I take everything back! I do not wonder what she meant by that. PLEASE LEAVE ME OUT OF IT.

{Let’s rewind a bit.}

After my mother gave her goodbyes, I was left wondering what she meant.

And in the middle of my pondering, a frickin gorilla grabbed me by the darn neck!

Okay maybe I exaggerated a tad bit. In reality it was a person.

They grabbed me so fast I didn’t have time to make out any other features, but from the blur I saw before being kidnapped, they were clad in white.

Their hands were small yet strong. Was this a woman maybe?

Now I’m hundreds of meters in the sky, being dragged at lightning speeds by whoever this person is. By the neck of all places.

The high air pressure sucked the strength out of my body and left me in a state similar to a flag in a windy storm.

(Yep. No doubt about it. This is where I die.)

But just as my mind finished that thought, it came… sweet salvation!

(Finally-)

I celebrated way too early. The one tiny problem being how she stopped… She stopped immediately…

Now I don’t know if you’ve taken physics classes yet, but that energy has to go somewhere.

…Yeah.

Let’s just say my head was sunken into the dirt and left a trail leading back to the mysterious child snatcher.

You probably already knew this but a nine-year-old didn’t have the strength to pull herself out of the ground.

So, I kinda just stayed there.

“Fu-Fu-fu! Aren’t you impressed by my speed, little one!” the child snatcher yelled out in a pompous tone.

Her voice was that of a lovely maiden. A shame it only carried over to her voice.

Of course, I couldn’t see her with my head shoved in the ground and everything, but I imagine her to be crossing her arms, and her chin faced up while she said that.

“…I am lady Susanoo, second eldest of the three great sisters. But you will address me as lady Susanoo!”

“Yeah lady, I get you’re passionate, but could you get me out now?” Is what I’d like to ask her, but I was so deep in the ground I doubted my voice would travel far. So, I kinda just stayed there as she kept on yapping.

“You have been chosen to seek out the AntiGod, who will appear in three years! Hmm? Little one? Why are you not answering?”

“Fu-fu. Don’t tell me you’re stuck?”

You just realized that? “Great Sisters” she says. Riiigghht.

***

Good news and bad news. I’ll start with the good news.

The good news is she finally stopped talking and got me out.

The bad news is she kept on talking after that…

I’ll summarize what she told me.

Basically, I was chosen to travel to a galaxy native to my home. That reason being? Something about a container and how I’d have to keep tabs on it. Wasn’t listening to most of it.

After that she rambled on and on about some strange power called “Hoshi” and destroying my seals through combat.

Speaking of combat. Can some explain to me why in the HELL is a nine-year-old, fighting a Spirit God as TRAINING??

I mean, I never even held a sword before but here I was gripping one with all my might.

I couldn’t catch a break. It was yap after yap and when that finally ended, I was tossed into mortal combat against a frickin Empress.

Lady Susanoo doesn’t even seem to mind beating down on a kid. She seems like the type.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Are you ready little one?”

Ready? Ready for what? Whatever it was, I definitely wasn’t ready.

All the same, I held the sword symmetrically in front of me and tried emulating the pose she was making.

*Swoosh

“!”

In an instant she was gone. Then in another, she appeared right in front of me.

I could tell she slowed her movements in hopes of giving me an inkling of fighting chance.

If she was feeling that nice, she should’ve gone a lot slower.

Just when I thought her sword would cleave my head in two something strange happened.

It was like I was conscious but not. I could feel my body moving, but I couldn’t see anything.

Like I was half asleep but wide awake?

It felt like that time I saw my father after all those years.

***

Lady Susanoo

“Are you ready little one?” I asked the child while preparing my katana.

I saw that she readied hers as well.

(Fufu. The silly girl was trying to emulate my stance. I guess she looks up to me. Then I won’t let her down!)

In that moment, I lowered my center of gravity and propelled myself to her at light speed. I wanted to give her an itty-bitty chance, so I stopped just in front of her. Not that she could react to a God such as myself anyway.

And with a fraction of my might I swung for her neck.

Of course I planned on stopping just before making contact. I wasn’t gonna kill the girl. Not yet at least.

But to my surprise my blade was halted. What stopped it though?

My mind took a while to register what had happened. I guess I was just that surprised that this child stopped me.

That’s when I realized something was wrong.

Kyoko’s pale skin suddenly darkened into a shade of tan and her once wisteria colored hair was now a pure white color.

I could care less about her skin, but her hair was a different story all together.

No one is supposed to have all white hair like that. Especially hair with such a pure glow.

No one but the gods. And not just any regular god of lesser stature. The Angels.

My body tensed up from the tremendous pressure emitted from the child.

It was like getting winded from a sudden punch to the gut.

This thing was sinister. Demonic even.

Was Kyoko really an angel?

I couldn’t be sure just yet, I had to confirm. You see there’s one extra trait shared by the Angels. And with the aura oozing out of her, she had to have them.

(Calm yourself Susanoo. I must check if she has them.)

With only enough strength to keep one eye open, I focused my gaze onto her face.

“!”

As I feared, she had them. Two deep crimson eyes. The truest sign of godhood.

While anyone possessing the power of divinity had white hair, only a select few had crimson eyes to pair with it…

The Royal Decks.

(I knew it. No way in hell this kind of pressure was coming off anything else… No choice... I have to kill her!)

But as my brain finished that thought, her aura started to feel lighter. My strength was recovering too.

I didn’t feel that murderous intent anymore. I didn’t feel anything at all.

Her hair was fading back to that familiar purple and her skin back to pale.

It almost made me embarrassed. To think I was so terrified of a 9-year-old.

I was still feeling a bit lightheaded from that earlier exchange, so I decided to end things quickly and knock her out with a blow to her stomach.

“…Boy am I glad I didn’t have to kill her. Not sure if I could face her mother after that… But I wonder what that was…”

***

Kyoko

Life continued like that for a whole two weeks.

I woke up, was beaten to almost death, passed out then woke up again. Only to repeat what I just went through.

Being a spirit had its perks since I didn’t need food or water. Though I’m not sure if lady Susanoo would have given me any anyways.

That sensation I felt during day one never came back. So of course, I was never again able to block a single strike from Lady.

Then one day, during her routine butt whooping, she said something to me.

“Ughh. How many times will I clobber you down until you fight back?! I’m starting to think you don’t have any talent as a fighter.”

You think? Who would have guessed that the nine-year-old can’t fight.

I built up some tolerance to the beatings, so I wasn’t out cold like before.

“S-So. What do you think I should do?” I asked her with whatever energy I could muster.

“Not too sure.”

“…”

“While you find that answer I’ll go take care of some business. An Empress’ work is never ending.”

The sounds of her Getas faded as she walked away from my tattered and beaten body.

I laid there for about 10 minutes give or take. Enough time to wallow in my sorrows and regain some stamina.

I dusted myself off and Nana and with nothing else to do, I started wandering around. I’m not sure what I was looking for, but the animals looked nice. One even snuggled its way up to me begging to be pet.

Quickly that one turned into two, and then three and then four and then… yeah you get the point.

This was straight out a fantasy manga. A whole flock of mythical creatures you could only dream of swarmed me.

I got so caught up in the moment that I hitched a ride on one.

Its fur felt like fresh grass -smelt like it too. Its back stretched across the world and its head peeked above the clouds. I wish I could tell you more but that’s really all I could see.

It’s spring like body coiled around the skies, carrying me and any monster daring enough to God knows where.