After all the years that passed, after everything that happened since the night he first returned to Kyoto, Osamu’s story was ending the same way it began. He walked down the empty streets of his neighborhood, which lay flanked on all sides by the ruins of Kyoto. The endless sea of rubble, haze, cinder, and corpses before him stole his gaze away from his neighborhood. He hardly even recognized the landscape. It was as though his beloved neighborhood was ripped out of Kyoto and plopped down into some desolate wasteland.
What remained of human civilization lied scattered before him, partially buried by sweeping dunes of ash. Osamu was standing in the middle of a city that used to bustle with the noise and life of 1.5 million people. It was now a silent, gray expanse devoid of life. This was what victory looked like for him. This was the world ushered in by his dreaded, catastrophic plan; Dark Dawn. What a sight it was. To Osamu, the vast expanse of destruction before him was like a soil bed waiting to receive the seeds of new crops. It was a paradise of limitless potential, the fetal form of a new world soon to be born.
Osamu let out an exhausted sigh and continued his steady march down the street. The houses in the neighborhood all remained relatively intact throughout the course of Japan’s destruction, suffering only minor damage such as chipped walls or smashed windows. His beloved, empty neighborhood remained the peaceful place he always remembered it to be, even at the end of the world.
There was one particular building that made Osamu come to a stop; the abandoned bowling alley. He was taken there nearly a decade ago when he first came back to Kyoto and was kidnapped by Yoko. Ever since that fateful night, the bowling alley became everyone’s favorite hangout spot. Its calming ambience and rows of colored windows served him well during lazy, summer days, Kagutsuchi’s healing ritual, and during his meetings with Taeko, Shinju, Manami, and Carmilla.
Knowing this would be the last time he’d ever see it, Osamu found his feet dragging him towards the bowling alley before he even realized it. He stepped over the broken glass at the front entrance, his black boots squeaking against the wooden floors. Just stepping into the building felt like a true homecoming. He had made so many memories in this one building with so many different people. His heart swelled with joy and melancholy as he remembered the people he made those memories with. Though he had lost so much over the past decade, his memories of this place remained unsullied by sorrow or regret. A slight smile on his face, he gently laid his hand on the wall and took in the sights around him.
As he looked around, he noticed a peculiar, white light emanating from down the hall. He walked towards it, going past the check-in desk and emerging into the bowling alley proper. Sitting there on the seats in front of the multi-colored row of windows was none other than Isabella Bailey. Her ephemeral glow radiated from her white summer dress and blonde hair, illuminating the bowling alley.
She raised her head and smiled upon seeing her dear friend. “Osamu…”
“You’re not the one visiting me, it’s just that I’m the one about to visit you. Isn’t that right, Izzy?”
Delighted to see her again, Osamu took a seat next to her.
“So, you’ve finally returned to Kyoto again.” Isabella said.
“Ironic, I know.” Osamu chuckled.
“Ah, what a pain.” Isabella sighed. “I told you to live a long life, didn’t I?”
“Yeah, I couldn’t do that, I suppose. But…I did live an eventful life.”
“I’d say I’m glad, but…it seems you changed since we last saw each other, Osamu. Imagine my shock when my own mother joined me on the other side so suddenly.”
Osamu recoiled in surprise. “Your mother? Oh…they must’ve reached the Americas already.”
Isabella’s heart sank. It sank for her late mother. It sank for the millions of remaining humans in the world being crushed, burned, and buried at that very moment. Most of all, it sank for Osamu, for how nonplussed and nonchalant he was about realizing he had just murdered Isabella’s mother and destroyed all that remained of her family. Any trace of light, happiness, empathy, and humanity Osamu once had was long gone.
“Despite everything I’ve done, you’re still here with me.” Osamu said.
“Love and hate aren’t so simple, Osamu.” Isabella said, her gaze wandering off to the dilapidated floors of the bowling alley. “I know you didn’t do this because you hate this world or humanity. Love drives us to senseless, destructive acts more often than hatred does. Gekko is living proof of that.”
“You’re wrong.” Osamu sighed, sitting with his elbows flat against his knees. “When the Shoku Twins and I first started looking for solutions, I didn’t know what we’d do. I wanted to believe that whatever we’d do, it would be done out of love, to protect the people closest to me. We searched through the past and future just to figure out what to do, but the more we looked, the more we realized how hopeless it all was. The past…the future…it was all the same. For the very first time, I started to feel like I truly hated this world. I hated everyone living in it. If I could just destroy it all…if I could kill everyone the world over…”
“Even Aika? Rei? Chiya? Satori? My mom?”
Osamu combed his hand through his raven hair before pinching the bridge of his nose. He let out a brief, pathetic laugh and shook his head, refusing to look at Isabella. “Johan was right. When I was killing all those people…I saw the world beyond. It was like I was peering into a brand new future that wasn’t there before…a new Eden. The further Dark Dawn went along, the clearer it appeared to me. It’s more beautiful now than when I first started. Even if seeing that Eden meant killing Yoko, Gekko, and the all the others…I still would’ve done it.”
Isabella’s lips quivered as she looked upon Osamu. She wanted to say something, yet she had no words for what she just heard. She had to accept that Osamu wasn’t even thinking like a normal human being. He was like a single-minded demon possessed by his own ambition. He was practically enslaved to this mirage of Eden that flashed in his mind. Isabella saw it in his eyes, that gaze of wonder and amazement he had from the moment he began Dark Dawn. Osamu truly had the same eyes as Johan, eyes that saw past the present moment and far beyond the walls of the bowling alley.
“Then…I truly hope you don’t come to regret it all when your final moment comes.” Isabella said, standing from her seat. “Had I been alive to witness all of this firsthand, and you realized you needed to kill me to achieve this dream of yours…would you have done it?”
Osamu locked eyes with Isabella and gave her a confident, assured response. “Yes.”
His answer was a bullet through her heart. Her expression changed from one of horrified shock, to confused smiling, and then to abject sorrow. “Then I suppose I was blessed to have died when I did. Perhaps we won’t be seeing each other soon after all.”
Osamu nodded his head. “I’ve already made my peace with that.”
“Of course you have.” Isabella said, turning away from Osamu as her light began to dim. “Goodbye…Osamu. I hope you can rest wherever you end up.”
Knowing he wouldn’t end up in the same place as Isabella, Osamu stood from his seat and shoved his hands into his pockets. His face was marred by a pained and heartbroken frown as his eyes glittered with tears. “Goodbye, Izzy.”
Isabella faded away before Osamu’s eyes, plunging the bowling alley back into darkness and eerie silence. Osamu stood from his seat and sucked in the stale air in the room through his mouth, then let it all out in a tired exhale. Just as he thought, Isabella wouldn’t be able to condone his monstrous deeds. In a way, it made him happy that she lived and died the pure-hearted girl he knew, rather than becoming like the merciless monster that he was now.
Osamu made his way out of the bowling alley, stepping over the shards of broken glass at the entrance and emerging onto the sidewalk. Just as he was about to continue down the neighborhood, he saw several shimmers of dim, white light appear before him. The lights swirled and flickered before taking the forms of Cyanide, Rousoku, Aika, Rei, and Inari.
The expressions on their faces were of revulsion and horror at the state of the world and of Osamu himself. They couldn’t believe the things they witnessed him do, the billions upon billions of lives he snuffed out, the unspeakable sacrifices he made. Inari didn’t share in their disgust, but Osamu didn’t see any elation or pride in her face either. He couldn’t at all determine what she was feeling after watching her power bring the whole world to ruin. Did she see the same Eden Osamu saw? Did she see some sort of hell instead? Osamu would never know, for the phantoms before him refused to utter a single word.
Osamu could only guess that their disapproving silence meant he wouldn’t be joining any of them when he died. Their mutism was repudiation and judgement aimed at the man responsible for destroying the world. Once Osamu accepted their anger, the phantoms began to fade back into darkness, disappearing from his sight forever. Inari, however, remained. She was the only one that refused to leave his side.
“Fight together…” Osamu said.
Inari completed the adage. “Die together.”
With that call and response alone, every bit of sorrow and regret within Osamu faded away. Hearing her voice again brought him right back to that empty airport, at the greatest turning point in human history. The comfort he felt fighting alongside Inari, knowing they were willing to die for each other, overwhelmed him like a tsunami. Now, more than ever before in his life, Osamu was ready to die.
Inari faded away as Osamu continued his walk down the streets of his neighborhood. As he marched, the raven sky began to turn a deep purple, with traces of dark orange bleeding out from the eclipse. Osamu turned his head and noticed the moon slowly peeling away from the sun. Soon, light would return to the world once more and end the long night of horror it endured. The nightmare of past and future would finally come to an end, and with it, Osamu’s very life.
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His time drawing near, Osamu clasped his hands together and closed his eyes. “I don’t have Bloodcraft anymore, but I can still reach you like this.”
Standing at the ruins of Izanami’s shrine, Amaterasu washed her hair in a golden basin filled with water from the shrine’s pond. She gathered her voluminous mane in front of her face and wrung out the dirty water into the basin for disposal. She suddenly felt a jolt in her spine as Izanami and Uzume conversed at the top of the long trail of steps snaking up the hill to the torii gate at the entrance.
“…Osamu?” Amaterasu gasped, her eyes widening in awe.
“It’s good to hear your voice again.” Osamu said, his prayer reaching Amaterasu from afar. “I did exactly as I promised. You’re finally free. My burden is all that’s left.”
The sound of Osamu’s voice brought a smile to Amaterasu’s face. “I knew you’d succeed. Where are you right now?”
“Kyoto.” Osamu answered. “And you?”
“You’re here? I’m with Uzume and Izanami right now. We’re at Izanami’s shrine.”
“You’re closer than I thought, then. I’m on my way there. Please let them know as well.”
“Osamu, I’m not sure that’s a good idea. I don’t know how Izanami will react if she sees you right now.”
“It’s fine. I’m not going over there to convince her of anything. I just want to see you guys one last time.”
Amaterasu froze in place, wearing a puzzled expression on her face. “…Last?”
“I’ll be there soon.”
Osamu ended his prayer and took wider strides towards Izanami’s shrine. The moment his prayer ended, Amaterasu ran towards Izanami and Uzume, startling them out of their conversation with her panicked voice.
“Osamu’s on his way here!” Amaterasu cried. “He’s not far!”
Uzume’s face darkened, her pupils shrinking in fright. “What? What’s he going to do to us?”
“I don’t think he’s going to do anything.” Amaterasu said. “He wanted me to tell you he’d be here soon.”
Izanami and Uzume exchanged puzzled glances. They had no real way of knowing if Osamu was truly making a peaceful visit, or if he had yet another scheme cooked up to manipulate them. They knew by now to take his intentions and words with a grain of salt, to always doubt and question anything he said.
“You two, stay behind me.” Izanami said. “If he tries anything, I’ll kill him myself.”
“But he has Inari’s Bloodcraft!” Uzume protested. “He’s too dangerous, even for you!”
Amaterasu’s eyes brightened as she realized a small, but important detail about the brief conversation she had with Osamu. “Actually…I don’t think he intends to use it. He might not even have it anymore. When he reached me just now, he did it through prayer. Last time, he was able to use Inari’s Bloodcraft to communicate with me from Fukuoka. Why would he have to change methods if he still had access to something so convenient?”
“Either way, we shouldn’t let our guard down.” Izanami said.
Osamu made his way to the first step at the bottom of the hill. The sight of Izanami’s shrine towering above him was an all too familiar sight to behold. Years ago, he marched up that very same hill with a rope, pen, and paper in his hands. He ascended each and every step with an ever-growing intent to end his own life. Instead, on that fateful night, he was saved by none other than Izanami.
Izanami stood at the very top of the hill, her mind going back to the day she saved Osamu’s life. The story she shared with him had finally come full circle. Now, Izanami would have the chance to correct the mistake she made in saving him. Osamu Ashikaga, the man, the traitor, the symbol of a movement and the king of a nation, would face down the woman that gave him a second chance, the very same woman he loved with all his heart.
As the moon slowly separated from the sun, the sky’s purple shade lightened into a dark blue. The first rays of sunlight the world had seen since the beginning of Dark Dawn poured onto Osamu’s neighborhood and protruded like spears through the canopy of trees above his head. A trio of young sparrows raced across the tree branches, spreading their birdsong through the air. Seeing the first traces of life continuing on after Dark Dawn put a smile on Osamu’s face. His Eden, his reason for fighting so hard against the whole world, was finally being unveiled before his eyes.
Izanami heard the faint sound of Osamu’s footsteps growing louder with each second. She stood at the ready with Amaterasu and Uzume standing a short distance behind her. Osamu’s head crested over the downward slant of the steps, his gaze stuck to the ground. He emerged past the torii gate with his black, fur coat fluttering behind him and his hands hidden in the pockets of his black jeans. He slowly raised his head, trading icy glares with Izanami.
Osamu stole a quick glance at Amaterasu and Uzume before returning his attention to his ex-wife. Her anger burned like balefire in her dark eyes. Just a sudden move would be all she needed to summon her scythe and strike Osamu down. He couldn’t blame her at all. She was lied to, used as a decoy, and manipulated into helping him unleash hell upon the world. Izanami spent so much of her life paying for her vitriolic, hateful ways of old. She endured painful soul-searching and life-changing losses, rebuilding herself each time to become a better person.
In the end, after a lifetime of agonizing metamorphosis, Izanami’s final words to her late husband, Izanagi, came back to haunt her. Her promise to kill everyone the world over truly did end up coming true through Osamu, and he even used her own creation to do it. Every ounce of Izanami’s venomous rage and vengeful desire was unleashed upon the world when it should’ve remained buried in the cold, dark depths in which it was born. Instead, Osamu, Amaterasu, and the Shoku Twins inherited it like a gene and let it loose upon all humanity.
Looking at him now, Izanami thought that Osamu was probably always destined to destroy the world. He was a good man with an impossibly empathetic heart, but he was also a romantic and an idealist. His strong belief in people, in rationality, and in the common goodness of man was always going to clash with the perception-crushing reality of the world.
All of that faith and kindness could only ferment into a distilled despair, and then an acidic rage. Even if the world was exactly the way Osamu wanted it from the start, it was very possible he would’ve only directed that destructive potential towards himself. No matter what path he took, Osamu was born a destroyer. The only thing that could’ve changed was the scale of his destruction.
Izanami realized far too late that saving the life of a man like that was a grave mistake. As far as she was concerned, the blood of the world was on her hands as much as it was on his.
“Here we are yet again, Izanami.” Osamu said.
Izanami shook her head in shame and disdain. “I finally understand what Izanagi felt on the day I swore to ruin this world. It’s like I’m looking at my old self through his eyes. He was right to revile me. Are you proud of yourself, Osamu? Did all of this death and destruction give you what you were looking for?”
“What I want comes after the massacre is finished.” Osamu said, taking his hands out of his pockets. “Inari’s Bloodcraft belongs to Hima now. I already gave her my heart and blood. Even after I’m dead, she’ll act and think exactly as I commanded her to. I won this war.”
“You gave it to Hima?” Uzume recoiled.
“Don’t worry.” Osamu said. “Her job is to force whatever’s left of humanity to accept the vow until the very concept of war is erased from this world. She won’t come after any of you. More importantly…I trust you finally did the right thing, Izanami.”
Izanami looked back at her daughter, relieved that not an ounce of hatred existed between them. “I did. People can do the right thing if you give them the chance. The world might need a wake-up call every now and then, but to go this far…it’s beyond evil. You and the Shoku Twins will never be forgiven for this.”
Hearing their names mentioned made Osamu break eye contact with Izanami. For a moment, a vulnerable, sad glint sparkled in his eyes. “Akatsuki and Omagatoki passed away just a little while ago.”
With the Eye of the Underworld gone, Izanami had no way of knowing that the Shoku Twins were gone. Amaterasu and Uzume wore the same shock on their faces as Izanami.
“This war gave them the freedom to choose for themselves what they wanted their lives to be.” Osamu said. “They lived as glorified servants because of you, but they were finally able to die as free siblings. One by one, we’ll all be freed from our burdens. Taeko will have another chance at being a mother. Amaterasu and Uzume are free from the trappings of lordship and nation-building. You, Izanami, no longer have to witness every death on the planet.”
“And what about you? What’s your burden?” Izanami asked.
“My existence.” Osamu answered. “I suppose…this is your chance to make things right, Izanami.”
“Killing you won’t undo any of this.” Izanami protested.
“But it will absolve you of the guilt you feel.” Osamu assured.
Izanami opened her right hand, summoning her scythe in her grip. Amaterasu screamed out and rushed towards Izanami to stop her, but Uzume hugged her from behind to hold her back.
“Stop! We don’t have any right to take this from Izanami or Osamu!” Uzume shouted.
“Don’t kill him! Please!” Amaterasu shrieked, tears running down her cheeks.
“I’ll be dead as soon as Hima’s sigil wears off, anyway. We can either let it take its course, or you can do the right thing. I can’t force you to do anything. The choice is yours, Izanami.”
The weight of the broken world around her weighed upon Izanami’s shoulders. Though she couldn’t see them all, she felt as though the souls of the billions of men, women, and children that had their lives violently stolen from them were watching them. Most of them had nothing to do with the supernatural conflict that festered in Japan. They didn’t even know about the Third Great Holy War, and yet, Osamu massacred them just the same.
Crushed, burned, eaten alive, buried beneath rubble, killed in the crowd crush of millions of other fleeing people, humanity was killed off in the most agonizing and gruesome of ways. Their futures were stolen and their pasts erased. Nothing in this world could ever excuse that. As much as Izanami understood where Osamu was coming from, as much as she may have still loved him, she stood resolute in her decision that Osamu couldn’t be allowed to live, nor could he be allowed an easy death. Fate ordained that she must do to Osamu what Izanagi should’ve done to her thousands of years ago — end his life.
Izanami closed her eyes and gnashed her teeth together. She hated every second of that moment, but she knew it had to be done. “I just want to ask you one thing. Could any of this have turned out differently?”
“No.” Osamu answered without hesitation. “I was always going to destroy something. Myself, the people around me, or the world itself. I don’t know if life made me like this, or if I was just…born this way. I truly don’t know. But even if I lived to see the Eden I’ve fought so hard for…I know it would only disappoint me.”
Izanami opened her eyes, aiming a disgusted glare at Osamu. “I had a feeling you’d say something like that. Killing you truly is the right thing to do.”
Her pleasant memories of Osamu went up in flames like pictures tossed into an open fire. Their entire lives together and all it meant to her was reduced to cinders and bitter regret. She always knew that love with a mortal would culminate in sadness, that she would one day watch Osamu die. She never could’ve imagined she’d be ending his life with her own hands.
“Amaterasu, Uzume, you’re good people.” Osamu said. “Live long, happy lives. Don’t let anyone or anything take your identities from you again.”
He flashed a smile at Amaterasu and Uzume, who could only look on in terrified anticipation of what was to come. Izanami brandished her scythe and reeled her arms back. Osamu closed his eyes and listened only to the wind slithering through the trees and faint sounds of birdsong in the distance. That one, silent moment seemed to last an eternity. It was the most peaceful moment of Osamu’s entire life.
(Ahh…the sound of Eden. The sound of peace…of a world without war. The sound of all burdens ending. The sound…of my life coming to an end.)
Izanami let out a broken, vicious scream and dropped her scythe down towards Osamu, the blades slicing at his neck diagonally. His head rolled off his left shoulder and fell to the ground, followed by the rest of his body. His head stopped so that his eyes faced the sun and the moon in the sky above. At long last, the eclipse came to end, and the full blue hue of the sky was restored. Sunlight danced upon the ruins of human civilization and wrapped its warm, golden light around Osamu’s head.
In his last seconds of consciousness, he witnessed Dark Dawn come to an end, taking the pain of war and conflict along with it. His long, burdensome life finally at an end, his eyes slowly closed shut. Osamu Ashikaga was dead.