Men are transient.
Time is hollow.
The sea is volatile.
Headed for the same port, we travel across the shifting waves.
Strange things occur, and we suspect one another.
Ayakashi, Mononoke, Umi Bozu.
As long as darkness exists within the hearts of men, there will always be more.
Let them come, for my invitation is what they fear most.
The blue moon illuminated
your wandering shadow.
I could never tell you all I wanted to say.
It was so very frustrating.
I think about your faked smile,
and forget all the hot tears we shed.
What do these empty husks,
those empty eyes of yours, reflect, my dear?
The transient quarter moon
hides in a rift in the clouds,
as darkness seeps up from the ground.
Tell me the truth, please.
Are you so despondent
that you still sit alone, sighing?
The Second Act
The Medicine Seller did indeed exorcise the Ghost Cat from the Sakai mansion,
but the Sakai family were all killed.
Just who did he save, in the end?
Whose side is he on?
With a face like that,
it will be a wonder if you ever marry.
That’s none of your business!
Not that you’d tell me the truth, but let me ask anyway.
You didn’t change the compass’s heading, did you, Mr. Medicine Seller?
I wonder.
Even if I did not tamper with the compass,
the fact remains that I have been taken to the Dragon’s Triangle, the Ayakashi’s Sea.
By whom?
Is that sword alive?
I wonder.
You know, Mr. Medicine Seller, I understand that you’re a powerful man,
but don’t you think that aloof attitude of yours is a little over the top?
That kind of thing does nothing to impress us girls!
Right, right.
You said before that Ayakashi and Mononoke are different, right?
Aren’t they pretty much the same, though?
As you said, the Ayakashi are similar to Gods in that there are countless numbers of them.
Just as there are men and beasts and birds in this world,
there are many types of Ayakashi, which exist outside of our plane.
Are Ayakashi the ghosts of dead people?
In some cases.
The ghost ship we fought off was.
However, since tools and objects have souls as well, their variations are multifarious indeed.
No matter how they came to be, though, an Ayakashi’s reason for being is beyond human understanding.
Then, what about Mononoke?
Do you know what the “ke” in Mononoke refers to?
If I knew, would I be asking?
It means “disease.”
And the “mono” refers to their godly nature.
Then, Mononoke haunt people like a disease?
Vengeance, sadness, fear.
What would happen if an Ayakashi were to unite with a strong human emotion?
It would become incredibly powerful, unhindered by attempts to seal it.
But your Sword of Exorcism could still kill it?
But without the Mononoke’s…
Form, Truth and Regret, you cannot draw it.
What do you mean by “truth” and “regret”?
Truth is the state of the object.
Regret is the state of the soul.
I see, the state of things, is it…
So, are there Mononoke here, as well as Ayakashi?
Egad, those monks are positively useless!
Be it Ayakashi or Mononoke, I will vanquish this one.
Come with us, please!
I will be right there.
Still…
This could be problematic.
So many Onibi!
It’s nice to have some light, but it’s still awfully creepy.
There’s something coming from the bow!
That’s an Ayakashi!
It looks like I should be able to cut it.
Ah, it’s an Ayakashi! It’s flying!
That’s an Umizatou.
You won’t be able to kill it with a sword.
Then what shall we do?
It will ask a question.
It will ask if it is frightening.
You must not answer that it is.
Tell it that it is not frightening.
Then will it leave?
Oh, um, wait…
Oh, that’s right!
“I don’t know what lies at the end of this journey.”
Tell it that is what you fear most.
Denizens of this ship, answer me this!
Here it comes.
I will question you one by one.
Refuse to answer, and you will be forced to wander the sea as the living dead!
Then, ask away!
Ready?
Y—Yes.
What is it that you fear?
Th—That I d—d—don’t know what lies at the e—end of—
What do you truly fear?
Really, it’s that I’ll lose all my m—m—money, and I’ll become a penniless beggar!
W—Wait…
Oh no, my precious goldfish!
I built an aquarium in the ship to carry them all this way!
What do you fear most?
I fear nothing in this world.
Since I inherited this sword, I have spilled the blood of a hundred men.
He’s nothing but a murderer.
I’ve always wanted to kill an Ayakashi.
That’s impossible.
Sasaki Hyouei,
how dare you kill me.
Hyouei-san…
You’re all dead! You’re dead!
You killed us all, Sasaki Hyouei!
Leave me be!
I didn’t do it!
I—It was my sword! I just want to get to Edo!
Mr. Samurai!
I suppose that means he was lying when he said he feared nothing.
He must always have been afraid of those he killed in the past.
Do you go crazy if you lie to it?
Do you become like them?
Judging from their expressions, you’re shown all your worst fears.
Then it’s the same whether you lie or tell the truth!
What should I do?
If the problem lies within you, no-one else can help.
That’s so weird.
Woman!
What do you fear most?
O—Oh dear, right now I fear you the most!
I wonder, though. What do I really fear most?
Tell me!
D—Don’t rush me!
Um, I’ve never really been in love, even.
I should have so many wonderful experiences ahead of me.
I’ll marry a wonderful guy, and have a bunch of cute children…
But, I suppose what I fear most is that I’ll die without ever having done any of that.
N—No!
I don’t want to get married! I don’t want to have a baby like that!
Calm yourself.
All the Umizatou shows you is an illusion.
It is merely a bad dream.
Your true self does not change.
Mr. Medicine Seller…
I suppose I’m next.
What do you fear most?
I—I…
What I fear most is…
P—P—Pastries!
I’m afraid of pastries.
He’s just lying.
Look at this!
It’s so plump and delici—
I wonder what he’s seeing.
Maybe I don’t want to know.
Now then, of the three of us, who will have to answer the Umizatou next?
Ask me. I will answer.
What is it that you fear most?
What I fear most is
the knowledge that the edge of this world exists without Form, Truth or Regret.
Mr. Medicine Seller?
The Mononoke’s Sea, where the Ayakashi roam…
Why was this ship sent to this sea?
Let me ask you.
I—I…
What do you truly fear?
Wh—What I truly fear is…
What I truly fear is
Genkei-sama.
Eh?
Genkei-sama is a wonderful master,
but so many unusual things have happened on this trip to Edo.
That is true.
We were chanting all night, but then…
Sougen.
Y—Yes, Genkei-sama?
Are you feeling seasick, after this long journey?
No, I…
If you are, then go get some fresh air.
I—
Get some fresh air.
I understand.
I see.
I had failed him,
and I left.
My master was the only one
who could have placed the magnet near the compass.
Why did you do that?
I did not want to involve you all,
but no ship dared take me to the Dragon’s Triangle, no matter how I pleaded.
You are trembling.
Why would you want to come here so badly, though it terrifies you so?
Umizatou, ask your question!
What do you fear?
What is it?
He’s been waiting for this.
For fifty years, I have trembled in fear every time I’ve thought of it.
It is within this sea.
It has wandered this sea constantly, and even changed it, that the Ayakashi might swarm to it.
What is it?
It is…
What made the Ayakashi’s Sea!
The—
The Utsurobune on which my sister sailed, fifty years ago.
Is the Umizatou gone?
What’s an Utsurobune?
Well, it’s a sort of ship made by hollowing out a large tree.
Then, the hull is a cave?
If you get on a ship like that, you’ll never be able to get out!
Right. You couldn’t get out.
That’s the kind of ship it is.
Eh?
Genkei-san, why would your sister get on a ship like that?
The sound of chains!
The chains that bound the Utsurobune!
Is that an illusion, too?
It’s the Utsurobune!
It’s not an illusion! I can see it, too!
Genkei-sama, what happened fifty years ago?
Why did your sister get into that Utsurobune?
How can such a small ship make such huge waves?
What is this sound?
It’s coming from inside.
It’s a person!
There’s someone in there!
She’s been in there for fifty years? That’s impossible!
I can’t take it! I can’t… I can’t stand such fear!
What are this Mononoke’s Truth and Regret?
Let me ask you that.
Forgive me, Oyou.
I have not forgotten you even once in the last fifty years.
You went into the Utsurobune in my place of your own accord,
and were taken to the Dragon’s Triangle.
Why?
Why do you harbor such hatred, that you could change the sea and draw all these Ayakashi?
Why is it?
The Mononoke’s Form
has arrived.
To be continued
Without you, I just can’t smile.
I walk this banal town,
feeling such intense emotions.
I know that if I could treasure them and live on,
I would need nothing else.
The summer flowers that bloomed in the sky
Come falling down, dancing in the wind.
I can barely recall the night sky
where they all came tumbling down,
so what I can still recall is all the more precious.