There was a loud knock on the door; a small figure groaned and rolled out of the bed. "Mizuki-sama! The Heaven Emperor wishes to see you!" the guard reported once she opened the door.
She frowned; her father never asked for her, his sixth and youngest daughter. Ever since she opened her icy blue eyes, she had been teased about how she was sixth in line to the throne and the "baby" in the Heaven's Court.
Only her second older brother, Ken-nii, treated her with respect and reprimanded her older siblings for constantly picking on her. However, ever since her five siblings were sent off to protect the five Sutras 5 years ago, she had been wandering about the Upper World alone.
In fact, she hadn't seen her father for nearly a year ever since the annual celebration when everyone in the Kingdom conjugated for a grand feast; even during that day, they didn't speak at all. It was a literal miracle that he had summoned her.
She put on her finest silk robes and tied her sleek black hair into a neat bun. She stared at her reflection in the mirror, fixing her pearl earrings. She beckoned closer to the mirror and stared directly into her own eyes.
They were oddly hypnotic; Ken-nii often said that they reminded him of the sea, changing colours with her mood.
Her gaze fell on the birthmark near her collarbone; each of her siblings had birthmarks with the characters of their powers. Ken-nii had the word "flame" etched on his arm and had the ability to conjure and control fire; her other siblings had "sound", "wind", "earth" and "lightning".
She pursed her lips as she saw the word "moon" clearly shown on her pale skin; she had no clue what her particular talent was. It seemed hopeless when she could only control when the full moon was, which was nothing compared to her sibling's power to shake the ground with just a thought.
There was another knock on the door and the guard popped his head inside the room, reminding, "Mizuki-sama, the Emperor is waiting in the throne room." She moved away from the mirror and headed for the door.
As she entered the throne room, she heard Kanzeon Bosatsu's familiar voice saying in a condescending tone, "My dear Emperor, there is no other choice. This has to be done." I walked into the room cautiously and bowed down to the bearded man sitting on the golden throne.
Bosatsu wore her usual revealing robes, smirking at her. The man gestured for her to look up at him; Mizuki could tell that the immortal emperor was showing unusual signs of fatigue with his eyebags and red eyes.
Her father averted his eyes as he spoke, "There has been some trouble in the human and youkai world. Youkai-kind has been going berserk after Gyou-mah-oh was sealed. So I sent your brothers and sisters to protect the Sutras. According to Bosatsu's report, your brother, Ken, was missing. Luckily, the Maten Sutra was kept safe by a mortal priest, Koumyou Sanzo."
Mizuki's mouth fell open as she processed the information that her all-powerful brother was missing.
The emperor continued, "Due to unfortunate circumstances, the priest passed away and now the Sutra is passed onto his student, Genjo Sanzo. Mizuki, I hereby present you with this mission of protecting the Maten Sutra. Do you accept this task, my child?" Mizuki's voice had left her; her head was filled with questions of where her brother was.
Bosatsu chuckled and remarked snidely, "Oh dear, your little girl is too afraid to take on this job which her big brother failed in." That snapped Mizuki back to reality and she turned to give the voluptuous woman a full-blown glare.
The older woman smiled maliciously and stated, "I take that back. I like this girl. She has got spirit. She will fit well with the Sanzo-ikou."
Emperor added, "Keep in mind that this is not an order. I am sure that anyone else in the Court can take your place."
Mizuki shook her head defiantly and stared straight into her father's jet black eyes, agreed, "I accept."
She thought she saw her father's sad grimace, but his face turned emotionless as usual within seconds. Bosatsu clapped excitedly and began explaining the trip to the human world.