Sealkeeper: He Who Binds

Chapter 119-A "Golden Elders"

Patron Release: 2020.06.08

Ashiki frowned -as much as a snake could frown, that is- as she stared down at a nervous Ashun. It had been weeks and Ashun still hadn't been called on to aid the High-Priest which meant he still had yet to apologize and start smoothing things over with the young man.

That was not a good sign, not in the slightest.

Because if he never summoned them again not only could they not make things right, but it would mean that he would never properly ascend to the position of High-Priest and Father's work would never be completed. Not so long as the one holding the amulet willingly remained separate from them due to the mistakes of one child.

That wasn't completely fair, as the elders they should have been keeping an eye on Ashun and his interactions with the High-Priest. As far as she knew they had never so much as checked in on him. They had missed the fact that the High-Priest had never been bonded to Au's light through one of his children, for Father's sake.

What else would they have missed if Ashun hadn't been foolish enough to pawn his duties off to someone like Aya?

Ashiki didn't like to consider that particular train of thought.

Neither, she suspected, did the other Elders around her.

Ahkra, to her right, had a scowl so deep she thought his lower jaw might actually end up falling away before they had managed to drag any new information from the small snake. He had been the one to teach Ashun about his new duties as the High-Priest's personal summon and as such Ashun's performance reflected directly upon him. To say he was in any way pleased by these developments would be a gross perversion of the truth.

To say he was furious would also be a terrible understatement.

The Elder Serpent was an instance away from devouring the heretic- and Ashiki had been pleased to see it was a term that had stuck to the little worm since she first uttered it- and only a will tempered by millennia was holding him back. It looked like it might crumble at any moment which is why the Serpent to his right was watching closely in case she had to intervene.

Ajahri's face remained perfectly calm and passive, almost as if she had no idea what was going on around her but her eyes were sharp, the sharpest of all Au's children, and they saw everything in this realm. Nothing could hide from the gaze of Ajahri which was the reason she waited now to ensure nothing would befall Ashun until either Father or the High-Priest had determined his fate.

To Ajahri's right, across from Ashiki, Antok waited silently. Not that he was ever anything else. Antok never had been able to speak as his venom was so great and plentiful that his fangs could not contain it. Were he to open his mouth for more than a second the world would be irrevocably poisoned.

They'd had one close call, back when they were still hatchlings, and it had nearly erased all life from the world. If there was a single serpent to represent patience, discipline, and sacrifice it was Antok who swallowed his own venom endlessly to spare the world. As Ashiki understood it he was being eaten alive by it at the exact same rate his ancient body was able to heal. It was a fate she was glad to have been spared but no one among them had any doubt that he was highly favored by Father.

Some of them went so far as to believe that in exchange for his inability to speak and as a reward for his dedication Antok always heard the voice of Au and that should he be cut it would echo around him. No one had dared try, though, because the likelihood of instead spilling out his venom into the world was far too high to risk so carelessly.

Even Ashun, Ashiki was confident, wouldn't try something like that.

To his right was Aba'ri who used to slither across Au's sunbeams as if she were flying. She didn't do that anymore and some of them were beginning to wonder if she was even capable of it in her old age. She was as proud as ever, though, and if she did indeed lose such a splendid ability she wasn't allowing anyone else to know. She remained perfectly poised, her head never surpassed in height by any of the rest of her body. She liked to angle her head up slightly, too, which forced her to move her head slightly to the side so that she could see past her face.

It would be more intimidating to smaller snakes, Ashiki supposed, but among fellow elders the few extra yards it gave her did nothing to increase her status or influence. That wasn't helped by the fact that of the elders she was the smallest, either, and it was likely she did it to make the differences in size- not that anyone except the Elders were really able to tell anyway- to appease that pride of hers in some way.

The spot to Aba'ri's right- and Ashiki's left- remained an empty space in memory of Akyanji, Au's first son.

That name had been surrendered when he took upon himself the most noble calling of remaining in the physical world to father mortal serpents after Au took the rest of his children back into his realm at the dawn of the lesser gods.

In the realm now overrun by man Akyanji had taken upon himself the name of a great river, Koshi. It was fitting, she supposed, both for his love of the water and the fact that from above he could be mistaken for a river at sunset. The last any of them had heard from him- assuming Antok had not been privileged to such information directly from the lips of Father- he had created a great clan of lesser spirits and had to retreat with them to a separate plane not unlike the actions his father had taken before him.

His grandchildren, though, had allowed him to fulfil his purpose in the mortal world and stretched through land and sea alike. There were many days Ashiki was jealous of those children and the freedom they had been granted by their grandfather's sacrifice. Looking back, she thought she might have enjoyed being the mother to a new line of serpents. The only reason she would still shy away from that duty was knowing she would be completely cut off from Au.

While he wasn't always present here, Akyanji had to completely sever himself from Father in order to do his work which meant that Au couldn't speak with him. She thought it was "couldn't", anyway. Sometimes he went long stretches between speaking with even the elders but he still did at least once a decade. Akyanji hadn't heard his voice in millenia.

Ashiki had her doubts that Father was incapable of reaching out to his first son but there was no doubt something- perhaps some sort of self-imposed rule? Who was she to know the workings of the sun?- that held his tongue when it came to Akyanji.

When Antok was finally permitted to spill forth his burden across the world, ending the final cycle, Akyanji and his multitudes of children would finally return to the true light of Au and he'll receive the honor that was so rightfully his.

Until then, they would save a space in his memory to be reclaimed on the glorious day.

But that day was not today and nor was it anytime soon.

If they were unable to reclaim the High-Priest it might be even further away yet.

And that's why it was so important that Ashun fix his damned mistake. With five Great Elders staring down at him, however, it would appear Ashun had managed to do nothing to repair their relations with the High-Priest.

They were a patient group, a result of their lengthy existence, but even their patience was not without end. Ashun was coming very close to reaching it.

"Nothing? He's not called for you even once, Worm?"

He knew better than to object to the insult in the presence of so many displeased elders and Ashun managed to hold his tongue. Even one elder was pushing his luck, talking back to five would likely result in a fate far worse than simply being devoured.

"As far as I can tell, the Amulet has yet to even feel the warmth of flesh, let alone Father's glorious light since Aya answered his call." Ashun gave a troubled frown. "I've begun to suspect that he no longer even wears the amulet."

Ashiki, Ahkra, and Aba'ri recoiled at his words as if physically struck, low hisses of displeasure escaping them. Antok remained passive, unable to open his mouth as he was, but his eyes visibly narrowed, glaring down at the much smaller serpent intently.

Ajahri was the only one who seemed to be unaffected, her composure not slipping for even a second, but the present elders all knew she too was beyond unsettled by Ashun's observation.

"And what of the blood? Has it tasted any?" Ajahri asked, her soft voice no doubt the most welcoming of the circle.

"Nothing fresh, Great Elder." He sounded somewhat releived to be speaking to someone who didn't seem angry at him. If only he knew her wrath was by far the greatest of Au's first seven children he might not feel that way for much longer.

"Only the blood he used to summon Aya. It's like an echo of when he called for her and it's been in the back of my head since." The frown became a scowl. "Couldn't even be bothered to wipe it clean before putting it away in some box, no doubt."

His comment earned him three angry hisses and even Ajahri narrowed her eyes at him warningly.

"I would watch that tongue of yours, Worm." Ahkra's voice was the grinding of steel on stone. "It's already gotten you into more trouble than you can squirm your way out of."

The scowl deepened but Ashun held his tongue. Each and every one of them- well, except maybe Antok - would be able to swallow him without the slightest bit of effort. He didn't really feel like pushing his luck too much at the moment, though he didn't know why they were so upset at his words. The Amulet was probably in a box somewhere, for Au's sake. If that didn't speak of an unworthy High-Priest surely the fact that it was stored away covered in blood would have.

If he was perfectly honest though Ashun did think the High-Priest had been a pretty damn good choice. As much as he diodn't like the fact that the young man wouldn't listen to him- and, grudgingly, he could admit that it was wise of him not to do so - he couldn't deny the fact that he was an excellent fit for the children of Au.

Really, he just wanted to redirect the ire of the elders for a moment to give himself some breathing room.

"If it has the blood already then all we need is to bring it into the light." Aba'ri pointed out. "Could we get one of Akyanji's descendants to aid us?"

"If we could reach them we wouldn't be having this problem." Ajahri stated blandly. "It would be far easier to have them request the High-Priest to summon one of us then it would be to have them find the Amulet and bring it into the light. I also doubt it would look good for us to have Akyanji's children or grandchildren trying to sneak into the High-Priest's den and steal it away under his nose."

Aba'ri frowned but otherwise accepted the criticism gracefully. "Ah, yes. My mistake."

"What if we didn't need the light at all?" Ahkra proposed. The other elders immediately fell silent. It was another angle to consider but it came very close to blasphemy. Just the idea that something would be done without the Father's light made the other uneasy.

Ashun was too busy feeling relieved that the attention was no longer on himself to give it much consideration.

"Careful, Ahkra."Ajahri was the first to respond, her sibilant voice soft and smooth. The slightest hint of warning, a veiled blade coated in sweet venom, lay waiting in her tone. Even Ashun was able to see the danger, if barely. "It seems Ashun isn't the only serpent in possession of a tongue that betrays its master.

It was a two sided insult, comparing him both to a hatchling like Ashun and suggesting that Ahkra intended to somehow betray the father. The surly elder's expression didn't change at those words even as he recognized them but that was often the case when it came to him. His expression of stone only ever became more grim, no one could honestly say they'd seen him lighten up in all the millennia they had known him through.

"Nonsense." He dismissed her warning. "The Amulet has the blood, but we have no way to bring it into Father's light. Instead," he proposed. "Why not bring Father's light to it? Surely he would be able to activate it himself to send us to the High-Priest in this case so long as the blood is still present for payment."

"...It could work." Akishi agreed grudgingly. "But we'd have to petition Father for aid."

"He will not be pleased." Aba'ri pointed out the obvious, tail flicking over to cover parts of her face like some sort of makeshift golden veil. "Perhaps we should try more before admitting that we cannot do this without him?"

"But the more we wait the larger the problem might become." Ajahri, as usual, pointed out what was wrong with the suggestions of others. Her soft voice and usual mild manner made even her harshest criticisms seem more sweet than they should be. Unfortunately those traits also meant most of her suggestions carried little weight over the past millennia and so she had stopped offering her own ideas entirely. "If the High-Priest spends enough time without us he may decide he doesn't have any use for Au's children that he cannot get with his own resources." She frowned slightly in thought and looked down to Ashun.

"You've served him for a bit, does he really need us?"

The eyes of the five present elders snapped down to him, a circle of waiting crimson, and Ashun felt a crushing weight of expectation settle over his scales.

His first instinct, of course, was to lie but that was to be expected of Au's children. He was not an idiot, however, and was well aware that for serious matters- and this most definitely qualified- any deceit would be heavily punished. They were welcome to lie to others- and each other- as they pleased normally but this went beyond individuals and would affect the entirety of Au's children and, quite possibly, Au himself.

So with great reluctance Ashun gave an honest answer.

"No, not in the slightest."

Five identical winces echoed through the circle of elders and long, displeased hisses left the mouths of Ahkra, Aba'ri, and Akishi.

"Care to elaborate, Ashun?" Ajahri's words were neither question nor suggestion.

"He has his own forces already, his Wolves. They're completely obedient to him as far as I can tell and he trusts them with everything from following orders to guarding him while he sleeps. The Snake Sage also desires his favor so if he does require a serpent the descendants of Akyanji are readily available. He doesn't gain anything he didn't already have without us."

"Except a connection to Father." was Akishi's pointed correction. "If we'd done our duties there would be a reason for him to call upon our services."

Ashun was terribly grateful when Ajahri's voice pulled attention to hertself and cooled Akishi down even slightly. He'd take whatever breaks he culd get.

"If we'd done our duties this wouldn't be an issue in the first place." She reminded them. "It does us no good to point tails now, we must find a way to reach him again-" For every second of her pause her next words seemed to grow in weight. "Even if we have to go to Father to do so."

They shared concerned looks, hoping someone else had been able to come up with something they could try. They were all disappointed.

Antok's tail reached out to the center of the circle, moving Ashun to the side and scratching an arrow in the ground. They didn't need to look up to know where it would be aimed- Mount Aogi, the Path of The Sun.

Seeing that they weren't moving their gaze where he was directing it- even if they would have known by heart- he turned the arrow into a sketch of the mountain so there could be no confusion to what he was trying to bring to their attention.

They shared another look. They didn't have another option but they did have to figure out who was going to make the trip up the path. When summoned to the peak of Mount Aogi it was a great honor to make the journey but to trespass uninvited was to risk the ire of Au. Mount Aogi was a sacred place and while Au's children were no lesser Kami they were still nowhere close to the divinity of their father.

There was a good reason that mountain was sacred, too, and it wasn't due to how far it stretched into the sky. No, Au's greatest treasure resided at the top of that mountain, directly under the warmth of his light, and he protected it jealously even from them.

The great honor that came from being summoned onto the mountain wasn't because they were permitted to be in the presence of such a magnificent deity, it was a great honor for the opportunity to lay their eyes upon their mother.

Only the elders knew her name but they would be damned if it ever left their tongues, even in the presence of each other. Au hid her from the world of gods and men alike, invoking her name would put that at too much risk. Why he hid her they could not say for certain, perhaps for her protection maybe just because he wanted her all to himself.

Regardless, he would not take kindly to any of them entering her gardens and he would be even more displeased when they did so to bring him news of their failures.

"Someone must go." Ajahri's voice was even softer than normal, barely audible against the deafening silence.

Aba'ri sent a sideways glance towards Ahkra. "One of us taught the High-Priest's companion the responsibilities he's failed to carry out."

"So they did." Ahkra gave a grumbling agreement. It was fair, he supposed, but not something he was in any way pleased by. A moment of silence returned before Akishi spoke up.

"I will join you, brother. This was brought to my attention, I will see it through." His expression didn't change but there was a glimmer of gratitude in his eyes.

"Will we be down to three elders, then?" Aba'ri asked. "I do not know if we can lose two so suddenly if the Golden Temples are to return."

"They won't return at all if this is not taken care of." Pointed out Ajahri with a frown. "But even so, I doubt we will lose two elders." She didn't really need to elaborate on that, they all had a pretty good idea that when the two made it to the top one would continue to assume responsibility for this matter and the other would be punished mpot severly for having failed at it. It was no secret who would be returning from Mount Aogi.

A golden tail struck out against his previous etch, scattering the dirt before quickly smoothing it over again. Curious gazes turned to Antok for answers that would never be voiced. Instead he drew a circle with a small dot in the middle and it took a moment for any of them to realize what he was trying to say.

"We are to…" Ajahri brought it to words first. "Remain here, as we are? Has father given you a command, Antok?"

He didn't even have time to nod before the sky went black.

Au had left his heavenly throne.

He leaned against the doorway to Mai's office, quietly watching as the Wolves at the desks that had been crammed into the room- he would need to find somewhere more suitable for them, he hadn't even expected a second person to ever share Mai's office, let alone an administrative team- went through stacks of reports at a steady pace. While he knew the work wasn't actually "done" as they separated the sheets of paper seeing the massive stacks reduced to small, manageable piles sent a feeling of relief through him he hadn't known posible.

What probably pleased him the most about it was the fact that he knew some of those piles were larger reports and that these Wolves would be compiling basic summaries of them, greatly reducing how much he actually had to go through. The summary would cover the important facts and if he ever needed more detail the reports themselves would be filed away and- most importantly- easily located.

Now that he could see it he had to wonder both how he had missed it before and how the hell they had been getting by all this time without a similar system. Of course, if they had started like this he might have had more time to get himself into trouble and it was likely the House of Wolves might have ended up with a few more countries than just Nami no Kuni. Naruto couldn't quite decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing, honestly.

His sight swiveled from the busy Wolves ove rto Mai's desk where Hanabi sat radiating a smug satisfaction as she watched her plan come to fruition. He really couldn't blame her, it really was satisfying to see the stack of papers from Nami no Kuni be reduced so drastically.

Naruto's lips pulled into a slight frown. Even if they were smaller, a lot of these stacks were going to be ending up on his desk soon- especially because a good portion of Mai's would be there too- which meant he should probably be doing something- anything- else at the moment.

A nap sounded pretty nice but he still had too much to do in recreating a better version of the Ten no Juin to rest now. Orochimaru's process had been complicated but he had to understand it completely before he started to try simplifying it to best suit his purposes.

If nothing else, though, at least that was a task he could do somewhere other than his office. He'd have to send word to Ganju and Katsuri to find some way to incorporate a garden into the new base somehow.

Or maybe he'd just go and use the Hyuuga's, it had been a while since he last visited Hinata and he had a feeling he probably owed her more than a few hairbrushings.

Since Mount Aogi first rose from the clouds and the realm of his children received its first resident never had the sun set. For when they existed beneath the throne of the Golden Serpent Himself there was nothing to hide them from his gaze.

As darkness spread across the sky of Augoku panic surged through Au's children, hundreds of golden snakes turning to the starless sky looking for answers that would not come.

The Hyuuga gardens were actually quite serene Naruto decided as he continued to read through some of his godfather's notes. The Hyuuga matriarch currently glaring at him, however, was slightly less so. They sat on one of the wooden pathways of the compound right outside her office and faced what the Hyuuga typically considered the main garden. It wasn't the biggest they had nor did it have the most exotic plants or even the prettiest plants but it was the main garden. Naruto had a pretty strong suspicion that was due solely to the fact that it was the garden the clan head could look over while they worked should they leave their doors open.

Which made sense until you realized these were Hyuuga with the Byakugan. They could, quite likely, see all the arden in the compound at the same time if they so choose. Granted, Naruto didn't know how things actually looked through that particular Doujutsu- or any, for that matter- so he thought it might be reasonably likely to assume it simply wasn't as good as viewing the gardens normally.

There was also the matter of who the hell would want to be watching the entire compound while they tried to get through their work for the day. Naruto knew he sure as hell wouldn't, he had enough distractions walking through his office doors regularly as it was.

These musings, however, were only to aid him in ignoring the daggers currently being stared into him from the young woman on his right. The other Hyuuga were easy enough to ignore- he wasn't sure if they were glaring at him because they didn't like him, because he was spending time with their goddess, or simply because she was obviously upset with him. Regardless, he couldn't care less for their opinions of him.

Hinata's normally very gentle yese, however, carried a far greater impact now that she was trying to set him alight through sheer willpower alone. Really, it was so disconcerting he had gone over the same page three times now and couldn't tell you a single word from it.

He had a feeling she had noticed that, too.

Deciding he wasn't going to get anything done just sitting there like a wall for her to stare at he returned Orochimaru's notes to their folder and set it down to the side before turning to meet her pearly glare.

"Good morning Hinata, I hope you've been well." The glare lessened ever so slightly but she managed to maintain it for the most part.

"You might know how I've been if you ever stopped by to visit or bothered to tell me when you were out of the country." Her glare- already dangerous, turned pointed and accusatory as she folded her arms over her chest.

"I did stop by to visit," He defended himself with a small smile, "But the Hyuuga matriarch kept glaring at me silently."

For a second her expression started to turn sheepish but that was almost immediately discarded as logic reminded her that his actions- or inactions- warranted her being upset with him.

"She was probably glaring because it had been so long between those visits."

"That's fair," Naruto nodded. "She should probably remind herself that one of his many responsibilities happens to be as the Daimyo for a foreign country so it's to be expected he might need to spend a majority of his time there on occasion."

"In that case he should probably let her know when he'll be gone so that when she takes matter into her own hands and visits his home he's actually there."

He really didn't have anything for that and he couldn't think of any reason to hide that from her. No real benefit to putting up some front to save face, he wasn't here as Tsukuyomi.

"Yeah, he really should." Naruto agreed. "I'm sorry." He lifted up his right arm and she only managed to maintain her stony expression for a moment before she was attached to his side. His arm lowered to rest his hand on her side and he gave a gentle squeeze.

"I missed you." Her words were slightly muffled by his shirt but he was able to make them out without too much trouble.

"I know, Hinata. I missed you too." He gave her another squeeze. "Is everything going well? The Hyuuga seem to be doing okay still."

A soft groan escaped her. "The Hyuuga are doing fine but there's so much paperwork. She moaned. "I didn't think there would be so much and it's all either finances or correspondence with nobles in Hi no Kuni and beyond. It's so boring, I'd rather be doing D-ranked missions."

Even though she couldn't see it- unless he had missed her activating her family's Doujutsu- he gave a commiserative nod of agreement. He knew that particular feeling intimately, as much as he wished otherwise.

"You need to find people you trust to take care of the parts that don't really need your attention." He advised. "You don't need every financial report, just one that keeps you informed about everything. If you need specifics you can go to the report in question. I've started a similar system recently, it's already helping a lot." Slightly misleading, he'd been using a slightly modified portion of Hanabi's plan but even then things were improving significantly. After witnessing her team at work earlier he knew the full system would be an absolute godsend.

Hell, he was so optimistic about it- admittedly, it was mostly just relief- he was almost excited to start doing his work so he could try it out fully.

Almost.

She nodded her head into his side in response. She heard what he was saying, understood it, could see the benefits of it, but she was too damn comfortable to move from her current position.

As Naruto retrieved the folder of Orochimaru's notes and flipped back to the page he had been on he thought that all in all this hadn't been a bad way to spend a break. He might need to do this more often.

Sealkeeper: He Who Binds

Chapter 119-B "Ak'Gyun"

Patron Release: 2020.06.16

It was an instance of darkness that fell over Ashun and the Circle of Elders but it felt like an eternity as the warmth that had been with them for years was sapped from their scales.

And then there was light.

He wrapped around them too many times to be counted, hundreds of thousands of miles of golden scales that shone so brightly it could not be looked at directly. With nowhere else to look six pairs of eyes immediately sunk to the dirt circle between them and even then crimson eyes stung in the harsh light.

Truly he shouldn't have been able to fit into the space he did, the small plateau at the base of the mountain the elders had claimed as the first inhabitants of Augoku, and it would be just as true to say that he didn't fit.

But Au was The Great Golden Serpent of the Sun, he did not obey the rules of man nor god neither within nor beyond his realm.

His presence alone was crushing and the elders felt as hatchlings before him. They did not need to meet his eyes to see the displeasure they would radiate. When his jaw finally loosened from his frown his words crackled like a flame and burned just as much.

"Did you think I would be unaware?" He asked. To them it rumbled like thunder, a firestorm ready to devour them whole and reduce their millenia of existence into nothing but ash. "Do you think me blind and deaf and dumb?"

They held their tongues in shame as his gaze traveled between them, waiting.

"Or do you think me a fool?" His accusation reverberated through their bones with an icy bite and they would have recoiled if the golden coils of their god surrounding them hadn't prevented any sort of retreat.

"N-never, Great Au." It was Ajahri who managed to work up the nerve to respond to their father's accusations, her soft voice trembling ever so slightly in his presence.

His voice lessened somewhat, eyes softening as he shifted his attention to the first of his children to answer him, but there was still a bittign edge to every word that dripped from his tongue. "Then why is it that weeks have passed and yet word has not reached me that my children have failed to serve my High-Priest?" He paused to flick his gaze over the rest of the elders, completely ignoring the presence of Ashun trapped in the circle between them.

"The High-Priest who even now carries word for me from Akyanji." There was a weight to the name when Au uttered it, a hollow echo that resonated through all of them with a yearning that clawed up their stomach, squeezed around heavy hearts, and settled around their throats. The Elders were shaken but Ashun was completely overwhelmed by the longing and loss that crashed down on his young mind with the vastness exceeding an ocean of stars.

"Beyond that," He continued. "He's yet to be bonded to my light. You have known and yet nothing has been done."

Silence reigned only below the authority of the Sun.

"When were you going to tell me? Now? What good do you expect to come now that my High-Priest has no ties to me?" It wasn't a question, none of it was. He had been aware the entire time and they were realizing that.

Of course he was, he was the sun. There was nothing that happened beneath his domain that he did not witness.

"We had hoped to find a solution to our mistakes first, Great Au." Ahkra spoke up next. "We did not want to come to you without doing everything in our power to resolve this."

"And what power do you have, Ahkra?" Au's head snapped over to stare down at his son who knew it without meeting his father's eyes by the sheer weight of the diety's gaze. "Are you able to speak with my High-Priest? Are you capable of sending your siblings across the barriers of Augoku now?"

"No, Great Au."

"Then what have you done?"

There was no point in trying to lie to the Golden God, he already knew.

"Nothing, Great Au. Nothing we came up with could be fulfilled by any of your children alone."

"It took you weeks to discover that, weeks to know that there was nothing you could do in this situation. Instead of coming to me you waited." There were no words to properly describe the sheer displeasure in his voice.

As best they could, the five elders pressed themselves into the dirt. Even Aba'ri- normally the most vain of the elders- didn't think twice about shying away from his voice in shame.

"Yes, great Au. We had hoped the High-Priest might have need of our younger siblings again so we could speak with him."

Au tone lightened only slightly. "Yes, the only thing that had any chance of working." There was a dangerous pause. "If he had any reason to call for you!" The silence was filled by a roar that seemed to shake the very heavens as Augoku trembled with its master's rage. "My High-Priest expects to deal with serpents and yet he's sent a hatchling who knew nothing about what would be expected of her and is told that she's to be his personal summon. Why would he summon someone he knew he couldn't use? He is no fool."

The silence lasted longer this time but no one dared break it.

""Prideful, very." Au's voice had lessened in intensity until it was more akin to the midmorning light of spring but it still weighed heavy on the scales of those prostrating themselves against the dirt. "But he is no fool. If something does not benefit him he will either find a use for it or discard it. And now, due to the actions of my children, he has discarded my amulet."

"My children," He repeated, voice gaining a biting edge once again. "Have shaken his belief in Au and have given him reason to believe that being my high priest holds no benefit to him. That there is nothing to be gained serving the SUN!" He ended in another roar, the force of which caused them to start sinking into the earth of Augoku.

"What do you have to say for yourselves now?! What words will spill from your tongues to defend your inaction? How will you justify the loss of my High-Priest? The one I had chosen to usher in my return? The one who would let the other gods know that the time I permitted them to reign over one of my worlds has come to an end?!"

"N-nothing, Great Au." It was with great effort- and no small amount of courage- that Ajahri managed to raise her voice. "We have nothing to offer in response, we have failed the High-Priest and we have failed you."

"So you have." Agreed the Great Golden Serpent. "The origination of this failure starts with the hatchling-" Technically they were all hatchlings to him but it was obvious he was referring to Ashun. "But that is to be expected. The High-Priest called for any of my children and my amulet drew one forth. What is not acceptable is that even after finding out which among them had been chosen not only did my eldest children fail to recognize how poorly they were to be represented but despite educating them on their new duties failed to impress upon them the gravity of the situation."

"That responsibility fell upon me, Great Au." Ahkra lifted his head from the dirt but did not dare to look upon his father. "I am the one who taught Ashun his responsibilities."

"I know!" The words devolved into a displeased hissing but with his size the sounds still shook the surrounding area. "You saw Ashun and determined he was suitable as the High-Priest's personal summon. You taught him his duties but not once did you ensure they were being carried out. You approved and washed your scales of the matter. You have lost me my High-Priest, perhaps forever."

"Father, I-"

"Your beliefs and intentions mean nothing to me, Ahkra, only the results of your actions are to be judged. If nothing else, this you know."

Ahkra's entire body seemed to fall into itself as if his spine had rapidly dissolved. "Yes, Father, I understand." There was a defeated resignation in his voice. He knew what was coming. "I love you, Father."

"And I you, hatchling." There was no hesitation, not even a second's pause, between those words leaving Au's mouth and the limp body of Elder Ahkra entering it in a single bite, swallowed whole. "In blood and scale, the debt of your failure is repaid."

The remaining elders did what they could to seem passive, some more successfully than others, but there was no denying they had all been shaken by the sudden death of their brother. They had known it was coming, of course, there hadn't been even the tiniest shred of hope that someone would escape punishment and the only punishment suitable for such a failure had been death.

Ashun, still in the middle of the elders, stared up aghast at the empty space that had only just been occupied by Elder Ahkra. This was his first time hearing Au's voice and the first time he had witnessed his glory with his own two eyes, never had he imagined that Great Au would be both great and terrible and it made him question his own fate with renewed vigor.

"And now that your debts to me and your siblings have been cleared, I rest the weight of your debt to my High Priest upon the backs of my elders to be carried and repaid. His faith in my children must be restored if he is to serve my purposes."

"Of course, Great Au. We hear and obey. We know your amulet yet has blood clinging to it, is that offering enough for you to send one of your children to speak with him?"

His burning red eyes- heavenly bodies each in their own right- turned to peer down at Ajahri and stilled for a long moment. "It will do," he finally answered. "But who among you will be sent? There will be no return until this matter is settled."

If they didn't get back the High Priest they would be banished to the mortal plane like Akyanji. Unlike him, their banishment would not be an honorable sacrifice.

The elders shared a look, wondering who among them would take the responsibility for the situation that had resulted in Ahkra's death. Antok was immediately out, he wouldn't be able to communicate with the High-Priest which went against the whole point of sending someone.

Akishi, Ajahri, or Aba'ri were the remaining choices. Akishi and Ajahri shared their own knowing look. Beautiful and prideful she may have been, they both knew Aba'ri was a coward. Considering the High-Priest's last experience with children of Au sending a coward probably wasn't going to resolve anything.

In fact, it was far more likely to make things even worse- if that was possible.

"You are the more soft-spoken, Ajahri." Akishi sent her a pointed look. "If he's angry at us that may be necessary to calm him down enough to give us a second chance."

"Yes," She bobbed her head in agreement. "But you are The Manipulator, if anyone can make him believe that second chance was what he wants it's you." She paused for a second. "You're temperament is also the most...balanced. You might lash out more quickly, but it would be far less damaging than my own."

That was a damn good point and Akishi scowled as much as a snake could. Neither of them really wanted to be the one but both wanted to avoid having it fall onto Aba'ri's scales. She was right about the temper, though. Ajahri took longer to get angry but her wrath was the greatest of the elders. That was not the sort of thing they wanted aimed at the High-Priest even indirectly and it would probably be even worse to lash out at one of his "Wolves" than it would be to go against him directly.

And if Akishi could get the support of those Wolves, well, her acceptance and the return of Au's chosen to his light would be all but assured. The solution was, unfortunately, all too clear to the two elders. Neither commented on Aba'ri's silence, the coward would only speak after it was decided who would be accepting Father's task and while she knew it probably wouldn't be her- which would at least give her sisters the satisfaction of knowing that pride of hers would be bruised- she didn't want to risk speaking up and being chosen.

"Well?" Au's voice carried with it his impatience and a slight undertone of a yet to diminish anger. Despite that, the worst part was the tinge of disappointment that still dripped from his tongue and the fact that he knew who would be chosen.

How could he not when he knew all that was beneath his light?

"I will go, Father." Even though she really didn't want to Akishi's voice gave no hints about her bitter hesitation or her grudging acceptance of what could very well be a banishment from Au's presence for the rest of her existence.

It might not be completely bad, though. At least she would have a chance to see brother Akyanji again, he would probably welcome the company of one of his siblings-

Something that would be short lived once he learned of why they were in the mortal plane. He would take more offence that they had failed Father than Au himself and rightly so considering what he was enduring on behalf of Great Au. Only ANtok had any right to contest against Akyanji on the matter of sacrificing themselves for Au's glory and they all knew neither would ever actually do so.

Their sacrifices weren't for themselves, they were for Au. trying to compare them or use them as some sort of badge of honor would taint their actions, even if only one of them had actually chosen to be a sacrifice.

How Antok could avoid bitterness Akishi would never be able to understand. Akyanji accepted the sacrifice and was held above all others, Antok had been given his burden at his birth and spent his entire considerable life continuously giving to Au for only a fraction of Father's favor.

His will, duty, and devotion far exceeded Akishi's and the rest of the elders', of that there was no doubt and, for some reason, she had a feeling he would have accepted this new task from Father without complaint or a second's hesitation even though he would be unable to fulfil it and would simply be condemning himself to an eternity cut off from Au's presence.

For that reason alone Au wouldn't have allowed it but with the matter of regaining the High-Priest's favor there was no way he would ever send his silent sun to complete this task and even suggesting that Antok be the one to go would have earned his wrath.

If Ashiki, Aba'ri, and Ajahri had all spoken out that Antok should be the one to go it was very likely the mortal plane would be receiving three new Elder Serpents. Honestly, though, that might actually give them the best chance of completing this and if Akishi had even the tiniest bit of belief that Great Au would actually even consider such a plan she would voice it.

Despite his recent actions, they all knew Au had no desire to lose any of his children- especially the elders who were favored above the rest. Even a chance of losing three more made the option inconceivable to the Ageless Serpent. To have only Antok remaining of his seven eldest was likely to cause him such grief that the sun would hide away from even the heavens for no less than centuries.

Even sending two more of the elders was likely too much for Au to allow, but Akishi would see if she could find Akyanji- you'd think it a simple task, but he had spent many centuries away from human eyes and that was nothing to scoff at. Even now she was willing to bet most of them didn't even know of his existence which meant he was well hidden.- for surely he would aid her in carrying out father's will.

Unless his time alone in the mortal world had grown bitterness in his heart, which was entirely possible as much as she hated to even put words to let alone genuinely consider.

"So be it." Even as crimson eyes softened his voice was sharp, carrying all the authority of the heavens with each word. "Akishi will descend to the mortal plane and retrieve us our High-Priest." By "us" he was, of course, referring only to himself. No one dared mention it. "And when she earns his favor once more, she will take the role of his personal summon to ensure he is never lost to us again."

That...was not what she was prepared to sign up for. He hadn't mentioned anything about that! Akishi did her best to keep her face neutral as the surprise shot through her body and she turned ever-so-slightly to share a look with an equally surprised Ajahri. Her sister-elder hid it better than herself, no doubt, but she could read enough of it in her eyes. Aba'ri, on the other scale, didn't even try to hide it and her surprise was as easily visible as the shimmering scales she was so proud of.

"By your command, Great Au." Nevertheless she accepted it- there really wasn't anything she could do to contest his words anyway. Au had spoken, so it would be done.- with as much grace and poise as she could muster. He would know it was a facade and her siblings would be equally aware but it was expected of them both as serpents and specifically as the firstborn children of Great Au himself.

Besides, the heretic worm was still present by some miracle. He would be completely clueless as to her true feelings on tha matter and- assuming he was allowed both to live and to return to the rest of Au's children- he would spread the events as far as he could. Granted, the children of Au as a whole were likely to be far less trusting of any words to drip from that specific tongue for many years to come. It was entirely possible they wouldn't believe him at all even if he provided the events perfectly.

Maybe there was no reason for him to return after all but Akishi supposed it might be a fitting punishment to let him loose in Augoku with such a tale that no one would believe despite its truth. It was fitting in a way, though it failed to address his laziness. Not good enough, then ,at least as far as she was concerned.

Then again, she wasn't the one who got to make that sort of decision so it probably didn't matter too much in the end. Might as well just toss him from Aogi's summit and call it a day. Whatever punishment he received, Akishi was far more likely to forget him before she ever heard of it.

"Yes," His rumbling voice was the thunder. "By my command. But there is little room for you within the mortal world and our High-Priest values subtlety as he should. Your current form will not suit you for this task.

"Father?" She wasn't doubting his words- even if they didn't make sense, she wouldn't question that what he was saying was the truth- but she wasn't quite understanding what they really meant for her.

"Something much smaller, and capable of interacting with the things our Priest surrounds himself with." At this point Akishi thought he might just be talking to himself. She didn't dare interrupt him to ask so she would likely never know.

"It has been some time since one of my children needed such a form, not since my faithful at the Akya-Jin temple were slaughtered and there were none to care for it."

She hadn't' realized his eyes had been unfocused in memory until they turned their attention to her. "It will serve my purposes well enough for now."

There was nothing to her world but light so brilliant it seemed to burn away her scales and the last thing Akishi was able to remember before the blackness overtook Au's glorious light was the startled gasp of Aba'ri.

She was willing to bet even Ajahri's impassiveness had been shattered by whatever happened. It was a damn shame she hadn't had the opportunity to see it herself.

Father's light reached the room- she could feel it- but only barely. Whatever she was lying on was colder than it was warm yet was still neither. Akishi didn't really have a word to describe the strange feeling. It was smooth and hard, though, those were sensations she could recognize easily enough. It didn't feel like stone so she thought it was probably wood. That would make sense, humans had been using wood in their construction for as long as she could remember. When it was so versatile and plentiful- it grew infinitely from the ground, what could be a better material than that?- it would make sense for them to just keep making use of it.

Slowly heavy eyelids opened to let her see the world around her-

Wait, eyelids?

Even as she questioned their existence they blinked in surprise and she reared up to see her surrounding more fully.

Or, rather, she attempted to. Despite having done it countless times before her torso was only able to lift slightly from the wooden floors- she had been able to confirm that, at least, so that was one less question to answer- before the muscles of her torso had protested and forced her to surrender to the pull of gravity.

With a slight frown she pressed her hands to the wooden floors and pushed herself up only to freeze in absolute bewilderment. She had hands, too?! She spent what could have actually been an eternity as far as she was aware just staring down at the two hands and the arms they connected to currently supporting her weight in ways that had never been needed- or even possible- before this very instance.

The first thing she noted-oddly enough- was the color. If she was to imagine herself with such limbs she would have at least expected them to be the same gold as he scales but instead they were closer to bronze or copper. She lifted one of them to examine it more closely and was slightly comforted by the fact that they were indeed covered in small scales and not something even more bizarre like skin.

She thought the fingernails were slightly off, though. It may have been a long time since she had seen a human in person- or even just a picture of one- but she thought she could remember them with soft, rounded nails. What she found at the end of slender fingers were pointed and sharp. She was also willing to bet they were harder than her scales which made it pretty clear they were intended to be used as weapons of some sort.

Akishi finished pushing herself up into an upright sitting position and spent some time simply moving her hands and arms to get a better feel for them. Half the time they seemed to have a mind of their own, moving about without conscious effort on her part, but there were instances that she found herself having to focus on exactly what movements she wanted. Most of the time her new limbs would comply in an acceptable manner but it was obvious it was going to take some significant amount of time for her to get to a point where using them was natural.

She couldn't honestly say she actually wanted to reach such a point- especially if she was just going to end up without them again in the future. Wouldn't do to get too attached, after all- but she had a sinking feeling she wasn't going to have much say in the matter unless she managed to instantly regain the High-Priest's favor.

As optimistic as she would like to be about it- which wasn't much, really- she thought that was probably beyond unlikely. Father himself may have had trouble pulling off such a miracle.

When she was reasonably confident in the newest additions to her body she turned her attention to the rest of it to see if there were any more surprises as she tried to recall her father's words. Her memory was hazy but a single word called out to her; Akya-Jin.

It took far longer than she could proudly admit to place the word but with a widening of crimson eyes a sudden understanding spread through her chest.

Akya-Jin, the Temple of Blackened Grass.

The temple itself wasn't the important part, though, it was what happened there. When Au's human followers had been slain there had been no way to replace them. For several years Au commanded priests and acolytes of the other temples to reclaim Akya-Jin but each one was killed. With the temple cut off from his faithful there was no one to care for it but there had been no way Au was going to let the temple named in honor of his favorite son- even before his sacrifice Akyanji had held Au's favor- slowly decay.

The few children who had survived the initial attack were changed by Fathers' light so they would be able to fulfil the necessary tasks his distant followers could not. The youngest daughter among them was Ahka'Ja and was the first changed, becoming the mother of the new Ak'Gyun- Serpents with the torsos of man.

In a reasonably stable position she used her two new hands to explore her new body, finding about what she would expect from what she knew of the Ak'Gyun. Everything below her- ...waist? That's what it was called on bipeds, wasn't it?- waist had remained as it should have- ignoring the fact that the previous brilliance of her scales had dimmed considerably- but everything above was far more human-like than she personally would care for. Her scales remained but it was hard to tell unless she looked closely enough. The new shape of her torso was heavier than she would have expected and her abdomen slightly protested as she got used to supporting the weight when only half her muscular structure was proper.

What she hadn't really expected- even after realizing she had been turned into an Ak'Gyun by her Father- was the hair. It seemed completely unnecessary- well, so did part of the torso if she was being honest- so she could only conclude it must have been for the sake of appearances. Maybe to make the High-Priest feel more comfortable or at least set those who he surrounded himself with at greater ease?

She doubted she'd have a chance to actually ask that question of the one being who could answer anytime soon.

So until she could ask about it she would have to figure out how she was supposed to manage the slightly curly dark brown hair. Naturally her first thought was to just cut it all off but if she had it there was probably a reason for that. Even if he wasn't making his presence known didn't mean Au wasn't present. Everything touched by his light was known to him and while it was dim within this room the sunlight was hard to miss when you could feel the divinity within it.

And speaking of the room, Akishi turned her attention more fully to her surroundings now that she had a better idea of her new body. Tossing her hair behind her she slithered over to the large desk that seemed to be the room's central feature.

She was familiar enough with the mortal world to know this would be an office where someone could work without distractions. It was a room based on information and communication, two things she prized very highly as The Manipulator and she already found herself drawn to it. The soft scales of her fingers ran gently over the cold dark wood, taking great care to keep her sharp nails from scratching the polished surface.

She didn't know why she had those fingernails yet and like other parts of her body she probably wouldn't. Why would she need weapons on her hands when she had her….bite? She paused, one hand still on the desk, as she realized that as an Ak'Gyun her head- with that damned hair- would also be human. She tried opening her mouth fully only to be stopped by her lips, pulling them into a frown immediately after.

She had fangs still, at least, she mused as her human tongue explored her new mouth. They weren't as long as they should have been but they were present and she knew her venom would still be just as potent. Unfortunately she didn't see much use for it unless she was going to get very close to her enemies before attempting to bite them.

She'd probably be better off just constricting them. Her lower body possessed enough muscle even in this smaller form that she should have been able to strangle a man- or three- without any real issues. It wasn't as fast but it was looking like it might have to do.

Certainly explained the nails, though, and she suddenly felt very grateful to have them.

Blessed be the Patrons, highly favored by The Author.

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