Fujisaki slept a whole night and a whole day. Whatever miracle she had accomplished with the Celestial Bow it had been too much for her.
In the meantime, the Forgotten Shrine of Amaterasu gave the lost souls a proper funeral.
Five children had the Fish Demon eaten.
Five innocent life lost.
The ones who survived had to ring with their guilt.
Himena sits in seiza beside Fujisaki's futon, cherishing any breath her sister draws. She hoped with all her heart that the little girl would wake up soon.
Sighing the silver-haired teen took Fujisaki's hand, pressing it against her forehead.
"You're a hero, Imoto, but also incredibly stupid!"
From Fujisaki came only soft snores as an answer.
No answer, was also an anwers.
"Hime-Chan." Miko Toki joinend her. "Did you eat? If you want, I will keep an eye on Fuji-Chan."
"I'm not hungry."
"Hime-Chan..."
"Toki-San," Himena began slowly. "Did you find out what happened to Fuji? How did she kill the demon with the bow and arrow?"
Miko Toki pursed her lips. "I found some old scripts. All say the same thing: Only a child of the sun can harness the power of the Celestial Bow. Fujisaki has to be a child of the sun, but what precisely this is, there the scripts say different things."
A child of the sun? Tanjiro comes automatically to mind. He was the only one who could do Sun Breathing, it wouldn't be far off to call him this too.
Could it be that Fujisaki was a descendant of the Kamados?
Heh, she wouldn't like this since she still wanted to marry Tanjiro.
It is also possible that Fujisaki was a descendant of Tsugikuni Michikatsu, just like Tokito Yuichiro and Muichiro. The demon slayer who had turned into a demon had two children; it was possible that Fujisaki could come from his lineage.
Sure Michikatsu or Kokushibo was to the moon, but he had the same DNA as Yoriichi, so why shouldn't one of his descendants be a sun child?
In the end, Himena could just guess. She hadn't any evidence for her theories.
"What do the scripts say about these children of the sun?" she asked simply the old Miko.
"From being born blessed under Amaterasu to being her mortal child on Earth." the Miko told. "I know you seek answers Hime-Chan. We all are curious, but I doubt we will get a satisfactory answer."
"The pieces of information are too outdated, mmh?"
In answer, Toki caressed Himena's silver hair.
Figures.
(*)
"Divine intervention, is that what you seek? To untie apprehensions that were placed on that creed? You are playing with sunlight for men full of shame. But if they are worth the risk of going under, why not make it a game?"
Fujisaki blinked confused at this...woman.
Who was she and why did she change the lyrics to one of the Epic songs?
That strange woman possessed red hair in a fancy updo with golden hairpins. Her eyes were molten golden, framed by long black lashes.
She had a beautiful face. An elegant nose and full ruby-red lips.
The kimono she wore was red going into lighter shades and decorated with golden suns.
She looked like an empress.
No...like a goddess!
"I know I'm not the greatest singer." the woman chirped and sat down in perfect seiza before Fujisaki. "But I couldn't resist! Epic: The Musical has amazing songs!"
Fujisaki just frowns. This was getting from second to second weirder.
"Oh dear you are confused, aren't you?" the empress/goddess noted, placing a hand on her cheek embarrassed. "It's okay Azzura, ah, wait you are now Fujisaki. I will explain anything."
"How do you know my name from before?" Fujisaki gasped shocked.
It should be impossible!
"Well, I isekai'd you and your babysitter here." the woman said simply. "I'm Amaterasu Okami, Sun Goddess, at your service."
"...Sure and I'm Athena."
"Now, Fuji-Chan."
"Athena, Athena, badass in the arena!"
They argued for a while till the self-proclaimed Amaterasu made a little sun appear in her hand.
Okay, either this was the finest Hollywood Effects or she was indeed the Sun Goddess.
"Alright, let's say I believe you-"
"-Fuji-Chan, so stubborn!-"
"-Then why did you isekai'd me and Himena?"
Amaterasu crossend her arms, titling her head.
"Well, better than nothing. First I wanted to give the Demon Slayer Fujisaki this quest, but she died faster than I expected. Gods are not perfect beings, believe me. Thankful you died too!"
This earned her a pissed-off look from Fujisaki.
The Goddess chuckled nervously. "Anyway, Azzura and Fujisaki had the same soul. It's actually quite fascinating. A soul can exist in multiple worlds at the same time! So it was simple to pull you from Earth into the Demon Slayer Earth. You're one of my children, like Kamado Tanjiro. Born and blessed under the sun. Since Tanjiro already has his own quest, you get the honour to fulfil this one!"
"Do I have to kill Muzan? Wait, Tanjiro will do it." Fujisaki murmur confused.
"Oh, it's simple, yet difficult. You have to collect for me the famous Yokais of Japanese folklore and ban them here."
An old book appeared between them. Jeez, maybe it wasn't some special effects!
"The Celestial Bow can kill normally demons with a shot, but for the Yokai's, you will need more than this. You need to become a Demon Slayer. Then when they are nearly done the Bow will shimmer in gold, telling you it's time to shoot an Excorsimus Arrow at them which will ban them into the book. This should stop them from reappearing in the world."
"Can I not just kill them?" Fujisaki wonders, scratching her head.
"Well yes. The problem is they will just reappear after a few decades. Yokais are manifested evil, born from the darkness in the hearts of humans. It's better to contain them in the book." Amaterasu explained.
"Is this Kingdom Hearts now?"
"Oi, blame the author!"
"What?"
"What?"
(*)
Since Miko Toki left, Himena kept alone vigil over her sister.
Suddenly she had the feeling she had just given herself a self-burn.
Huh?
(*)
"Alright Amaterasu, I'm not so skeptic anymore." the young girl admitted. "I will fulfil this quest, just why is Himena here? Not that I'm not thankful not to be alone."
The Sun Goddess gave her a smile, petting her head.
"Aww, it's quite simple. You still need a babysitter and you already love Himena. Also, she DID die with you."
"So..only I'm the Chosen One or something similar."
"If you wanna say it so, yes. Himena was born under the sun too, but she isn't a child of mine like you."
Fujisaki didn't like this one bit. Sure it was cool she was the MC, but her big sister had MC-Energy too.
It seemed unfair that she got all the cool powers and Himena was just there to keep an eye on her.
"Amaterasu, can't you give my Nee-Chan some powers too?"
(*)
If you asked Himena later, she couldn't tell you how in the name of Ra-Ra-Rasputin, Russia's greatest love machine, she ended up in this place now.
In a second she looked down at her sleeping sister, and in the next, she was in a Japanese throne room, Fujisaki beside her and a beautiful, divine woman before them.
This already was freaky, but what they told her in the next hour, was crazy.
Good, at least they knew now why they were reborn here, still, Fujisaki was the Chosen Champion of the Goddess Amaterasu with her personal quest?
And she, Himena, was just here as a babysitter?
She would be lying if she said she wasn't offended a bit!
But, her sweet sister, was pleading to the goddess to give her also some cool main character powers!
If Himena remember right what she knew about the sun goddess, was that she had two brothers. Susanoo, the Storm God and Tsukuyomi, the Moon God.
Amaterasu knew what sibling bonds were like, maybe that's why she entertained Fujisaki's idea.
She should say something too.
"Amaterasu-Sama." Himena began, bowing deep. "I would be lying if I said I don't want some cool powers, but...please. Fuji-Chan needs me. Can you at least make me so strong that I will not die facing my first demon?"
"Mmh, I hear the sincerity in your words." Amaterasu recognized. "Even if I feel you want to be the MC, you're willing to just be Fuji-Chan protector."
The Kamiya Sisters looked nervous at the thoughtful goddess.
What would she decide?
(*)
"And you girls are sure?" Miko Toki askend for the 100 time this day. "You could stay here with us."
Himena and Fujisaki wore sturdy travelling clothes, a gift from Toki herself, and a bag with supplies carried Himena, while Fujisaki had the Celestial Bow slung over her shoulder.
"If we wanted to be egoistic, then we would stay." Himena began, smiling gently. "Living here a simple and quiet life would be wonderful...but we need to fulfil Amaterasus Quests. If not we, who else? Fuji was chosen and I go where she goes."
Fujisaki nodded. "I wanna help, I wanna do it! I wanna change the world to a better place."
"I see the determination in your eyes. If you ever need a home, come back here, yes?" Miko Toki signed.
"We won't be strangers." the oldest Kamiya promised.
With a heavy heart, Miko Toki sent the girls off with a prayer. She wished that Amaertasu was truly with them, protecting them, they would need more than the Celestial Boy and the Divine Book to ban the Yokais.
The Kamiya Sisters began their long journey hand in hand.
The first step, finding someone to teach them a Breathing Style.
(*)
Amaterasu watched from the Celestial Plane down at her chosen champions.
She may be a powerful Goddess, but even she worried.
The sisters awaited hardships, days full of pain and terror, moments of anguish, then being a Chosen One was never simple.
"I gave you instruments to be successful," she murmured. "But ONLY if you train and work and go beyond your limits you will win."
Could she have done more?
It was frustrating how Gods were bound to so many rules. People thought they were oh so powerful, till a point it was true, but it came with a price.
Never directly interact with the human world, only through champions.
And not always were the champions the right choice.
Humans could get so easily corrupted. A shining light turns into a shadow of darkness.
It was simply a gamble, as old as time.
(*)
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