thebastion | [Day 196 and 197] Seconds march into the past [OPEN

"Of course," Seimei replied, fingertips sliding along the hilt of the sword in reverence as much as anything as he turned away and began going through the vault.

To Genkaku, everyone was a child, and he meant no offense by it, walking off and expecting Kaoru to follow. He had the same sort of presence as Seimei, elegant and refined with an odd mix of arrogance and humility. He lead them back to the main chamber, standing over his other remains for a time, gazing idly upon them and saying nothing.

"Are you Abe no Seimei's pupil?" he asked, not looking up from his bones as he addressed Kaoru.

He watched Seimei a moment, before turning to follow. Back to the bones. Great. Wonderful, even. But at least Kaoru managed not to let his excitement overwhelm him and went obediently after Genkaku.

Kind of rude, not to look at the person you're talking to, but he supposed some concessions could be made, given that the man was standing in front of his own skeleton.

"His lover." He didn't see any point in skirting around it and wasn't about to. He clasped his hands behind his back, feeling a little underdressed - it was hard not to, surrounded by both Genkaku and Seimei in their layers and layers of robes.

"Ah. I suppose I should not be surprised," he murmured, nodding slowly and crouching by his bones, turning them over slowly until he found his prayer bead bracelet. Rising, he turned, holding it out slowly.

"Take these. There are other treasures here as well that you are welcome to, but this one is from me. I have a feeling you could use them, in the near future," the elder man murmured, tilting his head slightly without readable expression. What he meant was Kaoru's guess, but it was a fairly notable offer in that it was a historical relic, a piece of a ruined culture and a powerful priest's own possession. Not to mention the novelty of being gifted anything by a dead person in the first place.

"You have a twin..." he said after a moment, obviously enlightened by the shikigami acting as his transportation. "...Red-haired twins. Abe no Seimei is truly blessed by the Gods in everything he does," he sighed, sniffing softly. "There is another bracelet similar to this one laying around somewhere...ah. Over there, under the fallen brazier. Go and fetch it. It would be more auspicious for you both to have one."

"…yes. His name is Hikaru."

He hesitated, before accepting the bracelet with both hands and raising it briefly with a murmured "Thank you," even though Genkaku's words gave him a chill. The other man's words seemed strangely prophetic and he couldn't help but wonder what it was he was to pray for.

A slight bow as he slipped the bracelet onto his own wrist and moved to one of the braziers marking the eight points on the platform, crouching to shift one to the side to find the second bracelet as promised, bringing it back.

"…are you sure it's all right for me to take them?" He wasn't trying to refuse Genkaku's generosity, and he knew the dead would have no use for them. But he felt almost guilty all the same. "This isn't my time. And it isn't my place. Is it really okay…?"

"For all you or anyone else knows, you could be a Child of Izumo," Genkaku replied, folding his arms slowly and regarding the boy with a sober, cool expression. Seimei was old and wise in his way, certainly, but there was a gravity to Genkaku that the onmyoji never affected. A bitter, weary edge to his wisdom.

"The people who died here were not the only people of Izumo. There were others who did not live in the village, who married elsewhere, who traveled, who ran, who survived. The time and the place never matters when you carry an inalienable truth in your heart. It took me a long time to understand that," he admitted, pacing around the chamber and gazing at the stone walls and their paintings.

"I would rather the memory of Izumo lived on, carried by thoughts of peace and generosity. Those were the people of the Izumo I lost. Abe no Seimei is carrying Izumo out of this place, and so shall you. Twin boys with hair like fire and the son of Kuzunoha? Ha, I should be honored to have such people create a new Izumo. The paintings your people will eventually make of you will be quite exciting, I am certain."

Although Kaoru was uncertain, he nodded anyway. He knew his family could trace their heritage back to the old capital, but beyond that…? They had no military distinction to speak of. Rather, it was their art that had made the Hitachiin family, and a peculiar quirk of their line that the family name descended not through the first born sons, but the first born daughters. With so little of his early family history known, he could not be sure of Genkaku's words either way.

"…I will be sure to give it to him." He slipped the bracelet onto his left wrist. "…we will carry on that legacy for you."

"Better you three than myself. I made terrible choices that cost us everything," the elder replied, sighing softly to himself and trailing quietly around the chamber, touching the rock faces here and there, tracing the paintings.

"So long as people from our country survive, Izumo may live on. I am certain Seimei would wish to preserve more of our time but if Izumo is all that lives, I am not terribly burdened by grief. I had no love for the capitol. Still...I do hope you all find more as time goes on. It is enough that I will now rest in peace. I wonder if there is a place to go for souls like mine, now," he mused aloud, turning slowly to regard Kaoru.

"What do you plan to do, now that the world has crumbled away to dust?" came the curious remark as Seimei returned from the small vault, jingling softly. He held an elaborate necklace in one hand, head tilting with interest.

"Lady Aone's necklace and a few other pieces of interest. Who was responsible for storing these things?"

"Is it not obvious?"

Seimei's face fell slowly before he covered the expression with one of his usual smiles, bowed politely and returned to the vault wordlessly. Genkaku turned to Kaoru and clarified.

"Minamoto no Hiromasa."

"…we were told that nothing of our old worlds survived. That the only things left were our own selves." He returned to the brazier in an effort to set it upright again. "But then they gradually started finding small pieces of our old worlds out here and... I'm glad. I'm glad I got to see… if not Seimei's home, then at least where he came from. Somewhere important to him. You have to understand this - all of this - is very distant to me. The place I came from is very different."

He couldn't help his smile a Seimei returned - even if it was just to wander in and back out again.

Hiromasa again?

"He seems involved in everything, this Hiromasa." Of course, he shouldn't have been surprised, and really wasn't, after all Seimei had told him. But he couldn't help shaking his head.

"He became quite an important man in his own right. He was always trusted, however his position might not have been so important had he never encountered Abe no Seimei. I believe the onmyoji regrets his involvement with the man," the old man mused, looking off down the hallway.

"Not because he wanted nothing to do with Hiromasa, but because it was the only person in his life he had to lose. Had they never become friends, Seimei would not have to feel anything on the matter."

He fell into silent thought for a time, watching Seimei, gaze occasionally drifting to Kaoru in turn.

"I am glad the spirit of Izumo survived, and I am grateful that he valued this land enough to seek it. I hope you can learn from this and appreciate the tragedy, despite your youth."

"…he regrets losing him." This, Kaoru knew; had lived himself. For all the times he had regretted his involvement with Tamaki, wondered at the expanse of his idiocy, questioned repeatedly why he had anything to do with the ridiculous blonde, the times that he stood amazed and thankful - at their Lord's capacity for kindness and understanding, for the world that he had spread out open for the two of them - although fewer, outweighed all of his regrets and his questions.

He was sure that Seimei had looked - still looked - on Hiromasa the same way; sure that his regrets melted away beneath his thanks. They had a lot to be grateful for, after all. Granted, the Calamity had played a big part but if not for a pair of bumbling idiots who had a tendency to see locked doors and then barge right through them, Kaoru and Seimei might never have approached each other in the first place.

The old Kaoru would have rebuked him pretty harshly. Right from the get-go, probably. That in itself was a scary thought - thank god he was a different person now.

"It was a terrible thing that happened here. But it is his history - our country's history. I never knew of it - it was never written but… I want to understand it." He turned on the spot, looking over the murals on the walls, one hand curling around the beads on his wrist.

"…it's important to remember, now more than ever. We will remember you."

The elderly man nodded slowly, accepting Kaoru's statements without argument. He too understood the importance of such people in one's life. Lives without people like Tamaki or Hiromasa tended to be crippled in some way; they were not just anchors to their friends, they were humbling lessons.

Genkaku often wondered how different his life might have been with someone like that in it.

"That is all anyone can ask: remember us and do not repeat the same mistakes". That is enough," the elder man remarked, bowing his head slightly.

"Thank you for being kind enough to join me for this time, but I believe I would like to rest now. If I may?" he asked, gesturing lightly to his bones. "My wife is near here."

Speaking with Genkaku so normally, Kaoru had forgotten for a moment that he was speaking to a dead man. Realising it again was a little jarring, to say the least.

He managed a stiff sort of bow.

"Of... of course. I should..." ...what should he do? What was he supposed to do - just go? "Should I...?"

"I understand that it is a lot to ask, but would you be kind enough to bring my remains and lay them to rest beside my wife's? She is gone...I would like to go as well. There will not be anything to watch over soon and I should like the rest," he remarked, sniffing softly and looking over everything else.

"Ah. I do not know if you have an appreciating for the biwa, but there is no point in mine going to waste. If you or anyone else you know has interest in the instrument," he gestures vaguely to the dusty thing not far from the remains, "I encourage you to take it. It is not cursed or any other nonsense and I will not be attached to it, so please, anything here in the ruins of Izumo, take to your haven and preserve it. I will thank you for it."

He nodded in understanding, and yet he still hesitated - and it was not the thought of touching human bones that made him halt. There was a very specific order when it came to the picking up and placement of bones after all and Kaoru had never known the sorrow of having to bury a relative.

What if he messed up? What if he did something terribly disrespectful?

"...you won't get mad at me if I mess up, right?"

He was hardly going to throw them around higgledy-piggledy, but he hoped that Genkaku would forgive him if he didn't manage it perfectly.

The old man chuckled softly, watching the expressions on Kaoru's face with amusement before shaking his head.

"Those bones have been in a pile for age, fallen into complete disarray. No one else saw fit to move them, but I am giving you permission. I will not judge you for any misplacement, child. I will not be staying housed within them any longer," he explained, shaking his head slowly once more.

"Follow me and leave them however you wish. Afterwards, worry not. I have no intention of haunting you or this place."

A small, brisk nod. Genkaku was counting on him. Or, if not counting, then at least requesting politely. It would be bad form of Kaoru to deny his request just because he was - all right, yes, he would admit it to himself - perhaps a tiny bit freaked out over the bones after all.

But aside from an apologetic glance before he knelt he didn't let it show. The biwa was set to one side carefully and the bones gathered into his arms, taking great pains not to drop any as he stood to follow.

"Outside?"

"Outside," the old man agreed with a nod, leading the way. They walked a short distance, stopping by a scattered pile of dark bones. Genkaku stared down at them with a complicated expression before looking to Kaoru and nodding once.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, child. And good to see Seimei. I wish you both the very best in your future. Your compassion will not be forgotten," he murmured, closing his eyes and seeming to evaporate from the feet up until just the skull hovered there. The shikigami inside abandoned the bones and drifted off, presumably returning to Seimei. Without the magic possessing it, the skull dropped unceremoniously to the ground, clattering against the other bones.

Seimei had exited the cave as well, following quietly at a polite distance, a bag of things recovered held at his side. He said nothing, only watching as Kaoru did whatever he intended, waiting patiently to be needed or wanted.

All he could do while Genkaku spoke was bow deeply. It was the only response he could manage, really - he had no real idea of what he could say to the man as he disappeared. He simply held the bow, bones cradled to his chest, until the skull fell to the ground.

Further promises to protect Izumo's legacy were pointless, now. It was Kaoru's actions that mattered.

He knelt, extracting the bones bit by bit and laying them on the ground, before picking up the skull and setting it on top of them before pressing his palms together like he had inside the temple. Rising to his feet and turning, he realised Seimei was behind, and closed the distance with a small smile.

"...the biwa. I should take the biwa."

He hadn't the faintest idea how to play the instrument but it wouldn't do to abandon the instrument completely.

"As you wish," he replied calmly, watching Kaoru with a thoughtful, warm expression. His love glittered in his dark eyes, pleased with his partner. He adored the respect Kaoru showed, was ever so thrilled by his ability to adapt. The boy was so much better at it than he was, sometimes, he wondered what the future might be like for them had things been different. what if the worlds fell apart and Seimei ended up in the future, or Kaoru in the past?

Likely he would be reliant on the boy, as ever, for guidance with things he couldn't seem to fathom.

"I have everything I can carry right now. If you are done, we can return home and I can make arrangements to recover as much as possible.

His smile turned a little shy when he realised that Seimei was looking at him with those eyes, and he ducked his head slightly, resting a hand on his arm before slipping back into the temple again to pick up the biwa and pick and make doubly sure he hadn't left anything important behind.

The accumulation of Skyway odds and ends in their home had multiplied greatly recently, what with all the things they had hauled back from the Host Club, and now from Izumo. He hoped they would always have room for them, given the rate at which their household was growing, too.

"Mm. I'm ready to go, too." He slid his arm through Seimei's, the biwa held carefully by the neck in his other hand, "What did you find?"

"Artifacts of a bygone era," he replied with a faint smirk, hefting his collection lightly before relaxing in contact with Kaoru. For a little while they were able to forget everything waiting for them in the Bastion.

"A few pieces of jewelry relevant to our history, kept secret from the people. Scrolls, books. Paintings. Art and history. Things that might matter to no one or may matter to everyone. It depends entirely on perspective and a desire to learn. There is a wealth of knowledge contained here regarding the art I practice. People may learn from these. I suspect Rin, Bon and Yukio in particular may like to have original copies of the first scriptures of Onmyodo. Aside from that, the rest may seem like no more than fables, but I am pleased to have it, nevertheless."

"I think there are people who will be pleased to see them, even if they're not from our country." He squeezed Seimei's arm gently. "And even if that's not the case, they matter to you. They matter to us."

"…are you ready to go home now? You're sure there's nothing I can take?"

"I suppose I am ready, though I would rather enjoy the free time we've been granted...at least for a little bit. Terribly unfortunate that this had to be a mass graveyard instead of a palace. I would have liked to take you through something more flattering of your history," he mused apologetically, rummaging through his things curiously, drawing out a long, elegant necklace.

"Would you perhaps wear this for me, sometime, with traditional clothing?" he asked, arching a brow and holding the necklace of tiny glass beads and a solo magatama stone. "It belonged, once, to the goddess Amaterasu. I think it suits you."

"I still kind of wish it had been your house," He had to admit it. Although Izumo had been… certainly an experience, and he had been honoured to be here, even with the village's painful history, he still wished he could have seen somewhere more… Seimei. A place with his lover's hand in it, somehow.

He blinked at the proffered necklace, a little startled. The beads Genkaku had offered were one thing, even though Kaoru had had his misgivings.

"O-of course, but…"

But… would it really be all right for him to wear something that had once belonged to a god?

"Perhaps another time? There could be more parts of all our worlds out there. As it is, I am grateful not to see my home a shambles. I was always very particular," he remarked with a huffed sigh. He could only imagine what kind of travesty his house might have been. At any rate, he was pleased to salvage the treasures of his nation as well as the history of Izumo.

"But?" Seimei questioned, distracted by the tone. Ah. He smiled, shaking his head slowly. "She would have liked you, and you would have liked her. I doubt she would mind at all, dear prince. At any rate, she wore is when she was mortal. You would not be wearing something divine itself...only touched by the divine and thereby a precious relic."

[Day 196 and 197] Seconds march into the past [OPEN

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