- Izanagi and Izanami -
(Past)
Izanagi spun a jeweled spear over his back, cleaving through the legs of a surrounding crowd of jötunn, toppling the icy giants as he landed in the snow. He threw the spear into the air diagonally.
Izanami caught the handle of the spear in midair, spinning and cutting a giant in half vertically. The two of them ran through the icy battlefield they were on, throwing the spear back and forth as they painted the white land red.
A wave of ice spikes jutted up from the ground, forming a jagged cliff edge on the battlefield and launching Izanagi and Izanami into the air. The two slid down the structure. Izanagi was holding the spear, scanning the area as he slid.
Across the battlefield a giant woman with gray hair smiled, revealing rust-colored teeth as she raised her hand. Serpent-like drills of ice shot out towards Izanagi and Izanami.
Izanami leaped towards one of the ice drills. She slammed her palms into the ice, shattering the attack.
Izanagi landed in the snow and reared back the spear. The jewels on the spear started to glow.
"Gather the clouds," Izanagi whispered.
As Izanagi swung, a blade of wind shot from the spear, tearing through the ice and snow as it traveled. The drills of ice moved around the attack and shot for Izanagi. Izanagi exhaled and dodged the drills as they ripped into where he had been standing. A wall of ice formed, catching the wind blade before it could make contact with the giant woman.
Izanami stomped her foot into the snow, blasting herself forward with a burst of energy. Clouds of snow kicked up all around her as she dashed closer to the giant woman.
"Defend me!" The giant woman yelled.
"FOR BEIRA!" The army of yuki yelled as they ran past the woman.
The jeweled spear landed in front of Izanami as she was running. She picked it up and whispered.
"Light the world."
The spear's head ignited into flame as Izanami swung, sending a wave of fire towards the approaching yuki.
- Izanagi and Izanami -
(Present)
Izanagi's eyes stayed on the ground as he thought about the past battle. 'If I had just believed that ice hag's lies instead of trusting my visions, my method, she would have amassed far more power. I was right. I'm right now. Right? Yes. Maybe.'
Izanami was watching Izanagi as she walked. 'He's thinking about past decisions again. Which time? The yuki rebellion led by Beira? The war we avoided with Hell? Maybe he's thinking about the deal he made with Enma?' she stopped watching Izanagi. 'Not every decision worked out perfectly but I can only imagine how much worse things would be if we had gone a different route.'
Izanami stopped walking, prompting Izanagi to stop as well.
"What?" Izanagi mumbled concernedly.
'You've seen those outcomes,' Izanami kept to herself. 'I'm sure you've had visions where you see yourself die. See me, our children...though you never talk about it.'
Izanagi walked up to Izanami and grabbed her hand. "We've made our choice. There's nothing left to do but prepare for it."
Izanagi tried to make a convincing smile but a sweaty strand of hair fell down his face. Izanami couldn't help but stare at the state of Izanagi. The man's face was practically painted with stress. Izanami gripped Izanagi's hand.
"Of course."
- Izanami -
(Past)
Izanami was sitting at a table with a large piece of paper in front of her. The paper was covered in writing and lines connecting each text piece. She scribbled on the paper and marked the corner of it. She moved it off the table onto a large stack of similar papers. She was speaking quickly as she placed a blank piece of paper on the table
"The former god, Jupiter, also sometimes associated with Zeus by the reborn," She drew a line from the text. "Killed by Cthulhu, a god that none of the reborn seem to know about, and yet his prominence in our world should go against that," she circled the text and drew another line as she shook her leg. "Death and Lucifer are amongst the most prominent," she circled the text.
Izanami wrote until her pen broke. The piles of papers she had made were now a scattered mess on the floor. She tossed her pen and mumbled repetitively.
"Seventh Day, Seventh Day."
She stood up and paced about the room. "Do I exist? If I can question it I must, right? Why did humans have to come to this world? Do gods visit their world? Some say yes but they could be lying. Human minds are noted to degrade with age in the human world and it's safe to assume that dying would make hazy memories even less trustworthy."
She sat in the chair and grabbed her hair with both hands. "I need to leave to Purgatory and ask those reborn what they can remember. Hell would work too I suppose but Satan is more frustrating to deal with. Heaven will just refuse me entry. Why did our territory have to be so far from the human realms?"
Izanami's eyes scanned the pile of papers she had written on. Her eyes shot from each line of text as she desperately searched for an answer she knew she wouldn't find. She groaned and unclenched her hands from her hair. She stood up and gathered the papers. She grabbed a box and fit the papers inside.
She walked out of the room and handed the box to a shadow yokai. The shadow yokai nodded and disappeared into a dark puddle, reappearing in a stone room with no entrances. The room was filled with similar boxes that were stacked to the ceiling. He stacked the box and sank through the ground.
Izanami chewed on her nails as she walked up a large flight of stairs. The stairs were surrounded on either side by stone walls. The stairs stretched endlessly up through a barely lit stairwell.
'If the World Council ever finds out about what I'm doing our territory will be outlawed. I can't risk leaving the territory, ever. All I can do is wait.'
- Izanagi and Izanami -
(Past)
"Please, you have to stop," Izanagi pleaded.
Izanagi and Izanami were at the top of a massive stone temple, thousands of meters into the sky. Izanagi's clothes and hair were a mess. Strands of his hair covered his face. Parts of his robe had clearly been torn and then mended at some point. His eyes were almost red with cracks. His nails were cracked and his fingers were torn at the tips.
Izanami looked out at the clouds that were almost close enough to touch. She didn't respond, her eyes fully fixated on the clouds. She sighed as she leaned her chin on her hands.
"I know you want this," Izanagi said. "I know how desperate you are for answers but you won't find any if our territory gets outlawed because of this."
"Do I exist?" Izanami sighed. "I want that question out of mind as badly as you want your visions to be clearer. I've gone to excessive lengths to make sure that no one will ever find out about what I'm doing. I swear on my name that I won't allow what you've predicted to come true."
"That's not how it works!" Izanagi tried holding his anger back.
Izanami stared sideways at Izanagi. She closed her eyes and reopened them to look out at the clouds.
"Please..."
Izanagi felt a pain in his chest. It went against everything he had known. He gripped the railing of the tower. He closed his eyes tight as he choked out his words.
"O-okay..."
Izanami embraced Izanagi from behind. "I will never ask you to go against your visions again, I swear."
Izanami stopped hugging Izanagi and opened the door behind them. The inside of the tower was covered in cracks and small spatterings of blood. Piles of torn robes similar to the one Izanagi was wearing sat in a corner.
"Whenever you're ready," Izanami said as she stood by the door.
"Just a little longer," Izanagi shook.
Izanagi's eyes went glassy as he stared out at the clouds. He was in his head, speaking in a desperate tone.
'To whatever being supposedly brought me into creation, if you can hear me, please take away my power to see the future. Take it away or make it easier to use. What was the name of that Hellspawn concept? Fors, I think? Or was it Fortuna?'
Izanami walked up behind Izanagi and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Come on!"
"What are you-"
"I have a surprise planned for you at the bottom of the tower," Izanami carried Izanagi through the door.
"You can't surprise me!" Izanagi struggled out of Izanami's hold.
"Okay, then what did I prepare for you?" Izanami smiled smugly.
Izanagi went to answer but realized he didn't know. He chuckled and moved the strands of hair hanging in front of his face back onto his head.