The Master Of Mononoke

I sat in a room with my legs crossed. Woman are dressing me now, in a Furisode, and lightly painting my lips with an essence of red coral, and patting my face with powder made out of white pearls. I can hear a crowd from a distance, crying and cheering. I had known that Satsu was there, possibly in his form of a dragon, eyeing his enemies. A servant is wrapping a belt around my waist now, tucking in the fabric making a light bow, I stood up and I am now dressed. The empress walks in, I bow along with the servants, and then the servants walk out and shutting the door lightly behind them leaving me with the empress.

"Much honor is going to be bestowed upon him." The empress says, I look at her with anger and pity. I didn't think so, because if Satsu dies, I will feel meaningless wither or not I do go one into the human world. Yet all I can do is stay silent.

"And you will be the one to blame if he doesn't."

The empress takes me away now, we are walking into the arena, I hear cheering. I see a crowd, and two dragons face each other within the arena, as everyone is watching, spirits of all kinds surround the scene. I can see Satsu, he's looking intently at the other dragon who faces him, he looks dark, nearly as the darkness of the underworld.

"That is Kurinos." The empress pointed towards the dark looking dragon. "He's from the burned side of the spiritual realm, where spirits are born and become the way they are." Kurinos is getting ready to charge towards Satsu, as Satsus head looked down, yet his eyes looked at him with flares of fire beckoning from Satsus eyes. The empress chuckles a bit as she sits down, and motions me to sit next to her.

"Now you'll see the true power of Satsu."

Somehow this did not feel right. Satsu seemed strong, yet it felt as if something was going to happen. I could see him; he looks pressured with the divine need of being perfect in front of everyone's eyes. He doesn't feel accepted, although I had accepted him far more than anyone else. His spine rises as his head turns into his fighting position; he is getting ready to fight. I didn't sit down, I insisted on standing.

"Sit down!" The empress calls at me, yet I didn't listen. I stood there, looking at Satsu, hoping for his safety. I cannot just sit back down and watch.

"Why won't you sit down?" The empress whispers beneath her breath, yet the battle was beginning. The crowd was silent as death itself. The empress is looking at the scene now, as I was observing. Kurinos neck moves right towards Satsu yet Satsu dodges, and his tail smacks Kurinos, causing him to fall. The crowd cheers, until suddenly Kurinos crawls towards Satsu and bites his tail. Satsu roars, smashing his back on top of Kurinos, and he is on the ground, until again Kurinos bites Satsu in the leg. I wept silently, hoping for Satsu to get stronger, yet the outlook did not match up to the empresses' standards. I'm running through the crowd, spirits are pulling me back, yet my magatama beads lightened causing the spirits to draw back. Yet I could not interfere with the battle. There were too many obstacles; I had to stand there hoping and praying. Kurinos is beating Satsu as he's trying to crawl up, yet blood spews everywhere. I look out up at the crowd, there Utma is standing there shrill; sickened by it all. Tears would not stop falling, I wailed as my arms tried to reach for Satsu, yet Kurinos is sucking out each and every power out of Satsu. Slowly he is transforming back to a human now, he falls to his knees in front of Kurinos. The crowd cheers.

"Winner! Our master of all land gods! Come before thee' mononoke!" There was no hope for us now.

Finally the gates open to the scene, I run towards Satsu and my knees fell to the ground, I'm holding Satsu in my arms. His face had grown pale, he felt as if he weren't alive. I'm shaking, I hold him closely against my chest, weeping, hoping his eyes would open and for once to say, "I'm here." Yet he couldn't, all I had to do now was hope, for Satsu to be alive.

The spirits are taking Satsu away, everything was fading away, and the image of Satsu being dragged away from me became a blur. I couldn't contain myself, spirits walked over me as if I was part of the ground. My weeping became helpless; I didn't want to move. All I wanted was part of me to die, to die with everything and with him. Yet I couldn't, I had to keep living. Everything flashed back before my eyes, I remembered the times we had together, walking through the doors of the abandoned spirit house and to working aimlessly, and laughing beneath the stars. I wanted to go back to the very beginning, and meet Satsu, only this time we should have ran away, yet staying away in our own sacred place. I am held responsible for Satsus death; he was the one who risked his life to save me.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, now they are dragging me, pulling me away into the darkness. Faithfully I lived on, hoping for Satsu to be alive, as I wanted myself to feel free. Voices are speaking to me I couldn't understand, until now they are pouring a bowl of water into my mouth, and I'm lying down now. There are three men standing before me. Two of old age while one looked young; my eyes open slightly.

"Eyra, have you awoken?" They ask me. My head bobs faintly; I'm still trying to contain myself of what happened. Satsu died in front of my eyes, I am the one to blame. I couldn't speak; all I could do was nod my head since I had felt shocked. The men are speaking to me. Everything had happened so fast, in just a moment Satsu was gone.

"We are the three gods of the spirit world. We are the highest beings above all, as so they say." One of the two old men tells me. "We have come to inform you that Satsu is dead."

This wasn't news to me, yet I just intended to stare back at the three gods, saying nothing. No images or thoughts are coming to me. I am calming myself, although I felt desolation. I just held onto my heart. Yet the three gods seemed as if they had more to say.

"Satsu is dead, yet only partly. His powers as a water dragon are gone. Kurinos had taken them away; it was part of the deal. Satsu is now a human spirit, making him average. He is no longer needed of any sort of special treatment, he can no longer become near of being a land god. He is alive, and he cannot leave the spirit world either. His full purpose now is to work."

"Satsu is alive? So he is alright then?" I ask, my eyes glisten with hope. "Satsu is okay?"

"He is doing fine." They tell me. "Although he is weaker than before. He cannot be a dragon any longer. And those powers cannot be retrieved."

I'm looking down at everything, thinking about it all. Satsu losing his powers has weakened him, yet it seems the best. Now he isn't threatened, he can finally be himself. He doesn't have the pressures of turning into a dragon, becoming a land god seemed ideal for him. Sadly that couldn't happen. Satsu walks into the room, the three gods motion for him to come to me.

"I'm sorry Eyra." He tells me. I look at him and I smile. "No need to apologize."

The three gods smile warmly; they can see the glowing sensation coming from me. Satsu looks better; perhaps maybe his dragon form wasn't good after all. He looks healthier, although his strengths have faded; all I am grateful for was that Satsu is alive and not entirely dead. One of the gods looked at me and told me this:

"Spirits are often lost, yet they live to find each other. They insist on to keep living which then we are born as gods, and that is our purpose. Our purpose is to see spirits find each other, and find love in nearly everyone, every soul, every spirit in all mononoke, and that is our purpose. To see all forms of beings to find each other and love."

Utma walked into the room as well, and she kneels beside me. I had never seen her so calm, she looks as if she is now herself and she can be in oneness. She looks at me into my eyes, and smiled.

"You are not worthless human being, in fact you are the most powerful being I've seen in any form of spirit in all of the lands of the spirit world. Thank you for showing us love, you are a pure soul, I have gained respect for you and I admire you. I am sorry for my misconceptions."

Utma hugs me into her arms as I had done so too, and suddenly one by one more spirits came into the room. I'm lying down in bed, wondering how everyone got here so suddenly. Kusubata, spirits from the spirit house are all surrounding me with hope and love. They all hug Satsu and I, and in that moment we realize that to have the perfect story, not everyone has to end in fight. Here I was thinking, wondering how could things get any worse? Right when they did, I came into the spirit world, and again I felt as if everything was falling out of place. And then I had met Satsu, he helped me through it all, yet meeting Utma and Kusubata and helping spirits of all kinds was the best experience any being could ask for. From the days of my mentor he taught me reality, while Satsu and the spirits had taught me love and hope. I had thought that everything had a price, yet meeting the spirits everything had been paid off with the kindness of generosity. I am smiling now, everyone is embracing with one another, my magatama beads are faintly glowing, and my cheeks are pink with happiness. I had never been so happy in my entire life, just knowing these spirits has been the purity of it all. Now the spirits are carrying me, Satsu is sitting right beside me. We are in a large dining room now, all of the spirits bring out bundles of food, and we ate, danced, and lot firecrackers and looked under the light of the moon standing outside of the palace window. Satsu and I danced; the spirits are cheering each other on. The night went on endlessly, I didn't want anymore this to ever end. Just to stay here with Satsu is everything I had wanted and hoped for. The three gods stood up and wanted to speak.

"Eyra will you please stand." One said; I stood up and bowed and looked up at the three gods.

"You have been granted the power to someday once again to come back to the spirit world permanently, until then you have to forget everything you have encountered in the spirit world. Your memory will be faded away, and you will not remember anything about the spirit world, until you have done your duties in the human world to come back once again."

Satsu looked hurt by this I had too. Years forgetting about Satsu seemed highly improbable, I couldn't think of living on without remembering any part of the spirit world. Yet it seemed the best choice for us, Satsu looked at me.

"How long will that be?" Satsu asked the gods.

"Once she has provened herself by living in the human world. This could range from any source of amount of time consumption."

It is getting difficult for me to breathe, since this was a lot to take in. I stood there with my hands clenched and my eyes burrowing into the ground, all if could hope for now is to hope that Satsu will be alright for when I do leave this world again. Satsu looked at me, he looked as if he knew that this was going to happen. I walked to him, held his hands in mine.

"I will never forget you."

Satsu looked down, a word was not heard, yet a silent tear dripped down his cheek and hit lightly against the pavement. His head bobbed slowly for a moment until he lifted his head.

"Through a million worlds and dimensions I will come and I will find you." Said Satsu.

Wind drifted through the cracks of the castle, making a whoooosh sound, the lanterns and lights lit brighter, the emperors looked at one another in dismay. Suddenly a figure emerged, it was a face, and everyone gasped and cried: "The Master Of Mononoke."

He was a dragon like figure, close to a serpent, yet also he looked to have been partly fox. He managed to swoop in as the drapery flew around because of the gusts of wind; he looked at Satsu and I with ardent silence. The emperors stood there not moving; they looked at The Master Of Mononoke in awe.

"Eyra and Satsu, please come before me." Said he.

We walked towards the master of mononoke as he looked at us gracefully; his expression had softened.

"Your the one who traveled these lands with the human to bring her where she truly belongs?" The Master Of Mononoke asked Sastu.

"Yes."

"Hmmm." The Master thought for a moment, and then proceeded to speak.

"And you're the human girl. You've grown quite tremendously, both in size and mental perspective since you've first came into the world I reckon." The master looked at the both of us now.

I nodded, and bowed to show respect towards The Master. He was in charge of all of the mononoke, meaning he was the head god to look out for all beings, regardless if they are yokai. The Master did not speak a word for a brief moment, because he seemed to be deciding our fate. Consequently, he would decide not in front of your presence, instead he would decide elsewhere. Only on a matter as this one a Master would decide your fate in front of the spirits whom he's speaking to. Everyone was stricken by the masters' presence, no one had ever seen him, yet it seemed as if Satsu and I had as if we had met him in some other dimension.

"Eyra is to go back to where she belongs in the human world." The room was silent, the audience did not cry or object. I looked at Satsu; he looked completely lost. The master grunted, and then his head looked upon everyone, and his mouth opened with more words he wanted to say.

"Yet, there is one more task I'd like these two to accomplish."

The audience gasps, a few groups were clapping while others were stricken by the masters' orders. Satsu and I looked at each other while the audience cried out in a ruckus. The master was becoming impatient, and he roared loudly. The audience shutters beneath their dresses and gowns, no one said any more.

"Speaking of the lore of fairy tail and our myth, it seems to me we have an actual folks tale on our hands. These two have been brought here precisely for a reason, and that reason is..." His words trailed off, as the audience looked at him helplessly in suspense. The master chuckled beneath his mane, and then he spoke as his tentacles wavered.

"If this human girl wasn't needed in this world, she wouldn't be here. It is just natural that way, no one knows why a human girl would have came, yet perhaps a word was sounded in her mind. Something triggered into her brain that made her come into this world without hesitation, perhaps a voice."

Satsu looked down as the audience thought mindlessly within their own heads. The master looked around the room; the drapery was still as stone itself by now.

"Satsu, what made you become so drawn towards Eyra?" Asked the master. Satsu looked up from his feet.

"She... Well she helped me, and I don't know..." He trailed off.

"Well?"

I looked at Satsu. He couldn't describe how he was feeling into words; he looked up nervously at the master until he spoke.

"I am not sure why I felt so drawn towards Eyra, I just started talking to her, and slowly I realized that maybe this world isn't as dark as it appears to be." Satsu is twiddling with his thumbs as he said this. "And Eyra thinks that maybe we have known each other for a long time, at least that's what it feels like."

The master looks at Satsu, and then at me. "And how about you? What made you feel so drawn towards Satsu?"

I thought of what to say, I didn't say as much, until my voice felt faint as I spoke although I managed to speak.

"Before I came into this world, I didn't know what to do. Like you had said, a voice was heard in my mind. 'Come.' It kept telling me. 'Your life is held here.' And of course for no reason at all I listened. The only guardian in my life who had taken care of me disappeared without a trace. So I followed the voice for an escape. An escape into a whole new world on how to discover why life is the way it is. Until I met Satsu and his family, he had taught me many things. We all don't know why things happen the way they do; yet we meet so many great beings for this reason. And that reason is that life cannot be discovered as an answer or meaning, but discovering it together until the end. If it hadn't have been for Satsu I would most likely have been eaten by a yokai." The crowd laughs at this remark. "Well it's true!" I said aloud, everyone listens to me with interest. The master smiles warmly, a wide grin grew in the corners of his lips. I turned around and looked at him.

"If you expect me to answer the reason why I feel so drawn by Satsu, I'm afraid I cannot answer that because I do not know why."

The crowd stood around still, as if they had all been carved as figures for this moment. Satsu held my hand as we look up at the master; he looked impressed as if he had known what I was going to say. He didn't speak a word for a moment, he seemed to have been deciding my fate, rethinking and repeating the decision within his own mind. And then he spoke.

"You will retrieve back to your homeland, the human world. Satsu will continue to work for Utma, yet you will keep your memory. You do not have to forget about Satsu or the spirit world, yet you must stay silent. You cannot tell or speak of what you have seen or experienced. Yet to keep this from happening," The master pulled out a seed, it was large like a giant bean, it glowed as he held it towards me. I took it into my own hands.

"This you will plant this around the land beside the abandoned shrine. The vines will bestow away the doors locking them by force, so you cannot come back. Until years in your world these vines will shrill away and open the doors so you can come back, yet we don't know how long that may be." The master said as I held the seed in my hand, it glowed and felt warm in my hands.

"And this will bring out the greenery and health of the land that surrounds the abandoned shrine." The master of mononoke had informed me, my hands clenched the seed tight so no one can take the one seed that could help my land and the bonds of the human world connecting with the spirit world. After a brief moment the master was about to leave, until he said this:

"Your a human yet you are still part of being a spirit. Above all; you are important." And then he flew through the window and he was gone.

Everyone talked amongst them as Satsu and I looked at the seed in my hand, and then we remembered it was time to leave. I also remembered one more thing: I had to go back to Utma's spirit house to pay my dues.