Last Hope of Day
Atop the Divine Mountain, Kana stared sightlessly into the sky of eternal of night. Sight beyond sight granted him vision of what hung in the sky: a green moon, swirling, purple stars, and nothing else. The unnaturalness of these celestial bodies abhorred him and the light they cast did little to ease his discomfort. It was a cold light, one that inhibited growth rather than encourage. Already the crops below the Divine Mountain withered in a time when they should have been blooming under the sun's watch. The sun was gone though. One day it had just gone out. For a day and a half the land had known only darkness. Then the eldritch moon and its companions had appeared. They offered false hope for a land Kana recognized would only know doom. "Kana." The voice called from behind. Kana turned around and saw not the speaker, but the speaker's silver aura, his mystical presence and prowess. Who really stood before Kana was an aged man who could barely walk if not for the stout stick he leaned upon. Though he appeared Kana's elder and was on the verge of a century, he wasn't even a tenth of Kana's age. Like Kana, he did not see as others; instead, he saw strands of the future. Unlike Kana, he was not blind to his surroundings and he saw the present as well as any other man. "There is hope," the old man said. "I have seen its brightness again." "Where, Isei?" Kana asked. The name came from the aura. He had never met the man before, yet he already knew his intentions. "Not here." Isei shook his head. "Both. It is elsewhere and here. Others are not cursed as we are." Kana remained silent. "There are places where the rains eats the flesh, where the very air is poisoned. There are other things, creature that consume one's very essence--a Reaper. The seas elsewhere are dried or frozen or infested. In the south the wind flays the flesh and the snow burns. Some lose their minds, others their shapes, some both, and most their lives." "And here we are under the light of blight. We will starve. Those others are fortunate to die so quickly." "Ah," Isei said. "But in reality, we are the fortunate. I have seen the sun again in our sky. We can reverse the blight. The future bears hope. All we must do--" "No." "The gods--" "Are dead. I slew them for a reason." "Dead, but not gone. We can revive them and restore the sun." "I will not allow it. I will not aid you. You do not understand--we were their slaves. We were bound by their precepts, their rules--" "Much like our laws?" "No! Those are ours and they are not as immutable as the gods. They may change if the people so desire. The gods not so much. They hated our choice. They hated us. We did not even have choice of worship, of role, or of one's future. I stopped that once. I will not allowed us to be bound again." "You would have us die?" "Yes. Now leave and do not speak to me oft his again. Your words will not convince me."
"Very well." Isei bowed towards Kana. The blind man did not return the gesture, instead turning his back to the man and towards the eldritch moon.
Time's passage had long ago became difficult to Kana, especially after the day was no more. He did not need to eat, sleep, drink or conduct any action that would sustain mortal life. The only way he knew time had passed was when others visited him, a happening that occurred perhaps once a century. Thus, he was unsure how long it was before Isei returned. He could, however, guess it was a short time given what Isei saw as the severity of the situation. As before, Isei bowed towards Kana before speaking: "My visions are clearer. It is you who saves us all. It is you who restores the sun." "Me?" Kana laughed, keeping his back towards the seer. "I cannot even see." "But I can. You are the last hope of the day." "I thought we needed the gods." "We do." Kana clenched his fists. "Then you know I will not help you." "Yes, I know." "Then your visions are wrong. You are lying." "I am telling you the truth. You said my words will not convince you. I hope then that another's might." Kana heard someone step forward and bow. He finally turned towards Isei and saw an aura he had not detected before, an aura that was close to his own. Not as strong, but possessing similar attributes--a warrior's spirit. "Who is this?" he asked. "I am Ome," the other replied, her voice soft yet stern. "I am your descendant." "Hmm," Kana grunted. "I did not think any of my line survived. But once in all these years have I had a lover. Is it a direct trace?" "Yes," Ome nodded. "I have your strength and will, godslayer. I am the Emperor's general." "An empire, again?" Kana pursed his lips. "And where is your army?" "I do not need it for this task. I will do this alone as you did." "Do what?" Isei held his hand up, halting any of Ome's words. He stepped forward and wrapped an arm around Kana's unflinching form. He leaned his head and whispered into Kana's ear: "She will repeat history." Kana turned his sightless gaze towards Isei. "You are the god," Isei continued. "You will restore the sun. And she..." Kana nodded. Isei pulled away and took his place away from both Kana and Ome as he sat up against a tree. Kana turned to the old man. "Then follow me." "She will," Isei said. "But I cannot." "Why?" "I will die in a few minutes, consumed by the same gift that grants me the visions. They have grown stronger with age and grow only stronger now. Already it is difficult to tell now and then...now and then..." "I will see you soon then." "Yes," Isei nodded. "Yes...I only wish I could pass under familiar skies. I envy you." "You should not." "No..." Isei sighed, leaning up against the tree. "I shouldn't." Ome walked over to Isei. She bent down and straightened out a crease in his kimono before giving him a quick kiss on the check. He looked up at her and smiled. "I foresaw this," he said. "I know," she said, wiping away a tear before it could even be seen. "Farewell, oji." Kana approached the pair and waited with folded arms. They maintained eye contact for a moment longer and then Isei's gaze focused only on the sky. "I hate that moon," he muttered. "It's good it's gone." Ome pulled away from the seer and turned to Kana. She met his sightless gaze. "Where do we go, godslayer?" she asked. In response, Kana rotated left and walked down the beginnings of a dirt path. She had to jog for a moment to catch up, for his pace was far faster than she had anticipated. They walked in silence even when the dirt path ended and a more refined path constructed of rock and ruins lay before them. Only when they passed a shattered monument of the god known as the Chimera King did Kana speak. "I hope you have a twelfth of my strength," he said. "I have that," Ome replied. "And more, godslayer." "Is that what they call me now? Godslayer?" "Isn't that what you are?" "Yes." Kana paused, putting a hand upon a withered shrine of the fox god of tricks and treachery as they passed it. "What province are you from?" "Sukota." "Never have I heard of this province. What do they think of me there?" "It is your birthplace. You are seen as legend, a great warrior of myth. Few believe you yet live." "Yes," Kana said, balling one hand into a fist. "Live." "I..." Ome scratched the back of her neck. "I know of your curse." "Oh?" Ome nodded. "Then why are you not frightened of being cursed yourself?" Ome thought for a moment how to reply. "Why are you not afraid to--" Kana held up a hand and they came to a halt. To the left of their path was a small shrine with a bright star inscribed upon it. Leaning against the shrine was an unblemished sword. Kana walked to the shrine and picked up the weapon. He held it out to Ome. "This will be your weapon," he said. Ome drew her own katana and compared them. She frowned. "Why must I use that?" she asked. "It is from a different time, the sword of the dragonslayer Leof. It serves just as well against gods." "Dragons?" "Extinct and irrelevant. You may know my curse, but do you know I left here before I slew the gods? I could find no weapon that could slay our gods, but outside of here I could because outside of this land they have no influence. There are other gods, truer gods that look over other places. It was in the Iron God's domain that I found this weapon." "What is different about it?" "It was forged under a different power. Now come." Kana left Ome while she still hefted the sword experimentally. When she found that it was balanced up enough for her, she ran until she walked by his side. They did not speak again until they came upon the House of the Gods. For its title, the building was not that impressive. It was a small lodging that almost any rice farmer could have owned. Ome could hardly imagine fitting five individuals in it, let alone twelve. She thought that perhaps it could be bigger on the inside. "This is where they live?" she asked. "Lived," Kana corrected. "And where they died. I killed them outside. Some fought. Most fled down the path. Does their blood still stain the path?" "No." "The rains must have washed it away." He sighed. "Inside the house is different. It is their place and it is the only thing of theirs I could not destroy. The house is an illusion." "I don't understand." "You wouldn't. You do not understand them. No one but I did. They require us. Without a vessel they cannot influence our world. I killed their altered hosts, forced them back to their world where they squabble amongst themselves about their absolutes. And now I must release one of them." "To save us." Kana pursed his lips. "Do not follow me inside. I must go in alone. When I emerge, wait for me to return. Be ready and resist." Ome nodded. Kana suddenly lurched forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. She instinctively took a step back before remembering whose hand was upon her. "I am trusting you too much. Do not allow others to regret your mistake."
With this, Kana removed his hand and turned his back to Ome. He walked to the House of the Gods, stopping when he stood before its door. He brought his hand to the door and then gently pushed it open. He stepped in and disappeared.
Kana's sight was restored upon entering the house. He blinked at the first thing he saw upon entrance: a long mirror that showed the reflection of a woman. Her hair was short, her almond eyes stoic, and she wore d? armor. In one hand she carried Leof's sword, and the other was clenched in a fist. Kana recognized and knew the woman. He wondered if Ome looked similar or completely different. A lot could change in a thousand years... He looked down at his gnarled hands, the same hands he had possessed for nearly that long. He gazed at the woman as he rubbed his hands across his wrinkled face. He felt a sudden twinge of regret at what he had done so long ago. His gaze fell to the smooth floors. It didn't have to be this way. He could have died long ago if he had not ended others' lives. Kana blinked again and returned his sight to the mirror. The woman was still there, but she was dressed differently. Not as a warrior, but as a wife of Kana's time. He shook his head and turned away from the mirror and found himself standing in front of a round table. Around the large table kneeled twelve humanoid shadows. Though they were mostly similar, there were a few characteristics about each that distinguished one from the other. One had foxlike ears, another three heads, and the one Kana was there for shined brightest for a shadow. When he stepped forward, they all turned their slightly different visages to him. "Kana," they whispered in unison, twelve voices of hate and desire. "You've returned." "I have," he said. "Why?" the bright shadow asked. "To undo your curse? We cannot as we are and we would not. Women are not warriors." "I accepted the curse long ago. No, I am here for one of you." The shadows whispered excitedly amongst themselves. "You have changed your mind?" one with glowing red eyes asked. "Yes," Kana lied. "It does not matter," the fox-eared one snickered. "We all live at once or none of us live at all." "One could save many," Kana said. "I am offering myself as a vessel. Do you really refuse?" "Yes!" Half of them said. "No!" the other half replied. Kana watched as the shadows squawked and squabbled. They talked amongst themselves in a language that he didn't understand nor cared to, the speech of absolutes, of choice or the lack of it. The conversation escalated to an argument when one of the shadows pushed the table over. From there the shadows whirled around the room, shouting and shoving with insubstantial appendages. Kana folded his arms and waited as the binary creatures feuded. He did not have to wait for too long before the brightest shadow rose above them all. This shadow glowed brighter and brighter until Kana had to hold his hands in front of his eyes. When the light was so intense that he could no longer see, the brightness suddenly dimmed. He blinked and saw that the table was gone. He stood in front of the mirror again and the woman stared back at him. Coiling around her was a reptilian creature, a feathered serpent. Kana turned his head and saw the bright shadow standing next to him. "When did you realize I was right?" the shadow asked. "How long did it take you?" "A thousand years," Kana replied. "Seconds for us," the shadow said. "You banished us for seconds. Was it worth the torment?" Kana wanted to tell the truth to the shadow, that the torment had faded long ago and nothing would ever change his mind. Instead, he lied again. "No," he said. "Why did you not bring others? Only I will be happy now." "They have forgotten you." "You were beautiful," the shadow said, wisping over to the mirror. "Why did you have to fight? Why did you have to kill us? It matters not now. You can be radiant once more. We will show them our beauty combined. They will remember us. They will ask again for our blessings, our gifts, our guidance. How lost they must be. We will shine together and put the world as it was meant to be. Do you accept me?" Kana froze. He didn't have to say yes. He could live as he always had, but there would be no visitors. None living below him, none to enjoy the freedom he had given them through the slaughtering of gods. He could live... "Yes," he said. "I will be your vessel." The shadow did not speak. Instead, it glided over to him and melded into his form. No--he was melding into it. With their minds so close, Kana could detect that the shadow, the goddess of the sun, did not want a body aged and wrinkled, one cursed by her own hand. Rather, she desired a form sleek and serpentine, feathered and aerial. It was fortunate for the goddess, then, that she could remake Kana's body to her desires. His verbal compliance and presence in a strange realm not his own meant he was more malleable than clay. Thus, Kana's melted into an amorphous mass. The mirror and any illusion of reality fell away to an equally formless void as the goddess reshaped her vessel. The mass twisted and lengthened into a long, form sleek and serpentine with shining scales of gold. This new shape was female as Kana had been before, but it did not feel any more complete than her accursed one. In truth, she only felt horror as rainbow feathered wings formed a quarter down her body, new appendages that would grant flight. White feathers formed in a plume at her tail and around her head. When she opened her eyes, they shone with the radiance of the sun. She opened her mouth, revealing curved fangs that carried both poison and antidote. Afterwards, she opened her wings and flapped her wings, flying within a place of no space. It was after a few minutes of flight that Kana realized she was no longer in control. Her mind had been pushed aside by one not necessarily complex, but greater, one replete in methods arbitrary, but there was power in that focus. It was power overwhelming and Kana could not resist it in such mental proximity. It became easier to become assimilated with its views than resist. In addition, it was more appealing to see the space she occupied not as formless, but one of infinite possibilities. However, what was the point in existing in a space with eleven others whose views contradicted or contrasted one's own when there was another place outside? She could access it now again, and why not? She would only be helping the pitiful people who lived there. They would appreciate her order, her views, her impositions.
So, the coatl goddess of the sun left.
The coatl burst out of the House of the Gods and sprang into the air. She briefly looked down at where she had just left. The House of the Gods was pitifully small in her view, not a proper dwelling for the dawn of the gods' return. And was that a woman with a sword and clad in armor? Women weren't warriors. Before the coatl could think any more on these, she took note of the darkness. It was everywhere, save for the area she illuminated. That was incorrect. It was nearly midday and all that hung in the sky was a green moon and alien stars. The house and woman would have to change, but she would be back for them later. The coatl soared through the sky towards the moon. Her radiance brightened the sickly sky and the strange stars began to fall away, retreating to their own world. The moon stood steadfast until the coatl sent a lance of light that shattered its surface and revealed a core of burning fire. The coatl coaxed the core with a flap of her wings and it grew under her care into a true sun. With the sun back, the unnatural darkness was banished. The day was proper again and the coatl could see mortals beneath her peeking out of their houses, no doubt surprised by the sudden light. Some even saw her, their mouths agape as they pointed to her. The coatl examined the mortals from afar, bodies that could prove to be useful for both worship and vessels for her kin. They too would have to be altered and she would attend to them in time. The coatl goddess swooped away from the sun and towards the Divine Mountain. She landed upon the House and saw that the wrong warrior woman was still there, weapon drawn and ready. Yes, the goddess of the sun would have to do much to rebalance the world as it had been before, but first she would deal with this woman.