17th Chapter:
A Promise unto the Heavens
The palace was alive in the middle of the night, not daring to get even a wink of sleep until the priestess has been found.
Yu Gui sat on Akiko's bed, his head on his hands and not moving.
"What could've caused such a thing?" Zhang was pacing in the middle of the now clean room. "She wouldn't do anything so absurd without a very good reason.
"She is still nearby, as her anguish is the only mark of her being alive, but she closed herself on us so no one could find her," Jing was sitting cross-legged near the door, his eyes closed and his hands linked in prayer, the tips holding Akiko's headband that she left.
"The winds cannot find her also," Liu said gravely. "She has been going in circles, and the tracks left in the disturbed air cannot find the end of it."
"This is rather untimely," Niao was sitting with his hand on his brother's shoulder. "What could have upset her much for her to do such a reckless act?"
"I don't know," Yu Gui muttered in a confused tone, now looking up with a face reflecting his tone. "All I knew is that she was reading a scroll before she ran out."
"Scroll?" Zhang suddenly said. "What scroll?"
"There on her dresser," Yu Gui pointed out.
Zhang went see the thing lying on the dresser. It was indeed a scroll, with its golden container, on a silk cloth and a red silk rope.
"This is what I came for here earlier," Zhang muttered, and all heads turned to look at him with questioning eyes.
"It was a gift from my mother," Zhang explained. "I wonder..."
He read for a good hour in silence, and the only interruption he made was noting that the scroll was a more detailed account of the first war of the heavens than what has been publicly known, and than what has been residing in the ancient archives.
When his reading ended, his eyes were wide and his hands were trembling.
"I know the reason why Akiko ran away," Zhang whispered.
"What!?" All four exclaimed in unison.
"I... I really didn't know the reason why I was named after a constellation in the high heavens, let alone one of the twenty eight sovereigns that made Akiko a priestess," Zhang's eyes were remote and held nothing but shock. "I never realized... that I am an incarnation of one of those stars..."
"What are you talking about?" Yu Gui asked, his brow puckering as he stood up.
"We are the seven incarnated stars serving under Fenghuang himself," Zhang continued, his voice barely audible. "We are incarnated to help the decreed priestess summon the god that favored this land... and if the four gods are all summoned and their purpose for being implored to do so is met, we are to go back unto heaven, and she... her momory... will be wiped clean of all of this... of what is to pass..."
All drew breath as they finished hearing Zhang's explanation.
A light brush of wind brushed passed them all, and Yu Gui disappeared.
"Yu Gui!" All of them shouted out as they ran after him.
Why...? Why didn't you tell me right away! Yu Gui thought as he turned into a mirage of a phantom and went after Akiko. You should've told me... You should've!
He closed his eyes and felt the single connection he had with Akiko alone, and no one else. It was as clear daylight, and her location was -
"DON'T DARE JUMP OVER THE PALACE WALLS!" He shouted as he saw Akiko on the edge of the palace's outer wall. She turned, and she lost balance.
YOU ARE READING
For the One I Love: the Legend of the Four Priestesses of Heaven and Earth
FantasyA thousand years into the past, the water demon Gonggong had sought the seize the throne of heaven for himself. His father, Zhu Rong, fought him to stop his ambition from happening. Gonggong was defeated, but being undaunted by his defeat, he sought...
