The Forest of Spirits.

Hitsuki froze in place, not daring to move an inch. Cold sweat dripped from his forehead.

For he was seeing something he had never seen before. And before he could understand, he found his legs numb—like a prey, playing dead.

Three opaque figures of three woman came floating through the woods, each of their faces disfigured. The skull of one was crushed by a rock, another one’s mouth was ripped open by a sharp branch, and the third one had her brain melting and dripping from her open skull.

Hitsuki gagged. For their bodies corresponded to the dread their faces represented.

He watched, trying not to make a sound.

But his heart ached, seeing the royal guards burning and their flesh melting like a huge chyme of flesh.

Princess Hanahoshi felt even more guilty.

The three ghostly figures came not to Hitsuki, but to the guards writhing in pain. One of them tore open their bodies, and some others came to feast on the melted human-cheese.

One move, and I am dead… Hitsuki thought. His legs shook vigorously, but he stood still.

Then he sprinted in the opposite direction.

“What…” he mumbled. “What did I just see…?”

He pressed his mouth hard, his eyes wide.

But as he ran, his book shone again.

“Help me…” It was a cry for help.

*****

Princess Hanahoshi grabbed the cloth of her hem as she saw the gore in front of her. Her eyes were swollen due to her constant crying. She was scared, terrified. But even so, she felt guilty.

“What… am I going to say to their families…?” She asked herself. “That… it is for me that they are dead… that I killed them…?”

She was lost in herself, not realizing that Hitsuki was no longer there, and the daughters of Mother Hannah had finished their feast.

But they weren’t satisfied.

They jolted their necks sideways as their lifeless eyes stared at Princess Hanahoshi.

She knew something about this erratic world. She knew if the spirits looked in her direction, she needed to do one thing.

Don’t make a sound.

And she failed at that. Their stare, their eyes were paralyzing. She took a step back, as they came closer to the tent.

Only one phrase ran through her mind. She mouthed “Help me…”

The instant her legs gave out and she fainted, the daughters of Mother Hannah charged at her body as well.

| They moved through sound, with the trees as their guide. They resided in the woods, letting no intruders slide. They vanish by day and return by night. They become fierce when the blood moons arrive… |

But to their eyes, the lifeless body of Princess Hanahoshi had disappeared as well.

“GOSH WHERE HAD I FREAKING COME???” Hitsuki screamed, running for his life. “THIS WORLD IS WEIRD!!! WHY DID I GET TRANSPORTED HERE???”

Running with a full-grown adult on your back isn’t suitable for a survival situation. Hitsuki wrapped her like a baby, lest she should become flesh pulp as well.

But Hitsuki didn’t know that those three weren’t the only ones in this forest, there were others, thousands of them.

A one-legged child who constantly threw rocks at him, a figure of a pregnant lady with a sword stuck to her stomach, an old woman whose hair intertwined with her limbs, breaking them.

Each had unique traits. Some on their features, some on their appearances. But it was clear.

None of them were on his side.

He couldn’t look. He stared at his foot while he ran. And he ran with his life.

*****

The more he ran, the less those spirits were seen, till there were almost none at all. It was about an hour that he ran through the forest. His legs were giving up, but his eyes saw freedom. He could see the periphery of the forest.

“Finally…” he breathed a sigh of relief as he pushed himself a little harder.

The rustling of waves caught in his ears the closer he went to the border of this weird forest.

A few more minutes, and he was there.

The forest finally ended. He fell down the moment he saw nothing around. His breath misted in the air as he gasped.

His suit was covered in dirt, but the soil felt cool. The atmosphere went very cold as he lay down under the open sky.

He looked at Princess Hanahoshi by his side. She was asleep, her whole body covered.

But for some reason, he couldn’t find peace.

It’s as if the blood moon was watching him—the seven moons aligning over the horizon.

He lay, his feet towards the sea. In the far distance, he could figure out an image of a castle in the hills of an island, shrouded in mist.

*****

Princess Hanahoshi woke up after a while.

Her eyes burned as she looked around, concerned and alert. But she found herself inside a cave, with the only person there being Hitsuki.

“How did I, come here?” She asked. She hoped for no reply from the strange man, for he didn’t speak her tongue.

“You asked me to save, you. Don’t you remember?” The man replied in a broken speech, looking at a strange book.

It seems like the book of suns had transliteration properties as well—Hitsuki found.

“You… understand my speech?” Her curiosity piqued.

“A little bit with the book, none without it,” Hitsuki replied.

A moment of silence prevailed between them. Princess Hanahoshi could hear the rustling of nearby waves.

“They are all dead, aren’t they…” she asked.

Hitsuki nodded.

“Hey…” she added. “When someone dies because of your selfishness, is it you who killed him?”

Hitsuki couldn’t find an answer. Philosophy was the least of his concerns when his life was in danger a few moments prior.

“I don’t know… nobody died for me, nor did I kill anyone.” He replied. “But if you have to ask the question of who killed who, you might as well blame it on the world itself.”

“But…” she said. “It all happened because of me…”

“Then why am I suffering for what you have done?”

“Because… life is unfair…”

“What a bullshit world you live in,” Hitsuki muttered under his breath, not transliterating this part.

*****

“I have another question.”

“At this point just say what you want.”

“Were you trying to kidnap me back then?” Princess Hanahoshi asked, looking at his eyes.

“Kidnap you? I didn’t even know who you were.” He replied. “I just saw you scared and suddenly, I was the culprit!”

For some reason, Princess Hanahoshi found Hitsuki’s style of speech funny. She giggled a bit.

“You aren’t a bad person after all-”, her reply was cut short.

For they realized,

They celebrated their win too early.

The blood moon wasn’t over yet.

They could hardly figure out what was staring at them through the opening of the cave, not daring to enter.

A long neck, lifeless eyes, a creepy smile, and stitches. It lurked in the crannies and watched…

Watched… just watched…

Hitsuki didn’t know, but Hanahoshi did.

She replied with wide eyes. Two sentences. “Don’t look at him. If you do, don’t stop looking at him.”

But as she looked at Hitsuki, she realized it was too late. He was already looking at that thing…

He was looking at the looker…