*Knock Knock.
"Hello?"
*Knock Knock
"Plyush?"
…
Huh? Still locked…
Unregarding whether they were occupied, I gaped inside the pillbox, but strangely enough, It was pitch dark, barely any light bleeding from the door's under gap.
"They're not here at all."
Swiftly I exited through, It seemed strange that they left to do their errands knowing I'd be coming.
"Lady Yakumo?" Someone called my name to the left.
I turned to see the kappa coming with machinery in a box she was carrying.
"Oh, Hello Miss Nitori." I said
"Is Venetian there?" She asked
"No one seems to be home."
"Oh, they probably must still be occupied…"
"Occupied?" I asked the kappa
"Well, yesterday Plyush seemed to come up with something and urged us out, saying it was something confidential."
"..."
"Did you notice something unusual before you left"
"Well, Plyush convinced Venetian to show us that Cube artifact."
That bastard…
"I must go." I responded to Nitori
"Oh, if you do happen to come across Venetian, can you tell him I got the Generator Upgrades and begin working on it." Nitori exclaimed before I left
"Highly doubt they might see it."
And I gapped myself to Moriya.
"Someone lives here…"
"But didn't you said realms are empty" Sakuya said to me
"I never met one with civilized life before, and besides, realms are shaped by the building or area the entry door is attached to." I responded
"Ven, do you copy?" I relay to my radio
Static.
"Tanker to Venetian, I repeat, Tanker to Venetian do you copy?
*Beep!
"I COPY." Ven responds
"Ven, I found a shrine in here, come here. we are at the other end of the river."
"COPY, NO FIR IN SIGHT AROUND MY AREA."
"Keep looking on your way back, the shrine appears to have a patio of sorts, perhaps we can find something there. Over and out." I said and put my Radio back my Sack
"Wouldn't it be rude to intrude into someone's home?" Sakuya says.
"Intruding private property is kind of my specialty, besides, we won't take long." I said as I approached the shrine.
"As you see fit."
It's kinda ironic eh, worrying about not making any other deities mad, whilst intruding a sacred sanctuary to solve another problem. Maybe this escaping schtick somehow makes sense.
You know what, let's be polite and try to knock.
But do I use the bell or knock on the pillars? I'm aware that the bell is used. for prayer, so I might inconvenience whoever runs this shrine.
"Sakuya, do you have a 5 yen coin?" I asked her
"Are you the religious type?" She looked at me strange
"I just need an excuse to ring this bell."
Sakuya appeared strange to me, but nonetheless took a small coin purse from her shirt's bosom and handed me a coin out of it.
I threw the coin into the donation box below the rope and bell, and rang it.
"Now that I think about it, there is something else that follows after that." I thoughted.
I slightly bowed down, and clapped twice. They say that people do this to let the gods know you have arrived and paid respects.
"Are you finished?" Sakuya says.
"Really? How is it that you live in a world where gods walk among men, you keep such an atheistic point of view?" I respond amused of her answer
"Faith is based on the practice of trust of a being that delivers righteousness whilst not present, if a god lives amongst their men, their disciples are no more than mindless simpletons."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Gods who live on earth are more celebrities than they are gods. Let's say that Kanako kept her figure a mystery, disciples are more moved by the philosophies prophets spread around, and so a sense of righteousness and good will, with Kanako on earth, their disciples are transformed more into fanatics than disciples, guilting anyone who is not in her side and trying to convince why their leader is more right than the opposition. This is why Gensokyo has a secret conflict between deities, and why the Spell Card rules exist. I simply acknowledge them not as gods, but as charlatans."
"That is RUDE young miss!"
A deep voice resounded inside the shrine.
Suddenly, the shoji opened and outward a strange figure. The wooden floor clanked loudly, for it was wearing Geta, a round body, deep green body, lighter green belly. It wore a white fundoshi and a purple haori coat.
A biped frog, Deep yellow eyes with distinct horizontal pupils.
"Weren't you taught to respect your elders?" continued the frog.
We both then react and jump back, but I trip on the steps and land on my back to the floor yard. Sakuya takes her knives and stances defensively, as I just lay there as I watch the frog creature.
"Now now, can't we talk about this over a hot cup of tea?" the frog said.
"What the hell are you?" I said.
"Says you!" The frog responded.
"What I should ask is what are you both doing here? These places have been empty since!".
The frog then came down the steps of the shrine and offered me a hand.
I take it and lift myself back to my feet, only problem is that it left my hand all goey in a layer of mucus. But looking now, the frog is shorter than I thoughted.
"After my current descendant lost the shrine to that snake, I had nowhere else to be." the frog responded
"Suwako?"
"Ayeyup, but now I see that they are living quite well in this new land, so I just watch."
"Hold on now, how did you exactly enter this place? When was it? Where you helped by-" I asked but was interrupted by the frog
"Easy now dog, I have as many questions as you do. My tea offer still stands, you know?"
"umm." I say as I look back to sakuya, she's still away from both of us.
"Do you believe this thing?" she glared at the frog and asked me seriously
"Do you?" I asked back mockingly
"What if this is a trap?" She concerns
"Young miss, old timer gods like me used to be mischievous, If I ever used any of my best traps, you'd both be dinner before dusk."
"And besides, Nothing to trap here when you live in the kind tribute of the Moriya followers."
"What now?" I exclaimed.
"You may not know, but when a god himself runs a shrine, most of their tribute and offerings given by the followers belong to them. However, in honor of the history of their shrine, a small tribute is relayed to their ancestors, and keeps a great and strong connection of where their divinity came from. Simply, all the leftover rice and sake goes to me."
"And you also may not know this but just in 3 days, an important ritual takes place, and I must be prepared to help the offerings reach the current lord of this land."
"The Ka no Shukufuku no Gishiki…" I responded
"Exactly! Are you a follower as well?" the frog enthusiastically responds.
…
I look back at Sakuya and as he said that, Sakuya reads my face as she only shrugs, knowing my situation.
"So…" I look back at the frog, "You might wanna sit for this…"
"Gone?"
"I believe so, their home was locked and no one was there when I entered." I said to the Moriya tenants
"Classic you" Kanako wittingly responds.
"AND the water kappa said something about coming up with something last night, she was not sure as they asked them to leave early"
"Them?" Sanae and Suwako ask
"Apparently Sakuya was there as well."
"I knew it!" Sanae Exclaims
"I beg your pardon?" I ask Sanae
"Don't you know? Is the hot talk now, look!"
Sanae then grabs a newspaper by some shelves. This Bunbunmaru issue seems to be from last week, but a certain section of the cover grabbed my attention.
"The Perfect Maid's Unlikely Crush? Foreigner sets their sights on the devil's mutt!"
"Is she single?" a quote read below the title, quoted by Plyush Canmoore.
"My… this was certainly unexpected, but still this is about other matters with the tanker."
"You still haven't found him?" Kanako asks worried
"No, but I need to find him some way or another. and this might be related to his main search."
"What I am about to say is top secret, I trust Moriya and they have never failed me, so I trust you can keep a secret."
"Mouths shut." Kanako stated
"Roger!" Exclaimed Sanae
"Shoot then." Suwako said.
As the Sage began to speak, she and the tenants were not aware of the hidden listener, below the board of the shrine, a certain conniving fox.
"you…what…" The frog sounded dumbfounded
"Look, at the time, I wasn't aware of what they were gonna be used for" I tried to excuse my action.
"You should be aware of stealing from a shrine in the first place don'tchu?" The frog berated me
"I needed material, I am gonna freeze to death."
"Look at you, you don't have anything to freeze! You could've used other wood in the first place." He exclaimed as he pointed at me.
"Look, the reason I came to this realm was to search fir wood, I only need two trees."
"Gentlemen please, let's keep calm, How about I make tea, you both discuss things ORDERLY." Sakuya intervened.
"My kitchen is there, you'll find the cups in the wall shelves and the kettle inside the stove."
"Look, if it makes you feel better, Suwako and Kanako agreed to let me pay them back."
"..."
"the reason I came here was I was told that once fir season passes, firs mysteriously disappear." I explained to the frog
"How did you even know about this place, no one's ever been here for centuries"
"because there are more worlds like these, how did you even end up here?"
"..."
"How about this, I ask a question, for each one you answer, you'll ask me one"
As I said this, Sakuya appeared with a tray with a teapot and cups. She poured me first a cup, then proceeded with the frog.
"I call the first question" the frog said as he took the cup and took a small sip.
"How did you get here? The only company I've ever had were the snakes and frogs for millenia."
I was hesitant to answer as to reveal info about the node, and currently Ven is the one holding it, speaking off… He's taking very long to arrive. But sure he won't get lost, just follow the river.
But alas, I had to explain the node…
Again…
As the machine kept walking opposite to where he initially explored, he kept a constant step towards the shore of the lake, water sloshing and splashing indicating the river was close. The machine just kept going onwards, until a squealing noise interrupted his steady pace. the machine turned around, looking to the other side of the shore…
A frog struggling to escape the grasp of a hungry snake.
"TYPICAL BEHAVIOR, HAD THE FROG HAD MORE TIME, HE'D BE ALIVE TO BIRTH ANOTHER GENERATION" The machine logged to itself.
As the frog was slowly being swallowed whole, the machine couldn't help itself and notice another sight, this time frogs were standing in some lily pad relatively close to the shore, and a tree, which had large branches pointing towards the lake. Coincidentally, a branch was on top of the lily pad and a snake was ready to make its strike.
and in 1,2,3… Splash!
The snake missed and the frogs startled out of the pad into the water, where they began haste to the shore in no time, the snake followed suit and barely had the time to catch a frog that was about to escape.
"THE PATTERN OF LIFE, TO EAT OR TO BE EATEN, THE SNAKE CAN NOW CONTINUE ON, THAT IS IF IT CAN STILL CATCH ITS NEXT PRAY" Ven logged once more.
He then noticed bulges around the water, multiple snakes swimming towards the middle of the lake, where he noticed a cluster of lily pads and a small batch of land, with multiple frogs resting in the middle.
"THE CLIMAX, THE ULTIMATE DISPLAY OF LIFE."
The snakes emerge out, slowly slithering towards the frogs…
…
but nothing happened.
Infact, the next chain of events left intrigue to the machine. The snakes took rest with the frogs, some laying next to other frogs, some frogs resting on top or a larger snake. As if the middle ground were a safe haven for both prey and predator.
A sacred ground…
"THE ORDER OF LIFE, THE NATURAL LAW, IT'S NOT HAPPENING… THIS DOES NOT CORRELATE, THE PATTERN IS OBVIOUS, BUT PREY AND PREDATOR LIVING IN PEACE INSIDE THE MIDDLE LAND, YET NATURAL LAW FOLLOWS SUIT OUTSIDE… THE PATTERN IS NOT DIRECT, WHAT HAPPENS NOW?"
The machine stopped what it was doing, stood still where he stopped his march and just observed. Trying to find meaning and pattern to the inexplicable.
The frog and I conversed for a while, and came to learn that his name is Suwasuke, an Older deity of Moriya that used to keep the shrine in shape before Suwako. so perhaps far more older than many other deities from Gensokyo, but what came as a surprise is that he used to be Suwako's father, and spent time with her around her infancy.
But I was surprised to find the story behind his loneliness.
"Before Nihon became a unified kingdom or country as you call it, there existed regions, untamed lands that lacked law and authority, but within those regions, small tribes soon evolved into communes, as time passed they soon turned into clans. But there was a certain region that stood the test of defense and faith… My kingdom.
"Ever since the great Suwa Lake took form, people from all over Nihon came to pray to the lake for safety and good fortune, for the kingdom had a secret weapon underneath it… the Mishaguji. A giant white serpent, who had collected all that faith and turned it into power, at will it could bless, curse, create or destroy whatever it pleased.
However, I took a mission to tame the beast, to protect my people and the beautiful land from rising warlords. With the beast at my will, I've defended which let my people develop and nourish themselves from the land, of course, all I asked in return was only their faith, and so the first Moriya Shrine was Erected.
Time passed, I met a wonderful woman, married her, guided my kingdom into greatness and had a prosperous life as ruler. Even better local priests migrated towards other parts of Nihon as pilgrims, erecting smaller subsidiaries of the shrine all over Nihon, which in return gave us more coverage and gathered more faith around the land, giving us strength and power.
Naturally, our enemies were not happy losing their citizens to another kingdom, and our faith being practiced in their own land. Many of our shrines were burned down, ransacked, our priests being prosecuted and executed. I've never felt so powerless before, and keep in mind I was still just a prophet.
But one day, in the midst of night, a powerful entity came down to visit me. He revealed himself as Takeminakata no Kami, the creator of the great Suwa Lake. He came down as he was surprised at the rapid development around the lake, and even more surprised someone was able to tame the lake serpent.
Apparently, when the lake was created, so did the Mishaguji. Legend goes that a conniving snake had tricked the god into giving him gifts to his brethren by winning a rigged bet, for his final present, he wanted a magic puddle to refresh itself in times of summer, and the god, angry, obliged by sending a torrential pour so violent, a lake formed in the vast land. However, the snake and its brethren struggled and held together in the turbulent waters, angered that their god had wronged them from their promise. Their souls, will and bodies mixed and merged in the currents of the rain, and transformed into the Mishaguji, a power hungry giant serpent that fed on faith, so that the god never received faith at all.
The serpent got so powerful that Takeminakata no Kami was unable to control it, so news that a Youkai prophet had tamed it for the sake of protection was surprising to say the least. and so the god wanted to reward me. He offered to make me a deity to increment my faith, give me powers to grasp more control into the serpent, guaranteed safety of my followers outside my kingdom and legendary status for centuries. I agreed just as immediately as a frog catches a fly in the air.
From that day on, things had changed dramatically in my kingdom, we became so powerful, our priests so respected, no one dared to even lay eyes on us, but as always, my doors were welcome to followers. Life was at its peak.
Until my wife became pregnant…
She passed away during labor, and she had bestowed upon me a beautiful baby girl. I named her after the lake our land was famous for… Suwako.
During my time raising her, things have become more difficult in my kingdom, I still had my enemies, now I had to deal with politics, shrine keeping, diplomacy, insurgency in my kingdom brought by outside shintoist pilgrims. But perhaps what kept me more worried, was that my grasp on the serpent had been slowly weakening. My faith was declining.
Naturally, I had appointed Suwako as my successor in case something were to happen to me, to my kingdom, So onwards, I've kept a rigorous preparation regime on my own daughter, to act as the appointing Moriya deity.
However, it seemed strange that she was a fast learner, as in some areas, more powerful than me, more sharp witted and spiritually strong, as if she were blessed by a god… Nevertheless, I've kept my attitude rough, so that her strength may not ever go up to her head. From that day on, I've regretted the decision to treat my own daughter like that.
By her teens, we had started to discuss a lot, asking why had I just treated her more of a successor tool rather than a daughter, a tool to keep a kingdom he one day I might fail to control to only relay the responsibility to her. But foolish me always kept insisting it was for the major good of faith and prosperity, so our legacy might live on.
One day, I was preparing for a ritual to keep the serpent in check, but Suwako was now asking why she was born so powerful. To be honest I had no clue whatsoever, and that answer alone made her mad, so powerful and ruler of a kingdom and yet I cannot answer to my one daughter? That day things got physical, and I've hurted her plenty too. When things calmed down, I had to rush to the lake or else the serpent would lose control.
I had an audience to witness the ritual for many years, and I had to be there to gather their faith, with my followers watching me chant and do the preparations, the serpent had sprung up the lake and showed its white pale body around the lake, with its red eyes and blue pale blue tongue ready to attack, and so I chanted, gave all I could and ordered my followers to allow me their faith to control it.
But nothing happened…I lost control.
The serpent, now free of its shackles of faith, started to attack our land aggressively, wrecking everything in its path, devouring anything and anyone who crossed his eyes. I felt the shock of my failure drive me down the ground, how is it that I've failed, just now?
Then, the serpent had targeted a prey in the far, my daughter. I pleaded to have mercy upon her, and tried to warn Suwako of the creature's power. But something had happened, as the serpent charged at her like a ravaging bull, Suwako just stood still, rose her hands towards the charging beast, the serpent stopped at its tracks, and when it was about to devour Suwako. the serpent froze still. Suwako then approached the serpent, and with a single touch, had drained the power out of the serpent, causing it to faint into sleep.
Everyone was there to witness this act, and everyone saw me fail them. The looks on their faces, it was not of anger, but more of deception, a god had finally shown mortal weakness. and Suwako took the spotlight as the new leader.
The cowardry and disappointment in me took the best of me, and I just ran, ran the farthest I could towards the wild, and never came back.
From afar, I saw how Suwako took my kingdom into another path, mimicking even the other warlords and following the steps I've avoided for centuries. She had amassed an arsenal of Iron weaponry so strong, no other Iron had nothing to compare to the one from my lands.
Eventually as time passed, many kingdoms and clans began to unite to form an unified land… the land of the rising sun. Takeminakata no Kami came down the heavens to inform my daughter, but she rejected the offer, so Takeminakata no Kami offered her a deal, If she could defeat her selected champion, she would continue to reign the lands, but if she were to lose, not only she would join the unification, but she would have to relinquish her religion to the champion.
Her Champion… was Yasaka. I guess you know how that turned out.
But apparently, Yasaka was the descendant of the goddess Yasakatome, and Takeminakata no Kami had planned all the moment he saw me and made a deal with Yasakatome to take the lake back, because they were in love. He blessed my wife's pregnancy with the birth of Suwako, appointed Yasaka as her protege, and waited until Suwako took over to fight her.
And all they wanted? To freeze the lake so that Takeminakata no Kami could walk over it and see her lover once a year.
After hearing the rumors, I was more than furious about the events, so I headed back. It was about time I faced my failures and confronted the god that had taken my foundations. But when I arrived, I was only met with an empty shrine, Suwako was not to be seen, and nothing was around it. traveling around I only found the lake and rivers you've passed by. And everywhere I walked, I just walked among an eternal mist, and always wound up in my shrine."
"And ever since, I've been trapped…"
"My goodness…" Sakuya said in awe of the story
I kept silent, for I have never ever heard of such a turn in events before.
"You've been wronged…" I broke my silence.
"Probably serves me right for running from my problems." Suwasuke said as he took his final sip of Tea.
A silence surrounded us as the frog then stood up and went to the back door of the shrine.
As he opened it, it revealed a patio garden, and distinctively something caught my eye… Fir.
"When the trees disappear, they come to my lands for care. I will take care of them until the next season, but I don't Mind you taking 2 of 'em. Take it as a thank you for listening to my story, it almost makes me miss the company of people."
I stood up, walked back towards the Patio, but stood in between the door and the shrine. I looked around, and made sure my eyes were not deceiving me, they do kind of look like pine, just not quite like it.
…
"What if I told you, there is a way out here."
"Oh don't worry, Life is good now, don't need to be greater."
"Even if it meant seeing your daughter just once more?"
The frog did not respond, but rather changed his face to one of melancholy and sadness.
"She'd probably hate my guts by this point…"
"You'd been with her all this time, she might not know it, but she was never alone, and the offerings are proof of it."
"It's probably just offering to Takeminakata no Kami."
"Yet you took it, you survived. If anything, Suwako is not offering this to him, but rather you instead, perhaps she prays for your safety."
"You are the Moriya ancestor afterall."
…
Silence…
The frog just nodded and chuckled in place.
"You are an interesting specimen of man, I will let you get 2 of the trees. Not everyday you meet men with such knowledge" The frog said.
But then I remember, Venetian is still missing.
"Thank you" I responded, " I cannot do this alone, I got a friend of mine who'll assist me, but I am still waiting for him."
"Perhaps he is lost. Let's search for him shall we?" The frog responded.
…
…
…
"veeeeeeen?"
"Veeeeeennnnn!"
"VEEEEEEEENNNN!"
…
…
…
TIER 2 CYCLE LOOP IN PROCESS, ENFORCING CODE 0004 LOOP HALT_
"Ven?" Asked the tanker.
"YES?"
"Are you ok? You stood there for 20 minutes.?
…
…
"JUST ANALYZING…"
"What did you find?" Sakuya asked.
"INCONCLUSIVE."
"We need your help. We found the trees, can you help us carry them?" The tanker said
"ROGER"
Moriya Shrine, 6 A.M
No sight of them…
They have failed their task… and run with their tails behind their back. Though the Ritual commences at night, We are plagued with things to do before we get into the shrine replica. What angers me the most is that they are hiding in our own land and yet have escaped punishment. Forget the dance he was gonna do, I shall entirely curse their existence…
"Yukari, They are not coming. You can take over now."
"Gather round girls," Yukari exclaimed.
In the yard of Moriya shrine, where standing Gensokyo's finest incident resolvers, Reimu had brought the girls from the forest of magic, Remilia had summoned the royals, Kanako, apart from Sanae, had asked for the help of Momiji and Aya, and Yukari had to bring the sages.
"I want a full search on the tanker, any thing as close as an entrance I want report of it, Reimu will help on the general area of Moriya, Kanako and Sanae and Momiji stay and watch his home, Youmu, Alice and Udongein shall take care of the base of the mountain, the rest will come with me and look all of the mountain. If you happen to see a trail, relay it to me, if you see either the tanker or the machine, engage with caution, but if things go off… you are permitted to engage outside the spell card rules." Yukari ordered
"Roger!" Youmu responded
"Aye!" Reimu and Marisa answered
"Yes Ma'am!" The rest of the girls also called out
"Remilia, where is Sakuya?" Alice asked Remilia
"She hasn't come yet, perhaps it's the fault of that dirty mutt." Exclaimed the petite vampire
But then, we hear something open behind our backs, someone opens the door of the shrine, but as we turn, we are blinded by a bright golden light. Then, out of the door came a pillar of sorts, very round, it was pushed again, and we then discovered it was actually a tree log.
The log was then pushed hard and landed just a few feet from us. Then another log came out the door, this time hovering in the middle. as it was standing there, it then began slowly moving out the door.
"Careful with the ceiling, careful with the ceiling! Tilt a bit down… and all in!" A male voice sounded from the other.
From the door, then came out a large figure shouldering the log. It was the tanker's machine.
"Very careful with the behind, behi-"
But as soon as the machine came out the door, he came down the platform of the shrine and quickly landed on the ground, tilting the log's behind upwards.
*SMACK
"AAUGH!" Exclaimed the voice.
The log had smacked the voice's head, or should I say… "snout"
"Are you ok Mr. Canmoore?" A familiar feminine voice also exclaimed.
"No! It got me right in the Kisser by Antioch's holy grace! I think it fractured my mask!"
The machine only responded by rotating its head 180, and then 2 more figures exited the door, Sakuya and the Tanker.
"It's not fractured is it?" Said the tanker as he rubbed his "snout"
"No, it is in fine condition" Sakuya reassured the tanker.
"I just hurts like a bitch…" Said the tanker.
"Ahem…" Yukari Exclaimed
Then both Sakuya and the Tanker froze up and turned at us. We equally were looking at them in amusement, But Remilia on the other hand dropped her jaw all the way down to old hell. Sakuya also looked shocked to see her mistress in the plain of day, with a fairy maid holding her parasol.
"Sakuya…" Remilia sounded annoyed
"Lady Remilia, I-I um… I-I can explain!"
"Shut it, I did not ask for your word, let HIM explain THEN I'll let you"
"oh…well, she just happened to be there at the time… I couldn't just boot her out!"
"This is what you use your off days for? A Romeo & Juliet escapade?" Remilia still sounded not amused
"What?" The Tanker exclaimed.
"Here look!" Sanae came and handed Sakuya and Tanker a newspaper.
"Wait, don't!" Aya screamed at Sanae.
But it was too late, Sakuya and the Tanker read the cover article…
Sakuya grimaced with surprise and shock at the tengu's article, but the Tanker;s face kept a serious face, but staggering eyes so deep, instead of daggers, it is as if he is staring bullets.
"I-I, I can explain, I needed material… a-and well, your news w-were the most profit I've ever gotten!" Aya tried excusing himself.
The Tanker on the other hand, slowly reached for his hip, and started pulling his revolver out the holster… Reached the hammer with his thumb, and with a click, it was armed.
Aya only stormed at breakneck speed off to the sky, the tanker only walked to the edge of the patio, and started shooting in the general direction Aya flew off as he started screaming in a foreign language.
After finishing his fire volley, he just stood there, revolver on his side.
"Didn't I tell you no bullets?" Yukari said after a while
"Shut it…" He barked
Silence ensued with everyone.
"Well, Now that THAT happened, You still had me worried Sakuya" Remilia sighed and said to Sakuya.
"Apologies Lady Remilia, I must've reported as soon as I could." She calmly responded.
"Do not worry about it, I do not care what you do on your off days. But please tell me if you are taking more than a day." Remilia sighed and said to Sakuya
"Noted Lady Remilia."
12:20 PM, Moriya Shrine patio.
After all that cluster of events, we all just shrugged it off. I will say, some of the ladies in the morning were amazed by the fact of realms, even had the time to briefly introduce myself to some of them. Kanako congratulated me on retrieving the two needed tree's for the missing planks, but the catch here is that we also had to process them into the boards.
However, it was pretty fast how we worked, we only had 3 more planks to make, and Ben's precision movements and fast action were extremely useful in this case.
As I told Ven to pause as I needed a break, Sanae and Suwako came to us with a fresh water jug and cups on a tray.
"Here you go! You've been going very steady now, you could use some water. Sorry Ven, we don't know if you wanted anything." Sanae said as she lay down a tray in the floor
"Oh! Much obliged." I said as I took the cup.
"Tell me if you need something else" Sanae said as she went back to the shrine.
But Suwako, she did not follow Sanae, and came to me as I lay down an empty cup.
"Hey…" She said to me
"Hmm?"
"Back in that "realm" thing you entered… Did you see something out of place?"
I just stood quiet when she asked me, Venetian also paused and began looking at me.
Then before speaking I thoughted, Suwasuke told me he still was not ready, and even after the offer of visiting her daughter, he still was hesitant, wondering how Suwako would react.
I then pick up the jug and serve myself a cup, drink it empty, and lay it down.
"...He said…He is sorry for putting you in second, You've grown proud and stronger than me."
Suwako's expression then changes to one of shock and emotion, as if she saw a ghost. But suddenly she started quietly sobbing, Tears slowly flowing down her cheeks, but this seemed not of sadness, but of forgiveness.
But what surprised me the most is that she lunged towards me and hugged me. I was as shocked as her so I just stood there with my arms open.
"Thank you…" She sobbed, "May you and your companion be safe in your travels. Moriya bestows upon you it's blessing"
I stood quiet, but listening to that, I slowly closed in my arms and hugged back.
Suwako then straightened up and composed herself, and headed back to the shrine.
"DID HE REALLY SAID THAT?" Venetian asked.
"No" I responded
"WHY LIE THEN?
"I don't know…"
…
"I got an Idea, are those planks Ready?"
"READY AND CUT" Venetian said as it holded the planks needed.
OK THIS WAS LONGER THAN I EXPECTED.
things are quite ok, but I had lot going on before the end of 2023 and beginning 2024: I got kicked out my home, had to go to work, had to manage my savings, it really was a strong and turbulent beginning of the year, but glad I am still composed.
as for why I took long on these chapters? It's hard to create fanon myth and folklore from scratch, this is my most reaserched chapter so far. but I am glad how It turned out.
Thank your for attention!
P.S: I shall continue posting here aswell as posting on AO3 too.