Chapter Thirty-Three Kasu
Kasu grabbed Arun by the arm as he took a faltering step forward.
“That’s not your mother. Curses are born from human emotion, from their resentment and hatred. They come from people, but they’re not the people themselves!”
Desperation and hope warred in Arun’s expression. His eyes remained pinned on the wolf.
“How…” A whisper escaped his lips.
Kasu’s grip tightened.
“Whatever Lady Camellia did to your mother to create the elixir must have been painful.”
Torturous, in fact, though she didn’t want to say it aloud. Arun had already been through enough. She wanted to spare him from any further hurt.
Nothing could be created from nothing. To give birth to a curse, you had to burn with the kind of resentment that consumed your every waking moment, to bleed on the fishhooks of your own spite until, finally, you died mired in anguish and hatred.
Those who created curses always suffered in equal or greater measure to the ones they cursed.
Kasu didn’t want Arun to have to think about his mother’s suffering.
“Can’t it tell me anything about my mother? About her last days?”
“It won’t remember,” Ruo purred. “A young curse is a being of instinct. You’re born with only a mission and a sensation. Thoughts come after. For me, that sensation was hunger. I remember hunger like a chasm. A woman I had to kill. Mother, mother, you betrayed me. Mother, I hate you.”
The cat’s voice wrapped around them like a curling snake. Kasu shivered.
She wasn’t sure how long they all stood there, frozen in place as Arun and the wolf stared at one another.
Then, the curse began to tremble.
“No… No…” A strange, hollow voice echoed from deep within the wolf’s chest.
“Mother – whoever you are – talk to me!” Arun looked stricken.
The curse shook harder. Something was wrong. “Pain… Pain…”
Kasu glanced at Ruo. If anyone knew what the wolf was going through, it was a fellow curse, but Ruo simply shook their head and flicked their double tails.
Silently, the wolf backed away until they were teetering on the edge of the platform. Their body faded, the tip of their tail and the tufts of their fur crumbling away like dust.
Of course. After spending so much time with Ruo, Kasu had almost forgotten.
Most curses disappeared after killing their targets.
Her gaze darted to the Pale Lady’s remains.
Why her? Kasu wondered. Why had the curse targeted the Pale Lady and her actors rather than the other demons who had contributed to Sunan’s death? Why had it not tried to kill Lord Cobalt and Lady Camellia too?
Perhaps this was all the confirmation they would get that the Pale Lady had indeed betrayed Sunan to the other demon lords.
“Not yet… Not yet…” The wolf panted as its body continued to fade.
“Wait!” Arun rushed towards it, towards the edge of the theatre and the open air.
“Arun, please, let it go. It’s better this way.” Kasu desperately wrapped her arms around him, afraid that if she didn’t he would try to run after the curse. Afraid that he would disappear too.
Everyone leaves, he had said. His brothers. His mother. His mother’s curse. Kasu tightened her grip around him and did not let go. She would not leave.
The last of the curse disintegrated, blown away in the wind like dead leaves.
Only the strands of star silk remained, glittering in the darkness.
Ruo gathered the leftover threads and presented them to Kasu.
She wound them around her fingers, wrapping the silk into a small ball and handed it to Arun.
For a moment, Arun did nothing but stare at it. Then, he quietly tucked the ball of silk away and slumped against her. She said nothing, just held him until his shoulders stopped shaking and his hands no longer trembled.
After a while, Arun uncurled himself from her. His eyes were red, but she was not about to point that out. He cleared his throat, cheeks flushed.
“I… What should we do now?” He sounded almost timid.
The Pale Lady’s servants had fled. All that was left of the former demon lord were her clothes. Among the layers of cloth, Kasu noticed something sparkle.
A silver ring with a white band around the middle. The one Kasu had seen the Pale Lady wear before. With her final breath, the demon had mentioned something about a ring, but it didn’t seem like anything special. What was so important about some random piece of jewellery?
Kasu leaned down and plucked it from the pile. A strange warmth pulsed from the metal.
Twist twice clockwise. Then once opposite.
On closer inspection, Kasu noticed that the bands on the ring moved. She followed the Pale Lady’s instructions and twisted the middle band twice clockwise and then once anti-clockwise.
Nothing happened.
Of course not. What had she expected? Disappointed, Kasu was about to pass the ring to Arun when it started to glow.
She dropped it in surprise and it rolled across the platform, shining with a soft and gentle light that began to grow in intensity.
She squeezed her eyes shut as rays burst from the ring like an exploding sun.
A moment later, she dared to peek one eye open.
The ring had not rolled far. In fact, it was no longer a simple ring. Where it had landed there stood a large wheel of white stone with silver spokes dividing it into segments. At the very top was a downward-pointing triangle that reminded Kasu of the prize wheels they used in Camellia House.
On closer inspection, the wheel was composed of two spinning rings.
On the outer ring, the wheel was divided into twelve segments, each one carved with the image of a different place – a snowy mountain, dense forest, a crowded city, and a sunny island.
The inner ring was divided into six parts and engraved with images of humans, animals and insects.
“The – the reincarnation wheel!” Kasu fell to her knees in awe. Here, right in front of her, was the very cycle of life and death itself – one of the wheels that ensured the constant flow of souls.
How long had Kasu dreamed of setting eyes on it?
How long had she yearned to step through and return to the mortal realm?
This was it. Everything she had longed for was standing right in front of her.
There was no need for the heavens or the gods – she could leave Ghost City and the under-realm far behind.
If only she could activate the wheel and step through.
“The Pale Lady said she didn’t know where it was. She lied.” Arun’s tone was quietly furious.
Kasu’s thoughts were spinning as she tried to piece together everything she knew. Why did the Pale Lady have the ring? What had she been planning to do with it?
“I have a theory,” she said. “Whether the Pale Lady was given the ring for safekeeping or whether she stole it, we’ll never know, but I think there’s good reason to believe she wanted your mother dead.
If Sunan died, she could keep the ring for herself, and no one would ever know.
So, she leaked information about Sunan to Lady Camellia, who then turned to Lord Cobalt in order to catch your mother. ”
What the Pale Lady had not counted on was Lady Camellia buying Sunan and torturing her instead of simply eating her. She had not considered the possibility that Sunan would give birth to a curse that would come back for revenge.
But … it was odd that the curse had gone after the actors in addition to the demon lord. That part didn’t quite make sense…
“Kasu.” Arun placed a hand on her shoulder.
She jumped. Suddenly remembering where they were, she looked around the empty platform. The light that had emanated from the ring had been so bright the entire district must have seen it.
“We should go.” She scrambled to her feet. If there was one thing you could guarantee about Ghost City, it was that everyone wanted to know everyone else’s business. Soon, demons and ghosts alike would flock to their location. Once they saw the reincarnation wheel…
“How do you suggest we move that?” Arun gestured to the wheel.
Kasu circled around it. At the base, she spotted what looked like the dial of a combination lock.
Twice clockwise. Then once opposite.
She gave the dial a twist and the wheel began to glow again, softer this time. In a blink, it disappeared, replaced by a silver-and-white ring that fell to the floor with a clatter.
“Amazing!” Kasu stared at the ring in fascination.
“There are stories of gods carrying reincarnation wheels to the Fates’ workshop for repair.
Or displaying them in the palace of the Celestial Empress on holy days.
I always found it hard to picture a god with a huge wheel strapped to their back, but this must be how they move them! ”
Arun picked up the ring and slipped it onto his index finger. “That’s fascinating and all, but I think someone’s coming!”
Someone was indeed scaling the scaffolding. Kasu could hear the scratch of nails against the wooden beams. She could feel the platform shake and sway beneath her feet.
“The elevator!” she cried and dashed towards the battered wooden box.
Before she could reach it, Lady Camellia hauled herself onto the top of the platform.
“Ah, Kasu.” The demon rose to full height, adjusting her dress with a bony hand. “Just the little ghost I hoped to see.”