You are Exalted!

Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story.

Arc 1: Exaltation.

Chap 1.4: Adopted by the Rising Sun.

I was looking at the city of Okinawa-shi or Uchinaa in the local dialect from the balcony of a cheap hostel room as I contemplated my decision to go to Japan to begin my quest for saving this world.

It was a bad idea.

I looked back at the many pamphlets, magazines and books on the bed. The authorities of Okinawa had welcomed me to their islands and I was scheduled to meet many people in the future. There were a few tests done that revealed my considerable physical might for a ten years old girl and the first tier university-level of my skills. On the PRT scale I was a low level Brute, Shaker and Thinker. In fact apart from history, I blew up all their tests. I used this pretext to acquire recent publications about Japan and the world and I discovered that I made an error.

In my defence, I was not that knowledgeable with the Worm setting.

Oh, I knew the big picture, but it's always the little details that make everything crash.

I knew about the Entities, the true nature and name of Scion and the endless quest to escape the Heat Death of the universe by trying to use the imagination and wits of others to somehow create energy ex-nihilo. And, of course, how the Space Whales destroyed everything after it failed to beginning the cycle again somewhere else.

I knew about the true origin of the Endbringers, their nature, their powers and how they tried to circumvent their enslavement.

I knew why Cauldron was created; how they acted; who was their biggest guns, the secret behind the cases 53 and why they thought they were justified in what they did and will do.

I knew the true power of Taylor Hebert; how she became Skitter; how and why she interacted with the whole of Brockton Bay and how she escalated into Khepri.

And I knew the global situation of Earth Bet... Somewhat...

I remembered a handful of my past lives being angry at the late Chejop Kejak for his wilful blindness, Great Curse or not and I was doing the same thing.

To be frank, Japan was completely screwed: After the destruction of Kyushu by Leviathan, the economy of the country was down the hole and didn't seem to coming back. They were no more than a third world power. Almost no export and they were barely able to meet their import needs.

There was a massive brain-drain to other countries and anyone who had the money went somewhere else. Cancer rate was through the roof due to the contamination by the nuclear reactors sunk with Kyushu. Almost ten million people had been killed and the morale of the population was lower than just after the end of World War Two.

I knew that nearly all the Japanese parahumans had been killed by Leviathan, but even the few remaining and most of the new ones were leaving the country and since I already knew about Lung and Oni Lee, I really felt like I should slapped myself.

And the cherry on the top was the Ultra-nationalists. It reminded me about the Japanese self-isolation during the Edo period of 1615 to 1868, especially the political decision of the Tokugawa government decision to reduce foreign influence, so tourism and the interest of other financial and industry groups were no longer encouraged and sometimes even actively barred out. Of course, it wasn't as if the whole world economy depended on ALL the countries on Earth, right? And I wasn't about to speak about the corruption in the bureaucracy and their links with criminal organizations.

There was no PRT as the role was taken by the JSDF and there was ONE official hero team. Which was good since there was also only one official villain team...

"Nippontai" was a government-sponsored group of currently five members who did public relation appearances, assisted the local and national authorities and provided help in case of emergency and disaster. They were all low level parahumans on the PRT scale and generally cooperated with the JSDF when they were confronted by bigger problems. They operated mainly in the Tokyo area and depended on the military for transport and logistics. The only good point was that the JSDF seemed a little more efficient than the PRT, of course they didn't have the big fishes that the USA had.

The villain team was called "Okami", but they were mainly low-level thieves and wanted only to survive in this insane world and to be left alone. Of course, they also operated in Tokyo and clashed regularly with Nippontai and the various criminal organizations, Yakuza mainly. They had also, big surprise, five members. In fact they really reminded me of the Undersiders of Brockton Bay.

There were a few Rogue-type parahumans here and there, but most left Japan as soon as they could.

As for the population: Prostitution and drug-using had sky-rocketed. Some region experienced rationing and the black market was doing a killing. Youth gangs proliferated and urban violence was a normal part of life. All this was exacerbated by the education elitism that the government tried to maintain. They needed well-educated people which needed well-educated teachers and most of those who strived to be well-educated bought a one-way ticket once they had their diploma. The school landscape looked sometimes like a blend of Hentai mangas and "Battle Royal" with under-aged prostitution rings, gang fighting and bullying.

In brief, Japan was a non-entity in the Worm setting. I was sure that it was referenced by Cauldron, the PRT and the Protectorate as simply as the location of one Endbringer attack and the country of origin of many of their villains.

NO!

Damn it! No! I won't let it go! I won't go the hermit way, seized a part of the world and build the first steps of an empire as a warlord. I was better than that! They were better than that! They were not garbage: They were soiled rough gems that only needed a good wash and polish to shine by themselves.

If I needed to dirty my hands with blood and ashes to reveal what they were; if I needed to tarnish my halo with darkness to let others glowed then by the Unconquered Sun I WILL do it!

I breathed deeply to calm myself. It would be tough, but I could do it. As the Chinese proverb from Laozi said: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Let's take this step...

And hopefully avoid falling down the stairs...

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It worked better than I thought initially.

It wasn't too surprising while Japan needed all the help they could have, they couldn't really pay well for it.

Most of their procedures for parahumans were copied from their American allies. However, they didn't have a Ward program and preferred to send their young capes to the USA. There was nothing mandatory and if I wanted to stay and help then I was welcomed.

However, the elephant in the room was there wasn't a very good foster system in Japan. Most of the children under the care of the state lived in Child Welfare Institutions. Normally, they housed 50 to 80 children, but could go to 150 for some. The institutions varied widely in style: Some were organized into small units of six children in home like settings, others have dormitory rooms of 12 children, some mixed boys and girls while others kept them separate. Some institutions provided excellent care and saw a very high percentage of their care-leavers progressed to university. Other institutions seemed outdated with a staff to child ratio of one member for four children. And there weren't many volunteers to help.

The Senaga Institute of the town of Tomigusuku near Naha, the biggest city of the island, was... average. It was the only child welfare facility of the island of Okinawa and housed a hundred of children from 3 to 18 years old. The ratio was of one member staff for three children. The landscape was semi-urban with a small wood and the nearby ocean... Not too bad actually.

The director was an old woman that gave Grandmother vibes. Madam Uehara seemed to be both competent and fair, a rare blend. We hit really good at first sight. She and I talked about what would be done with me in the future and what I should do at the institute.

It began with good hopes and faith: I would introduce myself to my peers, but I should hid my parahuman factor at first until I was completely integrated. She acknowledged that rumours would rapidly reveal my nature, but would prefer a gradual approach. I was forbidden to abuse my physical strength except in emergency to protect myself and my peers. Since my education was outside the capacities of the staff, I would be taught by various tutors coming to the institute: It wasn't the first time that a child needed specialised education in this institution. The possible trainings and parahuman tests well outside a normal education would be handled at the JSDF anti-aircraft training facility.

As time progressed there would be PR appearances, good-will travels and a few interviews for various media. But that was not for now. In brief, I understood that they hoped to cultivate me as a national hero and a rallying point for other parahumans.

And, of course, it crashed when confronted by reality... A rather ironic thought for a Solar Exalt. Oh, the children weren't monsters, but I was a new face in an established order. There were cliques and a pecking order. They were all of Asian phenotype and I showed a strong North European phenotype. And I was beautiful like a goddess. The numbers of black glares when I presented myself to them was almost a physical sensation.

The children were mostly girls of 12 to 14 years old. The few dozens of boys stayed mainly with themselves and interacted only with girlfriends and the rare siblings. The youngest followed the various leaders and the oldest focused on their education. There was two main cliques: One was numerous and composed of normal girls with normal feminine interests. The second group was a few tough-looking teenagers and seemed to live on the shady side of life. I felt like a puppy in a bowling game. Bullying was mainly passive and consisted of harsh words. Violence was a big no-no and was reduced to shoves and demonstrations of strength. The staff was competent, following the director's example and rapidly acted with efficiency. I was encouraged to make friends and to talk about my problems. No, frankly if I wasn't in the Worm setting, it wasn't too bad, more like Arcadia than Winslow.

I rapidly imposed myself not as a follower or a leader, but as a neutral party and a good listener. Well, I did have to experience a few light hazing. Having all Craft skills at the professional level was very helpful to repair broken things and the staff appreciated it. I was a powerhouse in the physical activities but I mainly focused on my Martial Art skill. I needed the time to meditate on the flows of Essence that I could perceive. I needed their library and Internet access to learn new things. I needed the tutors to improve my current skills.

As for the boys... It was a nightmare. I was being solicited almost daily. I had to twist a few arms to be left alone by most of them, but I still found "love letters" in my shoe locker. Since I lived with five other girls in a dormitory, I wasn't harassed in my privacy. Well as much privacy as you could have with young teenager girls. My personal items were few since I had only the strict necessary for now. My amulet was a godsend since the local tradition at the institute wanted that clothes circulated rapidly among the girls of the same size so I selected a standard sailor fuku as my signature wear and let them tried the few clothe sets bought for me by the staff.

The boys had one floor for themselves at the top of the main building and the girls occupied the rest. The younger children and the oldest lived in the two wings of the central building which housed the administration and the kitchens. The classrooms were in another building and there was a large sport court. There was one bathroom per dorm and it was a real war in the morning. There was two communal baths, but they only opened in the evening. I found to my horror that I always woke up with the sunrise so I used that to have my exercises the early morning and sneaked into the bathroom before the rush. It also nicely prevented my room-mates to have suspicions about my clothes.

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The small wood at the institute looked exactly like a tropical rainforest, well a very small one at least. It was a favourite for the children as a secret dating location and as a good path for a morning jogging among the staff.

For me it was a good area where I could sense the natural flow of Essence as I ran and leapt among the trees. It was like a wire-fu film as I jumped up and across 5 to 10 meters from tree to tree.

I let my instincts guided me and I found myself in a very nice grove. I smiled and lie down in the grass, closing my eyes and letting my Essence ebb and flow in harmony with the grove's rhythms. It was invigorating, it was as if... "I was in a Demesne...!"

I got up and really looked at the grove. No... It wasn't like a Demesne where Dragon lines gathered in a natural pool of Essence, it was more like... a gate..? Yes, more like the gate to a Spirit's Sanctum! I shook my head: The grove was the crossroad of two small Dragon lines and at the exact nexus, there was a Spirit Gate, the door to a spirit domain. I focused on my Essence, willed on my caste mark and triggered Spirit-Detecting Glance.

Wow! It was a Torii, a Japanese temple gate in red wood. I breathed deeply and lightly touched the threshold between reality and spiritual. Feeling a connection and a curious mind I spoke for the first time since Aeons in Old Realm. "I am Luminous Amber! I respectfully asked for permission to enter!" After an instant, I disappeared from the grove as if I was suddenly aspired into nothing.

I gracefully landed on a path of cut stones. The dimmed tones of reality had been replaced by the vibrant nature of the Spiritual Plane. Here everything was pure will, Essence and faith. The grove had been replaced by or more exactly regained her true nature of a luxuriant valley. I walked the path to a Japanese pavilion with an old Japanese woman with silver grey hair and emerald eyes kneeling at the front. She was clad in a vibrant green yukata and I could see the motifs of trees and leaves swaying in a non-existent wind.

"Welcome to my Domain, Daughter of the Sun. I am Verdant Wind (Midori Yutakana Kaze)."

I bowed to her, letting Mastery of Small Manners guided me. She smiled and began a small tea ceremony to signify that I was really welcomed and confirmed that there was no hostility between us. We didn't speak at first with words: A glance, a raised eyebrow, a little smile or an inclination of the head were whole speeches during a tea ceremony. Enough to ensure to both of us that we had business, that I was here for knowledge and that I was an Exalt and not a God-blooded. It was at the last revelation that she betrayed her immense surprise through a trembling cup.

"It's been a long time since a chosen of the godswalked the Mortal Plane even for a little terrestrial god like me." There was a wishful sigh. "It's only because of my very own nature that I know what you truly are, Daughter of the Sun. What knowledge do you require of me?"

"Only what you think I should know."

She laughed and spoke. And I listened.

The mystical texture of this universe wasn't Creation, but I could easily draw parallels and associations: Essence was still the basic building block of reality. The universe carried his own chaos and its infinite potentiality within itself. The main Planes of Existence were the Infinite Material planes of mortals where Science and Magic could coexist, the Celestial Planes of the Pantheons which were the only places were the Divine could be found, the Infernal Planes where the negativity of Existence coagulated and the Netherworld which was the collective realms of all aspects about Death just before the Threshold of Oblivion. There were also some various lesser Planes more or less linked to the Material Planes like the Shadow-world where the shades of the dead could persist and reached the living, Arcadia where the True Fae reigned and touched the Dream-world and the Spiritual Plane where Elementals, Spirits and Terrestrial Gods lived and ensured the Natural Balance.

The Celestial Gods had left the Mortal Plane when the faith in them diminished to the harsh lights of Science. Only the mad and the insane attempted to breach Hell and were consumed promptly. The Netherworld continued to keep its secrets and always changed itself according to Faith. The Shadow-world was becoming bloated day after day. The Fae were seen only in dreams. The Spiritual residents of Reality withdrew themselves when Mankind stopped listening to Nature. And of course...

"Then the paired Outsiders broke into our plane. Their whole species was stained by the blood and tears of a thousand worlds. And they saw our mortals only as a food source." She shook her head. "Too few of them see that their own world is on the verge of Oblivion. Almost all of them use the tainted gifts of the Warrior and the few who tried to forge weapons from the flesh of the Thinker are only poisoning themselves and cursing thousands of innocents when they experimented." She looked straight into my eyes. "We maintain contact between all the spiritual enclaves regardless of the origins thanks to the mortals who disseminated their myths through all the world. Your arrival cannot remain secret, Daughter of the Sun."

"That is not my intention." She blinked. "I am going to work closely with the spiritual world as I help the mortals to rebuilt and preserve their planet and gradually to reopen their eyes on the nature of Existence."

She visibly paled. "Does... Does that mean that you are going to renew the Old Oaths?"

"It means that I am going to forge new ones." I smiled. "But only with mutual consent." She didn't hesitate and gripped my offered hand. "I promise help against the Natural Order and a voice to speak for those who aren't heard."

"I promise a place for training your gifts and making your Great Workings and my Seal for your introduction to the local Spiritual World."

My will and my power flared as I called upon a power etched in the heart of my Divine Spark. A rusted and almost non-existent prayer path built into the very fabric of the planes burst anew with golden energy, reaching the very Heavens. My Anima burned brightly, swirling with the words and runes that gave me the absolute right to sanctify an oath. "SO BE IT!"

I stayed until my Anima Banner calmed down, visited the lovely little shack with a bare area for training that Verdant Wind sculpted out of her Sanctum and profusely thanked her before leaving the colourful Spiritual World for the muted tones of the Material Plane.

I was too giddy about what happened and neglected to be aware of my surroundings as I walked back to the jogging path. A large hairy hand muffled my mouth and a sweaty limb lifted me from behind, blocking my arms. I was so surprised that I compounded my initial error by letting my aggressor transported me back into the thicker wood.

I was soon throw down on my back and gazed up my kidnapper. It was an ugly fat Asian man in the forties with an unshaven toad-like face sporting a creepy smile and the naked blade of a Balison knife in the hand. "Shhh... Good girl don't make a sound... Hee hee heee... Good girl stay down and let daddy making her feel reeaall good... Hee Heee..."

I didn't listen to him. My eyes widened as my still active Spirit-Detecting Glance could see two shades trying to stop his arms.

A shade was the echo left by the Dead. Like the higher soul-part Hun and the lower soul-part Po of Creation, Reality had the Soul who went the Netherworld and either entered the Reincarnation Cycle, went to the Beyond of their faith or passed the gate of Oblivion and reached That Is Beyond Any Understanding.

What was left on the Material Plane was a remnant, an echo of the person that could only persist through an Anchor. An anchor was what maintained the shade in existence until it was broken. An anchor was anything important to a person at the exact moment of her death. It could be an item, a loved one, a place or the very cause of their death.

I could see their young age. I could see the mask of suffering on their tearful faces. I could see the wounds of the knife on their skins. I could see the marks of strangulation and of the violation of their bodies. They were just girls of my own age... I saw red...

"You... SCUM!"

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Notes: This Japan of Worm is what I could find and deduce from the various wiki. If you have insights or knowledges, don't hesitate.

Nippontai is stolen from the game "Nova".

What I wrote about Child Welfare in Japan is unfortunately true. It's much less darker than in Worm, but it's based on real facts.

And yes, there will be Yakuza, Amber cannot really escape them unless she leaves now.

I hope that the Spiritual World was a good surprise. Think of "Spirited Away" and other works from the great Miyazaki for the mood.

I also hope that my cosmology was viable and structured enough. It's a blend between "Exalted", the various settings from the "World of Darkness" and the game "Scion".

Luminous Amber

Favoured Abilities: Martial Arts, Craft, Medicine, Occult & Dodge.

Charms known: Ox-Body Technique, Spirit-Detecting Glance & Mastery of Small Manners.

Background: Artefact 5, Allies 1(Verdant Wind), Contact 1(Okinawa government) & Resources 1.