16.i The Jade Pool

~ Anari ~

They were not standing at the entrance for very long before Ritsu wandered over to the far end of the Jade Pool.

“What are you doing?” Anari asked. The enclosure was large and from where they stood, seemed vacant. But she could hear the distinct signs of a crowd gathering near one of the walls that ran adjacent to the garden filled with nobles.

Ritsu knelt at the pool’s edge and stared at the fully blossoming trees running parallel on either side.

“I get the feeling that I’ve been here before. Only instead of pear trees, there were peach trees.”

Anari joined him. Swimming in loops at the water’s surface was a cluster of rainbow koi. She thought back to how the guards had hesitated earlier.

“Let me see your staff, Sun.”

When he handed it over, she used it to knock down the lowest branch. A fat pear easily broke from the tree and sank in the pool. When it bobbed back to the surface, it had transformed. Anari used the staff to drag the new fruit to them before the koi could devour it.

“Great Sage,” Ritsu whispered as he fished a glistening peach from the pool. It looked identical to the ones in Ham Song’s barf.

Anari handed back his staff. “Here you go.” She fought to keep her temperature cool as his awe shifted from the peach to her.

“An enchanted pool?” Ritsu looked back at the water in uncertainty.

Anari nodded. “I don’t think we’re supposed to know. You should hide that peach.”

He stuffed the holy fruit in the pocket of his hoodie. Anari wanted to ask him so many questions. Starting with, why are you traveling with a pig and a wayward monk? She was also curious about his fascination with the butcher earlier. It was no secret that the nobles capitalized off of the local spirits in nearly any way they could. The skeleton’s story was nothing special. So why had Sun Ritsu pretended like he’d given a damn?

Maybe he wasn’t pretending.

Relaxing a bit and drawing circles in the shallow pool, Anari said, “I wonder what would happen if you dropped that staff in here.”

Ritsu held up the wooden replica and angled his head to the side. Despite his glamour, his movements gave away his feral nature. It also made Anari want to reach up and scratch behind his ears. Instead, she gently nudged him with one of her elbows.

“You should try it.”

His ears reddened at the contact. “Alright. Let’s see what happens.” He held the staff upright and carefully dipped it in the pool. Anari sat up straighter when the water around the base of the wood began to bubble. The fish started behaving differently too. They turned into something more like a swarm, creating a tight orbit of multicolor scales around the pole.

Ritsu let go, but the staff stood upright on its own, slowly sinking into the bubbling rainbow blur. He and the spider leaned forward over the pool, following the staff as it melted into the tie-dye whirlpool. It descended until it disappeared under the knot of color and bubbles.

Anari wasn’t sure when it happened, but one of her segmented arms had slipped through her glamour and wrapped itself loosely around Ritsu’s hip. He was too preoccupied with the magical pool to notice.

Anari narrowed her eyes at her disobedient limb. Get back here. Now.

Like a contrite child, her leg unraveled from the monkey and curled back inside the glamour.

“Where did it go?” Sun Ritsu’s question drew Anari’s attention back to the pool. He was leaning so far over the water that he cast a shadow.

“Sun, maybe you shouldn’t –”

“Ow!”

The pool burped up something shiny and small and spat it right at Ritsu’s face. To Anari’s surprise, he did not lose his balance. She supported his back as he leaned away from the surface and studied the bejeweled object.

He held it up in the light. “It’s my staff, but . . . prettier?”

The staff was indeed more ornate than the wooden toy replica from before. However it was also so much . . .

“Sun, the pool shrank your staff.”

Ritsu pinched the trinket between his index finger and thumb. Then he dropped it on the ground.

Anari reached out her glamoured arm and rubbed his back. She tried to distract her brain from registering the cords of lean muscle flexing just under his hoodie.

“It’s all right. At least you tried. Plus, I was the one who talked you into it.”

Ritsu shook his head. “No, it’s fine. I’m sure we’ll find it. I just . . . don’t think I’ll ever understand how this place works.”

Anari chuckled. “What? The Jade Pool? We just got here. And this place is ancient anyway.”

“No, not the Jade Pool.” He dragged a hand through his crown of thick, dark hair. “The Ninth Heaven.”

It was common for spirits who recently regenerated from the Lake of Ninefold Darkness to suffer from some memory loss. But it usually came back after a few weeks. Anari remembered Ritsu making some comment in his Immortal State indicating that he hadn’t been in the spirit world for very long.

“How long has it been since you came back from the Lake?” Anari asked. She picked up the miniature staff and noticed that it dangled from the end of a short chain. She glanced at Ritsu and spotted a plain iron stud in his left lobe.

“I didn’t come from the Lake,” he said. “Uh. What are you doing?”

She was on her knees, fitting the ornament to his earring.

“Hold still.” She straightened his head so that he was looking out at the water. “Go on. If not by the Lake, then how did you get here?”

Ritsu gazed at the pool as it extended farther than any pool should. His shoulders relaxed and the usual dazed look in his expression shifted into something more contemplative.

“I remember being on Earth with the humans. I was Radiant,” he started. “And then I cloud-somersaulted in the direction where I heard spirits calling. The last thing I remember was waking up in someone’s onion field. The next day I was outside of a noodle house, begging Gong-jon for a job.”

Anari shook her head. “Even in the Immortal State, that would be impossible.”

She was done fashioning the staff ornament into an earring. Now all she had to do was back off without massaging her fingers into his hair.

<Oh, but it’s so dark and disheveled. I’m sure it wouldn’t be weird if you just mussed it back into shape.>

Anari shut down the saboteur. It would most definitely be weird.

<Not as weird as the way he’s looking at you right now.>

Anari settled back onto her heels as she tracked the sun clone’s gaze. She liked the way his eyes admired her without making her feel like an outsider. It was a refreshing change from the usual looks.

Smoothing her dress over her thighs, she teased, “Do you always stare this much, Sun?”

He blinked. “I . . . don’t, actually. I’m sorry.”

The spider was tempted to say that there was nothing to be sorry about, but instead she said, “It looks good on you. The ring.”

Ritsu reached up to where Anari had attached the tiny staff to his stud. “Thank you, Anari.”

“And hey. Don’t worry. We’ll find your staff. Also . . . shouldn’t we be looking for a way to rescue your pig?”

Ritsu jerked his hand away from his ear. “Ham Song! Right. Um . . .” He got to his feet and held out his hand for Anari. She allowed him to help her to her feet, but kept her eyes averted.

Before she could thank him, a familiar sourness accosted her senses.

“Thought I might find you two here.”

They both turned to see the monk, who appeared a little less swaggering, but still reeked of cheap wine. Anari crossed her arms. When this was all over, she would need to find a way to shake this misfit from their party.