Kentaro entered the Gardens of Fate, wandering around the path. He was wearing the black mawashi under the bits of cloth he wore to save some modesty when he wasn’t in battle. His hair glistened with the oil in his topknot. The only thing on his upper body was the red and black war paint. They formed different runes of power that sucked in the aura around and helped strengthen him further than what a normal Kami had.
He walked barefoot through the maze of the garden. Wandering around, passing the old women who tended to the gardens for all eternity. Different animals scurrying around. Kentaro looked around with his red, glowing eyes and growled. “Father be damned, how do I find my way to that damn fountain!”
One crone came over to the warlord and bowed her head and gestured that he follow her. She dared not speak to the Kami without permission. Kentaro grumbled and nodded his head, shooing her along. “Go on then, show me!” He growled at the woman.
She bowed to him several more times, which Kentaro just rolled his eyes at and growled some more before he shooed her again. She eventually turned and hobbled along through the maze.
Coming here always angered the Kami of War. He didn’t have the patience to find his way around. So many dead ends. There was one time he even decided to just blast his way through the garden walls till he got to the middle. The Father ended up being in the gardens that time though, and Kentaro was scolded for his actions endlessly by Rei and Daichi both.
It only took him a few minutes to reach the center fountain with the Mothers help. He found Daichi standing there, looking into his book. Always reading his damn book. Once they reached the middle square of the maze, the Mother bowed to Daichi before looking at Kentaro and giving him another bow. She then turned and hurried off back to her work.
Kentaro walked over and stood in front of Daichi, who ignored his younger brother. Daichi didn’t look up from the book. It wasn’t a secret that Daichi didn’t much care for Kentaro. Kentaro was pure brawn who did nothing but quite literally throw his weight around and wage war. His entire realm of existence was warriors in all out war. Then at night they would gather in great halls and drink together and fight. Daichi, on the other hand, had his peaceful gardens and cared more for knowledge and wisdom.
Daichi finally sighed and closed his book, looking up at Kentaro. Looking up at the enormous man from beneath his cowl. “Yes, brother?”
While Kentaro was waiting, a small bird had come over and landed on the warlord's shoulder. It stood and looked at the side of the sumo wrestler's face and chirped a bit. Kentaro rolled his eyes when he felt the bird land, but ignored it otherwise. He just looked at Daichi, frowning. “Where is the brat?”
“Minako? I don’t know probab -”
“NO! You know who I mean, Daichi. Don’t you play your games with me.” Kentaro raged when Daichi tried to play with him. His eyes glowed a little brighter, and the runes painted into his body glowed with the eyes in his anger.
Daichi frowned and shook his head, stepping away from Kentaro. “Brother, I don’t know where Genki is. Because of all of this madness, my book has been rewritten so many times many of the pages concerning the Kami are blank. Completely erased. I don’t know what’s happening, and it’s my job to know!”
Kentaro calmed himself and he huffed. “She has to be somewhere.” He crossed his arms against his chest, looking at his brother.
“Well, of course, she has to be somewhere, but she is known to be a crafty being. I do not know where she is. I haven’t seen her since the last time we’ve all gathered. She doesn’t come by here to say hello you know.” Daichi exclaimed to Kentaro.
Kentaro didn’t listen to all of what Daichi said. He turned and walked away, waving his brother off. He wandered off the way he had come, traveling through the gardens, trying to remember which way he had come from. Father help him, he was a Kami. Damn these rules about being unable to transport directly in and out of another Kami’s lands.
Each of the Kami’s realms had a point they could travel to. A sort of neutral zone where it was allowed. Lilith’s realm had the area outside of the hallway to the graveyard and Kenji’s just had an open void area. Daichi had a different spot for each of the Kami and then it was up to them to figure out the pathway to the middle of the maze. The area in Kentaro’s own realm was a tent on the battlefield, it was stocked with ale and rice wine and some whisky he had people make. There was even a buffet. This damn maze.
Eventually, one of the old women came up to Kentaro. It might have been the same one as before, but he paid little attention. To the warlord, they all just looked like old women. They were to be respected, but they had no place on the battlefield, so he didn’t care to pay them any mind. She led him through the maze and then held out an arm and stepped to the side of the dirt path.
Kentaro moved into his little zone and finally reached for the bird that rode along the entire time on his shoulder. His hand dwarfed the bird, but he cradled it gently in his palm, lifting it from his shoulder. Holding his palm out, he looked at the bird and gave a soft smile. It was a simple bluebird, nothing special about it other than being allowed to live here in this realm. The bird cocked its head and chirped softly at the epic warlord.
Kentaro gave a smile and then tossed the bird up, letting it fly away. The bird flew back towards the middle of the gardens, singing its song, as Kentaro smiled a little more. Kentaro turned and walked to the actual end of the trail, where it was just a large hedge and he left the realm.
When Kentaro reappeared, he was in a cozy living room. A roaring fire in a hearth to his side. The room was decorated in deep earth tones and everything was made of wood. There was a table next to the fire with a teapot and some cups, along with a bit of finger food. Say what you will about Misumi, they knew how to welcome their siblings.
There was even a butler who was standing right at the room's entrance who, when Kentaro appeared and didn’t show any interest in the tea, approached him.
“Greetings Lord Kentaro. Welcome to Misumi’s realm. What can I help you with?” The butler spoke to Kentaro after giving a deep bow. The man looked like he was made of moss and bark. He was dressed in a simple black robe with a white shirt underneath it.
“I’m looking for Misumi.” Kentaro told the butler.
“Of course, Lord Kami, this way. Misumi is in their study with their twin, Minako.” Then the butler led Kentaro through the manor. It was huge, and all designed the same way as the welcoming room. Everything was made from wood and was warm. There were gaudy looking paintings and decorations everywhere which offset the warmness of the place, but Misumi was the Kami of Nature and Life, so Kentaro supposed it made sense.
They crossed through a long hallway and to the back of the manor, where the butler stood and gestured for Kentaro to wait for a moment. Kentaro waited a few feet behind the butler and watched him bow and greet the twins. Then he announced the Warlord and Kentaro heard Misumi tell the butler to allow him entrance. The butler moved to the side of the doorway and bowed, giving Kentaro the clearing to enter.
Kentaro nodded his head at the butler and entered the room. It was a lot like the welcoming room when he first appeared here, just much larger. Misumi was sitting in a large plush chair facing the doorway and Minako was laying back on a sofa, reading a book. The furniture was varying colors, all matching the warm classic style of the entire manor.
“Welcome brother, what brings you here?” Misumi smiled when Kentaro entered the room. “Come sit. Have some lunch with us.” They motioned over to another couch furthest from the fireplace that Minako was next to.
Minako mostly ignored Kentaro, besides giving him a simple “hello brother” in that soft voice of hers. It was so odd that these were the twins. Minako reminded Kentaro more of Kenji than Misumi, but he supposed them being stark opposites made sense. Minako was very much the yin to Misumi’s yang.
“No, Misumi. I’m looking for Genki.” He didn’t rage at the twins like he did at Daichi. He didn’t need to. These two were already more amicable than Daichi had ever been.
Minako groaned and lowered her book, and the room grew cold. Literally cold, there were icicles forming in the room now, and Kentaro could see his breath. Misumi looked over at her sister and scolded her with a sharp word. The room warmed back up afterwards and Kenji stared at Minako, blank faced, before he looked back at Misumi with a soft smile once more.
“Dear brother, I haven’t seen Genki. I do not know where she is. She’s been keeping low ever since she snatched your and Kenji’s piece of the wand. We haven’t seen her since the last family meeting. I tell you who probably knows where she’s hiding. It’s Daichi.”
Minako went back to reading her book after she was scolded for bringing down the temperature in the manor. Kentaro just looked at them both and frowned before centering on Misumi.
“No, I just came from his realm. He says his book is empty about us right now. Too many things have been changed.” Kentaro told Misumi.
“Well, I’m sorry, dear brother, I really do not know. You know Kenji would say something. Lilith probably would as well. She’s always been close to the Beggar King of Shadows.” Misumi frowned. The frown only lasted a minute when another one of her wood leaf man butlers entered the room, pushing a cart with covered trays of food.
“You know, I know we don’t need to have luncheons, but it’s so fun to entertain. We can have them whip you up some hunks of meat or something?” Misumi smiled, looking up to her brother.
Kentaro gave a low rumble and then audibly growled a little before turning and leaving the room. He wasn’t hungry. He was feeling the effects from not having his piece of the wand. It weighed on him. Weighed on his very being. The wooden wand piece was so plain, but it was the strength, the base of the wand. The rest of the pieces without his section were just random baubles and trinkets.
Not only that, but the wand contained some of his power. As long as he had it under his control, then it wasn’t a problem. He had full access to his power. He walked back through the manor to the little welcoming room and wondered why their Father had it setup like this, anyway. All someone had to do was steal their piece and then they had access to the Kami’s power. He shook the thoughts away. He supposed it was more for the likes of Kenji and Daichi to consider.
Kentaro grumbled and stood in the room and poured himself some of the tea, idly wondering where he should go next. He should have brought some trackers from his realm. Maybe that’s where he would go. He had powerful Sacred Artists he had picked up through the years to bring to his battlefields. Maybe they knew something the Kami didn’t? Kentaro grumbled when he realized the absurdity of the statement, but transported himself back to his realm, anyway.
Since it was his own realm, he could transport himself wherever. There was a dull red glow, and he appeared in his head war tent. Being that it was his personal tent, it was smaller than some of the main tents where they held the banquets. This was his area to do his work in. The black cloth sat calmly around him. He was standing in front of a gigantic bed where he slept when he felt the need to, which wasn’t often. He always allowed his combatants to rest during the evening to refill their power.
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There was a desk that was currently occupied by his chief advisor. This was a man who had won one of the Kami tournaments some years back, and Kentaro took an interest in the man’s skills. He fought calmly and intelligently, but had this great ferocity behind his attacks. The man since coming here had risen to the rank of Herald by terms the mortals used. Not that it mattered, though, Mao Ze Tong would never return to the mortal realm.
Tong looked towards the glowing red light when Kentaro appeared and snorted. “Lord Kami, welcome back! I hope you found what you needed?”
Tong was another man who preferred brute strength instead of flashy spiritual attacks. He had a more classic physique compared to Kentaro. Tong was almost as tall as Kentaro but lacked the fat. He was as wide as Kentaro, though, but he was muscular. All muscle, in fact, exaggerated by the fact of his rank in cultivation.
“No, I wasn’t. I need someone who can track people. Someone powerful, who thinks they can track a Kami when my other siblings cannot.” Kentaro looked at Tong and growled.
“I know just the one.” Tong rose from his desk and bowed deeply to Kentaro, then left. The warlord went and sat in a large overstuffed chair across from the desk. Other than the bed, desk, and a couple of chairs, the tent was bare. Kentaro never found the point of much decoration.
Tong returned a few minutes later with a man who didn’t seem all that impressive at first sight. He wore black robes that were well taken care of and covered every bit of him. He had his hood up and a mask covered his face. Above the mask, they painted his flesh black. Kentaro recognized the cultivator as someone who protected the Oracles. They often ended up here if they didn’t go to Lilith’s lands. For being as fearsome and powerful as they were, they lived a rather peaceful life. Few people bothered to attack the Oracles.
The cultivator entered and immediately went in front of where Kentaro was seated and bowed on his knees. He pushed his forehead to the grass for a minute before raising it once more. He kept his head lowered, though, never looking at Kentaro. This was the proper procedure when they weren’t out in the battlefield. “Lord Kami, how may I serve you?”
Kentaro smiled and decided that for serving him, this man may look upon him outside of battle. Kentaro reached an arm out waving his hand, gesturing for the oracle guard to look up. The man bowed to the grass once more before lifting his head all the way up, looking upon his warlord.
“I need someone that can find my little sister. Someone that can find a Kami even when the rest of the family cannot.” Kentaro growled, his red eyes glowing. “Tong brought you to me. He has faith in your abilities. Do not fail me.”
“Yes, Lord Kami, this is something I may be able to do.” The Guard lowered his head once more to the grass before raising and climbing to his feet.
“How long will it take to find Genki?”
“Very little, Lord Kami.” The Guard responded and reached into his robes, pulling a small bag carried out from them. He moved over to the desk and bowed softly to Tong before pulling a few things from it. He pulled a small notebook and set it down on the desk, followed by a glowing blue crystal along with a pencil.
Opening the book, he found an empty page and scrawled in it quickly. Then he lifted the crystal over the page and the crystal began to glow a little brighter. It then changed colors quickly. The colors went from a pale blue, green, brown, black, a dark purple, white, red, and then a teal color.
Kentaro sat up in his seat watching the display, mouth gaped open, not entirely sure he understood what was going on. He would not ask for specifics, but he was glad this oracle protector was in his lands and not elsewhere. The crystal glowed brighter and kept switching colors. Eventually, some colors stopped coming up. The red was the first color he noticed he didn’t see anymore, and then green and the pale blue.
It took a few more moments, and the crystal started switching between two colors, the teal and the brown. The Sacred Artist looked away and over at Kentaro, bowing his head, his eyes wide. Kentaro motioned for him to hurry it up and tell him.
“I know where the Kami of the paranormal is.”
Kentaro jumped to his feet and laughed loudly. A full belly laugh erupted from him. He moved to the guard and grabbed him by the arms, squeezing. The Guard went wide-eyed once more looking up at Kentaro, scared his arms were going to break off.
“Excellent! Tong! This man dines at the head table with us for the next month!” Kentaro exclaimed while still laughing. “Tell me! Tell me where the miserable brat is!”
Kentaro had finally let go of the oracle guard, and the guards eyes watered. Not from the pain of being nearly crushed together in the Kami’s excitement, but from pure joy and honor. To sit at the head table during feasts was reserved for warriors of the highest honor. Currently, no one sat there with Kentaro and Tong, they had found no one worthy lately. “Thank you, Lord Kami! The girl is in the eternal gardens where the Mothers go!”
Kentaro raged. He was careful to not rage at the Oracle Guard or Tong. Instead, he lifted the table and hurled it out of the front flap of the tent, followed by the chair for it. Soon his oversized plush chair that he loved so much. The furniture flew through the ongoing battle. Each piece of furniture ended up knocking some warriors off and exploding into kindling. It didn’t matter, no one died here. The war raged on once the commotion had settled.
Tong and the Guard weren't sure what to do, they just watched Kentaro’s rage. Then Kentaro erupted in that red light once more and was gone from his realm.
______________________
Daichi was standing in his garden near the central fountain. All around him the crones were wandering, tending to the gardens. He had his tome open, holding it in both hands. His eyes were running up and down the pages as he flicked through them. This was all getting out of hand and the book didn’t even have what was going to happen next.
“Daichi!” He heard a girl's voice yell, and he closed his book looking up and around. The Book of Fate was way off course. He didn’t know anyone was going to be coming.
Genki ran out from a path towards him and grabbed onto his robes. “Kentaro, he’s looking for me. I need help!”
Daichi frowned from under the cowl of his hood. “Genki, I can’t. I’ve already done too much. The Book, Genki, it’s all wrong.”
Genki looked up at Daichi, looking under his cowl at his face. Her eyes were full of fear. Kentaro was probably the strongest of the Kami. Kenji postured and Lilith was the embodiment of Death, but Kentaro was strong. Daichi didn’t bother with battle, he didn’t need to. If Kentaro found out where the girl was, she would be captured.
She growled out at Daichi and ran from him. The purple light swirling around her and she turned into that snow fox with the nine tails. Pure white fur except for the ends of the tails, which were a dark purple and had teal streaks.
It was too late. She heard Kentaro yelling off in the distance. She looked back and saw gardens exploding, shrubbery flying into the air. “GENKI!!!!!”
She was running off towards her area, where she could escape the realm. It was easy for her to navigate the maze. She was nimble and quick.
“Kentaro, hold! What do you think you’re doing?!” Daichi raged at Kentaro now. Would he try to buy her time? “She just got here! I tried to call you!”
Kentaro didn’t respond, he just charged past Daichi, who was cursing and yelling for the old women to clean up. For as large as the man was, he moved as quickly as the snow fox did. He had the added perk of not bothering to run around the hedges and shrubbery. Kentaro ran right through them. He felt her just on the hedge in front of him and he leaped, growling out.
Genki looked back and over her shoulder. The sun was eclipsed by the sumo wrestler’s form. All she could see were the red glowing eyes and the paint around his body that was all glowing in his rage. He was too quick. She couldn’t do anything. He landed right on top of her and flexed his muscles, wrapping his arms around her, crushing her snow fox body.
She tried to claw and to bite out at him. He laughed a dark, evil laugh and grabbed her snout, clamping it with the strength of one hand. Genki had her tricks and could do marvelous things in the world. No other Kami could match Kentaro for pure strength.
“You’re lucky I don’t kill you right here!” He growled out at her, clasping her jaw shut. He wouldn’t be able to, as strong as he was, none of them could actually kill each other. They could dispatch each other and send them back to their own realms, maybe. Depending on circumstances, but only Rei the Father would be able to actually destroy one of them.
“That would do, little brother. Then she wouldn’t be able to tell us where our pieces of the wand are.” It was a crazed sound raspy voice that spoke from off to the side.
Kenji wrapped around a corner of a hedge, his long sword and at the ready. Next came Lilith. They always traveled together, or seemed to. They were nearly as close as the twins were. Kentaro’s muscles flexed, though, squeezing Genki’s small snow fox form.
“Brother, we can shackle her. We’ll bring her to the Mountain in the Mortal realm. Call all the siblings. We’ll sort this out.” Lilith spoke now. She didn’t bother pulling her sword, the bastard sword was still on her back. She sounded firm, though, ready to draw and go to battle if she needed.
Kentaro growled out and stood struggling with the small snow fox. “Do it then, damn you!”
Kenji and Lilith both wove their mana. Kenji formed shadowstuff and formed it into shackles around Genki’s wrists and ankles, and then finally one around her neck. Lilith added some of her mana as well, further hampering Genki from being able to do anything. She still struggled, but she could feel her power dampen when Kentaro himself added something he pulled from a storage area. It looked like crushed diamonds and he sprinkled into the shadowstuff.
“There, now she’ll barely be able to use her powers. Let’s get her to the cave.” Kenji smiled, watching the scene from behind his blindfold.
Genki’s body went limp and slowly turned into the little girl form she normally portrayed herself as when she wasn’t in this snow fox form. Daichi was still raging and yelling off in the distance, near the middle fountain. They heard him coming closer though as he did so.
“Good, we’re all here. Daichi, since we are in your lands, how about we disperse of having to go off into our separate corners? You just move us to the Mountain in the Elder Realm? Lilith here, I think, has already called the rest of our siblings.” Kenji reasoned.
Daichi grumbled more, but the Kami was surrounded his brown power disappearing from view.