That’s when it happened. A crack of light across the sky. The sun was rising, but this wasn’t that. This was a blinding white light that flashed across the sky, ending on a rock overlooking the scene. Genki didn’t pay it any attention. She just focused on Silas, baring her teeth at him. Truth be told, she could have ended him already. She was unmaking him slowly. Ripping out his core and channels little by little.
Silas couldn’t pay much attention, either. His eyes were closed, and he was yelling in pain. Everything inside of him was on fire. He felt himself losing power, losing his grip on the will to live. He supposed he was going to join Himari and Reiko. Except, no, that wasn’tright,t was it? Genki said she was unmaking him. He’d be nowhere. It’d be like he was never here to begin with.
Neither of them noticed the white light standing on the rock overlooking them until there was a slight cough. Not even a cough, but a sound like he was clearing his throat. Genki looked up and raged. “Do you wanna be next?!”
“Oh Genki, do you have it so bad?” The voice in the light sounded sad. “You are the embodiment of tricks and the paranormal. I gave you the gift of the mortal realms’ dragons. Yet you do so much to work against your siblings.”
Genki frowned and trembled at seeing her father. She gritted her teeth and balled her hands into fists, looking up at the cliff where the man shrouded in light stood looking down at her. With her attention diverted from Silas and the other Beggars, they released the pressure on them. Daiki, William, and Magnus fell into the dirt breathing heavily grabbing at their chests. “These mortals of yours get all your attention. You don’t care what happens to any of us.” Genki spat at the man in white.
Silas was still sitting there, broken worse than he ever was before. He sat there leaning against that rock. The only thing he could do was keep one eye open. He couldn’t turn his head to look above him where the bright light was coming from.
His hands were wrapped around his stomach as he held his insides. There was power in him. Genki had finished crushing his core and his channels and he wasn’t even sure if he’d be able to practice the Sacred Arts ever again.
It was a kind of funny thing listening to Genki, and if Silas could, he’d even laugh. All of this was happening because Genki’s father didn’t love her enough? It seemed so ridiculous. Something from the gossip the housewives would tell each other when they were complaining about their children back in Kyoto.
One thing Silas did notice was there were other forms appearing around the small area in the mountain where all of this took place. Six others plus Genki and the Father. He felt a hand on his shoulder and then that familiar scratchy voice.
“You’ll be alright Silas,” Kenji said before letting go of Silas’s shoulder.
Silas looked around and noticed Lilith, the Kami of death, standing above and across from him. She was standing firm with that bastard sword in one hand. Next to her was a large man wearing a mawashi and a topknot. Saying he was large was an understatement. This man was clearly the largest being Silas had ever seen. He had red and black war paint all over his body, painted in symbols Silas didn’t know or recognize.
He could barely make out two more forms to his left. They stood next to each other. One was taller and wearing colorful robes. They were a lot more flamboyant than the rest of the people that had assembled here. The smaller girl next to them wore plain black and had a hood over her head. Silas gasped when he realized what was going on and who these people were.
He looked across and saw his friends on their knees, all three of them with their heads in the dirt. They must have realized too, and Silas idly wondered if they could feel the power that Silas currently couldn’t. Having all the Kami there in that small area must have been crippling and awe-inspiring to the spirit.
Maisy Silas gasped and tried to scan the area above where they originally found her. She was right next to Lilith, down on her knees as well. He closed his eye and grunted a little before coughing up some blood. He couldn’t lift his arm to cover his mouth, the blood sprayed out over his robe.
“Where are our pieces of the wand?!” The voice was booming and came from the direction of the large sumo wrestler looking man. The sheer power and booming of his voice caused Silas to open both his eyes and yell in pain.
The others looked unaffected, even his friends. They could cycle their mana or madra to their ears to protect themselves. Silas didn’t have that ability anymore. Kenji gave an audible sigh and then Silas could feel something plug his ears dampening the surrounding sounds.
The man in the white light held a hand out to Kentaro to calm him. “Genki will hand them over, I’m sure. You will have your piece of the wand back, I promise you. Won't you Genki?” He looked down at the youngest of the Kami, who was looking around at her siblings with her teeth bared.
“After all, what were you going to do if you got all the pieces?” The Father continued.
She looked back at him. Her body was still trembling. She knew her game was over now, but she had to fight. “I’m not giving any of you anything. There are three pieces of it I have. I’m more powerful than I was. I can take any of you.”
Then Genki leapt into the air, not towards The Father or Kentaro, who was yelling at her. She jumped towards the one who was closest, on the same level as her, Kenji. A swirl of purple power and she was in her snow fox form once more, fangs bared.
Kenji was watching and saw her jump towards him. In a breath, that overly large curved sword was in his hand and he was gone from view. Silas watched him move to the left and fade from view, ducking into the shadows. The fox landed on the wall just above Silas’s head and it growled then jumped off in the direction Kenji lept.
“You think that will stop me?” Genki yelled, then she too dissipated from view.
Silas gasped. She went into the world of shadows now with Kenji. Were all the Kami able to do that? Silas had seen Lilith in the realm of the Shadowlands, but he wasn’t sure they had power over each other's realms here in the land of the mortals. He desperately wished he could use his Shadow Sight vision and look and see what was happening. He just stared in the direction they had both disappeared off in.
There was a sigh that came from over him, The Father. The Father looked at the rest of the Kami and smiled. “Do you all feel the way she does?”
The rest of the Kami looked at their father with stoic expressions. “We are here to do a job, father. You made us for a purpose. It isn’t our job to question that purpose. Our job is to do it.” There was another voice from above Silas, standing next to the Father. It spoke slowly, like every word the being spoke had great meaning behind it.
Rei looked to his eldest and smiled, putting a hand on Daichi’s shoulder. “Yes, Daichi. Of course. You do wonderful work in your gardens with the book I entrusted to you. Still, I found out the Oracle who originally visited Kyoto and warned the village about all of this mysteriously died and wound up in your lands.”
Daichi gasped and took a step back from Rei. “The Mothers of this world all end up in my lands as caretakers of the gardens.”
“No, Daichi, I’m afraid that they don’t, and you know that. Most go off into your sister’s realm with the Reapers.” Rei turned and looked to Kami of Fate, now frowning.
“You helped Genki with all of this, didn’t you?” Rei asked him.
While the two spoke, Genki and Kenji flashed in and out of the shadows in battle. She covered Kenji in scratches and bite marks as Genki was still fighting in her snow fox form, the nine tails she had whipped around. Whenever they appeared, Silas could tell they were holding themselves back not to destroy in the mortal realm. It seemed like they were pulling their punches. Silas suspected Kenji was dipping back into the mortal realm just so he could get a bit of a breather before dissipating back into the shadows in battle.
“Father, no.” Daichi pleaded. “The rest of them didn’t care what was written in the book. They were always trying to change it!”
The Kami all looked at Daichi and Rei now.
“You changed what was in the book. I know you did. You all forget I have power over all of you, and everything you do.” Rei spoke calmly, matter-of-factly. “You changed the book. More directly than even Genki did when she first stole Kenji’s piece of the wand.”
Daichi kneeled down in front of the Father, bowing his head. He lifted that large tome of his towards Rei. The Book of Fate was lifted, not by Rei’s hand, but by a manipulation of his power. Having it float from Daichi’s hands and above Rei himself.
“Forgiveness, Father.” Daichi said.
Rei reached and lowered the cowl on Daichi’s robe before putting a hand on the back of Daichi’s head, patting it softly. Daichi, with his head and face exposed, had the look of an old man as well. Not as old as Rei with his white hair and long beard, but Daichi had short, balding salt and pepper hair and a long matching beard. Worn weathered skin and glasses that he wore purely for the look of them. A Kami wouldn’t have eye issues.
Kenji and Genki reappeared from the shadows, Genki’s mouth digging into Kenji’s shoulder and Kenji struggling to fight her off. His sword was in the dirt and he held onto the snow fox’s form with one hand, another punching it.
Rei looked down at his children, and still frowning, gave a command. “STOP THIS” When the father commanded, all had to obey.
Genki’s jowls released from Kenji’s shoulder, and she fell to the ground. A swirl of white power this time and she was back in her non animal form in the dirt. Kenji’s wound oozed shadow stuff as he used the technique he showed Silas to patch himself back up. It worked much more quickly than when Silas did it, and it only lasted a second until Kenji’s shoulder was perfectly fine. He got to one knee and looked up at Rei. Genki did the opposite. She stood and looked up defiantly at the Father, glowering and baring her teeth once more in rage.
“Genki, my child. Your fate is sealed. Nothing can change that. Come up here and accept willingly, like Daichi has. There is no use in your fighting. You have sent the dragons attacking mortals and created a sect that was never supposed to exist.
“If you cared so much, why did you never step in?!” She spat up at him accusingly. This drew the attention of the rest of the Kami who looked at Rei. They all seemed to kind of want the answer to this question. They’d never admit it, but they did. Silas looked around at them with his one eye open.
Rei looked around at the rest of the Kami, the tome still floating above him. “I wanted you all to deal with this yourselves, and I have been in the mortal realm trying to stop it.” He gestured to the Beggars and looked down at Silas, who was currently barely conscious.
“Oh, maybe I do like the mortals more.” Rei sighed. “I wanted them to gain power and become immortal. I wanted those that have proven themselves to become immortal and stand as gods among men. Not Kami, mind you, you all will forever be the only Kami, or this number of you.” Rei looked sharply at Daichi and Genki.
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“Up until Genki started using the dragon to her own ends, I was just a simple old man helping Sacred Artists and sending them out into the world to teach. Even now I have someone going to the islands and beyond to the West. They have some very peculiar, and very wrong beliefs about the world.” Rei grinned. “I was using my own little group as missionaries.”
Kenji stayed looking up at the Father but offered Silas a glance and a hopeful nod. Silas smiled, or he had tried to smile at Kenji and closed the eye he could open. There were so many Kami around, he idly wondered why they didn’t just fix him. Just give him his core back. Silas supposed there were more important things going on.
Then it struck Silas. Rei, the Father, was using his own personal group to fight against the dragons?! That eye popped open, and he looked at Kenji, who was kneeling only a few feet away from him. The rest of the Beggars now had lifted their heads as well. Until this moment they all stayed kowtowing to the Kami. Now they were still on their knees but they lifted their heads looking at the white shrouded man. Silas attempted, but Kenji shook his head at him.
Rei smiled down at the Beggars when the understanding hit. “Yes, my little rats, it is I.” and Rei allowed the white shrouded light to dim and disappear. He still looked more powerful than The Elder, still old and weathered. The robes weren’t faded and were pure white. Soon though, he changed, changed into that familiar old farmer with his conical hat gripping the tall staff with the crystal. “I am your Elder, or Old Man.”
The Kami all just watched. It made sense to some of them. They had each talked about an old man they couldn’t quite figure out. They could never quite pinpoint what he was doing. Genki bared her teeth once more. She most of all knew it was a pain. He was the one she saw pick up the girl when her village was destroyed and the Heavenly Dragons went through. She smirked. They had taken care of the girl though, didn’t they?
Rei looked down at Genki, transforming back into his natural self. The white robes and hair, the hat disappearing once more. “Yes, Genki. I know what you had your cult do.” Rei smiled softly. It spun to a look of rage though.
That attack was the first attack the dragons had made on humanity. That was the first time Rei had finally decided he would try to get some mortals together. Try to fight them without having to directly get involved, and how Kio ended up with him.
Genki didn’t wait for him to say anything else. She turned and tried to run. She leapt into the air, turning into that snow fox dashing towards an opening between the rocks. Genki had to get away from this. In their battle, she proved she was more powerful than him. She wasn’t scared of any of them.
Kentaro and Lilith both leaped from their spots higher than where Genki was. They landed right in the little area where she was planning on dashing off to. Rei could have stopped her himself, but he just watched the events unfold. The area wasn’t large enough for them to stand side by side, but Lilith landed behind Kentaro. The great man stared down at the snow fox who landed from her leap just in front of him.
His eyes were glowing red, looking down at Genki, and he thumped his chest with a fist. The sound echoed through the area on the mountain and Silas thanked Kenji for the shadowstuff ear clog he had. Silas opened his eye again and Kentaro was a frightening-looking man. The immense bulk of a man moved like someone who was the size of Genki. The sky was darkening above their little area in the mountains, and a lightning blast struck above Kentaro and Lilith.
Genki looked up at the pair, not sure what to do. She proved she could take on one other Kami by herself. With the power she had behind her as she wielded three pieces of the wand. She wasn’t sure if she could take on the Kami’s over destruction and Death together.
“Just stop, little sister. It’s over.” Lilith spoke from behind Kentaro.
Then Silas saw Rei jump down from above him. He landed only a few feet in front of him, that book still hovering above him as if it was a kite he was pulling along. The aged looking man walked past William, Daiki, and Magnus to where Genki stared up at the pair of Kami. Rei reached for Genki’s fur, his hand coming up and running along her fur.
Once Genki felt his hand, she lowered her head. There was another pulse of white power and the snow fox was replaced by the girl. Rei looked at Genki and put a hand on her shoulder, and gave her a small, reassuring smile. “There, there, young one. It’s all over.”
The rest of the Kami all watched the scene between the Father and the youngest of his Kami. To Silas’s eye, he could see nothing happening. A moment later, though, Genki fell to her knees, looking up at Rei.
“Father, please, no.” She looked up at him urgently. “I’m sorry. I won't….” She sounded like she was getting ready to cry. She was begging him.
Silas’s mouth gaped open. What was happening?
“Oh, I know you won't, child.” Rei still wore that reassuring smile, but his grip was tightening on her shoulder.
Silas could see her feet start to fade from view. Genki’s hands came up to Rei’s wrist, and she was pleading with him, shaking her head. “Father, no.”
The rest of the Kami watched expressionless, besides Minako. Silas looked around at their faces. They knew this was their fate if they crossed Rei, and none of them had ever dared. Minako watched in horror at her baby sister being unmade. She didn’t dare speak up, however. She knew Rei may look and act like a kind old man. He was a whole other sort of monster once you crossed him.
Silas didn’t feel what happened next, but the rest of the Beggars did. There was an explosion of spiritual power and they were all knocked backwards. Thrown into rocks by their spirits. Genki was gone. She was erased from the fabric of reality.
No one dared say a thing, but Minako started sobbing. Rei just smiled up at her and nodded his head. She was his creation, after all, and this sort of reaction from the empath was expected. The mortals were sitting in the dirt, they rushed though to get back on their knees and kowtow at Rei’s display of power.
The storm that was behind the pair of Kentaro and Lilith grew now and was covering all the desert. Lightning and thunder came from the Heavens before the rain started. It was a sad drizzle, the world's display at the loss of one of the Kami. There was now a power imbalance in the world. Daichi no longer has his book, and one of the other Kami unmade from the world. Rei may very well be the Father, but he couldn’t juggle everything. That’s why he had made the Kami.
“We’re going to need a replacement. I think I have an idea of who, but it may take some work.” Rei sighed and looked at Kami, his children. Rei looked over at Kenji. “Kenji, please bring Reiko here for me? I will summon the Elder Dragon.”
Kenji nodded his head and closed his eyes, working on what Rei commanded. Only a moment later, there was a shadowy form rising from next to where Silas stood. It was the short, thin form Silas knew as his once apprentice. When Reiko came to, he looked around and felt the power from all the Kami in the area. He clasped his hands together and bowed to Kenji and then to Rei and the rest of them.
“You are better after the attack?” Kenji asked the shadow.
Reiko bowed once more and spoke in that faraway voice the shadows had. “Yes, master. Once you brought me back to the Shadowlands, I could heal.”
Kenji smirked, and that raspy voice came out. “I’m not your master. He is.” Kenji pointed at Silas, who just smirked and looked up at his apprentice.
Kenji looked down at Silas “Master!” He kneeled down next to Silas. Reiko spoke in Silas’s ear, “Don’t worry, Kenji can fix you.”
Rei looked at the commotion from Reiko and cleared his throat. “That’s not why I had Kenji bring you back here, young warrior. Come.”
Reiko jumped to his feet and complied with the command. The shadowy form of the boy ran in front of Rei and got to his knees and put his head in the dirt at the Father’s feet.
“Stand, my boy. You have served Kenji well, and your dedication to your master is admirable. Even after you transcended the mortal plane, you pledged your loyalty to him and helped defend him when he could not. For this, I shall reward you.” Rei spoke kindly to Reiko, who stood once he was told to.
While Rei was speaking, a large dark long dragon appeared above them. The dragon Silas fought at the Kunlun Monastery was large, but this one was on a whole other scale. It was a veritable monster. He remembered back to what Elder Shen had told him when that dragon first appeared and smiled as much as he could.
They weren’t monsters, though, were they? They were the protectors of the Kami. Legend said they were actually gentle creatures. It was the dragons of the west that were violent beasts, which was why William was so jaded against them. It all made sense.
Rei looked up at the dragon and spoke, not bothering to raise his voice to yell up to the creature or anything. “Elder Dragon, welcome. You are freed from your bonds to Genki.” Rei then explained the situation to the creature.
The dragon nodded its giant head. “Yes, we felt her disappearance from the world shortly after your reappearance. Thank you, Father.”
“Yes, well, I figured you would know what was going on. I have called you here because you are getting a new dragon as well. The boy Reiko, once Silas’s apprentice, has been living as a shadow.” Rei told the dragon.
“I know that name. It’s the Sacred Artist who fought off my young one defending the monks.”
“Yes, that is the one. His apprentice shall do you proud.” Rei then looked back at Reiko with a smile and a moment later the shadowy form figure of the boy was gone.
There was a new dragon up in the sky next to the Elder Dragon. It was a brilliant blue and green with streaks of pink. It reminded Silas of the color of the cherry blossom trees where Reiko had first grown his core and became a true Sacred Artist beginning his journey in cultivation.
“Be gone now, dragons, and thank you.” Rei commanded and the dragons complied. First the Elder dragon flew a little away and then disappeared from view, shifting away like the one above the Kunlun Monastery did.
The new one, Reiko, looked down on everyone once more. “Goodbye, Master.” He spoke to Silas, only to Silas, then followed the Elder Dragon flying and then shifting away.
Silas sat there and watched, smiling. Kenji walked over to him and kneeled next to him. “It is a great honor for Reiko to become a dragon. He’s done quite well. You should be proud.”
Rei looked at them and smiled. “Silas, you are looking a little rough. Rougher than you were during the past winter, I’m afraid. It’s a good thing Kenji is your benefactor.” Rei looked at Kenji. “Take him to your lands, get him ready. There is a tournament coming. The Beggars need their ace in the hole.”
A tournament? They’re still doing the tournament?! Silas couldn’t believe it.
“Come Silas. Let’s get you put back together.” Kenji spoke to him, this time in a bit of a sing-song voice. The crazy was really coming through in the raspy voice. He sounded like he was looking forward to it. “It might be kind of painful.”
The pair were gone from the area now and left Rei looking at the rest of his children. He spoke to the mortals. “You all are okay. Go back to Mudpass and rest. Soon you will get instructions. Lilith, I need you to call someone here now as well.”