Sorry for the delay, everyone! I just can't seem to make myself be regular, huh? It's okay, though- because this one is EXTRA LONG!
No really. It's super freaking long. I am warning you now.
Disclaimer: See every previous chapter.
As they traveled through the tunnel, the first thing Jenna noticed was a light. When they emerged, it was naturally the first thing she investigated, and she saw it was an Origin Mirror. She recalled that she'd seen one at the exit to Kamiki, but hadn't used it. That lazy old Susano had distracted her. She approached it and stared at it. Sure enough, her reflection appeared.
"C'mon, Jen," said Issun impatiently. "Hurry up."
"Shut up," she said automatically, popping up and chasing after them. They followed the winding path, finding a treasure chest at the top of the rise. Inside was a white Traveler's Charm, which Jenna soon understood to have a spell of protection cast on it. She had to deliberately ignore why it was placed in a chest and felt her willful suspension of disbelief taking hold, just like in any video game. She looped it around her wrist and they kept going. They crossed a bridge of logs- and then spotted their first enemies.
Several Green Imps were dancing(or staggering, Jenna thought wryly) around a fire. A few Red Imps sat drinking heavily from huge bowls(thus explaining the staggering). Amaterasu growled at them softly. Her growling got louder and louder, causing the music to slowly halt. The imps looked around, and spotted them. They flinched back. Jenna glanced at Amaterasu, and nearly jumped herself.
In the darkness of the valley, the goddess' red markings glowed like fire, like blood. Her eyes gleamed with foreboding anger and her fur puffed up. Contrary to growing darker around her, the air cleared in waves away from her. Around the Mirror on her back, the flames burned with extra fire, flaring up as if from a bellows. She looked every inch like a Sun Goddess.
She barked and growled at the imps, and they nearly fled. Then one more intelligent Red Imp squawked at its fellows, who shook their heads and drew their weapons.
The arena appeared. Jenna quickly assessed their enemies. Two Red Imps, three Green Imps. Amaterasu charged straight in, leaving Jenna to fend for herself on the edge of the fray. Two of the Green Imps chose to ignore Amaterasu, perhaps thinking Jenna to be an easier target. They nodded at each other. One approached Jenna and started attacking her, forcing her to jump and duck for a little before managing to get in her first hit with a feather. Amaterasu, snarling, was busy raining fiery torment upon one of the Red Imps.
The other Green Imp attacking Jenna screeched at it's fellow, which paused for a moment and allowed Jenna to hit it again. It backed off for a moment, and Jenna was accordingly surprised by the feeling of a dart burying itself into her skin. She yelped with surprise, but not, she realized, with pain. A white light peeled from her skin as if shattered, taking the dart with it, and on her wrist, Jenna felt the Traveler's Charm break.
She didn't have time to investigate as the first Green Imp hit her again. "Ow!" she exclaimed. "Jerk!" She rapid-fired two weapons to its face and it burst into light. "And you!" she exclaimed, tossing a feather in the direction of the dart-blower. "When did you get so smart?!"
"I dunno, Jen, I thought they were designed to be morons!"
At this comment from Issun, the Green Imp went an angry red and threw a tantrum. Steam blew out of his ears and he stomped angrily, rushing in to attack Jenna blindly. She threw one feather right after its first clumsy attack, and a few more evasions burst it. Jenna spotted the tiny green speck of Issun springing in to raid the flowers. "Nothing to worry about after all," Jenna said with a grin. "Still stupid idiots."
Amaterasu had dealt with a Green Imp and one Red Imp. She was swinging to attack the next Red Imp, and it was blocking her, much to her frustration. She barked at it. "Ammy, did you forget already?" exclaimed Jenna. Her brush formed in her hand and she tugged up her Canvas. She sliced right across the instrument of the Imp, and as things moved, it broke right in half. "Nice one, Jen!" called Issun.
The Imp threw one side of its instrument aside in disgust. The neck of the lute, which it kept, it now used as a weapon. It lunged at Jenna in anger and managed to deliver a stinging, sharp blow to her arm. She yelped, and the arrow she threw missed. Amaterasu barked quick, like a terrier, and hit the Imp with the same speed. It vanished, and the arena did the same.
"Ooohhh..." said Jenna, rubbing her arm. "Ouch." She checked her arm. A few splinters had dug into the skin, and blood was welling in patches from the red skin.
Amaterasu rolled a Holy Globe into Jenna's feet. "Thank you, Ammy," said Jenna, picking it up. She examined it. "What should I do? Eat it?"
"Well, you could..." said Issun. "I guess. I think they're edible, but they're difficult to chew." He laughed, then subsided as he realized the joke wasn't really that funny. "Whatever. Try just putting it over the spot where you're hurt."
Jenna did this, holding the warm Globe over her wound. She watched, fascinated, as it drew out the splinters and cleaned away the blood. She pressed it to the raw injury and felt no pain from the contact. In addition, any other pain cleared away. The small Holy Globe then broke and turned itself into sparkling dust. "Coooooool," she said, rubbing the smooth, unbroken skin. "That's so awesome."
Ammy barked delightedly. As if on cue, a swirl of green magic began to clear the nearby pond. An island appeared from the murky water, but then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, it was covered over with dark magic.
"The evil here is still too strong," said Issun. "Even getting rid of the monsters didn't help. We can't try to do anything until we do something about the aura in this place."
"Yeah."
"By the way, Jen, nice brushwork during that battle. That was pretty good."
"Huh? Oh, yeah!" That's right, she'd used a Power Slash right in the middle of the battle. Odd, she wasn't very good at that one. "Maybe it's because I wasn't thinking too hard about it."
"Maybe!" said Issun. "Anyways, you show promise. Nothing near my own skill, of course!"
"You kidding? I haven't seen you helping any!"
"Well, er..."
"You're such a joker," said Jenna, rolling her eyes.
"Excuse me!?"
"Calm down, it wasn't that big an insult... you like to joke around, get it?"
"Hmph." Issun had no retort, shockingly enough, so they kept walking.
They moved upward through the valley. Jenna peered ahead through the gloom. The place was filled with haze and odd shapes. The smoke looked to be moving- yes, it was. It had a mind of its own. Jenna shivered.
Movement up ahead caught her eye. It was different from the sluggish shifting of the curse. She called out, "Wait!"
Ammy stopped and glanced back at Jenna. "What now, Jen?" asked Issun impatiently.
"Is that tree... moving?"
The threesome's gaze moved anxiously to a tree up ahead, twisted and gnarled, with strange, glowing fruit hanging heavily from its boughs. As they watched, they noticed how it seemed to be swinging back and forth. A spirit fire erupted silently from one of its branches, wraithlike, and merged with it again with the same lack of noise.
"That's definitely moving," confirmed Issun.
"That is so wrong on so many levels," said Jenna. "Trees don't move."
"Well, this one does."
"What should we do?"
"Keep going?"
"What if it attacks?"
"Keep going!"
"So we're not going to try to think about this."
"Nope!"
Amaterasu wagged her tail and bounded forward, startling both Jenna and Issun. "Hey, furball!" exclaimed Issun. "Nearly fell off there."
As they drew closer to the dark tree, Jenna noticed how dark fires danced along it without burning it. That hurts my head to even watch, she thought. I don't care if it's magic, fire should burn a tree. They don't coexist. Plus, it was creepy.
Suddenly, a fruit from the tree grew in size. The whole tree swiveled rapidly(how on earth was it able to do that if it had roots) and lobbed its glowing cargo straight at Amaterasu, who dodged. "Show it we mean business, Ammy! Hit its fruit back at it!" Another tree attempted to throw a bulb at them and Amaterasu Power Slashed it back towards the tree. As the tree reeled, stunned, they slipped past it and ran uphill.
At the top of the hill, a mural captured their attention, but before they could even reach it to get a better look, they were assaulted by a group of enemies. First two Green Imps appeared, then something began to burrow beneath the ground. In between the two Imps a yellow Imp made an impressive entrance, bearing a drum, which it beat a few times before vanishing again beneath the ground.
With the appearance of the Imp, Jenna had acquired the necessary information to defeat it in her mind. It popped from the ground, and she had just time to call "Ammy! Watch for the vibrations from the drum!" before she had to jump into the air to evade the attack herself.
The battle was swift and dynamic. Jenna danced around the trails made by the burrowing Imp, battling a persistent Green one. Amaterasu finished her own fight, and came to aid Jenna with the final blow. Both of them faced the Yellow Imp together. As it pulled itself up from the ground, Amaterasu slid behind it and struck, pulling it completely from its nest. Working together, Ammy and Jenna managed to deal some damage before it dug underground again. They repeated the tactic, managing to defeat it, ironically, after it attempted to do a more powerful attack. It tried to use its drum like a cannon and left itself wide-open. It was Jenna who finished it off.
The arena disappeared. Their attention was drawn to the mural as it glowed a bright yellow, and then they looked to the continuing path. It was blocked by a rock on the way forward, and trying to move that rock was...
"Hm? What's all that racket?" Susano turned around.
"Seriously?" complained Jenna. "You didn't notice any of what was going on?"
Susano gave her his usual scowl, and Ammy wagged her tail excitedly. "Why did you follow me? Come to see more of the great Susano at work? I'm not taking apprentices." He glanced around. "And Hana Valley isn't a place for a girl like you."
"I'm tougher than I look," she said, crossing her arms. Susano gave her a glare.
"I can't let you through, anyways," said Susano. "Beyond this point is my secret training ground. I'm going there now. After all, it's the perfect place to hide-"
A pause. Jenna and Ammy simultaneously gave Susano a look that said Come again?
"Er, I mean, to train!" He waved his arms dismissively. "Anyways, run along! It's my place! Scoot!" He drew his sword.
"Easy, pops!" said Issun. "Fine, whatever," said Jenna. "We'll go. Put your toy sword away."
Susano turned back towards the rock and kept trying to push it, eliciting eyerolls from Jenna. The productive adventurers turned their attention to the mural on the wall, which seemed to depict light on a sphere and a plant growing. "Huh," said Issun. "That guy said that a crystal sphere that makes plants grow is enshrined somewhere around here. Based on the painting, I'd say he's right."
Jenna peered at the painting. "Doesn't it seem like there's something missing?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah..."
They considered the mural. "It's making light," offered Issun.
"Duh." Jenna glanced with a practiced puzzle-solver's eye over the image. It reminded her of puzzles in games that she'd played. "It's making a plant grow and it's glowing," she said, thinking aloud. She looked at Ammy, who looked back at her, Issun balanced on her nose. "It's probably the sun, actually."
"Draw it in, Ammy?" asked Issun.
A moment passed where Amaterasu painted in a careful circle. Following this, a bright red, stylized sun filled in the empty space. The ground began to shake.
"What in heaven's name-?!" exclaimed Susano, jumping backwards from the boulder he was trying to move. A yellow symbol engraved itself on the rock, which promptly blew itself into pieces and released a flood of black water.
Susano rubbed his eyes and gaped at the empty space for a few moments. "How did that..." He straightened. "Well, now I can go hide-" He cleared his throat and casually coughed. "I mean, now I can go train!" He ran off down the trail. Amaterasu wagged her tail and trotted gleefully in the same direction.
"Right, so nobody here thinks normally at all," sighed Jenna. "If that happened where I came from, someone would go tell the police, and then people would be all over this place in two days flat. At least someone would post it on the internet."
"Why are you talking to yourself, Jen?" asked Issun.
"I'm trying to keep myself sane," she responded ironically.
"Oh, I do that too."
Jenna nodded and rolled her eyes. "Honestly," she muttered.
"Yo Jen, comon!" exclaimed Issun. "You're gonna get left behind!"
Jenna sighed and allowed herself to be carried up the cliff at the end of the passage. An arch in the stone of the tunnel led into a large chamber. In the center of the room was a small green plant. Beyond it was a raised platform of sorts with two stones on it, and beyond that a split in the rocks offered a view of the sky. Around the hill where the plant grew was a dark ring of stone.
"This place is weird," said Jenna. "But cool."
"Is this the secret training ground Susano was talking about?" said Issun dubiously.
"I don't see him. Where'd he go?" Jenna muttered.
They approached the plant in the middle. Jenna knelt by it and touched it. It was frail and vividly green, its leaves trembling slightly at her touch. A faint scent of flowers drifted from it. "That's Sakuya's scent," said Issun. "This is a Guardian Sapling, then. But why on earth is it so small? And that painting- it showed a huge tree!"
"It also showed a smaller sapling," Jenna pointed out.
"What made the difference?"
"The sun? We added that."
"And something else, wasn't there?"
"Yeah. I see the opening for the sun. I see the sapling. What I don't see is that ball in the middle."
They paced up to the platform. Amaterasu immediately spotted a square puddle of water between the two stones, and chose to pounce on it. She began to dig in the puddle, splashing water out. It looked like the bottom of the dip containing the water was stone, so she wasn't actually doing anything. Just digging water.
"What are you doing, Ammy? Stop," said Jenna, staring at the goddess.
Ammy gave a doggy grin and sat down while Jenna glanced at the setup. "Sun. Plant. Stones and puddle in the middle. The puddle is probably where it goes, only where's that crystal?"
Ammy sniffed the ground, and started to track along. "Oh, you got something?" asked Jenna, barely restraining herself from immediately treating Amaterasu like Lassie. Ammy paused to "point" at the wooden gate in the wall, then Power Slashed through them and walked through normally. Jenna followed. She and Ammy both climbed up the hill by the path they walked on to pause at an Origin Mirror, then proceeded to the next room.
"RAWR!" cried Susano.
"What now?!" That was Issun.
"You... You foul beast!" spluttered Susano. "How did you get in here?" He posed with his sword, ready to attack.
Jenna just stood on the side. This was just about the weirdest thing she'd ever seen. There was Susano, all poised to strike, and there on the other side of the room...?
That was a bear standing on a ball. With a leaf on it's head.
"You have some nerve sneaking into my private training ground! Now you shall get a taste of my new secret technique!"
"Your 'foul beast' looks like an ordinary sleepy bear, pops," said Issun. Amaterasu appeared to be checking Susano for his sanity.
"Enough talk! My blade thirsts for battle!" Susano drew back. "Here goes nothing! Susano-style SUSANO!"
What kind of dumb attack was that? It was his name. He said his name twice in the attack. It-
"SU! SA! NO! SUSANO!" With great flair, he cut each torch in the room in half. Well, hey. He really did say his name twice.
"Now for Susano-Style... Exploding Implosion!"
He went for the bear. Jenna could see the cut. Surely, this was a powerful attack. The bear would no doubt sustain the worst injury possible.
The bubble on its nose popped. With a startled look, the bear floundered and dramatically fell down on the floor.
"That'll teach you, you foolish beast! You're no match for my new secret technique!"
The room was silent. No, not silent. A loud grumbling came from the bear. It was snoring. Amaterasu paced forward and gave Susano a searching look. Jenna, too, was starting to seriously doubt that Susano was in any way a sane person. There was no doubt that he was stupid. But really, was he sane at all?
Susano glanced at Amaterasu and did a double-take. He straightened up and coughed. "Uh, rest in peace, foul beast. The great warrior Susano condemns the offense, not the offender."
He really hadn't noticed them come in. "You realize that thing's not dead, right?" said Jenna.
Susano leapt and whirled around. "You AGAIN!" he cried. "I told you to leave!"
"That thing isn't dead, dude," said Jenna, pointing at the bear.
Susano fumed, then shouted, "This is my secret training ground! Get out!"
"It isn't secret. There was an entire tunnel to get here. It was obvious and everything. And the bear isn't dead."
"How DARE you argue with the great warrior Susano!" He blustered, "And I closed that gate!" A pause, he looked away at the floor and muttered to himself, "Didn't I?"
Jenna went for a bluff. "It was open, so what?"
"W-well, it should have been closed!"
"But it was open."
"You weren't supposed to come in if the gate was supposed to be closed!"
"But how would I know that? It was open," pushed Jenna, her voice rising. Some people didn't get logic.
Susano made frustrated claws with his hands and looked enraged. Then he scowled, folded his arms, and straightened up. "Anyways, there are other monsters I must deal with! I have grown powerful enough that I no longer need this place. So there!" He ran out, laughing.
For a moment, nobody said anything. The bear snored. "So," said Jenna. "Any bets that the ball is the crystal-thing?"
"Yep," said Issun, in the same flat voice. "C'mon."
Jenna approached the ball, careful to evade the bear. She started to roll it. Surprisingly enough, it wasn't extremely heavy, though it did take a little effort to move. Amaterasu helped, pushing her head against the sphere while Jenna did the rolling. "Couldja imagine Ammy trying to move this thing on her own?" asked Issun. "What a pain!"
"Tell me about it," said Jenna. She was the one making sure the ball went where they wanted it to. They moved it along the tunnel and into the open room. It was tougher to get it up the hill to the pool of water. Once in the water, a fountain sprung up, levitating it into the air.
"Okay, that's awesome," said Jenna.
"Someone had a lotta time on their hands," said Issun. "Let's crank this baby in gear!"
Amaterasu's sun shone in a dead-black sky. A beam of light glimmered down on the green transparency of the sphere. Little green lights bounced off of it, all around the room, like sunlight off of water. Then those seemed to move, to be drawn back inside the crystal, which began to glow with a light so intense it hurt to look at. There was a blinding flash of light. Jenna shielded her eyes.
A beam of bright green light was shooting out of the ball when she looked again. It was focused right on the little sapling in the middle of the room. The whole room went green, and the sapling began to grow. It stretched upwards, growing and twisting and spreading branches and roots and turning brown, all while green light swirled around it.
Then it was there, a tall, big tree, taking up nearly the entire room. But... "It still looks dead," said Jenna. Issun cursed.
The room went dark.
"What the-?! Hey!" spluttered Issun. "Who turned out the lights?"
Jenna was already turning, looking up into the sky towards a faint light. "Look," she said, pointing. Amaterasu followed her gaze. They were all quiet for a moment. "It's another constellation," said Jenna. Amaterasu nodded, and her ethereal Celestial Brush dabbed the place where a missing star should be. She was about to lower her Canvas- "Waitwaitwaitwaitwait," interrupted Jenna. "There's two." Amaterasu tilted her head, blinked, then nodded and added the extra.
Spinnnnn! A god came to form and spun like a top down out of the sky and down into the golden plains fading in around them. A smooth transition. It stopped spinning and became a monkey. White, with red markings. Like Amaterasu. Like the other brush gods. It also had a weird... pipey-blowy-thingy. It posed itself in a graceful arabesque. It and Amaterasu exchanged an awkward glance, then as if by ritual, both sat down. The monkey knelt and started to play its instrument.
His name was... what was his name? Hanagami, wasn't it? But that wasn't Hanagami. He was talking. "Ah... Amaterasu. Origin of all that is good and mother to us all... My gratitude for releasing my body from its slumber. Please accept my humble thanks in return for your great kindness. I am Sakigami, one of the triumvirate of flora gods known as Hanagami. My brethren and I have been entrusted with the brush techniques known collectively as Greensprout."
So that explained it. There was one technique, and maybe once there was one god, too. "I now grant my humble power to you. Use it wisely." Then he smiled at Jenna. "It is good to see you, Starseeker. Farewell."
Again with the weird name. She was considering whether to ask when Sakigami disappeared and turned into a bit of power, going into Amaterasu.
"Bloom!" cried Issun. "Yes!"
"What now?" asked Jenna, confused.
"Sakigami is the god of the Bloom technique. We can use it to bloom the saplings! I hope." The last was an afterthought. Jenna was not as reassured as she felt she should be.
"Draw a circle 'round the tree, Ammy," said Issun.
Jenna detected the scent of flowers. Pink magic surrounded the tree, and flowers began to burst into bloom all along it. Petals spilled down and fell through the air.
Jenna felt it as a kind of suction in the air first. Then as a building tension. Sensing something was about to happen, Jenna approached the tree. The cherry blossoms were spinning around, preparing to burst out.
Jenna started to run.
Behind her, there was a shockwave. Green magic exploded from the room, rushing down the tunnel, along the ground and up the walls. Where it went, flowers and grass sprang up. The water cleared. Jenna started to laugh, sensing the life and energy in the air and running as hard as she could. She sped up, trying to match pace with the swift progress of the beam of light. She made it out of the tunnel and ran towards the opening of the cave.
At the entrance, she tripped over a thick tuft of fresh green grass, and fell down. But she wasn't hurt, and looked up grinning as the valley returned to life. Murky brown water turned bright, clear blue. Trees and grass and plants unwithered, gaining color and health. Even stone and sand changed, grey and black to white and brown. And all around in the air colorful leaf-petals danced in a wind that wasn't there.
Amaterasu ran up, barking. Jenna heaved a sigh and grinned at the fresh green valley, then laughed and rolled down the hill. "WOO! We did it!" Ammy pranced and bounced after Jenna, tackling her. "Whoa!" Jenna exclaimed as the dog pounced. She used the last of her momentum to toss the both of them sideways. The Sun Goddess panted happily in Jenna's face.
"You're heavy!" Jenna said.
Amaterasu blinked and then did a little doggy sneeze, shutting her mouth and shaking her head with a snort. She gave Jenna a friendly look with glittering flame-orange eyes. Jenna giggled and scratched her behind the ear.
Issun bounced up. "Man, can the both of you book it!" he complained. "I got thrown off of you, furball!" Then he fell silent. "So this is what Hana Valley is supposed to look like..."
Jenna sat up and checked the bun at the top of her hair. Some of her hair had come loose when she'd tumbled down the grass. She replied, "Yep," and took out the pin.
"So Sakuya's Guardian Sapling has lifted the curse," mused Issun. "Seems like the gods have gotten weaker recently. It must have taken some wickedly strong power to suppress a strong protecting force like that tree. I think we're up against more than we bargained for."
Jenna rerolled her hair and stuck in the little magical pin. "That's not really surprising."
"What?" said Issun.
"You ever heard that heroes appear when they're needed most?"
"...No."
Jenna rolled her eyes. "Don't you guys have any legends around here?"
"We got plenty! …. but no, never heard that," he said.
"Well, the idea is basically that it's only when things get really bad that a hero shows up. Otherwise, people can mostly solve things on their own, right? So if a hero appears..."
"Oh," said Issun. "If a powerful warrior shows up, it's because nobody else could do it except for him." He sounded grim.
Jenna spread her fingers in the thick fur of Amaterasu's shoulder. Issun noticed and said, "But we're not even sure Ammy is a hero. That is, we don't know she's Shiranui reborn."
"She's a magical, benevolent being with power unheard of except in legend. I'd say? It's a pretty fair bet."
"Jeez," said Issun. "We're in it thick."
Amaterasu sat up and looked out over the valley. "Yeah, we'd better head down, huh?" said Jenna, ruffling the fur on her head. She stood up. "But can we go look at the Guardian Sapling again before we do? I didn't get to see it after it revived everything."
The room with the Sapling in it had come back to life, too. Plants grew in the roots of the big tree, and petals fell lightly through the air. "Pretty," said Jenna.
"Yeah, it is," said Issun. Then they turned back around and headed out.
Imps impeded their progress at the mouth of the cave. They were quickly dispatched, and when they were gone a little green magic bloomed and brought a little more color to the area. A little mound of sand and grass and little twiggy trees filled the empty space in the center of the room. Wild pigs, a woody brown color, rooted around at the base of the plants. Jenna smiled and scattered food for them, which they ate happily. Praise power fed into her and Amaterasu, then they moved on.
The creepy old trees were still there. One of them tossed a fruit at them. Ammy quickly Power Slashed it right back at its thrower, then drew a circle around it.
"What-" started Jenna. "Oh." It turned into a cherry tree. "Okay then."
They headed down the valley, purifying trees and various leftover bits of cursed grass. They found treasure chests scattered here and there, including a stray bead and a Sun Fragment. Issun didn't know what to do with it, but Jenna knew that she should keep it, so she did. By the time they reached the bottom, they'd collected lots of Praise from feeding animals and returning everything to the way it was. Jenna looked into the Origin Mirror and smiled at her reflection before jogging to join Ammy in the tunnel out of the valley.
I wrote a whole bunch of it at one time, then after a long pause came back to it. In the middle, I learned some things about writing, so if you sensed a tone switch-up in there somewhere, then that's probably it.
Jenna: Yaaay, we did a really long thing for you guys! -_-
She's worn out. I'm worn out too. I mean, I wrote half of that just now in a burst of motivation, so. Yeah! Hope you liked it!