Part 2: Chapter 2

Sadly, I do not own the anime: Noragami.

Time: An hour or so after the previous chapter.

After parting ways with Eiko, Hiyori felt good. It'd been nice to talk with someone who wouldn't just call her crazy when she mentioned gods and phantoms. Thought she hadn't known it, it'd been something she'd needed, and was certainly better than the shrink her parents were paying so much for.

With the rain still pelting down, she continued to walk, wondering if she should head home first, or go to the storage locker. Definitely home, she decided, then the storage locker, and then . . . . She looked in the direction of Izanami's shrine and shuddered..

Once home she took a shower and studied her reflection in a mirror. She looked normal, but definitely wasn't. "Imagine having to worry about being too healthy," she snickered to herself. She'd always been rather healthy – eating right and with walking almost everywhere she went. Plus with her father being a doctor, her vaccinations were always up-to-date. He also ensured she got regular dental checkups.

She flexed the biceps of her right arm. Too strong for the exercise I do get. I'm not an athlete. Thankfully I'm not starting to looking one of those female bodybuilders. Hiyori shuddered at that thought. She didn't think she was overly vain about her looks, but she was somewhat vain, and was fine with that. "I'll start worrying about vanity when I spend an hour in front of a mirror every morning," she told herself aloud, and returned to her examination.

My vision and reflexes have improved too. She recalled the miniature shrine she'd made for Yato. With small stuff I still suck, but otherwise my reflexes are too fast. And I used to have around 20/20 vision. For some reason all those checks they did included an eye exam, and my vision is now more like 30/20. That freaked my father out. And to be honest, it's freaking me out too.

All those tests also included taking some tissue samples, and the incisions healed way too fast. It's more like a quarter of what you would expect of a healthy, normal person. That's freaking my father out. And that mole I had, the one I hated so much, and planned to get rid of when I could, that's gone.

My pulse rate and blood pressure – they're also absurdly good for someone who isn't an athlete. And my teeth, they're too hard, too dense. Just like my fingernails are. That's freaking my father out. It's also freaking me out.

"Thankfully he doesn't know that I'm needing less and less sleep," she told her reflection. "That would freak him out as well. I used to like getting a solid eight, but now I'm wide awake after six. And it's not due to being a succubus, otherwise I would've always been like this."

Hiyorii's eyes met those of the reflection's. "The one thing I can think of is when Izanami saved me. I'm pretty sure I died, that my spirit was gone, and she brought me back. Though it's not like I can complain about being too healthy. I just want to know what's going on. That way when my father and mother start to worry, I can try to reassure them and be honest about it even if I can't tell them what actually is going on."

Turning she grabbed the clothes she planned to wear. Black jeans and a black shirt. She liked her school uniform, but even she needed a change at times. It was followed by black socks and black joggers. Plus it's dark out, and I don't want people to see me, dead or alive. I don't want to have to explain anything. Looking out the window she saw it was dark, and that the rain had stopped. "Time to go," she told herself.

Before she left she wrote the time and added, 'back in ?' on a piece of paper. Now when she left her body, she left a note saying how long she would be gone. It let her parents know that she had some control over it without telling them anything specific. And it seemed to work. Now they still worried, but didn't go into panic mode unless she exceeded the time she'd written down. Though, it did mean she had to evade more questions.

In spirit form, running on wires, and over rooftops, and able to make giant leaps, it took less than five minutes to reach the storage locker. Inside were things she didn't want anyone to see, certainly not her parents. Bad enough as it is without them thinking I'm a demon worshiper or something.

With her guilt over having used other people's blood for the first sacrifice nagging at her conscience, she'd gotten the stuff to draw her own blood and stored it in a storage locker that she'd rented. It was a locker she only visited in spirit form, so no worries about someone alive tracking her. And when she smelled gods around, she avoided the place. She knew Kofuku and Tenjin liked her, but they were gods, and if they thought she was an impurity to be cleansed, they would. It also meant this was an issue she couldn't go to those gods about.

So little blood, though, Hiyori mused, looking at the single, one liter bag that was only half full.. I never knew just how little was safe to draw. But half a liter was enough last week, so I hope it will be this time.

Carefully placing the bag of blood, along with two blood puddings that she hoped would compensate for the small amount of human blood, into a small, black garbage bag, she looked around to see what else she needed. Black candles and matches joined the offerings. Next stop the shrine. She shuddered, recalling how casual the goddess had been about her death before deciding to save her. And the pain of having her body shattered like it had been. "Fuck," she said aloud, trembling. "I really don't want to do this."

Still, minutes later, and all to quickly for Hiyori, she approached the shrine where a week earlier she'd placed a small piece of paper on which she'd written, 'Goddess: I have questions, and would bargain with you again.' At the time she'd also made an offering of a half-liter of blood, and two blood puddings.

That night a phantom, small and quick and colorful, had found her. Attached to its leg had been a message. 'Make an offering, and wait for the door to open.'

The door will be a vent, Hiyori guessed as she set up the offering in the shine. As before the candle that should've blown out didn't. Hope it's not a large vent that will set free phantoms and harm people, she then thought. Oh gods, what am I doing? There's no people near by, or buildings, or roads, but . . . .

In misery, Hiyori sat cross-legged within the shrine with her elbows on her knees, and her head resting on her hands, with her thoughts in a rush. The vents she opened before were small, just large enough, and they closed quickly, so . . . . She's a god, and it's against their nature to harm the living world. It's safe. Just like the vent she opened in the hospital parking lot. Izanami might be callous, but she isn't malicious. At least I hope she isn't.

Then a pink light flared around her, within the shrine itself where it didn't reach into the sky, and then she was falling. Before she could think to panic, her body was grabbed by hundreds of strands of Izanami's hair, and she was pulled down to stand in the midst of the cavern where she'd talked to the goddess before. As then, a waterfall of blessed water fell from the cavern roof to purify the air of the miasma, and keep the phantoms at bay. And as then, it was icy cold.

Hiyori froze, not knowing what to do. Do I kneel, or bow, or . . . . Why didn't I think of this before. This isn't Tenjin we're talking about here.

"You've returned thief, as I knew you would. You have questions, and I have tasks I want done, so shall we bargain?"

"Greeting, goddess," Hiyori said, and slightly bowed her head. "Let's bargain." Tasks? She found the courage to face the goddess, and found that she could meet the being whose flesh was in an eternal state of decay and regrowth without trouble. But then, I've been thinking about her, picturing her in my mind, for almost a month. I've gotten used to it.

For a while there was quiet while the goddess studied Hiyori, and Hiyori stood there looking back, not knowing how to start or react.

"Of course," Izanami said, finally speaking, "you could become my herald. You would speak with my authority, and have access to my power. I would share all my knowledge with you."

Hiyori blinked, needing time to comprehend the words and the offer. When her shock had passed, she carefully considered them while the goddess patiently waited. "I can't," she finally replied.

"Why?"

Hiyori closed her eyes in anguish., recalling the time she'd run to Kofuku to save Yato from Bishamon. It was something she'd never allowed herself to think about before, but now the memory overtook her, and she felt tears run down her cheeks, She knew the vent Kofuku had opened had killed people, and she'd been the one to call on the goddess. She gritted her teeth and opened her eyes.

"Because as your herald I might have to kill," she replied, voice quivering. Already my actions have have killed people. I don't want to hurt anyone else. Not ever. My family, we're healers, not killers."

"I see." Izanami sounded thoughtful. "I have tasks I want done in the middle world," she told the girl. "Would you undertake some of them in exchange for the knowledge you want?"

"Would it involve killing people?"

"There are a number of tasks. I would only offer you the ones that does not involve the death of any you would protect."

"May I hear what the tasks are?" Hiyori asked, wondering why a goddess as powerful as Izanami would want the help of a single, tired, sixteen year old girl.

"The first is the protection of Ebisu. The second is to hunt phantoms, and bring them to me." The goddess bowed her head to peer at Hiyori. "For either of those tasks I would have to train you to fight. And in the art of sorcery. That, child, is something many a god would slaughter there own clan for."

"What is sorcery?" Hiyori asked. "I've heard of Regalia who did it and gods, but that it was frowned upon and punishable by death even."

"Mostly it is the manipulation of phantoms. Think of what that would mean to you. You would be able to conjure guards for your body when you leave it. For a god or a regalia it is sometimes punishable by death. As a part of the living world humans are sometimes excused. It would be a skill that I would strongly advise you not to advertise."

"But why would you need me for that task?" Hiyori inquired, truly puzzled. "And don't you have enough phantoms as it is here?"

"So many questions," Izanami said, though she didn't sound displeased. She looked around the cavern. "Indeed, there are many here. The abyss is more vast than even many gods realize. And it is all filled with phantoms. Those I know and understand. But child, immortality is at time tedious, and while I may venture out of this place for a time, that always courts disaster. I would have you hunt the more interesting phantoms, and bring them here for me to study." She shrugged. "It's as good a way as any to pass eternity. The human world is always changing, so the phantoms their wishes create are always changing. But the phantoms here are not the best at thinking, and while they can follow orders, they don't know what might be interesting, and generally bring back the first one they see." Izanami sighed.

"And hunting those phantoms would prevent them from causing havoc in the living world?

"It would," Izanami affirmed.

Hiyori closed her eyes and sighed herself, wanting to scream with frustration. While she wished for a peaceful life, the task seemed like it would be . . . fun? I might enjoy it, she realized, not understanding why she would at all. I did like kicking those frogs around, she mused. And I enjoy roughhousing with Yato. But I doubt giant frogs are what she meant by interesting.

I'm a sixteen year old girl, a human," she told the goddess. "How would I be able to capture any phantoms that was worthy of being called interesting?" Izanami's reaction was not what she expected.

The goddess laughed. "Child, you do not yet know what a succubus is, do you?" She peered at Hiyori. "In time you will discover that the gods are not really suited to hunting many of the phantoms that roam the world. In fact, at times they will cringe in terror, and seek any way to avoid such a fight. Before the world broke, that was the job of the succubi – to cull the more deadly phantoms, those that carry the mark of intelligence. It is one of the tasks that your subset of humanity was designed for."

Hiyori blinked, dazed. "Huh?"

"You've been around the gods enough now to know what the God's Greatest Secret is, haven't you?

Hiyori nodded, "I have," she affirmed.

"Think of a phantom that can use that secret, much like the Nora, Hiiro. They are near human in intelligence, and with a few words they can destroy the entire clan of a god. How would a god face that? Especially if the phantom was skilled in battle and able to regenerate, as the more interesting ones can."

"There're really such phantoms?"

Izanami's skeleton head bobbed up and down. "There are. And there are leviatans. Immense creatures the size of a large island. They hide their core within a sea of miasma as strong as that of the underworld. And then there are vampires. And werewolves. And dragons. Remember, it's the wishes and emotions of humanity that creates phantoms, so every creature of legend and myth exist in some form or other. There are even those called succubi, thought they are in no way related to you."

"And the other tasks a succubus is designed for? You said it was one of the tasks, meaning there's more?"

"That knowledge would cost you." Izanami grinned, showing perfect teeth that rotted, then grew back again..

"And what did you mean by the world broke?"

"That knowledge would also cost you."

"I do find that task somewhat intriguing," Hiyori admitted. "I just can't see myself fighting something like that."

"You're like a newborn wolf cub comparing itself to a full-grown elk," Izanami told the girl. "When you've lived a century or two, then say that." She leaned closer to the girl who resisted taking a step back. "Of course you're designed to hunt them; they're what you feed on, so how can not be?. But you have yet to grow into the task. Give it a couple of centuries."

"A century, or two, . . ." Hiyori sighed, wondering how the goddess didn't even know how long humans tended to live. "Humans don't live that long. We get a century, if we're really lucky, and then it's kaput for us."

Izanami stared up at the ceiling of the cavern. "The reason you came here is to ask about the changes you're going through, right?"

Hiyori nodded and held here breath, hoping for some sort of answer..

"The spirits of most humans are puny things, and usually they have little impact on the human's life. They record, and when the human dies, that record takes the form of a spirit. Or ascends to the afterlife. Or reincarnates. There are a very few humans that can train to leave their body in what you would call astral projection. And even those can't use the 'weight of the living world' without more training. But as you've claimed, the lives of humans are short. Very few can attain that goal."

Izanami shrugged. "It's not much different with a succubus. They're born, and can die without ever realizing what they are. Their spirits are like a seed that never feels the warmth of the sun. But when the sun warms them, the seed can sprout. The spirit of a succubi, when it is touched by spiritual energy, gains immense potential, feeding upon the spiritual energy around them and not merely the trivial amounts which the body can produce. Mostly they feed upon phantoms." Her empty eye sockets stared into Hiyori's eyes. When that happens, their spirit is no long just a recorder. It becomes a two-way street where the body affects the soul, and the soul affects the body. Tell me succubus, what do you feel when you are in spirit form?"

Hiyori frowned, thinking. "Power," she finally answered. "If there's one word to describe what I feel, it's power. Another would be freedom." She shrugged. "I feel so light, and so strong. Leaping over buildings is just another way of traveling. And I can fire bolts of energy in the form of borderlines. And I'm so fast that in a minute I can cross a distance it would take me an hour to walk." She licked her lips, still thinking, feeling her heart start to beat fast. "And up high it's like I can see forever." She blinked and looked into the rotting eyes of Izanami. "I feel like I'm a god!"

"I see," Izanami said, sounding thoughtful. "And if your connection between your body and soul is two way, what happens to the body as well as the soul."

"The soul will try to make a recording of my body, giving the soul a form. And my body will try to take the form of my soul." There was a light of understanding in Hiyori's eyes. "I see," she said, not sure how she felt about it. "In spirit form I feel strong, so my body is building muscle. I feel fast, so I'm developing better reflexes. Up high it feels like I can see forever, so my eyesight is improving. My body is trying to copy my spirit. But why would I need less sleep, and what's happening with my period. And in spirit form I'm sure time sometimes alters."

"A spirit is not bound by the laws of the flesh," Izanami told her. "Time moves at the speed you want it to, so long as you got the spiritual power to maintain that speed. Though since the body and soul are connected, it does have an impact on your body. Be careful with it. Practice it if you can, but try not to go too fast, and if you feel tired, sleep."

The goddess frowned, and gave the girl a look that Hiyori thought might be pity. "As for your period. An awakened succubus can't have children. There's no need for your period."

"What!" Hiyorui shrieked, and sat down in the icy cold water. "No children?" she asked.

"What does your soul feed on?" Izanami asked, voice unnaturally gentle.

"Spiritual; energy."

"And what would happen to a baby's spiritual energy if you were to carry it in your womb?"

"I see." Hiyoro was quiet for a moment, shocked. She'd always planned on having kids. She loved her life, and knew the time would come when she would not just want to play the role of a daughter, but also a mother. She loved her mother and father so much that there could be no other choice. One day she wanted to be like them, and pass the love they'd given to her on to a child of her own.

"My spirit would eat the baby's spirit," the girl said, struggling to stop her tears, and having mourned for a few minutes.

For a while the two sat in silence. Eventually Hiyori sighed, pushing her sadness to one side for a later date. She was in the abyss and for some reason Izanami seemed talkative. It wasn't a chance to waste.

"What sparked my awakening?" she asked, thinking of the phantoms the goddess had fed her.

"I don't know," Izanami said with a shrug. "A few days before you entered my domain, you must've fed on a phantom."

"But I . . . ." She paused. "Oh. Some slime from a frog-like phantom I was fighting fell into my mouth. And a few days before that, I fought a wolf-like creature that died so close to my mouth that I inhaled some of the miasma from it."

The girl took a deep breathe, glad for the waterfall of blessed water Izanami had prepared for her. "If my body tries to take on the form of my soul, and my image of myself doesn't change . . . ." She looked up at the goddess.

"Then you don't age," Izanami told her.

"How long?"

"While a succubus may change their body, as you're doing, they can't exceed what is humanly possible. For a human, after two or three thousand years, their body can no longer cope with all the memories, and they die. As a succubus, you may rearrange you memories a little, extending this to at most ten thousand, but you would still die as those memories became too many."

"So I can't make myself twice as strong as the strongest person on earth? Or as strong as I am in spirit form?"

"No. You can make yourself strong, but there are limits. You won't be superhuman, just very very gifted."

"But no children," Hiyori sighed.

"No children." The goddess tilted her head, appearing to be deep in thought. "I've answered enough questions," she told the girl. "If you find an interesting phantom, then make an offering at my shrine and tell me where to find it. I will take that as payment. And if you wish, I will train you to fight so that you may capture them yourself."

"I thank you, goddess," Hiyori said, truly grateful. She'd got more than she'd expected, and she had only to find a phantom the goddess found interesting. But how long do I have to find it, she wondered.

"There's no rush," Izanami said. "Shall we say sometime within a few centuries."

Hiyori's mouth gaped open. "I'm not used to thinking in term of centuries," she admitted.

"Few are, even the gods rarely look that far ahead." Izanami shrugged. "And think on my offer for training. There are highly righteous gods who would strike down those such as yourself as you do not fit within their view of a pure world. And there are dark gods who would hunt you for sport."

She leaned close so her empty eye sockets was within a few inches of Hiyori's eyes. "Learn to fight," the goddess commanded. "My phantoms have observed your school, and I know they teach martial arts. Learn one. Preferably something that focuses on kicking, as you seem to find your legs and feet most useful in a fight. A succubus doesn't use a weapon; they are the weapon."

Hiyori opened her mouth to speak, but found she was sitting within the shrine, and no longer in the underworld.

Leaning back, Hiyori stretched out her right arm, holding it up to the sky, fingers spread. My kind were created to fight? By whom? But I already knew that. I think. The way I can copy Touno's martial arts moves so easily. As if it's natural. And when chased by a phantom the size of a bull elephant, I kicked it. When that spider./crab thing chased us, I turned to fight. No sane person would've done that. Face with something the size of several bull elephants, they wouldn't try to kick it, they would flee, and scream, and panic. But kick? No. Not unless they're crazy. But I wanted to fight, I was eager for it. Izanami was wrong to compare me to a wolf cub. It's not wolves that I'm like. A wolf only hunts to eat. I'm more like a cat that likes to play with its food. Even when sated, they still hunt.

Hiyori flexed her fingers, considering what else she'd learned. I'm not in danger of dying anytime soon, at least not from the way my body is changing. That's good, but I'm not sure I like the idea of near immortality. I'll deal with thought of children later.

She pursed her lips together, still staring at the back of her outstretched hand, And Izanami is awfully eager to train me. Am I that interesting to her? She knows I use kicking in fights, and she knows what subjects my school teaches. Seems she is that interested in me? Because I'm a succubus? Has to be, otherwise I would be dead now. It was why she saved me last time.

Closing her eyes, she continued to reflect upon her second trip to the underworld. The deal she gave me was . . . incredible. Wish Kofuku's were like that. Sheesh, I'm sixteen and already in debt to a goddess of poverty. But back to the deal: it's too good for someone with her reputation. She should've demanded a more equal trade, but she practically gave information away. Why? Even if I'm a succubus, she should've demanded more. And the offer to be her herald? What's up with that?

With her left hand, Hiyori scratched behind her ear, still thinking. And she's right, there are gods that would kill me on sight. Both the good, righteous gods and the gods of calamity like Yato was. Not sure how it will help me in a fight with a god, but I need to learn something. A martial arts club? I'm going to hate the club, but love the martial arts. And it'll make my schedule even worse. Yikes!

She gave a deep, weary sigh. But even if I have the potential to learn how to fight a god, it's not going to happen soon. If she can wait a century or two to be paid back for the information, I'm guessing training will also take a century or two. After all, gods have that long to learn how to fight. In the short term, a decade or two, nothing changes; I'm just a girl who can leave her body and sucker kick giant frogs.

She lowered her hand. Besides, I have other duties that come before being a succubus; I have to make sure the hospital prospers, yet remains a place where healing takes priority over profit. That is my duty! Anything else is inconsequential compared to that.

With another deep sigh, Hiyori stood and made her way back home, bone-weary but elated just to be alive. Inside her room she saw the door was jarred, which told her that her father or mother had checked in on her. Back in her body she stood to go and let them know she was awake. It would cause a ton of questions she couldn't answer, but what else could she do?

And I probably need mom or dad's permission to join the club. The tired girl did a facepalm. Oh my god! Mom is going to freak out when she hears what club I want to join

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