See You Soon

Chapter 2: The Barrier

[Reminder: Please read the last chapter of Fukigen Na Mononokean as it is a spin-off continuation. This content is fan-made and, in no way, an official extended ending.]

"Let me tell you what's beyond the princess's barrier."

Kora's smile turns into a smirk, curling the side of her lips and giving Abeno a stern look. Her glistening red eyes dimmed as she glazed the outside of the oddly shaped book in her palm. Abeno's face becomes frigid. Were there parts of the underworld he had not known of? How come he has never seen these documents in the Birdcage?

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions, let's begin with the first. It's possible for Ashiya to get his eyesight back." It was the most important question for Abeno, regardless whether this information was private or not. He loosens his shoulders that were tensed throughout the walk to the shop. "But, it's unknown territory." She opens the book, showing both different sub yokai and herbs that cannot be found in this location. The book details what the herbs are local to and how they are used, along with how to prepare the ingredients to make medicine. He notices some familiar ones that have gone extinct in the human world, especially those that resided in the far away mountains of South China.

"The past master of the Kiyakudo (medicine shop) has told me stories of what the underworld used to be. Our princess only runs a portion of the underworld, you see. The region that we belong to is right here." Her long slender finger points to a small point in the book where a local herb grows. "But as you can see, our area looks much bigger than what it is currently. The fog beyond the sea of trees is what our current princess cannot control." She gives a sad sigh, "with the princess's rest and Aoi becoming the new underworld balancer, we can safely assume to get what we once had. Though, it's been many decades. I've lost count since I had only heard stories of what the underworld used to be."

Decades to the underworld could be a century or more in the mundane world. The information that was being thrown out is more confidential than Abeno had imagined. The amount of time since the underworld has lost most of its land must have been the time Aoi was still young, if not just born.

"This was why it was so important to get Aoi back as soon as possible, before this region of the underworld would be no more than fog." She caresses the pages with her finger, rubbing each edge delicately as if coddling something that was weak. Abeno had still yet to hear about what medicine Aoi must take, and what Abeno needs to get for Ashiya. Kora reaches towards the golden pills on the table and takes one out of the glass bottle. "There's said to be a neighboring region of yokai that has something similar to influence, but is described as "chi", I know ancient humans have used it, but modern humans have no use for that energy anymore so it's never put to us." Kora begins daydreaming about parts of the human body she wishes she could use for medicinal purposes that have gone to waste.

Abeno noticed the young woman's side tracked mind, "Oi. So the medicine you're giving Aoi is some sort of regulator for the influence that Sakae gave to her?"
She looks at him with a smile, "Exactly that. It shouldn't be harmful like the parasite pill that was given to her early. Think of it as a supplementary pill that will channel the influence to the correct areas of her body." She gets up from her seat, and lets Aoi sniff the smooth pill. Within a few seconds, Aoi's jagged teeth bite into the pill that was surprisingly softer than it looked. The face of the baby cat seemed quite happy as her tail whipped back and forth. "She will grow faster with this pill as well, so do be conscious. Her memories will also resurface in time and she should have memories of all that has happened. Let me know if anything changes."

With that out of the way, the next question about Ashiya must be answered. "Tell me about the region." Abeno takes a look at the book, carefully turning the page to see more herbs and images of different mountains.