❝𝐃𝐈𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐄❞

𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙞𝙛𝙩𝙮 𝙨𝙞𝙭

chapter fifty-six: “the first wife.”

— (FLASHBACK)

     “STAND UP, (NAME).”

THE ELECTRO Archon demanded, her polearm dangerously beside the Thorn Archon's head. (Name) was lying on the ground, catching her breath while Ei was sitting on her w̶i̶f̶e̶'s̶ foe's chest...

     "Your enemy will take advantage if you're too easy to get tired," Ei said and added weight (cue for the other gasping). "I can kill you here at once—"

     "You do know I'm a divine being like you, right?" (Name) pointed out, lifting herself now the electro archon is sitting on her lap. "Can we take a rest? We've been sparring since morning and it's afternoon already."

     "Are you always that spoiled? This is why you're not good at hand-to-hand combat," the purple-headed scolded her. "I'm merely helping you overcome your fear of combat without using your powers and just strength. AND NO, YOU'RE NOT GONNA USE YOUR DRAGON FORM TO DEFEAT YOUR ENEMY!"

     "But, Ei... Come on. It's not like everyone plays fair," the black-haired woman said. "Imagine I'm using a polearm in a gun's fight. Who would win?"

     "Didn't you say you can't die?"

     "I know, so can we go back to Tenshukaku now?"

     Ei grabbed her cheeks, pinching them harshly. "You're gonna listen to me and we're going to perfect your fighting stances today. Then we'll go back to Tenshukaku," she snapped. "Now get up before I—HEY! LET GO OF ME!"

Makoto and Yae smirked behind the bushes as (Name) tackled Ei on the ground, hugging her. The (wives) goddesses were fighting for dominance—to either continue the fight or rest until evening...

      "STOP USING YOUR STRENGTH AGAINST ME, (NAME)!" Ei yelled, grumbling from how she was overpowered within seconds. "THIS ISN'T FUNNY! LET GO OF ME BEFORE I CHOKE YOU!"

     (Name) blew a strand away of her (wife's) foe's face, "I told you, I can't die. Neither do you, so your attempts at trying to kill me are useless," she teased and continued cuddling the ill-tempered goddess. "Let's just rest until later and wait for Makoto to come to pick us up..."

— (END) PLANE OF EUTHYMIA

Ei looked at her empty ring finger, the regret blooming in her chest. She should've kept it instead rather than giving it to Miko. For 500 years, she was locked in this domain and kept herself isolated from the world...

     "(Name)'s face... I don't remember much of it anymore..." She told herself, guilty of leaving her wife. "What does she look like again?"

For 500 years, the faces she once knew were starting to crumble and turning into dust. She only remembers the face of her sister and maybe Yae Miko, but the others—her friends and wife—are now unclear...

     Ei grabbed her polearm, trying to draw the silhouette of (Name) on the ground. "She's tall and..." She started to scratch her head, hoping for any memories to pop out. "What color is her hair again?"

However, even though the mere face of her wife is almost gone and her name is the remaining thing she remembers—their memories were still close in her heart (if she ever has one, ehe). They were enemies at first, but after a few pushes from Makoto and her friends, she may have fallen hard for the beautiful goddess...

     "I miss her..."

— INAZUMA CITY

     "You mean this Raiden Shogun is a puppet, Shroud?" (Name) repeated, summarizing his report. "I never thought Ei would make another puppet. I wonder why she discarded Kunikuzushi..."

     "I have heard a couple of rumors about the discarded puppet, Your Majesty," Idia Shroud said and he pulled a pile of papers in front of her. "I told Ortho to gather information from Tartarasuna and this is what we got."

(Name) took one of them, reading his report. Each report includes rumors (all of them are the same, yet different people are written on the labels), and they may share the same story yet they contain different versions...

     "It seems he has different names throughout history—Kunikuzushi, Kabukimono, and Scaramouche," Idia told her, skimming through the reports. "He was considered as someone violent and dangerous when he was discarded."

     (Name) knew something doesn't add up, "Kunikuzushi... He has a fragment of my soul, so he can live up to the next Archon of Inazuma as per Ei's wish. I was the one responsible for teaching him, educating him what's right and wrong," she told her retainer. "True, he was disrespectful when I visited Snezhnaya..."

     "Unfortunately, I don't have any more information related to him other than this story..." Idia apologized, bowing before her. "I would be willing to help if you need any more information related to the Shogun!"

     "It's alright. You've done enough, Shroud," (Name) declined as she patted his head. "Leave this to me. I'll take care of the other questions left unanswered here."

With a nod, Idia returned to his room. (Name) was the one responsible for giving Kunikuzushi, now Scaramouche, knowledge so why did he turn into someone unrecognizable? Even she didn't notice it was him the first time and her soul inside his body was the signal he was her son as well...

     "Ei, what were you thinking that time...?" She asked herself.

     "Hello, (Name) Draconia-san!" The certain younger brother of Idia greeted, running towards her. "I made you some tea because you were scrunching your face earlier!"

     "Thank you, Ortho. I appreciate it," (Name) smiled at the younger Shroud as she took the tea. As he was gonna leave, she grabbed his clothes, "Can I ask you a question?"

     "Of course! What is it?"

     "Who's the new Head Shrine Maiden?"

     "Oh... YAE MIKO! The yokai you're talking about when I was just a kid!"

P.S.: Left Lumine and Paimon in Ritou (perks on having a teleportation ability).

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マレウス