Back in Action

[Amaterasu]

Amaterasu was woken up from her half daydream half tought-train when the Nexus fountain behind her shifted its shape, returning from a large mountain with river to a simple fountain spring, with water flowing over the sides and splashing into the pool at the base. It was a mesmerizing process to watch, both magnificient and frightening. This place, the Omniverse, must indeed be overflowing with power, if it could bring forth such wonders without even a hint of someone manipulating it. She was certain that that wasn’t the case… the fountain was switching by its own accord, perhaps by picking up the thoughts of those around itself and shifting into a shape reminding that person of their homeland, but nonetheless.

Then she raised her eyes back to the sky. What was illuminating this place? There was no sun, not even a real sky to be seen. It was all white, as if some great deity had forged this place on a big white canvas and gotten bored of it halfway in, leaving it with a patch of objects in the centre and a handful of portals on its eight corners, and just leaving the rest blank. The other places she had been to… the memory of Coruscant brought unease and nausea. That place was corrupted. Just like in Sei’an City where the Oni Blight had infected the Emperor and spreaded its vile mist and curses across the city… there was a deep, underlying corruption, a tumour that needed to be cut out if the populace had any hope of shrugging the blight off.

And the Graveyard of the Hero Teucer… it was nearly as bad. The Warlock still made her shudder. The memories she had from this place… they would never stop haunting her - the pain, fear, panic and, above it all, the desperation. Her only consolation was that she had saved a friend, Trunks, and helped. But had the Hero Teucer been saved from the Warlock? She had no way of knowing. Neither Trunks nor Somerled had been anywhere when she had woken up, and they were nowhere to be seen even now. Were they still fighting? Had the Warlock claimed them as his prisoners, or somehow kept them from ever leaving the Graveyard again? He was powerful enough to be able to…

Her eyes scouted the place. Though she could only see distant specs she knew that there had to be more portals – and thus, more locations. More verses. Were they as corrupt and dangerous as what she had seen? And, the single biggest question on her mind… where were the kami to care for this place? Had there been any, she would know, she was able to feel them. Had there been any in Coruscant? In the Graveyard? She had been… but the more time she spent here, the more she realized that she was no kami here. She was not mortal either, she would return if someone killed her. But she could be killed. Warlock… the fighters from the Graveyard… even the men in white that had taken her to Coruscant. They all could kill her. Warlock was a powerful being, more powerful even than the great Kyuubi and Orochi that she had battled, but Yami had been more powerful, and she had defeated him. She had been in possession of all Celestial Brush techniques as well as the Imperial Regalia – she had been at the peak of her power – back then, but even during the early days of her journey she had defeated beings of similar strength as the ones she had found in the Graveyard. She concluded that here in the Omniverse, she was a kami by title, not by body. And if there were other kami around, they either did not know or were unable to do anything about the matters that she had seen.

What did that mean? It meant that she needed to regain her position: she needed a place in the pantheon of the Omniverse. But there was only one being she could think of, which could do such. He had after all drawn her to this world, as he had said “because she interested him”, and he had given her the powers she now possessed, like the ability to manipulate Omnilium. If he could do things of such magnitude in strength, he could also give her the power she needed. The power to cleanse the Omniverse of the Blights that had befallen it, and return the Sunlight to it. She believed that she could do so. She had done it once, in Nippon. Now she could do it again.

Of course, she thought as she began walking, she needed to find Omni first. She would have to ask people… to find someone who knew.  Perhaps the other Primes knew. It had to be someone who had been around for a time, here in the Omniverse. She could only hope to run into someone like that, some day. Until then she needed to gather the remaining Celestial Brush Kami, and fight the corruption wherever she could. People would regain faith in the kami that way, and if it did not empower her like it had in Nippon it would at least back her up when she claimed her place in the pantheon.

… actually, why was she walking? She remembered how it had taken a very long time for the white men to arrive in the centre from the Gate to Coruscant, even in a fast-moving… armoured device of some sort. She sat down again, and began to focus. She needed something to get around fast. Issun came to her mind, her little flea-sized companion. He had ridden on her back throughout their journey. Perhaps it was time for her to take the same route? “Kazegami, I call upon you…” She mumbled as she pictured her friend, the Celestial Brush horse kami. He was but a spirit, he needed a body. A body that she could provide… well, she had never actually tried this, but she was certain that it would work. “I require your aid, for I cannot travel fast enough in this human form. Come use this body I am creating for you, and let us run like the wind.”

“I hear you and I obey, Mother Amaterasu. I’m coming…” Kazegami replied. Time ticked by, until Amaterasu felt a nudge against her forehead. Kazegami stood before her and smiled confidently before stepping forward so that he stood sideways towards her. Amaterasu got to her feet and climbed onto his back, smiling brightly. “Thank you. This way… I have a good feeling about it.” She then said and pointed towards one of the eight gates. Kazegami nodded and broke into a sharp gallop, heading straight into the white nothingness. Amaterasu cuddled against the kami’s mane, feeling safe. She had friends here, the Celestial Brush Kami would not leave her alone. Perhaps not all was hopeless after all.
 

For a long time, neither spoke a word as the Kami of Wind tirelessly galloped through the empty space of the Nexus. The gate before them grew bigger and bigger as they approached. They could see that it was a massive arc, made out of rocks, ice and frozen dirt. Even near it, one felt cold. But Amaterasu smiled. “Keep going. Ride through the gate.” She told Kazegami. This was like the Valley of Laochi Lake, in Kamui. It was there that her journey through Nippon had ended. She did not feel cold. This felt familiar. A strange warmth formed in her stomach.

As Amaterasu disappeared from the Nexus, her last thought was about the one she had met in Kamui, and whom she knew she would meet again where they were going.

Oki… I’m coming.