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Chapter Text

Amaterasu couldn’t take her eyes off the now closed entrance to the Ark of Yamato. She wishes that Issun could’ve come with her and that he didn’t say that he was going to say goodbye. He probably already ran off, trying to master those brush skills, the goddess thought glumly. In fact, she had no idea what Issun was doing.

“Is that really you?” a voice asked behind her and she turned around to see someone in a white rob with wings on his head. She tilted her head to the side in confusion.

“It’s been too long, Amaterasu!” the stranger exclaimed. “If you don’t remember, my name is Marco. I perished on this Ark all that time ago but you can trade with me money or demon fangs.” She decided to check out the things this guy had which was actually some decent stuff. Some of the things she could buy with yen was some gold dust, travelers charms, holy bones, ect. The things she could buy with demon fangs were a wood mat, a lucky cat, ect. The wolf decided to buy some of the gold dust and the wo mat as she thought that they would be useful.

She barked something once she was done and Marco nodded his head in understanding and said, “Thank you for returning. I hope you’ll free this Ark of darkness and the Celestial Plain of it too.” She let out a whine to tell him that she will as she decided to get a better look at the place. Amaterasu noted that there was a raised platform at the center with six bridges branching off. One was the bridge that connected to the entrance but the other five were connected to five different doors.

“Bark!” she said, or tried to say as she recognized the symbols above the doors. One was a spider to represent the Spider Queen, another one was some kind of horse thing to represent Crimson Helm, another was a eight headed snake with a platform to represent Orochi, the one on the right to Orochi was a warrior, most likely Blight, and the last one was a nine tailed fox for Ninetails.

She whimpered as she turned her gaze back to the Blight one as she thought about the first battle with him as she suspects that she’ll have to fight all of these demons again. She looked at the Spider Queen door and noticed that the entire interior of the Ark of Yamato was bathed in a reddish light because all of the patterns around to light it up were red instead of the blue that was on the outside.

Amaterasu growled but hesitated slightly as she saved her memories with the origin mirror and she walked towards the Spider Queen door. After looking at it for a while she decided to run towards it. The goddess enters the small room which is dipped in the center with a beam of light in the very center of the room. She looked around and saw that the edges were scattered with pots. She took a deep breath and walked towards the beam of light, yawning as it teleported her.

When she got to the room she saw the Konohana Blossoms surrounding the room which also had a red light. The wolf also took notice that the area looked a lot like the room where she fought the Spider Queen for the first time in Tsuta Ruins. She heard a screech and turned to see the Spider Queen. The Spider Queen looked just like how she did in Tsuta Ruins with long, greasy black hair, a gray body and legs, and a dark green bud on its back with little hooks.

The goddess entered her battle stance and snarled just as the Konohana Blossoms bloomed so she could use the Celestial Brush technique Vine. The giant spider charged towards her and she used her Holy Falcon technique to dodge as she ran towards the back of the demon. She froze time and drew a line from one of the blossoms to one of the hooks on the Spider Queen.

She let out a pleased growl as time moved on again and a green vine wrapped around a hook. The spider demon began to freak out as she tried to shake off the vine, causing rocks to fall from the ceiling. After Amaterasu dodged a rock that was falling towards her, she activated the Celestial Brush and then drew a line to another hook.

Time moved on again and another vine wrapped around a hook and the Spider Queen collapsed and the bud opened to reveal her eight weak points. The goddess ran over to the demon and jumped on the open bud and started attacking the eyes with the Tundra Beads she bought in Sei’an City.

When there were two more eyes left, the Spider Queen began shaking and she was forced to jump off with a growl of frustration because she was so close to finishing her off.

The Spider Queen screeched once again and Amaterasu flattened her ears against her head at the noise.

The wolf snarled in response and started to run in a circle around the giant spider again to get behind her and use vine. Unfortunately, the Spider Queen kept jumping to face her. She let a slight whimper of annoyance escape her mouth as she skidded to a stop in order to bait the demon.

The spider demon let out another shorter screech as she ran towards the goddess, taking the bait. Before she could get hit, she double jumped and in midair, froze time to draw a line from one of the Blossoms to a hook. Time moved on and the Spider Queen started freaking out and shaking to get the vine off. The wolf then repeated this and the bud opened.

She let out another pleased bark as she jumped onto the bud and destroyed the remaining two eyes, killing the Spider Queen. The goddess was tempted to let out one of her victory howls but it didn’t feel right without Issun. Amaterasu sighed as she walked into the beam of light that appeared to take her back.

When she got back to the room that had the spider marking, she noticed that the red light in the room and on the bridge had turned blue. So this red light is caused by the demons, she concluded as she walked out of the room and saw that the spider was also glowing blue.

A whine escaped from her throat as she realized that she hadn’t seen Waka at all. But the goddess didn’t ponder on it too long as she walked along the bridge towards the Crimson Helm room. Just like the Spider Queen room, it dipped in the center with a beam of light and pots at the edges. Amaterasu leaped in the beam and it teleported her to face Crimson Helm again.

She was able to get a quick look around before she faced Crimson Helm as it scuffed a hoof and snorted. The wolf crouched down getting ready to run or jump out of the way.

She barked in surprise as the demon charged towards her. I forgot how fast he is! She thought as she jumped to barely dodge the attack. As she kept dodging the attacks thrown on her by Crimson Helm, she began to try and remember how to fight him.

She growled as the demon jumped into the air, intending to land on her. The goddess dodged and remembered what she had to do while Crimson helm was struggling to free his swords from the ground.

She began swinging the Tundra Beads and Crimson Helm’s back legs with a triumphant bark. Eventually, the demon did free his swords and took a second to recover before turning to the wolf.

He roared and she snarled back, baring her sharp teeth. But she didn’t realize how close she was to him until he swung one of the swords which ended up leaving a nasty gash in her side.

She yelped in pain but knew she had to heal it once she defeated Crimson Helm. When the demon swung his other sword, she jumped out of the way and ran a little bit away. She waited for him to either charge at her or jump into the air.

The demon roared again and he charged but Amaterasu was ready so she easily dodged the attack. She swung her rosaries at his hind legs and the armor fell off and the skeleton was revealed and became engulfed in flames.

She growled and activated the Celestial Brush before drawing a loop to the right so once time moved on again, the flames surrounding Crimson Helm blew out. Since the demon was weak, she started using the Tundra Beads to whip at the demon.

The goddess barked once Crimson Helm fell over and sprouted into a bunch of flowers. But then she felt a sharp pain in her side and remembered the injury Crimson Helm had given her. She turned her head to look at the wound and saw that blood had already dried. The wolf sighed before walking over to the light beam that had appeared and saw yawned once she walked into it as it whisked her back to the main part of the Ark of Yamato.

When she got back, the wolf remembered that she had traded some demon fangs for a Wood Mat and that if she just laid down and closed her eyes, her wounds would heal in a second even though it would cost some of her yen though she has plenty.

She opened her mouth in a yawn and after she let out a soft tired whine as she laid down on the ground and closed her eyes, falling asleep quickly.

Amaterasu woke up from her nap and stretched before looking at her side. The wound was completely gone, covered up by her snow white fur and the crimson markings that on her side were back and not covered up by the wound.

She whined with a pleased expression as she moved her legs to see if it did make it able to move normally again. The goddess nodded her head in satisfaction and then she realized that she’ll need to fight Blight net as she suspects that the Orochi is True Orochi and not the weaker version that she fought in the Moon Cave in the current time.

As the wolf looked at the picture of Blight, she let out a sad whimper as she thought about the first time she had fought the virus in the Emperor's Body. After hesitating for a long moment she slowly walked towards it with her head down. Once she got to the room she didn’t look around but she guessed that it looked like the other two. Amaterasu then trudged into the light beam to be teleported to the area to fight Blight.

Chapter Text

Issun watched the entrance to the Ark of Yamato close and he could barely make out Amaterasu jumping to look over it. He didn’t care that the water was cold. And he most certainly wasn’t on the verge of tears at seeing his friend leave and that he’ll probably never see her again. Nope. That wasn’t him.

“I got you Issun!” he heard Kai exclaim. Soon Kai picked him up in her wolf form and brought him back to the shore of Laochi Lake. He was wet and cold, sure, but he had things to do like go and practice those brush techniques! Upon getting to the shore, he saw that Lika and Tuskle were still looking at the Ark but Oki and Samickle were looking at him and Kai.

Lika ran over to them and asked, “Are you okay Issun?! I heard you fall into the lake! What happened and who was that guy that appeared and did some sort of tango with Amaterasu?” Tango? So that’s how that half-baked prophet decided to tell that prophecy. I wonder what it means though and why it was for me, the artist thought as he looked at the Ark.

“Eh, who cares?” the Poncle said. “I’m not a part of that anymore so it isn’t my problem!” He jumped off Kai’s head and started to bounce away trying to not look back. Behind him, Kai shouted something but he didn’t care enough to listen. But he stopped and looked at the waning sun with a slightly worried expression.

“It’s slowly getting smaller. I hope Ammy will be alright,” he whispered before shaking his head. “What am I talking about? I’m sure that furball doesn’t even care that I’m gone.” He quickly turned his gaze away so as to not be reminded of Amaterasu every second. As he continued to bounce away there was a little bit of him wanting to help but he knew that there was only one way for him to be able to.

“And in no way am I doing that!” he said aloud but once again stopped as he thought about what Waka had said.

“But you didn’t need me to tell you that, my little bouncing friend. You know very well why you can’t board this ark. Do I not speak the truth, little Celestial Envoy?” Waka said with a slight frown. Issun flinched back at hearing those last two words. He wanted to shout something back at him but he noticed that the rainbow bridge underneath him had started to disappear. He saw that Amaterasu had noticed it too.

Waka looked down at them and sighed, saying, “Well, it’s about time.” The Poncle then saw Amaterasu jump onto the door before turning to look at him. But before he could do anything the bridge completely disappeared, and he fell into the cold water below.

As he recalled upon this moment he gripped the handle of Denkomaru tightly.

Eventually, he cracked and he shouted, “That half-baked prophet doesn’t know what he’s talking about!” While he said this, he unsheathed Denkomaru and slashed the air with it.

“Issun?” a soft voice asked behind him and he whipped around to see that it was Miya.

He let out a sigh of relief and said, “It’s just you. What are you doing all the way out here?”

“Ishaku said that the Day of Darkness was coming,” she said, looking up at the sun before looking back at Issun. “And he also said that he heard that the Ark of Yamato had been freed from the ice and so we came to see it.”

“We?” the artist asked. Then he widened his eyes and whispered, narrowing his eyes, “You better not have told gramps that I was with Ammy.”

Miya shook her head and said, “I didn’t, I promise. Only I know where you’ve been. Ishaku and your…” The other Poncle cut off her sentence which made Issun a little agitated.

“My what?” he snapped.

“Your…” she began. “Your… parents…” His expression immediately went from annoyed to shocked after hearing this information.

Even so, the Poncle scoffed and turned away from her saying, “Well, doesn’t matter, I’m leaving.”

But before he could hop away, Miya shouted, “Issun, wait!”

“What is it now?” he sighed, turning back to her.

“It’s just,” she said, “What about Amaterasu? What would happen to her once the sun goes away and there’s no Celestial Envoy to revive people’s faith in the gods? You’re the only-” She was then cut off by Issun.

“Enough about this Celestial Envoy business! One of you guys could do it just as well! I’m not the only one!” he exclaimed, glowing red.

But before he could say anything else another voice spoke up saying, “Miya? What’s going on here?” Issun saw that it was a Poncle woman that had spoken but she only looked vaguely familiar.

“Oh, Luna!” Miya exclaimed cheerfully upon seeing her. Luna? I’m pretty sure that was my mother’s name… he thought but didn’t say anything as he turned his back to them and crossed his arms. From behind him, he heard two other Poncles approach Miya and from the sounds of it, they hadn't noticed him yet.

“Why did you just suddenly run off Miya?” Luna asked.

Another voice, that sounded male, then said, “You know, since we haven’t been able to find Issun, you might have to be Amaterasu’s Celestial Envoy.”

“Yes, and I would do it but I’ve gotten old,” a third voice said, which Issun immediately recognized as Ishaku. So the other one must’ve been my father, the artist thought with his back to them still.

“Well… I’ve been meaning to tell you guys this but…” Miya whispered before trailing off.

Luna then spoke up saying, “You want to tell us what?”

He heard Miya take a deep breath before continuing. “I… know where Issun’s been most of this time.”

“WHAT!?” Everyone else exclaimed, including Issun and he turned towards her but decided that it’d be best to leave right now.

“Where?” Luna asked frantically before he could bounce off. “Where has he been?”

“Um,” the glowing yellow Poncle said, “He may or may not have been with Amaterasu?” Yep, that’s my cue to leave, the artist thought, turning away from them but before he could even think about taking the first step Ishaku spoke up.

“Wait, Issun? Have you been right there this whole time?” the retired Celestial Envoy said and Issun turned to them with a panicked expression.

“Um,” he said at a loss for words as everyone turned to face him. Gosh dang it, he thought angrily, I knew I should’ve gotten away while I had the chance.

“Issun, you’ve been… traveling with Amaterasu all this time?” his father, Israel, asked.

“Hey, hey, hey!” the artist said, taking a step back. “Don’t get any funny ideas. I only joined her on her journey so I could learn the 13 brush techniques, nothing else.”

“I heard that Ammy managed to get through the Spirit Gate. Was it you who opened it?” Ishaku questioned.

He hesitated before he looked away, muttering, “Yeah.” All four of their expressions became shocked once they received this confirmation.

“But I still don’t understand why you left,” Luna said and he glared at her.

“That information is only between me and me! No one else!” he snapped. He didn’t like yelling at his friends or family and he didn’t know why he was doing it now but then he suddenly realized. Is this because of probably not being able to see the furball again? He thought, slightly horrified.

“Well,” Israel said, “We have to do something before the Day of-” He was suddenly cut off by a small rumble. They all turned to the sky and their expressions became horrified. The sun was a sliver in the sky before… everything became increasingly darker but it was still possible to see a little bit.

“It’s here,” Miya whispered, too horrified to raise her voice any more.

Issun then jumped past them and looked at the sky and whispered, “Ammy…” He knew she was probably in big trouble now that the sun had disappeared. And it’ll be my fault for not accepting to be the next Celestial Envoy, he thought, wanting to burst into tears but then he realized something. He could still save Amaterasu.

“I just have to resolve my destiny,” he whispered to himself. He stopped bouncing and took out some paper and his brush.