Yamata no Orochi laughed triumphantly as his eight monstrous heads towered over Amaterasu Oomikami and Tsukuyomi no Mikoto. "Finally," said Orochi's first head, "We have been restored." "We have achieved our true form once again," said the second head. "My plan succeeded," the eighth head said. "As we knew you would," the other seven heads said to the eighth. "P--Plan...?" Himeko stammered. "You foolish Priestesses," the third head laughed. "You were no more than pawns in our master plan to return to our original form!" "When Susanou defeated us so many centuries ago," explained the fourth head, "we lost our physical form and he locked us all away inside that cursed Lunar Shrine." "The only way that we could return," continued the fifth head, "was through our human descendants, the Eight Necks of Orochi." "By feeding off of the hatred and dark feelings of our followers," the sixth head said, "we freed ourselves from the Lunar Shrine and attacked the world again." "But," said the seventh head, "if we returned, then Susanou would undoubtedly defeat us again...with Ame no Murakumo, the very object that we needed to regain our former strength." The eighth head then said, "So I, the wisest of we eight, hatched a plan to reunite with Ame no Murakumo." "Explain your plan," the first seven heads said with happiness. "It could only be during the month of Kannazuki that I could return," the eighth head explained. "It is the only month out of the year that all of the gods are gathered at Izumo, where they cannot leave to fight me. I knew that if I returned during Kannazuki, Susanou could not do anything to stop me. But our followers, the Eight Necks, informed me that Susanou had employed the powers of two priestesses to control Ame no Murakumo to fight in his place. It was the bond between the Priestesses, the very power that gave Ame no Murakumo strength, that led to your defeat." "We defeated you," Chikane called out. "We destroyed Gattai Orochi and sealed you and your Eight Necks back into the Lunar Shrine in our past lives." "But at what cost?" said the eighth head. Himeko and Chikane gasped as they remembered the Last Rite. They remembered Chikane impaling Himeko upon the Lunar Priestess Blade, using Himeko's life force to remake the world. "All that we needed," the head continued, "was for Ame no Murakumo to become one of the Eight Necks. So, I decided to leave my descendant in the hands of humans, so that I may take control of her only when the time was right." "Me..." Chikane murmured. "Tell them more," said the first seven, very much enjoying reliving the execution of their plan. "You, Lunar Priestess," said Orochi's eighth head, "hated Ame no Murakumo somewhere in your heart for forcing you to kill your beloved Solar Priestess. That hatred in your heart was all I needed to seize control of your soul and turn you against your duties as a priestess of Ame no Murakumo. And so, only the Solar Priestess was left to revive Ame no Murakumo on her own." "We all knew that Ame no Murakumo could not defeat us with the power of only one Priestess," the first head piped in. "And so we knew that we could not be locked away again. My two descendants, the First and Seventh Necks, also decided to turn against us. Their combined strength was greater than that of Ame no Murakumo, and they had the power that was needed to incapacitate us just long enough for Kannazuki to roll along once again." "And because only eleven months had passed," the eighth head continued, "neither of you had lost your memory of the events that had occurred the year before. You both remembered how to revive Ame no Murakumo, and you both remembered the price that you had to pay to rebuild the world after we had destroyed it. By refusing to perform the Last Rite of the Two Priestesses, you angered Ame no Murakumo and allowed me to take control of her. And now, because of you, we were able to reunite with the legendary sword and return to the form you see before you." The seventh head piped in, "The two of you AND the Seventh Neck played right into our hand!" "You..." Himeko stammered, "You used us? You used the two Priestesses, the enemies that had been chosen to defeat you, to regain your former strength?" "And you used the First and Seventh Necks also?" Chikane continued. Chikane growled and then screamed, "You despicable monster!" Tsukuyomi no Mikoto jumped toward Yamata no Orochi and swung its blade at the creature. However, the blade simply bounced off of Yamata no Orochi's thick hide. "Ah ha ha ha ha ha!" the eight heads laughed. "What was that?" the third head asked. "An attack?" "Fine," said Chikane. "Let's see how Ame no Murakumo's blade feels!" Tsukuyomi no Mikoto ran at Yamata no Orochi again and swung its left blade at him. However, Orochi blocked the blade with his tail. "You forget, Priestesses," said the eighth head, "that the Ame no Murakumo is imbedded in my tail once again. Its body protects us from that feeble blade that you plundered from her." "Himeko," said Chikane, holding out her right arm. Himeko grasped Chikane's right hand with her left and the arms of Tsukuyomi no Mikoto and Amaterasu Oomikami fused. "Divine Light of the Eclipse!" Himeko and Chikane called out. The arm fired its ultimate attack at Yamata no Orochi. There was a bright flash of light where the beam hit the beast and Yamata no Orochi fell over onto the ground. Himeko and Chikane sighed in relief. Then, hysterical laughter came from the fallen monster. All eight of Yamata no Orochi's heads rose again. Not even a scratch had been left on Orochi's body! "Your celestial powers have no effect on an earthly creature like me!" cackled the first head. "Only an earthly deity like Susanou can defeat us," said the second head. "And he's still at Izumo." "You might be the Priestesses of the Sun and the Moon and are able to commune with Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi," the fifth head spoke. "But there is no Priestess of the Sea." Then, all eight heads exclaimed, "Susanou will remain at Izumo!" They all opened their mouths, baring their viper-like fangs at the Priestesses. The third head shot chains out of its mouth, which wrapped around Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu, immobilizing them. "I can't move!" cried Himeko as the chains restrained her other self. A purple tentacle extended from the second head's mouth and two red, insect-like pincers extended from the fourth head's mouth. "They're going to attack us all at once, aren't they?" said Himeko. The tentacle fired a bolt of lightening at the celestial gods and the pincers fired a green beam of energy while the first and fifth heads breathed fire. White bolts of energy fired from the sixth head's mouth, blue beams fired from the seventh head's mouth, and a powerful, yellow beam of energy fired from the eighth head's mouth. Himeko and Chikane could only watch as Yamata no Orochi's seven-pronged attack flew toward them. In one final, desperate attempt to declare her love, Chikane cried out, "I love you, Himeko!" "I love you Chikane!" Himeko cried as well, tears flowing freely from the corners of her eyes. Suddenly, the Solar Mark and the Lunar Mark lit up and the chains contricting around Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi shattered! Himeko and Chikane had barely enough time to jump to safety before the Orochi's seven attacks hit. All seven attacks concentrated into one spot created a humungous explosion where they hit the ground, producing a shockwave that threw Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi even higher into the atmosphere. Only the strength of the Priestesses' embrace kept them from flying apart. ---------- Himeko groaned as she came to. Although she had regained consciousness, it was painful to try to open her eyes. It felt as if she had been hit by a freight train; she had a splitting headache and every bone and muscle in her body ached. After waiting several seconds, Himeko managed to raise her eyelids. Himeko painfully sat up to find herself on a soft but lifeless ground. When she looked at the ground and felt extremely fine grains slip through her fingers, she realized that the ground was made of regolith. She was on the surface of the moon. She looked to her side to see Chikane, just as unconscious as Himeko was a moment ago. The blonde made her way to her beloved. Although it was agony to move her battered body, Himeko still fought with all of her might to get to Chikane. As she reached her dark-haired girlfriend, Himeko collapsed on top of her, panting heavily. After several more seconds of rest, Himeko got up onto her hands and knees and said in no more than a whisper, "Chikane?" The taller girl's eyes twitched and she groaned in pain. "Himeko?" she asked softly, unable to open her eyes. "Yes," Himeko said, "I'm here." Tears came to Himeko's eyes she was so relieved that her love was alive. Chikane's eyes slowly opened and the two girls looked at each other. As she looked into Himeko's magenta eyes, Chikane smiled at her. "Thank goodness you're alive." Completely forgetting their pain, Himeko and Chikane wrapped their arms around one another and pulled each other into the tightest embrace. The two priestesses spent many long minutes completely still in each other's arms. Nothing mattered to them except the fact that they were together. Finally, they pulled back and looked at each other. Then, they looked to their side to see Amaterasu Oomikami and Tsukuyomi no Mikoto kneeling before them. They had turned to stone statues, most likely existing in their dormant states to regain some strength. "They protected us, didn't they?" Himeko asked. "Yes," Chikane replied. "In just the same way Tsukuyomi no Mikoto protected me on my way back down to Earth when October began, Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu protected us on our jounrye back to the moon." "But how can we survive here now?" asked the shorter girl. "How come we're alive without an atmosphere to breathe?" "Your powers as Priestesses give you the ability to exist both in corporeal and non-corporeal forms," said a gentle but strong male voice behind them. Himeko and Chikane quickly turned their heads to find out whom it was that had spoken. The Priestesses' eyes widened when they saw the man standing before them, dressed in long, gray clerical Shinto robes and a black tate-eboshi. Chikane managed to choke out, "It's you" ---------- Chikane and Himeko watched from the remains of the Lunar Shrine as East Asia slowly turned blood red under Yamata no Orochi's destructive power. The ancient evil god was so large that it was barely visible to the naked eye, even from the moon, 385-thousand kilometers above the Earth. "I can't believe it," said Chikane, "that Orochi would be so intelligent to use his followers as well as the Priestesses and Ame no Murakumo to regain all of his former strength." Himeko turned to the man that had brought them to the Shrine. "Kazuki," she asked, "how did you get here? I thought that you and Yukihito would have been destroyed along with the rest of Japan." "Unfortunately," said the Shinto priest, his head lowered slightly, "Yukihito had not yet developed the spiritual powers to exist in non-corporeal form. He did not survive the transition." Himeko's and Chikane's heads lowered as well upon hearing Kazuki's words. "It was a painless and peaceful death, free of illness and injury. I barely had enough power to complete the transition." "But how did you get here?" Chikane asked. "How did you escape Japan before the country was destroyed by Orochi?" "As the keeper of the Ogami Shrine, I had a spiritual connection with Ame no Murakumo. But now that Ame no Murakumo had rejoined with Orochi, the other end of that bond passed to the deity closest to her, Susanou no Mikoto, the original holder of the Ame no Murakumo. I attained enough power from him to escape to the lunar surface." "Susanou no Mikoto?" said Himeko. "Orochi said that he was still at Izumo Shrine for the month of Kannazuki." "Under normal circumstances, that would be true," Kazuki explained. "However, Susanou's power was necessary to revive Ame no Murakumo. It was your incantation to revive Ame no Murakumo that released Susanou from Izumo long enough to awaken the God of Swordsmen." "We were the ones that allowed Susanou to leave Izumo?" Chikane said in surprise. "It must be the same way you allowed Tsukuyomi to not join him at Izumo," said Himeko, "just as I allowed Amaterasu to leave Izumo as well." "We must hurry," Kazuki said. "If we do not defeat Orochi by the end of October, there is no hope of saving the world." "How can we defeat Orochi?" Himeko asked solemnly. "He said it himself, he cannot be defeated by any celestial powers. He can only be defeated by an earthly deity such as Susanou. But we're the Priestesses of the Moon and Sun, we aren't able to commune with the God of the Sea." "We released him during the ritual to revive Ame no Murakumo," Chikane said. "There has to be a way to summon him again." "As a descendant of Susanou, yourself," Kazuki said to Chikane, "you would be the most likely person to have the ability to commune with him." ---------- As the days passed, Chikane and Himeko tried their best to summon Susanou no Mikoto. They focused all of their powers as well as they could, reciting every incantation they could think of. Meanwhile, the once-blue Earth had turned crimson, tainted by Orochi's evil. It reminded the Priestesses of the world that Chikane had destroyed when she became the Eighth Neck the year before. "It's no use," Chikane said, losing hope in summoning Susanou. "You must continue trying," Kazuki urged her on. "Mister Ogami, we've been at this for seven days," Chikane bemoaned. "It's two days until the end of October and we're no closer to discovering how to summon Susanou." A thoughtful expression appeared on Himeko's face. "Orochi is a crafty creature, but Susanou was crafty enough to outsmart him. To defeat Orochi, we have to be as crafty as Susanou." "Miss Kurusugawa, what are you saying?" Kazuki asked. "Chikane," said Himeko, "Tsukuyomi would not commune with you until you used the powers of the Lunar Priestess. You had to get her attention. You were still inside the Lunar Shrine when Tsukuyomi agreed to listen to you. Susanou, unlike Tsukuyomi or Amaterasu, is an earthly deity. Perhaps we would be better able to get his attention if we returned to Earth." "You make a good point, Miss Kurusugawa," Kazuki said. "Yes..." said Chikane, the same thoughtful expression appearing on her face. "To summon a deity, it would be best if we go straight to where that deity resides. I was on the moon when Tsukuyomi appeared to me, so Susanou would most likely appear to us on the Earth." "You will have to find a very remote place to commune with Susanou," Kazuki said. "As soon as you arrive on Earth, Orochi will undoubtedly come after you again." "We barely managed to escape the last time we fought Orochi," said Himeko. "We'll need all the time we can get before we fight Orochi again. Wherever Orochi is, we'll have to land on the exact opposite side of the world to give us enough time." "Where is Orochi now?" asked Chikane. Kazuki looked toward the Earth looking for signs of Yamata no Orochi. "I see some light coming from the southern peninsula of Alaska. Its probably a large fire in Anchorage. For the fire to still be burning, Orochi had to be there recently." "Alaska, you say?" said Himeko. "If Orochi is in northwestern America or northeastern Asia," said Chikane, then probably the hardest place to get to from there is Madagascar. Its as close to the other side of the world as possible, and is an island country, so its more difficult to get there from any mainland." "Being as large as Yamata no Orochi is," Kazuki said, "once he realizes that you have returned, it will not take long for him to find you. You will have to work quickly to summon Susanou." Kazuki reached into his pocket and pulled out two o-fuda. "Take these with you," said the shrinekeeper. "These talismens have the blessings of Susanou and the Ogami Shrine. If anything will get Susanou's attention, it will be these sacred talismens." Himeko looked at the o-fuda in Kazuki's hands. She said, "But without these, you won't be able to..." "Don't worry about me," Kazuki said. "It is true, I will not be able to trasform back into corporeal form without the power of the talismens. But you must defeat Yamata no Orochi...at all costs. I have dedicated my life to suppressing the evil of Orochi, and I would gladly give my life to make sure that he is defeated again." There was a long pause. Emotions were running high as the Priestesses prepared to say their final goodbyes to Kazuki Ogami. They all knew that the chances were slim that they would ever see each other again. The only posibility of meeting again were if Chikane and Himeko were to be sealed away inside the Lunar Shrine, returning the birthplace of their souls. Amaterasu Oomikami and Tsukuyomi no Mikoto had recovered from their injuries and were ready to return to the place of battle. It was time to part. Himeko turned to Kazuki and said, "Thank you, Mister Ogami, for everything." The blond haired girl went to Kazuki and wrapped her arms around him. The two embraced for several seconds and then parted. Chikane embraced Kazuki, thanking him similarly. Himeko and Chikane walked back toward their other selves and were pulled into the circular portals in the celestial gods' chests. "May the gods be with you," Kazuki wished the girls luck. Tsukuyomi no Mikoto was engulfed in a blue light, Amaterasu Oomikami was engulfed in a purple light, and they both rose off of the lunar surface and started their descent toward Earth. To be continued... ---------- TERMINOLOGY: A tate-eboshi is a tall, peaked cap, worn by Shinto priests. It is the cap that Kazuki wears when dressed in his Shinto robes performing a ritual. ---------- OMAKE: "All that we needed," the eighth head continued, "was for Ame no Murakumo to become one of the Eight Necks. So, I decided to leave my descendant in the hands of humans, so that I may take control of her only when the time was right." "Me..." Chikane murmured. The first seven heads started singing, "Tell them more, tell them more." "Do you mean we've been had?" sang Chikane. "Tell them more, tell them more." "Was it because you're bad?" To which the eight eights replied, "Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh." Himeko started singing, "Autumn lovin' wasn't a blast." Chikane sang, "Will we ever make love at la-ast?"
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