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The following is a fan-based

FICTION

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Chapter 24: A Demon's Dilemmas

P.S. I now have a discord server! Discord .gg/ceBMM2Zz6c


It was night and she should have gone to her room but...

Chiyo was never the predictable person. Years of motherhood may have softened that youthful brazen nature of hers, but she just... couldn't sleep. Nor she felt like she deserved rest after what had happened. Between becoming an abyssal monster, hurting Ei, pretty much pushing things around to the point people died through the centuries and she was now alone in terms of the Mikoshi Clan-

Evertyhing here was a painful reflection of her past. A look into Inazuma City was enough to sting at her heart: once a blossoming territory, it felt wrong that it had remained unchanged in its essence and stagnating in some of its structures. Miko had been extensive in her narration, confirming what had already burned in her heart for long: that Ei was in serious need of a beating.

One thing was for her good friend to know she was flawed enough to have an endless 'automate' to replace her and act to the best of her capacity to keep the country afloat but... the 'Raiden Shogun' was doing a bit more (or less) than that. The country was thus cursed with a view of 'Eternity' that further showed to Chiyo why, a very long time ago, Makoto had been very unwilling to drop the country's rule to Ei for a single day.

She thought it was just Makoto being silly and not wanting to give her twin sister such a huge burden for even just a day but...

This? What she was looking right now as she darted between rooftops? The Oni knew that Makoto meant more than just something silly. Even more, the words from Kratos had left her pensive on the chance that Makoto had not seen this go so badly. Not as badly as it was right now and-

And Chiyo was tempted by the situation.

Her oni blood, hardly mellowed through the centuries, called upon her to go forth and just slap her way through the palace and beat the Raiden Shogun until her friend came out and explained to her how things went so wrong. Part of her wanted to do it, she really would have gone through with this even knowing that she was weaker than Ei, but Chiyo was also aware it was not her chore nor her privilege to take this burden.

Makoto had chosen Kratos, a stranger from stranger lands. A man that had enough experience to 'understand' the situation and approve of her plan to 'save her sister from herself'. And she was sure Kratos could do it. He was stronger than Ei, by a large margin, yet he was also far calmer and 'colder' than Chiyo would have liked. He was waiting, taking time, understanding the full scope of the situation.

She could almost hear Kitsune Saiguu lambasting her for thinking that 'marching in and smacking common sense' would be enough. No, it would not be. Not when elements of the Tri-Commission were still loyal to Ei and her mindset. Some of the worst scum had truly enjoyed the decline of Inazuma, riding the wave of corruption and creating a layer of laws that made their position entrenched and difficult to remove if Ei herself didn't take a stand against them.

This last bit also infuriated Chiyo, for she knew that Ei loathed greedy sleazebag as much as she did and like Makoto used to. For her to close her eyes and sit all day-long in her little secret plane meant that she truly gave up on any common sense, but also her own ideology.

After all, her Eternity dictated a perserverance over the status quo, regardless of any issue that may or not damage her people. For she was 'God' and thus she was always right. To the common local, this felt arrogant, but Chiyo knew more to this: Ei was paranoid, afraid, and very quick to take over an absolutist approach when that was convenient to her stability.

The issue was that this selfish approach actually 'changed' Inazuma. Once Makoto ruled with a mixed control, one where she wore a velvet glove over her right hand, and an iron gauntlet in her left one. She could juggle being benevolent and despotic at will depending on the matter and was quite adept in avoiding slipping so badly.

Ei was none of that, and it pained Chiyo to know it was her own inability to rule that made their home bleed so badly.

Another aspect that got Chiyo's attention was Watatsumi. Deep down, she still harbored a grudge over the Snake-loving bastards. They had killed Sasayuri, and while she thought of him a bird-bastard, he was still her lovable bird-bastard. And while this should still persist to now, the way the rebellion had shifted from a war of 'gods' to one of 'ideals' marked a change in the entire conflict.

Chiyo didn't love politics, but she wanted a good peace for all. And Ei was not proposing that. It pained her to admit it, but if she had to chose a faction to side with, Watatsumi's current leadership may have the right morality to have her as help. Ugh!

As the darkness of the night started to falter over the rise of the sun, Chiyo made her way back to her room. Hoping to not be caught in her nightly stroll by her new allies, but too aware that wasn't the case when she slipped through a window leading to the hallway connecting the rest of the rooms and... finding Kratos there already.

"Welcome back."

A simple greeting, but one that scolded her with twice the disappointment she could get from either Sasayuri or Kitsune Saiguu. Heck, not even Makoto would be up to this degree of 'irritation', but at least the bald man was masterful in hiding it all in a mere displeased look.

"Apologies, I had to clear my mind," She curtly answered, flashing a sheepish look and expecting to be called out on this but-

"Hm. Just don't forget to get some rest at some point. Today will be a tough day and... it will be a long week."

A nod, that was all she could muster before finally getting to her room and... sighing and pouting.

Felt like being back to her youth, when she was so flimsy in getting caught being an absolute idiot. Then, a smile crept in.

A sour one at that, for the old memory was indeed a bittersweet one to think of and one to ask for strength from in these difficult times.


AN

Next time... Ei notices something's up and she is not sure what it is.