Chapter Text
The mountains appear larger with his eyes than they ever had in his mind. Before he'd recovered his eyes, his mental landscape had filled in the details of his world only with what he had needed to perceive for survival. The grand height of mountains and huge emptiness of the sky are new riches, and he stares readily, pushing his eyes open until they hurt and blink without his permission.
Not everything he sees is pleasant.
Crossing over the mountains to the Hall of Hell had presented more opportunities to enjoy beauty than he'd expected, but when he sees the corpses littering abandoned rice fields or half-butchered horses with their carcasses gone, he is not surprised. Jukai had told him all about the world before he'd gone out into it, and sight makes those lessons clearer.
Every new part he has recovered has some sort of learning curve. He supposes eyes will take some getting used to.
Even when stepping over corpses on his way up the stairs to the Hall of Hell, he feels an ache where Jukai should be. Another, similar one where there should be Dororo. He has come to this hall for closure, and understanding, but mostly he has come to say goodbye to his past self. Jukai had made that as easy as possible for him, but he'll also never see him again.
The statue under his worn-out kimono chafes against his skin and reminds him that he doesn't intend to see Dororo again, either. It's goodbye to his old self, for good or ill. He needs to find out who he is now.
The Hall of Hell stands before him, eerie and falling apart in places; until he sees the roof half-blasted he does not realize that he'd expected it to be whole, like himself. The touch of irony in finding the source of his brokenness also broken almost makes him smile.
Then he hears noise--breathing, speaking--from inside, and holds his breath at the temple entrance. This experience does not match his expectations; he had thought to come here alone, but someone--or something--has already beaten him here.
It doesn't smell like a demon. He sees nothing obviously amiss. The doors of the temple are intact and slightly ajar; he pushes them open, looking for the source of the sound.
He isn't surprised to see Daigo. Or maybe he is, and he is just so accustomed to Daigo interfering with his quests for completeness and understanding that he allows Daigo's presence, wherever it intrudes, as a sort of constant, fixed element in his life. Daigo doesn't appear to be surprised to see him either, and when he remarks on Hyakkimaru's wholeness his tone is mocking as usual.
There are two swords in the room, one in front of Daigo, and one just behind, in Hyakkimaru's easy reach. Sun streams in from the open doors behind them. An open wound spills blood from Daigo's forehead down his face and drips to the floor, making him appear slightly crazed. Hyakkimaru is silent and still.
Daigo snorts and says with his back to him, "You're looking at this world for the first time. How do you find this country? Is it beautiful to you?"
Hyakkimaru would not apply the world 'beautiful' to many things he has seen. The Hall of Hell, and its burned and war-torn surroundings, is among the least beautiful things he's seen. He replies with only minimal hesitation: "It's not pretty."
Daigo agrees with him. Daigo blames him for it. Daigo has always blamed him for his own problems. Hyakkimaru understands that he and Daigo live and act with reciprocation. His father's actions at his birth have made it impossible for them to live independent lives. What one does has always affected the other--up to now.
When Daigo starts talking about his personal philosophy of "kill or be killed," Hyakkimaru focuses more fully on the present moment. It seems that Daigo still intends to be a threat to him. "I will live through this hell," Daigo insists. "If the demons need a sacrifice, I will give them another."
It comes out without thinking: "You would give me to the demons again?"
"Why not?" Daigo returns, mocking--always mocking, never treating him like a person. Never treating anyone like a person, as far as Hyakkimaru knows. For an instant, Hyakkimaru remembers his world shrinking around rage and fear as another temple burned around him and armed soldiers came at him to kill him, kill more children, and he'd--
He blinks. Realizes that Daigo lives in that state all the time. Daigo is already in hell. He has been, this whole time. Blaming Hyakkimaru is one excuse of many.
At the same instant, he knows Daigo's threat is empty. There are no more demons in this land. He's killed them all already.
When that sinks in, he does smile, though Daigo doesn't see it.
"If I ever made a mistake, it was in leaving you to the midwife," Daigo says clearly, but he doesn't turn to face Hyakkimaru. "I should have taken you in my own two hands and strangled you to death." Hyakkimaru listens with dispassion and knows this for what it is: boasting. Big talk. Empty. If Daigo truly meant what he said, Hyakkimaru would be shocked. He just wants to appear strong.
Dororo had boasted a lot too, for the same reason. He misses her.
Daigo picks up steam as he talks, trying to goad him most likely. The statue Hyakkimaru is carrying shifts toward the front, and he remembers his errand. He pulls the sword behind Daigo up, and Daigo smiles a little--he probably thinks he's riled Hyakkimaru up. "If I die, I will join my son Tahoumaru and protect these lands as a demon."
Hyakkimaru is fairly certain that death doesn't work that way. This speech just serves to remind Hyakkimaru that Daigo chose his other son to raise. If Hyakkimaru had not come to know Tahoumaru--and know him fairly well, via their shared language of fighting--he might have been jealous.
But Tahoumaru--sacrificed, dead Tahoumaru--had been far more broken than he had ever been. Meeting him after knowing who he was, thoughts of jealousy had never occurred to him again.
Hyakkimaru thrusts the sword into Daigo's helmet and places the statue at his feet, calm. Daigo goes slack-jawed and speechless for a moment. Then, the inevitable question: "Why?"
It's satisfying, his confusion, and Hyakkimaru considers walking off without saying a word. He's placed the goddess of mercy here. He's definitely discovered a few answers. He should be able to leave now.
But this is about a new start. "I'm not going down your road," Hyakkimaru says. "I'm human. You--don't become a demon. Live as a person."
Hyakkimaru hears Daigo's blood dripping on the floor as he leaves.