In Love With A Spirit

Where the Petals Drift in a Memory

The fresh smell of dew on the petals of the newly blossomed flowers was sweet this year. As far as the eye can see, the fields were filled with azaleas and orchids. The vibrant pink and defined purple compliment each other perfectly. The color of the field and smell of the flowers were almost alluring, calling for anyone to wander in and lay in the field for an early morning rest. Itakura Kageyuki, a monk from an unknown village near southern Japan, was captivated by the inviting aura of the field of flowers. He decides to rest at a lone cherry blossom near the center. The aroma the tree petals were dreamingly sweet and calm. Kageyuki appreciated the calming aroma for he had just dealt with an unsettling fiend. The fiend was more reckless than he anticipated and caused some unnecessary deaths. He lets his mind wander off to relive what had occurred mere hours ago.

"Itakura! Are you ready yet? We need to get going for our assignment!" A younger monk asks. Kageyuki has just finished packing the last of the newly charged prayer beads and talismans. "I will be right down, I just finished packing," he calls back. Grabbing his staff, he descends the staircase of the hotel he and his friend stayed at for the night. The impatient monk that waited at the entrance seemed rather warry of the given assignment. "Itakura, you do know what we will be facing correct?" He asked nervously. "I do Hiroshi, we will be facing a Kiyohime(A woman who transformed into a serpent demon out of the rage of unrequited love)." He replies paying for the rooms. The young monk gets irritated by the use of his given name rather than his family name. He lets it be and follows Kageyuki out to the street. 

The sun has risen no more than a few hours before the two monks arrived at the home of their client. What lied in front of them was a three-story building painted green with a trail of blood at the entrance leading inward. Kageyuki starts to go in with Hiroshi close behind. The interior of the house stunk of blood and sounds of what would be considered as crunching can be heard in the distance. "Itakura, do you hear that?" There was no reply as they kept moving deeper into the house. The scent has gotten stronger along with the sound of crunching. Hiroshi started to gag despite being on his third assignment. Kageyuki managed to calm his weak stomach friend down enough where he no longer gaged. They both entered a room where both the Kiyohime and an unsuspecting demon lied in wait for the two monks. "Itakura! What is a Ushi-oni(ox-headed monsters) doing here?!" Hiroshi cried as the Kiyohime gave an unsettling smile. 

Her snake-like body uncoiled the corpse she had griped and slithered across the room towards the Ushi-oni. She started to whisper into its ear seductively while its body started to grow more muscular. When she was finished, the Ushi-oni stood with a muscle-bound body and lust rage in its eyes. "Prepare yourself Hiroshi, We'll need to destroy it!" Kageyuki shouts readying his staff and talismans. The younger monk also readies himself for combat following his friend's example. The now giant Ushi-oni charges towards the monks with the intent to kill. It crashed through the wall barely missing the monks. "Itakura we need to leave and bring reinforcements!" Hiroshi yells while smacking the large ox demon with his staff. The staff begins to shimmer with a divine light capable of harming even the strongest of demons. While Hiroshi dealt with the Ushi-uni, Kageyuki focused on the Kiyohime.

"Tell me demon, why did you attack these people?" He asked the serpent. The sinister serpent gives a sadistic grin in which blood can be seen dripping from her fangs. "I was once a maiden here, I would serve the young master when he rang for me and did his bidding. I started to be infatuated with him and eventually fell in love. I asked him if he would consider me as a wife." Her grin seemed to have faded to a more sadden frown. She began to tear up as she continued. "He said I wasn't beautiful enough to be a wife and dismissed me from my duties. Then 'he' came. He felt my shattered heart and granted me the power to get my revenge at the cost of my humanity!" She charges at Kageyuki with tearful eyes and fangs. He dives to the side but ends up scraping his arm on her fang. A sharp pain starts to accumulate and immobilized him. "A toxin? Impossible!" He shouts. A demon such as herself shouldn't be able to produce such toxicity of this strength. Only those that rival the demon generals are able to do this. "It was a gift 'he' gave me. He said I should use it to trap my prey from fleeing while I devoured them." She slithers closer to the now paralyzed monk with her fangs bared.

Kageyuki wakes from his nightmare of a memory. He groans and places his hand on the wrapped arm. "I'm glad I was able to make it out alive. She was terrifying to deal with." The breeze of the wind brings a sense of life and belonging. "A beautiful day it is." He states and he rises up. One more look at the cherry blossom tree and field of flowers before continuing his journey. Not without a spiral of petals under the tree to reveal a certain spirit.