Unselfish Wish

Chapter 35- Goddesses Up to No Good

Servants stood gently waving large palm leaves to cool their mistresses. The goddesses all sat in an elegant tea room, languidly gossiping with each other. The fans were completely superfluous. Takamagahara had seasons, but nowhere inside was anything but perfectly temperate. They forced their servants to do so because it made them feel powerful. It was a gathering of bitter, bored women with nothing but time and pretty much everything else they could ever want, other than more power, and maybe a husband.

At the head of the table sat Kaya-no-hime, wife of Oyamatsumi (her brother), who held to the archaic belief that primordial power should stay in the family. She herself was Tsukiyomi's sister, though of course she was nowhere near the level of Amaterasu, Susano'o, or Tsukiyomi in terms of power. To her right sat her daughter, Ohoto-mato-hime. Ohoto was a quiet, peaceful girl who mostly followed where her mother led. These tea room meeting always left her feeling uncomfortable, as she had not a bitter bone in her body. Ohoto was pretty, but not in a way that really stood out and got the attention of other kami.

To Kaya's left sat Iwasuhime, another of many siblings. She herself thought she was worthy of only the best, though she had no ability to speak of, and her only claim to any kind of appeal was that Izanagi and Izanami were her parents. It was how she got anything and everything done. One could almost call her the goddess of nepotism, but it was a simple result of being adrift in eternity with no true purpose. Next to Iwasuhime sat Kukurihime-no-kami. Kukuri had a chip on her shoulder after essentially being merged with another goddess, Kannon, by humans. Kannon was beloved and beautiful, but as much as she'd love to have such praise for herself, she could not pretend it was actually for her. Nobody liked to be forgotten.

Lastly, on the other side of Ohoto sat Toyouke-Omikami. Often synonymous with Ukemochi, it should be no surprise that she was in fact, the reincarnation of Ukemochi. While she had no direct memory of being killed by Tsukiyomi, she'd heard enough about it to nearly hate the moon god. It wasn't reasonable to her, to kill anyone just because you think they are gross. Just leave if you don't like it. It would still have been rude, of course, but she didn't think her original self had deserved such a fate. Lesson learned though, she had never produced food from her body again.

Kaya sighed heavily, sipping her tea. She had grand plans for her daughter, and things were not looking good.

"Ladies." She intoned. "I'm sure you've heard the atrocious rumors. A human, coming here and ascending? For nothing. She's no great poet, or artist, or scholar. She has done nothing spectacular to save humans. I can see no reason to allow it, just for paltry divinity and Tsukiyomi's begging. Can you imagine if every human kami became infatuated with was allowed to ascend?" She said in disgust. Toyouke, Kukuri, and Iwasuhime all nodded. Ohoto nodded when her mother elbowed her.

"Isn't there anything we can do to stop it?" Asked Iwasuhime. The last thing she needed was another female grabbing the attention of the gods. Having Tsukiyomi so enamored was naturally going to make her the center of attention. Iwasuhime curled her hands into fists. Kaya laughed, all sarcasm.

"If you want to go against Amaterasu, be my guest. Susano'o apparently tested her, though who knows how, and approved. Nobody can stop the Three Precious Children when they are in agreement." She huffed. Iwasuhime pouted.

"I don't know why Neesan got rid of arranged marriages. I could have a husband annd be settled by now if she did." She whined.

"Hush. How undignified." Kaya sniffed.

"If you are bringing such an unpleasant topic up, you must have a plan." Said Toyouke. Anything that could disturb Tsukiyomi made her happy. The human was inconsequential, a necessary casualty.

"Yes, what's the plan?" Kukuri murmured in agreement. She wasn't a troublemaker, per se, but she had nothing better to do, and Kaya was one of the few kami that still treated her as though she mattered. Had she known Kaya was not at all genuine, she'd probably have gravitated elsewhere, but Kaya was a convincing actress. By the time her "friends" noticed, it was usually too late to escape her influence. These three, not including her daughter, were her closest confidantes.

"Weeeeelll." Kaya started. "We can't stop her from coming here with her ragamuffin guardians or whatever, but we can make sure she is least in sight, and I'm certain we can drive a wedge between her and Tsukiyomi. He should be marrying within the family." She announced. When her sister started to preen, she gave her a dour look. "No, sister. Not you." Iwasuhime drooped in disappointment, then gasped and pointed at her niece.

"You can't seriously think Tsukiyomi will go for Ohoto-mato-hime? No way. She is far too quiet." She burst out. Ohoto said nothing, nor did she acknowledge anything that had already been said. She knew her mother would do the speaking for her.

"As if he is going to marry another sister after his monumental failure with Amaterasu!" Kaya exclaimed. "You know as well as I do that he has literally sworn to never do that again. It was his outright refusal that got Amaterasu to change our laws. Ridiculous!" Kaya said angrily. He had really ruined it for all the kami that were unattached, whether by allowing them to simply not marry at all, or those that could not have found a partner without an arranged marriage. Iwasuhime was not alone in this.

"I'm fine with anything as long as it ruins his happiness with this human demigod, or whatever she is." Toyouke announced.

"What about encouraging other gods to claim her?" Piped up Kukuri. "If she is successfully pulled away from him, it will be easier to put forward your daughter, since it would break his heart if she chooses another. Then both you and Toyouke get what you want, Kaya." Her voice was soft, She felt if she did not suggest something relatively safe, they were going to wreak chaos and toxicity. There was a reason she had been "merged" with Kannon, she was essentially kind. She had just gotten in with some of the worst vipers in Takamagahara, and once you associated with them, it was like trying to leave a cartel. Kukuri would not be shocked if Kaya had forced some to reincarnate for disloyalty.

"That is actually an excellent idea, Kukuri. I didn't think you had it in you." Kaya grinned poisonously. "They need to be gods that won't shy away from possibly challenging Tsukiyomi. Susano'o and Amaterasu can't interfere, only his bride could block the challenge with one of her own. Hardly a concern, since she's at best a demigod." Kaya said, dismissing the possiblity that Fumiiko held any power. "The poor thing has no idea how difficult life in the palace is going to be for her. I mean, with Tsukiyomi as her only real backer, it would be hard whether we did anything or not. He is not especially well-liked. He has always been so viciously rigid with rules and traditions, and purity. I was frankly shocked he pressed so hard about not pressuring kami into family marriages. Always thought it was a bit out of character for him. Chained to his duty for so long, he was." Kaya tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"He has always been an ass, in other words." Toyouke said, rolling her eyes. "Of course he breaks the rules when it suits him, if he thinks it violates some principle he has, even if nobody else can get behind it."

"I'm sorry to say this, Toyouke, but had he not done it himself, Susano'o would have. Everyone would have expected that from him though. It was such a shock from Tsukiyomi. He had always been so... serene up till then." Kaya announced. Toyouke huffed.

"Yeah but he's always been as cold as ice." Iwasuhime intoned dryly. "Makes you wonder how this... human... did it."