[DISCLAIMER: Again, these are only the Hololive characters being used in my fictional story.
Hey all, here's another chapter. I hope you all like. Thank you for the faves, follows, and reviews. I like Cerberus.
Chapter 27 – The Ninomae Clan and The Curse
Chaos, a.k.a. Akai Haato, a.k.a. Hachaama Chaama, lay beside her sheep girlfriend, Watame, as she played a soft melody on her lyre. This area of the world was untouched by human or god. It was considered the in-between world to others.
Time was of no matter or consequence in the in-between world, and so Chaos visited often.
The colors of the sky were a mix of muted pinks and yellows, like the end of the world during dusk. There were trees and a stream beside where they lay and cuddle, but beyond was only darkness.
This is where Chaos loved to stay in the world. She had hidden here for such a long time and wanted to enjoy her time with the only creature she loved, the sheep who played the most beautiful melodies. She'd made it so that the sheep could be eaten, and then live again over and over again. It was too bad the shark didn't want the same fate, but then was happy because the sheep was so much fluffier.
Nyx, her daughter, would be meeting her soon with a present. The present would then be given to one of her other dear friends, Hades. The wearer of the present, the shark, would then be disposed of and unneeded. As would be the human body that her daughter would wear. Once through, they could dispose of the body, as well.
Hoshimachi Suisei, whether good or evil, was of no interest to Chaos. Nyx only liked the human form of Suisei. She liked how her human mind worked in such a strange way. It was a very methodical and logical mind, and best of all, it lacked empathy. She almost hated to dispose of the body after using it, but she'd done her part as the Dark Traveler, and they had sufficiently changed time.
Chaos, once again, would reign.
########################################################################
Botan was held by the two, Mio, who she realized was more than a Chief of Police, and a fox goddess.
They rushed into an in-between world, landing on a small green hillside.
"Okay, please explain?" Botan pulled away. "I need to find my wife."
"Lamy is fine. She is healing someone at the moment."
"Well then take me where she is, please?"
"There is a slight problem with that."
Mio glanced to her dearest friend, Fubuki. "Detective Botan, you might want to sit down for what I want to share with you next."
"I would prefer not."
"Please?" Fubuki sat on a bench, that overlooked the greenery and beautiful scenery of the rolling hills dressed in all types of flowers. The smell was alluring, and the sky was the deepest blue.
Botan felt she'd entered into a dream world. It made her feel strangely calm, despite the anxiety of wanting to reach her wife. She looked behind at the sudden appearance of the bench, the goddess setting down, and succumbed.
"Sure, what did you want to tell me Chief Ookami?" Botan sat.
"The world as you know it, has disappeared."
Botan, not one to panic, only grinned. She even let go a slight chuckle. When the other two didn't join along, she slowly stopped smiling and laughing.
"You're joking, right? I feel like I'm dreaming and just need to wake up."
Mio wiped at her brow. She was such a sweet goddess and it pained her to know there were others suffering in the world. Her island Holios cried out to her. And she knew that she needed to stop whatever was happening and knew there were a few who could stop such a climactic scenario.
"I need to tell you a story before we take you to Kame Inn where you wife is, at this moment. She is taken care of, and well with the warrior of the Eastern gods and others who are kind and good.
"You will need to meet a Traveler and then go back in time."
Again, Botan simply wanted to laugh.
"Well," Fubuki cut in, "we have several end of world scenarios. You might have to work with a few."
"Wait, what?"
"Fubuki-san?"
"Hey, we should at least be honest."
#########################################################################
Gura suddenly jolted up in her cage, a pain rushing across her gut, so harsh she screeched in pain. She began to roll on the ground, feeling the sharp pain, until it settled.
Cerberus perked up his three heads.
She felt as if she'd been stabbed and the blade was still inside. But when she felt at her side there was nothing. Memories flooded in of time she'd lost when she woke up on a beach on the east coast.
The pain brought those long-forgotten memories back.
She'd lost over 150 years of her life waking on the eastern coast of the United States. Large swaths of Gura's memory had been erased, and she was never sure if it was her age, or the fact time began to meld into one.
But now she realized why the blue-haired woman was so familiar. She tried to get her Trident, but she couldn't.
Poseidon had made it so that only she could release the Trident from her cloak.
She wasn't about to make the same mistake again of allowing another to wield the Trident. Atlantis had been destroyed because of her foolishness. She'd never make that mistake again.
A sudden flash of light hit, and after blinking a few times, Gura could see a small form of a body lying beside her cell.
Cerberus perked up, looking down at the small creature, ready to rip it apart for entering the area.
"WAIT!" Gura screamed to the three-headed dog.
The body, bloodied and unconscious beside the cell was none other than Dr. Amelia Watson.
Time was catching up to them both. For once, time was catching up like a rubber band that had been stretched so tightly and far, that it had only one recourse – to fling back to the beginning.
"Watson?"
Gura struggled in her chains, "Wake up, they'll find you."
Watson lay there, her hands bloody, her clothes ripped, and every inch looking like she'd broken through a barrier of jagged rocks.
"Watson, please, wake up."
Cerberus whimpered, sniffing the small blonde woman.
"Cerby, could you please hide her before Hades finds her?" Gura was feeling panicked, "Please Cerby, I know Calliope would want you to help me."
Cerberus, with his paws, dug a small hole, pulled the blonde detective underneath himself, dropping her in the shallow hole in the ground, and then laid down.
His large form kept her hidden. He then looked to the small shark girl and stated, "No one can see unless I show."
"You talk?"
###############################################################
On the Island of Holios all was chaos and destruction, the ground shaking, as another flash of light hit and this time it began to change so that half the buildings were of this time period and the other half were of another time and more rural.
Kaichou, in her dragon form, flew across the landscape with Kanata on her back. She kept a cloak of protection around them, as they continued to fly toward the northern end of the island.
Wavering through the sky, they flew as every 20 minutes a wave would hit and the sky would change color, and then everything would change again.
"We need to head to the Kame Inn," Kanata yelled. "Time is shifting and I can only protect us for so long."
"But where is that blue-haired devil?"
"Why do you care so much?"
"I don't know. I have an odd OCD where I don't like people to get away with threatening me."
"You're so weird, Kaichou."
"There she is!" Kaichou pointed her clawed hand toward a figure, walking along the cliffside road to her home, looking as if she was drunk. "Oh, I'm going to scorch that blue hair right off her head."
They flew down and Suisei simply fell over onto the side of the road, dropping her briefcase.
"Another wave is coming," Kanata realized, "Quick, we need to grab her."
"Will she die?"
"Maybe?"
"Hmm…"
"Kaichou?!"
"Okay, if you insist."
The lumbering dragon rushed downward to the alley. Once landing, Kanata leapt off her back, and ran to the blue-haired female. Thankfully, Kanata had her angel powers somewhat within, and was able to lift the assassin in her arms, leaving her small briefcase on the ground, a tattered piece of blue cloth falling, and then carried by the wind into the ocean below.
Kanata only concerned herself with getting the assassin on Kaichou's back.
Once they were both on the back, Kaichou lifted, being hit with another wave, this time faltering so that she was clumsily flying over the ocean.
"That way, Kaichou!"
"I can't believe we helped her out."
"I think something's wrong with her."
"You just figured that out now? I could have told you that since the moment I met her."
"No, I mean… never mind."
#######################################################################
Kiara walked outside the hotel, wondering why everything felt oddly familiar, and yet different.
She looked upward and the sky darkened.
"This all looks really weird."
When she turned back to the hotel it was no longer standing there, and instead was two-story building – an inn of ancient Holios.
"Oh boy, we're not in Kansas anymore."
"No, we're not."
Kiara spun around to face a tall pink-haired beauty wearing sweats, kicks and a cap with a pony tail.
"We have to go Kiara."
"We do?" She then grinned naughtily, "Umm, I'll go anywhere with you hot stuff – love the new look."
"Urgh… not the time Kusotori!"
She grabbed around her waist, and the two disappeared.
######################################################################
Mio sat on one side of the bench, and Fubuki sat on the other, a beautiful white lioness between them.
Fubuki had opened a bag of chips that just appeared, and was munching. She pushed the bag over to the lioness, "Want some?"
"No."
"You only eat meat?"
"No, I'm still a human and an omnivore."
"I get that."
Botan thought this entire situation was strange, but turned back to Mio. "Please continue this history lesson, if I'm stuck here."
"Of course." The wind gently blew across the wolf goddess's hair, as she began:
"The Ancient Ones speak amongst themselves in whispers and words unknown by common human or creature. Even I, do not understand the language of the Ancient Ones.
"Throughout time, they had spokespeople who would relay their messages to change the world's events. If things were not going as, they should, or perhaps if things were not going as they wanted, they would enact their own powers through those followers who could hear the words.
"The Ancient Ones only watched. That was their gift to the world. For, if the Ancient Ones ever enacted their power, considered the Eldritch Horror, the world would collapse. If someone heard their words, they would go insane. Only a special one of a certain clan was ever chosen to hear the words, and only certain followers of a special mind could even hear the whispers.
"Through the years, the Ninomae clan carried the Tome of words from the Ancient Ones. They were given all power and used it accordingly.
"One day, thousands of years prior in a time past your known timeline, the spokesperson of the Ancient Ones had to travel to Atlantis. There, he fell in love with a Traveler. He laid with her and a child was to be born, but the one who laid with the spokesperson was the Traveler only in form. For she had been possessed by another creature, the one who wreaks chaos on the world.
"In this moment, everything of the world changed.
"The Ancient Ones were unable to change the turn of events. They never interfered, and so the spokesperson, Ninomae Oto'nis, was cursed and fell into deep depression realizing what he had done. Atlantis was destroyed by his foolishness."
"How do you know this information?" Botan glanced to Fubuki and then back to the wolf goddess. "Seems kind of private."
Mio rubbed at her thighs, thinking over her discussions with the leader of the Ninomae clan. "I am the goddess of Holios and Ninomae Oto'nis was one of my children – or, as I consider those of Holios. He spoke to me in the temple."
"Who's this Traveler?"
"This Traveler was the first Dr. Amelia Watson."
"Whoa," Botan lifted in her seat, "I'm sorry, Dr. Watson? My co-worker, Dr. Watson?"
"Yes."
"Wait, so that Dr. Watson had an affair with a strange guy who speaks for Ancient Ones?"
"No," Fubuki spoke up, "You should really not interrupt fantastical stories, or you get lost."
"I'm not talking to you fox person."
She was suddenly chewing on a burger with fries.
"Whoa, how are you getting this food?"
"I have my ways." She took a bite.
Mio cut in, "Please, let me continue."
Botan sat back, "sure. Why not? This is all just a weird dream anyway."
"The Traveler, realizing she was with child, stopped her pursuits, went to a time period to hide and have her child, and then raised her alone until she met a kind man. He soon died, and she soon followed behind, no longer having the ability of a Traveler.
"Ninomae Oto'nis kept an eye on her from a distance, but would never speak with her again.
"The child grew and had another daughter, one who became a doctor. And thus, the line of Amelia Watson's continued, with blood of an ancient race tucked deep inside, but also the small traces of powerful gods.
"This allowed the Travelers to have a higher intelligence, a higher physical ability to withstand what most humans could not, and all without knowing why. Why were the Watson's always female and always of this unusual ability to be a Traveler? Some say the first ones were of an alien race, even.
"It could boggle the mind. If one considered long enough. Did the Traveler or the goddess come first? That's a question left for the scientific minds, but this was something that was of otherworldly gods and phenomena with little to no explanation.
"As it is with most of gods and goddesses and their existence."
"Okay, hold up. If you're saying this was part of the Ninomae clan?"
"Yes."
"Like Ninomae Ina'nis? You're talking about Ina? The one with long dark hair, Ina?"
"Yes."
"So, wait. You're saying that Amelia Watson's girlfriend, Ina, is related to her? Like," Botan glared up at the sky, considering the math, "You mean Dr. Watson slept with her great aunt or something like that?"
"I didn't know they were in a relationship."
"Well," Botan considered what was going on. "This story just gets weirder and weirder."
"Let me continue: Ninomae Oto'nis continued his duties here on Holios as the ruler of this small island kingdom, back when there were kings and goddesses living side-by-side. He would speak with me often, until this all had happened.
"He married the most beautiful woman of our Island of Holios, and they had their first child, although, it was his second child, Ninomae, Ina'nis. She grew without her father present in mind, as he slowly deteriorated haunted by the destruction of Atlantis and the world as he had known it.
"The young Ninomae Ina'nis was raised by the warrior of the Eastern gods, until taken to be the spokesperson for the Ancient Ones.
"When Ina was taken from Enma she understood her duty and would wait patiently as she left to serve the Ancient Ones."
"This story is wild. What part do I play?" Botan asked. "And…" she did a double take, when she saw Fubuki drinking a milkshake. Her attention went back to Chief Ookami.
"But now Ninomae Ina'nis has returned to Holios. She is no longer hearing the Ancient Ones, and this could only mean one thing – there is something cataclysmic about to happen.
"It is never good when they are quiet."
"And so, we need to stop it," Botan realized. "But why me?"
"You happened to be here," Fubuki answered. "Nothing special."
"Gee thanks."
"You sure you don't want a burger? You sound hangry."
"I'm," Botan ran her hand through her hair, and then stood. She glanced to the wolf goddess and then the fox goddess. "I'm sorry." She paced back and then facing the two, "My wife is everything to me and she was just taken… like she disappeared into thin air right in front of me." Botan swallowed, "I feel…"
"Helpless?"
Botan nodded, the seriousness of everything hitting. "That's not a feeling I like."
Mio placed her hand onto the lionesses' arm, "I understand. We will go to see your wife soon, but you have to go to Hades first."
"Hades? That's mythology."
"Well, it's real and it's the last place we sensed the Traveler."
"Why don't one of you go?"
"We are not allowed."
"Allowed? Why?"
"Western and Eastern gods cannot interfere with each other. It is a place of the Western gods."
[END NOTE: And for this tired narrator, who can no longer wrap her mind around bending of reality and time travel, parallel universes and such, she gave up and nearly went brain dead and figured, "plot holes, schmot holes." :D
No, I seriously hope this eventually makes sense. I realized this is probably going to be a much longer series. Do you all want to come along for the ride?]