T’was the night before Christmas, and all through the house not a creature was stirring… well, except for Paul, who wasn’t sleeping.
The presents were all laid out, wrapped with care, in the hopes that Inari Okami would soon be there.
Paul snorted to himself, as he turned away from the Christmas tree, truthfully it was the night before Christmas Eve, and while it was as pretty a scene as any Hallmark card, it was hardly a traditional Christmas.
Paul decided to walk the perimeter, not for any reason but it was slightly better than wandering aimlessly. It was silent, the snow muffling everything. Here and there lights shone through the windows. Aimi-chan was playing video-games, Kiko and Inari were curled up together in Kiko’s room, still awake judging by the sudden sound of feminine laughter that drifted out on the night air, like a warm gust of air escaping through a doorway.
Shoko he guessed would be asleep, probably with visions of sugar plums dancing through her head, along with other treats. Jiao was with her clan, doing whatever Oni did to celebrate the solstice, which he gathered was a three day affair starting the day before, and carrying on to the day after as measured from sunrise to sunrise. Although Tatsuo was supposed to be cutting it short for a family meal with Katsu’s family. Paul sort of wished he could be a fly on that wall, since it would also be the first time Tatsuo would meet Katsumi, the avatar for the battleship Yamato and Katsu’s Herald.
And he? Well he was out walking in the snow. Idly he wondered if the Kirin would show up again, there were a few things he wanted to ask, although nothing of great importance. He wasn’t paying much attention to his path, just staying in sight of the temple walls as he walked. He didn’t want to risk getting lost again. Inari would probably kill him if he did… even if she had to bring him back to life to do it.
The wall around the temple was quite close to a small cliff at one point. It wasn’t very high, ten or twelve feet at most depending on where one stood. The area at the base of the cliff was a small clearing, with some curious mounds of snow, as if it had settled over something. Paul studied the edge of the drop-off, and picking up a length of fallen bamboo, poked the edge with it. It seemed sound enough so he carefully stood as close as seemed prudent, and leaned slightly over, peering down into the moonlit clearing.
It took him several moments to work out what he was looking at, but eventually he surmised that the clearing was a small cemetery, with snow piled up over grave markers. Paul shuddered, and not from the cold, and was about to go on his way, when something caught his eye.
One of the piles of snow seemed shorter, and what he’d taken to be a shadow, proved after a careful look to be an open pit, its edges ragged but unmistakably rectangular, with clods of dark earth scattered on the snow around it.
Paul scowled down at that. Something, or someone, had been digging at the grave. There did not seem to be enough loose dirt for them to have done more than go down a few inches, which implied that perhaps his approach had scared them off. Although, if there were tracks, he couldn’t see them from where he stood.
For a moment he considered his options, and then shrugged. Likely it was just a wild animal, hungry due to the snowfall. As an outside possibility it was something supernatural, in which case he had every intention of performing a tactical retreat, back to the sanctuary of the temple, i.e. Run like a scared rabbit. Taking a quick look wouldn’t be much risk, he hoped.
At this point in the film, he thought ruefully, the audience would be screaming at me not to go down there.
Paul took out the penlight torch from his pocket, and clicking it on, made his way down the short flight of narrow steps carved into the rock face. He figured he was probably more in danger of slipping on an icy patch, than encountering something nasty in the small derelict graveyard. Besides, he wasn’t particularly worried about ghosts or other supernatural creatures. Some of them were his best friends after all, and the rest had enough good sense not to risk angering Inari.
Up close the grave was less a pit, and more a shallow scrape in the bare earth. He still wasn’t sure what caused it, but there was a definite absence of tracks. Either going to, or leading away… which was probably a good sign.
Although that just left the question of what had shoved aside the snow and grass and dirt, and why?
Paul stood on the lip of the shallow scrape, shining his penlight down into it, trying to decide if it looked like something had been digging down, or up, when the edge under his feet crumbled.
Paul reflexively twisted, trying to land as he had been taught to, rolling to cushion the fall. But his foot slipped in the snow, and he fell heavily on his back, striking his head against a stone semi-buried in the dirt.
For a moment he lay there, staring up at the night sky through purple stars, trying to breath. He managed to suck down a gasp of air, and laid still, cataloguing his injuries, seeing if anything felt broken.
“You know Paul, if there had been something nasty in there, you’d be in a lot of trouble right now.”
“Yeah, thanks love. I know.”
Paul’s breath froze in his chest, he could swear he felt his heart skip a beat… he swallowed and whispered.
“Kate?”
Above him an achingly familiar face appeared as Kate leaned forward, from where she sat on the half-tumbled-down gravestone.
“Who else love?”
Paul blinked, drinking in the familiar heart-shaped face with spray of freckles across her cheekbones and nose. Kate’s green eyes that seemed to be perpetually twinkling with merriment, and the wisp of copper-red hair that stuck out from under the Santa hat.
Paul blinked.
Kate, or whatever it was pretending to be Kate, was wearing a rather saucy Santa outfit, with hat, cowl, jacket, mini-skirt and stockings.
He was pretty sure she’d never worn or even owned anything like it before… although, it did rather look like something she’d buy to tease him with.
“You… can’t be Kate! And what’s with the sexy Santa outfit?”
Kate shrugged.
“It felt suitably inappropriate, Darling.”
“Hang on, Kate would never call me darling...”
“As in Santa darling? Yes I would! Besides, if I’m not Kate, then you’re arguing with yourself.. while lying in a grave I might add.”
Paul sat up, carefully, and eyed the apparition.
“Well, no sign of chains...that’s a good sign.”
Kate snorted in laughter, looking and sounding very real.
“My name’s not Marley, Jacob or Bob.”
“I notice you don’t deny being a ghost though.”
“Of course not, but then you’ve known I was here for a while now. I just decided it was high time I put in an appearance.”
“Why now?”
“You needed me… and you were lying in a grave at midnight on the Solstice.”
“Um… it’s a bit after ten, and the Solstice was yesterday.”
“Alright, so I’m a bit late! You know me Paul love, when am I ever on time?”
Paul snorted.
“Ok, that’s true… what do you mean, I needed you though?”
Kate sighed, and hopped off the gravestone, bending down to offer her hand to Paul. After a moment’s hesitation he took it, surprised to find that she felt very real and alive. Kate leaned back slightly as she pulled Paul up out of the grave, and then hugged him once he was standing.
“I’ve missed you lover...”
Paul nodded, not trusting himself to speak immediately. He wasn’t discounting the possibility he was dead, or passed out and hallucinating.. but he didn’t much care right now.
After a moment, Kate leaned back and punched his upper arm lightly.
“You though! I never thought you’d be a cruel tease though!”
“What?”
“The way you’re leading on that nice Inari!”
“What?!”
“Oh come on Paul! Even you’re not that dense! It’s obvious she has feelings for you, and what do you do? Play hard to get while flirting with her shamelessly!”
“WHAT?!”
“Are you going to keep repeating yourself Paul, dear?”
“Wha… no. Kate, how the hell?”
“Oh come on! Think Paul! I’ve been there the whole time you know. And let me tell you, it’s a good job I couldn’t manifest a body before, or you would’ve got your ears boxed! Dropping her into an icy cold pool! Really!”
“Kate….ok this is ridiculous. You’re not real!”
“I feel real.”
“So does Aimi-chan when she’s trying hard enough but..”
“No. I mean, I feel real. I know what you think I am, but I don’t feel any different. I still love you Paul, although right now maybe not as much as before. You’ve been mistreating Inari.”
“I. Have. Not.”
“Yes you have… it’s obvious she loves you. But you just keep pining after what you can’t have… or couldn’t anyway. It’s not fair to her you know. I mean, it’s not like I would get jealous, not even when I was alive. You know that.”
“I know, and you know I’m not like that. We’ve had this conversation, you should know that.”
“I know...and I still think you’re wrong. I told you before, you’re too hard on yourself, hold yourself to too high a standard. You’re NOT a Paladin, so get down off your charger, and for heavens sake, roll a wench or two in the hay!”
Paul opened his mouth to argue, and stopped. That had been more or less exactly what Kate had said years ago… he narrowed his eyes at her.
“Either you’re reading my mind...”
“Or I was there when we argued about this the first time. Paul, it’s me. Really, honestly… it’s me.”
Paul leaned against a grave marker, and sighed.
“Well..damn. Now what? Do you vanish when the sun rises? Or show me scenes from my past or something?”
Kate laughed.
“I’m not the ghost of Christmas past, love! I dunno, I’ve never done this before! I was watching you, and you fell, banging your head and I just… panicked... and suddenly here I am!”
“You were watching over me?”
“Well, someone has to, lover! You have no idea how nerve wrecking it is though! Or how many times I wished we could talk, or even just touch!”
Paul smiled slightly, and reached out to take Kate’s hand, giving the warm soft flesh a gentle squeeze.
“You have no idea how many times I wished that too.”
“Actually, yes I do… I was there.”
“Ah.. all the time?”
“Can’t go anywhere else you know. And by the way, if you don’t bed Inari.. I am very tempted to try myself!”
“Geeze Kate! No! There are limits!”
Kate grinned lopsided at him…
“Paul… you’re not the only one who can’t resist a challenge...”
“Ok, no. Nope. That’s just too weird...”
Kate laughed musically, grinning at Paul like a naughty little Santa’s helper…
“I know I don’t normally play for the other team, but Dammmmn Paul… she is hot!”
Paul sighed.
“You know, when I imagined us having a conversation again, this is SO not how I pictured it going.”
“Aw, you know me, when has that ever happened?”
Paul raised an eyebrow at Kate.
“Point. You always managed to surprise me and I suppose this is no different. But please, do not seduce Inari, my life is complicated and weird enough as it is.”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Kate leaned against Paul, sighing.
“I was only joking Paul… well, about seducing her. She is hot, and I still think you should. But I’ll be good. Although I wouldn’t kick her out of my bed...”
“Ok, Kate… enough. So now what, now you’re here?”
“I’ve been here all along, you just couldn’t see or hear me.”
“Ok then, now you’ve manifested. Now what do we do?”
“Well, getting in out of the cold would be a good start, before one of us catches their death of it.”
Paul just gave her a level look…
“Under the circumstances, that isn’t funny.”
Kate’s hand flew to her mouth, as her eyes grew round.
“Oh! oh.. me and my mouth! I’m sorry Paul I didn’t mean...”
Paul held up a hand.
“Shh!”
“But..”
“Shh! I heard something!”
Kate clamped a hand over her mouth, looking around. Then sotto voce said.
“I didn’t...maybe it was just the wind...”
Out from among the snow covered bamboo forest a dark form rushed, more shadow than body… Paul dug the toe of his boot under the bamboo pole he’d been carrying, flicking it up into his hand and spinning it as he took up a defensive stance in one smooth, fluid movement.
He swung the pole at the thing’s head... and it passed though the dark form rushing at him, like the thing was made of smoke. Paul barely had time to side step as it rushed towards him, talon tipped fingers and arms out-stretched.
The shade barely brushed against his shoulder, but even that light contact left Paul felling sick and weak, chilled to his marrow. He barely managed to swing the pole again, hitting where the legs would’ve been, but only a vague trailing wisp of smoke-like something showed.
None the less, the ghastly apparition seemed to stumble, tipping forward to smash into a grave marker. Paul could swear he heard it cursing him, as it struggled to float upright again. He leaned on his staff, trying to summon up his strength… only to stop and stare as Kate leapt from the top of one of the grave markers, driving her elbow down into the shades back, as if she was some WWE wrestler…
The thing screamed, not loud, but with a shrill hissing sound that made Paul’s ears ache.
“Back off bitch. He’s mine!”
“Go crawl back into your grave you lousy revenant!”
The ghost sounded female too… and seemed to be growing more distinct as she fought Kate, who conversely, seemed to be getting more translucent. Not that either of them seemed to have noticed.
Paul thought like chain lightning for a second, and then backed off a few paces and hurriedly sketched a spell into the pristine snow. He whistled, causing both ghosts to glance his way, then gestured a sort of ‘over here’ wave.
Both Kate and the unknown ghost raced across the snow at him, Paul noticing absently that neither left footprints or even so much as disturbed a single flake. With both of them in the centre of the circle, Paul slammed the bamboo staff down in the last part of the diagram, hitting the ‘on’ symbol.
As he’d hoped, the spell flared into life, trapping both shades within separate halves of a double circle. Paul immediately felt as if an iron band had been released from around his chest. He took a deep breath, and sighed.
“Ladies… I swear, you’ll be the death of me. Literally. Kate, you were drawing your strength from me. I don’t begrudge you that, but I don’t think it’s sustainable. And you, whoever you are, I’m sorry if we disturbed your rest, but the more you fought the one bound to me, the more you drew strength from her, and thus the more it drained me. I can’t permit that.”
Kate’s eyes widened.
“Oh! Paul.. I didn’t know! Please believe me. I’d never do anything to hurt you!”
The other ghost, who now Paul could see her clearly resembled some Edo period noble woman, gave Kate a contemptuous look.
“Cease your pathetic lies and attempts to seduce your prey.”
Paul gave her a withering look, addressing her in high Court formal speech.
“Lady, that is my former wife you address. I have no doubt she didn’t know what she was doing as she is new to this.”
“What do I care? You are food.”
“I am Herald to Inari, that alone should concern you.”
The woman’s eyes widened, and then she knelt, bowing her head.
“Forgive me! I didn’t know.”
“Why should I show mercy to someone so willing to prey on the weak? I should treat you as you treat those you think are lesser.”
The woman flung herself flat on the snow, still not disturbing a single ice crystal, which Paul could see glittering through her.
“Mercy my Lord! Please... it has been so very long that anyone even made an offering. I was starving and desperate! I could feel myself fading away like others before me have!”
Paul looked at her, and then at Kate.
“Ok, can you leave this graveyard?”
“No my lord.”
“Kate, if I free you from the binding, do you know where my workshop is, and could you go there and fetch something for me?”
Kate glanced down at her hands, and shook her head.
“I don’t know if I can go that far from you and still manifest.”
Paul frowned, and nodded slowly, as Kate confirmed what he’d suspected.
“Ok you two… I am going to undo the binding. You behave yourselves while I set up something to provide for you my lady; it’s only to tide you over until I can arrange something more permanent.”
“Thank you my lord Herald!”
Paul used the staff to erase part of the binding, releasing it with a small flash and smell of ozone.
“Ok, no funny business or you’ll answer to Inari.”
“You have my word! I apologise for my earlier… indiscretion.”
“Hmm… ok. I need to collect some materials, you have my word that I shall return promptly as possible. I won’t abandon you.”
“Thank you Lord Herald.”
Moments later, Paul leaned on the bamboo staff catching his breath and trying not to think about how exhausted he felt. Kate stood nearby, the woods behind her faintly visible through her, her feet making no mark upon the pristine surface of the snow.
“You should leave her to fade away Paul, she’s dangerous.”
Paul lifted his head, glaring at Kate.
“Firstly, I gave my word. Secondly Kate, you would never be so heartless.”
“She’d kill you Paul without a second thought, she was feeding off me and you.”
“Rather than just you feeding from me?”
Kate leaned back, looking hurt.
“Paul!”
“It’s true though… she drained me, through you. That means you are gaining your strength through me.”
“I’m not doing it on purpose!”
Paul sighed.
“I know Kate… I know. But now I realise what Inari said is true. You are everything that was Kate, except her soul. Kate wouldn’t condemn someone to that fate.”
“Are you sure? Remember Afghanistan?”
Paul sighed.
“Not the same… she’s done nothing to deserve her fate.”
“That we know of!”
“We don’t know if she has either. Jury’s out still. I have to give her a chance, she could be another one like Aimi-chan.”
Kate sighed, and nodded.
“And this is why I love you Paul. You see the best in everyone. Alright, I shan’t object. I’m sorry, but she frightened me like I have never been.”
Paul smiled crookedly.
“Yeah, me too. She scared me spit-less. But you know we can’t let that affect us.”
Kate nodded, then sighed, holding up her hands and looking through them.
“Although I’m tempted to sling her down into the deepest pits of hell for what she’s done to me! I was solid and alive seeming, and now if you tried to touch me your hand would go right through! Dammit, I can’t get laid like this!”
Paul chuckled.
“Oh.. we have to fix that then!”
Kate grinned at him, nodding enthusiastically, making Paul laugh.
Once they were at the workshop Paul grabbed his box of special inks, and a sheet of white plastic foam-board, which he cut into rectangles with a box cutter as Kate watched with interest.
“What are you making Paul?”
“Waterproof talisman cards for a start. Whatever I do, it’s gotta go outside and last until I can figure out something more elegant.”
Paul picked up a piece of chalk and crossed to the blackboard. Glancing at a diagram already chalked out, he copied a part of that, and then stood back and studied it.
“Hm… so, the obvious place to start is collecting mana but.. ah. Kate, I need your help with an experiment please.”
“Ok, what do you want me to do?”
Paul took out a box and opened it, removing a slim rod of black iron.
“Ok, touch that please.”
“What is it?”
“A mana battery, I want to see if you can absorb the power from it. Tell me how it feels.”
“Ok...”
Kate touched the rod, or tried to, as her hand passed through it. She lifted her hand up and looked at it, puzzled.
“It… didn’t really feel like anything?”
“Hm. So, at a guess, your energy matrix can’t absorb or interact with raw mana...”
“If you say so Professor… you know I got an art degree.”
Paul snorted.
“Don’t sell yourself short Kat, about two thirds of this stuff is things I picked up from you. All that new-age woo-woo stuff you know.”
“Should I say I told you so?”
“Don’t get too chuffed love, the other third is pure science!”
Kate laughed, shaking her head.
“Alright, so now what?”
Paul picked the rod up, and held his hand out.
“Ok, try it again, just rest your hand on top of mine. But be careful, if I’m right you should go solid, and it’d be a bit messy if your hand was inside mine.”
“Eww! Yeah, ok.”
Kate rested her hand over Paul’s hand. For a moment nothing happened, and then a thin ribbon of pinkish blue energy streamed up from Paul’s flesh and wrapped itself around Kate’s hand. She gasped, her eyes widening and lips parting in surprise, colour flooding her cheeks.
Within seconds Kate looked as solid and life-like as Paul, and as she lifted her hand away, ribbons of energy followed until the flow thinned and snapped, arcing back onto itself.
“Whoa… that’s one hell of a rush, Paul! Why’d it work with you?”
Paul nodded thoughtfully.
“I figured, if your energy matrix can’t use raw mana, but you can absorb it from living beings, then I thought, maybe I could act as sort of transformer or filter, absorbing the mana and piping it through me to you.”
Paul turned back to the black board, and sighed.
“Now… how to replicate that effect? How to turn raw mana into living energy? What did you call it, Chi?”
Kate nodded, standing alongside Paul and studying the diagrams.
“Could we use something living as a filter?”
“Maybe, but what if it dies? Plus, I’ve no idea what this might do to something living on a long term basis.”
Kate made a sort of soft humming sound as she nodded, not exactly agreeing but as Paul thought of it, more it was her ‘processing...’ sound.
“We need a tree...”
“A tree?”
“A ginkgo tree, they are supposed to have vibrational frequencies that are life giving.”
Paul looked sideways at Kate, leaning back a bit.
“Vibrational frequencies?”
Kate nodded in the direction of the circuit diagram for the fox masks.
“Well, what would you call what you’re doing there?”
“That’s a radio circuit...oh! Yeah, everything living has a biomagnetic field, which has a resonant electromagnetic or radio frequency. So if ginkgo trees and humans are resonant, then yeah, they could interact mediated though the mana field. Hm, soooo…. Yes that could work. Thanks Kate!”
“Glad to help...”
“Alright, I’m going to need a ring of those talismans, ah.. seven I think. No, make it eight, since that’s a lucky number. I think there’s some sort of geometric effect to the mana field. Oh.. Bother! Where the heck do I get a ginkgo tree!”
“Paul, slow down, you’re only saying half sentences.”
Paul took a deep breath, and let it out.
“Ok, I need to sketch out a diagram you can copy onto the talismans, I know where to get a ginkgo tree but they’ll be closed.”
“Alright. I get it. Lady whatsherface should be ok until tomorrow night easily, probably the night after.”
“Ok… still, I’d better tell her we can’t set her up until the plant nursery opens. It’d be cruel to make her wait not knowing.”
“Paul, she just tried to eat your soul...and you’re worried about making her wait?”
“You know me love, what’s my code, the one I live by?”
“Never be cruel or cowardly?”
Paul nodded, then after a short thoughtful pause, shook his head.
“Well, that’s part of it yes… but not all of it. It’s ‘be kind’. That why I do what I do, not because it’s fun. God knows it’s not because it’s easy. It’s not even because it works, because it hardly ever does. I do what I do because it’s right! Because it’s decent! And above all, it’s kind! And God knows, the world needs all the kindness it can get.”
Kate’s expression softened and she stepped closer, putting her arms around him in a hug.
“Geeze Paul.. you are such a softy. No wonder we love you.”
“We?”
“You know what I mean… now come on, we have a hungry ghost to save! To work!”
“Yes my lady!”
The next half hour was full of intensely busy silence as Paul sketched out in chalk ideas and diagrams until he felt he had one that stood a chance of working. Kate, who it had to be said had the better penmanship, inked the design onto a blank white talisman, while Paul headed outside to find a golden ginkgo biloba leaf. He knew there were some trees on the temple grounds, but they were massive things, impossible to move. A leaf would do for test run at least.
Kate had just finished inking the sixth talisman when Paul came back.
“Hey Kate, drop that and find a box or pot or something quickly will you!”
She looked up, and saw that Paul was cupping something in his hands.
“What? Oh! You found a seedling! Excellent!”
“Yeah, it’s pretty tiny, and I’m sure another day or two of this weather would’ve killed it but it looks like I got lucky!”
Paul carefully put the root-ball of the tiny fragile seedling into the cracked coffee mug that Kate handed him, then stood back and looked thoughtful.
“I’m going to have to build it a temporary pot, one with some spells built-in to keep it in a sort of habitable bubble so the weather doesn’t kill it. I know a dryad that owes me a favour, so I can call in that and ask her to look in on it from time to time, make sure it’s ok… But this’ll work.”
Dawn was just beginning to lighten the Eastern horizon, when Paul and Kate made their way back down to the small forgotten graveyard. Kate was carrying the tiny sapling in its protective bubble and cardboard pot. Paul had a bundle of stakes with the talismans attached to them, tucked under his arm and a shovel slung over his shoulder.
“My lady.. I’ve returned...”
Out from the dark shadows between the trees, the pale shade of the noble lady drifted, her face lightening as a smile crept across her lips at the sight of him.
“So I see...I was beginning to despair of ever seeing you again. Have you..?”
“Yup, it took a bit to work out a solution and find the right materials but we got there in the end. Um.. forgive the odd question, but do you know anything about plants and how to grow them?”
The ghost, who by now was solid enough to make out she was wearing an archaic kimono of a rather fine design, looked curiously at him.
“When I was alive I was renowned for my floral displays and arrangements. I was Ikebana-dao for the temple, mistress of both rikka and nageirebana.”
“I’ll take that as a yes, since I have no idea what you just said.”
“Uncultured barbarian!”
“Differently cultured, I bet you couldn’t tell Brahms from Beethoven. That aside, would you know how to look after a Ginkgo sapling?”
“Yes of course, why?”
“Because the spell I’m about to build to keep you fed, so to speak, needs a living ginkgo tree as part of it..and it’s really the wrong time of year to be planting one out I suspect.”
“Yes, rather! Oh… I see. You want me to tend the tree?”
“At least until it’s established, I can ask a dryad that owes me a favour to look in from time to time, but it’s winter, she’ll be asleep now. So someone has to look after the poor thing, at least for a few months. I’ve done what I can with spell craft too.”
The ghost drifted over, inspecting the tiny sapling in Kate’s hands.
“It’s not a very good specimen… are you sure it’ll be enough to do what you need?”
“As sure as I can be considering I don’t think anyone has done this before. The theory is sound.”
“Well, I can keep it alive I think. It’ll need warmth most urgently.”
“Taken care of, the pot it’s in has a built in spell that’ll warm the soil gently and keep a bubble of warm air wrapped around it.”
The lady looked up sharply at Paul, surprise on her fine-boned aristocratic features.
“You have? How ingenious! I wish I’d had something like that when I was tending my own garden! There are so many tender plants I could’ve grown with that...”
Paul looked around thoughtfully.
“This.. wasn’t a graveyard when you were alive, was it?”
“No, this was my garden, but how did you guess?!”
“Logical deduction; yours is the oldest grave, and this little clearing is south facing and nicely tucked into the cliff face so it’s sheltered. Plus looking at the shadows I can see the tracery of flower beds and paths by the way the light is creating shadows on the snow… the centre of the spiral path, what was there?”
The ghost stared back across the centuries and sighed.
“I used to be a lily pond.. two Jō across and one deep at its centre.”
“Circular, lined with the local red clay from the mountain?”
“Yes, why does that matter?”
“Oh, partly because it’ll keep the roots moist, but mostly because the local clay contains minerals that act as a sponge, soaking up mana… so if we plant the tree there, the talismans will create a pool of living energy around it. You can then soak in that when you need to… that is, if you don’t mind sharing. I’m sure if you do, other people be drawn to it, and might even will help you turn this place back into a garden fit to be proud of again.”
The lady smiled wistfully, the expression softening her harsh features, making her seem younger.
“I’d like that, and I would welcome the company. With renewed strength I could roam further too, maybe look after the temple gardens once again.”
“I’d welcome that, I’m no gardener. In fact.. we’d better get started before it’s dawn since I’m counting on your instructions on how best to plant this sapling!”
“Oh! Of course, yes… come this way!”
By the time the tree was bedded in, watered carefully and the ring of talismans set up in a circle around it one Jō or nine feet eleven inches or 3.03 metres in radius, the sun was poking one tiny sliver above the horizon, and even Kate was looking more like an almost transparent stain of colour in the air.
Paul looked at her sadly.
“I wish you could stay my love, but, until tonight… I love you!”
He could just see her lips shaping the words ‘Love you too’ as she faded from existence.
For a long moment Paul stood, staring at empty air, then he wiped the tears, sweat and dirt from his face and with a sigh swung the shovel back over his shoulder, heading for his bed finally.
The sun was sending a long shaft of rosy golden light through a crack in the screens when Paul climbed under the covers of his bed. Remembering what Kate had said about Inari, he reached out, and pulled her warmly feminine body closer to him, wrapping her in hug, as he planted a kiss at the nape of her neck. Not caring if she was awake and heard him, and too tired to check, he murmured into her golden hair.
“Love you Inari...”
He wasn’t sure if she heard him or not, but she wriggled, snuggling closer and gave a small contented sigh as she settled in his arms.