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The storms that have been haunting the skies above Inazuma for many days simply… stopped.
There was nothing more to it.
The thunder that constantly echoed in the background disappeared, and not a single flash of lightning was to be seen. The civilians praised their goddess, believing it to be a good sign in the war.
The ones who looked further knew something dark and foreboding was to come.
-=-
The servants whispered in fear amongst their ranks, most of them too frightened to even approach their goddess. Their god remained standing in her throne room, and those who saw her would have noticed the thin sheen of tears painting her pale face and her bright eyes marked by a fiery amethyst raged with sorrow and fury.
Kujou Sara was dead. The general had fallen in battle.
The messenger had hurried out the door instantaneously the moment the Raiden Shogun froze at the missive. He did not turn back, running all the more faster when he heard and felt the crackle of electricity snapping at his feet.
Ei stood there, her hands trembling. For what, she was unsure of. Did she wish to hold the Musou no Hitotachi? Or raze the lands for what they have done to her Sara? Of all things, she just wanted to hold her again, the general.
The body would be coming within a day from the battlefield.
The goddess let out a mirthless laugh. She had pleaded to Sara, begged her to stay. The war was too dangerous, she insisted. Send other forces.
And Sara, duty-bound, so terribly righteous, replied with a sorrowful smile that she could not leave her men out on the field without her. It was that damned smile of such determination that Ei knew she could not bend her general’s will.
And so, with tearful eyes and acquiescence, Ei let Sara resume her duties, traversing through Inazuma to the heat of battle. Ei cursed herself, the puppet, for ever ordering the Vision Hunt Decree.
She loved Sara.
From the moment she was drawn out of her Plane of Euthymia for the first time in centuries, she was always attracted towards the general like the force of magnets. Within her mind space, nothing ever changed besides the skies at the change of her emotions in her physical body.
And Sara’s presence was always marked by the sunset skies, a wonderful array of pink and blues that never failed to bait Ei into reality out of curiosity the first few occurrences and out of longing in the ones that came to follow.
She had fallen in love with the general, her demeanor, her small smiles, her golden eyes warm with honesty and love , her bouts of flustering, her wonderful laugh, her steady and strong sense of duty, her everything . The list could go on and on as that was the extent of love.
And now, she was gone.
Finally unable to handle the pain anymore, Ei let out a cry of anger, of hurt, and hurled a mass of Electro energy at one of the walls of her throne room. The delicately designed architecture exploded into rubble and the odor of ozone was left, heavily marking the air.
Her hand still thrummed with electricity, aching, yearning to destroy, hurt, ruin. Anything to rid her mind of the pain. She should have expected this. She created the Plane of Euthymia for a reason . It was to shield herself from the dangerously drastic change of emotions, of attachment.
No matter how much her body and life force remained invulnerable to change, immortals are not immune to the pain of loss.
She would destroy them. She will destroy every last scum who took Sara away from her. It would only be fair that they would have their lives taken away as well.
-=-
The soldiers who brought in the body, those who survived at least, would recall that they felt the terrible weight of pressure on them when they brought the body of their general to the Raiden Shogun.
They had to try their utmost best not to tremble with fear the closer they reached the throne room. The deep wrath of their goddess could be felt all around Narukami island.
They did not spare any time to stay once they lowered the casket onto the tatami floor. If they did, perhaps they would have seen the sorrowful, longing look of their Shogun as she approached the coffin.
It was a box of little design, one meant for the soldiers who had fallen in battle. Ei tentatively brushed her fingers along the electro emblem marked upon the casket. She opened it carefully, fearing what she would see.
The doctors on field had at least had the decency to clean the body of their best general. Ei felt tears burn in her eyes once more as she cupped the cheek of her lover. Tanned and worn down from the aftermath of battles, Kujou Sara was still a wondrous beauty.
Ei longed for the peace and serenity Sara’s expression portrayed. She knew, just knew , that the general died happy that she had at least fallen for the cause of her god. And Ei couldn’t help but run her fingers through her general’s hair as she used to do in the past.
“I’m sorry…” she whispered.
She vowed to kill them all. All of them deserved to die.
“I’ll be back soon. And when I am, all of Inazuma will have met their fate.”
Bending down to kiss Sara on the lips, Ei closed the casket, a cold fury of lightning crackling as she teleported away.
-=-
“Give me the gnosis.”
And her devoted kitsune servant only gave a smile of pity and pain before placing the chess-piece like object in her god’s hands.
Ei looked at the object of power, grimacing at having to depend on Celestia for this. But she would use all the force she could gain, for this last finale. She grasped the gnosis tightly, turning around to begin her hunt.
“I suggest you leave,” she advised the fox. “You have some time. Narukami will be the last.”
Yae looked at her old friend, hurt reflecting across her eyes. She knew something terrible was bound to happen. After all, that was the price for loving a mortal, being left behind. She didn’t know whether to thank or curse the general for this.
“Must you go this far?” she weakly asked.
Ei gave no verbal response, her cold eyes saying it all. They were dark pits of emptiness, unable to find light anymore.
Yae knew what terror would follow, but she was powerless to do much else, so she bowed her head before turning around, beginning her preparations.
Ei looked at the Sacred Sakura Tree, apologizing in her mind to her sister for what she was about to do.
-=-
Lightning arched across the blade of the Musou no Hitotachi, from the tip of the sword to its handle. Ei released the weapon from her heart, her eyes glowing a dark purple.
“May justice be served,” she declared and raised her arms to unleash the blow.
The sheer impact of the sword cracked the ground, bases and mountains exploding from the pressure. Electricity followed, burning every surface it could find, fiery and vibrant, like hounds snapping at the heels of its prey.
Yashiori Island was no more.
-=-
It would have been beautiful, from afar, to see purple storms bloom across the sky, thunder and wind howling the rage of its commander.
One by one, island after another, Ei approached Watatsumi Island. Chest heaving, Ei knew she was wearing herself out, the power of the Gnosis was not enough to support slash after slash. The Resistance bases stationed at some of the islands had made some effort of defiance, but they, in the end, had all died.
The pristine clams of the Sangonomiya Shrine seemed to mock her, the color of pink and blue melding together in a perfect way.
Ei couldn’t wait to send it all crashing to the ground.
She walked, as if she were a regular visitor of the shrine, to the main chambers. The soldiers had already been notified of her hunt beforehand, and anyone else would have thought the island to be empty, but Ei knew otherwise.
The presence of the divine priestess was very much evident.
Sangonomiya Kokomi stood under the light indigo archway of the shrine, calm and composed as if she were ready for her death. She probably was, but Ei knew the priestess refused to go down without a fight.
The pink-haired woman closed her eyes, summoning all of her Hydro energy for this one final stance. The battle began, the two forces dancing around each other.
Whereas Ei worked in quick striking motions like lightning, Kokomi waltzed about, her fluid motions parallel to her Hydro vision. But the battle was over all too quickly, the winner evident all too clear.
A mortal was nothing in the face of a divine.
Kokomi was held by the tip of the Musou no Hitotachi, breath ragged. A thin drop of blood appeared from the indent of the sword.
“Any final words?”
Kokomi looked into her eyes, a dull purple meeting light pastel colors akin to the clams of the shrine. Then she smiled, the same smile Yae had given her, one of sympathy and sorrow.
“I pity you. Perhaps in another lifetime, we could have been friends.”
And Kokomi pressed a tile in front of her, activating a mechanism that started hissing.
“Rifthound poison. But immortals are not immune, are they?” the shrine priestess smiled.
Ei said nothing more but a swift flick of her arm ended the Resistance leader. She winced as the poison entered her previous wounds, the immortal blood in her veins fighting valiantly against the inhumane substance.
She teleported away, stumbling and gasping at the toxic potency, but she resolved to return to Narukami Island nonetheless. Perhaps it was fitting that she would meet her end in this way, to a mortal nonetheless.
-=-
A haggard figure appeared in front of the Inazuman castle on Narukami Island after the consecutive slashes of purple lightning. The only distinct building to be seen was the castle, elegant and tall, sporting purple rooftops and umber accentuations.
Ei entered, her robes following after her, charred from the aftermath of her lightning. She approached the casket, taking just as much care to open it prior. Her hands, with so much destruction and blood, took the body of her most devoted general.
It was scary how light the body of Sara was. Ei smiled sadly at the beautiful face of her lover, beginning their descent down the tiled steps of the castle.
One last time, Ei took in the magenta trees around them. One last time she looked upon the castle of her country, the one her sister devoted so much to creating and the one her general swore to protect with her life.
At the harbor of the island was a final ship, stubborn and unwilling to leave much like its passenger. Yae must have paid the captain a hefty amount to stay this long, Ei mused.
Her arms felt like lead, the poison having worked its way through her body. Immortals are not immune. Ei gently kneeled onto the floor, the body of Kujou Sara the last thing she would ever let go of.
The pink-haired woman, shrouded by the still settling dust, called out, “Was it worth it?”
Ei thought for a moment, bitterly laughing at her actions. How ironic that she ended the very things her loved ones spent so much time cherishing. “Was it worth it?” she repeated. “Who knows. Though, don’t be so quick to follow me into Celestia.”
She saw the figure bow her head as one final act of reverence to her god.
“Goodbye, Ei.”
Ei smiled. She bent down to see Sara before her last breaths, thinking that a world as cruel as this one at least had some beauty to it.
-=-
“Ei! Ei!”
A cheerful voice shook her awake as the purple-haired woman opened her eyes.
Clear blue skies met her sight, a wondrous blue unshielded by the clouds below her feet. Ethereal towers surrounded her, the sunlight washing them into a pale bronze color. She saw archways and a hidden city from all the towers.
“Saiguu?” she whispered in unparalleled joy and surprise.
The white fox grinned with fangs, red lipstick vibrant as ever. “It’s been a while.”
Ei quickly rose to her feet. “That means… Celestia?”
She looked around herself in wonder. As an immortal, she never quite thought she would be here. But as the saying went, immortals were not immune. All gods eventually meant their end and returned to the heavens.
“Come on, we have yet to see everyone else.”
And Ei walked with Saiguu across the elegantly carved floors, reacquainting herself with her friends from the past. It was surreal, finding Sasayuri and Chiyo once more, embracing them.
Then she met the living mirror of herself.
“Makoto…” she breathed.
The twins said no verbal words but harmonized together as they once did centuries ago. I missed you, Ei echoed in her head. I missed you so, so much. Makoto resonated with her, finally reunited.
“There’s one more special guest waiting for you,” her twin smiled, gesturing at the space behind her.
Ei whirled around to see Sara in the distance, dashing, running , as she had never before. Sara easily caught her in her arms, twirling her around in a dance. Sara’s wings exploded around them, enwrapping the two in a small space together, closed off from anything else.
“Is this all real?” she quietly asked herself in the crook of Sara’s neck. Stark black feathers slowly drifted to the surface beneath them.
“It’s all real,” Sara murmured quietly back. “We’ll have our eternity now,” she said in her strong voice as she gripped Ei tighter.
And Ei kissed her fully, sending all her emotions into the action alone: her joy, her sorrow, her love. They parted, breathing heavily against each other, but joyful laughter laced their every word.
“I have so much to say… and so much to apologize for,” Ei recounted mournfully.
Sara shook her head, her warm golden eyes still filled with just as much adoration as before. “I protected Inazuma for you. If it was your will to deem your country unfit to remain, then I will follow your cause as I always have and always will.”
Ei smiled, wondering why she had been worried in the first place. Sara’s place alongside her had never wavered, never disappeared. They would remain together for their eternity.
“All right, all right, you love birds, break it up!” Chiyo declared.
The two turned to see the rest of the group still there. Sara blushed while Ei smiled at the never-ending antics of the oni.
“I have yet to introduce you to everyone,” she giggled as she pulled Sara towards her friends. Yes, they would have their eternity now , she thought.