Hello, Vinzelles here. Welcome back, for the last time for now, to A Path to Freedom.

The promised Arc 3 teaser is here! As I mentioned, this little prologue of mine introduces mostly stuff that will be relevant for Arc 4, but its most important plot point will become pivotal in Arc 3, which will be the Excalibur Arc. I will also give the official name for Arc 4, but only after you read this stuff! XD

Again, I will try to get back to writing as soon as I pull myself out of this ridiculous writer block. Hopefully it won't hold me back for too long.

Before we start, review!

Sovaton - I'm glad you liked the direction I took for some of the characters. And you're absolutely right about the story's pacing, sadly. It's mostly a prominent fact in Arc 1, but I indeed often neglect to "fatten" my story, so to speak. It's certainly the result of my complete inexperience back when I started APtF in March, compared to now where I'm slightly less of a noob, but still a noob nonetheless. As for Orochi's over-reaction, it can be explained by the fact that, as you certainly saw, his mind is actually a lot frailer than he thinks, and values the few bonds he has a lot more than he lets on. And hey, never be afraid to say your piece, I'm just as inexperienced as you are after all. XD

That's it for now. I'll see you at the bottom.

Enjoy.

Arc 3 Prologue - Dream

"In one week's time you are going to die, Child of the Wind."

For several nights in a row, Orochi had been having that same recurrent dream.

He always found himself in a Japanese bedroom. It was incredibly spartan, only having a futon, which he was always sitting in front of, lit candles in the corners and nothing else.

Upon the futon sat always the same woman, always cross-legged. She had short blue hair and dark red eyes; she wore a red shirt with long white sleeves and a long black skirt with a red flower print hem. She also had a round mirror stuck in the center of the chest of her shirt, and had a large twisting rope circle on her back, called shimenawa in Japan, with pieces of zigzag-shaped paper attached to it, called shide.

Her aura was oppressing. It truly seemed like the aura of a goddess, a Shinto goddess if the instruments on her back were any indication.

"However, that fate can be changed. Bind your soul to mine, and I shall grant you salvation."

She always said those same two sentences every time Orochi dreamt of her, the first of which would always change the "time he had left" according to the date of the following day. That small factor was pretty much the only thing that prevented Orochi from dismissing those dreams completely.

No recurrent dream would ever accomodate for the date in the real world. It truly felt like a premonition.

But Orochi's answer once again didn't change.

"Not interested. Stop showing up."

"...Stubborn as ever, I see."

Beyond the two sentences that were always the same, the goddess would then spend a few minutes every night trying to convince him to accept her proposition.

"Did you know? Putting my capabilities of a goddess aside for a moment, it has been demonstrated that a mind in a dreamlike state is capable of briefly peering into the future, be it near or far."

"Some goddess you are, throwing science and magic into the mix with those words. You need to understand that the decisions a person makes aren't as black-and-white as you make them out to be. To think that you would tell me that just because I'm not a Shintoist, just how desperate are you?"

"Are you sure about that?"

The goddess disregarded his jab and continued.

"Any decision that barely resembles a "yes" or a "no" is merely a ramification of those two prime answers. In any other case, it's merely a matter of the person trying to stall for time out of fear of the unknown."

"If you really think that, tell me exactly what you didn't get when I said I'm not interested."

"What I don't get is your reasoning. You've been adamantly refusing me for a week now, and I honestly have no intention of leaving you alone even if you do give me a good reason."

"I told you already. I will not be shackled down by anyone, not even a goddess."

"And I told you that those shackles you're imagining are nothing but conjecture."

"I have no choice aside from making conjectures with someone who, as far as I'm concerned, is a total stranger. I am not going to risk my future by making shady deals with a goddess I don't worship."

"Every single member of the Kamakura household has been worshipping me. They have always been way too laidback about the whole "worship" thing however. That must be the reason why that Leopold bastard made his way into your father's head so easily, and founded the White Serpent sect a few years before your birth. I am indeed similar to that beast in a way, but I am actually fundamentally different from it, and-"

"It does not matter. I will not submit to you."

The flames of the candles flickered at the boy's subtle burst of anger. However the woman who proclaimed herself a goddess seemed completely unfazed.

Orochi was born a Kamakura, but grew up as a Goenitz. He knew nothing of this goddess, and only had to deal with that stupid crafted religion that worshipped the Eight-Headed Serpent. She might have been a goddess, but he still had no reason to believe her words, and wasn't willing to lend his strength to people he didn't trust.

She started speaking again, unbothered by the boy's internal turmoil.

"...As I was saying, after the creation of the White Serpent I have been deprived of powerful followers. If you won't do it for yourself, at least do it for Shintoism itself. Several minor religions in Japan are collapsing from the lack of faith after all.

And most importantly, a war is going to break out soon.

Shinto followers have been forbidden to participate in it, but since my position as a goddess is quite delicate, I need your support nevertheless and I want you to act in my name, to prevent the war between Buddhists and Taoists from ever starting. I do have an alternative emissary I could send, but that girl doesn't have the right mentality for this task. She is a special kind of "powerful", like yourself, and can definitely end the war on her own, but not in the way I wish for."

A sigh.

"...Nevermind all that actually, I'm well aware of the real reason why you won't accept me. But can you truly not put some effort into it for the sake of Japan?"

"...The country can burn for all I care. I have resolved to only protect the people I care about, because I can't do anything else for the others on my own. If this war ever threatens to reach my city, I will handle whoever arrives personally. But I will not allow you to turn me into a weapon."

"Your home country is going to be razed to the ground. Do you truly not care for it in the slightest?"

"Do you realize what I am? The world itself is against me, and Japan as a country has done nothing worth of my protection. Whether the nation survives or not, it makes no difference to me. I will protect Kuoh Town and its residents with everything I have if it comes down to it, but that's all you'll get out of me."

"Is that your last word?"

"...Leave me alone, Yasakatome."

The candles' flames were extinguished, and the spartan Japanese bedroom was drowned in the darkness.

Like every other night.

Welcome to the bottom.

The goddess I chose for this thing was taken from a certain game franchise, the one I mentioned I was extremely biased towards. Yasakatome is not her real name, however, but merely an alias she gave to Orochi, taken from real life. She is in fact one of the deities of the Suwa Grand Shrine in the Nagano prefecture of Japan in real life. A damn important place for this story, this shrine is. Try to remember it! u.u

Orochi is apparently the victim of a death premonition! Since Arc 3 will obviously have Kokabiel, surely you can guess to some extent what might happen. If it does happen. After all, while on one side we have a pretty strong MC, we also have a Cadre on the other. As Chrom from Fire Emblem Awakening says: "Anything can change!".

Meanwhile, the plot for Arc 4 has been revealed! A Holy War! What is this, the Fate series? XD

This war is based once again on a few ideas and characters borrowed from the same franchise "Yasakatome" comes from. In those games, the religious war is merely the worst possible scenario, and never actually happens because the MCs of those games manage to keep the leaders of the two factions in check. I wanted a similar scenario for this story's first original arc, one where Orochi has to stop the factions from engaging each other in battle. Of course, I have no intention to just copy and paste the story behind the threat of this war from that franchise.

I have in fact already detached myself from it, because "Yasakatome" in those games is completely unrelated to the facts due to being part of a third religion which does not wish or care for war. Here in APtF, however, she gets involved, apparently had bonds to the Kamakura family, and needs Orochi's power to solve a situation that concerns her. Even so, she has nothing to offer in exchange to Orochi who doesn't have a true need for more power (yet).

To see how he will intentionally get involved in this war, you'll have to wait for Arc 4 though, I'm afraid. e.e

Speaking of which, I will take my leave of you, for the time being, by giving you the official name for the original Arc 4 of APtF!

Youkai War Arc.

And with this, I'm going into hiatus. I'll try to come back as soon as possible. For now, I want to thank you all for the support you gave me.

Review, review, review. I need to know if the plot points introduced with this prologue have caught your interest, and more reviews just might convince me to give this story my all once again.

Next time, another acquaintance from the past.

Thank you for reading, see you soon with the beginning of the Excalibur Arc.

Arrivederci! (= Goodbye!)