Ayumi had heard of mythological beasts, demons and vengeful spirits from her friend Yuki who never wasted a chance when she got the MIC to herself to keep yapping for hours about her latest occult and folklore reads. Although one would think a top A student like Ayumi would not be interested in anything besides securing a fancy university, she was actually listening with keen ears. She even sometimes surfed the web looking for what had caught her curiosity when she had time to spare away from studying. And now over the last few months, she had witnessed some supernatural creatures with her own eyes, had met and made friends with others whose existence was never told directly or openly in tales or myths. So, seeing the creepy – looking ghosts lurking no longer inside the tunnel curves and holes should not have surprised or scared her… but boy did the sight of them striving to move, leeching off the ground and rocks, clawing at the walls and stones do the fright trick to a full effect.
As the walls glowed with an angry red, monstrous faces and bodies integrating with some humanoid features started to emerge wailing and hissing, but when Reiha recognized the creatures uttering their names in revulsion, Ayumi realized their appearance was quite the opposite... They were human with monstrous features, but the distortion of their once – human shape had gone too deep till only the brutal monstrosity was recognized by the eye.
"Jikininki!"
Reiha exclaimed, flipping her lips in disgust while Ayumi though terrified at first, felt something was further wrong regarding these specific group of Jikininki. She had seen pictures and images of them; deformed human beings with sharp pointed teeth and huge ugly noses. However, these were far too distorted to be recognized as a once human – being.
"Were you expecting anything less? I am hardly surprised!"
Chiyasu commented with a clear display of nonchalance and calmness. However, Reiha was not surprised by the creatures themselves but rather, once again, by their ability to find their path to the late queen's grave although they were meant to be rubbing graves and feeding on the dead, Amaterasu's remaining aura, dormant within her dead body, along Noriko's spiritual barriers should have been more than enough not only at stopping them, but at destroying them completely yet they somehow infiltrated the place, still struggling to reach the most powerful corpse they deemed themselves worthy of feasting on and stealing its power.
"I am surprised they managed to get this far into the path leading to Amaterasu's mausoleum…"
"They seem strong, yet I doubt they are strong enough to go through Noriko's defenses…"
Chiyasu agreed with Reiha, both exchanging guessing looks that agreed on one explanation.
"There must be another opening they sneaked through."
Reiha summoned her wind into her hands, painted into one's vision by the glimmering red of the walls, resembling crimson sails blowing in anger and rage. The creatures, meant to feast on the dead were perplexed by finding living people inside what should be a grave and they stared at the three intruders with curious eyes that did not take long to transform into gazes of desperate hunger that had not been satisfied for centuries.
Typically, Jikininki were ghouls that feasted on the dead and preferred to avoid contact with the living. However, the flocks of these creatures trapped within the mausoleum and which could not find a meal to feed on for centuries, locked inside by Noriko's defenses and prevented from returning through their entry point for some reason, eyed the walking bulks of flesh and bones with eager yet hopeless greed and they came up with a simple plan; since they could not reach the one already deceased, kill the living intruders then feast on their dead bodies, a plan that clashed with their original purpose and curse, and which was quickly recognized by its three targets.
Abruptly, shredding the silent mutual strategizing, the two parties clashed in a chaotic fight that needed no strategy. It was win and eat or die and be freed from starvation so there was really no point in planning anything. Wind tore through mutilated shapes and roots sliced disfigured frames but the congregations cursed with eternal starvation were relentless, and soon sharp teeth started to try and peel at the clothes of the three princess, aiming to break the skin and reach the supple fresh flesh beneath it, simultaneously along dirty claws grown of once ordinary nails seeking to rip said flesh up bare to the bones, latching onto their targets like a parasite forcing itself on a difficult host.
Already on bar with the princesses of wind and earth in her determination to get rid of these grave robbing creatures, Ayumi did not hesitate in joining the fight, the scepter enraged be these creatures' intention on devouring its original creator and owner, firing blasts of pure golden light that did not just kill the enemy, but purged its form in its entirety.
The nauseating stench of rotting inners and stagnant bodily fluids filled the air, as every stabbed or destroyed creature dissolved into a sickening pile of organs and worn skin. Ayumi was about to empty her stomach while Chiyasu commented with loathsome disgust:
"These foul beings are truly beyond saving!!"
The heat that had started to engulf the tunnel more profusely the longer the battle dragged intensified the vulgarity of the scenery and smell, and the three princesses began to grow tired from the relentless numbers of the foes and the strangling atmosphere enveloping the place. Every time the princesses thought they had finished off the enemy, new herds emerged from the glaring walls and soiled earth, disfigured limbs struggling to escape their confinement inside the walls and beneath the ground, drawn by the scent of flesh ready to be devoured once slaughtered, their skin peeling of their legs and arms, even their faces were melting as they strove to free themselves from the searing gravel and heat of the walls and ground. These monsters were starved to the point they tore with their own teeth their skin to peel it from the heated caves and holes imprisoning them. This time, the new herds did not just emerge from within the walls or ground, they fell from the roof of the cave as well, their innards and features proceeding their outer bodies. At the touch of a melting eye landing on Ayumi's shoulder, the girl screamed in disgusted horror, shaking her body like crazy that she did not notice the arm extending near her feet, followed quickly by crooked claws scrapping at her shoes and legs.
"Ayumi!"
Reiha screamed at the girl to direct her attention to the attacker. Leveling from her current stage of being terrified to a higher one, the girl tossed the eye with her hand almost throwing up as she pulled her leg away, but the creature continued seeking her with a resolution better suited to a living soul. Ayumi aimed her scepter at the offending creature, then stopped all of a sudden when his head finally emerged and hollow eyes stared at her.
Vacant of a lively gaze, the stares given by these eyes were not as empty. They overflowed with unshed tears over the longing for what they had been once, grieving regrets and seeking any sort of redemption no matter what shape it took… Ayumi realized the persistence the Jikininki fought with this losing battle did not just stem from their curse of everlasting hunger, but rather from their wish to be released from this wretched existence. Even if they managed to kill and feed on the three newcomers, they would never be satisfied, and the late queen's grave, the only source to fill this haunting carnal desire was an impossible destination. Remorse over their greed shaped their determination while said greed carved their punishment.
But that was not all. As Ayumi was trying to defend herself and fight back, metal rods, clinging with small bells, slashed her legs and arms. It seemed that the creature's claws and teeth were not their only weapons though not many possessed similar weapons and were fighting and attacking bare, it was a certain group who fixedly steered toward the girl and the scepter in her hand. The clinging bells sounded familiar to Ayumi's ears, she had heard that sound many times, and it was supposed to bring a feeling of safety, calmness and pacifying holiness with its chimes. Looking at the group targeting her, trying to get to the scepter, the creatures forming said group were a little different; they were decaying and rotting as the others, they had fangs and claws, their faces and postures were no less deformed and contorted than their companions but their bodies were still warped to a degree in weary ropes of dark purple and black to various stages of unraveling.
They were monks, men of faith.
Ayumi was not mistaken in the conclusion she had reached, and upon the realization she stopped fighting, merely backing away and stirring by this a storm of fury and worry out of the two other princess.
"Ayumi, what are you doing?!"
Reiha asked angrily. However, the girl only threw her hands in desperation and hesitation as she explained.
"These are monks, Buddhist, Shinto… men of faith and holiness! Why are they trapped here and fighting us?"
"For the same exact reasons all of these other Jikininki are tapped here and fighting! They are after Amaterasu's spiritual power and weapon!!"
Chiyasu exclaimed enraged by Ayumi's apparent stupidity. However, the latter was not questioning their actions, she was questioning their presence. If the bodies of those dead people had transformed monstrously for seeking to rob the queen of light grave, why were their monks among them to begin with? Should not they have defended the place and wiped out these evil creatures? Reiha paused for a second before she unleashed an attack taking three "monks" down to the girl's surprise.
"These are monks who had lost their way… they are no different than the other ghouls. Even priests and holy men and woman were after the great power Amaterasu had taken with her to the grave… "
Ayumi was still not convinced, and she did not find it in her heart to make these monks perish with her attacks.
"Maybe they coveted her power to use it for good! Maybe…"
"What are you so confused about? If they were up to any good, then they would not have turned the way they had!"
Chiyasu cut Ayumi, solidifying her point by taking another four monks with a single strike of her deadly roots. The scepter seemed to agree with her, furiously shining and demanding from Ayumi to fight them, for they were the monks whom the late queen blessed and supported, but they were blinded by their greed for that unique power that would secure them the highest status and riches, the ultimate control over the crowds of worshipers. Ayumi had realized the intentions behind their presence quickly, but now she was questioning their reasons, and she knew these as well; greed.
"What if they are remorseful? What if they are sorry? Have they not been punished enough all these decades and centuries? Not only them... even the other Jikininki! "
Ayumi spoke while she tried to keep the attacking crowds at bay, struggling with not harming them as the scepter desired to unleash its full power and erase every single one of them. She also did not want the two princess to be distracted by protecting her but things were not going her way, and the other two clearly and loudly did not see her point or agree to it.
"It is not our duty to decide for how long should they be punished… they have committed a grave sin… they have brought this upon themselves! Especially the monks who paraded around with their talking and warnings of eternal damnation!"
"Besides, how can you tell they are remorseful? What can empty vacant eyes even tell or speak?"
Reiha and Chiyasu spoke consecutively, going through with their attacks and wiping of the hordes of enemies.
The girl did not become angry at the two princesses' fury and insistence on finishing the battle they way they saw fit, and looking prolongedly at the hollow rigged sockets where eyes filled with different emotion used to be, she should have really felt nothing aside from fear or disgust, but that same fear that shook her body awakened in her sympathy and compassion. The dead, aside from the deeds while alive, always managed in a strange way to bring forth a sense of unfathomable sympathy. It was the unknown waiting them that they could not tell of or share with the others, and the incomplete puzzle posed on those others. Some viewed death as a punishment, injustice, others as a mere fact and certainty, some fancied it as rest and release. But the hordes the three princesses were facing were denied whatever death meant to them or others by being trapped here. Even if they had brought this upon themselves, she and the other two princesses were capable of putting a better end to it, regardless of the intentions weaving these ghouls' hell. Merely crumbling their bones into smithereens was not relief, maybe their bodies had perished but their souls were surely still stuck inside the tunnel. Why deny them redemption if affordable? Why deny them a fairer judgment if possible? Ayumi decided she had to intervene they she deemed fit, the way she wanted and hoped to be fairer and less crueler.
"Empty eyes do tell much more after losing their bright!"
Ayumi stated and the two princesses stopped their attacks. Chiyasu became enraged and bolted at the girl, having had enough of saintly talks, a sharp root clearing her way toward the girl, as she yelled:
"Are you saying they deserve mercy and compassion for trying to rob a dead woman's grave and steal for their own gain whatever remained of her?!"
Reiha did not seem surprised by the shift of tone Chiyasu displayed for the first time discussing anything related to Amaterasu, Ayumi was not perplexed or surprised either thinking this rage belonged to the type of the crime, nothing to do with the one committed against and she remained calm and resolute answering the angry princess.
"You of all people should not speak of denying others a chance for redemption!"
After this reply, Reiha immediately prepared herself to jump in between the girl and the princess of the earth, certain the root would never miss Ayumi's heart. Luckily however, or by Chiyasu's will the root changed direction to throw away en emerging Jikininki between her and Ayumi. Keeping her head low, Chiyasu's lips quivered before raising it abruptly, mockery masking her serious inquiry:
"What do you suggest we do then?"
Ayumi breathed in relief and Reiha ceased her attacks, never losing focus on the enemy's movements.
"We purify their souls and hearts… is not this the queen of light duty? Is this not Amaterasu's power?"
The two princesses fell silent, but it was the scepter who raged this time at the notion of saving the souls of those trying to desecrate its queen resting place. Nevertheless, Ayumi did not give up, bracing the holy item close to her heart. At the same time, the crowds of distorted bodies seemed to have understood the girl holding the item of light intention as they started to approach her desperately and meekly, extending their graying cachexic arms at her, trying to touch and grasp the promised light of salvation.
"I know they are in the wrong, even now perhaps their plea for mercy and salvation is stemming out of greed… but we can help them… we can free them… just as Amaterasu did during her life… planting hope, purifying despair… spreading light amidst the darkness of forgotten existences… please… be at my side this time! As much as they are our enemies, they are also victims of the same power Amaterasu held!"
Indeed, Ayumi was not mistaken. Were not these creatures tempted by the light of goodness? Did it not plant the seed of greed within their heart? It was a power beyond their understanding but Amaterasu held to it, controlled it, and was not tempted by it using it instead just as Ayumi had described. It seemed the object, dormant and inanimate for long, opposing Ayumi more than helping her since its awakening, finally recalled its original purpose of existence at that moment, found it, even seemed to have felt ashamed at its thirst for revenge and destruction.
At that moment, the scepter of light finally truly awakened and remembered the reason for being made and held by the previous queen.
Shining a tranquil serene silver, the mist of rays spread around the place, even calming the angrily glimmering red walls like tears upon a pyre, and the creatures all crawled toward it with raised hands, their bodies and souls perishing in its translucent warm shade, their wails of agony hushed and their despair molded anew into a hope for salvation, their hearts finally resting from the burden of greed and everlasting regret.