Chapter 3 – Short Peace
"By the way, is it only me, or do you two also remember everything from birth till death?" Keiko asked.
"Actually… Yes, I do," Aya replied surprised. "If I focus hard enough… Uhuh… Amazing!"
Nami frowned and closed her eyes, but quickly she opened them and shouted, "Wow!"
Suddenly, a small whirl made of sakura petals appeared, and amidst it, a dark-haired woman in a violet kimono with floral patterns appeared.
"Oh, hi Ami!" Aya cheered.
"For fucks sake!" Amaterasu shouted. "Not you too!?"
"Wait, Ami?" Keiko asked. "Oh shiiiiiiiit!" she shouted and started prostrating.
"Took you your sweet time to recognize me…" the goddess sighed. "Get up, Keiko. In this afterlife, I won't bother you with stuff from your brief existence. And your sin was absolved with a markup by Toshiro anyway, so you don't have to sweat around me."
"R-Really?" she asked carefully as she raised her head.
"Really," Amaterasu said softly.
"Uh, who are you again?" Nami asked suddenly.
The goddess shook her head in disdain and said, "You surely saw my apparition on paintings…"
"Paintings? Are you some kind of historical figure?"
"Incredible… But I don't blame you; you haven't been all that religious in your life," Amaterasu shrugged.
"Religious?" Nami asked and looked closer at Amaterasu. "Oh, you're that goddess! Uhh… Whatsherface!"
Amaterasu gave Nami a sour face, but then a lightbulb almost literally popped up above her head.
"You're just playing dumb!" Ami shouted triumphantly.
Nami snickered fiercely and said, "Yes, I'm sorry, old habits never die. Of course I know who you are, you called us to that big meeting back then when Cousin deified everyone."
"Heh, right… I had to test the outreach of my new power, so I just forcefully teleported everyone. And damn me, but that surprised the afterlife out of me, hahaha!"
Nami snorted and burst out into laughter, causing a bit of consternation from around Keiko, but Aya only giggled and said, "Ami is very friendly towards humans."
"I see…"
"If I didn't knew better, I'd smite you all!" Amaterasu laughed and put her hand forward to Nami. "Amaterasu-ōmikami, pleased to meet you in person."
"Oh, hi there, I'm Nami! Buuut, you probably know that," Nami snickered as she shook her hand.
"I know a loooot of stuff," Amaterasu mused. "So, you probably want to know why you can remember your lives so vividly?"
"Well yeah," Aya said.
"You're dead, so something like a brain and its drawbacks don't concern you, simple as that."
"Sounds legit," Nami shrugged.
"Right? Aya, I want to talk to you after you're finished with Keiko, okay?"
"Sure thing, Ami," Aya smiled and looked as the goddess disappeared.
"Now, where were we?" Keiko asked. "Ah, yes, my miserable life. Sit down, and I'll tell you aaaaaaaaall about it."
My years as a young lass were rather carefree, to be perfectly honest. The head priestess was like a mother to me, just like she was a figurative mother to all of the priestesses. I haven't had trouble with finding friends, as there was a girl a year younger, and a year older than me in the temple.
You may laugh at me, since it's obvious now, but I was taught how to read and write, thoroughly and painfully, I might add. I was taught all the various rituals and whatever is a priestess did. Did I already say I had a carefree life? Yeah, I probably did. I gained responsibilities with age, but I wasn't swamped with them suddenly, everything came gradually.
First helping in the kitchen, or more like trying not to get in the way of the older priestesses, then actually doing something meaningful like washing dishes or my first attempts at cooking. Ugh, that was a catastrophe. But anyway, I also swept the temple grounds, washed the floors in the living area, et cetera.
"How did the temple look anyway?" Aya asked. "I remember Grandpa telling me that it was placed in the side of the mountain?"
"You're probably referring to the state Toshiro found it in? I'll get to that later, give me second, kay?"
"Heheh, Kei…" Nami chuckled.
"Hey, hey, we're not that close yet…" Keiko pouted. "Well, continuing…"
The Shinka-no-jinja itself was a small masterpiece of architecture. The entrance was an ornate portal, leading through a broad but short pathway. Inside, you had an enormous cavern, open from the top, which gave us light and rainwater, but in case of heavy rain or snow, we had a drainage system. The temple itself was a rather normal temple, from what I could gather, but it still was amazing.
Once I turned thirteen, I became initiated. I could finally see what the hubbub was about that whole Sacred Flame. I was led into the secret room, where a white flame was burning on it's own, floating in the air above an altar decorated with a shimenawa rope.
And you know what was weird? My magic manifested right then. Up until that moment, I didn't even know I was capable of magic! My fellow priestesses took it as a good omen, and I started being trained with the use of my magic. Practice, practice, and more practice – that's how you usually train. But I had an addition to that pattern. Every year, I received something called a Spark of the Sacred Flame.
"Oh, wuzzat?!" Nami asked vividly.
"I'm getting to that, calm down!"
So every year, I received a small incense stick, lit with the Sacred Flame. After meditating upon it, my power grew. It wasn't a groundbreaking power-up, but it was noticeable. I asked Himiko, the head priestess, why I couldn't get more of that.
"The Sacred Flame is a potent godly magical sacred entity, my child. If you were to take it into your body more often, or the kami forbid, as a whole, you would go mad."
Of course, I had no saying in the temple, because of my young age, but that spurred me to become more powerful on my own, but at the same time, I was assigned to the economics division in the temple. Our goal was to provide for the temple, since it was a bit remote, and the donations weren't always enough, so we went to Yokosuka or even farther to search out for sponsors.
I was nervous for my first trip, because for thirteen years, I only saw the city from afar, if there was good weather. We went in a group of four: me, Kunika, the one that was a year older than me, Ryuuko, our treasurer, and lastly there was Chiyo, the one of the defenders of our temple.
"Defenders?" Aya asked.
"We were all women, Aya," Keiko said. "Bandits, rogue witches, you name it – there were many who would want to plunder the temple and do many things to us. So Himiko decided that we will have a guard unit, made out of the tomboyish girls, and those with great offensive magic."
"Hold on… Why weren't you assigned to that unit then?" Nami asked.
"I'll get to that, damn you!" Keiko laughed.
I was amazed by how big the town was, how many different people there were going around. But I also had contact with the cancer festering upon the flesh of this world: poverty, violence, slavery. Kunika and I were shocked by what happened around us, but Ryuuko said that this was necessary; that we had to see how the world looks like outside the comfy cocoon of our temple.
Then I met him – a common boy in ragged clothes, with a distinct birthmark above his left eyebrow. He gave me a peach, which I probably should refuse right then, but I was too amazed to do anything. Chiyo gave me a kick in the ass so I would move, since we were already going home.
Back at the temple, I was bedazzled by what happened. My focus was utterly lost, and I was treating the peach like some kind of relic. And of course Himiko found out.
"My child, it has come to my attention that you're rather… hmm… absent minded lately."
"Oh? I don't feel like it…"
"Your own words only confirm that, Sweetie," she placed her hand on my head. "I think I have to tell you about some things, especially since you have started bleeding lately."
Himiko lectured me for a good hour, telling me about the proverbial birds and bees, some stuff about women physiology, and about love. But contrary to what you might believe, she didn't outright demonize it. She calmly and rationally explained everything, both from the standpoint of a woman, and a priestess.
What was predictable was the fact that she forbade me from intersexual contacts, especially at such a young age.
"And did it work?" Nami asked.
"It should have worked, but my character was always a bit uncouth and rebellious. You'd think thoroughly explaining about the dangers of the forbidden fruit would make you covet it less, right?"
"Sorta," Nami shrugged.
Our sponsor rallies were a monthly event, and I was assigned to each one for a while. During each one, the boy found me. During our second meeting, he told me his name – Hiroto. He wasn't that a commoner I thought he was, because he was the son of a not-so-wealthy merchant. From meeting to meeting, each of us learned a bit about each other. But as I could be predicted, Himiko got wind of it, and after the sixth one, she gave me such a lecture that I couldn't sit for two days straight. Immediately I was also moved to the guard squad, so my abilities and ego could find a focal point.
I was angry at first, but then I realized I was moved to a more prestigious division. Hiroto quickly faded from my memories, and I was now happy that I had this new function. I quickly advanced in the ranks, and by my eighteenth birthday, I was vice-captain of the guard.
And from thereon, my life went down the crapchute.
Soon after my eighteenth birthday, and after my promotion, Himiko told me about my heritage. Up until then, I was told that I was found on the doorstep of the temple, without anyone in sight. She told me about who my mother was, and who my father was. She also told me why I was here, and that my mother died in labor. She even gave me that ring, as a memento of my mother.
"And how did you react?" Aya asked cautiously.
"I. Was. Furious," she answered slowly.
That was probably the first time I rebelled for real and in all seriousness. The first thing I have done was to find Hiroto. Since I was the vice-captain of the guard, I knew almost everything about how the patrols work, how the priestesses move around et cetera. I managed to sneak out of the temple in the middle of the day, and scoot off to Yokosuka.
My only lead was his name, and the fact that his father was a merchant. I bumped into comrade in faith, a priest from the town temple. He was knowledgeable enough to point me out to the store of Hiroto's shop. In that indirect way, he also told me that Hiroto's father was either dead or terribly ill.
Arriving at the shop, I indeed saw that the sign over the shop had his name on it. He was alone inside, without a single customer inside. That was probably normal, since he was dealing in spices, and not every Taro could afford them back then, as opposed to what you girls could afford at your age.
He didn't recognize me at first, but he was happy that there was a customer. Well, he did frown that I was in my miko robes, which was a dead giveaway that I wanted something. He changed physically, that was obvious. From a scamp that was barely higher than I was, he was now towering over me by a head length. His facial features became more prominent, giving him a mature look, and his muscles were bulging out from everywhere.
"Um… Hello, Hiroto…" I said shyly.
"Hello, Miss? Do we know each other?"
"We last met almost five years ago…"
His face had surprise written all over it, but he quickly asked, "Keiko? Is that you?"
"Umm… Yeah…"
"My, you're so beautiful! Oh, pardon, can I even say something like that about a priestess?"
"Well… It's nice that you see a woman in me…" I replied with my cheeks burning.
"What brings you here, Keiko? Do you want some spices for the temple? I thought old man Gintaro is supplying you, is that correct?"
"Yeah, he's still supporting us, thank the kami… I… I just wanted to see you… I don't know what to do anymore…"
"What happened, Keiko? You look sad."
"It's just… I learned about something and… I made a decision."
"Can I know about it?"
"Revenge," I said coldly. "But first I want to live my life a bit. There are things that the head priestess told me about, which I shouldn't think about… I wanted to try some of that out…"
"Eh? What on Earth are you talking about Keiko?"
"Have you ever kissed a woman before, Hiroto?"
"Yeeeeees… But is that relevant to…"
I didn't give him time to finish. I planted my lips on his, and things went on. So to speak.
"And I was tying my tits in a knot whether to give myself to my beloved… Sheesh…" Aya sighed. "You sure skipped a few stages there, Keiko."
"I know I know…" she muttered. "And a priestess to boot, right?"
The girls found me shortly after sunset. They frowned heavily, and I was silent the whole time, from Yokosuka, until we arrived at the temple, and through my week punishment of solitary confinement. I wasn't stripped of my rank nor privileges, but I was definitely on the short list of the head priestess.
During my punishment, I was thinking heavily, plotting my revenge on both Nobunaga and Mori. I had all it took to do it – mighty magic, a good sword, and great training. Well, I was missing one thing, and I wanted to take it by force.
Just after being released, I took a few days to make sure nothing changed. And nothing indeed changed, which was beneficial for my plan. I took my sword, strapped it on my back, and rushed to the secret room.
I approached the Sacred Flame, which was floating there as usual. My heart was racing as I moved my right hand towards it, but just before I could touch it, a voice thundered behind by back.
"Stop, Keiko!"
I turned around and saw Himiko, with Chiyo and Mamiko assisting her, standing in the doorway of the room.
"In the name of everything that's holy, stop right now!" Himiko thundered.
"Why should I stop?!" I shouted.
"The Sacred Flame is not meant for mortals! You will die if you take it into you in its entirety!"
"Is that a confirmed fact, or just hearsay?"
Himiko twitched slightly, but she adamantly responded, "It's been passed on as a truth."
"Ah, so nobody ever found it out, right? What doesn't kill you, and so on…" I turned around again, but HImiko had something up her sleeve.
"I will take you to Nobunaga," Himiko said calmly. "You can talk out your differences with both him and Ranmaru-hime."
"Oh no, head priestess, this has gone too far already…" I turn around. "Nobunaga and Mori have to pay for what they did to my mother. That is a treason that has to be hunted till the ends of the Earth, and until the bloodline of the traitors soaks the soil on which we thread!"
I jumped back, and I felt that my body was being lifted up, and a great warmth engulfed me. I could feel the raw power coursing through my flesh and bones.
"Foolish mortal…" a voice in my head said. "You think that I, a tear of Kōjin will just let you, a simple mortal control me as if I am your pet, just to enact petty revenge? No, this is not what you will receive from me. What you will receive will be divine punishment!"
My vision turned red, and pain coursed through my entire body. But I couldn't even scream. And what was the worst, my body started to move on its own.
"Keiko? Are you okay?" Himiko asked. "Is everything all right?"
My right hand moved on its own and unsheathed Hompou Shishi on its own. I could feel the familiar texture of the silk wrapping the hilt with a never before experienced sensitivity. Before the three could even react, and before I could even fathom it, my blade was stuck in the stone floor under Himiko. My head tilted up, and I saw that she slowly slid apart, cut right down from the top of her head, with terror plastered on her face.
"Himiko!" the two beside her shrieked.
My body didn't miss a beat with bothering to pull out the blade. Chiyo received an open palm thrust to the chest. I could see a bloody fountain spraying out of her back and on the wall behind her. Chiyo's body went into shock immediately and she fell down dead before she could blink.
"I will kill you!" Mamiko yelled furiously and swung her spear towards me.
My hands moved like a blur, and the spear got split in half. In another move, my left hand pulled out my sword and delivered a wide cut into Mamiko's abdomen. She spat blood and fell to her knees, and the jolt resulting from the fall separated her upper body from her legs.
I was terrified seeing that, but I couldn't do anything. My body moved on its own, methodically sweeping the temple grounds, and being stealthy as possible about it too. The Sacred Flame spared nobody. I had to witness all those surprised, angry, pleading, and sad faces I saw when my own sword cut my friends down against my will.
At one point, I could behold myself in the mirror. My eyes were glowing fiercely red, and my body was clad in some kind of white aura. But the worst was yet to come, because at that time, all of the priestesses started gathering for common prayers in the temple antechamber. I wanted to scream, to warn my comrades, but it was all to naught. The power taking control over my body had a firm grasp. The first things that hit the crowd was a half-crescent magic wave, which now I know is named the Reppuzan. Most of the priestesses were cut in half like there were standing, but some of them managed to either dodge or block it with their shields. Those who survived were murdered with cold blood so fast that I had trouble counting the individual cuts of the blade. The last two that fell were the guards in the front of the main gate.
"My job is done," the Sacred Flame said.
I was standing before the entrance to the temple, and I could see the winter sun rising. I knew that I had control over my body now, but I couldn't turn around. The snow around me was swept clear as usual, so I could hear the blood dripping off my sword. I fell on my knees and started lamenting:
"What have I done!? My whole family, cousins, fellow witches… What kind of demon possessed me to do it… Gods! Why have you forsaken me?!"
And then, I heard her voice, thundering from the skies.
"It was not the gods that have forsaken you; it was your thirst of power that brought doom upon your loved ones."
"But… how… why…"
"In your quest for improving your magical power, you temporarily overloaded your body with a power you could not possibly control, and that you were warned about – the Sacred Fire – Seika." The voice explained. "Instead of harnessing its power, your mind and body went berserk, the results of which was this massacre. That power still dwells in your body however, and I sense that you are pregnant after you have committed the sin of adultery with a man from outside the shrine. Normally I would smite you were you stand, but in this case however I shall make an exception. From this day forward, your family name will be erased from the annals of history, and from the minds of the whole human race, you are now Keiko Akayama, so the future generations will know of your crime of staining this mountainside retreat with the blood of the innocent. I shall also seal your magic power for this and the future generations, until a worthy heir will be found, and the sign of it shall be this mark under your wrist."
My left wrist started burning as if it was prod with a red-hot iron bar. I could see some mark unknown to me forming there out of nothing.
"Go, foolish mortal. You and your descendants will pay for your sin for all eternity. You will always be alone, but somehow you always will find yourself pregnant, and able to raise a child, who will have a child and so forth. This punishment will go on no matter the circumstances."
I could hear a rumble behind me, but I still was unable to look back.
"This temple will now be sealed until it is ready to see one of your descendants, and your sword inside of it. I banish you from this place, Keiko Akayama."
"Wow, Ami really got pissed off," Aya said.
"Indeed," Keiko sighed. "After that, I went to Yokosuka. Hiroto didn't recognize me, and he cast me out of his shop like some beggar. I decided to go to Kyoto, and to enter another shrine. I was took in, but I was shunned all the time. The worst thing was that after I gave birth to Mayuri, I felt so depressed that I took my life…"
"Postpartum depression," Aya said.
"What?" Nami and Keiko asked in sync.
"Also called postnatal depression. It's a recognized psychological affliction, but you really pulled the shortest straw…"
"I had something to do about that," Amaterasu's voice sounded out of the air suddenly and she appeared amongst them. "Now I'm kind of sorry for all of that, but you did deserve to be punished. For all the lives you have took, maybe the 60th generation after you could live normally. And before you even throw the "but it wasn't her fault" shtick, I only reply – Keiko was warned."
"I know…" Keiko said quietly.
"You're lucky that Toshiro did his job," Amaterasu smiled and patted Keiko on the head suddenly. "Aya, let's talk later, okay? I know you want to talk to other people."
"Okay, I'll do just that, you don't have to repeat yourself."
'Oh, look, I think we'll have guests soon," Nami said and pointed out at a peculiar quartet coming their way.
"Nobunaga, Mori, Himiko, and Mom…" Keiko started tearing up. "At least in the afterlife we can bury the hatchet…"
"We'll be going, Nami," Aya winked and pulled the sleeve of her friend.
"Ah, I understand," Nami smiled. "Where too now?"
"Let's find my real great-grandfather."
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