Chapter Ten: The Awakened Goddess Part 2

Amaya swayed slightly and despite his own injuries Kurama caught her as she fell. The girl's hair grew out at an alarming rate and turned from raven black to a deep, rich violet even darker than Fea's. The girl's body began to glow in a deep red aura and surged with power in response to the tengu's blood sacrifice.

The power surge reached critical and a shining apparition sprang up from Amaya's glowing form to hover above the stunned spectators. The spirit appeared to be female, but it was impossible for the mortals to make out any distinguishing features in her face. The specter pointed a finger at Fea who stared at it in stunned recognition.

'Sister!' The form shouted in a booming voice that made the mortals tremble involuntarily. 'What ruckus is this? Have your forgotten your place as a goddess?'

'Macha, I came to this land to awaken you from your mortal sleep.'Fea explained as she clasped her hands to her chest in honest conviction. 'Together we can destroy the humans who shamed you.'

'Did you think for a second that I would let you take my revenge for me?' Macha demanded angrily. 'You've grown foolish over the years, sister. Vengeance will be mine and mine alone! How dare you interfere?'

"It's not every day, you see two goddesses fighting over a chance to destroy humanity." Chiyoko commented drily in shock.

"So Amaya was the reincarnation of the war goddess." Kurama mused with dread at the sudden turn of events. "That explains more than it doesn't."

"Yes, I think we can say our final farewells to the human race now." Chiyoko nodded in agreement.

'I don't have to listen to you!' Fea shouted back at Macha. 'I will destroy humanity and you along with it if I have to!'

'Think about what you're doing, sister.' Macha warned, but Fea was already drawing power from her processed army. Macha sighed. 'She just won't listen to reason.'

Macha gathered more power from Amaya's body until she was able to assume a solid form. She appeared to be several years other older than Fea; Perhaps the human equivalent of mid-twenties.

Strangely enough, Macha didn't fit the modern idea of a goddess at all. Her red dress and fur cape clearly suggested that she lacked the body of a supermodel, but that would be like comparing a lush tropical flower to a skinny field daisy. In the eyes of the mortals below Macha was the image of a woman in beautiful full bloom compared to Fea's young bud. The sun's brilliance reflected perfectly in Macha's stern golden eyes, but her voice was far gentler and more soothing than her sister's. More than the rising sun, the goddess seemed to shine like the full moon on the darkest of nights. A small spark of hope appeared in the mortals' eyes as they watched the transformation.

"Now then," Macha glanced around her. She spotted Mikkel huddled in a corner clawing at her chest. Macha pointed at the frail looking teacher, "You!"

"Huh? Me?" Mikkel asked while gasping for air.

"You're a puck, are you not?" Macha asked with the full authority of a queen on her throne. "My sister's servant no doubt."

"What? You must be mistaken." Mikkel stammered. "I'm a human! A high school teach-"

"Silence!" Macha ordered. "Did you think I wouldn't notice? I can smell your disgustingly mischievous aura from here." Her eyes narrowed. "Don't waste you lies on me maggot."

"…Oh, dear." Mikkel's deep womanly voice dropped another few octaves and her image melted to reveal a lanky young man with shoulder length snow-white hair, short pointy ears, and a black eye patch covering one of his dark eyes. "I've been found out. It's just as well. A female body is just so hard to maintain."

"Fynbar," Macha muttered in recognition, "I should have guessed." She pointed at the puck and ordered, "Assemble a cheer squad and then disperse the mind-controlled army. I'll see to my sister."

"I really don't think that's a good idea. I mean," Fynbar twiddled his thumbs. "I have sworn my loyalty to Fea." He looked up nervously. "You know how she gets when she's mad. She's the one who took my eye, you know? And I don't want to be collateral damage." Macha glared at him in full malice.

"You're worried about her temper?" She asked in a deadly tone.

"Eeek!" Fynbar dove behind a collapsed pillar and stammered, "I mean- I'll get on it right away, uh, ma'am."

"Then I'll leave it to you." Macha nodded. She glanced at Fea who was still gathering energy from her minions. "Hmm, it still won't be enough." She muttered.

The energy that had been building and stored in Amaya's body for the past sixteen years was enough for Macha to assume a physical form, but it would not give her the strength she needed to combat Fea.

"Aki!" Chiyoko's scream drew Macha's drew back to the tengu pair and Kurama.

"He's not breathing." Kurama examined Akihiko while carefully handling Amaya's now empty shell.

"Step aside." Macha command as she stepped down beside Kurama. She waved a hand over Akihiko gently. "He's not gone yet." Macha told them, "But his life force is nearly spent. I might be able to save him with some help."

"Please, anything!" Chiyoko pleaded.

"Very well," Macha grabbed Chiyoko's hand yanking the disguised tengu forward until their lips met. All three, tengu pair and goddess, began to glow a deep violet hue. Chiyoko gasped and began to sway a little as his life force was being drained. At the same time the burns on Akihiko's body began to heal and return to the normal color of flesh. Chiyoko paled and fainted forcing Macha to catch hold of him. She laid the tengu down gently. Once this was done Macha leaned forward and exhaled a long breath into Akihiko's lungs. The glow faded and Akihiko, then fully recovered, began to open his eyes.

"Your eminence," Akihiko whispered once the goddess released him. He coughed a few times as Macha helped him sit up.

"Well met, my friend." Macha replied tenderly. "Again I save your life."

"This makes three, I believe," Akihiko bowed his head respectfully as the memories from his previous life returned to him. "I thank you."

"The third and last," Macha told him firmly. "And it isn't I that you should thank." She nodded at the sleeping Chiyoko. "There's no possible way I could ever ignore the prayers of someone so noisy." Akihiko nodded and went to assist his most devoted attendant. Macha then turned to Kurama.

"Can you beat Fea after doing that?" Kurama asked while wondering secretly what she would do if she did defeat the other goddess.

"Simple energy transfer, nothing more," Macha replied coolly. She leaned closer to examine Kurama's face as she whispered, "If you want to see her overcome then simply pray for it." With a wink she added, "I've a very attentive ear."

"My lady!" Fynbar warned, "Goddess Fea has almost completed her drain on the humans!"

"Sooner than I had hoped." Macha sighed. "Here, a gift for the girly." Before he could react, Macha leaned over and gently kissed Kurama on the cheek. As the goddess pulled away Kurama was shocked to see that all his cuts were healed and his fatigue from the earlier fight had all but vanished.

When she rose to meet her sister Macha called out to him, "A goodwill gift, warrior. I trust you'll return the favor with adequate worship and praise."

"Hmm," Fynbar watched the exchanges with interest until Macha noticed his halt in progress.

"Fynbar! Cheer squad, now!" Macha shouted making him jump. She flew toward Fea at full speed not knowing what the outcome of the battle would be.

"Will she win?" Kurama asked Fynbar as he finished rounding up the last of Fea's minions.

"Fea's ability is to influence the will and actions of humans in the form of hate." Fynbar explained. "Macha's gift is very, very different and cannot be used under these types of conditions." The puck looked sky ward. "In this fight Fea is at her full potential while Macha is not, so it all depends."

"Depends on what?" Kurama inquired.

"Faith." Chiyoko replied breathlessly. He and Akihiko were both leaning on each other for support and they came over to sit next to Kurama.

"Back in the day," Akihiko explained. "Macha had the most followers and would have won hands down, but now her sister holds that advantage." He looked up at the sky. "She will win because we know she can."

"It is no fluke or coincidence that the Celtic war gods are female." Chiyoko said. "Only a woman knows the trueart of war." His gaze drifted to Amaya's still form.

"There's no more dangerous of a creature than a scorned woman." Fynbar said shivering at the thought. "Fea is the manifestation of that hatred. Macha is the manifestation of the protective mother, both nurturing and deadly. We must wait and see which is the stronger of the two."

"Which leads me to question why such a nurturing figure would seek to destroy humanity," A new voice came up behind them. Father Patrick, who had come to investigate reports of strange activity, witnessed the two revivals with great fear and confusion. He stood a little taken back as he watched Fynbar hypnotize several of Fea's minions into chanting Macha's name. "But then again," Father Patrick muttered. "With these recent events I am compelled to question many things. Like how a friend I've known for ten years is not who I thought they were and how I could have been fooled for so long." Fynbar ignored Father Patrick and continued with his work.

"Fynbar is a puck." Akihiko explained knowing far more than a tengu, even a devout one, should. "Tricksters of questionable loyalty with shape-shifting abilities who were infamous for their beauty." His eyes narrowed. "As Fea's servant I must assume that his role was to locate Macha. Hence the teacherly disguise."

"Exceptionalgood looks, I might add." Fynbar chimed in. "Yes, my orders were to find the incarnation and provide the last ingredient needed for Fea's revival." The fairy creature shrugged. "Amaya couldn't have been more obvious if she had been wearing a neon sign. Speaking of which, how do you know her ladyship, crow-man?"

"It was only after I saw her that my memories returned." Akihiko replied, "But Chiyoko and I have a long history with the goddess. I was once a warrior who fell to the blade of Macha's army."

"And I was a priestess of the ancient world." Chiyoko added. "Macha graciously allowed us a second chance at life if we offered our servitude."

"Right, right," Fynbar nodded in understanding. "Macha's servants who flew over the battle field acting as her eyes. I always wondered what happened to you two." He tilted his head. "In order to spare you lives, her ladyship must have changed you guys from a crow and a raven into tengu before she was sealed."

"But crows and ravens are ill omens and harbingers of death." Father Patrick argued. The tengu pair and puck glared at him for his ignorance.

"She's in trouble." Kurama said quietly. He had kept his eyes on the confrontation between the goddesses.

The other four stopped arguing and glanced at the sky. Macha and Fea were surrounded by a glowing aura that prevented their attacks from creating collateral damage, but Macha clearly didn't have the upper hand in the fight. She was breathing heavily with most of her energy being pulled in by the barrier. Fea on the other hand looked fresh as a spring day and was gloating.

'Your years as a mortal have drained you sister', Fea said. 'Once I'm finished you won't even have a chance to regret siding with the humans'.

"You look adorable when you're trying to think." Macha replied sourly. "It almost makes you look intelligent. I didn't say anything about siding with humans. This is my problem and I just don't want your bloody fingers in it." Below Fynbar was back to frantically gathering Fea's minions and converting their chanting to favor Macha. The goddess took a deep breath and summoned Amaya's discarded sword to her hand.

'A mortal's sword?' Fea scoffed.

"Tengu made and mortal loved." Macha corrected. "You've lived far too long to dismiss the worth of that."

'Yes, that would be your specialty, now wouldn't it sister?'Fea smirked as she reformed her own blade. 'A battle of swords it is.'

The audience was mesmerized by the show above. The sound of the two blades clashing rang through the morning air. Macha had a few more close calls than Fea, but neither side was willing to yield and could manage only minor slashes with no definite hits.

"How do we know who's winning?" Father Patrick asked nervously.

"A kami's strength is generally determined by the number of followers they have." Akihiko explained. "That's why Reikai used the brainwashed youkai as a means to inspire fear in the humans."

"But there is one thing that could turn the tides to Macha's favor." Chiyoko pointed out.

"Yes, Yes," Fynbar jumped up and down excited. "Macha still has her mana!"

Father Patrick and Kurama exchanged puzzled glances. "Mana?'

"I guess the best way to describe it is 'divine luck'." Chiyoko elaborated. "If reiki and youki are like kinetic energy, then mana would be their potential energy. Mana isn't something that's physically there; it exists solely as a possibility." The tengu's eyes shined. "It provides the 'luck' in the 'luck and timing' proverb. A kami's luck is stronger than a mortal's, but more than that, kami can make their own luck and bend reality to their will."

"Fea used up most of her mana to build her up her army." Fynbar noted wickedly. "She did not expect she'd be facing her sister in battle."

"Macha hasn't used her mana in several millenniums." Akihiko agreed. "It is still too soon to call this fight."


"Arrg," Koenma growled. "I'm not sure who to root for because either way humanity is finished."

"I wouldn't think so." Don replied as he sipped on his thirtieth cup of white and green tea blend. "At this rate they'll end up destroying each other."

"And the city along with them!" Koenma was practically pulling out his hair by this time. "If this gets out my career is ruined." Don finished his cup and stood up to walk toward the door with his hands in tucked inside his robe.

"And where are you going?" Koenma demanded.

"If just sitting here bothers you so much, then perhaps a personal intervention is needed." Don suggested. He pulled up his hood to hide his face in its shadows. "I believe our roles will be revealed to us all too soon."