"Nekohana, wake up!"
The call buzzed through her bones, a strange foreign warmth entered her body. Whatever dream she was having had immediately vanished from her memory as she opened her eyes to greet the morning light coming from... a hole in the ceiling? Panicked, she immediately inspected her surroundings and realized that she had stumbled inside a cave. Stretching Bushes and Spiked Vines had gathered around her to provide shelter from any threatening eyes. As she tried to muster the strength to get up, her stomach immediately growled and the reality of her hunger began to settle in. Food had been scarce in the past weeks, ever since the local goblins, imps and devils grew aware of the forest's latest predator and became better at concealing their tiny presence. Out of desperation, she reached her hand towards the nearest wall and peeled off the Leech Moss with her claws, which she immediately began to chew. Its taste was plain and a bit spicy, its scent soon reached her nostrils and made her ill, but her empty stomach would have accepted anything. She glanced at a dozen of small gray Rot Mushrooms growing in a muddier part of the cave and licked her lips in anticipation. That specific type of fungi was mildly toxic to weaker youkai if eaten raw, but in those moments of desperation any form of precaution did not matter to her. As she rose from her position and slowly walked towards her new food source, she tripped on a log and fell ahead down the abrupt muddy path until she crashed into a lake.
The water's coldness was bitter and uncaring, no different from the fate that had fallen upon her. It fully awoke all of her senses. As she pulled her head out, she stared at her own reflection beneath the morning light. It soon changed into the same scene which haunted her heart daily ever since she went into hiding - a daiyoukai prince and his secret lover kissing beneath a cherry tree in the palace gardens, the happy life she craved but could never have. A bloody tear streamed down her face and fell into the water. More followed as she imploded into crying and punched the water repeatedly, protesting the unfair hand she had been dealt over the millennia.
"Do you give up?" asked the gravel voice of an old man, prompting her to look up at the imposing Victorian mansion out of which Fukurokuju emerged. She had no response. "I am asking if you give up, Nekohana." The owl daiyoukai peered in, patient and yet there was an unmistakable aura of aloofness surrounding his body.
She regarded him with teary eyes, her lower lip shaking. Being a woman who had to be strong for all those who relied on her had become a great weight on her shoulders. Only Shishima had been privy to seeing her weaker side, but now his mentor was also witnessing her at what was arguably the lowest point in her eternal life, and unlike her beloved, he seemed impartial and even judgmental.
"I..." she spoke through her fangs. "I just... I just don't know, okay?!" She rose back on her feet to face her avian host. "In all my lives I never once desired to harm someone, I always tried to protect and nourish those I love, all I ever wanted was to live in peace with everyone around me! But the Twilight Kingdom is corrupt, all of the above realms view us with contempt, humans always find reasons to have conflicts and Shishima, the male I love more than anyone else, has grown so twisted that he relishes in the evil that surrounds us!" She took a deep breath and stared once more at her demonic lioness reflection. "I am tired... of everything. A part of me has been contemplating suicide, but the only reason I won't go through with it is because my accursed heart still yearns for his love!" She once more regarded him, her voice beginning to break. "Is it that much to ask for a happy life with Shishima? Is there something wrong with me that fate has decided to torment me in such horrid ways?"
"Child, your path was fated to be a hard one from the very moment you were born," Fukurokuju plainly explained. "The lowest class of youkai always have the hardest lives. But even among the poor lies discrimination, which is why mixed races are shunned as mongrels. The same has been with you, never fully accepted by your fellow lion youkai nor plants. It is the unfortunate reality of our fallen nature that we cannot help ourselves but judge the differences of others. More so, you had fallen in love with someone who our kingdom claims is way out of your league. Yet the both of you still tried your best to be together. Love..." he reflected, smiling under his beak. "Such a powerful and mysterious feeling..."
"Sometimes I wish I could stop experiencing it," Nekohana bitterly confessed. "Perhaps then my suffering would finally cease."
"Perhaps. It is often said that youkai who allow themselves to fall in love would have their powers weakened and their fates would be cursed. By contrast, those who fully embrace utter selfishness and ambition are said to be on the path of achieving their true potential and have fulfilling lives. Just look at Koushishi's accomplishments."
Nekohana gasped and regarded Fukurokuju with visible shock. "She hardly is what I would call a role model. Never in my life would I want to become like her!"
"Yet she has power, wealth, massive influence, an entire kingdom at her command and she never has to experience suffering. All she had to do was renounce the very notion of love and set her own goals and well-being above those around."
"This is the exact reason why I chose to leave the Twilight Kingdom! There is no room for any kind of goodness in this damned realm, only the worst that demonkind has to offer."
"On this we agree. It is also the reason why I chose to spend the rest of eternity as a hermit in my cave," Fukurkuju's voice grew warmer as he began to drop his façade of aloofness. "I have seen your travels and past lives, child. Throughout your adventures you had encountered many kinds of humans. By now you're well aware that there are good humans and evil humans. Know that we are no different, for even in this vast sea of evil youkai there are good youkai. And before you rush to deny this notion..." he raised a wing to interrupt her, "...know that you are a prime example of a good youkai."
"Me? You must be mistaken, I've only acted out of selfish desire and forced Shishima to follow me to Earth, where he tortured mankind."
"Those mortals are beneath you and yet you still took their side and stood up to your lover for their sake. What possible reason could you have to protect them if not out of the goodness in your heart?" The wise words of Fukurokuju finally began to sink in. "Have you forgotten the main reason you brought Shishima back here to face his past?"
"So he could make peace with it and then finally change and leave the humans alone," Nekohana recalled. "But then his revolution failed and now he's captured while I am on the run. Don't you see? No matter how much I struggle, fate is always against me! Everything is just so hopeless."
"For someone who claims to love Shishima, you surely haven't learned much from him," Fukurokuju snidely remarked, earning an outraged glare from his guest. "The main reason he desires power is not vengeance, as one might think. It actually is out of his ambition to change his future and make his own fate. He is too proud and selfish to let anyone dictate his life, which is the true reason he wishes to best Koushishi, someone who has cast her shadow upon his existence from the moment she gave birth to him. All I've heard from you today is the defeatist speech of someone who believes that her fate is predetermined. If that truly were the case, why did Shishima promise he would choose you over his rightful throne?" Nekohana calmed down as the clouds in her mind cleared up and the light of hope resurfaced once more. "Even as we speak, our prince is struggling to resist against the queen's torture and keep his mind sane. He is doing this for you, because deep down he knows that you would be hurt if he were to succumb to his demonic nature and become a true monster."
"Shishima, is he in pain?"
"I'm afraid so. But it's nothing he cannot handle, you should know that by now."
"What can we do to save him? Please, Fukurokuju, I want this nightmare to be over!"
"Know that even in the darkest of nights, in the lowest of depths and in the worst of times, there will always be hope as long as there are infinite possibilities and timelines. The future is not always set in stone, we all have the power to change it." Fukurokuju waved his wing and had a towel and a bowl of plant soup float out of his mansion and land by the lakeside. "First, get out of the water, dry yourself and eat. Then, I suggest you upgrade your deck and return to face Jubokko again. There you will find the answers you seek. What I can suggest is that you try to gather to your cause as many allies as you can. Remember, there are other good youkai out there, you just need to search carefully." He turned around and slowly walked back to his abode. "Oh, and since you have added Onifuda Kingdom cards to your deck, I would recommend also adding more Fire civilization finishers as well. Particularly, some that have synergy with the graveyard."
Left alone to her devices, Nekohana crawled out on the shore and did as suggested. Thankfully, her travel bag and its contents had been kept dry by the thick plants in her mane. Searching for the particular cards that were alluded to proved harder than expected, as her collection was fairly vast due to her countless years of travels. If she were to overcome Jubokko's pure Fushigi Kingdom deck, she had to find a way to get around its defenses and bring out her finishers quicker.
A few hours later, as daylight announced the approaching noon, she found herself once more traveling underground across the interconnected plants. In a matter of moments she appeared into the same eerie grove wherein a lonely tree fed on youkai corpses, never allowing them to dissolve and fully become one with the Abyss until every last drop of blood had been drained. Nekohana stared at it, knowing that she had gotten its attention as well. A moment of awkward silence passed and then Jubokko was the first to speak, "So, you've returned yet again. Should I infer that you're finally fed up with the meaninglessness of your existence and now you seek a new purpose among your true family?" Nekohana did not answer. She visibly scowled as she pulled out her deck which glowed brightly and caused two dueling tables to arise from the ground between them. "You still dare oppose me? Why? Do you honestly think I would make any effort to rescue Shishima merely for your sake?"
"Yes. I will make you an offer you cannot refuse: defeat me again and I will allow you to inject your sap inside my veins and transform me into a full plant youkai; but if I win, you will unquestioningly help me free the prince and aid our cause of bringing about a better tomorrow for the Twilight Kingdom!"
"An interesting proposal indeed... very well, I shall accept it! You are prepared to risk your fleshly nature for the sake of a nobody? Foolish child, this 'love' that you feel towards the forsaken prince will be your undoing!" Jubokko threatened while taking out its deck with a branch.
"Good, at least I will go down in history as someone who stood for something other than self-preservation and hypocritical morals!" she countered as they both set up their cards and five rectangular blue shields materialized above each player. "Let's end our conflict once and for all!"
Thus their fateful duel began.
"I cast Dark Life." Nekohana checked the top two cards of her deck. "Domanmodrange goes to my mana zone and Gigandydanos, Big Tree King to my graveyard."
"I summon Belladoane, Immortal Faerie." Jubokko also checked the top two cards of its deck. "Ganveedrange goes to my graveyard and Gigantofushigidake to my mana zone."
"I summon Rymer Druid." A green-skinned humanoid appeared in the battle zone, wearing an orange loincloth, a necklace with painted eyes, golden bracelets, earrings and a witch hat, and wielding a wooden staff with a skull on its top. "I check the top four cards of my deck, add Dark Life to my mana zone and send Brachiodrange, Dakliedrange and Domanmodrange to my graveyard. Then, since I played him from my hand, Rymer Druid is destroyed." The humanoid vanished in an explosion.
"I summon two Jasmine, Mist Faeries and destroy them both to ramp." Two small green-haired faeries wearing simple brown dresses appeared and imploded, sending Fortune Wind and Vyston, Earth's Death to their owner's mana zone.
"I summon Tsuruhashi Doji." A small blue oni wielding a pickaxe appeared and sent the top three cards of its owner into her graveyard, those being Darthshigikei, Assault, Onifuda Kingdom and Obuza 08, Demon Dragon Armored / Beginning of the End, the latter of which was recovered.
"I see you're still using those pesky Onifuda Kingdom cards. Have you no shame in tainting our proud Fushigi Kingdom with foreign cards?" Jubokko criticized, but Nekohana remained silent and kept her piercing glare and long scowl. "Very well, I will put an end to this nonsense - I summon Death Hands, Misfortune Emperor and destroy Tsuruhashi!" A horned knight donning a red caped silver and purple armor appeared and used his scythe to slice the small oni in half.
"I cast Beginning of the End." Nekohana sent the top three cards into her graveyard, which were Trap Giant, Tsuruhashi Doji and Hayabusamaru, Lightfang Ninja, the latter of which was recovered.
"Fushigiverse, I send Death Hands to my mana zone and revive Ganveedrange for 6 mana, who will mill seven cards from my deck!" A winged bipedal dragon arose, its body made of earth and roots, a pair of moose horns on its head and countless trees emerging from its back, causing Jukushite Inai Zombiebanana, Jasmine, Mist Faerie, Rymer Lancer, Belladoane, Immortal Faerie, Spiner, Shock Doctor, Vyston, Earth's Death and Underkane, Fearless Monster to land into his owner's graveyard. "Two Fushigiverse creatures were milled, meaning you must choose two cards from your hand and send them to your mana zone!" Having no choice, the opponent placed her last card, Hayabusamaru, into her mana zone.
Despite being left with an empty hand and her opponent having a finisher out already, Nekohana did not show any sign of panic. She simply drew her next card and immediately tapped all her mana, declaring:
"I summon Dakliedrange!" A bipedal purple crocodile whose scales were covered with a purple poisonous goo, with a pair of leaf wings emerging from its back, its limbs made of aloe vera, three pairs of bananas hanging from both sides of its neck and a white halo floating above its head appeared in the battle zone and gave a battle roar. "He's a mach fighter, so I attack Ganveedrange, and whenever he attacks, I ramp three cards and burn one from my mana zone." The crocodile lashed at the tall dragon as its owner added Assault, Onifuda Kingdom, Gigandydanos, Big Tree King and Dark Life to her mana zone, the middle one being immediately sent into her graveyard. Before the smaller reptile could even attempt a bite, the taller one impaled it with its horns. "Ganveedrange is stronger, so my Dakliedrange is destroyed. However, when Dakliedrange leaves the battle zone, I can send one of your creatures to the mana zone, so your creature will also be gone!" As it vanished, the crocodile spat a toxic purple liquid upon the dragon, causing it to dissolve as well.
Jubokko remained silent as it drew another Ganveedrange. Having only 10 mana, it was one short from being able to summon its finisher manually. Unwilling to risk it being discarded or drawing another multicolored card, the tree youkai placed it in the mana zone and passed the turn.
"The time has come to show you why the small Fire mana granted to me by the Onifuda Kingdom is so useful! Since I have 10 creatures in my graveyard, I summon 5000GT, Riot for 2 mana!" A winged red-skinned humanoid with dragon features, donning a formal black suit with a blue tie and its left arm replaced with a giant buzz saw and a sharp blade arose by Nekohana's side. "He's a speed attacker, so I now triple break your shields!" The creature rushed ahead and sliced three shields with its blades.
"Shield triggers, I summon Spiner, Shock Doctor and also Trap Giant, which will-"
"Which will not enter the battle zone! As long as 5000GT is out on the field, we cannot summon creatures that have 5000 power or less."
Jubokko growled in frustration and began its turn, charging one of its useless shield triggers and casting a Faerie Life which sent Mystery Hippo to its mana zone. Due to the heavy lockdown imposed on its smaller creatures, there was not much for the tree youkai to do so it passed the turn yet again.
"I cast Beginning of the End," Nekohana said and Dandy Nasuo, Dark Life and another 5000GT, Riot went into her graveyard, the latter of which was recovered. "Since I have 11 or more creatures in my graveyard, I summon a second 5000GT with only 1 mana! Go, break Jubokko's final shields!"
"Shield trigger, I cast Demon Hand and destroy your untapped 5000GT!" Two pairs of demonic hands emerged and grabbed one of the dragon-like humanoids, crushing it to pieces. "So, to further solidify the heresy of adding in your lover's Onifuda Kingdom cards, you've also added Outrages of the Fire civilization which have strong synergy with the graveyard just like our Fushigi Kingdom creatures. I would say I am impressed, but that would be a lie. Now, to bring an end to this foolishness, I summon the Fushigi Kingdom's glorious ruler - Gigandydanos, Big Tree King!" A giant tree creature arose from the ground on its four legs, its head shaped like that of a moose, a small purple halo floating between its horns, a multitude of small birds flying around its branches, its wooden face shaped like a skull out of which it exhaled an eerie purple smoke. "All your creatures weaker than Gigandydanos's 50000 power cannot attack me, meaning your petty Fire Outrage will not be able to deliver the finishing blow!"
Even at seeing her mighty trump card's power used against her, Nekohana never once did flinch or show any signs of fear. Was her determination to rescue Shishima that strong? Upon drawing her next card, her scowl shifted into a confident smirk as she replied, "I wouldn't jump so quickly to conclusions if I were you! Since I have more than 7 creatures in my graveyard, I summon Obuza 08, Demon Dragon Armored for 1 mana. Fushigiverse, I send Obuza 08 to my mana zone and revive Dakliedrange for 2 mana." Much to Jubokko's dismay, the crocodile reappeared. "Mach fighter, I attack Gigandydanos and my Dakliedrange gets destroyed, meaning that your Gigandydanos also gets sent to the mana zone!" The crocodile rushed towards the tree creature, only to get immediately crushed by its enormous wooden leg, after which its poisonous purple liquids entered the latter's body, having it screech in agony as it keeled over and faded away, leaving its owner defenseless. "You should know very well that 5000GT's lockdown affects summons, meaning Ninja Strikes are also out of the question. Now to finish this - 5000GT, todomeda!" The bipedal dragon humanoid used its buzz saw and sliced the demonic tree in half, thus concealing its owner's victory.
A rain of blood poured out of the opened trunk, staining the hidden grove and the leafy branches that Nekohana moved above her head for protection. In only a matter of moments, the tree reattached itself and once more faced the victor, who regarded it expectantly with her arms crossed.
"After your last performance, I must confess, I never once wagered that you would have grown so much stronger than even on our first encounter. Alas, it is what it is." A branch moved to the pile of cards on Jubokko's table and picked up a few which it then moved to offer to the victor. "Since you have proven your worth once again, I must offer you the latest Fushigi Kingdom cards - Rymer Lancer, Jukushite Inai Zombiebanana and Ganveedrange." She silently picked up her present, but remained unmoved in her spot and kept the same expectant look on her face. "Use them wisely and be on your way now, child. I have nothing more to tell you."
"Oh no, Jubokko. You are not getting rid of me that easily," Nekohana countered defiantly. "We have a deal. You've lost and now must aid me in rescuing Shishima, whether you like it or not!"
"Ever the persistent one, aren't you? Very well, if only to get you out of my business..." A bush reaching Nekohana's height arose from the ground and took the shape of the capital palace, down to the very smallest of details. "Shishima is being held captive in the dungeons located at the Southwestern wing of the lowest level. The garden's plants are telling me that security consists only of two guards who change shifts twice a day, by dusk and dawn. He is being visited on a daily basis by two other guards sent by the queen to torture him for a long number of hours. Usually he is left alone by night time when he loses consciousness so that his body can heal back to normal as much as it can. That is your only window of opportunity to sneak in and rescue him. Since General Rufu has also sent his forces to scour the entire Twilight Kingdom for you, it would be best if you used the desert and our brethren from the palace gardens to camouflage your presence." The bush was then sucked back into the ground as abruptly as it arose. "There, are you satisfied now?"
"I must thank you for your help, Jubokko." Nekohana bowed to her waist to express her gratitude. "I promise you that once Koushishi has been overthrown, the Twilight Kingdom's plant life will have a much brighter future ahead!"
"Do I look like I care one bit about your foolish plan of switching one despot for another? I have given you the perfect opportunity to renounce your pathetic fleshly desires and join your true kin as a real plant youkai, but you have still chosen to walk down your own blind path," Jubokko sourly replied. "You have what you came here for, now go and leave me alone!"
With a solemn nod, Nekohana took her leave, ready to brave the desert's hardships once again.