Playing with Fire

"Time bomb", the words echoed in Alex's mind, flooding it with an overwhelming sense of dread. He didn't want to blow up.

The inner soul realm disappeared as his concentration broke. He could hear them talking, but nothing registered in his mind.

He stared at the bare soil of the shrine's ground, which begun crackling as though baking from an unbearable heat which did not parched him. For a moment, he closed his eyes and focused hard in the darkness, shuttered by his eyelids.

A map of his body appeared in front of him, showing the channels of all his energy flows. Bluish for water, whitish for air and the tiny wisp of brown.

He remembered reading some Chinese medical textbooks on acupuncture in his past as a human. Was the map reflecting meridian points? All those damn Chinese dramas about opening channels where they could swiftly punch a point to immobilize someone.

Fuck, he should have paid attention then when he was alive.

"Forget the books," Jinwu's voice whispered with an odd, multi-tonal echo. Alex's eyes snapped open to look for her, only to find her talking to Yasomagatsuhi, Kanghui and Kagutsuchi, with no sign of Yato and Arahabaki.

"Nothing is what it seems. Open your eyes," her voice said.

"He said that I am a time bomb waiting to explode!?"

"Pfft… Slowly open your eyes first."

The sensation of coolness fell as his eyelids slowly lifted, sizzling up like a mist as strange beads of aether droplets continued to fall on his form. His vision slowly made out different hues of color, bathing each primeval being before him like waves.

A blackish-purplish aura surrounded Kanghui and Yasomagatsuhi while Arahabaki's was dark blood purplish reddish. He turned towards Jinwu, who was the only one who exhibited no aura.

"WhoA."

"You can see auras now."

Alex nodded as he watched the auras of every creature around. Rainbow television ahoy and the world seemed more colourful than usual. Even the creeping centipede crawling past them had an odd hue of brown. The sparse grass radiated a smudged greenish aura, like nature painted each blade against the background.

"Brown for earth, silver for metal, blue for water, red for fire, green for wood, white for air and purplish black for aether. Seven basic colors of elements," she said, away from the group, in front of him.

"You have no aura," Alex said.

"I suppressed it. My aura is like Yaso and Kanghui. Because we absorbed a lot of aether from the Void."

"They imprisoned you with them?"

She left out a laugh, making him feel foolish. A celestial crow, from what he heard, is invincible. Of course, no primeval being would not imprison them in the Void, where their worst criminals were.

"No. They dumped them into my area. All celestial crows, or whatever you call us, originate from the Void. Black holes are you humans call it," she lifted a finger to her mouth. "Secret between you and me. They think otherwise."

"What if I tell your secret?"

"Try."

"Are you going to destroy me or something to that effect?" Alex looked at her with suspicion.

"No. I will do nothing."

"Ok… HEY EVERYONE!" Alex yelled as the others looked at him. "She COMES FROM THE —-"

Then he stopped as they tilted their heads at him.

"——," he tried saying the words, but nothing came out.

"What is it? She comes from what?"

"Oh… never mind. Australia. Her body's owner came from Australia," Alex mumbled as they shrugged and continued talking to each other.

"Told you. As long as you hold the intention to reveal, the words won't come out," Jinwu said.

"Did you just seal me or something?"

"I told you not to tell."

***

"Humans are bothersome," Kanghui grumbled, annoyed at Alex's interruption of the more important issues.

"The old crow or the human soul?" Kagutsuchi looked at both Alex and Jinwu.

Yasomagatsuhi shrugged. "She just opened his aura vision. Probably overexcitement. He is only a fresh human soul."

"I can shear his soul if you want to," Kagutsuchi's hand burst into raging flames as he fiddled with an orb of fire.

"Please don't," Kanghui moved his hand over as a smirk grew over his face.

"If not for old crow over there calling on ancient favors, I wouldn't turn up," Kagutsuchi mumbled while watching the flames withdrew into his hand until the last flicker. "So what if he has Chongli's energy wave? It doesn't concern me."

"We need Takamagahara's cover —"

"Don't!" Kagutsuchi wagged his finger up at her.

"I haven't finished my —-"

"DON'T!" Kagutsuchi turned his back to her, sullen.

Jinwu's warning about the odd behavior of Kagutsuchi rang in her head. He was the only way in to gain the Takamagahara's protection over a fledgling Alex.

Kanghui had long heard tales of Kagutsuchi's insane behaviour, but had not witnessed one until he started yelling about a time bomb earlier.

Of all the primeval beings in Takamagahara, Kagutsuchi stood out as one of the oldest and respected, despite his deceptive youthful appearance. He displayed no qualities of Chongli, despite absorbing two of his energy waves. Chongli was calculating and logical. Kagutsuchi was chaotic. How they two got along, she will never know.

Raving mad from the start of when she knew him, even Arahabaki and Yato refused to stay around in his presence. After Kagutsuchi's arrival, the three bid each other a polite greeting before departing ways.

From what Kanghui knew, both Arahabaki and Kagutsuchi kept out of each other's way with an uneasy truce. Even when forced to war against the other, both refused to touch the other's shrines.

She knew of an unspoken law in Takamagahara not to antagonize Kagutsuchi. A tantrum thrown by Kagutsuchi resulted in a human city under their control will go up in flames of his fury.

Kanghui bore witness to one such burning in 1177, the Great Fire of Angen which spread mourning across Hei-an in ancient Japan.

Humans, not Takamagahara's elite, caused the unprecedented inferno through disregard. Something about a close relative of the imperial house, razing Oyamakuhi's temples on Mount Hiei, to the ground.

Some primeval beings in Takamagahara told her about the close relationship of Oyamakuhi with Kagutsuchi via a complex lineage which went back to the other power primeval beings. Hence, unlike Yasomagatsuhi or Ōmagatsuhi, Kagutsuchi held considerable influence over the Takamagahara primeval society via those connections, rendering him untouchable.

She didn't know the details or the genuine reasons behind the massive destruction which took place. In her memory, the flames from the roaring inferno rose so high up that the human inhabitants gasped and cried in horror at the illuminating sight which was seen for miles. The fire spared not even the nobles, and scorched even the emperor's grand palace to cinders, along with those of 14 noble families.

In its aftermath of Kagutsuchi's tantrum, the smoky odor of burnt flesh and fat from charred corpses, beyond recognition, lingered throughout Heian for days. No one dared to utter a word to him.

Kagutsuchi didn't care which primeval beings he offended. Never did. Even Izanagi couldn't restrain him. Unlike Yasomagatsuhi or Ōmagatsuhi, restraining Kagatsuchi would wrought another great catastrophe, according to the gossip heard.

Only the quiet, introverted Tsukiyomi bore the power to quench the ceaseless fires of Kagutsuchi. However, for Takamagahara, Tsukiyomi was also another, best left alone on his island of Iki for reasons she never knew.

"Kagututi," Yasomagatsuhi called him by his old name.

Pointing at Yasomagatsuhi, Kagutsuchi shook his head. "Not you too and don't."

"How hard—"

"If you both want me to sponsor him somehow for Takamagahara. The answer is NO. But I have an easier solution," Kagatsuchi replied.

"What is it?"

"Build him a shrine. Call him a Kami of something. Make a miracle to wow the human community. Takamagahara will readily accept his application," Kagutsuchi said as he pointed to Kanghui. "You did that."

"Setting up a shrine isn't easy," Kanghui replied.

"Join the yōkai registry then. And make a name scaring the humans. Application guaranteed as long as a human whispers his name in fear or adoration. I don't care," Kagutsuchi folded his arm.

"I'll make it worth your while," Yasomagatsuhi nudged him.

Kagutsuchi clenched his fist and stood up straight forcefully, as immolating flames engulf his human guise.

"If you are thinking of offering NOT to beat me up, think again."

Like his key element, fire, Kagutsuchi bore its signature erratic and unpredictable wild nature.

"Heh. No. Who dares hit the old fart of Takamagahara?" Yasomagatsuhi lifted his hands in surrender.

"Good. I am… WAIT… YOU CALLED ME OLD?" Kagutsuchi hollered in his face as Yasomagatsuhi quickly took cover behind Kanghui's back.

"How about these as an offering?" Yasomagatsuhi snapped his fingers.

A few reddish stones resembling soul stones appeared in front of Kagutsuchi, who folded his arms and glanced at them with feigned disinterest, then shook his head.

"More." His hand motioned.

The reddish stones tripled. Kagutsuchi's eyes flashed a few flames once he laid sight of them. He took one and lifted it up to examine the soul stone carefully. The tip of his tongue licked the thin lips as he sniffed the reddish wisps flowing out of the soul stone.

"Fine," Kagutsuchi grabbed the soul stones, which vanished in his hands. "And tell me where you got these fine stones."

"Then help him get onto Takamagahara," Jinwu interrupted them.

"You own these stones?"

"Yes. And there are plenty more," Jinwu replied.

"Give me more."

Kanghui leaned in and asked Yasomagatsuhi what those stones were. She had never noticed them before.

"One stone was a part of a planet's or a star's core after an implosion. The energy waves are like soul stones, but we can't use them."

"Why?"

"If we use them, we will be like a human playing in a sea of fire. Roasted. Only Kagutsuchi and Jinwu know what to do with them."