We've made our way to The Yokai Graveyard after hearing from one of the Yokai that we've caught that told us that Lord Kitsuneki was on his way there. That Yokai didn't lie when we saw dark smokes from a distance. From what I can tell, he isn't coming alone especially when you can also hear the sounds of drum being hit.
It is actually one of the strategies to use smokes and sounds to tell your enemy that they have arrived. But it is not just that, it is also to entice fear to their opponents by making loud sounds and bigger smokes. It creates the illusion of a big army but as far as I know Kitsuneki was still building an army.
"He's coming, alright." I stated the obvious to Ethereal.
To which she responded, "Should we wait for him somewhere?"
"Where should we hide in a place like this?" I asked her that because of how inconvenient the current location was.
Ethereal looks around and saw something. She pointed toward it and suggested it, "How about the old building there?"
Ethereal suggested that we should go and wait for Kitsuneki over that old wooden building. I really didn't need to think much other than that building will probably be used by Kitsuneki and his men once they arrive. It's going to be a tough one. As we made our way to the old building, Ethereal stopped me.
"What's going on, Ethereal?"
She placed her index finger to her lips and said, "Keep it down. I think I saw something in that building..."
"A Yokai?"
"That might be it. Considering that Kitsuneki is making his way here. They might have some sort of meeting over here. This is much more than we anticipated."
I swallowed the saliva in my throat and unsheathe my dagger. But then, Ethereal gently pushed my hand telling me not to bring out my dagger now. She signals me to follow her as I diligently obey her command.
We stopped on a decently sized bush and hide behind it. The bush was just enough to fit the two of us as we were only able to crouch as low as possible. Since I'm kind of short than an average young adult man, this bush was just perfect for me. But for a tall lady like Ethereal...
"Maybe you should...crawl down..." I suggested.
"Yes." Ethereal takes of her cloak and puts it on the ground on where she will crawl on.
She crawled down and brought out her rifle and placed it down on the ground. She then brought out a scope from her Dimensional Bag and inserts it to the rifle. She looks into the scope to make sure it was working. She then smiles as she finds out that the scope was fine as always.
In the meantime, while were waiting for Kitsuneki and his men to arrive, I'm having a hard time trying to focus my head as my male instinct suddenly kicks in because of the person next to me. I don't think it was necessary for me to repeat myself on what she was wearing. It only got worse once she took off her cloak because now she's revealing a lot of skin. I could see her arms were exposed. A small percentage of her thighs can be seen. I could also see her exposed back and saw her amazing figure that I fully expected from her.
"White..." Ethereal was trying to call for me.
But for some reason, I was still out of it as I kept focusing on trying to not get distracted.
Ethereal then said, "Get your jaws back up from the floor, White. I thought you prefer a smaller frame."
"W-what are you talking about?" I flustered a bit even though I know what she meant.
"Don't act innocent, boy." She giggled a little. But then she shifts her tone and said, "Looks like he's finally here."
Kitsuneki and his men had finally arrived in front of the building. He was apparently riding a horse when he was making his way here. His drops down from his stead and was greeted by a cat.
"That's a Nekomata...a cat Yokai with two tails...They are known for their trickery on unsuspecting people" explained Ethereal.
Then I told her, "Well that unsuspecting people reminds me of Zen. She's easily manipulated by people because of her simple thinking."
"That doesn't bode well even though it sounds funny" she said so in a serious manner.
"I wasn't trying to make a joke, though."
"Shush. We don't want them to know we're here..." she shuts me up.
We continued to observe Kitsuneki, who seems to be talking to that cat Yokai. Perhaps that cat is some sort of a right hand man in his so called army? I might be mistaken, of course. But as time went on, the cat invited Kitsuneki to enter the building. Maybe that cat was just a guard or something. Kitsuneki then ordered his men to go around the graveyard and pay their respects to them while he does something inside the building.
We honestly thought that once everyone was dispersed would be the perfect time for us to act but as soon as we were about to move, we were interrupted by a sneaky backstabbing friend.
"Look what we have here?" It was Yumiko. "A couple of...infiltrator isn't it?" She holstered her flintlock to us.
"Yumiko...what are you doing here?" I asked as if I didn't know the answer. How stupid I was back then.
"Have you forgotten? I work for Kitsuneki."
Then I asked her back, "How can that Yokai trust a human like you?"
"He has something that I want and I will obey him as he ordered to. Its basic mathematic, White..."
"What are you guys planning?" Ethereal asked.
Yumiko replied, "I don't know. Perhaps you can ask him directly?" Yumiko looks away from us and shouted to the other Yokai, "I found an infiltrator! And one of them is that boy!"
Nekomata who was still waiting outside, approached us and happily nodded her head.
"Good work, Yumiko. You've managed to find the meddling humans that Lord Kitsuneki has expected."
"He's expecting us?" My eyes opened wide after hearing that.
"Take them to the top..." Nekomata orders the other Yokai near her to bring us somewhere inside the building.
-
Ethereal and I were immediately been thrown into a room filled with glorified war decorations. The floor of the room was padded with a tatami mat, it is a mat traditionally made from rice straw. Nihon was used to be known for their rice crops hence why they use rice outside of just being delicacies for the folks of Nihon. The walls were apparently shoji. A shoji is a door, window or room divider consisting of translucent paper over a frame of wood which holds together a lattice of wood or bamboo. This room is as traditional as it gets.
It was at this moment where I finally realized that this old building was actually a castle. A Nihon-styled castle. Right now, we're currently inside the throne room. I kept on wondering how can I not even notice what kind of building this was until I remembered that the Nekomata was guarding the castle gates. That Yokai was known for its trickery. It might have used some sort of illusionary magic on the castle so as to not attract any unsuspecting people. That's honestly a smart idea for a ghost cat like her. But as much as I could be in awe of seeing all of these beautiful decorations, I still can't forget that both Ethereal and my hands were tied down by a rope.
"There's no use struggling, White. That rope is as durable as anything else. I've put some Anti-magic oil all over it. You can't use your magic to get out of this situation." She mockingly rubs my jaw with her index finger as if she was checking for dust during spring cleaning.
"I can't believe you would be working with a Yokai." Ethereal talked back to her. "You shouldn't have done this..."
"Did I hear some racism coming from you, Ethereal?" Yumiko quickly pointed out.
Ethereal grits her teeth as she heard that.
Yumiko then said, "Humans are very selfish. Especially the humans in Nihon. They took this land that was once filled with Yokai and rightfully announce that this land is theirs without any further agreement from the Yokai."
"You awfully know a lot about the history of the Yokai." Ethereal questions her knowledge.
"You can say whatever you want. I don't know if it's a valid history or not. I mean, I got those information from a little fairy. I don't really trust a talking thing more than I would have trusted fake news on the TV."
"Fairy...? Where's Recordia?!" I quickly responded as I heard that keyword.
Then all of a sudden, "Don't you worry about that fairy of yours, kid." A stern and muffled male voice can be heard from behind the shoji sliding doors. "I hear that you have some questions for me..."
Kitsuneki appears from the sliding door.
I quietly said his name, "Kitsuneki..."
The Shogun then slowly walked into the room and sat on his throne.
"Now...what is your question, human?"
TO BE CONTINUED