Vol 3 Chapter 10 (2/2)

Things like this had happened time and time again.

“Wait, wasn’t that a bit over-the-top? You didn’t have to rip it…”

Tsurugi said that, but then…

In the now-empty hallway, we watched as my mother suddenly appeared.

She picked up the drawing which had fallen to the floor, and made it whole again by casting an alteration.

She stared at it emotionlessly.

— Hm? Juju-sama? What are you doing over there?

Startled by the sudden voice, my mother quickly hid the drawing in her priestess clothes.

After that, we saw my mother put the drawing into a frame and hang it in her room.

“Fufufufu, so you were actually pretty happy! You’re always so emotionless so it was hard to tell!”

“I have undergone numerous training to control my emotions. Also, it is true that drawing and other forms of creative production are very dangerous. It is a mother’s duty to scold her daughter before she develops any strange habits.”

“I see I see… mom, you actually hung that picture up…”

We went even further back.

To the scene of my birth.

My mother’s face was flushed and she looked in pain as she was handed a baby.

She hugged it delicately as if she was handling something fragile.

I saw a rare smile on my mother’s face.

I knew from seeing this that I had been a welcome addition to the family.

“Hey, look look! There’s some interesting stuff over here!”

“Uwah, ruining the mood like that… so, what is it? Oh, wow! It’s mom! She’s so young!”

“Hm. Your mother has always been young… geh, this is…! No! Do not look at that!”

Pulled by Tsurugi’s psyche, we found ourselves watching a different past.

I saw what was probably a teenage version of my mother with short hair, running around a field.

She pummeled a youkai with a single charm, trying to catch up to someone.

— Wait!

My mother let out a sharp yell and released another charm.

A big pile of rocks crumbled, blocking any path of escape for my mother’s prey…

It was a young, handsome boy. Actually, hey, this was my father when he was young, wasn’t it?

My father shook, his face pale, as he readied his sword, the Totsuka-no-Tsurugi.

He howled out at my mother as she approached him through the cloud of dust.

— Dammit! What does the esteemed next Tsukuyomi Priestess want with a failure like me?! You want to yell at me to train harder? To not go playing in the town? I’m tired of hearing all your lectures, neesan! And I’m tired of having to keep spending every day killing these dangerous monsters!

From how he said neesan, I inferred that my father had been my mother’s younger brother.

Well, we were a family that survived through incest, after all.

My mother ignored my father’s words, and slowly walked up to him.

— Ruza.

She didn’t have any emotion on her face.

— I like you.

— …… Huh?

My father seemed utterly confused, and my mother looked down at the ground, her cheeks going redder and redder.

— D-Die!

My mother threw a charm, blasting my father away.

“Wow! Wow wow wow wow!”

My mother was raising a fuss.

“Do not watch! Stop! Do not watch the mistakes of my youth!”

“Wait wait! Come on, I just want to see a teeeeensy more!”

“Okay, let’s go watch something else! Ah! Over there! Looks like it’s what happens after this! Let’s watch as the super serious prodigy and heir of the Tsukuyomi lineage @ Juju-chan chases after the delinquent dropout of the family @ Ruza, finds him in the town, and gets wrapped up in a boisterous romantic comedy…!”

“S. T. O. P! My youth was so filled with training that I was unversed in matters of love, and I acted like a complete fool… please stop watchingggg!!”

Time continued to rewind.

My young mother was sitting on an altar.

She was the sheltered daughter of the Tsukuyomi tribe who was being raised properly to be the next Tsukuyomi Priestess.

That was my mother.

My grandmother was the current Tsukuyomi Priestess, but her body was weak and she collapsed often, so she rarely showed herself in public.

My mother feigned ignorance, not showing any hint of her brilliance as she remained absolutely silent.

Everyone else ignored my mother… or maybe they didn’t care if a little kid heard them. They just continued to whisper.

Whisper about how much they were going to use the power of the Supreme G.o.d to advance their own interests.

About how much their personal coffers would swell, about how they were going to fulfill their every wish and indulge in pleasure.

Or about how they would defeat their rivals and rise up in the world.

Unsavory talk filled the air, and my mother just sat in the middle of it all, silent.

Why was my mother able to fulfill her role so seriously, so perfectly?

Was it because she didn’t have anything else to cling to?

Or was it because she didn’t want to become polluted like all the other adults around her?

Maybe carrying out this n.o.ble, precious role a.s.signed to her by the G.o.ds was the only way my lonely mother could feel at peace.

“How nostalgic.”

My mother muttered.

“Until I inherited the power of the Supreme G.o.d, I did not say a single word. I was ridiculed and called a fool, but I remained silent, listening to what everybody else was saying. Then, the same day I inherited the power of the Supreme G.o.d, I began to cleanse the Tsukuyomi Shrine. By that time, the shrine had already been dirtied by a long history of depravity.”

She sounded lonely.

“Certainly, it was a favorable time for us at the shrine. We had shouldered the power of the Supreme G.o.d for a long time, had become used to such power, and began to believe that we were special. Of course, even everything I did was nothing but a temporary patch. Was everything we had built up until now useless? Were we meddling where we should not have been…?”

“Seriously, stop regretting stuff. We’re here going to the past so we can get rid of all the regret, right?”

Tsurugi seemed a bit exasperated.

“No, what you’ve done hasn’t been useless. Honestly, I’m grateful and I feel awful for it. Making you hold onto this power for so long. I should’ve destroyed the Tsukuyomi Shrine a long time ago and taken the power of the Supreme G.o.d back. But I took advantage of you guys and procrastinated…”

It was rare to hear Tsurugi’s voice sounding so faint.

“Well, looks like our little detour ends here. We’re gonna make a huge leap now, so hold on tight! This might be a bit hard on you humans.”

With that, our journey to the past reached its final station.

I saw a dazzlingly bright world before me.

Everything was filled with brilliant light.

Were we above the clouds? In any case, I could see some fluffy things floating in the background, and through the cracks of those things, a huge blue sea below. There were also a number of sacred mountains in the distance.

It wasn’t even really clear how we were standing up above the clouds, but I straightened my posture and noticed a number of huge presences around me.

I instinctively understood what these presences were.

They were the forces of nature themselves, G.o.ds with immense levels of divinity.

It felt like Mount Fuji was bearing down on top of me. I cowered at the overwhelming amount of power I felt around me.

And then, I noticed.

The sun, which had always been above me, was slowly descending.

That sun was soon level with me, still s.h.i.+ning brilliantly.

And this mysterious, exceedingly beautiful existence was holding three sacred objects.

A sword, a mirror, and a magatama jewel. (5)

The three divine instruments. (6)

I belatedly understood just where we were.

This was precisely the scene when Ninigi-no-Mikoto descended from the heavens.

The Supreme G.o.d came down and entrusted everything to her grandson, who had become human.

The other G.o.ds also descended together from Heaven to Earth, standing guard and becoming the first of all things.

They would rule, maintain, and tune the earth from now on.

“So, what do you want?”

The divine existence in front of me spoke in a teasing voice.

“This is where I just abandoned the power of the Supreme G.o.d because I was way too tired… this is where everything began, and we can do things over from here if you want.”

I couldn’t see her actual form through the blinding light, but for some reason I knew that she was smiling.

“I’ve rested enough. I’ve depended on you guys for way too long… for longer than was needed. And, you’re all just exhausted now. This is something that should never have happened. The sun herself said she had enough and stopped spinning. I really did something unforgivable.”

The Supreme G.o.d Amaterasu was directly in front of me, looking at me.

“In the end, I can’t tell you if all you’ve done through your history was right or not. You’ve experienced much pain, death, and this land has become chaotic like many entangled strands of hemp all because I didn’t want to try. That is my own regret.”

The Sun G.o.ddess held out the three divine instruments towards me.

“Answer me please. Was I wrong? I’ve been thinking about this for so long but I still don’t know… was I wrong to pa.s.s over such a heavy piece of baggage to you guys here? Maybe I should’ve tried just a bit harder?”

“Nah.”

I shook my head.

“Don’t feel remorse over our history, G.o.ddess.”

I’m sure my mother, whose heart was nestled close to mine right now, agreed with me.

“You tried hard for so long. You then took a short break, but now you’re back again. If you’re tired, then pa.s.s the baton. That’s the best, most efficient method if you ask me… so you weren’t wrong.”

I took the sword, the mirror, and the jewels, and mustered up all my strength in my words.

“We’ll… try hard for you until the sun rises.”

I smiled.

“Even if the moonlight may be a bit weak.”

“I see.”

The Sun G.o.ddess smiled, and let out a huge, catlike yawn.

“Well then… take care of it for me.”

And so, the days of legend ended, and the days of history began.

And the path we would walk was now completely empty of regret.

This was our time to work. This short, fleeting time, until the rising of the sun.

Our regrets had vanished.

The burdens on my mind, on my mother’s mind, on Tsurugi’s mind… they were lightened, if only by a little.

History was not altered, and we found ourselves back at the problem point when an anomaly first appeared in the timeline.

“Well then!”

Tamamo-no-Mae, the One who Dances on the Scales, spoke with triumph in her voice from within the Killing Stone Golem.

“Have a happy death, Tsukuyomi Juju! And so we draw the final curtain on the Tsukuyomi Shrine, and bring glory to Arahabaki!”

“Unfortunately for you…”

Suddenly, I felt a wave of power swirling in my mother’s body, even as it was on the verge of being crushed by the Golem.

“I have been temporarily entrusted with the power of the Supreme G.o.d by my daughter. I now have a duty to work hard for a number of years to come. I made a promise. I will not allow you to kill me.”

Spiritual energy swelled from my mother’s body as she struggled.

“Wha-… I knew something seemed strange!”

Tamamo-no-Mae looked shaken.

“Why is it that there is another heart… another divine spirit present in Tsukuyomi Sasami’s body? I should have been able to deal swiftly with an inexperienced girl like Sasami! Why did I have to awaken when there was such a powerful divine spirit mixed in?!”

“Sorry, but you were nothing but the fodder for mending a mother-daughter relations.h.i.+p.”

Suddenly, I heard a voice, and the Killing Stone Golem’s arm flew off.

A charm had been thrown at it.

“You might’ve waited ten years for the right opportunity but too bad. You have this strange ability to go to the past, and you happened to be inside Sasami, so I took advantage of that and used your powers.”

The one who was attacking was… Micchan, who had been blown away by the golem just moments before.

Wait, could she actually use charms like this?

Ah, Tsurugi was probably inside her body right now.

“There doesn’t seem to be much spiritual energy in this body… but there’s still some. If I concentrate all this energy, I can do this much. Well, but I think I’m at my limit here… the rest is up to you.”

“Gladly!”

The Killing Stone Golem’s arm had been destroyed.

My mother slipped out from the gaps in the Golem’s fingers, and then she swiftly teleported upwards while unsheathing her sword.

The golem’s head flew into the air, and the young me was liberated from the monster.

I saw my chance and quickly leapt into the young me’s body.

My mother caught me in midair, and we descended to the ground together.

We then turned around to face this terrifying monster who could change the past.

Tamamo-no-Mae was trembling.

“Y-You used me…? I am the pale-faced, golden-furred, nine-tailed fox. I am the one who has toppled nations and dynasties through intrigue and guile, and you used me…?”

Poison gas erupted from the golem’s body, and the headless monster charged at us.

“You will die… die a painful death! I will turn you into minced meat and serve you as an appetizer!”

“… My apologies, but I will not allow that to happen.”

My mother didn’t move, but just readied her sword, our hands still joined.

“Finally, I can fulfill the true role given to us by the Supreme G.o.d in times of legend… and I finally understand that role. I finally remembered the meaning of that role. Nine-tailed fox, you will not destroy this land. I will protect it until the rising of the sun… I, who was bestowed with the three divine instruments, will take pride in that!”

The battle ended in the blink of an eye.

My mother slashed her sword grandly, and the Killing Stone Golem was rent in two.

At the same time, the spiritual energy encased in her long sword exploded, sending Tamamo-no-Mae flying.

It was like watching fireworks.

My mother’s hand that was joined to mine felt hot.

Maybe because we had defeated Tamamo-no-Mae, the s.p.a.ce around us distorted and I saw static run through the air.

And so, this fleeting dream came to an end.

“Okay then.”

Micchan, or rather the lazy G.o.d inside of Micchan, let out a huge yawn.

“I’ll count on ya for a bit longer then.”

My mother and I both nodded at her words.

The sun pa.s.ses the baton to the moon, and the moon pa.s.ses the baton back to the sun. And thus the world continued to spin.

Towards tomorrow, one step at a time.

TRANSLATOR’S NOTES

(1) She is waving around one of these.

(2) I believe we’ve seen mention of this myth before, but Izanagi and Izanami were the two founding G.o.ds of j.a.pan. Izanagi went to the Underworld to try to save Izanami, but failed because she had already eaten the fruit of the Underworld. He runs out with her chasing after him and blocks the entrance with a huge boulder. Amaterasu (i.e. Tsurugi) is born from Izanagi purifying himself after the incident.

(3) Tsurugi mentions “Ukehi,” which is a s.h.i.+ntoist divination ritual. Most famously, Amaterasu (i.e. Tsurugi) used it with Susanoo to determine the latter’s intentions – if she gave birth to boys, it meant Susanoo harbored no ill intent towards her. And she proceeded to give birth to five boys.

(4) Very similar to the Western card game a.s.shole.

(5) A magatama is a comma-shaped jewel. It’s one half of the standard yin-yang symbol.

(6) In j.a.panese mythology, these are the three things Amaterasu bestowed upon Ninigi-no-Mikoto when he descended to Earth.

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