Pain. Dull, throbbing pain pounding in my temples. I raise my hand to my face and press against the opposing force that feels like it’s about to rip through my skull. And then it’s gone - a memory, a dream, something from another time. I’m kneeling now and brace myself to stand. As I gaze downwards, I see my hand, my forearm, extending from my yukata, only it isn’t my hand, or what I remember it to be, it has this blue glow, translucent and cold - as though I could reach through it, but of course I can’t.
Then it hits - I’m dead. A rush of memories literally knock me back down to my knees as I wince in…protest? I’ve never been dead before so this feeling is new - like a defeat but one I can never come back from and I’m alone now so there isn’t anyone to jeer at me or encourage my rage. The incident comes into focus - I remember. I was defending Sensei Yuta from the Yakuza of the neighboring village - they had stormed into Gokayama, drunk, grabbing some women and pushing them back-and-forth - when Yuta kicked their leader, knocking him to the ground. The group of four, maybe five Yakuza circled Yuta while the grounded one wiped blood from his lip and dirt from his trousers, smiling with this bloody red grimace like a man possessed. I rush through their perimeter and stand with my back to Yuta. Shit, I think as I look at the men drawing katanas, shuriken, and kanabo. My weapons, which I normally have close at hand at the shop and my home, are not on me - it was a fluke that I even stumbled across this altercation during my evening walk.
The first Yakuza charged at Yuta, Yuta disarmed the man with a roundhouse kick while a second man approached his flank. I snapped my head over my shoulder as a large man with a bald head and scar across his face ran towards me brandishing a kanabo. I ducked and landed a swift blow to his kidney, causing him to stumble - then it hit me. A searing sting through my midsection while the fourth attacker plunged his katana into my back. I could hear him grunt, then laugh as I fell to the ground - then nothing…..then here.
Where am I? I took some time to take in my surroundings. It looked familiar, but was far from anywhere I’d ever been. The buildings were more or less in the same place as the ones in my village, but left in a state of disrepair - everything had this grey wash over it and the sky reminded me of dawn on a sunless morning - that dark, nearly daylight aura that never quite delivers the day. What struck me was the silence of it all - it was palpable. It was autumn in my old world and the higurashi call was omnipresent, but here, there was nothing, not even the sound of my breath.
Slowly, I start moving. With no particular aim, direction or goal I wander north, or at least what north was in my village. The movement helps me focus my thoughts and bring my awareness to my current situation. Perhaps there’s a reason I’m in this other world; perhaps there are others here. After some time, I reach a riverbank and walk along it, seeing where it goes. Soon, I see the light change, a bright spot in the sky not far away from where I am where the river meets the side of a mountain in this sort of natural valley. I press forward. Normally I would be full of fear - in a new place, seeing unnatural things, but somehow in my present state my emotional response is dull, almost nonexistent - I guess the dead don’t feel the same way as the living.
As the river and I round a corner past a thicket of trees, I get a clear view of the source of the light. This glowing orb of blue light hangs in the air, about the size of the whisky still at our village tavern, with a much smaller blue apparition of sorts floating next to it. I walk purposefully towards the orb. “Shit,” I cry as a bolt of energy knocks my legs out from under me and I fall hard to the ground. I can see the apparition glowing brighter as it shoots another lightning bolt at me - this one singing the grass near where I lay, a deliberate miss and warning.
“Bleem-den, forg-nort-thow-man-seer-turp?” The apparition spoke an unfamiliar language and hovered towards me. “Trow-tan-tandy, larp-rrrowl-ten-tom.” I just stared curiously at the little being. I could make its figure out more clearly now. It stood, well, floated at a height of about one foot. It wasn’t human. It was a translucent blob, kind of similar in tone to my new skin, but shaped like a kind of legume and wearing a kitsune mask on the side of its head, a lighting orb crackling in its off-hand, looking sinister. It seemed to acknowledge my incomprehension of what it had just said. Suddenly, the orb in its hand turned a soft pink and it began to float towards me. This didn’t feel like a hostile maneuver and my intuition told me to stay still. The orb hung in the air in front of my chest, stopped for a minute, then shot into me with a thud. I could feel its warmth circle me.
“Are you new here?” The apparition asked. I guess the orb had improved our ability to communicate. “What are you looking for?”
“I…I don’t really know where I am,” I said. “What is this place?”
“We’re in the spirit realm,” it said, “a sort of in-between world for those with unfinished business in the human world.”
“Unfinished business?” I asked. “What are you talking about?”
“When people end up in this place, it’s not by accident, and it’s not very many of them who end up here. You must be special.” The apparition floated back towards the glowing orb, motioning for me to follow. “This is a portal,” it said. “It will take you back to the human world to fulfill your quest so you can move on from this place. You must complete your quest before the winter solstice or you’ll be trapped in the spirit realm, like me, for the rest of time. When you arrive, you’ll still be a spirit - no one will be able to see you until you touch them. Except for the Seers, and you must avoid them at all costs. They don’t take to our kind and have ways of stopping you from finishing what you’re setting out to do.”
At this point I have no idea what my quest is about or why I might have unfinished business. Sensing my apprehension the apparition adds, “There’s an old man who lives alone in Murodo on Mount Tateyama. Go and see him if you seek answers. I suggest you start your quest - your time is running out.” He gestured with his stubby head towards the orb.
I walked up to the giant blue orb, seeing its energy pulsating in ripples across its surface and feeling a cold breeze on my translucent skin. I looked over at the apparition that subtly nodded its head. Then I stepped inside.