Eighth of November, early morning.
It turns out the calamity caused by that goddess was a bit worse than originally imagined. Reading the newspaper down at the kitchen table Shizuka finds the total amount of deaths and wounded back in Niseko: Within three hours the goddess managed to cause a total of 927 deaths, with about twice as many wounded. Her classmates, or what is left of them, are in a similar perilous situation. Of the class of 42 students fifteen have died, seven are heavily wounded but in stable condition, twelve have light wounds and only eight came out unscathed, including Shizuka.
The school has sent multiple kinds of letters around: letters of sympathy to the bereaved, letters of support to the parents of the heavily wounded children and letters of help and advice to the un- or lightly wounded. Shizuka received one of the latter, which meanly deals with coping after major natural disasters.
It all goes on about how people usually feel after such a disaster and what one can do to resolve it. They advise the victim to take time for adjusting to the new situation, seek support from family and friends and to talk with them or some local support group about your experiences. Other advice is to follow a regular healthy life that keeps up your existing routines and not making any potentially life-altering decisions.
Shizuka does not especially follow any of these guidelines, though to be fair she is not quite that much of a victim. If anything she solved the problem to the best of her ability and saved the lives of who knows how many.
So none of the usual symptoms appear: Shizuka does not have intense unpredictable feelings, or at least not more than usual; Her behavior patterns are no different from before; She does not react abnormally to environmental factors; Her interpersonal relationships are only damaged because of damage on, well, the other side of the relation, and she doesn't suffer from any stress-related physical symptoms.
So after finishing breakfast she simply starts a new week at school, although… there is one thing this week different compared to usual: For the first time in quite a while Shizuka is able to walk to school with her brother.
School usually begins around 8:30, and both siblings normally wake up around six o'clock. Shizuka normally leaves around 7:15, arriving fifteen minutes later at school for the morning practice of the tea ceremony club. This is one of the irregularities that Joumon academy has in comparison to other high schools where only sports clubs follow asa-ren {1}, here pretty much everyone arrives an hour before the actual school starts.
One big exception is Kusanagi Godou, member of the go home club, which according to Godou translates to "I do not want to play baseball anymore after injuring my shoulder and no other club holds my interest so I will simply go home after school" club. Even so he is not the type to wake up later than exactly six o'clock, a habit he kept from his baseball days.
Instead he has a new habit where he personally wakes up his girlfriend from Italy. The blonde one, mind you, not Liliana. From Godou's entire harem she is the only one who neither has the habit to wake up early nor the drive to buy an alarm to help her out. Instead she is fully reliant on an idiotic womanizer that wakes her up at half past eight every school day.
This time however Godou has told Shizuka that Erica will be gone for at least a week due to some family member that fell ill. As a result Godou is temporarily relieved from his responsibilities, and does not need to leave early. Except for this Monday:
The school has decided to skip all morning practice today in favor of a speech mourning the deceased of Shizuka's class. It isn't hard to imagine the entire structure of the speech: Reporting the news to the school, talking about how the chairman hold sympathy for the family of the class, then an extended speech in which they will tell some tales about each deceased, then offering prayer for those who have died and are now in heaven… or Diyu, considering the goddess who has slain them. In the end they round it off by wishing good luck for those who are still hospitalized and hope that they can quickly return to their normal life.
All in all, not that interesting. However, this does force everyone to attend high school at the exact same time, so they both leave at a quarter past seven.
While many a mage would look upon this duo and wonder what kind of diabolical plans are made between these two kings, reality is not quite that complicated.
In fact, the tension is a bit awkward as neither brother nor sister has anything specific they want to talk about. Most of what could be said was already said the day before, so now they simply walk to school, waiting until the other breaks the tension.
The first one to come up with a relevant subject is the older brother. "Say Shizuka, in less than a month we'll have to celebrate your birthday. Do you have anything specific you want as a present?"
December third, for the Kusanagi family this day signifies that the youngest daughter of the main branch has become a year older. To celebrate this event the friends and acquaintances of Shizuka usually give her quite the plethora of gifts, even though it is usually not quite that necessary. She has enough money to buy what she wants to begin with, meaning that giving a really good gift is basically impossible.
Even a king like Godou has troubles thinking up something good for that day. Hence the question asked.
"Onii-chan, how about you officially declare which one of your fou…fi…many girls is your actual girlfriend, and stop gathering a harem?" Seriously, even Shizuka lost count of the number of women interested in Godou by now. Where does it end? "I can honestly think of no better gift than that."
"Shizuka, I can't really give a gift that doesn't exist. I don't think I need to tell you that I am not gathering a harem and I'm not in a relationship with any of my friends."
"Of course you don't need to tell me any of those lies! Really, sometimes I wonder if you act this stupid on purpose or are you really that thick?"
"It's as I told you, people simply misunderstand me. I don't know why they think so, but I am not in any way similar to Gramps."
No, compared to Kusanagi Ichirou Godou is even worse. "As terrible as he is in his womanizing ways he did eventually settle down and stop visiting other women. Perhaps you should look at his virtues and learn from them?"
"That only works if I would be the same as my gramps, which I'm clearly not!"
The duo bicker on for a while, spending several minutes without conclusion. A stalemate would seem the obvious solution, but luckily for both of them a kingmaker arrives:
A maiden with a slender body, so tender that it might break if you hug her too hard. Long silver hair in a ponytail, and shining blue eyes. All together it gives this person an fairy-like aura, beautiful enough to be one of the school's three beauties.
Naturally, this person is Liliana Krancjar. Greeted by the sibling duo she joins them on their walk, where she is asked what her opinion is on the subject of Godou's possible birthday gift.
"I have to disagree with you, Shizuka-san." Much to Godou's relief, and Shizuka's surprise, Liliana does not seem to find Shizuka's idea correct. "Though I sincerely hope that Kusanagi Godou will eventually learn to act as one befitting his stature there is no denying that his womanizing ways are part of who he is. Forcibly changing his nature by having him make such a crucial decision this early in his life will only have detrimental effects for his future."
Now it is Godou who looks with despair at his friend, while Shizuka's expression can be summed up as 'I should've expected something like that to happen'. Yes, the only person in the world who does not want to see the light of his crimes is Godou himself, so it is up to Shizuka to help him see the truth and make sure he won't end up like gramps or worse.
"But I will promise one thing, Godou: No matter what happens, no matter who you choose in the future, I will be your right hand that stands by you on the victorious path." Spoken like something between a follower and a friend, but Shizuka can clearly hear a few strands of love between those lines.
"Hah." This is getting nowhere, one cannot objectively speak about those they love without any form of bias. "Then let us get back on topic. Onii-chan, there is absolutely nothing else that can equal the gift I previously mentioned, but I think that someone I spend more than ten years in the same house with would be able to get me a decent gift."
"…" That was quite the blow to Kusanagi Godou. If one can say that this king has one big flaw (assuming his womanizing is not some negative vice) then it is that he is terrible at preparing for important events. If there is a high-class party, he will hire a suit at the very last moment. He is unable to think up gifts for anyone, and he has to be dragged into helping his class for any school festivals. Even giving a good gift to his sister is a challenge that he considers harder than defeating a god.
"Kusanagi Godou, I believe that my abilities are certainly of use here. How about we go shopping together to find a correct gift for Shizuka's upcoming birthday?" Liliana shows a slight blush, having kept her emotions well-hidden. However, if there existed a magnifying glass to increase the effect of emotions a hundred times this would be equal to Liliana squealing in delight as she gets all embarrassed about going on a date with her lover.
"Ah, that's a great idea Liliana!" Kusanagi totally agrees with it. Why shouldn't he? He's getting offered a date on a free platter that also solves the problem of Shizuka's birthday. "I think that we should ask Asuka to join us, she's also quite knowledgeable on this subject."
And here we see another of Godou's magnificent actions that somehow do not decrease his popularity with girls. For an apt description of what he just did, here are Shizuka's thoughts on the matter: "Did Onii-chan seriously just put down a date for the sake of dating two girls at the exact same time?"
There's a fine line between genius and insane, and that is exactly where Godou stands, especially since his plan seems to work:
"Hmm… I cannot deny that Tokunaga Asuka will probably be a good asset for obtaining a gift. Then let us plan with her after school to determine a possible time for this all." There's still a hint of sadness in Liliana's voice that she cannot have some alone time with Godou, but this is still within acceptable bounds for her.
Shizuka on the other hand is wondering how the hell Godou is actually succeeding with all of his girls, and can only sigh in annoyance at his usual antics.
The trio arrive at the school grounds, where the group hurries to the gymnastics building. Everyone is arranged by year and class, leaving Shizuka to sit with what little remains of her class. Exactly eleven people are capable and willing to show up here, yet they put all forty-two chairs down as if to reminds us once again of all those who died. The survivors cuddle up together, sitting in the front two rows. Shizuka takes place next to Miki, the only other member of her hotel room that came out unharmed. Kuniko is still in coma while Chitose died from having a flaming hot steel bar jammed through the thoracic cavity. At least she died instantly.
The others are quiet, not in any mood to speak about this incident. Quite a few simply give a blank stare forward, their minds still not on the right track. Shizuka would like to talk with them right now, but everyone goes silent as the chairman steps upon the podium to give his speech:
"Everyone, I would like to thank you all for coming together here on this day filled with sorrow. Last week class 2-B got caught in a heavy avalanche, which caused the death of fifteen of our fellow students, and wounding several more in the process. We were all taken by surprise and grief when we heard this sorrowful news, but we cannot even compare to those who have lost their own child, their own sibling. Now we are all here to mourn those among us who have fallen, and make sure that their names will never be forgotten. Among these students there were…"
…and the speech goes on and on and on and Shizuka is already bored. Her mind lingers away, starting to think about the mages she left behind in Niseko. Tatsuya would've probably already made contact with the Committee headquarters here. Does that mean that they are currently preparing to make contact with Shizuka?
Such a thing shouldn't be too hard, right?
-x-
Two days later, Tenth of November, late evening.
"Aaargh! Why is this so hard? Can we really not find a single person appropriate enough to serve our latest Campione?"
The four elders of the Committee have been discussing since dawn on how to approach their new king. In a secret place only the most trusted of the History Compilation Committee know about they try to find a solution for the good of all of Japan. However, even though they have discussed for multiple days now there is nary a solution in sight.
"Oh be quiet you hairy bear, you're starting to sound like your dad." The Renjou heir, a woman in her fifties who still looks like she is thirty, scolds the Seishuuin heir for his latest outburst. "The only difficulty we have is that we need to please two kings instead of one, and we send our best hime-miko to our oldest King."
"That's true, Kimiko-san, but we're placed in a most perilous situation." The Kuhoutsuka adds with a sigh. He's not happy with being stuck in this location, he had a different job to do that he now had to cancel. "But why did we have to send Mariya Yuri to Kusanagi Godou? If we kept her in reserve we could've had the perfect person for the job. Powerful hime-miko with the strongest [Spirit Vision] in our country; Is a senior of our new king in the school club they are in and is respected by Kusanagi Shizuka for her demeanor. She would be our very own Andrea Riviera, acting as our eighth king's right hand! But nooo, we had to give her away to Kusanagi Godou!"
"Well excuuuse me, Katsuhiko-san. I'm so sorry that this hime-miko of the Renjou clan didn't get a divination that we would get two new kings within a year! Who the hell could've guessed such an improbable event? Back in May we all agreed that she was the perfect gift for Kusanagi Godou."
"Aww, don't listen to that Kuhoutsuka bloke, Kimi-chan." The elder of the Seishuuin answers flirtatiously, "I think that he is simply sick from wearing those ugly constraining suits all day."
"W-What?" Katsuhiko answers in shock, "There's nothing wrong with suits! They are seen as functional and formal these days, unlike that slouchy kimono of yours! Hey Enjou, the nineteenth century called, they want their clothing back."
"Well, perhaps my clothing is old, but it is filled with things your clothing doesn't have." Puffing up his chest Enjou shows off his muscled body, his clothing not even trying to keep those hidden. "Gaze upon my manly spirit and despair! Unlike you, who wears the clothes of foreigners, I am filled with the soul of the Japanese and the pride of my homeland. Where's your Yamato Damashii {2}, baldy?"
Katsuhiko furiously slams his fist on the table. "Did you just call me bald, wildling? There's nothing abnormal about a 43 year old man being bald!"
"But I'm only a year younger, and look at my glorious mane!" To complete his taunt the Seishuuin heir swings his shoulder length hair in the wind, showing off his glorious head hair. "I think that it is pretty abnormal for someone your age to be already bald."
"And I think that it is pretty abnormal for a fourteen year old teen to still wet hi-"
"K-Katsuhiko! You promised not to tell anyone about that! I told you that in secret!"
"What, still keeping that secret?!" The Kuhoudtsuka heir speaks with glee. "Perhaps we should share it right here, that the manly Seishuuin Enjou wet his bed at age fo-"
"Enough of this, all of you!" The oldest of the four by far and current head of the Sayanomiya family shouts out loudly. "I've only been napping for half an hour and look at the mess you three cause. We're supposed to find a suitable spokesperson, not call out each other's flaws. Now can we please stop acting like children and continue?"
"Then don't fall asleep, old man Seiichirou." Enjou points out. Sure, even though the eldest head looks like a royal grandfather, with long white hair and beard, there's no denying that he's already nearing ninety, and having only four hours of sleep last night did not help to keep him awake.
"Yes…" calming himself down somewhat Katsuhiko tries to bring the discussion back on topic: "It's simply unfortunate that both Mariya sisters have been claimed by Kusanagi Godou. However, for what purpose exactly did we have to give our most promising warrior, Seishuuin Ena, to the seventh king? As far as I remember that was completely unnecessary, was it not Enjou?"
"To be fair, I did not expect my little Ena to act like that on her own. Before I realized it she became one of the king's women."
"My lovely Ena," The elder of the Kuhoutsuka speaks in a tone mimicking that of the Seishuuin head, perfectly knowing what he said that day. "I want you to become the mistress of our king Kusanagi Godou. To make him truly our king, the king of us Japanese, I want you to chase away his foreign mistresses. Use the power of the Old One if necessary."
Enjou Seishuuin is left speechless.
"Did you really forget that our family has connections good enough to render all your secrets void?"
"It… It was a good idea at the time…" The accused elder murmurs out as a last, hopeless defense.
"And because you made that stupid plan Kusanagi Godou now not only has the greatest support hime-miko, but also our greatest combat hime-miko." Kimiko complained. "Do you know how hard it is to equal that?"
"Yes, if only a certain family didn't screw up with their daughter…"
"Enjou?" Kimiko asks with tranquil fury, "Did you just say you want to die?" Pulling out several slips of magically infused paper from her pockets and holding them between her fingers she is willing to destroy this place if only to reclaim the honor of her daughter. "Because I believe I told you I wouldn't forgive you for talking like that about her."
"It is, however, true that the daughter of the Renjou does not compare to the Seishuuin heir." The oldest member interrupts, hoping to calm the heated discussion. "Enjou, Kimiko. We can't afford a fight in-between the families, so put away your weapons and snide remarks."
Reluctantly the Renjou heir puts away her weapons as the Seishuuin heir grumpily slumps back in his seat.
"Seiichirou is correct, neither Fuyuhime nor my son Mikihito are good enough to send to the new Campione compared to what we gifted Kusanagi Godou. However, is your granddaughter not one of the best hime-miko in Japan, Seiichir-"
"You will not take my dear Kaoru-chan away from me!" The Sayanomiya head screams out loudly, not agreeing with this choice. However, realizing his outburst he quickly calms himself and gives logical argument. "What I mean to say is, my grandchild is good friends with the seventh king, and a staunch supporter of that king."
"In other words," The Kuhoutsuka elder interrupts, "not only are the best support and combat miko at Kusanagi Godou's side, he also owns our best all-around miko."
"You're forgetting about Mariya Hikaru, his miko with disaster purification."
"Oh yes, you're completely right. That makes it a lot easier." Katsuhiko replies with lots of sarcasm. "Ugh, do we have a solution to this dilemma, or is this impossible after all?"
The four all sigh, still without answer.
A few moments of quiet start with no solutions found at the end of it.
"Everyone," the Renjou head breaks the silence. "How about some drinks before we continue brainstorming? A little break might help."
"Yes, you're right. Get some black coffee for me then."
"You know what I like, Kimi-chan."
"Green tea for me, Kimiko."
Having heard all of her partners' needs the Renjou heir stand up from her chair… and sits down immediately as the door to the room is abruptly shoved open.
"My apologies for interrupting this meeting, oh esteemed elders." A different messenger than the one coming from Niseko storms in, bowing done as an apology for crashing the meeting.
"I do not believe that our subordinate would interrupt us for any unimportant reason." The Sayanomiya head speaks in royal and regal tone, completely unlike a few seconds ago.
"Speak the news you have gathered, and we will judge its worth." The Renjou heir adds in, equally serious in nature.
"One of our organization has made contact with the Campione, and managed to become a direct servant of our newest king!"
"Quickly," The oldest of the group speaks with driving force, "tell us what happened!"
The messenger straightens up, and proceeds to do just that:
-x-
Ninth of November, Midday.
Even though Shizuka has become a Campione, a king, there are still some tasks of commoners that she has to do, including the one she is doing right now: Buying groceries for dinner. Even if she is one of those people who can do the impossible she has no interest to be like her siblings and do stupid things. If anything spending a normal life will do for now, and if a problem arrives she will deal with it on the way. The only problem that she has to solve at the moment is the question about this evening's dinner, as it is her turn to cook for the family.
The current idea is a soboro don {3}, a simple dish that won't take too much time. Both of the Kusanagi siblings are not bad in the kitchen due to their parents often leaving them to fend for themselves, their skill only being a few levels under that of a professional gourmand chef. However, neither of them cares much for the food itself, preferring to cook quickly and in large quantities. As long as the taste isn't bad it doesn't need to be specifically good either.
So this chicken rice bowl dish is perfect, easy to make in large amounts and without too much ingredients to buy. Already having the vegetables for the dish Shizuka only needs to buy rice, chicken and almonds before she is done shopping.
On her way to the butcher a peculiar scene unfolds in front of it: Standing there is her niece, Koudzuki Sakura, who is accompanied by a grade-schooler wearing a peculiar eyepiece.
The grade-schooler's appearance reminds Shizuka of a doll, with her graceful features and long hair that is naturally curled. Wearing jeans and a green coat with matching beret she looks at all kinds of people moving along the way, all while muttering some low numbers that don't seem to go higher than thirty.
Is Sakura for some reason playing along with her? Moving towards her relative she greets her niece in the usual manner.
"Shizuka-chan! How are you doing?" Sakura replies in her usual energetic fashion.
I killed a god, became one of humanity's eight kings, and my future job literally became the slaying of gods invading Japan. Of course Shizuka can't answer truthfully, and simply replies that all is well. "But I think that I should ask the question in return, Sakura-chan. What are you doing?"
"Well…" Sakura looks down and shuffles her feet, something that Shizuka recognizes as uncertainty. Sakura wants to tell something, but is unsure whether she should say it or not.
After a long decision Sakura decides to open up to the one who acts as an older sister to her: "Well… uhm… would you believe me if I said I'm learning to perform magic?"
Crap. Shizuka feels some annoyance boiling within her. Lonely people like her are easy prey for occultists and cult members. She should've invited her to stay at the Kusanagi residence during her studies.
"That's ridiculous, Sakura-chan. Think about it, doing things like manipulating the elements, summoning huge monsters or creating armies out of clay puppets are not things a human can do. Who is the one that is feeding you this bull, is it the girl behind you?"
"W-Well, yes, Shizuka-chan, but it's really real! I don't have the tools for it right now, but I'll show you that I can really use magic!"
Great. Shizuka still doesn't believe a single word of it. While she is a little bit knowledgeable on the subject of magic thanks to her own studying back in Niseko, what she hears right now sounds rather fake.
So why not test it out? If she finds the one leading Sakura into that world is from the History Compilation Committee, a small scolding about bringing fresh blood in the magic world will suffice. However, if that person is either a sham or from a minor cult of sorcery, then Shizuka will have to do something… unpleasant.
"Okay then, let's say magic is real. Then what kind of magical activity are you doing right here?"
"Well, Fuyuhime-chan, that girl over there," Sakura points to the little girl with the weird eyeglass, "is an important heir to one of the great families of magic, and she invented a scouter that can measure a person's magic power. She's trying to find people with high potential so that she can train them for her own branch in the magic world."
That sounds really flaky. Shizuka does not like the sound of it, this magic Sakura is learning starts to look more and more like a sham. Time to test it then, whether or not it is real.
"Then Sakura-chan, can't that girl measure my magic energy?" If the results are not 'unnaturally stupid high, this cannot be!', then this Fuyuhime is a sham.
"What a good idea!" Sakura walks over to her friend, introducing Shizuka to Fuyuhime and explaining that they should also test Shizuka's magical energy. Fuyuhime sees no problem with that, and walks over to Shizuka.
"My name is Renjou Fuyuhime. So you are Sakura's niece?" Fuyuhime asks in a curt manner. Shizuka nods, and Fuyuhime starts to fiddle with her eyepiece to get it started. "Honestly, I don't expect to find some A-grade material from her, but it's worth a try." These words are muttered under Fuyuhime's breath, still loud enough that Shizuka can hear them.
Really, what a rude child.
Looking at Shizuka to test her magic level, as Sakura calls it, Fuyuhime starts to read the numbers on her eye screen, going through several stages of facial expressions in three seconds:
From indifferent to interested as Shizuka's power rises, then to happy as she finds out that Shizuka has potential. This is followed by an overjoyed face when she finds out that Shizuka's level is equal to that of the very talented people in the magic world, and then she starts to wonder and doubt when Shizuka's level starts to beat the top of the magic world. And it doesn't stop rising, so all of Fuyuhime's emotions disappear, leaving only shock and fear as she continues to stare at Shizuka.
Yep, this Fuyuhime is the real deal, Shizuka notes to herself. If she can successfully find out how powerful Shizuka is then she is probably associated with either the HCC or a minor cult, and given how she introduced herself as one from a great family she's probably part of the HCC's main branches.
While Fuyuhime still stares in shock at this apparent Campione Sakura looks as bubbly as ever. She hasn't noticed the power that Fuyuhime is measuring and wants to share in the knowledge her friend knows.
"Fuyuhime-chan, what does the scouter say about her power level?"
Fuyuhime would normally take the scouter off and perhaps crush it in her hand while shouting that it is over a certain very high number, but before she could grab the device that showed higher and higher numbers every millisecond it exploded, the remains scattering down on the ground.
"W-W-What is this?!" Fuyuhime pretty much screams out. "How can you have this much magic capacity without mages ever noticing you?! T-The only ones who have such an immeasurable power are… are… are…"
"Campione." Shizuka answers calmly. Yes, now to see how they will react.
"Whawhat?" Fuyuhime almost screams out, disbelieving what happened. Completely flabbergasted she stares at the youngest king, only unintelligible mumbles streaming from her mouth.
"Campione? Isn't that one of those terms they use for devil kings, Fuyuhime-chan?" On the other hand, Sakura looks as bubbly as always, completely unwavering to this news.
Fuyuhime nods blankly, confirming her friend and pupil's words. "Y-Yes, they are the rare kind of humans who successfully slay a god and take their powers for themselves."
"Uwaah…!" Instead of shaking like her teacher she seems to be happy, ecstatic even. She flies towards Shizuka and hugs her tightly as a sign of congratulations. "I can't believe it, to think that you did such an amazing act! You're really amazing, Shizuka-chan!"
"Yes, I know, Sakura-chan." Embracing her niece in return Shizuka tries to explain more details about what happened. "Although it has only been for a week, I did manage to somehow slay a god."
"How? How did you do that?" Fuyuhime starts to point fingers, her entire body giving off a fight or flight reaction. The only problem with that human system is that neither attacking nor running away seem like good ideas now. "How did you slay a god, without even being versed in the world of magic?"
Shizuka can barely give a good explanation. There were so many random variables, each capable of screwing up Shizuka's victory, yet somehow all of them aligned to form a row of miracles. "Luck, determination and willpower, I guess. Even I'm not quite sure myself of how I did it."
"That's it? No magic, no other things? Just plain luck and willpower?" If anything Fuyuhime starts to look both jealous and depressed. "I…ugh…" The words fail to come out of her mouth as she hangs her head in shame.
"Say Sakura-chan, what is wrong with her?"
Sakura lets go of Shizuka and starts to explain the situation around her friend: "You see, Fuyuhime-chan is born with this special condition that doesn't allow her to store magic energy in her body, preventing her from using magic. The Committee she is part of doesn't think that she should become the next head of her family because of that, even though she works really hard to keep up!"
Shizuka does feel bad for Fuyuhime. If Sakura, who is one of the few people Shizuka has a big soft spot in her heart for, claims that her friend is in a horrible situation then Shizuka is quick to believe that. There is no way Sakura would lie, she is too pure for that.
So can Shizuka help Fuyuhime with her problem? She flexes her hand a few times, as if grasping some sort of imaginary power. Yes, she stole her power from a goddess who is also responsible for giving life to humans. While the powers of the godslayer are not that much compared to that of the god, it is wrong to say that she cannot copy that power to some degree.
Yes, it is possible. Standing firm she tells Fuyuhime of a new possibility: "I do not believe that it is impossible for me to cure that condition."
Fuyuhime perks up, but not in an especially hopeful way.
"Forgive me for saying this, but can you really do that? You only became a Campione a week ago, so you only have a single authority thus far. As far as history goes the first authorities of kings are almost always purely for the sake of combat, so can your newest authority truly do such a thing?"
"It doesn't feel impossible, so it should be possible." The only thing to go by is a sense of intuition that screams that she should do it. "Although I also get the feeling that it will cause a binding contract for life."
Just like how that goddess offered Shizuka power so too does this offer work: Fuyuhime will become a full-fledged mage, but is forced to serve Shizuka for probably her entire life.
Fuyuhime understands, but does not let it deter her. Kneeling down in front of Shizuka she makes her promise and absolute vow: "Then I will follow you until the end of the earth. Kusanagi Shizuka, I will promise you unwavering loyalty as I will stand as your right hand in everything. I, Renjou Fuyuhime, swear thus." If Fuyuhime did not know Sakura then this decision would require a lot of thought. However, Sakura likes and is well-liked by her new lord, so it will probably not be that bad.
"Okay, Okay, I believe you, now can you please stand up? There are people watching us." Indeed, people seem to stare at Fuyuhime for her sudden oath. Noticing the people around her the Renjou stands up, looking Shizuka straight in the eye.
"So can you solve this problem right now?" Fuyuhime's worry and despair have been switched with eagerness and hope, as she cannot wait to perform actual magic!
Looking at a nearby clock tower Shizuka sees that she still has some time left before she needs to go home. As the old saying goes, don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today.
"Of course I can solve it now, but I don't want to use my power in a crowded area like this. Do you know any place where this can happen in secret?"
"The Renjou do own several buildings here in Tokyo, including some mostly empty warehouses. Unless you need certain materials for your authority there is an spot a few minutes away from here that is perfect for the job."
"No, that spot will do. Lead the way, please."
Fuyuhime leads the way, and the other two follow. Relatively early during the walk Shizuka's niece starts to ask some questions about the kingship of the eight godslayer.
"So Shizuka-chan, if you are a godslayer… yes, that would work." Sakura starts to perk up, realizing a golden opportunity: "Say, did you know that there is another devil king here in Tokyo?"
Another devil king? Shizuka looks intrigued at her niece, while Fuyuhime looks like she shat her pants.
"Yes, there's this really fearsome devil king who is the cause of many scary events that have been happening for quite some time now. A part of the highway here in Tokyo collapsed and the Tokyo Tower caught fire, among quite a few other things. These are all his fault! I wanted to talk with him to see if he could stop all this, but I've tried twice without success now. All we got is that man's name!"
Hang on, wasn't Sakura also there when Kusanagi Godou revealed himself as Japan's king? Fuyuhime looks with worry at Sakura, but is fully aware Sakura will not be stopped talking about this evil devil. All she can do is brace herself for impact.
"No, I didn't receive any news about other kings in this city." Shizuka replies in a serious tone. Why didn't Tatsuya or one of the other members tell her about the other king? "So what is the name of my peer?"
"Your peer, the seventh king, goes by the name of Kusasagi Goroh!"
Who the heck is that?
Almost sighing from relief Fuyuhime deduces that the HCC probably used some kind of memory altering magic on Sakura when she figured out Godou's true identity, meaning that the only name Sakura can work with is the false one Fuyuhime gave her. That's one problem averted. On the other hand…
"So this Kusasagi Goroh, what kind of person is he?"
…if Shizuka and Sakura are even the slightest bit alike then Kusanagi Godou will be judged evil and be fought by Shizuka "for great justice", the woe on Tokyo be damned. This is where Fuyuhime must cut in!
"Among the devil kings he is the one who will cause the least trouble in peaceful times, trying to live a simple life here in Tokyo. However, if forced to battle he is a pragmatic warrior who will use any and all openings to his advantage, often causing destruction to the area. Even though he gives off the expression of a bad guy, he is simply someone who tries his best to live a simple live."
For some reason Shizuka is slightly reminded of her own brother, but dismisses that thought quickly. No, that's absolutely impossible. However, perhaps those skills honed on her brother can be used against this king, perhaps with the help of some… divine authority, so to say.
"I will deal with him when the time comes. Don't worry Fuyuhime-san, I have no intention of fighting him as long as he doesn't fight me."
"Fuyuhime-chan, wasn't he really bad and didn't he try to do s-"
"No, I managed to obtain an audience with him, and he is not as bad as he seems." Fuyuhime quickly interrupts, not wanting to let Shizuka know that Kusanagi Godou is rumored to be quite the sexual deviant, which is not true: Those types of people know that they have many lovers and act according to the situation. Godou on the other hand, how can anyone be so thick that he doesn't even see love when it is presented to him on a silver platter?! "Other than his knuckle-headed negligence for the surroundings in battle he is quite the nice guy, and most of the rumors are plain exaggerations."
"Ah, you did not get hurt, Fuyuhime-chan?"
"While it was scary meeting him, he turned out to be quite amicable without any evil intentions towards me. Trust me, he's a nice guy… normally." Wanting to end this subject quickly Fuyuhime starts to talk about something different: "Say Shizuka-san, which god did you slay, and what authority did you obtain?"
Shizuka has no problems changing the subject, so goes along with Fuyuhime's questions. "As for the goddess I slew… I know that she is an earth goddess from China, but she never gave me her full name. And as for my authority… hey Fuyuhime-san, can we go through that back alley there? I can simply show it to you."
According to Fuyuhime that alleyway was part of the original course, so no problems there. The back alley is completely empty, something that is really rare down in Tokyo. The trio stops walking, giving Shizuka some time to show her first authority. With no other witnesses Shizuka summons one of the five stones I her hand: "O Water, descend from the heavens!" The stone of water appears in Shizuka's hand, being about as big as the one she picked up before becoming a Campione.
"A… stone?" Sakura speaks up in confusion. Is that it? That's kind of lame if that is all.
"A stone containing more power than a thousand talented mages. This is one of the five [Stones of Heaven], and the authority I obtained from that goddess." She then circles through the other authorities, changing the color and property of the stone one after the other: "O Earth! O Wood! O Steel! O Fire!"
The stone changes from blue to red to white to black to yellow, the type of energy it is radiating with changing every time.
"So the stones allow you manipulation of the elements, huh?" Fuyuhime chimes in. "It sounds interesting, but there must be massive restrictions on a weapon with so much variety." If there is one lesson to be learned from the powers of a godslayer then it is that the more ground an authority covers the larger the restrictions are.
And that is correct. "Of course there are many restrictions. A few days ago I used this stone to its full potential and now it still only recovered half of its power." With a sigh she dismisses the stone, having finished showing her authority. "To cure you I will probably be unable to use a fifth of my authority for a full week."
Fuyuhime quickly realizes the importance of Shizuka's act, and silently shows her appreciation by shutting up about any possible weaknesses.
The trio start walking again, going their way to the empty warehouse.
"Uhm… Shizuka-chan?" Sakura has an idea in her head, but is unsure whether to ask it or not. Shizuka allows the question, so Sakura asks away: "Okay, Shizuka-chan, about your power: You can summon magical stones that can harness the elements. Why don't you name them the [Philosopher Stones]? I think it sounds way better than [Stones of Heaven]."
"To be fair, she has a point." Fuyuhime sides with her friend on this point. "I think it sounds a lot better then what you originally planned."
Point taken, [Philosopher Stones] doesn't sound that bad. There are certainly worse names for her authority. And why not humor Sakura and her friend Fuyuhime, it's not like Shizuka holds such grandiose worth to how her powers are named.
"[Philosophers Stones] it is then, Sakura-chan."
Sakura looks happily at Shizuka because her advice was taken well. Fuyuhime on the other hand point out that they arrived at the destination.
According to Fuyuhime the key to the back door lies hidden in a basket next to the door, and just like Fuyuhime said it so it was. Opening the door the trio enters the almost empty warehouse.
Some empty racks stand in rows at the right side of the building, with small traces of magic indicating that this place was used for storing magical goods. A few windows at the left side of the building provide a dim light that makes vision possible. There are also a few small guard stations, deserted ever since this building stopped being used.
Nothing here, completely empty of live. Even small mammals like mice do not show up in this place.
Perfect. It's time for the spectacle.
Shizuka starts to ponder about how she should start this procedure. How do you cure this person? Does her authority actually have healing functions, or can her body be turned to normal? What is the structural difference between a body that can use magic and one that cannot? How do you turn a body from one state into the other?
Ugh… this is like a layman trying to perform a complicated heart surgery. If Shizuka keeps treating helping Fuyuhime as one then there will be no end in sight. In other words, this has to be solved in a different way, and there is only one possibility.
"O Earth, descend from the heavens!" Shizuka summons the stone of earth, vividly imagining the procedure she wants to try.
"So… do I need to do anything, Shizuka-san?" Fuyuhime asks politely, wanting to help to make the procedure to go as smoothly as possible.
"The only thing you need to do is make sure is that you won't die."
Fuyuhime starts to sweat, not liking where this is going. "H-Hang on, what do you mean by that, not dying? Why would I die?"
"I have to admit that I don't really know how to cure this problem, so my method is a bit more extreme: I'm going to destroy your body and transfer your soul to a body that does not have said problem."
"What?!" Fuyuhime almost shouts in outrage. That sounds stupidly dangerous and really untrustworthy. "Please tell me that you know how to do this, don't you?"
"…" Well… no. Shizuka has never done this procedure before, nor is she fully aware of how this actually works. Even so, as long as her feelings say that it will work then it will work.
Shizuka's silence does not please Fuyuhime. Even Sakura is starting to have doubts, and Fuyuhime wants to cower out: "Say, uhm, Shizuka-san, I believe it would be better if we don't do this. Perhaps you first need to gather some experience?"
"Be faithful to me unto death. Stand by my side no matter what, even if the whole world is my enemy." But the best way for someone to subjugate his fears is to confront them. Shizuka will not allow Fuyuhime to run away. "I promise you a bond that will never go away. Renjou Fuyuhime, do you accept?"
"Y-Y-Yes…?" Fuyuhime has made the promise, and she doesn't plan to back away from it.
Upon accepting these words the stone of earth enters Fuyuhime's body, causing her to be enveloped in a bright shining light even Shizuka cannot see through.
"Shizuka-chan, are you sure this will work?" Sakura asks, having stepped back two strides and her arm now covering her eyes.
"To be completely honest here… not really, no."
This is the second time Shizuka has used her authority, third if you count that instance before she became a Campione. Those two instances could be summarized as "Stab goddess with pointy metal thing" and "Burn stuff with fiery stone", and compared to those blunt attacks that are probably the most basic forms of her authority this use is much more complex.
"But Sakura-chan, I don't believe that anything is wrong yet. I have no reason to do anything harmful to Fuyuhime-san, nor am I retracting my earlier words. Besides, compared to slaying a god this is way easier. The body is starting to form well, too."
"Yes, I believe you…" Even so Sakura is not calmed. Because even with her eyes temporarily blinded she can still listen, and her ears pick it up: "…but why does it sound like Fuyuhime-chan is suffocating?"
Suffocating? Shizuka sharpens her sense of hearing, and it sounds exactly as Sakura describes. "Why is she choking? There shouldn't be anything wrong with her!"
How can this be? The entire earth stone is used to create a new body for her. As far as Shizuka knows Earth is the element from which human bodies are created. If that is all then there should be no problem, so why does it seem like Fuyuhime is dying? Where is the mistake?
As far as myths go one of the most common human creation story is that human bodies are formed from earth and then life is blown… into… them… That's it, the Earth stone only creates a new body, but it doesn't grant it new life! Another stone needs to be used to make this work!
Shizuka reviews in her mind whatever she learned about the five eastern elements, trying to find the conclusion to this problem. There, hidden deep down in her memories she finds the answer! While one would usually think that water, which holds the power over storms, is connected to wind it is in fact the stone of wood that governs the breeze of life!
"O Wood, descend from the heavens!" Shizuka summons a second stone and continues with the spellwords describing her goal: "From the energy of earth I made the body, with the breeze of life I will grant it function. Fuyuhime-san, don't you dare die on me!"
The second stone enters the bright light, and the gagging sound seems to stop. Did it work?
A few long seconds later and the light dims down, as the body of the one operated on falls to the ground, hyperventilating from a lack of air. The two stones fall out of Fuyuhime's body like empty cartridges out of a shotgun. They will need a week to be back at full energy again.
Shizuka too starts to pant, the stress from this predicament taking more out of her then she thought.
"Well, it seems to have all worked out in the end." Shizuka manages to let out between her breaths. "Good thing I thought to use the stone of [Wood], or this might have ended up disastrously." Sakura too is happy, hugging her friend that managed to hang on while praising her tenacity.
"The hell, what do you mean with worked out in the end?!" Well, Fuyuhime on the other hand is rather angry at this sudden procedure. "I nearly died there because of a mistake you made, and you shove it off with an oops? How irresponsible can you be?!"
Okay, that is true, but Shizuka did try to help and in the end succeeded. Overlooking this should be possible, right? "I'm sorry for hurting you, but as long as we reached the planned goal without any side effect I still say that I succeeded. Could you please try to use magic now?"
"Okay then, let's see if you actually succeeded, Shizuka-san." Sakura gets away from Fuyuhime, letting her get on her knees. The newborn magus then snaps her fingers and opens her palm, causing four small orbs of light to come out of it and gather around her.
For a spell [Ghostfire] is quite simple, all it does is illuminate the surroundings. But still, it is actual magic produced by someone who could never use it before!
"I… I did it! I really used magic!" She stands up in glee, acting like she just won the lottery. "I can finally do it! I can use magic!"
"Congratulations, Fuyuhime-chan! You can now finally do it too!"
"So it seems it was a success."
"Yes it was, Shizuka-san. I want apologize for my previous outburst, thank you for finally giving me a bo…" Fuyuhime looks at the other two, mainly at one point that strikes wrong to her. "Say, why do I still look like this?"
The other two don't really understand the question. Is there something wrong with this body?
"I don't really see what you mean." Shizuka tries to look and hard, but doesn't see the problem. She is quite beautiful, so there is no real reason to change her appearance. "I mean, you're quite pretty for a ten year old, so I didn't see a reason to change yo-"
"I'm twenty-one, you dunce! What kind of idiot would think that I am ten when they know that I am friends with a college student! Dumbass! The only reason I look so young was because of that disease! How stupid can you be?"
Fuyuhime quickly realized who she is insulting, and quickly bows down on hands and knees. "I… I'm sorry for what I said, please forgive me."
Clearly a plea from a mortal to a godslayer, Shizuka notes. However, she did have a point with her accusations. It's true that Shizuka did not recognize Fuyuhime's true age and she did cause unnecessary danger. "Don't worry about it. I'm not some megalomaniac who does not recognize her own wrongdoings, so I know that I made some mistakes. However, can you not say that your situation didn't change for the better?"
"That's… true. at least I can use magic now." Fyuyuhime may not look any different, but at least her condition is cured. However, she can also feel that she just signed a leonine clause {4}, as she cannot even muster the tiniest fraction of resistance against Shizuka. Yes, she is forced to serves her entire live under her new master, a direct underling of the eight godslayer. On the other hand, Shizuka does not seem quite as bad as the other kings, but certainly that quality will evolve over time. It's now up to Fuyuhime to lessen the damage her king will cause.
A low grumble of her stomach tells Fuyuhime that she wants to try some food with her new body. Seeing it as a decent opportunity to improve relations with her newest follower Shizuka invites the other two for dinner.
They accept, and the trio go off to buy the rest of the ingredients.
-x-
Same day, evening.
This… is not what Renjou Fuyuhime expected. Sure, with Kusanagi as a last name and being family of the niece of the seventh godslayer means that there is probably some relation between the two youngest kings, and the first thought was that Kusanagi Godou and Kusanagi Shizuka are nephew and niece of one another.
But to think that the two youngest kings are siblings? That is something she did not see coming. Imagine her surprise when she stood in front of Shizuka's home to find the slayer of Verethragna opening the door. Her heart almost skipped a beat. Even weirder is that neither Godou nor Shizuka seem to recognize one another as a king, both acting as if they are living a normal lifestyle. They act more as if they are trying to hide their status from each other…
Wow, they weren't kidding when they said that all kings are idiots by nature. Considering that these monarchs have a sixth sense for magic they should've no problem figuring out who their fellow kings are, so how can these two miss something so obvious?
Ah, that is a problem these siblings will have to sort themselves. Forgetting all about that Fuyuhime enters the house along with the rest.
For a building that houses two kings it is quite poor, but not in the way of decay. It's simply a small side building which was once a small family business. According to Sakura this place used to function as a bookstore, but it went bankrupt due to its inability to adapt to modern times. Right now it serves as a humble home with a living room, separated kitchen, three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a storage room.
Shizuka and Sakura took it upon themselves to introduce Fuyuhime to the two males. They did it splendidly, but a moment of silent awkwardness ends up between Godou and Fuyuhime as they both know that this is not the first time they met, aware of each other's position as Campione and magus respectively.
The five people inside quickly split up: Shizuka and her niece start cooking dinner, while Godou excused himself so he could empty his bladder. This leaves only Fuyuhime and Shizuka's grandfather Ichirou in the living room.
One is an adult female who looks like she is ten. The other is an unrelated male in the late years of his life. Normally forced talk between two of these types would look rather unnatural, and might perhaps end in someone calling the police to call the elder a pedophile. Luckily Kusanagi Ichirou is a lot better with women (Shizuka is an exception), so no problems are expected as he opens the conversation:
"So Renjou-san, are you perhaps acquainted with a certain Renjou Kimiko?"
Fuyuhime looks up at this old man, surprise on her face. "You know my mother?" She didn't expect there to be an older relation between these two families.
"Yes, Kimiko-chan was quite the cute girl when I first met her. She had the same long wavy hair that you have, and her eyes are as mesmerizing as yours."
"Yes, that certainly sounds like my mom alright." She does indeed have quite the beautiful eyes. "So why are you talking about her like you were lovers or so?"
"Well, that's obviously because we were!."
"Y-Y-You were what?!" Fuyuhime turns red, still not quite believing what she hears. "So y-you and m-my mom have… have…"
"I think I'll keep what could've happened in the bedroom a secret for your mom's sake, okay?" Yes, that is not helping Fuyuhime's mood at all, hearing an old man casually admitting to have performed the act of lovemaking with her mother. "But yes, it's true that we went out together for a while. If circumstances were different you might have been Godou's and Shizuka's aunt!"
"I-I-I see. C-Can we change the subject please, I'm not interested in hearing old stories about your l-love!"
"Sure, there are other things to talk about." Ichirou laughs the subject away in quite the charming manner, before continuing a slightly more serious nature. "More importantly, how is Kimiko doing these days? Her boundless energy still as shining as ever?"
Okay, this is a subject she can talk about without worry. "Well, mom is quite nice usually, and she is really doting. Sometimes she's a bit too energetic, but you're absolutely right about that being part of her charm."
"I see, she sounds just like she was thirty years ago. So if she's still in good health she should be the current heir to the Renjou branch of the Committee around now, right?"
"Yes, mom's doing a pretty good job at administrating the hime-miko for the HC…" Hang on… something isn't right at all here: "How do you know that information?!" One half of Fuyuhime wants to immediately perform hypnosis on this man to make him forget everything, yet the other half tells her that she needs to figure out the source of his knowledge first.
"Well, you know what they say: It takes a mage to know one." That is a lie on Ichirou's part, but for the sake of keeping the lead in this conversation it is a necessary one. "I've traveled all over the world when I was younger, meeting all sorts of supernatural events and other mages. For example, did you know that I also dated Lucretia Zola?"
"You did what?!" Fuyuhime almost shouts out, disbelieving what is happening. He used to date the greatest witch on earth (not counting divine ancestors)?
"Yes we went out with one another. I believe that love started to blossom when we solved that plague curse back in the fifties. But it didn't work out between us, and I eventually left the world of magic behind me for my wife." And a bit more lies, but still packed in enough truth to make it believable. "Now all of my children live outside of the magic world, but I'm afraid that some of my grandchildren are getting involved. Last time I checked both Blandelli and Seishuuin are pretty important names in the magic world, and obviously there's you."
Fuyuhime gulps, realizing that this is going in a bad direction. If before he seemed to be an old charismatic man, now he combines it with an aura of seriousness.
"While I can't say for sure whether Godou is involved in the world of magic or simply using his charm on mages and non-mages alike, I do know that you might influence Shizuka and Sakura with the world of magic... or perhaps you already did so? Would you kindly tell me the truth?"
Her emotions still somewhat in jumbles from the sudden reveal and all Fuyuhime falls for the charming question, but is still able to keep Shizuka's feat a secret: "Yes, because of me they did learn about the world of magic, but I swear that I have nor will lead them in any supernatural trouble." After all, knowing Campione that is what Shizuka will do to Fuyuhime, not the other way around.
"Good. Now, if you talk about this with anyone, or something does happen to one of my grandchildren… these old bones may be spry, but I think I'll have to show you why I can stand as Lucretia Zola's partner."
How can a possible death threat be made with such a charming smile? Those words sent chills down the bone of Fuyuhime, who was almost willing to retort with magic were it not for Kusanagi Godou returning from the toilet.
"Ah, did I miss something?" Godou asks to the duo on the couch, of which the youngest looks rather white.
"Nothing at all, Godou. Just some small talk that stays between us, isn't that right Fuyuhime-chan?"
Fuyuhime agrees with a nod, knowing that she should not talk about this subject any longer.
"Either way, Godou, could you check up on Shizuka and see how far dinner is? I'm starving here."
Godou does as his gramps asks him to, but there is no need for it as Shizuka and Sakura come out of the kitchen carrying two large stewing pans, one filled with rice and the other with the topping. Godou puts two large coasters on table so the two women can put the food down. All five then help with setting up the table, before all of them sit down to enjoy the food.
The food itself is decent, and everyone quickly finishes their portion. Only after the two guests say that they do not want any more do Shizuka and Godou take seconds, devouring the rest of the food as if they won't eat again for another week. Fuyuhime looks in amazement at the two siblings, while Ichirou gives a hearty chuckle.
After dinner it would normally be time to part, but out of hospitality Shizuka decides to put what she leaned in her club to practice and offers to make some good tea. For some reason luck decides to abandon Shizuka as the fresh tea leaves have run out and they forgot to restock them. Without any leaves it becomes impossible to fulfill her own order… unless she does that:
The door between the living room and kitchen is shut tight. Nobody will notice if she does something abnormal here. So using her authority a bit to fulfill the need of tea will suffice if she doesn't trouble anyone else with it, right?
"O metal, descend from the heavens." Whispering the sacred command the stone of [Metal] appears in her hand, the same one she used on that fateful day around a week ago.
Why [Metal] instead of the more logical [Water]?
Well, Chinese elements are weird in general. When it comes to tea the five Chinese elements follow the perennial tea ceremony, and since it is November the tea most easily produced comes from the stone of fall, which is [Metal].
Who would've thought that random trivia from your club activity will ever be useful like this?
"For the sake of hospitality I call upon the sacrosanct." Softly speaking these words of power so that no one will hear it Shizuka concentrates her energy on the stone. "Here I declare that my goal will absolutely be fulfilled!" These words would certainly sound a lot more awesome if they weren't used for the sake of making tea.
Meanwhile back in the living room Godou shudders slightly, getting the same fight or flight reaction that normally happens when a deity descends. Unlike those descends however the feeling leaves within a second, causing Godou to interpret it as some sort of bad omen for the days to come. Surely there can't be a king or god within a few meters from him using his authority, right? He would've certainly noticed that before.
Back in the kitchen the final result would make any mage worth his salt scream from frustration. Not because Shizuka failed, no. Right now she has five hot cups of white tea standing on a tray in front of her, exactly as she wanted. No, the mage would scream in frustration that Shizuka used more energy than the entire reserves of a trained mage, all for the sake of making tea.
The only thing that dampens the rage is that the tea tastes absolutely divine. Having brought this tea to the living room Shizuka drinks it together with the other four, and each of them praises the taste of the tea.
"Bai Hao Yin Zhen {5}…" Kusanagi Ichirou mutters under his breath, recognizing what Shizuka just served. Where and when did she obtain something as expensive as that? Magic or simply good connections? Knowing Shizuka both options are equally possible. Ah, it is not that important, the ability to magically generate tea will probably not get Shizuka in trouble. Ichirou gives a glance at Fuyuhime, indicating that he does not mind Shizuka learning these types of magic.
Fuyuhime seems to have a rudimentary understanding of what Ichirou hints at: "This level of magic is okay." Fuyuhime still looks with suspicion at the old man, but also realizes that undertaking malign actions against the caretaker of two Campione is kind of stupid, and her contract with Shizuka would probably forbid such things in general.
The tea is eventually finished, and it is time for Sakura and Fuyuhime to leave. After saying goodbyes (and giving Shizuka her cellphone number) Fuyuhime is walking along the streets with Sakura to her home. However, there is one last task: to tell what happened, except for Kusanagi Ichirou, to the HCC.
It will certainly be news that brings great joy to the association.
-x-
Back to where we left the HCC:
"So to summarize, Renjou Fuyuhime has successfully made contact with our newest king and serves as her right-hand woman. Due to our newest lord's authority she obtained great magical power at the cost of serving Kusanagi Shizuka for the rest of her life. However, Kusanagi Shizuka does not seem to abuse her rule over Renjou Fuyuhime nor cause any other outrageous problems. With her serving our newest lord, the problem of how to serve our eighth king has been solved."
"Indeed, with this our job to find a servant equal to one of the seventh's trio is finished." The Sayanomiya speaks in his formal powerful tone, like he usually addresses an inferior. "I believe that your job is finished now, messenger. I would ask you to leave as us elders will clear the final bits and pieces."
"Of course, esteemed elders!" The messenger bows, and then leaves the chamber through the door. The four elders of the committee sit straight in their chairs, waiting for the messenger to be far enough away to not hear whatever happens next.
Seeshiun Enjou, knowing some of the others quite well, silently gestures a countdown to Katsuhiko:
3…
2…
1…
"Ha! And my daughter is useless, you said! My daughter is not useful, you said! My daughter is unfit to be a heir, you said!"
Yep, Kimiko's years of frustration about the treatment of her daughter is finally unleashed now that a massive turnabout switched around the situation. Enjou slumps in his chair, mentally preparing himself for the long, long rant. Giving a quick glance to the other two males reveals that they did the exact same thing, trying to withstand the upcoming verbal assault.
"All those years I had to hear those insults about my daughter: 'She has a disease that does not let her use magic, how useless.' 'Can it be, a maiden from the largest hime-miko bloodline unable to use magic?' 'Such a disgrace to the Renjou name.' These and many, many other lines flew past my ears, to my little girl that works so hard to prove herself! But her good deeds have finally created a miracle!"
The others only listen with half an ear, really not interested in hearing someone speak about how grandiose their dearest person is.
"Her condition healed, she is now a mage directly serving our newest king. Empowered by Kusanagi Shizuka herself, she's become a hime-miko on par with, possibly even above the level of Ena and Kaoru!"
"No, I believe that you are wrong there, Kimiko." The Sayanomiya heir retorts, seeing a contradiction in the Renjou's words.
"What, don't believe that my daughter has finally reached the level of yours and went beyond it?"
"First of all, let's stop talking about power levels. I do not want to discuss such level of power when we have two kings in our country, and more importantly you're seriously annoying the other three of us with this bragging of yours." Spoken with hidden fury the oldest member speaks the thoughts of the three males, who are all not interested in hearing more of that.
Kimiko gives a small bow of apology, her manner now once more a little bit more seriously. "Yes, you're right. Sorry, I guess I was a bit excited about my daughter. It is a rather special event, after all."
"I doesn't matter, Kimiko-san, I would've done the same if this happened to my Mikihiko. Now about the mistake you made, it centers more about the nature of your daughter. I have good reason to believe that she is not hime-miko anymore."
"Hang on, not a hime-miko? But she's still my daughter, albeit now with her disease cured. If I am a hime-miko then she should be one too, right?"
"Remember what our messenger said?" The Sayanomiya heir opens the report to the right page, where the words he seeks stand precisely written: "Kusanagi Shizuka managed to use [Philosopher's Stones] to create a new body for Renjou Fuyuhime, thereby granting her the ability to cast magic."
"So…?" Kimiko still doesn't understand, nor does Enjou Seishuuin. The Kuhoutsuka elder, on the other hand, believes he figured it out too:
"It's actually quite simple. The powers of a hime-miko are hereditary, which means that they are connected to the body. Our king destroyed the original body and replaced it with a new one. That new body is obviously not a descendant from some divine ancestor, thus it can be safely concluded that Fuyuhime is not a hime-miko."
"Hmm…" Kimiko has to admit that the point sounds valid. There isn't really anything to object to. "So does that mean that my little girl is now a powerful heretic mage?"
"No, that's also wrong." Now it is the elder once more that speaks up. "The authority used by our king is one she usurped from a mother earth goddess. Using this power she created a new body for Renjou Fuyuhime, making your daughter her servant. In other words, Fuyuhime is the servant, or priestess, of one wielding the power of a earth goddess. You should understand what this means, do you not, Kimiko."
"My daughter… is a witch?" The three men nod in acknowledgement, all realizing what exactly happened to the future Renjou heir. "Well, that is quite the surprise." Even so, unimportant whether Fuyuhime is a witch, hime-miko, or has no hereditary magic at all, Kimiko is still very happy for her daughter.
"Actually, there is even a second way to confirm this hypothesis." The Seishuuin elder speaks up. The other three look questionably at their peer, but allow him to continue talking. Since one of the stones used for the creation of your daughter is [Wood], it is not wrong to say that she is partially made of wood, right?"
"Indeed, but what does that say?"
"Well, we also learned that there was no external chance to Fuyuhime's body, which means that her weight is probably still the same. Considering that she never weighed much to begin with, I would say that she weighs the same as a large duck."
"You… completely lost me. I don't have a clue as to what you are saying." Neither Renjou nor Sayanomiya understands what Enjou wants to say. Katsuhiko on the other hand believes to understand where Enjou wants to go, grinning slightly as he starts to understands the joke:
"So… if she weighs the same as a duck... then she is made of wood... then that means..."
"A witch! A witch!" Old man Seiichirou shouts out, also laughing as he finally understands the joke.
The three men fall over from laughing, forgetting everything else in the favor of this reference.
"Really?" The Hime-miko simply looks at the other three with severe annoyance. "Really? We're seriously quoting Monty Python and the Holy Grail {6} here? I'm now inclined to do something horrible to you all."
"Like what?" Enjou speaks in between his laughs. "Will you call my mother a hamster and say that my dad smells like elderberries?" The three man continue to laugh, perhaps even harder than before. Kimiko on the other hand only looks more and more annoyed.
Because of the laughter old man Seiichirou fails to contain the air from his back end, releasing it as a noisy fart. For a small moment the laughter dims, as they look at the elderly man who accidentally made a mistake in etiquette. Kimiko smiles slightly, hoping that this can bring the conversation back on track. The Sayanomiya on the other hand starts to think of a way to save face.
The three males are still affected by the laughter attack, so perhaps… yes, that's it! "See?" He starts to talk with a French accent to the only female in the room. "I fart in your general direction!"
Thus the trio of males start to laugh again, and the Renjou elder only looks more and more annoyed.
"I hate you all. Screw this, I'm out of here." And with those words she walks to the exit.
"Now go away, or I shall taunt you a second time!" the Seishuuin elder adds, only causing the roars of laughter to erupt even higher.
Kimiko proceeds to do exactly that. She exits the room and closes the door behind her, letting out a sigh of annoyance.
Males.
What a bunch of idiots.
-x-
{1} Asa-ren: the concept of morning practice. Starts at 7:30 in the morning.
{2} Yamato damashii: Translates to Japanese Spirit. Based on what makes Japan great and unique. Follows the three virtues of persistence, insight and talent.
{3} Soboro don: A simple chicken rice bowl that literally can be made in under ten minutes. If you have no time to cook but don't want an instant meal, try to make this dish.
{4} Leonine clause: A one-sided bargain, named after one of Aesop's fables, "The Lion and his fellow-hunters".
{5} Bai Hao Yin Zhen: A pricy white tea from China, it sells for 350-400$ per kilogram. It tastes fleshy, sweet and delicate, and the silvery hairs of the tea buds ae still visible in the tea.
{6} Monty Python and the Holy Grail: A famous movie depicting the totally accurate historical journey of King Rama and his subordinates. The film was made through a combination of two people: a godslayer known as Graham Chapman, who became a Campione by slaying Thalia, the goddess of order, vegetation and most importantly comedy; His partner while making this film was Bacchus, god of wine and theater.
-x-
And that was the third chapter of It sits in the family!
With this the Rise to Kingship arc is finished. This arc can be summarized in three questions: How did Shizuka become a Campione? How did Shizuka make contact with the HCC? How does Shizuka settle in Japan as a godslayer? I believe that I have answered them all to the best of my ability.
The big question one should ask if you make an eighth king is how you support him. You can give him the support characters of other kings, but that's just stealing. You can give him a canon character who does not serve any king, but those are usually left aside for a reason. You can also give him OC's, but they require characterization to fully flesh out and be acceptable. Each have their pros and cons, but choose whatever suits the story the best.
One thing I should've thought out more is the fact that Wu Xing is stupidly complex and has some connections that us westerners find really weird. For example, take Madame Aisha's authority [Winter Queen], which lets her summon ice dragons. So, which stones does Shizuka need to copy this authority?
The answer should sound obvious. Ice is solid water, so obviously it is the water stone, right?
Nope, you're wrong.
Okay then, this can be understood. There's also the dragon aspect, and as we all know earth goddesses and dragons are connected. The answer has to be Earth and Water, right?
Nope, wrong again.
Then what is the correct answer?
Metal and Wood.
Metal and Wood?
Yep, Metal and wood. Ice falls under metal, not water, and draconic deities are mainly covered by wood, not earth (though the latter also has some connections).
So where does Luo Hao's [Hopeless Forest], which allows her to summon man-eating flowers over a massive area, go?
Wood, right?
Nope, flowers are part of Fire, not Wood.
John Pluto Smith's Jaguar transformation, which grants super speed at the cost of all artificial light. Would that be fire, or perhaps nature or earth?
Again wrong, creation of a Jaguar falls under metal.
If I want I can give examples of this all day. So if Shizuka seems to make something from a totally wrong element, like that example where she made tea with the [Steel] stone, trust me when I say that I researched it thoroughly. Here is a list with the types of powers each stone actually grants:
Fire: fire, light, food, sun, oil, souls, heat, flowers, birds, heart, love, passion, taste, and red tea.
Water: water, storms, lightning, thunder, steam, mud, darkness, defensive buffs, shelled beasts, fear and black tea.
Earth: earth, rock, carbon, energy, smoke, spirit, gravity, earthquakes, offensive buffs, dragons, pleasure, humanity and yellow tea.
Wood: wood, life, health, poison, wind, air, sound, magic energy, thoughts, also dragons, sight and green tea.
Metal: metal, gemstones, glass, ether, milk, clouds, holy water, ice, snow, furred animals, speed buffs, rationality, smell and white tea.
As you can see many things are not what they seem. I had some trouble sorting this mess out, and so does Shizuka. The question is, can she use this division to her advantage in the upcoming battle?