Pilgrim, p.43
Pilgrim, page 43
As soon as he identified what he was sensing, it subsided, Danzen finally able to relax a little.
“Ah, there it is,” Jelmay said with a hint of disgust, “Diyu.”
Danzen lowered his eyes to see a tavern sitting on the edge of a cliff. It was about a quarter of a mile away from them, and there were no other structures around it.
“Pretty, isn’t it?” Jelmay asked. “The Tavern at the Edge of the World, where all the souls go to have their final drink. You know, Pilgrim, you may be the only mortal, or should I say half-mortal, who has seen this place in over a hundred years.”
The tavern looked to be between two and three stories. Its exterior walls were made from black rock, and it had a gable roof with two dormer windows. There wasn’t anyone outside of the tavern, but the lights inside were on.
“Shall we?” Kudzu asked. “Night will be here soon.”
“I cannot wait to have a good meal,” Jelmay said as they pressed on, the portly yokai moving faster than he had moved all day. He paused, his hand coming to the hilt of his weapon once he heard howling in the distance. There were more cries of agony in response, the former assassin looking left and right and expecting an opponent.
“You can lower your sword,” Jelmay said, even though Danzen hadn’t drawn his weapon. “I forgot that’s what it sounds like here. Creepy, especially if you decide to stay a night at the tavern, but you get used to it.”
“You’ve actually stayed here for the night?”
“Did you think we were going to try to venture back to the valley after we rescued the souls? And didn’t I already mention we’d be staying?” Jelmay asked Kudzu. “It would be insane to travel around here at night. You don’t want to be anywhere near this area when they come to collect. Yes, we’ll be staying, and I’ll be paying, so don’t worry.”
“All in the same room?”
“There are only two rooms, so that may be a possibility.”
“And what if those rooms are booked?” she asked.
“Then we have to eat and drink all night, which is also something I am entirely capable of. What about you, Pilgrim? Think you can keep up with me?”
True to his nature, Danzen didn’t say anything.
“He gets me,” Jelmay assured Kudzu as they came to a large black door without a handle, its only feature being a white stone face protruding from its center.
The male face came alive, his eyes opening, pupil-less, his bottom jaw swinging to the left and right before he spoke. “Only those who present me an object may enter.”
“Even after all these years, you still want something from me, face-in-the-door?” Jelmay asked.
“Payment is necessary to enter the tavern.”
“Bah, not even once…” Jelmay reached into his pocket and returned with one of the teeth he had cut off the nozuchi. “Give it this,” he said, gesturing the tooth at Danzen.
“A tooth?”
“No, my entire paw. Yes, the tooth. He wants payment, and this will do.”
Danzen took the tooth from Jelmay. “And how exactly do I give it to him?”
“You put it in his mouth,” Jelmay said. “You two act like you’ve never been to the Tavern at the Edge of the World before.”
Danzen reached his fingers forward, depositing the tooth on the face’s tongue.
“Thank you,” the face said as the door popped open. Danzen was just about to step forward when Jelmay stopped him.
“We obviously can’t go in there like this,” he said, glancing back to Kudzu. “You’re going to need to hold my tail with your mouth, and Pilgrim here can hold your tail. That way we form a link. It’s very easy to get lost on our way to the bar. If we reach the bar, we’re safe, but if we get lost before we reach it, then we will be trapped in there forever, because we’re not dead.”
“I’m not putting anyone’s tail in my mouth,” Kudzu said.
“Why not?” Jelmay asked as he sniffed his tail. “It’s clean.”
“That’s insulting.”
“Such a high-class yokai you are…” Jelmay said with a snort. “Then morph into a human. I know your kind can do that. You’ve been holding out on us this entire time; I know you have. Morph into a human, and we can all hold hands instead.”
“I…” Kudzu withdrew a little. She let out a deep breath and sat on her haunches.
“Or you can just keep my hand in your mouth,” Danzen offered.
“No. Jelmay’s right; I just don’t like taking my human transformation.”
“And I don’t like standing out here in front of the Tavern at the Edge of the World knowing that hordes upon hordes of demons are just over those mountains right there, and that they frequently come over here to mill about after the sun has set. Let’s get inside. Either it’s my tail, or you can turn into a human.”
Kudzu looked to Danzen. “You do have a spare set of robes, right?”
Without a word, Danzen reached into his satchel and pulled out his newest set of robes. After placing the robes on the ground before her, he turned his back to the fox, Jelmay laughing as she began her transformation.
“It’s always weird watching someone do this,” he said.
“You could be a gentleman and not watch me,” Kudzu scolded him.
“Where’s the fun in that?”
“Itchy clothing,” she said as she got dressed.
“It’s not that bad,” Jelmay told her.
“You don’t know anything about it,” she said. “But it doesn’t matter. I’m ready.”
Kudzu stepped around him. She looked to be about his age, her hair white with a slight shimmer to it, her ears pointed, but not enough to draw attention to herself. She was much shorter than Danzen, and she was a bit bony, her gray eyes the same as they were when she was in her fox form.
The face on the door made a crunching sound as he chewed the tooth. He swallowed and asked, “Will you be entering?”
“Hold my hand,” Jelmay said, offering it to Kudzu.
Danzen took the bakeneko’s paw instead, extending his hand to Kudzu.
****
A swell of activity came to the former assassin as soon as he entered the Tavern at the Edge of the World. The space was well lit, but there were enough souls moving about that it made it hard to see where they were going, like they were walking through a fine mist.
Kudzu’s grip on Danzen’s hand tightened as one of the spirits reached out for her, the woman stumbling past. Maybe it would have struck him as odd to see a fox turn into a human a month ago. But now, after everything he’d witnessed with yokai in general, it left Danzen feeling unfazed, his sole focus on making it through the night.
He did not like being in a tavern filled with so many spirits that he could barely see Jelmay’s form in front of him. The spirits were also loud, many of them seemingly drunk. Some toasted each other, others wept, and still others sang songs together, the last time they would do so in the realm of the humans.
While the building didn’t look very large from the outside, it took the three of them a solid thirty minutes to finally reach the bar.
“We’ll take a table,” Jelmay told a bartender, the woman’s face partially covered by a hood. “Three of today’s specials when you can, and three ales.”
“You have come a long way to whet your whistle,” the bartender said in a scratchy voice, which Danzen was surprised he could make out considering all the commotion in the tavern.
Jelmay waved her concern away. “And I will be needing a room too.”
“May I ask what brings you here?”
“The same thing that brings everyone here,” Jelmay said with a shrug, “just looking for a good meal, a good drink, and a comfortable place to rest.”
Even though he couldn’t quite see the bartender’s face, Danzen could tell she was grinning. “A table just opened up. Please sit.” She gestured to her right, Danzen noticing that a table had formed out of the mist, a light above it.
Jelmay led them to the table and instructed Danzen to sit across from him. He motioned for Kudzu to sit in the seat to his left, leaving the seat to their right open, the one that faced the main space of the tavern. Danzen had to remove his Blade of Darkness from his back to sit properly, the weapon now resting sideways across his lap.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Jelmay told Kudzu, not able to prevent a cackle from escaping his lips.
“Funny. Should I stay in this form?”
“Yes. You need to be human the rest of the night,” Jelmay told her. “It will make everything easier, and besides, don’t you want to eat something?”
“I don’t know if I trust the food here.”
“Trust the food here?” Jelmay grunted with disdain. “They have the best chef that has ever lived, one that used to prepare meals for the people of Sunyata. Heaven fell, and guess who showed up here looking for work?”
“You’re kidding.”
“Why would I lie to you?” Jelmay asked Kudzu. “And why are you always so suspicious of me?”
Kudzu considered this question as the bartender brought three ales to their table. She never answered, and they eventually moved on, Jelmay scooting his chair forward so he could better reach his drink.
“That’s the stuff,” he said after his second sip, his lips and whiskers covered in foam.
Kudzu reluctantly took a sip from her drink, the woman looking out of her skin with each gesture she performed. Danzen did the same, noticing that it had a flavor unlike any he’d ever tasted before. It was good, perfect in fact, just the right temperature and rich in flavor.
He took another sip, savoring the ale after such a long day.
“All right, before the food comes, I’m going to tell you how this works. What are the names of the two men again?”
“Oktai and Khamdo,” Danzen told him.
“Oktai and Khamdo. Yes, Khamdo, I know him. Great carpenter. Anyway, they are in here somewhere, but as you can tell, here is rather large. After we’ve eaten—because I want to eat before we get started, as this process can be quite tedious—I’ll start peppering their names into our conversation. Eventually, one will show up and he will sit here.” Jelmay gestured to the chair across from Kudzu. “We will convince him to come back with us, which shouldn’t be very hard. Who wants to die a premature death? Then we will do the other. Once we're done with that, maybe we’ll have another round or two, and then head upstairs. This place can get pretty rowdy late at night, especially when they come to clear out the souls. So we need to be upstairs before that.”
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Kudzu said.
“I got us all the way here, didn’t I? What would have happened if I didn’t come? Would you have figured all this out on your own?”
“I…” She lowered her head a little, some of her white hair sweeping over her brow. “I don’t know.”
“It doesn’t matter. The food is here!”
The bartender appeared with a tray hoisted over her shoulder. She set three soups down on the table. “Enjoy.”
“This is it?” Kudzu asked after she had stepped away. “A simple soup?”
Jelmay licked his lips. “You are in for a mighty surprise,” he told her. “Just try to finish it.”
Danzen took his first sip of the soup and noticed that it tasted like the soup they served at the Brotherhood. He had grown so used to it that it had quickly become his favorite food, something he always craved.
The broth was quite hearty, and as the liquid entered his mouth, he could almost chew soft potatoes, Danzen tasting the meat that had cooked for so long that it melted off the bone, the sweet carrots.
But every time he looked down at the soup, he saw it was watery.
“Fascinating,” Kudzu said.
“Right?” Jelmay poured the soup into his mouth, the bowl never depleting.
“Mine tastes like grilled fish,” she asked Danzen. “Does yours taste like that?”
“Mine tastes like a stew from my childhood.”
“It tastes like whatever you want it to taste like,” Jelmay told him as he wiped his mouth with his arm. “Just think of any food, and it will taste like that.” He lifted the bowl and started drinking from it.
“Pace yourself,” Kudzu told him.
“How can I pace myself when it tastes so good?” Jelmay asked, his eyes twitching a little as he set the bowl back down and went back to using a spoon, the soup constantly replenished.
Eventually, Jelmay pushed the bowl away and drummed his hands on his stomach. “All right, before that gets out of hand, let’s get started here. What were their names again?” he asked Danzen.
“Khamdo and Oktai.”
“Khamdo, yep, the carpenter. I keep forgetting that. Here goes…” Jelmay cleared his throat: “I once knew a man named Khamdo from Genshin Valley. Khamdo was a carpenter who helped me build a home. Khamdo was a man who also helped a stranger rebuild a monastery for the stranger to live in. Khamdo had a wife. Khamdo had a child…”
Danzen set his spoon down as the bakeneko continued.
“Khamdo was a good man, Khamdo did not deserve to be shot by an arrow by a filthy assassin. Khamdo…”
“Me?” a spirit asked, now hovering before the table.
It did not look like Khamdo at all; rather, it was merely a floating ball of blue light, no larger than a melon.
“Take a seat,” Jelmay told the spirit.
The blue ball of spirit continued to hover. “My name is Khamdo.”
“Of course it is, and we,” he said, gesturing between the three of them, “are here to bring you back to the world of the living. Don’t you recognize us?”
“I…” The spirit quivered. “I don’t know. Everything is a blur now, far away.”
“You were struck by a poisonous arrow in the back,” Danzen told the spirit. He took another sip from his ale, hoping it would help him swallow the swell of exhilaration he was feeling. It barely had any effect.
“I was?”
“That’s right, and you are on your way to Diyu right now because, sorry to say, you’re dying,” Jelmay explained, “that is, unless you decide to come with us. So what will it be?”
“I’m… I’m not ready to die,” Khamdo said, his spirit starting to wither with worry.
Jelmay laughed. “No one is, but that never stops death from knocking on someone’s door.”
“I will come with you then. Anything not to die!”
“Not like that you won’t.” Jelmay reached his hand to the front pocket of his vest and returned with another nozuchi tooth. “They don’t like us taking souls from the tavern,” he explained under his breath as he showed the spirit the tooth. “If you hide inside this tooth, Khamdo, you won’t have to worry about dying. I’ll bring it to your body, and after a little procedure, you’ll be back to normal.”
“How… how do I hide in the tooth?”
“Just dive into it.” Jelmay reached his hand out, the tooth between two fingers. “It’s not very difficult.”
Khamdo’s spirit pressed back. It twisted forward, aimed right at Jelmay’s hand, disappearing completely once it hit the tooth.
“One down, one to go,” Jelmay said as he placed the tooth in another pocket. “Don’t forget, the breast pocket is for spirits,” he said as he tapped his chest.
“That’s all?” Kudzu asked.
“Seriously, how were you going to do this without me?” Jelmay asked her.
Kudzu reached for her ale, took a sip from it, and didn’t say anything.
“Let’s get Oktai,” Danzen said, noticing that there were more spirits in the space now, his visibility across the table starting to wane.
Jelmay began: “Oktai worked at his sister’s restaurant. Oktai had a little addiction when it came to going to pleasure houses and spas, but Oktai wasn’t a bad man, just one who was a bit lonely. Oktai liked making meat pies because it was fun to play with the dough. Oktai wasn’t a very tall man but he did have broad shoulders, and the people that met Oktai liked him. Oktai…”
“Are you talking about me?”
Another blue ball of light floated in front of the table, in the same space where Khamdo’s soul had just been.
“Oktai, have a seat,” Jelmay said, finishing his ale. “You, my dear boy, are not supposed to die.”
“I’m dead? Who are you people?”
“We’ve been sent by Naran and Chuluun to bring you back to Suja Village,” said Danzen.
“What happened to me?”
“You were possessed by a yokai known as an akaname at a spa in the First District,” Danzen explained. “The possession took your soul, which is why you’re here.”
“I was possessed?” The spirit visibly quivered. “I’m… I’m so sorry. I know I wasn’t supposed to be there. I had a work shift I wanted to get to, but…”
“No explanation needed,” Jelmay said, waving the spirit’s concern away. “We’re not here to judge you, just to take you back to your family. You can deal with your own pleasure and bathhouse demons on your own time. Now, to take you back I need you to hop into this tooth.”
Jelmay produced another nozuchi tooth and explained to Oktai how to enter it.
As Khamdo had done before him, Oktai scooted back and slammed into the tooth, the bakeneko subsequently placing it in his breast pocket. “Great, we’ve done what we need to do here. Now, how about another round?”
“Isn’t it getting late?” Kudzu asked.
Jelmay signaled the bartender, indicating he wanted another round of ale delivered to the table. “All in a day's work,” the bakeneko said, baring his canines as he smiled at Danzen and Kudzu. “Now, drink fast.”
Part Eleven
.Chapter One.
The sounds Danzen Ravja heard the night he stayed in the Tavern at the Edge of the World were otherworldly, unlike any he had ever heard before. The souls below pleaded not to be taken to Diyu, to hell itself, and the commotion told him that they were swept up violently.
