"Allow me the unmitigated privilege to politely say, 'You're boned.' See what happens when women don't hush, young man? Trouble! All forms of trouble!" Tadamasa joked, hissing with laughter.
While Kinzo and Maboroshi no kohime were unamused by his words, Meioshi smirked at Tadamasa before smiling wide and turned to the angered goddess. Maboroshi's otherworldly beauty was a sight to behold indeed, but the good doctor was used to her situations escalating to some disagreement (physical or otherwise) with higher powers. Unaffected by the goddess's rage, Meioshi bowed politely and remained calm. There was nothing she could change about her clan's situation now. She said what she said and did what she did. There was no going back. Sojuro and her enemy had already given their warnings to her, and Meioshi had already decided that she would fight them both until her clan was free from them. She'll be damned if she apologized for any of it! If the patron goddess didn't know her by name the way Kinzo did, then she was really in the dark. The hell travelers hadn't gone by their archaic name since her ancestors left Heiwa, and the clan's patron god left them some time ago. When the patron tried to return to post, Meioshi broke the bonds early in her career as a holy warrior. Lord Izanagi... had other plans for her as evidenced by her powers remaining. At least, that's what the good doctor believed. Her mission to the gods was incomplete somehow. The hell travelers' work was not done, and, with the disturbance in the Netherworld causing strong forces to uproot mortal soil, it was easy to see that her clan was still needed to some degree. She could see part of her mistake for believing the hell travelers were no longer of use.
Looking at Maboroshi, the good doctor began to think of her new patron god, Kako Seigi. He wasn't like the goddess before her. He may have been part of the dwindling generation of deities, but he wasn't part of the Web of Divine Might. After Meioshi severed the bond, Kako Seigi heard her pleas for guidance and help, so he appeared before her at her tarnished family shrine and agreed to watch over her. In exchange, she serves him by fulfilling certain duties. In her heart, Meioshi believed that Kinzo would like doing what she does. The poor guy was suffering. He was losing his child, felt abandoned, and didn't even want to be in his home village anymore. It was too traumatic. It might be possible for him to keep his powers and serve a new patron like Kako Seigi, but Meioshi had to admit even to herself that she was just lucky. She was lucky to have found out how to sever the bond, lucky to have gained true independence as a holy warrior, and lucky to have learned from her mistakes and rashness in the past. None of this would matter to the goddess before her, though. She was exchanging glares between Meioshi and her beloved onmyoji, Kinzo.
"What is the meaning of this?" Maboroshi no kohime questioned.
"Goddess, I - " Kinzo tried to explain, feeling guilty for wanting to leave her.
"Just a little lesson in the ways of a holy warrior. It appears Kinzo has much to learn about his heritage. My clan's festival is happening right now. It's only fair I share with him the history of our origins as servants to the gods," Meioshi explained in Kinzo's place. She understood his submissive behavior. The decision he was making was a hard one and the results varied. "Pardon the sensitivities involved in our conversation, my lady."
"You are who, wench?" Maboroshi no kohime questioned.
"Such sassiness!" Meioshi replied, smiling in an almost challenging way. "I am Jigoku Meioshi, surviving head of the hell travelers. Pleasure to make your acquaintance, patron of the onmyoji."
"You are not the one destined to aid young Kinzo," Maboroshi growled, irises shrinking and storm winds building up pressure around her. "Remove yourself from here!"
"I'll do no such thing," Meioshi said, eyes glowing with power and smile remaining in place. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're interfering with mortal affairs anyway. That's a punishable offense, is it not?"
"Uugghh... Why is it that every time I'm around you I wind up having to save your little ass?" Tadamasa asked, walking in front of Meioshi.
The pall bearer formed a black, transparent barrier around himself and the holy warriors to send the winds back to the goddess. It was a common rule among the rulers and servants of heaven and hell. Parties from immortal lands could not harm each other unless deities from the older generations permitted it, and the holy warriors were not to be touched by the immortals unless they offended a deity outright, transferred powers, or made some agreement to warrant physically meeting. Meioshi did no such thing.
"Stand down, goddess of the valleys. You've a greater problem to deal with than these warriors questioning you," Tadamasa ordered. "I sent this child of pure heart here to battle the giants plaguing your lands. If your magical bard back there is meant to be doing this, you may as well let him receive however much help he can get. He's still young himself and inexperienced in battling foes that even you had troubles with in the past. The hell traveler has been fighting demons for years. Her power will be enough. Disregard her dismissal of the web. It is no matter now. You want the onmyoji to be safe, do you not?"
Maboroshi calmed her storms for a moment, looking down at her feet with a sorrowful look in her eyes, and then did something that surprised everyone. She ran into Kinzo's arms and embraced him while blushing. The man stiffened up out of fear, remembering what happened when he tried to touch her at the temple, but nothing was happening to him now. He was able to smell her perfume and feel the grandeur of her kimono. Even her hair was as soft as sheep's wool! She sniffled some tears and shook like she was desperate. Engulfing Kinzo and herself in a bright, warm light, she blinded everyone as she... made herself mortal! In part. Her hair was no longer purple but black, and her eyes were as green as grass. Her kimono changed to a shrine maiden's hankimono, and she instead wore a medallion with the crest of a ram in the center and the symbol of the onmyoji connected to tassels at the bottom.
"My Kinzo," Maboroshi whimpered. "I disappointed you. I'm so sorry! Is there nothing I can do to earn your forgiveness, my Kinzo? If you want to find a new place for your people, we can find one together. I won't leave you all alone again. I promise! I never wanted to abandon you. I really didn't!"
Feeling guiltier, Kinzo succumbed to Maboroshi's pleas and whispered to himself about his doubts. Meioshi, however, was not pleased with this exchange. Something was off. Maboroshi was too desperate to keep Kinzo - too unusually attached to him. With the young man not knowing how to respond, Meioshi could only suspect a few things about the patron goddess. She chose to remain silent and wait, however.
"I can confidently say I've never seen another holy warrior with a goddess at his side just before combat," Meioshi joked, chuckling warmly to mask her real feelings. "That's quite an honor! Since I'm just now figuring out that Lord Tadamasa is sending me to my doom, I'll proceed on to battle your giants."
"How are you gonna do that without knowing where to go?" Kinzo asked, looking at the doctor.
"Lady Tennin..." a familiar voice said, making Kinzo gasp and his heart beat irregularly.
Meioshi walked over to some bushes and waited for a little girl to reveal herself. It was Kishi! She stumbled a bit, but she walked up to Meioshi and hugged her like she was safe in the arms of a relative. Kinzo almost shoved Maboroshi aside, but the goddess stepped away for a moment to show concern for Kishi. Meioshi returned the girl's hug and pat her head as the child snuggled her bosom.
Maboroshi held her medallion tightly and called out, "My little oracle? Kishi?"
"Lady Tennin," Kishi repeated. She threw her arms up to wave them above her head and cheered, "Boat! Boat!"
"You want to go on another ride so soon?" Meioshi asked, laughing warmly. "We just went on one!"
"I want to see the pretty fish again," Kishi said without a hint of a slur. She then turned slowly to Kinzo and called, "Bakagari!"
BOOM! CLASH!
Abruptly, Meioshi blocked a vicious blow from the giants with her Netherworld predator claw and summoned an alarming amount of power that startled Kinzo and Maboroshi. Kishi was safe, but she was clinging to the doctor's back and shivering from fear. She remembered the blow to her head when Kinzo was being beaten and started screaming violently. Kinzo yelled out her name and ran up to her, but it made the pain of her memories far worse. She tightened her hold on the doctor and started chanting uncontrollably. The power coming from the chants made Meioshi's symbol glow on her back. It became very clear why Kishi called Meioshi a tennin. Kishi's chants... made Meioshi's wings materialize...