The Other World

Chapter 8 - Swamp Bottom

Chapter 8: Swamp Bottom

"I'm sorry, Haku. Maybe I shouldn't have pushed you into this."

"You didn't push me. You pushed this on her."

The mist billowed around them, but revealed nothing. There was only more mist behind the mist. The world had disappeared. They walked along, closer than they normally would in order not to get lost, Haku's hand on Shika's shoulder.

"She should know what she's capable of," Shika said.

"Do you really think you could beat Akuma?" Haku demanded. "What are the chances that she'll come out of this alive?"

"You don't think we can do it?" Shika said.

"No, I don't. You're going up against a god."

"We have more support than you think. And now we have you. Once you're King, -"

"Is that what Tenryu's been telling you?" Haku asked bitterly. "I've told him a thousand times, I can't help you. Must I spell it out for you? Fujisan can whip me with his eyes closed. He has, in fact. And you want me to go up again Akuma? Don't convince yourself that I'm here for you, or Tenryu, or your cause."

"Then why are you here?"

"For her. I owe her my life. I can't protect her against Akuma, but I will be a body between them and her. That's all I'm good for now. I can't lose her." It was more than saving his life or restoring his identity. The thought of her had kept him going in all the years since.

Shika sighed. "We lose them all, in the end," he said. "They grow up so fast and their lives are so short. Even more so, now. Most of the young people move to the city to find work. They're all still children in my mind, the ones that are gone. Risuni wouldn't be back at all, if not for Fujisan."

"How can you bear it?"

"You've lived much longer than I. I should be asking you."

"I did my duty by my people, before. Never more than that. I spent most of my time at the palace. When the humans stopped caring, I stopped caring. If Chihiro hadn't fallen into my river, I would never have noticed her. It's been eons since I've been so close to a human. I'd forgotten what it was like..."

A muffled and rhythmic creaking crept into the air around them. The opaque white mist faded and they emerged into the night at Swamp Bottom Station. A one-legged lamp hopped out of the trees towards them and bowed, inviting them to follow back it into the forest. Silently, they did. It was no longer safe to talk.

At the door, Shika bowed and bid the young prince and the witch good-bye. The mist enveloped him as he walked away. Haku spoke to Zeniba for a few moments, and then walked to the back of the house and through a paneled sliding door much like the one he had watched the girls walk through, not long ago. The moon shone onto the swamp. Its reflection in the spring mocked Haku. Noble words. You want to die for her? Be my guest. What good will that do? You can't protect her. You might've been a dragon once, but now you're just a weakling. Practically a human.

Haku stared into the water. He couldn't remember, back when he made that promise to her, if he had known she would forget him. if he had known, would he still have let her go? "Please," he said. "I need to be myself again." And he stepped into the spring.

---

Haku sat cross-legged on the shining surface of a pool; his palms lay face-down on the water at his sides. He closed his eyes and reached within himself with his mind, pulling out a thin silver strand. As he gathered it with his mind, liquid light spread from each palm and settled onto the surface of the spring around him like the reflection of a great moon. The light spread in ripples, with him at its center. Gradually, the water rose around him to surround him with a smooth wall, glistening and crystalline in the moonlight.