The rain has stopped and the ground is wet. People are coming out of their home. The leaves of the tree are a bright shade of green. Rain washes the old, bringing the new colours forward to the world.

Trotting on the same road that Takayama Ari has taken only a while ago, Ai outstretches his mind-sense and searches for Ari. 

No matter how much he looks for her, he can't sense her. Ai stops running and spins around, trying to hear anything suspicious. The trees often whisper. The wind also carries messages. One only needs to pay attention to it.

And he hears something. It's a soft mewl. On the sidewalk, a small weed is growing out of the crack in the concrete. It's leaning to its left, swayed easily by the breeze. Ai notices that the tall trees are quiet but a little one is whimpering.

Ai sends his energy into the little plant, helping it gain some strength. When the weed seems to be stronger, he asks it, "Have you seen a woman with…"

"I hear the cries of an infant." The weed plant replies before he can finish, "It's on the other side of the river."

Cries of an infant? Is it Misaki? "You can hear the sound from the other world."

"I was born from the seed that came with the wind." The weed tells him, "I can hear the other world. The bridge is broken. You need to take the other way."

He also hears the sound of a river flowing in the distant but he can't see any river. The area is a concrete jungle, full of buildings. "Where is the other way?"

"If you go straight, there's another bridge." The weed gives him the direction. "Go quickly. The child is making my ears bleed."

But this plant doesn't have ears. Ai decides not to correct this weed and rushes ahead.

After Ai is gone, the weed transforms into an old bald man in a black suit. He lets out a breath and stretches his body. "I thought he would never leave."

"He should find her soon." A voice comes out of the cherry tree as the rainwater rolls down on the beam of the tree, gathers together on the ground, morphing into a teenager boy with a paper bag. "Our work is done. Let's go back to our lord."

"All this…" Kozo straightens his body. "Gama, do you know what happens to the creatures who fall into the river of death?"

River of three roads. River of death. River Styx. Oh, it has many names. Gama shrugs his shoulders. "They don't die or live. They never reincarnate or find peace. At the bottom of the river, they rot for eternity. Even the depth of hell is a better place than that." 

And there are different versions of hell in all religions. All versions of hell exist, just like all faces of the gods are true. When the one true God created the world, it created many faces of the world that coexisted as its different wills. All of his wills became different faces. Some of these faces die and some are born again. 

His lord is also the face of a god. 

"Wouldn't it be better to send her to oblivion?" Kozo asks with pity in his tone. 

Once someone enters oblivion, it never leaves. Whether its a god or a mortal, oblivion is the eternal death. Gama stares at Kozo. "Lord is too kind."

"Did he give her a chance then?" Kozo laughs, standing up and dusting off his clothes. "She went to the bottom as a mortal. What would become of her when she rises… Oh, if she rises from the depth of the river of the forsaken ones?"

"If she rises," Gama contemplates, "she might become something frightful and unnatural… something that doesn't belong to any more. That is… only if, my friend Kozo, if she rises from the depth of river of three roads."

"Surely, she won't rise." Kozo wraps his arm around the boy's shoulders. "Our lord is waiting for us."

Gama and Kozo walk away from the world.

***

Ai keeps running until he gets the glimpse of the stream again. There's a small bridge to the other world. 

"Did she go through here?" Ai looks around. There's no sign of Ari, his mother. He hears the distant sound of a baby crying. Uneasily, he steps on the hanging bridge that shakes under his weight. By the time he reaches the middle, he realizes that something is wrong. The stream is a raging river and the air around him has changed.

"Strange damned world." Ai lets out a curse as he steps toward the other end in a hurry. Each time he takes a step, he hears someone's howl coming from the river. He looks down. There are faces with hollow eyes and mouth trying to escape the river. Ai swallows. What would become of him if he falls?

He hardens his heart and hurries to the other end of the bridge. Once he's off the bridge, he takes a deep breath. 

All of a sudden, it's bright around him. The bridge and the river are gone. There's a red brick wall behind him. On either side of the cobblestone road, he sees small toad people under large red mushrooms with white spots. 

The green toad people with red swollen lips, dressed in ancient robes, seems to be in a hurry. Ai frowns. He's sure that he heard the sound of an infant's cries from here. But it's silent now. The toads are speaking a different tongue -- a language that he can't understand. 

The toad people glance at him when he makes his way on the road. He sends his sense in all directions, listening to every sound around him. His red eyes inspect every movement of these creatures. 

Soon the sun is dwelling at the horizon and the sky is a bright shade of orange. He reaches a street market. People in robes, different from the toads, are looking at the items showcased at the street shops. Ai puts his hands in the pockets. He can't smell his mother anywhere. There's no sign of any human around here. 

Maybe he's in a different world.

"Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa~"

A shrill ear-piercing cry comes out of a shop. Ai inhales the scent as he runs in that direction. It's not a human scent but it is the same cry that he heard earlier. He reaches a meat shop. A toad woman is holding a baby from its ankles. She slaps the infant's butt. "A healthy cub for sale! Only ten golds! Only ten golds! Look at its clear skin! It would make a beautiful bag or a mask."

"Uwaaaaaaaa~" The infant cries louder. The people cover their ears when the penetrating scream enters their ears. 

The toad woman shoves clothes in the infant's mouth. "Shut up!"

Before the toad woman could smack the infant again, it's snatched away from her webbed hands. She looks around and finds the infant in a young boy's arms.

"You thief!" The toad woman shrieks at the boy with red eyes and green hair. "If you want cub, you need to pay ten golds."

"Thief!" Ai grits his teeth. He pats the infant's shoulders to soothe her. "You deserve death for hurting my sister."

"Sister?" The toad woman wrinkles her nose. "It doesn't matter if she's your sister. I found this cub. It's mine now. If you want it, you pay for it."

"I will pay for sure." Ai takes off his coat, holding the infant in his right arm, shifting the baby to his left arm before removing the coat completely. He covers Misaki first. The child is quiet, watching him with her dark eyes. Ai plants a kiss on her forehead. "Misa, you are safe now. Your brother is here."

"Thief! Thief! Thief!" The toad woman is howling. "This thief is taking away what belongs to me. He doesn't pay and he makes excuses. Help me get the cub back. I will pay five golds to anyone who helps me get it back."

Ai's gaze turns dark when he sees people gathering around him. Most of them are short toads. Ai sighs. It's been a while, hasn't it?

Clutching Misaki to his chest steadily with his right arm, he raises his left arm that elongates into a wooden branch. His red eyes shine and his lips curl up into a dark smile. "You dare to hurt my sister?"