13 Deadly Deals

Departure 2: Escape

          Repression was a bitch.

          And it probably wasn't the smartest thing to point out to the twin goats that could literally fold him in half with very little effort. So Mafuyu did well not to give too much snark when Kaori threw him over the back of a spirit beast like produce going to market the next morning. It didn't help that he could feel his restraints numbing his every magical nerve to a phantom reflex, either. Then again, now that the fox was flanked by a dozen more armed guards mounted on beasts similar to Kaoya's pet, his resistance would have probably been akin to suicide anyway.

          How screwed the fox was wasn't lost on him. It was just hard to peg the appropriate emotion when he was trying not to get bucked off the beast's back when it marched dutifully from the seaside dungeon beside its masters. The dirt road was long and winding, twisting up the crystalline cliffs that shone like glass in the sun. And when the fox failed to find a believable emotional response, he defaulted to a highly inappropriate and very rehearsed chipper disposition instead.

          "FWOOOP!"

          "Ugh, by the Sovereign, will you shut that...whatever the fuck it is up?!" Kaori snapped back at Mafuyu like a whip. The fox gave the best offended scoff he could muster.

          "No one's talking. It's too quiet. Therefore, I am whistling." Mafuyu called it that, but he hadn't actually been able to whistle a day in his life. In reality, the sound was more or less a tone-deaf hum blown between the "o" of his maw. And purely a gesture to mask how vigilantly he was trying to analyze his surroundings.

          "Do it again and I'll feed you your own smut." The goat glared while angrily waving Mafuyu's torn notebook at his face. It was enough for him to rethink his strategy, shut up, and focus his attention on the countryside instead. He didn't really recognize the rolling hills of violet and magenta grass, all bunching up like a dumpy tapestry around them. It had been a while since he'd left the forest with its dancing ghost lights and hum of apparitions in the tree shadows. The countryside was too wide and too quiet, with its ghastly translucent florals and millennial butterflies with wings like thin glass sheets.

           It was too open for even a half-assed escape, in any case. And so, Mafuyu let his gaze wander up to the silver moon hanging adjacent to the sun in the sky. They traveled along the trail for most of the morning. But soon, the open hills gave way to trees and sheer valley cliff sides.

          And all of that soon blossomed out to reveal a massive, sparkling city on the horizon. King Yama's city. The Sapphire City.

          The monstrous metropolis towered well over the valley it was carved into, bordered by a massive hedge maze. Walls of ivy, and vine, and evergreen reached skyward, closing in a canopy overhead like woven fingers. Rose and lotus brushed against Mafuyu's coat when they entered and numbed his nose with their heavy scent. The hedges were clearly enchanted as well. Branches and leaves groaned as they constantly shifted around the caravan of guard, revealing new paths while choking off others.

          The Handmaidens navigated the maze easily enough though. They were probably the only Yokai besides the king that could. Probably not the best spot to test Mafuyu's luck either...

           "Can we take a pee break?" He asked. Then sighed when Kaori glared at him. "You are needlessly mean."

          The troupe finally burst through the labyrinthine greenery, out into the blinding brightness of the Spirit World's capital kingdom. It was every bit its namesake; Mafuyu's steed plodded into streets suffocated by jeweled blue and alabaster structures standing tall like rows of dominoes. They passed through trees and groves that intermingled with shop and home, all in shades of cobalt and cerulean. They often twisted into floral archways along the bricke3d paths, only stopping at stone statues depicting the Overseer himself. The fox's smart-assery easily summed all the compulsive grandeur in two words: