"Good morning, Inaba-sama," said a villager dressed in a common Japanese priest clothing.

"Good morning, Takezo," The young noble lady with long, night sky colored hair and sparkling round eyes, replied. The girl looked no older than sixteen, but strength and dignity filled her eyes as she took one confident stride after another, cloaked in black and white set of Miko clothing, decorated with embroidery of gold depicting the shifting of the moon phase.

As she took more steps towards the shrine, more priests and priestess lined up along on her path and bowed.

"Today, some humans of the Goddess Amaterasu's kin have come to see you once more," Takezo declared as he followed behind the girl's footstep.

"They are so persistent.. and here I thought Amaterasu would have banned them from coming in contact with our kin," Inaba frowned.

"Well, it can't be helped. The power to peer into the future must be such a temptation for creatures with such ambition and greed," Takezo uttered with contempt in his voice.

"Takezo.." said Inaba, cutting him off.

"Yes, Inaba-sama?" immediately, he responded. Upon his reply, Inaba turned her head back and smiled.

"Not all humans are bad, you know.." said Inaba with a gentle smile on her face.

"Apologies, Inaba-sama.." said Takezo as he bowed his head in embarrassment. Seeing the change in his expression, Inaba giggled.

"In the first place, without their offering, our live here would be more boring you know. Humans are so creative, look at them inventing one food after another. I can't wait to see what else will they create next!" Inaba muttered jokingly with a playful smile on her face. However her love for humanity and their culture was undoubtedly true.

"I wonder tho, what are they after this time?" said Inaba in a whisper, her voice softens in worry.

Inaba attended to the villager's request one by one. Predicting the next harvest, predicting calamities, predicting their future love, predicting their descendant. Again and again, she reminded them how their fates are not set in stone, and that they might always try their best to obtain a better future. Then, came the person of interest's turn.

Unlike the villagers, he was adorned in extravagant clothing. Prove of his riches and the "nobility" of his blood.

"You've come again, Amaterasu's kin. I thought I've told you that our contact was forbidden by the law of Amaterasu herself? What had caused you to ignore my warning once more?" said Inaba with exhaustion in her voice as the man bowed in front of her with a prideful smile on his face.

"Then, wouldn't it be beneficial for your clan to accept our invitation? Maybe we as Amaterasu's descendant have the right to lift the exile," said the guy with a smile on his face.

"It's not that simple. God's whim cannot be rewritten as easily just because her descendant wills it," Inaba replied with a frown as she flicked open the folded fan in her hand. "Don't tell me you're here just for that?"

"Of course not, I'm here to seek council of the wise, long-lived descendant of the Moon God Tsukuyomi," the man replied with a grin in his voice. His statement sounded a bit sarcastic in Inaba's ear.

"To me, it sounded like you don't believe your own words," said Inaba with piercing glare in her eyes.

"Pardon me, but it's hard to believe that a young looking lady like you had far outlived any of me or my kin," the guy grin grew wider as he stated his thoughts.

"How rude of you! Why are you even here? Inaba-sama, let's chase him out!" Takezo stood up as he heard the guy's remark.

"Well, if our emperor and beloved brother, Tenji, believes in you, so will we.. The emperor sent me to extend an invitation for the Tsukuyomi clan to live with us in the Land of Ancestor," said the man who was apparently the Land of Ancestor's ambassador as well as the emperor's brother.

"We refuse," Inaba answered instantly, before explaining, "We intend to honour our pact with Goddess Amaterasu. Do tell your brother that."

Hearing Inaba's response, the ambassador replied in frustration, "Come on, isn't it dumb to honour a command imposed thousands of years ago? Who can say if the Goddess is still mad until now? Besides, as far as we knew, she had long since stopped interfering with the mortal plane of her creation long time ago."

"Say what you want, our decision won't change," Inaba stated once more as she folded her fan with force, creating a loud sound. "Besides, wouldn't people make fun of him for following the words of young looking girl like me?" she added sarcastically.

Hearing Inaba's word, the ambassador froze in silence, which then she translated as the end of their discussion.

"If nothing else, I'd take my leave," said Inaba as she stood and prepared herself to leave the ambassador behind.

"Ah, one thing tho.. Tell your brother to be careful of that woman he had just taken in," Inaba declared towards the ambassador as she stopped beside him, offering her advice for one last time.

"Agh, so annoying!" Inaba laid down on her residence's floor as soon as she arrived. Looking at the girl's frustration, Takezo and the attendants smiled with endearment.

"When will I finally look like an adult?! Those humans are looking down on me, I knew it!"

Hearing her frustration, one of the female attendants chuckled.

"That is the proof of your blood's purity, Inaba-sama. They said the purer your blood is, the closer your blood connection with our ancestor, Tsukuyomi. Therefore, the stronger your power will be, and the longer you will live," she said with a bitter smile on her face. Hearing her answer, Inaba frowned.

"Then, when?" she asked, pouting.

"Eeeeh.. roughly calculating your physical advancement to be 1/100 of a normal human's and several times slower than the rest of our clan, I think it will be about 400 more year till you looked like a 20 years old lady," said the attendant with guilt in her eye, causing Inaba's face to darken with disappointment.

"Aaaaagh what a joke, 400 more years?" Inaba rolled her body around the hall's floor upon hearing the calculation, releasing her frustration. Hearing her complaint, the attendants couldn't help but laugh on her childish display.

"Don't worry Inaba-sama! I'm sure you will grow to be a very pretty lady soon! Right, Takezo?" said another female attendant as she elbowed Takezo playfully.

"E..even now, you're already beautiful, Inaba-sama!" Takezo added, reaffirming with embarrassment in his face. Hearing his compliment, Inaba sighed with an annoyed expression on her face, disbelieving. Seemingly giving up upon the topic, Inaba raised her body up and sat, hugging her knees.

"Oh well, besides.." she muttered, anger on her face, "That foolish human emperor. What a disgrace of Amaterasu's bloodline. To take in the invader of our world like that.."

Hearing the sudden shift on Inaba's tone, the attendants look upon each other's face with concern.

"To think that because of her and her kin, our beautiful moon had been reduced to a space rubble since quite a while ago.. and I'm supposed to be Tsukuyomi's, God of Moon's descendant when the moon no longer decorated the night sky…"

"That darned kid!" said the ambassador, as she stormed outside the Moon's Shrine. "The wise priestess my ass, how could a young girl treat me, the brother of the emperor, like that?"

"What should we do, Tenma Ouji-sama*?" seeing the flustered, angered look on his superior, the prince's attendant chased behind him and asked.

"If she's not about to join us, we can't let her and her clan lived to lend assistance to our enemy. We shall fall back and organize an attack, see if she can predict this!" said the ambassador as rage colored his face red.

"B..but, Emperor Tenji wouldn't allow…" the attendant stuttered as he heard the prince's demand

"Shut up! We'll do it with just the army under my control! My peace loving brother will have no say over this!" the Ambassador's mind was made, and he shall repay the shame of failure that he had received that day, hundred folds. "Let's see how that small, dying clan, withstand our army's attack. Let's make them disappear, just like how the moon did hundreds of years ago."

That night, Inaba had a prophetic dream. The clan's village burning, people screaming, the youngs and the olds slaughtered mercilessly.

Inaba woke up sweating, her breath hastened. Bracing herself, she called out to her attendants,

"Getsuko, Shiromi, are you two there?"

"Yes, Inaba-sama?" said the attendants as they opened the door to Inaba's room, revealing themselves, kneeling.

"Call for an emergency meeting, summon the entire clan member, now.." said Inaba as she stood up and changed from her sweat drenched pajama.

"What a blasphemy!" said a clan member as Inaba recalled her dream in front of them.

"How dare they…" another muttered in disbelieve.

"Forgive me everyone. It's likely because of my rash rejection.." Inaba said with guilt in her eye as she recalled her behaviour during the day.

"It can't be helped, Inaba-sama.. If you didn't reject him firmly, he would just keep insisting, and to be honest, he was clearly disrespectful," said Takezo in an attempt to comfort the young looking lady in front of her.

"But if only I did it better, maybe it wouldn't come to this.." sadness was clear in Inaba's voice. She knew that there was nothing she could do anymore. Even as they were the descendant of the Moon God, combat and strength had never been their specialty. Tsukuyomi, the brother of Amaterasu, was akin to a mirror who reflected her wisdom and knowledge unto the earth. Clan of observer, long living library of wisdom, Amaterasu's gentle reflection during the dark and difficult time, their role was to provide council and blessing for the humankind. And for that, besides their seer capability and their natural keen sense that bless them with unusual perception upon human's soul and nature's energy, they were not blessed with any superior combat capabilities. And besides… With their divinity taken away, their body were as frail as normal human's, despite their long lifespan.

"There's nowhere to run.. we can only stand our ground.. however futile it might be.." Inaba held back the quivering in her voice as she uttered. Due to the falling out between Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu, they had been exiled out of Takamagahara, and moved to live in the mortal world's moon. After the moon was destroyed, forced to relocate unto their grand shrine on the earth, their movement was limited within a secluded barrier separating Tsukuyomi's shrine's holy land from the rest of the mortal world, forbidding them to travel freely in the mortal world, despite residing in the mortal realm. However, the barrier only worked one way, allowing humans and other kin to pass through the barrier easily, letting the Tsukuyomi clan to perform their duties, unhindered.

"It will be fine, Inaba-sama. It's my duty to protect you as the clan's guardian," said Takezo as he moved to Inaba's front and kneeled, gazing straight into her night colored eyes.

"No, what can you alone do against an army? I will take responsibility of my own action and stand beside everyone in battle," with determined look in her eyes, Inaba refused Takezo's offer.

"If we shall go down, we shall not go down without a fight! I, Tsukino Inaba, the descendant of Tsukuyomi himself, will see to that!" Inaba declared as she stood up in front of her clansmate. Hearing the exclamation of their leader, the clan members nodded to each other in agreement.

"They say everything is as the God's willed. Then maybe this is Amaterasu-sama's will as well," Takezo said bitterly to Inaba, as the both of them gathered every single possible weapons and defense as they could within the village.

"Don't say that, Takezo. You might not remember, but Amaterasu-sama is all loving. It was our ancestor's rashness in killing another God that got us exiled," Inaba interrupted with an awkward smile.

"That might be true, but to lock our whole clan away for millennia?" Takezo complained. To his displeasure, Inaba flicked his forehead with her middle finger, as short as she was.

"What are millennia for an immortal being? You might not remember, but my father too, lived for millenias despite our divinity being taken away. And even if I looked this way, I have lived for more than one millennium as well. She probably didn't think that it would come to this, slumbering as she is."

Hearing Inaba's retort, Takezo frowned. As silence engulfed the High Miko and her attendant, Inaba face turned dark as she muttered,

"Judging from the star phase in my dream, it won't be long until the prophesized night. Let's do our best.. and if we perish, we shall perish together in dignity."

"Will this really be alright, Tenma-sama? Wouldn't this be a blasphemy against the Gods?" said the prince's attendant. Hearing the soldier's whisper and the attendant's fearful remark, Tenma took charge.

"Fear not! It has been long since the Moon God, Tsukuyomi, was stripped of his divinity by our ancestor, Amaterasu! If she intended to forgive them, she would have done so by now! Instead, look at the sky! Hundreds of years ago, the moon had disappeared from the night sky! If this is not a sign for us, her descendant, to clean the Tsukuyomi clan of the earth, what else can it be?" Tenma, the prince, preached with confidence. Hearing his confident reasoning, the soldiers' morale were restored as they chattered with one another and shouted a war cry in unison. Satisfied with the impact of his speech, Tenma grinned proudly.

"Listen, everyone, I know Inaba-sama said otherwise, but we can't just let our clan perish," Takezo whispered. He had secretly gathered the clansmen on a secret gathering. Hearing his concern, the clan members nodded towards one another.

"You're right.. We can't let them do as they wish.."

"But how?"

As the clan member muttered to one another, Takezo clapped his hand lightly to direct their attention towards him.

"As the guardian of the clan, there was this magic that was passed secretly among my bloodline, something that will allow us to protect our host," said Takezo, his face filled with determination.

"But, as my spirituality couldn't compare to my predecessor, I'll need the help of the clan's member to supplement me with energy," he explained.

Hearing his proposition, the clan member showed agreement towards one another.

"As long as Inaba-sama is alive, our clan will survive," quivering, Takezo muttered. Hearing the sadness in his voice, the clan member surrounded him and hugged him, giving him support.

"Ah, it's too bad we will never be able to see our little princess grow up.." said a lady of the clan,

"Hahaha, yes. And fall in love as well, and give birth to have her own kids, can you guys imagine that?" said an old clan member. Hearing his word, the clansmen laughed as they imagined their fierce, dignified, yet unexpectedly childish leader becoming a mother.

"Heh, we'll miss her, alright," said another. Upon reflecting, some clan member shed their tear as they decided upon their next course of action.

Night has fallen. Inaba stared upon the night sky. The star has aligned perfectly as the destined night. Prophetic dream hadn't visited her yet in a while, giving her a sense of acceptance amidst the unease. "Maybe it's because, there's no other way.." she thought.

"Here they come.. Everyone, ready your arrow!" said Inaba as she spotted a row of light from the distance. However, in response to her voice, a blunt force knocked her behind her neck instead.

"Forgive me, Inaba-sama," Takezo whispered as he caught Inaba's unconscious figure.

"Everyone, is the hideout ready?"

"As you said, Takezo, seemed like there was a hollowed area inside this rock formation. We managed to make an entrance, but it will take a while for us to cover it back up. I hope Inaba-sama won't wake up until then," said a clansman.

"No problem, half of you stay here, help me cover back this rock and set up the magic formation with me. The rest of you, do your best to stall the enemy!"

"Understood!"

With Takezo's command, the clansmen scattered and arranged themselves. Carefully, Takezo brought Inaba inside the hollowed rock and put her down gently, along with some preserved food stocks.

"Survive, Inaba-sama.. We all love you.." he whispered for the last time, before leaving her alone in the hollowed rock formation with a farewell letter, written by him and the clansmen.

It was as Inaba had dreamed. However, it was not by the army's hand alone. To pull the deceit of successfully, the villagers had to stage Inaba's death.

As the villager defended the pathway towards Inaba's residence, A figure stood, casting a shadow on the residence's window. In a glance, it looked as if it was Inaba herself, observing as she accepted her fate.

"Shiromi, I'm sorry you had to do this.." said the attendant who casted a shadow behind 'Inaba's figure

"No, Getsuko, thank you for staying by my side till the end," said Shiromi, fully clothed with Inaba's ceremonial clothing, her usually tied up hair had been let loose, and her hair cut in the same way as Inaba's.

Hearing Shiromi's word, Getsuko smiled. Determined, she dropped her oil lamp and hugged Shiromi as the flame spread across the flooring.

"See you in next life, Shiromi," she whispered.

"Dummy, shouldn't it be afterlife first?" Shiromi giggled as she returned Getsuko's hug.

With unprecedented speed, the flame spread quickly through the wooden floor, as the oil trail that the two attendants had set up guided the flame around the residence.

"That's easier than I thought!" A soldier exclaimed as he cleared past the village's first line of defense.

"It must be Amaterasu-sama's blessing!" another soldier exclaimed.

Upon witnessing the wreck that his army had spread, Tenma smiled. The dancing flames created a sinister impression upon his face.

"Check if there's any woman left, maybe we shall keep one alive as our pet here and made her our personal seer and eternally young concubine!" he said as an evil grin spread on his face.

"As if we will let you, filthy, blasphemous human!" hearing Tenma's word, the ladies of the clan shot their arrow from atop one of the villager's house. Quickly responding to their attack, some soldier moved to block the arrow from reaching Tenma.

Following Tenma's order, some soldier shifted their focus to break into the clanwomen's stronghold. Few of them attempted to break the door, and some other attempted a climb on the roof. With determination, the ladies of the clan shot as much arrow as they could to fend off and reduce the soldier's number as much as they could. However, it wasn't long until their defense was broken. Faced with dead end, the women pulled out daggers from their sleeves, startling the soldier and putting them into a defensive stance in preparation of retaliation. To their surprise, the ladies pulled the knife closer to their own neck's vein, and sliced their throat open in unison.

"Are you guys done?" said the outlook towards the hideout sealing team, "They almost reached the residence area, it won't be long till they scoured for us this way!"

"That's the last of it, now it should be firm enough. I can only hope that Inaba-sama can somehow break through the entrance one day.." said a clansman.

"Magic preparation almost done, everyone, lend me your spiritual power!" Takezo shouted, prompting the clansmen to surround him in formation.

"Darn, she burned herself? What a prideful bitch," said Tenma as he saw the dancing flames inside Inaba's residence in the back of the shrine.

"Well, it's unlikely we can keep her under control as well if she were to be allowed to live," said the prince's attendant.

"Too bad that she was such a feisty kid. If only she was more obedient, she could serve as my own concubine being the most powerful seer as she was," Tenma laughed at his own distasteful joke. However, surprisingly, he heard no response from his attendant. As he turned back to check, he saw his attendant being impaled by a katana from behind, his life leaving him quietly.

"How dare you to even think of laying a hand upon Inaba-sama…" said Takezo as he pulled his katana out of the attendant's body.

"You! You are that priest who accompanied her!" Tenma exclaimed.

"I'm Zangetsu Takezo, the guardian of Tsukuyomi's clan. It's a displeasure to get to know you, so, good bye!" Takezo announced as he charged towards Tenma with his blade unseathed.

"GUARDS!" Tenma screamed as he swiftly turned his back and ran.

"YOU! YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS! GKH!" Tenma yelled as Takezo's blade slit his throat. As Tenma's body faltered and dropped unto the ground, Takezo fell on his behind. Around him, a bloodbath had ensued. Soldiers corpses are scattered all over the shrine's ground, with a few living one kept their distances in fear upon Takezo's power and their host's death. However, Takezo was not unscathed. Countless arrows pierced his body. Dagger had ripped some of his skin and muscle apart, and spear had went through his stomach several times, piercing holes on his organs.

"It seems like my time is not much longer.. Inaba-sama.." he muttered silently in his heart, smiling as he slowly let his consciousness drifted away.

"Ugh, what the… where am i?" said Inaba as she woke up from her stupor. Through tiny gaps of the stone formation, sunlight seeped through. It seemed like she had been unconscious for more than few hours.

"!? WHAT ABOUT THE INVASION!?" Inaba shouted in her mind, realising in horror as she recalled her last memories and stood up. Immediately, dizziness clouded her mind as she stood in haste, weakening her legs, prompting her to look for a support to break her fall.

As Inaba's vision recovered from the sudden spin, she saw a folded piece of parchment near where she was sleeping, filling her heart with unease.

Quickly, Inaba grabbed the parchment and found herself a position under the seeping sunlight. Inside, was a long letter, from Takezo, Shiromi, Getsuko, and the rest of the clansman.

Dearest Inaba-sama, we are sorry. We couldn't let you perish with us, and our clan perish with you. Everyone had agreed that as long as you survived, our clan will survive with you. Do not blame yourself, it was our collective decision. We had drugged you without your knowledge, blocking off your dreams, since the moment our decision were made. For the insolence, we are sorry. We had hidden you somewhere within the village, and hid you away using my bloodline's secret magic. Unfortunately, you might have to dig yourself out of there, and it seemed like it won't be easy considering how determined our clansmen were at keeping you hidden. Therefore, we have left you some food stock to survive on, please eat them sparingly! It will be hard for you, but know that we wish for you to survive, and we love you.

Inaba recognised the handwriting. It was Takezo's. Inaba could feel her bile rising from her stomach upon reading the letter. Below Takezo's written word, was the compilation of every clanmen's message for her.

Inaba-sama, please take care of yourself, stop eating so much at night, it's not good for you!
-Shiromi-

Inaba-sama, bitter things are good for your body, stop throwing away your vegetables!
-Getsuko-

It's a pity we would never be able to see our little princess grow, but I believe you will grow up to be a fine lady

Inaba-sama, I actually had a crush on you, but time passed and I'm now an old man yet you were still a youthful lady, what injustice!

Inaba-sama, thank you for all your care throughout the centuries, you had tried your best despite having to stand on your own so early in your life.

Inaba-sama,I wondered about your future self. Will you marry, will you have kids? What kind of mother will you be? What kind of grandma? Watching you grow (or not growing) all this time had filled my heart with bright expectation of our future.

- Ignore the idiot's message above! I believe no matter who you choose must be very lucky to have you, and I hope he would make you happy like no other, worthy of a lifetime of happiness!

….
….

Inaba-sama, it's my honour to serve beside you. I had never regretted my decision to take on my mantle as the clan's guardian. Kind and wise as you were, you have never abandoned those in needs, and have never failed to see the best in everyone, humans and non-humans. Despite the darkness in the world that you've witnessed again and again, and the restriction casted upon us, you had always been such a ball of joy, a girl full of spirit.
Thank you for everything, Inaba-sama, and I'm sorry I can't stay by your side anymore.
To our dearest, feisty hare, Inaba..
-Takezo-

Inaba couldn't stop herself from crying as she read the message in her hands. As the rusty smell entered the cave through the tiny ventilations, and invaded her nostril, she realised, that she was all alone now.

Author's note:

:')

Oh, btw, reminder that Inaba = past Mitsuki, in case some people are concerned that they are reading wrong story hahahaha

Extra note:

(*) Ouji is prince heheh, I bet you anime watchers knew already!