Legacy: Blue Moon
Act I: Souls in Equinox
Amethyst Prelude
Every night, for as long as I can remember, I would always wake from the same dream.
A bright full moon shining down on a dark forest; a gentle yet ominous breeze blowing through the trees, shifting the branches and leaves.
I'm six years younger, running through the forest, trying to escape from some unseen force. I'm terrified, as I hear the sound of multiple footsteps in the grass echoing in the night breeze; sounds that would always lead me to assume that I'm being chased by a pack of rabid animals. But each time I look back, I see the trees rotting away, as if to mark their trail.
I try to fight off the encroaching exhaustion, and force myself to run, faster and harder, acting on adrenaline alone. But eventually, I find myself falling to the ground. At first, I assume it was just a stray root, and try to get up. But the moment I look back, I see a hand wrapped tight around my ankle. And the arm is extending at an inhumanly impossible length.
I follow the length, and eventually see the silhouettes drawing closer. Until I'm finally able to make out their grotesque forms. I never know or find out what it is they intend; whether it's devouring me, ripping me apart, defiling my body, or all three in reverse.
This recurring nightmare. It always ends with the same feeling…
Not terror, but a feeling of nostalgia I can't explain, as I catch a glimpse of the full moon up above the trees for what would be the last time.
Sapphire Prelude
The same recurring scene...
Over and over and over...
Ever since I turned 12 years old...
Tokyo Tower; at the base street.
A girl is attacking me with katana in hand; strange markings branding her arms and legs. And I'm attacking her in retaliation; a spectator in my own body.
We were fighting. To the death it seemed.
There's a reason for this, but I don't know what that is.
Why am I seeing this future? What reason would I have to fight anyone, let alone her?
I always see this same vision in my dreams. And the end result is always the same.
By the end, I would be fatally wounded by the girl. I would be killed.
I'm on my hands and knees, struggling to stand...
...And the last thing I always see, just before waking, is her face.
The face of my fated murderer. The face of a school mate...
This is how it would end...
And this dream is how it all began...
Our shared struggle during the week to come...
Chapter 1: Ignition
The bunch of freaks all come at me at once, only to get dropped in an instant. For a bunch of small-fry, they sure know how to put up a fight; whether they're in the right mind or not. That just leaves the big man behind them.
"Finally gonna stop hiding behind the small fry?"
The 'itsy bitsy' tsuchigumo doesn't seem all that concerned as he speaks up. "It's not as though it's something to be proud of. They're fodder if anything."
"In other words, 'as annoying and persistent as cockroaches.' You already know what I can do, and you already know why I'm here. It's high time someone put you in your place! Lucky for you, that just so happens to be a fraction of my job description!"
The cocky bastard makes it a point to chuckle. "The vessel of Kagutsuchi. I've heard the stories, but so far I'm not impressed. You're only human. And just like all humans, killing you is child's play."
"Yeah? Well, better to die fighting I always say!" I pull out my needles and get ready. "If you're so sure you can kill this 'human', then why not quit hidin' like the bug you are, Daichi?!"
Setting the needles ablaze, I keep my senses about me to pick out where he is. The minute I hear movement from behind me, I sidestep as quick as I can to avoid exactly what I expected. One of Daichi's spider limbs. Any slower, and I'd be the start of a shish kebab...
I jab my needles into it, and command the burning flames to set it ablaze back to the origin.
Once they hit the origin, I see Daichi stumble out from his hiding place, tryin' to snuff the flames before they reach his body.
"There you are!"
First chance I get, I pull them out and throw them right at his chest.
They pierce into him, and before you can say "barbecue", Daichi's body goes up in flames. His limbs are reduced to scorched ashen remains as he screams out, before he collapses; all the life in him completely snuffed out.
I let out a chuckle. "You talk big, then ya get your ass kicked. Congratulations, your a dead cliche."
That settles that.
I look around the cave. Right now, we're in a carved out portion of Fujiyama, not that far off from Tokyo.
Based on their movements so far, it's not by some random chance.
We aren't all that far from that spot. But how would they know about her?
Either way, I'm not gonna find much out hanging around here.
I begin to head toward the exit to the cave, see if I can pick up a clue elsewhere.
"It's not over yet."
I nearly get a heart attack when Kagu pipes up.
Kagu; you know him as Japan's own fire god, Hi-no-Kagutsuchi. Through some pretty unfavorable circumstances, he's loaning me his power over fire as his vessel. The details are complicated, so I'm not gonna bother…
"What's with you all of a sudden," I ask him. "The freaks literally a crispy critter right now. There's no more reason for us to stick around."
"The presence of the tsuchigumo Daichi is not gone from the living world. Now is no time for complacency."
Not dead? I watched the bastard fry with my own eyes.
Just then I hear something like crumbling rock beneath my feet, like something's digging through it. The vibratory sound grows in intensity, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out it's coming right for me.
I act as fast as I can, and leap out of the way before it bursts out of the ground. But only fast enough that I come away with a small cut up along my side.
Another of that bastards limbs..!
That settles it, but last time I checked, sudden regeneration WAS NOT apart of their biology! What the hell does this freak have going for him?
That spider limb isn't the only one to burst from the ground. I keep on the evasive, avoiding three more of the bastards spider legs. Before long, Daichi himself comes up from the earth, and tries to entrap me in his web.
"Dammit!"
I can't act quick enough to avoid it. So I do the last thing on my mind, and let loose a stream of flames from my left palm, burning it up. I was aiming for Daichi too, but he uses his limbs to shield himself. There's not even a sear on his body.
Kagu get's kinda pissed, but I could care less right now. "Compose yourself! Using the flames in their raw form is too dangerous for you!"
"Yeah, well it's not like I have very many options!"
Daichi decides to get up close and personal, thrusting his spider legs at me in every attempt to impale me. I'm able to evade and block every last one, before he lands one in my side that sends me careening out of the cave toward the forest below.
Just to save myself from a deadly fall, I reflexively use raw fire again to slow my descent.
I had to take the same risk to myself twice in one day…
Guess I can consider another few years of my life gone with that. This is turning into more of a pain in the ass than I thought it would be…
Daichi leaps from the cave, and lands just a few feet away from me on his spider legs. "It's been awhile since I've been burned alive. Not that it matters, but I'll be sure to pay you back thoroughly."
"I'd like to see you try!"
At this point, I might as well be bluffing. I don't even know if that was some regenerative ability, or how limited it is. And I can't afford to lose just because I ended up burning myself out; literally at that.
Depending on how things go however, I might not have much choice but to go all in with Kagu's power.
Daichi rushes at me using his limbs, and once he gets close, he takes another shot at stabbing me through.
I dive to the left, avoiding his limb, and pull out my needles as I try to circumvent a head-on thrust and back-flip away from a follow-up swipe, defending myself barely successfully against a second swipe from my right.
I use the force of the hit to try and keep my distance; throwing three blazing needles at Daichi once I regain my footing.
He sidesteps them easily, laughing. "I've seen the way you operate. That same tactic isn't going to work on me."
That's what he thinks.
I reach my hands outward toward the needles, circling it to the left, and then swiping quickly to the right.
The needles follow the path I had just traced in the air, and circle back around to go for the spider freak. It's a nifty little trick that took me two hard years to get a handle on. Long as it's fire, or on fire, it's mine to control.
The needles pierce right through his head at three point; a blow that should kill him, not that now I expect it to.
After about five seconds, I see his corpse vanish in the flames. But I don't bother to drop my guard; calling my needles back to my hand.
And sure enough, he catches me off-guard as he tries to strike me from the surrounding trees with all four of his spider limbs.
I barely manage to avoid it, getting cut on my right leg and the right side of my face.
At that same moment, he's already sent another one right for me, leaving me no way to counter it.
...What a shitty way to go. Not that self cremation's any better.
"Ha!"
Just then, I hear a woman's voice, and the sound of steel slicing air.
I recognize that voice.
Sure enough, before me stands exactly who I had expected to see.
Black women's boots and brown leggings, a black casual dress under a jacket, and long brown hair that reaches down past her waist line, and a poise that no ordinary person can rival, not even me.
My mentor, with that same naginata in her hand, saving my ass yet again.
I look over toward Daichi, and he looks like he's at a loss for words. And for good reason, given who just showed up.
His voice is quivering in fear. "T-The Eastern Moon,…Yuzu Tsuchimiya..!"
Yuzu-san doesn't respond to him, and just goes right on the attack, severing Daichi's remaining spider limbs with a single spiritually infused swing from her naginata.
Daichi didn't even see it coming. And considering who he's up against, that bullshit he was spouting earlier is now just that.
She doesn't waste anytime, and in the blink of an eye, runs Daichi through right where he stands. I know better than to think she could have finished him off though, as his body goes limp and vanishes in the same way as before; almost like he had shed it.
"Yuzu-san," I call out, "be careful! This bastard doesn't die after a killing blow!"
"Lee, behind you," I hear Kagu immediately yell out in my head.
I glance behind me, and luckily enough, I manage to avoid getting stabbed from behind.
He goes right for Yuzu-san, acting on nothing but desperation and fear. And she defends herself with the pole of her naginata, before retaliating with a Spirit Pulse from the tip of it's blade.
The slippery freak manages to avoid it, and strikes back by trying to knock the the naginata from Yuzu-san's hand. At the same time, he prepares to spew out more of his web to try binding her at close range.
Neither attempt succeeds, and she cuts through both without so much as losing her balance, taking his right arm in the process.
I immediately throw three burning needles his way, as a follow-up. He spots it out of the corner of his eye, and deflects them with his spider leg.
But the way he reacts catches my attention. He was frantic and his movements were hasty, like that would have actually killed him. You'd think there was some interval when we could-…
Maybe that's it!
There's no way to be sure of when that intervals up, but I trust my gut and act on that assumption, rushing him with my needles on fire, like a pair of spiked brass knuckles.
"You're nearing your limit," Kagu warns.
If that's the case, then I better make these next few attempts count.
As he's thrown off after evading my previous attack, I use the chance to rush him, thrusting my fist full force at Daichi.
As I expected, he keeps on the evasive; desperately ducking and weaving through my flaming punches.
I want to test this as best I can, so I try baiting him into striking back to give me an opening. "What are you so afraid of? I thought we were just a couple of 'humans', but ya act like we're scary little insects!"
Eventually, he does try a counter attack barehanded, only for me to block against it. It's got more force behind it than I expected, sending me sliding back.
Yuzu-san jumps in, taking over the attempt. No doubt, she caught on to what I was thinking.
With her skills with that naginata and her own spiritual channeling, she successfully parries every limb thrust, evades every swipe, and counterattacks him effectively.
Just watching the two, I notice a change that I have no doubt she's already caught onto. He's gone back on the offensive in full, without a single worry. I guess that means that the intervals up.
"How disappointing," I hear Yuzu-san say suddenly, as she addresses Daichi. "You boast so much, and yet your own skill is lacking. Your own overconfidence has assured your defeat here."
Daichi isn't too happy about hearing this, and retaliates.
"You've lost several bodies already. And your tactics are now easy to predict. Accept your fate or prolong your own suffering."
"Shut up and die!"
She really pushed his buttons.
With that last outburst, he goes absolutely nuts while trying to hit Yuzu-san with another of his limbs in a swipe.
She counters it with her naginata, but unexpectedly enough, she uses it to spring off of the limb into the air; a technique I've seen no one else able to do but her.
While he aims his limbs to run her through, I decide to use the chance to strike again with Kagu's raw fire to catch him off guard.
Sorry Kagu, but this last shot has to count for something...
"Burn!"
I let loose a stream of my hottest flames to incinerate Daichi as Yuzu-san uses his limbs to keep an aerial advantage. He see's it coming right away, and I don't expect he's able to give up his attack and evade.
But he tries to evade anyway, and the only thing that gets burned up are the same limbs he was using to strike her.
That kinda messes things up, but Yuzu-san adapts to it and as they start to dissipate, uses them to dive in at Daichi, and using the still present stream of fire as she closes in, swings her naginata, slicing his current body down the middle and scorching it all over. Course, after about five seconds, it dissipates.
One… Two… Three… Four…
It's only four seconds in that Daichi decides to pull a sneak attack on Yuzu-san, coming up from the ground.
"Look out!" I yell out to warn her.
Five… Six...
She reacts almost in what seems like an instant, moving aside unscathed when he launches himself up at her. Channeling her spirit energy through her naginata, she fires it off quicker than the untrained eye could keep up with.
Seven… Eight…
It cuts straight along half of Daichi's spider limb. And as an extra end result, his right arm.
He screams out in pain, clutching his newly formed injury.
Yuzu-san rears up to finish the job, and let's loose a slashing spirit wave to put Daichi down for good.
Nine... Ten…
At that last count, he's cut diagonally in two. And both halves fall to the ground lifeless.
They eventually dissipate like before. So naturally I'm on guard. But I'm way too worn out to do anything...
"He's finished," Kagu says finally.
I can't help being relieved at that. "Good riddance... Guh!"
I fall to my knees, a burning pain overtaking my chest. Guess this is what I get for overusing the flames.
"Lee!" I hear Yuzu-san call out as she runs over to me.
This is the price I have to pay for using this power. In truth, while I'm Kagu's acting vessel, I'm in constant danger. With every use of the flames at all, I'm slowly killing myself. Using them through my needles lessens that effect, but it doesn't negate it altogether.
"That was a reckless tactic," he stares. "Remember, this is not your power you use."
Like I need you rubbing it in. The equivalent of heart burn is enough, thank you.
Yuzu-san helps me up, giving me this stern look that says 'You have a lot of explaining to do.'
"Thanks for the hand…" I say to her.
She replies, "For now, let's get those injuries treated. Use my shoulder for now."
I do as she says, leaning on her for support.
My body hurts like hell right now, but I can't help but chuckle. She's deadly in a fight, but she's one of the most benevolent people I've ever met. I couldn't be happier to have had her teaching me about exorcism all those years ago.
On our way through the forest, I'm stuck leaning on Yuzu-san for support. Kinda feel bad, considering I literally and accidentally did this to myself.
"Did you discover anything," she asks.
"There were bodies," I tell her. "But not the kind that are still. They were easy to take down, but that many Husk in one place... It can't be anything good..."
"If that's the case, then the two are doubtless related. I have others already looking into it. Once they learn something, we'll know."
Prepared for anything, just like always.
It takes me awhile, but as I look about as we pass through the forest, we walk through a clearing that triggers an old memory.
At night, if the moon was in just the right spot in the sky, it would shine down around here, bathing the ground in it's light.
This spot right here. That's not the only significance to it.
"By the way," I ask. "How's Hikaru doing? She's in her second year of middle school by now, that right..?"
She smiles gently with a laugh, and says, "Why not ask her this yourself when we get back? I'm sure you'll both have a lot to talk about."