Chapter Text
The King said: "The third question is, how many seconds of time are there in eternity?" Then said the shepherd boy: "In Lower Pomerania is the Diamond Mountain, which is two miles and a half high, two miles and a half wide, and two miles and a half in depth; every hundred years a little bird comes and sharpens its beak on it, and when the whole mountain is worn away by this, then the first second of eternity will be over."
—The Brothers Grimm, 1819
𑁍 𑁍 𑁍
Octavia exited the schism and found herself in a sprawling desert.
Holding her breath, she scanned the horizon for the kasbah's hulking silhouette. Sand dunes stretched into the distance as far as the eye could see, their slopes a deep indigo beneath the moonless sky.
When her search yielded no results, she turned to face Sesshoumaru. Her heart sank as she gazed into the empty gateway. Where was he? Hadn't he leapt into the cauldron before her?
The gate wobbled as if something were passing through it, only to crumple in on itself, leaving her alone in the wilderness.
"Sesshoumaru!" she yelled, sprinting towards the spot where the gate had been. "Can you hear me? Sesshoumaru!"
When nothing happened, Octavia fell to her knees and punched the ground, dropping the Tenseiga in the process.
The blade was still glowing.
She picked up the sword and held it in front of her like a torch. A colossal spire protruded from a distant sand dune and curved towards the sky at an unusual angle. The second she laid eyes upon it, a burning sensation took root in the valley between her breasts.
Thrusting a hand into her robes, she found the source of the heat and yanked it away from her sizzling flesh. The Prophecy-Breaker landed in the sand with an audible thump. The metal was hot to the touch, and the yellow gemstone blazed like a lit flame.
"Oh, no you don't," she said, bending to retrieve the necklace. She used the sleeve of her kosode as an extra layer of protection, eyes flitting between the Prophecy-Breaker and the Tenseiga. "What's gotten into the pair of you?"
Both artefacts pulsed in unison.
"Are you . . . trying to tell me something?"
The Tenseiga's blade flickered.
Octavia's gaze shifted back to the spire, which was situated atop a large, disc-shaped island. She trudged across the sand dunes with the Tenseiga lighting her way.
As she neared the bizarre structure on the slopes of the horizon, she realised that it was a gigantic sundial. The disc was the dial part and the spire was the gnomon – a slanted column used to pinpoint the hour by analysing the position of its shadow. The rim of the dial was marked with Roman numerals, and the gnomon was pointing to the number twelve, but no shadow could be cast without the presence of the sun.
The tower in the desert, she thought. Is this why you didn't wait for me?
The dial keened as she marched towards the base of the tower. An hourglass hung above the entrance—its sands depleted.
By then, the Prophecy-Breaker had singed a hole in her sleeve and was trying to do the same to her skin. She wound the chain around the Tenseiga's hilt and hoped that the sword would be strong enough to withstand the necklace's intense heat.
Inside, she found a circular room with a high, winding staircase. The ground floor was a huge metal gear in stasis, and the tower walls were covered in every variation of clock known to man, all of which had ceased working.
The Tenseiga illuminated the brunt of the damage. Clock faces had been smashed and pendulum strings severed. Even the digital ones donned blank screens drained of battery. The silence frightened her.
"Sesshoumaru?" she whispered. "Are you in here?"
The building groaned as several clocks dislodged themselves from the walls and shattered against the stairwell. Swallowing, Octavia gripped the Tenseiga so hard that her knuckles turned white.
If every clock in the tower was broken, why could she still hear ticking?
Curiosity had her scaling the stairwell in pursuit of its source. The light from the Tenseiga blinked on and off in sync with the ticking, creating a flashing effect that made her eyes hurt.
The stairs led to a gargantuan door with an ivory-coated doorknob. Her heart was in her throat as she reached for the handle.
The pinnacle of the tower was as vacant as the previous floors had been. The only piece of furniture in sight was a broken grandfather clock. And yet, the ticking persisted, growing louder and louder with each step she took.
"Is that you, Sesshoumaru? If you can hear me, please say something—"
The grandfather clock chimed four times before falling silent. The pendulum inside hadn't moved an inch, and neither had the hands on the clock's battered old face. Octavia could feel herself trembling as she called Sesshoumaru's name again.
"There you are," rumbled an ancient-sounding voice. "I have been awaiting your arrival for many a moon now."
Her eyes darted around the room. "Who's there?"
"You know my name," the voice echoed throughout the space. "I am eternal. I am the master of all things forgotten and remembered. I am the keeper of time itself."
The ticking became deafeningly loud as a figure manifested in front of her, swathed in darkness and despair. Starlight poured into the room through a gap in the wall, allowing Octavia to pinpoint the outline of a man with pointed ears and a suit of armour.
Her smile vanished as quickly as it had appeared. That's not Sesshoumaru. The unique facial markings and glowing pupils all but confirmed it.
"You're Sesshoumaru's grandfather," she said, recognising his face from the memory at the wellspring. "Yukito, wasn't it?"
"Alas, I am not the late king of Moon Country," he answered. "I'm simply borrowing this face for a while."
Octavia frowned. "I don't understand. If you're not his grandfather, who are you?"
The stranger chuckled, then switched forms before her very eyes. The gold irises and silver tresses melted away to reveal a young woman with silky black hair and a star tattoo on her forehead.
Midoriko?
The revelation didn't come until the miko morphed into a different man with blood-red eyes and barbs for hands.
"You," Octavia gasped. "It can't be. How can you be here?"
"I said we would meet again, didn't I?" the entity purred. "It's been far too long, Okteviah True Jewel. Did you enjoy our little scavenger hunt? Few can say that they've gazed upon Mount Penglai with their own two eyes as you have."
Her brows lifted at the mention of the immortal island known as Mount Penglai. According to legend, it was a sacred place where the Eight Immortals from Chinese mythology would gather for ceremonial feasts. It was also an alternate name for Horaijima. But if the island with the golden palace had been Horaijima, was the desert a part of it? Or was this someplace new and even less familiar?
"Where are we?" she asked.
"In my domain," replied the entity. "It's called the Eternity Desert. It can only be reached via the Cauldron of Resonance, which belonged to the wizard, Anqi Sheng."
"And how did we get here? I've never spoken to you outside my dreams before . . . Unless this is a dream?" Her eyes widened. "Is that why I can't find Sesshoumaru? Did opening the cauldron send us both to sleep?"
"Not quite. Although dreams do often flow through here, this place is as real as they come."
Octavia's brow creased. "The first time we met, you said you were a part of me. I promised to set you free in exchange for your help, but you don't look trapped to me."
Sighing, the entity shed Magatsuhi's skin and replaced it with Yukito's. "I didn't lie, if that's what you're accusing me of. I am a part of you, just as you are a part of me."
She didn't like how that sentence had ended. "Who are you?"
"I am no one," he said. "My kingdom is one of solitude, and my reign will be endless."
Endless. That was the word Kanetsugu had used when he was telling them about his encounter with Asuka. It was no ordinary word, though. According to the Church's scriptures, it was the name of a deity. The god of time, to be exact.
". . . I think my brother is looking for you."
"So I've heard."
"Why?"
"For the same reason as my counterpart." The deity's eyes narrowed as he regarded the grandfather clock with a scowl. "If you slay a god, you claim its power as your own. She and I were close once. Before the Insurgence, that is. The two of us weren't born, you see. We were grown." His gaze slid back to Octavia as he whispered, "We all were."
Octavia shivered. She didn't like where that sentence had ended up, either. "Who's we?"
"Time, Fate, Day, and Night. The four of us were created to bring order to this primitive universe, but everywhere we went, chaos ensued. Eventually, my counterpart – the goddess of destiny – grew weary of following orders, and rebelled against our creators. The gods of light and darkness followed suit, and when I caught wind of what was happening, it was too late. The God Stars were already dead.
"Enraged by my compassion for our former masters, my counterpart declared war on me. I was able to evade her for a while, until she tracked me down one day and almost succeeded in stealing my powers. After that, I had no choice but to seal myself away, lest she happen upon my trail again. That is why the clocks are broken. Time no longer flows here. The winds don't change, the sun never rises, and the sands of eternity grow restless beneath the unchanging sky."
"What about the other three deities?" Octavia questioned. "Where are they now?"
"The goddess of destiny searches for me still, but the other two are long gone. They were each other's undoing in the end. Not that I need to tell you that. All that remains of them now are shadows and vessels with no recollection of how it all began." The Endless placed a hand on her shoulder. His skin was as cold as ice. "And yet, even in death, the connection between them runs deep. How could it not? They came into this universe together. Like—"
"Like twins," she finished.
"It ends as it began," the Endless murmured.
The Radiant One didn't kill the Shadow. How could it? They loved each other once, and love is the one thing that never dies.
Octavia sat down on the chilly marble floor and folded her arms over her chest. "Tell me everything."
𑁍 𑁍 𑁍
Sesshoumaru couldn't breathe.
The gate had sent him deep underground, where the air was thin and the sun couldn't reach. His chest constricted as he stared down the long, gloomy chute. A cool draught tickled the nape of his neck, causing him to turn and peer into the schism. He waited for Octavia to emerge, but the gate remained empty.
Before he could call out to her, the gate rippled and convulsed, like the surface of a lake just before a storm, then vanished without a trace.
What now?
His senses were on high alert as he followed the path downwards. The walls were slick with moisture, and the ceiling was lined with rows of dripping stalactites.
The tunnel itself was relatively short. It tapered a little towards the end before feeding into an enormous cavern that was home to a giant web. The crimson threads shimmered like rubies as daylight seeped into the cave from below.
Sesshoumaru's eyes widened as he gazed into the pit beneath the web. He'd never seen anything like it. Instead of darkness gazing back at him, there was a pale blue sky that seemed to go on forever.
"Isn't it stunning? It's my pride and joy. Do watch your step, though. If you fall into the pit, you'll never reach the bottom."
Scarlet eyes gleamed at him from across the web. Sesshoumaru held his breath as she crawled out of the shadows and onto the silk netting. She was exactly as he'd remembered her, apart from the tight-fitting white robe and glowing red pupils. Her ebony hair was fastened into a loose ponytail – like it had been when he'd pulled her unconscious body out of the river – and her lips were coloured a few shades darker than her eyes.
"Kagura?"
She grinned and shook her head.
He released the breath he'd been holding. Of course it wasn't. Kagura had been dead for years. "You're a shapeshifter."
Her smile widened. "I suppose one could say that, my prince."
He glared at her. "That's Lord Sesshoumaru to you."
"Is that so? I've never been very good with titles. They change so frequently, you see. I can't keep up."
She hadn't stopped smiling. It was making him uncomfortable.
"Identify yourself."
"You wound me, my lord. We've met once before. Don't tell me you've forgotten?"
She hopped from thread to thread, landing a couple of metres in front of him with the poise of a dancer. Up close, she didn't look like Kagura at all. Her eyes were too big for her face, and her upper canines reminded him of sharp pincers.
"It was I who told you how to find your father's tomb," she said. "You're welcome, by the way."
Sesshoumaru's brow crinkled. "That was you?"
Kagura's face melted away to reveal the soothsayer who had aided him during his search for the Tessaiga. There was no mistaking her long emerald locks and obsidian eyes. It was she who had spoken the riddle containing the location of the Black Pearl, which served as a gateway to the Border of the Afterlife.
Her melodious voice echoed around the cavern, "Seeing, yet never seen. Protected, yet never known to its protector."
His hands balled into fists. "What are you?"
She twirled a piece of hair around her finger. "Now you're asking the right questions."
The web groaned as she dropped to a crouch and leaned closer. Sesshoumaru wanted nothing more than to lurch away in disgust, but he stood his ground and waited for her to make her intentions known.
"Have you figured out where we are yet? I'll give you a hint – what is the significance of red thread in Asian mythos?"
"It represents connection," he replied. "Countless legends claim that those connected by an invisible red string are destined to meet."
"Very good, my lord."
He glanced down at the web of crimson threads and narrowed his eyes. "If this cave holds the cords of fate and destiny, am I correct in thinking that you are their keeper?"
"You're as quick as you are handsome," she said with a wink. "The Web of Fate is mine to control, and alter as I see fit. As for my name . . . I have been called many over the millennia, but my friends call me the Weaver."
A goddess was the last thing he had expected to find down here. Was she the reason that the cauldron had been sealed? What if the lock had been put there not to keep others out, but to keep her in?
"Where is Octavia?"
Her smile relented. "I suspect she's with my counterpart. The Endless has been keeping tabs on her for a while now. I wouldn't be surprised if he'd used the cauldron's power to open a second portal into his domain and steered her towards it."
The god of time and the goddess of destiny, Sesshoumaru mused. How fitting.
"I take it you know how to get there?" he asked.
"I used to. Before the cunt somehow managed to give me the slip. I don't know what he did, but now, nothing can get in or out of the Eternity Desert without his permission."
Sesshoumaru held her stare. "There is animosity between the two of you."
She clicked her tongue. "Duh. I tried to kill him."
"Why?"
"He betrayed me. You of all people should understand that."
"Perhaps if I knew the context?"
Her face scrunched into a frown. "You've heard the tale of the God Stars, yes?"
"I have."
"Then you know all about the atrocities they committed under the guise of divine punishment." He arched an eyebrow, which seemed to amuse her. "You think they're just a fantasy, don't you? Even after all the things you've seen, you still can't accept the truth."
She shot to her feet unexpectedly. The web strained under her ministrations, causing her to sway like a leaf in the wind.
Sesshoumaru's resolve wavered when her face changed again. Her eyes switched from black to green, and her hair curled around her shoulders in waves of vivid copper. It was far from a perfect replica. Unlike the real Octavia, this one's earlobe was still intact, her purple eye was nowhere to be seen, and her throat was devoid of claw marks.
"Without the God Stars, your precious Octavia would never have existed. They created us to do their jobs for them. The Endless and I were made to control the flow of time and everything in between, whilst the Shadow and the Radiant One were to oversee the physical process of day turning to night, and vice versa. We were practically their slaves. My counterpart knew how I felt, yet he still sided with them over me. The other half of my soul abandoned me. Do you have any idea what that's like?"
He supposed he didn't.
"At least the Shadow and the Radiant One were on my side. They loved Suitopi, as well, and when our creators refused to make her immortal, it was the last straw for all of us. We stormed the Celestial Palace and slew anyone who tried to get in our way. And then we killed the God Stars, too."
Sesshoumaru inhaled fast. "You did what?"
"We killed them," the Weaver laughed. "It was invigorating."
His hand inched towards the Bakusaiga's hilt.
"What's wrong, my lord? I thought you didn't believe in that stuff."
He didn't, but he wasn't so arrogant as to deny what he could see with his own two eyes. Whether the God Stars were the creators of the universe or not was irrelevant. What mattered was that something had created the Weaver and her brethren to carry out their bidding. Even he wasn't that powerful. The Tenseiga gave him the ability to restore life, yes, but he couldn't create it from nothing the way the God Stars had. That was true power. And yet, even they hadn't been completely invulnerable.
He needed to find Octavia and get as far away from these creatures as possible . . . Things would be a lot simpler if she weren't technically one of them.
"There's nowhere to hide, my lord. Even if the gate was still functional, Horaijima belongs to the dead now. The plague made sure of that."
Sesshoumaru paused. "What plague?"
"The one that claimed the lives of all who lived there. I couldn't let those poor, disillusioned samurai keep running around and calling themselves gods now, could I?"
The four skeletons in the throne room flashed to the forefront of his mind. "You sent the plague to the island."
"Obviously."
"All because of the actions of a select few?"
"They needed to be punished."
"And fiends like Ryukotsusei didn't?"
"Your father took care of that for me." The red in her pupils shone brighter when she added, "Why do you think I told him that story about the star and the Moon King? You should have seen his face when he realised the yosei had been telling the truth all along."
Sesshoumaru grit his teeth. The soothsayer had advised his family for centuries. Had she ever been the genuine article? Or had she always been the Weaver?
"The four samurai," he started. "Who were they?"
"They called themselves the Shitoshin," the goddess explained. "But before that, they were esteemed members of the four courts. Their names were Ryura, a prince of the Northern Lands; Gora, a prince of the Eastern Lands; Jura, the heir to the Southern Lands; and Kyora, the only son of your father's predecessor.
"They met when the alliances between the four courts were still being forged and became fast friends. When Kyora was cast aside in favour of your father, the other three quit their respective duties and travelled with him in pursuit of a new land to conquer.
"Whilst sailing through Chinese waters, they found an uncharted island and decided to dock there. It turned out to be Namida's sister isle – the moving island known as Horaijima. The invasion was swift and brutal. They slaughtered the humans and enslaved the rest, claiming the fortress and the Cauldron of Resonance for themselves. They even drove out the yosei that lived in the forests, disrupting the balance between demonkind and nature forever. Their punishment was more than warranted."
"What about the others?" Sesshoumaru countered.
"What about them?"
"They were innocent."
She laughed again. "You're one to talk. Everywhere you go, death follows. How many have lost their lives because of you, innocent or otherwise?"
"Save your hollow taunts for the weak-minded. I wear my sins with pride. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a mage to find."
The goddess waited until his back was turned before saying, "Don't you want to know?"
"Know what?"
"How many times you've died by her hand."
His boots ground to a halt. He turned to glower at her from over his shoulder. "What do you want from me, goddess?"
"I'm just curious, is all. I can see all of time and space. Every decision that's ever been made exists within this web."
The Weaver flopped onto her stomach and ran her fingers along the silk netting.
"The two of you are connected, but not in the way that you think." Giggling, she rolled onto her back and closed her eyes. "The threads here are much less volatile than the path you've chosen to tread. *A hell traveller, a Blood Maiden, an Egyptian queen. A Guardian, a therapist, a necklace-bearer*. They're your destiny. Not her."
"You're not making any sense."
"Then allow me to clarify." She sat up and stared at him with a manic expression. "Your death is a fixed point in time. It cannot be averted. The circumstances vary from timeline to timeline, but the outcome is usually the same. It may be tomorrow or hundreds of years from now, but she will kill you. Make no mistake about it."
"Who will?"
Her answering smile sent a chill down his spine. He thought back to his father's warning, hidden away in Anthology 3. A message for his eyes alone.
Do not trust her.
"I can show you if you want," the goddess said. "Don't worry, it won't hurt . . . Much."
When he was within touching distance, the Weaver reached out and cupped his face. Her hands were freezing. Sesshoumaru tried not to shudder when she pressed her forehead against his.
Pain exploded in his temples as a kaleidoscope of images flashed across his eyelids.