There was a rather awkward silence that filled the room.
I was sitting on her sofa and she sat in a chair nearby. To make it even worse, there was an unconscious little girl next to me.
The missing little kitsune. Her nine tails moved ever so slightly with her breathing.
I feel like an idiot not realizing who Izzy was before. I mean…..it was staring at me right in the face.
Looking up at Izzy – Izanami, she looked away the moment our eyes met.
"So…..Izanami." I finally spoke, the silence was starting to grate on me.
Her head snapped towards me, wanting to say something but she held herself back. "I'm...I apologize for hiding my identity." She said quietly.
"Okay."
She paused, looking at me in surprise. "You aren't angry or…?"
"Did you think I would be?" I questioned here. "I'm not going to get angry for you hiding your 'true' name." I rolled my eyes. "Izzy – " I intentionally used her fake name. "Are you not the same person I was spending time with? What exactly changed between then and now?"
"Is it really that simple to you?" She looked at me in shock. "I am Izanami-no-Mikoto, goddess of death, she who beckons. I have committed heinous sins in my life, the world curses my very existence."
"Literally the son of Satan over here." I deadpanned.
"It is not the same and you know it." She pursed her lips, crossing her arms in annoyance. "I am condemned by the very land I helped create."
"Yeah, that's not fair." I sighed, thinking about what she's been through. She wasn't lying about her 'sins' if the stories are anything to go by. But, at this moment, I don't see that hateful goddess portrayed in myths and legends, all I see is a lonely women who misses her family. "Should I call you Mother Izanami?" I smiled towards her. She was Japan's mother goddess.
"Y-you….." She actually looked bashful at the words. "Don't tease me." She added on quietly.
I couldn't help but chuckle at her reaction, definitely going to call her that in the future. "I'm not upset, Izzy." I said gently. "I am surprised, and more annoyed at myself for not realizing. But I don't have the faintest negative perception of you right now."
"It could be a ruse, a plan to trick you into this place…..for you to never leave."
"Aren't you supposed to trick me into consuming something of this place, so I would be forever bound?" I raised an eyebrow. That myth regarding Persephone and Hades did have some kernels of truth to it. My lips curled up as I saw her huff. "Now that I think about it, aren't you supposed to be stuck here?"
She scoffed. "I am a goddess, do you think a rock can keep me sealed for that long?"
Hmm, makes sense. I wonder if any other deities know she gets up and walks around the surface whenever she wants.
I just shrugged. "Well, regardless, you are my friend and I don't care who you 'are'." And what a funny thought that is right now. I somehow became friends with Izanami. "Unless you don't want to be anymore?"
She actually tensed up at my words, clearly unsettled by my implication. "I enjoy our time spent together." She squeezed out.
"Well, then nothing else needs to be said." I clapped my hands. "So, what's the issue with little fox over here?"
I don't think she knew how to respond to my dismissal of her 'status', but she seemed willing to shift the conversation. "You are more than familiar with those miscreants that caused chaos in the city not that long ago?"
"Tamamo-no-Mae cult?"
"Yes." She rolled her eyes. "Those idiots did not stop their initial attempts, apparently they had a few backup plans in place incase of failure….how they managed to actually devise a strategy of that level I can't fathom, because they certainly do not seem to possess the modicum of intelligence needed for that small amount of forward thinking."
Ouch, yeah, they didn't seem too bright. Perhaps they managed to find a child to poke holes in their elaborate schemes? "I actually don't know more than the bare basics." I scratched the back of my head. "Honestly, I've been keeping myself out of that whole mess."
Izanami looked embarrassed, I guess she must have thought she was dragging me into this against my wills, but I was more than willing to help her to.
"They were trying to use a ritual to resurrect Tamamo-no-Mae using another 9-tailed fox." Izanami gestured towards the sleeping little kitsune. "Once the connected to Yomi was made, I saw what was happening…..and I took exception."
Hmm, Tamamo-no-Mae is actually an aspect of Amaterasu, practically her daughter....I dare not ask what the relationship is like there, because she seems really distant with the concept.
"Curious." I tapped my chin, thinking about the course of actions. "If I had to guess, they were trying to create a symbolic link due to heritage, then drag out Tamamo-no-Mae's soul, use the kid's body as a catalyst to revitalize the dead spirit's flesh with her own essence."
"That is…..frighteningly close to what was happening." She seemed mildly surprised by my insight. "There is only one issue that remained though…."
"She feels of death, but isn't actually dead." I said, staring at the little girl.
"Yes." Izanamis said quietly. "She was invaded by the power of Yomi, her soul…..it was 'touched' by this realm. I'm doing what I can to keep anymore from seeping into her….but it is already acting like poison."
"And you can't simply remove or cleanse it?" I asked. She was also a goddess of creation….
"I can, if I didn't care about her continued existence." Izanami replied. "I am Yomi, anything I try to do 'inside' of her will leave more traces of me and the same issues will persist."
"Ah, like trying to put out a fire with more fire."
"You understand." She nodded. "That is why I required…..outside help."
"Outside help am i? And here I thought we were friends."
"That's…..not what I meant." She pouted, and it was cute I couldn't help but tease her.
I sighed, thinking about the headache this would be. "I understand why you couldn't simply drop her off at her mother's now…" I said idly. Yeah, quite a few comments she made started to make more sense.
Oh gods, I gave her advice on how to deal with her godly children.
Her youngest is Susano'o....
Izanami looked away, a sad smile on her face. "I have not seen my daughter for many years...I don't want our reunion to be her assuming I schemed against her Miko."
The fact that Amaterasu would probably not listen to reason and assume the worst of Izzy was left unsaid. It would most definitely cause more issues than it solves.
"Well, you're in luck, I am perhaps one of the most knowledgeable Magicians in the world."
"Aren't you barely an adult?"
"Irrelevant." I waived her off.
"I think it is very relevant."
I ignored her and turned towards the little kitsune. The immediate solutions was perhaps to use a healing spell. My hand ignited with that familiar white light as I raised it over the little girl. Her pale face turned slightly healthier…..but I could tell she wasn't actually 'getting better'.
No, the 'infection' still remained.
"A normal healing spell won't do anything." I didn't really expect it to, but I wasn't to see the extent of damage. "Perhaps a sealing? Gathering it all up, seal it in a corner of her body for later purification?"
"Any sealing spell would be eroded within hours." Izanami added.
"Yeah, this stuff is very corrosive. It isn't merely 'deathly' energy mixed in, it's like a combination of death and necrotic power." I murmured, stroking my chin. There is a difference between the two. Death is a natural state of being, the end result for everything. Necrotic energies are….unnatural, they twist life energies and propagate through corruption. While both are antithetical to continue living, combing them makes matters several fold worse.
"If you continued to keep her 'steady' how long do you think before she crosses the point of no return?"
"Several hours at the most." She answered without a second thought.
And there wasn't much we could do to slow that down. Even sealing it away for a few hours may have an adverse effect when the energies break free. Yeah, it would buy some time, but the energies might rampage when they finally break out, causing more damage before settling down, essentially accelerating the process.
I suddenly had a thought. "I may have a solution, but I require something from you."
She tilted her head. "What do you need?"
"Permission to bring someone in here and help me. I'm close to someone who can most likely heal her fully."
"That's it?" She questioned. "And would they be…. comfortable coming here?"
"Actually, I'm sure she would love to meet you. I want her to meet all my friends actually." I couldn't help but smiled at her.
"I see." She looked rather unsure of herself, but she relented. "I will not block you from bringing someone to aid me."
I held back the urge to give her a hug. I don't know why it made me feel bad seeing her like that, but we weren't really close enough for something that 'intimate'. But still, I wanted to cheer her up. "Would you like to hold Sir Wiggles while I'm gone?'
She looked at me, holding back an eager expression. "…yes."
I chuckled, flipping my hat off and allowing my familiar hop on out. I mentally sent him my 'feelings' telling him to watch over Izzy while I go run an errand.
He happily hopped into her lap, allowing her to dote on him.
Spoiled little rabbit.
Well, I'm glad he doesn't feel intimidated by her anymore. Even this realm seemed not to bother him as long as he was nearby one of us.
"I can open up Yomi to almost anywhere in Japan…..where do you need to go?"
"No worries, I got this." I waived her off, bringing out Mirage.
"What are you –"
I slashed my sword, creating a portal back home. I gave one last look over at Izzy, her eyes widened in disbelief. Yeah, if even Meridia was surprised that I could do this, I can only imagine Izzy will be too.
I gave her a wink, jumping through.
Lets just hope Artoria still has Avalon on her.
***
Girlfriend about to meet new friend. I'm sure nothing bad will happen. And we're almost at the part where different world characters being to interact. It's honestly one of the parts i'm looking forward to writing the most, characters that should never meet finally interacting. But that's mostly still a bit down the road.
So I was going to write another Interlude tomorrow, which would be 5 chapters from tomorrow for you guys, from the perspective of the hero faction. Are there any other perspectives that people want for the future? I don't plan on touching Sirzechs anytime soon, but those around him are fair game. Hell, i'm open to omake ideas too, if anyone wants to throw some stuff out, canon or non-canon is fine.
Anyways, if you want to read 5 chapters ahead or support me, visit my pat.reon.com/storyforone