- Death and Amaterasu -
Death's hand reaching for Amaterasu made her life flash before her eyes. A thousand of Tsukuyomi's sayings. Her countless pranks that she had pulled on Susano'o. All of it appeared like a blur. She snapped back to reality and attempted to fly away.
Azriel's twister appeared, grabbing Death's attention for a split second. Amaterasu used the chance to gain some more distance, hoping it was enough.
She wasn't sure if Death could continue his blinking in midair. He could. In an instant, he wrapped his hand around her face and gripped so tightly she thought her head might explode. She transformed back into a wolf as they both fell to the ground.
Death's grip was released briefly until he grabbed the fur around Amaterasu's neck. The two slammed into the black ground. Amaterasu thrashed, doing everything she could to get Death off of her. He was knocked away by her legs, ripping off tufts of her fur in the process.
Amaterasu summoned her rings once more and placed them in front of her mouth before firing a beam of fire. The beam refracted as it passed through the rings, shooting in all directions towards Death.
Death's scythe appeared in his hand. He struck every beam that got close to him, negating the magic.
Amaterasu kept up a barrage of beams, choosing speed over accuracy. She felt herself breathing heavier and heavier with every attack. The ground beneath her hurt to stand on, almost like it was hot metal. She ignored her growing pain and kept firing, desperate for just one attack to connect.
Death swung the scythe around his body in a flurry of swings. He almost looked like a tornado of steel and smoke as he stopped every one of Amaterasu's beams while continuing to close the distance.
Amaterasu felt like she could hardly breathe. Her paws felt like they were melting. Every part of her body screamed at her to just run. She couldn't though. She had sworn on her parent's names. Death had to die here, no matter what.
Distracted by the pain she didn't notice how close Death had gotten. She breathed flames through the rings, creating a massive plume of fire in front of her.
Death spun his scythe in front of him, creating a small pocket of safety from the fire. He and Amaterasu were deadlocked for a moment, neither making any moves.
Death knew he had the advantage. Her flames would stop eventually, and when they did, he would close in.
Amaterasu breathed fire for as long as her lungs could hold out. She knew the moment she stopped, Death would come rushing through, ready to kill her.
Eventually, her breath gave out. Death continued his charge. Amaterasu had one last trick to pull out. Her rings ignited, forming spinning wheels of flame. Before the rings could move the fire went out, her concentration was gone. The pain of the burning ground below her, and the thick air choking her had made casting anymore magic impossible.
Maybe out of fear, or hope, she charged Death, pinning him to the ground. Death kicked her off effortlessly. He swung his scythe at her face, missing as the wolf transformed back into a woman. She tried backing away while facing Death. If she had the breath to spare she would have yelled for mercy.
Death stood over her, his scythe to his side, blade pointed at her face.
"This is why immortality is a curse. Arrogance and hatred take root, and no matter how much time passes, creatures like you always become a problem again. You're cancers that can't be lived with."
"I grew tired of this millennia ago. I want you to understand one thing in your final moments." He reared his scythe back.
"This. Is. Your. Fault."
As Death went to strike, five white rings formed a shield around Amaterasu. Death struck the rings, breaking them. Amaterasu scooted backward a little more.
Death looked up at Tsukuyomi who was placing himself in-between the two. Tsukuyomi transformed into a man and prostrated before Death.
Tsukuyomi looked very similar to his sister, the main difference being his outfit. It was a dark black kimono with a large crescent moon on the back.
"I beg of you. Spare this foolish woman." Tsukuyomi said.
The ground hurt to touch, and every word filled Tsukuyomi's throat with the asphyxiating air. He couldn't believe the environment he was in. He had rarely traveled outside his homeland, giving him even greater fear of the darkened land beneath him. No matter the pain, he was resolved to not raise his head no matter what, fully expecting to die here with his sister.
"She was warned." Death said, remembering the conversation he and Amaterasu had the night before. "Yes. Warned. Why don't you tell your brother whose names you swore on?"
Tsukuyomi had to stop himself from looking up. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
'Sister. Please tell me he is lying. Please.'
Amaterasu, trembling, choked out what she had said the night before.
"I...Swo..swore...on Izana-" She started gasping. The last remnants of breathable air left her lungs. It felt like she was being drowned by the air coming off of the ground beneath her.
Tsukuyomi couldn't keep his head low at the sound of her choking. He ran over to her, holding her in his arms.
"Ple...Please. She has sworn on our parents. Let her die in our land." Tsukuyomi pleaded.
Death walked to them and leaned over.
"I want you to swear that you will act as a peacekeeper for your kind. Quelling any thoughts of revenge against me."
Tsukuyomi's eyes were wide and nervously shifting from his gasping sister to Death.
"I swear on Izanagi and Izanami that I will never allow any of my kind to seek revenge against you or those you stand for."
Death wasn't satisfied. He wouldn't drop this situation here. He would make sure to visit the yokai domain once this mission was over and have a long talk with its leaders. For now, though, getting back to Lucifer was more important.
"Go." Death ordered.
Tsukuyomi transformed back into a wolf and put Amaterasu on his back.
"Try to hold on sister." He said running off.
Death watched the black wolf running off and looked around him at the large swath of land he had blighted. The area would be permanently inhabitable from now on. Death knew it would anger the neighboring rulers, but also that the damage would make them hesitate to vocalize their complaints to him.
As he walked towards the town the severity of his injuries came through. Amaterasu had put up a far stronger fight than he expected. He underestimated her, and it cost him. If he were to turn back into his other form it would be covered in burn wounds. He returned his scythe and started sprinting to the town.
- Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi -
Amaterasu, barely able to breathe, tried thanking her brother.
"I... I'm sor...I was...a-" She coughed, wishing the cursed air would leave her body sooner.
Tsukuyomi ran as fast as he could, trying to get away from the blighted land. He was still terrified by the wide-scale effect Death's magic had.
"Do not speak, just listen." Tsukuyomi could see clear land and waited until he was in it before continuing.
"You have done something irreparably foolish. Swearing on our parents' names is just...beyond what I thought the limits of your recklessness were."
"I want you to understand two things from now until the great star dies. Your swearing never happened."
Amaterasu was shocked.
"B-but I-"
"No speaking. Save your breath." Tsukuyomi cut her off.
"It never happened, and from now on you will be nothing but grateful to Death. Your life will be spent with me, stopping the others of our kind as foolish as you from repeating your mistake."
"I will tell mother and father of my oath. You will tell them you have decided to help me, no more no less. Taifū and Odoroku were great warriors, who will be missed, so we shall give them a proper funeral once we return home."
Amaterasu was surprised by her brother's words. He was always the type to respect the power hierarchy of the world. She thought he would turn her in personally.
"Can I speak now?" She coughed.
"You may, but I hope the only words out of your mouth are ones agreeing with me."
Amaterasu started crying into Tsukuyomi's back. She felt the weight of everything that happened hit her all at the same time. Her terror fighting Death. The fear of telling her parents that she broke an oath sworn on their names.
"I'm sorry. I thought I could win...I thought..."
"Foolishly." He interrupted. "You thought foolishly. I always suspected you would go too far one day, but I never thought something like this would happen."
"You owe Death your life, not me. You live and die by his whims. If he tells our parents what you did, then that will be the end of it. If he does not, you thank him with every drop of gratitude you can pull from your body."
Amaterasu didn't feel grateful. She felt defeated. She never thought her actions would put Tsukuyomi at risk.
"If they discover you lied for me..."
"I will receive the same punishment. So do your best to hide it while we can."
Tsukuyomi paused, his mind was racing. He was stuck between wanting to reprimand and comfort. He decided on both.
"Ama?"
Amaterasu was surprised. Tsukuyomi hadn't called her "Ama" since they were young.
"What Tsuki?"
"If I had not followed you...If you had slipped all of this past me, you would be dead. I can not fathom how Susano'o would react, but I know it would have killed me. I do not know how much longer our future will be, so let us enjoy this moment for now."
It had been a very long time since the two had ridden on the back of the other. For a moment the nostalgia cleared Amaterasu's worries. She wiped her eyes.
"I have one last, unfortunate thing to ask of you once we return home Ama." Tsukuyomi's tone was grim.
"I owe you and Death my life. Whatever it is, I don't have a choice." She said, closing her eyes, trying to enjoy the ride while she could.