Wildflowers, Part II
After that, she decided to remain in the hut with them for the time being. It was a comfortable life for her. For as long as she stayed with them, neither Kumomi nor Tsuchimi ever made her do anything she didn't want to do and allowed her to do whatever she pleased. One day she simply took all of the family's food supply and ate it in a single day; not once did either of them complain.
She liked to think this was because she had established her dominance when she first came back, but as time went on, she started to doubt her conclusion. Despite her unnatural and imposing nature and her constant implicit and explicit threats of violence, she never felt the sort of unmitigated fear that was sugar to her blood. Respect, sure, but never the abject horror she had seen in the eyes of that poor, love-struck, Shorty when she murdered his friends.
"Kazami, where is it best to put this?"
She snapped out of her thoughts as she heard Tsuchimi call out for her. "Just give it to me!" She turned and shouted back. Tsuchimi walked up to her, holding a shallow basket full of various flowers. The man himself had changed once more, to the point where she could no longer think of him as the boy he once was.
Three more years had passed.
It was a strange thing, really. After being so active and experiencing a proverbial roller coaster of events over a matter of a few short weeks, she had spent so much time to this point doing nearly nothing. No killing, no time travel, and no visits from annoying old ladies for three whole years. Strangest of all, was that she was perfectly okay with this.
"Thank you." She took the basket from him and set it down next to herself. "These will do nicely." All things considered, it was a fine way to spend her life. Every day she was free to wake up at her leisure, and she could spend as much time as she wanted on cultivating her garden. Over time, that garden had grown to encompass a large swath of land, and it was almost a full-time job just maintaining it, but she didn't much mind.
"Also," Tsuchimi spoke once Yuuka had taken the basket. "Mother says she will go hunting this afternoon. She has asked if you will hunt too." After all this time, and all the effort she spent trying to refine his speech, she still found the way he spoke to be strange, but it was charming in its own way; otherwise, they were able to communicate just fine. She had grown used to, if not quite fond of, the local dialect.
"I'd be glad to." She replied as she picked a flower out of the basket. She knelt down and dug up a handful of dirt, and gently placed the flower in the soil. "What will we be hunting this time?"
"I do not know." He bowed in apology. The bow was comically deep, a habit that Yuuka had insisted he develop, albeit largely for her own amusement. He continued only after righting himself completely. "Mother did not tell."
"A surprise, then?" She packed in the dirt around the flower before moving on to the next one. "All the more fun. Why don't you tell her that I'll be there as soon as I am finished here?" She said, picking another flower out of the basket.
"Hai." He bowed once more before turning back towards their residence.
She briefly remarked on the absurdity of their interactions. 'Sometimes he looks like a medieval servant bowing to his lord... Nevermind that we live in a hut and the middle ages haven't happened yet.' She laughed snidely before going back and putting the finishing touches on the day's project. This morning, she had Tsuchimi go out and collect every yellow flower he could and she rearranged them to form an image on the ground. This is nothing new, as she has been doing similar things from time to time, choosing random images on a whim, and refusing to tell her housemates what they mean.
"And… done." With a small clap to get the dirt off of her hands, she stood up and admired her handiwork. On the ground, the flowers were arranged in the pattern of a larger flower, altogether evoking the image of a large yellow chrysanthemum, big and bright enough it seemed to be radiating its own light. 'This will keep them wondering for a few more weeks.' She thought as she picked up the now empty basket and turning back towards the hut.
Almost as soon as she got back, she was off once more. Back into the woods, she marched alongside Kumomi, who by now could hardly be described as "young," and would ordinarily be a pretty strange pick for a hunting partner.
Or, she would be a strange pick if Yuuka had needed physical support. Even if her youkai powers are all but gone, she is still more than strong enough to take on anything they would be hunting. Kumomi, instead, left the actual hunting to Yuuka and concerned herself with some of the finer, less physical aspects of hunting. In her hands, she held a bundle of wooden spears, ready to send them flying into whatever she ran across.
"I am happy you are here." Kumomi made conversation as they entered the woods. "Tutimi is strong, but he is not good at hunting."
Yuuka remained silent and shot her a pointed look.
"But you are stronger! Yes, stronger!" Kumomi continued, her voice sounding slightly more hurried and yet not at all insincere.
Yuuka tried to smile at the woman's obsequience, but could only bring herself to sigh. 'Somehow,' she thought, 'This is just not as satisfying as I thought it would be. Is it doing anything for me at all? The fact that I'm still here seems to say yes, but...'
"Stop."
She was dragged out of her thoughts as Kumomi suddenly raised a hand in front of her and dropped to a crouch.
Kumomi looked to the ground where it was clear that some of the underbrush had been trampled in front of them. "Deer. It goes left."
'Deer!' Her ears immediately perked up. "Then let's not waste any time!" Throwing caution to the wind, Yuuka got up and marched down the game trail ahead of her partner. 'Oohh, I can taste it already! The taste of fresh venison as the deer cries in—'
"Kazami, you must not be so hasty. You cannot catch a deer if you—" CRACK!
Yuuka jolted out of her hungered thoughts as an unbearably loud sound filled the air, echoing off of the mountains nearby. "What was THAT?!" She demanded, despite knowing she would not receive a satisfactory answer.
"It sounded of thunder." Kumomi replied, clearly confused as well, but not letting the confusion get the better of her.
"Thunder!? There's not a cloud in the sky!" Yuuka shouted in anger directed towards no one in particular. 'Damn, that deer has run off for sure after that… but I'm sure she can track it again. It will just take a little—'
CRACK!
"God DAMN IT! Let me think!" She turned to the sky and shouted, noting that yes, it was still as clear as it had ever been. Through the forest canopy, the sky appeared a bright blue, and yet…
"A thunder without rain… The gods are fighting." Kumomi postulated as she caught up with Yuuka. "We must not disturb them—"
"I'm not afraid of a god!" She proudly declared as she leveled her sight back to the earth. "If it stands between me and my dinner, it will soon learn to regret it!" 'Besides,' she thought, 'it could just be someone with a gun or something… no, wait, that might be more concerning.'
"Wait." Kumomi held up a hand again. "Something comes." As she said that, the two of them could hear a rustling sound coming from the brush in front of them. Kumomi took a ready stance while Yuuka raised one of her spears. The sound came closer and closer, and it wasn't until it was right in front of them that they saw what was making those sounds. A snake's head could be seen poking out of the brush. Yuuka threw the spear, and the snake moved just in time for the weapon to barely graze past its scales.
"No, wait!"
They stopped as they heard a voice, although they couldn't tell whose voice, or from where. "Who's there!?"
"I am right here!"
Yuuka looked around wildly before realizing that the voice could only have come from— "The snake?!"
"Yes, I… hold on." The snake, whose scales were an impossibly bright white, glowed even brighter until a blinding light filled the area before dying down again. Where the snake had just been now stood a woman, taller than either of them, looking down with a grin. "Ah… This form is more comfortable, yes?" In a world where wearing rags probably counted as a status symbol, this woman managed to look impressive. With her height, her voluminous just-dark-enough hair, and her bright red tunic, this was a figure that commanded awe in a world terribly devoid of it.
And yet, she looked considerably worse for wear. Her face, while still radiating some of that majesty, looked awfully winded; more importantly, however, she was missing an arm.
"… Who are you?" Yuuka could only bring herself to ask the most basic of questions.
"You would not know the name." The woman answered cryptically. "But you can call me Lady Yasaka."
Kumomi saw this as the moment to add her input. "A foreign kami. You are not from here."
"Yes," The woman replied. "I am far from Izumo, my home. But," she turned slightly, emphasizing her missing arm, "You must help me."
"And why would I help you? What have you ever done for me?" Yuuka, unperturbed, stepped up to her and got in her face. "What can you ever do for me?"
"I can give you power! Strength! Anything!" The woman sounded even more panicked as the conversation went on. "Just—"
CRACK!
"—Just hold him off!" And without waiting for an answer, she bolted off, running away from whatever was making that noise.
"What?! Hold who off?! Wait!" Yuuka shouted after her, but her questions went unanswered as the woman disappeared into the forest. "What is going on today?!" She angrily stomped forwards and picked up the spear she had thrown.
"Caution, Kazami. You do not know what you will fight." Kumomi warned, raising the one spear she had brought for herself.
Yuuka just glared at her. "I don't care what I'm fighting." She readied her own spears and prepared for a fight. "If there's a fight to be had…"
CRACK!
Once again the ear-shattering sound rang out, but this time it was accompanied by the tree in front of the two being suddenly pulverized in a flash of light. 'That's lightning alright, but..'
"YOU CANNOT HIDE!" A voice boomed from above, and with the tree out of the way, they could see it came from a large man floating in the sky. He had the image of a very muscular man, wearing a stark black tunic and an equally black head of hair tied in a strange knot. In his hand, he held a glowing rod of pulsating electric energy.
'Is he holding a… lightning bolt? Who does he think he is, Zeus?' She quipped internally, recalling her brief experience with mythology in the modern world.
While she thought, the man tossed whatever he was holding. As it landed a massive lightning bolt came down from the clear sky right next to where the two were standing with a loud CRACK!
As the lightning came down, she could feel the scorching heat radiating against her skin and the tremendous vibrations of the thunder. 'This power…' She smiled in spite of her burning flesh and ringing ears. 'I want it.'
"COME OUT AND SUBMIT, OR YOU—"
"HEY ASSHOLE!" She shouted into the sky, projecting her voice just loud enough to interrupt the man's tirade. "YOU WANT A FIGHT?"
The man was visibly caught off guard by this strange interloper in front of him. "Who are you to stand before me?" He wasn't shouting in the same way as before, but his voice still boomed with a barely contained sense of anger and power.
"THAT'S MY QUESTION!" She still had to keep shouting if she wanted her words to be heard. "YOU'RE ON MY LAND! WHO ARE YOU TO CHALLENGE ME?"
The man was not amused. "Your land? A mere ayakashi of your ilk has no right to claim what belongs rightly to the gods of heaven!" He declared as he readied another lightning bolt. "I care not for the delusions of the weak, so leave!" He threw the bolt at Yuuka, who just barely managed to avoid it as the mass of electricity sailed past her. Her hair stood on end and singed on the tips as the bolt grazed past her. It landed on the ground behind her where the heat caused nearby plant matter to catch fire.
"WEAK!? I AM NOT WEAK!" She shouted, raising one of her spears. "I AM STRONG! I'M NOT AFRAID OF SOME SO-CALLED GOD!" She stepped forwards and moved to challenge this man. At this point, some small part of her knew that she held little chance against a god of any sort in her current state, but her pride wouldn't allow her to back down from a battle such as this. "GIVE ME YOUR BEST SHOT!" She wound up and threw the spear with an inhuman force that sent it rocketing into the sky.
The spear flew straight as an arrow and hit the target straight on. When it made contact with the man's chest, however, it disintegrated into a cloud of splinters that fell to the ground. He seemed entirely unharmed and began conjuring another bolt for a counterattack. The bolt quickly appeared in his hand and he threw it straight at her. When it was just about to hit its target—
CRACK!
—it didn't miss.
The bolt slammed right into Yuuka's left shoulder, scorching her clothes and sending her flying into the nearest tree. Dazed, injured, and in pain, she looked angrily back at the man. The fire lit by the previous attack had now spread into a wall of fire between her and where she was before. The man simply flew over it and touched down next to her. "Damn you…" She spat. "I'm not… done yet…!" She tried to lift herself off the ground, but before she could, the man put a foot on her chest.
"Do you understand now?" He asked, towering over her. "You are weak, and you stand before the might of the Amatsukami, the Gods of Heaven. Remember this day well, young ayakashi, for it is the sons of heaven who will rule this land."
"As… if…!" She coughed. "I am a demon! I bow… to no man!" She tried to push him off of her chest and get up.
The man removed his foot and turned his back. "If it is any consolation, that hit would have killed any human, but I am no man." He turned to face her again dramatically. "I AM A GOD! SO BOW!" He reached out and grabbed her head and slammed it into the ground. She hit the ground hard. Not hard enough to cause any lasting damage, but hard enough to send her mind into a daze.
"I… I… I… won't…" She stammered, using all her effort to resist and lift her head just enough to look at him.
Once again, he summoned a lightning bolt in his hand. "If you so wish to be killed, then I must oblige—" The man was distracted again when something slammed into his back. It came with almost no force, far less than what even Yuuka had accomplished, and yet it caught both god and demon by surprise.
Standing behind the god of thunder and trying her best to force a crudely-shapen spear into his back was a frail and ordinary woman. "You… do not… hurt… Kazami!"
The man turned to face Kumomi. "I do not care for a human that serves such a being." And he loosed the bolt. At this sort of range, there was no way it could have missed.
CRACK!
The lightning bolt hit the woman straight in her heart and large parts of her body, both inside and out, were suddenly covered in third-degree burns. Within a second, she wasn't even recognizable. The only mercy was that her heart stopped immediately, sparing her from ever knowing the damage done to her body.
'Kumomi! NononononoNONONO! That bastard!' Yuuka's red eyes lit with the fires of anger as she tried once more to push herself off of the ground. Even without the man actively keeping him down, however, she found herself restrained by the sheer force of his divine aura alone.
The man seemed to find her resistance amusing. "That anger… You are ayakashi, are you not? An unholy demon. What do you care for the life of one human?"
"She… She was…" Yuuka paused. 'What was she? What does this random human woman mean to me, a demon far above her in every way? Ayakashi… the 'you' in 'youkai.' That is what I am, an unholy beast. A beast! Yes, a beast! Why did I keep her around? As a servant, of course! Because she's useful! Not because I care for her! Nononono, I wouldn't care for a human! Never! She's a tool! Yes, a tool! And he broke my tool!' She lost herself in her internal dialogue, attempting to connect and justify her actions and emotions.
While she convinced herself, the offending god had time to turn around and head off in the direction that snake woman had run off to earlier. He left her with these parting words: "As you pose no threat, I will leave you be, but should you ever challenge the Gods of Heaven again, know that I, Take-Mikazuchi-no-mikoto, will kill you personally and without mercy."
She stared at him as he walked away, and soon the anger and indignation turned into something potentially far more dangerous—envy. 'He's strong, so very strong. Strong and ruthless. That should be me! That should be my power!'
He disappeared into the woods and in his wake, the forest burned.
As it turned out, the one-armed snake woman had not gone very far. Early into the battle between Yuuka and the god, she let curiosity get the better of her and doubled back to watch, a folly for which she would curse herself for centuries. She spent much of the battle in snake form, hiding in a nearby tree and only now was she doing her best to slither away.
"It is useless, you cannot escape me." The god of thunder, Take-Mikazuchi, was directly on her tail, walking straight for her. She tried to quickly change into human form and make a break for it, but he was too fast and grabbed her snake form and picked her up by the tail.
The result was him holding a one-armed woman in the air upside down by a leg, looking awfully displeased.
"Your insolence will be tolerated no longer, it is time I killed you."
"But you wouldn't kill a poor old woman, would you?" She tried to crack an innocent smile, but the fear and the predicament made it look extremely forced.
"I just did, and you are neither, Lady Yasaka." He shook his head. "Or rather, Take-Minakata-no-kami, son of Okuninushi, God of the Land." This time he drew not a lightning bolt, but a sword. A sword straighter and sharper than the current technologies would ever allow. "I took your arm, now I will take your life."
The woman, now identified as Take-Minakata, transformed once more. This time taking on a male form that similarly was one-armed. He looked rather similar to Mikazuchi, but in contrast to Mikazuchi's black outfit, Minakata wore a bright red one. However, if one were to look closely, they would notice that the red tunic was once white. It is only through the injuries suffered against the thunder god that Minakata's clothing was stained with the color of his/her own blood.
"Ah, well—, we can work this out, right?" The suspended god pleaded. "You don't really want to kill me, do you?" he/she forced a smile and waved his/her hands in an attempt to break the tension.
"You stand in the way of the Amatsukami. For that I must kill you." Take-Mikazuchi was entirely unconvinced. "A god as troublesome as you would do well in the pits of Yomi."
"The Gods of Heaven, huh? What makes them so great? What do they have that the Kunitsukami, Gods of the Land, don't?"
The thunder god narrowed his eyes and edged his sword closer to his/her neck.
"Ahaha… That is what I would say if I was stupid!" He/she tried to pass it off as a joke. Mikazuchi was less than impressed.
"Are those your last words?"
"Please don't kill me!" Seeing his/her attempts to defuse fail, he/she dropped the façade and allowed the full extent of his/her panic to show. "I- I mean, It's not Yomi, but I can stay here, if that is enough? That will work, right? This is so far away from Izumo, it's practically the same thing, right? And you can tell my dad that I'll take the deal!" Seeing Take-Mikazuchi still held the bolt, he/she continued to panic. "Yes, really! I'll take it! Amaterasu's brats can have the country! Really! Just don't kill me!"
The god of thunder grunted and narrowed his eyes even further, if that was even possible. "So you promise never to leave this land of Suwa?"
"That's what it's called?"
"…"
"I- I mean YES! YES, I PROMISE!"
"And you promise to accept the rule of the Sons of Heaven?"
"YES! YES, A MILLION TIMES! JUST DROP THAT THING ALREADY!"
Take-Mikazuchi, to his/her surprise, calmly relaxed his stature, lowered the sword, and dropped the other god. His/her head landed hard onto the ground, but the thunder god didn't much care. "Then it is done. A new era will come shortly, and the children of Amaterasu will lead its coming. Remember this if nothing else, son of Okuninushi: a god's promise cannot be broken. You may believe you were spared, but that is not the case. As long as the people have faith in the gods, you will never leave this place. Farewell."
Lying in a heap, the one-armed god simply watched as Take-Mikazuchi took off for the skies, heading west towards Izumo.
By the time Yuuka regained her bearings, she found herself in the middle of a raging forest fire. Her mind was hazy at first, but a burning branch falling off of a tree right in front of her got her attention very quickly.
"Quick! You need to get out of here!" Her eyes jolted upwards as she caught sight of that woman from earlier, still dressed in red and missing an arm, although with the strange addition of some sort of rope wrapped around her head like a headband. She reached out a hand towards the dazed youkai.
"Tch." Looking almost insulted by the gesture, Yuuka refused the hand and pushed herself up with her own strength. She spared a look behind her where laid the now-burning form of her previous… benefactor? Servant? Friend? … No, perish the thought.
"Don't worry, I'll make sure she gets a proper burial." The woman now forcefully grabbed her hand. "But now, we have to run!" She pulled and dragged the stubborn youkai a few steps before Yuuka was able to wiggle herself out of her grasp.
"Don't patronize me, you worthless god!" She shot the woman a pointed look, her red eyes flaring. "Thanks to your little squabble, my favorite forest is on fire and my… my valuable asset is dead!"
"Worthless? I told you I would make it up to you! A deal is a deal, anything you want!" A large branch came down right next to them, spreading the fire to the plants it landed on. "—But first, we need to GO!" She reached over to grab her arm again, but Yuuka just batted it away.
"You want to go? Then go." Yuuka turned and walked calmly past her, in no particular direction. "If you could truly give me what I want, we wouldn't be in this situation." She tilted her head back and gave a grin she hadn't used in too long of a time. "Isn't that right, oh great Take-minataka?"
The goddess inhaled proudly. "Hm? You've heard of me? Then you should know how strong I—Wait! Where are you going!?"
"Back to my garden." She replied without slowing or looking back. "The flowers make much better conversation partners."
The goddess stood bewildered for a few seconds until a flaming branch nearly landed on top of her, bringing her back to her senses. Deciding once again this argument wasn't worth her life, the goddess who takes the name of Take-Minakata turned to her snake form and slithered her way across the forest floor at top speed.
Once again, Yuuka was alone as she watched the pure white snake disappear into the brush in front of her. "Hmph. Finally some peace and quiet." She said as she walked leisurely back to her home, with only the trees, the sky, and a blazing wildfire as her witnesses.
The heat was suffocating, if the smoke wasn't already. The light from the flames reflected off of the smoke in the air making the whole sky glow a bright orange. On the ground ahead of her, walking became increasingly treacherous as flames spread in the underbrush. Even with all her strength, she had to force herself to breathe.
Still, she moved onwards, trying not to let the heat get to her. She kept her head high and put on an air of confidence.
—Even though she knew no one was watching.
—Even though the fire was slowly eating away at her body. Inside and out.
—Even though… 'Ah, damn!' As the smoke got to her mind, she ended up straying a little too close to one of the burning bushes. It spread to her clothes, 'Gah! Get off!' Now her leg, too, caught flame.
She stomped it on the ground, shaking her leg around wildly to get the flame off. Said ground, however, was covered in plant matter that was all currently on fire. Despite her best efforts, she was still on fire, and despite her resilience, it hurt.
"Hah…!" She declared through clenched teeth. "A… simple fire… can't… hurt… me!" She pushed on, using a spear as a walking stick to compensate for her burning leg. "I am strong! Nothing… Nothing will stand… in my way!" As she walked, a squirrel scurried in front, looking lost and panicked in the midst of the inferno.
She skewered the ill-fated squirrel with impunity and pushed on. "Nothing, I said! … Nothing!" As she walked, the fire continued to eat away at her leg, in time rendering it unusable for walking. Stubbornly, she continued to walk on it until she couldn't move it at all. Then she crawled.
"A youkai… like me…" She coughed. "…Dying in a… normal forest fire?" She coughed again. "Not… in a million years!" The fire had now spread up to her hip. "How am I… to stand above gods… if I can't… even… def—"
It was not the fire, but the smoke that got to her first. Soon, her mind went blank as she found herself drift into unconsciousness.
She found herself in a place that was at once familiar and yet inherently unfamiliar. A thick mist clouded her vision, beyond which stood a silhouette of indeterminate shape and size.
"I did not think I would see you so soon."
Meanwhile, Take-Minakata had successfully slithered out of the forest and arrived at the pristine clearing the young ayakashi had come from. He/she was certainly impressed by the neat arrangement of wildflowers that surrounded the lone hut, but now was hardly the time for sightseeing. The defeated kami reassumed his/her female form once he/she got out of the forest. This body was "Lady Yasaka" as usual, although she was less than pleased to note that, since the battle with Take-Mikazuchi, her body has been adorned with shimenawa ropes as a symbol of their deal.
As she inspected her body, a man ran towards her from inside the hut, his face a mix of worry and relief. "Mom! Kazami! I'm glad you're—" Once he saw who he was running towards, however, the relief dissipated, and the worry expanded to fill the gap. Slowly now, he walked towards the goddess. "Where… are they?" His voice shook, but not for a second did he suspect that this woman wouldn't know the answer.
Minakata knew this kind of voice. She, after all, carried the aura of a god. A strong one, with connections and supporters all over the land. That was why she was picked to defend the legacy of her father, and why humans such as this man trusted her dearly. It was a shame, then, to know all of that would soon die out.
"I am sorry, but your mother could not be saved." She told the man. "Your friend is stronger, of will more than body, so perhaps she could yet survive. Be warned, however, even the strongest ayakashi is small against the full force of nature." She recalled the pride, the sheer certainty, the girl carried herself with, even as she stood before the strongest of the Amatsukami. The girl was clearly delusional, she didn't hold near enough spiritual energy to justify that…
But what if she wasn't delusional? What if that girl had once held the power she thought she did? Then… does that mean such a fate awaits her as well? Exiled to a foreign land, with no one to support her. The people here surely have their own gods that they'd obviously pick over her. Soon, her worshipers will turn to the gods of heaven, and those that continue to revere her will die out.
One by one.
Until this once-proud god is forgotten. Lost. Forever more.
"Uh, miss? Are you okay?" The man before her look at her, sparing some of the worry in his eyes for the stranger he just met. It seems this troublesome train of thought had pulled her attention away from reality.
"Ah, yes, I am fine. What is it you need, boy?"
"Ah, uh, um…" The 'boy' became flustered when she addressed him directly. "You… you're strong, right?"
She nodded. It was clear what he meant, although the fact that she was missing an arm made this line of questioning a little bit absurd.
"Then… could you… save her?" She wasn't sure who told this man to be so timid and unassertive, but it made their discussion much harder than it should be. "Please! I… I can't go on… without my—my family!"
The kami made a show of pondering the issue. "Hmm… but if I recall correctly, she herself said she did not need my help." Inside, she considered breaking the news that ayakashi can never be family, but decided against it. "What am I supposed to do?"
"She is always like that!" The man, for once, shouted emphatically. "She acts like she doesn't need you, she says she doesn't care, but I know that, deep down, she's just a normal person!"
Minakata gave serious consideration to tell him just how wrong he was, but she just shook her head instead. She had long since decided that she would save the girl, for reasons entirely unrelated to this man.
She's not stupid, though. If there's one thing she knows very well, it's that the harder a man prays, however, the stronger she gets.
"Very well, then. If that is what you desire…" Turning towards the burning forest, she took a wide stance as she gathered almost all of her power. If this power would soon disappear, it would be a waste not to use it all. "Then behold the power…" Around her, tremendous gusts picked up, at first circling, and then all in one direction.
"… Of a god!"
Yuuka's consciousness did not bear witness to this. Instead, it laid elsewhere, before the presence of a very different entity.
"I must say, you are perhaps the most interesting thing I've seen in a long, long, time. Quite the achievement for a mere… whatever you called yourself." The voice that spoke was soothing, and yet incredibly terrifying.
"A Youkai. And I'm not a 'mere' anything." Yuuka took offense to the voice's statement, but she found herself letting it go.
"Yes, that. I'm afraid I do not speak Chinese very well."
"Chinese?" Yuuka paused to think for a second. "…I suppose you could call it that. I'm surprised you've heard of China. I didn't think it existed in this era."
The shrouded figure laughed. Or did the laugh come from elsewhere? Had she herself laughed? She had no way of knowing. "Yes, I love it most when you speak like that. A simple sentence that holds a thousand mysteries." The voice was a gentle whisper that reverberated all around her, becoming the air itself.
The conversation continued, with the strange entity changing the topic at its leisure seemingly without reason. Sometimes it seemed like Yuuka wasn't even there as the voice simply talked to itself. She would have lashed out, but somehow this place calmed her nerves, as these words rang in her head: You are safe here. You want to be here. There is nothing else for you.
"Don't…" For some reason, she found herself hesitating. "Don't you feel it's… rude to ignore what I'm saying?"
"You must be mistaken." The voice felt as if it bore into her skull, before just as suddenly retreating into the distance. Then it came back, assaulting her ears from all sides. "This is not a conversation. You do not speak to a god. A god speaks…"
"…And you listen." She was certain that she herself said it, but that couldn't be right…
"But regardless, you my dear are a wonderful mystery. Your pride, your thoughts… there are many ayakashi in this realm, but you… your spirit… it feels so…" The voice took an audible breath—did it need to breathe? Or was it just for effect? "I want you. You fascinate me, and so you will be mine."
Suddenly, from elsewhere, a direction not describable with words, she heard a voice.
"—Kazami!"
"Oh." The voice, for once, halted. "It seems there is someone who calls for you."
The mist, if it was possible, thickened. The voice, however, drew nearer and sharper.
"Pay them no heed." Each syllable felt like a headache assailing her brain. "You have no need for the world of humans. Stay here, with me." The sound was external, internal, and subconscious.
"Kazami, can you hear me?" The other voice, a man's, rang inside her head as well. She knew this voice. It was—
"You do not care for that voice. You do not need it. You do not want it. All you need to do is to remain here—"
"—With me."
At this point, there were at least three voices competing for her attention, and she couldn't tell her own thoughts from the words she was hearing.
"Everything you want is—"
"Are you there!? Kaza—!"
"right here. Just close your eyes and—"
'My head…'
"Hm? What's troubling you, I wonder?"
"—re you are! Are you alive? Can you hear—?"
'I can't…'
"No, do not—"
"How about we—?"
"ENOUGH!"
Yuuka's strength exploded in whatever direction her muscles could move. Her arms thrust forwards, hitting something and sending it flying, while her legs burst into action.
"I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU DAMNED GODS! I'M NOT HERE FOR YOUR AMUSEMENT!"
She shot straight off the ground and stomped a few steps forwards before her brain finally caught up with her surroundings.
She was no longer in the vague realm, floating in darkness as she previously was, but rather she stood on solid ground. Around her was a vast forest, or what remained of it. Charred stumps lay where trees once stood, the canopy was all but gone, and here and there a loose ember still glowed on the ground. Her clothes, once riddled with holes, were now burnt to almost be no longer recognizable. Her body, however, seemed untouched.
Not sure how to react to the change of scenery, and still very much angry, she exhaled heavily. It sounded less like breathing and more like the growl of a beast.
"I hope that does not include me."
She spun around to see Take-Minakata, no, Lady Yasaka, standing a few yards behind her. The god(dess) was looking somewhat worse for wear, but her face showed no sign of it. In fact, she looked mighty pleased with herself. Yuuka scowled at her presence.
"What is with that look? I will have you know I'm not that tasty."
With no words or care for her surroundings, Yuuka marched right up to the goddess and grabbed her by the shirt. "You think you're clever!? Of course you're included! I've only known you for an hour and it's a miracle I haven't killed you yet!"
"I would like to see you tr—"
"SHUT UP!" She did her best to spray spit in that smug face. "All you people, lording over me like I'm some pathetic woodland creature! Thinking I'm some toy that you have to keep 'saving' for your own use! Calling yourselves 'gods,' bah! What right do you have to claim divinity!? What makes you think you're better than me!? Because your oh-so-great daddy once-upon-a-time talked to a rabbit? Hieda and Yasumaro be damned, the most important thing you've done is lose!"
"I am sure you will not think that when you hear what I have to off—"
"I don't need your damned deals! What is it with old women that think I'll do whatever they want? All my life you people have tried to use me over and over…" Yuuka took a break to breathe heavily. "…You know what happened to the first person that tried to use me?"
"—You killed her. I know your type."
"That right there! That's what I was talking about! Just like that 'great youkai' that tried to lecture me! You think you know me better than I do!" She tore off the part of Minakata's shirt she was holding, then placed her hand back, grabbing the goddess' neck. "Well you don't! I'm not going to take any of your deals, and there's no way I'm going to stay here while you push me around!" With a burst of strength, she threw the goddess who, after using most of her power, went flying into a nearby stump. "Besides, I bet you are—"
As she stood over her handiwork, she suddenly felt something pulling against what remained of her outfit.
"BACK OFF!" Unconsciously, and without checking what it was she felt, her anger materialized in the form of her ability. For the first time in years, she felt a familiar rush of power shoot out of her side, followed by a surprise gasp.
"W- What is this!?" She turned to find a man, Tsuchimi, pinned against one of the few remaining trees in the area. Keeping him in place was a large vine, far larger and sturdier than any that can be found naturally. "K- Kazami…?"
"Oh, if it isn't my favorite little boy. You seem to have gotten yourself in quite the pickle, haven't you?"
"W- What do you—?"
"You know, Tsuchimi…" She walked slowly towards him, running her hand along the length of the vine. "I've known you for three years. You would say more, but I beg to differ." She reached the end of the vine and began to trace her hand over his body, towards his face. "Over that time, I've learned something." She brought both of her hands to his face and leaned in. "I love men."
Tsuchimi could only stand still as this happened, staring into her piercing red eyes.
"You see, you men are different. You don't try to manipulate me, no, no. You're so much… simpler. Easier. Stupider." She caressed his cheek with the back of her hand. "My father, bless his soul, was the only person who ever really loved me—what a mistake that was." She laughed, only making him more uncomfortable. "But do you know what I love most about men?" She traced her hand down towards his heart. "They scream louder."
With a viscous grin, she thrust her hand forwards. It plunged into his chest with the horrid sound of ribs breaking, harmonized with his anguished screams.
"YES! YES! That's what I want! That's what I wanted from you all along!" Yuuka laughed. All of the frustration she had felt over three years of dormancy came out of her mouth, mixed with a strangely grotesque joy. Or perhaps arousal would be a better word.
By the time Minakata could intervene, the goddess knew it was too late. "NO! What are you doing!?" She acted as fast as she could, seizing Yuuka's arms and pulling the youkai away from her 'prey.' "Don't you know how important he is to you!? How important you are to him!?"
Yuuka responded by laughing. "All the better!" She managed to lift her right hand to her face and lick some of the blood off of it, all the while maintaining eye contact with Tsuchimi. "Mmm, delicious. The taste of your trust, betrayed by the demon you believed in!"
Tsuchimi, with a fresh hole in his chest and thoroughly traumatized, fainted. His heart still beat, but that it could be seen beating was hardly a good sign.
Minakata spun around Yuuka to stand between them. She grabbed the youkai's shoulder and shook her sternly. "Do you have any idea what you just did!? He's the only person here! If he dies, we die too!"
"…We?" Yuuka leaned in towards Minakata. She smiled, showing her teeth that were just a little sharper than they should be. "If your survival relies on one measly human, that's your problem." She rolled her shoulder, breaking the goddess' grip, then stepped away and turned her back. "He's not dead yet. If you're really a god, then save him. It should be easy, right?" She cocked her head over her shoulder and gave a toothy grin.
"…" Take-Minakata took a deep breath to regain her bearings. Then, calmly, she spoke. "I know you ayakashi have no sense of morality, but you would do well to appreciate those who do nothing but help you. That man was prepared to give his life for you!"
Yuuka turned away and began to walk off. "Hah! If he wants to give his life to me, why shouldn't I take it?" Leaving on that statement, she continued to walk.
The goddess watched as she left. "Not even ayakashi can live alone forever." She said to the youkai's retreating form. If Yuuka heard it she gave no indication. "Now," She looked back at the man bleeding out in the vines. "Let us hope you are a man of faith."
Given that a this portion of the forest had been decimated by fire, Yuuka could not rely on any of the landmarks she knew to find her way anywhere. Not that she needed them, or that she ever memorized the landmarks in the first place. She was very much content to pick a direction and march off, regardless of where that path takes her.
'Which way was it…? Ah, It doesn't matter. I don't have a home here anyways.' She sighed and looked ahead at a sea of burnt stumps and ash. 'I'm free now… free. Whatever that means.'
She looked down at herself. What little remained of her clothing was torn, faded, and burnt. 'This won't do, what if someone… What do I care?' She shook her head and moved onwards. 'I'm just going to leave this place—I don't care what 'gods' or 'fate' have in store for me, I'm done! I'll disappear into the woods and become the quintessential youkai. Life will be so much easier when the only people I talk to don't live to tell the tale.'
Yuuka made her way through the barren forest. As she walked, the fire damage lessened and the foliage grew thicker. She changed her direction at random intervals, just to make sure that whatever plan fate had in store for her, she would never follow along with it.
No matter what she did, however, fate somehow had a way of bringing her where she needed to be, and she hated it.
Eventually, she found herself somewhere the forest seemed hardly touched by the fire. Instead, it seemed that it was strong winds that had beset this part of the wilderness. 'The way these trees have fallen down… Was there a typhoon recently? Quite the coincidence for a typhoon to happen at the same time as a wildfire…'
'A coincidence… as if.' Yuuka batted away a clump of fallen branches in her way, revealing beyond it not more forest, but rather a clearing.
A very familiar clearing.
"Sure. Very funny." She spat, looking at the hut and her arrangement of flowers surrounding it. "It's like someone wants me to be here." Then, as quickly as she had arrived, she turned around and began walking away. "But I'll be damned if I let them control me."
As she stepped away, she heard another set of footsteps approach her. She didn't have to turn to know who it was: the ever-so-great Take-Minakata-no-Kami stood behind her, still appearing as a woman and looking rather gloom for a god. "As an ayakashi, you are already damned, are you not?"
"Perhaps, but what do you care?" She stopped and straightened her back when responding, but she still did not face the god.
A pause hung in the air before Minakata spoke again. "It has just been on my mind; is it worse to be damned, or forgotten?"
"And what kind of question is that? I'm not here to listen to your stupid—!"
"—That man, he does not have much time left." Minakata interrupted her, but still spoke slowly and softly. "Thanks in large part to one of us."
"Yeah, and what of it? People die when you kill them." When she sensed the god was about to respond, she lifted her hand slightly to signal that she would continue. "I know what you're going to say, and here's my answer: I would rather die forgotten but free than live forever in a shrine on a hill like your type."
Take-Minakata hummed briefly. "I suppose so, but I doubt you can achieve either." The god stepped closer and was now almost whispering into her ear. "I have heard there is another kami in this land. A powerful one. Nothing I could possibly defeat. A god that just might be using their powers to control your life. Are you familiar?"
Yuuka's eyes widened. "A god… yes, she could have done it. That little brat could have done it. Placed a curse or something…" She started to mumble as the thoughts connected in her mind.
"She…? Brat…?" Minakata seemed to be mumbling too, but Yuuka paid her no heed as the god stepped away slightly. "But of course, as a fellow kami, I would hate to see something happen to her. It would scare far too many of my faithful to see such a powerful being defeated, wouldn't it?"
Yuuka licked her lips and started walking forwards again. "Then we're done here, aren't we?"
"I suppose we are. It is a shame you will not be joining your friend for dinner tonight. Even with my powers, he won't last more than a few days." Minakata spoke in such a way that it was clear that she meant something else, but Yuuka was far past caring what. "Before you leave, I suggest you take this." She could tell that the god held out an object to her, but she had no idea what it was.
"No. Whatever it is, whatever I'm fighting, I don't need it." And with those parting words, she disappeared once more into the forest.
As Yuuka walked out of earshot, Take-Minakata brought the item back towards her chest. "Very well, then."
How many times had Yuuka walked these woods since she arrived in this time? Countless, probably, but only once before had she made it to the village. That time, she had no direction or guidance, it was merely the hand of fate that drew her to that small clearing on the shores of what she now suspected was Suwa-ko, the large sacred lake of Nagano Prefecture. The arrival of Take-Mikazuchi and Minakata certainly proved that. Regardless, she actually had no idea how to get there, and given that it took days to make the trip, she could easily go the wrong way and end up in the wrong province.
So, naturally, she felt very tempted to do exactly that, and for a youkai, there is not much separating a temptation from an action.
'Did I not just decide not to put trust in fate? Did I not just say I would refuse the call at every turn?' She asked herself as she walked, and to herself she responded: 'But that brat is the cause of this in the first place, right? So if I follow the call, then I can get rid of the call altogether!'
In her hubris, she did not question her assumptions, nor did she consider the variables that she had been so riled up about earlier. She simply chose the direction that fate had in store for her, and walked.
Her path took her over a great amount of terrain, up and down mountains, and even once up the same mountain twice. Some land looked vaguely familiar, most did not, but either way it was mountainous forest all the way through. While her first trip to the village had taken less than two days, this time it took her almost three. Along the way, she became hungrier and frailer, but nevertheless, the evening of the third day finally came.
The sun was just setting as she saw the lake, glowing red in the sunset. She did not arrive at the clearing, but she could see it now, just a mile or so down the coast. In the distance, she saw smoke start to rise from the fire pit as the villagers returned from their daily activities. The dim glow of the fire reflected faintly on the surface of the lake, appearing brighter and brighter as the sun's light faded.
She dismissed the image and turned back inland; it would be much easier to get there through the forest than over the lake. The forest here was thinner, more treaded, with all trails leading towards the village. In the time she'd spent in a distant dwelling, she had forgotten the extent to which humans left an impact on the world around them. It was a primitive attempt at taming the forest, but already it was clear that these people had the will to shape nature to their own desires.
'Them, and that 'god' of theirs, too!' Just to make a point, she walked not on the trail, but in the brush beside it. Yes, it only really made the trail wider, but it was the principle of it that mattered. 'If that brat's the cause of all my problems, I just need to kill her and I can do whatever I want!' She drew nearer to the village, and by now she could make out the shapes of the villagers walking between the huts. 'And if I'm wrong, well… at least I'll have these people. Once she's gone, this poor village will be mine.'
Without hesitation or a second spent planning, she walked out of the woods and into the village clearing. All who saw her turned their heads; their eyes full of suspicion, confusion, and yes… fear. "Good evening!" She shouted into the village, directed at no one in particular. "I was hoping you could direct me to your little pipsqueak-in-chief!"
At first no one responded. Some looked between themselves in confusion, while others kept their eyes fixed on her. It was natural that they didn't understand, she spoke in her unaltered modern language. While she had forced Tsuchimi to understand and the gods were a separate issue, it had been a long time since she interacted with someone who truly couldn't understand her.
"Haven't seen her? A shame, really." Yuuka stepped forwards into the assembling crowd. She locked eyes with one woman who seemed particularly unnerved by her presence. Calmly, she grabbed the woman by the hair before pulling her away from the crowd, back to where she was standing. "You seem to have a pretty face."
"Who? Why? Let go!" The woman squirmed in her grasp, pleading, but the more she did, the stronger Yuuka was able to make her grip. The people around were starting to get antsy as well, and they began shouting incomprehensibly.
Then, without warning, she slammed her arm down with all her might. Bolstered by the crowd's panic, she threw the woman's head to the ground, and it landed with a sharp crack. "Oh dear, it seems you don't have much a face anymore, do you?" She looked up at the crowd, now silenced and backing away. "I sure hope you remember where that brat is now."
A brief moment of stunned silence hung over the crowd, before the first villager, a young man, turned and sprinted away. Following him, about half of the group followed suit, disappearing into the far corners of the village.
"Still no response? What a disappointment." She stepped once more close to the crowd, and this time the villagers made every effort to stay as far away as possible. She stepped forward again, and the crowd rippled back even further.
"What… is this about?" Suddenly, from behind the crowd, a new voice spoke up. One that was neither shouting nor screaming, but somewhat… bored.
'That's it! That's her!' Yuuka turned out the crowd and made her way to where she heard the voice. Thankfully, the people in the way seemed more than happy to let her through. As they parted, she saw the girl she had been looking for—blonde hair, purple tunic, and no taller since she last saw her despite the intervening years.
"Why… is there a naked woman in my village?" The girl spoke, pointing out a detail no one else was brave enough to.
After the fight, the fire, and a considerable amount of travel, it would have been unreasonable to expect Yuuka's clothes to remain intact. "A beast wears only his fur, does he not? And as for why I'm here…" she stepped towards the girl. "I'm sure you remember me." She looked down at her with a grin.
"Who are you supposed to be?"
"What!? You little—!" She grabbed the self-proclaimed god and leaned into her face. "After all the trouble you put me through—!" Yuuka closed her eyes briefly and let out a deep breath before reopening them. "Well, I'll tell you now! My name is—!"
The girl, however, cared little for the woman in front of her. Instead, she turned to her side and held out an arm. "Thank you," she said as an object appeared in her hand.
"Are you even listening to me!?" With her peripheral vision, she couldn't exactly tell what it was that the girl was now holding, but that didn't much matter to her. "My name is Ka— argh!"
While she likely should have expected it, that arm came swinging around and smacked the Youkai solidly in the side of the head before she could finish her introduction. "Yes, I do remember." The girl said as Yuuka stumbled back. "But I still do not care." She brandished her weapon, that same metal ring she was using the last time they fought. "I killed you once. I will just kill you twice."
"Yeah, isn't that funny? You say you killed me, but here I am!" Yuuka, her face bruised but not seriously injured, smiled and once more stood tall. "I'll tell you a little secret: you cannot kill me!" She boasted as she once more stepped closer. "Come on, little 'god'! Give me your best—augh!"
Said 'god' was not terribly amused by her boasting, and delivered a solid hit in the gut with her weapon. "You lie."
"I—I—ack—do not!" That hit seemed to have knocked the wind out of her, but she still tried to fight. She reeled up to deliver a punch, but before she could, she was struck once more in the arm, deflecting her blow. "Gah—!" That arm was broken at the very least.
"You are still weak."
"We'll see about that—!" Yuuka followed up with another punch, which was again deflected by the girl's iron ring. However, while she was distracted, a third punch came in from Yuuka's injured arm.
The 'audience' was shocked. "Miss Moreya!" "Who is she!?" "Miss Moreya, are you alright!?"
"Hmm, Moreya, huh? I should have guessed." Yuuka smirked as she stepped back slightly and nursed both of her injured arms. Just rubbing the broken parts had little effect, but it somehow convinced her mind that the pain was less than it was.
"Yes, I am Moreya, and this land is mine." The girl might have been surprised by the punch, but the injured arm had little actual effect. "You do not belong here, ayakashi." During this short break, another villager tossed her a second ring for her other hand.
"Hah! Bring it on!" Yuuka brought her fist up and lunged at Moreya.
Suddenly, however, a massive gust of wind picked up, pushing her away. She glared at the little god, but to her surprise, Moreya looked just as surprised as her.
"Looks like your little 'god' can't even deal with a little ayakashi like that, how pitiful!" Another voice boomed from above the two of them. It definitely wasn't Moreya's, and it wasn't quite as loud as Mikazuchi's… No, it sounded just like—
'Take-Minakata… Of course you decided to show up.' Yuuka growled at the western god, but the wind drowned out her voice. The force of the gust blew her away from the fight and pinned her against the ground. 'How dare you take my prey!'
On a second glance, Minakata was in fact not flying but simply standing on top of a nearby hut. "People of Suwa! It is time to cast away this false god and put your faith in me! I am Suwa-Daimyoujin, the true god of this land!" Moreya, and most of the villagers, were clearly very indignant with Minakata's remarks. A small handful, however, seemed more than willing to go along with it, and that was all she needed. "And to prove my strength," Minakata shouted again. "I will defeat this pretender using only this!" She lifted her arm, displaying what appeared to be a branch covered in flowers.
"A branch?" Moreya spoke what everyone was probably thinking. "That will not make me hold back." The local god lifted her iron rings to demonstrate her point.
"Indeed! An ordinary branch from a wisteria tree!" Minakata dropped down from the roof and stood several paces away from Moreya, brandishing the wisteria branch. "Your reign of terror ends with this branch, Moriya-something-or-other!"
'Wisteria… 'welcome.' Is this her welcome gift to herself? Welcome to Suwa?' Yuuka thought, still pinned down by the wind. '…There's no way that bitch knows the language of flowers.'
Moreya scoffed rather than dignify that with an answer, and moved to charge the other god. Just before she got within striking distance, however, Minakata threw the branch.
—It did not get anywhere near Moreya. Instead it got caught up in a certain gust and flew far away from the battlefield.
"I will not fall for your trick!" Moreya did not watch the branch land, and instead took this opportunity to whack Minakata upside the head with one of her rings. "What about ending my reign?" She brought her other hand around to give a similar hit on the other side of Minakata's head. "Try to stop me when you are dead!"
Take-Minakata put up little resistance against this onslaught, taking hit after hit from the hardened iron. "Perhaps you have yet to see—ugh!" She took another hit in the gut. "—My plan!"
As she said that, Yuuka felt the branch hit her arm. It was indeed just a normal branch; it didn't even hurt when it hit her. 'Great. Now I have a stick with some flowers. I still can't do anything until this wind dies down. Why is she even wasting her energy on the wind when she's losing…?' Yuuka watch Minakata take a few more hits before her mind clicked. 'Wait, who am I kidding? A branch with flowers!' Against the wind, Yuuka brought the branch in front of her before trying to channel her power into it.
It came easily, just as it had in the previous world. It seemed her little demonstration earlier had had some effect. As carefully as she could, she pointed the branch at the dueling gods and focused her power. In an instant, the branch grew longer and longer, stretching into a sort of vine that snaked through the crowd to reach the fight. 'With any luck, I'll get both of them…'
"Leave my village!" Moreya shouted as she brought her rings up and prepared to strike against Minakata. The moment she raised her hands, however, the rings did not follow with them. "Wha—?" She looked down to find her precious iron trapped in a web of wood, snaking around both rings and keeping them locked in place. "How—?"
"Behold! The power of a real god!" Take-Minakata dropped her defensive stance and jumped at the disarmed Moreya. Without her most reliable defense, the local god could not deflect Minakata's blows, and they came one after the other. With every hit, Moreya could feel her strength decrease, while Minakata could feel hers grow. Moreya tried to counterattack, but she was quickly overwhelmed by Minakata's constant barrage.
'No, no! I didn't want to make her win! I want to kill both of them!' Yuuka furiously put more power into the end of the branch she held, making the other branch snake further, implanting itself into the ground and sprouting back out as trees, always just missing wherever the gods were. 'Damn it! I can't let her take credit for what I did!' Try as she may, however, it was not to be. The only result was a small grove of trees that was not there before.
Battles between gods can drag out for a long time, from hours to years, so considering that this one was rather short. Still, by the time Moreya submit, the sun was beginning to rise on the next day. The crowds had already dissipated, leaving the two to finish their fight alone.
"Feeling done yet?" Minakata asked as she stood over the smaller god. "You know, just because I'm so generous, I'll make you a deal."
"A deal? Why would I—?"
"Ah, but you haven't heard it!" Minakata kneeled on Moreya's chest, to bring her face closer. "You've clearly got a lot of devoted believers here; I don't need all of them. So what do you say we split it?"
"Split what?" Moreya was repulsed by the idea of accepting whatever this intruder had to offer, but at this point, not dying sounded rather attractive.
"I won, so that makes this place mine now. They'll build a great shrine here, and worship me as the Great God of Suwa. However," she raised a finger to illustrate her pause. "You get to stay here, and work with me! You'll get your own little 'Moriya Shrine' and people will worship us both!" She stepped off of the smaller god's body and offered a hand. "What do you say, Moriya of Suwa-ko?"
Moreya, or rather Moriya, grunted disapprovingly, but after a tense pause, reached her hand out and took Minakata's. "If you are in charge, you have to do all the work."
Minakata laughed as she brought Moriya off of the ground. "No problem! I'm the best god you will ever see!" Once Moriya was on her feet, Minakata stepped away. "Of course, you do not have to call me Daimyoujin. And you definitely cannot use my old name. You can call me Yasaka. Lady Yasaka… no, wait: Yasaka Kamiko! No, no, no, too on the nose. How about… Kanako! Yes, Yasaka Kanako, that is my name from now on!" Minakata, now Kanako beamed at Moriya, who would not smile at the person who just beat her, but the least she could do was nod, and that was enough.
Meanwhile, Yuuka remained on the ground. Still naked, and still pinned down with wind. 'Aren't you forgetting someone?' She thought. She tried shouting it too, just for good measure, but she knew it wouldn't do much good.
Miraculously, however, Kanako turned towards her after finishing with Moriya. "Have you enjoyed looking at the wind, 'Kazami?'" Yuuka growled in response. "Thanks to you, I am the god who miraculously grew a grove in an instant, and now I have a long life ahead of me. As a token of my endless grace, I give you this." She tossed an object in front of Yuuka: it was long, and made of metal with cloth wrapped around it—her parasol! "I believe this is yours. That man seemed to think it was very important before he died, but why is beyond me."
How had she not seen this? She thought it was lost back in the other world! Yuuka snatched it as quickly as she could and studied it. It really did seem to be the very same thing! Modern design, impossibly sharp tip and invulnerable fabric, all of it!
"Let us hope this is the start of a mutually beneficial relationship." Kanako smirked as she fussed over the umbrella. "After all, no one believes in a god if they have no demon to fear."
In time, the wind died down, but only after the two gods walked off together, leaving her alone. Without a plan, weakened and tired from exertion, she turned away from the village. She grabbed the clothes of the woman she had killed that still lay on the ground, soaked in red on one side and starch white on the other. She threw them on, opened her parasol, and marched off into the forest once more.
"Every god needs a demon, sure, but don't assume you will win every time."
Author's Notes:
Yuuka is the plaything of the gods, and she is not happy about it.
The thing that surprises me with each chapter is how different the final product is from my original storyboarding. Because this story is about a single character, I constantly find myself asking myself "Would Yuuka actually do this?" and the answer is, usually, no. At this stage in her development, she will actively resist anything I do to guide the story along even if just on the principle of it. On one hand, that makes it a lot harder to write efficiently, but on the other, I feel that it makes for a much more interesting writing experience. It's like I'm playing tug-of-war, and Yuuka always wins. This can probably explain some of the stranger plot developments this story has.
As for the other characters, some of them were easier to pin down than others.
I originally introduced Kumomi and Tsuchimi to illustrate the virtues of primitive civilization and to have a human element that tied Yuuka to reality. Ultimately, their role is the one that changed the most through writing this chapter, as this Yuuka ardently refuses to let anyone love her.
Then, the gods. Kanako was the most fun to write because she is a rare mix of powerful and not overwhelmingly edgy. Her character might not be entirely canon, but when have I cared about that? The hard part was combining Minakata, Lady Yasaka (Yasaka-tome, Minakata's wife), and Kanako into one character, so my solution was to create this slimy, conniving, shape-shifting god with a penchant for deals and the dramatic. The shape-shifting made it a little confusing in the pronoun department, but I felt it was necessary to include to reconcile some of the accounts.
Suwako, however, was much harder for me. I never got much of a hold on her character in the games, and everything I have seen clashes very poorly with what I've seen of the mythological Moreya. I'm still not 100% on the final product, but what I do have was largely inspired by our good friend RD-Sounds, who has two songs "Curse God" and "Song of Gods' Play" (祟神 and 神遊びの唄) that I listened to on loop while writing her scenes, the former being more aligned with Moreya, and the latter Suwako in the games.
Take-Mikazuchi was also pretty fun. His character is well-documented in the Kojiki and other sources, and I enjoyed the idea of a ridiculously stern god of thunder who acts as the thug of the Amatsukami. There are a few times in the Kojiki where the myth has to explicitly address why Take-Mikazuchi doesn't just do everything because he's so good at his job.
Finally, the mystery god that appears a few times throughout the chapter will be addressed later, but I have a feeling some of the more mythologically-inclined of you may be able to guess who it's supposed to be.
As for the more technical clarifications, I hope I provided enough context in the story to explain the Japanese terminology that I brought up every once in a while. Otherwise, for some context here are the events in the myth that lead up to this: 1. Okuninushi builds the kingdom of Ashihara-no-Nakatsukuni (often translated as Middle Earth) and rules the land with the Kunitsukami. 2. Amaterasu, the sun goddess and leader of the Amatsukami, wants the land to be ruled by her descendants, so she sends Take-Mikazuchi to take control. 3. Okuninushi, not willing to fight Mikazuchi himself, tells the thunder god that he will agree if all of his sons say yes. When his first son submits immediately, Okuninushi points Mikazuchi towards his strongest and most distant son: Take-Minakata. 5. Take-Mikazuchi defeats Minakata in what is said to have been history's first sumo match and chases him across the country to the "Sea of Suwa" in Shinano Province. Then the events of this chapter occur. In the end, after seeing what happened to Minakata, Okuninushi gives in despite having at least 180 more sons. Of course, there's a lot more to the myth as a whole, but that's the gist of it.
Aside from that, there's some debate as to what form Moreya's and Minakata's weapons took during the battle, so I went with the most common retelling. Also, when Yuuka references Hieda and Yasumaro earlier, those are the writers of the Kojiki that is the authoritative source on these topics. You might recognize the former name. Finally, I'm sorry if I mixed up Take-Mikazuchi and Take-Minakata at some point, those are hard names to get straight.
Regardless, enough justifying my writing, let's get on to reviews!
Re: CobaltForge
Thanks for reviewing! I'm always happy to see other people writing stories with Yuuka as the focus. Your interpretation might be quite different from mine, but that's what drew me to this character in the first place!
I do know what you mean with the end of Chapter 2, and it's probably not worth it to waste my breath justifying it. Otherwise, what you brought up about the action density is one reason I wrote the first two chapters like I did. This story really is best experienced as separate 20k-word stories, so if you're willing, I ask you to read part I and part II together to get the intended experience.
I hope you continue to enjoy this story, and I'll keep an eye out for yours as well!
Re: Hazard 567
Thanks once again for your support, it is always nice to have consistent reviewers on a story. I'm not really sure how to respond to your review this time other than I'm glad what I'm doing is working as intended. When writing, I was worried that some of that wasn't going to go over right, so your review is certainly a relief.
Anyways, thanks for reading, and don't forget to leave your own review before you go!