Author's Annotation: I currently have quite the problem with the internet connection here, so updates will not come as frequently as I'd like. For all of thos who stuck around: Thanks for your patience! Arcane Charmcaster, your question will soon be answered. I'll do my best to provide you with a satisfying explanation soon. End of note. Enjoy reading, and don't forget to review, please!
The Moon Always Shines Over Konoha
Chapter 5: Human Amongst Gods
Another fainting fit. Another fade to black. This was, like, the fourth time that had happened? And each time it happened I felt more like one of those miserable plot-driving damsels of distress, only there was no beautiful prince at the ready, waiting to snatch me up and keep me safe.
But who cares?
I didn't want a fairytale Prince Charming, a creep who snuck into some innocent princesses' bedroom and kissed a sleeping girl without consent. Thanks, but no thanks.
I looked around, hoping to find myself in the comfortable crib back at our house, with okaachan just around the corner.
I wanted nothing more than to be snuggled and held close by her, feeling warm and safe instead of having to deal with the odd feeling creeping up on me at a slow, but steady pace.
No, I didn't fool myself with having a chance to return to my real world anymore.
It didn't make particularly much sense to entertain the hope for such an unlikely possibility.
Also -even though I hadn't been quite able to admit this to myself until yet- I actually… Kind of liked it in Konoha.
Yes, I hadn't been alive for more than barely a year or so, plus minus a few months, but that wasn't the important point.
Akane Uchiha, blinding beauty and fierce warrior, oh, and also kind of my new mother, Daiki Hatake, the adult puppy that had done everything in his might to help me despite having absolutely no relation to me, and yes, also Takeo Uchiha, whom I had only seen two measly times, both of which I had basically mostly overslept- All of them made me feel good. Wanted. Loved. And if that didn't count as something worth to live for, something worth to fight for even, then I didn't know what did.
It definitely was better then the eternal darkness I was stuck in right now.
Seriously, where the hell am I?
Hm, I could neither see, smell, hear nor taste anything. And if my sensitive baby senses didn't catch even the smallest hint of anything, then… maybe there was nothing to find.
But that couldn't be, could it?
Or had I been tossed into another vortex of chance, haplessly whirling around until I crossed over into the next universe? How could I know? I didn't feel anything, neither warmth, nor cold. And although I swore I sat upright on the ground, there was nothing touching my fingertips when I felt for a surface of some kind. Nothing.
How is that possible?! Ugh, stupid question.
How was reincarnation possible? Apparently the laws of physics had been thrown overboard as soon as my head had cracked open on a stretch of burning-hot asphalt.
Nothing made sense anymore.
At first I was granted the chance to start over in another universe, one I had intimate knowledge of even, and after a brief phase of shock I had been pleased by the chance to make things right. Yes, my mother, father, brother, friends and grandparents, they were all lost to me forever, but I could make things better for others who still had these memorable bonds, or would develop them in the near future. No orphaned Naruto, no little brainwashed child soldiers with black seals on their tiny tongues, no massacre of the Uchiha clan. Just no.
But then I had apparently suffered from something, starting right at my birth, and now I'm in the dark vortex between life and death again? That's just so unfair! Don't I deserve a little time to breathe? To collect myself? WHY do I have to be torn from my family all over again?!
No. I would not cry. I had died and lived again as a baby, but even then I had not cried and I wouldn't start this bad habit now.
I was going to stay strong and be patient. Maybe something was going to happen sooner or later.
...Or I was trapped in this twilight zone and would go mad, cackling for all eternity, because writing paragraph upon paragraph on the walls with my blood wasn't feasible when there were no walls.
I hiccuped, trying to hold it in with all of my might. I didn't dare breathe, let alone open my tightly shut eyes in fear of loosing the fragile balance.
I'm sorry, okaachan. I brought you nothing but pain, even in the short time we had together…
It wasn't long before I felt my mental dams break, and the flood rushed out. Why, oh why? What have I done to deserve this hell?
I hadn't even lived long enough to fuck up again!
The thick salty tears streamed down my cheeks, and I closed my eyes against the burning they left.
I had just started to think I could really change something, and then-
"Fifteen minutes. Or fifteen minutes and twenty-five seconds, to be exact."
I jolted upright, instinctively looking around me despite the consistent blackness I was surrounded by. "What?", I squeaked, managing to force down the sniffle that threatened to make my weak inquiry sound even more pathetic.
Wow. Really helpful. And so mature.
Before the androgynous voice could answer, I cleared my throat, trying for a more intimidating tone. "Wh-who are you?"
A low chuckle echoed from all around me and was that- was that a deeper base-like reverberation below the clear tonal frequency? It sounded ghoulish, scary, even, especially because I couldn't see a damned thing and not being able to assess the situation or even just orientate was one of the reasons humans instinctively feared darkness. You know, the stuff I was completely engulfed in at the moment.
"And what do you want from me?", I added, sniffling and audibly less confident now that I'd had time to assess the situation for a moment and coming to no helpful or at least calming conclusion.
Oh, stop sniveling like a scared child, you pathetic excuse for a young adult!
The thing chuckled lowly once more, only pausing briefly enough for me to hear a snapping sound, and with a violent jerk there was light. How poetic.
I wanted to groan at the intense brightness, but thought better. Bright interrogation room-light beat complete and utter darkness a million times over. The disorientation and despair coming with it in a group package was not to be underestimated.
'Darkness, disorientation and despair'. Sounds like the perfect name for a horrible grunge band.
A sudden flare of something… incredibly dark made me shudder. It was similar to the killing intent that okaachan had been leaking, only worse. All my hairs stood on edge, my figurative hackles raised at the evil foreboding presence near me.
I pressed my eyes close for a second. Thinking about her hurt, knowing I wouldn't see her again. I felt as if the darkness I had left behind poked me in the head to prove a point.
"I wouldn't say that. You haven't lost anything yet", the ambiguous voice intoned.
My eyes snapped open in shock. That presence can read my mind?
I whirled around towards the position I felt the dark presence to be hovering and froze in fear at what I saw.
No. NO. How-?
Before me, barely a few metres away, hovered a pale humanoid figure. Sleek, curved red horns adorned its head and its ghoulish features curled into a hellish grin, showing shark-like rows of gleaming white teeth. In the places under the unruly white hair that usually held the eyes only shadows remained, although two barely visible dots of glowing yellow colour simmered like the pits of hell itself. I could practically hear the screams of the damned, and the sound made shiver run down my frozen spine. Its flowing bone-white robes accentuated the infinitely paler skin, but still somehow stood out in front of the empty whitish area surrounding us.
Its wicked aura alone gave my lost soul a feeling of instinctual terror and respect.
Just then it threw its head back, laughing deeply and with such force that the echo seemed to shake the very foundations of the featureless white place they resided in. "Now that I have caught your attention- May we proceed?" It was a strange noise, grating heavily on my ears, but soothing in a way only a grandfather brimming with life-long experience and sheer endless amounts of knowledge could be.
Dumbfounded at the contrasting impressions I got from the hovering being, or still frozen I shock (who knew), I apparently missed my cue.
The creature's expression grew annoyed, and it pointed one of its skeleton-like, bony fingers at me in accusation. "Do not make me ask again, mortal! I am not a being of patience, nor of particularly good will."
Shaken out of my daze by its rumbling threat, I stuttered stupidly, hoping to not anger the being more than I already had. The dark poking returned, making my stomach turn and twist like I had eaten something wrong. I bit my lip, trying my best to not show yet another weakness to the creature before me.
"I, uh, yes? Uh, If you wish so, uh, Mister?" What to call it, what to call-
"Call me Shinigami", the creature rumbled.
My eyes widened inadvertently, and I took a step back in surprise. Th-THE Shinigami? How did I manage to get in so much trouble that the Shinigami himself saw fit to berate me? Darkness befell my mind, twisting and turning like a boat at high sea in a winter storm.
"I'm not here to berate you, human, but I certainly will if you do not listen to me!"
I winced back. Angering the literal God of Death had not been my intention. Maybe I should stop going off on tangents, especially if he had the power to read my mind.
Wait, how long had he been doing that?!
Before I could ask another stupid question, I shut down this train of thought and looked the Shinigami (God of Death, God of Death, GOD OF DEATH) straight in the eye. "Tell me, Shinigami-sama: Why am I here?"
I had hoped the question wasn't ambivalent enough for a spiritual being like him to twist and turn at his own will, but apparently I was wrong. Or I had stupidly underestimated a being that had existed for all of time. Genius move. Applause to the idiot with a death wish!
"Because I brought you here." Oh, was I fed up with self-loving personas like him. Had met enough of those back in my original egocentrical world.
The God of Death grinned like he had told the best joke in the last quarter century, so full of himself like an arrogant little pri- Stop thinking stuff like that!
"Okay, then a different wording: Why did you bring me here? And where exactly are we?"
After a stern glare from the supernatural being I added a quick "Shinigami-sama" and lowered my eyes to stare at (through?!) the translucent ground, just to be sure.
The Shinigami held out his arms as if he prepared to hug a sequoia tree.
"Why? Because I had pity on you, that's why! Dying two times over in such a short amount of time- Even I'm not that cruel." His grin said otherwise, but who am I to question him?
I nodded, as if such behaviour from a supposedly detached God made complete sense, before it hit me.
"I died a second time?!" How the hell did I manage that?
"You got unlucky. Something about an uncontrollable chakra influx your puny mortal body couldn't handle."
Oh. Bummer.
I had ached, incredibly so, but Chikara had promised to take care of me- Wait. She had warned of possibly dire consequences.
I sighed. The Shinigami was right. I had just been unlucky.
"And to answer your previous question, we currently reside in a world between life and death, between your world and my dark domain. Here I have all the strings in my hand, so you should listen closely if you want to return to your miserable world of war and constant suffering."
Waaiiiit a minute. I had a chance to return?!
"What do I have to do?", I shot out without an ounce of hesitation. It came to me as an afterthought that it probably was not the best idea I'd had in recent times to interrupt one of the most powerful beings in existence, but for once the Shinigami didn't seem to mind.
He tapped a bony white finger against his chin, the thin-as-parchment skin spanning over what would've been bones in a human vibrating like a drum's cover.
"You are interesting. Yours is the only soul I had to guide twice, and that initially sparked my interest." He paused, contemplating his next words carefully. "When I looked closer the second time, I noticed an anomaly. You do not belong here. You are not of my world. And that is why you didn't stay in my lands after I shepherded you over the river of restless souls."
Me- an anomaly? Hmpf. Yes, that is indeed a way to describe my born-again close up and personal experience of a second childhood. Though I hadn't even had a chance to experience that yet, because I died a stupid death before developing in any way.
The Shinigami continued, oblivious or wilfully ignorant of my inner monologue.
"That, mortal, was your saving." The Cheshire-cat grin returned full force and I had another close up of his impressive row of sharp, ragged teeth. "See, I am a curious being. And you are the most interesting thing happening since those great mass slaughters some time ago, where I had to ferry dozens upon dozens of humans across the river a day." His burning yellow orbs doubling as eyes turned wistful. Actively reminiscing about the past seemed to be a seldom thing for the God of Death to do.
From what I had gathered from his words, a case like mine was a complete novelty. I wonder if he even knows what made my soul randomly pop up in his universe.
"Now I see an opportunity. I can send you back into your weak infant body and watch the anomaly struggle, and maybe something entertaining will happen."
I didn't dare interrupt the echoing rambles of the mystical being hovering before me, but there was no way I didn't hear the other shoe about to drop. He may well disguise his plans as simple curiosity and even good-willed benevolence, but I was a pragmatic person, and the Death God was known even in my realm to always have a hidden agenda, some secret plan behind his outwardly innocent, yes, even charitable deals.
"Or I could return you to your as of yet puny little flesh suit and give you a quest, a task to fulfil of some sort. A goal to work towards." The Shinigami waved his arms about, a long wooden pipe trailing thick smoke appearing in his bony fingers. It scented of needle trees and spring, surprising me with hard-hitting memories of summers spend hiking in the mountains.
I expected more of a 'torn flesh and burning bones'-kind of smell. You know, something reeking of hellish torture and the sulphur of eternal purgatory fires. Hm, not a good mood changer, but at least it got my head clear of those pesky memory fragments threatening to topple my card house of mental stability and outer calmness with the force of a wild gale.
The hovering figure before me paused, assessing my silence with a hellish burn in his eyes. When I stood strong, refusing to be baited into careless chatter, the ghoulish mask distorted into a skewed imitation of a coaxing smile. "Do you not want to inquire more information from me?" After my prolonged silence, he continued, his voice now forcibly boisterous to conceal his careful prodding. "You are a strange persona, mortal. But if you do not desire any further explanation..."
My fists tightened and I was unable to control the immediate urge to curl my mouth downwards in disdain.
The Shinigami had an easy time spotting my reluctance, and soon the same old Cheshire-cat grin spread over his alien features. He knew he had me on the hook.
Damn it. There was no other way now.
If I was going to make a deal with the devil, I needed all the details.
"What-", my voice broke, too dry was my throat after the revelations of the past minutes. The God of Death himself did his Thanos-finger snapping again and suddenly I held a glass of water in my undefined outlines of a hand. I glanced up at the hovering figure, my squinting eyes scrutinizing him without a trace of the dread I had felt at his bare appearance not too long ago. He really is eager to get my consent.
Whatever the favour the Shinigami was surely going to ask of me included, it had to be something of great importance to him personally, if he was humouring a meagre mortal like me to achieve it.
I wonder if I…
I licked my lips, not entirely sure if the gamble I was about to take was worth the risk of never returning as a human and possibly being thrown into purgatory for all of eternity. I had never really been a gambler, but right now I needed to channel my inner Tsunade. Or, ugh, I could settle for Hashirama. At least he wasn't known far and wide as an absolutely unlucky bastard who couldn't turn even the easiest gamble to his favour.
Ah, fuck it. It's now or never!
"Say Shinigami-sama,", I started, tipping my head to the side inquisitorially, but keeping my voice neutral all the same. "You are an immensely powerful deity, are you not?"
Seemingly caught of guard by the off-tangent question, the God of Death nodded, though his eyes closed slightly in suspicion. Hah! The curveball I had thrown him had worked its magic, and now I had a confused Death God at my hands. I needed to act quickly, before he regained his senses and caught on to what I was planning.
"Then you could help me with this chakra influx-problem by, say, sealing it with your mastery of the art for later use? Only to secure my ability to finish your quest to the fullest extent, of course." A little buttering him up would do. Not even deities like him were immune to some bootlicking. At least not highly emotional and arrogant ones like him.
The God of Death seemed to consider my question, but he still ground out a rumbling "What are you planning?", and without any kind of prior warning the chokingly oppressive aura from our first moment of meeting returned, moving and pressing, trying its best to worm its way into what I felt was my very much unprotected mind. Suddenly the corrosive poking and prodding from before made sense. That bastard had forced his way into my mind! I think it's safe to say I felt a bit… violated.
No.
I didn't like the way the slithering darkness rounded my head, rotation for rotation, looking for an easy access point.
No mind-reading anymore. I won't allow it!
I tethered myself on the translucent ground, grinding my teeth in effort to keep the strings of energy, of evil away from my tender mind.
I closed my eyes and put my outstretched arms in front of me, pushing against the Shinigami's sheer force.
Come on, budge!
Gritting my teeth in an effort to muster up enough strength from God knows where, I felt a flare of warmth starting up in my midst. Similar to sizzling energy, infused with an almost alien streak of light and pureness. What's that strange intruding light?
The calorific force powered through my veins, leaving me to feel like I could rip out trees and topple mountains with my bare hands.
The warm inner focus moulded into a rough sphere the size of a tennis ball, resting at my navel.
Clenching my fists I pushed more energy towards the centre of my body, gathering it there and coiling it around the pre-existing ball.
And while I accumulated more warm energy, ice-cold shivers ran down my spine at the heavy sense of dread threatening to overwhelm me at any moment.
Not enough time- Can't- wait any longer!
With a violent ripple I let it tear out of me, forcing back the Shinigami's shadowy fingers like a hurricane against a swarm of mayflies.
When I dared open my eyes again a few trembling moments after unleashing the storm, I spotted a translucent veil of protectiveness that kept advancing, new strings of darkness away and burned the ones still rotating around my mind to cinders.
I didn't even need to see it, I felt it. Like buzzing hornets frying in an electric fly trap, only with more colourful mini-explosions accompanying the expected burn-up.
"No! NO! You can't do that!", the God of Death shrieked, his rambling-deep voice depraved to a shrill noise grating in my ears. "How do you do that?!" His bone-white robes fluttered in a sudden storm his wild thrashing had conjured, revealing a pale, malnourished torso, the ribs sticking out like greyish forks below paper-thin skin. "No-one can elude the Shinigami's gaze! I can see what the dead feel, think, thought- there is no way a primitive being like you can repel me from your weak mortal mind!"
I couldn't answer. Not because I didn't want to, no, I-
I didn't know.
I had acted purely on instinct, protecting myself from the fingers of the Shinigami with nothing but will-power and glaring desire to prove him wrong.
I wordlessly looked down at my hands, mesmerized by what buzzed beyond my translucent, androgynous fingertips. The energy curled and coiled at my will, rushing outwards to settle around my hand like a blue-hued glove.
The power to force the God of Death back was literally at my hands.
Before my sudden ability to mould will into energy had emerged I had taken his words like a helpless child, reacting at the very most, but my hands had been bound by fear and uncertainty. Now…
Now it was time to act.
My head whipped up and I fixated the still thrashing ghoulish figure with a crushing glare.
"Now that we have an even basis of negotiation, Shinigami-sama", I started, the small spikes in my voice deliberately left uncovered. I had an advantage over him, and hell if I didn't let him know that!
"I demand to make a deal, and I am setting the conditions."
I put my hands at my hips, using my lingering control over the bluish energy floating about to underline my point. Steely determination shone from my entire posture.
The Shinigami's features distorted into a shrewd mask of what had been before, the hellish gleam in his yellow eyes roaring to a worthy imitation of a violent forest fire.
His skinny, skeleton-like figure blew up like a balloon and his shrieking voice thundered like an angry volcano. "YOU DEMAND?! YOU puny mortal CANNOT order ME, the Shinigami to do anything!"
Tch. Times have changed.
I was confident in my ability to uphold my bold claim. He had been forced back by me once before, I could do it again.
I held my arms out in front of me once more, procuring an even greater mass of energy than before. The warm impression of pure light joined my own energy, strengthening me even more than before. Still, I did not question it. Whatever it was, it had helped me before. Why should it fail me now?
A smirk crept out of the corners of my mouth, daring to let the pale figure opposing me gather a slither of the belief I had in my own abilities. Confidence was a great thing to have.
In the meantime the Shinigami had retreated, weaving his hands in complicated sequences of- are that hand signs?!
Despite my confusion I forced the admittedly quite pressing bad feeling about the whole deal down.
No time to think about that now. No point in wasting my concentration on matters better left untouched for the moment.
Deep inside my guts the familiar feeling of flaring, boundless energy bubbling, almost anxious to be released.
I let the power surge through me and out of my body, swirling and whirling like a vortex of blue energy. Hell yeah!
The power whipped towards the Shinigami, slicing though the air at an incredible speed.
Despite the tickle of foreboding in the back of my mind I stood my ground, eagerly awaiting the impact of my released energy bounding towards the Death God.
Who stood there, making no move to evade the attack.
Smirking.
My confidence slipped, when I realized my big mistake. I had underestimated my opponent, a literal deity who held reign over this domain since the beginning of time. I may have been the first to possess this weird energy, but he had centuries of experience, of knowledge over all kind of things. The possibility of him knowing no way of dealing with me was nearing zero.
Shit.
I had barely enough time to bring both of my arms up in a defensive cross in front of my chest before the same blueish energy rushed back at me, only infinitely stronger.
It connected with my crossed arms, the remainders of whirling power infused in my arms taking the blunt force of the hit and protecting me from being torn to shreds. "Gaah!"
The hit sent me back hurtling through the air. Sadly I was no Daiki. I took the landing like a champ in spite of my relative lack of athleticism before I had died (twice), though, as I managed to only smack my forehead on the ground, eating the figurative dirt for the first time in my life(s) when my jaw plowed through the non-existent earth below my defeated body.
I still considered myself pretty lucky.
A direct hit from the Death God after I had angered him? Pff, I would've died a third time if not for the weird energy-thingy I had at my hands!
My head snapped up when I sensed the eerie presence of the Shinigami loomed over me, billowing robes and ghoulish limbs underlining the hellish picture the incarnation of Death itself had been portrayed as in every culture's history. Shivers ran down my spine and I gulped. No wonder everyone chose to cower in fear before the Grim Reaper, if that picture was what awaited one after passing on.
"You were blessed by centuries of luck when I decided to grant you a chance to adhere to your insolent mortal emotions", he intoned, face distorted in what could have been called a smile were it not for the horns and shark-teeth. "I may have let you return to your world, stronger than before, even."
Oh, how benevolent of you.
Ktch, shut up, you stupid sarcastic voice! Caustic remarks would certainly not be my saving here. I could only hope for some flimsy leftover luck to come to my aid, or I was one hundred percent done for.
Fighting a prepared God of Death in his own domain? I had less of a chance of survival than pre-time skip Sakura against the Six Paths of Pain.
"And now, foolish mortal, I will make sure you never get hold of a bodily form anymore", the Shinigami drawled on, his glowing eyes burning with thirst for vengeance. "I will drag you to the darkest and most isolated corner of my realm, restraining you for all eternity for your insolence!"
I knew I had no way of escape, that the God would have his violent revenge on me for daring to speak up, but I refused to let my last moments be spend cowering before him, giving him the satisfaction of dominating the rebel at last, my valiant resolve tainted by entirely human fear.
Letting that arrogant prick of an eternal being win even the last point was not debatable. Tch. No, you big bully, not me!
Instead I sat up on my knees, devoting the few free seconds left to fixating the powerful creature with an unbroken stare despite my body literally trembling in anticipation of punishment. I would not back down. Not now.
Not ever.
My resolve to not bend before him seemed to infuriate the Shinigami only more. He was practically glowing with fury.
He roared with all the might of a thunder storm, skeleton-white fingers summoning a gigantic knife with whom he apparently intended to cut me to shape.
I gulped again, my fear threatened to take over, before I inwardly hit myself over the head. No. He cannot win! I had to grow some god-damn spine, dammit!
The eerie form of the Shinigami rushed towards me, enormous knife at the ready. The warmth of the strange power I had wielded before sank down, making way for the furious burning presence of the Death God, dwindling even before he had fully reached me.
The last droplets of blueish energy left my form, and I froze from the wave of darkness, burning, evil washing over me.
That's it. It's over for me.
Then out of the blue, the dark presence shifted, when a cone of soft light settled on my kneeling form. The once murderous Shinigami slithered to a full stop, pausing to inspect the light with barely concealed annoyance.
On the beam of faint white light a robed figure hovered down, its features regal, but androgynous. When its white-tipped foot touched the translucent ground, the floor began to glow warmly.
He- it -raised a porcelain hand and motioned towards me, the gesture of an archaic elegance I immediately accredited to elves or other fairytale beings of purity and light.
The only thought shooting through my head at the speed of light was 'Where in Tolkien's name does Galadriel suddenly come from?'
Even its voice had that ethereal touch to it, a soft singsong, but at the same time clear as a bell.
"Behold, Shinigami-san, for this mortal stands under my protection."
Yeah, right. Hello and thank you for coming, elven lookalike! Or elven helping hand? Something along the line.
Whatever it was, it was probably on the good side. Mine, that is.
Still, I stood up, protecting the vast part of my translucent-and-also-not body with a deliberately defensive positioning, entirely ignoring the possibility that this ethereal being could smite me with a snap of its porcelain fingers.
"And you are?", I ask the glowing presence, uncertainty shining through my body positioning and accentuated by my slightly trembling voice. It wasn't too long ago that I got almost obliterated by the wrath of the Death God, and I wasn't completely in the clear yet.
In fact, I was probably going to feel unsafe as long as those hellishly glowing eyes were not-so-subtely boring into my very soul. For all that I was a mere reflection of my first life's body, translucent and shifting and all.
The Elvenly Lordness of Helping Hand turned his – its – head gracefully, the long white locks of hair flowing on a non-existant breeze.
Seriously, how does their hair get so flow-y? There are not wind patterns that I can feel. Do they really manipulate this twilight-zone's fabric of reality to look nice?
"I am your saviour,", the ethereal being began, and I could see the Shinigami's eyes loose focus, almost looking like he deliberately rolled his glowing yellowish eyes, "The inextinguishable light in the darkness, the white against the overbearing dark, the watchful eye over-" "Oh endless planes of the Afterworld, stop!", the Shinigami interrupted rudely. "No one cares about all those cute little nicknames you have been giving yourself over the eternity you have existed. Get to the point, will you?" The formerly serious and vengeful Death God had actually folded his arms, huffing in annoyance. A prime display of teenage 'I don't give no damn about you'-attitude.
I had trouble reconciling what I heard with what I had assumed and thought to know of ancient heavenly beings. Did the Shinigami just tell the Galadriel/Elrond-lookalike to shut up?
Said ethereally glowing being sighed, still more graceful in argumentative defeat than any human could ever hope for. "Now now, mortal. You inquired as to my identity, and I shall grant you the short answer."
I would later swear I picked up a grunted 'finally!' from the Shinigami's direction.
A Japanese Death God, acting like a huffy teenager. The concept is so whack, that if I wake up now, it'll surely be in a mental ward.
The light-beam riding entity before me continued as if nothing had happened, clearly the mature one of the two, even though a small spike of irritation rang through his elegant voice. "The name by which I have been called for all of time, the one even you might have heard before, is one of elegance, of reliance, of higher standing." The little spike was more like a barbed wire aimed at the Shinigami's head now.
Much to the Death God's open annoyance and under a snarled comment of 'overdamatic', which I silently agreed to -Why do I suddenly sympathize with him?-, the deity dramatically spread out his arms, the silken robes that covered his slender frame billowing scenically in the upcoming breeze -So they really do manipulate the components of this world to fit their dramatic needs!-and practically sang the words, "I am Tsukuyomi, the great and elegant Moon God, and I am here to help you."
My eyes widened, and I let a small smile slip onto my face. Tsukuyomi, one of the most revered deities in Japanese Mythology on my side? Just peachy.
Wait, stop, hold. One moment, please. I needed to think something through.
Tsukuyomi, the Moon God had intervened.
Was this- Was this a literal deus-ex-machina?
I wanted to laugh out loud. Oh, how I loved and hated the twisted comedy that was my in-between-life.
Never mind the implications- I really wanted to thank him for saving my -life? Soul? I didn't know- but then I remembered that I was dealing with mythological Gods, and as anyone would know from Greek or Roman mythos, the rarely did something out of pure charity. There was always a secret plan, a backhand agreement, some sort of power play to watch out for. I dared to assume it was no different in Japanese mythology.
So what was Tsukuyomi gaining from helping me? I was only a mere mortal, as the Shinigami had put it before, when he had mocked my helplessness despite my- Wait.
I was no 'mere mortal'. I had been reborn, somehow brought to this world from mine after death. And even the overly self-confident Shinigami had admitted to not knowing how I had gotten here.
Maybe the Moon God's involvement in the bit of a bind I had found myself in after once again being forced to leave the mortal plane.
Tsukuyomi might lift the veil of confusion and give me much needed information, helping me to piece this hell of a puzzle together.
Maybe- he could even help me get back to my hilariously weak infant body!
Deciding to dare an open question -hopefully Tsukuyomi was above twisting my words to make fun of me, and somehow I had an inkling he would be- I raised my voice to the deity in white flowing robes, his regal features more and more reminding me of the admired elven people from J.R.R. Tolkien's epic masterpiece. In their apparent indifference.
"You have already helped me immensely, great Tsukuyomi-sama", Ugh, I hated laying it on thick, but I was dealing with an all-powerful deity here, so maybe some buttering him up would do the trick, "But how can I be of help to you? Certainly you have a reason to sacrifice your precious time to help a lost soul like mine?"
The Shinigami snorted, parting his jaws to answer instead, but Tsukuyomi whirled around in an uncharacteristic burst of violence, holding his glowing hand up and silencing the Shinigami with a beam of light aimed at the dark presence. Said being gave a ghoulish shriek and scrambled away from the Moon God and my comparably puny form, still perched at the feet of the hovering from.
The twisted look on the formerly gracefully indifferent mask reminded me strongly of the moment in the movie trilogy when Galadriel succumbs shortly to the madness of Sauron's oppressive presence, her face darkened and skewed.
I felt fear creep up my back, grabbing onto my very essence and rooting it in place. The dark side of Tsukuyomi was even scarier than the devil incarnate that came before.
As he turned to focus on me though the terrifying facade had vanished, elegant mask easily slipped on again in the blink of an eye. He could've fooled anyone with his innocent expression. It seemed so… sincere. One wouldn't expect this regal deity to sink down to a level of openly expressing violence.
Anyone who didn't witness the last few seconds, that is.
"Let us not talk about such matters in a place like this. I can feel the waves of uneasiness radiating from you."
I gulped. It was not this twilight zone I was scared of; or not only.
The Moon God smiled pleasantly, all the ethereal incarnation of moonlight again. "Take my hand, then."
I nodded hesitantly, glancing at the still shrieking Shinigami. If even this powerful being was terrified of Tsukuyomi's power… I gotta be careful. No use in escaping from the wrath of the Death God, if I'm jumping from the frying pan into the fire.
The Moon God apparently interpreted my hesitation as healthy wariness in favour of the Shinigami, and indeed his curved horns and razor sharp teeth and unblinded anger at my insolence still sent shivers down my spine.
"Fear not, mortal, for he dare not touch my form or any person under my protection. The purity of my light would be his darknesses doom, and he is not foolish enough to try and test his strength against mine."
I stepped closer to the soft light of Tsukuyomi's hovering figure, eyes still not breaking away from the Shinigami's shrieking form. I could hesitate for a moment longer. I could.
But why would I? I couldn't gain anything from staying here. Even so, I was up in Tsukuyomi's hands. He would decide over my fate, and only he. There was nothing I had to stand against him. And so far he hadn't done anything against my favour. I had no real reason to distrust him.
Impulsively coming to a decision, I reached for the Moon God's hand, finally looking him in the dark, bottomless eyes. The reassuring smile on his porcelain face did not quite reach his eyes.
I really didn't like that creepy look, but it was entirely too late to turn back now.
I managed to pull myself together long enough to put my hand into the Moon God's pale one, noticing distantly how it felt like I touched a satin cloth.
Take a deep breath and get to it!
