the second you came back.”
“It seems like that gibing at me has become your specialty, hasn’t it?”
“I’m not doing that!” He said, hurt. “Is that how you think of me?” He put a hand over his heart, acting pitiful.
“Oh sorry, it’s just that I’m so used to you making fun of me all the time.” She shrugged.
She stared at the two chatting with a friendly atmosphere, and clenched her skirt in envy. Her sight zoomed into the boy’s entertained face. His hair as black as the night sky, and his eyes are as beautiful as roses. No - even more beautiful than roses; and his charming voice that made her heart skip a beat with his every laugh.
But he wasn’t paying attention to her at all. Instead, his gaze rested upon the girl who sat in front of him with a handsome smirk. It irked her whenever he stared at her warmly although the girl wasn’t even aware of it and treated him as an annoying fly. How did she even manage to insinuate herself into his favor?
‘How dare she!’
Her murderous eyes turned red from fury.
***
She opened her locker to find a ragged doll drop out of it, and it fell depressingly onto the floor. She bent down and picked it up.
“What’s this?” Horrified, she examined the doll closely. It had slashes all over it, and knife wounds which resulted in its insides spilling out. It resembled her, oddly, that it sent chills down her spine.
“That’s creepy,” Himari peered over her shoulder, and shuddered. “Who would do such a thing?”
“What is that?” Yuu poked his head into the situation and narrowed his eyes at the sight of the doll. It oozed a weird feeling. “It feels so…gross.”
She turned it around, then wrinkled her brows. “I don’t know. Maybe some sort of prank?”
“It’s too far to be a prank.” Himari said, keenly, taking the unsightly doll. “Someone must hold a grudge on you or something.”
“Should I find who it is?” Yuu held up his hand, ready to cast an identification spell.
“No,” Natsumi shook her head, “let’s leave it as it is. It’s not that bad.”
She turned away and walked to class in a hurry.
“Check who it is either way,” Himari nodded to him then left to catch up with her friend after placing the doll in his hands. He stared at it in silence for a moment until all spectators rushed to class in the fear of being late. He flipped it over and opened his palm to detect any other presence near him to find none. The coast was clear, leaving him complete freedom to do what he wanted. The school didn’t have any cameras because they were confident in their security which worked in his favor. Human inventions can be so uselessly bothersome.
His eyes shined and he scanned the doll carefully for a while then closed them. A blurry image passed through his mind.
“That girl…seems familiar.”
***
Akira looked around cautiously then surreptitiously slipped out of the house by jumping out a window. He landed softly onto the grass and vanished, disappearing in a shower of gold. He found himself in a closed space filled with twinkling trinkets, and all sorts of jewels that shined brightly with such luster, he had to turn away from them. It didn’t suit his taste at all.
A tall and golden throne with all sorts of valuable-looking diamonds and other stones studded on it stood in the middle of the heaps of treasure. It loomed over him venerably, demanding respect. The whole room was a prodigal expenditure, covered in endless valuables.
“You like them?”
He turned his head sharply towards the voice but to find no one there.
“I can give you some if you like.” This time it came from behind him but he didn’t find anyone.
‘He’s fast!’
“Oh my, where are you looking?”
A boy his height tapped him on the shoulder sending him flying towards the heaps of gold. His hair was like gold itself - glittering and shining with luster and decorated with a diamond hairpin. He was dressed lavishly, wearing a royal silk white robe decorated with gold threads and small jewels that flashed whenever he moved. His shoes resembled moccasins but were slightly elevated and were also made completely out of silk and two amber stones in the middle. Gold was seen everywhere, almost on every inch of his body. His light aqua blue eyes flashed with amusement at the new arrival.
“You’re quite young aren’t you?”
Akira got up to his knees and brushed the ornaments off of himself. He then walked toward the owner of the place and bowed.
“What’s this for?”
“It’s proper respect and manners,” Akira replied then stood up.
“...What brought you here?”
He could feel the interested stare searching him. “...I’ve come on behalf of my master’s former guardians.”
“Natsumi’s?”
“...yes. They presented me with a riddle before their death which I have just untangled. My apologies for being late, “master of the mountain”.”
“Hmmm…‘What hides what you seek lies beneath the Earth,’” he began reciting in a sing-song way, tossing up a gold coin in the air then catching it. “‘The willows weep at the time of need, and the mark shall be reborn again. A jewel will forever close its eyes, and over time - it shall die. The Sun will rise again and time will repeat. Once again the poison starts to circulate.”’
“‘Then with red and white, it shall start again as a newborn seed,’” Akira continued, “Time will rewind slowly and an innocent love will be involved. Slowly and little by little, she shall reawaken when the promise is fulfilled and the brown one shall weep for she is vacant. The gold will rub against itself and shine brighter than ever and cast showers everywhere, looking for the important one.’ That’s all I remember. The rest isn’t that important.”
“You’re wrong about that youngster,” he sat down on his throne, groping the bowl of valuables next to him. The sound of the jewels falling rang throughout the hall. “Every part of this riddle - or poem - is vital information. I must say, you are quite slow. Where it says “underneath the Earth”, and “gold will rub against itself” is where you must’ve thought that I must be somewhat privy in this secret poem, and you’re correct.”
“”Gold” refers to you, and “underneath the Earth” is where gold is found.” Akira explained confidently. “The only place where gold could be mined is Hishikari, and the only person who could be of help is you, the mountain god. You’re also the only one that has a connection to the Izanami family because they are your descendants since when you “rub gold against itself” it splits and becomes smaller which shows the lines of ancestry.”
He chuckled. “You’re right. They are my descendants.”
“So why don’t you take responsibility for this?”
His eyes flashed threateningly. “…What is it that you’re trying to say?”
Insane amount of pressure fell on his shoulders but he persisted and pressed his feet against the ground, maintaining his posture. “I’m talking about master’s curse. You’re aware of it are you not? It was because the high court punished you for eloping secretly with Izanami, the goddess of Creation and Death.”
“Not exactly true,” he said before Akira could say anything more. “She took the form of my lover when she managed to escape from the underworld, and I was compelled to shelter her.”
“And that was how the bloodline started. The last name “Izanami” still exists because the cursed bloodline hasn’t ended yet.” Akira sat down on a chair that was conjured up for him. “Do you have no plans to end it?”
“Even if I do, I can’t,” he shook his head. “This is the punishment bestowed upon us, there's nothing that I can do about it besides sit back and watch.”
Akira flared up. “Is that what you really think? Just a few days ago master was suffering in bed and couldn’t even get up! All because of your divine blood flowing in her! It was too much for her to hold, and large amounts of mana was seeping out of her! Will you really just - “
“You’re wrong,” he kicked up his legs and crossed them in a kingly fashion. “That child has nothing to do with my blood.”
He blinked and withdrew. “What are you saying?”
“She’s not related to me at all.” He repeated again simply with a delicate air. “Her body, indeed, has my blood flowing through it, but her soul is not of the family. She was already cursed before she entered this life.”
“What - ?”
“Were you not paying attention to the riddle?” He sneered at the pitiful and stupidly faithful boy in front of him with a dumbfounded expression.
“I - I - “
“You were not.” He shook his head with dissatisfaction. “And you called yourself a guard? Tsk, tsk. How incapable. I can’t believe they entrusted you with the role of protecting my precious grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-granddaughter. How foolish.”
His head fell but then his expression illuminated a bit after contemplating what he just said. “...”precious” as in you care about master?”
“What?” He choked on his spit, flustered. He stood up from his throne abruptly. “W-what are you talking about?”
“Based on your expression and your actions, you really do care about master don’t you?” His tail wagged excitedly at his new discovery.
His face was paralyzed. ‘Ah…crap.’