Thank you for clicking on this story! I started writing this before Enkanomiya was released and we got new lore about the Orobashi. I envisioned it to have possessed/reincarnated in its most recent priestess and corrupt them. Please keep in mind this is not lore accurate anymore. Please leave a review if you can! :D
When the priestess saw the traveler come to her with a downcast head and intense expression on his face (Sadness? Resignation? Anger?) she felt a creeping sensation of guilt in her gut. She maintained the concerned yet unalarmed expression on her face despite knowing what news he would bring. "How is Teppei's condition?"
The traveler mumbled something under his breath she couldn't understand. The pale look on his face told her all.
Kokomi's eyes lost focus. The corners of her mouth shook slightly. This wasn't as hard as the previous face since it mirrored how she felt. The death of even one Watatsumian was unacceptable.
"…I have put out the order to seize all delusions." Kokomi stated. That was what had caused Teppei to wither like an old man. She knew her statement would be of little comfort to anyone within earshot.
This situation reminded Kokomi of how another soldier under her control had perished from the use of the delusion. He was a captain and a personal acquaintance. He was authorized to use one in the case it would be imprudent to send backup to his location. This way, he could take out as many enemy soldiers as possible in one fell swoop while preventing a whole company from being abandoned to the mercy of the Kujou clan. It was a final show of a soldier who knew his borrowed time had ran up, a kamikaze attack.
The priestess continued. "The vast majority are showing some loss of vitality, but nothing serious. Sadly, a few have been…less fortunate." That was true. Kokomi made sure almost every single soldier who had one was aware of the risk of a delusion. They were instructed to not use them unless they were surrounded by the Shogun's army and would be taken prisoner if not for the power of a miracle. And miracle the delusion provided, in the form of power beyond anything the soldiers could comprehend. They could almost instantly kill every single one of their enemies, with the only drawback being the life of the user. None of the captains with delusions took prisoners.
"Your Excellency, I'm planning to establish a dedicated field hospital to monitor their condition. The soldiers are up in arms about the ban though." stated General Gorou. "They know full well what a Delusion is, but they still intend to keep using them." That was a lie. Only the most loyal or determined soldiers used them after experiencing ill effects, Teppei included.
"Okay. I'll leave you to deal with this situation. I have to get to the front line." The military strategist in Kokomi quashed the holy woman who despaired over the fact she caused one of her subordinate's death. She faced the traveler. "This whole fiasco is certain to be a blow to morale. If the Shogun's Army attacks now, while we're scrambling to recover, it could well undo everything we have achieved so far." A fragment of the great snake stirred in Kokomi's mind. It seemed exuberant by this change in events, as it fantasized about taking its revenge. "What are you going to do?" she asked the traveler. He replied with no hesitation in his voice. "Confront the Fatui directly." Kokomi showed concern and a touch of alarm on her face. "It's too dangerous! The Delusions must be produced within Inazuma's borders thanks to the Sakoku Decree, so they must have a huge amount of manpower backing them." She knew the traveler wouldn't care. She had researched his exploits beforehand. He'd be able to take on a few Fatui grunts. If he ran into someone more dangerous, she had a trump card in the form of the Guuji. A sharp pain ran through her head when she thought of the maiden, but Kokomi ignored it.
"At least take some troops with you," she begged. The traveler refused. Kokomi assumed he didn't want to become attached to anyone else who could easily die. Teppei was a fragile soldier, not like the traveler. If the traveler was allowed to be a one man army for Watatsumi, no one else would have to die. The priestess inwardly smiled for the safety of her soldiers.
The general continued: "Your Excellency, given the urgency of the situation, we were hardly discreet when confiscating the Delusions. The Fatui are sure to take notice." Another lie. At most, thirty people were allowed use of a delusion. Of those, half hadn't used them at all and quietly turned them in when the general went around collecting them. Of the ones who had used them, all but one had turned them in quietly. It appeared they didn't want anything more to do with them. The one soldier who refused to turn it in had it taken from him by Kokomi herself. He was forced to resign his post shortly thereafter and see the best doctor on the island.
Kokomi recalled how her friend had acquired the delusion. He had used it in an open field with miles between him and civilization, with only the woman there to witness him. He was able to uproot trees, lift boulders above his head, and split the earth. Not only that, but he was grinning the whole time, knowing he could slice through the Inazuman soldiers just as easily. Kokomi still remained unsure of whether it was safe or not for general soldiers, especially since the Fatui provided them. Given how she couldn't use her own vision too often without vomiting, lightheadedness, and bleeding from the eyes, she dreaded thinking about the side effects of the Delusion. For that reason, she only let a few other people use the murderous instruments.
When the captain died, it came as no surprise to her. He had been rather liberal with it despite her warnings. Kokomi briefly felt a flash of anger towards the Fatui, the want to maim and destroy each and every one of them that had taken her friend from her. But she knew she couldn't. Watatsumi needed the Delusions if they wanted even a chance of facing off against the Shogun. It didn't prevent her from wanting to kill every single conscript for the Snezhnayan army. She knew they were keeping the conflict going for their own nefarious ends, selling weapons of war to both sides in order to lengthen the war. If she quit early in the war, the casualties would have been far lesser than if the war of attrition continued. But if they refused the Delusions, Watatsumi would fall, worship of the Orobashi would become illegal, the Sakoku decree would apply to their island, and all visions would be taken. Because of this, Kokomi vetoed the decision to seize all Delusions.
"The Delusion factory must be near enough to our base of operations to provide us with them, and if we take into account the routes the soldiers who used Delusions took, I suspect the location is close to the cliffs near the ocean at the southwest of Yashiori Island. That is where I believe the Delusions are produced." The remnants of the snake god stirred more vigorously in her mind, anticipating the glorious battle against the Shogunate, taking its revenge, her revenge, with blood blood blood for all the Inazumans. Now for the final blow. "I'm not going to stop you, but please be careful. We have lost too many courageous fighters already. I don't want to lose you too." The traveler responded with a nod. "Ok, let's go." He said to his floating companion. They took off.
When they left, Kokomi's expression vanished. Her eyes lost any trace of warmth or compassion. The only emotion remaining was a faint trace of world-weariness. She buried her face in her hands. The general put a hand on her shoulder. "You did what you had to do. We would have lost thousands of resistance soldiers if you didn't." Kokomi couldn't find it in her to respond.
Teppei had been an ordinary member of the Watatsumi resistance. There was nothing particularly outstanding about him. His skills with the sword were lackluster, his bowmanship moreso. But he had two things that made him the perfect candidate to be Kokomi's Uriah. He was by and far the most ambitious resistance member that she had talked to. Teppei wanted to rise through the ranks. Not for money, but to make Inazuma pay. Ambition on such a large scale was the prerequisite to wield a Delusion effectively. The other attribute, the one that was the primary cause of his death, was that he was friends with the traveler.
Teppei ascended through the ranks quickly, unnaturally quickly. He was a surprisingly adept commander which worked in Kokomi's favor. The traveler saw him as an equal. They built camaraderie. They were friends.
Once enough time had passed, Kokomi offered him a Delusion. Teppei took it eagerly. Who wouldn't accept power from the gods given by the priestess and military commander of Watatsumi? He used it in every battle with the Shogun's soldiers. Obviously he would, no one had informed him of the risks. His fellow wielders of Delusions were purposefully unaware that he even had one in the first place.
Kokomi felt more and more guilty looking at him after every battle. But she would force herself to make eye contact with the sick and dying man in front of her. He was being used in service of his country. The least she could do was give him her approval.
Kokomi deliberately stayed away from him during the last moments of his death. She felt guilt, shame, sadness, and self hatred every time she saw him more sick. But once she saw the traveler return from his last meeting with the man, she felt a new emotion. Fear. Fear that he would find out what she had done. Fear that he would kill her as retribution. But she retained the caring kindly face of the Sangonomiya priestess and carefully guided the traveler to fight for Watatsumi.
The Guuji had agreed to cooperate with her, albeit reluctantly. Both of them wanted the same thing: to defeat the Shogun. She would meet with him in the Delusion factory and provide him with information on how to defeat Beelzebul. Miko would give him data, Kokomi would give him motivation.
Currently a few rumors were circulating throughout the ranks, most spread by her right hand man. The Fatui were collaborating with the Raiden Shogun, the Fatui were planning on siding with Inazuma so they could get a cut of Watatsumi, the Fatui were war profiteers and sold weapons to the richer Inazumans while knowing the poorer Watatsumians couldn't afford any. Kokomi knew the traveler would get ahold of these whisperings and kill the Shogun. If anyone could do it, he could. Even if all that failed, the traveler would be securely within her faction, at the very least. He couldn't betray Teppei's memory.
The Orobashi felt like it was coiling around Kokomi's brain. Kill her kill her kill her make her pay kill her kill her kill her it repeated over and over. She gasped in pain. "Your Excellency!" The general made a motion to hold her to prevent her from fainting, but she held up a hand to stop him. Kokomi righted herself. For the first time since she had heard of Delusions, she felt a new emotion. Pride and the sweet taste of victory.
"The traveler is sure to win. I know he'll avenge us, general." And with that Sangonomiya Kokomi smiled.