You know how I was soaring through the skies and enjoying life? Yeah, that ended pretty fast. Shortly after, the dragon I was on dove straight in the ocean…

Apparently, the surface of the water was so thick, you either had to dove straight into it from a high altitude-like we did- or just be that insanely powerful that it didn’t matter.

You might be asking how I know all that.

Sitting at the bottom of these waters was a temple. A very important-looking temple with a very important-looking person inside.

He called himself “Guang, The dragon king of the east”. He insisted that I call him by that full name but that was just not happening.

Jokes aside even I could tell this guy was a Dragon.

His body towered over me. His muscles looked like they were bulging out his mini t shirt and his pants could’ve been mistaken for tights.

I remember glancing at the small white hammer in his right hand. I say small, but the thing looked bigger than me. He just made it look tiny.

This giant of a man was the “Dragon King of the East,” and he was just in the middle of explaining all this to me.

“You don’t know how happy I am to talk to you; I haven’t had a visitor in a few millennia now!” he screamed out in excitement.

He was a strange man, but I could tell he was good people.

“Come, I shall make you a Tamashi right away!”

“Tamashi?”

“Ahh that’s right, you wouldn’t know what that is.”

You figure? Are all the people here geniuses or what…

“Basically, I can make a weapon that’ll fit you best! A weapon perfect for you! Isn’t that wonderful?”

You could cut his passion with a knife.

I was a bit skeptical. I mean who wouldn’t be? A God kicks my butt, tells me to get a new weapon since I’m soooo incompetent. And then I find a giant willing to do just that for free? Way too convenient.

Never take anything from strangers, kids.

“I-It sounds like a wonderful offer-”

“Then you will!?” he eagerly interrupted.

“N-No I will not. Thank you for the offer though.”

“Oh…”

The gentle giant pouted in a corner to himself. I was starting to feel bad.

The words “Just kidding” tried leaving my lips but before they could, the temple started shaking.

More than that, it was as if the sea itself was vibrating. I felt like I was standing in the belly of a hungry beast.

“What’s happening?!” I cried out to the giant.

For some reason he didn’t seem to be shaken one bit. He treated the situation as if it were a mere breeze.

Here I was fighting for my life to keep my balance, and he was just sulking in the corner from my earlier statement.

“No need to worry,” he said while sniffling. “This is a common occurrence.”

“A common occurrence? You deal with this on a daily?!”

The temple itself never dropped any debris so I didn’t have to worry about protecting myself.

“Yeah… The ocean floors are very unstable these days.”

“These days? It wasn’t like this before?”

“Well, a long time ago I made a pillar to hold down the sea floor, but it was stollen from me… by a damn monkey…”

His tone shifted to anger when he said that last part. I could tell he held a special hatred for this “monkey” person.

More importantly, the hell do you mean you made a pole to “hold down the sea floor.” Don’t just spew out impossible things to me so casually!

“I’m sorry to hear that but why didn’t you make another one?!”

I was still fighting for my life here so excuse me if I was getting a little irritated.

“I can’t just make another one. You don’t just replicate something like that. Besides, I only needed it as a ruler to help me work. But these days I don’t get many visitors…”

(Well excuse me for dropping by! You’ll never be seeing me again you big oaf!)

“…The shaking should stop any second now.”

Just as he said. I could feel the floor stabilizing and bit by bit I was regaining my balance. Until finally, the shaking came to a full stop.

I exhaled a breath of relief.

Unlike the rest of these folks, I wasn’t no god, so I’d say I had a pretty valid reason for being relieved.

“Well then little one. You’d best be on your way back to lady Susanoo”, the dragon said while still sulking in the corner.

He seemed even more depressed than before.

I mean the guy started drawing frickin circles on the wall with his finger.

His gloomy act wasn’t gonna get to me. Not in the slightest… okay it got to me.

The guilt was eating at me, and the poor guy looked so depressed, could you blame me? Really, it’s not my fault.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

Plus, I was a teeny bit scared of Susanoo. Okay maybe terrified.

“Cheer up big guy…,” I told him while patting his large back. “*Sigh… Okay fine. You can make me a Tamashi or whatever.”

Man, when I tell you his face glit up, I mean the guy was a whole new man.

It was like twisting in a new lightbulb for the first time.

He finally turned his head to face me and snorted up the snot leaking from his nose.

“You mean it??!”

“Y-Yeah… I mean it.”

“And you aren’t just saying that to make me feel better?”

He was right on the money. I’ll give it to him; he got me spot on.

Naturally, I couldn’t lie to him.

“Of course not!”

Sike. I lied straight to his face.

“I’ll start right away then! I just need to uhh…” he said while reaching his hand to my chest.

Is he what people call a pervert?

(Hmm? What’s he-)

A sudden wave of exhaustion came over me. And I passed out almost instantly. Why though? All he did was touch my chest.

I think he pulled something out of me. Something shiny. And purple. And I think it had a tint of white. It had a bubbly look to it and was about the size of a basketball give or take. That must’ve been why.

***

“Where… am I...”

My surroundings looked the same, so I guess I’m still in the temple.

My head was killing me and the loud banging in the background wasn’t helping.

**Clank **Clank

My body jumped with each sound. I could feel the vibrations migrate throughout my entire body.

It sounded like steel banging together.

Whatever it was, it was irritatingly… irritating.

“…Ugh. My heads killing me.”

**Clank **Clank

The constant clanking and clashing of metal were making me grow impatient.

“SHUT THE HELL UPPPP!!”

Like the time with my father and Lady, something strange came over me.

Ever since I came to this place, I never really felt like myself. Like I was possessed by something.

No, I think it started even before then. Back in that cage, when I met Nana.

The clanking and banging stopped. I guess they listened to me.

(Wait sounds don’t have ears…)

Do you wanna guess who was sobbing in a corner again? I’ll give you 3 guesses…

“Dragon King” my butt.

***

“I’ve finally finished! This is my life’s best work!”

Your life’s best work took one hour to complete? You must have one worthless life.

“Done already?” I asked the giant hoping he was joking.

“Yep! This here is your Tamashi. Come look at it.”

Might as well humor him. What’s the worst that could happen?

Except I was immediately captivated. I only went over there on a whim but now I was completely enchanted.

The words “wow” left my lips as I gazed upon it. The rays were almost blinding, yet I still couldn’t look away.

The blade was long and thin. Almost like a swordfish’s nose. The handle was thick yet still guarded.

Surely this had to be a weapon of myth- wait it’s just a damn rapier.

(How is this my “ideal” weapon?)

In my 9-year-old mind, this was no different from the sword I was using before. You know, the one Lady Susanoo said I had no talent for.

“Soooo… what do you think?”

“Ahh… It’s great!”

I felt bad about lying and seeing his eyes sparkle wasn’t making me feel any better.

I reached my hand out to touch the blade. I may have been disappointed with the weapon but something about it still called out to me. It was a weird sensation.

Like finding my soulmate but they’re ugly. Wait a minute. If they truly are my soulmate then doesn’t that mean I wanted them to be ugly? What does that say about me…

The moment I touched the thin blade, its rays intensified, and we became one. No that’s not quite it. It felt more like it was returning home after a long journey.

***

Year 2020

It’s been about three years since meeting Guang.

I learned a whole lot since I was nine.

Firstly, Guang taught me all about using my Tamashi, and a strange power called “Empower” that comes with it.

It came in handy during our training sessions.

Speaking of training sessions, out of the 3,654 times we sparred I’ve won a total of zero…

Why the hell is this crybaby so powerful?! Seriously, this guy’s skin is impossibly tough. And when he gets serious, he grows some nasty scales even more impossible to crack.

They don’t call him the dragon king for nothing.

Secondly and the most important. I used to think I could only communicate with Nana through that book, but it seems I can still talk to her as long as I have a way to write.

I found that out after one particularly depressing whooping from Guang.

Around the same week I got my Tamashi, I may or may not have let it go to my head. I challenged Guang to a sparring match and… I don’t wanna talk about it.

Let’s just say I got so bummed out that I kept crying to Nana. Stuff like:

“Why am I so weak?”

“Why is a crybaby so damn strong?”

“Does Lady even miss me?”

Being the person she is, she made fun of me every time I did. Why are people so mean?

Guang was sent a letter that asked for my return immediately -though he wasn’t briefed why.

I’m sure Lady was just worried sick about me.

{She wasn’t. In fact, she is peacefully laying on her futon and reading manga.}

“I suppose it’s that time huh?”

“Yep.”

“To think you’re the little girl I met a month ago...”

“Ahh… It’s actually been three years”

“Oh really? My mistake”

Guang’s been alive for a really long time, so he frequently makes that kind of mistake.

“The gates open now.”

(Not sure why he calls it that)

The gate he was referring to is known as “Milky Way.” And it’s actually a waterfall -not a gate.

The funny thing about Milky Way, there’s a 24-hour delay to warping.

Instead of grabbing something on one side and simply tossing it to the next, it bends the space in-between resulting in a delay of time.

Conveniently it’s only a moment for the ones using it though.

***

Convenient huh? Why did I think such a flawed design was convenient?

If only I would’ve put some thought into it. Just some inkling of a thought.

I could’ve realized that letter was a trap.

Lady wouldn’t have been captured. And mama wouldn’t have died.

That moment is forever edged into my brain.

The way the trees in the background crumbled and withered away.

The heat I felt boiling away my bones.

And my mother’s last words as Guang carried me away.

“Please find the AntiGod! Only he can put a stop to Lucifer.”

I’ll never forgive myself, but more importantly I’ll never forgive those men.

Jack the Ripper.

And Hades, the warden of the end.

I’ll kill you both with my own two hands!