away [ yae miko - raiden ei ]

III

every person at the shrine was surprised to see the electro archon herself there. no one would have expected such a pleasant surprise ...

«E— the Raiden Shogun ? » Yae let out a soft laugh, while staring intensely at Ei. « her Excellency, to what do we owe your visit today ? »

Ei started walking towards Yae, feeling all the eyes on her; she didn't care either way, all she wanted to do was talk to the shrine priestess.

« Yae Miko. » Ei bowed lightly her head as a way of greeting her and afterwards whispered in her ear she wished to discuss with her about some matters.

« i see ... » the kitsune then commanded the shrine maidens to go back to their usual calm and quiet, as she and the Raiden Shogun had to talk about some private things. the maidens, while Yae and Ei were moving in the priestess' room, were executing the orders given, and in the mere time of five minutes it was like nothing ever happened.

« so ... Ei. » Yae smiled in a provocative way to the archon and went sitting on the edge of the bed, never interrupting eye contact with the other woman. « what is it you want to talk about ? it surely must be important for you to come out of your precious plane of euthymia. »

Ei sighed, not sure if what she was going to say was gonna be useful in the process of reaching eternity.

but she still needed to know if she was on the right side. she needed to hear it, to hear Yae Miko saying the Raiden Shogun was doing well.

« what do you think of this whole situation, Yae ? »

Yae widened her eyes for some seconds, a bit surprised to hear that sentence. « ... please, be more specific »

« was i not clear enough ? i asked you what do you think of this situation. you know, what's going on in Inazuma, my final goal, the way i want to achieve it ... and in general, please tell me what's going on in my nation during my "absence" » Ei responded, hoping she didn't make a mistake in coming here. she crossed her arms, waiting for the kitsune's answer.

« i see ... so that's what you came here for - » Yae stopped for a second, glaring intensely at Ei for some seconds « - alright, i'll tell you. every single thing »

Ei was sure everything was fine, but then again ... she felt like maybe something was wrong.

« i'll recap everything that's happening in Inazuma right now, just for you. as you know, there's a war going on right now, between the Shogunate and the Resistance. many people are dying, as it's expectable, since it's a war ... still heartbreaking. » Yae paused and tried to search for signs of any negative emotion in Ei, no reaction. she sighed and kept going with the recap « Inazumans are oppressed, and in general there is a lot of tension between them and outlanders, especially in Ritou. still, not enough tension to cause long-time conflicts. » still no signs « not only soldiers are dying, but commoners too — some kids, for example on Yashiori Island, lost everything and are forced to live alone and take care of themselves without anyone else's help, as during a war only a few people are selfless enough to help other people other than themselves. » Ei raised an eyebrow. « there are many bandits going around, Nobuchi and Kairagi. since the Shogunate's forces are busy fighting in the war or protecting her Excellency - » she coughed softly « - in Inazuma City, they can run around freely, stealing and hurting people in the Islands. in general, the bravest adventurers go get rid of them ... but they're still not enough, compared to how many Nobuchi and Kairagi have appeared. » Ei sighed, assuming a disappointed face. « and finally, the people the Sakoku Hunt Decree is affecting directly now. as you know, a Vision is the representation of one's life ambitions and dreams. being stripped of them is like being stripped of your own dream, of your own motive of life. the people the Raiden Shogun has confiscated their vision to have lost every will to live, forgot how their life was and their motivations to do what they used to do and stopped doing what they were doing before their Vision was taken away ... and it's not an exaggeration to say some even went crazy, as i had to witness myself someone who went crazy because of this. »

moments of silence passed. Ei didn't know what to think, as she had no idea of the true side effects the process of reaching eternity was causing. she felt sorry for her people, but in the end she thought that she could apologize properly to them once eternity was reached.

« now, since i have told you about Inazuma - as a reward, i want to ask you a question. » Yae suddenly said, and Ei looked at her surprised, tilting her head to the side.

« is it worth it, Ei ? »