Osamu hung his head in sadness. "I failed. I was so close, Izzy. I had my hands right on the gourd, but I couldn't make it up in time. Izanami got Gekko out of there, but I'm not sure how Izanami is doing right now. In the end, I couldn't save myself or the girls. Hell, even if I don't like the guy...Satori's life was depending on that gourd as well! If Satori dies, Kagutsuchi will be heartbroken! She'll just blame herself over and over again. The pain will never end for her."

Isabella caressed Osamu's cheeks. "Did you read my letter?"

"Yes..."

"Then you know what you are, right?"

"The glue that holds us all together..."

Isabella nodded. "Exactly. Yoko needs you. Izanami needs you. Gekko needs you. Kagutsuchi needs you. Even Satori, for all he's done, he needs you. They all need you a lot more than I do. You've made it this far because you're just that strong. You grew up, got married, and started a new life because you have the ability to persevere. And you will live, because that's just who Osamu Ashikaga is."

Isabella stood on the tips of her toes and touched her forehead against Osamu's. "As long as there is you, our family will always exist. If you die, all of that disappears. So, make a choice, Osamu. Do you really want to die here? If so, you can come with me, cry out all of your burdens and sadness, and I will cry with you. You can come with me and lay your head to rest. But that's not what the Osamu Ashikaga I fell in love with would do."

"Maybe you can help me then. What would he do?"

"He'd remember the people that love and need him. He'd go back, and fight with every last bit of his strength. If you die after that, then fine. But don't give up on yourself when you know it isn't even over yet. Fight on until the end, Osamu!"

(It's like a spark just ignited within me.)

The black void surrounding them began to fade into light. Osamu heard the voices of Yoko, Gekko, Izanami, Rei, Aika, and the Shoku Twins all praying for him. Each one of them were hoping, with all of their hearts, that Osamu would survive this ordeal.

"Osamu, don't you dare die down there!" Tsukiakari's voice chimed.

"Osa! You have to pull through this!" Izanami cried.

"Wherever you are, fight on, Big Brother Osamu." echoed the voices of the Shoku twins.

"Come on, man! We're all waiting for you!" Rei cheered.

Even Aika prayed for his safe return. "Please god, let him live!"

"Oh god, please protect him. Bless his every step, and safeguard his soul." Yoko prayed.

The darkness was completely dispelled, turning into a space of infinite, white light. All of the girls stood behind him with their hands pushing against his back, driving him to march forward. Isabella marched on with them.

"See? Looks like you've still got some fight in you!" Isabella cheered.

"Izzy, I...I was really happy to see you again! I'll come back, but not too soon, all right?" Osamu said.

Isabella gave him a thumbs up. "You got it, buddy! I'll be waiting! For now, I'll give you the final push!"

Isabella joined the girls, and they all pushed Osamu through the blinding light in front of him with all of their strength, love, and hope.

All of them shouted in unison. "You can make it, Osamu!"

Osamu's eyes peeled open as he was being dragged out from the sea over someone's shoulder. He couldn't see who it was. All he knew was that it wasn't the end for him just yet. His savior threw him onto the ice platform before crawling up to safety himself.

"You! How...why are you here?!" Izanami recoiled.

Osamu's vision was still dark, and he couldn't quite make anything out. All saw was the figure who saved him. Whoever they were, they pulled the cork out from the gourd, knowing full well it would save him from the shikome curse.

"Lucky for you, the gourd still has some water in it. Come back, Osamu!"

The water from the gourd was spilled onto Osamu, and the Shikome's curse that nearly took hold of all of his body rapidly receded. His eyes and skin reverted back to normal, his vision and hearing restored. Izanami cradled Osamu in her arms, clenching his hair tightly as she cried and cheered in joy.

Osamu smiled. "Hey."

"Hey." Izanami giggled, tears in her black eyes. "You're pretty stupid, you know that?"

"Sorry, it runs in the family." Osamu chuckled.

"I guess we're gonna have some stupid kids then, huh?"

Osamu nodded. "Yeah."

Osamu turned his head to the one that saved him, and saw that it was none other than Satori, dressed in a black yukata. Osamu's jaw nearly fell off from the rest of his face. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Satori?! You saved me?" Osamu asked.

"I'd love to tell you the tale, but we're not quite done here. We've still got a lot of shikome on our asses." Satori warned.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

The ice shook from underneath and the legions of shikome suddenly turned tail and retreated. Everything went deafeningly silent, leaving Osamu, Satori, and Izanami completely puzzled.

"Okay...anybody know what the hell that was? Why are they fleeing?" Osamu asked.

"No idea. Izanami?" Satori questioned.

"There are all sorts of monsters down here. If it scared the shikome, it means it's worse than they are." Izanami answered.

"Well, that's fantastic." Satori said.

The next legion of demonic monstrosities emerged from the sea. At first, Osamu assumed they were shikome. From the torso up, they looked exactly the same. He then saw their serpentine, bottom halves and realized he was dealing with some freakish amalgamation of snake and woman.

"Hebi-onna?!" Izanami cried.

"Hebi-onna? Like Kiyohime from the folktales?" Satori asked.

Izanami nodded. "Yeah, just like her!"

"Osamu, Izanami can take care of herself. We'll need to work together to be effective on our own." Satori suggested, standing back to back with him.

"Aw, come on. You're just trying to take the spotlight in front of a girl, aren't you?" Osamu joked.

Satori smiled. "Nah, none of that matters to me. You've got a sword, and I've got Kuji-in. What do you say?"

"Let's do it!" Osamu answered.

Satori grabbed Osamu by his shirt and launched him right at one of the Hebi-onna. Osamu cut open her stomach as Satori electrocuted her with a palm full of lightning. The convulsing serpent-woman fell into the ocean and didn't return. Izanami had no problems vanquishing the serpent women with her scythe on her own, slashing away at the stomachs and separating their human parts from the snake parts.

"Osamu! The sword!" Satori shouted.

Osamu tossed Satori Bishamon's sword and he used it to cut down another serpent woman that appeared out from under the platform of ice. Satori stuck his sword through the serpent woman's mouth, prompting her to retreat and slither away under the sea.

"Not half bad, man." Satori complimented. "I should've expected as much from the guy who fought against Tsukiakari and Bishamon."

"Yeah, I've had to learn to get around after reuniting with my insane exes!"

The two found themselves encircled by the serpent women. They passed the sword back to each other to cut down the Hebi-onna, a strategy that allowed them to fight as if they both had swords. The two didn't even have to say a word to each other in order to understand what they were doing. It was like everything just clicked.

For the very last serpent woman, Satori sent a surge of electricity through its body, leaving it wide open for Osamu to cut it in half. Osamu took a swing and split the woman's body horizontally. The snake half writhed uncontrollably while the human half scurried back to the sea.

Everything went quiet again. The hisses of the Hebi-onna faded until there was only silence.

"I think we did it. Hey, Izanami! You okay over there?" Osamu asked.

Izanami waved back at them. "Yeah! We're all good! I think we got them all!"

"All right! Let's get the gourd and-"

Crashing down from the ceiling above, several shikome landed in the water with mighty thuds, creating ripples that made it difficult for Osamu and the others to stand on the ice.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Osamu cried.

"Are they coming from above now?!"

Dozens of shikome rained down from above, crashing upon the platform of ice and scurrying away into the sea. None of them seemed interested in Osamu, Satori, or Izanami. In fact, they all seemed to be running away, just as the previous swarm did from the Hebi-onna. Osamu expected another fearsome foe to drop down from above, but instead, he was met with Kagutsuchi and Shinju.

"Knock knock, judgement is here!” Shinju sang.

"Shinju?! Kagu?!" Izanami shrieked.

"Who is that next to Kagutuschi?" Osamu asked.

Satori kept quiet.

"Shinju, you're amazing!" Kagutsuchi cheered.

"Oh hey! Is that you, Izanami?" Shinju asked.

"Shinju, what are you doing here?" Izanami questioned.

"You guys know each other?" Kagutsuchi asked.

"Of course! Like I said, Mizuhame's my ancestor, so that makes me a relative of Izanami as well." Shinju explained. "Been a while, huh? I never imagined our reunion would be in the middle of the Underworld. How are you holding up? Hopefully we weren't too late!"

Izanami sighed. "You're very late, but we made it, and you saved us. Thanks, Shinju!"

"Uhm..." Osamu muttered.

"Oh! Osamu, this is Shinju Miyakawa. She's Mizuhame's descendant." Izanami said.

"No way. You guys really are related, then?"

Shinju immediately smiled with a crazy kind of curiosity when she laid eyes on Osamu. She stood very, uncomfortably close to him and made very relentless eye contact...

"You look like a sinner. But a good sinner. You sin to protect. That's the only kind of sin I could ever respect." Shinju said.

(Is she some sort of psychic?!)

"Shinju, huh? that's a pretty name." Osamu said.

Shinju recoiled and smiled as she blushed. "Oh my, thank you very much! Everyone always mistakenly writes it as 'Pearl' but it's actually written as 'Divine Tree', the Ailanthus species!"

(Are those panda ear warmers? And panties beneath her poncho? What is with her?)

"Well, I'm Osamu. It's written as 'Discipline', like in 'Shugendo'. This is Satori."

Shinju turned her eyes to Satori, who kept his eyes closed and his head turned away from Shinju and Kagu. Shinju barely contained her laughter.

"Of course you ended up here, Satori. It's just your style." Shinju said.

"You two know each other too? Kagu, did you know about this?" Osamu asked.

Kagutsuchi twiddled her thumbs. "Osamu...there's something you have to know. A lot happened in the short time you've been down here."

"What...what are you talking about? Are the girls okay?" Osamu asked.

"Yeah, they're fine! It's just..."

"No, no. Come on. It can wait. Look, we've got Mizuhame's gourd!" Osamu said. "I'm already cured, but now we can cure Satori and you! It really was down here, Kagu! In good condition too!"

"Oi, Osamu. You're not listening." Shinju chided. "Why do you think Satori is down here, dressed in a black yukata, with his body in fighting condition?"

Osamu turned to Satori. "Satori. What is she talking about?"

"While you were down here, Osamu, Shinju and the rest of your friends found my mansion. That woman killed me. I'm here because I'm already dead."

(What? What?! But...no!)

"Hey, don't screw with me! What do you mean you died?! Shinju, why the hell did you kill him?!" Osamu roared.

"Why?" Shinju giggled. "Because I'm an exorcist, like Lucrezia. You see, I'm a lot like a security guard- no, more like a police officer for them. Sometimes I'm even a private investigator, or a One-Woman-Army. If someone is breaking some sort of divine rule, I'm sent in to make sure the problem is resolved."

Shinju pointed at Satori. "That man right there betrayed his organization and kidnapped two goddesses, both of them my relatives. I righteously ended his life a few hours ago."

"Traitor? I had my suspicions, but...Satori...you were an exorcist too?" Osamu asked.

"I don't expect you to understand." Satori said. "When I found Kagu, it was at a construction site. We had just been cleared to initiate construction in the lot we purchased. Kagu was there, lying in the ditch. She had been buried alive in the dirt. I knew something was up when I noticed she had a strong pulse, as if she just slept through the whole thing. I figured out she was a goddess and I fled from the exorcists so they wouldn't get her hands on her, not until I figured out who she was. Your friend, Lucrezia? She's my friend too. We put all of this together. The letter, you being brought here, you helping me identify Kagu, all of it. Not everything went as we planned."

"That's...not what she told me." Osamu said.

Shinju pushed Kagu and Satori closer together. Kagu was nervous, and couldn't look Satori in the eyes.

"It's probably a good idea to say your goodbyes. We won't ever be coming down here again." Shinju said.

"Osamu. I'm going to tell you the full and honest truth. Now that I've died, I have no reason to hide this from either of you. When all of this is done, go back to earth, take the gourd with you, and go back to your life."

"I'm listening. Talk." Osamu said.