Perspective: XXXX

  A question had been haunting me for some time, gnawing at the remnants of my mind like a worm in a rotten apple. Why are the Samurai so fiercely loyal to the Shogun? Why do they sacrifice their lives for him with such idiotic smiles? Is their love for him truly that pure? If so... was Clara’s love for me not pure like this? Why did she run and leave me to bleed?

  Currently, most of Edo’s population—Samurai, nobles, and even commoners—were gathering in the main square before the castle. A sea of black heads, waiting in solemn silence for the arrival of Shogun Ieyasu. And I was among them. Standing in the shadows, leaning on my Shakujo. The injuries to my feet and body were still there, throbbing with a faint, constant pain, but I didn't care for a second. Pain is the only thing that reminds me I exist.

  Suddenly... from behind the audience, the Shogun’s aura exploded. It was tyrannical, heavy, and suffocating. The crowd began to part automatically, kneeling with respect and fear, clearing a path for the shadow of death. Shogun Ieyasu walked with steady steps until he reached the high platform. He looked at the audience with his cold blue eyes and spoke in a voice that was calm yet audible to every ear: "The son of the Demon Lord, 'Shuten Doji'... is still alive."

  Stifled gasps from the crowd. He raised his voice, and the calm turned into thunder: "And for this... I, the Yorishiro Ieyasu Tokugawa, Ruler of Nippon, its Vessel, and its rightful Master... shall burn the very home of the demons with my sword! And I will sever their heads, one by one!"

  Silence engulfed the place after his words. The Samurai and the people... their faces turned ashen. They knew exactly what the Yorishiro was saying. He wanted to kill a Goddess. He had decided, in that moment, to do what no one in the history of Nippon had dared to do.

  Then... the silence was broken by the voice of an old man. He stood in the front rows. He began screaming in the midst of the quiet, his voice trembling with anger and fear: "You arrogant brat!!" "How dare you think of killing a part of the Goddess Kina herself?! Do you not know that forest is a part of her?! You are no Yorishiro... not even a drop of a Samurai!"

  I looked at the old man’s face. I knew him. He was the owner of the filthy tavern where Morito used to get drunk. Everyone turned to him, staring in shock and horror. In that moment... no one saw a thing. The Yorishiro’s sword moved at the speed of light. A sword so black, so dark, I felt the sky turn to night for a fraction of a second. Shing... A soft cutting sound. The old man’s head fell to the ground. It rolled... and rolled... and rolled... until it stopped at the foot of the Shogun’s platform. The body remained standing for a moment, then collapsed.

  Then Ieyasu said coldly, wiping his sword which remained unstained by a single drop of blood: "Does anyone else wish to speak?"

  Then... a man appeared. A man carrying a worn-out sake bottle and a cloak as old as time. He began to walk and walk through the silent crowds. He had no overwhelming presence; he did not look special. He was just a passing ghost. He walked until he reached the old man’s corpse. He looked at the severed head with endless longing... longing for something lost long ago. This man was named Morito Ryu. He opened the sake bottle and poured the clear liquid over the old man’s head, stained with blood and dirt. He whispered in a voice only a few heard: "Even you... decided to leave me."

  He reached out, and with a movement full of tenderness, he picked up the head and placed it next to the body. He took off his old cloak and covered the corpse. Then he lifted the covered body in his arms, with lightness and care, and walked back the way he came. They did not stop him. No one dared to look him in the eye. Even the Shogun remained silent, watching his back as he walked away.

  And so... the announcement ended. After that, Nippon did not rest. It turned into a massive war camp. Samurai from all corners of Nippon began gathering in Edo. The drums of war began to beat. Even though the Shogun was going to kill a "God" the Samurai had believed in twenty years ago, none of them dared to question the Shogun.

  And I... I thought as I watched this blind loyalty. This is love. Love that cares for nothing but the person they love. A love for which they would burn even a Goddess. A love... I thought someone had for me. But it seems I am the only one... the only fool who thought this. "You traitress..." Whenever I remember your face, I discover how much I loved you. And how much I have come to hate you. You are no longer my star... you have become my dark abyss. You are no longer my princess... you have become the demon I want to kill. You are no longer my wife... you are no longer mine. You have become... someone else's property. I wish I had never fallen in love with you. I wish I had died the day my eyes fell upon you.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  Perspective: Kage

  After that miracle, and our long embrace of Yuta. The hug turned into a severe scolding. Everyone scolded Yuta. His mother spanked him while crying, his father yelled at him, and even the other Foxes reproached him for his "stupidity" in leaving the barrier. Yuta was crying and apologizing, but he was alive. That is what mattered.

  As for Dream, the Oni... I heard from Maru that he inflicted severe injuries upon him with his white sword. Maru said seriously: "I stabbed him in the heart with Muramasa's holy energy. The wound is spiritual and physical. He fled crawling. Do not fear... he is dead without a doubt. No one survives that stab." Although I was skeptical... Dream is a monster who does not die easily. But... for the first time, I will hope he is dead. I will believe in Maru.

  At night... after the time of food and dancing. I was looking at the sky from atop the treehouse. And the black thoughts began to return. I must go back. Why did I choose to betray Dream? If he finds out... he will kill me. If he knows I betrayed Dream... he will kill me slowly. Yes... I will return to my nature. I must go back. I must escape. This paradise is not for the likes of me. He will come and kill them all. Even if Dream died... He exists. He watches everything.

  I began to tremble, biting my fingers, thinking of my foolishness. But... I don't want to go back. I want to stay here. But He will kill me. No... why do I doubt Him? He won't kill me. He will forgive me; He is merciful. Yes... I will go back.

  Suddenly... a hand grabbed my trembling hand. I gasped. He has come! I looked in front of me... It was Maru. It was not Ling Guo, nor Dream. He looked at my cold hand and said in a calm voice: "Do not fear. I am here. I will protect you." I looked at him, and screamed in his face, tears streaming down: "But He is strong! He is immortal! He watches everything! He is a God! He is everything!"

  He looked at me and smiled a confident smile: "If he is a God... we also have a Goddess who protects you and protects us. And I believe our Goddess is stronger than this God you speak of. Because she loves... and he does not." His smile was beautiful. A smile that saw what was inside me, and understood my fear without me speaking. I touched his hand. His hand was rough, full of calluses and the traces of sword training. It was not cruel like Ling Guo’s hand, nor stony and cold like Dream’s hand. It was a warm hand. A living hand. A hand that knew how to hold a sword and how to wipe away tears. Then he hugged me, and sat me on his lap as he does with Yuta. "You need a long sleep. Rest. I will guard your dreams."

  For the first time... I decided to be selfish. I closed my eyes and began to sleep. I decided to choose Paradise, closing my eyes in the warmth of his lap, leaving Hell waiting for another night.

  Perspective: Morito

  Morito was sitting in the fields of colored roses, the "Rainbow" roses in front of Mount Ryu. Before him stretched hundreds of silent graves. He was drinking sake, looking at those fields with the same perpetual longing in his eyes, a longing continuous through the present and future. He closed his eyes... and remembered. Faint memories of a distant past... a past where he was happy.

  In a noisy tavern. A huge man, topless, bald and clean-shaven, extremely drunk, stands and screams: "You bastards! This is Ryu’s Tavern! The greatest tavern in history, in Nippon and Edo! A tavern that will never die, and will stay drunk forever!" Then he falls to the floor laughing and muttering: "Greatest tavern..."

  The voice of a vixen laughing: "Morito! Why are you spacing out? Did you get drunk this fast?" Morito was there... looking the same as he does in the present, a beautiful young man, but his eyes in that time did not hold longing... they sparkled with life. Young Morito replied: "You foolish vixen! I am Morito! How can you say I get drunk from a few hundred bottles of sake?"

  Next to Morito was... a beautiful vixen with silver hair and golden eyes, named Sora. A foolish and cheerful vixen, said to be the future heir to the position of "Mother" in Kina. (Note: Morito did not believe for a second that she could become a Mother.) And there was another man beside him. Morito turns to look at him, and sees him touching the backside of a waitress carrying plates and sake. The waitress screams: "What?!" and slaps him. "Pervert!" The man was Kanzen. A massively huge monk, wearing monk robes, a giant bead necklace around his neck, and a massive spear behind him. (Note: Morito doubts the credibility of him being a monk, and everyone doubts it.) Sora and Morito laugh and say: "You deserve that, lecherous monk!" Kanzen grabs a sake bottle and mutters: "Rude woman... she does not appreciate the blessing of the holy touch."

  They began drinking more and more. The laughter grew louder, and worries disappeared. Suddenly... Sora boldly took off her outer shirt, climbed onto the table, and began to sing in a loud, cheerful voice, careless of the sanctity of her future position: "I am Kina... The Whore of Light and Luminescence..." "With a thousand cocks, I embrace your hearts... my dear phalluses!"

  Morito jumped onto the table beside her, took off his shirt too, and joined her in singing while dancing: "Oh, Kina... you were truly a Goddess in bed!" Then the Monk Kanzen sings, banging the table with his spear: "But my rod made you die!"

  The whole tavern exploded with singing and laughter. Everyone joining in this mad choir. At that time... Morito was, truly, happy.

  Morito opened his eyes in the present. The laughter vanished, leaving only the silent graves and the heavy scent of roses. Morito said, drinking the last drop of sake, "Liars." And the bottle fell to the ground.