Returning to the cursed forest inevitably meant returning to the temple that guarded its edge. While the resident monks' attitude towards me had only ever softened to cautious neutrality, I still hoped that I would be able to get a bit more information regarding the forest out of them. At the very least, they needed to be thanked for supplying us with the holy stone that enabled me to subdue the statue at the shrine and lead me to further clues about my mother's true nature.

My biggest concern with the temple, though, wasn't dealing with the monks, however. As I reached the section of forest near it, I drew my new sword and cautiously held it in front of me. My movement slowed and my steps became deliberate and carefully placed as I surveyed my surroundings in detail. This time... I would not lose this time.

Those were my last thoughts as my face smacked squarely into the invisible barrier.

I grumbled and opened my eyes, nose still flattened against it, and saw that my sword was indeed still pointed well in front of me, but it had apparently passed through the barrier without giving me any indication that it had struck it. It must have been because the sword was of human craft, and therefore was not repelled like my own youkai energy was.

Now that I had expertly detected where the barrier was, I rested my hand against it and followed its perimeter, hoping to alert the monks to my presence and gain entrance. The previous few times I'd been here they'd come running immediately, like a spider being alerted to a fly caught in its web. However, this time my presence seemed to go undetected. Were they busy with something?

One I had proceeded farther around the perimeter closer to the edge of the cursed forest, I could see what was occupying them. A swarm of youkai had descended upon them and were gnawing away at the barrier, while the monks on the other side desperately fought to maintain its power.

I immediately rushed at the mob, sword ready, in an effort to help fight them off. I took my first swing and was slightly disturbed at how scarily easy it was to cut in half with this thing. While I'd certainly heard a lot of stories about Akagane's proficiency in weaponsmithing and had seen him expertly wield his own, this was my first experience validating firsthand just how amazing his creations were.

I didn't have much time to fully admire my new weapon, as a number of the youkai near the one I had just slain turned their attention towards me. I held my sword threataningly towards them, but the youkai... didn't attack. It was almost as if they didn't know what they were supposed to do with me. Were they really that against attacking one of their own kind?

"Young youkai, you have returned?" exclaimed the head monk from behind the barrier. "If your intent is to assist us in driving these creatures off, it would be much appreciated."

I nodded in confirmation as I continued to edge myself between the barrier and the mass of youkai. Strangely, as more of them became aware of my presence and saw me placing myself between them and the barrier, they ceased attacking. Were they threatened by me because I had a sword? No, they'd swarmed Akagane relentlessly and tore him to pieces even though he'd been slashing them apart left and right with his much more imposing-looking spear. The mass of serpentine youkai here merely hung in the air, looking at me almost... expectantly?

I couldn't bring myself to just attack them if they weren't making any move against me here. But what was I supposed to do? Striking upon a random idea, I cautiously ventured, "Go away...?"

... And they did. As soon as I issued the command, the swarm of youkai lazily turned back to the forest and disappeared into the darkness. That was... I wouldn't call it "unexpected", because...

"Young youkai, while your assistance is appreciated, I cannot help but wonder why those creatures would obey your commands so unquestioningly," the head monk commented suspiciously from behind me.

I gripped my sword's sheath and awkwardly poked at it until my sword went back in, not yet having much experience with the task. I turned to the monks behind the barrier and admitted, "I... don't know. But this isn't the first time something like this has happened. I don't know why, but whenever I've been in that forest before, none of them have attacked me, even if I attacked them. Is it because I'm a youkai?"

"Unlikely," replied the monk. "Lesser youkai such as those are not known for their loyalty and indeed are often known to cannibalize each other." He narrowed his eyes at me and continued, "However, lesser youkai are also easily manipulated by more powerful youkai, and will not attack one they believe to be their master."

"But I'm not--" I began to protest, really not wanting them to start hating me again over a misunderstanding, but the head monk merely tapped his staff against the barrier to open a hole for me to enter. I clapped my mouth shut and nodded lightly before cautiously passing through.

Two monks remained at the barrier's edge to keep watch while the rest dispersed back to the temple. I followed the head monk, wondering why he still seemed to trust me after his implied accusation, but he emphasized his final thought to quell my confusion: "They will not attack one they believe to be their master. While I do not suspect you of having any personal association with that lot, it would not surprise me if you bore enough of a resemblance to their true master that they would mistake your identity. Lesser youkai are not known for their intelligence."

He suspected their true master... looked like me? I clenched my fists to my sides nervously and pursed my lips in thought. Back when I'd first learned to use the bells and experienced the destruction of that village... my mother was there. There was no mistaking that scent. And the oni had referred to... someone in the vicinity... as "boss". And I knew she had come through this place as well, but...

According to the statue at the shrine, my mother was a koma-inu. A holy creature. A messenger of the gods. So how could she be responsible for anything terrible? Okay, so one of her parents turned into a vengeful spirit and wiped out every speck of life around the shrine, and the other was driven mad with loneliness and grief and tried to kill us. ... But that didn't mean she was the same way!

My thoughts were interrupted as the head monk stopped at the bridge over the river and rested his hands on the railing. "I cannot help but notice that Taijiya-dono no longer accompanies you. I had warned him that his quest was futile, but if you know what ultimately befell him and that posessed spirit he pursued..."

I cocked my head at him. "Actually, they're both fine. It turned out I was the one-eyed youkai, so we were able to get her soul back, which made her un-posessed, so she came back to life and the two of them are settled back in their village now. He even made me this new sword to thank me for my help," I said, motioning to my hip. The monk looked at me flatly with an expression that seemed to say "pull the other one".

Whether he believed me or not was not to be known, as he merely continued, "I can only hope that the stone we gave him came to some aid, as the loss of its power here is what has prompted an increase in youkai assaults from the forest. The strength of the barrier and the river's purification power has now dropped by a seventh, after all."

"Oh..." I responded a little guiltily. "Well... we used it to subdue the guardian at the shrine, and he told us that those stones are actually pieces of my mother's skin. That she was a stone koma-inu like them, but somehow broke free and--"

"Koma-inu?" the monk interrupted in shock. "Your mother?" I nodded hesitantly, though my knowledge of the matter was simply taking the stone guardian at its word. He raised an eyebrow at me and continued, "If this is true, it would explain why our exorcisms are ineffective against you. But... a koma-inu and youkai hybrid... it seems inconceivable that such a thing could exist. Particularly because the only known koma-inu to exist have not been seen for a hundred years."

Was I... completely barking up the wrong tree with this? "But when I first got here, you said you saw a white dog with stripes come through. You don't think that was a koma-inu?"

"Absolutely not," he replied immediately. My face fell. On the one hand, it meant that there was perhaps another white dog with stripes running around that was causing all these cases of mistaken identity, but on the other, it meant I had been potentially following a completely invalid lead this whole time. But the monk added, "Holy beings are not marred with stripes or other blemishes. Indeed, for many creatures, marks upon the face are a sign of a cursed being."

I instinctively touched my fingertips to one of the blue stripes on my own face. Sign of a curse? The koma-inu were made of stone so it was difficult to tell if they had stripes or not, but I know my mother definitely did. So she wasn't a koma-inu, then? Who do I believe? I hated not knowing any of these things myself, because being given mutually contradictory information about a single topic made things really, really confusing.

"To tell you the truth, I'm not really sure what my mother is anymore..." I admitted. "You guys think she's a youkai, the guardian thinks she's a koma-inu, and I always thought she was just a regular dog. In the end, it doesn't matter what she is to me, she's still my mother. I just want to find her."

The monk folded his hands on the bridge railing and said, "And you believe that she is to be found here, then? That the white dog with stripes that we witnessed was in fact your mother?"

"I... it's the only lead I have. The river smells like her, you guys saw a white dog with stripes, and the guardian insists that she is their child that was abducted by Ryuukessei a long time ago..."

The monk's eyes widened. "Ryuukessei? Blood Dragon Lord, Daiyoukai Ryuukessei?" ... So he'd heard of him, apparently.

"If you know anything..." I pleaded. "It's the only lead I have, and I don't even know if it's reliable, but I don't want to just overlook it."

The monk gazed solemnly back towards the cursed forest. "... It is said that a blood-red dragon lies coiled about the summit of the mountain that lies beyond that forest. However, I know of no one who has survived long enough to even reach that mountain to confirm what is there. All we know is that something evil is pouring a potent miasma into the river, cursing the land around it. This temple is all that hinders that miasma from spreading even farther downstream."

"So you think that maybe Ryuukessei is doing it?" I wondered.

"As I said, all we have to go on is a legend. While the name Ryuukessei is well known, the creature has assumed many titles, from Dragon Lord to Dragon General to Lord of Tougoku. However, Ryuukessei is an ancient being and most stories about him are legends rather than current events. I have not heard of any act attributed to his name in many years. Even then, Ryuukessei was not known in legends for causing wanton devastation, but rather more calculated and focused acts of violence. Spreading poison by means of a river does not seem to fit that profile."

I nodded, sort of vaguely following. "I don't understand what's going on at all and I don't even know what information I can trust. The only thing I can verify for sure is my mother's scent on this river, which can only mean that she was here sometime in the past. Maybe she's not here now, maybe I'm looking in completely the wrong place, but the only way I'll know for sure is by going to the source of that river and finding out what's going on."

"So you intend to venture into the cursed forest then," the head monk concluded. "As a youkai, you would certainly fare better there than a human, but likely only in the sense that the danger you face would be frequent rather than constant. The miasma of the forest pollutes the body and spirit, so remain mindful of yourself at all times."

Pollutes... that's right. I reached into my haori and pulled out the wooden tube I'd hastily carved as a container for the Shikon no Tama. Taking the jewel into the forest would corrupt it instantly, and I could very likely have my mind taken over while every youkai in the area would descend upon it seeking its power. I knew that the jewel was supposed to be my responsibility, but maintaining its purity in a forest full of evil energy was just not something I was physically capable of.

"The cursed jewel which tortured Taijiya-dono and his sibling so... you still carry it?" the monk asked in disbelief.

"I... don't really know what else to do with it," I said uncertainly. "I can't just leave it somewhere for someone else to pick up. But I know I can't take it with me into the forest. And you guys already have the river and the barrier to worry about, so I don't want to burden you with it..."

The monk held out his hand. "On the contrary, I believe it is necessary for that item to remain here. Had we known the true extent of its evil we would never have allowed you and Taijiya-dono to leave with it in the first place. The barrier around this place will keep it hidden from the outside world, and the river will ensure it remains pure. I do not wish to fight you for it, but I cannot in good conscience allow you to continue to carry such a wicked item."

I continued to hold the jewel with uncertainty. I didn't want to fight over it either and knew just as well as he did that I couldn't take it with me. Finally, I hesitantly held it out to him and said, "Just promise that you'll give it back once I find my mother. I'm still supposed to be responsible for it, after all."

The monk quickly snatched the jewel from me and concealed it beneath his robes. "We will see. I can make no such promise to one with youkai blood who bears cursed marks upon his face. This jewel is not safe in the hands of anyone with evil in his heart."

I was about to protest, but sighed and resigned myself to the fact that this was probably the best deal I was going to get. It didn't matter, though. The next time I saw him, I'd have my mother to back me up, anyway.