Chapter 354: Princess Otohime
The doors to the throne room swung open. The tiles stretched across from him were glistening blue as if wet from magic. At the far end of the room, atop a raised throne made of coral reefs, sat Princess Otohime.
The princess was as regal and royal and divine as humanity would expect. Long, flowing black hair with the blue and green strands shimmering like the ocean at a majestic dawn. Silken brilliance that no human could ever attain. Divinity blessed her being in every moment. Her eyes were like pools of the purest water. She wore a half-blue, half-red kimono that consumed her goddess flesh and was decorated with a dark blue sea turtle pattern, the fabric so fine it seemed to ripple with the tiniest movement.
Kazi walked slowly, his gaze fixed on the princess. The throne room was thick with tension, the weight of their destinies pressing down on them. Princess Otohime’s eyes met his, and a faint, melancholic smile curved her lips.
"Odin’s Eye," Princess Otohime said softly, her voice echoing through the chamber like the gentle lapping of waves against the shore. "I have been expecting you."
"Have you now?"
His left eye ached, yet not on his own. Kazi walked until his foot stepped at the base of the platform.
The princess sighed, a sound filled with centuries of regret and longing. "Do you know the tale of my precious Urashima?" she asked, her eyes searching the ceiling. "He was a beautiful man, much like you. He saved me when I was most vulnerable, and in return, he was brought to my palace beneath the sea. We spent so many days together, days that felt like years. But he grew homesick and wished to return. I gave him a box to protect him, to keep him safe from the passage of time."
Her voice grew softer, edged with sorrow. "I told him never to open it, but my dear Urashima did not heed my warning. When he returned to his world, he found centuries had passed. Everyone he knew was gone. In his despair, he opened the box, and it took his remaining years from him." Her eyes closed. She opened them when she gazed upon Kazi again. "It was to protect him from harm. To keep his youth, to bring him back to me. But he didn’t listen."
"Why did you give him the box, knowing what it would do?"