Chapter 21

The gray skies overhead didn’t do much to hamper the trio’s spirits as they quickly made their way to the shrine at the edge of the village. Once they reached the torii gate, they slowed to a brisk walk not wanting to risk causing a ruckus at the sanctified location.

As opposed to the day before they didn’t make their way over to the suzu, instead making their way to the physical temple itself, Yurika guiding them to its entrance. The temple was an ornate building that looked as imposing as it looked old. The façade was typical of your average temple, with wooden walls with the doors and windows, the shoji, being made of paper on wood frames. The fragrant smell of hydrangea was present here, with shrubs lining up on either side of the stairs leading to the main entrance.

If that was all to the temple, it wouldn’t have given Kaede the feeling of being so insignificant. No, that feeling came from the magnificent stone statue of a serpent that rose from the rooftop. The grand carving cast a shadow over the temple’s approach, with the front half of the body seeming to slither from the far right side of the building, across the front garden to the left. Any visitor would have to walk underneath its colossal, detailed underbelly to even reach the main door. The head of the statue was extremely stylized like something out of a woodprint, with its massive sharp fangs showcased by the open maw that looked to be mid-roar.

A pair of massive webbed wings spread out over two sets of arms set into the body and its eyes seemed to follow any visitor that reached this point. Kaede felt like the carving of the celestial beast could come to life at any second, just to coil around and suffocate her. She felt Gakuto tense up behind her, the vivid, majestic carving imposing its dominion over this corner of the shrine’s grounds.

Kaede and Gakuto hurried up the front stairs of the temple, right on Yurika’s heels, not wanting to be the first victims if the convincing sculpture spontaneously sprung to life.

Yurika observed curiously as the two reached the foyer and anxiously kicked off their sandals. “You two…okay there?”

Kaede nodded slightly, glancing back out at the shadow cast by the colossus. “That statue of the Divine Serpent is certainly overwhelming! I can’t believe I didn’t see it yesterday...”

“You were a little distracted, but it’s not surprising.” Yurika said, breaking back into the role of Tsuiraku’s tour guide from the previous day. “This Shrine is the most massive of the three on the island and if you only stay along the path between the torii and the haiden, without looking along the left side of the main grounds, you probably wouldn’t see it.”

“I wasn’t distracted and I don’t remember seeing that crafted behemoth!” Gakuto rebutted, stepping up onto the tatami to Yurika’s left.

Yurika shrugged. “For what it's worth, on the right side is the meditation garden though I doubt either of you saw that yesterday.”

Kaede and Gakuto exchanged glances before Kaede changed back to the reason they came here.

“Do you really think we’ll find out about the mirrors here?”

Yurika gave a slight nod, gesturing for them to follow before guiding them through a few narrow halls of the temple. Kaede was sandwiched between Yurika and Gakuto, the two of them sticking as close as they could to the island girl in the labyrinthian corridors.

It wasn’t long until they reached a double sliding door with an ornate mural drawn onto it. The mural depicted the Divine Serpent but, as opposed to the imposing guardian at the front entrance, the elaborate painting depicted a more peaceful scene. The serpent gliding through a sea of stars, the celestial reins embracing its majestic figure as it guided the moon across the night sky. A small, highly detailed young woman in an elaborate kimono stood at the edge of the moon, admiring the beast’s strength. Another imposing figure, crouched to half the woman’s size yet somehow equaling the serpent’s presence, a dog-faced person was depicted, wearing their own regal garb.

Kaede gazed up at the mural, mesmerized by the intricate details: the individual scales of the serpent; the folds of the princess’ kimono; the craters and valleys of the moonscape surrounding the ethereal castle; the innumerable abundance of the stars dotting the sky surrounding them all. On the bottom left, beneath the Divine Serpent’s flight, was even a slight depiction of their home, curved blue with cloud details and the vague outline of land, almost adding motion to the scene spread across the shoji. Her eyes wandered across the painting deliberately from left to right before moving them down and moving back to the left, soaking in every minute detail of one of the shrine’s ancient monks.

In doing so, Kaede’s eyes picked up the myriad of colors used to add depth and shadow to the mural, making the scene all the more stunning to behold. She could see the monk tasked with depicting the princess and the serpent, before the thieves’ intrusion, taking great pride in their meticulous detail, this magnificent mural becoming their life’s work as they painstakingly illustrated it over many years.

Yurika smiled at Kaede’s sense of admiration, reminding herself of the first time she observed the mural. Gakuto hadn’t said a word, choosing to let the oiran marvel at the large painting without distraction.

“They even drew the bells on the reins…” Kaede muttered, craning her neck as she stepped closer to the mural, soaking in the depiction.

Both Yurika and Gakuto’s eyes went to the reins before falling onto Kaede’s back.

“I must’ve looked at this countless times and I never noticed that.” Yurika whispered, gazing back up at the mural, wishing she could view it for the first time as passionately as Kaede.

“Kaede’s been enamoured with anything related to the moon princess’ tale for as long as I have known her.” Gakuto returned Yurika’s whisper. “I’ve always sort of thought it came from a kinship with the princess, having never ventured beyond the palace walls until this week.”

Yurika’s jaw dropped as Gakuto casually shared that detail. She had already learned from Kaede that they were from the Yuilen palace earlier the previous day, but she hadn’t surmised all the details, such as their titles or standing, let alone what the two of them did in the Imperial court. The only confirmation she had received was that Kaede wasn’t a princess.

“What do you mean, she’s never ventured beyond the palace walls!? You said she wasn’t a princess!”

Gakuto blinked at Yurika’s shock. “Because she’s not? Her mother is very overprotective and didn’t let her leave the safety of the back palace until two cycles ago.”

Yurika stared incredulously at Gakuto, piecing together her own narrative. “I think I can understand why her mother was so reluctant.”

“What’s that supposed to mean!?” Gakuto was glaring daggers at Yurika, who was giving her own glare back at him..

“I mean, the first time that she left the safety of the palace, Kaede-chan and the guard that was assigned to her ended up on a ferry they had no need to even get on! How does that even happen!?”

“It’s not my fault. Kaede was the one who-”

Gakuto and Yurika’s whispered argument was halted when they realized Kaede was up close, her eyes narrowed in annoyance at Gakuto.

“Kaede was the one who, what exactly, Gakkun?” Her tone matched her expression perfectly.

Yurika turned her head the other way, the argument being passed to Kaede.

“Nothing, nothing!”

“I think you meant ‘Kaede was the one with a sense of responsibility, returning someone’s lost item!’” Kaede spoke emphatically as she leaned closer to Gakuto, who was trying his best to maintain space. “Perhaps, you meant ‘I have no sense of duty, helping a person in need’? Or maybe, ‘it’s dangerous for a lady of the court to chase after a complete stranger, so we should give the missing item to someone who worked the festival and meet up with our teachers’?”

“Now, wait a minute, Kaede! You were so insistent, you know there was no way I was talking you out of chasing after that girl! Since when have I ever been able to stop you from anything, anyway!?”

“You didn’t even try, so don’t blame this solely on me! You were the one responsible for making sure I got back to the palace!”

Yurika was trying (and failing) to do her best not to be amused by the argument between Kaede and Gakuto. The two reminded her of a pair of siblings squabbling about something that they were both going to end up in trouble for regardless and she was covering her mouth to keep from laughing.

“If you know the magical phrase to make you listen to me, I’d love to hear it! All I know is you would’ve been ‘Gakkun, Gakkun, we can’t just leave it!’ and then you’d pout if I tried to stop you!” Kaede turned her head away, crossing her arms as he said that.

“Yes, just like that!” Gakuto said, pointing at her.

Yurika was unable to stop her laughter at this exchange and her boisterous chuckle echoed down the hall as she leaned over, putting her hands on both of their shoulders.

“You two sounded just like my father and his fellow apprentice when they got together years ago. Mother said it was like they were siblings bickering over nonsense.” Yurika took a deep breath, bringing her hand from Gakuto’s shoulder up and wiping a tear from the corner of her eyes. “Ahhhh, my stomach hurts!”

The aggravated cough of someone clearing their throat to get someone’s attention came from the trio as they turned and looked to see the head monk, Isshin, standing at the now opened double shoji, looking perturbed.

“Need I remind you again, Yurika-san, that this is a place of reverence and serenity?” His piercing gaze through his spectacles made Yurika shrink as he sized up the two teenagers beside her.

“I see you’ve brought a troupe of vulgarians with you today as well.” The head monk’s voice didn’t get above a whisper but his vexations froze the trio in place as they averted their gazes in shame..

Kaede was the first to regain her composure, her years of etiquette training naturally taking over her body. She stepped over to the short stairs leading to the now split mural and bowed deeply.

“My apologies, benevolent monk. I completely forgot myself and all about the sanctity of this place. It is absolutely indefensible and I hope that I have not slighted you or your fellow brothers and sisters with my actions.” Kaede held the bow for a few beats before turning her gaze up, her brilliant smile directed at Isshin.

Isshin was taken aback by the young oiran’s sincerity and he rubbed the back of his head, giving a slight bow, returning her apology with his own for losing his temper.

“Master Isshin, we came to ask you about something!” Yurika piped up, her hands gripping both of Kaede’s shoulders as she peered over the oiran’s shoulder.

Isshin looked far less amused with the excitable island girl but he sighed, resigning himself to her whims.

Yurika grinned, knowing that Kaede’s politeness had earned her a little grace and she nudged the oiran gently, encouraging her to speak to the head monk.

“Well, you see, Master Isshin, it’s kind of hard to explain everything right here, but I was curious about something.”

Isshin was examining Kaede through his spectacles, waiting for the polite young girl to continue when Yurika chimed in.

“We wanted to know if you had any mystical mirrors!”