Some time in the ancient past, the world was in neverending turmoil as feuding clans constantly fought for control of land. However, in a large candle-lit shrine underneath a rolling mountain, a secret cult was holding a ceremony that aimed to bring peace to the world. Twelve young women who had been born with the ability to summon guardian monsters were gathered to fight each other in pairs until only one remained. The remaining girl was responsible to acting as a medium between the human race and a mighty god who had the power to end the world's crisis. The girls were called Hime, which literally meant "Princess" and referred to their candidacy as wives for the deity they worshipped. Their guardians were known as Childs, and it was said their existence represented a life created from the bond each girl shared with their most cherished person. The Hime would be defeated when either they or their Child were killed in battle, and the life of the person they they had summoned their Child to protect would be taken as punishment. Once the temple's fortunetellers had assessed who each Hime truly loved the most, all twelve girls and their potential sacrifices had gathered in the shrine to determine the fate of the world.
As war seemed to be an eternal part of life, this wasn't the first time the festival was held. The event was performed in secrecy every few hundred years, and, in every previous cycle, the final Hime had turned against the ancient deity out of her own selfishness or a sudden moral attack. With each failed ceremony, the vengeful god only became more impatient and angered, but the temple elders always continued to host the violent event in the desperate hope that, just once, the winner would finally fulfill her role and use the deity's power to unify the world.
The current ceremony was very close to ending. As usual, the twelve girls that had been summoned to the underground temple fought in a tournament bracket until three remained, and a drawing was held to determine the order these contestants would battle. In this iteration of the festival, it had been decided that two Hime by the names of Mai Tokiha and Mikoto Minagi would battle first, and the victor would battle the third finalist, Akane Higurashi, in the final dance of the ritual. Mikoto had been defeated on the previous day, and the final round was now about to begin.
The two female fighters were stationed on opposite sides of the shrine, dressed in the priestess robes they had been appointed. Both girls were accompanied by the person they cared for the most, who were dressed in their own ceremonial robes that featured a jet black hakama rather than the bright red that their respective Hime wore. At the head of the temple stood ten stone columns. These identical monoliths were in a symmetrical arrangement, with an opening for exactly one more column in the center. Each pillar had been raised following a battle and was believed to contain the soul of the person the defeated Hime had lost. When the ceremony ended, eleven columns would stand together to open a doorway between worlds that would allow the victorious warrior to communicate with the deity hosting the ceremony.
As the two Hime prepared for battle, they were watched by a full crowd of temple servants. Other Hime were normally part of this audience, but, as this was the final and most important round, all of the other girls had failed and had been taken away from the shrine.
On one end of the battleground stood Mai Tokiha, a young woman with short orange hair. She was quietly questioning her younger brother, Takumi Tokiha, to make sure he was comfortable and not feeling sickly. She adjusted the collar of his robe and pressed her index and middle fingers to his neck to read his pulse. The boy was a few years younger than his Hime sister, and he had been cursed with a weak heart. Any overexertion could be fatal to him, and Mai had grown to be very protective of the boy. The siblings had been orphaned by a barbarian raid when Takumi was barely a toddler, causing Mai to become like a foster mother to him. Mai was fully determined to complete the ceremony so she could use a portion of the ancient god's power to cure her brother's ailment in return for offering her loyalty. A gentle smile was on Takumi's face while he gave his sister some final words of encouragement.
"I believe in you, Mai."
Mai returned her brother's cheerful glance, and the two siblings shared a long hug.
Akane Higurashi was standing on the opposite side of shrine. Her short brown hair was tied back into a playful ponytail, and she was accompanied by a young man named Kazuya Kurauchi. He was a mercenary soldier, and Akane traveled with him along with the rest of his group as their healer and diplomat. Akane had become increasingly fearful for Kazuya's life as war became more common across the land. When she was called upon to participate in the Hime festival, she saw the prize as a way to give Kazuya the power necessary to finally end the constant fighting and maintain peace.
As Mai and Takumi shared their hug, Akane and Kazuya locked into a passionate kiss. This particular ritual wasn't uncommon for Hime who fought to protect the lives of their intimate lovers, and neither Akane nor Kazuya were embarrassed as they were closely watched. They both knew this could very well be their final moment together. When the young couple separated from their kiss, Kazuya slowly brushed his hand through his protector's hair.
"Do your best, Akane."
Akane nodded energetically in response before finally turning to her opponent. Mai and Akane then stepped forward and closed their eyes to summon their respective weapons and Childs. On Mai's half of the arena, a giant white dragon appeared behind her and hovered in the air. This was Kagutsuchi, and the equipment he granted Mai were glowing gold rings with green beads that appeared on her ankles and wrists. These allowed Mai to levitate off the ground and augmented her strength slightly as she fought with her fists.
Opposite to Mai, Akane summoned a large mechanical tiger she called Hari. The beast was plated with yellow and gray armor and sported sword-like quills on its back. Hari was one of the smallest Childs when compared to the enormous creatures many of the other Hime could summon, but he had already used his speed and agility to help Akane defeat two other priestesses in earlier battles and proved himself to be a fearsome adversary. In addition to this, Akane now wielded a pair of tonfa that each contained two parallel staves. The outer staff on each tonfa could spin on an axis connected to the inner staff, effectively turning the blunt weapons into handheld circular saws.
Mai and Akane shared a determined glance between one another. The two girls had quickly become friends when they first came to the shrine, but the experiences of watching the ten other Hime lose their dearest person and knowing they could be the next to be defeated had taken away their ability to stop and sympathize for each other for even a second. They took their respective combat poses to begin the final battle of the cruel contest.
Hari began the fight by lunging forward and sinking his armored claws into the shrine's stone floor to anchor himself. A round blade located on his chest began to spin around and generate a pulling force that staggered Mai. As the defending Hime found herself unable to keep her balance and was slowly drawn into Hari's bladed vacuum, her guardian exhaled a large fireball toward his master's attacker. Hari responded to this by releasing his hold and quickly evading, and the projectile left a scorched crater on the empty shrine floor.
As the Childs battled, their respective Hime met eachother on the floor of the open ceremonial chamber. Akane threw a series of punches with her short range tonfa, alternating with her left and right arms, and Mai blocked each attack by raising her ringed hands to create protective forcefields. Although Mai was safely defending herself, Akane's aggression was slowly guiding her to one of the walls of the shrine. This would have left her pinned in a corner and prone to a finishing attack, but Kagutsuchi sensed his master was in danger and briefly turned his attention away from Hari so he could focus on Akane. As Kagutsuchi prepared another fireball in his throat in an attempt to finish Akane with a fatal blast to her unsuspecting back, Hari saw this as an opening and lept in the air to claw at the back of Kagutsuchi's wings. The wise dragon sensed this attack, however, and quickly turned in the air and unleashed his fully charged fireball at Hari's pouncing frame.
Hari immediately cowered in the air in response to the oncoming attack. He successfully ducked the main brunt of Kagutsuchi's projectile, but the fireball was still close enough to graze the back of his metallic hide and disintegrate the dangerous spikes that protruded from the back of his neck. As his midair evasion had occurred at the last minute, his remaining flight was haphazard and he roughly slammed into the ground of the cavern for his landing. Akane looked over her shoulder when the sound interrupted her battle with Mai. She shouted to her Child with a great worry in her voice.
"Hari!"
While Mai was still blocking her tonfa attacks, Akane caught her opponent off guard with a sudden knee to the gut. This quickly sent Mai to the ground with a loud grunt, allowing to Akane run to Hari's side and inspect his wounds. His armor was partially melted, and the whirling blade protruding from his chest had been damaged in his fall, but his injuries weren't deathly and he was still able to stand on his own. Akane quietly spoke to the beast to soothe his pain, then whispered a set of orders to him when she silently developed a new strategy. She extended one of her tonfa to her Child, and the creature took one pole of the weapon into his fanged mouth. The brown-haired Hime and her feline guardian split apart again, and Akane dashed back toward Mai with the remaining tonfa in her grasp.
Mai had recovered, and she crossed her ringed wrists to generate a small white forcefield that blocked Akane's oncoming attack. The girls began to exchange blows, with Mai using her fists while Akane used her single blunt weapon, as Kagutsuchi locked his sights back onto Hari and inhaled to prepare a third fireball.
Hari now ran toward his target head on, using his full speed in a straight line to close the distance between himself and Kagutsuchi as the floating dragon prepared its fiery attack. At the critical moment, Hari leapt into the open air just over Kagutsuchi's line of fire and completely dodged his projectile. The exposed staff of the tonfa in Hari's jowls then began to spin at its fastest speed, effectively turning the aggressive tiger's entire mouth into a rotating blade. He had aimed slightly off-center to Kagutsuchi's finned head when he jumped, and Mai and Akane suddenly heard a deafening bestial squeal and the sound of metal crashing against metal as they fought each other on the ground. The two girls abruptly turned to the source of the noise to see Hari had grazed past Kagutsuchi's neck as he jumped through the air, using the weapon in his mouth to decapitate the great white dragon. Akane's plan had worked perfectly.
Kagutsuchi's head exploded into shimmering green particles almost as soon as it was cleaved from the enormous beast's serpentine neck, and his armored body turned to a dark gray color as it slowly plummeted to the ground in green flame. Hari returned to Akane's side to return her weapon, and Akane lowered her hands to her sides upon realizing the battle was over.
Mai's eyes widened with horror when she saw her Child had been killed with a decisive blow, and her weapons suddenly disappeared from her wrists and ankles. As Kagutsuchi's final remains crashed to the ground and disintegrated into glittering, emerald-colored embers, the Hime who had summoned him fell to her knees and let out a shrill scream that echoed throughout the subterranean shrine. When the echo faded, the sounds of a young boy painfully gasping for air took its place. Mai turned around and ran to her end of the combat area just in time to catch her collapsing brother in her arms. He was clutching his chest and groaning as if he was struggling with some invisible force that was reaching into his small chest and crushing his frail heart. Exhausted from the battle and tortured by her sudden feelings of regret, Akane could only bring herself to watch silently with her moist brown eyes as Mai hopelessly begged to her beloved.
"Ta-... Takumi, I'm sorry! Please don't go!"
Mai's sobbing pleas went unanswered, and Takumi soon closed his eyes and fell limp as his sister's robed thighs formed the pillows of his deathbed. Mai's tears dripped from her cheeks and stained the boy's motionless face as he began to dissolve in the same spectacle as Kagutsuchi. When her brother was gone, Mai leaned forward onto all fours, and her weeping eyes formed small, salty puddles directly on the floor of the shrine.
The defeated Hime's lament slowly stifled as Akane heard the sound of rumbling stone coming from behind her. Akane knew this meant the final column had risen from the ground, and the omnipotent being the tragic contest had been a celebration to would soon be arriving. As Akane continued to silently fight a swarm of regret, Mai slowly lifted her head to look vacantly into the air in front of her. The defeated Hime was perfectly silent except for when she occasionally mumbled her beloved's name.
"Ta... ku... mi..."
Just as it had done with the other fallen maidens, the forces responsible for the ritual had reached into Mai's grieving mind at the moment it was most vulnerable and robbed her of her willpower in addition to claiming her sacrifice. All she would be able to do for the rest of her life was long for the loving younger brother she would never see again. Two of the temple servants soon stepped out of the audience and reached under her arms to carefully lift her back to her feet. She was quietly led out of the shrine, being far too weak to make any objections.
When the cave was fully silent again, Akane turned her head to solemnly look toward the eleven ceremonial columns. When her gaze returned to the center of the shrine, she noticed the audience had gathered around the battlefield in a circle and were groveling to the ground. Akane, Kazuya, and Hari were within this circle, and they were the only occupants still standing on their feet. The servants were humbling themselves mainly to honor the arrival of the ancient deity who hosted the ceremony, but they were also honoring Akane as they prayed she would complete the closing event of the ritual. As the victorious Hime sighed at this sight, she heard footsteps gently approaching her from behind. Kazuya's chest was soon pressed against her back, and he reached over her shoulders to delicately cross his arms around her collarbone. Akane felt her lover's breath softly graze the back of her neck as he spoke in an unusually deep voice.
"I've been waiting to meet you, Akane..."
Kazuya leaned forward and brushed his smooth cheek against Akane's. He was calmed by the slight scent of incense flowing from Akane's knotted hair, and he embraced the priestess in silent anticipation. If Akane had turned around, she would see Kazuya's face had taken on a somewhat sinister complexion and a dark aura was gently pulsating in his eyes. Akane returned his advances only by continuing to look forward and fearfully announcing his new title.
"Obsidian Lord..."
Kazuya was amused by Akane already being afraid of his dominance. It meant she would take less persuasion than some of the previous ceremony winners, and it gave the entity controlling her lover some relief. His voice was warmer when he spoke again.
"You've passed all of my tests, Akane, and now it is time to receive your prize."
Akane continued to look forward with uncertainty. She had not accepted Kazuya's new presence, the young man noted, but she wasn't completely repulsed by him, either.
"Your reward is the world itself. I'll grant you unspeakable power so you can help me guide humanity how I see fit."
Akane looked downward in deep thought. Kazuya could see Akane was considering her position, and he closed his eyes in silent hopefulness. As Akane replied, she spoke softly as to avoid giving the impression she was openly resisting.
"What if I refuse?"
Kazuya's voice remained completely calm as he replied.
"Hmm... you're quite beautiful, so it would be a pity to destroy you entirely. Maybe I'd keep you as a statue to decorate my shrine and remind the girls in future rituals not to rebel against me."
Akane closed her eyes and shuddered at this thought. She remained quiet as Kazuya continued speaking.
"I'm not going to lie to you and tell you rejecting my offer isn't an option. However, please don't forget it's my gift that allows you to fight to the extent that you have."
One of Kazuya's arms briefly left Akane's shoulder and reached down to massage an area on her back a few inches below her left shoulder blade. Akane was still weary from her battle with Mai, and she couldn't help but sigh in comfort as she felt her faint birthmark begin to warmly glow under Kazuya's hand as he caressed the back of her shrine maiden haori. When his arm returned to hugging her shoulder, Kazuya spoke with subtle sternness in his voice.
"If that's the path you insist on taking, you wouldn't be the first foolish girl to prove using your Hime powers against me is a futile effort."
Akane's hands gripped the handles of her tonfa tighter than they had before as the weapons were held at her sides. Even with the odds against her, her feelings of regret gave her a lingering motivation to lash out against the cruel entity inhabiting Kazuya. She replied to Kazuya's threats with sadness in her soft voice.
"But you've made the other Hime suffer so much..."
The legendary entity controlling Kazuya suddenly feared losing Akane's companionship and having her reject him like so many victorious Hime in the past. He was convinced this was the woman he would finally be able to tame, and he spoke peacefully to quell Akane's slight feelings of rebelliousness.
"Their sacrifices weren't in vain, Akane. If I hadn't claimed the lives of their beloved, the power I could share with you wouldn't be anywhere near as grand."
Kazuya's lips now curled into a confident smile.
"Besides, to defeat me in my current form, you would have to kill the person your heart beats the strongest for."
Akane looked toward to the ground sulkingly before quietly replying.
"You're so cruel..."
Kazuya slowly brushed a few loose strands of Akane's hair behind her ear. He replied to her criticism with the same unwavering smile.
"On the contrary, my dear Akane, I chose Kazuya as my host body for your benefit. It would be more cruel for me to expect you to forget who you fought for and accept me in some unfamiliar form."
The priestess looked forward again as she remained silent, finding herself unable to argue with her god's logic. The patient deity could feel Akane begin to weakly shiver as her very emotions engaged in painful combat, and he felt sympathy for his devoted disciple. He spoke again to pacify her.
"You were cursed the moment you fell in love, Akane. The only way to end your suffering is to accept what your heart wants."
The young man rested his head on the back of his protector's shoulders. Akane stood with her back against Kazuya in silence for a few moments before she made her decision. For the first time in the ceremony's sorrowful history, the entity controlling Kazuya heard the surviving Hime's weapons clatter to the ground as she voluntarily disarmed herself. This was followed by the girl's feline guardian and abandoned tonfa peacefully disappearing as she silently willed the molecules they were composed of to return to her body. When the priestess spoke again, most of her original uncertainty was removed from her voice.
"Just tell me, Obsidian Lord, if I accept... you'll let me see Kazu again, right?"
As Akane's words and actions made it seem as if the ritual was approaching its final closing, the temple servants kneeling around Akane and Kazuya looked up to the sacred couple with jubilant expressions. While this happened, the powerful being lingering in Kazuya's mind spoke with a new compassion in his voice, as he now knew his ethereal solitude would soon come to an end.
"Of course, Akane. He still has his own destiny to fulfill. When I use his body to mate with you, my spirit will merge with his, and the two of us will be a single entity. Kazuya will be the same man you fought so hard to protect, just with my power and a few changes in ideals."
Kazuya shifted his head slightly as Akane's short ponytail brushed against his chin. He continued to speak quietly so Akane wouldn't feel forced into her decision.
"My power will entwine your soul with his forever. When the two of you grow old and pass on, you'll ascend to the stars together and be free to choose when and where you'll live your next lives together. Since I'll be bound to you, this cycle of tragedy will end, and there will never have to be another Hime ritual."
The fearsome deity continued speaking with an unusual peacefulness. He considered the true purpose these ceremonies were meant to condition the battling maidens for, and admired how well Akane had turned out.
"If your love for Kazuya is truly unconditional, and you would go as far as knowingly killing the loved ones of others to protect him, then you should have no further objections to my offer."
Kazuya leaned closer to whisper his next words into Akane's ear.
"This is what you always intended for him, isn't it?"
Akane could no longer stop herself from submitting to the ancient being, and she slowly nodded as she was overcome by a swarm of warmth and relief. Still embracing his silent lover from behind, Kazuya gently posed his final question.
"So, do you accept my proposal, my Hime?"
The long sleeves of Akane's priestess robes ruffled softly as she reached up and carefully removed Kazuya's arms from her shoulders. She turned around to face him, revealing tears of joy freely flowing down her smiling face.
"I do."
The couple tenderly embraced at these words, and they shared a long kiss as the audience celebrated. When the festivities concluded, Kazuya turned to the leader of the temple servants and motioned for the group to leave him with his new wife so she could preserve her modesty. When Kazuya and Akane were finally the only figures standing in the shrine, the young man gently reached toward Akane's waist and began untying the bow of her scarlet hakama. When the garments fell to the girl's ankles, she blushed softly, but said nothing and only smiled as she rested her head against her lover's chest. Akane's remaining clothing soon followed, and Kazuya carefully guided his betrothed to the ground to begin the final stage of the ceremony. The couple made passionate love in front of the eleven columns, on the same ground where generations of Hime had spilled their tears of sorrow.
The age of warring clans ended shortly after the final Hime festival. The regional leaders who refused to believe Kazuya Kurauchi was the living incarnation of a god soon found themselves slaughtered by an army of nightmarish beasts led by Akane. The determined warrior always went about her brutal task unwaveringly, fully knowing it was to affirm her husband's power. The many who were slain heard a young woman's soft, cheerful voice bidding them farewell in their final moments, and the few who survived told stories of how they had been attacked by a horrifying demon disguised as a gentle smiling angel. Akane seemed to be lightly tickled by the sensation of fresh blood being splattered on her bright face, and the only thing that ever worried her was the possibility her Lord wouldn't approve of the tattered ruins of her newest dress when she returned to his side after each conquest. He was always kind to her, however, and often rewarded her with another session of delightful lovemaking.
Out of the ashes of destruction, a single dynasty arose, and the newly crowned Emperor Kazuya ruled over the unified land with his beloved wife. Kazuya's loyal followers became his imperial advisers, and Empress Akane would be quick to place herself between her Lord and his attacker each time a sword was drawn against the ruthless ruler, using restraint only when her belly was swollen with one of Kazuya's children. She proved to be just as dedicated as a mother as she was a wife, and she looked after her young like a tigress protecting her tiny cubs.
Akane's many monstrous familiars often ended rebellions in minutes when her own combat ability wouldn't suffice, and the thought of revolution gradually became a foreign concept to the Emperor's subjects. The citizens of the empire grew to accept their forced peace.