Torakichi spotted Keii kneeling with Hanabira by his side a few meters from where he and Amai stood.

He led Amai to Keii and they quickly noticed that he was covered in dark blood that sizzled and slightly burnt everything it touched.

A few dozen corpses littered the area around him and his katana was almost black with tainted blood.

Hanabira quickly noticed Torakichi and her face lit up in response.

“Mr. Kanemoto, are you alright?” She asked.

“I should be asking you that.” Torakichi said as he knelt to face Keii, who stared at nothing as he tightly gripped his katana.

“Keii.” Torakichi called as a single tear fell from Keii’s eye.

“Mmm?”

“Are you alright?” Torakichi asked.

“Y- yes. I… we should continue our search-“

“It’s a butterfly spirit. Apparently we passed one before entering this forsaken place.” Torakichi said as Keii slowly stood up.

“How did you come about this information?” Keii asked as he cleaned his katana.

“Turns out the deranged man I killed a few villages back was a spirit and for some reason, he came all the way back here just to help us. I’d have ignored every word that came from his mouth if he wasn’t as honest as he is. Well, as honest as he has been with me.” Torakichi said.

“I see. I assume the spirit is in the shop by the forest’s edge.” Keii said, prompting Torakichi to nod.

“Then let’s go.” Keii instructed.

Everyone then made their way back north where they eventually left the now fogless Forest of Whispers.

They then cautiously approached the rickety shop to find that the woman from before had several deep cuts all over her body.

She rested motionless in her shop with closed eyes.

Torakichi and Keii cautiously leaned over to inspect the woman’s corpse, but just as their heads entered the shop, the woman suddenly sat up before throwing her hands forward. With them, came a torrent of mist that sent Torakichi and Keii flying backwards.

“Keii, coat your katana with Ne and cut apart the fog! It’s a part of her.” Torakichi yelled before losing sight of everyone.

He unsheathed his katana and quickly raised it, but before he could begin attacking the mist, a figure appeared.

It slowly approached him before revealing itself to be a naked copy of himself.

Torakichi lowered his katana before walking up to his copy and two looked at each other for a moment.

Torakichi looked at the countless scars that lined his body. The bumps and bruises that marked his skin and the fatigue that could clearly be seen in his eyes.

Both he and his clone sighed deeply before the clone fell to his knees.

Without a word, Torakichi raised his katana before decapitating his copy, resulting in a wave that dispersed some of the fog. Another wave followed shortly after and the fog eventually disappeared.

Torakichi then spotted Keii and the others, although they had gotten separated a bit.

Everyone regrouped in front of the shop to find that the woman was gone.

A trail of blood led away from the shop and the body of a woman could be seen a few meters away.

Everyone walked up to the woman to find that although her body was in tatters, she still breathed, even as deep cuts revealed her insides.

“This world… this world is set to soon crumble… by the will of greater beings. Nothing will save you. Not the bite of steel nor the shelter of stone. Our Matron was one of the first to fall during that awful war. What chance do you monkeys think you have?” The woman asked before a pale blue glow enveloped her body.

The glow brightened by several degrees before a swarm of blue butterflies burst fourth from her corpse.

They then flew into the dark sky as the sun slowly set over Kuroppoi.

Torakichi’s eyes widened slightly upon noticing that where the corpse of the woman once was, now lay a bed of pale blue flowers.

“The war she spoke of. Do you know about it?” Torakichi asked Keii, who’s eyes still trembled.

“I know very little. Come, I’ll tell you after we cross the forest.” Keii said before leading everyone back into the Forest of Whispers.

.

..

After emerging from the forest, Torakichi and company found themselves at the foot of the snow covered Shinsei Mountains.

No man made paths were visible from where they were and cold harsh winds blew by regularly.

After gazing at the sight that was the Shinsei Mountains, they set up camp by the edge of the forest.

Not much was said as Torakichi started a small fire which everyone blankly stared at while Hanabira prepared some rice.

Torakichi sat upright with his eyes closed as he tried drawing out his Ne.

He had reached a point where he could confidently identify the inner flow of his Ne, but manifesting it outwardly was proving difficult, if not impossible.

“Are there any other methods of drawing out one’s Ne?” Torakichi asked, his eyes still closed.

“Keii?”

“Umm… yes. What was your question?” Keii asked.

“Is there any other way to draw out one’s Ne other than willing it so?” Torakichi asked.

“Unfortunately no. The only other way I could think of is having a spirit manipulate some of your Ne, but that sounds extremely dangerous.” Keii said to which Torakichi nodded before opening his eyes.

“I see. Ah well, I may not be able to freely use Ne, but I see this as a perfect opportunity to focus all of our teaching on those two.” Torakichi said while glancing at the sleepy eyed Hanabira and Amai.

“I agree.” Keii said as the dim firelight illuminated his body. His silhouette enhanced by the darkness of the moonless night.

Hanabira eventually served everyone their bowls of rice.

“Ah, I almost forgot. You said you were somewhat familiar with the war which the butterfly spirit spoke of.” Torakichi said as he ate.

“Ah yes. But before I tell you what I know, I must ask how much you know about how everything came to be.”

“What do you mean?” Torakichi asked.

“The world, the stars in the sky and the moon. Where did this all begin?”

“According to what my parents told me, this world was created by two gods. The Spirit King and the Moon Queen. I’m assuming they used Ne to piece everything together.” Torakichi said.

“Well, that’s not quite true. All things were born from Ne. The god King and Queen included. They were formed by the raging Ne of eternities past. But just as all things cool and decay, including Ne. It eventually gathered in clumps, forming the stars, our world and the Moon in the sky. This great settling of Ne also trapped the Spirit King in the spirit realm, separating him from his beloved.”

“If he is a god, why didn’t he simply escape the spirit realm?”

“Because even the gods themselves are at the mercy of cosmic stagnation.” Tetsujin said as he materialized next to Torakichi.

Keii quickly unsheathed his katana, only for Torakichi to raise his hand dismissively.

“Calm yourself. This is Tetsujin, the spirit who aided us in our struggle with the butterfly spirit.” Torakichi said, prompting Keii to slowly sheath his katana as he sat down.

“Greetings, one and all. As I was saying, the Spirit king was trapped within the spirit realm, but that’s not to say he didn’t try to escape. There is a valley in our world that owes its existence to the Spirit king’s many escape attempts.” Tetsujin said. His pale blue ethereal body contrasted sharply with the surrounding darkness.

“It is said that one of his attempts almost succeeded, but instead of setting him free, the attempt simply deepened the valley in our world and created a mountain in yours.” Tetsujin said as he looked at Shinsei Mountains.

“Do you suppose he’s the one who created the scared pond that sits atop the mountains?” Torakichi asked.

“Inadvertently, yes. That mountain is overflowing with Ne. Makes me wonder why few humans live there.” Tetsujin wondered aloud.

Torakichi and Keii stared at each other for a moment.

“And the war. Where does it factor into all this?” Torakichi asked.

“Well-“

Keii and Tetsujin said simultaneously.

“Go ahead.” Tetsujin said with a bow.

“After failing countless times, the Spirit King eventually gave up. He then sealed himself in a chamber, leaving the spirit world without a ruler. This is where the almighty dragons come in. They knew that spirit kind could not go ungoverned and so they tried ruling different parts of the spirit realm in the King’s stead.” Keii said.

“Why couldn’t the spirits go ungoverned?” Torakichi asked.

“Because, like us, some of them are evil beings that likely had their eyes set on the physical world and since this world is the domain of the Moon Queen, it is considered a grave sin for a spirit to walk on plane where the King’s beloved rests. Anyway, although the majority of dragons were content with simply watching over the spirit realm, there was a small group that wanted to help the spirit king reunite with his beloved. They sought to merge the two worlds using whatever methods they could. This is what led to the war.” Keii said.

“Wouldn’t merging our worlds be catastrophic?” Torakichi asked.

“It would result in the end of everything as we know it.” Tetsujin said.

A dread filled silence then befell the camp until Hanabira spoke.

“What happened to the Moon Queen after the physical and ethereal were separated?”

“I… don’t know.” Keii said.

“Me neither. All anyone really knows is that she is currently in a never ending slumber on the moon and that her servants protect this realm without rest.”

“Do you mean the Flowermaidens?” Keii asked.

“The very same. Those nameless, faceless blades that strike viciously in the night. If one of them were to spot me, I’d simply give up and await my inevitable demise.” Tetsujin said with a hearty laugh.

“Who ended up winning the war? I’m assuming it was Dragons who remained loyal to the spirit realm and its people.”

“Yes. The surviving treasonous Dragons were branded traitors and were sealed in the Valley of Penitence. A dark and twisted place filled to the brim with Ne and the corpses of dragons.” Tetsujin said with eyes that trembled.

Torakichi nodded in understanding before looking up in thought.

“So even the gods aren’t above warring.” He scoffed.

Hanabira and Amai eventually fell asleep, leaving Torakichi, Tetsujin and Keii, but Tetsujin also left soon after. They too eventually fell asleep as the campfire flames slowly died.

.

..

Torakichi awoke with a yawn.

He noticed that Amai was sitting awake and so he walked towards her as he lightly stretched.

“Amai, come with me for a moment.” Torakichi said.

Amai’s eyes widened for a moment, but she eventually nodded before Torakichi a couple of meters from the camp.

He then gestured that she sit on a nearby log which she did.

He sat next to her before sighing deeply.

A moment of silence passed as the two sat. The forest’s edge allowed them an eerie, but equally serene silence.

“I’m sorry.” Torakichi eventually said.

“I don’t- if I hadn’t-“

Amai’s expression turned into one of pain as she watched Torakichi awkwardly stutter.

“That wasn’t how I really felt.” Amai said, silencing Torakichi.

She then stood before looking northward with a wistful expression.

“I did wonder what would have happened had you not stumbled upon our home and whether or not Nagare would still be here, but at no point did I blame you because you are not the one who killed my husband.” Amai said before looking into Torakichi’s eyes.

“Rise, Mr. Kanemoto. Let us accompany Hanabira and little Hibana to the mountaintop and let us continue to live on, for the ones we’ve lost.” Amai said prompting Torakichi to stand before her.

With tearful eyes, she offered him her hand which he gently accepted.

“And please... continue to care for me as well.”