It had taken only moments for Izanami's curse to spread across the once-divine realm.

As he looked at the dead and withered husks of what had once been the Celestial Plain's great forests, Chibiterasu thought on that name for a moment. Tsukuyomi had caught up with him and the other survivors moments earlier, and told the young sun god about her appearance. Neither of them knew much more about her other than what the legends told - how she had become the goddess of death following a spat with his grandfather Izanagi, and swore to destroy all the life Izanagi had created. But those tales had taken place over two thousand years ago, and the gateway to the afterlife had been sealed away by Izanagi ever since.

The young god involuntarily shivered a bit as he thought on the barrier that had hidden away that dark place. Although the massive boulder Izanagi had placed there was merely a physical barrier, the afterlife was a separate realm from that of the living. A spiritual barrier lied over the cave as well, forbidding the spirits from within to return to the land of the living. To break past that barrier would require strength beyond imagining, yet Izanami had done so.

The thought terrified him. Not even his mother could stand against Yami, and the dark lord's power was miniscule in comparison to the maiden of death. Even if they could escape the rapidly-decaying Celestial Plain before the dark forces found them, it was only a matter of time before the mortal world below found the same fate, and they stood no chance against this new enemy if it came to a fight.

Even though the group of surviving Celestials wasn't aware of Izanami's arrival, they too had sensed the wave of pure malice that had shaken the divine realm upon her release. Even now as they waited within the shelter of the once-majestic forest, he could see the terror on their faces, the whispers of panic as their world crumbled around them.

His thoughts were interrupted as a dark-furred wolf rapidly approached, transforming into the form of Tsukuyomi as he stopped in front of the sun god. The lunar deity had clearly seen some action while away, judging by his exhaustion and a couple fresh wounds on his body.

"Another pack of imps," the moon god said, catching his breath, "more numerous than the scouting parties we've run into already." He shook his head, continuing. "They're spreading across the Plain faster than before. We have to get off this realm quickly, or they'll find us."

Chibiterasu nodded, preparing the survivors to move out. They had been following this pattern for the past few days now - either Tsukuyomi or Chibiterasu would move forward to scout ahead while the other remained behind to defend the Celestials in the event a pack of the dark creatures stumbled upon them. With the sheer number of foes on the Plain, they simply couldn't afford to take risks. Were they to travel as a group and stumble upon a pack of imps, the ensuing battle would likely cause more than a few Celestial casualties. At least a single scout could easily slip away if need be.

As the pack of survivors began to move onward, the sun god looked towards their destination, the large mountain that stood on the northern side of the Celestial Plain. According to his uncle, a gateway to the mortal realm still stood there, hidden within the tunnels underneath the mountain. It was the closest way off the Plain that wasn't already overrun by Izanami's minions, and their best chance at escaping before the majority of the dark host discovered them.

As they came to a clearing, the entrance to the mountain's tunnels starting to come into view, the sun god found himself feeling some hope for the first time in the past several days. Hope that was almost immediately killed by the sound of a loud horn behind them.

Chibiterasu's heart sank as he whirled towards the sound, seeing a large pack of imps rapidly approaching behind them. Drawing his brush, the sun god drew a quick horizontal stroke at the base of the distant treeline, summoning a power slash that sent a number of the dead trees falling to the ground, momentarily delaying the approaching forces.

Hearing the sound of a sword being drawn behind him, he turned towards Tsukuyomi, who had his katana in his hand, ready for combat.

His uncle looked at him for a moment. "Take the Celestials and lead the way into the tunnels. I'll keep them off our backs."

Although Chibiterasu knew that the moon god wasn't in ideal shape for that type of combat, there was no time to argue, and they couldn't afford to send the rest of the survivors in alone due to the possibility of more of the dark creatures waiting for them inside. Nodding, the sun god, drew his sword and reflector, running to the front of the group as he ushered the remaining Celestials towards the tunnels ahead.

Tsukuyomi's concerns were quickly proved valid, as three imps leaped at him from the darkness of the tunnels. Bringing his shield up, the sun god easily blocked the first imp's strike, exiting the block into a spinning slash that sliced into the creatures back, quickly killing it. As the second brought its weapon towards the young god, he continued the motion of his spin, using the edge of his blade to turn aside the attack.

Although the imp was sent staggering away, momentarily stunned, there was no time to launch a counterattack as the final imp threw its shamisen towards him, the deadly weapon spinning rapidly.

Moving quickly, Chibiterasu leapt to the side, exiting into a roll as he switched out his sword for his Devout Beads. Flicking the rosary like a whip, his weapon latched around the now-unarmed imps foot, pulling it towards him as the sun god pulled back. As his foe flew towards him, he aimed a heavy swing with his reflector, slamming the shield into the creature's head and sending it to the ground, unmoving.

The sun god had just enough time to backstep as the imp he had previously stunned, clearly not learning from its previous attempt, again leapt at him. Knowing his weapon had the advantage in range, Chibiterasu swung his rosary at his foe, the strike catching the imp in midair and sending it flying into the tunnel wall.

With the imps dispatched, the sun god quickly surveyed the area, scanning for any more threats within the entryway of the tunnel as he sheathed his Devout Beads, again drawing his sword, the blade's shorter reach of more use in the narrow tunnels ahead. Seeing no other enemies ahead, he signaled for the Celestials to move forward, charging ahead in front of them.

At the back of the group, Tsukuyomi was having a much tougher time than his nephew, the sheer numbers of the creatures making it difficult for the lunar deity to hold them off on his own. Things began to become a bit more manageable as the group of survivors entered the tunnels, the narrow path restricting the number of imps that could attack the moon god at once.

Of course, the narrow tunnels also prevented him from using his katana at full length, forcing him to fight without his shockwave technique the extended blade allowed, a less-than-ideal situation considering that the moon god was already weary and beaten from all the combat he had been in the past few days.

His strength rapidly fading, Tsukuyomi looked around for some sort of advantage as he retreated, eventually noticing a segment of the tunnel wall that had started to crumble. With his free hand, the lunar deity grabbed a throwing knife from the belt strapped to his chest, hurling the small blade towards the weakened wall. As the knife hit its target, a shockwave of lunar energy launched from the weapon, slicing into the wall and forcing more of it to collapse, blocking off the tunnel behind them from further reinforcements.

The threat behind them taken care of, at least for the moment, he sheathed his katana, taking the chance to catch his breath. Ahead of him, the group of Celestials stopped as they reached their destination. Seeing the commotion, the moon god rushed towards the front of the group, looking at the torii that sat in the middle of the chamber, an image of the mortal realm glowing between the posts of the sacred gate.

Tsukuyomi offered a silent prayer to his sister at seeing the portal was still intact and active. Soon, the group of survivors found themselves on the mortal world below, not far from the temple Chibiterasu had built near the outskirts of Kyoto. Once he was sure everyone had entered through the gate, the moon god drew his katana, slicing through the other end of the torii and breaking the portal, preventing any pursuit from the imps that had been chasing them.

Fortunately for the survivors, the temple was still mostly intact, apparently having sustained minimal damage from Susanoo's storm that had hit days earlier. After a few minutes, the group had moved in, the sacred place providing a much-needed opportunity for them to rest and regain their bearings after the ordeal that had taken place on the divine realm above.

Chibiterasu, knowing the place better than everybody, found himself keeping busy as the remaining Celestials settled in, ensuring that the building's defenses were in place and would hold against whatever would come during the night. Once he was satisfied everything was in order, the young sun god stepped outside, standing at the temple's entryway, overlooking the sunset.

He found Tsukuyomi there, sitting on the steps that led up to the temple, watching with sadness as the shining orb disappeared over the edge of the horizon. Chibiterasu had never seen his uncle so down, considering how the moon god had a tendency to be stoic and serious even in the most dire of circumstances. Of course, with all they had lost over the past few days, these were far from normal circumstances.

They remained there for a few moments, the lunar deity seemingly unaware of his nephew's presence, until Tsukuyomi finally spoke.

"We stand no chance without Amaterasu."

The moon god was stating the obvious. Both of them were well aware that the powers arrayed against them were far too much to take on without the power of the sun goddess and the elder Brush Gods. Even though Chibiterasu could still wield his brush techniques, thanks to the power of the Brush Gods' children, his power still paled in comparison to his mother's.

As he thought of his mother, the young sun god looked at the setting sun, the light of the glowing orb seeming to radiate an aura of calm and filling him with an unusual sense of hope. In that moment, he knew the power that caused the light he now saw was not his own.

"She isn't gone," Chibiterasu replied, "I can sense her power. It's distant, and weak, but it's there."

The moon god looked back in disbelief. "There is no way your mother survived that attack, Chibi," he said, pausing for a moment. "Izanami's forces now completely control the Plain. Without her powers, there's no way she could have escaped in time."

Indeed, they had just barely made it off the divine realm themselves. If his sister hadn't been distracting Yami, it was unlikely they would have been able to get the same head start against the forces of darkness. Amaterasu and Yuro lacked the same head start, and without the goddess's powers, had less potential in combat than their group had.

Tsukuyomi blinked as he thought of the human youth his sister had rescued from Kyoto days earlier. He knew that it had been the boy's resemblance to Waka that had initially attracted her, that golden hair that had been the defining characteristic of the Moon Tribe. Amaterasu had also mentioned how the youth had seen the prophet's memories, indicating that there was more of a connection between the two than just appearance.

The moon god thought back on the prophet for a moment. In the years following the sun goddess's adventures in Nippon, Waka's prophetic abilities had begun to grow at a rapid pace, visions beginning to appear more frequently, sometimes showing events of the past rather than exclusively those in the future. He had eventually started to learn how to control the visions he received. As the prophet had described it, it was as if every possibility in the future was a door, and he had the ability to see inside the doors, to see what could be.

During the last few years before his death in Florence, the prophet had even managed to conjure some of those doors into existence, opening portals in time to both the past and future. If Yuro shared some sort of connection with Waka, then perhaps the human also held the power to manipulate those portals.

Tsukuyomi quickly got to his feet as the pieces clicked together in his mind. Chibiterasu had said that his mother's power was there, yet distant… and there had been no conventional means for Amaterasu and Yuro to escape the Celestial Plain in the moments following the attack. If the human youth did indeed share his predecessor's abilities, those powers would have provided a means of escape… and would explain why the sun goddess's power seemed so distant to her son.

If Amaterasu was indeed in a different time, then surely she had no idea of what Yami had unleashed after the attack on the Plain. They needed to find her, warn her about Izanami's return, which meant finding a way to travel though time to the place his sister now resided.

A plan started to form in his head, and he turned to look at his nephew.

"I know where she is," he said, drawing a look of confusion from the young sun god. After a few moments of conversation, the moon god brought Chibiterasu up to speed, explaining how the sun goddess had likely escaped to a different time, and the need to find and warn her of the dark forces that stood against them.

"I will travel to the Spirit Gate in Yoshpet," Tsukuyomi continued, "and use it to find and bring back Amaterasu. You must remain here and lead the surviving Celestials to safety."

Chibiterasu shook his head. Messing with time almost never ended well. "I'm not letting you travel to that place alone. Don't forget what that portal did to my mother so many years ago."

"The demons will be on this world soon enough," The moon god replied, "This place will likely be one of the first they attack. We cannot leave the Celestials on their own." He paused in thought before continuing. "You are Amaterasu's heir, Chibiterasu. They trust you more than they do me. Rest here for the night, then in the morning, lead them towards where Kamiki Village once stood. Though Konohana has weakened over the years, I sense that the portal to the spirit realm that stood there is still intact. You'll be as safe as you can be there."

The sun god sighed in exasperation, not liking the idea of his uncle again going off on his own but also not having any better ideas. Tsukuyomi was right - it would be easier for him to convince the Celestials to leave the apparent shelter of the temple for the remains of Kamiki. If they could make it to the sacred tree Konohana, they could use the gate that stood there to travel to the Cave of Nagi. Considering the gate would only allow those pure of heart to pass, it would assist greatly in keeping away the demons that were sure to come.

Silently, Chibiterasu nodded. They truly didn't have any better options.

Tsukuyomi gave him a slight grin. "Good luck."

Then, the moon god turned, walking away from the temple as he shifted into his wolf form, soon darting off into the distance.

A moment later, he was gone.


A bit of a shorter chapter than usual, but this was the most logical place to cut it off. I originally wanted to put in some more of Ammy/Yuro's adventures in this chapter as well, but it made more sense to focus on Tsukuyomi and Chibiterasu this time around. Had I included the Ammy/Yuro bits, the chapter probably would've been way too long, even by my standards. Next time, I suppose ;)

We also got to see a bit more of Tsukyomi's arsenal with the moon daggers. After all, he's supposedly only slightly below Amaterasu's power level, so it only makes sense that he's got more tricks up his sleeve than just his katana.

Speaking of Tsuki, the poor guy clearly isn't taking the loss of Yumigami well, even if he doesn't really show it outwardly. Sad, but understandable.

Also, for those who aren't aware, a torii is a Japanese gateway that was used to mark the entrance of a shrine. It's the same type of gate used in the games for Golden Gates, as well as the gates that cause various hidden areas to appear (such as the entrance to the Cave of Nagi outside of Konohana, and the entrance to Sasa Sanctuary). A shamisen is a guitar-like instrument, and is the weapon wielded by red imps in the original game.

As always, constructive feedback is always appreciated, and thank you all for your continued support :)