Disclaimer: Persona 4 and Okami don't belong to us. They belong to ATLUS and Capcom respectively.
KaguTsumi: Well, Izanagi is a god. It could take a while...
Chapter 9: Web of Tsuta
Souji
His first thought on the ruins were: Dark, green, and dangerous. As they entered the ruins, the heavy odor of decaying plants and earth hit them, intermingled with the smell of rotting fruit. Sunlight shine from a vast hole in the ceiling of the ruins, filtering through the leaves of enormous trees that seemed to have been the ones to punch the hole in the first place. The once grey stone of the ruins was now buried under thickets of ferns and carpets of moss, vines as thick as his body growing in and out of the walls, cobwebs weaved between them. Agata forest had slowly encroached into this stone building, and had won the age old battle between nature and civilization.
But unlike Agata forest, as soon as he entered the ruins, he had been put on edge. He wasn't sure what, but something about these ruins was decidedly dangerous. But for the life of him he couldn't tell why. Part of his suspicious was confirmed however, when they found the source of that fruity tang in the air. Much like Agata Forest, Tsuta Ruins was filled with water. However, the water that filled what he assumed was the central chamber of the ruins bore too much of a resemblance to purple kool-aid to be healthy. The smell of rotting fruit grew stronger as he walked up to the edge of the pool-really more of a small lake, and he watched as the purple liquid lapped the edges of the shore, taking careful note of all the brown, dead moss that crumbled in his hands.
"Is the water supposed to look like that?" he asked.
Amy walked up to him, sitting beside him and observing the water, before turning her attention to the center of the lake. He glanced up at the colossal misshapen statue rising out of the water, one hand raised towards the rood as if trying to escape.
"Hmm, looks like we gotta get to that statue! Time for some lily pads!"
Amy barked in affirmative, and a lily pad sprouted onto the surface of the water. Before promptly withering and bubbling, violently sinking into the murky depths.
"Or not," Issun said quickly.
He nodded, plucking and dropping a leaf, watching it dissolve.
"Note to self: Do not touch the death water," he agreed, before looking up.
"Where's Mariko?"
Issun and Amy looked up as well and noticed the conspicuous lack of Mariko.
"Huh? Where the heck did she get off too? These ruins could be dangerous!"
Try were dangerous. When they found her, Mariko was dodging a withered tree that was out for blood, trying to pummel her into a smear with its branches. She was still in one piece, but there were tears in her kimono, and a scratch along her arm. He unsheathed his nodachi, rushing at the tree with the intention of woodchips. The tree instead whipped its branches around, smacking into Mariko and sending her flying towards him. His eyes widened and he dropped the nodachi just in time to attempt to catch her. Attempt being the key word here. She crashed into him, knocking the wind out of him and sending them both rolling to the ground, Mariko landing on top of him. Which wasn't as nice as it sounded.
The tree whipped around violently, the leaves sursuring as if laughing. And then with an ugly pop, the tree sprouted a cannonball sized fruit, before launching it towards them. He pushed Mariko off him, and reached for his sword. His fingers found the hilt of his blade, and he swung. Much to his surprise, he heard a barely audiable 'slash' a when the sword connected with the fruit, and the fruit careened back towards the tree, slamming into the tree with an audiable crunch. The tree slumped forward, and a moment latter glowed, becoming healthy once more with green leaves and small red fruit. Amaterasu walked up to them, staring down and barking. He stood, up, and turned towards Mariko, who was brushing the dirt of her kimono.
"Why did you run off?" he asked.
Mariko turned towards him, frowning.
"You guys were taking too lo- "
"You can't just walk into some dangerous ruins by yourself, unless you're looking to get killed!"
Mariko's eyes were wide, and he took a deep breath.
"Sorry."
Mariko didn't say anything, and Issun spoke up.
"The kid's right, Mari. This place is probably filled with demons and stuff. Even if you are a babe, this place isn't safe."
He raised an eyebrow. What did being a babe have anything to do with anything? Amaterasu, seemingly unconcerned with their conversations, started to walk off. He began after her, and turned to a silent Mariko.
"Are you coming?"
"…Yeah."
"I'm not the only one who's noticed how big this place is, am I?" he asked, trying to climb the rock face blocking their path. The moss covering the stone didn't help him. Amy looked down on him, barking encouragement. He finally managed to climb up, and laid there for a moment as Amy pawed his belly, before looking down.
"Do you need some help?" he asked.
Mariko scowled.
"I'll be fine!"
A moment later, he jumped back down, and Mariko accepted his help silently, red faced. By the time they got up, Amy and Issun were nowhere to be seen. They were silent for a moment.
"So…This place is pretty big, isn't it?"
He blinked in surprise, and turned towards Mariko.
"I mean," she continued, "Look at the doors. They're like eight feet tall."
"…Yeah, I suppose so," he agreed, "It makes getting through here difficult, though."
"Yeah. A real pain," Mariko agreed. Another moment of silence.
"You said that the key to your past lied in these ruins?"
Mariko turned towards him.
"That's why you were trying to hurry, right?"
"…Yeah. That's right."
Mariko crossed her arms, but looked solemn instead of angry.
"I have no memories."
He blinked at the bluntness.
"I can only remember these past few days, and I have nothing. Nothing except for this…" Mariko took out something from the folds of her obi, and he examined it. It seemed to be made of bamboo…
" The old lady says that it's a comb," Mariko said, staring at the comb. He tilted his head, and reached out to grab the comb. His hand brushed up against Mariko's, and Mariko withdrew the comb.
"Sorry," he said.
"It's fine," Mariko said, putting the comb back.
"It's a comb, and it's apparently old, but that's all I know about it. And that doesn't tell me anything about myself," Mariko was staring at the ground, hugging herself,
"I just thought, maybe this place really does hold the key to my past." Mariko seemed melancholy. And he couldn't stand anyone who was melancholy.
"I'll help," he said suddenly. Mariko looked up at him in surprise.
"Huh?"
"If the key to your past lies in these ruins, then I'll help you find them. I'm sure Amaterasu would help too."
Mariko looked at him, uncomprehendingly.
"Y-You're serious?"
He nodded.
"Wouldn't dream of joking."
Mariko silently looked away. "Don't make promises you can't keep…But thank you." He could see a smile, and he smiled as well. "Hey, you guys made it!" They both turned to see Amy walk up to them. "What's with the smiles?" Mariko immediately schooled her features, and he shook his head. "Nothing. Let's hope the rest of these ruins aren't as hard to traverse."
He looked at the rushing waterfall and roaring river of clean, non-death water, and then the multiple rock faces past it, before sighing and hopping onto lily pads to join Amy and Mariko.
Mariko
"Hey, look! It's another one of these things!"
Beetle and Sunny ran up to the large stone sphere in the middle of the room, Sunny sniffing the ball inquisitively and Beetle buzzing about.
"One of what?" she asked as Souji knelt down to look at the ball, brushing cobwebs.
"It looks like a Sapling Orb," Beetle said.
Beetle had apparently noticed their clueless looks, because then he started to explain.
"Sapling Orbs hold a heck of a lot of natural power. But they only work in their proper places. This one ain't in its proper place though."
Sunny started to push the sphere, but no progress seemed to be made.
"And it's a lot heavier than it looks," Beetle muttered.
Sunny gave up pushing, panting.
"Looks like we aren't going to make much progress with this. Let's keep going!"
Sunny started to walk away, and she followed, only to notice Souji was still at the orb.
"Hey, are you coming or not?"
Souji raised a hand, still staring at the sphere. Before starting to push the sphere himself. At first, the stone wouldn't budge…And then slowly but surely it moved, inch by inch.
"Holy-! How are you moving that!?" Beetle yelled.
"With great difficulty…" Souji grunted.
She watched him push it at a snail's pace, red in the face, before sighing.
"Let's me help."
She walked up to him, and putting all her weight into it, pushed. The stone rolled about a foot. Souji looked at her in surprise.
"Well? Push!"
He nodded after a moment, and working together, they started to push once more. Sunny walked to their side, and the Beetle kept on yammering about impossible things.
"I really hope you're right about this being a Sapling Orb, Beetle," she grunted.
"Relax, I'm sure about i- Hey!"
She ignored the now red Beetle, and focused on pushing the ridiculously heavy ball. Whatever this thing was made of had no right to be this heavy! Souji suddenly stopped.
"Why'd you stop?" she snapped.
There was a roar, and Souji knocked her down to the ground the second time that day, the demon narrowly missing them. From the ground, she could see an ugly face leering at them, fangs drooling and claws outstretched as the petals on its back twitched. The demon roared, charging at them…And headlong into a tree. Sunny leapt onto the demon, snarling and clawing at the tough hide. The demon yowled, trying to buck the goddess off. Sunny held fast, and with a life of their own her necklace looped around its neck, strangling it. The ogre bucked and coughed, slowly chocked into unconsciousness. With a last pitiful wheeze, the demon fell to the ground, it's bud opening to reveal succulent fruit. Succulent fruit cut into half, and blossoms fell to the ground as Sunny padded towards them. She felt Souji sigh, resting against the stone orb. A sudden chime, and the orb was no longer stone but crystal. Slippery crystal that fell from beneath them, rolling fast and bouncing wildly against the walls, before coming to rest at its initial place. Sunny regarded the orb, before turning towards them and whining. Souji got off the floor, rubbing his head, taking one look at Sunny he sighed.
"Fine…"
"I can only hope that the next room won't be so difficult," Souji groaned.
Both she and Sunny had watched him try to push around the ball as slippery as an eel, Beetle yelling directions. It had taken the better part of ten minutes.
"Relax kid! I'm sure the next room won't be so bad!" Beetle said.
They opened the abnormally large doors, entering into a room filled with water and shallow islands, sunlight filtering from the ruined roof.
"See, what did I tell you?"
The room's peace was immediately shattered by a pair of bud ogres, like the one from before, swooped down towards them, their leaves spinning furiously. Beetle swore, and Sunny growled before jumping onto one of them, making it veer off course. And leaving the other one for them.
"Get back!" Souji said, unsheathing his sword as the ogre landed in front of them.
"And what, leave you to fight it alone? I can tell that you've held that blade for only a short time!" she refuted.
Souji gritted his teeth, but the time for words was over as the demon leapt, snarling. Souji yelled, striking the demon. She had to admit that his swordplay wasn't half-bad. But even a good swordsman could do nothing with a dull blade, and the nodachi barely cut the ogre's hide. The ogre roared, swiping at Souji with its claws. Souji was forced back, continuing to attack the ogre. The leafy hide was cut, but not pierced. Souji managed to get a lucky strike, slashing the ogre's weak face. Unfortunately, this enraged the demon, who pounced on him. Souji fell to the ground, the ogre falling on top of him. The demon's claws were blocked by the nodachi, and Souji grunted under the pressure. She herself watched the spectacle, frozen. What could she do!? Then she spotted Souji's bag in the corner of her vision.
"A couple of exorcism and vengeance slips, though I don't know if they'll be of any use…"
She grabbed the bag, and started to tear through it, before finding what she needed.
"Hang on!" she yelled, running towards the demon and placing the exorcism slip in the folds of its bud, tearing the top of it.
"Take this!"
The demon didn't have much time to react before the slip exploded, engulfing the three of them. She felt her skin burn, and when the world had color again, Souji and Sunny were looking at her in concern.
"What happened?" she asked, her vision swimming.
"You got caught up in that exorcism slip and fell unconscious," Souji said. There was a long gash across his cheek, drops of blood falling from it. She nodded to herself. Yes, that was indeed what had happened…
"What about the demon?"
"Gone, Mari! You gave it a heck of a beating!" the Beetle said, before looking at her intently.
"What?" she asked, irritated.
"It's just that exorcism slips are only supposed to effect demons and spirits," Beetle said.
She scoffed.
"I'm neither of those things," she turned towards Souji, "Hey. It affected you too, right?"
Souji nodded.
"It felt weird. And I was dizzy for a moment."
"See!" she said smugly.
Beetle hummed.
"Still, it's a bit odd. Whadda ya think, furba- ".
Sunny was currently sniffing a log on the farthest island.
"Dammit furball, stop leaving us behind!"
Sunny ignored them, still sniffing, before looking up at the sky. For a moment, the sunlight shone bright, warm rays washing over her skin. And the log glowed as mushrooms with caps big enough to support people sprouted, spores flying everywhere. She sneezed.
"Geez, did you have to do that…" she muttered.
Souji stared at the mushrooms in something that she might've thought was wonder, but she couldn't tell. He also seemed to be ignoring his wound.
"Hey, you're bleeding."
Souji turned towards her, before brushing a hand against the gash and wincing. "It appears I am. Didn't notice."
"You must be a but dumb not to notice something like that."
Souji gave her a look, and she started to rummage through the rucksack the Old Hag had given her, bringing out a roll of bandages and the medicinal paste.
"Hold still," she said, unrolling the gauze.
Souji looked at the jar of green paste warily.
"That isn't going to sting, is it?"
"Yes, it will. Why do you ask?"
Souji was silent for a moment.
"I think I'll take my chances with Am-"
She grabbed him before he could leave. A moment later, Souji poked at the bandage over his face, wincing. Beetle jumped over to Sunny, who was also sneezing, silently looking at the mushrooms.
"…Nice one furball! This is our way forward!" Beetle turned towards them. "C'mon, you slowpokes! Let's get to climbing!"
Issun
"How much further do you think it'll take to get to this Ume person?"
"How should I know?" Souji was silent.
"Well, I was hoping…"
"Saving this guy isn't the only thing we're here to do, remember? "Mari reminded them.
"Don't worry, I remember," Souji said.
He frowned.
"Well I don't. Fill me in here."
Mari and Souji glanced at each other.
"…I don't remember anything about my past," Mariko said.
He blinked, waiting for the punchline. Mariko had her arms crossed, and Souji had the same serious look.
"You're serious?"
"Madame Fawn said that the key to Mariko's past lies in these ruins," Souji added.
He thought for a moment. On one hand, the bone lady had told them this. On the other hand, the bone lady had told them this.
"Well, I don't trust the bone lady. But hey! If Mari's past is somewhere in these dusty ruins, then we'll definitely find them! Right furball?"
Amy barked in agreement. Mari was silent, but in the corners of his eyes, he could see the hint of a smile.
"After all, if it's some sort of heirloom or something, it'll probably be with all the treasure, heh heh heh!"
"This looks safe," Souji noted.
The room past the door was gigantic, with an equally gigantic waterfall Unfortunately, it was also mostly just bridge. A mossy bridge spanning over a yawning chasm, the spray from the waterfall causing a fine mist. Amaterasu looked down, and he peeked past her ears. Down below, the water churned violently. He gulped, before grinning weakly.
"Hey, all the other bridges in this place were fine! So this one should be too!"
Souji and Mari looked skeptical, but Amy was seemingly unbothered by the chasm, and started walking onto the bridge. After a moment, the two humans followed suit, walking into the room, making slow progress across the cracked stone. He shuddered for a moment. Amy might have been a god, but even she wouldn't be able to do anything if the bridge gave. At the very least, it looked like it would hold.
"Achoo!"
Mari's violent sneeze echoed across the room.
And a second later, so did her screams. He and Amy whirled around in time to see Mari slip off the bridge, Souji holding on to her hand and trying to find purchase on the slippery bridge.
"Hang on you two!"
Amy ran, claws scratching the stone. Souji grunted, and Mari looked up at him, wide eyed. The world seemed to slow down as Amaterasu muscle's tensed, before she leapt into the air. At the same time, Souji's grip slipped, and Mari fell. Souji lunged after her.
And fell too, Amaterasu's teeth barely brushing against his kimono. Amy yelped as she skid across the surface of the bridge herself, barely falling herself. He tumbled off Amy, embedding Denkomaru into the cracks of the bridge, and looked down into the chasm below.
For a moment, all he could see was churning rapids, and his heart plummeted. Then he caught a bob a grey hair, followed by white, and he exhaled. Amy gave a similar sigh.
"Hey!" he yelled.
Souji, pulling an unconscious Mari, looked up.
"You okay!?"
He couldn't hear anything over the roar of the waterfall.
"Well, just hang in there! Try to get to the entrance! We'll meet you there!"
The dot that was Souji was still fro a moment, before swimming towards the shore. He sighed and looked up at furball.
"Let's go quickly," he muttered. Amy barked, and he leapt onto her, before the both of them made their way across the bridge.
Mariko
She woke up cold and wet.
"Ah, you're awake."
She looked up to see Souji sitting next to her. She sat up, shivering. They were on a small stretch of land, dark water lapping the shore and the roar of the waterfall distant.
"What-?"
"We fell of the bridge, remember?"
She nodded, shuddering.
"What about Sunny and Beetle?"
Souji raised an eyebrow.
"Amaterasu and Issun were still on the bridge." Souji rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I couldn't hear them, but I'm pretty sure Issun told us to hang on or something." She hugged herself, shivering.
"And are we going to do that?"
Souji shook his head.
"Not here, at the very least. Making our way to the entrance might be for the best."
She frowned.
"And what about my memories?"
Souji was silent for the moment.
"Well, nothing say we can't search for them on the way."
She raised an eyebrow.
"Didn't you say that it was dangerous to go alone?"
Souji raised a finger.
"Technically, we aren't alone."
She narrowed her eyes, before sighing.
"…Thanks."
"Don't mention it."
Souji turned away and coughed.
"Now, if you could please get dried…"
She blinked, and looked down. Her once cold flesh abruptly warmed, and the sound of a slap rang out across the room.
"Don'tcomeclosetomeyoucreep!"
Issun
"Hey, furball?"
Amy barked.
"I'm not the only one who finds the lack of demons weird, right?"
Amy turned to look back at him.
"I mean, aside from that weird Blockhead, these 'dangerous' ruins don't seem that dangerous."
Amy tilted her head, growling.
"Whadda ya mean, not dangerous? I mean, yeah, we almost went splat, but…" Amy just huffed, and continued forward.
"I mean, don't get me wrong. I could get used to this peace! ...But I have a feeling it ain't gonna last."
Amy didn't comment.
"And unless all the demons here decided to gun for the kid- not that I could blame them- then I gotta ask, where are they?"
This time Amy did comment.
"Huh? Don't make me laugh! Souji ain't my friend!"
Amy barked.
"I didn't just use his name!"
He had the feeling Amy was currently rolling her eyes at him.
"Look, maybe the kid isn't so bad, okay? But that doesn't mean we're friends!"
This time he knew Amy was rolling her eyes at him.
"Look-!" Both of them became quiet as they entered a room with three demon gates fouling up the air.
"Well," he began, as Amaterasu started to growl, "I guess that's where the demons are."
"Furball!"
Amy looked at him as she tried to rub the spores from her snout, sneezing.
"Take a look at these!"
He bounced towards the pool of the waterfall. And the barrels of poison spewing that foul liquid into the water.
"I think we found our water problem!"
He said as Amy padded forward, looking at the barrels with disdain.
"Well, we've gotta get rid of them somehow," he mused.
The barrels promptly shattered, sending pottery and poison everywhere.
"Well, that one way of handling that…" he muttered, unwrapping his cape from his body. Amy padded up to the still poisonous pool, whining.
"Hmm, this poison's pretty potent, huh? Looks like the water's gonna need a little help."
Amy needed no further encouragement, and placed a paw in the water. For a moment, nothing happened as the foul liquid stained Amy's pristine fur. And then her coat glowed, and the water exploded into crystal clear droplets. The rest of the river followed suit, black waterfall becoming white, and the river cleansing itself.
"Sweet! Now that the water's clear, it looks like a great place for a dip!" he cheered.
Amaterasu looked at him.
"I-I mean, that's what a playful dog like Ume would think!" he backpedaled. "Uh, I didn't forget why we came here! Did you?"
Amy just shook her head, smiling.
"Anyway, we better find that dog and Souji and Mari. And treasure, of course! Hehehe!"
Mariko
"I wonder when Amaterasu and Issun will be back?"
She was currently sitting down, her back against a rock. Souji was pacing around, occasionally glancing around and swinging his sword. She made a noncommittal sound, brushing a spider off her sleeve. They had taken their sweet time on their way to the entrance. But every other path in these ruins was either caved in, blocked off, or just plain empty. They had found absolutely zero things that jogged her memory. Guess the old hag had been lying after all, she thought bitterly.
She looked up to see Souji staring at the statue again.
"What's so interesting?" she asked, if only to fill the silence of the room.
Souji started and looked back at her.
"Hmm?"
"That statue. You keep staring at it."
Souji shrugged his shoulders.
"Not something you see every day. A statue that big, inside some random ruins?"
She looked up at said giant statue. The figure seemed familiar.
"It's just an Arahabaki," she muttered.
Souji stared at her.
"What?"
"What did you just say?"
"I said that that statue's just an Arahabaki."
"And how," Souji said carefully, "Do you know that?"
She opened her mouth to answer. And her throat closed as she tried to search her mind for how she knew that. For a moment, there was a glimmer of clarity in the fog of her memory, and she saw a golden clay statue. And behind that glimmer a myriad of distant memories. Then a bolt a pain jolted through her skull, and she bit the inside of her cheek, trying to cling on to the memories. Her grip slipped though, and her mind became foggy again.
"Dammit!" she screamed, smushing her head against her hands. A moment later, she could feel Souji hovering near her.
"Hey," he said gently, "You okay?"
She gave a bitter laugh.
"Am I okay?! I can't remember anything! I'm so close, but every time!".
Souji was silent.
She shuddered, and tasted blood. She heard a sigh, and she felt Souji sitting next to her.
"I can't speak from experience, but not knowing who you are must suck."
She didn't say anything.
"And this might sound pretentious, but even if you don't know who you are, you can still go on with your life."
She snapped towards Souji, violence on the tip of her tongue.
"But nobody said you can't find your old memories while making new ones."
She blinked, looking at Souji's face.
"Huh?"
"You can either try searching for your memories forever. You could otherwise try to create a new life. Or you could live your life while trying to remember. The way I see it, it isn't either or."
She just stared at him. Souji exhaled, and leaned his head against the rock.
"Then again, I wouldn't know. Maybe I'm just talking bullshit," he turned towards her, "But I do know that doing something is better than just sitting here, doing nothing."
She was silent for a moment, before wiping her eyes and nodding.
"…Yeah. Moping isn't going to solve anything."
She nodded again, and stood up.
"In fact, why am I sad!? I just remembered something! Which means more of my past could be here!"
"That's the spirit," Souji agreed, smiling.
"All we have to do is get to that statue!" she declared, and marched towards it.
Somebody grabbed her wrist, and she whirled around to see Souji holding her back.
"Perhaps we should wait for Amaterasu and Issun."
She raised an eyebrow.
"What happened to doing something instead of nothing?"
"While your drive to do something is admirable, I'd rather not take a dip in the death water."
At that moment, the vile violet water in the lake glowed, before exploding, fine vapors of clear mist causing rainbows as the water became blue again. She shot a look at Souji.
"How about now?"
"Well, I can't give an excuse anymore."
?
The faint sound of a biwa started to echo across the ruins. She waited a moment, making sure she heard correctly. And then she leapt off the waterfall, ignoring Issun's cries. She had no time to waste now.
Issun
"Hey, furball, what's wrong?"
Amy had paused in thoroughly shaking the water off her pelt and was sniffing around the entrance of the huge statue in the entrance room. Amy looked at him, whining. He blinked.
"Wait, Souji and Mari passed through here?"
When they had entered the room, the neither Souji or Mari were anywhere in sight. At the very least Amy's new meant that they were alive, instead of well, you know…
Amy barked, before tilting her head and whining again. He frowned.
"Oh, uh. That might be a bit difficult then."
Because neither he or Amy could climb, which was apparently what Souji and Mari had done. Regardless of the fact that the surface of the statue was covered in vines and moss.
"So now what?" Amy was silent, before walking into the base of the statue. And in the base? A probably once pristine meadow in the hollowed out statue, now dead and dry. Of course for Amy, blooming the colorful flowers, growing the green grass, and clearing the water took not even a minute. As they stood in the center of the meadow, admiring their work, the vines around them curled and grew in Amy's presence, converging onto each other to form a bud. A bud that bloomed into a flower as succulent a pink as Sakura's cheeks. And a flower that floated off its vine and into the air with a 'pop'.
"Whoa, it's a Konohana Blossom!" he exclaimed. The soft light of the blossom washed over them, twinkling- Wait, twinkling?
They looked up to see familiar stars. "Wait, there's a constellation here too?!" Amy barked happily, and the light brightened as the missing stars appeared, washing the world into white.
The monkey-god trudged back towards them, wheezing and holding his cymbals. His brother's watched him worriedly as he made his way to the center in front of Amaterasu, and taking a deep breath. Sakigami and Hasugami glanced at each other, before placing their sho and shakuhachi to their mouths respectively. Tsutagami exhaled, before slamming his cymbals together with a loud crash.
"Ah *CRASH* Amaterasu *CRASH*Origin of *CRASH* and mother to *CRASH* I, Tsutagami, the last in the *CRASH* of Hanagami flora gods, have humbly *CRASH* for the last hundred *CRASH*. May the fresh *CRASH* bloom form your *CRASH* form. Bring new *CRASH* to the land that suffers under *CRASH*."
He and Amy shook their ringing ears as the Hanagami glowed and coalesced into an orb of power, falling into Amy. For a moment, her coat flared, and he was reminded that furball was the goddess of the land. Then the Celestial Plane faded back into the real world.
"That was Tsutagami, the third and final flora god! The god that can make vines and plants do his bidding!"
He searched his memory for a moment.
"One folktale said that he could use the vines to fly through the air. I wonder if it's truuuueee!"
Apparently it was, and as he screamed and Amy barked happily, the vines from the blossoms and walls grabbed them and flung them through the air and to the top of the statue.
"Whoa, furball, what now!"
After a nauseating vine trip, they had managed to enter the head of the enormous statue. And as soon as Amy's paws hit the ground, she went flying forward at breakneck speed.
"Slow down Amy! I can't hold on much-! ...Longer?"
Amy skidded to a stop, looking around the chamber and growling. Yellow bones, picked clean, were artfully strewn across the floor. Skulls stared at them with vacant gazes from their place in the walls. The hairs on the back of his neck rose, and the chill travelling down his back became downright frosty when he noticed the door in front of them was sealed with yellow webs.
"Oh no, don't tell me…" he whispered.
At that moment, the sound of a biwa echoed across the room, and for a moment, all he wanted to do was find who was playing it, to embrace her entirely…
He grabbed Denkomaru's blade, and the pain shocked him out of the haze.
"Dammit, this isn't good!" he swore.
Amaterasu snarled, and the Divine Retribution started to spin wildly, embers flaring as the Devout Beads glowed. In response, the webs started to burn, and he heard the sound of a thousand screams. A wave of tiny spiders fled from the web, rushing towards them in a dark swarm
. "Oh, I don't think so!"
He whipped an exorcism slip from his pack, jumping and gliding to the center of the swarm. Amy's snarls were intermingled with yips as the spiderlings started to reach her paws. He growled, and let go of the slip, dropping right towards the center of the swarm.
"Enjoy this!" he yelled, unsheathing Denkomaru and cutting the slip in half. The slip promptly exploded, and the spiders below him screamed. He landed in the middle of the dead spiderlings, and a moment latter Amy rushed past him. He leapt onto her, and they dashed forward, the door opening. A blast of moldy air hit them, intermixed with a smell he didn't want to know. He shuddered.
"Okay, furball, time to go in that deep, dark, room…" he took a deep breath, steeling himself, "Now, leap before we think!"
Souji
He woke up with a full body ache, his eyes watering and his throat burning. And on trying to wipe the tears streaming down his face, he found that he couldn't move. Not for lack of trying, but every part of his body refused to move. He blinked away tears slowly, trying to swallow. It was dark. His eyes watered again, a dizzy spell hitting him. As it did, he became acutely aware of the cold hard stone lying on his face, and smooth cloth cutting the rest of his body. Another dizzy spell hit him, and resisted the urge to vomit.
"H-Hello?" he rasped into the dark.
Nobody came.
He tried to shake his head, forcing his body to move. A finger twitched. H-He had to find Mariko and get to Amaterasu-
The sound of a biwa washed over him, and he relaxed. Everything was fine. Somebody would come and get him eventually, if he waited. Besides, it was so comfortable here. All he had to do was wait, and she would come and save him from this uncomfortable pain. All he had to do was wait.
Issun
"Furball, wait!"
Amy turned her head back, skidding through a golden gate to a halt.
"I know I said leap before we think, but maybe we should be careful with this situation," he urged, hand on Denkomaru's hilt. Amy gave a soft growl, but complied, padding softly through the dark halls, body close to the ground. A biwa's tune started to play, and he kept a firm grip on Denkomaru, the cut on his arm throbbing. The song became louder and louder, until the hallway opened up to a large, dark chamber. Amy walked closer to the edge of the drop, looking into the chamber. At first he couldn't see anything in the shadows. Then something moved. In the shadows of the cave, he made out a woman, hunched over and playing a biwa.
As his eyes landed on her, a wave of suggestion washed over him. He should go over and say hi, maybe ask for a date his mind whispered. He ignored the voice and prodded the cut in his arm, causing a stab of pain that broke the spell.
"That her?" he asked.
Amy nodded, growling. He scowled too. A joromungo, here of all places. He had heard about them before, but he didn't expect to see one. And something told him this joromungo wouldn't be friendly. The joromungo stopped playing the biwa suddenly, and started to chuckle raspily. The chuckling turned into laughter, and the joromungo stood up to her full height, walking over to something. He suddenly realized with a start who that something was, when the joromungo grabbed it, causing a grunt of pain.
Mari.
Amy moved closer to the edge.
The joromungo chuckled again, and started to speak.
"What luck, to finally awaken after so long," the joromungo clicked happily, "And not only that, but to have food walk right into my lair so soon! My children will feast on that dog!"
Dog?
"Do you think she means Ume?" he whispered.
Amy moved closer to the edge.
"And you!"
He couldn't tell from here, but it looked like the joromungo was caressing Mari, sighing in anticipation.
"Such beauty! I shall feast on your succulent liver, and regain my gorgeous form!"
Mari grunted in pain as the joromungo laughed maliciously.
He growled, but held Denkomaru still. Amy moved closer to the edge.
"And then the boy…" The joromungo's tone had taken on a wistfulness reserved only for young maidens, "After my dinner, I shall enjoy my desert fully~."
Okay, now that was just disgusting.
The joromungo started to laugh again. Amy moved off the edge. It took them a moment to realize this though, and when they did, the harsh reality of the world kicked in, and they fell to the ground below.
"Owowowo! Whadda ya do that for furball!?" he cried, getting up. Amy just looked at him in astonishment, lying on her back.
"Now look at what you've-"
Amy suddenly rolled to the side, grabbing him and jumping just in time to avoid a large blast of purple energy.
"-done…"
Amy stood forward, facing the joromungo and growling. And getting wolf slobber all over him in the process. "Let go of me, furball!" He leapt out of Amy's mouth, and watched the joromungo carefully.
He considered himself an aficionado of the womanly form. A conesiur of the supple curves and shapes that made a babe a babe. The thing in front of him was a perverse mockery of all of that. At first glance, the joromungo was a lovely woman, with long silky black hair, pale creamy skin, curves, elaborate kimono, the works. Then a second later, you saw the monster for what she was. What looked like long silky hair was frayed and brittle. Pale creamy skin was in actuality deathly blue. And the elaborate kimono she wore was stained with blood. Two human hand, ending in black claws, held an old biwa, and as his eyes trailed down, the kimono ended and the chitinous gold and black abdomen began, three pairs of sharp spidery legs embedded into the ground. And behind the joromungo, he could see Mariko inside a cocoon, emptily staring out into space.
"What's this?" the joromungo rasped. "Another little mutt, wandering into my domain? Poking your nose into other people's business will get you killed, you know. Say your last words!"
The joromungo stomped forward, sharp legs clicking against the stone, and licked her lips with a long red tongue. Her eyes were hidden by her hair, but he could feel all of them on them. Along with a few others, he thought, glancing at the shadows. The joromungo gave another raspy chuckle, moving closer. Amy…Furball just yawned, before grumbling a bit.
The joromungo jerked back as if it had been slapped.
"How dare you!" she screamed, and bloodstained mandibles tore out of her mouth, clicking furiously.
"Insolent bitch!"
He leapt onto Amy, fuming. "Oi! If anyone's a bitch here, it's you!"
The joromungo opened it's mouth.
"Oh, the beast talks?"
"Yeah, and it's pretty pissed off at you! In fact, it's so pissed off that we're going to end you!...Unless you let go off your prisoners!"
"Never!" the joromungo hissed.
He shrugged and Amaterasu snarled.
"Your choice! It's time for some divine retribution!"
As Chuggaaconroy said, Ball Pushing Physics.
Yeah, so Souji and Mariko are in what is called a bit of a pickle. Will they escape with their lives? Probably.
The rest of this Authors Note is about Joromungo's, and thus can be skipped.
Joromungo's, translated into 'Binding Bride' or 'Whore Spider', are Yokai of the arachnid persuasion. When a spider reached 400 years, they were said to gain magical powers, and usually took the form of beautiful young woman (Usually Oiran disguised as Geisha, or young women with a bundled up baby. The baby was usually the joromungo's egg sac), seducing men and then consuming them. The joromungo were part succubus, part siren in disposition. They used their biwa to attract men, and when they caught the man in question, they minded him with unbreakable silk and injected them with venom that would paralyze and atrophy, so the man could be consumed at her or her children's leisure. And while the joromungo seduced, the legends don't say whether or not they, uh, enjoy their meal fully. So we discussed whether the Spider Queen should be written as she was in the game, as a nymphomatic succubus, or something like Juri Han from Street Fighter. In the end, we decided. And while joromungo were usually malevolent, they could also be benevolent(such as in the legend of Joren Falls and Kashikobuchi), just like other yokai, like the kitsune. We toned down the Spider Queen's size from ginormous to merely kinda big, in order to remain more true to the joromungo myth.
Related yokai are the spider-tiger Tsuchigomo. The real life spider the joromungo could've been based on is Japan's native Nephila clavata.
Tune in next time for: Boss Battle! Versus the Binding Bride!