A Love Beyond Time

Chapter 22: The Grand Master

Saito felt like he was one of Seimei's plant specimens on display. Twelve pairs of scrutinizing eyes stared unblinkingly at him, their penetrative gazes piercing through his flesh to the core of his being. The Byakko squirmed inwardly though he maintained his usual poker-faced veneer.

"Boys and girls, please stop staring at our dear Saito as though you wish to dissect and roast him over the fire. Look at how petrified he is." Seimei drawled, sipping his tonic. "And Saito, unless you're absolutely sure you can live without air, please start breathing now."

Saito, don't worry. Everything is fine now. I'll be here with you.

All eyes swiveled to glare at the smirking Celestial Fox. An irate Asahi bared his teeth at the latter before he brusquely demanded to know what had happened on the island.

The immortal clan members were thrown off kilt earlier when Seimei contacted Asahi through their mental link and told them to prepare a list of items for a suddenly sickened Saito. And the sight of the latter—comatose and his skin spotting a sickly greenish-yellow incongruous with his usual dusky shade—knotted their insides with worry. Fortunately, they knew what to do, so they immediately treated Saito.

Seimei recounted their experience on Shinsenkyō before he turned his attention to the Byakko. Immense relief poured through the Fox again when the latter returned his gaze with orbs that shone like polished antique gold coins.

"Saito was bespelt. Someone placed a hex on him to manipulate his emotions and behavior."

He beamed a genial smile at his oldest and dearest friend.

"Saito, tell us everything."

And tell everything Saito did. He related how a partially masked stranger who welded powerful dark magics ambushed and attacked him two centuries ago. The stranger had forcibly inserted his taloned, bluish-black hand into the Byakko's heart while chanting a strange incantation. Chills danced along Saito's spine as he relived the experience; he could still feel the unspeakable agony as talons dug through flesh and muscle, could still hear that low, gravel voice whispering in his ear.

"I'd cast a spell that will amplify all your desires, even those hidden ones that you're ashamed of. They will plague and entice you mercilessly, compelling you to act upon them. Any efforts to withstand or fight them will bring you extreme suffering and cause you to lose all your rationality."

"Saito."

Seimei's cool hand on the Byakko's rigid forearm brought him back to the present. He exhaled shakily and offered a tentative, grateful smile to the Chief.

Saito continued to narrate what happened after that incident. How his temperament changed drastically: he became increasingly ill-tempered and quarrelsome, and worse, developed an unhealthy obsession for violence and bloodshed. He had also started having terrible headaches and periodic memory lapses, which occurred frequently between the hours of the Rat and the first hour of the Tiger. Often, he would wake up disoriented to find his sword and clothes stained with blood.

Now that he was finally lucid and free from control, he also told of the times he felt a presence—dark, sinister, and powerful—in his mind, spying on his moves and his reports to the Clan. Sometimes, he wanted to report something crucial, only to forget what it was. It was like the presence had obliterated the information and replaced it with something more mundane.

Fortunately, everything flooded back to Saito now.

"Seimei," He turned to the Fox, his voice cracking with urgency. "Some of the things I told you were false. Rien and Jokufu did not create the Tensens. The real Grand Master did. He is the one who orchestrated everything and killed Zhu Jin."