When he gave his last request, she averted her eyes. When he asked her not to 'waste her time' to find a cure, begging her to protect the clan in his stead... she lied. She left, fully intending to do everything in her power to keep him alive.
He accepted her gifts. He must have known it was her that send medicine, that gave important information how to battle his illness. Yet he accepted her betrayal. He accepted her apparent death. While it filled her with shame, Chiyome didn't care. She spilled blood, of the hermits, of the sage hiding their arts. She killed innocents, for the chance of saving him.
She even went as far as allying with the enemy. Went as far as allowing his greatest love to perish in flames, just to make sure no more opponents could take him. Chiyome would never be allowed to go back to his side. Not after everything she did. But as she sealed the deal, as she made up the plan to bring down the heavens themselves... she thought it was worth it.
He may hate her, but at least he would be alive.
/
She wanted to deny it. To kill the shinobi that brought the message. It was a joke. Yet she let her go, knowing that Haru liked this girl.
At the thought of him, she scoffed, shaking her head. So he was just like everyone else. She wandered around the camp. Yet as she dismissed Haru, as she tried to erase him from her mind, to shove him into the same box of humans she couldn't understand, her vision became blurry. Something wet went down her cheeks. With confusion, she touched them. Licking them, she realized the fluids came from her eyes.
She was crying. But why? She didn't care anymore... right?
Images of his smile. Of his roars. Of the times they spent. Each picture stabbed her in the heart. she gasped for air, clutching her chest. Then, against all odds... she broke down. Falling down on her knees, the tears were flowing. But more importantly…
She stopped smiling.
Her smile was gone as she wailed, falling down on her knees as she screamed towards the sky. Utter agony was written all over her face. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. Why couldn't she be there? Why did he have to die? How could he leave her in this forsaken world?
Hours upon hours, she grieved. Tearing the earth apart, scratching away at her own face. Until finally... The smile returned. More inhuman than ever. And with it, the memories of Minamoto-no-Harunobu were buried into her heart, to protect her very soul from the suffering. Kagetora Nagao became a true avatar of the divine, a killing machine sweeping over the lands.
/
He was the most important person in their lives. That was the only thing they had in common. That was the thread that connected their fates, separated by time and space itself.
/
Her mount, her loyal Houshoutsukige, moved swiftly, fast as always. No longer having to waste energy in moving, Kagetora could fully focus on using her weapons to attack and defend. But even with that newfound strength... there were just too many heads. Knock one away, avoid two, get assaulted by three more. By now her breath was completely exhausted, her body drenched in sweat as she used weapon upon weapon.
She could only imagine how terrifying the actual Yamata-no-Orochi was. But this one... born from just a curse, this one grew so much over the centuries, it might as well be a "Demi-Orochi". Half a divine dragon was still a dragon. Not to mention, every time she got close to destroying one head, the pesky winds and miasma got into her way. If it weren't for her Divine Protection she would've been a goner, if the corpses around them were anything to go by. Still, as she was catching her breath, staring Chiyome down, she couldn't help but tilt her head in confusion.
"Why are you so obsessed with keeping him alive?"
The woman scoffed. But instead of deflecting her question, she lowered her head, biting her lip.
"Do you know what it feels like, to lose the heart you have offered to someone? To see their lifeless eyes stare back at you, knowing they would never shine the same way that made you fall in love?"
A shivering breath escaped her, her eyes glistening.
"I already went through it once... !" She shouted. "Never again!"
The heads slammed down, destroying the rooftop Kagetora rode on. She barely managed to escape. Still, for an instance... she understood. Which was rare on its own. It was so baffling, that the soft words left her mouth before she even knew it.
"I know."
"What?" Chiyome stopped her assault, staring at the warlord.
"I never was at his funeral. But Haru died. I never felt such pain, such regret before in my life. It felt like I was dying, drowning in the abyss."
The shrine maiden could only look with wide eyes as Kagetora confessed, her eyes dead to the world. But that moment of shock passed when it was replaced by anger.
"So then you understand w-"
"I don't," Kagetora cut her off. "Because for all that pain... it's better than the fate that is awaiting here."
"What fate?!"
"Alone. Forced to watch as your Shogun rules over everything. Not allowed to end it in anyway." Each sentence caused Chiyome to flinch. Kagetora stared at her as if she was looking at garbage. "Haru is strong. But not even he can withstand such... "
Boredom? Torture? Kagetora wasn't sure which words to use. Either way, as great as he was, he was still human in the end. A weird human, but a human nonetheless. She could easily imagine it. Someone who wasted away in a hut, staring at nothing. No longer a fierce tiger, but just another wraith desiring death.
No. Never. With a glare, her smile a paradox to her rage, she pointed her spear at the traitor.
"I'd rather feel that pain all over again, a tenfold, than letting Haru lose himself just to live."
"You... you are insane." Chiyome stepped back, shaking her head slowly. Kagetora scoffed in response, shrugging.
"We don't care. Deciding how we live and die. That is the way we want to exist. You want to take that from him. That alone is the greatest betrayal you can pull. If Haru isn't Haru anymore, that is not a life worth living, or worth preserving."
"...I've had enough. I'll never understand you."
Kagetora's eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
"Funny, I was thinking the same thing."
It was always like that. Being an existence separated from the people. Her being and her relationship with Haru always elicited such reactions. But why should she have to justify herself? They had no business to interfere. It was hers and hers alone. Her life and her Haru.
Still, she had no idea how to take down girl down. She lacked enough fire power to take down the Orochi as it was. She grit her teeth, intent to avoiding the giant whirlwind gathering in Chiyome's hands... when it suddenly disappeared.
The two girls stared in confusion, Chiyome looking down at her hands. It was then that Kagetora saw it. The blood slowly dripping out of her mouth. The right eye morphing, turning into a slit, changing color. The markings, all too familiar, beginning to spread from that eye. The traitor clutched her chest, coughing violently as she fell to her knees. At the same time, the Orochi roared, twisting and turning in agony.
"N-no! What's g-going on?!" Chiyome grit her teeth, digging her fingers into the shimmering form of the Orochi. "You... listen to me... ! YOU LISTEN TO ME!"
It was like the serpent was being torn apart from the inside. As if it was turning back into the immaterial curse it was. In that instance, Kagetora realized it.
For some reason... Chiyome lost her authority. Her power was frail, turning against her. It was an opening that Kagetora didn't even hesitate to take. A part of her hated that she couldn't beat it at full power. But she buried it, letting out her ruthless warlord side.
Bishamonten's Eight Phases Wheel Charge Formation. The copies were created as the Noble Phantasm was cast. Even as the Orochi tried to fight back... it was too weak. Maybe before, it could've endured the onslaught. But now?
Just like in the legends, it was torn apart into pieces, its meager flesh nothing compared to the cold hard steel of her weapons.
Chiyome screamed as she crashed down on the ground. As Kagetora skidded to a halt, getting off her horse, she breathed heavily as she looked down at the former Takeda shinobi.
She was fighting. Struggling against the curse, whatever was left of it, trying to devour her. Suffice to say... she didn't have long. Chiyome looked up, a hateful glare in her eyes before in the end... her shoulders sagged. She was still trying to survive. It was the natural response to the death she was facing. However, she accepted any judgement Kagetora would pass.
For some reason, it made her mouth dry up.
"Any last regrets?"
The girl was not responsive. Kagetora meanwhile blinked at her own words. Asking for that? She never did that before. She usually just killed her enemies one way or the other. She giggled lightly to herself.
"I see…" She shook her head in amusement. "Hah, my time in Chaldea must have turned me rather insane! I never cared that much about someone's regrets." She raised her glaive, her eyes soft as she looked down at the one who loved Haru so much. "Well, I can't say I hate it."
Steel flashed in the light, before it was brought down with great force.
/
He sighed, cracking his neck. Finally. Getting rid of that fuckin' snake, diminished as it was, was like getting rid of an especially disgusting rash on his back. Hard to get, not particularly dangerous, but shitty nonetheless. He had no goddamn idea how that stuff could get connected to that scaly fucker to begin with, but what was done was done. He glanced behind him, looking down at the corpse, his green hair covering his lifeless eyes, surrounded by broken stone. What shitty luck. Being stuck in a rock of all things. The irony wasn't lost on him. Oh well, he was superior anyway. So much for the "better timeline". He flexed his fingers, claws on each end. The armored monster grinned, showings his sharp teeth... before roaring so loud that Yomi itself cracked from the force.
Step 1, finished.