Enid glanced back at her daughter. Her presence would complicate things. Normally she could alter time and start wrecking demons by the dozen but she couldn’t leave her defenseless. She started by throwing Hazel to the ground and standing over her and letting loose a scream. A wave of force echoed out from her smashing demon after demon. Their broken forms dissolving into black miasma and vanishing. Hazel’s face was in the grass so she couldn’t see what Enid was up to, so she was speaking in muffled wolf-born.
“What the fuck mom?”
“Would you rather get hit by my telekinesis?”
Enid stopped off of Hazel and held out her arm willing the energy shield to appear. Hazel stood up and dusted the grass and leaves off her white fur and looked around at the void her mother had caused. Enid pointed.
“Even their front line has noticed us now. Get ready. This going to get messy.”
The demons started to charge again. Enid pulled out one of her blessed smoke grenades. The pairs enhanced senses would make vision mostly moot for them. The demons however would not be so lucky. Enid dropped it and hit started to his. She swung her sword and green flashes of light started flickering into and out of existence as she swept it through the mass of demons. The demons that ran into the cloud started gagging immediately. Enid didn’t have time to look to see how well Hazel was doing but by the stifled death cries she was hearing her daughter was carving her own bloody pound of demonic flesh. By the time the smoke had cleared Hazel was in her human form and unconscious on the ground. The few remaining demons were in a disorganized retreat. Enid looked at their vanishing forms and then down to her daughter’s injured form. Then she looked up the army that had been fighting the demons before they had arrived.
“Well, we’re fucked.”
Before her was an army led by samurai wielding Katanas. They seemed stunned to see two foreign women at the center of many near death demons. Enid used time to kneel down and touch Hazel chanting in Atlantean. She took what she could but a few of the wounds held a demonic taint and she could not heal those with magic. Only time. As the lead samurai approached, she held her sword out standing in front of her fallen daughter. As the man began to speak, she realized she was in for a rough time. The Japanese of whenever they were, was different then modern Japanese. She barely understood half of what he said. The gist was how could women do this. Enid knew how to read this era’s language but understanding and communicating in the spoken word was another beast entirely. The samurai seemed to take her sword out as a challenge and charged at her. She threw Lucius in the air and used her hands to first disarm her would be opponent and then send him flying back into his men. She caught Lucius as he came back down. She tried her best to adapt her Japanese to the equivalent for whatever period this was.
“I do not want to harm you, but I will protect my daughter.”
Another ten men pulled out from the army and approached Enid wasn’t having any of that and waved her hand and they all went flying backwards. A voice rang out from the back of the army. It was a strong voice.
“Stop! She can defeat an army of oni without a scratch what will you do?”
Enid looked at the handsome Japanese man who stepped forward she could tell by his armor and katana he was a step above the front-line forces. As he spoke and waved to the men, they started sheathing their weapons. Enid slid Lucius into his sheath.
I have never seen the like of these people, who are they.
“We’re in Japan Lucius.”
Enid kneeled down and peeled the armor down from Hazel’s neck and started looking over her injuries. Most of the demonic ones she could see were scratches. She would need to get her daughter out of the armor to check the rest of her. She resealed the armor and picked her up. She nodded to the man who had spoken and started in the direction the demons had fled. She heard the same voice speak again. Enid paused. She was getting confused there was no way she should be understanding this language but when she wasn’t forcefully trying to make it modern Japanese it just flowed for her.
“Hold Kami. I would have you join us. We can tend to your daughter’s injuries.”
Enid closed her eyes, she spoke without turning around or trying to translate it.
“The Oni are escaping.”
“We know where they are going. It is a stronghold. Not a place for injured soldiers.”
Enid sighed and turned around. The man motioned and Hazel was put onto a stretcher and was being carried with the rest of the injured. The man pulled himself up onto a horse and offered his hand to Enid who took it and he pulled her up easily behind him. Enid wrapped her arms around his abdomen.
“You are unlike any woman I have ever seen before. Your hair is as light as an old woman’s and yet you are young. Your skin is so pale I thought you a ghost.”
“I am from the west.”
“So, you are not kami? I do not believe you.”
“I have been called Raijin in the past, and mother of spirits.”
“Yet you have solid form.”
“I do not know what I am. But my name is Enid.”
“I am Toyo of the Ashikaga clan.”
Enid thought back to her Japanese history lessons and smiled.
“I know of your clan. If I had a last name of any value in this land, it would be Sato. I was adopted by a great man who led his own clan. He named me his daughter in all ways, and also called me Raijin.”
“By your voice you had much love for him.”
“As much as for my real father and my Sensai. I lived here in another life. I’m trying to return home.”
He adjusted himself in the saddle and glanced back to her.
“Your sword is strange.”
“It is a spirit blade. Crafted from my dead husband.”
“You honor his memory then.”
“I do. I was forced to kill his body. He was possessed by an evil spirit.”
“You doubly honor him then by honoring his spirit and by putting an end to a dishonorable existence when he could not.”
“I would have rather saved him and put him back in his body.”
You should not feel guilty my love, you did what you had to.
“Have you remarried.”
“I did, but he has died from old age. Hazel is his daughter.”
“So, you are unwed?”
“Yes. I have not wished to see another man I love grow old and die before my eyes.”
“You are ageless then.”
“Yes, I have seen many generations of mortals live and die.”
“You give your husbands a gift, you honor them by carrying them with you.”
Enid wasn’t sure why, but she leaned her head against Toyo’s back. It was nice to be close to another human again. It reminded her she wasn’t just an immortal blood goddess like Isis. She could treat him with respect.
“We will be home soon. My father will want to hear of your victory.”
“It was your victory. We just fell into the middle of it.”
“Nonsense. It was you and your daughter then forced the demons to retreat. Taichai will know regardless he always knows.”
“Did you say Taichai?”
“Yes.”
“Is he a fat oni with webbed feet? Smells like rotten fish mixed with ass?”
Toyo laughed.
“You know him?”
“Yes, he is no Oni though, I lack a better name for what he is. I can sense Oni. We have met before; I did some work for him. Had to burn my clothes afterwards, both times.”
“He told us we would only need to send the army and that our problem would be dealt with. He also said if we find any strays, we should bring them back or our clan would be worse off for it.”
Enid sighed and pulled herself closer to Toyo who didn’t seem to be minding.
“He has worked with my family for many generations. He told us of the Oni’s coming and also of a greater threat in the darkness of the mountains.”
Enid closed her eyes and nodded against Toyo’s armor.
“You don’t get that many demons without a hell mouth or fallen one organizing them.”
“You know of these beasts?”
“Yes, I have been fighting them for what seems like forever. In fact, just three days ago my daughter killed her first fallen one herself.”
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“Is she alright? Her clothing seemed unharmed…yet she is unconscious.”
“She… she can take other forms and she was in the other form when she was fighting it is too big for her armor and thus the armor was pulled into her form. Without my armor I would have been injured too, though most would have healed by now. She is…only half of whatever I am. Her father was a mortal man.”
Toyo shifted again. Enid felt his arm shift of the reins. She looked up and Toyo was pointing at a walled compound in the distance.
“That is our clan home.”
“Should I get off?”
“No. I do not mind you behind me.”
“I was worried about what your wife might think.”
“I have not found a wife yet.”
Enid nodded and readjusted so she was closer to him again. The approach to the compound would take another half an hour. Enid realized she still had no idea what year it was nor was she sure how to figure it out, or even ask about it. It’s not like their calendars would match hers. Even if it did how do you ask: hey, what year is it? She didn’t feel like looking insane at the moment. Her knowledge of Japanese history covered the different periods but damned if she could place a Samurai clan in a specific period. For the first time in her time travels she was at a true loss. Enid glanced up at the pink cherry blossoms. At least she knew it was spring.
“I’ve missed the cherry blossoms.”
Toyo glanced back at Enid as she smiled up at the trees.
“You have come at the right time then they just blossomed.”
Enid smiled and leaned against his armor. She had no idea why she was so comfortable in this spot. She glanced at Hazel’s unconscious form. She wasn’t too worried. Wolf-born healed fast from most wounds.
“We have some of the best healers on the islands here. She will be fine.”
“I know. She heals fast, like me.”
“If my men had threatened her, how long would they have lasted?”
“Several would have dead before you could blink once. The rest when you finished blinking.”
“And if they had killed her.”
“Your clan would have been wiped out by a storm of death, knowing my temper.”
“You didn’t do this to the Oni?”
“I will wipe them and their leader from this world, but on the battlefield, my daughter was there, your army was there. I have no quarrel with you. So, I had to show restraint.”
“Yet you hold me as a woman who is exhausted. You are a woman of many contradictions.”
“You have a good and honorable soul. I feel safe here with you. My mind is as human as yours. I have had a… terrible few days. This was just the finishing touches.”
“Would you like to speak about it? We still have a few minutes before we reach the gates.”
“My father was weak and I… I needed to clean up his mess. I had to destroy many of our kind that had gone astray. Some committed no more of a crime then existing. Because my father refused to limit their…expansion.”
“You kept your family’s honor, that is what was important.”
“It does not make it any easier to live with Toyo-San.”
“If you were to go before the emperor at this moment, could you hold your head up high and say that you have lived an honorable life? Could you?”
“Yes. I could.”
“Then you should rest easy Raijin.”
“Except I’m an Empress, so I’m not sure who I would stand before.”
He laughed.
“Your ancestors then.”
“Thank you, Toyo-san. I am feeling better.”
“You honor me, Raijin of the Kami.”
“I thought we had decided I was no Kami. Please call me Enid.”
“I do not know what else to call you, so when my father asks I will answer she is a Kami.”
Enid nodded and kept her arms wrapped around Toyo. He rode through the gates which opened for the army Enid saw an older man and woman along with several other women and girls arrayed in the center of the compound. Toyo glanced back.
“My father, mother, and sisters. I have many sisters.”
He laughed softly. The men carrying the stretchers rushed into one of the buildings and Hazel vanished from sight. Enid released her grasp on Toyo’s waist.
“I should go, they will not know how to remove her armor.”
“It is armor, how difficult can it be?”
“It is seamless. There are no ties. I will return quickly to greet your father. I give you, my word.”
He took her hand and nodded and letting her down. She rushed into the healer’s building. No one opposed her entrance. She found Hazel in her own room. One of the women was trying to get the Atlantean armor off. Enid spoke and the poor woman almost jumped out of her skin.
“I can do that.”
The woman bowed to Enid who peeled the armor of Hazel leaving her naked. She had several claw and teeth marks, some faded and from the Pugmentia attack, others were slightly black from the demons. Enid slid the armor in her pack, along with her daughter’s sword. The woman was looking over the injuries then looked back to Enid many questions in her eyes.
“Oni attacked her. If you clean the wounds and put your salves on them, they will heal.”
The woman nodded and went to work. Enid turned to leave and saw the eleven men who had been carried back. She didn’t see any that had any demon tainted wounds. She approached the first and one of the women tried to stop her but a soldier who had been with the army pulled the woman back. Enid willed the gloves of her armor back into the suit and touched the man and chanted pulling the wounds onto herself. She proceeded to each of the men and did the same. By the time she had finished the first was stirring. Some had facial injuries so those that were awake, and present saw the wounds form and heal on her face. She walked out to greet the Samurai clan head. She bowed to him. Toyo glanced at her and rushed to her when he saw blood on her face. She shook her head slightly to him.
“I am fine Toyo-san, I healed your men. It…is a painful experience.”
Then men she had healed started file out of the healer’s quarters. Their eyes on Enid as they were greeted by their wives and children. Toyo bowed to her. His father looked at him then down to Enid.
“My son tells me you are a Kami and defeated the demon army single-handedly and saved him and his men.”
Enid bowed again.
“With a distraction provided by your son and his men.”
The elder nodded. He looked her up and down. Enid half wished she knew she was heading this way so she could have put on a less strange face. He crossed his arms. Enid winced not a good reaction.
“You may stay. I will turn no Kami away. Taichai wishes to speak with you.”
He motioned to his wife and eldest daughter before turning away with Toyo and speaking to him further. Enid found herself being ushered into a room and clothing being laid out. The eldest woman who Enid assumed was Toyo’s mother spoke quietly.
“You must wear something more modest.”
Enid nodded and started to peel off her armor revealing multiple bloodstains from her healing of Hazel and Toyo’s men. The eldest sister of Toyo and his mother gasped. Enid shook her head and held up her hands.
“I am fine. I heal very quickly.”
“You need to bathe before changing then. This way.”
Enid was dragged to a bathing tub, she grabbed her armor on the way out. A pair of servant women were already in the room. She started trying to wash herself but found the cloth pulled from her hand just as she tried to grab it. She felt herself being scrubbed there was a gasp at the fresh-looking lightning dragon tattoo. After a brief pause they returned to cleaning her off. Enid gave up and started cleaning the blood out of her armor. She found herself being wrapped in a traditional Japanese sleeping gown. She was escorted back to her room. She bowed to the servants and collapsed in the bed and stared at the ceiling to suffer through another sleepless night. To her surprise she woke up several hours later. She felt stiff for the first time in a long time. Like she had slept like a mortal, but no sun was on her skin.
“Fuck.”
She shifted off the bed and pulled on the spring-colored kimono that had been left for her and folded the sleeping gown. She left it on the chair with her pack and Lucius slung over the back of it. She slipped on a pair of sandals that one of the servant women offered her as she was about to leave the building had been housed in. She silently mused to herself how annoyed Hazel was going to be with the kimonos and smiled. Toyo saw her and walked towards her. He bowed to her and she to him.
“Did you sleep well Enid-san?”
“I did Toyo-san.”
Enid felt herself blushing at the attention Toyo’s eyes were paying to her. She cursed her mortality and her inability to stop the reddening of her cheeks.
“Come, let us go eat.”
Enid smiled at him then she heard Hazel yelling in Latin. She frowned.
“Excuse me Toyo-san my daughter is awake, and I fear she is causing a…scene.”
He nodded and motioned for Enid to follow him to the building that housed the healers. Enid kept pace with him as they both heard Hazel’s voice get louder. When they arrived, they saw four men trying to hold a very naked Hazel back and some of the women that were tending to her looking quite scared as they watched the giant of a teenager fling off man after man. Enid spoke in Latin.
“Hazel, behave yourself!”
Hazel blinked at her mother.
“Why don’t you have your real face on?”
“Is that really the question you want to ask me while you’re standing naked surrounded by several men?”
Hazel blinked a few times and tore her arms away and covered herself. Enid switched back to Japanese.
“Toyo-san may I have a few minutes of privacy with my daughter?”
“Of course, Enid-san. I will have a kimono sent for her.”
Enid bowed to him, and he bowed back. Toyo motioned for everyone else to leave the room. Hazel had grabbed one the woven blanket and covered herself. She looked down at her mother.
“Where are we?”
“We are with a Samurai clan in Japan, I don’t know when it is could be any time after the fourteenth century, that is when they started using katana’s as I recall. We’re not in the eighteenth or nineteenth they have no firearms. So, we have about four hundred years there. The Ashikaga shogunate lost prominience in the 16th century, so I guess it’s more like two hundred years.”
“You can speak their language?”
“Yes, I went to high school and medical school in Japan. Worked as a doctor here too.”
“They look…strange mom.”
“Yes, they are Asian. We are the ones who look strange here. They are big on honor and respect. If someone bows, bow back. Just…do your best not to be you. You tend to be…what they would consider rude.”
Hazel blinked at her mother again. One of the women carried what appeared to be a male kimono in for her. Enid shrugged and motioned for Hazel to stand up.
“Come on. Time to get you dressed. This is called a kimono and there is a very specific way to wear it. This is a men’s kimono, I guess they lack the proper size for you.”
Hazel felt the warmth of her mother’s skin and looked around herself.
“Mom there is no sun, why are you mortal?”
“I don’t know, I fell asleep last night and woke up this way.”
“But the demons…”
“We sent most of them back to Hell, but the source has not been dealt with. I’m hoping Taichai can shed some light on things.”
“Who is Taichai?”
“He’s a Japanese demon. I’ve dealt with him before… in the future. He is the reason I can take on different faces.”
Enid helped Hazel get the kimono on and tie it off properly.
“Where is my sword mom?”
“In my pack. We won’t need it here. It’s not…common for women to carry weapons openly. Besides you’re always armed. You’re claws and teeth are more dangerous than anything I can make.”
“I disagree, that sword your Seer was using seemed plenty dangerous.”
Enid rolled her eyes. She motioned towards the exit.
“Come, we need to eat. Then I suppose I’ll be taken to see Taichai.”
“May I come?”
“Yes, but you don’t want too.”
“Why?”
“He’s ugly as fuck, smells like dead fish and ass.”
Hazel wrinkled her nose.
“I’m mortal so it won’t phase me, you however will probably cough up a hairball.”
“I’m not a cat mother.”
Enid smiled and winked at her daughter. Hazel laughed and hugged her mother.
“You always know how to get me.”
“It’s a parent’s job.”
“Japanese aren’t very big on public shows of affection. You’re going to be considered an adult here so much too old to be publicly affectionate with a parent. So just pretend everyone has a bubble around them that you can’t break. No unnecessary touching in public, even with me, okay?”
Hazel shrugged and nodded. Enid motioned for Hazel to follow. When the pair reached the outside Enid realized she had no idea where Toyo had been directing her for food. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw him approaching.
“This way Enid-san.”
Enid bowed to him and followed holding up her kimono in the proper way as she went up stairs and they found themselves at the entrance to a feasting area. Enid pulled off her sandals and motioned for Hazel to do the same. Toyo led the pair to pillows beside him and Enid kneeled. Hazel did her best to mimic her mother. Everyone else was already eating. Enid picked up her chopsticks and had no trouble using them expertly. Hazel on the other hand was having difficulties. Enid did her best to correct her daughter but knew from experience it took practice.
“What are these anyway mom?”
“Where I’m from they are called chop sticks. I prefer them to normal utensils.”
“Why?”
“They make excellent weapons.”
Hazel smiled at her mother. Toyo glanced at Enid.
“She does not speak our language.”
Enid nodded.
“She is also not familiar with your utensils. She asked why I preferred them, and I advised her they make excellent weapons.”
He quirked an eyebrow at her.
“It sounds like there is a story there.”
“Perhaps not one for breakfast.”
He nodded. Then turned to his food. The whole exchange reminded her that speaking and eating in Japan were not done at the same time. She nodded to Toyo and went back to eating. He smiled at her. She had forgotten how much went on without words in Japanese culture. Or at least direct communication.