Petre's eyes opened; the sound of birds and faint rays of sunlight greeted him as he awoke. However, he remained motionless, staring at the ceiling above; a single tear running down Petre's eye. He still couldn't understand those words. Why him? After all that Petre had done to him? Why? The Guilt in his chest felt too great at this point. He needed to tell someone for once.

With a heavy heart, Petre first tried to get up. But as he tried to push himself up, Petre soon realized how weak his arms were; only able to push him off the ground for a split second before giving way and causing him to collapse back onto the ground. Then it dawned on him what happened last night. It wasn't a dream, it was another episode. Though this was probably the most severe one he ever had.

Every time Petre refused to partake of the wine, they would come for him. Not Bacchus, no, them. Those things within him. And every time he did not partake of the wine, his body would slowly fail him. The only positive was he didn't need to eat food like anyone else, just he needed to drink the wine to stay living. That was how she kept him under her thumb.

Suddenly more light shined into the room as Petre heard the sound of a shoji door slide open. Then Petre could hear the faint sound of footsteps approaching him before he saw a blonde and well-dressed Inari looking directly over him with a concerned look. But as the Inari noticed Petre looking back at her, the Inari's face was replaced with relief, "Oh, thank goodness you're awake."

"What happened? How did I get here?" Asked Petre weakly.

The Inari sat down next to Petre, "Well, it was last night. My husband and I were in bed until we heard something that sounded like yelling. Which to no one surprise, scared us for a moment before my husband went out to check what was happening. I followed behind him. And lo and behold in the middle of our village was." The woman paused, unsure of how to describe what she saw.

"Was?"

"A Kami." Responded the Inari, "It was dressed in red with outlandish armor, two boxes and a sword lying beside it. And you, in its arms. It didn't take long for my husband and I to realize something was wrong with you. So my husband, who is a doctor, tried to heal you with everything imaginable. From magic by me to a simple medicine box. At most we were able to heal those nasty wounds on your hands and back but, whatever was the main problem was not going away. We even tried acupuncture, but that didn't work either."

The Inari chuckled slightly before continuing, "With how the Kami was starting to act when nothing was working, my husband was afraid that it would destroy the village. However, the Kami had an idea."

"What?" asked Petre

"It pulled out a single bottle of, what do you call it? Wine? Anyway, my husband took the bottle and rushed to you. And with just a little bit of the liquid, whatever was happening within you stopped. It was a good thing too. My husband was worried you were to die at any moment. Though," The Inari paused as she stared at Petre's body, "Whatever it did to you remains, as you probably can tell already."

Fighting against the physical exhaustion of his body, Petre forced himself up a little; his muscles burning as Petre groaned, "Where is Gael?"

The Inari blinked, confused by the question, "Who?"

"Gae- the Kami, where is he?" Asked Petre, falling over already but managing to roll over in the process before trying to push himself up again. The Inari, obviously concerned, hurried over and reached for his arm.

"Hold on! Let me at least help you." Yelled the Inari, pulling up Petre while acting for support, "Come, this way."

Slowly the two made their way outside, the sound of laughter growing as they went onto the wooden porch. Petre winced as sunlight shined directly into his eyes before adapting to the sudden change of lighting. Around him was a bustling town, the sound of children even clearer as Petre noticed the Suijin clan symbol everywhere within the village. Also, not only was the Suijin crest everywhere on site but in the dead center of the village was a large statue of a Ryu; the statue's eyes were wide open while seemingly almost following Petre. All the while at the base of the statue were the words, 'Suijin Karaokami, watchful goddess of the heavens.``

Petre sighed in relief when he saw all this as there was only one answer to this. Gael had managed to find the village he was talking about, which meant they were not too far from the border of the Kurogane clan. Though that last part still made him want to turn back from this whole thing. Yeah, they were just people but... those people weren't normal. Not in any sense of the word, and there was no doubt they knew. And if they knew that then there is not a sliver of doubt in his mind that they'd try to kill him.

"Where is the... the Kami?" Asked Petre to the Inari.

With their free hand, the Inari pointed towards the far end of the village, "Over there."

Looking towards where she pointed, Petre could see Gael near the edge of the village doing... Were those children playing with Gael? Petre couldn't believe his eyes. Gael, this terrifying abomination, no offense meant, who could easily kill him and survive a clash with a god, was playing tag with children. Petre could tell Gael was not actually running, but that didn't mean he just stood there either.

When a child tagged him, Gael would move just fast enough to stay on their toes or go chase after a different child. Gael even gave the children plenty of time to avoid him tagging them. And then when someone was chasing Gael, he'd keep slightly ahead of them before pretending to get tired like some old man. Petre honestly couldn't help but smile a little at the sight." I can take it from here." muttered Petre.

The Inari stared at Petre but reluctantly decided to let him at least try to walk on his own. At first, Petre fell straight down on the ground, however with all his might Petre stood up; his legs shaking uncontrollably as he walked towards Gael, step by step. Every few feet Petre would lose his balance before falling over; each time though, Petre would recover and continue walking.

Eventually, Petre made it to where Gael was, who soon noticed Petre after tagging a child. Walking towards him, Petre noticed Gael did not have his sword with him or the crate he was carrying before falling asleep, "I'd like to talk if you don't mind, just not here." said Petre.

Gael nodded and motioned for Petre to follow him, "This way."

Petre was slow in following Gael, who seemed to notice as he waited patiently after every few steps. Eventually, the two arrived at a small hill looking over the empty plans beyond the village; Gael's greatsword leaning on a nearby tree next to a dimmed bonfire and closed wooden crate nearby. Petre could already feel his legs begin to burn from the short walking, forcing him to sit down next to the crate before rummaging through it and pulling out the half-empty bottle of wine.

With a loud thud, Petre heard Gael sit beside him; both of them staring towards the sun. Neither one said a word. Gael wondered what Petre wanted to talk about, and Petre was unsure if he should actually say anything. Eventually though, with the opening of the bottle of wine, Petre reluctantly spoke, "Have you... have you ever tried to do the right thing only to... make it so much worse?" Petre paused for a second, taking a small drink of wine before closing it, "heh, yeah... A long time ago I tried so hard to help our town. Though no matter how hard I tried, I wasn't able to change anything."

Petre looked down at the bottle in his hands, "I... grew desperate, and did something... dumb. I started doing drinking competitions. If I won, they would stop drinking and attempt at living a better life. It was a dumb idea, I know, but as I said I was desperate. And thanks to that, I learned that I had a pretty high tolerance to alcohol. So I won every match, save for one. She didn't seem anything special at the time, save for being dressed in robes like some sort of monk and an odd chalice strung around her belt."

"Our game went out for, I don't know, hours maybe? Eventually, she pulled out this stuff." Petre lifted up the bottle of wine in his hand, "And after two rounds, I lost. Though when I think back to it, she did seem surprised I even lasted one round drinking this stuff."

"Anyway, to make a long story short, I made things worse. The town became one giant glorified bar with rules of a goddess who was either too drunk to care or too tired due to a hangover to actually try. But my father, he never stopped following the chief God. Day in and out, he'd preach and try to reach out to people... and he tried so hard to help me. Even when everyone left the church and spat on him, he never gave up. Especially on me... but I didn't listen. I just- I just ignored him or yelled at him, but even then he didn't stop."

"But then one day, I was so sick of him. I was tired of it, I wanted him to just...shut up. So I," Petre stopped and looked down in silence. Then with a hushed voice, he said, "I...Killed him... with my own hands." Petre looked at Gael, "But, you know what the worst part was? He didn't fight back, he just... let me kill him. But right before he died he..." Petre's voice started to waver, his breath shaky, "He... forgave me. I, I don't understand how. How could he just do that? I... I ruined his life, I ruined everything. I killed him, but he forgave me? just like that? After everything I had done till then? why?"

For the first time in his life, Petre told someone; and he didn't know what else to say as Gael sat there motionlessly. Gael then replied, "I may not have gone through what you have, but I have gone through something similar. I once tried to give hope to everyone, but in the end, I remained. I tried to create a paradise, but I killed almost everyone who would have been able to find comfort there. And because of my actions, I have lost almost all of my friends."

"Almost?" Asked Petre.

Gael turned to look at the man, Petre, for once able to see most of his face that was usually hidden by the large hood as Gael spoke, "All, save for the one who is beside me now."

Petre smiled a little at that. A friend? He liked the sound of that to be honest. Save for Gael, he didn't really have any. Yeah, he did have some people he hung out with at some points in his life, but never someone he would call a friend in a long while. "So, next destination, the border of the Kurogane clan. Shouldn't be too far from here. Though it'll probably take us a while in my condition." said Petre.

Suddenly getting up, Gael grabbed and lifted Petre up by the back. Petre began to panic, surprised by whatever was happening "Wait what are you-" "Woah! Woah! Hold it, what are you doing!?"

Gael placed Petre atop his shoulder as if he was some sort of child riding an adult. Gael turned to look at Petre as he grabbed his sword and the wooden crate, "Carrying you on my back."

"I can see that but why?"

The Giant gave Petre a confused look, "Is it not obvious? You need to heal and I need to reach my destination as soon as possible, this gives us both what we want."

"Shouldn't we-" Petre looked back towards the village, deciding if they should let them know they were leaving. After a few seconds of thought though, Petre decided to not do so. It probably was better this way anyway, "Never mind, let's go."

Gael nodded as he started walking towards the north sun, leaving behind the village. And so to the Kurogane clan, they went. What awaited them, neither one was sure, but both hoped to find something there.

(-)

The wind blew quietly through the air; the banners of the Mozō clan standing silently around the encampment as cannoneers and ashigaru stood to watch little ways beyond the Jinmaku, their muskets at the ready for any potential threat. Meanwhile, within the encampment, countless soldiers lay on the ground, groaning in pain as the mages took care of them.

Lord Mozō Shitora watched over the camp at its center where an abandoned temple they had commandeered stood; the small hill the temple laid upon raising it slightly above the camp. The Lord could not feel anything but frustration at the slight setback that had happened.

That setback was the fact that the Kurogane clan had filled their borders with countless traps. No wonder that the Order barbarians always needed a guide before making a trade with the Kurogane clan. Because if they didn't they would have either died of poisons, spikes, and other such contraptions. And due to that which he did not have, already he had lost a couple of men, not to mention the wounded.

But despite this annoying setback, Shitora and his men will still march upon fort Torri. Even if they had to wait in order for their mages to heal the wounded and for preparation of the battle. Besides, they were not far at all. Soon the Kurogane clan will pay and learn the consequences of their actions. That was a promise to himself he intended to keep.

Suddenly from behind Shitora, within the temple, a sorrowful and feminine voice spoke, "This won't bring them back nor prove anything, Lord K-"

Instinctively, Shitora drew his blade; the edge of his katana barely touched the Banshee's neck as the Lord turned to look at her before saying with venom in his voice, "I do not go by that name anymore."

"As you wish, Lord Mozō Shitora."

"Why are you here?" Asked Shitora, sheathing his blade while looking back towards the surrounding camp. The pale banshee said not a word as she walked next to the Lord.

Her breath was shaky as if trying to hold off tears, "Your goal is just, and if you continue down this path and attack fort Torri, you will eventually succeed. But the cost will be much, for you, and all of Zipangu. Many will die."

A dry chuckle came from the noble, not even bothering to look at the banshee, "Is that so? You, your brethren, and that goddess of yours will just revive us all as you do for those wars overseas, correct?. Or," Shitora turned again to look at the Banshee with a spiteful glare, "Are you and that goddess going to merely turn a blind eye for us as you did for me?"

"I am just a messenger..." Muttered the Banshee, her head low and tears dripping onto the floor. Her grief became great in knowing she was unable to change the man's heart.

Shitora thought for a moment. Should he heed the words of a banshee? A messenger of a god who at one point did not care for them on that day from long ago? In the end, however, Shitora knew his mind was set and there was no going back, "Even if Zipangu falls to ruin, even if many will die, even if I stoop down to their level or worse, become a twisted version of them, they will face judgment. I promise you that, banshee."

He could hear the Banshee begin to cry loudly, her weeping becoming dangerously loud to reveal their location to the nearby enemy fort. Then, as fast as she roared in grief, the banshee's voice died down before whispering, "So be it. My sisters and I will weep for you and your men. May you get what you desire, Shitora."

Then in an instant, the banshee was gone. Leaving Shitora to quietly respond to no one, "Indeed."

(A/N)

IDK for certain if this was too soon to have this part of Petre's backstory revealed or not (Though there is still more to come), I don't know where else I would have revealed that part of him. So sorry if it was sudden, but this was the only point I could think of having this part of his backstory shown.