"Tell me a Story, Miko"

Settling down

Yae leans against the doorway of the shoji, watching the other woman roam around their garden. A smile falls on her lips when Ei picks up a yellow flower from a bush and presses it to her nose. Yae notices that her bangs have grown longer, fully covering her left eye.

It has been 50 years since Ei retired from the Shogunate. Ever since she retired from leading the nation as the Electro Archon, Beelzebul. Now the goddess lives peacefully as a normal person, Raiden Ei.

A lot has changed ever since Ei lived among the commoners. She has adjusted well to the countryside, to Yae's surprise. She thought that she will have a hard time since Ei has only lived as a noble, blessed with all the power and luxuries one could ever hope for.

But Ei is living with content. Despite the erosion that haunts her like a looming shadow, Ei is pretending to be okay with it. Yae is not. She never will be.

Erosion is a terrible thing. Yae bitterly thinks. For about 550 years as Electro Archon, erosion has threatened Ei's life and she has decided to take drastic measures. One would think she is being impulsive. Yae thinks otherwise.

Ei has created a Shogun puppet. A perfect replica of the Electro Archon. Perfectly identical from her personality to her mannerisms. It has been 50 years and fortunately, puppet has done well leading this nation without Ei. In fact, it is like Ei has never retired and Inazuma continues to prosper.

But the actual Raiden Shogun is struggling against an invisible fight. She is suffering through an endless battle against erosion. Constantly losing her memories but also creating new ones.

The first time Yae heard about it, she felt her heart shatter into a million pieces. She can feel their dreams of eternity and happiness crumble in an instant.

The Ei she is seeing now was different from back then. She is much calmer, serene, transient, beautiful, elegant. To be honest, Ei seems more god-like compared to before when she ruled Inazuma with an iron fist. Like a celestial being that has graced her presence within the mortals and tries to fit into normalcy.

When Ei first lost a piece of her memories 50 years ago, Yae acted as her friend first before she acted as a servant. She comforted the goddess who had shed tears of agony, mourning about herself. Mourning about the death of the Electro Archon. It was just as painful as Makoto's death. It was like Inazuma had lost two Archons without even knowing.

Ei could not rule Inazuma effectively anymore. Erosion was too much of a risk to ignore and brush past. It would only worsen if Ei continued to govern Inazuma directly. It could possibly corrupt her mind, her memories, and her soul. Worser than it erasing memories.

The oldest and most powerful Archon, Morax has expressed his concerns about this beforehand. Beelzebul is not immune to this fear.

It was too dangerous to let Ei rule Inazuma. So she made a brilliant plan. The best plan one could think of. Creating a clone of herself that is immune against erosion and will focus solely on Inazuma and eternity.

So far, that is exactly what that Shogun puppet has done. Yae visits the puppet from time to time since she still has her duty as the Electro Archon's servant to watch over Inazuma. Always making sure the puppet is not straying off her path.