The Okami Hero: Amaterasu
Arc 1: Origins
Chapter 6: The Bird and the Cage
[Monday 4th September 2271]
[Top Floor Dojo, Hero Commission Branch, Darufu Ward, Musutafu]
"I want your life, now die!"
Izumi gasped and just barely managed to dive out of the way as an iron rod shot from Torikago's hand and through the air where Izumi's head had just been, impaling itself in the wall. The little girl stared wide-eyed at the black iron rod, and then at the woman that had shot it at her. Torikago's eyes were glowing an ominous red, and her body was still releasing foul smelling purple mist, making Izumi feel sick. If Izumi hadn't dodged, that rod would have gone right through her head… she'd have died!
The horror of her situation began to set in… Torikago, Vice President of the Hero Public Safety Commission had just tried to kill her.
"Hold still, Brat!" Torikago spat, raising both hands and firing an iron rod from each of them. One was aimed for Izumi's leg, and the little girl just barely scrambled out of the way, but the other was aimed for her heart and managed to cut her side as she tried to avoid both attacks.
Correction: Torikago was STILL trying to kill her.
"W-What are you doing!?" Izumi cried, tears in her eyes from both fear and pain. The cut to her side wasn't too deep, but it stung horribly and for a five year old, it was quite a feat to not burst into hysterical tears.
"Trying to kill you, obviously!" Torikago said, as if talking to an idiot. She shot two more iron rods at Izumi, but this time the little girl defended by immediately entering her Demi-God Form and using her mirror's iron side to block the rods. Torikago growled; "Of course… the only powers you have right now are Sunrise and the Divine Retribution. I'll need to kill you quickly, so stay still and it won't hurt much!"
"I'm not going to stand still while you kill me!" Izumi screamed, dodging another iron rod while her mirror blocked a second. Fear was beginning to take its toll on Izumi; she couldn't think straight. Her every thought was just RUN, ESCAPE, FLEE! The girl darted towards the door out of the Dojo, using her mirror to try and smash the lock so she could escape and get help. Unfortunately, her mirror merely bounced off, barely scuffing the metal of the lock.
Torikago laughed cruelly; "This is a Top Tier Training Dojo utilised by the likes of Flame Hero: Endeavor! Everything is designed to be extremely resistant. The only weaknesses are the windows." she said, pointing to the glass along the Dojo wall. Izumi ran towards it, smashing it with her mirror and preparing to jump out, only to gasp and stop at the last moment as she looked out at the world below.
They were on the top floor, which meant she was currently hundreds of feet above the ground! There were no window ledges or awnings to grab on to… if Izumi leapt out of the window, it would be to her death.
The Evil Woman grinned; "You see now? There's no escape. You can stay still and die quickly, jump out to your death, or keep fighting and force me to kill you slowly. After all, wolves and little girls do have one thing in common… they can't fly!" she laughed, firing another rod at Izumi. The little girl blocked it with her mirror; she couldn't let Torikago fire a rod out of the window! It those spikes of black metal hit someone, it would seriously injure or even kill them!
With that in mind, Izumi darted away from the window before Torikago could attack again, thankful that her Demi-God Form mixed her human body with the speed and strength of a wolf. With a wild battle cry, Izumi went on the offensive, firing her mirror at Torikago and then running up to slash wildly with her claws. The corrupt woman easily created an iron rod to bat away the mirror, then effortlessly blocked and parried Izumi's claws. Izumi, inexperienced with fighting, overextended one of her wild flails, and Torikago took the opportunity to swing the staff-like hunk of iron into the back of her head, making Izumi see stars, before the woman spun the staff around and uppercut Izumi's chin, sending her flying back.
Izumi writhed on the floor, holding her chin while tears cascaded down her face. She was a little girl, not a seasoned Hero, and she couldn't take that kind of pain! It was only her Demi-God Form's above average endurance that allowed her to take those blows without breaking bones or passing out.
"I told you, you should have lied down and died quietly." Torikago said coldly, creating another rod with a pointed end, intent on impaling Izumi.
Izumi whimpered in fear. She didn't believe she could beat Torikago with her current abilities, which really only boiled down to; "Do whatever a Wolf can do" and "Control an iron mirror". Izumi didn't know exactly what Torikago's quirk was, but it appeared to be the creation and firing of iron rods, which were strong enough to defend against her mirror and her claws. The only offensive ability Izumi had left were her fangs, but the girl doubted they would be much more effective against those iron rods. She didn't know exactly what a wolf's physical capabilities were though; Izumi was a Hero Nerd, not an Animal Nerd.
"N-No! I'm supposed to be Amaterasu Reborn, aren't I!? I have to be able to do more than this! Without my memories of my past life, I don't know what to do!" she thought desperately, watching with fear as Torikago approached slowly, drawing out Izumi's suffering by forcing her to watch her death approach while she was powerless to stop it.
In a desperate attempt to drive Torikago off, Izumi shot her mirror at the woman, and while she was blocking it with her iron rod, Izumi managed to grab one of the rods Torikago threw earlier, holding it in her hands like a staff. With her mirror to defend against the thrown rods and a rod of her own to block melee strikes, Izumi thought she could at least hold out until help came. The window had been shattered, so even if the dojo was soundproof, someone must have seen the glass falling from the outside.
Unfortunately for Izumi, she failed to notice Torikago's smirk as she grabbed one of the woman's discarded rods.
"You lose, Brat."
Izumi shot her a puzzled look, before the rod in her hand began to bend and warp. It wrapped around the girl's arm and then slithered over her body like a snake, binding her arms against her torso and making her fall on her back again as the metal returned to its rigid state, still wrapped around her.
"W-What!?" Izumi exclaimed.
Torikago laughed; "My quirk is called Prison Bars. It allows me to create iron rods that I can control and manipulate to form various kinds of restraints. I can only create a limited number before I have to reabsorb them, but once they are created, I can make them bend into any shape I please. You won't be moving any more." the woman said, before manipulating a couple of her other rods to wrap around Izumi's mirror and bind it to the wall.
Izumi paled; she couldn't move and her only defence was now trapped as well. Returning to her Human Form wouldn't change her shape enough to let her wriggle free from the iron restraints, and turning into a Wolf would likely just result in her being crushed by the restraints, as her Wolf Form was a fair bit larger than her human one.
The girl was completely helpless.
"Sorry Brat, but my Master wants you dead. If you got your powers back, you would be a threat to him and his plans. This is where you die, Amaterasu. Pray you have better luck with your fourth incarnation." Torikago said, creating another iron rod and stabbing it into Izumi's leg, pinning it to the floor.
Izumi screamed in pain, unable to even look at the spike of iron holding her leg to the ground.
"I-I need to do something! Sakuya and the others are depending on me! I promised I'd see Kacchan again! I promised I'd get Mommy's soul back! I can't die here!" she thought, sobbing from pain, sorrow and fear.
Torikago, having apparently reached the limit on the number of rods she could make, walked over to the wall that her first rod was impaled in and pulled it out, before walking back to Izumi, ensuring the girl could see her every agonisingly slow movement. She finally stopped in front of the crying girl and pointed the sharp end of the rod at Izumi's heart, and slowly pulled back her arm.
"It's time to die, Amaterasu."
"STOP!"
Torikago and Izumi both whipped their heads to the side, looking at the open window. Keigo was flying there, panting as he struggled to stay airborne with his wings missing several feathers. The boy had two large red feathers in his hands, wielding them like swords, while he glared with fierce eyes at Torikago.
"Put the spike down, Torikago! I've already warned the Prez and the rest of the Commission. The building is in lock down and the Heroes are on their way! Now step away from Izumi!" the winged boy demanded.
Izumi smiled with relief; Keigo had come to save her, like her own guardian angel! Everything would be okay now!
Torikago, however, had other ideas. She actually smirked; "My job here ends with Amaterasu's death. Even if I'm caught here, it won't stop the Master's plans. But you're looking a bit weak, Takami. You used up a lot of feathers in training this morning, and you barely have enough to fly..." her eyes flashed with malice; "You can't save anything, Little Bird!"
In an instant, Torikago threw her iron rod at Keigo, forcing him to parry with his feather blades, and then, before the boy could do anything, the corrupt woman ripped the spike out of Izumi's leg and plunged it into the poor girl's heart.
"NO!" Keigo cried, flying as best he could with his diminished wings, trying to get to Izumi.
Izumi exhaled hard as the power of the stab forced all the air out of her. Pain exploded through her chest and she felt her life slipping away. Torikago was watching her with a gloating smile, but Izumi couldn't hear her words of victory, nor Keigo's desperate pleas. The smell of her own blood faded from her nose, as did the taste of the coppery liquid crawling up her throat. The pain began to numb, and Izumi stopped being able to feel Keigo's hands on her chest, as he tried in vain to stem the bleeding. The last thing Izumi saw was Keigo's eyes filled with tears as the darkness forming at the edge of her vision began to creep inward, until Izumi could see nothing at all.
Her breathing slowed until it stopped. Her pierced heart ceased to beat.
Izumi died.
A familiar blackness swallowed her, and for an unknown amount of time, Izumi floated in the void, devoid of senses, emotions or thoughts, just as what had happened after hitting her head in the park the previous day. That thought and the sense of familiarity was the first thing that returned to Izumi, followed shortly by her senses, and finally, her emotions. As soon as those feelings returned to her, the void around her disappeared to be replaced by the sea of golden clouds in which she had merged with the Wolf inside her.
Izumi took note of this, but did nothing about it, instead just sitting there on the clouds as she struggled to come to terms with what had just happened.
"I died… I really died..." she said numbly. She looked down at her hands and saw that she was fully human again, having lost the wolf features of her Demi-God Form.
As the reality of the situation began to sink in, the numbness Izumi felt gave way to despair, and tears began to cascade down her face. "N-No..." she cried quietly, trying to get up, only to lose strength and fall to her hands and knees, "No!"
"After all that!" she pounded her fist against the soft clouds beneath her, "I found out who I was!" she punched the clouds again, "I gained the power to be a Hero!" another punch, "I found people who cared about me!" another punch, "who needed me!" and another, "and I failed!" both fists slammed the ground this time, "Everything I went through was all for nothing!" she slammed her head against the clouds, "I'm supposed to be a Reborn Goddess… and I die to the first villain I fight!?"
Izumi screamed with rage and despair, punching and headbutting the ground over and over in manic frustration. "I failed Lady Sakuya! I failed Granny Citrus and the others! I failed Auntie Mitsuki and Uncle Masaru! I failed Kacchan! I failed Mommy! I failed the whole world!" she sobbed. Her tears felt like lava as they ran down her cheeks, blurring her vision, "I'm so pathetic… Kacchan was right; I am just a useless, worthless Deku… I should never have been born."
The memory of the last time she was here flashed through her mind, making her scoff through her sobs. "Love myself? What's to love...? I was deluding myself from the beginning… I'm just a failure… Maybe it's better that I die; maybe my next incarnation won't be such a worthless person..."
Izumi began to feel herself sinking further into despair as those dark thoughts took hold. The clouds around her began to turn dark and stormy, and she started to sink into them as if they were a tar pit. Suddenly, in a flash of light, her mirror appeared. Izumi looked at it dispassionately, wondering how it could appear when she was in her worthless human form, but the mirror floated down to face her, showing her her reflection.
Izumi looked at herself, with her eyes red from crying and her cheeks stained with tears, feeling disgusted with herself. That wasn't a face that could smile like All-Might. The image began to warp, and instead of seeing herself, or even the Wolf Goddess she had once been, Izumi saw the world she had just left behind.
Keigo was fighting Torikago, with tears in his eyes, defending Izumi's little broken body with all his might. His remaining feathers were being pushed back by Torikago's assault, and it looked like he wouldn't be able to hold out much longer… he was only an 11 year old boy, no matter how brilliant, and he was up against a woman that may well have the power of a Demon backing her. He was shouting something at Torikago, but Izumi could only see through the mirror, not hear and so his words went unheard.
"Keigo… he's fighting so hard. He's hurt and tired… this is all my fault. He's getting hurt because of me!" Izumi's sobs were renewed. She hated it so much; there were few things in the world that she hated with all her heart, but the idea that people would be hurt for her sake was definitely one of the things she hated most. People had put their hope in her, their faith in her, and she'd failed them.
The little girl looked down, sinking further into the clouds. Then, a voice from the distant past echoed within her mind.
"Bah… That furball's always spacing out like that. Ammy can't get anything done without my help!"
Izumi's eyes widened. She knew that voice! She'd heard it when she first appeared in this sea of clouds, calling for her to wake up… it was the voice of Issun, the Celestial Envoy that had travelled with her during her past life.
"Can you hear me, Ammy? You're not floundering about without me, are ya? You gotta pull yourself together!"
Izumi looked around; "Issun? Is this… it this just my memory?"
"I finally chose my path. And I have the resolve to see it through! I've started to roam the land as your missionary. But you gotta take care of things on your end, too!"
Izumi's eyes widened; "B-But I..."
"Don't look so sad. Just psych yourself up like we always did, remember?"
Izumi's heart began to lighten, and the sinking stopped. Even the people of the distant past had faith in her… it felt wrong to give up. All-Might didn't give up, and neither did Kacchan, and they were Izumi's idols! She had people believing in her and trusting her now… no matter what, she couldn't fall at the first hurdle!
After all, the best thing about the great god Amaterasu is..." Issun's voice swelled with pride, "That happy-go-lucky spirit! Right, Ammy?"
"Issun… you were right… I can't give up!" Izumi declared, beginning to pull herself from the dark clouds that had begun to swallow her.
"Answer if you can hear me, ya big furball!"
Izumi felt her power swell; "I hear you, Issun… even all these centuries later, with my memories gone and you long departed… I can still hear you! I won't give up! I stumbled and fell, and almost lost faith in myself, but as long as I stand back up, I won't lose!"
Her body began to glow, and she transformed into her Demi-God Form, her mirror moving to rest on her back again. With a burst of power, Izumi ripped herself free from the dark clouds and leapt to the surrounding gold clouds. Landing softly, Izumi focused her power and calmed her mind.
"This isn't the end for me. I may have died… but Lady Sakuya said it herself! "You cannot truly kill a god!" Izumi declared, following her instincts and releasing a huge burst of golden energy from within her chest. The light engulfed her, and immediately, her soul shot from the Sea of Clouds and returned to her body; Izumi Midoriya, third incarnation of Okami Amaterasu, was not done yet!
[Minutes Earlier]
Back in the world of the living, Keigo Takami was having a bad time. He had just been forced to watch as a little girl died right in front of him, and he'd been left completely helpless to save her. Torikago knew him and his quirk inside and out, knowing full well that after the morning's training, he'd need time to recover his stamina and regrow the feathers he'd lost. She had planned for the possibility of him getting involved by making him work harder than usual while training, personally ensuring he wouldn't have enough feathers to move fast enough to stop the evil woman from killing Izumi.
Now he was stuck fighting her, doing his best to parry and block the iron rods she was creating. He hoped President Konohana would have the Heroes there soon, as he was rapidly reaching his limit.
"You damned evil bitch! Why did you kill her!?" Keigo roared, dodging an iron rod and slashing with his feather blades.
Torikago scoffed, easily sidestepping his blow and swinging back with her own weapon; "Enough of this foolish sentimentality, Takami. You didn't know her."
"Neither did you!" Keigo spat. "All I know was that she was a little girl! Five years old, and you ran her through! How can you justify that!?"
The winged boy hated getting emotionally attached to people for reasons like this… in the world of Heroes and their helpers, you never knew when someone was going to die, so he liked to keep people at arm's length, treating them with casual friendliness. It made him appear more whimsical and jovial than he really was, but also helped protect him from the heartbreak that came when people he liked died. Torikago was right that Keigo hadn't known Izumi any better than the other people in his life, but that didn't stop him from feeling rage over the death of an innocent girl.
"I can justify it easily! That girl would bring destruction to my kind! You should be thanking me, Takami; it was her that brought about your whole miserable existence! If not for her, you may have grown up in a loving family, all happy and whole!" Torikago yelled, lunging with an iron spike.
"What the hell are you talking about!?" Keigo yelled back, dodging the lunge by jumping over it, "Izumi was five years old! I was in your clutches before she was even born!"
Torikago sighed and shook her head, "Oh, if only you knew what she really was… what you really were. It matters not; join with me, Takami, and I will spare you life. My Master wants the Hero Commission under his command; comply and you will receive a kingdom of your own once he has finished his work!"
Keigo growled, "Oh yeah, and how do you plan to manage that? The whole building is locked down and the Heroes are coming! Everyone's going to know what you did to Izumi! There's no way you'll be allowed to walk free, and you sure as hell won't be taking over the Commission!"
Torikago smirked; "Oh… you're still under the impression that you're talking to Ryuko Torikago… that's almost cute!"
Keigo blinked; "What?"
The woman clapped her hands mockingly, "Come now, did you not notice the eyes? The quirk? Since when has this sack of meat been this powerful? She could barely create two iron rods before, and yet here I am spitting out dozens of the things! Torikago has just been a useful puppet, a disguise that I've been using to spy on Konohana and her little Commission. I've been in here, influencing this idiotic woman's mind for half a decade!"
Keigo's jaw hung open; "You're controlling the real Torikago?"
"Of course! Well, I was mostly just influencing her and only took direct control when she resisted. Poor Little Torikago struggled pretty damn hard when I skewered Amaterasu!" the possessed Torikago laughed.
"Why do you keep calling her that!? Her name was Izumi!" the boy yelled. He had stopped attacking, instead opting to let "Torikago" keep talking in order to buy time for the Heroes to arrive. The Possessed Torikago was too powerful and knew all of Keigo's moves, meaning fighting her while he was at full strength would have been risky, so it was even worse with him weakened by his harsh training that morning! Keigo really couldn't risk prolonged combat. Instead, he tried to move a few feathers through the shadows of the room, hiding behind the iron rods "Torikago" had left around the place. She had absorbed most of them after killing Izumi, but a few were still present and made for good cover for his feathers.
"Torikago" didn't seem to notice; "Like I said, you know nothing about what "Izumi Midoriya" really is! To be honest, I didn't know for certain until this morning when Konohana spilled the beans to the brat. Foolish woman didn't know I had her office bugged. Little Midoriya was the third incarnation of the Sun Goddess Amaterasu!"
Keigo groaned; great, not only was Torikago possessed, but the person possessing her was completely nuts!
"Now, I think that's quite enough conversation, Little Bird. Give me your answer; will you serve and be rewarded, or will you fight and die for a dead brat?" the woman demanded.
"Well, I think you can guess my answer." Keigo said, narrowing his eyes on "Torikago". At that moment, the small feathers he'd been working around the room darted at the woman, aiming to slash her in the blind spot on the back of the neck and on her centre of balance. The attack was silent and fast, but "Torikago" just smirked shot iron rods from the exact locations on her body that the feathers were aimed for, impaling them and rendering Keigo's attack useless.
"Torikago" laughed; "Nice try, but I know your moves. I arranged for you to learn them after all, and have watched the recordings of every training session you've ever had. You can't pull the wool over my eyes!" she declared, grabbing her most recently created rods and attacking with incredible speed. Keigo was completely unable to defend, as the possessed woman weaved through his guard and struck his wrists to make him drop his feather blades, then striking his wing joints hard to render him momentarily unable to use his quirk.
Defenceless, Keigo stumbled back, tripping over Izumi's body and landing hard beside her. "Torikago" stepped over the girl's prone form and held a rod to the boy's throat. "Such a shame. This could have gone much better for you. Don't worry though; I won't kill you yet."
Keigo snarled; "What are you plotting!?"
"Simple. You said it yourself, I can't get away with this… the brat's been murdered and there will be no covering it up… poor little Torikago is going to have to take the fall, and I'll need a nice new body to possess, one that has an in with the Commission already. Who better than the up and coming prodigy; Keigo Takami? Or do you like your little Hero Name better? Wing Hero: Hawks!"
The boy paled, "You're insane!"
"Hush now, no more talking. Just lie back and close your eyes; it'll all be over soon." the woman grinned manically, leaning down. She opened her mouth wide, and a huge concentration of the foul purple smoke began to build there, ready to pour out and onto Keigo's face.
Keigo watched helplessly as that smoke got closer, and "Torikago" grabbed his jaw and forced his mouth open. He was almost ready to give up and accept his fate, when suddenly, "Torikago"'s jaw clamped shut in a grimace of pain before she collapsed on top of him, her legs giving out.
The winged boy reacted quickly to the woman's slackened grip and tossed her away, then rolled on to his front and got back to his feet. He looked around for what caused "Torikago"'s sudden pain, and promptly gasped as he laid eyes on his saviour.
Izumi Midoriya, in Demi-God Form, smiled up at him, her clawed hands dripping blood from the slashes she'd just carved into the backs of "Torikago"'s legs.
"I-Izumi!?" Keigo cried, running to embrace the girl; "You're alive! How is this possible? You're not even hurt!"
Izumi blushed at the hug, "Sorry Keigo, but I don't know everything myself. I'll tell you what I know later, but for now we've got to stop this Demon!" she said, turning to "Torikago". The Possessed Woman was glaring furiously while nursing her wounds on the backs of her legs.
"YOU!? How are you alive!? I skewered you through the heart!" she yelled, her voice beginning to sound distorted.
"You said you knew what I was, so you should already know the answer! You can't truly kill a god!" Izumi declared, "You managed to kill my body for a little bit, but somehow, I was able to send my soul back! I woke up a few minutes ago and heard your whole plan and confession; I know you're not really Ryuko Torikago and I've been playing dead all this time to catch you off guard! My claws slashed through your tendons; you won't be able to use your legs again until you've been healed."
"Torikago" hissed and winced as she tried to stand, but just as Izumi said, she couldn't put any strength into her lower legs and Izumi was already prepared with her mirror to defend against any surprise iron rod attacks.
"How is this possible!? You only awoke your powers yesterday! You shouldn't be able to manage an Astral Resurrection yet!" the woman screeched.
Keigo looked to Izumi; "Astral what?"
"Beats me." Izumi shrugged, "I barely know more than you, Keigo. All I know is that I had to come back, and then there was a huge burst of power and I was suddenly waking up where I died, all healed up."
"Well don't go dying like that again! Seriously, I'm eleven and I'm gonna have grey hairs after today! Let's take Torikago to the Prez; I have a feeling she'll know what to do about this possession thing." Keigo said, sighing with relief. He took a few steps towards the prone "Torikago", then paused and looked back at Izumi; "Hey, Lil Pup… sorry I couldn't save you. I'm really glad you're not dead."
Izumi beamed at him; "Thanks, Keigo. I'm sorry I scared you."
"Oh, how touching!" the possessed woman spat, "But I'm not out yet!"
Izumi was immediately back on guard, ready to use her mirror to defend Keigo, while the boy had picked up his discarded feather blades and rubbed the feeling back into his wing joints, allowing him to move them again. "Give it up." he demanded, putting the edge of his feather blade against the woman's chin, "Without your legs, you can't dodge. You don't stand a chance at avoiding or blocking my feathers, Izumi's claws AND that weird mirror. Surrender with some dignity, would ya?"
"You have no idea what you're dealing with… don't worry, I'll happily show you!" the woman roared, suddenly releasing huge amounts of black and purple smoke. The smoke engulfed her, and quickly rushed forward to consume Izumi and Keigo too. With his superior speed, Keigo leapt back and just managed to grab Izumi and cradle her against his chest before the smoke engulfed them too.
For a moment, the two children choked on the smoke, unable to breathe, but then Izumi's body began to glow and a piercing white light dispersed the smoke, allowing them to breathe again. With the smoke gone, Izumi and Keigo stood up, both looking around with wide eyes as they found themselves no longer in the dojo…
The world had been completely replaced by the sea of clouds that Izumi had found herself in before, only this time the clouds were all stormy and grey, while the sky had gone from the colour of parchment to the colour of blood. A short distance away from them, "Torikago" was still knelt down, a sinister red aura surrounding her.
"Hehehe, welcome brats, to the Astral Plain. My power can only truly reach its zenith while we're in here!" she boasted, her voice gaining a demonic echo. "Now allow me to show you my real power!"
The children both put up their guards as "Torikago" began to transform before their very eyes. Her muscles swelled up, giving her a physique more in line with All-Might than the woman she'd been before, then her hands became clawed and covered in thick black scales. Her feet burst free from her shoes, transforming into draconic feet with the same black scales as her hands, and the back of her skirt ripped open a bit to allow a thick draconic tail to slam down onto the floor. Black scales appeared on her cheeks, and her teeth sharpened themselves to a razor's edge. Her silver hair began to stand up and harden into horns, and then a massive pair of black dragon wings burst from her shoulders.
When she was finished, "Torikago" looked like a twisted demonic dragon-human hybrid. To Izumi's shock, red markings identical to her own appeared over Torikago's face. "W-Who are you!?" the little girl yelled.
The Dragon Demon laughed; "You wouldn't recognise me as I am now… I was once YOUR servant; one of the Celestial Brush Gods… but after your fall at the hands of the Master, I and my brethren were twisted into these new, immaculate forms! I am now an Infernal Brush Demon! I am the Dragon of Destruction: Akuma-Yomi!"
Next Chapter: Akuma-Yomi
To be Released: TOMORROW!
IMPORTANT NOTE REGARDING IZUMI'S RESURRECTION:
For those who don't know, the Okami videogame has a feature called the Astral Pouch, which the player can fill with food items until it is at full capacity. When the pouch is full, Amaterasu will be resurrected upon death during a battle, allowing her to keep fighting without having to reload the game. This power can be upgraded to allow Amaterasu to have four stockpiled resurrections at once/
Izumi's power, Astral Resurrection, is an adaption of this. Rather than food, she naturally gathers Astral Energy over time and can then use it to return to life if she has enough. It takes a full 24 hours to gather enough for one resurrection, so Izumi can essentially survive death once per day. Unlike the game, I don't intend to have Izumi gain more than this, so battles still have some stakes. This power is also limited to her; she cannot use it to revive others.