Master of Parallel Worlds
~Volume 1~
Outworlder in Kyoto Part III
The time was around midnight within the Urakyoto.
Roughly the size of the Modern Kyoto in land area, the mythical realm which existed within an alternate dimension, was created by the Shinto Gods.
The realm was the place where the majority of the Youkai within Japan lives their life and where the headquarter do the Youkai Faction was located. Approximately 1,2 millions Youkai lives here with roughly 120,000 of them were the soldiers of the Youkai Faction under the command of Yasaka.
The moon was shining above the night sky of Urakyoto. Although it wasn't the real moon and the sky, which peaked at the height of 10,000 Kilometers, was merely akin to that of a painting that covered the Urakyoto from above.
It was a rather calm night within the mythical realm of Youkai.
Two Youkai guards under Kawarasu's command were patrolling within the radius of two kilometers from the Palace where their leader resides. They usually did this just before the shift change with the other guards.
One of the guard was carrying a lantern as he and his coworker were patrolling the forest nearby the palace. Due to the recent kidnapping attempt on the Youkai Princess, they been ordered by their captain to triple check the surrounding area for any intruders.
"This sucks. Why do we have to check this area again? We have been doing this five times already since evening." The guard with the lantern complained as he shined his surrounding with the lantern.
"It's because the one who signs your cheque said so. Now shut up and do your job." His coworker answered with annoyance as this has been the third time since he had complained about the order from higher up.
"I mean yeah, but don't you think this is quite excessive?" The lantern guard said.
"Kunou-hime is Yasaka-sama's only child, and the last male Kyuubi has long perished. It's no wonder why Yasaka-sama takes extreme measure to ensure the safety of her only heir." The other guard said.
"Man, being Kyuubi is sure a lot pain in the ass when you think about it again." The lantern guard just sighed as he rubbed the back of his head.
His coworker nodded in agreement.
"I can't say I disagree with that. First, you can't mate with other species of Youkai unless you want your offspring to be born with less than nine tails, which was bad for political reason. Second, you're bound to be targeted by not only those traitor, but other supernatural creatures out there. Being treated like royalties doesn't seems worth all the troubles."
He then glared at the lantern guard.
"So be glad that you're only stuck with some meager guard duty."
"Alright, alright, geez. No need to chew my head off will you." The lantern guard put his hands up defensively.
"Then again, my point still stands. Why do we have to keep circling around this area? It's not like those traitors are able to enter this realm like they owned this place."
"Challenge accepted."
A quite alluring female voice was heard from behind them. The guards immediately turned around…
(SKLECH)
…Only for them to be stabbed through their heads by something sharp, killing them immediately.
Tamamo-no-Mae pulled out two of her tails out of the guard heads.
"Urgh, disgusting." The legendary Kyuubi let out the sound of disgust as she twirled her tails several times to wipe off the blood.
The currently Hachibi Kitsune proceed to pull out eight talismans from within Kimono and threw them off. The talismans later form a circle formation while they spinned around in front of Tamamo as it activate the spell.
A large portal materialized and from within said portal, an army of masked Youkai marched out.
Tamamo nodded her head pleasantly as she turned towards the direction of the Youkai Palace where her target was.
"Let's move on."
And with that command, Tamamo leads her army towards the palace.
Not long after, chaos ensued.
"Alright, probably not my brightest idea in a while." Ritsuka commented as she stepped out from the multicolored portal byproduct of Kaleidoscope.
She then gazed at her surrounding as the portal behind her disappeared.
What greeted her sight was the scenery of some dark plain that seems come out from many horror movies she used to watched. The sky was dark, dying plants as far as her eyes can see and the fog was everywhere. The only source of light she can found in this place were the fireflies that were flying around.
"Well, seems fitting for the Realm of the Dead."
In case you're curious about why Ritsuka was here.
After her business with the Youkai Faction, Kawarasu had teleported her back to the human world on the order from Yasaka.
The business itself was pleasantly successful.
First, Yasaka had repaid every yen that Ritsuka spend for her daughter. And not only that, she even paid a hundred times more than the actual amount was spend for Kunou's foods. Ritsuka's 150,000 yen had transformed into a whopping 15,000,000 yen. Ritsuka doesn't know whether it was Yasaka's strategy in recruiting her into her faction or not, but she refused the money to be returned when Ritsuka insisted it so.
The money was given to her in a metal briefcase and now was within the Gate of Babylon.
Second, information she got from the Youkai Faction as the reward from saving Kunou had given her a better understanding regarding this world. Of course there was one glaring fact that she learned today.
The Age of Gods, still continues in this world.
Unlike in her own world, where most Supernatural species like Gods had retreated into "Reverse Side of the World", this world still has many mythologies exists alongside with Humanity. Granted that there were many factors that lead to the end of Age of Gods in her world that might not exist in this world.
But that's not the main issue to Ritsuka.
The supernatural in this world was just like one big political game.
Humans politics were bad enough, adding Gods into that would be far too much trouble than Ritsuka could tolerate, she would rather not to be involved in any of it.
Anyway, after getting teleported back to the human world, Ritsuka thought herself that she might need to confirm some piece of information she got from the Youkai Faction.
One particular subject that interested her was the cycle of life in this world.
With many mythologies exists, there might be several different kind of afterlife. Ritsuka then was reminded to the people she killed in order to save Kunou. Since they died within Japanese's soils, their soul might be departed to the Japanese's version of the Realm of the Dead.
And here she was, stepping her foot on the Japanese Realm of the Dead, Yomi. To confirm whether the people she killed earlier today were here.
"I need a flashlight." Ritsuka said out loud as she tried to look ahead what in front of her, but could only see up to several meters ahead of her.
A simple flashlight materialized on her right hand, byproduct of a simple Projection magecraft. Ritsuka the flipped the switch on and the lightbulb shined in respond.
Ritsuka nodded her head before pointing her new flashlight toward her front direction.
(SKRAAAH)
"Wow!"
But some sort of monster charged and lunged straight at her.
Ritsuka's own survival instinct sent the signal throughout her body to sway herself to the right as the monster flew past her. She couldn't get a clear image of what kind of monster was that due it's moving decently fast.
Quickly thinking for retaliation, a couple golden ripples of Gate of Babylon, appeared behind her. They later shot a couple of nameless halberds at the monster, the weapons flew at the monster at the speed in which it couldn't react and met their target.
The weapons stabbed the monster and the ground beneath it, which later resulting a small explosion. The explosion created a couple seconds of clear visibility around this place, which revealing a group of monster surrounding Ritsuka.
The Outworlder then used Presence Detection to calculate the number of these creatures. The number was around 200.
There were several species of undead animals: dogs, wolves, hyenas, and also crows.
There were also undead people, who Ritsuka guessed to be the inhabitants of Yomi.
But what caught Ritsuka's attention the most was the fact both Raijin and several Shikome (Foul Women) were also with the pack.
"I think I know who sent these creatures here if the legend was true.." Ritsuka muttered to herself as she devised a plan to get out of this predicament.
Opening a portal with Kaleidoscope and hop into it was out. Not because she was incapable of doing it at the moment, but she just thought she just got here and it would be a waste not finishing this journey.
It's just matter principle of hers where she doesn't leave some business half done unless the situation demands it.
Eliminating them seems to be the only option here since Ritsuka doubted she could persuade them to back down with that much hostility oozing from them.
The thing is, that she was actually still quite tired from the diplomatic talk with the Youkai Faction. And eliminating them one by one sounds like a hassle. So she doesn't feel like doing it right now.
Thanks to the Information she got from the Root, Ritsuka knew a Noble Phantasm that could take care of these folks without much a problem. One that she was so glad she hasn't had any encounter with it as enemy before.
"Doomsday Come!"
In an instant, the eerily Realm of the Dead suddenly shifted into the pitch black Realm of Nothingness. The surrounding was nothing but pitch black of darkness similar to that space where the Swirl of the Root was located.
And in that moment, with the exception of Ritsuka, everything within this Realm of Nothingness were crushed as if a very powerful gravitational force washed over them until nothing was left behind.
Doomsday Come.
An Anti-World Noble Phantasm that grants "death" and works as receptacle for its outcome, creating a Bounded World that took the form of a Pseudo Underworld. It's also possible for it to take form of a complete Nothingness, an empty space that erased anything within it.
The owner of this Noble Phantasm was Pale Rider.
A servant that was summoned as "False Rider" in one of the Alternate World where two simultaneous Holy Grail Wars were being held in Snowfield in America. The True and False Holy Grail Wars.
Despite being named "Pale Rider", False Rider identity wasn't the One of the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse that was described in the Book of Revelation.
False Rider was true identity was the very embodiment of pestilence given form by the False Holy Grail. Unlike most servants, "He" cannot be called a Hero, or even Anti-Hero, as "he" is not a person at all.
False Rider has claimed an unfathomable number of lives over the course of human history under different "names". The Black Plague, the Spanish Flu, and many other disease and that have plagued the world as well as numerous other calamities.
"What a terrifying Noble Phantasm."
Ritsuka whispered to herself as she dismissed the Noble Phantasm, reverting the Realm of Nothingness back into the Realm of the Dead, Yomi.
There was no trace of the creatures that surrounded her earlier.
Ritsuka says nothing and continued walking with her flashlight in hand.
As she walked deeper into the Yomi, Ritsuka noticed that she had walked into a dead forest with many graveyard as far as eyes can see. She also noticed several creatures with similar appearances from earlier, hissed and snarled at her but made no move to attack.
Perhaps her demonstrations of power she did earlier sent a powerful message to the inhabitants of this realm to leave her alone.
She doesn't mind, so long they don't bother her, she won't bother them either.
Ritsuka later noticed a dirt path that seems lead to somewhere. As she followed the path, she noticed several lanterns were installed on the each sides of the road. The lanterns emitted eerily purple light that barely illuminated the dirt road.
(hik hik hik)
Ritsuka stopped for a moment when she heard a faint noise, coming from beyond the dirt path. The Outworlder decided to follow the source as she keep on walking the road.
(hik hik HIK)
The noise became louder to the point Ritsuka can recognized what kind of noise it was. And it was the noise of someone crying, and based from the sounds of it, it was a female.
(hik HIK HIK)
The crying noise became louder, indicating that it was near.
(HIK HIK HIK)
Ritsuka stopped on her track when she realized from the crying noises came from.
There was a very old traditional Japanese house. With stone foundation, wooden frameworks and roof made out of straws. The house was a quite worn down, probably hadn't been repaired for so long. There seems to be no lighting on the house itself. The inside was probably pitch dark.
Ritsuka prepared herself for a second before walked towards the front door and opened the sliding door slowly.
"Pardon for the intrusion." Ritsuka announced herself as she opened up the sliding door, only to be assaulted by a very rotten smell that caused her to backed away a bit from the entrance.
Ritsuka frowned at the smell, reached into the Gate of Babylon and pulled out something from within the treasury.
It was a flask, filled with purple liquid. A magical perfume King Gilgamesh acquired during his life.
The Gate of Babylon wasn't just filled with various powerful weapons and an unfathomable amount of fortune. It was also filled with many things that King Gilgamesh thought worthy to be in his possession.
A magical perfume that instantly could make a corpse smells like Nirvana was just one of them.
Ritsuka then casted a Projection to make an empty sprayer container before filling it with the magical perfume. She then proceed to spray the inside of the house several times and wait for few seconds. After making sure the rotten smell was completely gone, she stuffed the spray into her backpack and walked into the house.
Ritsuka aimed her flashlight into the house. As expected, the room was a total mess and dirty. Many spider webs were spotted on the corners and the ceiling of the house. Most of the painting has been peeled off the wall. The house looks like it could collapse at any moment.
But hey, at least it doesn't smell like a rotten egg anymore.
(HIK HIK HIK HIK)
She walked further into the house when she heard the sniffing noises while be prepared for hostile encounter. She keeps looking at the source of the noises until her flashlight spotted a sulking figure on the corner of the room.
The figure was a woman with very, very long black hair that was long enough to reach the floor. She wears a rather loose and very dirty Kimono. That's all Ritsuka can discern from her since the woman was sulking on the corner while facing at the wall.
Ritsuka gently walked towards the weeping woman as her flashlight never left the sulking form.
"Ummm, excuse me, but are you alright?" Ritsuka asked cautiously and mentally kicked herself for such stupid question. "Dammit Ritsuka! What kind of stupid question was that? A woman crying in the Realm of the Dead. Of course she wasn't alright."
But the words had already left her mouth and there was nothing Ritsuka can do to take it back. She got a response thought. The woman stopped her weeping as she slowly turned around to face Ritsuka.
What Ritsuka saw sent a brief chill through her spine.
Wrapped around the loose Kimono, was nothing but a rotten form of flesh with maggots and foul creatures running over her ravages body. One of her eye socket, the left one, was dripping with pus and her right hands was nothing but bones with little flesh left.
She was probably also the source of the foul smell that assaulted Ritsuka's nose earlier.
.
.
.
.
.
"A…human…what are…you…doing..h-here?" The rotten woman asked in raspy voice, finally breaking the silence after few seconds of staring contest with Ritsuka.
Ritsuka recovered quickly as she straighten herself up a little bit.
"Greetings, my name is Fujimaru Ritsuka. And I come here to ask few questions to satisfy my curiosity." Ritsuka answered as she narrowed her eyes at the woman. "Are you, by any chance, Izanami-no-Mikoto?"
Ritsuka could already guess about this woman identity since the beginning. It's not a rocket science. And she can probably already tell why this woman was crying before.
The rotten flesh of a woman nodded numbly in respond.
"Good. Do you mind if I ask you few questions?" Ritsuka requested as she materialized a small chair and a battery powered desk lamp with Projection.
She sat down on the chair and turned on the desk lamp, illuminated the room better than the flashlight. She dispelled the earlier Projection object as she put down the desk lamp onto the floor.
The woman, whose identity has been confirmed to be Izanami-no-Mikoto, the Japanese's mythology Goddess of Creation and Death, as well as the Shinto Goddess Mother, nodded numbly in respond again.
But before Ritsuka could ask her first question…
"Aren't…you…a-afraid…of…me?!" Izanami asked still with raspy voice and a hint of curiosity.
Ritsuka just tilted her head slightly.
"Should I?" Ritsuka countered.
The Goddess didn't respond to that. Ritsuka took this as the sign to proceed.
"When a human or other creature die, do their soul automatically goes here or something/someone pull bring them here?" Ritsuka asked her first question.
.
.
.
"T-t-their…souls…just ended…up…here…on their…own." Izanami answered the question and Ritsuka just nodded.
"What about the human outside of Japan or not originate from Japan? Do their soul will be send here as well?" Ritsuka shot her next question.
This gained a confused reaction from the Goddess as she tilted her head. And despite lacking of eyelid on her right eye, Ritsuka can tell that Izanami was blinking in confusion.
"W-what…is…Ja…pan?"
This time, it was Ritsuka who blinked in confusion before a realization dawned her.
"Riiiiiight. You've been locked up in Yomi all your life…or rather afterlife. So it makes sense that you have no idea about it." Ritsuka looked down thoughtfully as she rubbed her chin with her finger before she gave the goddess her attention again. "Japan is the name that we currently use to call the islands that both you and your husband created."
Izanami's hostility rise up when Ritsuka finished her explanation. At first, Ritsuka thought that the goddess was displeased about the name of Japan. But remembering her legend, it was probably something else entirely.
Then Ritsuka realized what it was that made her so hostile.
"I take it you didn't like me mentioning your husband."
(WHOOOOSH)
Ritsuka immediately swayed to the left as Izanami long hair attempted to pierce her head. The strike created a huge hole on the wall and caused a slight tremor throughout the house. Thankfully the house didn't collapse on her head.
"Don't ever mention "HIM" again! EVER!" Izanami threatened, this time without stuttering and the raspy voice, but her voice was filled hatred instead.
"Dully noted." Ritsuka replied while mentally kicking herself for bringing that up.
It was a dick move from her, she admitted as my much.
"As…for your question…earlier…I'm afraid...I can't answer it." Izanami replied, while lowering down her hostility toward Ritsuka.
Ritsuka just looked at her for a moment before nodded her head again as she asked the next question.
"On my way here, I was attacked by some foul creatures, there were about 200 of them. Were you the one who sent them?" Ritsuka asked and Izanami responded with a shake of her rotten head. This caused the Outworlder to raise an eyebrow. "Aren't you the ruler of this place?" Ritsuka asked again and she got the same respond like earlier.
"Yomi…has no ruler. I'm…just an inhabitant…like others." Izanami explained shortly, but her speech was getting better than earlier stuttering ever since that outburst.
"Then who sent those creature after me?" Ritsuka asked with a hint of annoyance.
"It's...probably…the Yomi itself…sent them after you." Izanami replied again.
"The realm itself sent its inhabitants after me?" Ritsuka thoughtfully asked to no one in particular.
"Every living being….with the exception of those who divine….will be marked by Yomi as one of "the Dead"…once they entered Yomi." Izanami replied Ritsuka anyway, even thought the question wasn't aimed at her.
The goddess proceed to lower down her dirty Kimono to reveal a blue mark stamped between where her cleavage supposed to be, had her body not rotten.
"Once "the Law of Yomi" been marked into you…it is impossible to leave this place" Izanami explained as her speech getting better while she didn't even bother to put on her Kimono back. "Yomi sent those creatures after you during your encounter with them, all of them in order to mark you."
"I see, that makes sense." Ritsuka commented as she rubbed the bridge of her nose.
"However, Yomi usually didn't sent that many number of creature to mark just one person." Izanami suddenly spoke out her mind, earning a curious look from the outworlder. "Also, there is something that I don't understand."
"What is it?"
The goddess turned her rotten head towards the girl.
"You."
Ritsuka just raised an eyebrow while she was pointing at herself with the look that said "Me".
"When I look into you nature more closely, I can tell that you are neither the living nor the dead. But at the same time, you also can be considered as both the living and the dead. It puzzles me that you nature of existence contradicts with each other."
Izanami then move towards Ritsuka's face until they were just an inch apart, which made Ritsuka a bit uncomfortable with the rotten face being so close to her.
"No, that's wrong. That is just the surface of it, the only layer that I can comprehend. There are other layers beneath the one that I can discern which escapes my comprehension."
Izanami then backed away from Ritsuka, much to the latter relief.
"You asked me questions, now in turn I ask you one myself. What manner of creature are you, Fujimaru Ritsuka?"
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.
.
.
.
Silence filled the house within realm of the Dead for several seconds. Neither of the goddess nor the outworlder made any noise. Both have rather neutral expression on their faces. They were at impasse for another second before the outworlder conceded and break the deadlock.
Gone the small chair that Ritsuka sat earlier and in its place, was a simple Kotatsu table. The outworlder sat onto the dirty floor, not caring about dirtying her jeans. She then pulled out her Iphone from her pocket and unlocked the screen.
Frowning at the low battery sign, Ritsuka pointed her fingertip at the charger connector and casted a rather weak lightning spell. The phone immediately was charged until it has 60% of power. Ritsuka nodded to herself before turned her attention at the goddess, who seems to be curious at the object in Ritsuka's hand.
"Would you mind playing with me for a little bit?"
"My apologize Amaterasu-sama, but may I know the reason why you cannot send any reinforcement to us?"
"You know the reason as much as I do, Yasaka. Our agreement with the Youkai only extends to providing you a place for your and your people to stay."
"I'm aware of the agreement, but could you please lend us a hand for this time only? This Miko of yours beseech you."
"We still haven't recovered ever since Izanami invaded and unleashed calamities upon our Heavenly Realm, we will not descend to mortal world unless absolute urgency."
"But…"
"Enough Yasaka! Unless the other Pantheon backed her up in this attack, we, of the Shinto Trinity, deems your conflicts with Tamamo-no-Mae won't endangered Takamagahara. Do I make myself clear?!"
"…."
"Yes, Amaterasu-sama."
As the lights dimmed from the Kyuubi's statue eyes, Yasaka still didn't move from her prostrate position until the light was completely gone.
As soon as they gone…
(SKRESH)
Yasaka's right hand turned into a huge claw and swiped at the Kyuubi statue, cutting it into pieces.
"Don't fuck with me! Won't endanger Takamagahara? Does she know that if Tamamo manage to get her hand on Kunou, she will become even more powerful than her prime? The Youkai Faction would fall into ruins and the other Pantheons will use this chance to seize Japan for themselves. DO THOSE THREE SHUT IN ABOVE THERE EVER THOUGHT OF THE FUTURE?!"
Yasaka ranted in pure frustration as she stormed off the Altar Room where she used to communicate with the Shinto Gods, followed by a couple of guards who were waiting outside.
It has been six hours since Urakyoto, or specifically the headquarter of the Youkai Faction, was attacked. The assailants were none other than the Tamamo-no-Mae herself and her loyalists, both had been a plague for the Youkai Faction for over centuries.
Of course they knew the ultimate goal of the attack was to kidnap Kunou, the Princess of the Youkai Faction, to be the next and the last vessel for Tamamo-no-Mae who currently inhabitants a Hachibi Kitsune as her current vessel.
The Youkai Faction actually outnumbered Tamamo's army 4 to 1. They should have been able to defend the palace easily.
However, having numerical advantage doesn't guarantee you victory.
(BOOM)
(BOOM)
(BOOM)
(BOOM)
Because Tamamo and her army had resorted to a different approach, she knew the odds were against her. Not only she has less people than the Youkai Faction military, she also was racing against time as well.
She needs to secure her target quickly and perform the ritual or everything these past centuries will all be for nothing.
(BOOM)
(BOOM)
(BOOM)
(BOOM)
The suicide bombs tactic.
Around several thousands of loyalists charged right into the palace and activated the suicide bombs spell that was implanted into them while shouting "Tamamo Banzai" and exploded in rapid succession. That one charge attack caused a total of 50,000 soldiers and damaged palace courtyard.
Thankfully, the palace left unscathed from the attack, thanks to the soldiers sacrifice of protecting it. But the Youkai Faction had lost it's number advantages to merely 2 to 1.
However, the suicide bombers weren't their only problem.
Her men had reported that some Sacred Gear users were aiding Tamamo in this attack. It's still unknown from which Faction they hailed from, but they alone were able to even the playing field which Youkai previously had an advantage off.
There are a three armed swordsman, a girl who can creates numerous holy swords, a man with the ability to control shadows, a man wielding a sword and shield who can petrify people, and a Holy Sword user.
This doesn't included Tamamo-no-Mae herself.
Yasaka and her guards entered a certain room where her daughter was hiding inside. She wasn't alone of course. Kunou was accompanied by Yasaka's most trusted servant, Emiko and her Royal Guard, Kawarasu.
"Is the preparation done?" Yasaka simply asked as walked towards the group.
"It is done Yasaka-sama." Emiko replied as she bowed her head in respect.
"Aren't you coming with me, Kaa-san?" Kunou asked as she was on the verge of tears.
Yasaka just smiled sadly at her, kneeled down and stroke her daughter hair gently.
"I'm so sorry Kunou, but Kaa-san still needs to stay to teach these interlopers some manners for invading our home." Yasaka spoke, tried to reassured her daughter that everything is going to be okay. "In the mean time, Kawarasu and Emiko will keep you safe. I promise you after all of this over, Kaa-san will take you to a vacation. Just the two of us."
Kunou eyes widened hopefully.
"Promise?"
Yasaka just held out her pinky finger.
"I promise."
Kunou held out her own pinky finger and intertwined it with her mother's before hugging her mother tightly, refusing to let go. Yasaka motioned the Bird Tengu to take her daughter away.
"My apologize Kunou-hime, but it's time to leave." Kawarasu hesitantly interrupted the mother-daughter moment, which caused the you Kyuubi to let go off her mother.
Emiko walked towards a painting and tilted it slightly, resulting a secret door to be opened. Beyond that door, was a stairs that lead to underground escape route Yasaka had prepared just in case for this very moment.
And without any words, the Princess, the servant, and the guard left the palace through a secret escape route.
Yasaka watched the secret door closed on its own after her daughter and her two closest attendants escaped into the underground escape path. The leader of Youkai Faction took a deep breath and exhaled it before fires were visibly raging in her eyes.
She will show no mercy to these interlopers.
It is time for her to join into the fray.
Meanwhile, back in the Yomi.
Both goddess and the outworlder were in the middle of a showdown.
Izanami was fascinated by the rectangular glowing object that can emitted sounds and moving pictures which you can interact with. Never in her life before she ever seen such a curious thing. She believe Ritsuka called the object "Iphone", whatever was that mean the goddess had no idea. They have been playing these "mobile games" for about an hour.
First, they played Angry Birds. The game in which you shot some round shaped birds with a slingshot, much to Izanami's incredulous. The goal was to destroy as many round shaped green pigs as possible with various level of obstacle in the way. They took turns playing it to see which one got the most golden stars. Ritsuka won this by a long shot.
Next game was called Ludo King. A game where you have to roll a die to move your given four pieces towards the goal. Izanami was playing as blue while Ritsuka was playing as yellow. Izanami was in the lead at first, but she practically has no strategy at all. Ritsuka quickly catching up the score before win the game.
And currently, they played pool. It took a bit while for Izanami to understand the rules, basically took two rounds for her to fully understand them. But she finally get the hang of it. Izanami got the stripe balls while Ritsuka got the solid ones.
The goddess was surprisingly quite good at this game. She was just two balls away until she can get to aim for the 8-ball while Ritsuka was still has five left to go.
"Don't you think it's about time you answer my question. I have played along with these games of yours long enough." Izanami suddenly spoke as she just finished her turn, still unable to get to the last two balls into the holes.
"You ask about what manner of creature am I, right?" Ritsuka began as she moved her finger to aim at the solid ball near the hole on the top corner. She then dragged her finger slightly on the screen. "To be perfectly honest, I don't know." Ritsuka answered as she let go her finger from the screen, launching the cue ball to the orange ball and smack the ball into the hole easily.
"What do you mean you don't know?" Izanami repeated as she watched Ritsuka hit another ball into the hole. Three left to go.
"It means that I cannot be classified as any species that's currently exists, whether it's natural or supernatural." Ritsuka answered, as she hit another ball three in a row. Now she was even with Izanami.
Ritsuka was telling the truth.
Ever since Ritsuka touched the Swirl of the Root, she was aware that not only she ceased to be a human being, but also become something entirely new.
The Swirl of the Root, while spoken as the "Spiral of Origins", this term cannot be applied to its true essence as「 」, and any possible description or definition one could try giving is immediately separated into its own idea unrelated to the 「 」.
It would be so simple to say that Ritsuka has the exact nature as the 「 」.
However, she was fully aware that there was slight, but significant difference between her and 「 」. A difference that she was missing right now, hence her confusion describing what she actually was.
And Izanami was correct that her whole speech about neither the living nor the dead was merely the surface of Ritsuka's existence.
"Then I will change my question, how did you even become like "this" in the first place?" Izanami asked another question as she watched Ritsuka missed the chance to put the ball remaining balls into the hole by committing a foul, after putting the cue ball into the hole on accident.
"Well, it's a quite long story actually…" Ritsuka began.
"Then make it short." Izanami interrupted as she moved the cue ball to the position where it was easier to hit her object balls into the hole, which she later did.
Ritsuka frowned as she realized she was losing the game.
"If you insists, long story short, I have touched something that shouldn't be touched." Ritsuka answered and mentally pumped her fist to the air as Izanami missed the ball again, which the latter cursed under her breath.
"Do I want to you about what exactly this "thing" is that gives you this convoluted mess that is your existence?" Izanami dared asked the question.
"For your own sanity, you better not." Ritsuka simply replied as she hit another solid ball into the hole. Both her and Izanami were just one more ball left before the 8-ball. "Just think of it as a source. Trying to fully understand it will bring you nothing but endless headache."
Ritsuka accidentally dragged her finger across the screen and shot the cue ball without aiming. On some weird twist of fate, she accidentally hit Izanami's stripe ball and the cue ball into the hole instead.
"FUCK!"
Ritsuka cursed loudly. She really hated it when that happened.
Izanami now having the advantage, dragged the cue ball into the position where it's lining up with the 8-ball. She gently dragged her finger over the screen and shot the cue ball, which later hit the 8-ball into the hole.
A strange sense of accomplishment washed over Izanami, but she seems to be confused at why would she feel that.
"Well, looks like you've won." Ritsuka admitted defeat as she leaned back and stared at the ceiling while exhaled her breath.
.
.
.
.
.
"I…" Izanami was about to say something.
"I think it's time for me to take my leave." Ritsuka suddenly spoke as she rose to her feet. She then stretched out her body before opened up a familiar multicolored portal byproduct of Kaleidoscope.
Ritsuka was about to step into the portal.
"Wait!"
But a call from Izanami stopped halted Ritsuka from her track. She looked over her shoulder to see the rotten form of a goddess just sat there with her head down. Ritsuka cannot see Izanami's face due to her long hair blocking it.
"W-would you mind…if we can play together…again?" Izanami requested, her raspy and stuttering speech seems to resurface.
Ritsuka just stared at the goddess for a moment. After what it feels like eternity, Ritsuka slowly marched towards the goddess and kneeled down to her level.
"Could I take a look again at that mark you showed me earlier?" Ritsuka requested.
Izanami was confused at the request, but complied anyway before proceeding to show the outworlder the mark that the Yomi gave her. Ritsuka assumed a thinking voice as she stared intently at the marking before nodding to herself.
A small decorated zigzag dagger materialized from Ritsuka's felt hand and before Izanami could asked what it was, Ritsuka stabbed her with the dagger right on top of the marking.
"Ackh"
Izanami let out a squeaky noise as she felt a rather tingling pain on her "cleavage". After several seconds, Ritsuka pulled out the dagger from Izanami who seems to glare at her.
"What was that fo-"
Izanami widened her eyes as she can feel that the "Law of Yomi" was gone. She looked down to her chest to confirm it and sure enough, she can see the absence of the marking that had been cursed her ever since she was killed and fell into the realm of the Dead.
"I can't promise you that I will visit you here anytime time soon…" Ritsuka spoke as she stood back to her feet while dismissing the mysterious dagger she used to dispel the "Law" that used to linger in her body. "…but with Yomi's influence gone from your body, now you can leave this place and seek out for me whenever you wish to play more games with me more."
"Wait…"
Ritsuka then stepped into the portal and as soon as she entered it, the multi colored portal disappeared.
Izanami was left alone in her small house, her eyes still staring at the spot where Ritsuka left earlier. Her eyes then trailed towards the table that Ritsuka created with her magecraft.
"…I was about to say you forgot something."
Her eyes glanced particularly at the strange rectangular object that was still glowing in this dark room.
A commercial airplane owned by EVA Air landed on the runway 2 located at Kansai International Airport at 6 A.M. The plane had departed from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, before making a stop at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport for an hour lay over, before continuing the flight to Kansai International Airport.
The pilot then parked the airplane at Terminal 1 where all the passengers will disembark at Gate 4. After the pilot safely connected the jet bridge with the door, the pilot shut down the engine and activate the PA announcement system.
As soon as the engine noise has subsided, the pilot began the announcement.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, EVA Air welcome you to Osaka. The local time is 6:02 A.M. Please use caution when opening the overhead compartment and removing item, since articles may have shifted during the flight. Thank you for flying with EVA Air, we appreciate your business."
As soon as the pilot finished the announcement, the "Fasten Seat Belt" signs were turned off, indicating that it was safe for all the passengers to stand up.
One of these passenger was a pale skinned woman with very long violet hair that was tied into a long ponytail and a pair of red eyes. She wears a light blue business outfit complete with short skirt, black leggings, a pair of black gloves and a pair of heels.
The woman stood to her feet, picking up her purse and slung it over her shoulder before disembarked the airplane. She later went to baggage reclaim are where she retrieve her violet colored luggage.
After going through the immigration checkpoint, she thrn headed straight towards the Kansai Airport Station. She went to the ticket booth and booked a seat on Haruka Express to Kyoto. She later made a quick stop at a convenient store to buy a bento and drinks before heading straight to the train.
Just when she was about to enter the train, she felt a familiar magic casted by a certain someone.
The woman smiled mysteriously as she looked at the direction where the magic came from.
"Ah, this magic. It really is you, Ritsuka. How long has it been again since that day? I do hope you still remember me."
The woman whispered to herself while closing her eyes. The woman regained her bearing before she boarded into the train.
To be continued