Epilogue: Wear Red When You Bring Me Offerings
Yukiko delivered her child, a healthy son named Ryutaro, on the second of October. Iyotushi Akechi was crowned Emperor on October fifth, 1583.
When the smoke cleared, all of the retinue but Reiko could be healed and returned to life. The spirits were dispersed into the land through Tadaki's tower, and there they reside to this day. After the coronation, the retinue departed for the four corners of Japan, to see if the war-torn land could be salvaged.
The Crane Clan was decimated by the machinations of Arenro, and on Lord Akazawa Tsuneyasu's death in 1585, the Crane was simply folded into the Scorpion, Tomika and Funitsu ruling jointly over the combined clan. The pair stayed married (though why they did so was the wonderment of all who knew them, except Yukiko), and eventually had three children, two boys and a girl. Soshi Tsutsako never married, preferring her shugenja studies to all worldly affairs, so she claimed.
The Crab did survive to rise again, though Hideyoshi did not return to his former position as Clan Lord. Haku's daughter Kita was adopted into the clan and ruled them for forty-four hard years, as the Crab fought to regain even a shadow of its former glory.
Haku married within his clan and had five children--not including the one who was Yukiko's son. Few ever guessed Ryutaro's parentage, as he took strongly after Yukiko's father. Those who did guess never spoke of it; Haku took the secret to his grave. It is unknown if Yukiko ever knew who the father of her child was.
Hideyoshi served under Akechi as the general of the Imperial Army for seven years. His body never fully recovered from his extended spirit possession, and as his health declined he gave up his position and went to live in Sapporo, in the newly rebuilt Phoenix palace. He died in his sleep in 1598.
Hiroshi found that life within the Unicorn suited him and kept both of his wives pregnant almost constantly for years. Sun Bear took over leadership of the clan when she gained her majority, and proved to be a fierce and wise leader. Hiroshi died in battle in 1622.
Panda and Nibori eventually had a number of children, most of whom were hengenyokai, two of whom were nearly pure Air Spirit Folk, the twin heirs of Skyhome. Tadaki visited regularly until Nibori's death in 1642. Panda outlived her husband by twenty years, but on his death gave leadership of the Lion clan over to her eldest son and retired to Skyhome. To her dying day, she went for daily flights with Gryphon.
Gryphon found himself a mate--a number of them--and lived quite happily in Skyhome for the rest of his days. He always seemed to have a kitsune or two around him, the only gryphon to ever keep pet foxes.
Tadaki moved the City of the Sun to a large island far off the coast of Japan, and used his now-formidable arts to cloak the island with spells that even today prevent any who are not of hengenyokai blood from finding it or even being able to think of it for very long. He married Kintro, a childhood friend, in 1585. (When she told the story of their betrothal, Kintro never failed to point out that Tadaki, when Kintro told him he was going to marry her, looked around panicked, in hopes that it somehow wasn't him she was speaking to. He did eventually reconcile himself to the notion of marriage.) As of the early 1700's, he still lives in the City of the Sun, the staff that he carries extending his lifespan far beyond the usual for hengenyokai.
Iyotushi Hirohito, at a strongly worded suggestion from his brother, surprised everyone by marrying Soshi Karasuko, Funitsu's stepmother. Thus he cemented the Imperial family's ties to the Scorpion clan. He held the official position of Imperial Advisor for the rest of his life. He and Karasuko had no children.
It turned out that the Demonbane had been holding what was left of the original Thrykreen and the entire remaining population of kitsune in a secure cell under his now-destroyed palace. There were six of each, and by the time they were found they had all paired off. Fortunately for mankind, the two halves of the race decided that they vastly preferred each other's company to living parasitically off of humans. To this day, the myobu (as they call themselves, after the Celestial kitsune who were all killed by the Demonbane) live very quietly in small communities that are usually walled away from the human life around them. A number of them also live in Skyhome.
All of the altered Thrykreen died within six months of the Demonbane's death. The Warresh still slumber in their crystal city, and hopefully always will.
Jeron spent a time wandering the length of Japan, occasionally dropping in on those who had been his compatriots, attending each wedding and funeral alike. For a while, he sailed on the Benevolent, becoming friends (and, it is rumored, lovers) with the copper-eyed second mate, Kalva. When Japan opened its borders in 1642, he traveled west, first through China and India, then Europe, eventually settling in London for a number of years. In 1685, he returned home, settling down to write an English translation of the events of the Spirit War.
The Phoenix Clan passed to Yukiko's son, Ryutaro, and Yukiko served as both the Phoenix regent and Empress until he reached his majority. Akechi ruled for thirty years, overseeing the rebuilding of Japan after the Spirit War, but insisted on keeping the borders of the country closed to outsiders. He died in 1613 after being in declining health for ten years. Yukiko never truly recovered her former fire after his death, and followed him in 1618. Ryutaro passed on the rulership of the Phoenix Clan to his firstborn daughter and took on the mantle of Emperor. Under Ryutaro's rule, the borders of Japan became progressively more open and the Clans began to fall out of power, as the Emperor worked to make Japan a part of the world.
Takumi Yamashita and Edi-lo were buried in the same shrine, on the grounds of the Phoenix estate in Sapporo.
Takumi Reiko was buried on the Iyotushi estate, just outside of Kyoto, in a shrine built for her by Akechi and Yukiko. The shrine is on a hill overlooking a river. From the torii of the shine, one can look down to the riverbank and see the place where a mage and an immortal once met and fell in love.
Her grave is one of the few places on the earth that the myobu hold sacred.
--Saruwatari Jeron, September, 1703
September 12th, 1703
Jeron leaned back at his desk, looking at the manuscript in front of him. "That's it, then," he said aloud to the empty room. "It's done."
Even with Reiko's spirit gone, he still retained the habits that having her around for a century had ingrained in him: speaking his thoughts aloud, leaving offerings at the small altar under one of the windows in this small house, double-checking to make sure he didn't accidentally close the door on her tails when she was frisking around in fox form.
He had begun the translation after she'd gone, almost twenty years ago, returning to Japan and finagling his way into the Imperial vaults, where Yukiko had stored her journals and letters before she'd died. There was currently a fad in London for myths and stories from the Orient, and Jeron had a publisher interested in his translation. The desk before him was littered with paper and parchment, covered with elegantly handwritten Japanese script.
"Funny. Only the myobu and hengenyokai will ever realize what this is, if they ever read it. The humans have already forgotten us. It's probably for the best."
He stretched and rose. He'd go visit the shrine on the Iyotushi estate tonight, he decided. Since he had returned, visiting Reiko's grave had become another habit. Seemingly by accident, he had ended up living only an hour's walk away.
Though I am not certain what I will do, now. Return to London, I suppose, for a little while.
That evening, he walked into the shrine overlooking the river. A young woman, fine-boned and very small, was standing on a stool, lighting lanterns. She heard his step behind her and turned, smiling. "Welcome, stranger."
Jeron stopped cold.
The girl's eyes were amber as topaz. He felt the prickle of her life force against his skin, like a subtle wind. She was kitsune, and from her raised eyebrow, she knew that he was Thrykreen. He bowed slightly, and went inside. The shrine attendants were usually human, though he supposed it made sense that a young kitsune might come here to serve a few years.
After paying his respects, he returned outside. The shrine attendant was standing at the torii, looking down at the river with a wistful expression on her face. He sat on a stone beside her. "How goes the hunting?"
She quirked her mouth in a small smile. "Well enough. Tell me, have we met before? You look familiar, though I can't place you."
"We might have. What's your name?"
"Ishimaru Kaede. I grew up in Skyhome, and my parents finally let me out into the world on the condition that I do a turn as a shrine attendant. I picked here, because it feels very peaceful to me."
"I haven't been to Skyhome since Panda died. That was--has it really been forty years now?" He looked over at her, and in the light from the lanterns saw something that he had missed before, a pure white streak in her black hair.
She saw where his glance went, and self-consciously patted the streak. "I was born with it. The priest said it was a sign that I had a troublesome last life. And, yes, it's been forty-five years since our Panda died. I'm only nineteen, so I never met her, though my parents are friends with her sons. What's your name?"
He hesitated. His name was legendary, and he felt a great reluctance to give it and possibly ruin the first good conversation that he'd had with one of the myobu since Reiko's spirit had left him. He couldn't bring himself to lie, so he said, truthfully, "Saruwatari Jeron."
The girl blinked. "Oh." She considered this, and her hands crept to the hems of her sleeves, fidgeting with them. The gesture was unconscious and so reminiscent of Reiko that Jeron's heart gave an unexpected twist.
Nonsense, he told himself. I need to stop looking for her in the face of every woman I meet. This is a pleasant girl, a pretty young kitsune, nothing more.
"I've heard stories of you my whole life. It's interesting to have the reality sitting beside me. You're not as tall as I thought you would be. The stories make you sound like you're a giant."
He chuckled. "Things get exaggerated. I'm a Thrykreen like any other, Kaede. I'm just a bit older than most."
Kaede tilted her head, considering this. "And you were a part of the Spirit War. And you knew Takumi Reiko. What was she like?"
He closed his eyes, remembering. "Small, smaller than you, even. Confused, much of the time. She held great sorrow within her, enough to almost drown her at times. She loved fiercely, and she was one of the bravest souls I've ever known. She died the death of a warrior, fighting for something she believed in."
"Is it true, that her spirit is still attached to you?"
Jeron shook his head. "A century to the day after she died, her spirit disappeared. I believe that she had finally worked out her sorrows, and was ready to move on--whether to another life, or to whatever afterworld waits for myobu."
"Ah. I'm sorry, Jeron."
An odd question occurred to him, and it came out of his mouth before he had time to think about it. "Tell me, do you have nightmares?"
Her eyes widened, and she stared at him. "I do. How did you know?"
"I don't know. What do you have nightmares of?"
Kaede looked down to the river, her eyes distant. "I dream of battles with demons who spit molten copper. I dream of sailing ships, of another kitsune dying because I could not protect her. I dream of standing in front of a man who I am terrified of, even though I don't know why I am. I dream I am walking naked on the deck of a ship, and a black-garbed man stops me from throwing myself into the ocean. I dream that my father tells me that I am no daughter of his--though my real father loves me dearly. And other things. I don't know why I dream these things; my life has been a happy one so far, and I count myself very blessed."
Jeron said, softly, "Perhaps they're just echoes of the past. Sometimes stories take on lives of their own. But I doubt it means anything, really. They're probably just nightmares."
"Probably."
He stretched and rose. "I must be off home. I do visit regularly, though, so I should see you again. It was good to speak with you, Kaede."
"Likewise. I'm glad to know there's another myobu living in the area. My parents would be pleased to know there's someone around who can keep me out of trouble."
He grinned briefly, the first evidence of the sense of humor he evidently kept well hidden flashing in his eyes. "I'm not so sure I'm the one to keep you out of it. Perhaps we could find some to get into, one of these days."
Kaede's eyes glittered with amusement. She watched the Thrykreen walked down the road and away from the shrine, murmuring to herself, "I think we may both be in trouble already, Jeron."
Jeron closed the book with a thump and hugged the child who was sitting on his lap. "All right. I think that makes the thousandth time that I've read you that story. Happy now?"
"Yes!" The girl on his lap grinned and released the lock of black hair that she'd twined around her fingers. "Thank you, Papa. That's my favorite one."
"You mean your favorite this week." He kissed the top of her head, smiling. "I recall that last week the story of Taura was your favorite. And the week before, it was Edi-lo and the Mage. Maybe next week it'll be the finding of Skyhome."
"No, this one is really truly my favorite!" The girl pursed her lips, blue eyes narrowed in thought. "But Skyhome's a good story, too. It's got Panda in it. I like Panda stories."
"Indeed it does." He picked the girl up and set her on the floor. "Go outside and play, Reiko. Find your brothers and make sure they're not getting into too much trouble."
She pouted, crossing her arms. "Tadaki and Gryphon won't play with me. They say I'm too small."
Jeron laughed and rumpled her hair. "Tell them I told them to stop picking on you. If they don't listen, you have my permission to dunk both of them in the pond."
The nine-year-old's response was a brilliant smile, so reminiscient of her mother, and to turn and run out the open door, her bare feet pounding on the packed earth of the yard outside.
There was a small sound behind him, and Jeron turned to see Kaede behind him, smiling. She walked up behind him, putting her hand on one of his shoulders. He covered her small hand with his own. For a long, sunlit space they stayed like that, Jeron sitting and his kitsune wife standing, both of them listening to the laughter and splashes as their children played.
Nothing more needed to be said.
Here ends Illume,
a chronicle of the conflict that became known as the Spirit War.
3/2004 - 10/2004
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