Chapter 11
When the battle was over I was leaning against the same tree, watching Amaterasu with her hunched back as she panted heavily for air.
I walked over to her while clapping my hands and said "Not bad Ammy, I've seen better, but that was a very good fight for a first. What did it feel like?"
She took a moment before saying with a smile "Great, I thought I would feel the same as before, but it's entirely different."
I gave a smile too and said "Good, you need some more practice but we should get you patched up. Let's make camp here for the night."
She nodded and sat down, starring at the flower that was once the last opponent she fought as I went to collect fire wood.
"Did you plan this all out?" Yoi asked me as I picked up broken branches and sticks on the ground.
"Maybe, but it doesn't matter to me either way. I'm training her to fight evil; if she dies it's not my concern. She is just a tool of mine to make sure the evil around here gets weaker so they don't travel to other universes." I said back.
Yoi didn't respond since he didn't like the idea, but he couldn't help it.
After I picked up a plenty good amount of fire wood I headed back to see Ammy still staring at the flower.
After I set the fire up I checked to see if she was watching before snapping my finger and produced a flame from my thumb again and lit the fire.
I set down next to Ammy and noticed that she still stared at the flower, more intensely this time.
I could hear the words in her head as I snuck inside her conscious a little bit.
I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and pulled her away from the flower and towards me.
She looked up at me and I smiled telling her that I was proud of her.
She saw the smile and took a minute before smiling back and leaned into me, tired from her first battle.
I rubbed her head gently while my fingers went through her silk like hair.
"I may be using her. But I am also helping her fight for good." I thought to myself as Ammy lay in my lap now, asleep.
I started to wonder if this would affect her life greatly or not. But it soon switched to what the yellow imp revered to as "master".
Ammy ran from the shadowy figure that followed her closely.
She ran and ran till she got to the point of exhaustion and fell over.
She turned onto her back and slowly crawled away as she watched the figure now walking and reach out for her.
"No…" She said with a quiver of fear.
"Did you really think you could escape from me Amaterasu? I don't need to touch you just to get in your head." The figure said with a smile.
"How…?" Ammy said trying to get away but felt her left hand slipped.
She looked behind her and saw that she was at a cliff and couldn't progress any further, without killing herself.
"Like I said before Amaterasu, you cannot escape from me." The figure said getting closer and was about to touch Ammy.
I threw my bag of popcorn to the side and made myself visible by grabbing the shadowy figure's forearm, only a few centimeters from touching Ammy's forehead with its fingers.
"Amaterasu, you are to face your fears. Not the other way around." I said with a smile.
"How did you get in here?" The shadowy figure demanded with a hiss at the end.
"Chill bro, I was just trying to sleep after Ammy's big fight and then she started to mumble to herself. I know she tends to talk into her sleep but this was different. So, I went inside, grabbed some popcorn and watched about an hour of this." I said as I watched the figures expression mixed with anger, confusion, and shock.
The shadow like figure tried to consume me as I saw the arm I was holding him turn black like his.
I merely chuckled and said "Really?"
I grabbed his second hand as it swung towards my shoulder.
I pulled him away from Ammy before throwing him far into the distance till he was nothing more but a black twinkle.
I walked back to Ammy and held out a hand for her.
She hesitated for a second but took my hand and I helped her up and onto her feet.
"Ammy, when the time comes you must fight him. I cannot do it for you, stand tall and proud when that day comes." I said before fading out of her dreams and back into my own.
But I don't dream like others do, my spirit escapes its body and waits for the time to "wake up". This is the only time I am partially in my true form.
A few days after Ammy's first fight we set out for the demon that has been revered to as "Master" by the imps.
Ammy was more ready than ever before after I intervened, her nightmare that night.
As we traveled I saw her looking at me funny then and there. But every time I turned to check if she was alright, she would stop looking at me like that and say she was fine.
I just shrugged it off and kept walking after the 5th time it happened.
We walked in silence for a while till Ammy asked me "Do you have any idea what we are to be expecting when we fight this creature?"
"I'm not entirely sure, I just know that it's big, evil, and wants human sacrifices. It should be entertaining." I said with quick rush of adrenaline going through my body at the thought of fighting it.
"What do you know of the being that possessed me?" Ammy asked.
I turned to her again and said "Not much, the being that possessed you is from the Celestial Plains like you, a God. But is actually a wolf in sheep clothing."
She apparently got slightly offended by something that I said and walked in front of me.
"Did I say something to offend you Ammy?" I asked getting closer.
She stopped, turned around and did something I wasn't expecting at first.
She got on her hand and feet and gave a slight growl.
Her hair receded as fur came out from her kimono. Her nails grew while fingers shrank and lost both thumbs. Her mouth became a muzzle, eyes changing dark black, an ink dipped like tail ripped a hole through the kimono, her ears turned more canine, teeth became sharper as of that of a wolf, and the white kimono fused with the creature's body as the markings on them were now part of the fur.
Ammy was now a wolf.
"Oh, yeah… I kinda gave a bad example of that, sorry." I said realizing I just insulted Ammy since she was a wolf, yet the shepherd that watches over the sheep.
She reversed the progress and returned to her human form before giving a smile with slight giggles as she waited for me to get closer.
"What's so funny?" I thought not understanding why she was giggling.
We walked a long distance and stopped at a large palace like building.
I gave a whistle at the size of the outside before heading towards the closed gates.
Ammy was in a cloak that hid her markings and white hair.
I saw a rope leading up to a bell above and on the wall around the palace.
I grabbed onto the rope and pulled on it.
A loud low ring could be heard from miles away.
An imp opened a small slot in the giant gate and said "Why did you ring the bell, didn't you read the sign? No Soliciting!"
I cleared my throat and said "Excuse us, but we are travelers from a faraway land and we need a place. My wife is very tired from walking and as you can see, we have no horses. Might we come in and rest here for a day or two?"
I could have sworn that Ammy was blushing under her hood but kept my attention on the imp in front of me.
The imp was silent for a minute but then said "No." and slammed the slot closed.
I sighed and said "Well, that didn't work out as planned. But now, I can have some fun."
I raised my foot up and held onto my fedora as I kicked the gates open.
Inside the palace was much bigger than I thought and stretched till a mountain about 60 meters tall cut off the palace.
Me and Ammy ran straight in and cut, chopped and sliced every imp that stood in front of us.
Not a single imp could hit us as we rushed past them.
We stopped at a giant arena like area in front of the mountain.
The ground shook and made Ammy fall off her feet, but I stood still unaffected by the shaking.
I grabbed Amaterasu and jumped high into the air as a long serpent broke out from the ground in front of us and tried to eat us by surprise.
I held Ammy in both arms as we landed a far enough distance from the now, 9 headed serpent that shined golden was looking at us. (The lightning head still, could not see us and turned to every angle it could to see the opponent and failed.)
"Why has thou come to my kingdom and fight my subjects? Do you have a death wish? Or shall I spare one of you for the others life?" All serpents said at the same time, but the lightning head which said "Can't see! Come on who are we fighting? OH! Is it Lechku and Nechku? Oh I want to see who were fighting!"
I kinda felt like laughing at how sad that was but couldn't since I responded with "We have come to take thou life. We do not have a wish relative to death (Not me at least) and we will not be running away."
The creature gave a loud roar ready for battle as he was tired of talk and thirsted for blood.
I put Ammy down and pulled out Waru and Yoi ready for battle.
Ammy summoned her Glaive and took a battle stance that I taught her.
The first to strike was the Fire head serpent by breathing out fire.
To my surprise, a gust of wind blew the flames away from us.
Then the giant body of the creature turned and we were now facing the earth helmet serpent.
It thrashed its body against the ground hard, making me and Ammy fly into the air above all nine heads.
They all reach out for us, the earth head being a little slower than the others though.
The first to reach us was the fire head as it opened its jaw wide, intending to eat Amaterasu first.
Out of reflexes I grabbed Ammy and threw her towards the ground and kicked the fire head away.
Ammy regained her balance and softly landed on the ground.
I on the other hand, was surrounded by the other 8 heads. I quickly changed my blood before each one grabbed a hold of me and ripped a part of me off.
Very shortly after that, 8 out of the 9 serpents were coughing up blood and my limbs all over.
My body was destroyed, but my spirit watched right next to Ammy who could not see me.
Each serpent tried to talk, but the fire serpent was the only one that could speak.
"What has thy done with me?! I feel a great burning in each of our throats but mine. Has thou poison me?!" The Serpent screamed before charging at the stunned Ammy.
"NO!" I thought before I made my spirit reform into solid and pulled Waru and Yoi out of black and white mists.
I ran in front of Amaterasu and held up my swords in an X form and stopped the charge of the berserk serpent with no effort used.
"Noreel!" Ammy shouted in surprise to see me.
"How is this possible? What manner of trickery is this?" The serpent asked.
"I am neither mortal nor a God. I control the very essence of every Universe that exists. I cannot die, even if I want to die. But like the phoenix when it burns itself to death, it is reborn from the ashes of its passed self. You are facing the killer of many strong beings." I said as I pushed away the serpent.
"My blood must have turned into acid and burned the vocal cords of the other 8 serpents. Well at least I did some damage." I thought being optimistic.
All the serpents soon changed, no longer glowing gold like before and were now non-glowing silver.
I don't know why, but I snapped my finger and destroyed the mountain, making it a small platform with stairs.
I snapped my finger again and made the bell from the entrance get morphed into the newly made platform.
I snapped my finger for the last time and shrunk the body of the gigantic creature to a much smaller size.
I turned to Ammy and said "Your turn."
She shook her head as if she was trying to get out of a gaze and nodded her head as she ran up towards the creature and they both fought fiercely till the sun started to set.
Amaterasu was tired and could barely hold onto her weapon. She was also bruised and badly injured, but still kept fighting. She even denied my help when I was about to step in. She said she had to face her fears and by doing so, she had to face the fears of others first to find the courage within her.
Ammy fell onto one knee in front of the last of the 9 serpents was tired and injured, yet not as bad as Ammy.
The last serpent raised its head and gave a fierce roar before charging at Ammy.
I couldn't stand and watch anymore. I quickly pushed off the ground and flew straight at Ammy and picked her up right before the creature hit the ground.
"I told you not to help me!" Ammy shouted at me angry.
"Ammy… there is a difference between courage and pride. You can get yourself killed by selfish pride which is sometimes deceiving and full of lies, courage is something that you find in you that makes pride a coward. You've done enough fighting. I'll take care of the last one." I said setting her down after I came to a complete stop.
I turned to face the last serpent and readied my swords.
The serpent gave a loud roar and charged at me before I ran at it and held up both Waru and Yoi, vertically parallel and cut the last serpent into 3 long strips of flesh.
"That head won't be coming back ever, but the other 8 might someday…" I thought as I walked over to the exhausted and wounded Amaterasu.
I sheathed Waru and Yoi and picked up Ammy as she flinched a little in pain before saying "Why did you save me? You could have killed yourself."
I smiled and said "Did you already forget? I was eaten by 8 of the serpents. I cannot die at all, it's impossible for me to die. I had nothing to lose if I saved you and got eaten in the process. I would just come back again. I also didn't want you to die after all the training I've taught you. It would be a shame to see the only Goddess that I've trained, die at the jaws of a stupid garden snake."
She smiled back and the next thing that happened I DID NOT EXPECT.
She reached behind my head and pulled it towards hers and made us kiss.
I almost dropped her from surprise but held on tight.
The feeling of adrenaline rushed through my body once more as it has done several times before. But this felt… different. It felt stronger and I practically wanted to do everything from running on the ceiling, to swim through molten magma and be perfectly fine.
I was able to hold this knew feeling in me and tried to process what the hell just happened.
"That was…" I said trying to find the right words after the kiss for a few seconds.
Ammy just giggled and kissed my once more. The feeling came rushing through me again even stronger with every second that Ammy kissed me longer than before.
When the kiss ended I found the words and said "Entirely expected and I'm not lying!"
She just laughed out loud at my slipup and kissed me once more.
Yoi and Waru both said that we needed "alone time" but I rejected that greatly.
But the feeling I had that was coursing through me at that very moment I thought "Is this… love?"
I carried Ammy out and I kept feeling this warm thing in my chest.
I would stare at any who came near us and they would immediately back away in fear.
I picked the bone of an imp and changed it into what I call a holy bone XXL.
"Here, change into your wolf form and eat this." I said holding the bone in front of Ammy.
She nodded and did as I said.
The wounds that scarred her body were healing all over her and now remained as small cuts that could have been from a piece of paper.
"This will increase your cell reproduction rate and heal all wounds, including broken bones. But it won't replenish your stamina and energy; you'll need a few days of rest for that. You may not even be able to lift your hands like you did for a day or two." I said as we passed the gates with a few extra supplies and more bags for where our next journey might take us.
After a few long days of rest Ammy was able to eat on her own. She kept giving me a strange look that warmed my chest.
I would have blushed if I didn't switch my vision to see her aura only.
When she was able to walk again we set out at a slow pace than what we normally did.
We walked through almost every terrain there was for several years. All was left was the northern part of the mortal world.
"You know Noreel; this land doesn't have a name yet." Ammy said as she sat on a Cherry Blossom tree branch.
I sat next to her and said "We can start the by naming this area… Hana Valley."
She smiled and said "The name fits perfectly."
I smiled and jumped down from the tree and picked up an old thick branch and carved it into a sign that said "The beautiful Hana Valley."
I set it into the soft dirt and turned to see Ammy waiting for me outside of the newly dubbed Hana Valley.
I walked with her out into Shinshu Field where we were both surprised.
The Celestial Plains was in sight and was landing far off shore in the ocean.
I saw a big smile on Ammy's face; she was glad that she was able to finally go home.
She grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the shore.
We got in a boat and sailed towards the Continent full of gods and Celestials.
She kept jumping around like a little child but I enjoyed every moment of seeing that joyous smile.
When we got on the land we found all 13 Gods waiting for us, they hadn't changed at all. But then again, neither did us.
"Amaterasu, we tried everything we could and the only way to find you was by setting the Celestial Plains down. It has been such a long and painful year without you." Yumigami said hugging Ammy.
She hugged everyone back and said "A year? But it has been at least 10 years since that day we fell off."
Apparently my thinking was correct; this universe is one of the oldest universes that still exist. It is so old; it has gained an intelligence of its own and created the barrier that hid itself away from plain sight. The only way to enter was through via door on the Celestial Plains. It was most likely created by an old civilization that found out the ability to travel through universes.
The barrier was not the only one. A barrier below the sky of the Celestial Plains and above the mortal world was created. It would affect time and protect the civilization from attacks. This civilization is now known as the Celestial Gods by my theory.
I got off the boat and the 13 gods looked at me with surprise that I was still alive.
"Everyone, you remember Noreel right? We'll he's my love now." Ammy said with a smile as she led me towards them.
I was no longer wearing my suit since people would ask about it but I wore a kimono similar to it.
I smiled back at the reaction they all had. They all dropped their jaws and Kasugami was the only one who spoke by saying "I think I'm drinking too much."
The other gods turned to the drunken Goddess with the same expression on, even Ammy had the shocked look in her eyes.
But I noticed that Yami, God of Darkness kept eyeing Amaterasu very intensely.
I pulled out Yoi and drew closer to him, about to strike.
Right then and there, all heads turned to me and Yami, who ran as fast as he could and off the Celestial Plains.
He got away, but he would not be coming back after showing his face. I knew that, after telling the other gods and Ammy that Yami was the puppeteer controlling my love.
Ammy grabbed my attention and kinda messed around with her hair as she twirled it with two fingers.
"Now that we know who controlled me is, and is no longer a threat to me or the others, I wanted to say this to you… I'm Pregnant." Ammy said with a smile.
I turned to stone. LITERALLY I TURNED INTO SOLID STONE.
I couldn't believe it! I was going to be a father!
I broke out from my stone statue and shouted "YES!"
Hey, I just finished the other story I talked about and I really had to put my emotions into play for it to work and I don't feel like being all joyful. Anyways I hope you all had a great Halloween and got tons amount of candy (I didn't). Review and stuff. LATER!
