Page 140 of Blossoms of the Heart
If I ever got out.
Jesus Christ, the directions led us into completely unknown territories. I didn’t even know Ayishiodo went down this far.
The secret path that led from the samurai to the box was the route we were on.
I knew it wasn’t exactly going to be easy but damn.
We’d had to rock climb some of the paths that had crumbled away probably decades ago. Twice I’d nearly almost fallen into the deep drop.
We came to a standstill at midday. A dead end. There was no more path to follow. Just the river.
We were fucked and I was just about to lose my damn mind.
I decided to speak to Akito to try and glean some ideas on what to do.
“There’s nothing around, but the directions continue,” I explained.
I looked at the cave walls and frowned. The formation looked solid, as if it had always been that way. There was no path, no hidden crevices or anything. Just a wall with the river flowing around the curve.
“Tai, there’s literally nothing?” Akito asked, disappointment heavy in his voice.
“Just the river Akito.”
“Hey… look,” Scott said, pointing to the wall across from us. We stood near the river bank.
I looked at what Scott pointed at.
It was what looked like an Egyptian Hieroglyph. Maybe.
I moved closer to get a better look. It was a little faded but yep that was a hieroglyph alright.
We’d never seen anything like that until now. So far we’d had Arabic for directions, but we knew from the journal that the Egyptian hieroglyph was used for the reference to the box.
“Akito, there’s an Egyptian hieroglyph on the wall near the river.”
“What does it look like?” Akito asked.
That was a good question. I looked at it trying to think of how I would describe it. “Like a tin with a little flag on it.”
Akito went silent. “Tai you’re going to have to try a little harder than that.” He laughed.
“Can I talk to him?” I heard Phoebe say.
I straightened when I heard her voice. The gentleness in her tone reached inside me, filling me with something comforting.
“Phoebe,” I breathed.
“Hey.” She’d taken the phone so her voice was clearer now.
Scott looked at me and smiled to himself.
“Baby I’m stuck,” I chucked. “It’s the yokai. You should see where I am. I might come back to you looking like hell.”
I heard her soft giggle.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“Trying not to go insane.”
