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Episode 6

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Dororo: The Mio Chronicle Episode 6: 48 missing parts and an unfillable heart—the darkness melted by burning water

Darkness. The smell of damp earth. Faintly, the smell of blood. Hyakkimaru felt the small weight of Dororo against his back. Her breathing was shallow and hot. Blood was still seeping from the wound on her shoulder. "...Aniki. Where are we?" Hyakkimaru answered with his telepathy. —The bottom of a pit. Don't move. "...The top's all sealed up, huh. Those soldiers were makin' one hell of a racket." Dororo's voice trembled in the darkness. From the fever, or from the cold. Hyakkimaru ran his prosthetic hand along the wall. A hidden pit beneath the collapsed altar. The walls were a hard layer of rock and packed earth. The ceiling was completely blocked with rubble. —There's wind. His spirit sense picked up a faint flow of air. There was a gap somewhere. "Aniki... there's somethin' I gotta tell ya." Dororo stirred against his back. "...I ain't never taken a bath. Not once, in four whole years. So, uh... don't look at my back, okay?" Hyakkimaru's hand stopped searching the wall. "There's a map on my back. My old man carved it there. Hibukuro—he was the head of a band of thieves. He inked a map to a treasure right onto my back. If anyone sees it, I'm done for. If somebody gets a look at my back, they'll take the map and probably kill me." Dororo's voice went on, shaking. "...That's why I never let nobody see my back. No washin' in the river, no baths, I turned it all down. Four years I ain't washed myself. I stink, don't I." Hyakkimaru quietly shook his head. —I won't look. —I will never look. His telepathy echoed through the darkness. "...Aniki." Hyakkimaru gripped the sleeve of his own robe with his prosthetic hand and tore it. A ripping sound. A long strip of cloth remained in his hand. —I'll bind the wound on your shoulder. In the dark, he found the position of Dororo's shoulder. His fingertips touched slick blood. "Ow!" Without holding back, Hyakkimaru wrapped the cloth around the wound. He pulled it tight. Tight enough to stop the bleeding. "I said ow! Aniki, can't ya be a little gentler?!" Dororo complained, her voice thick with tears. Hyakkimaru's shoulders shook. "...Aniki, did you just laugh?" Hyakkimaru gave a small shake of his head, as if to say he hadn't laughed. But his shoulders were still trembling faintly. "You are laughin'! And here I'm bein' serious!" Dororo pounded her fists weakly against his back. "...But I wanted to tell you, aniki. I kept thinkin', if I die here, at least nobody's gonna see my back... but..." Hyakkimaru went still. "...I'm glad I met you. Travelin' with you, aniki—it was really fun. Your sister's rice balls were delicious too. I... I wanted to be with you longer, aniki..." Dororo's voice dissolved into the darkness. Deep in Hyakkimaru's chest, something burst with a sound. —No. —I won't let you die. —This isn't where it ends. Hyakkimaru bent his prosthetic knee. His right leg housed a flamethrower. The fuel was nearly gone. But there was still some left. —With this, I'll open a path. He aimed the tip of his prosthetic leg at the wall. "Aniki? What're you doin'?" Hyakkimaru didn't answer. The flamethrower in his leg grew hot. He could hear the water boiling inside, bubbling and seething. —Release. With Dororo still on his back, Hyakkimaru sprayed the burning water at the wall. Sssssssss! Pure white steam billowed up into the darkness. Scalding water slammed into the rock and earth, and the wall began to melt with a hiss. Mud boiled. Earth crumbled. Rock cracked. "Whoa! Aniki, the wall's meltin'!" Hyakkimaru unleashed every last drop of the burning water against the wall. Steam filled the pit, roaring. It was hard to breathe. But Hyakkimaru didn't stop. —I'll use all of it here. —I'll use my weapon to open the way. —That's fine. The wall gave way. Boulders tumbled down. Earth and sand poured through. And beyond the pit, the night air came rushing in. "Aniki! Outside! We can get out!" Hyakkimaru shifted Dororo's weight on his back. —Let's go. He grabbed the edge of the hole in the collapsed wall with his prosthetic hand and clawed his way up. His prosthetic foot slipped in the mud. Still, he climbed, higher and higher. Dororo's body started to slide. Hyakkimaru braced her knees firmly against his back with his prosthetic hand. "Aniki... I'm heavy, ain't I. You can put me down, y'know." Hyakkimaru shook his head. —I won't let go. —I'll carry you the whole way. His prosthetic fingers dug into her knees. "...Aniki." Dororo buried her face against his back. Cold night wind blew in through the mouth of the pit. Hyakkimaru gathered his last strength and crawled out. They were behind the temple hall. Moonlight lit the ravaged ground. After Sakamitsu's soldiers had gone, the hall stood silent. But there were signs of destruction everywhere. The altar was smashed, the walls broken, the orphans' blankets and dishes scattered about. "...This is awful. Those bastards did whatever they wanted." Hyakkimaru stepped into the hall. Beneath the collapsed altar. His spirit sense caught a faint light there. —Something's there. Still carrying Dororo, he reached his prosthetic hand into the rubble of the altar. He pushed aside splinters of wood and clumps of earth. There it was. An old string of prayer beads. They had been wrapped in a rice ball. Grains of rice still clung to the beads. "Aniki, that's... that's my sister's rosary. The one that fell outta my pocket back then." Hyakkimaru picked up the beads. Through them, his spirit sense felt a faint warmth. —Live. —Please, live. Mio's feelings flowed through the beads into Hyakkimaru's heart. —I want to see you again. Hyakkimaru pressed the beads to his chest. "...She's alive. My sister's alive. She's definitely alive." Dororo spoke from his back, her voice on the verge of tears. Hyakkimaru nodded quietly. —Yes. —She's alive. —So we go. That was when it happened. "...Two lost children." A low, hoarse voice came from outside the hall. Hyakkimaru turned. In the moonlight stood a single wandering monk. He was blind. A staff in his hand. A biwa on his back. He wore tattered robes, standing there in the wind. A biwa-playing monk. "What do you mourn for, here?" Hyakkimaru sensed the monk's presence as a flame-like light. A pale blue flame, burning quietly. "Aniki, that monk—he can't see, can he? So how'd he know we were here?" The biwa monk slowly turned his face toward Hyakkimaru. "It's precisely because I cannot see that there are things I can see. Your presence burns like a flame. Confusion, anger, and... the longing to protect something. A good flame." Hyakkimaru gripped the beads tightly. The monk tapped his staff and took a step closer. "Those beads carry a woman's scent. They belong to someone precious to you, don't they." Without a word, Hyakkimaru turned his back, shielding the beads against his chest. "Ho, you're embarrassed. Forgive me for prying." The monk laughed, dry and rasping. "Aniki, who is this guy? Enemy? Ally?" The monk's laughter faded, and his expression turned serious. "Hyakkimaru. Your body bears forty-eight missing parts. But the missing parts of your heart are not forty-eight. The parts of your body will return as you slay demons. But some of the heart's missing pieces, you must fill yourself." Hyakkimaru stared at the monk. "You've already decided what you must do now. Then go. Don't waver. The flame in your heart has not yet gone out." The monk pointed south with his staff. "There's an old hidden passage that leads to the Hell Hall. By the Seseragi River, at the ruins of an old water gate. From there it connects to the underground of the Hell Hall. Long ago, it was used to carry human sacrifices." "A hidden passage to the Hell Hall! Aniki, then we don't gotta go through the road the soldiers got surrounded!" Hyakkimaru bowed deeply to the biwa monk. The monk smiled quietly. "A song won't wait for you. Hurry. That girl's soul won't keep calling for long." With that, the monk tapped his staff and vanished into the darkness. "Aniki, let's go! The water gate ruins!" Hyakkimaru nodded. —We go. —To Mio. Hyakkimaru shifted Dororo on his back and broke into a run south along the Seseragi River. Moonlight stretched their two shadows long across the ground. The old water gate ruins. The current of the Seseragi River struck the stonework of the gate, churning white foam. The gate hadn't been used in years. Moss-covered stones were piled up, and the wooden doors had rotted away. Hyakkimaru stood before the gate. —Here. Just as the biwa monk had said, beside the gate an old stone stairway led underground. The entrance to the hidden passage. But. "Don't move." From the shadows of the gate, two soldiers appeared. Sakamitsu's men. They leveled their spears, aiming at Hyakkimaru and Dororo. "Damn it! An ambush?!" Hyakkimaru placed his prosthetic hand on the hilt of his concealed blade. The burning water was gone. He had no thunder balls left either. The only weapon he had left was the blade in his prosthetic arm. Even so, Hyakkimaru's eyes held no hesitation. "Aniki, I'll fight too. I ain't gonna be a burden." Dororo spoke, her voice still feverish. Without turning, Hyakkimaru put a little more strength into the hand supporting her knees. "I ain't gonna die till I save you and my sister! If I scream, those soldiers'll be so shocked they'll fall on their butts!" Hyakkimaru gave a small shake of his head. It meant: impossible. "Why not?! My yell scared off a whole pile of grudges before!" Hyakkimaru shook his head again. —You stay there and scream all you want. —But don't push yourself. His telepathy reached Dororo. "...Aniki." Hyakkimaru slowly drew the blade from his prosthetic arm. Catching the moonlight, the steel gleamed cold. "Attack! He's just a boy!" The two soldiers thrust their spears at the same time. With Dororo still on his back, Hyakkimaru kicked off the ground. A spear tip grazed his cheek. Hyakkimaru knocked the first spear aside with the blade in his prosthetic hand. Clang. Sparks scattered. Then, spinning his body, he dove into Soldier A's guard. —There. Hyakkimaru's blade cut across Soldier A's stomach. Shhk. Blood sprayed into the night darkness. "Gwaaah!" Soldier A dropped his spear and fell. "Hii! Th-this one, he moves all wrong!" Soldier B stumbled back in terror. Hyakkimaru turned his prosthetic eyes on him. Deep brown eyes that held no light. "H-help me! I surrender! Just let me live!" Soldier B threw down his spear and groveled on the ground. Hyakkimaru glanced at him once, then headed straight for the stone steps of the water gate. —Not worth killing. —Right now, I need to hurry. "Aniki, that was amazing! You took 'em out in a second!" Hyakkimaru began descending the stone steps. A dark path leading underground. Cold wind blew up from below. "...It's pitch black. Aniki, watch your step." Hyakkimaru nodded. —It's fine. —Even without my eyes, I know the way. His spirit sense lit the darkness ahead like a flame. The old hidden passage leading to the Hell Hall. From somewhere deep within it, he thought he could faintly hear that song. —Mio. —Wait for me. With the beads against his chest, Hyakkimaru took a step into the darkness. On his back, Dororo clung tightly to his shoulder. "...Aniki, I'm never gonna leave you alone. Not ever." Hyakkimaru gave a small nod. The two shadows slowly disappeared into the darkness that led to the Hell Hall.