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Chapter Text

“The one and only almighty and holy

Omnipresent and potent to show thee

The jubilee of free will at work for food for thought

Who would have could have should have said and done this and that

After the fact and fiction blended like a broken dictionary

Are we supposed to carry on all alone

By any means necessary, act tough when it's scary?”

-lyrics of Perfect Circle by Nujabes Feat: Shing02

Track #13 A Prophetic Palliative

I was so sick of being a hostage. When your hands are bound, you get a million itches you can’t scratch. Your captors are always super rude and rough with you. And you never know what’s gonna happen in the next five minutes.

Honestly, what are the odds that a girl will get kidnapped in her lifetime? One in a thousand? More common than people think. How about the odds of getting kidnapped twice? One in ten thousand? Rare, but maybe it happens. 

Over a dozen times, though? I must be so special. …Fate has it out for me or something.

That creepy old doctor, if he even was a real doctor, pushed me through darkness that seemed to go on forever. The further down into the cave depths we descended, the more my bleary eyes adjusted to the scant amount of light. Luminescent mushrooms cast an eerie green glow where the firelight failed to reach. Gradually, the winding cave tunnels widened out, until I’d been shoved into a massive open room. The air smelled even more stale and rotten here. And it was somehow colder than the rest of the dank cave.

Someone stared back at me from the chamber. Even in darkness, I felt his eyes.

The doctor’s disciple went about the room, lighting a dozen torch sconces affixed to the walls and bronze brazier pits, until the fires roared. And as light flooded the entire chamber, a cold chill slithered up my spine. 

Hollow, hungry eyes met mine.

The eyes of an enormous snake.

It watched me.

No …not a living snake. A skeleton.

Its massive bones were not white. Time had eroded them down to a putrid yellow-brown tinge. The creature may have been long dead, but it still beggared belief! Its sheer size… The length of the fangs alone… Its spiked, split jaws gaped down at me, so gargantuan that it could have easily devoured a human whole when it was alive.

Once again, my mind shifted back to the priestess’ warning this morning. 

“Beware the jaws of a serpent.”

Well…guess I found the jaw. Wasn’t figurative after all. Really wished it had been, right about now…

The rest of the skeleton’s body seemed to be trapped in the cave walls, and I shuddered to wonder that if this was just the size of its head, how large was the rest of it? Did this snake create all those long caverns we’d traveled? My mother used to tell me all sorts of scary bedtime stories about yokai serpents, from the massive Uwabami in the mountains that caused landslides, to the eight headed Yamata-no-Orochi with a propensity for eating virgins. Hard to imagine such creatures having once lived and roamed Japan, no matter how many hundreds or thousands of years ago. 

“Orochimaru-sama! It is I, humble Hakuja! I have procured your eighth offering!”

The doctor’s voice echoed thunderously around the cave. I glanced about the dimness. Didn't see anyone else in here besides Hakuja and his disciple.

When I followed his eyes, I realized they were fanatically fixated on the gaping skull.

All this time, I had it in mind that this old creep planned to deliver me to some other old creep who got his sick kicks from murdering cute girls. The truth would be infinitely weirder. 

Hakuja was talking…to the skull.

This was so, so stupid. I’ve been kidnapped for all sorts of reasons. Perverts who tried to sex traffic me. Psychos trying to get revenge on Mugen. Criminals who made me a hostage simply because I’d been at the wrong place, at the wrong time. Heck, even a pack of monkeys abducted me once, if you can believe it! So I thought I’d seen it all.

But I’d never been kidnapped by a freaking skeleton worshiping CULT!

A circular stone dias dominated the center of the room, fitted with a granite slab. Probably where they planned to sacrifice me. I tried really, really hard not to picture my spilled blood flowing through the engravings carved into the altar. Against the cavern walls was a chest where they'd deposited my confiscated tantos. And all around sat clay pots and jugs, varied in size and heft, ancient in appearance. I'd rather not know their contents, but I had the creeping suspicion that they were burial urns.

Hakuja shoved me right into the snake’s jaws, fitted like a cage. An open cage. But it wasn’t like I could do much to escape. My hands were still bound. I could risk making a dash past him and the other guy, but their positions around the chamber were to my disadvantage.

The two cultists circled the altar, and began a long, unintelligible chant in some strange tongue I didn’t recognize. Almost like a Buddhist mantra, except…more menacing— more demonic.

My head raced with ideas for an escape plan. Came up short. Just had to wait for a distraction. 

Today had been a weird fuckin’ day. Weirdest I’d had in years. 

Constant earthquakes. Demon lord prophecies. Singin’ flowers with faces. Boar and snake headed humanoids. Talkin’ toads smoking bongs and talkin’ flying rats that were secretly moon ninjas! The chick said it’s just the toad toxin seepin’ into my brain, making my imagination run wilder than a horse in heat. But let’s face the damn facts here.

I ain’t fuckin’ creative enough to make all this crazy shit up!

While Fuu’s pet rat gnawed at the snakeskin those freaks had used to tie me up in their house from hell, I’d been layin’ here, staring at the ceiling. Except it wasn’t a normal ceiling. It was like an opening and closing tunnel, spinnin’ and spiralin’ on forever, all the way to the beginning and end of the universe. It was filled with every shape and color imaginable. And some unimaginable. Colors I couldn’t even begin to describe, ‘cause I doubt anyone had ever seen ‘em before. Like trying ta’ explain to a blind man what blue or red looks like. How the hell you do that? Blue is blue. Red is red.

That infinity ceiling made me feel real small. Like I was that skinny, scabby kid on Tarama Island again. Trapped by an endless, spiteful sea, even though I knew there was this whole world beyond the Miyakoan Islands, beyond all the Ryukyuan Kingdom, just waitin’ for me. 

And this whole time layin’ here, higher than the goddamn sun and moon, I’d been thinking…

This felt too real. Some part of this bad trip has gotta be real.

After minutes that felt like days, Fuu’s pet rat had ripped apart all the snakeskin shit and I was home free. Finafuckinglly. Once I got loose, I rubbed at my inked wrists, tryin’ to bring the blood back into ‘em.

“So what now?”

The fat toad shaman—Jeremy the Gallbladder or whatever—made a nervous croak. “To the east lies the entrance of a cave. Hundreds of years ago, it was used as a burial ground. And deep within its bowels…is where the bones of Orochimaru dwell, and where they intend to resurrect him. Alas, it is a most dangerous gamble if I were to lead you to their lair. For it is my toxin they seek. Once in their hands, they will be able to communicate with the dark lord and will receive the incantation for his blessings.”

The rat stood up on its haunches, ears twitching.

“Someone approaches!” it said in that feminine squeak.

I leapt up, clumsier than I liked with this poison still pumpin’ through my veins, but I got a solid grip on my sword conveniently leaned against the wall. Soon enough, I heard the voices too, muffled beyond the wooden door.

“Don’t hesitate to kill this one, Tadami. You've disappointed our master enough with your weak stomach.”

“Yes, sir…”

I drew my blade, slow-like, so it barely made a scrape. Waited.

The door flew open. 

I hurtled forward with a fast swing.

That snake headed freak dodged the hit. Slit yellow eyes narrowed on me, as a lollin’ purple tongue wormed out of thin, scaly lips. Fugly bastard.

But the boar guy was too close to the door. Caught off guard. I just nicked ‘im before he’d stumbled backwards. A long line of blood welled across his hairy forearm. He gripped it hard with a pained groan.

“You!” hissed the snake man, pulling a bone dagger from his white and black robe. Or was that a huge tooth? “How did you break free?!” 

I can always tell a fighter by just a glance. Didn't matter if he was snake headed, pig headed, or dick headed. An’ these two were far below my league, even if I was piss drunk.

The position of his feet were too close together, so unbalanced, one shove could topple him over. His body faced too straight, like a tree just waitin’ ta’ get axed. Even the tight grip on the makeshift fang dagger was bad. Stiff and anxious.

An’ I could tell the other beastman freak, with the tusks and bristles juttin’ outta his face, was even worse off than the first. It was that little quiver in the knees that gave it away first. May have had a scary mug, but I’d wager he’d never swung a blade in violence all his life. I could kill him in an instant.

Lucky him, he'd have to wait his turn.

The snake dude circled me. It's gangling head side-winded hypnotically as he moved. Its forked tongue flicked out, licked those peeling lips. I tried not ta’ get distracted just by the fucking weirdness of the monster’s face.

I pretended ta’ trail my gaze away, and lo an’ behold, he’d watched the movement of my eyes and made a predictably sloppy jab at my throat. Bad move. Last move he'd ever make.

One cleave through his waist, and he dropped. Confetti gushed outta his stomach.

As I blinked down at the body, the hideous serpent head started shrinking down, layers of pale skin peelin’ off, until there wasn’t no likeness to a snake at all. Just a man. A dead man, eyes like marbles, mouth all twisted up in a stupefied grimace. And the confetti pourin’ outta him dissolved, until it turned soupy and wet, and red. Seen the sight a thousand times before. Stopped bothering me long ago.

Once I was done with the first freak, I looked up, ready to finish off the second. The world around me hadn't changed much, still spinnin’ with all those colors, and now the clouds were morphin’ into laughing faces.

But to my surprise, the boar headed bastard was nowhere in sight. 

“Well, looks like the pussy turned tail, eh Jeremy?”

Silence.

“...Jeremy?”

Fuu’s flying rat cheeped up a storm.

“The boar man! He nabbed Jiraiya-sama and ran!”

“Sonofabitch.”

“Hurry, Mugen-dono! While I still have his scent!”

The rat scurried off. To my annoyance, I was followin’ after it without question. ‘Cause if any part of this weird fuckin’ day was even a little real, I ain’t gonna take no chances.

Two more of the cultists showed up and my ears were finally given some respite from all that freaky chanting. They had a woman in tow, hands bound like mine. It was the priestess from the Shinto shrine, still dressed in her sacred white robe and pleated red hakama. Noticeably dirtier than before.

“Sensei… Why? Why do you have to do this?!” she pleaded to that old Hakuja creep. “We’ve only ever tried to repay you for your kindness!”

“You have always lived on borrowed time, Ayame. If Tadami fails me again, you will finally get the chance to pay back your debt. And towards the most noble of causes. Doesn't that make you happy?” 

She gritted her teeth but said nothing else when they shoved her into the jaws of the serpent too. Joined by their two fellow cultists, the four returned to their unsettling mantra, circling the dias, arms raised reverently to their dead idol. 

“You,” Ayame started, once she saw me knelt beside her. “You’re the girl from this morning.”

I nodded sheepishly. “When you warned me of a serpent, I didn't expect…well, this.”

“Forgive me. I had my suspicions of what Hakuja and his followers were up to, but had no way of proving it…or stopping it. I thought if you fled the mountain out of fear or superstition, they wouldn’t catch you.”

“How do you know these weirdos, anyway?”

Her lip quivered and her gaze fell, “Hakuja was… is a remarkable doctor, renowned throughout Honshu for his skills. And my little brother and I grew up orphans. We were so poor, so hungry …that I ate whatever I could scrounge up in the forest so he could eat normally. One day, I ate fire coral. A fatal mushroom. It was Hakuja who saved my life. He made the antidote, even though we had no money to pay for it. Ever since, to pay back that debt, my brother has been in servitude to him.”

It clicked. Her slate-black eyes, the dark hair that fell to her waist, the flawless, unblemished skin, milky white. Ayame’s resemblance to Tadami was uncanny, and suddenly, his motivations in protecting her became so clear. So understandable. 

If he was the boar and she the rabbit in the zodiac, she was eight years Tadami’s senior. More than being an older sister…she must have practically raised him herself.

“Hakuja wasn't always like…like this! The older he got, the more he began to fear death. He became obsessed with searching for a miracle draught of immortality. Eventually, his studies narrowed on toxins and venoms believed to have…spiritual properties. He began experimenting with these concoctions, ingesting them, despite the dangers. First it started with mushrooms, grasses, then animal secretions. And he'd begun to have…visions. Visions where a deity spoke to him.”

“He's delusional! All that poison probably went straight to his brain!”

“Now, he's come to the conclusion that the poisoned blood from a specific toad will allow him communion with this…this god. That he will receive his blessing of eternal life if he swears fealty to it.”

“The one he calls Lord Orochimaru.”

She nodded slowly. “I didn't understand what was happening at first. But Hakuja kept coming to my shrine, where I gave fortune readings. He always showed such peculiar interest in girls born in the year of the rabbit. I would tell him if any passed through, thinking he wanted to play matchmaker for my brother… Because I thought… I thought Tadami had always been like a son to him.

“But then I started hearing rumors in town. That some of the girls traveling through never made it to Matsumoto. A mother came looking for her daughter. A husband for his wife. A brother…for his sister. And every girl…all of them were the ones who came to me for their horoscopes…”

“He called me a sacrifice.” I said, teeth grinding. “An offering. That means those other girls…were probably…”

Her eyes beaded with tears, but with hands bound, she could do nothing to wipe them. Ayame turned away from me, strands of braided black hair covering her face.

“Hey…”  I nudged her with my shoulder, trying to get her to look at me again. “It’s not your fault. And you don't deserve to be here. Just because he saved your life years ago, doesn't mean you or your brother owe him a life of servitude. When you help someone, it should be because you want them to prosper! Not out of a selfish desire to exploit them afterwards.” 

Ayame only sat there unresponsive, head hung, shoulders slumped. Resigned to hopelessness. But I hadn’t given up just yet. Hakuja’s atrocities only lit a newfound fire in me.

Lesson one for hostages: always use any tool at your disposal. Needed something sharp. Anything would do, stones, a nail, glass. Fangs. Despite the age of the bone, the dead snake’s teeth still looked razor sharp. I propped myself up, back against the pointiest fang, and began rubbing my binds against it. It didn't take long for the itchy rope to fray and loosen.

Once my hands were free, I scooted to Ayame, and loosened her binds too.

“What are you—”

“I was separated from my friend… The man in red who came with me to your shrine. They tied him up in their research shack. You know where, I assume.”

“Yes, but…”

“While I distract them, I need you to sneak out of here and find him. His skills with a sword are some of the best I’ve ever seen. He'll deal with Hakuja and the rest.”

I could only hope that Tadami hadn't killed him already, that somehow, some way, Mugen had freed himself. It wasn't the best idea, relying on him to come to my rescue… Not like I had a better option though.

“But they'll kill me if they catch me! And you, you'll still be…”

“They'll kill us anyway! I bet the only reason he hasn't sacrificed you yet is because he’s using you to find other girls born in the year of the rabbit. And with you as a hostage, he has complete control over your little brother!”

One of us couldn't escape without the other buying time. And I doubted this soft spoken shrine maiden would cause as big a commotion as I planned to.

Couldn't always wait for a distraction. Sometimes, you just have to be the distraction. Sigh. 

“You ready to get the hell out of here?” I asked her.

Ayame nodded slowly, but I saw determination in the set of her jaw.

Bravely, I got to my feet and waltzed right out of the snake’s mouth. My hands stayed interlaced behind my back, giving the illusion they were still tied up. The cultists stopped chanting the moment they caught wind of my movements. I sidestepped, getting the priestess further out of their line of sight. 

“Insolent girl! Sit back down!” said Hakuja.

I rolled my eyes, took a deep breath. 

“ALRIGHT, listen here Doc, I've been kidnapped by at least a dozen other people before you. You're a bit late to the trend. And to be honest, I'm getting really sick of how uncreative you goons are. Seriously, don't you bums have anything better to do with your time than to kidnap cute girls? Don't you guys have hobbies? Like go take up a sewing class or something! Looks like you need it! Your clothes are way outdated. Get with the times! Worshiping a demon is soooo six centuries ago! What are we living in, the Heian Era?! And I know I’m hot on the market and all, but—”

“By the Kami, does this woman ever SHUT UP?!”

I’d pissed them off. Good. 

“And you!” I glared at Hakuja. “Aren’t you a doctor? Aren't you supposed to rely on, I don’t know, SCIENCE and not whatever weird cult crap you’re trying to pull?!”

“Reality is relative, little rabbit. If medical science was a stagnant art, then there would not be discoveries made every day, would there. Take the toad I seek, for example…”

Got him. Like a fish biting the bait. Psychopaths like this just love hearing the sound of their own voices. 

“Ingesting it will allow one access to a realm where entities exist that the average human mind cannot hope to comprehend. The toad's toxin will allow us an audience with Lord Orochimaru!”

I sidestepped more, following the wall of the cave, winding past the ancient urns. They inched closer to me, turning slowly, slowly away from the serpent skull. Good. Eyes on me. Keep on talking, asshole.  

“The snake is already dead, MORON!”

“Does life end when our husk fails us? Or do our souls merely shed our bodies like a snake does the skin that it outgrows?” 

The earth rumbled suddenly. So much other crazy nonsense had happened within the last few hours, that I’d almost forgotten how severe the tremors were today.

Dirt and stone broke from the roof of the cave, sprinkling across the chamber floor. A flock of bats nested in the cave’s crevices took flight, screeching as they fled in a tangling cloud of black wings. Ayame used this chance to maneuver around the men, unnoticed. Just as she’d made it to the exit, I saw her mouth a “Thank you.”, before she turned and fled into the darkness. 

A sharp stalactite, long as a knife, smashed into the ground to my left. Close. Way too close! That easily could've killed me, or knocked me unconscious at the least.

“Listen to me, we’re all gonna wind up dead if we stay in this mountain! It’s gonna collapse on our heads!”

“A sign! My lord speaks! Your blasphemy enrages him!”

“It’s just an earthquake, you BUFFOON!!!”

He clicked his tongue three times. “Ye of such little faith. Tell me, little rabbit, where does your faith lie? Do you too not venerate the Kami?”

I thought of my parents. My mother, who followed Shintoism, but never so devoutly. My father, who so rigidly believed in his foreign God of the West, enough to betray his country, leave his family, become an outlaw. Maybe I did believe in some higher power, gods and the fates…but I stopped depending on them to get by long ago. After all, no matter how much I'd prayed, the Kami didn’t make my father come back. The Kami didn't cure my mother’s illness. 

“I believe in people. And the things they're capable of, good and bad. And what you're doing is sick. No Kami that is righteous and holy would ever condone it!”

“People? ” he scoffed. “People are frail creatures. We live only a handful of years, yet can die in a thousand ways. From famine. War. Pestilence. But if I were to take Orochimaru’s boon, I would transcend this feeble, mortal flesh. Think of all the advancements I might make in medicine! With a hundred years. A thousand years. I could dedicate myself to finding the cure for every disease. My efforts would make medicines more affordable, more easily accessible to all!”

The compassion in his words caught me off guard. I thought of my mother again. Cold in her bed. All the cheap tonics that never worked. All the suffering she’d endured for so long. Until she just couldn't anymore. 

“With my wealth of medical knowledge and with infinite time on my hands, imagine the accomplishments in science I might achieve. The amount of lives I can save! They will revere me! All will worship me as they might a god!”

Geez, never mind, he even sounded like a typical bad guy. 

"So you'd sacrifice innocent lives now just to, what, plan a future you can’t even begin to guarantee?! Can’t you see how insane you sound?!"

“One must cut off the infected finger to save the hand. Sacrifice will ever be the price of progress, little rabbit.”

I gritted my teeth and snapped “Screw your progress!” 

But I'd run out of steam, nothing left to say to someone as deluded as him.

A hoarse, crackly laugh seeped from his ugly mouth. Sounded like he’d spit up a pile of dead leaves. 

Hakuja stroked his wrinkled forehead, sweeping back at his white, receding hairline. “Ah, but what need have I to explain myself to one as lowly and ignorant as you? The snake does not conversate with its prey before devouring it.”

He motioned to his followers and they approached me quickly, ready to apprehend me again.

This time, I revealed my hands were very much free. And dangerous. I lifted one of the smaller burial urns above my head, lobbing it at the first cultist who got too close. He cocked his head to one side and the urn missed its mark, shattering behind him into a pile of broken pottery and ash. Didn't stop me. Not even a little. I picked up a second, a third, a fourth jar, hurled them all while nonsensically screaming my head off.

“Clever rabbit.” Hakuja laughed again. “When did you cut your bonds?”

His laughter died when realization dawned in his icy eyes. Hakuja’s gaze darted to the empty jaws of the snake.

“Ayame has escaped! After her!”

One of the cultists broke rank, sprinting back into the cavern tunnels. That left two more, and Hakuja. 

A deep growl rippled up from the bedrock. Another tremor, louder and more violent than any previous. It ripped a gasp from my tightening throat. My knees buckled, my balance lost. I flinched, stumbling into another clay vase behind me as one of the cultists lunged for my arm.

For just a fleeting second, there came a piercing scream. It wasn't mine.

When I opened my eyes…the cultist wasn't standing in front of me anymore. Another stalactite, ten times bigger than the one that nearly hit me, had detached from the roof of the cave. 

It crushed the man.

And now, his broken body laid strewn across the floor. Eviscerated by the rubble. I winced, my gorge rising, wishing I hadn't seen, as I backed away before the spreading puddle of blood stained my feet.

Hakuja and the remaining disciple stared in horror at the bloody mess of what was left of their comrade. Second guessing everything they believed, perhaps. Because if these earthquakes really were caused by the ire of Orochimaru, then he’d carelessly killed one of his own devout followers.

I didn’t care what they chose to believe. Their state of shock was my perfect chance. 

I darted for the exit and sure as hell didn't look back.

I tripped through impenetrable darkness, while the cultist’s shouts bit at my heels, growing louder and louder. Thanks to the green light of a patch of glowing mushrooms, I barely spotted a tiny crevice in the cave wall and ducked into it. I held my breath. Watched as the man ran right past my hiding spot. 

It wasn’t until the torchlight and the sounds of his footsteps had faded out, that I got back to moving.

The whole world shook. For a minute there, it felt like the ground and sky flipped places.

If I thought my hallucinations were weird before, this was turnin’ into a bad trip. Real bad. I kept on followin’ the flying rat through a nightmare forest, where trees grinned with gaping mouths full a’ bloody sap. Their thorny branches reached out to snatch us up. All the flowers that had been dancin’ and singin’ to me earlier, were wilting now. And they’d started to scream.

I heard a woman’s scream too. Not shrieky and ear splitting enough to be Fuu though.

Wasn't our problem. But the rat thought otherwise. It took a sudden detour towards the sound, leaving me no choice but to follow, ‘til we reached a clearing in the woods.

Three more a’ those snake men had backed a woman to the edge of a cliff. Damn, she was that sexy priestess back at the shrine. Maybe it could be my problem.  ‘Cept somethin’ was off about her too; she had floppy rabbit ears and whiskers, just like Fuu earlier. Her nose twitched when she saw me standing there.

“Please, help me! ”

Only one of the three snakes was polite enough ta’ greet me, while the others were too busy going for the priestess. Least it let me single ‘im out. I always like ta’ fight multiple opponents at once, but with the way my body was sluggish and my head full a’ mud, it’d be best if I took it nice an’ slow this time around.

Once the snake man fully faced me…I saw it wasn’t a snake no more. Its body started to melt and morph, its face, its height, even its clothes changin’ shape.

I instantly recognized what— who —he’d become. Wished I hadn’t.

He was practically a different kinda monster now. Cloaked in faded black rags that barely fit, the behemoth of a man towered over me by several heads. Beneath a frayed black hood, hid a gray, hideous face, crooked and deformed. One eye, small and white as a snake’s egg, seemed to look past me. Or into me.

Wasn't real. Couldn't be! That ogre was dead long ago.

“I…have always…been alone. Because they call me…monster. I am…a monster.” he groaned at me in a slow, stunted grumble.

No goddamn way. I'd cut this fucker down before!

“A MONSTER!!!” 

He roared and charged at me like a bull, swingin’ a double-headed spear so ridiculously fuckin’ big it could easily cleave my sorry ass in half. 

I barely ducked under the blow, lunged forward, stabbed him right through the heart. Hot blood splashed on my hands and face. 

He moaned in pain, fell backward, collapsing into the dirt. His weight must have sent shockwaves through the earth, ‘cause the whole world started shakin’ again, more viciously than ever, and the impact felt like it’d rattled my teeth and bones loose.

The dying ogre gazed up at me, lifted his giant paw towards my face. He was smiling.

“...We are…the same.”

His hand fell back at his side with a great thud, and this time, the monster didn’t stir. Don’t know why, but I didn’t get no pleasure from killin’ him. It was just like the first time. Like puttin’ a rabid dog down for his own good. …Don’t feel good at all. 

I couldn’t think about it for long. A blade whistled past me, nearly slit my throat had I not dodged it at the last second. But my new opponent wasn’t near me at all. Was it just wind I’d felt?

The second snake man had changed shape too. 

He’d turned into a man in Chinese monk’s clothes, with three Shaolin dots burned into his forehead. It wasn’t a katana or dagger that he carried. It was stranger than that.

“Do you remember the story I told you?” he said. “Of the hopeless mountaineer? To far off lands he traveled, and mountain after mountain he climbed, each greater than the last. But no one had ever seen nor heard of those mountains, so they could never understand the magnitude of his accomplishments. Yet, he traveled on, and climbed mountains taller and greater still. …Do you remember what happened to him?”

I didn't answer, gritted my teeth and gripped my sword tight. Another fuckin’ ghost.

The man smiled, a grin as sharp as the curved blade he carried.

“The reclusive, lonely man made the mountains his home…and became a demon.”

He swiped at me from afar, and I felt another gust of wind burst from the Chinese sword. I blocked it, and yet it sent me hurtlin’ backwards, until I crashed into one of those grabby trees. Felt the branches coil around my sword arm like sharp fingers. Fuck, I was stuck.

“No one can understand us. They cannot understand that this is the moment where demons like us have the time of our lives. That sweet, fleeting rift that lies an inch between life and death.” 

He approached me slow, as I struggled and tried to tear myself free.

“…Alas, it is time I ended this.”

He hissed and raised his hand, poised like a cat’s claw, and darted for my throat.

My left hand broke a branch from the tree. The moment he got close, I swung at ‘im. Sliced his jugular. He collapsed past me.

I broke free from the tanglin’ tree, rushed back to the last of the trio. He’d finally let go of the priestess.

No, not a he this time. This familiar figure…was a woman.

A beautiful woman. She wore a simple purple kimono, and held a walkin’ stick and shamisen that she dismantled, combined together, and flicked into a three-pronged spear. Her eyes mighta’ been closed, but I knew she saw me clearly. Clearer than most people ever had.

“Even now, you fight with such powerful hatred and rage, swirling within you. Nothing has changed, Mugen.” said the blind woman.

The cross blade of her magari yari flashed past my face, slashed my cheek open. I licked the blood away. We swung at each other in fluid arcs and slices, twirlin’ and spinnin’, coming together and driftin’ apart. Wasn't like we were fightin’ at all—more like we were dancing. Dancing out our roles in a sad, sad song. 

An elegy about a mother and son.  

But she was wrong about me. I wasn't all that much the same as when we last fought. And this couldn't really be her, could it?

But it looked like her. Sounded like her.

We swung and missed one another, turned our backs on each other, followed through with our final strikes. Like a mirror. We were much the same, her and I. That’s what she’d told me twice. Never once knowing true happiness. Never once being loved by anyone.

An’ this time, when I saw her face, solemn and resigned to death, it was me who almost hesitated. Almost pulled back my blade. But hesitation kills ya. I knew that. An’ it wasn’t my time yet.

She dropped her spear, and fell to her knees in front of me. A gaping wound opened her belly. Just like the one I'd given her before. She whispered softly ta’ me, like a mother might to a scared child.

“I wanted you to live, Mugen… And yet you still waste away.”

But I was alive, wasn’t I? I didn’t understand.

Her strength evaporated, and she collapsed on her side, her lips turnin’ the faintest shade of blue. The sight of it, all over again, made it feel like my guts had dropped outta me. I lurched forward, dry heaved over my quakin’ knees. But when my fogged eyes blinked down at her, the image of the blind woman was gone. 

All three of the corpses had changed back, not into snakes, but into men. 

Three dead men I didn't know at all. …It was better that way.

The rabbit priestess I’d saved ran to my side, touchin’ my arm.

“Thank you for saving me! …Are you… Are you alright?”

I ignored the question, shrugged her hand away. “Get to safety. Might be more of ‘em.”

“Wait! You must listen! Your friend, she helped me to escape! These men you’ve killed are part of a cult that means to sacrifice her in a twisted ritual!”

I knew it was all real. Not just my hallucinations of talkin’ toads. Had to get to Fuu fast.

“Where is she?!”

“I-In the cave to the east! My brother is headed there too! I saw him with the toad that the cultists need for their ritual! I tried to reason with him, told him to save her and let the toad go, but he would not listen to me!” She grabbed my arm again, sobbing. “There isn’t much time left! Please, you must stop them! Save her! ”

I didn’t need ta’ be told twice. I started off again with Fuu’s pet rat back to leading the way.

Wasn’t long before trouble found me again. 

Somethin’ came flying outta the woods like a bat outta hell. Barely caught a glint of the chain scythe as its silver edge caught the sun. It ripped through the foliage, shuckin' all the trees of their branches.

“Let's have some fun, you bastard! Let's have some FUN!”  

Another snake man, transformed into another face from the past.

A Satsuma samurai, a black patch over his right eye. 

He swung about the kusarigama with reckless abandon, flayin’ the whole damn forest apart. The wilting flowers shrieked louder and more bloodcurdlin’ than ever, as their heads were guillotined from their stems.

“I don’t have fucking time for this!” I screamed.

I wasn’t so worried though. This time, I had my sword in hand. Not stuck in a cross.

I leaped over the swinging chain, then ducked under it when it rotated back my way. I closed the gap between us so quickly, he looked surprised by my speed, gawpin’ like an idiot, as he tried to whip out his katana. My sword met his neck, and knocked his head clean off its shoulders. His head bounced once, twice, rolled a fair distance, ‘til it crashed into the stump of a tree.  

I still heard him though.

I looked, saw his decapitated head faced my way. His patch had fallen off, revealin’ an angry, bloodshot eye that was locked right onto me. It burned into me. The head began to chuckle, then it escalated into a lunatic’s cackling. Louder and louder, so loud it was makin’ my own head spin.

“Ahhhh, this time I might actually cry! Still going through all this trouble for some woman, are you?”

I took off runnin’, left him there to rot and morph back into his true form. Had to find the cave. Had to find her fast. 

I just hoped that there wouldn’t be any more goddamn ghosts gettin’ in my way. 

Don’t know how long I’d navigated the darkness… My trembling fingers traced the damp, mossy cave walls. I felt the breeze of something gliding by my head. Momo-san?

It wasn’t a squeak I heard, but the soft clicking of a cave bat as it flew to get out of this death trap, same as me. More bats followed. Their panicked clicks, and the beat of their wings guided my way. Sound and touch were all I had to go on.

To be honest, I was so tired, hungry and terrified that I wanted nothing more than to just curl up into a pathetic ball. It was the constant rumbles of the impending earthquakes that spurred me on. I didn't want to die here, crushed in darkness!

Soon, I saw light at the end of the tunnel. Dim at first, then it grew, painting the cave orange. 

It wasn't sunlight. Another torch. 

I stumbled, my ankle banging into a sharp stone, and I pitched backward with a yelp. Too late to hide now. The figure was upon me, dragging me into a headlock. 

Lesson two for a hostage: always fight back. I viciously kicked at legs and bit at an arm, until the figure shoved the torch so close to my face, that I felt the intense heat on my skin, and smelled that familiar nauseating scent of something burning. 

My hair?! 

The sudden pain pulled a shriek out of me, as I grabbed at the strand and put out the tiny flame before it spread and engulfed the rest of my head. My freshly burned fingertips stung unbearably.

“No more sudden moves, or I'll set you on fire.”

I recognized that smooth, leveled voice. Tadami. 

This was worse than being held at knifepoint. Burning alive was far from a pleasant way to go.

I whimpered and obeyed, falling limp against him. He crushed my neck tighter against his bicep, but not by enough to choke me unconscious. And then he pushed me to move, the light of the torch leading us back the way I came from. Back towards the chamber where Hakuja and his snake skeleton awaited us. All that distance I’d made wandering the darkness…for nothing. 

“Tadami… You don’t need to be indebted to that crazy excuse for a doctor anymore! Tell me you don’t really believe all that nonsense about immortality and resurrecting a dead god!”

“So…you’ve talked to Ayame have you.”

“I understand why you’re doing this. Really, I get it. But is repaying Hakuja for saving your sister really worth feeding into his delusions?! Was it worth hurting so many other people? Those girls had families too! Fathers, mothers, sisters. Brothers. ”

“I’m sorry.” He said, and the sincerity in his voice cut me deeper than if he’d been telling a lie. “For involving you in this. Just as I involved the others. But it will all be over soon.”

“It’ll be over sooner if you let me go! You’re better than this! I know you are! You love your sister don’t you?! Just be done with all this crazy crap!”

“I’m afraid that doesn’t fit into the plan.”

Damn his plans. If he wouldn’t be convinced, I needed to come up with an alternative. But my head was fogged from exhaustion. Couldn’t think at all. Oh Mugen, please hurry. …Who was I kidding, though? I didn’t even know if Ayame had made it out, or found him. Or if Tadami hadn’t killed him already.

Too soon, we were back in the altar chamber, with that monstrous snake skull looming over us. Was this really the end for me?

With a long, ceremonial blade in hand, Hakuja welcomed our arrival, his ghastly smile so wide, all his sharp, yellow teeth showed. I wanted to sock him in the mouth until there was nothing left but bloody gums.

He ran the blade point along my cheek, traced it down to my neck as I tried to lean away. I winced as it broke skin and a drop of my blood ran.

“You’ve returned so soon! And bearing a gift, I see.” 

“More than one, Sensei.”

Tadami tossed the torch into one of the braziers, and from the satchel at his waist, he pulled out a bloated toad. The same toad Mugen had tried to eat… 

It limply laid belly up in his hand, coated in blood. Once he’d forced me to my knees in the center of the altar, he placed the toad’s motionless body upon the stone slab in front of me. Poor little guy… Another victim of this stupid mummer's farce. And to think, Mugen had even liked the toad enough to name him Jeremy…

“I slew the toad under your orders.” A second time, Tadami reached into his satchel, revealing a tinted vial. “And I’ve already extracted its toxins and blood as well.”

“You’ve truly outdone yourself today, Tadami. Your loyalty will not go unrewarded. You and I shall both bask in immortality this day!”

The earthquakes hadn’t ceased, vibrating the entire chamber.

“We have limited time. Please, Sensei, allow me to do the honors of slaying the sacrifice. Commune with our lord while the seal is at its weakest!” 

As Tadami handed over the vial, in exchange, Hakuja presented Tadami with the ceremonial blade. Its hilt bore corded wrapping that resembled scales, and the milky wave on the blade itself seemed to glisten and slither.

The doctor uncorked the bottle and greedily chugged down the draught of toad blood. Rivulets spilled from his lips, staining his braided beard from snow white to crimson.

He prostrated himself before the snake skull. His raspy voice turned disgustingly high and obsequious.

“Orochimaru-sama, we have slain the toad and brought back your offering. I beg of thee, speak to me! Tell me your wishes! I am but your humble servant to command!”

The snake skull didn’t make a sound. At least, not that I could hear. Only vicious quakes erupted from the bedrock below, making the bones appear to quiver and shake.

“Why do you shun me so now, my lord! I cannot hear your words clearly! I beg of thee to speak! Tell me all that you desire. All I ask in return is but a fraction of your blessing, so that I too may become the snake and be ever at your side, as your loyal subject!”

Still, nothing.

Hakuja whipped around, unsatisfied. 

“He will not answer!”

“It may take time for the toad extract to take effect.” said Tadami.

But the old man wasn’t listening. “He must desire proof of our commitment! First, the sacrifice! Kill her now Tadami! Let his soul feast on the eighth rabbit’s blood so that he may regain his strength!”

The steel chilled the back of my neck.

I was ten years old, the first time I saw someone killed. It was a public execution in Kyoto. Death by decapitation. After that, I'd seen Mugen and Jin cut down countless men. It got to a point where I'd become almost… numb to violence. But now, faced with my own death by a blade, I was pulled back to that time when I was only a pure and naive little girl, hiding my face in my mother’s kimono. Terrified of the sound of metal slicing flesh, the lifeless eyes of the severed heads, all the blood, so much that it painted the entire execution grounds.

That...was the day I stopped truly praying. I still would pay my respects to the deceased, or would visit shrines for my fortune to be read. But I never spoke directly to the Kami ever since. No longer made wishes that would never come true. That day, I realized that if I wanted to save someone from being executed, it was a matter I had to take into my own hands.

Except…now, I was the one on my knees, the blade to my neck. No one to save me. No way to save myself. 

I heard Tadami’s breathing above me. Hard, unsteady breaths.

My body was completely frozen. In shock? Out of fear? I wondered if it would be painful. I wondered if he’d strike swift enough that I wouldn't feel a thing. Maybe the anticipation of it would be the most painful part of all.

I squeezed my eyes shut, took in a deep, final breath. Silently cursed fate, my stupid zodiac sign and all my bad luck. 

And as I waited for death, I surprised myself. I prayed again. Not sure who I was praying to. I really don’t know who or what I believed in. But I prayed nonetheless. Even if this would be the end of the road for me, I prayed Mugen was still alive somewhere, that he’d survive today, and many more days to come. And that maybe he’d reunite with Jin, who would be well and happy. And that maybe…they'd think of me from time to time. Talk about me. Share silly stories of our adventures together. I guess that was my own selfish way of wanting to live forever …Even if only as a memory.

“Do it!” Hakuja bellowed.

The blade didn’t move. Hesitantly, my eyes peeled back open.

The doctor faced us fully now, his face turning red with impatience. Visible veins popped out from his neck, violet and blue.

 “Why do you hesitate?!”

Tadami didn't answer him.

“Damn you!”  He stomped towards us. “If you lack the stomach for it, I will do it myself!”

But before he could reach us and snatch back the sword, Hakuja’s steps slowed up. Until he came to a grounding halt. Those veins in his neck grew darker still. He clutched his throat.

“What…” he made a pained gasp. “What is this.”

His pale eyes bulged from their blackened sockets. His bony hands clawed at those rapidly swelling veins in his neck, clawed until his long, cracked nails broke skin and drew streaks of blood.

Hakuja choked, and hacked, barely able to cough his words out. “What…did you… give me?!”

As the cold blade drifted away from the back of my neck, I finally dared to breathe again. Tadami stepped past me and approached his master. By then, the old man had sagged to his hands and knees, retching up a sick splatter of blood and bile on the stone.

Tadami stood over him calmly.

“A special extract, Sensei. Aren't you proud? Mamushi and habu venom, mixed with fire coral and the cyanide from apple seeds and wild almonds. I learned from the best, after all.” 

“Wha— How ?! But the toad is—!”

Hakuja and I simultaneously looked at the dead toad laid out on the stone slab. One of its eyes seemed to slowly…blink. Its throat moved slightly with the faintest croak. 

Had it been playing dead the entire time? Toads often do to ward off predators. Or had Tadami given it some kind of sleeping agent to fake its death? But the blood in the vial… 

I noticed then, that although the toad was sluiced in dried blood, there were no visible cuts or stab wounds to indicate a killing blow. The blood came from no injury. Then…where did it come from?

I glanced back at Tadami, confused. Then I saw his left arm, covered in a blood soaked bandage.

Tadami still had the ceremonial blade in hand. He could have finished off Hakuja right then. He didn't.

Instead, he chose to watch Hakuja suffocate slowly, drowning on his own vomit, clawing at his throat, blood leaking from every orifice in his face, as he writhed and contorted on the floor like a snake twisting in its death throes. Long minutes passed in suffering. He reached for Tadami’s ankle, clutched it desperately. And then, with one last weak gasp for air, the old man fell still.

“You…” Despite the shaking chamber, and my weakening legs, I’d managed to climb to my feet. “You used me to trick him into drinking that poison?!”

“It worked, did it not? My dearest master had always taught me that the ends justify the means. And your capture helped to ensure his complete trust in me. And his demise.”

“You could have told me! ”

“Who’s to say you wouldn’t have given my plan away? I needed to make sure he had no suspicion.”

“YOU BURNED MY HAIR!” 

I grabbed the strands, indicating how one of my side bangs was now half the length of the other, like I used to wear them. The brown edges were charred to black.

“Apologies. I hadn’t meant for the torch to get quite so close…”

I tightened my lips into a frown, yet couldn’t find the anger. I’d be dead right about now if Tadami hadn’t had a change of heart.

“...Why did you decide to do it? What changed your mind?”

“I found my sister before I found you, just outside the cave.” he said, black eyes fixed on his bandaged arm. “She told me that Hakuja had his men capture her. And that you were the one who helped her escape, even if it meant you were left behind. …Fuu-san, I am more grateful to you than you could ever know.” 

He turned away from me, to the gilded chest in the corner of the chamber. He opened it, beckoning me closer.

“Take what is yours and leave this place. I do not know when the rest of Hakuja’s followers will return.”

Sure enough, my tantos they’d confiscated were still inside. But there were other items too. Women's kimonos and yukatas. Seven pairs of zori sandals. Jewelry. A paper parasol and a folding fan. A plush stuffed rabbit. The sight of it all turned my insides to water.

Once I’d grabbed my possessions, the shaking of the mountain intensified. Fissures snaked throughout the surrounding rock, and more rubble broke from the ceiling, smashing boulders into the ground. With a croak of distress, that fat toad rolled back onto its belly, and flopped from the altar, out the chamber, gone from sight.

"It isn’t safe here! The mountain will come down on us!” I shrieked.

I started for the exit, but didn’t hear Tadami’s footsteps behind me. He still stood in the same spot, staring down at the chest and all its contents.

“What the hell are you doing?! C’mon!”

“I helped Hakuja to lure in the other girls, I didn't know at first…but it wasn’t long before I’d figured it out. With silly promises of matchmaking, I’d led them to their deaths. And for what?” He shook his head sadly. “...I deserve to die here.”

"Maybe you do!" I screamed at him over the booming tremors and crashing stones that fell all around us. “But when Hakuja saved your sister, you owed him a life debt! And now I’ve saved her, so guess what? You owe me! And you can start repaying me by living! Live a lifetime of atonement for all the wrongs you’ve committed!”

At that, Tadami finally raised his head, looked at me. His slate-black eyes were wet with tears. 

“Now quit feeling sorry for yourself and let’s go! I can’t find my way out of this hellhole on my own!”

Me an’ the flying rat finally made it to the cave.

There, a snake man stood at its entrance, feverishly glancin’ about as if in search of somethin’. Someone. And the moment our eyes met, and the moment I blinked, he’d transformed too.

Not a snake man anymore. A man that was like a snake. Rotten to his core. Pure venom in the flesh.

Unlike the last four faces I’d come across, this one was the ghost of a person I hadn’t killed. Doesn't mean I didn't want to. I just never got the chance… Not after Jin beat me to it.

The evil bastard smirked, and pointed the barrel of his pistol right at my head. 

I saw red.

I flew at him, felt the bullet whistle by my ear, shucked off a lock a’ my hair. I didn't care. Didn't even flinch.

Steel punctured flesh. Made the most satisfying fuckin’ sound in the world, right then. And just like that, quick and simple, I’d finally killed him. It was over.

I’d finally killed Mukuro.

But…as I stared down at his bleedin’ corpse, I saw it change back like all the rest. Wasn’t really him. Just another phantom hallucination. I was sorely disappointed for it.

Deep, gut twistin’ laughter rose up in front of me. 

The man that I thought was Mukuro might’ve already been dead. But the phantom of Mukuro still remained. He stood at the mouth of the cave, black and fathomless at his back. 

Like the mouth of hell.

He lifted a finger, beckoned for me.

“Come back to us, old friend. Come back to where you belong.”

I bared my teeth and sprinted at him.

“Mukuro!!!”

He chuckled, backed into the cave’s mouth, until his yellow and violet silhouette got swallowed up in the darkness. 

“...Yes, that’s it. Remember now? This is the kind of man you are. Never forget that darkness you got in your soul.”

The cave was so pitch black, I could barely see a damn thing. Only Mukuro led my way down its depths, his sickening laughter bubblin’ up from the darkness.

“This is where you belong. Join us here. We’ve already fallen so low…”

Slowly, my eyes adjusted, could faintly see a split in the tunnel. He urged me to follow down a path that sharply veered left.

Before I had the chance to move, somethin’ smacked into my face.

Thought it'd been a bullet. Until teeth chopped down on my nose. I stumbled backwards, bellowin’, cursin’ and hollerin’ but it was all muffled up by the thing suffocating my mouth! I ripped it off a’ me, and held it up to eye level.

“What the fuck?!”

Fuu’s flying rat.

“You mustn't listen to him, Mugen-dono! There's no one there! Orochimaru seeks to deceive you with hallucinations! ” The rat said, beatin’ at my thumb over its stomach with tiny pink paws. “Whatever you do, do not listen to the voices! He will toy with your mind until it frays apart.  Come, come, Fuu-sama is this way! I smell her!”

I looked back once down the left path, and saw Mukuro frowin’ at me. I tsk’ed, sheathed my sword, and ignored him.

More and more through the blackness, my vision started clearin’ up. An’ it was strange. The cave walls turned to the color of fire. Painted by sunset. I knew I walked deep in the belly of the mountain, but my eyes told me I was outside, in a grove of tropical trees, drapin' vines, and poisonous flowers. The air was so moist, an’ hot…

“Fuck…” I wiped at my brow, and my hand came back slick with sweat. “Fuck, I’m bein’ baked alive!”

“Mugen-dono! You must hang in there! We’re still in the cave! The heat is all in your mind!”

No, I recognized this place. Too vivid not ta’ be real. Could even smell the stench a’ salt and blood on the wind.

I was back in the Ryukyus; Tarama or Minna Island by the look of things.

Back in Hell.

A thick, wheezy voice surfaced from behind me, made my skin crawl and a wave of bile climbed up my throat.

“Where’s that fine sword you stole from me, little pup?

I glanced over my shoulder. An’ there was that fat Chinese smuggler, gaudy gemstones all over his pudgy fingers. Bloody gouges covered his chest, his stomach, his face, from all the holes I’d poked into ‘im. 

The first man I'd ever killed.

“Where's my Typhoon Swell?! You lose it already? Answer me!”

Just my imagination. That’s what Fuu’s pet rat said. So I ignored the hallucination, turned away and walked on. Escaped him, just like I had before. He called after me.

“Come to me! A dog comes to its master when its called! And you're my property! Never forget! Do you understand?! Now, come!”

I felt his hot breath on my neck, felt his sweaty fingers wrapped around my throat again. But I was taller now. Faster. Stronger. I turned and slashed at him.

Slashed at nothin’ but air. He was gone. And good riddance.

I sheathed my sword again, and continued on. 

Another face peered out from the murk.

Like Mukuro, it was another person I’d wanted to kill, but never got the chance. Dead all the same. 

The Okinawan captain of the merchant barge. His bald dome of a head was plagued by a thousand puffy mosquito bites, and his yellowing skin had turned more sallow than I recalled. Looked like the Yaeyama Fever finally caught up to the slimy crook. He still cradled a bottle of his favorite Habushu sake in his fist. Only, the coiled up viper submerged in the alcohol was somehow still alive, barin’ its fangs at me.

He didn't speak Japanese, never knew how. He spoke his Kunigami dialect of Okinawan.

“Still weak and sick and sad, eh Mugen? Told you all that gold would’ve been wasted on my fighting dog! Should've put you down years ago. …Did you get what you wanted? Was making it to Japan everything you hoped for? …Or are you still as hungry a hound as you ever were?”

“Fuck off!” I spat back in Okinawan.

An’ he disappeared.

More figures soon came though, this time from the jungle path laid out in front a’ me.  One actually made my hair stand on end. I nearly stumbled back.

It was a man’s body…with no head. Just a bloody stump. It was dressed in a colorful, courtly Okinawan ryusou. And it stood in my way. 

“Stay away from them! Stay away! Haven't your friends done enough?!” 

I saw then, that he held his own head in his hands, bellowin’ at me in an aristocratic Okinawan dialect I barely pieced together. Behind him, huddled his wife and daughter. They wore fine ryusou robes too, but theirs were shredded apart, the bright reds and indigos torn to filthy rags. Their throats were slit open, black blood tricklin’ down their bruised necks and exposed breasts.

I gritted my teeth, tryin’ to hold back the vomit.

“No more! No more, no more, no more!” wailed the woman.

Their daughter, musta’ only been twelve or thirteen years old, had started to sob as her mother held her tight.

I moved to push them aside. But they vanished before my hand could reach.

“Afuta…”

My feet froze. 

Didn't want to turn back and look again. But I did. 

Fuck, I always hated that hag’s creaky voice. 

It was the shamaness who found me a dirty, starvin’ orphan. Still proudly wore her sacred Noro robes, even though they weren’t pure white no more, stained by dust an’ sand. I remembered her bein’ taller. Now she seemed fragile, and tiny. No visible blood or injuries on ‘er, like the rest. Probably died of old age… Most people in those cursed islands ain’t so lucky. 

“Afuta… ” she said again.

The shamaness raised a finger, gnarled and crooked, tattooed in faded blue ink, and pointed right at me.

“A kara muzza uin.” 

The old bitch rasped it spitefully. Not in Japanese. Not in any form of Okinawan. A different Ryukyuan language. From farther south. 

Miyakoan.

My native tongue.

She said it ta’ me like I was still that boy she reluctantly took in. Like I was still that boy she threw away.

Four lil’ kids huddled ‘round her, clutchin’ at her robes like pups lookin’ for their mother’s milk. All had rough spun tunics and the same sun touched skin. 

Two of ‘em had foamin’ mouths. The one nibbled hungrily at a scaly piece of cycad bark. The other itched his bloody ankle where two little dots mottled the skin, the size of fangs. 

The third boy was fatter than the first two, but not from eating. His rotten face was wet and bloated by seawater. And his feet were bare.

And the fourth was the skinniest of all. A wild haired boy, gut distended from hunger, a scar on his frownin’ lip, and intense, hateful eyes. There was a gaping gash in the side of his head. 

Was that last one me? Looked just like my reflection in the waves, back then.

Was I already dead? Was I really back in Hell, stuck with all these ghosts I never wanted to see again?

I heard a whisper. Completely unfamiliar ta’ me, and unlike all the voices before, there was no vision with it. No figure. It seemed to echo from everywhere and nowhere, slitherin’ into my skull and nesting there. Like it wanted to stay permanently.

“All of them, gone. Their flesh for the maggotsss, their bonesss for the earth. From ssstarvation, dissseassse, or the blade. Sssome even died by your hand. But you…only you live on. It is mossst…admirable.

“You’ve even killed my followersss… But I care not for their petty ambitionsss. I bessstow my blesssings only upon the ssstrong. You alone may have my gift of everlasssting life.

“All you mussst do is bring me the toad and the maiden. The eighth maiden’sss sssweet blood will ressstore me. Bring them to me. And I will give you all you have ever dared to dream of.”

“I ain't got any dreams!” I yelled back, even though I didn't have a goddamn clue where the voice was comin’ from.

“You may ssshift into any form you desire!”

“I think I'm pretty sexy the way I am.”

“You will be eternal! Unaging! Undying!”

“Undying?” I spat. “I’ve spent most a’ my life lookin’ for new ways to die.”

“Your disssrespect is folly! FOLLY! Bring them to me now! If you will not deliver them, I shhhall take the maiden by forccce! I shhall bury you both in the mountain with me!”

The roots on the jungle floor of this nightmare hellscape suddenly transformed into writhin’ snakes. They lunged for my ankles, coiled around my feet, an’ glued me there. Fuu’s flying rat tried to bite at ‘em to get them off a’ me.

More unwelcome faces appeared from the deep depths of the viney, tropical forest. They all surrounded me. The villagers of Tarama Island.

“Murderer!”

They were throwin’ rocks again, as they hissed like pit vipers.

“Monster!”

So many faces. So many stones whipped from their hands.

“Rot in hell, demon!”

I felt the sting of the blows, whippin’ at my face, cuttin’ my forehead open. One hit me so hard, I fell to my knees. If these were only visions from the toxin, then how come it hurt so much. How come it felt just like before. I squeezed my eyes shut, tried to block it all out, but they wouldn't relent. Wouldn’t stop.

“Filthy dog!”

No…they’d never be satisfied. Not until I was dead too.

“Mugen!”

My eyes shot open.

“Mugen! Are you okay?!”

I peered up, past the stinging rocks, and saw there was a boulder in front a’ me that blocked the path ahead. But just over it, I could barely see a face through dim, orange light. Pale. And teary eyed. More familiar and welcome than any a’ these other faces. 

My stomach plummeted. Another ghost.

Fuu.

“It’s another earthquake!” she screamed. “You have to leave!”

No, not a ghost. Couldn’t be. Her voice was too grounded, too firmly fixed in the present, that she just had ta' be alive. Still had those stupid bunny ears and whiskers on her face, but alive. I saw the boar man next to her. He carried a torch, but his free hand wasn’t detainin’ her. She hopped up again so I could see her over the boulder, but it was too high for her ta’ climb over it. Her flying rat was able to though, and it was soon reunited with its master. 

All the Tarama villagers started ta’ fade away. I wasn’t in the Ryukyus no more. No, I was in the cold, dark cave, and no one had ever been throwin’ rocks at all. The earthquake was shakin’ stones from the roof of the tunnel, peltin’ me with the rubble. 

More rocks were fallin’ around me, burying the path.

“I’ll be alright!” Fuu said. “Tadami is gonna help me find another way out. But you have to get out of here too, Mugen!”

“Wait, girlie!”

“There’s no time! Get out of here! Now! ”

“Shit!"

I gritted my teeth. Had no choice but to start sprintin’ back the way I came from, straight through that cloak of darkness. Couldn’t see anythin’ at all, not even my own feet, but I just kept on runnin’ no matter how many times I tripped or stubbed my damn toe, and all as the tunnels kept on collapsin’ behind me. 

Pretty soon, I saw a break in the blackness.

I dove for the light.

Hit the ground hard enough to knock the wind outta my chest, as I rolled and tumbled in the dust. …Just as the mouth of the cave came crumblin’ down behind me.

Fuck, barely made it out by the skin a’ my balls.

For a whole minute, I just laid on my back, sprawled out in the dirt, sweaty and heavin’ for air. 

When I could finally breathe again, I stumbled to my feet, dusted the dirt and debris from my samue. Looked around.

But Fuu was nowhere in sight.

“Girlie! Oi!” 

I called out, over and over. But I didn't see her.

I looked back at the mountain. At the mouth of the cave, buried in rubble. The only way out.

No.

I grabbed at the stones and tossed them away. First slowly, then faster, then frantically, like a dog diggin’  a hole to nowhere.

Fuck.

But what use was it? What good would it do. Half the stones were too massive for me ta’ move on my own. 

Fuck.

And it wouldn’t change nothin’. She was still in there, crushed to death, and I’d fuckin’ ran like a pussy. Didn't even look back once.

Fuck. Fuck! FUCK! FUCK!

I yelled 'til my throat grew sore and I'd run outta meaningless things to spit up, all as I punched hopelessly at the fuckin’ mountain ‘til the skin of my hands cracked open, and started ta’ bleed on the stone.

Laughter stabbed into my back. Mukuro again.

“Oh, that's funny. That's a laughing riot! A guy like you…thinking he can protect people?”

I thought that the fuckin’ toxin had finally run its course in the cave, but I was wrong. I couldn’t even bring myself ta’ make a comeback to the bastard. I just stayed slumped there on my knees, starin’ at nothin’.

Tried to feel nothin’. But I felt everything. 

Everything…

“Calm yourself.”

I jumped, looked to my right, almost expectin’ to find Jin leerin’ down his glasses at me with that nauseatingly disappointed look on his stupid mug. But it wasn’t. It was just the toad.

“...Jeremy?”

He croaked with annoyance, “...I will forgive the name just this once, only because you seem so relieved to find me hale and whole.”

“As if.”

Wasn't him I was worried about. I forced myself to look back at the pile of rubble.

“Your companion is not dead. You defeated the cult of Orochimaru. And with the prophecy fulfilled, your companion must be alive.”

“Fuck your prophecies! It ain’t real!” My head began to throb so badly that I cradled it to block out the drumming. “None of this is real, is it! It fuckin’ can't be! You're just a… You're just a fuckin toad! ”

“Then do not hold faith in my prophecies. Have faith in her, that she found a different exit to escape the mountain. She lives, Mugen.”

I fuckin’ hated hopin’ for the best. Hope is when somethin's outta your hands. But that broad has been through crazier shit and managed to pull through without my help, right? Maybe the toad was right. …Maybe I needed to have some faith in her for once.

I slumped backwards onto my ass, balanced my achin’ arms on my scraped knees. Tried ta’ laugh. It only came out as a pathetic, dry choking noise.

“Besides, fate has far bigger plans for the both of you.”

I scoffed, “Tell destiny, my schedule’s a bit filled lately.”

“On the contrary. You walk the path that destiny has charted for you. A journey to find an old friend, no?”

“How did you—”

No, fuck that. I was just readin’ into it again. This toad was just my own head talkin’ is all. Couldn't be real. All of this was a fuckin’ fever dream. Had to be. Had to be!

“Destiny don't dictate nobody. You can make all the excuses you want.  But only you decide how ta’ live your life.”

“Well said, Mugen. In this, you are correct. Fate does not make your decisions. It is not stone blocking your way, forcing you down one single road. Rather, fate is more like clay. You yourself mold the future from the material it provides. And while destiny has determined the possibilities, it is your decisions that determine the twists and turns of the path you choose to walk. …And where you will find yourself at the end of it.

“And there are many more prophecies that speak of you, Mugen, each with different outcomes. In the spirit realm, the Kami speak of them in whispers."

I told myself I didn’t wanna know, didn't care what the future held. Always focused on the present. But that was a lie. Lately, I couldn’t help but wonder what the day would bring…or if I’d even live long enough ta’ see the next sunrise.

“There is one that stands out in particular, that I’ve gleaned from the stars. One that has yet to come to pass.”

The toad cleared his throat. Or maybe he just croaked. Still too hard ta’ make out the difference.

“A crow with endless hunger flies from beaches of broken scales.
If the hound flees by dawn, the crow will feast on his soul and his seeds shall never be planted.
If the hound bites by midday, the crow will peck out his eyes and his flock shall be butchered. 
If the hound howls at dusk, the crow will eat one limb, yet his home shall be spared.
…And if the hound lives until the next dawn, the crow shall devour him whole. Weighed down by this meal, yet still unsated, the crow shall fall from the heavens and be taken by the waves.”

I stared at the toad. The toad stared back at me. I blinked. He blinked, one eye at a time.

“...And?”

“And…that’s it. So it has been foretold.”

“So no matter what…the dog always gets eaten, eh.”

What else did I expect? My life was already set on a course for a painful death since the day I was born. Surprised I’d made it this far, truth told.

“Do not be troubled by it, Heavenly Beast. Prophecies are tricky things. The symbols are not only difficult to decipher, but the words can be twisted as well. All I can truly decipher is that, no matter the course you take, this crow hunting you is an inescapable encounter. The question is when. And perhaps more importantly, why?”

Despite what Jeremy said, I had a feelin’ this prophecy really was literal. If there was any truth in it, anyway.  

“I ain’t afraid a’ death. Been waiting for it all my life. It comes for us all.”

“No, pup.” said the toad. “You are truly not afraid of death. It is…living that frightens you. And that makes you far more cowardly.”

“Cowardly? Fuck off!

“I was once much like you, Mugen. Long ago. When I’d still been a human known as Hiroyuki. I had turned to banditry, robbing ships…killing innocents. Did whatever I knew to survive. A life long wasted… And then I met my master, who offered to teach me toad magic if I promised to forsake a life of sin, and to use my skills for good. Before meeting him, I too was a coward.”

“Toad magic? How the fuck did you fall for a shitty ass deal like that?”

“Toad magic is an admirable form of sorcery!” he said. “And you are missing the point, pup!

“I see your fear. ... Why build anything that will one day burn? Why grow fruit knowing it may be plucked by another’s hand? But that is the beauty of it, is it not? That we might only be able to hold the most wonderful things for but a moment as brief as a summer breeze, before it turns to dust in our hands.

“It should make you want to hold onto those precious things all the tighter. Cherish them, while you have the chance. …Or you might miss that chance entirely.

“...Do not simply survive, Mugen. Live.”

I didn't much understand what he was getting at. All I knew was, after this shit, I really was done with destiny and prophecies.

"Ah, but what do I know, right? I'm just a toad." He said, with clear sarcasm.

Then he hopped off the log, plopped beside me, stared up at me with his bulgin’ black eyes. He whipped out his enormous glass bong from only the gods know where, and puffed away at it, blowin’ out another smelly rainbow.

"If it is of any consolation to you though, I have deciphered another prophecy. About destiny’s plans for your companion. And destiny clearly states she does not perish here."

"If it's abouts crows devourin’ her, I ain’t interested in hearin’ it.”

The toad rambled off anyway.

"If the rabbit is to reach the place where sun meets the sea, she must first teach:

The dragon to roar.
The butterfly to wander.
The pig to cleanse.
The shadow to speak.
The candle to blaze.
The night lily to bloom.
The crane to soar.
The monkey to see. 
The vine to release.

And the hound to..."

I leaned in closer ta’ hear, brows up, eyes wide. But the bastard fell silent.

"...To what?"

The toad didn’t answer me. Casually, he blew more colorful smoke rings into my face, and they started ta’ make me feel real dizzy. Lightheaded. Sick. I swatted them away, grabbed him with both hands, hooked my thumbs into his slimy lips to stretch his mouth open.

"Oi! Frogger! Ya didn’t finish the last line! What’s the brat supposed ta’ teach me, huh?! OI!"

No more wild colors. No more screamin’ flowers or floatin’ jellyfish. No more ghosts. Jiraiya’s magistrate clothes, his dick shaped hat, and even his bong began to fade away, until I found myself holding up…an ordinary toad.

It croaked at me.

Or maybe it laughed. How could I ever know for sure?

Around me, the real world was comin’ back into focus. But so was the pain, and the fatigue. And the hunger.

And the anger.

My head hurt. I dropped him, touched my scalp where all those stray rocks clocked me, pulled back my hand to find blood on the pads of my fingers. Everything grew blurry again.

“Shit…”

“Mugen?!”

Distantly, I heard that familiar voice.

“Hey, Mugen! Hang in there! MUGEN!”

Just as the world fell black.

Hard to believe it was already the afternoon of the next day…and still Mugen was knocked out cold. I routinely checked his breathing, which was steady and deep, and when he’d started to snore, I knew he was more than fine. Sleeping without a care in the world.

After we’d found Mugen collapsed at the front of the cave, Tadami and Ayame had helped me carry him away from the mountain, back by the shale creek, where we laid him down beneath the shade of an old oak tree. I bandaged up his head, which had taken taken a few nasty hits from the falling rubble, and sanitized the new cuts and abrasions he had on his face and hands. Washed all the blood off of him too…and there was plenty.

The siblings had offered to stay with me until he awoke. But I’d sent them on their way last night. Better that they’re long gone by the time Mugen wakes up. I don’t think he’d be as forgiving as me over all that had happened. After all, we’d found the rest of Hakuja’s goons scattered throughout the forest…slain to pieces. And while it did mean that their insanity was finally at an end, and Ayame and I would be safe from them…it also meant that Tadami was far from safe with Mugen.

Even now, I don’t know if I did the right thing with Tadami, pleading for him to live so he could atone. I can never know for sure. I just thought that…dying is too easy. To live with the painful weight of guilt, and to still force yourself to go on, to try to be a better person, even if you can never fully right all the wrongs you made… I feel like that’s far more difficult. Difficult, but not without its honor.

Maybe Tadami will never truly find peace with himself. Still, I think, after the choices he made, killing the cult leader and not killing me, he has started on the path to becoming a better man.

And although he helped those cultists kill innocent people, at its heart, it was all for the love of his sister. Repaying a debt that saved her life. Continuing to protect her from being their sacrifice.

Who am I to judge someone else for that, when Mugen and Jin did similar things for me, killing countless people to protect me? I have no right at all. It’s not my place to judge, and not my place to forgive.

I wondered how Mugen would feel about all this. I don’t know much about his past. Only fragments I’d cobbled together from the words of his old crewmates, Mukuro and Koza. Dark things. Sinful things. Things he hadn’t wanted me to hear when he’d put his blade to Mukuro’s throat. With all the wrongs he must have done in his life, I wonder if he ever regrets any of it too.

And although he’d never admit it, he has become a better person. Even from the first day we met, he’s changed somehow.

I also wondered…if Mugen thought of me like how Tadami thought of Asami. If he thought of me like a sister he’d protect at all costs, even if it meant hurting others.

My brow furled. 

Not sure why, but the thought of being Mugen’s sister felt gross somehow. Probably because he’s a big hairy monkey and I would never want to be blood related to someone like him. Or maybe because he’s made way too many insulting comments about my body, and talked way too graphically in front of me about himself and the types of women he liked to sleep with.

I looked down at him now. His sleeping face had that peaceful look again, made him not seem so crass and rough around the edges. I rested my palm against his forehead.

His fever had gone down some since we’d found him, so I could only hope the poison was finally wearing off. Carefully, I brushed strands of hair out of his eyes. It was not…coarse like I’d expected. It was thick and wild, but soft. Like a dog's fur.

He twitched for a second, just like a dog does when it dreams, and I couldn't help but laugh softly. I wonder what he dreams about… Talking toads and bunny girls?

I’d been so wrong yesterday. Stupid and naive, as Mugen would kindly put it... Because, despite all the crazy bad things that have happened to me, I somehow always end up pulling through by the skin of my teeth. Not many people can say that. 

And Mugen…he was here too, safe and sound. Had to look at the bright side. Had to. We were alright. We were both alive for another day. 

And right now, that made me the luckiest woman in the world.

I woke up feelin’… good. Really good. Which was weird. After the day I'd had, fuzzy as it was in my memory, this shit didn’t feel like no hangover. Better yet, I felt light and well rested.

Maybe everything had just been a funky fuckin’ dream.

When I opened my eyes, the chick was leaning over me. She had rung out her handkerchief, and moved to place the damp cloth on my forehead. Her serious brow untensed, eyes going all big and watery the moment she noticed I was starin' up at her. Man, had her eyes always been that bright shade of brown?

“You're finally awake!"

I leaped to my feet before she could place that rag back on me, and stretched my arms to the sun, snapped the kinks from my ankles, scratched at my hair. There were some bandages wrapped around my head an' hands that I couldn't recall bein' there before, but it didn't hurt none. Must've been Fuu’s handiwork, always worryin’ over nothin’. Not even sure what the hell happened for me ta’ get all these new injuries. 

She looked up at me, mouth fell open, an eyebrow quirked.

“...How are you feeling?”

Everything felt clearer. The sky bluer. The grass greener. 

“Like sunshine an’ puppy dogs.”

“...You’re sure you’re alright to move?”

Even though she sure knows how ta’ bitch a lot, sometimes her voice gets this soft note to it whenever she’s concerned. She sounded like that now.

“Never been better.”

“Seriously? What the hell! You had me so worried!” ...Just like that, she gets all squeaky and annoying again. “And now you’re just walking it off like you didn’t nearly die several times yesterday!”

I squinted. “...Yesterday?”

She frowned, “You were out for a whole day.”

Wondered why I'd slept that long. Musta’ been so bored from all our walking. What the hell happened yesterday, anyway…

“Shit, for real? Man, I had a weird fuckin' dream. Frogs… Just frogs everywhere."

"That…wasn't a dream." she said.

Fuu pointed towards the giant group of slimy green frogs huddled on the creek bed. For some reason, their constant chirpin’ wasn't drivin’ me up the wall like they had before. Guess Fuu's voice didn’t grate so badly on my nerves either. 

“Yeah? But it was a crazy dream. Like, there was this cult a’ people tryin’ to summon a giant demon snake. And they kidnapped you ta’ be their sacrifice or some shit. And—”

“That…wasn’t a dream either.” she said. “Wait…how did you know about all that? Did Tadami or Ayame tell you?”

Who the fuck was Tadami and Ayame? I hadn't a damn clue. But I did remember one person…no…an animal.

“Wait…so what about the talkin’ toad?! Is he still around?!”

Fuu blinked at me several times.

“That part was a dream.”

Fuck. Good. Hope I never dreamt up that ugly toad shaman ever again.

I stretched out again with a big yawn, and started off first on the path, all too ready to keep wanderin’ through bumfuck nowhere. ‘Least the lay a’ the land was back to boringly normal. Better than jellyfish and singin’ flowers…an' old faces creepin' up from the past.

I heard the chick clumsily shuffle after me.

“Hey, Mugen?”

“Yeah?”

“How’d you know I’d be in that cave? When they kidnapped me? Ayame really didn't tell you where to find me?”

Now that she mentioned it, I faintly recalled a rabbit priestess tellin’ me Fuu was being held hostage in a cave. But, way before that, I'd heard the same thing from that talkin’ toad. And it'd been Fuu’s pet rat that had actually led me to find it. Just coincidence, right? Had ta’ be. Musta' been trippin' out so hard that my brain was just cobblin’ things together out of order.

“I followed your rat. Chalk it up to animal instincts.”

Mine or her rat’s instincts, who can say.

“Animal instincts, huh. Say, that reminds me…what's your zodiac sign?” she asked.

Never paid much attention to horoscope shit. What did one animal year matter over the other, I’d always thought. But…that talkin’ toad had called me a… 

“Don't know.” I said.

“Well, how old are you? Twenty three right?”

“Twenty one, but I turn twenty two this year.”

“Huh… For some reason, I always assumed you were born in the year of the rooster. Let’s see…that would make you…the year of the dog then!”

I screeched to a halt. Coincidence. Had to be. But…

“Girlie, you’re seventeen right?”

“Mhm.”

“What animal is that again?”

The broad had to be the ox cause she's so goddamn stubborn and immovable. Better yet, the boar, cause she can't stop shovelin’ food into her face. Yeah, one of those two for sure. I had nothin’ ta’ worry about.

“I was born in the year of the rabbit!” she smiled.

I felt my guts drop.

“...Rabbit?”

“Yup!”

Sure, could be coincidence, and my overactive mind made all that stuff up. But I never knew what year any of the zodiac animals fell under, ‘cause I’d never cared. What were the odds, then… Still, I carried on my way, my clogs scrapin’ up dirt harder than I meant to. Didn’t want to think about this shit anymore. I was better off pretendin’ that all that zodiac, prophecy and fate shit didn't creep the livin' fuck outta me.

Just once though, I peered over at Fuu next ta’ me…and squinted at the flying rat perched on her shoulder. 

To my shock, the rat stared right back at me with those big, shiny black eyes. It made a couple a’ high pitched squeaks, hopped up a few times like it was tryin’ to say somethin’. 

Even now, I could hear it in my imagination…the rat talkin’ in that sultry courtesan’s voice: “Oh, thank you, thank you, Mugen-dono! Our lord is safe once more! I never doubted you for even a second!”

I averted my eyes real quick, stared blankly at the road ahead.

"Something wrong, Mugen?"

"Nope." I said. "Not a damn thing."

One thing’s for certain. If horoscopes and fortunes and prophecies are all real…then that bitch known as destiny is tryin’ real hard to torment me. I’m damn sure of it.

To Be Continuedつづく~

Cultural/Historical Notes:

Mugen’s Visions- Each hallucination Mugen comes across is someone notable from Mugen’s past who is already dead. Their lines of dialogue all allude to things they’ve previously said. Some are people he killed. Some are not. Many you will recognize.

The Hideous Giant- Oniwakamaru from Episode 2 Redeye Reprisal.
Man Dressed as a Shaolin Monk- Shoryu from Episode 10 Lethal Lunacy.
The Blind Woman- Sara from Episode 20 and 21 Elegy of Entrapment.
The Satsuma Samurai- Umanousuke from Episode 24, 25 and 26 Evanescent Encounters.
The Pirate with a Pistol- Mukuro from Episode 13 and 14 Misguided Miscreants.

The Others-The old shamaness with tattooed fingers, the four emaciated children, the fat Chinese smuggler, the bald and sickly merchant, the villagers stoning him, the headless Okinawan nobleman and his wife and daughter etc… These are characters who you will not recognize, though a couple have already been slightly mentioned in the previous chapter. Ie: The orphan boy who died of a snake bite. None are from the anime. They are of my own creation and are all based on aspects of Ryukyuan history and culture in some capacity. In a far future chapter, all of their connections to Mugen will be fully explained. When and how he knew them. Which he killed and which he did not. And why.

(For veteran readers who have read the unrevised version of FTFES..WY?! on Fanfiction.net, and read up to From Hell to Heaven, you likely recognized most of these faces, and understand the full gravity, and pain of each interaction. Hope it was a surprise treat for you, foreshadowing that distant chapter. The only three characters not yet explained in any content, is the family of three: the decapitated father and his wife and daughter. This is being saved for the very last arc.)

Japanese Giant Mythological Snakes- Cultures across the world have revered the snake as a symbol of medicine, health and immortality because of the way snakes shed their skin and appear to become young again. Japanese culture is no exception and its mythology is filled with tales of giant serpents with magical properties such as eternal youth and the ability to shapeshift. Orochi, Uwabami and Daiji all refer to the same type of giant snake, depending on what time period the legend is from. Aside from being magical, they were believed to eat humans whole and were the causes of rockslides in the mountains to ambush their prey.

Giant snakes have become a trope for many anime and videogames set in a pseudo Sengoku era. My favorite example is Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, where one must fight two gigantic white serpents. Interestingly, this game’s main theme is about the evils of seeking immortality through dark spiritual practices. 

Yamata-no-Orochi- an eight headed serpent from the legend of Susanoo-no-Mikoto, Kami of Sea and Storms. After Susanoo was cast out of Heaven for being reckless and violent, he meets a virgin girl who will soon be the eighth meal for the demon snake. Uncharacteristically, he saves the girl from the snake and receives her love, and The Sword of Gathering Clouds as his reward. This sword is a symbol of virtue and is one of the Three Royal Regalia passed down through the Japanese royal family.

Here is a full article I've written on the striking similarities between Mugen and Susanoo-no-Mikoto. 

It was intentional that Hakuja's cult consisted of eight members (excluding Tadami) to represent eight heads, and they sacrificed seven girls with the hopes of making Fuu their eighth victim.

Hakuja (白蛇)- “white serpent”. White snakes are especially associated with healing and immortality.

Tadami (忠巳)- “loyalty” and “snake”. Ironic that he betrays his snake cult.

Ayame(菖蒲)- “Japanese iris flower”. In the tale of Jiraiya the Gallant, Ayame is the name of Jiraiya’s sister, born in the year of the snake, who sacrifices herself to save her brother, as her blood is needed to heal him. (This is paralleled in FTFES, with the blood of another sister with the same name used to resurrect Orochimaru, rather than Jiraiya.)

Eastern Zodiac- Unlike in the west, the Chinese Zodiac which was adapted by the Japanese, is based on what year a person is born, rather than what month. The order of which is as follows: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Boar. Typically, each animal is given two animals they are likely compatible with, and one they are not. They also get one “secret ally.” 

Tadami represented as the boar was not only to have compatibility with Fuu, but also symbolic because the snake and boar are bitter enemies.

Rabbit- Allies with the Boar and Horse. Enemy is the Rooster. Secret Ally: Dog
Dog- Allies with the Horse and Tiger. Enemy is the Dragon. Secret Ally: Rabbit

The “Secret Ally” Compatibility- The "secret ally” is the one of which you have THE MOST compatibility, romantically and platonically, but not as clearly cut as the others. A “secret ally” is said to bring the most balance and good fortune to your life, likely the equivalent of a soul mate.

Conceptually, the Dog and Rabbit secret ally bond is represented as “the courageous Dog is the loyal protector for the Rabbit”, while “the sweet Rabbit is the ideal home for the Dog”.

If the dog is born before the rabbit, they will have a five year age gap, just as Mugen and Fuu canonically do in the anime. (In the anime, Fuu is 15 and Mugen is estimated to be roughly 20. In FTFES, she is seventeen and Mugen is turning 22 before the year ends.)

Additionally, in Episode 7 Beatbox Bandits, Mugen is compared to a “stray dog” in four lines of dialogue by two different characters. The opening theme Battlecry also features the lyric :“Wonder why the lone wolf don’t run with the clan, only trust instincts and be one with the plan”.  As for Fuu, the ending theme Shiki no Uta has a lyric: “Summer comes to Uji and the fields of grass are set out to dry”. This song was specifically written for the anime, and although Fuu’s hometown is never shown, Uji might make sense. Uji’s famous historical icon is the “ Mikaeri Usagi ” or “ The Rabbit Looking Backwards” . …Is it mere coincidence that Fuu modeled for the painting “ Mikaeri Bijin ” or “ The Beauty Looking Backwards”?

Monkeys Kidnapping Fuu Detail- This odd thing Fuu mentions in passing is a cheeky reference to the PS2 game Samurai Champloo: Sidetracked. In Chapter#4 A Tale of Tails of Mugen’s campaign, Fuu really does get kidnapped by a group of talking monkeys who may very well be mountain demons.... And yes, Mugen busts his ass to save her and she didn’t even notice. She just was so excited about how cute the monkeys were…that Mugen was, well…slaughtering the entire time.

Jiraiya’s Prophecies- Mugen's prophecy about the crow applies to the final arc of the story (very far in the future). However, Fuu's prophecy applies to the entire story, from Track#4 onward. I would be very interested to see if anyone would attempt to decipher Fuu’s prophecy as the story goes on, and which side character is which symbol, and what lesson is being “taught” to them by Fuu.

End of Track #13 A Prophetic Palliative