/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>46976052 (3/6)
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Something hits my arm and throws it against the other before I have a chance to react—b-burning… It burns!

The inferno buckles my knees, my wide eyes turning to my arms in crushing despair: ropes made out of mirrors with a rock on each end had wrapped themselves around my wrists, ancient inscriptions carved on them beyond my understanding—reactively I tried to use my power to gauge their meaning in the slightest, but then the burning grew to unspeakable levels, shrieks of pain leaving me together with tears, fingers contorting in a futile attempt to get a grasp of the ropes melting in the metaphorical sense.

“Stop fighting it, Kamishirasawa Keine.” The commanding voice rang out again, this time closer, as the Yamaxanadu descended from the skies, her back to the full moon, and landed beside a distraught Komachi, the ferrywoman clutching her scythe tightly. Shiki Eiki, a full inch taller than Komachi's waist, stood with an overwhelming air of grace and an unequivocal declaration of 'Justice,' holding the Rod of Remorse with poise and clarity, eyes as bone-chilling as the top of Youkai Mountain. “You're no saint to undo the bindings of your own guilt and sins—they shall protect you from yourself.” Sweating all over and panting, I finally manage to get on my knees, arms sizzling with the phantom vestiges of a blistering kiss from the sun.

Still, as the agony subsided, my last train of thought returned—confused and messy, but most importantly legible—eyebrows furrowing: if Komachi's words were to be trusted, when I was reborn, I didn't bring my powers with me…

But that doesn't make sense!

Under the blue moon, I used them to write the futures of my children and Seiga…

I need more information, and the penetrating gaze of the Yama was the opposite of welcoming. “I'll commend you first, Kamishirasawa Keine, for judgement is meaningless if made up of one element.” She moves closer, kneeling and looking into my eyes. Komachi was about to speak, but the Yama only had to give her a sidelong glance to silence any words. Judgement began as those emerald eyes refocused on me. “You did well. For most of your life, you did well. Many people owe their jobs and opportunities in life due to your teaching; you also protected the Human Village when necessary in the past—you became the sole pillar of support to those two babies Mystia Izakaya threw to death, going distances to make sure they'd live… I’d have no qualms about reincarnating you and praying that you’d eventually cross paths with those you loved again if you had come to Higan the first time. But we're past that point.” My heart sank when I saw the sudden iron in her once-soft eyes. “You have fled judgement once and attempted to do so again, destroying any trust I might have had in you to the point I thought necessary delivering judgement here, on the sands of the Sanzu. Blinded by good intentions, you sought the demise of Gensokyo's balance and egotistically aimed to tip it to befit your worldview and rather than adapting to the world, you decided you’d change it…” Her eyes narrow in unambiguous distaste. “Who do you think you are, Kamishirasawa Keine? Do you think you can overcome the primal cruelty of life? That you must go as far as putting hundreds of lives at stake for the CHANCE of making things ‘better’? No, you aren't that special—so let me tell you who you really are, Kamishirasawa Keine.” She places the Rod of Remorse before my eyes, the wooden end scraping the skin as she stands to her full height. “You were a teacher. You were wronged and thus became a mother. You lost your curse and so, became a partner, soon-to-be wife. You should've stopped there, but you did not. Instead, you became an instigator, then martyr of Gensokyo's worst bloodshed to date… You're dead now, and you died a villain.” Her words feel final. “Today, you'll be judged as one.”

And thus judgement was rendered.

Her words swirl inside my head, threatening an explosion of almighty proportions, lips trembling and lungs overworking, the chains made of mirrors around my wrists stopping any use of my powers and burning, burning and burning.

… Villain, me…

After everything I've gone through, all I wanted was a good life for myself and my kids—for Mystia, who had to throw her children to death or else her nest would go hungry…

Calling me an instigator when peace was all I had in mind…

It was simply infuriating.

Wrath bubbled from down below all the way to the surface, skin shivering and heart thumping as if about to burst, prognostications of rebellion rumbling into the atmosphere.

This will not be how things end! I won’t fade away as a ‘villain’!

No…

I refuse to let that be my history.

… All Eiki gave me was a look of pity. “That's your answer? I had higher expectations of you.” She's about to turn and walk away from me…

My actual answer stops her dead in her tracks, time stalling. “I didn't lose my curse when I revived—I still had it yesterday, Shiki Eiki!”