The Twelve Kingdoms: Shadow of the Moon

"Come on. No need to worry about courtesies."
    "Not at all." Rakushun had a stiff expression on his face that Youko understood at once. He lowered his voice to a whisper. "You know, Youko, I think this is how we get up there."
    "Yeah, probably." The thought left her in a less than enthusiastic mood as well. The ledge they had landed on was quite high up, but the distance that remained from here to the summit was comparable to a skyscraper. Walking up all that way would be torture.
    Nevertheless, Youko kept her thoughts to herself and stepped onto the staircase. She took hold of Rakushun's hand. The rise of each step was short, but the staircase itself was long. They climbed the stairs in step with the En. Where the stairs ended there was a large landing. They turned ninety degrees and climbed another flight of stairs and entered a small room. At the back of the room was a door. The thick, wooden door was beautifully adorned with vivid bas-relief carvings.
    Passing through that door, a soft breeze drifted in, carrying with it the rich scent of the sea.
    "Oh . . . " Youko unconsciously exclaimed. Before them was a wide terrace. They were already above the clouds.
    What miracle this was, she didn't know, but ascending those few steps had brought them already to the very heights of the mountain. The floor was finished in white stone, as were the balustrades of the terrace. Beneath the terrace, waves of white clouds broke against the shore.
    No, Youko realized in astonishment, they were the whitecaps of actual waves.
    "Rakushun!" she shouted, "it's an ocean!"
    She ran to the railing. Beneath her feet, where the terrace protruded from the face of the cliff, the tall waves crested and broke. As she cast her eyes about, she knew this was the surface of an ocean and where the smell of the sea came from.
    "There is an ocean above the sky," said Rakushun.
    Youko glanced back at him. "An ocean above the sky?"
    "Well, if there wasn't an ocean, then we wouldn't call it a Sea of Clouds."
    The rich smell of the ocean mingled together with the wafting breezes. The black sea reached out as far as she could see. Waves crashed against the shore beneath the terrace. Leaning out over the railing and peering down into the water, she could see lights in the depths of the sea. It was like the Kyokai, but then she realized that these were the distant lights of Kankyuu.
    "This is so cool. But why doesn't the water all just fall down?"
    "Well," said the En, with a chuckle, "if the Sea of Clouds were to fall like rain, that would cause quite a bit of trouble for everyone. If it would please her Highness, I'm sure we could arrange a room with a balcony for the Royal Kei."
    "You know," said Youko, trying to put this as politely as possible, "I would really appreciate it you could stop it with this 'Highness' stuff.
    Amused, the En raised an eyebrow. "And why is that?"
    "I guess it seems like you're talking about somebody else."
    The En laughed. He was about to say something, then suddenly looked up at the sky. Following the direction of his gaze, Youko saw a slender beam of light.
    "It looks like the Taiho has returned. Well, then, Youko."
    He turned around. At the left-hand side of the veranda was a short stone staircase. Youko followed after him, stepping where he stepped. She looked up in amazement.
    There, arranged upon an island-like formation in the center of the craggy mountain, its cliffs white in the light of the moon, were a countless number of buildings. Like in a scene depicted in a sumi-e watercolor, the ranges of curiously-shaped rocks, the branches of trees and shrubs protruding from the bare rock, the many narrow waterfalls.
    Some of the buildings on the cliffs were pagodas, others had multiple stories. Corridors running in all direction connected them together, creating one massive structure. It was an enormous castle embedded within the mountain itself. The heart of the Kingdom of En. The residence of the Royal En. Gen'ei Palace.

Chapter 58
    Y ouko and Rakushun entered the building and were surrounded by a number of what they took to be servants. They were separated from the En and hustled off to rooms further inside.
    "Hey," said Youko.
    "Wait a minute," said Rakushun.
    A lady-in-waiting turned to the flustered Youko and Rakushun and said with an impassive expression on her face, "Please follow me. A change of clothes shall be made available. Your baths are being drawn."
    In other words, they were not to be wandering around the