The start of it all was quite a few years back. I was somewhere from eighteen to my early twenties at the time.

During those younger years, it was a tradition for when a boy became a man to prove his worth in some way. Most would join the military or take a job to support their family, but growing up, I had visions of grandeur. The village I was raised in was small, the most noticeable asset of it being the large monastery nearby. It influenced me very much growing up, shaping me into who I was before all that had led me to my situation later in life, so I knew exactly what I wanted to do once I reached adulthood.

I remember contemplating it for what seemed forever. If Amaterasu had a palace atop Mt.Fuji, that meant you could go there, all you would have to do was survive the treacherous and steep climb. None had done it before, but I was a determined young man, and when I set my eyes on a goal, nothing short would satisfy me of it.

So once I was of age, against the protests of my parents and the monks, I started preparing for my climb. Our family was always low on funds, and I never worked a job that didn't pay in more than pocket change. But still, I saved my money, and when the time came I was able to purchase at least the bare essentials. Cloth to sleep in, plenty of food and water, and a few choice odds and ends. Along with a simple sword I used to spar against my father with, I was off to the top of Mt.Fuji.

The first part of the climb started well. At the very base of Mt.Fuji, it was commonplace for people to walk and enjoy the scenery, so I was quite used to the trot. But eventually I would have to face the majority of the mountain and leave the minuscule amount of dirt paths behind me. I remember being at the highest part of the paths and just looking up into the steep and crowded forest, wondering if I really wanted to go through with it all.

Still, I overcame my fears and doubts and started my way up Mt.Fuji. The forest was harsh and unforgiving, and my pitiful supplies only lasted so long, leaving merely futile attempts at hunting to feed me. Yet I never turned back. My mind was set.

I lived off of whatever I could find and I barely slept. By the end of it all, my legs would barely carry me, but I still pressed on.

It had been multiple weeks since I departed when my fatigue finally caught up to me. I was the highest anyone had climbed the great mountain. And though I had made great strides and accomplished more than anyone before me, I felt I was unable to make myself get back up and finish my journey. I laid there on the warm grass, watching the sunrise, knowing that my ambitions fell short. I didn't really feel sad nor frustrated at how close I was to success. I felt mostly peaceful in the presence of the beautiful rising sun.

So I closed my eyes to sleep. But before death sunk its teeth into me, I was found by her. 

Lady Amaterasu.

She must have used her power to heal me because once I awoke, I felt completely fine, although more than a little confused. Walking around the magnificent palace, inspecting the wonderful and ancient architecture, however, soon led me to realize where I was.

I walked onto the palaces scenic balcony, looking around for clues of where Amaterasu might have been. The vista was the most incredible I had ever witnessed, but my attention was entirely on the woman sitting in the corner of the balcony, watching the edge of the sky intently. Once she realized I had entered, she spoke to me. I still remember exactly what the first words she said to me were.

Her voice was more soothing than music and her smile was as bright as the day. Her beauty was greater than the most stunning sunrise. "I was wondering when you would awake! I had hoped you wouldn't miss this sunset, I feel especially prideful with this one." She moved her hand across the long horizon, presenting the mesmerizing colors to me with a grin on her face. And although the sunset was something to behold, it would never compare to the memory of her smile.

I sat on the comfortable cushion next to her, and soon enough we started talking. I'm sure she had just as many questions for me as I did for her on how and why I climbed all the way to her palace. And for hours on end, we spoke, never running out of topics or laughter.

And although she didn't get tired, I did. So even though I didn't want to, I knew I had to sleep. I excused myself and went back to the place I had woken up in as she left to walk her gardens, laden with the most wonderful assortment of sun lilies.

Once I woke up the next day, the same thing happened. We talked and walked the beautiful mountain, where I was able to see the garden she spoke so much about during our conversations and to see the amazing spots with waterfalls and cherry blossom covered ponds she told me she would have to show me. We explored for as long as our legs would let us, although I wasn't sure whether she was actually fatigued or just pretending to be so as to not make me feel bad for having to stop. I found she was like that, eternally caring, loving, and excited.

The next day the same thing happened, walking new spots and talking. Before I knew it, the next day came and we similarly walked the palace and the mountain, talking all the way.

Something close to a week must have passed before I knew that I couldn't take up her time any longer. My plan was to pack early in the morning during one of her walks around her garden to avoid having to say goodbye.

I felt different around her. Something inside me felt different when I was around her, something I knew I had never felt before and could never re-create. But I knew I couldn't let myself drown in these feelings, so I did exactly as planned and packed while she was walking among the sun lilies.

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As I crept through the large halls and into the bamboo filled courtyard, she saw me. I tried to look away but she ran over to me before I could make it out the gates. We spoke as the sun slowly raised. She asked me what I was doing, and my heart almost broke when I saw her reaction as I told her I was leaving. I couldn't stay any longer, lest I would lose the ability to ever make myself leave.

I had never seen her cry before, and seeing a tear fall down her cheek to this day still makes me grimace. She told me something along the lines of "I understand." and let me leave, but as I turned away to exit the gates, she confessed to me. "I haven't spoken to anyone in what has to be centuries, and even then, I never felt the way I do when I'm around you. Please. I don't want you to go." Those words were all I needed, so I did exactly as she asked.

The best years of my life were spent there with her, talking and loving each other... It was as ideal a story as they came, in truth. The kind of thing to dream of. I was happy. We were happy.

Until those things started to appear.

As society moved forward, they strayed from the light, forgetting everything except mindless hedonism and pursuit towards needless power. That sin and evil had festered in the dark corners of Nihon like some sort of heinous fungi and materialized into what we know as yokai. The only things on their mind being indiscriminate violence, and a relentless mission to kill Amaterasu.

The first yokai to appear was smaller than anyone would find in the present day, only eight feet in height. At the time I was nearly twenty-five or twenty-six years of age. And in my spare time, I practiced intensely with the sword as my father had taught me before, along with working my body to be as strong as I could.

So when the ghostly creature crawled over the walls and into the palace, I was easily able to overcome its feeble and newly formed body. But once the first yokai was slain, we knew they wouldn't cease, and there was no absolute way to kill them easily. Amaterasu held only the power to create and nourish life, so there was nothing she could do to kill these monsters herself. The only things with the power to kill the yokai themselves would have been the elder dragons, but they hadn't been heard of or seen for millennia. The only option to kill these demons were to be creative.

Although Amaterasu couldn't kill the creatures, I easily could if she were to grant me part of her power. The only fear we had at the time was if I was capable of holding such a thing.

She refused to go through with our plan due to the risks while I was more than ready. But before she could protest more, we realized our time was running short. It was either her life or mine, and I insisted it couldn't be hers.

The same day I was given my Ember was the same day I told her goodbye. The last day I would see her face.

It was necessary if I wanted to protect her. I would have to circle the base of the mountain to make sure no yokai could even get close to the palace.

There were no tears on this departure, only a grim understanding that it would be more time than either of us wanted before we would see each other again. But before I finally left, she gifted me with a gold-accented sword with two unforgettable messages. One side read "Demon, shroud in the dark. May steel devour you with zealous purpose." The other. "Man, made whole in the light. May love guide your hand in your righteous quest." That sword would be the most precious item I would ever possess.

And with that, I set off. Spending years living off the land, protecting Amaterasu and a handful of surrounding villages, killing more yokai than anyone could possibly count.

Eventually I suppose I became a sort of legend to these people. A man who would appear in their village with otherworldly power and protect them from yokai, leaving just as quickly as he came.

Word must have moved quickly about me, because the more I returned to the villages the more people would be there, waiting to see me. Some just wanted to see if I was real. Others probed and asked questions on how I got my powers, to which I stayed completely silent.

These stories of me only grew as more people saw me, and eventually, they reached the ears of a man who would soon become the Shogun. During that time he was at a dispute for power. The Imperial family had decided to make a Shogunate and a surplus of small politicians and military men, such as he, were trying to take this position.

The prospects for the man who would become the Shogun to be elected were bleak, so he was willing to try almost anything to win the favor of the Emperor, and he knew that with a super-soldier under his reign he would get exactly that. Who was a prime candidate to play as his most valuable piece? Yours truly.

It had been years since I saw her face by the time the man who would become Shogun found me. I didn't blame her for not seeing me, it was impossible to make sure she was safe along with being able to do her duties and meet me at the same time. But even though I knew that I still drifted away from her.

He came to me with propositions of fortune, fame, pleasurable company, and a seat as a high ranking Samurai. My composition cracked at this offer, and I accepted it without regard to the one I love or the repercussions that grave mistake would make across the world.

Of course, the man became the Shogun almost immediately after the Emperor saw me with him and what I could do. And with his new status, the Shogun took as much wealth and power as his fat hands could grasp. Making the new Emperor his puppet. Hoarding the newly raised tax money for himself. All while I turned a blind eye to the matter, too happy to indulge myself in his filth, food, and whores to care in the slightest.

Then it all came crashing down.

One morning I woke up, my veins burning with searing pain. Amaterasu must have realized what had happened and stripped me of my Ember, leaving nothing but grotesque scars over my arms and immense guilt on my mind, which was no longer clouded by lust and alcohol.

But once I had realized how idiotic my decision was, it was far too late to make amends. Once I left my dark and dirty chambers to look at the horizon in a helpless daze, I witnessed the sun lock itself in its eternal set.

After seeing that, I was grief-stricken. I took as much gold and riches as I could from the Shogun's stash and ran to a discrete location, building a small house and a new life.

For more than a decade I hid in that hastily made shed, living off of the excess money and doing any work I could without being found out, hiding my once precious sword under the floorboards and neglecting all that had happened. That was, until I met Asao and was thrown back into the Shogun's vengeful clutches, bringing me to where I was presently, wherever I was.

There was no more time to forget it all, nor was there more time to mourn my past. I could only move forward and come to terms.

It was time to wake up. Amaterasu had waited long enough.