A/N: Little intermission for that one small part after Orochi is defeated...enjoy and review, as always.


Chapter 12: Which is the Intermission

Sakuya the tree sprite was feeling rather miffed. She had been out of the action for some time now, and being the busybody that she is, she was getting restless for some meddling. So when the author of this story announced that it was high time for an intermission and needed a character to foreshadow events and build tension, Sakuya jumped at the job. Unfortunately for Sakuya, however, the job announcement was just a hoax, since the author of this story had already decided beforehand who the characters running this particular intermission would be. As expected, Sakuya was incensed.

"Why bother putting up an announcement if you already have the person?" she huffed. "And do I ever show up after this again? It's boring not being able to boss Amaterasu around."

"Sorry, Sakuya," said the esteemed author of this story, whose voice magically rang down from the heavens. Fortunately Sakuya was used to disembodied voices speaking to her, so she didn't die of shock, although Ammy and Link would have been happy to hear she did. "But I'll let you know if you come up again. Ammy and Link miss having you around, despite anything they say or do otherwise."

Somewhere far away from the conversation, Ammy and Link sneezed.

"Anyway," said the magnanimous author of this story, "you can take these Spamalot tickets as consolation. You probably won't enjoy it because it's far too humorous for your tastes, but the Lady of the Lake reminds me a lot of you. You know, she sings a song about how her role in the plot has virtually disappeared, which pretty much sums up how you feel right now—"

"Please stop talking," snapped Sakuya. "You're annoying. And I don't want anything with spam in it, thank-you-very-much. That stuff is thoroughly disgusting. Plus, it hasn't even been invented yet."

"This is why I didn't give you the job," muttered the author of this story, and went off to find the person she did give the job to, who had a considerably better sense of humor that unfortunately did not stretch towards his sense of fashion.

"At last," said a disembodied voice that was staring through something that looked like a huge floating ball. "At last the time has come. The unseverable bonds between heaven and earth…Waka!"

The familiar pink-clothed figure in the crystal ball tapped his chin with his flute and looked at the speaker, vague amusement on his face.

"The situation has grown urgent," continued the disembodied voice when it was somewhat certain it had captured the prophet's attention. "You must return to the city at once."

"Tres bien!" said Waka, who then mused darkly. "Amaterasu, you may have slain Orochi this time, but do not assume it will be so easy next."

The image in the crystal ball faded, leaving the players of the game feeling quite confused about where Waka stands on the good-evil scale and wondering what the hell was in the background of the ball where Waka was standing. Watching the whole scene comfortably from their couches at the game design studio, "They" chuckled evilly. Of course "They" knew everything, and it was quite an enjoyable experience manipulating the players' little brains. In fact, the most esteemed author of this story had been confounded by "Them" when playing through the game the first time, and it soon became her interest as much as Ammy's to have "Them" smited. Except then she realized that "They" were coming out with a new sequel to Okami in March, and she decided that she liked "Them" after all.

Sulking in her tree at Kamiki, Sakuya huffed. "Authors," she muttered, rolling her eyes. But she didn't have much time to grumble, because it was a festival, after all, and even Sakuya cannot stay uptight when there's sake and fireworks and old men dancing around.


A/N: That's it for Act 1 of our Okami parody, stay tuned for Act 2, coming up soon!