As the sun hits Mitsuko's face she slowly rubbed her eyes, only to have her fingers feel weird and they felt…scaly as they rubbed her eyes. As she opened her eyes she saw a pair of reptilian eyes that stared right back at her. Her snake arm hisses softly at her. She slowly but surely started to remember the events from last time as she sits up and looks at her two snake arms. She wondered why they haven't turned to her normal arms, she remembered the previous times when they emerged, after everything they would revert to her normal arms again. She stared at them and they right back at her, equally confused as to what's going on.

'Well…looks like I'm stuck with you eh?' Mitsuko whispered to her snakes who hisses joyfully at her and then to each other. Mitsuko couldn't help but smirk at their little antics. She didn't quite understand everything but it didn't feel bad. Maybe these snakes were just lighter now that she's grown a bit more accustomed to them or something. She didn't care enough to investigate further as she exits the tent to see a glorious sunrise over the sunrise as it peaks over the top of the distant forest. As Mitsuko takes a sit and lets the sun, bathe her in its rays as she closes her eyes. She took a deep breath and exhaled, taking in the fresh air for just a moment as she remembered last nights events. She processed the events slowly as she realised what she admitted to. What she did. Her bottom lip quivered as she anxiously thought to herself what's going to happen now with LingQi. Was she sincere? Was she going to leave now still? Not that she would blame her. But now she laid out her heart on the table she wasn't sure on how to proceed from here. The reality of the situation processed in her mind, she now has soldiers that look up to her. That need guidance, she can't just keep wondering around but what is she supposed to do? As she was thinking she heard footsteps behind her, she turned around to see Pang Tong standing there.

'Ha, I should've known you would've barely got up by now. Mind if I join you my lady? Looks like you have a good view.' Pang Tong chuckled, Mitsuko also chuckled slightly in response.

'Nah go on ahead.' Mitsuko responded as Pang Tong sat next to Mitsuko.

'Ahh, sometimes its good to just rest a little bit and just admire everything around you don't you think?'

'Yeah…' Mitsuko replied absentmindedly.

'Is something wrong my lady?' Pang Tong questioned.

'No, no its fine I was just thinking about stuff is all.' Mitsuko responded.

'Well, would you like to share? Much like a drink in a flask, it is good to keep it bottled but you have to let it out to drink it.' Pang Tong pulls out his flask and takes a sip of it while Mitsuko looks at him with confusion.

'What is that supposed to mean?'

'I don't know, I just read it in a scroll and thought it'd be useful.' Pang Tong chuckled as he took a sip.

'Of course, well last night with LingQi was…exhausting to be honest. Not in a bad way don't get me wrong, its just…there was a lot there you know. After last night…I feel better but I'm still not sure how I'm supposed to do all this. Before it was easier, Lu Bu pretty much was the man and I didn't have to worry about anything except leading them into battle. But now…here we all are. Marching to get an alliance with bandits to live, these people look to me to lead them all the way. And I just don't know what will happen next, I don't want what happened to Zang Ba and Wu Zi to happen to these under my banner, I guess. Though I have no idea about what I am supposed to do. Even with the Dodomeki, Gyuki and Diamondback. The only reason they follow me is just because of this Orochi that's supposed to be inside me somehow. How can I not…disappoint them you know?' Mitsuko admitted, she just had no clue about how to proceed.

'If that's all then I don't think that will be a problem.' Pang Tong states nonchalantly leaving Mitsuko confused.

'How so?'

'Because my lady sometimes you won't find your destination until you traverse the journey. It is natural to doubt yourself especially when the road is long and you know not everyone can accompany you all the way. The path of a conqueror is indeed not one for the faint hearted. There's going to be many more obstacles in your path and there will be times where you may occasionally stumble off or lose your way. But that's what your subordinates are for. To support you whenever that happens. You just need to believe in us and yourself and we'll get to the end. I don't think you need to worry about trying to get the loyalty from our more…exotic allies as it seems they already wish to fight for you, no matter who their former lord was. Trust me on that.' Pang Tong explained as he took another sip of his flask. Mitsuko glances at him and gives him a small smile.

'Which scroll did you find that passage in?'

'Its called the mad ramblings of a hermit, it'll be sure to go down in legend as one of the best stories ever told.' They both laugh.

'I'm sure it will be.' Mitsuko replied.

'Well I hope so, otherwise it'd be a waste of knowledge if no one reads it.' Pang Tong chuckled as he stood up and glances towards Mitsuko.

'It'll be an interesting journey, I can't wait to see what kind of new adventures we'll have together.'

'Ahh there you are Mitsuko, oh I see you have company.' They both turn around to see LingQi behind them.

'Oho, don't mind me I was just informing lady Mitsuko our forces are almost ready to depart, I better get back to overseeing them, if you excuse me.' Pang Tong chuckles as he walks back to the camp, leaving Mitsuko and LingQi alone.

'So did you sleep well?' LingQi asked.

'I did, thanks for asking. First time that happened in a long time to be honest.'

'I'm glad, how are your serpents? They don't look quite as aggressive as last night.' LingQi jested as she sat down next to Mitsuko as the serpent hisses softly at her.

'I think they're ok. Truth be told I'm surprised I haven't gotten my normal arms back like I expected.' She stares at them again.

'How do they feel?' LingQi questioned curiously.

'They feel…weird. Its like my arms have a mind of their own until I actively try to gain control, its not like they resist it when I try. But its weird to not have complete control all the time. But I don't think its bad, I mean they're kind of cute.' The snakes hiss happily as they try to nuzzle Mitsuko's cheeks with one on each side. Mitsuko's protests made LingQi unable to control her laughter. This makes the right serpent arm nuzzle against LingQi's cheek. She was surprised for it to feel as smooth as it did. The smooth yet dry scales prevent LingQi from feeling any pain. As the snake sneakily gave LingQi a lick with its forked tongue and looks happy with itself Mitsuko reeled the snake in and scolds it. Causing LingQi to laugh again.

'They seem to be quite a handful.'

'They didn't seem so this morning.'

'Maybe they take after you and they don't like mornings.' LingQi giggled slightly at the thought.

'Heh, maybe.' Mitsuko couldn't help but laugh softly but as the silence emerged LingQi stood up and offered her hand to Mitsuko.

'C'mon, I want to show you something before we leave.' LingQi gave Mitsuko a warm, comforting smile as she took her hand. Mitsuko was confused as LingQi held her left snake head softly by the neck and guided her as she ordered Mitsuko to close her eyes. Mitsuko gave her a weird look but complied as she covered her eyes with her right snake. Mitsuko could only wonder what LingQi wanted to show her before they departed. The snakes hiss softly in anticipation, echoing Mitsuko feelings when it came to this. It felt they were walking for a while. It was…nice. The fresh air crashing against her body, the rustling of the leaves, it seemed peaceful. All of a sudden the two women stopped.

'Ok you may uncover your eyes now.' LingQi states. Mitsuko quickly removed the serpent body over her eyes to reveal a recently covered mound of soil in the form of a grave. She was confused.

'That's…an especially interesting looking mound of dirt I see. Did you find something there or something?' Mitsuko wisecracked unsure of what to make out of it.

'It's supposed to be a grave.' LingQi stated seriously. Immediately Mitsuko lowered her voice.

'Oh, I'm sorry…was it someone you knew? Was it one of our soldiers or something?'

'Its supposed to be for Akari.' LingQi answered. Mitsuko was speechless as she heard that name.

'Wait, what?' She couldn't prevent her voice from quivering.

'You mentioned before that you never had the chance to mourn her, so I woke up early and prepared this for you. I know its not close to the actual grave however I thought it would be good to help you say goodbye.' Mitsuko started to tear up at the thought of it.

'You didn't have to do that you know.' Mitsuko responded unable to say much more. Her snakes stare at the grave as the eyes start to water as their bodies slither in the air.

'I know, however we all deserve to say goodbye to the people we care about.'

'Th-thank you…I…I.' Mitsuko stammered her words as she didn't know what to say, she didn't expect her to go through something like this for her. LingQi smiled at her.

'Do not worry about it Mitsuko. I understand, take your time to say your farewell. I'll leave you alone for now.' LingQi states as she walked away, Mitsuko stared at her as she left before drifting her eyes to the corpseless grave. The snakes look upon Mitsuko with anticipation. Mitsuko just…couldn't find the words. All this time she felt full of guilt, regret, resentment and anger over what she felt she did. Yet now…there's just nothing coming out of her words. She dropped down to the ground in front of the grave as Mitsuko sighed deeply.

'So I'm actually going to do this am I? Heh ok. So…Akari…how's it going?' Mitsuko talked to the grave though she immediately shook her head in disappointment in herself. She sighed again before proceeding.

'I know…look I'm sorry. I'm really sorry for what happened to you. I'm sorry I wasn't there to help, I should've been there to support you. You shouldn't have had to face that alone. I was weak and I was afraid. I miss you, you know. I miss your smile, your infectious laugh. Your warmth. The happiness you made me feel when we were together. Though a lot of stuff happened since then. You probably know or don't know but I kind of travelled back in time. Honestly once you get used to it, it's not that bad. Sure video games are fun but I never thought there could be so much natural beauty in this world you know? I never thought I could live my life without electricity but here I am…kind of having the time of my life honestly. Something I didn't really expect…I wish you could be here with me.' Mitsuko started to become sad again though she persevered and sighed heavily.

'I guess you could also see judging from everything that I changed a bit myself. I'm a soldier if you can believe it, yep doing the killing. Its…easier than you think. I know I shouldn't feel as comfortable taking peoples lives…but I do. It just feels natural. Don't know whether its this demon that's stuck inside me or if I'm just an awful, sadistic woman but there we are. Though as a result instead of just being a wife to an asshole husband and a baby factory I got to meet a lot of interesting characters. People like that fledgling phoenix, yep that one I chose to kick your arse every time we played.' Mitsuko chuckled at the memory of that, while smiling at the warm memory she remembered.

'I also met some odd demon folks. Dodomeki, Gyuki and Diamondback. I don't know too much about them but they seem nice enough. Though I think I need to know them better, it feels weird when they call you "my lady." I'd like to get to know them a little better, it feels weird having these people serve me while I know nothing about them…especially when you know they served the demon that inhabits you or…something. I don't actually know what the situation is with this Orochi. I suppose if I did it would explain these two.' Mitsuko raises her two snake arms in front of the grave who hiss almost excitedly at the grave, Mitsuko could only chuckle at their antics.

'yeah I have no idea how I got them either and I don't know why I don't have human arms anymore but they were overrated anyway. Check out what they can do.' Mitsuko strained herself before being able to petrude her weapons out of their mouths. The saliva slowly dripping from the tips to the ground, staining the mound of dirt. Mitsuko let out a sharp gasp.

'I need to get used to that. But here they are, pretty cool huh? You can really carve enemies up with these blades. You'd think these would be heavy but honestly you do get used to them you know? Just like this armour.' The sword snake hovers the tip of the blade over her armour.

'And then there's LingQi. I met her shortly arriving here. She's…she's something else. She's funny, she's beautiful, she's a fantastic warrior, honestly she beat me when we had our…well I guess you could say our first argument together. Though I wasn't really going all out so you know. Hehe. Yeah, she's great honestly. I think you two would've gotten along nicely. She also has a hidden mischievous side…but with her dad being an asshole made things difficult for her. Hopefully I can know more about her.' Mitsuko paused as she withdraws her blades back in their respective serpents mouths and combs the mound with the side of the right serpents face. The left one looked at Mitsuko with concern.

'Do you love her is what I'm guessing you're asking me now…and honestly I don't know. All I really know is that she's special and irreplaceable to me. If it wasn't for her we wouldn't be having this one way conversation I'm having with a pile of dirt where you may or may not actually be dead here.' Mitsuko chuckled to herself at that.

'I mean I confessed everything that happened to her, about Rachel, about what you said to me, how I felt. I didn't think I'd admit that to anybody here. I miss you and loved you so much, I'm sorry for the way things happened. If I could turn back time I would…or maybe I wouldn't. I didn't exactly have a 'warriors spirit' back then. Hehe. I've been holding onto your memories for so long and for the wrong reasons. So…I'm going to try and let go. I'm not going to forget you I know that much, but…I can't keep looking back with regret. I know I have to move forwards. I mean…I have a bunch of people looking to me to lead them, I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm not sure if what I'm doing is necessarily the right thing or the moral thing. But I do know something. I don't want our world to exist the way it did. I don't want hatred and fear ruling everything, I don't want people to go through what we did. I want people to be accepted for who they are within reason, I don't want people like Rachel to do whatever they please without consequence!' The snakes hiss aggressively as Mitsuko's eyes turn blood red with one turning reptilian.

'I don't want this to happen, I don't want people to be abused. I don't want those that do nothing wrong to be victims of heinous crimes like murder! I don't want them to viciously exploit people. I don't want that culture of fear to stand up to shit tyrants! I want intelligence to lead, not greed! I don't want second class citizens to be a thing. I want vengeance! Vengeance on those that would starve people to line up their pockets! Vengeance on those that would willingly harm others for simply being different! Those that would willingly create a culture of fear and hatred! I want…people to be happy.' Mitsuko's eyes return to their natural colours though her right one stays reptilian with the pupil being black.

'I don't want people to go through what we had to. Sure I know we're taught that isn't the best way of going about doing things. But what option do I have here? Other warlords aren't going to listen to us. And how can I trust them? There's a reason why everyone wants to conquer, so they get to make the rules. Whatever that is. Besides this is a time of war. Writing letters and peaceful protests aren't going to work when a cavalry force runs everyone down mercilessly. No…my people are relying on me to lead them and I'm going to do that. Its not moral but you know what?' Mitsuko demonically grins at the grave.

'That's fine with me. I have strength now, strength that I can change the world. I can't let that opportunity to go to waste! Besides I always did find villains more interesting anyway. You're probably disgusted with me…or you're happy I honestly don't know.' Mitsuko stands up as she took one last deep breath.

'I don't know what's going to happen, I lost friends already I have a feeling I may lose more before this is over…but now…now I think I have a reason to fight. I have a vision, I'm no longer afraid. Whether that will be good or not is something we'll just have to see won't we? Well…I have to go. I can't forget you but I have to look forward and that's what I'm going to do. Heh, its funny. I never thought I'd take centre stage like this.' Mitsuko turns around but takes one last glance at the corpseless grave.

'Oh one more thing, if you meet a couple of guys called Zang Ba and Wu Zi…if you exist somewhere that is…tell them I said hi and I miss them as well. Goodbye…Akari.' A sudden gust of wind breezed past Mitsuko, as it does so she feels herself feel strangely lighter. Like a huge weight has just disappeared from her back. She smiles softly before walking away. As she walked, she eventually met with LingQi who waited for her. She smiled as she saw newfound determination and a certain…fire within Mitsuko's eyes, something she hasn't seen before from her.

'How was it?' She asked, curious of Mitsuko's feelings.

'It was…good. It was nice to finally say goodbye after so long. Thank you.'

'You're welcome.'

'So what happens now? Where are you going to go?'

'Go? Well I'll go wherever you are.' She was surprised by that question.

'Well its just last night you were ready to leave when you found out the truth about what happened. Are you sure you want to stay with me after all that? I would understand if you needed some time away from me, its not like anything has changed.'

'But it has.' LingQi interrupted as she held Mitsuko's serpent heads lightly underneath their jaw as they hiss softly. She looked into her eyes.

'Yes its true, what happened doesn't sit fully right with me still. but I know why you did it and I know that he wasn't a particularly nice man. Despite everything, he was still my father but you made me feel something he never did, accepted. I already mourned his death once I found out about it. Once I realised even in vengeance I couldn't harm you, I knew I had I couldn't allow myself to not be chained by him any longer, I controlled my own path from that point onwards. So I will walk besides you, supporting you whenever you need assistance like you did for me.' Mitsuko didn't really know what to say. She stammered as she tried to find the right words before taking a deep breath and settling for something simple.

'Thanks…for everything.' She responded and smiled at her as she stared into her beautiful brunette eyes that she found herself lost in. She realised what she was doing and shook her head and started to walk forward with LingQi following closely.

'Well with that, I think its time we got moving. We've still got a while before we reach the bandit queen herself. May aswell get moving now.'

'My, where did this sudden burst of energy come from?' LingQi jested as she giggled slightly. Mitsuko grinned at her.

'Who knows? Maybe I've just had a pretty good morning.'

'That's a first.'

'First time for everything isn't there?'

'Unless its you beating me in a fight. We both know that will never happen' LingQi giggled mischeviously as Mitsuko stopped to process what she said for a moment.

'Wait, are you actually going to do this now of all times?' She asked. LingQi looked at her slyly.

'Am I wrong though?' She questioned as she turned around and walked off. Mitsuko couldn't help but laugh as she defended herself.

'I could've easily beaten you yesterday you know.' She called out as she caught up with LingQi.

'Please, you were so exhausted I had to catch you.'

'I was going for a sneak attack, I'm a snake after all.'

'You're also a bad liar when it comes to things like this.' They both continue to jest about this as they travelled to join up with the rest of Mitsuko's forces.