Elementalist Eclipse
Chapter 1: One Day He Will Become a Demon
“The Elementalists are a dying breed, Satoshi-kun,” Akiko Hiroyuki said while she worked at the loom. Satoshi often loved to watch his mother weave brilliant colors of cloth and silk, her slender fingers dancing among the threads. “That is because mankind is losing touch with spirits and the gods. What will become of this world, as mankind continues to build his structures of steel and his weapons of destruction? The land is becoming choked with smoke. I tried to divine through the wind, though I find I can no longer hear the wind spirits.”
Satoshi cocked his head to the side and frowned upon his mother’s words. He understood Elemetnalists were highly sensitive to the supernatural and heard the voices of wind spirits like his mother or summoned shikigami to come to their aid. His mother told him his father was a legendary Elementalist who defied death three times, though he disappeared for reasons unknown. Perhaps death finally caught up with him, as it always did. No one, not even the greatest Elementalist in the world, lived forever. “I want to become a great Elementalist, like father. When I get my shikigami, I’m going to travel into the spirit world!”
Akiko’s smile had a sad tilt to it. “I don’t think that you will find your father there, Satoshi-kun. He most likely has passed into the afterlife…or perhaps he ascended to nirvana.”
“I will find him,” Satoshi insisted. “I know I will.”
The beautiful Elementalist beside the loom stopped her work, before she knelt by Satoshi’s side and patted him on the head gently. “You are full of hope. It gladdens my heart to see that your heart is still pure and your mind is full of dreams. You will make a powerful Elementalist someday. Just like your father.”
Satoshi smiled at his mother’s gentle touch, before he wriggled a bit on the cushion he knelt upon. “When will I summon my shikigami, mother? I want something powerful, like a dragon, or maybe a griffin!”
Akiko hid a laugh behind an elegant hand, before she cradled Satoshi’s cheek with one hand. “Be patient, little one. Your shikigami will choose you in time. Now hold on just a moment while I finish my weaving.”
Satoshi’s mother then continued to work at the loom, as a brilliant plumage of red and gold embroidery fashioned itself from her skillful hands. The bold colors resembled a bright red bird, perhaps a phoenix. Satisfied with her handiwork, Akiko took the fabric from the loom and held it out in the bright sun. “This is meant for you, my dear Satoshi-kun. When you grow into manhood, you will don these ceremonial robes. The regalia of an Elementalist.”
Satoshi gently stroked the silken fabric, marveling how the material flowed and rippled. A bright grin spread across the young child’s cheeks, and Satoshi leapt into his mother’s arms and hugged her tightly. He was going to be an Elementalist someday, just like his father! “Thank you, Mother! I will try to become worthy of wearing these robes!”
Akiko smiled. “I have no doubt that you will be great. Though I have a question for you, Satoshi. What does it mean to you to be an Elementalist?”
“What does it mean?” Satoshi said as he scrunched up his face in concentration. “I want to help other people. I want to fight demons and bad guys.”
“I see,” Akiko said with a soft smile, before she gestured for Satoshi to get up from his knelt position. Satoshi did so obediently, and Akiko grabbed a lightening staff meant for kagura performances, and sent Satoshi out in the middle of the Hiroyuki grounds. The gardens were resplendent with color from the flowers that grew among the greenery. Satoshi breathed in their cleansing scent, and smiled. He enjoyed the flowers in the garden, and he especially liked playing in its center where the birds would come and gather on his open palms.
Akiko took the lightening staff in her hands and tapped the end of the rod onto the ground. The golden decorations at the top of the staff swayed and jingled, letting out a sweet tinkle that soothed the soul with its mesmerizing tone. “I will show you a sacred dance that is meant to purify the land from evil influences. It originated with the miko priestesses, though it has since expanded and become a ritualistic dance that people employ to their traditions and ceremonies. However, when an Elementalist wields the power of the kagura dance, they use the power of the elements to balance out the energies and feng shui within the land. Do you know what feng shui is, Satoshi?”
“Harmony with the environment,” Satoshi said, and Akiko nodded approvingly at this.
“You’ve been taught well, Satoshi-kun. Anyway, what do you notice about the feng shui of the Hiroyuki grounds?”
Satoshi closed his eyes for a moment, taking a moment to breathe in the air and concentrate on the auras that he felt emanating from the plants in the garden. The plants themselves were full of rich giving qi, which was spiritual energy within the fertile country of Jipangu, and Satoshi could feel the effects of sunlight upon the plants and how it filled the greenery and flowers with vibrant life. Yet he could also sense something else in the air, a faint trace of something that was like a slightly unpleasant odor. It was as his mother said—mankind’s developing of new technology led to smoke and pollution in the air that muffled the plants natural qi giving properties and interfered with the perfect balance of feng shui.
“I sense a taint in the air,” Satoshi said after a while. After listening to the birdsong among the gardens, he then added. “The birds say that smoke are coming from the West, where the foreigners have entered into the country and started to teach a different faith to the people of Jipangu. The old ways are disappearing, and the foreigners are showing the people of Jipangu strange things that they’ve never seen the likes of before.”
“That is indeed correct, Satoshi-kun,” Akiko said as she patted his head. “However, I will show you a sacred kagura dance that will keep the darkness at bay and lead to harmonizing feng shui within the home and outside environment. Watch carefully, son.”
Akiko then began a graceful flourish of her arm, clanging the trinkets on the lightening staff together. With each clink, Satoshi could visualize the aura purifying the land with each movement of her rapturous dance and the sweet tinkling laughter of the chimes. With each step, his mother seemed to be floating on air, with her light footseps barely making a sound. With each sound of the chimes, Satoshi could feel the purification ritual slowly working its way into the ground, the roots of the plants, and in the air surrounding them. Once his mother was finished with the sacred purification ritual, she smiled, and turned to look at Satoshi.
“There. You see how it’s done? Don’t you notice that there’s a cleaner quality in the air? Can’t you hear the birds singing their songs much more sweetly than before? And the plants seem to be bursting with more green within them?”
“I noticed, Mother,” Satoshi said. “Though what else do Elementalists do? I know that they can use the five elements and even summon a shikigami! Please Mother, show me your shikigami?”
“Normally I summon her when I need her, though I suppose that I can make an exception for this,” Akiko said with a smile, before she got out a tag from the sleeve of her kimono. Then, invoking the name of her shikigami, the kanji within the tag floated from the paper and into the air, before spiraling overhead and evoking a great white tiger into existence.
Saotshi stared in awe at the brilliant shikigami before him. The white tiger was just as beautiful as his mother, and it was a fitting partner for someone like her. They were both regal and graceful without the pretentiousness, yet a hidden power was contained within each controlled movement of their bodies. Satoshi stepped forward towards the white tiger, looking at his mother and saying, “May I?”
Akiko nodded. “It will be all right, my son. She knows that your my son and she won’t do anything to harm one of my own.”
Satoshi smiled at this and began petting the white tiger. The tiger seemed to purr in contentment to the soothing motions of his hand upon her back, and Satoshi grinned widely at this. He always admired his mother, and seeing her shikigami in the flesh was an amazing experience. This only stirred a deep longing in Satoshi for his own shikigami.
Satoshi then straightened, and he turned to face his mother. His mother smiled down upon him with fondness, and gathered her son in her arms and gave him a soft kiss atop his forehead.
“You will make a fine Elementalist one day,” Akiko said. “But remember your training. You may not be able to summon a shikigami yet until you’re thirteen years old, though you can still practice manipulating the five elements. Have you been doing your training?”
“Well…kind of,” Satoshi said while he glanced away and tapped his foot in the ground. “It’s just…the beginning stuff is so boring! To learn Fire, I must learn to keep the flame on the candle wick. For Air, I must concentrate on the breathing in my lungs. Water is feeling the direction and course of a river, Earth is feeling the qi energies in a simple stone, and Cosmos is looking at the stars in the sky and naming their constellations.”
“Yes indeed, it may be boring at first,” Akiko said. “Though they’re fundamental to your training. To learn how to control Fire, which is considered one of the most destructive arts, you must learn to control the small flame on a candle wick and prevent the flame from melting the candle too quickly. Breathing is a fundamental part of everything; it’s how we live, and it’s the breath that concentrates qi within our bodies and lets us perform on Onmyoujutsu in the first place. Feeling the course of a river let’s you know the versatility of water—it can be still and stagnant, or it can be flowing and gentle, or it could be a tidal wave that surges in the storm—and knowing water and its different states will help you, surely. And feeling the qi within a simple stone let’s you know that something as inanimate as a rock still has energy that can be drawn upon and manipulated. Naming the constellations in the sky may seem trivial, though it’s through these constellations and alignments of the stars that you learn how to control the fifth element.”
Satoshi hung his head. “I guess I still have a lot more training to do.”
“It is fine, Satoshi-kun,” Akiko said. “Just keep these things in mind, and practice them whole-heartedly. You may find yourself being able to control all five elements with ease after you’ve mastered those simple things.”
“I will train, Mother. I will become even greater than Father!”
Akiko smiled at this, before kissing her son again. “I believe that you can change the world.”
--x--
Satoshi stared at the silk robe draped upon a stand. It was a constant reminder he would become an Elementalist…a spiritual practitioner that was said to have mastery over life and death, balance and atrophy, yin and yang. Even so…when will he get his shikigami? The shikigami was a true symbol of the Elementalist. Sometimes a particularly skilled Elementalist could summon a legendary creature to command underneath his or her will. If Satoshi summoned such a creature, he would be a powerful Elementalist. Just like his father.
“Summoning a shikigami,” Satoshi mused to himself, putting a finger to his lip while he started to create markings on the floor to open a summoning portal. “Um…first you need to make these, then…a binding spell…and then the summoning invocation. It went something like…”
He took a deep breath when he finished the summoning circle, then clapped his hands together. “O creature of the Otherworld, heed my words. Within this summoning circle, we shall make a contract. As a shikigami, you are bound to an Elementalist’s will--you shall stay by your Master’s side until he takes his final breath and his soul is departed from the physical realm--and until then, you shall be sent back to the Otherworld, where--“
An eruption of light exploded from the summoning circle, causing Satoshi to leap out of way, stumbling onto the seat of his pants. The candles and incense lit among the summoning circle cast eerie, carnival-like shadows across the room, the flames leaning to the east on their wicks. A shadowy aura materialized from the summoning circle--a nightmarish homunculi of some sort that barely resembled a human. When its leering red eyes stared at Satoshi, Satoshi sensed all the hatred and malice that humankind ever bore throughout the centuries.
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His voice caught in his throat. He couldn’t speak. He couldn’t think. There was nothing but uncontrollable hatred and unchained anger that wished to destroy everything from existence. Satoshi could only stare, transfixed at the sight of the inhuman thing that represented the darkest will of humanity. He couldn’t even breathe, as the demon glanced towards him, red eyes glaring. Satoshi toppled backwards, trying to scoot away from the monster which hurtled at him with astonishing speed. The demon clasped Satoshi by the ankle, and the young Elementalist let out a cry as the demon’s touch branded him, leaving curse marks encrypted on his pale skin, black in stark relief.
The demon’s clawed hand then struck towards his throat, strangling him and lifting the young boy off the floor. Satoshi struggled and flailed, though the demon’s grip was relentless as Satoshi struggled to choke in a lungful of air. Everything started to fade, and the demon seemed to recede away from Satoshi’s warped vision. Satoshi’s arms slackened and fell limp at his sides when the demon choked the life out of him.
There was a sharp slice of wind that slashed at the demon, though the corruption surrounding it started to fester and regenerate, before spreading towards Satoshi. The tendrils of corruption and malice writhed like snakes and burned and seared into Satoshi’s skin, leaving more markings in its wake.
Akiko made her way to the demon, green eyes flashing in anger. She used a spell tag to invoke the presence of her shikigami, which took on the form of a beautiful yet ferocious white tiger. It opened its great maw and let out a terrifying roar that shook the Hiroyuki mansion in its foundations, before it leapt towards the demon and fangs sang deep into its flesh, if you could even call it that. The demon roared in anger, pain, and unchained rage as its grip loosened around Satoshi’s throat and dropped the boy none too kindly on the floor, who immediately scrambled away and gasped for breath, retreating into the arms of his mother.
While Akiko’s shikigami handled the demon, Akiko then took out another spell tag, this one a binding enchantment to slap onto the demon to keep it still. The tiger growled as its teeth sunk deeper into the demon’s neck, where the corruption of its body started to writhe in futility, trying to poison the tiger with its touch like it had with Satoshi. Though the shikigami was a bright, shining soul of purity that wasn’t affected by the demon’s malice, and Akiko uttered a spell to obliterate the demon from existence. A bright flash of light swallowed it whole, and then the demon was no more.
Satoshi trembled and clutched against his mother, trying to seek comfort. However, he found himself cruelly ripped away from his mother when a Hiroyuki elder grasped him by the neck and stabbed two fingers to his forehead, ready to incant a spell to eliminate him. He yelped in surprise, before tears started running down his face. Satoshi’s tears came from the fact that he caused his mother so much trouble, and now something was happening deep inside him, struggling to awaken into full consciousness. The malice of centuries started to build inside him, burning with a deep red anger that threatened to overtake everything.
“You’ve done a foolish thing, boy,” the Hiroyuki elder said as his fingers stabbed deeper into Satoshi’s forehead. “I should eliminate you right on the spot, though better judgment tells me that Lady Akiko will oppose the idea. Hold still.”
Satoshi held still, before the man started to utter an incantation which started to cause the markings on Satoshi’s body to recede. Once the procedure was finished, the man let go of Satoshi, letting him drop to the floor panting and crying.
“There will be a meeting about this,” the Hiroyuki elder informed Akiko and Satoshi. “We will discuss what happens after.”
With that, the Elder left the room, leaving Satoshi alone in the room with his mother.
--x--
Satoshi knelt before the Hiroyuki Council, his head bowed. Even though he didn’t lift his head, Satoshi sensed the heavy pressure of the Elder’s gazes upon him. Satoshi couldn’t bear to look any of them in the eye--least of all his mother. There was no way now he would become an Elementalist. But even more heart-wrenching than failing to summon a shikigami was that he disappointed his mother. That he shamed his entire clan.
“Satoshi-kun,” one of the Elders spoke. “What you have done was very dangerous. Trying to summon a shikigami on your own…what were you thinking, boy?”
His hands clenched into fists, before tear drops dotted the wood paneling below him. Satoshi knew it looked undignified, but he couldn’t help it--there was so much pain and hatred locked deep inside him. He felt it underneath the surface, broiling and seething with such untamed malice--but what scared Satoshi the most wasn’t the acclimation of the darkness in the human soul over the years. He was afraid of the darkness and sin that dwelled deep in him.
“I-I’m sorry…” Satoshi said through numb lips. “I just…I…”
Satoshi couldn’t speak. His throat clenched and it became harder to breath. There was nothing but silence coming from the Council. While Satoshi reflected on the sin he committed, he felt a comforting hand on his shoulder. Satoshi looked up, and saw his mother’s gentle face before him.
“Satoshi-kun, the Elders have put a seal on your body that restrains the curse the aragami cast upon you. We were surprised to find that your body was able to hold so much hatred and malice,” Akiko said, before her eyes took on a sadder cast. “The seal can only hold on for so long. One day the curse will spread throughout your body, eating you from the inside and poisoning your mind. So remember, Satoshi-kun...never give into the dark will of the curse.”
“Lady Akiko,” another Elder spoke up. “This boy will be a problem. I understand that he is your son and the only reminder of the great Kohryu Hiroyuki…but he is a threat to us all. One day he will become a demon that we Elementalist are sworn to protect this world from.”
“What are you implying, Elder?” Akiko said, her eyes flashing in a rare moment of anger. “He is my only son.”
“We understand that you are reacting out of a mother’s instinct, but please remember your duties as an Elementalist. We are to preserve balance in the world and to protect it from threats. Do you understand?”
Akiko closed her eyes, before she said, “I will train him myself. Satoshi will become a fine Elementalist. I know that he has the power to resist the curse. I have faith in him.”
“Lady Akiko, I must plead with you to rethink your decision. Do you understand the danger that you are putting the entire clan in?”
“Kohryu would have faith in my decision,” Akiko said. “He would never give up on Satoshi. I will never give up on Satoshi.”
The Elder bowed his head.
“We will respect your decision to train Satoshi as an Elementalist. Unfortunately, once he becomes of age, then he shall be exiled from our clan. He shall not step foot on our sacred grounds again.”
With that, the Elders then stood, bowed, and the meeting was adjourned. They filed out of the room one by one, and none of them looked Satoshi in the eye when they passed. In their minds, Satoshi was already dead and exiled from the clan. Satoshi trembled, though surprisingly, he did not cry this time. He simply resigned to his fate, knowing that, once he reached the age of manhood, he would be gone forever. And while he lived here, it would be like he never existed in the first place.
“Oh, Satoshi-kun,” Akiko whispered, enfolding her arms around her only son and embracing him close to her. Silent tears trekked down the beautiful woman’s normally dignified face. “I’m sorry that I couldn’t do more for you. It breaks my heart, knowing that I will be part from you…”
She then kissed him on the forehead, trying to smile through her tears as she petted her son’s long hair. “Know that I will always love you, Satoshi-kun. Now and forever.”
--x--
She taught him many things, from the cycle of the stars to the nature of the elements and spiritual divination that foretold the future. This was the nature of an Elementalist, to be attuned to the spiritual aspects of the world. Akiko used everything in her repertoire of knowledge to teach her son to use magic, and he was an eager student that easily learned. Akiko prided in her son’s abilities, though she also knew with a heavy heart that everything depended on her to raise her son right and make sure that he used his powers responsibly, instead of giving into the malice that surely festered within him everyday.
“The elements are Fire, Earth, Water, Wind, and the Cosmos,” Akiko explained to her son one day. “An Elementalist can channel these different energies and project powerful magic through these mediums. Do you understand that, Satoshi?”
Satoshi nodded, eager to learn more as he rested his hands atop his knees, stuck in a kneeling position on a cushion. “And Elementalist also use the principles of yin and yang in their magic.”
“That is correct, Satoshi-kun. Can you explain the principles of yin and yang for me?”
“Yin and yang is the principle of two seemingly contrary forces that work together to create a complementary whole. Yin and yang is like male and female, fire and water, and light and dark.”
“Very good. Remember the principles of Yin and Yang while you do your work, Satoshi. There may be a dark malice inside of you, though there is also a bright shining soul that cannot be extinguished by the darkness of the corruption. You need to realize that the corruption within you is there to teach you a lesson about what it means to be human, to be kind and generous to others, to show love towards your fellow human beings and creatures that inhabit the earth.”
“I understand that, Mother, but why don’t the rest of the family see it that way?”
Akiko closed her eyes and went towards her son, gathering him up in her arms and then stroking his hair lovingly while she spoke in his ear. “They are set in their ways. They see you as nothing but the malice that is inside of you, when in truth, you are so much more than that. You are Satoshi Hiroyuki, my beloved son, and you will become an Elementalist that will be worthy of standing in your father’s place. They don’t see that, though. But one day, maybe I will be able to change their minds.”
“You don’t have to change their minds,” Satoshi said. “I’m prepared to make a journey to get rid of my curse.”
“I still feel as though time is slipping by through my fingers,” Akiko said as she patted her son on the head lovingly. “The closer you grow to manhood, the more that I fear that I will never see you again. That’s a possibility that leaves a deep ache in my heart. Oh, and to think that I lost my husband, and now I’m losing my only son, as well…”
“I will come back,” Satoshi promised her. “I’ll learn everything that you’ll have to teach me. And I promise that I won’t give into the malice.”
Akiko smiled through her tears, before saying, “I trust you, Satoshi-kun. You are still full of hope and dreams, just like before. That’s the side of you that I see, the little dreamer that wishes to become a powerful Elementalist and follow in his father’s footsteps. You are truly becoming a man in heart and spirit.”
“Do you think that I will be great like Father?” Satoshi asked. “Even though I have this curse upon me?”
Akiko’s smile turned sad, though nonetheless, she faced her son and wrapped her arms around him, kimono sleeves draping forward. “My dearest son, you don’t have to worry about a thing. I think that you will become a great Elementalist, just like Kohryu. Even though the rest of the clan may fear you, for what you bear inside of you, I have faith in you, Satoshi.”
Satoshi closed his eyes as he returned the embrace that his mother gave him. “Would Father have faith in me too?”
“Yes,” Akiko said. “Your Father and I love you very much. You know that, don’t you, my sweet Satoshi?”
“I know,” Satoshi said, before his mother rose up from her knelt posture.
“It’s time to train,” Akiko said more seriously now. “Soon, you will be able to receive your very own shikigami.”
Satoshi nearly toppled over his mother when he embraced her in a fierce hug, unbelieving what he just heard. She was going to allow him to summon a shikigami, even after the accident that happened years ago with the god of malice that came out of the portal? His dream of becoming an Elementalist was still within reach. Though how did his Mother manage to convince the Hiroyuki council to let Satoshi summon a shikigami?
“I know what you’re thinking, Satoshi,” Akiko said as she petted her son’s head. “I fought against the Elder Council and said that you will be able to summon a shikigami for your thirteenth birthday. You wouldn’t be an Elementalist without a shikigami companion by your side. Besides, thinking of sending you off by yourself…saddens me greatly. It would bring me ease to know that you have your shikigami for your companion, if no one else.”
“Thank you, Mother,” Satoshi said as he continued to hug his mother. “This is very important for me. You don’t know how important. I owe you everything, including my life.”
“There, there, Satoshi,” Akiko said as she put her hands on his shoulders now and stood up. “You don’t owe me a thing. You’re my beloved son. That will never change.”
Satoshi stood as well, before he followed his mother into the room where he performed the ritual for a shikigami so long ago. He shivered a bit, as this room still gave him nightmares about that aragami that materialized from the portal that he created in the room. However, having his mother’s hand to hold and having her by his side eased him greatly, and Satoshi knew that his mother would successfully invoke a shikigami into life for him.
She drew the summoning circles on the ground, before she spoke the incantations for summoning a shikigami. Once she uttered the words, a bright glow emanated from the circles in the ground, and then flames seared straight out in a fiery maelstrom. Satoshi flinched and covered his eyes with his arms, though his mother remained calm as the fire then died down and formed an amorphous shape of fire, and then it materialized into a blazing hot egg. Satoshi looked towards his mother, and she nodded for him to go ahead and take the egg.
Satoshi then took the egg in his hands, and found it searing hot. It was like touching the blaze of an open fire, though Satoshi somehow intuitively knew that he must hold onto the egg no matter what. This was a test of his will, a test to show that he was worthy of bearing the shikigami that this egg would bring forth into the world. Satoshi held onto it, face contorted in pain as his hands were burning, burning, and then there finally came a point when the burning had ceased and the egg felt cool to the touch.
Cracks spiderwebbed across its surface, and a young chick fell out of the egg and into the awaiting palms of Satoshi’s hands. Satoshi stared at it in wide-eyed wonder, before turning to look at his mother, who nodded in approval.
“There is your shikigami, Satoshi,” Akiko said as she brushed Satoshi’s hair aside from his face. “Take good care of him and raise him well. For he is also born as a part of your soul, as your inseparable companion. When an Elementalist makes a pact with a spirit in the Otherworld, they materialize and shape from a person’s will and soul. Such a beautiful shikigami. I don’t understand why the clan cannot see that you are Satoshi and not the aragami that is sealed within you.”
“My very own shikigami,” Satoshi said in awe as the young phoenix began to stretch its wings and fly around Satoshi’s head. It landed atop his head, finding refuge there, and stayed still. “I love him. I think I’m going to name him Feng Huang.”
“Go ahead and do so,” Akiko said with a smile. “I see that you’ve put a lot of love and effort into that name.”
Satoshi began to cry tears of joy, and his phoenix fluttered from the top of his head and perched itself next to Satoshi’s kneeling form, tilting its head towards his upraised hands and crying upon them. The burn marks from earlier started to heal from Satoshi’s hands, until they were completely unmarred.
“Healing tears,” Akiko said. “A fine partner for my son. Take care of him, Feng Huang.”