Page 43 of All That Has Flown Beyond
“Some idiot, I’m guessing someone helping or getting help from a necromancer, opened a, well…I guess a portal would fit, although that sounds a bit dramatic. Just, a slit between the physical and the Ousía. It’s a big ask, and the land is paying the price, not to mention feeding the demon plague you’ve got going on. Idiots…”
“Can we fix it?”
“Yeah, I’ve done stuff like this before. Well, not exactlythisthis, but I’ve repaired or changed delicate Ousía before so…I don’t think we’ll need to do a full ritual. A raw one will do,” Kaiyo said, referring to eschewing the use of correspondences and catalysts and using pure Ousía for the ritual.
“Raw?” Mori repeated, surprised.
“Well, I’ll draw some runes, and you can help me, if that’s okay. You’re tied to the land, so…I’ll link our Ousía together for a little while, use your connection to the land to reach it more directly. How does that sound?”
“Sounds like you know what you’re doing.”
“Well, let’s prove you right.”
Mori watched him as Kaiyo went around the space he wanted to heal, drawing runes into the dirt. For recuperation, for forgiveness, for fortitude. Once he was done, he knelt in front of Mori, sitting on his heels. Mori copied the posture, their knees touching, Kaiyo in jeans, Mori in the wide, cobalt-blue pants he was wearing. Kaiyo placed his hands, palm-up, on the fissure between their knees. Without having to be told, Mori placed his hands over Kaiyo’s.
They closed their eyes.
It was an intimate thing, joining Ousía like that. Like a soft touch on the inside of your wrist, across the thin skin below your eyes. Kaiyo did it softly, respectfully, until he could feel Mori’s Ousía pressed against his, the bright colours of him. Kaiyo could feel his playfulness, the fluidity of his gender, his fight to be who he was. Could feel, with a deep ache, his ties to his pack and the bleeding land he belonged to.
Kaiyo took a deep breath and got to work.
He visualized the rip like a wound. The split skin had the ability to knit together. It just needed some help. Kaiyo flowed inside that energy. He washed it of the intentions of the intruders, separating physical from Ousía. He sparked the edges of it, encouraging their growth and reparation. He connected one point with its sister, threading them together slowly. He could feel the flow of balance returning and had to simply follow it through.
Kaiyo blinked awake when it was done. He was startled for a moment at the darkness around him. The sun had fallen, and the gibbous moon was low in the sky. The forest was speaking softly. It felt a little more alive.
Mori opened his eyes. His cheeks were silver with tears. “Arama…” he mumbled, looking shaken. He raised his eyes. “Kaiyo,” he said, voice trembling with emotion.
Kaiyo’s muscles were stiff, his limbs freezing, his bones exhausted, but the smile that lit his face was as bright as the moonlight around them.
Mori bent in half, pressing his forehead to their joined hands. Kaiyo squeezed Mori’s fingers, bowing over Mori to cocoon him in warmth.
Kaiyo, better than most, knew how it felt to be balanced after so long without.
**********
“Like this?” Junpei asked, showing Kaiyo his small pile of shavings for the cedar incense they were making.
“Perfect. Now, make another with the machilus wood over there. We’ll put them in the moulds with the paste when we’re done.”
“Okay!” Junpei said brightly, his round face widening with a smile. Kaiyo grinned back, caught in Junpei’s enthusiasm.
“But, anyway, she’s really pretty, and she smellsreallygood,” Junpei said, picking up the thread of conversation as if he had never let go of it. He was telling Kaiyo about his classmates, talking more about their scent than anything else.
“Oh, yeah? What does she smell like?”
“Hmm…like, hmm…like the Tsukimi festival. Like, like, all the leaves, you know, when they’re all crispy, and then you go and it’s all stands, and, like, when you bring the bufuchagi close to your face and you canreallysmell it, it smells really good, you know, do you like mochi? It’s my favourite, especially with the beans, they look like bugs but they’re good. I tried a bug once, I was really little and Mori dared me and I did it, and it didn’t taste like red beansat all,it wasgross!”
“That Mori,” Kaiyo laughed. He’d been staying with the Kanbaras for almost a month, just missing the harvest moon festival Junpei was referring to.
“Hmm, I felt a sneeze coming on. Are you two gossiping about me?” Mori asked as he stepped into the room.
“We’re not gossiping about you, we’re telling the truth!” Junpei said.
Kaiyo laughed. “I’m with the kid.”
“Ah, ganging up on me, are you? Junpei, you should respect your elders,” Mori admonished playfully. Junpei stuck his tongue out. Mori rolled his eyes. “And what’s this about a girl that smells good?”
“Reallygood,” Junpei enthused.
