A pure white sky, flowing, twisting, and churning like an endlessly spanning ocean greets me as I open my eyes.
I greet it by deadpanning at it all, before holding up my broken blade and beholding it.
I have merely one word.
"Fuck."
That's an apt way of describing everything going on.
I sigh and sprawl out across the ground, staring up at the clear milky-white sky.
Well. That was certainly…something.
Definitely didn't expect my conversation with Susanoo to be so emotional.
The guy certainly isn't a mindless berserker, he's just entirely ruled by his emotions.
And I…kind of got caught up there myself, didn't I?
As cheesy as it is, love will never not make someone do the stupidest of shit.
Doesn't change the fact that I will stab him when I get out of here.
I slowly sat up, rubbing the spot where my dear Uncle had stabbed me to bring me here, it had healed during the fall here.
Need to pay him back for that. Somehow.
But for now? I need to find out where exactly I am.
And looking around…there isn't much to go off of.
The ground here, as far as the eye can see, is plains. Short grass plains roll off into the distance, in every direction I look.
It's kind of got an eerie type of beauty to it. There are no trees, no flowers, no rivers or lakes, just grassland ad infinitum.
It almost feels unfinished, in a way.
And this feeling…
I hop onto my feet and take a nice, deep breath.
My entire body shivers, but not in a bad way, no.
The air here, it's pure, and especially not like the air back on Earth, it's got a twinge of something else in it.
Something opposite of the taint from Yomi.
I opened my senses, the senses I had closed off in Yomi, and almost immediately regretted it as I was promptly flash-banged by the sheer breadth of power very similar to my own.
Life. The pure, bright, vibrant energy of living infuses this place like water to an over-drenched towel.
My first thought?
Whoa. This would be a great place to train Senjutsu.
My second thought was to promptly slap myself for the first.
Suppressing the urge to train very badly right here, right now, I take another sweeping look around.
It's odd. Despite the sheer amount of life energy suffusing this place, there isn't anything showing it.
I blink, idly, as my senses pick up something different in the air that I recognize.
With a grimace, I take the few steps required to find it, sitting in the grass.
The rest of the blade of my sword was still dyed a slight crimson red like the minimal amount still attached to the hilt.
Gingerly, I pick up the sharp slab of slightly curved metal and slide it down into my sword sheath, placing the hilt right on top.
When I get out of here, I'll have to find someone to fix it, though I'm not even sure where to begin looking on that front.
Maybe Uzume knows a blacksmith Kami?
Shaking my head of those thoughts, consigning them to later, I expand my senses once again.
Unlike normal, where I usually have a very limited sensing range, due to the pureness of this place and the sheer amount of life force flowing through it, my senses carry easily across the land.
Far, far across the land.
For a second, I almost stop, thinking this place may be simply endless, and that there's nothing here after all.
But then I recall the last few words Susan spoke to me.
'Say hi to him for me, Nephew.'
Him, huh? So there is someone else here.
So, I don't stop looking. I let my senses continue to spread out, until eventually…they stop.
This place, this realm, is finite.
And near the border of this realm, sat the strongest power I've ever felt before.
Stronger than Inari. Stronger than Susanoo.
I could feel this being's Holy Spirit Power through my senses as a near physical weight or pressure.
So vast was it, even at ease, that the life energies around it bent and cycled around it as if it had gravity.
I'm almost sure this being knows I'm here already, there's no way they haven't.
Yet they don't seem to particularly care. I think.
Regardless, they are pretty much my only shot at getting out of here quickly, so…
I suppose I'll do as my uncle asked, and go say hi, and hope I don't get stabbed again for it.
Granted, he said he didn't want to kill me, so I doubt he'd stuff me in a realm with a malevolent being so vastly stronger than him.
With that slight hope in mind, I start walking, before shifting into a sprint, and then leaping into the air and taking flight.
This realm, although it isn't infinite, is still pretty damn large.
If I want to make good time, I need to go zoom right from the start.
I don't hesitate. As soon as I hit the air, I immediately rocket off.
There is no time to waste, especially now.
~ A New Sun ~
The land never changed as I flew over it.
Endless grasslands, spread out like waves, continuing onwards, forever and ever.
It was almost enough to freak me out since it felt like I wasn't going anywhere.
So what I couldn't do with my eyes, I did with my other senses, my sixth sense, keeping a lock on that power, using it like a beacon.
In that sense, I can tell I was getting closer.
Until, eventually…
Ah.
When approaching the resting spot of a being stronger than Chief Gods, what does one usually suspect?
Maybe, a grand arena, or a temple, fit for some final boss shit, spiraling up into the sky.
Or any building in general. Maybe a workshop of some kind, or a really big tree, something at all!
Instead, I float in the sky, looking down incredulously at what can only be described as a trash pile sitting on a cliffside.
Right next to said trash pile, is a figure, the source of what I'm sensing, that power.
It's a man, who looks vaguely like Susanoo, clad in a dark blue robe, but with longer black hair and a bushier beard.
He's ripped to hell and back, I'll give him that much, but beyond that?
He's laying in a beach chair, drinking a…is that an Asahi Super Dry beer?
The fuck did I just fly over too?
The man takes another swig of his beer, emptying the bottle in the process.
Without another care, he throws the bottle over the cliffside and into…into…
I tilt my head, as a chill cascades down my spine.
Dark. Cold. More like jelly than water, but resembling the liquid of life more than the former, the bottle falls into this substance, this ocean, stretching out beyond the land, and dissolves.
It was like it was thrown into a woodchipper made of acid, with how quickly it just vanished into non-existence.
"Fascinating, isn't it?" The man suddenly called out, his tone rough, commanding, yet soft, my attention snapped down to him. "Primeval Chaos…it can unmake, just as easily as it can make." He states with an amused chuckle.
Primeval Chaos? That would explain some things, certainly.
Like how I get the feeling touching it, or even staring into it for too long would be detrimental to the whole living thing.
Slowly, the man got out of his beach chair, and stretched, giving a light groan, before walking over to the trash pile.
"I don't usually get visitors, and no one is supposed to even know I'm here. I'm on…vacation, in a sense." The man continues speaking, whilst reaching into the trash pile.
Before pulling out a spear.
Well, I call it a spear, but it's truly more like a naginata.
A golden naginata, decorated with jewels from the bottom of the shaft to the blade.
The tip of which, I'm not even surprised I suddenly found, pointed at my throat, the man suddenly standing on the air right in front of me.
The man…doesn't have pupils or any iris. Instead, his eyes are seas of white, just like the sky of this place.
I think I know who Susanoo was trying to copy now, with his blazing, empty eyes.
His dear old Dad.
"So…boy. You sought me out fairly quickly…which begs the question. What are you doing here?" He demands, slowly.
I, in all of my wisdom, answer with one word I'm sure will let him understand everything going on, if this guy is who I think he is.
"Susanoo." I answer plainly, deadpanning straight back at him.
The man's eyes narrow.
Then he snorts and removes the spear point.
"Of course. Why am I even surprised?" Slowly, he floats back down to the ground, depositing the spear right back into the pile, "He sends all this shit here like it's his garbage disposal, it was only in time he'd send people here as well, I suppose."
I rub my neck and sigh, as he pulls out another beach chair and lays it out.
"Well, boy? Come, take a seat. Tell me what my brat of a son is throwing a tantrum over this time." He pats the chair, before laying back down on his own.
Alright then. No reason to not. I guess.
I float down and flop onto the chair with a light groan.
"Shouldn't I introduce myself first?" I ask, bemused.
"No." Izanagi denied with a light scuff, "I know who you are. And I care little. I asked for something else, so…get on with it."
I feel my eyebrow twitch a little at that.
Well. It was inevitable, I guess. One of my grandparents was going to be kind of a dick, huh?
The lucky streak finally ran out.
Oh well.
I deadpan up the sky, "Alright. Fine. So, in essence, Susan–"
Izanagi snorted at that, and muttered, amused, "Susan…should've thought of that one myself back then."
"...is still bent over Kagustuchi killing Izanami. So, he tricked the wielder of Canis Lykaon into Yomi and is trying to get him to essentially kill himself, so he can get at your old sword...which still holds remnants of the old Fire God's power." I explained, plainly.
Izanagi took a moment to digest that, rubbing his beard, before clicking his tongue in distaste, "So…I assume you tried stopping him and got kicked here as a result, hmm?"
"Pretty much, yeah." I confirm, before continuing, "He told me to tell you hi, by the way."
Suddenly, Izanagi froze.
"Did he…now." He started, slowly.
"Mhmm." I hum, "Guess your super secret vacation spot isn't all so secret after all?" I muse aloud.
"...No. No, I suppose it isn't." Izanagi agreed quietly.
"He said he'd come get me once this is all over, but I don't suppose you would be able to send me back early?" I ask tentatively.
"I could." He confirms, "But I won't." He huffs out.
I sat up, "Why not?"
"Because what good would it do? When you appear right back before my son once more? As you are still right now?" He questions, scathingly, "Nothing would change. My son might be an overly emotional moron at the best of times, but he is still my son. He is strong.
"You? You are not." He finishes matter of factly, a beer suddenly appears in his hand.
"Hey now, I've only been at this a few months at most!" I defend, vehemently, "I've been a powerless human most of my life, so for the record, with the hand I've been dealt…well it may not be perfect, but I like to think I've done pretty well so far."
Izanagi blinks mid-motion to take a drink, "A…few months? Powerless? What…" he turns to look at me, white irisless eyes seemingly looking through me, "You…tell the truth? Honestly, I thought you were merely the weakest Arahitogami in history…"
I deadpan straight back at him, "Wow. Thanks, Grandpa."
He frowns lightly, "Don't back-sass me, boy."
"Don't insult me straight to my face, old man." I fire back.
Now his eyebrow twitches, "You…certainly are like my daughter in some ways, I see. Did you get that from her?"
I shrug nonchalantly, "Not entirely sure what you mean, but I never met her before, truth be told."
He simply stares at me.
Then continues staring at me, before slowly setting down his beer.
"Explain." His voice rumbles with the command.
No. Wait. That was the entire realm.
And so, quickly, I regurgitate my tragic backstory.
Not like there was much to it, but watching as Izanagi listened silently, his eyes continuously narrowed as I told him what's been going on, with my being made, Uzume's whole…thing, my mother never leaving Heaven, the works.
When I finished, Izanagi took a deep breath through his nose.
"I had thought I raised her better than this." He started, disappointment clear in his voice, "Letting grief over a mortal man consume her, being so daft to not see the true pain of her servants, leaving said servant to squander the potential of an Arahitogami."
He shakes his head, "For shame, for shame."
He looks upon me, silently appraising me, stroking his beard before speaking up once more.
"Who taught you, then, if not the bed warmer." He asked, curious.
"No one." I answered honestly.
Izanagi looked like he was about to have an aneurysm, with his eye starting to rapidly twitch, "You're…joking." He sounded desperate like he wanted me to confirm that as such.
"Nope." But I shot him down, and he groaned in pain, "I'm entirely self-taught, all-natural talent here."
Izanagi took his beer back up and downed the entire bottle in one very long drink.
He tossed the empty bottle straight into chaos, and sighed, "It's a wonder that the Celestial Bureaucracy haven't taken advantage of our obvious weakness, and struck us down yet…or anyone, truth be told."
"Peace tends to have the effect of making people not want to go back to killing each other." I add.
Izanagi waves me off, "All peace is temporary, boy. That's why it's called peace…it's always a period, a state of being. But states change. Sentences come after periods.
"When people want to kill each other again, they will…and it's clear to me that my old home would be the first to fall, should that time come." He finishes solemnly.
He shakes his head, before eyeing me intently…I think, anyhow, "I don't think you understand quite how disappointed I am." He intones, "Don't worry, I understand that if your training was non-existent, so too likely was your education."
Can't even say he's wrong there. Most I got in that regard was from Inari, kind of.
"Allow me to fill you in…put simply, the last time an Arahitogami walked the Earth, he carved a chunk out of it for us." Izanagi stated, "He became an Emperor before the title was named such. He fought other Kami and gods and won on the regular, forging the Kingdom on Earth in the chaos of those times.
"Before that jealous god made his own, and far stronger than the half men, half gods of the west at the time. He was the ultimate weapon."
"I am no weapon." I refute him on instinct.
Izanagi smiled, wide, "No. You aren't. Not yet."
"...what is that supposed to mean?" I raised an eyebrow.
"You are like a blank canvas. A slab of metal. Just a seed. But that can change. I am very apt at Creating things from nothing, so it turns out…but what if I had something to work with first?" He asks, excitement mounting in his voice.
My mouth opens and closes several times before I finally manage something out.
"Are…you saying you want to train me?" I ask, completely floored.
"In a sense." He somewhat confirms, "Usually, I would be against fixing my children's mistakes for them, but this is too big to simply ignore…also, I don't have much else to do here." He chuckles, "This realm of mine…my last creation, I've been stuck with a sort of artist block regarding it for a very long time…" he trails off wistfully.
Huh. Okay. The more you know.
Now, thinking for a minute, the idea of Izanagi, the Creator God of my entire fucking pantheon, training me personally?
Not going to lie, I don't see much reason to refuse.
Maybe that's just the training maniac in me, that wants to grow stronger, and fight stronger guys, but like, shit!
I made it this far without a teacher, and I can't think of a much better teacher than him, besides maybe the one sword Kami or my mother, maybe.
True. I don't much like the way he referred to me as a weapon to be molded.
It makes me feel a little uneasy, and looking back, isn't this exactly what Uzume said my mother was worried about?
Fortunately, I'm not a baby with a freshly minted mind to be swayed this way and that, so I don't think I'll become a mindless drone so easily.
No, I'm confident in that much, at least.
The real problem is…
"I don't think I have the time," I spoke back up, drawing an eyebrow raise from the deity, "Tobio, the Longinus wielder, I don't think he'll be able to hold for much longer. I can't stay here for any meaningful length of time when he still needs help."
Fuck that legitimately hurt to say.
"Ah, right…my son's mess." Izanagi huffed, "I nearly forgot about that. Messing with the jealous god's toys…it's like he's asking for what happened to Egypt to happen in Japan. It would be best if that was handled…tell me, did you meet the wielder, if so, what was his state?"
"Eh, it wasn't the greatest." I start rubbing the back of my head in thought. "He can still communicate, hold a conversation. But his mentality is warped heavily."
"I could barely get inside his head using my powers, what with all the taint clogging it up." I finish with a sigh.
Izanagi hums, "Then we still have time. If you could get inside his head at all, then that means that place hasn't gotten fully to him yet. It's likely his gear is slowing the infection. Still…" He stands back up, "I give him hours at most, maybe half a day or more, if he's particularly resilient."
"You know, I gotta ask," I suddenly spoke back up, prompting Izanagi to look at me with a raised eyebrow, "you agree with me, that Susanoo doing this is probably a bad idea, right?"
"...Yes." He huffs, "Are you going to ask why I don't head to Yomi and beat his ass black and blue?"
I nod in confirmation, and he sighs, deeply.
"The same reason my Ex-Wife doesn't do the same," he states, softly, "with an added helping of, he's a 'big boy' now, it's not my job to breath down his neck every time he fucks something up."
He gives an amused snort, "If I did that, I would have leaped into the primeval chaos long ago. I cast him from Heaven specifically so I wouldn't have to deal with his whiny bullshit any longer than need be."
I can't help the frown that spreads across my face at that.
Ah, yes. The perfect example of how to fuck up royally as a father.
I'll take notes of that later.
"Besides," he walks over to the trash pile, and pulls out the spear, "judging by the way they all turned out, it's clear that my form of intervention wouldn't work, anyhow."
Huh. I can't tell if he's being self-aware, or blaming everything on them.
"Listen up, boy." He suddenly called, stirring me from my thoughts, "You don't have much time…but time you do have. Luckily, I can extend that time frame a bit, to give us more to work with."
"Huh? How–"
My words were cut off, as Izanagi raised the spear, the Ame-no-Nuboko, to the sky.
I didn't give it much thought, or even recognize this at the time, but…the spear doesn't have a power to it.
At all.
It's not emitting a Holy Aura like Susanoo's sword was, or even my own.
It simply looked like a very mundane, albeit beautifully crafted, jeweled naginata.
But none of that is why I stopped talking and gaped, no, that happened because Izanagi began to swirl the tip of the blade around the air.
This made visible, foamy ripples appear in the air, which he began to stir and churn.
Not an ounce of Holy Spirit Power, or any power, yet the spear is doing…something to the realm.
In a moment, the ripples in space echoed out, flowing and spreading across the land.
As they passed over me, I felt my body get momentarily sick, a tad queasy, before it quickly passed.
"What did you just do…?" I asked, trailing off as I looked around for anything different.
"I manipulated this realm's time." He stated simply, "So, an hour out there, on Earth, and Yomi is around…" he scratched at his beard for a moment in thought, "fifteen days or so, in here."
I have no words to describe the sheer bullshit I just heard.
This man casually made a Hyperbolic Time Chamber, with a swivel of his spear.
He suddenly shrugs, "Oh well, I was hoping for more time, truth be told. But on such short notice, this was the best I could do."
I should just accept that Kami, especially the original ones, are bullshit, and stop being surprised.
"You are lucky, boy. That this realm remained as malleable as it is due to my…indecision." He says slowly.
"On that," I pipe up, standing up myself, "I've been wondering where exactly this place is, does it even have a name? You keep saying it's not finished yet, so…"
"Ne-no-Kuni." Izanagi states, "That…was this place's intended name."
I tilt my head slightly, and furrow my brow at that, recognizing the name slightly, "Land of Origin…isn't that another name for Yomi? The Netherworld?"
"A Netherworld." Izanagi corrects, "Kuni was meant to be the opposite of Yomi, that was how I originally envisioned it.
"An eternal land of life, vibrant colors, a paradise for our people that deserved it. A Shinkai, but for mortals."
He raised an eyebrow at me, "You do know what the Shinkai is, yes?"
I deadpan back at him for that, "Yes. I am aware."
He nods approvingly, "Good. Then you aren't completely lost."
My eyebrow twitches at that, again, "Alright old man. Why didn't you finish Kuni already?"
He huffs, gruffly, and turns away, pacing a few steps "Artist block. Have I not told you already?"
I scoff at that, "Hundreds of thousands of years of it?"
"Sometimes, boy…a little inspiration is required." He intones, pointing the spear to the ground, before slowly dipping it into the soil.
The dirt parts like water, acting like liquid with the same texture, Izanagi begins to churn the land with the spear.
Before my very eyes, the land reshaped itself.
With every ripple, pieces broke off into the primeval chaos and came up changed.
In seconds, I found myself standing before a mountain range, peaking into the pure white sky so high up I couldn't even see the top.
"In this place, with Ame-no-Nuboko here, I control and create everything." The Creator God intones, his voice roaring from far above, on the unseeable mountain peak, I assume, "From shaping the land and time to manipulating gravity and life, all is within my domain.
"I give the mortal boy hours at most. I'll send you back in four to them, but for you here? It'll be two months.
"Not anywhere near enough time to turn you into a proper God, a Kami, but it'll be better than nothing. Now."
The sky suddenly darkened, the pure white void becoming a pitch black inky void.
"Climb. There is no time to waste."
…I can't tell if I'm excited, or angry about this.
Or maybe both? Both definitely work.
~ A New Sun ~
Susanoo's foot rapidly tapped the ground, his index finger tapped the armrest of his throne in equal measure.
A viscous frown spread across his face, his mood, despite the pun, could truly be best described as tempestuous at the moment.
Plans never survive first contact with the enemy. He knows that. All things said and done, his plans are going well, he thinks.
Ama's brat, his nephew, while annoying, ultimately hasn't done anything.
And with him stuck in Kuni with dear old Dad, he won't be able to for as long as wishes it.
His frown broke into a snarl simply thinking about that old bastard.
Oh sure, before sending the brat away, he entertained the idea of the old man getting off his ass and doing something to help for once, but he quickly shot it down.
The old man never cared. Not truly. He's more likely to lay there in his plastic chair, talking about how stupid he is than do something for once.
He gave him and his siblings sections of the world, then fucked off to go make something else.
Yet he couldn't even do that right!
Were they not enough for him? Were they truly such failures in his eyes that he would run!?
Was Mother not worth it, you old useless piece of shit!?
Ah. Mother.
He simmered down, albeit, slightly.
Ever since he sent his nephew down, Izanami has been…well.
She locked her door and refused to talk to him since.
Now that, that hurt. She's never done something quite like this before.
Pull an Ama, anyway.
He stabbed his nephew in the chest, now he gets how that must have felt.
But he can't give up now. Despite this sinking, pained, feeling in his chest, he's oh so close now! He can feel it!
He gives it a day, likely less until the boy breaks entirely and gives it up for the sake of his grandmother.
Even with Mother forcing him to move the Shinigami to the corners of the realm, keeping them as far away from the boy as possible.
In the end, everything will be worth it.
He just knows it.