Koi

     He burst out of the water with a gasp, liquid dribbling from his mouth as he coughed and struggled to stay afloat. His hands hit stone and he sucked in cool, life-giving air with all his might as he dragged himself out of the water and onto the damp, smooth stone of her inner cave. He pulled himself to his feet and touched his stinging, deeply aching side gingerly. His tongue slid across his upper lip and he tasted blood in the saltwater. So that blow to the face had done something. 

    In front of him sat a low table under the same kind of wooden gateway that lead to the Japanese Shinto temples above, old and unpainted. A bottle of sake and little cups sat on top of it, along with a clean and dry human skull. A myriad of shimmeringly embroidered and patterned cushions were spread out behind it, and the tilted wheels of tattered paper parasols were scattered around the scene. The rest of the cave was cold, bare, and wet. 

    He looked around warily for the fish spirit and walked over the table. He picked up the skull and felt the smoothness of the bone against his palm as he examined it. Why did she keep a skull on her table? Did she ask it whether to be or not to be? A giggle that smacked just a little bit of the crazy rose up in his chest, but it was crushed by the sound of silk sliding across the floor. He whirled to see the beautiful woman he'd seen looking at his reflection in the pond walking out of the water toward him. 

    "Ah, so you found my little bower." She folded the parasol she held gently and tossed it onto the pillows, then picked up another and twirled it in her hands as she folded gracefully down onto her knees in front of him. She set it down next to her and picked up the sake bottle. She downed the first cupful poured in one go and offered him the little mug without a word, smiling widely. 

    He smashed the skull against her face with all the force he had. 

    She shrieked and threw herself at him in a flurry of silk and talon-like nails. He fought back against the demonic strength in her slim white limbs, gripping her by the shoulders and forcing her to the ground with his weight. He grabbed her head by the hair and smashed it against the ground, making her roar and throw him off with a heave. She didn't attack, instead she ran to the parasol she'd sat down with and pointed it at his chest. The roar of the sea filled his ears as dark water rushed into the cave and he was choking on liquid instead of air again. He scrabbled for a hold and gasped as he clung to the edge of the watery hole that lead out towards the deep. He looked up through the hair dripping in his eyes to see the point of the parasol held in both hands over him. His own scream caught him by surprise as it ripped through his throat as the tip shot through his hand and out again. He jumped out of the water with speed fueled by pain and rage and picked up the table, sending sake cups tumbling to the ground as he swung it at the attacking creature. She shrieked again under it and shoved it away as he grabbed another parasol from by the cushions and raised it over her. The most blood-curdling scream he'd ever heard pierced his ears as the piece of wood drove through her heart and the blood of his hand ran down the shaft in the silence after. 

    He collapsed on his knees next to the body and watched with shaking arms as mold and decay spread across her face, white bone replacing white skin, body breaking down like it had been sitting at the bottom of the ocean for decades. 

    He came slowly to his feet and walked over to where the skull lay on two gold cushions, now with a jagged hole in its dome. He picked it up and turned to the water. He stared at the little ripples of the surface for a moment, then sighed and walked back to the clean white bones of the fish woman. He was going to have to swim out of here, but first he would use that dress to bind his hand.