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Chapter 17 - Chapter 16: Getsuga

"Born on the night of a crimson crescent moon, ordained as the child of prophecy, you are blessed with the strength of a hundred of the ones before you and their power resides deeply within you.

You won't stumble nor fall, the moon shall pave the path for you, the setting of the moon and the come of sunlight shall signal the end of your foes, the darkness shall be your home, and spirit of the fallen your allies.

Rise Getsuga, for you are the Moon Fang who will lay waste to all enemies, bring terror to all who go against you, and bring eternal rest to those deserving"

After uttering such an ominous prophecy the seer fell, aging visibly before finally breathing her last. It was supposed to be a period of celebration for the family as the wife had put to bed and delivered a beautiful elven girl, but the seen that had aided in her birth just gave such a revelation before dying.

Thankfully the only ones who bore witness to the incident was the child's grandma, the mother who had just delivered, barely conscious and only heard a bit of the seer's words before passing out and the miko who was an apprentice to the seer.

"You'd speak nothing of what happened here to any one, is that clear?"

The old woman sternly informed the miko who had fallen still reeling from the shock of seeing her master die in such a manner

" I don't think I have to tell you what would happen to you if you do"

The old woman said with a smile but her eyes didn't carry that smile, instead they carried a sharpness and deadly look within them.

"Yes grandmistress, as you command"

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"Monster, I should have never given birth to you, I curse the day you were born and I regret not killing you when I had the chance"

The elven woman cried out as she stumbled backwards, trying to scramble away from the approaching youngster.

"Ahh mother, if only you had shown even the slightest bit of affection for me, if you have defended me from the ridicule and the abuse, if you had just been my friend, perhaps all this could have been avoided"

The elven girl with black eyes, and black hair, completely different from the usual bright colours of the elven line and heritage monologued as she approached her mother

"Yes, you probably should have killed me when you had the chance, but instead you all abandoned me, an elf of the same line to a fate worse than death"

"And to top it all up, you all tried to sacrifice me"

The elf started screaming and the dark smoke around her started increasing, hiding her visage altering her voice

"All because of a series of coincidences and events that could have easily been explained by science, you called me a curse because of a mutation and the events of natural selection"

"Granted you don't always understand me, even I don't myself at times, but would it have killed you to love me like a mother, and here I thought a second chance at life would have been better than my first"

The elven mother had scrambled backwards until there was no space left to run to, she turned left and right to find something, anything to help her, but her eyes only found the portrait of her mother

'It was all because of you sheltering her that this disaster happened, why did you do it mother, you knew of the curse, you knew of the prophesy, and you off all people knew of the ramblings and what this child said that made no sense.

Look, even at the jaws of death, she still wouldn't grant me solace but instead is breaking me with those incomprehensible words of hers, as much as I hate her, I hate you as well mother, may you never find rest'

"I am Getsuga, the moon fang"

A distorted and grim voice sounding just like that of a reaper came from within the smoke

"I won't stumble neither would I fall, the moon shall pave the path for me, the setting of the moon and the coming of sunlight shall signal the end of all my foes

My presence shall bring terror to all who go against me, and my scythe bring eternal rest to all I judge deserving "

The very words the seer had spoken at the time of her birth we're now been retold by her Getsuga has she faced her mother.

"And I deem you guilty, may you find peace in your eternal slumber "

And with that, a figure of a grim reaper came rushing out of the smoke and slashed at the cornered elf, taking her life before vanishing like it was never there, leaving only Getsuga and her mother's corpse in the room.

The village had been massacred on this very night by Getsuga after she woke up to find herself tied to an alter as a sacrifice to the moon.

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Ever since her grandmother died, Getsuga's life in the village had never been the same.

As a child with vague memories from a previous life, Getsuga knew there was something wrong with the way her mother and the family miko treated her, it was akin more to a dread, that feeling you're next to something with the potential to end you.

But her grandmother's love and presence were more than enough to stop her from thinking about it.

Her grandmother taught her about the world, life, etiquette, the beautiful new world she found herself in, and the morals to live by. She took her on trips to get away from the depressing atmosphere of her family and enrich her outlook on life.

Luckily or unluckily for Getsuga, her mother put to bed one more time and gave birth to yet another girl, but this time without the same commotion as at her birth.

This child took away the attention of everyone in the family except for her grandmother, and Getsuga at this point in time could be likened to an object in the house.

No one cared about her or how she did, only interacting with her when necessary.

You'd think Getsuga would have a better life outside of her family, but her hair and eye colour had earned her the scorn of most people in the village.

The elves were a superstitious race, well atleast this village was, and the colour black was an ominous sign.

The village legends had it that the birth of a black haired and black eyed elf had once spelt disaster for their entire population, destroyed their civilization and forced them to move locations becoming the small tribe they were now.

Normally it would have been treated as just a legend told as not to forget their roots, as elves never had that colour of hair and eyes, not even the dark skinned ones, but Getsuga had been born to the village, and the village priestess vanished in the same time period

While they didn't show the same amount of indifference and dread her family did towards her, they did their best to avoid her.

But when her grandmother died and the miko, who was now the village priestess, when drunk at a village gathering accidentally let out the prophesy spoken by her master, the former priestess everything changed.

They treated her like a curse and avoided her. Getsuga moved into her grandmother's house after her death to reduce the stares and provocation received from all ends as it was the only place they dared not approach, and was her last memory of her grandmother.

She studied all that was taught by her by her grandmother, waiting for when she would awaken so she could get out of this hell hole.

She had seen that some parts of this world was just as technologically advanced as her previous ones, with some places choosing to stay in isolation, living in the old ways, like her village and couldn't wait to explore.

This continued for 5 years until she was 18, and repeated tragedies befell the village.

From a beast tide that severely damaged the village defenses, to a drought and the last straw, a plague that had taken the life of many villagers already.

Her younger sister was one of those afflicted by the plague and everything pointed out to Getsuga's ominous presence.

The drugged her and offered her as a sacrifice to the crescent moon to appease the moon and wash away the bad tidings but that only led to Getsuga awakening and their village's destruction

An elf gains a second name at a miraculous feat or event encountered in their life and Getsuga had gotten her after the events of the night

She was Getsuga Townsend