Work Text:
It shed tears
That was the first thing she noticed in her first but not last creation. Once it felt her heart's power, it grew overwhelming for it and released that pent up divinity through the free flowing tears running down its' face.
She never intended it to be her eternal vessel, shown through its short stature and male like features. It was only a test, and she saw this as a valuable one. She learned that she did not wish for her body to feel, to express itself, it will only be a hindrance to her grand plan of everlasting eternity. She wished for a body that will withstand the tides of erosion and only be focused on stasis for her land while she recluses herself in her ethereal plane. With her next body, it will become the archetype of eternity and with it, pain and suffering will never happen again. The tranquil will stay and the chaos will vanish. This prototype is the very justification of preserving eternity.
She reached towards her creation, a hand fazing through its chest and emerging with her divine heart. Its whimpering subsided and it shed no more. All that was left in evidence of emotion was the wet trails that ran down its cheeks and the slight puffiness to its eyes. All what she has left to do is to seal its powers and destroy it. Simple as that.
Oh how she wished it was that simple. She considered the idea of disposing it but looking at its face reeked a solemn familiarity. Even though she didn't intend to make it similar to her, her creation made her feel as if she was looking at a mirror. Its face was soft and feminine with a sense of power, just like her. But it wasn't her face she saw in her creation.
She saw someone else, someone dear to her. Someone she held so close to her but was still taken from her. Someone she swore to protecting, being the brawns to the brains. And yet, that someone left without her knowledge and by the time she realized, it was already too late. The world around her shrunk and her despair muffled the calamity that circled around them. Her disposing her creation will only just repeat to what happened to her.
It was then that she realized that she was losing her breath. Electro manifested in the palm of her hand just hovering a few inches away from its chest. She quickly pulled back and looked at it again. It was when she glanced at her creation once more is when she made her decision. She is not in control of its life and decided that she will not control its fate. Whatever it decides to do will be up to itself. In the meantime, it will eternally rest as its purpose was fulfilled.
She gently held it close and lifted it from the table it laid, its long violet hair flowing down like the night sky, nearly touching the wooden floorboard (she didn't understand why she gave it similar hair to hers either).
'It's just a prototype, Ei' she thought 'Nothing more. Nothing less'
---
It didn't take long for her to make her perfect vessel. The prototype was the foundation of her newest creation, a draft to the final project. This time, the vessel was an exact copy of her, from her tall feminine stature to her clothes and accessories. The only issue with this creation is that it can't bear a heart. Not like it was a problem, she swore to never involve herself with the divine ever since that day. Now all she has to do is transfer herself to her weapon and leave the nation to her grand vessel.
So, why? Why can't she?
In her conscious, she doesn't know. However, deep within her, she knows all too well. The guilt is clawing to her back and something whispers into her ear, unintelliagble but cohesive as the same time. She knows what those whispers are, where they are coming from. They crawl from across the ocean, from island to island, rooting itself in a hidden pavilion. They speak but they overlap each other, drowning their voices with more voices, but their intent is clear.
They are warning her.
She holds her plans off for another day, till the guilt washes away from her. She will just rest and delay her plans for just one more day.
---
The Shogun stands in a grand room inside Tenshukaku . The grand electro symbols that show in her plane of euthymia are rooted in the wall behind her, gold being silhouetted by shades of violet. The room showed itself vacant besides from her... and the eccentric standing before her.
His attire shows his roots and the sunhat he dawns frames his silhouette, giving him a small but noble appearance. His mirroring eyes glare straight through the shogun, piercing her gaze with hatred and years of festering resentment. She knows who he is but the shock of the confrontation renders her speechless.
"Almighty Shogun," he says "do you remember me?"
'Yes I do' she thinks, but the words are stuck in her throat.
"Do you remember my face?" He starts "Do you remember locking me away in that estate? Do you remember tossing me aside like worthless dross?"
She wishes to protests. She wishes to say that none of those words are true, that he wasn't some discarded trash, but how else can he look at it? In his eyes, she was the mother that abandoned him and left him with no guidance for hundreds of years. He has every right to feel the way he does.
"Well then... let me show you what this worthless dross can do!"
A heartbeat echoes through the room, not from the Shogun but from the eccentric itself. The Shogun froze.
The gnosis! How did he get-
---
She stands in front of the pavilion, shielded away from human reach. What was once a grand estate now renders itself as long lost nobility. She enters the crumbling palace, cobwebs and dust litter the interior and the luxurious furniture that was once well kept was dulled and worthless. This forgotten home is a sharp comparison to the well kept room that the lying figure now resides in.
It presents itself with the now cleaned furniture and flowers decorate the place, its luminescence giving the place a soft hue. The bed is covered in pure white curtains, thick enough for a person not to see the body in detail but thin enough to show its silhouette. She opens the curtains to witness her creation yet again. Its body rests peacefully as if it were placed inside a coffin with a golden token clasps within its hands, a strike contrast to the bland and loose fitting robe it wears. It breathes softly but a heartbeat is inaudible to her ears. A true sleeping beauty, she thinks.
Though shaken, she slowly seats herself beside the puppet and cups the side of its cheek. No response, as expected. It can only live when the heart is placed inside it, at least she thinks it does. She caresses its pale skin while pondering its new purpose. If she were to move it inside Tenshukaku once more, it wouldn't come as an empty puppet. No, if it were to truly live beside her, it needs to have an existence that is just as important as hers. It won't be some doll she can play with nor will it be a comfort thing to soothe her losses. A being is not brought to existence to replace another after all.
That's when she remembers the heart that is with her. She pulls it out of her pocket and observes the tiny chess piece. It is full to the brim of divine electro energy, present in its vibrant hue of purple, and holds the key between the mortal plane and the heavens itself. If there is one thing that her perfect vessel can't do is bear this power. However, this sleeping puppet was design to hold such divinity. That's when it hit her.
She can turn this empty vessel into a host for her divinity. It can become a being with just much of equal footing of an archon itself outside of using its power. She knows that it can sustain itself to bear the gnosis but not enough endurance to channel that energy for its own gain. It was never meant to use it after all and who knows what would happen to its body if it uses too much of it. Besides, the second best option was to give it to her familiar but she knows first hand how unpredictable she can be.
She takes one last look at her heart before she places it back to its hollow chest. Immediately, tears fall from its-
No... his face.
He whimpers yet again, the energy being overwhelming for his small body but she does not stop it. Instead she hovers her hand above his face before her palm let out a soft violet hue.
"Awake." She orders
She waits for a second before witnessing his eyelids scrunch up before they slowly open to reveal mirroring eyes as well (she wonders deep down if she made her puppet so similar for this moment).
He wobbles to a sitting position, as to be expected from one's first view into the world, and immediately notices her right beside him. His eyes wide and confused, still leaking tears from the surging power within him. Eventually, he notices the tears and desperately tries to wipe them off. She expected this, this is the first time he ever experienced emotions while conscious. Even so, the effort is fruitless since the tears are endless and only accomplish making his sleeves wet. She notices this as well and gently grabs his arms, forcing him to make direct eye contact with her.
"It's okay," she starts "let it flow."
She isn't sure that he understands human language yet but he eventually stops trying to wipe his eyes off and stares down into his lap. Tears still fall and stain his clothes but he grasps onto her sleeves as an anchor to his reality. She doesn't mind, suspecting him to have the mental capacity of a newborn, and lets him feeling his new emotions. One minute turned into two, two minutes turned into three till eventually the tears stopped.
The festering guilt remains, not from placing him here but from her decision to leave this child in the ruins of a forgotten home. She refers to her dream that solidified her choice. The eccentric then was an exact copy to the teary eyed boy that holds onto her sleeves so helplessly outside from his short hair and well dressed attire. Whatever happened to that eccentric warped his perception of the world to a chaotic and hurtful view. She doesn't know what cause it and now she will never know. In another world, she never returned to the pavilion and slowly loosing memory of him while he wandered and questioned his place in the world. A tinge of sympathy rippled through her and yet relief moved through her at the same time. She could only wish her other self good luck to her future involving the eccentric but in the meantime, she won't repeat that mistake here.
And she proves this change by gently picking up the boy into her arms. She nearly chokes on herself when the boy gently wraps his arms around her and nuzzles into her neck, a pure realization of how innocent he is in all of this. To him, she is his only safety net despite no direct communication between the two yet. By instinct, he sees her as someone peaceful and someone to protect him, like a child reaching out to their parent. She can only sigh, she can't stay with him for long; she has a vessel to return to.
She has an idea of what to do to give this child a proper life but its a stupid one. She knows how unpredictable this option could be but they are the only suitable person to look after him while she resides in her plane. All the while she hums a familiar tune and the once teary eyed boy falls asleep into her arms.
---
"Ei, where did you get that boy?"
She bit her lip and looked away from her friend's sharp eyes. All the while the boy grasps onto her hand and stares at awe of the falling sakura petals within the shrine. Surprisingly, he learned how to walk quicker than expected and already he is feeling the urge to explore the new area he is introduced to. Awkward silence fell between her and the kitsune in front of her, only for it to break with the shrine maiden's chuckle.
"My Ei, there was no need to hide your love child from me. I wouldn't have judged you for it." She teased
"Miko..." Ei coughed "First of all, I did not get him through that; And second of all, I need a favor to ask."
"Oh, then tell me. Are you planning on dumping this child onto me?" Miko asked
"Um... yes, but it's for a good reason." Ei starts "Right now he is the most important figure in Inazuma and we can't afford anything to happen to him. I can't look after him right now, so I need you to make sure he is safe. Can you do that for me?"
Miko hums at her request, peering down at the boy clutching onto Ei's hand. They make eye contact for a brief moment, her all knowing eyes peering into his innocent ones. Immediately he is intimidated by her and hides behind the Shogun's arm, only giving her a slight peak.
Miko pouts "Aw, don't be scared. I'm good friends with your mother here."
Ei coughs but Miko pays no mind. She catches a falling petal and shows him the soft item, "Here, don't you want to hold one?"
The woman was scary, sure; but right now, she poses no threat and offers something to him that intrigued him from the very moment he stepped foot here. He cautiously leaves Ei's arm and reaches out for the petal. Immediately, he lights up. The petal's smooth soft texture brings him a foreign sensation but it never brought him fear, just fascination. He smiles while his thumb caresses the pink thing, wondering what else is here to explore. Before Ei could grab onto his hand, he runs past her and crouches down to the glowing body of water. His hand gently cuts through its surface and he laughs of the cold yet ticklish sensation.
"Alright," Miko starts "I'll look after him. Who knows, maybe he could be a renowned author who could give me limitless light novels to read."
Ei lets out a breath "Thank you, Miko."
Miko nods and looks over at the boy, still fixated on the water, then it dawns on her.
"Hey Ei, how did you bring this child to..."
The question was fruitless, she realizes. As when she turns back to face her dear friend, she was already gone.