The Shadow of Issu

Possessed by Disease

A shrine maiden came into the hall, slowly letting Uehara acknowledge her presence subtly so much as to try not to interrupt her guardian's matters. But the head-priestess had already sensed something and she was prompted by Uehara to come closer.

After listening, she faces to Akane and the strategist understood the gravity of the situation. 

"We may have to continue this some other time, Tomoga Akane." She spoke. "For now, Sukuno awakens."

The island of Issu hides thousands of secret burdens which only those who are endowed upon such impossible tasks to keep these atrocities at bay know. The Kiori Shrine Watchers are known throughout Issu as spirit hunters, but perhaps no mere outsider would know of this predicament that Akane had recently discovered. A mortal reminder of the Kiori. 

The name was not at all new to her. She had heard of rumors, simply as a legend, but never a historical figure. Often times, people tend to forget that legends are not mere stories, and that many ring old truths that have long passed and gone.

What the shrine maiden had actually come for was to inform Uehara Kuro of Akha's returning to consciousness. When Akane heard of this, she had already prepared herself. 

If this was the fate that awaited Akha, then so be it, though she would never give up without trying, and there are many interventions that Tomoga Akane had known throughout her life—she just did not know which to choose in this dilemma.

Her composure to accept this dire situation with blatant disregard was displayed not to portray indifference, but as a façade to conceal weakness, for not even the strongest are immune to moments of humanity. The matters of war, no matter how or where, will always entail the grievance of loss, and its frequency often tends to shatter one's resolve, quicker than it may seem, and when faltered by the first sign of weakness, one could easily lose the battle, no matter what kind one faces. It is only through the horror of war can one truly see weakness, and most of all, primal fear, that which is— the fear of death.

But Akane's realization of her own end was long discarded when she had known what it was to be part of something as tragic as war. No, Akane's true fear lies somewhere else.

As a strategist, Tomoga Akane believes that ultimate victory is achieved without fighting the enemy, but when faced by adversity, often times, the plans and the decisions of those who are a part of it churn and flow like ebbing waves.

It is one thing to consider a pacifistic approach, and another to go headstrong thinking one can solve a problem with a singular method. 

Tomoga Akane, in recognized hierarchy, is the third brightest strategist due to her fearsomely precise predictions and almost encyclopedic knowledge. But yet again, she is faced with another trial that requires a new approach, requiring her to balance both the risk and the reward—gravely. Though something inside her tells her that she could no longer afford to lose something, as she had once perceived so easily the losses during her time serving as a Shin's strategist, as she could now. 

She was not ready to lose Akha—not yet.

They came out into the cold air of the mountain-top shrine, opening to the heavy atmosphere of the temple grounds. From a noticeable distance between the temple towards the god-gate, Akha was chained to an aged mossy dilapidated stone statue. The shrine maidens have sprinkled sawdust around the bound Akha as a sort of boundary. 

Akane watches as they treat her companion like some feral beast. They receded a great distance from him, with hands resting on the hilt of their Kuratashi, ready to strike down the possessed swordsman, knowing little of what Akha was truly capable of.

He was awake, but his movements were minimal. One could barely see him under broad daylight, breathing slowly as his chest subtly rises and descends, mist forming as every breath was let out with words spoken through a whisper. The trees seem to catch them, for they rustled in the wind almost as if they were listening to what shuddering words came from Sukuno through Akha's mouth. What would be the horrors spoken by a man who has lived through thousands of years as a malicious spirit, observing, learning— from this, Akane wondered.

Everything about him was basked in an ominous atmosphere, a sinister design masked by an unexplainable facetious composure. 

The dismissive look that Akha naturally wears was still there, but something within it felt like it was not him behind that steel-eyed glare. Akane knew the Orchid's light-hearted, though sorrowful gaze, and now that he broods there on the temple's stone ground, surrounded by dozens of shrine maidens equipped to the teeth with swords ready to be drawn anytime, his head lowers down to cover a portion of those eyes, the atmosphere turns icier than it was before.

"Fushikami Sukuno." Uehara called out.

Recognizing the name, Akha lifts his head and meets Uehara Kuro's contemptuous gaze.

"The Bringer of a Thousand Swords, you look as beautiful as ever."

Uehara smiles a spiteful grin, seemingly disgusted yet amused by those words that so casually flew from Akha's mouth.

"Have we not agreed that when you come into my presence, nothing will be shared but the intent to kill from each other's steel?"

The trees shook from a cold draft that suddenly subsided.

"Oh, but it is only quite a few times that we get to share these sentiments. What is but a small conversation between two bound spirits?"

"Bound spirits?" Akane utters under her breath.

Uehara Kuro scoffed. "There you go again spouting lies. Such a pitiful soul, you can't even last a day before you are put down by the Kiori. Is this the terrible Fushikami Sukuno that history itself has been so afraid of?" She sneered.

Akha stood up, the chains on his hands and feet rattling from his movements. He meanders forward, eyes affixed on Uehara Kuro. His steps halted just before reaching the sawdust circle. 

"Careful with your words. You are but a deterrence to the path of the Ravenous. It would take you centuries before I consider you a true opponent. You are only holding the immense power of the Senburo, without it, you are nothing."

"Without a vessel, you are also nothing."

Akha paused for a moment and his eyes caught sight of a something that began to pique his interest.

"Well, well, what do we have here."

Akane stands straight up, holding out her authority against him. She knows her position over Akha, and Sukuno ought to know that as well. She was undaunted even by the threatening presence that seeped from Akha, and from all those that surrounded him, Akane stood the closest to the circle.

Suddenly, Akha bursts into laughter.

"You put so much faith into someone who will not hesitate to kill you in a second." He chided.

Akane remained silent.

After Akha was finished, his expression quickly turned austere. "So this it the woman that fills the mind of the vessel I inhabit. His respect and reverence for you is something that I can praise, but even then— his loyalty to serve his master surpasses almost anything. One might even say that this man lives only to become a weapon—the perfect weapon."

Having said that, a nasty grin bears on Akha's face.

"That is true. His loyalty to his master surpasses anything." Akane repeated. The smile on Akha's face was erased, his eyes staring deep into Akane's as if he was reading her.

"You know, if you really are that sharp, you should have already realized that I have already won." He faces to Uehara Kuro, who already sensed that something was amiss.

"He is outside the circle..." Akane whispers, the trees shaking vigorously to the wind that suddenly came. "Sukuno is outside!" 

In a moment's notice, one of the shrine maiden drew her Kuratashi, swiping at a fellow shrine watcher. Instantly, Uehara Kuro did not waste a single second. She let loose her hanging cord and used her sheathed blade to try and incapacitate the rogue shrine maiden. 

Uehara finally draws her blade and cuts the cloth that wrapped over the maiden's eyes, and sees it glowing red with Sukuno's influence. 

"How could I have..." As she looks down, she notices that this shrine maiden's foot has stepped on the dust circle. Frustration and anger filled Kuro's mind as she turns to see Akha charge at her.

Her Kuratashi receives the impact of Akha's full attack, who used the shackles as a weapon. Both share strikes powerful enough to send the drafts around them to a standstill. Sukuno's power becomes imminent in front of Akane as he fights Uehara with such prowess, even when he was using those iron bracelets as a weapon. Though she knew a portion of this power seemed stronger than what Akha displays, she had still yet to know whose strength she had come to witness from the two. 

Akha throws the chain towards Uehara who deflects it with her blade, giving him a window to recede back, standing behind the dazed shrine maiden. He slowly slips his fingers, replacing her hand on the hilt of her sword. The shrine watcher drops to her knees. Akha held her head up by her hair and placed the sharp edge of the Kuratashi to her neck. A menacing intent appeared on Akha's face as he relishes the dread from the other shrine watchers.

"It has been too long." His grin expands.

Blades flew from behind him and strikes his forearm. A searing pain instantly overcame Akha's body as he backs away from the maiden, dropping the sword and grasping his arm as it hissed, smoke pouring from the wound. He grunts and scrutinizes his attacker.

From behind him, Akane readies another set of these deadly blades.

"I thought you could not wield a weapon." He utters, picking up the Kuratashi.

"There are many things that you do not know about me, Master Akha." She spoke. Akane's theory was proven. It was true that Tomoga Akane could not wield a weapon, to see her with a Kuratashi was almost like seeing a flower in a desert, more so that she despised the notion behind it. But she was not completely powerless. She knew at least how to throw knives and draw a bow.

From what she observes, Sukuno inherits the memories and the knowledge of the vessel he possesses. This haunting prospect also chilled her to the bones, for she knew that Akha had only shown his ability at surface level. There was no telling how much Sukuno would exploit this untapped strength that Akha tries hardest to conceal.

She could only hope to wish that Akha fights even from within, struggling for control against Sukuno in his mind.

"Akha," She calls out. "I know you are still in there."

Sukuno bears an amused grin, listening, letting her futile attempts try to reach what cannot be redeemed.

"Remember what makes you human, who gave your life meaning."

Akane notices a twitch from one of his fingers, followed by a displeased look from Akha towards it. She instantly knew Akha gave her an answer, and Sukuno was quick to realize that.

"You will die believing he will save you." 

The swordsman launched himself with every intention to kill. Akane stood there in full acceptance, unwavering as Akha approaches with unrelenting ferocity, an unknown shadow looming over his head as his eyes pierced like a blade.

"Akha," She whispers just enough for him to hear her.

Suddenly, a wave of reluctance washed over the swordsman, throwing him off momentum as the thrust of his Kuratashi barely nicked off a piece of hair from Akane's ear. He tumbled to the temple grounds, rolling and crashing to a pillar. Picking himself up from the failed attempt, a displeased and vexed expression overturned Akha's stoic manner. 

"Interesting." He spoke.

"Now!" The voice of Kuro filled the cold winds. Leaping into the air, the shrine maidens positioned themselves to subjugate the liberated demon. A noticeable sheen of azure danced on the surface of their blades, twinkling with a hue that was indisputably lethal to the denizens of the otherworldly.