Chapter 23: *THIS CHAPTER TITLE HAS BEEN CENSORED*
'I didn't choose this,' Naoki thought. 'I didn't choose to become this.'
How much of this was under his control? The magatama were taking over, making decisions for him. Or with him? He wasn't sure. Whether he was involved or not, the choices they'd made seemed sensible. Drop into a battle trance to block out whatever Sophia had to do to connect with the rest, step out of that briefly when they really needed back up against the failed Demifiend, take the extra step to make sure he was dead. It was right.
'I'm not a killer, but I killed him. He asked to die, so it should be fine. But still that's not… would I be able to do that if I was normal? Though I wasn't as normal and average as people thought I was; something about me had to get Lucifer's attention for him to choose me, but what? I wouldn't kill. But if they need it… how can you need to be killed? But he was left completely alone and was willing to kill me if it brought Lucifer back to him. It makes sense. No, it doesn't make sense.'
And if he made a bad decision here, he could end up like that Demifiend, alone and abandoned. Or he could end up like the other one, a captive of angels. Or maybe something worse.
'I don't want to be alone. She said I would lose everything I loved, but haven't I lost that already? And I never did anything to deserve that! But I'm contemplating things that could deserve worse. Even if I free my family, can I really be back with them? They're already faint in my memories; why? Is it the magatama? Or Lucifer...'
'I have Lucifer. He's kind of like Grandfather, I think. Looks like him… no he doesn't, what am I thinking? He abandoned the other two when they didn't meet his standards, even the one that was me who'd chosen to embrace all this violence. He could abandon me too… I don't want that. No, it shouldn't matter, he's supposed to be the original fallen angel, the leader of all that is evil. But then the angels have proven that being holy doesn't mean being good. It shouldn't make sense, but it's starting to…'
'Where am I anyhow? I think I should wake up and do something, this is getting me nowhere.'
A smokey relaxed atmosphere, muffled conversations, soft luxurious couch, wine and tea… right, he had fallen asleep in the backroom of Nyx's Lounge. While he was waking up, Naoki checked where his followers were. No one was in the room with him; they were all in the main lounge, along with Baphomet. Kagutsuchi was at 7/8 waxing; its power was part of what woke him. They should be able to move on soon.
But to what? He'd found all the others in the Vortex World: Isamu had lost it and went into the Amala Network, Chiaki was also losing sight of things in pursuit of her Reason, and Yuko was somewhere with a goddess he didn't trust. He could look for Yuko again. What would he say to her? She was counting on Aradia. Maybe he should find out more about the goddess before talking with Yuko. Yuriko might know.
He should get around to doing the Second Kalpa anyhow, which wouldn't take up actual time. He could check on the manikins in Asakusa, or he could find Hijiri. To keep up with their original deal, Naoki should tell him how things had been. The Reason bearers would be trying to summon their gods. Having been at the top of the Obelisk would have helped Yuko. But what was her Reason? For that matter, what about Isamu's? He doubted Isamu would have one that would restore the world. Perhaps Yuko… but then, she had helped to destroy the world.
So asking the two of them about their Reasons, but first completing the Second Kalpa; that was a reasonable plan for now. If he wasn't sure where to go, Asakusa was as good a place as any. There was also Baphomet's offer to keep in mind too, and Hijiri, and something about his future self if he could figure that out. Was that real? The other magatama had made him recall his memories. Supposedly they could not lie to him, but how would they know other times?
Hmm? We don't know, we don't choose what you see. It was in your mind.
In his mind? Lucifer didn't seem to know about the voice that spoke before those visions. But there wasn't much Naoki could do about that. Not sure of anything else, he got off the couch and went to meet with the others.
The demons were all sitting around a table drinking; they must have been at it for a while because the five of them were drunk, Baphomet most of all. How long did demons stay drunk? This could make the kalpa interesting, or more difficult than it should be. He picked up some tea from Nyx before going over to meet with them.
"I don't know, I've been leaving most of the thinking up to him," Okuninushi said.
"You're more of a thinker now than you ever were," Kushinada said with a teasing smile.
"It takes some getting used to," he said.
"Ah just waaait until you run into aaanother, you'll see," Baphomet said, waving it off.
"What are you talking about?" Naoki asked, coming to lean on the table since there wasn't an empty chair.
"Individuality, I think," Baphomet said.
"Oh, hello," Feng Huang said, head-bonking his shoulder in greeting. "We were waiting for you."
"Want some?" Onkot asked, offering the jug they had with a hiccup.
"No thanks," Naoki said.
"Are we heading out then?" Okuninushi asked. Naoki shook his head; he wasn't hungry, but he wanted to drink his tea.
"Thaaaat's good, I was going to do the summoning once Kagutsuchi was full," Baphomet said. "We should head over."
"You sure you should be summoning like this?" Naoki asked.
Baphomet nodded. "Sure, sure, I know what I'm doing. When the time is right, the time is right."
Was this like being a designated driver? Naoki didn't know much about summoning. He had been hoping for a distraction, though. Besides, it was to cause Hikawa trouble. This might be foolish, but then he'd done other probably foolish things and came out of them anyhow. "All right, let me make sure it's okay to take my tea."
"Hopefully my clients are still around," Baphomet muttered.
Strangely enough, his clients were a pair of manikins. They were outside, in the intersection that was no longer usable due to a lack of vehicles. "Dammit, where have you been?" one of them asked, waving an arm for emphasis. "We were just thinking that you'd cut and run!"
"Don't be so impaaatient," Baphomet said. "Summoning requires a greaaat attention to detail, or else something baaaaad may happen. A bit longer yet, when the light is brightest. I have everything I need now."
"Are you sure you should be summoning like this?" the other manikin asked, skeptical.
"It doesn't matter as long as we get the demon we're after," the first said. "I am so sick of being treated like an inferior being. If I could just be like Sakahagi, it'd be great! But I'm not, so we need this demon to beat up everyone who makes fun of us."
Baphomet chuckled, shifting his wings in satisfaction. "Don't you get it? Drunk summoning is the only waaaay to summon Mara. The only appropriate manner, in my opinion, the sober methods are silly. You all should be soused too, he's completely used to it."
"Does it count if most of us are?" Kushinada asked, giggling and making Okuninushi laugh too.
While he could be the sensible one here, Naoki smiled to himself and thought that this could be amusing. He wasn't too fond of dumb jokes, but this was too ridiculous to count as dumb. "I thought you said this would be educational," he said, trying to keep serious.
"It will be, just you wait," Baphomet said, then snapped his fingers a few times before taking out a note. "Oh right, we were going to talk about your summon chain after the Obelisk, but we all crashed after that."
Making a mental note to check with Mido, he nodded. "Yeah, you think they're trained enough?"
"Should be, should be." He waved over to the other four demons. "Next step, fuse the lady and bird together. You'll get, uh, one of those two in return, lady, bird, something."
"Ladybird?" Feng Huang asked, not walking straight.
"A ladybug?" Okuninushi asked in confusion.
"Something," Baphomet said. "For the guy, take two Jirae… you did have two Jirae registered?"
"Kodama and Hua Po," Naoki said, nodding.
"Good, fuse those two first, you'll get something special in most cases for fusing two of the same clan. Fuse that into him; it's a special fusion, ask Mido more if you're really curious. So then you'll have two pretty good demons out of that deal. Train them up, and, um..." he squinted at his notes, continuing to drift along instead of walking.
Naoki carefully took Baphomet's arm to keep from crashing into him. "You guys know where we're going?" he asked the manikins.
"Oh yeah, it's a back door place, just around the corner here," one of them said, trying to point out the turn.
"Damn, can't even read my own scribbles," Baphomet muttered, not bothered by being guided. "Aaaanyhow, one of them must learn something that I thought was greaaaat but the end demon won't have. Train the two, uh, you're clever, you'll notice the skill, some passive..."
"All right," Naoki said. Maybe it'd be better to ask when he was sober, but they'd be splitting ways after this summoning business.
"And then you fuse those two together. But that's a special fusion, I mean, even more special. Another one that can only be done under full Kagutsuchi, only way to get the end demon at all. Tell Mido that, I'm sure he'll know what's going on."
"I hope so," he said.
The place had no sign and anything of its previous residents had been put away. That left Baphomet's summoning area taking up the whole space. Unlike Mido's stark cathedral, this place was full of occult items: black candles on tall stands, a complex magical pentagram on the floor, four strange dolls arranged to one side. While he seemed like he might be more meticulous when sober, Baphomet quickly glanced over everything before taking out the materials he'd gathered.
As the two manikins were the only other sober ones in the room, Naoki talked with them. "Why'd you ask for Mara?"
"We didn't ask for anyone in particular, just a magnificent demon who could avenge our poor treatment," one said.
"The jerk at the Cathedral wouldn't help at all," the other said. "So we're going to beat him up too."
Somehow, Naoki doubted they could do much to the minister. He surely had lots of tricks up his sleeves. "You've got lots of anger."
The one shook his hand. "Yeah, I've always been angry! Now I'll get to do something about it!"
"I tried to help him fight demons, but it didn't work," the other said.
By the time Kagutsuchi reached its brightest, Baphomet was ready. "Just one more thing," he said, scratching his head. "There's not been neaaaarly enough innuendos for a summoning of the maaagnificent Maaaara."
"I expected that," Naoki said, shaking his head.
"Why's that?" the yes-man of the manikins asked.
"He's a Buddhist demon of temptation," he explained. "And just by the name, you've got to realize that he's going to be some kind of dick."
"Oh. So, what should we do?" He turned to the angry manikin.
"How should I know?" he asked back.
"I won't be much help," Naoki said. Even with Kagutsuchi's temptation, he was drawing a blank on trying to make intentional innuendos.
"Uh, wha?" Feng Huang asked, then hiccuped. Nearby, Onkot had decided to curl up and go to sleep rather than participate.
"What a weird crowd for this," Baphomet said, shaking his head.
"Well shouldn't you be prepared as the summoner?" Okuninushi asked him. Baphomet closed his eyes at that, not answering. "You were the one who invited us."
Kushinada giggled. "Well don't go limp out of pressure, you've got to get up boldly and push on with everything you've got."
"If you want a man with more vigor, we can still leave the summons and call forth our own sabbath," Okuninushi said, taking her hand and pulling her close.
"Isn't she your mother-in-law?" Naoki asked, making the two of them laugh. They were both shades, so not really but it was still part of their frames.
"That should be suitable," Baphomet said. He mumbled through an incantation, using the materials in directing magatsuhi to match the diagram on the floor. Despite being drunk, he was very accurate with his placements. The dolls and their pedestals were opening a passage to the depths of Amala; the diagram was like an invitation customized to the demon. Although given how close the Vortex World was to the Abyss, he wouldn't need as much power to complete the summoning.
The passage opened up, changing the quality of the magatsuhi in the room. The air warped as a powerful presence entered. There was a glint of gold heralding the appearance of an ornate chariot. And as he thought, Mara himself was a giant green dick. "Hey, what kind of fun are we going to get up to?"
"Hey Mara, nice to see yaaaa again," Baphomet said, then waved over to the manikins. "Those two are the ones who wanted you."
"Whoa, that's not what I expected," the yes-man of the pair said.
"But it doesn't matter as long as he's strong enough to win," the angry one said. "We want you to beat up a lot of people for us!"
"What for?" Mara asked.
"They make fun of us and will beat us up just because," the angry manikin said.
"Yeah, what he said," the other said, clumsily clapping his arms in lieu of nodding.
Rolling his eyes, Mara said, "Really, that's it? And you asked for me for that?"
"Yeah," the angry one said, although he didn't seem sure of things now.
"I'm perfectly fine with doing that sort of thing if you're going to fight somebody over someone else you want to bang," Mara said dismissively. "Or if you're lusting after the person you're fighting, that's great too. But if it's got nothing to do with sex, I don't want any part of it."
"Aw come on, we paid good macca for you," the angry one said. But even he wasn't reckless enough to fight Mara.
The green demon laughed. "Normally I'd be flattered, but no."
"Actually, you barely paid anything for this kind of summoning," Baphomet said, rubbing his snout. "I just wanted to do it. If you're not saaatisfied with my work, then try making contracts yourself or dealing with the cathedral minister."
"Well this sucks." The two manikins then decided to shuffle out.
"Baphomet, you're a weirdo," Mara said.
"Whaaatever," he said, waving it off as his head drooped. He might fall asleep at any moment.
"So, what about you guys?" Mara said, looking down at them. "I don't think Susano-o is around here, but we can always call on him for a nice brawl."
"Uh, no, not this time," Okuninushi said, his face turning red. Kushinada shook her head too.
Like Baphomet, Naoki didn't think he could make a proper contract with Mara. He wasn't sure if he'd want to either. "Well Baphomet did mention something about troubling Hikawa with you," he said.
The goat demon came briefly alert again at that. "Ooooh yeaaaah, there's that. Mara, babe, this guy Hikawa, he was my last summoner but he ditched me cause I wouldn't kill this boy. He wasn't the Demifiend then, but I could still tell he was gonna be here in the Vortex World. And, uh..." he rubbed his chin, "right, that was it. Hikawa was the one who orchestrated the Conception event, but he chose the excessive blood sacrifices route."
"WHAT?!" Mara bellowed, staring at Baphomet.
"No sex at all and I'd be the one who'd know that kind of thing," Baphomet added.
"Oh thank god," Naoki said quietly, putting a hand on his head. He hadn't thought about it that way, but given the titles of Lord and Maiden of Conception… yeah, this was a good thing to hear.
"How dare he," Mara growled. "Of all the rituals to keep sex out of, why do that with triggering the process of Creation? I don't get why that's even an option. I'd screw that guy over badly just for that reason."
"Ain't fighting him," Baphomet muttered, then pointed at Naoki. "He is."
"Hmm." Mara wheeled a bit closer, looking him over. It was really strange, but Noaki looked back at the powerful demon. "I'd love to help someone after this Hikawa on hearing about this. But, you are the Demifiend. I helped out once, but then Lucifer forbade me from doing so again. Never did figure out why."
"I wouldn't know," Naoki said.
"You are overwhelming to most folks," Baphomet said, getting drowsy again.
"But I still want to help punish Hikawa for his prudishness," Mara said. "Hmph, you know what? Baphomet, give this guy my medium. Since I wasn't called for any reason in particular, I'll allow you to summon me once when you fight against Hikawa. Demifiend, I hope you become even stronger so we can squash the guy into total embarrassment in death."
"I'll be glad to do that," Naoki said, going over to take the small chariot wheel from Baphomet.
It took him a moment, but he passed the charm over. "Is simple cause I already did this," Baphomet said. "Hold the thing and call on his name when the time is right. Mara will come right to you and obey you for that one battle no matter the difference in power between the two of you. You'll need a more certain agreement to use the medium after that."
"I think I can do something for the meantime, out of thanks for calling on me to let me know," Mara said, then closed his eyes and made some odd noises while he focused on something. After half a minute, a white orb appeared. "Hmm, I wanted to get another of your magatama, but someone else has a tight grip on it. This one suits us fine, here you go."
"Thank you," Naoki said, accepting the slumbering Muspell from the orb. "Who has the other?"
"Some fellow in the frost family who calls himself Heeho," Mara said.
"He has another one?" For a moment, he felt angry. But no, it must have been sometime after they met in Ikebukuro. Heeho wasn't strong enough to eclipse the presence of a magatama like the Moirae or Gozu-Tennoh. "Where is he?"
"In Kabukicho Prison," Mara answered. "He seems to have tapped into its powers somehow, which is extraordinary for a low tier demon like him."
"Well he will give it up or he'll be nothing but a snow drift," Naoki said. Mara seemed pleased with that for some reason and left with nothing more said.
Being outdoors in the Vortex World was unpleasant; the strange blue light felt overwhelming. Fortunately, Hijiri was able to get indoors and to a terminal quickly. "Thanks again, Futomimi," he said to the person who'd healed him from whatever made him pass out.
"It's no trouble," the manikin prophet said. He rubbed one of his ears then. "You should be careful. There's an extraordinary force pulling at your soul now even if you can't feel it. If it gets control, you could lose your mind."
Was there? "Do you know anything more about this force?" Hijiri asked. "I can't use magic, but I do know some defensive measures."
In the way he hesitated, it seemed Futomimi wasn't sure of speaking the truth. "If you know the nature of this force, it will have a greater affect on you."
"The unknown has a powerful influence in terms of the supernatural," he pointed out.
He bit his lip. "Yes, but this would actually be more negative against you if you knew."
I'm not going insane, no, do you have any idea what it's like to finally see the end of this road? Do you?!
"You are your second worst enemy," Futomimi added, then shuddered. "Ah, your worst enemy… I see. I wish that you can find peace some day. That's all I can safely tell you."
The best thing he could do was not stress out over this, Hijiri reflected. Futomimi was a real prophet; he'd already seen that in things he'd read on the terminals. He was even a Reason bearer now, as evidenced by the servant of Kagutsuchi that now accompanied him. As for himself, he needed to check back into what Hikawa was doing, Nihilo's defenses, and seeing what Naoki was up to.
Just take control of the network before that jerk Isamu does. I need control of that network; I don't care if achieving my goal completely crushes my mind. It'll finally be over. I didn't deserve this fate, I just want it to be over!
You could find out anything with the Amala terminals; they were connected to so many worlds. Hijiri turned his hat in his hands, feeling his thoughts race at the sight of this one. It was… it must be like discovering fire, or the wheel, something plain and simple that changed everything. Was it the Network that Futomimi had been trying to warn him about? Naoki had thought it was dangerous too.
Not, it's me. I would overtake you in a second if I could. You're protected from what I know, the only means I have of communicating reasonably with others. Maybe even sanely, ah, they wouldn't understand. Not even you would understand, and I don't want you to understand. But I want to be the network. Wouldn't that be cutting counter, right, even You couldn't do anything to curse me worse!
No, the Network was a tool, something I need he needed in order to have an advantage in a world where he had nothing.
Maybe it would be faster if he figured out how to manipulate it even better than Isamu had.
Yes, please do.
Sakahagi could not say how he knew to sew flesh. It was some kind of magic. Once he had the new piece in hand, he could bind it to the other pieces he had. His coat was looking good now. But, what would he do with any further trophies? Especially if he could figure out how to take parts off demons. All the magatsuhi he had absorbed from other manikins had to be making him powerful enough to start taking out them. Maybe some pixies for their wings, or oni for their horns. Or even the incubus for their…
A sharp bark interrupted his thoughts. "Hey, hey, what are you doing here?" an inugami asked.
"Oh good, I wanted a different target," Sakahagi said, then threw a Shock at it. He quickly followed up with his knives.
Unfortunately, the inugami disappeared entirely into magatsuhi when it died. "Too bad, I would've liked to see what a coat of their hides could do," he muttered to himself. He was able to absorb some of the magatsuhi, but it was nothing like the amount he could get out of a murdered manikin. Where had they all gone? With the Mantra destroyed, Sakahagi had been sure that some others would still be hanging around here. They were dumb like that, most of them.
And someday, he'd be powerful enough to make that ugly pest Futomimi suffer for his words.
"Who are you?" a deep voice called from somewhere… overhead? A dark presence was filling this area around the stairs. The torches all flared up as if finding new fuel.
"Who are you?!" Sakahagi challenged back. He looked up and saw no one. Around, no one. But that presence was growing greater.
"You are not like the other dolls," the deep voice said.
"And you'd better not mistake me for any of them," he said. "I'm Sakahagi; I will grow stronger, enough that I can flay even you. So who are you?"
The voice chuckled. "Such spirit, but you have a long way to go to match me. I am Gozu-Tennoh. I am merely a spirit right now, existing on hatred and seeking revenge. But no death can put an end to me. I seek one who will fulfill my hatred and you have promise for revenge."
Frowning, he looked at his knives as they were more important. "Hmph, I will not be anyone's hit man. I fight for myself, only myself. You would merely claim the profit and glory when I do all the hard work."
"I would bestow my power onto one who could assist me. You still have the potential for Reason, although time is running short on your chances to claim it."
"A Reason?" He brought out a whetting stone to begin sharpening his blades. They needed to be constantly and consistently sharp to match his wishes.
"A Reason is a seed for Creation, the cause of a new world to follow," Gozu-Tennoh said. "You could start a new world with yourself as an emperor."
"I don't need that kind of power," Sakahagi said, irritated at the offer. "And I don't need your power, whatever that may be. I will make my own power. If I make my own world, it would be my world, not derived from anyone else." He ran the stone against the edge. "Not even a god."
"You need the power of a god to have the power over Creation," he said. "As it is right now, you can't even command demons."
"Is that what you think?" he said. "I will find a way. They will see the blood I shed and they will worship me."
That finally angered Gozu-Tennoh. "You may be different, but you are still a mud doll. You could not gain that much power, not even if you claimed an artifact like the Yahirono Himorogi from the fairies in Yoyogi Park. You wouldn't even be able to lay a hand on it as you could not defeat even the simpering fairies."
"Hmph, like I care what a dead god thinks," Sakahagi said, continuing his task. He ignored anything more that Gozu-Tennoh tried to say, then walked off once he was satisfied with the sharpness of his blades.
But still, it gave him some thought. This Himorogi thing was some powerful artifact, huh? And it was only fairies guarding it, something that could gain him the power to control demons, even gods. There was something about it that felt real, like the blue light of Kagutsuchi would reveal truths and lies through the vast skylights over the stairs. Which was ridiculous, even if it felt so real.
"I was thinking of hunting fairies next anyhow," Sakahagi said to himself, tucking his knives away. "Might as well look into this Himorogi thing. I will get the demons to worship me, perhaps even the humans of a new world. Hmm..."
Unseen by the violent manikin, an angel watched over him and heard his words. She put the lily she kept to her lips. "Good, good. Then you will be the evil to test the resolve of our new representative. The Demifiend is still too unpredictable, but you should do as I hope."
She then vanished, off to watch the girl in the same unseen manner.
When Yuko woke up, there was a glass of water and some bread on a milk crate nearby. She was lying on a couch in what appeared to be a break room. Tables were folded up by the walls and a pair of vending machines were near the door. On a corkboard nearby, old notices and ads were pinned up from whoever had worked here, wherever here was. Blue light spilled in from long windows overhead, falling over the couch she was on.
A group of blue-green butterflies flitted about the room. "I manifested what I could," they said in Aradia's voice. "I know not how to operate these machines."
"Thank you," Yuko said. It was good enough for now; she wasn't sure if the vending machines would work without power. "What now?"
"You need to recover." Aradia said. "After that, you may negotiate with the fairies here to find the Yahirono Himorogi. It is somewhere here in Yoyogi Park."
"It'll open the road to Kagutsuchi," she said, recalling that from the scriptures. "But, what's the name of my Reason? I have you as a goddess to represent me, but I need to know the name."
"The name will come to you, from within you," Aradia said.
"That doesn't make it any clearer," Yuko said.
"I believe in you."
She wouldn't say anything more, so Yuko was left with the humble meal and her thoughts. The bread was rough and full of seeds, presumably to provide more nutrients. As for the water, it'd be generous to call it cool and refreshing; it held off thirst and little more. The couch had a cheap cushion that creaked a bit any time she shifted her weight. Still, it was better than being lost to depths beyond human knowledge and hardly able to realize herself within it.
What was the name of her Reason? She had a god sponsoring her, so she had to have a Reason of some sort. Yuko wanted the world to be better. Of that, she was sure. But how? She didn't like how a chosen few who met specific ideals rose to glory while nearly everyone else felt like they fell through the cracks for being flawed. And of those chosen few, there were tales that even they felt lost and unworthy. Yuko wanted a world where people didn't feel like that.
Beyond that… she wasn't sure. What was it about the old world that made people feel lost in darkness when others saw them shine? It was a hard question to answer when she knew that she suffered from the same bias as well. Students admired her and her friends seemed to think well of her. However, Yuko always felt like they were only seeing a false part of herself. Even of those who knew… she'd been married once and almost had a child of her own. But her body had failed and everything came apart as a result. The school hadn't questioned things when she asked for medical leave in the first week of a new school year, when she was actually meeting with Hikawa to prepare for the Conception. After all, she'd taken such leaves before.
In all the time spent with therapy and in hospitals, she saw how widespread such silent suffering was. She was almost lucky in that people seemed to be more mindful of her knowing what had happened. But it didn't take an irreversible tragedy to make people suffer with sorrow. It shouldn't take such an extreme to get help. If only there was something people could keep a solid faith in, to know things could be okay even in uncertain times.
But whatever God was out there had allowed for something like Conception to exist. That was not a god who would care about what mortals suffered with. Aradia cared; she wanted to give people hope. While she could do a better job in a new world, it was no good until Yuko had a name to present to Kagutsuchi.
What was the name of her Reason? What were the ideals that she could just barely grasp?
And, was she really worthy of such a power as Creation?