Ayakashi Monogatari

Epilogue: All Our Days

Epilogue: All Our Days

Several months had passed since the events at Kurama Mountain and Asura's defeat. Without a leader, Asura's armies split off into scattered, bickering groups, and much of the Ayakashi royalty retreated and ended their coup d'etat against the Japan Branch after their trump card got chopped in half and vaporized. For the most part, things in the Otherworld seemed to be coming back together.

I was coronated as the new Lord of Seimei Shrine in my father's place, to honor him and carry on his legacy. After all, I was an Ayakashi now. As a full-blooded Moon Rabbit, I couldn't return to the human world and live the normal life I once had. I didn't want to repeat my father's mistakes. But as the new Lord, I made it my duty to cleanse and purge the evils plaguing the Otherworld that I had witnessed firsthand, at least as much as I could.

Much of the violence between the warring Ayakashi factions had been cut down or stopped altogether, including the genocide against the Satori. There were less than a hundred of them left alive, but I was determined to ensure that the Satori could rebuild their society, if nothing more than to repay Raven for all of his kindness toward me. Seeing them together rebuilding their home in the snowy mountains, watching Raven playing with the Satori children...it made me want to cry.

For the first time I had seen, Raven looked genuinely happy. He smiled with joy, but I sensed a hint of melancholy. Because while he may have been happy that the village he grew up and lived in most of his life was being revived, in truth, he would never be able to truly forget all of the tragedy that had transpired here.

As I watched the placid scene play out, it made me wonder why anyone would want to hunt the Satori down to extinction. I understood the reason why, but to have the soullessness to do such terrible things...I couldn't comprehend it. Even if they were Ayakashi, I didn't see them for that. I didn't see them as monsters. I just saw them as peaceful people who wanted to live a normal life.

I sauntered over to Raven, who was currently being smothered in the snow by rambunctious Satori children. I bent down and held a hand out to him. "Come on, Raven. It's time to go."

After all the months that came and went, summer was long over, and winter had cast its icy grip upon the Otherworld. Sheets of snow coated the roof of Seimei Shrine, and rows of pointed icicles dangled from the fringe, glinting in the moonlight. I was dressed in my snow-white Onmyoji robes, the hood pulled over my head as I carried a bamboo umbrella. As a pure-blooded Ayakashi, my body had gone through some drastic changes. I was taller and leaner, my rabbit ears and tail had grown out, and my light purple hair now flowed down to knee-length. While my body retained its supernatural, youthful appearance, I felt as though I had aged ten years in the span of only six months. I looked like my father.

By then, the damage done to Seimei Shrine had been repaired, and new paintings were added to the Hall of Memory. I looked upon the most recent murals. Scenes of war between the Onmyoji and Asura's forces raged across the walls, followed by my father's defeat at the hands of Asura, my battle against the latter alongside Raven, possessed by the power of Karura, Asura's destruction, and finally, my coronation as the newest Lord of Seimei Shrine.

After all the events that had transpired, seeing them in the Hall of Memory, painted up for all eternity, was a lot like looking through a photo album. I looked back into a past that only felt like yesterday to me. But in the end, I was glad I lived through it all. The only reason I was able to survive Karura's power was because of Raven's binds to me through our bond as Onmyoji and Shikigami. Both of us were possessed at the same time, and when we shared our pain, we divided the power equally, allowing us to counter the Kami's strength without withering away.

After leaving our bodies, Karura returned to Kurama Mountain, but I was to become her priestess after Empress Karasu eventually passed away. It didn't bother me. Karura had been inside my body, intimate with all of my dark thoughts and deepest secrets. She fed off my raw anger and drive for revenge. If it weren't for her power, I would have never defeated the monster that stole my family away from me. I had gained her respect, and she didn't scare me anymore. In a zero-sum world, it was only natural that I'd have to repay that debt.

Looking back, I was happy I hadn't given in, or taken my own life. While I did miss my old friends and relatives in the human world, I now had a new family and new friends that I wouldn't trade the world for. They had their own precious things, and I had mine. I had a long life ahead of me, so I'd let my future self deal with them when that time came.

But I was glad I fought for my life, that I hadn't died. In death, there are no friends, no family, no growing up, getting married, or having children...there's no living life. And that's what frightens me more than anything, not being able to experience life, whether it's as a human or an Ayakashi. Instead of living as if I'm waiting for hope, I would give my everything in this moment, every day. Even if I lose everything, I always have something to offer. My future, my life, my emotions, my love, and my heart.

Because this life is what my mother and father would have wanted for me.

The End...

February 14th, 2018.

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Copyright (C) Alexandria Francetic 2018