Cold is the Void

[Amaterasu]

Previous Thread: http://omniverse-rpg.com/showthread.php?...6#pid87176

Amaterasu and Oki laughed heartily as they raised their glasses and toasted before drinking. Mithral Hall was every bit as amazing as they had been told, and the dwarves had organized a little feast to celebrate the new Prime in their ranks. King Bruenor himself had made a brief appearance to personally congratulate the both of them before his duties had dragged him away again, but as brief as the meeting had been his energetic, cheerful behavior had left both of them wound up. Amaterasu had given the dwarves a taste of sake and rice-balls and in exchange had been treated to beer and roasted Cadagor, a native animal of the Frozen Fields herded by the dwarves for its meat. And though she only drunk a little, she was quickly intoxicated - not by the alcohol, but by the atmosphere in the room, the upbeat, cheerful nature of the dwarves and their partying like there was no tomorrow. Oki and her soon were separated from each other and let themselves be guided through the hall by the dwarves who insisted on showing their guests all sorts of depictions of architectural marvels, carved into the walls of Mithral Hall by the most skilled of artisans. Amaterasu's memory of these events was later spotty at best. She could vaguely remember eating and drinking, speaking to various dwarves, laughing or marveling at their tales... it was all a big mix.

That is, until she stood before a depiction that the dwarves explained to her was a stylistic map of the Frozen Fields. Far from proper in size and accuracy as many areas, for instance around the troll-controlled areas, were inaccessible to the dwarves and could thus not be mapped, it was a blend of the artist's imagination and of reality. A dwarf whose name Amaterasu could not remember was telling her about the carving while she traced the smooth surface with her finger, capturing the lines that had once been carved in with a chisel. When she looked at the mountain spanning a wide part of the map, suddenly she was wide awake.

"Hey... what's this?" she asked and pointed at the carving. Specifically at the mountain in the center of the Frozen Fields, with what looked like a slash mark at the summit.

"Wha? Oh, that. Well, ye see..." The dwarf stroked her beard and thought for a bit. She seemed unsure about how to explain it. Finally she began talking. "There's a legend tha' says tha' the Mount'ns of Madness reach so high tha' the tip... pierces through the roof o' the world. The artis' made a depiction o' it, sayin' tha' there's a rip in the fabric o' the world in there."

"A rip in the roof of the world... so you're saying that there's a ceiling of some sort? Somewhere that you just can'f fly past?"

"Aye. If ye go far 'nough through the Fields someday ye reach the Wall, we call it." She held her hand out, forming a wall with it, and bumped two fingers of her other hand into it. "Yer blocked. Like an invisible barrier of some kind. It looks like there's more beyond there, but nay. We even tried ta dig through... with pickaxes an' shovels we dug through tha mountain, but eventually... well, it jus' didn' go on. We reached an indestructible rock. No pickaxe could even scratch it. An' well... we figured that this wall forms a big dome, with a ceiling an' everything."

"And... what do you believe is beyond that rip?"

"Aye, that we don' know..." She stroked her beard again and hmmed. "Bu', there's plenty a' theories. Most popular one's the "bubbles" theory tha' says tha'... hmm. Imagine tha' the nine verses are nine bubbles... wha's gonna be between an' around 'em? If they's like bubbles, there's got ta be some air between 'em ta fill the gaps, eh, an' maybe tha' they float in. The bubbles theory also says tha' the rip's gonna expand an' eventually the Frozen Fields bubble's gonna burst. Ah en't believin' that, bu' it's one thing that could be. Or maybe if ye can get out it's gonna be an exit o' the Omniverse. Ya know, so people can get out an' return home."

Amaterasu touched the carving again. There was a weird attraction about it. The carving had power, she realized. This depiction of the rip, it wasn't just a figment of the artist's fantasy. It was a representation of reality. A supernaturally accurate one. "Who made this carving?"

"Oh, he ain't here anymore, he retired. The poor guy went crazy, ya know. 'e went on an expedition, he did, an' when he came back he was..." She passed a hand before her face. "... insane. Locked himself in 'is room fer days. Then grabbed tools an' forced his way into Mithral Hall. Spent days carvin' out the map... only ate cause his wife brought him food and beer, an' made him eat an' drink. When he was done, he fell over an' slept fer three days... when he woke up he was changed. Stopped workin' on carvings cause he said he could never do better'n this. Worked the mines fer a couple years, an' various other jobs... then one day he retired an' left Dwarfholm. Lives in some town far away. Probably fer the best though. That rip thingy, people say he's gone insane. Heard the stories from some Prime an' thought it to be reality. But see, if there's a dome over our heads, it'd be way higher'n that to cover all of the fields, if it's dome shaped. If it was flatter it'd be unable ta support its own weight, it'd collapse. Or the mountain would be hundreds o' kilometers tall. Tha's physically impossible even fer the hardest rock that exists. King Bruenor had scientists test the theories, ya see."

"So the artist's theories were dismissed as fantasy, huh... what was his name?"

"Glod McJerowsson. See, it's signed right 'ere." She pointed at a corner of the carving. Amaterasu's eyes widened a bit as she listened and she hastily checked the writing.

"Glod? And it says something else! Right there... I can't read those symbols." Glod... that name sounded familiar. She had a suspicion what that writing meant.

"Oh. Tha's ancient dwarvish, no surprise. It says 'Dedicated ta me beloved son, Urist.'"

"I know Urist! Urist McGlodsson, right?! He... he was the one who led me here!" Something stirred in her stomach. Could this have been a coincidence? No, it didn't feel that way... but, what a thought.

"Aye? Urist's been 'ere in the Halls. He knows 'bout this. Not talkin' about it though, people already wonder if he's crazy like his pa... why d'ya think does he travel 'round so much outside of Dwarfholm?" She stepped back. "Look, yer getting a bit frightening there, Ama. Let's go look at somethin' else instead."

"Actually, I think I need some fresh air... I'm sorry. But thank you so much for showing me around, I really appreciate your aid!" She then rushed through the halls and out of the gate, before heading up to a balcony to breathe. She needed to talk to Urist... no matter what the dwarf woman had told her, the moment that she'd touched that mural she had known that it represented the truth. It... it was unfair to Urist. His father's claims were right, however he had gotten them... and Urist had helped them so much. If there was just a single grain of truth in the story of this mural, she owed it to him to cleanse his father's name by finding that truth. Besides, what had the woman said... through what laid beyond that rip in the world, one could go anywhere. She felt like the only way to where she needed to go was through that place. She had no idea why she felt that, but she knew it to be the truth.

Her mind cleared in the cold air on the balcony, as she overlooked the Frozen Fields at night. The warmth from the cooking fires in Mithral Hall behind her were warming her back, keeping the cold air at bay to some extent, but even so she felt a cold chill run down her spine as she produced her Mobile Dataverse Device and began pressing the screen. She was figuring out how to use it, she was... and it was now time to send a message to the world out there.

She couldn't attempt the climb to the peak of the Mountains of Madness alone, even if Urist and Oki accompaigned her. She needed allies, other Primes. She needed to gather a party. When her message was typed she hit Send without a second thought. She shot one last look towards the center of the fields before going back in, and for a moment she could make out the silhouette of the enormous mountain in the center of the verse. Soon she'd be seeing it from up close.

[Amaterasu]

"Come on, Urist! Come on, Urist! Are you gonna let a girl beat you?!"

The crowd was cheering along to the entrancing rhythm of the four drums that surrounded Amaterasu's and Urist's Geka - their Battle Ring. They were interlocked in battle, and neither side was willing to give in.

How had this all come to, though?

King Bruenor had recently announced a tournament, a traditional battlerite known as Nokzam, the ritualistic Combat of Dwarves. With the trolls having gone through a relatively quiet period recently many dwarves in Mithral Hall had found themselves restless and craving battle, which the strong dwarven ales could only drown for so long. Normally Nokzam were a way of settling disputes between dwarves without spilling blood, but they had been found to be just as effective a way to vent some stress and spar under a fair set of rules. For instance the only allowed weapons being those supplied by the commitee, with both fighters picking their weapon from the same pool to prevent trickery. As weapons were made of a light wood the risk of breaking bones was minimal, and even then special rules were put up to prevent eye-gouging, hits below the beltline and so on. Both fighters were placed into a clearly delimited square, the Geka, that they had to remain in. The victor was determined in a best of three match.

Amaterasu had done so little for the dwarves since her admissal into King Bruenor's halls that she was ashamed. She had trained herself, yes, she had learned the art of dwarven axe-wielding and in exchange taught the dwarves about japanese smithing techniques, archaic as they may be. She had also made use of her Prime-bestowed powers to make the lives of many dwarves easier by performing minor services here and there, and she had set up a shrine in one of the abandoned tracts of the dwarven city, to bring protection and prosperity. While Urist McGlodsson remained the only one of the dwarves who actually prayed at the shrine, it had been Amaterasu's intent to make this her own and Oki's place of worship mainly - not to convert other dwarves. But this all was but a fraction of the things she had wanted to do - she had not slain a single troll and only killed two predator animals. She had strayed from her path.

The Nokzam, the battlerite, had shaken her awake. She had seen the dwarves battling in the ring, and the drums on the sides of the battlefield had stirred something deep within her. In truth, she had stayed and done nothing because the summit of the Mountains of Madness felt more unreachable with every passing day, and she had made excuses to wait for others rather than to head out. She had waited for Fiara, who had gotten lost and sidetracked in the Frozen Fields according to her regular calls, but was fine. She had waited for the trolls to be less aggressive so that she would feel less bad about leaving the dwarves in a pickle. Then she had decided to wait for others to come, to join her. In truth, she'd wanted to enjoy the comforts of Mithral Hall, to be cut off for a while and have not a worry in the world. She had grown comfortable, warm and lazy.

This had to end. She needed to shake it off. And to force herself to such, she had signed up.

Nokzam was a dwarven tradition, so a non-dwarf, much moreso a woman, joining in was unheard of. But Amaterasu was an honorary dwarf with the honor of being granted access to Mithral Hall, something that most dwarves could only dream of. She had proven her worth as a warrior too, so nobody could claim her being a woman disqualified her. And when she said that she wished for her opponent to fight her like they would any dwarf, King Bruenor had laughed and declared that it be so - that Amaterasu was to join Nokzam.

The first three opponents in the tournament-arranged battles had been pushovers: Amaterasu had not held back, but they had, and it had costed them. Though she was wearing bandages to cover her chest and her pants were cut wide so as not to accentuate her legs, these men had not been able to get out of their mind who she was, and had fought miserably. Her fourth opponent had been a much more capable opponent and had driven her to the edge of the Geka twice before she had turned things around. But after that, her opponents fought with the force that she had desired, and each had driven her to her limits.

Now she was in the finale, her seventh battle, against a dwarf named Urist McJargal - a fierce man from Mithral Hall, a drill sergeant teaching the youngsters about handling a weapon. Amaterasu had observed him as he had observed her, and when their wooden axes had first clashed they had felt that this would be a close match. They studied each other's movements and patterns as they danced around inside the Geka in a most complex choreography to the rhythm of the drums, the only other sounds in the room being the hushed breathing of the spectators and the splats of their feet on the ground.

They were both drenched in sweat as they leapt away from each other. Their axes protested as they exchanged a pair of meaningless blows, waiting for the other one to make an error. They could not hold up much longer... the question was, who would fall first? Urist or Amaterasu? Who would break the other one? The dwarves were known for their exceptional strength and stamina, but Amaterasu had learned to use that strength against them. Dodging and weaving attacks had tired Urist out and though she could not land a strike herself because of his impeccable defense, neither could he as she blocked his strikes, or dodged them entirely. But that took its toll on her too, and the muscles on her arms burned as she raised her weapon for a strike when she saw an opening. But she was too slow, Urist anticipated her movement and once again the axes clashed. And again they backed away from each other.

That was when Amaterasu noticed her... the fiery red hair, the indistinguishable bobbing that accompaigned her steps, and most of all her size that allowed her to stand out even among the dwarves standing on benches to get a better view of the match. Fiara was there. She had arrived? Why had nobody told-

WHAM! Her distraction had given Urist ample opportunity to land a painful strike against her ribs, forcing her several steps back and to the edge of the Geka. She caught herself moments before stepping over the boundary and hastily side-stepped a finishing blow from the dwarf before dancing around him, back to the center. He'd probably cracked a rib or two with that blow, but she was still in the fight... and she heard Fiara's voice, though now she did not turn her head, instead keeping her eyes on her opponent.

"Go, Mother Amaterasu! Beat him! I know you can do it!" she was yelling. She could hear her joy of seeing her again, resonating in her every word. But she could also hear her impatience. She wanted to see her now.

"Let's end this, Urist..." she said and raised her axe. She noticed that there was a crack running along the "blade". Urist followed her motions and nodded. Then they both rushed forward and brought their weapons forward in a brutal display of strength. The drums reached their climax, the thumping resonated in Amaterasu's entire body as her axe painfully impacted against Urist's...

And they leapt back from each other. Amaterasu was holding a stick now, the remains of her weapon, with fragments laying around scattered, and a large piece wedged into Urist's axe. With a triumphant grin the dwarf shook his blade to get the big piece out, only to widen his eyes in surprise as his weapon split clean in two and left him with the handle, just like Amaterasu. Both stared at each other, unable to grasp what had happened. Someone gasped.

Then, King Bruenor's laughter resonated through the room. "Draw!" he declared. "You both fought valiantly, Urist McJargal and Amaterasu, but when even your weapons refuse to continue the time has come to stop."

Urist blinked, then laughed as he tossed the remains of his weapon aside as Amaterasu did the same. He stepped up to her and they grabbed each other's forearm, firmly shaking it. "Yer a hell o' a fighter. It's been an honor."

"It has indeed, Urist McJargal. I look forward to meeting again some day... though I hope that it will be on the same side next time", she replied. The drummers were standing up, covered in as much sweat as the both of them, and congratulated each other in much the same manner as Urist and Amaterasu had done with their handshake.

Amaterasu stepped out of the circle along with Urist as a sign of their draw, but once they were out they stepped in different directions. Amaterasu hastily cleaned her arms and hands on her pants. It was a measly alternative to a bath to clean the sweat off, but she couldn't meet Fiara without at least that much. The phoenix girl was already waiting for her slightly away from the crowd and without further word hugged her as soon as she was able to. Amaterasu held her in her arms and closed her eyes. Maybe waking up was what she had needed. She had woken up.

Fiara stepped back finally and grinned. "Mother Amaterasu, the dwarves have already prepared a bath for you. And you better go, because you smell like a pack of wet dogs."

[Amaterasu]

If there was one thing that the dwarves had done amazing, it was the baths. Deep under the surface, in a natural side-cavern of Dwarfholm, a spring of hot water had been discovered and the dwarves had turned it into a bath. The hot steam felt refreshing like a youth spring, and Amaterasu could almost smell the rich minerals in the water.

With a towel wrapped around her chest and another around her hair, Amaterasu stepped into the cave, closely followed by Fiara who was in the same attire. Their feet made wet sounds on the ground as they traversed the area and headed for one of the shallow pools, but neither spoke a word until they sat on the side and began cleaning themselves - Fiara from the hardships of the trip to Dwarfholm, Amaterasu from the sweat and dirt resulting from the Nokzam. Finally though, Fiara spoke over the rhythmic sounds of brushes and sponges on their skin.

"I heard of the supposed rip in the world, you know."

"Really? I thought that you'd only arrived a few hours ago."

"Most of the dwarves know about it. I heard of it pretty soon after arriving, when I was asking my way through to that arena."

"Right... well yes, I'm going to hire a few dwarves to form an expedition force. I need to get to the mountains somehow." She shrugged as she switched arms and dipped her feet into the hot water. The brush had left her skin a little red, but clean.

"I'm not asking about that", Fiara replied impatiently.

"No, you're not... and I can tell you from what I heard and saw that this rip in the world may be very real. The dwarves are reluctant to admit it in public for fear of being labeled as insane by their peers, but they have seen something that could be described only as a rip; a tear in the barrier that forms a bubble around this world.”

“And you plan on finding out if it’s real, by going up there. Why? To prove a single dwarf was right?”

“Fiara… tell me, where do we come from?”

“What? Why do you ask?”

“Just answer the question, please.”

“We’re from Nippon, of course!”

“I mean before that.”

“We descended from Heaven with the Ark of Yamato…”

“Yes. We come from Heaven.” Amaterasu pointed her hand upwards. “Up there is where we belong… the Kami of the Celestial Brush, Waka, and you as well. Years ago we descended and unleashed the evils upon Nippon that had hijacked the Ark of Yamato. We purged the evils from the world and completed our task, but our ascent was denied. And now I see before us the opportunity to return where we belong.”

“You believe that if we reach the highest point of that mountain we will be able to return to Heaven?” Fiara asked. She shifted over and held her sponge out while speaking, to which Amaterasu began brushing up and down along her shoulders and backside.

“I don’t know. But if the possibility exists I must investigate it. The dwarves have told me, there is a barrier that marks the limit of this world, all around us, but that the mountain is taller than the barrier reaches up. It is quite possible that the mountains of madness’s peaks reach beyond, into something that I cannot fathom. It could be Heaven. It could be that this bubble is but one of many in a much larger bubble. It could be that there is emptiness beyond the barrier, nothing at all.”

“It could also be that there is no rip. That it’s some illusion. You know as well as I that people see what they want to see, Mother Amaterasu.”

“Indeed, it’s very possible… your turn by the way.” They both shifted their places so that Fiara could in turn help Amaterasu out, while the Kami spoke on. “I cannot discard that possibility – it could be that we reach the summit to find that there is nothing but snow, rocks and the sky above. But if I turned back from something because there is the possibility of running into a dead end or that what I want to do is impossible, then I would never have left Kamiki Village to battle Orochi.” She gave a grin. “You know what the humans say? ‘Hope is the last thing to die.’ It’s amazing how strong hope and determination is for them, really. You haven’t spent a lot of time among humans yet, but I’m sure you will understand in time.”

Fiara squeezed the sponge in her hands, pausing her work for a moment before resuming. “I’m not a kid anymore, Mother Amaterasu.”

“You are indeed not, Fiara. You have blossomed into a beautiful young woman… Moegami would be proud of you if he could see you now. But in spite of that, you still lack experience… you have spent little time among mortals. That’s why I say that you will understand it eventually – not because you are too young or naïve to understand, but because you do not have the experience yet. But I can say that Moegami when he was your age knew far less than you”, she added with a wink over her shoulder that made Fiara snicker involuntarily.

“Well I guess… and what will you do if the rumors turn out to be false? If there is no rip in the sky after all?”

“Then I will return here, and tell Urist the truth. He deserves closure on this matter. Knowing that Glod was wrong will at least give him the certainty.” Fiara put the sponge aside as Amaterasu finished and they both stood up, taking their towels along as they went to the larger, deeper pool. As they soaked in the hot waters and relaxed they let the matter rest for a few minutes. This time however it was Amaterasu who reignited the conversation. “Oki will be coming along with me… but seeing how nobody has replied to it to voice their interest in joining us, I think it will be just the two of us.”

“Just you two?” Fiara asked. Her tone was sharp now.

“Fiara, you are not coming along to this trip.” She knew that the girl would protest, but she was going to stand firm on this. Fiara surprised her by reacting much calmer than she had anticipated.

“Why?”

“I could not carry the burden of your second death in this world in such short time. I want you to stay here with the dwarves and to spend time among them. Join their hunts, pass the trial to gain permission to enter Mithral Hall, learn about the Frozen Fields and the rest of the Omniverse from them. That sort of thing.”

Fiara crossed her arms. “Mother Amaterasu, what did you tell me earlier? That I am not a kid anymore, that I am a young woman.”

Amaterasu bit her lip. Smart girl. “Yes, I said that.”

“And do you think that Moegami would be proud of me if I left you to head out accompanied by nobody but Oki to a mountain of ice inhabited by who knows what sort of monstrosities?”

“I think Moegami would be proud of you if you realized what your limits are. You are a young kami yet, Fiara! You are not as powerful as the other Celestial Brush Kami, and this journey is dangerous!”

“I will never grow strong if you wrap me in silk”, Fiara said coldly. “I died… yet here I am, alive! I am missing a few memories… so what?! If that is the price I am to pay so that I can keep up with Oki and you and be an asset, not a burden, then I will happily pay it! I would prefer a spotty memory and the power to be in the field with you than memories of being treated like a princess and kept from danger while Oki and you go on adventures!” By now Fiara was standing up in the pool, her voice was shaking with anger and she had balled her hands into fists. Amaterasu tried to speak up but Fiara raised her voice first. “If you leave me behind I will follow you, Mother Amaterasu. You know that.”

Amaterasu’s expression hardened. “You are a grown-up woman by age, but you behave like a kid. You are being selfish at this point, do you realize that?”

Fiara was caught offguard by that comment. “What?”

“Your death isn’t just forgotten about as I bring you back! You lose memories of people you knew, of friends you made! The Fiara in front of me is not the Fiara that went to Dante’s Abyss, and if I bring you back it will not be you either – it will be a Fiara that I base on my memories, not on yours! And if you come along, you WILL die. There are dwarves that have tried to climb the summit – they are experts. And none of them ever returned.”

Fiara turned around and climbed out of the water, picking up the towel as she went. “I thought that you would be better than that.”

This time it was Amaterasu’s turn to be caught off-guard. She involuntarily shivered when she saw the cold rage in Fiara’s eyes.

“You are calling me selfish, yet you take Oki along. Don’t pretend that you know him better than me – I know that you two only met back up weeks after he woke up here in the Fields, and that you have not been around each other all the time. He would forget as much as me, if not more. If you weren’t selfish you would tell him to stay here like me.”

“Oki is different, he’s a skilled combatant and-“

“He’s as skilled as I am.” She wrapped herself into the towel and stepped back. “You won’t change your mind, but if I came back to be locked into a golden cage I would rather never have come back.”

“Fiara, wait!” Amaterasu yelled. She tried to catch up with her but nearly slid on the rock floor.

“Oh, calm down! I’m not running away from Dwarfholm”, the girl replied. Then she turned a corner and disappeared from Amaterasu’s sight, leaving her alone with her helpless anger. Was she right? Was she being unfair? She was coming to realize that Oki was as mortal as Fiara in this world, and that she could not deny that she was greatly more powerful than she had been in Nippon, from what she had seen in the footage of Dante’s Abyss. But was she strong enough to brave the ascent through the mountains? Was Oki?

… was she?

Half an hour later, Amaterasu stepped through the gates of Dwarfholm into the frigid night outside, wrapped tightly into a thick winter coat with hood, insulated pants, heavy boots outfitted with spikes and gloves. Even so she felt the cold air on her face, stinging. She looked to the sky, at the stars far above. The top of the mountain was, as usual, clouded and nothing could be seen, but she could see several areas where the stars and the vast empty darkness shone through the clouds. This must be how mortals felt when seeing the world above them… small, like a speckle of dust in a world so much larger than them.

Right now, she felt helpless. Being a kami meant to be… powerful. To be above mortals and to provide guidance and safety… to know the answers to their questions and to bring them solace through places of worship and through prayers, by letting them know that somewhere up there someone was listening to them. Now she was just like them. She knew not what to do… and yet there was nobody up there to listen to her, because she was supposed to be up there, to listen to others. It was kind of ironic, in a way. But it reminded her that because she was down here, not up there, people had nobody to relay their troubles to.

As she observed the sky, the chilling winds died away and the clouds gave way to the stars above her. Around her, the world faded, until she stood in a white plain of snow with only the stars above her. Ah… Gekigami. Why did she not feel surprised to encounter the Kami of Thunder in this place? It would have been a better fit for his siblings… but even so she felt happiness as she drew the lines to unite the stars of the constellation into the symbol of the tiger, and the world around her turned pure white.

“Amaterasu, Mother to us all…” Gekigami’s deep voice resonated through her spirit and filled her with new power. The white tiger descended from the sky, his massive bow across his back, and landed before her. “… I sense that something is plaguing you, Mother Amaterasu. I am happy to see you once again, but it appears that you have freed me at an inopportune time?”

Amaterasu reached out and scratched Gekigami’s chin, enticing a deep rumbling purr from the overgrown cat. “I’m sorry, Gekigami. I should be happy to see you here. I hope that you have been doing well?”

“I have, but I have been eagerly awaiting your arrival. Now we are united once more, and I can return to your brush the power of Thunderstorm.”

“Yes… a great power indeed. Thank you, Geki. I am happy to have you along for the ride with the other Kami.”

“You have yet to unite them, Mother Amaterasu… what is the matter? Are they hard to find?”

“Indeed. It appears that we were separated, but reuniting them may be harder even than it was in Nippon.”

“If you allowed for it, I could borrow some of the ink of your Celestial Brush, and with my siblings set out to find the ones you are missing.”

“That would not work, Geki: the brush’s power comes not from its ink but from the one to wield it. If you left me I would lose your power until your return, and you could not wield the brush anyway. Only I have that power. But I promise you as I have promised the others: I will find and gather them.”

“Thank you, Mother Amaterasu.” The tiger bowed, and the world turned cold once more, though Amaterasu could feel the strength surging through her body like an electric discharge. Power overwhelming… it was stronger than it had been in Nippon. She looked at her gloved palm. This was the power to vanquish her opponents, to crush demonkind with the might of the heavens… and to protect her friends.

Fiara’s words passed through her mind again. Was she really being selfish? And was she strong enough to manage the ascent, or was Fiara, or Oki?

No. Of course they weren’t.

They were weak and small, all three of them. She was the weakest of them all, in fact. She relied on the Kami of the Celestial Brush to grant her the powers to defeat her opponents. And even then, she doubted that her strength would suffice to take the challenge that laid ahead of her.

But Oki and Fiara… they were her friends. If they came with her, they would protect her and she would protect them. They would guard her back as she would guard theirs. They would strike her opponents down as she struck theirs down. They would warm her at night when she was cold, as she would warm them. They would drag one another back to their feet when the chilling cold froze them to their cores and numbed their bodies until they could no longer go on.

She had been an idiot to think that she could do this on her own. She had been an idiot to believe that Fiara and Oki had no valid opinions, and to claim that it was up to her to make the calls. Their lives were theirs; it was not her call what they were to do with them. To have thought otherwise was the most selfish thought of all.

When she walked back into Dwarfholm Fiara and Oki were coming up to her, both with stern faces, but Amaterasu raised a hand before either of them could say a word. “I’m sorry, Fiara. I’m sorry, Oki. I have let my worries carry me away… you can decide for yourselves whether or not you want to come along to this expedition, to follow me to the summit of a mountain where I know not what we will find. But as a friend I tell you, I would very much like to have you along. Both of you.” She made a point to look at Fiara as she spoke that last sentence.

Oki’s mild surprise rapidly turned into a cheerful nod. “I guess that there is nothing to worry about after all, then.”

Fiara sniffed and hugged Amaterasu tightly. “I’m coming along whether you want to or not, Mother Amaterasu. I will not leave your side again, and I promise you I will not die. I will reach the summit with you, and Urist will have his truth – for the better or the worse.”

“Yes… we will go together. Tomorrow at sundawn, we will depart”, Amaterasu said with a determined nod. “I nearly forgot something very important today… and I want to apologize to you, Fiara. You are an adult now, one that Moegami would be proud of.”

Fiara backed away, grinned and smacked a fist against her own chest. “Hey, I’m the daughter of a Kami of the Celestial Brush of the great Amaterasu after all.”

“That you are, Fiara. Thank you for reminding me.”

[Amaterasu]

Quest time!

[spoiler]

Void Entrance Quest

Location: Frozen Fields
Requirements to complete (can be started earlier). May be completed alone or as a group.
5+ ATK between entire group (may use powered-up stats as basis). Requirement lowered by 1/2/3 if you have a Tier 1/2/3 Super Attack.
8+ SPD and/or DEF between entire group (may use powered-up stats as basis). Requirement lowered by 1 for each Power of any type.

Difficulty: Extreme (20,000-40,000 words dependent on writing quality)
Reward: Void entrance in the Fields.

Traveling across the Frozen Fields is a journey in of itself. The frigid winds, hostile wildlife and treacherous terrain make getting to the foot of the mountains a fitting test for those who dare to try and traverse them.

The frigid winds at the mountains are so strong and freezing that even the most resilient primes will find themselves pushing themselves to move, and making flight all but impossible. That is except for the blue dragonflight. This is where they make their homes, eating the local mountain giants for sustenance. Sapphiron himself makes his home at the highest summit. But perhaps there, at the ceiling of the Omniverse, you will break through. Perhaps there you will find the gate. [/spoiler]
As usual, wordcount is tracked at the bottom of the post.

Amaterasu stood at the gates of Dwarfholm with four Fur-Selkies laying nearby. Oki and Fiara had packed up earlier that morning and were ready to depart, the Fur-Selkies were loaded with provisions and the necessities – tinder and wood for fire, dwarven tents, cooking pots and so on. All they were waiting for were the dwarven expedition group that Amaterasu had hired.

“Do we know what the ascent looks like?” asked Fiara whilst strapping her backpack onto the Fur-Selkie’s back. Of course, having a Prime in their midst meant that they did not need to bring along masses of luggage, but in case that they needed to set up camp rapidly or that Amaterasu was separated from them it could not hurt to bring a little extra along. The Fur-Selkies were excellent pack mules and the dwarves were light enough that multiple could sit on a single animal’s back. The expedition dwarves had agreed to bring them as far as the Fur-Selkies could carry them through the snow, but no further – they feared the dangers lurking there, even though they had participated in their share of battles. These mountains were more dangerous than the rest of the Frozen Fields, and not yet explored. In other words, no number of dwarves could aid Amaterasu and her group, because there were no reliable maps.

“No. Or well, we know a part of the path will be relatively flat, that one we have got on maps. But a few days into the expedition we will be reaching the uncharted area, so beyond that we’ll be moving blindly.”

“Do you think that we can brave the ascent without training? That mountain looks real steep if looked at with binoculars.”

“Oki has experience with mountains”, noted Amaterasu. “We two will just have to follow his expertise on the matter. It won’t be easy, but I’m confident that we’ll make it.”

“And what will happen when we reach the mountaintop? The dragons?”

Amaterasu sighed. “That I cannot say. The last bit of the expedition is going to be the most interesting, no doubt.” She was glad that Fiara and her had made up after their fight in the bathhouse. In retrospect she realized what a fool she had been. Her decisions had been clouded by fear, she had forgotten about the bigger picture; about what really was important. Fiara had forgiven her faster than she had thought she would, but it just served to remind her who Fiara was. The Celestial Brush Kami and her were nearly inseparable. Even major quarrels were set aside after short times... they could not be angry at each other for long.

Soon the group of four dwarves, the expedition group, arrived, equipped with their own provisions and maps. Due to the anticipated dangers of the treacherous mountains all four of them had packed their own tools, meaning that even if three of them died the last one could still lead them. Brief greetings were exchanged, hands were shaken and equipment was gone through – as per their request Amaterasu had prepared a list of items that they had so that the dwarves could determine what was lacking or excessive, to have Amaterasu extract the Omnilium or summon new objects as necessary during the journey. Truly, having a Prime in their midst was making things a lot easier.

Just as they climbed on their Fur-Selkies the sound of hasty footsteps and a voice resonated through the corridor: “OI! Wait up!”

“Urist?” Amaterasu exclaimed. “Oh, I’m sorry. I should have said goodbye yesterday.”

“Like hell you shoulda. Ah’m comin’ along!” the dwarf said as he planted himself before one of the Fur-Selkies. He was fully equipped to go out, Amaterasu noted.

“Urist, you...” she began, but then caught herself when she remembered. It was the exact same situation as yesterday, except that she had even less say in Urist’s decisions than she had in Fiara’s. “Are you sure you want to join us?” she rephrased her refusal into a question. “We are going to be climbing to the highest peaks of the Roof of the World. We’ll meet the fiercest predators, including the dragons if we make it this far, and the most dangerous climate that the Frozen Fields has to offer. And if you die, I cannot bring you back, unlike Fiara and Oki who I both know very well.”

“Ammy. Before ye try discouragin’ me any further, tell me: Do I look like I’m unsure?” the dwarf asked simply. Amaterasu looked him over, and eventually shook her head with a little smile. “Then stop jabbering and lemme join ya.”

And so the dwarves distributed their seats: one of each of the expeditionary dwarves sat with Amaterasu, Fiara and Oki respectively, taking the front and holding the Fur-Selkie’s reins. The fourth one was given a little extra cargo to carry and held Urist and the fourth dwarf of the expeditionary group on its back. They took Urist’s last-minute joining with stoic indifference and instead discussed the new conditions between themselves calm and patiently.

Finally, the gates of Dwarfholm were opened to allow the Fur-Selkies out, and Fiara and Amaterasu cheered loudly as they slid out into the morning cold. The Fur-Selkies’s fins and stomachs were quickly coated with fresh snow to allow them to accelerate to their full speed and they laid closer to the ground to reduce the friction of the air and spread their mass across the ground, thus reducing the risk of breaking any ice caps hidden beneath the snow. Despite having this area around Dwarfholm among the best mapped of the entire Frozen Fields and thus being very well aware of fissures, craters, lakes and other hazards concealed beneath the virgin snow the dwarves refused to take any risk and had the Fur-Selkies form a line of four, with ample distance between each of them – enough that if the frontmost suddenly stopped or identified a hazard, the second would have more than enough time to grind to a halt without crashing into the back of the first, or to find a route around the hazard, with the same going for the third and fourth. Unfortunately, this setup made conversations from one Fur-Selkie to another borderline impossible if not by hand-signs like the dwarves used. But that was a small price to pay for safety.

Amaterasu did of course take the lead, being the one with the least to lose if the frontmost Fur-Selkie suffered an unfortunate fate, as a Prime could respawn. Oki came second, Fiara third and Urist was fourth and last. This decision was mainly made by the dwarves since Amaterasu trusted in their decisions on this matter.

The journey started out as well as it could. They had chosen a good day for their departure even though it had been by coincidence: the sky was clear for the most part, the only snowstorms and clouds were far away and moved away from them, judging by the wind. The chilling air was dry and the wind came from diagonally behind them, blowing down the mountain. Of course, all of this was subject to constant and unexpected change throughout the course of the days and they would be constantly exposed to the elements from most sides until they reached the mountain. After that... well, after that it was up to Oki’s expertise to keep them on the mountainside where no winds blew.

Hours later...

The first day went by without any complications. A few minor hazards popped up but the Fur-Selkies displayed their instincts to dodge even the smallest obstacle. When they settled down late in the evening to set up camp underneath an overhang, they were in good mood, for the most part – the lead dwarf that had sat with Amaterasu was furious at having overseen the hazards and was correcting the maps where he had made notes throughout the day, then shared it with his coworkers. The Frozen Fields were an evershifting landscape, but the dwarves did their best at keeping good records. It was a hit to their personal pride that they had nearly caused an accident.

Amaterasu on the other hand set up the tents with Fiara and Oki and huddled up with them. Urist had brought his own, the dwarves shared another, everything was well this way. When she fell asleep, the warmth of Oki to her left and Fiara to her right, all three in their sleeping bags (a modern dwarven item) made her feel comfortable. Her last thought was to that she was happy to have taken Fiara along, before she drifted off to the land of dreams.

1.438/20.000 words.

[Amaterasu]

Expedition, Day 2

Amaterasu woke up first among the three of them, and was immediately met with a pleasant surprise: a fresh layer of snow, so white that it blinded her until she got her stained-glass goggles out, had formed during the night. The clouds were still hanging above the morning sky but moving away fairly rapidly, so fast that she could see it with the naked eye.
When the expedition dwarves found out they were rejoiced. The snow was a perfect surface for the Fur-Selkies to slide on, much better than the half-frozen muddy substance that happened if no snow fell for a few days and the water mixed with the ground. Bent on making the most out of this fortunate weather change they saddled the Fur-Selkies early and departed a little more hurried than was previously anticipated, enjoying breakfast while riding and taking a shorter break. Thanks to the virgin snow however the Fur-Selkies slid along the ground as if flying, meaning that it was much less tiring than a regular day.

Early in the afternoon a pair of Snow Demons engaged them in hot pursuit - wolf-like quadrupeds with light blue skin, horns and claws supposedly made of ice, who were smaller but much faster than the feared wampas. They first got so close to the Fur-Selkies that Urist readied his axe to ward them off, but then they began falling behind again and eventually had to break the chase. The deep snow was not favoring them, though it certainly did so for the Fur-Selkies. They scuttled off in search of easier prey and left them to continue their journey without interruptions. Amaterasu made a mental note of them however - it was possible, and in fact likely, that they would meet them again later.

They covered a great distance that day, and Amaterasu celebrated it by allowing everyone a little beer and summoning a little feast for them, instead of easily digestible, high-calory but bland provisions that they usually fed on. It went against her better judgement, yes, but she felt like they could enjoy life a little. The expedition was "only" two days away from Dwarfholm, they were still in a relatively safe area, as safe as one could call the Frozen Fields anyway. With full bellies and the joy of a small victory, they slept well that night.

Expedition, Day 3

The third day was going to be more difficult, Amaterasu noticed that right as she woke up. Due to the unpredictable climate changes to the naked eye and the lack of fitting equipment to see past the immediate changes the expedition dwarves could not foretell the weather more than a day ahead, and even that was uncertain. But this time they could tell that something was brewing in the air, and they could not ignore it. Large clouds gathered in the morning sky, obscuring the sun and making the air feel heavy. It might not be a full-blown blizzard, but the dwarves were worried and made everyone get out of their beds fast. Oki and Fiara were mildly hung over after the last night, but even they understood the importance of following orders and thus mounted the Fur-Selkies as soon as they could, again skipping breakfast to eat from the back of the mounts. The dwarves insisted on a fast pace without breaks to cover as much distance as they could before the elements came down on them, and they were very right to do so: in the early afternoon hail started to fall, first only lightly, then increasing with every passing second.

Many of the hailstones were huge - some coming to as much as the size of a balled fist. Had it not been for the dwarves, Amaterasu thought to herself as they found shelter underneath a large overhang, their journey may have ended then and there, with their skulls shattered by a ballistic missile from the sky. The Kami of the Sun created a few plates of solid rock as a wall, to prevent a sudden change of wind from allowing a stray hailstone to hit them or to shred their tents, while Oki used Kutone to gingerly gather one hailstone after another, to boil them into hot water.

"The climate of these lands is really not to be toyed with", remarked Fiara as, shielded from the eyes of the men in the group, she took a bath with the water they had made, and Amaterasu sat on the other side. She trusted Oki and Urist, but the other dwarves... well, she didn't know them and Fiara didn't feel comfortable being naked around them so she had asked her to "stand guard", so to speak.

"No... and we're still in a below-average danger zone. The mountain is going to be much more hazardous from what I know, and we'll cross a few high-risk areas getting there." She listened closely and heard the hail still falling outside, the hailstones breaking each other as they stacked on the ground. "Tomorrow will be difficult... icy terrain isn't ideal for a Fur-Selkie."

"We'll be okay, Mother Amaterasu. So long as we got you and those expert dwarves are with us we are good to go."

"I guess. Now finish up, the others are going to want their turn as well."

Expedition, Day 4

As Amaterasu had predicted the remains from the hailstorm had created a difficult terrain for the Fur-Selkies. Thanks to the light snowfall during the night and the freezing temperatures the ground had turned into a relatively flat ice surface but it was not as good for navigation as snow, meaning that their speed was greatly hampered. The clouds were also not fully gone yet and the dwarves predicted more hail and possibly a blizzard, so they decided to play it safe and stop early rather than late. After lunchtime they traveled for another three or so hours instead of seven to eight before announcing that they would set up camp, and shortly before the end of their trip Oki noticed a gaping hole in a cliff wall, which led into a natural cavern. A great stroke of luck, especially since there were no remains of recently deceased animals, only a handful of aged bones. In other words, there was no wampa in here.

While the dwarves set up a basic campsite Amaterasu used her Cherry Bomb to cause a pair of controlled avalanches that made the entrance to the cave small and easily defendable, then Fiara and Oki took turns at watching the entrance while she summoned provisions to restock everything. The expedition dwarves proceeded to sketch their findings onto their maps, though with warnings to be cautious around the cavern - You never know when a pack of ice-wolves decides to make an abandoned burrow its new home - and Urist cooked up a dinner for them all. Finally, Amaterasu summoned a flat large rock that completely concealed the entrance and made it look as if it was caved in entirely, but left them openings to breathe fresh air through. Like that, they were secure for the night.

"Hey, Ama..." Urist asked just as she was finishing the summoning. "Ye've been summonin' all this stuff - the Fur-Selkies, food, now those rocks 'n all... are ye not runnin' out of yer Omnilium?"

Amaterasu blinked at that request. She had never thought about it, to be honest. "I don't think so... I can't feel how much I have left, there's no... no gauge or anything, but I haven't run out so far. And I do try to grab Omnilium where I can... I've stocked up a lot during my time in Dwarfholm, for one, and if you remember, I've extracted a lot of Omnilium from what we left behind in the other campsite, while you guys were packing stuff up. I don't think I used up a lot of it."

"Eh, ah guess ah'm worried bout ye running out in the midst of our ascent, y'know."

"That won't happen. I am determined to reach the top, Urist, and I have prepared myself for that. If I somehow run out I'll just have to extract more. Besides, I have you guys."


"Yeah... eh, thanks fer doin' this, though."

"Hey, I'm drawing an advantage from this as well if it works out, so no need to thank me."

"What 'bout Fiara an' Oki?"

"They're in it because I am."

"No goals o' their own?"

"I don't think so... they would not have much to gain from it."

"Aye... yer right. But listen... what if we don' find anythin' up there? If it's just the dragons and nothing else?"

"Then at least you will know that it's just the dragons and nothing else... it's better than to be left in uncertainty." She stood up, her work finished, and dusted her butt off. "How's the stew coming along? I could use something filling right about now."

The grin returned to Urist's face. "Sure! Oughta be ready by now... let's get it before the others empty the pot."

1438 + 1503 = 2.941 / 20.000 words.

[Amaterasu]

Expedition, Day 5

"Well... this is bad", was all that Amaterasu could say.

Through the night the weather had turned from annoyingly bad to life-threatening. Had they slept in any less protected area than the cavern, they would likely have frozen in their sleeps, or been buried under the masses of snow. Snow was falling in quantities that not even the most northern parts of Kamui in its harshest winter had experienced, heaping up to create a two-meter thick layer that obstructed the rock-covered entrance. On top of that a blizzard had raged through the valley that the expedition group had been traveling along and lowered the tempreratures beyond what they had already been, which had hardened the snow into an ice-laden heavy mass too viscous for the Fur-Selkies to navigate and less viscous than mud, so that not even snowshoes would allow them to walk through it.

“Does this mean that we must wait here today?”

“Eh.” The dwarf that had inspected the snow spat on the ground near the entrance of the cave. “If we ‘ad Mardagores we could. But ah don’ think ye know what one o’ them’s like.”

“Mardagores, you say… are these mounts held in Dwarfholm?”

“Nay. Too warm for ‘em. Too low. They get heatstrokes.”

Amaterasu sighed. “Describe them to me… draw them maybe.”

“Can’t draw. Only thing me hands can craft is stone.”

“Then carve a rock.”

“Tha’ll take days.”

“I don’t need an artistic masterpiece, a rough sketch is sufficient. We’re stuck here anyway… so just do what you can, please.”

“Eh… Ah guess ah can give it a shot.” He scuffled back to the deeper part of the cave and unhooked a climbing pick from the luggage pile, then picked up a rock and, while explaining himself to his comrades, began his work. Amaterasu used the time that she could not spend otherwise anyway to pull two of the other dwarves aside and with their help let controlled amounts of snow roll into the cavern, to resupply their water and extract Omnilium. The snow was much less dense than other materials but it cleared the entrance to the cave some, allowing the expedition forces to determine how big the impact of the blizzard really was. The answer came quickly – it was major. The snow was not expected to go back for at least a week, it was likely to have extended further up along the valley and their route and with some bad luck would have shut the mountain pass that was about a hundred kilometres ahead. While not an impassable obstacle it would slow them down further, possibly costing them another day. And out here, time was not going in your favour.

When the afternoon came around the dwarf presented Amaterasu with a statuette made of stone. While it was a little rough around the edges it was clearly an animal… although, a very weird one. With an enormous, vaguely rectangular body and claws on its four corners as well as an elongated head it reminded her of a flying squirrel. “So… this is a Mardagore?” she asked while turning the statuette upside down.

“Aye. S’ a rough idea only, bu’ I got it pretty good. They’re huge an’ flat like that ta spread their weight across an area… an’ ta glide.”

“Glide? As in through the air?”

“Jus’ that. Mardagorees are predators, ye see. They lay low ta hide from the bigger fish like wampas, with white fur on their backs an’ diggin’ themselves into the snow, but when they spy some prey…” He spreaded his arms out as if they were wings and took a leap towards Amaterasu. “They jump down from their perches, swoop in an’ slice their heads clean off. Then they come back around, carry their prey to safety on their backs and have a feast. Ah’ve seen dwarves gettin’ caught by Mardagorees before. It ain’t a pleasant sight I can tell ya.”

“About how big is an adult one?”

“Hooh, they’re huge. From front to back paws they’re a good four meters… two, two an’ a half from side ta side. Kinda thin though, maybe eh… ‘bout a third of a meter, somethin’ like that.”

“And they’re prey to the wampas? Something this huge?”

“Wampas ain’t jus’ got one arrow in their quiver. If a Mardagoree attacks a wampa an’ misses, it’s a sittin’ duck on the ground cause they can’t get back up. An’ tha’s if the wampa doesn’t see the Mardagore comin’. Cause if it does, it’s just got to raise its claw and slices the Mardagore’s belly up as it flies over it.”

“I see… so the trick would be to dodge their first strike.”

“The trick’s never ta run into one of ‘em. Ah pray fer all o’ us tha’ we don’ meet one. So, think ye can make one of ‘em?”

“I’m fairly confident. They remind me of an animal from home, though they’re way larger. I’ll try making one this evening, and if it works out we’ll get going tomorrow.”

“Ah, ah’ll be standin’ by ta instruct ye if ye want. But fer now, we’ll need some firewood fer the night.”

Expedition, Day 6

Through the evening of the fifth day, Amaterasu, Oki, Fiara, Urist and the dwarves had shovelled an open spot in front of their cavern to set up for the following day. Now, the Kami of the Sun was sitting there, her legs crossed beneath herself and calmly breathing in the chilling air with big lungfuls. She would be cold later, but right now she needed the focus.

The dwarf that had carved the stone for her yesterday circled around her, speaking of the Mardagores and their characteristics, from their flat muscles allowing them to slide around in a manner similar to the Fur-Selkies to their sharp predator eyes. Amaterasu added a few twists where it mattered, to keep their future mounts from turning against them and devouring them in their sleep. While they were going to be predators, she made them omnivores instead. While they were pack animals she made it so that they would recognize the dwarves’ scents as that of an Alpha, of a pack leader, and obey them. Their bodies suited mainly for aerial navigation and slow crawling on the ground were enhanced with pads similar to those of the Fur-Selkies, that let them slide on the snow, and their backs that were suited to carry up to 300 kilos were enforced with potent bones and muscles that raised their carrying capacity to three times that, at the price of more rigid spines which made gliding harder for them. But she doubted that they would be in need of that a lot… perhaps if they ran into a chasm or ravine, but if they did that would be another problem that she would take care of solving when it came to it. For now they needed to transport their luggage and eight individuals, 300 kilos were just too little for that.

Now that the Fur-Selkies were no longer going to accompany them but they were too far out to live a regular life if set free, Amaterasu extracted their Omnilium once more. The dwarves who much more pragmatic in their thinking than Fiara who hid the tears in her eyes by turning away and putting on her eyewear “to guard them from the stinging winds” that nobody else could feel, redistributed the seats. Amaterasu and Fiara got to sit on one Mardagore along with two of the expedition dwarves and took the lead whilst Oki, Urist and the two others sat down on the other one. Then two of them did a test run with the “prototype”, the first altered Mardagore that Amaterasu had summoned, and started whizzing over the snowy surface at breakneck speeds after only a few instants of accelerating. Even Oki had to laugh when the pilots clung to the fur beneath them for dear life whilst spewing a chain of dwarven cursewords. But it was deemed more than successful and after packing their luggage onto the animal’s back, summoning a second one and doing the exact same with that one as well, they set off.

And surprise, surprise, not two hours after their departure they found the mountain pass that they had been steering towards, blocked by an avalanche. With a resigned sigh they started pitching their tents while Amaterasu went to work on extracting the Omnilium from the masses of snow and occasionally creating controlled explosions with the aid of the dwarves to remove more snow, without burying them in it in the process. But hundreds of tonnes of snow would not budge that easily, and there was no known way out of the valley without backtracking nearly all the way to Dwarfholm, so clearing the way was their only option. They lost not only the rest of their day here, but the two that followed. When finally the way lay clear before them and they slid through on their Mardagores in the morning of the ninth day to resume their journey one of the dwarves that sat with Amaterasu mumbled: “This pass… ah’ll name it ‘The Devil’s Maw’ on me map. A fittin’ name fer a place tha’s givin’ us this much trouble. Or is gonna give anyone trouble that goes through, to the center of the Fields.”

Fiara leant in a bit, looking over the dwarf’s shoulder. “What’s that struck-through scribbling that you have below the ‘Devil’s Maw’?”

“Ah was tempted ta name this place otherwise. After another openin’ on tha devil’s body, but that name ain’t as catchy. Or as fit fer teachin’ in schools.”

Amaterasu groaned and turned her head. “Save your breath, you two. We have to make up for the time that we lost, so this day will be extra tough. You’ll be more spent if you chatter back there.”

2941+ 1644 = 4.585 / 20.000 words.

[Amaterasu]

Expedition, Day 12

"Aright... tha's as far as we can go."

Amaterasu was looking back through the massive plains that they had traversed after having passed the Devil's Maw as she listened to the dwarf. After having gone through the mountain pass they had traversed the valley that continued behind that, a bit less dangerous and treacherous than the rest of their journey thus far, followed by the ascent of the end of that valley. Now they were overlooking what would be the last bit of "easy" terrain that they would be experiencing for their journey. An open field riddled with hills, small lakes and ravines and of course covered in snow and ice was extending before them, before the mountains that they were aiming for began to ascend, about a dozen kilometers away. This was as far as the dwarves would bring them.

"I was dreading the day that we would part our ways... and you are all certain that you don't want to accompany us any further?"

"Aye... me boys an' I can make it back if we hurry a bit. Tha Devil's Maw ain't gonna close again, not so soon after a big snowfall, bu' these are the Frozen Fields... treacherous an' uncertain. Ah don' trust 'em, so... we better hurry t'get back to familiar grounds."

"I understand... well then, thank you very kindly for your help thus far, and I wish you the best of luck on your way. Are you going to be fine with just one Mardagore for the trip back?"

"Shouldn' be a problem, with the provisions that we've taken fer the trip. We're gonna stop at a settlement tha' we skipped on our way here, an' if we ain't lost the Mardagore til there, we'll be fine. If we do, well... we'll jus' make it some way or another, won't we." He looked down at the plains. "A word o' advice... don' trust anything down there. It's too quiet. Too untouched. An' there ain't no cover from the elements anywhere. Ah say tha' this whole expedition is madness, but it en't me job ta give ye advice 'bout that."

"What do you think might we encounter?"

The dwarf stroked his thick beard while surveying the landscape. "Snow-moles, Morrworms, Ice Drakes an' maybe Ice Schnauzers. Cold-lovin', the lot of 'em, not jus' cold-resistant. Snow-moles and Morrworms can dig underground... Ice Drakes an' Ice Schnauzers don' mind the cold temperatures at all. I'm sayin' all this because... mmngh, I don' like the looks of these plains. Like ah said, there ain't no cover from the elements... too flat, too open. If a cold wind or even a blizzard blows across, yer gonna be exposed. Or if yer particularly unlucky ye might encounter Rocs... or even a Blue Bird, swoopin' down from where ye can't reach 'em, an' rip yer head off 'fore ye realize it. An' of course there's the Dragonflight."

"The ones that inhabit the mountain?"

"Aye. Ah've never met one, lucky me, but... ah don' think that they're gonna be happy 'bout a bunch of adventurers climbin' their home, know what I mean?"

"Of course... I'll be careful, I promise." She smiled a little. "I have a few aces up my sleeves still. But thank you for the advice."

"Tha's just me warnings... if ye want ta make it down there, ah suggest that ye trust yer gut. Keep both yer eyes open fer anythin' that ye don' trust, an' if ya don' feel right about it then avoid it. Against a blizzard... can't say much but try t'find shelter. Use yer Prime powers ta make a wall, an' avoid holes where ya can be buried under snow."

"I understand... then wish us luck, because it sounds like we'll need it."

"Ah. If ye can make it across, it ain't that far... I say it's forty, fifty kilometers across til ye get to tha mountain. What's really gonna be dangerous is the ascent. An' with the weather lookin' good, ya might make it in under a day if yer careful."

"Got it. Thank you again, and safe travels."

"To ye too. Be sure ta come back alive an' well. Ah'm curious ta hear what's up there... an' how yer journey went."

Amaterasu nodded. "We'll be back. I promise it." She then withdrew, while Fiara, Oki and Urist said their goodbyes to the other dwarves as well. Food, water and tool provisions had already been organized and thus the dwarves were able to take off rapidly using their Mardagore, while Amaterasu pulled Oki aside. There was not much needing to be said, as the warrior had listened to their conversation. He simply nodded and said: "I'll be sitting on the back and guard our rear", and with that the matter was resolved. Urist placed himself in the middle behind Amaterasu in case of a front or side attack, and Fiara went third to keep an eye on the sky. With her Phoenix Blasters she was the quickest ranged combatant of the group, even surpassing Amaterasu herself in that regard.

Then they descended along the slope and began their journey...

... and traversed the valley. No monsters attacked them, no beasts bursted forth from the ground or snow to bite them when they least expected it, no snowstorms, blizzards or hail, not even a light drizzle... the prediction turned out to be correct, as after a three-hour travel time at a slightly slowed pace due to the snow and Mardagores not being as fast as Fur-Selkies, they had reached the other side.

Before them was the mountain, a titanic block of stone, snow and ice... its tip was hidden among ominous dark clouds, there was even the occasional lightning bolt to be seen illuminating the mass. As if it could fall down on them at any moment. This was what they would ascend... but not today.

As they set up camp inside a cavern that Amaterasu created by extracting large amounts of Omnilium from a massive stone wall, Oki drove the stakes of their tent into the ground and remarked: "It was... anticlimatic."

"I would have expected more", Fiara agreed.

"Ah'd be grateful fer the silence..." Urist remarked with a grim look on his face. "An' at the same time, ah feel worried."

"Why?" asked Fiara curiously.

"Did ya not notice? Those fields we traversed, they weren't peaceful."

"Yes they were! We had no fights, suffered no attacks... everything went great!"

"Yer not gettin' it, Fiara. Can ye guess it, Oki?"

"It was silent, still, not peaceful nor happy. It was dead."

"What's the difference?" Fiara asked with a huff.

"Those fields... they're a gigantic graveyard", Oki murmured. "I only realize it now that Urist mentions it, but... he's right. There was nothing. No life at all."

"So everything was dead? That's why you say it wasn't peaceful?" Fiara asked.

"Aye", Urist replied. "An' if we're to believe our friend Jorist, then there-"

"Wait what? His name was Jorist?!" Fiara interrupted the dwarf, chuckling. "Seriously?!"

"Wha's the joke?" Urist asked with a piqued voice. "Did ya never learn our comrade's names?"

"... well no. But Jorist?! You all have names sounding really similar!"

Urist groaned and passed a hand over his face. "Fiara's a funny name too and ya don' see me laughin' at ya, do ye?"

"Okay... I'm sorry..." Fiara said, her hands raised but still grinning despite trying to contain it. "What were the other guys called then?"

"Jorist McGurensson was the group leader, Alphonse McOlvarsson was the one tha' sat next ta Oki, Urstet McGurensson was the one next ta me and tha brother of Jorist, an' Bob McHaverdsson was the one sittin' with you, when we used the Mardagores." He cleared his throat. "Anycase. If we're to believe Jorist, chances are that cold-resistant monsters were livin' around 'ere. Ice Drakes even like the cold, so... if they ain't here, there's a reason fer it."

"Perhaps they just left? You know, for a better hunting ground?" the phoenix girl suggested.

"Nay. Not in this magnitude, ah don' think. There'd be some o' them... not many. But this... there's nobody. They've either all been killed... or they fled."

"Killed?!" Oki exclaimed with a gasp. "But we're talking about not just a few monsters here, we're talking about all life! Who could've... you don't mean the Blue Dragonflight?"

"Ah don' know, Oki. Might be the dragonflight... might be some sorta cataclysm tha' wiped 'em all out." He grunted as he drove the last stake into the ground and began to erect the tent with the stakes holding its sides.

None of them knew how right he was.

4585 + 1441 = 6.026 / 20.000 words.

[Amaterasu]

Expedition, the Night between Day 12 and 13

"... out... get out..."

"You are not welcome here..."

"Be gone... intruders..."

"Turn back..."

Amaterasu darted up into a sitting position and banged her head against the metal bar that formed the ceiling of her little tent. Although it was cold outside she was drenched in sweat, and the sharp pain that pierced her head where she had hit the bar just now felt numbed and far away. The voices were much closer... they spoke in her head, even after she had awoken from her dreams.

"Leave... at once..." they said, ghostly and yet sending a cold chill up the Kami's spine. If they did not leave, they... they would...

The tent fell onto and Amaterasu's head when the latter bursted out of it. "OKI!" she yelled whilst shaking the fabric off, burying the startled Fiara beneath. Urist and Oki were the first ones on their feet, they had left their tent open and so were quickly out.

"What's the matter?!" Urist asked with an alarmed voice. The uncomfortable look in his face hinted at that he could feel something but knew not what it was.

"No time for explanations! Help me close the entrance, immediately! Bring shovels and picks! And wake up Fiara!" She rushed to the entrance of their little cave without bothering to change out of her night gown first and sat down, focusing as hard as she could. She needed to summon a big wall to close it, and fast.

From the location that they had picked for their home they could oversee the valley that they had crossed the day before, seemingly peaceful with only an occasional gust of wind blowing through the untouched snow. Above, the sky was clouded, allowing only an occasional glimpse of the stars far above... yet this silent night, Amaterasu felt, was only the calm before a storm that was brewing. How she knew she did not know, but she knew. And that was all that she needed. Urist and Oki heard the panic in their voice and knew that the otherwise calm Kami would not be speaking this way without a real reason. They helped Fiara out of the mess of a tent that Amaterasu had made and grabbed the tools that Amaterasu had made in case that rapid digging was needed.

"Urist, Oki, weaken the structure of the ceiling and see if you can prepare a collapse. Fiara, use your Phoenix Blasters to have the snow from the mountain above us fall down and block the entrance", Amaterasu instructed them without standing up. Omnilium flowed out of her in vast quantities and shaped vaguely into what she was aiming to make, but the process was slow. It gave the three others ample time to carry out their tasks.

Fiara was the first to succeed, causing a large avalanche of snow that piled up before the entrance to their lair, but it was only the first step. "Come back in!" Amaterasu instructed her with urgence. The rock was still immaterial so the Phoenix was able to traverse without issue. Minutes later the solid block of glass solidified and sunk a bit into the ground... and Amaterasu relaxed, although only for a pair of seconds. The entrance was mostly covered but they were far from safe. "Oki, Urist, collapse the ceiling onto the rock until it's closed. I need every crevice stuffed as best as possible", she spoke, less panicked but with urgency carried in every syllable. Outside, the winds were picking up, raising a small snowstorm that blew counter-clockwise across the valley. Had they been in the area it would have been chilling but they would not have been in danger from just that.

After several more minutes of work with both Amaterasu and Fiara helping along the ceiling collapsed and sent large amounts of dirt, rock and dust down on the glass block. The winds that blew through the crevices were cut off. "Good work, but we're not done yet. Close the remaining crevices with the rocks that fell down."

"Ama, yer cuttin' off our air with th-"

"I know! Just do what I say!" she sharply interrupted Urist. "I'll summon more air for us to breathe once we are done. Help me hermetically seal the entrance for now." She again sat down and summoned more rocks to stuff the parts that Urist, Oki and Fiara could not reach, especially the top. The glass block allowed them to see what was happening outside, in a distorted fashion.

Suddenly Fiara gasped. "The Mardagores! We've left them outside!"

Amaterasu bit her lip. "No... it's too late now. We can't go out."

"What is happening?" asked Oki. "Why are we doing this, Ama?"

"I have to focus, I'll explain later."

She did not need to explain herself. Barely a minute after she made her promise a wall of snow and ice particles came rushing down through the valley, a wind of such force that it carried everything with it that was in its way. The two Mardagores had dug into the snow and were slightly protected because, being near the mountain, they were at the edge of the storm. Everything turned into a flurry of white and blue when the wind passed in front of the glass block and a ghastly howl made by the wind blowing through the remaining holes and crevices filled the cavern. Then the temperature began to fall and Urist gasped. He covered Amaterasu with a blanket and yelled for the others to cover themselves with everything they had, then huddle up as close as possible to preserve warmth. Had they had a thermometer it would have been a frightening sight: the temperature was dropping by 1°C every five seconds, plummeting towards the freezing point. Amaterasu's summoned rocks were insufficient to cover all the crevices in time.

"Bring our water! Quick, put the gourds into the remaining holes!" Urist then yelled. His last-ditch plan worked out: the steel gourds were full to the brim with fresh water but the metal cooled it rapidly, conducting the cold as soon as Fiara and Oki stuck them into what holes remained. As it froze and expanded it broke out of its container and filled the space until completely closed. The remaining small holes were slowly filled in with snow and ice particles which eventually solidified into a frozen wall on the outside. They were locked off from the outside world... but safe. For now.

"What... what is this?" Fiara asked as she stared at the raging winds and colds through the glass wall, unable to avert her terrified gaze from the certain death that they had barely escaped from. Urist only shuddered and gave no reply, Oki looked back and forth between Amaterasu and the glass wall and knew not the answer, and Amaterasu was fulfilling her promise and enhanced the air with oxygen to breathe, by summoning it with yet more Omnilium. For minutes they remained quiet. Then, Urist was able to start speaking.

"Tha... tha's Mistral... I... I never thought... by Bruenor's Beard, I could not have imagined..."

"Urist... talk to us. Don't let the terror overwhelm you. What did you say? Mistral?"

"It's a legend, a folktale 'mong the dwarves... a wind summoned by Arktos, the dwarven God of ice... it's even got a poem... a rhyme that mothers sing ta their children..."

"A nursery rhyme?" Fiara asked, still fixated on the storm outside.

Urist nodded. He recollected his thoughts for a minute, then in an odd sing-song began to chant:

"My child, my child, be not outside,
When mother calls you in,
And eat your greens and do not lie,
So you may keep yer skin.

Be thankful, kind, and do not curse,
And care 'round sharpened stones,
And don't, my child, forget this verse,
So you may keep yer bones.

And hear it not, I plead to you,
The Cold God's Arctic Call,
And his blue eyes don't look into,
So you may keep yer soul.

My child, my child, when Mistral blows,
I ask: 'Are you at home,
And are your doors and windows closed,
And are you not alone?'

Be not a fighter, fool and proud,
And light some logs to burn,
And pray to Helzvog strong and loud,
And wait for his return.

The warmth shall chase Mistral away,
And with it Arktos too,
To bring the dawn of a new day,
To those who made it through.

If Mistral howls, my child you must,
Find shelter there and then,
Endure and my words you can trust:
You'll see the light again."

Urist leant back a little. The wind was still howling with deadly force but it had calmed a little, and their shared warmth kept them safe under the blankets. Amaterasu smiled a bit in her concentration but continued to summon air. Like this, they sat through most of the night. When the winds finally settled and the snow cleared the valley looked untouched once again, without the slightest trace of the Mardagores that had passed it that day.

When Amaterasu was finished with extracting the Omnilium from the extra air in their cave and had created an opening in the glass block that functioned like a doorframe, Oki was the first to head out and verify that it was safe. He came back in with a grim look and put down a completely white skull. "This is the only remains that I could find of the Mardagores. It was buried under some rocks which shielded it from the wind but the rest of their bodies and skeletons is gone."

"Bruenor's beard... the snow in this valley must have tha bonemeal o' all its victims mixed into it..."

"So you were right that it felt like a graveyard", Fiara remarked with a cold shudder.

Amaterasu stood up, her extraction finished. "This was not a natural wind... I believe that I have heard the souls of the dead, warning me. But there was a presence... in the winds. Someone or something summoned it."

"A Prime?!" Urist asked sharply.

"Or a very powerful Secondary. I cannot imagine the amount of effort that must have been poured into it. But I feel that it will not be the last of their attempts to stop us." She passed her glove through the snow and let the fine dust run between her fingers. "Pack your things but be ready to carry some on your back. I'll summon new water flasks and provisions, but we will continue on foot."

"On foot, you say? Bu'..."

"The Mardagores would not have served us much more anyway beyond here. From here on we'll carry all necessities in our backpacks instead... We won't be traveling through the snow on the outside of the mountain anymore. There was a large entrance to a cavern system that I saw when we approached the Roof of the World, I have a strong feeling that it is the right way... and safer than being out there and exposed to the Mistral, or whatever other murderous attacks our secret opponent will throw at us."

Oki's eyes lit up. "You mean, we're going to..."

"Yes. We'll scale the mountain from within."

6.026 + 1864 = 7890 / 20.000 words.

[Amaterasu]

Expedition, Day 13 - Day 1 of the Ascent

Organizing the ascent of the mountain was both easier due to having fewer people to account for, and harder because the expedition dwarves were gone. They distributed a few basic items and essential tools for everyone in case that they got separated - something to cook with, wood and tinder, picks, that sort of thing -, as well as provisions for three days. Ideally they would make it through just fine of course, but this wasn't an ideal world. Their equipment was measly compared to what it should be, but they weren't professional mountain climbers and no amount of equipment could equip a Secondary to face off against the rage of the elements, or a Prime's. They could do nothing but hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

After that, the ascent. Amaterasu remembered the location where the cavern entrance was, but it was above the ground level and reaching it wasn't an easy task. Urist took the lead, scaling with two picks and driving stakes into the wall that he then used to fixate a rope and help the others climb it once he was at the top. They tugged the rope back in and began walking... and soon they found that what they had entered was much more than they had bargained for. The cave was covered in blue ice - the ground, the walls, the ceiling... everything. And it was enormous: the ceiling had to be twenty, maybe thirty meters above them, with pointy icicles and frozen-over stalactites looming over them. There was something reminiscent of a staircase, natural steps that looked like a number of small waterfalls had once carved it in their descent, and massive stalagmites, also covered in ice, lining the sides. On the other side was an exit leading deeper into the cave. Oddly enough everything was lit but with no visible light source.

As they approached that exit a figure began to move, casting its reflection on the ice walls around them. A wampa, smaller than the ones Amaterasu had met and with odd blue stripes across its arms and back. It seemed tired, its movements sluggish, as it stepped in their path, blocking it, and looked at them with its tiny black eyes. Oki reached for the hilt of Kutone, Fiara's Phoenix Blasters were already active and Amaterasu loosened the prayer beads around her belt, but none attacked. If the wampa had wanted to attack them it would have surprised them... or done so now. It was just looking at them.

"Step aside", she finally spoke audibly, and her voice echoed off the walls. She had not expected it to do much, but the wampa responded much to everyone's surprise.

"Travelers, i asketh thee: what doth thee seek?"

When Amaterasu stayed quiet, both dumbfounded by the strange words and by the wampa speaking, Urist took the initiative.

"We 'ave come ta climb to the summit o' the Roof o' the World."

"Doth thee seek to square the dragonkin?"

"Squa- no. No, we intend t' find... the rip in the sky."

"The Void Gate. We want to find the Void Gate", Fiara stepped in. The wampa gave her an odd look.

"Doth thee dare the seven trials to prove thy purity of heart?"

Fiara frowned. "Listen... I can barely understand what you're saying. We just want to climb to the summit, we won't bother anyone."

After a few moments, the wampa spoke. "Perhaps then, it would be more appropriate for me to adopt a manner of speech matching yours. Do you understand me now?"

"Much better", Oki said with a friendly smile, and bowed. "As Fiara said, we intend to climb to the summit, and this cave appears to be leading up... we don't dare climb the hazardous exterior for fear of the elements."

"A wise choice. However the ascent through the Halls of Sin will not be an easy trial either. If you wish to reach the summit through the caves you will face the seven trials, as I said. Only if you can brave the challenges you will be able to proceed."

"What will these trials consist in?" asked Amaterasu.

"I will provide guidance as you brave them, but I cannot reveal their nature ahead of time."

"Then I ask for a moment to consider." She waved to the other three to come join her at a little distance. Not that there was much to discuss.

"I'm not certain if we have much of a choice", Oki said as they put their heads together and lowered their voices while the wampa waited patiently. "It's either taking whatever these challenges present us with, or going outside and climbing the mountain from there."

"Ah don' see that bein' an option, not after Mistral", Urist remarked coldly. "But, ah don' trust a speakin' wampa."

"At least we have pretty much the certainty that this whole thing will actually lead us to the summit", said Fiara. "Unless of course it's lying, that wampa confirmed that the caves lead to the summit."

"Speaking animals are... odd, but I'm certain that there is a good reason behind it all", Amaterasu concluded. "If we can't use the outside, we'll have to face these challenges it presents us with. I don't like diving into something I don't know about before we go in there, but we have no better choice."

The others silently agreed and they split up again, meeting the wampa. Amaterasu announced for all of them: "We'll take the challenge. All four of us."

"Very well. In this case, allow me to introduce myself... I am Senecianus, Guardian of the Halls of Sin and your guide as you brave the challenges laying ahead. Please state your names and origins before we proceed."

"Oki Kurumi of of Nippon." - "Fiara Moegami of Takamagahara." - "Urist McGlodsson of Mithral." - "Amaterasu Omikami of Takamagahara." As they spoke their names they appeared in runic carvings on the wall above the exit to the cavern. Amaterasu only noticed now that there were other names there, too... not many of them though.

"Very well, Oki Kurumi, Fiara Moegami, Urist McGlodsson and Amaterasu Omikami. Please follow me." Senecianus then turned around and walked towards the cave exit with slow steps, dragging its feet along the ground. The rest of them followed suit.

After traversing a short tunnel and turning a corner, a warm breeze struck them in the face, as if welcoming them. Another cavern as enormous as the one they had just traversed extended before them, but it was not frozen: in fact the climate was warm, tropical almost, and the air was humid. The cave was more like a small jungle, with colorful birds singing their mating calls from the treetops and equally colorful fruits bending the branches.

"With this heat I think we can disca- what?!" Amaterasu spoke and interrupted herself when she heard the voice that came from her lips. No longer was it the soft, feminine voice that she had had ever since her transformation from wolf to human. It was a low, husky one that reminded her of Oki.

7.890 + 1.185 = 9.075 / 20.000 words.

[Amaterasu]

Expedition, Day 13 - Day 1 of the Ascent

The First Hall: Lust

Warning:

This post contains mature content. Reader discretion is advised.


Reference pictures for the TGed characters:

Amaterasu (left)
Oki
Fiara
Urist

"The First Hall of Sin is the Hall of Lust," Senecianus spoke to the group. "The purity of your heart regarding the carnal pleasures is being put to the test... and as you have likely noticed, the effect extends to your bodies."

Indeed... all four of them looked at each other and at themselves with complete bewilderment. They were completely transformed! And because they had promptly stripped off their coats due to the heat in the room, these changes were very appearant now.

Oki had been turned into a white-haired slender girl wearing a flowing kimono and sandals, with his sword Kutone turned into a fine shortsword and dagger that hung by a silken sash around his - her - belt. She looked herself over with a bewildered look in her eyes and glared at Senecianus as if it was the wampa's fault. "Is this seriously how we are going to pass a TRIAL? By having our genders reversed?"

Urist had become a real matron of a dwarfess, with an ample chest and strong arms, but not a single hair in her face, which she was not taking well at all. "Me beard!" she exclaimed, patting her face over as if it was hiding somewhere. "What have ye done to me beard?! Ah swear ta Omni, if ye've taken it away from me...!"

"The transformation isn't permanent, Oki Kurumi and Urist McGlodsson... you can relax", Senecianus said calmly. It seemed unaffected by the magic of the cavern... then again, how were wampa's genders visible? Did they have any at all?

"Aw. I actually kind of like this", Fiara said with a voice that, while clearly a man's, was funnily so soft-spoken that it actually was more so than her usual self. He looked a little like Oki, except as a man - with slender proportions, a finely chiseled face, long black hair and her Phoenix Blasters replaced by metallic arm-guards she looked like quite the lady-killer. He stretched her limbs above his head and sighed with pleasure. "Is that how being a guy feels like? Nice!"

Amaterasu, funnily enough, had changed the least. His clothing was the same except it was adjusted to his current gender, his hair was similarly long and had the unmistakable red markings, his Prayer Beads were still right there around his neck... had it not been for his boyish face, the flat chest and the slightly taller stature one could have thought that it was still Amaterasu in her original self but with different clothes. "If it's not permanent... how is this reversed?"

"To return to your old selves you must brave the challenge", Senecianus explained. "You must cross the cave and reach the other side."

"Tha' doesn' sound too hard", Urist remarked.

"Do not underestimate the challenge laying ahead, Urist McGlodsson... there have been others before you, and many have failed the Halls of Lust." It eyed Amaterasu curiously. "You are the first in a long time to have taken an appearance so close to your own. Perhaps there is some power in you that guards you from the magic of this cave... or perhaps you are a narcissist, as the individual before you was."

"What?!" Amaterasu asked sharply.

"The form you have taken reflects your inner wishes and desires for a partner, though you may not be consciously aware of them. A homosexual individual would not have changed their gender, for instance. The magic may not affect you as it does a Secondary Amaterasu Omikami, so please don't consider my remark mockery."

"I certainly don't wish for a man-Amaterasu as my partner", Amaterasu replied with a piqued tone in his voice.

"It could just as well be that this form reflects that you wish for a Kami to be your partner."

"Wait, how do you- ... ugh." He grunted. These trials were already bringing a headache...

"So... tha' means tha' Oki's wishin' fer a skinny gal with white hair?" Urist asked. "Or tha' I'd be wishin' fer a matron?"

"The magic is not completely accurate, but you can imagine something along those lines."

"Well... ah guess a good wife fer a dwarf would be packin' some meat on 'er ribs, and some muscles on 'er arms", the dwarfess admitted with the slightest blush. Senecianus simply shrugged and turned away.

"That is all the guidance that I can provide... I shall await you at the exit, if you can make it there." He stepped into the jungle and vanished amongst the trees. The group then moved together.

"No two ways around it, we have to reach that exit..." said Oki. "But I say that we stick together, and keep our jackets in case that it gets cold again."

"Remember, don' let yer loins get tha better outta ya", Urist added, sounding like a mother lecturing her pubescent children. Oki kept her sword unsheathed as they descended into the jungle and began navigating their way through. Truth be told, Amaterasu had expected more phallic or similar imagery on their way, but all they navigated was a forest with sweet scents and animals all around them. There were pairs everywhere. Colorful parrots and tucans with magnificient beaks, meeting equally colorful females... stags with majestic horns approaching finely built does, even on the leaves of the trees there were tiny insects engaging in mating rituals and the queen bees were attracting strong males to produce more offspring in the air...

A girlish giggle made Amaterasu stop dead in his tracks and reach his hand out, but the others had stopped too. They had heard it as well. It was soon followed by steps... then a man and a woman, both clad in white tunics and with shiny smooth skin stepped out from the foliage, followed by a dwarf with a magnificient ginger beard and a girl looking about Fiara's age who stepped up next to them.

"Welcome, travelers, to the Clearing of the Fairies", the man spoke with a voice that made Amaterasu shudder. Even as a man he could tell that his voice was perfect, just the right amount of manliness in it, yet soft-spoken and well-mannered. Oki blushed a bit and tightened his grip around Kutone, which the man seemed to notice. He stepped up to them and put a hand on Oki's. "There is no need for hostilities. We seek not to harm you. You must be weary of the long voyage through the Fields."

"W-well... a bit, I guess."

"Then come with us, to the Clearing. You are welcome to stay and relax your weary limbs, and you may leave at any time you like." He waved his hand in the direction that he had emerged from and revealed a large clearing around a pond which was fed by a spring of crystal-clear water. Many more men and women, all in the same white tunic and of various races and species, were sitting there, laughing and joking as they enjoyed wine and grapes. A real paradise.

The dwarven man offered his hand to Urist with a friendly smile as she took in the scenery. "It's beautiful, ain't it? 'ere we have trolls an' dwarves aplenty... they cast aside their differences, an' now they live together an' enjoy a life o' harmony an' peace. But, there's foul beasties seekin' ta claim this here paradise, ta rip it from our hands... an' tha's where the warriors among us come in... gettin' outfitted with the finest dwarven crafts an' enjoying the thrill of battle without remorse."

"Not to mention", now the girl that was approaching Fiara added with a chuckle, "sickness and death are not a concern here... even a Secondary is granted eternal life as they eat the grapes of our trees and drink the wine from our distilleries, for they are blessed by Omni himself. We can live on forever without the worries of one day losing someone that we love... or dying ourselves before we are ready to move on."

The girl that was with Amaterasu held out a golden chalice full with a deep red, rich-looking wine, offering it to him. "Though you are a Prime, you are just as welcome among us, brave Amaterasu, as your friends." Amaterasu hesitated for a moment, then took the chalice, and the girl stepped behind her, giggling once more as she began to massage his shoulders. He realized that it was her who had giggled like that before they had seen them. "So tense... why don't you lay down and allow me to... mmm, help you relax?" Her hands wrapped around his neck and she pressed her chest against his back, whilst licking along his earlobe. "Although, mmm... a part of you is definitely not going to be relaxed, I feel like."

That was when Amaterasu threw the chalice to the ground, shattering it on a rock with a sound that rung through the ears of everyone present like an explosion. He shoved the girl away from himself and raised his hands, readying the Yasakani no Magatama to fly in circles around his neck, ready to strike. "Oki! Fiara! Urist! Don't listen to their honeyed words, don't give in to their temptation! They are not offering you wine and grapes, only death!"

Urist chuckled as she produced a kitchen knife from the folds of her dress and impaled the dwarven man straight through the chest, stabbing through his beard and holding him as his eyes widened and he spat blood, nearly falling over. "Tha trolls an' dwarves livin' in peace, an' drinkin' WINE? Hah! Ah'd leave behind anythin' behind ta bash some troll heads in or lop their heads off with me axe. An' then ah'll celebrate with MEAD!"

The girl and man that were with Fiara and Oki rushed backwards, away from their respective attacks, with shocked faces, before putting on grins that were far too big for any normal face. "What a pity... your souls seemed delicious", the girl spoke as her voice distorted and was eventually drowned by what sounded like slime dripping into her mouth. Their shapes melted into purple jelly, then reformed into ice demons with curved horns and sharp claws, completely made out of ice. The scenery around them rotted and melted into a similar purple goop, revealing the facade behind which was a large cave covered in ice. The temperature plummeted and Oki, Urist, Fiara and Amaterasu hurriedly put their coats back on as the demons completed the transformation to their true forms.

"Mmmh, Saito, it looks like they got Zali and Ingur", the male demon said with a still strangely enticing voice.

"Oh, that just means that we have less to share, Mikel", the female demon, Saito, replied. They cackled evily as they leapt forward, with Amaterasu's barrage of beads only slowing their advance.

"Finally a good fight!" Fiara shouted with a laugh as he slammed her arm down on Saito as she came too close. The reformed Phoenix Blaster didn't fire a round, but the brute force of his arm sent her crashing into the ground, where Urist stabbed her clean through the head with her kitchen knife. At the same time Mikel leapt close and slashed his claws at Amaterasu, but Oki blocked them with her dagger, then did a brutal slash upwards that sliced cleanly through Mikel's icy torso and cleaved him diagonally in half. The surprised look on his face remained plastered on as his halves fell to the ground and a blue liquid spreaded on the ground into a puddle. But Amaterasu had a looming feeling. They were not dead yet.

"Run while they're down!" he shouted and rapidly painted a Cherry Bomb into existence on top of the demon's bodies, to slow their regeneration. The three others rushed away from the bodies and over the frozen surface, towards the exit. Behind them they could hear a loud roar, followed by the explosion of the bomb and yet another roar, this time full of pain. They dared not look back. But as Amaterasu ran through the hall and the exit came ever closer, he saw that the stalactites around them had skulls inside the frozen water... the skulls of trolls, dwarves, wampas, massive ones like those of a Fur-Selkie... and there were more, encased in ice in the ground beneath them. The succubi and incubi must have claimed hundreds, if not thousands of victims and brought their remains here.


As they came close to the exit Senecianus came into view, sitting with its back against a stalagmite and combing its fur with its claws. As the group came close, the screams behind them suddenly ceased, and as they looked back they saw nothing but an empty cave.

"Hmm... I congratulate you, adventurers, for having made it past the Hall of Lust", it said and led them towards the exit. As they traversed the darkness Amaterasu could feel a weird tingling feeling pass her body and felt that she was returning to her female self. Judging from Fiara's disappointed sigh, the same was the case at least for her. Senecianus stopped in a comparatively small cave, maybe eight by eight meters and with a stone ground, and walked towards the next exit. "Do you wish to take the next trial on?" it asked.

"No," replied Amaterasu. "Not yet... there is no rush, no time limit, is there?"

"No, there is not. You can take as long as you like."

"Then we are going to stay here for the night, and take on the next trial tomorrow." She turned towards the rest of the group and held her hand out, blushing a bit. "I might not have made it without you... their words were tailored to sound good to my ears, but I heard what they told you... I felt that their words were magically enchanted, that they offered you things that your real selves would not want."

"Aye... ah, though ah felt reminded of me quest... of findin' out the truth 'bout the Void Gate... that helped", Urist replied as he high-fived Amaterasu, and Oki and Fiara happily joined in. "Now, eh... ah guess that ah speak for everyone when ah say 'Let's never speak o' this again', yes?"

And with that concluded the first trial, and the first day of the ascent. Although the memories of their transformed selves would stay with them all their lives.

9075 + 2394 = 11.469 / 20.000 words.

[Amaterasu]

Expedition, Day 14 - Day 2 of the Ascent

The Second Hall: Envy

"Hmm... I see that you appear ready to progress?" Senecianus asked as the group was finishing their breakfast and it watched over them.

Amaterasu, Fiara, Oki and Urist had slept through the cold night in the midst of the caves, between the first and the second hall, in the tents that they had brought along. They had enjoyed a hearty dinner and breakfast and indeed felt prepared to progress. Of course, no amount of preparation could truly have them ready for what was to come... but it felt better to go in there feeling that one had done what was within their range of possibility. Thus, Amaterasu honestly replied: "Yes, we are. We only need to pack our things up."

"Ah, that would be advisable to do, indeed. The ascent is still long and you will need to sleep for several times if you progress at such a rhythm." Because the wampa did not spur them on Amaterasu felt that there was no hurry, no reason for them to be forcing their way through the halls as fast as they could. Of course, staying and lingering would not be a good thing in the long term either... they would never arrive at their destination if they did not march onward. And she could never be certain of Senecianus's intentions... who was to say that it was only their guide? That it was not pursuing some other plan?

While she thought about these things the tents were packed, rolled up and stuffed into the backpacks, as were the cooking utensils and everything else that they had set up in the cave. Now fully equipped and ready to go, they marched towards the exit of the cave, leading higher up. "Senecianus... please guide us to the next trial."

"Very well." They became shrouded in darkness as the wampa led them through a completely black tunnel, warning them of staircases. Amaterasu could not see a thing, it was absolutely pitch black. She wondered what she would see if she lit a torch. At first, she could hear everyone's footsteps disproportionately loudly as if their feet were right next to her ears. But slowly, this diminished to only hearing Senecianus's footsteps, as well as her own.

Amaterasu

When she re-emerged from the tunnel into the light, she was alone with Senecianus. She stood at the edge of a cliff, overlooking the frozen lake Laochi, and in it the Ark of Yamato. "Senecianus", she said with a calm voice, eyeing the wampa. "Where are the others? What did you do to them?" Her hands were close to her brush, ready to cut it to bits.

However, Senecianus only sat down by the cliffside. "You will have to do this trial alone, Amaterasu Omikami, as do they. Welcome to the second Hall of Sin... the Hall of Envy."

"But..." She stepped forward. Suddenly the ground beneath her broke away: she had stepped on a snow overhang! Before she could react she was sliding down along the cliffside in a small avalanche, and landed head first in a pile of snow that thankfully dampened her fall. Her face was bright red when she freed herself... she felt cold.

"Ah, Amaterasu... you have arrived", a familiar voice greeted her. Oki was looking down at her, with Kutone over his shoulder. He had stabbed the sword into a pedestal by the edge of the lake and the crack in the ice that it was creating was approaching the Ark of Yamato, to free it from its confines. He was not wearing his mask, and thus she could see him looking down at her as she brushed the snow off. "It's time to say our goodbyes."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

A new figure stepped into her view. Urist. He was looking at the lake and at the Ark. "Yer gonna be goin' with this big ship there, aren't ya? Yer a goddess after all. Ye don' belong here."

Amaterasu looked at the Ark, gritting her teeth. "I... yes, I fear that I will have to do so."

Oki sheathed Kutone again while looking at her. "You would like to stay, wouldn't you? You would like to be here on Earth."

"Oki, I..."

He placed his finger on her lips. "I know your feelings for me, Amaterasu. And you should know as well as I do that you should stop pursuing them. You aren't mortal, but I am. You are a goddess, and I am not."

Urist nodded as he stroked his beard. "Yer immortal, Ammy. Even 'ere in the Omniverse, yer status as a Prime means that yer a goddess among mortals. Nothin' good can come of bein' with Oki."

Amaterasu's eyes widened a bit. "No! That's not what I..."

"That's exactly what you wanted all that time", Oki interrupted her with a sad smile. "You want to live together with me. You want to be loved and to love. Deep down, you want to be mortal so that you do not have to live in a world without me when I die. You are dragging on our goodbyes in hopes of spending a shred of time more with me." He pushed the hair away from his forehead while sighing and giving a disbelieving laugh. "And you cannot even muster the courage to admit it."

Amaterasu gritted her teeth and slapped Oki with force. His face turned to dark smoke and he dispersed, only to reappear next to her once more. "You are pathetic, Amaterasu. You are the greatest of all goddesses, blessed with immortality and the power to banish evil from the face of the earth, yet you would cast it all aside for one man. That is not love. That is just sad."

"SHUT UP!" Amaterasu yelled, fighting the tears in her eyes, and punched him. Again, he dispersed into black smoke, and rematerialized into Fiara.

"You are sad, Mother Amaterasu", the phoenix girl said with a disbelieving headshake. "To think you would be jealous of even me... for being able to die, here in the Omniverse. I'm starting to think that you have brought me back just to have a few mortal souls around yourself... to forget how lonely you are. The only remaining Kami in Takamagahara, outside of the Celestial Brush Kami who are really just fractions of your power. You're jealous of that we have friends? That we can die? That one day we can cross the Sanzu river and be reincarnated with new purpose, while your duty will never end? What a sad woman you are."

Urist laughed and walked past Amaterasu, towards the path that led to Laochi Lake. "Come, Fiara. Ye don' want ta waste yer short time alive with this pathetic Prime. Life ain't gonna last us forever... we gotta make the best of it." Laughing coldly at her, they both walked along the path and soon disappeared, leaving her alone.

That was when Amaterasu clenched her fists and began to walk towards the Ark of Yamato. Before her the rainbow arc that formed a bridge between the frozen surface and the single entrance to the starfaring ship appeared, she was walking straight towards it. "You are blessed with mortality... Oki, Fiara, and even you, Urist... but I should not be jealous of you for being able to die and move on one day. I should be happy that you are given this opportunity, and for the time that we spend together I must be grateful. Grateful for that you spend that time with me. Happy that I can make you happy in however long is allocated to us. Of course I wish for the things I do not have... but we all do." She smiled a little as she began climbing the rainbow, and shed a tear. "I am happy that you will never have to watch your friends die knowing that this end will never be granted to you."

Oki

Oki found himself in Kamui as well... in much the same spot as Amaterasu had, in fact. Kutone was in his hands, and Amaterasu stood behind him, watching the crack in the ice free the starship from its frozen prison.

"Now you are going to return to your home and return to your ways of a warrior", Amaterasu said with a sweet voice. "You'll find a beautiful girl to marry and have a family."

Oki chuckled and nodded. "Perhaps... I am, unfortunately, a simple man. I cannot measure myself up to a Kami."

"Yet you long for me. You would wish to be like me, would you not? Kami of the Hunt... and mated to the Kami of the Sun."

Oki frowned but shook his head. "A simple life is all I desire, Amaterasu."

"No... you longed for more, Oki, but you stayed in Kamui. You weren't able to discard the chains that you imposed on yourself... to enjoy the same freedom that I did, of moving freely through Nippon. You stayed here in Kamui, wielding Kutone and protecting a speckle of land at the farthest reaches of the world, proclaiming yourself to be its protector. To know that the people are grateful to you for your services, never realizing the truth... does it put your mind at ease? That's nice."

"It's not that way. I would like to be free, but I also like the life I have. Perhaps I was not made for a life of adventure as you were. And if that's what was decided for me, then I am happy with it." He stepped away from the pedestal and towards Kamui. "I wish you a safe return to Takamagahara, Amaterasu. And thank you."

Fiara

The cursed island. Dante's Abyss.


The boat that would be their escape was within reach. But she could not move. Her body was buried beneath the remains of the monster that she had fought... she had died. But she was not dead.

Oddly, Fiara felt that she should not remember this. All she had seen were the recordings of Dante's Abyss, of her last fight... of how she had died so shortly before reaching her destination.

A hulking man in rotting armor, reminiscent of a Plaguelord, leant over her, and with a voice that sounded like his lungs should have stopped functioning long, with a trachea so choked with tumours that he should have suffocated long ago, asked her: "Are you disappointed? Saddened that your power was insufficient to carry your way through the Abyss?"

"Hngh... help me! Let me out of here!" yelled Fiara.

"You will die here, because you are weak, child. You have lost both immolation and immortality. Just what sort of a phoenix do you purport to be?" Okor reached down and showed Fiara the bloodied guts of the beast. "You were not even able to end this mindless monster on your own. You had to beg and barter for aid, from myself and others more worthy of survival. Yet I have survived, though I showed you pity and aided you, despite all logic."

"You were... better", Fiara admitted reluctantly, gritting her teeth. "You are a Prime. I am not. I'm mortal."

"You would love to be a Prime, would you not? To be as powerful as Amaterasu. To be able to arise once more from the ashes of your death... to spare yourself from the selfish desire to leave your loved ones without grief. You would love to have the powers that I wield. You are jealous of me... of me, the being you mistook for being a Plaguelord. What a... joke." Slowly he rose again. It was time to go.

"I desire power..." Fiara admitted, gritting her teeth. "But if you think I would want to be like you, you’re mistaken! I’ll find power for myself, so nobody has to be sad because of me anymore. Least of all Amaterasu!” Her hands fell limp as death began to set in. Just as it was time for the plague-ridden Space Marine to go, so did she need to move on. “I’ll see you soon, Mother Amaterasu. Be sure to... bring me back.” When she then closed her eyes to let her consciousness fade, she was smiling.

A big thanks goes to Okor for having written his part in the "guest appearance" for Fiara's bit! You rock, man!

11469 + 2028 = 13.497 / 20.000 words.

[Amaterasu]

Expedition, Day 14 - Day 2 of the Ascent, the afternoon

As Amaterasu crossed into the darkness that led to the bowels of the Ark of Yamato, she felt a wave of cold air rushing over her. Uneasy, she progressed. This was not how it had been... the Ark's central room was right behind the outer wall. Why was she not there yet?

In the complete darkness, she saw... no, she felt movement. Then with no warning a hand bursted out, reaching for her head. She shrieked and reflexively grasped it by its wrist before it could reach her... then slowly the darkness cleared as her consciousness returned. She had been lying on the stone floor of another cavern, propped up with her left and and with the fingers of her right one wrapped around Oki's wrist like a vice. The warrior of Kamui was leant over her, his hand centimeters away from her face. He did not move one bit. Out of the corner of her eye Amaterasu noticed Fiara and Urist too, and their faces were both surprised and shocked. The tension lingering in the room only broke when Oki let out the air in his lungs that he'd been holding and put his free hand on Amaterasu's, the one she was gripping his wrist with. "Relax, Ama. It's over now."

"Oki... you..."

"I woke up an hour ago, Fiara and Urist are also up. You took the longest." He stroked over the backs of her fingers. "Could you lighten your grip before you break my bones?" he asked.

"Sorry..." Her hand refused to obey her brain at first but slowly, one by one, her fingers opened and released Oki's wrist. "How much time has passed?"

"Senecianus says that it's still day outside... mid afternoon or so."

Amaterasu pushed herself to her feet, holding back a cough from her dry throat, and nodded. "Where is Senecianus?"

Fiara pointed towards a strange ice formation, where the wampa was sitting. It looked like a ramp coming out of the ground, spiraling upwards. When she looked up, she noticed that it reached the ceiling of the room and seemingly went on through a hole, so there was no way to tell how high up it went. Still feeling sore from the rocks she had rested on, she approached Senecianus, who slowly stood up as she came close.

“I see that you have awakened... Hmm, you too have made it through the Hall of Envy. Congratulations are in order... not many adventurers have been able to overcome the jealousy towards others in their life.”

“It... certainly wasn’t easy”, Amaterasu murmured. The trial of Lust had only brought out something natural in them, tried to influence them with a force from outside. However, the trial of Envy had dug deep into the dark corners of her mind and brought out the worst in her. The things she had wanted to lock up and never see again. When she looked back at Oki, at Urist and at Fiara she painfully remembered their laughs, the hurtful words and that she had punched Oki, despite knowing that none of it had been real.

“You have earned a... hmm, a break from the trials. The following trials will take place in caves that are further up.” It stepped backwards onto the spiral ramp and tapped it with its foot. “You can use this staircase to progress to the higher level. I will await you at the end.” It turned around and began ascending at a slow pace. Soon it rounded a corner and disappeared from view while Amaterasu grouped the others back up. They took a few minutes to adjust their clothing for a tiresome vertical ascent and Amaterasu reinforced their boots with little iron claws that would dig into the frozen ground and give them a foothold. Luckily, the ascent was not very steep and they all were physically fit.

Urist took the lead, armed with two picks in the case of falling. In preparation of the worst-case scenario they even tied a rope to their belts so as to stay locked to one another in case that one of them slid, and as the one on the front Urist was the most responsible. Amaterasu followed him, then came Fiara, and Oki took the back, ready to catch his lighter comrades should they slip and fall.

"Hey, Mother Amaterasu..." asked Fiara after a while. "What did you see?"

Amaterasu couldn't turn around as that would risk losing her grip on the floor, which made Fiara's words even more impactful because she couldn't see her. "I... I don't want to talk about it."

"Why? Did you see something bad?" she insisted. "Was it something that involved us?"

"I SAID: I don't want to TALK about it!" Amaterasu snapped at Fiara, shouting a few words. They echoed off the frozen walls and lingered for a few seconds even after she was done.

Fiara blinked, looking shocked yet again, and raised her hands defensively. "Okay! Okay, I won't... I'll stop asking..."

"I... I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me just now. I didn't..." stuttered Amaterasu, bewildered at herself. Sure the memories had been unpleasant, but that was no reason to snap at Fiara like that! There was silence behind her for a few seconds.

"No, it's fine... I shouldn't have insisted", Fiara finally replied.

"Oi, you two..." Urist stopped them. "You'd better take a look at this."

Amaterasu leant to the side to see what Urist was referring to. A large snowman was standing in their way, blocking the spiral path completely with its massive body. It was a good five meters tall with thick arms tipped by icicles that represented fingers and two blocks of dark blue ice in place of eyes. It looked down at the group before... well, had it had lips and teeth, Amaterasu would have described it as that it opened its mouth. But it only looked like the snow split in two, revealing a large hole but with no throat or other connections as a living being would have it. The roar that came from inside however was that of a living monster, a roar that shook the cavern and the group to their bones. A few icicles loosened from the ceiling and fell down like a hail of deadly arrows, but luckily the spiral ramp above their heads protected them from it.

"DOWN!" yelled Urist, just in time for them all to lay flat on the ground, held only by the rope and Urist's ice picks. The snowman's arm swept over their heads, the deadly icicles that it had as fingers only barely missing Oki's head. Visibly angered, it growled again while rearing up to slam its hands down and squash them. Oki was the first to come back to his feet, he charged forward and stabbed Kutone deep into the snowman's lower body in one fluid motion. The snowman, visibly unimpressed, attempted to smack him off the edge but Oki leapt onto its arm and ran up along it. He buried his blade deep into the snowman's arm at the shoulder, trying to cut it off. But Kutone got stuck halfway through and he was forced to let go of it for a second to dodge another attack.

"This blasted thing's got ice bones or something! Careful!" he yelled while ripping Kutone out. The cut had almost immediately healed back up… or rather, closed. The snow simply stuck back together. Fiara attempted to fire a few shots of her Phoenix Blasters at the beast’s head, but it barely took notice of the hits. Urist didn’t even bother, knowing that his efforts would be wasted. Amaterasu however felt it… this was HER time to act.

“Urist, Fiara… withdraw. Slide down the staircase a distance. Oki and I will take care of this.”

“Ama? What are ye plannin’?”

“What Kami would I be if I could not take on a simple snow construct? OKI! GO FOR THE NECK!” she yelled. The Oina warrior would likely not be able to deal any permanent damage but she needed to get time… and to behead this beast was to blind it. But with Kutone he couldn’t deal the final blow… or rather, not without her aid. As she drew her Celestial Brush and painted a circle onto her coat, she remembered her fight against the construct-type beings that she had battled in Nippon. Without exception, they had a weak point… a crystal that contained the magic energy binding them together. This snowman couldn’t be much different, as the snow it was made of wasn’t organic. It couldn’t be a possessing spirit either because the snowman was roaring and moving its limbs in a very “living being” way… possessing spirits did not do that. As the circle was completed, a single word left her lips: “Taiyo.” Just then, the lid popped off on one of the golden ink pots on her sash and glittery dust poured out, flying into the air and forming a tiny sun above their heads.

Oki, who had been struggling against the ice monster while Amaterasu worked her magic, stopped and blinked as the bright sunlight filled the room. He held onto Kutone which he had rammed deep into the snowman’s neck, but not found himself able to sever the connections to its head, as the snowman leant back and gave a deep groan. “Is that your doing?!” he asked Amaterasu who stood on the ramp, the spikes on her boots dug into the icy surface and keeping a foothold for her.

“It is. Hold it for just a little longer.” She raised her hands, liberating the Yasakani no Magatama from around her waist and sending one after another of the little beads flying at the snowman. Normally they would have done little damage, only chipped off parts of its icy claws, but this… this was different. Each bead broke one of the ice-fingers or sent the snowman stumbling backwards from the sheer force. She recalled them to herself after expending all twelve and started right anew, sending the snowman back a little more with each strike. Before long its ten claws were shattered and almost harmless and its body was littered with dozens of little holes where the beads had struck. And yet they kept healing, the snow just reformed and the holes disappeared as if they had never existed. But, Amaterasu was okay with that. It was all part of her plan after all.

Left with no way to attack and with each attempt at a strike being met with one of the sun goddess’s projectiles the snowman began to defend. It used its arms to cover its chest and head and tried to shake Oki off, though the brave warrior held on tight. Amaterasu’s attacks were too widely placed for the snowman to fully cover itself however, so it needed to leave some parts of itself open in order to protect others. These other places were what Amaterasu looked for… the essential areas.

“Oki, now!” she finally shouted. The warrior needed not ask: he held on with his legs alone as he pulled Kutone from the snowman’s neck and plunged it deep into its shoulder, then ripped it downward in a brutal motion. The snowman’s right arm fell to the ground with a wet splat, cleanly severed from its torso. The howl it let out in response was more an angry one than one of pain though. Oki meanwhile fell off, the attack having forced him to slide down along the snowman’s back to use gravity to strengthen his blow and to cut through the ice bones. He stepped back from the construct to avoid being squashed beneath it.

“What now?”

“Stay where you are. I’ll finish this…” Amaterasu pulled the Celestial Brush again and let the power flow through her. Rapidly she drew a Q shape into the air, whispering another word: “Baku.” Obeying her drawn command a Cherry Bomb materialized directly beneath the snowman. The construct saw the danger and batted it away with its arm, towards Amaterasu, but in doing so exposed itself. It was time to finish this.

Dodging the bomb with a leap, the sun goddess brought herself into range, and painted a straight horizontal line straight across the snowman’s chest, while speaking the third incantation in this battle: “Kiru”. The bomb exploded behind her as golden ink flooded forth and shaped into a slash that cut the snowman clean in half through the middle of its torso, and in doing so revealed the icy core that was sustaining it: a blue gem whose eerie blue glow pulsed like a heart’s. Oki needed no callout, when he saw the snowman’s upper half fall aside he leapt forward and, before the gem could regenerate any part of the snowman that would have protected it his gloved hand grasped and pried it from its hiding spot. The snowman’s pieces, now scattered across three spots, stopped moving on the spot and fell apart into loose piles of regular snow.

“Ama! Ye did it!” Urist shouted as he climbed back up to Oki’s and her level. Fiara was climbing behind him, struggling to keep up with the excited dwarf’s speeds. After all they were still tied together by the rope. Amaterasu was panting with exhaustion as the fake sun disappeared from above their heads and she returned the Yasakani no Magatama to its place. Casting three Celestial Brush spells in quick succession hadn’t made her break a sweat before, but now… she felt a bit dizzy-headed, even. Was this the Omniverse’s doing? Had she lost so much of her powers that it had weakened her to the point she was at now? Well… it would not be forever this way, would it.

“Good work… Urist, can you try to destroy this gem?”

“Hmm, you really should not, if you wish to make it to the top…”

Amaterasu spun around. There was Senecianus, sitting on a protrusion on one of the walls. “What do you mean?” she asked. She didn’t try to mask the annoyance in her voice. She was starting to dislike this wampa.

“Well, the gem… no, the snowman, it’s part of the ascent… mmmh, and the gem, you will need that if you want to open the gate… the gate that is at the top of this spiral ramp.”

“A key?” Oki asked. The glove he was holding the gem with was frozen over by now, due to the gem’s magic aura.

“Yes, you could call it that.” It produced a leather satchel from the folds of its fur and tossed it over the chasm into Oki’s hands. “Put it in there. To protect yourself from its magic… mmm, if you want to do that.”

Oki obliged and attached the satchel to his backpack. Then Urist helped Amaterasu and him attach themselves back to the rope in the same order they had begun their ascent on and they began to climb while Senecianus watched.

“You lied to us”, remarked Amaterasu as the wampa started to disappear from their field of view when they reached a turn on the spiral. “You said that we have earned a break from the trials.”

“Mmmh, well. The snowman was not a trial. It was a guardian not associated to any of the tests”, it responded. When they had circled enough of the spiral to be facing the protrusion again, the wampa was no longer sitting there. Frustrated, Amaterasu buttoned up her coat a bit tighter and dug her boots into the ice, falling silent.

When they reached the top after what felt like hours of increasingly tedious walking all four of them were very tired. Their legs were burning and twitching, they were hungry and Amaterasu and Oki had trouble even keeping on their feet after the exertion they had gone through, although Urist and Fiara weren’t much better off. Once more, the wampa was awaiting them, though Amaterasu paid little attention to its words. It congratulated them on the ascension and took the gem from Oki, placing it onto a pedestal of sorts. To this, a massive ice wall opened before them, letting them into yet another hall with another exit that would lead further up. She barely took notice of all that.

That evening Urist cooked up a warm meal for them from their provisions as Fiara set up the tents. Oki and Amaterasu could only sit down, eat without a word and finally go to sleep, leaving the dwarf and the phoenix girl to clean up and follow them into the tents. None of them were aware of Senecianus who emerged from the dark cave entrance that they would advance through. Once more, it sat down near that entrance and observed the tents, listening to the steadying breathing as one after another they fell asleep.

“Mmmh… you have made it past the guardian of snow, and through the trials of Lust and Envy…” it spoke, as if addressing them even though not one of them heard its words. “But I wonder how much more you will last through the ascent…” Picking up a heap of snow from the ground, it formed a snowball and tossed it into the air, following its ascent and descent with tired eyes. “Hmm, though you have braved two of the seven caves, your sins are piling up on your back… the burden grows ever larger, and your spirit, your willpower, is corroded. Will you be able to pass the trial of Wrath despite these hardships, I wonder?”

13497 + 2925 = 16.422 / 20.000 words.

Amaterasu has used T1 Power-Up:  Celestial Brush: Sunrise and T1 Super Attack: Power Slash (SP: 4/6)

[Amaterasu]

Expedition, Day 15 - Day 3 of the Ascent

The Third Hall: Wrath

Warning: Contains strong language. Viewer discretion is advised.

The following morning, all four of them slept in a bit to recover from the strain put on them by the previous day. Urist eventually woke Amaterasu to have her summon something for their breakfast - or rather brunch, seeing how they were going to eat near noon - and even then they needed a little time to get themselves into gear. Senecianus was waiting for them all that time, observing them from near the exit where it had been sitting all night and morning. Fiara offered for it to join them but it politely declined.

After they finished packing up, extracting Omnilium and restocking their provisions just in case, they approached the wampa once more. "You want to, hmm... to go on, I see?"

"Yes," said Oki. "The exit is through this tunnel, isn't it?"

"The way to the next trial, indeed... follow me." It got up and stepped through the entrance into the darkness beyond. The group followed closely. They did not need to walk long before turning a corner and entering the next cavern.

Amaterasu had to raise her arm to guard her face from the gust of hot air that hit her as she stepped into the area. Before them extended an enormous open space colored in all shades of red and orange. In the middle stood a small volcano in a constant cycle of fusion, spewing chunks of red-hot rock and burning ash up and pouring masses of lava into rivers that branched out into all parts of the cavern, like blood veins surrounding a pumping heart. The ground was covered in giant carved depictions of demonic faces baring their teeth in a display of boundless rage! Some had widely open screaming maws and from them tongues, no, fountains of fire erupted as if they were yelling their anger out at their peers! EXPLOSIONS TORE UP THE GROUND AS THE WRATH OF THE VERY ROOM MANIFESTED IN MONSTROUS OUTBURSTS AND COMPETED WITH THE RAGE OF THE VOLCANO AND THIS ENRAGED THE VOLCANO EVEN FURTHER AS IT WAS NOT HEARD ANYMORE AND THE DEMONS GREW ANGRIER AS WELL!!! AS RAGE CLASHED AGAINST RAGE THEY BECAME ENRAGED AT BEING SHOUTED AT SO THEY YELLED LOUDER YET AND OH MY GOD THEY FELT LIKE THEY COULD EXPLODE ANY SECOND AND ENGULF EVERYTHING WITH THE FIRES OF THEIR ANGER THEY WERE GOING TO-

"Bruenor's beard, just BEIN' 'ere drives me up tha walls!" Urist yelled. Angrily he kicked a rock aside. "Let's move on! SENECIANUS, WHERE THA FUCK HAVE YA GON-"

"SHUT UP, shorty, you're not giving us orders!" Fiara shouted, glaring at Urist, who turned around and glared right back. Fiara's Phoenix Blasters activated and the flames around her wrists, indicating the intensity of her emotions, engulfed both arms.

"Look who's talkin' now! You think you're the boss? You think you're smarter than me, hmm? HMM?"

"I'm more the boss than you are, shorty! And I don't take orders from a filthy mole whose head's only good enough to remember nursery rhymes!"

"WHAT DID YE FUCKIN' CALL ME?!" Urist yelled, his face turning a dark shade of red. He reached the climbing pick from his belt.

"STOP IT, YOU TWO!" Oki yelled. Though the mask was obscuring his features he was angered as well, barely able to contain it. He stepped between the two of them and resisted Fiara as she tried to shove him aside. "Fiara, put your Blasters away!"

"YOU'RE NOT MY DAD! GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

Amaterasu's head was aching. The actions of her three comrades were driving her up the walls. She wanted to punch Fiara, to kick Urist, to stab Oki. Visions were flooding her mind of unleashing her rage in increasingly gruesome displays of goring, mutilating, torturing her friends, of destroying everything around her, of burning Earth to a crisp by throwing it into the sun. Of burn those three to a crisp by throwing them into the molten rock. Shuddering, she forced the visions back and waved her hand, bringing the Yasakani no Magatama around her neck. Her hand gripped at the jade beads, using them as improvised stress balls. She had to get herself under control. She could not let this anger gain control of her.

"Quit it. All three of you." She put all the calmness that she could into her words, but it was hard to keep it in. Like a kettle with no openings, she felt like she would eventually explode.

Urist was the first to turn his head, but Fiara spoke before him. "And YOU are not my mother! Leave us alone!" She swung her fist, surprising Oki, and landed a shot with her Phoenix Blaster that sent him flying backwards. Then she stepped towards Urist who was eagerly awaiting her... only for the both of them to turn in unison as one of the head sculptures exploded in a fiery geyser, yelling: "SHUT UP!!!" off the top of their lungs. They hardly cared that said sculpture had been mere meters from where they stood.

"I ought ta kill ya, bitch", Urist said. The pointed tip of his pick shimmered in the flames.

"You think you can, SHORTY?! You're driving me nuts just standing here! YOU'RE NOT EVEN ONE OF US!"

"SAYS THA GIRL THA'S DONE NOTHIN' BUT BE A USELESS BITCH THIS WHOLE FUCKIN' TRIP!"

"Raikou."

This last word had not been said by Fiara or Urist... it came from Amaterasu's mouth. She had moved away from them towards the center of the cave, and with her Celestial Brush in hand she had drawn a ϟ symbol before her, which began to fly upwards. Thick thunderclouds gathered around the symbol painted in golden ink, obscuring the red ceiling. Fiara was about to retaliate but her words got stuck in her throat when she noticed what Amaterasu had done. "T-this... But you can't..."

"Gekigami, this technique that you bestowed on me... Thunderstorm... it is coming to be used in a far different way than I anticipated", the Sun Goddess spoke with her eyes closed. The thunderclouds above her head increased in size and thickened, casting a big shadow. "Maybe the Lightning Tiger anticipated that his aid would be needed and reached out to me before our departure." Urist understood not why Fiara was so scared, but he understood that Amaterasu had just unleashed something truly frightening. Then the lightning bolts began to fall.

Amaterasu had moved so as to stand as close to the volcano as she could. One after another the lightning bolts struck the crater, overwhelming the sound of the eruptions and explosions beneath and bursting the rocks that were sent upwards. Under the barrage of lightning the rocks fell back down and filled the crater, creating a lid that held the lava inside. With no supply of heat from outside the numerous lava flows began to cool and darkened from the infuriating red to dark red and jet black. When the clouds dissipated ten seconds after the first bolt had struck, the cave was much more silent than it had been before, though the occasional explosion and fire geyser still disturbed the landscape.

Having vented her anger and forced back the elements, Amaterasu dropped to her knees. Fiara, freed from the spell, rushed over to help her up while Urist, confused as if waking up from a nightmare, went to help Oki. The warrior was only a little injured, what had kept him down was the shock of Fiara's blow. But Amaterasu left them with little time to recover. "We have to get out before the volcano erupts again", she warned. None of them needed any explanations nor did they doubt her... they could already feel the anger inside them boiling back up. In a rush to leave this place, they ran towards the exit, where Senecianus with its white and blue fur stood out like an oasis in a desert. The earth rumbled beneath their feet as they leapt across ditches with more lava and ran over more sculpted faces which now were silenced.

"Ahh... hmm, you have made it... you have passed the Trial of Wrath. You are very endurant, indeed... only two challengers braved this trial in the past..." It spoke while standing up as they arrived. "Follow me... the exit is straight, hmmm, ahead." As it had been the times before, this exit was a dark cave entrance leading them into the unknown. They took each other's hands as they walked, forming a chain. After the things they had just said they needed the closeness.

"Hey, y'know..." Urist started as they arrived in another small cavern. "Even though there was lava all 'round, we didn' take off our jackets. We didn' feel hot."

"Come to think of it, you're right", Oki exclaimed. "Perhaps another illusion?"

"But Ama's lightning destroyed the volcano. So it's gotta hav' been a real thing."

"It could have been like the flames from my arms", remarked Fiara. "Flames fueled by emotion, striking higher the more extreme someone's feelings are."

"I also noticed... Senecianus did not give us an introduction this time", remarked Amaterasu. The wampa, despite being only a few meters away from them, seemed not to take notice that it was being spoken about, and sat down near the next cave exit. This place looked a lot like the one they had seen after passing the Trial of Lust...

"Hmm, so... I imagine that you wish to rest again?" it asked.

"How long did we take?" asked Oki.

"It's... mmmmh, early afternoon outside. You passed the Trial of Wrath in a short time."

"Let's not force it, Oki", Urist interrupted. "Ama has spent 'erself gettin' us through that place, yer injured and you both are still not recovered from yesterday. Without ya both we wouldn' be makin' progress."

"And I really need a bath after running through all that ash", added Fiara. With Amaterasu also being in favor of staying the three of them convinced Oki to not force themselves through the next Trial, whatever that may be, and sat down. The rest of the day was spent setting up camp in the cave, warming themselves, taking turns with bathing behind the tents, and sharing stories. None of them wanted to speak about the Trials, and they were happy that none of the respective others brought it up.

Like the Trial of Envy, Wrath had brought forth things in them that were hidden deep inside, but that were real. It had accentuated, forced them to an extreme, pushed them to the limits and simultaneously stripped them all of their inhibitions to speak these things out aloud. But there was a grain of truth in each of them.

Despite the relatively short day they went to sleep feeling worn-out and with their heads stuck around thinking back to what had happened in the cave. Oki's injuries had been treated by Amaterasu and they both felt physically fit to continue just fine, but the real problem was the burden of the spirit. And they knew not how much longer they could take it.

16422 + 1834 = 18.256 / 20.000 words.

Amaterasu has regenerated her SP over the course of the night (6/6) and used Super Move T2 - Celestial Brush: Thunderstorm (4/6)

[Amaterasu]

Expedition, Day 16 - Day 4 of the Ascent

The Fourth Hall: Gluttony

"I see that you are... mmmh, ready to continue?"

Once more, Amaterasu, Oki, Urist and Fiara stood before Senecianus once more, their tents and provisions packed up and ready to continue. Senecianus's question seemed rhethoric, but Amaterasu replied anyway: "Yes. Please lead us on."

"Certainly. Please... mmm, follow me." Once more the wampa stood up, led them through the cavern exit into a dark tunnel and along a pair of twists and turns. This time, Amaterasu smelled the new cavern before she saw it, however. The irresistible scent of food entered her nostrils, filled her lungs and made her stomach grumble hungrily. The dried fruit and warming soup that they had eaten for breakfast suddenly felt insufficient both in quantity and in quality.

Then they rounded the last corner of the tunnel and were awestruck at the sight: this cave was a large hall built like a bazaar, with paved streets criss-crossing through a veritable culinary maze. Indeed, rather than simple buildings and establishments the streets were lined with snack cars, takeaways, restaurants, butcheries, bakeries, confectioneries, breweries, cafes, bars, divided by green park areas where trees bending under the weight of not just fruit, but sausages, cupcakes, oven-fresh bread loaves and liquorice bars lined the pathways. Each park had a large fountain in its center which ran with wine, fruit juices and other drinks, and was guarded by gingerbread men armed with candy canes. There were rivers and little waterfalls of chocolate milk with spaghetti growing along the shore instead of reeds, and roasted, steamed or baked fish were swimming around inside it. Amaterasu also noticed large pools of molten cheese with plants hanging large round bags above them, which she suspected to be something tasting like meatballs.

Feeling dizzy, she turned her head to the sky, trying to ignore the flood of smells and the immense hunger that overcame her - and was nearly knocked over by a sushi roll with tiny wings that flew straight towards her exposed mouth. The hit made her stumble several steps back into Oki, who caught her with a laugh while the sushi roll flew over their heads with forceful flaps, seemingly annoyed that it had not been eaten.

"Everything alright?" asked Oki as he helped her back to her feet.

"Yeah, that thing just caught me by surprise." She looked around. "This place... I feel dizzy just looking at it."

"If we start eating we won't be able to stop, I imagine", Oki agreed. "Guys, let's get going. Just don't focus on the smells and you'll be okay... guys?"

Fiara and Urist had not been able to resist. The dwarf had pulled one of the round bag-shaped fruits off of its plant and was digging into it not just with his mouth, but his entire face. Drops of plant fat were leaking into his beard and dripping to the ground. It would have been unappetizing in any regular society, but here his display of boundless hunger and the smell of minced meat roasted with onion was making her stomach grumble. As for Fiara, she was chasing after a man-sized gummy bear, wielding a... liquorice spear? As the bear ran by Oki and her she felt strangely compelled to strike it down and dig her teeth into its body too. But... no, she couldn’t.

“Well, it would seem... hmm, that you need no introduction to this area. It is the Trial of Gluttony... your self-control in the... mmmh, face of another physical pleasure next to Lust, the pleasure of eating and drinking, is tested.”

“We’ve noticed. Where is the exit?” asked Amaterasu.

“Over that way... just, hmm, pass through the center of these streets and you will find it. And if I may give you some advice, keep your friends from sating their hunger. They will regret each bite that they take.” With that the wampa rounded a corner and disappeared behind a hot dog stand. Amaterasu and Oki split up, with Oki grabbing the dwarf and Amaterasu going for the phoenix. They had to pinch their noses and close their eyes to avoid falling for the succulent food waiting all over for them, and Fiara screamed and thrashed around like a kid when Amaterasu grabbed her and dragged her away from the gummy bear.

“I’M HUNGRY! I WANT TO EAT THIS BEAR! IT’S CALLING MY NAME!” she yelled. She had been angry before, but she had never thrown a tantrum like this. When Amaterasu looked back she saw that Oki was struggling with Urist in a similar manner.

“Do you not realize what you’re doing?! None of this is real! By giving in to your short-term desires you are driving yourself to fail the bigger picture! Snap out of it!”

“NO! I WANT TO STUFF MYSELF! I’M HUNGRY! LET ME GO!” She tried to hit Amaterasu with the liquorice stick, which did as little damage as one would expect. Regardless, she gave Fiara’s hand a push, forcing her to drop it. And Fiara began to drum her left hand and the liquorice stick against her arm in an attempt to get her to let go.

Wait. Where was that other liquorice bar coming from? She adjusted her grip to hold Fiara’s arms in place for just long enough that she could see what was going on. Her eyes widened when she realized and she just about froze in place.

“I DON’T WANT to... hey, what’s the matter?” asked Fiara. The sudden stopping of Amaterasu’s resistance got her sceptic. She followed where her eyes were looking.. and screamed.

Her entire right hand and arm up to the elbow had turned into liquorice. It wasn’t just covered by the black candy. It was the real thing. Her fingers had turned to chubby rolls attached to a single larger one which seamlessly connected to her elbow. The Phoenix Blasters were the only thing stilll normal about her.

With her left hand she tried to claw at it, to tear it off, all the while screaming with pure horror. Soon Urist joined the chorus for a veritable cacophony when he realized that his glorious beard had turned into spaghetti and the face beneath was a giant meatball resting atop his shoulders. “WHA’S GOIN’ ON? WHA’S HAPPENIN’ WITH ME?!”

Amaterasu recalled Senecianus’s warning... ‘They will regret each bite that they take’, it had told them. How horribly right it had been. “Pinch your noses and close your eyes”, she ordered, and both couldn’t have done it any faster if she had held a gun to their heads. Oki led Urist back to Amaterasu. There they all closed their eyes and pinched their noses.

“We have to get out of here... perhaps, just like the Trial of Lust, this transformation shall be reversed if we escape the cave”, Oki spoke. “But how will we do it without falling for the food along the way?”

“... here, I have an idea. Use your left hand to grab the arm of the person to your left... make a circle, facing towards each other”, ordered Amaterasu. Fiara was to her left, Urist to her right. She took a breath of air through her mouth then let go of her nose, swiftly making her Yasakani no Magatama split into four smaller chains with three beads each, that wrapped around the left wrist and right arm of all four of them and locked them together. This way they could not remove their hands or pull their arm away. “Okay, and now think of rotten food. Of foul, putrid meat, dark green, festering, crawling with maggots, reeking of decay... and speak about it. Describe it in detail to each other.”

Urist looked a little green as Oki caught on and hastily began to describe the imagined rotten meat’s scent in such painstaking detail that Amaterasu could almost smell it. Oki and her turned the circle in such a way that they stood on the left and right, with Fiara facing the way which they came from and Urist the way they were headed. With glances at each other they took turns in looking forward, along the pathway that led them through the cave, until the sights made their stomachs grumble and they needed to take a breather with their eyes closed and their attention turned to the talking. They advanced very slowly this way, but none of them succumbed to the numerous stands and the enticing words that the shopkeepers were shouting at them, praising their ‘wares’. However, Urist struggled against the bonds a few times, as did Fiara. They had gotten a taste of the inconcievably delicious flavours presented to them in this cave, of the foods and drinks more heavenly in taste than Ambrosia, the food of the gods. Despite their mutations, they were aching for more.

After what felt like hours of slowly crab-walking sideways, navigating the maze of food stands and everything between them, they arrived. Senecianus was, as usual, patiently awaiting them at the exit of the cave. Wordlessly it stood up and led them through the dark tunnel. As they stepped through and hastily left the area the temperature rapidly dropped and the smells disappeared. Soon they emerged into a cave, yet another that looked just like the one that they had been in before beginning the trial. They opened their eyes and breathed in through their noses, but all that they saw and smelled was ice and snow, rocks and dirt, and each other.

“Hmm... you have passed the Trial of Gluttony as well”, the wampa spoke. “I congratulate you on your... mmmhm, on your perseverance.”

“Bu... me beard! It’s still...” Urist exclaimed. Indeed, his beard was still spaghetti, and his head was still an oversized meatball. Amaterasu checked and indeed, Fiara’s arm was also still liquorice. The phoenix looked away but Amaterasu could see the tears forming in the corner of her eyes. Tears of desasperation, of worry.

“Ah, yes... hmmh, those are, you would say, punishments. You have not been able to restrain yourselves entirely, you have proven that gluttony has a grip on you. Only if you show restraint and self-control, if you prove that your spirit can overcome the sins, will you be allowed to regain your regular form.”

“Senecianus... what would have happened had we kept indulging in the pleasure? Had we not been stopped by Ammy and Oki?” Fiara asked, although she felt like she knew the answer. She rolled back the sleeve on her arm to check if there were any other hints of corruption on her, as soon as Amaterasu had undone the bindings. Luckily there were none.

“Mmm, then you would have kept eating and with each bite you would have become more like that which you eat... eventually you would have become two more edibles among the others.”

“Wait”, spoke Oki. “Does that mean that the beings we came across were... that they were...”

“Not all of them”, Senecianus said while standing up. “But yes... some of the, hmmh, edibles in the Hall of Gluttony are those who succumbed to mindless eating frenzies, to the pleasures of the tongue and nose, and turned into a part of the Trial itself. Their souls remain stuck in the food and will only move onwards when they are eaten... the sushi roll that tried to fly into Amaterasu’s mouth was one such soul, for instance.”

Oki bared his teeth. “They do not deserve such horrid punishment. They may be stuck for years, decades even!”

“Such is the nature of the trials, Oki”, Senecianus replied simply. “There would be little point in them if there was no risk at stake.” With that it moved away, to the other end of the cave, to wait for them to come and continue.

Amaterasu shook her head. “Oki, I will remember this place... and I will return to it, one way or another, and ensure that these souls find release. I promise. Now come, let us set up our tents and end the day.”

At this point she had no idea of how soon her promise would be put to the test.

18256 + 2016 = 20.272 / 20.000 words.

Amaterasu has regenerated her SP over the course of the night (6/6).

[Amaterasu]

Expedition, Day 16 - Day 4 of the Ascent, Nighttime

The Fourth Hall: Gluttony (Part 2)

The evening came and went and night fell over the group. Not that they had any way of knowing, with daylight not reaching them in the depths of the mountain so that the glowing minerals on the floor, walls and ceiling were all the light that was provided to them, besides their lanterns. Those sources of light were constant, so the only way of telling the time was by how energetic they felt.

They laid down, this time without pitching tents but instead in sleeping bags gathered around a campfire, and swiftly fell asleep. The poor Urist and Fiara had a difficult sleep, the experiences from the Hall of Gluttony plaguing them and resulting in nightmares that made them thrash around in their sleep. Amaterasu on the other hand got no sleep at all. Her mind was wide awake, thinking back to what Senecianus had told them and repeating its words time and time again. The punishment for succumbing to one’s gluttony was to become food, to be tormented for however long it took before someone else made it there and ate them. Surrounded by the very items that had caused them to become imprisoned in their own body, unable to move on in any way but to make someone else take their place… it was terrible. A fate worse than death.

She sat up and let her eyes wander through the room. Oki, Fiara and Urist were sound asleep… Senecianus was still sitting in the same spot, and judging by how its head was down with the chin against its chest, she imagined that it was sleeping too. Her mind cleared. She felt oddly calm about this… slowly she sat up and adjusted her clothes, but left her Yasakani no Magatama behind on her bedsheets. “I’m sorry”, she whispered. “You will have to finish the ascent without me.” They had enough to brave the mountain on their own even without her aid. She would not come back.

After again ensuring that nobody had noticed her she snuck back, to the tunnel through which they had entered the cavern they were in now: the one leading back to the Hall of Gluttony. It was pitch-black after only a few steps but by feeling around with her hands she was able to make out the walls and move along them. Soon the temperature rose and the exit lit up before her, then the smell of food filled her nostrils. She had arrived. It was as enticing as before, her body wanted to leap into the fray and stuff itself to the bursting point and beyond, but she was able to hold herself in check surprisingly easy. She sat down on a bench made of speculoos and closed her eyes, focusing and summoning a large wooden tube with a trumpet-like opening at the end, to make her voice heard across the entire area.

When she opened her eyes again, Senecianus was standing before her, looking at her. It seemed serious and… energetic. Normally it had a tired posture and manner of speech. Now it stood straight and spoke normally.

“The trial is over. What are you doing here again?”

Amaterasu stood up and grabbed the instrument she had just summoned. “You know what I’m here for.”

“Are you aware of what you’re about to do?”

“Of course.” She peeked through the hole at the tip to ensure that the tube was not obstructed.

“Your actions will not change anything.”

Amaterasu ignored the wampa as she brought the horn to her lips and blew with full force. The sound that emerged was deep and majestic and rumbled through one’s very bones. After she had done so, she shouted into the tube. “To all those who are trapped in this cave because they ate and were turned: come to the exit! Gather where you can hear my voice. I will set every one of you free!” She then put the horn down, holding back tears. She would eat each and every single one of the edibles in which those poor souls were captured and shoulder their combined sins in exchange of their release. Without doubt the eating frenzy would turn her into food herself, and because she could not bring it on her conscience to make someone else take her place she would spend eternity here. But one life was a small exchange for the freedom of many souls, no matter how many there may be.

“Your actions will not change anything”, Senecianus repeated, this time with a hint of anger in its voice. “Others will come and they will endure this trial or fail it and become more food. Are you so delusional as to believe that your actions will make a difference?”

“They may only bring salvation to a handful of souls, Senecianus, that is all the difference I seek to make. I know that I cannot save everyone. But even if I could save only one of them in exchange of my life I would happily do so.”

“You can still turn back before it is too late. Your friends will fail without you. Can you bear the weight of knowing that they will not succeed because of you?”

Amaterasu chuckled as the first of the trapped souls came, some by flight and others on foot. The flying sushi roll she had seen earlier today was among them. “They will make it through. You underestimate them, Senecianus. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a feast to devour.” She walked down the street, meeting the edibles in the middle, and spoke to all of them: “Please, line up. The order does not matter, I will save you all. I want you to make me eat you, no matter what. If you must force yourselves into my stomach or hold my mouth open, do so. Every last one of you.”

Hesitantly at first, likely unable to believe that this was really happening, the edibles obliged, getting into a line. Amaterasu loosened her sash in anticipation of a full stomach and, once more holding back tears knowing that she would never see Oki and Fiara… and even Urist again, grasped the first one in line, a gingerman, and dug in.

With each bite she could hear the soul becoming a little less tied to the food, but only when the two feet were eaten and swallowed did it get released completely. Amaterasu heard its relieved howl as it flew up and vanished, passing into the afterlife that it had been denied for so long. But there was no time for emotions. She grasped the next, a roasted salmon that was flopping in the arms of its friend, a gummy bear that handed it to Amaterasu, and continued. Now the tears were flowing, both because the flavors on her mouth were beyond anything she had ever imagined and because she felt that every bite brought her closer to the point of no return. She could already feel warmth on her feet. Were they turning to gingerbread already? She did not check. There was neither the time nor did she think that she could bear the sight.

For the next hour, Amaterasu ate. Her stomach seemed bottomless as even after eating the gummy bear which itself had more mass than her entire body her belly did not show anything. Her hunger and appetite were nonexistent… despite how good the food tasted, feeling that she was here for a reason cut her desire to eat for the pleasure of it, and had the beings she ate been regular food from the Hall of Gluttony rather than captured souls, she would have stopped on the spot. The line was longer than expected: a total of fifteen individuals had come. She released each of them, focusing only on what was before her… until nobody else came. The line was done.

“I have… finished…” gasped Amaterasu. She wondered what she looked like. No doubt were her face, her hair, her hands a mess, but how had eating so many different foods changed her? Was she a gingerbread gummy bear fish hamburger chicken rice nori hybrid, a gastronomical homunculus? She was afraid to look at herself.

“Hmm… you have saved every last soul after all”, said Senecianus. Its voice was back to the tired, calm tone and it was bent forward, sitting on the chocolate road that Amaterasu was also on. “I must say… I can hardly believe that you pulled it through. Nobody has ever done this before.”

“Thanks…” Amaterasu said. She wiped the tears from her eyes, wondering if they were now sake or something. “Are the souls saved?”

“Mmm… they have all passed on, indeed.”

“Then I have no more regrets. Just… please tell my friends that I’m sorry that I cannot accompany them any longer.”

“Hmm… why do you say so?”

Startled, Amaterasu replied: “Well, I mean… I ate not one, but fifteen different edibles in the Hall of Gluttony. I succumbed to my desires and stuffed myself without need.”

“You are mistaken”, Senecianus replied. “Look at yourself.”

Amaterasu hesitantly lowered her eyes and gasped: her clothes were a mess, her arms were covered in gravy, oil, crumbs and other things and her feet were nearly buried in molten chocolate that she now realized was what she had felt earlier - her body warmth must have melted the chocolate road - but it was still her! She had not transformed in the slightest. “But… how…”

“You did not eat for the pleasure of eating. You ate to save others, out of necessity. What’s more, you were conscious of the consequences and yet you sacrificed yourself for the good of strangers. Gluttony however is a sin that one commits to the detriment of others, depriving them of food so that one may indulge in pleasure. Thus you proved that your soul is pure, free of the sin of gluttony, and the curse that has turned others into edibles could not take root inside your body.”

“I… see.” She replied. Slowly she grasped the situation and a smile spreaded on her face. “So that means that I can see the others again? That I can continue my journey with Urist, with Fiara… with Oki?”

“Yes.” The wampa stood up and made a grimace that Amaterasu could not interpret. “Although I would recommend that you take a bath and summon new clothes for yourself before returning”, it added with a teasing tone. So that grimace must have been a grin.

“Oh… yes, of course.” Luckily there was a river of apple juice not far from the road, which Amaterasu submerged herself in and let the running water wash away the mess. She also extracted the Omnilium out of the horn and her old clothes and summoned new, fresh ones. Twenty minutes after she had gone to find the river she came back and Senecianus wordlessly led her back through the tunnel.

Oki, Fiara and Urist were already waiting for her, and Fiara nearly knocked her down when she tackle-hugged her. “MOTHER AMATERASU!” she yelled, tears of joy in her eyes. Oki joined them and hugged both of them since Fiara clung to Amaterasu as if she hadn’t seen her for ages.

“When we saw your empty bedroll and your Prayer Bead chain we figured out where you were pretty soon”, he explained. “I saw the footprints leading back to the cave, and pieced together the rest… Ama, don’t do this ever again! Fiara nearly had a heart attack.”

“I did not!” the girl yelled, but then looked at Amaterasu. “But Oki’s right. Never ever do that again.”

“I’m sorry, you guys… but hey, I made it. I saved the trapped people… ate all of them, too.”

“You ATE them?!” Fiara yelled. “I thought you were going to use your Prime powers to… extract their Omnilium or build an altar and pray for them or something!” She clung tighter. “How are you not turned to food?”

“... it’s a long story”, she admitted. “Let’s lay back down while I tell you. I’m cold.”

“Good idea”, replied Oki. “I’ll organize breakfast while we’re at it… Ama, want some of the leftovers from last dinner? There’s mackerel don.”

Amaterasu laughed at this. “Please don’t bring up the subject ‘food’ anymore, for a while.”

20272 + 2048 = 22.320 / 20.000 words.

[Amaterasu]

Expedition, Day 17 - Day 5 of the Ascent

The Fifth Hall: Pride

Despite Amaterasu’s initial protest she felt hungry the next morning she ate the dried meat offered by Oki from their provisions, and even Urist and Fiara, whose appetite was sorely lacking after having their bodies transformed - they still had their arm and head, respectively, turned into food - ate something to keep them going. Neither knew how they would be able to show ‘restraint and self-control’, as Senecianus had put it, but they had agreed that starving themselves was not the way to go.

The wampa spoke as if the events from last night had never taken place: “Are you ready… mmmh, to continue the journey?”

“Yes”, said Amaterasu. “Please lead us to the next trial.”

“Ah… right this way… hmmh, please follow me.” It stood and led them, as it had done before, through a darkened tunnel and into a new room.

“Welcome”, it spoke as they arrived, “to the Trial of Pride.” It let them pass and take in the sights. Before them extended a large ruin of what had to have been a big castle once, looking like it was of dwarven origin. Unlike most other rooms which held no snow or ice, this one had stone walls, a coat of snow covering the ruins and in some parts ice blocking the path or making the stairs a dangerous hazard.

“Here… hmm, your ways shall part…” said Senecianus. “As you are likely aware, Amaterasu as the only Prime among you is far stronger than the others, and likely the only one who could have done this trip on her own.”

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?!” Fiara shouted angrily at the wampa.

“Had she not been with you, you would have failed”, the wampa said, still with that tired-sounding tone that really made its words all the more enraging. Amaterasu however could not help but to smile at the compliments. “And this trial, the Trial of Pride, will involve you all making your way through it by yourselves.”

“And so you believe that because Ama is more powerful than Urist, Fiara and myself”, said Oki, “we would be unable to pass the trial?”

“Hmm… indeed. Even you, Oki, who comes a close second behind Amaterasu, rely on her and her powers. Though you may have passed Lust, Envy, Wrath and Gluttony by yourself you would have run out of provisions before making it here on your own, and the trials to come are even harder than those which you have done already.”

Oki unsheathed Kutone and pointed it at the wampa. “Then I will prove to you that I am not the weakling you take me for! Tell us, what is our task?”

Urist and Fiara were seething but spoke no word, and Senecianus only shot them a brief glance before turning to the ruins. “Your task… hmm, before you lays an obstacle course, if you will, that you must pass. Do you see the crumbled bell tower of the temple, with the glimmer of a weathercock on its highest spot? Inside the top you will find four items. Your task is to bring back one of these items to me, on the other side of the cave.” It pointed upwards and only then did Amaterasu realize that there was a lengthy staircase carved into the opposite wall, leading up to a lip on which was the cavern exit. Senecianus’s claw was pointed at that exit.

The one to win the race would obviously be ‘better’ than the others, Amaterasu thought, and indeed found herself sizing up her opponents. Oki was the biggest threat, he was endurant and could navigate the labyrinth… Fiara and Urist would no doubt occupy third and fourth places. With their partial transformations they were crippled. But the two of them seemed rather confident… well, it was going to get interesting.

“Ah… please pick a route”, the wampa then added, pointing towards the ground leading into the ruins. Indeed there were four arrows that Amaterasu had not noticed before, made with pebbles. Two of them led up onto the rubble, another two led down into the maze between the pieces. “The routes leading downwards are the harder ones.”

No sooner had it said that, than that Amaterasu and Oki stood at two of the lower routes. “I will leave the others with a chance”, Oki said with a smug grin. “I don’t need to prove to anyone that I can do this on my own, and do the hardest if it needs be, but I will do it anyway.”

“Ditto”, said Amaterasu, feeling rather confident in her abilities after Senecianus’s words. She was, after all, a Prime. The only one among them, no less… making it through this would be a breeze. She cracked her knuckles as Urist and Fiara took their places for the higher paths and Senecianus finished explaining: “Your goal is to make the race within the time… focus and do not allow for unnecessary distractions… I shall now count. Ready… set… and go.” The race was on.

Well, of course not really a race. Before it started it was clear that she, Amaterasu, would be the first by a landslide. Even so, she hurried a little. The ruins were not just creating a maze but the ground was also uneven and in some areas frozen over, making navigation very difficult. A number of times she took a path only to find out that it led into a dead end. But whenever she caught sight of the bell tower it was closer than before so she knew that she was on the right track. She was advancing rapidly too, running and jumping like it was an obstacle course. Heh… she probably was way ahead of Urist and-

Urist! She noticed him hanging from the side of a pillar, his hands dug into a decorative carving but slowly slipping. He was right above a number of icicles that would skewer him if he fell. His attempts at climbing back up were only causing him to lose his grip more. “Ama?!” he asked, barely able to turn his puffy head.

“What happened? Did you slip?”

“Leave me alone. I’m gettin’ out o’ this meself!” the dwarf yelled. Blatant lies. Amaterasu laughed as she used her brush to conjure a powerful Gale, pushing Urist upwards so that he almost flew over the edge and onto the path again.

“That better, lard-face? Because I got a race to win.”

Urist struggled to get on his feet again, from what Amaterasu could see. Part of the path was frozen over. He was starting to walk forward again. Amaterasu shrugged and continued to run along a path that, as it were, was pretty close to the one Urist was running along.

Ten minutes later Oki and her nearly ran into each other when their paths joined as they turned a corner. How had he come this far so fast?! No matter, if he had made it and Urist too, then there was a chance that Fiara was nearby as well. She accelerated her steps, leaving Oki behind her. The bell tower was coming into view. Leaping over the debris, she climbed the ruins and got into the fallen giant, climbed the staircase inside and, finding the door closed and locked, rammed it down with a shoulder tackle. The rotten wood gave away under her attack and she stumbled inside, hitting the large bell that dominated the room in the process.

On the other side of the room stood Fiara, with a small item in hand. When the door broke down she raised her head, and caught the edge of the swinging bell full-on to her temple, knocking her out on the spot. She fell over like a sack of potatoes and, given the tower’s inclination, rolled down the slope until she hit a low wall. The bell rung once, twice, then the momentum that it had was insufficient to chime again and it just rocked back and forth with less and less force.

Amaterasu eyed Fiara, then the item in her hands. Though she had dropped it when getting knocked out it had rolled down and was now resting against her stomach. A small statuette representing… an owl? Something of that sort. There were other statues, she now noticed, all carved of the same gray rock. A typical fish, a human and a horned Youkai. Or perhaps an Akuma. She reached for the fish one without as much as a second thought, but something stirred in her. She had knocked Fiara out… she may have injured her. Concussed her head. Maybe worse. Should she help her? But if she did she would lose the race. But then again, Urist and Oki were going to pass this room too and they were behind her anyway… the last of them could… but it was her fault! And Fiara was her…

“Up there! Hurry up! Ama is probably miles ahead of us now!” Oki’s voice echoed up from downstairs, and footsteps could be heard. Hurried footsteps climbing the staircase. Were they going to catch up to her? Realize what she had done? Maybe force her to stay so one of them could snag victory from her?

No. She would not allow that. Her pride commanded that she, as the Prime and strongest of the group, win the race.

Twenty minutes later, she stood before Senecianus at the top of the staircase, and panting with exhaustion but beaming with confidence tossed the statue at its feet. “I am the first. I’ve passed the trial… I’ve won the race.”

“Indeed… hmm, let me bring you to the exit, where you can wait for the others.”

18 minutes earlier, back at the tower…

Oki and Urist rushed into the room with the door torn down and found the room to be empty… no. Not empty! Oki rushed to the unconscious Fiara as Urist inspected the door. “Someone… blasted that door open”, he said. “An’ I can’t believe that it’d have been Fiara. She doesn’ have the power.”

“Do you think it was Ama?” asked Oki as he tugged Fiara away from the edge and inspected her head. Luckily the injury was nowhere near as bad as it could have been… there would be a nasty bump for a while and bruises from where she had fallen down but she would be fine. It did not take an expert to figure out how she had been hit, seeing how the bell had rung just a few minutes ago and the mark on Fiara’s head where she had been hit corresponded to a wide metallic object. Like the lower lip of the bell.

“Mighta been… hey, there’s somethin’ ‘ere.” He leant down and picked up two statues. “Oh… an artic cod an’ a human.”

“Fiara’s holding something here too… looks like an owl.”

“Eh? Oh… then all tha’s missin’ is the demon. It’s an alchemical thing o’ humans, y’know. The owl stands fer birds, rulers o’ the sky. The artic cod’s a fish found ‘ere in the Frozen Fields… represents fishes, tha emperors o’ the sea. Then we hav’ the demons, tha lords o’ Hell, an’ man representin’ elves, dwarves, humans an’ all the other humanoid races, as the kings o’ Earth. Air, water, fire an’ earth.”

“So… Amaterasu took the demon?”

“Looks like it. Ah wouldn’ put it past ‘er. She’s a goddess o’ sun, after all. Guess this fish’s meant fer you, an’ I get the human.”

Oki frowned. “Urist… why are you still here with me? You could have pursued Amaterasu for a chance to still win this.”

Urist shook his head, flinging his spaghetti beard everywhere. “Ama is gonna win one way or ‘nother. Ah’m not gonna pretend ta be able ta catch up t’her. We lost already.”

Oki simply nodded as he wondered what losing the race would entail. Losing the trial maybe? Would they be turned into something just like the people who had given in to their gluttony? He stroked over Fiara’s forehead as she slowly opened her eyes. “Wait… she’s waking up. Fiara, are you okay?”

“Mnnngh… head… hurts...“

“Let’s get you to the exit. I can’t patch you up in this place, but I have some items.”

“The race...“

“Don’ bother. We’ll get you out of here together. We’ll run out of time but that can’t be helped.” He passed her arm over his shoulder and let Urist pick up the statues for them. As they were about to exit the tower he caught a glance of Amaterasu, climbing the stairs. She was far away, but he could have sworn that she had an almost maniacal grin on her face.

It took them almost an entire hour before they too arrived at the summit - all three of them. Senecianus was there to greet them and accepted the statues from their hands. “Hmm… you are late.”

“Have we run out of time?” asked Oki resignedly.

“Hmm… long ago.”

“I figured… what happens to us now, then? For failing the trial?”

“Are you sure that you have… hmm, failed the trial?”

Oki blinked with surprise. “You just told us that we had run out of time for the race.”

“Yes, but the true trial was not to win the race… to beat the trial of Pride you overcome your pride, one of the… hmm, greatest sins of man. Have I not told you? You were told not to let any unnecessary distractions divert you… now tell me, Oki Kurumi, was stopping to aid an ally and to bring them with you an unnecessary distraction?”

Oki realized now… blinded by his pride, he had forgotten that the trials were about defeating one’s sins. The race… they had elevated it to their single goal when Senecianus had pitted them against each other, filled their minds with honeyed words, stirred the pride in them. Urist chuckled. “Not ta toot me own horn or anythin’, bu’ I realized tha’ the goal ain’t winnin’ the race. It ain’t like the loser doesn’ get ta pass the trial, or Senecianus woulda told us. Ah realized tha’ the only thing gettin’ a hit fer losin’ the race is me pride. An’ if ah followed me pride, ah wouldn’ have made it through the trial. Ah would be dead.”

“Impaled on icicles, right?” asked Oki.

“Mmmh… indeed”, said Senecianus as it reached out and put its paw on Fiara’s forehead. The bump shrunk and disappeared and the Phoenix girl gasped as the pain vanished almost instantly. “You were used to test the pride of… hmm, the others, and for that I apologize and mend the wounds that were a necessity for this test… it would seem that Pride is the sin deepest rooted in Amaterasu Omikami’s heart. Even a god is not exempt from the sins… though it makes sense for one to be afflicted with the Sin of pride.”

“Where IS Amaterasu anyway?” asked Oki.

“She has moved onward. You will meet her again when you proceed… but now she must face her punishment, the punishment for her pride. Please… hmm, follow me.” And yet again, they were led through a series of dark tunnels.

Meanwhile Amaterasu emerged into a cave just like the ones before, with Senecianus leading her. As she left the area of the trial the powers governing the Hall stopped their influence on her mind, and as her mind returned to normal she gasped, realizing what she had done. “I… Fiara! Oh no… what have I done?!” She tried to get up, to rush back into the cave, but found herself hitting an invisible barrier blocking her way back. “What is the- Senecianus! Let me back! I - my friends! I must help them!”

“Hmm… you cannot see your friends again, Amaterasu Omikami, at least not for now. Your pride has hurt them greatly… you do not have the right to return”, said Senecianus. Amaterasu wanted to yell at him but when she turned to face him he was gone. Just at this moment figures emerged from the absolute darkness of the tunnels: Senecianus was there, and behind him followed Oki, Urist and Fiara. Amaterasu was so happy that Fiara was okay, from what it seemed!

“Oki! Fiara! Urist! You have… I’m so sor-” She wanted to hug Fiara and apologize profusely, to express her mortification, but they walked through her without taking the slightest notice. Like an immaterial spirit, all three of them passed through her, and not hearing her screams, not feeling her attempts at touching them, not seeing her gesticulating form, sat down and got a little fire going. They were not in the best of moods, missing a valuable member of their team, and a good friend… to Oki, the best friend. To Fiara, the mother she never had. And to Urist, the powerful leader figure that he could trust in.

Senecianus took a seat back at the end of the cave, waiting for them to request to proceed. Amaterasu followed him and tried the same, but as for her friends, she could not touch the wampa. However, it could see her, and spoke to her. Strangely, none of the others seemed to notice.

“Hmm… your pride seems to not have as big as I thought after all. Had it been greater you may not even have seen them again.”

With tears in her eyes Amaterasu shook her head. “This is not fair! I…”

“You let your pride get the better of you. You let them all down. You… hmm, you behaved not like a Kami would.”

These words hit Amaterasu harder than a punch to the face. “... will I ever be able to be with them again?”

“If you overcome your Pride, perhaps you shall one day.”

And so, the fifth day of the ascension ended on a bitter note. Oki, Fiara and Urist put out three bedrolls and went to sleep with a stomach full of food they had not enjoyed, missing a dear friend and not knowing what the next day would bring… their motivation had taken a severe hit and they questioned, each for themselves, if it was worth pursuing it all. But their ill mood was nothing compared to Amaterasu, who knelt near their hearthfire, sobbing uncontrollably. Between her cries she muttered “I’m sorry”, time and time again, to Fiara, but no matter how often she tried her hand could not touch the sleeping Phoenix’s cheek. All she could do was to cry more, with not a soul aware of her presence, her misery, to console her.

Oh man, this one turned out darker than I thought it would...

22320 + 3096 = 25.416 / 20.000 words.

[Amaterasu]

Expedition, Day 18 - Day 6 of the Ascent

The Sixth Hall: Sloth

“Senecianus, we’re ready. Could you please escort us to the following trial?”

Once again, Oki, Urist and Fiara stood before the wampa, with Oki speaking up. They had packed up, eaten something and hardly spoken a word all that time, while unaware of Amaterasu who was right there with them, invisible and intangible, waiting. Over the night Senecianus had explained that she would regain her material body for the next Trial as she had overcome most of her Pride and shown remorse. She would be immaterial again after that unless she proved herself, though.

The wampa led the group through the tunnels and Amaterasu followed. A cool feeling spreaded through their weary limbs as they entered the room… it was a big rounded cave with clouds lining the ceiling and snowing down on them. Pure white snow covered the ground like a blanket, thick and soft, inviting to lay down on.

Chairs stood around, and they too were covered with a snow blanket. Cool winds stroked over their faces as they came in, making them weary, wanting to sit down... to lay in the snow, to close their eyes... to forget... to rest... to... sleep... just...

...

Amaterasu moved past Oki, Urist and Fiara and sat onto a chair. After crying herself to sleep and getting little rest from remorse-plagued dreams she had not the energy to go on.

That was it. Her journey was over here.

Fiara and Oki were the most surprised to see her again, but Fiara was the first to speak. "Mother Amaterasu... you are back? I..."

"You can see me again?" she smiled, barely able to keep her eyes open. The snow was starting to take her into its embrace, covering her, tucking her in under its blanket, as the wind whispered to her to leave all her worries behind and to drift away, to sleep... "I'm so happy that I get to see you one last time, before..."

"What do... what do you mean...?" asked Oki, himself feeling the weight of his body dragging him down as well.

"You know the answer, Oki", she replied. "... I'm giving up."

...

25416 + 356 = 25.772 / 20.000 words.

[Amaterasu]

Expedition, Day 18 - Day 6 of the Ascent - Part 2

The Sixth Hall: Sloth

“Ama… what are you saying?”

“Oki… don’t make me repeat it…”

Fiara broke the awkwardly slow, silent atmosphere by slamming a chair aside and walking close. She grasped Amaterasu by her dress, just below her neck, and TORE her up from the seat. “We’re going to make you repeat it a hundred times if we have to, until it gets in your head that you’re sputtering utter nonsense!” she yelled. “Giving up?! That’s not the Amaterasu I know!”

“Fiara, I…” She could hardly bring herself to say it. She couldn’t even bring herself to look at her. “I can’t. I couldn’t even stand being around you, around the others, after what I’ve done! Leaving you behind, all because of… because of my rotten pride.”

“Has the ice around us frozen your brain or something?! Remember where the hell we are!” Fiara spoke. Her Phoenix Blasters had activated sometime through her speech and flames were flaring up along her wrists, burning with immense passion. Moreso even than when they had traversed the Trial of Wrath. The snow could not even begin to cover her, and the wearingess refused to set in in the slightest. “Let me spell it out for you: we are. In the. Damned-to-hell Halls of Sin!”

“That doesn’t excuse my-”

“Oh, what. Your PRIDE? Listen here, Ama. You are a Kami! Arguably the most powerful of all, no less! You saved an entire country, if not the world, from destruction at the hands of Yami, an Akuma of pure rage and hatred! And you brought happiness to more people along your journey through Nippon than others will meet their entire life! OF COURSE YOU ARE PROUD! Hell, the only Sin you truly exhibited was Pride!”

“Fiara, I-”

“Shut up. Now tell me, did you succumb to Lust?”

“Well, no, but-”

“You didn’t. What about Envy?”

“... no, but-”

“You didn’t either. And Wrath? You kept your cool and instead calmed us all down as WE threatened to succumb! And Gluttony, you turned the whole goddamn trial on its head when you freed the souls of those who had succumbed and yet proved your purity!” She raised her arm which was still liquorice. “See this? I would be completely like this if it weren’t for you. Or dead.”

“I only did what-”

“What anyone in your position would have done. You’ve braved all those sins far better than any of us, mother Amaterasu. Of course there would have to be somewhere that you don’t excel.”

“Oki and Urist-”

“Are not as proud as you, because they are not Kami. Oki is humble enough because he has every reason to be, and Urist too. Hell, I’M prouder than them! Sure I made it through thanks to them, but does that discount the fact that you saved our asses at least twice on this trip alone? NO.”

Amaterasu shivered. Fiara was speaking to her in a way she had never dared before, and yet she could not be angry. Her hands that had hung by her sides came up and wrapped around the girl, hugging her. Her feet touched the ground as Fiara’s passion came back down, and she smiled. “I’m still sorry, Fiara.”

“Now I can accept that apology, you’re not filled with bitterness anymore.” The hug was returned.

Amaterasu sighed and pulled her chair up as Fiara withdrew, and so did the others. Though they sat down they felt reinvigorated, stronger. “I think we need to talk, everyone…” she said. “I have done something wrong, but… I want you to know that I am immensely happy to have you with me. No matter what Senecianus said in the Hall of Pride, before the race, I would never have made it this far without the three of you coming with me. Maybe not even past the first trial, or even here, to the mountain.” She took a deep breath. “I may be a Prime, but I am not all-powerful. I carry with me sins and imperfections. And as you balance these imperfections out, I balance yours out. We complement each other… but separated we would just be four quarters. In fact, I feel like I’d be more of one eighth”, she added with a little chuckle.

“You give yourself too little credit”, said Oki. “You were chosen to be a Prime for a reason. I have my own strengths but I would not be able to muster them without you, Ama, without you, Fiara, and without you, Urist, all being here with me. I may be strong… but most of that strength lays in my sword-arm, not in my wisdom or my intelligence. I… well, I have my sins as well, and I acknowledge them at this point. I couldn’t really be pure, I could just control them.”

“Now yer the one sputterin’ nonsense, Oki”, Urist said. “Ammy is the Prime, she’s smart, but yer the strong, the reliable one in our team. Ah can bring me knowledge o’ this place into play, about the earth an’ the Fields, but ah can’t fight as well as you an’ I’m certainly not the glue holdin’ us t’gether. An’ like you guys, ah am full o’ sin… sins that ah realize I have now, and ah must learn t’control ‘em. Well, me face is the best proof, ain’t it.”

“Actually, it’s not”, Fiara remarked with a little smile. “There’s no mirror here, but…”

“What are ya sayin? That- Bruenor’s beard, yer right!” Urist almost shouted when he felt his beard and felt the curly hair between his fingers, not spaghetti. Then he touched his face and felt toughened skin, bones and scars, not the fat-soaked, uneven meatball texture. “Bu’... bu’ when…”

“Just a moment ago… I wasn’t looking at you but while Oki was speaking, it must’ve happened. I still got my liquorice arm... but eh, I'll find a way to cure it.” She smiled. “You know… you guys remind me of the real important things. Why should I be proud if it means losing my friends? I realized that Mother Amaterasu was away because of her pride… because something had gone wrong in the halls. But I couldn’t go on without you all here to support and aid me.” Her Blasters withdrew as she hugged Urist, then Oki. “I am so happy that we are united again… and I swear that we are going to make our way out of this, together.”

“We will”, agreed Amaterasu, feeling confident. She had no trouble standing up from her chair. “Now we should go… there is still one trial left.”

“Two, I think… according to that book of western humans, there were seven sins”, remarked Oki. Amaterasu tossed him a grin.

“Would you really say that we have to count this one yet? After speaking with you I feel full enough of energy to take on the next trial right away.”

Traversing the Hall of Sloth was indeed a breeze. They formed a chain, holding each other's hands tightly, though that was unnecessary. Wading through the snow was not tiring them, the chairs were not compelling, the winds were not inviting them to lay down and forget. Their whispers passed them without a trace.

"You have arrived... and made it through, I see. Hmm, very good. i congratulate you for passing the Trial of Sloth." It led thrm through the dark exit, and as they walked it spoke on: "You have but one trial still ahead of you. But, the only two people that have ever made it through the Hall of Pride faled the Hall of Sloth, and the last trial will be much harder yet... are you certain that you wish to take it on?"

"We are", said Amaterasu. "How late is it?"

"Hmm... time flows differently here", Senecianus admitted as they entered another cave, and once again it looked exactly like the one they had been in that morning. "You have spent the whole day in the Hall of Sloth, it is now early evening."

"Then let us take on the last trial tomorrow. Thank you for leading us so far."

"Ah... mention it not." With that it went over to the edge of the cave to sit, and Amaterasu, Oki, Urist and Fiara began to set up for a good night's rest together and to enjoy a meal. Reunited again.

25772 + 1389 = 27.161 / 20.000 words.

[Amaterasu]

Expedition, Day 19 - Day 7 of the Ascent

The Seventh Hall: Greed

“We would like to embark…”

“... on the final leg…”

“... o’ our ascent…”

“... Senecianus. Please lead us.” They spoke almost as one now, feeling closer together than ever. The wampa examined them, one after another, then got on its feet. “You have… hmm, changed. But will it be enough to brave the hardest of all trials, I wonder?”

“We are ready”, said Fiara simply. And Senecianus led them through the tunnel, as it had done time and time again… and as the numerous times before, they now ended up in a cave. This one was the largest yet, a hollow cone whose upper end was far, far above them. It had to be at least half a kilometer high. And from what it seemed, reaching the top would not be easy.

All four of them had to shield their eyes from the blinding light when the seemingly omnipresent light illuminated the room: it was being reflected off of innumerable surfaces, off the floor and the walls, and multiplied in its intensity as it did. The room was the most luxurious cave of treasures that one could imagine, a hoard that would make any dragon or pirate jealous, gold in amounts that no king nor emperor could hope to amass. Gems the size of oranges, encrusted into ornate jewelry. Statues of silver and platinum portrayed - them! Amaterasu could see Urist, Fiara, Oki and indeed herself as well. Their features were captured in stunning detail, as if they could come alive any moment. As they got used to the light she noticed that the spot they were standing on was basically the only patch of land in this cave that was not covered with gold or jewelry.

“Welcome to the final Hall… you are, hmm, standing at the entrance to the Hall of Greed”, Senecianus declared. It pointed up. “Near the top of this cavern will you find the exit… should you be able to reach it, you will have passed the Trials of Sin and will be allowed to ascend back to the surface.”

“How will we reach the top?” asked Amaterasu. “I see no stairs or any other way to make it up there without literally climbing the walls.”

“Ah… this treasury holds not only gold and jewels, it also provides magical trinkets and artefacts of legendary power. Perhaps among these you will find what you seek. But before you proceed… hmm, allow me to ask. This is the Hall of Greed… so, what is it that you wish for?”

Amaterasu frowned. Obviously the wampa was not asking out of curiosity. But before she could tell the others to consider their answers, Urist took the lead, stepping forward confidently.

“Ah wish fer the safety of me comrades… an’ fer their safe return to Dwarfholm or whatever they may be callin’ home. If I don’ make it out, then ah want ‘em to raise a glass o’ good dwarven ale to me memory, an’ to a successful expedition.”

Oki stepped forward and put his hand on Urist’s shoulder while looking at the wampa, who turned its attention to the Oina warrior. “I wish for closure… not for myself, but for Urist. His father may have seen something that others did not and called him insane for that reason. Perhaps what he saw was real though. Perhaps it was not. He wants to know for himself, so that the uncertainty will never plague him again.”

Fiara looked at Amaterasu, and the Sun goddess understood. The Phoenix was asking her to go first. She stepped forward as well. “I wish for this world to come to peace, for enemies to set their differences aside and accept one another. And if that wish is too big, well…” She smiled at Fiara. “... then I at least wish for Fiara to recover the memories that she has lost when she died, searching for me.”

Fiara smiled. She took Amaterasu’s hand and gave it a light squeeze. “Thank you, Mother Amaterasu. I, too, have a wish for someone else…” She let go of her hand and stepped forward, closer than any other, and reached out to take the wampa’s massive clawed paw. “For you.”

The wampa looked at her, and for the first time Amaterasu could see surprise in the snow beast’s expression. “For me?” it asked.

“I have had… suspicions. The trials, the people being imprisoned into food, losing themselves… and you calling this trial the hardest. Is it possible that you have been hiding something from us, Senecianus?”

“What would I… hmm, have been hiding?” the wampa asked.

“About nobody having made it past the Trial of Sloth. You said that two people made it there, right?”

“I indeed said that.”

“Yes. But that is not all.” She put on a confident grin. “Senecianus… just like us, you were once a challenger, weren’t you?”

“...” The wampa gave no reply, it just looked at Fiara out of tired eyes.

“Why have we not seen anyone asleep in the Hall of Sloth? Because it was all covered in snow. A wampa like yourself would disappear in that scenery very easily, wouldn’t it? And you look awfully tired, Senecianus.”

“Wait. Are you saying that Senecianus failed the Trial of Sloth?” asked Oki sharply.

Fiara nodded without looking away from the big wampa. “The way that these trials are made… those who succumb to their sins become a part of the very trial… or trials. Have you never wondered why Senecianus leads us all through these halls? I have a suspicion.”

Still, no reply came from Senecianus, it just looked at Fiara out of those tired eyes. Amaterasu slowly came to realize what Fiara was going at. “Senecianus fell in the Hall of Sloth… and with it someone else. Maybe even someone that went along with it. But who would accompaign a wampa on a journey like this, other than-”

“- another wampa”, concluded Fiara. “Is it possible that you came here with someone else? Someone close to you?”

“I applaud your deduction, Fiara Moegami… you are more correct than you may realize. The Roof of the World… the wampas knew about the Trials of Sin for very long, but few dared to do them. It is said that if you could endure them you would be granted eternal happiness. I came here with my mate. Both of us were sick with an incurable disease and we did not wish to die young. We challenged the trials together, hoping to achieve what none has achieved before. If we failed, we would die together, but we were walking dead anyway. We thought that we had nothing to lose. We were wrong… for there is a fate worse than death.”

For the first time, the wampa showed true emotions. Amaterasu had not realized that they could shed tears, and yet it could see them now, forming in its eyes. Nobody besides Senecianus spoke now. The tension was like a bowstring, about to snap.

“We made it through until the Trial of Sloth… where we nearly failed. Both of us were weary from the journey, for we did not rest much. We had not the time. Almost, we fell asleep. But I begged for my mate to go on… I told her that if she made it without me, there was a chance to save me, as her happiness included me. But she was tricked. In the Hall of Greed she let her guard down. She was offered… something that made her very happy. It clouded her mind and as she took it she failed the trial. But the forces that have made the Trials struck a bargain with me. I would become the guide of the seven Halls… in exchange for Augusta’s life and for her freedom from this cursed place I would lead adventurers through the Trials of Sin forevermore. I, too, was tricked. I broke my promise that we would die together. She now lives somewhere in the Frozen Fields, alive and free. They… taunt me at times, show me visions of her. She is not happy.”

Fiara squeezed Senecianus’s paw. “Tell us, Senecianus. How is your spirit imprisoned in this place?”

“A gem holds my soul, but it is hidden here among the riches. It’s trapped.”

Amaterasu walked around the wampa and took a large blue vial with a liquid inside off of a pedestal. “I have understood how this trial works… Senecianus, no doubt are you not allowed to tell us, but this trial will present us with what we need to ascend. I recognize this for instance… the dust of a Yukionna, with which I could make an ice path. I did not fail the trial just for taking it, because I need it to reach the top of the trial. But if I try to keep it, to bring it with me, it will be Greed.”

“I understand…” said Oki, then with a nod picked up a lengthy rope from the ground. “The rope with which the dragon Karun was bound… with this scaling the wall should be a breeze.”

“Aye… an’ this is King Jorunn’s legendary warhammer, Wrathbringer. Legend has it tha’ he could shatter a fortress wall with jus’ one swing. Ah can use this ta carve meself a path through the wall”, Urist explained as he armed himself with an enormous, bland-looking hammer.

Fiara laughed as she picked up a tray of ash, from which a chick was poking its head. “And I will have this little guy carry me up. Go ahead without me, guys. I’ll be with you in just a bit.”

“Wait. What about the gem?” asked Amaterasu. “Senecianus, can you point us to it?”

“I can”, the wampa said. “But if you take it out you will be as trapped as me in here.”

“That will not be a concern…” said Oki. “I am deeply sorry, but the only release we can offer you now, Senecianus, is death. We will not take the gem, we will destroy it. Or rather, I will.”

“Nay”, Urist said. “Wrathbringer’s better fer two people ta climb than yer rope, an’ Senecianus can join me. An’ it can shatter whatever gem they got like glass.”

“True… but be careful, Urist.” With that, Oki and Amaterasu began their ascent using their respective tools: Amaterasu spreaded the dust before her, creating a spiralling path of ice along the wall that brought her up whilst Oki threw the rope out, which infalliably caught onto something where he could safely hang his weight from, then climbed, found a spot to hold onto, and tossed it again. Fiara followed as soon as the rapidly growing phoenix bird took her into its talons and with a majestic screech began to fly up.

Then, Urist and Senecianus began climbing. The dwarf swung Wrathbringer and each time broke out big chunks of the wall before them, carving a tunnel that had the wall on the left side and open space on the right, spiralling upwards like Amaterasu’s ice path. Senecianus looked out before giving directions and the dwarf followed them. But there was one final challenge to free the wampa’s soul…

“Bruenor’s beard…” mumbled Urist as, after almost an hour of smashing rocks and advancing a good distance, they reached a statue that was of solid gold with rubies as eyes and a crown ten times as luxurious as King Bruenor Battlehammer’s would ever be. He mumbled these words because of the expression that this statue had. With frightening detail the artist had sculpted the man’s face into an arrogant, evil smile. With both hands the statue held a lengthy purple gem that was slightly glowing from within. Its palms were up as if it presented its contents to whoever stood before it.

“Urist McGlodsson… be very careful. This statue is Midas, son of Gordias and known as the Golden King. Whatever his hands touch turns into gold… the gem is magically enchanted, but if you touch it…”

“There ain’t no need fer that”, said Urist. He grasped the hammer and readied a mighty swing, but Senecianus held him back.

“If you use the hammer, it too will turn to gold and you will have no means of reaching the top!”

“Senecianus, yer forgettin’ that ah’m not alone.” With that, Urist delivered the mightiest and last swing of Wrathbringer, a brutal strike downwards upon the gem. With an ear-piercing sound it shattered into a thousand pieces and Senecianus gave a relieved sigh as its body turned transparent and began to disappear.

“Thank… you…”

“Yer welcome. Ah wish ye the best in the afterlife”, Urist said while tossing the now useless golden hammer aside. Having lost his tool to climb, he sat down and waited. The others swiftly reached the top, where a big ledge provided them with safe standing and a short path to the exit out of the Hall, and simultaneously did Amaterasu toss down her flask, Oki threw the rolled-up rope and Fiara asked the kind phoenix to bring Urist up. The phoenix was the first to reach the dwarf, and much to everyone’s amusement carried him up as he screamed and thrashed. Dwarves did not like not having solid ground beneath their feet. They would never fly if they could help it. Yet he reached the top safe and sound, and the phoenix came to settle on Fiara’s shoulder like a loyal hawk.

“I’m sorry, dear friend, but you need to leave again”, said Fiara as she stroked the phoenix’s chin. The bird gave a low screech then plucked out a feather with its beak and handed it to Fiara as a memento, before descending. As it flew down it went up in flames and turned to ash, nicely heaped in a tray, as it reached the ground.

Fiara turned to the others. “Let’s get going. I’m not falling for the sentimental tricks.” She dropped the feather and let it descend into the pile of treasures below the ledge. “‘Don’t take anything out of the Hall of Greed’, said Senecianus. I didn’t forget.”

“I think you’ve grown”, remarked Amaterasu as they stepped into the darkness for one last time, now with no more guide to lead them through the tunnels. A bright smile lined her face as the darkness enveloped them.

27.161 + 2381 = 29.542 / 20.000 words.

[Amaterasu]

Expedition, Day 19 – Day 7 of the Ascent – The Afternoon
The Summit

Void Quest Complete! Amaterasu and co are now progressing into the Void.

A gust of icy wind and a bright, clear light greeted them as they exited the tunnels. Amaterasu immediately felt dizzy and gasped for air, and she wasn’t the only one – up here the air they breathed was so thin that they thought they would suffocate. She wanted to close her eyes and lay down, but she knew that if she did that she wouldn’t get back up. Her hand gripped Oki’s tighter and it made their gloves rustle.
 
They stood in an enormous bowl, surrounded on all sides by insurmountable walls of ice. Above these walls spires rose towards the sky like the outstretched fingers of a hand that grasped for the stars. And from the top of these spires numerous sets of eyes looked down at them showing expressions from cold judgement to barely contained rage.
 
The Blue Dragonflight.
 
Their gaze seemed to strip away their clothes and skin, peering straight into their minds and uncovering their every secret. Amaterasu shuddered. She felt like wrapping her arms around herself and turning away from them. She felt like screaming for it to stop. She felt like running away.
 
She realized that each second they spent here alive was because these dragons had not decided to kill them yet. She realized that they stood no chance against even one of them. The very idea of strong-arming her way past them to their destination now appeared ludicrous to her. To fight them? What a joke. They would squish her like they would squish a fly.
 
Then a roar boomed through the bowl and the tension shattered like a thin sheet of ice. The dragons turned their eyes skywards then bowed their heads as a dragon larger and shining brighter than all others descended from the clear skies and landed before them. His look alone was as terrifying as those of the other dragons combined.
 
“So, you have made it.” His voice shook them down to their very bones, resonating through their bodies with more force than the largest Taiko drum’s beat.  Before this primal titan Amaterasu’s voice sounded meeker than a newborn child’s.
 
“Yes.”
 
“Why did you scale the mountain and brave the trials within? What is it that you seek?” the ancient dragon asked. “Have you come seeking treasure and riches… or perhaps fame and power?” His words carried with him a far from subtle threat. Should she answer wrong their lives would be instantly forfeited.
 
“We have come… to find the tear in the sky of the Frozen Fields”, said Amaterasu. Where she pulled the courage to speak from she could not tell. “We covet not the Dragonflight’s riches or homes. We’re just… passing through.”
 
“You’re just passing through”, Sapphiron repeated. “To pursue a Rock-Child’s wild tale you have endured the Storm that I summoned and passed the trials of the mountain.”
 
Amaterasu hung her head low. So Glod had been wrong all along… there was no tear here after all. They had come for naught.
 
A deep, rumbling sound coming from within the dragon made her look up again. It was strangely rhythmic, and it grew louder. Then he threw his head back and let out that sound through his toothed maw, and the other dragons on the spires joined in. They laughed. They were laughing.
 
For over a minute they laughed, and only after it had ebbed away did the gigantic beast speak again. “You may pass.”
 
Amaterasu was dumbfounded. She just stood there, unable to say a word.
 
“Go straight through the area and climb the summit that rises behind it. There you will find what you seek… but heed my warning, whelps: make one wrong move and you will find yourselves plummeting from the cliffs.” With that warning the dragon unfolded his wings and rose into the sky again. His take-off nearly blew them to the ground, and he roared once more, to which the Dragonflight took off from their spires.
 
“Tha’ musta been Sapphiron… the Elder ‘mong tha Blue Dragonflight”, said Urist after a short while of them simply observing the dragons. “Ta think tha’ ah got t’see ‘im this close an’ ah’m still alive…”
 
“The Elder?” asked Oki.
 
“Aye… one o’ the oldest Primes o’ the Omniverse, they say. Been to the Frozen Fields long ‘fore the dwarves an’ trolls, he has. Bu’, we should get goin ‘fore they change their mind. Ah don’ think tha’ their good mood from the laugh is gonna last ‘em forever.”
 
“You’re right. Let’s get moving, everyone. And don’t let each other’s hands go”, Amaterasu warned. With that they all broke into a moderate walk, as best as they could muster given the thin air.
 
 
The summit that Sapphiron had pointed them to was a mountain that looked almost laughably stereotypical: a snow-covered peak tipped with a speartip-shaped rock that pointed skywards. The sky seemed to get blurrier the closer they got, as if it was drawn onto a giant canvas to deceive those who looked at it from far away. How peculiar… however as they got closer, they saw something else. It was a purplish outline with irregular, zigzagged edges, forming a long rip above the spear-shaped rock – as if reality was a painting that someone had brutally torn a shred out of, leaving a hole. What was it with all the painting comparisons, anyway…? Then she remembered that she was Amaterasu, the master of the Celestial Brush. This lack of air was really getting to her head.
 
An ascent that should have taken no more than an hour took them almost three as a result of the increasingly hard-to-breathe air. Up here, even Amaterasu’s ability to summon Omnilium was ineffective as she could not maintain her mind focused, otherwise she would have summoned air bubbles or something to that effect. Towards the last thirty minutes none of them could stop staring at the phenomenon before them anymore: the rip had first just been an outline that one could see through, but the closer they got, the more distinct that outline became, and the darker the area in its center appeared. By the time they reached the summit it looked like a window into a night sky: pitch black with tiny white dots. It exerted a magical attraction towards them, yet they kept each other from walking towards it like a moth towards a flame.
 
“Bruenor’s beard”, Urist finally murmured. “Me da was right all along…”
 
“We don’t know yet”, said Amaterasu as she tried to measure the rip that extended before them. It was about horizontal and looked like it was right above the tip of the spear rock – as if by some titanic movement the entire mountain had been displaced and the rock had cut open the sky and left that opening. How would they even get up there?
 
“Wha d’ya mean?”
 
“We don’t know what this… thing really is. But I want to find out.”
 
“So we’re going to…” began Oki.
 
“… go in there. Yes. It’s probably the last chance for any of us to turn back… there may be yet a way to descend from here. I could attempt to transform you to have wings or some such.” She looked at Urist most of all. The dwarf had found out the truth now, and he was the one who she could not bring back if he were to meet his end here.
 
“… nah. Ah’m not chickenin’ out now. Ah’m goin’ in there with ye, Ama. An’ without ye too.”
 
Fiara held back a chuckle. “We have gone through far too much to quit now. Don’t try to make any of us turn back.”
 
“You’re right, Fiara…” She looked forward. “Okay. Urist… I think you’re needed here. How do we climb this rock?”
 
And finally, finally the climbing pickaxes, hooks and ropes that they had carried around all that time made themselves useful. Even with the dwarf’s skills, the ten-or-so meter ascent nearly had them faint several times as the effort threatened to tire them out coupled with the low supply of air. But then they each were at the very top. They stored away their equipment lest they rouse the Dragonflight’s rage, and Amaterasu raised her hand. It vanished into the darkness.
 
“I… I grabbed something”, she said. “Climb onto my shoulders and wait for me. Don’t let each other go… in fact, Urist. Tie a rope around our waists so we stay together. I have a feeling that we’ll need it.”
 
“You got it, Ama.” The dwarf made swift work, securing them to each other to make sure they would not lose each other in whatever was to come. Then they climbed. Oki first, he face-checked by inserting his head and shoulders into the black portal, then signalling to them by hand that it was safe to follow and climbing in all the way. Fiara followed him, then Urist, and finally the three of them dragged Amaterasu in by her arms.
 
And thus the group of four completed their ascent, disappearing into the unknown Void at the highest peak of the Frozen Fields to embark on the next leg of their journey. What awaited them ahead they had no idea.
 
They were about to find out.