“Where are they going?” I asked.
“To see the Itako, I imagine,” Sakuya said. “Either that or they want to enjoy the hot springs.”
“There's a hot springs up here?” Azrael asked. “I don't know if I could relax with this smell.”
“You know; I've never thought about the fact that the Fire Kingdom lies over a volcano,” I mused. “The magma is constantly flowing, and we even have hot springs, but there's no sulfur scent.”
“Fairy volcanoes don't stink,” Sam declared with a grin.
“Thank Faerie for that.” I chuckled. “Like literally; I should thank her.”
“The hot springs here are for pilgrims and tourists,” Sakuya explained. “But most likely, those men will be visiting the Itako to commune with their dead loved ones.”
“Say again?” I cocked my head at her.
“The Itako are highly trained mediums,” Odin explained. “I've read about them; they're blind women who use the mushrooms that grow around the crater to communicate with the dead.”
“They do shrooms and talk to dead people; got it,” I said.
“Sadly, their numbers have dwindled,” Sakuya went on. “These days, the Itako have begun to take women apprentices who can see.”
“So sad.” Ira rolled his eyes.
“Ira.” Ted smacked Ira's shoulder.
“What? It's not like they can actually communicate with the dead,” Ira huffed.
“Actually, they can,” Sakuya protested. “The skull mushrooms put humans into a state where they can send their consciousness through the portal in the lake and touch the souls beyond it. Once the souls have passed beyond Meido, they can't be contacted, but the dead travel through Meido for forty-nine days; during which prayers and offerings are made for them, and they can be contacted by the Itako.”
“Skull mushrooms?” Odin asked as he looked around. “That sounds fascinating.”
“There are three types of mushrooms that grow here,” Sakuya said as she handed out wetsuits. “The Big Skull, the Princess Skull, and the Demon Skull; they are all hallucinogenic.”
“Really?” Odin asked.
“Odin, we don't have time to pick magic mushrooms,” I said gently.
“I suppose that I can come back later,” Odin huffed; his bare face making him look like a pouting teenager.
I pressed my lips together so that I wouldn't laugh.
“You're like a science geek in a god's body,” Ted teased Odin.
“A hot god's body,” I murmured.
“I'm completely all right with that assessment,” Odin said and then winked at me. “Both of them.”
We got suited up, locked the van, and headed for the lake. It wasn't as smelly as I'd thought it would be; most of the fumes were coming from the steam vents. We got our masks in place and waded into the water under the curious stares of tourists. Sakuya led the way into the deeper portion of the lake. Then we went underwater and followed her through the murky dark.
Sakuya switched on an underwater lamp; lighting up the gloom while simultaneously making it look even creepier. It was like swimming through miso soup; Sakuya's light could barely penetrate the clouds of minerals and streams of sulfur looming in the water. Still, she seemed to know the way and took us straight to the rim of the volcanic bowl of the lake; where it pressed against the volcano. The water grew warmer the closer we got to the side, but the creepy feeling persisted.
Then Sakuya dove to the bottom of the lake; where a slight shimmer gave away the invisible doorway to Meido. Sakuya disappeared into the rock—right through the illusion of its solid surface—and we followed her. Once we made it through, a rough current took us, and we were tossed about awhile until we were finally able to surface and locate the shore. Along the way to the beach, we encountered anaconda-sized snakes, but they took one look at our living bodies—and one whiff of the magic within us—and swam in the other direction.
“I hope the rest of the creatures here have a similar reaction to us,” I said as I shrugged out of my gear.
“They may,” Sakuya said. “These are avatars of magic made with one purpose alone; to torture the souls of the dead. The living don't matter to them.”
“They have enough to keep them busy.” Ira pointed to a male soul who was trying to swim across the river.
The river was so wide that it seemed to stretch for miles. But the soul hadn't made it very far before he was covered in snakes and screaming. Massive, scaled bodies tightened about him, and glistening fangs struck into his “soul flesh” over and over. Down from him a few feet, more souls were wading through shallow water; they were bit occasionally, but nothing like the poor man who was both literally and figuratively in deep water. Then, past the easier shallows, there was a gleaming bridge, and a couple souls strolled across it unmolested. Before the bridge, on our side of the river, a large Japanese man sat at a long table. Souls stood before him in a line; waiting to be judged.
“That's King Shinkou,” Sakuya whispered. “Let's try not to attract his attention; at least not until after we've reached a safe altitude.”
Odin and I found a rocky corner for privacy and got undressed before we shifted into dragons. We left our Scuba gear and wetsuits behind and emerged to find the angels unfolding their enormous wings. It was hard enough to keep a low profile on the ground, but once we were airborne, souls
