Chapter 23: Judgment of Black and White

After finally exiting the musky Underground, Shina requested a quick break to relax and breathe in the fresh air. The sensation of purified air entering her nostrils felt so unfamiliar even after such a short time down there. She was also very relieved to have survived the excrutiating heats, as it made the cool spring breeze passing by feel all the better.

Once she was done relaxing they were off to their next destination, the Garden of the Sun. This was a place they hadn't really noticed on their preliminary overlook of Gensokyo, and for good reason. The garden was tucked away in one of the farthest corners of the land, a valley between two otherwise unimportant mountains. No one would think to come to this place unless they were told, and even still not even Youkai would dare get close to the place due to some unsavory rumors regarding the one who watches over the garden day in and day out.

The two took their time flying to the garden. Or rather, Alex was taking his time, and Shina was forced to keep pace. She noticed he wasn't looking in any particular direction. Like, his eyes were vacant and all of his activity was centered entirely in his brain.

She waved a hand in front of his face and got no reaction, then snapped her fingers a couple times and still got nothing. He'd been acting like this ever since they got out of the Underground, and she was starting to get a bit concerned.

"Hmmm..." She curled her bottom lip up and monitored him for any signs of life while trying to think on the same wavelength as him, "I know yer not feeling well Alex. You've been like this ever since you spoke with Hecatia..."

She closed her eyes and remained silent but optimistic with her smile, "I can't expect ya to be open about everything even now...But that's ok. Whenever you're ready, I'll be here for ya."

She patted him a couple times on the back, even though as he was now her touch would feel like a cloud. It didn't matter to her, it was simply meant to be reaffirmation to him that he wasn't alone.

Though seeing as how she was left alone with her thoughts, Shina decided to whip out the ol' artifact and think things over again regarding the Cosmos Drive.

"Gotta start from the top 'ere Shina..." She wrapped her fingers around the artifact's center and squeezed it gently, then closed her eyes and concentrated on it, "The artifact led us here. Then we've gone 'n searched most of Gensokyo for the Cosmos Drive and found nothing..."

She squinted her eyes tighter shut and her face crinkled up and wiggled from how deep her concentration got, "Phooey! Couldn't the Grand Cosmic Aurian Sage have left behind some memos on how to find the bloody thing?! Coulda at least told us if the artifact's supposed to react in close proximity or not!"

She gave herself a nice long pause then relaxed with a single breath, shook her head, and opened her eyes. It was no use yelling at a dead old man. Of course he wouldn't have made it easy. The fact that the Cosmos Drive's location could now be narrowed down to 50-50 odds of where it is was impressive enough. The idea that her and Alex's actions would go down in Aurian history for eternity didn't even cross her mind though.

"Golly, guess I'm just super antsy right now..." After giving herself that humorous evaluation, she laid a hand on her chest and felt the frantic rhythm of her heart. She clutched her hand into a fist and gave her chest a couple taps with it, then firmly nodded her head as the heartbeat slowed down.

She pinched her teeth together and let out a quiet giggle as she briefly reminisced the past, "Hard to believe we went from being blind as moles to being just a coin flip away from succeeding."

Her expression hardened up for a moment as the trials along the way reminded her of one loose end that could still rear its ugly head, "And even if the mastermind gets in our way, we're gonna stop 'em. Doesn't matter who they are, they can't beat the two of us!"

And then she looked up, and that serious look in her eyes melted away to be replaced with the sparkles of child-like wonderment. In this pocketed part of Gensokyo there was a wide-open plain of grass where each blade could reach up to her knees, and thus the gentle spring breeze made their dew soaked tips glisten like the surface of the ocean. In the center of it all was a cornucopia of sunflowers, each one standing as tall as houses. There had to be hundreds, maybe thousands of them in all, and yet none of them invaded each other's personal space.

With the sky as clear and blue as could be, Shina wished so, so much to find a spot in the garden and lay down for a nap amongst the gentle caress of the grass...But her priorities sadly lied beyond the garden's purview. From what she could recall, the way to the Ministry of Right and Wrong was hidden in plain sight.

"I think you access it through a...barrier?" She wasn't certain, and so against her better judgment she put a hand to Alex's left shoulder and started shaking him.

He responded quickly with exasperation and a twitchy arm that flailed Shina's own away. Then he looked at her with half-shut eyes and barked just a tiny bit, "What are you doing that for?!"

She retracted with embarrassment manifesting as a grin and hastily apologetic, "Sorry...I thought you were still thinking to yerself."

"...Oh." Even though she made the mistake, he was the one who ended up feeling more guilty. He slowly swiveled his head back, as though reflecting upon his error, then finally seemed to notice where they were.

"That was fast," He joked out of an attempt to sweep the moment of his wandering mind under the rug, "If I recall correctly there's a barrier at the other end of those sunflowers. Though...I guess it's more of a hidden rift than a barrier?"

"Soooo I'm guessing we gotta land in the sunflowers?"

Alex closed his eyes and a vein looked ready to pop on his forehead, "Ooooor we could just...I don't know? FLY straight to the barrier?"

That was...weirdly defensive of him. And it was kinda obvious as to why. Shina slowly opened her mouth and went, "Oooooooh! You don't want to fight Yuuka! I see, I see..."

Though Alex took it the wrong way and gave her a stinky glare, "Are you implying I'm scared? Cause I'm not."

She swung her hands around and insisted bluntly, "No no no! I get it, honest! She's a very overbearing person and you've dealt with enough of them for one day."

Alex closed his eyes and resumed sighing for a bit as he rubbed the side of his head, "We have an opportunity to avoid a fight for once, that's all there is too it..."

He lowered his hand and said, "...Sorry for snapping."

Of course she'd always accept a genuine apology, no matter how short they were. All she had to do was smile and giggle, and he knew how she felt. After that they flew straight over the Garden of the Sun, and ran straight into something weird.

The two phased between dimensions, but for Shina it felt as though they were pushing through a castle of gelatin. The air around them distorted, and blurred the line between reality and fantasy. It was unclear as to what lied beyond the rift until they were finally allowed to break through.

'Surreal' could describe a lot of Gensokyo, but this place just felt super, super surreal. What first triggered this response in Shina's head was the sky. There was no sun, no moon, not even clouds or stars. It was blanketed in a permanent sunset hue, and spread far out unto the horizon with very few differences.

Then there was the ground. It was covered in grass, but the individual blades were dark like pine needles and wouldn't move even if a hurricane blew through. Littered amongst the grass were these peculiar red flowers whose named escaped her. But she remembered they represented death and misfortune.

Yet ironically, they were the ionly things here that felt alive. Even the air was stagnant, and Shina quickly longed for the return of that pure sunflowery scent.

Alex must've felt similarly, as when he whiffed the air his face became agitated. Like, his nose nearly retracted into his skull, that's how bad it was.

"Yeeep...This is the afterlife alright." He gave a brief but harsh critique in those few words. Then he stuck his legs downward and dropped to the ground in an instant. Since they still had a mile to walk to their first stop, Shina figured he must've wanted a change of pace. And thinking on it, so did she. So she followed him down and lagged a couple steps behind.

He stopped to look back and ask "How are you holding up?" and she responded quickly, "Fine as usual!"

Though she added with a slight unease in her voice, "Its sooo weird being in the afterlife though, isn't it?"

"Hmph, its about as mopey and boring as I expected it to be."

"Well...dying ain't supposed to be all sunshine and rainbows." She knew that was a little grim coming from her, but Alex really needed that little pinch of realism.

But his mood remained sour, and as he laid a hand over his brows and stared up he grumbled, "Guess it would be asking too much to expect a beauracracy to shell out for some comfort for the unfortunate souls that come through here.'

She sucked her lips in and hummed as the mood now felt a little...uncomfortable, to say the least. Alex wanted to be done with that depressing anecdote as much as her though, and started walking down the slight knoll without saying another word.

Shina imagined he was thinking a lot about the afterlife as they headed for a lone river. He never seeemd the kind to do so, but in hindsight it would've been natural for someone who'd longed for death to have musings of what'd come next on occasion.

That was the furthest from her mind however. If Alex wanted to discuss it, she'd probably even try and divert the topic as soon as possible. It was simply hard to imagine herself not living to the ripe old age of 100 alongside her sister.

As they neared the slope's bottom they saw the river up close. It wasn't very wide and the water was knee-deep. If its pinkish tint didn't dissuade fools from crossing, then the lack of anything interesting beyond certainly would. There was a boat floating close by without a tether, and its owner was even closer to them in the midst of a nap against a slanted rock.

She had short pinkish-red hair with two ponytails tied by head beads and a tall, amazonion stature with large breasts. She wears a white dress underneath a blue vest, and uses an obi with a coin tied to the center to keep it all in place. Nestled off to her left was a very large and imposing scythe with a wispy ripple at the end of its gargantuan blade. One swing of that thing looked like it could cleave an ocean liner in two easily. But Shina guessed such a show of force might be a necessity, given her profession.

Komachi Onozuka ~ A Lax River Reaper

The slothy Shinigami's chest quietly rose and sank with every breath she took. It was hard to believe there'd be someone more into napping during work than Meiling, but there she was, snoring right in front of her company!

Though Shina felt calling her lazy was an insult. She looked at Komachi and saw a lion ready to pounce at the slightest prodding...And hopefully Alex wouldn't be the one attempting to awaken the slumbering beast this time.

Right now though he looked down at her and brought up a good point, "We can't cross the river without the use of her boat."

"So whaddya wanna do? Wait for her to get up?" She suggested with a queer chuckle.

"That'd take hours," He replied with a snide glance back, then as he started rubbing his chin his mind went exactly where she feared it would, "It'll wake her up."

Before his hand went down Shina snatched it up ands went "Nononono!" before grinning at him gently to say, "Remember Meiling? How she laid ya out flat like a freshly caught trout? Well...I don't wanna see ya get diced up into sushi too!"

Alex's eyes widened like he just remembered that previous encounter and got frightened. Thus, he pulled his hand back and admitted "You're right" before then sliding behind and patting her on the back to push her into the lead.

"She's all yours Shina." Nothing about his tone suggested wanting payback through her. He just simply had faith that she's the right woman for the job.

And she understood why...somewhat. No one would be cautious in her presence, not even this hyperaware reaper. Thus she slowly reached her hand out towards the Shinigami's smooth face, thinking to herself "Wakey wake-"

Then her heart retreated deep into the back of her chest as Komachi's scythe swung up towards her face in a blinding flash of silver. Her face lost all color and she screeched "Eeep!" as she froze up and stared into the blade, which cruelly reflected her scaredy-cat expression. The blade was just far enough not to cut, yet she felt as though she had been already. But that just turned her fear into amazement regarding the Shinigami's discipline.

Komachi lazily cracked one eye open and said with a deep, relaxed voice, "I knew you were there the whole time."

The Shinigami poked the scythe closer for a little harmless fun then used it as a prop to help stand up. She leaned her chin on her arms atop the blade and kept an approachable air around her as she talked, "So lets take a look here..."

After a cursory glance where Shina felt she was being stripped down to her soul, Komachi perked up and remarked, "You two are still alive huh? Did you come all this way for a sneak peek or..."

Then she slowly got more surprised until finally whispering, "Hold up, you're not even from this world!"

"You can tell?" Alex inquired.

"Its part of our jobs. Would you want your boss breathing down your necks all the time just cause a soul meant to go to Earth's Hell wound in Mars' one time?" Though Komachi's griping only came across as hot air for Alex.

"No...No I don't think we can relate to that." He sighed while leaning one hand on his hip.

"Mars has a Hell?" Shina obviously had her priorities straight however, "Does that mean there's al-"

"Ah forget it," Komachi propped her scythe over both her shoulders and chipperly asked, "So? What can I do for you?"

Shina perked up upon seeing her chance to strike with her request. She placed her hands together and said with a bright smile, "Would it be too much to ask to get a ferry ride to yer boss' workplace? We gotta ask her for some help with something reeeeally urgent."

"Sure, I don't see why not." Komachi just gave a brief shrug, but even for her that attitude seemed just a little too lax.

"Ok shinigami, what's the catch?" Alex said with arms crossed and an antsy tapping of his fingers.

Komachi looked rather offended and threw a bit of shade back in his face with a smirk, "I mean...I'll have to kill you both first."

Not that Alex would buy that, much to her disappointment. Though Shina turned pale once again, there was nothing too amusing about that now. So it was with a sad little shrug that she said, "I thought it was funny."

She then propped her scythe up in one hand and turned partway towards her boat, "Normally I'd charge you to cross the Sanzu River...But you're neither dead nor from this world so that's outside my jurisdiction."

She flashed a smile their way and pretended to grab onto the edge of a cap, "So today, I'll just settle for being your captain."

She leapt from there and floated all the way onto the bow of her little boat. She stood there like a statue and stared out onto the endless riverbank until Alex and Shina hesitantly go onboard. For one last scare, Komachi remarked, "Don't make any unnecessary movements. You wouldn't want to irritate the pirahnas."

Shina wrapped her arms around Alex's chest for safety, seeing how he had settled in about as stiffly as a boulder. After failing to impress yet again, Komachi sighed and pointed her scythe northbound, and the boat was off and running.

It took its dear time crossing the Sanzu River, barely covering a foot a second. Whether this was normal or not was something Shina'd have to guess at, as its not like she had experience being dead. Komachi's power was to manipulate distances, so she could hasten or drag out the journey at her leisure, and they'd be none the wiser.

"Not every day ya get a ferry ride from a Shinigami." If Shina did for some reason die prematurely, she'd like someone like Komachi to handle her soul. Minus her dark brand of humor, she seemed to an easy person to hold a conversation with.

"So K-" Alex quickly put a muzzle on her with his right hand, and that gave her time to realize her mistake and say in a muffled tone "Oh right!"

After Alex let go she changed her vocabulary lickity-split, "So miss..."

"Just call me Komachi. That's what everyone else around here does."

"Komachi..." Shina felt relieved not to be burdened by pronouns, "You must get a lotta work as a Shinigami, yeah?"

"There's the highs and lows, just like every other job. I'd say the last week's been a low."

"Not much to do?" Alex deduced.

"Not as many people are shuffling off their mortal coil these days. That shrine maiden's probably doing too good of a job out there." Komachi spoke lightly and pouted like a spoiled child, which while strange behavior normally, made sense for a Shinigami.

"...We're not talking about the same Reimu are we?"

"Unless she up and died recently, then yes."

Shina waved her hand up like an eager student and asked, "Can you tell us what yer favorite kind of dead person to talk to is?"

"Oooh, good question," Komachi hung her scythe over her shoulders and thought long and hard over the answer, "A lot of colorful folk pass through here. Dead princes, devoted monks, guys who cut their own necks, others who threw themselves off bridges..."

Shina regretted enabling this kind of talk a bit, but the actual answer would make all the gruesome details worth it. Komachi soon leaned over her left shoulder and said, "If I had to say...It'd be the people who are accepting of their deaths."

"A lot of souls tend to gripe about things they never got to do, but the ones that don't make for smoother sailing partners."

"Makes sense, god knows I'd snap if I had to listen to whining all the time." Alex remarked, causing Shina to huff at him for interrupting Komachi, though he was baffled as to why.

After giving him some trouble Shina was nonetheless inspired to say to the reaper, "How long have you been working as a Shinigami?"

"Long enough to know about his predecessor." Komachi said while pointing her scythe back at Alex, who dully hung his head and sighed, "Of course you'd know..."

She had half a smile on as she looked back and guided the boat around a riverbend, continuing to make small talk, "The Elemental Overlord left behind quite the bloodbath for us to clean up. I was ferrying dead Lunarians, Youkai and Gods for weeks! So hopefully you won't make as big a mess as he did."

"Give me a break..." Alex knew that didn't warrant saying anything more. But the topic did leave Shina wondering, "Did yer boss know about him too?"

"Nah, Shiki wasn't the appointed Yama at the time. Nor was she the one after."

"What, could the Yama at the time not handle the busywork?" Alex joked, but was quickly chided in a serious tone by Komachi.

"Laugh all you want, but filing away the souls of gods isn't an easy job. You wouldn't last a second with just one soul."

"Hmph, I think I could handle it." Alex was half-serious, but that half spoke stronger than the half that was joking.

"Heh, well you're more than welcome to bring it up with Shiki," Komachi pointed her scythe forward as a deathly fog began to encroach the boat, "Cause here we are."

A jaw dropping sight awaited the two beyond the veil of fog. It was a palace of black and white gold with a pathway lined with pillars that reached to the high heavens. The front gates were taller than most skyscrapers on Earth, and the Palace it was attached to even more so. All the two could see were bits of its outer walls, which didn't even come close to describing the excrutiating detail and time that went into putting this together.

If there was a time for Alex to confirm the existence of a high power, then this was it. Cause there's no way any mortal or regular god could have built this. It was simply impossible. Impossible, yet here it stood, incapable of being ignored.

Komachi docked the boat plainly upon the red wood docks, which had been built similarly to the ones one'd see in an oriental palace over a pond. She hopped right off and paved the way forward with a swing of her scythe, saying with a genuine sense of urgency, "You really don't want to fall off here, trust me."

Shina's feet were shaking as she got off the boat. The air was actively and steadily sucking out her will to live, making every step forward a struggle. Not only that, but her body had goosebumps. This place didn't have to overtly show-off the aesthetic expected of Hell to get the point across like in the Underground. This place was the genuine, bonafide Hell.

Though walking proved difficult, before she knew it Komachi had brought them a couple feet away from the gates to the Ministry. She leaned back and got a terrible sense of vertigo trying to imagine how high up the palace went, and as her lungs grew faint of breath she gasped, "Hooooooly crap..."

Komachi patted her on the back, scythe bundled up underneath her elbow, and said with a distinctly subdued feeling of joy, "Pretty cool huh? Well wait until you see the inside!"

She used her scythe on the center of the door to pry it open nice and slow, and for such a big door it looked effortless for her to get it open. Truly, she was not a person to be trifled with when your time was up.

The sneak peek of the Ministry's interior left Shina at a loss for words. The hallway was like the exterior of the palace, but without the fog to get in the way. So not only did the beauty of the pillars come into full effect, but the atmosphere lost its sense of oppressiveness too. And without any of that, Shina felt comfortable waltzing right in after Komachi remarked, "You'll find Shiki at the end of the hallway, probably toiling away at her papers even on a day off..."

Alex was about to go too when Komachi swung her scythe in his path and berated him, "Uh uh uh. One at a time buster, that's how it goes."

He crossed his arms and got cross with her, "We're not even dead, buster."

"So?" Komachi stamped her scythe on the ground and acted as the sentinel of the gates for a brief moment as she steeled her back against Alex's stubborn advances, "I don't make the rules, I follow them."

Alex leaned his head aside and sighed out of pity for the Shinigami, "Guess every office needs a lapdog. But fine, it can wait."

He then waved briefly at Shina and said, "But if you find anything on the Cosmos Drive, come back and get me first, ok?"

"Of course! I promise I won't be long!" Shina started sprinting down the hall and waved him back for a few moments, only for Komachi to shut the door tight and lean up against it with her arms folded behind her head.

"Nice kid. She'll probably make it to Heaven easily," She poked one eye open and remarked as Alex turned his back to her, "But you? You I'm not so certain about."

He tightly crossed his arms and let out a gruff "Hmph". Komachi then relaxed back into place and casually spoke, "Guess we'll know in two weeks."

Alex felt a chill rolling down his spine and slowly poked his head back to say "Excuse me?" Komachi opened an eye again, but this time there was a sinister glint in her irises.

"I can read your remaining lifespan. Though your one preeetty odd customer in that regard. Looks to me like you've gone and died multiple times."

Her accusative tone didn't settle well with him, and he lashed back with a blunt, "Well I've got no idea what the hell you're talking about."

"This isn't the best place to go lying. Before the Yama's watchful eyes, black and white are made clear, as are truth and lies."

"...Yeah if you'll just excuse me." Alex tried to go somewhere else to wait, but Komachi snagged him with her distance manipulating powers so he'd not even make an inch of progress. Thus he just sighed and stood still, hoping Shina wouldn't take long.

After the initial shock over how the Ministry looked, Shina realized there wasn't much else going for it. Sure she was grateful to be walking down a rather short corridor, and the floor was so clean it reflected her entire body. But there were no doors, no pottery with plants, not even a pretty little chandelier on the ceiling.

"Geez Alex wasn't joking about that cash remark. At least shell out for some scented candles for crying out loud!"

Minor gripes aside though, she could appreciate not having to walk too far. Hell, she wondered how her shoes had survived for this long!

At the end of this droll hallway was a breath of fresh air excitement-wise. There was a tall wooden judge's podium that stretched all the way from the left to the right, and had a few tiers of differing heights. At the very top of the centermost part was a woman surrounded by dozens of paper stacks that were each taller than her.

The woman in question had a fair complexion with blue eyes and green hair that's longer on the right side. She wears a dark blue, black and white dress with gold decorations and one ribbon on both sleeves. She had on a blue and white hat with a gold emblem in front that displayed her rank as the Yama. In her right hand was a small wooden rod with some unintelligible symbols etched onto it.

She was of middling height and build, and despite all the work she didn't work up a drop of sweat. Shina saw her as kind of the polar opposite of Komachi. The Shinigami had an imposing figure, but an approachable demeanor. While the Yama had an approachable figure, but an imposing demeanor. Even though it felt respectful to refer to her by her title, Shina would rather have used part of her full name.

Shikieiki Yamaxanadu ~ The Judge Undefied

She stood down there, a relative speck compared to the workload the Yama had acquired, and felt too meek to even raise her voice a single decibel to say 'Hi'. No amount of goodwill across her entire lifetime would put her on even footing with the one who judges all who come through.

"Can't think like that Shina...I'm sure she'll hear ya out." She took in a deep breath and let it out, but underestimated how much it would echo. In here, even a simple sigh could become the yawn of a giant.

"Who's there?" Shikieiki spoke in a surprisingly young but authoritative voice and began to peak over her podium, which got Shina shaking in place and looking around in a panic.

"Komachi, is that-" By the time the Yama had made clear that it was not her subordinate, her initial shock was replaced with a subdued bewilderment. Shina was magnetically drawn to stare up and wave her wiggling hand around while sloppily biting her teeth down to smile.

"H-Hello, M-Ms. Yamaxanadu." Her heart sank, and she felt super embarrassed to have started on a seemingly wrong foot.

"A living human? How..." It wasn't something to be observed from high atop her podium. Shikieiki had get up close and personal to make sure someone wasn't trying to pull a trick on her.

As she descended from her almighty perch of judgment, Shina froze up and her hand swung up in salute, while her body broke out in a sweat. When Shikieiki landed it was painstakingly obvious that this was no phony. No, the only trickery here was how this strange girl could've possibly wandered into her workplace.

"Speak your name." She spoke with the booming authority gifted by her namesake, and swung her rod with a commanding thrust.

"Shina, Shina Aurora ma'am!" Shina couldn't waste a second.

Shikieiki scrunched her brow and bombarded her with another question without pause, "And where did you come from, Shina Aurora?"

"The Aurian City of Sancturia!"

"...I meant 'how did you get in here', but that's fine too." Shikieiki rubbed her temples, feeling both as though she had slipped up, and was perhaps being a little too rough on this girl.

"Your Shinigami Komachi let me come in, ma'am!"

"Oh she did, did she?" Shikieiki sounded rather peeved, but as her retracting her rod showed it was not directed in the slightest at Shina.

She patted the rod on her left palm and calmly spoke aloud her nasty thoughts, "That pesky woman...I'll have to sit her down and lecture her for this later."

Outside, Komachi sneezed.

After a few more seconds Shikieiki squinted up at Shina and saw her trembling like she had a terrible cold. Offering her her warmest, sincerest smile, the Yama said, "Relax, there's no need to be nervous here."

Shina's arms collapsed to her hips and the rest of her body started to follow suit. After filling her lungs back up after a lull in breathing she looked up and saw Shikieiki tapping her rod on her chin and looking very contemplative. She had one more question on her mind, but was much gentler about delivering it, "Why are you here, Shina Aurora?"

The downtime in the Ministry had removed any need for the Yama to maintain an imposing demeanor for long. Now that she was very polite and very approachable, Shina had no problems speaking her mind with her usual bubbliness. But first she gently bowed, cause the Yama was a person worthy of reverence.

"I'm so so sorry for barging in like this Ms. Yamaxanadu."

"Please, just call me Shiki." She replied with a small smile hidden behind her rod.

"Ok Shiki! I like that name more anyways, heheh," Shina brightened up and then got straight to the point, "Ya see, I came all the way here from another world in search of this really important object called the Cosmos Drive. My friend and I looked aaaaaaaall over Gensokyo, and now this is like...one of two places left to check."

"Cosmos Drive..." Shikieiki sounded like there was a spark of familiarity in those words, and muttered them a couple times more while Shina's eyes lit up with hope. Then after a brief pause, she put her rod in her pockets and cupped her hands like she was making a circle in front of her chest.

"I shall now divulge the truth behind your words, Shina Aurora. Stand still, and your heart's secrets shall be laid bare before my Mirror." From a glistening light, the Yama summoned forth a pristine mirror with a rim made to look like a small golden Chinese dragon. It levitated in place and absorbed Shina's reflection before becoming filled with even more light, which Shikieiki herself bathed amongst as Shina just looked utterly baffled as to what was happening.

"Lets see...You lived in a society ruled by a tyrant. He held particular interest in your bloodline to unlock the ultimate power of your race. You wished to escape this fate. Not for yourself, but for your little sister and mother. You saw an opening to escape, and sought to find a power even greater than what the tyrant desired. You endured many trials across many worlds, but never lost your good-natured heart. Oh? But what's this? You weren't alone in your travels. There was another, a young boy...The Elemental Overlord? Yes, it seems you hold him in very high regard, and have vowed to share an eternal bond of love and respect for each other."

Shina felt her cheeks get as red as tomatoes as Shikieiki so easily unraveled the details of her past and cast judgment on them all. All that praise heaped atop each other was nice and all, but it felt like just a teeeeeny bit much by the time she was through.

Shikieiki dispelled the mirror and cast her final judgment with her eyes shut, "Yes, your heart is clean of most sin. But those stains are minor, and should not weigh heavily upon your soul when your time comes."

She then shortly nodded and remarked, "Your story checks out...But I'm afraid you have reached a dead end. That which you seek is elsewhere."

Shina stiffly wiggled her fingers before the center of her chest and muttered "Oh" tiredly under her breath. Her smile wanted to sag, but she propped it up by focusing on properly thanking the Yama for her time, "Well I appreciate your help, Shiki."

She smiled back at her and said, "I will always offer my help to those who need guidance. Perhaps under better circumstances, you could come by and visit, and we could talk some more?"

Shina didn't know what to think of that forward of a request beyond blinking and saying, "Ya sure about that?"

"I see no problem with the occasional visit, but don't make a habit of it." She said in a somewhat humored tone.

"Hehehe, no worries there Shiki! Well...guess I'll head off now. Got one last place to take a lookie-loo and all..."

As she started to turn around and wave the Yama off she said apologetically, "Its a shame that I cannot provide you with some form of compensation for making this terribly long journey out here."

Shina spun around and walked backwards while hollering, "Its ok! Our time may've been brief together, but I'm glad I got to meet ya Shiki!"

Shikieiki enjoyed a hearty chuckle but then quickly yelled out to Shina, "Before you leave!"

Shina paused a bit to lessen the strain on Shiki's poor throat as she made a surprising request, "If that Elemental Overlord is with you, may you tell him to come see me? There is something I wish to see with my own two eyes."

"Huh?" Shina fluttered her eyelashes and haphazardly replied, "Sure? I guess? He's right outside yer doorstep, but..."

She bit her tongue before questioning the Yama's wishes, then shook her head and blurted out, "Yeah I can do it! He'll be right in!"

Then she scurried off to the door, while Shikieiki took up her rod and laid it in perfect balance before the center of her face, contemplating deeply to herself, "The Elemental Overlord's successor...I wonder what you shall be? Black? Or White?"

Next Time: Overruled