Some hours before...
"So pure... so kind... so alone..."
She woke with a start at the familiar voice of the red-eyed woman from her childhood. She knew her to be the goddess, Maboroshi no kohime, but her appearance frightened her when she hovered above her with those strange eyes. The goddess had been watching over her for seven years supposedly. She was too young to understand anything before, so she screamed for Kinzo out of utter fear. There was no concept of time or space in the Oracle's Broken Dimension. It was a shrine positioned on a floating cliff that was upside down with a throne resting on a thick storm cloud just in front of it. The torii gate was behind the throne and the goddess on a separate floating rock. Soft breezes always passed by, and thundering darkness always crept up to her in slow steps. The one bright spot was that the sun and a white, puffy cloud mixed with pink was just behind her. Her world in Nihon, her favorite meadow, and her beloved brother decorated her side of this eery place. There was always the calm before the storm in this plane of existence. The goddess with red eyes seemed to be the stormbringer as she often watched her and Kinzo in silence. It was ominous. Broken glass shaped into lightning bolts surrounded her and glimmered like fine jewels.
Young Kishi Shigochiyo often found herself in the black pool with a trapped red moon reflecting off the waters. It matched the goddess's eyes so much that she often felt disturbed waking in this place. It was like the goddess watched her too intensely, but she was merciful despite her appearance. For seven years, Kishi got to dance and play to Kinzo's wonderful biwa songs about their precious moments in childhood, but so did the goddess. Though it was mostly during the nights or early mornings, the goddess would take control of her body to touch her beloved older brother's cheek or sing to him in his sleep. It was gentle and harmless, but Kishi felt something odd about the exchange. The goddess explained herself often when Kishi felt afraid. Many humans feared her because of her eyes and horns except the onmyoji. She loved Kishi's clan so much because they held no fear of her, and she spoke kindly of the friends she made from the onmyoji and oracles of the past. Izanagi had blessed the first men with her powers to become such things in order to teach her how to lead people more responsibly. Maboroshi did, in fact, learn a great deal. She truly grieved for her people and was set in her ways of claiming vengeance, but Kishi was wary about something.
Waking up on this day, she could feel something was different. A presence that was unfamiliar to her was coming, but something in her was calling out to it. Kinzo was by her side on the opposite end of the Broken Dimension, telling her about his day and wishing she could go with him to pick flowers like before. But, he sensed something, too. It was something that he had to answer to. The pull was too strong. When he left, the goddess became suspicious. Kishi suddenly felt very tired and weak. Her reiki was... being drained and pooling into the black waters. Someone was here.
"There is someone here. I can sense a pall bearer with this mortal, but... the mortal is odd to me," Maboroshi said aloud. "Who is this creature?"
Creature? In a flash of blinding light, Kishi was surrounded by the broken glass pieces and shoved to the opposite side of the dimension. She didn't know what to do. In her soul, however, her feet wanted to move. She had to follow the path to this other presence. Whoever it was, they were in the lake. She trundled out of the main floor of the shrine and went down into the dungeon. Kinzo often trained there with the goddess. She could never go with him, but she could watch him from the Broken Dimension. This time, she got to follow him personally. Her feet were possessed again... but by another... She knew it wasn't her moving to this presence. If anything, she'd go find Kinzo first, but something within her had to get to this person. She had to see this presence. She started to pick up her speed before she broke out into a run of enhanced speed. She ran through corridors like she knew them, climbed up walls like they had ladders on them, and chanted rapidly until the words fused together.
Suddenly, she heard a pleasant voice say, "I am so over this catacomb of nonsense!"
"Doctor, you can't stress out too much. Remember your blood pressure," another unfamiliar voice warned.
Before she knew it, Kishi came face to face with a lovely woman and her demon companion. Everyone and everything that ever possessed her grew quiet, and, for once, Kishi felt like she could breathe again. A sudden growl echoed in the corridors that terrified Kishi. Closing the distance between her and the woman, Kishi ran up to the woman in a desperate attempt to escape the angry noises behind her. She was in tears when she tripped and stumbled onto her knees. She had to get to this woman. She had to! She was finally freed from everyone trying to control her body! She could be with Kinzo as herself again! She had to get to this woman! She shut her eyes tight like she was trapped in a nightmare and raced until finally... she bumped into the woman with gorgeous, phantom wings glittering behind her. She looked like an angel.
"Tennin?" Kishi questioned, reaching up to touch the woman's wings. They were soft and flowy!
"Who are you, little one?" the woman asked with an accented voice. Such a gentle and sweet voice...
"Lady Tennin," Kishi said, tears welling up. She cried out, "Please help me! I'm scared! I can't find my brother!"
"How long have you been down here?" the woman asked, kneeling to Kishi's level.
"The goddess said seven years," Kishi answered, clenching her hands tightly. "But I don't wanna be here down here anymore! I wanna go home to my big brother and mommy and daddy! I hate it down here! It's so dark and scary! No one will let me move or talk! Everyone's trying to get my brother!"
"Shhh..." the woman shushed, wiping away Kishi's tears and smiling softly at her. "Hey, now, it's alright. We'll find your brother together, okay? What's his name, little one?"
"Shigochiyo Kinzo," Kishi replied, letting the doctor care for her. Her wings wrapped around Kishi's body and made the air around her warm.
"Guess I'll have to stop my journey here. You could use a change of scenery," the woman suggested, hazel eyes sparkling. She then rose to stand and said, "Come on! Let's go see the lake. I saw your brother over there."
"You did? Then, you're the one he sensed not long ago!" Kishi said, sniffing up her tears.
The woman nodded and smiled. Kishi, for the first time in life, trusted another soul who wasn't family or her clan's goddess. She followed the woman out of the dungeon and told her everything that she remembered. Much of it was traumatic once she remembered the pain of her being struck by the giants. Her brother was so scared. But... that was nothing compared to her training as an oracle. The goddess wasn't harsh to her, but she possessed her body often to speak to Kinzo. They could only formally speak when he entered the temple of the onmyoji or visited the valley where the goddess thrived. When she trained as her oracle, she was flooded with so many voices of the past and beyond the mortal plains. It was unbearable! The woman listened to every word and asked questions related to the training to understand something. Kishi didn't understand what she was looking for, but she politely explained what she could. When the angel heard enough, she offered her something truly special.
"Would you like to see something quite amazing?"
"What, Lady Tennin?" Kishi asked.
"I've this lovely boat that can fly all the way up to the Soul Carriers' Road above us! Let's go for a ride! I'd love to fry you a fish or two for you to eat," she replied.
"Boats don't fly, Lady Tennin!" Kishi said, smiling at the quirky woman.
"This boat is very special, though, my girl! His name is Genso Shushu-sen. Speaking of which, I haven't properly introduced myself. I'm Meioshi. What's your name?"
"I'm Kishi! But I'd very much like to call you Lady Tennin if you don't mind," Kishi said, blushing a bit.
"I don't mind at all, Lady Kishi! In fact," Meioshi said, holding up a finger. She pulled out a string of protection beads and made a small necklace with them to put over Kishi's head. The good doctor then said, "If you are ever in trouble while you're playing outside of this dreary place, call my name as loud as you can, and I'll run over to help you. You can even say Lady Tennin! As long as you can say my name down to your soul. No bright, young lady as cute as you deserves to be in a place like this. So! Let's go outside!"
"Lady Tennin!" Kishi said, crying happily and reaching out to hold Meioshi's hand. "You remind me of my niisan. I hope we can be friends someday."
"Why? We're friends now," Meioshi said, making Kishi embrace her and follow her to the lake.
Together, they sailed away with Tadamasa up to the Soul Carriers' Road. Some smiling oxen were playing in the clouds as they carried their share of souls. Kishi was amazed by what she was seeing and stayed with the doctor all throughout her playtime. She didn't realize that she would need the doctor's help so soon...
"I don't want to be here anymore, Lady Tennin! Please help me!" Kishi begged, making Maboroshi's eyes widen and shrink...