~ A Recap ~
Amaterasu let this sink in for a moment before speaking again. "It is exactly how…"
She cut off, her mind wandering to what Rao's ghost had said: Follow the signs and I'm sure you will find what you are looking for…
It all made sense now. Tamamo's body had been inhabited by Ninetails, just like Rao. That was the reason that the Emperor kept getting sicker, and why she had disappeared…
"Amaterasu?"
Ammy looked over at Waka, the light of discovery shining in her eyes. "Waka, go with the Emperor. Let me know as soon as he regains consciousness. I have to find Issun."
With that she turned and began running toward the Commoners' Quarter without looking back.
( Waka's P.O.V. )
The Tao Master paced back and forth across the expanse of the audience chamber while the physician tended to the Emperor. Waka's bright blue eyes looked over to his still-unconscious form, and he couldn't help but feel a sinking feeling in his chest; the Emperor's skin was sticky and red from fever, his labored breaths growing more shallow every minute. The young leader would most likely be joining his ancestors very, very soon.
It was only a few minutes before the doctor leaned back and shook his head sadly. "I've done all I can for him. The dark forces that plagued his heart and body have spread too deep. All we can do now is make sure he is comfortable when he passes into the next life."
Waka bowed his head. "I understand. He was a good leader and will be missed greatly. Please," He said, looking up. "Leave me to tend to him. I think that is what he would want."
The doctor bowed and left, leaving the two alone. Waka climbed the small platform to where the Emperor lay and knelt beside him.
"You lived a good and bountiful life," Waka said quietly. "Although short, your reign has had such an impact on this city. Know that you will be missed here in the mortal world."
With a sigh, Waka kowtowed and looked back toward the doors. Oh, Amaterasu…if only you were here right now. Wherever you ran off to, I hope that you'll hurry.
( Amaterasu's P.O.V. )
Ammy had never run faster in her life, even in a silky kimono and 3-inch zori like Waka's. She found Issun and Kaede back at the inn, having a light conversation with some travelers who were probably staying there for the festival. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw them, and almost rammed into the side of the bar as she ran up to them.
"Woah, what's gotten into you, furball?" Issun said. Ammy took a moment to catch her breath before speaking.
"Both of you, come," She said frantically. "There's trouble."
Seeing the frantic look in her eyes, both of them moved to follow her without any questions asked. The Goddess grabbed Issun out of midair and tucked him into her obi before grabbing Kaede's hand and taking off toward the palace.
The three of them made it in record time, and they ran past the guards and into the palace. The elevator seemed to move at a snail pace with what Ammy was feeling. Finally it opened on the top floor, and they hurried to the entrance of the audience chamber.
Almost immediately Amaterasu saw Waka's blonde head all the way across the room. They crossed the huge room to where Waka kneeled, and to Ammy's horror, the Emperor lay, dying.
"Is he alright?" She said, gazing at his weakened form. "Please tell me he's alright…"
Waka lifted his bowed head to look at her, and she could automatically see from the pain and anguish in his eyes that the Emperor was far from alright.
"Is he…?" Ammy couldn't even bring herself to say the word.
Waka shook his head, but said nothing. She looked over to her left as a shuddering sob went through Kaede, and she dropped into a bow. Amaterasu felt tears coming as well, and followed Kaede's lead, dropping onto her knees in a kowtow.
"Tamamo did this to him," Waka said, so softly that Ammy wasn't sure she heard him for a moment. "It's all her fault…"
Ammy shook her head at this. "No, Waka," She said. "Not Tamamo. This is the fault of Ninetails. It's like Himiko all over again." Her heart ached just thinking about the poor Queen who died protecting her city, and Konoe was going down the same path.
Suddenly, the Emperor's body quaked, and Waka looked around, alarmed. Ammy could feel now, through the thick feelings of sorrow and grief, something else in the room; a dark, malevolent force coming from the very room they were in.
They all gasped as a ghostly figure stepped out of the shadows of the room. "T-Tamamo?" Waka said, shocked. As the figure drew closer, Ammy could see now that it was the form of a beautiful woman.
"Oh, my husband," She said; her voice was soft and sweet, like that of chiming bells. "My dear Konoe, what's happened?"
She draped herself over Konoe's quickly rising and falling chest, her fingertip tracing a line down the middle of his broad ribcage. A soft smile appeared on her graceful features, but something about her seemed off to Ammy.
Just then, Issun wriggled out of Ammy's obi and bounced toward Tamamo. "So, you're Tamamo, eh? Nice of you to show up!"
He began to approach her, but as he did an electric barrier made him ricochet off and ram into the wall. "Owww…" He groaned as his tiny form slumped over.
"What the?" Ammy said as Tamamo's bowed head came up a little, that smile still there, but it was odd now. There wasn't love or affection there, but instead, there was malice. Ammy's Divine Retribution pulsed a little as Tamamo crawled forward over her husband.
"I see you've discovered my secret," She said in a voice that was way too sweet. Waka stood and carefully went to stand in front of Kaede.
Tamamo giggled and her smile turned into a full, sharp-toothed grin. "You've done well to come this far, Amaterasu…" Even as she spoke, her soft voice was turning into more and more of a beastlike snarl.
"You…" Ammy growled. "You're responsible for this, Ninetails!"
She stood slowly, or rather, her body was dragged into a standing position by some unseen force. "What am I going to do with you?" She said. "Such a nuisance, always coming and getting in my way…well I won't have it. You may have defeated me last time, but I assure you it won't happen again."
With this, a dark, thick fog overtook Tamamo's form and began changing shape into a much larger, eight-tailed form. Soon the fog dispersed and Ninetails stood before them, his tails thrashing, saliva dripping from his black gums as he bared his razor-sharp teeth.
Suddenly his red-eyed gaze went from Amaterasu to where Kaede was cowering behind Waka. He grinned an evil, malicious grin and licked his lips.
"Ah, so you're the one who took my ninth tail," He growled, using one of his huge paws to knock Waka out of the way. The Prophet cried out and landed with a sickening thud, leaving Kaede totally exposed. She shrank back from the demon, her visible eye wide with fear.
"I was wondering when I would find it again, heheh…" He teased her by slamming his paw down right beside her, causing her to scream and flinch away. His other eight tails thrashed excitedly with the presence of one of their own.
Ammy snarled threateningly and whipped out Divine Retribution. "Leave her alone, you scum!" She jumped at him, weapon ready to attack, but the same electric barrier blocked her, and she fell to the ground. She clenched her teeth as the shockwaves rippled through her body.
"You're all such fools!" Ninetails laughed. "You really think you can defeat me in your current state?"
Ammy tried to stand, but the electric shock had made her muscles seize, making it impossible to move. She desperately clawed at the ground to try and make a move toward him, to no avail.
"You really have weakened, Amaterasu," The fox mocked her. "No more powerful than a regular mortal! Oh, and I thought this wasn't going to be very entertaining."
Turning, Ninetails reached out and swiped up the Emperor's limp body. "I'll be taking this," He said. "After all, he deserves to see his beloved wife once more before I rip him apart, don't you think? Gyahaha!"
"No! Konoe!" Waka shouted as Ninetails' form began to glow black. He too made a desperate attempt to get up and move, but as Amaterasu looked on it was obvious from the angle of his leg that it had been broken when he had been knocked away by Ninetails. He gritted his teeth in pain and collapsed, defeated.
"Your feeble attempts to stop me are so very amusing," He growled. "If you think you actually stand a chance against me, I'll be to the West, on Nasu Plain. Make all the preparations you want, but know that I cannot be defeated."
With this, he disappeared in a puff of black fog, leaving the four of them alone, bruised in body and in spirit.
"N-no…Konoe…" Waka rasped from where he lay, helpless. "Amaterasu, we have to save him…"
Amaterasu stood shakily, her legs bowing as she tried to regain use of her muscles. She stumbled over and picked up the stunned Issun, who didn't respond to her touch. Once he was tucked safely inside her obi, she went to Waka and hoisted him up, almost carrying him as his leg dangled uselessly.
"Kaede, are you alright?" She said. Kaede, although in severe shock, nodded her head frantically. She hugged herself, her visible eye unfocused, her body still shaking.
"Amaterasu," Waka said, his warm breath in her ear. "We have to save the Emperor, or else…"
She nodded. "Shhh," She whispered. "Don't strain yourself. Let's rest here and figure out what to do once everyone's feeling better."
She struggled over to where the Emperor had been laying just moments ago and gingerly rested Waka down. She looked over at Kaede, who seemed to have calmed down a bit. "Kaede, go find the doctor," She said. "Waka and Issun both need it."
She laid down Issun's tiny form next to Waka, and frowned when she pulled her hand away to see a spot of blood on her fingertip. At Issun's age, this could be something really serious.
"Hurry, Kaede," She said a little too harshly, and Kaede turned and ran back out the entrance. She returned a few moments later with the doctor in tow, and Ammy could still see the fear etched into her face.
Ammy sat in silence as the doctor fixed both Waka and Issun up, putting Waka's broken leg on a wooden splint, and wrapping a tiny piece of bandaging around Issun's head. He finished giving Waka something for pain and stood up.
"They'll be fine," He said. "Now, about the Emperor…"
Just then, the doors to the audience chamber burst open and two men ran in. The first, a strong, handsome man with long black hair tied into a low ponytail bent over as he tried to catch his breath. "We received news of the Emperor," He said to the doctor. "What can we do to help?"
The doctor indicated to Amaterasu, and the two men looked at her. The second man, shorter and less heavily built with shoulder length hair tied back into a braid, took a step forward and examined her.
"Hey, I recognize you," He said. "You played the Sun Goddess in the parade, didn't you?"
Ammy nodded. "Yes, but now's not the time for that. Are you men warriors?"
They both nodded at the same time, and the first man spoke. "We're the greatest warriors of the Emperor's army," He said. "I am Miura and this is Kazusa. Can we be of service in any way?"
Ammy thought about it for a moment before she spoke again. "Yes…have either of you ever heard of a demon called Ninetails?"
Miura nodded. "Of course, he was the slayer of the great Queen Himiko. Everyone's heard the tale."
"Well we need you to help us, because he was the one who kidnapped the Emperor. Now if we could just come up with a way to defeat him-"
"The Divine Arrow," Came Waka's voice from behind them. Ammy turned and kneeled down beside him.
"It's…the only way for you to defeat Ninetails in your current state," He said, the drowsiness of the medicine beginning to kick in. "Ninetails guards it in his temple on the plain of Nasu. Go there and find it, and you will be able to defeat him."
He took Ammy's hand in his as his clear blue eyes began to droop. "Take the others. The bug and I will be fine here. I have faith in you, ma chérie."
With this, he exhaled as his eyes closed and his body relaxed. Ammy nodded silently and stood, turning to face the two warriors and Kaede.
"Where's the plain of Nasu?" She asked as she stepped down off of the platform.
"Just on the west side of Lake Biwa," Kazusa said. "There's a way through the city in the southwest corner of the Aristocrats' Quarter."
She nodded and went to stand by Kaede. "Alright then, let's get going," She said, looping her arm through her friend's. She could still feel her shaking a little. "If I'm to succeed I'll need all of your help."
The other three nodded and Ammy proceeded to follow the two warriors out of the audience chamber and onto the outside balcony of the palace. As the cool night air hit Ammy's face, she felt a sort of warmth coming from the south end of the palace, where Himiko's grave was located. She split up from the other three, telling them that she would meet them at the gate, and walked around back to where the majestic stones standing up in the water marked the noble Queen's burial place.
The warm feeling grew stronger, and she looked up, expecting to see the spirit of Himiko above her. Instead, she could sense it there; a constellation, beckoning her brush.
She completed the constellation using her Celestial Brush, and saw that it was the constellation of the sheep. The air swirled around her, turning into that familiar white mist, and before her was Kasugami.
"Ah, Amaterasu, creator of all that is good and mother to us all…" The drunken sheep hiccupped. "For many years I have lived here under the protection of Queen Himiko, thanks to what you did to clear the city of that fowl mist."
Amaterasu bowed and hid her smile as the goofy sheep took a swig of whatever was in her gourd. "I now wish to pass on the ability of Veil of Mist, in hopes that you will use it to slow down your enemies in my thick fog."
Ammy felt the regained power sink into her chest, and she felt revitalized. Kasugami bleated and was gone in a whirl of heavenly mist, leaving Ammy by herself.
She returned to Kaede and the two warriors, who were all at the gate that led out of Sei-an, across Lake Biwa and into the plains of Nasu.
"There you are," Kaede said. "What did you need to do?"
"Oh, you know, just Goddess stuff," Ammy replied. "Now, let's get going."
I gotta say, I'm pretty proud of this chapter! Please tell me what you think, leave a quick review! Reviews are what drive me to update faster.