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The following is a fan-based
FICTION
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Chapter 12: Foxy Defense
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Inazuma is based on two principles.
One is that the Raiden Shogun is the absolute overlord of the land (ignoring that Watatsumi Island is its own thing), and... if the Raiden Shogun, for some absurd reasons, was unable to deal with things, then one had to nag at one fox-eared priestess.
Now, Yae Miko had her own things between dealing with humans and the few lingering yokai. She had long surrendered her mind to the notion she had to smugly show those morons who was the boss fox-lady but...
Today the line was bigger than usual. And she could just handle so much crap before a big question comes up: what was up with her master?
After all, despite her autonomy, Yae was still Ei's familiar. Not her pet, but her assistant. A chore that, between will and situation, can't be uphold. The reasoning was complicated, but the circumstances were what they were.
Now, the issue at hand was less on what she could do and more on why she was getting her hands so busy so suddenly.
Exploiting the 'Lady Yae needed time to think' excuse, the fox-eared priestess of Narukami Shrine shifted fast to Inazuma City. Faster than most mortals, faster than even most yokai.
Slithering through the main road and then around to the tall palace, the pinkette finally found who she was looking for. The Raiden Shogun, the lovely puppet her master left behind, currently struggling with paperwork.
She raised her head, addressing her with annoyance. "Lady Yae, you need to warn before-"
A tap into her forehead was enough to silence the puppet and allow Yae access to the Plane of Euthymia. The large landscape tied to Ei's inner limbo was majestic upon the first ten times one visited it, but it grew duller and more 'bland' the more one checked it out.
Yae had already mentioned this to Ei, but the moron would always fuss back that wasn't true.
Now...
"Ei-"
"Busy."
Ei was indeed busy. She wasn't meditating as she should be, but rather harnessing her own power to do something - something light, something simple, and yet something that, from the big annoyed frown on Ei's face, was not being simple to deal with.
Rolling her eyes, Yae paced towards Ei and... peered into the small orb of electro she was tending by her palms. This was a scrying technique. One that should find someone specifically and... Ei wasn't finding them.
"Who are you looking for?"
"The cause of... disturbance."
...
"Which one? Wait! The one involving that Fatui girl and-"
"The other element. I can ignore the Fatui oddities but... that one? That other one was dangerous- he is in Inazuma."
"Oh," Miko looked way, rubbing her elbow. "I think I know that guy."
...
Ei opened one eye at her familiar. "And? Who is it?"
"Sampo... Koski."
"Good, then I will have an order issued to see this individual captured to be interrogated."
...
"I don't think you can do that."
Yae's awkward comment drew both eyes of the real Raiden Shogun upon the kitsune.
"And why that should not be the case, Yae?"
"Well... first, he is aligned with Watatsumi."
"Which means we will intensify our attacks to the fools."
"Second, he has connections with some of the clans."
"Traitors-"
"And I may have... you know how you tended me your gnosis, saying you didn't need it?"
Ei's eyes narrowed. "Yes. And I am sure you remember I told you to ward it with your own life unless given permission to relinquish it."
"Well, you kind of did that."
"...What?"
"Last year, you know the day I told you that the upkeep to maintain it in its inactive mode was too much for the temple and you told me that I could theoretically give it to someone that could use it accordingly."
Ei paused, thought about it and sighed. "Go on, then. I hope this doesn't connect-"
"It does connect."
"Dammit Miko!"
"Why are you damning me?! It's not like Sampo is someone unworthy of the Gnosis."
"You literally said that he was tied to the heathens in Watatsumi!" Ei snapped back, fury increasing as the storm around them intensified. "And worst of it, I can't conjure a reason for this decision!"
"That's because he gave me something I found worthy of someone that should be my master should give me frequently and not once every century," Yae huffed, nose turning away from Ei as the plum-haired woman paused, frowned, and failed to grasp this rebuttal.
"What... What could be the reason?"
"...Headpats."
...
"Yae-"
"I still remember the days you told me you would uphold that. I remember when I gave you permission to skip it for a century after your sister's passing. Then you outright ghosted me. I am sorry, Ei, but this guy does that whenever he is around Narukami."
"A-And you just trust him for that?"
"And taking him orphans, and making sure the damage your puppet is doing is under control," Yae snarkily rebuked, eyes narrowing back to a very annoyed Ei. "Because, if you haven't noticed, the people fear you now more than ever. And I doubt this is the best way to uphold Makoto's legacy."
Surprisingly enough, there was no explosive rebuttal. Ei just glared at her, silently and yet with much telling.
Yae didn't linger for long, aware that she overstayed her presence in the mental realm and taking a mental note on actually warning Sampo of what was to come.
As much as she could agree with Ei that Sampo's power was worrisome at times, he had the decency to tell her why it felt so unpleasant and why there shouldn't be any worry of it causing too big of an issue.
After all, it can only become an issue if he is attacked first and with extreme prejudice. Knowing also that there had been big positive changes in Watatsumi's organization, it was also fair to say that a confrontation wasn't going to be as 'similar' as those in the past.
People were going to die, dissent was going to grow, and Ei's isolation was going to finally come to an end with this degree of inaction.
It sounded selfish of her, but Yae didn't see a point in preventing any of what was going to happen - one can be good for so long before bad is needed to straighten out her friend's foolish mind on the path of righteousness.
Shinobu had nagged at me, same for Sparkles.
That fight with Columbina had been a dreadful reminder that I was still so far from some of the toughest Harbingers. That and the fact that some were outright beyond the realm of what mortals like me could dish out.
And while I had shown them I was just fine (merely limping out of stress), I had been forced by the wise and yet silly Komi-hime into taking a week-long break. One that I had the option to choose how to spend and I selected it as-
"Boss, we did it! A new garrison post has been built!"
Arataki Itto, my loyal second-second-in-command, succeeded in commanding his group of misfits in building another fine construction to house some Watatsumi guards in Tatarasuna Island.
Finding Itto took a while, but getting him on board in doing 'his part' kind of allowed me to get him to do productive stuff - such as building.
Him and his Arataki Gang whined and fussed at times, but they could do some fine jobs within the right surveillance.
Usually I would have Shinobu dealing with their thing, her impressive organizational skill proving effective when in charge of these guys.
That being said, I was the only one they respected the most since I did provide with refreshment such as snacks and water, and also cheered them on by the side.
"A brilliant work, my good man. I can tell this is better than most of your stuff."
This put a grin on Itto's face, the Oni's showing some signs of actually putting some muscles rather than live the slim limbs life. It had been a priority for... graphic reasons. As in, I refused to let such a good oni keep noodle arms around my presence.
Itto rushed to the lemon juice tank to get his large mug, his horde of loyalists, far bigger than the gang in the original iteration, was happily bolting after him to get their thirst dealt with.
I sipped from my own glass, smiling at the fine work. The wooden structure, reinforced with some concrete, was going to be needed with the little mess I caused.
Sure, not my fault as Columbina was the one handing out such a sudden visit, but I knew my little display had to have gained some attention from the Raiden Shogun, which meant that little miss Kujou was soon going to get fussy enough for a raid or two.
And... that wasn't going to sit with Kokomi.
Mind you, I wasn't expecting this to be avoidable. I could try to advise her to not do that due to her rather pacifist turn away from the previous warhawkish path of her grandma but...
One thing is to not bait for war, another was to become a doormat for a centuries-long foe.
Hence why I didn't even try. I knew it was going to happen, I knew that the Shogunate Army was going to run into a massive concrete wall, and I knew that nagging for peace was going to warrant more anger at my own actions.
So...
All I could do was to help up with the defenses. There were some defensive positions needed to be built fast. Itto and co. were helping with some, while Sparkle and Shinobu were helping leading the rest of the efforts, with the former focusing on getting some cannons prepared in specific positions.
We couldn't get many, but those could be put in proper positions to maximize the bombing.
It was an odd way to invest my week-long rest, but I wasn't known to take things laying down and ignore the problem.
A little war was on the horizon, and I wonder how bad things were going to get for Ei and... well, her son as I snatched the Gnosis he wanted.
AN
Sampo is a simple man. Gnosis? Claimed by headpatting the poor lil' fox. War between Inazuma and Watatsumi? Time for some Atlantic Wall actions.
And yes, I tried Jurassic Australia without the plot (I want to unlock a few teleports first, like I did with Fontaine). I chose Diluc for the Free 5 star since it was the only one I didn't have (him and Jean, but I have too many Anemo characters and I really wanted to test out the red birb).