Ikiru began to whisper words in the language he had spoken earlier. He took the swords from Izanagi and stabbed them into his now lifeless body. Using the blood now coating the blades he splashed it at me whispering all along what sounded like a chant.

The blood was still hot, in fact, it started to burn against my skin. I yelled sharply as it was so painful it distracted from the current hole in my abdomen. Closing my eyes against the burning pain, I gritted my teeth and held my breath. My entire body felt like it was on fire, being ripped apart piece by piece. Eventually, I couldn’t hold myself back any longer from screaming as the pain overwhelmed me and my body felt limp against the floor.

Slowly the pain subsided, and gradually my eyes opened. I was lying now on hard stone, water droplets touched my face, and I could see now that it was rain. I was back in Naoshima. The rain from the storm had become a light drizzle. Around me, however, was a small crowd, they were all looking in my direction with questioning faces. Xi’an burst forth from the crowd and began to form a circle around me.

“Yashimuro Jin!” One of them yelled at me.

“Yes?” I weakly answered. I tried to pull myself to a sitting position. The blood and my wounds were all gone, my swords hung once more at my side.

“You’re under arrest for murder, blood magic, and treason against the empire.”

Just when we thought it was all over. Ikiru’s familiar voice chimed in the back of my head.